Merry Easterz!

Hope you all had a great week! Easter is always a fantastic time to reflect and renew. And it means spring is about here which is a huge plus:) This week was pretty packed as the end of transfers are. We did a ton of service and other stuff but still had a stellar week of finding and teaching so how we all got that packed in the same amount of time as we always have is unreal but who cares?:)

Some things about Easter here:

>They have 3 days off of work as a country and they have Easter vacation

> There are two days of Easter, 1st Easter Day and 2nd Easter day

>They have Påske Frokost: It is basically an easter Brunch where they eat eggs in every way possible and fish and some bread

> They partied a lot... haha

Progress:

So this week was way good as far as teaching and finding. We did some service/teaching for B* and had a good appointment. We threw down with him on some controversial subjects he had questions on and then taught the restoration again because he mixes his JW beliefs about authority and what not so we have to seperate the wheat from the tares haha. That went well though and we washed his windows for him on his accupuncture clinic that is shut down now but that some hooligans vandalized. #choosetheright

With A* and M*, we got to share a simple easter message and discuss why easter is important to them (we actually did this message a lot this week:) ) I think it went way good because last lesson was intense and we needed some cool down time. So it was good to discuss they have a testimony on already:)

We met with a guy we knocked into last week named T*. He is a stud!! He is a normal young dane who is very sincere to learn. When we showed up, he already had a Book of Mormon sitting out on his table that he had dug out from 8 years before. Apparently he had met with missionaries a long time ago but never believed in God at that point. He told us though, that he had found God last year, and was glad we showed up againg to talk because he is still new at the whole believing thing and he needs some guidance. We basically just discussed the Book of Mormon and told him that we arent the ones who can tell him how he should use his faith. We merely told him that we are just the ones who invite others to try what we have done and to explain how one can find out for themselves. So I'm super excited for him! He has five big exams next week but we scheduled something for the 14th of April.

With our Nigerian brotha I*... we stopped by him because he hasn't been answering and he came to the door and said he was way sorry that he didn't answer and stuff. We told him no worries and Happy Easter and he was way greatful. He had his ex wife over with her friends for some reason and I could tell it was a nice ray of sunshine with what was going on. He wasn't too happy when he answered but by the end of it we made another appointment for the 4th of April. He had even read the stuff we gave him in the Book of Mormon so we were so happy:) He is the man!

Hard days happen:

I think that hard days have to happen because otherwise you wouldn't get excited when things are going well haha. I think The Lord really wants to challenge us to see if we are in it for real before He gives us opportunities to teach his children. Here is an example:

Tuesday was a hard day because:

> We were tired from chopping tons of wood and hauling it around

>We had a hard 2 hour knocking session where people really just had no belief or desire to believe in anything really. That is always quite discouraging because you can't do anything else as a missionary after you've asked if they hope for anything or if it could mean anything to them if God came down right then and there. So we got a lot of hard no's haha. The last guy was actually a very proud and "stiffnecked" man to quote the scriptures. We tried just inviting him but he was set on telling us to go home and stuff like that. It was straight out of the scriptures with Nehor or Sherem haha. 

> We were an hour late to an eating appointment because I was confused when we tried to schedule it and reschedule it haha.

So why was all this so good for us?

Well... we learned from the knocking session that once again, even though it is hard, we are still willing to do the work. especially with people like the last guy. At least for me, I got a huge testimony boost because that guy wasn't about to be a reason I feel like going home. It was great to have the Lord on my side:)  I told him i won't go and why and then we both kind of  "exhorted" him to rethink his belief. Total scripture scenario and yea, it was as intense as the stories. The Gospel is so great:)

Also, Wednesday and Thursday kicked Tuesdays trash and we had a great time teaching and preaching both in our area and up on splits with the ZL's.

