Week 24: Looking and Becoming Like Jesus

Found a tractor with the trio

Hejjjj!!! Not much happened this week in Kongernes By, or I should say the City of Kings since English is obviously the superior language. ;) The streets were almost as dead as our lovely Nordic language that always gets mixed up with Dutch. Just a heads up, it's actually called Danish but we forgive you. Nonetheless, we did hand out a Mormons Bog for the first time in forever to Mikkel, a man who looked almost exactly like the modern depiction of Jesus Christ. It was freaky how close the resemblance was! We were grateful to have a long discussion about the importance of openness and free agency with him. In the end, I felt a little bit more motivated to become like Jesus; and this was all because of Mikkel. Thank goodness! 

Ældste Brown had to leave me again for another MLC in Fredericia. Two other missionaries, Ældste Millett and Ældste Langmann, were brought to Roskilde to temporary take his place. We had such a good time together that we spent the whole day out and about. We had a good list of shenanigans: a random tractor parked in the middle of the street, a quick stop by the legendary Bagels to Eat, an awkward discussion about transgenders with a man on the gå gade, and a lady ́s curiosity over why we weren't looking at women and drinking beers on a Friday night. Millett, Langmann, and I joked and laughed during the entire splits. I had never experienced contacting and knocking with a trio and I was pleasantly surprised by how enjoyable it was. It was truly a great joy!  

Joy has also come as we ́ve worked with ward members. Recently, we ́ve been visiting a few less active families with the ward council and ward missionaries. We thought it would be good to do this so we could build relationships with them and see how we could help bring people back to church. We stopped by our Elders Quorum ́s brother, Per, to invite him to attend sacrament meeting. He's been having some health issues so we gave him a Priesthood blessing. The spirit was very strong and Per thanked us for paying a visit. We also drove down to Faxe to invite Jeanette, a lady who last attended sacrament meeting in Aalborg 20 years ago, to come out again. Immediately after opening the door, she greeted us with a smile from ear to ear. She told us that she would love to come if the building was closer. We let her know that the ward is currently planning a way to organize a mini-branch in order to hold sacrament meeting down in Faxe once a month and she could hardly hold in her joy. These visits made me recognize how beautiful and joyful this gospel truly is.

What's the point of having a gospel if we don't seek to share it? Natasja has continued to amaze us with her boldness in sharing the gospel! Her brother is currently taking lessons with the Sisters in Gladsaxe and a few of her friends have shown interest in learning more about the Restored Church. She is continuously updating us with people that she thinks would be open to hear the Lord ́s message. Brown and I see a future missionary in the making! Our guess is that she ́ll go to New York, but I guess we ́ll see before we can blink. This week, we taught Natasja a little bit about the temple and we set a date - February 15 in case you ́re wondering - to take some of her family names there. Getting a temple recommend will be a piece of cake for her because she's totally worthy and has a good relationship with bishop. Seeing Natasja ́s determination to enter the house of the Lord and bring others unto the fold has strengthened my own desire to give the best I can to ensure His voices reaches as many people as possible.

Even with the call to serve with all my might, mind, and strength, there is something even more beautiful about God's plan - agency. Christ, our Great Shepherd, does not force us to come unto Him but rather invites us and gently leads us back. It is ultimately up to us where we want to go. That makes missionary work so much easier because we don't have to force people toward our Savior. It is much more breathtaking to witness someone decide to heed His gentle call on his/her own. We can also feel at peace when someone decides to ignore His gentle call because we did our part with invitation. 

I recently read Samuel the Lamanite ́s prophecy and thought to share a small part of it. Helman 14:30-31 says, "And now remember, remember, my brethren, that whosoever perisheth, perisheth unto himself; and whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free. He hath given unto you that ye might know good from evil, and he hath given unto you that ye might choose life or death; and ye can do good and be restored unto that which is good, or have that which is good restored unto you; or ye can do evil, and have that which is evil restored unto you."

I invite everyone to seek to use your agency for good. God has made us free, so why not make the biggest difference by lighting the way unto our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ?!

Jeg elsker jer utrolig meget,
Ældste Moore          

Trio splits (From left to right: me, Elder Millett, Elder Langmann)
The trio looking fly
The legendary Bagels to Eat!