Hoi familie and vrienden!
So another lovely normal week. We did a FHE for the yougn
single adults and an investigator on Monday that went over super well, and
that was pretty awesome. We also finally got Milene (the friend of Frank,
one of the YSAs) to church on Sunday, at least Sacrament Meeting. Wahoo! We
have another appointment with her on Friday, so that will be grand.
On Saturday we had an English lesson with Jay, a Turkish-Nederlands
Muslim man in his 20s. I'm pretty sure he wanted to learn English from us
because he had a crush on my comp, but we gave him some Restoration
pamphlets in Dutch and English to help him learn religion vocab last time,
and this time he had loooots of questions about the Book of Mormon and
modern day prophets. We also had Sjaak, a recent convert waiting on his
mission call, there. Watching Sjaak teach Jay in English was pretty awesome
and rather amusing. It is slightly vindicating to see people also struggling
in a second language, (their English is actually really really good) but
mostly it was just cool seeing Sjaak teach in English. Jay wants to come to
General Conference to hear what it is these modern day prophets and apostles
have to say anyway, so that will be pretty awesome.
We also had exchanges this week, and the lovely Zr Erickson (friend of
none other than Mike Sheflo!) came up from Den Haag. It was super super fun
working with her, and we had a great day of some op straat finding by the
huge church in Haarlem's centrum (I really am coming to love jsut talking to
people on the street - I'm pretty thankful I live in a culture where we can
do finding in ways other than tracting) and had some awesome conversations
with people about God and faith and the Restoration. Plus the weather was
gorgeous,'so that's always a plus. Later we had a hilarious dinner
appointment with one of the young single adults of the ward, and we were
also able to have a wonderful lesson with Azelea. Azelea conceptually
understands the Restoration and how the Book of Mormon ties into Joseph
Smith, but while she finds it very interesting and inspiring, doesn't yet
know if it is true. The fact that the financial crisis has really made
things difficult for her family (her husband is currently back in Greece
looking for a new job) doesn't help. But she's just amazing - she'll get
there eventually. We just need to get her to church!
Marc and Esther are still intellectually interested but not super
excited about coming to church, Kate's English is bad enough that there's no
way we could feasibly set up an appointment with her (much less teach her -
tho we did drop off a POlish BoM with her roommate), and Maria is super busy
with work right now - but overall things are good here in Haarlem.
I also found out last night that I'll be training Zr. Chantelle Fowler,
who happens to be the former roommate of the girlfriend of one of my
freshman FHE bros at BYU. (That's right - I am the Kevin Bacon of the Dutch
Zuster Missionary Universe. Average Baxter Number [degrees of separation] in
this mission is 2. Guess God wanted to make up for me being a solo sister in
the MTC. ;) ) I'm actually pretty excited! The panic hasn't set in yet. I'll
try not to pull what mom's trainer did and start bawling my first night with
her. =) So for those of you who've served missions, any advice on training
would totally be appreciated.
I really love this gospel and I really love you all. There's really no
better feeling than following a prompting of the Holy Ghost and seeing that
you were led to do or share something at the right time. Or talking to
incredibly kind agnostic Dutch fathers about God and testifying of His love.
The spirit is wonderful. Have a great week and know that I love you.
Veel liefs,
zr. Baxter!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
happy new week
Beste Familie and Vrienden,
What an amazing week. I really can't express what a blessing it
is to enjoy going out and working. Monday night we visited an older couple
named Emmeline and Thom, who are a referral from our Bishop (wahoo!).
They're mostly just curious about what Mormons believe, but we got to watch
the Finding Happiness DVD with them and answer some of their questions about
Joseph SMith and the Book fo Mormon. They're off to vacation to St. Martin
(where Emmeline is from) for the next 3 weeks or so but said to call them to
set up another appointment when they get back. I just love testifying to
people in their homes. Especially when they're referrals. =)
Another cool referral experience this week happened when I called up a
POlish man we'd contacted in the centrum a few days ago. He said he was
going to move back to Poland on Friday due to work problems, but his
roommate Kate had tons of questions about our church and wanted to come on
Sunday. We made an appointment, and unfortunately she got called into work
on Saturday when we went by, so it didn't go through, but it was just so
cool to have someone that interested in the church merely from a friend who
talked to sister missionaries and a passalong card. Hopefully we can get
another appointment set up with her this week.
