We had such a cool week! We finally got to met with some cool contacts and
make investigators out of them. One, M. Bastiaan, is an old, old Dutch man
who is okay with us teaching him more about Christ. His house is covered
with trophies and pictures of his agricultural achievements. Hilarious. He's
a cool man.
On Wednesday we met with Jeroen, an amazing Dutch guy in his 30's who
lived in the states for a year as a teen and whom my bold companion Zr.
Erickson boldly approached on a bridge while he was drinking a beer and
admiring the sunset. He really admires that we just live our faith and live
to share it. He's always been believing; he remembers as a child biking past
churches and just always having his head in the clouds, feeling that there
was a God. Amazing. He'd done his research - he knew about temple baptism,
that we've no set clergy, a little bit about Joseph Smith, and a few other
random things. He's never found a church he's settled into but he's been to
maaaaaany in his life. We shared the Joseph Smith story and gave him a Book
of Mormon. He's super Dutch so we won't see him till he's had time to read
and ponder (2 weeks.... sigh) but he's such an amazing person. I'm excited
to teach him more.
We also got to meet with Nanda, one of the coolest people of my whole
mission. She's a 54 year old Brazilian married to a Dutch man. She plays
harp, reads voraciously (she'd read through Alma 50 since January when the
elders gave her a copy), and designs and makes kimonos. She just loves what
we do as missionaries and is super super super social and chatty - makes
teaching a little tricky, but she's such a beautiful soul. She was raised in
a Protestant faith in Brazil. God is truly everything for her, and she's
open to the Book fo Mormon, so we'll see what happens!
At interviews with President Brubaker, we had a marvelous time. I
stinking love the Brubakers. We talked a lot as a Zone about where are
desires are in missionary work. I was translating most of the time for
Susannah, an amazing Dutch girl who actually will be serving in this, her
home mission, come September. Her english is okay but not so great,
especially for Church stuff, so I probably missed some stuff in translating
but it was so fun to just be with missionaries. We also brought out Ghana
dresses and changed into them for a couple minutes right before we all left
to show some elders. Sister Brubaker found them hilarious. I think President
Brubaker would have, had the weight of his calling not constrained him to
ask Sister Erickson where she found that and had she actually paid for it?
Apparently the Virgin Mary print was found less than edifying. ;) "I think
we might need to have another interview," he joked. Good times.
Church was so good. Zr Erickson and I both gave talks, and Sairah (a
less active) came for the second time in a row, and so did Roda, a recent
convert who's been struggling lately. It's SO rewarding to see people you're
working with actually coming. Wahoo!
Things are good overall. We had the most amazing street contact with an
agnostic Dutch young mom who said of course we could come over and talk to
her more about God's plan so she can decide if she wants to believe in that
or not. I love missionary work. So much!
And I love you all. Thanks for your support and love. I'm not sure
how much longer this blog thing will last. Soon enough you will all be able
to see me or call anyway. But I thank you for your support and prayers. I
love this gospel with all my heart. Oh! one more thing!!! Irene from
Rotterdam is going to the temple on October 3 to recieve her endowment and I
get to go with her!!!!!!!!!! I am SO excited! It'll be my last time in the
temple in Nederland. What a blessing. I love you all!
Liefs,
Zuster Christa Lou Baxter
Monday, August 31, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
Zwolle continues to be a great place. We had some major successes
meeting inactive women this week. It's a good time for Zwolle to have
sisters. [now don't interpret this wrong - I do not think Elders or Sisters
are better than the other - there are just definitely some shy women in the
church who are more open to sisters. And anders om (the other way around) as
well - some women love elders and couldn't care less for sisters!] So
that's been cool.
On Thursday we had the first full mission conference (with the French
and Dutch side) I've ever experienced. Elder Nelson came. So we got to hear
from him, his wife, the Europe West Area President (Elder Kopischke), and a
Dutch couple whose calling I forget but who are great. It was fun seeing
Soeur Thrasher, the French sister I flew with, as well as old district
members and friends from the Dutch side. It was really fun seeing Zuster
Fowler and Zuster Robbins. The Spirit there was incredible and just helped
me a lot to remember why I'm here and what the possibilities are. I really
like missionary work. It's going to be fun to go tracting with sister
missionaries stateside without a tag... =)
Meske still wants to be baptised. We don't know how that's gonna go down
with the wheel chair situation - it makes it hard for him to come to church.
But a member tapes sacrament meeting and brings it to him. We'll see what
our leaders advise! but it's always cool to teach people who have sincere
desires to change.
We also met the coolest recent converts ever, Familie Knarren. They got
baptised in England while he was there for chiropractice school. They have
the most beautiful 9 month old boy named Hyrum. And.... next Saturday
they're having dinner with us and a friend with whom Zr K wants to share the
gospel. amazing! I love Zwolle.
On the train to Elder Nelson's conference in Rotterdam, I met the coolest
Vietnamese girl who studies in France and and was here in vacation. She was
pleased to practice English and had actually met Elders in France before -
she said she liked going to Christian churches, altho she was buddhist, and
would love to practice her English with american elders. I love the gospel
and I love talking to people on trains. Also, apparently if I ever go to
vietnam, I have an instant travel guide. =) You show people love and it
comes back.
We also had a cool lesson with Roda, a recent convert, and her sister
was over... so hopefully we can start teaching her sister too.
I really can't explain what's happening at this point in my mission. I
absolutely love what I'm doing but I know it's totally boring to you people
at home. Suffice it to say I am thankful for the things I know, and sharing
that joy with others is pretty much what I want to do for the rest of my
life. I love you all. Thank you all for your letters and support. I was so
excited to get the last letter from Abram Skidmore from Korea that I'll get
- another friend home from the mission. And Briana, I got your letter and
head band and I LOVE IT and am currently wearing it and it's awesome. I also
heard Jul Lamb had a baby girl!!! And I don't know if she ever got my letter
back in December / January when she first learned she was pregnant, so if
someone could find her address for me, that'd rock. Thank you all for your
love and support.
Veel liefs,
Zuster Christa Baxter
meeting inactive women this week. It's a good time for Zwolle to have
sisters. [now don't interpret this wrong - I do not think Elders or Sisters
are better than the other - there are just definitely some shy women in the
church who are more open to sisters. And anders om (the other way around) as
well - some women love elders and couldn't care less for sisters!] So
that's been cool.
