Holy moses, now THAT was a big letter. Dangit. On Koningenindag too. We've got a lot of plans today you know, lots to do! Koningenindag is the Netherlands national holiday ~ like our Canada Day I suppose. It is a celebration - something to do with Queen Beatrix birthday. Everybody wears orange (the national color) and they have big sales (flea markets) and parties in the streets, with music and the likes. I'm super excited.
But for as this week, we've had some ups and downs. Dominique, our semi-new investigator just dropped us on Thursday. Wham. He had a huge desire to know if the Book of Mormon is true, but mistook bad-happenings as his answer. He prayed over the BOM. Whle he was waiting for confirmation he received a call from India that his mother had just been hospitalized. We all shared powerful testimony, saying that sometimes we have to excercise our faith, and that Satan doesn't want us coming closer to what's right. His mind was set though; he gave us back the book and off he went. Super bummer. Zo is het.
Also, we had a Talent night on Saturday night. Elder Andrews and his previous companion had planned and organized it. Holy man was it a lot of work. It was awesome though. The ward jumped right in. We had over a hundred people there, twenty of which were non-members. We had about 6 acts or so, then had a tour of our church building, then proceeded with about 6 more acts. All the acts were super well done. Funny thing to note though, every song that was sung was in English. Hmm...
So right before the Talent night, I totally met two people that have been to Vernon. What are the chances of that? One of them even served in Vancouver. Get this. He served for 6 months on Salt Spring! He was naming off the places he served and kind of paused... "And a little place called Salt Spring." I just started laughing. I couldn´t believe it. Really, what are the chances? He totally remembers the Bascoms too. He gave me a card with his information on it--turns out he is some sort of aaarrrtiiissst. His name was Vincent Noot. Gee, not only that, but I met another RM who served somewhere else in Canada. Hmmm, can't remember where. It was awesome having a good ol' Canada conversation. Fun times.
Also, I heard great news from Leiden. You remember Gabriel? Of course you remember Gabriel! Well, he was Baptized last Saturday. WHAT?! How cool is that? Yeah, it figures everybody gets baptized after I leave, right? Man, I can't believe how golden that guy was though--what a champ.
Holy man is my Dutch coming along. I've really noticed how much I've improved. We speak Dutch a lot, my two companions and I. Having Harry around really helps too of course. But man, I can carry on a full conversation with relative ease. I speak another language!! How cool is that? Far from fluent, of course. But far better than I would have ever thought possible before my mission.
Yes. And our house is getting completely redone. You should see it. It's a total wreck. They cleaned out all that mould, (thank goodness), tore down the wallpaper and are now in the process of replacing the gross carpet with linoleum and painting the walls. There is so much dust in the house. I can feel it in the back of my nose. Bleck! But, the house is going to look infinitely better once it is done. Stoked.
The Goeders sent me a letter the other day. It was awesome to read what they had to say! You'll have to apologize to Brandon for me though--he asked a million questions and demanded an answer for each one. Yeah... It might be a while, champ. I'll try my best though.
Anydoodle, I'm going to go party. I'm so pleased with how well everything is (or at least seems to be) going in little Vernon. I miss my friends almost every day. Seriously, you guys are the BEST. Can't believe I've almost hit the 6 month mark. How crazy is that? Nearly a quarter of the way done. Gee. Time flies. Before you know it, I'll be home and bumming around just like the good old days. Uh, I mean....
Ik houd van jullie, zo veel!
tot volgende keer,
Elder Burgess
But for as this week, we've had some ups and downs. Dominique, our semi-new investigator just dropped us on Thursday. Wham. He had a huge desire to know if the Book of Mormon is true, but mistook bad-happenings as his answer. He prayed over the BOM. Whle he was waiting for confirmation he received a call from India that his mother had just been hospitalized. We all shared powerful testimony, saying that sometimes we have to excercise our faith, and that Satan doesn't want us coming closer to what's right. His mind was set though; he gave us back the book and off he went. Super bummer. Zo is het.
Also, we had a Talent night on Saturday night. Elder Andrews and his previous companion had planned and organized it. Holy man was it a lot of work. It was awesome though. The ward jumped right in. We had over a hundred people there, twenty of which were non-members. We had about 6 acts or so, then had a tour of our church building, then proceeded with about 6 more acts. All the acts were super well done. Funny thing to note though, every song that was sung was in English. Hmm...
So right before the Talent night, I totally met two people that have been to Vernon. What are the chances of that? One of them even served in Vancouver. Get this. He served for 6 months on Salt Spring! He was naming off the places he served and kind of paused... "And a little place called Salt Spring." I just started laughing. I couldn´t believe it. Really, what are the chances? He totally remembers the Bascoms too. He gave me a card with his information on it--turns out he is some sort of aaarrrtiiissst. His name was Vincent Noot. Gee, not only that, but I met another RM who served somewhere else in Canada. Hmmm, can't remember where. It was awesome having a good ol' Canada conversation. Fun times.
Also, I heard great news from Leiden. You remember Gabriel? Of course you remember Gabriel! Well, he was Baptized last Saturday. WHAT?! How cool is that? Yeah, it figures everybody gets baptized after I leave, right? Man, I can't believe how golden that guy was though--what a champ.
Holy man is my Dutch coming along. I've really noticed how much I've improved. We speak Dutch a lot, my two companions and I. Having Harry around really helps too of course. But man, I can carry on a full conversation with relative ease. I speak another language!! How cool is that? Far from fluent, of course. But far better than I would have ever thought possible before my mission.
Yes. And our house is getting completely redone. You should see it. It's a total wreck. They cleaned out all that mould, (thank goodness), tore down the wallpaper and are now in the process of replacing the gross carpet with linoleum and painting the walls. There is so much dust in the house. I can feel it in the back of my nose. Bleck! But, the house is going to look infinitely better once it is done. Stoked.
The Goeders sent me a letter the other day. It was awesome to read what they had to say! You'll have to apologize to Brandon for me though--he asked a million questions and demanded an answer for each one. Yeah... It might be a while, champ. I'll try my best though.
Anydoodle, I'm going to go party. I'm so pleased with how well everything is (or at least seems to be) going in little Vernon. I miss my friends almost every day. Seriously, you guys are the BEST. Can't believe I've almost hit the 6 month mark. How crazy is that? Nearly a quarter of the way done. Gee. Time flies. Before you know it, I'll be home and bumming around just like the good old days. Uh, I mean....
Ik houd van jullie, zo veel!
tot volgende keer,
Elder Burgess
With much preparation, incredible support from ward members and the mission, the Elders in Eindhoven (Elder Van Overbeek, Elder Andrews, Elder Kunz, and Elder Burgess,) with ward mission leader Harry van de Sande, were able to put together the ward missionary activity "Mormons Got Talent." Due to great support by the ward council, and the guidance of Preach My Gospel the event was a great success.
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