I am starting to type this on Friday,
as the weekend is as busy as the week has been. So, you will get this
in pieces, as I get a few minutes here and there. We woke up to snow
this morning and 2 degrees Celsius....35 Fahrenheit. We have a bouquet
of fresh tulips on our table reminding us that spring IS suppose to be
here. The Keukenhof Gardens are to open the 25th of March,
and we hope there will be some flowers that are blooming. All our
winter clothes I put away are now being worn again. The wind is blowing
so that makes it REALLY cold.
Dad said to thank all of you that sent him Birthday
greetings. It was a rather boring birthday as we spent several hours in
the Mission Office, then came home and did more work on the computer. If
we would have been home, we would have had a BIG celebration for #70,
but dad said he was too old to do much celebrating. Next year we will
make up for this. I gave him an Amsterdam baseball cap, and a tie with
bicycles on it.....now he has a tulip tie, a windmill tie, and bikes.
How much more Dutch can he get:) Tessa, one of our YSA's gave him a
candy bouquet, which is a very popular thing here. Yesterday at Zone
Training the Missionaries sang the Dutch Birthday song to him, and said
lots of nice things about Elder deLeeuw. We heard some noise at our
front door and wondered what was going on.....when we opened the door,
we found the door covered with papers hearts and 'post it notes' wishing
Elder deLeeuw a Happy Birthday. The Sister Missionaries had done
this......another birthday in the Mission Field to remember.
Last Sunday at church there were 3
American visitors.....nothing new to us. After Sacrament Meeting we saw
several of the Young Adults talking to one of the men. Emese, our
Hungarian Jovo came running, jumping up and down showing us an
autograph. Does the name Brandon Flowers mean anything to any of you?
The singing group "The Killers"? Well, Brandon Flowers was one of the
visitors. The 'group' was putting on a concert last Monday night here,
and he Attended church in the Amsterdam Ward. He has done a 'Mormon
Ad....I'm a Husband, I'm a Father, and I'm a Mormon'. Anyway.....he was
signing autographs, and took down the names of several of the Young
Adults who he invited to his concert.......FREE admit. They had front
row 'standing room', as no one sits during these concerts we have been
told. Guess we need to know who is famous. It was a fun evening these
YSA's won't soon forget.
Monday
after we left the Mission Office, we drove to Hilversum, where we
looked at another apartment for Sister Missionaries to live in. Wow, we
were SOOO excited. This apartment has new flooring, new remolded
bathroom, no electrical outlet in the bathroom, but new tile:) Great for
Sister Missionaries??.....we will get them an extension cord. All but
one window had drapes or blinds. Unheard of in the Netherlands. We took
the apartment on the spot! 12 apartments down, 10 more to go before
July. Then who knows how many more will be needed. Now the fun begins,
getting them finished and furnished. Never a dull moment. Today Elder
and Sister Pankratz were not in the office as they went to the Zone
Conference in Antwerpen. Instead of us going with them, as originally
planned, we decided to go to the office and see what we could do on our
own. Well, it took me an hour to figure out how to do two referrals,
which would have taken Sister Pankratz 2 minutes. But hey, I did it. Dad
answered the phone and worked on more apartment findings. We were going
to go to the Mission storage shed to see what was there, but did not
have the code number for entry. This experience was good for us, because
now we know MORE questions to ask before we are really on our own. We
have 3 more days of training, and then watch out. I told the Elders and
Sisters, no Missionary orders until a new Office couple comes.....what
is their response......"we are going to double the orders". Good luck on
that!