On Thursday we had the first full mission conference (with the French
and Dutch side) I've ever experienced. Elder Nelson came. So we got to hear
from him, his wife, the Europe West Area President (Elder Kopischke), and a
Dutch couple whose calling I forget but who are great. It was fun seeing
Soeur Thrasher, the French sister I flew with, as well as old district
members and friends from the Dutch side. It was really fun seeing Zuster
Fowler and Zuster Robbins. The Spirit there was incredible and just helped
me a lot to remember why I'm here and what the possibilities are. I really
like missionary work. It's going to be fun to go tracting with sister
missionaries stateside without a tag... =)
Meske still wants to be baptised. We don't know how that's gonna go down
with the wheel chair situation - it makes it hard for him to come to church.
But a member tapes sacrament meeting and brings it to him. We'll see what
our leaders advise! but it's always cool to teach people who have sincere
desires to change.
We also met the coolest recent converts ever, Familie Knarren. They got
baptised in England while he was there for chiropractice school. They have
the most beautiful 9 month old boy named Hyrum. And.... next Saturday
they're having dinner with us and a friend with whom Zr K wants to share the
gospel. amazing! I love Zwolle.
On the train to Elder Nelson's conference in Rotterdam, I met the coolest
Vietnamese girl who studies in France and and was here in vacation. She was
pleased to practice English and had actually met Elders in France before -
she said she liked going to Christian churches, altho she was buddhist, and
would love to practice her English with american elders. I love the gospel
and I love talking to people on trains. Also, apparently if I ever go to
vietnam, I have an instant travel guide. =) You show people love and it
comes back.
We also had a cool lesson with Roda, a recent convert, and her sister
was over... so hopefully we can start teaching her sister too.
I really can't explain what's happening at this point in my mission. I
absolutely love what I'm doing but I know it's totally boring to you people
at home. Suffice it to say I am thankful for the things I know, and sharing
that joy with others is pretty much what I want to do for the rest of my
life. I love you all. Thank you all for your letters and support. I was so
excited to get the last letter from Abram Skidmore from Korea that I'll get
- another friend home from the mission. And Briana, I got your letter and
head band and I LOVE IT and am currently wearing it and it's awesome. I also
heard Jul Lamb had a baby girl!!! And I don't know if she ever got my letter
back in December / January when she first learned she was pregnant, so if
someone could find her address for me, that'd rock. Thank you all for your
love and support.
Veel liefs,
Zuster Christa Baxter
Monday, August 10, 2009
Happy Sunday
Hallo! So now I'm no longer hailing from Haarlem... as of Wednesday, Zwolle,
a tiny town north of Apeldoorn (which is north of Den Haag.... or the
Hague.... the basically in north Holland), is my new area. It's just a
smidgeon smaller than Haarlem. I was pretty heartbroken to leave Haarlem,
but it would've been pushing it to stay till the end (that'd be 9 months
straight). Saying goodbye to Azelea and Ade and Catherine was hard, but they
are so excited to see Elder Nelson this Thursday speak in Rotterdam, and
seeing how Ade especially has come to love the Book of Mormon and Joseph
Smith was a wonderful note to leave on. She knows where the LDS church is in
her town in Ethiopia and said she's definitely going to look it up when she
goes home at the beginning of September. !!! I love those people SO MUCH.
It was also kind of a bummer leavign Emerlien and Tom, two of the
coolest member referrals ever. They'd read Alma 40-42 and had questions
about what happens to people who die without accepting Christ. Since they've
been to the Den Haag temple open house and LOVED it, we very tentatively got
into Plan of Salvation and Temple Work stuff. It was SO COOL! As they read
about the celestial kindgom and related it to the celestial room, it was
amazing to see how much of an impact the Spirit of the temple had had on
them. Tom especially said he felt like he was home, and felt such a peace
there, so much like how he imagined heaven would be like, so much like the
presence of God was there. Well.... =) They'll get there. They only meet
with us once every 2 weeks, but it'll come! When I told them that was the
last time I'd see them, they were very kindly disappointed - Tom asked if he
could give me a hug goodbye. If I weren't a zuster missionary! =) They are
two of the kindest, nicest, best people I've ever met on my mission.
Zwolle is pretty cool. I'm now serving with Zr Erickson, one of my
favorite people ever! She's on her 7th transfer and trained twice in a row
like me so I thought we'd never be comps. But we are and it's great! We've
also got Zr Hamblin with us, a wonderful person from Roosevelt Utah on her
2nd transfer. Last transfer Zr Erickson trained Zr Hamblin and whitewashed
this area, so it's been pretty crazy starting over in a lot of ways. But the
members are incredible. Ironically enough there are several families in the
branch with an infertility history and adopted or foster children - I do not
find that coincidental and am so excited to get to know these people better
and learn more about their stories. I can't really explain it but I already
feel like I've been here a long time - I know the branch presidents brothers
from other areas I've worked and other friends of other members. Even in the
city there've been small moments of deja vu. I don't know what's in store
but I'm excited.
We've taught some cool people this week, including Meske, a perpetual
investigator of more than 3 years. We watched the Restoration DVD and out of
the blue he said he's taken James advice to heart, and keeps on coming abck
to this church as he studies it out, and wants to get baptised. That's a
little tricky since he's in a wheelchair, and the church building isn't
realy designed for handicaps, and so he doesn't come to church very often.
So we'll see what happens!
I love you all. Thanks for your support and letters. If you want my
mailing address, e-mail my gmail and my mom will get it to you. Have a great
week!
Liefs,
Zuster Christa Baxter
a tiny town north of Apeldoorn (which is north of Den Haag.... or the
Hague.... the basically in north Holland), is my new area. It's just a
smidgeon smaller than Haarlem. I was pretty heartbroken to leave Haarlem,
but it would've been pushing it to stay till the end (that'd be 9 months
straight). Saying goodbye to Azelea and Ade and Catherine was hard, but they
are so excited to see Elder Nelson this Thursday speak in Rotterdam, and
seeing how Ade especially has come to love the Book of Mormon and Joseph
Smith was a wonderful note to leave on. She knows where the LDS church is in
her town in Ethiopia and said she's definitely going to look it up when she
goes home at the beginning of September. !!! I love those people SO MUCH.
