Week 98: "I think we just met Amulek."

April 25, 2015

...surprise! I'm back already, even though it isn't Monday. Like I said last time, next Monday is Koningsdag (King's Day), so President Robinson switched P-day to today. Koningsdag is always insanely busy, and most everything will be closed for what is, in essence, a national yard-sale day. We'll be going to Breda as a district to hand out church materials at a booth. More on that next time.

I didn't have time to write much about it last week, but stake conference for the Antwerpen stake was great last weekend. On Saturday, Elder Byers and I caught a train heading to Antwerpen, where the first session of stake conference. Once in Antwerpen-Centraal, we had about a half-hour before our metro left, so we headed into the city for a few minutes, grabbed some Belgian frites (honestly, french fries should be called Belgian fries, because Belgium does them best), and looked around. We later caught our metro and headed to the Antwerpen chapel. Stake conference was actually a really cool experience -- Kortrijk, Eindhoven, and Tilburg are all in the Antwerpen stake, so I was able to see members from those three periods of my mission (the beginning, the middle, and the end). It was extra special to be able to talk to members from Kortrijk and think back to my days there and to realize how much I've grown since then.

After that session, we got on a train to Leuven with the Leuven elders, and we spent the night there. And who else would be serving in Leuven but my old friend and third companion, Elder Besendorfer? We went on splits with the Leuven elders on Sunday, and it was great to be able to talk and catch up. We reminisced on our Groningen days and reflected on how much we'd changed since then. It was also great to get to work in Belgium again! I haven't worked in Belgium since October 2013, when I spent my last weeks in Kortrijk. Belgium is... Belgium :) It's great. (Though it does have a unique smell to it, which missionaries dub the "Belgian funk." We won't talk about that.) Leuven was beautiful -- it was an area of Belgium I'd never been to before. Unfortunately... I forgot my camera. So goes life. After working in Leuven, we got a ride to the second session of stake conference, held in Brussels. The conference itself was great and uplifting. We then headed back up to Tilburg and got there late that evening.

I'm not going to lie, things were pretty discouraging earlier this week with the work here. We've been working really hard, but no one seems to be open, and those who are open are never home for their appointments. I've spoken with more aggressive atheists this transfer than I have in a long time (Elder Byers and I handled them pretty well, but it still isn't positive as far as the work goes). And, on Thursday night, we had to bike way far out to a referral that wasn't even home, and no one on her street was interested in Jesus. (That two and a half hours of biking there and back with a twenty minute break in the middle was rough... My bike seat isn't the kindest, and it even put a hole in my pants. My rear end was pretty sore afterwards. I won't grace you with more details.)

What I'm trying to say is, there were a few nights when I wanted to tear my hair out and ask God, "why don't you use me to help someone? I'm the most skilled I've been my whole mission, and I'm willing to work. Why can't we just be blessed with solid people to teach?" I was pretty frustrated. Yesterday morning, I was studying in the Book of Mormon, in Alma 8, and I read about Alma and part of his ministry. He was working in the city of Melek, where things were going well -- he was seeing a lot of success. Then, he headed to a city called Ammonihah. There, the people weren't so receptive... It even said that Satan had gotten ahold of the hearts of the people of Ammonihah. (While I was reading this, I jokingly thought, "hey, like Satan seems to have ahold of the hearts of the people we've been speaking to recently!") In short, they rejected his words, spit on him (I wonder if it was Redbull?), and cast him out of the city.

So, Alma's not super impressed with those people, and he decides that he's just going to go to another city. He's on his way when an angel appears to him and tells him that he's doing a good job and that he needs to go back. I can imagine what Alma could have been thinking... "A good job? That must be why, uh, no one is listening to me. And you want me to go BACK?" But, regardless of what he was thinking, he went back. He gets to the city, and he's hungry, so he walks up to a man and says, "will ye give to an humble servant of God something to eat?" (The last time he told something to people in that city, he wasn't treated nicely, so I imagine him having a tired look on his face that says, "please don't spit on me...") This man responds, saying, "I am a Nephite, and I know that thou art a holy prophet of God, for thou art the man whom an angel said in a vision: Thou shalt receive. Therefore, go with me into my house and I will impart unto thee of my food; and I know that thou wilt be a blessing unto me and my house."

Wow. Basically, Alma comes back to the city that rejected him, and what may have very well been the first person he spoke with after being back tells him that he's been told about him in a vision. That man was Amulek, and he fed Alma and helped him recuperate. He later became one of Alma's best missionary companions. Now, I'd read that story before, but this time it really hit me. What if Alma had given up and not gone back? Or gotten lazy? For some reason, God wanted him back in that city he'd been struggling with. Then, after it had been so hard, he was hit with a really amazing miracle. It was a cool learning moment for me -- re-learning that life has trials, but if we endure them well, we'll be blessed. I shared what I'd learned with my companion, and we had a good talk about it.

Later that day, Elder Byers and I showed up to a first appointment with a younger Dutch guy. We were knocking doors a couple days before and had set an appointment with him. And what do you know, he's actually home! We went and talked while sitting in his backyard. He asked if we could talk in English -- he wanted to practice his English while hearing what we have to share. Textbook lesson about the restoration -- this guy was pretty cool, seemed sometimes skeptical, but he had good questions. After the lesson, we asked him to pray. In his prayer, he says the words, "I'd like to thank You for answering my prayer." I open my eyes while still bowing my head. What did he say? After we said amen, he looks at us and says, "Actually, I have a confession to make." He goes on to tell us that the same day we showed up on his door, he had suddenly had a desire to learn more about God. He'd even texted a Jehovah's Witness he'd met earlier to see if they could meet sometime -- he was trying to contact people he knew would talk to him about God. A couple hours later, we showed up on his door and, according to him, answered his prayer. I think he's right. It was a miracle. He is excited to learn more and we have another appointment for early next week.

As we were biking away, Elder Byers was pretty excited -- he'd said that was the coolest thing that had happened on his mission. It was awesome. Suddenly, a thought came to my mind. I turn to my companion -- "hey, Elder Byers. I think we just met Amulek." Never give up. You never know who God needs you to keep going for, just like Alma going back and meeting Amulek. Trust in Heavenly Father and things will always work out.

Until the fourth of May. Don't miss me too much next week.

-Elder Bonney

Week 97: "I won't shoot the messenger... Actually, that's hard to do here. Firearms are illegal."

April 20, 2015

 

The last transfer has begun. On Wednesday, Elder Matos and I hopped on a train heading to Rotterdam Centraal, where Elder Byers was already waiting. Elder Matos and I said our goodbyes, and my new companion -Elder Byers- and I grabbed the next train back to Tilburg.

And so it begins. Elder Byers and I hit the ground running -- he was ready to work, and I was too. I felt like some parts of our first day together were straight out of a TV show. We were walking around the centrum, contacting people, and we talked to this one guy who was wearing a cowboy hat and looked Mexican. He spoke fluent English and Dutch and preferred to speak in English, so we started explaining who we were and what the Book of Mormon was. He proceeded to introduce himself as John the Baptist. He was dead serious. "I'm not the same as the one from the Bible; we just have the same name. Similar missions, though!" He was also religious and tries to help others. After a long conversation in which he quoted lots of random scriptures about how great Christ is, we realized we weren't really getting anywhere, and we thanked John the Baptist for his time and moved on.

Five minutes later, we're standing at a crosswalk, waiting for the signal to walk. I was thinking about how great the weather was (and it was great -- the newspapers called it the "first day of summer"), when Elder Byers and I were suddenly sprayed by something wet. I thought a car had used their windshield cleaner at a bad time or something, but then I saw a younger guy with a look of disgust staring us down as his friend drove away. Yep, we'd gotten spit on. I looked at Elder Byers, who had a deer in the headlights look, and he said, still looking stunned, "it's either Red Bull or Monster. I'm pretty sure it's Monster." Well, at least I know what the guy spit on us. I wiped the energy drink from my face...and we pressed onward.

That evening, we were biking to an appointment. I got a little lost, but we managed to find the way. All of a sudden, I felt something wet right above my knee. You know, they say everything that comes from above is a blessing, but when I looked down at my pants and saw bird poop on my leg, I disagreed with that statement. In the middle of informing Elder Byers about my bad luck, I hear a clank and a hissing noise. Elder Byers says, "I think I just rode over a piece of glass. Yep, my tire is flat."

