Hawaii: Week 24-25

Here I am again! transfer calls happened.... tumtumtum.. Both sister Maghanoy and I are staying in Honoka'a. She is my first companion that I will serve longer than 6 weeks with, woow. What to do?I guess we'll keep doing our best! it's going very well here and we are making lots of progress.

It really is a lot of fun to teach families. Each member has its own questions and you can see the blessings the gospel is able to provide for them in this life and the life to come. This reminds me every time how blessed I am with my family as well.

It is also a special experience again and again how quickly people are willing to share very personal stories with us, young strangers. We get to hear a lot of stories where people went through hardships and trials, and they go through it a different ways. Some still mourn for their loved ones who passed away, while we also met an old lady who sees the positive in every situation. She is for example now able to cook and sleep whenever she wants because her husband passed away. That's also a way to look at it xD

This transfer we had zone conference! all the missionaries of the island gathered because we only have 2 zones here anyway. Mission president Bekker and sister Bekker, and Elder Curtis and sister Curtis were present as well to give us inspiring instructions. Now, it took me a long time to realize that "For unto us a child is born" by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is only one verse in the Bible (Isaiah 9:6).... Learning something new everyday ;)  

This period we also got to enjoy a little of the island again. A lovely member took us for example to Kona (we went to a museum about Hawaiian history and nearby was a city of refuge (where in a certain way the principle of repentance was applied)) and to ancient fishponds. Very beautiful. We also drove past an ancient building where people used to be sacrificed.... :O Sister Maghanoy and I also went halfway to Waipio Valley but had to turn back halfway due to lack of time. Now the way up sure was steep and exhausting. Stolzekleiven in Bergen suddenly is an easy climb (I might exaggerate a little, but you get the point :) ).

City of Refuge in Kona

​Area with ancient fishponds. There were some eels as well and they sure aren't the prettiest fish I've seen

Now lets close this message with the holidays! First, happy birthday to me and my brother of course. second, merry Christmas (mele kalikimaka)! the houses were very beautifully decorated. there was lots of food (I need two airplane seats when I get back home), and the members gave us lots of Christmas presents. That was very sweet and thoughtful. They truly feel like family already. We also had a nice Christmas service in church where we were able to think of the birth of Christ and his atoning sacrifice. there was narration and music done by the members and we were able to listen and enjoy. Lastly, happy new year! With new opportunities coming our way, let's do our best this new year!

blogspot week 21-23

Week 4 of my 2nd transfer in Hawaii already. Time sure flies. It is also my first area so far where I am serving longer than one transfer. There were plenty of opportunities to celebrate it! Thanksgiving with looooooooooooooooooots of food and also a ward Christmas party where I saw members dance the hula!

Speaking about Christmas.... it feels weird everyone here is skipping Sinterklaas! I guess it makes sense. It is such a long way for him to travel to Hawaii, but still... I do appreciate the Sinterklaas letters from friends and family. Mahalo!

This transfer I've got a new companion: sister Maghanoy from the Philippines. Just like me, she had to wait for her visa. It took us a long time to pronounce each others name correctly. I am afraid it will be a lifelong quest... But we're doing good. We have been playing a game of charades with a Mexican lady due to our limited Spanish vocabulary. We have also been conversing with ghosts (Us: *Knock, Knock* "Alohaaa"; inside the house: "No one is home!". If no one else is home, what else can it be but a ghost?). Also, often we walk around in the dark during evening hours and we tend to forget our flashlight. We truly apply 2 Corinthians 5:7 in our lives!

Talking about faith (if you've read the scripture verse ;) ) Some nice reading assignments we read are: Alma 32, Ether 12 (Book of Mormon) and Hebrews 11 (New Testament).

And I never thought I'd say this, but sometimes it can be a little chilly over here... I did not expect that... But I love it :)

Update Hawaii

Here I am again! so many things happened. I'll give you a brief summary :-)

Halloween! The ward organized a trunk or treat. that sure was something I have never seen before. It is a really fun idea. Instead of knocking doors, kids (and adults, such as me) go trick or treating at decorated trunks. They sure do get creative here. Halloween was a fun experience. During grocery shopping, we have had Bambi as a cashier, we crossed paths with Wonderwoman and I was very surprised to see vampires walking around in broad daylight. 

If I were to shortly summarize this transfer, I would say...Music! Sister Barber sure can sing.  You really can see how music is able to touch many people's hearts. It was really nice to see. We even got a Marshallese investigator to sing and strum on the ukulele for us! Too bad my talents lie elsewhere...

Missionary work sure is exhausting, but in a good fulfilling way. Although a lot of people reject the message of the restored gospel, you can see the impact on the lives of the ones who do accept and apply the gospel. Just as in my previous areas, I really enjoy hearing members' conversion stories. even tough Hawaii is on the other side of the world, the gospel still has the same impact on people's life everywhere. 