Tuesday
morning we took Abby to the airport and said goodbye to her. She had
asked if we could take her because she had a few suitcases, and she
could not take them on the train. 7 suitcases to be exact. In our small
car, that was a load. Abby had to hold one on her lap even, and we hoped
dad could shut the door. We made it, got her to the gate, shed some
goodbye tears, and headed for the Mission Home for a 'Senior Couple'
meeting. It is fun getting together with the other couples and have
'adult' conversation. We had to leave early as we had to go with Elder
Pankratz to turn in our car. The Mission leases cars, and when they
reach a certain mileage they are traded in for new cars. The new cars
are tiny......we laughed and called them 'clown cars'. For Senior
Couples, they are ridiculous! Elder Pankratz called Germany that day and
made a complaint. One Senior couple here are so tall there is NO way
they could drive the new cars. There is no room in the back seat to take
JoVo's anywhere, and no room even to haul groceries and food. The AP's
are (were) driving a Meriva, like the one we traded in, so we came right
home and gave them the new car, and we are driving their's........they
think they are 'hot stuff' driving the NEW car. It will be interesting
to see what happens. The Mission also got a new van. Manual shift,
smaller than the one turned in....another disappointment. With ALL the
stuff that needs to be hauled to furnish all the apartments, we really
need a moving van. Oh well, at least we don't have to ride bikes, so
quit complaining!!!!!
We are excited as several of the JoVo's are filling
out Mission Papers. Junior, the young man from Brazil, sent us a message
the other day, that his parents, who are not members, and his step dad
kicked him out of the house after his Baptism, are very much against his
serving a Mission. He said they were saying 'some awful things' to him,
and asked us what he should do. What would you say? We told him to read
D&C:88,73, about the' Lords hastening his work'. We told him he had
been baptized at THIS time, so he COULD be a Missionary, and be part of
the 'hastening.' We told him to love his parents, that 'love IS the
key'. Not to be angry, ask for a Priesthood Blessing, and the Lord would
soften his parents hearts.....we know that the Lord has a plan for all
of us. We had the privilege on Thursday
to take Tessa, our JoVo from Alkmaar, to Den Haag to receive her
Patriarchal Blessing. We had attended Zone Conference in Leiden that
day, so she took the train to Leiden and met us at the Mission Office.
Tessa was raised as an Atheist. When she was 17 she went to Spanish Fork
as an exchange student. When she arrived there, her host family had
registered her in Seminary and she did not even know what the Bible was.
She told us that she noticed something different living with this
family. They loved each other, had FHE, prayed over their food, prayed
as a family each morning and evening. The family took her to church
where she met new friends, and her friends at school were members of the
Mormon church. She was taught the Missionary lessons, but her parents
would not give permission for her to be Baptized. She came back to the
Netherlands,continued with the Missionary lessons, and finally when her
parents saw how happy she was, they consented to her Baptism....her
parents would not even allow the Missionaries into their home. Tessa was
taught in the Centrum. Her 'Host father', came to the Netherlands to do
the Baptism. Tessa is one of our strongest JoVo's. She asked us several
weeks ago if we could take her, as she wanted someone 'like family' to
be with he. What an honor for us. When she came out of the room after
the Blessing, she was just beaming. She was so prepared for the
Blessing, reading her Scriptures, studying about the 'Tribes of Israel',
fasting and praying. We did not ask her what was said, because that is
something sacred for her, but she said she KNEW what was said was
especially for her, and she had a lot of questions answered. She said
she hoped she would stay worthy to receive all the blessings
promised.....and she will. We asked if she had told her parents about
the Blessing. Her comment was, "how could I explain a Blessing from God,
when my parents don't even believe there is a God." These are the
amazing Young people we love. New experiences every week.
We mentioned Zone Conference. Two Elders and Elder
and Sister Pankratz are the departing Missionaries from our Zone. At
these conferences, those who are going home are given the opportunity to
bear their Testimonies. It brings tears to our eyes as we listen to
these Missionaries give thanks for the opportunity to serve the Lord.
The Elders and Sisters serving now, before all the 'dust is settled',
can go home 3 weeks early or 3 weeks later than their original release
date when called. ALL of them have chosen to stay 3 weeks longer. Elder
Schulte, who was an AP living here in Amsterdam, gave a comparison of
the Gospel to a light house. He is serving in Den Helder, a new area
that was just opened again after 5 years of not having Missionaries. He
said he loves light houses, and in Den Helder, being right next to the
Noord Zee, has several. He told us that when you see a light house from a
distance the light is not very bright. But, as you get closer and
closer, the light becomes more brilliant. The same way with the Gospel.
