Week #42 Odense

Transfer Time!!!! So Elder Baadsgaard is leaving and going to the Devil's Island to be a Zone Leader and I am getting Elder Keller and being his mom because I am follow up training him! I already know him pretty well because he has been in the other District in Odense. Oh and I am District Leader so that will be fun! We are going to have a way fun District and do Work so it will be awesome! And sorry this will probs be a shorter email because not too much has happened this week!

Friends

 So we stopped by S and her boyfriend S. She is the girlfriend to an inactive member in the Ward. SHe goes to church a Little bit and always goes to CUV. In the past she has said that the church was just a social thing. She attended Renas' og Carorline's baptisms and we asked her how she felt and she said she could feel the spirit and that it was way cool to see them change. So we pretty much had her bear her testimony which is a great start! We also are making Progress with another inactive members non member daughter. She wants to stop smoking and start coming to church and CUV and she has felt the spirit, so good Things are happening there! We are still working hard out in Æbleparken with members, but we have a couple investigators either drop us or we dropped them because they won't keep commitments. So me and Elder Keller will be working really hard to find some new friends. R our friend from Mexico is still doing okay but he wants to take it WAY slow so we are going to have to be way patient with him. J, a mom WHO knows a couple members in the Ward WHO live in Æbleparken, and she doesn't even want to try praying. She is like my life is good where it is now and it doesnt make sense that i would get happier if I prayed. And we tried explaining that if you follow the commandments God blesses you and prayer is a commandment so lets hope she will pray! Then our boy T still hasnt read and Elder B and a member on splits threw Down with him that we will drop him if he doesnt read because it has been like 2 months that we have taught him and he hasnt done anything.  

Random Fun

So not to much more happened this week, but we did have a Whole bunch of eating appointments! We ate with a Family that lives like in the middle of no where in there big Danish mansion which was way sick! We also ate with this 92 year old member who is so sick and made us so much foooood!!! This 92 year old women like almost killed me and that was the hårdest eating appointment of my life hahaha! We also ate with a Familien G whose son is inactive with the girl we teach! We had hamburgers and had such a great time and I got dating advice from the mom! Like she told me to take it old school and do Things like they would do in the 60's haha! Oh, I almost forgot! On Tuesday we had Sankt Hans day which is a Holiday here in Denmark where they burn a witch. DOnt ask my why they burn a witch but i guess back in the old days they burned an actual witch in this huge bonfire! And now it is a holiday so that is fun and we saw a huge bonfire it was insane!!!! Oh and we played basketball with the homies who still love us and Volleyball with the squad!!

That is crazy that you have one of Elder Baadsgaards moms books haha! Caroline is doing great! She is going to go Work with us NeXT week so it will be great! Haha that is actually funny you said that because these Little Danish girls asked us if we were the politi aka police! haha it was way funny! haha that actually made me laugh! Haha Dad you need to put mom on a leash or the Whole house will be remodled! Just dont take my bedroom away! haha Dad's Things are not junk and they need to stay! And snacks....  hmmm well beef jereky, fruit snacks (welch kind not tree top ;) ), gold fish and American chocolate!! Well I am way pumped for this transfer to be the older comp and DL! We are going to Work so hard and have fun at the same time!!!! Well this church is so true and have a great summer week in Moses Lake!

Goodbye Elder Baadsgaard

Hello Elder Keller

Week #42 Odense

Transfer Time!!!! So Elder Baadsgaard is leaving and going to the Devil's Island to be a Zone Leader and I am getting Elder Keller and being his mom because I am follow up training him! I already know him pretty well because he has been in the other District in Odense. Oh and I am District Leader so that will be fun! We are going to have a way fun District and do Work so it will be awesome! And sorry this will probs be a shorter email because not too much has happened this week!

