#38 Odense

Ja men davs alle sammen! This was another crazy week full of teaching, finding foreigners, and playing some American Football!!!! 

Friends 

So me and Elder Baadsgaards went hard in the paint this week teaching 20 lessons! And we found two new friends! I dont know if i told you guys but we have been knocing a place called Æbleparken and it is fire! We have found 7 new investigators out there and have like 10 more potentials and people that said they will read the whole Mormons Bog and told us to come back in a month! So we found a man from Romania and taught him about the BOM and gave him one in Romanian. We just need to find him home and he has a family so that could make things interresting. :) Then we finally found a woman from Hungary home out there and taught her and gave her a BOM in her language! It is so cool to see all the different languages the Book of Mormon is in and how we are meeting so many people from all over the world! We taught T again, the rest of the POS. He was more open to a baptism invited and wasnt total against it this time. R was sick so we didnt teach him, and i guess A left his girlfriend, but we are going to start teaching her in three weeks so that will be sweet! And we taught our home boy from Mexico again! He wasnt sure about baptism but he is reading in the Book of Mormon so that is sick! We also found a man from Zimbabwe who will be a new friend after we teach him again but he said he had a J Dub Bible and is willing to listen so that will be balling! And P, the guy we play ball with asked if he could come to YSA so that was sick! Oh and C's baptism is next Tuesday so that is coming up so that is going to be sweet! We taught her after a baptism on how you get baptized and checked out clothes for her. They were not the most stylish things for her but i think she willl be fine hahaha! Oh and we taught a Muslim guy who is way sweet and taught him the Restoration and said that he will read the whole book of Mormon and told us to come back in a month and we will talk more so that will be sweet!  

Splits

So we had splits on Thursday so that was way fun! I went with Elder Evans, who is completely new, and we just had a great time! He is from Cali, and loves to surf and played lacrosse. It was way fun to contact with him because i had to pretty much say everything because he has only been speaking the mother language, Danish :), for two months so that was fun. After we contacted we did service for a family with a guy who is inactive and his wife is not a member but way nice! I heard to be ready because he likes to debate and so i took control. I remember right when we sat down to eat cake, he starts talking about God and what is crazy with our religion and all this stuff. And i was like cool, we have a spiritual thought, and he was like okay, waiting to argue with us, but i pretty much promised him blessings and you really cant argue with that hahaaha! So that was fun. Then we went to the church for the Turpins suprise goodbye party. In the middle of it some guy came and asked if we have English class, and i was like oh shooooot! We have had it but no one was coming so we stopped but i had to teach an English class on the spot but it went way well. Erick Jeppsen and C WERE THERE and a man from Sryia was there who wants to learn English and he is a music and movie producer so that was way fun! That is how we ended the night and me and Elder B went to the train station to go to Frederacia to stay with the ZLs and Svenborg and Sønderborg so we could get to leadership meetings on time in Århus.

Zone Conference

So the night before like 8 missionaries stayed at the ZLs apartment so that was a party! THere wasnt enough beds for everyone so me Elder Jensen, not either of my comps, and Guddy shared like two matress which caused late night pillow talk! Me and Guddy were up til like mid night talking about the glory days in Ballerup so that was fun! Then we woke up at 440 and caught our train to Århus. Then we had ZOne Conference which was way good! THey emphasized the fall of Adam and Eve and being bold especially with commitments! Then we ate and had the Waffel Bowl! We split up in four teams and played some football which was way fun! Then we went back to the church got our things, and left. I was rocking my athletic clothes and my boots and Pres was giving me crap for it haha! But dont worry, i am just adapting to the style here in Denmark! :) Then we road the train back and we ate pizza with the other district and Sønderborg who were there for F's dåb! 