Other good stuff:

We had a way epic eating appointment/ kind of lesson. This guy named Ken Hall in the ward (who is a beast!) had us out to his area to have a picnic lunch on these hills where old castles used to be. But because it was Elder Ericksons birthday and Easter, he set up an easter egg hunt for us and his kids haha. He also had some funny little presents that Elder Erickson had to earn by doing some challenges which were way fun. Super quality! I say it was a kind of lesson because Svendborg Eders brought their investiator and we had a less active there:)

We also ate with Bishops family. They had all the missionaries out and had a sweet appointment where we also had a little egg hunt and then played basketball with the Bishop and his son:)

Misc:

I'm not sick anymore:)

Spiritual thought:

So i read a talk this week by President Nielsens wife, Wendy Nielsen. (the apostle and his wife). In her talk she challenges some young adults to pray every day for an answer to a question you have and then flip randomly in the scriptures and start reading. She gives a promise that youll find an answer. So i tried it and it worked! I dont need to go into the details, but i got an answer:) Her challenge is to do that for 30 days and then see how much the Lord really does answer prayers.

So that is my challenge this week. Think of a question every day and then go for it! If you need another testimony that it works, you can take mine! And then if you don't believe me, Elder Erickson testifies of it too. So use that as a kickstart to get a testimony of it for  yourselves about it!

Prayer works. The church is true. Have a great week:)

MKH,

-- 

Ældste  Jeppson

Most romantic castle in Denmark according to H.C. Anderson

Birthday for Elder Erickson and Easter egg hunt feat. me not ready for the picture :) 

Frederecia skyline on splits

Elder Reber (one of my zone leaders) on lunch break haha

Easter morning walks

A hookah cafe called babylon haha. Ironic right? Lol 

Odense Moving Co.

This week went by way too quick... but here come the highlights of a condensed week. Me and Elder Erickson got sick (as prophesied by our boy B* WHO is pregressing:) ) So some of this week was spent in hibernation trying to get better haha.

Progress;

So B* is way positive now. We went to visit him this week on Wednesday and had a way good lesson with him. He is pretty sincere now which is a first because in  the past it has been more of a social thing more than anything. He asked a lot about why there is so much bad in the world so that proceeded into God's plan for us and basically about the plan of salvation in total. He was pretty Deep with his questions so that was sweet. He also gave us some super vitamin c pills that are natural Indian fruit or something but he gave them to us and even came to give them to us so he is the man. He came to church like a champ too:)

We had some good lessons from bånking and contacting this week and have some sweet appointments lined up for Next week. Our boy I* Was super busy with school but we scheduled with him for Next week so we are way hopeful for him. All of our other peeps are doing well too.

Moving: 

I have a testimony of youth being dragged to help people move because our district minus the sisters and two other Guys moved a Family off the fourth floor in about an hour. It was wayyy cool:) We had this assembly line where our arms were long enough to hang Down over the rail to pass the stuff:) Haha way funny. Otherwise we were sprinting around up and downstairs. We were way proud:) We also doubled up on bikes to ride back to the station to catch a train so that we could go do some more service moving Wood for a guy. Well, because we hurried, we didn't buy bike tickets so we got busted haha. 

Now normally the tickets cost 750 kroner... but i gave the guy some Jeppson charm and got him Down to 100 krones and only for me, not for Elder Erickson. It turned out the ticket was about the same as a bike ticket so that was sweet haha.:)

Other:

Had a way fun English class. Consisted of an Aarabic man, Vo Long, an Icelandic lady, a guy from Ghana, and 6 White boys from the states haha. Good stuff:)

Being sick still isn't fun... even in Denmark haha

Spiritual thought/stuff:

Try reading the Talk "His Grace is sufficient" by Brad Wilcox... good stuff:)

https://www.lds.org/ensign/2013/09/his-grace-is-sufficient?lang=eng

Happy spring peoples! Break out the shorts and eat ice cream:)

Peace!

Ældste Jeppson

Doin The Most

This week was incredible:)  The amount of Work you can do when you stick to it is unreal! We had a crazy slammed week with a ton of good Things happening... and not only just with our companionship. Our district and zone are KILLING it! So id say it was a pretty decent one;)

I.M.P.R.O.V.E.D Finding:

SO we are doing a huge push on making our finding a new level of effective. It is a push where basically you and your companion find a way to improve your finding (pretty straightforward). There are a bunch of details that I don't need to explain, but it definitely has made a huge difference. I think it really it really has just been a big change in mindset. Everyone is so much more determined (at least our district) to get things done and it really shows.

