Prayers Drive the Work - 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: Clicking on highlighted words links to additional information. Some names are omitted for privacy. Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.)

I found some sunglasses!

Mor! og menneskenes børn, haha! (Mother, and the children!),

I can’t believe that Nate hit his year mark this week, then Jake next week. Like, it’s crazy how fast everything is going! I can’t believe that Bree is going to be freaking 17 years old. I can’t believe it. I forgot Robert got home. Wow, I feel like he just left, and I was home just waiting to leave on a mission. Is Jodi back? Well, that’s way good that Maren is doing well. It’s about time she finds something she likes and that she is doing well. Anyway, great stuff. 

This week was so great. We were so blessed. To start off, we were on splits with Elder Hafen and Elder Pitcher,  just exchanges for a day. It was so much fun. We had some great things happen. We started to talk to each other on this hill going back to the train station because we were in Hobro, a city about 15 minutes train ride away from Randers. While we were talking, Elder Hafen was mid-sentence and I had this really strong feeling to talk to this lady as we walked by. So we did.

My new shoes, Eccos, should last me the rest of my life.

 The first thing we said to her was that we were missionaries. Then we asked her if she believes in God (which was unusual....I try not to be that blunt at first right off, but it felt right). We talked for a bit, and she at first did not seem very positive and stuff, then we talked about the Book of Mormon and bore testimony of it. Her eyes lit up, and she said that she wanted to read it and that she would love a copy. So we gave her a book and a card with our phone number on, in case she has questions. It was way inspiring. The Lord knows his children.

We met with T** and V**. It was a great appointment, but we still did not invite him to be baptized. We didn't understand why at first, but then we started to talk to him about prayer and he had questions about it. So we committed him to pray about the church and about the Book of Mormon.

Then, on Sunday, he and V** came to church. It was great! They talked to people after church, and the branch just took them in.

After that, we met with M**. He lives in Grenå, which is about a 2 hour train ride away, 2 and half by bus, or about 1 hour by car. But, Elder Hicks drove us, so it took an hour and a half, just kidding! We met with M** and it went so great. He loves learning about Joseph Smith and the restoration of the gospel. We invited him to be baptized, and he said he would if he finds out that it is true.

After that, we had this great opportunity to meet with B**. She is a friend of the ladies in strikker klub (the knitting club) and the B** family. They had us over to teach her in their house. She talked about how she wants to have a feeling of peace in her heart all the time, like she has when she is with the ladies from strikker klub.

We talked about Joseph Smith, but more importantly about God's love and the Holy Ghost. She asked about how she can know if it's true or not. So, we told her that our Heavenly Father loves us so much that all we have to do is pray to find out if it’s true, and He will tell us through a feeling of peace and through the Holy Ghost. It was a very good lesson, the Spirit was so strong, and the B** family bore testimony the whole time and shared their conversion story. Member missionary work makes the work move forward in a powerful way. We will meet with her again this week, on Thursday, and find out how her praying went.

Great week! So many blessings. I am so grateful for our Heavenly Father’s love and the things this area has been blessed with. But I'm even more grateful for the blessings He sends to us (His children) here. The Lord is so mindful of each of his children. He knows us perfectly, and I was able to see a glimpse of that this week. I am so happy with for opportunity I have to serve here, in Danmark.

I hope that we will all continue to express our gratitude to our Father in Heaven for the blessings we receive, continue to remember alt som han har gjort for os (all He has done for us)!

Mom, I love you. Have a great week. Thank you for your prayers and love. Prayers drive the work for us missionaries every day. We feel them as we see the work of the Lord progress.

Med Kærlig Hilsen

Ældste Madsen

Weakness Can Become Strength (June 30, 2014)

Lots of Work in Randers  (July 13, 2014)