Hello Everyone!
I want to begin today and tell you how amazing our Heavenly Father is. Our new mission president has changed some more rules and one of his rules is, we have to wear our normal missionary clothes on our P-day. I was a little bummed out, but I knew I should follow his new rules. One thing that I struggle with is wearing my missionary clothes and shopping. I just feel that because I am in missionary clothes I should be working not shopping or other things. So yesterday Sunday, I prayed and hoped that today (Monday) it would rain, that way I could have my jacket on to hide the missionary attire while I shop! haha. Guess what..!?!?!? ITS RAINING! I don't know about you but that's our Heavenly Father showing his mercy and love! So its raining today and I am very grateful. Its not that I am ashamed to wear missionary clothes, its just awkward while you shop. Its hard to explain so your just going to have to trust me! :)
It has been quite the eventful week here in Århus for me. There has been nothing extremely exciting but it was been busy and we have had our good moments. The yelling and being flipped off has died down a little and for once we were built up while we contacted. I know, weird right? On Monday or Tuesday we were out contacting and we contacted lady. It was raining and she had an umbrella over her head, and she used the umbrella to avoid eye contact with us! haha. Danes do that a lot! However, I contacted her anyways and she unhappily began to talk to us. After a little bit of talking and my amazing good looks and charm *Grin* we managed to explain the Book of Mormon to her and our purpose as missionaries. She was amazed at what we did and said word for word, "There needs to be more people like you in the world." I smiled and said thanks and we talked for a few more minutes. Then I asked if she would like to hear more another day.... well she changed the subject and said she had to leave. haha. Oh danish people...for one brief moment you see hope, then the next... crash and burn. haha. However I gave her a pass-along-card and told her she could go to our website and order a Book of Mormon. So we will see, who knows. :)
Then last Monday we were out doing some shopping for groceries and random things in the city center. We weren't contacting or anything when in the midst of the crowd I hear, "Are you from Utah." I turn around and there is this man coming up to me speaking English. I was like, "Yea, I am." Then he looks at me again, "Are you sure? You are from Utah." I kind of laughed and said, "Yea I have a license to prove it." Then the man laughs at me too and says, "So your Mormon!" I was like, "Yes I am." He smiles and and starts talking to us. He was a great guy, way nice and wanted a Book of Mormon. Normally I don't give them out right away, usually I wait and make an appointment with them another day. However I had one with me that day and felt that I should give him one. So I did and he tried to pay me. He said basically that to him the Mormon church is the only church he can see that actually lives what it preaches. He said hes fascinated by that and wanted to read the "Mormon Bible" as he called it! haha. So I gave him one and asked if we could come by another day and talk with him. He said hes really busy with school and basically said no! haha. Its like one brief shining moment then again, another crash and burn! haha. However he was really nice and complimented us on what we did. Once again, he knows we are nice and the image of the church was improved. :) You never know what might happen in the future.
So we have had many moments like that during the week where people have complimented us and in short have just been nice. I have come to the conclusion that there are many people who do in fact have respect for us and know we are good people. However the problem is the nice people don't open their mouths as much as the mean people. So of course we here more negative as Normal nice people wouldn't bother saying anything. If that makes sense?
For Example, it was Friday evening and we were on our way home. We were at cross walk waiting for the light to say walk, when this lady from behind walks in front of me and stares at my name badge. Oh know I thought, shes going to say something stupid or mean... oh yuck. However she looks at me and says, "Er du Jevohas Vidne? or Are you Jevohas Witnesses?" I look at her and say, "Det er vi helt Ikke! Vi er Mormoner! or That are we completely not! We are Mormons!" She looks at me and says, "Oh OK, much better. I do not like Jehovah's witnesses." I said, "Yea, I can understand that." Then she quickly says, "You mormons are nice people, but I have my faith and you don't need to teach me" I laugh and say, "Det er godt du tro på noget, Vi er stolt af dig or That is good you believe in something so we are proud of you." haha. I say in a joking manner. She laughs and got a good kick out of it! Then she turns the other way and says, "You boys have a fantastic afternoon!" So in short, people are nice and are not always rude. We weren't able to teach her anything, but she knows we are nice people and again the image of the church was improved. She now knows white shirts and black name badges are Mormons, and maybe next time will give a friendly smile and maybe listen. You never know.
So its been a much better week then it has been. People have been a little more nice and that definitely helps. However I ha vent just been contacting all week, I have also been teaching! Yes, we have had appointments with investigators and for the most part things are going very good with them!
One of our most positive investigators is this danish guy named Tobias. I cant remember if I have mentioned him, but hes in his middle 20s and lived with a member family in Idaho when he went for foreign exchange. So the previous missionaries met him on the street here and got his contact info. When I arrived we gave him a call and made an appointment with him and things are going great! This week we taught him about the Plan of Salvation and I think he really enjoyed it. He even got comfortable with us and share some personal experiences, and it helped him as this plan gave him answers. He even asked us, "Do you believe in this." I said to him, "Yes I do. I know its true" He looked at me and said, "Really?" I again in a very serious way, said "Yes." He kind of looked at me and for the rest of the lesson took it a little more serious." He invited us over again this week and we plan on showing him the Joseph Smith film. He is also making dinner for us, Yea! You know a Dane is grateful for you when they want to fill your stomach up with food! :) So yes, things are going great with him.
Another man we are teaching is named Sam. He comes from China, so actually is real name is something completely weird... so he told us just to call him Sam. haha. In Århus we actually teach English and Danish lessons every Tuesday night at 4 and 5. So the previous missionaries invited SAM to come get free lessons. He came and for a while he came only to learn about the language's. Well over time he got curious and began to learn more about the church. Sam has been taught a lot and seems very interested in the church as he has begun to consider baptism. He knows there is something special about our church. We tried to set a date with him and hes considering it. So I don't know about you but that's pretty exciting. However the only concern is, is he is planning on moving back to China in a year. So he wont remain in Denmark. However that's OK... Maybe his purpose for coming here is to be baptized. I don't know. We told him that there are members in China and they can now legally meet together. We told him if he does decided to join we would get him the contact info he would need to meet up with those members.
Wow, OK sorry this email is getting a little long. However I have one more experience out of the many I have had this week. We recently received a referral from a member in Randers. Her name is Irene. She sent me a beautifully wrapped package in a letter instructing me to deliver it to a friend of hers named Rikke that lives in Århus. So my companion and I headed out and knocked on her door. I asked her if she knew Irene. She said yes, and I said, she sent us here to give you this gift, and I think inside is a letter.She got a huge smile and said, really! Then she was way friendly with us and we just talked and were nice. I gave her a pass-along-card and then walked away. After I left I realized how stupid I was and didn't get her number or asked her if we could come back and share our message with her. I just felt stupid and I couldn't believe I forgot.
Well this is my spiritual message for the week. I had this referral and did my best to contact her and be friendly. However for some reason I didn't do the normal mission thing and ask for her contact info. I have no idea why I was so careless and stupid. I felt bad about it for the next few days. Then on Saturday morning I get a phone call from Irene. She told me that Rikke called her and wants to me with the missionaries! I was immediately relieved and excited and just leaped for joy! :) She told me that Rikke was impressed with our kind manner and how normal we were. She said to Irene, "It was such a surprise to have 2 handsome young men come to the door" so in short she was grateful and wants to be taught. Irene even said shes going to drive down from Randers to meet with us and Rikke. Irene even got emotional on the phone and says, shes tried for years to get her to learn about the church and nothings worked. She attributed this success with me and my companion and said whatever you did, you did it perfectly.
So my spiritual message for this weeks is when we do our best, in the end perfection can be reached. I did my best and for me I thought I made a mistake by not getting her contact info. Well in the end the Lord took care of the rest and manged to turn my little mess up into a situation that was perfect for Rikke. so in short, me doing my best (Though I didn't think it was, haha) ended up being perfect. The lord works in mysterious ways, and I am happy to look back and said, I did my best. :)
Well I sure appreciate all of you and your time for reading my emails. I sometimes feel all I do is ramble on. haha. On other news, real quick, I have officially reached my 11 month mark as a missionary! Has time flown or what! haha. I sure love all of you and hope you all have a fantastic week!
Med Kærlig Hilsen,
Ældste Skyler Hardy
Monday, August 23, 2010
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Your Denmark Missionary 08-09-10
Hello Everyone!
