This week was a big eye opener for me with a lot of good lessons learned.

Elder Toole and Elder Bishop

Hey everyone!  I can't believe I am sitting at the computer again typing up another email about my week.  SO much happened this week, but it still went by so fast!  It sounds to me like you all had a good week as well.  I hope to have exciting news by next week with some pictures of my new niece :)  I am getting so excited!  

This week was a big eye opener for me though with a lot of good lessons learned.  It all started last saturday night.  We had another lesson with our investigator.  He read from the Book of Mormon and loved it!  He had a question about one of the verses.  It talked about repentance, baptism and the Holy Ghost.  We were planning on teaching the second lesson (The Plan of Salvation), but after that question we taught him the third (The Gospel of Jesus Chirst).  We went over faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.  He LOVED it!  Especially the gift of the Holy Ghost part.  He wants it really bad and we told him he could receive it after his baptism.  He understood it really well and could recite the steps back to us after the lesson.  After our lesson, we had some extra time, so we went to the church to print off a few things for zone conference the coming week.  As we pulled into the church, a man approached us.  He told me in very broken English that his name was J and he was a member from Columbia.  He pulled out his temple recommend to make sure I understood.  He then went on to tell me what he was doing here in Holland.  It was cold and dark outside, so we went inside the church to talk.  It turns out that he lost everything he had in Columbia due to the economy there.  He has a family with 2 daughters.  He spent some time working in Spain a while ago and one of his friends told him to go to Holland to find work because it was easier there.  He wasn't too sure about it, but he had a strong feeling that he should go.  He felt that feeling was from God, so he flew from Columbia to Amsterdam, and went to the church because he had nowhere else to go.  He only had two bags and that was it.  He started crying and told us he hadn't cried in 20 years.  He missed his family and felt so lost.  He didn't know what to do.  We called the elders quorum president and found a member who would let him stay the night, and then he could talk to the bishop the next day in church.  We bought him some dinner and then dropped him off at the members house that night.

He showed up to church the next morning and met some of the nice Spanish members and talked to the bishop.  After church he asked me to help him get his bags.  We went out to the parking lot and told me that there was nothing the bishop could do for him.  He started crying and hugged me.  I gave him the rest of the money I had in my wallet which was only about 40 euros and he walked away.  He slept on the street that night and the next morning we got a call from him.  He told us that he met some Colombians who could find him a place to stay and work in Madrid, Spain.  That was perfect because he had lived there before and had his residency and working permit and everything!  He was leaving that day.

J listened to and followed the impression he had to go to Holland, even though he didn't know anybody there or have any plans.  He took the leap of faith and came to Holland so he could find work in Spain.  It seems illogical, but His ways are higher than our ways, and He blessed J for listening to the Spirit and going and doing.  The Lord blessed him from the time he landed in Amsterdam and ran into us til the time he met a Colombian who found him a place to stay and work so his family could eventually come and stay with him.  I am so grateful that I was able to be an instrument in the Lord's hands in helping this man.  It opened my eyes and helped me realize how blessed I really am on this Earth.  He also set a great example for me in following the promptings of the Spirit.  I pray for him still and hope that things are going well.  I am confident the Lord is continuing to bless him as he listens and obeys.

Monday was our office day and we were very busy.  We had a long meeting with President and Sister Robinson getting last minute things ready for Zone Conference and then we stayed late in the office getting our segment ready.  We got to the mission home that night and fell right asleep.

We woke up the next morning and drove to Apeldoorn where the first Zone Conference was being held.  It went really well.  A member from Den Haag traveled with us and gave a nice presentation on the Role of the Book of Mormon (we are focusing on Preach My Gospel ch 5 this transfer).  Afterwards we gave a segment with President about helping investigators pray and sister Robinson talked about making contacts on the street more personal.  President finished up the first section with a segment called, "Immunization against Apostasy".  It was really good and he just addressed some of the topics brought up on the internet since anti material is getting so big nowadays.  He then went on and bore powerful testimony of the truthfulness of the Restored Gospel.  My testimony was strengthened after he spoke.  After lunch we moved into the second section where President and Sister Robinson talked about Presentation Skills.  It was a lot of fun, and then Elder Alston and I closed with our segment about the new Facebook project.  We introduced a door approach where we could more effectively turn those potential investigators into progressing investigators.  We both felt like it went really well.  After the conference, we traveled back to the mission home and President and Sister Robinson took us out for Chinese


:)  It was fun visiting with them and getting to know them better.  They are such good people and very funny.  I am learning a lot from them.

