Pak zijn been man!

Tripanionship of Destiny! Original companions from the MTC!
 Elder Da Silva, Elder Muller, Elder Matos

July 13, 2015

Hoi iedereen! (Hello Everyone!)

So it has been probably one of the craziest weeks of my mission. I feel like I say that a lot, but this really was just insane. 

So the first two days were cool. Elder Hills and I finished strong with some great lessons together.

My new companion is Elder Shaw. His grandpa is William Shaw from the Melbourne ward. He has been to Melbourne a lot, so it is kind of crazy that we are companions! (The Melbourne Ward is another LDS building that is very close to us!)

Elder Muller Driving!

So something fun about this week. We performed in Groningen, Nederland. Luckily I didn't have to. My predecessor, Elder Reese, played. I was still there however for a very important reason. I am the only one out of the Singing Elders who can drive. Yerp. So Tuesday night I found out that I would be getting my license on Thursday and driving to Germany. Yes, Germany. It was about a three hour drive, the longest I think I have ever driven, while also being the first time ever driving in Europe, and with three other Elders in the car. It was absolutely insane. Thankfully angels were watching over us. So yeah, I am now in the four country club. We can go to four countries in our mission, Belgium, Nederland, France, and Germany. Now I have been in all 4. :) (Interesting fact is that Elder Muller has been to those four countries before serving his mission....just never when he was old enough to drive!)

So a bit about the music program. The weeks before the performance, we travel to the wards in the area we will be performing and visit members and investigators. We sing for them, and we invite them to attend the concert. That is why we were in Germany visiting members. That is what we did for Thursday and Friday. Saturday the group rehearsed for the concert. 

Rehearsal

It went really well! There were more than 200 people there, and it generated a lot of referrals. The trip back was crazy as well. We didn't get on the road until almost 10pm. We had to drop people off in Leiden and Delft, so we did not get home until 2:30 in the morning! That made for a very short nights sleep. It was a good day at church though, even though we were half dead. (Missionaries have a curfew of being inside by 9.30, and lights out by 10.30! And they get up at 6.30 AM!)  Elder Shaw was "born" in Rotterdam (mission wise) so he already knew all of the members and at least half of the area. That makes it nice for me because it is less pressure on my shoulders. (Elder Shaw served in this area when he first came into the mission field.)

This week we will be busy practicing and still somehow keeping our investigators progressing. FUN!

So the title came from a dinner appointment we had this week. We were playing with Legos with the kids, and they had this giraffe they had made. We were just messing around, and he ended up missing a leg. I pretended to be really sad and freaked out, and so the 8 year old girl turned to her 5 year old brother and was like "Pak zijn been man!" (grab his leg man!) Just the way she said it was really funny... I guess one of those things you have to be there. 

Anyway, we have to get going for a lunch appointment, so this will be the only email I am going to be able to send. We didn't realize how long it would take to get here from our new apartment. *sigh* We will have to get used to not living a three minute bike ride away. 

Have a good week everyone!

Loves!

Elder Müller

Elder Muller Driving....Aaahhhhh!

Elder Shaw and Elder Muller