Starting Again

FAMILY!

Well, we had a pretty great week as far as personal growth, helping other missionaries grow, and making plans for the zone/for our own city, but as far as investigators go it was a pretty hard week! We realized on Saturday that we really only have a couple of investigators who are still positive. It's time to replenish our teaching pool!

We visited Rotterdam distrcit on Tuesday, which felt really strange, but was good! It was fun to be able to see how someone else's district works. Elder Pouwer is a power(haha)ful teacher and we learned a lot about using the Book of Mormon in teaching. Sister Kohlert and I headed back to Utrecht and had a great exchange. We had a lot of fun together and taught some great lessons to Me. (Word of Wisdom) and Ib. (Law of Chastity).

Wednesday we switched with Gouda and Sister Hoff and I also had a great exchange! While at a dinner appointment we heard about the new documentary coming about about members of the Church - Meet the Mormons. They showed us the trailer. Looks like it'll be good! I'm excited to see it, but not as excited as I am about watching Elder Bednar's talk from Education week - the members have all been talking about that, too.

Thursday was a HARD DAY. Everything went wrong. Ib. dropped us. We were late to everything. People dropped appointments. We were an hour late to our dinner appointment. It was about as ridiculous as Murphy's Law can get. I turned to Sister Verdegem at one point and said, "I just want to crawl in a hole and die." Haha. But we did visit a cute less active family and they were kind of the highlight of our day, along with our dinner appointment with familie Dubbeld! Once we got there.

Friday was Mission Leader Council and wow, I got so many ideas of how to improve my teaching these last few weeks. I can't believe that I haven't been using them all before now! Like... Writing down frequently asked questions in my study journal and studying answers for them? Or focusing in on baptismal interview questions when planning lessons? They just seem like common sense but hey, we're all still learning, right? Anyway, I'll definitely be applying it all. It's weird to think that I won't have another Mission Leader Council though!

The rest of the week involved District Leader Council, visiting members, and re-evaluating our situation. We dropped Jy. (it's almost impossible to contact him lately), Ib. dropped us, Ro. and Ma. haven't been responding to us... Me. is doing great, so that's fantastic. Ha. needs to gain a testimony of the Restoration. So... We're going from that. Almost back to square one as far as investigators go, but we do have some really positive potentials.

Quick spiritual thought. Due to a series of unfortunate events, we missed the sacrament yesterday morning. It was really frustrating because we walked in with Me. and they were singing but they started saying the first prayer and we waited for them to come out and they never did. I even tried to go open the door so they'd know we were there. BUT they wouldn't let us in. And I was so upset! I fought back tears as we went into the chapel - I thought about how difficult the past week had been WITH the sacrament and didn't want to think about how it'd be this week without it. Then I thought of the parable of the ten virgins. I have never felt more like one of the foolish virgins. I felt like we were knocking at the door of the Bridegroom but we were too late! If we had been more prepared, it wouldn't have been a problem. I decided I never want to feel like that again. So. New life goal. Always be prepared!

All righty. Til next week!

Love you all. :)

Sister Anjewierden

With Sister Kohlert in Utrecht!

The Book of Mormon is true!

FAMBAM!

 

We had a great week! The weather was sure weird, and we certainly had some weird experiences (as always), but it was much better than last week! Which is cool, because last week was hard, but in the end wasn't so bad! Also... All of our cool stuff this week revolved around the Book of Mormon. Which is cool.

Ib. is progressing slowly but surely. He came to a fireside that we had on Tuesday by a BYU professor about DNA research as related to the Book of Mormon. He's a doctor (he studied for six years in Guinea) and so he seemed pretty interested in all of the biology-related stuff that was talked about. I loved the fireside - basically, the conclusion was that the Book of Mormon can be neither proven nor disproven through DNA research because the odds that DNA is at all the same as then is little to none, and that the only way to truly know is to read it and to pray to know for ourselves. We liked that - that's what we've been trying to get Ib. to do! He reads it but I'm not sure he's been praying about it yet.

Ro. is another one of our investigators and she's doing so well. She has so many great questions and really wants to know everything! She's been reading in the Book of Mormon and understands it pretty well which is cool! The Spirit is really strong in her lessons and I think that there's potential for things with her to go pretty quickly!

Ha. is also doing well. He's starting to TRULY make connections between the Bible and Book of Mormon. He loves the Joseph Smith Translation. He found it on lds.org and he's been reading it and sharing things with us.

