Balancing 2/29/2016

Dear Family,

It was a great and busy week full of miracles and funny moments. My last transfer starts next week. This transfer when by in a blink! I realllllllly need responses from my brothers for gift requests. I have the girls covered. 

Alright so first updates. Hugo is doing really well. The brothers from the church are stopping by Hugo this week to help him with his land. That will be so nice of them. He is progressing well but his little sister is in the hospital and not doing well so he couldn't come to church on Sunday.

We are teaching a woman named Elizabeth (good name). She is the mother of a member in the branch. She is the sweetest lady. She hasn't been coming to church because she has been sick but this past week she said she will come to church no matter what and she did! She really liked it. 

Giovanni CAME to church! He also brought his friend Romario that we teach. Romario really liked church and said he could feel the spirit. Our appointments didn't work with Gio this week so I was really surprised to see him walk in. Everyone was really welcoming. I think most people just thought Gio was an investigator haha. 

We got other cool investigators but those are the main ones. The branch has been doing some service projects for Lucille which has been really nice.I went on an exchange with Sister Parker this week and had a great time.

Funny moments. We were teaching this member. He's about 19 and a total punk of a kid. His parents are going to the temple this next month to be sealed so we have been trying and preparing him to go so we've been meeting with him. We had a pretty good lesson with him and he was saying how he wants to change and involve Heavenly Father more in his life. At the end we ask him to say a prayer and we get on our knees. At first it's taking him a while to start. I'm thinking he's emotional or it's hard to start but then he still isn't saying anything. So then I start thinking he's praying in his head so I begin to just wait. All of our heads are bowed and eyes closed on our knees. AFTER a long time he still isn't saying anything. My legs were hurting! Haha. I look at him and he kinda peeks and we make eye contact. Silently I give him the thumbs up like are you done? He looks confused and points to my companions. I then say something. Turns out he didn't know he was supposed to pray and he thought we were meditating or something. He said, "I wondered if we were gonna be here all night!" He went on to say a very non-heartful prayer. That's more like him haha.

We came home one night and there was water everywhere! Turns out in our laundry room there is a bathroom that we never use. I guess there was a leak in the sink and water was going everywhere! We spent the night cleaning up. Pretty funny and thankfully no damages. Missions are always an adventure.

Also breaking news. No more 7 o'clock curfew. Thank goodness! It's a big relief actually and nice to fit in more lessons with our two areas. 

Glad to hear everyone is doing well. Thanks for the updates and pictures! Love you all!

Love,

Elizabeth

Het Gaad Verder Verder Verder Verder 2/23/2016

Dear Family,

It was a crazy week that went by in a blur. Do I say that every week? Probably! Time just flies! It was a fun and busy week. This week it was more of trying to balance time between both areas. We do a pretty good job of planning out. But the Kwatta area has SOO many members and less actives that need to be seen but we don't have time to see them all. 

Our time to find new investigators has gone down, thanks to the two areas. We only get to really focus on the investigators that we have. I'm still having a great time with Sister Vernes and Zeegelaar. They are both awesome missionaries with strong testimonies. Sister Zeegelaar sometimes worries about her English but it is really good! She'll do great. I'm secretly hoping that she gets to Utah after I do so I can take her through the temple and to the MTC. For her own sake I also hope she can go. She is great though! I hope you get to meet her!

Gio is doing really well. We are having really good lessons with him but he still hasn't come to church yet. I hope he will soon! 

Hugo is doing great! We brought one member this week and they got along super well too. He loves the brothers of the church haha. He wants to be baptized and learn everything. I hope he understands it all too. He came to church again. He is a really nice man. 

I went on an exchange with Sister Walsh this week. It's always fun to connect with her again. I can't wait introduce everyone to her too. She is one of a kind. She is a terrible biker- haha. One time she didn't have brakes that worked and I literally saw angels protect her as she rode into traffic. On our exchange though we were biking and some dog started chasing us and Sister Walsh pretended to grab a stone and throw it. In the meantime she got distracted and almost missed her turn so made a quick turn, cutting me off (I didn't know where we were going) and we crashed. Not surprised!

