Quiet week

Dear Family and Friends,

I say it has been a quiet week because I got dad's cold, and you know what happens when I get a cold.....no voice. When we went to FHE on Monday and Institute on Wednesday we told the kids we were being reverent and they had to whisper, and they did:) We laughed and told them the real reason Zuster deLeeuw had no voice....but they were so obedient.  They haven't caught on to my humor yet. All is well now and hopefully both of us are on our way to full recovery.  

Tomorrow being the Queens Birthday lots of people at church today were wearing orange. Ties and scarves were the orange fashion today.  For the closing song we all stood and sang 2 verses of the Dutch National Anthem. Seemed really strange.  There are 17 verses to the song, so 2 verses were great. Tomorrow we are taking the Sisters and meeting the Elders at De Zaanse Schans.  It is a village about half hour from here that has several windmills, old shops, wooden shoe making...we are trying to stay away from Amsterdam.  Sister Hill is going home next transfer and Elder Larson will be transferred to another Zone, and transfers are next week, so they want to see something local before they leave.  It will be fun for us as well.  The weather this past week has been COLD, rainy and windy, and the forecast for tomorrow is sunny...Happy Birthday to the Queen! Tomorrow night we will have the Elders and Sisters here for an 'orange' dinner.  No Missionary work is done on the 30th of April in Holland, so we will have 'our kids away from home' here to spend the evening with Opa and Oma deLeeuw:) We are having orange jello with mardarin oranges, carrotts, orange chicken and orange Tompoes, a Dutch dessert, and of course orange juicel  The Dutch sing a real 'funky' B-day song we want to learn before coming home...so we will sing that.  Missionary work IS GREAT!

We had a funny experience today that has us still laughing.  We and Elder and Sister Pankratz's were invited to a birthday party for one of our JoVo's.  He is turning 24 and is really excited because he is filling out his Mission Papers. He was 'point blank' with us at Institute and told us to bring him something for his Mission as a gift.  He is darling.....I will send a picture.  He has had many struggles in his life so going on a Mission is something that he is REALLY looking forward to.  His family lives in Almere, which is about 20 minutes from here.  The Pankratz's had lunch with us after church and then we all drove to the 'party'.  Of course the 'home' is an apartment, but what greeted us was a surprise. When we knocked at the door we were greeted by 2 barking dogs.....then when we entered the apartment, Nikkie's mother greeted us. Oh My!  She suffers from MS so sits in a wheelchair.  On her lap were 5 RATS!!!!!!!!! They were crawling all over her. She was kissing them and calling each by name.  They crawled down into her neck and around her back, then came and sat on her lap again.......then to top it off they had 4 cats!  Everywhere there was pet hair so we did not want to sit down.  The mother played with the rats and them started fixing the treats for the party....NO HAND WASHING!!!!  The 4 of us just stood there not knowing what to do...we DID NOT want to eat.  She was fixing 'deviled eggs' with the 5 rats sitting on her lap.  Sister Pankratz is allergic to pet dander, so her throat started to close up and she was having a hard time breathing.  The cats were jumping all over the food tables and the dogs were barking as more people came in. We needed to get out of there and fast before Sister Pankratz stopped breathing.  We were asked by the Elders if we could go on a 'joint teach' with them tonight, so I told Nikkie's mother we had to go for that reason.  We had been there about half an hour, so we HAD stayed long enough.  We got in the car and just laughed at what we had just witnessed. It took awhile for Sister Pankratz to breath normally and for me to stop laughing. 5 rats, 4 cats and 2 dogs. A party we won't soon forget:) 

We are having a young lady who is investigating the church, here on Tuesday night with the Sister Missionaries.  She is from England and is working in Amsterdam for 6 months.  While she was in England the Jehovah Witness Missionaries came in contact with her.  They mentioned the "Mormons" and told her NOT to listen to them.  Well, that just peaked her interest,so she went on on the Internet and started finding out about the "Mormons".  SHE contacted the Missionaries when she arrived here in the Netherlands, has read the Book of Mormon, Gospel Principles Book, and had set a Baptismal Date for Mei 20th. WOW, Every Missionaries dream.  She, Jenny, has been to Institute a couple of times, and asks and answers questions right along with the JoVo's.  It is her birthday this week so I baked a cake and we will have a little party for her while the Sisters teach her a Missionary lesson. The joys of living close to the Elders and Sisters:)  We get to be part of REAL Missionary work!

