He is the Gift - 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.

The joys of driving around Sjælland!

Mor,

We had a great week and Ma** is progressing nicely. Things are going well. You will be getting more pictures next week, with her and her daughters in white. It will be way good.

This week has been great. We have finalized everything for Ma**’s baptism. She wants to have Elder Ogden baptize her and she asked that I give her the gift of the Holy Ghost. That should be great!  I am not going to lie, blessings in Danish are still way interesting.  It's like half the time I know what I am to say, but then afterward I really don’t know where I pulled the grammar or the words from.  It's crazy. But I guess that just goes to show that we really aren’t the ones giving the blessing. We say the words and the Lord gives the blessing.

Well, we are really looking forward to the 14th this Saturday. It's going to be a great day. Ma** is the greatest. We had a way good time with her this week. Her little daughters are the best. I can’t wait for you all to get the pictures of what they look like. Just so great! Super prepared! The Lord knows His sheep.

We actually had this way great zone training, and I am not just saying that because I gave it. It was about Christmas, and it was way fun. We have this new initiative that we got from the church. It's great and I'm so excited about this. All 88,000+ missionaries who are out in the field right now are using this to proselyte. It's great! I am sure you have heard of it. #HeIsTheGift. It's great to share it on Facebook, Twitter, you name it! We should be flooding the world with this!

Anyway we also had some really good Danish Jule, and it's my favorite in Denmark.  Their Christmas food is by far the best. It's so great! We also got to see the movie Frozen. It was so good!  I love that movie. I wish I could watch it again. I really liked it. It was funny to see how our minds think after being on a mission for a time and then watching a movie like this. After every song we all could think of about ten ways to apply it to missionary work and how we could apply it in coming closer to Christ. Way nerdy, but fun.

Anyway it was a great week, and we have been everywhere and back again. The church gave out cards for the #HeIsTheGift thing, and because we don’t have an English speaking mission and/or "popular mission language," we did not get any cards in our mission. President took the same one in English, translated it to Danish, and made 15,000 cards so that we missionaries can give them out for the month of December!

So we had the liberty of driving around for 5 hours on Saturday to give the cards out to people.  It was fun, but a little lame because we could not be working. But it had to be done, and the whole mission is going to explode even more than it has. I am excited about that!

Everything is going well.  Have a great week and remember that Christ is the Gift of Christmas. He is the reason we celebrate, even though it’s not His really his birthday! It’s a great time of year because the majority of the world comes together to celebrate Him in some way. Remember Him at this time. Remember the things He has done for you, how has the Lord effected your life, and how His life has effected yours. Tell people about your feelings and experiences with Christ and, above all, the purifying power of His atonement and its reality! #ShareTheGift

Love you,

Med Kærlig Hilen

Ældste Madsen

Following the Spirit (December 1, 2014)

Come Unto Christ  (December 15, 2014)

Santas and Bed Bugs - Elder Brian Burgess

Written by Elder Brian Burgess, serving in the Mexico Puebla North Mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, speaking Spanish.

Hey!

So this week was way fast. My companion and I had divisions with the elders in Grajales. In other words, we spent about two days in bus. Four hours there and four hours back...two days in a row. What a fun trip... haha.

I was with Elder Loughmiller, the new district leader in Grajales. And my companion was with Elder Batista. Elder Loughmiller and I found some sweet graffiti. GRINGO. Which is the word they use for a blond North American. And I have a crown, so it was sweet. Lucky find.

Also, in the center today we went tie shopping. And we saw a couple Santas (not really people), climbing a building, haha.

Also, I got some bed bugs this last week. Bought some garden bug killer and went to town spraying that everywhere. Washed my sheets and blankets. And now I am bed bug free! Gross... I know... but a new story that I felt like telling you all.

Tomorrow we have our Christmas conference with President Christensen. I am sure I will have pictures next week to send. Last year after the spiritual message we sang songs, and played a minute to win it. And ate a lot of food. I am hoping this year is no different.

I am so grateful for this time of year. It truly is the most beautiful time of the year. I testify that Jesus is the Christ, born of Mary. That He is our Savior, that He is the gift of God the Father to the world. That by Him and through Him we can receive eternal life. Born in a manger, the most humble of places. He is our Redeemer and Creator of the world. He is the Only Begotten of the Father, the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

I love you all. Espero que tengan una buena semana!!!!!!

Visit christmas.mormon.org.

