Change in weather

Dear Loved ones,

Well, a couple of weeks ago we were complaining at how cold it was, and remember we said that in a few weeks we would be complaining about the heat and humidity. Well, that time has arrived.  There is NO air conditioning here in the Netherlands so we have fans going in all our rooms. This past week we have been doing apartment inspections and several of the Elders have asked if they could purchase a couple more fans for their apartments.  The poor Missionaries just drag when they have to ride their bikes in this heat.  Will we ever be happy? 

Last night dad and I were on a walk at 10:30 pm and it was still so light the street lights were just coming on.  It is hard to go to bed before 11:00 pm because the neighbors are out still having their walks, and talks. Poor Elders and Sisters just have to pull their curtains shut and try and go to bed by 10:30 per Mission Rules. Life is interesting for sure:)

Just when I thought it was 'safe to go into the water'....figure of speech....we were asked today if we would cook dinner for the JoVo's next Sunday for a Fireside that is being held in Den Haag.  Dave and Dayna Lee were with us at this building when they were here. It is our Stake Center and is about a 45 minute drive away.  They, the Stake JoVo leaders, are expecting between 50 and 80 to be in attendance.  I just laughed.  Last week we cooked 4 days in a row, so what is one more to add to the list. The best part and blessing of all of this, is that I am NOT experiencing any headaches!!!!!!!!!!! We just can't give enough thanks for this blessing. Maybe it's all the laughing we do when asked to cook yet again:)

We have learned some more 'fun facts' about the Netherlands:  One of the reasons that few people have drivers licenses is that, no drivers education is offered in school.  You have to take private drivers lessons which can cost up to 4000 Euro's. No wonder there are so many bikes.  Remember how we told you about Queens Day and everyone wore orange. Well, the Dutch National Soccer team will start playing in a World Tournament the 9th of June, so the orange has come out again.  Orange soccer balls, plates, cups, shoes, shirts, hats, you name it....the color is orange.  When the games begin all of Holland stops to watch.  We were told that if the soccer team goes to the championships we will not be holding FHE or Institute, because everyone will be watching the games. IF the team wins, then all of Holland goes wild...again....this will be fun to experience. The school system here in the Netherlands is set up in three districts.  The North, which Amsterdam is in, Central, and South.  During the summer the districts are on vacation at different times so that all the kids are not out of school at the same time.  Summer vacation for the kids around here starts July 21st for elementary and July 14th for the secondary school. School starts again the 14th and 21st of August. Only 6 weeks of vacation. The Netherlands is very education minded, so vacation time is short. So kids, don't complain that you have a short summer to play:)

Today after Sacrament meeting there were 3 baptisms.Antonella Gervasio, Estella Ramirez and Yassar Kus.  Estella and Yassar are mother and son.  Yassar is only 15 so had to obtain permission from his dad. What a difference the Gospel makes in their lives.  When they come out of the waters of Baptism they have big smiles on their faces and big hugs for the Elders.  Missionary work is amazing!!!!!!!!!!! In two weeks, Jenny, our JoVo investigator from England will be Baptized. YEA!!!!!!!!!

Last week when we were visiting Levi, the Elders asked if she would offer a prayer before we left.  Her prayers are so sincere and I made the comment that her prayers came from her heart.  She made a beautiful comment: " I don't pray from my heart, I pray from my toes". She TRULY prays with all her soul, and her prayers have been answered. Sister Palenikova, the Missionary Sister from Slovakia, was here last Monday while the other Sisters were emailing.  She told us a little about her life.  She is the one that had been disowned by her family because she joined the church.  She has two younger brothers, one which is studying to be a Catholic Priest.  She said she does not know where she will go after her Mission,  but joining the church was the best thing she has done in her life.  Now, my 'take it for granted'. I was making cookies the other day and was complaining that the sugar here is very course and hard to mix.  I looked at dad, and said: " Here I am complaining about sugar when we have so much to be thankful for." It was a 'wake up' for me.  Dad and I started to talk about all our blessings, and the fact that we HAD sugar! 