Weekend Fun and Goodbyes

Which takes us to Saturday! We started before F's dåb by playing volleyball! It was way fun and C, and N came and then after i got buried by everyone! Then we went to F's dåb which was way spiritual and great to see this man become clean! It was cool because i got to teach him a little before we had to give him over to the other Elders because he lived in their area. After that we played a little ping pong and then taught C to get all the baptismal questions out of the way! Then on Sunday was the last day for the Turpins! It was way sad, they gave talks and then we had a goodbye dinner for them! I am going to miss them soooo much! I love those two people, they are the perfect example of love and the character of Christ! 

And yea the young adult was Jeppson! Tillykke Fødselsdag Mor! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! Crazzy that you are now turning 30! :) That is way good that Katelynn got to come! And Maggianos is legendary! Unless you get that chocolate cake which will give you are heart attack! And that is crazy Reid Dog is already 2! Oh shoot! The stake presidency is changing! Any predictions????? :) Well that is all the words of wisdom from Elder Reed! DO something crazy this week to share this awesome message! It is totally worth it! I love you guys soooo much! Jamen Hej Heeeeeeeeeeeeejjjjjjj!!!

Æ Reed

                                         
                                            Alex is going Danish, check out his footwear!

                                                   
                                             Alex and his trainer, he will always love him.

                                           
                                                 I wonder what Alex did to deserve this?

Week #37 Odense

First week of transfer number 6= Færdig! This week was pretty crazy with me getting the sick plague again and even making a return visit to my birth place of Sjælland to take a crazy hard language test, that was actually a joke, it was way easy, and getting two more new friends! 

Friends

So quick summary on all the friends this week! So C is doing great! We set the official date for June 11th and I am giving a talk at the baptism so that will be sick! We taught T again this week. We asked him if he read and he said he didnt so we read 2Nephi 2 with him and he liked it and opened up to us even more after that! Mormons Bog works miracles. We stopped by R and caught him at a bad time but he said he has read a chapter from Mormons Bog and he said it was like the Bible and wasnt weird, and we were like, WE KNOW! Haha Then we found two new investigators this week. The first was the man from Mexico who is a legend! I cant even describe how awesome this man is! We knocked on his door and he looked way tired but he let us in and we had the funniest talks ever. Then some how Elder Baadsgaard used his musical skills and played some crazy piece on the piano and tuned his guitar and we were just doing small talk with this man and i wasn't sure how we were going to get into teaching him. So I just took a chance and started saying we have a unique message that all comes down to this book and we start teaching him about the Book of Mormon. He said he has never heard of this or our message before and said he would be baptized if he found out that this was true! Good stuff! Then the other new friend we found this week was M. We were knocking late Saturday night and this young guy told us no way he was interrested in religion but try the guy living in 106. He said he would LOVE it. To be honest, i thought he was messing with us but we knock on his door and long story short, he believes in God, and we teach him about the Book of Mormon. He was contemplating about buying it or not and when Elder B and I realized that, we both shouted at him, Det er helt gratis!!! It is completely free! haha and then he said we could come back so that was balling! We should have a monster week because we have so many appointments set up so it should be rocking!

Sprog Prøve

So i guess you got to pass a language test to stay in Denmark so i got to go to Copenhagen last week! So we woke up early and took the train and bus over to my birth island ;) We had a way good conversation with a mom and her daughter on the train and they were amazed we could speak Dansk after under a year of speaking it. #giftoftongues???? Haha Then we got there and i got to take it with a whole bunch of missionaries! I got to see daddy, Elder Guddy, Elder Jensen, not either of my comps, but the other one from the MTC, and Elder Kennedy and Elder Ziegler and a whole bunch of sisters. The test was honestly a joke.... it was like Marie har to børn. Hvor mange børn har Marie? Try figuring that one out! Then after we all went to the office to sign papers and take a bunch of pics in front of the temple! It was way good seeing Guddy and Elder Jensen and just a fun time! 