And that was the first day of the transfer. You know, we all have days like that every once in a while. You just have to laugh at yourself -- I laughed a lot that day. I think Heavenly Father was just testing me... But, things always get better. Now, Elder Byers' tire is fixed. My face has no Monster energy drink on it, and neither does my shirt. My pants are washed. As for John the Baptist, he's still out there, somewhere.

Welcome to Tilburg, Elder Byers! Haha. My last companion is a good guy. He's from Nashville, Tennesee, and he's been on his mission for about five months. He's a funny person -- we're going to have a good transfer together.

Being companions with a younger missionary is always fun -- they've often got that young missionary spunk, and they are ready to learn. It's also fun to watch the mistakes... We were in a lesson last week, and we shared a scripture about the Atonement. Elder Byers was trying to say that it was one of the clearest scriptures about the Atonement that he knew. In Dutch, you have the word "duidelijk," which means "clear" or "evident." You also have the word "dodelijk," which means deadly. You already guessed it -- he told the recent convert we were teaching that it was the deadliest Atonement scripture he knew. We had to laugh. Enjoy the little things, right?

I'll go ahead and start wrapping up. The next day, Elder Byers and I were let in my an interesting man -- kind of a hippie. We discovered (though he did not say it) that he let us in because he loved Americans... He listened to us, but told us he didn't agree, though he did like us. That's when he said, "I won't shoot the messenger... Actually, that's hard to do here. Firearms are illegal." Clever.

After we left, we ran into this younger homeless guy who always stops and talks to us. He seemed to be in a rush today, but he stopped us and shared a verse from the modernized Bible he always has with him. In the middle, he gets a call from a friend, and he says, "politie in de buurt, waar kan ik komen?" ("Police in the neighborhood, where can I go?") Apparently, he'd been on the run from the cops. Go figure. At least he thought it was important to make time for Jesus.

This Saturday (we have an early P-day because next Monday is King's Day), I'll tell you all about this past weekend -- we had stake conference in Antwerpen and Brussels. It was a fun weekend.

That's all for today. Have a great week. And hey -- if the police are in the neighborhood, you're always welcome at my house.

-Elder Bonney

 

I promised more pictures of Keukenhof... Remember about how I told you all about the not yet in-bloom tulips? Yeah.

Saying goodbye to Elder Matos in Rotterdam.

 

Week 96: "If you want to hang out with Chinese people, just stay in China! You’ve got 1.4 billion of them there!”

 April 13, 2015

I’m always afraid to say it, because I feel like whenever I say it, it ceases to be true…but, I’ll say it. I think spring is here to stay. I woke up this morning and the sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and I’ve hardly worn my heavy coat at all this past week. Things are looking up for my last transfer.

And yes, my last transfer starts this Wednesday! My last six weeks. In this mission, you have sixteen six-week long transfers (plus the six weeks in the MTC). I remember when I was a young missionary, on my first few transfers, and the last transfer just seemed so far away. But, it’s almost here. I’ll be getting a new companion for this last month and a half – Elder Matos is getting transferred, and I will be getting an Elder Byers as my last companion. He’s been out on his mission for almost six months. I’m sure you’ll here more about him next week…

These past six weeks have flown by. Elder Matos and I have worked hard, and looking back, we’ve seen a good amount of success – we found a ton of people with whom we were able to share the message of the restoration. I might have taught more first lessons this past transfer than ever before on my mission. Some of the people we’ve found and taught have chosen to stop meeting with us; some people are still learning. No one is making a whole lot of progress, but I count my blessings that we have been able to teach so many different people. I’m convinced bigger steps will be made this transfer. I mean, we’ve seen miracles and been answers to prayers for these past weeks, and I see no reason for that to stop now!

That said…this past week was a pretty good week. I mean, we got to go to the temple on Wednesday, and that was great. On Tuesday night, we got on a train to Rotterdam, and we slept over at the apartment of some missionaries there (one of whom was Elder Byers, who I’d never met before and never imagined would become my companion one week after that…go figure). The next morning, we got up early so that we could be at the Den Haag temple (which isn’t actually in Den Haag, but in Zoetermeer…) by 8:15. While we walked to the temple, it was super foggy outside, and it was kind of cold. Not great weather. The temple was a great spiritual experience, like it always is – it’s great to set aside the everyday things for a moment and feel close to Heavenly Father. Half of the mission went on Wednesday – the other half had gone the day before. When we got out of the temple, it was sunny and warm. There’s a cool metaphor in there somewhere, if I wasn’t too lazy to look for it…

After the temple, we all walked to the Zoetermeer chapel, where we ate lunch. Then, following the spring temple conference tradition, we all got on a bus and headed to Keukenhof, the park of the tulips. It was great – I mean, flowers can be pretty cool. Unfortunately, we were there a bit early in the season, and only about half of the tulips had bloomed (last year, we went later, and all the tulips had bloomed and about 30% had died – you never see all the tulips in bloom because they bloom at different periods). But hey, I can’t complain. We had a good time.

The work moves onward here in Tilburg – Elder Matos and I were street contacting the other day when we talked to this Asian guy. He spoke English, and after a quick conversation, he invited us to sit down with him at the nearest cafe and talk. His name was Shen, and he was pretty funny – he was from China, used to live on the west coast of the USA, and loves American football. Go figure. He went off about how he loves hanging out with people from foreign places – he started talking about how Chinese people go to foreign countries but just hang out with each other while living there. He started to get passionate about it, and said loudly, “if you want to hang out with Chinese people, just stay in China! You’ve got 1.4 billion of them there!” He cracked us up. After hearing about his life for a while, we had a good gospel discussion. It was great.

Later that same day, we went to look up someone we’d talked to on the street, an older man. We knock on his door, and he came down in a bathrobe (and quite possibly just a bathrobe). After recognizing us, he invited us in. I thought, oh great, we’re going to have to teach someone in a bathrobe, and obviously, the only people who would let strangers inside while they are only wearing a bathrobe are weirdos and crazy people. At least, that’s how my logic went. But, he told us to wait a minute, went upstairs, then came down fully dressed and told us about how he was about to take a shower, but he wants to hear what we have to share. This man had his priorities straight – better to be spiritually clean than physically clean, right?

That’s all for today, folks. Enjoy spring.

-Elder Bonney

My old Eindhoven housemate, Elder Hills and I found some tulips that were in bloom. I can't lie, there were a ton of tulips in bloom. Also a ton of tulips that weren't. There are just a ton of tulips at Keukenhof, okay?

Week 95: "Second Easter? Another Easter??"

April 6, 2015

 

Ladies and gentlemen...this week's email will not be very long, because the library is closed today, so Elder Matos and I have to share the church's one computer to email. Sorry...

So yeah, the library is closed today for tweede paasdag, or "second Easter." I've probably talked about this before, but I don't understand second Easter. They also have a second Christmas. I've probably said that before, too... We showed up at the library today and saw that it was closed, and Elder Matos got a little frustrated and said, "second Easter? Another Easter?? But you don't even believe in God!!" It made me life. Needless to say, we've talked to a lot of people together who don't believe in God, but still like getting a day off from work. Those bums...

But it's okay, you know, because Jesus Christ DID live. And we aren't the only ones that know it (or want to know) -- this past week is a testament to that. Things are getting exciting here in Tilburg, that's for sure, and we've been seeing some miracles. The Easter video from the church website, Because He Lives, has been spinning around Facebook and generating a good amount of referrals for us, and we've found some people to teach because of it, which is great! That includes this one woman who was pretty positive and ended up coming to general conference yesterday with some member friends from other units. She seemed to enjoy it... We'll see what happens.

One of the coolest miracles from the past week happened on Saturday -- Elder Matos and I were walking to look up someone we'd met, and we decided to knock some doors on the way. The first few doors were decidedly not positive people. Then, this young adult guy opens a door and defers immediately to his grandmother, who was pretty sassy. They were from the Dutch Caribbean. The grandma first tells us to come back another time, then says, "wait...I don't have time right now, but my grandson needs to talk to you. He's got problems." And she gives him that grandmotherly "you know I'm right" look. So, we come inside and start talking to him. To make a long story short, he'd been going through some rough times and wanted to find happiness and strengthen his relationship with God. We taught a really good lesson, and he seems excited to meet with us again. Before we left, the grandma (who had been sitting in the same room doing something else during the lesson) tells us that just a half hour before we came, she'd been sitting on the very same couch we were sitting on, and she prayed that God would send someone else besides her to talk with her grandson about God. Then, we show up. She (who is a self-declared very converted Catholic) looks at us and says, "the Lord sent you two for my grandson, answering my prayer." Pretty cool, huh? Being a missionary can be pretty great.

