Hello all my family and Friends,
I cant believe another week has gone by. Not only has another week gone by its brought the Week of Christmas. Its been a pretty mellow week in Randers. However the good news is the Christmas Season is in the air and everyone seems to be in a better mood. People still don't listen to our message but they are a little kinder about it. Because of Christmas this week we decided to do emails on Monday as the library (where we do our email) will have weird hours. So to be safe we decided to come on Monday to make sure we get the chance to email.
This week we haven't had a lot of teaching appointments as everyone has been really busy. Because we haven't had a lot of teaching appointments we have had to be outside a lot. Its cold here, but its probably exactly the same temperature as Utah is. It hasn't seemed any different to me. However this is only Randers, I have been told it is much colder in other locations around Denmark. So I am remembering to be grateful is it isn't as cold in Randers as it is in other locations around Denmark.
One thing I did this week was we had to go on Splits, again. My companion is district leader, and the district leaders are supposed to go on splits with each companionship throughout the month. Luckily I am in the smallest district known to man. We only have 4 normal Elder Missionaries (Including myself), 2 sister missionaries, and Senior Missionaries. The good news is, we cant do splits with the sisters, and we don't do splits with the elders. So I think I lucked out, haha! We only have to do splits with 1 other companionship. We decided to head up there Wednesday night. The place is called Fredrikshavn. It is about a 2 hour train ride from Randers. (I know once again, I'm traveling...). We left about 6 Wednesday night and arrived there about 8:45 ish... We got out of the train and oh boy was it cold.
Fredrikshavn is almost at the tip of the biggest part of Denmark. The part that is connected to Germany. Its at the very top and this town is next to the water. So this place is way cold. Much colder than Randers. Its was so cold that it hurt to breath. It was insane. So we quickly walked to the Fredrikshavn Elders Apartment. We arrived, planned, and headed to bed. We woke up the next day, did our normal studying, etc. Then it came to go out. I was not excited as it was even colder today as a big storm was arriving. We split up and began to help out the Missionaries in this area. They had an appointment and me and this other missionary were assignment to go teach him. We headed over there and we knocked on his door. He was home and invited us in. Oh boy was this guys apartment a mess. It makes MaKenzies Room and Morgans room look clean, lol! We walked through the apartment trying not to step on anything or trip and made our way to the couch. We sat down and we had some small talk with him. This guy also likes to smoke, so the entire time we were teaching him, we just smoked, and smoked and smoked. However the good news is, we did listen, and was asking great questions. He generally does seem interested in the church. I wonder how he will take the Word of Wisdom lesson? haha! Luckily he is not my investigator and do not have to worry about it. I hope the best for this guy as he is really nice.
After that we were back outside in the freezing cold. We had no more appointments so we had to be outside and contact. It was so cold! I don't think I can express to you how cold it really was. I had like a ton of layers on, a hat, gloves, you name it, I had it own when it comes to winter clothing. It was insane. We tried to contact people but they were just as cold as me and didn't want to talk. I honestly didn't blame them, lol! We went as long as we could and finally went back to the apartment to have lunch. We had lunch, finally warmed up and then had to go back out. I was just so excited... haha. We went out again, did more contacting. It did turn out good as we did teach a few people and did schedule a few appointments. Finally splits were over, Elder Robinson and I headed back to good old Randers.
We got to the train station almost missed our train. We did make it and made our way back home. We did have this Train worker talk to us. Apparently he talks to the Fredrikshavn Elders all the time on the train and had never seen us before. So he began talking to us. He spoke very loud and asked us weird questions about our church. He was so loud that when he asked us questions the entire train became quiet and starred at us. lol! It was a Little awkward. I don't think the train worker meant to, its just the type of guy he is. So it was a Little awkward, but he was nice and made the train train ride a little more interesting. haha.
On Saturday we did have a run in with some Jehovah Witness missionaries. They were in the same area as we were contacting. It was kind of annoying as when they contact people they are very blunt and kind of rude. In short they annoy people, versus we are very kind and respectful and do not annoy them. Well because the Jehovah Witness missionaries were out contacting they assumed we were Jehovah witness missionaries too! We tried to explain we weren't but they were already to annoyed to listen. We decided to be the better people and leave. Unfortunately the area were left was full of people. The other places we went had barley anybody. That was frustrating as that really slowed down the week. The good news is, they never contact long and we were able to reclaim our territory after a few hours, lol!
Well after that the days were pretty slow. Everyone is busy shopping and getting all the things they need for Christmas. One thing I learned is Christmas day is actually on the 24th here. That's when they open their presents and do all the stuff we do on our Christmas day. I thought that was interesting, and a little different. They also sing Christmas songs and dance around their Christmas tree. That one through me off a little, lol! It will be interesting to see that on Christmas day, lol! Oh the fun traditions. Get read family, at the next Christmas party we may be dancing around a Christmas tree... lol! The other good news is, ward members are inviting us to dinner left and right. We have a dinner appointment and some lunch appointments almost every day next week. It will be fun to have some of their traditional Christmas food. I will let you know how it goes.
Well its been a hard week but I am still very happy to be here as a missionary in Denmark. The language is tuff still and the people dont listen. But we do have the occasional person that does listen and that just makes all this worth it.
That's all I have this week. I hope you all are having a wonderful Christmas season. I love you all and Have a Very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!
Your Denmark Missionary,
Ældste Skyler Hardy
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