Sister Lauren Sharp

I can count on two hands how many days I have left in the Netherlands...WOW!!!

2011-03-07T05:31:00.000-08:00

Monday, March 7, 2011
Dear Family,
I don't know why but I had extra excitement today to read your e-mails! You sound so good and your words were so touching! Usually I don't but today I had to quickly scan through each e-mail that I received just to know how you are doing. Thank you so much for all of the time you give to write. It means everything to me!
So, it has been a fabulous week and I don't even know where to begin! I feel like every wish that I have ever had on my mission is coming true! On Monday after we got finished with our normal p-day activities we got a call from Zuster Navarro and she asked us if we could come and help her move a couple of shelves in her home. That was a miracle! We always want to serve people but nobody dares to ask so when she called I couldn't have been happier! We were able to help for a little while before we went to our dinner appointment with Familie Bidjai. We had a wonderful evening there and then finished off the night with Familie Navarro and Felicia doing a FHE. The lesson went so good! We taught about the Holy Ghost and Felicia gave all of her attention. At the end of the lesson she just asked question after question about the church and baptism and what she needs to do to be baptized and why she needs to be baptized. It was so cool! Sadly enough, she is actually moving tomorrow to an actual center for foster children. She and Angelica went to a fireside with the youth in Amsterdam on Friday and church yesterday. I don't know if we will see her again but I hope that she will remember how she felt and especially that she is a child of our Heavenly Father, he loves her, and she can always go to him in prayer. I love her and will continue to pray for her!
On Wednesday we were able to fast with Victoria, Brother Scherf and Silvester in behalf of Silvester. We had an appointment with him that night and he said that he knows now that he needs to be baptized...now he has got to pick a date! We were able to brake our fast together and that was a very spiritual experience. I hope that this week we can firm up a date with him. I have come to recognize that some people just need more time than others but the salvation of a soul is worth the wait and the patience!
On Saturday we had our first appointment with Anita at Familie Scherf's and it was so good! She is the sweetest girl ever and her desire to really have a testimony of her own is so strong. Marije and Rachelle were at the lesson as well. Marije is one of the young women and Rachelle is one of the leaders. I am so thankful for their help with the lesson. They really brought the spirit with their testimonies and personal experiences! Anita is from Rotterdam so the missionaries in Rotterdam are actually going to go and visit her mom within the next week. Her parents gave permission for her to be baptized so we are thinking about April 9. We will continue to teach her every time that she is here in Den Haag, so for sure every Sunday.
She is super active in the ward already. She also went to the fireside on Friday and to church on Sunday. Every first Sunday the young women are with the Relief Society for opening exercises and Anita gave the thought during opening exercises. She told about how she wants to be baptized and why. Her testimony was so amazing! On Saturday after the lesson we baked cookies with Familie Scherf and Anita because they wanted to learn how. It was a lot of fun! I wasn't able to make cookies yesterday because it was fast Sunday but I am thinking about doing it for this next week...the only problem is that it is Stake Conference so that would mean 1000...don't panic! I don't really think I am going to do it!
Yesterday I had one of my first of many farewell dinners. The members and investigators are so nice! I think this week will be full of emotions but I think it will be great as well! I am looking forward to seeing many more miracles!
I love you so much and I too can't wait to give you a great big hug in just a week and a half! The church is true! The Lord loves us!
Love, Zuster Sharp

THE WEEKS JUST KEEP GETTING BETTER!!!

2011-02-28T09:07:00.001-08:00

Monday, February 28, 2011
Dear Family!
I am so happy right now! It is like I have the best of both worlds! The work here is going great and I am so happy about that and then I am so excited to think about seeing all of you soon! I can't wait! Heavenly Father seems to be pouring out many blessings right now and I am so thankful!
Thank you so much for your e-mails! I have to admit...Over the past couple of weeks I have become the worst letter writer ever! My p-days have been a little busy and I just want to give all of my time to serving so I hope that you know that I love you and I am thankful for your letters even if you don't get one in return. I figure by this time I might see you before a letter gets to you!
Dad, I want to put your questions as first priority so here it goes! I am so thankful and excited about the plans that are going down. I just get giddy thinking about being here with you! I think that it would be best to fly in and out of Amsterdam. It is pretty central in the Netherlands and especially to Den Haag, Zwolle, and Groningen. I would love to stay a couple of days in each city if that is at all possible. It's so hard to say...but if we did two days in Zwolle, two in Groningen, four in Den Haag, and then a couple of other free days...maybe 10 to 14 days? But I don't know what you are thinking. 2 weeks would give us a good amount of time to make our way around. But we could also stay up to a month or two...just kidding!
Well, we have seen a countless number of miracles this week! We found 3 super positive new investigators and they are all under the age of 16! I love them so much! I am so thankful that I am finally back to full health and that I was able to work a whole week! It is such a blessing! I had such a wonderful week. I feel like Heavenly Father is blessing Zuster Jeffs and I so much! We got two new investigators on Monday night. Their names are Felicia and Angelica. They are both foster children and Felicia just moved in with Familie Navarro, an active family in the ward. The family invited us to do a FHE with them last Monday and it was so good! We just started out simple with the girls because they are 14 and 16. We did a lesson on prayer and they were so interactive during the lesson. We also baked cookies with them afterwards and they loved that. They came to church last week and Angelica came to church yesterday. We will be going again tonight to do a FHE with them again. I feel like they are just in the best situation to learn about the Restoration. And it turns out that their biological father lives in America and he is a member too!
Our other new investigator is a 14 year old young woman named Anita. She came to the church for the first time a couple of months ago with her grandpa who is the only member in her family. She has been coming consecutively for the past couple of weeks and is really being accepted by the ward and especially the young women. Yesterday we went to a members for lunch and Anita was there. She came up to Zuster Jeffs and I and said, „I really want to get baptized. What do I need to do in order to do that?“We were so excited! We explained the process to her and set up our first appointment to teach her this Saturday at the member’s home. Her parents know about her desire and are very supportive. So cool! We'll be setting a baptismal date on Saturday!
We have decided to give Suleyka a little time to decide what she wants to do. We had a couple of appointments with her this week but she is just not making progress and we feeling like we are just having to pull her along. It is hard to give someone back to the Lord but I know He will make sure that when the time is right, things will work out.
On Tuesday we went to the doctor’s appointment...and I am totally normal! He did say that my iron was a little low but nothing he is worried about. This week I have been feeling a lot better and I contribute that to your prayers. Thank you so much! The doctor just told me that I demand too much of myself and I need to take it easier. Zuster Jeffs started to laugh and said, "Zuster Sharp that is the 50th time you've heard that from 50 different people. Are you finally going to listen?!" I am trying to listen. I am really trying!
Tuesday evening we made dinner for Jolanda and Jeroen to thank them for everything they do for us! We made a rockin’ raspberry bread pudding...I can't wait to make it for you in a couple of weeks! We also had a lesson with Brigitte and she gave me the most amazing African skirt as a going away gift. It is awesome!
The consecrated hour project is going so well! So far we have contacted 350 people, found 10 potential investigators, and 3 new investigators. The faith of the members is working miracles! The ward is fired up about it!
We had a Zone Training on Thursday! I love being with all of the missionaries. It was sad to know that that was my last. I had to give my departing testimony. It was a great opportunity to stand and bear my testimony.
On Friday we had lessons with Silvester and Mary. Silvester is really struggling to make a decision so we are going to fast with him and Victoria and brother Scherf on Wednesday. I hope that he will have a strong confirmation of the truthfulness of these things. Mary is doing about the same. She came to church yesterday!
You might think I am crazy but I couldn't pass up the chance to bake 300 cookies this week for the members after church! I was a little smarter about it and I started on Saturday instead of Sunday. They ended up being a hit again! I also gave a sort of "farewell” talk in church and it was wonderful to be able to express my testimony, love, and gratitude to these wonderful people!
I am so looking forward to this coming week! I hope that you know that I love you! I know the Savior lives and I love Him!
Love, Laur

OH MY GOODNESS! A WEEK OF MIRACLES!!!

2011-02-21T20:00:00.000-08:00

Monday, February 21, 2011
Hello Family!
Thank you so much for your e-mails and your prayers in my behalf! You won't believe it but...I was sick another 3 days this week! WHAT?! I know, I was wondering the same thing! But I am now feeling better and even though I was sick we were still able to do so much work and see much success! The Lord poured out his blessings upon us!
By the way, thank you so much for the Valentine's package and cards! LOVED IT! The headband and necklace and earrings are adorable and the chocolate was delish! And your words of love and care meant the world to me. Thanks for always being so thoughtful and taking the time to do little things that just brighten my day! I hope that you had a very special Valentine's Day. We were able to go to the home of a recently divorced mother member and make dinner for her and her 1 year old son. Afterwards we went to Penninah's Bible Study and it was so cool! We sang some awesome African hymns and we had such a wonderful discussion with her and other church members about the Bible. On Thursday we went back and shared a first lesson with Penninah. It was a wonderful teaching situation because she was open to sharing her beliefs and we were open to sharing ours. Although she didn't agree immediately with what we believe in, she committed to pray about the things that we shared. It was so great to bear testimony. And then, she came to church yesterday! We were so excited to have her there. The members did so well at making her feel welcome and building up friendships with her. I believe that all of these small things will have a great impact in her life! I am excited to have another appointment with her this week and continue to share with her the message of the Restored Gospel.
Anyway, back to the beginning of the week a bit. On Tuesday we went to District Meeting in Leiden and on the way back I started to feel really crumby again. I couldn't believe it! But I pushed through and we went to our appointment with Gida with Victoria as our joint-teach. Gida ended up not being home and I think that was a blessing because by that time I was ready to lie down. We went back to our apartment and I crashed and didn't wake up until 5:30! I couldn't believe that I had slept that long but my body needed it. We rushed to our dinner appointment with Familie Peschier and made it through dinner but I was done after that. I slept through the night and tried to get up and start working the next day but I just didn't feel good. The Elders came and gave me a blessing and Sister Brubaker was updated on everything. She wanted me to set up an appointment with a doctor to get checked out because this was the third time that I was sick. Jolanda gave me a recommendation for a doctor and I called up and tried to get an appointment but because I have no Dutch insurance they wouldn't let me. I didn't really want to go to the doctor anyway because I feel like the reason I keep getting sick is not because there is something wrong with me but because my body is just tired! Anyway, by that time it was already 5:00 so it was too late to get a hold of another doctor. Luckily Zuster Jeffs was able to go to a couple of appointments with Victoria and another member, Carla van der Walt, came and stayed with me. The members do so much! On Wednesday night a new senior couple, the Evertons, who had just arrived the day before, came to visit and check on me. Sister Everton is a registered nurse and the sweetest lady ever! They brought beautiful tulips and chicken soup and just brightened our day. The next morning I was debating over whether or not I should try to get another appointment with another doctor. I prayed and told Heavenly Father that only if he arranged it I would go...I am so stubborn! A few minutes later we got a voicemail from Victoria and she told me that I had an appointment with a doctor the next day at 9:15. I couldn't believe it! Heavenly Father really made an appointment for me! I was able to work most of the day on Thursday. We had an appointment with Suleyka and things are going well with her. Friday I went to the doctor with Zuster Jeffs and the Evertons. The doctor couldn't find anything wrong but he sent me to the hospital to get blood drawn. I should find out the results tomorrow morning. I don't think that there is anything wrong...just keep praying for me! By Friday afternoon, after another appointment with Suleyka, I was worn out. We stopped at Zuster Navarro's to drop something off and I crashed again for 2 hours. What is going on with me! I get so embarrassed sometimes but I just have to laugh about it! Saturday we had a busy and full day and found lots of potential investigators! When we got home Saturday evening I got an itch to bake...and between Saturday evening and starting at 3:00 Sunday morning I was able to bake 250 cookies to share with the ward members after church again...CRAZY but so much fun! I love being able to do things like that every once in a while!
AHHH...I am out of time! I am feeling better now! I love this work and I am so excited for all that is taking place! I am also excited to see you in 3 weeks! I love you so much! I love Zuster Jeffs too...you asked about her! She is the most amazing companion ever! and of course, I love Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ! Have a great week!
Love, Laur

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

2011-02-14T07:00:00.001-08:00

Monday, February 14, 2011
Dear Family,
Oh, how I love you! I hope that you have a fabulous Valentine's Day and that you get to do something special to show the ones that you care about that you love them. Just know that I love you so much and I am so thankful for all that you do for me out of love! Jordan and Kristin, thanks so much for the cute little package! I loved everything and that was such a pleasant surprise, especially when I was sick! Brandt and Kelly, CONGRATULATIONS!!! I am so excited for baby number 4...and even more so because I know that I will be home for the delivery! YAY! Britt and Marianne, thanks so much for the e-mail and the cute picture with the chocolate letters...love it! Car, thanks for the pic of the chain...man, it is getting short! I am excited too :) And thank you all for the wonderful e-mails...you made my Valentine's Day extra special!
Well, I was sick for a little longer than I had expected! It was just about the same as last time! I wasn't able to work a full day until Friday so the week didn't quite go as planned but I learned a lot (hopefully I finally learned my lesson from being sick...I don't want it to happen a third time)! But the members helped us so much again and I just can't thank them enough. On Monday night we were supposed to make dinner for Jolanda and Jeroen because it was Jolanda's birthday but because I was sick they actually came and picked us up, made dinner for Zuster Jeffs while I slept on their couch, and then brought us back home. On Tuesday I stayed with Zuster Navarro while Zuster Jeffs went with the Elders to Leiden for a District Meeting. I had high hopes that when she got back I would feel well enough to go to all of our appointments that day but it was quite the opposite. We ended up staying at the Navarro's until 8 that night. Then when we left to catch the tram to get back home I started to feel really weak and woozy, so we went back in and waited until Zuster Peschier could come with her car to give us a ride back. It was so sweet of her! By Wednesday I had enough strength to go out to two appointments but that did me in. On Thursday I did a little more and by Friday I was able to do a whole day! I was just about going crazy lying in bed for those couple of days so I am so thankful that I can finally work again! Thanks for all of your prayers in my behalf!
Despite being sick the whole week, we have seen quite the miracles! We found a new investigator, Gida, and she is amazing! She is from Angola and she has 3 little children and a husband. We have already taught her twice and we are going again tomorrow! We can hardly wait. She has such a sincere desire and hunger to know that truth. I really think that she will progress. We also had an appointment with Silvester and he told us that he knows that Joseph Smith was a prophet who restored the church and that the Book of Mormon is true! I am so thankful that he was looking down at his Book of Mormon when he said that because I think I would have scared him with the look of excitement on my face. My jaw dropped and I was speechless! He knows the truth! Now he is praying to know if he should be baptized on March 5th! WAHOO!!! We didn't get to teach Suleýka's boyfriend because I was sick but that will hopefully happen this week.
Yesterday was pretty much one of the best days of my whole mission! We went to church and Mary and Suleyka attended as well. Afterwards we had lunch with Familie Gaster, the cutest little Dutch elderly couple in the world. Then we went to do a consecrated hour in the Lobelialaan, a street that Zuster Akkerman had chosen for our ward project. It was amazing! We knocked on a door and a young woman from Rowanda answered. She welcomed us right in and we had a most amazing 40 minute conversation about faith. The Spirit was so strong and there was a very immediate and special bond between us. We tried to share a scripture from the Book of Mormon with her but she was a little hesitant about it and asked if we wouldn't mind sharing one from the Bible instead. We were a tleast able to explain what the Book of Mormon is and what it means to us and then show her that we also believe in the Bible. At the end she invited us to come to a Bible study that she and her friends from her church have every week. We are going tonight and we are so excited! I know that Heavenly Father will bless us to know how we can share the message of the restored gospel in this situation! After our consecrated hour we went to dinner with the Elders at Jolanda and Jeroen's. We then finished the night with a sisters fireside at Familie Navarro's for all sister investigators and new members. Zuster Jeffs and I were in charge of the fireside and minutes before we still didn't really know what we were going to do but felt like we had done our best to prepare the whole week. The Spirit surely stepped in to help us and it was one of the sweetest experiences that I have ever had! It was one of those moments you never want to end! I loved it!
I am out of time! I love you and hope you can feel my excitement! The church is true!
Love, Zuster Sharp

Ik heb mijn toetje gekregen!=My dessert has been served!

2011-02-11T17:09:00.000-08:00

Monday, February 7, 2011
Dear Family!
How are you doing?! Time is just flying by! I am almost already a week into my last transfer and it's just going faster and faster every second! I LOVE MY NEW COMPANION!!! Her name is Zuster Jeffs and she is from Arizona! She is my little blessing sent straight from Heavenly Father to make my last 6 weeks the best ever! I picked her up on Wednesday at the train station and we just clicked from the moment that we met. It is like a breath of fresh air! She loves to be obedient and she loves the Netherlands and she loves the people and she loves missionary work...and I love her! We have been workin’ our little hearts out since the minute she got here and we have seen so many miracles! She can already speak amazing Dutch and we are teaching as a team. I know that she will be so prepared in 6 weeks to take over Den Haag and I put my full confidence and trust in her!
Well, on the down side, I have been hit with the flu again! I feel like I am reliving what happened 6 weeks ago when Zuster Hill arrived and I just can't believe it! On Friday and Saturday I started to not feel really well-really weak and shaky. Then yesterday morning I woke up quite nauseated and with a fever but I didn't want Zuster Jeffs to miss her first Sunday like Zuster Hill did so I just pushed through. I made it through RS and then I taught the lesson for sharing time in the second hour but by the time Sacrament Meeting was starting I was done. We stayed for the sacrament and then we snuck out and went backto our apartment. I climbed into bed and didn't come out for the rest of the night. We had a couple of appointments that we had to cancel but there was one dinner appointment with an inactive family that I didn't want to call off because it was our first one with this family and we really feel good about working with them. I began to say a prayer in my heart that we would be able to find some members to help us out if that was the will of the Lord. I texted one of the Jovo's and asked her if she had time to go to the appointment with Zuster Jeffs and she replied quickly with a resounding yes. I then texted Jolanda and asked if she could stay with me and she also quickly responded. I am so thankful for the willingness of the members here! Zuster Jeffs said that the appointment went really well! Since today is just our p-day I stayed in bed until 7, took a shower, and then climbed back into bed. Zuster Brubaker just wants me to take it easy today, and that is exactly what I am going to do. She counseled us to stay in tonight, which is hard, but if it will give me the energy I need for the rest of the week then it is worth it! Keep me in your prayers that I won't be in bed for 5 days like last time!
Like I said, with Zuster Jeffs, miracles are taking place! We started the member consecrated finding activity on Tuesday, the first of February, and it is AMAZING! We have already found 2 new investigators during our hours and we have many potential investigators! I feel like Heavenly Father is just opening the windows of heaven and pouring blessings out! I am so thankful for the faith and the prayers of the members. We keep receiving more and more cards in the mail...I think we have about 45 now and I think they'll just keep coming! Our investigators are doing okay. Silvester ended up cancelling our appointment this week because of work which was a bummer! Suleyka came to the JOVO Centrum on Thursday with her boyfriend and another friend. She is doing some awesome missionary work! Her boyfriend came up to us at the end and said that he wants to receive the lessons from us. MIRACLE! We are going to teach him at Suleyka's on Tuesday night. We also taught Mary on Friday with Shaila and she came to church on Sunday. We are being extremely blessed!
I hope that you are doing well and feel the love of the Savior as you go throughout your week! I love you so much! I love this work! I am so thankful for this extra time that I get to serve! I feel like there are some trials that are coming up (being sick) that I wasn't expecting, but that is always a time to grow and come closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Thanks for everything!
Love, Zuster Sharp

The Lord is so merciful!

2011-01-31T07:17:00.001-08:00

Monday, January 31, 2011
Dear Family,
I received a call from President Brubaker last night and found out that I am staying in Den Haag for my last transfer!!! WAHOO!!! I was so nervous about transfers because I have already been here so long and I was so relieved when I found out that my time on my mission will end here. I was quite shocked when President asked me to train again too! Actually, the past couple of days I had a lot of thoughts that I might be training again, and as I was talking to President it became clear that this is what Heavenly Father really wants. President said that he has had very distinct impressions over the past two days that I need to train this sister. He then expressed to me that he and the Lord have complete and full confidence that I can do it. It was a very humbling experience. I am up for the challenge! Zuster Hill has been the best thing for me over the past 6 weeks to keep me working and doing my best because I wanted to make the beginning of her mission the very best for her. I know that the new sister who will be coming on Wednesday will do the same. I am excited to see what the next 6 weeks will bring!
Silvester came to church yesterday!!!! That was the greatest miracle of the whole week! Since we started teaching him back in October we have been trying to get him to church and he just kept finding reasons not to come. On Saturday night I sent him a text, like I do every week, to remind him once again (in case he forgot) that church begins at 10:00 and he is ALWAYS welcome to come. He replied and said that he was coming! I was jumping up and down and Zuster Hill couldn't figure out what had gotten into me! Once she found out, she gave the same reaction. We actually went to his house Sunday morning and rode with him to church. He loved it! I really think that he is getting closer and closer to baptism! Suleyka is doing okay...still really finding it difficult to put the gospel as one of her top priorities. But it will come! A couple other highlights of the week include a consecrated hour where we taught 6 lessons (that never happens...but it did this week), making dinner for Familie Nwankor (an inactive family), and receiving lots and lots of cards from the members for the consecrated hour project. We are starting that this week!
I just want you to know that I love you and that I know this gospel is true. Have a great week. I love you!
Love, Laur

Count your many blessings!

2011-01-27T07:05:00.000-08:00

Monday, January 24, 2011
Dear Mom and Dad,
How are you doing?! From skimming over your e-mails before printing them I can tell that you have had a great time in Oregon! I am so happy that you have been able to spend some good quality time with Grandma and the other Oregonians! I am praying that you will have a safe trip home and a wonderful week!
Things here are going great! We got all of our cards sent out for the consecrated hour activity (we sent 100 of them) and it is already producing so much enthusiasm about missionary work! Yesterday at church everyone was talking about it and it was actually mentioned in every lesson and talk given! The members can't wait to see the miracles that come from it and we can't wait either! We still are struggling with our investigators and we just can't seem to find any new ones. We are hoping that this activity is the key to really getting a big boost. No matter what happens, I know that Heavenly Father is aware of the efforts the members and we are making to spread the gospel and that all things are in his hands!
I love you so much and I hope that you have a great week! You are always in my prayers! Tell the fam I say hello!
Love, Laur

These are going to be the best 2 months of my life!

2011-01-27T06:48:00.000-08:00

Monday, January 17, 2011
Dear Family!!!
How are you all doing!? Thanks so much for the inbox full of e-mails this morning! I am so excited to go back and really read them to know what is going on at home right now. Thanks for all of your love and prayers and support. I really felt it this week unlike any other time in my mission and I am so grateful for that. Prayer really works!
Well, this has been another great week! I don't think I have ever had a bad week but they just keep getting better and better! Investigators are doing okay. I don't know why but we are just struggling to find those who really are ready and prepared to take the necessary steps to baptism. But we will find them! And we are still trying to help Suleyka, Mary, and Silvester take those steps! Suleyka is still doing really well and is still positive that she will be baptized but we still haven't been able to arrange an appointment with her and the Bishop to talk about tithing. We hope that we can arrange that soon! We know that Satan is really throwing things in her path to stop her from coming closer to Christ through the Restored Gospel. She just got hired for a job with which she has to work most Sundays. She also just started dating someone really seriously. It's not that either of the things are bad, it is just that she has to make choices as to what takes first priority in her life. I hope that she'll stay strong and choose to come closer to her Heavenly Father! We met with Mary on Friday night and it was a really good appointment. She is just difficult to meet with regularly because she is a mother of two, with a job, going to school, and having relationship problems. I hope that we can also continue to help her and we are really relying on Heavenly Father to know how. Silvester is doing great but we just CANNOT get him to come to church! We are thinking that we might let him rest for a little bit of time and see if that will kind of re-boot him and get him excited again about the gospel. We are also pouring our hearts out to Heavenly Father that we will be able to find new investigators! We can't wait to see what this week will bring!
On Thursday we had a Zone Conference in Breda and that was really great! It always is! We talked about being more effective with finding and how we can find new investigators. That is what we are struggling with as a mission right now. Well, President started something new to get us more enthusiastic about talking to people. He added a key indicator where we have to report the number of people we contacted that week. I am so excited about the new addition to the key indicators! We started counting on Friday and within 3 days we had contacted a total of 166 people! It was really cool because every time I felt satisfied with the number of people I had talked to during our consecrated finding I would think about a video clip that President had shared at Zone Conference. It was from some football movie that came out when I was already on my mission. There was one of the players that the coach wanted to do the death crawl to the 50yard line blindfolded with a teammate on his back. He didn't think that he could do it but with the encouragement of the coach and mostly through his own will power he made it to the end zone. That really touched me and motivated me. I would begin to ask myself if I had really done my best and given all that I had to give. Well, every time I was able to push myself above what I thought I was capable of. On Friday during our consecrated hour we contacted 30 people and I was pleased with that. On Saturday I wanted to push myself a little harder and we were able to contact 34 people. Yesterday, because we had to do a double consecrated hour, I had a goal to contact atleast70 people. But when I realized at the end of our first hour we had contacted 62, I decided to move my goal to 100. We ended up contacting 102! I was so excited and had a fire to keep talking to people. I am excited to see how many we contact this week!
Zone Conference really got me fired up about being creative with missionary work! I have had an idea in my head to get the whole ward here involved in missionary work by getting all of them to help us missionaries pick consecrated hours (special hours when we go contacting) and pray for us as we go finding. Well my idea is finally coming into action! We have 100 families or members who are active or positive towards the church. We have decided to send a letter out to each of them with an assigned date and invite them to pick a street, neighborhood, or area where we can go finding every day in the month of February. We are going to have a ward fast on that fast Sunday that we will see miracles. Between the three sets of missionaries here in Den Haag we hope to do a total of 100 hours of consecrated finding. I am so excited about it and I know that the Lord will assist us! I will let you know how the plan comes along! We'll be sending the letters to the members this week!
I love you with all of my heart! I love this work! I fall in love with it more and more every day as I meet more and more of God's children and come to understand a little more God's plan for us! You are in my prayers always!
Love, Zuster Sharp

This is the Refiner's Fire!

2011-01-27T06:35:00.000-08:00

Monday, January 10, 2011
Hey Mom and Dad,
How are you doing?! I hope that you have had a wonderful week! As I was glancing over your e-mails before printing them I can see that things are going pretty well...YAY! I love hearing that you are happy and healthy! I am praying for Grandma and Grandpa and I hope that Grandma gets feeling better and gets to come home from the hospital soon! All of you are always in my thoughts and prayers!
This week of missionary work has been awesome! We had 2 appointments with Suleyka and she came to church on Sunday. She is really getting so well received by the members and she says that she is feeling so much at home. She is changing so much and she said this week that she knows that she will be getting baptized in 2011 but she doesn't quite know when. I hope sooner than later but I know that Heavenly Father has a time for everything. She is going to be having an appointment with the Bishop this next week so that he can help her resolve her concerns about tithing. I think that will be really good for her! We also had 2 appointments with Silvester and he is going with us to Victoria's tonight to watch "The Testaments". He also says that he imagines himself getting baptized and he also brought up the baptismal interview. There is only one little problem...he has never come to church! We have done everything we can think of to help him but we just don't know what to do now. We are just trying to help him develop a desire within himself. Florence came with us to the Jovo Centrum on Thursday and she couldn't be happier and more excited about the gospel! It is difficult to set steady appointments with her (Africans are difficult to make appointments with) but we know that as long as we keep trying, it will come! Sophie is a sad story! We went there on Tuesday with a member, Nadeline, who speaks Spanish. Well, Sophie had invited two of her friends over to listen too and it just ended up bad! The two friends said that we were a sect and that Joseph Smith was not a prophet and it was getting pretty heated, but it was all in Spanish! We didn't know what to do but Nadeline took care of it and although she left in tears all of our testimonies were strengthened from it. I hope that one day Sophie will come to know that truth for herself! We also had many members that came on joint-teach this week for the first time! That is always so exciting! The work here in Den Haag is amazing and the Lord is pouring out his blessings upon us!
I love you so much and I pray for you. I know that God lives and that we are His children. I know that He loves us! Have a great week!
Love, Laur

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! IT IS 2011!

2011-01-10T08:50:00.000-08:00

Monday, January 3, 2011

Dear Family and Friends! Happy New Year! I hope that you had a wonderful time welcoming in 2011 and Mom; I hope you had an especially great day! Happy Birthday to you! New Year's here is crazy! They do TONS of fireworks...it sounds like a war zone and it can be almost as dangerous as a war zone! Because of that, we had to be in our apartment at 4pm on New Year's Eve. We were well taken care of by the members, Familie Jongejan, who so kindly made an "after 4 pm" survival kit for us with alcohol free drinks and oliebollen (the traditional Dutch New Year's treat)! Zuster Hill and I enjoyed dinner together, used some of the time to set some goals and do some planning, and I ended up baking 234 chocolate chip cookies (I don't really know what I was thinking...I guess we're stocked for the year :)! All in all it was a good night and we enjoyed the millions of fireworks from our window!

I just have to take a minute to thank all of you! Thanks so much for the e-mails and the cards and the gifts and the packages for the holidays! They sure made my holiday season so bright! I can't wait until I get home and I can do something really special to serve all of you...it's gonna be great!

Well, I have to be honest; this was one of the greatest preparation days of my life! I know, you're probably thinking that I went to a great museum or I saw a really cool monument or something....no! I folded laundry, did the dishes, and vacuumed the floor! I don't know what it is but I just miss doing those little things for other people. So, last night as I was biking and thinking I had the idea to call up Zuster Broekman and ask her if I could come and to a few things to help her out while Zuster Hill wrote letters. I knew that Zuster Broekman had been sick all of the last week and that her 4 little ones
were going back to school today and I just figured that she could maybe use some help getting her house back in order after the holidays. When I called her up she declined at first but after I told her that it was something that I really wanted to do and that it would actually be more of a service for me, she approved! I loved it! It was so fun to be able to serve someone again in that way! So save up all of your laundry, dishes, deep cleaning cause I am coming home to help you with all of it! I am such a nut!

I hate to tell you this again but missionary work was kind of on hold once again this last week! The holidays just put a stop to almost everything! But we had quite the miracle yesterday! We went to lookup a potential investigator yesterday who we had met on Christmas Eve during our consecrated hour. We had given her a copy of “Joy to the World” then and she gave us her address. Well when we went by yesterday she was so excited to see us and she welcomed us right in. She comes from the Dominican Republic, her name is Sophie, and she has two young daughters (9 and 11 years old). She believes in God and attends church every week but mentioned that she still has a hunger for more. She wants to continue learning more from God's word and she wants to come closer to him. She was divorced a few years ago, just after she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She is very humble and at a point where she is open for the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. Zuster Hill and I had such a good feeling about her. We told her that God had placed us in her path to share His love with her. We asked her if we could come back 2 or 3 times in the week and teach her more. She then asked us if she could come to church with her 2 girls next Sunday! We are really looking forward to our appointment on Tuesday!

We also had another new investigator in Sacrament Meeting yesterday. We found him on the bus and he gave us his phone number and address. We texted him on Sunday morning just to let him know about church and he actually came! His name is Ramanapaul. We have an appointment with him, Silvester (who we thought was Cevesta), Suleyka, and Mary this week! Oh, and we also had an awesome appointment with Florence! We finally were able to have an appointment with her on Friday and she had read the whole Plan of Salvation pamphlet. We brought little cutouts of the Plan of Salvation to help her understand it a little better and she just took all of the pieces and laid it right out in
order. She is moving along so great!

We had another baptism here on Tuesday. Barbara was baptized! The Elders did most of the teaching but we had gone by a couple of times to share a lesson. It was so great to see the change that has taken
place in her life since she has received the gospel and to see how happy she is. That is why this work is the greatest work ever!

Well, I hope that you know that I love you but just in case you ever wonder I'll tell you one more time...I LOVE YOU! I love this gospel too! I know that the church was restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith. I know that Christ lives! I know that the Book of Mormon is true! I know that 2011 is going to be a wonderful year and I look forward to all of the experiences that it will bring! Have a great week and enjoy January!

Love, Zuster Sharp

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

2011-01-10T08:30:00.000-08:00

Monday, December 27, 2010
Hey Family! It was FABULOUS to be able to talk to you! I really don't think that it could have been better! After I got off of the phone with you I felt so uplifted and happy and pleased with our time that we had to converse with one another. Thank you for always making it such an awesome and special experience! And thank you for all taking the time to come together on the busy Christmas day so that I can talk to each one of you. I am so thankful for that! I think that is was definitely easier to hang up this time (and with a lot less tears:)) because I know that I will be seeing you in a short 12 weeks. Then I will have all of the time in the world to talk...I am so looking forward to that! But until then let's make the next two and a half months of 2011 the best ever!
I just have to thank all of you for the wonderful Christmas cards and presents and money and support that you gave. You made Christmas so special for me and I could feel of your love! I hope that Sinter Klaas will make a stop to West Jordan soon with a special delivery for you all!
I had a great 2nd Christmas in the Netherlands! Yesterday, for the2nd Christmas Day (yes, the Dutch people are genius to have two official Christmas days...just more time to celebrate and be together)we had a full and busy day! We started out with a breakfast with the four other elders at Familie Scherf's. We had food galore and we really enjoyed our time together. There was definitely a special Christmas spirit there. We read the Christmas story together and then sang Christmas hymns around the piano. At 10:30 we headed out the door to church and we just had a Sacrament Meeting/Christmas Service. It was wonderful to be together with all of the members, especially on Christmas and especially after missing church last week. Suleyka came to the service so that was really great! After church all 6 of us missionaries and Quincy (a member who was baptized in June) went caroling. I had wanted to do it the whole month and I finally talked all of the other missionaries into it. We started at Familie Scherf's and then went next door to the Navarro's. We got spoiled by the Navarro's-they let us in and gave us turkey sandwiches, Christmas bread, and warm hot chocolate! They then gave us a referral-they sent us to sing for one of their neighbors around the corner. When we showed up, he invited us to come in and sing for all of the family and their guests, and then they referred us to someone else and it just went on and on for 3 hours. It was awesome and some of my favorite finding ever! Because of the Christmas season people are more open and we were able to share the Christmas spirit! At about 5 we went to a dinner appointment (yes, our third eating appointment in one day...I don't ever want to eat again!) with Carla van der Walt, a member who was baptized about a year ago. She treated us like royalty and we enjoyed every minute with her! We sure were spoiled this Christmas and no matter how much we tried to serve other people, we ended up receiving so much more in return!
Investigators are doing pretty good. We have had contact with all of them over the past week but still because of the holidays things are a little crazy. We already have a few appointments for this next week with them. I am looking forward to it and I will keep you posted on their progress. Thanks for your prayers in their behalf!
Well, I don't have too much info from Zuster Fritz and Zuster Pierson but I'll give you what I've got:
Zuster Jillian Fritz
South Jordan

Zuster Emily Pierson
1974 West 8660 South
West Jordan, UT 84088
I hope that you can get in contact with them. I know that they would love it!
I want you to know that I LOVE YOU! You are the best family ever and you are always in my prayers! I hope that you have a very happy new year and a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! Thank you for your love and support!
Love, Zuster Sharp

It was not quite the week I was planning on...this one has GOT to be better!

