May 18, 2015
This morning, we went to Eindhoven for a zone
activity -- we all got together to play some sports. While waiting for
our bus, this old, deranged guy came up to me. He was riding in a
motorized wheelchair and waving around a sign about Jesus. He started
talking to me, saying a bunch of nonsense. At one point, he started
speaking English, asking me what I thought of his sign. He told me, "I
once met Jesus, you know. We drank Coke together!" Oh, is that so? Don't
worry, I didn't make any jokes about hard drug use. He went on to tell
us about how, when we die, and we have no body, we are still somebody,
not nobody (and he put extra emphasis on the word "body" every time he
said it). After having a good laugh with the guy (he was weird, but
thought he was pretty funny himself), our bus pulls up. I go to shake
his hand, and he grabbed my hand and...didn't let go. I had to pull my
hand out and run to the bus. And that was the beginning of the day.
You know, I'm going to miss this. Sometimes people just fascinate me, and I've met all sorts of them out here. I'll miss it.
On Monday
night, Elder Byers and I hopped on a train to Antwerpen, where we spent
the night. The next morning, we had a zone conference in the Antwerpen
chapel. I remembered being in the same chapel as a young missionary on
my first couple transfers, seeing elders and sisters deliver their
"dying testimonies" -- in every zone conference, the missionaries going
home that transfer share one last testimony with the other missionaries.
I never thought my time would come. But, it did -- I was able to stand,
along with a few other good friends who go home next week, and look
back on the years I've spent in the service of God. The change I see in
myself is incredible. It was nice to be able to testify of how the Lord
changes us as missionaries -- while standing up there, I just felt
really grateful for the things I've experienced out here.
But I'm not done yet, so enough with the sappy talk. Let's get down to business.
We had investigators show up in church on Sunday!
These were the first real investigators (people who were actually
making progress) that have come to church the whole time I've been
serving here. One of them thought the service started at 12 instead of
10, but at least he made it for priesthood. They both seemed to enjoy
it, and the members were pretty happy to see guests. I was really happy
that I was able to see some investigators in church before I leave
Tilburg. God has been helping us -- slowly but surely, Elder Byers and I
have been able to build up a good teaching pool here. Good things are
in store for Tilburg.
I was able to work in
Eindhoven one last time -- last Thursday, we had exchanges with the zone
leaders. I was able to see some members and visit some old places -- it
always brings back good memories. We did service at the ward mission
leader's home. Br. Stewart is from Ireland, and he's a great man -- one
of my favorite members in Eindhoven. Intense, but in a good way. He gets
things done, and when we all got to town on those weeds in his yard, he
wasn't messing around. Haha. It reminded me of the way he worked with
us when I was serving in Eindhoven -- he doesn't just feed you cake
afterwards (which he did do, though), but he gets down and weeds WITH
us. When I see that, it makes me want to do an even better job weeding!
It's the same with missionary work. That man and his wife invite the
missionaries over to eat, but he also shares the gospel whenever he gets
the chance. Not to cheesily reference D&C 4, but he's not just
sharpening the missionaries sickles -- he's out there doing the dirty
work with the missionaries. I hope that I'm able to be like that as a
member. It's inspiring, to be honest.
As the
end approaches, I realize that I'm going to miss some things, things I
never thought I'd miss. For example, Dutch people and the achterops on
their bikes. Dutch bikes are different than American bikes. They are
mostly street bikes made for daily travel. On the back of most Dutch
bikes is a little rack - a rack "achter op de fiets." On this rack,
people will carry packages...or groceries...or other people. I've done
all of those. It's not uncommon to see a baby seat attached achter op
the bike, since they make special baby seats for that. What makes me
laugh is what people do when they sit on the back of someone else's
bike. You'll often see teenagers blasting music -- one riding the bike,
the other sitting on the back holding speakers. Pretty gangster, huh? (I
feel like a lot of people would make fun of these teen, Dutch thugs in
America...) My all time favorite has been a woman fixing her mascara
while looking in a little mirror WHILE sitting on the back of her man's
bicycle. Trust me, it was funny. I laughed. It's the little things I'll
miss the most.
Well, amigos, I can't lie, I
feel like I'm reaching the end of a marathon. My body is more tired than
it ever has been. Some of my pant-seats are wearing through. Even the
bike I have is wearing down -- part of the gear-changing mechanism
snapped, and it's constantly stuck on the highest speed (that doesn't
help with the tiredness....haha). I'm just going to try and finish
strong. Thanks for accompanying me on this two-year long journey. It's
not over yet.
Stay true.
-Elder Bonney
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| I told Elder Byers not to make a face and that this picture was getting sent out, but...you can't stop Byers. |
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| At zone conference with Elder Pouwer. That face is a sixth of my mission. Love that guy. |
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