On Thursday we had zone conference in Amsterdam, and President Robert
C. Oaks visited. It was a wonderful experience, and to boost our faith that
people really are being prepared (even in scary dark cold Europe ;) ) he
asked us to share miracles stories of finding. It was such a wonderful
reminder of the things I've been blessed to see as a missionary. The
miracles never stop. I know that now. It made me miss Rotterdam a lot (I was
there 6 months, after all) and it was a good reminder of all the
investigators and converts there I need to write).
SO that night we went to Maria, our Irish investigator who's such a
fabulous person but veeeeeeery hesitant to accept commitments and has yet to
come to church. She made us dinner and then totally shocked us by saying
she'd quite smoking as of Monday. When we asked her why now, she referred
back to the lesson we'd had on the Word of Wisdom and how our bodies are
temples - "It's like the other sister said - that beautiful white building
is like your body, so you have to keep in clean."Except in an Irish accent
and probably less seminary-video-esque. Man I love miracles. I really wanted
to ask her if she knew how many people I'd fought to help quit smoking as a
missionary, but anywho, it was just such a good moment. It'll come with
Maria.
The other totally amazing lesson this week was with Milene. She's in
her early 20's and was raised CHristian but kind of feels like she's drifted
away from her faith. She wanted to get more involved with Chrisianity and
God again, so she called up her only really strongly religious friend -
which happened to be Frank, a young single adult in our ward. So he brought
her to Stake Conference a week ago, and on Friday we had dinner at his
house. We had a fabulous talk with her about what it means to be a
Christian, what the Book of Mormon is, who Joseph Smith was, how we can
truly follow Christ in our daily life, etc. She asked us is we could meet on
a weekly basis to help her learn more about the church. I'm not even kidding
about that. Man I love the gospel. She's coming to church this Sunday.
Referrals are so ridiculously amazing.
Other than that, things are going well. We've been so blessed with our
finding lately, to really talk to people who are open and listeneing and
interested. We found new investigators for the first time in a couple of
weeks. The sun is shining, the tulips are coming out, and it's warming up.
All in all, I feel pretty positive about being a missionary in Holland right
now.
I really love you all, and I love this gospel. Have a great week.
Liefs,
zr. Baxter
What an amazing week. I really can't express what a blessing it
is to enjoy going out and working. Monday night we visited an older couple
named Emmeline and Thom, who are a referral from our Bishop (wahoo!).
They're mostly just curious about what Mormons believe, but we got to watch
the Finding Happiness DVD with them and answer some of their questions about
Joseph SMith and the Book fo Mormon. They're off to vacation to St. Martin
(where Emmeline is from) for the next 3 weeks or so but said to call them to
set up another appointment when they get back. I just love testifying to
people in their homes. Especially when they're referrals. =)
Another cool referral experience this week happened when I called up a
POlish man we'd contacted in the centrum a few days ago. He said he was
going to move back to Poland on Friday due to work problems, but his
roommate Kate had tons of questions about our church and wanted to come on
Sunday. We made an appointment, and unfortunately she got called into work
on Saturday when we went by, so it didn't go through, but it was just so
cool to have someone that interested in the church merely from a friend who
talked to sister missionaries and a passalong card. Hopefully we can get
another appointment set up with her this week.
On Thursday we had zone conference in Amsterdam, and President Robert
C. Oaks visited. It was a wonderful experience, and to boost our faith that
people really are being prepared (even in scary dark cold Europe ;) ) he
asked us to share miracles stories of finding. It was such a wonderful
reminder of the things I've been blessed to see as a missionary. The
miracles never stop. I know that now. It made me miss Rotterdam a lot (I was
there 6 months, after all) and it was a good reminder of all the
investigators and converts there I need to write).
SO that night we went to Maria, our Irish investigator who's such a
fabulous person but veeeeeeery hesitant to accept commitments and has yet to
come to church. She made us dinner and then totally shocked us by saying
she'd quite smoking as of Monday. When we asked her why now, she referred
back to the lesson we'd had on the Word of Wisdom and how our bodies are
temples - "It's like the other sister said - that beautiful white building
is like your body, so you have to keep in clean."Except in an Irish accent
and probably less seminary-video-esque. Man I love miracles. I really wanted
to ask her if she knew how many people I'd fought to help quit smoking as a
missionary, but anywho, it was just such a good moment. It'll come with
Maria.
