Happy Easter!

​God Påske!

It's technically still Easter here in Denmark. They celebrate it from Thursday to Monday. Everybody is off of work, stores are shut down and people are out of town! Interesting way to celebrate Easter, but it should be celebrated this way! Jesus Christ was ressurrected! That's huge! 

Anyways, it's been a pretty good week. I was upset to hear about the bombings over in Belgium. I've heard it's such a peaceful place and it's unfortunate to hear that something like that has happened there. I was pretty bummed to hear about the 4 injured missionaries in that mission. Denmark and our mission has taken precautionary measures, so we should stay safe, but someone needs to put and end to it. I listened to the interview from the mission president in Belgium and I like his testimony and statement at the end where he send, "This that we are preaching is the solution to all the confusion and conflict going on in the world." I hope you all are praying for the recovery of those people and missionaries in Belgium! 

This week, we did quite a bit of finding and teaching. We taught about 17 lessons in total, which I think is our high in the companionship and my high in my mission. So the progress has been going forward. We only have two on baptismal date as of now, but I'm sure that will go up after this week. We had some great first lessons this week, so we're hoping and praying that someone will accept the invitation to eternal life and happiness! 

The weather has been getting a little bit better. Not as much rain and a little more sunshine. We just had Daylight Savings so the sun shines as long as we're outside, making things a little more fun! :) Denmark is getting happier, prettier and more enjoyable! :)

This week, I was reminded of a scripture in regards to the troubles with ISIS. I think about why all this stuff happens and when it will end, but I like this scripture about Jesus Christ (and it being Easter and stuff) in John 14. It says, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." Jesus Christ is the author of peace and God is not the author of confusion. I hope we can turn to Jesus Christ for comfort and he will give us peace. Jesus Christ is the solution to worldly problems. Don't be afraid or troubled, just turn to Jesus Christ.. 

Anyways, I got some pics this week. I'll attach those. I love you all! Enjoy the springtime! :)

MKH, 

Ældste Taylor Howes

1 Year Out!

Hey!

Well, two weeks ago I hit the 1 year to go mark, then on the 25th I will be hitting the 1 year of being a missionary mark! CRAZY how time flies! But, the weather is finally poking at spring weather. I can get by with a light jacket for about 3 hours, but then when the clock hits 4pm, I have to switch to my huge jacket and a scarf...But progress is being made! I can't wait to go without a jacket...I'm tired of wearing them! Although I would still much rather be dealing with Denmarks cold than for example Brazil's scorch..... :)

This week went pretty well though. Nothing really too new happened. Two weeks ago, we got a phone call from a lady who saw us on the TV interview that wanted to be baptized. We made the appointment for this past week, so we went down and visited her. She lives literally 2 hours away (now you have an idea of how big the Danish mission's areas are), so that was an exciting travel by train and bus. She loves to talk and she's hard to stop, so she's hard to teach, but still wants baptized. We have an appointment for this week, but a member will be taking us, so hopefully that'll calm the situation a bit. So we'll see where that one goes! But our 3 other people on baptismal date are doing well, but the baptism date keeps moving for them, so we'll see. They'll get baptized, it's all a matter of when... 

We also had splits this week with the Elders in Sønderborg, like 20 minutes from the German border, so it was fun to be down there. They've been working with a lot of refugees lately, so we played a little bit of soccer to expose them to the gospel. We tried teaching them how to play the real, American football, but they understood it as a modified Ultimate Frisbee... Well. We tried! But we had a good time on splits. I got some gnarly pics, I'll share those at the end of the email!

I think that was really all the fun and exciting news this week. Nothing too exciting and new popped up. I began the Book of Mormon again, because it's a great book, and I came across a couple sweet verses. It's 1 Nephi 8:10-12. It says, "10 And it came to pass that I beheld a tree, whose fruit was desirable to make one happy. 11 And it came to pass that I did go forth and partake of the fruit thereof; and I beheld that it was most sweet, above all that I ever before tasted. Yea, and I beheld that the fruit thereof was white, to exceed all the whiteness that I had ever seen.12 And as I partook of the fruit thereof it filled my soul with exceedingly great joy; wherefore, I began to be desirous that my family should partake of it also; for I knew that it was desirable above all other fruit." This is Lehi's vision of the Tree of Life. The tree of life is a symbol for the gospel and the eternal happiness that it brings. The gospel truly does bring exceedingly great joy. The gospel is the fruit of my life and continues to fill my soul each and everyday. After being out for a year, I've learned one thing. This happiness and joy the gospel brings is my motivation to continue to share this gospel each and everyday. I know this is the Lord's church and it is the true and everlasting gospel. All who will partake of the gospel will find the same thing. :)

I love you all! Thanks for being a good support after a year! I miss you all!!

