Bruises, Coughs, and Miracles

Well this past week has been quite an adventure. My district leader Elder Bosco was seriously concerned Sister Morris and I wouldn't make it out of last week alive...I'll explain...

1. Sister Morris had and still has a horrible cough..turns out whopping cough is going around. We are 90% sure she has it. Not sure how I didn't get it but I'm grateful. 

2. I went to Maastricht on exchanges and fell down some hard & cold stone stairs. I went from upright to lying on my back... I hit my elbow really, really hard. It hurt badly. I almost passed out from the shock or pain...not really sure but I got super dizzy afterwards. My elbow swelled up and bruised almost instantly. We think I popped an air bubble in my elbow. It wasn't fun. 

3. Sister Morris' tendonitis flared up while biking and she jokingly said "Just keep em rollin..." yesterday, we were leaving the apartment and she slammed her pointer finger in the front door. It burst all the blood vessels in the top of her finger... not sure if her nail will fall off... hopefully not. 

The work must go on...even if you happen to be dying..:) And it did, we saw some amazing miracles this past week!

I think I have mentioned this before but about a month ago, we started having the families in the ward make their own mission plans. People are getting so excited about them. One member asked if this idea of a family mission plan was worldwide because it is so amazing. The members are starting to put aside their fears and open their mouths! It is so exciting!!

We met with another member this week and helped her realize some of the problems she is dealing with. It was an incredible lesson. Sister Morris said, "We come to earth to fall of the bike, but we come to learn to jump back on the bike." She meant that we all will fall but when we fall we need to learn to get back up and keep going. We have to continually trust in the Lord even when we continually fall down. It was incredible to feel the spirit guiding the lesson. 

While I was in Maastricht, I found out that I have a reputation for being bold...Sis. Nelson told the Elders in Heerlen that she was super excited for me to come help her teach the Law of Chastity because I am really bold. Funny. It did end up being a really awesome lesson. By the end, the investigator was seriously considering following it. I really felt the spirit in that lesson. It is so awesome that when I teach by the spirit, I learn along with the investigator. I find myself saying things that are new to me and answers to my questions.

Two other amazing miracles we saw this week were, one of our investigators realized that she has a testimony of Joseph Smith and The Book of Mormon!! And another investigator's husband that has been pretty negative, sat in on the lesson and said he'd sit in on more! Oh we also got a really cool new investigator from Iraq.

Well things are great here in Breda. President Robinson in an interview this week basically told me I am going to be leaving Breda after this transfer so I am going to finish hard and leave this place bursting with work and success!! I love Breda and I have loved seeing all this progress in the last 3 months! This next week is going to be great! 

Ik hou van Breda echt veel!

Zuster Adams 

P.S. We got permission to watch the Nederland vs. Argentina game. It was so sad but awesome to watch! Latest I have stayed up in a long time!! 

Allison with a fellow Sister Missionary

Zuster Adams and Zuster Helmer

All You Need is Love

This week has been amazing as always! It has been really cool, in the last couple of days I have really felt myself losing myself in the work here. I am more and more centered here and not focused on home or how much longer I have or anything like that. It is neat to see myself truly focusing on what is important. Missionary life is truly becoming second nature. 

Funny thing that happened this week: We went to an inactive member's home and talked to him about how he needs to come back to church and all this other stuff. Anyways, at the end of our discussion he decides to start talking politics. We quickly started trying to get the topic back on the right track but it wasn't really working. He asked why the church didn't stop the U.S. from going to Iraq the first time. I tried to explain that the church doesn't get involved and other things but that didn't seem to please him so I finally just told him that it is the last days and there are going to be wars. He needs to prepare but the way is through the church and not in the government. I don't know if he really liked my answer but at least we got him off politics. 

I have realized this week that I really love Breda! It is a beautiful city! I love the people and the ward here. Our investigators are amazing and making progress. It is hard but so fulfilling. Sister Morris and I have decided to name this transfer 

Operation: Love the Lord, Love the People, Love the Land

We have decided to write down all the things we love about every day. Love is the center of everything in the gospel, life, and basically everything. Think about it, almost if not all the songs on the radio are about some type of love. But that kind of love isn't the type we are trying to focus on. We are trying to have the love of Christ for those we come in contact with and also truly love what we are doing every day. I have begun to try and be super enthusiastic when we knock on people's doors. If you come to the door unenthusiastic, then no one is going to want to listen anyways. So I have decided to be truly happy every time I talk to someone. I love the people of the Netherlands and if I can show them that love, miracles will happen. The ward is doing amazing and we are working with them to build their own family mission plan. It is really cool and I am excited for them to see miracles.

We got to watch the Belgium vs. Argentina game this week!!! We were so excited to finally get to watch one of the games!! I was sad that Belgium lost but it was fun to see them play anyways!! Nederland won and that was most important!! The ward was pretty excited on Sunday!! Our investigator promised to not fast that Nederland would win. He is getting the purpose of fasting!! :) 

This work is incredible and it is truly hastening!! I love being a part of this work and seeing the signs of the times. We are truly in the last days and the Lord is hastening is work! 

I can't wait to see what this week will bring!! 

Zuster Adams

Time flies when you are having fun!!

Well this past week went by in a whirlwind!! Sister Spencer and I tried to enjoy our last week together but it went by so fast that we hardly had time to enjoy it!! Nothing to crazy happened this week. Nederland did win 3-2 against Australia!! That was pretty exciting! I love how enthusiastic the Dutch get. We have been told by our mission president that we aren't allowed outside the apartment during the games. It is kind of a bummer but probably good. We don't want to be knocking doors...people might get a little annoyed.

We had an incredible miracle this week! There is the awesome family from Burundi that we had taught one lesson too that called and asked for our help with english this week. We went over and found out that they needed help registering their daughter for english classes in the U.S. when she is there for 6 weeks this summer. We called the place and turns out you can only register in person. We tried some other schools and nothing worked. I got the idea to set their daughter up with some missionaries in the States and they could teach her english. We found the nearest ward building to where they would be staying and called the Bishop. He was a little surprised to be talking to missionaries in the Netherlands but he gave us the number of the sister missionaries in his ward and also let us know that there is a dutch sister serving in the Temple nearby. We got very excited. We connected the daughter with the Dutch sister over facebook and they are going to help her learn english and also hopefully, teach her the lessons!! It was truly a miracle that we were able to get a hold of those people! The family also came to church on Sunday and loved it!! I love them so much and can't wait to see the miracles that happen with them!

Transfers are this week....and drum roll....I am staying in Breda!! I am getting a new companion though. She is coming from Amsterdam and her name is Sister Morris. I am excited and really sad. I love Sister Spencer a lot! We have grown really close. It will be good though. I am nervous to be taking over the city but I can do it!! The Lord will help me along the way.

Things are going amazing here in Nederland! I honestly, can't remember a ton that happened this week. It was amazing though. We did get 4 new investigators. Our last baptismal date did get postponed. So no baptisms but it will all happen in the Lord's time. I am loving it here and the work is going forth stronger than ever!! Remember to be strong and help missionaries as much as you can...we need your help!!

Leven is Geweldig,

Zuster Adams

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