Wednesday we did the same thing all over again, but this time we went to Zoetermeer to give it.  That is a city right outside of Den Haag.  Zoetermeer is actually where the Temple is here in Holland.  This time around it was even better.  All the missionaries had a lot of fun and really enjoyed it.  That night President and Sister Robinson took us out again, but this time we got Greek food.  It was really good and President made us get expensive dishes because he had a really good coupon haha.  He went in and paid afterwards and came out with a big grin on his face.  Elder Alston and I looked at each other and said how the coupon must have worked.  He came back and told us that this was the wrong Greek Restaurant, so the coupon didn't work!  haha!  It was so funny, and he was laughing about it too.

Thursday we traveled down to Belgium to give our last Conference.  This one was another great one.  Within those three days, I saw all of the missionaries in the mission, and it was a lot of fun seeing some of my really good friends out here.  We got back and went to the Greek Restaurant (the right one this time), and we got more delicious food :)  It was really fun spending so much time with President and Sister Robinson.  They are such great people!  We got back to Amsterdam that night and we were SO tired!  We fell straight asleep.

Friday we woke up, and I honestly felt even more tired than I did when I fell asleep the night before.  We did some more driving because Elder Alston had to pick up his new residency card.  We got back and had to take a nap for a little while.  We woke up and finished off the evening looking some people up and getting a hold of some investigators.  We set up a couple appointments and got the rest of our week lined out.

Study/Preparation Time!

Now you know what I mean when I said it went by so fast, but so much happened in between!  Giving three, 4 hour conferences wears you out.  But it was so much fun.  Now August is over, and, before I know it, we are rolling into September.  Time is crazy and it freaks me out a little bit, especially as I come to the end of my mission.  I still got three months though, and I am gonna take advantage of that and make them the best three months of my mission.  I love you all and hope you have a great week!  and Meleese, I hope you have that baby!!!

Amsterdam Apartment

Veel Lief,

Elder Bishop 

Theme for my week; "The Fruit of the Spirit" I had different experiences throughout the week where I could strongly feel when the Spirit was present, and when it wasn't.

Amsterdam

Hello Family!

Thanks for the emails and updates.  Meleese is SO pregnant!!!  haha that is so exciting.  Keep me updated and I will be anxious every time I email to see pictures of my new niece :)  I CAN'T WAIT!  I am glad that all is well back home, and I am happy to let you know that all is well here in rainy Holland.

Saturday was a nice P day, but a little stressful as well.  I drove us to downtown Amsterdam on a Saturday, and that wasn't the best idea haha there were people EVERYWHERE!!!  It was hard to find parking too, but don't worry, we made it safe and sound and enjoyed a nice breakfast in Amsterdam.  I ate the best french toast that I have ever eaten before, and it was a great way to start off our P day.  Afterwards we looked around the centrum a little bit and then went home and napped.  We were both so tired, so that was a nice way to end our P day.  

Sunday morning we went to church, and there was a 70 visiting the Amsterdam ward.  His name was Elder Charles from England.  He and his wife spoke during sacrament meeting, and they gave great talks about the Holy Ghost, and how we can recognize the promptings of the Holy Ghost.  He was very loving and also very bold.  He stood up at the pulpit and was very intense while speaking.  There was one line he said that Elder Alston and I try to copy.  He said, in his intense and loud British accent, "When the Holy Ghost speaks, there, are, no, rules!"  Haha it was a classic, and Elder Alston can do a really good impersonation.  They were great talks about the fruit of the Spirit though, and that was probably the theme for my week; "The Fruit of the Spirit".  I had different experiences throughout the week where I could strongly feel when the Spirit was present, and when it wasn't.  I will explain throughout the letter, but the first instance happened that same evening after church.

1. We had a first lesson with a new investigator.  He has had contact with the church before and was really positive!  We taught a great first lesson and shared the powerful message of the Restoration.  The Spirit was so strong, and because he felt it, he loved it and he believed it.  We set a baptismal date with him and he accepted.  We asked him to pray at the end, and it was a very heartfelt prayer and a great way to finish off the lesson.  We all could feel the power of the Holy Ghost testify of the truthfulness of our message.

That lesson was a great ending to our Sunday, and it pumped us up for the coming week.

Elder Alston and Elder Bishop showing how much they love office work!

Monday was our office day, and we were very busy...  Numbers went really smooth, thankfully, and the mission actually really improved this last week, so we were happy about that.  We had our faculty meeting and then lunch, and then we had our meeting with President and Sister Robinson.  We did a lot of planning for the coming presentations we would be giving in Mission Leader Council and Zone Conferences.  It took a lot of time, but we got a lot accomplished.  After our meeting, we finished up some last minute tasks in the office and then began to plan for Mission Leader Council.  We were there pretty late, and we were exhausted by the end of the day.  We were happy to come home to our beds and get a good nights rest before our busy schedule started.