Saturday

Saturday was a pretty bumping day! We stated with a baptism for J who is the sisters investigator who played pro soccer in Thailand, and could have played ón the Nigerian national team when he was 15! Just wait :) That was way good and i just love seeing people making this coventant and starting a new life! Oh and C had to give the closing prayyer, which she was way nervous for because she has never prayed in front of a lot of people before, and totally killed it! Then we ate and then played soccer! It was way fun to play with J and N came who is my less active soccer buddy and it was so fun! While playing, i saw some youth from Gladsaxe because they was a stake, or country, activity. We like freaked out when we saw each other and they said they missed me! Squad! Then After that we hit up Æbleparken, where like all of our friends are!

So that was my week! Oh, and the people who was taught by Mary's bishop was at church yesterday from Gladsaxe, and it was way good to see them! They told all the members i was their missionary! And so i live in the city and send letters to the mission office. That would be easier i think, but i would only get it at zone conference. And i know! About the sun glasses! We are getting some! And the sun is usually up like at 5 in the morning and goes down around 9 30 at night so it awesome! Not awkard at all to contact people when you have an hour to kill before nine! ANd that would be so cool to see sister Fredericksen here! Keep me updated! And yea C has her surgery this week but she is way pumped for her baptism! and yea she is in the pics with us! Zone Conference is in Århus this week and president has to keep an eye on me! I am trouble, he told me he was going to send me to Greenland so i could be far away, but i guess that never happened.... oh well! And hahaha a dog came into a tempel recommend interview.... what is happening to Moses Lake! Well, that is all i got this week! I love you guys keep rocking it and being awesome and keep watering that seed of yours! :) 

Æ Reed

Week #36 Odense

Hej alle sammen! So Elder Baadsgaard and I are going one more! And Elder Howe is going to open a new area and Elder Teyner is getting a son! (That means he is training :) ) And the other Odense district is staying the same! SO I am way pumped and that means I will probably hit my year mark here in the promise land of Odense which will be sweet! 

FHE hos Ældste og Søster Turpin!

So every last p day of a transfer, all the missionaries on Fyn meet up at the Turpins and have family home evening! And President O'Bryant and Sister O'Bryant were there and their daughter and her family because President interviewed C then too! So it was a party! We ate way good food, and then while C got her interview from President, we played this way fun old Viking game by like trying to knock down sticks with sticks if that makes any sense haha! Then after we pretty much had an hour selfie sesh in the yellow flowers which honestly felt like graduation all over again haha! Then we ended the night with another game and oh, C passed her interview and President said that she is so ready! So i am so excited! 

Friends

So me and Elder B taught 19 total lessons! We are defiantly doing work! SO like I said C passed her interview and can be baptized whenever she wants. She just wants her brother to be there and she is getting surgery in a week. SO we had a lesson with her last week and prayed if she should be baptized before or after the surgery and she chose after so right now the date is June 11th. We are also working with H and her daughter Cr. H was baptized when she was 8 and has been to church a couple times after that but then went inactive and her daughter isnt a member and is about 20. We taught the Word of Wisdom to them, because they both have smoking probs, and Cr was way receptive to it and actually wants to come down on smoking! And Cr said she is going to pray about baptism so that is way exciting! ( Oh and that was my first time i ever taught the Word of Wisdom #finally) We have E, who is a 23 year old Dane who is way smart! So we had like half an hour one Sunday night and he was our last contact of the night, and we taught him on the street and he said to call in a month. So we did, not getting our hopes up because oh, call in a month, usually isnt the most positive thing ever, but he said he remembers us and wants to meet so we taught him on Thursday! He kind of went in with the intention to prove us wrong and brought up the usually of evolution and women not having the priesthood but me and Elder B told him it was up to him to pray and ask God, we are not smart enough to convince you that we are right but God can! And he has read some of the BOM so that was awesome! We have R, who almost died from drugs then found God and we taught him the Restoration, and he said he would read the BOM and we talked sports with him for a while too so he is a good friend of Elder Reeds :) We also taught T again and he hasn't read the BOM yet, he is sticking to the Koran, he is a Dane convert to Islam, and taught him the first half of the POS. Then we taught A, who is so sick! He is a young average family man Dane, and is so happy and positive. He invited us in and then his wife said she wasnt interested so we taught him outside. It was weird because he wasnt religous and never prayed to God before but let us teach him and he said he will read and pray, and said we could come back and teach him the POS! Oh, and we found a brotha from Mexico! Rafeal Hernandez! Haha he is my boy, he is an old Mexican man and he came to Denmark because of a girl, that is what usually happens! And we are going to start teaching him next week! Oh and the last person we work with is S, who is living with a less active member and his parents are members and we ate with them yesterday. We always talk about sports and food when we are with them so it is always a good time! And we are going to teach S to actually teach her, she has been to church, YSA, and ate with us, but we havnt taught her yet so we will see what she thinks about baptism! So that is a pretty busy slate we got to work with for me and Elder Baadsgaard and it is awesome! 

