Dames en Heren. Goedemiddag. U bevinden zich in de sprinter naar Rotterdam Noord. (Ladies and Gentlemen, Good Afternoon! You find yourself on the fast commuter train to Rotterdam North!)
Just making fun of the train conductors... they always say the same thing. You can just rattle of the same spiel every time.
So. Cool beans. Well the title of my email is kind of an inside joke, but there are several pictures demonstrating it, so yeah. SHHHH!
Well it's been a loooong week. Transfer weeks are always long. It's been a great week though. Lot's of miracles. I am now in Rotterdam, and probably one of the coolest areas in the mission. We live right in downtown. In a skyscraper!! It's pretty awesome!! So Monday and Tuesday nothing too crazy happened. Elder Pugh and I mostly got ready for transfers and the whitewash. (Whitewash is a missionary term used to mean that both Elders in the companionship are being transferred out, and two new Elders will come into the area. The companionship leaving has to make sure the area book is up to date with all the information on people the Elders are teaching, and appointments that have already been scheduled, etc. It helps the new Elders transition into the area, and also helps people being taught so that they don't get lost in the transfer! It is an exciting thing for an area to have two new Elders/Sisters come in, but it is also hard in that neither of them know the area or any one in the area! But it can be an exciting time for missionaries as well as Church members in that area!) We had to write up a report of all the people we were working with for the new Elders.
We had a really good last district meeting though. It was very spiritual.
This transfer we've been studying chapter 4 of Preach My Gospel, which is all about the Spirit. Teaching by the Spirit, learning by the Spirit, and helping others recognize the Spirit. Our district meeting was on gifts of the Spirit. The end activity was pretty cool. We sat in a circle around a table, and ping ponged back and forth sharing what other's spiritual gifts were. Sometimes it's hard to recognize the gifts that God has given you, but easier to only see what others have and you don't. God gave each of us the gifts that we have for a reason. We each shared what we saw in each other, not in ourselves, but for the purpose of helping them realize their own spiritual gifts. It was really awesome.
Here is a link to the manual "Preach My Gospel". It is a wonderful book put together by the Church Missionary Department to help missionaries learn how to be effective teachers. It is also a wonderful book for members to use to help them in their personal testimony, as well as learn how to be effective member missionaries.
Wednesday was transfer day, so it was crazy, but miracles happened. Elder Paur (Elder Muller's new companion in Rotterdam) and I were looking for a bike at the used fiets (bicycle) shop in Rotterdam Centraal (central train station) when suddenly this lady was like "Elders!!! It's so good to see you! When would you like to come over for dinner and talk about Jesus?" So to be honest, our first thoughts were kind of cautious, because well, to be honest, she looked like a prostitute. After talking to her for a bit though, we figured out that she had in fact met with missionaries before and taken the lessons. So we got her information. We called the Elders that she had mentioned, and they freaked out. Apparently she is a super cool lady who was a really serious investigator. She has a daughter that she also wanted us to teach. She had dropped off the face of the planet, so it was a miracle that we ran into her and that she invited us back over. (And she actually is a prostitute.... Where am I serving a mission?!?!?!?!?!? No actually there is a whole reason behind it, that I'm not going to go into. Bottom line is that she wants to change, and that's the most important thing). So first day in Rotterdam. Welcome to the Netherlands! :)
Thursday we had some other really cool miracles as well. We taught a RAD in the morning (Restoration Lesson with Baptismal invitation) that went really well. We also found some cool potentials street contacting that I have faith will go somewhere.
The biggest miracle was that out of the blue, this lady called us up and told us that the she had dealt with the problems in her life, and that she wanted to be taught again, and go deeper into the lessons. She set up an appointment for next week, and told us that she would be at church on Sunday. She was another person who was going strong and then dropped off the face of the earth. She came to church too! This is probably the biggest step of faith I've seen an investigator take so far on my mission. This woman is amazing! She has never come to church before in her life, doesn't know anyone, not even the missionaries, she hasn't met with us yet, but still comes to church and stays all three hours. She is incredible! It's so cool!
We were also able to do service for an elderly woman in our ward, along with the Schiedam Elders (Silva Team!). (Schiedam is the name of a city...and this companionship happens to be Elders Silva and de Silva!! Elder Muller and these two Elders were roommates at the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah!!) We cleaned up her back yard and then she fed us dinner! It was really good. It was like this stew of corn and beans with meat. mmmm!
I saw Elder Pugh again on Saturday, as well as Sister Young. We had to open the church for them for District Leader Council. We also had lunch with them afterwards at this really Italian place. They make the pasta and sauce right in front of you. Pretty good price too.
Well, now my email is all over the place and out of order. I'm about out of time anyway. It's going to be a fun transfer. We've already seen some really cool miracles, and I know we are only going to see more. It has been an amazing first week!
The Church is True! The Book of Mormon is True! If you haven't read it, read it. If you have read it, read it again. Ask God if it's true. He'll tell you.
You can order a free book here:
Elder Muller
Links to information on the city of Rotterdam....a very interesting and beautiful city indeed!
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