December 30, 2013
One of my favorite Christmas songs is "Little Drummer Boy." (Especially when Josh Groban sings it, but that's irrelevant.) I always imagine this poor little guy, who wants to bring a gift to the Savior, but has nothing to give. He does have a drum, though. And while he doesn't think that it is an appropriate gift for the Savior, he decides to do the one thing he can do -- play his drum. He plays his drum for the baby Jesus. He gives the one thing he knows that he can.
That's how it is with me. I don't have a lot to give. In the grand scheme of things, I haven't accomplished that much in my life. I don't have an appropriate gift for the Savior. But, I can give my time and energy. I can sacrifice a couple years of my life as a gift. But even then, I guess it isn't really a gift -- it's more of an expression of gratitude, trying to repay an unpayable debt. And you know what? I'm still getting even more out of my mission than I'm putting into it. Fortunately, the Lord doesn't ask us to repay Him. He just asks us to do the best we can with what He's given us. To play the best beats with the drums that He's given us. I don't know about everyone else, but I'm going to stay out here for a little more time, trying to beat out some nice rhythms.
Remember our investigator who was baptized into another church? Well, we had an appointment with her on Monday. Words can't even describe... Sometime during the appointment, she prayed to know the truth. She told us that this is what she needs to do. She knows that it's true. We've met with her three times since then, and she's on track to be baptized in a couple weeks. The honest seeker of truth will find it.
I had my first Christmas away from home! It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Also, the weather was surprisingly nice on Christmas (Christmas Eve had awful weather -- serious wind and rain -- but Christmas had clear skies). The ward in Groningen is apparently known for giving gifts to their missionaries. After the Christmas program, we went into the room where there was food and snacks, and, underneath the tree, there was a mound of gifts for me, Elder Nelson, and the sister missionaries. I think I got around fifteen gifts from the ward. A lot of chocolate and socks, that's for sure. I really appreciate the ward's generosity and desire for a fatter Elder Bonney with warm feet.
We spent Christmas evening with some members from our ward who were kind enough to let us Skype our families there. Skyping was good. It was like I was back home for a few fleeting minutes. We also had a delicious Christmas dinner with the members. It was a nice Christmas.
On Second Christmas (yes, that's a thing in Europe), we sang at an old people's home as a zone. It was uplifting. I got to see Elder Blackhurst, who I knew at BYU. It was cool seeing him, especially since it's been just about a year since we opened our calls. Time goes quickly.
Oh. During an appointment this week, I was asking an investigator how many paths God has for us. (Spoiler alert: correct answer is one.) In Dutch, there are two words -- "het pad," which means "the path," and "de pad," which means "the toad." I knew that. However, when these words are pluralized, things change. Which I didn't really know. Generally, if such a word were to be pluralized, the plural would be "de padden." (All plurals are always "de" words.) But, when you pluralize "het pad" ('the path"), it becomes "de paden" (yes, it's pronounced differently than "de padden," with two d's). "De padden" means "the toads." Long story short, I had a confused investigator wondering why I was asking about God and His toads.
Keep playing those drums.
--Elder Bonney
PS -- First picture is me with "Tex" Baptiste, the oldest member of Groningen ward at 96. He's a stud. We visited him on Christmas. Second picture is me with Elder Blackhurst, who's been with me since the very beginning, long ago, at BYU. How far we've come.
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