S7:E4 "Saving souls and setting dates"

Hey everyone, we had a way good week this week. Don't you fret. I'm still doing way well, no problems, just working hard. :P Same old same old.

Monday was good, Elder Clawson left me going to København for a 2 days so I was on splits with Elder Sullivan, who was trained by my trainer!!! That was fun. It's always fun going on splits. :D but we had a fun p day of wandering the town, then we went to FHE at a members house with the Jørgensens(awesome greenlandic family getting baptized in 2 weeks) and that was a lot of fun. They had a lot of sweets afterwards... holy cow. 

Tuesday rolls around and we biked, and biked... and biked some more. I thought my legs were gonna fall off. But we stopped by Abdi, the guy from Somolia, he is doing well, like usual. He has the funniest laugh ever, and it made elder Sullivan way awkward. It's like a witch, but happy. But he is one of those people that only laughs at his own jokes. Gosh I love him. After that we knocked at a college dorm and had some more magic. So many positive young peoples, I love it. But we closed the night off by going to Familien Van de Weerd's. That's Maybrits parents. That was so much fun. I love them so much, they are 2 of the funniest people in the ward. Brother Van de Weerd is way good at magic tricks, so when he was showing us those, I felt like a little kid again. Then sister Van de Weerd is just the type of person that makes way funny comments about everything. So that was a blast of a night. Then I got Clawson back, the man himself.  

Wednesday was good, still a lot of biking and stop bys. We got in with a way cool less active (or was less active) guy named Leif. Such a cool cat. We just had  nice chat with him and shared a spiritual thought. Then we had an awesome lesson with Daniel (member) to these two college girls. We just shared the restoration, and it was one of those lessons where all 3 of us are teaching, instead of just the missionaries doing everything, which is the best. But at the end of it, I asked Daniel to say the closing prayer for us. And when he got done, one of the girls was just like "That was weird, I got this peaceful feeling over me" then the other one was like "yeah! it was like a warm feeling in my chest" Then the look that Daniel gave us was priceless. Just this way big grin but looking half surprised. Oh man, awesome little miracle. But after that we played some basketball. Missionaries vs. Investigators. That was fun. 

Thursday and Friday (accidently combined the two) rolls along, we had a good district meeting on service, and how we need to serve like Ammon. But then we went up at met with Samar, which was one of the coolest lessons of my life. He brought one of his friends with him, so we started talking to her as well. The only thing was that Samar isn't good at Danish, and this girl wasn't very good at english. So our lesson, split into two. (Thank goodness for companions) So elder Clawson was teaching Cecilie, while I was talking to Samar. They were both way good lessons, but in the end, we invited Samar to be baptized and set a date to work towards. It was magical. After that, we had a way good lesson with Familien Jørgensen, just going over the last few things that they need to hear before they can get baptized. That went well, I love that family so much. 

Friday was goood, pretty fun. We started off the day with apartment checks. We passed with flying colors of course. Then we went up to an older couples home and did some service. I was chopping wood for 2 to 3 hours. :D surprisingly fun. Then they gave us some yummy food, then we left. Me and Elder Clawson met with this awesome member. Lass, and shared a good lesson. Elder Clawson busted out his harmonica and talked about how we need to first obtain the ability, then share. Then we tell them that they have obtained the ability, they just need to share the music now. It was fun, such a great guy. 

 

Saturday I was on splits with Elder Madsen, that was a lot of fun. Nothing super special happened. We got lost, shared a lesson with some members. Oh, well after trying to stop by someone who wasn't home, we were just standing there thinking of what we can do. When this guy bikes up by us and just starts making small talk. We ended up teaching him a lesson on the street and then inviting him to general conference. (The session that will be in the church) That was a little miracle that we had. 

