We went to
Amsterdam again (long time no see). Not for fun, nono, we went there for
important matters. I needed to go to the US consulate in order to get
my visa approved. I had completed all the documents
and online applications beforehand, and the moment had finally arrived
to go to the consulate. To make your application complete, I had to
take an official visa photo for the interview wherein you have to look
neutral/serious, it almost looks like a mug shot.
Good thing I have no dark past otherwise I might be in trouble!
Everything went well, but me and my companion had to make a tough
decision and be separated for over half an hour! We barely managed but
we both knew it was for the greater good. My visa got approved
and serving my mission in Hawaii is getting more realistic now.
General Conference (www.lds.org)...
How awesome is General Conference? It is more grand than the Superbowl,
the FIFA world cup, the Olympics! Some might disagree
with me, but that's ok :-) In General Conference the General
Authorities of the Church (such as the Prophet and the Apostles) speak
to us all. They do not discuss the topics or their plans with each other
beforehand, it is all inspired and lead by the Spirit.
We noticed that. Just like the scriptures it is always good to read (and
in this case listen) with questions or concerns in mind: what bothers
you? what are you curious about? how can you improve on certain areas?
etc. You will get your answer(s) because it
is inspired and Heavenly Father knows your struggles. You can receive
personal revelation if you are willing to listen and receive. Mercer and
I did that and within the first session already our questions were
answered. I can most certainly recommend everyone
to do the same (in case you weren't doing it already).
Saturday October
1st was an exciting day... Transfer calls! We kind of were worried
because we were exciting all day long and then we were told that the
transfer calls might be on Monday after the Conference.
Therefore, you will probably understand our excitement when we were
called in the evening just when we arrived home! Sister Mercer is going
to serve in Den Haag and I will go to Zoetermeer and join two other
sisters until I leave to Hawaii. Zoetermeer is awesome
because the temple is there. Looking forward to it! First we need to
write down all the information about Ghent and bestow our wisdom and
knowledge about the area upon the new sisters who will arrive here. It
is interesting because I have mixed feelings. I enjoyed
serving with sister Mercer and I really loved it in Ghent. The members
and investigators are awesome and the area is beautiful. But then again,
a new area with new opportunities and people also sounds very good. I
am excited! Before we had to go, Mercer and
I had to do at least one awesome pancake cook-off. She made American ones
and I made the normal ones ;-) It was a tough decision as we both like
our own pancakes and the elders just ate them both, so we decided it to
be a draw. They were both equally delicious.
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| Photo: Sister Mercer (my longest companion so far) and me |
I would love to
close with a legendary missionary story which came to my attention
through sister Mercer. I might not tell it completely the way it went,
but it is still funny!
A long time ago
some missionaries are in a foreign country and don't understand the
language completely yet. They contact people on the street and want to
back up their message with a scripture text. 1 Nephi
3:7. Beautiful message! however, they had to trust their memories on
where the scripture text is. They pull out the scriptures and read 3
Nephi 3:7. They had no clue what they were reading (due to the lack of
understanding the language), and testified of the
message (thinking it was 1 Nephi 3:7). You can imagine the confusion
of the people receiving the message and why they slowly walked away..
:'-)
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