 

Me. is also back! Still excited about her baptism in October. We'll meet with her tomorrow.

So cool miracle - we were getting our bikes out of the garage where we park them (for free! woohoo!) at the station and one of the guys that works there started talking to us! Turns out he talked to the elders a few months ago and they said they'd bring him a Book of Mormon and never did. So we gave him one and we're meeting with him soon! It was super cool.

 

IIII love you all. Until next week!

 

Love,

Sister Anjewierden

 

PS I saw pictures of FSY (european EFY) this week and it made me want to be a counselor. Haha. Maybe next year?

The Dom kerk (church). Basically the symbol of Utrecht.  (Tower behind the red building)

Miracles and Heartbreak always come together

Well, to be honest, this week was pretty awful for many different reasons. BUT we learned a lot. And had a surprising amount of successes and miracles. So that's cool!
Updates: Li. finally talked to her husband and sure enough, he said he will not let her or the kids be baptized. :( It seriously broke our hearts. She told us Tuesday night in a phone call and we both had a really hard time after that. Actually, the hardest part is that she said that even though it pains her, she would like to find a church where he will let her be baptized. We spent the next few days trying to figure out how to make it clear to her that it's not the same... Then we went over Friday for one last lesson with her. What her thoughts are now, I'm not sure, but I do know that we felt the Spirit strongly in that lesson, and everything ended on a good note. I don't think this is the end of the road for her. We still pray that the Lord will soften her husband's heart.
Ib. did not agree that the Godhead is made up of three separate beings, and was actually very condescending about his views... It was scary. We had a terrible lesson with him on Saturday where I lost my patience with his contentious behavior and called him to repentance with 3 Nephi 11:28-30. Naturally, because it was bold but not loving, that didn't bring the Spirit either, and then I just felt bad that I'd said it. It really was overall a bad lesson. We came home to eat dinner and I cried and prayed for forgivenes... Then on Sunday I repented. We had a fantastic lesson! It went super well. So while he's no longer on date for baptism, he's closer than he was on Saturday.
Not a ton of other updates other than Me. is on vacation and Hs. came to church again! Woohoo. Apparently in Priesthood he said that he's not planning on getting baptized yet, but that he's not ruling it out as a possibility, and that though he loves the Bible, he's open to the Book of Mormon maybe being true. Haha. At least he understands what we're helping him work towards!
Well... Oh! Huge miracle. Da. - We were walking to catch a bus to go home from Hs' and then we saw it coming. I sprinted like my cross country days to wave it down (the bus driver laughed really hard - little blond girl in a skirt with a big bag, running to catch the bus) and we got on. It stopped for five minutes at a bus station along the way and we watched as a rather feminine looking (and sounding) man got off to smoke a cigarette. I really need to work on my not-judging skills because I was totally judging him! Then. He walks back into the bus and stops by us. "Can I ask you a question?"
I thought he was going to call me out for looking at him funny or something, but said "Sure!" Then he says, "Are you Mormons?" Turns out he investigated the church for a year and a half in Greece but lost contact when he came here. He'd fallen back into habits (drinking and smoking) and really felt like he was missing something. He wondered if it might be the church, so he prayed that he'd find members of the church if that's what it was! It was such a cool thing. If we hadn't caught that bus... Wow. Haha. He's on vacation for a couple weeks but when he comes back he wants to be taught again! And come to church!
There are others too but I've got to go! That's the story of mission life. So much to say, never enough time!

Sister Anjewierden

PS Jb. is being taught in Turnhout again! Best news ever! :)

(pictures from last week that never sent)

Top picture is with Ib.
Bottom is on the domplein.

Double 2 Double 4

Aug. 4, 2014

Well, I didn't think I'd end up having any sort of transfer patterns, but I will end up with one. 2-2-4-4. 2 in Dordrecht and Deventer and 4 in Turnhout and Utrecht. So that's kind of fun. :) That's right, I'm staying in Utrecht for my last transfer! With Sister Verdegem. :) So... Here we go!

 

I'm grateful for the opportunity that I get to finish out with Sister Verdegem here in Utrecht. I must admit that I had a hard time here at first, but I have truly grown to love this city. And Sister Verdegem, too! We're really becoming great friends so we're both glad we get another transfer to continue that. :)

 

What a miraculous week. We seriously saw some incredible wonders happen. It's amazing how that happens. Generally right when you feel like you absolutely don't deserve it, too. Humility is weird. I can't figure out the balance - either I feel like the "unworthy creature" that King Benjamin talks about or I feel like I'm entitled to things. So... I want to find that balance of "hey, I know that I'm a daughter of God who's priceless in His sight, but I owe everything I have and receive to Him." It's just hard. I guess that's really what we're here on earth for though. To strive for that balance in everything.

