We
hope you all had a VERY MERRY Christmas, and hope the New Year will
bring much happiness. Christmas is winding down here, and Holland is
preparing for a VERY LOUD New Year's Eve. All week long we have been
hearing the LOUD booms of fireworks, and we have been told that New
Year's Eve is out of control.The noise of these 'legal' fireworks jarr
us, so when the 'illegal' ones go off, our apartment will really shake.
All Missionaries are to be in their apartments by 4:00.....even
Senior Couples. The Missionaries here in Amsterdam wanted to come and
'hang out' with Elder and Zuster deLeeuw, but President Robinson said NO
ONE leaves their apartment. You will be very interested to receive next
weeks email=)
Last
Sunday we attended a Christmas Concert that Tessa, one of our JoVo's
was playing in. This was held in a Community Center in a small
(Dorp)....village. Many people were in attendance, and a couple of
people that saw our Missionary Badges came and asked about them. One man
really caught dad's eye, we have a picture of him, was wearing a big
cowboy hat. He told dad that not all cowboys live in the United States.
There was a large band that played, then a group, Pop Musicalkoor, that
sang. All the songs played and sung were songs we hear in America....and
all the Christmas songs were sung in English. It was a delightful
evening, and Tessa was so happy we were there.
Monday,
Christmas Eve, we walked over to the Diemen Shopping Center. They had
Christmas Music playing and we said we felt like we were at the
University Mall. Groups of teenagers hanging around, people shopping,
ALL Christmas songs were popular songs we know.....all we needed were
people speaking in English. Here in the Netherlands, Christmas Eve is
not spent with families like at home. They have Christmas Day, then a
second day of Christmas. One day is spent with the woman's family, the
second day spent with the man's side of the family. Most Churches hold a
special service that day, even some of the Mormon Wards and branches
have a special program on Christmas. Since we had no plans for Christmas
Eve, dad gave me a WONDERFUL gift.........dinner I didn't have to
prepare, serve, and clean up after. We had a delicious dinner at the
Chinese restaurant he took me to for Valentines. As we were eating, we
made the comment that next year we will reminisce about how we spent
this years Christmas Eve. I even kept the receipt, wrote the date on it,
to put with our 'Mission Memories.' Christmas day we were up and out
the door early to take Mary Kate, another one of our JoVo's, to the
airport. Her family lives in New York and she was flying home for the
Holidays. She is an Opera Singer, and when she returns to Holland we
will say goodbye to her, as she is moving to Brussels. I had cooked a
turkey and ham, Made red jello salad, potato salad, farmer salad, fresh
cranberry sauce, rolls, and cookies. The Sisters were the first to
arrive. All the Missionaries had been invited to a members house for
brunch. Typical Dutch meal.......bread and Chocolate milk. The Sisters
were starving when they arrived. President Robinson told the
Missionaries they could watch G rated movies, so we played a Hallmark
movie we had for them. They had an appointment at 4:00,
so after eating, relaxing and enjoying the movie, they left.....then
Elder and Sister Lyons and the AP's arrived. Round # 2. We enjoyed
visiting....the AP's did not want to watch any movies, so we read from
the Scriptures and Quotes of Christmas from the Prophets. Truly a
Christmas we will remember. We SO missed the family, but it can't get
much better than having other Missionaries, away from their families,
all of us here serving the Lord.
Wednesday
we had a Zone Conference in Den Haag. The Zone Leaders wanted to do a
service project, so after a short District meeting, lunch of Chili,
vegetables and rolls....these Missionaries as SO spoiled!!!!!!! we all
went to an Assisted Living Center to sing Christmas Carols. It was very
impressive to see 30 young people, dressed in suits, white shirts, ties,
modest skirts and blouses, with BIG smiles walk in the door. One of the
Sisters that just arrived, has a beautiful voice, started the program
singing 'O Holy Night.' Wow, that got everyone's attention. The Elders
and Sister's then would sing a Carol out of the Hymn book, in
Dutch....that really impressed the people, then a popular 'fun'
Christmas song. Several of the patrons were tapping their feet and
singing along.....especially when they sang 'Jingle Bells.' We all about
died laughing when the song '12 Days of Christmas' was sung. Different
groups of the Elders and Sisters sang different parts of the song, using
hand or voice gestures. The Elders and Sisters got the giggles, which
made the audience start to laugh...it was hilarious. For the last
number, the Elders and Sisters went throughout the room, with the Hymn
books and sang Silent Night. They had the audience sing along with
them.....it was VERY touching. When the singing was over, we all went
around the room shaking hands and wish all Holiday Greetings. More
Mission Memories. Dad told the Elders to make sure he left with
them.....that the Care Center did not admit him =) That made the Elders
really laugh!
