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
Monday, May 24, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
What a beautiful day!
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!
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!
Monday, May 10, 2010
What an amazing Mother's Day!!!
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
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
Monday, May 3, 2010
Happy Mother´s Day!
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
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
Monday, April 26, 2010
I love the sunshine!!!
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
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
Monday, April 19, 2010
Picking up speed! Time is flying!
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
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
Monday, April 12, 2010
I am almost to the hump...WOW!
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!
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!
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