Very busy week last week. We received five new missionaries and said goodbye to another five. Quite a mix in the arrivals: 1 Brazilian, two Canadians, a Surinamese and an American sister missionary.
On Monday, I outlined to our Mission President and the rest of the office staff, the schedule for the week and distributed the papers required. The night before, we had heard what the transfers would be. Most of the zone leaders were changing and we were getting a new assistant to the president: elder Eastmond. I'll definitely miss elder Lewis, he's so awesome. But he's needed elsewhere and will be district leader in Den Bosch (replacing the sister missionaries) and training the Brazilian. He will go home in two months (so he has a transfer and a half left). In other news, elders Hunt and Rozendaal (currently assigned to Nijmegen) arrived in the office to get some matters sorted out for elder Rozendaal (and they stayed until Thursday). On Monday evening we went to the Howells and then from there we went to the Nieuwvelds to teach Gabby for the last time.
Tuesday, we got everything ready for the greenies to arrive in the office. Elders Cockbain and Hunt drove to the airport to pick up the baggage and arrived almost an hour after the plane was supposed to land and told us that we had to go pick up the greenies and president and sister Robinson and the assistants by car, since the trains were not running. So we piled into the van and the car, and drove off to the airport. By the time we got back to the office, it was more than two hours after the landing time of the greenies and we were considerably behind schedule. We had to go almost directly to the pancake restaurant. This time I got the apfelstrudel pancake, but I was disappointed by it. When we got back to the office, elders Lind and Cockbain gave their financial and legal presentations and had the greenies fill in the various forms that we need for legalisation and the like.
The next day, we got everything ready for the trainings and waited for the greenies. Even before the greenies arrived, one of the trainers arrived and most of them arrived much too early for their training (at 10). Eventually everything was done, we ate pizza and the greenies got shipped out to their cities with their trainers. By this time, most of the departing missionaries had arrived for their final interviews. Elder Bean (who will be training in Antwerpen) also brought me a package from home, with some chocolate, waffles and all the fixings for a potted plant.
Thursday and Friday calmed down quite a bit, with elders Cockbain and Winmill going to Amsterdam to work on the apartment there on Thursday and shelving being installed in the office's conference room on Friday. We went on exchanges with elder Enslow on Friday to the Nieuwvelds for dinner and for elder Enslow to conduct the baptismal interview with our one investigator, Gabby (as he is our district leader). Elder Cockbain went with his companion to Zaandam.
On the weekend, we watched conference at the office, via the projector in the aptly named conference room. We watched four of the five sessions (and will watch the fifth on Tuesday). Around 3 on Sunday, we drove to Zoetermeer for Gabby's baptism. There was a large turnout and it was really a wonderful experience. She'll be a great example for her family when she goes back home.
Gabby with her aunt, uncle and cousins
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