I will close with how the Gospel changes lives. You have been following the path of Levi.  Elder deLeeuw went with the Elders this week to visit with her.  She, as you remember me telling you, smoked Marijuana for 43 years, spent 50 euro a day on this habit, but prayed and asked for someone to answer the questions she had about living a 'better life.' And, the Missionaries were walking right beside her at the time of her prayers.  She is a hairdresser, and has many customers. Levi told dad and the Elders that people have commented on what a change they have noticed in her....and are asking what she has done.  She now studies the Scriptures on her break at work and wants the Elders to get her the DVD on the "Restoration" so she can show it in her shop.  Her oldest sister who was so against her Baptism was visiting when dad and the Elders went the other night, and she was very warm and hospitable to them.  Just one member of the family, doing what she knew was right, changing her life for the better, others noticing.......LEVI IS THE MISSIONARY NOW!!!! She also wants several Books Of Mormon and knows how she can give them to certain people she has in mind.  She LOVES the story of the Prophet Joseph Smith and the Restoration of the Gospel.

We are so excited to see the Harpers this weekend. You won't be getting the Sunday letter next week because we will be spending every minute we can with the Harpers.  We only have 4 short days with them.  You will receive the letter on Tuesday....I will tell you all about the Queens Birthday Celebration.  So far this evening things are quiet here in Diemen. I guess the party starts early and goes late into tomorrow night.  The Senior Couple that live in Den Haag, where the Queen lives, called tonight and said that the city is full of tour buses.  The Queen rides through the City tomorrow in her Gold carriage and we have heard it is amazing.  We will just wear our orange Boa and hat and eat orange jello.  We will be happy with that:)

We love the Lord. We love being Missionaries.  We love our family!!!! and friends.  

Love, Elder and Zuster deLeeuw

Pictures :)

Levi and Zuster deLeeuw
Levi and Roland
Maryann and her 3 darling daughters

Isn't this great!!!!!

What a week!

Dear Family and friends....

What a day we have had.....Spiritual exhaustion!  Levi was baptized!!!!!! But before 'the rest of the story'.   A couple of funny week happenings. Tuesday, dad had to run home during District Meeting to get the cookies we had forgotten to take.  When he came back to the church, the gate to the parking lot was locked.  There is a school right next to the chapel and the kids use the church parking lot as a play ground. We have mentioned that you have to pay to park EVERYWHERE....but there are lots of parking spots in front of the chapel...so dad parked there. When we were ready to go home, there was a small piece of paper on the front window....a parking ticket, for how much you ask!  56 euro, which is about $82.00.  I started to cry, of course, but what could we do.  The church owns only the land that the church is built on, and the parking in front belongs to the Government.  We learned a very expensive lesson.....the Mission Office laughed and said this will probably be only one of many parking tickets that we get. 

