The end?

20-05-2015

The time that we have left with President and Sister Robinson is rapidly coming to an end. After this past Monday, we will only have two left with them. There was not a whole lot to discuss, but transfers are slowly approaching, so I am checking everything for that. 

It is still weird that there is one district in the Amsterdam zone (meaning that we are the largest district in the mission, and both zone leaders are there for every district meeting). But district meeting was good on Tuesday and we spoke about truth and what it really is. Then that was tied into the current topic of study for this transfer. After district meeting, we barely had time for some work in the office, before we had to go pick up the mission president at the mission home, to take him to the church so he could interview our investigator. The interview went as well as any other and he declared her ready for baptism this Saturday.

On Wednesday and Thursday we were able to work more in the office than the other two days, since we only had appointments in the evenings. 

Friday was the first time in quite a while that I joined my companions for an "official" Brussels trip (the last time I was in Brussels, it was just for driver's licenses). We took down almost a full van, and met up with 4 other missionaries in Brussels, so it was one of the biggest groups in quite a while actually. It was lots of fun, though, and everything went smoothly for the most part. Not that I want to go again every time like I used to, haha.

Today has so far been special. On of our investigators we found about 2 months ago, a 40-something dutch lady who was brought up Catholic, was baptised by a member of the bishopric. It was so great to see her make that step and follow the example of our saviour. She will be a perfect addition to the ward and has already made lots of friends and contacts among the members of the Leiden ward. It just goes to show, it does not matter how much opportunity you have, you can still do the work of salvation, the work of the Lord.

"End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path, one that we all must take. The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass, and then you see it: white shores, and beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise." - The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien

God's Finger Touched Him, and He Slept.

13-06-2015

On Monday, Elder and Sister Caldwell (who arrived on Sunday) were set up with legality, finances and their responsibilities as a senior couple. They will be serving in Mechelen (which is incidentally where I was born). This is a rather interesting assignment, since there has not been a branch there since the early years of this century. They will attend the branch in Leuven. 

Since this week we have zone trainings, we did not go to district meeting on Tuesday, but instead just worked in the office. In the late afternoon, we taught our baptismal date. She is such a great investigator and is still going just as strong as ever. Really keen to learn.

Wednesday was good, especially in the evening, when we had a lesson with a member present right before the now monthly YSA game evening in the church. The activity went well and there were a good number of non members present too.

The next day we were up an hour early, to drive two of the singing elders to Brussels for a driver's license exchange, before heading to Antwerp with the missionaries' orders. I saw two of my former companions there. We barely had time to return to the office, before we had to go again, to do a service project at a less-active member in Wassenaar (we weeded the front drive and mowed the grass behind the house). It was a fun project and the weather was great.

Friday was the day of our zone training. We met in Zoetermeer, together with the Den Haag zone for the first part. For the first hour or so, President and Sister Robinson spoke and pretty much gave their dying testimonies and last words of counsel to the missionaries (many of whom they will not see again on the mission, if ever). It was great. When they were finished, we split up into our respective zones and the zone leaders and sister training leader, gave presentations, about commitment and temple attendance. Afterwards, we returned briefly to the office, before heading to Wassenaar for a BBQ with the youth of the Wassenaar ward at a member's house. 

Today, we will be heading to Gouda for a baptism in a little while (since one of my companions served there and someone they worked with is getting baptised). When we're done there, we'll return to Leiden for a ward BBQ.

"Somebody once asked me how I found Peter Jackson, and I said: 'Well, I parted his hair, and there he was.'" - Christopher Lee (1922 - 2015)

Be careful!

06-06-2015

This week all we did was recover, really. On Monday, talked with President Robinson about the various things we need to consider for next time, in view of that being President Bunnell's first time. I think it should work out alright, as long as we do not get too many surprises... 

We were not so busy, and there were only a few things to clear up after transfers. This meant we had more time (on most days) to go out and teach people about the gospel.

And that went well: we taught our one baptismal date (her date is the 20th). She is still really positive about the gospel and wants to learn more. There are some things she is struggling with, but the best thing is that she understands that they are important (and why)

On Wednesday, just before ward council we had a great experience: just after we looked up an inactive member, we knocked on a few doors, and then we were let in by a family. They were all very excited to hear what we had to say and what we believe. They are very religious and interested in other religions too. We taught them about the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ and about the Book of Mormon. They willingly accepted the book and said they will read it and we will go back there in two weeks. Miracles.

No Belgium trip this week, for a change. I just hope we can get everyone down before the giant group gets here in August (maybe 25 missionaries!).

Today, we played football for two hours (the longest game in a while) and it was fun, even though I will probably have a few extra bruises in the morning. It is too bad that there are not more people that come and play, that would be even crazier.

"I have a cunning plan" - Blackadder

SLC to AMS

30-05-2015

It was the normal large amount of busy this week. We got 5 missionaries and sent 18 back away. And all sorts of surprises were to be had.

On Monday, we discussed the plans for the transfer with the mission president and his assistants. I made up travel plans and re-checked all the different elements of the Sheraton (located near Amsterdam Airport Schiphol ) reservation and such stuff.

The 5 new missionaries arrived later than expected on Tuesday (mainly because we misread the arrival times) and we brought them back to Leiden. After the usual legal orientation, we ate at the pancake restaurant, Oudt Leyden, and Sister Robinson took their pictures in front of a windmill in Leiden. After a quick trip to Rijswijk for legality purposes, we shipped the greenies back off to the Sheraton for their nap. We ate dinner with them and then they opened the letters containing their first city assignment.

The next day was transfer day, and very busy. I spent the whole day at Schiphol and most of it at the hotel. The trainers for the new missionaries trickled in along with some of the departing missionaries before 10 (though some were late, as usual). It felt like I was herding cats (or sims) most of the time. There were a lot of people for the stand up buffet lunch at midday, what with all the trainers, greenies and most of the departing missionaries (plus office staff). The afternoon was a lot less busy (for me at least) and at some point, I took a few of the departing missionaries to the panorama terrace on top of the airport, from whence we watched the planes moving around (and we took a look inside a Fokker 100 originally flown by KLM Cityhopper). Since my companions had to go fetch something from the mission home, we ended up sleeping at the hotel once again.

Bright and early the following morning, we barely had time to say goodbye to the departing missionaries and see them start heading out before we had to return to Leiden to go to another hotel, this time the Golden Tulip. We were there with about 20 other missionaries to learn about familysearch.org and how to use it to find opportunities to take our ancestors and do temple work for them. The next step after "finding and taking" names of our ancestors, was teaching. So the missionaries then passed on the knowledge they had just learnt to Seminary & Institute Coordinators from Western Europe (including Elder Moreira). I enjoyed it (though I really already knew everything that was covered), mainly because of the new 3 part plan they introduced, namely: find, take and teach.

Friday was back to normal, mostly. Since President Robinson will be gone by next transfer, I really need to figure out all the things that need to be adjusted and also which details need to be emphasised.

On p-day, we played football with just one member this time, but it was pretty intense nonetheless. After that, we did the usual routine of showering, shopping and e-mailing (partially) and then we returned to the Louwman museum in Den Haag.

"After having won a scepter, few are so generous as to disdain the pleasures of ruling." - Corneille