Your Denmark Missionary 06-30-10

Hej alle min familie og venner! Det er godt at være her på computer i dag og skriver min uge til dig.

Its been a great week full of exciting things. Denmark weather is still holding up to be really nice. Actually to be honest it has been really, really hot! It wouldn't be so bad except Denmark doesn't believe in Air Conditioners. So I am out all day in the heat, then I come back to the apartment into more heat. So that's probably why its bugging me a little. I am NEVER out of the heat! haha. Except Today as I am at the library writing home, it looks like its going to rain, so that should cool things down a little! However, I will take this heat over the awful winter we had. :)

So to begin I will let you know how my good friends Tom and Christina are doing! They are doing awesome! We talked to Tom about his girlfriend and how he has to get married before he will be allowed to be baptized, and it was such a relief as he has already started talking to his girlfriend about it. So hes working on that. He probably wont make is baptismal date, but that's OK as hes working on getting baptized. You cant rush things like marriage, so hes praying and thinking about that right now. Hes a good guy and the gospel is and will continue to do wonders for him. Christina is on the other hand going to make her date! Of course its always up to her, but shes on track and I sense no problems. Shes continuing to read the Book of Mormon, conference talks, and this gospel principle book we gave her. Shes praying and studying all she can and that's just amazing.

Tom and Christina invited us over to their house one evening to feed us and to just hang out. Tom made us a VERY American meal, which was just amazing! He made ribs, corn on the cob, etc. It was really tasty and it was just good to be around an American! We Americans in Denmark, we got to stick together! Tom and his girlfriend Tanya, Christina and her friend Celine, and Meyer and I were at the dinner. Christina's friend was very curious about our church and asked us a ton of questions, but guess who answered most of them? You bet, Christina did! We even caught her a few times saying to Celine, "We believe in..." Then she would catch herself and say, "Oh I mean they believe in..." haha. Shes so sweet. Celine is actually very interested in our church now. However she did convert to Islam (So the Muslim faith) and shes has to be careful investigating other Church's. Not trying to dis the Muslim faith or anything, but they can be sometimes violent to those who leave their church. So we will have to be very careful around Celine as we don't want anything harmful to happen to her. Shes is Danish though, not a Muslim so it might be OK for her. I will keep you updated.

Then later that night we talked to Christina and asked if shes OK to still get baptized even without her dad. She said shes game and will, but only of course if shes feels it is right. Later in the week Elder Meyer and I were talking and we felt prompted to move Christina's date to the 17th instead of the 24th. We asked Christina to think about it and then we just started talking. She told us that "I feel like I already knew this church, like I have always been a part of it.." well something to that extent, it was in danish and its hard to translate from Danish to English. She in short says she feels at home in the church, likes she always been a member of it. That just made us really happy to hear. So I think its safe to say she is doing well and I am proud of her. Its funny but I am really not doing much, its the spirit doing everything. I almost feel like finding and teaching her is almost too easy.... Gotta love it when the spirit takes control! Makes missionary work a little easier! haha.

I mentioned a girl named Camille a few weeks ago and how positive she seemed. Well shes about 20 years old and is very nice and sweet and acts a lot like Christina. However she still lives at home and she told her parents about us. Her parents told her she is not allowed to visit with us or investigate any other church. We respect that decision of hers and said if you ever are interested in the future, here's our number let us know etc etc.... Its just so weird to me. I mean her parents are probably OK with her drinking, smoking, breaking the law of chastity, and who knows what else but when she goes and tells her parents about religion, then the parenting comes it? Isn't that completely backwards? Danes are so weird when it comes to religion. So we were a little disappointed about that but who knows maybe we planted that seed, right? haha.

Other than that we have been teaching many people on the street and doing the work of the lord. We are getting excited about Christina's baptism and will have to soon start working on her program! Oh and there's a baptism in a nearby city called Roskilde that we plan of taking Christina too, so that will be exciting. Lots of upcoming events that are so exciting.

My spiritual message for the week goes with the story of Camille. I know as members of the church we have the privilege to know that this church is true. We have taken the time to study and pray and have found out the truth. Its such a blessing. I know there is lots of crap being spread about our church, and that many people have left our church. Its a sad thing, but it happens and here's the important prinical I want to be said today... show RESPECT. Though I know and you know the wonderful blessings and countless things this church helps us with, there are those that will either never join, fall away, or say evil FALSE things...but in all the thing we have to do is respect them. Its so hard as we just want to defend ourselves or try to convince them... but Gods given this thing called AGENCY, which means we make our own decisions in life. I encourage everyone to continue to hold fast to the church and be a good example and show respect to those who are not members now or anymore. Its true, we don't have to prove it to others.

So that's my message. I was way disappointed abut Camille so I hope I didn't sound too weird in it.... well, I hope all of you have a wonderful week and enjoy the 4th of July Celebrations! I cant believe July is basically here! Its just crazy? If I recall, A handsome, danish missionary, talented, way amazing, young man has a birthday on the third? I cant remember who it is... but If you do, I think a birthday card or email would be loved by him. Who knows? haha. Love you all!

Love, Your Denmark Missionary,
Ældste Skyler Hardy!

Your Denmark Missionary 06-24-10

Hej Alle Min Familie og Venner! Det er fantastisk at snakke med dig iday!

Hi everyone! Its great to write again to all of you! This week has been busy for me and I am happy to share my experiences again with you.I am also happy to report Transfer calles were made last night and I found out Elder Meyer and I will be staying at least one more month in Slagelse! Which means I will be able to see Tom and Christina's Baptism! So I am relieved and happy that I will be able to stay! The lord definitely answered my prayers this time! I am so happy to be staying!

So Denmark right now is beautiful! The weather has been very nice. It hasn't been to hot or to cold, I mean all you need is a light jacket *Grin*. So attached is a picture I think you will find interesting. Its not a picture of me or anything too important, but a picture of a clock and the sky. I am sending this because the sun does not go down in Denmark til maybe around midnight. That's when its completely dark. As a missionary I go to bed around 10:30 and its as bright as it can be outside, so kind of crazy. If you notice in the picture the background is really light and then look at the time on the clock. The joys of sleeping in Denmark. Oh then the sun comes back up around 3 in the morning or something like that. Its been quite a weird experience having the sun NEVER go down.

Also this week has been a interesting experience as its the Danish Graduation for kids going to school. Let me see if I can explain this, The Denmark school system is really weird. They don't really have a elementary school or a high school like we do. When kids are little they begin in what they call the people school. Its 10 levels or the closest thing to us grades. Once they hit level 9 they can either choose to go to "Gymnasium" or finish there level 10 and be done with school. Most people continue on to Gymnasium. Gymnasium is a lot more difficult so I guess kind of like our High school. However most Danes told me its nothing close.... so kind of confusing. Gymnasium is only for a few years then they continue, if they want, onto University. Now in Denmark they don't have huge schools like BYU or UofU etc etc. Actually from Gymnasium on there education is based on what they want to do or what career they choose. So if they choose to be a doctor they will after Gymnasium learn about being a doctor and go to a school focused on only teaching medicine. If a Dane wanted to be a wood builder, they would go to a special school after gymnasium based on wood building. so the wood builder and the doctor would not go to the same school. Our Universities in the USA have many different careers in one school, but in Denmark you have to go to special schools that are specific for your career. So this week many students are finished with Gymnasium and have their graduation. They are graduating from doing their general stuff in Gymnasium and people school and are now officially students! So they celebrate there beginning of career, you could say. So they wear these hats that look like sailor hats around after graduation. Its kind of funny and a little dorky, but its a sign of success and the Danes are proud of it. Then they go get drunk and forget all the stuff they learned... haha. The life of a Danish person.

Also this week there was a fun little holiday called ST.HANS DAY. Here is a little explanation...
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It has been celebrated since the times of the Vikings by visiting healing water wells and making a large bonfire to ward away evil spirits. Today the water well tradition is gone. Bonfires on the beach, speeches, picnics and songs are traditional, although bonfires are built in many other places where beaches may not be close by (i.e. on the shores of lakes and other waterways, parks, etc.) In the 1920s a tradition of putting a witch made of straw and cloth (probably made by the elder women of the family) on the bonfire emerged as a remembrance of the church's witch burnings from 1540 to 1693. This burning sends the "witch" away to Bloksbjerg, the mountain 'Brocken' in the Harz region of Germany where the great witch gathering was thought to be held on this day.>>

So in accordance with the above description I went and burned a "witch" at a members home. A member invited us over and we ate food, played a little soccer and then built a bonfire and watched stuff burn. I don't know about you but it sounds like a viking holiday to me! It was a lot of fun and just kind of different. Also at the party every body was talking about the World Championship going on right now. Denmark won the last time they played so the Danes are all excited about that. Then they kept talking to me about the USA team and how well we are apparently doing. Apparently the USA team is still in and actually posing a little threat over there. So go figure. I guess Americans can be good at European Football. :) Its been funny to see how impressed the Danes are of our USA team. I didn't even know we had one. :) Fun stuff.

This week missionary wise has been really good. We are meeting with Tom and Christina tonight so I don't have much of an update on them for you. They are doing really well and are still progressing. Tom has a few things we are trying to work on, but Christina is ready to be baptized right now if she wanted. Shes worthy and willing, but we think she wants to wait for her Dad. Christina calls and texts us all the time with questions from her readings. So she is doing really well!

