Sweet Lake City

Dames & Heren, ik heb geen idee om hoe dit email te begin! Maar ik hoop dat alles goed met jullie is. Well the grand adventure in Zoetermeer has begun and it has been craziness! I have gotten us lost so many times, on Thursday we ended up outside of Zoetermeer in the middle of no where. Oh first an intro to my new companion: Sister Danielle Bybee from San Diego, California. This is her first area and I am thrilled to be here trainer... her companion. This girl is an answer to prayers, for so many reasons. She walked into the room at the mission office and I knew she was mine. We have clicked and already laughed so much. Small world though, she did a year at Southern Virginia playing Lacrosse the year after I attended. It is nice to be able to talk to someone about SVU and they understand! haha But she is gem.. Already has just a great grasp on the language and is brave to just go for it. Greenie fire.. it is a real thing! I am really excited to be working with her. Zoetermeer is a beautiful place.. among our many bike rides of being lost we came across the temple. It was a tender mercy... and then to bike a little further and get lost again but see Captain Moroni pointing out from the trees ahead was so special. This city has been my dream city to serve in and I feel honored to be here. It is a bit stressful whitewashing, but we are making our way around. We are covering two wards, Zoetermeer and the Wassenaar Wards. The Wassenaar ward is all Americans, a few British, so you can call it the English ward. The wards overlap a bit, so we had to split up during the last hour for Zoetermeer RS and Wassenaar sacrament. I went to sacrament meeting... it was all in English.... all American English... the hymns... the sacrament prayers... Sorry but I am not going home now... too weird to have church in English. I felt like a misfit! I mean I can't really point out why it so weird is. Yet, I just did not like it. As I looked around you can definitely tell they were Americans with their Chevron patterns, Vera Bradely bags, the girls hair is all braided and big bows and flowers... But they are super sweet. Most of them are here for the Embassies, or Shell company. Super smart people! We had a dinner appointment last night with a couple who are diplomats and have lived all over. they speak like 4 languages, their kids all speak different languages. They are originally from Colorado. We had an American Easter dinner... Ham.. I have not had Ham in since America! Our ward mission leader for them says he is an accountant but he looks like a UFC fighter and actually is an undercover spy for the US government. We have dinner with them on Saturday and he said they are making real American Steak!! They get it from the American base in Heerlen.... yes!!! Man this is the perfect place to transition to go home. haha We have big shoes to fill here so we will do our very best. I just want to say, there is has been a big change since coming here. This is the final minutes of the big game. Now having a greenie i have truly had to step up to the plate... and it is amazing. I am getting to feel that I have come a long way, I do know what I am doing. I can make a difference... just feeling good and loving every minute. I am truly trying to set a good example and do things I have never really done, or things I am always hesitant to do. I talk to the very first person I see. One day I did that and we got a referral. Friday I got us lost after a choir practice in Den Haag (which how did I get roped into that? Why do they think ALL missionaries can sing? We are singing for the Stake Easter Concert) anywho I got us really lost and it was already 930 pm. We had to wait for a tram for 15 minutes and then travel another 45 minutes. But that whole time we talked to people and it was a pretty sweet experience. Toeval bestaat niet! We have gotten 7 referrals... so we gotta get them contacted!!! We did weekly planning and we are pumped for this week... we are gonna see miracles. Work harder than ever before. We went and visited a recent convert named Ton, he is in a wheelchair and truly has the biggest heart. From the moment we sat down and started talking to him I was overwhelmed with the Spirit. Tears were coming to my eyes... the more he spoke and shared his story I was so touched. We then listened to a talk and this feeling overcame me even more and I just cried. This moment of I can't go home, this is why I am here. This man right here. The Lord was speaking to me through this man... just to meet him was amazing. I hope to make these last few weeks the best of my mission... so far they are. But there is still the mission home... Hope y'all have a beautiful week!! Remember that you too can make a difference... -- Zuster Young

My peeps of the Almere Party District

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