It was also kind of a bummer leavign Emerlien and Tom, two of the
coolest member referrals ever. They'd read Alma 40-42 and had questions
about what happens to people who die without accepting Christ. Since they've
been to the Den Haag temple open house and LOVED it, we very tentatively got
into Plan of Salvation and Temple Work stuff. It was SO COOL! As they read
about the celestial kindgom and related it to the celestial room, it was
amazing to see how much of an impact the Spirit of the temple had had on
them. Tom especially said he felt like he was home, and felt such a peace
there, so much like how he imagined heaven would be like, so much like the
presence of God was there. Well.... =) They'll get there. They only meet
with us once every 2 weeks, but it'll come! When I told them that was the
last time I'd see them, they were very kindly disappointed - Tom asked if he
could give me a hug goodbye. If I weren't a zuster missionary! =) They are
two of the kindest, nicest, best people I've ever met on my mission.
Zwolle is pretty cool. I'm now serving with Zr Erickson, one of my
favorite people ever! She's on her 7th transfer and trained twice in a row
like me so I thought we'd never be comps. But we are and it's great! We've
also got Zr Hamblin with us, a wonderful person from Roosevelt Utah on her
2nd transfer. Last transfer Zr Erickson trained Zr Hamblin and whitewashed
this area, so it's been pretty crazy starting over in a lot of ways. But the
members are incredible. Ironically enough there are several families in the
branch with an infertility history and adopted or foster children - I do not
find that coincidental and am so excited to get to know these people better
and learn more about their stories. I can't really explain it but I already
feel like I've been here a long time - I know the branch presidents brothers
from other areas I've worked and other friends of other members. Even in the
city there've been small moments of deja vu. I don't know what's in store
but I'm excited.
We've taught some cool people this week, including Meske, a perpetual
investigator of more than 3 years. We watched the Restoration DVD and out of
the blue he said he's taken James advice to heart, and keeps on coming abck
to this church as he studies it out, and wants to get baptised. That's a
little tricky since he's in a wheelchair, and the church building isn't
realy designed for handicaps, and so he doesn't come to church very often.
So we'll see what happens!
I love you all. Thanks for your support and letters. If you want my
mailing address, e-mail my gmail and my mom will get it to you. Have a great
week!
Liefs,
Zuster Christa Baxter
Sunday, August 2, 2009
So on Tuesday we had a crazy cool day. We met Jean Luc, a 19 year old kid from Rwanda (well, born in Ukraine, and Rwandan parents, and grew up in Holland, and speaks Dutch, French, and English.... typical crazy Dutch uber multinational!) who's converted to Islam but seemed more than satisfied with our answers to the questions he likes to stumps Christians with. He mentioned how he loves the palindromes in the Koran and that triggered my English major reflexes so I gave him Alma 36 to read in the Book of Mormon (wahoo for chiasmus! and middle eastern cultural literary styles!) and he's open to talk more. So tonight he and a friend are coming to the church to learn more about the crazy Mormons. Good times.
We also had a great lesson with Emerlien and Tom, the referrals from our bishop. We brought along Zr Reijnders, a convert of more than 40 years who's just amazing. So that helped a lot. They're open, just very busy. =) Due to my lovely and talented and creative companion's visual aids (life is like a maze, and prophets have a walkie talkie to God so they know the route back to him, and there's a gate in the middle requiring a key of authority... and she'd never seen the crazy cheesy 80s seminary video that is eerily akin to her sketch. I love having different comps with cool strengths!), they seemed to really understand more of what the Restoration is all about. It's coming.
We also stopped by a former investigator of a year ago that our bishop felt like we should look up. She welcomed us in - she's an older Dutch woman named Inneke. She has lost several family members and her partner in the last few years, and as we were discussing why she believes in God ( "And not just 'something' like everybody says!" she retorted.... =) ) she mentioned those coincidences that can't just be coincidental - like Zr Peets and Zr Force stopping by one day and helping her weed her garden. I love hearing people's reactions and impressions of former missionaries in the area. Inneke was really curious about the Book of Mormon when we shared Alma 7, and asked if she could borrow a copy, and could we explain more of what exactly it is we believe? Next Week? Yes maam! So we'll see her on Tuesday.
On Wednesday we had interviews with our new mission president. He is a wonderful, wonderful man, and his wife is just amazing. So it was great getting to know them both better and talking about the work.
Azelea and Ade are doing pretty good. Ade's now gotten hooked on the Book of Mormon as well - "Ether 12 was great! Exactly what we needed about faith, and examples of faith. Do you have another chapter we could read together?" So our visits are pretty much the Book of Mormon book club. Sweet! Azelea still can't come to church because of work. But Elder Nelson is coming to Utrecht in August and they are very curious and want to come to that! So things are good.
We had a CRAZY miracle this week. Tuesday we got a call from an unknown number that left no message, so I called back only to have a very awkward conversation with a very unenthusiastic young man speaking english who wanted to know more about what we share about Christ. When I asked when we'd talked to him and tried to explain I couldn't remember him by just his name b/c we talk to so many people, he seemed slightly weirded out, but then he still wanted to just make an appointment and be done with it. A few minutes later he texted to say, "Sorry I sounded so weird on the phone. My neighbors can hear me and I can hear them so I don't feel very comfortable talking. But I've just been sad and empty feeling lately and want to have more of Jesus Christ in my life so I can finalyl get some peace of mind. Can we just meet at your church where I'd feel more comfortable?" So we met him on Thursday night, waiting inf ront of the church building with Tirza, our joint teach, having no idea who would show up... And then we see Daniel, a guy from Sweden in his 20s we'd met more almost 3 weeks ago. We knocked on his door and had not the most spectacular contact ever and just gave him a card with our number... and that's how he called us. I was so surprised that it was him. You really never know. He's a crazy story - half Jordanian, half Italian, raised in Sweden (speaks Swedish and a little Arabic and really good English, but no Dutch) - raised Muslim but later converted to Christianity as a yougn adult because of the peace and happiness he saw in so many Christians - moved to Holland for work but will probably be moving back to Stockholm soon. He just wants to know more about Jesus Christ and have peace in his life again. He's super shy - didn't want to come to church, almost didn't come to out appointment - but he recognizes the Spirit, and is willing to meet with us. Honestly if he moved back to Sweden it'd be better for him because then he could get to know church members and missionaries who speak the same language he does - but I'm not complaining. You never ever ever know who's needing the gospel. "It's really weird - I mean, people have knocked on my door before. But lately I'd just been thinking about finding a church, and getting more involved, and then you come on my door... I mean, do you believe in coincidences?" No. =)
On Friday my comp had to go to Brussels for legality, but there were other sisters who also had to go, so I ended up working with their comps in Den Haag. So I got to work with my lovely Zr. Fowler again and with Zr Bennet, who I knew at BYU and have always wanted to work with. We find otu about transfers next Mondat and apparently everyone thinks I'm going to Den Haag. I'm not too worried about it - I'd be happy staying and happy going, and I know whatever the Lord decides will be best. But it'd be cool to work in a city one more time. And it would be amazing to work with Zr. Bennet! We had a great day and lots of cool appointments.
