dank u

Dear Family and Friends,

Dank u for all your gelukkig verjaardag groeten:) ( Happy Birthday greetings)! The day started out with the Elders calling on the phone and singing me the Dutch Birthday song. At JVH, Relief Society, they announced that it was my verjaardag, so I got lots of wishes from Ward members. On our Facebook timeline several of the JoVo's have sent wishes, and dank u for all your cards and emails. This will be a Birthday I will remember for a life time. Celebrating in Amsterdam serving the Lord, having a Temple Dedication, songs song, talking with the family, cards and letters from home. Can't get much better than that.

Last Sunday was our Gouda Sunday. Sister Seiter and I fixed Sloppy Joe's for the JoVo's, as they requested this for the maaltijd (meal). We laughed at how the JoVo's kept coming back for more. One young man came up to me and said, "Sister deLeeuw, these sloppy joe's are 'finger licken good'! That IS a complement for sure. The Temple President and his wife spoke at the fireside and then President and Sister Robinson, our Mission President spoke at the Sacrament Meeting. There were several young Adults there that are taking Missionary lessons, so the evening was perfect for them. We enjoy these meetings but it sure makes for a long day. The Den Haag Stake will be in charge again in January.

Thursday was Zone training for the Den Haag and Almere Districts. President Robinson is now having the Zone Leaders do all the teaching at these meetings, and what an amazing job the Elders did. As we have told you before, the vision President Kimball had about the growth of the church here in the Netherlands. He said that some day there would be 40 stakes here in the Netherlands. The Stake leaders here have really caught the vision of Missionary work, and they want to see this 'vision' as a reality. We were told that we are on the 'Winning Team', because we are on the 'Lords Team'. We need to be as Moroni's Army......We need to put on our Armour each day, by reading our Scriptures and praying in earnest. "The Battle is on. The Enemy won't wait. Now is the time to put on the whole armor of God" .We as Missionaries need to ask ourselves, 'if not now when, if not us who'? What are we doing to move 'his' work along. We have District Meeting this Tuesday where President Robinson will be interviewing all the Missionaries. In the next 3 transfers we will lose 20 of the Missionaries that were here when we arrived. Next week we get 6 new Elders and 1 new Sister. Come December, Elder and Sister deLeeuw will be the Senior Couple that will have been here the longest, as we lose 2 more couples in the next two transfers. 3 new couples will arrive next month so we are eager to meet and greet them. Change is good, but it is so hard to say goodbye to those we have learned to love. We tell the Missionaries going home that the next time we see them, we hope will be at their weddings:)

Speaking of Missionaries. The other evening Opa and I were taking our walk around the Canal, when behind us we heard singing of the song "I Am A Child Of God.' We had just had the conversation of how we love the JoVo's, the Dutch people, and especially the Missionaries. Two of the Elders that live close by had just left the tram and were walking home. When they saw us they ask themselves, 'should we go behind the deLeeuw's and scare them, or sing a song'. Boys!!!! They chose the BEST, and their singing was beautiful. We stopped and had them keep singing....a beautiful way to end our walk. These Missionaries are very special.....keep them in your prayers.

For my Birthday Opa spoiled me and took me to dinner. It was a treat for sure. We have driven by a Molen, (Windmill) as we drive to Muiden, a beautiful small Dutch Village, just a few Kilometers from our Apt. The Restaurant used to be in the Windmill, but because it is so close to the road, the patrons were complaining about the noise and they were losing business. So a new building was built further away from the road, but very close to the Windmill. This Windmill was built in 1642. Most of the Windmills are that old, and each has a History and story to tell. When we went into the restaurant the waitress could tell right away we were Americans. Wonder how that could be???? She asked if we were on Holiday, and we had the opportunity to tell her we were Missionaries for our Kerk. (Church). She was very interested that we were here for 18 months, away from our family. I know enough Dutch words, and opa lets me say all the words I can, so I told her I spoke 'klein beetje' Nederland.( 'Just a little Dutch'.) When we were finished eating we told her the meal was 'lekker',( delicious.) She told us to come back in a few months and by then she knew that I could have a conversation with her:) We WILL go back, with a few more words and a Het Boek Van Mormon. There are opportunities to be Missionaries all around.

We attended the Temple yesterday, as on the 4th Saturday of each month is an English Speaking Session. We have a young American Married couple in the ward that we invite when we attend the temple, as they don't have a car. When we arrived at the Temple there was a lot of confusion, as several Temple workers had called to say they could not come to cover their shift. One of the workers approached Elder deLeeuw and I and asked if we were set apart Temple Workers, because they needed help. We were afraid we were going to be called right there and then to be Temple Workers that day. There were several members of the English speaking Branch there to attend the Session, and it was a JOY to sit and speak English and talk about American things. While we were chatting, Elder deLeeuw mentioned that he used to work for Provo City. The Sister we were visiting with looked at him and said; "Milt deLeeuw, I'm Melanie Farnsworth that worked in the Legal dept. at the Provo City Center." Wow, here we are in Holland, at the Temple, same session. Small World. We will keep in touch with this couple and have them here for dinner and a visit. Anyway back to the Temple. So few workers, not enough to have the English Session, so several of the English Couples did Sealings, and we had the privilege to help the JoVo's from our Stake as they came to do Baptisms. Several of these YSA's have just been baptized themselves, so to come to the Temple is an opportunity they really look forward to. It seemed to work out for the best that we were able to be with 'our kids'. We have a Young Couple, both returned Missionaries, getting married on the 5th of October. Because Holland does NOT recognize a Temple marriage as legal, the couple will be married at 10:00 am at the City Hall, then go to the Temple at 2:00 pm and be sealed. This couple was at the Temple with us on Saturday, and were just beaming, as they knew the next time there would be for their own sealing for 'time AND ALL ETERNITY'

It is very cool here now. Only 10 degrees Celsius. 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Long wool socks, coats and scarves are in fashion now. Especially for those riding bikes. Rain most every day, and we really miss the fall colors of Utah. Here the leaves just turn brown and fall off the trees. Boring for sure. We go to regular time in just a couple of weeks, so the daylight hours will continue to be shorter. Oh, and we have been asked if they celebrate Halloween here. We have seen some Halloween decorations in the stores, and a few costumes, but NO the kids do not go 'Tick and Treating.' Maybe we can cook scones and start a new Orem 700 East tradition:)

We LOVE serving the Lord. We know we are being blessed because of this service. We LOVE the people of Holland, and especially the Young people we have stewardship over. They have become like our own family......girls, prepare to have lots of siblings. Several of these YSA's call us Opa and Oma, so klein kinderin, prepare to have more cousins:)

We love you all and send greetings from Amsterdam.

Love, Opa and Oma, Vader and Moder

Elder and Sister deLeeuw