December 16, 2014

Goedemiddag allemaal!

I am emailing you all from an internet shop right in the middle of Bahgdad... Not really, but that's what it feels like. It is great! ;)

What a busy week we had last week. I cannot believe that it is Monday, the 15th of December! Unreal., but I guess I need to just somehow accept the fact that it goes fast. We had a great week. It was definitly probably the new "busiest' week of my mission. Last week was transfers, so Elder Moomey, my former companion, wanted to make sure he got his goodbyes in, and we were able to teach a couple of lessons. On Wednesday, I was at the train station in Leiden all day, helping missionaries get to and from their cities! What is great about being the Zone Leader here, is we get to go to Leiden for transfers. That is where all the new greenies go, as well as everyone who is going home, so I was able to say goodbye to everyone, and welcome all the new missionaries! It is so great. This last group that went home was actually pretty sad. In my MTC group, we had 29 Elders, and no Sisters. The group that just went home was all of the last Sisters that have been here longer than me. It was like seeing some of my group finishing their missions, and it really put everything into perspective for me. It was great to see Sister Brophy as she was passing through to get to the misson office. She was a great Sister! It was just a very busy day, but a great one because I was able to be with my new companion! Elder Torniainen from Finland. How cool is that! He has been here 3 months less than I have, but was also trained by Elder Alston, so technically he is my mission brother. It is a lot of fun. He is learning quickly, and is going to be a great help to the Zone. This is his first transfer as a Zone Leader, and was never a District Leader, so it has been fun teaching him and helping him take on the new role. He is a great leader, and missionaries love him!

Our first weekend together was crazy! We had to prepare our Zone Vision, and had meetings all weekend, and also prepared a little bit for Zone Training this week. We are still very busy doing that, but it is all coming together. We will be having our Zone Training on Thursday.

Being a leader is always a great blessing, and it gives us the opportunity to do missionary work in a different way. A day doesn't go by that I don't learn something, and it is amazing to be able to serve others. I will give a quick example.

Thursday was Elder T's and my first day together. We had lessons planned, dinner appointment, all after we planned with Zuster Training Leider for the Zone Vision. While we were planning, I got a call from the Senior Couple asking if we had a busy day... Elder R, the senior couple elder, explained that his blood sugar is over 400 and doesn't feel good at all! He told me he has a Dr. Appt, but needs a ride cause his wife doesn't have her european license. Of course we canceled all that we had, and served them. They asked if we would take Zr. R to institute to be with the Young Single Adults and help cook for them. We sent the Sisters to our appointment, and helped. This was a great start to the transfer to be honest. I think it was a good opportunity for Elder T and I do just have a great learning experience. That is what is great. We do things like that, but are still blessed immensely.

As of late, our investigator pool is suffering, but we are very motivated this transfer to work hard, be obedient, and see blessing. We know that the Lord has many prepared people this transfer for us to teach, and we are going to find them. I know it.

Christmas is next week! Can you believe that? So fast. It doesn't feel like Christmas yet, but I am sure that it will next week. Skyping will be great, and I look forward to it! We have a big stake party on Sunday that will be fun! We had Stake Conference this weekend, and all of Amsterdam was there, so it was great to see a bunch of my friends in that ward! Danny didn't come, but hopefully to the party on Sunday. Yocom and I chilled the whole time, and man, is it fun to see him. He is great! Best bank elder ever... :) He loves when I call him that.

I love you all. I hope that you have a great week, and look forward to hearing from you next week!

Love,

Elder Elkins