Week 35: mijn spieren zijn dood

Goede Morgen,

Ya, it does [feel like summer is over], it is finally getting into the temperatures that I like and I can wear long sleeves somedays! Oh wow, it is still really hot there! I bet Jake enjoys that for football.

Oh ya that is cool, I always wondered that! [Emmen sits at 52 degrees north latitude, Lethbridge at 49 degrees]. Wow, I didn't realize I was that north! It is nice that it is cooling off but kinda sucks that the days are getting shorter because people don't like to talk when it is dark outside!

Ya, the Dutch is better now haha, also shorter! Ya honestly, in my BOM reading lately the words KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS have stood out a lot and I realize that everything we do depends if we keep the commandments. Also, if we do we have so many blessings and amazing things promised to us. So, ya, obedience is very important.

Well I had a real crap day on Tuesday, we had district meeting which was good. But then we had to travel a bunch and then travel to this far away dorpje to see an investigator. When we got to his door he wasn’t home and so we called him and he thought the appointment was for the next day. Lesson learned, ALWAYS call beforehand. Anyway, so then I remembered a potential we had found in the city and got his number. So I decided to call him. We had texted him a few times but never responded. He answered the call and said he would love to meet us and that he has time right now. He didn’t text us back because he didn't have the phone credit. So he gave us his address and we set out to find it. We were in a little dorp so I thought we could find a street called Stationstraat easy enough but let me tell you, we couldn't. We called him back a few times and his instructions were awful. We tried finding the street and asking people and they all pointed in a different direction. So after an hour and a half of walking in circles with no success we had to give up and look it up on the computer another day. At the end of the day we were doing some studies and this family in the ward calls and tell us how we were supposed to come over for dinner an hour ago.... I felt so bad after that, great way to end the day. Anyway, this person from Eindhoven called and he is an old guy who met Elder Nielsen. So he called me to tell me about it and it was a really nice chat. It was a great way to end the day.

On Thursday I think it was, I got to go on exchanges with Elder Geddes who is pretty cool. He came to Emmen for the exchange with me so that means I haven’t left Emmen for more than a few hours this entire transfer but I don't mind. On our exchange we didn't have anything to do and ended up looking up a few referrals we were assigned to look up. We biked from Emmen to a dorp called Emmer Compasscum to a place called Barger Compasscum and then back. It was a large triangle and was 32 kilometres, most of it into the wind. I enjoyed it though cause it was a good view and EG and I had good convos during the biking. When we got home I told him “mijn spieren zijn dood” with a laugh [my muscles are dead]. EG is a great missionary and in a group above others in his obedience!  He is a very good example for the rest of the district.

We also had the opportunity to do service for T again. We helped screw a fence together then took it to her garden where we made a path with tiles and sand. It was a big job!  I am glad dad taught me those skills! Also, she made us dinner, a soup. I loved it, it was full of veggies from her garden.  Missionaries cannot be picky eaters, it is important to learn to just eat the food. People say the gift of tongues is more than just languages, it’s also the ability to eat weird foods, haha.

Last thing. I gave my second talk in the transfer yesterday in church. My first one I felt like people weren't paying attention and I wanted them to this time. So I decided to tell a story and relate it to trials. It went well. It required some hard vocabulary but I did it okay. I was really nervous but all was well! I felt comfortable up there. People thanked me for my talk after which they always do, but it was nice.

Questions for the week:
1.  Did you talk in church recently? What was the subject and how did it go (did you shorten it from last time, jk)?
2.  Let me know when you have Zone Conference and if you got your parcel!
3.  How is the language coming along?  How did your goal go to speak Dutch this week?
4.  How is the training going?
5.  Did you go on splits this week?
6.  What did you learn about Dutch people this week?
7.  What did you learn about the Gospel or missionary work this week?
8.  I’m going to send you a birthday parcel in September sometime so that you will hopefully get it by your birthday. If there is anything specifically you’d like from home let me know.

1. Yes, haha, I did shorten it. Although it is really hard to stay under 10 mins. I ended up going I think 12.

2. Zone conference is this week on Thursday in Zoetermeer. It is the Elder Sabin conference so I am so excited, also to get my package!

3. Pretty decent, no I did and at my goal. I only did it a few times but I set the same goal for myself this week so I will try harder.

