Flirting to convert....not my favorite

Life is crazy here in Breda!! I can't believe how fast this week went by and all the amazing things that have happened!! I am loving it so much!! Every time, I start to write one of these letters...it is as if my brain forgets everything it wants to say so I made notes today!! Oh and sorry for the lack of pictures...we have no way to get them on the computer...working on it though!

The funny things of the week and other good things:

We cleaned a member's yard this week with the Elders!! It was so much fun to do service! Plus, we got to wear jeans which was really exciting...:) We went and got fresh stroop wafels!!! Oh my goodness, they were so delicious!!! This week was Koning''s Dag in Nederland. Basically, it is a day to celebrate the King. Well in the middle of Breda it was like a GIANT yardsale...super weird but pretty cool. We set up a table in the middle of the park with our district and then spent the next 5 hours contacting. I don't think I have ever been so exhausted in my life!! It was crazy!!! There were so many people and I was having sensory over load!! But the funny part was, I had one young man get super excited when I gave him a mormon.org card because my number was on the back...they are on all the cards. Then Sis. Spencer talked to this group of 4 guys and they wanted to take us on a date. We still aren't exactly sure how we got out of that one. The Elders tried talking to this other groups of guys about our age...I guess they were bearing testimony of the Book of Mormon and then the guys just said "yeah you guys have the table with the good looking chicks"...I guess Sis. Spencer and I looked really good. It was weird and we weren't exactly sure
how to take it. So we just ignored it and went to work preaching the gospel. :)

This week we met some really sweet old ladies in town and I have fallen in love(I know Dad that you told me not to...but) Old people are just so cute! I love hearing their stories and I just love them!! We met with a family we are teaching this week and I went into the lesson kind of annoyed and frustrated because they were not being very reliable and had cancelled a lot. But when we were teaching, I prayed to have love for them and to know what the Lord wanted. I got a strong impression that we need to keep working with them and that good things would come. It was pretty amazing and Sis. Spencer felt it too. The promised to meet with us two times a week after May vacation and to prepare for baptism!! We had a day this week and all we did was look ups and contacting. I was not excited. But we prayed to see miracles and tried to keep a postive attitude. We saw so many miracles and found 4 new potentials and gave away 4 Book of Mormons. In fact, we have been handing out so many BofM's that we are running out!! We taught a lesson on the door step and another impromptu! It was amazing and a very fufilling day!! We taught another one of our investigators this week and he is so close to baptism but keeps coming up with excuses! I am praying so hard right now that something will change and he will take that one step forward!! We got another one of our investigators back and I am so happy about that!!! We also went to a baptism for the branch in Tilburg and it was such a neat experience!! I had a renewed desire to preach this gospel with enthusiasm!! I know this gospel is true and I am anxious to share more of it this coming week!!

We have Temple Conference this week and we are also going to Keukenhof to see all the tulips!! I can't wait!!

Nederland is de beste,

Zuster Adams

I love being a missionary!

Being a missionary is so great!!! I really love it!! This week was another adventure as I'm sure every week is going to be.

The funny things that happened this week: We cooked cookies in our microwave(its possible), went to this little village to contact a referral...he wasn't home and then we met this Turkish guy on the street...he said he was trying to go to America...so we said "we are from America" he replied that he was trying to marry someone from America so he could immigrate easier...scary!!! We got away as quickly as possible...he has our number though(we gave him our card before talking to him) and called us to meet up yesterday...we are avoiding all calls from him, we have a fifteen year old stalker who followed us around until we told him we were going to call the police...hopefully he stays away, as a sister missionary you get a lot of cat calls from cars and boats on the canals...it is not fun, on the way back from Eindhoven this week someone committed suicide by jumping in front of the train(this is not the funny part, that part is really sad) but we were stuck on the train for two hours and then they pulled another train along the side of our train and we walked on a grate from one train to the other...we went Train Hopping!, the Elders tried to get all three of them on my bike and ride to our dinner appointment...it didn't last very long but was very funny to watch. And I believe those are a few of the note worthy moments! Oh I got to eat lunch with Susannah Boom which was really fun!! It was nice to see a familiar face!!

