Halloween in Holland

November 3, 2014

Hi Familie!!!!

I know I say this every week but I love hearing about all the things you guys are doing! I hope Kasey is okay. haha I remember going to the vets with her when she had to have her nails trimmed. I´ll keep her in my prayers.

How was Halloween? We had a great week in Lelystad. We carved pumpkins with the ward and helped out at a church dance. They really went all out and decorated the entire church with decorations. It was really cool. Elder Warner and I worked in the haunted house and scared people all night. It was so much fun and it felt like trunk or treating back home. haha A member who was in the haunted house, dressed up like a witch, kept swearing at people. There were containers people put their hands into and they had to guess what they felt. Just to scare people she said it was…. Well, you can take a guess. Elder Warner and I just looked at each other and started laughing when she said it because it caught us so off guard. Elder Warner explained to me that American swears don’t really mean anything here and people say them all the time and don’t think much of it. However, there is an English speaking ward in Holland and they went through the haunted house, too.

I ate horse this week! It was pretty good. Tell everyone in the Ward I say, “Hi!” A good Dutch recipe that’s really common here is called stamppot. You can look it up online. It’s really good. It’s mashed potatoes with herbs, veggies and sausage. Do the Netherlands as your host country for Missionary Month!!!

I decided that when I get home I want to take Italian classes, so I can go to Italy and do family history work. It’s so awesome that you guys are working on it! Jesus the Christ is such an amazing book. I love reading it and the guy who wrote it has so much knowledge. I began to read it, but I don’t have much time between everything that needs to be done. My Dutch is coming along, but it’s still pretty difficult. I love the language but it’s hard. I know with the Lord’s help and the gift of tongues, I’ll learn it. Faith and the Atonement has been the focus of my studies this week, and I love the Atonement. You should read Preach My Gospel and study the lessons. It’s an amazing book. If anyone has questions about the church, go straight to Preach My Gospel. Ít’s an inspired book and it states everything so clearly and gives scriptural backup. We may teach a guy who is Jehovah’s Witness. He’s really chill and would be awesome to teach.

I love you guys so much, have a great week! To answer your question, we exercise in the morning. Biking is also good exercise and we bike everywhere. We ride the train a lot, too. We have NS-Business Cards which the Church gave us. They’re sweet and really official. And also, thank you so much for reminding me about Elder Bowen and Elder Levitt. It really helped me remember why I am on my mission. You should email them. They would love to hear from you guys. Love you!

Temple Conference

October 27, 2014

Hey Familie!!!! I made it through my first transfer! I'm staying in Lelystad with Elder Warner but one of the Sisters is leaving. She is moving to St. Nicholas in Belgium and it's her last transfer. Zuster Robbins in coming into Lelystad and she's from my MTC group! I love seeing all the pictures from home. Belgium was so awesome. I had a Belgian waffle and it was delicious. I did use the public urinal but made sure there were no Zusters around. I found out that there's actually a wall that people pee on in Belgium. They also just pee in centrums (centers/squares) against walls. You can pretty much go anywhere in Belgium.

Temple conference is when we meet up with other zones and go to the temple in Zoetermeer. We went through a session and it was all in Dutch. It was so cool and really spiritual. I love you guys so much. So cool that Molly is going to the Phillipines!

This week was great! I saw a wild hedge hog! We finished at Mona's and went deur tot deur for hours this week. A lot of people go to the Pillar Church and they don't have the time to talk to us. I love missionary work though. We've also had some really spiritual experiences, as well. I know that Heavenly Father loves us and knows each and every one of us personally. We are truly his children and he has a plan for all of us and wants us to reach our full potential and experience joy in this life. I know that we can do this through living the Gospel and I know Christ died so that we can return to live with him and God for eternity. God has so much love for us we can't comprehend it and he is never angry with any us. He is pleased with our lives and when we use our agency to come closer to him. I love you guys so much and Happy 17th Cierra! Thanks for the pics! 

                                                                 Den Haag Temple

                                            Here is Mona’s front and back yard that we built!

Brussels

October 20, 2014

This has been an amazing week. We have been working a ton in Mona's yard and finally finished! We are going back to get pictures and help her move stuff, but we're basically done now. The Elders from Hilversum came up and helped us place tiles down and finish the back patio. The Zusters are training a mini missionary this week. Shé is from Friesland, which is the northern Providence/region of Nederland. Temple conference was awesome! We all went to Zoetermeer and I saw Elder Morrell, Elder Reece, and the sisters from my MTC district. It was fun to meet up again and see everyone. The temple is beautiful in Zoetermeer. We also got to go to Brussels in Belgium this week! It was so awesome and historical. It is so European and we were pretty much tourists for the day. We had to get Legality papers and stuff and it was a ton of fun. Happy Birthday Cierra!!!!!! Best wishes to you and I love you! You're the best little sister ever. This is going to be an awesome year for you. Hope you have a great B-Day! Love you guys so much and here's a bunch of pictures from this week.

There's a picture of a public urinal which was in the middle of a busy intersection in Belgium. haha Belgian people use it because it's free and you have to pay to use bathrooms in stores or in restaurants. People spoke French in Belgium too. It was cool. Love you guys!