Hey everybody!!! Sounds like you all had another crazy week with a lot going on! haha I think I can relate. This week has been so crazy! It has been super good though. So since it's been 10 days since my last P day , and it was transfer week, I got a lot to say with not a lot of time to type, so I will get started.
Sunday was my last church service in Amsterdam. It was a good one too. We taught the Gospel Principles lesson about temples, and how it has always been a commandment to build temples. It went well I think. It's kinda hard to have a 45 minute lesson on that subject while keeping it simple, but we managed to do so. I saw J in church and she gave me a necklace that Z made for me before I left. It was a nice present and I really appreciated it. I will definitely miss those two. After church we went straight to President's to break our fast and then went to the office to finalize transfers. We got done that evening and made some calls to let the mission know what was happening. We got done and headed back to the mission home to stay the night.
Monday morning we woke up and drove to the office. We had a long day in the office getting things ready for transfers, and the numbers got mixed up so it took us forever to gather them all. It was pretty stressful, and let's just say I was super excited that was my last day in the office! We got back to the mission home that evening and ate dinner and went to bed early.
Tuesday morning we woke up at 5 and were out the door by 6:30 to pick up the new greenies! They all came through the airport that morning and made a big scene haha a lot of people were stopping and staring at us and even a few asked us who we were and what we were doing. It was a good missionary opportunity. We got them all situated and back to the office to get some legality and financial stuff figured out. They had their interviews with President and meanwhile we took them contacting. It was pretty funny. The sisters were terrified. The first guy I stopped was this old man smoking a cigarette. He was actually pretty nice. We talked to a few more people and got this one guys information so they could give him a book. They were so excited after that. haha It's Always fun talking to people on a missionary's first day. We had lunch and then they went out with the office elders to apply for their residency cards. While they were gone, we met with President and assigned the greenies their trainers, that means I also found out who I would be training. They came back and napped, and I went out with one of the office elders to run an errand with him. While we wer out we stopped this lady and started talking with her. We mentioned the Book of Mormon and Jesus Chirst. The first thing she said back was, "I'm shocked". We didn't know how to take that haha but then she started explaining. She turned around and pointed to a spot on the walking path about 20 meters behind us. She told us how she was just standing there a minute ago praying to God in her heart, asking him if she could get in better contact with him. She went on to explain how she was walking home from work and she Always walks on the opposite side of the canal, but today she had the feeling to walk on this side of the canal. She couldn't believe it, and neither could I to be honest haha. She wanted to hear more about what we have to say and whe also wanted to pray with us. We set up an appointment for the next day. What a miracle! It goes to show that God leads those who are prepared to us. That's one of the biggest lessons I have learned out here is that this work is God's work, not ours. If you think about it, we, as missionaries, do virtually nothing haha. All we do is go outside and talk to people and then teach them, but even when we talk to people, He leads them to us like what just happened. And even when we teach people, we aren't the ones teaching, but the Holy Ghost. All we have to do is be obedient and faithful, and we will be great instruments in the Lord's hands.
That evening we had a fireside with the new missionaries and they opened up their letters to see where they would go and who they would be with. We got to the very last one, Elder Silva. He opened up his letter to find out that he would be serving in Haarlem with me as his trainer! I gave him a big hug right after and we were both so excited. Elder Silva was born in Brazil, but moved to Lisbon, Portugal when he was 8. He knows the Flukigers, and he is a super cool kid. He wants to work, and wants to see success, and that's what we are planning on doing.
