Week 21: "Dude. You just kicked a hedgehog into a river."

Hey guys!

So I'll start off by saying that this week's quote will NOT be explained. All that needs to be known is 1) I was on exchanges with another elder, and we were in Leeuwarden 2) There are hedgehogs in the Netherlands 3) One was kicked off of a bridge.

That said, hedgehogs are undeniably cute, funny-looking little animals. Seriously. It sounds un-manly to say, but it's true.

This past week flew by. Last Tuesday, we got to go on splits with the zone leaders, Elder Muse and Elder Eastmond. It's funny -- they were companions in Groningen before Elder Eastmond headed down to Kortrijk to train me. Now, my mission 'dad' is my zone leader, and I'm serving in his favorite city. Go figure. Elder Muse and I went out and got a lot of work done that day. It was fun.

On Wednesday, we had exchanges with the elders to Heerenveen, another city in our district. The elders to Heerenveen work in Heerenveen itself and the surrounding cities -- primarily Leeuwarden. I worked with an elder from the group below mine (the same group as my companion). I have to say, the people in Friesland (the province that includes Heerenveen and Leeuwarden) have been some of the meanest I've encountered on my mission so far. We ran into this one guy, who was telling us that we can't share what we do because we can't *know* that it's true, we only think we do. Saying we were not intelligent and all that and other not nice stuff. We testified powerfully and from the heart, but we did so kindly. He was kind of stunned. Then he changed the direction of the conversation and said that people like us are "bad for the Netherlands" because the people don't want us. People aren't the nicest, and many don't want us. But we're out here to talk to the many to find the one.

Halloween! I can't believe it's Halloween. I remember last year's Halloween night so well -- hanging around BYU campus with two of my best friends. Oh, this year's Halloween night was so different -- being a missionary in the Netherlands, participating in a ward young adult activity that we were asked to go to. It was fun, but so different. We carved pumpkins and had some fun activities, led by the senior missionaries (who I ADORE). I dressed up as one of those Mormon missionaries. It was hilarious.

There actually isn't too much more to write this week! Elder Besendorfer and I have been working really hard to teach some new people. We've set a big goal for lessons to investigators next week -- it's something over ten. I usually don't find it appropriate to share or focus on numerical goals or achievements -- numbers don't matter, and every mission is different, but Bessie and I are working really hard to find "the one" who will listen sincerely. Anything over ten lessons in a week is serious success for us missionaries. But, I'm working harder than I ever have. We'll see success.

Hang in there, everyone. Stay great.

--Elder Bonney

This is from the Halloween activity. Elder Nelson (one of the other Groningen elders) and I were with two JoVos. We all made a rather gruesome Jack-o-Lantern, under their direction. Kijk eens aan.

Week 20: "Here, take this euro. TAKE IT."

October 28, 2013 

Hey, everybody!

This past week just flew by. Right after P-day ended a week ago, my companion and I boarded a train to Den Haag, where we spent the night with the Den Haag elders. The next day was temple conference -- all us missionaries (half at a time, because the Den Haag temple is pretty small) got to go to the temple, followed by a conference led by the APs and the mission president. Getting to go to the temple was a fantastic experience. Everything done inside was all in Dutch -- which I hadn't anticipated. Plus, it's the temple, which is always a wonderful place to be. One elder put it very well, when we were standing outside the temple afterwards. He said, "so many of the people here don't know how fortunate they are to have this little building in their country." So true.

This week was relatively slow when it comes to giving lessons and teaching new investigators. However, Elder Besendorfer and I worked our tails off, so I feel good about it. We found some new people to teach, and I'm getting to know my way around this big city. It really is a cool place. Still very rainy and very windy -- this morning, when riding our bikes to the church building to email, we got soaked in the rain. And we haven't even eaten BREAKFAST yet. The wind is still a demon. But, what can you do? Besides get very wet and have a windburned face.

Oh, serious note. Yesterday afternoon, I unfortunately caught a glimpse of one of Groningen's two red-light districts. It's sad, really. Something I always heard about, never really thought about. But they are there, and it's so sad and so..just..evil, you know? Prostitution should never be acceptable. Ever.

So story time, to brighten the mood! Yesterday evening, around 6 PM (oh, yesterday was daylight savings here in Europe, so it was even darker than usual), Elder Besendorfer (I'm going to start calling him Bessie for short; Besendorfer takes too long to type) and I were contacting people on the street by the centrum. First of all, Sunday evening is apparently date night, and that makes it hard. I mean, who wants to talk to two young guys on date night? (I'm slowly starting to forget what the word 'date' means, being a missionary for so long...) Anyways, we're out contacting, with not too much success. We're talking to this man, when this drunk black guy (I have no clue what his name is, but I've decided to call him Paul) comes up to us. He starts going OFF in Dutch. Here's a rough translation of our conversation:

---

Paul: "Hey, can you guys give me some money? I got nothing!"

Elder Bonney (that's me): "Sorry, we don't have anything to give you."

Paul: "Why not? Aren't you guys children of God?!"

Me: "Yeah, and you are also a child of God!"

Paul: "Really? Am I really a child of God?"

Me: "Oh, you are definitely a child of God."

Paul: *Aggressively* "So tell me -- is God white?"

Me: "I've..."

...Paul doesn't let me finish, starts going off on why I should give him money...

Paul: "You know, I'm more religious than you!"

Me: "What do you mean?"

Paul: "Because I'll give you my money. Here, take this euro. TAKE IT. It's all the money I have."

Me: "Hey, I don't want your money."

Paul: "Okay. You know, you guys are okay. I like you guys."

Then Paul got on one knee and bowed to us. We walked away awkwardly. Then he got up and started singing. Interesting guy.

---

We also walked up to two guys who said they didn't want to hear our "message about gay people." We told them our message was for everyone. They still declined. We left with a cheerful, "well, enjoy your evening!" then went to go teach one of our gay investigators. Yes, we have two of them, and no, they aren't associated with each other. And yes, they both believe with their whole hearts that the Book of Mormon is true and are willing (and have begun) to change their lifestyles. And yes, our message is for everyone.

Until next week. Loves!

--Elder Bonney

Me with one of my MTC buddies serving in Den Haag, Elder Cook.

 Me with Elder Blackhurst, who I've known for over a year now. There with me every step of the way.