Week 18 - end of 2nd transfer

I'm going to Belgium!

Hoi Familie Riley~ transfer calls came and I am going the farthest I could go- to Gent, Belgium! Of course I'm excited for a new adventure, but I'm pretty sad to leave Zuster Wood and the 14 new investigators here in beautiful Groningen. I mean, I'm sure Gent is beautiful, but it'll still be great in 6 weeks, right?

M, a 27 yr old investigator, is proving to be quite the miracle. Not gonna lie, I didn't think he was too interested in the gospel at first- even though he did walk up to us (What are you doing? "We share this book that helps people find happiness and answers, and we share it for free, would you like one?" Sure why not)- because the first lesson was only getting to know each other and purely conversational small talk- he told us he was content with his life now and didn't feel the drive to find out if God exists- but then we had a great Restoration lesson which peaked his interest, and now he is loving reading the BoM on his own and how it applies to his life- we read Nephi building the ship, and that week he was able to finally finish his car he's been working on ("I told myself, if Nephi could build a ship, I could have faith to fix my car") and he came to church and ended up knowing at least 3 JoVos who were former classmates/ coworkers. We also met a really cool Hindu girl named Shela who is really neat to talk to- we have a lot more in common than she thought.

K had a breakthrough with a concept he's been struggling with accepting- that God has a body- and explained it to us through quantum mechanics, a dream he had, and D&C 93. He is so smart- whoever says Dutch is just lazy German has not had a conversation with him- my IQ goes up just listening to him. 

Here are some answers to some questions Madi asked me, also:

"My companions are awesome and I love them and they are really like sisters in the sense that little tendencies like the way they chew or other tiny things can irritate you when you're exhausted and stressed haha. And we can all be really stubborn and want to have the last word and say blunt things, but it's so fun with them. I go to Gent, Belgium on Wednesday!

"In lessons, it can be scary to be bold because you don't want to diminish that you're also there to be friends (even though that's not why you're there of course- it is to help them make commitments to come closer to Christ), and it's scary when they fire away questions about why Jesus drank wine/ homosexuality is bad/ etc. because then I'm tempted to defend (argue) my beliefs and contention drives the spirit away.. but if we prepare well (role play, too!) it's so cool how what we teach answers their questions.. it really is so rewarding and cool to always be talking about substantial things. 

"The Nederlands summer is beautiful and HOT, I love it. Sometimes the smells from biking through a nature path gives me flashbacks from biking through Asemwald from Grundschule Birkach (when living in Stuttgart, Germany, 3^rd grade to 5^th grade), aw.  Best food? Honestly everything: falafels and fresh seedy wholegrain bread and crisp produce and Indonesian peanut sauce and spices and cheap juicy mangos from the market and couscous salad with golden raisins and almonds and avocado... yum it's great you would love it here. Especially the MARKET! Which I've actually only been to really quick downtown with an investigator because it's not going on on P-day. P-days range from soccer/ bike rides and walking around downtown and (window) shopping.. and of course cleaning the house and grocery shopping and emailing and writing letters. And it ends at 6pm. The ward members are so cool and strong and it feels the same as any American ward I've been in except a little more direct and blunt comments in ZHV (Relief Society) by older Dutch ladies, and the JoVos (YSA) are so COOL and I don't think they realize how strong they are."

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! Gefeliciteerd met jouw verjaardag! 

Zuster Riley (: