Another email, another million questions that need to be answered--that I'll probably not end up answering.
Huh, what?
Phewf. It always seems as though I have a million things I need to talk about, but forget by the time Monday rolls around. Then other times, it seems as though it would be impossible to sum up everything that has happened...
I will try my best though!
So this week... We met with a few people. With the change that happened, we 'got' back an investigators of ours, named Viola. If you remember, Elder Frahm and I found her on a super rainy day. We met with her this week. She's super awesome. There's a term missionaries use: progressing investigator. That is, somebody who is willing to listen and follow your commitments--which is also a willingness to change their lives. Viola is the perfect example of a progressing investigator. She recognizes how important our message is and is trying her best to listen and follow. She has such a strong desire to learn more. This Sunday...well. Let's put a pin on that.
We also met with Gabriel. If you remember (gee, how forgetful are you?), Gabriel found us. He's a smart guy who knows like 4 languages and visits his mother every weekend in Leiden. One of the questions I asked him is why he wanted to meet with us. His answer--simple yet AWESOME--was "well, I want to learn more, and serve the lord!" Whoa. Talk about Golden. He was pretty much on the edge of his seat as we explained a few things to him. He's very interested in learning more. I could describe him simply as somebody who is diligently searching for the truth. He asked us if we believe in Prophets. Yeah we do. And he even asked Elder Mortenson how somebody becomes a missionary. This guy is great.
Oh yeah, Sunday.
This Sunday, we walked with Viola to church. And she brought her 3 children. Seems like a simple statement. But for Viola, this was a huge hurtle. Viola has social anxiety--she's scared of large groups. Church...is pretty much a huge group. But she wants this so bad, she was willing to push that aside to do so. And she brought her children! I am so impressed by how strong she is. She tensed right up the moment we walked in that building. It was evident in her composure The second hour of church we sensed her anxiety in the Gospel Principles class. She was still tense at the beginning, but you could see it slowly melt away throughout the lesson. At first, she was fiddling with something, but by the end, she was sitting still and listening intently. Ah! I'm just so happy for Viola. At our appointment earlier, she mentioned to us she had prayed and felt something--a good feeling. She even wrote it down to remember. AH! I'm so happy for her! She also commented how interesting the circumstances were when we met. That one day, she had work off (can't remember why) and people were also working on the building, so there was no electricity, and nothing for her to do. Then we swung by. She said any other time, she probably would have shooed us off, but because...nothing was happening, she decided to listen.
The Lord. He's great.
So at church, both Gabriel and Khalid showed up as well. 3 investigators at church. Personal best! Uh, I mean. Yes. What are numbers anyway? Gabriel loved church. You could tell he was just super interested in everything we learned in our meetings. Gol-den.
We had to move Khalid's baptism... He was really busy this week and we couldn't meet with him. but it was for the best. We have a lot of details we have to hammer out first--like which ward he wants to be baptized into. He's still super positive though. He mentioned he has a friend he wants to invite to his baptism. Referral? Aha, yeah. Khalid showed up just after the sacrament was administered. Now, when Khalid sits down, he throws back his dreads with a pretty violent flick of his head. He strolled in, sat down next to me and did this very thing--with a wall right behind him. Thwak went his dreads. Yeah, a couple heads turned... Love Khalid.
Oh,......I can't read Dad's last letter. I pretty much have no idea what you guys did over in Egypt... I don't know how to solve this problem. Got a urim and thummin anybody?
By the way, I love African people. I went on exchanges with our District leader, Elder Calkins. We were on a pretty long bus ride and he just strolled up and sat down beside this African guy, saying "hallo, my brother!" After finding out the man was from Nigeria, Elder Calkins mentioned a Nigerian dish called 'pepper soup'. The man's eyes just lit up. "You know pepper soup?!" Apparently, it's just a soup made from blinding-hot red peppers; "clears your nose right up!" Long story short, this man (named Elijah), gave us his contact information as if we were best friends already. The office Elders are meeting with him and he's the smartest guy ever. He's like a biologist or something and just totally understands everything they say. He sounds really positive.
OH. A lot happened this week... We also went down to Brussels on Wednesday, to get signed into Belgium (in case we ever serve there). Almost my entire MTC group went too! It was awesome to see them all. Afterwards, we went and bought meat triads. Picture a french baguette. Now put a doner (donair?) on it. Now put fries on it. Now put your weight in delicious sauce on it. Holy man. That sammich nearly defeated me. I had the rumblies like no other the rest of the day. It was like carrying a brick around in my stomach all day. It was the most delicious thing--but I regretted it afterwards...
We've only met with Abla twice--we've got another meeting tonight. She speaks french and is from Togo. Togo is a place in Africa. She's got a genuine interest in the gospel as well (we're truly blessed with such great investigators), but we couldn't meet with her this last week because it was her birthday. Hmm, what? Do Togo birthdays last all week? I don't know. She's just fly though. Super cool.
Anyway. I'm outta time. Looks like my forecast was correct. Slightly interesting with a great chance of no questions answered.
Love yah all a lot.
Also, I'll consider the camera thing... Or clean my lens. I don't know... None of the pictures turned out?