The other totally amazing lesson this week was with Milene. She's in
her early 20's and was raised CHristian but kind of feels like she's drifted
away from her faith. She wanted to get more involved with Chrisianity and
God again, so she called up her only really strongly religious friend -
which happened to be Frank, a young single adult in our ward. So he brought
her to Stake Conference a week ago, and on Friday we had dinner at his
house. We had a fabulous talk with her about what it means to be a
Christian, what the Book of Mormon is, who Joseph Smith was, how we can
truly follow Christ in our daily life, etc. She asked us is we could meet on
a weekly basis to help her learn more about the church. I'm not even kidding
about that. Man I love the gospel. She's coming to church this Sunday.
Referrals are so ridiculously amazing.
Other than that, things are going well. We've been so blessed with our
finding lately, to really talk to people who are open and listeneing and
interested. We found new investigators for the first time in a couple of
weeks. The sun is shining, the tulips are coming out, and it's warming up.
All in all, I feel pretty positive about being a missionary in Holland right
now.
I really love you all, and I love this gospel. Have a great week.
Liefs,
zr. Baxter
Friday, March 13, 2009
unadulterated... loving!
(This letter is a few weeks old - I just now found it in my email inbox!)
Hello family and friends!
So I'm now officially settled in Haarlem. Apparently everysister missionary ever stays here at least 4 transfers (6 months), so it'svery likely this may be the last city of my mission, since I only have 5(maaaaaaaaybe 6) transfers left. Nuts, eh? Anyway, my companions are great(third trio of my mission!). Zr. Miller has been here three transfers andactually lived in holland from 12 to 16, so her Dutch is practically fluent(as opposed to the Nederengels the rest of us speak) and her accent, whilestill not quite native, is pretty stinking awesome. The ward loves her, andshe's a pretty awesome take charge kind of person, so being the oldestmissionary certainly is not a burden here. Zr. Warren began with twotransfers in Amsterdam, so we're working on her Dutch (most of herinvestigators there spoke English). She's a ridiculous ball of positivityand energy. It literally feels like I'm tracting with Glinda from Wicked.And there is really very, very little exageration there. Anyway, it's alwaysa party working with three, and we're having fun. Haarlem itself reminds me a LOT of London, and the fact that one ofour investigators is an Irish ex-pat doesn't hurt. It's a smaller city (tholoads bigger than Gouda, which is really fun; I'd missed small, dirty citystreets and bell ups) with some absolutely gorgeous fin de sieclearchitecture. There's a basilica here built in 1898 or so (I think - webiked by pretty fast) that just makes my heart wanna pop with how gorgeousit is. Unfortunately the Cory Tenboom house is not open on Monday, ourpreparation day, but someday when I come back to Holland I'll make it there.Anyway, it's just all very Dutch - lots of canals and waterways, gorgeousold buildings, and lots of white people (unlike Rotterdam - I still missthose Surinamers and Cab Verdians). So I'm pretty much doing the missionarywork I imagined I'd be doing when I opened my call - tracting in the rain inreally pretty buildings.
The ward here is pretty small and pretty old on average. By American standards it's definitely a branch. There are, however, a lot of youngsingle adults, mostly the children of the former temple president and hiswife. The current temple president also lives in this ward, and our chapelis a real chapel, which is pretty nice. And boy do they take care of us.Despite the size, our amazing Bishop's wife (I now have not only a Surinamemom in Helen Nooitmeere from R'Dam but also a grandmother in Zr. Jansen) hasus scheduled for eating appointments pretty much every night, which is crazynice. I've never heard of a city in this mission that does that.
And we have some pretty cool investigators. Maria is Irish and doesn'treally get the Book of Mormon but is awesome and loved by the members.She'll get there. Azalea is this wonderfully brilliant and bright and lovingmom from Ethiopia who married a Greek man she met at university there. Shespeaks Amharik, Greek, and English, and is now tackling Dutch as her 4thlanguage. The love in her home (she has a small daughter of 6) isastounding. Mark and his girlfriend Esther are young Dutch students who arepretty much awesome. Overall, it's a good place to be. Last week we met thisincredibly cool couple, Natalie and Patrick, op straat (on the street).Natalie (Peruvian) was here as an au pair and met Patrick (Dutch) in alibrary a while ago. They were pretty willing to talk more about the Book ofMormon, and we found out her grandpa was a Mormon. Wahoo! Josella is thisbeautiful woman here studying in Haarlem from French speaking Africa we metThursday night - she was so excited to meet other believers. So next weekwe're bringing by the Book of Mormon in French. Her Bible was on her bedopen to Isaiah. People are just so amazing.