After we went to Almere the other day to do the apartment inspection, we took off and drove up into Fryslan, where the deLeeuw's came from in 1884. This part of the Netherlands is nothing but beautiful farmland, with canals everywhere, Dad made the comment that, what Faith it would have taken to leave the Netherlands, get on a ship to go to another country, not knowing anyone...going to Wayne County to start a new life, all because of the Gospel. We are SO thankful for these Ancestors and their sacrifices, that we may have what we have. Keep Praying for the Missionaries.

Dad has been a bit 'homesick' today thinking about you going to the Cemetery. He loves being retired and serving this Mission, but, memories of something he did for 18 years cannot be erased.  Enjoy the weekend for him:)

I don't know when you will get next weeks email, because we have a dinner on Saturday for Elder and Sister Bush, who are going home next week.  Then the Fireside on Sunday.....you will just be surprised when it comes:)  We love you all.

Opa and Oma, Moeder and Vader, Elder and Zuster deleeuw

Missionary work

Dear Family,

We have had a VERY busy 3 days and have one more to go...then maybe we can have a few minutes for ourselves????  We cooked for the Gouda Dienst on Sunday, FHE on Monday, District Meeting today, then Institute tomorrow.  Can you believe that mom. does NOT have a headache!!!!!!!!! Blessing from a Priesthood Blessing.  After District Meeting we drove to Alkmaar to inspect another Elders apartment.  We have learned a new four letter word...MOLD.  Last week we spent two hours in the Amsterdam Elders apartment scrubbing mold, and 4 hours in the Haarlem Sisters apartment scrubbing mold.  We take thick bleach, put it on a sponge and wipe the mold off the walls.  Because it is so humid here, the washing machines are in the bathrooms, no windows in the bathrooms to ventilate, keeping the bathroom doors shut.....add up to mold.  Today at District Meeting the Elders and Sisters got a 'mom' talk from me.  I explained that THEY can help us by keeping doors open, when they see the first signs of mold to take bleach and wipe it off.  I told them we were here to serve in the Centrums, not to clean their apartments.  We have some really messy Missionaries. When we do inspections we let them know how unhappy we are when we find clothes on the floor, dirty dishes in the sink, sheets that have not been washed for weeks.  Little boys and girls that don't have mom around to pick up after them.  It will be interesting to see what the new Mission President does about apartment inspections. President and Sister Brubaker have tried!

Today we had a sweet experience that we want to share with just our family. Each month on the first and third weeks, the Amsterdam ward has a ward dinner.  Different members fix dinner and there are usually only about 20 that attend....but it is fun to get together with those who attend.  There is an older lady that I just love,we talk each dinner, she speaks 'broken English', but enough that we can communicate.  When the canals froze she told me that when she was a young girl, she is 81, she used to ice skate on the Canals.  Last week a Sister in the ward came to me and ask if I would go visit her sister in law and gave me an address. To my surprise it was the lady who I had visited with several times at the Ward dinners. Trees Stroop de Nys, is her name, and she is NOT a member of the church.  Her brother is the High Priest Group Leader in the ward and he has been a member of the Church for 16 years. Anyway, Trees, pronounced Teresa, told her brother and sister in law that she enjoyed visiting with me and would like dad and I to come and visit her.  We did not know that 4 weeks ago she fell and is in a 'care center.'  Today on the way home from Alkmaar we stopped and surprised her with a visit.  When dad and I walked into her room she just giggled, gave us big hugs and told us how happy she was that we had come to visit. She is in a wheelchair, so we wheeled her down into the garden and just sat and visited.  She told us she is Catholic but knows there is a God.  She says she wakes up each morning, opens her drapes so she can give thanks for the sun and birds that she can hear singing. What a sweet experience we had.  Before we left she asked if we would come back soon, because she wants to take us to a beautiful park not far from her residence.  She can't walk because of her fall so hopes to get a "Motor Chair".  As we were leaving she asked dad if he would say a prayer. He gave a beautiful prayer in DUTCH...Trees was thrilled.  Just being kind is the best Missionary tool there is.  We have another friend that we love, just because we were friendly:)  Never be afraid to smile and say hello...you never know whose life you will change.

