2 Nephi 33:11‏ - August 15, 2016

Jim and I

 11 And if they are not the words of Christ, judge ye—for Christ will show unto you, with power and great glory, that they are his words, at the last day; and you and I shall stand face to face before his bar; and ye shall know that I have been commanded of him to write these things, notwithstanding my weakness.

Hedgehog

Everyone,

This week has been very long for us here on Amager. Elder Magleby and I have gotten along great. Lots of rain this week, bike problems, strong winds, and cold weather. Yea, I said cold weather. The mornings are colder and the nights are darker. Then we realize that it is the middle of August. Winter should not be approaching us until at the least late September. Oh, well. So is the life of a Danish missionary.

Transfer day splits

One thing that has made this week enjoyable is my new companion Elder Magleby. He is from American Fork, Utah, and is the second youngest of five. His first name is Sam (like my brother). His last name is very Danish. Almost anyone we talk to will comment about it. They always tell us about Stor Magleby which is by Dragør. One of the members we did service for pulled out a book, and read some of the history of the town. Elder Magleby already loves this area because that is where his ancestors are from. His third great grandfather emigratted to the United States from Stor Magleby, Amager, Danmark. A little slægtsforskning I thought was interesting.

Amager Fort

August 8, 2016

Everyone,

This week had some amazing things happen for us, but also one that is shocking. Elder Beck is gone, so now I am with Elder Magleby. These last six weeks have gone by so fast. Elder Beck is now in Skive and Elder Magleby is from Randers. He was in my MTC district. One year ago, and now we are companions.

We met with Stig and his family again. He is so close to getting baptized. His only thing is that he doesn't believe that Mormons Bog is a historical document. Other than that he is fine with everything else. Tithing didn't seem to phase him when he heard it was ten percent. Miracles really do happen.

D&C 111:11 - August 1, 2016

More spots around Amager

11 Therefore, be ye as wise as serpents and yet without sin; and I will order all things for your good, as fast as ye are able to receive them. Amen.

More spots around Amager

Everyone,

A strange coincidence this week. I met some people from Kaysville, Utah, The Jensons. Who could have guessed that would have happened? 

Meeting the Jenson's from Kaysville!

It didn't sink in until about an hour later that I had met people from my town who knew my family. Missions can bring some crazy miracles. 

Amager

One highlight was that we had my first member present lesson here on Amager. After some work and several phone calls we had Ulla with us to Anne-Lise. Members help with lessons so much. Ulla helped us to address several questions that Anne-Lise has had for several weeks. The members here are so strong, and their testimonies are very powerful.

More spots around Amager

We met two Africans while contacting. They asked us what our purpose was because they felt that there was something more in what we were saying. Ja, tak. One accepted a Mormons Bog, and was interested in why we came to Denmark for two years. At one point they said that my Danish was good and that I had all the right tones. Not to let pride get in the way, but that comment really helped me because I have felt down about my speaking ability.

Alma 30:34 - July 25, 2016

And now, if we do not receive anything for our labors in the church, what doth it profit us to labor in the church save it were to declare the truth, that we may have rejoicings in the joy of our brethren?

Everyone,

We did some great service this week. We took bricks off of a house for one of our investigators. Elder Beck has this jack hammer thing, and climbed up the scaffolding to get them all down. I stayed with the chisel and hammer on the ground. They fed us dinner, and agreed to let us come back this week to teach them.

Anne Lise is one of our investigators who just got back from vacation. She wants to be a member, but feels like she can pick and choose which principles she likes. This is really hard, but the branch has helped us to teach her. We went over a few principles to try to help her understand why we do certain things. Most of it was centered on work for the dead.

One thing that I loved about this week was the weather. Almost every day was clear skies, and hot temperatures. It was wonderful. Summer has finally arrived!

Andin met with us again. I was on splits with Elder Murphy. We taught her the Restoration, and the spirit was incredible. I pulled out a Mormons Bog in Indonesian which is were she is from, and her eyes lit up. She was so happy for our lesson. We had to do it by the beach which wasn't the best place. At the end I felt like we had a spiritual cocoon around us during the lesson. All the noise and people everywhere didn't affect us during the lesson. Special blessings come when we are doing the Lord's work.

1 Nephi 15:11‏ - July 18, 2016

 

Having Fun

11 Do ye not remember the things which the Lord hath said?—If ye will not harden your hearts, and ask me infaith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you.

Bird Watching

Everyone,

Well, this week was rather fun with some crazy things happening. First thing is we had to bike to the office for interviews. It is only about 30 minutes, so it wasn't a big problem. We started off with clear skys. Then the rain came. Nice and short 10 minute storm with water falling like bullets from the skies. We got their soaking wet. On the way back we felt that we would make it all right, but no. Another short storm came for about 15 minutes. This one had more water, and was several times worse than the first one. We were both soaked to the skin, and our shoes were full of water. Always something fun happening with the weather here. 

Crazy Bush

We taught Phoalo this week. He had a few church questions, but not to many. We went over prayer with him, and recieving answers. He was really hesitant about it, and told us several stories from his past. He believes in spirits and stuff because of voices he heard in his head. It was rather confusing to me, but at the end he said that our church has answers to some of these things. Who knows were it will go with him. He expressed desire to still come to church, but because of work he couldn't this week. Things will work out though in the coming weeks.

The Garden I liked

Andin is a lady we met while contacting by the Strand one morning. She asked several pointed questions about life after death, and forgiving ones past. Two days later we were able to teach her an Atonement lesson, and discussed prayer. She shared with us how she had planned to take her life after her walk, but then we stopped her. The Lord places people in our path who we can help.

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.