Elder Austin Elkins

Very quick week! Time is flying by!

This week was a very fast one. Not a lot happened though, but it was still fun! On Monday, we just had our normal Pday and went shopping and I didnt buy anything. Tuesday, we had district meeting and this was a great one. We also met with some potential investigators and made some return appointments. Wednesday, We went on splits with the Zone Leaders. I was with Elder Muse, and he is a very cool guy. I learned a lot from him and admire his style. At doors, even if people slam the door in our face, he will ring it again and ask if he can touch their hair, or just tell them that they have great teeth or something. Very funny guy ahha. He makes it fun. Thursday, We had a lesson with Lillian and taught her the word of wisdom. She accepted it perfectly and will be baptized next week! So excited. We also had to spend the night in Deventer at the Zone Leaders house and spend the night with them again so we had to travel that night a little bit. The ZLs are so incredible! Muse is hilarious, and Eastmond is such an incredible and cool missionary. I admire them both! We spent 4 nights with them this week. Its been great. Friday, I went to Brussels to get my legalization. I traveled with Elder Peterson from the MTC to Leiden, and from Leiden, we took the van to Brussels. There were like 8 of us in the van, and we met a bunch of other missionaries in Belgium. I saw and talked to Sister Brophy for the first time on Friday! This was so fun and something that I was looking forward to. She is doing great and it was fun to see her! I also saw and hung out with Elder Hunt and also my MTC comp, Elder Sudweeks. They are all doing so well and I´m so glad that I was able to see them. The Belgian Waffles are incredible as well. Such a gorgeous city and somewhere that I will definitely be back to see after my mission. I also saw Mannican Pis, which is the famous peeing baby statue. So tight. Saturday, we traveled back from deventer because we slept at the ZLs house again. We had a lesson and ate Ollie Bollen for dinner with Esther. She is doing well and really strong. Sunday was church. This was the primary program and it was so cute and fun to see. So great. I had to translate for the first time and that went swell. Dutch is still hard but coming along! It was a great day! Last night, we had a lesson with Dhana and it was the most spiritual lesson I have ever seen. Me and Elder Alston taught in great unity and the spirit led it so much. Some of the things I said I had know idea I was capable of. It wasnt me though! Thats for sure. Sorry this was a boring email, just not much happened. This next week will be great. We have 5 first lessons coming up and hopefully some baptisal dates made. I love it here! I´m glad you are all doing well. Its starting to get freezing here and the Winter is going to be brutal. So will Christmas haha. It gets dark at 4 now too. So weird! Its dark here before you guys even wake up! I hope you all have a great week, and I will make a better email next week. Thanks for all you do! I look forward to your letters!

Elder Elkins