There aren't a lot of Muslims in America, but maybe one of you has seen a Muslim man, decked out in his worship clothes (beats me what they're called). Robes and everything, with a nice, thick beard. I was on exchanges with Elder Hosea the other day, here in Tilburg, and we were biking somewhere. We often stop while biking to talk to people we see (it looks weird, but we're weird enough as it us -- we stop people all day to talk to them about Jesus. Doing it on bikes isn't much more weird), and we were riding past this Muslim guy. We pretty much avoid contacting people who are very obviously Muslim -- it's the religious equivalent of trying to sell electric scooters to Amish people. Furthermore, they often get offended ("I'm obviously Muslim! I respect your religion, you need to respect mine!" <-- we get that a lot). Anyway, I jokingly say to Elder Hosea that we're going to talk to this guy. I just hear his voice behind me... "whoa..okay." I laugh. I ride past the guy, and then I hear the sound of Elder Hosea's brakes -- he was actually talking to him! I figured this man would shut Elder Hosea down pretty quickly, but after a few minutes, I approached the conversation. Turns out, he was trying to explain Islam to Elder Hosea and...well, convert him. Yep. Just another day in the life.

All work and no play makes Jack...hate life. Elder Matos and I like to have a little fun every now and then -- last Monday, we went to Amsterdam for Elder Matos' birthday. (He has distant relatives in the Amsterdam area and got permission from Pres. Robinson to visit them.) His relatives loved seeing him, and because it was his birthday, they treated him well -- taking him out to eat for lunch and dinner, paying for a boat tour, and more... Since I came with Elder Matos (as missionaries, we're kind of a package deal), they payed for me too. I didn't get any birthday gifts, like Matos did, but still -- not too shabby. ;)

I gotta run. That's all for today. Stay fresh, amigos. (Obviously, with Elder Matos, I'm picking up some Spanish.) And..adios.

-Elder Bonney

 

Hanging out on the famous Rembrandt square in Amsterdam.

 

Week 94: "ah, Greek people... crazy."

March 30, 2015

 

Good morning, America. I am Elder Bonney.

This week went by pretty quickly. Time is just escaping me... Did you know that two months from right now I'll be home? It's strange to think about -- two months is nothing. Gotta make the most of it while it lasts.

Yesterday, it rained. A lot. And it's been raining a lot this week, so when I say that it rained a lot yesterday, you know I mean a LOT. The wind was also crazy, which only added to the experience. Furthermore, the gears on my bike broke at some point in the last two weeks, and my bike is stuck on the...highest gear. Let's just say that it was a pretty funny sight yesterday afternoone when I was riding my bike uphill, in the rain, absolutely drenched, against the wind, on the highest gear. At some point during this, I was thinking, "wow, this is my mission. Riding a bike in the rain." Then, I just busted out in a huge grin -- my mission has been awesome (even in the moments when you're riding a bike uphill, in the rain, absolutely drenched, against the wind, on the highest gear).

That said, Elder Matos and I had to make a quick stop at the apartment before our dinner appointment, because we looked absolutely ridiculous. We threw our pants and socks in the dryer and changed our pants, socks, and shoes. Unfortunately, I'd forgotten that my jacket is like a sponge whenever it rains, so that was still soaking wet when I put it back on. Oh well.

On Saturday, I had the really cool opportunity to get to go back to Eindhoven on exchanges with the zone leaders. I worked with Elder Holt, another Canadian. (Get this -- my companion, district leader, and one of my zone leaders all come from Canada. Go figure...eh?) We had a good day. It was cool to get to visit and see people I taught and worked with when I was serving there last summer. We visited and taught Genzeer, the Sudanese homie who Elder Alston and I baptized. It was really good to see him -- he opened the door with a big smile and said, "Ah, Mr. Bonney is back!" He's doing well -- he has grown a lot spiritually, and that was cool to see. More recently, he hasn't been going to church as much as he should, but he's working on that. He lived in Greece for a while, and Elder Holt decided to tell Genzeer that he needs to help me find a Greek girl... Genzeer just laughs and shakes his head, saying, in his Sudanese accent, "ah, Greek people...crazy." Whatever that's supposed to mean.

We also saw a cool couple who we visited almost every week back in the day -- a recently baptized man and his wife, who is a less-active member. It was great to see them, but really sad and awkward...let me try to describe this scene:

Them: "Elder Bonney! You're back! It's good to see you."

Me: "Yeah, it's great to see you guys! How's it going?"

Him: "Ah, it's alright. We've just been busy with moving."

Me: "Oh, yeah? That's exciting. Where are you guys moving?"

Her, pointing at him: "You should ask him where he's going."

Him: "We're splitting up."

...I didn't know what to say. Once I got over the awkwardness of the whole situation, it made me really sad. I'd had so many good memories in their home, a lot of laughs and a lot of good experiences. It was really sad to hear that they're getting a divorce.

It really made me realize that life does go on. Things aren't the same in Eindhoven, and they never will be exactly the same as they were when I was there -- things change, people change. That's life, I guess, and you have to learn to roll with it. Things will happen that I (or we -- everyone, really) won't like, but you have to hang on to the good memories and hope for the best.

Saturday ended with us cooking dinner at the home of some members. That's right -- we cooked dinner. It was pretty fun. I was put in charge of the rice, and I consider myself relatively good at cooking rice without a rice cooker. However, I usually make rice for one, two, maybe four people. We were cooking for ten. Let me just say, after the first attempt, when I took the lid off of the pot, it wasn't steam that came out, but lots of smoke. Way to go, Elder Bonney. Fortunately we had a lot of rice, and the second time, it turned out well. Good thing we have the Atonement.

The work in Tilburg is moving along well -- we're seeing little miracles all the time, and we can tell that the Lord wants us to see success and is willing to help us.

But, I have to go now -- there are places we need to be. Hopefully I'll have some cool miracles to report on next week. Have a great week, and if it's raining, just smile. It makes the rain better.

Peace and blessings,

Elder Bonney

 

I finally got a picture with Elder Matos at zone training on Thursday. Enjoy.

 

Week 93: "my food...the stove...my house. If my house burns down..."

March 23, 2015

I’m happy to say that I’m feeling a lot better today than I did last Monday. The cold fought hard, but –just so everyone knows – I won.

It was a pretty good week here in Tilburg. Elder Matos and I have been hitting the streets and working hard, and it’s starting to pay off – we found a number of new investigators last week and were able to teach some good lessons. We knew that this week would be pretty good when, on Tuesday afternoon (it was beautiful weather, by the way) while we were walking around the centrum and talking to people, a bearded man walked out of an ice cream shop and said, in very American English, ice-cream cone in hand, “hey, elders! Do you guys speak English?” And that’s how we met Brian, a member from Anaheim, California. He was in Tilburg for the week for some project. In contrast with the…well, not so polite rejections we’d been getting, it was really nice. It was like God was telling us, “cheer up, guys. There ARE people out there who will be happy to see you.”

And there were, that’s for sure. Later that day, we taught a restoration lesson to a student here in his mid-20s. Great guy with a lot of good questions. Students love experiments, so we shared Alma 32 with him and invited him to find out for himself if the answers we were giving were true or not. We’ll see how it goes.

On Thursday morning, we were approached by a man who, as he tells us, used to be a member but wrote himself out while he was in prison in Den Bosch. I asked him why he left the church, and he told me he couldn't answer that until he got the microchip out of his brain that the people in the prison (supposedly) implanted in him. As missionaries, we somehow always find the weirdies...

Later that day, though, we were meeting with this less-active member from America who lives in our branch boundaries. We’re starting to work with her and her sons. She’s super cool, and we’re excited to work with them more. Anyway, while we were in her home, her neighbor, Robert, dropped by, and she invited him in to meet us. He had a lot of questions, and before we knew it, we’d taught him a short lesson and given him a Book of Mormon. It was great. It was hilarious, though – at some point, we were talking to the less-active member, and then Robert just looks up, with a blank look on his face, and mutters, in English, “my food…the stove…my house. If my house burns down…” We were like…what are you talking about? He stood up and informed us that, when he’d dropped by, he’d left food cooking on the stove. Food which was…still cooking. Oops. He sprinted out the door and down the street to his home. His house was fine; the food, however, was inedible. Count your blessings, right?

