Fest I Nord- Great Leaders Speak- President Douglas J. Olauson-President of the Copenhagen Denmark Mission

Wednesday night, at Fest I Nord, we heard from our own mission president- President Olauson--President of the Copenhagen, Denmark Mission. He is a former Chaplin (27 Years) for the United States Navy. During a testimony meeting the day after his talk, a sister missionary who had served under President Olausen said: "I loved to see my Mission President. He is like a loveable teddy bear."

A few months ago, he gave us these special coins. I wrote about them in a past blog entitled "The Whole Armor of God..." He has great love for his missionaries. We carry these coins with us to remember who we are.

I think that his message here at Fest I Nord was the best talk I have ever heard him give. He has a genuine love for these young adults. He reminded us that we are the "sum total" of our choices. He recalled a season in his life when he made some pretty dumb choices.

At the age of fifteen he had a great desire to be popular. One day, he and his buddys decided to go cliff jumping into a shallow reservoir. Some of his friends gathered at the bottom of the cliff. They cheered him on, "Come on, you can do it." He hesitated at the top. He thought, "This is stupid." He would have to run, leap out to miss the rocks, and hope that the water was deep enough to land safely.

His friends kept encouraging him. He thought as he jumped, " I am so young. Why am I doing this?" But he couldn't let his friends down.

He ran as fast as he could, leaped across the rocks, and painfully belly-flopped into the water. Fifteen guys cheered- Yah!..and then one of the fellows said, "Whats for Lunch?"

President Olauson thought, "I just about gave my life for these guys, but all I was worth was five seconds of entertainment."

At Fest I Nord President Olauson asked all five hundred students to write down two things..(not to share with others):
1. I chose the right. Write down a time when you made a wise decision.
Describe what happened.
2. I didn't choose the right. Describe a time that you were not proud of
your choice, something that you were sorry about.

President reminded us to not get so complex in our decisions that we forget to turn to God for answers. He read this sweet story about a man who believed that God lived under the bed. Click on the pages to enlarge them for reading.

He asked us "turn to someone next to you- (take three minutes to tell each other) and ask "What have you learned about life by choosing the right?"

Keep a list of your good and not so good choices every day.
He asked us to remember- there is a right and wrong in decisions. We have a choice. Heavenly Father is not forcing us to choose the right. He will guide us but he wants us to freely choose the right.

Lorenzo Snow once said, "The Lord has not given us the gospel that we may go around mourning all the days of our lives."

Elder Wirthlin of the twelve continues in his article "The Abundant Life".." The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not a religion of mourning and gloom. The faith of our fathers is one of hope and joy. It is not a gospel of chains but a gospel of wings."

The Savior proclaimed, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. John 10:10

There is joy in the effort to choose the right. Thank you, President for helping us to think about our daily choices. See you again, next year at Fest I Nord.