Transfers, Problem Solving, and Beginning of a Transfer

 Hello everyone,

This week we had transfers and had the opportunity to work really hard. We are slowly getting more and more time for finding as we work on our time management scheduling activities and lessons better. Good skills to learn I think!

This week we have been blessed with such good opportunities to get to know the members. We have eaten with members everyday  and it has been such a good experience to practice my Danish and teach with whatever knowledge I have. In the process me and my companion have learned a lot from each other but mainly I feel we learn to put our differences aside. Like I said before, I really love my companion. The dinner experience we had with one of our friends (investigators) was awesome and they got along pretty well with the members house that we were at!!! It's great when things all work together. 

Well here are some of the highlights of this week!

Teaching Mikk this week was wonderful. He is a great guy and we are trying to find him a job. He is a very positive thinker and such a smart man. He is very good at creating things and this week we just reviewed the restoration with him and had fun. 

We had pasta with an Italian named Mattia, the man that went with us to the temple a bit ago. He is an italian and makes the best bolognese pasta ever. I literally almost cried eating it and thanked him a billion times. He doesn't live in Aarhus but is close enough that he can take a bus to get here and then just stays with a friend. He was here for the baptism of two twins in the ward. They are the cutest ever and just amazing. Their Danish is hard as they often speak faster than I do in English making it just sound like gibberish. 

We got to go to a member's house again and fix their tree branch among other things. They are such amazing people and everytime we help them I realize how much of an opportunity it is to serve in this place. We also were able to do some other service in someone's backyard and cleaned up their garden. Although it might be challenging there is nothing more rewarding than helping others. It really brings me joy.

On Wednesday, 11 missionaries went home and transfers were announced. Due to the lack of missionary replacements some areas do not have missionaries in them currently. We were lucky to stay in our mission area but sadly the sister missionaries left our area giving us a bit more work to do. I do feel that it will be a great opportunity to grow our own abilities and skills. I have seen the joy that we can bring so I hope to be able to spread that as far and as wide as I can. 

This week I gave a talk in church! The topic was "How can we use the Atonement of Christ in our everyday life?" I shared a couple of stories all in Danish and some scripture but the most important thing I did was keep a Taknemligsjournal or a Gratitude Journal. This was perfect because as we change with Christ we get the opportunity to change through him and be more grateful for the amazing world around us. I have seen the joy and the perspective that we get when we actively think about the countless blessings we have. 

Something funny that happened is I got in a fight! I was playing a game of "Monkey in the Middle" when the ball went over a bush, so with my good decision making skills I decided to jump over that bush. Little did I know the concrete curb on the other side was taller than I had suspected. This caused me to fall forward and the ground punched me in the face, chipping my front tooth! It got the better of me this time but next time I'll make sure to win against the ground. I do have to go see a dentist tomorrow and scrape up my chin. Live and learn.

I am happy to say that I came on a mission for the purpose of progressing the work and I can say that there is no better way to do it than working on it yourself, even as a missionary! When I try to strengthen my connection to Christ and my Eternal Father I bring more joy into my life which brings more joy into the lives of those around you. The mission will be a time to plan to progress my faith throughout my entire life. 

Thank you everyone for the prayers and support. Vi ses næste uge!

Love,

Elder Lines

Her er noget billeder af min uge. (pictures of my week)