We smashed the house with the Spirit

Wow, those were more questions that most...

I haven't typed as much on my typewriter this week, so thank goodness my fingers are used to this keyboard.  For some reason, I don't press the space bar as much on a manual typemachine, so if some words are smashed together, just ignore them.

We have a bunch of missionary comics in our apartment.  Included is a "Missionary companion checklist".  After answering a number of checklist questions, some are piano players, food hogs, lazy and so forth.  I was somewhat shocked to learn I fall under the "Hobby" category.  Which leads to the fact that I got a free guitar this week!  We took a rotting couch away in our apartment, and I jokingly asked the member helping us to pick me up a free guitar while he was at the dump (like with Elder Mower).  Ho ho ha.  Except he actually did it.  The thing is super old and was somewhat in shambles when I got it, but some rope, a sock, styrofoam and duct-tape later, it works.  It's missing a string--it wasn't when I got it--but otherwise it's in playable condition.  Now I have to both learn how to tune and play a guitar, then life's looking up.

As for me going on a mission to please my parents?  Psh.  Psh I say. If anybody thinks that, they obviously haven't been reading my emails.  I came on a mission for a few reasons, but I've stayed for Christ.  I've stayed for others.

Speaking of which.

Willy is doing fantastic.  I don't even know if I can sum up everything about him.  We went there last night and by the end of the appointment, he was standing up, shouting praises to God Almighty in joy.  So many things are coming together for him right now, it's unreal.  A man whom he loaned a sum of money finally got in contact with him after a number of years.  He had borrowed the money to go start a business or do a trade or something dealing with cars.  The money Willy had lent had helped incredibly and to show his gratitude, this same man straight-up gave Willy a new car!  A whole new car!  Aha, he grabbed the keys and papers and at one point and showed them to us.  "Look at what God has done!"  Another crazy thing happened at work--I'm not sure what entirely, nor can I quite say--but Willy basically saved the business, through what originally appeared an accident.  His boss is indebted to him.  A bunch of other things happened too.  God's power astounded me that evening.  I said in my prayers that I had no idea how to solve Willy's problem, nor any solution or idea that could--but I asked God to help him. What has happened is far, far beyond what I could have expected.  Willy told us he had been looking for the right church, the one where God presides.  He said he's found it.  He said this is the way.  He wants to be baptized, but he wants to know more.  Which is perfect, because that's exactly how it should be.  I'm not even sure how to express how much gratitude I have.

This week has been a dozy.

Also, we started teaching Adore.  He's from...Cameroon?...I can't remember.  He's an honest investigator, but has a lot of questions that are hard to understand and therefore difficult to answer.  Still, he's a cool guy and I'm looking forward to teaching him.

We taught our second lesson to Family Rodriguez.  Gee, sounds like somebody Elder Smith should be teaching over there in Spain.  Anydoodle, we retaught the Restoration to the mother, her son and 2 daughters (the third was upstairs).  I love families!  She fed us pannenkoeken and they accepted our message very well.  Translation is a problem though... Luckily, almost every member in the ward seems to speak French, so a good joint teach shouldn't be hard to find.

We went to Brussels again this week.  Big.  Busy.  Blech.  We hauled our butts all the way to who knows where to get to our appointment with a HQ referral, only to discover one of us had made a mistake and wrote down the time wrong.   Dangit.  Unfortunately, we had to skedaddle, so we couldn't stick around.  We gave the appointment to the French-speaking Elders serving in Brussels and they went instead.  It was both exciting and aggravating to hear from them later that this referral said during the appointment that he feels like it's time he becomes a Latter Day Saint.  AAARRRGGG.  Convert snaked.  That's okay, he lives 3 tram stops away from the church in Brussels and it will save time for us if the other Elders meet with him anyway.

When Elder Pitchforth and I were on exchanges in Leuven, we met a young guy named Ivan (pronounced "eefon").  He said "diddedy mack, you fine bro-homes can come back latah, aight".  So we did.  When we came in, WHAM, two more people ready to be taught.  Neat.  I turned the corner, WHAM, 3 daughters ready to be taught.  Oh my.  Two seconds later, WHAM, 2 other younger fellows walked it.  Holy Moses.  We taught 8 whole people a super solid lesson that evening.  We smashed the house with the Spirit, left behind 4 book of Mormons and split.  They felt it super strong and were very excited by our message.  We're going back next week.  I think it was 2, maybe even 3 separate families.  Tanzanian.

