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.
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!
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Love, Your Denmark Missionary,
Ældste Skyler Hardy
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