The next evening, Elder Matos and I had an appointment with a lady from Congo who spoke mostly French and very little Dutch. I was convinced that I had forgotten most of the French I’d learned (from living in Africa and studying in high school and college), but Elder Matos, being from Montreal, speaks good French, so we showed up for the appointment. In the appointment, though, my French started to come back, and we taught that lady together in French. Elder Matos looked at me at one point with a look on his face, “are you serious right now?” I can’t lie, Elder Matos definitely took the leading role and spoke more than I did, for sure, but I definitely had heavenly help in that lesson. It was a cool lesson. Unfortunately, she refuses to read in any book of scripture that isn’t the Bible and wouldn’t accept the Book of Mormon, but…we taught her! That’s something, right?

Thursday and Friday were the NLdoet days -- NLdoet is a big thing encouraging volunteer work and service. Our district was planning on helping out with a service project -- making blankets for poor kids. Elder Matos and I got to Breda late, though, because a train hit a person (ouch). Apparently, though, the other missionaries in the district showed up at the service place, and the people in charge asked them if they'd brought their own crotcheting needles. Well, surprise surprise, none of us knew how to crotchet. After Elder Matos and I arrived in Breda, we all went to another service project -- doing yard work in front of an old folks' home, and not crotcheting. The elderly women inside the home were watching us elders rip out old bushes. I think they enjoyed it. And we did our good deed for NLdoet.

Well, I gotta run. Stay good, and...if you're cooking something up on the stove, keep an eye on it, alright?

-Elder Bonney

PS -- unfortunately, I haven't taken a single picture here in Tilburg yet. Sorry.

Week 92: "Elder, are you dead?"

March 16, 2015

Before I forget, like I have the past two weeks, here is my new address:

Burgemeester Brokxlaan 1950
5041 SJ Tilburg
the Netherlands

Now that that’s out of the way… Well, while I’d love to say that I’m pretty sure I have the plague right now, I’ll have to tell the truth and admit that it’s probably just a bad cold. Being sick on a mission is not the most fun thing in the world; being sick at home is bad enough, when you can sit back and watch TV, or go on Facebook, or read a real book – all the things we do when we’re sick to pass the time without expending too much energy. Out here, it’s different, because…you don’t have the option of doing those things. Instead, you can…read your scriptures, or watch a church film (for the umpteenth time), or the never-failing solution: sleep. I’ll admit, though, as a missionary, whenever you are inside, you feel the urge to go outside and, well, do missionary work. Which, I’ll admit, I have been giving into – and that’s why I have a bad cold instead of an almost healed cold. A member at church yesterday was talking to me, and he asked, "Elder, are you dead?" I thought he was referencing the way I looked, and I was...a little offended...but it turned out, he wanted to tell me about how he felt dead tired his last 2-3 months of his mission. But yesterday, I did feel very dead.

Life goes on. Even though this sickness is trying to stop it, the work in Tilburg is picking up, slowly but surely! Elder Matos and I worked hard this past week, and we were able to find some new people and teach some of them the message of the restoration. It was great. However, I’m constantly surprised at the number of people who aren’t home when we come by for their appointments. Or, even better (this is my all-time favorite), when a woman will make an appointment with us, so we show up with a member to teach the lesson, and then her husband comes to the door to inform us that they aren’t interested. Sigh. But hey, we don’t let that stop us from knocking more doors and finding more people.

Knocking doors to find people is almost like an interesting social experiment. Seeing the way people react, or the things they do, or the different types of people you meet… I’ve been out here for over 21 months now, but it still kind of fascinates me. Apparently, the Jehovah’s Witnesses hit Tilburg pretty hard pretty regularly, so a lot of people assume that we are them and immediately slam their door right after opening it and seeing us. (Those poor Jehovah’s Witnesses…) Once you get beyond that, though, these Tilburg people are pretty nice.

We knocked one door this past Wednesday, and a man opened his door. Right after he opened his door, his dog ran outside, and he came out to chase it. Right after he ran outside after his dog, the wind blew, and his front door shut. Now, don’t ask me why, but most Dutch front doors don’t have a front door-knob to open the door. They can only be opened from the inside, or from the outside with a key. His keys were in the keyhole inside. So, within ten seconds of us knocking this guy’s door: dog out, man out, door shut, locked out. He comes back to the front door and yells out of frustration to himself something along the lines of “why now?” Apparently, though, this had happened before, because one of the windows on his door was broken, and he busted it up a little more and let himself in. Poor guy. Needless to say, he wasn’t too enthusiastic to hear our message after that.

The weather taught me an important lesson this past week. The weather from last Sunday to Thursday was pretty great – blue skies, not too cold. Spring was definitely in the air. Great weather for missionary work. Then, on Friday, the weather started getting bad. The infamous grey skies returned. It rained a little. While we were biking somewhere, with the wind blowing in my face and rain starting to fall, I thought to myself, “Heavenly Father wants us to see success and enjoy the work… Why can’t He just bless us with good weather??” And then, I realized… He had. For five days in a row, it had been just about the best weather of the year so far. Instead of being grateful for that, it took me a grand total of something like a day to stop being grateful. I kind of laughed at myself and started enjoying life again, remembering to be grateful for the good things. Life’s a lot better that way.

Two days later, I woke up sick, and it was hard to be grateful again… I guess God’s trying to get me to work on my gratitude. :)

One last story before I go. So, Tilburg is a small branch, and so there aren’t a lot of members to feed us. We ended up having a lot fewer dinner appointments this past week than I had been used to. When Elder Matos and I went shopping last week, though, I still shopped like we would get a lot of dinner appointments… To make a long story short, yesterday evening, I woke up from a nap, feeling…well, the way you feel when you have a bad cold. I wanted to make myself some dinner, and when I looked at what food we had, we had: rice, beans, and eggs. I felt like I was back at college, trying to create some weird recipe… I ended up making something I like to call Elder Bonney’s rice, beans, and eggs. (I basically cooked them all up and mixed them together. But don’t let the secret out.) And I threw some weird spices and stuff in there. It started smelling, well, not super great. And the pan I was using had no handle, so I had to hold it with a cloth while I stirred the concoction. I was holding the cloth a little too close to the stove, and it caught fire. (All while Elder Matos was sleeping…) I put out the fire. At that point, I could empathize with the guy we’d talked to earlier: “why now?” I guess I need to work a little more on my gratitude.

And yes, we bought more food today. It should be a good week.

Keep calm and be grateful. Until next week! ...and please, pray for me. Haha.
-a cold-infected Elder Bonney

Week 91: "Are you two talent scouts??"

March 9, 2015

Transfers are always a blur. My last few days in Alkmaar were really good -- I was able to see and say goodbye to some great friends I'd made in Alkmaar, both members and investigators. After almost six months of serving there, it was weird to have to say goodbye. Alkmaar wasn't the easiest city I've served in -- there have been times I've wondered if some of the people we talked to on the street there were capable of feeling the emotion of love -- but, at the end of the day, it definitely earned a spot in my heart.

And packing was as fun as ever...so, not fun at all haha. But hey, that's the life of a missionary. It was strange to think that the next time I pack up all my stuff will probably be when I'm going home in twelve weeks. On Wednesday, Elder Neptune and I headed down to Leiden for transfers. We said goodbye (wow, I'm going to miss that kid), and I got on a train to Utrecht. In Utrecht, I met up with Elder Matos, my new companion. We got on a train to Tilburg.

...so, the adventure begins. We've definitely hit the ground running here in Tilburg, keeping busy and working hard. We don't have many people to teach right now, but we're hoping to fix that soon. I don't know if I've ever been so motivated to talk to the people we come in contact with about the gospel. It's the final quarter (read: eighth), and you know what they say -- finish hard or don't finish at all. Well, actually, I might be the only one who says that...catchy, right?

Elder Matos is a fun missionary to work with. He's been on his mission for about six months now. He was born in Peru, but he moved to Canada when he was really young, and he lived in Toronto and Montreal. So, he speaks English, French, Spanish, and now Dutch. And I used to be proud that I could call myself bilingual, now that I speak Dutch... Elder Matos is a hard worker, and I'm hoping that we have a good time together.