We were super busy this week.  It might be safe to say we deserve a relaxing P-day today.  Maybe I can thrum out some tunege on my new guitar-age.

Our apartment--because somebody keeps pestering--is a 1-bedroom place.  It's on the very top of a...3 or 4 story building and as such, there's a huge climb to get to it and the ceiling is slanted.  We have a laundry room, bathroom (without a tub) and living room.  The small hallway connecting the three acts as our kitchen and there's a tiny room for the water heater and wash machine.  A good word to describe it is cluttered; the living room contains our fridge, our desks, our dinner table, our lounge chairs and all our cupboards containing our books.  It takes about 2 days until everything is scattered everywhere.  If a large truck goes by, the entire house shakes.  It's pretty funny actually.

Anydoodle.  I can't think of anything else.  And I'm out of time.

Thanks to the Thompson's for their package and email!

Tot volgende keer,

Elder Burgess

My poor fingers are confused

That's funny that you said kaput in your email.  It must be a Dutch word--Kapot.  Anyway.

I guess one important thing to mention is that I found a typewriter.  It is the coolest thing ever.  It's incredibly intricate and makes the coolest sound.  Unfortunately, it's the French style keyboard and a lot of letters are switched around.  I used it like crazy this week and now everything is mixed up now.  My poor fingers are confused.  Forgive them!

Anydoodle, The Stroobonts were confirmed this Sunday!  It's official, they are members.  Wham.  We had a family home evening with them too, which was a lot of fun.  We shared the golden rule lesson with them, and they enjoyed it.

Unfortune struck this week, however, and we spent a lot of time indoors.  Elder Rozendaal had been complaining about having stomach pains for 2 or 3 days and I ignored him, figuring it was just some silly Greenie complaint--until he threw up.  Ooops, that caught my attention real fast.  So that very same day, I made the decision that we should stay home, out of the cold.  We have about 10 centimetres of snow.  Elder Rozendaal was very upset with me--he's a good ole chap and just wants to do the work of the Lord.  I wouldn't let him.  It took him a while, but he realized it's for his better.  We ended up staying home Friday through Sunday.  There was some up-chucking, stomach pains, headaches, and other unpleasantries along the way but at least today he's healthy enough to go outside.  I, on the other hand feel great.  Hmm.

The biggest triumph this week I'd say came when we visited Willy.  Elder Christensen, our district leader, came all the way from Turnhout with Elder Farmer, his companion.  Elder C and I went with a member while Elder F stayed and "babysat" Elder Rozendaal.  Oh man, what an appointment it was.  I can sum it up simply by saying that Willy has a testimony!  No joke.  At one point, he told us--while putting a hand to his heart--that his soul feels warm everytime he talks with us, even on the phone.  He said he gets the same feeling when he reads the Book of Mormon.  He feels comforted, that everything will turn out well in the future.  He's finding peace and happiness in the Lord, despite his problems.  And actually, a person gave him a letter the other day saying that he's now fully certified as a mechanic.  His boss and him are going to work out a contract for him.  I thought my heart would nearly blow up during that lesson.  The Spirit was very tangible while we were there.  Also, Willy is now bestest friends with our joint teach, Br. Verschuuren.  Br V mentioned something about being sincere with investigating the church, and Willy stood up with a big grin and they exchanged the coolest African handshake ever.  They switched numbers too.

There are still some things he needs to figure out before he fully accepts baptism, but he's more than well on his way.  I just really hope I can stay here for his baptism.  Love Willy!

Oh, also I got some fantastic letters this week!  I got a sweet package from the Thompson's--it came just in time too, that Lego kept me sane for 3 days!--as well as a letter from Preston, Kaffee and the Hillsman's.  Nothing is cooler than getting a letter from your bestest friends (and a package from your aunt, of course).  Thank you guys!

I learnt a lot about Elder Rozendaal this week too.  He's a swell chap, with a great desire to serve the Lord and improve himself.  He's got a ear for the Spirit too.  He does everything for everybody too.  What a guy. I guess I failed to mention how I met him in Almere.  Well, I actually met him long ago.  I met him first at Mission Conference, all those many moons ago.  Then, he brought us pizza once in Almere.  I met him again on the train one day when we were off to Lelystad--but that time he was dressed up as Zwarte Piet, along with a whole army of other Zwarte Piets (Black Piet's) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zwarte_Piet.  Also, he filled our mailbox with pepernotenhttp http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepernoot , little cookies that get thrown everywhere during Kerst (Christmas).  To this day, as far as I know, those cookies are still there.  Yech.