Its good to be at the computer again this week to write to all of you! I hope all of you are all doing well and are all having a great week! My p-day is now officially on Monday. Our new mission president has changed the day. My new mission president is named President Andersen. He has now been my president for 1 month and hes doing an amazing job. I have been very impressed and it just feels right to have him as president at this time. So new president, new changes. Exciting stuff.
To begin I have a Danish culture Moment... so in Århus, I have been told, has one of the best bakeries in all of Denmark. I have heard that from previous and current missionaries. In fact there have also been a few members too that have told me that. This bakery is called "Langenæs Bageriet" so Langenæs Bakery. I haven't had the time yet to eat there but I have been told its the best. So every morning as me and my companion head out the door I see many runners. Its good to see people trying to exercise a take care of themselves. As my companion and I continue we see more and more runners and we also see many with a bag in there hands. Sometimes we see them with a very large bag. haha. So one day, as I was walking a runner threw the bag on the sidewalk. I walked by the bag to find out its a bag from Langenæs Bakery! lol! Once I knew what the bag was I realized what was going on. haha. Every morning many runners, run to the bakery, purchase there unhealthy pastry and then run back to their apartment. haha. I don't know about you, but I love the way danish people here in Århus like to exercise! haha. A little job, a *Couch* light snack, and another light run. Life doesn't get any better right? haha. So now every morning I laugh as I see so many danish people, with their bags of pastries, running to and fro from that bakery. I thought that was funny and worth sharing! :)
As for me and the missionary work, not much has happened since the last time I wrote. I last wrote on Thursday, so its only been 3 or 4 days. haha. So I unfortunately don't have much to write about. However the work is going well. We have been made fun of and yelled at and flipped off at, a lot this week. That's been very tough and has definitely effected my desire to want to go out. However, I force myself out and do my best. I am by no means a perfect missionary, and occasionally get a little scared to speak to certain people. But I try my best and of course some days are better than others, but in all I feel the lord is proud of me and continues to bless me here in Århus.
I think I mentioned last week we have received a lot of referral's from temple visitor's centers in the untied states for people living in Denmark. Well this week we plan of visiting all of them and hopefully find some new people to teach. I am crossing my fingers and praying that something will come out of these referral's. Its so tough to contact and bonk on doors, I am just hoping for 1 free bee. haha. I will keep you informed as to the status of these fun referral's. I can just tell you now, there is bound to be a few good stories out of these. haha.
My spiritual message for the day goes with my message about the bakery and the runners. Life obviously has its up and of course its downs. Some people take life more seriously and others more jokingly. So my message is this... be a danish runner in Århus! haha. The danish runners, run hard to the bakery, take a little break and eat, then run again back home. The concept applies to life. Begin working hard with any goals you have, then once you reach them remember to take a break, enjoy that small victory, eat a pastry, then chug on and work hard again. Life is supposed to be enjoyed, and if we do it in the way the lord as layed out for us, all is possible and true happiness can be reached!
So yea, cheesy message but I was low on ideas this week! haha! Thanks again for all your love and support and for reading my cheesy spiritual message! I sure love you all and pray for success and happiness in your future! Love ya!
Med Kærlig Hilsen,
Ældste Skyler Hardy
Its good to be at the computer again this week to write to all of you! I hope all of you are all doing well and are all having a great week! My p-day is now officially on Monday. Our new mission president has changed the day. My new mission president is named President Andersen. He has now been my president for 1 month and hes doing an amazing job. I have been very impressed and it just feels right to have him as president at this time. So new president, new changes. Exciting stuff.
To begin I have a Danish culture Moment... so in Århus, I have been told, has one of the best bakeries in all of Denmark. I have heard that from previous and current missionaries. In fact there have also been a few members too that have told me that. This bakery is called "Langenæs Bageriet" so Langenæs Bakery. I haven't had the time yet to eat there but I have been told its the best. So every morning as me and my companion head out the door I see many runners. Its good to see people trying to exercise a take care of themselves. As my companion and I continue we see more and more runners and we also see many with a bag in there hands. Sometimes we see them with a very large bag. haha. So one day, as I was walking a runner threw the bag on the sidewalk. I walked by the bag to find out its a bag from Langenæs Bakery! lol! Once I knew what the bag was I realized what was going on. haha. Every morning many runners, run to the bakery, purchase there unhealthy pastry and then run back to their apartment. haha. I don't know about you, but I love the way danish people here in Århus like to exercise! haha. A little job, a *Couch* light snack, and another light run. Life doesn't get any better right? haha. So now every morning I laugh as I see so many danish people, with their bags of pastries, running to and fro from that bakery. I thought that was funny and worth sharing! :)
As for me and the missionary work, not much has happened since the last time I wrote. I last wrote on Thursday, so its only been 3 or 4 days. haha. So I unfortunately don't have much to write about. However the work is going well. We have been made fun of and yelled at and flipped off at, a lot this week. That's been very tough and has definitely effected my desire to want to go out. However, I force myself out and do my best. I am by no means a perfect missionary, and occasionally get a little scared to speak to certain people. But I try my best and of course some days are better than others, but in all I feel the lord is proud of me and continues to bless me here in Århus.
I think I mentioned last week we have received a lot of referral's from temple visitor's centers in the untied states for people living in Denmark. Well this week we plan of visiting all of them and hopefully find some new people to teach. I am crossing my fingers and praying that something will come out of these referral's. Its so tough to contact and bonk on doors, I am just hoping for 1 free bee. haha. I will keep you informed as to the status of these fun referral's. I can just tell you now, there is bound to be a few good stories out of these. haha.
My spiritual message for the day goes with my message about the bakery and the runners. Life obviously has its up and of course its downs. Some people take life more seriously and others more jokingly. So my message is this... be a danish runner in Århus! haha. The danish runners, run hard to the bakery, take a little break and eat, then run again back home. The concept applies to life. Begin working hard with any goals you have, then once you reach them remember to take a break, enjoy that small victory, eat a pastry, then chug on and work hard again. Life is supposed to be enjoyed, and if we do it in the way the lord as layed out for us, all is possible and true happiness can be reached!
So yea, cheesy message but I was low on ideas this week! haha! Thanks again for all your love and support and for reading my cheesy spiritual message! I sure love you all and pray for success and happiness in your future! Love ya!
Med Kærlig Hilsen,
Ældste Skyler Hardy
Your Denmark Missionary 08-5-10
Hello Everyone!
Great to be here at the library today to write to all of you! I hope all of you are having a fantastic summer! In Denmark there summer vacation is starting to come to an end and the the rainy season is about to begin. It has rained just about every day this week so far! Its been crazy and a little tough to do missionary work, but I love it! I really love the rain, so its been nice. We will see if I feel that way in the next month! haha.
Where to begin! Well to be honest there is not a lot going on here in Århus. I am once again in a dead area. Oh joy! I don't know why but the lord likes picking on me and putting me in areas where nothing is going. However I see much potential in this area!
So to begin I am serving in Århus, obviously! haha. The ward has about 60 active members. So its kind of small, unfortunately. However the ward is actually supposed to have over 200 people. I looked on the member list and there is about 121 less active members! Its so sad, and when I read that number my stomach just dropped. Thoughts of what happened? Why? etc etc. entered my mind. So we talked to our mission leader and Bishop and even our Mission president about this situation. We have decided and felt directed by the spirit to work on the less active members. Our Mission president feels that if you can reactive people the odds of giving you referrals and things are much higher. So for now a major focus on the work in Århus will be trying to help people rediscover their testimonies! Its sad, but man how amazing would this ward be if they all came back! How impressed would our investigators be and how much more lively the ward would become! Exciting stuff!
However that doesn't mean I am still not trying to find new people to teach and share the gospel with. In fact I feel I have already been blessed tremendously the first week here in Århus. The first day i arrived I told my companion, every time we pray we are going to ask the lord to help Århus ward to grow. I didn't say anything specific but I told him that's what we are going to do. And guess what, i feel my prayers have been answered. This last week we have received a ton of referrals. On Friday we received 2 referrals from Salt Lake City for 2 people who want a Book of Mormon. Cool! Then on Tuesday we received 2 more referrals from the St.George Visitors center for 2 people who want the Restoration film. Cool! Then yesterday at Zone Conference a missionary came up to me and gave me a record of an investigator he was teaching that just moved to Århus. Cool. Then also at Zone Conference a member in Randers asked the Randers Missionaries to give the Århus Elders (me!) a gift and a card to a lady she wants us to teach. Cool! Like wow! I mean in the last week we just received many, many new people to meet and contact. Isn't that amazing? I am glad the lords helping me out because I don't know how much more street contacting and door knocking I can do. This last week Hebbert and I, that's all we have been doing. YIKES! Lets just say we have blisters on our feet.... not fun! haha.
