HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME
HELLO!!
I only have a few minutes to write because we are going to TIVOLI for my birthday!! It's the biggest and best amusement park in all of Denmark and I am SO EXCITED!! Because of that, this email is going to be disappointingly short. But this week was amazing. It also snowed for the first time yesterday.
We met with a former investigator (whom I had never met). She's a normal Danish 25 yr old but with a slight twist, being that she wants to learn about religion! We taught her the restoration and she asked bomb questions. She understood and accepted everything! When we talked about Joseph Smith's vision, she said she felt goosebumps and knew what we were saying was true. It was an absolutely fabulous lesson. The Spirit was so strong. Later that day, we had an eating appointment with the couple we live with and spontaneously invited her along, and to our wonderful surprise she came!! It was SO hyggeligt and she had a good time. One of the funnest eating appointments I've ever had.
You know, sometimes you plan your whole day out and it goes according to plan. Wednesday was not one of those days. I received a letter saying that I needed to go to the police station to get my biometrics done, so that put a little loop in our plans. But the biggest turn of events was later. We had a great lesson with our new convert about priesthood (which he got yesterday!). Right after the lesson Soster Day and I had to look up something on the computer really quick, so we stayed in the foyer of the library. All of the sudden, people started appearing with long tables and chairs. While Soster Day worked on the computer, I went and helped them set up. It was for a fælles spisning (a community dinner)! The Hillerød community does it twice a month and invites anyone and everyone. Soster Day and I decided to stay and try to meet people there. We sat down to dinner next to a mom and son from Romania. We ate food and sang songs together (about 150 people), a few songs of which I actually knew! It was way fun to participate in that! I had a grand ol' time, and the Romanians said we were more than welcome to come to their house sometime. We began to help clean up when we ran into our investigator and his friend, who proceeded to tell us his entire life story. Apparently, he has been ''church surfing'' and asked us to tell him a bit about our church. We looked at the time and realized we had already missed our ward council meeting, so we sat down with him and talked about the restoration. We went pretty deep, and at the end he said he wanted to try to read the Book of Mormon again and come to church! We ended being at the library for WAY longer than planned, but just as long as needed.
On Saturday our ward had a ''juletræfest'' or Christmas tree party! We had no investigators planned to come, but after texting every single person in our phone 2 people came! A man named H (not actually interested in the church, just kind of there for the free food) and J actually came. J is awesome, but more on that in a second. This Christmas party was great. We ate good Christmas food, good Christmas dessert, and enjoyed Danish Christmas traditions. I love Danish Christmas! We all sang Christmas songs together and danced around the Christmas tree with Santa Claus (julemand in Danish). It was so hyggeligt. We all held hands with little children and walked around the Christmas tree. I think I'm bringing that tradition home with me because it was SO FUN. Afterward I talked to J for a bit. He was born in the Dominican Republic, grew up in Paris but went to high school in Chicago and is now living in Denmark and has been for the past 8 years. He told me that coming to this Christmas party was exactly what he needed. He could feel a lot of ''positive energy.'' He really liked it and showed up to church the next day! He feels that this is what he is looking for.
The great and powerful lesson I learned this week is that the Lord is preparing people. In Alma 8, Alma tries to preach in the wicked city of Ammonihah. He is rejected over and over and gets pretty discouraged. An angel appears to him and said in short ''Alma! Don't give up! You're doing alright and the Lord is proud of you. You just gotta keep going.'' So keep going is what Alma did. He went into the city a different way and ran into Amulek. Amulek says to him, ''I am a Nephite, and I know that thou art a holy prophet of God, for thou art the man whom an angel said in a vision: Thou shalt receive. Therefore, go with me into my house and I will impart unto thee of my food; and I know that thou wilt be a blessing unto me and my house.'' Through this verse we can see that Amulek was extremely prepared of the Lord. He was ready to receive a servant of God and ready to accept the message. This entire chapter gives me hope, because I can see that if God can prepare a person as wonderful as Amulek in a city as terrible as Ammonihah, He can do wonders here. I have met some people this week that have definitely been prepared by the Lord. It's been amazing to see their spiritual journey and the thirst in their eyes for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Lord is mindful of all of His people, even in the little corner of Denmark. I loved this week because I saw that Hand of God in the hearts of His people.
Jeg elsker jer alle sammen og takker jer for de dejlige fødselsdag ønsker! De betyder rigtig meget til mig, og tusind tak. Jeg håber at I få en rigtig god uge! Hej Hej!