Ball is Life!!!! 

We got back to the gym and balled out with the boys again last tuesday. I finally shook off the rust and balled out and i am way chill and good friends with all the guys now! We had great talks about USA and a lot of laughs and they still dont know we can speak dansk ;) After we gave them bro hugs and gave are main guy a BOM in Bulgarian and he was way interrested in it and all of the other guys were like what, they gave you a bible, i want one! haha! SO good things are happening from that! And then on  Saturday we played sand volleyball and it was way fun! C was there and the sisters from the second ward had an investigator there!

Sunday and First talk på dansk.....

So i gave my first talk ever in Danish.... Not going to lie, i was not to excited about it... but i survived and i am here today! Haha it was on the Holy Ghost because yesterday was the day of Pentecost, Pinsedagen, and so i talked about the Holy Ghost in Acts 2 and then some missionary stories when the Holy Ghost influenced me and my investigators. Then i challenged everyone to share this awesome gift with someone they know! And i made everyone laugh with my opener when i said i ate the best pastry ever that you can only find on Fyn, a brunsviger, and I compared that i wanted to share that to all the missionaries who havnt served on Fyn and the Holy Ghost how it is the best gift we have ever gotten and need to share it! A lot of people said i did good after and so i think thats a good thing?? hahaa Then we ate with the family i talked about to end the night! 

And i am feeling better thanks for asking! And i would not prefer say what Jens said about the wife advice haha! Just kidding, just find someone with passions, and all that good stuff :) And you could get Zach to help you pull the weeds or something :) And that is awesome that Elder Christoffersen went to Wenatchee, jealous! And the moses lake news is exciting, and that is sweet Hudson is going to wrestle in college, is that the same college Justin is wrestling in???? And that is awesome you had the missionaries over! Tracting is the way to do it! And the Mexican leagues would be fun to play in, they play on Tuesdays and Thursdays also. That would be fun to do in the summer. And Seattle fans are the best in the world, no doubt about that one! Oh and you guys will be happy with the pics i took this week :) Well, i love you mom and dad! You guys are awesome and i couldn't do this without you guys! You guys are the GOATs!!! ( Greatest of all time)! haha Jeg elsker jer og have en god uge! 

Æ Reed :)

Week #35 Odense

Jamen glædelig Mors Dag igen mor!!! It was totally awesome to skype you guys and get a tour of the house!  Crazy it still looks the same... haha Well, since i already talked with ya'll yesterday, I will give you guys a little short recap of the week! 

Familiehjemaften!!! 

So after the use p day activities we had family home evening with an awesome family in the ward! Oh, and C was there too so that made it even better! They showed us the funny Hello by Adele missionary version which was GOLD! haha i love that video so much! Then we ate and shared our testimonies on Joseph Smith and it was way good for C and the family we were with! 

The Struggle

So like i told you guys yesterday i was sick this week which was not fun overhovedet! I was like way tired and had the worst headache ever! I tried to pull the tough guy and just work but i remember i was in two lessons and i couldn't focus at all! It was the worst so i gave in and i slept for like 12 hours and now i am better! haha sleep is always the magic pill! :) I gotta catch up on all those naps i have missed :) haha just kidding! 

