This week I went on exchanges and I had to stay in Brugge which meant ER left me alone here with someone who doesn't know anything about the people we teach or the city, very scary and stressful for me because I had to lead us all around. Also meant I had to carry a lot of the conversation. Our first appointment that day was a lunch appointment with a member couple and they made the most delicious stuff ever. It's called witloaf I think. Not sure how to spell it but it's leeks that she grew in her backyard which are finely chopped and wrapped in a few slices of ham and then that was covered with some type of cheese sauce. Ugh so good, she also made a soup. A lot of the veggies that she used were from her garden. It was so good! It was a long bike ride to their house but that day was one of the most beautfiul ones yet! So nice to go biking that day.
We then traveled by train to Oostende and met 2 people, which also went good. Then we took a tram to Blankenberge which took an hour and I was really nervous for this one but it went great and I learned that day that I can speak a lot more than I thought and that I know how to get around the city better than I thought too. So it ended up being a pretty good day. I have been wearing my slippers so much on my mission [Mahabis]. I am so glad I brought them. It's also weird here because every house we go into we never take our shoes off. A week ago for Pday we went to Brussels and had a good time playing volleyball and basketball there. We also went to Gent this week for interviews dash district meeting. While other people were being interviewed the rest of us had the meeting but when that ended we played ping pong. The interviews went long so we ended up playing a ton of ping pong. It was so fun. I am pretty good compared to a lot of people haha. The weather is so nice lately and there are these really nice flowers that are coming out, I'll have to take a photo for next week.
(last week stuff- written the last Pday but sent this week)
Not really sure what else to talk about. Well there was this one thing. A few weeks ago I was on exchanges with E. Higham. We were knocking doors down this one street and it was raining. I look behind us and I look up. 3 stories up an apartment building with an open window. It wasn’t very large at all and it was pretty high up. But I remembered I had pass along cards in my pocket. If you know me I think you can tell where this is going. I took out one of the cards and took a shot. To my amazement it flew perfectly into the window! I looked at E. Higham and he saw it and it was awesome. I told E. Higham that “all we have to do now is wait about 40 years until we see a Mormon Message about someone who found this card in their house and decided to check it out and were baptized later.” But E. Higham says we’ll hear a story about someone whose eye got sliced because some idiot threw a card threw his window haha. I prefer my story. Anyway that was really cool. I’ve tried it again but it hasn’t worked, guess that first one was lucky.
We’ve had a lot of other little miracles that I enjoy seeing. I’m just so happy to be wearing the name tag and be here on my mission. Whenever we go out into public I feel good knowing who I represent. Although it’s hard for me to always be on my best behavior haha. I hope I am being a good example to everyone that sees me. The people here find it really weird that I wear a nametag. I mean it is really weird but c’mon people. They don’t even try to look subtly, its pretty funny actually. Everyone stares at the tag! People my eyes are up here! But I don’t mind really, I enjoy knowing that I am doing a little missionary work even if I don’t say anything.
Well I’d share more cool stories about this week but not a whole lot happened. It was just a good solid work week. Although we had a ton of people drop their appointments which can be frustrating. We had a lot of good meetings with people and I am able to say more and more every week. I often don’t say much because I interpret what they say as they speak so I am behind in the conversation then when I finally have something to add E. Richards says something. So I often feel like a ghost watching everyone else have a conversation and I am just observing them. Because if I don’t talk to people they don’t talk to me and they look at E. Richards the whole time. I’ve gotten used to that though.
I also have a Canadian flag on my bag because I am a proud Canadian!!! And that has been a good conversation starter sometimes. I’ve had people sit beside me solely because I am Canadian. This one guy was from Saskatchewan and we had a good talk about the greatness of Canada. I also shared with him what I am doing here, it was a good moment. Me and E. Richards get into it sometimes about Canada vs USA. He says we stole their holiday of Thanksgiving. I’m not sure if that’s true or not but I say that we didn’t! Ugh. Anyways Canada is better, sorry Americans. This one American family that we visit here always make Canadian stereotype jokes. Like the typical polar bear, igloo, maple syrup ones. I found myself often bringing up Tim Hortons in my stories which doesn’t help but I guess I am a true Canadian.