2010-12-20T07:16:00.000-08:00

Monday, December 20, 2010
Hello Family! Time is ticking and getting closer and closer to Christmas...and that means that we get to talk to each other! I am so looking forward to hearing all of your voices and feeling the love! We have a pretty crazy Christmas day schedule so I was wondering if you want to call at 12:30 Utah time, 8:30 here. I am getting giddy just thinking about it! I look forward to it!
Well this week was a week like none other that I have experienced! It was pretty emotional from the minute that Zuster Pierson had it confirmed that she was going to be going home on Saturday. The members were really great and made sure that she had a really special week before going home. Our family home evening was fabulous with Familie Broekman and we really enjoyed the last little bit of our time together. Well, just before our last appointment together, I got hit hard with something! I had a sore throat, fever, ear pain; aches and chills and that put me in bed! I remained there the whole night on Thursday and was just praying that I would be ready to go on Friday to take Zuster Pierson to the station and pick up my greenie. Friday morning I was not feeling any better but I had no choice to stay home so me and Zuster Pierson headed out at 5:30 in the morning to be where we needed to be on time. There was a huge snow storm so getting around was almost impossible! After sending Zuster Pierson off at11:30, I just couldn't stand at the station any longer, so two of the Elders escorted me to Zuster Navarro's, the RS president here. She was so sweet and took such good care of me! I actually ended up lying on her couch until 9:00 that night because the greenies all got stranded in Brussels at the mission home because of the big storm. Zuster Garvin made it up to Den Haag from Rotterdam and stayed the night with me in my apartment. Saturday wasn't any better and I stayed in bed the whole day again. My greenie showed up at about 1:30and she is so sweet! I wasn't very chipper but tried to give her a warm welcome! Her name is Zuster Hill and she is from Portland, Oregon. I really love her!!! The Elders gave me a blessing and I was really grateful for that. Poor Zuster Hill stayed in the whole day but I just felt so guilty about it so I arranged that she would get picked up by Familie Peschier that night to go to the baptism and I would go and stay with Familie Navarro again. Members were so good and we got showered with everything I could possibly need to get feeling better. On Sunday I got up and took a shower but just had no strength to get ready and make it to church...so we spent another whole day inside! Concetta and Jessie, two of the Jovos here, showed up at 4:30 and went on splits with Zuster Hill so that she could do something. I was finally able to eat something last night, a little bowl of chicken broth and a half of a banana. I still haven't eaten or had anything to drink today. I actually stepped on the scale this morning and saw that I've lost 9 pounds in the last 4 days. I think that I really am getting better though and now I am just working on getting my strength back. I just wanted you so bad Mom! I am just so thankful for prayer and that Heavenly Father was always close by me. I think that physically and emotionally I was just worn out! I think that Zuster Pierson going home really played a bigger role on me than I had imagined. But I am excited to start a new week, especially the week of Christmas, and have it go better! I feel really blessed and I am so thankful for all of your prayers and the prayers of the members here. You don't ever have to worry about me because they take such good care of me!
So I have no information about the work here...we weren't able to do any! I will keep you posted on the investigators next week!
I wish you all the Merriest Christmas ever! I can't wait to talk to you! I love you so much!
Love, Zuster Sharp

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

2010-12-20T07:15:00.002-08:00

Monday, December 13, 2010
Hey Family! I hope that you have had a great week and are enjoying the countdown until Christmas! I received e-mails from you except I don't think that the one got sent from your iPad Mom. I didn't get too many details about Grandma and Grandpa but enough to know that they aren't doing too well. They are in my prayers as well as all of you. It's hard to know that you have all had a rocky week but I hope that this week is better. I know that Heavenly Father is aware of all of us and that brings so much peace.
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM AND DAD (on the 15th)! I hope that you have a special day and get to do something memorable together!
This week has been quite an emotional one...kind of a roller coaster! There have been both the ups and the downs but overall I am thankful for all that has taken place. The Zone Conference and Christmas Concert were absolutely fabulous! We had about 200 guests(members and nonmembers) show up for the concert and the spirit of Christmas was so strong! It was a lot of fun to come together as missionaries and, through singing, bear testimony of the Savior. The Brubakers made the day really special by providing us with a Brubaker tradition fondue lunch. It was delicious! The whole day was one that I will never forget!
On Saturday we actually found out that Zuster Pierson will be leaving her mission this Friday due to health problems. I could just cry! It's been quite emotional over the past couple of days but she really feels like it is what Heavenly Father wants, although it is not what she would want. It's hard to know that she is going home when I should be and I am staying. But I am thankful that I chose to stay a couple more transfers because if I didn't they would have to close one of the sister cities. So with transfers this week I am almost positive that I will be staying in Den Haag a 5th transfer (Wahoo!) and President let me know at the Zone Conference that I will be getting a greenie and training again. President will be calling tonight about transfers so I will know for sure but I think I will be in Den Haag for Christmas...that's a blessing! It's a little bittersweet! I am definitely excited to be training but I just wish that Zuster Pierson wasn't ending this transfer the way she will be. I am just so thankful that we have been able to serve together for the past 4 1/2months and I really look forward to ending this transfer with a bang with her!
Investigators and members are doing great! Suleyka is still praying about tithing but tea is no more a problem. Florence came to the centrum again and she is now an official investigator. We had 2 lessons with her and she is reading in the Book of Mormon! She is really doing great! And Mary is also doing well, and Cevesta, and Eric. We are just really being blessed! We have had a lot of great Christmas-based lessons with the members this past week but I am pretty sure that tonight will be my favorite! We are going to Familie Broekman's tonight and we are going to act the nativity out with them and make sugar cookies! A Sharp family special taking place here in the Netherlands! Zuster Pierson spent all of last night gathering things for the costumes and I think it will be a hit! I will take lots of pictures so that you can see how it goes. And the member chain is going great! Yesterday at church many members shared their experiences with us of the miracles they have seen happen since they began doing the chain. It is really uniting us!
Thank you so much for your prayers in behalf of OUR investigators! I love you so much and I hope that you have a great Christmas filled week! You are always in my thoughts and prayers!
Love, Zuster Sharp

It'll be a white Christmas!

2010-12-20T07:15:00.001-08:00

Monday, December 6, 2010
Hello Family! How are you doing?! I hope that you are enjoying every moment of this Christmas season! We have sure got the Christmas weather here in the Netherlands! We got hit with quite a bit of snow this past week and have experienced a couple days of extreme cold weather but my heart is warm with the joy of the reason of the season...Jesus Christ!
I just want to apologize now for not being so good at letter writing as I would like to be! We haven't had a normal preparation day for the past month with the church move and preparing for the missionary Christmas concert we will be putting on this week and so I have been so behind on replying to your love and motivation filled letters! I just want you to know that I appreciate them and I will be sending a letter back as soon as possible. Just know that I am thinking of you and praying for you and that you will get a letter soon!
We have seen so many miracles this week! We were asked by the Relief Society President to come up with some kind of Christmas/missionary activity for the ward to do during the month of December and present yesterday at church. Knowing that members are very busy, especially in December, we wanted to come up with something that was achievable but also motivating. After much prayer and consideration we decided to do a Christmas countdown chain (a little tacky, I know!). We spent most of the day on Saturday making 100 chains for every household in the ward. On each chain link there is a small assignment with a relating scripture (ex:read the Christmas story in the Bible, Luke 2,etc.). Some of the assignments are a little more difficult than others, such as giving a Book of Mormon away as a Christmas gift, but will really encourage missionary miracles to happen. As we passed the chains out yesterday, the members were so excited and really committed to do it! I can't wait to be able to see the small results that come from all of the members doing these small and simple things...because they are the things that produce great miracles!
We lost contact with Suleyka most of the week and we were really worried about her. After fasting with her last week we thought things were going really well but then we couldn't reach her. We were just devastated! Last night we had a little extra time so we texted her to ask if we could drop by. She explained in her text back that she would love it if we would come and that she was sorry for the lost contact throughout the week....she was out of town visiting her aunt and her phone had died and she didn't have her charger with her. We couldn't have been more relieved! We went by and it was the most amazing appointment! She has changed so much. She explained different situations she had throughout last week with prayer and reading and then she dropped the best surprise on us of all..."I really would like to be baptized. Do you feel like I am ready?" We were speechless! An overwhelming feeling of love flooded over me and Zuster Pierson and we both felt like we received a small glimpse of the love Heavenly Father has for her. We assured her that she is ready. She still has a few concerns with tithing and tea...she's not unwilling to pay tithing but she just needs the faith to do it. We are going to take her some tea tonight that she can drink and we are going to pray and decide with her if she will be baptized on the 18thor 30th of December. It is so exciting and such a blessing! Thanks for your prayers in her behalf!
We also are teaching Florence and Eric now, two amazing and promising investigators! Florence is the niece of Isatu, one of the members that was baptized in June. She just moved here to live with Isatu and when we were there last week teaching Isatu and her children we invited Florence, who is now 17, to come to the JOVO Centrum with us. She agreed! She came on Thursday night and loved it and asked if she could attend every Monday and Thursday! Of course! She also came to church yesterday and she is just the cutest thing ever! We feel really good about her, especially because she is in the perfect environment right now to learn about the Restored Gospel. Eric is a 50 year old man that we met a couple of weeks ago and we taught for the first time yesterday. He accepted a baptismal date for the 30thof December! We had an amazing joint-teach with us and he is really what I would call "Golden". Mary and Cevesta and Rose are also doing well. Thanks for your faith and prayers for all of them!
I want you to know that I love you and I am so excited to talk to you in 20 days! It's a little harder than I thought, knowing that I could be going home in a week and a half but I have faith and trust in the Lord and I absolutely love the work! God lives, Christ is His son, and this is His gospel! I love you!
Love, Zuster Sharp

Happy Sinter Klaas on December 5!!!

2010-11-30T07:42:00.000-08:00

Monday, Nov. 29, 2010
Hey Family! How was your Thanksgiving?! I have been thinking about you and how thankful I am for you all week! I had a FABULOUS Thanksgiving! I started the day out bright and early (3:50 to be exact) by putting the pumpkin in the oven. Yeah, I had another one of my crazy ideas! I decided on Wednesday night that I just couldn't go another Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie! The only problem is that in the Netherlands you cannot buy pumpkin in a can. We have a pretty great "Better Homes and Gardens" recipe book in our apartment and it tells how to use a real pumpkin for making pies and different pumpkin desserts. So Wednesday night I got started by cleaning the pumpkin out and cutting it into bakeable pieces and then I finished it off onThursday morning. We went over to the church at 9 on Thursday and we took our pumpkin pie and other Thanksgiving treats with. We went there to help the Primary presidency clean up and pack up all of their materials in preparation for the church renovation. After a few hours of working, we surprised the presidency with fresh pumpkin pie and whipped cream, along with a vegetable and cracker platter with ranch dip. We had a fun little pre-Thanksgiving feast for lunch! Afterwards we did some finding and had a few appointments before going to Familie Koot's for the real feast. They had everything you could imagine! The whole table was filled and their home was filled with warmth and love. Along with us and the Elders being there, another young couple and little girl from the ward came and another young couple who are not members plus Br. and Sis. Koot and their 4 little kids. I think that it was the closest I could get to really feeling at home for the holiday and it was wonderful! We were stuffed by the time we left there to go to institute at the church and then we had to stop by one more member on the way home because she had made us something special for Thanksgiving. We were treated like royalty! I haven't wanted to eat for the past couple of days because I have been so stuffed! But I will never forget the wonderful memories of this last Thanksgiving of my mission!
This week was a week of member work! We spent a lot of our time serving and helping those in need in the ward and it has really helped me to feel the spirit of this Christmas season! On Saturday we went to Jolanda and Jeroen's house because Jeroen (a non member) wanted to teach us how to make Speculaas and Kruidennoten, two of the most famous treats baked for Sinter Klaas. It was so great to be able to learn from him! He is not investigating yet but I feel like every time we see him he gets closer and closer to Christ. After we baked many cookies we packaged them up to give to investigators this week. It will be fun to share something with them for this holiday season! And as we were headed from Jolanda's and Jeroen's we even found a surprise stuffed in our shoes from "Sinter Klaas"! The members make sure that we are taken care of!
We taught Iteke this week and she had read the pamphlet about the Plan of Salvation and she began with the Book of Mormon. She really is worried about changing her beliefs but she feels the spirit as she reads and I know that God is aware of her and will help her. We didn't have any appointments with Cevesta this week which is just too bad! He was just really busy. Suleyka is doing awesome! We had a few appointments, she came to institute and dinner with a member, she came to church, and she fasted with us yesterday to know if she should be baptized on December 18! She is really progressing! She'll be coming with us to a couple more members this week so it will be really good! Rose and her two grandchildren came to church yesterday too! We hope to teach them tonight!
Thank you so much for your love and support! I love this season that we have to celebrate the birth of Christ. Even though we will be far apart for the holidays, my thoughts and prayers are always with you! I can feel your warmth and love all of the way over here in the Netherlands! I love you!
Love,Laur

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

2010-11-30T07:37:00.000-08:00

Monday, November 22, 2010
Hey Family! I can't believe that you have had so much snow in the past couple of days! The winter season has finally hit! It is pretty chilly here but at least we have no snow...yet! Are you getting excited about all of the holidays coming up? I just can't believe that Thanksgiving is this week! We were invited to go to a Thanksgiving with Familie Koot and the four elders here in Den Haag which I am sure will be a lot of fun! Sister Koot's mom is from America so she knows how to make a real Thanksgiving dinner with all of the fixins’ so I am sure that we will be spoiled! I will be thinking of you and especially how THANKFUL I am for all of you! I hope that you have a very Happy Thanksgiving full of love and gratitude!
We had a week of miracles again...I don't think I will ever not have one on my mission! Our teaching pool has been filled and we are busier than ever! Cevesta still has a baptismal date for the 18th of December and he is working towards that. He is keeping his commitments to read and he really hungers for the truth as we teach him. We are hoping to give him a church tour this week! Mary is also getting so much more interested in the gospel and what the Restoration means to her personally. She came to church yesterday and the ward members are receiving her very well. She is planning on attending allof the holiday festivities with the ward and we can see that her desires and testimony are growing and changing. Suleyka, an investigator that the elders were teaching that they passed to us, is on the verge of having a baptismal date too! She is 22 and so amazing! She has been taught all of the lessons but now needs to develop a testimony and receive a confirmation that the things that we are teaching are true. She's coming right along! Rose came to a church tour on Saturday with her 2 grandchildren! We were so excited that she actually showed up! You know, I think I let myself get so casual with the church buildings that we have and that we are blessed to be able to use but during the church tour I was reminded that the church buildings are dedicated buildings and that the Spirit is present there. I could feel it as we walked with Rose through the building! When we entered the chapel there was a special peace and warmth that flooded over all of us. She committed to come to church this next Sunday! And do you remember Kimberly? The one who never wanted to come to the church again? Well, every once in a while we get a feeling that we need to just call her up. I got that feeling on Friday and after the conversation on the phone I knew exactly why! She made an appointment to meet with us the next day, Saturday, and we had an excellent appointment! She has been reading in the Book of Mormon on her own and she said that she would come to the YSA center this coming Thursday and that she will definitely come back to church! I have such a special and deep love for her and I know that Heavenly Father's love for her is even stronger. I know that she feels the Spirit but all of the changes that would come with becoming a member of the church seem so overwhelming to her. Her family is really active in their Methodist faith and I think that she is scared with how they would react to her joining another church. I hope that she'll have the strength and faith to do it! We also have a new woman that we are teaching, Iteke Blauwer. She is 61 and her husband passed away from cancer 2 years ago. When we knocked on her door she told us that she had a Book of Mormon sitting on her shelf in her living room. She invited us in and sure enough she had one there! It was one of the older versions that her husband had received when he had investigated over 20 years ago. It is really wonderful because she is open to the gospel because it was something important to her husband. She wants to learn more about the Plan of Salvation, especially life after this life, and we can't wait to teach her this week!
We also had a Zone Training Meeting this week and we talked about extending commitments to people as well as ways we can reach our goal of 150 baptisms for the year 2010! We have already had 111 so we are really close! Please pray that we can reach our goal!
Thanks so much for all of your love and support and prayers! I am so thankful for all of you and for my Savior Jesus Christ. I am so thankful for the plan that Heavenly Father created for us that brings us so much joy, happiness and hope! Have a great week! I love you!!!!
Love, Lauren

I am pullin a 4th transfer in Den Haag with Zuster Pierson!!!

2010-11-08T08:20:00.000-08:00

Monday, November 8, 2010
Hey Fam! How was your week?! Can you believe we are already well into the month of November? Crazy, huh! Well, a lot happened this week so I will fill you right in! But before I get started I just wanted to thank you for the AWESOME package! I finally got it on Wednesday and it was like Christmas! Me and Zuster Pierson were both dying about how cute the boots are! And they are so warm too! I also love having my brown boots and the Temple Ensign and the notes! THANKYOU SO MUCH!
Well, Ronald's baptism didn't end up going through. It was a sad couple of days but we definitely had the confirmation that it was the right thing. He was so excited and so set on getting baptized on November 6 and his baptismal interview went well on Tuesday but we had an appointment with him on Wednesday morning and he told us that he had slipped and smoked one time the night before. He didn't want to admit or think that that would stop his baptism from going through and I didn't really know how to address the situation right there in our appointment with our joint-teach member so I just went on with the lesson. Turns out that Zuster Pierson didn't catch the part in Dutch when he said he had smoked so it was a test of my integrity as to whether I was going to call the baptism off or just go through with it and hope that everything worked out. But I knew that I could not lie to my Heavenly Father and I knew that it would be best for Ronald if he wasn't baptized until he was fully living the Word of Wisdom. I called President Brubaker up and explained the situation and he got back to us really quickly. He had one of the Zone Leaders, Elder Wells get in contact with Ronald to try to work things out. It was a little intense and I have never prayed so hard in my life that Ronald's heart would be soft to receive the news. Ronald was pretty persistent and he and Elder Wells finally made an appointment to meet together so they could talk face to face and come to an agreement about what the will of the Lord was. They met together on Friday morning, right before we had an appointment set with Ronald. They prayed together and Ronald said that he still felt really good about it all, but Elder Wells knew it wasn't the right thing. Since Ronald just wouldn't take no for an answer, and our appointment was supposed to be starting, Elder Wells sent him into us and he went out to call President to ask for further advice. That appointment was difficult! I could see that Ronald was not open for the spirit and was not humble to be taught and we all knew that his baptism just couldn't go through. At the end of the appointment Elder Wells pulled him into a separate room to tell him that he could not get baptized on Saturday. I am so thankful that Elder Wells was so willing to do all of that! Ronald was really upset and without saying goodbye he rushed out of the church to work. We didn't know what was going to happen! When we got home we saw that we had missed a call from him so I called him back. He said that he was quite disappointed but that he felt that it was right. We felt such a sense of relief and were so thankful! He said that he was willing to work towards baptism the next week. WAHOO! We went further with our day and when we got out of another appointment we saw that we had a new message from Ronald. When I listened to the message I was in pure shock. He told us that he never wanted to meet with us again and that he would never join the church! I just wanted to cry! I called back and talked to him and he was not open for anything. After that he sent a lot of unkind texts and it ended in such a sad way. I am still hoping and praying, along with all of the ward members here, that he will come back around. He can do it!
So we are pretty much back at square one with missionary work, everyone has dropped us or lost interest. It is great though! The Lord has a plan for us and we continue to see miracles! Thank you for your prayers and support! THEY HELP! I love you all so much and I hope that you have a wonderful week! These are the last days and Satan’s influence is strong but as we continue reading the scriptures and praying we will have the Lord's power to overcome all temptations. I know that is true! I LOVE YOU!
Love, Lauren

Ronald is getting baptized this week!!!

2010-11-08T08:01:00.000-08:00

Ronald is getting baptized this week!!!
Monday, November 1, 2010
Hey Family! Thanks so much for your words of love and support in your e-mails this week! I have felt your prayers in my behalf and I am so stoked to be able to serve the Lord for an extra 6 weeks. That's not something that very many missionaries get to experience so I consider myself very blessed!!! I think that it is so funny that you thought that it was Glen part 2...with the way that it all happened I don’t blame you! I called President last Monday and he was certainly surprised that I already knew and that you knew too. I think that that e-mail was definitely not supposed to be sent but I figure that the way that it happened was the way it was meant to be! President assured me that it is definitely the will of the Lord that it all happened and that he is grateful that I will be here for another 6 weeks. I am so grateful too! I am just excited to keep serving and trying to fulfill the things that the Lord expects of me.
Going to the temple on Tuesday was a huge blessing to be able to think about things, especially the extension, and get the confirmation again that it is right. Being in the temple two times in one month was absolutely incredible! It was also great to get together for Zone Conference again. By the way, we are having a special sister’s conference today and that is why my e-mail is so late. This is a onetime only thing and all of the sisters in the mission are all here in the mission home right now. We left Den Haag this morning at 7 and we arrived in Brussels at 10. We got to spend a couple of hours together at the Grand Plaza shopping and enjoying a Belgian Waffle. We then went to the mission office for lunch and training from President and Sister Brubaker about the Book of Mormon. It was really powerful! I am so thankful for that book and I know that it is a witness of the divinity of Christ and the evidence that the Church of Jesus Christ was restored. I love it so much! After the training we came to the mission home, had dinner, and now we are e-mailing and having a movie night watching the "Preach My Gospel" DVDs and eating popcorn. We will have a short council after the movie and then hit the hay. In the morning we will get up at 6:30 and then head to Antw erpen for a special outing. It is so great to be in the mission home all together as sisters and we are certainly building each other up! It's a once in a mission moment!
So Ronald is getting so close to his baptism! He has been struggling with the Word of Wisdom but on Friday we called him up and let him know that he had to start living it for good on Saturday to be able to be baptized this Saturday. We were nervous to see what his reaction would be but he was so excited and had full faith that he could do it. I have never prayed so hard for anyone in my life! I know that stopping smoking, drinking, and cocaine is harder than anything that I have done in my life but I know that he can do it! So many members have really gotten involved in his conversion process and they are all praying for him. It is amazing to see how missionary work brings so much unity! Familie Scherf invited us and Ronald to come to their home for dinner on Saturday night. We had a wonderful meal and then Ronald asked Brother Scherf to give him a blessing to help him prepare for baptism. The spirit was so strong as he received a blessing and Heavenly Father's love for him was really apparent. It was awesome! Then, out of so much love, Brother Scherf offered to start fasting at that moment with Ronald that he would have the strength that he needs to overcome his addictions. He went home that night and threw all that he had away and has just been praying and fasting! His faith amazes me. Keep him in your prayers, just like I know you already do! I can't wait to tell you about his baptism next week!
Bisou and Mary are still doing great! And we found two new investigators, Cevesta and Tamara! We are being so blessed. I will know about transfers next week. I would love to stay here in Den Haag but I know that I will be wherever I need to be. It's always exciting with transfers!
Thanks so much for your little Dutch blurb! That was so cute and sweet...how did you do that?! I looooove you and I hope that you have a wonderful week! I never stop praying for you and thinking about you! Thanks for EVERYTHING!!!
Love, Laur

I am just as shocked as you are!!! I found out from you that I am staying until March 16th!

2010-10-25T04:17:00.000-07:00

Monday, October 25, 2010

Dear Mom, Dad, and Family,
My hands are all sweaty and a little shaky from the news that I received from you. As I prepare to print my e-mails I quickly scan through your e-mails to check and see if there is anything that I really need to be aware of before I start e-mailing you. There were a couple of sentences in Dad's e-mail that really caught my eye...like the date March 16th! I just don't know how that all happened but I will share the side of the story with you that I know. I almost want to cry right now...tears of joy and sadness! So a couple of weeks ago one of the sisters, Zuster Garvin, found out that she got an extension to stay for an extra transfer because she came one transfer late due to visa problems. All of the sudden I had something within me start to say, "You should think about asking to stay another transfer." I thought it was ridiculous! I had already gone through the whole process of deciding between coming home in December and February and I didn't want to go through the process again. I already felt blessed that I would be able to stay 12 transfers instead of 11 and I was content with that decision. But the thought stayed with me and I finally turned to Heavenly Father in prayer to ask him to either take the thought away so that I could focus on the work or bless me to know what to do with the thought if it came from him. I finally had the prompting to call President up and share with him my feelings. I told him that it was not something that I really was desiring but that if it was the Lord's will I would be willing to stay. He said that we could continue to think about it and pray about it and that he would make a decision of whether or not he would submit it to the Area Presidency for reviewing. Because it is VERY rare for any missionary to get an extension anymore, especially sisters, he didn't know if it would pass. A couple of weeks went by and at interviews the same prompting returned, "You should think about staying another transfer."But I didn't want to mention it to President again so I tried to push it out of my head. But it stayed in my head until that night when I finally was moved upon to call President one more time. Once again he said that we would pray about it and that he wanted me to explain to him in my next President's letter why I would want to. As I sat down to write the President's letter all I could think to write was, "I had a feeling and so I called you." It wasn't that I was really wishing to stay but I felt that the Spirit was telling me to act. I explained to him that it didn't matter to me what happened but that if it was the will of the Lord, I was willing to stay and serve another 6 weeks. I sent him the letter and received in return that he submitted a request to the Area Presidency to make the decision. I thought that I would hear from President the final decision, but somehow you got it first! I still don't know how I feel about it. It is hard to know that I won't be coming home for another 6 weeks, meaning that I will be on my mission a total of 20 months. But I know that this just must be the will of the Lord or it wouldn't have happened. I am willing to follow His command and plan. I don't know why he wants me here for another 6weeks but I have learned that to everything there is a reason. I really need your prayers and support as I accept this extra little calling from the Lord! I can't imagine what a shock it must have been for you. I don't want you to think that this was a plan that I was not sharing with you. I actually didn't think that anything would come of it and I didn't want to create a big deal out of nothing...but now it really is a big deal! I hope that it doesn't interfere with any plans that you have already made. Thank you for your constant love and support. I think that I will be calling President up in a little bit and asking about how things did end up working out. I can't believe it all. It is going to take some time to settle in. I feel very humbled.
Well, now that I am almost out time, I will share a couple of things from the week! Ronald is doing AWESOME!!! Bisou is also keeping commitments and we are still teaching Mary. I got really sick with a cold on Thursday and Friday and then a member told me that I should ask for a priesthood blessing. I thought that for a cold it wasn't that necessary but realized also that it wouldn't hurt. On Saturday I asked Elder Matthews for one and you wouldn't believe how I am feeling now! It was one of those colds that you know would linger for weeks but I am almost totally better! I am so thankful for the blessings and power of the priesthood. I was also reading in Mark last week about how the Lord performed miracles according to prayer and fasting. The idea came to my head to fast together with Zuster Pierson in behalf of health problems she is having. I called Zuster Brubaker up to ask if we could do that and also invite other sisters to join. She said that she would talk with president and decide if that was a good idea. She called back and she felt really inspired to have a fast with all of the sisters in behalf of all of the sisters. We fasted together yesterday and it was so awesome. And tomorrow is Zone Conference at the temple!
I got to go! I love you soooo much! 6 weeks isn't that much longer (I am trying to convince myself)! I hope you have a great week!
Love, Zuster Sharp
I LOVE YOU! PRAY FOR ME AS I MOVE FORWARD WITH FAITH WITH THIS NEW SITUATION! I AM PRAYING FOR YOU!

THE BEST WEEK EVER!!!!

2010-10-20T20:34:00.000-07:00

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

What an amazing week!

2010-10-20T20:33:00.001-07:00

Monday, October 11, 2010
Dear Family!
I am so sorry but the time is extremely short and I have so much that I want to share with you! Thanks for your letters! I am going to jump right in!
The temple was AMAZING!!! I couldn't be more grateful for the opportunity to go to the temple and see Sue-Haina experience the blessings of the temple! Zuster Spijkerman, Tineke, and Zuster Walle were there as well and it was such a sweet and tender experience. We were able to do the 2:30 session and it was amazing to feel the Spirit so strongly and feel so close to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I had a realization that the saying "Families are Forever" is not exclusively for immediate families, but all of our family members in the gospel. I am so thankful that the gospel links us together so that we can be with all of our brothers and sisters forever! I was sure thinking of all of you as I was in the Celestial Room...can't wait for that moment again!
We set another Baptismal Date! Victoria, one of the members here, gave us a referral for her friend Bisou. We went and taught Bisou on Friday at Victoria's house and she committed to be baptized! We set up a calendar with her and we will be teaching her every Monday and Wednesday at Victoria's! Roland is also doing great! He just eats up everything that we teach him. We even called him Saturday and invited him to fast on Sunday if he wanted to with the rest of the ward. He accepted and came to church yesterday fasting and so happy to be there. We will also be teaching him 3 times this week. The members are so excited about both of them and love to go on joint-teach with us. I am so thankful for their willingness to serve!
We were able to go with Sister Brubaker on Tuesday night and that was a special treat! We went and taught
The computer is having problems. I will write a letter. Sorry! I love you!!!
Love, Zuster Sharp

My prayers are with you!

2010-10-04T07:35:00.000-07:00

Monday, October 4, 2010
Dear Family,
I am so thankful for the blessings of the gospel! As I scanned over your e-mails today as I was preparing them to print I read the news about David Dockendorf. My heart goes out to each one of you, especially Brandt and Kelly and the whole Dockendorf family. I can’t imagine the many things that you have all felt this week as you have gone through this experience but I can imagine that it has been difficult and trying. It is hard to hear such news and to be able to deal with the difficult emotions that it brings, but harder to know that I am not with you to comfort and help in any way I could during this difficult time, although there is not much that I could do to help. However, I have faith in times like these that this is where I am supposed to be and that I couldn't be doing anything better there than I am doing here. I am so thankful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the hope that it brings, especially when something like this occurs in our lives. I am so thankful for the Savior and that He atoned for our sins, felt every pain that we feel, knows how to succor us, and overcame death so that we may have the hope of living again. I love Him so much and am so thankful that His gospel has been restored to the earth and that I am blessed to be a member of His church. I am thankful to be one of His missionaries at this time, to share His love and teachings with others and invite them to partake of the joy and peace that He offers. I am so thankful for all of my many blessings and especially for prayer, that I can communicate personally with my Heavenly Father. I will be praying for each of you as you continue in faith and hope, relying on the Atonement of the Savior and the wonderful Plan of Salvation that our Father in Heaven prepared for us. I know that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are always waiting with open arms to hear from us and to welcome us when we need peace and comfort. They love us so much and they will help us overcome every difficult thing in our lives. Although they are not here with us, we each have the gift of the Holy Ghost to comfort us and help us. We also have the blessings of the Priesthood which brings incredible power and strength as we cope with difficult trials and experiences.
We have been extremely blessed here in Den Haag! We had our first appointment with Roland and it went so well! We invited him to be baptized on November 6th and he accepted!!! We also had an appointment with him on Friday and we will be having another one today. It should be exciting since he is so enthusiastic about the Restored Gospel and since he is keeping every commitment that we extend to him. He is a little difficult to keep on track during our lesson because he jumps from eternal families to tithing to the premortal life and he has a lot of questions but it is great that he is hungering for truth. Thanks for your prayers in his behalf!
Our other investigators aren't making too much progress. Vitalis has just about fallen off of the face ot the earth this week...sadly enough he didn't show up to conference! But Esra came to conference with one of her little friends and loved it! I am just floored that two little girls, ages 6 and 8, who aren't members of the church and have never attended a church in their whole lives up until now, think that it is so great to come and listen to General Conference! It is awesome! They must have felt the Spirit and they are just hungering for more!
Conference was wonderful! I loved all of the messages and wished it could have lasted just a little bit longer but I am so thankful for the words of the apostles and prophet. The Spirit was so strong during the whole thing and I feel lifted up and energized, re-committed to live the gospel even better. It was great!
This week will be very eventful! On Tuesday night Zuster Brubaker will be coming to work with us here in Den Haag. Wednesday morning we will have interviews in Leiden. Thursday we will be going to the temple with Sue Haina! I am so excited to be able to go to the temple again, especially for this special occasion. It will be AWESOME! And then we will be working like crazy all of the time in-between! I am looking forward to all of it!
I hope that you had a wonderful conference weekend and that you will have a great week! I am praying for you and I know that the Lord is watching over all of us! I love you so much! FAMILIES ARE FOREVER!
Love, Zuster Sharp

It is almost General Conference weekend! That's almost as good as Christmas!

2010-10-04T07:34:00.002-07:00

Monday, September 27, 2010

Hello Family! Thanks so much for the e-mails! Dad, I got both today and that was an extra special treat! I am really looking forward to reading all of them and catching up with the things that are going on at home! How are you all doing? Are you excited for October to begin? The leaves sure are getting beautiful! By the way, it is transfers this week...yeah, that means that I have already been with Zuster Pierson for a whole six weeks and...we will be staying together for another six! We are really looking forward to having another transfer together here in Den Haag!
This week was totally awesome! We had some amazing miracles and we were also spiritually fed. We had Zone Conference on Friday in Leiden and Elder Sterri, a member of the third quorum of the seventy and area presidency, was with us all of the way from Norway. He was great! After the Zone Conference, the Den Haag did a musical fireside for all members and investigators. It turned out really nice and the Spirit was really strong! Music is so awesome because it really does bring the Spirit and it is a universal language. I am so thankful that Heavenly Father has given us the wonderful blessing of music. Oh, and I was also on exchanges on Thursday with Zuster Garvin. She is so wonderful! We just had the greatest time serving together and I learned so much from her! It really was one of my most favorite weeks!
I would just like to share a little miracle with you that we experienced this past week. As we picked a consecrated hour street on Monday night I had a very vivid picture in my mind of where we were supposed to go, even before we looked at the map. After sharing my feelings with Zuster Pierson, we decided to go to that place. It was a shopping area really close to our apartment and there were many people on the street. It was about 11:00 in the morning and people were in a big hurry to get to work or school or to get some shopping done. We had a lot of short contacts with people but no one in particular had interest. Then we had the feeling to cross over to the other side. As we were walking there was a man and we felt prompted to talk to him. Turns out that he had talked to me and Zuster Harrington and Zuster Reber a few weeks earlier very briefly. As we began to share with him the message of the Restoration, he really opened up. He said that he had decided a couple of months ago to not go to a church but to strengthen his faith on his own. He had actually stopped drinking and doing drugs two weeks earlier because he felt like that is what Jesus wanted him to do. He said that he would come to our church one time to give it a chance. He gave us his number so we could call and remind him to come, and then he was on his way. We felt pretty positive about him and prayed that he would really show up at church. On Saturday night we decided to call him and remind him to come but his number didn't work. We felt a little discouraged and were lacking that faith that he would really come, especially since the last time we had talked to him was 5 days earlier. But we prayed for him anyway. Sunday morning, as we were walking to pick up a less-active family for church, he came walking in the direction of the church, all dressed up in a white button up shirt, tie, and suit. He had a smile on his face! We couldn’t believe it! The members all welcomed him and he said that he really felt the Spirit during the classes. At the end of Sacrament Meeting we hurried to go and talk to him so that we could get his right number and set up an appointment with him but he was gone before we could get there. We were not sure if he would come back the next week and we were scared that we would never see him again. After eating some lunch, we saw that we had missed a call and had a new message. It was him, Roland! He said that he wanted us to come back and teach him more because he had a really good feeling about all of it. We called him back and set up an appointment for this Wednesday. We are really looking forward to teaching him and especially to share the baptismal calendar with him. He is one of the elect and we feel so blessed!
We are still teaching Vitalis and he is doing well! Your prayers in his behalf are really helping. He is searching for the truth and we have been able to have some very great lessons with him. We taught him three times this week and he committed to come to General Conference this weekend. I know that he will have a great experience as he listens to a prophet of God. Elisabeth threw a curve at us and told us the second that we walked into her appointment on Thursday that she will not get baptized again and doesn't really want to go further with us. After talking with her for a few minutes we learned that she told her pastor that she was meeting with us and he really pulled her away. We are going to have one more lesson with her this week to decide if she is ready and to see if she is progressing. If not, we will give her back to the Lord and missionaries will come in contact with her again when she is ready. We were also not able to get a hold of Roger and Brigitte this past week...we wonder if Roger took a step back again. Luckily we have an appointment on Tuesday so we are hoping that he is still positive! Familie Saragoza, the inactive family that we have been working with, are making huge strides! We had a family home evening with them at the beginning of the week and they asked us if we would come and pick them up for church! They also made a goal to read every day in the Book of Mormon. The oldest daughter committed to go to the Young Women activity (and she did!) and they are experiencing the joy of the gospel again. It is amazing to walk into their home and feel something so different because they are doing their best to follow Christ!
The Lord lives and he loves us. The gospel is the one and only way to lasting happiness and peace. I know that the church was restored through Joseph Smith. I know that the Book of Mormon is the evidence of that. I love this work and I love all of you! Keep smiling and have a great week! Thanks for all you do for me!
Love, Laur

What a week!!! I've been in the Netherlands for one whole year!

