This is "Gouda Sunday", so you get the email on Saturday,
This is the last time we will be doing the planning and cooking, so it
is with mixed emotions we attend. Of course we are having 'sloppy
joe's', per request of the Young Adults. We will take three of our YSA's
with us, from the Amsterdam Ward, so that always makes the trip more
fun. One young man we will take is Daniel. Tim, a YSA, return Missionary
from Alkmaar, brought Daniel to Institute several weeks ago, to
introduce him to the church and of course, all the YSA's that attend the
Center. Sara, our JoVo from Portugal, a recent return Missionary
herself, befriended Daniel, and has invited him to attend ALL the church
meetings each Sunday. The Sister Missionaries here in Amsterdam, have been teaching him the Missionary lessons, and you guessed it......next Sunday Daniel will be Baptized:) Wednesday
at Institute, Daniel told me he had the feeling that he would be
Baptized, but not sure when .Guess he knew the answer the very next day.
He has been reading the Book of Mormon, attends Institute, and, last
Sunday did attend ALL church meetings. These JoVo's are amazing
Missionaries. It is so great to watch someone who has NO belief in
anything, study, ask questions, learn....you actually see their
countenance change. A softening we would say. Tim and Sara are preparing
a special musical number for the Baptism. The joys of Missionary work,
and serving with the YSA's!
A
highlight of the week was spending some time with Bishop Holderness,
our 'home ward' Bishop. He was here for a few days attending a
Convention. What would be the odds that his Hotel was not far from
Diemen. We spent some time with him Tuesday evening, then as his time allowed, he was able to attend Institute with us on Wednesday,
and meet the YSA's. He told them he was here to take us home. Of course
it made us feel good, when there was some objection:) We hope he was
able to see first hand, why it is going to be so hard to say our
goodbyes to these Young People we have learned to love. And, he is
letting everyone know how to say our name when we get home. NOT
DeLeeuw......de Leeuw, the Dutch pronunciation......there IS a
difference:)
It
is COLD!!!!!!!! The past two days have been 'dark and dreary'. Rain ALL
day long, and yes, it is cold. Only 9 degrees Celsius, which is 48
degrees Fahrenheit. People here are still wearing their winter coats,
gloves, hats and scarves. Last week we sent some boxes home with winter
clothes in them. Wish we had not been so hasty, as we would love to have
a few long sleeve, warm shirts. We had our 3 days of summer a couple of
weeks ago, so when we get home and are complaining of the
heat......remind us of how we were complaining of the cold! Dad even
mentioned the cool weather......and IF dad says it's cold.....you know
it is cold!
With Monday being another holiday, as was mentioned last week, we will hold FHE here on Monday.
None of the 'Dutch' kids will be here, as they do the 'holiday'
thing....but the other JoVo's did not want to cancel. We ARE here for
everyone. We were going to show the DVD '17 Miracles', but guess what is
also in the box being sent home. Plan B......play some games, and make
banana splits. The JoVo's love to come to our apartment, as it feels
like home to them. We don't know how many will come, but will have fun
with those who do attend.
Friday
was Zone Training. When Zone Conference is held, there are two Zones
that meet together, but Zone Training is only one. Today is Sister
Robinson's Birthday, and next Saturday
is President's Birthday. A lady in the Den Haag Stake makes and
decorates beautiful cakes. We called her and asked if she would make a
Birthday Cake for the Robinson's. Oh my gosh.....a two tier cake. Top
tier was a chocolate cake, with the bottom a raspberry cream. She had
made Tulips out of frosting, and had them on the cake. We had asked that
she make cupcakes for all the Missionaries as well, and would not have
had this done, as the cake was so Hugh. Of course, the 'Dutch Birthday
Song' was sung as the cake was brought into the room.....which is a
party in itself. We had purchased a couple of small gifts for them as
well. They seemed surprised and happy with our show of love. With all
the new Missionaries arriving, the Zones keep growing. It will be
amazing to attend these Conferences in the next few months. This Mission
will not be the same Mission as we came into.....the "Hastening" has
begun, and we can feel it. The first 19 year Sisters, and 18 year old
Elders were in attendance. They are ready to work!
We
have another apartment ready to go, and will finish # 2 this coming
week. There are four Elders living in a very small apartment in
Rotterdam, so when we get the new apartment furnished this coming Friday,
two Elders will move there. The apartments in Almere Buiten, and
Lelystad, should be ready in the next couple of weeks, so we can start
the task of finishing and furnishing them. We are again making the IKEA
runs, but we know where everything is, so get out of our way! When we
see a sale on anything, we go and purchase four or five. Can you even
imagine us looking for sales in the Netherlands! We do get strange
looks, when we purchase our large quantities. Here the apartments are so
small...so when we buy 4 ironing boards, irons, mops, buckets,
toasters, etc.....we're sure they think we are crazy Americans. We were
asked if we were the new neighbors, as we were taking in beds and
mattresses in Zaandam. Dad said 'Ja. number 18". Maybe the Sisters will
get a 'welcome basket'. This apartment is in the middle of a shopping
center, so maybe NOT the best place for Sister Missionaries:) We have
been doing lots of traveling again this week...this is why we wish the
weather was better, so we could get out and do some bike riding. NO, we
are NOT typical Dutch people, who ride bikes in rain, snow, wind....we
are Missionaries from Orem Utah:) We just run up and down the stairs a
few more times when we get home.
Well,
you are just getting out of bed and starting your day, while we have
done a days works, part one. We went to Bussum and did the final
'dejunking' of that apartment. LOTS of tools, paint, odds and ends of
things we don't even know what they are. With Elder and Sister Evenhuis
moving in on Tuesday,
we wanted to have it all ready. Elder and Sister Lyons have just
managed to try and ignore all the 'junk'. (Elder and Sister Lyons have
been reassigned to the YSA Center in Rotterdam. They are the first
Senior Couple that have had to relocate. They are taking the place of
Elder and Sister Woodhouse, who had to return home for medical reasons.)
We took a car load to the recycle station, and will get the rest on Tuesday when we have the Mission van. We also went grocery shopping early this morning. With all the stores closed on Monday,
the stores are all a shoppers nightmare now. We kick into the cooking
mode now, preparing Sloppy Joe's for tomorrow's Gouda, and Monday lunch at the Mission Office. Have we mentioned, 'never a dull moment':)
Cheryl,
you ask if Quincy had received his Mission call yet. NO. All the time
he THOUGHT his papers had been sent to SLC, they were still being
'looked over' by someone here. It is very discouraging for the young
men, as we have watched the process of two JoVo's waiting for Mission
Calls. It seems to take six weeks to two months to get everything
processed.....and we don't know why. Quincy is not dating Kim anymore,
as he wants to focus on his Mission. YAY Quincy. We will let you know
soon as the call comes. We hope to see him tomorrow at Gouda. I'll give HIM a hug from all of you.
We
send our love. Again blessings have been ours, as Shelby has returned
home, hopefully to NOT return to the hospital for A VERY LONG TIME.
Dylan is feeling better, and we also hope he will not cough again for A
VERY LONG TIME. We pray for ALL of you each day. We just received the
Graduation announcement from Corey. Corey, Opa and Oma will be on the
front row in Spirit, both there, AND at you Missionary Farewell:) You
have a busy week, and two years, ahead of you.
We
love serving the Lord. Psalms 118:24......"This is the day which the
Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." We ARE glad, and
rejoice, to be in this day.
Opa and Oma
Vader and Moeder
Elder and Zuster deLeeuw
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