Ah yes, how could I forget.  We got about a zillion referrals to Brussels in the last few weeks.  We finally decided to jump on them and took a trip to Brussels--because half of it is in our area or something, I don't know.  Anyway, the first referral turned out to be a family.  It was interesting, because they hadn't actually ordered anything or requested a visit, but had met the missionaries almost a year ago.  How their name turned up again, I can only guess.  They're super awesome too.  A single, older mother with 4 teenage children.  Her son has the coolest Flemish accent.  We're going back there on Thursday, so we'll see where that goes.  She has the belief that there is no one true church, but that following Jesus teachings is good enough.  A good Priesthood lesson should clear some things up.

Then we got lost for a while in the big, thrumming beehive of Brussels.  The place is huge, seriously.  After a while, we finally found our second referral--to somebody who works at the Ghana embassy.  Oh?  Yeah, when we arrived, the place was a tennis court.  Oh.  We gave the referral to the French elders in Brussels, so we'll see what happens there as well.

Otherwise, more than half the people we've met with are students and unavailable until February. Dangit.  Oh, and as for that letter I sent, you must have misspelled a lot of things, because you wrote it differently than I did.  Daarom zo veel fouten (why so many errors)?

Dear old Elder Mower is gone.  I'm curious if I'll be gone by the end of this transfer too.  Does the Curse care if I'm training?  Only time will tell.

Thanks for your prayers and support.

Tot volgende keer,

Elder Burgess

Wham, family baptized

I don't have much time to email today...

Elder Rosendaal can't get a computer pass because of legality complications, so we're sharing one computer between three people (because this internet cafe really sucks).  That means 20 minutes per person.  Plus my fingers are cold.  Gyar!

So Where do I start.  I suppose with Elder Rosendaal.  He's super eager to learn and apply his knowledge.  There are still some MTC and pre-MTC kinks to work out, but he's a fantastic guy.  He loves Dragon Ball Z and Star Wars.  We're going to get a lot done, I can tell.  Plus he jumped right into 4 baptisms.  Woo!

And yes, the 4 baptisms went through.  It was awesome.  All the friction was worked out between everybody and the baptism itself went very smoothly.  It was interesting because Carla, who was baptized, did probably more work than we did.  She made all these broodjes (sandwiches) for the baptism and soup and delicious deserts.  This may be strange to say, but these baptisms were surprisingly easy.  Sure, we put in our time teaching and working out some things, but otherwise, the ward as well as the people being baptized did most of the work.  Wham, family baptized.  Where's the next?

Unfortunately, William couldn't make it to church this Sunday.  His car died right as he got in to go.  Bummer.  Dang ol Satan knew just how to stop him.  We phoned him and he told us that he'll take the bus or train next Sunday if that's what it takes.  So far, (as far as I know) there has been no solution to his financial problems, though several ideas have been proposed by members.  We'll see.

We had a touch of snow over the week too.  Just a touch.  The temperature dropped below the negatives for the first time in a long time.  Brr.  I've got MORE THAN ENOUGH WARM CLOTHING though, so it's bearable.

Elder Mower has been called to Lelystad as well!  I'm very excited for him.  I showed him some pictures and told him some horror stories of the place.  Apparently, Elder Shoemaker's bike was set on fire on New Year's Eve.

Anydoodle, that's about all the time I have, unfortunately.  I have to also email the mission President.

K, love yah, bye.

Tot volgende keer (until next time),

Elder Burgess

 Pannie kooken.  Elder Burgess and Elder Rosendaal.  Elder Burgess will be training Elder Rosendaal and both will be working in Leuven, Belgium.

 Elder Cundick, Elder Mower (Elder Mower will be a third companion with Elder Burgess and Elder Rosendaal until transfers on January 16)

So I'm pretty much in shock right now

Crazy to believe it's 2013 already.  Gee, when did I leave, anyway?  1994?

I might have to actually keep this one short because I had a zillion long emails and now only have a limited time to write.  I'll do my best.

So New Years eve was one big snore fest for me.  We came in at 4 and chilled around, staring at the ceiling until bed time rolled by.  Right at midnight, the city turns into WWIII as everybody screams and shoots off fireworks.  It woke Elder Mower, but not me.  Slept through like nothing was up.