We told you about our next door neighbors and the Easter Cake.  This week we got some flowers and wrote a 'dank u wel' note.  When I took them over I was welcomed into their apartment, met the 3 cats and we had a great chat.  They will celebrate their 21st wedding anniversary this week....I told them how long we had been married and they about fainted.  The lady, Yvonna, asked if we were still in love.  Just being friendly, we hope will be a Missionary tool:)  On the almost same note. I WALKED to the little grocery store that is not far from us last week, on a day with sunshine.  There is a sandwich shop next to the store, so I stopped to get a couple of sandwiches to bring home.  I have mentioned  people notice our Missionary badges.....the lady in the shop looked at mine and said "Zuster deLeeuw....Zuster Lion."  She laughed and kept calling me 'Zuster Lion."  She will remember me if I go into the shop again.  It was fun. Yesterday we went with two of the Senior Couples to visit the Kasteel De Haar in Utrecht.  One of the largest and most luxurious castles in the Netherlands.  It was built by a wealthy German family and is still used ONLY in the month of September...what a waste of money with all the gold, copper, statues, furnishings.  They told us how many 'movie stars' from America had stayed in the castle.  We kept saying;" The most important things in life aren't things:)".....it was enjoyable, but we all made comment that we are so thankful for the small homes we live in, and all the love shared there.  After we left the castle we found a tiny restaurant in this tiny town...cute huh.  There were several women in another room eating and laughing, and when they got up to leave we were astonished...each of them, 4, had great big dogs, that they lead out of the restaurant. We couldn't believe those big dogs were so quiet and well behaved while the ladies were eating. Only in the Netherlands where they almost worship their animals.

Now for the week of Missionary work.  We went twice this week to visit Levi.  The Elders were keeping a close eye on her.  The Spirit in  her apartment this week was amazing and she was so excited for her Baptism. Today 3 of her sisters were at church with Levi to witness her Baptism.  Her oldest sister was the one that told Levi that she would be disowned if she joined the church.  Before the Baptism, as we were taking pictures, Levi made the comment that she was so excited she was trembling. During the program before the baptism, where a talk on baptism (Doop the word for baptism in Dutch) was given, Levi's sisters were all very attentive.  We have a young lady in the Amsterdam Ward who is an Opera singer.  She sang a medley of church hymns that had us all in tears.  What a Spirit.  Levi was baptized by Roland, another man who has just been a member of the church a couple of years. Here again, the sisters were 'front and center'.  After the Baptism we went back into the chapel and dad gave a beautiful talk on the holy Ghost. Tears were streaming down Levi's face....to our future Missionaries....THIS IS WHAT MISSIONARY WORK IS ALL ABOUT!!!!! Witnessing someone who has been seeking to find answers to questions, and seeing the joy as they have found the answers. Wow.  The girl, Roos, that was baptized last week.  Dad confirmed her today as well.  We have been asked by the high Priest group leader, to teach Roos the few lessons that are given to new converts after Baptism.  What a joy to be able to do this...We just want you all to meet these amazing people we are having the opportunity to watch grow in the Gospel. Dad also taught the Gospel Doctrine class in Sunday school..I played the piano for RS and lead the music for the Baptism.  We WERE, and are on a Spiritual high! That is what we are here for....to serve.  The other night while we were visiting Levi, she told us she was spending 50 euro EACH DAY for cigarettes before she stopped smoking. We told her now to save that money she was spending each day on cigarettes and come to Utah.  She said she would and wants to cook for our family:)

Another 'treasure couple' we are visiting with the Elders, are the ones from Hungary, Jannet, Zsanett, the spelling in that language, and Daniel.  They are so humble.  Last night the Elders gave the lesson about Tithing.  This is something we have all grown up with and have no problem in doing. As the lesson was being taught I told them about the time dad was out of work, and we we struggling finanically, but we always paid our Tithing, and how we never went without. This couple is living in an apartment with one big room that is the kitchen and front room, a small bedroom and bathroom and that is all they have.  Zsanett is not working because of her pregnancy and Daniel is not working.  Can you even imagine what they thought when the Elders said we pay 10% of what we earn. Zsanett said she only had 8 euros and Daniel had 23 to last them for a week...how could they pay 10%.  The Elders explained the that would pay Tithing AFTER they were baptized .but...Zsanett was willing to give her 80 cents thought.  Again, when we left we were in tears.  The song came to mind, "Because We Have Been Given Much". I just wanted to turn around and go give them ALL we had.  They were at church again today.  The prayers we want this week for Missionary work is for Daniel and Zsanett.  Pray for the health of the baby, health for Zsanett, Daniel that he can live the Word of Wisdom.. smoking and drinking coffee.  Again, this couple have been seeking, and the the Elders are providing answers.