4. Ya, it’s alright.

5. Ya we went on exchanges, splits is with a member of the ward. Exchanges is with missionaries, but anyway, yup. The elder from Suriname is really cool as is the elder from Peru, they are comps and are both really good at soccer.

6. They have a really good ear for accents, like really. They always know that I am not from America when I speak English. I have been told so many times that I speak differently than my comps from America. It's so cool, I feel like American and Canadian English is pretty much the same but nope.

7. Ugh that’s a long question, I need to prepare in advance for... uh well preparing my talk I learned a lot about trials and found some good scriptures in the Bible. Just know that they are for our good and when you realize that it makes them easier to enjoy.

8. Sounds good about the package. I can’t think of anything I’d like... but I can start looking, haha.

The word of the week is Zoetermeer, which means sweet lake. It's also funny because it is where the temple is. So instead of the Salt Lake Temple we have the Sweet Lake Temple, cool.

Long letter his week! Love you lots.

Elder Fernhout

Week 34: Time is flying by in Emmen

Ya, this past week also went by really fast. I am feeling pretty good here in Emmen now. It starts in 3 weeks, I think [school in the Netherlands]. There was like 20 people in church yesterday; everyone is gone, a lot of people are in Germany. But even though there was no one in church we got a loooooot of dinner appointments. It was awesome. Ah, I remember going to that restaurant in Nevada like forever ago [Blue Iguana]! I loved it! Ya, driving 11 hours you could go to so many places here! They think that 3 hours is a really long drive then I tell them how far we drive and they are surprised, haha.

Ya, I made it really quickly to all four countries, it’s awesome. No, no passports [are required] at all [when crossing borders]. Thanks for the pizza dough recipe!

We met with a less active this week from Scotland and he is so cool. He told us a bunch of stories from his life that I really enjoyed hearing about. He said he’ll have us over and make us a meal soon. On the way to his house we biked through really nice country side around Emmen, I took some pics.

Just the usual questions this week:
1.  Can you take some photos of you and your companion out and about in Emmen?
2.  What Dutch church materials do you use to prepare your talks?  Does the Liahona come in Dutch?
3.  How is it going teaching your other investigators?
4.  Did you have many dinner appointments this week?
5.  What was the best thing about your week?
6.  How is your Dutch coming along?
7.  How is ER doing?
8.  Where/when is your next Zone Conference?  (maybe you will get your parcel!)

1. I did take some more this week.

2. Whatever we can, Liahona and scriptures and Preach My Gospel mainly. Ya, it does.

3. Great, Tea is getting into the BOM and has some questions. We just got another investigator and his mum. They are refuges and want to be baptized and are so cool. I can’t wait to go back. They made us a huge lunch and they didn't even know us. Just super nice, humble people. I don't have much time now to write but I will tell more about them later.

4. This past week was alright but next week is gonna be great. I haven't had stamppot yet though.

5. Probably those new investigators, they were referrals and like I said really cool.

6. Pretty good, my weekly goal is to only speak Dutch. The hard part is remembering to speak only it.

7. Decent. Dutch is slowly coming and he has a great knowledge of things which is helpful when our investigators ask us super deep doctrinal questions.

8. It is next week I think on Thursday, not quite sure though.  I think it'll probs be there.

Okay well word is trekken, which in its singular form is trek.  I think it’s funny because trek in English is like what the pioneers did when they pulled their handcarts and trekken means to pull in Dutch. It’s pronounced the same.

Biking through the beautiful countryside of Emmen 

Biking by the Scotsman

Dorpje of Ter Apel

Choose Jesus 

Some of the missionaries in the zone

Week 33: Goeie Dag

Okay, so we had a pretty slow week but still had cool things happen like they always do on a mission. Emmen is famous for its zoo but what's cool is they used to have it in 2 parts. They decided to make it all into one part so the old part is in the centrum and is called the Oude Dierenpark now, which just means old zoo pretty much. So we went to check it out and it is now just a park you can walk around and it is really cool because all of the exhibits are still there but just without the animals. You can go into the lion pit and walk around the cool monkey area. A lot of people are always there so we try to get in some good street contacting. Probably the best thing that happened this week was I saw a puppy and not just any puppy, a super cute one. We were walking down the street and just in front of us was this puff ball of a dog and it looked like a young Porter so I asked him if it was an Alaskan Malamute and he said yes! He has only had it 3 days but it is a few months old I think. It was so so so soft and playful and just a happy dog. So I had to take a few photos with it.

