Hey everybody,
So, I didn't get my visa
;_; but that's okay, in the mean time I will be serving in the Eugene,
Oregon mission. I'm hoping it won't be for very long at all, because
right now I am quite worried about forgetting the language, because that
would not be very good for when I actually get my visa. I'm really
excited to go to Denmark, the past couple of days our teachers just went
through their missions in Denmark, and showed us pictures and all the
works. It is going to be an awesome mission when I get out there. But at
the same time I am thankful that I can serve in Oregon as well, because
I know that there is work to be done there, and I hope I can contact
and teach in English seeing how I've only done those in Danish so far.
Elder Nielsen was here for the Tuesday devotional.
It was honestly an awesome talk. He talked about how we should work in
the field, and what are purpose is. The main thing that stood out to me
in his talk is when he said that we have the answer to ALL questions
through Christ. Because, in essence, that is what the missionaries are
meant to do. Answer peoples questions about this life, and God's plan
for them. He talked about how we receive help from ancestors. They they
are praying for us. The ancestors of the potential investigators are
praying for them, so that there ordinance work can be done. He also said
at the same time, we should be praying for the help of the ancestors on
the other side of the veil, to help us find and teach everyone that is
willing and prepared to receive the message that we have.
I don't remember if I have brought this up yet, but
for most of my additional study time I have been studying this ensign
article on lds.org. It's a
comparison of the book of Enoch that was found a while back, to Joseph
Smith's book of Moses. It's crazy the things that are alike in the two
different writings. I would recommend checking it out, just go to lds.org
and search "Enoch part 1" and I think it's called something like...
"something strange in the land, the book of Enoch part 1"...
On Wednesday we got to host the new kids at the
MTC. All that means is that we see them cry and cry and cry when they
get out of the car, then we pull them away from their family for 2
years! It's pretty great. But it was nice to get to know new people when
you are with your district for the past 6 weeks.
Thursday we had "in field training" I don't know if
Phill had to do this, but it wasn't that fun. It was a ton of sitting
and be lectured about things that we already knew for the most part. (At
least the 6 weekers) But in the middle of our 9 hour training we
checked the mail and got our reassignments. Which was exciting, but the
worst part about it, was that most people in our district lost their
will to learn Danish because of the reassignment. We were told over and
over again that we are still going to Denmark, and that is our mission,
where we were called to serve.
So last Saturday, my teacher ate a piece of hard candy,
and inhaled it and got it stuck in his throat. Because it was our super
funny teacher, and we knew that he was okay, it was super funny when he
started dry heaving to get it out in front of the class. (Sounds awful
right?) But because of who he is, it is one of the funniest things that
has happened in the MTC. He got it out and he is okay now. But Saturday
night, me and someone else wanted to see how much cereal we could eat in
one meal. So we sat down, and I had the terrible idea of trying captain
crunch. After 10 bowls of captain crunch, my mouth was torn to
shreds... I think it would have been better to have 17 razor blades in
my mouth than to eat that many bowls of captain crunch. Not only was my
mouth killing me, but I also felt ridiculously sick from it.
Sunday was our testimony meeting with the two
district of the Danes... it was such a spiritually uplifting meeting.
Each and every one of the people I have met in the past 6 weeks are
awesome and have the greatest testimonies that I know. They all have
such inspiring stories about how they ended up on their missions.
(especially the sisters) It was such an inspiring meeting, it made me
realize more of why I am here now, I also learned more about who I am.
Something that really stuck out to me is when one of the Elders, during
his testimony said that "This gospel is for YOU" implying that it is a
personal thing. I realized how true that statement is, that it is for
us, that's why we wanted this gospel in the pre-earth life, it's for us,
so we can develop and learn more during this time on the earth.
Monday was our last day with our teachers... which
was sad. Brother Pullan pulled all of us aside and talked to us. He told
us to set goals about our missions and write a letter for ourselves
after our mission. He has such a strong testimony and spirit, when he
prayed at the end of our meeting, the spirit was there so strongly. In
my journal I related it to a blessing. I honestly couldn't ask for
better teachers, they were the two greatest teachers I have ever known.
I wish you all the best of luck! I love you all!
Elder Swan
I know I'm covered up in the top picture, but it's with my teacher.
Then the bottom one is my funny teacher, this is one of the strange photos where he isn't making a face... but ya
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