We
hope you have a GREAT day, and are thankful that you are mothers.
Alexis.....isn't being a mom amazing. We have so enjoyed seeing all the
pictures of Lincoln.
Well,
this week has been an unusual one for us. We have been in the Mission
Office each day, using our little bit of knowledge, to 'train' Elder and
Sister Winmill. Elder Winmill is very confident about his duties, but
poor Sister Winmill still has the 'deer in the headlights' look. They
have both told us, that the training they received in SLC before they
came, does not help. Each Mission is so different, especially those that
are Foreign. We have Zone Training this coming week, and that in itself
is a big undertaking. So much to learn in such a short time. With so
many more Missionaries, the Missionary Supplies that we have on hand are
just not enough. Sister Winmill will be ordering all the time, just to
keep up from one Zone Training to the next. We need to get back to our
JoVo's, and apartment furnishing. We have 4 more to do before June 10th, so we hope next week will be the last full week we will need to be in the office.
Speaking of apartments. Tuesday we went into the Mission Office at 9:00 am. At 2:00 we had an appointment in Zaandam, which is back towards Amsterdam. Dad signed all the contracts and got the keys. At 5:30,
we had an appointment in Scheidam, which is by Rotterdam....clear back
past Leiden, where we started the day. We put 288 Kilometers on the car
that day. We get the keys to that apartment on the 15th, so things are
looking good. Needless to say we were very tired. We are seeing lots of
the Netherlands, but as we told President van der put.....we are not
having time to 'smell the tulips.' We want to start furnishing these
apartments as soon as we can, so we can enjoy our last month here
without feeling so much pressure. 11 more apartments need to be found
and furnished by July 23rd.....and the list goes on. A Senior Couple could be called just for apartments.
Monday
night at FHE the Elders were teaching two men from Romania, so we
invited them to stay and have dinner with us. Being in Amsterdam, we
sure have a 'melting pot' of different nationalities. We love this! For
FHE we watched the DVD 'An Unlikely Mormom, The conversion Story of
Glenn Beck.' Even if you are not a Glenn Beck fan, this is a DVD we
would encourage you to watch. Very inspirational. He bears his Testimony
at the end, which is very touching. After we watched the DVD, Kim, our
FHE coordinator asked if anyone would like to say a few words. This
turned out to be a mini Testimony meeting in itself. A young lady that
the Sister Missionaries are teaching, was in tears, as different YSA's
bore Testimony as to how grateful they are to be members of the church.
We expressed our love to the JoVo's, and how blessed our lives are to
have served this Mission. A very powerful evening. Wednesday
at Institute, we fed 21. The Chapel was just buzzing with Elders and
Sisters teaching investigators. It is so amazing to see the happiness on
the faces of the Missionaries, as they are teaching. . We ask one
young lady being taught about her family and if she had grown up with
religion in her life. Her dad believes in some ancient Egypt God. and
her mother is a Catholic. She expressed how simple and beautiful this ,
the Mormon Religion is. She said she really loved knowing about what
happens after we die. We were able to bear our Testimony about having a
living Prophet on the earth today. Our knowledge that we know we have a
loving Heavenly Father that knows each of us personally. Missionary
moments we love. Another young man is attending Institute, Daniel, that
has no belief in anything. He is reading the Book of Mormon, and comes
each week with more questions. We hope to see both of these young people
enter the waters of Baptism. Amazing!!!! And the stories go on. Daniel
was at church today for all three meetings.
The
Netherlands have a Holiday for everything. Last Thursday was 'Ascension
Day'. All the stores are closed and no one goes to work. It was a good
thing we knew about the Holiday, or we would have wondered what was
going on, as there were very few cars on the freeway as we drove into
the Mission Office. On May 20th,
is 'Pentecost Day', where again, no one goes to work and all the stores
are closed. Those who do not know the dates, are caught empty handed if
they need something at the grocery store. We think, after the
'Pentecost Day', there are no more Holidays for awhile....but someone
may come up with a new one just to have the day off :)
The daylight hours are getting longer each day. We think it is early evening, look at the clock, and it is 9:00. It is still light now at 10:15. and it just keeps staying light longer. Remember, we told you how last summer it was still light after 11:00 pm.
Hard to get ready for bed while it is still light out. Last weekend we
were basking in temps of 80 degrees. We knew it would not last.....wind
and rain the past few days, and temps down to 50. Most of the tulips
have been cut, so the fields are just green now with no bright colors.
