15 Days Left!!!!!

Davs! 

15 Days left ladies and gentleman! That means this is my second to last email home. I probably won't write home my last week as I will be travelling to Copenhagen and interviewing with President, so next time is my last! Weird to think, but it's exciting! 

This week was pretty busy... We traveled around the Zone giving District Meeting trainings in Esbjerg, Fredericia and Odense. Those went really well. We trained on how missionaries can be better at teaching from and about the Book of Mormon. Our mission set a goal to give out 2,000 copies of the Book of Mormon every transfer. We were previously sitting at 800 per transfer, so we bumped that up a little bit. So we came in, did some inspiring and training then left them to try it out. The zone did a pretty good job this past week. They're all studs! 

We found a couple new investigators this past week as well, so we're hoping they are solid and will work towards baptism. It would be nice to see someone come on baptismal date before I leave Denmark! Otherwise, well, just like every other week, we're out banging on some doors looking for a golden investigator! :) We're working on it!

I got some pretty stellar pics this past week. I'll attach some of those! :) This coming week, we're having a zone training and going to the temple, so that'll be a good second to last week of my mission! :) I'm looking forward to it. We've got a busy couple of weeks ahead of us, so we'll see what happens! :) 

I'd like to share one of my favorite scriptures, 2 Nephi 31:19-20. "And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save. Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life." Once we have entered into the path towards eternal life, we have a responsibility. It's easy! Kinda goes along with last weeks scripture. We have to hold on, or endure to the end. We've paid a great price to develop our faith in God, and it'd be a shame to lose that because we're not keeping the commandments, praying or reading the scriptures. It's not worth it to lose what we have paid such a great price for (figuratively speaking, of course). God promises us EVERYTHING if we just keep ourselves on the path. How incredible is that? :)

I love you all and miss you all. I can't wait to get home and see you all once again! It's been so long! :) Until next week, adieu!

Love, 

Æ Taylor Howes

Kirken!

Mennesker ved havet

Fredericia strand og Fyn!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hellloooooo!

Welps! Happy Valentine's everyone! This past week, it snowed like every single day, expect the past 2 days! It's actually been sunny, but freezing cold! It's been alright though. Can't complain when the sun is out. 

This week was pretty slow. Not too much happened. We've been doing a lot of finding recently. ON the bright side, we got a Mormon.org self-referral and she committed to a lesson with us tonight! Woohoo!! I've never had that happen before. Hopefully she's positive and ready to change her life :). Otherwise, we've been all over our area finding, and not too much has been happening other than weak potential investigators. At least we're getting something, but it's been kinda slow. We'll get there though. We've been working with a lot of different new converts, so that's been good as well. We're going to the temple on the 25th of February with one of them, so that will be worth it. :) We also had some Stake Conference this week too. I thought I already had my last Stake Conference in Denmark, but I was wrong! The Stake Presidency over here is pretty good. They're funny and inspiring and the stake loves them. It's cool to see. Stake Conference was held in the Aarhus Musikhuset. Look it up. Well worth a drive from anywhere! 

I don't really think I had anything else exciting happen. Just splits, door knocking and contacting.... But on the bright side, I'll be going to Esbjerg and Odense for district meetings this week, so that will be fun. I like those cities. I'll get to visit some previous investigators in Esbjerg as well, so that will be well worth it! :D 

I found a scripture I want to share in Alma 37. It's Alma's final words to his son, Helaman. He said, "O my son, do not let us be slothful because of the easiness of the way; for so was it with our fathers; for so was it prepared for them, that if they would look they might live; even so it is with us. The way is prepared, and if we will look we may live forever." The "way" he's referring to is the way to Salvation. If you honestly look at it. The way is prepared for us. We know exactly what we have to do. We get curveballs, but we all know the way to eternal life is through baptism and enduring to the end. It's simple. The gospel is simple. Do we become lazy, or do we just go through the motions? I think we're all guilty of some form of slothfulness, but if we really do look, the way is prepared for us. All we have to do is look and not be slothful. 

I love you all! Have a good week! :) 

Love, 

Ældste Taylor Howes

Happy February!

Well! 

What a week. I have to start out by saying that I haven't seen what the sun looks like in a week. That really starts to put a hang on your days. Who knew your body needs the sun?! You all are probably thinking it's 24 hours of darkness...no. It's just foggy as can be and incredibly cloudy! :) 

Hmmm. Well! We had a zone training this past week. The mission finally saw the Missionary Broadcast and some sisters gave a training on how to use Social Media in missionary work. No, that doesn't mean we have Facebook access. I got excited too but....it's how we teach the YSA to use Facebook as a tool to bring others to come unto Christ! Still good! :) I hope everyone got everything out of it.

