S9:E7 "Another one down"

Hello everyone, time to hear a little bit about me again. Not a whole ton of exciting things has happened, just the same old missionary work.

We started off with a good eating appointment with a way nice less active family. I'm not entirely sure why they are less active, but they are. But it was a lot of fun. Ashley was with us, and it was one of the last hurrahs for Sister Briscoe because she went home today. So it was a good day. Drank some more bubble tea. 

We had a lot of service with Maria on Tuesday. that was a lot of fun. I always enjoy doing som service. Then we had quite the adventure. We were on our way up to an appointment on a bus, and that's when this American starts talking to me. So we end up talking about religion and stuff, he is a pretty religious guy. So he asks us where we are heading, so I tell him that we are stopping by one of our members. (a less active member) and so he asks if he could come with us to the appointment. We told him that we could ask. So we walk and we all go into this lesson. Which turns into him just trying to argue about how our church was wrong, and was trying to convert us to his religion. (way annoying, never argue) So eventually we calm it down, have a nice little discussion more about what we believe and not really who is right. The we parted ways after trading numbers and stuff. Just as we get home for the night, I start getting texts from this guy. Still going on about how we "need to think about it like a baseball game" and that we "are on the wrong team". Boy was I tempted to argue. But luckily Elder Christensen came in and took the phone from me because I told him to. Some people these days... But other than that guy, it was a good day. 

We got to go back to Aalborg! :D so great to be back. I love that town. I got to see almost everyone that I knew. Specifically, I got to visit with Familien Jørgensen again, the greenlandic family. It was so great to see them again. They are still doing way well in the church, and Judithe just got a calling of being in charge of the primary music stuff. So that's way exciting. The day after that was up in Aalborg as well. We got to eat at Lee Thi Lams again. The Vietnamese lady that just stuffs you with food. Then we got to meet with the Mathiasens again. I got the package from home. (Thank you!) and just had a way fun time with them. They are such a great family, great examples to me. 

Friday was some more service for Maria, we spent pretty much the whole day moving boxes. Good old moving. Takes me back to the good ol' days. 

Then we played soccer on Saturday, then helped out and went to a wedding reception. That was fun, way weird though as a missionary. Then we ended up having a lesson with our good friend Ashley. It was a good lesson, mainly on the atonement of Christ and why we need it. We also got to meet with a family, the Trap-Nielsens. Way fun. They had 2 of their friends visiting and I just hit it off with them. Way funny sense of humor. They also had a whole ton of kittens there, which is a perk. 

Sunday was a busy day full of teaching. We were pretty much teaching the entire day, up until we had an eating appointment at Marias. The last appointment for some missionaries leaving Århus. We got to teach Ana, the new convert. We talked about the sacrament and we read the prayers with her, and explained them. And that helped a lot, because she doesn't speak Danish, so she actually didn't really understand the sacrament. It made me realize that following/doing things doesn't mean very much to us if we don't understand them. Which is why we need to always be searching for a better understanding of all things. 

All in all it was a good week. Lots of time outside of our area, but a lot of fun. 

Love you all, the church is true!

Ældste Swan

S9:E6 "How to make no friends, and influence nobody."

Well... would you look at that. It's me again. :D Hopefully got some good stories for all y'all.

Monday we went to a nutso little greenhouse thing. It looks like a giant alien Godzilla egg, but it was like the amazon inside of it. We got some good pictures, but sadly, I don't have them with me. So I can't send them home. :P But that was an adventure. Then we finished the day off buy stopping by a guy named Rafik. He was a way nice guy who has been meeting with the missionaries for a long time now. We just got to know him, and said a prayer together. It was a very good p day. 

