Thy will be done

Well I survived another week here in Nederland. This week was not what I was expecting but amazing in a lot of ways!!

There are two things that I want to share that were huge testimony builders for me!

There is this lady in my ward that we go and visit every now and again. She is really awesome and I love her a lot! She is about 26 and has been through a lot of things in her life but still has a strong testimony of the gospel. The whole time I have been in Breda, she has talked about this missionary that changed her life when she was 4. She always talked about how he was so kind to her and that he is the reason she made it through all the hard things in her life. She also told us that she has been looking for this missionary since she was 4. She has been praying to find a way to come in contact with him and thank him for all that he did for her. So side story, my family has some good family friends and the husband served in the Netherlands about 20 years ago and every now and again I ask people if they remember him. I knew him and his family in Germany and he drove me to seminary every morning. I love their family and know them really well. Anyways, so we were at this member's house this week and I asked her if she remembered any missionaries from 20 years ago. She said well the missionary that I am looking for is in the Air Force, has a family, and flies planes. My jaw literally dropped(she was describing our good family friend exactly). I asked what his name was. She said Creer. I got really excited and said I knew him really well and that he is awesome!! She broke down into tears. She has been praying to find him for almost 20 years and now she had finally found him. I quickly helped her get in touch with him and now the connection has been made after 20yrs. The things that amazes me about this story is how intertwined the Lord is in our lives. I didn't know this member before I came to Breda. I didn't know that she had been praying to find this missionary. Her prayers to find this missionary started before I was born and yet, I was the one to answer them. The Lord allowed me to live in Germany at the time I did so I could meet the Creers and know to ask if anyone knew them. This experience helped me realize that the Lord is literally in the details of our lives. I am no one special, but the Lord used me to answer this prayer. I have learned that prayers are always answered no matter how long they take and the Lord is planning the answers to our prayers before we even ask them.

The other incredible lesson I learned this week is that sometimes the miracles we want are not the ones that the Lord has in store. Last week we had 6 baptismal dates and Sister Spencer and I thought that those were the miracles the Lord wanted us to see this transfer. We were doing everything we could to make them happen. But then all except for one of them got cancelled this week. I began to ask, why did this happen? The Lord promised us that we would have these baptisms...or rather he promised us that we would see miracles. I was frustrated. I thought that those baptisms were the miracles we were supposed to see. I realized though that sometimes the miracles we WANT to see are not the ones that the Lord WANTS us to see. I realized that these people will be baptized. It just won't be as soon as we thought. The Lord needs them more prepared and that is better than them not being prepared. The Lord told that we would have baptisms to motivate us to work harder. I wouldn't have pushed so hard at the beginning if I didn't think they could happen. And the great part is they will happen. We both needed the motivation. These investigators made a ton of progress and more than they would have had we not pushed them. We found a lot of other investigators this transfer and worked so hard. I have grown in more ways spiritually than ever before. The Lord doesn't always give us what we want and that is a blessing. He gave us the miracles we needed rather than the ones we wanted. We still have one more week left of this transfer and it is going to be amazing. I am grateful to be humbled and realize that I want the Lord's miracles much more than I want my own.

I love this work!! I love being here in the Netherlands!! Today, we went to the beach and enjoyed our P-day with our district!! It was amazing. Also this past week Nederland played Spain and it was crazy!! It sounded like bombs were going off but it was amazing!! I love it here and I love the people!! This work is amazing and it will go forth stronger than ever before! The Lord is truly hastening his work and I am honored to be a part of it!!

De Heer is over alles

Zuster Adams

When Life(or missionary life) Throws You a Curve Ball

This week was nothing at all like what I expected. At the beginning of the week, we had 14 lessons planned. We also had joint teaches for most, if not all of them. Then everyone started cancelling. EVERYONE. We didn't end up meeting with 5 of our baptismal dates the entire week. It was really strange and unexpected. When everything was being cancelled, Sister Spencer and I began to be very frustrated and doubtful. How are we supposed to baptize 6 people and see a miracle if they don't meet with us? But then the answer came. We realized that the real miracles happen when it appears like it isn't going to happen. We had been so blessed with everything working out that we began to expect that and not really appreciate the miracles. We both realized though that when the 28th of June comes and these people are baptized that will be the true miracle because right now, we aren't entirely sure how we are going to make it happen.