Apparently there is a strain of the Flu that came out of Australia that's been all over Denmark. That's the flu that I had. A ton of missionaries have that right now! It's kinda a shame. It's funny to see one bite the dust though. It's sad too because it last like 8 days!

We've been working a lot with young adults and college students. We've been continuing to knock on college dorms and stuff and that's still been going well. We've given out quite the amount of copies of the Book of Mormon. We've racked up a lot of referrals from them as well. It's actually an effective way to find! No new investigators found this week, so that's a shame. We're hoping to revisit with some of the previously found potentials to see if we can spark some new investigators. I see a lot of potential with it. It just takes one, then all their friends come with them! 

This scripture in 2 Nephi 32, says a lot. It's, "Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do." This is the testimony and witness of Nephi. Angels speak by way of the Holy Ghost. We feel that Holy Ghost by reading the scriptures, going to church, etc. The simple answers we all give. But, if we're doing these things, seeking after direction, the Holy Spirit will be able to give us the direction we need. Angels do exist and will speak to us by way of the Holy Spirit! 

I got some pics from MLC, the baptism last week and zone training that I'll attach. 

Have a good week!!! I love you! 

Ældste Taylor Howes

My zone and church building!

Zone Leaders, Sister Training Leaders, Assistants and President & Sister O'Bryant

Baptism & Confirmation!

Hey!

Wow! What a week it has been! Henriette was baptized and confirmed this week and there were several big changes announced to the worldwide Missionary Program. We've been pretty busy lately!

To start! Henriette...wow! That was incredible. She had her baptismal service this past Saturday and that went really well. I gave a talk on baptism, the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. It went pretty well! Henriette asked me to confirm her and give her the Holy Ghost, so of course I was happy to do that. It was pretty nerve-racking. There were two future missionaries who had their farewell's this week, so people from all over Denmark came to say goodbye. There had to have been over 200 in attendance, so I wasn't used to that. The bottom line is that Henriette is baptized, confirmed and a happy lady! :) 

Elder Olson and I traveled to Copenhagen this week for Missionary Leadership Council. That was really fun. We discussed the new changes to missionary service and what not. We have a longer P-day and I guess "more agency" in our daily schedule. I think it'll be good change, but it'll be tough to get used to, considering I've been on the old schedule for two years! We'll see! :P 

We've been focusing a lot on working with younger people, so we've spent some time knocking on college dorm buildings. They're not quite the same thing, but yeah, same concept, but that's been going really well. They tend to be more open and it's nice talking to people the same age as you as well, so it's been nice and we've found a lot of success from it! 

I taught guest class this week and in preparation, I came across this scripture in Alma 5. It's Alma, the High Priests' words taught to his people all over the place. It says in verse 26, "And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?" Those who have been converted to the Gospel, or those who have gained a testimony in some sort of Gospel topic, have felt something. They've felt a change of heart. After time, sometimes we lose that feeling we once had and we don't feel the same. Sometimes we can't remember it. Ask yourself, can you felt that change of heart right now? I've answered no to that question a few times. It's not bad to answer no, but it just means you have to do something about that. Read Alma 5 if that happens. Alma will tell you what to do. :) It's important we hold onto those feelings. That's what roots our testimonies. If the foundation slips, your house slips too. Don't let the foundation slip! :) 

I love and miss you all tons! 

MKH, 

Æ. Taylor Howes

District Pic (the bros (elders) in the district last transfer)

After the baptism

Missionary Farewell (that's my back side to the left)

6 Weeks Left!

Hey!

HOLY COW this is my last transfer!!!! Only 6 more weeks ladies and gentleman! I've almost done it! I'm excited for this transfer though. Elder McBride went on to Tåstrup, Elder Olson, who was my companion in Tåstrup, is now my companion again! WOOHOO! We're Zone Leaders together. Didn't see that one coming! He was one of my favorite companions and I'm glad we got put back together. It'll be fun! 

Anyhow, this week was a sick week. Literally. I was sick last week I wrote and I'm just now coming off of it. I went to the doctor Monday morning and Wednesday morning and I guess they diagnosed me with the flu, so I battled that and my first day back at it was Thursday. I went to district meeting and YSA. In between I slept. Friday, I did a little bit more. We taught some lessons with members. Saturday, I worked a little bit more, then finally, Sunday was my first full work day! So now I'm doing good! 

