July 9, 2012

Last week I wasn't able to post his letter so if you scroll down you can read more of his adventures. 

As I reviewed what I did this week, I had to double take. Over half the
things we did and accomplished seem like they were months ago. Whoa. But
that's why it was so fun! It makes me happy to know that my sense of time is
being destroyed slowly and I can go to work without regrets. Some
interesting challenges this week, so I'll up to date you.

It starts at last P-day.
There is something to be said for total obedience. one of the things in
the mission handbook is to wear missionary clothes when you go out, even on
P-Day, unless its for a specific activity. AS we were walking back from
buying food, we were suddenly stopped by this random guy, who asked us for
our info on where our church was, and said he would try and come next
Sunday. Whoa! Blessing for obedience! Nice!

I lament not being able to find normal American brands, of both food and
other supplies. Half the time it feels like I'm playing Russian roulette with
what I buy. I pray in thanks for my companion, who is from Europe, who
knows what to get. He can also cook. It really amazes me how simple he
cooks and yet very delicious it comes out. Maybe my expectations have just
been lowered from living on my own at college. I must say that I'm beginning
to see patterns. For example, Im pretty sure that the food we eat here is
STUFFED with spices. I've never used so many spices on plane potatoes and
sauce before. Totally worth it. Its interesting what a home cooked meal will
do for you. Delicious!

Random things Ive noticed. In one of the stores we bought food in, the
price tags are all electronic, so they can just change them whenever they
need. That was pretty fancy to me. Probably easier too. The store had
special deals of the devil. There would be a candy bar for say... 15 krona.
Pretty expensive for one candy bar. BUT they would have a deal that you
could get 4 for 30 krona. Oooo! Devious!

As we were out knocking doors at the end of the P-day, I saw something
curious. A law-mowing robot. It was just putting along, along this yard by
itself, and turning and adjusting to get what it missed. I just looked at
it and thought it was the coolest thing. The house was very nice and big,
even for American standards. Rich people have law mowing robots. Cool.

Also this week was my first zone conference! How exciting! I got to meet
other missionaries besides my companion and also the new mission president,
president sedarholme. Very cool. I walked in the the church building and I
was weirded out because random missionaries who I had literally never met
were walking up to me, hugging me, and greeting me like a close friend. I'd
never met any of them. I guess thats how the mission is. Everyone are
brothers in the gospel! But the end, I did get to know some of them better,
so I'm not totally in the dark anymore.The new mission president is ok so
far. No one really knows what to think of him yet. One thing I am
absolutely sure of, is that he has been called, straight from God.

Wednesday was an absolute blast! Ældste Arts and I headed off to a town
that hadn't seen missionary work in a while call Struer. Brand new.
Exciting! Potential! And references right off the bat, because we went and
talked to a member who lives there and he had a few for us! Very good! Our
day then consisted of door knocking, to which I saw notable success! At
least more then I had since getting to the mission. We gave away 3 book of
Mormons, one English, one French and one Danish, although he wanted an
English. Go figure. One of them was a super potential investigator, who has
been searching for spiritual enlightenment, and believes in being at peace
with nature, kinda like Buddhist or Native Americans believed. Like with the
oneness and respect for nature? Thats how we caught his attention, saying
that the Book of Mormon was a record of the Indians. If there is one thing
Im learning from my companion, it is understanding what other people think,
and see religion like. He understands them very well. There is more than
just, 'we have a message, listen.'  Its... more. Anyway, a very successful
day!

On Thursday, I had my first actual teaching appointment! Woo! But because of
a horrible scheduling mishap, we were forced to cut it short. It was very
good though, although my companion did most of the talking. The guy seems
very responsive so we hope to meet with him more in the future!

Friday was an absolute blast because it was Splits! My first one, YES!
Ældste Wright and Holyoak came up to help us in Viborg for a day. We
knocked doors and found an incredible amount of success to me! 4 Book of
Mormons! I haven't ever seen that much success since I got here! Teamwork!
It was also nice to meet and get to know some more Elders. it shows me what
other things I can expect from future companions and what i want to be like
for my future companions. A good thing to know. Both of them were absolutely
awesome. I would love to be able to work with them in the future! Can't
wait! It was a pity we had to cut the day short due to travel arrangements.

The big thing that has been holding us back this back half of the week was
sickness.
My companion Ældste Arts has lately been pretty sick. He has massive
headaches and dizziness whenever he gets up or stands up or just works too
hard. Its been going for a few months too. We went to the Doctor to see if
he could help, but one of the tests he did only made it worse. As a result,
it got so bad that we stayed home Saturday. I was very understanding of the
situation, but I'm praying to the Lord that we can find a solution to this,
or we are going to start losing investigators.

The interesting thing about staying home due to sickness is how much study
time you get in. You can learn a lot of things. In reading the scriptures,
I love it when Nephi starts praising the Lord, especially in 2nd Nephi
chapter 4, verse 19. ''...I know whom I have trusted...'' Yes! Yes! I love
this because strive to say the same thing. I know whom I have trusted, in
my work, in my life, in my service. My Lord, and My God Jesus Christ who is
my Savior! Also, we listen to a lot of BYU devotional talks. They are really
cool. When you listen to the prophets voice... and others called of God...
You learn some very intense things. Divine things. At the same time though,
realize they are all BYU talks, so I don't know how good it is to keep
listening to talks about getting married right now... haha!

So I guess thats all for now. Here are a few fun pictures!

Love you all! sounds like you are doing some exciting stuff!

Best wishes to all!
Ældste Christensen