L og P 118:3‏ - July 11, 2016

Elder Halling and I at the Copenhagen Temple

 3 Let the residue continue to preach from that hour, and if they will do this in all lowliness of heart, in meekness and humility, and long-suffering, I, the Lord, give unto them apromise that I will provide for their families; and an effectual door shall be opened for them, from henceforth.

With Elder Beck in the Field

Everyone,

It was great to have the Fourth of July on P-day. We went with our district to Tivoli, and then walked around København for an hour or so. Elder Beck and I wished that we could see American Flags flying everywhere.

Fun Sign

I met a member this week named George. He is from Africa and has lived here in Denmark most of his life. We had a lesson on the importance of church. He committed to come, and then he came. That was great because he hasn't been there for several months. He wants us to help him paint part of his apartment in a few weeks. My first thoughts to that were about how I am not a great painter, but I have lots of family at home who is great at it. We will see what happens with it.

We found Omar last week, and this week we had a return appointment. Our lesson was on Christ, and how he can help us with anything. At the end Omar said that he didn't want to talk about religion with us. That was really hard because we could both tell that he was missing something in his life.

Monument to Danish AirForce

After a long day of knocking we planned to go play basketball with one of our investigators. It was outside next to Amagerbrogade with upgangs surrounding it. Several kids came over and asked if they could play. They found out that we spoke English, so they tried their school English with us. We spoke Danish back to them, and a few times they got this really confused look on their faces. Pronunciation is important here in Denmark, and sometimes our American accents make us difficult to understand. We played some basketball with them, and they all loved it. Missions are filled with interesting experiences.

1 Nephi 17:40‏ - July 4, 2016

Homemade Pizza

 40 And he loveth those who will have him to be their God. Behold, he loved our fathers, and he covenanted with them, yea, even Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and he remembered the covenants which he had made; wherefore, he did bring them out of the land of Egypt.

Artwork

Everyone,

Lots of rain this week on Amager. I have gotten soaked every single day. Someone innoccently asked us if we got wet when it rained. Yes, we do. Biking here is crazy. You have cars and bikers all around you. You have to constantly check over your shoulder if you pass someone. Scary experience while biking to an appointment. Bikers have the right of way, so cars turning right have to wait. Elder Beck made it past a semi truck trying to turn right. I am pretty sure that he couldn't see me because he started turning. I was going to fast to stop, and the rain didn't help at all. I was able to jump off my bike and run it off, so I wasn't hurt. If he had turned any faster I would have been in a big accident.

I met Stig this week. He is a doctor with a family. Probably the most normal person I have ever met who is investigating the church here. He was self referred from Salt Lake several years ago. We did service for him three times this week. Elder Beck is a welder, and he needed some pieces welded onto his Mustang. He brought his oldest son Andreas to church. That was wonderful to see.

Chocolate Trikant

Søren is another of our investigators found several months ago. Teaching him was really hard because he shows no emotion or body language. Absolutly 0. The only reason we knew that he was listening was if we asked him a question because he gave some great answers. He is committed to come to church in two week.

Ether 4:6 - June 27, 2016

Say farewell to my district in Aalborg

6 For the Lord said unto me: They shall not go forth unto the Gentiles until the day that they shall repent of their iniquity, and become clean before the Lord.

Everyone,

Big news for this week. We got transfer calls, and I am now on Amager with Elder Beck. This was a little unexpected because I thought that I would stay in Frederikshavn for another 6 weeks. I am back on Sjælland which is a little weird. I have spent the better part of today sitting on a packed train from Aalborg. We were blessed though to get several bikes and missionaries here safely.

Amager is a suburb of Copenhagen. On it's own island connected by a bridge.

Last week was lots of fun. Jesper is doing all right. He is having a really hard time right now which makes it difficult to help him progress. He has all sorts of questions on why the Bible doesn't talk about how we come from apes when science says that we do. We told him that the best way to find answers is if we ask God. He says that he will try it.

