The Fog is Lifted

Officially 1/2 way accomplished with my mission...kind of a crazy thought! but to celebrate this mark we had an incredible week. 3 New Investigators Leis- A dutch woman who believes in the universe, does meditation...a classy hippy! The lesson started really good, she just told us about her beliefs and so when we started talking she got up, walked over to her book shelf and pulled out a Book of Mormon. My jaw dropped. Inside was a card from elders... there haven't been Elders in Gouda for years! She has held onto it. It was a sweet lesson and the spirit was strong. Interesting to see her change throughout the lesson. At first she was set and not changing, but by the end after the first vision and a testimony she said: "I think I am going to try to pray more." As simple as that. But just as remarkable. Mina- MEMBER REFERRAL! This is a sister of Sukri Jonas, a member of 3 years. They are from Indonesia. Loud, clowns, talkative, and a ball of energy. She has come to church twice now and wants to be baptized! She lives in Den Haag but wants to come to Gouda with her brother and have us teach her. So for the next couple weeks we will be teaching her during before or after church. Pretty sick! Julius- SELF REFERRAL! A 9 year old little boy. He is from a part member family (mom active, father less active with a 12 year old brother who wants nothing to do with the church). His father told him if he wants to be baptized he needs to have a good reason. So therefore he asked us to teach him. wow. Julius is incredibly smart, faithful and mature and only 9 years old. It is cute when we go over for a lesson, there on the coffee table sits his scriptures, two cups, two plates with cake and 3 different types of juices for us to choose. Also he laughed at us when we showed up today with our new helmets... Anyway I know the Lord has plans for this kid. 2. Travel Contacting- Is truly so awkward and nerve racking, not my favorite but this week I made a goal to contact at least 2 people every day on public transportation. Some people just pretended they got a phone call, flat out ignored us, met some Americans, people who already knew who we were and others who simply just needed a smile and hello. 3. Wijk Gouda- 2 new families!! Well fun fact for ya, in Nederland when it is vacation time it is vacation time and you do not come in the way of that. About 90% of the people here are gone! Our entire bishopric is gone so the secretary is running things. Anywho on Sunday we had testimony meeting, 2 new families, about half the ward and 4 investigators in church! The spirit was incredibly strong, at least I sure felt it. It was an incredible moment to be sitting there and simply see the hand of the Lord working, this ward is growing, great things are in store. To sit and feel the spirit testify to me 1) who is in charge but 2) how sweet a calling to be an instrument in this work and see such wonderful things. I want to apologize for my e-mails these last couple weeks... I hope the tone of my e-mails didn't change too much. In all honesty it was a hard couple of weeks but whatever haze I was in starting to clear up. This week was spectacular. I truly felt like a missionary, that I had a purpose here. There are so many miracles and wonderful things that have happened and that continue to happen. Any missionary could write a novel about their experiences and things they learn. But that just means stories to tell when I return. lastly I want to share that yesterday we met a man from India. He just looked sad, tired, dirty, and worn out. He asked us where we came from. He continue to put us and America down. Then proceeded to put down his own country and people. Told us that "Jesus is in the way". Not 100% sure what he meant by that, but I can tell you that that is absolutely false. Christ is not in the way of anything. Thanks to him we can have peace and happiness, freed from burdens and lifted up in times of trial. I would not be here, where I am if it were not for my Savior Jesus Christ. I would not have made it through these last few weeks if it had not been for Him, who lifted me up when I was down and pleading. Simply, Christ is not in the way, He is they way. Fijne week verder. Ik hou van jullie. Tot zo! Zr. Young