The neighbors next door to us have a witch and spiders in their window.  When the Harpers were here Dayna Lee asked if they forgot to take down their Halloween decorations.  We learned today that the reason people have witches in their windows is so the Jehovah Witness people will not knock on their door.  We wonder what they do to keep the Mormon Missionaries away:)  So many weird Cultural things....but you got to love these people:)

It has been a LONG 3 days and 2 more to come.  We made mention that we think it would be hard for YOU to keep up with our pace each day.  Thank you for your prayers that we may have health and STRENGTH!!!!! Dad wishes that he has kept a record of how many times he has been honked at....nothing frustrates him more!  Oh, we have had TWO days of sun and warm temperatures!  It is getting humid, so yes we will start to complain.  NO Air conditioning in church buildings so church is not friendly....we have the fans going in each room.  Are we NEVER happy????? 10:15 pm and it is still VERY light out....going for 11:00 pm:)

We love you.  I promise I will send pictures, just haven't had time.

Vader and Moeder, Opa and Oma, Elder and Zuster deLeeuw

Temple picture

This is a picture Kim, our FHE coordinator,  sent to me.  Since I don't have ALL the grand kids email addresses I am sending it to you.  I think it 'says it all'! I have a copy hanging in our office as well. Print it and hang it on your fridge:)

Love, Oma

Love Missionary Work

Dear Family and friends,

You once again get the weekly letter on Saturday as tomorrow we will be doing the Lords work ALL day:) We attend the Amsterdam Ward from 10 till 1 then jump in the car and head for Gouda for the JoVo Dienst that goes from 3 till 6.  Gouda is about an hour and a half drive away, so when we finally get home, it has been a LONG day for us old folks.  Tomorrow we have been asked to furnish the meal for the JoVo's, so I am making Sloppy Joe's for 80. Thursday was Zone Training and I made Sloppy Joe's for 40.  This is a simple meal that feeds lots, and costs little Euro.  The kids love them.....we add cucumbers, that the Dutch kids love as well, carrot sticks, and cookies, and we are set to go.  Two months ago all this would have 'put me over the edge', but now it is just 'another day in the life of a Missionary':) Elder deLeeuw ,Opa, is getting so good at slicing cucumbers he can do it with one hand behind his back. He is also fabulous at pushing a grocery cart as I push another, he getting food for the joVo's while I shop for us.  He also has to bag ALL these groceries as well.  I am SO blessed to have him as my Companion.  We laugh as transfers come for the Elders and Sisters and I tell him he can't look forward to a Companion change. Speaking of Elder deLeeuw.  He blessed the Sacrament a couple of weeks ago in the Dutch Language.  He speaks the language very well and I am trying to encourage him to speak MORE.

Weather report of the Netherlands: Can you believe that in some parts of Holland it FROZE this past week. We have a couple days of sun and semi warm temps, then it clouds up and rains and stays cold.  I had my LONG, WOOL socks on this past week. When it does warm up we will be complaining of the heat and humidity,so we will enjoy the cool while it lasts.

Missionary work is amazing.  We are having experiences we never thought possible. This week being Zone Training we hear the Testimonies of the Elders and Sisters that will be going home next Transfer.  What Strong testimonies they bear.  They express how fast their Mission Time has flown by and how they have LOVED serving the Lord. We see 'little boys and girls' come into the Mission, and watch them grow into young men and women. We LOVE having the Elders and Sisters so close to us.  We chuckle as we prepare food for the JoVo's on Monday and Wednesday.  The Elders just seem to know when the cookies are coming out of the oven:) We have learned why some of these Missionaries are serving.  One Elder told us that a couple of years ago he had a friend that was having some problems. One day this Elder had a very strong impression that he needed to call this friend. He did not.  the next day the same impression came that he needed to call his friend....this went on for several days and the Elder did not make a call or visit.  The end of the week came and he learned that his friend had committed suicide.  He blamed himself and said if he would have only called this friend maybe he could have prevented the death. He had doubts about serving a Mission, but after this he told the Lord that he wanted to serve and help as many people as he could. He is one we have watched grow from 'boyhood into a young man'.

