The weather has been crazy this week and I really just hope that spring will come soon...
Funnies of the week:
1. I went on exchanges to Ijmuiden this week. I was working with Sister Johansen. We had quite an adventurous day. It wasn´t raining when we left the house...but we went to this little village without bikes and had to walk around the whole day. Of course once we got there, it decided to start raining. It wasn´t bad in the beginning. We had two broken umbrellas that kind of worked. Then the wind started to blow. It was blowing so hard and it didn´t matter what direction we faced we just got soaked. We destroyed the already broken umbrellas and had to throw them away. We got SO wet. I believe it also started to hail at some point. Right before another down pour, we ran into a grocery store and bought dafodils for an old lady we went and saw. We decided that God wanted us to be rained on so that we would buy those flowers and would visit the old lady...who knows but it was what kept us going. As a missionary, you learn that it doesn´t matter what the weather is...you just keep going.
2. We were ringing doorbells this week. We were at an old apartment building where the house number is 12 but all the apartments have letters. Well some of the numbers were knocked off. On this one bell, the person put a letter F much bigger than was necessary and wrote the letter F in sharpie next to it. We thought it was pretty funny just because we could tell they really wanted to make sure that everyone knew that that was their house.
3. Friday started out as a beautiful sunny day. We planned for our week and right as we left the apartment it, of course, started to rain. We didn´t think much of it because that is normal here. Well about five minutes later...the rain turned to snow. We needed to go look up a referral that we had gotten. It was snowing SO much. By the time we got home (oh we never made it to our referral because we didn´t plan in enough time), we were completely covered in snow. We looked like snowmen...pictures are attached.
4. Also on Friday, after we had dinner there was a solid inch of snow on the ground and we needed to bike to the church. Biking on snow is not the smartest thing in the world but when a bike is all you have...you use it. So we started biking and at one point I needed to brake(also, my brakes weren´t working earlier that day but I had thankfully asked one of the elders to fix my brakes). I braked...and down I went. I totally biffed it. I wasn´t hurt at all but it was a pretty good wipe out. Sister Karlson said I was doing great and then suddenly I was on the ground. I got up laughing because honestly, what else are you supposed to do. We talked to the Elders later and one of them fell twice so I felt better about my one wipe out.
5. Again on Friday, we went to the church for a sport night. Well we had invited 20 people and no one showed up but in the case that maybe someone would show up we had to stay at the church. We had nothing better to do while waiting so...we made a HUGE snowman. It was wonderful. And right as we finished making it, the snow turned to rain. Funny how that works.
This week was full of many laughable moments!! We biked through lots of hail, snow, and rain. I can now say that I am a pro with all of them. I wouldn´t recommend hail...it stings a bit.
This week was a great week. I am still adjusting to Amsterdam and how everything works here but it seems to be going well. We met with this incredible lady named Karlijn! Her boyfriend is a member and so she is taking the lessons because she loves him and wants to marry him but she needs to be a member to be married in the Temple. Sister Karlson had only met her once so we both really didn´t know what to expect. We show up and she tells us that she has just finished the Book of Mormon and isn´t quite sure yet if it is true but basically tells us she will do anything to know that it is true. She is amazing!!! She honestly wants to know if this is God´s church and she doesn´t want to know just because her boyfriend knows it. She wants to know for herself. I have a good feeling about her and really think that she will get an answer soon!! When I was in Ijmuiden, I was able to teach a first lesson and invite someone to baptism. It was a really cool lesson and the lady is amazing! I can´t wait to hear how things go with the lady. I have made it my goal this transfer to talk to everyone I see. There is no sense in holding back. As my old mission leader in Lelystad said "they already think you are crazy, you might as well do something crazy." So I have been stopping everyone, while we bike, on the tram, on the metro, on the train. It has been so much fun!! We have been meeting a lot of cool people that way too! I stopped this young man and asked him to come to sport night at the church and he loved the idea and even knew where the church was. Did he come no, but the weather was terrible so who knows, he might come this week. Then 2 nights ago, we were biking and I stopped this young lady and she is from Bolivia. Usually, I wouldn´t have stopped some one at night who had their back to me but because I had decided to stop everyone, we were able to find her. She is super nice and told us that we could call her and set up an appointment. She seems super sweet! Yesterday was a bit crazy!! We were sitting in church and the stake president was there. Not weird but then he gets up and starts asking us to sustain our bishop, kind of like they do in ward conference. So Sister Karlson asks if it is ward conference. I said I didn´t think so because there were no other stake leaders other than the Stake president. Suddenly, I realize that they are calling a new bishop. I was shocked!! Everyone thought that our bishop had another year. But nope, he got released and now we have a new bishop. What is funny is that last week we waited about 30 minutes to make sure we got a dinner appointment with the bishop...and now he isn´t the bishop. Hillarious. But it is good. I really felt that the new Bishop is called of God. He will do an amazing job! It will be interesting to see how things change and how the new bishop will work with the missionaries. I am anxious to work with him.
I have learned a lot this week. I have learned about a lot of my gifts and talents. I have learned that I have a way of helping others work through their problems and help them come to conclusions on their own. I had to give a training with the Zone Leaders and I was so nervous. President and Sister Robinson were there and that was a lot of pressure but it went really well. I was able to teach about teaching like the Savior, asking good questions, and loving those you teach. I was able to tell the young missionaries(we have a lot in this zone) how if they love those they teach it will change their missions. I learned that in Lelystad. I only realized that as I was talking about it. When you sacrifice all you have, to people you don´t even really know but do your best to know, you grow a love for them that is beyond description. Sometimes we go through hard things and often have no idea why. Coming to Amsterdam has helped me realize what I learned in Lelystad. I learned who I was. I learned how to love unconditionally. I learned the meaning of sacrifice. I learned the power of faith and expectations. I hope to make my time here in Amsterdam as sacred as my time in Lelystad was. The past few days have been hard because I want to go from 0-100 in the work here in Amsterdam. But I am realizing that I have to take it one step at a time. I have to give myself time to understand and time to love. I have so much to give but I need to simply take the time to give. Being a Sister Training Leader is already teaching me so much. I am realizing how much our Heavenly Father loves each and everyone of us. I am learning how intricate our lives are and how much care the Lord puts into our lives. No matter what we are going through, our Heavenly Father loves us and is with us. We simply have to look around, and see him. Amazing things are happening!! I am so grateful to be a part of them!!
Herinner altijd hoe belangrijk elke ziel voor onze Hemelse Vader is!
Zuster Adams
