4-25-16

Hello Fellas,

it's been an astronomical week. We had Stake Conference yesterday and that was just wonderful. We had our area seventy show up to speak to us. It's always funny to listen to them speak in English and have a Danish man standing next to them to translate to Danish at the pulpit. They don't always get the translation just right, but they do their best :) 

We've  been attending a local church in Slagelse  on Saturdays where they only speak Spanish. I do my best to translate for my companion and then we get a chance after the services to go around and talk to all of their members in both Spanish and broken Danish. We brought the Sisters with last time and introduced them to one of the members from Portugal. They have now been teaching her and she has a baptismal date!! I think working with other faiths is a great way to find those that are prepared to hear the gospel. We aren't allowed to preach in their churches, but we are definitely allowed to make friends and talk to them later :) 

We've been teaching lots of Old ladies this week: They're so funny... every single one of them sets up the same things in their living rooms for us. Two chairs at the coffee table with a plate, knife, fork, doily, fine china glass, and small cookies on a plate in the middle. We don't even use the fork and knife! I think they just like to set it up and make it look all fancy :) Haha they're adorable. But we taught this one lady down in Nykøbing this week and she's been somewhat of an eternigator, but we reset expectations with her and were very bold with our invitation to act. She's now heavily considering being baptized in June. I'll think she's finally come around. 

We also taught a crazy Australian lady who believes in UFOs, ghosts, and something called ''inner earth'' which is basically a society of people that live deep below the earth's crust that are watching and monitoring us until the day that they will emerge and take over. Haha, people are awesome. Funny thing was that she said lots of things about her spirituality that are very very close to Gospel truths, just construed a little bit. We hope to align some of her ideas with the truth. 

All is well here. Life is good. I love it. 

Have a great week!! I love you all!!

-Ældste Bradshaw

4-18-16

Hey everyone!!

Sorry for not writing last week. Life is crazy, as you all know very well. But I'm doing very well :) Couldn't be better actually. This last week Elder Gudmundson and I have been attending meetings with President and preparing for zone training. Then on Thursday we gave the zone training and let me tell you, it was phenomenal! The Spirit was so incredibly strong the entire time and I learned so much. Together we set the goal of putting 20 new people on baptismal date this transfer. It's been a long time since that has happened, but I believe we can do it!

Two weeks ago we got a referral from the office for a man that lives in a city called Glumsø. We went out and visited him last week and it went great! He's from America but has been in Denmark for 20 years and speaks fluent Danish. It was quite strange really. 3 English speaking human beings standing in a front garden speaking Danish to each other. I didn't even think to switch over to English until my companion said something on the way home! Anyway, we came back 3 days ago and taught him the first lesson and it went great! The Spirit was there, he accepted a Book of Mormon and a commitment to read and pray and even prayed with us there on the spot. Only problem was that when we tried to set up a return appointment he told us to come back in two weeks. Two weeks!! We were a little disappointed.

For investigators to really progress they need to be met with multiple times a week. Oh well... there was nothing we could do. BUT!! Last night we suddenly got a text from him and he said(and I quote) ''Hey guys. I hope it's okay that I write to you. I know our appointment is 2 weeks from now, but I thought I might be able to invite you over for dinner. I haven't been able to stop thinking about our last visit. You've caused me to really consider my existence and help me recognize a connection with God I didn't know I had. Feel free to bring a member of the Church along if it would make you feel more comfortable....''!!!!!!!!!! Isn't that awesome?!?! We were so excited last night. You should have seen us celebrating in our apartment. So now we are going to meet with him on Wednesday instead of 2 weeks from now and invite him to be baptized with a date. Can't wait!!

Also, since President gave me the commission, I have been putting all of the Mission Scripture Masteries to song in Danish and sending them to the entire mission. I'll send you a copy of one or two so you can hear what it sounds like ;) Maybe Dad can even put them on the blog for everyone to hear. It's a little hard to sing in Danish, but I manage. 

I know that this is God's work. He trusts us enough to give us our agency and make our own choices, but I don't doubt that he is involved in our lives and especially in the work of Salvation. I'm proud to be a missionary. I love it. I hope it never ends. 

Have a great week!!! I Love you all!!

-Elder Jed Bradshaw

4-11-16

4-4-16

This week was killer!!! One of the best of my mission. Conference is just amazing!!! It's such a great experience to sit down, listen to men that represent the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and receive revelation for our own lives. It's weird... the speakers say one thing, but we ALL hear something different and unique that we can use and apply. That's one thing I love about scripture and modern revelation: it's applicable. I remember when I was in High School and my English teacher made me read a book called ''The Lord of the Flies''. It was a great book, and my teacher asked me what I thought the author meant when writing it. I was to write an essay with my opinion, then she graded me as to how close I got to what she taught the authors ''meaning'' was. I hated that... the book spoke to me and taught me something completely different from what it taught her! Luckily, the gospel is applicable to us as individuals. We can all read the same passage of scripture and learn something different from it. Isn't it wonderful!?? :)

Okay, here are some of the things I learned from Conference (remember, I haven't seen the last session yet due to time differences):

• We are all Children of God. Do we remember that? When asked to identify ourselves, the first thing we should think of is our Godly parents. If we remember who we really are, we need not fear.
• A car without keys is nothing more than a big pile of metal and plastic. It may be full of gas and electricity, but without the keys, it is useless. The same is true with Priesthood keys. Priesthood keys are necessary for us to gain access to the readily available blessings of God. The Dark ages were simply a long period of Humans suffering from a bad case of lost keys. Luckily, the Lord has promised us that those keys will never be lost again. 
• Being worthy to attend the Temple is just as important as our Temple attendance. We may not have a Temple right nearby us all over the world, but we can have that same Spirit of the Temple by holding ourselves worthy.
• We all know Saul like individuals with Paul like potential. 
• Let us all forgive others and not be judgmental. All injustices will one day be made up through the love and power of God.
• Remember to win and lose with grace. 
• The Atonement is not only for those who need to repent, but also for those who need to forgive. If it is hard for us to forgive someone, let us ask for God's help.
• Humble yourself before you are compelled to humility. Understand how much you rely upon the Lord and you will be more humbled.
• We are authorized Priesthood holders, but we only have Priesthood power if we are worthy of it. We can gain more power through prayer and honoring and loving your wife. Treat her with love and understanding. Never let your own pride keep you from loving her.
• The greatest leaders are the best followers. They follow the Savior, who follows God, who follows eternal laws and so on.
• Knowing someone’s name can make a huge difference. 
• Families should always remember to counsel together on all levels. 

That was just a few things from a long list :) I also noticed something funny during the Sunday morning session. As a kid, I would always pretend that I needed to use the bathroom so that I could get out of listening to the boring talks. Yet now, I suffer TWO HOURS of having to pee so that I don't miss a single word that is said... Isn't conference great? 

It was also interesting to see how President Monson's talks are getting so short... I guess someone got smart after last year and told him to keep them quick ;) What a great man he is. Still has his good humor even in his old age! The power of God is in him and you can see it.

I love you all!! Have a great week!!!!!!

Ældste Jed Bradshaw