Friends

 So we stopped by S and her boyfriend S. She is the girlfriend to an inactive member in the Ward. SHe goes to church a Little bit and always goes to CUV. In the past she has said that the church was just a social thing. She attended Renas' og Carorline's baptisms and we asked her how she felt and she said she could feel the spirit and that it was way cool to see them change. So we pretty much had her bear her testimony which is a great start! We also are making Progress with another inactive members non member daughter. She wants to stop smoking and start coming to church and CUV and she has felt the spirit, so good Things are happening there! We are still working hard out in Æbleparken with members, but we have a couple investigators either drop us or we dropped them because they won't keep commitments. So me and Elder Keller will be working really hard to find some new friends. R our friend from Mexico is still doing okay but he wants to take it WAY slow so we are going to have to be way patient with him. J, a mom WHO knows a couple members in the Ward WHO live in Æbleparken, and she doesn't even want to try praying. She is like my life is good where it is now and it doesnt make sense that i would get happier if I prayed. And we tried explaining that if you follow the commandments God blesses you and prayer is a commandment so lets hope she will pray! Then our boy T still hasnt read and Elder B and a member on splits threw Down with him that we will drop him if he doesnt read because it has been like 2 months that we have taught him and he hasnt done anything.  

Random Fun

So not to much more happened this week, but we did have a Whole bunch of eating appointments! We ate with a Family that lives like in the middle of no where in there big Danish mansion which was way sick! We also ate with this 92 year old member who is so sick and made us so much foooood!!! This 92 year old women like almost killed me and that was the hårdest eating appointment of my life hahaha! We also ate with a Familien G whose son is inactive with the girl we teach! We had hamburgers and had such a great time and I got dating advice from the mom! Like she told me to take it old school and do Things like they would do in the 60's haha! Oh, I almost forgot! On Tuesday we had Sankt Hans day which is a Holiday here in Denmark where they burn a witch. DOnt ask my why they burn a witch but i guess back in the old days they burned an actual witch in this huge bonfire! And now it is a holiday so that is fun and we saw a huge bonfire it was insane!!!! Oh and we played basketball with the homies who still love us and Volleyball with the squad!!

That is crazy that you have one of Elder Baadsgaards moms books haha! Caroline is doing great! She is going to go Work with us NeXT week so it will be great! Haha that is actually funny you said that because these Little Danish girls asked us if we were the politi aka police! haha it was way funny! haha that actually made me laugh! Haha Dad you need to put mom on a leash or the Whole house will be remodled! Just dont take my bedroom away! haha Dad's Things are not junk and they need to stay! And snacks....  hmmm well beef jereky, fruit snacks (welch kind not tree top ;) ), gold fish and American chocolate!! Well I am way pumped for this transfer to be the older comp and DL! We are going to Work so hard and have fun at the same time!!!! Well this church is so true and have a great summer week in Moses Lake!

Goodbye Elder Baadsgaard

Hello Elder Keller

Week #41 Odense

CAROLINE GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!! 

First and Foremost, I am sorry to break it to you mom and dad, but google translate grammer is not too good.... Haha it is okay i will forgive you guys ;) And hahahaha my head is totally fine now though! So dont worry be happy! But anyways... this week was one for the books! Hands down the best week of my mission with seeing to baptisms, going on splits twice, and teaching with members for daysssss!!!!!

P Day!!

So p day was definately a crazy one! So it started doing the usually like emailing and buying food! Then we planned on getting a hair cut but Caroline offered to give us hair cuts!!! Haha best investigator ever! So that took like the whole time haha but she did a great job so all was well so we could look fly for the baptism the next day! Then we bought some shades and then met up with N from the ward so he could help us with some lessons. Our first lesson fell through with a women Danish priest ;) so we went to the church to teach E. E is the way smart Danish kid who, shout out to mom, has a sailor mouth haha! We taught him the Restoration and then he tried to hit us with a whole bunch of anti mormon junk which we threw down with him and then told him it actually all comes down to reading and praying with a SINCERE heart and willing to change on the answer that you receive. All the other stuff is junk and that is what makes this gospel so awesome! We then ended the night talking to N about it and he was way fired up and pumped and it was way good for him because he hasnt been too active as late but is on a come back! 