On the bright side, Henriette will be getting baptized this Saturday! The first baptism in my area! I will be confirming her on Sunday, so that'll be cool. She's come a long way and she even had a testimony when I first came to the area. Her testimony is incredible and it's cool to hear how much she's grown since she was found. The Church really is true! :)

This week, I will be headed to Copenhagen for Mission Leadership Council, so that'll be fun. It'll be a jampacked week, but it'll make for lots of memories.

Only 6 more weeks! :) I love and miss you all tons!!! 

Ældste Taylor Howes

A little taste of Fredericia!

Flu Season

Well, 

I got the flu so this will be a short email.. I'll kinda just outline what I did this week...! It's been a very weird week in a lot of different ways.

Monday, we had p-day and some Elders came in for splits. Tuesday, we did some work and the highlight was going to the hospital (probably where I picked up the flu). Some dude died in our ward and one of his buddies went with us to give him a blessing and we were too late...he died 10 mins before we arrive. Poor fella. Never fun seeing a dead man.

Wednesday, we made a trek to Copenhagen for a My Plan meeting. Our mission president taught my departing group about how to prepare ourselves to go home. Kinda like a 3 to 5 year plan of where we want to be. So that was fun. Afterwards, we went to the temple and that's always fun. 

We came home on Thursday and went to YSA night. We had institute, dinner and all that, so that was good. It was fun. Friday, we welcomed some more elders into our area for splits. That's when it went down hill for me and I've been in bed since. What a week, I know haha! 

Well, I'm sorry that's incredibly boring. On the bright side, only 50 more days to go. I love you all and miss you tons! Have a good week!

Love, 

Æ Taylor Howes

Sister O'Bryant snagged a pic of me a little while ago, so here's that!

Half of our mission

01-09-2017

Goddag!!! 

I hope everyone has had a good week. This week was a pretty good one! 

It was a tough week, but it's good to finally get back into the swing of things. I felt like the Holiday weeks were pretty hindered but it's good that it's all behind us and people are now willing to set appointments and think about the future again. We did a lot of finding this week and it was a huge help to us to have some elders in our area for splits. We've developed quite the list of potential investigators this week, so we will be planning on following up with them soon. We managed to find a new investigator. She was a previous investigator, but she texted us and wanted us to come by, so we brought a member twice this week and taught her. She was once on baptismal date, but couldn't give up smoking so she gave up on the missionaries. She says she doesn't know when she'll be ready, but she won't say no to baptism. We plan on working with her this week. She's coming to a baptism on Saturday and church Sunday, so we're hoping she'll have a change of heart. Everything seems to be going pretty well - we're just seeking to teach more investigators. We taught another investigator a couple times this week and went through the baptismal interview questions with her this week. She's definitely ready for baptism. I was impressed! Her baptism is scheduled for the 26th of January! 

It snowed a couple days this week and got icy one day. We drove 30 minutes to a city earlier this week and it was the day when it was icy. We go down the big ole hill and my companion hasn't driven in snow before because he's from Arizona, so he hits a patch of ice, slams on the breaks and we turn into a bowling ball hurling towards a busy intersection. It was pretty funny. I had a white knuckle grip and I was coaching my companion through the roads. Pretty funny. I guess that was a nice highlight. Oh! It got down to -12 degrees Celcius this week too! ;) Pretty chilly if you ask me. It was cool to see some lakes frozen over!

This year, the church is focusing on President Gordon B. Hinckley's teaching. Most of you all were alive when he was the prophet, and we all know he's awesome. I read that whenever he was born, there were 4 temples, then when he was the President of the Church in 1995, there were 47. After a few years in 2000, there were over 100 operating temples in the world. At his death in 2008, I think there were 124 operating temples. What an incredible goal for him to set! Think of how far the work for the living and dead has progressed since the time he was ordained to be the Church's President. We're all blessed to have a temple nearby to help to Gospel move forward because of his efforts! 

I love and miss you all! I took pictures, but forgot the camera USB hook-up type deal. So I'm sorry! But I'll get those out next week. 

Love, 

Ældste Taylor Howes 

Happy new year!

Godt Nytår! 

I think last weeks email was titled the same thing, but I'm not sure. I hope everyone had a good new year! :) My new year was kinda interesting. The church didn't allow European missionaries to be out past 9.30pm due to security threats, so we spent the new year inside. It was pretty fun though. We saw a bunch of fireworks and all that jazz, so it was pretty cool. New Years in Denmark is way better than July 4th in USA. The entire sky is constantly lit up for 20 minutes after the new year. It's really cool. You'll hear fireworks non stop from 8pm to 3am the next morning. The streets are littered with fireworks. It's really cool. Anyways...