We have found a few new people that gave us their numbers and want to meet soon. Lately its been a lot of younger people. So its been fun as the younger people are a little more open to what we have to say. We have an appointment tonight with a young lady named Camille who told us shes has a lot of questions and is looking for the right church. I am not sure if I already mentioned her. but we are excited to see the outcome of this appointment with her. She seems really good and to top it all off shes cute, so that's makes things a little easier. :) haha. Sheena that girl from Brazil I mentioned last time is doing well. She came to church again on Sunday and brought her mom and her step dad. Her mom and dad invited us over to their home and we had a great conversation. They are now new investigators and I look forward to teaching them. So things are good and we are teaching! Its exciting to see how much Slagelse has grown since I have been here.

So my spiritual message goes with I guess my entire email about the danish Culture! Isn't it incredible how unique we all are? How diverse our world is? How everything seems to work in a perfect order? Well my short message to you today is that there is a God and he loves us very much. There is no way our world was created out of pure chance. It had to be done by a supreme being who knew exactly what he wanted out of his creation. He created us to be unique and different, to better the world, and to enjoy life. I know its true and am thankful that I am here. Its fun to experience the uniqueness of Denmark and how much I can learn from there culture. The same applies to everyone. Life can be difficult but I mean when things are good its just WOW! Our world is amazing, yes imperfect, but unique and created by a loving Heavenly Father.

I hope all of you have a great week! Thanks again for all your love and support and for all you do! Love you all!

Kærelighed, Din Denmark Missionære,

Ældste Skyler Hardy!

Your Denmark Missionary 06-18-10

Hej, Alle Min Familie og Venner!

Its great again to be at the computer to tell you about my week. I hope Utah or wherever you are at is warm. Denmark has been a little Rainy the last few weeks which is really weird. All the danish people have told me that Denmark is supposed to have perfect weather right now. I don't know if Perfect weather exists, but I will keep you informed if this so called "perfect Denmark weather" really exists. haha.

This week has been pretty crazy in Denmark as the World Championship in Soccer has begun. Its amazing how crazy it is over here over that sport. All the sport stores are selling Denmark Teams jerseys and gear! People are all wearing white and red with all types of "DANMARK" logo on it! Its just crazy! Then in the center of the city here in Slagelse they have this plaza where they set up a huge screen and all kinds of tents where you can buy beer, food, etc. This was a few days ago as Denmark played against Holland. Denmark, unfortunately lost, but that was to be expected. I have been told the Denmark team is not very good. :) However its been fun to see how they celebrate there huge sporting events. Fun stuff.

So this week things have been good. We are still meeting with Tom and Christina and they still amaze me, more and more every day. I just absolutely love teaching them and and getting to know them as people. I think Elder Meyer and I have built a really strong relationship with them. So they trust us and we can trust them. Whats most important is they know we don't want them to join the church until they are ready. They know our purpose but they know we wont force them. Some of our investigators think differently. They think all we want to do is BAPTIZE and increase the number of people in the church. Of course we want to baptize, but we only want them to join because they want to join. We want them to join as soon as the spirit tells them too. So its been nice that Tom and Christina understand that.

We met with them on Tuesday and taught them about the atonement and repentance. We also gave them a baptismal calendar with recommended Scripture reading and all the things we will be teaching them. So they were excited to see the calendar! They lesson went well, even though we had to cut it a little short. We showed them a film called Faith in Christ, which explains the atonement really well. Tom and Christina are Catholic, so they know Christ and how important he is, very well. So that wasn't to hard for them to grasp. Tom is way excited that he gets a fresh start. Then we just started talking and asking them how they feel about the Baptismal date and just about the church in General. Tom was just like, "I feel good when I come here. Since I have met you guys my life has just been better. I cant explain it, but it has. My girlfriend has said that lately I have been just happy." I mean wow. What a great statement by Tom. Hes noticing Gods hand in his life. Then Christina commented, " You know, I also feel good when I come. Its weird but when I tell others about the church and they laugh, I get kind of mad. I just feel that I am already a part of your church.... I have no desire to research other religions. I feel content with this one." Then we asked... DO you feel like you have gotten an answer to your prayers yet? She then said, "No, I don't think So. But I will!" Mind you I am paraphrasing and it was in Danish, but for the most part those were comments she made. It made me smile and just feel all "Gitty" inside when he said, she already feels she is part of the church. :) So with that, They are doing AWESOME! Its just so incredible to see people develop in the gospel. Seeing others discover the truth, is just WOW. I love this church, and I love it more because I know its true!

Another person we taught this week is a girl named Sheena. She has quite the story, so I hope I can write it so you can understand. One day Elder Meyer and I were out contacting at the bus station when we saw this girl with her baby sitting on a bench. So we go over there and contact her. We tell her who we are and what we do. She didn't seem to interested, but she gave us her number and we told her we would call another day. So we walked away thinking nothing of it.

Then we met with her she told us this. She said that the morning we met with her was a interesting day. She woke up and started making breakfast, when she had a feeling to go to her Moms house. She said she NEVER goes to her moms house. She obeyed that feeling, got dressed, got her child ready and headed off to the station. As she was sitting at the station she was thinking to herself, "Why on earth am I going to my moms. This is stupid, I should be at home taking care of my son. Why... why... why...." Then these 2 guys in suits come and tell her they are from a church and want a to share a message with her. She told us at first, she wanted nothing to do with them (the guys in suits, that's Elder Meyer and I. haha) Then she said, she felt something. She said that she felt that she could trust us. It was the same feeling that told her to go to her moms. So she gave her number to them and those guys left. She told us that she thought afterwards, " I just gave my number to 2 weird dudes in suits, what on earth did I just do!" She told us at the appointment, "I think God wanted me to meet you... but I am not sure why.." haha. I do! :)

So we taught Sheena about Joseph Smith. She thought it was interesting, but wasn't completely amazed by our message. So in short we had a little bit of a Miracle contact. Its kind of weird how God prepares people to meet the missionaries. I am excited to see where this goes. She recognizes that God sent us to her, but shes having a hard time grasping the fact that the reason she meet with us is because we are missionaries of Gods church. So yea, kind of a crazy story. I just think its amazing. I hope you were able to follow. I will keep you updated on the progress of Sheena! Oh yea, Sheena is from Brazil but moved to Denmark when she was 13. She is 26 now, so shes been in Denmark a long time. She is not married but has 1 kid. So yea.

So my spiritual message for the day goes with Sheena's story. In life, as humans, we tend to think more logically then spiritually. With Sheena, logically her mind was probably just thinking about her mom and she decided to go say hi. She might also think that meeting the missionaries was just a coincidence and her giving us the number was just a careless act. That's the logical way to think about her story. However she recognized it in the spiritual way and how much more rewarding it is for her. So my message is this, pay attention to the things happening in your life. Its important to recognize gods hand in your life, as trust me, hes always helping. How more blessed you will be, by noticing his hand. When you notice it, get on your knees and thank him. I promise that because you noticed his hand in your life, and thanked him, he will help you even MORE!

I hope all of you have a fantastic week! I sure love you all and appreciate all your love and support! Have a great week!

Kærlighed, Din Danmark Missionær,

Ældste Skyler Hardy

Your Denmark Missionary 06-12-10

Hey Everyone!

I hope you guys have had a great last week! Its exciting to once again be at the computer to share my experiences with you again. I have probably started my letter this way before, but I am going on 9 months as a missionary. I mean that's a long time. So my originality is getting a little thin. haha. I hope you enjoy this weeks letter! Thanks again for all your love and support! It means the world. :) So this weeks been a pretty good week!

Me and Elder Meyer had a great day on Sunday which has kind of set the mood for the week! I mean we are just so happy! So on Sunday we arrived at 8:30 in the morning. We always open the church and turn on the lights. There is also this member who has Polio (shes a way OLD member, but is just the kindest person in the world) who we let in the building. We usually talk with her for about 20 or so minutes before our Mission Leader Søren comes to meet with us. We talk to him about our investigators, maybe problems were having etc etc. He usually asks us what the ward can do better...etc, etc. Then after that meeting we go and have priesthood Meeting. There are about 15 to 20 priesthood holders in Slagelse and we hold the meeting in the Chapel. Then after that meeting we head of to Sunday school, which is also in the chapel, and have class. Man is that hard for me! Not only is it in Danish, but its all the comments and things from people that just throw me for a loop. So lets just say its a good language practice for me. I usually leave that meeting with a good 10 to 15 new words. haha. That's if I can stay awake... oops. :)

Then Sacrament Meeting finally arrives and this is were ever missionary gets really nervous. This is the meeting we try to get all the investigators too. Then if they like that meeting we encourage them to go to the rest. We had met a ton of people the previous week and invited all we could, and it turned out great! We had 6 investigators to church! It was insane! We had Tom and Christina come. Christina also invited a friend named Victoria. So that's 3. Then we had this other potential investigator named Sheena Arrive with 2 of her friends, so that's 6! Not only that, but it was also fast and testimony meeting! Which is always a great day to bring investigators because most of the current members are converts, so they always share their conversion story! Investigators just love hearing about it. It makes them feel more normal for investigating the church. The ward was just in shock! When they realized how many investigators we had, they all jumped up and wanted to bare their testimony. It was just a glorious Sunday! Then after the meeting the members were just awesome with them. They talked and said hi and were just friendly and loving! Everything turned out great!