On Tuesday we got haircuts by a member of the ward. They also fed us. Then they fed us again yesterday and then again this week. They are so so awesome! Anyway, the mum cut our hair and did a great job, it was getting quite long. We also went on exchanges this week. I stayed in Emmen with Elder Robinson from Boston, he is a greenie. And Elder Rytting went to Zwolle with our district leader Elder Geddes. It was cool, Elder Robinson is really chill and quite.  We did service for an investigator. We worked in her garden for a few hours, digging a trench to put tiles in it so the frambois roots don’t go everywhere. That took a while but I really enjoyed it!  It feels great to do some physical work. The investigator is also really super nice.  She’s an older lady who loves her garden! We borrowed a trench digging tool from another neighbour and he came to check the progress. He saw my Canadian shirt and asked if I was from Canada. I said yes and that I'm from Alberta. He told me he had a brother living in Lethbridge! I was so surprised, I was like, ya well that’s right where I am from. Haha, it was crazy so we talked a bit about Canada. It was awesome to have that connection, so weird too because both cities, Emmen and Lethbridge are so small!

Anyway, the best lesson we had this week was with an investigator we have and her 19 yo daughter.  They both want to be baptized and are well on their way to being gedoopt.  We went over for a lesson and they had lunch for us. After lunch I went to pull out my BOM for the lesson and they were like yay! a lesson! because the other elders only really came over to talk and eat and be friends which they said was nice but they also really wanted lessons and knowledge! It was really cool to see how much they wanted to hear our message. We had a great lesson and they asked a lot of good questions. We have another lesson with them today actually.

The word of the week is bloem, which means flower. I like it cause it is pronounced bloom, which just makes me think of a flower. It is a pretty word.

Questions for the week:
1.  How is the missionary work going?
2.  Did you speak again in church today or next week?  What do you do at church?
3.  Have you gotten to know the members at church better?
4.  Any dinner appointments this week? Is Dutch food different than Belgian?
5.  Are people nice to you generally?
6.  What do you do for service in Emmen?
7.  Any gospel insights or thoughts you have had recently?
8.  How is the training going?
9.  Any interesting cultural insights?

1. Decent. Asking for referrals and doing street contacting, but we work a lot with the people we know and a few less actives.

2. ER did yesterday, I will next week. Yesterday I was able to just sit and listen to all the classes without having to teach. I went to Sacrament meeting and then Sunday School and then Priesthood.

3. Oh ya, it is going great. Although it is vacation season and usually the ward is 2 times as big so I only know about half the members.

4. Ya we do, a few actually it'll be a good week. Yup and yup but both have different things that I like better. We did manage to find my favourite Belgian sauce here in the Netherlands though!

5. Ya they are, people in Emmen like us.

6. Last week we just helped out Tea in her garden, we usually do that once a week for a bit.

7. Good, better and best. This is something hard about being a missionary. At home you are on the right path and feel good about yourself when you choose good over bad, but as a missionary you feel bad when you choose good because you should be at better and it is really easy to choose good. But I feel bad when I know I can being doing the best out here. So lately I have been trying to take things to the next level to get to the BEST.

8. Good.

9. Not really, just that Europeans like Canadians better than Americans and I am so happy to be a Canadian!

Germany/Netherlands border

beautiful countryside

evening sky over Emmen

Alaskan Malamute puppy

Week 32: Hoi from Emmen

Hello,

Week was good. The ongoing struggle to find a good way to find people in Emmen continues. Usually if you have free time you can jsut go knock some doors but you can't do that here. The town is so small that it's been done so many times already! So we did try to use a banner but it's not very sturdy and the slightest bit of wind will make it fall so we had to hold it up.  Anyway, we are still looking how we can effectively fill extra time. Something that I've noticed about Emmen though is that the people here are really nice, at least compared to Brugge. In Brugge people would never say 'hello' back if you say something to them, a lot of the time they wouldn't even look at you. Here half the time people say 'hi' to us first and they are always smiling back too. I found out something cool yesterday at church. I was talking with the branch president's wife and I told her I was from Canada and she told me somehting cool about Vancouver. So there is a place near Emmen called Coevorden. and a looooong time ago people from that little town went over to Canada and established Vancouver. If you look at the word Vancouver is makes sense because "van" in Dutch means of or from and "couver" comes from coevorden. So cool! That can be the Dutch word of the week.