One of the things I miss most is music. I love music so much! I don’t have any of my own music yet but I bought a USB stick which every missionary has filled with music. So I will start to fill mine up. I really like the album PMG by James the Mormon. His music hypes me up to do missionary work haha. I also like a lot of other stuff. But if any one has music suggestions I am open to them!
I always thought that Belgium and the Netherlands wouldn’t be that different from each other but I was wrong. I haven’t even lived in the Netherlands yet but I can tell it is different, and E. Richards says how different they are too. The people here in Belgium really don’t like the Dutch people haha. They talk a lot of crap about them, usually about how they don’t speak the language properly or how they are such bad cooks or how they are so rude and direct. All kinds of stuff. I can't wait to go to the Netherlands and hear what they have to say about the Belgians. I think I will like the Dutch food even better than Belgian. Don’t get me wrong Belgian food is crazy good. But we go to the Dutch store sometimes to grocery shop for some specialty Dutch items that they don’t sell otherwise here in Belgium. Things like vla and cruesli and cassis. All good stuff. But the Dutch waffles don’t compare to the Belgian ones. The stereotype is true. Belgian waffles are super good and they also make really good chocolate. They have a chocolate company called Cote d’Or. They make some great stuff. Anyway when you combine the chocolate with the waffles it is to die for. They make really good pastries of all kinds. We often get croissants for lunch. We’ll get like 1 normal one and 2 ham and kaas [cheese] ones and then a dessert one like chocolate. All for a few dollars here in Belgium and it's great. We also pick up this juice called agrum juice it's pretty dope.
I really liked 2 Nephi 31 this week. It is a great chapter! I usually read in English during studies and then in Dutch at night and try to translate it in my head. It is going pretty good. Things are said slightly differently in the two languages so I enjoy reading the same thing because I can learn more. Anyways read that chapter.
Dutch word of the week is beloning which means reward. Funny story about this word. I was in a lesson and E. Richards used it and I didn’t know what it meant. It stood out to me because you pronounce it as bah-loan-ee. Yup just like the meat… it is so funny to me for some reason. Every time he says it in the lesson it is a serious moment and it makes me laugh.
Questions from home:
1. What did you learn this week in personal study?
2. Is your March 25th baptism still on track?
3. The missionaries in Argentina have to write their president every week, do you have to do that? Do you have any reports to make?
4. How is the bike riding? Do you bike a lot and are you building your muscles?
5. What does haring taste like (to people who eat it) and when do you think you try it, haha?
6. You are right, I love the video clips :) One question though, where is the front door of your apartment? I couldn’t see it on the tour! (I’m thinking it must be at the end of the hallway by the bedrooms and bathroom. Another question, are the toilet/sink and shower separate rooms?)
7. It is the Dutch election this week, have you heard anything about it yet?
2. Nope, its now April 8th, but its not because of him it's because of the branch here and how the buildings work with fonts and things. The video I uploaded with us playing ping pong is with the guy who is going to be baptized.
3. Ya we do, every missionary does that I think. I report some numbers but it's more about talking with the president and he usually responds.
4. Biking is so awesome, it makes me feel like a real misisonary! We bike aaaaaaaaalllll the time. We do a lot of biking. We bike to allllll of our appointments and also to the church and home a lot and to the station to catch trains and to get to stores. It's hard when we have to carry groceries. My legs are getting stronger really fast, it's already getting easier and easier and Elder Richards bikes pretty fast, he has a race fiets. We don't really ride through the Centrum often because it is bad on the bikes and its usually busy so it's faster to take the outside ring.
5. Mostly like onions, I'll try it sometime next transfer hopefully. It's not a thing here in Belgium.
6. It's next to the bathrorom door at the end of that hallway there. Yup you are right. Ya that's very common here, toilet is separate from everything else.
7. Ya but nobody talks about that here in Belgium. I saw some stuff when I went to Rijswijk a little while ago.
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| Windmill at dusk |
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| Taking photos in District Meeting |
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| Kapsalon: A Dutch dish with Turkish donair meat, french fries, cheese and salad topping |
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