July 9-15, 2023

 SUNDAY

Emily and AJ have been on a cruise with stops in France and Italy along with a day in Barcelona. They added a few days in The Netherlands to see us and arrived at church today after flying into Eindhoven from Barcelona, took a train to Utrecht and a taxi to the church. It is so good to see them!

On the way home, Gerrit (driving the van) reached to hand AJ a book, hit the curb and soon realized we had a flat tire. Pulled off to the side of the road and discovered BOTH tires on the drivers side were flat.

Doug is aware of how roadside service works here, so began to make phone calls. 

Sam Lund was riding with us and is very familiar with public transportation and decided to just go home. Since we had no idea how long it would take to get help and even then the van would likely need to go to a shop tomorrow, Emily, AJ, Norma and I decided to go with him and get back to Gouda. Doug and Gerrit stayed to look after the van.

Tender mercies followed. Not only were they able to get a tow truck right away, the place it was towed to had the tires needed and were there on a Sunday! It was fixed and back on the road in just a couple of hours.

After dinner, we walked around Gouda to show Emily and AJ St Jan's Kerk and the Stadhuis and to just see some of this charming little city.

Back to our home for a game of Keer op Keer and then we drove them to Rotterdam to their hotel.

MONDAY

We had the opportunity to be at the Temple today with Julia Oostveen and Fabian (her fiancé). She is in our ward and they are getting married in August. Today they both received their endowment. Normally the temple is only open on Fridays and Saturdays but Monday was the day their parents could be there. So the Brandenburg's made the accommodations. There were a few other workers there along with the VandeWal's and us. It was a really nice day with just a small group of family members.

AJ, Emily and friend Jen Malo came by train to Gouda and we went to dinner at Koeien and Kaas, one of our favorite restaurants.

AJ and Emily Righter, Jen Malo

Back at the office the Content missionaries were just finishing up. Elder Wood is also from Tomball, TX (same as Emily and AJ). Turns out, they have been out to dinner with Elder Wood's parents.  Another small-world moment!

Jen Malo, Anthony Wood, AJ and Emily Righter

TUESDAY

By 7:30 we were meeting Emily, AJ and Jen at the office (they took the train from their hotels) and we were off for a day together. We first drove to Marken, a little village that was an island until 1957 when a land bridge was built and made it a peninsula. After a walk through town we stopped at the wooden shoe factory.

We didn't actually take the tour, just tried on shoes and did some shopping.😁

From there we drove about 20 minutes to Volendam. We ate some Poffertjes topped with strawberries, chocolate and whipped cream. It was so interesting to see how they make these tiny pancakes on a special griddle.

The topping choice was endless!

Emily and I dressed in traditional Dutch clothes and had our photo taken.

We walked around the town, admired the various unique doors and enjoyed our time together. 

Another 20 minute drive and we arrived in Zaanse Schans, a re-created Dutch village with two working windmills. One is a sawmill, the other was crushing chalk to make paint. At the sawmill we met Bob, who told us all about the windmill and has also been in the US enough to know many areas, including Salt Lake City. He immediately recognized our missionary tags. 

Bob, Marcia, Doug, AJ, Emily

Doug tried the haring on brood (herring sandwich), the rest of us settled for fresh stoopwafels or ice cream.

Last stop of the day was at Pannenkoeken Borderij for dinner. The Dutch pancakes really are a unique and delicious traditional meal.

We drove Jen to her hotel in Hoofdorp, Emily and AJ in Amsterdam and then headed back to Gouda. A very enjoyable day!

WEDNESDAY

I was asked to give the spiritual thought at District Council today. Since our last Zone Conference I have thought a lot about the parable of the talents and how that relates to Gifts of the Spirit. We find these 'spiritual talents' throughout the scriptures but a concentrated list is found in Moroni10:8-17, DC 46, DC 4. Preach My Gospel 2, chapter 6 reminds us that "becoming more like the Savior is a gradual, lifelong process." 

It was so nice to be in theTemple with the 10 departing missionaries plus the others assigned by Sister Watson. 

Emma Bair, Charlie Stewart, Kiera Wadsworth, Sadie Casperson, Emerson Randle, 

Hadley Good, Doug, Marcia, Monic and Daryl Watson, Ellie Wade, Gracie Reid, Alyssa Walker, Sophie Coffman, Emily Hodder

(back) Trent Cannon, Tanner Smith, Ian Schwab, Cooper Christensen, Pedro Amato, 

Drew Tadje, Hans Jeppson, Bannon Schafer, Forrest Maxwell, Luke Wray, Jarrich Grey, 

Isaac Auger, Lukas Vanderlinden, Anthony Wood, Phillip Larsson, Vilai Mahe, Dinis Santos, Maurits Arts, Erik Palmer, Thomas Jones, Atticus Snow

THURSDAY

As I sit at my desk at the office, I face the window and often see people walking by. Today a family stopped, looked at the sign indicating it was a Church building. I thought, 'they look American and possibly members of the Church'. I went to the door and they were taking a picture so I offered to take it for the three of them. Turns out they are from Spanish Fork!! Molly Peterson and her parents are here for a Graduation Trip. They lived in Rotterdam for a few months when she was 18 months old. She can only remember it because of pictures and has always wanted to visit. It was fun to meet them and talk about people we both know.

Marcia, Molly Peterson

We enjoyed a fun dinner at the VandeWal's with several missionaries. Hot dogs roasted over the fire.

Anthony Wood, Sam Evans, Christian Adams, Atticus Snow, Alex Holje

FRIDAY

After a productive day at the office we enjoyed a Devotional with Brandt Peacock. He served his mission in Scotland 2005-2007 and knew President Watson then. They recently reconnected. He is a military Chaplain and has many interesting experiences both on his mission as as a Chaplain. His message could be summarized as "God loves His children". We are so grateful for technology that can bring us together for a wonderful evening.

SATURDAY

It was another beautiful morning for a walk/bike ride. I took an extra long walk and Doug rode 16 miles. He goes through several villages and sees the countryside as he rides. 

We met the White's at the office so they could pick up a package and get the sewing machine. It's good to connect with the other Seniors even if for just a few minutes. 

We recognized a tender mercy while at the office today. For the past month we have had on our calendar to go to Valkenburg today. But as we talked about it this week with the VandeWal's, none of us wanted to commit. Finally, yesterday Doug and I talked about it between ourselves and decided we had some things we have been wanting to do to our apartment to get ready for the Johnson's and we should stay home and get those things done. So we told the VandeWal's and they agreed. We will go another time. Finally, we felt settled and good about the decision. 

Then at the office, Elder and Sister Wagner came to finish the ByZone, which will go out tonight at 21:30. She said she was there to finish it and get it out. When we told her it could not be 'dropped' until after Transfer Leadership calls tonight, she was surprised and said she thought she could send it anytime during the day. It would not have been the end of the world, but it would have been terrible to have it out earlier than the president wanted. Doug suggested she may want to check with the Assistants. She did and then understood how and when to send the ByZone. If we had been in Valkenburg, we would not have been in the office and been able to intervene.

 We always love to visit the Market on Saturdays if we are in town and today was no exception. Today we bought nuts, bread and a variety of fruit.

We spent the rest of the day getting our apartment ready for the Johnson's who arrive at the end of August. Doug changed the blinds on two doors and two windows which made the living room look so much better.

I cleaned all the cupboards and got rid of anything we haven't needed or food that was outdated. A great way to spend the day!