Tuesday morning we left for Den Haag (The Hague) to go to their district meeting.  It was a killer District Meeting and very focused.  That's exactly what we were aiming for when we came up with the new program last transfer.  After district meeting we met up with the Rotterdam Zone Leaders to exchange with them.  I was with Elder Krebs for the day in Amsterdam, and during our drive back to Amsterdam was the second experience I had with the fruit of the Spirit, but this time it was opposite...

2. We were waiting to turn right at a light in Den Haag.  The light turned green and we began to go.  As we turned the corner, a car came flying past us and cut us off.  He started backing up, so I needed to back up a little bit.  He stopped his car in the middle of the road, opened up his door and got out of the car.  He started walking towards us when I hurried and locked the door, noticing the angry look on his face.  This middle-aged man came up to my window and started yelling at me!  I have never seen anyone so angry in my life!  He was yelling at me in Dutch that I didn't go fast enough at the green light haha.  It was RIDICULOUS!  I didn't even do anything wrong, but he carried on to yell at me for a solid minute.  I looked back at him with the most plain look pretending I couldn't speak dutch haha. I didn't know what else to do, so I just let him yell at me until he couldn't yell anymore, and then he spit on my window and started walking back to his car.  Half way back to his car, he turned around again and spit on my car again.  This was a busy intersection and it caused a lot of traffic haha.  He flipped me off and got back in his car and drove away.  Talk about road rage!  I definitely didn't feel the fruit of the Spirit there, but rather, I felt the Spirit of contention.  It was NOT a good feeling at all, and totally opposite of the powerful feelings I felt just two days before.

Anyways, we laughed it off and drove to Amsterdam to do some work there.  A lot of people are still on vacation, so we didn't get contact with a lot of people we wanted too, but the last look up we did was home, and VERY positive.  Her brother is a member in Suriname and she wants to know more.  We got her number and set up an appointment.  It was a good day with Elder Krebs despite the angry guy at the beginning.

Wednesday I was back in Den Haag on exchanges with those Zone Leaders now.  I was with Elder Moomey.  We also did a lot of look ups that day in Den Haag.  We had a lesson with a guy named M, and that was the third big experience I had dealing with the Spirit.  This was also an experience dealing with the Spirit of contention though.

3.  We were let inside and found M with two other friends.  They were all sitting around the table smoking.  That's never a good sign when you get let in to teach a lesson.  They insisted that we stayed and gave more background on the Book of Mormon.  We began to give an explanation when one of the friends started laughing and asked us if we had ever seen God.  That is also not a good sign haha.  He went off asking us these crazy questions and when we tried to talk, he would interrupt us and tell us how we are a couple of kids who don't know what we're talking about.  He said a lot more things that I won't repeat.  But it was terrible, and I felt that same feeling I did the day before sitting in the car, the Spirit of Contention.  We got outta there quick.

Luckily we had a lesson afterwards that was uplifting and brought the Spirit back.  And we also found a really positive potential investigator on the street that day.  It was a good day overall.  A lot of missionaries want to serve in Den Haag, but after the two experiences I had there, I have no desire to go back haha.

Thursday we woke up and went to this yoga class that one of the members does in Den Haag area.  I tried yoga for the first time haha and it was super funny, but I actually felt really good afterwards!  We exchanged back and spent most of that day finishing planning our presentations for Mission Leader Council the next day.  It was another long day of planning, and we got to the mission home that night to stay the night.

Friday morning we woke up and got ready for the council.  The presentations went really well.  I focused a lot of my presentation out of Preach My Gospel pg 6, and how the message of the restoration is the foundation of testimony, and from there we build faith.  That is where my fourth and last big encounter with the Holy Ghost happened.

4.  I gave the presentation and bore testimony of the truthfulness of the Restoration.  I know that God lives and He loves us.  We can communicate with Him through prayer, and He listens.  I know this because I have developed a personal relationship with Him.  My favorite part of missionary work is helping others build that personal relationship with Him.  I know He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us, so that we may live.  I know that Christ established His Gospel because He loves us, and He wants the best for us.  And I know that that same gospel has been restored in its fullness today through the Prophet Jospeh Smith.  I know that because I have read the Book of Mormon and seen the difference it has made in my life.  It is the Keystone to our religion and the Keystone to my testimony.  Whenever I question or have doubts, I think back on that book and its truthfulness, and my questions and doubts go away.  I know this to be true because of the Holy Ghost confirming it to me.  As I bore my testimony of the Restoration in Mission Leader Council, I received another confirmation through the Holy Ghost.

The Apostle Paul said, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such, there is no law." (Gal 5:22-23).

And Christ said, "For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the Spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another."(3 Nephi 11:29)

I saw both of those this week and it was so black and white for me.  Sometimes they aren't so black and white, but I have really learned on my mission how to recognize the promptings and the fruit of the Spirit.

That night we were back to planning, this time for Zone Conference next week.  It just never ends!  haha we just take it one day at a time though, and it all works out.  I am glad to be with Elder Alston, because we make it fun.  

