I have a testimony of being tired

Ah. 112 entries. A fine round number. Let me just take a moment to thank all my fine blog-followers. Thanks, Blog Followers. I appreciate your care, love attention and prayers. Mayhaps I will also take a moment to look over my mission this fine day. As things wind down, I have to take a look at myself. I feel different, but at the same time I feel the same. I've experience so much and learned so much more. Or maybe the other way around. It was amazing to see how the Lord answers prayers--immediately sometimes. I'm very thankful for the people I've been able to meet as well. Companions, members, non-members... I've met some of the greatest people in the world, in all regards. I think back on the words of my stake President. I'm bad with details, but he promised me that a mission would be a perfect opportunity to meet lots of people--good for my writing. Well, he was certainly right. I've taught--and helped--people with faith to move mountains as well as the godless. If there's one thing that sums up missionary work the most for me, I think it would be Family Stroobonts. What a cool, prepared family. It was such a joy going to their house, eating delicious food and teaching the Eternal Gospel to eager ears. Sitting in the warmth with a blistering cold outside, teaching the gospel. Wow. And seeing them all get baptized. What an honour. You know, I feel as though I've been there for the Lord--for every special assignment He's given me. There's regular missionary work (trust me, that's the best mind), but then there are those specific tasks you are meant to fill. Every time the Lord gave me one of these, I stepped up to the plate and gave it my all. I have a testimony of being tired as butts. I have a testimony of zombies. We have to kill those zombies. Those nasty self-limiting-beliefs that hold us back from reaching those safe houses. We have to throw down our toasters and let people know that we're real, and not the undead horde. Bikes to ride, people to help, life to live. Met hartelijk bedankt, Elder Burgess

Zombies and brains everywhere

Well, Zombie/NerfGun Pday was the greatest thing ever made.  Ever.  We had a total of 12 people there, including the district, Elder Andrews, and 2 members.  IT was so rad.  Between us all, we had 2 electric guns, 2 revolver guns--one with a crossbow scope--a disk launcher, a shotgun (that was mine), and a bunch of pistols.  Zombies and brains everywhere. At one point, it was just Elder Andrews wielding duellies and Elder Robbins with an electric gun.  They stood there valiantly, defending themselves against the zombie hordes.  Just as the last fell, Andrews asked, "Are we the only ones left?" "Yes." Without hesitation, Andrews drew his pistol and shot Elder Robbins in the head, grabbed a handful of ammo and sprinted away. Oh man we were yelling, "What a dirtbag!" With terrific zombie roars and the endless moan of the undead, all us zombies rised again and in an endless onslaught, threw ourselves at the last survivor.  I managed to get him too.  Out of ammo, he was powerless as a zombie pushed past the bodies of its fallen fellows and tackled him, devour his guts.  As he fell over against the door, his body hit the doorhandle and he tumbled out the door and partially outside.  IT WAS AWESOME. The loudest scream that day was from Sister Nelson, who after killing a zombie, sidled closer to investigate its remains.  Little did she know there was still some fight left in it and it rolled onto its belly and crawled with horrifying speed towards it.  That was me again.  It was seriously one of the funnest P-days I've had on my mission.  Somehow, I'll have to organize another later. Otherwise, it was a pretty standard week.  We had a miracle though.  Elder Losee had felt prompted to visit a certain street and so he did.  He talked with a lithuanian man who said they could come back later. So we did. When we knocked the door, a lady answered, saying her boyfriend was upstairs and preoccupied.  She asked then, "What's the difference between your church and the Catholic church?" and bode us to enter.  Perfect! We then shared a super cool conversation with her and taught the Restoration. I believe she mentioned she wasn't religious, (and obviously enjoyed her alcohol), but was very open to learn more--partially to improve her English--and accepted a Book of Mormon.  she was also Lithuanian by the way.  It's not every day somebody just straight-up lets you in.  Really neat.  Follow up for suresies. Also, we decided to go look up a member in a neighbouring city.  We hopped in the bus, away we had an appointment in a while, but supposing the bus would be short... Nope. We sat on that dang bus for an hour!  Rode it right to the end.  The adress we had was for Willemstad, but the street itself was in the nearby Helwijk.  Worst name ever for a neighbourhood.  Anydoodle, as we got off, somebody approached and asked in English if we were from Canada.  He had noticed the flag on my backpack and decided to ride until we got off so he could chat.  Neat.  Quickly switched to Dutch and talked to this guy.  Maybe about 18.  Very friendly and helpful, a true champ.  We gave him a card and everything.  We'll see what happens I guess. Afterwards, we went to the members and had a cool chat.  We talked about our missions and a bit about hers with her non-member husband.  He's a swell guy and is actually supportive of her, though he himself is not interested.  At the end, I also discovered he was a Halo fan.  Augh!  Awesome.  He drove us home as well that night.  Insta-friend engaged. Otherwise, we didn't get to meet with most of the people we usually meet with.  The weather went sour and rainy and I almost got sick.  Just avoided it.  A lot of other people did though.  Dangit.  We went to the military family in Breda again.  I held an AK47.  Whoa. Well.  Well. Next week should be interesting. Tot volgende keer, Elder Burgess