So things are good. It was really, really weird to spend only onetransfer in Gouda. Weirder still to think I might end my mission here. But so is life.
God really does answer prayers. I love seeing that here. If you'resincere, if you really want to know, and are willing to act, He will guideyou in your life. And being led by the Holy Ghost is one of the mostbeautiful feelings ever. I love you all. Thanks for your support andprayers. - Zr. Baxter
Hello family and friends!
So I'm now officially settled in Haarlem. Apparently everysister missionary ever stays here at least 4 transfers (6 months), so it'svery likely this may be the last city of my mission, since I only have 5(maaaaaaaaybe 6) transfers left. Nuts, eh? Anyway, my companions are great(third trio of my mission!). Zr. Miller has been here three transfers andactually lived in holland from 12 to 16, so her Dutch is practically fluent(as opposed to the Nederengels the rest of us speak) and her accent, whilestill not quite native, is pretty stinking awesome. The ward loves her, andshe's a pretty awesome take charge kind of person, so being the oldestmissionary certainly is not a burden here. Zr. Warren began with twotransfers in Amsterdam, so we're working on her Dutch (most of herinvestigators there spoke English). She's a ridiculous ball of positivityand energy. It literally feels like I'm tracting with Glinda from Wicked.And there is really very, very little exageration there. Anyway, it's alwaysa party working with three, and we're having fun. Haarlem itself reminds me a LOT of London, and the fact that one ofour investigators is an Irish ex-pat doesn't hurt. It's a smaller city (tholoads bigger than Gouda, which is really fun; I'd missed small, dirty citystreets and bell ups) with some absolutely gorgeous fin de sieclearchitecture. There's a basilica here built in 1898 or so (I think - webiked by pretty fast) that just makes my heart wanna pop with how gorgeousit is. Unfortunately the Cory Tenboom house is not open on Monday, ourpreparation day, but someday when I come back to Holland I'll make it there.Anyway, it's just all very Dutch - lots of canals and waterways, gorgeousold buildings, and lots of white people (unlike Rotterdam - I still missthose Surinamers and Cab Verdians). So I'm pretty much doing the missionarywork I imagined I'd be doing when I opened my call - tracting in the rain inreally pretty buildings.
The ward here is pretty small and pretty old on average. By American standards it's definitely a branch. There are, however, a lot of youngsingle adults, mostly the children of the former temple president and hiswife. The current temple president also lives in this ward, and our chapelis a real chapel, which is pretty nice. And boy do they take care of us.Despite the size, our amazing Bishop's wife (I now have not only a Surinamemom in Helen Nooitmeere from R'Dam but also a grandmother in Zr. Jansen) hasus scheduled for eating appointments pretty much every night, which is crazynice. I've never heard of a city in this mission that does that.
And we have some pretty cool investigators. Maria is Irish and doesn'treally get the Book of Mormon but is awesome and loved by the members.She'll get there. Azalea is this wonderfully brilliant and bright and lovingmom from Ethiopia who married a Greek man she met at university there. Shespeaks Amharik, Greek, and English, and is now tackling Dutch as her 4thlanguage. The love in her home (she has a small daughter of 6) isastounding. Mark and his girlfriend Esther are young Dutch students who arepretty much awesome. Overall, it's a good place to be. Last week we met thisincredibly cool couple, Natalie and Patrick, op straat (on the street).Natalie (Peruvian) was here as an au pair and met Patrick (Dutch) in alibrary a while ago. They were pretty willing to talk more about the Book ofMormon, and we found out her grandpa was a Mormon. Wahoo! Josella is thisbeautiful woman here studying in Haarlem from French speaking Africa we metThursday night - she was so excited to meet other believers. So next weekwe're bringing by the Book of Mormon in French. Her Bible was on her bedopen to Isaiah. People are just so amazing.
So things are good. It was really, really weird to spend only onetransfer in Gouda. Weirder still to think I might end my mission here. But so is life.