Oo pizza sounds good, for some reason pizza is really expensive here. We should try making it because homemade is the best. There is decent shopping here but nothing like Amsterdam or even Brugge.

Questions:   
1.  Do you have pictures to send this week? 
2.  How is the training going?  
3.  Did you find a place to get a haircut in Emmen?
4.  Do you cover any small towns?  Have you been to any?
5.  So you are learning the guitar?!  
6.  Is the language very different?  Are you picking up the accent?
7.  How is the ward?  
8.  How are Dutch people different than Belgians?
9.  Let me know what size Lululemon pants to send you and anything else you need. 
10.  Is the food very different in Holland?
11.  What have you learned this week about yourself or the Gospel?

1.  Yup, I included them.  Sorry, forgot the apartment ones again.  

2. Good, ER is doing well. His Dutch is slowly coming and he's got a bike now.

3. I just got off the phone 5 mins ago and arranged one with some of the members, haha.

4. Ya we do, a lot actually. No, but we might check them out this week

5. Yes haha. It's comign pretty good too. I'd say it was Elder Richards because he was really good and it was cool and fun to sing and listen to the songs. One of the elders was dying [mission lingo for going home] and gave it to me for free.

6. Ya it is, but it is a lot easier to understand!

7. Really small right now because everyone is on vacation! The ward here in Emmen is famous in the mission for being really cool and good and it's true they are all aweosme. Usually the elders here are fed every day but with so many people gone we have like 1 or 2 this week. Ya, we help out a bit. I've blessed the sacrament 2 weeks in a row now and besides giving a talk last week I gave the Young Men's lesson yesterday and in 2 weeks will speak again in church.

8. It's hard to explain.  Well this is kinda off topic but it's funny. Yesterday was testimony meeting and this new guy got up to bear his and mid way through he said, as you can already probably tell I am from Rotterdam and the whole ward laughed cause it was just so obvious from his accent that he was from there. I think it's so cool how people just immediatly know where you are from. But uh the Dutch people are different in many ways, one of them is that they bike a lot more. They also really like to out and about, on the streets walking around, just doing stuff.  Belgians are more inside and chilling.

9. Metal collar stays would be nice, uh, i'll have to check my size I forget.

10. Ya the mayo is not as good, haha, and neither are the fries and they don't have as many waffles, like none actually. Well, I have had a bunch of stoopwafels but those are a lot different.  Also, the Vla here is great and so many things actaully, the food is a lot different.  Oh and cheaper here too which is real nice!

11. That it doesn't matter what you say to people when you begin to contact them as a missioanry. If they are going to accept it they are going to accept it. There are people out there searching for the gospel and we are here to find those people, not to convince the people who aren't ready to be converted. But in that process we find a lot of people who are not prepared and are not willing to talk. But that's jsut part of being a missioanry and when you find someine who is ready it makes it all worth it.

Canada flowers

flat, flat, flat

normal day of work in Emmen

countryside

just flat 

nice street

Week 31: Transfer to Emmen

So, yes I now have a new companion and his name is Elder Rytting from Lindon, Utah. He's cool, we should have a good transfer or what is probably going to be 2. Getting from Brugge to Leiden and then to Emmen was a huge pain. Started with me sleeping in Antwerpen and we got there late cause our correlation meeting went late. So I left there and it was in Gent so I traveled back to Brugge then I had to pick up my bike from Bro Pace cause he fixed it because Elder Steele broke it. Anyway, that's another story. So we got the bike, then got my bags from the apartment and rushed to the bus station to get to the train station. I managed to fit everything into my one big bag so I only had to deal with the one bag. Problem is that it was 100 lbs! I also had to carry a bike and 2 backpacks and also a guitar without a case. Then I got to Gent and picked up another elder who was also heading to Antwerpen. We met in Gent and I had to say a sad goodbye to EF. It was a great 2 transfers buddy! The other Elder I was with had more bags than he alone could carry so it was not fun to get all of our stuff around. In Antwerpen we met the ZLs [zone leaders] who took us to the apartment for the night. It hasn’t been used for a transfer so there was nothing in it and I was so so so hungry cause I didn't have time to eat but there was no food. The elder I was with was carrying around a can of peaches though so we had that, haha. The next morning I woke up at 5 am and we got ready and left. Still no food. As I was taking my big bag down the stairs it got away from me and rolled down the stairs and hit the wall, the metal handle on it broke so the rest of the day I had to carry it weird and I ended up getting huge bruises on my calves where it hit me all day. I also had to wear a suit and it was hot and we had to run a lot too, going from train to train, then we got to Leiden late. Anyway, that's where I picked up ER. We traveled from there to Emmen which is also really far from Leiden like Brugge is. Thankfully he didn't have a bike. We also got kicked off a train for not having a bike pass at one point and we got home at about 9:30 at night. A very long hard day to say the least. Okay, now that my complaining is out of the way I can continue. No, wait I have more, sorry.

