This is a "random" guy who ran into Taylor outside the castle. Turns out, Ashley's friend from college knew the guy in the middle and sent the picture to Ashley! Small world. 

Mosiah 7:33

Hello!

It's been a pretty good week! On Tuesday, Denmark had their longest day of the year festival, so we took advantage of that to contact people. We found some Mormons from America who embraced us along the Castle, so that was pretty great! We also found a couple potentials, so that was pretty successful.

We did some service for a member refferal on Tuesday as well, and they seemed pretty interested in the gospel, so that was a positive! They were a younger couple! We shared with them a little restoration lesson and answered their questions, and they were super fascinated. They invited us back for a barbeque after they come home from their vacation! We're excited for that, and of course to Work with them! :)

The rest of this week went by pretty slow. We just stopped by some potentials and had no success with that unfortunately. We have been doing a lot of door knocking in Hillerød, but we haven't received much from that either! But that's totally okay because it's all part of the journey! 

We did have a lesson with Henriette. We had a lesson on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It went pretty well! We didn't have too much time for it so we couldn't go as in depth as we could have liked. But we have an appointment this week, so we should have a baptismal date after this week! We're hoping and praying for it! She's pretty awesome and she loves the gospel and the Peace it brings her. It makes her want to change her habits because she knows that's what God wants for her. She's just so busy and our NeXT step is to get her to come to church. It's easier said than done :) but she is willing to come now that it's summer and life is a bit less challeging!

The school kids finished school this week, and that Means kids graduated too! The tradition here is that they Wear their graduation caps, and get into big ole army trucks that blast music. They just scream and drink. It's actually pretty funny! They Wear those caps like everyday in the summer...that's the funniest part of it! But my companion and I got to break it down to some music so that was also pretty fun. It's not breaking rules if you're surrounded by it ;). We had a good time with it haha but we didn't let it affect our Work, which is the important part!

Anyways, if you haven't read Mosiah 7:33, it says "But if ye will turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all diligence of mind, if ye do this, he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage." No matter what you're struggling with, this is a promise that God gives to us. We should turn to Him and trust Him that he'll take care of it. And He says he will free us from our bondage or challenges if we do that. That's a promise and I know it Works! :) 

I hope you all have a great week and I love and miss you alll!! :)

MKH,

Ældste Taylor Howes

Crazy Lady

Hello!

What an adventure this week was! The weather was absolutely terrible! It was cold, rainy and windy! To make it all better, I was on a bike! :) So much for summer! The past couple days haven't been so bad though, so that's a plus.

This week, my companion and I went out knocking in Vibehus, which is northwest Sjælland. While we were there, we got several super positive potentials! We also ran into this crazy lady, it was pretty funny. We knocked on the door and she immediately opened it and goes, "God doesn't exist. If he did exist he would come and deliver your message to me, not you two kids" Then slammed the door. Then so we knocked on the Apartment door NeXT to hers and she comes out and says, "You probably shouldn't knock there either - or the entire complex." So then we were like, "Actually, your neighbors in here were actually really interested, so we will continue." She says, "Why does your nametags say elder? You're clearly younger than me. You shouldn't dress like that either, you're going to find no success that way. Nobody likes that." So we just said, "Well we wear our message, and we are representatives of Jesus Christ, so we want to look our best." Then she goes,"I can tell you're from America, what even brings you out here to this tiny country?" So my companion says, "We have a living prophet today who leads our church and has revelation for our Whole World. He received revelation that we should be called to serve in Denmark." And she goes, "Oh, okay then, is there a number I can call so I can talk to him too??" Then my companion rattles off just hacked off, "Yeah, if you are interested, I will tell you. It goes like this, 'B'-'Ø'-'N' (Prayer in English)." Then the lady just goes, (I cleaned it up), "Yeah, get out of here!" It was pretty funny. We've seen that same lady arguing with a train driver. We see her everywhere and she's always ticked. Anyway so that was our excitement that day! 