However we are teaching a few people and one of them is named Tobias. He is a 20 year old danish guy who, believe it or not, went a year of high school in USA and stayed with a Mormon family.... wow! What are the odds we find this danish guy who lived with Mormon's... haha. He told us he thinks our church is way nice and he has huge respect for it and he told us he thinks most Dane's could learn a thing or two from our church. (Wow, most Danes never ciritize their own people, haha!). He told us when he was in the USA he went to church with the family a lot and thought it was great. He said we teach really good things. Then to top it all off Tobias doesn't smoke and said he drinks very, very little. So we kind a very positive new investigator. I feel things would go good with him... however you just never know. We taught him about JSH and the Book of Mormon and he seems very interested and way curious. I look forward to teaching him again.
Well other then that... that's all that's really happening right now. I have been doing a lot of street contacting and yea... its not too exciting to write about. In the times I have been street contacting I get flipped off at least once or twice a day, yelled at a least once by a drunk guy, and people in general yelling at me to make fun of me.... Oh I did have a girl whistle at me while I was walking, I winked back.... I take that one as a compliment.... haha! The joys of a big city! Gotta love missionary life. Oh and I forgot to mention I get contacted by the Jehovah's witnesses church at least once a week! They always want to bible bash.... oh joy! haha.
So my spiritual message! Are you ready for it? It goes with the paragraph above. When people do those or say those mean things, it can make being a missionary really difficult. In fact sometimes it makes me so mad, I have to walk in a store and buy a diet Coke, haha. However even with those horrible moments I remember the moments like I had with Christina. How amazing was that baptism and how happy she is! I mean Christina is thrilled to be a Mormon and so are thousands of converts each year. The same concept can be applied to us a normal members of this church. There will be times where people will make fun of you for being a member. It will be hard and might make us question our decision. Trust me, sometimes when i get flipped off or yelled at a little thought comes in my head, "Why on earth am I a missionary?" Its human to think that. However how quick we sometimes are to forget how good we have had it being a member or for me a missionary. When that thought entered my head how fast did i forget about Christina and her baptism... pretty fast! haha. However lately I have tried to remember the good times and just ignore those stupid comments. I know the church is true and no stupid guy flipping me off or yelling at me is going to change that. So remember that... though people might say stupid things and do stupid things you know deep down what is right and you also know how blessed you have been. I am trying to do that myself as it gets hard getting yelled at. But really, deep down I wouldn't give up my church, my faith for nothing. Its guided and blessed my life more than a stupid man flipping me off ever will.
So yea... that's been my week. Gotta love people! haha. Well I hope all of you have an amazing week! I think about all of you often and always appreciate your love and support! Take care, y'all!
Med Kærlig Hilsen,
Ældste Skyler Hardy
P.S. I posted some new pictures! so If you would like to take a look here is public link to my pictures. You do not have to have a facebook account to look at them. Enjoy!
Great to be here at the library today to write to all of you! I hope all of you are having a fantastic summer! In Denmark there summer vacation is starting to come to an end and the the rainy season is about to begin. It has rained just about every day this week so far! Its been crazy and a little tough to do missionary work, but I love it! I really love the rain, so its been nice. We will see if I feel that way in the next month! haha.
Where to begin! Well to be honest there is not a lot going on here in Århus. I am once again in a dead area. Oh joy! I don't know why but the lord likes picking on me and putting me in areas where nothing is going. However I see much potential in this area!
So to begin I am serving in Århus, obviously! haha. The ward has about 60 active members. So its kind of small, unfortunately. However the ward is actually supposed to have over 200 people. I looked on the member list and there is about 121 less active members! Its so sad, and when I read that number my stomach just dropped. Thoughts of what happened? Why? etc etc. entered my mind. So we talked to our mission leader and Bishop and even our Mission president about this situation. We have decided and felt directed by the spirit to work on the less active members. Our Mission president feels that if you can reactive people the odds of giving you referrals and things are much higher. So for now a major focus on the work in Århus will be trying to help people rediscover their testimonies! Its sad, but man how amazing would this ward be if they all came back! How impressed would our investigators be and how much more lively the ward would become! Exciting stuff!
However that doesn't mean I am still not trying to find new people to teach and share the gospel with. In fact I feel I have already been blessed tremendously the first week here in Århus. The first day i arrived I told my companion, every time we pray we are going to ask the lord to help Århus ward to grow. I didn't say anything specific but I told him that's what we are going to do. And guess what, i feel my prayers have been answered. This last week we have received a ton of referrals. On Friday we received 2 referrals from Salt Lake City for 2 people who want a Book of Mormon. Cool! Then on Tuesday we received 2 more referrals from the St.George Visitors center for 2 people who want the Restoration film. Cool! Then yesterday at Zone Conference a missionary came up to me and gave me a record of an investigator he was teaching that just moved to Århus. Cool. Then also at Zone Conference a member in Randers asked the Randers Missionaries to give the Århus Elders (me!) a gift and a card to a lady she wants us to teach. Cool! Like wow! I mean in the last week we just received many, many new people to meet and contact. Isn't that amazing? I am glad the lords helping me out because I don't know how much more street contacting and door knocking I can do. This last week Hebbert and I, that's all we have been doing. YIKES! Lets just say we have blisters on our feet.... not fun! haha.
However we are teaching a few people and one of them is named Tobias. He is a 20 year old danish guy who, believe it or not, went a year of high school in USA and stayed with a Mormon family.... wow! What are the odds we find this danish guy who lived with Mormon's... haha. He told us he thinks our church is way nice and he has huge respect for it and he told us he thinks most Dane's could learn a thing or two from our church. (Wow, most Danes never ciritize their own people, haha!). He told us when he was in the USA he went to church with the family a lot and thought it was great. He said we teach really good things. Then to top it all off Tobias doesn't smoke and said he drinks very, very little. So we kind a very positive new investigator. I feel things would go good with him... however you just never know. We taught him about JSH and the Book of Mormon and he seems very interested and way curious. I look forward to teaching him again.
Well other then that... that's all that's really happening right now. I have been doing a lot of street contacting and yea... its not too exciting to write about. In the times I have been street contacting I get flipped off at least once or twice a day, yelled at a least once by a drunk guy, and people in general yelling at me to make fun of me.... Oh I did have a girl whistle at me while I was walking, I winked back.... I take that one as a compliment.... haha! The joys of a big city! Gotta love missionary life. Oh and I forgot to mention I get contacted by the Jehovah's witnesses church at least once a week! They always want to bible bash.... oh joy! haha.
So my spiritual message! Are you ready for it? It goes with the paragraph above. When people do those or say those mean things, it can make being a missionary really difficult. In fact sometimes it makes me so mad, I have to walk in a store and buy a diet Coke, haha. However even with those horrible moments I remember the moments like I had with Christina. How amazing was that baptism and how happy she is! I mean Christina is thrilled to be a Mormon and so are thousands of converts each year. The same concept can be applied to us a normal members of this church. There will be times where people will make fun of you for being a member. It will be hard and might make us question our decision. Trust me, sometimes when i get flipped off or yelled at a little thought comes in my head, "Why on earth am I a missionary?" Its human to think that. However how quick we sometimes are to forget how good we have had it being a member or for me a missionary. When that thought entered my head how fast did i forget about Christina and her baptism... pretty fast! haha. However lately I have tried to remember the good times and just ignore those stupid comments. I know the church is true and no stupid guy flipping me off or yelling at me is going to change that. So remember that... though people might say stupid things and do stupid things you know deep down what is right and you also know how blessed you have been. I am trying to do that myself as it gets hard getting yelled at. But really, deep down I wouldn't give up my church, my faith for nothing. Its guided and blessed my life more than a stupid man flipping me off ever will.
So yea... that's been my week. Gotta love people! haha. Well I hope all of you have an amazing week! I think about all of you often and always appreciate your love and support! Take care, y'all!
