Hoi! Wow, this week was great, a highlight was
definitely K's doopdienst (baptism) on Saturday! One of the speakers got sick,
so I actually got to give the first talk on baptism... it actually went well,
but wow, didn't think I'd be speaking at a baptism in front of his 30
smart-looking debate club fraternity college friends and family who is a little
wary of why he's changed so quickly ten weeks in, intimidating!.. but it was so
neat, K is such an example to ME! I've noticed that Dutch converts here won't
just make life changes for social reasons, so if they're joining the Church,
they know what they're getting themselves into and are strong members for life.
H, who baptized him, is awesome and rad and has a band called Harm's
Fork.
Yesterday we visited one of my
favorite people here so far, "Tex,"
who is 97 years old and speaks Spanish and English and Dutch and used to be a
Seventy General Authority. He repeats himself a lot, so it's a good thing he
has hilarious stories, and talks about when he was serving as a missionary in
Belgium and met this missionary who "had these little radios in his ears
[headphones] and didn't wanna work so I beat the he_ _ outta him... do any of
you Elders wrestle? C''mere," and then he puts ‘em in a headlock with his
frail little body, it's so funny, and he's such a spiritual giant and always
has his gospel doctrine and living prophets books out and says "okay
missionaries, teach me something I don't know about the gospel" and says
he's so proud of us for preaching up the gospel and building His kingdom and
the reason he's so old is because he's always on his knees praying and
when I sat next to him on his bed to pray (so he can hear- we have to yell 4 or
5 times every time we say something) he winked at me and said "now don't
get too comfortable here," oh what a jokester, but such a spiritual giant
too.
We also have a 46-yr old flamboyant
Indonesian (semi-)progressing investigator who is really nice and loves meeting
with us (his mom is a member and sits in on the lessons, too) to talk about
"'Liefde'' and good vibes and who said "Zooooooster, do you play the
violin? I knew it! I heard violins when I shook your hand," and doesn't
leave without a gift. I got a bouquet of flowers with a NL flag and soap and
conditioner hahah.
On Friday we were looking up a
referral and got caught in some heavy rain (my first real NL shower) and
huddled under a tree looking at a map, and everyone in the appt. next to us
were looking at us Americans like we were crazy, and a mom even lifted her
toddler up so she could see us better! I think they missed the part where one
of them invites us in to stay dry, and we share a message, etc....
Sweet M, who we had set a baptismal
date with, decided to push it back because of doubts/ school mentor and family
encouraged her not to rush/ maybe she should read and learn more, but she still
loves church/ institute/ lessons/ the gospel!
Josh, you're a teenager!!! Wow! I
went down to Leiden
for some legality paperwork, and got two letters from home, aw thanks!
LOVE YOU GUYS!
Zuster Riley (:
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