We have a darling young woman in our YSA's that came from Poland a couple of months ago.  She is 21 years of age and has been a member of the church since she was 17. We ask her to write her Testimony for us, which she did.  We literally sobbed as we read her story. Long story short....her dad is in prison, her mother is an alcoholic and has has several children with several different fathers.  Dorthy raised a half brother she so loved, but he was taken into foster care. With permission from Dorthy I want to write some of her Testimony: "I was angry with God, I even said that there is no God, and even if he is, he doesn't mean anything to me.  I blamed him for everything that had happened in my life. I know I blamed not the right person, because all of the bad things happened because of Satan, but that time I was totally against God.  When I went to holidays I met Jehovah's Witness.  She was such a nice lady, but she always wanted talk to me about religion(this is written in Dorthy's Polish language). But even if I weren't interested that topic, I listened to her.  She said to me about different religions, she mentioned Mormons.  I haven't hear about Mormons before and I started to be more interested in, but she didn't say much about them.  When I came home I started looking on the internet about the Mormons. I even asked my Ethics teacher who are Mormons, and he said that they are a cult/sect.  I also find out in the internet that Mormons are dangerous sect so I left it, and I did'nt want to know more about them. Maybe a week after that I started to look on the internet about the Mormon again, and I found out the official site of the church.  First thing I found out was that the Mormon are the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I was reading all the information that I could on Polish Offical site of LDS church.  There was a place to write an address and you could get your own Book Of Mormon for free.  I didn't think about the consequences.  I just wrote my name and home address, and I didn't really know why.  I just did it and I forgot about it.  Maybe a week somebody rang to my doors, I opened it, it was two young, but older than me then, men, and they said hello we are the Missionaries of the LDS church.  I remember that day was a Hugh storm and they were all wet.  They asked if they can come in, I was home alone with just my little brothers so I said no because I was a bit scared.  So they asked me about my cell phone number and I gave it to them.  After that they went away. Next day they called to me, and ask if we can meet, and I said yes.  I really think that wasn't me who answered to them because normally I wouldn't care for them like I don't know them and they want to talk with me about religion and I wasn't really interested in it, but God gave me words to my mouth.  We met in the park, the weather was fine and warm, so I went to the park and I told them that I am not interested to join to their's church.  They asked why.  I said them that I don't believe in God, and they again asked me why? So I said them that if there was God shouldn't let good people be hurted. They said to me that they see a light in me,and if I will let them, they will show me a way to God and I said that 'why not'.  We set up for next week and we also had a meeting in the park.  We talked about prayer.  They said to me that the best way to communicate with our Father in Heaven is to pray.  I have never prayed before. They taught me how to pray and they gave me a challenge to pray when I'll come back home.  I should say everything what is in my mind and hurts my heart.  When I came back to home it was the evening and I kneeled down to the floor in front of my bed and I started to pray. I started with the words: God, I don't know if you are there, somewhere and I don't know if you hear me but I have a lot to tell you and then I started crying like a child.  I felt really hot inside like God  gave me a sign and said "I'm here to listen to you" and I started to telling him that I am really torn inside and I needed a peaceful life.  I just want to know what happiness means.  That was my first prayer, from that time I started to pray everyday.  I called to the Missionaries and I told them that I prayed.  They say that makes them happy.  They also invited me to FHE.  I went there and it was my very first time in church building.  One of the sister had a lesson about a family. That time I was thinking that I will not belong to this church never in my life even if I would like to because all the of the things that I heard about family was just to perfect to me, and I though I'll never have family like that. I though it will be my first time in church. I wanted to let it go, but something did't let me to let it go! The Missionaries gave me a Book Of Mormon.  It was an adventure for me.  My life changed already before my Baptism.  I started to believe in God.  Before I met church I blamed God for all bad things, but I started to think that all these thing happen for a reason.  I knew that my life won't be perfect after Baptism but I knew that it will be easier if only I will keep the Commandments and obey the rules.  I was baptized on 28th October 2007, and I can surely say that it was the best decision in my life!  Sometimes I was really confused why this happened to me, there is a lot of wonderful people on the earth who deserves more for being member of the church than me.  I am really grateful to God that he gave me the chance to decide if I want to follow Jesus or not.  I have a great Testimony about church of Jesus Christ and also the Prophet that he is a real man, called to be a prophet and to serve to people. I believe in Jesus Christ from the bottom of my heart.  I know that I am the child of God, and that every single prayer we say is listening by him.  I strongly believe that if I will stay close to church I won't be lost, and if I will be worthy person to go to the Temple I also will find a good man to marry and I will have a family in church.  Gospel brings me a light in dark days.  It makes me really happy person. I love everything in this earth.  I know that God created this for us and we should respect this and be grateful him for it.  I love people, I wish they who didn't find out about the church, that they could.  I pray for them. I am happy to be a follower of Christ.  In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