Med Kærlig Hilsen,
Ældste Skyler Hardy
P.S. I posted some new pictures! so If you would like to take a look here is public link to my pictures. You do not have to have a facebook account to look at them. Enjoy!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Your Denmark Missionary 07-28-10
WOW! What an amazing week I just had. I feel like I am walking on the moon right now! This last week was pretty crazy and I must say I truly enjoyed it! It was weeks like this past one that reminds me how much of a miracle missionary work is and why I am a missionary.
Denmark is not, unfortunately the most religious country in the world. In fact most danish people are afraid of religion and WILL NOT talk about it. To most Danes, religion is a private topic that you only discuss with your family... or not at all. I am sure they have there reasons, and I have huge respect for those reasons but it sure makes missionary work a little difficult, haha. However, even with this difficulty and problems Denmark faces with religion, BAPTISMS HAPPEN!
This week was Christina Wydallis' Baptism. She was baptized last Saturday, July 24th 2010, and confirmed on Sunday July 25th 2010. Elder Meyer Baptized her and I confirmed her. The whole experience was just incredible! We started preparing for the baptism earlier that week of course. We had to create the program, ask people to give talks, move a piano into the sacrament room.... etc etc. That was a lot of work, but we got it done and just waited for Saturday. That morning before the baptism we arrived at the church, filled up the baptismal font, placed Hymn books on the seats, opened the windows to cool down the building (because of no air conditioners) and waited until 1:30 for Christina to arrive. She arrived and changed into her white dress, and Elder Meyer into his white clothes. Then we took some pictures and waited for everyone to arrive. Attached is the picture of Christina and everyone that helped teach her, and of course her dad Tom.
The program began and we had about 70 at her baptism. Whats more amazing is about half of those people that came were Christina's friends and family. It was great to see the support and love she had from all the people she knew. Then of course the rest were members. It was a fantastic turn out! I mean really fantastic. I have seen some other baptisms in Denmark of other people (not people I have taught) and non of them had that many people come. So it was just amazing. The program began with the hymn "God is my light, then the opening prayer by me. I don't know why but I was way nervous about the prayer. I always get a little nervous when I have to speak Danish in front of a TON of people. I do OK at appointments and when I am out contacting but WOW is it difficult for me when its in front of a hug congregation. SO it was really scary for me. However I said the prayer, and everyone said I did fine. One person told me, "You were nervous... I couldn't even tell, as you sounded completely fine." haha. SO I was a little nervous for no reason. SO yea, my prayer went fine. Then we had a talk by a member that goes to the same school as Christina named Zanna Ronnenberg. She spoke about baptism and did an amazing job. Then after her we had a musical number on the piano by a member named Rita Taylor. She played 2 songs, one in the children's hymn book called "Baptism" then another one called, "Come thou font of every blessing." She also did an amazing job. I think just about everyone in the room was about to burst into tears, as the spirit was incredibly strong.
Then after the musical number we all headed to the baptismal font. We held the program in the chapel. The baptismal font is in another room close by. We all walked over and saw Christina be baptized! It was just incredible. The spirit was of course, SUPER STRONG! I mean so far out of my entire mission, I have never felt it so strong, then when I saw Christina come out of the water! IT was just indescribable. I mean WOW! Then after that she and Meyer when to change into some dry clothes, why the rest of us waited in the chapel. Then she returned and we continued the program. We had a member named Tina Di Bella give a talk about the holy spirit. She did awesome, and is actually the member that has helped us teach Christina. So shes way amazing, and is now a good friend to me. We had a good time teaching Christina with her. Then after Tina we had our new mission President, President Andersen give a little talk. He is an amazing speaker and did an incredible job. He wasn't originally going to speak, but I think the bishop asked him too. So he was a last minute add in. haha. Then we had the bishop give a short, Welcome to the ward talk. Then we sang the song, "Because I have been given much" as the closing. Christina chose all the speakers and songs, all me and Meyer did was make sure it got done. So of all songs for her to choose, she chooses the song that has a tender place with my mom and my family. So that closing song meant a lot to me.
Then after the program, everyone ate some refreshments and congratulated Christina! Me and Meyer gave her a new Book of Mormon Triple and a new Bible. We also gave her a "Key" to heaven. We used this analogy one time with her about the priesthood and referring it to keys. How our church is the only church with that priesthood authority or priesthood "keys". So we told her that in order for you to enter Gods Kingdom, you need the right key. So she really enjoyed that. So me and Meyer got creative and got her a "KEY." She thought it was really sweet! haha. Then Elder Meyer gave her some church movies. He gave her "Charley" and "the other side of heaven." Then I had my family send some letters congratulating her and some Reese's. Christina loves Reese's. So that made her really happy. The of course she got many more gifts from members. She just had the perfect day. I don't think she realized she was getting gifts, so she was very grateful! You should have seen Christina's smile! She was just so happy. Her dad Tom was also a very happy dad. He was very proud of his daughter. And of course hes a funny guy, so he goes up to Elder Meyer and says, "thanks for drowning my daughter," haha. As Elder Meyer Baptized her. I just love Tom, he always makes me laugh.
Then later night, after the baptism, Christina sent us a text. She was like, I am a Mormon and happy to be one. She just thanked us over and over. What she doesn't realize is its us who are extremely grateful. Christina strengthened my testimony and helped me as a person. I don't know how I am ever going to thank her. haha. In any case, shes always going to be a good friend. Her baptism was just amazing!
Then on Sunday I gave her the confirmation. I was way nervous the whole day. The slagelse ward starts backwards, so its Priesthood, Sunday school, then sacrament meeting. So during priesthood and Sunday school I was just sick to my stomach nervous. In fact I actually left priesthood early and sat outside to get some fresh air. I was super nervous. I was nervous because after the confirmation part you give a blessing, and blessings are said by the spirit. Its nothing I can really prepare for. So I was nervous as I am not the best at danish and was worried I would know what to say. However because the blessing is directed by the spirit, the spirit was helping me speak. I gave the confirmation and blessing and did pretty good. Everyone told me I spoke fine and clearly. They were able to understand me just fine. So I was glad. After that, I felt pretty good! haha. I was no longer sick to my stomach! haha. SO the confirmation went good and Christina is now officially a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! Shes a Mormon! Shes also the first baptism in 3 years in the Slagelse Ward!!!
Well after the baptism I had to transfer to my new area Århus. My new Companion Elder Hebbert met me in Slagelse on Monday and we stayed there until Tuesday. I had to finish packing and a few members wanted to feed me and say good bye before I left. So Hebbert and I hung around in Slagelse on Monday. I am really going to miss Slagelse. I saw this ward go from Nothing to a baptism! I love all the members and just really enjoyed it. I will also miss my companion Elder Meyer. He taught me a lot and we had a good time. I made a lot of friends, so its hard to leave. :( However I have some more adventures waiting for me in Århus! So then on Tuesday Hebbert and I headed out in the morning around 11 to catch a train. Then to my surprise Tina Di Bella, a Member, showed up to wave me off at the station! That really meant a lot! So she helped me get all my stuff on the train and then said goodbye and gave me a few gifts for the journey! That was a lot of fun to see her again!
Then I arrived in Århus and I am officially writing from the Library in Århus City! Its the 2nd largest city in Denmark with Copenhagen as the first. Today is only my 2nd day, so I don't have much to say, except I think I am going to be OK here. My companion is a really nice guy and I think me and him will get along fine. Until next week, I will let you know how its going here.
Well my spiritual message for today basically goes with my entire email about Christina and her baptism. You know when I got to Slagelse, Elder Meyer and I were quite frustrated with the area. It seemed as no missionary work had been done for years in that place. We didn't even know a baptism could even be possible. However we worked hard, and had the faith that we could get a baptism. We were able to turn that area completely around. So my message is this, when life gets hard and dark, and trust me, it will. We can always turn things around with our saviour Jesus Christ. We can go bad to good in no time at all if we have the faith. Elder Meyer and I were able to turn the Slagese area around in only 3 months. So Anything is possible.
Well everyone, I think I have written enough for today! haha. I hope all of you have an amazing week. Thanks again for all your help and support and prayers. It means a lot.
Med Kærlig Hilsen,
Ældste Skyler Hardy
Denmark is not, unfortunately the most religious country in the world. In fact most danish people are afraid of religion and WILL NOT talk about it. To most Danes, religion is a private topic that you only discuss with your family... or not at all. I am sure they have there reasons, and I have huge respect for those reasons but it sure makes missionary work a little difficult, haha. However, even with this difficulty and problems Denmark faces with religion, BAPTISMS HAPPEN!