Sunday was good. The Jørgensens were in church, which went way well. The ward is still awesome here. Then we stopped by a less active named Knul and invited him to general conference. Then we finished up our weekly planning, and after that we had an awesome lesson with a guy named Andreas, talking about the plan of salvation. That was cool, because what he believes in, was pretty much exactly what we were teaching. Then he was like "I think I will come to your church on Sunday" we were just like, yes, yes you should. 

But now I'm here, feeling like a million bucks, although quite hungry. I think I'm gonna go eat some turtles, so be jealous. But until next time. LOVES!

S7:E3 "Pastries mixed with the Spirit"

Well, another week has come and gone. Way fast might I add. It's crazy how fast the time goes by, but that's how it goes I guess. I'm doing well, just tearing it up here in Aalborg, and loving every minute of it. But before I get into the week, I will talk about my companion.

Elder Clawson, born and raised in the San Francisco area. He is a musician, a bass player. He has wanted to go into music since he was 13 years old. He loves jazz music. Playing, listening, and so forth. He likes pizza, having fun, and long walks on the beach. Blonde hair, blue eyes... awesome guy. :3 oh, he wants to own his own recording studio when he is older. That's sweet.

But as for our week, we had a way stinking good week. On Monday, my companion and someone else in our district needed haircuts, so they asked Maybrits sister. (Sister Frost) So we went up there and ended up spending like our whole p day there, then eating dinner with them. What an awesome family. They have a 7 year old daughter that got to sit with me when we ate dinner, and we had quite the chat, so now we are the best of friends. Then they have a son named Emil, who was playing video games in his room, and I just mozied on over there and got talking to him. That's when he started playing Scott Pilgrim, the video game (holy cow, it's amazing) so now we are the best of buds as well. So after having a way nice day with an amazing family, we headed over to an investigator named Ninja (yes, ninja) and we talk a pretty straight forward lesson about the plan of salvation. They went well, nothing too special to comment on. But that was our p day.

Tuesday rolls around, we stopped by our good friend Abdi, who is doing way better. He was smoking so much, and he was much more sane this time around. We shared a little message with him, then we went up to Brønderslev, where  we knocked a little, and the 2nd door that we knocked on, this Brazilian girl let us in. She said that her cousin is a mormon, and that she was way Christian. Sadly, she wasn't super interested in hearing the gospel, BUT they invited us to this bible study group that they have, so that will be exciting to go to. Then we met with Samar, our New Zealand gangster. I love him so much, such a funny kid. We had a good lesson, and got his birthday so that we could find out if he is a member. Then we just left the magical town and went home. 

Wednesday was an alright day. It was pretty much full of stopping by less actives, with no luck. Then we knocked some college dorms, and this way nice girl answered and was interested, so we set up an appointment with her for this wednesday. Then we ended the day by playing basketball with some members and investigators at the church, which was way fun. 

Thursday comes around, we start off with a district meeting, just talking about how we as missionaries can help members. But other than that, the main cool thing that day was our lesson with Familien Jørgensen. This Greenlandic family is so prepared. We taught about the plan of salvation, and at the end of it the husbad was just like "I was thinking about that the past couple of days, and you answered all of my questions." Which was sweet, then we asked if he had any other questions, then he pointed to the Book of Mormon and said "that book has all the answers" haha. He knows his stuff, they both do. But after that, we set a baptismal date with them, and they are way excited for it. Such an awesome family!

Friday was a chill day. We started off by just picking up some flyers to give out for general conference, then buying a pastry for our weekly planning. After that we took a bus forever to stop by this less active, who talked to us about Hawaii a whole ton. Still a good day though. 