We have an investigator who we've been meeting with, but now she's progressing. She's like a 40 year old woman named Henriette from Frederiksværk. We used to meet like 1 time a month but now she meets every week because she's noticed the Peace it brings her. She was a pretty heavy smoker and she's barely smoking now...and we didn't even tell her anything about the Word of Wisdom.. So that was pretty neat! She's already seen how the gospel has blessed her and how much Peace it has brought her. She pretty much told us last time we met that she wanted to see if being Mormon is something she wants to do. A lot of her friends have been giving her crap about it, but she's already been sticking up for the church and ditched those friends. So she's pretty awesome! She has 3 sons as well that hear from us! So Henriette is our light right now in Hillerød. Deepak is doing alright, but he's pretty lazy and is half-commital. But I think we can baptize them both, because they've both seen tremendous Blessings in their lives already. It's awesome being on the other end of that. Sometimes the Blessing we already have in our lives go unseen, so when you see things other people appreciate that you already have, it just makes you think, "Wow, I'm glad I've had that my whole life." 

Anyways, we've spent time knocking in Græsted and Frederiksværk but that had almost no success. 

We're getting like 3-4 eating appointments a week!! So that's a plus! It's pretty enjoyable but the downside is that it ruins all of our time in the evening to find. But food is good too. :)

I didn't get any Pictures this week. There was nothing to get a Picture of in this dårligt weather! My message to everyone would be like I said before....Take time to look and see the Blessings that God gave us all. Even the stupid things, like a toilet. All of these things go unseen but think of how our lives would be without it! If you just do that, I promise that you'll be so much happier about the bigger blessings you receive. Then don't forget to thank Heavenly Father for them also! He wants to hear it! :) 

I love you all and hope everyone has a dejligt week! 

Med Kærlig Hilsen, 

Ældste Taylor Howes 

Pancakes!

Hey!

This week has been pretty good. Nothing really more has happened! The weather this week has been great! It's getting much warmer! We're getting into the upper 70s, so that's a postive! But, the humidity has been pretty brutal! But I will take that over the Wind, rain and Cold weather! The weather here is definitely the best for a missionary though!

I will have to say one thing, the song in our church Hymns, "Master, the Tempest is Raging," is by far the best, but even better in Danish. We sang it in church on Sunday and it was awesome. Our church Building has an organ but with pipes along the back wall so all the songs sound legit. Anyways that's random but that's one thing I found out that I loved this week haha.

My companion and I have been working with Skævinge, Frederiksværk, Vibehus and Fredensborg this week. We didn't get too many potentials with the amount of finding time we put in. We had one good potential in Frederiksværk and one in Vibehus this week, so we should be going over there this coming week. We're continuing to Work with Deepak, and we should get him set with a baptismal date this week. He said that the fact he's Hindu is holding him back, and he'd be breaking his Family tradition. But he said he'd pray on it and report back to us on Tuesday when he meets. I'm sure that he will have a positive answer. He knows the church is true and he's already seen how the gospel has blessed his life. He comes to church about every week and loves it. He's really positive. That's something we're looking forward to this week.

A funny story this week - My companion and I bought American Pancake mix last week. Keep in mind it's CRAZY expensive over here, and syrup is even more expensive. We were stoked and got two boxes that makes 30 pancakes. (15 each). On Saturday we had the bright idea to whip both of those bad boys up. Needless to say, we had 11 thick American pancakes each. It was terrible. We felt so sick. We were basically useless the rest of the day haha we will never do that Again that's for sure. 

Anyways, I hope everyone has a good week! I miss you all! Denmark is fantastic! People are great and the gospel here is great even though it's the size of a spec on a Little flower, like "Horton hears a who!" But the most important thing is that it's here. And that those few know that there's a God out there who hears them. And an Atonement that's infinite. And that they'll be with their families for time and all eternity. And that they have the Holy Ghost, a source where we can always find Peace and happiness in a place of constant get-up-and-go and temptation. No matter how big the gospel is, it exists. And that's all that matters! That's my Little message!

I love you all!