We have heard that they cut the flowers off, so all the strength goes to
the bulbs. The color was nice while it lasted.
Well,
we once again tell of a 'Phone call tale.' Dad has been sitting in on
the teaching before FHE, a couple of times with the AP's, as they have
taught a young lady, Catharina. We have been visiting the other Wards
and Branches, as we have told you, but today Catharina was being
Baptized, so we planned to attend the Amsterdam Ward to support the
Missionaries. Catharina is a YSA, but has only attend FHE once, so we
really are not that well acquainted with her, like we have been with
some of the others. 7:00 am
our phone rings. "Hello, is Elder deLeeuw there. Does he know he is
Baptizing Catharina today? "No, I don't think he is aware of that, but
let me have you talk to him." "Elder deLeeuw, Catharina has requested
that you do the Baptism. Sorry we haven't gotten in touch with you
earlier." Good thing we had planned to be in Amsterdam today :) The
Baptism was to start at 1:30, right after Sacrament Meeting. 1:15,
Catharina was not even at the church. FINALLY, she shows, the Sisters
hurry to get her in her white clothes, then we want to take a few
pictures. 1:45. 2:00. 2:15.......all
the family is there but one brother, so the Baptism service is started.
Songs sung, talks given.....time for the Baptism. Everyone goes into
the room where the font is, and Catharina is standing in the hall
waiting for the brother. At one time we even thought she was going to
back out of the Baptism....Finally a phone call is made, the Brother,
his friend, and girl friend are just a few blocks from the church, so
Elder Li jumps in the car to go get them. Oh my......the Brother had to
stand outside and finish smoking his 'weed'. He is a very nice guy, but
was very happy.....dad was waiting by the font, and did not know what
was going on.....the rest of us Missionaries were waiting at the door to
greet this last group of people. The brother walks in, dressed in black
leather, tattoos, very happy.....looks around and says "man, this is
awesome." We could hardly hold our laughter. Finally, we get Catharina
into the Baptismal Font ready for the Baptism. There is a new Ward
Mission Leader in the Ward, and this was his first Baptism. Usually an
announcement is made, that no pictures are to be taken during the
Baptism, because of the Sacred Nature of what is being done. The
announcement was not made....so you guessed it. Flash after flash while
pictures were taken. The poor Elders that were the witnesses didn't know
what to do. Dad did the Baptism among all the flashes, and it was over.
This might hit youtube:( As we were leaving the service, we, with the
Missionaries, said this made the top 10 list of most unusual Baptisms.
There were other investigators there as well, and they asked some
questions about the few 'unusual' things that happened. We assured them
that the reason we were there, was for the Baptism, and that everything
else was just 'worldly things'. The Sacred Ordinance was done, and that
was the most important thing. This was #6 Baptism for dad, and one for
sure he will remember. Dad feels blessed to have been asked to do the
Baptisms. We are doing more than shopping, cooking, and apartments.
Hopefully, in the next week we won't have to go into the Mission Office
but once a week, so we can do more with the JoVo's and Missionaries.
Today
the Sacrament Meeting program was of course honoring Mothers. The
Primary children sang, and it is amazing to see all the Nationalities of
Children singing....Spanish, African, American, Dutch. After they sang,
each child took a 'goodie bag' filled with candy and cookies, to their
mothers. After one of the talks, all the men in the audience were asked
to come to the front and sing "Love at Home." After the meeting, some
yummy pastries were served to the WOMEN.......NO MEN:) It was a nice
program. Mothers are honored ALL over the world........GO
MOMS!!!!!!!!!!!!
Our
prayers are with Shelby, Mark and especially Kristine....we KNOW
prayers have been, and are being answered in their behalf. What a
blessing in itself, to live when we have such good medical care. Dylan,
we hope you get over your cold soon too. No fun to be sick. TOOOOOO many
ballgames to play.
Today
in RS the lesson was "Sacred Family Relations." I loved the quote from
President Snow, as he talked about the family gathering that was held
for his 70th birthday. He asked, and as I quote him, this is want dad
and I want for our family as well. "That not a single member of this
family be lost by deviating from the straight and narrow path, but may
we all prove ourselves worthy to come forth in the morning of the first
resurrection, crowned with glory, perpetuating in immortality the family
union, and continue to increase down through the endless ages of
eternity."
We love you all. You are ALL in our prayers. We are blessed to be serving the Lord.
Vader and Moeder
Opa and Oma
Elder and Zuster deLeeuw
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