Monday, June 2, 2014

I Gotta Save Souls and Stuff - Elder Kolby Madsen

Written by Elder Kolby Madsen, serving in the Denmark Copenhagen Mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, speaking Danish.

(Note to reader: Highlighted words link to additional information. Some names are omitted for privacy. Clicking on photos will enlarge them.)

Mor! (Mom!)

That’s crazy that Maren is graduating this week. I can’t believe how fast it has gone. Ældste Howland is from Tooele and is way fun. I just picked him up from the train station today, like twenty minutes ago, haha! I had to be companion with ældste Hicks, the old guy. It was fun for about 6 hours, haha! Anyway, good stuff.

This week has been exceptionally great. We had five "member present" lessons and two other lessons. T** and V** are doing great. We have met with them four times this week, two of them to teach them, another to eat with a member at her house, and the other we had a great opportunity to meet with them and eat.

Elders Brindley, Ogden, Madsen, and Pritcher

We also got to do some great, last minute service yesterday (Sunday) for them and this other family we heard were moving in. It was crazy! They lived on the top floor which is five stories. Always fun, haha. Then T** and V** bought a new couch and the stupid thing was way too big for the apartment, but after one hour of little movements and lots of fun turning it and over-exertion, we got one of the three in. It was the most annoying move I have ever done in my life. The Lord finally blessed us with it bending a little and going through the door. So ridiculous! We told V** that she is not allowed to move until after May of next year, because by then me and Elder Hicks will be out of the country, haha!

T** is progressing very well. He was so mad that he had to work and could not come to church this week. V** had to go and work as well, so neither of them could come. But they are both very ready to come. V** is already a member and T** is learning and taking the lessons.

We had the best dinner with a lady named R**.  She had us come over to help her neighbor with something on her balcony. We had the great opportunity to do that and to talk to her about the church. She asked about polygamy, of course, haha! We told her no, members of our church haven't practiced polygamy in 120 years. Then she said she saw some Mormons on TV that still practice polygamy, haha! We had to explain that Sister Wives are NOT members of our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But we had a great meeting with her. She wanted to give us hugs, but we said no and told her why. She was fine with it. It was fun.

After that, we did some service for R**. We helped her with her clean out her basement. Then we'd planned to have V** and T** over for dinner, so we went up and waited for them. While waiting, we  saw that she had knitting stuff, so I asked her if she could teach me how. Long story short, I have almost completed knitting a tie, haha! It's going to be sweet!

V** and T** showed up and we had a wonderful dinner. They opened up with R** a ton and were able to make a friend. Then R** made a joke about how I am a sissy because I am a guy and I tried knitting. Then V** said she has never been good at knitting, but she likes crocheting. R** told her about a knitting/crocheting club that the sisters in the ward  have, and then she invited V** to come.  V** was very excited but could not make it this week because she had previous plans. The best part is that V** will be hosting it, so she is very involved and getting more involved with the church. It's awesome because while we were in the appointment with them, I could see that V** is ready to come back. She is starting to build the relationships and to come back, and she is bringing T** with her.

We also go to hear a ton about her back story, that she never would have told us if it were not for R**. It was just another strong testimony to me about how important members are in other's lives, især med (in particular, with) our investigators. I am very excited for the upcoming weeks. I am excited to see what will come of the hard work and love fromm the members’ influence with V**. I know that through member interaction things go smoothly, and it is more practical to the Lord's plan for us and his sons and daughters here on the earth, især (especially) in his church.

Well, I hope you guys have a great week. Send me pictures from Maren’s graduation. I wish I could be there, but you know....I gotta save souls and stuff, haha! Just kidding, it's not me. I love you. Have a great week.

Med Kærlig Hilsen,

Ældste Madsen

Drowning (May 27, 2014)

Journey of Life (June 9, 2014)