The End of an Era - Ridge's Last Missionary Email!!!

This is the end of the 101st week of my mission.

A mission lasts 102 weeks. 

This is the last time I'll access my email as a missionary. 

I have a ton to say, and not enough time nor skill to write everything I feel but I'm going to try. My mission means so much to me. I've learned a lot and experience so much and although at times it's felt like an eternity it also is incredible to look back and think that it was two years ago already that I said goodbye to my parents. I feel like I'm a completely different person, yet still the same old Ridge. The craziest part of all is that I'm going to get on a plane, and head home, and after I set foot in America the only thing my mission will be to other people is ''Yeah he served in Denmark''. 

I'm now hitting the writers block that I'm realizing will make it hard for me to give my homecoming speech. Everything I feel like saying falls under the category of a clichè that so many missionaries say while coming home that kind of mean nothing to the people that haven't experienced it for themselves because they've heard it so many times. 

Real quickly... I'll recap some of the biggest lessons I've learned.

    1) We are in charge of our own happiness. 

This one was probably the hardest for me to learn. There was a time on my mission when everything was going against me, and I was young enough in the mission that just doing normal work was super hard anyway. On top of that, I was still in the mindset that I deserved happiness from somebody else. Well in the mission if you don't help yourself then nobodies going to help you. It crushed me. It wasn't until I got up on my own two feet and started making decisions to change my surroundings instead of letting them change me that it all started turning around and life became great again. I started to enjoy my mission and realized that I can be happy regardless the cicumstances. Not that I always am happy constantly, but that I always have the ability to be so. It just takes some work and a good dose of humility. 2 Nephi 2:25

     2) Prayer is powerful

While having a hard time I was talking to my companion. The lesson I learned about prayer came in a moment when I realized that I had explained more of the way I was thinking and feeling to my companion than I ever had to God in prayer. That night I said probably the longest prayer I ever had up to that point in my life and just unleashed all my thoughts and everything to God. No miracle happened instanteously, but it started a habit that became a principal of power. I started noticing answers to prayers, I started noticing God's hand in the thoughts or feelings or small events throughout the day. Not that I was just thinking about them more because I'd prayed more, but because there was a difference in the way I felt and acted. A change of mindset. I believe the scriptures call it a ''Change of heart''. 

    3) Our desires matter

I've talked about this one on email before. But I think it's incredible that the scriptures tell us we will be judged based on our obedience  and the desires of our hearts. Whoa. Sometimes I follow the commandments, even though I'd rather not. I love the idea though that we can change our own desires. I don't think anything requires more humility that that! But we can change what we want, even though it's really really difficult.

    4) Danish is freaking hard.

Yep.

I can't trully explain everything. So I won't bore you with more. But I am just super excited to get back home and to take full advantage of everything I feel like I was wasting before I came out here. I don't know about you but I think I sound different from the first emails I was sending home. I read a few of them recently... oh gosh... 

Super happy to be able to see all of you again. For those of you still out in the field. Keep on keeping on. You're doing great things! 

I have a testimony that God loves us. Always remember that if nothing else. 

Vi ses!

Standing Taller On My Knees - Feb. 9, 2015

So I've been kind of thinking about prayer lately... in the past my prayers were really dreadful if they ever happened. I'd usually kneel down and in my head say something like, ''Well you're all knowing and powerful right? So you should know what I want and need... kay bye''. but then what is it that makes them as powerful as the apostles and all my church teachers seem to think they are? I know it sounds cliche but I've been learning a lot that prayers really aren't for Gods sake. He knows us perfectly, so it's not like he doesn't know something until we tell him in prayer. He still loves us the same, and is going to interact with us the same way. So what is it? I've noticed when I pray, it just makes me feel like God is more real in my life. I feel the spirit easier, I notice more blessings, I'm more grateful, I expect things to work out more often because my faith is strengthened, and a lot more. Sometimes after talking to my mission president I feel way uplifted, so shouldn't it be the same way but even more so with God? I don't know. Sometimes when I kneel down it's hard to not just fall asleep. Maybe I should just start praying at a different time of day :) 

Anywho..... SURPRISE! Transfers. Elder Reimschussel is gone. I didn't mention they were coming up because I thought for sure we'd stay together for two. But he's gone and I'm sitting with Elder Bateman (not batman) from the great old city of MAPLETON Utah :D He went to MMHS so we know a ton of the same people. Should be a great companionship. We're both pretty experienced in the mission so we should be able to set a good example and help the zone out this transfer for sure. Saying all the goodbyes for Elder Reimschussel was interesting. I finally got some pictures though so here ya go!