Tuesday was started by playing Tennis with the British man, or in other words, Ashley. So that was way fun. then we shared a little message with him, talked about testimonies, and what it is to have a testimony. It reminded me of something I read this morning from the Book of Mormon, where if you have a true knowledge of something, then it's not really faith. Just remember that we do act in faith, in all things. :) After Ashley, we went and had a good lesson with a Greenlandic lady named Bitten. That went well. I love Greenlandic people. They are so amazing. What was crazy is that she knew about Judithe Jørgensen from Aalborg. (The girl that got baptized up there) I guess Judithe really is a famous singer.  But after that lesson we went to Simon and Lise Lottes for a birthday party. It was a blast. There was so much of that hot sauce consumed. I felt bad for everyone. But we had to hurry home from the party because that morning we locked ourselves out of our apartment. So we got the key from the other elders, then grabbed our stuff to travel to Copenhagen for a mission conference. 

Wednesday was said mission conference. It was elder teixeira who came and visited us. I learned so much. Before the actually meeting, we had a little leadership meeting, where it was just the zoneleaders. I have a lot to learn and work on when it comes to being a leader and an example. But after the meeting, and seeing everyone in the mission, we stuck around because we were going on splits with the assistents. So that went all fine and dandy. That night, we did some service on splits moving a whole ton of stones. It made me realize how out of shape my arms are now. 

Thursday morning was working in Copenhagen with the Assistants, we had a good lesson with one of their less active members who is making his way back to church. Then we zoomed outta there so I could get back to Århus for an appointment. We taught this appointment, which went well enough. He wasn't too positive but he said that he wants to take a 14 day pause with lessons. Which is fair enough. Then we had a lesson with a member, Daniel. T'was a good day. 

Friday rolls around, we taught a lesson to Ashley. We watched the Restoration movie that the church has. That went well. Then we had a little Young adult party in the church, and we helped out with that. It was a lot of fun. 

Saturday, we were set up to have a lot of lessons... but we got burned a lot. So we ended up having one lesson with Leo, our nice less active friend. We talked about who the Holy Ghost, and the purpose of it. (John 14:26-27) It was a good lesson. 

Sunday was church, then meeting, then we tried stopping by a referral who wasn't home. Then we ate at Marias. Got to see Victor again, the little French man. Then we stopped by 2 of our investigators and got their phone number because we forgot to get it the last time we were with them. 

But now I'm here. Doing just fine and dandy. I hope that everything is going well with you! 

Loves,

Ældste Swan

S9:E5 "The Sermon on the Savage Geese"

Hello again everyone. I am back with some good news! I'm still alive! Going strong! And we had a good zone training this week. But a quick run through of what I have done with my life in the past week:

Beginning with more drama from our neighborhood couple Simon and Lise Lotte. But we figured it all out and had a good lesson and a good dinner with them. We talked about how we need to endure to the end in all things. But especially that we need to have hope in all things. After that, we tried to stop by one of our investigators named Fred. He had a baptismal date, but I have never met him, so we haven't had contact with him in the past 5 or 6 weeks. :/ Oh well, we will get in touch with him.

We also got to help my good friend Victor move some things on tuesday. Gosh I love that kid. Just a funny french kid who likes to nerd out. So we get a long, and we have about the same sense of humor. This was also the day that we planned out our zone training. It was all about commitments. Having faith in commitments, and having faith that the people will do them. 

Wednesday was more moving things for Maria this time. (Maria and Victor live in the same house... just like a big apartment place) So that was fun. Then we had a good lesson with Leo. We found out that he is way Christian. Which was interesting. Because this is the same guy that says that God is an idea. So we had a way good chat about why Christ was here on earth, and what it means for us. We also talked about our purpose, and our relationship with God. It was a way good chat. We finished off the day by watching a movie with Ashley. (the english investigator that wrote the song I sent home). That was a blast. We watched 17 miracles, and Ashley had some way funny comments throughout the film. It was like MST3K. After the movie we set up the church for zone training...

and zone training happened. It went way well. Even though the Sisters who were giving a little thought went waaaaay over their time. We were still able to cram our message in. We focused a lot on how we need to be the example, but as the example we needed to have faith in them around us. We also talked a lot about following up, and how we need to remind the investigators and we need to remind eachother. It was fun to see the zone, and I don't know why, but the zone training just drained all the energy from my body. We finished off the day by eating some dinner with Victor and Maria. We showed Victor and his friends a mormon message (http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=3701964025001&cid=HPTH073114368) way good one. It was the first time I was able to have a conversation with Victor on religion. It was a neat experience.

