Thanksgiving Continues, Transfers and Sinter Klaas & The Zwarte Piets

We are having another thanksgiving dinner tonight. They're planning on having several turkeys. I don't know how we are going to eat that much. You have to order turkeys here, you can't just go to a store and buy them,  so usually you order them for the whole year. Interesting.

It is soooo cold. Also, my jacket doesn't have a hood on it, so I'll probably get pneumonia at some point or another. My hair froze the other day when we were caught out in the rain. Fun times.

We do not have a christmas tree. Wait, that's a lie. There is the miniest of mini christmas trees on our coffee table. It's about the size of a mug. And they're expensive, so that's probably all we'll have. Maybe we will make one out of paper or something. 

Transfers were good, but it was definitely hard to say goodbye to Sister R. So, how they work here: everyone in our zone, who is transferring, has to meet at one central train station. For us, it was Utrecht.Which is about a two, 2 1/2 hour ride away from us depending on the train route. So yes, I got on the train with Sister Rosenlof. We had to be there at about 10 but got there at 11 because you actually can't take bikes on the train until after 9. Anyway, then the zone leaders have the travel plans for everyone and they pair you up with whoever else is travelling to a different zone. And then eventually everyone gets going. I got to wait in the train station all day with the zone leaders because Sister Rigdon was coming up from Belgium, so she obviously was going to take the longest to transfer all the way from the bottom of the mission to the top. But it wasn't too bad. There was an Elder who left a suitcase. stupid. So the zone leaders had to split off with one of the elders waiting and take a suitcase to a city a couple hours away. Sister Rosenlof almost died on transfers. We were on the train platform, and she had heaviest suitcase and her bike. Anyway something happened, she and her bike started tumbling backwards down the escalator, with her suitcase dragging her down. Scary.But I had the rest of her things, and the Elders had all of their things, so we're like what the heck do we do? But she saved herself. So that was good. 

 

Sister Rigdon: She's from Kaysville Utah. She's tall and blonde. We're the best pair ever. We would have beautiful children.We are pretty similar.  We have the same personality, as in we are both weird. We talk to each other in weird voices, and she jumped out and scared me, the poor thing has no idea what she's getting into. She's really creative, so I'm sure we will be teaching with a lot of object lessons. But I like Sister Rigdon, she's a great sister.

We didn't really have too many things this week. The other day we went finding in this little village, which was a long bike ride away, and we saw a lot of sheep. But that's not important. Have I mentioned sinter klaas before? It's this week, and it's like christmas, because you dont give gifts on christmas, you just do it on sinterklaas. Anyway we're in this village and everyone who answers their doors are like uh hello guys, sinter klaas is coming in 10 minutes i dont have time for this. And we're just like what? So we walk to the centrum type area and theres like weirdo music playing and all these decorations are there and i'm like uh I think we just walked into the intoch of sinter klaas to this little place. So we're standing there, and all of sudden a bunch of Zwarte Piets start jumping out of everywhere. Swarte piete is kind of like santas elf. Except so much scarier. He's supposed to be from Spain. And he's black, and he kidnaps bad children and puts them into a sack. So weird. So these white adults dress up in costumes and pain themselves black. Then throw these candy type things at everyone. Anyway then sinterklaas comes in a big old boat down the canal and the place goes crazy. It was pretty exciting.

Oh, this is random, but our mission got an Elder from Finland this week. That's exciting. I also got to experience biking in the hail for the first time this week. If you are wondering if it was fun, it definitely wasn't. It hurts and stings pretty badly.

so that's about it for this week.

Love you! Miss you!

Karoline

Transfers, Thanksgiving and the wrong Neil Diamond Song

Nothing too exciting really happened this week. Honestly it's hard to remember the week at all. Hmm... Well, first thing first. Sister R is getting transferred to Almere, and I will be staying here and getting Sister Rn. She is almost done with her mission; she just has two transfers left. I went on exchanges with her my first transfer. It will be sad to have Sister R. leave.  Also, Sister R. is getting sicker and sicker.  She hasn't been able to eat anything for weeks. Like a little thing of fruit snacks is stretching it for her. She's also lost 10 pounds this week without trying. Scary. Hopefully she can get that taken care of.

Yesterday, the senior couple had our district over to their house for Thanksgiving. We didn't get home until 11 something. And then we had to get up at 530 this morning because we had to go to Zwolle for a meeting. It was terrible. I miss sleep. Ha. We are also eating Thanksgiving with a recent convert today. She's from St. Maarten and is excited to eat American Thanksgiving. It will be delicious, because she is a great cook. We don't have an actual appointment for Thanksgiving yet... but that's okay. You can only eat a Thanksgiving meal so many times in a week. They also don't have Turkey like a 20 pound turkey anyway, so it's the one time that Dutch people will roast a chicken. We were at a dinner appointment the other day, and they roasted a chicken for us, and it was the first time in their life, they were trying to make us feel at home in honor of Thanksgiving. Ha. Yeah, so no official thanksgiving invitations, but we are up to 2 Christmas invites, and a New Years eve invite so that's nice.

