A Zone Training, A Weird Sunday and a Baptism Date

I can't believe my half way mark is coming around this week. On one hand it's felt like 700 years and that I should be this old grandma, but on the other hand it feels like I just got here  yesterday. I'm always surprised when people ask me how  long i've been on my mission and I have to reply "9 months" instead of like 2 weeks or something.

Zone conference was fine, nothing too special. Usually, the senior couple in the zone makes the lunch for us, but we actually (don't) have a senior couple  in the Antwerpen zone, so the zone leaders just ordered Dominos for everyone. 

So every sunday we have correlation after church, and we have a baptism planned on one of the same days as the elders, but the ward mission leader insisted that it needed to be on different days and we're like uh, no, and then he was like when are our priests going to baptize someone? And we told him  that when they start coming on joint teach with us and actually get to know the investigators then they can baptize them. The missionaries arent supposed to baptize people, President Robinson has asked that it be a ward member, which is great, but  most of the time that is going to be someone a little bit older,  like a YSA who has been going with us, and not some 16 year old kid that we don't even know. Anyway, this discussion went on forever, and was a huge waste of time, but  eventually the ward mission leader was like fine, i guess we cant plan this baptism today, and we're all sitting there like thats what we've been trying to tell you. Ugh so frustrating. Anyway, he tries he really does, and we appreciate the time he spends on us but it's always incredibly frustrating. But we are supposed to have a baptism on Feb 9. Shes a lady that they found right before i got here, so i've taught her all the lessons with sister aldous except the first one. But we are hoping that is still going through because yesterday we had this um.... eccentric guy speak in sacrament. And he was downright scary and creepy. Like, if I wasn't a member, I would have bolted and screamed Cult as I ran. Like it was seriously disturbing, and we're all looking around like who the heck let him speak. So then we had to answer a whole ton of questions with her, and with the investigators from the other elders, and  from  members, but that's okay. Oh, back to zone training, ah, getting orders is fun, because it's like Christmas, but then you realize you have to somehow carry all that stuff home. Oh my gosh. It was cold and rainy, and sister aldous had to carry the book of mormon box, and then I had the bag with all the orders in it, plus a ton of english book of mormons, such a pain. It took us forever to get it all back , but it was an interesting experience. 

We contacted so many French people this week. My French contacting is actually getting pretty good. Plus I found a french language guidebook thing in the apartment, so that's been a help. 

Something fun happened to us this week: our window broke. So windows here a little  different, and they open like all the way. On a hinge. I don't know how to describe it, but it was really windy the other day, and the window blows open, and then we realize that the handle thing controlling it is totally  broken and there is no way to close it. So that's been exciting. We need to call the office about that today actually...

We haven't had time to see the cool things in the area, but we are planning on it. Someday. Also, it's just always raining, so we haven't really taken any pictures or anything.

But I think that's pretty much everything for this week.

Love you, miss you!

Karoline

More to get used to, More on the area, More on the work.

We have zone training this Thursday, so I will have to wait until next transfer to get the package, but that's okay. I hope the one that is sent to the apartment actually comes... I guess we'll find out. :) 

i like working in a city, and it is definitely a different experience from my other two areas. The weather actually, is  a lot warmer. It is still pretty rainy, but Sister Aldous says that I brought that with me, because it didn't start raining here until last week, where it rained everyday. We also walk a ton here, I haven't ridden my bike yet. In fact, it's still at the train station, at least, I hope it's still at the train station. You never know. We also run a lot, because the public transportation system isn't very reliable, so we are always running for the trams, buses, whatever. Which would be fine, were we not wearing boots and skirts. We have literally ran for our tram every single morning I've been here, which is annoying, but at least it wakes you up in the morning. The apartment, is also quite an experience. We have about 5-7 minutes for a shower in the morning before it will suddenly cut to freezing, without any warning. Then you have to turn it off, wait a couple minutes for the water heater to reset and turn it back on. I have gotten a lot faster at showering though... 

Theres only one ward in our area, although with all the inactive people on the ward list, there could be at least another ward. i don't like the ward leadership here. The bishop and branch president are old, and not willing to let things change, We have to ask permission from them to visit people, and they refuse to give us an updated ward list, so we have no current addresses, or numbers, and theres not list of the recent converts or anything. It's so annoying. Also, the ward mission leader is this like 70 something year old man who insists on hugging you, and then he shakes you, and I absolutely hate it. Seriously, he doesn't even give you the choice to hug him. And he hugs the elders too. Hate it. He at least tries his best though.