This is the Jensen family. I'm taller than I look, I'm just on my knees ;) This family is great. They are a terrific friend to the missionaries and we've been studying PMG with them once a week for like 15 minutes just to try and get the ball rolling on the promises of Elder Ballard about studying PMG with members. The girl standing up on the right side is named Camilla. She's great! She's read the Book of Mormon, D&C, and met with missioanries forever. She wants to be baptized way bad but is just waiting to straighten some problems her family and boyfriend has with the church so they don't like... disown her. Way awesome girl though!

We also ate a ton of Vietnamese food with a sweet old lady in the ward who doesn't speak a ton of danish but was converted through a Vietnamese Book of Mormon and has adored the missioanries and filled our stomachs to bursting point ever since. 

I'm way excited to start the transfer with Elder Bateman. Because of the unexpected switch I'm not really sure if I'll end up finishing my mission in Aalborg or not... but I know I have this next transfer! We're going to crank down and really try and get the area going. We had an area president come tell us that we all have the power to turn an area around in one transfer period. I've seen it happen many times and I really want to get Aalborg up and running if I have to leave. It's not that we don't have a lot going on right now... but the people we have just aren't really that positive.... YET :)

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^ Us being amazed by a members phone... haven't used Facebook or Instagram in like 20 months. 

It'll be fun to be back as the companion that's been in the area longer. Much more decision making power. If you all have any other creative finding methods than the ones you have already sent to me, please speak up. We do just about everything. As long as my bike will stop getting flat tires we should be seeing the fruits come soon. Hopefully not just pineapples.

Håber I vil have det godt :) var det ikke et dejligt brev mor?

Ældste Durrant                        

Borups Alle 128 1.tv                  

2000 Frederiksberg

Denmark​

Story of my life, I have no time because of college. Sorry!

Real quick.

The Zone Leaders sent out a text challenging us to use the Word ''Ananas'' (Pineapple) in a street contact. So later that day I stopped a man on the street and told him that me and my companion were really hungry and wanted to go by a fruit at the store on the corner, but that we couldn't remember the word for pineapple because we're American. He looked at me awkwardly and told me I had surprisingly good Danish... then he thought about it for a second and said that he thought it was Ananas but he wasn't sure if he was thinking of the right fruit. I told him that sounded right, and then we awkwardly sat there as I scrambled to try and find a way to turn the situation into a conversation. Nothing came to my mind and the man just walked away.... One of the more interesting street contacts I've had I must say. How do you relate a pineapple to the church in a sentance or two, anyone have any ideas?

On a more spiritual note we've really been learning and talking a lot about our intentions. It's what we want to do and what we are trying to do that matters much more than what actually happens. We've been working fairly hard this week even though one might not think so from the numbers we got. I've never been one to focus on the numbers though. The biggest problem is just that our friends we are teaching don't have those good intentions. Things like laziness or business get in the way far too often. If I could find someone that has a sincere desire to learn I would be loving life.

Hopefully that'll be soon.

I'll write more once I'm done with college stuff. It gets harder and harder to write each week though haha. Sorry!

Ældste Durrant                        

Borups Alle 128 1.tv                  

2000 Frederiksberg

Denmark​

Not A Tender Mercy - Jan. 26, 2015

My mom asked for a longer letter as a tender mercy. I'm sorry to report Mom, that this is not going to be a tender mercy :( I have like no time casue I've gotta work on a college application and some other stuff and our P-Day ends early today because our district is having an activity on Wednesday and we're using our P-Day hours over there instead. 