At interviews President Brubaker asked me if Haarlem would be a good city for a mini-missionary.... so as of Sunday, we are now working with the lovely Zr Poulaert, a 16 year old from Spijkinesse (a southern suburb of Rotterdam). She's hilarious, VERY spunky, and not at all afraid to share her testimony. The past 24 hours have been very, very fun. And she's amazing for our Dutch. She'll be with us for 2 weeks!
Magalie did decide to go on vacation for two months, so we'll miss her, but hopefully be able to help her more when she comes home... And soon a few other people will be coming back from vacation that we can teach more. So the work goes on! I love you all and miss you but I'm happy here and I love Haarlem. Have a great week!
Veel leifs,
Zr Christa Baxter
We also had a great lesson with Emerlien and Tom, the referrals from our bishop. We brought along Zr Reijnders, a convert of more than 40 years who's just amazing. So that helped a lot. They're open, just very busy. =) Due to my lovely and talented and creative companion's visual aids (life is like a maze, and prophets have a walkie talkie to God so they know the route back to him, and there's a gate in the middle requiring a key of authority... and she'd never seen the crazy cheesy 80s seminary video that is eerily akin to her sketch. I love having different comps with cool strengths!), they seemed to really understand more of what the Restoration is all about. It's coming.
We also stopped by a former investigator of a year ago that our bishop felt like we should look up. She welcomed us in - she's an older Dutch woman named Inneke. She has lost several family members and her partner in the last few years, and as we were discussing why she believes in God ( "And not just 'something' like everybody says!" she retorted.... =) ) she mentioned those coincidences that can't just be coincidental - like Zr Peets and Zr Force stopping by one day and helping her weed her garden. I love hearing people's reactions and impressions of former missionaries in the area. Inneke was really curious about the Book of Mormon when we shared Alma 7, and asked if she could borrow a copy, and could we explain more of what exactly it is we believe? Next Week? Yes maam! So we'll see her on Tuesday.
On Wednesday we had interviews with our new mission president. He is a wonderful, wonderful man, and his wife is just amazing. So it was great getting to know them both better and talking about the work.
Azelea and Ade are doing pretty good. Ade's now gotten hooked on the Book of Mormon as well - "Ether 12 was great! Exactly what we needed about faith, and examples of faith. Do you have another chapter we could read together?" So our visits are pretty much the Book of Mormon book club. Sweet! Azelea still can't come to church because of work. But Elder Nelson is coming to Utrecht in August and they are very curious and want to come to that! So things are good.
We had a CRAZY miracle this week. Tuesday we got a call from an unknown number that left no message, so I called back only to have a very awkward conversation with a very unenthusiastic young man speaking english who wanted to know more about what we share about Christ. When I asked when we'd talked to him and tried to explain I couldn't remember him by just his name b/c we talk to so many people, he seemed slightly weirded out, but then he still wanted to just make an appointment and be done with it. A few minutes later he texted to say, "Sorry I sounded so weird on the phone. My neighbors can hear me and I can hear them so I don't feel very comfortable talking. But I've just been sad and empty feeling lately and want to have more of Jesus Christ in my life so I can finalyl get some peace of mind. Can we just meet at your church where I'd feel more comfortable?" So we met him on Thursday night, waiting inf ront of the church building with Tirza, our joint teach, having no idea who would show up... And then we see Daniel, a guy from Sweden in his 20s we'd met more almost 3 weeks ago. We knocked on his door and had not the most spectacular contact ever and just gave him a card with our number... and that's how he called us. I was so surprised that it was him. You really never know. He's a crazy story - half Jordanian, half Italian, raised in Sweden (speaks Swedish and a little Arabic and really good English, but no Dutch) - raised Muslim but later converted to Christianity as a yougn adult because of the peace and happiness he saw in so many Christians - moved to Holland for work but will probably be moving back to Stockholm soon. He just wants to know more about Jesus Christ and have peace in his life again. He's super shy - didn't want to come to church, almost didn't come to out appointment - but he recognizes the Spirit, and is willing to meet with us. Honestly if he moved back to Sweden it'd be better for him because then he could get to know church members and missionaries who speak the same language he does - but I'm not complaining. You never ever ever know who's needing the gospel. "It's really weird - I mean, people have knocked on my door before. But lately I'd just been thinking about finding a church, and getting more involved, and then you come on my door... I mean, do you believe in coincidences?" No. =)
On Friday my comp had to go to Brussels for legality, but there were other sisters who also had to go, so I ended up working with their comps in Den Haag. So I got to work with my lovely Zr. Fowler again and with Zr Bennet, who I knew at BYU and have always wanted to work with. We find otu about transfers next Mondat and apparently everyone thinks I'm going to Den Haag. I'm not too worried about it - I'd be happy staying and happy going, and I know whatever the Lord decides will be best. But it'd be cool to work in a city one more time. And it would be amazing to work with Zr. Bennet! We had a great day and lots of cool appointments.
At interviews President Brubaker asked me if Haarlem would be a good city for a mini-missionary.... so as of Sunday, we are now working with the lovely Zr Poulaert, a 16 year old from Spijkinesse (a southern suburb of Rotterdam). She's hilarious, VERY spunky, and not at all afraid to share her testimony. The past 24 hours have been very, very fun. And she's amazing for our Dutch. She'll be with us for 2 weeks!
Magalie did decide to go on vacation for two months, so we'll miss her, but hopefully be able to help her more when she comes home... And soon a few other people will be coming back from vacation that we can teach more. So the work goes on! I love you all and miss you but I'm happy here and I love Haarlem. Have a great week!