This week was a pretty regular one. We talked to several cool people, had a lesson with the Stroobonts and worked like any other week.  Then Friday struck and everything has suddenly piled up.

We had interviews on Friday with President.  All fine and dandy.  Afterwards, he pulled Elder Mower and I aside.  Oh no!  What have we done?  He wasn't chastising us, however, but telling us we need to be in Leiden on Tuesday.  What for, you ask?

To pick up my greenie. (Evan will be training a newly arrived missionary)

Please, take a moment to drink that in.  I need to too...

Elder Roosendaal, who comes from Almere, is arriving tomorrow and I'm training him.  I've met the guy before--more than once.  Oh myan.  We're going to be in a tripan for week--until tranfers, when Elder Mower will get the boot.  President gestured to me: "Well, you're going to be training the new Elder," then gestured to Elder Mower, "Which means you'll be getting transferred.  We're telling you now so it's not a surprise.  You're getting transferred to...  Well, I can't remember right now, but you're leaving, so be ready."  Aha, what the heck!

So I pretty much in shock right now.  I'm not sure how to handle it.

Also--and this is most of the weight we are carrying right now--we got in contact with William.  They've been out of contact because they're having serious troubles right now.  He owes a large sum of money to the bank that, if he can't pay in time, will cause his house to be taken away.  He was sobbing on the phone when we were speaking with him.  Holy man, it nearly broke my heart.  He was considering drastic measures to get out of his debt.  His children called him and saved his life that evening.  We have worn out our souls over the last few days comforting our brother, both over the phone and in person.  I don't know if I've ever felt so much love for somebody that isn't immediate family.  I now understand how Nephi watered his pillow at night with his tears.  We went over with the Bishop yesterday evening to comfort him and we gave him a blessing.  He's doing better now--at least morally.  I had a strong impression that everything would turn out well with him though.  I'm not sure what will happen until things stabilize, but I'm strongly convinced that things will turn out.  He's not even considering taking his life now, so that itself is great progress.  Oh man, even writing about this is wearing me out.

Wow.

On Sunday, however, there was a huge ray of light.  We had 9 inactive members in church.  We visited family Boda this week--who I fell in love with at once--and they came to church.  They have 5 teenagers, yikes.  Luckily, they all love the church, so no teenage angst in the way there.  We also picked up Per, a young convert, and brought him to church.  Lastly, our new Mongolia friend/member came to church as well.  We gave him a Mongolian book of Mormon at the beginning of church because he had lost his when he moved here.  You should have seen the look on his face.  Pure joy.  He hugged that book close and thanked us several times.  Later during the testimony meeting, he stood up and bore his testimony about the BoM.  Cool guy.

There was also some friction between Carla (Mrs. Stroobonts) and Mr. Stroobonts' ex wife.  We're not sure what is happening--and we were advised not to get involved--but we were informed that whatever this drama is, it shouldn't interrupt with their baptism.  There was another dollop of stress.

I don't know if I've ever been more exhausted than yesterday evening--in every sense of the word.  It's hard loving every family we're working with right now.  I don't know if my heart's big enough.  I thank my Lord that I can be here, getting to know these people.  Helping these people.  I pray for the strength to do all this.

Thank you for all your prayers.  For all your support.  I really need it right now, trust me.  I don't think I've ever realized my insignificance either.  I'm only 21 and dealing with problems way over my head.  There's no way I could do any of this without the Lord guiding me every step of the way.  I acknowledge his hand in every aspect of the work.

Please, pray for me.  Pray for Willy.  Pray for the Stroobonts.

Prayer works, that much I can tell you.

Tot volgende keer,

Elder Burgess

 

*In regards to when you pick me up - - I'd like to hit up some of the previous areas I've served in for sure.  Elder Jones did the same thing when his family came and got him.  I hear, however, that you have to be released by your home stake president, so during the time we tour together, I would still be officially an Elder.  I have to double check this though.  Shouldn't be a big deal, I suppose.

*Thanks for the 4x4x4 Rubik's cube!  I've been super busy with it (not during missionary time, don't worry).  I'm proud to say I actually managed to solve it without instructions too!  Only once though...  There's still a step I haven't quite figured out.  Anyway, I'll send some money in the mail to pay you back.  I insist.

