Another great week! Azelea was super helped by the priesthood blessing she
got last week. She said that night was the first night in weeks she could go
to sleep calmly (she'd been struggling with stress-related sleeplessness in
light of all the problems with her husband looking for a job in Greece,
etc.). She now also really understands priesthood authority better. And! She
asked off work for this coming Sunday and is so excited to come! She said,
"No matter what I am coming to church!" That was a beautiful moment. I love
this woman so, so much. She's also really bonded with Stelle, a Nigerian
convert we've brought on joint teach a couple of times, and it's amazing. We
taught Azelea the Word of Wisdom this week, and she committed very readily
to quitting smoking and giving up coffee and tea. It's been a bit of a long
road with her, but she really is developing such a firm testimony. It's
beautiful to see.
Milene was sick and out of town and we never met with her this week,
which is not good. Please pray that she won't get too busy to really
progress.
We set a baptisimal date with Magalie, the 20 year old from the Congo
that the Elders found, but she's also super busy and still hasn't come to
church. Please pray for her.
In another crazy miracle resulting from the district leader council
they had here a couple weeks ago, one of the district leaders who'd been
here found an investigator for us in Amsterdam, where he serves. He and his
comp had been talking on the tram to another man who wasn't so interested.
As their conversation was dying down, another woman approached them and
asked if they were from a church. They proceded to have an awesome
conversation abotu prophets, baptism, the gospel, and set a baptisimal date
with her. In the tram. And she just happens to live right nearby the church
in Haarlem, which Elder Nelson knew the address of because he'd been here
for district leader council. What a crazy blessing. So far we've only talked
to her on the phone, but she is a super sweet Surinamer and we'll see her
later this week. What a blessing!
Otherwise things are going well. We had an amazing PDay in Keukenhof
(the famous tulip gardens - go google image search it because it's amazing)
and it was wonderful seeing older companions and district leaders and the
like. And Lisette, the 22 year old we taught in Gouda (who got baptised
right after I transferred away) came too!!! That was an awesome surprise.
She's been to the temple and said it was wonderful, and she goes to the YSA
Outreach Center in R'Dam (where she goes to school) twice a week. I love her
so much. That was a tender mercy.
I also attempted to eat herring at Keaukenhof. That was definitely
documented and definitely disgusting. The taste wasn't so bad, and chewing
wasn't so bad, but one bite was all I could manage to swallow. Nothing like
raw fish to make you feel culturally acclimated!
Things are going well. I'm happy. It really is weird to me that I
could be coming home in September. I still don't know if I'll be home in
September or the end of October, but I should be finding out soon. The
members continue to be amazed at Zr Fowler's Dutch, and working with her is
just wonderful. The Lord seriously sent me a greenie that doesn't really
need to be trained - probably because I am, after all, one of the most
non-confrontational people ever! =) I love you all very much, and I love
this work. Just trust in the Lord, do your best, and He takes care of the
rest.



