I know I haven’t sent pictures. We have been really busy lately, but its okay. I got some from Tivoli Gardens. It’s the second oldest theme park in the world. Disneyland was inspired after it. It was way fun. They have this ride that Elder Francis almost threw up on every time we went on it. Actually that was the goal, but none of us did :( Maybe next time :)
This week was great. I know I say that every week, but it’s true. The Lord's work is never bad...not always easy, but never bad. We had a great opportunity to be blessed with four more new friends to teach. We were sitting in Zone Training three weeks ago, and while there we both received the impression that we should start to go through all the old potential investigators and call them, so we did. Well, as we have done that, we have had many people say, "Yes" (and "no"), so we just set appointments and chat with them.
While in that Zone Training, we were learning about listening to the Spirit and following it. We began to think about what we should do when we have these appointments. Do we talk about the Book of Mormon? What we both just decided that we were going to do is treat them all as if they were already our friends, and just talk with them. As we have done that, we have seen that within 10 minutes of talking they start to ask questions about the gospel or missionary work. All we do is answer their questions. We don’t try to force the first lesson down their throats or throw a Book of Mormon at them. We just answer the questions, and almost every time they ask more and more, until we have taught the first lesson just by answering their questions.
This has been working very well for us, and the Spirit is helping us know what to say or when to share personal stories, and through that they feel the Spirit. The Lord is very mindful of what his children need, and the only way to feel that inspiration is by having all the things the Spirit needs to be present. There needs to be a level of comfort, and when it’s there, the Spirit works on them.
Well, we had to move Kevin's (name changed for privacy) baptismal date because he could not make it to all of church yesterday. It’s not that we don’t think he is ready because he is. We just really want him to gain the love and support from the ward, and he can’t do that if he isn't there to talk to everyone. This is way important because the missionaries are only in the area an average of 4 months (unless its me, then it's closer to 5 or 6 months haha!). The ward will always be there for him, but they can’t be there for him if he hasn't met them.
We had some way good appointments with Kevin this week. We were able to visit with him 3 times, and 2 out of the 3 we were blessed to have Edward (name changed for privacy) there. Edward also comes from Ghana, and he also lived in Italy for a little bit. He is one of the best missionaries I have ever seen. He is 53 years old, and wasn't able to serve a mission because he was too old when he got baptised. But the man knows how to talk to people, and he is really good at teaching them. Every time we bring an African to church, he will speak to them in their African dialect and just makes instant friends. So we have been very blessed to have him in our congregation.
One of the new friends we've had an opportunity to teach is Jordan (name change for privacy), and he is good friends with Ivy (name changed for privacy). They were previously investigating the church and had a baptismal date in July, but they just weren't ready to make a commitment yet. So, we thought we would stop by. When we got there, Ivy let us in. They are both over 60 years old, so their Danish is already a little bit hard to understand. On top of that, Jordan had a stroke within the last five years, so he slobbers while he speaks. But the Lord blessed us to understand them.
We started talking to them about the Book of Mormon, and Ivy pulled out this neatly folded bag and very gently took out her copy. We asked her if she had read it, and she said yes, she is actually in 2 Nephi now. She told us that she really likes it, and that she had been reading even after they stopped meeting with the missionaries. She then told us that she has a reading disorder and she has to read it five or six times to understand what it's saying. After that, we bore testimony that the book is true, and that it has blessed us. She stopped us and said that she knows it's true and she loves reading it because she gets a good feeling. She said that she reads it to Jordan because his eyes are bad.
Just seeing how well Ivy took care of the Book of Mormon, as though it is something she cherishes deeply, not being a member of our church, and having so much respect for the book, really opened my eyes. I have this wonderful gospel and was blessed to grow up in the church. I have this tool that our Heavenly Father has given, to help me learn and know what I should do follow in our big brother's footsteps. I feel like I have taken that for granted. The Book of Mormon is the most correct and true book on the earth, and with the Bible holds the testimonies of what our brother, Jesus Christ, has done for us. We need to remember this.
Thank you for your support. I love you and hope all goes well. Have a great week. Look for things to help others. I know you do already, especially at this time of year, but yeah, I love you.
Med Meget Kærlighed (with much love),
Ældste Madsen
Disciples of Christ in our Day (October 14, 2013)
Elder Madsen is being Transferred (November 4, 2013)
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| I tried to do a hipster pic at Tivoli's and posed like the Little Mermaid. I nailed it! :) |
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| Eldste Mig (Elder Me!) |
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| The burger I ate before getting on that ride. It was way good! |
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| Just waiting in line with the other guys. |