So that Sunday as set the mood for the week. So you are probably wondering about Tom and Christina! Well let me tell you, they are doing fine! Things are still going perfect for them! Christina absolutely loved church! She thought it was amazing how we let everyone go up and share their testimony. She said to us, she hopes one day she can go up and share an experience too. I about fell out of my chair when she said that! haha. Christina is am amazing young lady as shes not even a member but is already being a missionary. She has told all her friends about us and the church and continually invites them to church. Shes planning on bringing her other siblings and more friends! So Christina is quite the golden investigator. Tom is also doing great, and is still hilarious. After fast and testimony meeting, me and him started talking and we got onto the topic of American candy and places we can find that candy in Denmark! Then this member told him of a place in Copenhagen where you can buy the American stuff. Then tom gets excited as he just misses all that American candy and peanut butter, etc etc. Then he turns to me and says, "I can feel that warm feeling (The spirit) now." haha. All through the meeting people were baring their testimonies saying they felt this spirit by this warm, comfortable feeling (which is very true). So Tom made a little joke about it, haha. Hes just a joker and I think hes really funny. Hes a great guy and he also enjoyed the meeting. He could tell people really meant what they said. He says we are a religious that lives what we preach. Then we made an appointment with them for Friday!

So Now we will jump to Friday with Tom and Christina. We met at the church and taught them about Prophets and a few of the commandments. We taught them the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity. They loved how we had a prophet and asked great questions. Then the WofW and LofC they were completely fine with. IT made perfect sense to them. Then we asked them about Baptism and asked if we could set a date with them. We told them its a day or a Goal they can work towards to, to find out if this church is true. Christina had just a huge smile on her face when we mentioned it. I could tell this is something she wanted. Tom was a little more rough but said a Goal would be a good idea. We told him that once hes baptized all his mistakes are washed away. He will have a clean slate! I could tell that meant a lot to him.So we set the date on JULY 24th!!!!! So yes, Tom and Christina both have a baptismal date. We answered many of their questions, Showed them how we baptize, showed them the baptismal font, etc etc. Then we ended our appointment and as we were leaving, Tom says, "You know, Now I am kind of excited. I didn't think I would be." So that made me feel really good inside! I am worried that I might be transferred and so is Elder Meyer and actually so is Tom and Christina and heck even the ward. Tom and Christina asked if they could write a letter to Mission President explaining how much they want us to stay, at least until their baptism. haha. Its nice that we are wanted. But In any case its just great they have a DATE. I am excited for the baptism! :)

Then on Thursday we had interviews with Mission President in a City called Roskilde. Actually this is my last interview with him before he goes him. My current mission Presidents name is President Douglass Olauson. His last day is July 1st. After that I get a new mission president named President Andersen. I am actually really excited for the new president! I think its going to be a fun little adventure. Not many missionaries get to say they had 2 mission presidents. My last interview went well, I could see he was sad and also happy. It made me think about the end of my mission, and how I am going to feel. Its just amazing to me how fast time flies.

Other than that we have been out contacting and have met quite a few new people. We have this nice younger girl named Camille that we plan on teaching on Tuesday this week. She says she as a lot of questions and when we taught her about Joseph Smith on the street she said she felt like him and wanted to know which church is true.... I didn't think scenarios like this really happened, but I guess they do. So I am excited to see how that goes. Shes bringing her sister, so hopefully they will like our message and will want to continue to investigate the church. That's some fun stuff coming up.

Then on Friday I was in this city called Amager on splits with some other missinaioes. While we were out the missionary I was with really wanted a pastry. He told me he as quite the little sweet tooth. I actually haven't been too impressed with the pastries in this part of Denmark. The bakeries are a lot better on Jutland (the part that connects to Germany). When I was in Randers the bakeries were really good, but here in Slagelse or Copenhagen they struggle. So I didn't buy any, but that missionary I was with did. So we go into this really small bakery and there is this old lady finishing up ordering. She looked around 70 and had a rain jacket on that went to her knees and an bandanna think over her head, and had a roller bag... (they are like suitcases with wheels, but the top is open and they use it to carry their groceries. Many older people have them so they don't have to carry bags as they walk or ride buses and stuff.) She put her stuff in the bag, and that misisonariy began ordering. As I was watching her leave she had a hard time keeping the door open and getting her roller bag out. So I quickly went over, without thinking and held the door for her. She turned to me and said, " Du er so Delight, tak for det" with a smile on her face. or in English "you are so wonderful, thanks for that." Then it hit me how good it felt to help her. I could tell she really appreciated it and obviously doesn't get that kind of help or kindness very often.

So my spiritual message goes with the old lady at the bakery! Just like our friend Jesus Christ did, he helped others. So my message for you is to be kind and help others. Its an easy principle and yes a little cheesy but its very true. Its so weird but I felt really happy after helping that old lady. Its amazing how good you can feel when you help others. SO that's my promise to you, that when you help others you too can feel really good inside. (OK wow, I am going for cheesy this week, haha). Not only that but its a way you can follow the example of Jesus Christ.

Thanks for everything, everybody! I sure appreciate all of you! I hope you have a wonderful week!

Love your Denmark Missionary,

Your Denmark Missionary 06-02-10

Hello Everyone!

Its good to hear that you are still liking my emails. I got some letters and

emails from some and Its really appreciated. I am glad to know that I am not

boring or bugging anyone! haha. So thanks for all your support, love and

time for reading my letters! It means a lot. More than you probably think.

So Tusind Tak (Thousand Thanks). So this week as been one of those weeks

that turned out nothing like I planned. Its pretty bizarre how things turn

out that way. So it should be an exciting letter! I hope I don't disappoint.

So this week we didn't have the chance to meet with Tom and Christina. Its

quite sad, but we had an appointment on Saturday and we were all exciting

about it. Christinas been asking questions about baptism... so we thought it

would be a good idea to mention a baptismal date with them again. The last

time we mentioned it they were not so thrilled, but we thought this time

might be a little different. So we planned, studied, and did all the good

missionary stuff before the appointment. Then we got a text from Christina

and she said that her dad, so Tom, was just put in the hospital. Now she

wouldn't tell us the reason, but I guess it was pretty serious. So we asked

if it was possible if we could see him, if he was feeling up to it. Tom I

guess had issues with that. Christina says that Toms very proud, and having

him in a hospital bed showed weakness. In fact, Christina wasn't allowed to

seem him til just yesterday, so We didn't pursues that request. Tom has his

reasons and we will let it be. But we told Christina he would be in our

prayers. Then the next day apparently he did a complete turn around, meaning

hes doing a lot better. Christina and Tom both contributed it to our prayer.

I thought that was very sweet. Christina also told me that she dropped off

his Book of Mormon at the hospital on his request. So hes found some time to

read and it was all his idea. So that was exciting. Toms is doing better and

him and Christina are both coming on Sunday. Christina said that shes

committed to coming every Sunday, so she can learn more about the church.

(By the way, this was all through phone calls and texting, we didn't

actually meet with her this week). SO they are still both doing very well,

and I sense a happy future for them both.

To be honest not much as really happened this week. We don't have a lot of investigators. However we have met quite a few new people on the street who seem positive. We met a girl from Chile, and a girl from Brazil. We also met this very nice danish guy who was way cool and said we could come buy again. So we have people listening, it just takes time. Its unfortunate the missionaries we have had previously didn't do the best job. However the work is progressing. We manage to teach about 20 lessons a week, so not too bad. The first presdient as asked we teach 20 times. So we are managed to stay busy, but just seeing less progression then we would like.

Its kind of crazy but I have met a ton of people all over the world, here in Denmark. I have met people from Iraq, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Germany, Ghana, Switzerland, Poland, USA!!!!!, Denmark,Sweden, Norway, Finland,China, Japan,South and North Korea,Holland, Congo, Cameroon, England, Ireland, Kenya, Philippines, Thailand, Greenland, Iceland, Faeroe Islands, Kuwait, Bulgaria, Ecuador, Chile, Brazil, Mexico, France, Canada, Russia, India, Romania, Latvia, and to be honest I have probably met more, but ha vent managed to remember or write them down. I started my list about a month ago. Its crazy how many people I am meeting. What great about it is I have learned one thing, Religion is important in EVERY culture. Whats also good as our church is established in each and every one of those countries, with the Book of Mormon translated in their language. Pretty amazing. Just another example to me, how much the work of the Lord is going forth.

Then on Sunday we were fortunate to have our Mission President speak in Sacrament Meeting. Tom and Christina weren't able to come as tom was in the hospital. However as we were sitting waiting for the church meeting to begin, our ward Mission leader comes up and says, can you guys give a brief 5 minutes talk and testimony? So spur of the moment, but luckily we had a feeling they would, so we prepared stuff the previous night. However I was still nervous as me and Danish are not quite their. So meeting began, and then it was time for the talks. Æ. Meyer was first and he goes up and gives a talk with great danish. As he was talking i was looking over my notes and I had the strongest impression not to give that prepared talk. I shrugged off the thought and kept going over the notes. Well that stupid thought wouldn't go away. So I put the notes away and I said a short prayer asking for help. I wasn't sure how he was going to help, but I knew if I asked he would. Æ.Meyer finished and I made the long walk up to the stand. I smiled at the Bishop and looked over the danish Audience. I began speaking. I would love to tell you it was a MIRACLE and I spoke perfect Danish... well that didn't happen. However I spoke decent Danish and from what my companion told me, people could understand me. I shared a missionary experience and a testimony. I was by no means at all good, but I believe my Heavenly Father helped me. In fact I think he helped me even before I spoke. From not using that prepared talk, I managed to better practice my danish. Go figure. It was a very nervous 5 minutes, but I did it, and now I can decently share a talk, if I am ever asked again.

Then this week we had a big spring cleaning at the church building. So the

entire ward showed up and we cleaned and organized the entire building. We

also did the yard work and all kinds of things to make the building better.

One thing that's kind of different about Denmark Church buildings is some of

them have Family history centers in them. Slagelse is fortunate to have one

of these inside the church building. In Utah, we are spoiled as we have a

huge center in Salt Lake City. So as most of you know the church is no

longer using the micro film technology. So one thing is Slagelses Family

history center was a big machine used to make micro film. So church

headquarters asked all the churchs with them to get rid of them. So

that was a task me and my companion did. It was a huge thing and weighed a

ton. Thank goodness we don't use that technology anymore.