Carolines Dåb

Oh man... what can i say! I helped bring a soul to Christ! This was definately the best day of my life hands down! So we got to the church a couple hours before to fill the font and get everything ready. Then and hour befoe C came and we had a quick pump up lesson where we heard her conversion story which is just sooooo amazing! Then came the baptism with H, the guy who baptized her, coming in like 20 minutes late because he lives in Aaborg and had to take the train all the way here! But after that we had the service with Elder Jeppson giving a talk on baptism and then the baptism happened! Then all the missionaries sand called to serve and I gave a talk on the Holy Ghost and it was so hard not to cry during the beginning of my talk! Then C bore her testimony and you could just see that light in her eyes! It was incredible to see how this gospel has changed her life forever and brought her so much happiness! After we had YSA and ate food and then we all walked back to the other Elders apartment and on the way, R, Odense 2's investigator who got baptized on Saturday contacted someone, with no luck. Then next thing you know, Elder Ericksen and C go contact a guy and give them a BOM! How crazy is that! hahaha it was so sweet to see that where she was to now baptized and having that desire to share the gospel! 

Member Splits

So as you guys know the work in Æbleparken is so much! So on Wednesday we went on member splits! I went with A, who is in the bishopric, and is only 24! He served his mission in Hungary, and is getting married in August! And fun fact, we have an investigator and a potential from Hungary so he was way pumped to talk with them but sadly they were not home:( But M was finally home! We havnt been able to teach him since the door step and he was like i gotta go in 20 minutes so i said, we will take 10! SO we gave him the Joseph Smith story and talked about there being so many different churches! And it was so great to have A with because he is a great teacher, and he is a native Dane who can speak perfect Danish! hahaha and it went way well and he said that he would read and prayer to see if it is true! Then we did a whole bunch of stop bys and the highlights from that would be getting yelled at by a guy whose wife said we could come back an we stopped by like 6 times to try to get in contact with her and they never answered and this dude was like no means no! Why are you guys keep coming! And i was like you never told us no.... and then he went off and i was like sir have a good day and he was like no kid, listen, you need to learn to respect others and that we are almost as bad as the J dubs and yea.... it was a good time, but i was like, sorry it was my fault it wont happen again and after listening to a couple more nice words he finally stopped talking to us. Hahahaha it was way funny and A took it way well! Then we got in with R! We were going to teach him about the commandments but he actually read and had questions so we answered them. A invited him to come to church and R still thought that that was a lot and we weren't loving him enough and i told him because we love you, we want to pray and find out if this is true! SO it was way good and then we met back up with Elder B and N and said by to them and then B came out with us! We stopped by a couple people and no one was home and our appointments fell through... then B said alright then should we go knock.... a member asking us if we should knock!!! So crazy good! So we knocked and B was a boss and would even start the contact at some doors! 

Zone Lord Splits 

On Thursday we went on splits with the Zone Leaders and i went with Elder Lee who is in Elder Jensen's group. We had a great time and had some pretty crazy conversations with people! We talked to a Danish Folk kirke organist who told us that we are saved if we desire it and it doesn't do with our actions, faith without works is dead.... cough cough.... haha then we talked to a lady from Holland and right after we finished talking to her i knew i made the biggest mistake of my mission.... I could have said hi to her in Dutch like the best two years!!!!! hahaha fun stuff! Then we talked to an old lady who pretty much said she loves us, Jesus, and our church and that we are always welcome. haha those were pretty much the highlights of splits over there! 

Park City now in Denmark????

On Friday we went out to Kertiminde which is just like the Park city of Denmark but with a beach! It is a bunch of rich retired Danes who have so much money and the biggest nicest houses i have ever seen! And all these people are sooo happy it is crazy! We were walking on the gå gade looking for an ice cream shop, and we would say hi to people and they would stop us and ask who we are and would talk to us! Me and Elder Teynor were waiting for the other elders and an old man came down to us on the bench and started talking to us! That doesnt happen in Denmark! the highlights of Kertiminde was getting a Kertiminde ice cream cone which was a cone with three different flavors and that is coated in chocolate and then soft ice on top! SOoooo much ice cream and so good! And we were talking with this guy and he said there is no way that there can be a God and i asked him what happens when you die, and with a smile on his face he told me that he was excited for his ashes to be spread across the beach and for his kids to get his money! And he was totally happy! it is so crazy how people could think like that but he did give us a huge chocolate candy bar!! So nice people! 