This week will be a busy one for us.  Tomorrow evening at FHE we are being visited by the couple from Germany that are the coordinators over all the JoVo Centrums in Europe..We have put the word out, so hope we have a good turn out.  Kim, our FHE  leader said; "We want to show them that the Amsterdam Centrum Rocks." Tuesday and Wednesday we go to the Temple with the Elders and Sisters for Zone Temple Conference.  They so look forward to attending the temple twice a year. Thursday, we have been asked to attend the temple with the Amsterdam Ward to help as Baptisms are done.  Dad may do some Baptisms and I don't know what they will have me do.  It takes about 45 minutes to get to the temple, so that's not bad...if there is no traffic. Can you tell why we go to bed each night tired...but VERY happy:)

We love you all so much and feel of your prayers. We love this work...I am in tears most of the time as we are teaching and loving the people of the Netherlands.

Have a Great week.  Tons of love!  It is still cold and windy..the trees and plants are having a hard time blossoming. Pictures to follow if I can get them to download:)

Opa and Oma deLeeuw

Elder and Zuster deLeeuw

More Pictures

     This is Levi....she has not cut her hair for 7 years. Her hair goes down to her knees

                                           The tulip fields are just about ready to burst

                                      This is the Easter cake the neighbors brought to us

                          The deLeeuw name is everywhere....we are a realty company:)

                                                                    More bicycles




                       It is late so I will send more later...having computer problems;(

SPRING….like you’ve never seen it before !!!

Keukenhof – know as the Garden of Europe – is the one of the best places to view the abundance of spring flowers in the South Holland region of the Netherlands

 Amsterdam's flower market – the Bloemenmarkt – reflects the country's passion for cut flowers and plants

Around seven million bulbs are planted each year in the park at Keukenhof, in an area of 32 hectares

The Bloemenmarkt - set on the capital's Singel canal and said to be the world's only floating flower market - has a score of stalls where you can buy all sorts of plants, flowers, bulbs and seeds

 The mild climate of Holland, with its wet springs makes it an ideal place for bulb cultivation

Tulips originated in the east and were brought to Holland from the Ottoman Empire in the mid 1500s

In springtime, the lowland area by the North Sea is carpeted with fields of gladioli, hyacinths, lilies, daffodils, crocuses... and, of course, tulips

Keukenhof - literally 'kitchen garden' - is part of the hunting grounds of the ancient Teylingen estate

This year, the theme for the Keukenhof exhibition is Germany: Land of Poets and Philosophers

The patchwork quilt of colours in the Keukenhof park, just outside Lisse in South Holland, is a veritable feast for the eyes

The bulbs of Keukenhof are re-planted each year according to the current trends and in collaboration with a number of gardening magazines

Spring in Keukenhof is one of the main tourist attractions of the Netherlands

The best way to appreciate the full glory of the Dutch spring is to hire a bike and cycle one of the tourist routes among the bulb fields

April Fools Day

Dear Family and Friends,

I thought I would tell you I did not have time to send an email this week.....April Fools:) Dad has gone to Priesthood Meeting so I will take this time to send the email to you. Yesterday, Saturday, we went to the chapel at 6:00 pm to watch the Saturday 10:00 am session of Conference.  I got a twinge of 'home sickness' as we saw the Conference Center.  Dad made the comment: " Our family is watching this at the same time only MANY miles away". The Conference Sessions are Translated in Dutch, but many of those that were in attendance, which was not many, listened to the proceedings in English with the ear phones because they like to hear the voices of those who are speaking. It will be interesting today...."take for granted moment".....Priesthood at 11:00, Saturday Afternoon session at 2:00, Music and The Spoken Word at 5:30, then the Sunday Am Session at 6:00 pm.  Remember that MOST members DO NOT have cars, have to come on public transportation...be at the chapel ALL day, just to watch Conference.  I am wondering what families do that support the Priesthood coming in the morning....do they stay all day?  What about lunch?  And we just sit in our front rooms with our Pj's on munching popcorn. When Senior Missionaries were mentioned everyone looked at Opa and I and gave us a 'thumbs up'. We are so blessed to be with these members that sacrifice SO much trying to be good members of the church. I will let you know the answer to my questions when the day is over.