We had a  couple of good teaching appointments. There was the man we met in the tram station last week who said he was almost baptized 6 months ago before he moved back to Africa, and when we showed up, he also had brought a girl with him. And she is super cool, and shes really searching, so that's awesome. Except that she is mainly a french speaker, like she understands English, but she likes to explain things in french. So she explains them to me in french,  i translate for sister Aldous, and then we tell her our response in English and it starts all over again. So that's interesting. Also, for some reason a lot of people in  the ward here thinks that I don't speak English? And they are always asking me where I'm from. And then surprised to find out I'm American. As if almost every mission they get isn't from America or something. That's okay. 

Theres a member here who is the ambassador for the Congo, and hes a super cool guy who takes us out to eat all the time, So if I ever want to go to the Congo, he told me I can go with him. Also, the elders have an investigator who is from Ghana, who wants me to move there and enjoy "African paradise", Okay. Hes a nice guy though. And hes getting baptized next week, so at least this ward is seeing some success. Although, they pretty much told us that they only want us to baptize Belgian people. This ward is a little racist... like all the black people sit in the back. It's very segregated. But I think the Africans are the nicest. 

So, it's been raining a lot and it's super muddy and we we're walking all day, right? and then we go to visit a member and we're talking to her, and then all of a sudden she brings out a shoe polishing kit and polishes my boots. Awkward. Like, we even asked if they wanted us to take our shoes off. And they weren't even bad, Then she explained how it's a Belgian thing. Also, an investigator we are teaching has 46 brothers and sisters. 46! but hes African and his dad got married a lot, so that explains it a bit, i think. 

There are 6 missionaries here in our ward, a set of elders, the zone leaders, and then us, Our district is us 6 and then a pair of elders in St Niklaas. The facebook project thing, with the guy that president and sister Robinson met with is what is happening in gent. They're seeing a lot of cool things in that city because the mission leader really knows whats hes doing and he designed his own cards, and what happens is that when someone scans the QR code thing, they end up referring themselves for a missionary visit, if they allow their info to be sent kind of thing. Anyway they get like 40 something headquarter referrals a month, which is pretty cool, and president and sister Robinson are working to get it set up for a long time. i don't know why i think I'm staying here a while, but i will at least do three transfers here for sure, and i wouldn't be surprised if I did 5. Our zone is all of the Belgian missionaries.

That's about all that I can really think of this week... oh, wait. They have weird vending machines here. Did I mention that last week? Like, they sell bread in a vending machine.  and in the summer you can get strawberries and things. interesting. 

Love you,

Love, Karoline

More info and pictures from Leeuwarden, Friesland, Netherlands. Thank you Elder and Zr. Romig!

We love serving in the Leeuwarden Branch and being with the members.  We have two full time Zuster missionaries (Zusters Rigdon & Western) in Leeuwarden and two full time Elders (Elders Peterson & Besendorfer) in Heerenveen (about 25 kilometers from Leeuwarden).  Their attendance at church meetings in Leeuwarden are a great support to the Branch.

Leeuwarden & Heerenveen Elders & Zusters
assigned to the Leeuwarden Branch when we first arrived.
Elder Romig, Elder Sanderson (District Leader) & Elder Peterson
Sister Romig, Sister Western & Sister Rosenlof.

Groningen District: Elders Peterson, Besendorfer, Romig, Sanderson, England, Bonney and Nelson
Zusters Rosenlof, Western, Romig, Heilner and Larson

This was our district when we first arrived here.  We have had a transfer and leadership change since then.
Our District Leader is Elder Nelson (Elder Sanderson went to Rotterdam), Elder England went to Vlisingen, Zuster Heilner transferred to Maastricht and Zuster Rosenlof went to Almere.  We now have Zusters Johnson and Rigdon.  The district was cut by one elder companionship.

We have fallen in love with Friesland!  The countryside is like the countryside Elder Romig remembered from his first mission to Netherlands.  It is vast fields of green with canals separating farms.  There are sheep, cattle and horses grazing everywhere.  We see molens and modern windmills everywhere.  The homes are beautiful and well-kept.  The schilderachtige dorpjes (quaint villages) are beautiful!  Swans are seen EVERYWHERE in Friesland!  We have been told that they are protected here.  It is quite common to see them in the green fields. We have also been told that many of the Dutch Masters loved the sky over Friesland and would come here to paint their skies.

