Dear Pals,
Last week of January! It's Always so nice when January is almost over. It was not my most favorite week, as I don't feel like we really accomplished much because so many of our appointments fell through, but we still saw some pretty neat things.
Updates of the People:
L.-Still haven't found her. Been on a scavenger hunt that just leads from one place to the next.
J.-Didn't get her to church, only had one lesson, hopefully this week we can solidify her understanding of some commandments
E.-She wants to be baptized! But church is too early (haha the plight of our mission)
T.-Our miracle of the week! She basically just handed her soul to us. She sat next to us while we waited for a train, mentioned the biting cold, and we began talking about the weather. (ha it works!) Somehow, that gracefully led into an intense gospel discussion that lasted through the entire train ride! She is a beautiful person, and when we got to the station, she gave us her information and said we could come by next Tuesday to talk some more. Woo hoo! Sister Goodman and I just happy laughed for the rest of the night.
M. (and daughter)-We were supposed to have an appointment, but she forgot and we caught her on her way out. She told us to go on in and chat with her daughter a bit, so we did, and long enough so that M. came back. Guess what. We think she was actually baptized 40 years ago! Where has this woman been hiding!? So we have another appointment this week, and her 28-year old daughter said she's going listen in as well. Yay people!
I don't think I've ever smelled so much like smoke as I have this week. But someone (general authority?) once said that he wished that the entire sacrament meeting smelled like smoke, because that means there are sinners in church who are making a change. So I can tolerate a little smoke smell on my coat if that means that someone is coming closer to Christ.
Another realization this week, as I was reading PMG, it tells us that all God asks of us missionaries is that we "ask, seek, and knock." This is of course figuratively, referring to the numerous times in the scriptures that we are instructed to do these things, but as a missionary, how literal this is too! All we do is ask people to come to Christ, we seek them out, and we actually knock on their doors. We are dressed in such a way that we don't stand out in the fashion world, we live humbly with only what is absolutely necessary, and we spend all our time trying (oh we are not perfect at this) to help other people. We are literally representing Christ. We are trying to do His work the way that He would; it's not glamorous or cool, it's very simple and humble. That's why missionaries have to be pure and clean before they come. You can't represent Christ if you can't emmanate His spirit.
Anyway, thoughts from a third-transfer missionary. :) Hope all is well with you, and that the spirit is strong in your lives.
Much love from Nederland,
Zuster Johanson
My Apartment
Haarlem
Sister Clement and I on my first day
Bikes. Normal site here
My old district