I also learned this week that the Lord works in mysterious ways. Because we didn't have any of those appointments, we went and looked up people that we wouldn't have otherwise. We found potential investigators that we were truly prepared. Yesterday, we were contacting in the Centrum and there was this man sitting on a bench. He said before we came and talked to him, he was thinking about what he needed to do with his life. He was trying to decide if he should go to church or not. He said he had also been praying to know what God wanted him to do. He said it was no coincidence that we were there talking to him at that precise moment. It was as if the Lord was showing him the way. It was incredible!! We weren't even supposed to be contacting in the Centrum but one of our appointments had fallen through. What appeared to be an annoyance, turned into the Lord answering a man's prayer. We also met with a few of our potentials this week. I had forgotten how amazing they were. They are excited to meet with us in a few weeks when school gets out. Oh there are golden people everywhere!! We met with a few of our inactive members and it went really well. One of them was baptized 20 years ago and really hasn't been to church since. She has forgotten everything. She is searching so much right now and we love meeting with her!! She is making a lot of progress!!

I had a really neat experience this week. We went to one of our inactive members and she always has all of these excuses as to why she won't come to church. We were talking to her about Temple's and how we can prepare ourselves to go there. Anyways, I asked her why people don't come to church. She said that it was because it wasn't the right time. The spirit came over me a in a way I have never felt before. I knew that I was supposed to tell her that there is never a "right time" to come to church. If the Lord commands something, there is never a right time. He doesn't wait for us to change to make a commandment. The commandment is always there, we just have to decide to follow it. I was very bold and honestly surprised myself with what I said. My Dutch made perfect since and I spoke with power. I remember thinking, I don't want to say that. But I followed the spirit and told her that she needed to work out things with God and come to church because that is where she needs to be. After I finished talking, the power that had been literally guiding me left. It was an incredible feeling to know I was following the spirit. Being a missionary is an incredible blessing because you are promised that you will speak by the power of the spirit. I love being able to following the spirit.

This coming week is crunch time. We have two weeks to get the 6 prepared and ready for interviews and baptism! I know that though adversity may come that the 28th of June will happen and 6 people will be brought into the fold of God!! I can't wait to see what this week holds and to share it with all of you!!

Geloof in de handelingen van God!

Zuster Adams

Teaching with Swagger

Wow, what an incredible week in Breda!!! 

I honestly don't know where to begin or even where to end. It has just been amazing!! Tuesday we had an appointment with a family we have been teaching and they bore their testimonies to us. We didn't know they knew the Book of Mormon was true...we were shocked!! They are getting baptized on the 28 of June. Guess what??!!! That means we have 6 baptisms for the 28th of June!! I am still reeling from that one! I am so excited to have 6 baptisms. I don't know if I will be here to see them baptized which is the hard part(because transfers are the Wednesday before) but as long as they are baptized!! We are crazy busy now!! We have so many lessons to teach and so much to prepare!! It is going to be a very busy month!

We had Zone Conference this week and it was so amazing! President Robinson said that we are going to strive to have a "Culture of Higher Expectations." We as a mission right now, have numbers higher than maybe ever. We are have more lessons, baptismal dates, and baptisms!! There is a spirit of the work accelerating and it is super exciting. We are trying to raise our expectations. We are going to start expecting things to happen when we put the work in. It goes exactly along with my ideas about expecting miracles to happen!! I was excited! I can't wait to see the work move faster than ever before. It is about time! President also told us that we need to teach with swagger...It was hilarious hearing it from him but great nevertheless!! I am so pumped and excited!!

Our investigators are doing incredible. We had 7 investigators in Church and one other person that is kind of investigating! It was truly incredible! We also are working with an inactive member and I think she is going to get it.

Things are amazing here in Breda. I know my letter this week isn't super detailed but just know that the work here is incredible. We are working very hard and miracles are happening. It is time for everyone to raise their expectations and believe that incredible things can happen! I love serving here and I can't wait to share what happens this week!!

Leven is heel druk!

Zuster Adams

Sister Spencer and Sister Adams in Breda