This is what Missionary work is all about!!!!!! Pray for the Elders and Sisters that they will find those 'WHO ARE SEEKING". We have several more testimonies like this one.  Dorthy asked last week if she could be our daughter.  She can't say deLeeuw, so we told her to call us Elder and Sister deLion. She is as beautiful on the outside as her Spirit is on the inside.  We are SO blessed to be stewards over these Young Single Adults!

We close with our Testimonies.  We are learning that we are on this Mission, to learn from others, to strengthen OUR Testimonies.  We give thanks each day for what we have.  To have had the Gospel in  our lives ALL our lives.  To have the family that we were blessed with.  For our Ancestors. For where we live.  We have SOOO much to give thanks for!  We LOVE being Missionaries and to be in the service of our Lord and Savior.

Vader and Moeder, Opa and Oma, Elder and Zuster deLeeuw

Time is flying!

Dear family and friends....

First of all....HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO ALL YOU WONDERFUL MOTHERS!!!!!!! ESPECIALLY TO OUR FOUR AMAZING DAUGHTERS:) Thank you for being the beautiful mothers you are to our fabulous grandchildren! We hope your day is sunny and full of loves and kisses.

Where to start. If I wrote all that has happened in the last two weeks you would be reading this for days......so I will try and make a short version of Missionary life of the deLeeuws in the Netherlands:)  First of all. We were so excited to have the Harpers come, but the bad part of the visit was that they had to leave:( We hope that in the 3 short days they were here, they in some small way were able to capture the spirit of Missionary work we are doing...and, feel sorry for us having to climb ALLLLLL the stairs every day. The day they left it was raining, as usual, and the sky was doing exactly what we were doing, shedding tears as they left.

OK, let's start with Queens Day.  That is the day, April 30th, that the Country celebrates the Queens Birthday. Since Orange is the queens favorite color, everyone wears orange. Dad wore an orange hat, and I wore an orange blouse. We stayed away from Amsterdam as we have heard it is just one big drunken brawl.  A couple of the JoVo's went to the square and said the music was so loud that their heads were just throbbing. The canals were 'stern to stern' with boats and people were jumping from boat to boat....most of them so drunk that if they fell in the water they would drown cause they would not know they had fallen into the water:) We took the Sisters and went to a quaint little Dutch Village and walked around in such peace and quiet. We just enjoyed the "good" Dutch Culture.  We had invited the 4 Elders and 2 Sisters that live here over to dinner that evening.  I had planned an "ORANGE" dinner for the celebration day.  Orange chicken, orange jello with mandarin oranges, carrotts, and Tomponuses, a tradional Dutch dessert, with orange frosting. As we were walking around Zaanse Schaans, the phone rang...it was the 3 Elders that work in the Mission Office.  They were with the Assistants that day and heard we were having dinner...could they come? Of course. We met  Elder and Sister Moore at the Village and invited them too.  The more the merrier. When we got home and started setting out the dishes the phone rang again.  The Van Komans, the Senior Couple that live in Groningen were on their way home and needed a place to 'go potty'. They had 3 family members....are you counting?  When we started eating we had 17 people in our apartment.  Talk about a party! I was worried that everyone would get something to eat because we had only planned on 8.  You have heard the story of the 'Loaves and Fishes', well, everyone had ALL they could eat AND we had leftovers!

