Play day!

Periodically the mission arranges for all the senior couples to get together.  We have a big group! There are 6 couples from the USA, the Misson president & his wife, the Bunnells, and 2 local couples, the Van Der Puts and the Jansens.

 The Van Der Puts, from Zoetermeer, arrange the activity.  Elder Zoetermeer is serving as the counselor in the mission presidency. Sister Van Der Put serves in the mission office with him. They are amazing and with all they have to do for the mission they also take great care of the couples!

The activity was in Leiden.  We had a training meeting about how to inspect the young missionaries apartments for cleanliness once a quarter.....ugh!  I can hardly keep my own abode clean!

Then it was off for a canal tour around Leiden.  It is a very beautiful city....so old we from America can hardly comprehend it!  And the weather was spectacular.  The  Dutch can't believe it is still warm and beautiful :).

After the tour we walked to the oldest home in Leiden, supposedly where the pilgrims lived.  In my ignorance I didn't realize the Mayflower pilgrims left England and went to Leiden, Holland first...living there about 10 years before sailing off in the Mayflower for the New World!  It turned out that they didn't actually live in this house but it was interesting nonetheless!

 We had ice cream on the way to dinner (you know, have dessert first!), then on to a delicious dinner.  The steak was primo!  The day was so great.  I am appreciating where we live more and more.  Zeist is right in the middle of the Netherlands so even though we do a lot of driving, we don't have the 2 1/2 hour drive the Olivers and Caldwells do when they come to the mission office or the temple.  It is interesting to learn how the other couples are doing things.  Even though we all have the same calling, how and what we do is different.  The Caldwells serve in a branch of the church as the Primary president and branch counselor in addition to their YSA assignment.  The Hills and Caldwells apartments are the YSA center in their area so they have many meetings right in their homes.  The Olivers, in Belgium cover a HUGE area.  The Reeves work in the office so their schedule is pretty much M-F, 9-5. )more on our schedule later :)

We learn from them all, love them and appreicate their friendship.  It's a privilege to be working with these wonderful senior saints!