Week 15: What Have I Become?

Nyvang 9: Our home (for now)

Brothers and sisters I have a sincere question: what is happening to me? In the span of 10 weeks in Denmark I have become a completely new person that I never would've imagined before the mission. I ́m starting to think in Danish and lose English vocabulary, I make random noises to keep me motivated, I ́m addicted to mint Cocio and chocolate Mysli, I use a happy light in the morning to wake up, I ́ve taught myself how to juggle, I ́m learning how to play the guitar, and I ́m being taught how to knit clothes. Yup, I know what you ́re thinking - that's a whole bunch of random things mixed together in a melting pot. That ́s a great way to describe me right now!

As you can probably tell by my weird intro, this week has been all over the place! I feel like a Danish child because I ́m adopting strange habits to cope with the reality of the world around me. I am the definition of a Dane in primary education (basically kindergarten for those in the States). Ældste Brown and I have started to read Peter Plys (the Danish version of Winnie the Pooh) with Annette during our weekly language study at her home. Our pronunciation is terrible and she continuously reminds us to read slower to actually sound it out. I thought that I wouldn't have to ever do this again after learning English, but whatever! We also recorded Annette saying the alphabet and practiced repeating after her. That's even more proof that I have the mind of a Danish six-year-old!

We had district meeting this week in Nykøbing Falster. Our district leader reminded us to use our finding toolbox to find new friends. He drew a wrench, a screwdriver, a hammer, and two sets of pliers on the board. The wrench represented sub-goals, the screwdriver represented faith/charity, the hammer represented 15 hours, and the two sets of pliers represented fromer friends and members. This totally made sense to my new Danish child mind! After the meeting, we went out to the streets to look for people. Ældste Merrill and I knocked on doors and handed out one Mormons Bog! Jo tak! Hopefully that person doesn't throw it away! We had to dip out pretty early to get to a service project, so we drove there with the APs. We helped a family stack wood in a shack outside their home. It only took 20 minutes so we chilled for a bit while dinner was cooking. We had some beet lasagna - I love beets but it's not good to put in there! Gotta love the random food!

To our dismay, Benjamin dropped us. He told us that he´s no longer motivated to learn more but thanked us for our time and effort. This was depressing news so Brown and I bought some mint Cocios and pastries. We biked home and watched Meet the Mormons while laying in bed. A scripture that has really comforted me is found in Matthew 5:14-16, which says, "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

 The light of the gospel shines bright as we put it up high and proclaim Jesus Christ as the Savior and Redeemer of the world. There is no need to fear bearing witness of this simple truth - God lives and loves us! We cannot control how others respond to our witness but we can control how often we are willing to put up the light of Christ. Find a way this Christmas season to share the joy of the gospel, no matter what the outcome may be. Check out https://www.comeuntochrist.org/light-the-world to see some cool ideas to help. Let´s remind the world why we really celebrate Christmas.

Kærlig hilsen,

Ældste Moore

Winnie the Pooh in Danish

Got a guitar from Elder Jensen!