Tot volgende keer,
Elder Burgess
Huh, what?
Phewf. It always seems as though I have a million things I need to talk about, but forget by the time Monday rolls around. Then other times, it seems as though it would be impossible to sum up everything that has happened...
I will try my best though!
So this week... We met with a few people. With the change that happened, we 'got' back an investigators of ours, named Viola. If you remember, Elder Frahm and I found her on a super rainy day. We met with her this week. She's super awesome. There's a term missionaries use: progressing investigator. That is, somebody who is willing to listen and follow your commitments--which is also a willingness to change their lives. Viola is the perfect example of a progressing investigator. She recognizes how important our message is and is trying her best to listen and follow. She has such a strong desire to learn more. This Sunday...well. Let's put a pin on that.
We also met with Gabriel. If you remember (gee, how forgetful are you?), Gabriel found us. He's a smart guy who knows like 4 languages and visits his mother every weekend in Leiden. One of the questions I asked him is why he wanted to meet with us. His answer--simple yet AWESOME--was "well, I want to learn more, and serve the lord!" Whoa. Talk about Golden. He was pretty much on the edge of his seat as we explained a few things to him. He's very interested in learning more. I could describe him simply as somebody who is diligently searching for the truth. He asked us if we believe in Prophets. Yeah we do. And he even asked Elder Mortenson how somebody becomes a missionary. This guy is great.
Oh yeah, Sunday.
This Sunday, we walked with Viola to church. And she brought her 3 children. Seems like a simple statement. But for Viola, this was a huge hurtle. Viola has social anxiety--she's scared of large groups. Church...is pretty much a huge group. But she wants this so bad, she was willing to push that aside to do so. And she brought her children! I am so impressed by how strong she is. She tensed right up the moment we walked in that building. It was evident in her composure The second hour of church we sensed her anxiety in the Gospel Principles class. She was still tense at the beginning, but you could see it slowly melt away throughout the lesson. At first, she was fiddling with something, but by the end, she was sitting still and listening intently. Ah! I'm just so happy for Viola. At our appointment earlier, she mentioned to us she had prayed and felt something--a good feeling. She even wrote it down to remember. AH! I'm so happy for her! She also commented how interesting the circumstances were when we met. That one day, she had work off (can't remember why) and people were also working on the building, so there was no electricity, and nothing for her to do. Then we swung by. She said any other time, she probably would have shooed us off, but because...nothing was happening, she decided to listen.
The Lord. He's great.
So at church, both Gabriel and Khalid showed up as well. 3 investigators at church. Personal best! Uh, I mean. Yes. What are numbers anyway? Gabriel loved church. You could tell he was just super interested in everything we learned in our meetings. Gol-den.
We had to move Khalid's baptism... He was really busy this week and we couldn't meet with him. but it was for the best. We have a lot of details we have to hammer out first--like which ward he wants to be baptized into. He's still super positive though. He mentioned he has a friend he wants to invite to his baptism. Referral? Aha, yeah. Khalid showed up just after the sacrament was administered. Now, when Khalid sits down, he throws back his dreads with a pretty violent flick of his head. He strolled in, sat down next to me and did this very thing--with a wall right behind him. Thwak went his dreads. Yeah, a couple heads turned... Love Khalid.
Oh,......I can't read Dad's last letter. I pretty much have no idea what you guys did over in Egypt... I don't know how to solve this problem. Got a urim and thummin anybody?
By the way, I love African people. I went on exchanges with our District leader, Elder Calkins. We were on a pretty long bus ride and he just strolled up and sat down beside this African guy, saying "hallo, my brother!" After finding out the man was from Nigeria, Elder Calkins mentioned a Nigerian dish called 'pepper soup'. The man's eyes just lit up. "You know pepper soup?!" Apparently, it's just a soup made from blinding-hot red peppers; "clears your nose right up!" Long story short, this man (named Elijah), gave us his contact information as if we were best friends already. The office Elders are meeting with him and he's the smartest guy ever. He's like a biologist or something and just totally understands everything they say. He sounds really positive.
OH. A lot happened this week... We also went down to Brussels on Wednesday, to get signed into Belgium (in case we ever serve there). Almost my entire MTC group went too! It was awesome to see them all. Afterwards, we went and bought meat triads. Picture a french baguette. Now put a doner (donair?) on it. Now put fries on it. Now put your weight in delicious sauce on it. Holy man. That sammich nearly defeated me. I had the rumblies like no other the rest of the day. It was like carrying a brick around in my stomach all day. It was the most delicious thing--but I regretted it afterwards...
We've only met with Abla twice--we've got another meeting tonight. She speaks french and is from Togo. Togo is a place in Africa. She's got a genuine interest in the gospel as well (we're truly blessed with such great investigators), but we couldn't meet with her this last week because it was her birthday. Hmm, what? Do Togo birthdays last all week? I don't know. She's just fly though. Super cool.
Anyway. I'm outta time. Looks like my forecast was correct. Slightly interesting with a great chance of no questions answered.
Love yah all a lot.
Also, I'll consider the camera thing... Or clean my lens. I don't know... None of the pictures turned out?
Tot volgende keer,
Elder Burgess
No comments:
Post a Comment