APRIL 28

Title: Fields of Stripes

 

It's tulip season! Have I already talked about the tulips? Who cares! Who can say too much of tulips when they live in the Netherlands? WE GET TO GO TO KEUKENHOFF TOMORROW! YAY TULIPS! it is so surreal how picturesque the tulips actually are. It's so beautiful. I hope there are windmills at Keukenhoff. I don't really know if Keukenhoff has two f's or one but hoff is better with two fs.

 

Springtime doesn't only mean tulips, however. Springtime also means KONINGDAG. That is to say, Kingsday. this weekend was the first Kingsday in a long time since it has been Queen's day for the past few years. But anyway--long live the king. It's the biggest party I have ever seen. Everyone is wearing orange and Nederland colors, there are a ton of people out on the street selling all of their old stuff like one giant garage sale (I found a guitar for 3 euros! and have gotten blisters on my fingers because of trying to get those callouses back--it is painful! but the really cool thing is that there is a chord chart in the back of the children's song book to help me remember all the chords. this guitar was probably an answer to my prayers about how to teach these families with children effectively. MUSIC. What a perfect answer.) We had a booth in the Groningen centrum area to give away copies of the Book of Mormon and talk to people. My thoughts about it at first were "oh here we go again."I thought of that day back when I was in Breda and we did a booth in this small town called Ramsdonksveer and NOBODY had ANY interest and they threw our cards on the ground and were not nice. But oh me of little faith, we gave out somewhere around 80 copies of the Book of Mormon and people were talking to us a lot and not that many people threw our cards on the ground and a lot of them were nice (unless they were drunk...). My companion and I went a little further away from the booth and gave out cards. I gave one to a young adult girl and about a minute lady she came back with about 6 of her friends and they were asking questions and were really interested. It was so cool to see that. Of course, there were other people who took copies of the Book of Mormon and ripped it up so there were pages in the streets, but there will be opposition in all things. I really liked Elder Holland's talk this past confrerence about the cost of discipleship. Why do we go on missions to have our most cherished beliefs spit upon and torn in to? Because the alternative is to have our house "left unto us desolate."

 

I was thinking--if this is the kind of celebration the dutch put on for their king--where is the celebration that we put on for ours? Where is our "King of King's day"? Where people are giving away their old bad habits and sins instead of their old useless junk in the closet and getting blessings instead of money for it--where people are proudly "showing their faith"like Elder Nelson directs and not "checking [their] religion at the door" which Holland strongly cautioned against--where instead of crowding and pushing, people are helping and loving and working together to build eachother up and LOVE. You could call that the Christmas season, but I still don't even see it then. But that's really something that has made me think--"how do I celebrate my King."

 

It has been one year now since the day I was sitting in the Stake President's office with my family and being set apart by priesthood power to a plane of higher living as a messenger of Christ. What a privilege it has been to be alive this past year. This week, I will celebrate the one year anniversary with my nametag.

 

xoxo

Zuster Hoff

APRIL 21

Title:

I've learned a lot, as a missionary, about why it is important that we have weaknesses. I've understood that having weaknesses helps us to gain empathy. 

For example-- my companion and I tried to help one of our investigators learn how to read. She's from Africa and it's really hard for her to learn because it's not something that she is used to. She feels like learning how to read is something that she could never be able to do--and even after just teaching her the alphabet sounds, she became frustrated and discouraged. Well, the next day, because we're teaching some chinese people, our ward mission leader thinks that it would be important for us to learn chinese (even though we should probably learn dutch first...) and so Sara tried to help me learn the sounds that all the letters make in Chinese. I would make the sound after her and try to imitate her, and she would correct me. Even after I was pretty certain that I had made exactly the same sound as her, she would still tell me I wasn't doing it right. I didn't understand how on earch I could change what I was doing to match her example--afterall, she is the Chinese one. And even now I don't really have a lot of faith that I wil ever learn Chinese (I don't know if I'm really that dedicated.) But I think these small moments are the moments that I can take a step back and understand--yes. People are full of shortcomings and weaknesses, but so am I. And the Lord still loves me.  

So being a Sister Training Leader's companion for about half my mission, I have realized that working with different people is a privilege--to be able to learn from them and understand them and be able to help them and have them help you because we're all, everybody on this earth, in the learning process. And you cant really do a lot of good and help other people if you don't understand where they're coming from--if you don't put yourself in their shoes and try to walk with them. 

It was a beautiful easter sunday and I hope you all were able to contemplate the easter story and what it means to know that Christ is risen!

I love you all and hope that you have a fijne week. 

xoxo

Zuster Hoff

APRIL 14

Title: The Missionary Laws of Physics

 

The laws of physics as a missionary are as follows (this applies mainly for the Netherlands but I wouldn't be surprised if it's mostly universal.)

 

1. If you are biking and the wind is against you, when you turn around to go the opposite direction at any point (after an appointment/church/whatever) the wind will also change to, once again, be against you.

 

2. If you are running a little bit late for the train, and you get there a minute after it was supposed to come, it will already be gone. But, if you are on time and need it to come on time, it will be atleast 5 minutes late.

