Week 82: "Ha, Agents -- from the system. Trying to stop our meeting."

January 5, 2015

It's a cold afternoon, windy with clear skies. Elder Pouwer and I are walking in a park, and a man approaches us. We shake hands and start to talk. Two ladies walk past us with their dogs, and one of their dogs' leashes wraps around Elder Pouwer's legs. The man with which we're speaking lets out an annoyed little laugh and says, knowingly, "ha. Agents -- from the system. Trying to stop our meeting."

Which got me saying to myself, "oh no. Here we go..." We'd contacted that guy the day before on the street, and he'd set up a meeting in the park. Little did we know, he was actually an evil genius who is on the brink of exposing a lot of phonies and fixing a lot of the world's problems, and he spent almost an hour telling us about "the system" and how they're trying to keep him quiet. Who knows? Maybe he's right. Just another day in the life of Elder Bonney.

Oh, and 2014 is over! I can't even believe it. On New Year's Eve, we are required to be inside our apartments by 4 PM, because the Dutch people like to light off a lot of fireworks and drink a lot of alcohol on "Oud en Nieuw" (what they call New Year's Eve). Needless to say, not the best combination. We stayed up until midnight (as in, we went to bed early and set an alarm for right before midnight...) to see the fireworks. They didn't disappoint. It seems like people here just try to get the loudest fireworks and blow them up more and more as the 31st of December goes on, so midnight was a treat. I couldn't have slept if I wanted to. There was this one long-haired, bearded, probably drunk Dutch guy on the street right outside our apartment building, and he was loving all the fireworks he'd purchased. Our windows shook everytime they went off, and we're on the third floor... It was a free pass for people to explode whatever they wanted. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that they were throwing grenades up in the air just for fun...

2014 was a great year for me. I learned a lot and saw a lot of miracles, had a lot of fun. And now...it's 2015. As missionaries call it, the "year of the jet..." Well, there's no better time to work my hardest and try my best. Might as well make these last months the best ones!

The other parts of the week in Alkmaar were pretty good. On Tuesday, we went to visit Carlos, and he took us for a walk on the beach. His progression is slow but steady. He told us about how Steve Jobs must have been inspired by God, because - how else could he have invented the iPad? We also worked a lot with Aafje this week, our 79-year old gem. Next Sunday is the baptism! I spent about half the week working in Leiden, Zaandam, and Haarlem on exchanges -- nothing like being back on a bike in the winter rain. Honestly, though, it makes you feel alive.

So, I don't know if I ever emailed about an investigator in Groningen named Julio. Elder Besendorfer and I worked really hard with him and taught him almost all the lessons for the first time (before I got there, he'd been taught the first lesson or two). He was great, and we tried really hard to help him build up his faith. Unfortunately, there were some difficulties, some small things that stopped him -- things we couldn't fix for him, but he'd have to fix for himself. That was over a year ago.

This past Saturday, in the Groningen church building, Julio was baptized.

About five months ago, I was companions with Elder Rudolph in Eindhoven. It was our first week together, and I was having a rough time -- I'd been out for a little over a year, and I was tired, in some ways, of missionary work. I'd prayed that I would have a spiritual experience that day to give me a little boost. We were walking down a street, contacting people, when Elder Rudolph and I got the feeling that we should bell-up a certain apartment. I usually would have disregarded it, but I thought, "hey, maybe this is what I was praying for." We rang up, and a nice guy came down, named João. He was from Brazil, if I remember correctly. He told us that

he was religious, but wasn't really "churchy." He told us we could come back. We came back a few times, but never found him home. On my last week in Eindhoven, we found him leaving his house, and we got his phone number. I never saw him again.

This past Saturday, in the Eindhoven church building, João was baptized.

I don't really know what else I can say. You never really can know how much good you do. You can never say that your effort was wasted. I didn't get to see either of the baptisms, but the Lord had definitely used my companions and me to help Julio and João come closer to Him. I can't really ask for more -- I mean, that's what I came here to do, isn't it? Being a missionary is great.

Keep calm and have a great start to 2015.

-Elder Bonney

 In Zaandam, on exchanges, Elder Toole and I found a Christmas tree that hadn't exactly made it through New Year's Eve...

Alkmaar from the top of a hill. Exciting, huh.

Week 81: "It's actually the Church of Jesus Christ, not the Church of Tom Cruise."