A couple of funny things....here in the Netherlands you can purchase cough medicine with codeine OTC but have to have a prescription for 1% cortisone cm. There are ambulances for animals.  I have mentioned before at how many dogs there are....'animal rights' is a big thing here. So, because no one has cars, your animal gets sick and needs to see a Vet, you call the Dierenambulance,,,Dieren is animal, and they will come and pick up your pet and take it for medical care.  These ambulances look like  "people" ambulances, flashing lights and all. April is when the Tourist season starts so the Netherlands really goes all out. The tulips are not quite ready so we just keep waiting for the first burst of color.  In Alkmaar, there is a 'Cheese Festival' every Friday in April from 10:00 am to noon.  Alkmaar is about 45 minutes from here so we hope to go see that. The Alkmaar Branch is in our Stake so we have several JoVo's that said they would take us to the Town Square where this is held. Last week the President of the JoVo's sent out a notice on Face book, reminding the YSA's obout Institute on Wednesday Evening. He made a comment about Sister deLeeuw cooking...when I go to the Face book page I have it translated into English.  I laughed when I read the comment....because in English it translates that "the Lion" will be cooking.....deLeeuw in Dutch is the Lion.  We really laughed and told the JoVo's that....so now the Lion cooks:)

I made a carrot cake for Institute.  The oven we have in the apartment does not bake like I would hope..having to bake so much.  Anyway, I thought the cake was done, even stuck a toothpick in it to make sure...put cream cheese frosting on it...looked yummy for sure.  When I went to cut the cake, I found that the middle was just raw cake batter..I served the outer pieces first and then as the kids started seeing the middle they all went crazy.  They thought that was the BEST...instead of cake it was pudding.  They told me that next time just make the batter, put frosting on it and let them eat it that way.  These kids love anything with sugar.

We have enjoyed a couple of weeks with warm temperatures, blue sky, short sleeve weather. Then, we wake up two days ago with clouds, wind and rain.  Sound like Utah? I had put a couple of our sweaters away, but they are being worn again.

We spent Tuesday in Emmen again getting the apartment ready for the Elders.  We still can't believe what they do to these apartments when they move out.  Dad and Elder Pankratz had to put the glass shower stall back on the wall.  Light fixtures, flooring, window coverings.  Opening a new apartment for the Missionaries is a BIG deal and lots of work.  The new Senior Couple that is coming on Tuesday have an apartment in Den Haag.  We helped with that this week as well, but only had to put away dishes and make the bed.  Elder Pankratz was able to find an apartment that did not need to be put back together...blessings. Dad is the 'fixit' man here and repaired the floor in the Sisters apartment this week.  He can only go in when the Sisters are gone, so had to plan his work around that. He is filling out the 'Quartly reports' and that is a BIG process....I will do cooking anytime.  We laughed the other day as we were coming out of the grocery store.  I told dad when he retired that I would not make him go grocery shopping with me.  What does he do several times a week.....go grocery shopping, bag the groceries and carry them to the car then into the apartment.  Hey, at least we can laugh. When we were driving home from Den Haag we saw something I wished I could have taken a picture of.  A women was riding a bike....with 3 children sitting in a basket on the front of the bike....another child on her lap and a baby carrier strapped on the back. 5 children and mom on ONE bike:)

