It hasn't been a very eventful week, at least not in terms of things you people would find interesting, but it's been justgrand in terms of missionary work. So we thought Andre would drop us when a joint teach rather stronglyinvited him to be baptised sooner than he was planning on - we had told thejoint teach that was our plan for the lesson, but he sprung it ratherforcefully on him and rather stole our thunder. Thanks to the inestimableZr. Hoppen (how I adore that woman) at another joint teach, we understoodthat part of why Andre wants to put off his baptism for another 6 months isso he can fully let go of the faith he was raised with - which, in EllenHoppen's words, is to his credit. We also learned that he was orphaned bythe age of 14 with several younger siblings and used to have to work from 7am to 11pm to make ends meet because there wasn't really a welfare system inSurinaam. The more I teach this man the more I'm convinced he's the mostcelestial person I know. So things are still going well there.
We had another fabulous lesson with Sherryl, the young lawstudent who's met missionaries twice before and is pretty sure God keepssending around these people with the black name tags for a reason. She's abrilliant, absolutely lovely person - unfortunately she's also out of townat her mother's with the flu right now, but this week we should get back intouch with her and continue the progressing awesomeness there. And we taughtTamie, the single mom from Sierra Leone, a second lesson. She's coming tochurch on Sunday to see if it's a place she feels at home and where she'dlike to get baptised. So good. Her two year old daughter is super cute, andher Dutch is awesome - but I'm not gonna lie, African French is completelyawesome. I love it.
Aaaaand the recent convert action is nothing short of glorious.Irene's read the whole Book of Mormon and is past Doctrine and Covenantssection 27 by now. Sharlon got the Melchizedek Priesthood and was sustainedin Stake Conference this weekend, and of the 10 recent converts of the pastyear, 9 are still active. Wahoo!
Things just continue to be good here. Fall in Rotterdam is gorgeous -sometimes it's like biking through leaf-carpeted hallways of oranges andyellows. They totally lied when they said it rains in Holland all the time -sometimes tracting outside is just a pure aesthetic treat. Especially whenyou meet cool open Muslim college students who totally want to practicetheir English with you and talk to you about religious norms and standards.I love cities.
In other fun happenings, we dropped by the Aunt of our oldSurinaam companion (Zr. Kabenda, who's now in Amsterdam) to drop off acondolence card for the passing of her brother. She welcomed us in to singand pray for her, and then told us about the little funeral service theyheld for her brother here in Holland since there wasn't room in any flightsto Surinaam to be there in person. She said they (her family) came togetherto pray and read a scripture, but no one had brought a bible... so they usedthe Book of Mormon we left with them! Awesome!!! So that was pretty cool. =)
We also had stake conference this weekend, and it was fun seeing othermissionaries and getting so much practice listened to Dutch. I really dolove these ward members and stake members so, so much. The theme was ALma6:6 which is pretty instructive for all church members. After conferenceNicky, a young wife from Utah who's here with her husband teaching at theAmerican school, came on Joint Teach to an Antilleans man named Ingemar. He basically wants know how to be happy in life and has been looking forspiritual answers, so we taught him the Plan of Salvation and are bringinghim to church next week. When Nicky bore her testimony it was just...awesome. After the appointment she thanked us and said she really feltblessed to be outside of Utah in a place where she could actively be part ofmissionary work. I love love love what we do. And Sunday we had dinner withCharla and Peter, another young couple who I pretty much just want to be.Charla studied film at BYU, got her masters in it in Scotland, and thentaught for a couple years at a fine arts college in Atlanta where herhusband was working. Now they're here with their 6 month old son while he'sstudying business. They're super fun and excited about learning Dutch andall that jazz - just good people and kindred spirits.
We also had transfers!!!!! And nothing's changing. =) I will accompany Zr. Knoelk for her last. transfer. Which means I'll be here for atleast another 3 months since I'll probably take over the city when sheleaves. So that's exciting since I really love these people and my comp.And! I hit my 6 month mark! So I'm 1/3 done with this crazy adventure calleda mission. Absolutely nuts. Like most things in life, the times flies and isso slow at the same time. But it's marvelous! And today we played bball andsoccer with the elders (my team won both times! Not that I'm competetive atall...), which was pretty muc
h hilarious. Missionaries are the funnest /dorkiest people ever. I really do love being here. Sorry this isn't the most exciting letter of all time, but I'm happyhere and I love what I'm doing. I love you people at home so much. Thanksfor your letters and support. Never take the Book of Mormon or a modern dayprophet for granted. And always, always remember that Jesus Christ knowsyou. I really don't know how to emphasize that enough - but when all elsefails and you don't know how to change yourself or take that step tobecoming better, you can turn things over to Him, and then miracles happen.I've seen it time after time here. Have a wonderful week everyone! Liefs, Zuster Baxter
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