Today we are headed to the mission home in Brussels, staying there for a few days, that will be fun.
This week we set a new baptismal date with Bernard from Mali, Africa. He is really cool. We asked him what he thought about 3 Nephi 11 and he said 'It is true,' then we asked if he'd be baptized and he said, 'yes.' It was really cool.
Other than that all our other appointments fell through, 25 of them to be exact.
But we had a great interviews training and we were able to build the missionaries up and help them out. I also got to give blessings to the three sister missionaries who are struggling and that was really cool. The Spirit was incredibly strong and it was really good.
We also got to do service for the bishop who lives in a pine forest. I got to chop wood and cut a large amount up. It was great!
Monday, August 31, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
August 24, 2009
This morning I went with a member out into the forest (if you can call it that) and stalked deer and black boars. It was really cool. It felt so good to be out in the woods again. It was not the same because it was really flat and you could hear the trains and the highway noise so it was not really out in the wild, but at the same time it was in the wild part of the Netherlands, so that was cool. We got really close to the boars and saw a fair amount of deer.
This past week went by really, really fast and I do not even remember what we did! We set two new baptismal dates withe Rodrique from the Congo and Sjon who is Dutch. The work is going well here. I'm still going strong and sprinting to the end, trying to gain speed the whole time. I'm still growing and maturing.
This past week went by really, really fast and I do not even remember what we did! We set two new baptismal dates withe Rodrique from the Congo and Sjon who is Dutch. The work is going well here. I'm still going strong and sprinting to the end, trying to gain speed the whole time. I'm still growing and maturing.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
August 17, 2009
This week we were in Rotterdam to listen to Elder and Sister Russell Nelson and Elder and Sister Kieijweg and Elder Kopichske. It was incredible!! Their talks were really, really good and they are really nice people. Sister Nelson is really cool, I liked her talk! The whole mission attended the conference, the French and Dutch-speaking missionaries.
We have found tons of new investigators this week and only one of them is Dutch, the rest are African and from South America and China. I love these people, they are awesome.
We have found tons of new investigators this week and only one of them is Dutch, the rest are African and from South America and China. I love these people, they are awesome.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
August 10, 2009
I've been to Rotterdam, Brussels, Utecht, Zwolle and Arnhem. It's been pretty crazy, but also really good.
My new companion and I get along really well and we are getting the work going here. This past week we found six new investigators and hopefully we can really get the teaching pool built up before I leave on September 16. I have no idea where I'm going. I am hoping to go to Sint Niklass, but you never know where you will end up.
All my past baptisms here in Apeldoorn are doing really well and it's great to be here, but I can feel that my time here will soon be up and I'll have to move on to another city.
Yesterday I gave a talk in church, it was fun because I just did it from notes/outline and then I had to try to convert my thought train from English to Dutch, but it turned out well, so I was glad.
This upcoming week we get to go to Rotterdam again to have a meeting with Elder Russell M. Nelson, I'm really excited for that, it should be a really neat experience.
My new companion and I get along really well and we are getting the work going here. This past week we found six new investigators and hopefully we can really get the teaching pool built up before I leave on September 16. I have no idea where I'm going. I am hoping to go to Sint Niklass, but you never know where you will end up.
All my past baptisms here in Apeldoorn are doing really well and it's great to be here, but I can feel that my time here will soon be up and I'll have to move on to another city.
Yesterday I gave a talk in church, it was fun because I just did it from notes/outline and then I had to try to convert my thought train from English to Dutch, but it turned out well, so I was glad.
This upcoming week we get to go to Rotterdam again to have a meeting with Elder Russell M. Nelson, I'm really excited for that, it should be a really neat experience.
Monday, August 3, 2009
August 3, 2009
Alim got baptized and it was awesome...he's such a stud. I hope that someone in the ward will sponser him so that he can go on a mission.
Right now I'm sitting in the mission office emailing. Brussels is a really cool city. We are going to see some of the sights and then eat with one of the members.
Elder Shumway is headed home to Oklahoma on Wednesday and my new companion is Elder Howell. He is from California and a new zone leader. It will be a fun transfer with him.
Right now I'm sitting in the mission office emailing. Brussels is a really cool city. We are going to see some of the sights and then eat with one of the members.
Elder Shumway is headed home to Oklahoma on Wednesday and my new companion is Elder Howell. He is from California and a new zone leader. It will be a fun transfer with him.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
July 27, 2009
This week went by really, really fast. I don't have alot to report, but this week we gave our interview training. It was a lot of work and it was really tiring trying to keep everybody happy and having fun and at the same time get them to learn things. It was about seven hours long, but we pulled it off and it turned out really well. 22 missionaries is alot of missionaries!
Monday we picked up Alim to take him to the Vels to eat dinner and he got into the car and said that he's done smoking weed and he'd thrown all his weed smoking stuff away and that he wants to get baptized on August 1, so pray for him that he can fight the temptation of smoking weed so that his life won't be controlled by this addiction. The Vels were awesome, they invited him to come for dinner with them on Sunday and they gave him their telephone number so if he needs someone to help him or he just needs something to do, he can call them and they'll come pick him up. Alim said afterwards that they felt like parents to him because he doesn't have any.
Alim is from Sierra Leon and he came here when he was seven and how he is nineteen. He almost died in Sierra Leon...he was a child soldier and a ton of bad things happened to him there, then he came here with nothing and was in a foster family that treated him terribly...when he was sixteen he started to live on his own. He's been through alot and he has no one, he has no family and is all alone in this crazy society. My heart breaks everytime I hear more of his story. That really goes for almost every African I meet. They all have very sad stories of the wars and the struggles in Africa. It is heart wrenching. It sure makes me grateful for the life that I have been given when I realize just how good my life has been. I've got no complaints.
