Elder John Bonney: Week 80: "I get to play the window?"

December 22, 2014

This week was a week full of unusual things. The more I think about it, the more I realize that, for missionaries (at least, for me), there are no "usual weeks." I guess that keeps things exciting...

I'm happy to be able to say that, after emailing last week, Elder Pouwer and I kicked ourselves into gear and finished planning the zone training. On Wednesday morning, after much blood, sweat, and tears (and being up way past bedtime the night before, finishing planning... Better to ask forgiveness than permission? Don't quote me on that), we gave a great zone training - if I do say so myself. We gave it a Christmas theme, and we both even sang a song we wrote to kick it off, a duet - "Elder, it's cold outside." Yes, to the tune of "Baby, it's cold outside." Don't think I'm ridiculous. It was about getting out and working, even when you have to fight the cold and wet Dutch weather. Maybe someday you'll see a video of us singing it. Either way, it was a great way to kick off the training, and everyone loved it. The rest of the training also went well. That said...

I actually can't complain about the weather right now (you knew a weather report was probably coming...). It's been unseasonably warm. It has rained a lot, too, though. But hey -- could be worse.

Tuesday night was a funny scene. If anyone had walked in the door of the school I was in, they would have seen me, biking my heart out on a stationary bike, sweating like a maniac, with electronic dance music playing in the background. (I wish I could say I was wearing a white shirt and tie, but I was wearing exercise clothes.) No, I didn't go rogue. A member, Rayco (a young teenager) had invited us to help him out with a school project, raising money for abused women in Africa. There was going to be a twenty four hour bike-ride (on stationary bikes), and if we biked, Rayco would be able to take a break. So, when it was my turn, I hopped on that bike and biked my heart out for twenty minutes. To some crazy electronic European dance music that the program was blasting. It was great.

Our move from Heiloo to Alkmaar is complete -- on Thursday morning, we went to do a final clean and rip out all of the carpets with the Robisons (a senior couple from the mission) and Br. van der Put, a member in the stake who helps with the apartments. When we showed up, we realized...after Elder Pouwer and I had done our last basic clean of the apartment, we turned down the heat and opened the refrigerator, so it could air out. At some point, though, the landlord had come in, turned the heat up a bit, and closed the fridge. Uh oh. The fridge was almost intirely black on the inside -- with MOLD. I was afraid some mutant mold creature was going to emerge. The landlord wanted to keep the fridge (heaven knows why), and guess who got the assignment to clean it out? Yours truly. It was possibly the worst thing I've ever been required to do. I barely made it through alive.

So, Elder Pouwer sings, and he and Elder Hunter (and another elder) were invited to sing a version Elder Hunter arranged of "Joseph Smith's First Prayer" at the Rotterdam Stake's Christmas concert. As Elder Pouwer's companion, I was also invited to the concert. On Saturday afternoon, we all piled into the car and took a roadtrip down to Rotterdam. (It's a little over an hour drive -- the Netherlands is a pretty small country.) The concert was organized and directed by Vesna Gruppman, who is only, like, the best female violinist in the entire world. And coincidentally a member of the church in the Rotterdam stake. At one point, her husband, Igor Gruppman (who is one of the best male violinists in the whole world, and conducts the Orchestra on Temple Square and concertmaster of the Rotterdam Philharmonic), came up, and they played Vivaldi's Christmas Concerto together. It was amazing. And, due to the size of the church in this country (not THAT big), there weren't that many people there. Not that many people get to see the Gruppmans perform in such a small setting. Just one of the many perks of being me, I guess.

Our branch had a Christmas party on Friday evening, and it was a huge success. There are about fifty active members in the Alkmaar branch (or something like that), and ninety people were at the Christmas party! Victor (remember our Aruban?) was there, too, and we bought some canned fruit so that he could make an Aruban drink for the party. Before it started, he was in the room that leads to the baptismal font, going to town with the tiny blender we brought, trying to blend all the fruit. He got it all done, and we had, like, twenty liters of Aruban fruit punch. We ended up bringing a lot home. (Sidenote: drinking pure fruit can do unpleasant things to the human body. But we won't go there.) It was awesome, though, to see him help out and be involved and included.

Carlos was also at the party, and he brought his wife and his son! After everyone finished eating, there was a short performance -- different people had signed up to sing or play an instrument or read a poem, things like that. Carlos' son had signed up to play the violin, and he was impressive. Carlos got up too, and he went to the podium with his guitar and played an awesome version of "Down by the Riverside." He got everyone singing along and clapping and everything. It was great. Neither of the songs that Carlos or his son played had anything to do with Christmas...but hey. We must have not given through the memo. It was fun anyway.

The primary presidency gave a puppet show about Christmas and its true meaning. They had contracted Elder Hunter to play the piano, and Elder Pouwer was asked to play a few other characters. As I stood in the room, holding up the puppet-theater-structure thing (that was my job), I wondered if I would get to play a part. Then, the window that was taped to the little theater fell off. The primary president asked me if I would hold it through the whole performance. I asked her if I was playing the window. Yes, I played the part of the window! He didn't say anything and didn't move for the whole puppet show. But, I played a crucial role. I think I was the star of the show.

Enjoy this Christmas week, and remember Jesus Christ. If any week is good to think about Him (and really, any week is), it's this one.

Life is what you want it to be. You could be the star of your puppet show, even if you're a window. That's too cheesy. I should just stop.

-Elder Bonney