Aalborg!

Hello Everyone,

I am officially in Aalborg! I have moved areas and this week has been an adventure in getting here! Traveling took in total two days with some fun events along the way. Here are some of the highlights of my week.

We got to eat with the two families in my last area that are the best. They gave us some really good food and I gotta try some fun non-alcoholic beverages and play some scripture flashcard games in Danish! It was great and I will come to miss the people down there. I hope to see them again someday. It's hard saying see ya later!

This week has also been a good time for our friend! We have had quite a few lessons with newer people and were able to talk a lot about the principle of faith. We had some people that just wanted to share their beliefs and some people that actually wanted to learn about the Church. We also finally had a lesson with Lena, the sister who was at one point on date for baptism. We met and talked and she will still be getting baptized at a future point. We will keep meeting and planning a time where we can help her out! I am so thankful for the opportunity to teach people like her. She is really an amazing person.

As a part of transfers the event that happened along the way was a stake conference in Aarhus, my first area and the zone I'm back in! We got to see all the missionaries that live on Jylland and Fyn. There was a big lunch provided by the amazing senior couples and we were blessed to see all the people from Aarhus! It was so fun seeing all my friends from Aarhus. That was really meaningful to me. That was my first area and I really will always love those people.  I sure do love Jylland so far and am grateful for the opportunity to be a part of this mission. My new companion is Elder Jespen from Pocatello, Idaho. He's really nice, fun and ready to work. 

Something this week that was spiritually special was being able to hear the spiritual thought of our branch president. He does such a good job at inviting the spirit and I love hearing him speak. He just thanked us for our work and said that when we work hard the Lord recognizes it and gives line upon line. We have seen a lot more success since the opening of the area and we have loved every minute of it!!  Now my old area will have 4 elders. We started with two, then 3 and now 4!!! Great work is ahead for them. 

Well everyone, I am again thankful for all of your prayers! I hope that everyone's week goes well and that you can find comfort in your thoughts this week! 

Vi ses! 

Love,

Elder Lines

Transfers og en god uge!

Hello Everyone! 

This week has been filled with really good experiences and a lot of hard work. We are definetely see the fruit of our labors and just loving the people in this land even more!

This week I learned where I will be in the next transfer and I will be moving to Aalborg up on Jylland on th bigger part of Denmark. I am very excited to serve there and get to meet more people!

We had splits with the Zls in our area just a day after our P day that was on Tuesday! We played some table tennis and a good time with the branch and some friends! I was with my companion from the MTC, Elder Kim, so we had a blast getting to talk and have some fun! I am realizing I will miss the people in this area and hope that I can continue strong in the next area. I really love the people here and will really miss them. 

We had some good lessons this week both in Danish and in English! We were able to teach and help them sees Gods love and the church that he has organized in the world! A good lesson we had went all over the place but it all came down our friend wantinng to learn more. In the end, after all the questions, we found somethnig that really resonanted with him. He felt God's love and so did I. That is what is important.

For P day today we went to Gedser and got to be in the most southern part of Denmark! Soon up in Aalborg I will be in the most North place in Denmark! That I am excited for! 

We thank you all for all of your prayers and we are excited to continue on here in Denmark! 

Love,

Elder Lines

Elder Christofferson and the Temple!

 Hello Everyone, 

This week we have had a great time and been able to do quite a lot both in our area and in other areas! We had splits on Thursday and were not in our area much on Tuesday or Wednesday. We had a fun time getting to be in other places but missed home a bit by the end. We love our little town. Here are some of the fun experiences from the week:

We went on splits up in Slagelse which is the area above ours. That was really fun and we played Ticket to Ride North Lights...a fun variation! Most importantly, It was an amazing time with missionary work as we got to see some miracles as we were out searching. Some people were perfectly placed for us to talk to. I am still amazed at how even in finding we still find miracles...even though we do it a lot!

After splits, we came back to our area to enjoy our time finding and having lessons. We had some good times and have planned some good lessons for next week. On Sunday ,however, we had to drive to Copenahgen in order to see Elder Christofferson the next day! That meant a lot of driving and listening to some bomb talks. We got to sleep with the APs and it was fun cause there were 7 elders in one apartment. Always have a good time with that many elders.

