Dear President Sederholm,
We have had another wonderful week. Numbers don't show, but it was
a great week. We met with that less active again, Hans Thorhauge. He has already
begun to read from the Book of Mormon again. Said that he loved church not yesterday, but the week before. (It was
his son's or daughter's birthday yesterday). But he is looking forward to church this next
week.
We were able to meet with Susan again this week. I feel ashamed to
admit it, but I didn't act on the spirit at first. After our appointment with
Susan the previous time, I had the impression that we shouldn't bring up the
subject on Baptism. (Because we brought it up for the past four times). We than
came to companionship study that morning, and the thought crossed my mind again.
I originally brought it up to Elder Lindstrom, but after planning we somehow
came to the conclusion to bring it up again. We arrived to meet Brother Thomsen
and told him our plan. He asked us if it was to pressing to bring up baptism.
Hde suggested maybe teach the commandments. We than went into our appointment
and we asked how her reading was coming. (We gave her 2 Nephi 31 the previous
time) She said that she read it both in English and Indonesian, and was able to
understand it all. We asked her what her thoughts were for the 15th of March. She than expressed her
concerns. She was afraid to make that decsion now when she feels she hasn't
learned enough. She said that she wasn't even close to finishing the Book of
Mormon yet. And she wants to be sure that this is the right thing to do. We
asked her if she believed that the Book of Mormon was true. She responded yes.
Brother Thomsen cut in and explained to Susan ''Sometimes the missionaries are
the bad guys''. He explained that they sometimes pressure baptism to people and
forget to go at your own pace. That pierced me to the heart. I was heart broken.
I don't want to ever feel or even be the bad guy.
Brother Thomsen was able to see in a different perspective. He
could see and feel what Susan might be feeling. And my testimony of member and
missionary work has increased dramatically! We than went on to explain to Susan,
that we are almost done teaching the ''required things before baptism''. We just
wanted to see where her comfort Zone was. We explained that there are few things
that we can teach her now. So we showed her President Monson's April 2013 General Conference on
Obeidence. She loved it and we asked her if she would follow the prophet after
she was baptized and she reponded yes!
Brother Andersen was still on vacation this past Sunday. So I taught
guest class. I taught the 10 Commandments, with a more focus on the Law of
Chastity and Sabbath day. I was a little worried that she wasn't understanding.
But in the middle of the Lesson she was participating and she was able to
comprehend it all. She asked a few questions after guest class, she took notes
and she said that she was going to study them a little bit more. Both of her
Children came to Church yesterday. We found out from last weeks appointment with
Susan that Giovanni, her youngest 8 year old, wants to be baptized, just
because! We are now just waiting to work with the father to see what he thinks
on the matter.
We were able to meet with Finn Poulsen with Bishop and he committed
himself to quit smoking agian. He told us on Thursday that he was going to completely stop by Saturday. He gave us a call the next
day and asked to come and visit him. We checked up on him. He was doing fine. We
asked if he was ready for Saturday, he said that he was, and that it usually takes a
couple days to get over the cravings. We encouraged him to get a Priesthood
Blessing to help him out. He agreed to it. We asked him who should give it. He
responded ''Ældste Read''.......
My heart was beginning to pound. I thought he would ask Elder
Lindstrom because he is better to understand. I asked if that was who he wanted
and he responded yes. I said a quick prayer in my heart, but knew that I was
called to do this. I can't remember very much, besides that I promised him
through his willing efforts he would be able to stop smoking, that his Father in
Heaven loved him and he could be able to get through it. We closed the blessing
and Finn said that I spoke with very fine Danish. He could hear an American
Accent, but he understood it all. We asked him how he felt and he said ''peace,
relaxed and lifted up'' He was able to recognize the power of the Priesthood. It
was an honor and priviledge to have Finn be the first person that I have given a
Danish blessing to! The next day we met with him for a quick visit to see how he
was doing. He responded that he didn't have much of a craving to smoke that day.
What a blessing and what a miracle to be a part of this man's life. I will
deeply miss him when I leave Denmark.
Well I hope everyone has a wonderful week! Thank you all for your love
and support. I hope everyone finds opportunities to open their mouths and be
able to share their testimonies. It is a wonderful thing to do! Vi SES!
-Ældste Jantzen Richard Read
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