This
week was most excellent! Holy smokes it was a fun ride into the 4 pm Danish
sunset for us even though it wasn't the smoothest of sailing for (one of) us...
no worries though. I'm okay now ;)
Progress:
Another
Miracle Story:
I am
just going to cut straight to the punchline of this week because it was the
highlight and Iam stoked to tell it:) So we recieved a referral from the randers
Elders for a couple who a just moved into our area. They had been taught once,
by the randers elders themselves, and wanted to continue. The man focus was
teaching our new friend J* because his wife was already a member, but she was
just a little less active or something. Anyways, the are a way cool couple in
their 30's and the got married last Christmas time and are expecting twin
girls. So we were pretty stoked to meet them. Well, they live an hour away up
on the northwest coastline so we made the drive Wednesday when we found some
time and visited them. I gotta say, it was in the top tier of the best lessons
of my mission (I feel like I have said that a lot recently haha oh well) and J* is
one inspiring guy. he has had some things in his past like the rest of us and
wants to make it right... like the rest of us. :) We taught about the Atonement
and The Plan of Happiness pretty in depth in regards to faith and it was
incredible to watch the converting power of the gospel work inside him as we
taught. Man, it was so neat to be a part of that. He said that he really began
looking to be a better man and there have been two times when he specifically
knew there was something different that he could feel (the spirit) :). He said
one was when he married his wife and hugged her and the other was when he shook
elder francis's hand (one of the Randers Elders). He said he felt a warmth,
something different; kinda like a rope of power is how he described it. At the
end of the lesson he after I offered the closing prayer he said " Do you
guys feel like a warm, swelling sensation? It feels really good." We said
yes and that he was feeling the spirit.
Well
that was really something and that was just Wednesday! We came back again Sunday to teach him again:) It was way neat because we had him read the
chapters in Mosiah about Alma the Younger's conversion story and he had some
way powerful experiences while he read those. He sent us a bunch of texts
between wednesday and sunday and told us how much it is changing his life and
how thankful he is for Jesus Christ and the Atonement and a bunch of other
really neat things. So last night, we taught about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
We talked about what Jesus and how he has commanded him to follow us and so on.
It was way neat because he said that he knows that smoking and drinking is
something God has commanded us not to do and so he was asking a bunch about the
"little rules" as he called them. We taught the principle behind
commandments and he goes "yea its cool because ive actually just been
cutting back on cigarettes and so I can see where God is coming from with
those"... all of his comments and questions were that of one who is
becoming deeply converted. We read a lot out of 2 31 and 32, which he had also
read between Wednesday and Sunday, and when we started to talk about baptism he
told us that he really felt the spirit when he read about those scriptures and
said he knows its the right path for him because it is From God and leads to
God. So when we invited him to be baptized I would have thought based off the smile that
came to his face that we had just told him we write him a check for one billion
dollars or something. I will never forget how happy it made him that we had
invited him to be baptized and to follow Christ. He was so stoked!! His wife
was sitting next to him with a just beaming:) It is truly amazing to see the
light that has come into both of them by trying to follow Jesus Christ. Elder
Beck and I are still on a spiritual high right now:)
So
that was big time and it was amazing to piece together how the Lord has
prepared J* and his wife for this, how he has prepared us for this, and how he
continues to prepare the way for us. It was wonderful to hear Jimmi close with
a simple, sincere prayer and then in the same breath say, "oh yea we need
to bless this cake, can you do that?" He really gets it:) Oh yea... and
right after we left he texted the randers elders and said "hey can you
believe it!? I am getting baptized on the 27th of December!" man is he
stoked!
On
another good note, our boy K* is actually progressing pretty positively haha
which is a curveball considering how we found him but I'm not going to question
it. WE met with him twice this week and then we met him at his apartment
yesterday and walked with him to church. he really enjoyed it! he said it was
hard to sit still so long but that he really just enjoyed the feel. his danish
is the best since he grew up mostly in bermuda but he got the gist of it. Way
great stuff!
We
have a handful of other pretty cool investigations that are still in the
beginning stages with learning about the gospel but it is going really stellar
here in Skive:)
Story
time:
Well i
guess i should explain the whole concussion thing in the title. Long story
short, i got one. But im pretty sure its is 98% gone by now so thats good,
right?!