The branch here in Tilburg seems pretty great. Before I left for Tilburg, I was in the mission office, saying goodbye to Elders Alston and Rudolph, my Eindhoven companions -- they had finished their missions and were going home. I had the chance to speak briefly with Sister Robinson, and she started talking to me about Tilburg -- she said that I was heading to "Boom Incorporated." Well...she was right. The Boom family runs the show down here -- there are two Boom brothers in Tilburg, and one is an area seventy, the other is the stake president. And they have kids. And their kids have little kids. And I think they all live in Tilburg. The branch president is a Boom, the first counselor in the branch presidency is a Boom, the Relief Society president is married to a Boom so she is a Boom (duh), the ward mission leader is NOT a Boom...but his wife is a Boom. In short: yes, the Booms run the show here. They're amazing -- if it weren't for them, TIlburg wouldn't have become a branch. They're super missionary-oriented, too. The pressure is on for us to perform.

 It actually just became a branch a little over a year ago, but you wouldn't know that from being in sacrament meeting on Sunday. There were a lot of people present, and it was a fun place to be. It was definitely different -- there are a good amount of younger families (okay, like four or something, but that's more than just about anywhere else I've served), so there are a lot of little kids in sacrament meeting! It's great.

I don't have much time, but I'll share a short story before I go. Elder Matos and I were walking around, looking up some people in a neighborhood. These little African and Muslim kids were playing soccer. They start talking to us. We ask one of them, "speel je goed voetbal?" (Are you good at soccer?) This kid looks at us, wide-eyed, and asks, "are you two talent scouts??" We laughed and told him that we weren't. Then his friends laughed at him and told him he'd never play pro-soccer.

Well, little kid, hang on to your dreams. Maybe someday.

Hang on to your dreams, too. Until next time.

-Elder Bonney

I said goodbye to Aifje and her daughter, Zr. Bosch. I'll miss that adorable, sassy old woman. It was a privilege to see her get baptized.

Haarlem district picture! Cheesin'

Week 90: "Do you smell burning rubber?"

March 2, 2015

I feel like it wasn't that long ago that I met up with Elder Pouwer in Leiden on a warm day in September, then drove on up to Alkmaar together so we could whitewash the city. Since then, a lot has happened. I've experienced the widest array of emotions here in Alkmaar -- I've seen some great miracles, and I've had some good struggles.

Well, it's been almost six months since I showed up here with Elder Pouwer, and yesterday evening I was called by President Robinson and told that I would be getting transferred on Wednesday. It's been a good run, Alkmaar.

I'll be transferred to the city of Tilburg, in the south of the Netherlands, where I'll serve my last twelve weeks as a missionary. I'm pretty excited to serve there -- I've worked there a few times on exchanges when I was serving in Eindhoven. I'm going to try to make my last two transfers my best two transfers.

All that aside... this past week was a pretty good week. It started off with Elder Neptune and I going to Amsterdam on P-day and looking for the best pizza in Amsterdam, and how can a week started off like that go wrong? I mean, we later went on to see a street performer in the Dam Square with an awfully obscene mouth who didn't even do anything but swear at the Italian kids who were heckling him, and then we saw a drunk guy pass out in Amsterdam Centraal...but, at least we found good pizza. Another week begins.

On Tuesday, we headed down to Zoetermeer for a zone conference, and I really enjoyed it. There were some great presentations, and after lunch, we watched some video clips from recent publicity the church has been getting in Belgium, including the video "Jan Says Yes to Elder Argueta." (For those who are curious...just go and watch it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNvZfWFb7hA. Elder Argueta's companion in the video is Elder Neptune, my current comp!) Then, President and Sister Robinson surprised us by playing the movie/documentary "Meet the Mormons" for us. Yes, it's definitely worth watching. And yes, it made me miss college football games.

And yes, we still have no car and had to take public transportation back. And yes, there were problems with the trains. And yes, we were an hour and a half late to our dinner appointment. Needless to say, we were all grateful for how understanding the members were that night (and that they still let us come eat).

I got to go on exchanges in the city of Haarlem on Thursday, and it rained all day. We had no appointments until dinner, so we spent most of the day talking to people in the rain... I sometimes wonder how many people we contact in the rain are convinced that we're insane. Actually, sometimes I wonder if I'm insane when I contact people all day in the rain, when my pants...shoes...socks...jacket...well, everything is soaked. The missionary I was with has only been out for about six months, and I just kept thinking, "don't worry, it gets better than this." Not to be cheesy, but you gotta make it through the rainy days to see the sunny ones.

And Friday was a sunny day! I was working with Elder Andrew in Zaandam, and we had a really good day. We taught a lot of lessons and ended it with a sport activity in the Amsterdam church. When we were teaching one of their investigators earlier, we invited him to come, and he agreed to come. He's this big, muscular, friendly Nigerian man, and he was really excited to play...ping pong. We always play a lot of volleyball at the Amsterdam sport night, but he just couldn't wait for ping pong. So, when we got to the church, he played ping pong with one of the missionaries serving in Amsterdam, who is one of the better ping pong players. And our Nigerian friend put his game face on and destroyed this elder at ping pong. We're playing volleyball, and we keep hearing laughter and a deep, African voice coming from the ping pong table, repeatedly saying, "I'm kicking your white butt!" It was great.

Before I forget...this week could have been my last week alive. I was riding Elder da Silva's bike when I was in Zaandam, and, for whatever reason, his bike has no working brakes. I hop on and start riding when Elder Andrew warns me. Right before we proceed to go down a big hill. I would try to brake by dragging my feet on the ground. Later, I couldn't stop and a car failed to yield to me, and I think I almost died. I eventually figured out that if I put my shoe on top of the front tire, it would act as a brake and slow the bike down. Smart, right? Until I started smelling burning rubber, only to discover that that was melting the sole of my shoe. Well...it was worth a shot.

Well, next time I email, I'll be in Tilburg. My time in Alkmaar has been really good for me, but it's time for me to go. I'll miss the members here, and I'll always be grateful for my time here. There's not much more I can say. Surprised?

Keep it real, boys and girls. Until next week!

-Elder Bonney

 

Miley and Tadek came to church again on Sunday, and I got to say goodbye! I'll miss those homies.

At zone conference, with my two Eindhoven companions, Elder Alston and Elder Rudolph. They both go home this Wednesday. Time flies. 

 

Week 89: "...Can Americans even ice-skate?"

February 23, 2015

There are great weeks on missions. And then, there are weeks that aren't so great. Those weeks make the great weeks even better, but you have to make it through the rough weeks first to enjoy the good ones...

So, yeah. This past week wasn't the easiest week on my mission. And..we still have no car. But, I made it through, and the week wasn't all rough -- there were good moments, too. Like ice-skating in Haarlem. Last week, after emailing, all the members of the Amsterdam zone met up in Haarlem, and we headed over to the ice-skating rink. I don't know if any of you watched the winter Olympics last year, but...Dutch people take ice-skating seriously. We showed up to the rink, expecting something more similar to what you see in America -- kids having fun, people falling over, all that stuff. When we walked in, these pretty fit guys were leaving the rink with their personal skates and all, and they started talking to each other, saying, in addition to other things, "can Americans even ice-skate?"

After walking into the rink, I asked myself the same question. We saw a bunch of people doing laps around the rink, and they were working hard. Sweating. In their skin-tight skating gear and their personal, probably very expensive ice-skates. After getting out on the ice, we thought we might be okay...some of us were, and some of us weren't. Besides one of the sisters serving in Amsterdam (who skated a lot back home in Colorado), none of us compared to even the kids skating around the rink. Like, little kids who were learning to make sharp turns. They went FAST. I think that almost all of us missionaries fell at least once. I tried to knock over Elder Pouwer when he almost fell, and I ended up falling instead of him. That ice is harsh on your skin, and I started to bleed. It was embarassing. I learned an important lesson about how seriously the Dutch take skating.

