Week 33: Spin Me Right Around

After shave pic 👦🏻

Please help me.. my head is spinning right now. Boredom and confusion is becoming even more of a reality in the Roskilde basement. We'll be here for two more weeks, psych! We're actually moving to Nykøbing Falster again today. Haha, gotcha there. ;) You're probably wondering why in the world we moved there and then here and then back there again. That's an honest question that may never be answered but stay tuned to see how insane I become after this quarantine is over. *evil laugh*

We replaced the typical six hours of face-to-face contacting with six hours of Facebook finding. Trust me, it's a VERY effective method to find people (I hope you understand sarcasm). We joined a Facebook group called "Roskilde hjælper hinanden" and posted a generous offer to serve others by buying groceries, walking dogs, doing garden work, etc. The first few comments proved that many believed it to be a hoax for us to take advantage of them. What happened next was hilarious and entertaining. A comment war commenced and people started roasting those who had claimed the post to be fake. That was almost as good as Elder Kresge's impersonation of Phil Swift in the second episode of DIME news. Yup, that's right. The mission started a news channel for the missionaries to keep the spirits up.  

The government also passed a law restricting us even further. The limit of gathering was set to 2 people max, unless family. All of our work is now done online and we can't do any service anymore (rip to our previous post). Another challenge is that we cannot like or comment on others' posts. We have to use Messenger. That can be difficult if people don't accept friend requests and a random person messages them. :/ On the bright side, we did receive a referral from Århus (tusind tak Ældste Brown og Ældste Stowe) that seems positive so far. Rie told us about her strong belief in God and that she sees Him in visions and dreams. We continue to chat with her daily and are gradually moving the conversation toward an agreement to meet via video call. We'll see how that goes.

Our goal is to call at least one member a day and have a lesson with Mathilde once a week. It's going well at the moment, but we want to increase the number of calls to two a day (one with someone we've met and one with someone we haven't met). Lars, our faithful and dedicated mission leader, told us three people that he thought would be good to reach out to. The local missionaries have started pulling their weight by suggesting people to ring up. We called six families this week to share spiritual thoughts, read from Come, Follow Me, and discuss ways to serve others. One of those families was my own! We made it simple by showing pictures of Jesus Christ and Joseph Smith and explaining them in a 3-year-old English way. Asher and Harper added some funny comments that made us laugh. I'll share two snitbits. After I showed a picture of missionaries and asked why I was in Denmark, Asher demanded, "You come here this instant." After I showed a picture of Joseph translating the gold plates and asked what he was doing, Harper exclaimed, "He's coloring!" Those kiddos sure made my day. :D      

A few members brought us food and texted us to make sure we've been okay. Natasja picked up a tennis racket that I bought for me since the man lived all the way out in Greve (a 52 minute bike ride). She's a homie! Since we have a car again, I bought another one to make it possible to actually play on courts, if they're still open that is. I'm going to use these rackets often, even if it means I have to hit balls against a wall. Gotta get my rage out somehow, right? We also dropped off six thank-you letters throughout the week. It felt really good to express our gratitude for all that our landlady and the members have done for us. We were lucky enough to build a dresser for Lis, our landlady, before the ban on service came. I started writing poetry and continued to do all the usual (playing instruments, juggling, knitting, baking, cooking, watching movies, etc). We ride our bikes and go on walks as long as we're allowed, which is about one hour. 

And now we're turning it over to the Holy Ghost to touch your hearts. I wanted to share a scripture we shared during one of our virtual visits. The Lord once said to the suffering Saints in Missouri, "Verily I say unto you my friends, fear not, let your hearts be comforted; yea, rejoice evermore, and in everything give thanks; waiting patiently on the Lord, for your prayers have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, and are recorded with this seal and testament - the Lord hath sworn and decreed that they shall be granted. Therefore, he giveth this promise unto you, with an immutable covenant that they shall be fufilled; and all things wherewith you have been afflicted shall work together for your good, and to my name's glory, saith the Lord." (D&C 98:1-3) 

I'm not grateful for this pandemic. I'm not grateful for the sadness and suffering that is occurring around the world. Why should I be grateful for hardships? Still, that doesn't mean that I can't be grateful for the growth that could come from this hardship. I need to let that happen. You need to let that happen. We need to let that happen. We need to let this challenge change us for the better. We aren't required to give thanks for the difficulties we face, but we are required to give thanks for the experience we gain from these difficulties. Make sure to thank the Lord for what you have every moment you can.

Make a great week everyone,

Ældste Moore

Before shave pic 🧔🏻

How to beat depression 🥖😋

Food from members 😋