15
minutes before teaching J* (yes, before Jimmi) on Wednesday, we had
some odd time and so as we were driving we saw a really neat lookout point on
the top of the hill. So we decided we would look out from there for 10 or so
minutes since we had just been driving for a while. No harm in that right? Well
the thing is is that it had been raining decently hard and the grass on the
lookout hill was really wet, kinda like how a slip-n-slide gets... that kind of
wet. The hill was probably 50 feet pr more so it was a decent sized hill. Fun
ironic foreshadowing for ya... On the way up i brushed by the only thing on
the hill on the left side and said "ow, hey elder beck... dont touch this
bush." He said okay and we didn't think further than that about it. We got
to the top, looked around, took some pics, and then came the descent. (which is
actually the climax of this story). Well, once again, i thought it would be a
good idea to run down a wet hill. And the last time i tried that up in
Federikshavn when i was chasing sheep (not to hurt them) i slipped and fell in
sheep poop. Well i had a pretty clear flashback of that experience at the
knuckle of the hill before gravity took me. as i fell, i almost caught myself a
dug in my heel but wet grass prevailed and i got launched forward. Its funny
how slow time goes when something nuts is happening. Anyhow, about halfway down
the left side of that hill, i met Mr. thornbush. It would seem like it
could do that much besides poke you right? WRONG. That think had a deceivingly
solid and stout trunk on it! But yea... you can imagine slip-n-sliding into a
small tree with thorns on it at high speed head first would hurt... well i
couldnt actually tell you because that tree knocked my lights out and i blacked
out for the remainder of the slide. Elder beck said i did a graceful frontflip
off a ledge and landed on my feet and then just walked on over to the car. So
he thought i was all good and then just laughed himself silly as we drove to J*
After the fact, i remembered how hard i hit that tree (on the back of my hear,
luckily) and it is a miracle my noggin stayed in one piece haha. So we taught
that incredible lesson and then as i drove the hour home (yes, I drove...
;)) i started getting a decent headache and i kinda was out of it. Elder Beck
started listing off what it was like when he got a concussion and it matched
perfectly to what i was experiencing. I didnt say anything because i didnt want
to have to stay in the next day or anything. When we got home though, i was
pretty out of it and Elder Beck finally called me out on it. I talked to Sister
O'Bryant and stuff so no worries, im A-okay. It is just a minor concussion and
only took me a day to recover.
For
thanksgiving, I am greatful for a Hard head. :D
Spiritual
thought:
After
reading a bit in some of the gospels in the New testament I thought alot about
Giving. It was mostly sparked from Luke 6. it says "Give, and it shall be given
unto you...For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured
to you again."
I
thought a lot back to when Elder Bennett and i were chilling on busses and what
not and talking and we came to the topic of giving freely and trusting that God
would have our backs. We talked alot about if we have it in us if we were in a
situation where we could give to someone in need. I heard a story about how
President Monson would sometimes come back home through the airport in just his
socks, having given away his shoes. And he did that often. The principle behind
it all that I have learned is not necessarily we need to distribute all of
our wardrobe out or that sort of thing, but that we are willing to give as
Christ would give. So in light of the upcoming Christmas season, i thought id
invite you to do the same. Think about the things truly matter to you and think
of how you can also share the love of Christ by giving. Giving service, giving
gifts, giving hugs, giving good vibes, giving love... There is much we can
give!
One
of my favorite Elder Holland Quotes is "I'm am not my brother's keeper, but I am my brother's brother and because I have been given much I too must
give."
Have a good one!
--
Ældste j
PS: our car got hit by a bus
two days ago.
PPS: haha sorry if that gave you a heart attack. It was going probably 5 miles an hour and we were sleeping when it happened. It messed up the car though... bummer.
 |
| Some scenery |
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| #kodak moment hahaha |
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| The picture I got injured for hahaha |
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| Post Concussion (some exaggeration added) |
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| The apple pie night... |
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| Our car *sniff* |
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| Thorn in my hood, lights in my eyes |