This morning I woke up still sore from yoga and made some green eggs and ham.  The green food coloring got all over my hands and now my hands are green.  haha I hope it comes off soon.  We are gonna go to another museum today and then take it easy and catch up on some rest.  Next week will be another good one!  I love you all so much and hope you have a great week as well!  

Love,

Elder Bishop

Amsterdam

Rayco and Sister De Brujin

* Note on the following photos

So in the 1600's Holland prohibited the practice of Catholicism.  They were required to Practice a protastant faith.  There was a man in Amsterdam named Jan Hartman.  He was a wealthy business man and a strong catholic.  He didn't want to stop practicing his faith, so he bought two canal houses in downtown Amsterdam, took the walls out and created a hidden church in his attic!  He was never caught and it wasn't found until after the laws were changed back.  We visited this museum on Saturday and it was incredible!  It has been a museum since 1888 and I want to take you here when you pick me up.  Everything is SO old

Hidden Church In Amsterdam

Basement of the Hidden Church

My week was incredible! Just like all the rest of them. It was also very busy! Just like all the rest of them haha

Helloooooo!!!  I can tell it's hunting season again when only the girls in the family email me haha.  Thanks Mom, Meleese, and Lainey :)  It sounds like everyone had a great week though!  Shout out to Lainey for making the volleyball team!!!  I am so proud of you!  I have played volleyball quite a bit on my mission.  The tall Dutch people love it.  Meleese is SO pregnant, but she looks so good!  Make sure you rest those swollen ankles.  R.I.C.E. Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation.  I learned more from football than just how to smash into people haha.  Mom is busy as ever helping everybody around her.  I love you mom!  I'm sure Dad and Ross got a big one on the mountain this weekend too.  My week was also incredible!  Just like all the rest of them.  It was also very busy.  Just like all the rest of them haha.

Sunday was church which was good.  People are starting to come back from vacation and the chapel is more full now.  I saw a tourist girl from america walk into church with a dutch guy who looked very confused.  I greeted them and she asked if I could sit by them and give him a Book of Mormon.  I sat next to them and then talked to them after church.  I found out that she was from St. George!  haha weird.  She and her friend met this guy who gave them a tour of Amsterdam and they invited him to church.  He doesn't believe in God and wasn't too interested, but I gave him a Book of Mormon and explained it.  I tried making an appointment, but he told me he would call if he had any questions.  He wasn't very positive, but it was cool meeting them and talking to her about Southern Utah.  I miss Southern Utah...  After church we visited an inactive member.  He is super cool and we hit it off right when I got there.  He opened up to us and told us how he really likes the missionaries, but then they all leave after such a short time, so he doesn't like getting really close with them.  We still got really close though and we need to take advantage of that and get him back to church to meet members and get close with the members who will be here for a long time!  It was a spiritual lesson though and we still managed to laugh a lot.

Monday was the beginning of our busy week.  We were in the office, and it took a little longer to get numbers done because I was still pretty new at it and I had to show Elder Alston how to do it, but we still got done in time for our meeting with President.  We planned some more things for our Mission Leader Council and Zone Conferences coming up.  It was an effective meeting.  Afterwards, we got the announcements written up and organized a mini mission and then began planning for the presentation we would be giving at the YSA camp.  It took FOREVER!!!!!  As the time went by, President and Sister Robinson left, then the office senior couple, then the office elders, and it was just us in the office.  We got the layout made up and created a Power Point.  The whole presentation was about mission prep, and we wanted to make it really good because that could potentially help some people decide to serve a mission.  And we had to do it that night because we didn't have any more time before the presentation.  We got done late that night and drove back to Amsterdam to sleep.

Tuesday we woke up and got ready for District Meeting.  We were staying in Amsterdam for district meeting and then exchanging with the Alkmaar Zone Leaders right after.  I got to go back to Alkmaar for the day!!!  That is probably my favorite city I have served in.  It's a beautiful city with great members, and I served there with Elder Cooper :)  I was so excited to be back for the day.  I worked with Elder Corsini and we started off by driving to this beautiful city called Enkhuizen.  We taught a lesson there to an excommunicated member.  She is from New Zealand, and I instantly thought of Dad when we were teaching her.  She wants to come back, and we had a good lesson with her to help her stop some addictions.  Afterdwards, we drove back to Alkmaar and had a dinner appointment with one of my favorite families in the mission, the De Bruijn Family!  It was so much fun seeing Sister De Bruijn and Rayco again.  They are such good people and we had a great time catching up.  I can't wait for you guys to meet them!  That evening we went with the Branch President to an aunt of a member in Rotterdam.  She lives in Alkmaar and is not a member, but she has had some experiences with some weird feelings in her house.  Her sister told her that we could come by and help, so we went by and talked for a little while then offered a blessing on her home.  The Spirit was very strong afterwards, and she appreciated it.  We got a pretty good relationship with them and offered our help whenever they need it.  It was a great night in a city I love.