Monday:

Pday and stuff. But the best part was the finding block we had after dinner. We had the opportunity to rededicate our area to the Lord before doing the bånking to find people. We had set a goal that night to teach two lessons and find a new friend. And we did! We were so psyched that we did it:) It really was just a mindset change. The guy we found ended up calling us back and saying he doesn't think he could meet because he has a pretty large language barrier in English and Danish because He is from Syria. We stopped by with Arabic materials but he didn't answer haha.

Tuesday:

Tuesday was great! We called up this guy named I* a while back and asked to meet and set an appointment with him. He is a super chill guy from Nigeria who  has been here for 7 years. He is a way smart guy and has a masters degree in something. But we read in 3rd nephi 11 with him where it talks about Christ coming to the American Continent and we discussed it and talked about a ton of things based off of that. He is wayy sincere and open and said that he would be willing to think about being baptized if he recieved an answer:) So we are super excited for him!

After that we taught two less active/inactive members back to back. The first one is Kim de King and is a way interesting guy. He is the most active inactive ever and has a super strong testimony. He told us he has no reason to not come to church except that he is waiting until this spring or something. I don't know but he is super chill and talked about how much he loves Elvis and stuff. Swell guy:) After that we taught a disabled man who was baptized two years ago. He is a super sweet guy!

Wednesday:

Bike problems and meetings. It wasn't my bike though so I am pretty happy about that part haha. We were pretty ready to lob Elder Ericksons bike out the 3rd story window. The only plus to it is that I now can fix almost anything on a bike and that I own all the tools to do it that are all sitting in my bag all the time. So at least i can help others haha

Thursday:

We got to meet with the German guy B* Again this week. He is doing pretty well! he said that he would be baptized, just not yet. So we are pretty excited for him. We are doing some service with him this week and teaching too so we are looking forward to that. Oh guess what... MORE BIKE PROBLEMS. BUt we still were able to do finding and teach some people so it wasn't too bad.

Friday:

Friday was beast! We went wayyyy hard. When we got to weekly planning that night we were pretty dead. It was great:)) But we taught this guy from the states named c* who wasn't that positive. He basically just talked about how he got fired from jobs all the time.... Don't know why. But he is a nice dude from New York and teaches a lot of funky styles of Wushu Fighting from China haha. He kinda took up a ton of our time but it was all good. Incredible stuff!

Saturday:

Oh man.... just as good! We took two of the Young men in the Ward on splits with us and had a wayyy sweet two hours. We ended up teaching two each and got two new investigators out of it. The Young men were wayyy jazzed. One lesson taught by Elder Erickson and Marcus was with A* and M*. They basically threw Down and at the end they said they would come to church:) After that they found a super positive Vietnamese lady!! Whooooooo:) So we are going back to her on Saturday. Me and Victor taught some old potential investigator that we didnt know about and happened to knock into. He basically doesn't really care about religion and said it wouldn't mean anything to him if there is a God. He is super nice but yeah.... After that we fouond a super nice Bosnian lady:) So we get to come back to her :)

Then me and Victor had a backflip contest while we were waiting for the other two so we could go to lunch.... i Won:) Then we went up to Aarhus for the evening session of stake conference. We were a Whole hour late because our train got way delayed.... :( But we got to stay the night with Elder Eaves and Elder Curnow in Horsens which is pretty close to Aarhus so that was way nice:)

Sunday:

 We had stake conference! Elder Larry R. Lawrence was there but he didn't actually speak which was surprising. But it was a way good conference! Then we chilled at the church in Aarhus because me and elder Erickson Were waiting to get interviews from President. So we basically got home in time to have dinner and make calls  to the district for call night. So that day was gonzo haha. But it felt like two!

The fun and stuff:

Me and Elder Erickson found this revolutionary thing for our companionship. He remembered this thing he used at home to help him sleep called delta waves. Basically, it is this music that helps your brain create delta waves which are what make neurons fire that disrupt communication in the brain.  Delta Waves are what cause sleep to be restorative, which allow the person to wake up feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. So we have listened to that while we sleep and i think it has made a big difference haha.  BUt it is fun to hype up and look forward to. One of our mottos is to do it for the delta waves haha.

