The Lord was refining me when I got yelled at and rejected and when I woke up sick, but He promises us, "Be faithful and diligent in keeping the commandments of God, and I will encircle thee in the arms of my love." I feel God's love, and it makes everything worth it.

Hey guys!  I can't believe June is here, the kids are out of school, and you're getting the AC going!  They don't believe in air conditioning here, otherwise we would have it going as well because it is warming up here too!  It sounds like you all had a busy week with church callings and activities.  That is AWESOME!!  Zion Pondarosa is a really nice area and it sounds like you all had a lot of fun.  This week was also a very busy week for me, but a lot of satisfaction came from it, and my testimony has been strengthened.

Brother "G" and  Elder Bishop

Tuesday I was on exchanges with elder Reynolds in Enschede.  He is a great younger missionary and we had a great day looking up some familiar faces.  We visited G.  he is a Nigerian who I worked with a year ago.  He is less active due to heart problems, so we stopped by to study the Book of Mormon with him.  He recognized me and was so happy to see me!  We talked for a while and read a little bit.  It was a lot of fun seeing him again, and he looked so much better than he did a year ago!  I asked him if I could get a picture with him before I left and he told me to wait just a second.  He went in his room for a minute and came back out wearing a nice shirt and suit coat.  haha He explained how he is a child of God and he needs to look his best!  it was really fun seeing him again.  later that night we also visited Sister S and her daughter  who isn't a member.  Sister S is inactive, and I worked with both of them a year ago.  We stopped by and she told us that she was going through a hard time.  Her mom had just passed away back in Indonesia, and she was feeling very lonely.  We shared some verses out of John 14 with her and testified of God's love and the hope we receive through Christ that we can be with our families forever.  The Spirit was so strong and it was silent.  She was really happy we came and it was good seeing her again and being able to comfort her at that time.

Elder Hulet (from Cedar City) Elder Bishop

Wednesday we were on splits with Groningen.  I got to work with Elder Hulet from Cedar City!!  I have never really been around Elder Hulet on my mission until now, and it was cool working with him and getting to know him better.  We had a good day as well even though a few unexpected things happened that delayed us a little bit.  We were on a train going up to Groningen when our train stopped right before pulling up to the station.  They explained to us over the speakers that someone jumped off an overpass onto the tracks.  It actually happens quite a bit here, and it's really sad, but we were stuck on the train for an extra 45 minutes.  When we finally got off the train, we met the Elders at the station and they told us we were going to a last minute service project.  Elder Bourne and I didn't bring any service clothes, so we spent the next couple of hours scraping off wallpaper in our missionary clothes!  It wasn't too bad though and we didn't really get dirty.  After that though, Elder Hulet and I were able to do some old school missionary work.  We biked a lot and taught a lesson.  It was a lot of fun getting to know him better.  We know a lot of the same people.  he is a GREAT missionary though and I really enjoyed working with him.

Thursday we were in Heerenveen for the day.  I was with Elder Pugh, and it was a crazy day! Thursday was Hemelvaartsdag, or ascension day, and the dutch people party SO hard!  Busses weren't running that day and we had to walk everywhere.  So many people were drunk and it smelled like weed everywhere.  Haha it was pretty crazy, but it was still a good day working with Elder Pugh and getting to know him better. 

Friday Elder Bourne and I got back to Apeldoorn and had to run a few errands and help the new senior couple, Elder and Sister Kleijn, with a few things that morning.  That afternoon we spent a lot of time knocking doors and talking to people.  We got destroyed that afternoon haha.  NOBODY wanted to talk to us.  I don't know if it was just the area we were in or if everyone was hung over from the Holiday the day before, but it was rough.  This one guy yelled at us so bad.  It was one of the worst reactions I've gotten since I've knocked a door on my mission.  He stepped out of his door and got up in our faces and started pointing at us and yelling crazy things.  After about a minute of yelling he pointed toward the street and told us to get off his porch.  We made our way to the next door and he is just sitting outside staring us down.  We knock on the next door and got rejected again.  After that we had enough and went to a different street while that guy continued to stare us down!  haha it was SOO bad!!!  That was even worse than the time in Alkmaar when a bird pooped on me while knocking doors!  It was a rough day, but it ended on a good note.  We went to institute that night and had a great lesson, and the Deventer elders brought 4 Chinese investigators!!  It was a lot of fun and made the day a little bit better.