The next day was the most important because we got to go to the meeting with Elder Christofferson. We shook his hand and lined up for a big group picture! Afterwards, we were able  to hear him share his thoughts with us and he  blessed us with two things. He said that we are perfectly placed and that if we follow the leaders of the Church we will be guided to do what is right! He said that we can receive the power of the Atonement of Christ by remembering to repent daily. He said that just because we served a mission doesn't mean that it will automatically bless us with a perfect life! Enduring often means finding joy in the moment even when the times are hard. A great message for the missionaries that work in this mission. There was a very powerful spirit and I felt so blessed to be taught by him. I will never forget this experience. 

After, we had the opportunity to go inside the temple and sit in the different rooms and just think.They literally opened the temple just for us. We didn't do any temple work, but were able to wander around all the rooms, sit and do some really deep pondering.  I realized that the temple is the best place in the entire world and that we can really come closer to God than any other place. I love the time that we had with Elder C and I am thankful for the peaceful meditation that we had in the temple. There really is nothing more calming than being in the house of the Lord. It was the perfect way to end our day. Plus, the temple is soooo beautiful.

Well everyone, it has been an amazing week! I am very thankful for all the opportunities and for all the lessons. I am thankful for your prayers and I hope that you have a good week! 

Love to all of you,

Elder Lines

Here are some cool pictures of our Mission Conference and some good pictures of the Nykobing environment! 

Spirit Filled Lessons!

Hello Everybody! 

This week has been amazing! We have had some good lessons and a lot of preparation for this coming week! Here are some of the good things that happened.

This week we got to have splits with the ZLs and got to learn a lot from them and their plan for our zone. We hope to be able to achieve their goals and learn a lot from it. We had some meaningful lessons and got to accept that sometimes the lessons don't go as planned. The spirit will guide a lesson to teach what is necessary to be taught. I'm getting better at learning from these experiences.

We had a really cool time planning for this upcoming week! We have been doing a lot of planning because Elder Christofferson will be coming to our mission! We are very excited and we are reading the new copy of Preach my Gospel in preparation. Our mission has only 70 missionaries so we are excited to gather in this small group and learn from an apostle. 

We had a lesson with our friend Jason. He is one person who shares a lot of questions about the world and I can't say I don't understand why. The gospel provides answers but it takes some time to find them! It's fun to see his progress and learn from his curiosity. We are praying for him and will continue to meet with him. I really admire him and love him.

We visited a place today that is called Mons Klint! It is a super pretty white cliffed and black sand ocean. It is gorgeous and our district had a lot of fun. It really took my breath away with how stunning it was to see the water and shoreline. So beautiful. 

Sorry for the shorter email but since our P day was only a couple days ago not a lot has happened! 

Thank you everyone for your prayers and we will see you next week.

Love,

Elder Lines  

En længe uge og en interessant udveksling!

Hello Everyone,

This week has been amazing and I have been able to see God's blessings in my life! I am thankful for the opportunity to teach these people and learn this language. Time really is flying by but I know that I am changing so much! We had a Pday switched last minute from Monday to Wednesday just for this week. So, here I am writing on Wednesday.

This week we have had a lot of fun but also a lot of work. We have had a lesson almost everyday and are constantly planning times to meet with our friends. We know that the work moves on and we love to see the willingness of these people sometimes. We have had some very spirit filled lessons with some of our friends that speak Danish and some that speak English. We have quite a few lessons in both of the languages! We recently have been contacting and connecting with many of the Muslim faith. I am really touched by these individuals and look forward to meeting with them more.

One lesson in particular happened today! We got to teach him about the Book of Mormon and he read the ENTIRE FIRST BOOK of Nephi. It was crazy to see his dedication. We saw that he loves prayer and loves to learn about God. We are excited to teach again and talk more about God's plan and how we have and can feel the spirit!

This week I was able to play a bit of Catan. There were a lot of people that wanted to play and we got to enjoy the time. I will say that it definitely helps to pass the time and is a fun way of just relaxing as missionaries. And, I'm pretty good at it still. I love a good board game. I don't mind winning from time to time too!!

This week we also got to go up to Slageslse so that some of the missionaries in our district could take a culture class. It is necessary for missionaries to take it so they can stay in Denmark! Since I have already completed my culture classes, I got to just work in Slagelse with other missionaries. It was fun to see a different place and enjoy missionaries. We have really awesome missionaries in our mission and I feel very blessed.