Wednesday we traveled the whole mission!  We had interviews with the Zone Leders and started in Amsterdam.  We made our way from North Holland to South Holland and interviewed Rotterdam, then drove down to Antwerp, Belgium.  After Belgium we made our way back up to Eindhoven in South-East Netherlands then back to Amsterdam that evening.  We started at 8 am in Amsterdam and got back around 7 pm that night.  We were exhausted from all the driving and interviews.  But they all went really well and it helps unify the mission.  We spent some time that evening running through our presentation for the last time.

Thrusday we drove to East Netherlands and exchanged with Apeldoorn Zone Leaders.  I was with Elder Bourne, and it was fun working with him again.  He is a great missionary and we get along really well.  We had an appointment with B.  I worked with B back when I was in Apeldoorn, and we had a good lesson with him.  He is the inactive member who has contemplated writing himself out.  He suffers with depression, but he always feels the Spirit when we come and knows he should come back to church.  We had a great lesson with him and learned a lot.  It is a work in progress, but I still have faith he will come around.  We were able to talk to some people on the street that evening and we met a very positive guy who saw the Elders in Chili on vacation and saw some of the LDS Temples there too.  We made an appointment to teach him!  It was a cool conversation and we were both really excited afterwards.

Friday we woke up and drove to the YSA camp.  It was an hour outside of Apeldoorn in the middle of nowhere!  We got there around 9:30 and saw a ton of people we knew!  It was fun talking with them and catching up.  We got our power point presentation set up for the first presentation at 10.  There were about 5 different presentations that morning and everyone could sign up for two.  A lot of them signed up for ours just because they saw our names haha.  We got to the presentation and there were a lot of people at ours!  most of them were girls too haha.  We gave the first presentation and it was a hit!  They all LOVED it and learned a ton!  We had them laughing in the beginning and tearing up in the end.  We told them we organized mini missions and if any of them wanted to try it out then talk to us.  2 of them came up to us right after the presentation and said they wanted to serve mini missions.  We gave the same presentation for the second time to a different group.  There weren't as many the second round, and most of them were english speakers, so we gave it in English.  One girl was being dragged in by her friend.  She saw us and asked what our presentation was about.  When we told her it was about mission prep she sighed and told us that was her least favorite topic about the church.  Her friend convinced her to stay though and we gave the presentation.  She became very attentive throughout the presentation and we even saw her mouth the word, "perfect" a few times throughout the presentation.  She came up to us afterwards and apologized for her attitude coming into it.  She then went on to tell us that it was the best presentation she has been to all week, and it totally changed her view about serving a mission.  She said it never felt right before, but now that she knows a little bit more about it, she wants to pray about it again and see if she should go!  It was incredible!  We ate lunch afterwards, and some more people came up to us afterwards thanking us.  They told us their perspective of a mission really changed and it seems a lot more do-able now.  We got to the lunch room and more people came up to us who didn't even attend our presentation saying how they heard it was really good.  We were so pleased with how it turned out!!!  Elder Alston and I put a lot of time into that, and it was nice to see that it had an effect on some people.

We got home that afternoon dead tired!  We laid down for a little bit and cooked dinner and then planned some things that we need to take care of this coming week.  It will be another busy one, but I love busy!  I am glad it's pday though.  We will be taking it easy and resting up for the coming week.  I love you all so much and I hope you have a great week!  I look forward to writing to you again next week.  It will be here before we know it.

Groetjes,

Elder Bishop

"I saw missions begin and missions end in the span of three days"

Goede Morgen!!

I can't believe I am emailing again.  This week has gone by so fast!  It sounds like it went by fast for you too.  I didn't know the baby shower was this week!  I loved the pictures though and it seemed like there was a great turn out.  Meleese has a nice kitchen by the way.  I also can't believe that Ross and Lainey start school next week!!!  Where did the summer go?  I am glad all is well and everybody is safe and healthy though.  This week was crazy as usual for me, and despite the craziness, it was incredible.