Wow, I love being a missionary. This week wasn't necessarily amazing or special in any specific way but I just truly began to love it here. The day would seem hard or long and then we would find one person that wanted to talk to us or give away a Book of Mormon and the whole day would be worth it! I am finding that the Lord gives us just enough things in a day to keep us going. At the end of every day, I say "wow, I love this!!" This work is just so fulfilling! You talk to people all day about Jesus Christ and his gospel. You get to see people's lives change. There is nothing more incredible than seeing someone's life change! We have two investigators that are super close to baptism and it has been amazing to see them progress!! They are so close!!! Ahh it is really exciting and it makes waking up each morning all that more meaningful! The Netherlands is gorgeous! Spring is so beautiful! Every day, I just feel the Lord's love and come to a greater knowledge of the gospel every day. I love my companion!! She is a great strength to me and we help each other a lot!! It was really exciting when I woke up this week and it felt like home. It felt like this was my reality and it was normal. I knew that this is where I am supposed to be!! I love living here and working here! I am having so much fun and I can't wait to see what this week brings. I am scared because people have warned me that once you start loving your mission...the time flies by. So I am going to do my best to savor every minute!! I love being a missionary and I love the Dutch people! The Lord is blessing me so much and I am so grateful!!

Dit Evangelie is waar!

Zuster Adams

Miracles happen once in a while...if you believe!

Wow, I feel like every letter I write home will start with that!! This
week feels like a whole year! So many incredible things have
happened!! '

I'll start with the funny things: it is so ridiculously windy here...I
almost fell off my bike from the excessive wind...annoying!! We are
constantly biking up hill essentially because the wind is so strong.
My legs are getting strong. On Monday we rode through a literal
downpour and when we got to a members home we soaked...so bad that
they brought out a towel for us...embarrassing. I went super close to
Germany on exchanges this week...it was weird but very comforting. A
guy tried to steal our bikes this week. There is some people behind me
right now...that I am pretty sure are crazy...they are talking about
magic and breathing right now...really weird!!! Oh my apartment smells
like weed...welcome to Nederland...We were explaining faith is like a
seed to an investigator this week and they compared a weed seed to
something that starts small and grows really big...oh man....We also
got on the wrong train and bus this week...that was interesting.

On to the spiritual: I can't believe how many miracles we have seen
this week!!! District meeting was great this week!! The Elders in my
District are really awesome. After District mtg, we had a lesson with
Robin and he struggles with a lot of addictions but I was able to bear
my testimony to him of the Atonement. It was amazing to see all the
Dutch I could speak and the powerful testimony I was able to bear!! He
will be baptized. It might take a while but he can do it! I can see
the light within him, it is really cool!! Oh and the Elders that were
at the appointment with us said that they were really impressed with
my Dutch and they didn't think they had spoken that much Dutch in
their first two transfers...it was a nice compliment. I went to
Maastricht on exchanges this week and that was really fun! They have
an amazing investigator that taught me this week. I met Sis. Woodbury
and she is amazing!! She strengthened me so much!! Thursday, we spent
the entire day contacting and looking up potentials. It was really
long and exhausting but I survived and at the end of the day we had a
great appointment with another investigator. Zuster Spencer and I are
becoming much more unified and it is really exciting!! Okay this is
the coolest part of the whole week!! We had correlation with our ward
mission leader and he told us to pray for miracles. He also told us to
pray to see a specific person. He told us to pray to see them and then
go out and look for them. So we tried it. After we prayed, I saw in my
head someone walking away from us, with a white dog and a leather
jacket. It sounds ridiculous but that is what I saw. Yesterday, we
went out contacting and yes, we found the person I had described. We
found this lady from Venezuela. She has only been in
Nederland for three days and didn't have a phone but told us she would
try to get in touch with us again. She was super positive. I don't
know what is going to happen there but all I can say is the LORD
ANSWERS PRAYERS!!! It was amazing and I still can't believe it
happened. We also gave a Book of Mormon away yesterday. I had the
opportunity to bear my testimony in sacrament meeting yesterday and
when I got up there...I couldn't stop crying. It was really cool
though, when I stood up there in front of the ward the spirit
confirmed to me that I am supposed to be here in Breda. This is where
I am supposed to serve. It was a huge tender mercy from the Lord!!