So we get to the apartment and the elders who were here before left a mess, so much crap and clothes. I went around with a garbage bag and filled 3 of them with stuff! 3! It looks a lot better now. Also when an area is white washed they are supposed to leave a little book about the area and the people and things like where to get haircuts. They didn't do that.... all they did was write a few things on the whiteboard and nothing else. So that was not nice at all! We were so confused and still kinda are, haah. Also, there was a paper on the board saying that one of us had to give a talk on Sunday… that was in 3 days. So I had to prepare cause I wasn't going to have my greenie do it. It turned out to be not so bad though cause I enjoyed studying and preparing for it during my study time. It made studies more meaningful because I had a purpose and was gathering information and stuff. I was so afraid it was going to be too short though! I was more worried about that than the language. And because I can’t speak too great I used a lot of sections from a talk I found in the Liahona and from the scriptures, haha. I never did time my talk though. So yesterday I go up there to give it and it was going great. I wrote it in English and translated it on the spot, I thought that would be easiest and it worked well. Then after a bit one of the councillors tapped me and told me to save time for the others, so I wrapped up quick and sat down. I had ER time me and I was speaking for 20 mins!!! I couldn't believe it, I was so embarrassed, they had to cut out one of the speakers! Great way to introduce myself to the ward. They gave me another paper and I have to speak again in 3 weeks, it'll go better this time though! 10 mins is so short though!

The rumours about Emmen is that the ward is really awesome, and it’s true, they are really cool. After church this family asked us over for a bbq so natuurlijk we said yes. So in the ward there's this old couple and their 3 kids and their spouses and kids. Just them makes up half the ward. They were all at the bbq and we got to know them and it was awesome, they are all so cool and fun. Also the dying missionary [not really dying, but done with his mission] who just left Emmen was there with his parents. So we got to talk to him a bit and ask him questions. We had a good time us all!  They live in Germany because it's cheaper and really really close, so I have made it into the 4 country club now! They drove us back home after which was nice so we didn't have to use the buses. My greenie doesn't have a bike yet so we do a lot of walking.

Ok, I’m really interested to hear about Emmen!  Here are my questions:
1.  What were your first impressions of Emmen? 
2.  How did it go picking your new companion up in Leiden?  28 new elders is so many!
3.  Did you get see Elder Nielsen this week at all? 
4.  Where did you end up staying the night before you went to the mission office?
5.  How is the ward in Emmen? How was your first Sunday?
6.  How different is the accent? Can you understand the people okay and can they understand you?  
7.  How is it going whitewashing the area?  
8.  Are you in an apartment?  What is it like?  
9.  In what city are the next closest missionaries?  Is your district and zone very big?
10.  Does the church have a computer?  Is that where you will write from?

1. The train to get here showed us a lot of nice counrty side, it felt really really nice to have no sound around us and just open fields. So I enjoy that. Also I thought Belgium was really flat, but somehow it is flatter here. I can't explain it, it is just so so flat.

2. answered

3. No! but I met his MTC comp who is really cool. Also, now Matt and I are in the same country it is cheaper to text him so I did that a little.

4. answered

5. haha, also answered

6. Ya it's coming okay. Its easy cause it’s not Bruggs, which is the Brugge accent, but it’s hard because I have to adjust to a new accent. I'm doing pretty okay though. In a week I should be fine. Ya they understand me. They can easily tell I served in Belgium. They say I have a Belgian/English accent, haha.

7. Pretty rough actually. The other elders didn't leave much help and so I am not sure what to do all day cause all the other elders who served here told me the same thing and that was to not go door knocking. First because it's been done like a thousand times already and 2 Emmen is the JW home base for Europe.

