And the missionary work has begun! Okay so first off... The Curatioan lady (not Croatian =) it's an island in the Carribean I guess. A lot of people here in the Netherlands are actually from there) didn't read her scriptures, so we read 3 Nephi 11 with her. And then we kept talking to her about baptism mainly and she wouldn't accept the commitment =( because she's already been baptized and her kids have too. So we used every tactic to explain to her that she needs to recieve the Holy Ghost though, needs to have it done by the proper restored priesthood authority, and yeah. She just wouldn't accept it though. So we'll see what we can do for her next lesson, at least she still wants to invite us back and keep talking with us! Then, I went on a split with zone laeder Elder Eastmond. We taught an awesome first lesson with Emeil. He was super curious, already started reading the BoM, and researching the Church (and Utah). He described to us a "period" he had a while ago for a couple months where he felt the Spirit strongly starting one morning. He had no desire to watch violent movies, think about sex, drink alcohol, etc. And he found it much easier to love those around him. So he's looking for a church that can help him feel that way again. Elder Eastmond told him that he had never met anyone with such a strong gift to be able to feel and recognize the Spirit like that. Then Emeil asked me to bear my testimony in English, which was actually hard to remember how to do at first. Super awesome and cool guy though, but he did keep getting off topic with questions about us individually or questions about Utah (like it's culture.... ???).
After that lesson, we were knocking doors and this older man walks by with a cool dog. So I often ask people about their dogs and they love to talk about them... I ask THIS guy what kind of dog he has and he keeps walking, not even looking at me. Then as we're walking away he calls back, "What kind of people are you?" Elder Eastmond says, "Pardon?" The old guy repeats himself and then Elder Eastmond says, "Oh, he was just saying that you have a pretty dog and wanted to know what kind it was." I'm just sitting there confused (like usual) and the guy calls out to me, saying it was a stupid question, says, "Ca-ca" which I believe is poop in Spanish, and then walks off. Nice guy =) Anyways, I guess he was having a bad day or something else was going on in his life, or he was just a grumpy old man. Oh well!
Then, we knock on this door and this guy just tells us to come in. Super weird and freaked me out, but then his wife is so freakin nice and starts giving us fruit, juice, and some homemade treats. They have this Iraqi (they're Syrian) friend with them who all of a sudden starts asking about a few of the things that Mormons believe, so he already knew about us and was way open and nice. Then he tells us for a LONG time, just in a bunch of different ways, about the white bread they bought, that is suddenly brown... Funny =) So the Syrian husband starts talking about how he doesn't worship any of the idols/representations/symbols in their house, but uses them to remember Christ and Mary. So they're undenominational Christians who TOTALLY love and respect all religions and people. They're so cool. So we brought an Arabic BoM yesterday and again they fed us and were super nice. And THEN the guy says that we are his sons ha ha =) oh and they love for us to pray for their family and friends in Syria.......... Come to find out. They were being taught by missionaries on and off again from like 2007-2011. We found them in our area book and they hadn't told us that. All the other missionaries and dropped them, because the people were super nice and everything, but just weren't actually that interested in the gospel. So we'll see if that changes at all for us by chance...
Next day: Went on a split with Elder Hansen, the District Leader, and we hadn't given that Syrian family their Arabic BoM yet, they weren't home that day (we gave it to them the next day). Anyways, they're not home so we keep just knocking that area and just a few doors later... BOOM! Awesome and very Christian Syrian woman. "Oh actually, I have an Arabic BoM with me today. Do you want it?" says I. She was totally into it and I think her neighbor might be a bit interested too... we'll see.
Anyways, Elder Hansen and I had some good conversations, dealt with a bunch of difficult people, and then also found this Phillipinian woman who knew a Mormon and was interested in us. Elder Huff and I went back the next day for a first lesson and there's a bit of a language barrier and she keeps talking about al of the many problems in her life, not always listening to us. And she also has a guy living in the same house, sharing rent with her and stuff. We're definitely inviting him to the next lesson. We met him only for a moment or two, but he was super nice and seemed interested.