This week, my companion and I gave trainings in the Odense districts, Esbjerg district and Fredericia district this week, so we had a lot of time out of our area. We were also on splits in Odense, which is the 3rd biggest city in Denmark. It was a lot of fun. Odense is a really cool place. It's where H.C. Andersen, Walt Disney's sidekick, is from. Pretty classy place. It was nice to go back to Esbjerg and see my old stomping grounds. I miss that place!

What else happened... Well, I don't really know. The 31st and the 1st were non-proselyting days and the 2nd, (today), was designated for apartment deep cleaning. I've never scrubbed a more disgusting shower in my life. At least it's over with. 

Since it's the new year, I'll send a scripture that I shared with my zone at the trainings. It's in Alma 60:23. It says, "Now I would that ye should remember that God has said that the inward vessel shall be cleansed first, and then shall the outer vessel be cleansed also." This year, you can look around yourselves. What needs cleansed? What needs fixed? How can you change that? What can you do to affect the circumstances around you? What can you do to improve yourself? God himself has stated that the inward vessel (us) must be cleansed (or improved) then shall the outer vessel (our surroundings, circumstances, etc) be cleansed also. We must first be the ones to make the change. God knows better than we do. If we want our surroundings to change, the change starts with ourselves. One person really can make a difference, and that person is you. You can decide your destiny. :) 

Happy new year everyone! I love and miss you all tons! Happy 2017!

Love, 

Æ. Taylor Howes

Last email of 2016!

Happy New Year!

I guess this is my last email of 2016. WOAH. Kinda weird to think about. But Christmas was great! It was good to talk to you all. It was a good way to spend my last Christmas in Denmark. We were with a cool family in the ward for Christmas and another cool family for Christmas Eve. The more exciting Christmas day for Danes is Christmas Eve. That's when we eat the biggest meal and open presents and what not. I prefer opening presents on Christmas morning. More excitement that way! But, it was still pretty fun. :) 

Anyways, this week was spent Christmas-ing. Due to safety reasons, the 24th and 25th were non-proselyting days as advised by the Church. Apparently there were a bunch of terrorist threats and what not. I'm safe! But anyways, we had a couple lessons with some less active members. Those went pretty well! We have an investigator on baptismal date, so that's good too. We're hoping to find success in the coming week. It's been a ton of fun. 

We'll be doing quite a bit of training this coming week in the districts in the zone. It'll be fun going back to Esbjerg, an old area of mine for that. I look forward to it. 

Oh yeah! We had a Christmas Zone Conference this week. That was also pretty cool. I saw a lot of old companions. I got a picture with some of my favorites (not all). In other news, our Christmas packages got stolen out of the van. Someone broke the window and jacked about half of the mission's packages. Unfortanately, I was a victim. That was a shear bummer. So, the Grinch stole Christmas! We also watched Finding Dory during the conference, so it was nice to sit back and relax and watch a movie. A lot of the snacks were stolen though, so that was also a bummer. Some burglar really hit the jackpot! Oh well. 

That's about all for this week. It's been a lot of fun. It was good to end the year with a good Christmas in a good ward! It'll be a good area. :) 

I hope you all have a happy new year! I love and miss you all tons! 

Love, 

Æ. Taylor Howes

PS: I got some pics attached from Bornholm and Christmas this week. :)

Some companions at Zone Conference.

Christmas Day

Companion and Christmas haha

More Christmas

The Halls on Bornholm

Christmas on Bornholm

Last transfer?

Merry Christmas!

I got lucky and was moved right before Christmas, so I'm a little rushed. After 5 hours of traveling, I've finally made it from Fredericia. I was definitely sad to leave Bornholm, but the branch got me some Christmas presents so I had a couple early Christmases. It wasn't too bad! The worst part was leaving the 24 pack of Sprite I got ridiculously cheap that I hadn't drunk completely! I guess it's my Christmas present to the other missionaries. 

Anyhew, my companion is Elder McBride from my MTC group. He's a cool guy. I'll likely only be with him for 5 weeks until the end of this transfer, so I have one more companion left after him. We assume at least. My last week on Bornholm was pretty good. We met with the last of the investigators and switched them over to the new companion, so that was good. I think the Bornholm elders are gonna do a good job. 

