Happy Fathers Day to all you WONDERFUL fathers! I am starting to email this Saturday night because tomorrow is another LONG Gouda day. We go to our meetings from 10:00 til 1:00, run into the apt and grab a sandwich, then drive an hour to Gouda......meetings go from 3:00 to 6:00, drive and hour home and call it a day. SO, you get a head start with the ending Sunday evening.....and it is still light until after 11:00 pm, so it is hard to sleep anyway.
Our heart are so full of joy that I had to start
writing while we still had the spirit. You have read about our JoVo
that is here from England. She is 28 years old and is studying to be a
lawyer. SHE found some information on the Internet about the church and
SHE looked up the Sister Missionaries. The first time she came to our
Institute class we thought she was a member because of her knowledge of
the church. The sisters have been teaching her the lessons, many of
which have been taught here in our apartment. She is the one that drew
the picture of the girl with the comforter,the glasses and the ear
phones, expressing how the Gospel made her feel. She has been looking
forward to her Baptism with much excitement. Her Baptism date was set
for today, Saturday June 16th.
Last Monday at FHE she asked Opa if he would Baptize her. She said
she never had a 'grand dad' and dad, opa, was what she wanted in a
'grand dad'. Of course dad was thrilled. Last night as the Sisters
were teaching her the last lesson we read from Mosiah 18:8,9,10,11. In
verse 11 it states." And now when the people had heard these words, they
clapped their hands for joy, and explained: this is the desire of our
hearts." When she read this, she said ,"I am clapping my hands for joy!"
When she came into the house, her first words were: 'today is Friday, tomorrow
I get Baptized." This IS THE JOY OF MISSIONARY WORK! Of course I took
lots of pictures so will send them.....dad was radiant in his
white.....and of course he was in tears:) When she came up out of the
waters of Baptism, dad said she was just grinning from ear to ear. She
just beamed the whole evening and kept saying how happy she was to
finally be a member of the church:)
Thursday
we attended a Mission Conference for all 4 Zones. President and Sister
Brubaker will be leaving the 29th of this month, so this was their last
Conference with the Missionaries. There were 102 in attendance. It was
hard for the Brubakers to express their feelings and to say their
goodbyes. President Brubaker asked us to pray for president Robinson and
his wife as they prepare to be our new Mission President and 'Mission
Mom". Sister Brubaker had prepared a beautiful Slide show of many
pictures they had taken over the last 3 years. As their gift to us, we
all received a copy of this. A treasure for sure. It is hard to say
goodbye, but we will welcome our new President with open arms and hugs.
The Missionaries are wondering what changes will take place, but are so
willing to make any changes if asked. The Elders we have in our
complex have made the comment that they are excited to welcome President
Robinson. President Robinson comes from Fillmore, and Sister Robinson
was born and raised in Salina, so dad knows they will be good:) Southern
Utah folks. After the Conference, the Sisters from Haarlem asked if we
would go on a joint teach with them at 8:00 pm.
We met with a darling girl from Ukraine who is also 28, and JoVo age.
What a joy to meet with those 'who are seeking'. The Sisters had just
met her on the street, and she said she was looking for a church. She
was at the baptism tonight and told dad and I how happy she was that we
were at the church the other night with the Sisters. She asked if we
could come again to teach her. Fabiena Turteirate is her name. She is
planning on coming to FHE this coming Monday, so we are SO hoping yet another YSA will be baptized........we are so blessed to be here doing the Lords work:)
We just returned from Gouda...it has been a long
day. Holland plays Germany tonight in soccer, and if they lose they are
out of the tournament. The neighborhood is noisy with people yelling
and horns blowing. Wednesday
night Institute was cancelled because of the soccer game. We asked the
JoVo's if they wanted to come to our apartment and watch the game....so
we would have contact with them that night. We had purchased pizza,
drinks, chips, cookies, all the 'good' stuff young people like to eat.
We had 18 here cheering for Holland. Dad and I had purchased orange
Holland shirts to wear, which the kids loved, so our house was one big
party. Holland lost to Germany 1-2. There were two young ladies here
that really were not all that interested in the game, so at half time we
went for a walk around our neighborhood. It was almost spooky because
we only passed ONE person the whole time we were walking. Usually there
are many out walking or riding their bikes.....but NOT when there is a
game on. Holland was favored to win all the games and go into the
finals, so with two losses, the fans are NOT happy. Being Sunday,
just dad and I will watch the game for awhile. We wonder what the
neighbors think of us. We are either bringing food in from shopping.
Taking food out for FHE, Institute, or District Meeting. Having the
Elders and Sisters dropping in, or having the JoVo's here. We are a
happy group, but can get a little loud at times. We are a "joyful
people":) At least the Police have not come to quiet us down:) YET:)
Speaking of Police. Wednesday,
as I was preparing for the Soccer party, 3 Police cars drove up in
front of the apartment across the road from us. Then, a policeman on a
Motor Bike, then a fan, then a big truck.....police were going in and
out of #20, talking on their radios. We saw the man who lives there
being escorted out of the apartment. Dad asked one of the Policeman
what was going on, but he was very vague. After several hours of people
going in and coming out of the apartment, dad asked another policeman
what was going on. We had noticed that the Police had been looking into
a crawl space just inside of the front door, and that bags of something
were being brought out and dumped into a large container. Can you guess
what was going on? A Marijuana bust!!! The people were growing the
plants under their apartment. We have NO idea how they could do this,
but a couple of the neighbors told us that this is a very common thing
around here. It is interesting that Marijuana is legal to smoke, but if
you grow your own you are hauled off to jail. Needless to say, it was an
exciting afternoon and evening.
The weather is just right for us. It rains about
every other day, but it is not hot and humid like a few weeks ago. We
love having the rain, as it reminds us of Seattle. It rains really hard
for a couple of hours, then the sun comes out, and it it beautiful. It
is still cool enough that people wear scarves around their neck and
jackets. Scarves and boots are worn year round here.
This week is Transfer week so we will be saying
goodbye to several Missionaries in our District. It is hard to see the
Missionaries go that we have learned to love,but we are always excited
to have new ones come....more love:) We stared a TRADITION.......(a
deLeeuw thing for sure), that on Wednesday
before the Missionaries leave for their new assignments, we have them
here for breakfast. It is hard, because I can't hug the Elders, and dad
can't hug the Sisters. We just have to give hand shakes. The
Missionaries tell us that when we come to their weddings, we can give
them hugs then:) We have 3 Sisters and 4 Elders living in our complex.
Dad has enjoyed the "Fathers Day Greetings" from you
all. I gave him some 'aftershave' and chocolate covered raisins. His
wish for today was, having a steak at TEXAS ROAD HOUSE! Instead he got
an egg salad sandwich as we headed for Gouda. Thank you for your
emails, calls and cards.
We love you all so much!!!! I will send pictures in
the next few days. I am just TOOOO tired tonight. Our testimonies are
being strengthen as we serve the Lord, and continue to hear the
conversion stories of the people here in the Netherlands. We love these
people...just wish we could speak their language!!!!! Keep your emails
coming, as we look so forward to them. We miss home, but know this is
where we are to be.
Love, Opa and Oma deLeeuw
Elder and Zuster deLeeuw
PS:
Dad wanted me to mention that what we write is only a small portion of
what we do each week. It would take several hours to write all, and
take you several days to read:)
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