4 Days Until Skyping!

Hey! 

I wish you all a Merry Christmas! It feels like last Christmas was just yesterday! But the concept of time on a mission is pretty skewed..maybe some of you feel differently, but I love Christmas! This week has been pretty Christmasy! On Monday we had some snow, but it didn't last very long. Then on Wednesday, our district came to Randers and we sang some Christmas Carols on the townsquare, to investigators and some members. It was pretty fun. I was a little skeptical to sing Christmas songs with 5 dudes in front of whoever would walk by on the most crowded corner of town, but it wound up alright. I wasn't too thrilled to start, but afterwards, it worked pretty well. We got some potentials from it, so it was pretty successful! We did that same thing in Skive the next day, and it worked pretty well again. So that has been semi effective and fun! :) 

On Friday, we were in Århus for Zone Conference, and we had all the missionaries from Jylland and Fyn with us so we could share Christmas together. That was pretty fun! We ate a Christmas dinner for lunch and had some risalamande dessert with that! After, we saw everyone's baby pictures and old family pictures. It was pretty funny. I'm glad mine weren't have as embarrassing as some! Thanks mom and dad! :) Right after that, a return missionary who's Danish showed up as Santa Claus and handed out all the packages our parents and whoever else sent to us! Then, the best part of all, we watched the movie Inside Out! SUPER funny movie haha and super cute. I enjoyed it, and it was good to see a movie as a missionary haha. Well, not good, but you get what I mean. 

We haven't had much time to do too much work in our area, but we had a few investigator lessons and there's not much new with that unfortunately, but the progress is going forward slowly but surely. :) We're still working hard and doing all we can! Hopefully we can have a Christmas miracle this week! I believe it! :) 

Anyways, remember to think of the true meaning of Christmas! I saw an interesting scripture this week. It's in Matthew, 27:46. It says, "46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?." Sometimes, we really do feel like God has forsaken us. Jesus even felt that way. But it was much worse for him. Jesus suffere

d everything. HE even felt like God forsaked (forsook?) him. Him being perfect. It's a good reminder that the Lord knows everything that we go through. And knows exactly how He can help us. Always remember that and be sure to thank him for his sacrifice. It wasn't easy! 

I hope you all have a great week! Jeg ønsker jer alle sammen en glædelig jul og et godt nytår! 

I love you all! 

MKH, 

Ældste Taylor Howes

PS: In other news, I FINALLY got my visa! I'm now legal! 

11 Days until Skyping!

Hello!!

I'm getting all ready for Christmas, I don't know about you all! It's been starting to feel like Christmas season! Only like 11 Days til Christmas aka 11 days to Skype home! I'm pretty excited. It only happens 2 times a year!!

Anyways, this week has been packed. We've been pretty busy! On Tuesday, the Relief Society had a Christmas party and they asked us to wash their dishes, so we said yes, and they promised us some food in return. That was good! Then on Thursday into Friday, we had splits with the Zone Leaders. That was pretty fun. We got some good work done. Our power also went out on Thursday because our chandelier had a short... So we were with some electricians for a good part of the day as the fixed our power... Luckily it was free! :) But that wasn't too fun! Then on Saturday, we had the Branch Christmas party! That was pretty fun and had some good Christmas food too. It was nice to get to know the branch a little bit better too!

We met with some investigators this week to but not too much progress with them.. One progressing investigator is moving to a tiny island in Denmark called Samsø.. Where there are no missionaries nor church buildings... But, that's alright! We'll see if we can't have missionaries sail on a ferry to teach her! But, no new news... We're hoping for some change in our investigators this week. We think it can happen. This week we won't be in Randers too much. We'll be out of it from Thursday - Saturday, but we have a Christmas party with our mission on Friday, so that should be fun! :) I'm really excited. I love coming together with other missionaries.

Anyways, it's been a pretty good week. Hopefully we can get more work going here in Randers! We've been working our tail off but not many people wanna talk! But we're pressing forward anyways! There's a scripture I wanna share though. It's in Mosiah 24: 9-16.