Saturday was good. We went back up to Brønderslev and ate a giant icecream cone. Nothing too special happened up there this time. We met with our Mission leader, and talked with him for awhile. We also stopped by Abdi, and just read a little out of the book of Mormon. That went well. Nothing too crazy happened that day. :3

Sunday was awesome, we had church, then a meeting, then the older missionary couple fed us lunch. After that we had an eating appoinment with the Jørgensens. That went so well. We taught them about faith, repentance, baptism, holy ghost, and enduring to the end. It was cool, because after we taught about repentance, Judithe asked us if drinking and smoking was a sin, and that they had been discussing this in the past couple of days. So we taught that as well. We gave Maelek a blessing so that he could stop smoking, and the spirit was just super duper strong. Such an amazing family. I made some pastries that night, they turned out pretty well. (kanelsnegle) Lot's of butter, I might die, but I will die happy! :D

I hope that you all have had an amazing week. May God's blessing be with you all! LOVES!

S7:E2 "Windy Windy stuff"

Hey everyone, it's that time of week again. I'm doing great as usual. :D I'm loving it here in my new area. Aalborg is such a pretty town, and the ward is awesome. It is windy almost 24/7 but that's just a part of the experience I guess. But anyways... on to the good part.

So Monday after traveling forever and finally getting here and getting settled in, we went to the bishops for Family home evening with a greenlandic family that we are teaching. That was awesome. The Bishop and his family are awesome people, way nice. Then I had the chance to meet Familien Jørgensen, the greenlandic family. That was just awesome. They were definitely prepared for the message of the gospel, and they are an amazing family. We had a way good lesson from Sister Mathiesen on how we are children of God, and that we need to remember that simple fact. The spirit was way strong, and sometimes we need to just teach those way "simple" doctrines to share the things that people need to hear. But after the lesson, we ate some cake and played a board game with them, all in all, a very very good night. 

Tuesday rolls around and we start the day by biking to a members house to do some service. We painted his apartment, but I was just on paint duty because I didn't want to get any paint on my clothes. (Lame... I know) While there I got to meet Nikolai (The person we were serving) as well as Mike, who is this way sweet guy who was a member but left the church. So that was cool. After serving, we went to the church and set up some chairs and tables for an activity. Then we had a way good lesson with this girl named Camilla. We just talked about how God is with us, and will help us through all things. It was a way powerful lesson. She has a strong testimony, she is just shy and is worried about what people will think of her. (Hard childhood and stuffs) But that was a way good spiritual pump up. After that we stopped by another investigator named Abdiraman, a way funny guy. It was kind of sad though, because this time when we stopped by he was way stressed, and smoking like a factory. So nothing really stuck with him. But the story with Abdi is that he was a way good soccer player when he was 19. (played on the national team) then because he started getting money he got into drugs and that crap, but now he is on the way up again and trying to do what is right, which is awesome. But because of all the drugs and stuff, he has some dementia and stuff. :P But he is a way sweet guy, I love him. 

Wednesday, we serve in the morning again! My thighs are killing me because I had never biked this much before in my life. (I hate hills) That was good. Then we had an appointment with an investigator. But got burned... so we went finding. Then we had another appointment with someone, got burned again (oh the curse of elder Swan) But we ended the day by playing basketball with the ward and some investigators, so that was fun to meet some more people. This was the first day that I met Maybrits Mom, which was a fun little thing. It was just like "hi, how are you doing, who are you?" Then I was like "I'm from mapleton, do you recognize that?" then they pieced it together because Maybrit had warned them. haha, way nice people though. :) 

Thursday rolls around and we have our first district meeting, it went way well. I'm still district leader, and I have like 8 people in my district now. (4 sets of missionaries plus an older couple) So that was good, we talked about the spirit of Elijah and how that relates to thinking of your family that is here now. Then we went and got me checked in to Aalborg. Then we went to stop by an investigator for an appointment and once again, burned. (The curse continues!!!) But that night we met with this guy from New Zealand and had a good lesson with him. During that lesson, he told us that he met with missionaries before, and that he was baptized. :O so we need to see if that's true and get his records. He is a way cool guy, and we had a good lesson with him. 