After we got rid of the machine we started to take the old computer it was

hooked too out. As I picked up the tower I realized it looked just like my

very first computer I had when I was a kid. It was an old yellow, peach

colored metal square looking thing with Windows 98. It made me flash back to

when my parents got me my first computer. To this day it was still one of

the best birthday presents I have gotten. I remember my Mom driving me

somewhere random and making me try to guess what store we were going too. I

remember I had no idea and finally she told me Office Max. She told me I was

getting a computer and a desk and a fancy office chair. I was so excited! TO

this day that has been one of my favorite gifts. I believe it was that computer that got me so excited about technology and why today I have such a love and desire for it.

So my spiritual message goes with my old computer story. Its funny how that old computer started something in my life. To this day I love computers and its because of that old cream colored machine. My dad and mom put that computer in my path and now today I love everything to do with technology. Our Heavenly Father does that exact same thing. Heavenly Father puts things in our paths to better us or test us. Sometimes the things he puts in our path may not be a computer or a fancy office chair, but whatever it is, it helps us. Sometimes a death of a family member will cross are paths, or divorced parents, or other sad events. But how we handle that event is what matters. When those bad things happen, do we allow our faith to be thrown away? Do we allow hatred or anger to fill our thoughts? Do we allow ourselves or forget the good things that were placed in our paths? Do we forget to be good and follow Gods commandments? Its hard, I know.

I know for me I ha vent always been fortunate to have computers placed in my path. I have hard very difficult things come my way. Though I was not always perfect, and may have hated the thing I was facing, I always tried my best to learn from it, climb over that trial, and move on. I come out more experienced, and can face the next challenge facing my way. Hey who knows, the next obstacle might be something happy, not necessary bad. I am grateful I fell in love with that old computer my parents put in my path, or today I might not be as computer savvy as I am. I reacted well with that placed in my path. So my spiritual message is this, Take whatever comes your way and react well to it. Thought it might not always been easy, remember our buddy Jesus Christ. Hes been through it all, so you are never alone. I have seen many people here in Denmark react bad to many situations, and now their lives are destroyed or at least close to it. Always react the way your Heavenly Father would want you too. So that's my message. I hope it made sense. Its so hard to transfer your thoughts to text.

I sure love all of you and am grateful again for your support. I hope you all have a wonderful week.

Love Your Denmark Missionary,

Ældste Skyler Hardy

Your Denmark Missionary 05-27-10

Hello Everyone!

I hope all of you are having an awesome week! I have had a pretty good one and am excited to once again be at the computer to record my weeks events down and send them to all of you!

To begin the week hasn't been to full too many lessons. In fact we have had a hard time getting lessons. But we manage to pull of 20 lessons a week either to investigators or to people we speak to on the street. I know 20 doesn't sound like too much but let me tell you, you would be amazed how much of a challenge it is to get those lessons.

One thing that Slagelse lacks is a lot of people to teach. I think I have mentioned it in some of my past emails. But Slagelse has had some interesting missionaries here in the past. We have managed to go through all the records and contact sheets and have found a 6 month gap of no recorded work. So who knows that those missionaries were doing, during those few months. So because of that our Area book as few positive investigators in it. What is also hard is when we do contact, those people let us speak to them but very few of them turn into investigators.

But we do have a few positive and they are Tom and Christina! I mentioned them in the past so here's an update! They are doing awesome! They truly are, golden investigators! So Sunday came and me and Æ.Meyer were very nervous. Tom and Christina said they would come to church, but you just never know with people. Slagelse goes backwards, so we had Priesthood first, then Sunday school and during those 2 lessons our stomachs were turning. Then we had 15 minute's before sacrament began and still no sign of tom and Christina. So there we are, me and Æ.Meyer pacing in the church foyer waiting for them. Tick tock... man those were very long minutes! lol! Then finally we saw them walking up to the church building. However it was not only Tom and Christina but Christina's sister Daryl! So 3 of them came! I was super excited! They were happy, smiling, and looked excited to be there. We find a seat in Sacrament meeting and the meeting begins.

Now I have mentioned to you, Slagesle is a very weird area. And unfortunately so are the members in this area. They are great people but just a little off. haha. So bringing investigators to Sacrament meeting is always a little scary as you never know what people will think of the meeting. I mean in past weeks we have had awful speakers, babies crying (The parents wouldn't take them outside), the bishop falling asleep on the stand, etc etc. So they have always been questionable meetings. I mean sometimes I wished I could shoot myself. The past meetings have been really, really bad. So when we sat down with Tom, Christina, and Daryl, I started praying as hard as I possible could. The meeting started out a little rough. Babies crying... kids running around the sacrament room, haha. Then sacrament came, and kids were yelling for bread, parents were hushing their kids, and old women was coughing extremely crazily.. haha. Can you get my picture? The meeting was just wacky. Then after Sacrament the weirdest things happened. The kids went quiet, the old lady quit coughing and the spirit took over! The first speaker was amazing, and she talked about her conversion story. That was perfect for tom and Christina. The next too speakers were also amazing, they were very well prepared talks and then the final talk was the first counsellor in the stake presidency so his was also amazing! They were all about Baptism and the Holy Ghost! So the spirit was strong and for the first time in a long time, I felt the spirit amazingly strong in Sacrament meeting. So I relaxed a little and let the spirit do the rest of the work during the meeting. Tom and Christina and Daryl, left that day very happy.

Then later that night, Christina Texted us and just thanked us for the meeting today. (I mean what investigator thanks us for church...haha). Then she asked us a few questions all relating to baptism! haha. I was like freaking out a little! Again, What investigator asks about baptism... That just doesn't happen. We mentioned Baptism to them before but they were not interested. They told us they wanted to read the whole BofM before they make a baptismal date. After the results from church, we are going to push them and see if we can get a Baptismal date with them. Christina Told us too that she has been telling her friends about us and says that shes going to try to get some of them to come to the appointments! I mean shes not even a member yet and shes spreading the gospel! haha. Its just crazy! This Tom and Christina are just amazing! So I will keep you updated as they progress.

Tom is a welder from New Jersey. Hes really good with his hands. He showed us his house and hes done a ton of wood work and metal work and all kinds of amazing things. So hes really good with all the handy builder type stuff. Hes going to school right now to get certified in this Field in Denmark so he can use his skills in a profession here. He is Catholic but doesn't like the church because its leaders to keep what they preach. He doesn't think church should be a burden.Christina his daughter, was born in Denmark. She however speaks great English and loves USA. She has also been baptized in the catholic church, but also doesn't like that church. She is going to school right now to be a shrink. She is really smart, pretty, and all around a very nice person. So that's a little about them! I will try to one day get a picture and send it. :)

Wow so that was a long story about Tom and Christina! Sorry about that! I am just working so hard with them and hope to see a bright future with them in the church! Its amazing how much work it is! haha. Another thing we had this week was Zone Conference in Copenhagen. We had a member of the seventy, Elder Texieria come and speak to us. He was a good speaker and he taught us a lot. He compared my mission in Denmark to his in Brazil and that kind of frustrated me a little. But he gave us some great points and I learned a lot. I just hate it when people compare missions. I know I am working my hardest and doing my best. Then after Zone conference we had dinner at this burger place. They had ranch dressing and that made my day! You cant find Ranch dressing here, so finding it at a restaurant was almost a miracle! haha.

So my spiritual message for the day goes with my story about Tom and Christina and Sacrament Meeting. I was way nervous about sacrament meeting, in fact I was almost sick. However I knew if I said a prayer and hoped for the best, My Heavenly Father would do the rest. (Wow, that kind of rhymed.haha). So i prayed and guess what? Heavenly Father answered my prayer! So my message for you is... can you guess.... PRAY! I know sometimes its hard to recognize an answer from him but, I know your Heavenly Father will answer your prayers. It may not be as fast as my story, but he will answer and he will listen, just in his own time. I know Prayer is real and I saw it very vividly on Sunday. I couldn't believe how well that meeting turned out. Not only did it turn out well, it got Tom and Christina talking about Baptism! Prayer is a real thing and I am very grateful for it!

So that's my letter for this week! I hope I didn't forget anything. I hope you all have an amazing week! I sure love you and appreciate all your love and support! I cant believe June is almost here! I hope those in school had a great last few days of school and those Graduating, CONGRATULATIONS! Enjoy your first week of summer vacation! Love you all!

Your Denmark Missionary 05-12-10

Hello Everybody!

So right now as I was writing this email its raining, like crazy! I have not seen it rain this hard in Denmark yet and it just amazes me. There is so much water coming down, I mean its basically a river on the streets. Pretty crazy! But luckily I am in a Library today and get the wonderful opportunity to write to all of you! So I am out of the rain doing what I love doing each week, getting the chance to write to all of you!

So this week was a week with ups and downs. Its amazing how much a mission is just like a Roller coaster. I am sure you have all heard that expression before. I mean it seems when things are great all the sudden something bad happens. Well unfortunately this week was full of big drops. One could say a crash and burn type drop.

To begin I mentioned last week, one of my old investigators in Ballerup was going to be baptized on Saturday. Peter is his name. He had managed to go 2 weeks without drinking and it seemed things were going really well with him. Well the day of his Baptism arrives. Æ.Christensen my previous companion traveled 4 hours to get to the Baptism as he was baptizing him. I arrived and many loving ward members and people that all knew Peter were there. That day was also another baptism of a young Danish girl named Sara. So this baptism was going to be something special as 2 people were going to be baptized. Well Æ.Lefevre arrived and told me he hasn't been able to get a hold of Peter for the last few days. That's a missionaries nightmare right there! I got really nervous. I would love to tell you right now, he showed up and a wonderful baptism happened.

