Groetjes uit Den Haag! It's great to be back on the email with you all. I always look forward to it, and it sort of rejuvinates me for the upcoming week, so thank you all!
Man, last week was crazy! Soo busy. I have never been that busy in my life. We had transfers on Wednesday, so I was at the train station in Leiden helping missionaries come in and out of Leiden as they traveled throughout the two countries to get to their new areas. That was from 9am until about 4pm. I have never been so cold in my life as I was on that day. Super funny haha. Elder Bernier, my new companion, was a lot of help though! He is a great missionary, and I really look forward to working with him this transfer. With new Zone Leaders, come new ideas. He has a lot of them, and I really beleive that as we work together, we will see alot of miracles in the zone this transfer! All four missionaries that are going home at the end of the transfer are in our zone, including Elder Alston, so that is going to be a lot of fun!
We have Zone Training coming up on Wednesday, so we spent most of the weekend planning Zone Goals, and getting ready for our Zone Training. We receieved calls from missionaries and members asking for help, so we had to drop what we were doing a couple of times to go help out. That was the story of the whole weekend, so we still have a lot to do in order to prepare for Wednesday. Just like everything else in life, it always works out in the end. I am not too worried about it, but I sometimes do miss getting out there and doing normal missionary work. We are doing our best to find time for that throughout all of this.
We had a lesson with one of our investigators, Eva, on Thursday. She is the one that was praying two weeks ago for a direction, and we showed up on her door. As soon as we got in, she told us that she spoke w ith her family in Colombia and that they told her to stop with the mormons. She said that she knows that it is good, but her family doesn't like it and have tried it in the past and that it isn't true. As soon as she said this, I got such a feeling just to listen and talk with her. We sat down, and let her tell us what is on her mind. She told us that she doesn't want any conflict with her family, so she is going to give us the book back. We asked her what she is looking for in her life right now. She told us a new direction, and something that can help her in her life. We talked about Heavenly Fathers plan and agency, and how we are free to choose for ourselves. We bore a lot of testimony, and the Spirit was there. Eventually, we helped her understand, and she doesn't want to be done yet. We committed her to read a chapter, and pray about it and told her that we'd be back this week. It was such a huge confirmation to me that sometimes people just need someone to reason with, and to talk to. At that moment, we just listened, took it all in, and tried to understand her needs. It was amazing how the Spirit told us to do that.
Zone Training is on Ch.10 from PmG. Teaching Skills. My topic is going to be listening and asking questions. I have been studying this recently, and have been searching for guidance as I prepare. The meeting goes from 10-3, and that is pretty long, but we have a program all set up and everything. My portion for listening and questions is only 30 minutes, but I am grateful that Heavenly Father gave us this experience to help prepare me and testify to me that what I will be teaching is good and right. That is how He works. I studies Alma 22 this week, and how Aaron was able to listen and as questions in order to discern the needs of Lamoni's father.
This is a wonderful and exciting time in my mission. It is such a blessing to be able to help others. It is worth all of the 'extra' things that come into our schedule, or the time we spend planning, and the stress that comes into it all, because it has helped me develop Charity for others. I am so grateful for this gospel. It changes lives. It has changed mine on my mission, and I am blessed to have time still where I can continue to help the work progress. I love you all, and I really hope and pray that you have a great week! Keep up the good work, read the BoM daily, and strengthen your testimonies!
Veel Liefde,Elder Elkins
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