When we don't have that in our lives the light is not very bright. But
as we study and learn, (new converts), the light of Christ gets brighter
and brighter, and lives are changed. Tears stream down the faces of
those bearing Testimony, thanking a young boy of 14, praying, asking,
receiving an answer, and restoring the Church once again to this earth.
Giving thanks for a LIVING Prophet on the earth today. WE are all SO
blessed to have this knowledge.......now, YOU find an opportunity to
share this knowledge!
Saturday,
and we have had a heat wave......8 degrees Celsius, which is about 46
degrees F. The wind blows and that's what makes it SO cold......think
that was mentioned once before. Well, our International Drivers Licenses
came today, so we are 'legal drivers' in the Netherlands for one year.
We really aren't legal, as we should take the Netherlands drivers test,
but this will do for the short time we are here. We are still waiting
for the citation bill to come to see what damage that will do to the
pocketbook. The Dutch Government it seems looks for ANY way to make
money....you have to pay to park everywhere, and IF you get a parking
ticket, it is always over 50 Euro. The value of the American Dollar has
risen, so that is great news...until it drops again.
We spent the afternoon with Kim and Jurjen. Kim is
our FHE coordinator, and her birthday was yesterday same as dad's. Kim
is one of our JoVo with no real family....think we have told you her
story before. We asked if she would like to have dinner somewhere with
Elder and Sister deLeeuw to celebrate. She was SO excited. We went to a
Pannenkoeken Huis that was built in an old barn. Amazing!!!! When you
girls come that is where we are going. Old farm equipment, milk cans,
wagon, wooden shoes, clothes.....dad was in his glory looking at all the
'stuff'. AND the menu for all the different Pannenkoeken's is 3 pages
long. We laugh at the beverage menu. A TINY bottle of water costs 2.10
euro....and no refills. The bill is brought to you in a Wooden Shoe. Dad
and I mentioned that a Pannenkoeken Huis would be a big hit in Utah
County. The return Missionaries from the Netherlands could be the
waiters, the building fashioned after a Windmill......any takers to
build????? Jurjen, another one of our JoVo's from Alkmaar...he and Kim
are in a 'relationship'.......Jurjen was completely inactive when we
came.....have told you about him before as well....he is filling out his
Mission Papers. He told us all he has to do is get his medical checkup,
but here in the Netherlands the Huisarts, (Dr's) won't do just a
physical for no reason. All the young people that want to serve Missions
have to find an LDS Dr. to do the physical. We have two LDS Dr's here
in the Den Haag Stake, so Jurjen is making an appointment with one of
them. Unlike Utah, or anywhere in the USA, it takes 2 months or more to
receive a Mission call once the papers have been sent. Jurjen, and we,
hope he gets his call before we leave. The last couple of weeks we have
really spent some 'one on one' time with several of the YSA's. This is
what we love. Kim and Jurjen asked if we could stay at least 4 more
years.....Monday
evening at FHE we are going to have a big Birthday party, and celebrate
everyone's birthday. Should have a pretty big group. I made cupcakes
today.
Well, enough for this week. We go to Gouda tomorrow
where we see more YSA's that we get to hug. We take 3 with us, and wish
we could take more. It's a long day, but a joyous one being with so
many JoVo's of the Netherlands. The upcoming week looks, as of right
now, one we can manage....but, remember the phone calls that change
everything:) Dad hopes to find a couple more apartments....one being in
Rotterdam, Utrecht and Zaandam. It is transfer week again, so everyone
is anxious to see if and where they will go.
We love you all. We Love being Missionaries. PS: You
should have seen me read the menu at the Pannenkoeken Huis. I impressed
the Native's. After 14 months shame on me if I could NOT read the menu
and know what was being served. GO Zuster deLeeuw!!!!
Vader and Moeder
Opa and Oma
Elder and Zuster deLeeuw
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