We went to Over B

Visiting someone with Sister Walsh.

ridge today which is this lake thing with a beach. We played lots of beach volleyball and playing around. It was a lot of fun. I'm happy to be here. It's just a good time. 

Something cool I learned this week was studying about forgiveness, mercy and grace. It's really interesting how they are all connected with each other. We always think of how without justice God can't be God. But sometimes we over look that God couldn't be God without Mercy as well. Pretty cool.

Love you all!

Love,

Elizabeth

Back to New 2/16/2016

Hello Family,

Thank you for everyone's prayers and fasting. I was all the way better this week. I really didn't get as sick as most people do. The thing about Zika is that there is nothing you can really do about it besides rest it off and take pain medication. The doctor gave me pain medication that is basically tylenol, vitamin c, and some muscle cream. I really felt fine this week. I felt a little like I had done a work out that was non existent but that was about it. It really wasn't anything serious. 

I forgot a funny moment from last weekend district conference. The Saturday night session in the middle of Sister Linger's talk a bat flew into the room and kept flying around. Everyone was so distracted by this bat. I was scared I was going to get hit in the head. All of a sudden it hit a fan at the front and landed on the stand. Then a brother went to the front and stepped on it. Sister Egbert's face (who was on the stand) was priceless. It was pretty funny. 

Well, sad news this week is that Sister Jensen went home last M

I am with my friend Fallon, from Wanica
at District Conference.

onday. She was sick and had to go home to get it checked out. So now I have Sister Vernes back. Only difference is that this time we have two areas. Luckily they aren't too far from each other but still it adds a lot more biking time. It made for some interesting days but still lots of fun. 

Some cool stories from this week. First Giovanni. He is 24 and hasn't been to church in about 4 years. His extended family are strong members of the church. However none of his immediate family are members. We have been trying to get his family involved. This week we were able to have a cool lesson with Gio and his brother. His brother is really interested to learn more. He was taught but the elders in the past but never got baptized. And Gio finally started reading a little bit in the BOM.

Hugo is doing good. We were only able to have a short lesson with him today but he is just soooo excited to learn everything about the church. He came on Sunday again and loved it. He is also making friends in the church which is cool. People like him. 

So my hair is very long now and children love touching my hair. This week we were having a lesson and two little girls were fighting over doing my hair. One runs in the house and brings out a fine toothed comb and starts going at it. Needless to say it hurt. 

I have been studying more about the devil this week. I know it's kinda a funny study topic but it's been really interesting. I feel the more you know him, the easier it is to recognize some of his evil tactics. It is foolish to deny his existence but better to strengthen yourself to deny him. 

We are with Shenelva

I'm so grateful for the church and for the experience I have had on my mission. It's something I would never take back. I have a lot more work to do but it is good to know that there is a light somewhere in the distance :) I miss you all!

Love,

Elizabeth

I Promise I Won't Get Pregnant! 2/9/2016

Dear Family,

I will try and put into detail my crazy week! Last Sunday I woke up with a rash all over my body. I had pain and just didn't feel like myself in my body. Overall though I have handled it really well. I've been feeling happy and good. I went to the doctor and am getting better and better. Still have some side affects and my legs still feel jello-y but I'm getting better.

It was an exciting week. Besides being sick we were still able to have some cool lessons and experiences. First is with Hugo. He is a newer investigator. We had a great member with a member that he connected with. Hugo is really excited to learn everything he can. He came to church this week and really liked it. The member took care of him and introduced him to other people. It was great. We also got to see a less active named Gio. He is my age. Hasn't been to church in 4 years and really doesn't know much about the church. His extended family are members but no one in his immediate family is. Hopefully we can start teaching them too. Gio has so much to learn and basically has to start from the beginning but I think that'll be great to discover his testimony again. Another cool experience was our lessons with Shenelva this week. She didn't come to church though! She really wants to get baptized this month but the fact that she has to do some more progressing isn't clicking yet. 

