Tillykke med Fars Dag:)

For all the dads who are too busy playing with their new power tools to put that into google translate,  that means happy fathers day:) I wish you a good week of working on your cars in your leather jackets to the scent of cooking bacon. Have a manly week. haha 

This week was pretty happening. We had a whole lot of stuff and some good things that i guess I would be willing to share:

Update on the area:

Everything is going well with the work here in Århus. We have been doing a ton of finding in nicer neighborhood. I have had to change a bit: meaning I've had to get bolder and really put my heart on the proverbial plate to show the importance of the message. You know, it kinda hurts haha. A lot of people we talk to (especially those in the nicer areas) really are content with where they are at. It has definitely made me realizer the importance of perspective on things. A lot of those we meet have the perspective of "Look i have a family and we live in a big house and are happy and don't need anything else. You're wasting your time because we have already heard the message" And it is hard because you really want for these people to just give it a TRY... Take away the big house and the Audi r8 in the driveway and I would bet some of those we have talked to would listen haha. (I am not generalizing because we do have some great conversations all the time... but most everyone doesn't want to just give it an honest chance). So I think the Lord is teaching Elder Bishopp and I a lesson or two right now. 

Well J* is having a break right now. So not much say right now. His desire to change is real and there, but things aren't really happening right now so we are giving him some space to breath for a week or two. 

We taught two Jehovahs witnesses/had a conversation with them (they wouldn't really listen...) It was a very polite conversation and i feel like they were trying hard to seem like they were open. We have met with them before but we had dropped them because nothing ever happened. Too much bush-dancing (Elder Eaves favorite line) But it got eventful on Wednesday. Normally they have just two ordinary members, but they brought in one of the head honchos in Århus which i cant remember what his title was. They were kinda trying to prove us wrong with the Bible but we rose above it and simply nodded and then refered back to the Book of Mormon. I dont know if people can get it into their heads that we are not here to prove anything to anyone... Bible bashing only is used to prove "nah nah I'm right you're wrong." I found out that Elder Bishopp felt the same about it and so he  goes,

 "look, nothing you say matters unless your talking about that book right there. Our purpose is to bring people closer to Christ through the message of that book and if you're going to try and prove anything wrong, you might as well just focus on that book. We know you just want to prove us wrong and convert us, and we want to convert you through that book, so lets not focus on anything else. That is the cornerstone of everything we believe."

So we just testified from there and it still didn't go anywhere. So we won't be meeting with them anymore. Nice guys who give us ice cream and are actually care to have morals, but we could be out finding someone ready to accept the gosepl in its fullness. So we've just been finding a lot since then:)

Other things:

We were on splits this week for four days. Two with the Horsens Elders up in our area and two with the AP's down in København. It was a grand old week filled with learning and adventures like:

-Meeting two more JW's out knocking but actually having a pleseant exchange. I was with elder Thurmann and from Riverside CA and we were on a was high roll that day. We had some fantastic convos and meeting these two at the end was great. One of them definitely felt the uniqeness of our message and it was apparent:) They were scared to meet with us though (probably b/c the big dawg said not to haha. #messagetootrue)

-Meeting a guy with german shepard puppies:))

-Recieving cherry sours and many other solid american imports. Thanks fam:) I've converted elder Millward and Elder Eaves and elder Bishopp to the way of the cherry sours. I've talked about them a lot apparently so they were all stoked to actually taste a little of the great things that happen at the 7-11 off  Sierra College blvd (yea... i still remember the address)

-taking a picture of a swan.

Spiritual thought:

So my mom challenged me to think some ways to come closer to Our heavenly Father and Jesus Christ as I am approaching one year in the mission (yes... she is trunkier than i am;) haha but its ok) 

So one thing we as missionaries do is set weekly goals and write them down. We do "apartmentship inventory" in the Århus apartment where we set goals and have an inventory of what we are all doing well and what we can improve on and then we account for the last weeks goals. So I've been doing this for a year right? I've seen the difference it has made. Setting goals, pondering about them,  and then following up on them has made a world of difference.

So i was thinking to challenge everyone to think of one way they can come closer to God and Jesus Christ during the next year. You could write them in your phones, on a sticky note on your steering wheel, or shoot, have an inventory with your family or friends or roommates or whatever kind of unit you're existing in right now:) The challenge is very broad, so it could be anything from "Is God there? I'm going to find out" or "I'm going to work on being a charitable person this week by___" or "I want to give a compliment an hour".

Basically, setting these goals shows your commitment to the Lord that you are willing to have him help you change into a person that he wants you to become. This may all start be figuring out your divine potential as children of God and realizing what that means.... i know at least a portion of what that entails... but thats just me:)

Not sure where this comes from but here is a quote:

"When your only tool is a hammer, all problems start looking like nails."

Have a great week!

Ældste  j

Don't get too jealous... its just a swan;) (and Copenhagen)

 

The workout crew: the few and the strong haha

Elder Erickson, me , and Elder Eaves

We can't get the whole jumping pic timed right haha