There is so much more I wish I had time to say but this work is
amazing and I am grateful to be a part of it! It is hard work and not
always fun but it is so rewarding!!

Wunders gebeurt!!!
Zuster Adams

     

Zuster Adams....Made it!

Well the last 6 days have been quite a roller coaster...there were
moments I wanted to cry and moments I wanted to stay here forever. I
will be honest though...most were of wanting to go back to the MTC.One
of my teachers at the MTC warned me that getting here would be like
being hit by a bus...well it kind of was. Today is the first day that
I am actually beginning to like it and I guess if it only took 6 days
than I am doing good!!

Nederland is so beautiful!!! I love it here!! I love how flat it is
and how green it is!! It reminds me of my childhood on the green side
of Oregon!! The Flowers are beautiful though not as many as I thought
there would be. But at the end of the month we have Temple Conference
and we get to go to Keukenhof to see all the tulips...I AM SO
EXCITED!!! I am serving in Breda in southern Nederland. My companion
is great!! Her name is Sister Spencer and she is super nice and
patient with me!! I love the mission president! He is very quiet but
you can tell he is the one leading this mission. I was sad to say
goodbye to the Elders but I know they are doing great!! Elder Conatti
is in my zone and I actually got to see him today, which was great.
Elder Heinricks...hahaha went to Antwerp...he didn't want to go to
Belgium!!! I got a good laugh out of it!! The missionaries are great
here and they are here to work! I found out that there is an Elder
serving in the North that I went to EFY with in Sandy, UT...crazy
stuff!! My apartment is nice, the ward is great, the Bishop is
AMAZING, and the food is good!! Everyone already knows me...it is kind
of weird...Susannha Boom called me the first or second day and I guess
she has been telling all the missionaries around there that I was
coming...it was super nice!! She is one city over and is planning on
coming to see me at some point and possibly joint teach with us!! An
Elder came up to me today and said that some family from my home ward
told him about me months ago in Amsterdam...the word gets around!! I
get to go to Heerlin this week and that is where the military base
is...I'm kind of really excited!! I am so close to home and it is kind
of hard. All the smells make me think of traveling with my family and
oh I think that has been the hardest thing. I feel at home which is a
huge blessing...but it also is really hard. I can do it!!!

Okay...now on to the amazing spiritual things...being a missionary is
hard. There were times this week that I just wanted to go home. I
didn't want to knock on another door. I didn't want to pedal any
further...but I did. How I kept going, I don't know. The Lord has
given me just enough strength to keep going and I do it. All of my
life, I have hated talking to people I don't know. I don't like
speaking a different language for fear of messing up. I am super shy
in uncomfortable situations and not assertive. I have worked on it and
am getting better but I still have never liked it. I also do not like
being a sales person. I don't like feeling like I am forcing something
down your throat...This is the amazing thing, for the first time in my
life those things do not scare me. I don't like them but I can do
them. I feel peace. I can knock on people's doors and talk to them. I
can talk to complete strangers in a language I don't really know and
I'm not scared. How on earth is that possible??? All my life, I have
not been able to do those things and now I can! The Lord is so
merciful! He loves us so much!! He knows I don't like those things,
but he gives me just enough strength to do them. It is truly an
amazing feeling. The Lord knows all that I am sacrificing to be out
here so he helps me do what I need to. I really don't like tracking
because I feel like it is pointless...no one ever lets us in. BUT, I
realized that if everyone was letting us in, we would have too much
work. There is only me and my companion in a city of 200,000 people.
The Lord will give us just enough people to keep us busy. So even if I
have to keep knocking on doors, there will always be people to
teach!!! I also realized that by knocking on the endless doors we are
showing our faith. It has been a hard week but one of so much learning
and growth. I loved Conference!! There were so many things that I
needed to hear!! It was a huge blessing! I needed it! Well I am almost
out of time...there is so much I want to say and so little time!

I can make it! I can be the missionary the Lord needs me to be! I am
willing to do the work and I can't wait to see the miracles! By the
way, I have about 6 investigators that are close to baptism and it is
really exciting!! I have a busy week ahead and I am excited to hit the
ground running!!

Zendelinge werk is de beste!!

Zuster Adams