We had zone conference this week. It was all about the atonement and so interesting. I've loved learning more about the atonement on my mission. You come to realize there are so many different aspects of the atonement. It is so personal and you can never know or understand enough. The AP's talked about Article of Faith #3, Sister Egbert talked about the sacrament, and President talked about the different powers of the atonement. I bore my departing testimony this zone conference as it is my last one. It felt silly to give it because i still have 10 weeks left. I talked about how I used to hate how as a missionary you see all your faults but I've come to realize that it is a good thing. It means that I am becoming more like Christ. You can't change your weaknesses until you accept and humble yourself that you do have them. Only then can God change your weaknesses into strengths. I have seen myself change and grow to become more like Jesus Christ. Still got a long way to go. I'm so grateful for the missionaries down here in Suriname. I wish you all could meet them. We have such a cool group down here.

Sister Jensen left yesterday to go home and get her sickness figured out. I really hope she can take care of herself and get better. It was really sad to let her go. 

We also had district conference this week. It's always fun to see everyone. Everyone was so scared that I was home now too because they saw Sis Chris was. I was happy to tell everyone that I still had time haha. 

Love you all and thanks for the prayers. 

Love,

Elizabeth

There are Always Surprises! 2/1/2016

Eating chicken feet

Dear Family,

One thing about missions is that you can never expect the next thing. I really like that aspect as a missionary even when the surprises aren't good. It always keeps me on my toes. Sister Jensen had to leave and go to Trinidad last minute to get some things checked with the doctor. So for three days this week I was still in my trio working two areas. It's always a good time and lots of biking. 

Sister Klas

Man, so much happened this week and I can hardly put it all in words. Update on some people. Radjan is doing really good. Still haven't been able to see Mariska again. He has been reading and still having really good feelings about everything. We asked him to pray about it. Sister Klas has been doing great! Just getting smarter and smarter. She came to church this week so it was good to see her. The second and third picture are of her. We have an new investigator named Hugo that seems promising. He's not married either though...surprise.

Our threesome with Sister Klas

This week I had some amazing insight about grace. As a missionary you tend to doubt your faith and stop yourself from progressing. Well maybe it's just me too haha. BUT truly if you pray for the right things, humble yourself and ask in faith, because of the atonement of Jesus Christ you can be strengthened. Grace is the divine power through the atonement. I just feel like you need to know the right ways of accessing it. I'm doing my best to learn. 

I'm loving being with Sister Zeegelaar. She is an amazing missionary. No news yet on her visa but i'm happy with her staying here! I want her to go to america after I get home cause then I could take her to the temple and to the MTC. But for her own sake I hope it's not that long haha. 

I have sooo much more work to do here. I hope I can get it done before time is up. This week is zone conference and I will be giving my departing testimony--same as you mom and dad. Kinda crazy but still feels like a long time. 

Love,

Elizabeth

Just Call Me Zuster! 1/26/2016

Dear Family,

Yes, transfers are this week. I'm losing Sister Vernes so it will be just Zuster Zeegelaar and I

This is a newly baptized family

Sister Vernes

. I'm so sad to lose Vernes. We were having such a fun time in our trio. It'll still be great though. I woke up at 2:30 am to drive with Sis C to the airport. Because an apostle is coming to the mission (not to Suriname of course) they had to fly Sis C earlier to Trinidad. She will be serving there for like 5 days before she goes home. It feels really weird with her gone. But it'll be ok. I'm still STL with Sister Walsh now. 

It was a good week that felt long and fast at the same time. We were able to watch the worldwide missionary broadcast live on wednesday. It was really great. The whole time watching it though I couldn't help but just cringe at seeing all the sisters in their cardigans with their ipads with cute flower covers on them. Misisons are so different all throughout the world. Can't say I remember too much from the broadcast though...