Last Monday, when the Harpers were here, FHE was held in Den Haag, where the 'Stake Building' is.  The BYU Wind Symphony held a Fireside for the JoVo's of our Stake.  It was a riot! The BYU kids had all the JoVo's up clapping, whistling, dancing, cheering. What an inspiration for the YSA to see. After the music and fun the evening ended with a few Testimonies being born. WOW, these kids are amazing. This was very much needed as just a few days before, a funeral was held for a young man from Almere who had jumped in front of a train.  He was a member of the church, not active, but so many of the JoVo's knew him and had attend the funeral. We also were in attendance at the funeral. During the service many pictures were shown of Niels.  He was a handsome young man, 22 years of age, and looked so happy.  Everyone was asking why. So, this fireside was just what was needed to lighten the spirits. Dad and I have now attended a Funeral here in Holland to add to our many experiences. That will be another email. 

The daylight each day gets a little longer.  Last night at 10:00 pm we made a comment at how light it was. In June it stays light until after 11:00 pm.  In the last 2 weeks we have only had TWO days without rain. Today and the Monday the Harpers were here.  It is still very cool and we are still wearing long sleeves, jackets and scarves. Tomorrow is suppose to be bright and sunny, so Happy Mothers Day to the Dutch Mothers:) Most of the Tulips have been cut, so the brilliant colors in the fields are gone, but everything else sure is green.

The weeks are going by so quickly.  We have been here 4 months already. You will laugh at this.  This week is Zone training so the Senior Sisters cook for this meeting.  Thursday I will make Sloppy Joe's for 40. Sunday is the JoVo Dienst in Gouda and I will make Sloppy Joe's for 80. Sloppy Joe's are easy to make and will feed lots for little Euro. I told dad that 3 months ago this would have put me over the edge but now it is just, 'One more meal to cook'. Along with this we feed the JoVo's Monday for FHE and Institute Wednesday. Dad said I have 'come a long way':) When we come home I will eat out every night and just sit and watch others cook and clean:) And, the Elders are always stopping by making sure I have not made cookies without them knowing. Life is good!

