New Companion!

Transfers were really exciting... Haha I was with a group of only elders for like 3 or so hours and it was... Eye-opening. So glad I have a companion. Elders are great but goodness they're weird. 

It was hard to see Sister Clement go. She has truly become one of my best friends and we ended up not being able to really say goodbye to each other... it was probably for the best. But I really miss her every so often. We made so many memories down here! 

BUT. Sister Mizell and I get along swimmingly. :) She's having a hard time with Flemish but it'll come. It's weird to be the only one who knows what these people are saying sometimes. I had forgotten that I'd had such a hard time with it! We've already been teaching in unity which is something that I've struggled with in other companionships and so I'm glad that we already flow so well with each other! 

It's so great to still be here in Turnhout. This has truly become sacred ground to me. I'll be honest, it's definitely been different without Sister Clement, but telling Sister Mizell all about it has helped me to really see how much I love this place and these people. 

We're having "crunch time" with Jb. this week as he is leaving for The Gambia on Saturday and there are no missionaries or churches there for him to go to until he gets back. It's kind of a scary feeling, but he's bringing his Book of Mormon with him, as well as a second one to give away, because he wants to share it. :) Having seen where he's come from... I'm just so happy thinking about the changes that he's made. He's using the Atonement. He's really just inspiring. I want to repent just like him! I want to be just as excited as he is and be able to answer a resounding YES to Alma's questions of "Can ye feel so now?"

A- S. has disappeared. We're not sure what's going on with him but all we can do is pray and keep trying to reach him... It's hard, knowing that he's had that confirmation that it's all true, but is choosing not to do anything about it... Lots of praying.

We found a really cool new investigator this week named Si. - he's Nigerian and he's SO prepared for the gospel. We went for our first appointment (actually to reschedule because we hadn't been able to find a joint teach) and ended up having a surprise member present lesson because his uncle was there and he's a member in Antwerpen! He has a solid testimony and he just seemed super happy that we were there! We're really excited :)

Random stuff -

-Nl. got baptized in a different church yesterday, as far as we last heard... How awkward is it going to be when we re-explain priesthood power and tell her that she has to be baptized again? Wahoooo. Haha.

-We taught a Word of Wisdom lesson to Gt. (one of our Belgian investigators. She has a handicapped son who we sing for every week. She's super sweet!) and found out that Sister Clement and I definitely broke it at her house last week - she fed us a dessert with Amarretto in it. Also awkward! Haha. I knew it tasted different...

SO MUCH LOVE. I miss you all to the moon and back.

Zuster Anjewierden

Our district

Me with Valentines stuff

The view down our street

TRANSFERS!

First, answers to questions -

Zuster V D B is from Brazil! :) We were at her house on Valentine's day.

Jb. wasn't baptized.:(  He's struggling... He's afraid that if he's baptized he'll eventually go back into old habits.

Our week was GREAT! We got 23 lessons! A-S. is doing all right but still against baptism. Not much new with families... Though Ea. from the Romanian family came to church! Zone Conference was a DREAM.   I'm sorry... I got tons of emails today and did a bad job again. :( Plus I forgot to bring my planner and that thing is like half of my brain...

Transfer calls revealed that.... I'm staying and Sister Clement is headed up to FRIESLAND. Really. Leeuwarden with Sister Hoff! So while I'm super sad to see her go because we've gotten so close, I'm excited that she gets to experience Nederland! :) Or... Sorta. Haha talk about a culture shock. She wonders if she'll ever learn real Nederlands. :) (side note: Friesland is in the northern most part of the Netherlands and also has it’s own unique dialect or way of speaking Dutch.)

I'm psyched to be staying in Turnhout - This is sacred ground for me. I love it. I love these people. And good heavens, sometimes they just frustrate me, but I'm excited to have at least another 6 weeks to do my best to help them feel the Spirit. I'll be with Sister Mizell.... I'm excited! I get to be with someone from my MTC group! 

I love you so much!!

Zuster Anjewierden

the picture is from valentines day :) we had fun!

Three weeks in a row. Patience...

We have once again achieved 20 lessons. This is three weeks in a row, and it has been incredible. That's not to say that it's been all fun and games, but it's certainly been amazing.

I'll be honest, there were parts of this week that were incredibly difficult. Both Sister Clement and myself got sick. Then it poured for days. We were really cold. And our appointments those days just kept cancelling! And Ay-S. disappeared on us. We learned a really good lesson in having great back-up plans. Which we got down really well by Sunday, when we ended up having six lessons and only half of them were previously planned! Goodness, I love this work.

