Late Trains Make Friends

Frederikshavn is a pretty sweet place... Let me briefly tell you all the highlights because they are coming at you quick:

The F-Havn experience:

It's a lot smaller than Odense and a totally different vibe so far. The people are little more rough and a little more- out there- but that makes it so much more fun:) It is definitely not as happening but their are some people out sometimes. But our whole area covers a ton of other cities so we travel by bus to Sæby and Hjørring and Hirtshals and stuff. It is right by the ocean and it has a huge port and stuff so definitely originated as a fishing community but its a fairly big place. We live right next to the gå gade above a fish shop so we definitely get the ocean/ port city vibe in everyday life. They kinda speak a different language up here... haha. I'm definitely a bigger fan of the Fynsk accent as of right now but its super fun to be in a totally different place.

Elder Shuppy is the man! At first he was a little quieter but he is awesome. He has a killer sense of humor and he is super funny and we have had a great time together so far!! I stand by my statement that he is a chess wizard. We have played a lot of chess during lunch and dinner and after planning and stuff and I have never realized just how crazy chess can get. But yea so far its going great! This week though me and Elder Shuppy have been going hard to really organize the area. There were tonnnns of old records going back to 2003 and we went through them ALL! Took forever but now we have a huge list of people we can stop by and now all of the old records we had that had people who had moved or lost numbers or died are now thrown away. The area hasn't been very organized in the past (including our apartment haha) and so we are going to whip it into a clean and organized operation :)

We are in an awesome little branch of about 50 or so active and regular members. I sang a musical number with Elder Shuppy and The Blackhams (the senior couple here ) and I gave a talk and 3 prayers so it definitely feels like a branch. But its way great:)

Some fun experiences:

We have been all over the place trying to get things stabilized so I'll try and give some good ones...

We were out contacting and there was a lady who only spoke Spanish... well I speak Spanish but hey guess what.... it comes out as Danish!! It is the weirdest thing and the look on Elder Shuppy's faced was proof. I started in Spanish and then switched to Danish except I though I was still in Spanish. So needless to say, I need to definitely brush up on Spanish. I think that my brain doesn't have a divided and organized space for every language I learn... I think i might just have a foreign language section that everything justs floats around freely in.... Like big hero six in that portal thing haha.

We were calling all the old records that seemed still practical and legit. I came across one for a guy named IB. He was last taught and had a baptismal date 11 years ago but hadn't been talked to since as far as we figure. So I gave him a call and:

1 it started ringing

2 he answered the phone

3 he told us to call back he was driving

So he actually still exists and has the same phone number after 11 years... that's rare! That's called a blessing:) So we are working on finding a time that works for him:)

This morning we woke up at 6 to try and catch the 6:47 train to Aalborg so that we could go and get Elder Shuppy's biometrics taken care of so that we can be legal. Well after a long sprint down the gå gade, we missed it haha. But that was definitely divinely guided that I had a overly hard time getting up on time because we got to meet E*. I actually only know the first letter of his name too because he would have to write it down if I wanted to be able to repeat it and/or write it. But he is the man!! He came up and asked us about the next train and that sparked a great conversation. The train didn't come for 30 minutes so we began to talk and had a great conversation:) He came from Eritrea in Africa to make better money and help his family come live in a place where it is much better. He has had a rough life. Life 20 grain sandpaper rough. He fought in a war against Ethiopia over land control and was shot 5 different times that should have killed him, and thrown into an underground prison for 4 years where he lost his eyesight because he was talking about freedom and stuff. He also almost died in the Sahara desert because they were lost and out of water. But they ended up finding a car I'm pretty sure and driving to water. He believes firmly in God and goes to church 2 times a week. He also recently lost his wife so he has had it pretty bad. But he was so happy to talk to us and that we were similar in the sense that we left our familes and friends to come to a place to do something for a greater good. So he asked for our number and put it in his phone and said he wants to call us and talk again. We also invited him to church and we want to take him out to lunch somewhere so he is the man! :)))

Chess club:

I don't belong there haha. Basically it is a bunch of chess wizards that consist of old men, Elder Shuppy, and a nine year old chess prodigy. Luckily a new guy came who is around my speed so we sat in the corner and played. He won the first one by a hair and then I beat him handily. The only thing that was a downer was that he slowly got drunk during the course of the night so I think that spurred him to make rash decsisions.... But det skal vi ikke snakkes om:)

Floorball:

Definitely belong here. It is like indoor soccer meets hockey on a hardwood floor. We play every Wednesday night with a bunch of members and nonmembers. They are all way good because they have all played since birth, but I found out that I'm not to shabby at it;) It is definitely one of the more fun sports of life because you can ram each other like in hockey but also use the walls and stuff. You play with a wiffle ball.

Had more bike problems with Elder Shuppy's bike... enough said

There is a type writer in our apartment and it is the coolest thing to use for sprog studies. I write notes or stories or whatever on it :) Way more fun than a computer.

Thought from this week:

You need to be a christlike missionary. Not just do missionary things

Hope you all discover your mission for this next week and fufill it. Ha' det godt alle sammen!

MVH,

Ældste Yepsen (how everyone pronounces it over here :) )

Ældste Jeppson