Email September 7, 2015

Email September 7, 2015 – Elder Kenneth William Burton

Bunch of Burtons

Well.. crazy week! We've only been in our area sense Wednesday evening and then have been way busy with getting Elder Curnow settled in... buying a bike took forever. We went to a store where Elder Curnow picked out his new bike and all the other things needed for it such as lights and locks. And then his card didn't work. We walked out to two different ATM's with no luck. The next morning after checking him into the commune we tried one more ATM, just hoping it would work... and it did! He was able to pull some money out and we walked all the way back out to the bike shop place.. its actually slightly more like a Homedepot, where we were able to get the bike. Then within 48 hours he ran over a small rock, puncturing the tire. The problem is we didn't know the rock was still in the tire so we just pumped it up to get to an appointment on time, it went flat again... so we pumped it up again, and I believe there was one more round of pumping. Turned out every time the tire went flat it moved slightly inside the tire and so when we pumped it up we would puncture a new hole. We were then sitting there fixing the tire and couldn't figure out why we could still feel air coming out after patching the whole. Well, we had four different holes! They were all just too far apart from each other to be able to cover them with the same patch so we ended up not having enough time to fix it and were back to walking to our eating appointment that night. The next morning though we found a brand new tire in the apartment that was the exact size as Elder Curnow's tire, so we were able to just replace the tube.

Now we're up and running though... or should I say biking, so that's good. We'll be able to make it to appointments on time now.

Elder Curnow is great! He comes from Colorado, and is the oldest of seven. He's great at Danish for only having been through the MTC. He has a much broader vocabulary than I did when I came out. 

It was such a neat opportunity to go back to Holbæk last week. Its been about a year! We walked past a Dominoes Pizza place that had opened while I was there and they had advertisements out for their first year anniversary. I was mainly just surprised by how normal it felt to be walking the streets there again. The city didn't seem to have changed at all. I could tell thought that I had. My perspective was different. My mind felt more clear. It was defiantly a neat experience. We were able to go visit some of the people I had taught. We stopped by a guy named Jonas, who we had dropped right before I left and had a nice conversation with him. He remembered me, so I guess that's good. The great thing is he's willing to try again. To begin meeting with the Elders again and searching to find out if God really is there. I challenged him to test it out. Rather than to just read the Book of Mormon with the intent to see if its true, we challenged him to read it with the intent to do what it teaches. We testified of the power of obedience and the blessings that come, and that through living the principles and following the commandments taught in the Book of Mormon he would see countless blessings come into his life and through that, recognize the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, and come to know that there is a God who is his heavenly father. He's willing to try it.

We visited with Mike as well, witch was a lot of fun. He's such a great guy! He missed his baptismal date a few weeks ago, but is continuing to work and learn. My very last lesson with him a year ago I remember hearing him say for the first time "I believe in God". On Tuesday I had the incredible opportunity to hear him say "I know Joseph Smith is a prophet, and that he restored Christs church to the earth". We were able to set a new date with him for October. Right now his biggest concern is his parents not accepting his decision. He's planning on moving out soon anyway, but it would be great if his parents hearts were softened before. He has strong faith, and a strong desire to follow Christ.

There is always such a great feeling when you are in the right place at the right time. That you are doing the will of the father. I felt that so strongly in the two days I was back in Holbæk. The Lords hand is in this work.

Oh, I was also able to see a young family that I taught more than a year and a half ago in my first area, Odense. Lasse and Pernilla and their son Matti. Great family! They have been investigating around three years now I think, and have just moved into Holbæks area. So that was neat! I was really surprised they remembered me. After so long and having met so many missionaries. It was a lot of fun to see them again. I feel like there is a new light in them that wasn't there before. Their definitely growing from the gospel.

I hope you all are having a great week. Stay safe!

Meget Kærlighed,

Elder Burton