God really does answer prayers. I love seeing that here. If you'resincere, if you really want to know, and are willing to act, He will guideyou in your life. And being led by the Holy Ghost is one of the mostbeautiful feelings ever. I love you all. Thanks for your support andprayers. - Zr. Baxter
Monday, March 9, 2009
Are the tulips in bloom yet?
Beste familie en vrienden,
Mom asked about flowers, and there are definitely somegorgeous blooms out in Haarlem, but I don't think they're tulips yet. =)It's nice being in a city that is small enough that there are parks and evensome lawns for a few houses - and that spring isn't lost in the urban cementjungle of bigger cities. Though of course I still miss Rotterdam. =)
We had interviews this week, and it was a pretty revelatoryexperience. I really love my mission president. I also got to see two of thethree elders from my MTC district, including Elder De Mass, who I taughtwith in the MTC for a month (a hilarious time of growth for both of us) andhadn't seen for 7 months or so. We had an incredible talk about miracles andfaith, and going out with the expection of seeing miracles without trying todictate when or how or where. And just accepting the Lord's will. It wasjust a wonderful experience. I love sharing the gospel with my friends. Ialso got a tape from Briana Wright (!) and a few letters from friends in thefield, so that was pretty grand.
We had a great lesson with Azelea, the Ethiopian woman married to theGreek man who speaks perfect English, about the Atonement. Her daughter gotsick this week so she still hasn't made it to church, but it will come. I'verealized there's really no point in fretting about the work. We just do ourbest, he? And then the Lord helps us out. It's really pretty great when youthink about it.
In church I gave a talk (with 36 hours notice - I am so thankful thatmy Dutch is okay enough that that was do-able!) and my companions sang, sothat was cool. Haarlem is a good place. I really love you all. I guess I could babblemore about all the cool spiritual stuff I'm learning, but I'd rather justrefer you to the conference ensign instead. ;) I know this gospel is true. Iknow obedience is a source of strength. I really learned that in interviewsas president talked about the numbers of our mission quite literallyreflecting the obedience of the missionaries. We're really crazy blessed tolive in a time where the gospel is on the earth. And if you're doubtingthat, or want to understand it better, just ask, and the Heavenly Fatherwill help you.
One cool miracle before I go - one of my companions was having a hardtime with an investigator (an 18 year old) in her last area who was wantingto call her, even tho we're not allowed to really keep contact via phonewith people outside our areas. She finally worked up to telling Aisha sheneeded to work with the sisters in A'Dam, despite their intensely strongfriendship. The A'dam sisters called us 3 days later saying Aisha had cometo church again (this girl has been investigating but not ready to progressin varying phases for 2 years now), agreed to meet with the sisters 3 timesa week for 30 minutes, and has a baptisimal date for the end of April. Ifwe're obedient, the Lord helps us out. I love you all.
- Zr. Baxter
Mom asked about flowers, and there are definitely somegorgeous blooms out in Haarlem, but I don't think they're tulips yet. =)It's nice being in a city that is small enough that there are parks and evensome lawns for a few houses - and that spring isn't lost in the urban cementjungle of bigger cities. Though of course I still miss Rotterdam. =)
We had interviews this week, and it was a pretty revelatoryexperience. I really love my mission president. I also got to see two of thethree elders from my MTC district, including Elder De Mass, who I taughtwith in the MTC for a month (a hilarious time of growth for both of us) andhadn't seen for 7 months or so. We had an incredible talk about miracles andfaith, and going out with the expection of seeing miracles without trying todictate when or how or where. And just accepting the Lord's will. It wasjust a wonderful experience. I love sharing the gospel with my friends. Ialso got a tape from Briana Wright (!) and a few letters from friends in thefield, so that was pretty grand.
We had a great lesson with Azelea, the Ethiopian woman married to theGreek man who speaks perfect English, about the Atonement. Her daughter gotsick this week so she still hasn't made it to church, but it will come. I'verealized there's really no point in fretting about the work. We just do ourbest, he? And then the Lord helps us out. It's really pretty great when youthink about it.
