haaaark the heeeeerald angels ssiiiiiiinnnngg

What a week! Sister Clement and I had a great week! We've really enjoyed working together during this time of year. There really is a Christmas spirit that is just so strong this time of year! We decided to really seize that and do all we could with it. 

Before I say anything else, I just have to say that this week didn't go at all the way we'd planned. We set our goals as numbers that we really expected we could achieve this week, and then through the week there were a couple of times that it seemed there would be no way to achieve them! BUT. The best part of that was counting them up yesterday and realizing how blessed we truly were, regardless of the bumps along the way. 

Our Christmas was an adventure! I woke up feeling pretty sick, and as soon as Sister Clement started feeling sick as well, we decided it was likely food poisoning from the Christmas party we'd been to the night before. We had ups and downs all day, but were still able to talk to people, have a really positive first lesson with a man named J, sing Christmas songs to some people, and be the subjects of familie Van Gijsel's Christmas hospitality. We are very grateful for it all, even though we did have a pretty rough day as far as things go physically. 

We had plenty of miracles this week, not the least of which was feeling better after a few days of being sick and being able to do missionary work without that extra obstacle, but I wanted to share about one of our baptismal dates, R. R is from Angola - he was a referral from a man in our branch. R speaks decent Dutch, but Portuguese is his mother language, and what a blessing it is that we have 3 different couples in our branch who speak Portuguese so that he can hear the basis of the gospel is his own tongue! Last week we invited Rafael to be baptized in January. The date ended up being a little bit foggy, as two were talked about, so we clarified it in a lesson yesterday. He will be baptized on the 25th of January! The special thing about this is R's great faith! When we asked him which date of the two he'd like to strive for (the 11th or the 25th), the first thing that he said was that he knew that through God, he could reach even the first one, though he struggles with addictions and does not know a ton about the gospel yet. That was so neat to hear! He did end up choosing the 25th, because he says he would like to be able to learn things more in depth before he takes the step of baptism. We're excited to talk to him about the gospel of Jesus Christ next time, and really get more into why baptism is so important!

I loved studying hope this week, especially because I sure felt hopeless a few times. The biggest reason that I decided it's important to have hope in the future because of Jesus Christ's atonement is that if I have that hope in Him, my will and his will will align! And if that happens, why should I ever worry about the future - it's secure.

Well... There's always so much more I wanna say but I am OUT of time.

Love you all SO MUCH. ECHT WAAR. 

Zuster Anjewierden

1 - Sister Clement and I in Brugge (also Elder Hansen being a punk)

2 - BRUGGE is so beautiful

ZALIGE KERSTFEEST

I hope everyone has an AAAMAZING Christmas. :) You are all marvelous and I am grateful for you!!!

Lots of love and good wishes from Turnhout, Belgium! :)

Zuster Anjewierden

Freezing!!!!!

It is COLD here. Actually today is okay but goodness it is WINDY everywhere. I miss snow, that's way better!

I had the opportunity to speak in sacrament meeting yesterday. I spoke on missionary work and how members are the best manner to find people. I was so thankful for the opportunity to give the whole branch a challenge! I rechallenged them what Elder Ballard challenged everyone in Conference - to share the gospel with someone before Christmas. I talked about the power of the Book of Mormon and encouraged them to use it - to give one away before Christmas. Branch Turnhout has a goal to give away 100 before the end of the year, and they are currently at 89, and if many of them give one away, they will greatly surpass that goal! I think that's neat.

I had some real testimony builders of the gift of tongues this week, too. I am so grateful that I am not speaking this language all on my own. There were a couple days this week where it was more difficult to speak, but most days - if I was relying on the Lord that day, or in that moment, my Dutch was fantastic  - I had no problem communicating. It's incredible the difference between when we rely on ourselves and when we put up our hands and let Christ steer for us. It's all about His will!

We set another baptismal date this week with M! L, her boyfriend, would have none of that. He said he'll come to her baptism but he's already baptized and he's not getting baptized again. We are praying for his heart to be softened, and to know how we can help him to see the need for baptism!

We also had a really great lesson with I and J last night on the Atonement. It's incredible how many questions Imad has that I have just honestly never thought about before. I learn so much from our lessons! It's also amazing the difference that the Spirit makes in a lesson. Testifying of Christ brings it so strongly!

Soooo we found out in district meeting last week that we're actually supposed to be studying humility this week. They changed the order... So. My study on humility is not quite complete yet but we were asked to read Matthew 5-7 and think about it in relation to humility, and I love it. As I read chapter 5 I really thought a lot about my pride, and how I tend to have a hard time giving up my own ideas for those of other people, or being quick to have kind thoughts about others. That's something that comes with charity as well, I think, so I am going to strive harder to pray for charity, and to be kinder to those around me and remember that Christ loves them just as much as he loves me, and I shouldn't be so eigen wijs. I am excited to continue that study until district meeting on Tuesday next week!

Looking forward to zone conference on Thursday with Elder Texeira! I shall let you know how it goes. :)

I love you all so much! Thank you so much for your support and for all that you do for me. I pray for you every day!

Love love love!! :)

Zuster Anjewierden

Staying in Turnhout!!