On Tuesday, I was on exchanges in Amsterdam -- probably my last exchange ever in that city. I worked with a younger missionary, Elder Harrop. He's been out for about two and a half months. We had a good day together, giving some lessons and finding some new people, while trying to avoid a recent ad-campaign in Amsterdam that involves advertisements everywhere with women wearing little to no clothing. (I'll be real, though, there's almost always an ad-campaign like that in Amsterdam.) We had a pretty cool experience -- in the evening, Elder Harrop felt like going to a certain area to do some look-ups. He decided we should drop by a member who hadn't been to church in a couple weeks. Turns out, that member had been having some health problems, and he told us how grateful he was that we decided to drop by and asked us for a blessing. Just goes to show that Heavenly Father always gets us to where He needs us if we listen.

We got to go eat Romanian food with Miley and Tadek for lunch on Wednesday -- that was fun. The food was pretty good. They're having a rough time, though -- the law of tithing is difficult for them to accept. We're praying that everything works out, but for now, they've told us that they don't want to get baptized anymore. It was really sad. Elder Neptune and I bore strong testimony, and you could just feel the Spirit in the room. It's sad when people you love and care for make a decision like that, but we can't force them to do anything. They didn't come to church on Sunday, but we're hoping that things will get better. Elder Neptune and I were pretty disappointed after that appointment, but...gewoon doorgaan (just keep going).

On Thursday, we headed up to Den Helder to go on splits with the elders there. I worked with Elder Crowson, and we headed down to Schagen to do some door knocking..for four hours. Schagen was a pretty Dutch city -- the people there knew what they wanted. Or what they didn't want. (At least, they thought they did...I don't think they knew that we were bringing eternal happiness.) Then, the next day, Elder Neptune and I traveled down to Leidschendam for mission leader council, which was great. We talked a lot about receiving personal revelation. On Saturday, early in the morning, we headed down to Amsterdam from Alkmaar to meet with the district leaders in the zone. What I'm trying to say is...we spent half of the week away from Alkmaar. Haha.

I think I'm a little sick right now, so sorry if this email seems lacking enthusiasm. And, last week wiped me out. This week should be really good, though, and I'm looking forward to it. I'm still really enjoying working with Elder Neptune -- he's a great guy. By the time I email next week, I should know where I'll be transferred to!

Keep it real, and...gewoon doorgaan.

-Elder Bonney

 

Fast enough to make the medal stand. Slow enough to get third place. (L2R -- Elder Neptune, Elder Morrell, and yours truly)

At mission leader council, with President Robinson. Love that man.

 

Week 88: "You'll have very kissable lips!"

February 16, 2015

You know, as a missionary, I didn't really expect Valentine's day to be a day of love. I mean, I expected it to be as full of love as any other day as a missionary. Maybe a little less -- for some reason, people here aren't that excited when you knock on their door at 7 PM on Valentine's day. But, I was surprised. (And no, this has nothing to do with the quote.)

So, on the morning of the 14th, Elder Neptune and I were about to head out. We had no appointments, so it was going to be a day of talking to people on the street to see if anyone would invite us back. We always pray before we leave, and we were standing at the door. Elder Neptune prayed, and in his prayer, said something along the lines of, "well, God, we're going to go out, and we won't come back until we've taught someone a first lesson." Wait a second. No coming back for lunch until after we've found someone to teach? I've had really long finding sessions, sometimes even finding..no one.

We went outside and started looking up some people who had earlier said that we could come back another time. Most weren't home; some told us not to come back. Great. So, we were going to have to teach a first lesson to someone we hadn't met yet. We started talking to people on the street, and a couple of people invited us to visit them sometime. But, no lesson -- we realized that we needed to be knocking doors if we wanted to get let in and teach a first lesson. We started knocking doors close to the centrum, but we weren't given much of a warm welcome. We biked to a different area of the city and started knocking some more doors... Nothing. We decided to go do some bell-ups at an apartment complex, choosing random numbers to ring up. People answered, but no one wanted to let us in.

Wonderful. We headed to the next apartment complex, and as we walk to the bells, I see a name that catches my eye. It was a hispanic name, and I said to Elder Neptune, jokingly, "yes, please!" (We were starting to lose faith in Dutch people.) I bell up, and say, "good afternoon! My companion and I are here this Valentine's day to share a book with people about love and God." The woman's response: "alright, come on up." We could hardly believe it... We walked into her apartment, and she immediately offered us something to drink. While getting to know her, we found out that she was Catholic and from Brazil and has lived here for a while, but doesn't really have any family here. We went on to teach her, yes, a first lesson. It was a special lesson. When it was time for us to go, she just looked at us, and she started to cry. I'm not sure exactly why -- maybe she had been lonely, or maybe she'd had a rough time, I don't know. But I do know that those tears were tears of happiness. Two hours since we began our search to teach a first lesson, we'd done it. We're going back this week with a member here who is from Brazil.

So, yes, it was a Valentine's day of love. It was a miracle. I can't say that Heavenly Father doesn't answer prayers. He answered ours (and I might be as bold as to say that He answered some of hers).

It was a really good week. It started to warm up, but today, the temperature dropped -- the rivers froze over again. I got to go on exchanges in Zaandam and Hoorn this week, and they were both good. In Hoorn, on the 13th, I got to teach the Maori woman who Elder Pouwer and I had taught back in September/October again -- she's doing really well. She's pretty funny. Partway through the appointment, I busted out some chapstick -- this cold weather can be hard on your lips. While putting it on, she looks at me and says, "you'll have very kissable lips!" Well, sorry to break it to you, but I won't be kissing anyone this Valentine's day.

Miley and Tadek are doing really well. We had a fun lesson about the Word of Wisdom -- they accepted it all. Teaching a Word of Wisdom lesson in the Netherlands is pretty fun...the amount of marijuana comments you can make is endless. I really love those two, and Elder Neptune and I are going over this Wednesday to eat lunch with them -- Miley promised to cook us up some real Romanian food. I'm excited.

All in all, things are going pretty well here. We're being blessed. I probably only have two more weeks here in Alkmaar, and I'm going to miss it when I leave. I'm just grateful that I've been able to work here.

Well, boys and girls, until next week.

-Elder Bonney

Week 87: "What I did? I am really that ugly?"

February 9, 2015

 

Sometimes, there are really cold days. I don't mean kind of cold days, but really cold days. Days with lots of ice, days when the cold air eats right through your clothing and pierces your heart. Yes, that dramatic. I have a mental list of the top ten coldest days of my mission...and four days of last week made it onto that list. I started to wonder why, centuries back, people thought it was nice to live here. So nice, in fact, that they drained out the sea to make even more land.

I still haven't figured it out. But, the cold is leaving, and spring is on its way -- it started warming up yesterday. Some of the ponds are still frozen over, but it's getting better. If you guys are lucky, it'll keep on getting warmer -- then you won't have to listen to my never-ending rants about ice. We also may get the car back this week. We'll see.

And yes, yesterday was my birthday! It was a lot of fun. We showed up at church, and when Miley and Tadek -- our Romanian and Polish homies -- arrived, Miley came up to me with a big grin on her face and says, "happy birthday!!" Then, she yanks my head down to her level (she's a shorter woman) and, before I know what's happening, does the traditional European touch-cheeks-while-making-kissing-sound (yeah, I don't understand it). She then tells me, in her Romanian-English, "we have your tart in car!!" Get this -- they had made me a big, chocolate cake and a bunch of little cake things. They gave us a ride back home after church to help us get the cake home (that wasn't going to work on bikes). You know, you get to meet some wonderful people while serving a mission. Miley and Tadek have definitely earned a special place in my heart.

For dinner, we ate with the de Buijns, a great family here (I'm sure I've mentioned them before). We had a fun time together -- they're great. They'd made me a cake, too -banana cheesecake- and it was delicious. Let's just say that Elder Neptune and I have been eating a lot of cake recently... As far as eating healthy, though, I think it's time for me to start not procrastinating the day of my repentance. Elder Neptune and I did yoga last night, however, so I think that's a good step in the right direction (I'm becoming a big yoga fan, but...we won't talk about that).

Birthday aside, we had a pretty busy week this past week. On Tuesday, I worked in Alkmaar with one of the assistants to the president. I had an appointment with the dentist that day to get some things checked out. It ended up only taking twenty minutes, but I think I almost let loose my bowels when I saw the price. Lesson learned: never go to the dentist.

