THE BEST WEEK EVER!!!!

Monday, October 18, 2010

Dear Family,
How are you doing!? I know that my subject heading for my e-mail was a really bold statement but I am pretty sure that this last week was the best week of my whole mission! The Lord has just opened the windows of heaven and poured out blessings upon us here in Den Haag! We are definitely so undeserving of what we have received, but so thankful! Here are a few of the miracles that we saw every second of every day this past week:
On Tuesday we went and taught Ronald the Word of Wisdom. We knew that he had problems with smoking and drinking so we weren't sure what their action would be but it couldn't have gone better! It was amazing to see how the Holy Ghost worked with him during the lesson and let him know that the W of W is a commandment from Heavenly Father to bless us. By the end of the lesson he had a plan to keep that commandment. He is so excited for his baptism on November 6th! On Wednesday night we got a text from him that he had had dinner with one of the members (he had just arranged it himself) and that he had read 2 Nephi 31 and32. He was so excited about the Book of Mormon and could hardly put it down! We also taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ on Thursday and he was sharing scriptures with us and pretty much ended teaching us out of the Book of Mormon. On Saturday he came to the baptism of an 8 year old boy in the ward. By the end of the baptismal service he pretty much had his own baptismal service planned out. He actually doesn't quite understand who has the priesthood quite yet so after explaining to him that I couldn't be one of the witnesses at his baptism he asked me if I could give him the Holy Ghost. It was hard to keep a straight face as I explained that I also couldn't do that but I directed him to a few people that could! Anyway, Brother Scheltinga will be baptizing him, Brother Oddens will be giving him the Holy Ghost, Elder Robinson and Brother Oddens will be witnesses, and Zuster Scherf and I will be giving talks on baptism and the Holy Ghost. I know that November 6th will be a very special morning! He is so ready! The Lord prepared him to receive the restored gospel. He even called us this morning to ask us how much a triple would be, with the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price, so that he can really study and prepare for the lessons that we have with him and the lessons that will take place in the church on Sunday!
In a normal week in Den Haag we usually have about 5 lessons with a member present but this week members were working with us like crazy! We had a total of 11 member present lessons and we found 5 new investigators! The members are getting so excited and pumped about the work. On Saturday at the baptism one of the members came up to us and asked us if we would have time to come to her house this coming Friday because she wants us to begin teaching her friend! Another member who had us over on Saturday afternoon invited a friend to join the lesson and he is also a new investigator. Every time with thought that it just couldn't get better, it did!
On Friday night we went with Bro. and Sis. Jansen to teach the mother of a young boy who was baptized two years ago at the age of 10. She is not a member but investigated with her son when the missionaries were teaching him. For some reason after the boy was baptized, he and the mom lost contact with the church. The ward council actually asked us to stop by a few weeks ago to check on them. They were not home so I wrote a quick note and threw it in their mailbox. We got a call at the end of last week from the mom, Mary, who had found our note and said she would come to church. She came to church last week and we set up an appointment for Friday. Anyway, when we went on Friday we asked her about her background with the church and what made her decide to call us up and invite us to come and teach her. She said that she hadn't noticed our note until a few days after she had gotten the mail. She was sorting through the mail and the handwriting on the note really caught her attention (I think that it is only because American and European handwriting is so different). She just couldn't throw the note away and she finally decided to give us a call. We are going to start meeting with her weekly! I just was amazed that something so small as a little note would have so much of an impact!
I am out of time but I just want you to know that I know that Jesus is the Christ! I love you and pray for you! Have a great week!
Love, Laur