We had a roller coaster of a morning, due to several people thinking our phone number was that of the Antwerpen Zone Leaders and calling us while we waited for transfer calls, but we are glad to know that we're staying here in lovely little Turnhout! There is much to be done here, and we've found some really incredible people this week!

We found the most wonderful couple last Sunday, and got to teach them twice this week! They're not married yet, but we hope to help change that. She is Flemish and is pregnant with their child. She's due in January, and is Agnostic. He is Moroccan and is technically Muslim but is "op zoek" for the truth. They have been so prepared for the gospel! They're so open to learning, and are so willing to try things! It's definitely not going to be easy, but goodness, they are so worth it.

I'm a little bummed to move on from Charity, but I'm thinking I may just have it as something I specifically strive for this upcoming transfer. I'm definitely still excited to study patience!

LOVE

Zuster Anjewierden

Quickly...

LIST!!!!!!

-WELCOME HOME OMA AND OPA! I wanted to call you but then I didn't know when you were leaving on Thursday and then it didn't happen and I was super sad... But I love you!

-I ate an entire can of whipped cream on Saturday. Don't ever try it, even if it's a competition with other people and it seems like it'll be fun. I didn't sleep that night due to sugar coursing through my veins.

-We had Stake conference and it was AWESOME. Elder Adler of the Seventy was there and he was super cool. I'll have to write more details about it in my letter but the one thing you should know is that he challenged the members to find someone to share the gospel with in the next WEEK. Then he told us missionaries to follow up. WOOO no pressure members! I am so excited - I know he is inspired of God and that we will see miracles through this if the members listen to him!

-We visited an inactive lady, Zuster K, and now she's coming to church this coming Sunday!! :)

-I bought a really awesome warm coat!

-I'm continuing my study on charity this week because it was AWESOME. Also, read Alma 26. It's my favorite!!

We contacted a referral from the elders to Geel on Thursday. She's from Sri Lanka and she's Catholic, but she knows almost nothing about prophets, or the bible, or even Christ. It is so interesting to me to meet people like that. They've grown up religious, but they don't learn much. I'm so excited to teach her about it all, and give her a Tamil Book of Mormon!

Love,

Zuster Anjewierden

Fwd:

That awkward moment when I didn't ever send my draft from last week.... DARN IT. But. I have a little time to write so I shall do that now, and the end is from last week.

So as you may have noticed, we changed our P-Day this week! It was a holiday on Monday so a lot of people were home. We were able to have some great lessons on Monday that would not have worked out if we'd not been able to switch things around. Actually, I would really like to talk about Monday - it was a great learning day.

We were worried in the morning because we had two appointments that we had still not been able to find joint teaches for, what with it being a holiday and all - one that night, which occurred due to a lack of forethought on our part - family night! We prayed that we'd somehow be able to find a joint teach at least for the one in the morning. After our companionship study prayer, we both felt that we should call a sister who lives a block away from the potential investigator who was our first appointment. We called her and she said yes! The second appointment was still going to be a problem, until Sister Clement remembered that there was a sister who puts her children to bed early every night, so she thought maybe they would be finished with FHE. We called her and sure enough, the timing was perfect for her! We were so grateful! I am so glad that we held hope, even though we couldn't originally think of how it would work out. 

The story doesn't end there - our appointments didn't go the way we expected (one potential didn't show up for his appointment, and in the other appointment we had a hard time keeping our potential focused, and helping him understand our purpose as missionaries). But it was a testimony builder for me that even though things don't always go as planned, Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers! :)

I had a wonderful study of hope this week, in which I decided that worry is the opposite of hope. Hope should be just as sure as worry usually is. I'm so excited for my study on charity - I feel like it's something I can really work on! Study it with me, eh? :)

Last week -

Thanks for all the birthday wishes!!! Helaas, due to the fact that I got a ton of emails, I ran out of time to email much here.... SORRY! 

Have a super awkward picture of us at Isaac's baptism!

Baptism!!!!

It was incredible to see I get baptized on Saturday, and then receive the Holy Ghost on Sunday! In his blessing he was told that he will have a great influence in bringing friends and family to the light of the Gospel - so neat! It was all very humbling for me because really, all I did was come in, make friends with him, and watch him get baptized. The more I think about it though, the more I realize that's pretty much what every situation is. We're not the teachers, we just have to bring the Spirit into the equation, help them in whatever ways they need help, and then watch them do the changing themselves, through the Holy Ghost. It's the LORD'S work, not ours!

I studied a bit about obedience this week, but honestly, I didn't study it nearly as much as I learned about it from experience. I took Ether 12:27 to heart and asked the Lord to show me my weaknesses... He did, and let me just say, it was very humbling. I keep realizing how prideful I can really be, and how changing that can and will help me to give up my will to the Lord, which I have been commanded to do! I'm looking forward to studying Faith this next week. I feel a lot like the father of the child with palsy - I will definitely be asking for the Lord to help my unbelief so that I can truly have the faith I need to be the best missionary I can be!

Okay I really ran out of time this time. Uhhhhhh pictures next week.

LOVE

Zuster Anjewierden

(from Oct. 28)