Week 12: The Power of Testimony

Brown and I at Vikingskibsmuseet

Yup, that´s right. It´s already that time of the week and you´re getting another update from the best country in Europe! It´s starting to get FREEZING outside so I´m always wearing my big, light gray coat with my beanie and gloves. The sun has officially disappeared even though it´s up about nine hours a day still. The problem is that there´s always so many clouds in the way but hey at least I won´t be getting sunburnt! Our bikes have also been very odd the past two weeks. My seat loves to fall down a ton in the middle of a ride and Brown´s bike always gets a flat tire in the front. One time we had to use a scooter we found at the church and hook it to one of our bikes to ride home, LOL! We´re having loads of fun in Roskilde and also hitting about 3 hours of finding per day on average.

Speaking of finding, that´s not going too hot. This week, we didn´t find anyone with even the slightest of interest. Our contacting on the gå gade and knocking on apartments and houses isn´t getting us anywhere. It´s honestly been pretty difficult, but Ældste Brown and I always like to say that every "nej tak" makes our future wives more beautiful. We´re gonna be marrying some GORGEOUS women some day! Rejection used to be something that broke me down but now it strengthens me. I read the Ricciardi letter, which is about an Italian Elder who served in England, this week and I liked how it talked about putting every ounce of effort in despite what may come out of it. When I put in all I´ve got, I can know - without even the slightest bit of doubt - that I´ve done my part. Plus, it´s not even me that´s getting rejected; it´s actually the gospel of Jesus Christ that is. Rejection makes the work so much more effective because we won´t be wasting time with people that are uninterested. I think that´s a good way to look at a mission!

With that being said, we´ve also been extremely blessed here. We had two young men come out with us this week, Bastian and Markus. Bishop also came out to support us and we´ve had his counselors help as well. Tuesday, we went on member splits and I went with Ældste Walton and Bastian. We found a man that we talked to for almost 30 minutes about the importance of learning with our physical eyes but also with our spiritual eyes. While there may be many different physical truths, such as biological or philosophical truths, for example, there are also eternal truths that connect everything together. Some of those are that we are all God´s children, that He loves us perfectly, and that He has a plan for us. All three of us gave powerful witnesses of these sacred truths and invited the Spirit to influence him. This week has been the most that I´ve given the most sincere testimonies to people and it feels good to follow the Holy Ghost.

We taught Benjamin again and he is eating up all the lessons! He LOVES them and comes with such good insights and sincere questions. It´s nice to be teaching him because he doesn´t force us to pull words out of his mouth. We taught him the entire Frelsesplan (Plan of Salvation) and he kept saying how much it made sense to him. He got so excited at the end that he exclaimed that he would like to give the closing prayer. He thanked Heavenly Father for answering questions he´s had his entire life and for bringing us into his life. So cool! He committed himself to come to church and asked to meet again on Thursday. JO TAK! The lesson went really well and we balanced the amount that we talked almost perfectly. We switched off every point so I was able to teach about the creation, our life on earth, part of the Atonement, and the spirit world. Ældste Brown hit premortal life, agency from the Fall, part of the Atonement, and salvation/exaltation/judgment. I´m slowly becoming more and more confident in explaining the importance of these truths in the funky language of Danish.

We also taught Ruune about the organization of the Church. We spoke of the importance of prophets and apostles, both in ancient and modern times. We explained how these modern day servants of the Lord lay out the scriptures really well and share stories to motivate us to do better. We showed him a short inspirational video and I could tell that the spirit was working on him. We read 2 Nephi 9 with him and I felt prompted to reiterate verse 21, which talks about Christ taking upon Himself our pains. I know that Jesus Christ suffered the pains of ALL men and women. Yes, every single one - not just those who choose to follow Him. He came into the world to deliver us from our pains, fears, weaknesses, and temptations. That is only possible through the cleansing power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. There is no other way!

We enjoyed fast Sunday this week and I had two opportunities to bear simple testimony. The first was in church. I got up on the pulpit (following the lead of my wonderful trainer Ældste Brown, of course) and thanked the ward for assisting in missionary work. Afterward, I mentioned the importance of our relationship to God. I reminded them to continue to do the smallest things - sincere prayer, thoughtful scripture study, selfless service, etc - in order to maintain this sacred relationship. I have seen that I´ve received the most strength on the mission when I do these tiny every day actions. The second was during an eating appointment. We ate with the Larsens and I had the spiritual thought. I asked everyone to say how they overcome challenges and temptations. We went around in a circle and the answers included: looking at life in an eternal perspective, reading General Conference talks, realizing the blessings around us, calling on others for help, searching the scriptures, and praying to God. I loved hearing these answered and added that all of these are possible through Jesus Christ. He is the rock that we need to build on and we will never fall if we do (I based this thought off of Helaman 5:12 if you couldn´t tell ;).

I want to re-emphasize the necessity of sharing the truth with others. As Dieter F. Uchtdorf said in the most recent General Conference, "May I remind you that God does not need you to “sell” the restored gospel or the Church of Jesus Christ. He simply expects you not to hide it under a bushel. And if people decide the Church is not for them, that is their decision. It does not mean you have failed. You continue to treat them kindly. Nor does it exclude that you invite them again. The difference between casual social contacts and compassionate, courageous discipleship is—invitation!" Are you hiding, selling, or sharing the gospel? Whatever your answer may be, I encourage you to move toward sharing it! Remember that this is not for you, it is for Jesus Christ!

Med meget kærlighed,

Ældste Moore 

Vikingskibsmuseet

Dressing up as a Viking

Member splits with Bishop and Bastian