Elder Austin Elkins

Hello Everyone! I hope you all had a great, warm week. We sure did here in Holland. It is warming up and becoming so nice! Today was about 17 or 18 degrees celsius which is about 64 degrees :) It was literally one of the best weeks of my mission. So many miracles, so many new experiences, and so much fun. I'm super grateful for it and for what is starting to happen in Zaandam. I'm going to give this email a little bit differently this time. I don't want to do the day by day this time. I'm just going to tell you guys what has happened in a summary. Here we go!

Well, like I said. Miracles. Danny got home this week, and I sent him a simple text saying I hope he got home safe and had fun. To my suprise, I got the best text in return. " Thanks! It was super wonderful to meet your parents. What loving and warm folks! And because Kim and I decided to go for a temple marriage there is a lot to do for you guys ;) let's try to get together somewhere next week!". Wow. Thats all. I have never been happier in my life. I'm so grateful to work with Danny and see his life changing for the better. He is such an amazing man and he has helped me see why I was called to this mission. He is a big part of that, I believe. That just started off the good week. We taught a lot of lessons this week as well. Elder Enslow and I just pray and pray that we will see miracles and be able to teach lessons, and God blesses us. We taught a family of 6. Martha is the Mom, Grace is her friend, and Keith is her 16 year old son. He is a little bit quiet, but is also the coolest, most polite kid I've ever met. He is also the second best 18u soccer player in the country, believe it or not. 2 years ago, AJAX did a thing to try to find one more kid for their 18u team. They invited 300 of the best players in the Netherlands to come try out and play against each other. It came down to Keith, and another kid. They chose the other kid because they said they want the future Messi, not the future Drogba. This kid is unreal. I will get his last name for you guys next week so you can look up his videos. I sat down and introduced the BoM to him after the lesson, and became his best friend. He left the room and told his Mom that we are angels and that he feels like he has known me his whole life. His Mom thanked me with tears for helping him feel like that. That was one of the most softening moments in my mission. I'm grateful for them. We are going to continue to teach the whole family, and baptize them. We took Chelsea with us. She is recently baptized and was our Joint Teach. This was a perfect joint teach! Martha and Chelsea clicked instantly and she painted Chelseas nails, while I was teaching Keith the BoM and Enslow was teaching Grace. So fun. I will never forget that! I also gave my first blessing in Dutch this week. Wow. I won't say much about it, because it was so sacred, but WOW. Miracles haven't seized to be performed. The Priesthood is real, and I have had a strong testimony of that since I was healed last summer as well. I'm so grateful for it. Ibrahim has problems with both of his legs, to the point where he cannot even walk. He is pretty much paralyzed since his surgery 3 years ago, and he get's a ton of pain from it. After the blessing, let's just say, he is doing a lot better ;) Amazing. We also received a really cool referral this week, and were able to teach more. I'm so grateful for it. This mission is amazing. Still, the hardest thing in the world, but when you go to bed smiling, that is when you know it is worth it. When you go to bed in a bad mood, stressed, you still know it is worth it, because it is for the cause of Christ. ;) I'm just going to tell you my testimony of Prayer. I had experiences right before my mission where ALL I COULD DO WAS PRAY. God Listens. God Answers. I promise you. This week was an answer to my prayers, as well as Elder Enslows, as well as yours. Thank you all for praying. This morning, I was reading an article from Thomas S. Monson about prayer and I read a quote that I really liked. 'A man doesn't reach higher standing, then when he is kneeling", or something like that. This is so true. We can think that we can tough out the situation or solve it ourselves, but until we get on our knees, and beg our Father in Heaven for His help, we won't learn. I testify of that. I love you all. Sorry that this wasn't as long as others, but I hope you know that we had a great week. I hope you all did too! Thanks for everything you all do. Tot volgende week!

Elder Elkins