Elder Burgess

Thanksgiving in Mexico (December 1, 2014)

Christmas Conference  (December 15, 2014)

My Vow - Elder Jacob Avery

Written by Elder Jacob Avery, serving in the Peru Lima West Mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, speaking Spanish.

It's super sunny in Lima. We're at the point of the year where I take a shower in the morning and again when I get back at night. The nice part is, people are out and  about and families are in the streets and in the parks. We're finding very interesting people to teach.

The other day we were talking to a guy who was kind of annoying us. He had a lot of generic questions about if God really loves us then why is there so much suffering, and those kind of questions that really don't have quick and easy answers. Like Preach My Gospel says, we're supposed to help investigators solve their own problems. So finally this guy was ranting about what the church said, referring to (another church), and my companion abruptly told him, ''The reason you have problems with what the (other) churches teach is because they are not the true church that Jesus Christ established on the earth. Those churches were created by men, based on their own ideas and understanding of what they thought Jesus taught, or what the king or other leader wanted the people to do.''

The guy was taken by surprise. Well, we all were. The whole mood of the lesson changed. He calmed down, started asking real legitimate questions, listened to our answers, and we finished by giving him an assignment to read from the Book of Mormon. It reminded me of something I told my companion, almost in joking, when he had lots of questions about other churches. ''One of the sweetest spiritual confirmations is the confirmation that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true, and the other churches are not.'' This guy we taught obviously got the same spiritual confirmation.


So Me** decided to flunk her baptismal interview again. The Assistants to the President (APs) called our zone leaders and said that they want us to call President to figure out what to do. I'm not too worried, I think that she will get baptized this week, but if she doesn't we'll probably baptize that family without her ... :(

President talked to us a lot about being consecrated servants of the Lord. He read some scriptures from Numbers Chapter 6 and explained to us the importance of being consecrated servants of the Lord, called by a Prophet and Seer to serve His children. He explained that we all made vows by accepting our mission calls and helped us understand the difference between a vow and covenant. He said, ''There's nothing more beautiful and sacred on God's green earth than a vow,'' because a vow is something we take upon ourselves voluntarily. If you guys want to learn a little about it, you can read Numbers 6!!

Well, I'm happy and I feel good. I'm still a little peeved that we aren't having baptisms, but I know we'll find the people. I love you guys so much :) Have a fun week and enjoy the snow. I'm going to the beach some P-day ;)

Love,

Elder Jake Avery

Official!  (December 2, 2014)

I am a Chess Piece (December 15, 2014)

Official! - Elder Jacob Avery

Written by Elder Jacob Avery, serving in the Peru Lima West Mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, speaking Spanish.

Yeah, yesterday I got my official Peruvian ID card. It usually takes about an hour so they didn't give us time to go to internet before going to immigrations because we were supposed to be back in our area before 10 a.m....but, someone forgot to send our documents, so we sat in a line from 7 in the morning until 6 in the evening. On the bright side, I got to 3rd Nephi and I'll probably be able to finish the Libro de Mormon again before Christmas!

My ID card is pretty cool. It's colorful and says that I'm a "religious person." I don't need to do any of the leaving the country stuff again!!

I opened my December 1st bag and I love it. I have my tree in my room and I'm super happy. Thank you so much for the snowflakes and the calendar and everything else!!

We moved rooms (apartment) and my new room is smaller but it's 100000 times better. It's cheaper, cleaner, actually has a floor, and has lots and lots of natural light. When we left our old room, I looked into it one last time and could not believe that I had lived in such a cave for so long. The new landlords are cool too. The dad wants to have an "Elder plaque" (name tag) like us.

Well, apart from that, I don't have a huge report. We're doing a family history night with our converts so that they can take family names to the temple. We're also finding new families to teach. We took one family on a tour of the church this week and they loved it.

So, I'm officially doing better. This week I'm just praying that I have pictures of many, many baptisms, and in a year temple pictures. We're working and praying for that!! Tell everyone that I love them and miss them! I'm alive and doing well :) The church is true and the book is blue!

P.S. Tell Maren congrats on her mission call!

Love, Elder Jake Avery

Setting Goals (November 17, 2014)

My Vow  (December 8, 2014)

Thanksgiving, Chilean Style - Sister Hannah Avery

Written by Sister Hannah Avery, serving in the Chile Vina del Mar Mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, speaking Spanish.