But all goes forward here in Aalborg. We've been hitting a little bit of a wall as far as energy goes. For those of you who never have lived in Scandinavia during the winter... I'll say it is harder than you believe. We're pushing through though and I've found the best cure is just good and honest work. Maybe it works at home or maybe it's just a missionary thing, I don't know. But if you are feeling tired, sick, or lost, try turning your thoughts away from yourself and instead direct them towards God and be thankful. It wakes you up and gets you going and happy :) Also makes me enjoy the work more. The best times on my mission have been when I have cared enough about the people I am serving to have them on my mind all the time instead of myself. 

Not really any crazy stories this week other than that my little brother is a boss at basketball. MMHS is doing great! Woot. 

Had interviews with president, started studying PMG consistantly with some members, taught a girl that's been investigating forever but can't get baptized because of her family... and yeah. Not much else to report. I'll try and have some more time next week. Sorry! 

Still love you Mom :) 

Bye!

Ældste Durrant                        

Borups Alle 128 1.tv                  

2000 Frederiksberg

Denmark​

Fifth Time is the Charm - Jan. 19, 2015

Well not only am I on my fifth area but this week we managed to burn four seperate batches of fries.... we just keep forgetting about them in the oven, is that a sign that I shouldn't cook? I'm scared for try number five.

Anywho. Sorry I'm late today. We had to do some emergency service for a lovely old couple composed of a Swedish woman and a Norwegian man that live in Denmark together. Quite confusing to manage the different accents. I can understand Norwegian and I can understand about 50% of Swedish... but luckily they both spoke Danish with accents :) 

This week we taught a darwinist man who works as a dietician! He gave me some very interesting books to read after my mission and I gave him a book of mormon. He gave me some tips on my diet to get bigger and I gave him some tips on his spiritual diet to get his testimony bigger haha. He's also crazy smart.... for some reason I have begun to teach a lot of genious people. Kind of a change from the usual crowd we find. Hopefully we'll see some progress! 

Had a zone training all about getting our Greenie Fire back. Easier said than done. It's been hard to let everything smack me in the face again and be all excited just to try and knock a door or talk to someone in Danish. I am however, way excited about the ward here. Aalborg has some incredible members and they are all very missionary minded! We seem to be hitting a little snag with a lot of the people we're teaching though. We got burned several times this week and ended up with a lot of scheduling. 

Other than that, not a lot to report. I've gotta get better at taking pictures again because we didn't take any this week... my bad. 

Ooh, before I go - I can't remember if I already said this but I'm reading the whole book of mormon this transfer and hi-lighting everything that has to do with having a pure heart. If you've never read the Book of Mormon by topic like Elder Bednar suggests I would recommend it! This is my third time. 

See you all soon!

Ældste Durrant                        

Borups Alle 128 1.tv                  

2000 Frederiksberg

Denmark​

The Last Pack - Jan. 12, 2015

Hey! Not a lot of time because Aalborg is way busy and I'm working on some college apps to boot.

We taught a decent amount this week. The problem here seems to be that we can't fit everything into our schedule which is a nice change from my last area where we worried about what we could do all day. The interesting stories always come while we're busy. For example this week we taught a man who has been meeting with missionaries for a while. He lets a lot of people stay at his home as a kind of service and there was one lady who had been staying at his house for the last several months. Well in the middle of our discussion with this man she packed up all her stuff and told him she was moving on because she didn't feel safe at his house and then stormed out carrying everything she owned. Definitely interrupted the talk haha! Apparetnly she had escaped from a psych ward in Holland and had somehow found her way to a random corner of Denmark. The people we meet here...... Anywho lesson crashed because he got way distracted and upset. So we kind of just left.

Also talk a wicked smart man named Jacob, for the first time in a long time I felt like somebodies arguments stood up to my own. He's crazy learned on all science and religion and is a stalwart atheist at the moment. I learned I can't really go at it with him from a science standpoint because his arguments kind of punched mine in the face. He's way nice though and it helped me remember I just have to stick to the basics a lot of the time and that spiritual matters are a bit different than everything else we learn about on this earth. Lesson learned :) 

Then just a few days ago a really hard storm hit Northern Jylland where I'm serving. We got news about it and advice to stay inside or close to where we could be safe while we were on a bus to a far corner of our area. Oops! Well we decided just to do it anyway and ended up battling our way through sheets of rain blowing sideways and showed up at some mans door looking like drowned rats. He let us in though and we taught a great first lesson which ended in him saying he'd come to church! Unfortunately he didn't... but oh well. I was just glad the bus system kept running through the storm or else we would have been in big trouble. 