Also, we were on the way home from a dinner appointment with the elders and another member, and the member we actually ate with was driving us all home. So, One of the elders turns to me, and says "Sister Western, do a lot of people try to serenade you with Neil Diamond?" Of course, the appropriate response would for someone to start singing Sweet Caroline like they have my whole life. No, clearly, the other Elder didn't understand and started singing a rendition of "We're coming to America". That was pretty much the most exciting thing to happen to us this week.

Oh, we did contact this man this week, who said he wasn't interested, and so then we did the come backs and whatever, he still wasn't interested but he let us give him a card. He then asked for one for his friend to give him.  Then we start to bike away and the guy chases after us and calls us back, because he decided he was interested after all. Unfortunately it was in Assen because I was on exchanges again so I will never know what happens to that guy.

The Elders had a baptism yesterday, a 10 year old boy whose dad is a member, so that's nice. As far as what happened to our baptism, anyone's guess is as good as ours. On Thursday he was excited on Saturday he said it wasn't going to happen. So that's that.  He told us this week he still wants to meet with us. Personally, I think it is probably a waste of time, but we aren't teaching anyone right now so whatever.

I don't need a primary book, I already have one, and the convert has the gospel library ap, so she has all the books.   Oh! I bought boots last week. I'm not in love with them, but they'll work for now. They were like 40 euros. So that's about as cheap as you can find. Okay, that's seriously all I can think of to say.

hope you and dad start feeling better. 

Love you, miss you. Happy Thanksgiving!

Mystery Meat, Heartbreak and a Miracle

Question of the week. How do you know when you are in a good dinner appointment? You ask the person what kind of meat you're eating, and he replies with, "No idea". And that is how we ended up eating cow liver... not the best thing I've ever eaten. That pretty much describes the week we've had though.

On Saturday our baptismal date told us he's not going to be baptized because since he made the decision to be baptized he feels like there have only been negative signs in his life. We tried to explain what was going on but nothing was really working. He still came to church, and took his baptism invitations-not sure what's he's going to do with those though. But anyway, it broke our hearts when he told us, because we thought for sure this time he was going to do it, because he already lives the commandments, he hasn't had to make any changes to his life really to be living the gospel. I'm not sure how to describe what it felt like for us to realize he wasn't going to be baptized, but Sister Rosenlof and I shed a lot of tears. I can't imagine what Heavenly Father feels when we turn away from him, because only have a fraction of the love he has for this man, and it was still overwhelming. So yeah. But Sister Rosenlof and I decided we were going to keep going forward in faith and pray for and expect a miracle. (I sign my letters each week,  Pray for and Expect Miracles.)

So, on Sunday, he comes to church and he's like, not able to walk. Apparently he injured his foot and leg the night before, but still decided to come to church anyway. So we taught him during the Sunday school hour and afterwards, we asked if he would like a blessing for his leg. He believes in the Priesthood, so he said yes. So the Elders came in and explained what was going to happen and then gave him a blessing. What happened next is the most amazing thing I have ever seen in my life. He got up out of the chair with a confused look on his face, and began to walk around with out problem! Sister Rosenlof, Elder Peterson, and I all stared at each other in amazement, meanwhile the other Elder, Elder Sanderson, ignored what was happening and said, I need to check the book to make sure we did that correctly. Ha. He's the district leader so I guess he has to worry about things like that. Anyway then our investigator asked a whole bunch of  questions about the power of God and everything. So that's a miracle for you. A healing, it was incredible to see. 

Besides that, it's been a pretty boring week. We just taught some lessons and did the normal things. We did do a service project with the Elders at this family's house, and afterwards, they had us burn all the wood and cardboard from their house remodel. Not sure about you, but I wouldn't exactly trust the missionaries to start a bonfire in my backyard. Especially because some people (the elders) decided it was a genius idea to throw all the cardboard on the fire at once, on a windy day. So, the cardboard would light fire and then start to  blow around the yard. Mhmm. It's pretty lucky nothing else caught on fire.

