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
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