Unfortunately life happens and this wasn't the case. We sent some missionaries to try him at his house and when they found him he was drunk. At the time we didn't know what happened, but the next day we did. His mother passed away earlier that week around Tuesday. This crushed peter. But he told Æ.Lefevre that day he wouldn't drink. So Peter went over to his mothers house to clean it out and take care of things and he saw some Alochol. Apparently his mother was also addicted. He got sad while he was cleaning out her apartment and gave in. This is the crash and burn of the week like I mentioned above. It broke my heart that Peter caved in, but to be honest I don't think he knew how to deal with the stress. In a way this was a good event to happen as we are able to address more of his needs then were previously known. I am happy to report Peter has gone the last 3 days with no drinking, and has another baptismal date scheduled a month away. Æ.Lefevre thought he should try to go 4 weeks without drinking, and Peter happily agreed. He understood what happened and knows what he needs to do. He has a testimony of the church, but we all make mistakes.

SO yea kind of a bummer event, but be of good cheer as hes still being baptized, its just going to take more time. However, Kenny my other investigator from Ballerup is still doing awesome!!! He is still on track to be baptized! However the date did get moved to May 22nd. Kenny wants to attend church one more time before his big day. Kenny has had problems making it to church but this last week Æ.Lefevre discovered the problem. Kenny doesn't have the money necessary to travel to Ballerup. He cant afford it.. However this issue is being addressed. But still great news is he is going to be baptized next week! I will be at his baptism and he has asked that I baptize him. I am way excited and why honored he would ask me. So yes that's Kenny! Exciting stuff!

So now to Slagelse! We have some amazing investigators named Tom and Christina! I have mentioned them before and I cant even begin to tell you how awesome they are. I get so excited when I think about them and teaching them! Tom has been to church the last 2 Sundays and has loved it. Even in Slagelses weird ward. haha. He loves the feeling he gets when he comes. Christina hasent had the chance to come yet as she has been busy with Exams. Right now is Exam season for all the Danish students. They even have some exams on Sundays. So yea she has had it very busy. They have been taught the first 3 missionary discussions and have loved each and every one of them. They are reading in the Book of Mormon and always ask great questions. It was funny but at church we were talking to Tom and he stops and says to us, "Is it OK if I go outside and take a quick puff, I mean I am not baptized yet..." I laughed and of course he could step out and smoke. Its like hes expecting to be baptized or something with the way he said it. haha. Then while he were outside he told us he is starting to quit and has managed to only smoke 10 sticks a day... the average he told us he used to do was 4 packs a day or more. So hes taking great steps in quitting. Christina also always texts us questions while she is reading the book of Mormon. I mean what investigator does that? In short They are awesome investigators and are really trying to seek the truth. Me and my companion are really having a good time teaching them.

Other than that me and my companion have been busy trying to find new people to teach. We have been street contacting and door knocking with sad to say, not too much success. However we do get the occasional person to listen and they makes it worth it. Its unfortunate to say but previously in Slagelse there have been some very lazy missionaries. We went through all the records and contact sheets and we have found a 5 to 6 month gap of nothing. The records end in December with those companions. There are no records after with any of the new missionaries on them. On the contact sheets there apparently hasn't been any new contacts for 6 months. The last time a contact was recorded was in December. Oh the joys of fixing an area after some lazy missionaries left it. I am realizing how much of an impact you can have if you don't do you job. So that's frustrating, but we have a meeting with mission president this Friday as we told him our concerns and he wants to meet with us. So it should be interesting.

So my spiritual message for the day goes with Peters story in the first few paragraphs. Some people might hear or read his story and wonder, Why would God allow something like that to happen to Peter right before his Baptism? Heck why God allow that to even happen in the first place? A lot of people leave the church and question their beliefs when they see something like this happen to others or even themselves. Instead of looking at an event with closed eyes, lets open our eyes a little more and see the bigger picture of an event happening.

I can look at Peters situation and get all mad at God and say, "WHY!?!?!?! He was so close to baptism. WHY now!?" I will be honest, those thoughts did cross my mind, but then I thought about it and realized its a blessing in disguise. Peters mom was addicted to alochol, just like Peter. Peter was so addicted he couldn't take care of himself. He required his mom for help. Then one day some missionaries met him and began teaching him. Over time he gains a testimony and soon sets goals to quit drinking. Then he startes going 2 weeks completely sober. Now that hes sober and not 100% dependent on alochol, he can now take care of himself. He has the support of the church and the missionaries, he has other means of help. Then our Heavenly Father decided that his moms time of this earth was finished. I see this as a blessing. AS at this time period, Peter can now officially take care of himself and has the support of many individuals. Peter can live on without his mothers help. Of any time for Peter to lose his mom, this was the perfect time.

So my message is this, our Heavenly Father has a plan and he knows exactly how its going to work. We has humans have it very difficult to see the bigger picture. We always seem to question Gods will. But know, that even when bad things happen and we may not understand it, Know that God is in control. He will take care of us. It can be hard as the trials we face can be difficult. But just like Peter, there is probably a bigger picture that we cant see.

Well that's my letter for the week. Sorry about my spiritual message, it got a little long there, haha. I hope you all have a fantastic week! Thanks for taking the time to read. I love you all!

Love, Your Denmark Missionary,

Ældste Skyler Hardy

Your Denmark Missionary 05-04-10

Hello Everybody!

So this last week has been pretty interesting! When I say interesting... I mean it. I will got into it in more detail later on. I am excited to tell you about my first week in Slagelse! I cant believe another week has already gone by.

So to begin, I have a question for you. Have you ever seen that old Christmas movie about Rudolph and the misfit toys? Well The "Island of Misfit Toys", where Rudolph goes to is an island sanctuary where defective and unwanted toys are sent. Is this ringing a bell? If not you can google it. Now don't think I am rude or mean or anything, but Slagelse is the city sanctuary where weird and unwanted Danish people are sent. There are some of the most bizarre and wacky people I have ever met. I mean its strange. I don't really know how to describe it to you...but if you could just seem some of the people walking down the street you would completely understand. I have never in my life and in all my areas been more starred at and made fun of. Normal people generally don't bother with being rude to us, but the weird Danes always seem to find time. However, even though there are a lot of weird people, we have actually met a ton of very nice and normal Danes who listened and seemed interested. But out of all my areas I have served, so far this one is the weirdest.

On Sunday, I attended church for the first time here, and again it was a little strange. All the members were very loving and way kind and nice, but still it was weird. Just the way people said things and the way they acted was so completely different than any other ward I had been in. For example we had an investigator show up to church and the ward members didn't know how to act. They just starred at the investigator. haha. It was kind of funny. They had no idea what to say or do. Slagelse is a small ward, only about 60 - 70 people and half of them are all related. Æ.Meyer my companion thinks the reason the ward is a little weird is because they don't have enough diversity in the ward. I mean most of them are all family in some way or another. Then from talking to ward members Slagelse has been plagued with lazy missionaries and no baptisms for years. Our Bishop told us in short, The slagelse ward is dying. But me and Meyer and going to fix that to the best of our ability. We already have started turning this area around. We have found a ton of new people and are teaching some very positive ones too. I mean look at how shocked the ward was when we brought an investigator to church. I guess that hasn't happened in a while. So yea. I defiantly got my work cut out for me.

Unfortunately we haven't taught anybody yet, except in street teaching or knocking. We have appointments for later tonight and throughout the rest of the week. We did run into this way cool lady at the bus stop sitting down on a bench having a cigarette. We go up to her and she from the moment we said hi was just way down to earth and treated us like normal people. Sometimes when we contact people are rude or treat us like we are the scum of the earth. But she treated us with respect and was just nice to us. We told her who we were if she had a few minutes we could talk to her. Absolutely she sad and she even scooted over to let us sit down with her. Whats even cooler as when we were talking with her a big group of people walked by and normally when people walk by while we are talking with them, they get all embarrassed and stop listening. But when that group came by she didn't even flinch. She gave us her 100 % Focus. She even asked us questions and participated very well in the lesson. Then when we sat down on the bench, she put out her cigarette, which Danes never do. Her name is Enya and i must say very pretty and about 29 years old. We told her all about Joseph smith and the book of Mormon and she seemed very interested! She gave us her phone number and said give me a call next week! It was a awesome lesson, but what I really liked was how nice and how respectful she was to us. If only everyone did that. I mean theres not reason to be rude to people, but for some reason people love to be rude to the missionaries. That was one of my favorite street contacts, but other that that we have been pretty slow with teaching people.

My spiritual message for the day goes with my time in slagelse now. As I have kind of impressed in my email there is absolutely nothing going on in Slagelse. This area is way, way slow compared to Ballerup. Its hard because we do not see much potential right now. One thing that me and my companion have to do is endure and work hard and hope things will go ok. So my message today is simple but yet its an important principle in life. Sometimes things will be hard and no fun. Whether it comes to work, school, or even a hobby we are learning. Sometimes as we do these things we don't see the potential in them, and thus its a difficult task for us. So my advice is when these times come, lean forward and keep plowing on. Endure, work hard, and have faith... but most of all do it with the Lord on your side. Then when those hard and annoying times come (like me in a slow area), they will seem a bit easier.

Well thats all I have this week! I sure love you all and hope you have a fantastic week!

Love your Denmark Missionary,

Ældste Skyler Hardy

Your Denmark Missionary 04-29-10

Hello Everyone.