Hermanas Avery and Evans - Thanksgiving in Chile

Green bean casserole

Hello my family and friends! :)

Well, first off, I hope that you all enjoyed the Thanksgiving holiday and were able to eat lots of yummy food for me :) I sure do miss the holidays at home, but my companion and I were able to do a little celebrating of our own! haha! We made a green bean casserole (yes, with North American ingredients! haha!) and ate it all, LOL! It's funny, because I know that my family doesn't like that stuff but they make it when I am there just because they know I love it! Thankfully, my companion loves it too :) So yes, we had a happy Thanksgiving, Chilean style :)

This week has been one full of things to be thankful for! We have found SEVERAL new investigators to teach this week, and 3 of them we invited to be baptized, and they accepted! Here are the backgrounds on some of the people that we are working with:

Jor** - He is a man who is paralyzed from the waist down and we found him by knocking on doors. He is bedridden and can't leave, so he opened the window of his bedroom next to his bed and we taught him about the Book of Mormon from there. He lives alone, so we have to teach him with us outside and him inside the house. The second time we went over, we taught in the window again and we taught him the Restoration. He loved it, and we invited him to be baptized on the 21st of December, and he said yes! He is a very humble man, and we are hoping to see him baptized soon :)

Ja** and Ca**- Well, believe it or not, they are MARRIED and are 26 and 20 years old. It's pretty hard to find young, married couples here in Chile, so we were THRILLED to hear that! :) Anyways, we began to teach them about the Restoration and they basically taught US! haha! They said that they have always thought that things about prophets, apostles and the priesthood were true, but that no church has that. We explained to them that ours does, because it is the true church of Jesus Christ, and they were AMAZED! They loved it. We invited them both to be baptized as well, and they said yes, they would love to do that, but want to pray about a date to do it. We are hoping to try to get them to accept a date for 3 weeks from now! :) Basically, they are "golden" investigators.

Other than that, we had a really awesome week of just teaching and finding. We finally found L**, and there is a funny story with that one! He told us what sounded like "no creo en templos" which means "I don't believe in temples" but really he said, "no tengo animo" which means, basically, "I don't feel like coming to church today." SERIOUSLY!!? We were like, WOW, we Americans WOULD misunderstand and think that he said he wanted to stop listening to us! Anyways, he still IS listening to us, and will be baptized on the 14th, with all faith :)

The last miracle for the week is that Ga** (daughter of the friend who died a couple weeks ago) came to church yesterday! We almost cried, it was too good to be true :) She still wants to be baptized on the 14th, if everything works out :)

Well family and friends, you all know that there are MANY things to be grateful for, but the thing I am most grateful for is the knowledge of the true church of Jesus Christ, and the opportunity to share that light with others and watch their lives change for the better. There is no greater work than this! :) And of course, I am grateful for YOU GUYS! You are the best! I hope that you all have a great week and I will talk to you next week! I LOVE YOU! :)

xoxoxo Hermana Avery


Because God Loves You That Much (November 24, 2014)

He is the Gift  (December 8, 2014)

For the first time in 16 months, I saw bagels, Dr. Pepper and Root Beer! We didn't get any bagels, but we did buy a Dr. Pepper that we will share on Christmas Day, haha! 

Thanksgiving in the MTC - Elder Joshua Avery

Written by Elder Joshua Avery, training in the Provo Missionary Training Center of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He will report to the Singapore Mission on December 15, 2014, speaking Mandarin Chinese.

Elder Avery's Chinese nametag

Hi Family and Friends!

I knew Flynn would get a roomie. It was destiny! It makes me so happy :) Make sure that you all give Flynn plenty of attention or problems with Leche will get worse. Is Abi loving Leche?! I bet a new puppy has her going crazy! I wrote a letter for her and it is on it's way. (Josh is talking about the puppy our niece left with us during Thanksgiving while she is finishing school.)

I am really starting to get along with my district. I swear Elder Ostler is Kolby's twin or something. He and I get along great. Things with Elder Harmon and I are also going well. I think being zone leaders has really helped us grow.

This week was so crazy! We got to hear from two Apostles, and BYU Vocal Point came. Tuesday Elder Oaks was here. He gave us advice on how to be a great missionary. I could write lots, but I will just share what stuck out the most. He took out a pen and said that it was a tool, and missionaries likewise need to be a tool in the Lord's hands. He said that if you take a pen out to write, you need it to work. How would you like it if when you took your pen out to write it said, "I'm tired today," or "I just don't feel like working today"? He then went on to say that if your pen doesn't have ink, you could do whatever you want with it and it still won't work. We need to feast on the word of God, then if we are willing He can use us.