All in all this week has been a lot of work but I am learning to continually love it and to love the opportunities we have to spread this joy! We have had quite a few good experiences and I know that God will continue to bless us. Thank you for all of your prayers! We see the miracles and the help that God gives his servants everyday. We hope to continue in Spirit and I hope everyone has a good week!

Love,

Elder Lines

Et stort fokus!

 Hello everyone,

This week has been splendid and things just go up from here! We have been outside a lot and although it is snownig a lot and raining a lot it feels nice to just be outside so much! We have been trying to meet and make some friends to teach and we have had some good success. Here are some of the highlights.  

We made a lot of friends this week! We had the ZLs come down and so with our split efforts we met with a lot of friends and taught a lot of people. We have been seeing the progress and although it feels like a completely new beginning it has been good. We have been really enjoying the work and just trying to progress as much as we can. 

We havent seen the sun in a bit! This is both good and bad! Often the coldest days are the ones when the sun shines but it also means that it has indeed rained the last while. It is amazing to experience everything and just know that this work happens no matter the conditions. Weather is but a small roadblock.

We eat A LOT of food. The three of us together have been devouring the food  and just overall eating everything! We made some over baked chicken with some homemade gravy and it was delicious. We don’t get a lot of dinner appointments so we do most of our own cooking. 

We have gotten better about setting goals and plans so we can more easily see the progression  of the work. We are still improving but it is a drastic difference! 

For a spirtual experience I will share happened about four days ago on Thursday during splits. We taught somebody who is very willing to learn and just stands out as an all around spiritual, faithful, and interested person. We taught about the scriptures and the Book of Mormon. We gve her a ccopy and will return to teach about the Gospel! It is really amazing to get such miracles! 

This week has been great and I have been reading from the Book of Mormon a lot. It reminds me in every chapter in some way that there  is so much we don't know but that God will always bring us to remembrance of his plan and help us to be better with every step we take! It really is eye opening to read and just ponder. I’m really grateful for this study time and for the added blessing it has been to me. 

Here are some pictures of us throughout the week in a couple of different places. Vordingborg, Præsto, og Nykobing Falster! 

Thank you all for your prayers on my behalf, 

Elder Lines

Ny Forflyttelse og en TRIO

Hello Everyone,

Hejsa Allesammen, This has been filled with a lot so here is the overall recap and some experiences! This week as the title says (In Danish) we are into the next transfer! All the transfer moving took place on Saturday and now we are just adjusting to the new company and having a great time! I will be staying down here in Nykobing Falster and my companion drove up to Herning! Now he has been replaced by Elder Curtis and Elder Langford. They are two amazing elders and come from very different places in Denmark! 

For the first day we didn't have much going on but after we got home we ate some Shepherd's Pie (I've gotten super good at making it) and the other Elders unpacked. The next day Sunday was very good as we got to go to the island of Møn and meet with our friend Niels! He is such an amazing man and openly admitted that the feelings he had around us were different. We hope to have more progress with him! 

The days before transfers were also very good. The highlights included a service opportunity where I chopped a tree down and then just spent a bunch of time outside trying to find some new friends! It really has been busy and we are happy to see that God is really helping us! 

We got to go out to a place called "The Burger" with our branch! I got a barbecue burger and it was very good! We had a fun time with them and Elder Hacking got to say goodbye to them one last time! All in all, the week went good and the appointments we have didn't cancel which just makes it even better. Again, small miracles. 

I have learned a lot from my time with Elder Hacking. Some of those lessons are patience, Christlike love, and how to have a lot of fun! It's always a little bitter to say goodbye to a good companion. But, I'm grateful for our time toghether. I look forward to an amazing transfer! 

As a spiritual thought this week I want to mention the experience that we had with our friend Niels one more time. We talked with him and although he had been having a lot of problems everytime we explained something he saw the connection there was and felt blessed for what he had. I know that the Spirit of God is something we can feel and have with us! It is stronger than any voice if we pay attention to it! Again, miracles. 

Love to all of you and better pictures next week since my mom sent me a new phone with a not broken camera!!!!!

Love,

Elder Lines