June 29, 2015

Hey Ma and Pa!

This week for us here in Odense was great.  Were we pretty sick most of the week? Yes.  Were we inside quite a bit more than usual? Yes.  But we got a lot done anyway, got a wonderful new investigator named Elizabeth from Vietnam, set up a lot of appointments with members and investigators for this next week, and cleaned all of our records.  We are ready for this next week :)  

I got to meet our best investigator pair here in Odense this week as well.  ‘L’ and ‘P’ a.k.a. L.A.P.D. ;)  They have a cute little son, ‘M’, love the missionaries, and have been meeting with them regularly for the past 3 years.  They are going to be my main focus in this area I think.  They are so close, they just need to take it all a little bit more seriously and they'll be there. 

They look at the missionaries very much as friends, and less as missionaries, so I'm hoping to find a balance and really have an effect on this family.  They are AWESOME, and they hold commitments, and they seem to be searching, the intent is just lacking a little bit.  I'm just hoping that they'll be able to see how much missionary visits have already blessed their lives, and how much more they can have by making and keeping new covenants with God.  Pray for them :)  

We also, despite being plagued, had a really fun 'Sankt Hans aften', a holiday in Denmark where they celebrate (well I've heard a few different things) John the Baptist's birthday, or the longest day of the year, or just getting together in the name of burning a witch in a really big bonfire :)  We were at a member family's home that evening, and we had a blast with them.  The ‘J's. Their son is ‘N’, the one dating ‘R’ :)  they are great people, it was a fun evening.  I've got pictures :)

 Well, to end off the week, literally the last contact of the week, we were walking down the street headed home on Sunday evening when I found myself just pleading for someone to show up on the dead streets, when a woman hopped on out of a grocery store and started to cross the street.  I quickly called her back and we started having a good chat.  She said her name was ‘H’ and she had been searching, with the Jehovah’s Witnesses, but still searching, so talked for about 10 minutes and explained the Book of Mormon and a bit more about our faith in a quick little rap up and tried to get her info. She said no, but was very excited to read, and was sure to get a hold of us after her own personal investigation.

I know that's at the moment where missionaries would normally go 'well shoot, see you never', but I have never felt so confident in a person getting in contact with the missionaries again.  Mark my words, whether now or later she sill get ahold of the missionaries again!  But that was the week. 

Today we had some fun service and then went shopping. We've had some pretty weird P days... I got a suit, it looks stellar, (hope it's in the budget ma and pa, It really was a necessity purchase) We even had the sisters along for a second opinion, so I feel pretty confident about this one :)  Anywho... It was a great week, this next one is going to be even better though. 

Elder Pitcher and his District

I'm glad to hear that things are going so well back home.  It's awesome to hear about missionary experiences, and am way proud of the both of you :)  It's important to share it with EVERYONE, and it's something I want to make a better focus on when I get home.  Of course. ;)  

I've noticed in the last little bit here, that it's time for me to up my game up with this new area.  Elder Brindley and I have been talking about it a lot this last week, mostly because we've been sick and haven't been able to work quite as much as we normally do, but this last district meeting kind of focused a bit on habits, and it got a lot of ideas rolling in our companionship about how we can focus on healthy habits that turn us into well-oiled machines that unconsciously do what we want them to do, not just what they are used to doing.  It's going great, and we both are really pushing this idea.  I'm applying a lot the scripture Alma 41: 15, one that talks about consequences.. One of my favorites :)  Anyway, that's my life. 

I love you both!