We are headed for Utrecht tomorrow for Zone Conference and then the next transfer Elder Russel M. Nelson is coming and Elder Kopiska from the Area Presidency. I get to go to really personal meetings with both of them!!! Cool, eh?
Monday we picked up Alim to take him to the Vels to eat dinner and he got into the car and said that he's done smoking weed and he'd thrown all his weed smoking stuff away and that he wants to get baptized on August 1, so pray for him that he can fight the temptation of smoking weed so that his life won't be controlled by this addiction. The Vels were awesome, they invited him to come for dinner with them on Sunday and they gave him their telephone number so if he needs someone to help him or he just needs something to do, he can call them and they'll come pick him up. Alim said afterwards that they felt like parents to him because he doesn't have any.
Alim is from Sierra Leon and he came here when he was seven and how he is nineteen. He almost died in Sierra Leon...he was a child soldier and a ton of bad things happened to him there, then he came here with nothing and was in a foster family that treated him terribly...when he was sixteen he started to live on his own. He's been through alot and he has no one, he has no family and is all alone in this crazy society. My heart breaks everytime I hear more of his story. That really goes for almost every African I meet. They all have very sad stories of the wars and the struggles in Africa. It is heart wrenching. It sure makes me grateful for the life that I have been given when I realize just how good my life has been. I've got no complaints.
We are headed for Utrecht tomorrow for Zone Conference and then the next transfer Elder Russel M. Nelson is coming and Elder Kopiska from the Area Presidency. I get to go to really personal meetings with both of them!!! Cool, eh?
July 20, 2009
We had an awesome baptism on Saturday. Jeremy is from China and he's incredible. He said that after he received the gift of the Holy Ghost that it felt like fire burning in his chest and he liked it. His English isn't very good, so when he describes how he is feeling it is always with fun words and actions. But his English keeps getting better and better, especially since he read the English Book of Mormon every day. He is really cool.
Sister Aalderink, who got baptized three weeks ago, is getting her patriarchal blessing this week and she's on fire! She has read 'Our Heritage' and 'Our Search for Happiness' since she was baptized, not to mention the scriptures.
The ward is really reaching out to Jeanine and bringing her into the ward family, and also Jimmy, Robert, and Lorenzo. They're all doing really, really well. And Bram, Ronsina, Nelson and Rozita are all starting to come to church regularly. It is all just going really, really well here and I'm loving it.
Tell Addi that I'm anything but trucky...the only reason I make comments in my emails is because ya'll started complaining that I wasn't missing home and didn't want to come home, so I throw those in there to comfort you. Elder Shumway isn't trunky either, because the work would slow down a ton and it would bite trying to get his boing, but he's working hard to the end!
Neither of us have a problem focusing on the task at hand and we're just loving it. I feel so good now, I've never felt so free of burden or concern or worry. The only thing I worry about is the choices that the people make that we're working with, but I know the the Lord will take care of them, so it's not a big deal. I do my thing and do everything I can to get as much done as I can and do it His way and it just all seams to work out really well. Everything just flows smoothly and I love it.
Our whole zone is just moving along, we've got a lot of missionaries that are struggling and that we've been working with, but overall everyone is doing well, even though one of the missionaries ran away and got on an airplane and went home...still don't understand why he just didn't tell us he was done and we could have sent him home instead of having to search all over the country for him...but whatever.
Monday we had our District Leaders Council and we brought all the district leaders and mentors to our house and cooked steak, chicken, mashed potatoes, corn-on-the-cob, and apple and pumpkin pies...it was really good...that as good as the zone leaders council, but still good. And we had a good discussion on how to lead and reach out to other people to lift them up and inspire them to be their best self.
Sister Aalderink, who got baptized three weeks ago, is getting her patriarchal blessing this week and she's on fire! She has read 'Our Heritage' and 'Our Search for Happiness' since she was baptized, not to mention the scriptures.
The ward is really reaching out to Jeanine and bringing her into the ward family, and also Jimmy, Robert, and Lorenzo. They're all doing really, really well. And Bram, Ronsina, Nelson and Rozita are all starting to come to church regularly. It is all just going really, really well here and I'm loving it.
Tell Addi that I'm anything but trucky...the only reason I make comments in my emails is because ya'll started complaining that I wasn't missing home and didn't want to come home, so I throw those in there to comfort you. Elder Shumway isn't trunky either, because the work would slow down a ton and it would bite trying to get his boing, but he's working hard to the end!
Neither of us have a problem focusing on the task at hand and we're just loving it. I feel so good now, I've never felt so free of burden or concern or worry. The only thing I worry about is the choices that the people make that we're working with, but I know the the Lord will take care of them, so it's not a big deal. I do my thing and do everything I can to get as much done as I can and do it His way and it just all seams to work out really well. Everything just flows smoothly and I love it.
Our whole zone is just moving along, we've got a lot of missionaries that are struggling and that we've been working with, but overall everyone is doing well, even though one of the missionaries ran away and got on an airplane and went home...still don't understand why he just didn't tell us he was done and we could have sent him home instead of having to search all over the country for him...but whatever.
Monday we had our District Leaders Council and we brought all the district leaders and mentors to our house and cooked steak, chicken, mashed potatoes, corn-on-the-cob, and apple and pumpkin pies...it was really good...that as good as the zone leaders council, but still good. And we had a good discussion on how to lead and reach out to other people to lift them up and inspire them to be their best self.
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