Moroni 2:7 - June 20, 2016

2 And now I, Mormon, speak unto you, my beloved brethren; and it is by the grace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, and his holy will, because of the gift of his calling unto me, that I am permitted to speak unto you at this time.

Everyone,

We had lots of fun this week. We had a goal of getting a record of 14 lessons in one week. The previous goal was 12, and Elder Shuppy and I set that back in March. Sunday we had lots of miracles, and we were able to make it. This week we gave out several copies or The Book of Mormon while finding. Things are in the up here. The only thing that is down is the tempature. Tomorrow is the longest day of the year, so the week before should be getting warmer. Well it is actually pretty cold. We have wind chill and cloud covers, so we had to break out our jackets once again.

We taught Jesper twice this week, and he came to church. He is starting to pray every day which is great. He has moved out of his friends house into a members apartment. It is great that they are roommates because the member can help him out with understanding the gospel. It is also great because he is living the law of chastity. Big improvements there.

Lone came to church as well, and is doing great. She was grateful for the blessing that we gave her two weeks ago, and she says that everything is happier in her life. Our first lesson with her was wonderful, and she has a strong desire to bring her life in line with the gospel.

After several weeks we finally got a lesson with Ketty. We kept is simple and taught a few of the basic commandments. The Blackhams have been teaching her, so we are finishing it up before her baptism next month. It was a wonderful experience. We came to following the profet, and she bore her testimony of profets, and that Joseph Smith was called of God. That was a special thing to experience. If you remember The Best Two Years one of the Elders asked, "What do we do now?" The other one answers, "I don't know I have never made it this far:" Elder Olson and I had the same conversation afterwards. 

District meeting was wonderful this week. Traveling was great with no problems. Several members of our district had been in København for their 30 day meeting. They came back on fire, and really helped teach and clarify a few points for us. Mostly on finding and teaching effectively.

Hav en god uge.

Elder Francis

3 Nefi 20:1‏ - June 13, 2016

Photos we received from a vacationing couple from Tennessee.

1 And it came to pass that he commanded the multitude that they should cease to pray, and also his disciples. And he commanded them that they should not cease to pray in their hearts.

Fun Church

Everyone,

This week was rather big for us here in Frederikshavn. We had splits for two days in Aalborg with our district leader. Most of it was contacting which was tough, but we have new ideas on how to have street lessons. That is pretty exciting.

3 Nephi 20:1 - June 6, 2016

 

Fun sign in Elling

1 And it came to pass that he commanded the multitude that they should cease to pray, and also his disciples. And he commanded them that they should not cease to pray in their hearts.

Us with Hans Christian

Everyone,

This week had lots of fun adventures. Yesterday was Fathers Day here in Denmark. All of the primary children sang in Sacrament. Some of the testimonies were on famililies, and how children can help us so much. 

Slide in Sæby

The Blackhams are officially home in the US now. Everything seems so quite here. We purchased to old bikes to take to Hjørring. Hjørring is the biggest city in our area, so we need bikes now to get around. Jesper was able to help us find them. We spent some time fixing them, and they should fit our needs perfectly for now.

Lære og Pagter 58:42‏ - May 30, 2016

 

Skagen with the Blackhams and Elder Olsen

42 Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more.

Everyone,

This week has been a whirlwind with lots of fun things happening. We had zone conference in Århus this week with everyone on Fynn and Jylland. It was a great time, and I was able to see almost everyone from my MTC district there. Sadly, two of our group are on Sjælland now. After we had our trainings we did our waffel bowl. The mission leadership decided that we wouldn't hold a Thanksgiving zone conference, so the annual turkey bowl was moved to May.

Zone Conference

We taught Malene this week. She asked us what she needs to do to be baptized, so we went over some of the commandments we had taught her. She was confused on the difference between a prayer and a testimony, so we answered that for her as well. She came to church this week, but we don't know how much she listened to. Several people have expressed concerns about why she is investigationg, so this week we made a plan to do operation asses situation. We have to find out how interested she really is in learning about the church.

Skagen with Elder Olsen