I was tired at one point and prayed, but my mind was somewhere else already (on what to do the next day). So I prayed something like this: 'This we humbly ask Thee in the name of Jesus Christ .. Tomorrow'. Yep, I ended a prayer with tomorrow. It was a good lesson to keep my mind on the prayer!

​Yes it is busy (which is good), but luckily we are also able to enjoy the beauty of the island every once in a while

We also had our transfer calls! Half of our district leaves. We all get a new companion. I really enjoyed the previous transfer and I am excited for the one to come!

Week 14-16 Hawaii

Whut, whot, what? Where am I? can this be.... Hawaii? I traveled back in time to...Honolulu! Mission president Bekker and sisters Elgueta and Topp (long time no see) where there to welcome me. Two days later I traveled further with other missionaries to the Big Island (Hawaii) because that is where I will begin my mission. It is one of the colder islands. I like that. It also has an active vulcano. I like that less. Missionary work sure is different here. We just drop by peoples houses (often without appointment) and we are welcome to come in. In general we don't need to explain who we are, because they often have family who are a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Just as in my other areas, the members are great and willing to help. Currently I am in Honoka'a with the lovely sister Barber. She is a great missionary and person and I am learning a lot from her. It is a very laid back culture here, also because we are not in an area with a big city. It is so relaxed that even the clouds are taking a rest ​on the mountains. See picture.

Even though it is relaxed and laid back, the people are extremely hardworking (as they have irregular working hours, setting fixed appointments can be tough for that reason as well).

Anyway, even tough the island has a laid back atmosphere, we do need to work hard. There are always people to visit. There is barely public transportation here (really a change compared to my previous areas) so we are driving around in a car to our various destinations (technically sister Barber is driving, but we are companions so..).

Some funny things I noticed so far: 

I have heard many times that I am from Neverland (I cant blame them, I almost need to use magnifying glasses in order to point the Netherlands on the map). I almost got a young boy at a point where he believed I was Wendy. Perhaps I shouldn't do that...

There are also cure little kokifrog here who don't sound like frogs at all. More like small birds tsjirping 'koki, koki'. Very deceiving.

Also, house numbers are very confusing: Oh, so you're driving past nr. 1612 and you want 1614? I don't think so. nr. 1644 will be next!.. Yep.

Even tough we are currently in the paradise, it comes at a high cost. It is difficult to come by, because, for example, housing and grocery shopping is very expensive. I might have cried a bit inside when we first went grocery shopping. And here I thought Norway was expensive...

There are two main things I got really exciting about again these last few weeks:

1) I was being reminded again of the importance of family history work. Especially from an eternal perspective. Also, it is just very interesting to connect all the puzzle pieces.

2) Keep on studying the scriptures and study the various layers it has. A sister in church had a good lesson and included a talk (Waddell - a pattern for peace)  which went more deeply into Lehi's vision (1 nephi 8). This makes you realize again that the Book of Mormon really is written for our times and can be applied to our lives, if we are willing to really study it.

Week 14 Zoetermeer

Zoetermeer gave me the opportunity to serve in a great city. A temple and a superhuge church building. What else can a missionary wish for?

My new companions were sister Stewart-Chester (she is now serving her last transfer) and sister Vandenberghe (strangely enough from the USA). It was a good time. They are hardworking and funny sisters.

I wasn't there for a long time, yet many things happened. My favorite part is where we were doing service at a farm. We helped feeding the cows and calves. We wanted to pet this sweet little calf that was roaming around in the field. My companions, a 4 year old boy and me went to the calf, but the calf was not as cute as we thought. It was restless and hunting us down! We ran for our lives and sister Vandenberghe grabbed the little kid and saved his life. I was the last one to go to the save place so I was heroically battling the little cow (sister Stewart-Chester was pretty heroic as well). almost Mas Oyama worthy. The cow might have won the battle, but we are all save. 

​As a reference: the scary calf  was slightly bigger than this one

Another awesome experience was the temple. Sister Stewart-Chester wanted to visit the temple before she left and so did I. It is always a good and uplifting experience. I saw many familiar faces as well, so that was fun :)

Hawaii!

October 11, 2016

Sister Brandenburg has arrived in Hawaii!

Mail should be sent to:

Missionary Name (First, Middle Initial, and Last)

Hawaii Honolulu Mission

1500 S. Beretania Street, Suite 416

Honolulu, HI 96826

Please be aware that first class and priority mail can be forwarded from the mission office to missionaries without cost. Other services (FedEx, UPS, DHL) do charge to forward mail, which we collect from the missionary.

Sister Brandenburg

Sister Brandenburg with other European sisters

Incoming group of missionaries

Week 12 + 13 Ghent

Allrighty, new update

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.

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.. :'-)