2010-10-04T07:34:00.001-07:00

Monday, September 20, 2010

Hello everyone! How are you all doing? Are you enjoying the beautiful fall weather? It is wonderful here! Thank you so much for your e-mails...and for the AWESOME package! I got it on Saturday and I just love all that you sent! I wore the skirt and orange sweater yesterday, along with the adorable brown flower and the cute goldish dangly earrings (Brooke, I think they were not too "bling bling" and I just couldn't wait 5 months to wear them so I hope they weren't too much!)! The pictures were so great...you all look fantastic and it was so fun to be able to have more of a clear picture of all that you have been doing over the past couple of months. Thank you so much, Brooke and Mom, for putting that together. That was sooo thoughtful and I am really looking forward to wearing all of my new things this week. Spices up the work a bit!
Well, we saw lots and lots of miracles this week! As I was reading in the Book of Mormon this morning I found myself in Moroni 7:33-37. It’s all about faith and miracles and it made me think about this past week. God is a God of miracles and miracles have definitely not ceased! No matter how great or small our faith is, as long as we have a little we will experience miracles! We went to teach Vitalis on Tuesday with Victoria but he got stopped with his tram and wasn't able to get home on time for our appointment and we had to leave for the next appointment. Victoria was so kind and agreed to accompany us as we went to teach Brigitte and Bernard. We always try to teach the two of them at Brigitte's house when her husband Roger isn't home because he is not too fond of us or the church (we've actually had some pretty scary situations with him). Brigitte had said that he would be gone to work but when we got to her home he came walking up at the same time. We all became a little tense but had faith that things would work out. He was super friendly from the beginning and welcomed us in. He got drinks for all of us and was making some nice conversation. We just kind of went along with it. We felt like the Spirit was telling us to stay. When we started the lesson he was in the kitchen but he immediately came in to join us. We ended up putting "The Restoration” DVD in and he stayed and watched the whole thing. The lesson ended up being focused totally on him. He was answering questions and really getting involved and in the last five minutes of the lesson I pulled a baptismal calendar out to ask him to be baptized. I looked at Zuster Pierson and her eyes told me that she thought I was crazy but I quickly mouthed to her, "pray for me!" I then invited Roger to take the lessons from us and prepare to be baptized. I just let the words come from the Spirit because I was too scared to spit it out. He said YES! I have never witnessed a greater miracle in my life and I think that we were all speechless when he actually said it, especially Brigitte! Now setting appointments will be a little tricky because of his work schedule but we hope to teach him a couple of times this week! Miracles happen!
We have also been able to teach Vitalis, Elisabeth, Natali and Esra this week. They are all progressing and really learning a lot through the Spirit. The members are so busy doing missionary work and it is just a super exciting time here in Den Haag. On Friday as we were finding we were not seeing much success. But in the last 15 minutes we knocked on the door of an 85 year old widower. He was very kind and listened to us. He then began to cry and said that he would love to have a copy of the Book of Mormon. We gave it to him and he looked at us with tears in his eyes and promised us that he would read it. The Spirit had touched his heart. I called him last night to see when we could make an appointment to teach him more and we will be going back next week! He has already read a good chunk of the Book of Mormon and can't wait to meet with us!
Man, my mind is so scattered right now because I just want to tell you so much but I am out of time! I hope that you can feel the happiness of the experiences that I have shared (and that they make sense).This work is awesome and better than I could have ever imagined! The Lord truly does love every one of us and cares so much for us! I hope that you can constantly feel of His love and know that through him we can return to Heavenly Father...as a family! I love you and pray for you! THANK YOU for all that you do for me! Have a great week!
Love, Laur

Happy September!

2010-10-04T07:32:00.000-07:00

Monday, September 13, 2010
Hello Family! How was your week? Did you have fun in St. George, Mom? What about the rest of you? Thank you so much for your e-mails, Mom, Dad, Brooke, and Car! I can't wait to hear about all of the great things that you were able to do this week! I have been thinking about you and praying for you!
Blessings were poured out upon us this week!!! I still am in shock! I had an idea at the beginning of last week to make a big board with all of our goals and numbers that we set for the week. I have never done that before but it was just an idea that came to my mind so I thought I would try it out. Every night I would check off how many member present lessons we had had, other lessons, member lessons, new investigators we found, etc. and I was able to keep a clear vision of how we were doing and what we needed to accomplish by the end of the week. My prayers became more fervent and sincere as I went in prayer to Heavenly Father and asked him for specific help to accomplish the goals that we had set under the direction of the Spirit. The week was going really well but by Saturday we realized that we were falling a little short with some of our key indicators and we weren't sure if we were able to reach our goals with only Sunday left. We still had to have 4 member present lessons and 2 other lessons to be able to make it and seeing that we had only had 1 member present lesson in 6 days, we were wondering how it was going to work out. But as a companionship we went on our knees, and with the little faith we had, asking for more faith, we pled with Heavenly Father to help us reach our goals. We had 4 member present lessons, 2 other lessons, and an extra bonus of 2 new investigators yesterday! It was AMAZING!!! It strengthened my testimony that as we are specific with the things we desire to accomplish, if our desires are righteous, and if we turn to the Lord for help and put our faith in Him, He can bring to pass many miracles. I can't wait to see it happen again this week!
I think that a great part of the success that we saw can be attributed to the wonderful mission conference that we had on Wednesday with Elder Ballard, Elder Rasband, and Elder Causse. It was a spiritual feast! Wednesday started out bright and early-4:15 a.m.-because we had to be in Rotterdam by 7:00 to catch the bus that was rented for all of the missionaries. There was so much excitement in that bus knowing that within a few short hours we would be in the presence of an apostle of the Lord. It was a lot of fun to be together as a whole mission and to see all of the missionaries that I love so much! When we finally arrived in Brussels at 10:00 we had a light breakfast and got in our places on the stage for a big group picture with Elder Ballard. When he, the other authorities, and President and Sister Brubaker walked into the building, the whole church fell still. The Spirit was overwhelming and so powerful. He came walking in and greeted us with a big smile. You could feel warmth and love radiating from him. After the picture, we all took our seats in the chapel where he and the others instructed us for a few hours. He really focused on becoming a master teacher like the Savior Jesus Christ. I will include President's weekly letter in my e-mail so you can get an overview of what they taught us. It was so powerful that I did not leave the meeting just being spiritually boosted but as a changed missionary. As the meeting came to a close we had the opportunity to go up and shake his hand one by one and greet him. That was the first time I ever was able to shake the hand of an apostle and it was an experience I will never forget! Vitalis is still progressing and is reading in the Book of Mormon! He went to a dinner appointment this week and got to know some members. He is nervous about coming to church but we are working through his concerns. Elisabeth accepted a soft baptismal commitment and she is planning on being baptized on October 30!!! She is also finally reading in the Book of Mormon and praying about it so I am anxious to see her progress. Esra and her two little friends came to church again yesterday and they just love being there. Esra is 8, Angel is7, and Jennifer is 6 and they are loved and welcomed by all of the ward members. The primary president even called us this morning and asked us if she could come with us to teach these little girls in their homes. That was a miracle! We are hopefully going to be having a lesson with each of them this week. Hopefully they will be the keys to get their parents to investigate the church! Children are amazing and have so much faith!
We are continuing to work with the members and we are making big strides. They are growing in enthusiasm for the work...it is a miracle to behold!
I love you so much! Thanks for your prayers and your examples of faith and testimony. The Lord lives and loves us. This is his church and it was restored through the prophet Joseph Smith. Call on the Lord and he will bless you! Have a great week!
Love, Zuster Sharp

September is in full swing! Happy Labor Day

2010-09-07T06:34:00.000-07:00

Monday, September 6,2010
Hello Family! How was your Labor Day weekend?! I have been thinking about you over the past couple of days and am very anxious to read your letters and hear all about the wonderful times that you've had! Thanks so much for still e-mailing, Mom, Dad, and Brooke! I don't know how you were able to send them out all of the way up there but I really appreciate it!
Where to begin!? This week was full of a lot of adventures...not all that we had planned on! On Monday night I received a call from President and he invited me to attend a Leadership Conference with the 8 Zone Leaders in the mission and Zuster Harrington in Brussels. I was so excited that I was asked to attend! So on Thursday morning, at about 6:00 am, Zuster Pierson and I headed to Rotterdam where we switched companions and Zuster Harrington and I hopped in the car with the Zone Leaders and had a little road trip down to Brussels. The Conference was wonderful! It was held in the Mission Home and it was so cool to be back there again. It was crazy to think that it was almost a year ago since I was there the last time! We had training about finding and exchanges and then an open discussion. It was so awesome to be in such a small group with the Zone Leaders and President and Zuster Brubaker to discuss the needs of the mission. The Spirit was extremely strong and I learned so much! At about 3:00 that afternoon we made the trip back here to Den Haag!
On Friday we had interviews in Leiden and that was another uplifting day. Having two days, back-to-back of training from President is always amazing! President reported that the mission is at an all-time high with baptismal dates...a whopping total of 69! They didn't even have that much before the mission split! It is really cool to feel the excitement and see so many wonderful things happening.
On Saturday night, after attending the baptism of one of the elder’s investigators here in Den Haag, I received a phone call from the Elders in Groningen. Elder Robert asked me if I could remember who Maggie was. I said, "Yeah, she was a young woman me and Zuster Harrington had met on the street a couple of months ago. Why?" He told me that she had been baptized that night! I was so stoked! I knew that the elders were teaching her a month or so ago but I didn't know that she had progressed so much to being baptized. That was such a tender mercy of the Lord to see the fruits of something so small we had done a few weeks earlier!
We had 6 dinner appointments this week with the members! We are making great progress at working with them and really getting them involved in the work. We are starting to implement a referral calendar to begin teaching friends and family of the members and we hope that it will be a big success.
Natali and Esra are still progressing! Esra came to church and the baptism this week and brought two other little friends with her. She's quite the little missionary! We are hoping that through all of these children we will find some families to teach!
Vitalis and Vandelenda are both progressing as well. We have appointments with them this week! Thanks for your prayers in their behalf!
Kimberly was progressing so well and even came to church yesterday! But at the end of church she said that she didn't want to have anymore contact with us or the church. We just couldn't figure out what went wrong. We hope that over time she opens back up to find the joy of the gospel!
The gospel is so wonderful! The Lord loves us all so much and wants us to be happy. This week will be really special as we are in the presence of an apostle of the Lord. He will be speaking to us on Wednesday in Brussels.
I love you so much! Thanks for your prayers and support! Have a great week! Keep up the awesome Book of Mormon reading! Love ya! Zuster Sharp

Building up the teaching pool!!!

2010-08-30T06:06:00.000-07:00

Monday, August 30, 2010

Hello Fam! How was your "back to school” week? Carli and Corbin, you are officially seniors now! That is crazy!!! I hope that you had a great week and that the Lord has continued to watch over you and guide you in all that you have done. He sure has blessed us here in the city of Den Haag!
It was pouring rain the whole week here! Den Haag got more rain in the past couple of days than it normally does in a whole month, so we have been soaking wet...but that hasn't stopped us! We spent a lot of time finding and visiting members this week and we were blessed with so many little miracles. On Monday we had a consecrated finding hour in a highly populated Muslim area. Since we are asked not to proselyte among Muslims, we didn't really know how our finding would go. Instead of knocking on the doors, we decided to walk the streets in the area and just talk to people that we ran into. It was so amazing! We could literally feel the Spirit guiding us as we were led to many who were interested in talking to us. One of them, Vitalis, a man from Nigeria, has even become a new investigator and we are going to set a baptismal date with him tonight! Please keep him in your prayers because we know that this will be a big step for him!
On Tuesday we went and had our first appointment with a woman named v/d Linde. She is from Aruba and she has a husband and four children. I actually found her a month ago on the street and it was not until now that we were able to make contact with her. We also committed her to follow a baptismal calendar and she was so excited to learn more about the restoration and let us come two times in the week to teach her. Zuster Pierson, under direction of the Spirit, asked her if along with teaching her, we could teach her whole family all together. She thought about it, and then happily agreed! Our first appointment was scheduled to be on Thursday night but that got called off so we have another appointment with her tonight. We hope that she hasn't come in contact with some anti-Mormon material...please pray for her too!
On Wednesday, on the way to one of our appointments, I saw a young woman walking along the street and felt a strong impression to stop her. She reacted really positively to us and, because she was in a hurry, gave us her number and asked us to call her again to set up an appointment. We called and she met with us on Saturday morning. She is so cool! She is 22 years old and comes from Curacao. She goes to a Methodist church right now but is still searching for the true church. She is a student living here all by herself and really wants to come closer to God. The Spirit was so strong during our lesson as we testified of the truthfulness of the gospel, the ways it will bless her life, and how much Heavenly Father loves her. She had a lot of questions, as anyone should after hearing Joseph's experience for the first time. We were able to discuss a few things with her and then made another appointment. We are going back on Wednesday with another young single adult. She is really a miracle!
Thursday, we went and taught Natali and Esra, our little Greek family. We have changed our approach with them because Natali cannot speak Dutch or English. We just teach Esra in Dutch (she's 8 years old) and she translates for her mom. They just love reading in the Book of Mormon. Esra has come to church by herself for the past 2 weeks and the children welcome her and befriend her. We found someone who lives in Zoetermeer who was on a mission in Greece and he is going to come and help us teach them. It's amazing to see that the Book of Mormon is so simple that even a child can understand!
We have got a busy week to come, teaching all of these people! We feel so blessed! I am looking forward to updating you next week!
I love you so much! Thanks for all of the e-mails! I hope that you know that you are always in the prayer of my heart and that I think of you often! Have a great week!
Love,Lauren

BERNARD WAS BAPTIZED!!!

2010-08-23T06:41:00.000-07:00

Monday, August 23, 2010
Dear Family,
How are you doing?!!! Thanks for the e-mails! I can't wait to hear how things are at home! I hope that you've had a wonderful week, especially with summer coming to a close!
My week was great! Of course the highlight of the week was Bernard’s baptism! We had planned everything out so well that we were expecting it to be the perfect evening...but we had quite the number of glitches! We were informed by church leaders that we didn't need to turn the water for the font on until 45 minutes before the service. Zuster Pierson and I were both a little concerned about that but we made sure that everything else was completely ready for the service and trusted that everything would go well with filling the font. When we went to turn the water on at 6:15, no water came out. I started to stress a little but thought to myself that I just needed to have faith and patience. We tried as many little tricks as we could think of (the greatest one being prayer) to get the water flowing but nothing worked. By this time it was 6:30 and members and friends were starting to show up. I called up the building maintenance man, Brother Foss, and he agreed to come quickly to the church to see what the problem was. He went down into the basement and saw that two things were out and that they could not be fixed immediately. I was starting to panic! But ward members and missionaries and visitors came to the rescue! Everyone who came to see the baptism, young and old, began running from the bathrooms and kitchen to the baptismal font with buckets and pans full of water. We were making some progress, but not quite enough, so the Bishop pulled out the fire hose! Working all together we were able to get the font filled up in a matter of an hour, which means that we only had to start the baptism a half an hour late! Although it was stressful and didn't go quite as I had planned or hoped, working together in such unity with others so that Bernard could get baptized brought an amazing Spirit of love to the baptismal service and it was one of the most beautiful that I have ever witnessed! Bernard was soooo happy even though he had to be baptized in ice cold water, and everyone who was there was happy they came! And then to top it off, Bernard was confirmed yesterday and just glowed. I couldn't be more happy for him and I am so thankful that I was able to witness him coming unto Christ, and entering the gate that leads to eternal life!
Well, now that Bernard is baptized, we have no one with a baptismal date or even any investigators. We are on the lookout and we are excited to find many who are prepared by the Lord to receive the truth! I am loving every minute of serving with Zuster Pierson...she is amazing!!! She is actually from West Jordan and graduated the same year I did but we just never knew each other. It is such a small world! Every spare moment we have, at lunch, dinner, or at the end of the day, we have been spending getting our apartment all cleaned up...scrubbing baseboards and the grout in the bathroom! We are great cleaning buddies and our apartment is sure getting spruced up! I think this transfer really is going to be a transfer of miracles...I can hardly wait!
In two weeks we will have the privilege of hearing from Elder Ballard at the big mission conference in Brussels. It is going to be AWESOME!!! I know that it is still a long ways away but it is like I am a little child waiting for Christmas to come...I can hardly sleep at night! I am so thankful that we have apostles and prophets, special witnesses of Jesus Christ on the earth now to lead us and guide us. I know that they truly are called of God.
I am loving the Book of Mormon reading! I am so strengthened everyday as I read and I feel a special connection with all of you who are reading along with me. Thank you so much for joining with me to make it so special! I love you all so much and miss you so much! I was flipping through all of my photos of you the other day and just had such a happy and peaceful feeling knowing that whatever we face in this life, we will be together forever! Have a great week! Love ya!
Love, Zuster Sharp
YOUR PRAYERS WORK MIRACLES!!! THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR FAITH!!!

I get to stay in Den Haag for another transfer!!!

2010-08-22T12:58:00.000-07:00

Monday, August 16, 2010

Hello fam! It is transfer Monday again (I am beginning my 9th transfer in the field...can you believe it!?) and I found out that I will be staying at least one more transfer in the blessed city of Den Haag, if not many more! We received a call from President last night and he told Zuster Harrington that she will be going to serve in Dordrecht, Zuster Reber in Haarlem, and I will be staying and Zuster Pearson will be coming here to work with me. I am super excited! I feel like I am now acquainted with the city and the members and now I can really start accomplishing things. I am also excited to work with Zuster Pearson! I have only met her once but I have heard great things about her. She will be starting her 4th transfer with me and Den Haag will be her second city. She'll arrive on Wednesday! I am sad to see my other two companions go, especially Zuster Harrington because she is my little "greenie", but know that they will do awesome wherever they are! I loved being in that threesome for a transfer!
It has been a crazy week! On Monday night we taught Bernard his last lesson that he needs before baptism and on Friday President Brubaker came here to conduct his interview because Bernard's native language is French and President speaks French. He is all ready to be baptized! The baptism will take place this Saturday at the Den Haag chapel at 7:00 pm. It's going to be amazing! I feel really blessed and almost guilty that I am the one staying here for his baptism when Zuster Harrington and Zuster Reber did so much to help in his conversion process but I will just be sure to send them some good pictures and description of the night. It is so exciting to see someone so prepared to walk into the waters of baptism and enter the gate that leads to eternal life!
Tuesday was exchanges and I was SO blessed to go to Antwerpen, Belgium to work with Zuster Holbein! I love her so much and we just had the most wonderful two days together. I also fell in love with the Belgian people and had such a great time doing missionary work there. We had a special treat on Tuesday! President Brubaker had decided that for the first time he would spend a whole day doing missionary work with the Zone Leaders in Belgium so...we had Zuster Brubaker with us the whole day! I learned so much from serving with her and was so happy that I was privileged to be with her during her first whole day of missionary work. We saw miracles! Since she doesn't speak Dutch, only French and English, we were wondering how it was going to work out. But every time we got on a tram or bus or were just walking on the street, we always ran into French or English speaking people. All of the lessons we taught that day just happened to be in English! It was really amazing and an experience that I will never forget!
After exchanges all of the sisters gathered again in Den Haag to switch back and since we had Zone Conference on Thursday a couple of them just ended up sleeping at our apartment. Those missionary sleepovers are a lot of fun as we swap stories and have a little time to get to know each other better!
Zone Conference was in Leiden and I ended up doing a musical number with two other sisters. We did "Beautiful Savior” and Zuster Ekstrom sang, Zuster Holbein played the flute, and I accompanied on the piano. It was a lot of fun and somehow it came together in the 20 minutes we had to prepare! About 5 minutes before the meeting started we were informed that President and Zuster Brubaker would not be coming because President Brubaker was in the hospital. That was a huge shock and scare for all of us! Luckily he had just gotten an infection in his foot and needed to get that taken care of. Now he is back to work but Zone Conference was a lot different without the Brubakers!
Well, I am about out of time! I have much more to share but that will just have to come in the letter! I love you bunches and bunches! Have a wonderful week! I am praying for you!
Love, Zuster Sharp
P.S. Oh, the clothing rules were changed for the sisters church wide...more colors, skirts that just go past the knee when sitting, and not nylons ever! I think we might do a little shopping today!

Thank you for all of your support with my decision!!!

2010-08-09T06:53:00.000-07:00

Monday, August 09, 2010
Dear Family,
I just can't tell you how happy I am with all of your support with my decision to come home in February! I don't think you know how much easier that makes it! I just get almost giddy every time I think about coming home in February...because I know that I will have the time to spend with you that I have wanted to have for the past 4 years and just haven't had with school and work and my mission. We are going to have so much fun and it just couldn't feel better!!! Thanks for the e-mails, and most of all for your love and strong faith! I couldn’t do this without you!
Well, did you have a good week?! I have gained such a strong testimony of small and simple things amounting to great miracles! I want to share with you one of my favorite experiences and miracles of the week. On Tuesday we had a young woman from another city come and spend the day with us so we could go on splits. As the four of us were riding our bikes from the station to the church I saw an African woman and really felt like we should stop and talk to her. I jumped off of my bike and the other sisters followed (probably a little intimidating for the woman) and walked to her. I told her who we were and what we were doing and she said a prayer and made an appointment with us to meet again. Her name is Patience and she has two little daughters, Divine and Precious, and a husband. She was really positive and gave us her address but couldn't remember her new number. We were so excited! Well, our appointment with her is tonight, but Tuesday night we realized that we couldn't find her street on the map. We were devastated, me especially! I prayed and prayed and after looking through almost all of the streets in Den HaagI found one that was pretty similar to it. We set aside time on Saturday to go and look her up just to make sure the street was right, before our appointment today. On Saturday we went to the house and no one was home. We stood for a bit and talked about what we should do and right then a car pulled up with Patience in it! It was her house! And she was still planning on our appointment! We felt richly blessed and we decided to do some finding on her street before going to our next appointment. I felt a really strong impression that we should go in a certain direction so we did and after about 20 minutes we ended up knocking on the door of a member, Hob, that we didn't even know lived there. He invited us in and we had a nice visit with him. We left feeling like we had done what the Lord wanted us to do. But, the story doesn't stop there. Yesterday we went finding with all of the Elders and two members, Jesi and Anna. We prayed beforehand to pick a street and Anna felt really impressed that we needed to go to a certain area. Zuster Harrington, Jesi, and I went together and Anna and Zuster Reber went in the other direction. We decided that we would meet back by our bikes at the end of the hour. We had some success but nothing to great. When we went back to our bikes, the other sisters weren't there yet and I started to get that feeling again that we needed to continue knocking on some doors in a specific direction. After 10 doors that amounted to not very much we knocked on the door of an older woman who was so excited to see us! She welcomed us in and started talking to us like she knew who we were. I was a little scared that she was a member and I just didn’t recognize her so I just tried to ask some discrete questions to figure out who she was and how she knew who we were. Finally we discovered that she was a friend of Hob's and that she had attended a baptismal service and a church service a couple of years ago. And then, she told us that she had read the whole Book of Mormon! We just couldn’t believe it! She had actually talked to Hob Saturday night after we were at his house and heard how excited he was about having us there that she thought that he had sent us to her. But we explained to her that it was purely through guidance of the Spirit. She was in just as much shock as we were! We were able to share a little lesson about prayer with her, as well as pray with her, and she said that we are welcome to come back and teach her more. Janike is her name. As we walked out of her home all of the little details of the situation played back in my mind. It was so perfectly planned out by the Savior. Meeting Patience...getting an unclear address...searching for the address two days earlier than her appointment...her pulling up late in her car...finding on her street...knocking on Hob's door...him calling Janike about it...the sisters being late getting back at the end of finding...knocking on Janike's door...many miracles to come!!! I am so thankful that the Lord loves each one of us so much that he uses us in such small ways to bring about His great and eternal plan! I love Him and I love this work! I love you all and pray for you always! Know that the Lord loves you too! He is aware of your circumstances and will always prepare a way for you to come closer to Him and help others come closer to Him through you. I hope that you have a great week!
Love, Laur
P.S. Mom, I am so sorry about the mix up with Nadeline's e-mail address. It is nadelinevlainic@hotmail.com. I hope that it works this time. I don't know if they already made other plans but I think that sending the e-mail would still be good. Sorry! Thanks for being so willing to welcome them. I love ya!

I've made my decision!!!

2010-08-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

Monday, August 2, 2010
Hello Fam! THANK YOU for the e-mails! I am so excited to be writing you this week! I have so much to say, I even made a list, so I am just going to jump right into it!
First of all, I am coming home on February 3! I really thought about it and prayed about it and I was having such a hard time coming to a decision. I had a feeling that I should call Zuster Brubaker and ask her for advice or just talk it out with her. I called her up and explained the situation to her and told her that I felt like I was just having a "stupor of thought” sort of feeling. She said very bluntly but also lovingly, "Zuster Sharp, I think that you are getting no answer because you have no decision to make. Unless you have medical problems or other emergency issues President would like you to stay for 12 transfers. You don't have to worry about the decision anymore." I felt like a burden was lifted off of my shoulders and I was so happy! I really feel like the Lord wants me to be here until the beginning of February and I am so thankful that I still have 6 more months, starting tomorrow, to serve Him. Of course, I had concerns about not being able to start school and missing all of the holidays again but I just know that it is right! And, I will be able to spend more time with all of you instead of just rushing right back into school and not really being able to "come home." So start planning the activities for February! We are going to party (and work and get a lot of things done) from February until August when I have to start school again! Thank you for your prayers and support as I made the decision.
Second on my list...There is a young couple, members here in Den Haag, who are coming to Utah to attend a wedding. They will be there from August 18-21 and they were wondering if they could stay at our house for those nights. Would that be okay? I already told them yes so I sure hope so! They are the nicest people ever! Their names are Nadaline and Ruben Jongejan and they were married about three years ago. She is 24 and he is 28. He is a counselor in the bishopric and she will soon be the YW president. I told them that I would give their e-mail address to you so that you could get in contact with them. They speak perfect English so that should be no problem. I don’t think that they will be hanging out too much at our house, but they are so excited to meet you and get to know you! I hope that this isn’t too much! If it is, just let me know. They said that if it doesn’t work out they can find a hotel! They are just waiting to hear from you! nadalinevlainic@hotmail.com
Third, I have set some new goals that I want to accomplish before February 3. One of them is reading the Book of Mormon in Dutch and English. I want to invite all of you to read with me...in English of course! I figured it out today and if you read about 3 pages per day you will be right on track to read Moroni's promise on February 2 and pray to have that confirmation one more time that it is true. I think that it would be amazing if we did it all together! I started my first three pages today! Let me know if you are in! I know that President Hinckley's promise is true: "there will come into your hearts...the Spirit of the Lord. There will come a strengthened resolution to walk in obedience to the commandments, and there will come a stronger testimony of the living reality of the Son of God."
My testimony of member missionary work has been strengthened! We gave the Relief Society lesson yesterday and it was about missionary work, of course. We felt inspired as we were planning our lesson to invite people to share their personal experiences with missionary work during the lesson and really just focus on small and simple things that the members can do to bring about great things. The lesson went really well with the participation of many members! At the end, we passed out nice cards and committed all of the sisters to write a note to someone else that needs to feel the love of the Savior. I didn't know such a small commitment would do so much good but we got a call this morning from a member who asked us if we could bring three copies of the Book of Mormon to her house so that she can give them along with the card. I was so excited! That small commitment is leading this member to do great and amazing things! I can't wait to see the other miracles that it brings about!
Bernard is so ready for baptism! We taught him twice this week and he came to church yesterday! We weren't sure how much he was reading in the Book of Mormon but once he started asking about Sam and Sariah we knew that he has been reading something. He just can't put the Book of Mormon or the Gospel Principles book down. He has the Spirit in his home and can't wait to be baptized. Thanks for your prayers in his behalf!
I love you SO much! Thank you for everything, especially during my time of decision making! Families are forever! I think about you and speak very highly of you! You are loved by the people here because your influence and prayers make a difference! Have a great week!
Love, Lauren

Happy Pioneer's Day!!!

2010-08-02T07:49:00.000-07:00

Monday, July 26, 2010
Oh, I love you SO much! How was your week? Mine was wonderful! We had a whopping total of 20 lessons this week (not including member lessons)! It was a miracle! I think what really helped us was working with members. They have so much faith and they bring so much enthusiasm! On Tuesday night we went and had dinner with the familyof the Bishop, Familie Muntinga. It was so wonderful to get to know them better and at the end of our appointment we prayed with them and they picked a street with us where we would go finding the next day.It was so fun to have the map of Den Haag on the coffee table and see all of the children huddled around, following the Spirit to know where people are who are ready to hear the gospel. They came to the conclusion that we needed to go and work in the Winston Churchilllaan and we were really excited! One of the older daughters, Michelle, who just turned 18, got so excited about it that she even picked a street for us to go finding on Thursday! We asked them if they would keep a prayer in their hearts throughout the next two days, especially during the times that we would be finding, that we would find new investigators.
On Wednesday when we arrived at the Churchilllaan I looked at the phone and saw that we had missed a call from the Bishop. I called him back right before we were about to pray to begin our finding and he let us know that his family had already said many prayers in our behalf but that they would come together one more time and kneel in a circle and pray that angels would be with us. We were so humbled by there willingness to do missionary work and "pray and fast in behalf of those who knew not God"(Alma 6:6). They had so much faith and we certainly were blessed through their faith and diligence. We found a new investigator during that hour and received many other numbers from potential investigators. It was awesome! We also saw so much success the next day when we worked on the street that Michelle picked out and we found another investigator. That was a testimony to me that "through small and simple things, great things are brought to pass"(Alma 37:6-7)!
Saturday we had a baptism here in Den Haag. Zuster Daniels was baptized and confirmed and it was such a special occasion! We had the privelege to teach her once a week leading up to her baptism while the elders taught her two more times a week. Seeing someone enter the waters of baptism is such a joyous experience!
Yesterday was a crazy day! Bernard came to church again and he is just loving learning about the gospel. We taught him the Plan of Salvation this week and he is so excited to be baptized at the end of August! We are truly blessed! I also taught the nursery lesson and that was a lot of fun to work with the little children. They are so sweet! I gave a talk in Sacrament Meeting about obedience and I was so strengthened in preparing for it. I am so thankful that Heavenly Father loves us so much that He gives us commandments that make us happy! (Mosiah 2:41)
I talked to President during my interview about when I will be going home. He told me that he would love it if I stayed for 12 transfers! I have to admit that I was in a little shock about finally coming to a sort of definite decision, especially so quickly. But now I am really struggling to know what is best. I have been praying for a confirmation to know if it is better that I come home in December or February and I just want to do the will of the Lord. I am afraid my will is making it a little more difficult, even though I don't really even know what I want. Could you pray for me that I can figure it out soon? If you have any advice, let me know! Thanks!
I love you so much and thank you for your e-mails, prayers, love and support! I pray for you every night! I hope that the Lord continues to bless you! Great week!
Love, Zuster Sharp

I"M GOING TO MAKE THIS THE BEST 6 MONTHS OF MY LIFE!!!

2010-07-20T07:01:00.000-07:00

Monday, July 19, 2010
Hello Family! Thanks for the e-mails, again! You are all so great! As you know, I reached my year mark this week! WAHOO! It is so crazy to sit back and think about all of the things that have taken place from July 15, 2009 to July 15, 2010 because it feels like it was a month’s time rather than a whole year! It was really a bitter sweet thought but I have come to terms with it and have set some new goals and resolutions to make the next 6 months the very best that they can be. Bring it on! My companions were so sweet because they wanted to do something special for me so we went and got an ice cream cone and the day was a really good one filled with lots and lots of miracles.
I have really spent a lot of time pondering this week about the plan of Heavenly Father. Sometimes (or most of the time) I have a plan of what I want to happen in my head and I do whatever I can to bring about that plan. But then I am humbled and realize that God has an even greater plan and He is really the one that is in control, especially in missionary work. That is why I need to develop the gift of patience. I read the talk yesterday entitled "Continue in Patience" by President Uchtdorf from this last general conference.WOW! So many things hit me and I would like to share them with you as well as a few experiences that I had that I was able to learn from.
"Patience means actively waiting and enduring. It means staying with something and doing all that we can-working, hoping, and exercising faith; bearing hardship with fortitude, even when the desire of our hearts are delayed. Patience is not simply enduring; it is enduring well!"
I left Groningen feeling like I didn't really leave anything behind. On Wednesday I talked to the Elders that are working there and they let me know that they have set 6 baptismal dates in the last week and a half! That is a record! Of course my first reaction was to be happy but then my thoughts quickly turned to doubt. Do they have 6 baptismal dates now because sisters are out of the city? Did we do something extremely wrong? He then let me know that two of them, Gracita and Maggy, are people that we found that have finally decided to look more into the church. He said that Gracita just showed up to church on Sunday because she remembered the commitment I had given her of getting up a little early on Sunday and remembered my words and the blessings I promised and decided to come to church! Maggy is now attending church and can't stop reading the Book of Mormon and through her the Elders have found even more investigators. The work is exploding there and we were able to help a little bit. We did our best in Groningen and the Lord had a plan for the people there. I was so happy to hear about that! It just takes some patience to realize it.
We had no appointments this week. We spent all of our time finding. At the beginning of the week I was not so excited but I knew that the Lord had a plan for us and the people here in Den Haag. I went forward and worked like crazy! We were all jumping off of our bikes and talking to absolutely everyone! We found three new investigators and we will be teaching them all this week! It didn't happen on Monday or Tuesday or Wednesday but by Sunday we had the appointments and investigators pouring in. And Bernard is still progressing! It just takes some patience.
The members are calling us and wanting to work with us. I have never seen a ward so excited about missionary work. All of the work with members is paying off! IT just takes patience!
I love you so much! Thank you for your patience with me and all of your love and prayers! Have a great week and love every minute...even if it takes exercising some patience. The Lord has a plan!

THE NEDERLANDERS LOST BUT...THINGS IN DEN HAAG ARE GREAT!!!

