Well before I get into what happened this week, I am not getting transferred. I definitely thought I was leaving…so I said goodbye to everyone. Well next Sunday will be a surprise when I am still here. My wonderful companion, Sister Robbins, is leaving me…but she is going to BREDA!!! I couldn’t be happier for her! And drum roll…I am getting a Greenie! I will be training this transfer! I am so excited to meet her on Wednesday…she has no idea what she has gotten herself into…having me as her trainer
Funnies:
- It was really really cold this week. It even snowed a little bit one morning. But my companion and I wore all of our clothing. I had easily 3 pairs of tights/leggings on and 1 pair of wool socks and grocery bags around our feet (they help insulate our feet).
- Last night I was a little disoriented with transfer news…I tried to go over a curb and struggled a bit and ended up running straight into a wall. It was pretty funny.
We also had Sinter Klaas this week, which is what they celebrate here on the 5th of December. It is Santa Claus’ birthday and kids receive presents. If you no longer believe in Santa Claus’ then you make what is called a suprise. Basically, you get someone a cheap present and then put it in something strange. I made a street pole and hid the present inside. Christiaan (a member) made a grand piano and hid the present inside. Sister Robbins present was inside an oven. It was really fun! You also have to write a poem to go with the surprise. Christiaan made a pot of cookies and water mixed together for me…I had to stick my hand into what looked like poop to find a small piece of paper that said my present was under my chair. It was pretty funny! We had a lot of fun!
This week was full of miracles and tests of faiths. We lost contact with our investigator Vivian for half the week. We were really worried and didn’t know what to do. We called him on Thursday and he finally answered. We met with him Friday and Saturday and it was amazing! A few personal issues had been taken care in the time that we hadn’t seen him. He was beaming in a way I hadn’t seen before. He was so excited to tell us that he now had time to focus completely on God and getting baptized. He said that God had answered his prayer and so he needs to show his gratitude by doing what God has asked of him. It was awesome! On Saturday, we set a new baptismal date for him. He will be baptized on the 10th of January. He is going to stop smoking in 3 days and is going to come to Stake Conference at the end of the week. I was so excited and I am excited that I get to see him baptized!
We had a few days this week where there was nothing planned and that worried me. I didn’t want to be out in the cold all day with no direction really. We prayed a lot and saw miracles. We went and taught the first lesson to one of our potential investigators. In the end she said she wasn’t interested but you could feel the spirit and I know that the Lord has a plan for her. Plus, she let us in on the coldest day this week! We were able to go see a lot of members and build those relationships. We worked a lot with less-active members. It was awesome to see how we are really building good relationships with the members. We can’t do this work without them!! On Thursday, I was having a rough day. I began to doubt if I had enough faith to find people (it has been really hard to find recently). I doubted if I had made a difference here Lelystad. I was frustrated and struggling to understand what Heavenly Father’s plan was. My prayers were answered. We decided to walk around the Centrum that night in a different direction than we usually go. As we walked around a corner I said, Heavenly Father we are going to find someone tonight. The next person we talked to was incredibly positive. We had taught him a first lesson and he is a new investigator. Sometimes the Lord’s work is slower than we want but when we have faith, he blesses us. So often I begin to doubt my faith but Heavenly Father doesn’t doubt my faith or my abilities to bless the people here in Lelystad. I am learning as long as I rely in Heavenly Father, he will lead me to those that are ready to accept the gospel message. Miracles happen every day and Lelystad is growing.
Sister Robbins and I decided to make this transfer “A Season of Joy.” I can honestly say this is the most joy I have had on my mission. It was a hard transfer and a transfer of patience in terms of the work but I learned how to enjoy every moment of my mission and still be effective. This life is to be enjoyed not just endured! This next transfer is going to be fun! Christmas, my birthday, and training! Life couldn’t be better! There is a member here that has the same birthday as me and she is pumped to celebrate our birthdays together. I wanted to leave because I thought it would be weird to be in a city for 6 months but honestly this is going to be awesome! The members know me really well and I know we can get a lot of work done. Besides, Lelystad Branch is my family. I love them so much and I am so excited to spend Christmas with people I love!
Soms het leven is niet wat je verwacht maar altijd wat je nodig heft!
Zuster Adams
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