Ældste Taylor Howes

Taylor and his companion having an American pancake eat-off!

Sunshine, Pictures & the Last Days

Hello!

This week went pretty well! Nothing really new this week with missionary work. We did A LOT of finding this week, and we thought some of our potential investigators we're going to be good luck.. But most of them ended up saying no anyways. So that was a bummer. One of our potentials was actually Muslim and let us come in...except it was a reverse role...he was trying to convert us to become Muslim. He gave us a Quran and we gave him a Book of Mormon. He tried saying it's the most logical book on Earth but he stopped talking when we said the Book of Mormon was the most true book on Earth. So we said, "If you read the Book of Mormon, we will read the Quran." So he said he would read the Book of Mormon. We might stop by again just to see how his reading is going. That was an interesting experience. I learned a lot about Islam to say the least haha!

On Tuesday, we had our Zone Conference! So that was pretty fun. It was so long and they fed us until we were about to die. President Sederholm and Sister Sederholm gave a Little farewell presentation. They had a PowerPoint video thing of all of the Pictures they took of missionaries in their 3 years of being here. They leave July 1 and the new President arrives on June 30th. It'll be sad to see President and Sister Sederholm leave just because of how passionate they are about all the missionaries and the work here. Anyways, I should get one last opportunity to see them though. They said they'd visit all the areas to say goodbye to everyone before they take off for America again!

Throughout the week, we did some finding in Helsinge, Fredensborg, Gørløse and a Little bit around the Castle. Not too much success there but we will get some eventually! We only got 1 postive potential this week. So we hope that'll end up going well!

Danish has been coming along MUCH better. I can understand really well and I can for the most part have a normal conversation. It's coming along much better! Haha and someone actually complimented my Danish accent so that was thrilling and picked my moods up! :)

The weather this week has been FANTASTIC. About 75 degrees all week, and I finally got to crank out the Shades! I gotta pic too :) So we've been going without sweaters or jackets! It's about time :)

Let's see, what else.. OH! On Saturday we went Down to the church for a baptism! Birkerød baptized a Philippino (however you spell that) 23 year old girl! She is super awesome and basically teaches the guest class every Sunday. She speaks a Little English but almost no Danish. There's a lot of those here haha. But anyways, she's super strong in the gospel and her Family is Mormon in the Philippines. She's now planning on serving a mission in a year too! So that's what she will be working on! She was found only 3 weeks ago so she was a quick one! It's amazing how ready people can be - even in Denmark! :)

On Sunday, we had Stake Conference. Elder Jeffery R. Holland from the Quorom of the Twelve gave a broadcasted talk from a stake center in Scotland. The message was broadcasted to England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and the Faroe Islands. So it was a talk specifically for Northern Europe. And it was BY FAR the most powerful, inspired talk and SO specific to this part of the World. It would also be great for the USA to hear too! Anyways, a quote I really liked, just because it was funny, was this:

"I've attended many youth Question and Answer gatherings, at EFYs, Youth Conferences, Stake Conferences, Missionary Zone Conferences, you name it. I've had missionaries, Deacons, teachers, Priests, Beehives, Laurels, Miamaids and whoever else ask me, 'When are the last days?' Well, I'm not the brightest lightbulb in the chandelier, but the last time I checked the name of our church, it says we are IN the last days."

It was hilarious, but anyways that was what he gave a talk on. And He said, "I don't know when the last DAY is - nobody does - not even the angels in heaven know that!" But he went on to talk about that The Book of Mormon is the mark of the last days that has been fortold in the Bible and the Book of Mormon. He said the Book of Mormon will be around until the very last day when Christ will come. He also witnessed that the Book of Mormon is the most powerful book on Earth and truly provides us with the fullness of the gospel. 

