This
week feels like there were rays of light in a darkening night. Echos
of
the Invincible Dawn. And snow.
There
were many days this week that were very rough. Long fruitless walks
around
Skive, trying to find old former investigators to ask referrals from.
Days
with very frustrating work. Cold. Dark. Moral on the low end some days.
I
am getting pretty good at what to talk about, or do to make my companion
happier
and in better spirits. I think my service to him, in many little
ways,
is helping his time here in Skive. Its a very interesting thing to me,
forcing
me to take the lead and plan out what we can do some days. Leading
the
way. Making me understand what taking the lead is about, otherwise we
won't
have a plan and end up wandering about aimlessly. Then nothing gets
done.
But
we did manage some good plans for the week and some fantastic successes
came
out of it, for the brief moments they really were.
We had a really great møde med a less active.
We were invited in to a very
warm
and friendly home. Her husband was a very kind host. He likes us
missionary's at this point, something I'm grateful for. He has a good sense
of
humor. We knocked and he answered the door. The looked at us and seeing
our
big coats out in the snow, he asked if we were cold, to which we
replied
yes. He then said ''Too bad'' and acted like he moved to close the
door.
We all laughed at this and he let us in. Leslie served us some hot
chocolate, appropriate for the now very cold Denmark days. And although we
visited
and talked about random stuff, like NASA has announced it can
maybe build sci-fi warp drives,(Its true. Look it up.) the gospel came up
quite
a lot. That was something I had been praying for, that she would
bring
up the gospel. We can't force it down her throat and face the problem
dead
at hand. Instead I've learned that it must come from them. They need
to
open up, make those first few steps. And she did and it was great!
We
had two incredible teaching appointments this week. One with (name withheld) and
the
other with this really random guy that just randomly called us one day.
We
had a lesson with our Iranian friend which was incredible. We showed up,
and
he invited us in. We sat down and went to get his Book of Mormon, along
with
a piece of paper, that he said where a bunch of questions that he had
that
he came up with when he was pondering about what we had said last
time.
For any missionary, that's a super YES! They all turned out to be
fantastic
questions, ones that we could answer with the knowledge that we
had
gained through gospel study and understanding the plan of salvation and
the
churches stance on certain issues. It was crazy because there were
several
moments where in teaching, Æ. Dunshee and I were on the exact same
level
of thought. On two separate occasions during the lesson, we both
thought
of the EXACT same example to use to explain a topic. That was
ABSOLUTELY the influence of the Holy Ghost, telling us what we should say.
The
other moment was when Æ. Dunshee was explaining something about growing
in
faith and at the EXACT same moment, and I could tell what he was
impressed
with it as well, we both had the
impression to use Alma 32, and
the
example of comparing faith like unto a seed.
As we read that, the
spirit came in and began to testify of its truth. Super awesome! And it was
also
incredible to me to see this scripture in action, as we compared it to
(name withheld).
I have begun to see that seed of faith take root. He is beginning to
nourish
it and it is brightening up his life. He even said to us that the
past
few days since we last visited had been really good days. A lot of
good
things had happened to him.
So
it inspires me to learn more and hear more. I'll be able to use it when
I
need. A spiritual promise from the Lord. The more you know, the more
you'll
be able to do and say and the better tool you'll be in the Lords
hands.
The
other appointment was a true miracle. We actually had somebody CALL us
this
week, asking where the church building was, that they had tried to
find
it the past two weeks, but couldn't. We met up with him the next day
and
learned about him, and taught him a really great first lesson. He's a
man
from shilangka (totally spelled wrong) but he speaks fairly good
danish.
However, there seems to be a understanding barrier. He didn't even
know
that there was a difference between the Book of Mormon and the Bible!
We
are still not even quite sure how he got our number, but he seems very
willing
to learn. It was a sorta funny moment when we asked him to pray at
the
end of the lesson and explained how to do it. He agreed, and we all
bowed
our heads. However, after about 20 seconds of total silence, I had to
look
up because he hadn't said anything. I could see that he was in deep
prayer.
He hadn't understood that we meant to pray out loud! Æ. Dunshee and
I
gave each other a look like ''uh...ok?'' So we didn't say anything until
he
was finished. But as he raised his head, I could see echos of tears in
his
eyes and I could suddenly recognize the powerful presence of the Holy
Ghost.
Æ. Dunshee bore testimony of the gospels truthfulness and we could
tell
he could feel it. We left a minute or two later.
To
my great delight, he also came to church this Sunday! WOW! That was
super
great! Thats the first investigator of our own efforts that have
come,
on their own! In like... 5 months! The members were very friendly and
it
just so happened that he came on a fast and testimony meeting, so if
there
was anytime to feel the spirit, it was now. He seemed to like it, and
said
see you next Sunday på danske, so we'll see...
I
truly think there are miracles from the Lord happening in our area right
now.
Opportunity's arising from nowhere. Its an interesting thing to think
about,
that the Lord will bless us with success when we are doing
everything
we can and doing out best. Now my only fear is I'm not going to
be
good enough, not be my best and the Lord will decrease these blessings
accordingly.
There is so much I can work on so that I can claim these
blessings
for and from the Lord. I intend to do my best to the best of my
circumstances!
Yes. Anyway...
Random
note. We got snow! In Denmark! Though it seems a little odd, the
people
used to it. I'm just happy for the white Christmas! And it just gets
colder
from here on out. But that's why I'm happy! I wanted to go somewhere
cold!
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| "Now where is that investigator?" |
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| Snow in Skive |
Happy
December from Skive!
Ældste
Christensen
