Goedemorgen from a beautiful December day here in Den Haag Nederland. Today is great weather, and is much needed after the cold weather that we had last week! It got so cold one day, that it snowed a little bit! First snow I have seen in almost two years. It happened while we were helping a member move into her new house, so right at the perfect time... haha. It actually got colder last week than I remember it getting last year. It was great! Especially, since I was on exchanges on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Man, we were busy.
It was a really good week. Every week here is a really good week, no matter what they bring. I will give you a quick run-down of the events that we had this week.
Tuesday - I was on exchanges with my companion from the MTC! It was so fun, and had a good day of just serving others. A lot of unexpected things came into our paths, but that is how it works. You just need to learn how to cope with it, and say "Ok, lets re-adjust our plans and do it". That is a big lesson that I have learned being a leader. There is always time for others.
Wednesday - Finally back with Elder Moomey. We had service in the morning to help the member move, and it took a lot longer than he expected, but once again, re-adjust and do it... haha. We were late to our appointment with our 96 yr old investigator, and it was her birthday. We brought her a cake and had her blow out the candles. It was a great time. Very special. We then went to our dinner appointment, then went to familie scherf, an incredible, incridible family in the ward, to say bye to their daughter who was leaving on her mission the next day. You have no idea how great this family is. Br. Scherf is our ward mission leader, and he is one of the most christlike, selfless people I have ever met.
Thursday - I went to Hilversum to spend the day on a bike with an Elder from my MTC group. He is a great friend of mine, and we had a good time. We saw a bunch of little miracles, and it was so fun to be able to bike around in the freezing weather', and get back to normal missionary work.
Friday - We drove 120 km's up to Lelystad to work with the Elders in Almere. There are four Elders in Almere, and one Elder from each companionship is sick, so we went up there to go on splits so that both companionships could continue their work. It was a lot of fun, and it was a great experience. We spent the night up there so we could go on Joint Teach with the Sisters in Lelystad the next day.
Saturday - Worked with the Sisters, taught their investigator and set a baptismal date! That was soo cool, and it was a huge blessing for them. We had a great time, ate harring and kibbeling (Super Lekker), then headed back to Den Haag where we were able to teach our investigator, Grace. She is progressing, but just needs to get married to her boyfriend before she can be baptized, because they live together. She has two cute little african toddlers, but they sometimes are a big destraction in our lessons. They are too cute to worry about though honestly... haha. We then headed off to the church for a baptism! The Delft Elders had a baptism, and it was very spiritual. Their investigator, Josh, asked me to give a talk, and it was in English because he is from Ghana, and it was the most difficult talk I have given haha. I hate speaking about the gospel in English. It has literally gotten hard! Josh is incredible, and strengthens my testimony.
Sunday was a beautiful Sabbath Day. I love Fast Sunday, because I have gained a strong testimony of the Fast. It went really well, but then after church we finally got the chance to work in our own city for a few ours, for the first time this week, and nobody was home! It was a patience test, but we will begin to see blessings. I know it. We had a great dinner appointment with Familie Jansen. They are an older couple that invites all 8 missionaries and the senior couple for dinner. Such a warm, nice, welcoming home, all christmasy and gorgeous. Such good food too! We were all expecting transfer calls at dinner as well. Transfers came in, and here they are.
Elder Moomey is getting transfered to Deventer, and training. His Mom's family lives in Deventer/Apeldoorn and that is where his Mom grew up. What a blessing it is that he will finally be there to spend time with his cousins, aunts, and uncles for Christmas, but they also aren't members. This is a giant blessing for Elder Moomey. He is very excited.
I will be receiving Elder Tornianen. He is Elder Alstons other trainee that he trained right after me, and it will be his first transfer as Zone Leader. Sister Frederickson, a friend of mine from back at Davis, is the new Sister Training Leader, and is only on her 4th transfer. She is also going to train. There is a lot of young leadership this transfer. President is preparing the mission for when he goes home in July. It is a huge change!
This is going to be soo fun! I love Elder Tornianen. He is from Finland, and is such a good kid. I look forward to working with him to help the zone see success this transfer, as well as helping him learn the Zone Leader. It is going to also be a big challenge for me. It is only my second as Zone Leader, with a bunch of new missionaries in the zone, a new District Leader, and brand new Sister Training Leader. We have a very busy week, but I am looking at it as a big growing experience, and something that will continue to shape me. Next week, we have Zone Training, and this weekend, we have more things that we need to plan for and prepare.
I look forward to it.
I love you all. This Christmas season is going to be special, and I am so glad to see that you guys are all having a good time. I am soo happy that I get to spend another Christmas out here, and feel of the true meaning of Christmas as I was able to last year. I miss you all, but next year will be a fun Christmas too! ;) Have a great week, and serve someone!
No comments:
Post a Comment