We had such a cool week! We finally got to met with some cool contacts and
make investigators out of them. One, M. Bastiaan, is an old, old Dutch man
who is okay with us teaching him more about Christ. His house is covered
with trophies and pictures of his agricultural achievements. Hilarious. He's
a cool man.
On Wednesday we met with Jeroen, an amazing Dutch guy in his 30's who
lived in the states for a year as a teen and whom my bold companion Zr.
Erickson boldly approached on a bridge while he was drinking a beer and
admiring the sunset. He really admires that we just live our faith and live
to share it. He's always been believing; he remembers as a child biking past
churches and just always having his head in the clouds, feeling that there
was a God. Amazing. He'd done his research - he knew about temple baptism,
that we've no set clergy, a little bit about Joseph Smith, and a few other
random things. He's never found a church he's settled into but he's been to
maaaaaany in his life. We shared the Joseph Smith story and gave him a Book
of Mormon. He's super Dutch so we won't see him till he's had time to read
and ponder (2 weeks.... sigh) but he's such an amazing person. I'm excited
to teach him more.
We also got to meet with Nanda, one of the coolest people of my whole
mission. She's a 54 year old Brazilian married to a Dutch man. She plays
harp, reads voraciously (she'd read through Alma 50 since January when the
elders gave her a copy), and designs and makes kimonos. She just loves what
we do as missionaries and is super super super social and chatty - makes
teaching a little tricky, but she's such a beautiful soul. She was raised in
a Protestant faith in Brazil. God is truly everything for her, and she's
open to the Book fo Mormon, so we'll see what happens!
At interviews with President Brubaker, we had a marvelous time. I
stinking love the Brubakers. We talked a lot as a Zone about where are
desires are in missionary work. I was translating most of the time for
Susannah, an amazing Dutch girl who actually will be serving in this, her
home mission, come September. Her english is okay but not so great,
especially for Church stuff, so I probably missed some stuff in translating
but it was so fun to just be with missionaries. We also brought out Ghana
dresses and changed into them for a couple minutes right before we all left
to show some elders. Sister Brubaker found them hilarious. I think President
Brubaker would have, had the weight of his calling not constrained him to
ask Sister Erickson where she found that and had she actually paid for it?
Apparently the Virgin Mary print was found less than edifying. ;) "I think
we might need to have another interview," he joked. Good times.
Church was so good. Zr Erickson and I both gave talks, and Sairah (a
less active) came for the second time in a row, and so did Roda, a recent
convert who's been struggling lately. It's SO rewarding to see people you're
working with actually coming. Wahoo!
Things are good overall. We had the most amazing street contact with an
agnostic Dutch young mom who said of course we could come over and talk to
her more about God's plan so she can decide if she wants to believe in that
or not. I love missionary work. So much!
And I love you all. Thanks for your support and love. I'm not sure
how much longer this blog thing will last. Soon enough you will all be able
to see me or call anyway. But I thank you for your support and prayers. I
love this gospel with all my heart. Oh! one more thing!!! Irene from
Rotterdam is going to the temple on October 3 to recieve her endowment and I
get to go with her!!!!!!!!!! I am SO excited! It'll be my last time in the
temple in Nederland. What a blessing. I love you all!

Liefs,

Zuster Christa Lou Baxter