Kære Familie og Venner og heck, HELE VERDEN! :)
Det er so dejligt og fantastisk at denne uge er Jul! Jeg er so lykkelig og taknemlig denne uge har endelig kommet. Jeg håber vi alle sammen husk hvad Jul er virkelig om. Det handle om Jesu Kristi og hans forsoning. Jeg håber når du er ud og købet nogen ting du husk ham og hvad an har gjort for us! So Glædelig Jul og godt Nytår!
Hello everyone! Guess what, Christmas is finally here! I am so excited and cant believe it! I love the decorations, the music and how this time of the year brings the best out of people. But most of all, especially now as a missionary I am grateful to talk to my family! Its been something I have been waiting for, for many months! Now this opportunity is only a few days away! Oh how great Christmas is! :)
So to begin we had a fun time on Monday pulling up the carpet in our apartment. It was a TON of work. I mean the carpet was old and was falling apart as we were pulling it up. There was this rubber dust all over the floor and it got all over us. I mean it was gross. So we ripped it all up and threw it away. I never felt more happier in my life. Then we had to scrape all the glue off the floor that was holding the carpet down. It was quite exhausting. Then after we got all the glue off, we sweeped the floor, then vacuumed. Then we grabbed a mop and wiped down the floors. To our surprise there was a beautiful wood floor underneath. However we are getting new carpet so that wood floor will be covered again. Its such a shame as it is very nice, but unfortunately missionaries don't know how to take care of things.Then after doing that we decided to go into the city again to see the sights and sounds and enjoy the Christmas atmosphere. We also ran to the post office and sent our Christmas packages home.
Then later that night we headed to a members home who invited a non-member friend over to eat.We had a great dinner and taught the man about the church. I honestly don't know how interested he really is, but its a start. It was nice the member even did this. I was very impressed. He said he wants to meet again so we will see. Most of all I just felt very honored that the member trusted me to teach her friend. I thought that was very wow, to me. It takes a lot to get members here in Denmark to invite there friends over and be taught. So it meant a lot of me that she trusted me.
Then on Tuesday we met with our new convert Nicole. We have had many scheduling conflicts since her baptism, so this was the first real teaching appointment since her baptism. I mean we have taught her in church and met up with her a few times during the last few weeks, but not in a formal teaching environment. We taught her about being patience through our trials and how our trials help us learn and grow in our lives. We showed her this Mormon messages film called Patience by Elder Uchtdorf and another one that talks about forgiveness. Then to end the lesson we showed her a 3rd Mormon messages called Good things to come by Elder Holland. That one talks about how if we fight through our trials and do our best- good things are sure to come. Below are the links to these films. If you get the opportunity to see these, please do. They are very good and have great messages.
Continue in Patience - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=654QGjYHlJY
Forgiveness: My Burden Was Made Light - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7zwQ_7q-fU
Good Things to Come - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nczw6xHJ0I
The lesson turned out great and Nicole learned a lot. She is progressing and doing much better. Shes making a lot of changes in her life and working really hard to follow Christs example.
Then on Wednesday we woke up early all 4 of us in Århus and ran to Langenæs Bakery and purchased some pastries, as today was the last day we all 4 would be together as 4 missionaries in Århus! It was a delicious pastry and we had a lot of fun. Then later that evening we met up all 4 at the church as the Young women in the ward decided to throw us a Christmas party. It was a lot of fun. The girls were all cute and they reminded me of my little sister MaKenzie a lot. There is this one girl in there that is the same age as MaKenzie and she asked me if I had a sister. I told her I did and ended up talking about MaKenzie all night. I showed her some pictures and they were all, "THAT'S YOUR SISTER!! SHES ADORABLE!" I just laughed and asked them, "Why are you so shocked? Am I not as pretty?" They all laughed and had a great time. We played games, ate food and just had fun. This is a good group of girls over here in Århus. I was so impressed with them as they are doing whats right, following the savior, and keeping their standards high. In a country where morals don't exist, It was a breath of fresh air to see hope and happiness in the future of these young women in this country. It was a testimony builder for me as i have seen some ugly things here in Denmark. The night was a lot of fun and I sure appreciated them doing that for us missionaries.
Then on Thursday we went all the way to Odense for a training. Odense is the middle island between Sjælland and Jylland. It was a long train ride but it was worth it. The training was good and my Greene bore his testimony in danish and did a great job. We learned how to better commit people to baptism and how to help them keep their baptismal dates. I learned a lot and will hopefully apply what I learned soon. We also said goodbye to the other missionaries so now its just me and my Greene in Århus.
Then on Friday we met with a less active member named Fareed again. Hes struggling with coming to church, but he just loves our visits. We had a good appointment and we told him to try to make it to church, especially this Sunday as its Christmas! He said he would try.
Then on Saturday we finally got these Christmas Cards the mission has created for us to give to people. I ordered a lot as I decided to send a Christmas card to every less active in the ward. So we spend most of Saturday writing these cards and putting them in envelopes. There is over 100 less actives in Århus ward... so it was a lot of writing, licking, and stamping! lol! I hope the cards are a success and will bring a little Christmas joy into these peoples hearts and hopefully rekindle there feelings they once had for the church and most of all for their savior Jesus Christ. We also included a card that gives instructions on how they can get a free Christmas DVD about Jesus and his birth if they call a certain number for there Christmas gift. :) It was a lot of work but everyone likes getting a card.
Then on Sunday we didn't have any of my investigators come. Its a busy time of the year and a lot of them are with their families, which is where they should be. However Nicole arrived and is still doing well in church. She even brought her son. She sacrificed some things to get him to come as she wants him to grow up in the church as much as possible. Shes having issues with custody and is in the courts right now. I hope and pray things work out as this little boy also needs the gospel. However it was a nice to see how important church is to Nicole as she brought her son. It was nice.
My spiritual message for this week is simply MERRY CHRISTMAS! Remember the CHRIST part in that and remember truly why we celebrate it. I promise if Christ is a huge part of your Christmas season this year, you will find a sweet spirit in your home, stronger and more wonderful then not.
So to each and everyone that reads my emails, I love you and wish you the very best Christmas!
GLÆDELIG JUL OG GODT NYTÅR!
Din Danske Missionær
Med Kærlig Hilsen,
Ældste Skyler Hardy
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