November 24, 2014
So...it's about that time of the week again. And my brain is a little fried, so don't expect too much. (Hopefully, by lowering your expectations, you'll be pleasantly surprised with however this ends up...)
Also, my body is fried right now. Let me tell you a little about physical exercise on a mission. As missionaries, we get thirty minutes every morning, somewhere between 6:30 and 7:30, to exercise. It's required. I used to exercise a lot more at home, so half an hour shouldn't be hard to productively fill, right? Wrong. Anyone who has done workouts at home knows that working out at home without equipment is way different than working out at a gym. I'm so tired of doing pushups. But, that's beside the point. This half hour can be used to keep one in decent shape. To be completely honest, despite the fact that it's a rule, I haven't used those thirty minutes every single day on my mission... And sometimes, I suffer blatant consequences for it. Which brings me to my next point.
On Saturday, our zone (about twenty-six missionaries) went to Vondel Park, in Amsterdam, to have a Thanksgiving Turkey Bowl. We played about three hours of good old, traditional American football. My athleticism hasn't diminished too much on my mission -- I played some pretty good football. Actually, probably the best football I've played since...ever. It was great. We all had a good time. Sunday morning, though, I woke up, fell out of bed, and my legs were screaming. My legs haven't been so sore in a long time. The soreness carried over to today -- it's getting better now, but I've learned an important lesson about exercising as a missionary. Do it. Or, don't Turkey Bowl.
Do you remember how we told you all about Hank, the old, Dutch friend of Carlos? Well, we visited him this past week and taught him a first lesson. It was actually pretty funny -- we showed up at his door (we'd set an appointment with him, and he'd given us his address), and he comes out, and begins to say, in his Friesian Dutch, "No, I don't want to go to your church anymore! Carlos brings me, but I don't have a choice! I'm too old for church -- I'm 84. I'm too unhealthy and too shy!" It was a pretty funny scene. We calmed him down (he realized that we weren't there to force him to join or come to our church), and he let us in. Then, we were able to teach him. He's a funny old guy. Then, he came to our fireside on Friday. And loved it.
Oh yeah, the fireside on Friday! The Hoorn elders, Elder Cooper and Elder Hunter, put most of it together, and then on Friday evening, all four of us directed the fireside. It was a compilation of scriptures, quotes, and Mormon messages, all about serving others. It was...amazing. The Spirit was so strong. It was super powerful. Everyone was feeling it -- smiles and tears all around. There were over ten non-members there, including Carlos and his son. And Hank. AND another friend of Carlos (who used to be investigating the church). They all loved it. Side note: can I just say that Carlos is a powerhouse? He's an amazing guy. But back to the fireside -- one of the quotes that was shared was about how, when we die, God isn't going to ask us how many callings we had, but about how many people we helped. It made me ask myself how I could do better to be more focused on others. I loved the entire evening.
Earlier on Friday, before the fireside, I had one of my "how did I end up doing this?" moments. Elder Hunter, Elder Pouwer, and I were standing on the balcony, holding onto ropes which were attached to a big couch. The couch was rested on the edge of the balcony. As we pushed the couch over the edge, it swung back, slamming against the side of the building (fortunately, it was just that hearing-aid place we live above...I hope they didn't hear it), while we tried to maintain control with the ropes. Elder Pouwer and I were moving out of our apartment in Heiloo, and we had to get the couches out somehow. After discovering that they wouldn't fit down the staircase, there was only one solution -- go buy ropes and lower the couches over the balcony. It ended up working. Kind of. After a long day, we got most of our stuff to our new, healthy apartment. And so my new address is:
Willem de Zwijgerlaan 78
1814 KE Alkmaar
the Netherlands
Don't send any more mail to the Heiloo address! And if you do...tell me. I'll try to get it. We'll see.
While we were cleaning out the apartment in Heiloo, we found a can of German pumpernickel (I think) bread. While trying to figure out what it was, Elder Hunter and I realized that the can was sealed in the year 1990. I WASN'T EVEN BORN THEN. My PARENTS weren't even sealed then. You bet that I busted out a can-opener and opened that almost 25-year old can, expecting some crazy mold creature to emerge...but, it only smelled like alcohol -- something in the bread had fermented in the can. It was anticlimactic. But hey -- not everyone can say they opened a can sealed in Germany in 1990.
As far as our investigators go, Victor is doing really well. There was a super complicated and weird situation in which he almost went to Aruba to visit a dying relative, but it didn't work out last minute...sadly. But, it's better for his baptism, since he has his heart set on getting baptized on his birthday, the 6th of December, and if he went to Aruba, he would have gotten back only one or two days before then. I believe that it's inspired that he stays here -- there are a lot of personal things he needs to figure out, in addition to his baptism. It's interesting to see the way our Heavenly Father helps us out. Not always the way we expect. Anyway, Victor's testimony is rock-solid as ever. Talking to him sometimes makes me feel unconverted. That's a good thing, right? Haha.
Yeah... I don't have anything else. Talk to you in December!
-Elder Bonney
 |
| Elder Alston and I were on exchanges in Alkmaar, and we had to stop in the Heiloo forest...it was just too irresistant for a photo-shoot. |
 |
| Haarlem district. It's Turkey bowl time. |
No comments:
Post a Comment