Week 32: "Elder, I don't think we have any more food."

January 20, 2014

Hey, guys. So... I don't have very much email time today -- we spent the whole morning doing the bi-annual missionary apartment "deep clean," and p-day time is slowly ticking down. And, I'll be honest -- I want to have time to go out and take advantage of these European blow-out winter sales. You know me.

Yes, we ran out of food this week! Sort of. Somehow, we didn't shop smartly enough, and our food supply hit almost rock bottom. We got creative and survived, but that moment of realization that we had almost nothing left was pretty sad. It was a learning experience, to be sure.

This past week has gone by pretty quickly. Elder Robbins and I are always on the move -- always out going somewhere, talking to someone, doing something. I've never been so busy in my entire mission. We've decided that this transfer is the transfer to go all out, to just work ourselves as hard as we can. We've talked to so many people and taught so many lessons in the past week. I'm pretty exhausted, I'll be honest. And, I don't think Lelystad knows what just hit it, either.

Last Friday, my companion and I had the opportunity of working with a member of the Lelystad branch who is preparing to go on a mission. He worked most the day Friday with us. It made me look back on when I was getting ready to go -- last week, a year ago, I received my mission call: "You are assigned to labor in the Belgium/Netherlands mission." Now, missionary work feels second nature. It's who I am right now. And that piece of paper foreshadowed the two years that will - and are - changing my life forever. What an opportunity. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

I'd love to share a funny story or two, a cool experience, or a spiritual insight, but it's time for me to wrap this up. However, my whole mission -- from my three months down south in Kortrijk to three I spent up north in Groningen to the time I've been spending here in Lelystad -- has been an enriching, fulfilling, incomparable adventure. And, next week, I'll be back with more. Because my two-year long journey is far from over.

--Elder Bonney