Yes,
this has been quite a week for us. Now we feel we can take a breath,
getting ready for the next adventure. Last Sunday I told you I was asked
to teach Relief Society. Just stared the lesson when the translation
microphone did not work. The Dutch Sisters were having to use the 'head
sets' this week. When everything was in working order the lesson began. I
had several quotes to be read out of the RS manual, so when something
was read I had to try to follow along with my English book, as they were
reading from their Dutch book. Of course I wanted LOTS of participation
from the Sisters as well, so, I would ask a question, the sisters would
give their response, then someone would have to translate to me what
the Sister said......get the picture. A 30 minute lesson just kept
getting cut down because of the translation time......then on top of it
all, Sister Robinson, the Mission Presidents wife, walked in just as I
started. She is an educator and really knows how to teach. A silent
prayer was said, a BIG deep breath taken, and the lesson was given. When
the time was up I just hoped that someone got something from the
lesson, which seemed a total disaster to me. Several Sisters told me
'good job,' and Sister Robinson told me I did well. Maybe because of all
the confusion, I won't be asked again....but I will teach if asked =)
Dad gave a lesson in Sunday School, but it was in the English speaking class. The JOYS of Missionary work!
Sacrament
Meeting was amazing. The program was the Primary presentation. No
matter where in the world you are, Primary Children are adorable. The
Primary songs are all the same, just sung in a different language.
Because we have so many Spanish speaking families in the Amsterdam Ward,
the song "I am a Child of God" was sung in English, Dutch and
Spanish.....and every child sang the song in all three languages. The
talks were also given in English, Dutch and Spanish. When the program
ended we all wanted to stand up and cheer! The Bishop said these
children had 'the gift of tongues.' That they truly did.
Tuesday,
all the Senior Couples met at the Mission Home for a 'Thanksgiving'
dinner. Sister Robinson had cooked one of the 'golden' Turkeys, and the
rest of us furnished the rest of the meal. We love getting together.
There are 9 couples now. The Evertons will leave next month, and as of
now there are no other couples coming for awhile. President and Sister
Robinson had invited a neighbor couple who they are 'fellowshipping.'
This couple had been to Fillmore attending an antique gun show.....the
Bar J's were performing, and they absolutely fell in love with County
Western Music. The man, can't remember his name right now, playes the
base guitar, so really loved the guitar music. A friend of the
Robinson's told them about this couple knowing they were from Holland,
and asked if someone could 'look them up'.....not a coincidence that
this couple live just a block away from the Mission Home. Everyone at
the dinner loved and laughed with them. We sat at the same table, and
before the evening was over, we were asked to come to their home some
evening. What a Missionary experience. After the dinner was eaten,
President Robinson had all the men stand up and sing a song to us women.
A chicken song sung to 'Ghost Riders in the Sky'.....the chicken ends
up as KFC. It was hilarious.
Sister Robinson
said it was hard for her to be away from family at this Holiday
Season....tears from the rest of us were shed as well, as WE ALL miss
our families. We all agreed we were each others family this year. It was
a pleasant few hours spent together....and we hope some Missionary work
was done as well =)
We had our car repaired this week. The place we took it to was so accommodating. We left the car on Wednesday and were told it would be ready on Friday.....not
in Orem! When dad left the car he was given the keys to a
Mercedes.....when the Elders saw the 'loaner car' we told them the
Mission was getting a new fleet of cars, and we were asked to drive one
for a few days to see if these new cars were something the Senior
couples would enjoy. We almost had them believing the story, until we
started to laugh. Friday
afternoon the car WAS ready...washed and vacuumed. We told the Mission
Office that if any of the other cars needed repaired, this was the place
to go. Speaking of cars. The one we are driving needs an oil change. An
appointment was made two weeks ago, the car is in the garage ALL day,
and it costs 300 euro. The Senior couple driving the car pays for the
maintenance of the vehicle. Merry Christmas to us. We don't complain. We
are NOT having to ride bicycles!
The daylight hours continue to drop. It is almost eerie as about 4:00 pm the sky starts to darken, and by 4:30 it is almost dark. In the morning it is not light until after 8:00 am. We will be glad for the 21st of December
to come so we can gain a few minutes of daylight back again. Today it
has been very windy. Something Holland does not get much of. We were
told a big storm system was over the Netherlands, and the wind was the
big factor. Not often do we see the water in the Canals move, but today
it is really moving. The ducks are enjoying the waves for 'duck
surfing.'
