Week 15 - World Cup / Soccer photos

Missionaries and JoVos at the Grote Markt!

Arjen Robben is from Groningen!

The screen went black right when Argentina got the ball and everyone freaked out.. then the top part of the screen came back on to display that the score was still 0-0..

The 5 photos above were found on Marleen's FB page (yes, my children call me the stalker)

Marleen and I decked out in Oranje!

The Zone!

Zwolle (post-soccer with the zone)

These last 2 World Cup photos are courtesy of Zuster Brown's blog

Week 15 - Groningen / New companion

Being American on Fourth of July! (with peanut butter and hamburgers)

Bike ride home

Zuster Zeef!

Photo from Marleen:  De Drie Gezusters

Getting our house (and overgrown yard) ready for two new Zusters!

Promotion from my Candymaker career- ijsje fiets? (ice bike)

Perks of bringing an artist on Joint-teach  -  nicely drawn diagrams!

Week 15 - Groningen / World Cup finals

Hoi familie!

First of all, you won't believe that we got permission to go to the Grote Markt with a group of Wijkgroningen JoVos (Groningen Ward young adults) for the semi-final match vs. Argentina and didn't get home until 1:30 am.. which is why I'll send pics as proof (: It was so fun at first, but then the game was really intense and it was sad that we lost, but third place still aín't too shabby for this little mustard seed of a country! And Zr. Wood and I were talking about how we felt weird the following morning because mingling for a few hours is pretty unsatisfying compared to deep and productive conversations that we are used to, but we decided that it was good to feel that way -even when she goes home in a few weeks- because that means we really became missionaries.

Also, apparently it's not too big of an invasion of privacy if I use investigators' first names which is a relief because first letters is kind of vervelend (annoying), and doesn't give you a feel for the culture.

Jenny, the mother of 3 from Curacao, is making progress and we love going over and love her family. She's narrowed her search down to the Mormon church and the Catholic church because they both have a direct line of tracing the priesthood, and she asked tons of questions about the Pearl of Great Price/ JST. Our hardest thing with her is helping her to focus on asking the questions that really matter first (was Joseph Smith really a prophet?), and then speculating over deeper doctrine (I thought the Garden of Eden was in Ethiopia?). Her daughter, Kimberly, is a miracle and inspires me with her faith. She wants to be baptized on 9 August, and totally agreed to live the Law of Chastity (when her boyfriend who she's had a baby with was sitting in the corner- first time he was quiet and didn't interrupt us- she thinks maybe that will motivate him to ask her to get married sooner. We're personally rooting for her meeting a nice JoVo in the ward, but unfortunately can't really say anything..) and is so great.

Marleen is pretty nervous with her baptism 2 weeks away, but excited at the same time. She loves the Kinder Verhalen uit het Boek van Mormon (children’s Book of Mormon Reader) and bore a beautiful testimony at church last week. I love that girl, she is hilarious- never a dull moment!

We got dropped over text by our gift-giving Indonesian onderzoeker Geoffrey- hopefully we don't run out of soap now!- but we left as really good friends and I'll always have a special place in my heart for him!

We found a miracle family from Brazil during bell-ups last week -  they were laughing over the intercom thingy and I thought they were making fun of me but then the door opened and a young latino mom in a towel invited us in, grabbed her two kids, changed, and sat there wanting to know everything. She loves God and the Bible, and has seen our church in Brazil. We're going there tonight with Portuguese BvMs with a Cape Verde- native onderzoeker (investigator) to help translate! It was a miracle that we could communicate with them that first meeting -  Zr. Wood spoke in Spanish, they spoke in Portuguese- she said that was the first time she understood Portuguese.

We get one mini-missionary Wednesday, and one Sunday. I get to go to Brussels on Thursday for legalities! I'll eat some dark Belgian chocolate for you (:   I gave a talk yesterday about faith- how faith is the power that changes the world, and people everywhere, religious or not, turn ambitions and dreams into reality through work and action (that is faith)- we need to remember to turn this faith towards Jesus Christ, because that begins the sure path to eternal life. (On the other side of the globe, in Idaho, Eliza’s twin sister gave a sacrament meeting talk about faith on the exact same day… must be one of those cool “twin coincidences”!)

I'm excited for die Mannschaft winning their fourth world title, but would like to avoid WW3 so can't show any Deutschland pride here!

Love you all!

Groetjes,

Zr. Riley

Week 14 - Groningen

Hey!

We had a super fun zone P-day playing soccer in Zwolle, but got home super late after buying some super vet Nederland jerseys downtown, which is why this is super short, which is a shame because this week was full of crazy adventures/ hilarious conversations/ exhausting days/ miracles. We were able to find 5 new investigators, hand out 8 BvMs (plus three from our first weekend together) and teach 14 lessons amidst other appointments which was so awesome- I think we're finding so many potentials because we need to build up our teaching pool- we are not getting just one, but two mini missionaries for the second half of the transfer (next week)- we'll be the first Sisters 4-pan! Spannend (: 

There were a few investigators who didn't believe my following church rules/ coming on a mission/etc. were voluntary, which I at first found a little offensive because I like to think of myself as a pretty independent person, but one such conversation led to a great conversation about freedom to choose, obedience, freedom and NOT restriction from seemingly "restricting" commandments. 

