It's not all work and no play :)

In between all the meetings, shopping, cooking,cleaning and teaching we have managed to squeeze in some fun in the last few  months.

 

 We visited the Maurithuis, an art gallery in Den Haag that has Vermeer’s most famous painting, “Girl with the Pearl Earring”.  Most reproductions of famous paintings are pretty good, but the original “Girl with the Pearl Earring” is absolutely stunning in real life!  It was worth the ticket price to see just that painting.  The city is also beautiful.  We need to go again and explore The Hague.

 

We joined our missionary zone for bowling on Pday.

 

The Den Bosch ward had a picnic on the Pentecost holiday.  It was sunny, beautiful weather.   The location was like going to the sand dunes without the “dunes” part : ) It is so flat in the Netherlands! There was plenty of clean sand to play in, pine tree shade to sit in and lots of good food to share.  It was so nice to be outside enjoying good weather with friends. 

  Den Bosch is a good-sized ward for the Netherlands, with more kids than usual and good turnout to activities.  We love being a part of this ward. 

 

 There was a professional grass court tennis tournament in Den Bosch, the Ricoh Open, featuring two players holding the men’s world rankings of # 7 and #10.  The tournament is a warm up for Wimbledon next month.  With dinners or activities 8 out of 9 evenings in a row, at all of which we were cooking and/or teaching, we didn’t feel we could spend a day at the tennis tournament.  But we went!  We spent all day Saturday watching world class tennis in perfect weather.  We had 9^th row, center court seats!

 We bought a sandwich, frites, and drink to share under the patio umbrella and snacked on fresh strawberries and cream.  I didn’t think of menus, grocery lists, shopping, cooking or recipes the whole day!  It was our first real day totally “off” work and we loved every minute of it.  We came home refreshed and ready to dive into the work again : )

I came....I conquered!

 As you probably know, my microwave slash/ oven has been the bane of my cooking existence since we arrived.  It’s very small, burns everything that isn’t in the very center of the oven and cooks too hot.  It took months to find a small, silver pizza pan that works perfectly for baking.  Also, because I’m not very clever….it took months to figure out that I need to cover everything with tinfoil the first 2/3 of the baking time, then uncover it to brown!  I figured out that the optimum number of cookies to bake at one time is 12, that I need to turn down the oven temperature and I’m inviting trouble if I don’t check whatever I’m baking every 10 minutes.

 

  Seven months later I have perfect enchiladas and cookies for district meeting for 10 very appreciative missionaries! 

 Then the microwave began blowing the breaker switch every time we opened the microwave door.  We figured out a workaround until the owner could fix it.  But a few weeks later I was getting mild shocks if I happened to be touching the microwave door at the same time I was removing tinfoil.  So finally we got a new/used microwave that looks exactly like the old one. 

 I began baking cookies and discovered with the first batch that even though it looks like the old one, is the same size as the old one, operates like the old one….IT ISN’T LIKE THE OLD ONE!  My first dozen cookies burnt to a crisp!  I’ll admit I was a little discouraged.  I began again to figure out the idiosyncrasies of my nemesis, the microwave/oven. 

           

This week I baked rolls for district meeting and they are PERFECT!  They are cooked perfectly and browned evenly.  I can’t even tell you how happy and satisfied I feel! 

I came…..I conquered!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

We love to see the temple!

One of the big blessings of serving in the Belgium/Netherlands Mission is having a temple close by.  Lately we found ourselves there 3 weeks in a row!

First, we went with Timo.  Timo received his mission call to the Lyon, France mission.  He leaves August 15 for the Provo MTC.  He is so excited and we are too!  He’s an amazing young man.  We’ll be trying to attend as many times as possible before he leaves.

 

  The next week our darling Julia Oostveen, (on the right) organized a Young Women’s activity to do baptisms for the dead.  They needed additional priesthood holders to staff the baptistry so she asked Joe.  We had a wonderful Saturday morning with these three young women.  Jason Kabal, the tall young man in the back, also came to help.  If anyone needs assistance, whether it’s hauling a missionary bike to a new apartment, a table to Utrecht Centrum for Koningsdag for the missionaries or loaning a bean bag chair to a family with no furniture, he’s there.  He has been a real blessing in our lives since we arrived here in Zeist! 