Its good to finally get to the computer and write to all of you. I sure love doing it. Its fun to share all the experiences I am having in Denmark, with all of you. Again, I know I say this every week, but thanks for your time. I sure love you all.

Ok so to begin I am in a new area called Slagelse. Its a little ways from Copenhagen. Below is a link to google maps where you can see it.

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=slagelse+denmark&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=Slagelse,+Denmark&ei=HHbZS9D-MJGuOLbbicAP&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=image&resnum=1&ved=0CAsQ8gEwAA

The area seems to me to be really nice. Its not so fast paced at Ballerup was. Its also a lot prettier than Ballerup. Ballerup was a big industrial area while Slagelse is almost more of a suburban area. Most Danes live in apartments but here in Slagelse I have seen a lot more homes. Whats even cooler is these homes are way nice. Like the yards are well kept, the houses look like they have been updated and remodeled. The homes I saw in BAllerup were very run down and old looking. So its kind of a nice change of scenery. Its also helps as the weather is amazing right now. Its very warm and the trees and flowers are all blooming. Its just wonderful. Its so much easier to be a missionary when the weather is nice.

As an update on my old investigators Kenny and Peter from Ballerup. From what I have been told from the new missionary and my old companion that are now in BAllerup they are doing fine. Peter as really come down on his drinking and is also attending a rehab clinic. That's great news and hes making great progress with his addiction. According to Ældste LeFevre, he is sure he will be baptized in the coming months. So yea! that's fantastic. The other baptismal date is Kenny! He is doing amazing! We had stake conference last Sunday and I was able to see him there and to talk with him! He is such a great guy! I was talking to him and he was like, this just feel right! I cannot wait for my baptism! It needs to come sooner! He really enjoyed stake conference. He doesn't speak danish, but they had translating headsets for him. So he was able to hear and follow along the entire time! It was just awesome for him! There was also a lot of stake business taken care of during it, and people were called to new positions and some released and this got him all excited! Kenny didn't realize that once you become a member you can have a calling. He said he really wants to be a teacher! He said it would be awesome! SO in short, he is way excited for his baptism which in on May 15th! I look forward to going back to Ballerup to see him! Oh its so exciting to see some one build a testimony of the church!

So that's all the old news in Ballerup. Here is some stuff about Slagelse. Unfortunately there is not as much stuff going on in Slagelse. This area unfortunately has been plagued with lazy missionaries. Its kind of sad, but true. So me and my new companion Æ. Meyer are going to do our best to see this area shine and grow again. Meyer has been here already a month and I can see the work he has put into the area. Hes done a lot and I hope I can do my best and help. But we do have these 2 really positive investigators named Tom and Kristina. Tom is American from New Jersey. He has a thick Bronx accent and is catholic. He married a Dane and ended up moving to Denmark. His wife died a long time ago from cancer. Its a very touching story. His wife was pregnant when she found out she had cancer. They only way to save her life was to have an abortion and go through kemo therapy. (sorry, I am having a hard time spelling...). She refused to have an abortion and had her baby. But by the time she had her baby the cancer had spread to far and she died. Tom was very proud of his wife and tells us constantly. So Kristina is his daughter and she has grown up in Denmark. So she is essentially a Dane with some American inside ofher. A perfect combination if you ask me. She was very pretty and has a very sweet spirit. She doesn't drink, or smoke and prays all the time. That's very unusual for a dane to do. So I met with them for the first yesterday. Æ. Meyer has met with them once before. We taught the plan of Salvation and they just ate it up. They really enjoyed it. It brought tears to Toms eyes when we told him he could be with his wife again. They said they are going to try and read and find out if its true. I can see he as a REAL desire to know. They promised to come to church on Sunday, so it will be a great day! I will keep you update on these awesome people. Its nice to teach an American, haha! Oh how I miss the good old USA!

Other than that we have mostly been doing some contacting on the street. We have taught quite a few people and ´they listened, but we not interested too much after we finished talking with them. But we got a few of their numbers and look forward to calling them next week. This area isn't as bustling as Ballerup but its been a nice change of pace. This area really is beautiful. Its a perfect example of a European city you would see in a movie. Cafes on the street, pigeons by the statues, cobble stone sidewalks and roads, old buildings, and people speaking a weird language. I will take some fun pictures and send them in the letters to come.

So my spiritual message for the day goes with Tom and Kristinas story. I bet you didn't see that coming *Wink*! There are lots of skills we can develop and do in our life. We can go swimming, (Expect me, as I am a misisonary, haha), go to church or read the scriptures ( I do that one a lot, *Grin*), play the piano, run a marathon, etc. All these are great things. But when do those things become things worth while? I can read the Scriptures every day, but when do I actually get something from them? It all comes down to our desire. Do we have a desire to play a masterpiece on the piano? Do we have a desire to attend church or read scriptures? Without a desire to do something, anything we do wont mean anything. Tom may think joining the church and be a good person is great, but does he have a desire to know if its true, a desire to come to church? etc. Without that desire, especially when it comes to spiritual things, the lord cannot and probably will not help us. We have to have a desire deep in our heart for the Lord to help us in all our endeavours. We may want his help, and it would be nice, but deep down do we have that Desire. So my message is this, whether it comes to swimming or the church, we must have a desire to know and to act in order to get something worth while out of it. Developing the desire can be hard, but I promise if we do that things will be much more worth while in our life.

So yea, wow that was a long spiritual message. Didn't mean to get all preachy on you. I guess its safe to say i have definitely been on my mission way to long. haha. I hope you all have a wonderful week! I hope its getting warm over there, and if so enjoy the warm weather. If not, bundle up. Take Care!

Love, Your Denmark Missionary,

Ældste Skyler Hardy!

--
Ældste Skyler Hardy

Your Denmark Missionary 04-21-10

Hej Godday Alle!

Its good to be back on the computer to write a email to all of you. This weeks has been definitely one of the most trying weeks for me. But its good to be at the computer to catch my breath and let you all know how I am doing. Its a joy for me to write these emails, and more of a joy that you love them so much, so again, Thanks, or in Danish Tak!

So here is a little update on my investigators that i have that have a baptismal date. So the first one is Peter. Poor guy. Man this being addicted to alochol has been a really challenge for him. In fact me and my companion were starting to get a little down, as we are not sure what else we can do to help him. We are at a point where the only person that can do anything to help him stop, is him. So We called our mission president and he suggested we mention to Peter about attending at rehab clinic. They are sponsored by the government and would cost him nothing, except his time. Now to be honest I was a little nervous about the idea, as I didn't want to show peter that we didn't have faith in him or anything like that. So we tried to visit him on Saturday and he didn't answer. we tried Sunday, no answer. Now I was way worried, as we meet with him every day, and its very unusual he doesn't answer. But finally we got a hold of him on Monday and it was a Miracle of an appointment. He told us we got frustrated with being drunk over the weekend and decided to go to the doctor or hospital and see what the doctors could do for him. Now this was amazing news to hear, as Peter did this out of his own free will, which is a sure sign he wants to change. The doctors gave him some medicine to help him with the withdrawals and suggested he go to a rehab clinic! WOW! All this took place over the weekend! I was way excited as now I didn't have to suggest he go to a rehab clinic. He also told his he hadn't drunk anything for the last 2 days. SO Peter is doing a lot better. Its taking a while but in any case it is progress. So it was a huge relief for me.

Then my other baptismal date, Kenny! He is doing awesome. Unfortunately some things came up so we had to push his baptismal date to May 15th. Its so some of his family members can attend. We had a great appointment with him also on Monday, where he said hes ready to be baptized and hes sick of waiting. This was great to hear from Kenny, as its good he has the motivation and desire. His wife who is Lene, who is a less active member was a great support when we taught him. She actually suggested he read the Book of Mormon all the way through before the baptism.... So guess what, Kenny committed to it. So from last Monday to May 15th he will have to read 20 pages a day to be finished. So we also committed to read along with him. I can sense he has a testimony and that's fantastic news. So Kenny is doing well and we are 100% sure his baptism will go forth on May 15th 2010!

So Right, isn't this great news? Its great to see the gospel influence people and change them for the better. To help them see all the many blessings they can receive from knowing and understanding Jesus Christs true gospel. So are you ready for some bad news? Well... here it is... I am being Transferred! I have very mixed feelings about it. I was supposed to be in Ballerup for one more month, so having me move now really shocked me. In fact, I was at first way upset as now I cant finish seeing my baptismal dates go through. Kenny also didn't take it well, he was actually kind of upset too. However, My mission president told me that I could definitely go back to see his baptism. Like that's great in all, but I was really hoping to teach him all the way through. But in any case, I do get to come back and see it. But I am also excited for a new area. New sights, sounds, etc. It will be another good adventure with a new companion named Ældste Meyer. I will let you know more about him next week.

