Week 42: Running Out Of Things to Write About
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| Waiting on Odense 1 🙄 |
My dear friends and close relatives, I am quite literally running out of things to write about in this third month after evolving into the DOM (if you know, you know). We don't get any crazy, memorable stories anymore because we still stay inside most of the time, except for those periods of walking to get Vitamin D absorbed through the skin. We still don't even attempt to contact on the streets or knock on doors, which are the two sources of whack encounters that are actually email worthy. The only things that are sorta close to crazy or memorable are the random conversations we awkwardly begin on Facebook, trying our hardest to shift the hygge chat into some sort of gospel discussion. Next time you're on social media, I dare you to try contacting a Dane and finding the patience to chat for ages and then attempt mentioning religion subtly. Just some food for thought..
We do, however, make some good memories with service and visits to the solid families in the ward that are easy to get in contact with. We regularly visit and/or serve the Ilskov family, Nørrung family, Phan family, Baird family, Pedersen family, and Kreiberg family. We are God's gardeners, figuratively and literally. We plant spiritual seeds in the hearts of those we visit and cut down grass, bushes, and trees for those we serve. I would've never expected doing missionary work with members in this unique fashion before I came on the mission, but here we are! I've been here for two months and haven't even participated in a service in the meetinghouse yet! Instead, we've brought the Spirit into the gardens and parks over Fyn. Luckily, we will be having Sunday sacrament meetings starting on Sunday (with limitations of 50 people, of course, meaning that we'll have to split the ward in half and hold two meetings every other Sunday and holding an online meeting when the 1st Ward has their two sacrament meetings the other Sunday we skip over). Millett and I will be attending a 1 hour meeting with members with last names from A-K at 10am and another 1 hour meeting with members with last names from L-Z at noon. We can't wait to see everyone in person for the first time!
Our friends are also still alive and well. We stay in touch with them and have agreed to start slowly switching to in-person lessons in parks or gardens this upcoming week. We frequently video call Andrea, Mahdi, Mariana, and Rebekka, who all come prepared with a ton of questions that keep us on our toes. Millett and I usually think of a topic that we believe would apply to the individual we are teaching beforehand, but leave it up to our amazing friends to bring up their personal concerns. We are amazed that the concerns they express almost always align with what we hope to discuss. It's been rather amazing to watch actually! It shows that God knows his children and is willing to prepare our minds to best bless those we reach out to. We message these amigos throughout the week and really enjoy sharing what we believe in a natural way and also learning more about other religions. It's a win-win situation in my eyes! :D
I wanted to conclude by talking about James Curran, a rapper previously known as James the Mormon. He gave us a fantastic fireside last night in which he told us about very personal trials that he faced in his childhood and mistakes he made in his early adulthood. He was completely open and vulnerable, which truly fascinated me. He encouraged us to let trials build us up and not tear us down. He pleaded us to remember that the Atonement can make up for any hard situation we may find ourselves in or any poor choice we have made. We don't need to stay stuck. We can move forward and upward, as we depend on Jesus Christ.
Love you all more than words can say,
Ældste Moore
P.S. I didn't take any pictures this week, sorry Mom!