December 29, 2014

Last Monday, after emailing, Elder Pouwer and I took a train down to Amsterdam, to go caroling with the Jovo's (Young Single Adults) and missionaries in the Alkmaar/Amsterdam area. It was pretty windy and rainy outside, so we ended up singing Christmas carols inside Amsterdam Centraal Station. It's a huge train station, so there were a lot of people who stopped to watch. We sang for almost an hour, then stopped to take a few pictures as a group. Suddenly, some guy (who turned out to be an undercover security guard) runs inside, holding tightly and pushing another man, who is resisting, in front of him. He slams him against the wall and holds him there, while two other security guards show up and handcuff the guy, then take him away. We're all watching with our mouths wide open. Two younger girls, who had been watching us carol earlier, yell at us, "welcome to Christmas in Amsterdam!"

And that's how my week started out.

It turned out to be a pretty good week for me (can't say the same for the guy taken down in Amsterdam Centraal). It was the week of Christmas, so I got to do some out-of-the ordinary things -- like Skyping my family. It was good to see them on Christmas day -- the last time I saw them was during Mother's day Skype, seven and a half months ago. It's weird to think that, in five months, I'll see them in person. Christmas day was pretty good overall -- we got to eat lunch at the home of the 't Hoen family (the family of the branch president), and we spent most of the afternoon and evening at the home of the de Bruijn family. Needless to say... I ate a lot of food. I've learned many things on my mission, and one of them is that sometimes, regardless of how hungry the missionaries are, members use the missionaries to eat all the food so they don't have leftovers. But hey -- most the time, I can't complain. I slept well that night.

On Second Christmas (the Dutch love Christmas **cough holidays** so much that they celebrate it twice!), the entire zone met up and sang carols in the Haarlem centrum. That turned out really well -- Elder Pouwer and I had organized the event, and we weren't sure how it was going to be, but there were a fair amount of people out and about who stopped and watched us. Some missionaries handed out cards while the rest of us sang. They even managed to give a copy of the Book of Mormon away to some Americans who were on vacation in Holland. Go figure.

Did I mention that, on Christmas Eve, Elder Pouwer and I went caroling with some branch members in Alkmaar? There were supposed to be a fair amount there, but Christmastime IS flu season here (or at least, a good time to use flu season as an excuse...just kidding haha, some people legitimitely were sick), and it ended up just being us and a couple other young adult members. We spent a couple hours caroling at various member's homes. It was pretty fun -- a great way to spend Christmas Eve. Because, let's be real -- no one wants you knocking on your door on Christmas Eve unless you are family.

And yes, if you are wondering -- I'm tired of singing Christmas carols. If I have to sing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" one more time, I might die. I don't even know what figgy pudding is, and I spent half the week begging for it.

It was a good week for missionary work, too. We saw some miracles and met some...interesting people. We'll get the interesting people out of the way first. On Saturday, Elder Pouwer and I were out contacting, and we talked to this younger black man. I asked him if he'd ever heard of the Mormons. "Oh, the Mormons, yeah! Tom Cruise is your guys' Jesus, right?" Say what? "No, I think you're confused..." "No, I'm pretty sure, you guys worship Tom Cruise as Jesus! I can look it up right now if you want." "Well, if you really want to look it up, go ahead. Our church is actually named the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, not the Church of Tom Cruise." "Oh...then how does Tom Cruise tie into your religion?" In the end, he just wouldn't accept the fact that we didn't worship Tom Cruise. I mean, in my opinion, Mission Impossible was good, but not THAT good.

For the sake of time, I'll save the other stories of interesting people for another day. Moving on...

So, this elderly investigator we have, Aafje, let us know last week that she decided that she wants to be baptized! Her daughter is a member, and she'd been taught by the missionaries for quite some time. She'd kind of become an eternal investigator -- always coming to church, never feeling ready for baptism. We'd pretty much given up hope. But, apparently, now is the time. We met with her last week, and the first thing she wanted to discuss was the baptismal service -- so, we organized that. Her baptism was announced on Sunday. She's excited as all get out. It's funny, how you can work so hard sometimes, and then Heavenly Father will just drop something in your lap -- something you weren't even expecting to get.

I'll end this email with a story. Back in week 68 ("In the name of Carlos, Amen"), I was on exchanges with Elder Tjong-Ayong. We talked to a ton of people that day, but no one seemed very open. After a while, we headed towards our appointment. We walked past this lady, and then we stopped -- I thought, "maybe we should talk to that lady. I mean, we've talked to everyone else, why not her?" We turned around and walked a few meters back to her, as she was locking her bike. She turned out to be willing to listen, and invited the missionaries to come back. It felt good. We then went on her way -- I didn't even catch her name.