So Sunday was church, of course.  it was a great meeting and two of our investigators showed up!  D and L  (the mother and daughter from Columbia).  They really really enjoyed it.  Here in the Amsterdam ward, there are people from all around the world, and we have a lot of spanish members who welcomed them and sat next to them.  By the end, D was even holding one of the members new born babies! haha it was awesome.  After church we drove down to the mission home to break our fast with President and Sister Robinson.  Sister Robinson is a great cook and we ate like kings.  It was a lot of fun getting to know them better.  After dinner we all drove to the office to finalize transfers.  After a couple more hours and a few last minute switches, we got it done and made some calls.  Some people were really happy and some people were not so happy when we called.  I felt kinda bad and tried talking it up as much as possible.  It's sad to see some missionaries go to a new area with a new companion with the wrong attitude. Your attitude going into a new area sets the tone for the next few transfers.  And that's really what makes the difference.  Attitude plays a big role in our success.  After getting all the calls done, we headed back to the mission home and stayed the night there.  It was fun chatting with President and Sister Robinson some more and getting to know them better.

picking up the new missionaries

The next morning we woke up early and made our way to the Airport.  We were planning on picking up the new missionaries at 8 and taking them to the office and then Elder Eastmond and I would go back to the airport and pick up the new senior couple at 9:30.  When we got to the airport the first time, we looked at all the flights and saw that the senior couple's flight was canceled from Chicago...  We picked up the greenies anyways and headed back to the office. While at the office we called church travel and they informed us that the Senior Couple wouldn't be coming until 5:30 pm the next day.  The new missionaries signed some papers and rested a little bit while we assigned their trainers.  By the way, Elder Hulet is training this transfer and I am so excited for him.  He will do a great job and got a great missionary.  We headed back to the mission home with all the new missionaries and President and Sister Robinson that afternoon.  The new missionaries slept for about 3 more hours.  We got some icecream and helped with dinner.  That evening we all ate dinner and then had a devotional.  It was the same exact devotional I had when I came into the land a year and a half ago.  It brought back so many memories!!!  I wanted to start my mission again and go for another two years after that devotional.  I was jealous that those new missionaries just got here and have their whole missions ahead of them.  We all slept at the mission home that night.

welcome breakfast for  the new missionaries

Wednesday morning we all woke up and made our way back to the office for further trainings and for the greenies to meet their trainers.  We got there and I met up with Elder Alston and we gave two trainings, one to the new missionaries and the other to the trainers.  Throughout the morning, all the missionaries going home that day met up at the office.  Right after the trainings we gave in the morning, the office got a call from the Johnsons, the new senior couple.  It turns out they got the the airport sooner than we expected and nobody was there to pick them up!  So of course, Elder Alston and I headed off to the airport.  We found them easily and they handled the situation really well, and they understood completely.  We drove them back to the office and got them a hotel room so they could sleep, and then we hung around the office with all the missionaries going home.  We helped them get checked out and then we all went to the mission home for dinner and their last devotional.  While at the mission home, Elder Eastmond's parents arrived!  I saw them meet for the first time in two years, and it was so cool.  It was a little weird though that I saw my companion meet his parents again...  We had a nice devotional/testimony meeting to finish off the night.  

Thursday was another early trip to the airport to send the missionaries home.  We got there and sent the first group off fairly quick.  There was one missionary flying a different route though and we needed to get him to a different gate.  We waited in line FOREVER!!!  We finally got done and sent him off.  he almost missed his flight though haha.  It was crazy busy at the airport that morning, and it was weird seeing those missionaries go home.  I saw missions begin and missions end in the span of three days.  Seeing them begin made me want to start mine again too, but seeing them end and seeing missionaries meet their parents gave me mixed feelings. I don't want my mission to end, but I can't wait to see you guys again!  it was really weird those few days.  We got done with the airport and went back to work as usual.  We had SOOOO much to plan that evening.  We have a crazy busy transfer with a ton to do.  Elder Alston and I were in the office planning until 10 that night before we made it back to Amsterdam.  That was the first time I slept in Amsterdam since the previous Saturday.  We were exhausted.

Friday, we were finally able to do some normal missionary work.  We had a lesson with D (who was in church last week), and it was a KILLER lesson!  We taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and I love teaching this lesson.  It's very simple and very powerful.  We first explained Fatih in Jesus Christ.  She has been a Christian for a long time now, so that was more of just a review.  We went into repentance and then started talking about baptism.  We explained the importance of baptism, and the covenant itself.  We taught her the Gift of the Holy Ghost next and explained that is one of the blessings of baptism.  We commited her to be baptized and receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost and she accepted without a doubt!  We went on to explain the last step, endure to the end, and while we were teaching that, she stopped us and asked us if she could say something.  She went on to tell us that she used to not look forward to our appointments because she was always so busy, but she then explained how every time we come over she feels so good and feels peacefull, and even after we leave she feels it for the rest of that day.  She had a hard time explaining what that was and we told her that was the Holy Ghost!  She told us that before we came she invited 3 other religions over to her house to teach her, but we were the only one where she got that feeling, the Holy Ghost.  And we were the only one who she invited back.  She then went on to thank us for the work we do.  it was AWESOME!!!  She set her baptismal service in her phone as a reminder and she is coming to church again this week.  We are going to try to get her daughter on board for the same date.  It was an incredible lesson and SO spiritual.  It reminded me, that we as missionaries don't do anything really.  We just live worthy of the Spirit and teach the Preach My Gospel Lessons to where they can learn and feel the Spirit testify to them that it is true.  The Holy Ghost is the Key to success in a mission.  He is the one who converts and convinces, not us.  It is very humbling to see.