Love,


Zr. Baxter

Hoi everybody! We had such a cool week! It started off with Mehmet, a
slightly argumentative Turkish man, calling us for an appointment when we
forgot to call him. That doesn't happen so often! We arranged to give him a
tour of the church on Saturday with one of the members, a delightfully
graceful dame named Zr Jonkman. He found the Joseph Smith story pretty
incredible and asked for a Book of Mormon before we even offered. My
inspired companion Zr Fowler thought it'd be cool to bring copies of it in
several languages, so he walked away with a Dutch copy, a Turkish copy, and
a return appointment for next week. So good!
Azelea is doing well gospel wise but got sick and couldn't come to
church. Again! But we brought Stella, a Nigerian convert, on joint teach,
and Stella pretty much invited her to church continuously during the entire
lesson. It was pretty hilarious and awesome. Azelea said she really really
wants to and is so frustrated that things keep on stopping her. When we
committed her to baptism she said, "Let me come to church first!" It's
totally coming with her. I love the light of the gospel entering people's
lives. On Sunday we were able to have Sjaak (convert of 18 months currently
waiting on his mission call) and Jan (26 year old who served in Suriname)
come and give her a priesthood blessing. It was a really beautiful
experience and she was very grateful. Please keep Azelea in your prayers,
that things will work out with her husband's job search and that she will be
able to come to church.
Milene is reading in the Book of Mormon from the beginning (always a
wonderful sign) and came to church again, but from here on out wants to come
only every other week. She's also super busy and can only meet with us once
or twice a week. So please just pray for her that things will work out for
her June 6th baptism.
We got to meet with Magalia, a girl in her 20s from the Congo whom the
elders found when they blitzed Haarlem after District Leader Council. She
was super positive, and through a series of complicated (and very fortunate)
events I happened to grab a French Book of Mormon instead of a Dutch copy
for her. We'd only talked to her on the phone in English, but since she's
from Congo, French is her native language, so it was pretty fortuitous (aka
inspired) that we had it for her. She didn't make it to church on Sunday but
she's pretty positive and I'm super excited to get to know her better.
Marc was on vacation so we visited Esther, his girlfriend, and
brought Zr Scholten. The whole appointment was such a cool miracle. We
talked more about the Plan of Salvation and the pre-existance and the role
of Christ. Zr. Scholten totally pulled a DTR (as my good former District
Leader Elder Thio pointed out, missionary parallels dating on so many levels
- I'm not even being facetious) and asked Esther if she wanted to really
believe in Christ. Esther talked about praying and compared herself to the
man in the Bible who brings his son to Christ to be healed and says, "Lord,
help thou my unbelief." The Spirit was incredible. Zr. Scholten told Esther
she thought that Esther really did want to believe it, and Esther admitted
it would be pretty amazing if we did have a Savior. So we committed her to
pray about it and read the Plan of Salvation pamphlet. I love members. They
make everything better. You don't even know how happy the missionaies in
your ward would be if you called them up right now and asked them who you
can come visit with them.
Finding miracle - we were walking through a park and began chatting with
two older ladies. They turned out to be sisters, and we had a super small
talk conversation with them about being missionaries and faith in Holland
and how they grew up Catholic. Realizing it wasn't going to get there in any
natural, subtle way, I asked them if we could share something spiritual
before we went on our way and we shared the Joseph Smith story. One sister
asked what we believed about life after death, and as I pulled out the Book
of Mormon, Els (the less open of the two) said,"Oh, you're Mormon? That's so
strange - when we were little girls, I remember two mormon missionaries
visiting. Last night I was thinking about that for the first time in years,
and now here you are." They agreed to let us come visit them next week and
talk to them more about the Plan of Salvation. Miracle!!!
And so it goes. It was kind of a weird week - we had interviews on
Wednesday, which was wonderful. And then all of Friday was wiped out by a
legality trip to Belgium. It was super great seeing Elders Berry and DeMass,
but super weird being in Belgium - Holland has just become home, and I
missed it, even being gone just a day. I absolutely love Haarlem and I love
being a missionary - I wondered if the day would ever come when I could say
that with all honesty, but there's really nothing else I'd rather be doing
right now. I love you all, and I love this gospel. God truly is our HEavenly
Father, and I know he's mindful of us.

