8-3-15

Århus!!!!!!!!!! Holy cow!!!!!!!!!!

Okay things are just absolutely whirlwind crazy 24 hours a day 7 days a week!!! I absolutely LOVE this place!! I can't even express myself right now! It's just go go go all the time which is just such a massive difference from my previous area. We have so many investigators that we can only meet with about 1 fourth of them because of time restrictions! Which is great because that means that we get to just focus on the really positive ones! Okay I'll just try and walk you through my week because I know I'm going to forget some things.

Monday: first day here. It was crazy getting settled in and buying my bus pass and getting groceries and getting all of my luggage and guitar and bike to the apartment. P-day was over before I knew it and we were out teaching. We were headed over to a guy named *F* who just got baptized a couple of weeks ago when I stopped a man on his bicycle. We ended up teaching him a lesson right there on the street and said a prayer with him, then went over to *F's* place and taught him! *F* is fantastic. Comes from Ghana. Unfortunately going back soon.

Tuesday: I wasn't even with my companion this day. Elder Clawson was preparing for a big convention for the youth that they hold annually in Denmark called Fest i Nord, so I went on splits with Elder Pike and had to work the city all day long based off of what knowledge I had of one afternoon in the area! It was great! We got a new investigator, taught *F* again, then taught *F's* roommate *S*! Oh and then we taught this other new investigator named *B* with a member named *E* and it went great! *B* is a great guy and wants to get baptized! Oh and each night so far we had had tons of other Elders coming and sleeping over in the apartment, so I've just been surrounded by people all the time which, again, is a big adjustment, but I love it! 

Wednesday: Elder Clawson and I were finally together alone this day. We taught a great investigator family called the *Ws*. Love ‘em. Then we had our district meeting with our new district which is always fun. Elder Porter (my MTC companion) is in my district now! Haha he's so funny. Can't wait to go on some exchanges with him.

Thursday: Tons of zone stuff. Zone report and buying train tickets for missionaries and preparing district meeting agendas. It was crazy. I love our zone. Then we had lunch with a guy that we contacted on Wednesday on the bus. His name is *J* and comes from Afghanistan. The Sister missionaries came along and we ate food and taught the first lesson. He loved it all.  

Friday: Elder Clawson went to a city called Randers to do his Fest i Nord presentation for the youth, so I was running the area with my limited knowledge again and was on exchanges with a BRAND NEW missionary called Elder Zeigler from Switzerland! That was fun because he had never taught a lesson or contacted a person or knocked on a door. It was literally his first day in the country, so I was able to help him with all of his firsts. We taught a man named *F* from Iran(less active man) and ate dinner with *B* (the investigator). He made us a traditional Danish meal, meatballs with curry and rice. 

Saturday: we did sport at 11 am. Football (soccer) with the Sisters and their investigator Mike and a few members. SO much fun. It felt good to play some real competitive sport again. It's been a while. Then after lunch we did service for this great investigating family. I cut their grass while Elder Clawson pulled weeds and swept. Their house is absolutely beautiful and must cost them a fortune. It looks like a castle. Not even kidding. Then after the service was done we ate ice cream with them in their back yard as we talked about families. It was lovely. Then we had to rush home and change clothes so we could make it to the local bowling alley! We have this investigator named *I* who is a part of a huge baptist church and they were having a youth activity there, so it was a great chance for us to meet some new people and tell them all about what we do! IT was soooo much fun. I love Africans. They just know how to have a good time. 

Sunday: First day in the new ward!! That's right, ward, not branch :) Aww man they're such great people. I love them all already. I can't remember any of their names, but I'm working on it. I got up to bear my testimony during sacrament and managed to crack a few jokes. They laughed, so I think I'm good. There are so many members here that love to come out and work with us, so that's always a plus. Then after church we contacted 1 million people and went to dinner at a less active members house. She made some delicious food and we had a blast. 

Anyway, that was my week. It honestly felt like one day. Everything is going so fast. We just teach teach teach and hardly have any time to ourselves. I love it! Get lost in the work to find yourself. It's true. I want you all to know that I absolutely love being a missionary. I'm happy all the time. I mean that. I love this great work.  I could do this for the rest of my life.

I hope you all have a great week and I apologize if I don't write to any of you individually this week. You see, we have a lesson right now with a 21 year old gal and she's bringing her best friend and they're super positive. So I honestly only have about 30 minutes to write this week. But I love you all and I hope I get more time next Monday to write you all back personally!! Love you!!!

-Ældste Jed Bradshaw