Mission Conference fun!

Godmorgen alle sammen!!

I hope everyone is doing good!  Here is a recap of the week:  Tuesday we got to go and do some service for a members Dad who is not a member.  It was way fun and good to help and we are hoping we can get him to Church! On Wednesday we had a mission conference and it was so good to see everyone! I'm awful at taking pics (sorry mom) so of course I have only one to show!  But anyways, it’s always good to hear from President and Sister Olsen and to be apart of their awesome trainings.  He is an amazing leader and always knows what to say to help us! We woke up at 3am that morning and took the train all the way to Copenhagen, so we got like 4 hours of sleep…. We drove home in a car with Elder Redd and Elder Laurence, which is always so fun and they are both way cool dudes! On Thursday we had Italian food for Thanksgiving dinner and our friends Shelly and Niels took us out to eat.  It meant a lot because it was my first major holiday away from home.  Niels, on the way home, said he is getting work off so he can come to Church and he is anxious to see how it goes and so are we!!  

A couple funny things that happened this week:

1.  We saw a member on the street and he told us that he talked to one of his friends, who isn't a member, and the guy asked if one of our Missionaries was handicapped? I thought "Oh crap what did I do this time?" But he was talking about my companion because he walks around without a jacket on and it's cold…Hahahaha!!

2.  A couple of people here in the mission have been playing a way fun game…. It's called "Who can find the sun first?" We have been playing for 3 weeks... no one has won... hahahahaha

But on a more serious note!! I've been reading a lot in the new testament. One of my favorite stories is of the women who said that if she could just touch Jesus she would be healed and because of her faith she was. (Mark 5:28-34) As Christmas comes it is a perfect time to strengthen our faith and relationship with Christ.  All we need to do is have faith and believe!  Christ is the reason I am on a mission and he knows me, and I want to serve the people here for him.   I can’t think of a better thing to be doing in my life right now.   Thanks for all your prayers.  Until next week.  

Pictures:

1) My first ever mission conference

2) Frosty fields

3) a Danish Santa eating a pretzel

4) Randers Reindeer

5) ...still waiting for the sun

Get the freak outta my Face (Få frikken ud af mit ansigt)

Hey what's up everyone!! This week was a little bit slow on the teaching side, but it was still way good in so many ways!  We had interviews with President Olsen and it was so nice to see him!  He’s such a great man and he always knows just what to say.  He is a spiritual giant!  We had a couple people this week yell some stuff at us when we were contacting like "religion is s*** man" and some other great stuff I won’t write here, but I’ve learned you just gotta roll with the punches. This week I gave my first talk on the mission and I was a little nervous!  It was on the Book of Mormon and it went really good, but I didn’t say a word of anything I wrote down!!  It just tells you the spirit guides us when we need him.  I had a few members come up to me after and tell me it was exactly what they needed to hear this week.  That always makes you feel good.  We have fun and work hard on the mission and I may, on occasion, make an animal sound at people when we need a laugh or things get too intense...  Everyone’s reaction is priceless!  

If there is one thing that I have come to know, it is that Jesus Christ knows us personally and loves us.  He wants to see us happy and he wants us to come to him!  It is crazy if you read the scriptures how many times, he invites people to come to him.  Whatever it is that you need to do to come to him, do it!!  We have a mission conference this week and I'm so excited to see all my mission buddies and hear the messages!  We go to Copenhagen too, which will be fun!  

Have a good Thanksgiving and celebrate hard for me cuz they don’t do that here in Denmark and I’m gonna miss that turkey!!  I love you all and I miss you all!!  Come unto Christ!!

Med kærlig hilsen

Ældste Fisher

Pictures:

1) me and my favorite book

2) cool ship parked in one of the bays here in Randers

3) Elder Millett and myself with some cool sisters in our district

4) a member showing us how to bake

5) a Mormons Bog selfie

District Fiesta

Yo, what's up everyone!!  I hope you are doing good and I hope everything is good back home.  This week was a crazy, crazy week!

On Tuesday we were out working, and we got a text from a less active member and her husband we are teaching.  She said that she had just had a second major heart attack and that she is in the hospital again, so that was way hard to hear that it happened again.  So, we kept a good attitude and said a prayer for her.  She lives about 45 min away and so we were not able to go see her this week, but hopefully we can give her another blessing next week if we see her.  We were then going to eat with a member, who is awesome, and has fed the missionaries in Randers for a while.  We got there and he said that we actually did not have a dinner appointment and that he is not going to come to church any longer.  That was a punch in the gut too, Bam!!  But it's all good because we had another eating appointment on Friday and guess who came?? This member wanting to leave the church!!  We walked him home in the rain and I stopped him, and I said "Erick, how did you get a testimony and he thought about it a lot.  We talked about some really cool things for a while and it really helped him and it helped me too.  One thing you learn quickly on your mission is that you never know what will happen next and to expect just about anything.  

This week we had a district party and we got to go bowling and eat some burgers! We celebrated getting our baptism mission goal this year!  I love the Mission and even though it can be brutal at times, I know that God is always pushing me through.  I've had a lot of times where I've thought "Why am I out here?" And something will always happen that will remind me why. I love my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and I know this Church is true!! I’ve got a challenge for everyone this week…. I want you all to read just a chapter in your Book of Mormon and try and pray every day and see how much happier you feel by the end of the week….  I know it will help!! I love you all and I'd love to hear from you so shoot me a quick email!! 