 

Li. is still on date for August 16th, but she's struggling with her husband not being supportive. He hasn't told her she can't be baptized, but he's not interested so she feels like there's no point in telling him. The problem is... She has to talk to him about it. :\ We're a little bit concerned. But other than that, she's ready. As far as we can tell!

 

Ib. is incredible. He has this awful, war-torn past, and has every right (by the world's standards) to complain about EVERYTHING, and yet he is humble and realizes that God has helped him through it all. He even told us that he feels like the Gospel is the reason that he had to end up in Utrecht. He LOVES it. He LOVES the Book of Mormon and church and us and just all of it. He got a blessing of comfort yesterday from the Zone Leaders and afterward he just said, "I'm happy." The Spirit was incredible. Another miracle - Sister Chardon came on joint teach to like 3 appointments with him this week. Also once to Hs. Actually she really just deserves her own paragraph, she's basically been our mission mom/third companion this week. she also fed us. And this morning we went on a long walk with her and Sister de Vries along the Krommerijn (river). It was beautiful! Then we ate pannekoeken. I love these people.

 

Hs. is coming slowly. But he's coming. He truly frustrates me sometimes. He has this habit of arguing with EVERYTHING that we say, and questioning very little of what he reads on the internet. He found something about Joseph Smith joining the Methodist church in 1828 and now he's all contentious and stuff again. We're praying hard for him. I really think he'll come around. But when?

Me. is really going through incredible changes. I'm super excited for her! She came to church again yesterday and it was wonderful. She even seemed less bored this time, which is great. We're still going to try to find more ways to help her like it though.

 

SUPER miracle - Our ward mission leader gave us a referral (less active member and his wife). Then invited them to church. THEN THEY CAME! Then tomorrow we're eating with them. So that's super cool! I'm amazed at how much better our relationships with the ward have become. I love these people. :)

 

Well... I'm excited to finish out as Sister Training Leader. I think it'll be nice to not focus on myself as I sprint this final stretch! These sisters are amazing and I'm excited to do all I can to help them succeed!

 

Love you sooooooooo much,

 

Sister Anjewierden

 

Buah!

July 28, 2014

OH MY GOSH I can't believe this didn't send! :( I am so so so so so sorry. I feel terrible. :(

 

FAM! Goodness gracious what a week. Here we go.

 

Let's see... Updates. Li.! She came to church on Sunday and brought her brother's girlfriend, which is cool because we taught her about missionary work last week. :) She's doing so well. She's very ready for baptism, but she's afraid to ask her husband. She already told him that she wants to be baptized, but she didn't tell him that she wants to be baptized on the 16th of August... We're praying and praying that she'll have the courage to do it!

Hs. came to church yesterday - with the bus! We were super proud of him. It was really a big step for him to put that much effort into coming to church. We've noticed that he seems to like deep doctrine, so we're trying to really push the Book of Mormon with him, because that's the answer to all of his arguments! If he reads it and prays about it, he'll know it's true. And the other stuff too! We're working on getting him on date this week.

Me. is on date to be baptized on the 11th of October! Her parents have given her permission and she told us that she's really been thinking about it and it's something she really wants to do. She also came to church yesterday for the whole three hours! She was pretty bored so we're going to have to help her to be more entertained the next time, but she stayed the entire time! Super neat.

Quick miracle - we had a little bit of time left last... Friday I think? And we didn't really want to contact people at the station because they tend to be in a hurry and such, but we decided to confront our self-limiting beliefs and just do it. We talked to this man named Ib., who's from Guinea, and he said we could bring him a Book of Mormon! Also, Sister Verdegem contacted him in French. It was super neat! We had a first lesson with him yesterday and he's very positive. Also he lives around the corner from the church! What?! We have another lesson with him tonight.

Zone training went very well. I was amazed at how the Spirit was able to work through me, even though I didn't feel like I had a lot to share about my topic (charity). I realized that charity is just the atonement in action! And then I decided that I'm going to take Moroni 7:48 and truly pray for charity all the time. And do my best to develop it!

 

Love you all. :)

 

Sister Anjewierden

 

Pictures -

Elder Eastmond is headed home! What?!

Haha thanks for the package. I'll try to stave off the trunky. :)