The BIG event of the week was the Thanksgiving Dinner for the Young Adults. We started setting up the tables and chairs Monday evening for FHE. Wednesday
we started cooking and decorating. The ovens here, if you are lucky
enough to even have an oven, are very small, so I had to cook the
turkeys one at a time. The Turkeys were from England, and they were as
tough as stewing hens.......we had Turkeys, tough or not! We had the
tables set with some pretty table paper we had found at Makro. For the
center pieces we had gathered leaves. let them dry, and put them down
the center of the tables. The Young Adults Monday
night for FHE, folded brown napkins into fans that looked like Turkeys.
We brought the sofa's from the JoVo room into the Cultural hall, had a
'guest table' set up, with a book for everyone to sign. The hall looked
marvelous. We had Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, sweet potato
casserole, corn, rolls and Pumpkin pie. Dad all along said he thought
we would feed about 80. I disagreed and said I thought 60 would be
pushing.......we just prayed we would have enough food for all those who
DID attend. We had chairs set for 67. The dinner bell rang and we were
off. The Young adults kept coming, and coming, and coming. We had just
invited the Den Haag Stake, and when we saw Young Adults from 3 other
Stakes we prayed again.....'the loaves and fishes'. When all were
counted, we fed 82! Everyone had their fill. We had 2 rolls left over
and some Cranberry sauce. After the meal, we all went into the Chapel
where President Robinson and a member of the Stake Presidency spoke. Two
beautiful musical numbers, and Testimonies from two recent JoVo
converts. The evening was one we will cherish forever =) A member of the
Stake Presidency told us there were JoVo's from every Ward and Branch
in the Stake. We serve 7 of these and Den Haag serve 4. We were also
told that there were JoVo's from all 4 Stakes in the Mission.....one of
these Stakes is in Belgium. As the evening was closing, the Stake
Presidency gave each of the Senior Sisters a beautiful bouquet of roses,
and the Senior Elders a box of Chocolates. As the JoVo's were leaving
we got hugs, loves, and thanks. When we get discouraged about all the
shopping, cooking, cleaning, late nights........we give thanks for these
Young people and the Blessing to be serving with them. They are
AMAZING!!!! We told the Senior Couples that will be here next year, we
will send them a post card from Disneyland =) We think we started
another deLeeuw tradition.
This
weekend was Ring (Stake) Conference. We made the 360 sandwiches
yesterday afternoon for the Brethren after Priesthood meeting. The Saturday
night session talks were all about joy. Joy doing Genealogy work,
Temple attendance, Priesthood Blessings, joy in the Gospel. Todays
meeting was held in a large convention room at a Hotel about a 30 minute
drive from our apartment. President Oddens, our Stake President, talked
about the vision he has for the Den Haag Stake in 2013. 'Finding the
One', and reactivating those who have become inactive in the church. He
had all the Missionaries stand up and told the members that THEY were
ALL Missionaries. With the Mission asking for at least 80 more full time
Missionaries, and the Stake members visiting the less active and
inviting their non member friends to listen to the Gospel
message.......another Stake just may be made here in the Netherlands =)
The church IS moving forward!!!!!
We
hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving day. We are eager to hear what you
all did. Next year we will be remembering THIS year.....hey, I even
made HOME MADE cranberry sauce. Ocean Spray NO MORE!!!!!!!!! We love you
SOOOOO much.
We
thank you for your prayers in our behalf, and in behalf of all the
Missionaries. Two weeks and transfers again. We lose 9 more of the
Sisters and Elders we have learned to love..their Mission experience is
over...but we get 8 new ones to love. We went to the store the other day
and bought a small 10 euro Christmas tree and a string of
lights.....got to have some Christmas cheer. Just wish you could all be
here to experience some of the joys we are having. Some days we are
exhausted and wonder if we can get out of bed the next morning....but we
asked for strength, and we are blessed to 'carry on'. We are being
blessed for sure!
Have a great week.......we pray for Shelby, and know prayers will be heard in her behalf. Keep smiling girl!!!!!!!
Love to all
Vader and Moeder
Opa and Oma
Elder and Zuster deLeeuw
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