This week was Christina Wydallis' Baptism. She was baptized last Saturday, July 24th 2010, and confirmed on Sunday July 25th 2010. Elder Meyer Baptized her and I confirmed her. The whole experience was just incredible! We started preparing for the baptism earlier that week of course. We had to create the program, ask people to give talks, move a piano into the sacrament room.... etc etc. That was a lot of work, but we got it done and just waited for Saturday. That morning before the baptism we arrived at the church, filled up the baptismal font, placed Hymn books on the seats, opened the windows to cool down the building (because of no air conditioners) and waited until 1:30 for Christina to arrive. She arrived and changed into her white dress, and Elder Meyer into his white clothes. Then we took some pictures and waited for everyone to arrive. Attached is the picture of Christina and everyone that helped teach her, and of course her dad Tom.
The program began and we had about 70 at her baptism. Whats more amazing is about half of those people that came were Christina's friends and family. It was great to see the support and love she had from all the people she knew. Then of course the rest were members. It was a fantastic turn out! I mean really fantastic. I have seen some other baptisms in Denmark of other people (not people I have taught) and non of them had that many people come. So it was just amazing. The program began with the hymn "God is my light, then the opening prayer by me. I don't know why but I was way nervous about the prayer. I always get a little nervous when I have to speak Danish in front of a TON of people. I do OK at appointments and when I am out contacting but WOW is it difficult for me when its in front of a hug congregation. SO it was really scary for me. However I said the prayer, and everyone said I did fine. One person told me, "You were nervous... I couldn't even tell, as you sounded completely fine." haha. SO I was a little nervous for no reason. SO yea, my prayer went fine. Then we had a talk by a member that goes to the same school as Christina named Zanna Ronnenberg. She spoke about baptism and did an amazing job. Then after her we had a musical number on the piano by a member named Rita Taylor. She played 2 songs, one in the children's hymn book called "Baptism" then another one called, "Come thou font of every blessing." She also did an amazing job. I think just about everyone in the room was about to burst into tears, as the spirit was incredibly strong.
Then after the musical number we all headed to the baptismal font. We held the program in the chapel. The baptismal font is in another room close by. We all walked over and saw Christina be baptized! It was just incredible. The spirit was of course, SUPER STRONG! I mean so far out of my entire mission, I have never felt it so strong, then when I saw Christina come out of the water! IT was just indescribable. I mean WOW! Then after that she and Meyer when to change into some dry clothes, why the rest of us waited in the chapel. Then she returned and we continued the program. We had a member named Tina Di Bella give a talk about the holy spirit. She did awesome, and is actually the member that has helped us teach Christina. So shes way amazing, and is now a good friend to me. We had a good time teaching Christina with her. Then after Tina we had our new mission President, President Andersen give a little talk. He is an amazing speaker and did an incredible job. He wasn't originally going to speak, but I think the bishop asked him too. So he was a last minute add in. haha. Then we had the bishop give a short, Welcome to the ward talk. Then we sang the song, "Because I have been given much" as the closing. Christina chose all the speakers and songs, all me and Meyer did was make sure it got done. So of all songs for her to choose, she chooses the song that has a tender place with my mom and my family. So that closing song meant a lot to me.
Then after the program, everyone ate some refreshments and congratulated Christina! Me and Meyer gave her a new Book of Mormon Triple and a new Bible. We also gave her a "Key" to heaven. We used this analogy one time with her about the priesthood and referring it to keys. How our church is the only church with that priesthood authority or priesthood "keys". So we told her that in order for you to enter Gods Kingdom, you need the right key. So she really enjoyed that. So me and Meyer got creative and got her a "KEY." She thought it was really sweet! haha. Then Elder Meyer gave her some church movies. He gave her "Charley" and "the other side of heaven." Then I had my family send some letters congratulating her and some Reese's. Christina loves Reese's. So that made her really happy. The of course she got many more gifts from members. She just had the perfect day. I don't think she realized she was getting gifts, so she was very grateful! You should have seen Christina's smile! She was just so happy. Her dad Tom was also a very happy dad. He was very proud of his daughter. And of course hes a funny guy, so he goes up to Elder Meyer and says, "thanks for drowning my daughter," haha. As Elder Meyer Baptized her. I just love Tom, he always makes me laugh.
Then later night, after the baptism, Christina sent us a text. She was like, I am a Mormon and happy to be one. She just thanked us over and over. What she doesn't realize is its us who are extremely grateful. Christina strengthened my testimony and helped me as a person. I don't know how I am ever going to thank her. haha. In any case, shes always going to be a good friend. Her baptism was just amazing!
Then on Sunday I gave her the confirmation. I was way nervous the whole day. The slagelse ward starts backwards, so its Priesthood, Sunday school, then sacrament meeting. So during priesthood and Sunday school I was just sick to my stomach nervous. In fact I actually left priesthood early and sat outside to get some fresh air. I was super nervous. I was nervous because after the confirmation part you give a blessing, and blessings are said by the spirit. Its nothing I can really prepare for. So I was nervous as I am not the best at danish and was worried I would know what to say. However because the blessing is directed by the spirit, the spirit was helping me speak. I gave the confirmation and blessing and did pretty good. Everyone told me I spoke fine and clearly. They were able to understand me just fine. So I was glad. After that, I felt pretty good! haha. I was no longer sick to my stomach! haha. SO the confirmation went good and Christina is now officially a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! Shes a Mormon! Shes also the first baptism in 3 years in the Slagelse Ward!!!
Well after the baptism I had to transfer to my new area Århus. My new Companion Elder Hebbert met me in Slagelse on Monday and we stayed there until Tuesday. I had to finish packing and a few members wanted to feed me and say good bye before I left. So Hebbert and I hung around in Slagelse on Monday. I am really going to miss Slagelse. I saw this ward go from Nothing to a baptism! I love all the members and just really enjoyed it. I will also miss my companion Elder Meyer. He taught me a lot and we had a good time. I made a lot of friends, so its hard to leave. :( However I have some more adventures waiting for me in Århus! So then on Tuesday Hebbert and I headed out in the morning around 11 to catch a train. Then to my surprise Tina Di Bella, a Member, showed up to wave me off at the station! That really meant a lot! So she helped me get all my stuff on the train and then said goodbye and gave me a few gifts for the journey! That was a lot of fun to see her again!
Then I arrived in Århus and I am officially writing from the Library in Århus City! Its the 2nd largest city in Denmark with Copenhagen as the first. Today is only my 2nd day, so I don't have much to say, except I think I am going to be OK here. My companion is a really nice guy and I think me and him will get along fine. Until next week, I will let you know how its going here.
Well my spiritual message for today basically goes with my entire email about Christina and her baptism. You know when I got to Slagelse, Elder Meyer and I were quite frustrated with the area. It seemed as no missionary work had been done for years in that place. We didn't even know a baptism could even be possible. However we worked hard, and had the faith that we could get a baptism. We were able to turn that area completely around. So my message is this, when life gets hard and dark, and trust me, it will. We can always turn things around with our saviour Jesus Christ. We can go bad to good in no time at all if we have the faith. Elder Meyer and I were able to turn the Slagese area around in only 3 months. So Anything is possible.
Well everyone, I think I have written enough for today! haha. I hope all of you have an amazing week. Thanks again for all your help and support and prayers. It means a lot.
Med Kærlig Hilsen,
Ældste Skyler Hardy
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Din danske missionær 07-22-10
Hello Everyone!
OK, so this week has been pretty crazy! It’s been crazy for multiple reasons and here's one of then. I have just found out I will be transferring to another area. My new area is called Århus (English Aarhus) and its back on the main part of Denmark (the part connected to Germany). Its one of the larger cities in Denmark so it should be quite exciting. I have been made the senior companion and my new companion is Elder Hebert. I will tell you more about him as I get to know him. Transfers are on Tuesday, so I have a few more days here in Slagelse.
Another reason, this week is crazy is CHRISTINA is getting BAPTIZED on SATURDAY!!!!!!! I am way excited and it’s been a crazy last week teaching her and getting ready for her baptism. We had an appointment with her last Friday; here is how the appointment went...