8. The apartment is really nice. Ya, I’ll send pics for next week. It is in an old folks home so it’s quiet and big. It's one of the best ones in the mission. Also the walls are super solid so we can play music pretty loud. We are on the main floor and there is no one below us so we can do workouts and stuff and don't need to worry about that.

9. Zwolle is next closest. Ya, our district is decent. About 11 missionaries I think, it's an odd number cause there is a 3 man companionship.

10. Yes, but only 1 so we are at the library now.

Oh and a funny story to end off. So when we first got there and I was cleaning up I saw a jug of water. So I put it in the fridge for later. Then the next day we got groceries and one of the things we got was syrup stuff to flavour your water. When we got home I poured a glass of nice cold water and put a bunch of the syrup in. I took a big gulp and I thought I was going to die. I put the cup down and sat down on a chair and just breathed for a bit. I was in so much pain, it tasted like I drank acid! My throat was in so much pain. ER thought I was joking so he also took a big sip from his and right away spit it out. We wondered why the syrup tasted so bad! Maybe it had gone bad? Maybe we put too much in? So we did it again with about half the amount of syrup, again it was bad! Worse actually! So I thought the cup was contaminated with the syrup and got a new cup. I needed to rinse my mouth out so I poured just a cup of water and this time it was also awful!!! I was so confused! It was about at that point, 3 gulps later that I realized that what I thought was water was actually vinegar, haha. We felt so stupid. There’s got to be a good lesson there. Mum, your always good at relating those things... but ya, we had some good laughs and still are.

Anyway that's all, love you lots

Elder Fernhout

The church in Emmen

Flowers in Emmen

Elder Steele with Elder Fernhout's bike

Cool shot of Elder Furniss

Visiting members before leaving Brugge

More visits with members he will miss

Studying for his talk

Bowling with the District in Gent

SaveSaveSaveSave

Week 30: Knokke and Transfer Calls!

I was so nervous before transfer calls this time! More so than usual.  It's like a new mission call every transfer.  Anyway, we waited and everyone else in the district got their calls but not us. Then the APs [Assistants to the President] called which is not normal because usually the ZLs [Zone Leaders] call. So I was pretty sure EF was going to train. They gave him his call first and his next companion is a missionary who is serving in Gent right now, Elder Van Der Werff.  So he is coming over to Brugge to be comps with EF and then it was my turn.  Elder Mackay, one of the APs told me that a lot of prayer went into this decision and right then I knew it was not going to be in a normal missionary place. He told me that I am being transferred to Emmen. Which is really far north and on the German border! I also don't know who my next companion is because I will be training again. So I will be white washing it, which means the 2 missionaries who were there both leave and 2 new ones come in.  So that's exciting.

Yes Gma Purdy!!! 101 that's so cool. Maddie and Jackie are so fun, that's awesome. I went on exchanges again this week to Brussels. I was there with Elder Torrie from Utah. We played a game of Monopoly to the end and it reminded me of playing Monopoly with my cousins. It was fun.

Questions:
1.  What is happening with transfers?
2.  Did you have a zone conference?
3.  How was your week?
4.  Who does your apartment inspections?  I’m glad to hear you are keeping the apartment tidy.
5.  It looks like your pants are getting loose, are you losing a lot of weight?

1. Answered

2. No, already had it this transfer.

3. Good, slow week again, but we had fun. Almost put another investigator on baptismal date but he dropped the appointment at the last second. But we looked up some referrals and less actives in Knokke which is the top of the Belgian coast and it's a really nice, rich area so we checked it out a bit.

4. The senior couple in the area.

5. Actually ya, haha. My dark grey ones are huge on me but we don't have a scale so I can't tell if I am or not.

I can't think of a good word for the week, sorry.

Elder Fernhout

Knokke

Mural in Oostende

Concert in Brugge Centrum

Week 29: Koksijde, Ijs, and .... France

So some things about the week... We had a great appointment with a less active and his non-member girlfriend who sat in. She is interested and then yesterday, he came to church! He called Sunday morning and said he wanted to come and wanted me to see if anyone could drive him, so I figured it out quick and he was there!

