Things are going great! My new companion, Elder Francis, and I are getting along well. It's been way fun. I did take the language test, and I think I passed. If not, I will be home in three weeks haha! No, I think I passed.
It’s actually been raining a ton here. I heard some weird stuff is going down in the States with the politics. I don’t care to know details, but I am glad to hear the Broncos are doing as planned.
This week was way fun. It was very hard to say goodbye to Elder Hansen, but I know that is just how it is. So far, me and Elder Francis get along great. He is a way fun kid and super funny as well.
When I got here to the mission, there were 65 missionaries. By the end of December, we will have 104 missionaries. So crazy!
We had some way good opportunities this week to look through all of our former investigators and make some phone calls. We actually have 2 or 3 appointments tomorrow just from contacting those people. So that will be great.
We actually had a way good finding opportunity this week as the Zone Leaders invited us to a concert that one of their new converts was in charge of. So what happened was their convert is from Africa, but has lived here for a couple years. His country has a way cool band that travels and aren't super big yet, but could very well be. So he took these guys around Denmark and really talked to them about the church. Long story short, they talked to the Elders and had a good time, so they came to YSA (Young Single Adult) fireside (devotional) and liked it. They invited us to the concert, and because it was outside, we got to do some finding while we were there. It was way fun.
We talked to a couple of people at the concert who were not really interested in learning about the church. But afterwards on the train, we overheard a girl talking and wished her a happy birthday. It was also cool because right after that we talked to some Chinese students who were visiting from Sweden. They gave us their phone number to pass along to the Elders in Sweden.
We have called countless people in our area book and narrowed our list down to those who don't have a phone number, and those with a phone number who want us to visit them again. So next week will be full of fun, talking to those people that we have just found that have already been taught before.
Eva and Ellie (names changed for privacy) came to church again yesterday. Their father dropped them off. Juliet was not able to make it because she worked a night shift and got home around 6 o'clock in the morning, after working 12 hours.
So to get the story straightened out, we went to Ward Correlation Meeting and talked with the Ward Mission Leader about Eva. He gave us some suggestions and we tried them out. One of his suggestions was to show Eva a little break down of the things that we teach as missionaries because she showed some concerns about wanting to know everything was true before she committed to a baptismal date. So I wrote down a list for her and she was really excited. She expressed concerns about not knowing fully the story of Joseph Smith and wanting to understand more. So we invited her to watch "The Prophet of the Restoration." She agreed, so we will be watching that with her at her school tomorrow.
We also got Cecilia (name changed for privacy) to come with us to the musical. She really enjoyed it. She talked with Thomas Kofod (the actor for Jesus in "Finding Faith in Christ"). She knows him form acting school. She really enjoyed that, and wants to talk to him more about his conversion story in person.
This week I have had some time to really ponder what is going on, and what I need to focus on. I think I have hit this point in my mission where I have forgotten why I am here. It’s been kind of hard to really see the work, and how it's progressing, but it is. I know that the Lord has a special place in is heart for the Danish people. The first time the church sent missionaries over here, they returned with 20,000 saints. It will happen again. The work is hastening and we all need to do our part. God has trusted us in the latter days to bring his sheep back into the church. Missionaries and members are all the same in purpose. We need to thrust in our sickle and reap. The Lord has prepared people to learn about the Gospel, and wants us to act on the opportunities He gives us to teach.
Love you! Have a great week.
Med Meget Kærlighed,
Ældste Madsen
Goosebumps Mean the Same Thing in Danish (September 23, 2013)
Recognizing Miracles and Blessings (October 7, 2013)
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| Elder Madsen and his new companion, Elder Francis |
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| Beautiful Nyhavn in downtown København |
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| Elders Madsen (left) Elder Francis (right) |