We had another good lesson with Ashley, talking about why we have the scriptures, and what they do for us. It's an important thing to get that spiritual light every day. 

We also met a new younger couple and we talked for a while with them, just about life and stuff. We also got to talk about the church for a little bit. It was crazy, these two were so smart. They both studied economics. But the guy went to Harvard for a year, and he pretty much just said that as a passing statement. So I learned a lot from those two. 

Sunday was good. I enjoy church. We had yet another lesson with Ashley. But this time we mixed it up and just watched a talk from Elder Holland. We also had a good lesson that night with Ana, the girl that got baptized 2 months ago. She is still doing way well. Although that lesson was one where the member who was there tried to take over and say everything that even crosses his mind... it's kind of irritating. But oh well. :D

That was my week. I hope that you all have a great week, and keep smiling!

Ældste Swan

S9:E4 "The drama takes flight"

Hey all. We had quite the busy week with travel and splits with other missionaries and things. So this email probably won't be the longest thing, but I will attach the song that was inspired by me.

But starting off on last monday, we wrote home, bought food, drank some bubble tea (Delicious stuff) Then we had an appointment with some way nice members. It is actually pretty strange because a past missionary married their daughter. And they were there. (What's really weird is that this guy was on his mission while I was here) But we had a way fun time. They are a way nice family. And they have a kid who is handicapped in a wheel chair named Thomas, pretty much the nicest guy ever. He always just has the biggest smile ever on. Amazing. But after that, we got summoned by our investigators, Simon and Lise Lotte. They were just having some dramatic problems and we showed up and heard them out, shared a little spiritual thought then prayed with them. It seemed to help. We also committed them to praying together every night. And that went well for them. One thing I never wouldn't expected is how much drama and things I would hear as a missionary. It's insane.

Tuesday was a good day. We did zone reports. Which just means we made calls for a long time in the morning. Then we went and taught Simon and Lise Lotte again, things were going way better. We talked about the power of prayer and how answers can come. It was a good little follow up. Then we traveled up to a little town called Skive for splits. 

Splits was pretty straight forward. We had fun. They made us some good food. Then we eventually made it home again. It was special because on the way home, Elder Gines and I were able to stop by someone that Elder Gines taught. This guy got baptized after Elder Gines left, so it was a nice little reunion. 

Thursday was district meeting, then weekly planning, then we travelled to Copenhagen for a leadership meeting. It was way fun. I got to see some good friends again, and ate some delicious food made by Sister Sederholm. 

Friday was the meeting, then we traveled home. Got home in time to teach a lesson to Anne, the girl from Portugal that got baptized a little while ago. :) It went way well. We talked about missionary work and the blessings that come from it. 

We actually got to work a little on Saturday! We played soccer in the morning. Then taught a lesson to Ashley. Then we had a lesson with Thomas right after, now that went way better than planned. We had our ward mission leader with us, and it was the first time I felt like we actually had some common ground with Thomas, and that he learned from our lesson. We focused on the Atonement, but it kinda bounced everywhere. We finished the night off by visiting Daniel, a way nice guy in the ward who is going through some trials in his life. So I was way thankful for the oppurtunity to be with him and to try to help him out. 

Sunday was fun, we wanted it to be more effective but it got taken away from us. We had church, then we were going to teach Ashley, but we all got invited to Marias house and just cleaned up and helped make food all day, which was fun and good. I had a nice conversation with an investigator named David and kinda what he believes in now. So good came out of it. 

Now I'm here writing. Life is good. Choose the right! 

:D