Off to Belgium

January 19, 2015

Hi Familie!

On that note, I got called to Kortrijk in Belgium!!! It's on the France border and a ton of people speak French there! It's the farthest south in the mission we can go and I heard that we see more of the Paris/France missionaries than of our own missionaries. I'm really excited to have this opportunity, but I'm pretty nervous to. I heard that we shouldn't drink from the faucets, but I think it's okay if we do. It's a completely different culture down there than here, and I'm going to learn how to speak Flans (Flemish). They use a few different words for things than in Dutch, and the g's are soft, and the w's sound like w's instead of v's.

Erik emailed and told me that he handed in his papers! I can't believe Caleb is coming back so soon! I said good bye to the de Graaf’s yesterday and they want me to come back and visit after my mission. I'm so grateful for my mission and for all of the experiences I am having. I really liked hearing about the experience that Kaylee and her companion had, where they were able to help bring comfort to the woman who was usually unkind to the missionaries! It's true, you never know how much you can help someone just by saying or doing a simple thing.

Haha Dutch people do like to keep eye contact and they also love to use their hands when they talk. Dutch men are usually really funny when they open their door. They get a really painful look on their face when they try to read our name boards and then they usually have a strong opinion or just say, “No” and close the door. Haha some people are nice too.    

So, we got a ticket this week and had to pay it. The ticket was because we left a garbage bag out by the dumpster because it was jammed and wouldn't open. We paid for three garbage bags and thought that would be good and we left them next to the dumpster (like everyone else did) and the police showed up at our door with evidence that we left a garbage bag by the dumpster. Thus I am in sore need of money right now.

I'll send some more pictures tonight! This week hasn't been very eventful and we've been doing a lot of door knocking. Thanks for the beach pictures! Can you send some family pictures, as well as pictures of Nan and Gramps with me, and pictures of extended family? Love you all and have a great week!!!!