So we had an appointment with Christina and Tom on Friday. At this point we were not 100% sure Christina was going to be baptized yet. So we sat down and the ward member that was with us asks Christina, "How did it go with the fasting" and she said, "I thought it was great, but I don't think I received an answer" so we then said to Christina, "well, we will talk about it after the lesson. We then taught her the 10 commandments and following the prophet. We showed a short clip called "Mormon Messages" from Thomas Monson and Tom said to us, "I could feel something really strong from him; I know he’s a good man." So Tom is feeling the spirit.
Then we finished with the lessons, and the entire time Christina was distracted. It was like her mind was far away thinking about something else. Then we started talking to her about her baptism. She basically said she wants to learn more, she doesn't feel ready, and said, "I DO NT KNOW! DET VED JEG IKKE!" So I bore my testimony to her, we ready scriptures that showed or encouraged her. 'Then out of the blue Tom in a way bore his testimony to Christina. He said he knows this church does good things and its here to benefit the world. I have already seen the different in my life. In fact, the last few weeks of not meeting with this church, I almost thought I'm in trouble, I am playing with fire over here." Then the member Tina also bore her testimony and it was just a way spiritual moment. Then Elder Meyer said, "Well Christina, We need an answer, because if you do get baptized we have stuff we need to do to prepare. So let’s say a prayer, and after we say it, you’re going to give us an answer." Christina said, “OK". So Elder Meyer gave a prayer. Let me tell you, I thought it was the longest prayer of my life. Then the prayer ends and Christina says, "I want to call my sister real quick" We said OK, and she left the room to call for a few minute's"
So me and Elder Meyer sat and talked to Tom. We started talking about the Danish language. Tom also struggles with it and he’s lived here for 15 years, haha. He said he knows the words everyone is speaking but doesn't always understand the meaning of the words that are being used. So he can easily misunderstand what people say...
Then Christina comes in and sits down and says, "The answer is yes! I want to be baptized. I feel like its right, and If I didn't get baptized I would feel really bad, which means to me that this church means a lot to me, which means I know its true (Remember its in Danish, so it was said a little different." Then Tom says to us, so you’re not getting baptized? Then Christina says, "No dad, I am!" Then Tom runs at her and gives here a HUGE hug and says, “See I told you that stupid Danish, I didn't understand. CONGRATS MY DAUGHTER!" and Just gives her the biggest congrats a father could give to her daughter. Then tom says, Man now I want to get baptized. haha.
So Christina decided to get baptized. We felt she already had her answer. After she decided to commit to the baptism, she said she felt a lot better. Like a big weight was lifted from her shoulders. So this week we have been getting ready for her baptism, by getting the members involved and just trying our best to make this day perfect. We have had to get her baptism dress ready, but the one at the church is way old, so we had to ring to another ward to see if they had another dress she could use. We found one, so then we had to coordinate with our Zone leader to see if he could bring it over to Slagelse when he comes to interview Christina.
Then we had to make the programs for her baptism. So we had to call member to give talks (With Christina's Help. She helped plan her baptism, don't worry), to play a musical number, to pray, etc, etc. So we then had to go help a member with the musical number, but choosing what to play and hear how she’s playing it. We decided to have a member who's really good at the piano, give a special piano solo. So that's taken a lot of time too. Then we had to go actually create the paper version of the program at the library. The computers are way limited at the library, so it was really tough to create the program using such limited programs and really slow computers. So then that took a lot of time.
However, it’s been a lot of fun, and we have been really busy. Right now everything seems to be going really slow as we are waiting for Saturday! Haha. We have had it difficult to go and work as all we want to do is plan for Christina's baptism, and for the actual baptism to happen! haha.
So to be honest I don't have much of a spiritual message for the day. It’s just been a crazy week and I haven't had much time to think about it. To be honest I am surprised I even had time to email home! Haha. So a quick message is its good to be busy, especially when you’re being busy for the lord or for others! Try to always be busy doing good things and our loving Heavenly Father will bless us.
Well have a great week, all! I hope you all have a fantastic week!
Med Kærlighed, Din Danske Missionær,
Ældste Skyler Hardy
OK, so this week has been pretty crazy! It’s been crazy for multiple reasons and here's one of then. I have just found out I will be transferring to another area. My new area is called Århus (English Aarhus) and its back on the main part of Denmark (the part connected to Germany). Its one of the larger cities in Denmark so it should be quite exciting. I have been made the senior companion and my new companion is Elder Hebert. I will tell you more about him as I get to know him. Transfers are on Tuesday, so I have a few more days here in Slagelse.
Another reason, this week is crazy is CHRISTINA is getting BAPTIZED on SATURDAY!!!!!!! I am way excited and it’s been a crazy last week teaching her and getting ready for her baptism. We had an appointment with her last Friday; here is how the appointment went...
So we had an appointment with Christina and Tom on Friday. At this point we were not 100% sure Christina was going to be baptized yet. So we sat down and the ward member that was with us asks Christina, "How did it go with the fasting" and she said, "I thought it was great, but I don't think I received an answer" so we then said to Christina, "well, we will talk about it after the lesson. We then taught her the 10 commandments and following the prophet. We showed a short clip called "Mormon Messages" from Thomas Monson and Tom said to us, "I could feel something really strong from him; I know he’s a good man." So Tom is feeling the spirit.
Then we finished with the lessons, and the entire time Christina was distracted. It was like her mind was far away thinking about something else. Then we started talking to her about her baptism. She basically said she wants to learn more, she doesn't feel ready, and said, "I DO NT KNOW! DET VED JEG IKKE!" So I bore my testimony to her, we ready scriptures that showed or encouraged her. 'Then out of the blue Tom in a way bore his testimony to Christina. He said he knows this church does good things and its here to benefit the world. I have already seen the different in my life. In fact, the last few weeks of not meeting with this church, I almost thought I'm in trouble, I am playing with fire over here." Then the member Tina also bore her testimony and it was just a way spiritual moment. Then Elder Meyer said, "Well Christina, We need an answer, because if you do get baptized we have stuff we need to do to prepare. So let’s say a prayer, and after we say it, you’re going to give us an answer." Christina said, “OK". So Elder Meyer gave a prayer. Let me tell you, I thought it was the longest prayer of my life. Then the prayer ends and Christina says, "I want to call my sister real quick" We said OK, and she left the room to call for a few minute's"
So me and Elder Meyer sat and talked to Tom. We started talking about the Danish language. Tom also struggles with it and he’s lived here for 15 years, haha. He said he knows the words everyone is speaking but doesn't always understand the meaning of the words that are being used. So he can easily misunderstand what people say...
Then Christina comes in and sits down and says, "The answer is yes! I want to be baptized. I feel like its right, and If I didn't get baptized I would feel really bad, which means to me that this church means a lot to me, which means I know its true (Remember its in Danish, so it was said a little different." Then Tom says to us, so you’re not getting baptized? Then Christina says, "No dad, I am!" Then Tom runs at her and gives here a HUGE hug and says, “See I told you that stupid Danish, I didn't understand. CONGRATS MY DAUGHTER!" and Just gives her the biggest congrats a father could give to her daughter. Then tom says, Man now I want to get baptized. haha.
So Christina decided to get baptized. We felt she already had her answer. After she decided to commit to the baptism, she said she felt a lot better. Like a big weight was lifted from her shoulders. So this week we have been getting ready for her baptism, by getting the members involved and just trying our best to make this day perfect. We have had to get her baptism dress ready, but the one at the church is way old, so we had to ring to another ward to see if they had another dress she could use. We found one, so then we had to coordinate with our Zone leader to see if he could bring it over to Slagelse when he comes to interview Christina.
Then we had to make the programs for her baptism. So we had to call member to give talks (With Christina's Help. She helped plan her baptism, don't worry), to play a musical number, to pray, etc, etc. So we then had to go help a member with the musical number, but choosing what to play and hear how she’s playing it. We decided to have a member who's really good at the piano, give a special piano solo. So that's taken a lot of time too. Then we had to go actually create the paper version of the program at the library. The computers are way limited at the library, so it was really tough to create the program using such limited programs and really slow computers. So then that took a lot of time.
However, it’s been a lot of fun, and we have been really busy. Right now everything seems to be going really slow as we are waiting for Saturday! Haha. We have had it difficult to go and work as all we want to do is plan for Christina's baptism, and for the actual baptism to happen! haha.