A week of travel

The Library is closed today, so I'm chilling in a grungy Internet cafe downtown.  It's filled with phone booths which in turn are filled with African people--who talk really, really loud on the phone.  There aren't many people here today though. These computers are filled with viruses too, so if something slimy makes its way on this email, don't blame me!
Elder Mower and I have to get home by 4 today.  New years eve gets insane here.  Apparently, in the Netherlands it sounds like World War 3 on New Years. I've seen videos of more fireworks blasting over rooftops than you can believe.  They're tamer in Belgium, but still.  Home at 4 is a mission-wide rule.
Ever notice that those finagled ergonomic keyboards always destroy your wrists? Goshdang.
On Christmas day, we went and visited Family Verschuuren. We brought along Syria (or however his name is pronounced) and had a good old time.  There were snacks, Russian and Nepolese accents and Uno to top it off afterwards.  That was just as good a gift as I could ever ask.  Later that selfsame evening, went went to Bishop Dixon's and there I skyped home.  Hello home, good to see everything is going great.
Gee, I've matured?  Psh, wait until you see me off Skype.  Speaking of which, we got to get the life-sized coke cola cardboard phone booth set up in a strategic way for our Nerf-gun battle tonight.  No further questions.
On Boxing day we went as a zone to an old folks home and sang to the people living there.  We visited 3 floors of the place, stopping to see residents along the way.  At one point, an old Dutch lady started talking, repeating at least a dozen times that she had children in America.  3 of them.  Three children in America.  She has them.  I really, really don't like old folks home.  I don't need to go into details why (Papa Joe).  In any case, the staff and bewoners were very grateful that we came.
The same day, I went on exchanges to Antwerpen with the Zone leader  ~ Elder Pitchforth.  I now understand a bit more of ZL life and I don't really like it.  Some other missionaries called us to say they forgot their keys, so we had to drive 50 minutes to go haul them back home in Antwerpen.  In the morning, another 50 minute ride greeted us to bring them back to their city. Another 50 minutes saw us back in Antwerpen.  Still, it was a cool experience.
We talked with Isac, who Elder Frahm (first companion in the field)  always talked about.  He was a miracle--really prepared for batpism.  While we were there, he mentioned his friend had some interest in the church.  Elder Pitchforth suggested we make an appointment some time to discuss with his friend.  Isac nodded and snatched up the phone, dialed it, talked in Twi for a while and then hung up.
"Alright Elders, he wants to meet with us."
Cool, when?
"Right now."
Whoa.  What a missionary.  We swung by and taught a Restoration to Isac's friend and wham, before we knew it, he had a baptismal date set up.  Oh, okay.  Isac is awesome.
As far as our investigators went, we didn't have the most productive week.  We couldn't meet with the Stroobonts, but they came to church.  We couldn't get contact with William either--although we tried almost every day.  Oops.  Next week will be better.
We went to the Genk branch as well.  I've travelled a lot this week.  It took us an hour to get there but man, is it a cool branch.  Really small, but very missionary focused.  Also, I met Paul!  You remember Paul?  He's staying here for the month with a member.  He's trying to get his Visa right now, but it's difficult.  Paul is super awesome.  A child had a magic kit at church, with one of those fake thumbs you stick sneaky stuff into.  Paul tried it on but it wasn't the correct hue for him.  Fun times.
We received an Internet referral as well and met Jean, who lives near the church in Genk.  He's writing a couple books!  One is about God and apparently, he wants to learn what we believe to help him write it.  Hmm. We'll see what happens.  Anyway, I've got a +1 with him because I write books too!
Well, I gotta split like...a...something that splits.
Thanks for the letters and Christmas Love!
Tot volgende jaar,
Elder Burgess

Christmas Cheer

Ooo," says Elder Mower.

Tis the season to be trunky.  Oops, was that out loud?

I can't really remember what happened this week.  Besides the huge amount of Christmas cheer floating all about, this was a pretty average week I suppose.  Our numbers were pretty high, not meaning to boast.  Of course, numbers aren't even close to everything.

Family Stroobonts are simply awesome.  They're getting wet (baptized) for sure.  The ward loves them. Carla Stroobonts is one dang good cook and always feeds us delicious food.  This week, she kept busy trying to replicate delicious (evidently North American) banana bread.  Mmm.

They have some new system for this email, and it's kind of tripping me out.