On Friday April 16 was actually a really big day in Denmark. It was the queens birthday! YEA! who hoo! Her name is Queen Margrethe the second. She just turned 70 years old. In Denmark when its somebodies birthday, especially the queens, they always use the danish flag to celebrate. So they had the danish flag everywhere. They had the flag on the busses, the mail cars, on light poles, over streets etc. It was a lot of fun. The bus driver even announced it on the bus by saying something like. "Thanks for traveling with Movia, and have a great day celebrating Queen Margrethes Birthday". So it was a lot of fun. The whole idea of a Royal Family is just fun to me. So in any case, the queen does of a wikipedia page, so if you do want to learn more about her,you know where to go.:)

So this week we were going through some contact sheets and we found a number that had never been called before. The contact named said Sook. So we gave her a call and she answered and was extremely glad to hear from us. So we schedules an appointment and met with her. We arrive at the appointment and we find out shes from South Korea and is 50 years old. She speaks Korean, Danish, and English. She preferred English, so we taught her in English. Shes divorced and has 2 kids that have long ago grown up and moved out. So she lives alone, and told us shes really wants to love and trust in God. Before we could even teach her, she said hold on, I want to show you something. She leaves into another room and comes back with her wallet. Shes opens it up and shows us her wallet. More specifically on the part of the wallet that has that clear spot for your drivers license. Instead of having her license she had missionary pass along card with a picture of Jesus Christ on it. She said she was contacted by missionaries many, many years ago, and they gave her a card. So she put it in her wallet and has carried it with her every day, hoping for a phone call from them. Wow. So we taught her about Jospeh smith and how God is our loving Heavenly Father and he loves us. When we mentioned love she broke down into tears. She was like, this feels right. When do you have church? We invited her to church the following week as we had stake conference this week. It was an amazing appointment, as I was able to see the spirit really touch someone.

Then on Saturday I was able to attend a baptism for a person that some other missionaries have taught. Actually its kind of funny, but these 2 people are actually in my area and me and my companion were supposed to teach them. So actually it was a baptism for our ward, the Ballerup ward. Its a long story but they were taught by the assistants to the president. These 2 people are from china, named Lu and Leoan. They are cousins, and had no christian background at all. But they felt the spirit, new it was true and became baptized. It was a great experience for me to witness it. I was also able to participate in the circle on Sunday and give them the gift of the Holy Ghost at church. Wow, now that was a really neat experience. It was fun to welcome them to the BAllerup ward as they had been attending another one. They had a great experience and look forward to learning more about Christ. Then they invited us over for dinner and I was able to eat authentic Chinese food made by real Chinese people. I must say it was very tasty. We also played Ping pong, and wow Chinese people are way good. Its in their blood! haha. They won by a long shot! It was a fun night and its fun to have some new members in the Ballerup ward!

So My spiritual message for the week goes along with the Chinese people. They come from a country with absolutely no christian background. They grow up not even knowing who Jesus Christ is! Isn't that crazy?!? However, they we humble and open, and listened to the missionaries. They studied and prayed and were soon baptized and confirmed members of the church. My message is this, we as people don't have to know everything there is about the gospel to know its true. All it takes is some faith, study and prayer and you can get yourself a testimony just the same as the Chinese people. Its not something hard to do. If we are humble and have a desire to know, we can. Its also a great way to continually strengthen our testimony as members.

Well that's all I have this week! I will let y'all know the juicy details on my new area next week! It should be exciting. Keep me in your prayers, as I will be transferring on Friday. Pray that I don't lose my luggage on the train and pray I can keep my sanity as I travel. haha. Oh the joys of traveling as a missionary! haha. I sure love you all, and hope you have a fantastic week!

Your Denmark Missionary 04-15-10

Hej Alle men familie og venne! Jeg er so taknemlig jeg kan tale med jer i day.

So this week has been really crazy! In fact I am amazed at how many busses and trains I have been on just to get around so I can talk with all the people that I need to talk with. Its nice to be at a computer so I can just sit and breath for a few minute's. So I apologize ahead if my email sounds a little weird, as I have very limited time to write today. I guess I should just begin, instead of explaining that, lol! Anyways, here I go.

Updates on my Baptismal Dates! So Peter, hes the guy with the huge drinking problem. Well unfortunately nothing we are doing seems to be helping him. We are seeing absolutely no progress. Its very frustrating, but we do know he has the desire, but sometimes that's just not enough. We are not sure what we are going to do. We did have a really bold lesson with him today and told him, we cant make you stop drinking. You have to stop yourself... At this point I don't see him getting baptized anytime soon. I have faith, but sometimes we have to be realistic. He will be baptized, its just going to take more time then we thought!

Kenny, our other baptismal date. Hes the black guy from Nigeria who's married with a less active member named Lene! He is freaken awesome! Really he is. We have developed a great relationship, and I hope to never loose contact with him. So far things seem to be going on track. However it hasn't been easy, keeping him on track. I call it the curse of the Baptismal date. For some reason, everything seems to go nuts as an investigator gets a baptismal dates. Its proof right there, satan is doing everything he can to prevent that baptism from happening. However, we are staying alert and are doing all we can to get this man baptized. It's great as we have complete support from his less active wife, which is awesome! So I am hoping really soon. This guy isn't just an investigator anymore, hes my friend, and I hope to see him baptized soon!

So I believe in my previous emails I have mentioned an investigator and less active named Finn and Pernilla. Well they have made a lot of progress this week. They finally came to church! You have no idea how long I have tried to get this man and his wife to church. Its been quite the challenge! However, the great news is they came and the ward was just all over them! It was awesome! Pernilla loved it and said she felt very peaceful and in short just had a great experience. Finn also said the same thing. He said, it helped him realize why he was baptized, so many many years ago. So the Monday after church we met with them in their home and began talking, when we came across some very depressing news. Finn told us that hes actually not married with Pernilla. They are just engaged. Oh how that crushed my heart. That alone opens up another can of worms. Now we have this wonderful issue to deal with. Unfortunately for them, in Denmark when you get married you have to pay the government 500 KR a month, if your living off their Pension system. Finn and Pernilla are both on it, and don't want to give up their extra 1000 KR. So we have our work cut out for us. haha! Oh how funny life can be right?

Church was great this week also, as we have Finn and Pernilla and Peter come to church. The ward was just thrilled we had so many investigators back. They took to them like crazy. The ward members were awesome and I believe all of our investigators felt very welcome. After church we had members coming up to us to schedule dinner appointments. It was so weird, I had like a line of people coming up to me, giving me a date and time for dinner. lol! I think its the members way of saying we are proud of you, haha. So if I come home a little fatter, just know its because I was a good missionary. :) Do I have to be a bad missionary to loose weight? :)

We also met with this really awesome lady from Thailand named Kobfa this week. I believe I have mentioned her before. Unfortunately we have a very big language barrier with her, especially when it comes to religious words. She can speak danish and a little English. The problem is she has no christian background at all. She has grown up Buddhist. However, the good news is, that she doesn't believe in Buddhism, and says Jesus Christ is a much more important man. Shes an awesome lady and me and her have really connected. So we showed up for an appointment and her and her 25 year old daughter were there. So it was interesting but some how Me and Kobfa just began talking and Kobfas daughter and Lefevere started talking.. haha. So we had double teaching going on.

Me and Kobfa had a great lesson about Joseph Smith. She told me, "I am like Joseph smith." I was a little confused at first, then she said, "I am just like him because I want to know which church is true." WOW! I was shocked she came up with that herself. Normally I have to tell investigators that. Then she said to me, "Joseph Smith is my man!, Is he single?" Haha. She immediately started laughing afterwards, as she knew hes not around any more. In short I talked very slow and simply to her and I think she understood better than she ever has about our church. We are hoping to have a baptismal date with her soon. We are actually taking her to a baptism this week, so she can witness one and see for herself what we are all about. Lefevre and Kobfas daughter also had a great lesson. Her daughter is extremely interested and said she would read the Book of Mormon and find out if its true. Kobfa was just thrilled her daughter also took an interest. I see a bright future for this little family and will keep you informed as she progresses.

So my spiritual message for the day goes along with Kobfas story. There are so many things we can learn from the gospel, right? We have the plan of salvation, Adam and Eve, the second coming, etc, etc... How on earth can remember and know all this church stuff? My message is this, relate what you learn to yourself. Just like Kobfa did with Joseph Smith. She made Joseph Smith her man. We can do the same. God created us all uniquely and individually, and because of that we all learn differently. So when your at church and some boring teacher gets up and starts teaching about Nephi. Look at the story and go, "OK, this is important, but how does it relate to me?" I promise you will learn more and grow spiritually by doing this. Knowing the facts of the gospel is great, but truly understanding it, is even better. Its great to know 2 + 2 = 4, but knowing how it equals four will teach you a lot more than just knowing the answer.

Well, I think I probably just about talked your ear off by now. haha. Thanks again for all your love and support! Have a great week and take care!

Your Denmark Missionary 03-31-10

Hello Everyone,

Happy Conference and Happy Easter to all of you! I cant believe its
that time of year already. I seriously wonder where the time goes. Its
amazing to me how quick time seems to flyby. This week was a happy
week for me in Ballerup. Things just seem good right now, and I can
see great potential in so many people! I am so excited I was able to
stay in Ballerup for another 2 months! I am hoping a Baptism is in the
midst.

To Begin, I wanted to share an interesting experience. We have a
member in the Ballerup ward who's name is Cecilia. Shes less active in
the church and actually disappeared for a while. Me and Æ. Christensen
found her by accident while we were out contacting. Shes a black women
from Cameroon and she LOVES the missionaries. Love doesn't even
express how much she loves the missionaries. She just thinks were
angels walking. She is a way religious person and knows the Church is
true. Her calling before she became less active was to take care of
the missionaries, and something in primary. Unfortunately shes a
little Prejudice and just hates the Danish People. We found out that's
why she doesn't go to church. Shes also having money problems and is
struggling to find work. so she has a lot on her plate.

