July 31 - Aug 6, 2022

 SUNDAY

A good day at church meeting with the Utrecht Ward. President and Sister Watson spoke in Sacrament Meeting and the 2nd hour was devoted to the topic of missionary work.

About 20:30 we got a phone call that the Markus' who had been in charge of the FSY activity this past week, were at the office to unload their van with the things leftover from FSY and they because of the other cars parked there, they couldn't get unloaded. Doug walked over, moved the other vehicles and spent a couple hours there. 

MONDAY

There is a ping pong table at the office so this afternoon Elder Leif Andersen and Elder Glauser played a quick game. Elder Andersen is known for his skills so it was fun to watch. As a side, he was also a gymnast on the Norway National Team before his mission. Another very accomplished young man. We love him!

TUESDAY

Another beautiful start to the day! 

Our friend Alja was injured playing badminton on Saturday so this evening we went to visit her and her husband Henk. We love these good people! She will need some time to recover and is the RS Pres so will need to delegate a bit more. We had a wonderful time getting to know them a little better. We will take dinner on Sunday and spend the afternoon with them.

WEDNESDAY

We had dinner at Justin and Daphne Bijkerk's tonight. He served as Bishop in the Utrecht Ward prior to Bishop Kleijweg and Daphne is the sister of Ilona Kleijweg. They have just bought a house with a big lot and are spending their time remodeling/renovating the 150 year old house and have plans for the yard. We had a lovely time with them and their children as well as their niece, Bensa, daughter of Martin and Ilona Kleijweg.

The sunset as we were driving home.

THURSDAY

Elders Boyer and Henrie (Office Elders) and Elders Maxfield and Mahe, from the Utrecht Ward came for dinner. It's so good to have the missionaries in our home often!

FRIDAY

I went to Sligro today to get refreshments for the baptism tomorrow. I put a container of fruit salad in the cart and was looking for some other produce. A woman working there asked "When are you using the fruit?" I told  her Sunday as I got it to take to Alja and Henk's. She told me it would be better to choose the two smaller containers as they had a better expiration date. Then she asked, "Are you the new Sister?" I was a bit surprised but said, yes, and we proceeded to have a lovely conversation. She had seen Norma and I come in several times but said we always looked like we were in a hurry. She had known Sister Curtis from about a year ago. She said Sister Curtis had given her a Bible (I assume the Book of Mormon). She had read some of it and it was nice. I told her it testified of Jesus Christ to which she replied that she wasn't sure about Him but believed in a higher power of some kind. 

The experience taught me 1) people are ALWAYS watching, 2) I need to be willing and ready at all times to bear my witness of the divinity of Jesus Christ, and 3) there are good people everywhere. Some are ready to hear about the gospel and some will need more time, but being an 'example of the believers' is important every day.

SATURDAY

Theo Fijn was baptized today! He was given a Book of Mormon a few months ago and wanted to read it BEFORE being taught by the missionaries. Elders Maxfield and Mahe set up a time to visit him when he was finished and to their astonishment when they asked if he had read some, he said he had read it all. And he believed it to be true. And he believed Joseph Smith was a prophet. And he set a date to be baptized! 

Theo had asked that Doug give the talk on baptism. He did a great job! He has given a few talks in Dutch since we have arrived in the mission. His daily study of the language is paying off. The words he spoke were from the heart and the spirit was strong.

We are so grateful for people like Theo whose hearts are softened and ready to accept the gospel. 

Doug, Elders Daniel Ornelas, Matthew Maxfield, Gerrit and Norma VandeWal, Elders Vilai Mahe, Harrison Wright and Marcia

After leaving Utrecht, we drove to Haarlem to deliver a bike to Elders Tadje and Bahamondes. Since the VandeWal's were with us and they knew of some problems on the deck, we also did a little cleaning project and got everything back in order. The birds had kind of taken over the deck and the netting. Both the Elders helped as well and the next door neighbors offered a mop and bucket to help clean.

Elders Yazid Bahamondes, Gerrit VandeWal and Doug Glauser