March 20 - 26

 SUNDAY

This morning I was wondering if I had done enough and done my best as a mom and I realized I don't think my kids saw me pray personally very often. The thoughts prompted me to write the following text to them:

"I was thinking this morning that I don’t think I was a very good example of personal prayer to you when you were growing up. I always prayed after you went to bed and never really said anything about it. So while it’s on my mind, I just want you to know that even though you didn’t see me pray, it was and is an important part of my day. I know that Heavenly Father hears the pleadings of each of us.  His answers are not always immediate and sometimes not noticeable unless we are really watching for them. I love you so much! Have a great Sabbath!❤️"

Reply from Emily:

"Oh mom, opposite! As much as I saw dad laying on the floor in front of the kitchen light reading his scriptures, I accidentally busted in on you in your room praying. You've always been a steady example to me of personal prayer!"

MONDAY

About noon we left the office for Emmen to switch cars with the sisters there and to pick up Sister Deboever and take her to the Mission Home for the night before she departs for her original mission assignment in the Birmingham England Mission. I have not done any driving since coming to the Netherlands but I have observed a bit and have tried to pay attention to the myriad  traffic signs. Today I drove to Emmen. It is crazy driving in town! Pedestrians, bikes, motorcycles, cars, trucks, busses all sharing the same space! And one of the rules of the road is if there is a sign, traffic yields to the car on the right, even if that street is small and you're on the main road. So I had only been driving about 1 minute when I didn't yield to the truck coming out of the small street to the right and he honked to let me know! On the freeway, the speed limit changes for seemingly random reasons. Speeding tickets are received for going 4 kilometers over the limit. You don't get pulled over...it's all done by cameras and you find out about three weeks later via email. Here's to hoping I didn't get any speeding tickets!

We arrived in Emmen, switched cars and got Sister Deboever. The Emmen car had been in a very small accident and needed some repair done, so we'll bring it to Gouda for the Office Elders to drive and get it fixed locally.  After about 25 minutes on the road, Doug asked me to check to see if the fuel card was where it should be. It was not. When we called the Sisters, they said it was in the house. What?! It should never be out of the car. So we turned around and headed back to Emmen. That put us about an hour behind the time we should have been back to the Mission Home. Eventually we arrived, dropped off Sister Deboever and headed back to the office so the Elders could get home. A long day, but we saw some beautiful country in northern Netherlands 

TUESDAY

I started today to go on a short, 30 minute walk before going to the office. It gets light about 6 am now and that gives me plenty of time before I need to get ready for the day. 

This is another beautiful church in Gouda.

Norma and I went to Sligro (think Costco) and Albert Heijn (grocery store) to get the remainder of the food we need for Zone Conference on Wednesday. It's a little daunting to prepare food for 60 in a small church kitchen 30 minutes from home. 

WEDNESDAY

Zone Conference in Utrecht. Doug inspected the missionary cars with Gerrit helping to check lights and tire pressure. Norma and I spent the morning in the kitchen preparing the lunch. We served Baked Potatoes with lots of toppings. We realized about 11:00 that there was no salt and pepper in the church kitchen. So Norma and Gerrit headed to the store to get some.They returned in a panic and said the pouch with the mission credit and debit cards had been stolen! I tried to think how to take care of this and finally was able to get someone in Frankfurt to put a hold on the cards. It took a couple hours but all the cards were put on hold. Whew!

The Elders and Sisters really enjoyed the lunch. Now we have a better idea of how much food to prepare...although we know they are always willing to take home food. In the afternoon, Elder Glauser gave a presentation about cars and bikes. He is able to make even the vehicles become a spiritual moment. 

The Apeldorn and Den Haag Zones

THURSDAY

Today we drove to Antwerpen, Belgium for another day of Zone Conference. The RS prepared food today so we could attend the meetings. Elder Glauser still had cars to inspect, but having done it once, he was quick.

Just some notes from Zone Conference:

Sister Watson talked about Corrie ten Boom and how she showed courage and Christ-like love for all. Because of her and her family's efforts to hide the Jews in WWII, they were taken to concentration camps as well. What can we learn about faith and courage and love from this amazing woman? She referred us to Alma 36:3 "...whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day."

Pres Kleijweg reminded us that conversion happens one by one. We need to understand the role of the investigator, the missionary and the member in the conversion process. He invited us to take the initiative to approach the members and get acquainted to help them build their faith and to read Preach My Gospel chapter 4 and choose one thing to work on.