I got to go back and work in Haarlem again on Wednesday with Elder Silva, from Portugal. That was another one of the freezing days. I don't know if my feet have ever been so cold... It got to the point where I started stomping my feet on the ground to try to re-gain feeling in them after an hour of being numb. We worked hard that day and found some people who said the elders could come back. Elder Silva was a fun guy to work with -- we rung one doorbell, and a lady came down, opened the door, and, for whatever reason (it was almost like she was expecting no one to be at the door), jumped back in surprise when she saw us. As we were walking away, Elder Silva just turns to me and asks, in his Portuguese-accented English, "What I did? I am really that ugly?" I just busted up laughing. All things considered, it was a good day. Cold. But good.

On Thursday, I got to work with my good old MTC companion, Elder Price, again. We worked in Alkmaar. We were visiting a less-active member, and she asked us to help her carry a bed from her shed to upstairs -- one of those electric, almost hospital-like beds. We moved the bed to carry it out of the shed, and we discovered...a Dutch mannequin. I just about fell over in surprise. Mostly because the mannequin wasn't dressed, and Dutch mannequins are WAY too realistic. Enough said.

We've been seeing a lot of miracles in Alkmaar recently. We have investigators who are doing really well, and we're finding new people. We're working hard and hoping to see some more good things happen. It's been just about five months since I came here with Elder Pouwer, and I probably only have about three weeks left -- I'm hoping to make them a good three weeks.

Also, when Elder Pouwer was here, he made apple juice and put it in a bottle. When he left, we didn't drink it. Well...it started to ferment, creating alcohol, and this week, it exploded in the fridge. That was a fun mess to clean up. Another lesson learned: fruit juice left unattended will become alcoholic. I mean, I already knew that, but now I speak from experience.

Watch out for Dutch mannequins.

-Elder Bonney

 

Here I am, with the goodies Miley baked for me. I'm a blessed man.

 

Week 86: "Have you ever knocked a windmill before?"

February 2, 2015

I have experienced some of the strangest weather recently... Here's my personal theory: Heavenly Father wanted me to have the true mission experience, bad winter weather and all, so He put made us lose the car right when the real winter weather hits. If the last week sounded rough, this past one was even worse.

Disclaimer: I'm not trying to say that my mission is the coldest mission in the world. The Netherlands isn't that cold of a country -- the temperatures have been hanging around freezing, but it could be a lot colder. However, I would argue that it's one of the windiest -- if not the windiest -- countries in the world. Which makes the cold even worse. Add the wind chill in, and yeah, it can seem pretty bad.

That said... I'll just talk about the weather from one day last week, so we can get "weather talk" out of the way. On Thursday, I was on exchanges with one of the elders serving in Amsterdam. We were, of course, on bikes. We had an appointment in the afternoon with a kind of less-active member, and we talked about the greatest two commandments -- love for God and for other people. At one point, she says, "yeah, it makes sense! If you love others, then you aren't going to hurt them. If you love them, you won't steal from them. If you love them, you won't kill them. Well, at least usually. You know, you could maybe say...well... Yeah, we'll just say you wouldn't kill them." I didn't ask.

Anyway, that's beside the point. We got out of the appointment, then headed to the bus stop and found out that we had fifteen minutes. So, the good missionaries that we are (and this bus stop was close to the middle of nowhere), we went looking for people to talk to. We ended up knocking this small street, and -get this- there was a windmill. A full blown, stereotypical, Dutch windmill. I looked at it, and turned to the elder I was working with. "Have you ever knocked a windmill before?" "No..." "Me neither. Let's do it." We then opened the gate to the yard, walked up to the windmill, and knocked the door. The door we knocked turned out to be the back door, because a man (who looked kind of like a hippie) opened the door on the other end. We went and talked to him. He wasn't interested, but hey -- now I've knocked a windmill, a windmill that someone lived in. I didn't even know people actually lived in those things...

Well, back to the point I was trying to make about the weather... (I'm getting easily distracted today; I must be tired.) So, after getting back from our appointment, we decided to knock this neighborhood. It took about an hour. At first, light rain was falling on us. Then, it started to hail. Hail wasn't right, because it then started to snow. Then, it was snow and rain together. Back to hail...then, a blue sky! Then rain again. All within an hour. The whole time, though, it was windy and cold. We couldn't help but laugh at the weather. When we started biking to our dinner appointment, it started hailing, and I started yelling... The hail was like little BBs coming from heaven. It would sting pretty badly when it hit. Riding a bike made it even worse...but hey, you only serve once. Might as well enjoy this freaky weather.

I forgot to mention -- on Tuesday, Elder Neptune and I gave our zone training on teaching skills. It actually went pretty well. Even with only one week to prepare together, we pulled it off. So yeah.

As far as missionary work goes... well, we've been talking to a lot of people, and slowly but surely, things are progressing. Our Romanian and Polish homies are doing...how can I say this in a refined way...so totally awesome. They were at church again yesterday -- of course. They are doing so well. The only thing really keeping them from baptism is the fact that they are living together and not married. Hopefully that can happen soon...we'll see. I'll be honest, looking back, the Lord has never really let me down on my mission. Everything that didn't seem to work out was never Him neglecting me or the work. So, things will work out the way they need to, I just need to do my best.

In other news, a man walked into the church building yesterday morning for our church service. He said he was just looking for a church, and after dropping by a few others, he decided to come to ours. We taught him a Restoration lesson during Sunday school. Did he turn out to be crazy? Possibly. But hey -- gotta count your blessings.

Keep it classy.

-Elder Bonney

Sister Adams, Elder Neptune, and myself, after our zone training on Tuesday. We pulled it off.

The windmill Elder Fowkes and I knocked in Alkmaar... You know that's right

Week 85: "I look like a monkey."

January 26, 2015

It was Friday night, and Elder Neptune and I were making some plans for the next day. The phone started ringing -- it was a member of the branch. "Hello elders, we just wanted to give you a quick weather update! There is a serious warning through the whole country for black ice tomorrow morning. So, be careful."

We did have to leave early the next morning to travel to Amsterdam for a meeting with the district leaders in our zone. While traveling to the Alkmaar station from our apartment, I looked at the canals and saw ice on top of them. It was the first time I saw them frozen over outside (the winters during my mission have been relatively warm, so the lakes/canals never froze). Yeah, it was pretty cold. Did I mention that we're on bikes? We're still waiting for Elder Neptune's driver's license to come, so for this past week and its beautiful weather, we've been traveling with buses and bikes. It's great. Looks like God wanted to make sure that I got to experience a little bit of real Dutch winter (and not from the inside of a car).

And our train was canceled - all of the trains until noon were canceled because the tracks were iced over or something. So, we bused down to Amsterdam. Don't even get me started on the kind of people you travel with while on the bus to Amsterdam...

And there was snow on the ground in Amsterdam.

Things are going really well, though. Elder Pouwer and I had a good last few days together -- on Tuesday, we had a really good lesson with some of the investigators we had found together a while ago - a Romanian woman and her Polish boyfriend. A few years back, I went on a pretty cool trip for a couple weeks to Romania to help build playgrounds, and the kids there taught me a little Romanian -- I have to admit, I never thought it would come in handy. (Given, the only things they taught me that I remember how to say are "I look like a monkey," "you look like a parrot," and "where is the bathroom." Also, a questionable way of telling a girl that she's attractive, but I try not to use that one...) Our Romanian investigator thinks it's hilarious. She's absolutely amazing -- she reads in the Book of Mormon every day and knows that it's true. Her boyfriend, though, isn't so sure. She remains a good example for him and helps him come to church -- they've been three Sundays in a row now. I think they'll go places. Arăt ca o maimuță.

On Wednesday, Elder Pouwer and I drove down to Leiden and ended our four month-long time together. I have to admit, it was sad to see it end. We were together for a while - all the time I served with him is now less than all the time I have left. I'm glad that I'll still see him around, though -- we're still in the same district.

I waited around in the Leiden station for a while, helping run transfers, and then Elder Neptune showed up. We finished running transfers, then took the train - leaving the car behind :( - back to Alkmaar. Since then, we've spent a lot of time figuring out how to get everywhere without a car. Besides our Saturday morning incident, things have gone relatively smoothly. We've rented some bikes, so that helps. We've also been spending a good amount of time preparing for tomorrow's zone training - Elder Neptune is a new zone leader and has never given a zone training before, and neither has our new sister training leader, and we only have had a week together to put it all together, but it should work out.

