Week 37: Aces, Slices, and Drives

May 31, 2020

Week 37: Aces, Slices, and Drives

Visiting a castle 😎

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Aces, Slices, and Drives (*Guy Fieri voice*)! We traveled around the island of Fyn in search for an open court to finally put those tennis rackets to good use. We ran to one near our apartment and saw no nets up. We drove out to another one on a school campus and still saw no nets up. We were about to give up, since almost every other place we could think of was closed down thanks to corona, but I wouldn't let that happen. We went to the last possible location we could try. We found a closed door at a well-hidden entrance, reached to pull the handle, and #boom it was unlocked. I almost collapsed from shock - I couldn't believe it! Jensen and Leland took turns playing against me on the clay courts (it was the first time I've played on this type) and I soon rediscovered my serve, backspin, and backhand/forehand. Our clothes got really stained from the clay but we, nonetheless, enjoyed the feeling of pure excitement. Now that's some good tastes of adrenaline, right there! ;)

While this week felt relatively similar to the previous one, I would say that we aced it instead of letting it ace us. We got a new friend from the Vejle sisters named Rebekka who recently moved to Svendborg and began lessons with the missionaries over a year ago. Score! From our team lesson, we noticed that she seemed very excited and interested in learning even more about the gospel. She had already gained a ton of knowledge from previous missionaries, which put us in a really good position to slam it home. Leland, Jensen, and I introduced ourselves and got to know Rebekka during our call. She was super hyperactive throughout the whole thing and started to ask a good amount of thoughtful questions at high speed. We were secretly cheering inside because having a friend that actually asks questions makes a huge difference. We ended up discussing the Book of Mormon and the Holy Ghost with a focus on how they help us in our personal conversion. We love-loved to hear her input and were really taught by her. That was very uplifting, indeed.

We keep in contact with Andrea, our amazing friend who told us of his goal to be baptized, frequently since we last called him. We sliced it up between the three of us by taking turns to message him on different days. He appreciated our kindness and accepted an invitation to partake of the sacrament with a small group of missionaries, aka our district, this next week. He told us of how perfect May 1st will be with that meeting and we agreed wholeheartedly. We look forward to seeing him and are just grateful for the opportunity we have to do it. We will have 9 people, which fits right in the limit of 10. From the rest of our conversations with Andrea, we planned to learn some Italian from him, cook some recipes he sent us, and set up another video call soon. Jensen, Leland, and I started to study Italian and look at the baptismal prayers in Italian. I don't know about you, but I think baptizing someone in Denmark in a language other than Danish or English would be quite the story. Andrea, like Rebekka, also began lesson with the missionaries over a year ago. He is super prepared and just an overall stud!

I wanted to share two experiences that really drove my motivation levels out the roof. They were both similar to each other and reminded me that God has a hand in my life and my family's life. Recently, I thought about how difficult it must be to sell a house during this pandemic. This worried me for a while, so I decided to bring it to the Lord. One evening, I prayed specifically for the house in Reno to sell and zonked out right after. I thought nothing of it until my parents let me know that the house got an offer. That was a powerful witness that prayer works and God never left me nor will He ever do so. My dad also recounted a story like this but it was for the Jeep Wrangler. No one was showing interest in buying the car, which needed to be sold sooner rather than later. My dad prayed specifically for the Jeep to sell and went to bed. The next morning, the neighbors texted asking if it was still up for sale. He confirmed that it was and received an offer. Again, that was such a touching example of God answering a simple prayer.

I love how God works. Sometimes, He aces us to humble us. Other times, He lets us ace to build our confidence. Sometimes, He slices the ball to make it bounce in an unexpected way. Other times, He lets us slice the ball to fascinate us. Sometimes, He drives the ball at a high speed for us to miss. Other times, He drives the ball at a low speed for us to slam. He gives us experience - good and bad, happy and sad, easy and difficult, refreshing and tiring. Why does He do this? He does it to show us that we can depend on His Son, Jesus Christ, in ALL circumstances in life, not just SOME. To paraphrase Brother John Bytheway, who gave our Sunday devotional this week, we need to practice our free throw routine. We can drop the shoulders (fast, pray) take a deep breath (study scripture), dribble a few times (attend the temple), and lay it in the hoop (repent through the Atonement). This will help us remember that He is there to give us peace, even if the crowd is trying to distract us from that peace. "Learn of [Christ], and listen to [His] words; walk in the meekness of [His] spirit, and you shall have peace in [Christ]."

Jeg elsker jer højt,

Ældste Moore