Notice how the swans with their necks touching almost form a heart.

The green countryside goes on and on and on!  Mooie!

The homes and many buildings including barns & sheds have the symbol of the swan on them like the picture above showing the swan on both the home and the barn. Below is a close-up.

Friesland swans...originally made of wood, now some are made of plastic because wood is so expensive.

On the way to church we spotted a flock of swans off in the distance and took a picture...even in the rain.

And even more on the way
 home from church.

 

Another closer view with a molen in the background.

Notice the tile as well as thatched roof on this home.  There is so much humidity that moss grows on roofs,
 trees, fences and just about everything!

In the countryside, farmhouses often have the barn attached to the home.  The home has the tile roof, while the barn
roof is thatched.  Friesland is known for these two types of horses...the big, beautiful black ones and the Fries ponies
shown here.  The ponies are full-grown but about the size of a small Shetland Pony.

 It was a delight to see this molen in the background in the small dorpje of Sumar.

Not far from Leeuwarden is the site of the first baptisms in Netherlands.  We posted a picture of this in an earlier post.
It is amazing to see the growth of the church here, and it is exciting to imagine the fulfillment of the prophesy given that there would one day be 40 stakes here.  We currently have 4 stakes and our short-term goal is to build a 5th stake.
We have much work to do!

New City, New Country, New Companion

So, I love Antwerpen, and I'm definitely not in the Netherlands anymore.  You know when you cross the border. Everything just gets a lot... less clean. But the city itself is really beautiful, and Michael Buble is coming here this week or next week or something, so thats points for the citizens of Antwerpen. 

It only took a few hours for us to get hit on by creepy Africans who asked Sister Aldous if they could have her friend, as in me. But that's okay, we're giving them a church tour this Saturday, ha. Belgium also has this nasty smell about it. Everyone calls it the Belgian Funk. Like, I dont know how to explain it. It's probably because people just pee on the street and then it sits there, but who knows. Yes, we do live above a pizza shop, so that's going to be super hot in the summer, but the pizza is okay, and we are pretty sure that it is owned by the Italian Mafia. We ride a lot of trams and buses here, so I'm probably going to be getting super fat from not biking, but we do also walk a lot so hopefully that helps. People keep telling us not to drink our water, but we've all been drinking it, and we're still alive. 

Apparently though, Antwerpen has better water than a lot of the missionary cities here. We have contacted a lot of French people. I kind of wish the French  Belgians would stay on their side of the country because it's hard to know what language youre supposed to be speaking when you stop to talk to someone. I had to introduce myself in church yesterday, and someone told me that I looked like a princess from  Monaco. I asked her if she was talking about grace kelly, but she said she was talking about her mom, so hopefully shes pretty. It wouldnt surprise me if that was just her way of telling me I looked like a trashbag or something either. haha.

The last few days in Leeuwarden were pretty chill, just visiting and saying goodbye and doing the work and everything. On the last night, we got to ride home in a Lexus that not only had heated seats, but also massaging seats, and it was a 40 minute ride home, so that was nice. Fanciest car I've ever been in. 

We had interviews with President this week, and he just said the same thing that he always does when he talks to me, like how he's always been impressed with me and stuff like that, so that's nice. Oh, he also said I might be a mission presidents wife one day, in his own way, so we shall see about that. 

My first lesson here, we had a really good lesson with someone who has had a question about something for years and she has been looking for answers in other churches  but when she read the book of mormon she got her answer. So, that was really cool. Shes supposed to be getting baptized in February. I think Antwerpen will be a good city for me, so I'm excited to keep working here. Especially because  know I'm going to be here for a pretty long time. Also, sister Aldous and I are excited to work with each other. One, because we were good friends in the MTC, but also because we are going to be celebrating our half way marks together next month. Yay.

I think that's pretty  much everything for this week.

 Have a good week. Love you, miss you.

Love, Karoline

New Year's Eve, Great week, Transferring to...........................

So, I am getting transferred to Antwerpen,  (Antwerp) Belgium on Wednesday. Address:

(if you want to send her a card/letter please ask me for the address)

I am pretty excited to go to Belgium, and I kind of figured I was going there this transfer since President had hinted at it, but it is a little stressful, because everything is just different down there. It is another country after all. Also, fyi, I am going to have to pull out personal money a lot more often because how the transportation is paid for down there is different, but it gets reimbursed, but basically, the Belgian missionaries are simply always broke. fun! Sister Rigdon was just in Antwerpen, so I've seen all the pictures, and heard about the members, so it's nice to kind of know what I am getting into. It's also fun, because yet again, it's a different language. :) Hello Flemish. My companion is going to be Sister Aldous. She was in my MTC district, so that's nice.

