Week 7: Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence
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| Elder Ogden and I |
Today was the best P-day we´ve had so far on the mission, no joke! We, Ældste Nielsen, Ældste Cook, Ældste Ogden, and I, started the day by helping the soon-to-be København temple mission president move into his apartment. He and his wife had to be moved closer to the temple so that they could get there faster since they´ll be going there every day, obviously. We moved a lot of boxes and furniture to a warehouse and then came back to eat lunch. We got FREE PIZZA! And it wasn´t the typical American pizza. It was the thin type with unique toppings, such as shrimp and sloppy joe meat. It was just as good as the pizza I tried in Sweden last year so I was in heaven! Right after, we met up with Holly to do some fun activities. She´s honestly my favorite person from our ward because she helps us plan things to do! She also comes from England so her accent is killer! Our day consisted of eating at a place called Milk that has these amazing milk buns desserts. I got a donut cut in half with caramel ice cream, hot fudge, and cookie crisps. SOOO GOOD!! Then, Ældste Farr and Ældste Madsen joined us at a cool boardgame cafe called Huset and we all played Apples to Apples while eating sweet potato fries and nachos. Basically today was all about food! Speaking of food, we still need to go grocery shopping for the week. Darn!
Anyway, our district has been making this joke frequently and I find it quite hilarious. I thought I´d share it cause it includes me. As you´ve probably noticed, we have an Ældste Farr and Ældste Moore in our district. That doesn´t really mean anything when you first look at it but when you translate our names from Danish into English they mean father (far) and mother (mor). We have a dad and mom in our district so we´ll always be safe! Haha, I can see why people probably look at me weird when I introduce myself because I´m literally going up to them and saying, "Hi, my name is Oldest Mom". That is a little odd to hear someone say that! Oh well... On another note, we had zone conference this week and I enjoyed it so much! Præsident Olsen showed us a video that the mission made and reminded us that we are here to work as companions to find friends before becoming friends as companions. In case you don´t know, the terms friends is used for those that are interested in the church and are taking lessons from the missionaries. That has definitely been working a lot better for Ældste Ogden and I because we found three people this week that actually showed a spark of interest. They said to come back another day and I was so excited! Søster Olsen also told us to be conscious of our own health because the "dark days" are coming soon. She gave all the missionaries bright lights that act as an artificial sun. We get vitamin D from it and it prevents something called seasonal affective disorder (SAD), which is apparently very common here when the sun barely comes out in the winter. Gotta make sure that we stay happy and healthy to keep doing the work at our greatest capacity!
We´re probably gonna need the extra health boost to be honest because this week was exhausting. One day, we walked 13 miles and contacted a little bit along the way with no one really showing interest. Another day, we biked through pouring rain and fierce wind when we went to an eating appointment. Another day, we knocked doors for about five hours straight and that´s when we finally found those three that I spoke of earlier. What I´ve learned from day one on is that it takes perseverere and patience to find people. We can´t just expect God to place people magically in our path. We have to go out and seek them. That´s an important thing to remember, especially while serving a mission. Another thing I´ve learned this week is that I am confident in the gospel. During one of our companionship studies, Ældste Ogden and I listened to a talk by Jeffrey R. Holland that was given at BYU in the 1980s. There was a certaom passage of scripture in it that really stood out to me. It was located in Hebrews, where Paul is writing an epistle to the Hebrew saints. Hebrews 10:35-36 says, "Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise." Paul´s wording here is just so powerful! He reminds that that we have great reason to be confident in the Lord as we follow His will. The promise we receive for our hard work is the guidance of the Holy Ghost and his power to touch others.
I am not confident in myself because I am weak. Instead, I am confident in my Savior, Jesus Christ. I am confident in His perfect plan for all of Heavenly Father´s children. I am confident that His infinite atonement can heal all wounds and repair all broken hearts. I am confident that He loves me and that He loves you, PERFECTLY. If you find anything to be confident in, be confident in Jesus Christ because He will always be there for you! He will always understand what you are going through and how to help you best! It may not be the way you expect, but I promise that His hand is all around you. Learn to see His influence in any situation you may find yourself in, because He never forsakes you. Never! Make this week great and don´t forget how much you mean to Heavenly Father.
Jeg elsker jer med hele mit hjerte,
Ældste Moore
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| UV (Young Adults) group splits |
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| Eating at Huset, a boardgame café |
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| Milky bun in Copenhagen |