So to be honest I don't have much of a spiritual message for the day. It’s just been a crazy week and I haven't had much time to think about it. To be honest I am surprised I even had time to email home! Haha. So a quick message is its good to be busy, especially when you’re being busy for the lord or for others! Try to always be busy doing good things and our loving Heavenly Father will bless us.
Well have a great week, all! I hope you all have a fantastic week!
Med Kærlighed, Din Danske Missionær,
Ældste Skyler Hardy
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Your Denmark Missionary 07-15-10
Hi EVERYONE!!!
Its so good to be on the computer again, being able to write to you all! I got some more emails this week from friends and family thanking me for my emails, so It makes me so happy that my letters are read and enjoyed! SO THANK you right now for your wonderful love and support! I gladdens me to know that you are all there watching my back at home!
So to begin as always... Christina is doing well! Shes as awesome as can be and really is still progressing. We are still planning on having her baptism on the 24th... so its been really exciting for Elder Meyer and me and especially the ward! We are starting to plan her program, getting members involved, making sure yummy brownies will be there, etc etc! So its been a lot of fun here in Slagelse. In Copenhagen we have a UV Center which stands for "UNGE VOKSEN" which in English means young adult center. This is a place were all the young adults 18 until there married can go and hangout, talk, eat food, play games, have family home evening etc. Its ran by the church and has been a great thing for all the member young adults and for new converts for the church. So they heard about Christina and all the young adults at the center want to come and see her baptism. I thought that was way cool and Christina is just going to love it! Not only do we have Slaglese excited we have people clear in Copenhagen excited too. So her baptism is going to be quite a little party. haha. However the baptism is completely up to her and will change if she feels shes needs more time! So were hoping for the 24th...
Tom her dad is still doing GREAT! We talked to him the other day and he has been swamped with work. I mentioned last week that July is vacation month for basically all of Europe. So because of that a lot of people have taken off work and so extra shifts have opened up. So Tom took a full load and has been working really hard these last few weeks. So he hasn't had a lot of time to meet. However he told us hes still working on getting married, and hes supportive of Christina and her choice to get baptized. Hes a great week and just loves us missionaries. He just cracks me up every time I meet him. haha.
So this last Friday I was actually in another city called Anmager. This is a little island right next to Copenhagen. Its connected to Copenhagen by bridge. It has about 100,000 people living on it. So its one of the smallest areas in the mission but an area with one of the most people! So pretty crazy. The missionaries over there had a "missionary week" with there members and asked if we would come for a day and help them out. So we get there and what a project they had. They created a display to put on the sidewalk, and coordinated that all the missionaries would go on splits with a member. So in a since we would have 8 sets of missionaries out and about preaching the word. So we began and I got display duty. Can you say awkward! haha, It was kind of one of the hardest things I have ever done. I just felt weird on a sidewalk with a board.... I would prefer to just sidewalk contact. However I sucked it up and did my duty. Nobody was really interested, in fact many thought we were another church, haha. Then around 1:00 we all met up again and the ward members were exhausted. I don't think they realized how tireing missionary work is. So they kind of quit, haha. They said there taking a P-day. Good old ward members. However the day was successful and we helped the Anmager missionary's find a ton of new people to teach. So exciting stuff.
Then yesterday we had my companions year mark! So I went with his MTC group to Copenhagen to celebrate for our p-day. We went and saw another castle, Christinansborg castle. Then we went and ate some American food, and then took a boat tour around the Copenhagen canals. Then to top it all of we got some ice cream at this famous ice cream place in Denmark. It was a really fun day. Now, I don't want to scare you, but my year mark is next! That's right, I am about 2 months from my year mark! Its amazing how fast time flies!
So my spiritual message for today goes with my good friend Christina and her baptism coming up. I know this church is true and seeing a friend join the church is going to be quite the blessing in my life. Our church is unique and I am truly grateful to be a member. So my message for today is for those who are members, dont take the membership of this church for granted. I know its tuff to be members, but our membership is so special. We are members of Gods TRUE church, how cool is that. I mean were are some of Gods Elect on the earth, enjoying the blessings and beauty of his gospel! I just think thats pretty cool.
Thanks again for all your love and support! I hope all of you have a fantastic week! Take care!
Love, Your Denmark Missionary,
Ældste Skyler Hardy.
Its so good to be on the computer again, being able to write to you all! I got some more emails this week from friends and family thanking me for my emails, so It makes me so happy that my letters are read and enjoyed! SO THANK you right now for your wonderful love and support! I gladdens me to know that you are all there watching my back at home!
So to begin as always... Christina is doing well! Shes as awesome as can be and really is still progressing. We are still planning on having her baptism on the 24th... so its been really exciting for Elder Meyer and me and especially the ward! We are starting to plan her program, getting members involved, making sure yummy brownies will be there, etc etc! So its been a lot of fun here in Slagelse. In Copenhagen we have a UV Center which stands for "UNGE VOKSEN" which in English means young adult center. This is a place were all the young adults 18 until there married can go and hangout, talk, eat food, play games, have family home evening etc. Its ran by the church and has been a great thing for all the member young adults and for new converts for the church. So they heard about Christina and all the young adults at the center want to come and see her baptism. I thought that was way cool and Christina is just going to love it! Not only do we have Slaglese excited we have people clear in Copenhagen excited too. So her baptism is going to be quite a little party. haha. However the baptism is completely up to her and will change if she feels shes needs more time! So were hoping for the 24th...
Tom her dad is still doing GREAT! We talked to him the other day and he has been swamped with work. I mentioned last week that July is vacation month for basically all of Europe. So because of that a lot of people have taken off work and so extra shifts have opened up. So Tom took a full load and has been working really hard these last few weeks. So he hasn't had a lot of time to meet. However he told us hes still working on getting married, and hes supportive of Christina and her choice to get baptized. Hes a great week and just loves us missionaries. He just cracks me up every time I meet him. haha.
So this last Friday I was actually in another city called Anmager. This is a little island right next to Copenhagen. Its connected to Copenhagen by bridge. It has about 100,000 people living on it. So its one of the smallest areas in the mission but an area with one of the most people! So pretty crazy. The missionaries over there had a "missionary week" with there members and asked if we would come for a day and help them out. So we get there and what a project they had. They created a display to put on the sidewalk, and coordinated that all the missionaries would go on splits with a member. So in a since we would have 8 sets of missionaries out and about preaching the word. So we began and I got display duty. Can you say awkward! haha, It was kind of one of the hardest things I have ever done. I just felt weird on a sidewalk with a board.... I would prefer to just sidewalk contact. However I sucked it up and did my duty. Nobody was really interested, in fact many thought we were another church, haha. Then around 1:00 we all met up again and the ward members were exhausted. I don't think they realized how tireing missionary work is. So they kind of quit, haha. They said there taking a P-day. Good old ward members. However the day was successful and we helped the Anmager missionary's find a ton of new people to teach. So exciting stuff.
Then yesterday we had my companions year mark! So I went with his MTC group to Copenhagen to celebrate for our p-day. We went and saw another castle, Christinansborg castle. Then we went and ate some American food, and then took a boat tour around the Copenhagen canals. Then to top it all of we got some ice cream at this famous ice cream place in Denmark. It was a really fun day. Now, I don't want to scare you, but my year mark is next! That's right, I am about 2 months from my year mark! Its amazing how fast time flies!
So my spiritual message for today goes with my good friend Christina and her baptism coming up. I know this church is true and seeing a friend join the church is going to be quite the blessing in my life. Our church is unique and I am truly grateful to be a member. So my message for today is for those who are members, dont take the membership of this church for granted. I know its tuff to be members, but our membership is so special. We are members of Gods TRUE church, how cool is that. I mean were are some of Gods Elect on the earth, enjoying the blessings and beauty of his gospel! I just think thats pretty cool.
Thanks again for all your love and support! I hope all of you have a fantastic week! Take care!
Love, Your Denmark Missionary,
Ældste Skyler Hardy.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Your Denmark Missionary 07-10-10
Hej Alle! Det er god at snakke med dig i day.