Saturday I woke up with a cold...  It wasn't too bad though, and I was still able to work that day.  it was a really good day as well.  We had a lesson with one of our investigators.  He used to be on drugs for a number of years.  He quit doing drugs but still suffers from some long term mental consequences.  Basically, he is just a little bit slow, but he is really nice and very religious.  He talks a LOT and that makes it hard to teach him sometimes, but this lesson was different.  We explained to him what our purpose is with him and how we want to help him.  We gave him the proof that it does help and bore strong testimony of the power of prayer, scriptures, and coming to church.  The Spirit was VERY strong during that lesson, and he was silent.  He told us he felt something, and we explained to him that it was the Holy Ghost.  One of my favorite parts of missionary work is helping people recognize the Holy Ghost.  He LOVED it!  We then went on to explain the gift of the Holy Ghost and how he can be our constant companion after baptism.  We told him that as he reads, prays, and goes to church, then he will be ready for baptism and he can receive that gift.  We set a date with him for July 26 and will be helping him work towards that date.  It was a great lesson and the Spirit was so strong!  I love lessons like that.

Sunday I was still pretty sick, but it was another great day.  We went to church and Elder Bourne and I are focusing on strengthening our relationship with the ward.  The ward really likes the sisters (of course), and forgets about the elders.  We want to change that and so we talked to a lot of different members after church.  We are also spending time writing up thank you cards and delivering them to certain members in the ward.  After church we prayed to see which members needed thank you cards at that time.  While praying Elder Bourne and I both thought of a member whom is  from Eastern Europe but has been living here for over 20 years.  He is a nice guy and has a strong testimony.  We wrote him a nice card thanking him for his testimony that he shares and the Spirit he carries.  That evening we went to deliver him the card.  We showed up unexpected, and he was SO happy to see us!  He let us in and talked and talked and talked and talked!  haha he is really lonely and loves talking, so we did a lot of listening.  He started telling us how he had a strong impression to move to Apeldoorn a few years ago, so he did.  He does not like living here though.  He has rough neighbors and not a lot of friends.  He told us that he doesn't know why he moved to Apeldoorn and he was even a little mad at God that he did.  He said he didn't understand why he felt like he needed to move here.  A little later he asked us if there was a reason we stopped by.  I pulled out the card and gave it to him.  I thanked him for the strong Spirit he brings with him and his testimony that he shares, and I explained to him that that was probably one of the reasons he moved here, because he helps the missionaries a lot, and he helps the members a lot.  He builds people up.  He read the card and started tearing up.  He told us that the card and our visit was an answer to his prayers.  He didn't know this, but he was also an answer to my prayers.  The first part of my week was pretty tough.  The Lord was refining me when I got yelled at and rejected and when I woke up sick.  I prayed for help and he blessed me with spiritual lessons and a spiritual boost from this member.  I have such a strong testimony of the promise that Alma gave to his son Helaman,   "... for I do know that 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." I am being refined out here on my mission, but, just like the Lord promised Oliver Cowdery, He promises us, "...Be faithful and diligent in keeping the commandments of God, and I will encircle thee in the arms of my love."

I feel God's love, and it makes everything worth it.  I love you all so much and I want to reassure you that I LOVE MY MISSION!!!  I am doing so good out here and I am learning so much.  These last 6 months will go fast, but I have a feeling they will be the best six months of my life.

Baby Swans  hahaha

Hartelijke Groeten,

Elder Bishop