Veel leifs,
Zr Christa Baxter
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Another busy fun week! We had exchanges this week in Amsterdam - all the sisters from the mission went there for the day, and we blitzed the city (the district leaders and their comps from the Den Haag zone also came - it was a fun day). It was a pretty short exchange - mostly just an afternoon together, due to travelling time for the companionships that live far away - but still really awesome. I got to work with Zr Hamblin, who's from Utah and has been here only one transfer. She's an incredibly positive person and going finding in the centrum of Amsterdam was definitely a change for her - she's been in a tiny town in north Holland so far. =) I absolutely love contacting on busy city streets. We had a super awesome conversation with a Surinamer young mom about the plan of salvation and stuff, and found a new investigator for the A'Dam sisters when we stopped a Dutch lady named Truce on the street and talked more about God's plan for us. Then we met an Armanian Orthodox guy in his 20's who was not up for a return appointment but definitely curious about the Book of Mormon and gladly took one.
> The best part was that the A'Dam sisters sent me to go teach Didi, the Bulgarian woman sister Fowler and I found here in Haarlem who's temporarily living in A'Dam. It was so great to see her again!!! We had a wonderful lesson on the Plan of Salvation - she had a lot of questions about the fall, so we worked that out via 2 Nephi 2. That is one of my favorite chapters ever. It was so so so cool to see Did again. I hope I stay in Haarlem so I can continue teaching her when she moves back in a month or so.
> We found some new investigators in the form of gracious older Dutch women who probably just find us cute American girls who like talking about God - but it's always fun to share what you can with who you can. We also were ending a consecrated hour of finding when a mailman on his bike stopped (he'd ridden by as we were praying) and said he had something for us. He pulled out his wallet and gave us both a printed piece of paper with a scripture from Lucas on it about accepting Christ into your heart and being saved. We traded numbers and I am so excited to see him when we can make more contact and set up an appointment. His name was Sebastian. I love being in the right place at the right time - God is good.
> We had such a cool miracle at church this week. We were initially pretty bummed because Magalie wasn't feeling well and didn't come, and Ade and Catherine (Azelea's mother and daughter) didn't make it either, and Engelien is now in Amsterdam on the weekends. Then 5 minutes into Relief Society, Sjaak tapped on the door to say there was someone there for the missionaries. We went to the foyer to see a young women I'd never met. Turns out it was [well, I'll call her] Sarah, who's been inactive and who is an old acquaintance of Fabio, the Columbian dad we started teaching. I'd given a note to Sarah's father to give her, saying we'd begun teaching Fabio and would she ever like to come along on joint teach? She misinterpreted it to mean that Fabio would be at church, so she came to see him... unfortunately he's now in Columbia on vacation until August. I explained the mix up and invited her to come to Relief Society anyway - she tentatively accepted it. When she walked in that door, the sisters of the ward were so excited to see her again! As I was conducting the closing hymn ("Love at Home") she started tearing up a little bit. After the closing prayer she was literally thronged by older women who were SO excited to see her in church again. She came to Sunday School with the young single adults, and I wanted to get her number after sacrament meeting, but 30 minutes after church was over people were still talking with her enthusiastically. It was amazing to see her so well received and with so much love. Wijk Haarlem has a lot of love and I adore working with these people. So it's fun to see how the Lord could use my bad Dutch to help someone come back to church. She was so friendly and I'm excited to get to know her better.
> My lovely companion Zr Robbins pretty rocked the ward's socks off by playing an incredible rendition of A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief on her violin in Sacrament Meeting. She hadn't realized that last Sunday in correlation she'd agreed to play until I asked her on Tuesday what she was going to perform. Oh, language barriers! =) But she was more than equal to the task and made lots of old Dutch people cry. Good times. I love training!
> And things are going pretty great with Magalie. We taught her at Stella's, the Nigerian member, and later this week with Frank and Linda at his house - they're two young single adults in the ward who just got engaged. Magalie wants to get baptized and we set a date, but! She might go on vacation for TWO MONTHS in New York! Ah! Ridiculous! So.... maybe she'll get baptized on September 12th, and maybe not until October or November. But she's so open to the spirit and really has had her prayers answered about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon; it's clear Heavenly Father has a plan for her.
> Things are going well overall. We're halfway through the transfer. I still love Haarlem. And I love all of you. Thanks for your prayers and good thoughts - they mean the world.
>
> Veel Liefs,
>
> Zr. Baxter
> The best part was that the A'Dam sisters sent me to go teach Didi, the Bulgarian woman sister Fowler and I found here in Haarlem who's temporarily living in A'Dam. It was so great to see her again!!! We had a wonderful lesson on the Plan of Salvation - she had a lot of questions about the fall, so we worked that out via 2 Nephi 2. That is one of my favorite chapters ever. It was so so so cool to see Did again. I hope I stay in Haarlem so I can continue teaching her when she moves back in a month or so.
> We found some new investigators in the form of gracious older Dutch women who probably just find us cute American girls who like talking about God - but it's always fun to share what you can with who you can. We also were ending a consecrated hour of finding when a mailman on his bike stopped (he'd ridden by as we were praying) and said he had something for us. He pulled out his wallet and gave us both a printed piece of paper with a scripture from Lucas on it about accepting Christ into your heart and being saved. We traded numbers and I am so excited to see him when we can make more contact and set up an appointment. His name was Sebastian. I love being in the right place at the right time - God is good.
> We had such a cool miracle at church this week. We were initially pretty bummed because Magalie wasn't feeling well and didn't come, and Ade and Catherine (Azelea's mother and daughter) didn't make it either, and Engelien is now in Amsterdam on the weekends. Then 5 minutes into Relief Society, Sjaak tapped on the door to say there was someone there for the missionaries. We went to the foyer to see a young women I'd never met. Turns out it was [well, I'll call her] Sarah, who's been inactive and who is an old acquaintance of Fabio, the Columbian dad we started teaching. I'd given a note to Sarah's father to give her, saying we'd begun teaching Fabio and would she ever like to come along on joint teach? She misinterpreted it to mean that Fabio would be at church, so she came to see him... unfortunately he's now in Columbia on vacation until August. I explained the mix up and invited her to come to Relief Society anyway - she tentatively accepted it. When she walked in that door, the sisters of the ward were so excited to see her again! As I was conducting the closing hymn ("Love at Home") she started tearing up a little bit. After the closing prayer she was literally thronged by older women who were SO excited to see her in church again. She came to Sunday School with the young single adults, and I wanted to get her number after sacrament meeting, but 30 minutes after church was over people were still talking with her enthusiastically. It was amazing to see her so well received and with so much love. Wijk Haarlem has a lot of love and I adore working with these people. So it's fun to see how the Lord could use my bad Dutch to help someone come back to church. She was so friendly and I'm excited to get to know her better.