Ældste Pitcher

June 22, 2015

Hello Ma and Pa :)

1.  Turns out I left Sønderborg even better than I thought!  Two people we just barely started teaching (‘O’, and ‘K’) BOTH accepted baptismal dates this last week.  I was going nuts.  I'm way happy about both of them.  ‘K’ we found, and ‘O’ was a REALLY positive investigator who had just been out of the country for a while.  I only met both of them one time before I left, but I had been working hard for both of them, so it makes me feel good to see the fruit of my labors, even though I'm gone.  2.  Elder Brindley has been out for just one transfer after me.  I didn't realize it was so close to Grover.  We had a nice conversation about that just barely :) 3.  I tried to speak Danish with ‘K’ as much as possible. But like a lot of Danes that have lived in the States, she was a tough cookie to crack ;) Then again, she's been living there for a while from what I understand. They like to speak English ;)  Wonderful lady, and her faith in her brother is awesome.  ‘H’ is doing well, he came to church this week!  We've hooked him up with a ride to church, so I don't think this will be a one and done thing either.  He's working on getting to the temple, and he's making the small necessary steps, so keep him in your prayers :) 4. You'll have to be sure to tell Ron hi for me.  I haven't seen him for a while.  

My first week in Odense.  The ward here is AWESOME.  I already have my good friends, but the people I have only just gotten to know are so welcoming I already feel like I've been here for a while. 

The work is really good here in Odense.  We've had a lot of service projects, and everything is coordinated through and with the members when it comes to appointments, activities, assignments. It's a pretty well-oiled machine, probably the best unit that I've been in for that kind of coordination.

Anyway.  We had a good appointment with ‘J’, an older, recently reactivated, sophisticated artist who we are helping prepare to get to the temple.  He's incredible, I really look forward to working with him more. 

He's basically ready, and he actually taught the high priests this last week.  He just kind of wants a refresher on all the doctrine before he goes through again.  I'm sorry if I'm a little short on the update. 

There was actually quite a bit that happened this week, and the reason that I'm actually writing to you so late is because Elder Brindley got allergies, and then it turned into a sore throat, and now we are both kind of achy, and well....sick.. :P  So pray that I'll have energy to get through this week. 

I'm really looking forward to the work here and I don't want anything to slow me down. 

The district here is really awesome too.  I got to hang on to one of the sisters from my last district, Sis. Rovig. Can't remember if I said that, but she and her companion, Sis. Thompson, who actually went to SoJo and knows Quinn, are awesome.  Kind of like a Sis. Hale, Sis. Rogers combo. 

And then we have Elder Vance, a stud from Texas, who I actually went out contacting with on his first day in Denmark (in Elder Pike's group) a good friend, and his greenie Elder Poff from Kentucky.  Kind of shy, but whitty with his retorts, and sly sense of humor. 

It's a great group.  I couldn't be happier than to be a district leader, and I couldn't ask for a better district.  I'm having so much fun!  We actually stood up to sing in sacrament meeting this week.  I made sure to cheat and ask all of the young adults around me to come up and sing with us (‘R’, ‘N’ {‘R's BF} ;) and some others)  and it went pretty well :)  Good first impression in church I feel like. 

Anyway... I ended up making it a bit longer after all. So there you go :)  

Loves and stuff

Ældste Pitcher

June 15, 2015

Hello mor og far!

Here's my week:

I'm in Odense with Elder Brindley!!  I'm so happy to be here, and seeing as how it's kind of the last little piece of territory to remain untouched, I now can say I've really seen all of Denmark... Ok, so there are a few places, but I've been in all four corners in any case. 

Odense is the 3rd largest city (finally back to the big city life ;) they have 2 awesome wards here.  I'm serving in the first ward.  To add on to everything already mentioned, I'm with Elder Brindley whom I've served with in 2 previous districts, and have gotten to be good friends with.  This is going to be a good transfer :)  

I'll start off the update by talking about a really good way to end a transfer with Elder Higby. Just imagine it's the last stop by of the evening, the last day of the transfer, and you're getting ready to get into the car when your companion jumps up and starts a conversation with someone nearby. 'Do you believe in anything?' we ask him. He he silently showed us his arm to reveal a tattoo of a heart with the name Jesus in it. We all looked up and smiled at each other.