Thursday Elder Bednar came. It was so sick! (Note from mom....I'm pretty sure Josh means the good kind of sick ;) Every time an Apostle walks into a room you can feel it. It's just like the Spirit just floods into the room. It makes me think about how much more grand it would be like to be in the presence of the Savior, and what that would feel like.

Elder Bednar had us do a question and answer session with him. He passed out cell phones and gave us a number to text our questions that would be sent to his iPad on the pulpit. He also had an email for missionaries at different MTCs around the world to text him questions. It was so cool! I didn't have anything to ask him, but it was so cool. His wife was there, and sometimes he would call her up to answer questions. The first time he asked her to answer a question, she walked up to the mic and said, "I still need to text my question. 'Hey baby! How you doin' baby?'" I thought that was the funniest thing, to see that side of their relationship.

Yesterday some missionaries from our zone and I played (cello) for the departure devotional for the missionaries. It was cool, but it was a little uncomfortable to have a camera zoomed in on your face while you are playing! HAHA! It's been cool getting to know the members of the MTC Presidency. They are all so cool! Afterward, the BYU Vocal Point came and performed. It was AWESOME! I've never been a huge fan of a cappella groups, but these guys were awesome!

Out of all of these experiences, I don't know which was my favorite! But this last one I am about to share was up there. We had a substitute teacher because our teacher was sick. We realized that our new sub had a mainland accent and, sure enough, he was from China. We asked him how he heard about the church. He said that his mom introduced him to it and at the end of class he would tell us his conversion story. We waited till the end of class and he shared his story. It is one of the coolest conversion stories I have ever heard!

He and his Mom lived in the northern part of China. There was no branch or anything where he was from. She taught him what she had heard about the law of chastity and stuff, but other than that, he didn't think much of it. Then he and his mom took a trip to Hong Kong where they ran into some missionaries. He said that the missionaries taught him all day and he ended up getting baptized that night. When their trip to Hong Kong was over they returned to their home, but there was no branch or anything so he and his mom just did their own church services together.

Being such a recent convert, he didn't understand a ton about the church, but he knew that he needed to take the sacrament. He said that he and his mom would get water bottles and big pieces of bread, put them on a plate, and then he would pray. He didn't know how to bless the sacrament, so he said he would pray and tell God, "I know I need to do this, so please bless this bread and water, Amen." Then they would drink their whole bottle of water and eat their big piece of bread. They did this for 7 months!

When he went away to school, he ended up finding the church. He would take a bus two hours every Sunday so he could go. After that, he went on a mission to Scotland, speaking Chinese, when he was 22 years old. He is now attending BYU, and has been back from his mission for a year. Crazy or what?!! We keep meeting so many people from mainland China, it is ridiculous! It's cool to see how the church is growing there, without us being able to proselyte or build churches.

I love you all and hope you have a good week,

Feng Zhang Lao

Our Savior's Love (November 24, 2014)

As Long As I Don't Have To Wear A Dress  (December 8, 2014)

Following the Spirit - 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.

Elders Ogden and Madsen

Thanksgiving was great.  I ate so much it was crazy! And yes, American food through and through.  The only thing that I did not get was some great green bean casserole. No one can make it right. Sounds like you all had a great week in Arizona. I can’t believe that you were able to see Rob again, and he has 4 kids? I guess it has been a while since we saw him. That University of Arizona game sounds like it was way fun. I am way jealous. I haven’t seen a game in a while. It’s been since the super bowl almost a two years ago. Wow, weird realization.

This week was crazy and way fun. We were out of our area for about 3 days due to meeting and exchanges. We had this huge open house at the church, which did not go as well as planned, but it's all good. It happens.

To start off, we taught the Word of Wisdom to M** and she just loved it.  We related the whole thing to her twin daughters and really just put it into perspective. She felt strongly that it's good, and as of yesterday, no problems. It was great! She is defiantly going to stick to her baptism date, scheduled for the 13th of December. So great.