Weekend

So we had Volleyball on Saturday which was way fun! Then after that we had Rs baptism! R is so sick, he is like 21 and used to be a crazy partier but he found the gospel and has gotten so many crazy signs from God and it is incredible to see the change he has made in his life and it was way cool to be there the whole way for that! Then that night we helped Elder and Sister Yates, the new senior couple get around and try to get their phone to work! That brings us to Sunday where we saw R and C become members of Jesu Kristi Kirke af Sidste Dages Hellige and receive the Holy Ghost! So awesome and after church C said something so good that i wrote it down. She said, ''I feel like I am at home, and not at church.''Isnt that just awesome! That the church has became her home! This church is sooooo true and the gospel changes lives! And the gospel brings true happiness, over from the fake stuff that the world thinks. I have gotten a huge testimony of that this week! 

Oh man I missed the father day festivities! But good to hear that Zach gots me! And i missed Reid dog and Jace! Nooo! And when i eat with members i try to ask them a whole bunch of questions so it isnt awkard and quiet when we eat ;) Well, fam that is all i got! Keep it real, live the summer dream in Moses Lake and have a great week!!! 

Æ Reed :)

Week #40 Odense

Hej familie!! Hvad for nogle! Jeg vist ikke at i kunne dansk!!! Skulle jeg bare skrive mit breve på dansk?? How is it going fam! I can see you guys have either learned Danish or used google translate.... Haha! Well don't be scared because this week I got a concussion and had to go to a Danish hospital which was crazy! Other than that we got double digit member presents which is crazy for here in the mission and we have a baptism tomorrow!!!!

P Day Disasters.....

Well this P day was definately one to remember! Haha So we started by eating breakfast with the home boy J P who is the old guy who gives us life advice and this week he told us that we need to follow our dreams and if a girl gets in the way of your dreams then she is not the one! Haha i dont know how to feel about that one! Then we bought food and emailed. Then that leads to playing ping pong. We were playign around the world and someone hit the ball and it fell to the floor so i went to pick it up and the huge thick windows were open because it was way hot and there was no ac and so when i stood up i banked my head into the window. At first I just walked it off and then Elder B came and gave me the phone to talk with someone and the next thing i noticed was something wet was on my head and it turned out to be blood! Dont be scared mom! So i sit down and we call Sis O'Bryant and she tells me that i need to go to the ER and so we have to call them and make an appoitment because that is how things work in Denmark and short said, four hours after i hit my head I was finally in and being checked by a doctor. And they rubbed it really hard and glued it. And i knew i got a concussion because i have gotten a couple before. #sportsgrind Then we called the O'Bryants and Sister O said that i needed to stay inside for 24 hours! So that happened and I got like 14 hours of sleep that night and woke up and yea.... Haha it was not to fun but I am alive and doing good now. It was pretty hard to concentrate during lessons but I am doing better now so you guys dont need to worry! Okay mom! ;) 

Friends!!!! 

Well C's dåb is tomorrow and like everyone is so pumped!!!! She is doing great and is more than ready! And guess what we found out yesterday! SHe has seen the Best Two Years and the District!! #investigatorgoals SO sick! And she said she wants to come out and knock or contact with us! So that will be sick and today for p day we are hanging out with her, and she is giving us haircuts and we are going shopping! Oh and we did a whole bunch of member work this week! So we had members with us at Æbleparken which was so clutch!  One of the highlights last week was finding J out in Æbleparken (investigator #11 out there :) ). So it is kind of a crazy story, we had an investigator named A who J lived with who we taught and then he splits up with J so he doesn't live there anymore. When Jessica told us this we asked if she wanted to hear our message and next thing you know, we have taught her twice in the past week! She is WAY positive and her only concerns was if we were Muslim, and if we celebrated Christmas! So I am excited to see where it goes with her. R is doing good. He pretty much asked us for a list of the commandments we follow so we are going to hook him up with that! T still hasnt read yet but we threw down last lesson and B, the member with us did a great job, and i am sure he will have read. Je is a mom who we are teaching and she is friends with the Norup's in our ward so we took D Norup out with us which made it an interresting lesson! Oh, and so remember Erick Jeppsen, well he came out on splits with us and we had such a good time! ANd he finally remembers me! He was like, oh! Are you the kid with the fro who was always shooting hoops outside your house or balling at the church! Thats me alright! :) And we both just freaked out haha it was way funny! And get this.... so he is going to Utah because his bro lives there and i so happened to have a 20 dollar bill in my wallet and so he is going to by me snacks from Costco and bring them back for me! #fam haha how sick is that!

