Yea,
finally we again see the Dutch people ice skating. There is a pond not
far from us that is frozen, and a small canal as well that has ice thick
enough to ice skate. It is so fun to see families holding hands
skating...even little ones. When you see pictures of Holland in the
winter, this is the picture you frequently see. Dad loves to see parents
pulling their kinderen on the sleighs along the walking paths. Holland
IS a beautiful place in every season. Last Wednesday night at Institute,
Brother Kat told us that last Monday, the 21st, was 'black Monday'........this is the day that has the least daylight hours....like the 21st of December
in the US. Brother Kat said now we start getting more daylight each
day.....one minute at a time. We WILL take all the daylight we can
get....one minute at a time =)
Last
Sunday we attended the Missionary Farewell for one of our JoVo's,
Benjamin Westra. The farewell was held in the Alkmaar Branch. The church
building is very small with it being just a Branch Building. The place
was packed! Benjamin is very well known, so there were JoVo's from all
over the Nation. Benjamin's mother had asked that the JoVo's sing a
song, Benjamin not knowing about this. Well, here in the Netherlands
with so few Missionaries leaving to serve, the Stake President sets the
Missionaries apart for their missions right after Sacrament meeting
while everyone is still there. After Sacrament meeting there was about a
10 minute break, then the Stake President stood up and asked that all
the JoVo's in attendance come to the front. You should have seen
Benjamin's face......they had asked if I would play the piano as they
sang, an honor for me.....they sang 'I'll Go Where You Want me to Go.'
Dad counted, and he thinks there were between 35 to 40 singing......wow,
talk about a choir. After the song, President Oddens set him apart as a
Missionary. Tears all around. After the setting apart, Benjamin stood
at the front of the chapel and everyone stood in line to shake his
hand....many giving him small gifts. What an experience for everyone to
see 'one of their own' leaving to serve the Lord. It was so cute, as I
shook his hand, Benjamin told me that I could not give him a hug because
he was now a Missionary. Another 'take it for granted' with ALL the
Missionaries leaving from the Utah Wards. We had Arif, the recent
convert from Turkey, and Glenn, the Young man we are helping to
reactivate, with us, and this meeting really made an impression.
As
we left Alkmaar heading to Gouda, it started to snow. We were kind of
wishing we could just drive home rather than being on the Freeway
heading another direction. The closer we got to Gouda the worse the
weather got....oh my. Dutch drivers are aggressive drivers, almost as
bad as Utah drivers, but everyone was driving in their own lanes, being
very cautious. Dad mentioned several times that he wished he had his
truck or the Pilot to drive in this snowy weather. The Gouda meeting
attendance was small because so many of the JoVo's were at Alkmaar. The
Den Haag Stake was in charge of the meal, that means us, so we had only
planned on serving about 40 to 45. Chili, rolls, vegetables and home
made cookies. There is a Fireside first, then the meal, ending with
Sacrament meeting. Usually they have a speaker, but this meeting they
used as a Testimony Meeting. Almost all the JoVo's that bore Testimony
are converts to the church. They told how joining the church had changed
their lives, and how grateful they were to have been Baptized. Another
GREAT meeting for Arif and Glenn. One the way home Arif told dad and I
that we were 'Good Shepherds, taking care of our sheep.' We so enjoyed
having these two young men with us...this is why we are here......being
'Shepherds' to our JoVo's. Arif leaves Monday
to return to Turkey....we sure hate to see him go. He will leave with
good memories, friends from the Amsterdam Center, and a stronger
Testimony.
OK......cooking for Gouda Sunday. FHE Monday. Lunch for Zone Training Wednesday, and dinner for Institute Wednesday night. My arm was really aching the other night, and we decided it was from all the repetitive motion of making so many cookies, and stirring. CES does mean 'cooking every second'!