Lastly, it's the week of Christmas. I hope you all have a good Christmas and you think of the Savior and what he means to you! That's what it's all about. I love you all! 

MERRY CHRISTMAS! 🎄🎊🎁

Love, 

Æ. Taylor Howes

The good ole church building in Rønne! (Bornholm) 

Zone Leader

Hey!

Well, what a week it has been! On Monday, I got a call from President and it looks like I'm headed off to Fredericia to be Zone Leader. He mentioned he had to break the promise of me staying here on Bornholm until the end of my mission, so that was sad. I guess I'm already fired from being a counselor in the Branch Presidency! 

Anyways, this week we had our Branch Christmas party and that went really well! We had 9 non-members and 11 members show up (aside from us). So it was a total success! The people who came had a GREAT time. We danced around the Christmas tree, ate traditional Danish Christmas food and played a present exchange game. It's hard to explain. Anyways, I had to be the jolly ole Saint Nick. Darn it. It's all said and done now! But, that was REALLY good! :)

What else....oh, we took a trip into Copenhagen for the Missionary Music group type deal, so I came back the next day with a temporary companion. If you didn't catch it, Elder Teynor is in the music group! I'll be here an extra week (it's the first week of a new transfer) so right before Christmas, I'll finally be in Fredericia. :P 

I was also at a baptism this week! Some 18 year old girl that I contacted on a train in Hillerød got baptized this Friday. I wasn't at all involved in her teaching, but I at least was involved in finding her, so it's good to see that at least one seed I've planted has turned to something :). It was a great baptism. Oh, except the font was having a hard time filling so we did the bucket fill method. That took some time, but all in all, she was baptized! :)

I gave a spontaneous talk this Sunday as well. I forgot I had a talk so I planned that an hour before church. Found out I can actually give a 20 minute talk with a very blank outline! Woohoo! 

Anyways, I hope you all are still working on the Christmas Initiative! Today is the 12th, so it's "Jesus taught others, so can you." Check out https://www.mormon.org/christmas/in-25-ways-over-25-days/jesus-taught-others. Jesus Christ was only one person and He changed the world. You are only one as well, and it only takes one person to change the world! #LightTheWorld folks! 

I love and miss you all tons! In other news, my release date is confirmed: March 7th 2017. Less than 3 months! Oh yeah, and we had a mini Christmas with the Hall's and I got more pics this week! Here ya go! 

MKH, 

Æ. Taylor Howes

Advent Calender Candle

Christmas Presents from the Halls!

Sweet View

The bane of my existence....BornholmerFærgen

My last letter from the mission!

​

Happy December!

Hey! 

Yay! We've finally made it to December! Let the Christmas festivities begin! I'm pretty pumped for Christmas. It was a good time last year. It was also a hard time, but it's always fun celebrating Christmas regardless. Plus, I get to Skype home for the last time! :) 

Anyways, it's been an interesting week! We have a branch Christmas party this coming Thursday, so we made a little bit of preparations for that this past week. We made some sugar cookies and delivered them to a lot of our investigators. On the bright side, the unexpected amount of 13 investigators said yes and are set on coming, on the down side, we only have like 12 members going to this party and I don't think our church building can handle that amount. So we're going to be playing tetris figuring out how we should put the tables, Christmas tree and have room to walk around. It should be interesting. Wish us luck. We're expecting a good turn out, but next weeks letter will be really awkward if none of them show up.....we have faith though! :)

What else...we had a few first lessons with some investigators this week. Those went really well and are genuinely interested. I think this island is undergoing a harvest right now, so we're hoping that one of these investigators come through. Work really is work! 

Anyways, this week, I read a story about the Church in Europe during WWII. I was kinda curious to see what would happen if the world really was under attack again and how the Church would react. I don't think the world is anywhere close to having WWIII, but I was curious about WWII and what happened. Anyways, the story can be found here. 

https://www.lds.org/manual/church-history-in-the-fulness-of-times-student-manual/chapter-forty-the-saints-during-world-war-ii?lang=eng

It was really interesting to see how the Lord's hand was over the war, the Church, and the missionaries. I don't really know how to sum it all up, but if you're interested, read it. It's pretty cool. We really are lucky to have latter-day revelation and inspired Church leaders, both generally and locally. It definitely strengthened and solidified my testimony of prophets, apostles and local church leaders. They truly are inspired men and women. We can always be comforted that the Lord has His hand over us and the Church will never be under attack - as well as the members if we are heeding to the Lord's servants and God's commandments. Pretty inspiring story!