HAPPY LATE 4TH OF JULY EVERYONE! I hope you all had a great holiday, especially since, if I am correct you celebrated it on the 3rd, which so happens to be the best day of the entire year. If I recall its some amazing missionaries birthday that day... oh haha its me. Just kidding! My birthday went well! I am officially 20 years old. My birthday was good, we went into the center of the city and did some shopping... then we bought some food and watched a few Disney movies at the church. I basically wanted a lazy day for my birthday... so we didn't do much. :) However it was perfect! I had a good day. Attached is a picture of me in front of a street sign, that's called "AMERIKAVEJ" or in English... "AMERICA ROAD" so yea. I also have uploaded some pictures of me on my face book... I promise right now, all I do with face book is upload my pictures, I don't play on it. I am a good missinonary... I promise. so yea.
So to begin, Christina is doing well. Shes still reading in the Book of Mormon and coming to church, and holding her appointments. Her baptismal date is officially for July 24th. I would ask that you keep her in her prays as when the baptismal dates arrive, weird stuff happens. The devil throws all he can at people to stop them. Shes quite the young lady though. Its been really fun to get to know her and teach her about this church she feels, "she already knows". We had an appointment with her on Friday and she brought a friend with her. We also brought a member with us, which helped. The appointment went really well. We taught her about tithing and fasting. She understood tithing really well, and in fact thinks its a good idea, and said if shes baptized she will follow it. She had no objections or issues there, which is amazing. She says she can see what we use the money for and thinks its beautiful. As for fasting we told her all about it and shes game for fasting to help her find an answer. We actually began the fast right after dinner Friday night and will end it today around 5:00. It was actually her that suggested we begin sooner then later. So in short, Christina is a diligent young lady and is searching for the truth. She told us that its been difficult for her as most of her friends have converted to the Muslim faith and haven't been very supportive of her attending our church. However shes fighting through it and said, "That because of her friends, its made her want an answer even more." So shes doing great! I think of her as a friend and look forward to her baptism.
Tom has been very busy with work, so we haven't had a chance to meet with him. However he is planning on coming to church on Sunday and will talk with him then. In Denmark in July just about everyone takes their vacation. So its been really tough to meet with people as everyone is out. However its been good and we have stayed busy, so all is well there!
Then this last Monday we officially have a new Mission President! we had our first Zone Conference with him! I think he is going to be the best thing ever for the Danish mission! Like, I don't know why, but I just really clicked with him! Is name is President Andersen. He is danish and was in fact a Stake president over here. So he is well known with the members. All the members are in fact way excited because hes danish! In all, I feel that my danish is going to improve, and that we will see much success this next year. Hes going to be awesome and I am excited to see what happens.
We also have some new investigators named Karla and Flemming. They are actually the parents of another investigator that we have. I think I have mentioned we are teaching a girl named Sheena that's from Brazil. So she introduced us to her parents and now her parents are meeting with us. Karla is from Brazil and married Flemming who is Danish. We showed them the Joseph Smith movie and they just loved it! Karla actually cried during it. They just thought the story of Joseph Smith was very unique and it makes sense. Then yesterday we met with them again and taught them the plan of Salvation. They also enjoyed that, very much. Karla in fact was almost stunned, as the current religion shes in, as something very similar. Shes a member of some small church that exists in Brazil. They are both really positive, and love having us over. Karla is also thankful for the help we have given her daughter (Sheena). She thinks we were sent from God to help her and her family. So they are good people and are listening to our message. I am excited to see that happens in the future with them.
Then on a funnier note, we ate with the family Nwokedi who are members of the church on Tuesday. Sister Nwokedi is Danish and married a man from Nigeria. They are a fun family and have a 16 year old boy and a 3 year old boy. They invited us over for dinner and we ate a African dish called "fufu."I think that's how you spell it. It was quite the interesting dinner. "Fufu is a thick paste usually made by boiling starchy root vegetables in water and pounding with a mortar and pestle until the desired consistency is reached" Then they serve it with a soup like stuff. SO you use this thick paste to grab the soup and you eat it. However, you don't chew the fufu as its really sticky. So you have to swallow the fufu without chewing... so its was quite a fun dinner. Very different and very not Danish. haha.
Well that's my week. Things are going good with him and I am happy to be serving a mission. I hope all of you have a great week, and again thanks for all your love and support!
Love Your Denmark Missionary,
Ældste Skyler Hardy
HAPPY LATE 4TH OF JULY EVERYONE! I hope you all had a great holiday, especially since, if I am correct you celebrated it on the 3rd, which so happens to be the best day of the entire year. If I recall its some amazing missionaries birthday that day... oh haha its me. Just kidding! My birthday went well! I am officially 20 years old. My birthday was good, we went into the center of the city and did some shopping... then we bought some food and watched a few Disney movies at the church. I basically wanted a lazy day for my birthday... so we didn't do much. :) However it was perfect! I had a good day. Attached is a picture of me in front of a street sign, that's called "AMERIKAVEJ" or in English... "AMERICA ROAD" so yea. I also have uploaded some pictures of me on my face book... I promise right now, all I do with face book is upload my pictures, I don't play on it. I am a good missinonary... I promise. so yea.
So to begin, Christina is doing well. Shes still reading in the Book of Mormon and coming to church, and holding her appointments. Her baptismal date is officially for July 24th. I would ask that you keep her in her prays as when the baptismal dates arrive, weird stuff happens. The devil throws all he can at people to stop them. Shes quite the young lady though. Its been really fun to get to know her and teach her about this church she feels, "she already knows". We had an appointment with her on Friday and she brought a friend with her. We also brought a member with us, which helped. The appointment went really well. We taught her about tithing and fasting. She understood tithing really well, and in fact thinks its a good idea, and said if shes baptized she will follow it. She had no objections or issues there, which is amazing. She says she can see what we use the money for and thinks its beautiful. As for fasting we told her all about it and shes game for fasting to help her find an answer. We actually began the fast right after dinner Friday night and will end it today around 5:00. It was actually her that suggested we begin sooner then later. So in short, Christina is a diligent young lady and is searching for the truth. She told us that its been difficult for her as most of her friends have converted to the Muslim faith and haven't been very supportive of her attending our church. However shes fighting through it and said, "That because of her friends, its made her want an answer even more." So shes doing great! I think of her as a friend and look forward to her baptism.
Tom has been very busy with work, so we haven't had a chance to meet with him. However he is planning on coming to church on Sunday and will talk with him then. In Denmark in July just about everyone takes their vacation. So its been really tough to meet with people as everyone is out. However its been good and we have stayed busy, so all is well there!
Then this last Monday we officially have a new Mission President! we had our first Zone Conference with him! I think he is going to be the best thing ever for the Danish mission! Like, I don't know why, but I just really clicked with him! Is name is President Andersen. He is danish and was in fact a Stake president over here. So he is well known with the members. All the members are in fact way excited because hes danish! In all, I feel that my danish is going to improve, and that we will see much success this next year. Hes going to be awesome and I am excited to see what happens.
We also have some new investigators named Karla and Flemming. They are actually the parents of another investigator that we have. I think I have mentioned we are teaching a girl named Sheena that's from Brazil. So she introduced us to her parents and now her parents are meeting with us. Karla is from Brazil and married Flemming who is Danish. We showed them the Joseph Smith movie and they just loved it! Karla actually cried during it. They just thought the story of Joseph Smith was very unique and it makes sense. Then yesterday we met with them again and taught them the plan of Salvation. They also enjoyed that, very much. Karla in fact was almost stunned, as the current religion shes in, as something very similar. Shes a member of some small church that exists in Brazil. They are both really positive, and love having us over. Karla is also thankful for the help we have given her daughter (Sheena). She thinks we were sent from God to help her and her family. So they are good people and are listening to our message. I am excited to see that happens in the future with them.
Then on a funnier note, we ate with the family Nwokedi who are members of the church on Tuesday. Sister Nwokedi is Danish and married a man from Nigeria. They are a fun family and have a 16 year old boy and a 3 year old boy. They invited us over for dinner and we ate a African dish called "fufu."I think that's how you spell it. It was quite the interesting dinner. "Fufu is a thick paste usually made by boiling starchy root vegetables in water and pounding with a mortar and pestle until the desired consistency is reached" Then they serve it with a soup like stuff. SO you use this thick paste to grab the soup and you eat it. However, you don't chew the fufu as its really sticky. So you have to swallow the fufu without chewing... so its was quite a fun dinner. Very different and very not Danish. haha.
Well that's my week. Things are going good with him and I am happy to be serving a mission. I hope all of you have a great week, and again thanks for all your love and support!
Love Your Denmark Missionary,
Ældste Skyler Hardy
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