After the lesson we went back for lunch and then went to the office again to finish up our planning.  it was another late night in the office, but very effective.  We got a lot accomplished and now we have our feet under us going into this crazy transfer!  We are both excited.  I never thought I would be doing stuff like this on my mission.  It's definitely not my favorite, but I am happy to do it and I am learning so much from it.  I am SO grateful that we were able to fit one lesson in there and have it be so successful though.  Remember, the Spirit is the Silver Bullet!  I love you all so much and hope you have another great week!  I can't wait to hear from you again next week!

Veel Lief,

Elder Bishop

July Leadership Council

" My testimony was strengthened...that God really does live and He loves us. And when we know that, then we can look at life with hope to change."

Hey guys!!!  I can't believe it is August already!  The time is flying by and the weather is really nice right now.  Not only has the weather been nice, but the work has been progressing and I spent half the week in Belgium, so this week has been INCREDIBLE!!!  This week has also been one of the busiest weeks of my mission too.  I have so much to say, and not a whole lot of time, so I will get started.

Saturday was a fun P-day.  We went to "Het Scheepvaart Museum" (The Ship Museum)  In Amsterdam.  I learned that my mission has 3 of the 4 biggest poorts in Europe (Rotterdam, Antwerp, and Amsterdam).  The one in Amsterdam was really cool and fun to see.  That evening we had an appointment with an inactive member.  He is origionally from Dallas, Texas but has been living in Amsterdam for the past 10 years.  He is a black comedian and super funny with his thick southern accent.  We had a good dinner appointment with him and are going to start working with him more to get him active.  It was a fun appointment and a great Pday.

Sunday was a busy day at church.  Elder Eastmond and I gave the Priesthood lesson about Geneology and Family History Work.  We didn't know much to say while preparing it, but it actually turned out really nice, and I was able to share a few stories about John William Dutson and how he has helped me throughout my life because of the example he gave me.  After church we had a baptismal service for C and N.  They are both Young Single Adults and really cool.  They both really enjoyed their baptism.  N was actually found through the big facebook campaign back in April!  He requested the DVD via facebook and they started teaching him.  He was a drug addict and had a lot of problems, but over the course of 4 months he was able to turn his life around and now he's baptized!  The work is hastening in the Amsterdam Ward.  After the service we stopped by the hospital again to visit A.  She is the one who had an aneurysm a while ago.  She is continually doing better, and she enjoys our visits every time.  It was a nice, spiritual Sunday.

Monday was our office day.  We were really busy talking about transfers with President and getting all the numbers together.  We managed to make it out by 4 though and drove back to Amsterdam for a dinner appointment with this member, Sister J.  She is really nice and LOVES to talk! We didn't mind, but we had to drive to Antwerp that night, so we needed to get outta there!  It's hard being in an appointment with someone who loves to talk when you need to leave haha but it all worked out and we were at the zone leaders apartment by 10 that evening.  and thus began the Belgian journey :)

Tuesday we were on splits with the Antwerp Elders.  I was with Elder Peterson from Salt Lake City, and we had a lot of time to contact people!  I hadn't done that in a while and I was really excited.  While out on the streets of Antwerp we ran into two people with very different perspectives, and it was incredible to see the difference it can make in someone's life.  The first example was a guy we ran into in the centrum.  He was from Morocco and we sat down next to him and started talking to him.  He used to be a muslim but later became an athiest.  We asked him the three big questions (Where did we come from? Why are we here? and Where are we going?)  And he gave very scientific answers.  He had no hope for a life after this one.  He had no purpose for his life here, besides money.  We introduced to him a different perspective and showed him the Book of Mormon.  We talked a little bit about prayer and he rejected us hard.  He asked us, "Why would I ever talk to someone who doesn't exist?" After talking to him for about 30 minutes we decided that we just didn't agree and it was pointless to go any further.  He had nothing in his life except the desire for money.  What a sad perspective and lifestyle!  The next guy  was born in China, but spent most of his life in England.  He is addicted to hard drugs and struggling to keep his family due to those addictions.  If he had the same perspective as the first guy, then he would be hopeless.  But he doesn't, he does believe in God.  He wants to follow him, and he told us that he wants the happiness that he sees in us.  We talked about the Atonement and what we need to do to apply that to our lives.  We told him that was the source of our happiness and hope in this life.  We saw his countenance change and we invited him to come to church on Sunday.  He accepted.  This was a perfect example of the difference it makes believing in a loving God.  My testimony was strengthened from talking to those two people that God really does live and He loves us.  And when we know that, then we can look at life with hope to change.  It just takes that step of faith for God to reveal Himself to us.  There is actually a brand new Mormon Message about this that you should watch.  It is incredible! 

 http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=3701964025001

Anyways, Tuesday was an incredible day filled with Miracles.  We contacted a lot of people, and a lot of people wanted to listen.  We got 5 new potentials that afternoon.

