LETTER FROM JAN 18, 2016
What a week! I'm in Denmark and it truly doesn't feel like it! I haven't had any time to soak it in! The MTC is over FINALLY!
Quick story: The food here is amazing! We had a meal with an inactive member named Henning.... Something. I don't know how to pronounce or spell his last name... Anyway he is an 85 year old man who fell away from the church in his thirties. He can't speak a lick of English which is kind of hard for me because I can't speak a lick of Danish! Anyways, he cooked us some Steak and potatoes (which is literally like every meal here in Denmark) and we ate! Brothers and Sisters.... This food was not made by human hands... I quite literally gained four pounds.... FOUR POUNDS from this meal! I literally weighed myself at his house!
I got a new companion! He's named Elder Beck. He's from Idaho and he's a stud! We get along great and we work well together.
We're in a city called Belsingør. It's located near the top of the island of Sjælland (i dont think i spelled that right). It's really cold here... And the missionary work is slow here. I showed up and my Companion gave me the details about Belsingør. We pretty much have no members and no investigators. Which is kind of hard. Elder Beck was surprised when he heard that a new missionary (me) was coming to Belsingør because it's a tough area.
So because we don't have many people to teach, we find people to teach. And yes, that means we have been knocking doors... Classic missionary work. People here are not very friendly on first impressions. They really don't want anything to do with us. So it's pretty hard to keep getting doors slammed in our face but we keep knocking!
We were knocking doors last night in an apartment complex and we knocked on a Muslim family's door. They couldn't understand english or danish but the man who opened the door invited us in and let us sit in his living room and talk to him. He asked in broken danish if we wanted coffee. Of course, as the good missionaries we are, we politely declined the offer. So, knowing that we weren't thirsty for coffee, the man proceeded to grab two beers from his fridge! He poured them into two large glasses and gave them to us. Again, we politely declined the offer. We couldn't really do anything because we couldn't speak arabic, so we told him we would come back. The next door was another Muslim man! But, he could speak English! Hurrah! We talked to him for a little bit and gave him a Book of Mormon and he said he would start to read it! (BTW this like never happens here). THEN... THE NEXT DOOR a Danish man opens the door and we start talking to him about families... And he said that we could come back and talk with him later! It felt great to have some people not slam the door on us!
After we left the complex and started heading home, my companion told me that he could count on his hand the number of times someone let him into their home.... He's been serving for 8 months! It's tough work here in Belsingør but it is good! I feel like a real missionary now! I've even been attacked by a dog already! #classic.
The work is happening here in Denmark. It's a special place to serve a mission. My mission president told me on the first day that in other missions, missionaries have the opportunity to see miracles. But he said that in this mission, we NEED miracles just to do missionary work. I can already see that, and I've only been here like 6 days. I hope you all enjoy my letters! Good luck in your lives! Love you all!
LETTER FROM JAN 7, 2016
Hello everybody! I'm leaving to Denmark in 4 days! It's crazy! The Danish is coming along slowly but surely! I can convey what I want to say! It's weird haha.
The work is going forth brothers and sisters! The church is true and so is everything in it! This week has been a rollercoaster for me. Some days I feel like I've never been so spiritually high, and others I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing here.... But every time, I always turn to the scriptures. They can LITERALLY brighten your day and make every thing possible. I bear testimony that that is true!!
The MTC is still overall pretty boring. We do the same things every day.... But it is the hardest thing I have ever done. I realize that I need Heavenly Fathers help. I always find a way to become happy!
It's amazing, how merciful the Lord is with his children. I have seen it.
I love all of you guys and will write you MUCH more when I am actually in DENMARK!! Jeg elsker alle! Love you!
