June 9, 2014
This week has been jam-packed. My comments about how fast the weeks go by are becoming too cliché, though, so just start assuming that the week has gone by so quickly, you're lucky that I can think of something to send...
I remembered why I don't like playing soccer. After emailing last week, the four of us Lelystad elders joined the four Almere elders, and we went to go play some sports. We started off with some basketball (something I have been missing), then moved on to soccer. We were playing with some young Surinamer boys, too. As an experienced bad soccer player, I know that the members of the team frequently decide to put the worst player as goalie. Bad idea. The Suriname kids scored most the goals, too... older American kids and young, thuggin' Surinamers? Fortunately, my team had the better Suriname kid, so that made up for my lack of soccer skill.
Speaking of soccer... everyone here is freaking out about the World Cup. Orange is the national Dutch color... and there is ORANGE EVERYWHERE. For real. Some people have covered their front lawns with orange felt. Don't ask, I don't get it either.
On Tuesday, we were on the exchanges with the zone leaders. I stayed in Lelystad and worked with Elder Muse (who has been my zone leader for about half of my mission in two different zones). We had an unforgettable day. We were knocking doors in one area, and these HUGE dogs started barking. Nothing unusual. No owners were home. Suddenly, one dog jumps up, and hits the door handle. Elder Muse starts to comment about how the dog apparently knows how to open the door, and it's a good thing it was locked. Suddenly, the door slowly starts to swing open, revealing the two huge, loud dogs (and their teeth). Elder Muse just turns around and starts booking it. I freeze, reach slowly forward, and... push the door closed. Problem solved.
We also went to an appointment with an investigator, whose house had caught on fire briefly the night before. We went in, sat down, started to talk to him, then his very upset girlfriend entered the room and started chewing him out for the accidental fire. For half an hour. She was yelling, crying, kicking furniture...and Elder Muse and I just sat there, awkwardly. Eventually she left, then we tried to quickly salvage our "lesson," then left.
Later that night, we were at the hospital, visiting a member. As we sat there, an older woman walked past the table we were sitting at. And no... she wasn't wearing pants. Well, Elder Muse, you're welcome for the great exchange.
I'm tired of people assuming they know what we're about when we knock on the door... "Have you ever heard of the Book of Mormon before?" "No, I haven't. But I'm not interested." Not interested in what? What if the Book of Mormon is code for a free car? Sigh. We were knocking doors one rainy night... Before we could say anything, a grumpy man opens the door and says, "I know who you guys are and what you do. I'm not interested at all. "Oh, have guys like us been here before?" "Yes." "And they were asking for free food?" "...well, no, but..." Then he shut the door. Worth a shot.
We had to go to stake conference on Saturday night, and that was an adventure. I won't bore you with the details of getting there (that was an adventure, but I don't have enough time to talk about that part), but getting back... We took a bus at 9:30 from the Haarlem chapel to Haarlem Centraal (by the way, Haarlem is where the Best Two Years was filmed!), and got there right after 10 PM...well, work on the tracks started at 10 PM. So, the trains shut down, and busses were used in place of trains. Getting from Haarlem to Amsterdam was pretty crazy, let me tell you. Drunk college kids and many other people trying to push and shove and trample their way into the busses... I almost died. I got on, looking around frantically for another missionary. I see one elder who serves in Zaandam. Not going to the same place I am. The last person to push onto the bus...Elder Fowkes, serving in Almere. That's where I was heading. Good enough. It was a traumatizing experience. The people were animals. I do NOT want to be near Amsterdam in the zombie apocalypse.
Blijf netjes, my friends. Talk to you after I hit my year-mark.
--Elder Bonney
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| Me and my temporary comps, Elder Kettler and Elder Bishesar! |
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| My greenie and me, looking netjes at zone conference in Zoetermeer. |
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