2010-07-20T06:57:00.000-07:00

Monday, July 12, 2010
Hello Fam! How are you all doing?! Thanks for the e-mails, Mom, Dad, Brooke, Car, and Kris! How fun to receive so many!!! And Car, thanks so much for the pics! They are sooo cute! It is always a special treat to have a visual included. Did you have a good week? I sure did...let me tell ya!
Last Monday and Tuesday was filled with a lot of goodbyes...and I survived it! Monday night we went and had dinner with an older woman in the ward, Puk, and it was a really nice appointment. After that we biked over to Joanne's to visit her one last time. It was a killer to finally walk out of her apartment and give her one last hug (we were both trying to laugh because we knew that if we didn't we would start to cry). We were procrastinating leaving but it was such a great last visit. I am going to miss her so much but it is so great to know that I will see her again! Tuesday was just a whirlwind! We made lunch for district meeting and then we caught the bus to Marum to go and visit Familie Fridsma one last time. That visit just flew by but the few minutes we were there were minutes that I will always treasure. Zr. Fridsma gave us both personalized gifts which was so amazing! She gave me this beautiful box that she had decorated with antique Dutch fabrics and lace...it is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen! I started to get a little teary-eyed but we ended up having to run to catch our bus so that made the goodbye a little quicker and less difficult. We had dinner at Familie Koens and then Zr. De Jonge came and picked us up to visit her daughter's family and her husband who had a stroke a couple of weeks ago one last time. It was such a beautiful day and I couldn't have asked for a better one to have as my last day in Groningen!
Coming to Den Haag was an adventure with 6 suitcases, 2 bikes, and 2 sister missionaries...but we made it! We also got right to work after dropping our stuff off at the apartment! I was blessed enough to be able to go on splits with a member that night and we did some finding together. The sisters had just had 4 baptisms right before we got there so now we are back on step one with finding new investigators. This week has been full of finding but I am used to it so I think that it's great! We have found quite a few new investigators and we actually set a baptismal date yesterday with Bernard...WAHOO!!! The ward is huge here (about 190 people at church yesterday) so it is a little overwhelming but I am trying to get some names down. We actually had 10 member present lessons this week which is more than we ever had in a transfer in Zwolle and Groningen. I just think that the large number of members makes it easier for us to find someone to come and they all live within a short distance of the church. The city is HUGE compared to the other two, but I haven't got lost yet! Zuster Reber really knows her way around this place and she is doing great at getting Zr. Harrington and I oriented. I am loving this threesome! Zuster Reber and I really get along and we just laugh and have a great time the whole day...we have had some pretty funny moments so far! Anyway, to put it in a simple sentence, I MISS Groningen terribly but I am LOVING it here! It's not that it is better or worse, just different with new experiences and a new time in my mission! Bring on the adventures!
I just want you to know that I love you so much! I taught the gospel principles class yesterday about families and it just reminded me how thankful I am that Heavenly Father loves us so much that He sent us to earth to be with our families. I think about you every day because you bring me so much strength and I just feel your love and support! The church is true! Have a great week and I’ll be praying for ya!
Love, Laur

I AM SO EXCITED TO HEAR ABOUT THE REUNION!!!

2010-06-28T07:40:00.000-07:00

Monday, June 27, 2010

I have been thinking about you all week! How was the reunion?! From the titles of your e-mails and the pictures it looks and sounds like it was just AWESOME!!! It also sounds like you are exhausted...it always takes a couple of days, sometimes a couple of weeks, to recuperate after one of those! I can't wait to read my e-mails! Thank you so much for still taking the time to write and let me know how it went even though you were so tired...it means so much to me! Also, thanks for the pictures Heidi and Mark! That makes the letters come alive! And Carli, you are way too cute! Those pictures from the photo shoot are adorable! So I have been thinking that I would pretty much just see a physical change in the grandkids over my time of being here but you have changed so much! It freaks me out! You look so old and grown up...your hands and your face and just everything. I think that I am in for a big surprise when I get home!
Well this week was crazy but sooo good! It all started on Monday night when we had a family home evening with Zjuleika and her two daughters, Bianca and Brigette. It went so well! We started the lesson with a primary song, "I am a child of God", and they sang along. We then had a prayer, a lesson, and a little game as well as a treat at the end. The girls just loved it! They wanted us to come back every night and do a family home evening with them. Before we left we said that we wanted to say one more prayer together and that Zuster Harrington was going to say it. Little 6 year old Bianca spoke up and said, "Would it be okay if I tried to say the prayer?" I think both of us were in shock and our chins dropped but we were so excited because she wanted to put to practice the things that we taught her during our lesson. She said the sweetest little prayer ever and they all committed to pray every day for the rest of the week and fill in their little prayer chart! It was a really special appointment. We tried calling Zjuleika later in the week to set up a new appointment but she never answered and we were scared she was going to drop us. We have been praying really hard for her, as I know you have been too, and she actually called us back today and left a message! We hope that we can set up another appointment this week!
On Tuesday we were able to teach Familie Chakarov, a little family from Bulgaria. It is so difficult to teach them because of the language barrier but it is coming along. The man, Zuni, actually came to church yesterday and is planning on coming again next week. I am so thankful to know that at least the Spirit speaks the same language!
We also taught Emily that night with Joyce and the lesson was so good. We asked Emily where she plans to be in 5 years and she said, “A member of this church, of course!" I have no doubt that she will become a member. We are sending all of her information to the mission that her home area is in so the missionaries can contact her right after she gets home. We will teach her two more times this week and then she will be off. I sure will miss her! I just love her so much!
On Thursday morning we headed out bright and early to go to Zwolle. Interviews were wonderful and it was so great to be back in that city! After interviews, we headed out to do some work in the wonderful city of Zwolle! We stopped by one of our old investigators, Nanda, and we had quite the amazing experience. Nanda let us in and was so excited to have missionaries at her house again. She then came to the realization that whenever she is having a rough time the missionaries always seem to show up. Her husband was just diagnosed with a life-threatening health problem and she had been praying for help and support and she took our visit as the answer. What a humbling realization. She then proceeded to tell us that that morning she had read Moroni 8 in the Book of Mormon and that the next day she was planning on finishing the whole book. She has been reading it every day since me and Zuster Wieland left Zwolle. She saw how it teaches the same things as the Bible and she really felt uplifted through reading it. Luckily we were able to be there to extend Moroni’s Promise to her and commit her to praying to know if the Book of Mormon is true. She committed to do it and we are going to have the elders follow up with her. It was just another testimony to me that nothing happens by chance! We then stopped by Willeka's, Famile Spijkerman's, and then had dinner at Tineke's with Sue Haina! I felt like I was "home" being back with all of those people. Sue Haina will be sending in her mission papers today and is expecting her call in 2-6 weeks. I'll keep you posted on where she will be going!
After our work in Zwolle we headed to Amsterdam where we spent the night. The next day Zuster Harrington and Zuster Cranford went to Belgium for legality and I had the wonderful opportunity to work with Zuster Ekstrom in Amsterdam. That city is crazy! I am so used to the quiet north side of the country! But it was a wonderful experience and I really learned a lot from working there.
Well, my time is up! I love you so much! I really, really do! Thank you so much for your love! I am praying for you! Have a great week!
Love, Laur

Is this summer or winter?!

2010-06-21T05:05:00.000-07:00

Monday, June 21, 2010

Hello Fam! How are you all doing! Have you have a wonderful week? How is little Ava? I can´t wait to see pictures of her! Congratulations Jordan and Kristin!!! Did you all have a great Father´s Day? I hope you had a great Father´s Day DAD! Thank you so much for the e-mails! I can´t wait to know what is going on at home!
This week was wonderful! It has become really cold here (I think we are having some funky weather like you are having too...I even had to pull my winter coat out last night!) but the work couldn´t be better! Mom, THANK YOU so much for the recipe! It turned out perfect (that is definitely one to add to the recipe box). Joanne was able to print it off for me and she was SO happy with the little note that you wrote to her...she even got a little emotional about it! I know that your words are words that she will always treasure as well as words that I will always treasure. I am amazed how all of you immediately have such a strong love for the people that I am working with. Even though they are in the beginning only names included in my e-mails, through your prayers you develop a great love and concern for them that blesses their lives in so many ways! Thank you for being willing to serve and love like the Savior. You are wonderful examples to me! Anyway, the institute dinner turned out so good! We made pancakes and eggs and the ham sauce and I don´t think there was an ounce of food left on the tables! All of the people were just raving about it and asked us if we would be willing to cook it every week! It was really fun to be able to serve in that way and especially to be a support to the ward in that way. They are really struggling to find a leader for the institute and YSA center so I am glad that we are able to help in some way to keep it going! They´ll be asking us to cook again in a couple of weeks so keep me posted if you have any ideas for easy, time-friendly meals!
As far as investigators go we are a little low again. Emily will be leaving in a week to go back to St. Martin and we are hoping to get one more lesson in with her before she goes. We had a great miracle with Zjuleika this past week! We had an appointment with her on Tuesday and she really opened up and told us how she was feeling about what we had already taught her. She has interest but is a little scared to make changes. We pulled out a calendar to set up a baptismal date with her and something amazing happened! She said that before she makes the following appointment for her she wanted to make an appointment for us to do a family home evening with her and her two daughters! Only a week earlier she did not want us to be in her house when her daughters were home and in that amount of time she decided, with promptings from the Spirit, that she wanted us to teach her and her daughters. I will keep you posted on how tonight goes! We also found another new investigator, Gracita, and we will be teaching her for the second time this week!
We have done a lot more work with members and are seeing the fruits of our labors. Their hearts are beginning to soften and they are joining in the work. It is such a blessing to work with such wonderful and dedicated people!
We have interviews on Thursday in Zwolle and I got permission from President to work the rest of the day there. I get to look up old investigators and do some finding and I can hardly wait to be back in that city for a little while! I actually got to call Tineke and setup an appointment with her for dinner that night and I am looking forward to seeing her again. It really is a special blessing and privilege to be able to do this!
I love you so much and I know that God loves you too. He is your Father. He wants us to be happy and have success. I am so thankful that He sent me to the family I am a part of. You are all so wonderful, not only because of what you do but, more importantly, because of whom you are! I pray for you! Have a great week!
Love, Laur

Happy Birthday DAD!!!

2010-06-14T07:13:00.000-07:00

Monday, June 14, 2010
Happy Birthday (tomorrow) Dad!!! I hope that you have an extra special birthday! I'll be thinking about you! How are you all doing!? Thank you so much for the e-mails! I don't get to tell you enough that YOU ARE ALL SO AWESOME! I sure love ya!
What a week! We had a Zone Conference in Apeldoorn on Friday and Stake Conference yesterday so I am totally pumped and fired up to dive into the work this week and double my efforts! For Stake Conference we had a satellite broadcast from Salt Lake and Elders Packer and Bednar spoke, as well as a man from the Quorum of the Seventy and Mary N. Cook. It was really a special treat to be able to hear from them, especially with what they had to say to the members here in Western Europe.
I have a renewed testimony of the power of goals after this week! I set a goal to do my very best to get a member by every teaching appointment that we had...and it worked! We had four member present lessons this week and that is more than I have ever had in my life! The Lord truly was aware of the desires of mine and Zuster Harrington's hearts and prepared a way for that to happen. We had to work really hard, calling people and trying to arrange everything, and in the end it really paid off. It all started on Monday when Joyce Streuper came as a joint-teach to Emily. We had a lesson about tithing and I don't think that it was by chance that Joyce came with us because she was able to share some very spiritual experiences she has had with paying tithing. Sadly enough we found out that night that Emily is moving back to St. Martin in 2 weeks so her baptismal date is not going to go through. But she wants us to send all of her information through to the missionaries there and she can't wait to get in contact with the church in her own country. I really don't care if she gets baptized here or in St. Martin, as long as she gets baptized! I know that she will become a member of this church in the near future...she is reading and praying every day and I even gave her a Dutch CTR ring and she NEVER takes it off. It is amazing to see how the gospel changes people and makes them so happy! We also had an appointment with Emily on Saturday and Sarah Fridsma came with us. We watched the Restoration film and it was SO powerful! The Joseph Smith story never loses power...IT IS TRUE!
On Thursday we had a church tour with a new investigator, Marion, and our Ward Mission Leader, Brother Dorenbosh was there to accompany us. The chapel was the first part of the church we went to and we didn't make it any further than that. The church really is the house of the Lord and Marion could feel the special spirit there. We shared the whole first lesson and she had tears in her eyes. She is a 28 year old mother with a 5 year old son and she is searching for the true church. She was so excited to hear our focus on families and to receive a copy of the Book of Mormon. We'll have another appointment with her this week!
Later on Thursday we went to Joanne's new apartment to help her cleanup the kitchen before she moved in and her friend, Melissa, was also there helping. Melissa has been to church a number of times and she also attends institute quite regularly. She loved the lesson we shared about having faith and trust in the Lord and hopefully will start taking the missionary lessons. Having Joanne, such a recent convert, there to help us teach would be the most prime situation ever!
We stopped by Zjuleika's yesterday and we are going to teach her tomorrow and hopefully set up a baptismal calendar with her. We just keep pushing on, trying to find the elect! It is such a wonderful and blessed privilege to be able to find them and teach them! Sometimes we don't know why we can't find a lot of them, or they all move away, or they lose interest, but the Lord knows and He is providing for us!
This week we are really looking forward to the many adventures that will come! We are making dinner again for institute and doing the YW activity this week so we always manage to keep our schedule jammed packed (just the way I like it!)!
Your prayers and faith are working miracles! You are doing missionary work in so many ways. Just by being an example, living the gospel, serving others...following the example of Jesus Christ, you are bringing His children back to Him and helping them find their way to the greatest joy they could ever find!
I love you so much! I hope that you have a wonderful week filled with the joy of the gospel! Never forget I am praying for you too!
Love, Laur

Called to Serve Him!

2010-06-11T18:03:00.000-07:00

Monday, June 7, 2010

Thanks for the many e-mails this week, Mom, Dad, Brooke, Car, and Corb! I am looking forward to reading them! How was your week?! Are you having fun in Oregon and in West Jordan and where ever else you may be? It was an awesome week here! I will do my best to fill you in!
First of all, Swinda and Dave are gone back to Curicao! Dave's cancer is gone and they flew out last weekend. At first I was really sad to hear that they had to pack up and get out so soon because I wanted to teach them more and continue to bring them closer to Christ but then I was reminded of the wonderful miracle that it is that he is healed and that Heavenly Father will be sure to bring them in contact with the missionaries again in Curicao. Yesterday I took pictures of them to the primary and shared them with the children. All of a sudden it hit me that all of the little primary children had been praying for Dave, as well as all of you, many ward members and many of his family members and friends. He also received a priesthood blessing. I KNOW that the blessing and many faith-filled prayers were answered and he was miraculously healed. I don't know what better witness Dave and Swinda could receive that Jesus Christ lives and this is His church! As I stood before the Primary children tears were brought to my eyes and I was humbled to know that Heavenly Father works many miracles and I had the opportunity to witness this one. It was a tender mercy and one of the highlights of my mission.
On Friday night during our nightly planning session we were planning out what we were going to do on Saturday night. We had a good chunk of time open in the evening and we were doing our best to try to listen to the Spirit to know how the Lord wanted us to use that time. After sharing a few ideas with each other and not really feeling like any of them were right the phone started to ring. I felt like I should answer it and as I walked to get it out of my bag I jokingly said to Zuster Harrington, "I think this will be someone who needs our help tomorrow night!" Turns out, it was! A 28 year old man named Frank had received a pamphlet from us, Zuster Harrington’s first night here as we were knocking doors, had read it, and was wondering if hecould set up an appointment as soon as possible to learn more about the church! We set up an appointment for the next night and he gave all of his contact information to us so we would know where to find him. We went balistic! Of course we quickly fell on our knees in gratitude for that great blessing. On Saturday we really made sure we made a solid lesson plan and tried to follow the Spirit in knowing what to teach him. We also started calling members to find a joint-teach. After calling about 25 members, Zuster Weening agreed to come with us although she had much she had to get done that night. We made sure we were on time for the appointment and continued to say aprayer in our hearts that everything would go well. We went to his house, rang his bell, and….nothing happened. We rang again and still no one came to the door. We finally resorted to calling and it went directly to his voicemail. We were devastated! Our joint-teach was very disappointed and headed home and we were left not knowing what to think. Did we not have enough faith? What had happened in that 24hour period that had driven Frank not to meet with us? As I was reading in the Book of Mormon I came across 2 Nephi 2:24 that says, "But behold, all things are done in the wisdom of Him that knoweth all things.“ We had done our best. The Lord has a plan and Frank has his agency. It was still a miracle. I don’t know what will happen in the future with Frank but I am thankful that I do know that my perspective of things is really small and the Lord has all wisdom.
We are still teaching Emily and we are really working on building up relationships between her and the members. We are also still teaching Zjuleika and she is beginning to follow through with her commitments. She read a pamphlet and she even commited to reading a Liahona article. They are small steps but her faith is growing.
During lessons this week my faith was strengthened of the power of the Holy Ghost in knowing what to say. During our lesson with Zjuleika I felt prompted to ask her if we could help her in her yard to get it ready for summer. Her jaw dropped and then she said, "How did you know that that is what I needed? I have wanted to get busy with it but as a single mom I just haven't found the time. I would love your help!" We are going to be setting an appointment to do that this week. In another lesson with a 20 year old in active member, Zoraima, I felt impressed to ask, "If you could be invisible would you come back to church?" I put off asking it because it sounded a little childish. I thought that she would think I was crazy. But the Spirit continued to prompt me so I sheepishly asked the question. I was a little freaked out when she loudly said "YES!" and then totally opened up and let us know how she was really feeling. That was the question that really got her talking and now we know what the root of her problem is and what we can do to help. The Spirit truly does give us everything we need at the moment we need them!
We had our first Saturday activity and we only had a few people come but we have big hopes that it will continue to grow! It was a lot of fun with the people we did have and we hope that as members hear about how fun it was they will also want to come. I think it will become a great missionary tool!
Thank you so much for your prayers and support! I LOVE YOU! This work is amazing and everyone can do it! I am convinced that being an example and serving are the two greatest ways to bring others to Christ. As I have read and studied the story of Ammon I have come to see the most effective way to do the work. He was willing to serve and set the example first and then King Lamoni came to him asking questions about the gospel. It is just up to us to be ready to give the answers! I hope that you have a great week! I am praying for you!
Love,Laur

Things are lookin up in Groningen!

2010-06-01T09:24:00.001-07:00

Monday, May 31, 2010

Hello! Did you have a great week!? Thank you so much for the e-mails, Mom, Dad, and Brooke! Your e-mails last week sure gave me so much strength and I know that they will do the same this week! I always love the quotes, scriptures, miracles, experiences, and uplifting words that you include. I feel like you are always led by the Spirit to know exactly what I need to hear so thank you for being in tune and being an answer to my prayers!
Being a trainer is so much fun! I am learning soooo much and things have been a little overwhelming at times but luckily everything has gone really smoothly. My companions name is Zuster Harrington and she is from New Mexico. Her dad is actually in the Air Force so she has lived in Germany and Greece at times. She has so much faith and she just wants to do her best to share the gospel and be obedient. I have really learned about the power of an example this week because I see that she does EXACTLY what I do. It is kind of scary! But I am really learning to make sure everything I do and say is in-line with mission rules and in accordance with the commandments. I am also learning more about following the Spirit in decision making, especially when it is just on-the-spot. I am so thankful for the gift of the Holy Ghost! I couldn't do this on my own! I am also speaking a lot more with people and I am thoroughly enjoying that. I think that the most difficult part is motivating her to do things but not pushing her. Luckily she usually says what part of the lesson or contact she would like to give and is self-motivated so that really helps. I have thought a lot about the song “If the Savior Stood Beside Me" this week and I really feel Him close by me. My testimony has been strengthened that He does live! He is always with us when we strive to do the right things. I love the Savior.
The couple of days before Zuster Stapleton left were a little busy! I planned a surprise dinner for her with Familie Fridsma and I am so thankful that I was able to work with Zuster Fridsma to do that before Zuster Stapleton left Groningen. She was so happy that we would do that for her and I think that it made her last night in Groningen extra special!
Wednesday morning we headed to Utrecht to meet up with all of the other missionaries for transfers. My MTC teacher, Zuster Spencer, was here visiting the people and areas from her mission and just happened to be at the train station where we were all gathering! It was fun to see her and all of the other missionaries. I was really nervous to meet Zuster Harrington but now I know that I had no reason to be nervous. We made it back up to Groningen and were actually able to go to the Bishop's house that night. Plans are going through and we, as missionaries, will be planning a ward activity every Saturday in June, July, and August. The Bishop is really positive about the plans and we will have our first activity this Saturday. I don't really know what we are doing yet but hopefully we'll figure it out soon!
We have found so many potential investigators this past week and this coming week looks really positive! Emily is still progressing and shooting for July 3 to get baptized. Swinda has been really busy this week but I had a meeting with all of the YW and YW presidency yesterday and they are going to come to the Ronald McDonald house to do an activity with Swinda and Dave. I am planning the activity for June 18 so if you have any ideas of what we could do, I am open!
Sunday we had a guest service and Zjuleika, a member referral, came to church with her 2 daughters, which was a miracle! The guest service was really nice and we had quite a crowd. Joanne and I threw a musical number together at the last minute and we were blessed! It turned out okay!
I just want you all to know that I love you so much! I really do LOVEYOU! The Lord lives and this is HIS work. We are all involved in it! I am praying for you all! Thanks for your prayers!
Love, Lauren

I am expecting...May 26, 2010!!!

2010-05-24T07:48:00.000-07:00

Monday, May 24, 2010

Hello! I am so thankful for the inbox full of letters that I found this morning! I have some very exciting news about transfers...I am staying in Groningen and I will be training!!! I can´t believe it! I received a call from President Brubaker last night at 10:20 and he said, "Zuster Sharp, the Lord would like to call you to be a senior companion right now and to also train a new missionary." I was in total shock! I think that he could hear that in my voice and so he quickly followed by assuring me that the Lord and he had total confidence in me. He also talked about Groningen being really a huge area of focus right now because he has felt inspired that there is a lot that will be taking place there. He told me that I was called to this area at this time to do some very important work and that I would be able to do it as I continue to serve the Lord with all of my heart, mind, and strength. What a humbling telephone call! As you can imagine it took some time before I fell asleep last night. I just kept having doubts about my ability to train a new missionary because a trainer has such a huge impact on a missionary´s mission and life. But the Spirit kept comforting me and letting me know that as long as I do my best and stay close to the Lord that nothing can go wrong. I just have to keep trusting in those feelings! I will be taking Zuster Stapleton to Utrecht on Wednesday (she will be serving in Dordrecht for her last transfer...I will miss her a lot!) and I will be picking up my greenie there. WOW! Even writing this is making me nervous! Keep praying for me and for my greenie!
This week has been another amazing one! I had piano lessons again with Gabriel Fridsma and I am just having a blast doing it! He is loving it too and is making a lot of progress. He can name all of the notes on the piano and he can also play a few songs out of the book. I will have another appointment with him this week.
On Thursday we took the paper chain to Swinda and Dave. When we arrived at the Ronald McDonald house and called Swinda to let us in she told us that she had totally forgot that we were coming and that she wasn´t home. We were a little bummed out because we were so excited to give it to her and Dave but decided that we would just leave it there in their mailbox. We found a park bench to sit on and we wrote a little note to stick on the chain and then took it back up to the door. One of the workers came to let us in and he said that Swinda had just barely walked in the door too. He led us over to her and she seemed somewhat happy to see us but really stressed and tired because they are waiting to hear the results about Dave. We gave her the chain, picture, and note all packaged up and then went on our way. On our way out Zr. Stapleton had to use the bathroom so I just waited in the hall. About a minute after waiting Swinda came walking up to me and threw her arms around me. She was sobbing and had tears running down her cheeks. She had opened up the package and had the chain in her hand. When she could finally talk, she said that that was the best gift she had ever received. She also said that she wanted Dave to be among the children in the picture because their faces just seemed to glow! Dave came running in a few minutes later with one of the biggest smiles I have ever seen. We were able to take some pictures with them and make a new appointment to meet with them this week. Her heart was truly softened! It was such a huge miracle! Thank you for your prayers in their behalf!
I love you soooo much! I am inspired by each of you and I think about you often! You are always in my prayers! Have a good week and continue to do things for others to make them happy...that is the gospel!
Love, Laur

What a beautiful day!

2010-05-17T15:25:00.000-07:00

Monday, May 17, 2010
Hello Fam! How are you doing?! I am so looking forward to reading your e-mails and hearing all about your week! I was really thinking a lot about everyone yesterday and the chance you all had to get together to attend Becca´s farewell and support her. I am so excited to hear how it went! Ever since I was able to talk to you on Mother´s Day I have been replaying our conversation over and over again. It is such a blessing because it is not a source of homesickness but a source of strength. Actually, since I talked to you, I have been less focused on missing you all than ever before in my mission. It was such an uplifting conversation! You were all so positive and loving and uplifting and I know that even though the time was short, the Lord blessed us for our obedience!
I had a wonderful week! Last Monday night we headed down to Amsterdam and had Zone Conference on Tuesday. The Conference was totally focused on working with the members (one of my favorite parts of missionary work) and I learned so much that I am beginning to apply to the work here. It was also wonderful to be able to gather with all of the other missionaries and encourage each other with the work.
Tuesday night I came back to Groningen with Zuster Fowler and we had such an AMAZING time working together! I learned so much from her and we saw some amazing miracles as we worked together. One of them was with Swinda. We went and visited Swinda and Joanne came with us. Joanne brought her violin and she played "I Believe in Christ" and Zuster Fowler and I sang along. The Spirit was amazingly strong (I know that I say that every time, but it really was!) and we were able to share Jesus Christ´s love with her. I know that God has a great plan for her and Dave and that we are just so blessed to be able to be a part of that. She didn´t come to church yesterday but she is planning on coming to the RS activity on Wednesday. She is making progress...slowly but surely! We did the sharing time yesterday and made the paper "get well" chain for Dave. The kids were all so excited about it and the chain is so cute! We took a picture of all of the kids with the chain and we are going to take it to Dave with the Primary President this week. I´ll let you know how it goes!
The rest of the week was really busy! Emily and Ying Na called off their appointments but our hopes are high that we will have appointments with them again this week. Thanks for keeping all of them in your prayers! You´re working miracles through your faith!
Today, Brother and Sister De Jonge, an older couple in our ward, took us and the Elders on a p-day outing so that we could all have a chance to see Groningen really well before transfers next Wednesday. I ate herring! It is a kind of fish that the Dutch people love and they eat it raw. We went all of the way to the coast of the Netherlands and I ate a whole raw fish! It didn´t taste bad but the texture freaked me out a bit! At least I can say I am a little closer to being a Nederlander! I will be sending pictures of it soon!
I love you so much and keep you in my prayers! Thanks for your prayers and support....You are all amazing! I hope that you have an amazing week and know that I LOVE YOU! Love, Zuster Sharp
P.S. Brandt, I came in contact with a girl that comes from Romania. Her mom had a lot of contact with the missionaries a while ago. She comes from a little town (maybe Assa) in the area of Moldavia. The name sounds familiar so I got her moms name and was just wondering if by some small chance you know her. We are also planning on taking a Book of Mormon back to her and I was wondering if you could send me an e-mail with your testimony in Romanian so that I can write it on the inside cover of the book. Thanks! Her Mom´s name is Mariana Zaharia. It is a small world!

What an amazing Mother's Day!!!

2010-05-10T06:40:00.000-07:00

Monday, May 10, 2010

Hello! It's so fun to be writing right now because I feel so close to you after having just talked to you! You all sounded SO good and so happy!!! I am so thankful that you made those 30 minutes so extra special! Last night as I went to bed your words of love and happiness just kept playing over and over in my head...that was a 30 minute conversation that I will never forget! I still would have liked to share more words of love and gratitude with you but I feel so satisfied and energized with the time that we did have. Just never forget that I LOVE YOU and THANK YOU for everything! I hope that you all had a wonderful Mother's Day and I hope that you also know that you made my Mother's Day extremely special.
I didn't get to tell you yesterday, but I spent a day in Amsterdam this past week! Zuster Stapleton had to go to a leadership conference in Brussels with another sister, Zuster Ekstrom, so I spent a day in Amsterdam working with Zuster Vels, the only true Dutch sister in the mission. It was a shocker! I am so used to the smaller cities like Zwolle and Groningen and going to big old Amsterdam was a little overwhelming! I loved it though and I learned once again that wherever I go I immediately just fall in love with all of the people that I meet. It was really awesome to work with Zuster Vels and learn from here. She has such an amazing gift because she is Dutch, she can speak the language so perfectly, and she can relate to the people. Finding with her was awesome and we saw many miracles in our time together. She also helped me with my Dutch accent...I loved it! I wouldn't mind having another chance to serve with her again but maybe up here in the North...I like the quieter, smaller cities!
Swinda is still doing really well. I am going on exchanges on Wednesday with Zuster Fowler and I am hoping that we can get an appointment with Swinda for that day and that Joanne can come as a joint-teach. Joanne can play the violin really well and we are hoping that she can bring her violin and play and Zuster Fowler and I will sing a hymn with her accompanying us. The power of music in bringing the spirit is so amazing and I think it would really touch her heart. Keep her in your prayers! Dave isn't doing so well. Luckily we are going to be teaching primary this next week and we will be making cards from the primary children to Dave so that will hopefully give him and Swinda a little boost of hope and allow them to feel the love of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ!
We are also still teaching Ying Na and her 6 year old son, Run Ze. They are Chinese and they have no Christian background. I took my gospel art book the last time we went to teach them and I sat for about 45 minutes with Run Ze going through the book and telling him story after story about Jesus Christ and the people in the Bible and the Book of Mormon. At times I thought it would be too difficult for him to understand but he couldn't get enough! He begged me to bring the book back and I promised him I would to share more stories with him. I am amazed at the faith and understanding of small children...I really need to learn from them. I think that he might end up being the key to his mother’s heart to help her understand and accept the gospel!
I love you so much and I hope that you have a wonderful week! The Lord lives and this is His church! I am so thankful that I have the truth and that I get to share it with others. Thank you for your prayers and love and support! I pray for you too!
Love, Lauren

Happy Mother´s Day!

2010-05-03T05:49:00.000-07:00

Monday, May 3, 2010

Hello Family! What a beautiful week! Did you enjoy it? Thanks for the pics Cars! You all look so cute! Did you have a good time at prom? I can´t wait to read about it!
YES! I get to talk to you in less than a week! The rules are the same from Christmas...30 minutes. I don´t know what time is best for you but I was thinking that we could maybe talk at 7:30 PM here, so 12:30 your time. Does that sound okay? The number is 01131652338970. I can´t wait to hear from you! It will be so wonderful to talk for 30 minutes, especially on Mother´s Day!
We were just showered with miracles this week...too many to share them all! But I will quickly share the highlights of the week and hopefully through them you will see how much God loves all of His children!
We were able to teach Swinda 3 times this week, the Elders and a member gave her and Dave a priesthood blessing, and SHE COMMITED TO BE BAPTIZED!!! It has become such an amazing teaching situation because she is experiencing firsthand the blessings of the priesthood so she understands that she needs to be baptized with that authority. The day that she received a blessing, we accompanied the Elders and the member. We were all gathered together in a tiny room and I know that angels were present. As one of the Elders gave Dave (her 6 year old son who has cancer) a blessing, he promised him that he would one day become a missionary too. Now I know that that will only occur according to his faithfulness and Swinda´s faithfulness but I know that it is very possible and that the things that are taking place in their lives are preparing them to receive the gospel so that they will be able to go out and share the gospel. Those 30 minutes were enough to make my mission all worth it...and I didn´t even have to do a thing! It is true that the elect are prepared before we meet them. Anyway, she just loves all of the things we are teaching her and she can´t wait to meet with us again and learn more. Her scheduled baptismal date is May 29, so we hope that she will receive a really clear answer that this church is true and that she follows through with everything the Lord expects of her beforehand so that she will be ready!
Emily came to church for the first time yesterday! We met her at her apartment at 9:00 and walked with her and her 18 month old son to the church. I think that she was a little overwhelmed at first but she learned a lot and built up relationships with members. She is also still planning on being baptized on May 29. I am looking forward to this double baptism!
Last night we held a big fireside with the Elders to promote missionary work in our ward. President Brubaker gave a short talk and we did some trainings and practices. We had a turn-out of about 40 people and they really got excited about helping their friends come unto Christ by doing "small and simple things" (Alma 37:6-7). We are hoping to set up a mini-MTC program every week that members can attend to continue to get training from Preach My Gospel. It´s really exciting!
I love you all and hope that you have a wonderful week! THANK YOU for everything! The Lord lives and He loves you all so much! I LOVE YOU TOO! Happy Mother´s Day to all of you mothers, especially to you, MOM! I´ll talk to you on Sunday!
Love, Laur

I love the sunshine!!!

2010-04-26T07:05:00.000-07:00

Monday, April 26, 2010

How are you all doing!!!? Are you enjoying this wonderful spring weather? Can you believe it is almost May? Yesterday as I was sitting in Primary during Singing Time a little boy asked if we could all sing "I Love to See the Temple". As we were singing I started thinking about how long ago it was that I went through the temple for the first time and that was exactly one year ago yesterday. That really hit me how fast time is going...and I don´t think it is going to slow down!
Thank you so much for your e-mails! Mom, I got the package on Saturday! Oh my goodness!!! THANK YOU! First of all, I just had to laugh with the camel! That is so cute! And then all of the piano lesson stuff! On Saturday night we went to a dinner at the church and I saw Familie Fridsma and Gabriel and told them all about the things that you sent! They are so excited too. They wanted me to thank you from them as well. Piano lessons are going to be really great this week! THANK YOU!
Well, I survived the week! It was a little bit hectic but everything went down really well and it was very enjoyable. For the institute dinner we did end up having to just do scones because we couldn´t find the ingredients for all of the other recipes. Everything was going well with the preparations on Thursday until I started cooking the scones and they just did NOT work! I started to panic a little but we made a quick decision to send someone to the store to buy tortilla chips and do a taco salad instead. Joanne was willing to go and luckily dinner was ready to be served right on time. It tasted really good too! We served ice cream and American chocolate chip cookies for dessert and we even had Berber come for the dinner and the lesson! It was a really great night!
The Primary lesson and talk went really well too! Thank you so much for your prayers...they helped so much! I wasn´t even nervous about either of them and I just had to trust that the Lord would help me to say and do what He wanted me to say and do. Now that it is all over I am feeling a little project less so I am already thinking about doing a primary activity or mutual activity...I´ll let you know what is going down!
We set a baptismal date this week!!! Emily called us up and said that she wanted to start meeting with us again! We went over on Wednesday night and had a really amazing lesson about The Plan of Salvation. She had a lot of questions but she is really sincere. She really does want to know for herself. At the end of the lesson we invited her to be baptized on May 29 if she receives an answer that the Book of Mormon is true. She accepted and agreed to do that and she even prayed at the end of the lesson and asked Heavenly Father to help her prepare for that date if it is His will! We will be teaching her again this week! On Friday morning, Joanne, our most recent convert, called and asked us if we could come to her apartment to have lunch with her. She also called the Elders and invited them as well. Luckily, the Elders were able to find an inactive young adult, Marco, to come with them and we were able to switch around our schedule a little bit to make it all work out. We had a wonderful and spiritual lesson with Joanne and Marco about the importance of the Sacrament. When we left Joanne´s we were in a little bit of a hurry to be on time for our consecrated hour. We were biking really quickly and I just had a feeling that I needed to stop and give a card to someone. I pulled over and saw a lady and gave her the card. She thanked me for it but didn´t seem to have much interest. I started to wonder why the Spirit had prompted me to do so, or if it really was the Spirit. Anyway, we hopped back on our bikes just in time to see a progressing investigator ride by on her bike. We called out her name and she stopped and talked to us for a little bit. She explained that she had been in Africa for a couple of weeks so we hadn’t been able to get in contact with her for a long time. She told us that if we called her she would make an appointment with us. Last night we gave her a call and we have an appointment for Wednesday night! It was another experience for me to teach me how involved Heavenly Father is in this work. The Spirit prompted Joanne to invite us over for lunch so we would be biking in that area at just the right time. He prompted me to stop and give the card. His timing is absolutely perfect and He knows exactly what He is doing. I just need to be constantly ready to listen and act!
Saturday we played in the Volleyball Tournament that included all of the members of the church throughout the Netherlands and Belgium. We and the elders here were the only missionaries that were allowed to play because it was held here in Groningen! It was so much fun and my volleyball skills are getting a little bit better! My team won one match and lost the other three. Better luck next year! I was able to see so many members from Zwolle and that was such a blessing! It was really fun to be able to talk and visit with them for a little bit!
We were planning on going to our appointment with Swinda but she had to cancel right before because her son was really sick and she wasn´t feeling too great either. Luckily, she went with a member, Zr. Sprott, to a RS activity this week and also spent one other day with her. The members are just embracing her so she has a lot of contact with the church. We have another appointment scheduled with her for Wednesday!
We have been really blessed here in Groningen with the work! Miracles are happening all of the time! I know that Jesus Christ lives! I love you SO much and pray for you continually! Have a great week!
Love, Laur

Picking up speed! Time is flying!

