SUNDAY
Since we have been in The Netherlands, I have listened to the sacrament prayers each week in Dutch. Not understanding the language very well, I have been reading the prayers in English as the sacrament is being passed. Today, I focused on the phrase 'are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son'. I decided to think of one of the Savior's names (titles). The first thing that came to mind was Finisher. As I repent (turn away from sin and toward God) I do all I can to bring my will in alignment with God. But it is Jesus Christ who will finish the work It is only through Him and His atonement the I can become finished, complete and perfect. He truly is the Finisher of my salvation.
Occasionally we are able to hear our missionaries give their Welcome Home talk. Tonight we listened to Atticus Snow. When we first came to The Netherlands, he was serving in the Utrecht Ward so we have known him from the beginning. He spent the past 14 months serving on the Content Team so we saw him often in the office. He came several times to dinner at our house. All that to say we have come to know and love him.Atticus Snow
MONDAY
Some of our favorite Elders stopped by the office after Mission Leadership Council (MLC) today. Wait...we have LOTS of favorites! But Elder Burt reminds me of Odin... tall, red hair, a good leader and very nice. I hope someday Odin will be serving a mission just like Elder Burt is doing now 😁
Marcia, Jackson Burt, Adam Kujanpaa, Doug
And Elder Adams reminds me of Isaac. Also a great example of a dedicated missionary!
Marcia, Christian Adams
The Wagner's invited us and the VandeWal's out to dinner to celebrate Cathy's belated birthday. We ate at another restaurant here in Gouda, the Belvedere and were not disappointed! Such good food!
We were able to have a video call with our grandson, Elder Adam Brown serving in Argentina. It is so good to see him and hear of the good things he is doing there. We are so grateful to have him serve the Savior and help in 'the greatest work on the earth today' as President Nelson says...the Gathering of Israel.
TUESDAY
Barry and Pam Smith and Kenneth and Audrey Omer arrived today. The Smith's will be serving in the National Archives and the Omer's will be Military Relations missionaries in the Heerlan/Maastricht area. We look forward to serving with them here in the BNZ. The Smith's lived in Payson for quite a while, next door to one of Doug's mission companions from his first mission, Gary Powell. We love making these kinds of connections!
Marcia, Doug, Barry and Pam Smith
We had only been home about 10 minutes when Elders Leman and Jones called to see if Doug could let them in the office. So he hopped on his bike and rode over for them to get some clothes for a lesson.
WEDNESDAY
We had Orientation today for the new Elders. It is a nice introduction to the Belgium Netherlands Mission. We served lunch and then off they went to the Temple. It is a wonderful day for these new missionaries and their companions.
(taken at the airport last Friday)
Landon Dalton, Jude Tidwell, Joshua Nelson, Clayton Lehr, Morgan Wissler, Mitchell Cutler,
Jordan Gooch, Cole Brimhall, Karter Henriksen, William Major
THURSDAY
Kenneth and Audry Omer came to the office today for training. She will be taking over the Mission Health Advisor from me, so I wanted to give her tips on how to access medical care here in The Netherlands and Belgium and also how to work with Aetna to get the missionaries the health care they need. Doug worked with both of them on driving tips and tricks. We took them to dinner with the VandeWal's at the same little restaurant we went to earlier in the week.
(terrible photo, but it documents we were there 😂)
Marcia, Gerrit and Norma VandeWal, Audrey and Kenneth Omer, Doug
FRIDAY
We met with the Omer's again this morning, Doug took them for a drive to let them practice a bit. I had Audrey do some hands-on with eMed and Aetna. In the afternoon, they headed our for Maastricht, about 2 hours away.
Once each transfer, Doug has a Zoom meeting with all the missionaries that have access to a car. Tonight he gave them tips on backing since we have noticed that many of the missionaries stand directly behind the car as the 'backer'. He reminded them of watching the speed limit carefully as it is so easy to get a speeding ticket here.
He also told the story of Gottfried Wierman, the missionary who taught Doug's great-grandparents. His great-grandmother 'just happened' to overhear Elder Wierman as he was explaining the Plan of Salvation to a shopkeeper in Switzerland. They lived above the shop and she heard through the window. Because of that, thousands of descendants and others who have been taught through the missionary efforts of their posterity, now enjoy the blessings of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. He reminded them that they should speak to everyone and remember that they will not always know of the impact they are having on others.
SATURDAY
These summer mornings are wonderful for a walk/bike ride. This is one of the few days we have left here with no commitments so we took advantage of it and did some cleaning and getting ready for the Johnson's. They will be taking our place (and our apartment) and will be here in four weeks!
Almost every Saturday we walk over to the market.Today we bought some kersenflopjes (cherry turnovers). It's hard to resist buying ALL the treats, but today we restrained. We will miss all the fresh goodies so close to home!
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