Yesterday was the primary program at church. It was actually adorable, considering it didn't take the whole sacrament because there were only 4 kids. We work a lot with a recent convert who is super awesome, but sometimes she feels left out of things because she wasn't grown up in the church so she doesn't have a knowledge of the things most people think every one knows. So I noticed during the primary program that she was confused looking because she had never had primary, so she didn't know the songs. So last night we spent the evening with her and taught her all of the most popular primary songs, with the actions, for things like popcorn popping, and once there was a snowman. Then her nonmember sister came home, so we sang the songs with her too. It was a lot of fun. So we've decided in addition to our regular meetings with her, we are going to start teaching her Mormon culture things too. Fun! I like this recent convert a lot, she is just incredible, and she's a YSA which the branch really needs. Anyway we've been working with her lot, and she's started calling us her "two mommies" because she's not exactly close with her family besides the sister she lives with. The other day she even asked if I could teach her how to do her makeup. We also do fun things with her on p-day. Like today she's supposed to go shopping with us. 

We met again with the Russian lady, and we are almost done learning all the sounds and letters of the alphabet. Sister Rosenlof and I are actually picking it up pretty well, but we still laugh have a good time with the lady, and she enjoys us spending time with her. I think it's good, because it's giving her a purpose, which is something everyone needs in their life. 

So that's pretty much it. Oh, I also got my medication this week. Thank you! Hopefully all is well, and you guys enjoyed your trip.

Have a great week.

Love you.

Karoline

That Moment when He knows that You Know that He Knows.....The Most Exciting Thing Ever

(We) went to the doctor again last monday, and basically, this guy was the biggest jerk I have ever met in my life. Could have punched him in the face. He told (my companion)  to go get blood tests, but she's decided against it, so she's just working harder... okay.

The other day we had to make lunch for district meeting, so we made grilled cheese and tomato soup. So we just got a big block of gouda cheese because it was cheaper than buying slices. Then we went to a different city than Leeuwarden the rest of the day, so I just had a block of leftover cheese in my bag the rest of the day. I felt very Dutch. All I needed was some bread and some wurst and we could have had a Dutch meal. :) When we were buying the food that morning, because we totally forgot we were supposed to feed everyone until we were doing planning Monday night, we were waiting at the bus stop to go to the Groningen church and this old lady walks buy so we offer her our seats on the bench, and she threw a tantrum. Like, stomped her feet, tears in her eyes, and said that if she was tired and wanted to sit, she would tell us. Okay, sorry. My bad. Then there was this dad yelling at his kid and he's like, "Come!" And then this old guy looks at him and is like thats a child, not a dog. ha.
On Wednesday, I had my exchange in Assen with my MTC companion. Yay... It was okay though. We did gardening as a service project. In the rain. It was very muddy. Also, my Toms got ruined this week, because they ripped during that activity. So sad.

Thursday, there was a couple in the ward who took us out to dinner to celebrate Sister Rosenlof's birthday. That was fun, it was at this pannekoeken place, which is like swedish pancakes but a little thicker I think, or maybe they are exactly the same. Not sure. Anyway, even though it wasn't my birthday, they still got  me a present, because mine was in june so it's not like they can celebrate it with us next year. Anyway, it's a book about things dutch people with bad english say. It's funny.  It was also the husband's birthday this week, so the wife gave him a present, and it was this really nice sweater, and you can just tell it was expensive, but she left the price tag on, and then he looked at it and he's like oh, this was a lot of money. and then the wife is like i know, i bought it with your money. Ha. I'm pretty sure they have a nice amount of money, but it's not like you can ask these things. Well, not if you have class anyway. But the branch is really nice to us, and they like us, so that's good.

Okay, now it's time for a miracle. So we had that investigator that we dropped and then picked up, but we both know he knows it's true so sister rosenlof and I were talking about how we could help him, and when he could be baptized, and we both said November 22. So we got the idea to use a baptismal calendar and tell him to choose a date out of the six weeks that are on there, and we would prepare him for that date. So he thought about it, and he chose November 22. cool, huh? Sister Rosenlof and I, being of little faith apparently, even encouraged him to choose a later date because we weren't sure if he could do the 22. But he stuck with it. So we taught him like crazy this week, and he doesn't have a problem with any of the commandments, in fact, he's already living them, and so he's right on track to get baptized next week. We gave him all the baptismal questions yesterday so he knew what they were, and he answered them all correctly. So he should be good. So I hope he does in fact get baptized next friday. :) It's pretty much the most exciting thing ever.

That was pretty much all for this week, just teaching him. Oh, we did find 4 new investigators this week. I dont know if any of them are going anywhere. One guy is from Iraq and was fighting in the war when he decided he wanted to die for jesus, so now he's a street preacher and preaches to muslims. He also says the holy spirit branded a cross into his tongue. Pretty sure he was problem on something and branded that cross on his tongue himself but whatever.