On Saturday morning, I showed up at her apartment with Elder Tjong-Ayong and Elder Pouwer and had the privilege of giving Dewi (that turned out to be her name) her baptismal interview. She remembered me from the very first time, about three months ago. She's been taught all the lessons by the Amsterdam elders -Elder Tjong-Ayong and my good friend, Elder Besendorfer- and has also been coming to church regularly for some time now and has loved it. During the interview, she told me how the restored gospel has been a huge blessing in her life. She passed with flying colors, and yesterday, after the church service in Amsterdam ended, she was baptized.

It's that simple. I am convinced that that thought "maybe we should talk to that lady. I mean, we've talked to everyone else, why not her?" did not come from myself. It was something small, but enough to get me to turn around. I've learned in a better way that God really will help us if we are willing to receive His help. That makes missionary work a lot easier, too...go figure.

And that's all I've got. Until 2015!

-Elder Bonney

In Amsterdam Centraal, after caroling -- the Alkmaar and Hoorn elders  

With Elder Toole in the Haarlem centrum, in front of some big church.

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

Going to town on that stationary bike

Elder Pouwer and me, after our killer zone training

Week 79: "Mormon and Muslim -- they both start with M! They're like two lost brothers!"

December 15, 2014

You know, I have to admit -- this week wasn't that exciting. It was transfer week, and Elder Pouwer and I also spent a lot of time preparing for our upcoming zone training. I'll share the few highlights, though.

As missionaries, we have "transfers" once every six weeks -- as in, the missionaries who are going to a new area all travel on transfer day (always a Wednesday) to a main station, and then they travel to their new areas. It's the responsibility of the zone leaders to make sure that this all goes the way that it is supposed to go. That leads me to the following story...

It's Wednesday morning, around 6:20. Elder Pouwer and I are both asleep (we don't have to get up for another ten minutes), and I'm dreaming about something. I don't remember exactly what, but I'm assuming it was a good dream. Anyway, all of a sudden, we are woken up by our phone ringing -- it's the elders to Den Helder. (That day, at 9:30, they'd both have to be in Leiden so that Elder Price could pick up his greenie on time.) Elder Pouwer picks up and puts the phone on speakerphone. It's Elder Price, my beloved MTC companion. "Hey guys, we need some help...we were on the train from Den Helder to Leiden, and we got kicked off in Alkmaar because Elder da Silva had a bike on the train." (No bikes are allowed on the trains between 6:30 AM and 9 AM).) I groan in my head...why were they on the train so early in the morning? I never actually figured that one out.

We told them that we'd figure something out, then give them a call back. So, we went back to sleep for a few minutes, then got up and decided to go pick them up from the train station. I threw on some sweats and a jacket, and we were off. We threw Elder da Silva's stuff in the car, then drove back to our apartment. I got ready really quickly and ate breakfast in the car on the way to the Alkmaar station. I then proceeded to ride the train with Elder Price all the way down to Leiden. Later, Elder Pouwer showed up with Elder da Silva. Elder Pouwer and I went on to spend a good portion of the day in Leiden Centraal, making sure transfers went according to plan. I'm not really sure why I shared all this, but hey -- just another crazy day in the life. While in Leiden Centraal, waiting for more missionaries to arrive, I may or may not have used the 2€ massage chair. And yes, it was worth it.

The other day, Carlos gave us a call and invited us to come teach some Muslim friends that he had made. (While on the phone with us, he played the Happy Birthday song on the trumpet. He wasn't lying -- he can play it on almost every instrument.) That night, we rolled up to the hotel he works at, and we met in an upstairs room. Let me tell you -- Carlos is a great (and hilarious) joint-teach. We brought an Arabic book of Mormon for the two Muslims, and he takes it and holds it up as high as he can while looking straight up and saying, in his Guatemalan accent, "this is the truth!!" Then he gave it to the Muslim guys, one of which spoke no English or Dutch (the other one translated for him) -- I'm pretty sure he was convinced that Carlos was insane. Nope, he's just Carlos. The Muslims made it pretty clear that they weren't going to budge on their views, and we were just having a nice chat. Carlos, however, doesn't give up that easily. Still looking for an in, he says, "they aren't as different as you think! Mormon and Muslim -- they both start with M! They're like two lost brothers! I can feel the unity." ...didn't work. Haha. It was a nice try, though.