We were biking through the centrum and there's this spot where we are often spotted by tourist members. We had just finished a dinner appointment  and we wanted ijs, so we decided to go get it at our favourite place. We drove past the corner where we are often spotted and sure enough we hear "hey, elders."  It was an older couple standing in line at another ijs place. So we stopped and talked and right when we got up to them the husband turns around and fiddles with his wallet and then comes over and shoves money into our pockets.  I looked later and he gave us each 30 Euro! So nice. Oh and they also bought us ijs, haha! They were super nice people.

We had apartment checks this week so we made the apartment all nice and neat for the inspection. It didn't take much time though cause we live pretty clean, EF and I keep it nice. We passed it just fine.

We were door knocking one day and were getting kinda sick of it so we went to the near by basketball court to see if anyone was there and there were 3 people.  I was nervous to ask but I know when something is scary, something good ends up happening and there's nothing to be afraid of. Besides EF is good at basketball.  So I went and asked and they were like "ya, sure." We played a few different games that we knew, then 2 of them left and we played bit longer. Another tall dude came and he asked where we were from and after I told him Canada he said he used to live there. I asked where and he said Edmonton, Alberta! Haha, so cool. He was cool and we exchanged numbers so we can play again. It was loads of fun.

There are these stores called Kringloop Winkels that are like thrift stores and are super cool; you can get some good stuff there. I got a cool mug that you stick in the freezer; now when I have a drink I take it out and it's so nice! Right now is sale season here. I don't know if it's all of Europe but in the mission area the 2 countries are only allowed to have sales 2 times a year for some reason, so right now is one of them and aaaaalll the stores are 50 or more percent off. So this is the time when missionaries buy a lot of clothes. I have some good stuff but might get something, idk. It ends at the end of the month.

Questions:
1.  question about a picture from a couple of weeks ago: why are you holding up a huge sign with the Church’s name on it? It looks like you are making the missionary work fun over there, I'm glad :)
2.  Google drive says only 979 MB of 15 GB have been used, shouldn’t you have lots of room left?
3.  what did you do this week?  any funny stories?
4.  how is the work coming along? have you found any new people to teach?
5.  how is the ward in Gent?  do you ride with members to get there or take public transportation?
6.  what was the best thing about this week?
7.  what was the worst thing?
8.  any dinner appointments?  is it easy to grocery shop in Belgium?

1. haha, we cleaned out the Brugge church and we saw that and asked if we could take it and put it up in the apartment so I had to carry it on the bike home. Thought I'd take a funny picture with it first. It's a parking sign, btw.

2. no trust me it's full!

3. we went to France hahaah. We had a refferal to look up in a city that is a 15 min bike to France so we took our bikes with us and off we went. I took a few photos but can't upload them now, will do it tomorrow though! We kinda got lost and ended up getting stuck in sand with our bikes in the middle of nowhere and then my chain fell off and it was not fun but we got through it and it actually was fun.

4. nope haven't found anyone new in weeks.... jammer genoeg. we teach a decent amount though.

5. good, we had a munch and mingle yesterday after the service so that was fun. we take the train and tram.

6. France, or the members we met or our dinner appointment with the ward mission leader, or golfing in Koksijde.

7. not knowing where the freak I am going next transfer and the possibility of getting a bad comp... but I'm confident I could make any companionship work. Some just take more work than others. Also, the work was not that great this week... real sloww.

8. the dinner appointment with our ward mission leader and one other where we had a pannenkoeken party. Our ward mission leader is from Suriname and all the other missionaries say Suriname food is the best so I asked him to make it for us and he (and his wife) did and let me tell you it really is super delicious! The dish we had was called roti and it's really simple but so good. I must learn to make it! It made me jealous of the Suriname missionaries. Ya shopping isn't too bad. It's a weird feeling to walk into the stores here like it's a normal thing. I know all the products just fine and all.

Oh, I am gonna miss being able to wear the badge! [responding to a comment I made]

Word is alle which I think is French actuallly but they use it all the time, like alll the time, it's hilarious. It's a filler word you use when you forget something or mess up a sentence or someone cuts you off biking or anything really. It's awesome. They say you speak Flemish when you use alle properly. Pronounced ah-lay.

and this belgian computer blocks that dutch website page, haha.

Loves Elder Fernhout

stuck in the sand

wait, is this in the mission?

not seeing the bike lanes ...

visit to Koksijde

new shoes

member family in Brugge

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