Vele liefs,

Zr. Baxter

So this really was a pretty spectacular week, I must say. First of all we
finally got Zr Fowler a proper bike, so that's made everything loads easier
(and more comfortable for her! I don't think she was anticipating sitting on
the back of her trainer's bike as part of her greenie experience... =) ). Zr
Fowler herself is doing fabulous - I absolutely love being a trainer. Her
Dutch is so good that I've warned her not to get prideful over how surprised
all the members are at how much she can say and understand. ;) Not that she
ever would be.
As far as people we're teaching goes, Marc is on vacation this week
but his girlfriend Esther agreed to meet with us even tho he's gone, and
that is such an awesome miracle! At first she was totally not even
interested, so it's so great. Zr Scholten came on JT this week, and really
helped them both to understand what the Atonement is all about. We realized
they really don't have a testimony of Christ, so of course the Restoration
is a moot point. Afterwards I profusely thanked Zr Scholten for her help and
ability to understand them (not just their Dutch ;) but what their concerns
are) and she was so pleased she hugged both of us and told Zr Fowler that
she'll be such a "liefe moeder"someday - or a really sweet, loving mom. And
then she told me I was more of the business woman type. IT was pretty
stinking hilarious - especially because a huge miracle of my mission is that
now I actually want to have a family - and don't just assume it'll happen
someday. =) Zr Scholten is pretty fabulous - she served a mission in Chile,
her parents got baptised in Israel through a BYU group while she was op
zending, and she's just... great!
Tuesday we ate dinner with Stella, a fabulous convert from Nigeria. She
made us grease meal, which is a little like foo foo (which is like mash
potatoes but MUCH fluffier and more rubbery in texture - you eat it with
your fingers and dip it in sauce). Watching two American missionaries raised
on cooking from their Utah Mormon mothers attempt to eat super spicy spinash
foo foo sauce was pretty hilarious. Zr. Fowler almost choked a couple of
times. It was soooo good but so hot. Stella herself is pretty amazing, and
it was way good to get to know her better, especially since her English is
better than Dutch and she enjoyed the fellowship.
Friday was such a day of tender mercies. The Zone Leaders felt like they
should hold District Leader Council here in Haarlem, so that meant we had 12
missionaries out finding in our city that afternoon. We got some phone
numbers of interested people, and E. DeMass (of my MTC experience teaching
companion fame) found an old investigator I'd never met who we thought was
in China till May! She was totally enthusiastic and remembered the sisters,
so we visited her Sunday, taught her a first, and will visit her again
Sunday. What a great miracle.
Part of the council was also getting trainer / trainee training (say
that three times fast) for me and Zr Fowler and the other greenie in our
zone. It was a great experience, and I'm pretty sure I have the most
dedicated, prepared, awesome new missionary ever. It was also super great
seeing my old district leader from R'Dam who's know in Den Haag and E.
DeMass and a few others. I never imagined the brotherhood / sisterhood I'd
feel with my fellow missionaries. There's really nothing like it. After
finding that afternoon, we met up with everybody else in Haarlem station to
exchange information. As we approached the group, they were chatting up some
tourist looking people who just happened to be... the parents of Zr Kriser,
my old comp in Gouda who just finished her mission. Her brother was serving
in Ukraine and finished the same time, so her parents came to pick both of
them up and they just happened to be in Haarlem station on their way to
Keukenhof when all these missionaries showed up. I really cannot express my
joy at seeing Zr. Kriser again, especially since we were at different zone
conferences this transfer so I'd had no proper goodbye. It was one of the
most beautiful tender mercies of my mission to see her in Holland again
before she flies home. I only cried a little. =) Missionary companions are
such a blessing. What a wonderful person.
That night we had dinner with the former temple president and his
family and his wife had a short Seder Dinner (pass over dinner? I can't
spell in English anymore much less Hebrew) for us and it was pretty amazing.
Yay for matzah and bitter herbs. It really was a lovely experience.
Saturday we helped the Scholten's in their garden and it was good to
get out and do service. The rest of the day was kinda rough finding wise,
and one of our appointments consisted of an old lady very enthousiastically
telling us that Joseph Smith just can't be true because it's not in the
Bible! That shouldn't be that discouraging as a missionary, but, well, it
kind of was. That night one of the Assistants called (my old zone leader,
actually) and asked us how our day way, because he'd had the feeling he
should. As we recounted the miracles we'd seen that week, it was such a
reminder to me 1) of the awesome things happening in Haarlem and 2) that the
Lord really is ridiculously mindful of us. Even when we've justhad one bad
day.
And Azelea now feels like the Book of Mormon is true... such a miracle.
Milene is doing fabulously and watching her understanding being enlightened
as we taughther the Plan of Salvation this week was just incredible. I love
her so much. Okay. I think that's everything important from this week. =)
Our miracle from last week, Margreet (who felt like she'd receive a message
and cried as we told her about eternal families) texted us to cancel our
appointment and say she wasn't interested anymore. That was pretty lame,
especially because she'd had such a spiritual experience when we met her.
Please keep her in your prayers.
I love you all, and I love this work. Spring has sprung in Haarlem,
and it's a beautiful time to be here. Heavenly Father truly is mindful of us
- that I know. So go and do something to make someone else happy, because
serving His children is the best thank you we can give back.

