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originally made of wood, now some are made of plastic because wood is so expensive.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