> My lovely companion Zr Robbins pretty rocked the ward's socks off by playing an incredible rendition of A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief on her violin in Sacrament Meeting. She hadn't realized that last Sunday in correlation she'd agreed to play until I asked her on Tuesday what she was going to perform. Oh, language barriers! =) But she was more than equal to the task and made lots of old Dutch people cry. Good times. I love training!
> And things are going pretty great with Magalie. We taught her at Stella's, the Nigerian member, and later this week with Frank and Linda at his house - they're two young single adults in the ward who just got engaged. Magalie wants to get baptized and we set a date, but! She might go on vacation for TWO MONTHS in New York! Ah! Ridiculous! So.... maybe she'll get baptized on September 12th, and maybe not until October or November. But she's so open to the spirit and really has had her prayers answered about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon; it's clear Heavenly Father has a plan for her.
> Things are going well overall. We're halfway through the transfer. I still love Haarlem. And I love all of you. Thanks for your prayers and good thoughts - they mean the world.
>
> Veel Liefs,
>
> Zr. Baxter
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Crazy busy blessed week! Since the wondermous Zr Robbins came, we've been so
crazy blessed with new investigators who actually hold their appointments
and are progressing. Fabio is a young father from Columbia who used to be
friends with a member here and is totally open to learn more about what we
believe in - he's now on vacation, but in the closing prayer of our lesson
with him he called us Hermana Baxter and Hermana Robbins - it made me think
of Alisa being on a mission in Bolivia! I love my family!
We stopped by Reina and she was home! She's the mom of an old
investigator who we miraculously met on the bus Zr Robbins first day. Our
appointment with here earlier had fallen thru, but she warmly invited us is
and we had a wonderful lesson about the plan of salvation - she has lots of
questions about what will happen after death so we're going to see her again
tomorrow. What a blessing! She's so open and warm and great - she grew up in
an Atheist family but learned to pray through her childhood best friend's
family and just always felt there was a God. What a wonderful woman.
Mevr. van Kampen is this crazy Dutch lady in her 60s who was totally
open and ready for the Restoration. There are members in her area who are
completely willing to let us teach her in their home if we can arrange it.
Haarlem is such a blessed place.
Patricia is hilarious - 26 year old avowed atheist who does, after all,
believe in something after death since she believes in Spirits... she
laughed through out like our entire lesson - I love watching how people
handle the Spirit, especially when they're not used to it. Her house is
covered in Disney memorabilia and she's not willing to pray but is willing
to hear more about the plan of salvation. We'll see!
Emerlien and Tom, referrals from Bisschop who went on vacation FOREVER
are back and we finally had another appointment with them! They are so
curious about what we believe in - they took notes of the Word of Wisdom and
Tom is just great - he's all "I can't just believe there's another prophet
today - that's a big deal!" So we explained the Book of Mormon's role
(they'd already read some - halleluja for genuinely interested people!) and
committed them to reading the REsotration pamphlet so we can talk about it
next time. Miracle. We already have members to come to their appointment
next week.
As far as old friends we're teaching, Magalie (21 from the Congo) met
with us again at Stella's (from Nigeria - they love each other) and said she
got a wonderful feeling of warmth and safety when she prayed to know if
Joseph Smith is a prophet. Engelien is still working on quitting smoking but
the former temple president and matron here in Haarlem are starting an LDS
Family Services addiction recovery group and Engelien was able to go - I
love love love Haalrem. They are a small group but they take care of each
other and our investigators.
This week was also CRAZY busy with trips. On Tuesday we went to
Amsterdam with a short conference to meet President and Sister Brubaker, our
new mish pres and his wife. They are both incredible. Of course. =) It was
fun seeing everybody in the zone and E. De Mass ( my MTC teaching comp who's
now AP) and Zr Fowler and Miller and etc.
On Thursday we had to go to Den Haag and stay the night with the
sisters there so we could catch a 6:23 AM train to Brussels the next day to
attend a Leadership Council. It used to be a zone leader council, but my
trainer (the wondermous Nikki Barkume), who'd been teaching PRes Brubaker
Dutch in the MTC, had suggested that he get the sisters more involved in
that sort of thing... so since I'm the oldest on the Dutch side, I got to go
to the mission home with one of the sisters in Brussels while her comp and
Zr Robbins did finding and service for the some members. It was an
incredible day and we learned a lot about being sweetly bold in our teaching
and leadership. They also were determined to kill us with calories - French
pastries, American Hamburgers, Belgian waffles, quiche.... I was very full
that day. Going to Brussels always reminds me how much Holland has become
home. As we were reading 3 Nephi 11 with Pres Brubaker I felt like I was at
FHE at home - I was full, sitting on a very comfortable couch, there was a
father figure reading out of the scriptures, and part of me really just
wanted to take a nap.... ;)
I am happy here in Haarlem. I love Zr Robbins - she's a kindred spirit and
super positive and dedicated. We have a lot of fun! I love the memebrs and
the people we're teaching. Azelea got busy this last week but we've got
appointments with her and her mom and hopefully we can get her mom and
daughter to church even if she has work. I also found out at the Leadership
Council that the elders in Gouda / Cappelle are teaching Anton (my favorite
jealous atheist and someone I know I was supposed to meet on my mission)
again and that Alma, a wonderful Dutch woman we taught there, has a
baptisimal date again! Miracles! I love hearing that old contacts are doing
well.
I love you all and am so thankful for all you do! HEavenly Father really
does take cares of us. Whereever you are, whatever you're doing, live it and
love it in the moment you have.
Veel liefs,
Zr. Baxter
P.S. If anyone from the Lake Charles ward still reads this, know that I love
you all and am sad I won't be coming home to the ward that shaped me and
taught me so much. You are all a wonderful group of people and I truly felt
a sense of Zion there.
crazy blessed with new investigators who actually hold their appointments
and are progressing. Fabio is a young father from Columbia who used to be
friends with a member here and is totally open to learn more about what we
believe in - he's now on vacation, but in the closing prayer of our lesson
with him he called us Hermana Baxter and Hermana Robbins - it made me think
of Alisa being on a mission in Bolivia! I love my family!
We stopped by Reina and she was home! She's the mom of an old
investigator who we miraculously met on the bus Zr Robbins first day. Our
appointment with here earlier had fallen thru, but she warmly invited us is
and we had a wonderful lesson about the plan of salvation - she has lots of
questions about what will happen after death so we're going to see her again
tomorrow. What a blessing! She's so open and warm and great - she grew up in
an Atheist family but learned to pray through her childhood best friend's
family and just always felt there was a God. What a wonderful woman.
