Nicholas Fernhout in the Belgium/Netherlands Mission: Week 55: Zoetermeer to Alkmaar

I will begin at last pday. We had a lesson in the middle of pday because Elder Ballard and I are consecrated like that. It fell through though so that was rough. I didn’t get to say goodbye to the investigator, but oh well. That night we had correlation at Dave's house as usual [Dave is the ward mission leader]. We ended with a game which was fun. Oh I almost forgot, Dave took us out bowling too! It was great. I won the first game, he won the next, then tied for first the third. It was fun, they had some pop songs playing which was really weird to listen to. Tuesday we had our last district meeting. After we took a bunch of pics then went out to lunch, then took more pics. Later on Tuesday Elder Ballard got ill, same as what I had, so we stayed home and took it easy.

Though we did have an appointment with A and F, my favourite investigators in Zoetermeer. It went super well and at the end of the appointment, I asked A to pray though he declined. So I said the prayer then after he says, can I say something? Then he quickly says some things in Turkish. Afterwards he told us that he just prayed if this is the right church and if he should be baptized. It was so humble and perfect! That’s what I love about missionary work, we don’t convert people, we don’t have to convince people we are right or that the BoM is true. We just have them pray to ask God if it is true. So yes, I was so happy for A to take that step. It was sad to say goodbye to him and F. But I know Ballard is a solid missionary and I have no doubt he will do a great job with them.

I came home and packed up all my things. I thought with Christmas I was going to have a really hard time fitting it all into my 2 bags, but in the end I had more space than when I came to Zoetermeer. I don’t know how, I must have packed really well I guess… so that was nice. What's nicer is that Dave offered to drive up my bags to Alkmaar from Zoetermeer. So on Wednesday morning he came and picked them up and I took my bike on the train and met Elder Crow in Amsterdam. We then traveled to Alkmaar where I met Dave at the apartment. It was the best transfer day ever cause it was so easy. I didn’t have to carry anything really, just super chill and I usually hate transfer day. So I am so appreciative for Dave. Not only that but he then took us out to Burger King for lunch after. Elder Crow is like who is this guy!? I didn't even unpack but we went straight into things. We had an appointment and that night and we knocked doors right until 9:00 pm. I was still feeling really sick all these days. Alkmaar is a lot rainier, darker, and colder than Zoetermeer! I haven't seen sun for 4 days.

On Thursday we had a busy day. After studies we hit up our scour area for a few hours and found a new investigator, a cool young Dutch dude. We also had a dinner appointment with this lady who is from Brazil. She is an active member but her husband is a nonmember, as well as her 2 kids. We took a bus close to their house then he picked us up with a car to take us to their home. I loved it so much! First of all, when I heard she was from Brazil, I was like, well great, I just lived with a Brazilian for 3 months, so I spoke Portuguese with her and she thought it was great. The family owns and runs a tulip farm, how Dutch is that! We talked about that a lot too. They fed us fish. I was worried about it but it turned out to be delicious. Afterwards, they gave us a bouquet of tulips to take home, I took pics. I felt like Sister M appreciated us being in her home so much. It was great being there. Apparently the missionaries haven't visited much, but they must have liked us because they made a return dinner for this next week. They heard I haven’t had herring yet and want me to do it, so ya, that's gonna happen this next week. Yay.

Friday we had a DLC [District Leader Conference] meeting in the Amsterdam church. It was just with the other 2 DL [district leaders] in the zone and with the sister training leaders, as well as the ZLs [zone leaders]. We talked about the zone and how to help them out and get some fun things in this transfer. Oh, also one of the coolest things to happen this week was when we were on the bus to go to the M family. We got a call and it was for me from the Provo MTC. I was super confused but I took the phone from Elder Crow and all I hear is, “Elder Fernhout, this is your Father,” haha, it was Elder Richards. He works at the referral centre in the MTC and he had to call us to talk about some referrals. Apparently, our mission gets the most referrals in the entire world and Alkmaar gets a lot! So we had a bit of a cool convo then talked about the referrals. It was honestly just so nice to talk with him for a bit. It has been a long while since I heard his voice, haha.

Saturday we had a good appointment with this older couple in the ward. I told them I’m from Alberta and they were like, oh we know people living in Lethbridge, I told them I'm from Lethbridge! They know a family Joosten I think it was, and a familie Schwur or so.

Sunday was cool, I got to meet the ward. Well, it is actually a branch. The mission loves putting me in the little branches, haha. Anyway, it was cool to meet them. The branch here is full, I mean full, of old people. It’s like having a ward full of gmas and gpas. It’s great, actually they are so kind. We got a lot of dinner apps.

Then last night we went by one of our investigators houses and he had 2 friends over. We talked about some random things. They said they play ping pong a lot and I was like no way, I love ping pong. So we set up a real app for Wednesday to talk about the BOM then a ping pong app for today. I am so excited. We clicked really well which I was happy about. So today is gonna be a great day! A lot of other things happened too! Elder Crow is a very hard working guy. He is just chill and fun to be around and loves the outdoors. It’ll be a good transfer.

Questions:
1. How are you feeling?
2. How did your transfer to Alkmaar go?
3. What are your first impressions of Alkmaar? What is your new area like?
4. What is the branch like?
5. Is the accent different?
6. How will you get around, public transport or bike?
7. Do you have much in common with Elder Crow?
8. Will you have many dinner appointments or will you have to prepare meals?

1. Good
2. Really good
3. Cold, old people, reminds me a bit of Brugge, pretty, feels like a home though.
4. Older, kind, strong
5. Not really, they speak very normal Dutch, although some older people can be hard to understand
6. BIKING!!! lots of it
7. He is chill, really good at guitar so I will be able to learn lots form him. He actually writes his own songs, super cool.
8. We only have one day without a dinner app. We even have 2 in one day on Friday. Also, Elder Crow is a great cook! It's gonna be great. We have a Mexican meal planned for then.

That is all, love, Elder Fernhout