This past weekend was stake conference for the Den Haag stake! On Saturday, it was held in the Haarlem church, and on Sunday, it was in a huge conference center in Noordwijkerhout. (No, I do not expect anyone to have heard of it. I hadn't even heard of it.) A member of the 70, Elder Dyches, was there, along with an area authority from England with a pretty posh accent. They gave some pretty good talks -- I enjoyed them. On Sunday, the entire stake presidency was released, and a new stake presidency was called. The old stake president, President Oddens, had served for almost ten years, and he had done a phenomenal job, so everyone was wondering who would replace him. It was amazing to see a man who had devoted so much time and energy to helping others, yet seemed to say that he got more out of the experience than anyone else. It's very admirable. The new stake president, President Scheltinga, will do a great job.

For me, though, one of the best parts of stake conference was getting to see a lot of members from Lelystad, since it's in the Den Haag stake. It had been about six months since I last saw the Lelystad members, and since about a quarter of my mission was spent there, it was really good to see some of them that I consider really good friends. It made me miss Lelystad a lot. It's funny -- on my mission, I've always dreamed of serving in the big cities -- Rotterdam, Amsterdam, or Den Haag, but I think the little city of Lelystad may have won my heart. Sorry, Rotterdam.

I'm really excited for Christmas next week -- it'll be a good one. The last Christmas of my mission! This Christmas season, we're inviting people to share this Christmas video, so I might as well share it with all of you. Remember the reason for the season - and it isn't oliebollen, as absurd as that might sound. #sharethegift

https://www.lds.org/youth/video/share-the-gift?lang=eng

Well, I've gotta go finish preparing the upcoming zone training. Wish me luck. Expect a good email next week. In the meantime, don't freeze.

-Elder Bonney

We played some lasertag with the de Bruijns on Elder Cooper's last P-day. 

Haarlem district, looking good. From Den Helder to Leiden and everywhere in between (except Amsterdam).

Week 78: "I think it would be better if you said 'amen and a woman.'"

December 8, 2014

Transfer twelve has come and gone, but -unlike all of the sister missionaries who came out when I did- I won't be going home just yet. You know what that means -- get ready for another six weeks of Elder Bonney's emails. You know you like it.

So, transfer calls were last night, and Elder Pouwer and I were at the home of a family in the branch -- the de Bruijns -- for most of the evening. Since we had come in together two transfers ago, we were already pretty sure that one of us was leaving -- which is pretty sad, because both of us really wanted to stay in Alkmaar. But, I told Elder Pouwer that I, in the most loving way possible, hoped he got transferred...only one can survive. Kind of like the Hunger Games. On Sunday night, though, I was pretty nervous. And then, the call came...

Oh, wait. There was no call. Because, for some reason unknown to us, they decided to keep us together for a third transfer, which rarely happens. All I can say is, by the end of these coming six weeks (which will be four months total together), we'll either be the best of friends...or one of us will be dead, killed by the other. Let's hope for the former.

All that aside, I'm super stoked to be staying in Alkmaar. And, to clear up any confusion, my address will still be:

Willem de Zwijgerlaan 78

1814 KE Alkmaar

the Netherlands

Remember how I said it was cold last Monday? Well... I spoke too soon. That was just the beginning of one of the top three coldest weeks of my mission. The temperature hovered above and below 0°C until Saturday, when it went up a few degrees. Dressing warm is a challenge, but I did okay. I'll probably attach some picture of myself in my winter get-up...

I got to return to Haarlem on exchanges this Tuesday, to work with Elder Bishop. It was a fun day -- we were busy the whole day, which was nice. One of the highlights of the day was helping this older Dutch member buy her groceries. It was something the sisters in Haarlem had started doing, and now the elders (who have been there for about six weeks now) continue doing it once a week. We showed up at the old folks' home, helped her board her wheelchair, and we were off. During the excursion, I realized -- no one can really get mad at you or give you a dirty look when you're pushing a very old woman around in a wheelchair. Take up all the room in the aisle? No one can get angry. Accidentally knock something off of the shelf? No one can get angry. Have to ask a worker a dumb question about where something is? He can't get angry. I'm pretty sure we could have gotten away with murder. In conclusion: if I ever want to commit a crime in broad daylight, I just need to bring a wheelchaired, elderly amiga along.