Junior,
the young man from Brazil, that was baptized a month ago, then had to
leave because his step dad 'kicked' him out because of his Baptism,
is in Amsterdam for the Holidays...so we invited him to our apartment for dinner Thursday
evening. First it was him and the AP's....then since the Elders were
doing 'Splits' that day, two more asked if they could come.....then the
word got out and the other two Elders called to see if they could come
as well. We had 9 at the table. Spaghetti, salad, garlic bread, Hot
Chocolate Pudding cake and ice cream. Junior was in Heaven being with
his 'Missionary family.' He SO wants to come to BYU and be part of the
deLeeuw family.We told him he could be the brother that our daughters do
not have. While we were eating our phone rang. Remember the Sisters
that got lost a couple of weeks ago? Well, one of them.....the blond, we
joke about her all the time....got lost again. She was following her
companion on her bike.....of course it was dark, and she was NOT paying
attention......she followed, who she thought was her companion on the
bike path. When Sister Townsend, the companion, turned on the bridge to
head home, she turned around to see if Sister Davies was close behind.
NO SISTER DAVIES. She stayed on the bridge and called us.....we had the
AP's who have a car, and the Zone Leaders, who have a car, here eating
dinner with us. So the hunt began. We all said a prayer that all would
be OK. I headed for the bridge to be with Sister Townsend, while the
others went looking in the cars. Sister Davies has NO sense of
direction, which is not good serving in Amsterdam...she had followed a
Japanese girl she thought was Sister Townsend, and when the girl turned
around Sister Davies knew she was in trouble. We all laughed because she
was biking along the Canal which runs in front of our apartments, and
all she would have had to do is turn around and bike back......she had
the sense to stop at a 'bar' which is only a block away, use their
phone, and call the other two Sisters that had a phone. It was only a
matter of a few minutes that the AP's spotted her, the Zone Leaders
escorted her back to Sister Townsend and I, and we brought her home. I
told her I was going to put a chip in her ear, like people do with their
dogs, so we could keep track of her. It made for a very exciting
evening, and we gave thanks that all went well. Gotta love these
Missionaries!
We
say goodbye to Elder and Zuster Everton. They stopped by the other
night when all the Elders were here, and it was so sad to see them give
the Elders handshakes and hugs. We asked Elder Everton how it was to say
goodbye.....they have been here for 23 months. Elder Everton said,
"this is like you heart is being ripped out while it is still beating."
They left in tears. We can only imagine how it will be for us when we
have to say our goodbyes. Sister Everton is the Mission Nurse, so we
will really feel a void. Since there are no new Senior Couples coming,
we will close their apartment this next week. President Robinson keeps
telling us changes are coming in assignments the first of the year....so
we are anxious to see WHAT changes will be made.
It
rains, and rains, and rains.....if the rain were snow we would be home
bound. It IS cold, and when the wind blows it almost takes your breath
away. We see on KSL that Utah has been receiving lots of MUCH needed
snow......water to drink when we get home =) When we arrived last
January is when it was really cold here, and the canals froze.....so, we
are expecting that to happen again this year. We are keeping those long
wool socks, gloves, and hats close. We are still waiting for the
daylight hours to increase...that will come as well, then we complain
cause it's light until 11:00 pm. Are we ever satisfied????
A
health tip we received that is priceless......cut an onion in half, put
it in a room, and this cut onion will absorb any Bacteria that is in
the air. After several days, dispose of the onion and start over. We
were told it really works.......many Elders and Sisters have onions in
their apartments. No, it does not stink up the house. Try it and see for
yourselves =) Worth a try when you have sickness in the house.
Well,
we came home from church, which the Amsterdam Ward today was more like a
Branch. Not many in attendance. I was fixing lunch...making soup from
the left over turkey. The doorbell rang and there stood the Elders. They
are helping us locate some JoVo's to bring our attendance roster up to
date. SO many members move in and out, and no one knows where they go.
"Sure smells good in here'.......how could we not invite them to eat
with us. Elder Sumter is from the Netherlands, and will be a future
Bishop or Stake President here in his Homeland. We are spoiled to have
the Elders and Sisters living so close. We LOVE to have them 'drop in.'
That is why we always have something on hand for eats, as they are
always hungry =) More firecrackers going off......tomorrow
will be an interesting one. We are going to Utrecht and finish closing
that apartment. The Elders were living in a Muslim part of town, and
some strange things had been happening......not good things. For their
safety President Robinson wanted them moved. As we say each week....Pray
for the Missionaries. Nothing has happened to the Elders in Lelystad
this week, so we are thankful for that.
We
send our love and hugs. We are glad the Holidays are over so we can get
back to doing Missionary work. We are here to keep busy, and that is
what we enjoy doing.....even if it means making more cookies
.
We have been blessed this past year as we have served. We know prayers
have been offered in our behalf, and we thank you......they have been
heard. WE give thanks each day for the opportunity to serve this
Mission. What a joy it has been. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love,
Opa and Oma
Elder and Zuster deLeeuw
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