Week 28: I'm Broke

March 12, 2020

Week 28: I'm Broke

Møns Klint with the comp, Elder Brown

On a cold, dark evening huddled on a pathetically small couch in a crazy lady's basement, I read an email from missioncards@churchofjesuschrist.org that made my jaw drop. For the first time on the mission, I had no Missionary Supplementary Funds (or MSF, as we like to call it) in my account. Yes, you read that right, my current balance is $0.00 and I'm living off of personal funds. I had gotten close to the zero dollar boundary before but I went over the line this week. Guess I gotta watch my transactions a little more closely until I finally get taken off the bike plan. Woo..

Thankfully I'm not physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually broken - only financially - although I almost lost my marbles at the sight of Møns Klint, a 6 kilometer stretch of chalk cliffs on the Baltic Sea. We had a district "fiesta" to celebrate the 10 baptisms we had as a mission last transfer, and Ældste Brown fought like a lion to get it approved by Præsident. Shoutout to the dopest district leader and companion! The reason that I went bananas at the sight of Møns Klint was because I had nearly forgotten what mountains, forests, and oceans had looked like after the past six months. I immediately thought of all the good memories from Oahu as we hiked down the trail. The entire district could not contain the joy and gratitude for such an unforgettable experience. We splashed around, skipped rocks, ran through knee-deep mud and red seaweed, and took many, MANY pictures. Again, gotta give a shoutout to Søster Allen and Ældste Brown for taking the majority of those pictures. I would 100% recommend Møns Klint to anyone who visits Denmark!

After the party was absolute chaos. The APs drove us at lightning speed to the train station in Vordingborg as we changed in the back seats, since they had to stay in Nykøbing Falster for splits. We barely made it in time to catch the train and while we were riding back Brown had to clean his shoes in the bathroom and the train hit a fallen tree.. We switched trains, which made us an hour late for an eating appointment. Luckily, the Kjeldsen family was understanding and fed us an impressive vegetarian lasagna. We also ate with the Borup family this week and Brother Borup called us his new sons in Sunday school. :) Lars, our enthusiastic mission leader, arranged to give us leftovers from a ward lunch as well. The members really enjoy having us over, feeding us, and feeling the "missionary spirit". We didn't have to make dinner at all this week thanks to them. We also have a few families that are willing to host missionary lessons. We have the BEST ward!!

Our party was in the middle of the week, so it gave us plenty of motivation throughout the whole week. To start off the week, Rehne returned from his slumber and welcomed us into his home again with open arms and a grin from ear to ear. He missed us so much and we also missed him. We touched on personal revelation and the importance of communication with family, friends, and God after eating a massive plate of rice topped with pork chops, mini-sausages, and fatty sauce. I had a massive food comma right after taking the last bite but pulled myself together to continue talking with Rehne. Sometimes, I find myself faking it until I make it. LOL. We pulled the "last week in Roskilde" card on our viking Christian friend, and invited him to come to church and a musical fireside about the Restoration before one of us would be gone.

Another person who we recently pulled this card on was Mathilde. While wandering the streets, Brown and I both felt impressed to take a strange road that we don't take as often. To our astonishment, we ran into Mathilde - who's been really busy lately. The conversation wasn't awkward at all and we had a nice hygge chat to catch up. We told her of our upcoming fate and then set up an appointment over Messenger a little later. Brown and I both agreed that God played a part in this exchange and we were reminded of the validity of the Holy Ghost's guidance in our lives. It's crazy to think that one tiny prompting led to a face-to-face conversation with a great friend who means a lot to us. That contacting session was obviously effective and prayers were definitely answered that day!

I'll save you the grief of reading about boring contacting sessions by keeping it short. We had many finding hours that only led to nej taks. We also had a very uneventful splits in Nykøbing. On the bright side, we got in contact with Emmanuel and Lars & family. Emmanuel wants to meet this week and Lars & family hopes to attend church and the Restoration fireside. God continues to bless us in unexpected ways that often come last minute. To me, it shows that God is in command and everything revolves around His timing. As stated by Jesus Christ himself through the prophet Joseph Smith, "And behold, I, the Lord, declare unto you, and my words are sure and shall not fail, that they shall obtain it. But all things must come to pass in their time. Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great." (D&C 64:31-33) It is comforting to know that Christ's words will never fall and will touch the hearts of many more of God's precious children, in His time not ours.

Make this upcoming week great! I love you all so much! Remember, it's the small things that count the most!

Kærlig hilsen,

Ældste Moore