The next week Sister Franca Oostveen in the Utrecht Ward, who is an avid family history researcher, invited us to join her and her husband, Jan, for a sealing session.  She had some family names that needed sealings done and  we had two sealings of our own to do! Sister Nettie (in the middle) also came.  One of my family names was “Nettie”!  That was a funny coincidence : ).  And yes…that is Jason again, always willing to be a driver and help in any way he can. 

After our sealing session we took a stroll around quaint Zoetermeer Centrum in the sun and enjoyed an ice cream cone together.  It was a super leuk (awesome in Dutch!) day!  

We love to see the temple... Especially with our dear friends : ) 

Becoming

                The theme of change is constant in our lives.  Hopefully for the better!  Along our morning walking route is a big beech hedge.  As fall turned into winter we watched the leaves all around us in this very lush, green land, turn brown, orange, red or yellow and fall off.  Except the beech hedge.  Its leaves turned brown, and throughout the winter clung stubbornly to the hedge.

We wondered if it was dead.


 But as winter turned into spring and leaves sprung out everywhere, we began to see tiny tips of new green leaves behind the old, dead leaves on the hedge.  Slowly the new leaves pushed the old leaves off and now the hedge is green and beautiful.

 

As we walked by and watched this process over time, I kept thinking there was a message in it for me.  Was I like the hedge? Resisting change?  Clinging to old ways? Then President Bunnell asked our mission to consider Elder Lawrence’s general conference talk “What Lack I Yet?”.  The message of Stake Conference was “Grow with Us”, an invitation to grow better, bigger and stronger in our gospel testimonies and faith.  

    Now I was sure there was a message for me!  Unable to articulate it clearly, I turned to my dear friend, Judy, a poetess, and “commissioned” her to write a poem expressing the thoughts I was pondering.  She agreed and here is the poem, shared with her permission:

Newness in Christ

By Judy Grigg Hansen

Throughout the frigid days of winter,

beech hedge hoards her brittle leaves,

refusing to release them

like the elm and sycamore.

Are we sometimes like this bush,

professing sorrow while holding onto sin,

although Christ clearly offers

to make us new in Him?

Can we not trust His promises

and be His pleasant plants,

new wine in new bottles,

precious fruit of His own vine?

I love this poem! It is soooo beautiful.  Change is constant, and I am motivated to be not like the beech hedge, holding on to the natural man and to work harder to become “precious fruit of His own vine”. 

It's a privilege....

We have been feeling so privileged to be here serving with these young adults! 

Timo, who is a convert of a year, has just been to the temple and has submitted his mission papers.  His faith and testimony are so strong.  He comes every week to the Den Bosch institute, is a counselor in the Elder’s quorum, and teaches the 12-13 year olds in Sunday School.   We are all excitedly awaiting his mission call!

Noel (from Rotterdam) and Abby (from England) have been faithfully attending the Utrecht Institute class all year.  They just got engaged!!  Abby will be going home in a few weeks for the summer break and we will miss her so much! 

Noel will then attend the Rotterdam Institute class so that makes us happy that he will still be a regular part of our lives.  

Elder Hoornweg is from Capelle aan den Ijssel and is awaiting departure to Greece for his mission.  He has blessed our mission district with his testimony, his enthusiasm to share the gospel, and his friendly, helpful attitude.  He will be a great servant to the people in Greece. 

Esmee (second from the right) is studying to be a dental assistant.  She is very busy but has accepted a calling to be the YSA representative in Den Bosch.  She had just taken this calling and gone to work!  It has been wonderful to move the leadership responsibilities of the YSA group in Den Bosch onto her shoulders. 

Julia (on the right) is in our Utrecht Institute group.  Her testimony and faith are unmatched. Julia is such a joyful person.  She has a never-ending desire to do good and to bless the lives of others.  She spoke in the Sunday morning session of Stake Conference yesterday.  Her wonderful talk inspired us to grow and strengthen our testimonies and our faith.    

As did Ammon (Alma 26), we boast not in our own strength, nor take credit for the wonderful things that are transpiring here, but we glory in the Lord. These young adults, partnering with the Lord, are becoming the future strength and leaders of the Church.  We see that so clearly.  It is indeed a privilege.  