Friday

So Friday was a pretty event filled day starting with the infamous Jens Petersen. The old recently reactivated guy who has the crazy life story. The whole appointment he pretty much told us that we need to focus on college before women, and then told us the kind of women we need to marry! haha it was way funny! Then after that we hit up some service and planted potatoes for a member in the ward in the blazing sun! That's right, it is finally hot here! About time! Then after that we stopped by this fam who told us we could come back and they were home and let us in! I felt like the missionary in the Hello video ;) haha but they were a typical young Danish family with a little balling son, and we taught them the Plan of Salvation but they said their lives were perfect and they dont need religion. It was pretty sad that they didnt want us to come back and that they didnt accept the message but that is just lifestyle here in Denmark. But the work continues and it continues all the way out to Æbleparken aka GOLD MINE! I remember it was my second week in the area and we had an eating appointment out here and i told Æ Baadsgaard, we HAVE to knock out here. It is a huge apartment complex and it is not buzz box! So we have found 11 potentials and a couple new investigators out there and have only been out there like three or four times so it is GOLD! 

Blitz Splits

So on Saturday every missionary on Fyn went out to Seden to do a Blitz splits where we just knock and find people all day long! So that meant a great tan as you guys saw yesterday! I am finally not sour creme white! So the first knocking sesh i went with Elder Hager and we had a great time! The highlights of that was talking to an Asain guy who thought we were J Dubs at first and then asked us how many years we have been in Denmark because we can speak Danish. Jamen et pår måneder???? Haha Then he asked the gold question why there are so many different churches? Nah, i wonder what we said after that?? So that was good and then we talked to this old man and he was religious, he believed in a life after death, and would not take a Mormons Bog, so Elder Hager had the brillant idea and asked if we could pray with him. The man let us in and we prayed with him and after that he starts crying and told us his wife had just died and he knows he can see her again. All i can say to that is that the gospel is awesome! Then we went back, took some pics in some flowers, and had lunch. Then we set off for round two and i went with Elder Bennet, who has been out one transfer longer than i have been out and he is from Montana and knows where Moses Lake is! We had a great time and the highlights were talking with two Catholic Vietnamise families and talking with a J Dub. Then we took pics in the yellow flowers and went back to Seden's apartment. We had a BBQ, roasted smores and threw a football around! It was so much fun and just a great day! 

And i will for sure get pics for the baptism! And oh i forgot to tell you guys, she wont get døbt on the 14th, she has a work conference in København so it will probs be in two weeks. And we cant get a hold of the running man :( We will keep trying though for sure. Oh i remember that ref haha no comment! :) But that is sweet he is going on a mission! Well that is all i got but thanks for talking with me yesterday and I love you guys so much and have a great week!!!

Æ Reed

                                                     Happy Mother's Day 2016

Week #34 Odense

Jamen Davs!!! So like this week was got to be one for the books! We taught like 24 overall lessons, which doesn't happen here in Denmark.... ;) Like balled with a bunch of Danes, put up a roof in pouring rain, and saw a convert baptism for the first time ever! 

Splits

So we had splits and kind of sort of taught 11 total lessons in one day! I went with Elder Teynor who is so sweet! He is from Utah, everyone seems to come from Utah.... anyways, we taught like four lessons in a park, including talking to a guy who was drinking a little bit and who has lot about life a lot and trying to tell him that God gives us agency while he is just saying DOnald Trump haha, trying to get a college age girl to try and pray to a God she has never even thought about, and even gave a Chinese brotha who is was on vacation a BOM so that was sweet! Then we went and balled which i will get into later ;) And then we ended the night going to CUV which is like institute and then the YSA like hangs together and chills. We taught our friend C and went through the dåb interview questions and so like this is getting so real! But that was out adventures on splits! 

Ball is still life????

