Goede middag allemaal! It has already
been another week, and I am back in this library writing you all. I just
got done watching Tysons football highlights, and that always sparks my
day, and gets me going on a high note. That kid is incredible! Holy
cow.
The mission life is a blast.
I am enjoying my time and learning so much. I was worried that I would
be one of those missionaries who doesn't recognize a change in himself,
but wow. I look back and I cannot even remember who or what I used to
be. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father has changed who I am and has
given me a very strong testimony of the gospel. Think about it. We can't
gain testimonies by ourselves. That's why prayer plays such a vital
role in gaining a testimony. A testimony is a gift, and I have one. What
a blessing that is.
My testimony
does get a little tried when I hear about the plague that BYU is going
through. So many good, amazing young athletes who are just going down
with injuries and losing. ;) It is pretty typical though. Glad I am
here! Go Cowboys! :)
Genk Belgium
is still on fire. We received 8 referrals from the facebook project this
last week, and that has been really nice. The referrals are our number
one priority right now, so we are doing our best to look them up. I feel
like a lot of time is wasted sitting 2 hours on a bus, driving through
gorgeous Belgian fields, castles, and villages, to go look up a referral
who isn't home, but then I remember that this is the Lords work, and I
rely on Him. For example. On Saturday, I was on exchanges with an Elder
who is on his second transfer. I wanted to be a good example, get to
know him better, and teach him a little bit as well. Our day was planned
out to go look up 3 referrals, one after another. We made a daily goal
for the work and that was "open our mouths". When we travel to go look
up all of these people, we need to stay diligent and "preach by the
way". Heavenly Father WILL bless us, and I have seen that all throughout
my mission. This is completely necessary, especially in the
Belgium/Netherlands mission. We went out and knocked doors while waiting
to catch the bus. We had about 20 minutes, so we parked our bikes and
locked them. I come back after 20 minutes, and my tire is popped. That
was a big bummer! Now I have to replace my tube. We had to catch our bus
in 10 minutes, and had to run a mile to the station. In the rain, with
big bags on our shoulder. It was game. We ran and ran, looking like big
fools, but it was worth it. We barely made it on time, got on a bus, and
relied on the public transportation schedule the whole rest of the day.
Throughout the day, we taught a lesson on the door, looked up our
referral, made two appointments for next week, and found 5 new
potentials. This was Saturday. Thursday, and Friday also turned out
similar to this. We plan for certain things, accidentally take a
wrong bus, or miss a bus, but there is always a reason. Everyweek, the
Lord shows me His power. This week, he wanted to show me to trust in him
and that everything happens for a reason. We had a great week. This
next week will be crazy. Lots of exchanges, temple conference on
Wednesday, and we have to go to Nederland on Tuesday to sleep over. I am
really excited, but sometimes I do think it would be nice to just
chilll in good ol Genk Belgie. I love you guys, and I hope that you have
a great week. I will continueu to pray for you! Fall is in the air, and
it is really hard for me to believe that it is already here. Unreal.
I love you all! Tot volgende keer!
Veel liefde,
Elder van Elkins
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