FINALLY got my Dutch nametag a YEAR
after I ordered it!

Let's see. This week we had some really great lessons. Sometimes I feel right when I am getting really good at teaching and doing missionary work, the progressing investigators don't seem to come. The struggles. BUT we had some great lessons with Radjan. He couldn't come to church this week. I asked him in our last lesson how he was feeling about everything and he said he really likes the way he feels. Also random but I kept thinking about Savita this week, that one lady that dropped me. I felt like I needed to say hi. So I went and she was so happy to see us and we had a lesson with her yesterday. We will see. I still haven't asked her about the text she sent when she dropped us but we will see. We aren't seeing until next week though. Also Zr Klas still doesn't have money but I  think this week she will come. She's doing great. Hmm don't have much news on anyone else right now. Next week hopefully I will have lots to say. Yes we are still biking everywhere. We usually teach about 4 people everyday I would say. Not a ton but that's what happens with 4 hours of studies and a curfew.

Life is going great though. Can't complain just working hard and loving these moments. Also Happy 50th brithday Charlie!! 

Hope everyone is great! I love you all! 

Love,

E

Still Got My Eyebrows 1/18/2016

Dear Family,

This week went by very fast! I swear it's getting faster and faster. Next week begins my 2nd last transfer. I also got an email today from the mission office asking me what airport I want to fly home to. It freaked me out!! 

I had a great week. I'll first tell the story explaining my subject. We have a gas oven that we have to stick a flame into this bottom hole thing. Sometimes you have to blow on the flame to get the oven lit. So Sister Vernes has trouble lighting it. She asked me to do it. I go to the oven light a q tip to stick in the hole. I give a little blow and BOOM there's an explosion in the oven and all the weird fluff stuff blew out of it. I shut the oven and we were just all in shock. Sister Vernes kept on asking are you ok?? The only thing I kept saying was, "Do I still have eyebrows?? Is my hair there?" Turns out some front baby hairs were burnt off but thankfully nothing elses haha. We just all started laughing like crazy. I was so confused why it did that but then it turned out that Sister Vernes turned the gas on--then went to the bathroom--then asked me to light it. Hence the huge flame that erupted! No harm done but a lesson learned. 

Cool story from this week is our less active Sister Klas. She is not smart but just the nicest lady. When we first found her we would teach and she wouldn't understand anything. Last week we started to really focus on the Book of Mormon with her. We've been reading together and she's been reading on her own. Her comprehension has shot up. She's understanding so much more! It's been fun to see. 

We also have a new investigator names Radjan. Found him through contacting in the city. He grew up hindu but he's super smart and knows stuff about Christianity  He's been reading and understanding everything. He's cool. We will see him tonight and see how he's progressing.

I went on an exchange with Sister Jensen this week. We always have a great time together. I would love to serve with her before the end but I don't know if that will happen. Next week I will be telling you my new transfer call. I don't think anything will be changing for me though.

I'm having a really fun time in my trio. We all get along really well even though we are all different. They are really growing and becoming great teachers. 

Sister C leaves this week which is so sad!! It's gonna be really hard to not have her in Suriname. She's my best friend here and it will be lonely without her. 

The work is moving on! I'm loving my life here. I miss you all and can't wait to see you all soon.

Love,

Elizabeth

I'm Leaving On A Jet Plane 1/11/2016

Dear Family,

amily,

It was a week that felt like 3 different weeks! Things are going well with Sister Vernes and Zeegelaar. We all get along really well and have fun. We are quite the mixture of people together but it's always fun. I know they are still a little nervous about leading out lessons and talking to people but they'll get it just now. When I was gone they did great.

Elder Albis from the Philippines

All Suriname Missionaries

All the Sister Training Leaders in our mission with
Sister Egbert

They contacted and were able to see a new less active that we have been trying to have a lesson with. They also got the relief society president over to Lucille. On Sunday Lucille stayed all 3 hours which is rare. We taught so many less active lessons this week--I think the most ever on my mission. We were able to find and teach new ones and also see some we haven't seen in a long time. 