Okay so I was emailing President about playying basketball with our friend from Bulgaria and he told us that that is a fantastic missionary tool! And guess what happened?? We got invited to play with him and his buddies! So we went and it was like this YMCA court, and when i walked in to the gym, I saw this middle aged Danes rocking all these NBA clothes and it was soooo funny! But it was so fun to play and show the Danes how you really play basketball! And it will be a perfect missionary tool because when we are waiting to play we can just talk to the guys and right now they think we cant speak Danish because our friend told them that we are from USA and so we will bust out the Danish soon and blow some Danes minds and then teach them the good word of God! 

Friends

So this week Elder Baadsgaard and I, plus the help from Seden from Splits, taught 24 lessons! My first transfer here I would have thought that that was impossible but with the help from the Lord, it is possible! So the highlight of this week would definitely be C. We went through the dåb interview questions and as of now she doesn't have any more worries. I am so pumped for her! And to make things even better, yesterday during fast and testimony meeting she bore her testimony and told the ward that she was getting baptized! And her testimony was SO strong I just love convert testimonies so much! And I told Elder Jensen that my goal for my mission was to teach lesson 5 kind of jokingly because that is the last thing you need before youu get baptized! Elder Baadsgaard and I taught a lot of door and street lessons this week and during weekly planning we added up all of our potential friends and we have about 40!!! Crazy right?? I can feel that this area is about to explode and I am so excited for it! Oh and we had our own little miracle story this week. So it was on Thursday during our movie night that we saw a man come in to the church with two members from the second ward. So me and Elder Baadsgaard was a little bit curious what was going on and next thing we now we were giving this guy a tour of the church and taught him about the Book of Mormon. He told us that he was out on a run and lost his way and he was looking for purpose in his life and a light in his life and what do you know?? He runs past the restored church of Jesus Christ! So I am so excited to see where this will go and it is so awesome to see how the Lord guides his lost children!

Weekend Fun

So Saturday began with service and so me, Elders Baadsgaard, Hager, and Ericksen went and helped a members neighbor put on a roof in the pouring rain which was a little sketch not going to lie! But we all made it alive and we got rewarded with pølser and brunsviger which is just life! Then after that we went to a lady from Africa's baptism in the second ward! It was way spiritual and it is so awesome to see someone making those covenants with God and receiving the best gift in the world, the Holy Ghost :) Good stuff, C was there and she loved it and we taught her right after! Then the highlights of Sunday would be church and C bearing her testimony and then we taught her with a member the rest of the final lesson after sacrament. Then since my comp is a wizard at the piano, we got to go to primary because they needed a piano teacher! And the kids were so crazy! Like i have so so so much respect for primary teachers because the kids have endless energy and lets just say, the stuggle is real! Haha for example i made eye contact with this little kid, and that was my mistake. Next thing i know he is crawling at me like Golam from the Lord of the Rings and like starts  trying to eat my suit coat! hahahaha i hope i wasn't that crazy! THen we ended the night at an awesome member's house and it was a great time. There inactive son and his girlfriend who we are trying to teach because she comes to church and CUV like weekly. We had a great discussion on sports and soccer :) and burgers and taco bell! Then somehow we got into Donald Trump and let me tell you, Danes do not like the man! haha shout out to me because i am on a mission and i dont have to deal with politics! Then we ended with a killer spiritual thought! We showed video on moms and talked about why we were thankful for our moms! I am not sure why though.... its like a day is coming up???? Huh, oh well i cant remember...

Oh yea! Mors Dag!!!! Lets go! I get to see all of your smiling faces on Sunday! So we will be skyping at a member's house at either 6 or 7 Danish time at night. If something else goes down i will let you guys know! That would be sweet to see sister Fredericksen! And it was never me making the trouble in sacrement, it was all him! That is sweet with the mission calls! Keep them coming:)!! ANd thats way sweet to hear that ML beat Davis! And lets hope they do work in the playoffs! Well i love you family and i cannot wait to skype with you guys on Sunday!! DOnt drill me too hard with questions :)! Love ya!

Ældste Reed :)

                               What happens when you find sun glasses and you have a selfie stick :)