Mevr. van Kampen is this crazy Dutch lady in her 60s who was totally
open and ready for the Restoration. There are members in her area who are
completely willing to let us teach her in their home if we can arrange it.
Haarlem is such a blessed place.
Patricia is hilarious - 26 year old avowed atheist who does, after all,
believe in something after death since she believes in Spirits... she
laughed through out like our entire lesson - I love watching how people
handle the Spirit, especially when they're not used to it. Her house is
covered in Disney memorabilia and she's not willing to pray but is willing
to hear more about the plan of salvation. We'll see!
Emerlien and Tom, referrals from Bisschop who went on vacation FOREVER
are back and we finally had another appointment with them! They are so
curious about what we believe in - they took notes of the Word of Wisdom and
Tom is just great - he's all "I can't just believe there's another prophet
today - that's a big deal!" So we explained the Book of Mormon's role
(they'd already read some - halleluja for genuinely interested people!) and
committed them to reading the REsotration pamphlet so we can talk about it
next time. Miracle. We already have members to come to their appointment
next week.
As far as old friends we're teaching, Magalie (21 from the Congo) met
with us again at Stella's (from Nigeria - they love each other) and said she
got a wonderful feeling of warmth and safety when she prayed to know if
Joseph Smith is a prophet. Engelien is still working on quitting smoking but
the former temple president and matron here in Haarlem are starting an LDS
Family Services addiction recovery group and Engelien was able to go - I
love love love Haalrem. They are a small group but they take care of each
other and our investigators.
This week was also CRAZY busy with trips. On Tuesday we went to
Amsterdam with a short conference to meet President and Sister Brubaker, our
new mish pres and his wife. They are both incredible. Of course. =) It was
fun seeing everybody in the zone and E. De Mass ( my MTC teaching comp who's
now AP) and Zr Fowler and Miller and etc.
On Thursday we had to go to Den Haag and stay the night with the
sisters there so we could catch a 6:23 AM train to Brussels the next day to
attend a Leadership Council. It used to be a zone leader council, but my
trainer (the wondermous Nikki Barkume), who'd been teaching PRes Brubaker
Dutch in the MTC, had suggested that he get the sisters more involved in
that sort of thing... so since I'm the oldest on the Dutch side, I got to go
to the mission home with one of the sisters in Brussels while her comp and
Zr Robbins did finding and service for the some members. It was an
incredible day and we learned a lot about being sweetly bold in our teaching
and leadership. They also were determined to kill us with calories - French
pastries, American Hamburgers, Belgian waffles, quiche.... I was very full
that day. Going to Brussels always reminds me how much Holland has become
home. As we were reading 3 Nephi 11 with Pres Brubaker I felt like I was at
FHE at home - I was full, sitting on a very comfortable couch, there was a
father figure reading out of the scriptures, and part of me really just
wanted to take a nap.... ;)
I am happy here in Haarlem. I love Zr Robbins - she's a kindred spirit and
super positive and dedicated. We have a lot of fun! I love the memebrs and
the people we're teaching. Azelea got busy this last week but we've got
appointments with her and her mom and hopefully we can get her mom and
daughter to church even if she has work. I also found out at the Leadership
Council that the elders in Gouda / Cappelle are teaching Anton (my favorite
jealous atheist and someone I know I was supposed to meet on my mission)
again and that Alma, a wonderful Dutch woman we taught there, has a
baptisimal date again! Miracles! I love hearing that old contacts are doing
well.
I love you all and am so thankful for all you do! HEavenly Father really
does take cares of us. Whereever you are, whatever you're doing, live it and
love it in the moment you have.
Veel liefs,
Zr. Baxter
P.S. If anyone from the Lake Charles ward still reads this, know that I love
you all and am sad I won't be coming home to the ward that shaped me and
taught me so much. You are all a wonderful group of people and I truly felt
a sense of Zion there.
Monday, June 29, 2009
hello hello!
Hallo iedereen! So this week was pretty crazy but great. Monday was spent
packing up Zr Fowler's stuff and visiting members and saying goodbye (for
her side of things). She is an amaaaaaaaaazing missionary and made such an
impact on people here - it was cool being able to visit people with her and
seeing that. It also made me super grateful to be able to stay in Haarlem.
It's a blessed place.
On Tuesday after district meeting we stayed in Alkmaar and chalked out
the plan of salvation with the elders. I seemed to get sucked into weird
drawn out conversation with old Dutch men, but managed to get a couple phone
numbers from younger people walking by that I talked with, and it helped the
elders get a lot of appointments, so that was pretty cool. I was so stinking
proud of Zr Fowler just talking with people on her own - her Dutch is
amazing. I miss serving with her, but she's in the right spot.
That afternoon back in Haarlem, we were tracting and had kind of a
weird experience - the street we'd prayed about turned out to be a shopping
area, and not a particularly busy one at that - pretty much no one to talk
to. We ended up going to a street nearby to try and contact someone who'd
left a somewhat-indecipherable message on our phone who said he lived
nearby, but he also was impossible to find. We ended up knocking doors on
that street. Zr Fowler at one point said [in Dutch], "Heavenly Father, I
just want to find one more person on my last day in Haarlem..." While we
were waitng to see if someone would come to the door, the Spirit said, "Just
go on to the next one." We walked back out to the street to see an African
man walking towards us. We stopped him, and when he realized who we are, he
said, "I have your black book." We whipped out the Book of Mormon, and he
confirmed it was the same one. "I got it from two friends of mine from your
organization - I don't have time today but I have many questions I want to
ask you about it." Turns out he lives in Amsterdam, right in the same part
of the city where the sisters there live. He also is usually only in Haarlem
on Mondays and Wednesdays for work, but coincidentally got called in that
day (a Tuesday), so it was totally chance (or not, as the case usually is
when you have a nametag and a mid-calf length skirt) that we met him when we
did. It was such a cool miracle and a neat confirmation that Zr Fowler is
going where she needs to. So now that she's in A'Dam she'll be able to look
him up. Sweet!
Later we visited Didi, the woman who'd met with Elders in Bulgaria when
she was a teen. She was thrilled (!!) at the idea of meeting with Zr Fowler
and Zr Miller in A'Dam when she moves there for 6 weeks. We have another
appointment with her this week, and then she'll move there next week. As we
answered her questions about the Book of Mormon, we had her read the last
two paragraphs of the intro. "That makes sense," she said.'"I'm going to do
that." "
"You mean read and pray about it?" I asked her.