Celebration #2

May 4^th was Doodenherdenking (translated- "death reminder").  It is their Memorial Day.  Most cities and towns around the country hold some sort of memorial service.  We asked Ineka about it and she said she would take us to the service in Zeist.

 We met in the parking lot between our houses with our bikes.  It's just so great to be able to hop on our bikes and ride to the center of town without hassling with traffic and parking! 

We arrived downtown at the big park.  We joined a processional of civic leaders, scouts, military personnel, a drum corp and townspeople on a solemn walk to the park and the WWII memorial.  There was a band at the park and more people.  We’re guessing altogether there were several hundred people. 

 The Burgermeester gave a speech.  I recognized some of the words, “family”, “children”, “grandchildren”, “story”, “peace”, “forgotten” among a few others.  From that I could figure out the general idea of the speech.  He wanted us to remember the sacrifice for peace the military and others made and that it was important for our posterity to remember it. 

The band played as different groups went forward to lay wreaths at the monument.  I loved the band! They played “How Gentle God’s Commands”, “Abide with Me”, “Let Zion in Her Beauty Rise”, and “The Lord My Pasture Will Prepare”.  I’m sure they sing different words but the familiar tunes were comforting and unifying.  

 

We walked through the park after the service, stopping at the memorial to remember the Jews who were killed in Zeist and another monument to those who lost their lives in the Indonesian war for independence. 

The memorial for the Jews…..“Never again/not ever”.

It was a lovely evening in the park.  It gave us a moment to reflect on what we have in common the world over, a desire for peace and freedom.  We remembered that there is a price for freedom.  And we remembered those who paid the ultimate price.  We are so deeply blessed.   

Let's Celebrate!

                We had some great celebrations in April.  The Dutch get a national holiday every year on the King’s birthday!  It’s called Koningsdag (literally Kings day).  It is marked by the king visiting some town in the Netherlands.  This year it was Tilburg.  Everyone also gets the day off and most amazing is that it is somewhat of a national flea market day!  Every city center from the smallest to the largest blocks off streets and everyone can come sell whatever they want.  We went to Utrecht.

The missionaries were encouraged to put up a booth and offer free church literature as they try to make as many contacts as possible.    It began for us by hauling a church table from Gouda to our house.  We couldn’t quite fit it in our car (oh, how many times I have wanted our Expedition!) but managed to almost get the back door closed. (Joe’s knees were touching the dashboard and the “door open” alarm beeped the entire 40-minute drive home!).   The next morning Jason, the most helpful member of the church in Holland, who also is the only member we know with a full-sized van, picked up all our equipment and drove us to Utrecht.  We parked as close as we could and hauled the table, chairs, signs, books, etc. 4 blocks to our spot.     

Elder Hoornweg, our only Dutch missionary, suggested we put “gratis” on our sign since the Dutch people love a free deal (doesn’t everyone?!), and we added “families can be together forever”. 

                                                                     

This is our finished booth and our district, ready and waiting for potential investigators!   I happened to see these “Holland” t-shirts in the national color of orange for $1.25 so I splurged and got one for each of us.  They are a mighty fine looking group!   

They played music and talked to everyone! 

 Joe got a wonderful opportunity to share the Book of Mormon with some interested young adults.  He was amazing!

We had several miracles.  First was my neighbor Ineka. We talked about the holiday and what we were going to do. She was worried about us being in the crowd and being there all day.  We got up the morning before the holiday to find 2 very light weight, folding aluminum chairs leaning on our front door for us to use!  They were such a blessing!  The woman in the booth next to us looked so tired by 2 PM that we shared a chair with her for a while : ).  

The second miracle was an older man who stopped toward the end of the day.  He had lost his wife and 2 daughters.  He was lonely and our message that families can be together forever caught his eye.  He talked with the missionaries for nearly ½ hour.  We pray that he will be open to the message of the restored gospel.  The missionaries gave away 80-85 copies of the Book of Mormon.  It was a wonderful day of work, people, and amazing missionaries!  (and yes, our car alarm beeped the whole 40 minutes back to Gouda with the table!)