we're home

Hello familie and vrienden! Zijn jullie klar for wonderen? [are you readyfor miracles?] I realize the longer I'm here as a missionary, the more thisbecomes the Weekly Conversion Process Log Of Rotterdam, but here's a coolcultural thing almost everyone should find interesting. On last Tuesdaynight, we got to go have Ward Council at the top of an observation tower inRotterdam called the Euromaas. It was an absolutely impeccable view!Unfortunately it just dumped rain on us the whole bike ride over (Zr.Hoppen's lovely British-accented comment was, "Oh, so you've decided tobecome mermaids, have you?") and was pretty stormy at the top, but still, itwas incredible to see the fantabulous view of the bridges we bike overregularly. We ended with hot chocolate in the very nice restaurant in thetower, but had to go home to be back on time before the ward really got tothe council part of the activity - nonetheless it was a really cool evening. The work is going really wonderfully here. Helen got confirmedon Sunday, and she's been sharing the gospel with her friends right andleft. Irene will be baptised on the 27th and we've been teaching both ofthem about temples in anticipation of having them accompany the ward youthon their monthly trip on Octover 2nd. Irene is just a kindred spirit. Shehas one son who's not very religious, and that really pains her as she'smaking this amazing transition in her life. She pulled out a quotation fromKahlil Gibran's The Prophet about how our children our not really our own("You may house their bodies but not their souls..."a really incrediblepassages that I believe President Kimball quoted in an Ensign article.lds.org it.). I pretty much fell in love with that book before my mission,and that sealed the deal - this woman and I will be penpals for the rest ofmy life. Anyway, she's just alight with the joy of the gospel, despite herconcerns over her son. She's such a walking miracle. In the Continuing Chronicles of Zuster Baxter's BookshelflÁmours, we had dinner at Familie Van Drilklouts with Irene the other day,and I encountered a 1864 edition of Milton's Complete Poetical Works. Turnsout Zr. Van Drilklout hails from Hurl, worked in Bedford as a librarian, andmet her Dutch husband (they're the ones who run the windmill) by the LondonTemple. So we gushed about Nibley and Elisabeth Gaskell and London theatreand alles, and it was pretty much the best thing ever. Another really miracle has been the old investigator who poppedout of nowhere named Andre. He's a divorced Surinaamer who was just crushedand destroyed when his wife left him a few years ago. He loved the Book ofMormon but found church difficult because everyone seemed so much happierthan him. This was all months ago. Then out of nowhere he texted us to sayhe was coming to church and has been doing so faithfully for the past threeweeks. We taught him last week, and he wanted to get baptised in a fewmonths. He says he reads the Book of Mormon every day for strength, andreads 2 Nephi 4 when he needs an even bigger boost (which I would highlyrecommend to all of you reading). It is just so neat to see how the Book ofMormon can help people find joy. This book really does bring people to God. Another cool incident was finding the other day. We met a Dutch manin his 60s who said something very typical of Nederlanders ''Ik geloof inmezelf"(I believe in myself - as opposed to believing in God). Then he saidsomething along the lines of - "But as I've grown older, my own strength isgetting smaller / weaker / less." He said he was busy but we could come backlater, so we told him about the Book of Mormon and how it brings spiritualstrength. ''Oh, I checked a book out from the library a few weeks ago and Istill haven't read it through." So we told him even small portions every daywould help. "So you're telling me if I just read small stukjes from thisbook every day and pray about it, I'll become spirituallystronger.""...Yes!" Do you know how cool it was to hear a Dutch personreally get what we were trying to say? So cool! So we're teaching him onMonday. And yesterday was pretty much the best day of my life. We hadzone conference with Elder Peia, our area 70 I believe. The theme ofmissionary work through love just ran through the whole day. I can't expresshow strong the Spirit was or how wonderful it was so I won't try, but I willtell you the unbelievable miracles that happened right after. So we wereriding the metro back to our bikes at Centrale Station, and I really wantedto be able to talk to someone and just share this gospel through love. Sothis Kurdish man sits down next to me and starts talking about his life (inEnglish, which helped). We chatted about his sister in Germany's healthproblems and I asked if I could pray for her. As we're getting of the metro,my comp introduced herself, and he said his name was Salar. Which justhappens to be the name of a referral from headquarters that we'd been tryingto contact but had no phone number for. So the Lord basically sent that manto us. We got his number and will make an appointment with him. Sometimesit's just unbelievable how much this is not in our hands. Oh, and the ward is continuing to love Linda, the American fromArizona who flagged us down from the bikes so she could find out wherechurch is. She was asked to introduce herself in Relief Society on Sunday,and I learned that when she was 13 her mom left the church, and she stayedon for a while but kind of drifted in and out of us. And then a month agowhen she saw us on the bikes, she basically began following us just to findout where church is because she wanted to come back. It was really cool tolearn more of her story, and even cooler to see how much this ward iswelcoming her. Alisa asked in a letter how things are with the elders, because Ihadn't mentioned anything about them, and was that possible a bad sign? Sodespite my fears after hundreds of BYU RMs describing sisters as either "Thebest of worst missionaries" and seeing sometimes less than stellar elder /sister relations stateside, I am happy to say the Elders in my mission arenothing short of phenomenal. Some of them really have become brothers.There's really an amazing unity here between elders and sisters, and Icontinue to be so happy and grateful and amazed at how dedicated andobedient people are. Which isn't to say we aren't 19 - 23 year olds. Liketoday on the bus to the temple when conversation amongs the elders turned tobacterial and fungal infection horror stories. Oh, good times. But yeah,it's good. I love this mission, and I love the missionaries I serve with.Zr. Knoelk is just amazing, and I'm so grateful for how well we get along.As she put it yesterday, when we go finding and tracting with love in ourhearts, it's pretty much like trick or treating with the Spirit. I love you all so much. OH! I need current addresses for MeredithFord, Briana Wright, and Jul Lamb, so if they could e-mail their addressesto my old e-mail (christa.baxter@gmail.com) my mom can check it, forwardthat info on to me, and I can letters to those lovely ladies. The gospel of Jesus Christ changes hearts and therefore changeslives. Thank you all for your support and prayers. And go read Alma 5because it's amazing. Fijnadag ferder! Love, Zuster Baxter