Monday, January 5, 2015

Drunk People and Flaming Explosives - 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.

Service - Denmark Copenhagen Mission
Mor!

OK, so yeah, just keep me posted on UVU.  If I have to take an acuplacer, I am going to need to study when I get home because I can’t remember anything when it comes to Math or English,  as you can see from my emails! If there is a Danish section, I will nail it! Just kidding! Well, it's great to hear that the girls had a good time. Seems like they had fun up with Dad as well.




Here in Denmark for New Year's you have three things that go down:

1. Food, and lots of it.  Everyone usually just get way stuffed and then eat some more. They say that the average Dane gains about 5 kilos around Christmas and New Year’s, but then they just starve themselves in the following months and get back to the way they were before. In all honesty, I am sick of eating.  I thought I would never say that in my life, but it's true. So sick of eating beef right now. It's great though because we just eat vegetables, haha :)

2. Alcohol, and lots of it. Everyone (except us and members, of course) drink so much here, it's ridiculous.

3. My favorite, fireworks! Whoot whoot! The best thing is, they're not like the little things that most families buy back home for the 4th of July. They're like WHAT I BUY for the 4th of July, except every family buys them.  The sky is lit up! It's great! But, naturally, when you get a country full of drunk people with flaming explosives, things happen. We have so many apartment complex areas that are now missing mail boxes and stuff. But hey, it was a great New Year celebration, haha. I love it. It’s like a war zone on clean-up right now. But traditions are great in this country.

We had a great time at the bishop's house.  We had some way good stuff happen.  We were about to bring a friend of ours to his house to enjoy the fireworks that our bishop has. He actually drives to Germany, so he bought some good stuff down there, haha. It was so much fun!

Elder Madsen photo bomb
We also had a great appointment with one of our other friends who come from Brazil.  She is great.  We had a New Year’s Day party at her house, and that was way fun.

This week, because of the holiday, it was a little slow. But we got things going.  It’s been a little crazy around here, but things are about to settle down and we can start killing it again.! The Christmas season has really paid off for the mission.  We have more than 3 times the amount of baptismal invitations for the month of January then we had last year. And last year was a record, with more baptismal invitations than in over ten years, so that was great.

We were able to help some people with service and do our thing this week. The Lord's work goes forward. One of our friends who is on his way back, got his wisdom teeth out for his mission papers this week. The guy has done a full 180 from the first time I saw him.  He is so great. He will be a great missionary. love him. It just goes to show that it does not matter what state people are in, or what their circumstances are. With a ward (family) that has open arms and are willing to help "the one," miracles happen.  People’s hearts are changed, and it does not only effect that one person, but all who will come in contact with him and the people he come in contact with. Life is like a big network, but not to get worldly gain or recognition, but to help those around us. To make a difference, one choice at a time. We are here to learn and grow, to progress and to understanding. We can’t do that if we are not helping others!


Elder Kolby Madsen


Jule Gaver (December 29, 2014)

Talking With God  (January 12, 2015)