2010-04-19T06:17:00.000-07:00

Hello Fam! How was your week?! Is the weather just as beautiful there as it is here? Every day the sun is shining and the flowers are blooming and it is just so wonderful! Thank you so much for you're-mails! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! Also, CONGRATS MARK AND HEIDI! I can´t wait to see pictures of cute little Jet!
We found three new investigators this week and we have so many appointments with potential investigators this coming week. I know that although they are not all directly related to the finding we did, the Lord blessed us for working and finding every day. I also know that faith and hope play such a huge role in the work! On Monday the Zone Leaders called and asked me if I would be willing to start an activity called "Pay it Forward" within the Zone. My assignment was that I had to find one new investigator and then call two missionary companionships within the Zone, share the miracle, and then ask them to "Pay it Forward" and repeat the process. I was willing to accept the challenge but I was a little nervous about really being able to find an investigator because we hadn´t found a new investigator in weeks. But, I went forward with faith and enthusiasm, trusting that the Lord would help me fulfill the inspired assignment. That night, the first door we knocked on, we found not only one but two new investigators! It really is believing that miracles will happen and doing all we can to make them happen!
I had the most amazing experience of my mission this week finding one of those investigators! I wish I could express to you how miraculous it was and allow you to experience a little bit of it yourself...Iwill try to do my best! On Tuesday we received a call from the Relief Society President and she gave us a referral. That, in and of itself, is amazing! She told us that there was a mother (Swinda) here in the Netherlands with her 6 year old son (Dave) who has cancer. They are from Curacao in the Carribean and have been here for 7 months while the son gets treated for the cancer. They are staying in the Ronald McDonald house here in Groningen and she was wondering if we could go and visit her. We were so excited and humbled with the opportunity to do so and promised her that we would make contact as soon as possible! She gave us the address of the house and also Swinda´s phone number. Zr. Stapleton and I prayed to know whether or not we should call first or just stop by and we felt really good about just stopping by the next day. When we got to the house, Swinda was not there. We called her right then and she told us that she was interested in meeting with us but that she would be at the hospital for the rest of the day with her son because he was having a six hour treatment of chemotherapy. We set up an appointment for Saturday. The whole week we tried to prepare ourselves for the appointment so that we could help Swinda through this difficult time and also share with her the message of the Restored Gospel. Saturday morning, during our studies, we made a long list of possible scriptures that we could share and felt inspired to take our hymn books to the lesson to sing some hymns with her. We showed up at the house at 3:30 and gave her a call so that she could let us in. She did not seem very happy that we were there and hestitated to really let us come in and sit down. We started up a conversation and she seemed to open up a little bit. She asked us which church we were from and when she realized that we were Mormons she was once again not too excited. She explained to us that many years ago Elders knocked on her door and gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon but she didn´t have any interest. Luckily, the Spirit was with us and she shared her story with us. There were a lot of emotions, as you can imagine the situation she is in. On top of her son having cancer, she and her husband are getting a divorce because he is in love with someone else. We just listened and cried with her and expressed our love and the love of Heavenly Father. At one point she asked, "Do you think that God would put me in this situation to help me come closer to Him?" After sharing that we believed that that was definitely possible, she said she did too. She told us that before our appointment she was busy and wanted to call it off. She searched for our number in her phone but could not find it anywhere. She then expressed her gratitude that we still came and shared with us that she knew that it was Satan trying to get her to cancel the appointment. She said that although this is the hardest thing she has ever been through, she has never been so happy in all of her life because she has a relationship with God now. She said she loves reading the scriptures now because they actually speak to her. We were able to teach her about the Book of Mormon and she committed to read it. She also talked about wanting to learn how to pray and receive answers instead of relying on a preacher in another church to be her connection to God. We told her that we could teach her how to do that and she could hardly wait to make another appointment! We are going back this Saturday. Before we left we sang two hymns for her and I know that angels were near. The Spirit was so strong and I felt an amazingly overwhelming love for her and could see just a glimpse of how much Heavenly Father loves her. He loves all of us. This is why I am here doing missionary work. Letting people know that God lives and loves them and wants them to return to Him and the only way to do that is through Jesus Christ. I love this work!
I love you all and pray for you! My talk, primary lesson and institute dinner are this week so I will let you know how it goes! I hope that you have a great week! Love,Laur

I am almost to the hump...WOW!

2010-04-12T06:27:00.000-07:00

Monday, April 12, 2010

Hello! How was your week? I don´t know if I remembered to tell you last week but this week is transfers! I am getting so old...I am already on my 6th transfer in the Netherlands. Well, I am staying here in Groningen with Zuster Stapleton! Once again, the confirmation came that it was the will of the Lord and I know that the Lord NEVER makes mistakes! It is always wonderful to be able to start a new transfer with new goals and ambitions...a fresh beginning! Thank you all so much for your e-mails and letters this past week. They helped me SO much! I can feel your love and concern through your letters and I am so thankful for such loving and caring family members and friends. I just can´t thank you all enough and I know that I will never be able to! You do so much for me.
I went to the temple on Thursday! It was really cool because I listened to the session in Dutch and I could understand so much of it. Walking into the temple was so wonderful! I miss that a lot because the Spirit is so extremely strong inside those walls. I know, once again, that the temple is truly the House of the Lord. It was so special to be able to witness President Brubaker doing the work of Zuster Stapleton´s father! We were all brought to tears as we saw him walk into the waters of baptism and be confirmed right after. The veil was extremely thin and I know that her father was so pleased with the work she is doing here in the Netherlands, especially for him. He is now the third member of her family who is a member of the church. I know that one day; many more will come into the church because of her. She has such a special calling! Anyway, the session was so beautiful and it brought back a lot of memories. I can´t help but look back on the unforgettable times I had with all of you within the temple...truly just like a piece of heaven! I am so thankful for the blessings of the temple. It was really cool because as we were walking out I glanced over to the recommend desk and Brother and Sister Spijkerman from Zwolle had just walked in! I ran over and gave her a huge hug and chatted with her for a few minutes. That was such a tender mercy from the Lord. I am hoping that that is how it is when we really go to heaven, being reunited with all of those we love so much!
We had a lot of miracles this week and a lot of great appointments. We got to go to the Bishop´s new house last Wednesday and do some sanding and painting before they move in. It was so much fun to do some hard labor and service is always so rewarding! We also had a few appointments with members for the first time and they are really fired up with helping out with missionary work. We actually even received 2 referrals this week from members! Things are going a little slow with investigators actually making progress but we are still working with Emily, Lotte, and Yvonne. We actually found a new investigator yesterday, Gob, and she comes from Thailand. We are meeting with her tomorrow!
I want you to know that I love you and I hope you are having a wonderful spring time! It is so beautiful outside! I think of you often and you are always in my prayers! Thank you for all you do, and especially for who you are! We are all children of God and He loves us so much! Love ya! Love, Laur
P.S. - Look out for some post!

Happy Easter and General Conference!!!

2010-04-05T06:28:00.000-07:00

Hello Family! How was your Easter and General Conference weekend?! Thank you so much for the e-mails and...the EASTER PACKAGE! That was so wonderful! I actually got it on Friday and I was trying to be really patient and good and wait until Easter morning to open it, but I just couldn't do it! The shirts are SO cute (it was so fun to wear something new on Easter...made me think of being home), the ADORABLE jewelry, the CTR rings (that is just enough to give out as a handout for my primary lesson), and of course the cards filled with love and enthusiasm! My Easter couldn't have been better! We were at the church Saturday night and all of Sunday, and to make Easter a little bit more special in between the conference sessions I arranged a dinner with all of the Elders in my district. It was so much fun to have everyone bring a little something to add to the dinner and it turned out to be really delicious! We had Hawaain Haystacks and I was so impressed with all that the Elders did! Their mothers would be proud! Zuster Stapleton and I also made up some Easter bags for each of the Elders. We bought chocolate eggs and bunnies...but something was missing from that Easter treat sack. I just had to throw in a couple of pieces of fruit in each bag to really make it feel like Easter for me! I also just had to make some deviled eggs for dinner and they were also really tasty! But even better than all of the treats and dinner were the wonderful sessions of General Conference! It was so amazing to hear the powerful testimonies of the prophet and apostles as they bore testimony of the risen Lord, Jesus Christ. They didn´t share anything new but the Spirit that accompanied their words touched my heart and strengthened my testimony. I KNOW THAT JESUS CHRIST LIVES! What joy that sweet sentence gives! We were so blessed to have 2 investigators, Roger and Gea, come to conference. It was a very special experience for them and they received a lot of personal answers to the questions that have been on their minds. We are so blessed by a loving Heavenly Father to have a prophet on the earth today to lead us, teach us, and help us return back to our Heavenly Father.
Things are going really well here in Groningen! I did do the piano lessons this week and it all went really well! Gabriel is 6 years old and such a cute little boy. He was really shy at first but he warmed up quickly! I am always so amazed at how fast little children learn! I played some games with him to help him learn all of the notes and he totally has it down. It was funny because Zr. Stapleton even started to play along with all of the games and she decided that she is going to learn the basics of the piano along with Gabriel! Anyway, I am looking forward to the next lesson and I know that Heavenly Father is really helping me with this one. He really magnifies our talents and capabilities as we are willing to share them!
So, I roped myself into yet another assignment with the members here! I am going to make dinner for the whole Young Single Adult Centrum just 3 days before my talk in church and my primary lesson. I volunteered to do it but I didn´t know that it would fall within the same week as the other two assignments. Oh well! It will work out! But now the trick is figuring out what I am actually going to make! They are all expecting some amazing American meal but I have no recipes and no idea what I am going to do! Please send me any ideas that you have! There are usually 12 to 20 people there so it will be exciting! Thanks for your help and pray for me!
Things are going well with investigators. Emily is really being bombarded with anti material right now so we are really trying to strengthen her. Lotte is still planning on coming to church on Sunday so we are really excited! We found a new investigator, Yvonne, this week and she is really positive! Things are picking up and I know that the Lord is preparing many people.
Zone Conference is this week at the temple and I can hardly wait! I miss the temple so much and I know that it will be an amazing experience to go back! Zr. Stapleton is actually doing the work for her father when we go so I know it will be really spiritual. It will be so great to gather with all of the missionaries and be taught by President and Zuster Brubaker!
I love you so much and I hope that you have a wonderful week! You are in my prayers, by name, and by needs! Love,Laur
I think that that is one of the most amazing things that I have seen so far on my mission, just how fast a person can change because they feel the influence of the Holy Ghost. We actually had an experience like that on Friday during our consecrated hour. We were knocking on a few doors and I felt really impressed to go to an apartment building I could see on a side street. We knocked on the first five doors of the building and either no one was home or no one had interest. I started to wonder if I had really felt the Spirit prompt me to head in that direction or if I was totally out of tune. We had one more door to knock on and I was hoping that we would see a miracle. An older woman came to the door and the second she saw our name badges she said, "Not interested!“ and started to shut the door. I don't know what Zuster Stapleton or I said next that made her open the door back up and talk to us about the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ for the next 15 minutes but there was a mighty change, a change that can only happen through the Spirit. We testified of Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon and she even accepted a copy. We also shared a little bit about the temples and life after death. By the end she had tears in her eyes and was eager to let us come back to teach her more. It was such a sweet experience!

Happy Easter!!!

2010-03-29T17:58:00.000-07:00

Hello Family and Happy Easter! I know that you all had the big Easter dinner and treasure hunt yesterday and I hope that you had a wonderful time together. I sure was thinking about you! Thank you so much for your e-mails this week and last week and the birthday cards and wishes I am still getting in the mail! It always gives me a boost to hear from you! We actually just got back from Zwolle where we had a Zone Preparation Day. I planned on e-mailing this morning at about 6:15 because the zone leaders gave us permission so that we could be in Zwolle on time. When I opened my account this morning I hadn´t received any e-mails yet so Zr. Stapleton decided to e-mail after getting back from Zwolle. Boy am I glad! We have seen so many miracles today that I just can´t wait to share with you!!!
First of all, on Saturday we met a girl named Lotte at the very end of our finding. She was positive and said that she had never been taught about Christ growing up but that she became a Christian on her own. She was willing to pray with us and she gave us her address and phone number so that we could bring a Book of Mormon to her. On Saturday night I had the feeling to text every one of our investigators and inactive members, to give them one last reminder about church the next morning. We got no responses back and nobody showed up at church. I kind of felt like it was a wasted effort, but I wasn't down or depressed. Anyway, this morning during our personal study time we received a text message from a unknown number. It was Lotte! She said that she was sorry that she couldn´t make it to church yesterday but that she is planning on coming in 2 weeks with her friend, Jurien Sprott, a young women in the Groningen Ward! We have no idea how she and Jurien know each other but we are so excited that Lotte already has a connection with someone in the church! I learned a great lesson...that no efforts are wasted and that when the Spirit prompts me to do something there is always a reason for it.
Our other miracle today was in Zwolle. When we arrived we discovered that we were going to be playing football for a couple of hours but that there was no restroom. Zuster Walle and Sue Haina only live about 10 minutes from the field so Zuster Stapleton and I decided to walk there to use the restroom. I was so excited to see some of the members in Zwolle again and I was so thankful that Zr. Stapleton was willing to come with me. We rang the doorbell and Zuster Walle answered. She started jumping up and down and she gave me a great big hug! Sue Haina came running to the door as well and I just embraced her. They welcomed us in and then told us that we were an answer to their prayers. We didn´t really understand what they meant until they explained a little bit further. Zr. Walle´s daughter and Sue Haina´s sister, Sue Ellen, lives in Groningen, is inactive, and is really sick right now. She has been going to doctors and they just can´t figure out what is going on. I guess the night before Sue Ellen said that she was thinking about getting a priesthood blessing. Zr. Walle had just prayed, two minutes before we rang the doorbell, that she would be able to come in contact with me again so that I could visit Sue Ellen here in Groningen and help arrange for her to get a priesthood blessing! I couldn´t believe it. Then, things just got better! Sue Haina told me that she just decided that she will be going on a mission and that it was through Zuster Wieland and I that she really got the fire to ask if that is what Heavenly Father wanted her to do! I just wanted to cry! She is so excited and will be such an amazing missionary! It is so wonderful and humbling to be an instrument in the hand of the Lord to bring others closer to him!
One last miracle, President and Zuster Brubaker came to our apartment for interviews. We made them lunch, black bean chicken wraps, salad, grapes, and chocolate chip cookies. We had a wonderful and memorable time with them and my interview with president was so amazing. Anyway, when President and Zuster Brubaker arrived, President Brubaker said, "Zuster Sharp, I have an idea of a service that you can do. You can teach Gabriel Fridsma how to play the piano." Gabriel Fridsma is a 7 year old boy, the son of the Brubakers niece who lives here in Groningen. Groningen has only one or 2 people who can play the piano, so President thought that that would be a great way to share my talents and help others develop theirs. I will be starting this Wednesday! I am a little nervous because I don´t know what I am doing and I don´t have any teaching materials but I know that the Lord will help me! If you could, Mom and Dad, will you send a few simple piano teaching things...manuscript paper and maybe the simplified church hymns that Cindy wrote for Carli and Corbin? That would be so helpful! Thank you!
Well, time is out and I have so much more I would love to share with you but that will have to happen next week! I love you! You are in my prayers, by name, and with the specific things taking place in yourl ives. Have a great week and remember that Christ lives!
Love, Lauren

Thanks for all the wonderful birthday wishes!!!

2010-03-29T17:44:00.000-07:00

Hello Family! Thank you so much for making my birthday so special...and SO emotional! I waited until yesterday morning to open up my package. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! You made my 22nd birthday so special and unforgettable! I also had just a wonderful day of missionary work for my birthday! Joanne was confirmed, we had a great meeting with the Bishop, we had dinner with Familie Sprott, we did some finding, attended part of a fireside, and I got a special phone call from Zuster and President Brubaker and they sang Happy Birthday to me too! I don´t think the day could have been better!
So many amazing things happened this week! First of all, Joanne and William were baptized! The joy that I felt at Joanne´s baptism was indescrible. She was so happy and the Spirit was unbelievably powerful. She had so much support from Ward members and friends and family, the whole chapel was full. I was blessed to be able to play the piano for the service and I was so happy that there was something I could do to help out. I felt just so humbled during the whole service. Joanne´s baptism and confirmation on Saturday and Sunday were the most humbling and amazing moments ever where I realized that I do nothing in this work. I am just here to arrange a few things but the Lord does the rest. I honestly have to say that I did nothing to bring Joanne or William to the waters of baptism-they were led by the Lord through the Spirit the whole way. I am so thankful for the missionaries, Zuster Gulliver, Zuster Ekstrom, Zuster Stapleton, Zuster Wieland, Elder Hymas, and Elder Baer, who did so much to prepare them for this wonderful and pivotal event in their life and I feel so blessed and humbled that I was able to witness it. I finally understood and applied the principle President Brubaker has been trying to teach since I have been here-that we are all doing this work together! I did not have an investigator get baptized. WE, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, brought Joanne and William to the Lord through baptism! SO AMAZING!
We saw a lot of other miracles this week in the work. We met a lady named Sandra who was walking down the street and we started to talk toher. When she found out that we were missionaries she started to laugh at us but we just kept talking. We walked and talked with her for about ten minutes and in that short of an amount of time she had a change of heart. She asked us out of the blue if we wouldn´t mind praying for her. She said that she was addicted to smoking and that her sister had just committed suicide but that she thought that our prayers could help her. We stopped right then and, in the middle of the street, said a prayer for her. The spirit was so powerful and she gave us her contact information after that. The spirit truly does do all of the work. We are going to visit her this week.
We also set a date with a member, Gisela, who has been inactive for almost 15 years, to come back to church on April 18. She is 29 and has been reading a lot in the Book of Mormon and is finally ready to make the step to come back. We are so excited for her.
We still have Emily as an investigator but all of the others are not interested. Luckily we found two new ones this week...Aza and Camara. They are both from South Africa and they are both really excited to meet with us! That is always a good sign!
President and Zuster Brubaker will be coming on Wednesday to visit our apartment. We are going to make lunch for them and we know it will be a special experience with them.
I want you to know that I love you so much! You are in my prayers everyday! Thank you for your love, support, and prayers! Have a great week!
Love, Laur
P.S. Mom, I did the challenge! I wrote in my journal every day this week! How did it go with your challenge? Thanks so much for pushing me to be better!

Today is my 8th month mark...WOW!!!

2010-03-29T11:53:00.000-07:00

Hello Family! I hope that you have had a wonderful week and that you are enjoying the beautiful spring weather. There is just something so energizing about the weather getting warmer and everyone seems to be a little more happy. Thank you so much for your e-mails, Mom, Dad, Brooke, and Carli! All of the e-mails I received last week from you just gave me the boost I needed to dedicate all of my energy and heart to the work here in Groningen! I am so thankful for the time that you take to write to me! The love that I can feel in your letters means the world to me! I love you so much!
We had a week of miracles here in Groningen! But, I have decided that I don't like change! It has been a little hard to get totally adjusted to a new place and new people and a new companion but I am starting to settle in. Zuster Stapleton is just amazing! She is just on fire and bears such powerful testimony! She cracks me up because she is so bold and says all of the things that I want to say but would never dare to. She also lets people now that they need to make changes if they are sinning and sometimes I think that people will get mad at us but the Spirit carries it to their hearts in such a way that it is motivating instead of degrading. She also rings the doorbell at every house atleast 3 times just to make sure that the people know that we are there and that is is important to answer the door. I am really learning a lot about diligence with her. She has such simple and powerful faith. She is quite relaxed about time because of her culture and you know how much I am a time freak but it is all working out! It is going to be a great transfer!
We found 3 new investigators this week! I have gained such a strong testimony of focusing time on investigators that are really making progress and spending the rest of the time searching for people who are totally prepared. President Brubaker challenged us to extend the baptismal commitment in the first appointment and I was really scared to follow through with it! But with every appointment this week I have invited people to be baptized and those who are prepared are excited to strive for baptism and those who are not lose interest in meeting with us. Emily, Mayaline, and Lydia are our new investigators and we are meeting with them again this week. Joanne is getting baptized on Saturday and I am so excited! It will be so amazing to feel the Spirit so strong at a baptism and she is so ready. We are also building up relationships with members. Last night we had dinner with the Primary President and I somehow found myself with an assignment to do the sharing time in primary in a few weeks! I am way excited but way nervous! But I know that it will build up trust with the members and let them know how much we love them! I am going to talk to the Young Women and Relief Society President and see if I can work anything out with them as well. I just want to dive into the work here!
Oh, I got my birthday package yesterday in the mail! Thank you so much! I am waiting until Sunday to open it up but beforehand...THANK YOU! You are the best family ever and I love you! Families are Forever. Jesus Christ lives. The Book of Mormon is true! You are in my prayers and I wish you the best week ever! Love ya!
Love, Zuster Laur Sharp

Gettin' the work started in Groningen!

2010-03-29T11:47:00.000-07:00

Hello! What a pleasant surprise to open my inbox and see so many e-mails! I know that it is going to be a fun night when I get back to my apartment at 9:30, make some tea, and snuggle up on my bed to read how everything is going at home! You are constantly in my prayers and I have felt the power of your prayers over the past week! This week has definitely been an emotional rollercoaster with all of the changes that have taken place. I think I just got a little to comfortable in Zwolle with Zuster Wieland for 5 months that this change has just about done me in...well, not really but it has really shaken things up! Saying goodbye to all of those Zwollenars was so hard and I miss them so much! My last day in Zwolle, last Tuedsay, was just the most amazing and hectic day ever. I had district meeting in Apeldoorn and then we visited Anita one last time. We were able to share the Joseph Smith story and testify really boldly, knowing that it would be the last time we would be able to teach her. Atleast I can say that I didn't leave without letting her know why I came to the Netherlands. We then had dinner at Tineke's house and that was just wonderful. A few of the branch members came over to say goodbye and it was such a bitter-sweet experience. And then, to end the night off, we had one last appointment with William. He is doing so amazing! He is so prepared for baptism and he is so excited. His Book of Mormon is all marked up and he is just glowing! I can't wait until I can see photos from the elders of his baptism. We stopped quickly by Nanda's on the way back to the apartment to say goodbye to her to. By the time we were back in the apartment I was drained and so ready to hit the hay...but I couldn't sleep! I just kept replaying all of the good times I have had in the blessed city of Zwolle. Luckily between Monday and Wednesday I was able to call all of the Branch members there and tell them I would be leaving and to tell them how much I love them. That is one of the things I have learned since I have been here...never pass up a chance to let someone know that you love them! Wednesday morning Zuster Wieland and I were up at 4:30 to get things packed up and cleaned up. By some miracle we were able to get 6 suitcases, a bike, and three large grocery bags to the station by 8:30! We left my suitcases in Zwolle at the station and headed with her stuff down to Utrecht so that she could go to Brussels and I could meet up with Zuster Stapleton. It was sad to say goodbye to Zuster Wieland but I know that she has to be so happy to be home with her family now. Zuster Stapleton and I headed back up to Zwolle, got my luggage and bike and hopped on the train right in time....to be heading in the wrong direction back to Utrecht!!! Once we realized that we were on the wrong train we got off as soon as possible in a little city in the middle of no where. We had to wait a half an hour for the train going in the other direction and we ran to get on, but because of all of the things we had we missed the train again because the train stopped for only 30 seconds. We wanted to start crying! But we had a lot of laughs too! We waited another 30 minutes for the next train and luckily we made it to Groningen by 5:30 that night...what a joke! We had to just laugh about it all night that night because what should have been a 2 and 1/2 hour train ride turned into 6. Oh well! We have already seen so many miracles in the past couple of days and I am getting to know the members, area, and investigators. In the past 3 days we taught 11 other lessons and we had 7 people in sacrament meeting yesterday! Joanne is doing so well! She is set on being baptized on March 20. She is already so involved an active in the church. She is 22 and is studying music in Groningen. On Thursday night for institute she volunteered to make dinner for everyone beforehand. She played her violin during the instute lesson. She came to the missionary activity on Friday night when we showed the Joseph Smith movie. She brought her mother and 3 friends to church yesterday. She bore the most powerful testimony ever in fast and testimony meeting yesterday! She is converted and we have had two of the most amazing lessons with her since I have been here. I am learning from her example! It is so amazing to see just how much she has changed and how willing she is to follow Jesus Christ. We alreay have a great friendship and we love to laugh and talk together. I know that I will love Groningen so much and that I am here for a reason! Know that I love you so much! I have been a little homesick this week with all of the changes...but things are only going to get better! I am so thankful for the opportunity I have to serve the Lord 24 hours a day! I have never experienced so much joy in my life. Have a great week and know that I'm praying for you! Love ya! Love, Zuster Sharp

2010-03-01T11:45:00.000-08:00

We received Lauren's email today and she will be transferred out of Zwolle on Wednesday. She will be serving in Groningen which is about 50 miles north of Zwolle. Her new address is:

Zuster Lauren Sharp
D.D Eisenhowerstraat 38
9728 RW Groningen
Nederland

She also has a slight change to her email address:

lauren.sharp@myldsmail.net

Just a note: Her birthday is March 21, so be sure to remember her!!!

March 1, 2010: I'm leaving Zwolle...Moving on to Groningen!

2010-03-01T11:37:00.000-08:00

Hello Fam! Thanks so much for the e-mails once again! I have had such an amazing week. I am sure you are all anxious to hear what is going down with transfers so I will fill you in on that first. I thought that since Zr. Wieland is going home on Wednesday I would be taking Zwolle over for the second time. I was so anxious last night and this morning to hear about who my new companion would be and to get started with a new transfer in Zwolle. We waited and waited for a phone call from the Zone leaders but it never came so I finally called my District Leader at about 10:30 this morning. I said, "Do you know anything about transfers?" He said, "Are you serious, Zr. Sharp? You don't know about anything? I am sorry that I have to tell you this but sisters are being removed from Zwolle because there are not enough sisters in the mission. You will be going to serve in Groningen!" I had such a mix of emotion! I LOVE ZWOLLE WITH ALL OF MY HEART! I had a little cry session (I am such a girl) and then I had the most powerful manifestation from the spirit that it was the Lord's will and I have many wonderful things lying ahead of me in Groningen! I am worried about leaving some of the members and investigators behind, especially the women we have been working with and teaching, but I know that the Elders will do so many good things here! I have been calling the members all morning to tell them goodbye and that I love them and I am just so glad that it is not our final goodbye...I know that I will see them hopefully when we come back to visit and also in heaven. Friendships definitely do not end when this life ends! And luckily I don't feel like I am leaving anything undone here in this city. I have done my very best to serve these people with all of my heart, might, mind, and strength, and hopefullly that was enough! My new companion in Groningen will be Zuster Stapleton and she is from St. Kits (somewhere in the Carribean). She is a convert of only 2 years and I have heard that she is just amazing! She has been out for a little over a year and I am so excited to serve and learn from her. I have already worked in Groningen for 3 days on exchanges and I already have a deep love for the members, investigators, and area there. Groningen is actually the city that President Brubaker really feels good about for seeing a lot of success during his time here as mission president so I hope that I can help bring about much good. I will be heading up there on Wednesday so today is my packing day. I just have to apologize for not being able to write very many letters lately. I decided to let Zr. Wieland decide what she has wanted to do for the past 3 p-days before she goes home and we have been gone the whole p-day long. I just feel so bad and I hope to be able to write you a letter today. Know that I haven't forgot about you and I feel so bad...I promise to try to do better!
We set a baptismal date with William this week! It was amazing! We had an appointment with him and he had been reading more in the Book of Mormon. It is so crazy but I have actually been able to see a physical change in him since we started teaching him...he just radiates the spirit and a desire to follow Jesus Christ! We taught him about the gospel of Jesus Christ and he just gets it! We knelt with him in prayer at the end of the lesson and set a baptismal date with him. He was so happy when he decided on the date March 21 to get baptized...it sure will make a special birthday for me! Even though I am not going to be here, I will be praying for him. I know that the elders with really help him progress and step into the waters of baptism. I am not sad at all that I won't be able to see him get baptized because I will be attending a baptism the night before, March 20, in Groningen! THe sisters have been teaching a young women, Joanna, in Groningen and she just set a baptismal date as well. I told you a while ago about her because I had actually had the chance to teach her twice while I was on exchanges and I just have such a great friendship with her already. I feel like things are just falling into place!
We also had an appointment with Ety, Mike, and Nanda this week, as well as appointments with many of the members. We found two new investigators, Eny and Sabes, who are really positive. Zwolle is really being tested and tried right now. Many of the members are struggling. Zuster Lubberink, my little Dutch grandma, fell on Friday and broke her hip, and another ward member passed away. Luckily, we were able to give a lot of lessons to the members and we tried to strengthen them this week. Satan is really working on them because he knows how strong they are.
We had Zone Conference on Friday in Amsterdam and it was amazing! President and Sister Brubaker focused on following the Spirit and extending the baptismal commitment within the first lesson. The mission has already set 15 more baptismal dates since Friday! We are already seeing the miracles that come from following the counsel of the President. I don't know if you know, but the mission got split. All of the French missionaries are now a part of the Paris, France mission so now we are only in the top part of Belgium and the Netherlands. It will be great because we will have more contact with President and Sister Brubaker!
I love you so much! I have been praying for you, Dad and Carli, that you would get feeling better! You are all in my prayers and I love you so much!
Love,Zuster Sharp

February 22, 2010: We saw the miracles that come after the trial of faith!

2010-03-01T11:35:00.000-08:00

I love you so much and I have to thank you for all of your prayers and your faith! We had a week full of miracles and we met ALL of our goals. That is the first time ever that that has happened! Thank you so much for your e-mails, Mom, Dad, Brooke, and Carli! I also received the Valentine's package...oh my goodness! That was so sweet of you and I could feel the love! I wore the shirt yesterday to chaurch and it is so cute and I can't wait until it gets warm enough to wear the jacket. I keep trying it on every morning just to make sure it is still cute...and it is! The treats were also very tasty, the cards were so uplifting, and the pictures were so much fun to see. I could just look at the pictures all day long! The kids are getting so big! You have all been in my prayers this week and I will keep on praying for each one of you personally because my testimony of the power of prayer has just exploded this week!
Last week I had told you that everything had kind of fallen through as far as appointments go and almost every investigator had dropped us. Well, this week we were blessed with double, if not triple, the blessings and miracles. It would take hours to fill you in on everything so I will just share a few of my personal favorite moments.
On Thursday we had an appointment with William and it was so awesome! When we arrived we followed up with his reading assignment that we had given him with the Book of Mormon and it was amazing to hear him say that he had read and that he had a hard time putting it down to do anything else. He had a lot of questions about Joseph Smith so we watched "The Restoration"video with him. The room was so full of the Spirit, a feeling of calmness, peace, and warm. At the end of the film, we asked him if he would take the time that night to ask God if Joseph Smith was a prophet. He said, "You know, I think that we are sometimes a little ungrateful for what God has given us. He already told me during the video that Joseph Smith was a prophet so why would I ask him again? I know that he was a prophet of God."He then went on to say that he was excited for his baptism and to continue learning and attending the church services. I was very humbled by the experience and I am so excited to set a baptismal date with him this week!
Friday night we had an appointment with Naioka. It was our first appointment with her and in the beginning she was pretty closed. But after we bore testimony I could physically see that her heart started to soften. By the end of the appointment she invited to stay and eat dinner with her and her daughter. We ate pigtail and sauerkraut! It was actually really tasty and she invited us back for a second appointment!
Sunday, we had 2 new investigators in the church! Roda brought her sister and brother in law and we have an appointment with them as well! They really loved hearing about the hope of the plan of salvation and the possibility of being together forever!
In total, we had 3 new investigators at church, we found 3 new investigators, and we gave away 3 copies of the Book of Mormon last week! We have a busy schedule this week with all of our follow up appointments and making contact with potential investigators. Our investigators now are William, Willeke, Dennis, Nylees, Ety, Dustin (he is the one we took dinner to and he is coming to church with us next week!), Naioka, and Mike. Thank you for your prayers in their behalf!
I love you so much and I know that God is our loving Heavenly Father. His greatest manifestation of that love is his son Jesus Christ! They live and this is their kingdom on the earth! I hope that you have a great week and continue to find joy in the journey! You are in my prayers and in my heart!
Love,Zuster Sharp

February 15, 2010: Happy Valentine's Day! I love you!!!

2010-03-01T11:33:00.000-08:00

Hello family! Thank you so much for the e-mails, Mom, Dad, Brooke, and Carli! So how was your week? Did you have a great Valentine's Day? I hope you know that I LOVE YOU! We had such an amazing week here in Zwolle! I will tell you a couple of the many miracles that we saw:
Tuesday we went out to do some finding. We really wanted to find some new investigators because our teaching pool is kind of small so we asked a family in the branch, Familie Van Andel, to pray for us between 3:30 and 4:40 on that day that we would be able to find some new investigators. There prayers brought so much power! We talked to a few positive people during that hour but the miracle really came at the end of the hour. We looked at the cell phone as we were biking home and saw that we had missed a call from the Mission Office. We called them back as quickly as possible and we found out that there is a man that met the missionaries in Slovakia. He is getting close to being baptized but will be moving here to Zwolle before that will happen. We will have the blessed opportunity to take over the teaching and he will be able to be baptized here! We couldn't even believe it! We fell on our knees and thanked Heavenly Father for that huge blessing and the power of the prayers from Familie Van Andel!
Tuesday night we had our first appointment with a Nigerian man named William. We met him in the Centrum back in November with the bagpipe finding activity with the elders and we were finally able to make contact. It was probably one of the most spiritual experiences I have had. Sue Haina, Zr. Walle's daughter, came as joint-teach with us and she bore such powerful testimony of the truth of the Book of Mormon. William is such a humble man and he said that he could feel the Lord telling him to meet with us. He committed to read the Book of Mormon and come to church...and he did them both! Familie Spijkerman gave him a ride to church and everything just worked out so smoothly with him. We taught him about the Plan of Salvation in our investigator class and we found out that he has a family that is still in Nigeria. He is working hard to be reunited with them and he found so much joy in learning that families can be together forever. At the end of the class we asked him if he had any questions and he said, Ï have only one. What are the qualifications for being baptized as a member of your church?"We were so excited! He is really sincere and we get to teach him again on Tuesday. KEep him in your prayers!
On Wednesday, before we headed out of our apartment, I had a distinct feeling to call Nanda. I dialed her number and she answered. She started to cry when she heard that it was me because she said that she had had a really hard morning. She said, "I can't believe! You two must have special contact with God because every time I need his help you show up on my door, leave me a note, or call me."I promised her that we were representatives of Jesus Christ, sent here to help the people come unto him and feel of his love. She actually had read in the Book of Mormon that morning and set up a new appointment to meet with us next week. The Lord is really working with her. She is really special and I love her so much! I am so thankful for the quiet promptings of the spirit.
I have so many more miracles I would love to share with you but I am all out of time! I love you so much and you remain in my prayers! Have a great week and remember to find joy in the journey! Love ya!
Love,Zuster Sharp

February 8, 2010: Happy Valentine's Day! I love you all!