 (Sis. Aldous knows my brother Darin's family.  She's Karoline's age, traveled a lot, knows several languages and they were great friends in the MTC.  )

 

 I am not so excited to actually do the act of transferring though, because it is such a hassle transferring down since you have to stop and pick up other missionaries on the way, and you have all your luggage and a bike, and Antwerpen is forever away, but that's okay; it's exciting.

 We actually had a really great week this week. The weather has been really actually been pretty warm. I personally believe it is because people are praying for warm weather for us. Also, global warming and what not, but prayers too. 

We had a great couple of lessons with our french speaking investigator this week. And she was in church yesterday. She loved it. I really think this girl is going to get baptized. She's excited when she talks about it. Plus she's just the sweetest little thing. 

Tuesday was possibly one of the longest days of the mission. We just went to district meeting in Groningen and then had to come straight home. People here are ridiculous with their fireworks. They spend hundreds and hundreds of euros on them. The fireworks start at about 730ish in the morning and then continue on all day. Which is stupid, like you can't even see them during the day. But it sounded like we were in a war zone. It was crazy. Then as the afternoon progressed, they start blowing things up. Like, bikes that are left out, garbage cans, pretty much anything they can. then it's just madness at midnight. Like everyone has fireworks. I took some videos and pictures, but they will never do the scene justice. it was also pretty cool because we are in a great location to see all of Leeuwarden, plus we are on almost the top floor of our building, so it was  just super cool. Crazy but cool. Yes, we did wax our legs. Hurts like no other. it was awful. but I'll probably do it again once it's warm enough to not wear tights.

On Thursday, we were looking up an investigator who we haven't been able to get a hold of, and as we are walking up, i see into this guys apartment, and in there are just Christian books all over the place, and like religious sayings and all that, and I''m like Sister rigdon, we are ringing this door. So we do, and The guy answers, and then laughs at us. Which you know, isn't a rare occurrence but whatever. But then he's like sorry, come in and I'll explain why I laughed. So we go in and he's like this is really weird I was just studying Mormonism. I've been looking into it for a theology class and i've been wondering for about a week is Mormon missionaries would ever knock my door. Is this all a coincidence? And we're like well... we had no idea you wanted to ask us questions so yes. He wasn't really interested in like learning about it, he just had theology questions. But he did tell us that we can come back. So that's nice. I think it's just cool to see how aware God is of our situations. He definitely knows us. 

We also went down to Den Haag this week, to pick up my Dutch residency card. I'm officially legal here. Yay. They're pretty cool looking, but I don't think you guys will ever get to see it, because the govt is making people turn them in when they leave now. 

At our Saturday dinner appointment, the member read our palms for us. And our eyes. Except he looked at me forever and then told me that he cant read my eyes because I was wearing contacts. Oh well. but the whole palm reading thing was really interesting. He started by telling me that I as going to stay here and never go home because I was getting married. And we're all like Uh, What? because it us, and the elders, and another member and then the member who cooked us dinner, so everyone just heard that. The elders thought it was hilarious. But then explained that I've already found my husband here, so this is going to be our place where our hearts stay and then we'll go home and get married. I personally thought i was super funny, but then sister rigdon asked me if I needed to talk about anything. No. It's just all fun and games getting your palms read. but then he came up in church to me yesterday and asked me if the guy I was in love with was Mormon, and to make sure to marry inside the church. Okay. 

Yesterday in church we sang with the Elders. Again. They ask us, or me, specifically to do something like every other week. It's a good thing I'm getting transferred, i'\m running out of songs. Oh, by the way. sister H. (MTC companion) coming here to Leeuwarden. That was a big surprise for everyone. We thought she was going to stay in Assen. 

Here, they do the traditional three kiss on the cheek thing a lot, which i don't like so much but I've gotten used to it. However, since I was leaving, one of the members just kept doing it and it was weird because shes more than a foot shorter than me. It hurt my back.

Also, I wouldn't send any packages to the Belgian address, because things are a lot riskier there, I would just send things to the mission office. We have zone training a couple weeks. Katelyn didn't tell me what her calling is so I still don't know about that.

I think that's everything for this week.

Love you, miss you.

Karoline