Seems like we frequently say 'another
amazing week'....but this week HAS been amazing. It started with, I
forgot to add this in the email last week, Elder deLeeuw confirming
Simon. Simon is a man from Ghana, we think in his early 50's, very
black, with a big space between his top two teeth. He has a smile that
shines from here to the moon, and when he smiles all you see is his
teeth. He wears a white stripped suit with a multi colored stripped
shirt and flowered tie. I do have a picture to send. He at first wanted
dad to Baptize him, but then decided he wanted dad to confirm him. What
experiences dad is having. The people we 'joint teach' love dad and can
feel his Missionary Spirit. Dad went 'joint teaching' with the Elders,
to a woman who was at church last week when dad was doing the
confirmation.....she has not had all the Missionary lessons yet, but
said when dad was Confirming Simon she felt ' a burning feeling she had
never experience before', and she knew then she wanted to be Baptized.
Amazing #1
When we were at JoVo camp Elder deLeeuw backed into a
tree..grandsons, you DID not hear that!!!! Anyway, the man next door
was out working on an Opel car he had just purchased, and dad noticed an
address of a local Opel dealer. Ashok, the burrman, Dutch word for
neighbor, is always working on his cars, so asked dad what he needed.
Dad showed him the broken tail light......Ashok took a picture of the
broken light, Monday
went to the Opel dealership, brought a new tail light home and
installed it for dad. Amazing #2 I took some home made cookies to him
and his wife to tell them thank you. Yvonne, his wife, saw me, thanked
me for the cookies, and told me they were very professional. Now, that
shows you how many cookies I have baked, to now become professional:)
Tuesday
we as Senior Couples met with President and Sister Robinson. There
were only 5 Senior Couples as 3 have left in the last couple of
months.....today a new couple arrived and they will be working with dad
and I in the Den Haag Stake....YEA!!!!! President Robinson is a very
quite humble man. He is a rancher from Fillmore and loves to ride
horses. He told us he does not like to be in the 'spot light' but would
rather be ' behind the scenes'. He read from the Scriptures and told us
to be 'Fishers of Men, always keeping our poles in the water." Sister
Robinson had us read from the D&C. A statement was made that we
loved..."The Lord can't guide your footsteps if you don't move your
feet". We were asked to rise to a high plane of thought and
activity.....lengthen our strides. Amazing # 3
Wednesday
night we had the Sisters and Jenny here for dinner. Jenny is the YSA
from England who dad baptized. She has been here doing an internship
for her Law Firm, and now she is returning home. She is so excited to be
a member of the church and hopes to come to Utah next August and attend
Education Week at BYU, and see as many Temples as she can while there. Thursday
morning we had the Sisters and Roos here for breakfast.....I didn't
even put the place mats away from the night before. She is such a
beautiful young lady, and she ALWAYS has a smile on her face. She so
wants to share her beliefs with others as she is excited to be a member
of the church. She and Jenny both bore their Testimonies in Sacrament
Meeting two weeks ago. The church will move forward with people like
this being baptized. Both of these young ladies want to be endowed as
soon as they can. As we were giving hugs and saying our goodbyes to
Roos, she hugged me and said," Thank you so much for being in Holland."
Dad confirmed her as well. Amazing # 4.....see why we love being here:)
Thursday
evening we were invited to 'joint teach' with the Elders from Den Haag.
Remember the young man we met at JoVo camp who reminded us of Corey,
and we thought he was a member of the church. Well, we fell in love
with Adriaan and as we left camp he told us he wanted to make pancakes
for us. I have been in contact with him through Face Book, can you
grandchildren believe Oma does Facebook:) Adriaan asked if dad and I
could come and have pancakes and teach with the Elders. He lives in a
small town Naaldwijk, about an hours drive from here. He was so excited
to see us, as we were to see him. He lives with 4 other young men, one
being a returned Missionary, in an old Police Station. When office
buildings close here they rent them for apartments. This jail house is a
place any kid would love to live in........jail cells and all. The
'boys' were skate boarding down the long halls, the kitchen was hugh, as
that is where the meals for the inmates were prepared. We ate at a
long table that had names written all over it in black ink. What fun.
The pancakes were delicious Adriaan had prepared. He had fresh mango,
Strawberries, apple topping he made on the stove.....he loves to cook.
After the meal, the Elders, dad and I, Adriaan, and one of his friends,
Volker, went into a room that the boys had made into a very comfortable
room with sofa's and chairs, rugs on the floor....it was nice. Volker,
has been an Atheist, so Gospel teaching is new to him. The lesson for
the evening was on the "Plan of Salvation". Scriptures were read,
questions answered...which were very thought provoking. Can you imagine
how many questions you would have not having a knowledge of a pre earth
life, and having a life after we die. I had taken some cookies for
Volker and Adriaan, and had written a note about the love our Heavenly
Father has for us. I told them that the cookies we had brought to them
were baked with love, and our Heavenly Father has so much love for us
that he restored the Gospel of Jesus Christ back on the Earth. On the
message that was written was: "how do you spell love...you don't spell
it, you feel it." All of a sudden Volker burst into tears. and just
sobbed. He told us he had been praying for a sign to feel the spirit,
and felt our love was that sign. WOW....Adriaan said he had never seen
Volker cry, and that really touched him. There was such a spirit in
that room we could all feel it. The Elders said that was the most
Spiritual experience they had had on their mission. WE KNOW A LOVING
HEAVENLY FATHER KNOWS US PERSONALLY, AND ANSWERS PRAYERS. I cried all
the way home because of the experience we had. Amazing #5.
Tomorrow
is our LONG Gouda day...and the young lady Fabrina, from Ukraine, that
we are 'joint teaching' is going with us:) We so hope that being with
other YSA's she will feel of the spirit. The Sister Missionaries that
are teaching her, have permission to go with us, to help translate,
cause she speaks no Dutch....we will attend church in Haarlem then go to
Gouda from there. Fabrina has had a sad childhood, and does not have a
lot of trust in people. So, her going to Gouda is an another
amazing....#6
Ok. I could keep going. Can you tell we are busy
and loving being in the Lords service. One last amazing. We met
another YSA, young man at camp, from Lelystad. This is a small branch in
the Den Haag stake that we did not even know had any JoVo's. Long
story short......the young man we met is excited to have us come to
Lelystad and have FHE/Institute at least once a month. The Elders that
serve there called us today and said they were teaching some YSA's from
the University there and they want to come join us. Lelystad is about a
45 minute drive from here...we are SO excited to start another Centrum
there. The work is rolling on for sure!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Amazing #7
We love you all. Thank you for the emails that were sent this week....they are SO appreciated.
And
today has been very hot and humid...33 degrees Celsius which is about
92 degrees Fahrenheit. Next week is suppose to be rain and cool again.
We are now going to go on another bike ride.....we could ride for hours
here...go opa and oma!!!!!!!!!!
Elder and Zuster deLeeuw
Opa and Oma
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