Then on Saturday, I went to GERMANY!! and I had no idea that we were going there. We just got in the car with this guy and started driving on the Netherlands freeway. I noticed we suddenly went from the usual 130ish-165 km/h. Then, I noticed some umlaut (the dot thingies) on some signs and put 2 and 2 together. I'M ON THE FREAKIN AUTOBAHN!!! So I keep thinking in my head, "Faster, faster, FASTER!!" bUT 170 km/h was the fastest we ever went. But that's like 105 mph. Immediately everything was a different language (obviously), but also different kinds of raods, different houses, and different food. There's no overlapping culture on European borders. It's ridiculous. It just changes all of a sudden, even though the geography is still pretty similar and the countries are all pretty small. Totally different. Anyways, we were there to do a bunch of yard projects for a Dutch family living there that comes to our ward.
Other things: Awkwardly found out that a few of the daughters in this VERY small ward (like 100 people, but only about half are active... those numbers might even be generous) are around the same age as me... A bit awkward sometimes. Oh and there's Arrhend Pinkster, a recently baptized guy who moved to this city recently, but hasn't been coming to church, wants to hang out with us on P days and calls us up for dinner with his friends sometimes =D freakin awesome guy. Ha ha I talked with his non-member friends about Assassin's Creed (they were playing it) for a while to connect with them and break the ice. 'Twas awesome. And.... I GOT A DUTCH BIKE!!! It's pretty freakin sweet. Oh and my coat is freakin awesome too. I'm a stylin European. Oh and for Chris' I saw a labradoodle the other day. And I have to admit... Pretty awesome kind of dog. There are tons of people with dogs here in the Netherlands! It's crazy. And tons of pony farms. Will somebody please explain to me what the freakin purpose of a pony is? I don't get them. They're just funny looking little pointless animals. Oh and we had the primary program in our ward this last week, that was hilarious. But I still didn't understand a lot of it... Oh and for Carly: Tons of Dutch people ride their bikes with umbrellas too!! You could really fit in here!! (inside joke, sorry friends) And the rain is almost everyday here. I get to see the sun probably twice a week at the most since we're getting into Winter in a little while.
That's insane to hear about the Phillipines' hurricane! Do you mean like it was the worst one ever in the whole world? Or the worst one ever for the Phillipines? Crazy. Glad to hear that everything is going well! Sorry I still can't get pictures to you guys. And I don't really know what I want for a Christmas package either........... Maybe some Wild Berry Skittles? I don't know. Umm... Sorry I got no idea =( I'll try to think of something soon though if I can and let you know... Okay love you all very much and thanks extremely for everybody's letters! Church is true and the Netherlands is sweet. Bye byes!
After that lesson, we were knocking doors and this older man walks by with a cool dog. So I often ask people about their dogs and they love to talk about them... I ask THIS guy what kind of dog he has and he keeps walking, not even looking at me. Then as we're walking away he calls back, "What kind of people are you?" Elder Eastmond says, "Pardon?" The old guy repeats himself and then Elder Eastmond says, "Oh, he was just saying that you have a pretty dog and wanted to know what kind it was." I'm just sitting there confused (like usual) and the guy calls out to me, saying it was a stupid question, says, "Ca-ca" which I believe is poop in Spanish, and then walks off. Nice guy =) Anyways, I guess he was having a bad day or something else was going on in his life, or he was just a grumpy old man. Oh well!
Then, we knock on this door and this guy just tells us to come in. Super weird and freaked me out, but then his wife is so freakin nice and starts giving us fruit, juice, and some homemade treats. They have this Iraqi (they're Syrian) friend with them who all of a sudden starts asking about a few of the things that Mormons believe, so he already knew about us and was way open and nice. Then he tells us for a LONG time, just in a bunch of different ways, about the white bread they bought, that is suddenly brown... Funny =) So the Syrian husband starts talking about how he doesn't worship any of the idols/representations/symbols in their house, but uses them to remember Christ and Mary. So they're undenominational Christians who TOTALLY love and respect all religions and people. They're so cool. So we brought an Arabic BoM yesterday and again they fed us and were super nice. And THEN the guy says that we are his sons ha ha =) oh and they love for us to pray for their family and friends in Syria.......... Come to find out. They were being taught by missionaries on and off again from like 2007-2011. We found them in our area book and they hadn't told us that. All the other missionaries and dropped them, because the people were super nice and everything, but just weren't actually that interested in the gospel. So we'll see if that changes at all for us by chance...