 

3. If it takes you 15 minutes to get to an person's house and you only have 13 minutes, but you increase the speed of your biking to be able to cut off those two minutes, you will still be late. But, if you are not in a hurry and bike leisurely, it will only take 10 minutes.

 

4. Your bike will never ride smoothly and without problems for longer than two weeks. Also, if someone (your dad, for example) asks how your bike is doing, and you say good, that week there will be a problem.

 

5. Your brain starts to be in sync with your companion's and you start dressing in the same color schemes on the same days and matching ridiculously well. Like you planned it.  

 

But even when the wind is against you, your bike is having problems, you've missed the train, you're going to be late and you and your companion look like you're trying to be twinners, there is still a reason to keep going. And that reason is Jesus Christ and the miracle of the atonement that says that each and every day, we have a new opportunity for excellence. A brand new page to make into anything you want to (and if you're a missionary, you'll probably make it a drawing of the plan of salvation/gospel of Jesus Christ, a thank you note, or a conference bingo board, according to the situation.)

 

"The gospel is true and I love you"."-Kim Williams

 

xoxo

Zuster Hoff

DONT HATE- CONSECRATE

Title: Don't Hate--Consecrate

 

So absent-mindedly before I took a shower the other morning, I said "don't hate--appreciate." I don't know why. I just say things sometimes without really thinking about them. So anyway, it came to companion study and my companion had apparently been so inspired by that 3 word statement that she spent her entire personal study studying charity and all of the things we could do instead of hate--relate, create, instigate, rate, wait, congregate, illuminate....and all other things creative. We had made a transfer goal to be more charity minded, and so these little chant things have now become our life. For example-- "when your companion makes you late and you have to catch a train--don't hate, accelerate."Or..."when the road is split in two so that a boat can go on through--don't hate, wait." Or..."when the dikes break and put your life at stake, don't hate--evacuate!"(hopefully that wont happen...but it is the first monday of the month and that's always the day they test the dike alarms to see if they work.) You get the point. We have decided that the overall THEME for our transfer, however, is "don't hate--consecrate." And this, because, well, have you read the talk "Becoming a Consecrated Missionary"? That's why.

 

The crownin event this week that helped me stop hatin was that General Conference. I love when the prophet and apostles get up and speak. Their words are so good and I am so glad to have been able to hear them. I am so thankful for the opportunity that we have to recieve guidance and council from them. They're words are definitely inspired and I learn so much. The spirit is real there. We played conference bingo,ate an M&M for every time they said the word "atonement," and enjoyed. The talks about love are probably soon to be printed out and posted over our whole apartment.

 

This week was really special because we had some really great days. We went from town to tuin (tuin, pronounced like town, means garden in dutch. the backyard type of garden. the ordinary garden. not the super special hof type of garden.) anyway, we did a lot of garden work. I feel like doing garden work really enhances one's understanding of the scriptures. On friday, we basically lived Jacod 5 and the parable of the olive tree and grafting in of the branches in the vineyard. I did a lot of pruning, all the while, the phrase "I am the gardener here, and I know exactly what I want you to be." and "thank you, Mr. Gardner, for cutting me down. For loving me enough to hurt me"(if you don't know that mormon message, look it up!) I did a lot of grafting in of the branches, all the while thinking of the Savior's love for us and patience with us. It isn't easy, grafting branches. You have to wait until they match up really well and then bind em together. You have to make sure you don't cut your thumb. You have to make sure the top isn't too heavy for the bottom to support.But the servant in the vineyard goes forth everytime, to prune and to graft in the branches, all the while knowing that there is nothing more that He could be doing for His vineyard. What more could I be doing for mine? I like to think that that is my mission question-- I hope that I can look back and honestly be able to ask myself-- "what more could I have done for my vineyard?" That is my unquenchable quest.

 

Highlights of the week (besides general conference and living Jacob 5) are:

-jumping on a trampoline

-holding a duck

-acquiring duck eggs

-swinging across a tiny canal on a rope swing

-climbing a tree

 

not sure if these things are really that kosher with the white handbook but I wasn't able to find evidence against it. Also, we were with an investigator..'s neighbor. That's good, right?

 

well, kids. Don't hate. Consecrate. Give life your all--these are your "four minutes." And if you're thinking "I already messed up, I already blew my 4 minutes' then you need to STOP thinking that and NEVER think it again."

 

Love's the only house.

xoxo

 

Zuster Hoff

Amazing Grace

Title: Amazing Grace

When beautiful events happen on a mission, all of the worrying about numbers and key indicators and other techinical factors disappear--and I remember what I'm here for. God's children. Serving the Lord. And finding joy in the journey.

 

One of the most beautiful moments I have ever witnessed on my mission was the event this past weekend of Sara getting baptized. She was dressed in a long white dress that made her look like an angel. She said she felt like she was wearing pajamas. She was sitting in front of me as I was explaining what would happen and she got very quiet. Puzzeled (and eager to resolve concern) I quickly asked "what? what are you thinking? what are you feeling?" she answered simply--"I am trying to feel him." "You're trying to feel him??" I asked. "The Holy Ghost" she said. "him? her? it?"