I can't even write how good his talk was. What I wrote doesn't even compare and is quite boring and generic. But anyways, if it comes out on the internet........You need to read it, Watch it, you name it. Do it. The last days are here. The Book of Mormon provides everything you would ever need to receive eternal salvation. Elder Holland closed and said that our Prophet has seen God. And that Jeffery R. Holland himself has seen things that he has been commanded not to reveal. He said, "When I was young, before my calling, I bore witness of Jesus Christ, the Book of Mormon and this church. Now, I HAVE witness of Jesus Christ, the Book of Mormon and this Church. Til the last day I live, I will bare this testimony as if it were my last. The last Words anyone will hear utter under my last breath WILL be, "This is God's truth."

Anyway. Super powerful and the spirits even strong just thinking about it right now. Everyone needs to Watch it. Everyone. That's my challenge and message this week! :)

I love you all! Denmark is fantastic and there's nothing better in this World than what I'm doing now!

Love,

Ældste Taylor Howes

The food is basically the typical Danish meal. They're Frickadellers- Ny Danske Kartofler- og Grøntsager. Basically good stuff. And I made that myself. :) 

Elder Howes enjoying his sunshine!

"Det er sommer!"

Hey!

It's finally summer! High of 60 degrees, some strong Winds, hailing rain and cloudy skies! Doesn't sound like summer, right? Well some days are beautiful and perfect temperature, while others are well, not so happy days! But it's still great!

This week went well! I took a few Pictures outside of the Frederiksberg Castle on Monday, but I didn't get a chance to go inside. But anyways, it made for some good Pictures. We also ran into a couple Mormon girls from Utah who are on a graduation trip here too! It's always nice to see Americans here.

On Tuesday, I had my one month meeting! I got to see my entire MTC district Again so that was pretty neat. We had a little meeting with them and President Sederholm. He was just checking up on us. Then we got to go to the temple afterwards, and that was pretty neat! The Denmark Temple is really Unique. I loved it. I'll attach a Picture.

Wednesday through Friday, not much happened! We had a few appointments. OH! I have a good story. We meet with a man named Mikkel on Thursday, but on Wednesday, we saw him at the Hillerød train station..absolutely HAMMERED drunk. The lesson prior, we talked to him about the Word of Wisdom. (It talks about the commandment God gave us regarding substances we shouldn't put into our bodies). Anyways, so it was ironic we found him hammered, to the point where he almost kissed our heads. After that we just walked away. The next day, we had an appointment with him at his Apartment. He didn't remember that he even saw us. Supposedly, the reason why he was drunk, was that some kids stole his bike and he got depressed. So he drank it off and got absolutely wasted. Then he took a bus home, got his gun and went back with plans to shoot the kids who took his bike. So then we made it clear that when we drink, our Agency is almost taken away and we don't have control of our actions. So after that, we dropped him because of the dangerous situation we could put ourselves in. He said he'd contact us when he's ready Again. So that was interesting.

Yesterday was Sunday, so of course we had church and all that. That was pretty good. I'm understanding more and more each week! Afterwards, our Ward Mission Leader and former Mission President, invited us over for dinner, and after that he had an open house for all those who had questions about the gospel. There were like 8 or so there, and he pretty much answered every question, so that worked out well. We had to stay in the Birkerød Elders' Apartment last night because we would have gotten back to Hillerød too late. So that's where I slept last night.

It's been a great week! We met with someone who said we are only saved because of Christ's atoning sacrifice. But that's what my weekly message will be on. I just want to say, that that's about 1/8th true. Christ atoned for our sins. And that alone is graceful and merciful. But it is important we fill our time, abounding in good Works if we will have everlasting life, like it says in John 3:16. The Lord says many times in the Bible and Book of Mormon, to repent to be forgiven of your sins. So that you will be free from sin Again. That is what Christ's sacrifice did for us. We were given the ability to be forgiven of the sins we make. We have to keep ourselves bound to good Works and follow his commandment to repent if we want to receive his mercy for ourselves. If we do that, we will truly feel how merciful Christ's atoning sacrifice really is. And I promise everyone that! That's my little message! :)

Anyways, I love you all and I hope you have a great week!

Kærlighed,

Ældste Taylor Howes

Pictures! Lots of Pictures!