Uge 62: new investigators, engagements, dead bees and lots of rain.

Well, life is nuts!! I literally had to make a list so that I could make sure I could tell you everything that happened this week….it’s another crazy one in Esbjerg!

First off. We had an appointment with a less active on Tuesday and it went soooo stinking well!! She actually opened up to us for the first time EVER!! We had decided to share some things about the plan of salvation. And so we were reading from Moses and continued to talk about lots and lots and lots of things. And honestly, I can’t even remember a lot of it. Anyways, I was able to connect with her on some stuff and we just continued talking and it allowed her to trust me and see that I understand her in ways that she didn’t really think were possible. And so we kept just asking her questions about lots of different things and she kept saying ‘well the problem is……’ ‘ well the problem is…..’ and so on and so on. So as she was saying those things I kind of just stopped listening and said ok Heavenly Father, she needs something, and I have no idea what it is, and we’re not getting to the bottom of it, so please, I know she needs some kind of a commitment, but I don’t know what it is, so. I’m going to open my mouth and you had better put something in it. So, I said Sofie ‘will you do something for me?’  ‘maybe, depending on how stupid it is.’ – for real, you can’t make this stuff up! – ‘It’s not stupid.’ – I still have no idea what it is I am going to say. She says ‘we’ll see.’ ‘will you go through and make a list of all the attributes that Christ has? Everything that He is that allowed Him to be the Son of God and to do what is He did? And then go through that list and figure out how He did it?’ And she just started crying!! And she said how did you know to say that to me? How did you know to give me that challenge? I have been praying for that for the last 4 years? How did you know? Did you plan to say that to me?’ I just looked her straight on and said, ‘It’s because I am a servant of God who had hands laid on my head. I asked God to tell me what it was you needed and He told me.’ And she just started crying! She actually let us in through her wall a little bit! It was the first time ever! It was so great! I’m still not totally sure where we’re going to go with her, or how this is all going to turn out, but something happened!! And that was wonderful!

And! Ana Marie and Min – they’re doing sooo good! It looks like Min got a job!! So that is just wonderful!! I’m so excited for that! At least as far as I could understand him on the phone yesterday :) we have an appt with them this week, so I’ll know for sure what’s going on then. But if I understood right, he is supposed to start on wednesday!!

And funny story for you….so thursday, it was just POURING rain? well, we got to be outside biking all day long….first funny moment, we show up to a members home – Gitte – to do preach my gospel stuff with her, and we are soaking wet. And 20 minutes late. The 25 minutes we thought it would take to get there ended up being 45….so we show up, she opens the door, looks at us and says, oh no. oh no. you come on in, I’m getting you new clothes. HA! So she goes up stairs and finds us some skirts and things, we change, and she takes our clothes to the dryer. And it stops raining. We have our appointment, we finish and are helping her with some primary stuff, and in walks her husband!! So that was great! It’s the first time I’ve ever seen him. And he hasn’t exactly been positive about the church in quite a few years. So it was great that we even saw him! So, we change back into our clothes, walk outside, get back on our bikes and 5 minutes later, it’s pouring rain again. And mind you, this isn’t the light little stuff. This is the raining side ways, huge drops, trees going sideways kind of rain storm. It was rather hilarious!! The whole stinking day was like that. We saw the elders later for coordination meeting and they just looked at us and the first thing they said was wow. you look…..wet. HA!! It was rather funny!

Kristina: she’s doing well :) we had an appt with her on tuesday and we started family history with her! and she was just so excited!! and calling family and calling this and that and the other. And she got sooooo many names entered into family search!! It was sooo great! It’s something she’s been wanting to start for a little while and she just loved it!!!!! It was fabulous!!! She is excited to be a part of an eternal family :D she went up to sweeden to visit her boyfriend stuart on thursday and she gets back today, so we haven’t heard anything from her, but I have no doubt that she’s doing well. Their plans were to go to a church party on Friday and saturday and to church on sunday and then spend some time on tempel grounds while up there…..so it’s going well :)