Anyway, we swung by their house and to our surprise--though they had told us earlier--there were six whole children running about.  Broeder Stroobont's children from his previous marriage were there visiting.  

Thank goodness we planned a fun lesson and were able to keep all the children for the most part entertained.  We folded origami and when I whipped out that little dragon I can make, er'body was blown away.  T'was fun.

We went over to William's as well and tried to have a fun lesson for the children, but it turned out the lesson just going too long.  A bit unfortunate, but he's doing awesome.  I asked how much of the Book of Mormon he had read and he snatched mine up to see.  After shuffling around, he opened to the page.  "Here," said he, "I am here.  Yes, I know it's not far.  I must read more."  I looked: 1 Nephi 22.  Dang.  That's more than people have read their entire investigation process.  William is already growing a testimony.  He feels it and knows it's good.  Unfortunately, they didn't come to the Christmas service.  We have yet to find out why.

Also, we were chilling on a bus and I spotted this guy way at the back.  There was something about him and I wanted to talk to him, but...he was way at the back.  As we were riding, however, he came up to us and said, "Elders.  I am...Melchizedek."  The Melchizedek?  Turns out he's a member from Mongolia.  He came here about two months ago, and had looked for the Church but hadn't been able to find it. Until he met us.  He came to the Christmas party.  Thankfully he speaks Russian as well as Mongolian and we've got about 9 Russian-speaking members (including children).  The guy only speaks a handful of English and even less Dutch.  I wish I could tell you his name but...it's really forgetful and Mongolian.  His conversion story is pretty cool too.  When he was younger, he was getting into drinking and stuff.  One day, his father, who was a member, came by with the missionaries and inviting him to church.  From that point on, he went to church and changed his life for the better.  He says he's going to come to church every week too.  Neat.

I can't really think of much else to say.  It's good to hear about Family Storm.  I still pray for them.  Thanks for the presents too!  Mmm, salted goods and hot chocolate.  Yesterday evening, Elder Mower slipped into bed and while he was lying there, Santa came by and filled up our stockings.  We got oranges and chocolate milk packages and a plethora of things that were already in the apartment.  We opened them up this morning.  At least Elder Mower got a pair of Canadian socks.  Gee, where did Santa get those?

Anydoodle, see you tomorrow!

Tot volgende keer,

Elder Burgess

**It snowed once.  Or twice.  Otherwise, it rained pretty heavily for the last 3 days.  Holy man, I was really, really wet

                                         What happen to Evan's hair....or lack of.  :)

                                             Christmas Zone Conference  ~ December 19

Well, I had two huge bombshells just hit me

I have the choice to leave later on my mission and my dog was just put down.  Sorry if I don't sound too motivated today.

Despite those two things, this week was a whopper!

I think I'll start it with a wild story.  So one evening, Elder Mower and I were planning and we weren't sure what to do the next day.  We live inside Leuven, but most of our investigators live outside of Leuven--it's not as large as I thought.  So we didn't have anybody to visit for a large chunk of the day.  I suggested then, that we pick a street--one that Elder Mower hasn't visited often--and we go towards that street, contacting along the way.  Good, street chosen, day done.  The next day, we made a game out of contacting and contacted the crap out of Leuven.  We talked to a lot of really great people too.  So here comes the wild part.  We approached the street we had chosen, which was actually on a hill, and then slowed down.  Well, here were are...  We thought about turning around when I spotted a cat.  I did that oh-so-well-known cat whistle, the one where you purse your lips.  I had to explain to Elder Mower that the cat whistle will get any cat to at least look at you.  "And it works for horses too."  Bam, the moment I said it, I spotted a wire horse decoration hanging on a house.  Eerie, right?  Claiming it to be a sign, we went and knocked on that door, with no success.  But we continued on that road--in the opposite direction from home, where we were going to go next.  We went down that street, turned a corner and went down another.  Elder Mower contacted a younger fellow and we had a good chat.  His name is Carlo, who has cool hair and is from Ecuador.  Carlo told us he was going to mix some DJ tunes (sweet, right?) so he was busy that moment, but he'd be chilling with his friends that evening, and we were welcome by.

We then went to Familie Stroobont's and their naked cat for a visit.