It says, " 9 For Amulon knew Alma, that he had been one of the king’s priests, and that it was he that believed the words of Abinadi and was driven out before the king, and therefore he was wroth with him; for he was subject to king Laman, yet he exercised authority over them, and put tasks upon them, and put task-masters over them.10 And it came to pass that so great were their afflictions that they began to cry mightily to God.11 And Amulon commanded them that they should stop their cries; and he put guards over them to watch them, that whosoever should be found calling upon God should be put to death. 12 And Alma and his people did not raise their voices to the Lord their God, but did pour out their hearts to him; and he did know the thoughts of their hearts.13 And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage.14 And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions. 15 And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.16 And it came to pass that so great was their faith and their patience that the voice of the Lord came unto them again, saying: Be of good comfort, for on the morrow I will deliver you out of bondage."

It's quite long, but its worth reading. I had an experience yesterday that makes know this is true. Contacting last night was not a walk in the park. Let's just say the people weren't the nicest last night. I didn't get discouraged, but of course I was like, "What the heck?" We had about 10 minutes left before we had to go in for the night and I just prayed in my head that we'd find someone who'd be interested after this brutal day and for the Lord to help me get my spirits up again. I remember walking down the road and seeing a girl smoking and I felt inclined to talk to her, but we took a different road the eventually turns into that road. We eventually got to that road she was on so I turned up the hill and saw her still standing there. Turns up, she was interested and got her number. I could have just went inside, but I knew as soon as I saw her she'd wanna talk. And she did! As long as we're patient, endure and rely on the Lord, he'll free us from our bondage. So do it! :) It works!

Anyways, I love you all! Thanks for all your support! I appreciate it a ton!

Have a great week,
Love,
Taylor

PS: That's Risalamande! Good stuff. The white stuff in the bowl. We got the left overs from the Christmas Party! The other picture is Hobro. Beautiful city!

GOD JUL!

Happy December! 

I hope everyone had a great November and I hope everyone enjoys this month! The most wonderful time of the year! 

It's been a pretty good week. The winds been blowing and it's been raining everyday all day, but what's new? At least it's not snowing! 

I don't really know what new happened this week! The mission has been focusing a bit on Family History finding, but the world has been focusing on "A Savior is Born." So, that's primarily what we've been focusing on! I really like that website. You all should check that out though. I could spend days on it....but don't worry, I wont.. There's like tons of videos and .gifs and stuff. It's really sweet and social media share friendly. You all should check it out! We've been doing quite a bit of knocking and contacting this week to show people this video. Not too many people want to see a two or three minute video though... Whatever! It'd be much easier with iPads too, but we're not so lucky...go figure. But, it really has been going well! 

Two of our friends we meet with will come to church this week! They're also going to the Ward's Christmas parties! That'll be pretty exciting. We found one of our investigator's dad's knocking on some doors and had a pretty interesting story! This guy said the reason why he's such a religious born again is because he prayed at religious men would come talk to him and the mormon missionaries knocked on his door that same day. That was like 40 years ago, but loves our church because it began his religous journey. He said he's been praying for his daughter that she'd find a religion..... little does he know that we've been meeting with her for the past month! So that's pretty miraculous! We'll tell them that we've been meeting with their dad/daughter soon enough... We'll let that sit for now...

Anyways, since were weeks shy from Christmas, I thought I'd share a good ole Christmas scripture. It's Alma 7:10-14. It says, "10 And behold, he shall be born of Mary, at Jerusalem which is the land of our forefathers, she being a virgin, a precious and chosen vessel, who shall be overshadowed and conceive by the power of the Holy Ghost, and bring forth a son, yea, even the Son of God. 11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. 12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities. 13 Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony which is in me." I really like this because it helps us remember what the Savior did for us so that we could be free from sin, relieved of sickness and helped in our struggles. He made it possible so we could return and live with our Heavenly Father again. We need to remember that and just say a prayer of thanks. It wasn't an easy task, but it shows us the undescribable love both God and Jesus Christ had for us. Let's cherish this gift! It's the best gift ever! And we can use it our whole lives!! :)

Anyways, I love you all! I hope you all have a good week! :) 

Med Kærlig Hilsen, 

Ældste Taylor Howes

Christmas Video

Elder Howes recommends this new Christmas video to get into the "chillaxing Christmas spirit!"

Here it is in English: 

Og her er det på dansk:

Enjoy! :)

30.11.2015

Helloooo!

It's the last day before the last month of the year! And 25 days until Christmas and like 100 until I hit my one year mark! WOAHH! 