Veel liefs,

Zr. Christa Baxter !

Beste Familie and Vrienden,

What a crazy blessed week! So on Wednesday morning I headed to Den
Haag to meet my greenie, who happens to be none other than Chantelle Fowler!
I'm pretty sure we met at least once as freshman, and have just about a
billion friends from BYU in common, so it's super funny. She is just
fabulous. Her Dutch is incredible, and her drive and determination are
practically celestial. =) It is such a delight being able to work with her,
and we've definitely seen miracles in the past few days. On our first day we
were talking to a woman on the bus and her grandson. She asked us if we were
actual sisters, and then told us we really just radiated care and positivity
for those around us. I love the fruits of the spirit! It turns out her
husband didn't want us to come by when we called her later to see if we
could make an appointment, but just that interaction alone was pretty
incredible. I love people.
On Saturday we felt particularly led to a certain street by Azelea
(whom we taught later) and in 90 minutes taught 3 lessons, got let in for
two of them, and found a wonderful new investigator named Margret. We began
talking about eternal families on the door and she invited us in. Her
bookshevles were covered by everything from Salman Rushdie to Khalil Kibran,
so of course I want to be this woman's best friend. We taught her a first
lesson, and as we talked about how it really is God's plan that families can
be together forever and not just through this life, she began to cry. She
told us she'd had a feeling a few days ago (here i couldn't quite follow her
Dutch but this is what I got) that she'd get a message soon. She asked me to
repeat what I'd said about eternal families so she could write it down, and
began to talk about her divorce 4 years ago and how she still wants to patch
things up with her ex-husband. We were so crazy led to her. She found Joseph
SMith's experience pretty incredible and valid, but wasn't so sure about
that continuing through to today and a living prophet. She herself is way
into a sort of Cherokee mysticism (gosh I love Holland the crazy panopoly of
philosophies and faith here) but was open to us coming back and teaching her
more about the Plan of Salvation. Please please pray for her, that the
Spirit will open up her heart even more.
We also set a baptisimal date with Milene!!! That was such a
miracle! We were teaching kind of a follow-up first at her friend Frank's
house. We'd talked a lot about authority and she understood it conceptually
but I wasn't sure what her thoughts were or if she understood the
implications. I asked what questions she had, and she said, "No, I get it, I
think. But it's strange - I find this really moving. I don't know why but I
have goose bumps right now! That's funny, because my mom always says that's
how you can tell if God is with you." The woman felt the Spirit testifying
of priesthood authority. Gosh I love the Holy Ghost! And when we committed
her to baptism, she was so delighted - "Really, I can do that now?" So we
explained not exactly, there's a lot to teach her, but that's what we're
here for. =) So we've got set appointments with her until her date for June
6th. She could be ready before then, but we'll see. What a stinking miracle.
She's so perfect for this ward too, since there's a great YSA group here.
Conference was pretty great as well. Unfortunately Jay cancelled on
us and we can only go to the Saturday mornign sessions (with the time delay
that's Saturday night for us here in Holland) with an investigator, so we
only got to go to the Sunday sessions (technically Saturday afternoon and
Sunday mornign sessions - nobody catches the Sundya afternoon broadcast at
the church buildings here). Conference felt pretty short because of that,
but it was definitely wonderful. I really loved President Monson and Elder
Holland's talks, and Milene also got a lot out of it.
So things are going pretty fabulously. It's a little hectic being a
trainer, but I absolutely love it. Zr. Fowler is possible even more overly
apologetic and non-confrontational than I am, so it's definitely a very nice
transfer - but there's nothing wrong with that! =) I'm excited to continue
working with her. I love you people. And I really love this gospel. It was
made even more clear to me in conference how much we just need to trust in
our Heavenly Father, for our own sakes and for those around us. He really
teaches us as we are wiling to learn.

Liefs,

Zr Baxter