On Wednesday, I was working in Hoorn with Elder Hunter, the Scottish guy. It was pretty fun -- I got to see this woman from New Zealand that Elder Pouwer and I worked with before the elders opened Hoorn and took her over! It was cool. She actually goes to church in Lelystad, so I hadn't seen her for a whole transfer. She is so much happier than she was when the missionaries first started meeting with her. It was amazing to see. There's only one downside -- we always meet with her outside, because of her living situation, and, if you remember, it was freezing cold. (She says that her Maori blood is too strong to be affected by the cold...) So, we talked to her on a bench in a park for an hour. In what we later found out was, with wind chill, the equivalent of -10°C. I'll never forget that lesson.

Carlos is doing so well. If all goes well, he will get baptized this transfer. He's started bringing his son to the lessons, too -- his son is around 10 years old, and he's awesome. Carlos is a fantastic missionary -- I don't think he's ever come to church without bringing a friend. Yesterday, he came to church with a friend who was a refugee from the Middle East. I'm not sure how they met -- Carlos does talk to everyone he meets about whatever he wants, so I wasn't too surprised. We had a lesson with him on Friday, and a friend of his was there. It got kind of off topic, and I ended up talking to the friend of Carlos while Elder Pouwer talked to Carlos himself. Carlos' friend was cool, but had some interesting ideas... He claimed that saying "amen" at the end of a prayer was a little discriminatory, and that he'd rather end his prayer with "hallelujah." Or, "amen and a woman." I guess "amen" sounds a little too much like "a man" for his taste. Haha. He was a great guy with some interesting insights, though.

The branch fell in love with the four of us missionaries yesterday (if they hadn't already). Elder Hunter is a musical genius, and we were responsible for a musical number. Elder Hunter came up with this arrangement on the piano, and -since Alkmaar isn't too big of a branch- we came up with a version of the song "Silent Night," with lyrics in the languages of all native-tongues represented in the branch. Elder Hunter, Elder Pouwer, and Elder Cooper had all sung a lot in the past and performed, and I...well, I've sung a lot of Taylor Swift in the shower... Anyways, we sounded pretty dang good, singing silent night in a mix of Dutch, English, Portuguese, Spanish, Ukrainian, and Cantonese. I don't think our Ukrainian and Cantonese were very understandable. But, it's the thought that counts, right? The members loved it.

Also, on Saturday, I got to wrestle Elder Pouwer while we both wore fat-suits. But...de tijd is voorbij. Maybe next time. ;)

-Elder Bonney

Me and our previous, proud Maori investigator, now taught by the Hoorn elders!

Chilling with a half-Brazilian part-member family, the Munsters. Gotta love them.

Week 77: "You did something, it is not so good? Smiling."

                                                                                                                                                                    December 1, 2014

IT'S SO COLD OUTSIDE.

This week, the temperature took a dive. It went from being reasonably bearable to being freezing. I do not like it. It's definitely scarf weather now (and I'm trying to convince other missionaries that it's earmuff weather...it's a work in progress). The cold here isn't the normal cold, either -- it's a humid, biting cold. It goes right through your clothes sometimes. (Well, almost. I imagine that it's never quite as bad as walking around Alkmaar naked in this weather would be.) I went running this morning in what I'm pretty sure was... 0°C weather. My lungs will never be the same. Though, it is said that sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven...

I was hardly in my area this past week -- there was so much to do, so many things that were going on. Elder Moreira, from the Quorum of the 70, visited our mission for the week, and there were a few activities revolving around that. Let me tell you -- Elder Moreira is absolutely amazing. He's got a phenomenal testimony, and he's absolutely hilarious. He's from Portugal -- his Portuguese accent (and not super fluent English) is awesome.

On Wednesday, Elder Moreira spoke at a zone conference for about half of the mission (he did the other half at a zone conference the next day). Elder Pouwer and I drove down to Rotterdam that morning -- it was the first time I've actually been in the city of Rotterdam in my whole mission. Rotterdam is pretty...ghetto. And driving there is crazy (Elder Pouwer has accidentally almost killed me more than once, but we aren't going to talk about that). Anyways, the conference itself was fantastic. I kid you not, Elder Moreira laughed almost through the entire thing. I was surprised that he didn't pass out from laughing so much. He is honestly one of the happiest guys I've ever met. He talked about a few things, including obedience and being -- you guessed it -- happy while on a mission. It was really good for me; it inspired me to work harder for these last six months. In his English (which was definitely understandable, but still funny), he also dropped some great quotes. One of my favorites was when he was talking about being cheerful, even with making mistakes: "you did something, it is not so good? Smiling." There it is, boys and girls. Smile in the face of mistakes. "Never we need to fight." "Always keep with the smiling." The list goes on.