Once we were back home, we decided to check out Carlo's house.  To our surprise, four students let us right on in.  Honestly, I was expecting to kind of chill there in the corner while they had some sort of student party.  Nope, right away, they let us in, gave us drinks, sat around the table and said, "Well, what are you two doing here?"  Perfect question.  We shared a super powerful restoration lesson that evening, with these young adults hanging on to every word.  After teaching the story of Joseph Smith's vision, I looked up and saw tears in Carlo's eyes.  He felt it, and he felt it hard.  The two young ladies we met are both religious too, which is increasingly rare in Belgium.  It was a super miraculous day.  We did our best and the Lord rewarded us 3 fold.  Carlo and his guy friend both left for Africa to do humanitarian work yesterday, so we won't be seeing them for a while, but we're going to swing by the other two to say hi.  After we gave them all books, they pretty much invited themselves to read it. I love it when people actually want to read the Book of Mormon.

Which reminds me of two more stories.

First, we went back to William and Vanessa's this week.  (Un)fortunately, she hadn't had time to make us some spicy African food, so we missed out on dinner.  William, I'm happy to report, is doing fantastic.  He is super, super searching right now.  He had read Joseph Smith's experience in the front of the book 3 times over, just...awed I suppose.  He wanted to bring it to work even, but couldn't because he's a mechanic and works around grease all day.  At one point, he held up the Book of Mormon and said, "This...this is my life."  Wow!  He's told us repeatedly he hopes that this is the true church, because he agrees with everything we've told him so far.  It's really only a matter of time before he gets that solid answer.  It probably won't even be too long.

Secondly, we were roaming around again and Elder Mower felt prompted to talk to this guy.  He was walking pretty fast, but nevertheless, we started following him.  I almost wrote stalk.  Anyway, we followed him (unbeknownst to me) for a few streets until he finally paused to do up his hood and we could catch up.  His name is Victor and he's from the Cameroon.  We gave a brief explanation of the BoM and right away he said, "Yeah, I'm interested."  Wham, really?  I mean...sure, cool!  We came by the very next day and again shared a powerful first lesson.  He was really touched too.  We gave him a baptismal invitation--which he agreed to--but no actual date.  He was eager to read the Book of Mormon as well.

Wow, look at all these fantastic people!  The Lord has blessed us generously this week.  Thank you so much for all your prayers!

Unfortunately, Kurt Lust doesn't have a date anymore, but he's still on board to meet and read and everything, so who knows.

The Leuven ward is super awesome.  The bishop is actually an American guy--we go there every Sunday for dinner.  Despite not speaking fluent Dutch, he does very well with his calling.  There are also quite a few English-speaking members here too.  There were about...25-30 people there on Sunday, but from what I understand, the higher end of attendance is about 60.  We also cover a branch called Genk.  We need to get out there soon.

The Stroobont's fit right in with the ward too.  Everybody loves their kids and they get along well with everybody in return.  They've actually been attending church for something like 6 months now, so they're pretty much integrated/fellowshiped.

Well, I don't have too much more time this week, sorry.  I'm glad to see that about...2 questions were answered out of six billion at least.

I'll be Skyping on Tuesday, the 25th.  Probably sometime in the evening here, which means 8-ish there. I tried to get a set call time, but couldn't quite.  I'll let you know for sure next week.  Oh, and it'll be in the living room of another family again, sorry.  I talked with them about it, and they're willing to give more privacy by shooing the children upstairs or something.

Looking forward to it.

Tot volgende keer,

Elder Burgess

 

**I realized I didn't answer any questions about the naked cat.  It really is strange.  Their neighbour actually had this cat, but wasn't taking good care of it.  Naked cats are pretty much just indoor cats.  They'll freeze in the winter and sunburn in the summer.  The neighbour had left it outside in their truck or garage or something, so Sister Stroobont spoke with him about it and the neighbour straight-up gave it to them.  They're expensive to buy too.  Every week, they have to give it a bath or otherwise it'll stink.  As far as I know, naked cats aren't scared of water.  It's a super loving cat though.  It loves to be pet--which feels indescribably strange.  It's like petting a rubber chicken covered in fine peach fuzz.  The cat howls if it's not in the same room too.  If you try to ignore it, it slams its shoulder against the wall.  It's amazing how loud that is too--shakes the entire house.   We couldn't stop laughing after they told us what the banging was coming from the next room.

Anyway, I gotta go.

Oh, also, there's a guy in our ward that reminds me so much of Brett.  Eerie.

I've been trying to get a 4x4x4 Rubik's cube, but they've suddenly disappeared from all the stores.  Just...letting you know.

Bye.