Groetjes uit Holland! Another week. So
weird! This week was decently long, but it came and went. It was a good
one. Rained almost everyday, still no snow. So funny how the Dutch were
freaking out that this would be the worst winter every, but it might not
ever snow! I'm not complaining ;) Elder Yocom and I had a fun week. I
learned a lot. Not only knowledge wise, but also who I am! Still working
on that part, but I'll figure it out one day :) I have kinda been out
of the loop with the Olympics and had no idea that they were this year
until an inactive told us that the Opening Ceremonies were on Friday.
That was so cool to hear. I love those! Then in the newspapers, they are
freaking out about how the Dutch won Gold, Silver, and Bronze in the
Ice Skating or something. The Dutch are unreal at that though, so no
surprise there! We might be able to watch a little of it next week at an
investigators house so that would be cool! I hope that you all have had
a great week. Nothing is really new here. Just working hard, learning
new things, and pressin' on. Life is Good. :)
Monday
- P-Day. Shopped around with the Zone Leaders. Love them. Bought some
great things, and also promised my parents that I wouldn't spend anymore
money for awhile ;) Great day!
Tuesday
- Great start to the day with spiritual studies, then District Meeting
in Amsterdam. It is so weird just being in Amsterdam as a non-tourist.
It's unreal actually haha. After District Meeting, Elder Yocom and I
went to go look up Ibrahim and Revalino to try to get appointments with
them. They have been really hard to get contact with lately! We will
keep trying! Then we did a lot of finding. It is still hard to find,
because of the limited Dutch, but honestly it get's better and better
every week. That is what's nice. I love finding too! Great day. We had
an appointment with an investigator named Melieke at 8. She let us in
but only had a few minutes so we just gave her a spiritual message and
prayer. She has been sick and in the hospital lately so it has been
really hard to get with her as well. We made a return appointment though
for Thursday. Great day!
Wednesday
- Studies, then we were supposed to meet with an inactive, but he
canceled so we just did some finding. We found for hours! It's been
pretty nice. We headed over to Zaanse Schans, which is absolutely
gorgeous. It is in our are and is really Dutch, so we went over to
contact over there. It is beautiful. I will post pictures too. The
windmills and canals are unreal. You will see. So fun. We didn't have
much success, but the photos were worth it!
Thursday
- Studies, Contacting in the Centrum, then we went to an appointment
with Danny! Gosh I love this guy so much. We took Daniel with us as a
joint teach. Daniel is amazing and is a really good friend of mine here
in the ward. We had our lesson with Danny, and we watched the Joseph
Smith movie. The spirit literally pounded. I love that movie. After the
movie, we asked Danny how he felt and if he felt the spirit. He replied
'Of Course". That was so cool! We told him that is the same feeling that
he will get when he prays. He said, I know that feeling. I can feel if
radiating off of your guys' energy. That was really cool to hear from an
investigator. He told us that he KNOWS without a doubt that he will
receive an answer to his prayer, but it is a little hard for him to pray
because he knows that when it is true, he will have to change a few
things. He is such a golden investigator though and he committed to
praying before we go back over this Thursday. Great appointment. We went
back to Zaandam, and I ate my first Doner since I was with Elder Alston
in Enschede. It was lekker. We then had an appointment with Aspacia
that night. We went over with another joint teach. His name is Vincent
and he is a return missionary. Unreal good too. We were planning on
watching the Restoration with her, but we ended up reading Alma 32 with
her because she didn't read it between lessons. This was a great lesson
and we taught faith and prayer. She asked if she could pray right then
and we let her. The spirit was so strong again! Gosh, I love it. We had a
great lesson with her, and will also meet back with her on Thursday.
Friday
- I was on Splits with on the AP's today. Elder Van Komen. Sickest
missionary in our mission , no doubt. We are good friends and I had a
great time with him. We went and visited two inactives, and found for
hours. I have a huge testimony of Exchanges. My whole mission, I have
seen numerous miracles on Exchanges. We were expecting a few today. We
found, and got 5 potential investigators. It was pouring all day long,
and we had a great time just walking around and telling life stories. It
was great. We talked to everybody, and gave away a few Book of Mormons.