I mentioned that Ay-S. disappeared. Well, Friday night we got a call from the Geel elders telling us that he'd sent them a text apologizing for not answering calls or text messages, but that he'd talked to his rabbi and decided that it'd just be better for him to stop meeting with us. We were heartbroken. He is SO CLOSE. He's so prepared. However, the story's not over - we ran into him yesterday and talked a bit. He agreed to continue meeting - he still wants to learn more, but he's not ready to be baptized at this time. 

Jb. had his baptismal interview last night. He passed with flying colors, but he told us that he can't decide if he wants to go through with it Saturday or not... He wants to, but he's worried that he won't  be all in it. We're trying our best to help him see that no one is perfect, whether they're baptized or not, and that's what repentance is for! He'll make mistakes but it will be okay! We're still going for Saturday. And praying. A lot. Please pray for him - he's come so far but he's got to come a little further!

We saw Is. after not having seen him for weeks! Turns out that things at the refugee camp got really busy and he's the only one who speaks Russian, English, and a bit of Dutch, so he's been translating for all of the Russian-speaking refugees. They have him working daily! He hasn't been able to come to church in about a month, and we've been really worried. We encouraged him to do what he can to be able to come.

As far as the families go - The Czech family dropped us like a rock a while ago. Ghanaian and Romanian families are still going strong! They're not progressing quickly, but they are progressing, nonetheless.

This week we studied patience and oh my goodness I realized that I'm super impatient. I'm trying to be better there. To have more hope. And I realized that patience is a lot about courage. Take Abinadi for example. He never gave up until he'd patiently shared his entire message. What a guy! I definitely encourage you to read his story in Mosiah 11 - 16.

We're excited for zone conference! And we have a goal this week not to think about transfers next week. Transfer monkeying never helped anyone. :)

Love,

Zuster Anjewierden

This is us in Brussels with the Paris sisters we ran into! And the other one is a picture of Antwerp Central Station, argueably one of my favorite buildings in the WORLD. So beautiful.

A new convert and more to come...

What a week it was. We had ups and downs but in the end, we made it once again to 20 lessons, and we are planning on doing the same this week, if not more! We are going to help this branch grow yet! 

Speaking of the branch growing, Rl is now officially a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! :) He was confirmed yesterday and he's going strong. We had a dinner appointment with him last week with familie Van Den Berg and in our lesson we talked about enduring to the end. It was fantastic, but the best part was actually when we were walking to the bus stop to go home. He walked with us because his house is in the same direction. We asked him if he's been inviting friends to church. He said yes, there haven't been any positive responses yet but he's not giving up. He said something about "our church" and I just had this rush of happiness! He's fully a member! He's accepted this gospel as his!

Jb is now working towards baptism on the 15th of February. He's definitely a little bit worried about everything he has to give up. But he's trying so hard! He bought a pack of cigarettes on Saturday, smoked two, and then gave them to some random guy he met on the street who didn't smoke and told him to get rid of them. He also told us a cool story last week about how someone told him he'd left €40 somewhere and tried to give it to him. He told them no, it wasn't his. As he was telling us, he said "I'm changing! A few weeks ago I would have just taken it, whether it was mine or not!" And he IS changing. So much. It's hard to believe we only met him like a month ago!

A-S, of whom I don't think I've said much, has chosen to  be baptized on the 22nd of February. What an incredible, prepared person. He's a Messianic Jew. We met him in the library a few weeks ago and started teaching him... He loves it. He does his homework, too! And then some. He was, however, very hesitant to respond positively when we asked him if he would be baptized if he received an answer that it was true. He's been reading in the Book of Mormon and praying about it all and last Friday we found out that he's received his answer, and wants to be baptized! We've still got a bunch to teach him, but wow. Sometimes I just have to stop for a second and think about the truth of this Gospel. It changes people! I think that was the time this week that I felt the most faith. God answers prayers, and he cares about us so much, and His son made it possible for us to be happy now and forever and to return to live with Him and His Father. I know that!

I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve with Sister Clement here in Turnhout. I have learned so much here so far, and look forward to learning more! I can truly say that I believe this place has been my "turning point". My faith has grown so much, though it still has so much further to go!

Y'all are my favorites. :)

 Love, Zuster Anjewierden

This is us with A-S... Yeah. :)

PS Yes I'm surviving the cold. It's super warm today!