Anyways, I did manage to take a picture this week....I'll attach it!

I love and miss you all tons!!! Can't wait for Christmas!

MKH, 

Æ Taylor Howes

Call me farmer Taylor...🌯🌽🌾

​

#OplysVerden

Hey!

It's been a crazy, unusual, but really good week! The weather finally got extremely cold and windy, but that's alright! What doesn't kill ya, makes you stronger. Anyways...

On Monday, we had a first lesson with a mother and a teenage daughter. That went really well! We had met the mother once before and taught her a little about the Plan of Salvation and we returned to teach the whole Plan. She said she'd read and pray about the Book of Mormon, so we'll see where that gets them! :) 

Tuesday and Wednesday were also good days, except the part where we had to wake up at 5am both days. We had to catch a ferry from Rønne to Sweden at 6:30am on Tuesday, but it was okay because it gave us time to check out Malmö, Sweden. We walked around the Emporia mall for a couple hours because we had nothing to do. We eventually made our way into Denmark again for a Zone Training about the Church's Christmas Initiative, #LightTheWorld. It's gonna be HUGE! I'll talk more about that later. :P At about 11am on Wednesday, our ferry got back to Bornholm, so we luckily had a regular day! 

The district leader and his companion came on splits Wednesday night to work on Thursday. We did some knocking out on the other side of the island, so that was good. Later that day, we had Thanksgiving! WOOHOO! There is a half American family in the branch, so they invited us all over for Thanksgiving. It was great! I can't wait for an actual Thanksgiving that includes family! :) 

Lastly, I'd invite you all to visit mormon.org and check out the Church's Christmas initiative. It's not only a video or a campaign, but it will literally light the world. Jesus spake in John 8:12, "I am the light of the world," and likewise in Matthew 5:12, but with a small, but big change, "Ye are the light of the world." Jesus Christ is our example. We are to raise His light, not for ourselves, but for others, like He served. Everyday in Decemeber, there is a different service theme along with ways to serve, allowing us to be that light and touch the lives of others. Those that choose to serve during the December advent will receive the Savior's promise, "he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." This promise is valid for everyone - not just Mormons. We will feel the Savior's love, receive His guidance, and touch the lives of God's children. After all, "when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God (Mosiah 2:17)." This Christmas, let's #LightTheWorld and show the world and ourselves how Jesus Christ has blessed and continues to bless our lives today. 

OH, 99 days to go. Yes, I'm starting to count now....I won't lie! :) They say time goes slower when you start counting. Good! I can cherish it more! ;)

I love and miss you all tons! Only a few days til Christmas!

Love, 

Æ. Taylor Howes

The temple in København & Emporia mall in Sweden!

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21.11.2016

God taksigelsesdag, kære familie og venner!

Well, this week was AWESOME! The sun is shining today! It hasn't even rained on us much. I like the way this winter is going! Not as dry as North Carolina...not even close, but at least I'm not walking around in water-logged shoes! 

Anyways, we were able to find 3 new investigators this week and they all seem to be pretty positive. One of our potential investigators that we found about 3 weeks ago became a new investigator when we showed up to his house Tuesday morning. He is currently a Methodist who can't find the right church on Bornholm. He had 2 friends over when we came and we actually had a good, down to earth gospel discussion with them. Soon, they had to leave, but it gave us time to speak with the investigator. Later, another friend called and said he was coming over. Turns out, that friend was a previous investigator, has been to church, and after our visit, he invited us over to his house. The investigator we visited has 4 children and is married. He is very believing and reads many religious works, so we're hoping he won't have any problem reading and praying about the Book of Mormon. He seems very inclined to learn about the church. 

Another investigator is a Satanist, and we have a few obstacles with working with him, but we'll tackle those issues later down the road. He's 18. You can tell that he's lived a hard life, but was considering giving up smoking and drinking for the church. Another investigator whom we had a lesson with on the doorstep was previously Catholic and was also interesting in learning about the Plan of Salvation. We'll meet with her on Thursday. Lastly, another family who will be new investigators today. There are two kids, a girl who's 17, a boy who's 19 and a mother who is divorced. We haven't been able to meet with the mother because she's never home, but we made an appointment with the kids, and they said they'd have their mother home. That sounds great! We're hoping for success today! I feel really good about them.

All in all, things are going really really well on Bornholm! I love this area! It's a lot of fun. Even though it's cold, secluded and there's not many people, somehow the Lord has been leading us to those who are interested! 