We also had S** in church yesterday.  He told us of the struggle that he has been having lately with fear of not being good enough and everything. We both felt prompted to ask him if he wanted a blessing.  It was way great. We gave him the blessing and it was just what he needed.  He came to church and he has been a ton happier since then. Following promptings of the Spirit has never let me down! Funny how that works. It was really intense because in the blessing that we gave S**, there were things said that neither of us has ever heard of before about S** and his family.  It was just a huge testimony builder on the power in the Spirit and how no matter what, as long and the Spirit is followed, the blessing is from God.  It's His blessing to them. It was a very humbling oplevelse (experience).

Elders Peterson, Madsen, Zalewski,
Elder Ogden, Søs Barret,Søs Hadfield

We had a couple opportunities to excises our faith this week. We went out knocking doors last night after a scheduled appointment. We said a prayer before we went knocking, asking in faith to know where are people who we can teach. We know there are people who God has prepared to hear the message of the restored gospel, so we asked Him to help us know where to go and what to say when we found them.

Right after that, we  felt prompted to call to one of our friends who we met on the street but have not taught yet. When we called they answered, and I knew they had moved because they told us that they were going to. They had told us that's why we could not come by, because they were going to be too busy with the move. So when they answered, I asked them how the move went they responded, "Well, it didn’t. We had problems and now we are moving tomorrow."

So we asked if they needed our help. They said yea, actually they had some people back out and were wondering what they were going to do! So we will be helping them later today with the finishing touches of their move. And we're so excited to be able to teach them this week. It's going to be great, plus I love service :)

Then right after that, we felt like we needed to call another friend who lives about an hour away. They'd requested a blessing a couple days prior from our bishop (they are friends).  We told him that we would be in the area and would love to come by and check up on him. He said sure, we can meet!  Then we went out an started knocking on doors.

Usually when we have these experiences where we get appointments set up right after we pray, we realize that’s what we were to do to find those who are ready. But we both still felt like there was more we could be doing, so we went out and knocked on three doors. Door three had a great lady named Ma**, and she had some questions about her recently new found faith in Christ. She was so excited!  We taught a lesson with a prayer and got a return appointment right there on the door step. The faith to find people who are prepared, through Christ, it happens. It’s great!! Then, unfortunately, we had to go home to get all the numbers for the zone figured out.

I had a really neat oplevelse this week with President Sederholm. This month, my temple recommend expires, so I had to get a new one. It was interesting going through the same questions that we ask others and that I have heard for the past 12 years, since I got baptized. The questions that we teach every single day. It was a way great oplevelse. While talking to him about Christ and my understanding of Him, the question "Do you believe that Jesus Christ is God’s son, the Savior and Redeemer of the world?" The thoughts of Him in my life især over the past couple years popped in my head. The times that I have felt Him most are the times when I have told others of the things I have learned about Him. When I have testified of who He is and what he has done for me and everyone. These things popped in my head and then the only words I could say the only...the only thing I could muster out was, "Yes."  And it is true, when I said it then, or now, or in the past or future. It's eternally true. He is my Savior.  He is the world’s Savior. He died for us, His brothers and sisters. Hate him or love him, he did it for us! Every single one of us. It was a very touching, spiritual experience, and it is true. He is the Gift!! #ShareTheGift

Love you!!

Med Kærlig Hilsen,

Ældste Madsen

Little Sister Called to Serve (November 24, 2014)

He is the Gift  (December 8, 2014)

Thanksgiving in Mexico - Elder Brian Burgess

Written by Elder Brian Burgess, serving in the Mexico Puebla North Mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, speaking Spanish.

Great Week!

So Tuesday was the transfers meeting. My companion and I are still here in our area.

Thursday we had a leadership council with Elder Toris. He is from the Seventy. It was a great conference!

Saturday we had a zone conference with Elder Toris again, and it was a great conference. I learned alot! Then we had to do monthly forms for the stake. I feel like I am going in circles, just deja vu every month. haha. But I love the mission.

Today we had a district activity ... mini Thanksgiving. Chicken (turkey was too expensive), rolls, mashed potatoes and vegetables. President gave us permission to watch Forever Strong, the rugby movie that they sell at Deseret Book in the States.

I want to take this time to tell you that I just am super excited to be here in Mexico serving the Lord. I love this gospel and testify that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. Read it. Love it. I do.

I love and miss you all!

Elder Burgess

Read, Pray, Serve  (November 24, 2014)

Santas and Bed Bugs  (December 8, 2014)

Thanksgiving Dinner in Puebla, Mexico!