Which means Good Midday:) As you are just starting your day, we have already been to Leiden to 'Ring Conference', had lunch, Sunday
nap, and now typing this email. Cameron sent us a picture of Dayna Lee
and Alexis at the Orem Fest Parade, and the way they were dressed it
looked like it was cold. This past week we have had rain, STRONG winds
and cold temps ourselves. Friday
it was only 13 degrees Celsius, which is 55 degrees Fahrenheit. We have
asked several people if this is normal for mid Juni to still be this
cool. Usually it is warmer, but with the few days that were so hot and
humid....we will take this:)
Holland is in the madness of 'Voetbal', or as you
know it, Soccer. I think we mentioned all the orange that is
everywhere......well, it has gotten worse. As we have driven, biked and
walked around some of the neighborhoods here it is 'out of control'.
Orange flags are hanging from apartment house to apartment house. We
saw a couple the other day and their dog had an orange lei around it's
neck. The mannequins in the store windows are dressed in orange
clothes. If you think that 'Super Bowl' Sunday
is bad, it is nothing to when the Voetbal team plays here. No one goes
anywhere but in front of a TV to watch the game. The YSA's were
suppose to sing last night at Ring Conference. Elder Moore had been
having practices at our Institute and at Den Haag to be ready. The
father of one of the JoVo's heard that they were suppose to sing and
contacted a member of the Stake Presidency. NOT the JoVo, but her
father. He told President van der Put that the JoVo's were planning a
big party Saturday
night to watch the Voetbal game, and none of them were planning to be
at the Ring Conference to sing. The game was played and Holland lost
1-0 to Denmark. It was a game Holland thought they could easily win, so
the headlines are; "Holland is shocked." Wednesday
night Holland plays Germany, so we have cancelled Institute because all
the kids want to watch the game. We are trying to see if we can get the
game on the computer we have at the church, so at least we can get the
JoVo's there for some activity. The game does not start until 9:00 pm,
so it could be a LONG night for us Seniors. If Holland loses this game,
and Germany is a strong team, Holland is out of the competition. All
the orange comes down with ALL of the Netherlands very sad. At least
when the team loses the streets are quiet!
This past Friday we went to Alkmaar with two of our YSA's that live there. Each Friday from 10:00 am to 12:30 pm
there is a cheese market. It is the biggest cheese market in the
world. Men are dressed as were the men many years ago when this all
started. We were told how many Kilograms of cheese is weighed in a day,
but we can't remember the number. It is a LOT though. They carry the
cheese into the public square on slats hung from the men's shoulders.
There are 2 men that empty the cheese from these slats, then off the two
'carriers' go for another load. The cheese is weighed, then taken, or
shipped all over the world. There is cheese made with everything you
can imagine.....with every taste you can't imagine. Cheese made from
carrotts, herbs, seeds, orange, yellow, white, some so strong you can't
eat it, you name it, it is made into cheese. This is a big Tourist
attraction as you can imagine. Tessa and Christina took us on a tour of
Alkmaar and told us some of the History. There were 4 of us Senior
Missionary couples, and the girls were so cute with us. Any time we can
be with our JoVo's we take advantage of the opportunity. After the
'town tour' we drove to the beach that is about a 20 minute drive from
Alkmaar. The wind was blowing so hard we could hardly walk. We all
came away with sand in our hair and teeth. There are SO many things to
do and see in the Netherlands, there is no way, even in 18 months that
we could enjoy them all. Both of these young women are the only members
in their families that are members of the church. Tessa was an
exchange student in Spanish Fork, with an LDS family. She told us about
her first day of school and going to Seminary. She didn't know what
Scriptures were, and had NO idea how to spell the word, so her host
family did not know what books she was to take to class the next day.
She spoke no English, so did not know how to communicate.....wow. She
now speaks beautiful English and knows what the Scriptures are :) Her
parents were VERY much against her being Baptized, but when they did
give their permission, the host family from Utah came and the 'dad' from
Utah baptized her. Maybe I already told you that story? Christina has
only seen her dad 3 times in her life, once when he tried to kidnap her
when she was just a child. She is 21 now. Her dad, sister, a couple of
her uncles have been in prison, her mother smokes, so Christina always
had that stale smell on her clothes. She is SO positive and wants to
serve a Mission. She comes to all the Zone training meetings we have
and just looks like a Missionary already. Most of the YSA's we love,
have stories that would make you cry. They are all so happy having the
Gospel in their lives, and they ALL hope some day that their families
will join the church as well.
We went on 'joint teach' with the Assistants this
week to visit Daniel and Zsanett. Their baby is beautiful and I wanted
to take her picture, but she was sleeping. They hope to get their legal
papers from Hungary in the next week and a half, then they can be
married, then Baptized. They have asked the Elders to be the witnesses
at their wedding. The Elders are so excited and told us, "We get to be
witnesses first at their wedding then again at their Baptism." The day
they are married we will host a dinner here for them and try and make
the day a special one for them. All of their family live in Hungary, so
we ARE their family. The Elders are teaching them how to speak Dutch,
so I learned a few words as well:) We LOVE to go with the Missionaries
as they teach.
We went to the Mission Home Thursday
evening for a 'good bye' dinner for Elder and Sister Bush. They are
the first couple to leave and there are 2 more 'in the wings'. It was
hard for them to say goodbye, as they have learned to love these YSA's.
One new couple came last week and another is coming the first of August.
Serving the Lord on a Mission is THE WAY TO GO AFTER RETIREMENT! Some
days are long and hard, but when you say your prayers and give thanks
for all that has happened, and for the opportunity to serve, you gain
new strength to tackle another day:)
I will close with a few thoughts we heard today in
'Ring Conference' . The Conference was broadcast from SLC to Belgium,
Netherlands, Italy, France and Switzerland. Modern technology is
amazing. Two wards in our Stake had Dutch translation, we went to
Leiden where we heard the talks in English:) Elder Russell M Nelson gave
a beautiful talk on "Teaching The Children". Here are just a few things
I wrote down. Teach your children to Love the Prophet. Love the
Scriptures, and read them each day. Live Worthy to be able to enter the
Temple, and stay worthy to always carry a temple Recommend. Young men,
it is their duty to serve a Mission. Young Women can serve Missions,
but that is their choice. Heed the Law of Tithing. Obey the Word of
Wisdom. Be Obedient. Get an Education. Learn a Foreign Language. SHUN
PORNOGRAPHY!!!!! Be a good Citizen. Prepare to Meet God. Let your
children know that you LOVE them. Teach them who they really are. Read
the 138 section of D&C. Elder Nelson made a comment about us 'older'
folks as well, that I love. He spoke about what we do with our lives
and how we will be remembered. "Who you are is more important than what
you did." Great counsel! President Henry B. Eyring also spoke, but I
will write that another time.
We love you all. We LOVE serving the Lord. Thank
you for you prayers. They ARE felt! KEEP praying! We have a Mission
Conference this week to say goodbye to President and Sister Brubaker.
There should be about 120 at the Conference. It will be fun to see the
Elders and Sisters that have Transferred from Amsterdam....transfers
are again next week, so we will say goodbye to several more. That IS
Missionary work.
Love, Opa and Oma, Vader and Moeder
Elder and Zuster deLeeuw
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