During this week we found a pretty positive polish girl who we got to pray in polish at the end. Way cool! :)

Spiritual thought:

3rd nephi 11... read it:)

Well have a swell one! Vi snakkes :)

MKH,

Ældste Jeppson

A break at a zipline 

 

ME pullin elder Erickson

A sweet church

The district crew:)

Mega Seng

Happy March!  I don't know if the groundhog saw his shadow over in the states but we keep getting rain over here so he kind of limited the early spring opportunity, but at least it is getting closer... :)

Progress:

So this week we had some good stuff going. We taught our friends A* and M* again this week and had a great lesson! It was a pretty easy going conversation where the spirit was definitely present and everyone was feeling good. At the beginning, we read 3 Nephi 11 where it talks about Jesus visiting the other sheep of his fold (John 15 and16). We discussed why Jesus didn't just stay in Jerusalem after he was resurrected because He atoned for everyone. It was super awesome because at the beginning he said he wasn't super down to read the Book of Mormon because he respects all religions in general but doesn't necessarily care to join one. We discussed a lot about what it could mean for him if he knew that God had one true church on the earth and if he was able to find that out through prayer and studying the scriptures.  In the end, we invited him to read every day in the Book of Mormon and pray about it for a week, and see if something happens. So he said that sounds like a fair invitation. So we bore testimony that he really could find an answer if he really wants one. So that was great:)

B* came to do some Family histroy at the Family history center on Wednesday night. He was super jazzed that we found all the way back to his great grandparents on two lines. The most impressive part was that he remembered all of their birthdays, birthplaces, deathplaces, and date of death off the top of his head. So I think that it means something to him:) Super cool!

Me and Elder bennett went on splits for 24 hours starting Wednesday night. We really went hard the next morning and found 4 potentials and taught two lessons in 1 hour and a half! We have really been focusing on improved finding and other Things of that nature as a mission and it is really turning the mission up a couple notches. I have a testimony of improved finding! haha So that was a stellar day of splits for sure. Elder Bennett is a super awesome guy from Montana and actually worked in a lab at Montana state doing top level research with stem cells as an assistant to the pros of that realm! The people you meet on the mish are super great:)

We picked up a new friend named F*. He is a super funny guy and about 60 years old. All of his Family is Greenlandic (he married a Greenlandic lady) so he is always in Greenland but we finally caught him at the right time. He was a Little bit drunk.... (that Means quite a bit over here haha). But we had a cool discussion with him that was decently positive and we ended up swaping books... the climb of george mallory on Everest for the Book of Mormon. So that was fun haha:)

We helped teach a guy named V* who is a way positive investigator that the sisters teach. We went with for practical safety reasons because it is church policy to bring others if it is the opposite gender. But he is a wayyyy cool guy. Super Sharp dane who teaches calculus as a professor at the university. He is only 30ish and his mind is like a steel trap. But we had a way cool gospel discussion and he was super sincere. Pretty cool:)

MIsc:

Went to a way cool members house for an eating appointment. He gave me a mystery item to eat..... well it was a huge habanero pepper so i sat there and took it like a champ and kept going haha. Our mission is pretty obsessed with doing spicy food challenges and stuff and he knows that so he always has way spicy stuff sitting around for us. But it was a super fun appointment! I had a bakeoff with Elder Bennett as my partner against two 12 and 15 year old girls for dessert. We won;)

We saw the Svendborg elders a consecutive 10 days and stayed the night with them in Odense and Svendborg 4 nights this week because of splits and service and zone conference haha. So it has basically been a four man Apartment:)

Bought a venus fly trap. Named him Darius.

Elder Bennett brought us further into the herbal tea realm... haha

Spiritual thought:

 I read this week in a talk "The Character of Christ" Again and Elder Bednar had a way good point. It has to do with Charity. We are not able to just develop charity all on our own. It is actually something we must strive to obtain through Christ. It is something that posesses us, not the other way around. 

in Moroni 7 verse 47 it says:  

47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.

 So Let yourselves be possessed by charity. :)

"Carry on. Things will work out. If you keep trying and praying and working, things will work out. They always do. If you want to die at an early age, dwell on the negative. Accentuate the positive, and you’ll be around for a while." -Gordon B. Hinkley

Have a great week! Do sigt and fedt Things with it!

MKH,
Ældste Jeppson

 None of our investigators showed up to cookie night except one... so he taught us arabic songs :)
https://youtu.be/qlOZHL3yQqM

Ride the Hippo

Some fudge we made :)

Our pretty posh lejlighed