Yea the camera is doing great! Did the mission prez come to our house to eat or what?? I dont know if i will be like a Dane when I get back... maybe my sense of humor will change.... But you guys can totally handle me! I hope.... ;) Well all i can say is that i am just so pumped that C is getting baptized tomorrow! It has been so cool to see how the gospel has changed her life and that she will get the most precious gift God can give us, the Gift of the Holy Ghost! It will be a good day! Well, you old GOATS, I love you two, you guys are awesome and dont party too hard this week!

Week #39 Odense

Davs alle sammen! Kære familie og venner!!!! So that moment when your investigator tells you that they have watched the District and tells you that no investigators are like them.... haha so dope and finding three new friends and giving a church tour to students and getting asked to play on a club basketball... equals a week full of good times!! 

Church Tour

So last Monday we had to give like 15 college students a tour of the church because they were studying religion. So it was me and Elder B and B, our assistant ward mission leader from Iceland, and we split up and gave these people a church tour. They were way interested that we were missionaries and how our church is different from other churches. So that was way fun and one of them wanted to come to C's baptism which got moved to the 14th... next Tuesday but this time it is fast set! :)

Ball is Life cont.

So we played again this week and we went hard at asking people about religion. And we got a lesson this week with our boy from Bulgaria and we were trying to meet with this baller who is Catholic and is half Polish. With the other guys we were talking about it with them and they were just not down to talk. They was a brotha from Lithuania who said his life is perfect where it is so why should he turn to God. And he was like i might turn to God if i have a hard time or something in my life... Well thats not cool..... But it is what it is. And also another fun thing that happened from basketball is that a bro who turns out to be a basketball coach and was trying to coach me the whole time which was way annoying, asked me if I wanted to play on his club team in August! haha I dont got time for that! And there was this NBA player who came here to Odense and there was a huge three on three tournament and all the guys told me to come and watch but I dont have time for that but i did stop to take some pics :)

Friends

So me and Elder Baadsgaard had another great week teaching 16 lessons even though about five people burned us this week! Crazy story this Saturday. So Elder Baadsgaard and I were out knocking in Æbleparken, which is the apartment complex where we have found a ton of investigators. So get ready for some crazy stats... So we knocked one building which was 32 doors, only 10 people answered, and we taught three lessons and got three new investigators! This work is so great!! We found a young Danish girl, and two moms. And one of the moms let us in and let us teach her and I guess she knows the members in our ward who live in this apartment complex. It is just way cool. And it gets even better. So we totaled it up and we have ten investigators out in Æbleparken and amazed our ward mission leader. Then he posted on the ward Facebook page that we need help to teach all of these people and after a day we have like 7 members saying they either want to go out with us or invited us to teach in their homes! So the ward is feeling the energy! And fun story! So we were knocking down a row and we saw these three young Danes smoking and kind of laughing at us as we were getting closer and closer to them. And Elder Reed wasn't going to take that, so the only crazy thing i could think to do was.... to speak to them in English! Haha i just did the regular routine but in English and they actually thought i came from England.... Getting that accent or what!!! ;) Anyways, they were like I cant really answer your question in English and then we blew their minds and spoke Danish and then prayed for them and gave the Plan of Salvation pamphlets and walked away! haha it was so cool! And C is doing great! She is so pumped for her baptism and just loves the church! And then she helped us teach mission prep and role played as an investigator even though she was one.... haha it was way sick and then she told us how she watched the District and telling us what missionaries were her favs and how none of the investigators are like her! So sick!!



Sorry for the short letter, dont have a lot of time today! haha that is crazy about the baptism clothes story! Wouldn't suprise me mom haha! Oh could you send me your conversion story because i just told peopel my mom was a convert but i need more details! Because everyone is like, oh you were probs born into the church and i am like yea, but my mom wasn't! So that could be clutch!

And yea the rest of the squad is on Sjælland! And no it wasnt my fault to get buried in the sand! I just layed down and next thing i knew i was buried! And the weather here is sunny all day long! And pretty hot but have your rain coat with you because it could pour at any second! :) That is sad to hear about Presedent Jones but he is in a better place right now anyways. I love you family and keep being awesome!