2010-03-01T11:32:00.000-08:00

Hello! How are you doing? Thank you so much for the e-mails, Brooke, Dad, and Mom! I hope that you have had a wonderful week to start of the month of February!
I have had the most amazing week ever! Actually, only one of our appointments with investigators went through, Mike is the only investigator that we still have, and Willeke was the only one who came to church...but we still saw so many miracles and I feel so blessed! Monday night we went to Familie Knarren's for FHE and dinner and they totally had a miraculous change! We had been praying fervently for them that things would start going better for them and that they would feel the love of our Heavenly Father and on Monday, before we arrived at their home, they both had had experiences where they felt His love and now have a renewed desire to recommit themselves to the gospel. When they shared their experiences with us on Monday night, I couldn't help but get a little teared up knowing that Heavenly Father is so loving that he heard our prayers and blessed the Knarrens.
Tuesday, we had District Meeting in Apeldoorn and set a goal to have 3 baptisms within our district by the end of the transfer. We made a list of potential candidates for baptism and we are praying for them. We only have 3 weeks left in the transfer so we are just waiting to see the miracles happen! Tuesday night we went out to Dedemsvaart to eat dinner with Zuster Lubberink, an 80 year old member of our branch. She is such a sweet lady and sure took care of us with hot chocolate, cookies and a delicious dinner! It made me feel like I was at Grandma and Grandpa Buchanan's our Grandma Sharp's for a few minutes...it felt so much like home!
Wednesday we did some finding in the Centrum. We counted the number of people we talked to in our finding hour and our total came to a whopping 53! We then took the train to Hardenberg where we did another hour of finding. On the end of our hour, we met an older man who invited us in to talk to him and his wife. Turns out, he had done some family history research at the church genealogy library that is in Apeldoorn and he had attended one of our church services in Arnhem. The church is truly spreading the earth! He asked us to explain the plan of salvation to him. He accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon. He said that he doesn't believe what we believe but that he is interested in finding out more. At the end we said, "When you read the Book of Mormon and find out it is true, you can call us and be baptized!" We all laughed! We then said, "What was your name?" He said, "Mr....I mean, Brother Gerit." I know that he was joking as well but hopefully someday he really will become a member. Zr. Gerrits came and picked us up and we had a wonderful meeting together making plans for what we can do to support the RS. Our big focus is VT and we have some great plans lying ahead. She also asked us if we would be willing to give the lesson this week in RS. It will be on agency from the Gospel Principles book. I am so excited! Wednesday night we had our appointment with Nanda and she had had a total change. She said that she is not interested in joining our church because she can't do it with her family situation. We don't know what happened to make her lose so much interest but it was so sad. She doesn't want us to come back and visit until the end of February. We are keeping her in our prayers!
Thursday, Therrence, Petra, and Ramon dropped us but we found 3 inactive members that want to meet with us and another woman that we will be sharing a video about Christ with this week. Friday I went on exchanges in Groningen and was blessed to work with Zuster Gulliver! I really learned so much from her! Saturday, Zr. Wieland was sick so I spent a lot of the day making phone calls. Sunday was wonderful, as usual! We had a great testimony meeting and it pumped me up to start another great week!
I love you all and I hope that you are doing well! You are in my prayers! This church is true and it is what brings all of the joy and happiness in my life. I am so thankful to be able to share it with others. Being a member of the church is never a burden, but always a blessing! Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live and love us! They love you so very much and are so happy with the wonderful things you are doing! Have a great week and know that I am thinking about you!Love,Laur

February 1, 2010: The week of miracles!

2010-03-01T11:31:00.001-08:00

Happy February! Can you believe that we are already one month down for this year...time is flying by! Thank you so much for your e-mails, Mom, Dad, Brooke, and Derek! I am so excited that Becca is going to Virginia! Be sure to congratulate her for me!
It has been another wintry white week here in Zwolle. This is the first time that the Netherlands has had this much snow in 15+ years so I am thankful I get to be a part of it! Sadly, I took Zuster Wieland out this week while we were biking. We were on our way home from an appointment and it had ïjsselled (it rains but the ground is so cold that it immediatly turns to ice when it hits) so the paths were really slick! We were biking along and my bike just went right out from under me and right in front of Zuster Wieland. I don't know how we land so softly and gracefully every time but after sitting on the ground mangled in our bikes for a few minutes, and laughing really hard, we were back up and on our way again! Oh, the joys of being on a bike...or better yet, Zuster Sharp on a bike!
I'll share with you my three highlights of this past week! On Wednesday we were knocking doors and met a young man (maybe 17 years old) named Dustin. After talking with him for a few minutes we found out that he lost his mother only 3 weeks ago and him and his brother were the only ones left in his family. They were really busy with all of the legal stuff, especially trying to work it out so that they could keep their house. We were able to share with him a Plan of Salvation pamphlet. The next day Zuster Wieland and I were talking and we decided that we wanted to make dinner for him and his brother and take it to them on Saturday. We got everything ready Saturday afternoon and took it to the door. Luckily he was home and we were able to give it to him and it was one of those most sweet and tender mercies to have a moment to really be the Lord's hands on the earth for just a few minutes. I think that Dustin was very touched and felt the love of God at that time. I hope that we can make contact with him again soon!
On Friday night we had another appointment with Nanda! It was the most amazing appointment that I have had in my whole mission! We watched "The Restoration"video with her and she thought it was so miraculous. The spirit was there and Zuster Wieland and I were able to bear really powerful testimony. Nanda shared with us some of her experiences in her life that let her know that God has a specific plan for her and she feels like maybe the church will become a big part of that. She was excited to pray that night and ask God if Joseph Smith was a prophet...I am anxious to see what she felt when she prayed. She was not able to come to church because she already had plans for Sunday but we have an appointment with her on Wednesday night and Zuster Gerrits, the RS president, will be our joint teach. Zuster Gerrits has an amazing conversion story and I know that her testimony will really help Nanda!
Zuster Wieland and I were asked to give the combined lesson for priesthood and RS on Friday night so we hurry and put something together for church yesterday. Willeke was at church but we were nervous that no other investigators would show up. After we started the lesson you would never believe who walked in...Ilse! That was her first time at church and we were definitely not expecting that! Then a member, Bro Ajubi, walked in with another couple and their baby! We had 5 investigators in church yesterday! The couple, Terrence and Petra, set up an appointment to meet with us this Thurday and we can hardly wait! They are really searching for the truth and we are excited to see the miracles that will happen!
We also had great appointments with Mike, Salwa, and Anita. We are expecting to have an appointment with Dalia and Raymond this week so we are anxiouis to see how they go.
I love you so much and thank you for your prayers. I know that the Lord, Jesus Christ lives and that he loves us SO much! I keep you in my prayers and am so thankful for your support and love! HAve a great week!
LoveZuster Sharp

January 25, 2010: I'm experiencing the joy of missionary work!

2010-03-01T11:29:00.000-08:00

Hello Family! Tell Becca that I am so excited that she is going on a mission and I can't even wait to hear where she is going to go!!! I will be writing to her soon, and all of the rest of you too! Thanks so much for the e-mails last week, they were great!
I can't even begin to express the joy that I am experiencing from doing this work! I feel like I have finally committed myself to serving with all of my "heart, might, mind, and strength"and it is just so amazing! When I first got here in the Netherlands I considered lunch and dinner times to take a break and relax for myself but now all I want to do is hurry and eat something quick and easy so that I can get right back to work. This is such an amazing and special time in my life to be able to dedicate every minute to serving the Lord and I want to make the most of it!
I can't even believe how many miracles we have seen this week! We found two new investigators, Ramon and Dalia, and we had a whopping total of 17 lessons! We also had two investigators at church yesterday, Willeke and Nanda, and we have a very busy week starting tomorrow! Zwolle is really beginning to explode and I am seeing little glimpses of what he has in store for this city.
I want to share with you how we ended up finding Ramon and Dalia because they are just such amazing stories. Ramon is a 60 year old man that we met the day that our district did the bagpipe finding in the centrum in Zwolle. We gave him a Book of Mormon then, that was in November, but we struggled to make contact with him after that. We finally got an appointment set up for this past Thursday and we found a ward member to go with us to visit him. He had already read quite a bit of the Book of Mormon and was so interested in finding the truth. He said that he had been searching for the truth for all of his life but has never been able to find a church that can answer all of his questions. We told him we could! He said that he wants to find a church where there is a leader called of God who he can follow...WOW! We were able to share with him a little bit about Joseph Smith and we gave him a big reading assignment. We are meeting with him again this Wednesday!
On Saturday we decided to go and visit Mike because he had surgery on Friday but we thought that we would just have to say "hello"on the door because he lives alone and we didn't have another woman to come on joi'nt-teach with us. Turns out, his 23 year old daughter, Dalia, was there so we were able to go in! Mike said, "You two actually came at just the right time because me and my daughter were just having a discussion about the purpose of life and I told her she should maybe talk to you." He had already given her the pamphlet to read about the Plan of Salvation and she really found a lot of answers to her questions in there but we sat and cleared up more of her questions for 45 minutes! She was finding so much peace and comfort in the answers that we were giving her that she made an appointment with us to be able to teach her and her dad together! SO COOL! We will teach them on Thursday as well!
The Lord is so merciful and willing to help us if we ask for it! I am so thankful for the many miracles I see everyday! Thank you so much for your prayers and love and everything you do to support me! I love you so much and I hope you have a great week!Love,Zuster Sharp

January 18, 2010: I'm staying Zwolle for five transfers, maybe more.

2010-03-01T11:26:00.000-08:00

Can you believe it!? I just got off of the phone with my district leader and he informed me that I will be staying in Zwolle for atleast two more transfers...WAHOO! I have received, once again, such a calm feeling, a confirmation that this is where I am supposed to be and that this is where the Lord wants me. I feel so blessed because I just love this city and the people here so much and I am thankful that I have another 3 months to serve here. What makes it even better is that I had the best week of my mission this last week and there are miracles taking place like never before! Thank you so much for all of your prayers in my behalf, they are such a blessing!
Thanks for the e-mails this week! Brooke, the pictures of Lincoln and Carter are so adorable! I can't believe how big they are getting. Little Carter is such a chunker! I do have the cutest nephews and nieces in the whole world!
Well, I have so much that I want to tell you so I better just get started! On Monday night our plans fell through but I had the idea (definitely a prompting through the Spirit...they usually come in the form of ideas that feel really good) to go and visit Familie Knarren. Luckily they were home and we ended up coming at just the right time because they are really struggling. They have only been members for 3 years and they are going through a rocky period right now, feeling all alone and not very close knit with family members because of their choice to be baptized. We had a lesson planned to share with them but we ended up just sitting and being listening ears. It was such a blessing that we were able to be there at that time to help them. She actually called this morning and let me know that she just had a miscarriage so that just makes it a little more difficult. Luckily she realizes that the gospel is what gives us faith and hope during hard times.
Tuesday we did some finding and had a feeling to stop by the Branch President's house to visit his wife whose back has been out for 3 weeks. We asked her if there was anything that we could do for her to help her and she actually had us cut out quilt squares so that she can make a baby blanket for the YW president in our branch. It was so much fun to be able to do something crafty and to feel like, once again, that we were in the right place at the right time. Tuesday night we had our dinner with Mike at Familie Van Basten's and it couldn't have gone better! He had kept his B of M reading commitment and was anxious to learn more-he had a lot of questions! Turns out that Zr. Van Basten's husband, who is a non-member, started testifying with us that Joseph Smith is a true prophet! It was so cool to see the Spirit touching him and Mike at the same time!
On Wednesday we had Zone Conference in Amsterdam and it was the most amazing answer to prayer ever! President adressed all of my concerns and it was really a time of personal revelation and inspiration. He really focused on remaining optimisitic and relying on the Savior...it was so great! It was also really fun to see all of the other missionaries...especially my old MTC group.
Thursday morning I went on exchanges in Groningen with Zuster Ekstrom and I really learned so many new things and had such a wonderful experience there. We got to teach a YW, Joanne, there, and she committed to being baptized! IT was so great and such a blessing to be a part of that and to know that that is what I am aiming for in my work here.
Friday and Saturday we did a lot of finding and we actually found 3 new investigators! On Friday we had an appointment with a woman named Anita who is very Catholic. We felt like we really needed to be bold and invite her to be baptized. We were both freaked out but we shared a scripture and extended the invitation and she said, "You know, I have been thinking a lot lately about being re-baptized. You do that in your church?" Our jaws dropped and we explained things to her. It was amazing! She committed to pray about being baptized and we are meeting with her next week!
Saturday we spent most of the day in the Centrum and then felt like we needed to go and visit an inactive member, Sairah. She really has a struggle with smoking and wants to stop but doesn't know how. She is only 22 and has a 5 year old son. We walked in just at the right time! She was really low and luckily we were able to spend some time playing with her son and helping to clean up and make dinner. We didn't know if our time was well spent but she ended up coming to church yesterday for the first time in 5 months and we think that it was in response to showing her love and that we really care about her.
We had church on Sunday!!! It was so wonderful to be back in the church building and see all of the branch members. Willeke came again and she was really happy. Last night we went and taught a lady, Salwa, and she committed to read the Book of Mormon and meet with us again!
We will have appointments with Mike, Ilse, Nanda, Anita, Salwa, and Willeke this week, along with a few other new investigators! Zwolle is just exploding!
I am so happy and I am experiencing the joy of missionary work! I love you so much and miss you! I keep you in my prayers.
Love,Laur

January 11, 2010:So Good to Hear From You

2010-03-01T11:21:00.000-08:00

HELLO! I can't believe that this week is my 6th month mark. Time is just flying by and I don't think that it is going to slow down a bit! This is also the last week of my 3rd transfer...it just seems like yesterday that I was telling you how excited I was to be staying in Zwolle! I am still hoping that I stay here another transfer-I just love this place so much and I feel a special attachment to the people here. But I know that I will have that wherever I go and that the Lord has a specific plan for me. By next Monday I should know what is going down so I will keep you posted!
I was so glad to hear that your New Year's Party was a success and that you had a wonderful birthday, Mom! What a blessing it was to hear that Grandpa is doing well again after another scary episode. We are sooo blessed and I just can't thank Heavenly Father enough! I keep you all in my prayers all of the time and I can still feel the immense power of your prayers! I wasn't feeling to great on Wednesday and I ended up sleeping through the morning but luckily by the time we normally would go out I had enough energy to make it out the door. I was nervous that I was getting an ear infection but I loaded up on the vitamin C and tried to stay really bundled up! The ear warmers, scarves, socks, and gloves really helped!
The work is starting to pick up again and we are seeing so many miracles and so much success! Sadly, Kevin is having a lot of legality issues and might have to leave the country in 20 days so he has been really stressed. We were able to meet with him for about 20 minutes on Wednesday morning and we still call him or text him everyday. I find comfort in knowing that he has such a desire to be baptized and to have a testimony that he will search the church out wherever he goes. We had a lesson with Mike last Monday and we shared with him the Tree of Life. He loved it! He was able to apply the vision to his life and he really felt the Spirit. The member who came with us as our joint-teach invited us and him to come to dinner at her house so we will be able to teach him there. That will be tomorrow night and I am so excited to see how it goes! We had a lesson with Willeke on Wednesday and she is making progress, bit by bit. She was planning on coming to church yesterday but church was cancelled again because of the snow! I just have to tell you, I was so excited for church and I wanted it to go through so bad that I even ironed all my clothes on Saturday and packed a lunch. Sunday morning when I heard our cell phone ring at 8:30 I did 'not want to answer because I knew I wasn't going to like the news! Oh well! 'Hopefull we'll have it next week! We have an appointment with Ilse and Nanda this week! We have lost almost all contact with Mehrdad. I think that he is having legality issues as well but hopefully it will pick back up! We met a new lady, Salwa, on the train to Kampen and she was so excited to receive a Book of Mormon! We have an appointment with her on Sunday!
Things with members are going really well. News is going around the Branch that I love to organize so Tieneke had us come over on Saturday and we helped her clean out her computer room...I loved it! We had a lot of member lessons this week and we are just trying to get the members pumped about the new year! Everyone has set goals to do missionary work and they are already feeling the spirit of it.
It is really cold here...my hand warmers even froze because it was so cold! The people on the news recommend only being out for 2 hours because longer than that could cause frostbite...kind of crazy! My bike is all repaired now and it was really a blessing! It only cost 25 euros and it took only 4 hours. Sadly, my zipper on one of my boots broke last night so I will be buying some new ones today! Lots to laugh about!
We had a funny experience on Saturday! I had the feeling to call one of the members in the branch and she told me that they had to put their dog to sleep and she was really sad. I told Zr. Wieland about it and then she told the Branch president when we saw him Saturday afternoon. All of a sudden it hit me that maybe I didn't understand her correctly and maybe her dog was just sick. I started to go into a panic, knowing that the Branch president would call them to give his condolences and would if the dog was still alive! I felt bad but I kind of had a prayer in my heart that the dog was dead! Zr. Wieland, on the other hand, was hoping that the dog was still alive so she could have a good laugh if it was a mistake with the language. We decided to take them a card to see if the dog was dead or alive...and luckily I had understood it correctly! I would have never lived that one down in the branch!
Well, I have to go but know that I love you so much! This last week I really learned a lot about faith-your quote really touched me, Mom! All of your letters mean so much to me...I can just feel your love through them! Have a great week!
Love,Laur

January 4, 2009: HAPPY NEW YEAR! (part 2)

2010-01-07T18:58:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year! I hope that you have already had a great start to 2010...can you believe it! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! Expect a card in the mail over the next few days! Thank you so much for your letters, Dad, Mom, Brooke, Carli, and Corbin! Sorry that my e-mail is coming so late today! I was planning on having a preparation day to just write letters all day especially because I was sick in bed the whole p-day last week, but we got a call from the Zone Leaders last night and they asked us if we would be willing to host a Zone p-day here in Zwolle. We spent the whole day at the church playing games and eating with about 20 missionaries in our Zone and we had a blast but I really just want to write to you all!!! I hope that through my e-mail you can feel my love and know that next p-day there will be a lot of letters sent from Zwolle in the direction of West Jordan, Utah! Will you also tell Kris I appreciate her card and the money and Brett and Barb that I received there package and I am so thankful! I will be sending something out to them too! Thank you so much for all of your prayers. I am feeling so much better! I now have a little bit of a cold but I have been loading up on the vitamin C and I can tell that it is getting better and better! It has snowed like crazy here in Zwolle over the past couple of days and the temperature has dropped quite a bit but the work is going great! On Saturday night we were at the church setting up some shelves so that missionary pamphlets are accessible for the members and we looked outside at about 7:30 and there was about 6 inches of snow withing an hour and a half. We couldn't ride our bikes home so we took the bus. That night someone tried to still my bike and broke the lock but luckily didn't succeed. We are going to have to carry my bike over to a member's home tomorrow to have them saw it off and I'll have to buy a new lock but that is definitely better than a whole bike! Maybe it is just a blessing in disguise...Heavenly Father doesn't want me to fall in the snow once more! Due to the snow we only had one hour of church on Sunday and we had a small group of members, but Willeke still ended up coming and we had one of the most powerful testimony meetings I have ever been in! Zwolle is changing and all of the members talked about starting a new year of missionary work in their testimonies. We worked a lot with the members this past week to set goals for the New Year and we are all so excited! Zwolle will be getting an actual church building this year and is hoping to turn into a ward rather than a branch so I know that the Lord has some big plans. New Year's Eve we had to be inside by 5:00 because of the danger of fireworks...fireworks in the Netherlands are crazy!!! People are shooting them off non-stop for the whole week before New Year's and they even throw them at bikers. Luckily we didn't have any bad experiences but we had a wonderful night inside setting goals for the New Year. I am so excited for 2010 to become better and to dedicate a whole year to serving the Lord. The Spirit helped me to set goals that will help me accomplish the work that the Savior wants me to accomplish...SO GREAT! We have totally lost contact with Kevin but we are doing all we can to make contact with him again. Willeke is doing great and we are meeting with Kevin again tonight. Ilse is our new investigator. I actually met her in the centrum back in September, knocked on her door in October, and then met with her a couple of times over the past couple of weeks. She has called us a couple of times and we were actually able to give her a copy of the Book of Mormon on Friday. We are going back with a member this week and we feel really good about the appointment. Everything seems to be falling into place with her! The work is so good!!! I love you so much and keep you in my prayers. I know that the Savior lives and that he loves each one of us. I hope that you had a wonderful time with the New Year's party, blessing, birthday, etc.! HAve a great week!Love,Zuster Sharp

December 30, 2009: HAPPY NEW YEAR! (Part 1)

2010-01-07T18:57:00.000-08:00

Hello! Sorry that this e-mail is coming a few days later than expected...I was sick! I was so worried about not being able to e-mail you on Monday but I am so thankful that Tieneke was able to e-mail you and that you responded back to her. She called yesterday morning to check in on me again and tell me that she had heard from you. I am feeling much better now! Last week my stomach was not feeling good and really early Monday morning I woke up and just lost everything! Not a very pretty picture, I know, but I think that is what I get for having 11 dinner appointments in 6 consecutive days. I have never eaten so much in my entire life! Monday we stayed in the whole day because I was really weak and had a little bit of a fever but luckily by yesterday morning I was feeling good enough to be able to get up, get ready, and make it to Apeldoorn by 9:30 to have interviews with President Brubaker and training with the Zone Leaders. I was so glad and thankful that I didn't have to miss interviews! I have to tell you that I am just gaining a stronger and stronger testimony of the power of prayer, especially of the prayers of others. I have told you countless times that I can feel your prayers, and I really can! I know that just about the time you received the e-mail from Tieneke and found out that I was sick, you started to pray for me that I would get better and I could feel it! It was so amazing! You all have so much faith and I am so blessed by your faith and actions! Thank you so much for the prayers you offer in my behalf! It was so good to talk to you on Christmas and that was the best present ever!!! I could hardly keep my emotions under control the whole time but that was only to be expected talking to the ones I love the very most! You all sounded so great and it was wonderful to be able to hear from each one of you. Your words and encouragement just gave me a boost and brightened my holiday season. I am so thankful for your expressions of love...I only wish that I could express my love for all of you more adequately. The time on the phone went by SO fast but I know that because we tried to be obedient to the 30 minute rule I was blessed to cherish that time and then refocus on missionary work with not too much homesickness! That is a huge blessing! I do have to say that I keep replaying the conversations we had in my head because they just motivate me to keep going. THAT WAS AWESOME! The rest of my Christmas was really great and I felt "home"for Christmas being here with the members and investigators. They all took such great care of us and we didn't spend more than an hour in our apartment from the 23 of December until the 27. They all had gifts for us and did all that they could to give us a really special experience for Christmas in the Netherlands. It really was a Christmas I will never forget! I learned such a wonderful lesson this Christmas because I wasn't able to give gifts like I normally would have. At times it was so hard to always be on the receiving end from you and the people here, and especially Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, but I read a talk from President Monson where he says that the best gift that we can give is a part of ourselves. That was all I had to give this year-my testimony, love, and service. It was such a humbling and blessed experience to do all I could to give of myself. I am so thankful for the many experiences and opportunities that come along with serving the Lord full-time! Missionary work was put on hold a little bit because of all of the holidays and people being out of town but we are trying to get it up and going again! I will keep you posted on our investigators as we make contact with them again! We spent Christmas Eve with Nanda and that was really special. We also had Willeke at church with us and she is still progressing. Zwolle is such a blessed place! Thank you so much for the wonderful Christmas package! I don't think that I was able to thank you enough for all of the wonderful things that you sent...sweaters(so cute!), scarves, gloves, ear muffs, socks, scarf book (WOW), CTR rings (I have already shared a couple-so cool!)...I was so blessed! I felt so much love this Christmas season, with the many packages, e-mails, letters, phone call! I received 14 Christmas letters yesterday and I just couldn't believe! I am so overwhelmed by the love and the service from others. Thank you so much! Sorry this e-mail is all over the place but I didn't have much time to prepare! Just know that I love you and you are always in my prayers! I hope that you have a wonderful New Year and enjoy time together! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! Your birthday card will be coming a little late ( I feel so bad!) but I couldn't get it sent out on Monday because I was sick! Know that I love you and will be praying that you have a wonderful birthday! You are the best mom ever! Have a great day!Love,Zuster Sharp

December 21, 2009: I'm dreaming of a white Christmas...Oh wait, I'll have one!!!

2010-01-07T18:56:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas from Zwolle!!! I hope that you are all so excited for Christmas! I sure am! It will be so wonderful to talk to you. I am pretty sure that that will be the greatest Christmas present of my whole life to be able to hear your voices. I received your e-mail, Mom, and I think that it would work best if you called when it was 7:00 pm in the Netherlands, so I think that would be 11:00 am in Utah. We will be going with Tineke and her children to Groningen Christmas morning for a church service there and breakfast. We will then be back in time to go to dinner at Familie Spijkerman's at 4:30 and we are planning on staying there until 6:30. They live really close to the church so we will just go there right after and then I will get to hear from you!!!! If the family is there I would love to take a few minutes and say hi to everyone but I want to talk actually have a good conversation with you, not just short "hellos". I hope that that makes sense! Ohhh...I am getting butterflies in my stomach just thinking about it! Thank you so much for the Christmas e-mails, Mom, Dad, Brooke, Kelly, Marianne, and Jordan! I am so excited to read them! Dad, I received your package last Tuesday. Thank you so much! What an amazing present!!! It has been so much fun to open a new letter every day during my personal study and read the scriptures and your words of love and advice. The Christmas tree and those letters are the two greatest gifts ever! I have decided that instead of using the letters for the 12 days of Christmas, I am going to use them as the 12 months in the Netherlands. I am going to focus on one a month for the coming year! IT will be so amazing! Thank you!!! We have gotten so much snow in Zwolle! We even had a snow day yesterday...NO CHURCH! We were all ready to go to church and I was so excited to go (I love going to church here!) and then we got a call at about 8:30 from the RS president telling us that it was cancelled due to the bad weather. We looked outside and it was a total blizzard! We spent most of the day inside, making cookies, writing Christmas cards, making phone calls, and putting together Christmas presents for investigators. By 3:00 we were going stir crazy so we got bundeled up and headed outside to do some finding. It was still snowing pretty hard but it was so much fun to be out in the weather. We took the bus at 5:00 to Familie Spijkerman's for dinner and made it back by 9:00. This morning we took our bikes out and it is definitely tricky to ride in the snow but it makes for a lot of laughs! And it was just what I was dreaming for...a white Christmas! We had lots of appointments this week! We met with Kevin twice and he is still so excited to be baptized! We gave him a Book of Mormon on Tuesday night and he had already read to 1 Nephi 8 by Friday afternoon. He has a lot of questions but you can see that he is such a light in his eyes as he continues to read and learn more. We also taught Mike this week and that appointment went really well too! He hasn't come to church yet because he has a hard time getting up early but hopefully he will come to the ward Christmas party tonight! We should have quite a few new investigators there because a lot of the members are bringing non-member friends. It will definitely be a great missionary tool! On Saturday we went to another church's Christmas service and I felt a lot like Carli did when she attended those other church services for her school project. I have realized that my face is very honest and you could definitely see on my face that I was a little scared with the prayers and the dancing and the singing...I am so thankful to be a member of our church! We had a lot of success, though, talking to people and hopefully we have some of them coming tonight too! Well, I love you so much! It is not so hard to close this e-mail knowing that I will be talking to you in 4 days! I know that Jesus Christ lives and that he is our Savior and Redeemer! I pray that you will all have a wonderful Christmas...I'll be thinking of you!Love,Zuster Sharp

December 14, 2009: MIRACLES ARE HAPPENING IN ZWOLLE!

2010-01-07T18:55:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone! I hope that you had another wonderful week this Christmas season! Thank you so much for the e-mails, Mom, Dad, Brooke, and Heidi! I am so excited to read them! Brooke, your family Christmas picture and the picture of Carter are so adorable!!! Thanks for sending those! Í am so excited to be able to talk to you in less than two weeks! I forwarded the e-mail to you from president with the calling information-let me know if you received it. Can you believe that tomorrow is my 5 month mark?! Time is flying by! This was the most miraculous week ever! I am just going to jump right into telling you all that has happened. Last Monday night we had another lesson with Mike and he had read in the Book of Mormon and was really feeling good about things. He has had a hard life, full of war and difficulties, so he has a hard time understanding why God allows things like that to happen. But he is still anxious to find out if the church is true! We are going back to teach him tonight and we are going to extend the invitation to be baptized! Tuesday, Tineke invited us to her house to help her and her children decorate the Christmas tree. It was so much fun to be a part of that since I was able to help with the decorating at home. The Christmas spirit is so special! Wednesday we did a lot of service by helping Zr. Wallle clean up her backyard and by washing Willeke's windows. We also made a trip out to one of the members, Familie Ajubi, to have dinner and share a lesson. The members are so willing to help us and they are seeing miracles as well as they pray for and work for missionary experiences. Thursday, we made a trip to Groningen, about 1 1/2 hours north of Zwolle, to work with the sisters there for a day. One of them, Zuster Gulliver, has been sick for 7 days so we helped them get the work going there. I taught a young woman named Joanna with Zuster Ekstrom and she committed to being baptized! The spirit was so strong and it was such a tender mercy from the Lord to be able to help teach her. We stayed the night in Groningen and then left early to come back to Zwolle. Once we arrived back in Zwolle on Friday, we went to the big market in the city center to buy some fleece for our blanket making activity. We found a really good deal on the material and were able to purchase more than we were planning to with the budget that we had. We did some finding and then made some apple crisp for the activity. We took some time to make phone calls to remind people about the activity and we were just hoping and praying that people would show up. We rode our bikes to Nanda's to get a ride with her to the church and we were so excited to see that she was all ready to go, and still planning on going at all! Miraculously, 11 people showed up to our activity!!! That is unheard of for a RS activity in Zwolle with our branch of 50 people. We had a wonderful time and were able to get 5 blankets finished! Nanda was able to build up some relationships with the women in our branch and everyone really enjoyed it. We even had another new investigator, Ilse, show up for a few minutes just to see how it was going. I was so thankful and impressed by the members who did come because some of them had to travel 20-45 minutes to get there. After the activity, Nanda was excited to set up another appointment with us! Saturday we had set up an appointment to teach English lessons to an African man named Kevin and he committed to be baptized on January 2! He practically just fell into our lap because he just called us up one day and then at the beginning of our appointment he asked if he could be baptized! Zwolle is going to have their first baptism in about a year! Sunday, I had to give a talk in church!! We received a text from the first counselor in the Branch presidency on Tuesday night asking if we would be willing to speak. I was scared out of my mind because we hadn't had all of our personal study time through the week with going to Groningen and I just hadn't had much time to prepare. I prayed harder than I ever have in my life for the spirit and the gift of tongues and it was truly a miracle. After my first minute of my talk I didn't even look at my notes any more and my mouth was just openend. I was amazed and I could truly feel the spirit speaking through me. It was a very humbling experience. I talked about our baptismal covenants and I took up 15 minutes. I am so thankful for that opportunity because it helped my faith grow! Mehrdad, Willeke, and Kevin all showed up at church, as well as 2 inactive members! Yesterday afternoon we found 3 more investigators, a mom and her two sons! We will be meeting with them again on Wednesday! I love you so much and thank you for your prayers of faith! I pray for you too!Love, Zuster SHarp

December 7, 2009: I'm Staying in Zwolle!

2010-01-07T18:52:00.000-08:00

Good morning! Another week has come and gone and I just found out....I am staying in Zwolle for another transfer!!! YAY! Yesterday evening and this morning were so intense, just hoping that the President or Assistants didn't call to tell me that I was going to another city. It was so hard at church yesterday, not knowing if it would be the last time I would be there with the people in the branch, or if I would still have another couple of weeks (maybe couple of months) to stay! I had some members here, Sister Knarren, Spijkermans, Tineke, Sister Walle, praying for me so I think it helped! No, but really, I know that I still have work to do here and I am so thankful for the tender mercy of the Lord in letting me stay in this amazing and wonderful city where I love the people so much! Before I jump into the miracles of my week, how was yours?! Your letters from last week were so wonderful and just boosted my day! Oh...and the Christmas tree!!!! That is so amazing!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EVERYONE IN THE FAMILY! I think that that is the best Christmas gift I have ever received in my whole life! Your little messages made me laugh and made me cry and brought me such a feeling of love and gratitude. I can't imagine the work that went into making that but it just made my whole Christmas and it is something that I will cherish forever! What a special surprise! I had the most amazing week ever! So many miracles and so many things to look forward to! Monday night we looked someone up who was a Church Headquarters referral. He wasn't home but his mom was and she welcomed us in and we ended up having a great chat with her. He actually called us back yesterday and him and his girlfriend want to meet with us this coming week. It is very hopeful, especially when they make contact with us! We then had an interview with a young man who we met and wanted to learn more about the Mormons because he was writing an article about us for a class at school. He ended up taking a Book of Mormon and was really impressed that we are as weird as he thought we would be...horns, multiple wives...I love clearing up the misconceptions! We are going to have contact with him again this week! Tuesday we had lunch with a member in a little city called Dalfsen. She helped us pick out a street to go finding in her area and we had such great success! An older lady, Dickie, let us in and we talked to her about the Plan of Salvation. We don't have any contact information for her but she was the sweetest lady ever and hopefully she will have a desire to learn more and look us up! Tuesday night we headed to Amsterdam, to be a little closer to Den Hague for Zone Conference. It was fun to have a little bit of a slumber party with some other sister missionaries! Wednesday was Zone Conference and it was sooo amazing! It was wonderful to be back in the temple again and especially great with President and Sister Brubaker and 80 other missionaries all dressed in white. The session was wonderful and then we had a delicious lunch and conference afterward. The focus of the conference was on finding and I am so excited to change my view of missionary work. Zone Conference got me so pumped to recommit myself to being a better missionary! Thursday we did some service for Charrise, a woman who has been investigating for 30 years, did some finding, and had dinner with the Relief Society President and the 1st counselor in the Branch Presidency. Our appointment with Nanda fell through Thursday night so we found ourselves home a little early. I had a strong feeling to organize an activity to make fleece blankets but Zuster Wieland was not so excited about the idea because of the work of organizing it. I got on the phone and started calling the Branch President, RS president, and other members of the Branch, and despite my poor Dutch, the activity is going down this coming Friday and Nanda is driving us to the activity!!!! We are so excited and so are the branch members! Friday was another great day, and we made contact again with Mehrdad! Saturday was Sinter Klaas and we had a huge party with Familie Spijkerman! THey even had 2 Zwarte Pieten come! We received some gifts and just had a wonderful night. They take such good care of us! Sunday was amazing, as always. Willeka came to church and we are teaching Mike again tonight! The work is progressing and I am so excited! I love you so much and I pray for you! Love, Zuster Sharp

November 30: It's The Most Wonderful Time of Year!

2010-01-07T16:04:00.000-08:00

Hey! How are you all doing? How fun to hear from so many of you today! First of all, CONGRATS JORDAN AND KRISTIN! What a fun surprise! I can't believe that you will have four little ones soon! I can hardly wait to hear what it will be. The family is growing so fast...you need to slow down and wait until I get home! Just kidding! You all keep me updated enough that I feel like I am there.
The pictures of Halloween and everything were so good to see. The kids all look so great (and so big!) in their costumes. We have Zone Conference this Wednesday at the Den Hague Temple (YAY!) and I am sure that I will get my Christmas package there but I will keep you updated!So did you have a Happy Thanksgiving, lip syncs, and Grandma and Grandpa's party? I hope that you had a wonderful weekend and enjoyed your time being together! I had a great week! Our numbers are really low for the number of investigators and lessons we have here in Zwolle but I am happy and I see that the work is moving forward! I just have to laugh when I receive your e-mails and you ask about investigators or potentials that we taught the week before (you are so good at staying interested and keeping up on the work here-it means so much to me) and I have to tell you that the appointment fell through or that they dropped us...it happens almost every week so sometimes I am almost embarrassed! But I am not discouraged at all and I just keep trying! Miracles are happening and I just love the city of Zwolle! I know that I shouldn't ask you to do this, but transfers are next week and I would really like to stay here in Zwolle for at least one more transfer and for the Christmas season, so could you pray for me...either that I will stay here or that I will be excited to go to my next city...I am so anxioius to see what will happen. I have become really attached to this city but I know that the Lord will place me where he needs me most and that I will love whatever city I am called to serve in...but I really want to stay in Zwolle!We had a great Thanksgiving dinner with all of the missionaries in our Zone last Monday. It was so much fun to be together and I was really impressed by the delicious Thanksgiving dinner that the Elders pulled off! On Wednesday we had to make a trip down to Brussels for legality and that was a day long trip! It is 5 hours both ways in trains and trams and I got a little motion sick but there were lots of missionaries that were going down there so it was fun to be all together. It was especially fun to see and talk to Zuster Fritz and catch up on how she has been doing for the past couple of months. She is really having a hard time right now...I love her so much and I am so thankful that I was blessed to have her as a companion. On Thursday, all of our plans fell through and we were left with nothing to do for Thanksgiving. Luckily Tineke ended up inviting us over for some delicious panenkoeken...not quite the traditional Thanksgiving feast...but still a great holiday! Yesterday I ended up accompanying the YW in the Sacrament meeting program and it went over really well! I have built up such strong relationships with the members...I love them! We actually talked to a couple of them who shared experiences with us about how they have had missionary experiences based on the commitments we have given them...so cool! I feel like my work in Zwolle right now is to build up and strengthen the members and help unify the branch so they are ready to receive new members. We are seeing success and bringing others unto Christ. We had 2 appointments with Mike this week and he is our only progressing investigator right now. He is really serious about the Book of Mormon and is finding answers to questions he has had all of his life.I love you so much! I hope that this e-mail finds you all well! I truly feel the power of your prayers and you are always in mine! Have a great week!