Friday, we start off with an appointment with someone and Mcdonalds and, you guessed it. Burned. (Curse) But that's okay, because we did weekly planning, then we went out and met with this guy named Andreas. He is from Greenland, and he has a lot of faith. We had a way way way good lesson with him, and he seems way positive now. We just talked about how the Book of Mormon brings us closer to Christ and how it helps us to understand the bible. That was a big blessing that we got. 

Saturday rolls around, which was way random because we were invited to this kids house who is getting baptized, but no one had been able to meet the parents. We got to eat with them that day. So we spent a long time at their house. (Elder Clawson playing bass with Mikkel, and so on) then we had a way nice dinner and I feel like we made a good impression. They weren't interested in religion at all, but it was good enough. So that was a way sweet day. 

Then sunday rolls around, we got ourselves some church. Sadly none of our investigators came... but it will happen. I got to meet some cool members, including Maybrits Dad, who is a way funny guy. Haha, I'm excited for our appointment with them. But after church, we stopped by some people in a town called Vodskov, and we had a good less active lesson with a guy named Oleg. We just got to know him and talked about what the church can do for us. Then answered some of his questions. 

Now I'm here, and my thighs are surprisingly still okay. Just going to get huge from muscle soon. I hope that you all are doing well, and have a good week! <3

 

 

S7:E1 "Sail away"

Hey everyone! I hope that you all had a good week. I sure did. :) I got some exciting news, but I forgot my old planner and my journal... so it might be kinda short. But let's get to it:

Monday we went to hardrock cafe for Elder Strongs birthday. That was fun and delicious. It was nice to see a lot of misisonaries that I hadn't seen for a while. So we ate our expensive food and drank our free water, then we wished elder Strong a happy birthday. After that we went and bought some food, and stuff. Then we had an eating appointment with the Eriksens, which was a lot of fun. We got to spend some time with Daniel, their son, who is way talented with making techno music (fruity loops is the program that he uses) so we got to hear his stuff and see how it is done. Then we had a good spiritual thought as usual.

Tuesday was zone conference. We learned more about how we can use family history in finding people to teach. That was good. I learned a lot about how we can help specific people in our area. But after zone conference we were told transfers, and I was to leave. I was going to Aalborg! :D woot woot. That's where Maybrit comes from, and it's where I wanted to go. So I am way excited and way happy about that. Then we talked to president just about the changes for a bit, and that was our day.

Wednesday rolls around, and I can't remember anything that we did. -.- I think that this was the day that we went up and stopped by familien Eriksen to say bye. We also were knocking a little bit up there and found a family that was pretty interested. That was cool. 

Thursday, I can't remember again... sheesh. This is why I always have my planner or journal with me. We did something fun and productive. 

Friday we stopped by some members and told them that I was leaving. We also set up some apointments with some people for my replacement and Elder Christensen. 

Saturday was about the same, this isn't very detailed... I know. I should've remembered my stuff. Something that was cool is that I got a text from one of our investigators and she was just like "thanks for everything and I really hope that you come back and that we keep contact." and I was like "yes! I am doing my job of being awesome" haha. 

Sunday I bore my testimony which went well. It was neat to see everyone that I knew in the ward come up and support me with the transfer that's coming up. I had a lot of good chats with the ward members. I got to say bye to David Barrett, the stud himself. I will miss that ward. We finished off the day by going to bishops and eating some food. It was way hyggeligt and a good way to finish off the area.

Today, I was on a train for 4 hours, now I'm in Aalborg, typing this email. Sorry it's so short... :((

I hope that you are all doing well, and that you have a good week. :)

S6:E11 "Oh Sandy Face"

Hey hey hey, It's me Again! I'm doing well, pushing forward, spreading the gospel! It's been a Little tough this past week because we couldn't get in with like any of our investigators, but nonetheless it was a good week.