Love, 

Ældste Fisher

Pictures:

1) Me and my B of M in the forest

2) What my name tag looks like most of the time

3) My district bowling

Week #&$%

Hello and another week down in Randers.  This week was a good one, but I don't have very much time to write.

One cool thing that happened this week is that were able to meet with Niels and Shelly, who we decided to contact on our less active list a month ago.  Shelly was a member as a little girl but she really doesn't remember anything about the church.  She married Niels (who is not a member) and moved to Denmark.  For the past few weeks, they have driven about 30 minutes to meet with us every Thursday.  Unfortunately, Shelly had a heart attack this last week so she asked us for a blessing.  I was able to give her a blessing in Danish and it was awesome and the spirit was so strong.  They are planning on coming to church on Sunday so that will be something to look forward to this week.

Zone Conference was on Friday.  It was awesome to get together with all the missionaries in our zone and learn from each other and from President Olsen.   One thing I have learned on my mission is that God speaks to us through prayer and if we listen he will help us with the things we need to know.   Take time to Pray!

It's starting to look like a lot like Christmas around here in Randers! It should because it's dark (like really dark) by 4-5pm and cold.  I am excited for my first Christmas in Denmark and from what I can tell they celebrate it like champs!

Have a great week and I'm praying for everyone back home.

Elder Fisher

Rainy Randers

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Hej- from Rainy Randers. This week was a good one and we worked really hard and had a lot of fun (in the rain)!  We got to do some service for members so that was good (in the rain).  So, in case I haven't mentioned before, the Danish rain is insane! Ha ha ha!  Saturday we were out knocking doors and we weren't having much success (or none) and we literally got soaked.  I could squeeze my gloves and get a ton of water out of them.  I was thinking "What the heck am I doing out here, day after day in the RAIN?"  Then on Sunday we had an eating appointment with a couple of members and they told us that they had been struggling a little bit lately, but then they told us that they know we are ordained of God and whenever we were there they can feel the Spirit and they always feel better after we meet.  They also said that we are doing missionary work for the members too and to not forget that. We get so much rejection that this was very cool and motivating for me to have God answer my prayers through a member!!  Then I thought, "I know what the heck I'm doing out here!!"  As missionaries we are Perfecting the Saints too!

A funny thing that happened this week... We had visitors from Utah come to church and so we were translating English to Danish in Sacrament for the regular Danish members.  So this Utah lady was telling a story about how her son got something stolen in Columbia and she hunted the dude down and got it back, then a member turned around and said in English " she's a b****, she's a b****!!"  Really loud.  And in a really funny way.  Ha ha ha ha!!  They don't understand English swear words very well.  I believe he was trying to say that she was a bad "A" but called her the horrible "B" word.  My companion and I were laughing so hard!

I love the mission and I love getting closer to my Heavenly Father every day!!  My Danish has been improving a lot more.  I had a cool little experience happen to me this week.  We knocked on a door and a lady asked me and my companion where we were from and when I told her that I was from the USA she said she thought I was Danish after I spoke to her the first time!!  Yes, the gift of tongues actually works!

Well anyways, I love you all and hope you're doing good!! Keep praying, reading and striving to come closer to God in your life!!

Med kærlig hilsen

Ældste Fisher

Pictures:

- me and Elder Millett soaking up the sun while we can
- Randers sunset looking out our kitchen window
- out on a morning run

Videos:

- trying to teach my companion the art of the cackle
- proof of the rainy gloves

No typing, just pictures

Ældste Fisher didn't write a weekly email this week but here are some pictures (and a video) from his week in Denmark.

No more training for me!

It's official. I'm not being trained as a new missionary anymore. Now I'm just a normal, non training missionary and I couldn't be happier. Ha, ha! President Olsen called on Saturday morning and let us know that I would be staying in Randers and getting a new companion, Ældster Millett. He had been serving in Fredericia for the past couple months and now he's with me. He's a stud! He grew up in Orem and went to Timpanogas High. He's just a chill, fun, cool dude so I'm super stoked about being companions with him. Elder Grossnickle was sent down to an area south of Copenhagen. I think I really will miss him. He taught me a lot in these past few months.

It's been a crazy day today. We got up super early to get Grossnickle to the train station. We went to Aarhus where I got off the train and he stayed on to head down south. I hung around there all day with a few of the Elders and then went back to the train station to pick up Elder Millett and head to Randers. After getting a quick bite to eat, we headed back to the apartment to get Millett kinda settled and then we went over to the church to do some quick emails and call home for a bit.

We had some good meals in some awesome members homes this week which is always fun. Also, I had a feeling to call one of the less active members in our branch. She's actually from Utah and is living in Denmark with her Danish husband and she said that it was nice that we called because her husband has been asking questions about the church so we are going to meet with them on Thursday. I'm excited for that!

I'm excited for another week and to see what it brings. I hope you're all doing good. When it gets dark and cold at home, think of me. I know how you feel. Times a hundred. Ha, ha. But I'm doing way good. I'm happy and loving every minute here in the homeland!

Ældste Fisher

Pictures:

- bike helmet selfie. Safety first.

- my chef skills are improving

- my official Danish Visa card

- on splits with Elder Jensen

- out tracking 

- sunset at the train station this morning