In church I gave a talk (with 36 hours notice - I am so thankful thatmy Dutch is okay enough that that was do-able!) and my companions sang, sothat was cool. Haarlem is a good place. I really love you all. I guess I could babblemore about all the cool spiritual stuff I'm learning, but I'd rather justrefer you to the conference ensign instead. ;) I know this gospel is true. Iknow obedience is a source of strength. I really learned that in interviewsas president talked about the numbers of our mission quite literallyreflecting the obedience of the missionaries. We're really crazy blessed tolive in a time where the gospel is on the earth. And if you're doubtingthat, or want to understand it better, just ask, and the Heavenly Fatherwill help you.
One cool miracle before I go - one of my companions was having a hardtime with an investigator (an 18 year old) in her last area who was wantingto call her, even tho we're not allowed to really keep contact via phonewith people outside our areas. She finally worked up to telling Aisha sheneeded to work with the sisters in A'Dam, despite their intensely strongfriendship. The A'dam sisters called us 3 days later saying Aisha had cometo church again (this girl has been investigating but not ready to progressin varying phases for 2 years now), agreed to meet with the sisters 3 timesa week for 30 minutes, and has a baptisimal date for the end of April. Ifwe're obedient, the Lord helps us out. I love you all.
- Zr. Baxter
Friday, March 6, 2009
helllllooooo form haarlem!
Hoi iedereen,
So it's been a crazy week in Haarlem! Crazy blessed,anyway. On Saturday we hitched a ride with a recently re-activated member (an old man named Broeder Terol) and Richard, our baptisimal date, to anotherbaptism in Alkmaar (the two elders from our district). It was such anamazing baptism. The woman who got baptized had been waiting a very longtime - years, actually - for permission from her spouse to be baptized. Sothe Spirit was incredible - her sister had been baptized almost 15 years agoand she'd been waiting a long time to be baptized herself. It was just good.
Sunday was probably one of the coolest days in my life. There was astake conference in Zwolle for the Appeldoorn stake, and Elder Oaks of theQuorum of the Twelve Apostles came. All the missionaries in Nederland wereable to go, so it was AMAZING to see old companions (including all theelders from my fabulous MTC district!) and! Since we were all able to bringat least one new convert or investigator, to my surprise Andre was there! Itwas INCREDIBLE to see him again, especially since he was baptized just aweek ago. The light in his countenance and the joy we had at seeing eachother was probably one of the best experiences of my entire mission. So wetalked all about his baptism (Lenneke got baptised too! Apparently it was avery full service.... I love Rotterdam!) and how things are going. He'sgoing to the temple for the first time this Friday. When we got to shakeElder Oaks's hand, it was so peculiarly beautiful to see this smallSurinamer's hand with a small faded tattoo shaking the hand of an apostle.Elder Oaks thanked him for coming. A few moments later Andre began to tearup a little. I've rarely known someone so sensitive to the Spirit.
The conference itself was amazing. The temple president spoke, ourmission president spoke (who's father passed away last week - please prayfor President Woodland), the Area President from England spoke - it was justa spiritual feast. Incredible. A day I will never forget.
We had some fun conversations with people on the way home. I reallycan't explain my relief at being able to just make small talk with Dutchpeople in a train, and get to really know someone and what their experienceswith God have been in a half hour. Unfortunately I could be bolder in reallygetting beyond a pamphlet or a card to actually making appointments withpeople. 'But I'm trying. It comes step by step.
Our first appointment that afternoon fell through, so we went earlyto Marko, a Surinamer we'd met just the day before who loves God but isn'tso keen on churches. I've never taught someone who's love of and faith inGod is so vibrant. He told us of growing up in a sort of foster house inSuriname, of how much he wants to go back and help children in his country.He was so hit by the Holy Ghost as we told him of Joseph Smith's firstvision, and as he held the Book of Mormon, his fingers brushed the coverwith such a reverence. As he read Moroni 10:4-5 he had to stop mid-verse."This is really it," he said quietly in English, and kept on reading. I'venever seen someone so hit by the Spirit. When we committed him to read andpray about the Book of Mormon, he said somehting like, "This is reallyimportant." So my rather bolder companion took the opportunity to extend asoft baptisimal committment if he does come to feel that these things aretrue. And he said, "I would have to do that, huh." And I love howdifferently people show their gratitude, and how unique their experienceswith God are. We'd sung I Am A Child of God to open, and so as we preparedto leave, he asked to play a song for us, because he feels the love of Godthrough music. "This can be like me singing for you." He proceeded to playas an Olivia Newton John song, which was pretty hilariously unexpected, butit was certainly intended with joy. What a funny incredibly appointment. I'mso excited to continue teaching him.
