Hey Mom and Dad and everyone else,
Thanks
for the letter and everything. I really like hearing all the stories
and just how everything's going. It's kinda strange, I thought I'd be
homesick and thinking of home a lot, but when I'm out as a missionary
everyday I don't even have time to be homesick and miss everyone, but
every P-day its really good to here how Things are and know that home
will still be there in two years. I had a pretty good week this week. It
started out pretty badly to be honest, but then it ended pretty well. I
don't remember when it was, I think it might have been Wednesday, but
we got a parking ticket for 600 Kroners (almost 100 dollars) just
because we forgot to set a time thingy on the front of our window called
a P-skiv. So we we're both pretty mad about that and then one of our
really positive investigators that we thought could be baptized within
the couple months stopped answering our texts and calls. And then we had
no appointments because some other people couldn't meet. So we were a
bit discouraged at the beginning of the week. But we actually ended up
doing some really effective planning this week and we have more
scheduled appointments this´coming week than I think I've ever had on my
mission. So that's really exciting, and we're going to have an amazing
week. We did have some good experiences this past week though. We had
lots of time, so we ended up spending a lot of time contacting on the
streets, knocking, and stopping by members that are less active. I think
it was on Thursday, we we're out knocking on doors and having no
success, and honestly pretty much no one seemed to be home. Then I saw a
random apartment and thought, (or heard ha ha) we should try that one.
So we went and knocked, and the third door we knocked on, before we had
even said much the man invited us in. He and his friend that were there
were both from Iran and one of them was Christian and the other said he
was Humanist (Which is kind of Ironic because his name is Human ha ha).
But One of them spoke a little bit of English and the other spoke a
little bit of Danish, but neither of them spoke too well, but they told
us there language was Persian, but that they'd both come to church 100%.
Neither of them did unfortunately, but we were able to get them both
Persian books of Mormon and went and visited one of them on Sunday after
Church. We just talked to him and tried to communicate and be his
friend. While we were there he opened up his new book of Mormon straight
to 2nd Nephi 29 where it talks about there being more Words that God
gives to his children than just in the Bible. I'm not sure if he
understood a lot of what we said to him, but he just kept saying "this
is a good book" in his nice broken Danish (it reminds me of when I first
got here). So that was a really cool oplevulse and I was really glad
that we were able to find them. We also met a really nice girl named
Sophia while contacting this week, and I think if she reads Mormons bog
she could really become an extremely positive investigator for us. So
that was exciting too. Hmm... oh also we decided to try a new way of
contacting this week. We just went to parks with lots of people and
brought an American football and tried to look extremely American and
passed the football a bit (ha ha people think Americans are really cool
for some reason). We actually ended up playing catch with a bunch of
immigrant kids for about 20 minutes and we just had a good time with
them and getting to know them a little bit. It actually reminded me a
lot of Africa for a little while. Next time we do that though we're
going to have to try to find some older people to play though ha ha. I do
think one thing that's really important to do as a missionary though is
to just be nice and friendly to all the people we walk by and talk to.
If we just act like robots that can only do missionary Work and talk
about the gospel I feel like no one would ever want to talk to us. It's
actually kind of crazy, here in Denmark there are a Whole lot of Jehovah's
witnesses, but pretty much everyone hates them because they're rude
when they talk to people and just don't act like they're there to be
friends. Unfortunately we get mistaken for Jehovah's Witnesses a lot here,
but when we tell them we're not, lots of people will get super relieved
and be happy to talk to us for a little while. I feel like if you're
not careful though, you could easily end up being the same way as them,
and not realize that one of the most important Things about being a
missionary is being a friend.
I think that's about it for today, but I just want to say
thank you for all the prayers and support and for everything you have
all done for me. It means a lot, and now that I'm out here I regret not
showing and expressing my thanks more often. I already feel like the
person I am is changing a ton. I just feel happy almost all the time
(sometimes not so much though ha ha, missionary work can be a bit
depressing at times), and I feel like I'm beginning to be able to
recognize the spirit more and realize that in life we really can't do
everything. We have to trust in God and follow him, and if we do our
best he will make up all the rest, and when you feel like you can't go
on any longer he'll send you one of his tender mercies and you'll be
able to carry on through the rough times.
Haha I was going to try to end on that spiritual note, but I
have to tell you a story ha ha. I remember when you were asking if I
couldn't go into public parks or beaches because of topless women, and a
few weeks ago we were on a train in the country and there was just a
random farmer working in his field buck naked haha, so I think parks and
beaches are the least of our worries haha. Denmark is a strange place.
I'm having a great time though and I know that with God's help I'll
always be fine, through the good and the bad, and anything that comes my
way. Have a great week :)
Oh and no I didn't get transferred, I'm still in
Roskilde with Ældste Metcalf having a great time. And the weather has
been pretty good lately. It's starting to get a little chilly sometimes,
and believe it or not a few trees are starting to have their leaves
change colors already ha ha. I've heard from all the missionarys here
that the winters are miserable though ha ha, but I'm kind of excited for winter. It'll be something new, a fun adventure in a country halfway across the world.
-Ældste Redd
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