A member family from Sonderborg

Needless to say, we have a really solid new potential investigator in Sønderborg, and he's not the only one. All of the finding that we've been doing recently has really been paying off. Don't be surprised if you hear about an explosion in Sønderborg over the next few weeks, because it is all prepped to be something great, especially with the two new investigators we found this week. Doesn't it just always happen that way though? You get a really solid week, and then you have to leave before you can reap the reward, though hearing about their success over the next few weeks will be success enough for me.

‘L’ is a little bit busy at the moment, or at least she was this week, so I didn't really get to see her before I left, but we still have daily contact with her, and Elder Higby was able to set something up with her this week I believe, so things are still pushing forward with her.

It was really hard to say goodbye to Sønderborg. It was the branch where I feel like I felt most a part of their family. The people there are awesome, and I'll miss them a lot.

With all of that said, I'm so happy to be here in Odense. Elder Brindley is one of my best friends, and it's been a long time in the waiting to get to be companions with him. I'm looking forward to working hard here with him, and making some new friends.

I'm excited.  There is no better way to describe it.  This is likely my last area, and I'm not having to worry anymore about what I'm going to be doing in the future as a missionary or anything else, I know that I'm here, and that I'm happy to be here, and I can now sit down a really focus my efforts on these last transfers I have to be the kind of missionary the Lord wants me to become. 

It's an exciting time to be a missionary!

I love you Ma and Dad.. ;) 

Ældste Pitcher

June 8, 2015

Hey Ma and Pa!

Glad to hear that you all didn't get electrocuted in a storm :)  Sounds like a pretty crazy experience.  I really love each week getting to see the photos that you send.  I've never been much of a reader, so when I get to SEE how everyone is doing, that makes it a bit more fun for me.  :)  I am not going to turn this into a distraction, but since you two are no longer coming to get me, I'd like to know what souvenirs I should start looking for in advance to bring home for family?  Let me know and I'll keep an eye out.

This week Elder Higby and I finally reaped the blessings of having our first really progressing investigator in months. 'L' is the woman that Elder West and I found on splits. She has been reading, and asking questions, and really trying to find out the truth of what we are telling her. She recognizes the spirit so easily in her life, I don't think it will be too much longer in her progression before she gains a witness of the things we are telling her are true.  We have an appointment with her again tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes.

Last photo with Pres. Sederholm

This week has been filled with finding. We've spent hours looking for new friends to tell about the gospel. We've had good success finding potentially interested friends, hopefully that will translate into investigating friends this week. We actually met and started teaching a Chinese girl this week that seemed fairly promising, and even talked about having us lead an English class (which I love doing) for her and some of her other Chinese friends..... fast forward a few days later and I find myself at zone conference up in Aarhus asking a sister missionary in our mission, Sister Mann, to teach me some Chinese phrases, because she's actually fluent. No sooner does she hand me a paper with some Things to practice on it than we get a text from 'X' saying her mother is Buddhist and doesn't approve of us meeting with her... Bummer.

Last photo with Sister Sederholm

A good experience though is while out walking around Elder Higby and myself came across a man from Africa that didn't speak very much English or Danish, but seemed interested in the church, and said he spoke French. Remembering that we had a French copy of the Book of Mormon back at our apartment we asked him to wait for 2 minutes while we ran to grab it. That was a quick 100 meter dash back to our apartment. It led to an address and a phone number of a new friend that we'll be going by to teach this week, so it was worth it :)

I love you both lots and lots!  Pictures to come!

Ældste Pitcher

June 1, 2015

Hey Ma!

Just so you know...  #1 ‘A’ is just getting a calling, not a mission call (he's a little too old for that. :o) #2 it's a pretty cheap ferry ticket from Helsingør to Helsingborg Sweden, so that's a definite possibility :) #3 Transfer date is coming up here soon.  It'll be the 15th of June, so not this next Monday, but the Monday after.  #4 thank you for the whole ticket thing. You're awesome and I love you!

Hey Dad!  