At
Zone training we were all enjoying the instruction being given by our
Zone Leaders....one of the Sisters, Sister Nogueira suddenly got up and
left the room. Her companion, Sister Omozokpia, love the names, got up
and followed her out. All of a sudden we heard a thud, and saw Sister
Nogueira lying on the floor. We went running. Sister Nogueira suffers
from a 'low blood pressure' condition, and spent most of her time at the
MTC in the Hospital. She was still sent on her Mission. She has been on
some medication that is not available here in the Netherlands, so the
condition worsens.....President Robinson is trying to get her into a
specialist to get some help...but in the meantime she faints. She had
fainted on Sunday
at church. We got her into a room, settled down on some coats to keep
her warm...her sweet companion Sister Omozokpia came up to me, put her
head in my shoulder and just sobbed. She said she was so scared that
something would happen and she would not know what to do. Both Sisters
were given a Priesthood Blessing, and we just pray that Medical care
will come soon, so that Sister Nogueira will not have to leave the
Mission and go home. Keep praying for the Missionaries! Speaking of
Missionaries......our new District Leader is Elder Mower. We told him
that one of our Favorite Bishops was Bishop Mower, so we know we are in
good hands.
We were planning on attending the temple Friday
night with the Amsterdam Ward. A couple of newly Baptized Members were
going to the temple for the first time to do Baptism's, so we were eager
to go be with them. Both the AP's and Elders had asked us to go joint
teaching with them, which we turned down because of us going to the
temple.....another phone call =) It was Elder Shulte, one of the
AP's.'Sister deLeeuw, I have a pain on my right lower side, I've had the
pain for over a week, but it is getting worse. What should I do?"
Blessings all around, as we were able to get him into a Huisart, (Dr.)
right here in our neighborhood. No appointment, but the Dr. did see him.
A call was made to the AMC hospital, where we have taken a couple of
other Elders before, so we knew right where to go. It is almost
impossible to be seen in an emergency room here without a referral from a
Huisart. Elder Shulte was evaluated by 3 different Dr.s, each saying
they needed someone else to evaluate. Blood work and UA done......4
hours later, oh, they did give him something for the pain, which is very
unusual, because the Dr's here don't give pain pills or
antibotics.....Elder Shulte was told he has a virus that would go away
in a week. This Elder is very strong, and can endure pain, so when he
will admit he IS in pain, we know he is hurting. The Mission Dr. that is
over all the European Missions is a Surgeon, and when we spoke with him
Friday night, he was very concerned. Saturday
morning Elder Shulte went back to the hospital for more blood work, was
told no infection, virus...we will keep you posted. While we were
waiting in the waiting room, there was a darling little girl running
around. I had a little pocket mirror in my purse that I took out and
gave her. She had dad look in the mirror, he would pull a face, and the
little girl would just giggle. Well.....we had a 'pass a long' card with
a picture of a family on it. I had also shown her the picture of our
family that I carry all the time. SO, doing Missionary work, we gave her
the card, which she gave to her moeder. There are ALWAYS opportunities
to do Missionary work....even sitting in a hospital waiting room. Sister
Davies has had a bad tooth ache for a week, so Saturday
we had to take her to a Dentist .Another phone call and dreaded drive
into the heart of Amsterdam. The Dentist office was located on a narrow,
one way street, right next to one of the Canals. When we drove up to
the address I thought the GPS had made a Hugh mistake .Graffiti on all
the doors, bars, oh my. When we walked into the office I was pleasantly
surprised to what we saw. A very professional office, with very
professional help. The girl at the front desk said that the first time
her mother took her to work, she was surprised at the office location.
Sister Davies was SUPPOSE to have an appointment at 1:45.....she
had called THAT morning to make the appointment. Her name was NOT on
the Schedule. Give the receptionist brownie points, she could see Sister
Davis was in pain, so she asked the Dentist if SHE could take a quick
look at the tooth. A root canal was needed, so we were asked if we could
wait for an hour, and they would work her in. 4 hours later we were on
our way home. Another blessing......dad was able to park right outside
the office, which was a miracle, because of the street we were on, and
being in Amsterdam. He sat in the car all that time and just enjoyed
watching all the people walk and ride by. This week we are the Senior
Couple Ambulance, Emergency, Service. We are so glad we are here to help
these Elders and Sisters, and they are glad to have us here. They may
be Missionaries, but they still like a Vader and Moeder (Opa and Oma) to
comfort them.
