April 28, 2015

Hey guys!

I thought that time would have started to slow down, but it seems that it is actually just the opposite. We had a crazy week last week, so maybe that is why. With the Netherlands celebrating Kingsday yesterday, the mission had our p-day last Saturday, so that we could all work in the free markets and have a booth. It was a little too much having two p-days in one week, not gonna lie. It was still great!

The weather here is soo funny. One day you will be sweating, the next day you find yourself back in your winter coat, wearing thermals. Spring is gorgeous in the Netherlands, but when it gets cold, it gets cold. The humidity here doesn't help one bit. It always keeps you one your toes though! I sometimes wish that there was a way that we could know the weather as missionaries haha. In this time of year, it rains 6 days a week, so we are pretty safe to make educated guesses. :)

We had a lot of fun last week. It seems like we were constantly doing something, which is how it should be. Gerson is progressing, and came to church again. We went to his house to teach him the Plan of Salvation, and his little brother was there. They both loved it, have testimonies of Jesus Christ, and want to live their life in such a way that they will be Disciples of Christ. That is perfect. We are focussing on bringing others unto Christ, not unto the missionaries, or even unto Joseph Smith. The purpose of the Book of Mormon is to bring others to Christ, and it is really working with those that we have been working with lately. 

There are a lot of kids in the families that we teach, as well as just kids in the ward. It is soo much fun. You should see how good kids are here at soccer. Even the ones that you would never guess would be good soccer players, always suprise you. Last week, I learned how to play soccer, how to fight crime with Spiderman, and the best way to eat ice-cream. Kids teach you so much. 

Last week during my Book of Mormon study, I started reading in Alma 24. What a powerful story this is. The Anti-Nephi-Lehies are such a great example to us of Repentence, and Faith. When we learn that they felt remorse for what they committed, which was murder, and that they wanted to repent. What they did is exactly what we need to do when we recognize a fault in ourselves. They took their weapons of war, and burried them deep in the ground. Never to be used again. They had such a desire to change, and so much faith, that they literally burried their sins. We also learn that when the Lamanites attacked them, they sat upon the ground, and were killed. They still didn't do it. We can compare this to when the adversary tempts us, we won't dig up our sins, and fall back into our old selves. After the Lamanites did this to the ANL's, they saw the example of their old brethren, and also repented of their mistakes and converted to the Lord. Man. You never know how God will perform His work here upon the earth. Others look to us as examples, and notice when we make the right choices. This story is soo applicable to us today, and their are soo many things that we can learn from it. I encourage you all to study it. 

 14 And the great God has had mercy on us, and made these things known unto us that we might not perish; yea, and he has made these things known unto us beforehand, because he loveth our souls as well as he loveth our children; therefore, in his mercy he doth visit us by his angels, that the plan of salvation might be made known unto us as well as unto future generations.

 15 Oh, how merciful is our God! And now behold, since it has been as much as we could do to get our stains taken away from us, and our swords are made bright, let us hidethem away that they may be kept bright, as a testimony to our God at the last day, or at the day that we shall be brought to stand before him to be judged, that we have not stained our swords in the blood of our brethren since he imparted his word unto us and has made us clean thereby.

I love you all. I hope that you all had an incredible week, and that you find time to read and study in the Book of Mormon. Keep it up! Till next week!

Elder Elkins