Another story I've gotta tell - we met with Abdi again, the man with skitzo. He's doing so well! He has a great understanding of his situation telling us about how he's in the facility because he knows there is something wrong with his mind and that he knows it's because of all the horrible things that happened in his youth. He made his own plan of how to overcome it and part of it involved stopping smoking! We talked about the word of wisdom and he took out his last pack of ciggarettes and handed them to me and told me to throw them out on my way home. I did, but I kept the box for a memory of it. 

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Hopefully he'll see some progress soon and move back to his normal low security place so he can have a bit more freedom. He really likes our visits and say they help him a lot. Love the guy.

Anywho, we're working with a lot of great people and we play basketball every Wednesday which was my birthday! I'm twenty years old now!  :( That's so weird! Thanks to all of you who sent me birthday wishes! I'm really starting to realize that the time for everything I've ever thought about doing on my mission is now cause the clocks ticking times up over pow and I'll snap back to reality. 

Love you all, gotta run! Til next time :) 

Ældste Durrant                        

Borups Alle 128 1.tv                  

2000 Frederiksberg

Denmark​

Light in the Darkness - Jan. 5, 2015

Whoa. Aalborg is great! The ward here is incredible and super missionary minded. This last year they had the most baptisms in the mission. We're working with a lot of good people including a man that just converted from Islaam and is working on breaking the news to his family because as of now they don't really believe he's serious. 

The new companion is great, the apartment... wasn't. It looked like a bomb shell had hit the place when I showed up. We had to spend Jan 1st indoors because of all the drunk parties that were still going on and spilling onto the streets. So we did some crazy cleaning and now I can barely even recognize the place which is great. 

I feel like I've just finally figured out how to come into an area. I've started off Aalborg on a much better foot than any other area I think. I've just gotten to know the members quicker, learned the area faster, and have found my pattern already. I think it's going to be great. The hard part is simply the city itself. A lot of people drink in Denmark. Everyone drinks in Aalborg. There's a lot of bad stuff in Denmark, but in Aalborg it's plastered on the walls and blown up all over the path we have to bike to church. Oh yeah, I'm back on a bike. Gonna get some strong calfs these last 5 months :) 

Here's a pic of my last appointment with Familien Steen, they're great!

And another member family, the Vestergaards.

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And one of our accidental border stop on our way home from Skyping

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​Those were the last of my Sønderborg adventures.

However one thing I'd like to say before I zip off is just that I've learned a lot recently about the light the gospel brings. To some, it's an intellectual light. We started working with a man who has searched for years to discover what makes the religious mind tick and he has a billion thoughts and theories and has read the bible nine million times and is still enthralled by the religious school of thought. He has a different view on our visits than another guy I've just become friends with named Abdi. Abdi is currently 23 years old and in a mental care facility because he has Schizophrenia. Abdi hasn't had the same intellectual journey as our other friend, however we still bring a light to him in a different way. Abdi says that each time we come over it helpes him. He's very proud of the fact that he's been clean from drugs for 4 whole years. He loves working out and shows me his 'muscles' when we come over and gives me high fives. And although he still has the same responsibilities and control of someone around 12 or so he tells us he feels the light we bring and that it helps him to remember his prayers and to fight the urge to fight the other people in the complex like he's gotten in trouble for in the past. He's naturally drawn to the truth and the light just like a moth. One of the purest hearts I've ever met.

So remember that testimony you carry is a light. The darker your surroundings, the clearer it can be seen. Clearly you can see I've learned something from the dark winters here.

Love you all, P-day's cut short today by a lesson but hey, no complaints from me!

Ældste Durrant                        

Borups Alle 128 1.tv                  

2000 Frederiksberg

Denmark​