Søster Esplin
raya.esplin@myldsmail.net
I only have a few minutes to write because we are going to TIVOLI for my birthday!! It's the biggest and best amusement park in all of Denmark and I am SO EXCITED!! Because of that, this email is going to be disappointingly short. But this week was amazing. It also snowed for the first time yesterday.
We met with a former investigator (whom I had never met). She's a normal Danish 25 yr old but with a slight twist, being that she wants to learn about religion! We taught her the restoration and she asked bomb questions. She understood and accepted everything! When we talked about Joseph Smith's vision, she said she felt goosebumps and knew what we were saying was true. It was an absolutely fabulous lesson. The Spirit was so strong. Later that day, we had an eating appointment with the couple we live with and spontaneously invited her along, and to our wonderful surprise she came!! It was SO hyggeligt and she had a good time. One of the funnest eating appointments I've ever had.
You know, sometimes you plan your whole day out and it goes according to plan. Wednesday was not one of those days. I received a letter saying that I needed to go to the police station to get my biometrics done, so that put a little loop in our plans. But the biggest turn of events was later. We had a great lesson with our new convert about priesthood (which he got yesterday!). Right after the lesson Soster Day and I had to look up something on the computer really quick, so we stayed in the foyer of the library. All of the sudden, people started appearing with long tables and chairs. While Soster Day worked on the computer, I went and helped them set up. It was for a fælles spisning (a community dinner)! The Hillerød community does it twice a month and invites anyone and everyone. Soster Day and I decided to stay and try to meet people there. We sat down to dinner next to a mom and son from Romania. We ate food and sang songs together (about 150 people), a few songs of which I actually knew! It was way fun to participate in that! I had a grand ol' time, and the Romanians said we were more than welcome to come to their house sometime. We began to help clean up when we ran into our investigator and his friend, who proceeded to tell us his entire life story. Apparently, he has been ''church surfing'' and asked us to tell him a bit about our church. We looked at the time and realized we had already missed our ward council meeting, so we sat down with him and talked about the restoration. We went pretty deep, and at the end he said he wanted to try to read the Book of Mormon again and come to church! We ended being at the library for WAY longer than planned, but just as long as needed.
On Saturday our ward had a ''juletræfest'' or Christmas tree party! We had no investigators planned to come, but after texting every single person in our phone 2 people came! A man named H (not actually interested in the church, just kind of there for the free food) and J actually came. J is awesome, but more on that in a second. This Christmas party was great. We ate good Christmas food, good Christmas dessert, and enjoyed Danish Christmas traditions. I love Danish Christmas! We all sang Christmas songs together and danced around the Christmas tree with Santa Claus (julemand in Danish). It was so hyggeligt. We all held hands with little children and walked around the Christmas tree. I think I'm bringing that tradition home with me because it was SO FUN. Afterward I talked to J for a bit. He was born in the Dominican Republic, grew up in Paris but went to high school in Chicago and is now living in Denmark and has been for the past 8 years. He told me that coming to this Christmas party was exactly what he needed. He could feel a lot of ''positive energy.'' He really liked it and showed up to church the next day! He feels that this is what he is looking for.
The great and powerful lesson I learned this week is that the Lord is preparing people. In Alma 8, Alma tries to preach in the wicked city of Ammonihah. He is rejected over and over and gets pretty discouraged. An angel appears to him and said in short ''Alma! Don't give up! You're doing alright and the Lord is proud of you. You just gotta keep going.'' So keep going is what Alma did. He went into the city a different way and ran into Amulek. Amulek says to him, ''I am a Nephite, and I know that thou art a holy prophet of God, for thou art the man whom an angel said in a vision: Thou shalt receive. Therefore, go with me into my house and I will impart unto thee of my food; and I know that thou wilt be a blessing unto me and my house.'' Through this verse we can see that Amulek was extremely prepared of the Lord. He was ready to receive a servant of God and ready to accept the message. This entire chapter gives me hope, because I can see that if God can prepare a person as wonderful as Amulek in a city as terrible as Ammonihah, He can do wonders here. I have met some people this week that have definitely been prepared by the Lord. It's been amazing to see their spiritual journey and the thirst in their eyes for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Lord is mindful of all of His people, even in the little corner of Denmark. I loved this week because I saw that Hand of God in the hearts of His people.
Jeg elsker jer alle sammen og takker jer for de dejlige fødselsdag ønsker! De betyder rigtig meget til mig, og tusind tak. Jeg håber at I få en rigtig god uge! Hej Hej!
Søster Esplin
raya.esplin@myldsmail.net
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