This weeks been pretty good. I usally give kinda a run down with how this weeks weather has been, so it's been pretty mild (relatively) but it hasn't been too bad! Yesterday, however, rained on the parade, but it was pretty cool. We had insane wind yesterday! So bad that the Stake cancelled an activity to keep people safe! However the missionaries still had to work... Anyways, the wind was throwing things all over the place, including me (more like pushing because no one/nothing can knock this guy over ;)) and we had slushy rain that smacked our faces at like 50mph and it felt like pebbles flying at full speed. It hurt pretty bad. But that I think was the only time I have actually felt cold in Denmark. It was pretty painfully cold, windy and wet. 

Anyways, the work this week has been great. We had a Blitz Splits here in Randers, where 4 other missionaries come to help us find people all day, on Tuesday and Wednesday, then on Thursday, it was Thanksgiving! We had a Zone Conference with all of the missionaries on Jylland and Fyn and we ate our thanksgiving dinner, then had a talent show, and finished it off with an AMERICAN football Turkey Bowl. It was awesome and it wasn't even raining! But it was muddy and cold still... It was fun. We stayed the night with the Zone Leaders in Århus and that was pretty fun! Then we did some service for an old lady on Friday, then on Saturday we did a whole bunch of door knocking and on Sunday, I had to give a talk..so did Elder Hager! Didn't have a lot of time to prepare, but we did what we could haha. They turned out pretty good. They were on, "How can we bless the world?" 

We did have a new investigator this week and she's pretty positive, and we also have another who's come to church for the second time! She really loves the church too! We're having success with them and we're really happy for that! :) It's going pretty strong here in Randers...Finally!! 

The church came out with a fine new Christmas video! You can find it on Christmas.Mormon.org, and in Danish on Jul.Mormon.org! It's a pretty good video! Don't hold youself back from watching it...it's actually good and a good reminder of what the Savior has done for us! So go watch it and get into that chillaxing Christmas spirit! 

Anyways, it's been going pretty good recently! I love it here! I hope you all have a jolly week and get into that Christmas spirit! I love you all!  

MKH, 

Ældste Taylor Howes

23.11.2015

Hello!!

Sorry I didn't get to you all last week. That was totally my bad. I don't ever watch the clock on the computer.. It's a computer with a timer... I know right. But it's been a pretty good past few weeks! Yesterday we saw some snow....already! I'm prepared for a brutal winter, but I'll be alright! :) 

Last week, we had someone in church for the first time that I've been here in Randers. That hurts to say... I've been here forever, but we finally had somebody come and she said that it was positively surprisingly good! She has plans to come in the future, but couldn't make it yesterday and I don't think she'll make it next week either, but she has been progressing and continues to meet with us! The branch really likes her! So that's really good! We also made several appointments with some potentials for this week, so we're excited to meet with some new people! 

We also have Thanksgiving this week!!! The Danes don't celebrate it of course, but the missionaries do! We have a good ole Turkey Bowl coming up and everything! We're pretty stoked for it, but it should be pretty cold and wet. It'll still be fun though! We're excited for Thursday! It wont be the same as it is back home, but it's about as close as I'll get in Denmark! 

Let's see...what else.. OH! I already set my appointment up to Skype on Christmas! Only one more month until then!! :) I'm excited! 

I found a good scripture this week! It's in Mosiah 5! It's verse 2. It says, "And they all cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually." This talks about King Benjamin's address! Because of the words he spoke and the testimony he bore, they found a change in their hearts after they repented of their iniquities. And they afterwards abound themselves in good works! This is exactly how our repentance should be. We should always have that desire to do good continually, especially has we come into this Christmas season! :) 

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

MKH,

Ældste Taylor Howes 

Contacts freezing to my eye

This week Taylor didn't have enough time to email, but he did send us 2 pictures and I'll include a short blurb of what he wrote in my personal email. 

"But I had a really good week! We FINALLY had an investigator in church!!! She's 21 and a super nice girl! I was here for like 11 weeks and not one week did we have an investigator in church so it was good to finally find someone to come to church - and actually love it and beg us to have her boyfriend come too. It was awesome! It was a pretty good week and had like 3 miracles this week too! It was CRAZY but it was right when I needed it because I was on verge to becoming lazier. But not anymore! :) So it's going tons better here now that there's at least someone! The weather has been crap but that's alright. Yesterday my contacts froze to my eye. That was a weird feeling! But it's going good! :) But I know I kinda stopped keeping track of the time I've been out... Because like I got a ton of time and I've been out quite a good chunk of time too so that's cool! But basically halfway done because time is zooming by!"