Feb 20-26, 2022

 SUNDAY

Elder Glauser was asked to bless the Sacrament today. His Dutch is coming along wonderfully. Next week we have both been asked to speak for a few minutes, so this week I'll need to try to put some thoughts together and translate them to Dutch. Almost everyone in the ward speaks English, so I know that's not a problem but I would like to at least bear my testimony in Dutch. Today was actually a very 'international' day at church. The VandeWal's (from Canada) spoke, English and Dutch. The next speaker was from Portugal and spoke Portuques with a Dutch translator. The final speaker was from England (has lived in The Netherlands for 30 years) and speaks Dutch with an English accent. He was the easiest for me to understand. 

We met Sjoerd today. He is a YSA, known here as JoVo. He was asking with the Elders and we walked over to meet him. He is a server at an American Steak house and we could not resist setting up a time to come eat at his restaurant. So we arranged to take the Elders next week (before transfers!). The look on Elder Snow's face when we set up this dinner was worth whatever this meal will cost us!😂

MONDAY-WEDNESDAY

Regular office things. Paying the invoices, gathering and reporting meter readings, BNZ medical Meeting, Office meeting (this week planning for Departures and Arrivals next week), dealing with fuel cards that were de-activated(!), trying to identify where all the bikes are in the mission, seeing which missionaries have Fobs (to sign in as the driver), Aetna Insurance claim, MSF payments and video call to Frankfurt re finances.

Jill and Katie celebrated their birthdays on 2sday, 2/22/22. Fun birth date this year!

THURSDAY

Where to start....

Joanna called to tell us Mike had had two seizures and wondered if he had ever had a seizure before. He never has as far as I know. She called 911 and he went to Loma Linda by ambulance. While in the ED, he had another seizure and was given Keppra. The CT was negative so all of that is good news. He has had his driving privileges revoked for now so that will definitely impact his job. 

Doug insisted we leave the office and just go for a walk for a few minutes. It was just what I needed. It felt good to walk in the cold, brisk air and sunshine. We walked down a street near the office that we had never taken and found ourselves at a beautiful park and of course a canal!

I love the old architecture here. Such craftsmanship!

This tree fascinated us! All those very large branches! 

In the evening Richard called to let us know that my sister, Ann Jensen, had passed away. A complete shock to us. We had just talked to her last week on her birthday and she sounded so good. She and Scott had just come back from Arizona where they had had a wonderful time with Gregg and Kathy. She was a delightful and fun-loving person and will definitely be missed by all of us.

As we were calling all the Stewart kids to tell them of the news about Ann, Jeremy called to say the Natalie, Millie and Kate had been rear-ended by a drunk driver as they were on the way to school. The car was pushed ahead into another car and is very crumpled. They were taken to the hospital but thankfully were found to have only minor injuries. 

FRIDAY

It has been a day of reflection for me. I'm so thankful for the testimony I have of the Plan of Salvation. Even though death is sad for those of us left, it is not the end. This calm, peaceful assurance brings much comfort. I'm very grateful for Doug. He has held me when I cried and calmed my troubled heart. The challenges of mortality are real. The uncertainty that Mike and Joanna are facing can be troubling. We are fasting and praying for them, for Mike's physicians and care givers and for their little family. 

SATURDAY

We talked to Joanna and Mike first thing this morning and are so grateful that all tests and scans have come back normal. He is still on a 24-hour VideoEEG but doubtful any seizures will happen since he is on Keppra, a medication to control seizures. He sounds good and upbeat, just bored at this point. Hopefully he can go home tomorrow.

We borrowed the mission mini-van and drove the 30 minutes to Makro, a huge shopping center. Some compare it to Costco, but really it's more than that. We bought staples and supplies, food and treats. The hardest part is getting it to our 3rd floor apartment when we don't have a place to park.😳 We parked on the sidewalk and carried our bags inside to the elevator. Then I stood near the car while Doug took everything up the elevator and across the walkway to our apartment. Then he came down and drove the car back to the office to park it there. Normally, we don't even think about it but today we realized how good we had it at home driving into the garage and unloading groceries to the pantry 15 feet away!

After putting away the groceries, we walked to the Market and bought a fresh Stoopwafel (to eat on the spot!) and some bread for dinner tonight. The Market has become an Almost-Every-Saturday outing for us.  It's just a few minutes walk to the center of the city. On Saturdays there are all kinds of vendors set up. Vegetables, bread, cheese, meat, clothing, nuts, candles, flowers. It's fun to be there and see the variety of goods available.....and taste a few samples😋