"Yes!" she said. Unfortunately she still didn't make it to church on Sunday,
but I'm so excited to meet with her again tonight. The Lord has a plan for
her.
So I got Zr Robbins, my lovely new companion, in Den Haag on Wednesday.
She's a violen performance major from BYU (who got to bring her instrument
with her - sweet muffins!) and pretty much amazing. I'm much more chill this
time around with training - partly because I feel like I actually have an
idea of what's going on, and partly because she's super funny, down to
earth, and pretty comfortable. Despite the normal barriers of only 2 months
of MTC Dutch, she's not at all afraid to open her mouth and talk to people,
which is awesome. We have a pretty fun time together, and life is good.
On wednesday as we were taking the bus back to the station to buy her a bike
(after we dropped off luggage at our flat) we started talking to a woman and
had a super cool conversation. She was totally open to having us come over
and talk more about God's plan - when she gave us her address I told her we
were teaching someone else in her neighborhood. When she got our card and
saw Mormon on it, she said she thinks her daughter, who lives during the
week in A'Dam and on the weekends with her in Haarlem, is also meeting with
us. Turns out she's totally the mom of Sherida, a girl we've taught about
twice. Miracle!!! So we're going to visit Reina, the mom, tomorrow. So
positive.
We've had a few other really cool finding experiences. Azelea is
getting closer to being completely done with smoking. Our other
investigators are really struggling with the commandments, tho. Please keep
them in your prayers.
I got asked on Thursday to give a talk on Sunday. I can't tell you how
cool it is to be able to give a talk in Dutch without having to read it off
the paper word for word. I loooooove being able to really talk to people -
it'll never be perfect, but it's enough. The gift of tongues is totally real
and amazing. I really love Haarlem... the ward is just amazing.
And I love you people! Have a great week and know that the Lord really
is there to help.
Veel liefs,
Zr Christa Baxter
packing up Zr Fowler's stuff and visiting members and saying goodbye (for
her side of things). She is an amaaaaaaaaazing missionary and made such an
impact on people here - it was cool being able to visit people with her and
seeing that. It also made me super grateful to be able to stay in Haarlem.
It's a blessed place.
On Tuesday after district meeting we stayed in Alkmaar and chalked out
the plan of salvation with the elders. I seemed to get sucked into weird
drawn out conversation with old Dutch men, but managed to get a couple phone
numbers from younger people walking by that I talked with, and it helped the
elders get a lot of appointments, so that was pretty cool. I was so stinking
proud of Zr Fowler just talking with people on her own - her Dutch is
amazing. I miss serving with her, but she's in the right spot.
That afternoon back in Haarlem, we were tracting and had kind of a
weird experience - the street we'd prayed about turned out to be a shopping
area, and not a particularly busy one at that - pretty much no one to talk
to. We ended up going to a street nearby to try and contact someone who'd
left a somewhat-indecipherable message on our phone who said he lived
nearby, but he also was impossible to find. We ended up knocking doors on
that street. Zr Fowler at one point said [in Dutch], "Heavenly Father, I
just want to find one more person on my last day in Haarlem..." While we
were waitng to see if someone would come to the door, the Spirit said, "Just
go on to the next one." We walked back out to the street to see an African
man walking towards us. We stopped him, and when he realized who we are, he
said, "I have your black book." We whipped out the Book of Mormon, and he
confirmed it was the same one. "I got it from two friends of mine from your
organization - I don't have time today but I have many questions I want to
ask you about it." Turns out he lives in Amsterdam, right in the same part
of the city where the sisters there live. He also is usually only in Haarlem
on Mondays and Wednesdays for work, but coincidentally got called in that
day (a Tuesday), so it was totally chance (or not, as the case usually is
when you have a nametag and a mid-calf length skirt) that we met him when we
did. It was such a cool miracle and a neat confirmation that Zr Fowler is
going where she needs to. So now that she's in A'Dam she'll be able to look
him up. Sweet!
Later we visited Didi, the woman who'd met with Elders in Bulgaria when
she was a teen. She was thrilled (!!) at the idea of meeting with Zr Fowler
and Zr Miller in A'Dam when she moves there for 6 weeks. We have another
appointment with her this week, and then she'll move there next week. As we
answered her questions about the Book of Mormon, we had her read the last
two paragraphs of the intro. "That makes sense," she said.'"I'm going to do
that." "
"You mean read and pray about it?" I asked her.
"Yes!" she said. Unfortunately she still didn't make it to church on Sunday,
but I'm so excited to meet with her again tonight. The Lord has a plan for
her.
So I got Zr Robbins, my lovely new companion, in Den Haag on Wednesday.
She's a violen performance major from BYU (who got to bring her instrument
with her - sweet muffins!) and pretty much amazing. I'm much more chill this
time around with training - partly because I feel like I actually have an
idea of what's going on, and partly because she's super funny, down to
earth, and pretty comfortable. Despite the normal barriers of only 2 months
of MTC Dutch, she's not at all afraid to open her mouth and talk to people,
which is awesome. We have a pretty fun time together, and life is good.
On wednesday as we were taking the bus back to the station to buy her a bike
(after we dropped off luggage at our flat) we started talking to a woman and
had a super cool conversation. She was totally open to having us come over
and talk more about God's plan - when she gave us her address I told her we
were teaching someone else in her neighborhood. When she got our card and
saw Mormon on it, she said she thinks her daughter, who lives during the
week in A'Dam and on the weekends with her in Haarlem, is also meeting with
us. Turns out she's totally the mom of Sherida, a girl we've taught about
twice. Miracle!!! So we're going to visit Reina, the mom, tomorrow. So
positive.
We've had a few other really cool finding experiences. Azelea is
getting closer to being completely done with smoking. Our other
investigators are really struggling with the commandments, tho. Please keep
them in your prayers.
I got asked on Thursday to give a talk on Sunday. I can't tell you how
cool it is to be able to give a talk in Dutch without having to read it off
the paper word for word. I loooooove being able to really talk to people -
it'll never be perfect, but it's enough. The gift of tongues is totally real
and amazing. I really love Haarlem... the ward is just amazing.
And I love you people! Have a great week and know that the Lord really
is there to help.
Veel liefs,
Zr Christa Baxter
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