Pres Hoole asked, "What has build your faith?" Some things I thought of for myself are 1) receiving answers to prayer, 2) seeing the Lord in the details of my life, 3) deep study of the scriptures, and 4) ordinances of the temple. He reminded us that Isaiah and the Hebrew language has profound hidden truths,

Pres Watson told about when he was a new Stake President and the first stake conference was coming up. He knew he need a theme or at least an idea for the conference but he had nothing. He prayed, fasted, went to the temple, prayed and fasted more...nothing! Finally, Saturday morning of conference weekend at 3:13 in the morning, he woke up to three words "Love One Another". We need to keep the love of others always in our hearts and minds. 

He continued, "This isn't the best two years of your life, it's the best two years for your life"

2 Nephi 31, the Doctrine of Christ, is the keystone of our Mission Culture.

Faith in Jesus Christ (Expectations) (higher)

DISHONESTY. -false information                         -shallow interview                         -salesmanship	MIRACLES -constant finding                    -prayerful goals                    -Spiritual power
DISOBEDIENCE -distractions                            -flirtations                            -break standards	FRIENDSHIP -buddy mentality                                      -going through the motions                       -low accountability

Faith in Jesus Christ (Expectations) (lower)

Love (lower) (on the left).    Love (higher) (on the right)

  

John 3:16, John 13:1, John 13:34-35

President Nelson April 2021 General Conference "moving your mountains..."

It was a wonderful time of edification and motivation to be at Zone Conferences. After lunch the tradition here in the mission is to have those with birthdays come up front so everyone can sing to them and then we go down the line and those who would like can say something about that person. It was great to hear so many heartfelt feelings of love for these birthday people.

The Rotterdam and Antwerpen Zones

Elder de Sousa (left) is a Departing Elder at the end of this transfer. We stood and sang "God Be With You" as he stood with his companion, Elder Christensen. It is amazing to me how we can feel so much attachment and love for someone we have only recently met.

FRIDAY

Busy day at the office trying to catch up from the last two days of being gone. After passing my driving test on Monday (even though I definitely need more practice in the city!) I got my Fob so I can 'Fob In' when I drive 😀

That way Elder Glauser can track my driving, make sure I'm staying within the speed limit and not being an 'aggressive driver'.😉

As a follow-up to the story on Wednesday about the stolen cards--Elder Blodgett came into the office with the packet of credit/debit cards that went missing! He found them in the van. How they got there is a mystery, but never the less a miracle. The cards were safely guarded and recovered. The Lord certainly is in the details of every aspect of our lives! We need to accept that miracles happen and give thanks to a loving Heavenly Father

SATURDAY

We met the VandeWal's and went to the market and explored a little more of Gouda. This really is a charming city that is celebrating 750 years this year! We walked into the Old Cheese Weigh House, which is now a museum and souvenir shop, and bought some Farmer's Cheese. The Sint Jin Church was open but we decided not to pay to see inside today, we'll save that for a rainy day. We bought a raw Herring (because that is what you do here in The Netherlands!). I took a small bite---it was TERRIBLE!, slimy and very fishy-- and Doug ate the rest.

The last purchase of the afternoon was at Van Dijk's Bakerei. Bear Claws and cookies. YUM!! (sadly, no photo) but I'm sure we'll be back for more 😋

Elders Glauser and VandeWal went with some of the young missionaries to greet people as they came out of the Book of Mormon Musical, a very sarcastic and irreverent play about the Church. Our missionaries have been there every night the past few weeks and have another week yet to go. They have had some great conversations and made some good connections.

Elder Glauser says:  "it was fun to be there.  we talked to a lot of people and although the interest was not there in most cases it was a learning experience and a worthwhile experience.  towards the end of our time the elders left and the sisters stayed while I was talking with a young and engaging couple from Austria.  Since I didn't speak German and they didn't speak Dutch we spoke in English.  They asked a lot of questions and I had the opportunity to share our message about the apostacy, the restoration, a living prophet and why I feel it is so important.  Ultimately they were not interested to hear more but there was a sweet miracle  with the Book of Mormon that definitely affected me.  I was discussing the Book of Mormon and offered to give them one.  I turned to Sister Johnson and asked her to hand me a Book of Mormon.  As she handed it to me she said this is the only one she had.  When I looked at it it was a German Book of Mormon.  I couldn't believe that we even had one or that it was the one she handed to me.  It may not be earth-shattering, and the couple may not get that a miracle just happened, but I know that Heavenly Father is in the details of our lives.  This was truly a miracle."