Thanks for the email.  That was actually really helpful, the thing with the engineering programs in Utah.  I don't really have time to look into it, but I'd like to apply to Utah, and also get a list of good majors offered at Utah State.  Like I said over Skype, Civil engineering is the plan, but I would still like to see what other things are out there.  I'm basically done with the BYU application, I just need to transfer it over onto the computer format and send it.  Sorry again that it has taken so long.  Love you!

My week:

We devoted a lot of our time this week to finding, and it turned out pretty well. On splits alone with the Esbjerg Elders this week, we had a very good day of finding, and ended the evening with two new investigators. The woman that Elder West and I found said that she had already met the Church once in Århus, and was looking for God's love again in her life. We had an appointment set up that she had to cancel, but we will be going by later this week, and I've got high hopes. She seems excited to read the Book of Mormon, and what's more, she was a theology student and actually LIKES learning about religion. It's a perfect match :) She already has a very firm faith in God, so we are looking forward to seeing what we can add to it to help her find that love in her life again. I've learned so much being in this area. It has definitely been a time of growth for me in this area. I've come to love Sønderborg a lot, and I know why I was sent here, I've met a lot of wonderful people, and I feel like, in a few ways, I've developed my understanding of human relationships better here than any of my other areas. We are here, and we are working hard, and that's about it. We're looking forward to another great week.

Things are going forward with faith here.  It sounds like there is no difference back on the home front :)  Love you all so much!

Ældste Pitcher

May 25, 2015

Hey Ma, Hey Pa!

Here's my week:

Elder Higby and I had a really good meeting this week with the branch council members, and we were able to get a lot of support in the work that we are doing right now.  It sounds like ‘A’ will be getting extended a call here pretty soon (he already had an interview with Pres. Cullingford), which was something specific we brought up, as well as getting more members out to appointments, to which all of the male members said to be sure to just give them a call in advance and they'd love to come (not that it has really ever been a problem before, I love the members here).  I've noticed the branch really reaching out to the missionaries over the last couple of weeks, and I'm excited to see how the work is going to progress as we take advantage of it. 

We also had a really good splits this week with the Zone leaders Elder Zalewski and Elder Zenger.  They are both such incredible missonaries.  We were actually able to get around to five solid appointments that day, plus find a new investigator and a few potentials. 

I took a lot away from that day, Elder Zenger is an excellent missionary with some great ideas about how to improve missionary work.  This week we were supposed to have our good friend ‘M’ with us in church.  The Friday and Saturday night follow ups were very promising, and she said she was really looking forward to bringing ‘Ma’ with to meet some of the kids (we definitely talked up our primary), and in the end she flaked out.  We were really disappointed, BUT ‘A’ came after a Saturday night follow up, and that lead to him having the interview with Quentin, so THAT was a success story from church. 

People just need to start coming to this branch to see how wonderful they are!!

Sometimes it can be a little frustrating, but we are still working hard, and have an extra strong focus on finding new friends this week, so we'll be sure to follow up on that. 

Some other fun things....  Elder Higby and I went to a 'Fri Kirke' international party with one of our investigators who was singing there.  Elder Higby and I weren't just going to sit around though.  We got up and participated in a Serbian line dance, and then even asked if we could sing a song from our church.  (Elder Higby plays piano, I sang) It wasn't a small crowd either. Probably a little over a hundred people if I had to guess.  We did our own little rendition of 'A Child's Prayer', and I got video of it.  It was a blast :)  

We've had people we've talked with on the street over the last few days ask us if we were the ones at the party, and even knocked on the door of one of the priests for the 'Free Church'.  We're famous ;)  

It was a really good week though, just in case you couldn't already tell.

I'm glad to hear that everything is going so smoothly back home.  It's been great watching everyone grow up, and I feel like I'm very much a part of it, even if I'm not always just in the other room. 

Tia had also mentioned that she felt like she could feel my presence at home, so who knows, maybe I was just having a nifty out of body, dream experience ;)  

I love you both!  Have a great week!  

Ældste Pitcher