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.