But ok let's talk about Trinidad. We had to leave for the airport at 2 am on Thursday. It was just Sis Chris, Elder Bowen, Elder Prosman, Elder James and Hood. We got to Trinidad around 6:30 am. Got some Cinnabon for bfast--haven't seen that in a year. Crazy thing is I flew back to Trinidad the same day I flew to Suriname a year later. I went out with Sister Paul and Palmer that day. They have been on their missions for 6 and 5 months. They were a hoot together and a lot of fun. It was so trippy hearing foreign people speak english. I'm not trying to sound like a goober but I totally would lose some english words when it comes to teaching. Talking normally doesn't happen but teaching I'm just used to Dutch. We had a really fun time together that day. It definitely made me love Suriname though. I just like the culture better here...and the missionaries. I'm lucky to have a great bunch of missionaries. 

That night I slept with STL's. There was Sister Mitchell, Sister Sommer (my first comp), Sister Cuevas, and Sis Chris. We had a lot of fun together. It was so crazy to see Sister Sommer again. She got me all caught up on St. Vincent stuff. Nick who I taught is still active and the branch mission leader and Ryno is still going to church. That's cool! 

Sister Sommer

MLC was really great. The focus was the Book of Mormon. So last MLC on skype Sister C and I did a role play of teaching about the Book of mormon. Well not trying to brag but I guess it was really good because President couldn't stop talking about it and then asked us to do it again at MLC...only this time our investigator was President Cornish from the seventy. At first I was a little nervous but then you just start teaching like an normal lesson with the spirit. Elder Cornish loved it. In the afternoon Elder Cornish taught about the atonement and one cool tangent he went on that I loved is he talked about prayer. He said Heavenly Father wants to help more. He then talked about the agency involved in prayer. He said "Heavenly Father would rather lose us than force us. If he forced us, he would lose us because it would not be righteousness". He also mentioned that Heavenly Father doesn't play games. We need to be sincere. I just really enjoyed that because I struggle with praying in faith. I need to put more focus into my prayers. 

Overall it was just an amazing experience that I'm so grateful I was able to experience. The pictures are with Sister Sommer, all stl's, Old elders I served with in St. Vincent. Elder Haderlie from the MTC district, Elder Albis is from Phillipines--I served with him in St. Vincent but he was telling me his cousin is in your mission mom and dad. Also picture of all the suriname missionaries is in there somewhere. 

Our plane was delayed going home so we got home at 4 am Saturday. Needless to say I'm still recovering from lack of sleep but it was worth it. 

Love you all and thanks for the support.

Love,

Elizabeth

Double Duty 1/5/2016

Dear Family,

It was an eventful week filled with surprises. I'll tell you the biggest one. I got a phone call from the mission president Wednesday morning informing me that I was getting another new companion! Her name is Sister Vernes. She was born in Germany but has lived in England the last three years. Her mom is from Curacao and Dad is from Holland. She went to the MTC but they put her in the beginning Dutch class but she can already speak it so they changed her to the English tract. That's why she came in the middle of the transfer. So yes, I'm now double training. It's pretty nice having two companions that can speak Dutch. Plus they are both willing to talk and great teachers. 

NEW YEARS WAS INCREDIBLE!  OK, not so much the teaching--that was ok--but the fireworks. I'm sure it must have been similar to you mom and dad. It was out of control. We went outside and I could hardly hear anything let alone see anything because of the smoke. I took a video so you all will have to see. We probably stayed outside for like 20 mins. But once inside it took a while for me to fall asleep because of all the noise. 

We are working hard in our area and starting to see some good success. We have some new investigators this week. One her name is Patricia. She is super religious in whatever church she goes to. We went for our appointment with her and when we get there she asks if we can come back because she was going to sleep. Right when we pull out our planners to make another appt, it started to rain so she let us in. Tender mercy. I don't know yet how she'll accept the gospel but she really wants to learn more about Joseph Smith. 