Susanne Danner: oh heavens. This will be such an adventure to tell!! So, she is our ward mission leaders ex wife. They have 3 kids together. Anyhow, we started PMG with her a few weeks ago and have been trying to get her kids involved as well. She has not been super active lately and she has started coming back to church and wanting to do all these wonderful things. And! She just found out 2 sundays ago now that she will be able to go back through the temple and get her temple covenants back!!! SOOO GREAT!!! Any how, we show up for our appt and there is this man there. And they’re looking all lovey dovey, like teenagers and such. So of course we ask who he is and what’s going on and blah blah blah – totally put on girl talk hat on in that moment! And he was just like how about I go and buy some aftershave and you have girl talk? Ha. So he leaves and we go in the stuen and we start talking and she tells us how they had met on some online dating website thing – actually he had sent her a request or message or something, she saw he was living in Germany and so she deleted it, he then found her on facebook and they started talking. This was last saturday. So. Last week he then comes up and visits her. Well, we were there on thursday and it was the 2nd time he had been up from Flensborg. So we’re sitting in the stuen talking and she starts telling us that they’ve talked about getting married, and they’re going to. Just don’t know when yet, just sometime in the next 3 months because that’s when his housing contract is up. So, she finishes saying that and then the door bell rings. It’s him – she just kinda yells just come on in! Just come in! He doesn’t, so she gets up and goes to the door. And mind you, we can’t see the door from where we’re at, we can just hear them, and it they’re just being super cute, but kinda whispering and such. So a few minutes later she walks back into the stuen with a dozen roses and says they’re engaged!!!!!!!! not even kidding!!!!!!!!! So after we freaked out and had some wonderful girly moments, he comes in and we say tillykke and everything and then says well I believe these girls had something they wanted to share with you, so lets let them do it. HA! So we go on with our plan which was to share faith from the Christlike Attributes chapter and he’s just listening and participating a little and encouraging Susanne to focus and. Oh man. It is the funniest thing in the world to have a lesson with a couple that has just been engaged!! Well, he is not necessarily believing, but not not believing either. He knows there is more between heaven and earth, just hasn’t quite put a finger on what that something is. So fast forward to sunday. Susanne is sitting next to Søster Peterson in sacrament and says I got up this morning and went in the living room (where Florien has been sleeping) and he was up and had found my Book of Mormon and had been reading it for the last 1 1/2 hours and looked at me and said this has to be true. Søster Peterson couldn’t remember if she said he said it was because Susanne believed it, or if it was because he had received at witness of it, but either way, we have an appointment with them on Friday! So that’s exciting!! And now for a couple hours later….we find out that they had met with bishop and they are getting married on SATURDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FOR REAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THAT’S SO FAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So I guess we’re going to a wedding on saturday….ha. Oh how I love being a missionary :D

Helle: this the family that the bishops family invited to church. Well, it’s the mom anyways. She came!! And she loved it! And the ward just totally embraced her and it was soooo great!! She looked to be super happy and really loved all the love that she could feel there. It was wonderful :) So after church we got an appointment set up with her and Marie-Helene, bishops wife. But sadly because of the crazy schedule with Bornholm and Zone Konference and just everything going on it wasn’t until next week :( But she did get a Book of Mormon, which she was very grateful for and she told Annette (bishops sister) that it was definitely not coincidence that she was in church yesterday. That is was meant to be and she wants to learn more about this! So she is going to talk to her husband about it all and we will all meet and talk more! Well, we’re at bishops later that evening and find a time later this week (kinda late in the evening – 8pm – but hey, it’s a time this week!) and so we’ll call Helle today and make that appt.

Wow. Ok. One more story!

Biskoppens Familie: So. We’re over there last night and doing PMG with them and finish and it’s going well. He starts asking is about Susanne and we’re talking about Helle and life is just good. Well then at the end we’re going to walk out the door and he and his wife both just looked at us and said ‘thank you for all the work that you are doing in the ward. You really are making such a difference here and we are so grateful for that! So who all are you doing this with?’ So we told him and they both then said ‘You know, what you are doing is really helping the members to stay active! We have lost so many lately and we just want to keep who we have! And there are so many in this ward that could benefit from this like we have.’ So of course, being the good little missionaries we are, we asked them who it was they were thinking of, and they gave us a list of 3 different families that bishop really wants us to start doing this with!! It was just so exciting! One of the families the parents are active, the kids are not. Another one the whole family is pretty active, but the wife has been in stake callings for years and is no longer in stake callings and is just having a really hard time. And the other is Susannes brother who is married to a nonmember. So. We got lots of work to do!

I remember being in the MTC and at the end they said now make sure you are not hindrance to your bishops, but rather that you are a help. And I really feel like I’m a help here! And I’m soooo grateful for that!! It’s just sooo wonderful!! I’m sooo glad that I get to be here and help strengthen these wonderful people that sometimes really drive me nuts, but that I just love with my whole heart!

Oh yeah. And funny moment in church yesterday. We’re sitting there listening to the Stake Patrairch talk about the Holy Ghost and how important it is and in comes this huuuuuuuge bumble bee!! And it’s just flying all around….and then lands in a lamp. And it puffs a couple times from the dust…and then in starts sizzling a little….and then a lot….and then a few of us started laughing a bit :) and then bishop gets up and turns the lights down…HA! It was just SO funny!!!!! Good little moments in church :) they’re so fun!

Have a great week! Hopefully you enjoyed my novel :)

MKH,

Søster Rigby

Week 62 – Pictures