Wednesday we exchanged with the Zone Leaders in Antwerp.  I stayed for the second day in Antwerp with Elder King.  It was also a lot of fun.  We were together at the very beginning of my mission and hadn't worked with each other again until now.  We did a lot of catching up and did a lot of lookups and more finding.  We found a really positive lady while knocking doors (the first door we knocked actually).  She was interested about the Book of Mormon and we set an appointment with her to teach her more.  That night we ate dinner at this lady's house from Ghana.  She made us this traditional dinner called fufu.  It was this hot soup with a type of potaoe mush at the bottom and goat meat.  They only eat with their hands, so we rolled up our sleeves and dug in!  haha It was actually a lot of fun even though she dished me up a TON of soup.  She told me that I couldn't leave until I ate it all.  It was soooo hard, but I finally finished haha.  it was kinda gross.  I thought about Layne the whole time I ate it haha.  It was a fun night though with a cultural experience.

Thursday I was back in Amsterdam.  I was on exchanges with Elder Alston which was fun because we were companions a couple transfers ago.  We had a good time working in Amsterdam.  We did this look up who was in a pretty sketchy part of Amsterdam.  Don't worry, I didn't see anything bad, but there were a lot of shops with marijuana and crazy people.  We heard some tourists speaking some american english and we couldn't believe that people would come on vacation to Amsterdam and hang around in those areas!  There is SO much more to see in this beautiful city!  We looked up the former investigator and got out of that area pretty quick, but it was ironic that we were walking around preaching the Gospel with so much blatant sin around us!  It was an interesting experience, and I am so glad that I have the Gospel in my life.  We had an appointment that afternoon with a kid named I. He is 24 years old studying here in Amsterdam and he was recently baptized.  He is so solid!  He has already read the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants and he is going through the Bible again.  It was a good lesson to get to know him better and read with him a little bit.  He is a smart guy!  After the lesson, we had a dinner appointment with a member from germany.  He is an interesting guy, but very nice.  They made us a nice german meal including a whole pig leg for each of us!  haha It was a ton of meat, but it was good.  I told him that my dad made jerky  and he would love some!  so when you get that big elk dad...  haha you gotta hook a brotha up!  It was a fun night with Elder Alston.

Friday was our 4th and last exchange of the week.  We were with the Alkmaar Zone Leaders.  I was in Amsterdam with Elder Chantry.  He is a cool kid and we had a nice day in Amsterdam.  We did a lot of look ups and finding, but nothing too special that day.  That night we had another cool dinner appointment though with another African family!   They are one of my favorite families in Amsterdam.  We had a similar meal as I did in Antwerp, but instead of potatoe mush, it was a sticky rice ball.  My fingers got soggy from eating the soup with no spoon.  They looked like I just got out of a long shower haha.  It was a fun night, but I was so tired after that exchange!  4 in a row is not easy, but it was still fun.  It is fun working with other missionaries and learning from them and hopefully teaching them a thing or two as well.  I went to bed early that night though.

This morning we woke up and had the busiest Pday of my mission to finish off the busiest week of my mission.  It was awesome though.  We woke up and went to the Anne Frank house early in the morning.  That was my favorite museum that I have been to so far in Amsterdam.  It was incredible walking through that house, behind the bookshelf that led to the secret annex.  I saw her room and pictures and writings, and it brought everything to life.  It was incredible.  Everybody was very reverent through the whole thing.  We got out of the quiet house, and what did we see...?  The Amsterdam Gay Parade!!!  It was ridiculous!!!  haha it was a canal parade and there were boats everywhere with people wearing pink and all different sorts of bright colors.  I couldn't believe it.  That went on all day, 5,000,000 people celebrating.  I was speechless, and still am...  haha after the Anne Frank house we drove up to Northern Amsterdam to this cool area called Zaanse Schans.  It doesn't get any more dutch than that place.  There was a klompen museum where they make the wooden shoes.  There was a cheese museum and a ton of windmills around.  It was a lot of fun.  After Zaanse Schans we made our way to the Van Gogh Museum.  It was cool seeing all the art, but I'm not too big on that stuff haha but it was still fun.  After that we had to go to our dinner appointment, and that's why I'm emailing so late haha sorry.  It was such a fun day though.  The only thing.... I am even more tired today than I was yesterday!!!  It just never ends I guess.  It was a great week though with fun experiences and a lot of spiritual ones too.  

I love you all so much and hope you have a great week!  

Veel Lief,

Elder Bishop