That night we went to institute (which the Bishop has askedus toattend and support) and wathced a rebroadcast of a CES Fireside Pres Monsongave at BYU in November 2005. It was funny to think I'd actually been therewhen it was given, and think of all that's changed. I love you people somuch. Thanks for your prayers and letters. I also need a current address forBRiana Wright! I LOVE YOU ALL!
LIefs,
Zr. Christa BAxter
So it's been a crazy week in Haarlem! Crazy blessed,anyway. On Saturday we hitched a ride with a recently re-activated member (an old man named Broeder Terol) and Richard, our baptisimal date, to anotherbaptism in Alkmaar (the two elders from our district). It was such anamazing baptism. The woman who got baptized had been waiting a very longtime - years, actually - for permission from her spouse to be baptized. Sothe Spirit was incredible - her sister had been baptized almost 15 years agoand she'd been waiting a long time to be baptized herself. It was just good.
Sunday was probably one of the coolest days in my life. There was astake conference in Zwolle for the Appeldoorn stake, and Elder Oaks of theQuorum of the Twelve Apostles came. All the missionaries in Nederland wereable to go, so it was AMAZING to see old companions (including all theelders from my fabulous MTC district!) and! Since we were all able to bringat least one new convert or investigator, to my surprise Andre was there! Itwas INCREDIBLE to see him again, especially since he was baptized just aweek ago. The light in his countenance and the joy we had at seeing eachother was probably one of the best experiences of my entire mission. So wetalked all about his baptism (Lenneke got baptised too! Apparently it was avery full service.... I love Rotterdam!) and how things are going. He'sgoing to the temple for the first time this Friday. When we got to shakeElder Oaks's hand, it was so peculiarly beautiful to see this smallSurinamer's hand with a small faded tattoo shaking the hand of an apostle.Elder Oaks thanked him for coming. A few moments later Andre began to tearup a little. I've rarely known someone so sensitive to the Spirit.
The conference itself was amazing. The temple president spoke, ourmission president spoke (who's father passed away last week - please prayfor President Woodland), the Area President from England spoke - it was justa spiritual feast. Incredible. A day I will never forget.
We had some fun conversations with people on the way home. I reallycan't explain my relief at being able to just make small talk with Dutchpeople in a train, and get to really know someone and what their experienceswith God have been in a half hour. Unfortunately I could be bolder in reallygetting beyond a pamphlet or a card to actually making appointments withpeople. 'But I'm trying. It comes step by step.
Our first appointment that afternoon fell through, so we went earlyto Marko, a Surinamer we'd met just the day before who loves God but isn'tso keen on churches. I've never taught someone who's love of and faith inGod is so vibrant. He told us of growing up in a sort of foster house inSuriname, of how much he wants to go back and help children in his country.He was so hit by the Holy Ghost as we told him of Joseph Smith's firstvision, and as he held the Book of Mormon, his fingers brushed the coverwith such a reverence. As he read Moroni 10:4-5 he had to stop mid-verse."This is really it," he said quietly in English, and kept on reading. I'venever seen someone so hit by the Spirit. When we committed him to read andpray about the Book of Mormon, he said somehting like, "This is reallyimportant." So my rather bolder companion took the opportunity to extend asoft baptisimal committment if he does come to feel that these things aretrue. And he said, "I would have to do that, huh." And I love howdifferently people show their gratitude, and how unique their experienceswith God are. We'd sung I Am A Child of God to open, and so as we preparedto leave, he asked to play a song for us, because he feels the love of Godthrough music. "This can be like me singing for you." He proceeded to playas an Olivia Newton John song, which was pretty hilariously unexpected, butit was certainly intended with joy. What a funny incredibly appointment. I'mso excited to continue teaching him.
That night we went to institute (which the Bishop has askedus toattend and support) and wathced a rebroadcast of a CES Fireside Pres Monsongave at BYU in November 2005. It was funny to think I'd actually been therewhen it was given, and think of all that's changed. I love you people somuch. Thanks for your prayers and letters. I also need a current address forBRiana Wright! I LOVE YOU ALL!
LIefs,
Zr. Christa BAxter
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