This week, we're going to Copenhagen again! That means another trip through Sweden! I'm pretty excited for that. It's always a beautiful drive and Sweden is a cool place. It's weird how different it is with it being literally 10 minutes away over a bridge. I'll be sure to take pictures this time. I've failed pretty bad the last couple trips, but I promise I will this time haha! 

Anyways, I love and miss you all! I hope you have a good thanksgiving!! Eat tons of turkey for me!

MKH, 

Æ. Taylor Howes

14.11.2016

Hey!

Another week down.. This past week, the mission office gave me a call and told me that they have bought my plane tickets home! So, that's a sign that I'm getting closer. It's crazy how fast time goes... Anyways...

This week, the weather has actually been pretty dry! It snowed here and there, but that's 10 times better than rain. They called Bornholm the "Sunshine Island," so luckily we've had quite a bit of sunshine. It's sunny today at least! I think the winter here will be much better than how it was in Randers, just because we break freezing point a lot easier and the sun shines more often...so I'm more dry! The problem isn't the temperature, but the wetness.

Anyways, we were able to get in contact with some of our previous potential investigators and we've finally got most of those narrowed down to positive potential investigators. It's tough to find them all home, especially when they won't make a scheduled appointment, nor give us their phone number. So we work by written cards jammed into their door frame. It works better than you would think! So we schedule appointments on the card, show up and hope that they are home! So, that's what we're working with. We actually started doing some finding in smaller towns called Svaneke and Nexø. We found a Satanist who is interested (I'm kinda scared in all honesty for him) and a lady that wants baptized. We had an incredible first lesson with her and she asked herself to be baptized. After explaining that the material can't be learned in one day, we tried scheduling a new appointment. She isn't free until 2017....well, we pushed her, but she insisted. So, we at least start off the new year well. We'll keep regular contact with her though. All in all, we're scratching at the surface, but the surface is made of granite, so it's coming little by little. It'll surely come though! :)


This week, I thought I'd share an interesting scripture. In 1 Nephi 15: 6-11. It's right after Lehi shared his dream about the tree of life. Laman and Lemuel were of course complaining and bickering about what the dream meant. Lehi's dreams prophesied that Laman and Lemuels seed will perish, so it makes sense, anyways, Nephi was tired of all that arguing and complaining, and now we read from Nephi's words, "6 And it came to pass that after I had received strength I spake unto my brethren, desiring to know of them the cause of their disputations. 7 And they said: Behold, we cannot understand the words which our father hath spoken concerning the natural branches of the olive tree, and also concerning the Gentiles. 8 And I said unto them: Have ye inquired of the Lord? 9 And they said unto me: We have not; for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us.10 Behold, I said unto them: How is it that ye do not keep the commandments of the Lord? How is it that ye will perish, because of the hardness of your hearts? 11 Do ye not remember the things which the Lord hath said?—If ye will not harden your hearts, and ask me in faith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you." It's interesting that Nephi's first question to their response wasn't, "Why don't you think God can make that known unto you," but it was, "why aren't you keeping the commandments?" Keeping the commandments and living the gospel is a way we show our faith unto God, which allows us to be humble enough to receive the spirit of the Lord. We don't receive an answer just by asking in faith...we have to ask in faith, believing we will receive it AND abide by the commandments, allowing the spirit to be with us. After the spirit is with is, then will we receive the answers and guidance we're looking for. We have to take the step forward in faith and allow God to lift us up, carrying us to the next step.

I love and miss you all!

Love,

Æ. Taylor Howes

Happy November!

Hey!

It's been a pretty good week. Today is the first day of the season that it has snowed....so it's started early...that's not a good sign, but I'll be able to push through the winter without any problem. Easy!

A lot of things happened this week. First, we had a Halloween Family Home Evening in the branch last Monday, so we all dressed up, ate sloppy joes, dessert, played some games and had a spiritual thought. For those of you wondering why I was a dog - well, that wasn't the plan. You can't really find Halloween costumes in Denmark because it's not a recognized holiday, so after I emailed last week, I scrambled around town to the very few shops that are here. H&M is always a reliable option, but of course, you can't find costumes there, but I did find orange socks with pumpkin faces on them, so I bought those, and a Halloween colored plaid shirt. I was just going to come as a Halloween themed looking person, but I figured I've got to do more. I ran into the dollar tree and found dog ears and a tail.. Perfect. That's a little bit more. So, that was my costume. Kinda mix-matchy, but whatever. Better than nothing! It was a good turnout nonetheless.