(*Note...The Flukigers are Hayden's Great Uncle and Aunt who are serving as Mission President in Portugal)
Wednesday we woke up and had lunch and then the trainers came and we all had the trainers meeting. It was nice to be getting that training and not giving it haha. We went to the city hall afterwards to get a few more things organized and then we headed to Haarlem, niether of us having been there before. We got all our suitcases on the bus and found our apartment. Right when we got to our apartment, we had to leave for a dinner appointment. We went with the IJmuiden sisters. They cover the northern half of the Haarlem area and serve in the Haarlem ward. It was a nice dinner appointment though. We headed back to our apartment on foot that night. It was a long walk, but we we able to talk to some people on our way. The first person we talked to in Haarlem was such a funny story! So he had his headphones in, but I stopped him anyways and asked him about the Book of Mormon. He told us he had heard of the book of mormon. We asked him where he heard of it, and he told us that he was on the series "Survivor, Holland" He ended up winning Survivor and it was held near Bryce Canyon, Utah. He said that after he won, they gave him a Book of Mormon too. hahahaha what the heck?! We asked him what language it was in and he told us english. We gave him a dutch one and he told us that he would read it while on vacation. It was so weird! We had a good laugh about it. We got home that night super tired. We didn't even unpack, but we just planned for the next day and went straight to bed.
Thursday was a busy day. Our first priority was grocery shopping. We got that done with right after studies. Next priority was bikes. We bought Elder Silva a bike. I bargained it from 120 down to 100 and he got a good lock with it too haha. We took a train to Heiloo after that to meet the Alkmaar Zone Leaders at the station. They had my bike that I left in Alkmaar. I forgot how trashed my bike got from riding the Streets of Brugge for six months haha but it's still good enough to ride. We had our bikes, and then we were off! We talked to a ton of people and met a few of the investigators that the previous sisters were working with. We also called the Ward Mission Leader and asked if we could stop by that night to introduce ourselves. We stopped by that evening and practiced the Restoration lesson with them. He is a cool guy and I think he appreciated us stopping by. It was so nice to be on a bike again on the beautiful Streets of Haarlem. This city is incredible! We were happy to be out working. Maybe its cuz I've been in a car the past year, but it felt so good to be on a bike that day just talking to everybody. I have never had such a desire to work.
Friday we had an appointment with a recent convert named F. I met him back in March when I was a Zone Leader in Alkmaar. When I saw him Friday morning, I almost didn't recognize him. He was baptized in May, and he has made a lot of changes since. He cut his hair and he hasn't been smoking for a while now. It was cool to see how much change the Gospel has brought him. I absolutely love seeing that change in people. We did some good planning that afternoon and mapped out the area and figured out where everything was and where the members and investiagators and potential investigators lived. We set some good goals and really just got our feet under us. It was very productive. We got out that night for a dinner appointment with the Bishop and his family. The bishop's son was there and he isn't active, but he is about 23 and really cool. We had a really good talk with him and he wants to play soccer with us now. We are just gonna try to become his friend and help him and support him. It was a good day. Saturdaywe had some bike problems haha so it involved a lot of walking. A LOT of walking, but we got the bike fixed eventually and had a lot of time to talk to people. We were exhausted by the end of the day, but we set up a few appointments for next week. We were so tired that night that we went to bed around 9:30 right after we finished planning. Doing this stuff for 2 years really wears on you once you come to the end of it. But I felt very satisfied. It was fun working with Elder Silva too. He is also super tired, mainly from jet lag, but we work hard and have fun. Greenies are soo funny! haha There are 3 things that he says over and over again, and all greenies say these 3 things too. 1. "There is SO much water in this country!" 2. "Everybody rides bikes in this country!" and 3. "When am I gonna see the sun again?" I told him april haha. Poor Brazilian...
Sunday was a great day in church. I felt a click with the ward, even though it is a super dutch ward filled with old people. They are all really nice, and I think they like me and Elder Silva. We had correlation afterwards and then a dinner appointment. It was a nice evening and we came back exhausted again. We bike a lot in this city, and our butts our sore and we have blisters on our feet, but we aren't complaining, only enjoying. We have set up 6 new appointments for this next week and we are really excited to see how it goes! I am so happy to be ending my mission this way. This is the perfect last chapter, and I am going to work til I see you guys, so don't worry about me. I love you all so much, and I hope you have a great week! Sorry I forgot my camera, I will send twice as many pictures next week! I love you!
Elder Bishop
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