Like I have time to daydream anymore

This past week was admittedly slower. Another one of those weeks where helping out the district is the main priority. We went over to Tilburg on Thursday and roamed around. It was interesting, because District meeting was pushed to that day because of interviews. Ah, interviews. Both Pres Robinson and his wife sat down and basically said, "Well, you're leaving in a while." Gee, thanks. They both personally thanked me for everything I've done. I guess daydreaming about dragons is rewarding after all. Just kidding, like I have time to daydream anymore. But yes. That thursday morning, I had the thought, "we should go to Tilburg today." I didn't mention it later until both Tilburg and us stood on different train tracks waiting for the train. With literally 2 minutes left before it came, I turned to Elder Losee. "Quick, do you want to go work in Tilburg today?" "Yep." And we were off. We sprinted down the corridor and onto the train and sat down beside them. They were pretty surprised. I was able to spend the day with Elder Frisby again. I really enjoy spending time with him, actually. He's a funny guy, but a dedicated member and missionary. I can't remember if I mentioned it, but he's a convert of a couple years. Later in the day we had an intense appointment where the Breda Sisters handed an investigator to the Tilburg Elders. He was an intellectual guy, but we were able to connect with him and my testimony quite touched him. Also, that same day I saw somebody catch a fish. We killed that zombie (that voice that tells you not to contact somebody) and spoke to him and I showed him a picture of the fish I caught. He only laughed. We also met with our Congo friend and her children. I love that little family. The young boy is always smiling and happy. Reminds me a lot of Witse Stroobonts. We called this fammy-jim-jam after conference and unfortunately, they couldn't find the broadcast. The young boy asked to use the phone and excitedly he asked us how the conference was. "And was the Prophet there?" Of course. "Whoa. Was he a real Prophet?" Of course. "Whoa." Such an adorable kid. We're hoping to meet more with this family this week. Love them! We also met with our Thai friend again--the pal of the less-active member. Gee, now that I can't list off names, life is getting confusing. Anyway, we watched the Restoration DVD and shared about prayer. It was a good lesson filled with the Spirit. Saddle sore is gone. Woo! We also visited an inactive member that had a grand total of 17 dogs. Holy Man. Yep. 17. He's a dog breeder. He has Dalmatians and French Bloodhounds. It was a crazy, hairy house, but he was super friendly and very nice. He's in some financial problems right now. Not much we can do there except support spiritually. Bummer. So last week we were heading towards the station with the Vlissingen Elders on the back of our bikes. Suddenly, a bike we had been borrowing tachoed! The wheel simply bent over. We were in a rush, so we locked it up against the side of a building and began to run. Not only did we miss the train, but that same bike was stolen the next day. Beats me why somebody would want a broken bike, but okay. Sorry Bishop, we uh...lost your bike. He wasn't upset. It wasn't a good one anyway. Oh! Don't tell him that. General Conference was a good one this year. I had trouble taking notes though, I'm not sure why. I especially enjoyed the Sunday morning talk giving by Pres Eyring. Very emotional and spiritual. I feel sorry for our poor Prophet though. Everybody here commented on how much older he looks. After hearing all his adoration for his wife, I think I can understand why. Still, his words and testimony touched me and I felt uplifted. Thanks. That's what I'll say when I meet him. If...I meet him. So today we have a zombie Nerf gun pday. It seems my central theme this transfer has been zombies. I just gave a District meeting explaining how small disobedient habits or ideas are like carrying a toaster in a zombie apocalypse. It's just a bad idea. You have to throw down that toaster and grab a bigger weapon! What survivors will want to come with you to the safe house if you're carrying a toaster? Just dumb. Although it's all about zombies, all my district trainings have tied in perfectly with each other. They all are truly inspired by the Lord. It's amazing to see how the members of the District have been able to catch the fun and use the tools I've presented to truly improve their work. I can't take any of the credit. It was like the pen wrote the trainings, and I simply added in zombies. But yes. Our Zombie/Nerf gun Pday. We're all going to the church today to have a giant battle. We've all acquired Nerf Guns and we're going to have a big jamboree. You bet there will be blood and gore and mauling. I've been excited for it all week. Should be fun. Our washroom had mould. I killed that mould. It's been a good week. Very spiritually uplifting. I enjoyed it very much. Onward to success. Tot volgende keer, Elder Burgess