Elder Madsen is currently serving in the Denmark Copenhagen Mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, speaking Danish.
That is so much fun! Girls' Camp kind of sounded miserable, but the raining camps were my favorite when I was in Scouts because me and Nate would just do whatever we wanted. It was a blast! I bet you had fun.
So, this week was a little rough, but I will get into that later. That burger was amazing! The flavor was super good, and when we come to Denmark you can try the smaller one.
For my birthday, the only thing that I can think of, that I don’t need by any means, but maybe a BYU Vocal Point CD. I heard about another missionary CD from Alaska, but I can’t remember what it's called...just some really good EFY (Especially For Youth) stuff. Music is like gold here because that's all we have to do in our morning and evening planning times.
Well, this week was very different than anything else I have experienced so far. To start out, we had some good lessons with Alex (name changed for privacy). He is starting to make some good steps towards where he needs to be. The best part is that we keep surrounding him with all these Mormon friends, so he is changing for the better and does not even realize it. The other day he texted us, and instead of swearing over the text, he used some of the filler "Utah Mormon" swear words that I taught him. Now he uses those words in normal conversation. It’s funny.
On Thursday we went on exchange with the Zone Leaders, so I was with Elder Petersen who is also of Danish decent. We had an appointment with Joseph (name changed for privacy), the African guy with a scheduled baptismal date. He is super, mega fedt (cool). I felt prompted during the lesson that we needed to read 3 Nephi, Chapter 8. I don’t know why because it talks about the destruction that happened before Christ came to the Nephites, and we had already read Chapter 11 where Christ actually comes. But I went with it. (Keep in mind, Elder Hansen was up north with Elder Richards, the other Zone Leader. So I was leading the area.)
Anyway, we had this great lesson. I understood most of it, and I talked to Joseph in Danish, bore testimony that when bad things come in life, it can only get better. And I reminded him that before something good happens, sometimes things get a little harder. I told him to always know that God loves him and will be there for him at all times. Well, the lesson ended, and as we are walking out, I told Elder Petersen that I was sorry. He said, "No, the lesson went really well." But I felt as if Joseph was a little off. He'd told me about his really long work hours and that it affects him sometimes. Anyway, that night we got a text from Joseph telling us that he has decided not to be baptised, and he doesn't want anything to do with the church. He did say that we were cool and that he loves being around us, and that he wishes it was different, but it’s not. So we were dropped.
That made me feel like I needed to go right out, contact people, and just work my butt off. I wanted to find some people and bring them to Christ...tell them of His love for them. Then Elder Hansen started feeling way sick, so we sat there for a little and next thing I know, he is throwing up and has a fever. The poor guy had a rough couple days, and he still feels really sick. So Saturday and yesterday we sat in the apartment all day. I read the whole Pearl of Great Price and all of Genesis, watched "The Testaments", and got some much needed cleaning done. The sad thing is that he is not the only one who is sick. There are five other missionaries, just in our zone, that have the flu. So the work has slowed down for a little bit. But on the bright side, it’s on the up and up next week. We will double our work. I haven’t sat in a room for long hours like this since my knee surgery.
No basketball today. It's okay. Maybe it's for the best.
Well, I love you and want you to know that I know that in all things there can be rough times. It’s not always easy. When God puts things in our lives, He knows that we can handle them and that we can pull through. God loves us, He loves our family, and He loves the world. I know this to be true. And I know that God will help us through the good, the bad, and the ugly. He allows us to experience hard things so we can learn and grow.
Med Kære Hilsen.
Ældste Madsen
Happy Birthday, Elder Madsen! (July 22, 2013)
American Independence, Denmark Style! (July 8, 2013)
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| July 4, 2013 |
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| Elder Metcalf will NEVER cut my hair again! |
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| The living room of our apartment |
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| Elder Hansen and Elder Madsen |