Med Kærlig Hilsen, 

Ældste Taylor Howes

PS:The District, Beach and a sweet graffitied tunnel in Sønderborg!

14.3.2016

Hello!

This week has been pretty great! A lot of great things have happened and it's even hard to recap! The weather has been warming up and drying out along with the sun shining around the clock! The best weather is coming! 

Where do I start... Okay. Well, every saturday, we play ward soccer on these turf fields, but one week (last week 9 days ago), nobody showed up but us and the sisters. So we were like, well, we'll just wait thirty minutes. So we just messed around for a little bit and waited to see who'd show up. Then this one dude shows up and asks us where we get a ball, and I told him that we brought ours from home. So he asked if he could play with us, so we said yes of course. Then we played with him for about an hour and a half, then gave him a card and asked him to come to church. He didn't go, but called us on Thursday and asked if we were playing again on Saturday. We told him yes, but asked if we could meet that afternoon. Met with him, he told us about his faith, then we taught him about the Book of Mormon and the restoration and committed him to baptism if it were true, he said he would only do it if it were true. So he committed, then we invited him to stake conference. He came, loved it and is meeting with us on tuesday, So that's super positive. That makes 3 that we have on baptismal date, but the date for the other investigators has been moving backward a little bit, but they'll make it with time! 

Also, with the TV interview that we had a month or two ago - A lady called us last week and was talking to us about the TV interview. She thought it was so great that we could be with families forever and that's something she loved because she didn't have a family. Anyways, we taught her the Plan of Salvation on the phone, she asked to be baptized and she noticed the power of a testimony. She also loved the fact that our church had real intent, because in her opinion, the Danish People's church lacks that. But we're meeting with her tomorrow! It's a 3 hour train and bus ride out there, but it'll be worth it! So that was a miracle within itsself! 

We had Stake Conference this week and that was really good. It was nice to see the whole Stake come together. The conference had some great talks, plus two of our investigators that are on baptismal date drove up with us to see it, and they also loved it! 

This week has been great overall! The success here keeps climbing and I can see that it'll continue to climb. Esbjerg is a great city!

I hope you all get the chance to see the church's Easter website! It's called FollowHim.mormon.org. It's a great video and it helps us remember to be thankful for what Jesus Christ has done for us. It's good to see the amount of effort and love that the church spent to make the video! I hope you all check it out and share it with all of your amigos! ;)

I love you all! Have a great week!

Love, 

Ældste Taylor Howes

One year from home!

Hello!

This is weird! One year from today, I will be headed home! I'm not trunky, but it's a nice hump to be over! I haven't been out a full year yet, but this milestone came quicker, therefore better! Woohoo! The weather this week was same old same old, but it's been getting slightly warmer. It's stayed realtively dry, so we've been pumped for that. 

This week has been great! I think the biggest highlight of it was our Zone Conference. We were over in Århus for Zone Conference, so it took us about 2.5 hours to get there or so. The conference was great. It was great to see old companions, old missionary friends and what not. It's always a big party. Our mission president along with the mission leaders have come up with some great plans to improve the mission, because in recent years the numbers haven't been terribly high...but they're rising back up! There's a tiny peak! :) The plans include some inspired ideas with Family History, contacting methods, teaching methods, you name it. We've tried the ideas out a little bit and they've been bringing some fruits! It's only grapes right now, but soon I'm sure it'll be watermelons! ;)

We still have two investigators on baptismal date and they're both progressing well. They're having a rough time coming to church for different reasons, but we're hoping to get one of them up to Århus with us for Stake Conference. That'll be great for them both, but I think only one of them will have the opportunity to come. 

This week, I finished the Book of Mormon again and I came across an interesting scripture in the last chapters of the book. In Moroni 8:8, it talks about Jesus Christ. It says, "Listen to the words of Christ, your Redeemer, your Lord and your God. Behold, I came into the world not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance; the whole need no physician, but they that are sick;" Sit and ponder about that one. Jesus Christ didn't come for the saints. That's not necessary. The church isn't for the saints. It's for the sinners. We're all sinners, therefore, the church is for everyone and Jesus Christ is available to everyone. I hope we can all think about this gift around the upcoming Easter season and think about what Christ has done for you, and what you can do better to become more like him. He'll help us every step of the way. I promise you. I've seen it. Use Christ's Atonement. It was a sacrifice he made for you specifically! Be thankful for Jesus Christ and love him for what he's done! 

I love you all, and I'm thankful for each and everyone of you!

Hav det godt!

Ældste Taylor Howes

PS: Zone Conference pics