Tuesday after we came home from Emmen, we were tired from sitting in the car for two hours, so we took a walk.  We went on a path that we were unfamiliar with and it was getting dark.  A darling young couple were walking in front of us so we asked where the 'trail' would take us. They were so cute and offered to walk with us to make sure we knew where we were going...we asked where they were from because they spoke such good English.  They are from Peru and have lived here for 4 years.  They speak Spanish and English and have a hard time with the Dutch language. (We were instant friends).  They asked what brought us here....Missionary time!!!!....they noticed our name badges and we told them about being Missionaries.  The man said he had a friend that went to SLC and saw the 'Church".  We so wished we would have had "Pass along cards" with us.  We WILL carry some with us now. They told us where they lived, but with all the apartments here there is no way we knew which one they pointed to.  We pray that maybe if one day the Missionaries knock on their door they will remember the 'old couple' from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints from SLC:)

We have been praying extra hard for Levi.  She has 7 sisters and 4 daughters...all but one of her daughters told her they would 'disown' her from the family if she were to be baptized. Can you even imagine.  She told the Elders that she IS going to be baptized, and in the meantime, her oldest sister that lives in Surinam had a dream that the family was at Levi's baptism so felt it was OK.  Does the Lord hear prayers:) Levi is going to tell the Elders today who she wants to Baptize her.....keep her in your prayers cause we know who does NOT want her in the waters of Baptism. I will take a picture of her this week so you can see what a beautiful lady she is.  She has such a sweetness about her you can feel of her goodness. Friday night we went with the Elders to visit Janette and Daniel.  This is a young couple from Hungary that were contacted by the Missionaries some time ago, then moved, and were found again.  Janette is expecting a baby girl in May and is so excited.  They are not married but we could feel the love they have for each other.  It was so exciting for Opa and I to sit, listen and watch while the "Plan of Salvation" was being taught to them. Janette just giggled when the Elders told her that we could be together as families even after death.  I showed her our family picture and she started counting you grand kids...she was amazed at how many were in our family.  She said this is what she wants!!! We are SOOOO blessed to have this knowledge, and it is wonderful to share this with others.  Opa bore his Testimony about families and how the Lord loves us and wants everyone to be happy.  It was an amazing hour.  Once again I can't explain  the living conditions these people live in. A tiny apartment with a dark narrow hallway leading to the door. No yard, window looking out on a busy street, just a sofa and TV in the front room. We had to travel about 25 minutes to get to the apartment...and they are in the Amsterdam Ward Boundaries.......How do the Saints here do what they do! We tell them we can walk to church. There are churches every 2 to 3 blocks...two Temples right in Provo.  We have homes with yards....have several vehicles to drive, and bikes we DO NOT ride.  They have a hard time realizing what we have...and are we any happier?  This Mission has been a wake up for us to realize our blessings.

As I close I want to bear Testimony of how prayers are heard.  When we were filling out our Mission Papers I was really worried about having headaches.  Opa gave me a beautiful blessing asking the Lord to bless me to be 'headache' free.  When he got finished with the Blessing he told me, with tears running down his cheeks, that the blessing did not come from him but from the Lord.  He was just the mouth piece.  I have only had to take 5 of my strong headache medication in the almost 3 months we have been here. Opa and I each day give thanks for this blessing alone...one of health. We still will all have trials, but think of the Blessings we are receiving. We again express our love to you for the support you are giving us as we serve the Lord.....we will never regret this 18 months, although some days are hard!  Enjoy your day.....I will send some pictures when I take a picture of Levi.

We love you.

Opa and Oma deLeeuw

Elder and Sister deLeeuw  

 PS:  We went to the Temple Yesterday to be with the YSA's as they did Baptism's for the Dead.  For several of them this was a first time experience...and the excitement they expressed in doing this ordinance. There were so many, that they were waiting up to 2 hours to have their turn to be baptized.  Dad and I did an Endowment session.  There are seats for 40...20 men and 20 women....and the room was full:)  Dayna Lee, I put Sister Tidwell's name on the prayer roll here. We will have the opportunity to attend the Temple again this month with all the Mission, as Zone Training will be attending the Temple. The Missionaries are so eager to attend!!!