I love working with Zuster Wood, and especially admire her bold yet personable contacting techniques.

Love you all!  

Zuster Riley 

From a missionary in Haarlem (I'm sure Eliza is excited about this, if her zone is included):
We got a text from our Zone Leaders saying that we are now ''allowed and encouraged to watch all Nederland World Cup games, even the ones at 10 PM. 
Disclaimer: No going anywhere where there is alcohol.  
Next one is against Argentina, Wednesday at 10 PM.''  Hup Holland Hup!

Eliza has been so good about emailing photos home each week (between 8-23 a week, so far).  So I was sad that we didn't get any photos this week along with her short email (above). But then a few hours later, what arrives but a PACKAGE from Groningen! Eliza wanted us to show proper World Cup spirit and to enjoy the Dutch treats. She even sent a Kinder Egg for Josh (I guess she forgot that they're illegal in the USA because the toys inside are choking hazards. But thankfully, Josh is still alive and breathing).  Rachel and I had fun opening the package and tasting the treats, and I laughed because she now DOES have photos for the week!

 This is delicious: it has crushed cookie crumbs in it!

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PHOTOS FROM THE BLOGS OF OTHER NETHERLANDS MISSIONARIES:

 World Cup Fever

 Eliza also visits this man, Tex

 Scenes from Groningen

Week 13 - Photos

They tell us to lock our hearts but then we somehow have these knappe undefeated jonges hanging on our wall....

Let's play "I spy a hairless cat"

Love these members

Zr. Meier's contract she signed..

Saying g'bye at the UtrechtCentraal

We met the "Molenman" who owns the windmill behind our house (which I'm about to send pics of) and promised to give us a Rondleiding (tour) soon!

Just our nice li'l backyard countryside

 Boat traffic!

Week 13 - Beginning of Transfer 2

Hoi Familie Riley!

I'm excited for this new transfer with Zr. Wood (my 2nd transfer out in the mission, her 11th out of 12- don't worry, she's not trunky at all though haha) and for the last 3 weeks our mini-missionary we're getting! We set some great yet realistic goals that will push us to be creative, proactive, and bold. I sure miss Zr. Meier, but Zr. Wood is awesome, too! She's from Sandy, UT, plays soccer and violin and piano beautifully, loves to eat but is tiny, collects cool Dutch stickers (like bumper sticker-type), her favorite food is bacon, and she's really good at contacting/ connecting and relating with people. This week our district is having a TaalWeek where we speak Dutch 24/7 especially with each other, so if I've forgotten English by next Monday, be prepared for an email with lots of ij's or double vowels haha.

This week was very successful in the sense that we made extra effort to establish expectations/ remind people what our goals are/ "determine the relationship" so to speak, and it feels nice to be on the same page with onderzoekers on that, even though it can be hard to hear from people I've grown to love that they aren't as interested in my message as in my friendship. 

M is preparing for baptism on 26 July, with doubts regarding family members not being extraordinarily supportive but which are nonetheless resolve-able.

J's been making progress and her daughter, K (who is 19 and has a baby) wants to meet with us because she wants to change and give her daughter the best future possible. I love their family! I'll send a pic of me holding K's baby when J tossed her into my arms to go grab something and Zr. Wood snapped a pic.

We had some crazy discussions while contacting, from obnoxious mockers to hopeless elderly W2 veterans.

How about that Oranje? I haven't seen any of the games yet, but the Elders happen to take 45 mins to walk past a bar with the giant screen and fill us in on all the deets.. or we just listen for cheers/ cannon shots/ fireworks!

Love you guys, and THANKS for the package!!!  LOVED everything in it!!!!!!!! I got it two days ago and it made me SOOOOO HAPPYYYYY!!! I LOVE the photobooks!! And all the grad/ wedding announcements and the sweet twin painting/ beans/ penguin cards/ fruity GUM and sooo much more and all the gifts with scriptures hahahaa I loveeed those, how did you come up with each one? They were good!!!!! Zr. Wood thought they were so clever!!! Seriously thank you SOOOO much, ah can't wait to use my new letter-writing equipment as well today! I did have a good 1/2 birthday- lots of traveling on a train to and from Utrecht because of transfers, but had 2 appt.s in the evening. (:  It sure was the best half-birthday so far. (we sent a half-birthday-package because her birthday is Dec. 25)  Love you!!!! 

Met liefde, 

Zuster Riley (:

responding to a photo of her twin sister cheering for Germany, and guessing where Madi may get called to on her mission:  Die Mannschaft!  I guess: Sydney Australia, Mandarin Chinese!

Week 13 - District Photos - Last week of Transfer 1

 Windmills

Thanks to Zuster Brown for the 4 silly photos