Monday we started off by going to the big mall Again called Fisketorvet. That was fun, nothing too special happened except for one of the sister missionaries in my district bought a pair of crock dress shoes... they are one of the most tacky Things ever invented. Then we had a good eating appointment with the Tofts. This is the Family with all of the crazy kids and it just goes wild when the missionaries are over. We talked about movies, all the movies that have come out in the past year, and then me and my companion had to leave, while the sisters gave the spiritual thought. After that appointment, we tried stopping by a less active, WHO wasn't home... which was a Little saddening. Then we went home, because it was that time Again.

Tuesday, we had a good district meeting. It was the last one for Elder Pitts. :( I'm gonna miss that guy. (Random thing, he was in my dream last night, that's how badly I will miss him) So we had a good meeting, then we ate lunch as a district, which was cool. We were watching some mormon.org videos while we talked and just had a good time. After that we stopped by Ibrahim and made an appointment with him. Then we had another eating appointment, where elder Christensen (My son) gave the spiritual thought, or at least started it. We just talked about how we can do missionary Work together in stead of as 2 different forces. After that appointment, we stopped by Karina, the girl that loves nature, and she had some incense burning in her house, and we drank some tea, and talked for like an hour. When we were leaving I was kind of mumbling what I was saying, I thought it was because I was really tired. But Karina and my companion said that I was high... so... only God knows.

2:00 AM, it happened Again... I don't know what the members are doing to me.

Wednesday rolls around, and we started off by stopping by a potential in virum, but she wasn't reasonable, or interested. after that we stopped by some referrals that had never been contacted in Bagsværd, but I don't think they were home, then we went back Down to the CUV center to teach our English class, but once Again, no one came. Not even Elijah. Although Elijah said he would've come if we would've stayed longer. So after that we tried stopping by some less actives with the extra time we had.

Thursday morning we went up to Gl. Holte to stop by Mary Jane, the potential from the Phillipines that we met at a bus stop. Sadly, she wasn't too interested. It was like a knife to my Heart, then we tried stopping by the Family up there that we found kind of miraculously, but they weren't home Again... Then we had an appointment with Ibrahim. It was way... interesting because we got to see him do a Muslim prayer. That was an experience. Then we got to talk with him for quite a long time and this time we actually got to teach a lesson. Sadly he isn't positive... at all. Maybe in the NeXT life. But that was the exciting part of the day.

Friday was all right, in the morning we went to the police station so that Elder Christensen could do his biometrics. So that was just walking to and from the place. Then we did our weekly planning, which was a blast as usual, then I got to hold a baptismal interview for someone. That was a way cool experience. It was kinda more like a fake interview, just so she could see how she is doing. But we had a way good chat, and a good lesson. Just about the church, and she believes everything, just needs a testimony in the Book of Mormon and the restoration. So, it's coming.  Then we ate pizza with her, and the sisters. (Because natalia is their investigator.)

Natalia called me fat while we were eating... it was hurtful.

Saturday comes around, and we had a meeting in the morning, where they talked about the spirit of Elijah, and how sometimes just talking about Family experiences it can invite the spirit. They talked about how we can use that as missionaries, and how we can turn the conversations to a gospel related thing. That was sweet. Then once Again we met with Natalia with the sisters, just because she is so close. They asked us to come and give her a Blessing, so that was exciting. I butchered her name. (It's Ukranian) That's a hard language... But we had a way good lesson with her, just talking about her questions, and trying to answer them.

Sunday, church!! It was alright. We can't seem to get an investigator there... but oh well. We are still working hard. We stopped by Preben and Inge, and shared a Little lesson with them. These two are hoarders, their house is full to the roof, BUT they cleaned out another Square! They actually did a lot and it looked like a kajillion times better. It still smells like something died in there. I love Preben and Inge, they are so funny, and way sweet. I wish that we could help them out more, but visiting them and giving them some Company is enough. Then we had an appointment with the Meilsøes, that was a lot of fun. We had a lessson where we just talked about Family experiences and why the Family is important.

Now, I am here. :D Crazy, I know.I love you all, and so does the Lord. Remember WHO you are.

From the one, the only,

Ældste Swan