Love, Laur

November 23, 2009: HAPPY THANKSGIVING! BOY AM I THANKFUL FOR YOU!‏

2009-11-27T12:34:00.001-08:00

Hello Family! I just can't believe another week has come and gone...where does it go!? Thanks for your e-mails...YAY! It is always so fun and exciting every week to hear from you! Your letters always give me a boost and a little taste of home! I have had a wonderful week. Lots of miracles and lots of wonderful moments. It might be a little cliche, but I am going to do a thankful e-mail in honor of good old Thanksgiving. Here are ten things that I am so thankful for right now...hope you enjoy!1. The Savior and the AtonementI am so thankful for Jesus Christ and his church! I am so thankful for the opportunity to be His representative in the Netherlands right now! It is so amazing and I am so richly blessed...I can't even believe how much I am recieving for the small amount that I am giving. This week I took the time to read over some of the blessings that were given to me in my setting-apart and I was amazed at how they truly are coming to pass. I am able to overcome any trials I face, my family is being blessed and taken care, the Atonement has become more real and important to me, I do know that my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are aware of me and know me, the language is coming so well, I am staying strong and healthy, I am being led by the Spirit every step of the way in this work, and I know that I am in the right place at the right time! I am so thankful to be able to share this wonderful message with people here because it is the thing that brings me happiness. I know that through the Savior and the Atonement I can return and live with my Heavenly Father forever and also with...2. My FamilyOh goodness...where do I even begin with this one?! I love you all so much and being here has expanded that love times a million! I don't think that you realize how great you all are and how much you mean to me. You have made me who I am and I think that I always took that for granted. I talk about you and share your example with others here and they are touched by you. This week I was reading in "Jesus the Christ" during my personal study about Mary and Martha. They are both wonderful examples but I do have to admit I am a little more of a Martha than a Mary and so often I miss out on "the better part". Before my mission I loved to serve all of you and I was so concerned about making sure the house was clean, the food was ready, things were organized, etc....that I didn't actually sit and enjoy the moments, the relationships, the strength that comes from talking and learning from one another. I am sorry that I missed out on a lot of those moments but I look forward to years and eternities of being together in joy and happiness. Families are forever...and that is the greatest blessing ever!3. Investigators and Members of the Church here in the NetherlandsWe see miracles every day! Our goal at the beginning of this transfer was to build relationships with the members because they are one of the greatest tools in missionary work...and it has happened! We have gotten to know all of the members really well and have been so blessed by their willingness to go on joint-teach, have investigators in their homes, and serve us, as missionaries. I have learned so much from the members here and I love them so much! I have had such a great time practicing with the Young Women for their program in Sacrament Meeting next week. I have loved the many dinner appointments we have gone to. I have been so blessed ty their testimonies. Our investigators are doing great too! Willeka came to church again yesterday for the fourth time in a row! We also prayed to have random people show up to church and one African man just showed up yesterday...WHAT AN ANSWER TO OUR PRAYERS! We are hopefully going to start teaching him. We taught Mike for the second time this week and he is meeting with us again next Monday. Mehrdad's parents flew back to Iran so we will hopefully pick back up with him. Roda, a recent convert, has a couple of sisters that we did some service for that want to start looking into the church. Nanda is so excited to be meeting with us again on a regular basis. We looked up some old investigators, Specy and Shirlly, and they committed to an appointment. We are really being so blessed here in Zwolle!Well, I didn't get to far with my list but the time is up and I have to go! I wish you all the happiest Thanksgiving ever! And always remember that I am so thankful for you and I will be thinking of you on Thursday! I love you so much and hope that you have a wonderful week! Thanks for your prayers...the power from prayer is so real!Love, Lauren

November 16, 2009: Things Are Lookin' Up

2009-11-27T12:33:00.001-08:00

Hello! Can you believe that it is Monday again already! Yesterday was my four month mark (sometimes it seems like forever, but for the most part it has gone so fast!) and this week I am half-way done with my second transfer. Holiday time always seems to speed up, right?! Thank you so much for the wonderful e-mails last week, Mom, Brooke, Britt, and Marianne, and thank you for the ones this week, Mom, Dad, and Brooke! You are the most supportive family ever! This week was great and things seem to be picking up here in Zwolle. Lots of miracles took place and I am so thankful to be able to be serving here. I want to catch you up on everything, so here it goes...
We had some great appointments with members and investigators for the first couple of days of the week and we feel like we are really making progress with bringing unity to the branch here in Zwolle. It is a little difficult because the members live so far away from each other but we are definitely building up some strong relationships and getting the members involved in missionary work. We have been doing this awesome lesson with the members where we ask them to write their testimonies in a Book of Mormon the first visit we make and then when we return to pick up the book, we pray with them and pick a street on the map where we can take their Book of Mormon to give away and do an hour of finding. We ask them to pray for the people on the street that they pick out and then we follow-up with them after and tell them of the many miracles we saw as we did finding on the street. It is so cool! The faith of the members really brings about miracles and they get so excited to hear about the successes we have because of their prayers.
On Thursday all of the Elders in our District, along with the Assistants to the President, came here to Zwolle to do some finding in the Centrum for 2 1/2 hours. One of the Assistants, Elder De Mass, played the bagpipes while the rest of us handed out copies of the Book of Mormon and talked to people. It was so awesome and their was so much power that came with the bagpipes and all of us being together! I am so thankful for the willingness of the elders to come and help us out because the work in Zwolle is a little slow right now. We found so many people that are potential investigators and we are going to start contacting them this week. After our 2 1/2 hours of finding we went and looked up an old investigator named Nanda. We showed up at her door right when she was walking out and she was so excited to see us, she almost started crying! She said that she was having a very difficult day and that she would love to have us come in. We only had a few minutes to visit with her before a dinner appointment but we had a great visit with her and we made an appointment to meet with her this Wednesday. She talked about the feeling that she had felt every time she met with the missionaries and she just loved it! I am really excited to meet with her and share with her the love of our Heavenly Father.
On Friday we had interviews again in Apeldoorn and they were just fabulous! We had some wonderful Zone training by the Zone Leaders and we enjoyed being able to be gathered together with each other and President and Sister Brubaker. Sister Brubaker asked us if she could come with us that night to an appointment as a joint teach because the President had a meeting with the Stake President in Zwolle. What a treat and what an amazing experience. We visited Tineke and it was such a spiritual lesson. Sister and President Brubaker are absolutely amazing and I feel so blessed to be able to serve with them!
Saturday we went in to the Centrum with Tineke and her children to watch Sinter Klaas and Zwarte Piet come into town on a big boat. There was a parade and such fun things but my camera broke so I didn't get any pictures. It was so great to get involved in the culture here and feel the excitement of the holidays in the Netherlands.
Willeka came to church again yesterday and we are meeting with Mehrdad again this week. We are praying really hard that they will both continue to progress! We had two dinner appointments yesterday...the members sure take care of us here! Sister Van Andel hid some goodies in our shoes (a Sinter Klaas tradition) while we were eating and it was such a fun surprise! I gave Tineke a few euros to buy some things that I could put in Zuster Wieland's shoes and she even wrapped the little gifts. It will be fun to live in the culture here and join in the festivities!
Well, my time is up! It goes so fast! I love you so much and I hope that Grandpa is doing better. I have really been praying for all of you this past week! Thank you for your prayers...I have really felt them! FAMILIES ARE FOREVER!Love,Zuster Sharp
PS-Could you send me a new camera? There is plenty of money (I think) in my account so if you want to sent me yours, Mom, and buy you a new one with my money that would be so fabulous! Thanks so much!

November 9, 2009: I Am So Thankful That I Get to Email You Today!

2009-11-27T12:32:00.001-08:00

Hello Family! Thanks for all of the wonderful e-mails that I found in my inbox this morning! I am so excited to read them and see how your week was. Mom, the title of your e-mail made me realize how thankful I am to be able to e-mail right now. I woke up this morning at about 6 and was not feeling good at all. I tried to get up but realized I was going to throw-up if I tried to walk. I laid in bed until the alarm went off at 6:15 and asked Sister Weiland if she would get me a bucket. She was so nice and got me one and I laid in bed for a few more minutes until I gave in and threw up. I felt a little better but laid down to regain some strength. It wasn't until one more time of throwing up, going to the bathroom, and then sleeping until 9:30 that I felt good enough to get in the shower. I think it was some kind of food poisoning because I feel so much better now, just a little queasy! Atleast I know that I can throw up and survive without you mom! I feel really blessed that I haven't gotten sick until now with all of the different food we eat from all of the different houses we eat at. The Lord really does bless his missionaries because I am pretty sure I would be dead by now if he didn't (from food alone!). Anyway, it has been an amazing week but the hardest with the work! Emily, the one I told you about last week, called and left us a message on Tuesday and said that she had read in the Book of Mormon and the Holy Ghost told her that it was something that she shouldn't be reading. I was devastated! The Spirit was so strong when we met her that I didn't understand what went wrong. Zuster Wieland then shared some things that she had learned from a Zone Conference a few months ago that helped her realize that no matter what we do as missionaries cannot change the agency of other people. Sometimes I think that if I pray a little bit harder or testify with more power that I could help more people come unto Christ but ultimately it is up to them and whether or not they are willing to open their heart. It was a great lesson for me to learn and even though it was hard, I am so thankful for the experience. We are definitely making progress with our other investigators! The Lord always makes up for the hard times by giving plenty of miracles too! Willeka came to church on Sunday! We had a great lesson with her on Thursday and we really feel like we are getting somewhere. We had our first real lesson in three weeks with Mehrdad on Saturday at Familie Spijkermans and he said that he has been thinking everyday about baptism. The lesson went really well and Brother and Sister Spijkerman were such wonderful joint teaches. He committed to really pray to know if he should get baptized on December 5 (that is the date we picked out with him) and we will teach him this week! We met a wonderful elderly Dutch woman named Nentje who we will be teaching the coming week. She was so excited about the Book of Mormon and we called her a couple of days after we gave it to her and she said that her husband was reading with her too and they loved it! I am so excited to be able to meet with her again. We definitely met her through planning through the Spirit and knocking doors on the street that we felt prompted to go to. She didn’t even live on that street but was visiting her daughter for a day and happened to be there at that time. That wasn’t by chance! The members in Zwolle are getting excited and involved in missionary work! I can communicate with them all so much more and I am really building up relationships with people here. I love the people so much- Even the ones the are mean to us on the door! Zuster Wieland is teaching me so much! I have been so blessed to have the two companions that I have had. I love you all and I am so thankful for all of you! The Lord blessed me with the best family and friends ever! I pray for you and love you! Thank you for all that you do and have a wonderful day! Love, Laur

November 2, 2009: Happy Halloween! Can You Believe it is November?

2009-11-27T12:31:00.000-08:00

How are you all doing?! I hope that you had another fabulous week! Well, I hope you all had a fabulous Halloween. I had a really great week! Lots of emotions with everything changing but I am getting settled in to my new companionship and I am learning so much! The first couple of days of the week Zuster Baxter and I had a lot of eating appointments with investigators and members that wanted to make a "last meal" for Zuster Baxter. They all loved her so much and she was just an amazing missionary with so much love for everyone! I don't know if you got my SD card or not but we did get in a bike crash and it is on video..hilarious! But, Zuster Baxter messed up her ankle pretty bad so she couldn't do any tracting for her last two days here. She was really sad but it did give her plenty of time to pack! It was sad to see her go on Wednesday and I think that I was just as nervous as she was to go home to get a new companion. I woke up at 2:00 in the morning on Wednesday because I couldn't sleep and she was awake too. I am so thankful that I was blessed to have her as my trainer and I love her so much! Zuster Wieland arrived in the train station at about 12:30 on Wednesday and she is just great! Totally different from Zuster Baxter but still an amazing missionary. It did take me a little time to adjust to a new companion because Zuster Baxter was all I knew but things are good now. My ability to speak the language has just exploded this week as I have been the one leading us around Zwolle (we haven't got lost yet...Dad, I think I am like you...if I have been somewhere once I'll never forget how to get back again...thanks!), answering the phone and making calls, and being familiar with investigators and members. I have been so blessed! We are definitely sharing more of the responsibility and I talk and teach as much as her in the lessons. I love it! I have really felt the guidance of the Spirit this week. On Saturday we did 3 1/2 hours of finding (a long time all in a row) and we did see much success until the end when we had a miracle happen! That morning as we were preparing to head out I had a feeling to take an english Book of Mormon with me. At the end of our hour we knocked on a door and a nice young Dutch mother let us into her house. We sat down and shared the experience of Joseph Smith with her and gave her a Book of Mormon. The spirit was so powerful and she was definitely prepared to hear it. We made an appointment to come back in 2 weeks and as we were leaving she asked us if it was at all possible that she could get a copy of the Book of Mormon in english because her husband is from Nigeria and can read english better than dutch! Holy cow! I was so excited! We gave her the Book of Mormon in english too and she said that they would read it together! I know that great things are going to happen with them (Emily and David are there names). It is true that the blessings come after the trial of our faith. Anyway, Zuster Wieland and I have talked with many members this week and we have a goal to create a sense of unity in our branch. So many of the members have said that they can just feel that Zwolle is ready to explode with baptisms. Everytime I hear that I get emotional too because I can feel it too! Zuster Wieland and I prayed the other day to know how many baptisms we want to have by the end of the year so that we can help accomplish the whole mission goal of 300. The spirit was so strong as we prayed that I felt that the room was filled with people on the other side helping us. We both sat in silence, basking in the amazing feeling and set the goal to have 5 baptisms by the end of the year! It will take work and faith but I feel like it was a prompting from the spirit! I am so excited! I love you all! I was wondering if you could send me a conference issue of the ensign because I can't get one here. I would appreciate iit so much! Have a great week and know that you are always in my prayers! FAMILIES ARE FOREVER! And GO YANKEES!Love, Laur/Zuster Sharp PS-keep your eyes open for something!

October 26, 2009: Zone Conference and a New Companion!

2009-10-27T13:55:00.000-07:00

How exciting to check my e-mail and see that Carter is here! Congratulations Brooke and Derek! He is soooo cute! Big baby too! I haven't read any of the other e-mails but I hope that everything went well with the delivery and all! Tell him that I love him and keep me posted with pictures! Ohhh! Give him tons of hugs and kisses for me! I wish I could smell the new baby smell right now! My week was really great! Things were really busy this week because Friday we had Zone Conference in Amsterdam! Zone Conference was amazing and so uplifting. President Brubaker focused on following the example of the Savior in teaching and asking great questions. President and Sister Brubaker talked about having a change of heart and about having love for everyone. So much that I needed to hear and that is already helping me in the work. It was so great to gather together with so many missionaries in one spot! It was especially great to see Zuster Fritz, Elder Johnson, and Elder Matthews! They are doing so great too and we had a fun time catching each other up with our experiences in the different areas that we serve in. I also got to meet a lot of the sisters in the mission so I was anxious to find out who my second companion would be this morning. This next transfer I will be serving with Zuster Wieland! I don't know her to well but I am sure that she will be great. She only has 2 more transfers left in her mission so this will be her last city. I am excited to have a new companion but I am actually more nervous than I thought I would be. I am so comfortable with Zuster Baxter and we work so well together that I hope that all goes well this next transfer....I am just too much of a worry wart! I KNOW it will be good! At Zone Conference Sister Brubaker focused a lot on cleanliness and how it invites the Spirit and I seriously almost wanted to stand up in the middle of the meeting and say AMEN! She asked us to focus on cleaning up our apartments and making them more organized and I am so excited about that! I started really taking the time to get things done in our apartment while Zuster Baxter did some packing and we even bought some rags at the store! It was my favorite purchase of the day! Zuster Baxter just laughs at me...that I get so excited about cleaning...but it really does invite the Spirit! I have to admit that I miss being able to do more cleaning. When I get home make sure the house is a mess so I can make up for all of the time I missed out on! This week we didn't do much with our investigators because they were all busy and appointments fell through but we had some great finding time doing surveys on the street and knocking doors. We have a lot of potential investigators and I am excited to see where they go! We spent a lot of time working with the members this week, less-active and recent converts especially. I have a goal this next transfer to visit every member of our branch atleast once. I have prayed about it and thought about it a lot and I think that it would help the work so much here in Zwolle if we got all of the members involved. We also had correlation meeting with Brother Knarren and Brother Ajubi and we are talking about doing a musical Christmas program and making fliers for it to hand out as we go tracting. I think that it will be great! Anyway, I love you so much and I am praying for you! I literally feel your prayers and appreciate them so much! Hope that you all have a great week and enjoy Halloween! I LOVE YOU!Love, Zuster SharpPS-Thank you for the package mom and kelly! So awesome! You will hear more about it in my letter home! AWESOME!

October 19, 2009: DAG!

2009-10-27T13:53:00.000-07:00

Hallo! How are you all? I am assuming that Baby Carter is not here yet from the titles of your e-mails this. I have been thinking about him all week and I am so anxious to hear how things go! This week has been amazing one and I have seen so many miracles. Really, miracles happen every minute of every day and I am so amazed at how intensely active the Lord is in missionary work. I am so thankful for the gift of the Holy Ghost and the way that he leads and guides. The gift of the Holy Ghost is really one of the greatest gifts that we have because it will tell us everything we need to do! On Monday we went and had a great day with Tineke in a few different cities close by here. I hope that you got the SD card and were able to enjoy the photos from that day. The Netherlands is so beautiful and I love being able to see more and more of it. I feel like this is the perfect place for me because:1. There is flowers everywhere2. Lots of windows to let the sunlight in3. They eat yogurt and granola all of the time for dessert4. They love fresh produce and it is extra good here5. The people are amazing!Every day I am so thankful to be here and I know that it wasn't by chance that I was placed in the Netherlands to serve. The above reasons are kind of silly but really, I feel at home here and I just love all of the people that I get to meet everyday! The Lord has blessed me so much!Monday night we went and taught Joanna. IT was our first follow-up appointment and it was so exciting to walk into her apartment and see her Bible and "Plan of Salvation"pamphlet all ready on the table. She is a 21 year old college student and she is so open to learning more about the gospel. We had a great lesson with her and gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon. We extended Moroni's promise to her and she committed to read and pray. We are hoping to get back to her on Tuesday night!Tuesday morning we had a first follow-up appointment with Rose, a young, single African mom with 2 children. She is so sweet! She has such a strong testimony of Jesus Christ and was very excited to learn more about our message. We sang for her and she was so happy! She is going to read from the Book of Mormon and pray too!On Thursday we did a consecrated hour of finding and we prayed to know where we should go. We felt good about a certain area but not about a certain street like we usually do. We went to the area and started knocking on doors. It was amazing to see how each different street that we went on we were led to someone we needed to talk to. The Lord didn't need us on just one street, but on many in the area. We actually found a new investigator and two potential investigators in just one hour!Friday we did exchanges with the sisters in Groningen and I worked with Zuster Gulliver for the day. She is amazing! I learned so much from her and it really opened my eyes to the many different approaches to missionary work. We saw a lot of miracles that day and it got me more excited than anxious to find out who my new companion will be this coming Monday for my 2nd transfer! We tallied up all of our key indicators yesterday for the week and we saw really how much the Lord blessed us with the goals that we set for the week. We had 15 lessons taught this past week, which is above and beyond any other week since I have been here! Setting goals and having the faith to reach them brings miracles! This week is Zuster Baxter's last so we are going to make it the best. We have a lot of exciting things happening and Zwolle is a changing place! Friday we have Zone Conference which I am so excited for! I am getting a little sick again, I think that the pneumonia kind of lingered and now it is picking back up again with the cold weather, but I am downing Vitamin C and hopefully I will get better soon! I love you so much and thank you for your prayers and love! Have a great week! Another letter will be coming! FAMILIES ARE FOREVER!Love, Laur

October 12, 2009: Week of miracles!

2009-10-12T19:51:00.000-07:00

How are you doing! I am so excited to read your letters, Mom, Dad, and Brooke! Thank you so much! Monday nights are always my favorite when I can sit back after a long day and read all of your letters until it is time to go to bed!
From the titles of your e-mails it doesn't sound like baby Carter has come yet but I am getting so excited to hear all about him! I can't wait until he gets here! He is going to be so adorable!
This week is my three month mark for being a missionary, my four week mark for being in another country, and my six month mark since I got my mission call! Isn't that just crazy! I can't believe how fast time is going! I am already 1/6 of the way done with my mission!
Mom, Dad, Carli, Corbin-thanks so much for the letters last week! They were so AWESOME! Mom and Dad, your counsel and the scriptures that you shared were truly inspired and helped me so much. I am so thankful for your love and your testimonies. I could not do this without your support and your understanding. Things are really going so great and I know that most of that comes from your prayers and the things that you mentioned in your letters. Conference weekend sounded like it was awesome! The family sounds like they are doing well and hearing about the kids makes me realize how much they are growing up. This week has been so AWESOME! We have so many new investigators...this next week is jam packed with appointments. Zwolle is on fire! We even had a guy stop us on the way to e-mail and ask us if we could teach him (that just doesn't happen!) because he saw our nametags! We did a lot of finding this week and we found that doing surveys with people is the most effective. We spent a lot of time in parks and at the train station talking to people and praying with people...it is so amazing to pray with someone we just met in the middle of a crazy train station. We have 4 new women investigators, Joanna, Rose, Chantelle, and Maria, and 4 male investigators, Mehrdad, Jan Bastiaan, Johnathan, and Kevin. Because we had such a great week we fasted that this coming week we will be able to meet the standards of excellence set for the mission. The standards are quite high but I am realizing how much goal setting really makes a difference! I know that the Lord will help us meet our goal as long as we do our best and work as hard as we can!
Along with a lot of spiritual experiences this past week, we had some crazy ones too! Zuster Baxter accidentally locked us out of our apartment on Wednesday but luckily the Zone leaders were able to bring us a spare key. Wednesday night we had dinner with Familie Knarren in Kampen and we didn't leave their house until 20 minutes later than we should have to catch the train. We had to run as fast as we could in the pouring rain to make it to the train on time and somewhere along the streets in Kampen my key to my bike fell out of my pocket. When we arrived back in Zwolle at 9:00 we realized what had happened so I had to leave my bike at the station and ride on the back of Zr. Baxte'r's all the way home. We were both soaked but laughing so hard! The next day we went to Familie Spijkerman's to see if they had a spare key and they had 6 that they found but none of them worked with the lock on my bike. I was just sick thinking that I would have to have someone in the ward come and saw the lock off of my bike and buy a new one. The next day we went back to familie Spijkerman's to do a fireside with the YW/YM in the ward and they had found one more key! it worked! What a blessing and a miracle! I also got kissed by a random 39 year old single man on the street...so crazy! I am all out of time but I want you to know that I love you so much and I love the people here in the Netherlands. This gospel is amazing and the Lord is so actively involved in our lives! Have a great week!
Love,Zuster Sharp

Monday, October 4, 2009: What an Amazing Week!

2009-10-05T17:44:00.000-07:00

How are you all!? This has been such an amazing week for me! Lots has happened so I will do my best to fill you in. Thanks Mom, Dad, Carli, and Corbin for the e-mails. I can't wait to read them when I am done e-mailing! Well, first of all, I lost one of my companions last Tuesday. Kind of crazy, huh?! Zuster Erickson got a phone call from the President on Monday and he told her to pack her bags because she was going to be transferred to Belgium to work in the mission office with a Zuster who needs help learning english. She was so excited and we were excited for her too, but sad that she had to leave us! We know that she will do great there though and that everything is falling into place the way that the Lord wants it to. I am seeing more and more how it is turning into a great blessing that I had 2 companions for the first 2 weeks to help me adjust to mission life and have a great example to look at, and now it is good that I just have one where I have a little more responsibility and ability to participate more in the teaching of lessons. Zuster Baxter and I are having a great time and I just love her so much! She is the perfect trainer for me and I feel so blessed for all of the wonderful things she is teaching me. But, it didn't hit me until two days ago, that I will be taking over the city of Zwolle when Zuster Baxter leaves in 3 1/2 weeks to go home! I am terrified but excited at the same time. I know that I will receive another senior companion but I am responsible for knowing my way around the city and really knowing what is going on with the ward and with the investigators. I am really working hard to get everything down and be prepared to get another companion. I am even taking a lot of time and cleaning out the apartment to make sure it will be ready to get to work! This will really push me...which is a good thing! This week was the first time that I experienced the rain in Holland and just as soon as I feel comfortable with the bike, I have to put a bike and an umbrella together...get the picture! I ran into a couple of things last week with the umbrella in the way of my vision but I haven't done any serious damage. Mom, maybe if you can find one of those old umbrella hats that would be helpful! Just kidding! I am sure I will get it down soon enough! Mehrdad is progressing so well! We met with him on Friday night and had a great discussion! He said, in his broken English, that he thinks that we (including him) have a lot of work to do to share the Book of Mormon with all of the other churches! He wants to come on joint teaches with us and he is just loving reading the Book of Mormon and coming to church. As we were teaching him I got so excited and felt such a strong spiritual prompting to invite him to be baptized. I extended the baptismal commitment and he kind of had a hard time understanding why he needed to be baptized again but he said that he would think about it. We asked him if he would be willing to pray about and he said, "Can we pray right now?" AMAZING! We prayed with him and he said that he felt good, but needed some more time to let it settle in. He came to 3 sessions of conference with us on Sunday and enjoyed it so much! I think it was hard for him to understand a lot of the English but I talked to him afterwards and he said that he received a lot of answers to the questions that he had. The branch members were so good to him and made him feel welcomed and it was such a great experience. He will be out of town this week but hopes to be to church on Sunday! Friday we had interviews with the mission president in Appeldoorn and it was a great day! I love President and Sister Brubaker so much and I am so thankful for the counsel of the President. He is all about love and charity, and is such a great example to me. He said that the mission goal is to double the members in our mission by 2019, meaning that we have to get 330 baptisms per year! We can do it! I know that there will be many miracles happening! Saturday we went to the temple and that was such a tender mercy of the Lord! The Den Hague temple is so beautiful! It is almost just like the Medford, Oregon temple and that brought back such sweet memories of going to the Medford temple with Grandma Sharp, Mom, Monte and Deanne, and Brett and Barb. I am so thankful for that opportunity! Saturday night we went to a session of conference and then stayed with Familie Vels in Appeldoorn. Sunday was powerful and I loved conference so much! Along with having Mehrdad there, we also had another investigator, Willeka, and a less-active member, Rhoda! I was so uplifted by the talks and I can hardly wait til next Sunday to see the last session of conference! I love the prophet and the counsel he gave! My time is about out but I want you to know that I love you and will be writing more...30 minutes is just too short! Mom, a few things that I thought might be good for a package are spaghetti, taco, and ranch mix! THank you so much! You can send packages to my apartment...it is actually better that way! I know that I have a package from someone that got sent to Charleoi that is still at the mission office until Zone conference so sending it to my apartment is better! I love you and hope that you are doing so well! The gospel is true!Love,Lauren

Monday, September 28: I am so glad to receive emails from you!

2009-09-28T07:08:00.000-07:00

Hello! Thank you so much for the e-mails! I have been so anxious to hear from you! Since I can only have 30 minutes on the computer I have to print out your e-mails and read them later and I am just dying to hear how you are doing! I wasn't able to check my e-mail since last Monday so I am stoked to hear all about home. Thank you mom, dad, and brooke! My e-mail will be kind of short today because the e-mail service has not been so good and I have been booted out quite a few times but I hope I can get as much in as I would like to (most likely I'll end up writing another letter and sending it out again later today because no matter how hard I try I cannot write everything in just 30 minutes!). The mission president made a new mission rule 2 transfers ago that at the beginning of every transfer from the first Monday to the following Monday we can only speak Dutch! This past week was kind of crazy trying to only communicate in Dutch 24/7 but I made it and I know that it helped me so much! Sometimes I felt like the loner in our companionship just because Zuster Erickson and Zuster Baxter have both been out for so long and can totally communicate well in Dutch and I just smile. Today I have been able to explain so many things I wanted to express earlier in the week in English but I couldn't-I think I have been talking non-stop all morning! Anyway, we have seen so many miracles this week! Zwolle was only opened for sister missionaries two transfers ago and it is just taking off! We have found so many amazing and prepared people this week and I just stand in awe! Merhdad is making great strides. He has read a lot in the Book of Mormon and we had two appointments with him. He says that when we testify of things he can hear another voice behind ours telling him that what we are saying is true! So cool! He came to church on Sunday and we had a great investigators class with him. He committed to come to all four sessions of general conference with us on Saturday and Sunday and he is so excited to see and hear from the prophets and apostles. I know that it will be a great experience for him and he will know that those men speak the word of God. We again had a lot of dinner appointments-the members here are so willing to serve us and help in the missionary work! We did about 8 hours of finding time this week and we found such prepared people. We have 3 new people that we are going to meet with soon that we met at the train station and just while knocking doors. On Saturday we went to Familie Knarrens house and made lunch for them while they did some remodeling in their house. They are such an awesome Family! They have us over every week for dinner and they are so kind and a great example to me. We made them french toast, american pancakes, fresh fruit, and yummy Kneaders syrup (I hoped that I could remember the recipe and it worked out! It was great! It made me miss home a little, especially conference time, but I was thinking of all of you as I enjoyed it!) They have become my family away from home and I love to be with them. Broeder Knarren is the new ward mission leader assistant and I know that he will do many great things in this Branch! We have a lot to look forward to this coming week with General Conference and all! I am so excited! And we also get to go to the Den Hague temple on Saturday because one of the ladies Sister Baxter taugth is going through. So great! I miss the templs so I am so stoked to go! The work is moving forward and I just love seeing it happen! People's lives here are changing, especially mine (the way that the language is coming is miraculous)! I love the gospel and I love the Lord! I love all of you too! You are in my prayers and thoughts! I hope that you have a great week and remember...FAMILIES ARE FOREVER! Enjoy General Conference and take care! Love, Zuster Sharp

Monday, September 21: I am in the Netherlands!

2009-09-21T12:21:00.000-07:00

Hello! How are you all doing? I got Brooke's letter this morning and I think there might be a little mix-up in the e-mail that you received from the President because I am actually in Zwolle in the Netherlands. I am pretty sure that Charlleoi is in France so I don't know how that happened but my companions and I had a pretty good laugh about it! Anyway, just in case you got the wrong apartment address mine is:Rommestraat 798015 AS ZwolleNetherlandsAnything sent to the mission office I won't get until interviews in three weeks but if you send it to the address above I should get it right away. Enough of the technical stuff...It was so great to be able to talk to you all on Monday and I just love you all so much! The 7 1/2 hour flight over here wasn't to bad but I was ready to get off the plane when we arrived. I am sure you saw how beautiful I looked after all of that...horrible! We spent the day with the Mission President and his wife (they are amazing!) which included showering, filling out papers, visiting the dedicated mission site, eating dinner in the big square in Belgium, and opening our call letters! It was awesome! I was the last to open my call letter and I was so nervous but so excited too! I had not a clue where Zwolle was or what my companions, Zuster Baxter and Zuster Erickson, would be like but I was up for finding out. The next morning I had to take a five hour train to actually get here and I was quite motion sick but everything was good. From the second I met Zuster Baxter and Zuster Erickson I just fell in love with them and Zwolle and I am so happy here! The Netherlands is such a beautiful place and the people are amazing! The first day we went directly to a dinner apointment with Familie Knarren and had some traditional Dutch fast food-fries, sausage, and this other deep fried thing(they told me that I don't want to know what is in it). After dinner we did a short lesson for them and I told the 1st vision in Dutch. It was scary but they are such a nice family that they made me feel like I said it absolutely flawlessly. I really already love the people here so much! We then went to a teaching appointment with a man named Metska and taught him about prophets and apostles. I couldn't understand a lot of what he was saying but I did say the prayer at the end of the lesson. It was so great to participate so much in the lessons because it helped me get over my fear of speaking the language right at the beginning...so great! Thursday morning we had our usual studies and then went to teach a woman named Willeka. On the way there I fell off of my bike...no surprise...and pushed the bike pedal in just a bit. I don't think that my companions realized at that moment that me falling off of my bike would be a normal occurence so they tried not to laugh but I think they have figured it out by now and we just have a great time cracking up everytime I fall over! I don't know if I am ever going to get the bike riding down! But I do love riding bikes all over. It is so refreshing and so much fun! Thursday night, after a few more appointments we took a 45 minute bus ride out to a small little town, so picturesque, and at Indonesian food with a little old widow who is a member. She was so sweet! Friday we did our first consecrated hour of tracting and it went so well! I learned quickly when contacting at the door not to ask people how they are doing...they think you are weird and they are very private! We actually met a woman from Iran and she let us come in and sing for her but we couldn't teach her anymore because she is Muslim and her learning more about the gospel could put her life in danger-sad! That night we followed up on a contact we had received with a 35 year old Pakistani man and he made us some Pakistanian food. Lots of dinner appointments! He was so amazing and we gave him a Book of Mormon and he committed to come to church! I was so excited! After that appointment, we went and taught a young woman named Sairah who is already a member but is trying to stop smoking. The Spirit was so strong and the joy of the Atonement was felt by her and us. She made a plan for quitting smoking and I think she is going to make great progress! Saturday we had our first correlation meeting with Brother Ajubi, the ward mission leader. I suggested having a fireside for investigators and new members about the temple and we are really looking into it (thanks Bro. Bond!). After we went to his home and made some delicious Nigerian food with his family! They are amazing members and willing to do all they can to help with missionary work! Church on Sunday was so great! There is only a small Branch of 40 members here but they are so strong! Mehrdad came to church and he loved it! He said that he read quite a bit in the Book of Mormon so on Tuesday we are going back to teach him more! Definitely a miracle! In Sacrament Meeting I had to stand and introduce myself and bear my testimony! It went pretty well! We had dinner with Familie Spijkerman and they said they want us to start teaching their 14 year old son who is mentally handicapped and hasn't been baptized yet! I am really excited for that because I will be able to use a lot of the teaching skills I learned at school for that. I think that I am going to start playing the piano in church every week too! It is so great to serve! Last night we went and taught an old goat farmer about the plan of salvation. I think he was a little overwhelmed but it went well. It has been a busy week and I have been a little homesick, just being in a new place, but it feels so right being here and I just love the joy that the gospel brings! I love you all so much and I thank you for your prayers and support! Kris, I know now what you meant when you said that you had to put pictures of the nieces and nephews away on your mission...me too! I have never felt so right in a place than I do now! The work is moving forth and I am seeing miracles every day! I love you and pray for you always! FAMILIES ARE FOREVER!Love,Zuster Lauren Sharp

The Safe Arrival of Sister Sharp: Tuesday, September 15

2009-09-21T12:13:00.000-07:00

Dear Brother and Sister Sharp,

Sister Sharp has arrived safely! She looks excited and enthusiastic about her mission. We are delighted to have her with us. Her first assignment will be in the city of Zwolle. Her address will be:

Rommestraat 79

8015 AS Zwolle

Netherlands

We are continually impressed by the eagerness and strong testimonies of the new missionaries arriving in the mission field. We are happy for her addition to our missionary corps and assure you that we will do everything possible to make this a rewarding, cherished, and spiritual experience.

