jacob 7:27

Family -

Well, I can't say I thought this day would actually ever come. It always seemed like such a far-off idea that I didn't think very much about how it would feel. Now that it's here... I can't say that I'm enjoying it very much. As people have asked these last few weeks about how I feel, I've been honest - conflicted. I'm excited to see you all, but I'm going to miss this work so much! However, I must admit that I am really glad that taking off the tag doesn't mean that missionary work ends. It just means that it changes.

This week was really weird. Not in a bad way, just... Unusual. We had some incredible miracles, but I'll be the first one to say that they were nothing we were expecting. We received some realllly incredible revelation for Hans at the conference with Elder Ballard on Thursday. We can see the light of Christ shining in Mellonie's eyes... And so can the members. We went to Ward Council for the first time. We had an 48-hour exchange during which my dear Sister Verdegem survived a 9 hour trip to the hospital and all four of us sisters saw that there is no such thing as coincidence. We watched the selflessness of a nervous Elder Rozendaal as he leaped into action to help an injured man. And Anthony, who I met with Sister Clement on exchanges last transfer, agreed to be baptized on the 29th of November. It was an incredible week. An amazing last full week.

Upon thinking about what the most memorable experience of my mission might be, I quickly realized that because I've had so many incredible experiences, it's hard to choose just one. I decided I'd like to share the common element in all of them, which is the healing power of the Atonement.

I've seen it countless times. In Dordrecht I watched a Moroccan man, Boumedian, be reduced to tears by the beauty of the Plan of Happiness. I watched him as he tried to find another job to replace the one he had selling alcohol at a concert venue after we taught him about the Word of Wisdom. In Deventer I watched a recent Afghani Christian convert, Latif, agree to attend General Conference the day that we met him. The next day I listened, amazed, as he told us he wanted to be baptized. In Turnhout I watched Jobe, a reckless, dishonest Gambian man, turn into a selfless, honorable citizen. He turned his life around - by the last time I saw him, he was even picking trash up off of sidewalks. And last, but not least, I've watched the transformation of 15-year-old Mellonie as she turned from a closed off, ghost-obsessed know-it-all to an eager, sweet young woman who's becoming more and more prepared for her baptism every day.

My most memorable experience, then, is the thread that connects all of these stories and the many others I could share. It's the Light of Christ that began to shine in their eyes. Their countenances changed as they accepted Christ's atoning sacrifice and used it to help them become whole again.

I am so grateful for the opportunity I've had to watch that healing process. I know that the Atonement works. I know that not just from seeing others use it, but from using it myself. I'm so grateful that it applies not just to the big things, but also the little ones. It's been an incredible blessing to be able to share that, full-time, with the people here in the Netherlands and Belgium. I have felt Christ's love for the people here, whatever their nationality. I know that He loves us more than I or any of us can comprehend. I'm grateful to know that He loves me!

I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is truly Christ's church restored to the earth. The Spirit has confirmed that to me so many times as I've been out here in the field. I know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God, and that the Book of Mormon is God's word.

I'm grateful for all I've experienced out here, and for all of the incredible people I've met. I would not trade this mission for anything in the world. I love my Savior, Jesus Christ. As said in D&C 76:22, "And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which [I] give of him: That he lives!"

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Love,

Sister Anjewierden

Saying goodbye to "The Final Frontier." You served me well, my friend!

Zuster Verdegem, me, and Mellonie

Passing the torch. Okay fine it's a small Dutch Bible. :)

I love my Zuster Verdegem! She's going to be a great Sister Training Leader!

MARIO'S BROODJES. I will miss these so much.

Elder Rozendaal, Elder Toole, me, and Zuster Verdegem

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAAAAAAAAAAAD.‏

Family -

 

I love you guys! Dad, have a great birthday. Elder Ballard is coming on that day so I'll be celebrating with him. :)

 

Goodness gracious, I can't believe that time is going so quickly. I had a terrible realization last night that in less than two weeks, I won't get to do this all day every day. It's getting a lot harder to not let it affect me than I thought it would be.

We did have a great week though! I won't go into too much detail due to time, but Me. and Ha., though they're our only real progressors at this point, are doing super well.

We saw Me. almost every day this last week and we're really getting a special bond with her. The most incredible thing has happened - you can see the light of Christ in her eyes. That's fairly recent! She's such an incredible girl, and I'm so glad that she's made the decision to let the Atonement work for her. It's taken a lot of darkness out of her life!

We're working with Ha. on gaining a testimony of the Restoration of Christ's Church. We had a fantastic lesson yesterday with him and Sister de Vries. We watched Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration, then bore testimony of Joseph Smith, and the Restoration. Sister de Vries shared some incredible things about her coversion that Ha. really needed to hear! We invited him to be baptized on the 18th of October. He's not sure yet - he asked if he could think about it. We said yes, and pray about it and the Restoration!

Also. We had a great time at the Relief Society activity! We were able to get to know a bunch of the sisters better and they were all super happy that we were able to come.

Sister Verdegem and I are pretty excited for Elder Ballard to come on Thursday! It'll be a great conference!

 

Also, something silly - my bike blew a tire again. 25 euro later. :p

 

Well, we're excited to go see the Dom Kerk today. Especially the catacombs! Woohoo! That's the reason we changed our P-day. I'll send pictures next week! Maybe.

 

Love you allllll!

 

Zuster Anjewierden

Double Redemption Weeks

Ahhhh it's super crazy how time has sped up the last few weeks! I feel like it was just barely P-day!

What a jam-packed week. We had exchanges with Gouda on Tuesday. I went with Sister Mizell, and was reminded how much I love working with previous companions. The unity that you had when you were companions is always still there. It's really cool, because every companion is so much different, so it's fun to be reminded, I guess. We had some good lessons and some good conversations as well. I love her a lot! It's just weird to think that we'll both be gone in a couple of weeks.
Wednesday we switched back at zone conference, which was marvelous. We were glad we got to figure out travel for the Elder Ballard Conference next week - don't want to be late for that! Anyway, it was neat to have the opportunity to give my "dying testimony". I kind of dreaded it because I knew it'd be hard, and that it'd just make me emotional (especially with Sister Larsen and Sister Mizell going after me, and then a beautiful musical number), but I love testifying because the Spirit always testifies to me! I was just reminded of the fact that the Atonement covers everything - not just the big stuff. And even though it's been hard getting to know myself really well on my mission, I think it'll help me develop a lot of strengths in the rest of my mission on earth.
We've been doing more service for members, which is great! Really building up those relationships. Our agenda also exploded with dinner appointments for the next few weeks! It'll be great to spend some good quality time building the members up.
We struggled number-wise this week. I hate getting discouraged but it's been really hard to keep myself from it the last few weeks. I've resolved to repent though - We deemed the next 2.5 weeks "double redemption week," and we're planning on doing everything we can to help Utrecht GROW before next transfer! So. I'm excited for that. :)
Hs. and Me. came to church yesterday! As did a bunch of other non-members. I'm really excited for these next few weeks... I can just feel that they're going to be wonderful!
OH also, it was marvelous to take the sacrament again! :)
Love,
Sister Anjewierden

Sinterklaas stuff already on shelves! Yes, I can stock up!
Splits with the zone leaders. Love these guys!

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