Is it possible that you can send me copies of some of those blessings you have? I feel like that would be interesting, but if not that's okay too.

There are two americans in this branch, but there weren't any in Lelystad. And the two americans here both knew each other before hand. So there's not too many, Most americans are down south near the border, because the military base is right over the border.

Christmas stuff, well, Sinter Klaus offically starts this week, so every weekend for the next few weeks, kids will get presents in their shoes on saturday on sunday. Just little things like candy and stuff until the actual day of sinter klaus. Today is st Maarten day, so the little kids go around door to door and sing songs for candy. Kind of like Halloween. Food stuff, well we are eating a lot more potatos and sausage stuff with the members. Especially stampot. It's like mashed potatos with meat and vegetables in it. Then there are these little stands around town that sell all these delicious fried bread. The most famous is Olliebollen, which is like this little circle of fried bread with powdered sugar. They're wonderful, and there are other things like apple flaps of things with fruit and whipped cream and such. We have a market every friday and saturday where you can buy all kinds of cheap things. Oh, I'm going to need to buy warm clothes soon. It's getting super cold, and wet, and windy. Yay!

But that's pretty much it, I can't really think of much else. I hope all is well. Love you! Miss you! Have a great week.

Karoline

Celebrating a Birthday

(This email was received on Monday, November 4th)  

So, (my companion)  had her ultrasound thingy last week. The person said she couldn't see anything wrong... but we have a doctors appointment in a couple of hours to get it read. I am really worried about her, I don't know how she keeps it up. The other night I thought for sure we were going to have to go to the hospital, she looked really bad, but she is really trying. That girl is amazing.

Leeuwarden is pronounced like "Lay-waarden" If you look at the live cam often enough, you might see us, we pass the leaning tower of Leeuwarden all the time ;)  Yeah, thankfully, we did not lose power. We were unable to bike for a couple of days because of all the trees everywhere. Also, a member asked us later if we were still out and about during the day, and we are like yeah we things to do, and apparently theres was like this thing that they told everyone that they needed to stay inside, but no one told us that so oh well.

Still no envelope, so I have absolutely no idea what happened to it. Sorry. I did find out that our December zone conference thingy is going to be around the 10th, So that is when they are wanting Christmas packages in, I think.

Nothing too exciting happened this week... We did do a lot of service this week. The family we eat with every Sunday, they are remodeling their house, so we've been helping them move some things around and reorganize and what not. It was a nice break from the normal routine. They are such a nice family. They are willing to give us a new washer and dryer if we can find a way to get it to the apartment.

This week we had an appointment with the Russian inactive lady in the branch, who is having a really hard time. At least we thought we had an appointment. When (my companion)  called to confirm, apparently she rescheduled, but we thought we were still good to go, so we went. and it was her birthday, so we brought her flowers. She was surprised to see us, but she still let us in. Apparently, none of her kids or her husband or anyone lets her celebrate her birthday, and she was alone and he was super sad about her life and things, it's a miracle that we still came. She just looks hopeless. Anyway, we have a real appointment this week, and this time we are throwing her a bday party. Cake, streamers, balloons. This woman deserves something. There is absolutely no light in her eyes, and it is one of the saddest things I have ever seen in my life. I even called around the mission with the missionaries I know who have a Russian background so that we could have those traditions there for her. (We) are learning the Russian birthday song to sing to her too. It's also really weird.

This week an old investigator called us who we dropped because he simply wasn't progressing. Anyway, he missed us so we went to go talk to him, and we are picking him back up. We talked about it, and basically this kid can be baptized any day he wants, he just has to actually show up to the baptism and do it. but we decided that we are going to bring a calendar we made for him, he's going to pick a baptism date, and then we are going to fill in all the lessons and commitments he needs to keep so that he can see what he needs to do. Then we are going to let him know that we are going to prepare him for that date, but if he still feels scared and not ready for whatever reason, he doesn't have to do it. But at least this way, (we)  know that we have done all that we can.

We also got to go to institute this past week, since it just started up in this branch, finally. We are going to be studying the old testament, and they need one missionary companionship there each time, so we will be switching off with the elders, unless we have someone to bring with us. It's every other week, in this home, and theres about 5 people there. woo.

We don't ha ve too much planned for this upcoming week. We do have another service activity with a different member this saturday, and this lady is super crafty, and so we are going to be painting miniature furniture for her. I'm pretty excited for that actually. One, because we get to wear pants again so we'll be warm, and two because it sounds like fun, and this lady is super nice.

We didn't find anyone new to teach this week, even though we really tried. But that's okay. you just work with what you've been given, and do your best every day. 

I think that's pretty much all for this week. I can't really think of anything else. Hope all is well.

Love you!

Karoline.