One day we got a call from her and she wanted to know if we were
hungry. Me and my companion looked at each other like, oh no, she
wants to feed us. She called us 3 hours before we had a eating
appointment with a member. So we said yes, as we need help Cecilia in
any way we can. She tells us her address and off we go to her house.
We arrive and I was truly humbled. She was living in a 1 room
apartment with very little furniture. She was living very modest. She
sits us down at this tiny table and starts bringing out the food. Bowl
after Bowl, pan after pan. We had literally a 5 course meal. Food like
Chicken, and salad, and bread, and all kinds of rice and potatoes. So
TONS of food. I almost felt guilty eating it, as she has very little
money and yet here she is feeding us missionaries. She told us its a
JOY and a Passion for her to service the Army of the Lord. It was by
far some of the best food I have ever eaten in Denmark. Shes a
fabulous chef. It also tasted better has she made it out of love.
Cheesy saying I know, but I think that's why I enjoyed it. We thanked
her and started to leave, when she pulled out 2 shopping bags full of
fruit! Completely full. "Here, you need your strength, your busy men".
So not only did she feed us that day, she gave us enough fruit to last
us the rest of the week! What a humbling experience for me...

It was amazing to see what she was willing to sacrifice to make sure
the missionaries were happy and strong. Shes knows how important and
critical the message we are sharing is. IT was just amazing to see
someone who has so little, give so much. Its hard to explain, but it
truly was a humbling for me.

SO this week we have GENERAL CONFERENCE!!! Yea! I am way excited! It
will be great to hear our prophet and all he has to say to us. However
because of General Conference I have been extremely busy this week. We
are trying to visit all the less active members in our ward and let me
know about General Conference. We are also trying to get a lot of our
investigators to come, so they can learn more about our church. Me and
Æ.Lefevre have been running around crazily to get this done. Its
unfortunate how many less actives we have in Ballerup.

So I think I mentioned Peter in a previous letter. He is the man we
have a Baptismal date with. Hes Danish, and about 45 years old. I am
happy to report he is still on track for his baptism on April 9th! Hes
working really, really hard to get over his alochol addiction and I
believe he will make it! Hes a good guy and he has a testimony. So I
will keep you updated on him.

Then Kenny my other baptismal date is doing great. He have managed to
stay in contact with him almost every other day and he enjoys talking
to us. His wife is out of town (Lene) who is a less active, so its
been nice as we have been able to really focus on Kenny. Hes coming
along. Hes already following most of the commandments and we now its
just getting him to develop a strong testimony. And unfortunately its
something he has to do, not something I can do for him. :)

So my spiritual message for the week goes with my story about Cecilia.
As you watch conference and learn about the restored Gospel, be
humble. When you go to church and learn from other peers, be humble.
When a peer or friend or family member corrects you or says something
to you, be humble. When you have humility you are more open to learn,
to listen and in short change yourself to be better. Its something,
believe it or not, I kind of struggle with. Sometimes when my
companion corrects me, I am quick to get offended or angry at him.
Whats the point? All he was trying to do was make me better... However
if I was more humble I would have taken that comment from him and
applied it, thus helping me be a better person. I know its a little
preachy but our goal in this life is to better ourselves and like I
said last week, to be happy. I believe another key to happiness is
Humility.

I sure love you all! Thank you for all your love and support and most
of all thank you for the time you take to read my letter. I know I say
it a lot (In fact, I believe I say it in every letter), but it means a
lot that I can share my experiences with you. I hope you all have a
fantastic Conference and Easter Weekend. Say Hi to the Easter bunny
for me, as I think he might be skipping me this year! haha.

Love, Your Denmark Missionary,

Your Denmark Missionary 03-18-10

Hello Everyone!!

So this Email might seem rushed but I have had appointment after appointment with investigators and less actives this week, that I am actually shocked I have time to write an email. I was really worried about it, as I love checking and writing emails! So I apologize right now for any spelling errors, or incomplete sentences or any type of weirdness in this email. I have 52 minutes to write this down, so here I go! On by the way I finally made it to

MY 6TH MONTH MARK!

I know its crazy. I cant believe I have been on my mission for 6 months! Its incredible how fast time flies!

This last week was actually really hard. In fact when the week ended on Sunday... we had only taught 8 lessons the entire week! Normally we are around 15 or so. So this was a difficult number to hear and we were a little upset. We worked so hard this week, and nothing seemed to really happen. I was out contacting on the street for 5 hours and not a single person would listen to me. That was extremely difficult. Man, Danish people. I definitely have my work cut out for me. However I am happy to report it is a new week (Started on Monday) and so far we have taught 7 lessons this week. So we are having a much better start to the week! I

I have had some fun experiences this week, even though it was hard. So we left the house in quite a hurry one morning to catch a bus. We started walking when we heard this honking from behind us. I turned around a saw this huge Charter Bus with an extension to it, so HUGE, honking his horn. I thought, "OK, oops, I am to far in the street, i will move," So I moved and he honked again, but this time waved his hands at us. He wanted us to go to his door. So me and Æ. Chirstensen went to his bus door. Now to be honest I was a little scared. I mean there is this crazy busy driver honking at us, and wants us to come to his door. What does he want? Is he going to yell at us.... I mean anything could happen.

He opens the door and says, "Want a ride? I am driving right past the Ballerup Train Station". Which fortunately for us, is right where we needed to go. So we jumped in. Crazy! right! We ended up finding out hes this really cool guy from Montenegro named Draco! HE was way nice, and asked us what were about and if were from Canada. He thought Mormon's came from Canada. Apparently he didn't know much about us, so we talked to him a little bit about it. Nice guy, and we drove us to the station and dropped us off for free. As he dropped us off he said that if any time hes sees us he'll stop and offer us a ride. HE said some days he drives all the way to Copenhagen. I thought, what a nice guy. SO wow, what a crazy experience. Picked up by a strange man named Draco on a big charter bus, near my apartment. It doesn't get weirder than that. haha. I think we will start planning our P-days around him... haha.

We started teaching this less active couple named Kenny and Lene. Lene is a member, but we actually found out Kenny isn't. Unfortunately times got hard and Lene left the church. Shes struggling with why God would let bad things happen to her, especially right after she was baptized. SO because Lene is lacking in her faith, Kenny is having a hard time realizing our church is the true church. So its kind of a mess. Then me and Æ.Chirstensen came along and we started meeting with her. We have met with them about 5 times now and they love our visits. Lene has even started making us a meal each time we come which is amazing. She is a good cook.

She doesn't like talking about the church, or should I say gets really quite when we do start talking about it. However, over the last few lessons we have given her reading assignments and she has started reading. She even opened up and shared with us her favorite BOM story. We are starting to see a change in her, which is a miracle! She has really for a long time blocked our God and the spirit from her life. It's taking some time, but day by day I think its starting to return. Shes starting to remember how good the spirit can feel and how much it can help. Its just amazing we have gotten this far with her. I am so happy about it! Shes a good person, but sometimes its easy to get lost, and sometimes it can take a little bit for us to find our way again. Shes on her way and I am proud to be the one to help invite the spirit into her life to help her realize the testimony she once had. Isn't the Gospel Amazing! Kenny her husband, has also started to ask lots of questions, and we have managed to get him to come to a Elders Quorum Activity. So we are seeing great progress in this couple.

They also have this really cool dog named Max. He makes me very happy as I love Dogs. Hes the closest thing I can get to a dog, as my dog is clear in Utah. Sorry off topic, but there dog is cool and loves hearing about the Gospel. :)

Then the ward mission leader and a few other members decided to take us missionaries and visit all the less actives in the ward. So unfortunately this ward has a ton, so we had our work cut out. The ward mission leader ordered the movie the Testaments. Which hes going to give to all the less actives. Its a pretty powerful movie and I think all the less actives would enjoy it. So to do the job quicker, We split up. I went with one member, and Æ.Chirstensen with another.

Lets just say it was the most awkward experience I have had in a long time. Obviously I am not fluent in Danish, and obviously the ward member isn't fluent in English. So... There I was with limited Danish and him with limited English. It was very difficult to give directions to each other, and to talk to each other. haha! The car ride was very quiet. I would try to start up a conversation and he would answer, but I had a hard time understanding him and he would try with me and yea. It was very hard. I know only so many sentences to start a conversation with. Luckily he took over and did most of the talking with the less actives, which is good. The members should be talking as to help build a relationship with the less actives. But that experience definitely put my Danish skills to the test. What a night! :)

Then on P-day, I went to another castle! The castles here are amazing! However, this one is by far my most favorite! This castle still has some of the original design from the 1600s. Its called Frederiksborg Castle! Check out the link below for a little more details. By far the best Castle I have seen, except maybe the new one from Prince Frederik I saw a few weeks ago. However for old castles this one rocked my world.

http://www.frederiksborgmuseet.dk/default.asp?obj=norm&show=1&parent=724&objID=724

I attached a picture of me in the Ballroom. That room is incredible! So yea, enjoy! Also at this castle, is the original Carl Bloch paintings. Those are the paintings that they use in Preach My Gospel and all over the church. They were beautiful! Its was funny, but after we purchased our tickets and locked up our backpacks this worker comes over to us and started to talking to us. He knew we were Mormon missionaries and knew our church uses those paintings a lot. So he gave us percise directions to the Carl Bloch Gallery! haha.

My spiritual message for the day goes with the story I shared with Kenny and Lene. Never, ever, ever, ever Give up. Never lose faith or forget your testimony. When times get hard don't forget your Heavenly Father, but remember him more. If anybody's going to help you get through those hard times, wouldn't you want the most power and perfect man in the universe? I know I would. I know times get hard, and it may not make sense why that happens, but God has a plan for us, and if we put all our trust and faith in him, we will have nothing to worry about!

That's my message for the day. I know its true 100%. I am just putting all my faith in him as a missionary, and you know what, I have had very little worries. I know things will work out and its helped me be more happy.

I sure love all of you and appreicate all your love and support. I know I say that every week, but I really do mean it. I hope all of you have a great week and enjoy the first week of spring!

- Hide quoted text -

Love, Your Denmark Missionary,

Ældste Skyler Hardy