Week 4: The Mysteries of God

September 07, 2019

Week 4: The Mysteries of God

Hejjjjjjj!!! Jeres yndlings missionær her! What a glorious and exciting week it has been! I've finally realized that everything I experienced before coming on a mission, most especially during my high school years, has prepared me in some shape or form. My callings as deacons quorum president and teachers quorum president prepared me for my initial leadership role. My endeavor to learn Swedish by myself prepared me for the two and a half weeks of teaching ourselves Danish when we didn't have a teacher that spoke Danish. My family's opportunity to foster and adopt taught me how to remain patience and loving even if the babies drove me mad sometimes. My first year of college taught me to persevere through challenges, gave me better study habits, and helped me learn to depend more fully on the Savior. I cannot be Moore grateful for my life before the mission!! I see God's hand everywhere!! Heavenly Father really does work in unexpected and mysterious ways.

The White Plague has struck the MTC this week. I call it the "White Plague" because illness gets transmitted to all of us wearing white shirts and ties like no other here. There are over 2,000 people here and we all live really close to each other so that makes it easier for the sickness to spread. I caught a little bit of the disease a few weeks ago but thankfully I've developed an immunity to the plague before it exploded. Everyone in our district has had cold symptoms during our stay here, except Ældste Modersitzki with his immune system of steel. Right now, Ældste Cook carries the plague. Yesterday, he went to the health clinic because he's been sick for a full week. The doctor discovered a lot of buildup in his lungs and an extremely low white blood cell count. She said that she couldn't even believe that he was able to walk this whole time! Now he has to take a bunch of medications from the pharmacy across the street so the Ældster occasionally join him to go out of the MTC and pick them up. Last night, I anointed consecrated oil on his head and Ældste Modersitzki gave him a beautiful blessing. Ældste Cook kept thanking us for the blessing and saying you're welcome for the practice. He's already feeling way better this morning! I trust he'll be getting better soon!

On a more positive note, we got a brand new teacher! His name is Bror Jensen and he comes from Aalborg, which is the northern part of Denmark!!! We're so excited to have him for the last week and a half! We've come to an agreement as a district to pronounce the J in his name with a Y sound and the J in my companions name with a J sound. Hopefully, this keeps us far from any confusion. Bror Jensen's Danish is so beautiful, although it's very quick and slurred together. The first thing he had us do will always be remembered by our district. He gave us 10 minutes to draw the Plan of Salvation in Danish on the board so that we could teach it to him. After we finished, he came into the room and completely disregarded the illustration. He erased it without even acknowledging it's importance and started teaching us grammar! It was so strange! He stopped himself and asked us why we believed he did that. Søster Duckworth and I were beyond confused because we had been the ones to draw and write on the board while the rest of the district told us what to put. We had no clue, obviously cause we were in shock and Ældste Jensen was laughing his head off. He told us that our feeling is the exact same for those who we extend commitments and we don't follow up on them after. What an intriguing way to teach that! Right after we gave him a tour of the MTC in Danish. He was very impressed with our language but he kept reminding us that we sounded too American. He said that we need to swallow our words more. Yup... we already knew that!

I hosted again yesterday, although I got to escort two brand new Elders this time. It's so interesting to see how unique each drop-off is! The first Elder I hosted was Elder Andersen, who's heading to Toronto, Canada. He and his family showed absolutely no emotion. He told me that he's ready to move on with life and get out to serve. The second Elder I hosted was Elder Johnson, who's heading to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was incredibly excited but his parents were crying their eyes out. He couldn't stop smiling and talking about his hope for the mission, which was great to hear! I'm fascinated that Heavenly Father knows EXACTLY how we'll respond to things and EXACTLY where we need to go. I'm thankful for the unique qualities of each son and daughter of God! Seeing how everyone reacts to his or her arrival to the MTC makes me grateful that we all have something different to offer, which makes us all an essential part in the gathering of Israel. God is so mysterious (in a great way)!

This week I focused on improving myself in following the guidance of the Holy Ghost. I felt that I should listen to President Russell M. Nelson's talk in the April 2018 General Conference titled "Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives". It was awesome to listen to his amazing talk in Danish. My favorite line of this talk is near the end as follows (I'll put it in English for ya'll): "Our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, will perform some of His mightiest works between now and when He comes again. We will see miraculous indications that God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, preside over this Church in majesty and glory. But in coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost." It's become increasingly apparent to me that I need to work on ALWAYS having the Spirit with me. It's up to me to stay clean and worthy of His divine guidance throughout my mission and my entire life! I'm so excited to see the miraculous events that will come to pass in the future.

Ironically, this talk coincided perfectly with the mission conference we had on fast Sunday, the fireside on Sunday, and the fireside on Tuesday. We had our first fast Sunday this week and instead of going to the cafeteria the entire MTC goes to a mission conference. The MTC presidency spoke to us on the power of the Holy Ghost. The most important things I learned from them are: (1) we should never stop learning because the Holy Ghost will never stop teaching, (2) our job is to teach the basics and invite others to act, (3) we are all in the conversion process, (4) we must increase our spiritual capacity, stretch beyond our current spiritual capacity, and do the spiritual work required to have the spirit, (5) we need to step outside our comfort zone to be transformed, (6) the Spirit is willing to testify as long as we listen, (7) the Spirit never dies, (8) the gospel will be familiar to all who hear it, and (9) a mystery is something that can only be discovered and understood through revelation. When looking at all these points, the Holy Ghost is central to each one! Without the constant guidance of the Holy Ghost, we cannot do any of the things above! This shows that President Nelson knows what he's talking about. We need to follow his counsel because he is a prophet of God.

On Sunday, we had the privilege of hearing from Brother and Sister Ulrich. Sister Ulrich is a professional psychologist that wrote "Adjusting to Missionary Life", which is a super helpful book for all missionaries. She reminded us that godly power is distributing resources, inviting others unto Christ, persuading them of the truth, and influences others by compassion, example, and support. She encouraged us to develop a growth mindset by looking at stories about resilience, retraining our brains to look beyond threats, honestly share struggles, and learn from setbacks. She also said, "Life's greatest tragedies occur when we give up what we want most for what we want now." This made me think, "What do I want most?" The reason I'm spending two years proselytizing in Denmark is to bring the joy of the gospel to others. Whether that be manifested while I'm there or after I left, it doesn't matter. I'm going to invite others unto Christ, not force them to come to Him. It is ultimately up to them to open their heart to the whisperings of the Holy Ghost, which will witness the truth of the gospel unto them.

On Tuesday, Elder and Sister Martino reminded us that spiritual light is far more powerful than physical light. Immersing ourselves in the scriptures and talking to God daily will invite spiritual light into our lives. No matter what language we speak, we will be assisted to touch others hearts. There will be things we don't understand but as long as try our hardest, God will make up the rest for us. Living the Gospel and using the Atonement every day has been a blessing to me. I've come to notice God's mysteries around me as I depend on the Savior more and more. Heavenly Father lives so that we may become more like Him. Make a great week this upcoming week and search for the mysteries that surround us always!

Jeg elsker jer,

Ældste Moore