We decided to go see if Luma and Anna were home since Anna just had
surgery for Breast Cancer. We walked over there, missed the bus halte
and ended up walking a distance. We got to the house, and rang the
doorbell. Next thing we know, a young man walks up to us and asks if we
are the missionaries from Lumas church. We told him yes. He is the
father of Lumas baby, Corolina. He said that he wants us to teach him
about us and our religion. He is such a great guy. His name is Andy and
is 24. He took us back to his house, we gave a restoration lesson, then
he took us home. MIRACLE. Return appointment for this week Friday. If we
wouldn't have missed the bus halte, and talked to people on the way,
then we wouldn't have met him. We would've missed him. That was cool. We
then went home and ate, then went to play Soccer at the church with the
young men, and the other 6 missionaries in the ward. So fun. Europeans
are unreal at soccer. That's all I'm gonna say haha.
Saturday
- Studies, then took a BoM to a potential. We made an appointment with
her for this week. Baptismal date coming for her as well! Then we looked
up 2 more potentials and went home to weekly plan. This week is Elder
Yocoms last week in Zaandam, so we made some great goals and will work
harder than ever! We then went to Gerphals house to have a Chocolate
party and eat his German food. He bought a ton of German Chocolate.
Literally UNREAL. He is a great cook too. Such a fun night. We always
have a great time over there. Good day.
Sunday
- (HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAIGE!) Church. We were expecting Danny, and Aspacia,
but Danny was sick and Aspacia didn't show up. That was a bummer! It
was a great day though. I love church so much. After church, there were
four baptisms! That was literally beautiful to see. So much white. I
love it so much. You can literally see the light in these peoples eyes
when they come out of the water. Perfect. Daarom ben ik hier! Fun day.
We went home, ate, then did some contacting and look ups. Rained all
week, and today as well.
Well,
that is my week. It was a good one. This next one will be even better.
Yocom is leaving next week, so we are going to go so hard this week. We
have a lot of cool things planned. Tomorrow we have Zone Conference in
Apeldoorn. Right by Enschede! I will see Elder Alston there and some of
my other buddies. I'm looking forward to it! I'm excited to tell you all
about this week, next week.
I
want to give you guys a though. I have been thinking a lot about it
lately. One of my biggest focus points as a missionary is, Love. Love is
much more than just what people thing it is. It isn't romantic, it
isn't just relationship related, but if we have Love for others and
truly care about them, this is called Charity. Charity is a 'pure' love
for other people. Christ demonstrated this perfectly when he was on
earth. While he was hanging on the cross, he begged God to forgive the
people who mocked and criticized him. This is Charity. Christ loved
people. He loved people so much, that he was willing to help them with
whatever they needed. We aren't asked as people to help people with
whatever they need, because quite frankly, that is impossible. But what
we are asked to do, is to love our neighbor, as we love ourselves. We
have Charity for other people is what this is asking us to do. We are
willing to help them with whatever they need. What I have learned
quickly out here, is that I cannot help people with absolutely
everything by curing them of their faults, or weaknesses, but what I can
do is I can help them by giving them Love and Support. Sometimes that
is all it takes for other people to develop the strength they need to
get through a struggle, or overcome an obstacle. Love will be the
definition of my mission. I cannot be a missionary without it. I love
the people here. I love the time I have here. It is the hardest thing
that I have ever done, but Loving helps me focus on other people, and
get myself to work. My dad always told me "Attitude is Altitude". I live
by this motto. There are rough days out here. This isn't an easy
mission, and never will be, but if I love other people, and shift my
attitude to wanting to help others because of that love, then it will be
the best day of my life, even if it was a bad numbers day. I hope that
you all have a great weak. I love you all, and I'm grateful for your
support. I pray for you all everday!
Love,
Elder Elkins
No comments:
Post a Comment