There's not much to complain about -- things are going really well. Life is good. And the winter won't get much worse...will it?

Arăți ca un papagal.

- Elder Bonney

 

 

Haarlem district, after the last district meeting of the transfer!

At the station with Elder Pouwer

Week 84: "I think I'm leaving footprints in the carpet..."

January 19, 2015

Well...the Bonney/Pouwer era is over. I never actually thought that I'd do three transfers with the same companion. With my patience level, I'd probably end up killing them and getting put in prison (or even worse -- sent home from my mission). These past four months haven't been half bad, though. Bless Elder Pouwer's heart for putting up with me. I don't know how I'll ever be able to get married and be with the same person forever...but I'll worry about that later.

I've honestly learned a lot, though, here in Alkmaar with Elder Pouwer. I've seen a lot of miracles and made a lot of friendships. Elder Pouwer is now getting transferred, and I...wait for it...will be staying in Alkmaar for another transfer. I'll be going on almost six months in Alkmaar! I hope the branch is ready for this. My new companion will be Elder Neptune, a new zone leader. And we will have no car for a while. More on that next week...

This last week of the transfer went by pretty quickly. We had a lot of exchanges and a lot of appointments -- it was pretty busy. On Wednesday, I got to work once more in the big, old city of Amsterdam with my good friend Elder Besendorfer. It's always good to reminisce on the Groningen days. We were talking about how quickly time has gone by since Groningen -- I mean, a year ago, I was in Lelystad! And two years ago, I already had my mission call. That's a weird realization. A lot has happened since then.

On Thursday, I was working in Leiden with Elder Reynolds, and I hit a mission milestone. We went out contacting in the morning, and we talked to a fair amount of people. It was raining -- not too badly, but still, it was coming down. For some reason, within about half an hour, my shoes were absolutely soaking wet. As in, they were to the point where they were heavy with water. Every time I stepped, some water would get squeezed out, and new water would go in (at least the water was always fresh...). They were sponges. When we got home for lunch, I took off my soaking wet shoes and socks. I took a look at the bottom of my shoes, only to find a long horizontal crack in both of my rubber shoe soles - the source of the problem which made my feet freezing and wet! The only logical conclusion you should have is that I'm a great missionary and spend a lot of time walking around doing great missionary work. (Though, I'm fairly sure that if anyone wore the same pairs of shoes for two years, they would start wearing out, too.) We went to a dinner appointment that night, and the member had us take off our shoes, since it was so wet outside. Surprising as it may sound, my socks were -yes- soaked through. And I ended up leaving wet footprints everywhere I left in the house. I think there was a puddle under the dinner table from my socks by the time we left. Let's hope the members didn't make any irrational assumptions about me...

At least I had another pair of good proselyting shoes. Right? I went home, took a look at the bottom of those ones, and saw the beginning of the same problem. Great. Well, what's life without trials? I'll just have to be careful in the rain. Either way, first pair of shoes worn out by walking so much -- milestone reached. I can finally feel like a good missionary. ;)

In other news, we're seeing some good things here in Alkmaar. Aafje was confirmed a member at church yesterday -- that old homegirl was all smiles. Unfortunately, Carlos has decided to take a break from meeting with us, which is sad. It's always a little heartbreaking to see someone who you've grown to love make a decision which you know will bring them less happiness. You have to let them make their own choices, though. We've found some other investigators, however, and we're working with some great less-actives who should be on the path back to church soon. I have high hopes for the near future in Alkmaar.

I've gotta bounce -- we're going with the Hoorn elders to Volendam to take some classic Dutch pictures as a last hurrah before Elder Pouwer and Elder Hunter leave the branch. I'll have to send those next week!

Take it easy.

-Elder Bonney

Week 83: "No, Nielsen is the name of the elder who gave you the interview, not the name of the prophet."

January 12, 2015

 

I'm making it through the winter, slowly but surely. It's not too cold, so nothing to complain about there... it's just the wind and rain that make it hard. At least I'm in a car and not on a bike when I'm in Alkmaar. (I apologize to all those missionaries who bike. I've been there, too.)

Anyways, today's email won't be too long, because we went shopping in Zaandam earlier today, and I don't have much email time. I'll try to give you the good stuff.

This Tuesday, we had interviews with the mission president and his wife. I always look forward to those -- some people don't realize just how big of a role the mission president and his wife play in the lives of the missionaries they work with. I love President and Sister Robinson. Our interviews were during district meeting in Amsterdam on Tuesday afternoon. When it was our turn, they pulled me and Elder Pouwer out of district meeting. First was my interview with President. It was going well -- we were having a good talk. He asked me a question about back home, and I started to answer, but while I began answering, I watched as his head started nodding..and nodding..and then he was asleep. All within about five seconds of asking me the question. I just sat there for a little bit, not exactly sure what I should do... "Are you a little tired?" He sits up straight again. "Just...closed my eyes for a little bit there. It's been a long day." I thought it was hilarious. Like Elder Moreira, the area 70, once said, if the mission president is falling asleep in meetings after two and a half years as mission president, you know he's been doing a good job. Haha.

On Wednesday, we were on exchanges with Hoorn -- I worked with Elder Womeldorf in Hoorn. It was cold and windy. We taught a lesson in Enkhuizen, and the lesson went a little long. Right after, we got a text from our dinner appointment, canceling -- something came up. I said, jokingly, "dang, we're working hard, and our dinner appointment doesn't even go through! We have to eat!" We took the train back to Hoorn afterwards to make some lunch. It was around 3 PM. We made some great burritos (I'd like to say that Elder Womeldorf can make good Mexican food because he's from California, but I'm not sure if that's stereotyping or not). I thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to eat a lot, especially since our dinner appointment had just canceled. Right after stuffing myself, we got a call from a member, inviting us to eat out with her and her son that night. To an all-you-can-eat Japanese/Chinese buffet. I don't know if I've ever been so full as I was that night. Making room was a challenge. In conclusion: don't complain about not having a dinner appointment, because Heavenly Father will give you a blessing so big there won't be "room enough to receive it."

We had splits in Den Helder on Thursday, and...that was probably one of the hardest days of my mission. Elder Crowson, a young missionary finishing his first month, and I hit the streets of Den Helder, in the cold rain. We then watched all of our appointments for the day fall through. Bummer. It wouldn't have been so difficult, except for the fact that the rain was wrecking us. Elder Crowson's bike broke, so we had to walk the whole day. My gloves were so soaked that I took them off -- my hands were warmer in the cold, wet wind than they were in the soaking gloves. My shoes and socks were soaked all the way through. As was my jacket. I remember knocking doors, counting off the hours until we had dinner. We endured, though, and ended up finding seven people that day, which was definitely a miracle. In conclusion: things may be horribly awful. But, it gets better.

On Saturday, we participated in a blitz in Amsterdam, led by the Amsterdam ward mission leader. Right when it started -you guessed it!- the rain and the wind kicked in hardcore. I'm pretty sure it blew everyone off the street, because there was no one to be found. Elder Pouwer and I just went down the street doing bell-ups. We didn't find anyone that day. But while I was nearly being blown off the face of the earth, I realized how much I love this windy, rainy little place, and how much I'll miss it when I go home. I might as well keep enjoying it while it lasts.

Oh, before I forget -- Aafje had her baptismal interview on Tuesday. The district leader, Elder Nielsen, came up to do it. I waited outside with Aafje's middle-aged daughter. They came out, and Aafje had a huge grin on her face. I told her, "congratulations, you passed!" She just winked at me and said, "psh, of course I passed!" Of course. Since then, though, she hasn't been able to remember if the prophet's name is Nielsen or Monson. We have to help her out on that. Thanks, Elder Nielsen. I'll have to ask him about what he told her during that interview...haha.

She was baptized on Sunday, and it was a great service. The members stand behind her 100%. She'd asked me to speak on the Gift of the Holy Ghost in the service, and that was definitely a privilege. She was so happy. Maybe she is 79, but she says she's planning to live until 102, and that wouldn't surprise me. So, she's still got 23 years left to be a solid member of the Alkmaar branch. ;)

And that's all for today. Stay dry.

-Elder Bonney

 

Elder Pouwer, Br. de Bruijn (he baptized her), the queen Aafje herself, Coen (he stood in the corner -- Aafje wanted another one in the water just to feel safer), and yours truly. Right before the baptism.