Hoi familie and vrienden,
Today was zone PDay so we got to play soccer and volleyball in theRottderam church building, and now I'm e-mailing from Blaak Library, rightin sight of the Willem's Bridge I used to bike over all the time... It's funto be back, even if for only a few hours. =) But things are pretty muchrocking in Gouda. This week we found a lot of new investigators, includingthis amazing family of a Dutch woman named Ilse and her 9 year old son Fabioand 10 year old daughter Manoek. Let's just say that these kids have abetter grasp of Adam and Eve and the Fall than some people I've seenbaptised - and they are hilarious! Ilse let us in, we watched a 6 minute DVDcalled Finding Happiness (I don't know if stateside missionaries ever useit, but if so, you should totally ask them to see it. It's amazing.) andthen talked about the plan. We get to go back next week.
We've just been finding crazy characters during finding. There was aMuslim woman in her 20s who actually let us in out of curiosity, though hersister was so devout and suspicious of us we really didn't get to explainmuch of what made us different from other churches. About 10 minutes laterwe met Joris, definitely the most interesting person I've met on my mission.He was slightly stoned at the time, but we prayed with him and he was reallytouched by it - commenting that we had a surety he wished he had. So we gavehim a Plan of Salvation pamphlet, and when we walked by his window (he livedin the ground floor) we saw him reading it at his desk. I also saw guitarsand a book about the Fin de Siecle era (so of course I was super curious).We stopped by the next day - his flat is like a cross between Nick Drake andthe main character from A Beautiful Mind - I've seen anyone with so manycassettes. He had stereolab and U2 and Smiths albums and CDs, a messy arteasil, two acoustic guitars and a piano, and sheet music from Mahler toSchumann. We set up an appointment to talk to him about God and the meaningof life at the church building (decidedly a better sphere). He reminds mesoooo much of my highschool boyfriend, but way more hazed out via drugs.It's amazing how being a missionary totally changes how you see people -because despite his interesting circumstances, Joris is undeniably a son ofGod. So we do what we can and keep on moving forward.
As far as people we've been teaching, Elon accepted the Word ofWisdom and is working on quitting smoking. I learned this week he's halfSurinamse, half Dutch, and his birth parents gave him up at age 2 becausethey were too instable because of drug use. So he was adopted and is nowstudying to do social work. I love people. I love those who make the best oftheir circumstances and just move forward with such positivity. We had anamazing lesson with him and our current bishop (who also is a convert andhad to conquer smoking) and it was so good. Now we just need to get him tochurch on a steady basis.
We also committed Lisette, a 22 year old Dutch girl, to baptism. She isso sensitive to the Spirit and is just awesome.
Right now Gouda is in a bit of a crazy situation - it used to be avery tiny branch, but was recently combined with the majority of the CapelleWard - so instead of a branch being incorporated into a ward, it's about 80people coming to a new (much tinier) building with a new bishop and newleadership in the works. It's all a bit crazy, but our bishop and his wifeare amazing - any woman who says, "Would you like to know when I'm availableto come on joint teach?" is pretty much a major blessing to sistermissionaries. =) And then there's Selina Wilkins. She was the Relief SocietyPresident from the old ward. We met with her to talk about how we can buildup Zion in Gouda, and it was truly inspiring. She has so many incredibleideas and perspectives. Nearly every strong member of the church I know inHolland is a convert - I love these people so much. Selina is such a rockstar member missionary. Furthermore, she told us to come see her Friday andshe'd drive us to visit women in Cappelle to we could get to know membersbetter. We had three incredible visits, one with a recent convert family,one with an inactive member (who's agreed to let us come over and teach herthe missionary lessons again), and one with a woman from Georgia (Russiastyle, not peaches) who's been a member for a few years now. It was amazinghow much a difference it made to have a member with us as we met thesewomen. What a blessing. People like her inspire me to strive to always beclose to the missionaries for the rest of my life.
Um, Saturday night we met Anton, who's pretty much the coolest personI've met on my mission. He used to be a devout Atheist (and yes, many peopleare quite passionate on that point here) but was always fascinated byreligion and met the elders a few years ago. Contact was lost when thesisters transferred in to the area, but Zr. Kriser found him a few weeksago. He is, simply put, jealous of the trust faithful people have. He's readALL the standard works AND Jesus the Christ by Talmage, but has had only afew powerful experiences with prayer. Everything with him is theory - actionis so difficult for him. I've never met someone so carefully compassionate.I really feel like lit theory and objective philosophy prepared me to beable to relate to this man. I'm excited to get to know him better.
Aaaand in other news, I got hit by a moped this week! No worries - itwas a pizza boy at a stop light who didn't look and knicked my bike tire.Both our bikes fell but there was no damage and I stayed on my feet thewhole time. And then we continued biking to our appointment! So thank myprotecting angels. =)
It's super fun working in a threesome, and I love this ward here. Ilove you all too! I've learned through Anton not to take prayer for granted.There is something magical and beautiful and supernal about knowing thatwhen you pray, there is a God who listens. And even answers. I love thisgospel.
Liefs,
Zr. Baxter
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