Next day: Went on a split with Elder Hansen, the District Leader, and we hadn't given that Syrian family their Arabic BoM yet, they weren't home that day (we gave it to them the next day). Anyways, they're not home so we keep just knocking that area and just a few doors later... BOOM! Awesome and very Christian Syrian woman. "Oh actually, I have an Arabic BoM with me today. Do you want it?" says I. She was totally into it and I think her neighbor might be a bit interested too... we'll see.
Anyways, Elder Hansen and I had some good conversations, dealt with a bunch of difficult people, and then also found this Phillipinian woman who knew a Mormon and was interested in us. Elder Huff and I went back the next day for a first lesson and there's a bit of a language barrier and she keeps talking about al of the many problems in her life, not always listening to us. And she also has a guy living in the same house, sharing rent with her and stuff. We're definitely inviting him to the next lesson. We met him only for a moment or two, but he was super nice and seemed interested.
Then on Saturday, I went to GERMANY!! and I had no idea that we were going there. We just got in the car with this guy and started driving on the Netherlands freeway. I noticed we suddenly went from the usual 130ish-165 km/h. Then, I noticed some umlaut (the dot thingies) on some signs and put 2 and 2 together. I'M ON THE FREAKIN AUTOBAHN!!! So I keep thinking in my head, "Faster, faster, FASTER!!" bUT 170 km/h was the fastest we ever went. But that's like 105 mph. Immediately everything was a different language (obviously), but also different kinds of raods, different houses, and different food. There's no overlapping culture on European borders. It's ridiculous. It just changes all of a sudden, even though the geography is still pretty similar and the countries are all pretty small. Totally different. Anyways, we were there to do a bunch of yard projects for a Dutch family living there that comes to our ward.
Other things: Awkwardly found out that a few of the daughters in this VERY small ward (like 100 people, but only about half are active... those numbers might even be generous) are around the same age as me... A bit awkward sometimes. Oh and there's Arrhend Pinkster, a recently baptized guy who moved to this city recently, but hasn't been coming to church, wants to hang out with us on P days and calls us up for dinner with his friends sometimes =D freakin awesome guy. Ha ha I talked with his non-member friends about Assassin's Creed (they were playing it) for a while to connect with them and break the ice. 'Twas awesome. And.... I GOT A DUTCH BIKE!!! It's pretty freakin sweet. Oh and my coat is freakin awesome too. I'm a stylin European. Oh and for Chris' I saw a labradoodle the other day. And I have to admit... Pretty awesome kind of dog. There are tons of people with dogs here in the Netherlands! It's crazy. And tons of pony farms. Will somebody please explain to me what the freakin purpose of a pony is? I don't get them. They're just funny looking little pointless animals. Oh and we had the primary program in our ward this last week, that was hilarious. But I still didn't understand a lot of it... Oh and for Carly: Tons of Dutch people ride their bikes with umbrellas too!! You could really fit in here!! (inside joke, sorry friends) And the rain is almost everyday here. I get to see the sun probably twice a week at the most since we're getting into Winter in a little while.
That's insane to hear about the Phillipines' hurricane! Do you mean like it was the worst one ever in the whole world? Or the worst one ever for the Phillipines? Crazy. Glad to hear that everything is going well! Sorry I still can't get pictures to you guys. And I don't really know what I want for a Christmas package either........... Maybe some Wild Berry Skittles? I don't know. Umm... Sorry I got no idea =( I'll try to think of something soon though if I can and let you know... Okay love you all very much and thanks extremely for everybody's letters! Church is true and the Netherlands is sweet. Bye byes!