As you know, missionary work can be quite demanding. To help maintain a positive attitude for your missionary, communication from family and friends is especially important and should be supportive. May we make the following suggestions: write each week; make your letters optimistic and encouraging; avoid references to problems at home unless absolutely necessary; show genuine interest in your missionary’s daily activities and especially in her accomplishments.

Sister Brubaker and I wish to thank you for this ambassador of the Lord. We know that you will
be blessed during the service of Sister Sharp. We have frequent opportunity to review each missionary’s situation and needs. We hold zone conferences and personal interviews every six weeks. We do our best to love, encourage, sustain all of our missionaries, and to take personal interest in each one of them. They keep me informed as to their specific circumstances through a weekly letter. If you know of anything that would help me in assisting your missionary, please don’t hesitate to let me know. Know that your missionary is in the hands of the Lord and under His protection (Matthew 28:19).

We also invite you to visit our the mission blog that we have created. The address is http://www.belgiumbrusselsnetherlandsmission.blogspot.com/. This helps you see a little bit of their mission. Pictures from their first day in Brussels will be added to the site shortly. There is also a photo attachment with this email.

We are most appreciative of your constant support for your missionary.

Sincerely yours,

Scott M. Brubaker
President

Wednesday, September 9: Eight and Final Week at the MTC

2009-09-21T11:41:00.000-07:00

Hello Family and Friends!Brooke, thanks for your little e-mail! That was a fun surprise this morning. How are you all doing? It sounds like you had an awesome Labor Day weekend camping and spending time together. Mom, thanks so much for the package and the letter! The suitcase tags are absolutely adorable and just what I needed! The birthday list is awesome too! Thank you for doing that and sending the dramamine, baggies, and toothpaste. There are a few more things that I thought of that would be really helpful if you don't mind...you are so great and so willing to serve me. You do so much! I don't know if you saw the little note that I wrote on the box of the package I sent home but I could really use a brown downeast t-shirt with short sleeves, not just the cap sleeves. Also, I've wanted to buy another SD card for my camera so I can send the one I have now home and we can just keep sending 2 back and forth so you can get my pictures. The bookstore is all out of them and they don't know if they will get anymore in before I leave. The bookstore is also out of calling cards so I figure I just won't call home on Monday...just kidding! But if you could send me a calling card too, that would be great. And a small 3 oz. or less bottle of hairspray for my carry-on. I know that I am going to look horrible once I get to Belgium but I'll have to do whatever I can to look my best. Anyway, that is a lot to ask but I would appreciate it so much! This week has been awesome! Time is just speeding up more and more, probably because I want it to slow down, but I am getting more excited to leave in 5 days! I figured for this last e-mail from the MTC I would make a list of my 10 favorite things about the MTC, so here it goes! 1. My Branch! I love all of the missionaries that make up my Branch! They are awesome! I am so impressed by the 19 and 20 year old elders. They are so dedicated to the work, worthy, and enthusiastic about sharing the gospel! Yeah, yeah, there are the times when they are immature and goofy but I love them and I have learned so much from them, especially Elder Johnson and Elder Matthews who are in my class with Zuster Fritz and I. They have such strong testimonies and I am so excited to be able to serve with them in Belgium and the Netherlands...I know that they are going to do amazing things! I've loved being able to serve as Coordinating Sister...I am sad that is almost over. I have been so blessed to be able to see the examples of all of the sisters in my Branch. They have influenced me so much. I am thankful for my Branch Presidency and their wives. The Lafferty's, Creer's, and Chandler's are amazing and so dedicated to serving. I am going to miss all of these people but I will remember all that they have taught me!2. My teachers, Broeder Bond and Zuster Spencer, are outstanding! I really think that I was blessed to have the greatest teachers in the MTC. They are the perfect examples of the kind of teacher I want to be as I share the gospel. There Dutch is amazing and they have been so patient with me as I have worked to learn. They have taught me how important it is to teach by the Spirit and love those I teach...invaluable lessons. There testimonies have strengthened mine and I will miss them.3. Of course...Companions! I have already bragged about Zuster Fritz so much so you know how much I love her! I will miss her so much when we are seperated. She has been the greatest second companion that I could ever had. She has been a light and example to me!4. The RC! I called Bryce back on Friday and he had read and prayed. His faith is amazing to me and I think that as I talked with him on the phone he taught me more than I taught him. The spirit was very powerful and strong and I felt prompted to ask him if he would meet with the missionaries...and he agreed! I was so excited! I am going to write him a letter today and try to keep in touch with him to see how things go. I have total confidence that he will accept the gospel! Missionary work is so thrilling and brings so much joy!5. Receiving letters from all of you! You don't know how much it brightens my day to hear from you! THANK YOU for all of your love and support! Prayers too! I feel the power of your prayers and I am so thankful for your faith!6. Seeing familiar faces! I have seen so many people that I know here. President Allen, sisters from high school, Ryan (my co-counselor from EFY-crazy!), sisters from Utah State, Elder Grant...there is nothing like seeing a familiar face!7. Granola and peaches for breakfast. You know how I like routine and schedule and I have found that if I have granola and peaches every morning for breakfast I am happy and satisfied! Every other meal I can't say the same, but I do love breakfast!8. Firesides and Devotionals! So many wonderful speakers and members of the quorum of the seventy and the twelve. Absolutely amazing and so inspiring!9. Personal Study! I love the hour I get every day to study in the scriptures. I have learned so much here and I am so thankful for this opportunity. This is definitely not a sacrifice of time but a huge blessing!10. Sunday is my favorite day...although I do love everyday here. Sunday is really a day of rest and rejuvenation and I am so thankful for it! Well, I love you and I can't wait to talk to you on Monday. I will be letting you know about my flight plans in my letter home. Thank you so much once again! Never forget that FAMILIES ARE FOREVER! Love,Zuster Lauren Sharp

Wednesday, September 2: Seventh Week at the MTC

2009-09-02T13:19:00.000-07:00

Hello Family and Friends! How was your week? It was so great to hear from many of you and such a comfort to me to know that you are all doing okay. I do pray for you and your individual needs and think about you often. You are such a great source of strength to me! This week was so wonderful and full of many opportunities to do "real" missionary work! I know that all that I have done here at the MTC has been real but we have mostly practiced teaching with pretend investigators. Last Thursday in the RC I called a real investigator whose name is Bryce and he lives in Texas. I think he is about 19 years old and is going to college, thinking about majoring in theology. The week before I had commited him to read Ether 12 and to pray about it. I was a little nervous to call him back to see how the reading and praying went for fear that he might not have done it. I was so happy and filled with joy when he answered his phone and told me that he had read and prayed and that he felt good about it! He had a lot of questions and I taught him about the Plan of Salvation, and I was amazed at the scriptures and words that the Holy Ghost brought to my mind as I spoke to him! He commited to read more and he said that he was going to go into the woods on Saturday and pray to God to know if the Book of Mormon is true and if Joseph Smith was a prophet. How cool! He really has a lot of faith and I think that I learned more from him than he learned from me. I can't wait to call him back tomorrow to see how his reading and praying went again and to commit him to meet with the missionaries or attend church. This experience is giving me a little taste of what I am going to be doing in Belgium and the Netherlands and I am so excited! Last Wednesday our Branch got 2 more sisters so I got to help orient (I don't know if that is spelled right...I can't spell in English anymore!) them to the MTC. One of the sisters was really struggling on Thursday night with feelings of inadequacy and so I had the opportunity to spend an hour or so with her, talking with her, sharing personal experiences, and being there when she received a priesthood blessing from the Elders. Although I didn't get to sleep until about 11:00 and I didn't have time to worry about myself and the things I needed to do, I was so happy! I don't know why I have to learn over and over that serving and caring for others is not a sacrifice but a blessing, but I do know that it is true! I have been so blessed to be able to serve as coordinating sister and my love for the sisters is amazing! They give me so much more than I ever give them. 4 of them left this week, as well as Tish and her roommates that I really got close to, so I am sad to not see them anymore but I know they are where they are supposed to be! I can't believe I only have 10 days left here! I am sad and nervous and overwhelmed...I have lost my appetite again just like I did about 10 days before I came into the MTC! I am praying to have more faith and trust in the Lord and his ability to make me what he needs me to be and able to share his gospel to bring more people unto him. My language skills are weak but my testimony of trusting in the spirit is growing as I am seeing how its not the words that I say that matter, it is the spirit that touches the hearts of the people I teach. I am so thankful for my two amazing teachers, Brother Bond and Zuster Spencer, who are trying to teach me that and reassure me that I will be fine once I get to the Netherlands...I sure hope so! I actually received a letter this week from a sweet sister who I was acquanted with at school last semester who is serving in the Netherlands. The letter really boosted my spirits and got me excited to be out there! I know it will be amazing! Our teachers are putting a lot of confidence in the four of us in our class and are giving us the opportunity to teach them, not as pretend investigators, but as themselves. I am a little nervous because they are the epitimy of great teachers but we are going to fast and pray to prepare and hopefully we are going to be open enough to recieve inspiration about what we should teach. I let you know how it goes! We should get our flight plans this week! I am trying to start packing so I can be prepared. I am excited to be done eating the MTC food...9 weeks is just a little too long for cafeteria food (sorry dad!)! Thanks, Mom, for sending the zucchinni bread, craisins, and cashews! You are a lifesaver! Those are some of my favorite things and such a good change! My companions enjoyed the food too! I am going to be really sad to say goodbye to my companions, roommates, district, branch, and branch presidency! The relationships I have formed her are so unique because they are built on the gospel! It is such an amazing privelege and blessing for me to be here and to be serving the Lord. There are hard times, but so many more amazing and wonderful times! I can't wait to start teaching and see the changes that people are willing to make to follow the Savior. I have so many changes I still need to make to be a better representative of him and I am so thankful for the Atonement and his mercy and grace that allows me to do that! I love the gospel and I know it is true! Thank you all for the impact you've had on my life and the examples you've been to me! I love you and hope you have a great week! Thanks for your prayers!Love,Zuster Lauren SharP.S. pictures are coming

Wednesday, August 26: Sixth Week at the MTC

2009-08-27T13:49:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,How are you all doing? This week has been an amazing one...not like all of the other weeks haven't been...but this one has been extra good! First of all, I want to thank you for your prayers in my behalf that I would get feeling better. I felt the power from your prayers and I know that they have blessed me. Every day I have felt better and I have regained my energy. I went to the doctor yesterday for my last check-up and he said that my lungs sound a ton better and that my ears look not so swollen. My ears are still a little bit plugged up and tender but I know it will just take some time for them to get all of the way better. I know that there is power from prayer and that your prayers helped me so much! THANKS! Well, to re-cap the week, last Thursday was the hardest day I have ever had while here at the MTC, but always after the hard times I appreciate the blessings I have so much more and I grow closer to the Savior. On Thursday Zuster Fritz and I had to teach both of our progressing investigators in Dutch. I always get really nervous before teaching because of my poor language skills and my desire to teach with the Spirit. We taught our investigators and I was so frusterated because I wanted so badly to express my testimony, love for the investigators, and love for the Savior but my poor vocabulary seemed to hold me back. I felt the Spirit within my heart but I felt like I could not get my investigators to feel it. After teaching both investigators I was pretty overwhelmed and humbled. We went to the Referral Center to make calls to people throughout the US and talk to them about church materials they had ordered because of a pass-a-long card they had received or a TV ad they had seen. I was not really excited to do this because of the difficulty I had had with teaching my investigators but I said a prayer in my heart that I would be able to follow the spirit as I made the phone calls. My first call a young man answered the phone and I began to talk to him. I felt like the spirit placed in my heart all of the things I needed to say and all of the scriptures I needed to share with him. He was so receptive to the message and commited to read Ether 12 and pray about it. I bore a simple testimony and he agreed to have me call him back a couple of days later to follow up on his reading and praying. It was so awesome! I know that the phone call was a tender mercy from the Lord letting me know that I do have the ability to share the gospel with others as I rely on the Spirit and do my best. I know that I will make a lot of mistakes with the Dutch language but I also know that the spirit doesn't make mistakes and will carry the message I desire to share into the hearts of those I am teaching no matter how poor my speaking abilities may be. This experience changed my whole week and made me re-commit to try my best to follow the spirit! I have seen miracles everyday come from being more sensitive to the spirit. Sunday was awesome with the temple dedication! I was able to attend the 3:00 session and I absolutely love President Monson's talk and Elder Zwick's talk. The temple is such a special place and it is such a blessing to have so many so close to us. I know that the temple is the house of the Lord and that he dwells there. Sunday night President Allen came to the MTC again and spoke at the fireside. He is such an amazing man! Yesterday was definitely my favorite day of the week! Elder Richard G. Scott was our devotional speaker and it was the most amazing meeting I have ever been in in my whole life! I sang in the choir again (sorry Molly, but I love it) so I had a really good seat. We were waiting to see who the speaker would be when in walked Elder Scott and all 2,300 missionaries stood up in reverence of the Apostle. I could feel the power he carried as a special witness of Christ right when he entered the room. There is definitely a special place in my heart for Elder Scott because of the amazing experience I had my senior year of high school when he came to our Stake Conference and President Allen was released...an experience that I will never forget. Anyway, Elder Scott began his talk by asking all of the missionaries who were learning a new language to raise their hands. He then bestowed upon all of us an Apostolic blessing of the gift of tongues-that we would be able to share the message of the restored gospel and bear testimony easily. The comfort that came from that blessing was overwhelming and so powerful! Just what I need! The rest of the meeting he talked about following the spirit and he shared some really amazing personal experience. Half way through he bestowed upon all of us another apostolic blessing of protection that we would all be safe from any harm as we live obediently and have faith. I am so thankful for those two blessings and the authority that he carries to bestow those upon me personally, as well as all of the other missionaries. Time is running out and I have so much more I would like to share but I will write more letters to you later! Thank you all for taking the time out of your busy and hectic lives to pray for me and write to me. I love you all so much! I love being a missionary and I have seen so many miracles take place, mostly within my heart, while I have been at the MTC. I know that the Savior lives. Hearing from one of his apostles, a special witness of him, strengthened my testimony! I know he loves each of us! I love you! Love, Zuster Sharp

Wednesday, August 19: Fifth Week at the MTC

2009-08-20T10:52:00.000-07:00

Hello Family! I am sure you are interested to know why I left the MTC for a few hours this week, let me just say it has been a crazy week! As you know, I haven't been feeling tip top since I got to the MTC. I think that was mostly because of stress and a new environment but over the last 2 weeks it has progressively gotten worse. I have had this nasty cough and I just haven't been able to get feeling better. Last Saturday I woke up at 5:50 to go to the gym early with one of the sisters in my room and my ears were really plugged up, as well as my sinuses. I didn't want to make a big deal out of it though so I went to gym. After running a couple of laps around the track I was really struggling to breathe so I decided to take it easy and walk for the rest of gym time. After a shower and getting ready I still felt crumby and decided I better go to the health clinic but since it was Saturday it was closed. I went to the front desk right before breakfast and told them I was not feeling well and they put me on the phone with a doctor. I explained to him how I was feeling and he said that I needed to leave the MTC and go to the BYU urgent health center. Zuster Fritz and I headed out at about 8:45 on the shuttle (it was the first time being in a car for 4 weeks...weird!) but I was worried that I was just being a wimp and that I just had a cold. When I met with the doctor she looked in my ears and said I had really bad ear infections and a sinus infection. It really was good news because she said she would put me on an anti-biotic. Then she listened to my breathing. She couldn't believe how bad I sounded! She had me get a chest x-ray and come to find out I have pneumonia as well. Three in one! She wrote me out a perscription and the MTC shuttle took us to Rite-Aid so I could fill my prescription. Zuster Fritz and I were at Rite-Aid for an hour by ourselves and we didn't really know what to do being out in the real world...that was weird too! Finally we returned to the MTC at about 11:00 and headed to class. I was feeling pretting crumby...aches, headache, stuffy...so after lunch our zone leaders gave us permission to go back to the residence hall and rest for a few hours. I slept from 1:45 until 5:45 and I definitely felt guilty for sleeping that long but I knew that my body needed it. Mom, I wanted you too! After the sleep I felt a little better and it seemed like the anti-biotic was kicking in. I went to class for the rest of the night and felt okay. Sunday I felt good and Monday too but yesterday I was feeling to great. THe health clinic made a follow up appointment for me to see them yesterday afternoon. The doctor is still pretty concerned about my pneumonia so he put me on a stronger anti-biotic, an inhaler, and a cough syrup. Hopefully that medicine will do the job! Today I am feeling pretty good. I can't wait to get all of the way better so I can totally focus on the work...I want to get all of my energy back! Anyway, thank you Grandma and Brooke for your letters...there was nothing that made me feeler better while I was sick than to hear from family! I love you all so much! I know that even though you didn't know about me being sick, your prayers in my behalf have helped me so much! I do have to say that the sickness was all worth the adventure of leaving the MTC for a few hours...it probably won't happen again while I am here! I have another appointment to meet with the doctor on Friday to see if I am making improvements with my pneumonia so I will keep you posted! This experience really helped me turn to the Savior and rely on him! He knows how we feel in every situation and therefore knows how to help and comfort us. I definitely have felt his love over the past week when I really needed it. I am so thankful for the Atonement! It does work miracles! So how are you all doing? I hope you received my letters this past week! Brooke, did you get yours? Everyone else? E-mail? I always get worried that the e-mail doesn't make it or that the letters get lost and I don't want you to think that I have forgotten you! How was Oregon mom and dad? I can't wait to hear all about it...Wild River, Jack in the Box, Dutch Bros.(just kidding)! Despite me being sick this week has been amazing. I can't believe I only have three and a half weeks here! I love being a missionary so much! This past week we taught our progressing investigator and she prayed with us! It was so exciting! Seeing other people come close to their Savior and Heavenly Father brings more joy to me than I ever thought possible. THe dutch is coming and I just have to thank Heavenly Father for the blessings I have received in learning the language! I have been studying the book of Matthew this week and after reading about a lot of the miracles he performed on the earth I started thinking about the miracles he has performed in my life. I started to reflect on those miracles and write them down...one that really stuck out to me was when my eyesight was healed after wearing the patch for several months! THat was definitely not by luck but a pure miracle from the Lord. I know that he still works miracles and wants to bless us if we will let him! I love you so much and hope that you have a wonderful week! I keep you all in my prayers! Love, Zuster Sharp p.s. Carli, I will never call anyone a walking germ again...

Wednesday, August 12: Fourth Week at the MTC

2009-08-20T10:51:00.001-07:00

Hello family and friends! Wednesday's come around so fast and I can't believe this Wednesday marks my 4th week of being in the MTC! Time has just flown by and I know it will go even faster with the 4 1/2 weeks I have left. I head out on September 14th to Belgium and I have very mixed feelings about it. I am excited of course to get out there and share the gospel but I feel like I will never be ready enough in 4 1/2 weeks with the language and my ability to teach effectively by the spirit in a manner that I can represent the Lord. But I find comfort in knowing that since this is his work he will make of me what I need to be...I have definitely already seen that happen here at the MTC. I have to say that I LOVE the MTC! It has been such a humbling experience here to see all of my weaknesses and faults but I have seen how I can be changed through faith and trust in Jesus Christ. This is his work. He is not just on the sidelines cheering me on. He is playing right beside me. Lots of miracles have taken place this week and I have felt the love of my Savior and Heavenly Father through the spirit. Monday our class had our first English fast and spoke Dutch all day! It was difficult to not be able to express myself as well as I wanted to and I know I made a lot of mistakes as I did speak but I promised my Heavenly Father that I would do my best to speak the language all day. I can now see that because of my committment to my promise I have been so blessed to better understand others as they speak in Dutch and I can communicate so much more! What a miracle and tender mercy! I can even teach the first lesson in Dutch now (a pretty basic and simple version) and I am progressing! On Monday we had the TRC again and the scenario was that we had to help our investigators move and teach them how to pray in Dutch. It went so well! After the Dutch part, Zuster Fritz and I had to teach one investigator a 35 minute lesson on the Plan of Salvation, and focus on the Word of Wisdom. The spirit was so strong as we catered to the needs of our investigator, used scriptures to help our investigator understand the Plan, and testified of the love Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have for her. The love I felt for the investigator by the end of the lesson was beyond anything I have ever felt before. I wanted her to be baptized and I wanted her to partake of the joy that comes from following the example of the Savior! I have really tried to focus on developing the Christlike attribute of charity this week because I know I am lacking in that area. The Sunday night fireside was focused on charity (another tender mercy) and the speaker told us to develop charity by asking ourselves not only "What would Jesus do?" but "How would Jesus feel?" This struck me with so much power and has been on my mind since the fireside. I love to serve others and I find it easy to act in the way I should towards others but I do not always have my thoughts and feelings focused on doing things out of love but because of the need to be obedient. I need to forget myself and get to work. I need to have my actions AND my heart totally immersed in serving the Lord and in loving the people that I serve. In Moses 7:33 the Lord lays out the 2 essential things that we all must do during our time on earth to become like him so we can return to him. He says, "that they should love one another and that they should choose me, their Father." This is reaffirmed in Matthew 22:37-40. President Ezra Taft Benson said, "When we put God first all other things fall into their proper place or drop out of our lives." This is so true! As I have tried to put God first in my life here at the MTC, everything has fallen into its proper place or has gone out of my life. This gospel is the most important thing! It is what enables us to have joy and return to our Heavenly Father and live with our families forever! I am so excited for that day! Sorry, I always seem to ramble on about my studies but I love the things I am learning. This week has been a great one! I love all of the new sisters that came into the MTC last Wednesday and we have a really close and unified District and Branch! I am happy and doing well. I love all of you so much! I thank you once again for your prayers and letters...they help me so much! I am growing and changing everyday through the Atonement of Jesus Christ...I have a lot more to change but that is what is so wonderful about the infinite atonement of the Savior. I love my teachers here-Brother Bond and Zuster Spencer. They are amazing! I love the Dutch language and I am excited (and nervous) to have another English fast tomorrow and on Friday. I hope this e-mail finds you well and happy. I think about you and love you...my prayers are with you too! I am way excited because Tish (Sister Miles) will be coming in here today! It will be wonderful to share in this missionary experience together! IF I remember correctly, Mom and Dad, you left to Oregon today! I hope you are having a safe trip and I can't wait to hear all about it! I love you so much! And the family picture is awesome! I show it off to everyone! Thanks for sending that so quickly! You are awesome! Have a great week! Love, Zuster Sharp

Wednesday, August 5: Third Week at the MTC

2009-08-11T18:05:00.000-07:00

Dear Family, Can you believe it!? I have been here exactly three weeks! Time has just flown by and I am already starting to stress about not having enough time here in the MTC to feel fully prepared to speak the language and teach the gospel, but I guess that is just how it goes! I will just have to make the most of the time I have. This week has been excellent and I appreciate so much the love and support that you keep on giving. The letters and the prayers mean more to me than you will ever know! I read and re-read them and they give me so much strength. Mom, the zucchini bread was amazing and my companions loved it too! That was so thoughtful of you to let me enjoy some of the fruits of the garden...I wish I could still help out with the gardening so it means so much to me that you took the time to send the bread! It was absolutely delicious! And I love how you related it to the work I am doing right now...so cute! I love knowing that everything is alright at home and that everyone is happy. I hope that you know that I am happy too! Things are really picking up here with the language and the teaching. Sometimes I get so overwhelmed but I always feel great comfort from the Spirit. Last Saturday I had the opportunity to make calls in the Referall Center to people who requested a Book of Mormon, Bible, or church video. I called three people to see if they received their Book of Mormon and how they felt about it. It was awesome! One gentleman stayed on the phone with me for 20 minutes and allowed me to share my testimony and some scriptures from the Book of Mormon with him. It was a little nerve-racking but awesome to do the real thing instead of just practicing on pretend investigators. He didn't commit to having the missionaries come to his home but he said he would look more into the Book of Mormon. The next lady I called said that she would like a copy of the Book of Mormon so I shipped one out to her. I hope that I can get in touch with her once more so I can see what she thinks about it. This experience got me so excited to share the gospel and I was amazed at the love I developed for these to people in just minutes of talking to them on the phone. I know I really am going to love the people of the Netherlands so much! Last night we had a devotional and President Merril Bateman and his wife came and spoke to us. He shared a story about the song, "Because I Have Been Given Much." He said that in Peru there was a time when food prices rose so high that the people could not afford to eat and were starving to death. The Church Humanitarian Services sent planes full of food to help them. Once the food arrived Elder Bateman went there for a stake conference and was amazed at how giving the people were even though they didn't have that much. They had spiritual nourishment and that was enough to share with others around them. I have been so blessed with that spiritual nourishment as well and I know that I must share that with others. This is a gospel of joy, happiness, and love! Bishop Williams sent me the ward newsletter and I loved the talk that Brother Jentzsch shared in his message, especially this part..."I come out this evening with a plea that we stop seeking out the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight. I'm suggesting that we accentuate the positive. I'm asking that we look a little deeper for the good, that we still our voices of insult and sarcasm, that we more generously compliment virtue and effort...What I am suggesting and asking is that we turn from the negativism that so permeates our society and look for the remarkable good in the land in times which we live, that we speak of one anothers virtues more that we speak of one anothers faults, that optimism replaces pessimism. Let our faith replace our fears" (President Hinckley). I love this quote! It made me reevaluate my attitude and recommit myself to be more joyful and positive, just like the Savior is and wants us to be! We find joy in living like him and through his amazing and infinite Atonement. Example is so crucial in missionary work and I know that I need to be a better example of joy so that others will be interested in hearing the message of the restored gospel. THank you all for your examples of joy and optimism! You inspire me to be better everyday! I am way excited because I will have three new sisters coming in today that I am over. I can't wait to meet them and serve them in any way I can to make there MTC experience the best that it can be. THe language is coming but it is difficult. I am trying to speak as much as I can so I can improve but it is taking time to settle in. But with all I have learned so far I know that the Lord has blessed me so much! I love my teachers, Brother Bond and Zuster Spencer! THey are awesome...but they think that out of any missionary in our class I will be the most likely to get in a wreck on my bike...I don't know how I always send the message that I am clumsy like that...oh well! I love you so much! You are in my prayers! I will send a letter and pictures home today! THe gospel is true and is so amazing! I love being a missionary! It is the best thing ever! Love, Zuster Sharp

Wednesday, July 29: Second Week at the MTC

2009-08-11T18:03:00.000-07:00

Dag! Hoe gaat het met u! Ik ben ouitstekand! I am absolutely loving the MTC! The first week was definitely an adjustment week and now I am smooth sailing! This past week was wonderful and I learned so much. To start out, last Wednesday right after I e-mailed you our district went to the Provo temple. Because one of the solo sisters wanted to do initiatories instead of an endowment session, Sister Fritz and I offered to go with her. We got out of the temple about an hour earlier than the rest of our district and started to walk back down to the MTC. We noticed that there was a huge tour bus parked in the front of the temple with lots and lots of tourists walking around the temple grounds. We didn't pay much attention to who they were or where they were from until we noticed that they were all speaking a foreign language. As we walked closer we realized that they were speaking Dutch! I introduced myself and Sister Fritz in Dutch and told them that we were missionaries going to the Netherlands. It just so happens that they were all from the Netherlands and were on a church history tour! It's a good thing that they were quite fluent in english because after the introduction I didn't know anything else to say in Dutch. They took pictures with us and wrote down there names and wards so we can find them when we get to the Netherlands. They were all such nice people and I instantly had a great love for them. That was definitely a tender mercy from the Lord because it just added more to my testimony that the Netherlands is the place I am supposed to serve for the next year and a half. I am so thankful that the solo sister wanted to do initiatories and that we went with her because if we hadn't, we would have missed meeting those people. It was so awesome! Thursday, Friday, and Saturday were huge language learning days and were a bit overwhelming but looking back I realize how much help I received from the Lord in helping me pick up and understand so many new things. It is amazing that I can listen to a conversation in Dutch and understand almost everything that is said. It is taking a lot of studying and dedication but I am being so blessed! Sunday was awesome! It is my favorite day of the week here at the MTC. It is a day of rest and rejuvination and the Spirit is here so powerfully. Every Sunday night we have a fireside with all 2,300 missionaries and this past Sunday President Allen came and spoke! I have such a great love for him and when his picture popped up on the screen I couldn't wait to hear what he had to say. He talked about putting our whole heart and souls into missionary work; not just being at the MTC most of the time and letting our thoughts wander home some of the time, but being here 100%! I committed to myself that night that I was going to do this for the Lord. It reminded me of the song, "I feel my Savior's Love" in the line that says, "I offer him my heart, my Shepherd he will be!" Ever since I made that committment to serve him with all of my heart, my mind has been focused and my ability to learn the language and be a more effective teacher has increased to much. The joy that I have felt over the past few days has been incredible. It is not joy for myself anymore, but joy in bringing others unto Christ. After the fireside I went up to the front to say hi to President Allen and he was so friendly to me. At first he didn't recognize who I was until he glanced at my name tag and then he freaked out. He told me to tell all of you hello. It was wonderful to see someone I knew. On Monday we had another appointment at the TRC where we had to do a 7 minute contact in Dutch. It was scary and a little nerve-racking, but Sister Fritz and I survived! After the contacting, we had to teach the first lesson to an investigator for 35 minutes in English. Everything was going well and the spirit was really strong until I had a coughing attack (I have had a cough and sore throat for the past week), lost my voice, and me and my companion had to leave the room to go and get a drink so I could continue on with the lesson. How embarrassing! Atleast the investigator was understanding and the end of the lesson turned out okay. Tuesday was wonderful! Tuesday night we have a devotional with a member of the 12 or of the 70. This week we had Elder Dellenbach from the 70 and he talked all about the Book of Mormon. Sister Fritz and I sang in the choir for the devotional and we are quite the MTC celebrities now because they zoomed in on our two faces while we were singing and projected it on the big screen. People keep coming up to us and asking us if we were the ones on the screen...it is pretty awesome to be celebrities around here! Elder Dellenbach spoke about the Book of Mormon and the miracle of it. It is a miracle and I know that the Book is the word of God and the evidence that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. The church is true and I love being able to testify of that! I hope you know that I love you! Your prayers and letters mean the world to me! Sorry so short but I only have a half an hour to write. You are in my prayers as well! The church is ture! Love Zuster Sharp

Wednesday, July 22: First Week at the MTC

2009-08-11T17:58:00.000-07:00

Lauren has the opportunity to email us each week. Every Wednesday we look forward to hearing from her. I'm sure her letters will brighten your day, just as they have ours!

Dag! Hoe gaat het met u? I hope things are absolutely wonderful! I cannot express to you how much your letters, prayers, and support mean to me! Each day I think of you and thank my Heavenly Father for blessing me with such amazing family and friends. I can't believe I have been at the MTC for a week today! Some days have been a little long but overall the week has flown by. 1 week down, 8 more to go! I totally feel for the new missionaries that are coming in today...I am glad I will never have to go through that whole process again. But don't get me wrong, I do love the MTC and I am learning so much! My companion, Zuster Fritz, is awesome and we get along so well. She is from South Jordan and it turns out that we have many mutual friends. It has been such a blessing to have her as my companion because she has such a strong testimony and a vast knowledge of the gospel and has picked the language up very quickly. She really helps me out a lot! Sometimes I get overwhelmed when she can carry on a whole conversation in Dutch and I stand there not understanding a word they are saying but I just have to remind myself that she studied three years of German, lived in Germany for a period of 6 months, and took a class on Dutch linguistics because German and Dutch are very similar. The Lord really has blessed me as I have tried to learn the language. I said my first prayer in Dutch in behalf of our District (which was way scary but a good experience), I can introduce myself in Dutch, and I can bear my testimony. I am picking up more words and beginning to understand the sentence structure as I SYL (speak your language...Brandt will understand what this means). It really is amazing that I am beginning to think using Dutch words and I sometimes say words like "well" as "vell" because the w's are v's in Dutch. Anyway, the language is coming and I am so excited about it! I love the district I am in and I am so impressed by the Elders. Elder Johnson and Elder Matthews are in the classroom with Zuster Fritz and I, and we have about 8 other Danish Elders in our district. Sunday was an amazing day and really pumped me up for this week. I was called as the Coordinating Sister for our zone, which means I am in charge of taking care of the sisters in our zone, I participate in Branch Presidency meetings, and I get to help with the orientation of the new missionaries. I am so excited to be able to serve the Lord in this calling! My time is totally filled here at the MTC! I don't believe I have ever used my time more effectively in my whole life! We study from 7 in the morning until 9:30 at night. Although many missionaries struggle with the sleeping schedule, I am doing very well! I feel like I am getting more sleep than I ever did while at school or home. The spirit is very strong here and it is such a neat place! THe showers are not as great as I said they were in my first letter...I think they just clean them right before the new missionaries come in...thank you so much for the shower flip-flops mom! You are a life saver! The food is okay...I miss good old home cooking but the food here will just have to do! I had a few rough days when I first arrived here, not being home sick but just missing home! I think Wednesday night was the first time it really hit me that I wouldn't be coming home for a year and a half! The letters you gave to me when you dropped me off sustained me throughout the week and gave me a lot of comfort. I know I was also blessed by your prayers and love! Thank you! I have had many other awesome experiences and adventures this week, including getting my blood drawn (they had to poke me three times to get a good vein so they gave me a stuffed animal, getting a stool sample (I will let you know that my mission and the Taiwan mission are the only ones that require this and for anyone who knows me, you know this was very difficult!), and having my testimony strengthened like never before! Wednesday is my P-day and that is the only day I can write home. I only get 30 minutes on the computer so my e-mails might be really short but I will write back to you. "Dear Elder" is awesome (Brooke and Kristin) which might be helpful in writing. My time is ticking and we get to go to the temple (I still get to go to the temple on Wednesdays-what a blessing!) so I want you to know that I love you and I will be sending a letter off today as well! I love the gospel and I know that it is true! I know that families can be together forever! I am so thankful for the resoration of the gospel through the prophet Joseph Smith! I am so thankful for this opportunity to serve as an official missionary for the Lord and invite his children to come unto Christ to find the greatest joy and peace available! I love you and pray for you everyday! Tot ziens!Love,Zuster Lauren Sharp

Lauren's First day in the MTC

2009-08-11T17:53:00.000-07:00

We received a letter from Lauren just a few days after she went into the MTC. Even though she had been gone only a short time, we were anxiously waiting to hear how she was doing!

Dear Family,
I survived my first day at the MTC! Actually, it was wonderful! My companion is Zuster Fritz who I had met a couple of months ago at Katie Jenkins' farewell and we get along really well. She already has a lot of the language down because she has been studying German for the past 3 years at BYU and German and Dutch are very similar. She will definitely be teaching me a lot.

After you dropped me off I went to orientation until 9:15 with dinner time in there somewhere. I still don't remember everything they taught us but I did feel the spirit of missionary work and I can't wait to dive into the language!

My branch presidency is awesome! President Lofferty, President Creer, and President Chamberlain and their wives spent time teaching us basic rules and the importance of obedience. They called Zuster Fritz as the senior companion and I am the junior companion. I know I will learn a lot from her!

The top 5 things that I have learned so far at the MTC are as follows:
1. They do have enough hangers for ALL of my stuff
2. The cafeteria food isn't that bad
3. The showers are really clean (which is good since I forgot my shower flip-flops)
4. Everyone is very nice...especially the senior missionaries
5. The church is even more amazing than I ever knew!

I know this is a short letter and I promise to write again when I get a chance! I love you and miss you but I know this is where the Lord needs me! Thanks for your prayers, love, and support! I read my first letter tonight and it gave me so much comfort and happiness! Write to you soon!

Love,

Zuster Sharp