We also moved this week! Yahoo!!! We got a super nice apartment. So we spent a couple days moving the senior couple in and out as well as us. It was also Elder Teynor's birthday on Friday, so we ended up celebrating that at YSA/Institute. The day before, the senior couple took us to a sit down restaurant, so that was nice of them. Good food too! It was also Stake Conference on Saturday and Sunday...we didn't get to go back to Copenhagen, but it was live-streamed into our church building. It was pretty cool. I thought the Stake Presidency did an incredible job. They talked about the necessity of member-missionary work and the Book of Mormon. The new temple president and his wife bore their testimonies and gave talks as well, so that was cool. The new temple president used to be the Europe Area President or something high up in the Seventy. His name is President Olson. He's from Sweden. I was also mentioned a couple times in different sessions by the Stake President in an example of working with the missionaries. That was pretty cool! Needless to say, it was a pretty good Stake Conference.

I haven't left a scripture in some time now, but I found a really cool one in the Bible! It's in 2 Timothy 3:15-17. It says, "And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works." It pretty much explains itself. It tells us exactly why scriptures are important. We've known about the scriptures since we were born and we've been told that we have them for our benefit. Scriptures lead us to salvation and teach us how to develop faith in Christ. Notice that the scripture doesn't say that we receive salvation alone by faith in Christ, but it says it teaches us how to become more righteous, more perfect, more correct - it teaches us to become "furnished unto good works." Furnishing takes time, like furnishing a house. It comes one step at a time. This is the Paul's testimony of the scriptures. Let it become yours!

I love you all, have a great week! Here are some pics of Elder Johnson's visit to Denmark, Rønne, Halloween and the new apartment!

Æ. Taylor Howes

Happy Halloween!

God Halloween! (Happy Halloween...easy, right?)

Welps, it's been a week! I've spent this week all over the place, so I'll give some sort of a run down if I can remember everything.

Let's see! On Tuesday, we went over to Copenhagen for our Zone Conference. Elder Paul Johnson, of the European Area Presidency and First Quorum of the Seventy came to tour the mission. He is an incredible teacher! I guess he used to serve as the leader of the CES system at some point, so he's got to be good! He taught us how to be better teachers. He didn't tell us anything we didn't know before, but he taught it in a much simpler and more different perspective. It was really good. I got popcorned up to the pulpit as President O'Bryant gave his training. He wanted me to give a 2 minute talk about the fall in Denmark. Uhhhh.... yeah well, I had no clue what I was doing so I just rattled off anything running through my mind... Then he told me to stop, then had the zone evaluate it (I got wrecked) and then I tried again. That time, I did better! So, I have officially given a talk in front of a General Authority and it was a bad talk! Got that one off my bucket list. At least President knew I was one that could take the heat and not shrink under pressure. I sat back down and I was pretty much tired after that. That took all the energy out of me. Well worth it though! 

In our drive through Sweden, I finally saw a real grocery store! It's called Willy's! Basically the size of a Lowe's Foods or idk, an American average sized grocery store! First time in two yearsI've seen that. It was a great sight. Apparently all the grocery stores in Denmark are just tiny, because that's the grocery store standard in Sweden. We also ate at Pizza Hut. I've never been to one of those in the states, but those are also not found in Denmark, so we ate there too. Oh, at the grocery store the soda is about half the price of what it is in Denmark, same with the candy, so I got a Mountain Dew, a Fanta and a Reese's Fast Break (also not found in Denmark). So the trip was well worth it! We also took a stroll through IKEA too, so that was fun. 

Oh, in other news, our hot water got infected by something, so they shut that off for our apartment complex area, so we had to take showers at the church. If you've ever thought about showering in the church building's cleaning closet, then you know what I did. I have been doing that for 3 days now. Glorious! 

Anyways, we have a new investigator that's recently gone through a divorce and has two young kids. He's read a little in the Book of Mormon and he considers it scripture comparable to the Bible! So progress has been made there. We have quite a few potential investigators to work with, but nothing really too set and stone.....something has to pull through soon. It'll be harder to work in the dark now that the time has changed over to Daylight whatever. So the sun sets around 4:45pm and Danes finish their days when the sun goes down, so it'll be a challenge finding people who want to give us their time in the dark, but it's all a part of the experience! The area is in great shape and we have a lot to work with, so the time after the sun sets is a perfect time to stop by those who were already found!

I unfortunately only took one picture. I really need to do better with the camera... But, I'll send pictures from the mission's blog as soon as they're put up. I'll take more pics, I promise haha! 

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

Love, 

Ældste Taylor Howes