We also taught this couple named Radjan and Mariska. He is Hindu and she is Catholic. They were so nice and really willing to learn more. Can't see them until next week though. 

Ilsa and Virgil are good. We saw Ilsa and not Virgil the week. But Ilsa has been reading. She is pretty old though so I don't know how she'll get to church unless we can find a ride. 

Shenelva is doing pretty good. We got the YW president over there and she came to church on Sunday. She still wants to get baptized on Feb 6th but we'll see. 

On Saturday Pres Egbert was in town so we had a zone meeting. Pres Egbert is really focusing on the Book of Mormon. He says the reason why the church isn't growing in our mission is because members aren't reading. So we are really focusing on that in teaching our investigators and members. I learned a lot that day. Also had a good interview with him. We always have a fun time talking. 

I fly to Trinidad on Thursday and come back on Friday. Nice and short. But I'm so excited to be with the other missionaries. You feel so secluded down here so it'll be nice to see others. 

My companions are doing great. It's definitely gonna be interesting training both of them but they are teaching me a lot. Zr. Zeegelaar's family is out of our area so we never go over. We did see her sister and brother in law though. That was fun. Zeegelaar tries to be so formal with them but I tell her it's ok to talk to them and stuff. It's really cute- haha! I have a good feeling about this transfer. 

Love,

Elizabeth

Attachments area

Let the Bombs Begin... 12/29/2015

Dear Family,

It was wonderful to talk at Christmas! That was fun to almost get everyone there. Felt the same to talk to everyone, the classic jokes being thrown out. Can't wait to see everyone--don't worry I still have lots of work to do but it is nice to think there is an end where I get to see you all again. 

Lucille

Well after Christmas it is constant fireworks until New Years. I honestly get scared sometimes that they are gun shots!  But hey, if you were going to murder someone this is the time to do it. No one would even think twice. People always come to Suriname from the Netherlands for this time of they year. New Years is a big deal. Should be interesting. 

I had a great week still in the trio. We had a fun Christmas party with the missionaries on Monday. We did a white elephant exchange. Best part was you had to get it from the chinese winkels here. Chinese winkels have the weirdest things straight from China so you can only imagine that the exchange was awesome. I bought someone a toilet seat cover, and assortment of bathroom things. 

Tuesday we worked in my area. We saw some new investigators named Ilsa and her grandson Virgil who is like 29. They met with the Elders about 12 years ago so they were excited when they found out that we come from the same church. They are reallllly nice and open to hearing more. We also saw them yesterday. 

Wednesday we spent the day in Parbo Noth area. We got soaking wet that day. It's been raining everyday cause we are back in the rainy season i think until Feb. We got to see some members and one of their investigators. We got a little lost which is always a good time.

Our beautiful Christmas tree!

Thursday we had a christmas party in my branch. It was actually a really nice party. They showed the new nativity video which is so nice. There was a nice program. There is a dutch christmas song called Ere Zij God. You should look it up. Anyway people love it here but no one knows how to sing it cause it's kinda hard. So it always sounds terrible at church. We as missionaries decided to learn it and sing it for our part in the program. It turned out ok but everyone loved it. Probably cause it was they best they've ever heard it!

Friday on Christmas was just a lot of stopping by and delivering cookies but obvs the best part was talking to you all. 

Saturday was a slower day with work because no one was really home. 2nd Christmas is when everyone goes to visit family and friends. 

I got Sister Zeegelaar yesterday. Her mom was crying when she dropped her off. I'm glad I could say, "You'll see her on Sunday!"

Should be an interesting week,
but great! I'm glad everyone is doing well. I loved the video of Anna holding Caroline. So cute. Everyone is growing up!! Can't wait! Happy New Year. See you all in 2016.

Love,

Elizabeth