Thursday comes -- in the morning, Elder Pouwer and I had to go down to Bussum to help clean out the old apartment that the mission is getting rid of. We got to destroy things and through them in a dumpster. It was every boy's dream (including Elder Robison, the office senior couple elder. I've never seen him smile so big as I did when I saw him smashing old furniture). Later that day, after a quick dinner (some noodles, I think), Elder Pouwer and I set off for Den Haag for a fireside given by Elder Moreira. (It was at this point that we realized that our Thanksgiving dinner had just been noodles. A Thanksgiving meal to remember...) We'd invited an awesome family from our branch to come, and they showed up to the fireside, which was great. We sat next to them, and I waited for the hysterical Elder Moreira to crack me up again. But this time, it was different -- he spent most of the fireside testifying powerfully and inviting the Spirit. It was indescribable. He was still the funny Elder Moreira, but he knew what the people at the fireside (which was meant for primarily investigators and less actives) needed. We had someone there who we were really hoping would feel the Spirit, and she did -- the words that Elder Moreira spoke pierced her soul. The difference in Elder Moreira between that day and the day before was subtle, yet powerful.

The next day, Friday, Elder Pouwer and I drove down to Leidschendam for Mission Leader Council. Elder Moreira was the special guest at MLC, and he didn't disappoint. It was more of a mix between how he was Wednesday and Thursday. He got down to business and gave us some really good advice for leading the mission. Let some more funny quotes loose and shared some great stories -- some hilarious, some very spiritual. It was a great experience having him there.

Also, in the middle of the meeting, I may have yelled the word "uterus" at him. Before you judge, I can explain. He was talking about how important women are and was making some comparison between women and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He reached one word, and turned to the Portuguese speaking missionary who was there to translate for his wife, saying the word in Portuguese. This missionary, Elder Conatti (who speaks practically perfect English), just shrugs. Then, Elder Moreira tries to explain what it is, pointing and making gestures, asking us what the word is in English. I'm the first to answer: "uterus!!" I answered wrong. A sister who was there got it, though: amniotic fluid. How was I supposed to know that? Well, not everyone can say they've yelled the word "uterus" at a seventy.

So on Tuesday, I was on splits in Amsterdam, working with my old friend, Elder Besendorfer. It's been over a year since we were companions! We taught a lesson to a hip African man inside the hair salon he worked in, but that's a story for another time. Anyways, we contact this woman on the street, and we start talking to her about the Book of Mormon. She says, "Mormon..that sounds so familiar!" Yeah? So we talk a little more, and she starts talking about missionaries she met in the Antilles -- "they're from your church, right?" Well, they were both American and rotated frequently -- getting transferred. Yep, those are our boys. "Wait...you guys baptize while wearing all white, right?" Yes, that's correct. What was she getting at? "I did that in Curaçao!"

Uh, what? You are a baptized member of our church, and the name "Mormon" just sounds familiar? I didn't even know what to say...haha. They have an appointment with her, though, so we'll see what happens.

I would say more. But moderation in all things, right? Including this weekly email. I'm too cold to think straight.

And remember -- always keep the smiling.

--Elder Bonney

Week 76: "This canned bread was sealed before my parents were!" **ADDRESS CHANGE**

November 24, 2014

So...it's about that time of the week again. And my brain is a little fried, so don't expect too much. (Hopefully, by lowering your expectations, you'll be pleasantly surprised with however this ends up...)

Also, my body is fried right now. Let me tell you a little about physical exercise on a mission. As missionaries, we get thirty minutes every morning, somewhere between 6:30 and 7:30, to exercise. It's required. I used to exercise a lot more at home, so half an hour shouldn't be hard to productively fill, right? Wrong. Anyone who has done workouts at home knows that working out at home without equipment is way different than working out at a gym. I'm so tired of doing pushups. But, that's beside the point. This half hour can be used to keep one in decent shape. To be completely honest, despite the fact that it's a rule, I haven't used those thirty minutes every single day on my mission... And sometimes, I suffer blatant consequences for it. Which brings me to my next point. 