Saturday,
more snow, wind, and cold temperatures......no freezing rain and
inversion, so we know we get no Sympathy from home =) Just makes the ice
thicker for more ice skating. The Sisters had an appointment Saturday
afternoon, while we were at the Dentist....there are 3 in Amsterdam
now....they rode their bikes to Noord Amsterdam, which is a good hours
ride from where we live. They had called the man they were to meet with
just before they left, had another young woman from the Ward ride her
bike to meet them for the visit. IT IS COLD!! He said he was waiting for
them. Frozen, but doing Missionary work they show up for the 4:00
appointment.....and you can guess what happened. No answer at the door
or phone pickup. The poor Sisters had to ride ALL the way back to
Diemen. When they came in our apartment to get Sister Davies they were
about in tears from being so cold. I was about in tears seeing them.
Their attitude: "it's just Missionary work, we get this all the time."
Wow, now that is obedience. We fixed them some WARM soup, fresh baked
cookies, of course, let them thaw out, and they were out the door, with
smiles on their faces to go to their 7:00 pm
appointment. Gotta love these Elders and Sisters. They are all counting
the days until warmer temperatures come to the Netherlands. It is fun
to watch them peel off all the layers of clothes they wear.
This
morning we attended the Lelystad Branch. The Branch President is 29
years old, with a family of 3 children.....very unusual for a 'Dutch
man.' He served his Mission in the Provo South Mission, so we guess some
of the 'Utah marriage ways' rubber off on him. He was thrilled because
there were 77 in attendance at Sacrament meeting this morning. That is
more than double the attendance since he was sustained as the Branch
President. This Branch has really had some problems with hurt feelings,
so it has taken President Hoole some time to get the members back. We
were asked by the Elders to attend the investigators class. A young 15
year old girl, a member, had invited her friend, not a member, to be
taught by the Elders. The Elders gave her a Book of Mormon and the girl
seemed so pleased. See, you are NEVER to young to be a Missionary!!! We
were able to bear our Testimonies about Jesus Christ, a living Prophet
on the earth today, and the Book of Mormon. President Hoole is really
excited, because he can see the time that the small Branch building will
need to have an expansion as the numbers grow. With more Missionaries
coming, this WILL BE a reality! After the meetings, we were invited to
President Hoole's home for lunch. I told dad that I thought we would
have ham and cheese sandwiches. Sure enough. The people here just set
everything on the table and you make your own.....taking everything out
of the packages. We had fun playing with the children, and the one
little girl brought me a story book for me to read to her......a Dutch
story book. Hey, I read the words as I thought they should sound, she
kept turning the pages, so I guess I did alright. We talked about the
JoVo's in that Branch and how we can get them coming to FHE. There are 7
YSA's, all inactive.....we hope to find a way to get them coming out
again. The one young man who was coming when we were going to Lelystad
twice a month, is having some emotional problems, so he is not attending
now. We have not been to Lelystad for a month because of no attendance.
We think we have a plan, so with prayer and Faith, we can get these
YSA's coming.
Well,
that is our week in review......we are ready for the week ahead and
what it may bring. Each morning we ask ourselves what adventure will we
have before going to bed that night. French toast and fruit for FHE,
Enchilada's, salad and carrot cake for Institute. We look forward to
Thursdays when we know we don't have to shop for a couple of days.
As
dad and I were reading out of the Book of Moroni the other day, we were
reading Chapter 8...Mormon writing to his son Moroni. I said this
sounds like us writing to our family. Verse 2: My (our) beloved
son...(.daughters.)..verse 3: I (we are) am mindful of you always in my
(our) prayers, continually praying unto God the Father in the name of
his Holy Child, Jesus, that he, through his infinite goodness and grace,
will keep you through the endurance of faith on his name to the end.
We love you.....have a good week.
Vader and Moeder
Opa and Oma
Elder and Zuster deLeeuw
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