This past week we have been to Eindhoven twice to help finish the Elders apartment there.  Eindhoven is a 2 hour drive both ways so we have had some 12 hour days. Some of these apartments are so disgusting it is a wonder the Elders have not died from dust and  mold poisoning. This apartment has been lived in by Elders for 18 years.  President Brubaker will be leaving in July, and he wants all the apartments in tip top shape when the new President arrives. Yesterday, Friday, Brother and Sister Moore came to help with the cleaning.  They are the newest couple here in the Mission.  Sister Moore has some health problems so we were surprised to see them, but glad that they had come. The Moore's had not been in the apartment more than 1/2 hour, when Sister Moore got on a chair to wipe off the top of a kitchen cupboard.  I was in the front of the apartment when I heard Sister Anderson scream, "are you OK"?  I came running.....Sister Moore had fallen off the chair, hit her head and was lying on her left arm.  She was very faint and said: " I think I broke my wrist". First look, and sure enough, her wrist was all twisted. We yelled for the Elders to bring some pillows to put under her legs, since there is NO ice in the Netherlands we got a bag of frozen potatoes out of the freezer for her wrist... got her stabilized then sent the Elders to the neighbors to see where the nearest Hospital was.  Oh my! This was my third trip to a Holland Hospital....the word for Hospital here is Ziekenhuis, which means 'sick house'. We took sister Moore's jacket and made a sling, potatoes on the wrist, and off we went to find the Ziekenhuis. We have been to the Hospital here in Amsterdam and I would not bring Polly to the one here. What a pleasant surprise when we arrived at the one in Eindhoven.  Everyone was SO nice, dressed professionally, treated Sister Moore with such tenderness.  The General Practitioner's here are called Huisarts. You see them first then they refer to a specialist. Within just 15 minutes Sister Moore was checked in, seen by the Huisart and was in a room. You don't get that care at home. Without an X ray they could see her wrist was broken. The Dr put a sleeve on her arm, put some hooks onto some bands on her fingers, then hung her arm from a 'hook holder' above the bed.  I took a picture as I had never seen anything like this.  They let her arm hang there for about 30 minutes to see if the bones would just mend back together. They had taken an X ray before to see how dislocated the bones were.  After 30 minutes 4 Medical people came into the room, unhooked her, then I almost screamed...one knelt on the floor and started to pull on her arm, while another one was moving her wrist into place, another was pulling her arm backwards, and who knows what the 4th one was doing.  Sister Moore was screaming with pain.  Poor Brother Moore was in tears and I was trying to be brave. Wow.....after this they did another X ray and told the Moore's she would need surgery. Long story short.  Dad, Elder Moore, Elder Salden and Elder Anderson gave her a Priesthood Blessing asking for a Miracle.  Because of Sister Moore's health it is a MIRACLE she is here.  She was born in Rotterdam, left when she was 10 and has never been back. This is a dream of hers to serve in her 'Homeland'.  When she was taken into surgery...surprise???? surgery WAS NOT needed.  We were all in tears knowing that prayers had been answered!  She is home with a cast on her arm, will need followup care, will be pain for a few days, but it is her left arm, she is right handed, and she is already talking about helping with the meal next Sunday.  Prayers ARE heard and answered!!!!

I will close this book with another story.  Dad and I have said so many times that we are on this Mission to strengthen OUR Testimonies! Every Conversion story we hear brings us to tears.  We wonder if we could be strong members of the church with the opposition some of the member here have.  Next week I will tell you about Dorthy.  Ask Alexis about her.  This is about Sister Palenikova who came last weeks Missionary transfer.  She is beautiful, not only outside but has a spirit that just radiates sweetness and humility.  She is from one of the Russian Countries, we have heard but I can't remember.  She joined the church just 2 years ago and is now serving a Mission.  Her family was VERY much against her joining the church and told her they would NOT support her in any way,  Here she is in the Netherlands, her family does not have a computer, so she cannot email them, they have not answered one of her letters, so for over 6 months she has had no contact with anyone from home.  Tomorrow being Mothers Day I will make sure she knows she is loved by a 'Mission Mother'. Can you even imagine not having ANY support from you family! This is my 'Don't take things for granted". Kids, you tell you your parents, especially your mothers, how much you love and appreciate them.  When you say your prayers, give thanks to our Heavenly Father for where you live, the friends you have, the Blessing of being born members of the church.....we, you are SOOOOOOO blessed.  Never take these blessings for granted!!!!!!  Opa and I are so great full to be serving this Mission. To in some small way 'give back' to a loving Heavenly Father thanks for all he has done for us.  We are so thankful for the family and friends we have, for the Restoration of the Gospel, for a living Prophet who leads and guides us today. NEVER take these things for granted!

Opa is in Leiden at a Stake Priesthood Meeting tonight.  Since very few men in the Amsterdam Ward have cars, anyone that does, is asked to provide transportation.  Leiden is a 45 minute drive away...and you brethren can walk to stake Priesthood Meeting.  This is the first time I have been alone and it seems strange. We will miss our annual Mothers Day picnic. Yes, I have shed a few 'homesick' tears today....that is just being a mom and Oma:) We LOVE being Missionaries, so 'buck up'.

We love you all.  Thank you for you prayers, love and support so we can serve.  We wish you could all come and see us. Keep those emails coming as we so look forward to news from home and all your happenings.  We pray for YOU>

Love, Opa and Oma, Vader and Moeder

Elder and Zuster deLeeuw