On Saturday, our zone (about twenty-six missionaries) went to Vondel Park, in Amsterdam, to have a Thanksgiving Turkey Bowl. We played about three hours of good old, traditional American football. My athleticism hasn't diminished too much on my mission -- I played some pretty good football. Actually, probably the best football I've played since...ever. It was great. We all had a good time. Sunday morning, though, I woke up, fell out of bed, and my legs were screaming. My legs haven't been so sore in a long time. The soreness carried over to today -- it's getting better now, but I've learned an important lesson about exercising as a missionary. Do it. Or, don't Turkey Bowl.

Do you remember how we told you all about Hank, the old, Dutch friend of Carlos? Well, we visited him this past week and taught him a first lesson. It was actually pretty funny -- we showed up at his door (we'd set an appointment with him, and he'd given us his address), and he comes out, and begins to say, in his Friesian Dutch, "No, I don't want to go to your church anymore! Carlos brings me, but I don't have a choice! I'm too old for church -- I'm 84. I'm too unhealthy and too shy!" It was a pretty funny scene. We calmed him down (he realized that we weren't there to force him to join or come to our church), and he let us in. Then, we were able to teach him. He's a funny old guy. Then, he came to our fireside on Friday. And loved it.

Oh yeah, the fireside on Friday! The Hoorn elders, Elder Cooper and Elder Hunter, put most of it together, and then on Friday evening, all four of us directed the fireside. It was a compilation of scriptures, quotes, and Mormon messages, all about serving others. It was...amazing. The Spirit was so strong. It was super powerful. Everyone was feeling it -- smiles and tears all around. There were over ten non-members there, including Carlos and his son. And Hank. AND another friend of Carlos (who used to be investigating the church). They all loved it. Side note: can I just say that Carlos is a powerhouse? He's an amazing guy. But back to the fireside -- one of the quotes that was shared was about how, when we die, God isn't going to ask us how many callings we had, but about how many people we helped. It made me ask myself how I could do better to be more focused on others. I loved the entire evening.

Earlier on Friday, before the fireside, I had one of my "how did I end up doing this?" moments. Elder Hunter, Elder Pouwer, and I were standing on the balcony, holding onto ropes which were attached to a big couch. The couch was rested on the edge of the balcony. As we pushed the couch over the edge, it swung back, slamming against the side of the building (fortunately, it was just that hearing-aid place we live above...I hope they didn't hear it), while we tried to maintain control with the ropes. Elder Pouwer and I were moving out of our apartment in Heiloo, and we had to get the couches out somehow. After discovering that they wouldn't fit down the staircase, there was only one solution -- go buy ropes and lower the couches over the balcony. It ended up working. Kind of. After a long day, we got most of our stuff to our new, healthy apartment. And so my new address is:

Willem de Zwijgerlaan 78

1814 KE Alkmaar

the Netherlands

Don't send any more mail to the Heiloo address! And if you do...tell me. I'll try to get it. We'll see.

While we were cleaning out the apartment in Heiloo, we found a can of German pumpernickel (I think) bread. While trying to figure out what it was, Elder Hunter and I realized that the can was sealed in the year 1990. I WASN'T EVEN BORN THEN. My PARENTS weren't even sealed then. You bet that I busted out a can-opener and opened that almost 25-year old can, expecting some crazy mold creature to emerge...but, it only smelled like alcohol -- something in the bread had fermented in the can. It was anticlimactic. But hey -- not everyone can say they opened a can sealed in Germany in 1990.

As far as our investigators go, Victor is doing really well. There was a super complicated and weird situation in which he almost went to Aruba to visit a dying relative, but it didn't work out last minute...sadly. But, it's better for his baptism, since he has his heart set on getting baptized on his birthday, the 6th of December, and if he went to Aruba, he would have gotten back only one or two days before then. I believe that it's inspired that he stays here -- there are a lot of personal things he needs to figure out, in addition to his baptism. It's interesting to see the way our Heavenly Father helps us out. Not always the way we expect. Anyway, Victor's testimony is rock-solid as ever. Talking to him sometimes makes me feel unconverted. That's a good thing, right? Haha. 

Yeah... I don't have anything else. Talk to you in December!

-Elder Bonney

Elder Alston and I were on exchanges in Alkmaar, and we had to stop in the Heiloo forest...it was just too irresistant for a photo-shoot.

Haarlem district. It's Turkey bowl time.