Yes,
we have set the record for the most apartments found and furnished in
two months. We furnished six in April, and after this coming week, would
have furnished five more before transfers on the 12th of June. Eleven in all in 2 1/2 months! We went to Gent on Friday,
which is in Belgium, and we are glad that apartment is done. We hate to
drive in Belgium, and with so much road construction, our GPS could not
find the apartment with all the detours. After being 45 minutes late,
the Elders finally called us to see where we were. Our phone does not
work outside of the Netherlands, so we could not call them. We were in
some Hospital parking lot, not knowing if we would ever find our
destination, and were thinking about getting sick just to have somewhere
to spend the night. Thank heavens the Zone Leaders were with the
Elders, and had a car. They came to our rescue, and the goods were
delivered. It was almost 8:00
before we got home. A VERY LONG DAY!!!!! We are amazed at how the Wards
and Branches that are excited to get Elders and Sisters in their area,
step up to help. This Branch in Gent is so excited, they are even
purchasing a sofa for the apartment. There were several men from the
Branch that met us, ready to put all the IKEA items together. Lelystad
is another Branch that is VERY excited to get Missionaries. That Branch
has found furniture,and had members there to meet us as well. They want
to have an 'open house' for the Branch members, so they can see where
the Missionaries will be living. Lelystad has never had Missionaries, so
they are calling this an 'Historic' event. We will furnish Almere
Buiten this coming Friday,
then we are done! It has been exhausting, but what a way to be
tired.....doing work for the Lord's hastening :) 15 new Missionaries
arrive this Wednesday, and we are ready for them.
The
weather this week has been incredible. Beautiful blue skies, warm
temps, slight breeze. Just perfect. It starts getting light about 4:00 am, and it is still light at 11:00 pm. Dad and I look at the clock each night, thinking we are going to bed early, and it is after 11:00. If we wake up any time after 4:00 am, it is hard to go back to sleep, as we think the day has begun. Gotta love living so far North in the Universe.
Monday
we held FHE here at our apartment, as most of our JoVo's were in Den
Haag. We had four that came, one being a young man, age 21, who the
Sisters are teaching. We had the JoVo's make their own waffles, and then
they played some 'mind games'. It was 10:15
before they left. How fun is that. They kept telling us thank you for
staying here, as they would not have had any where to go that night. We
are reminded of 'going, or staying' for the one. Wednesday
we had 11 at Institute. Kristine asked me if I am still cooking as
much........YES!!!!!! The Amsterdam Ward has asked if I would cook one
more time before we leave, so on the 19th another Potato Bar will be
prepared. Everyone loved that. This week Sloppy Joes are on the menu.
The other night I made three batches of cookies, and Banana Bread. We
meet this Tuesday
with the couple that will be serving in Amsterdam when we leave. The
main concern Sister Kleijweg has, is the cooking. The JoVo's will miss
the homemade cookies, as the Dutch women just don't bake things like
that. It will be an interesting change.
Saturday
we had Fabiena, the young lady dad Baptized that is from the Ukraine,
here, along with the Sisters from Haarlem and Amsterdam. I had made Taco
Salad, and thought I would have left overs......NOT! The Sisters seemed
to enjoy something different than bread and cheese. We spent a very
enjoyable afternoon together. Fabiena gave dad and I some gifts from the
Ukraine, which she was so happy to give us. Tears were shed, as love
was expressed. She recounted her Baptism day, and how 'warm' she felt
coming out of the water. She said her skin was 'prickly', and she felt
so clean. She will be at Ring Conference this coming weekend, and we
will see her one last time when we attend church in Haarlem. Did we say
how hard it is to say goodbye!!!!! Fabiena said 'when' she comes to
Utah, she will make dinner for all our family and friends. With all
these goodbyes, I need waterproof mascara. We are telling people we have
allergies.....with the watery eyes:)
Speaking
of the Sister Missionaries. By the middle of July, all the 'senior'
Sisters will be gone. President Robinson told us, that the new Sisters
that have only been here two transfers themselves, will have to be
trainers....some of them with TWO new sisters.
Something funny about our legality. Our Dutch Legality cards expired the 30th of April.
The Elder in the Mission Office sent in a request for a renewal several
months ago, knowing we would be illegal and needed new cards. Well,
this week, someone from the Dutch Government called the Mission Office
and said they had on their records, a Renae deLeeuw, who was not legal
anymore. Hello, the papers WERE sent! Dad is still 'under the radar',
but I'm caught. Elder Christensen told them we were leaving the
Netherlands on July 2nd......he
was told that if we (I) were to stay one week longer, the Mission would
have to pay 350 euro for me to stay. Good thing we are leaving on the
2nd. Most of the Missionaries are Legal in Belgium, but NOT in the
Netherlands. Papers are sent, but the Government is SO slow with
everything, all they want is money.....the Missionaries are home before
their papers come. The Mission is now being told that EVERYONE that
drives, has to have a Netherlands drivers license. This is VERY
expensive! We are glad we are leaving when we are. Hope we don't get
pulled over for anything, as we don't have a Dutch drivers license OR
legal cards. Jail for sure:)
Well, it's a good thing I started this email early, as it is after 10:00,
and we just returned home. We have had an amazing day that will be
'Mission Memories'. Dad was so happy that he finally found Iona
Pimentel. She has not been to church now for over 25 years. We visited
the Den Helder Branch today to say our goodbyes, and we have to drive
past Alkmaar, where Iona lives. Dad contacted her and asked if she would
go to Sacrament Meeting with us. She was very agreeable to this, so we
picked her up at 10:30 am.
Everyone greeted her so warmly, and dad said the talks were just for
her......of course I just pick up a few words here and there that I
know. We had a delightful visit coming and going. Iona is married to a
man who is 85 years old and in very poor health. She has mentioned
several times that she is afraid of being alone when he dies. Dad, as we
were saying goodbye, asked if he could contact the Branch President in
Alkmaar and let him know her phone number and address. Dad told her, he
would feel so much better leaving her, knowing she would have contact
with the church, so she would never be alone. She seemed pleased that
dad was concerned, and agreed to that as well. We had written a note to
her expressing our love, and how grateful dad was to have found her. We
gave her a heart with the word 'love' on it, and told her how much we
loved her. This was a dream of dads, to find Iona.......and hopefully
with this contact, she will have the desire to return to the church. It
was hard to say goodbye, as she stood in front of her home and just kept
throwing kisses and waving.
We
spent the rest of the afternoon with President and Sister van der Put.
President van der Put is the member of the Stake Presidency that we have
worked so closely with. He and his wife served a Mission in 2002, in
the London England Mission, as service Missionaries. We had such a
delightful visit, as they recalled experiences of their Mission with us.
President van der Put was a Police Officer at one time. He has a
collection of over 1500 models of Police cars from all over the world,
which if he sold this collection, would be worth over 40,000 euros.
Amazing! He was like a little boy in a candy store showing this to us.
After our visit and a lekker meal, they took us to see the new Stake
Center that is being built in Zoetermeer. A dream some true for the Den
Haag Stake. It should be completed next February. A sweet day with sweet
friends.
We
start this week again with running shoes on. But, we are so thankful
for the health and strength we have been blessed with to do this
running. Missionary work is worth putting all your energy into!
We love you. We are grateful for all your prayers in our behalf. We have been blessed because of those prayers.
Hugs and Loves,
Opa and Oma
Vader and Moeder
Elder and Zuster deLeeuw
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