 

It was such a tender moment. I remember the first time I met Sara. It was my first day in Leeuwarden and she had been found a few weeks earlier but had been on vacation so we went by to see if maybe she was home yet. She was. It was the first time missionaries had ever been in her home. She asked if we had eaten dinner. We hadn't. So she invited us in to eat the spiciest chinese food I have ever tasted. As I tried to hold back the tears from the burning in my face, we talked to Sara about faith--a topic that was completely foreign to her (she wasn't a Buddhist because she liked meat. also probably other reasons but that, I guess, was a deal breaker.) She talked about how she had seen on T.V. and on movies how people go to a church and they find peace and direction in thier lives and how she wanted to have those types of experiences. We told her she could, and we gave her a place to read in the Book of Mormon. I think it was in Nephi. We came back for our next appointment and started to talk about that chapter and she stopped us saying "first question--who's Nephi? I googled it but I couldn't find any good answers." 

 

Well. Since, she's learned about prophets. She's come to church where we've translated dutch into english. She's started her own pattern of scripture study by marking all of the scriptures about prayer (how cuute!) and she has gotten baptized and recieved the gift of the Holy Ghost through the restored priesthood in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I would say--she has had the experiences that she has wanted. And the best part was to hear her say "thank you." Because I know that whether or not I had even been here, she would've had this opportunity. But I still got to see her through it. Blessed am I.

 

I think my favorite part of baptism week was the white underwear talk. You just learn so much about a person while having that talk. The one with the baptizer was probably the best.

 

Us: Hey, just a reminder, we know this may be awkward but remember to wear white underwear today because otherwise it would be even more awkward.

Him: I have underwear that is predominately white...close enough.

Him: Well, it has some black skateboarder dudes or whatever on it. Perhaps I should go and buy some white ones....

Him: I'll go and do that right now.

 

Well. To quote myself last week--unashamed of telling you all about their underwear drawers (and other personal matters)--of such are the Dutch!

 

It's been a great week! Time goes to fast. Seasons change. and the tulips are almost here! Have a beautiful week!

 

Sending love--

 

xoxo

 

Zuster Hoff

 

of Such are the Dutch

Title: of Such are the Dutch

I would just like to reassure you all that my bike is indeed not stolen. Hoorah! It's always nice to know that the things you own are owned honestly. The man apparently just really knows how to fix up  bikes and since bikes are in abundance in this country, if you really know where to look for em (or if your really good helper above is lookin our for you), you can find someone who is really good with bikes. Of such are the Dutch. 

On Tuesday, we had a full day. And then all of our appointments cancelled. Some cancelled in a timely fashion...some cancelled when we called. But the best was when the other appointment cancelled just because she heard that our other two appointments cancelled and didn't want to be the only reason that we went out. *facepalm.* Of such are the Dutch.

Wednesday, we tried to go out to a less active member's house to help with the garden and the bus that usually went through her city didn't..and since the stop was showing on the screen as a stop that was GOING TO BE STOPPED AT, we passed the town about two times, going in different directions, only to find out that the bus wasn't going through that city that day and nobody felt that that was worthy to mention. Really great public transportation communication--of such are the Dutch.

Thursday we had a really great appointment with a member referral but it was very hard because he was very particular about every little word used so it felt that he tried to catch us in our words and just had a lot of problems with the way we explained things and it was very trying. Being nit-picky about the way you say every little--of such are the Dutch.

Saturday we had a member come on joint teach (which was really great) but then rant in front of our faces afterwards about how stupid it is the way missionaries do missionary work. She complimented how well we taught...that was nice. But wow. how do you stand up for the first presidency of the church and they're instruction on how to do missionary work and still be one with the members? Bluntness with their opinion and always thinking they know how to do things best--of such are the Dutch.

Sunday, little adorable Sara came to church and handed out her invitations for her baptism and so many people said they couldn't come and it was sad because it wasn't just an "sorry I can't be there," it was offering a multitude of excuses of why whatever they had was more important and also kind of acting insulted and that it was an inconvenience to them that this baptism (that has been planned for THREE months on this day) was planned at a time that didn't work for them. Justifying why they are right in every little thing--of such are the Dutch.

And so when my teachers told me in the MTC that I would fit in really well here...I now know that that wasn't really a compliment. Haha. But I guess the most beautiful part is that people are imperfect--yet we can learn to see trough their weaknesses and flaws and love them in spite of that. My companion has really taught me a lot about that--she is such a  good example of dealing with people and I love her so much. 

I am so excited that Sara is getting baptized! I bet that when she left China, she had no idea that the Netherlands would offer more than just a Master's program education--but when the Lord looked down on her soul and saw her eternal worth--He knew that this is what she was meant for. What a miracle! 

All this paint, and we're finally putting on the second coat--starting with this little Chinese girl. She is about to be white as snow--such as WILL BE the Dutch. 

Happy week to you all! 

Love you,

XXOO

Zuster Hoff

Consider the Tulips

Title: Consider the Tulips

 

The land of the tulips has begun to spit some up--everywhere. These are just the pre-season tulips, they're not quite official or anything, but they are beautiful.

 

This past week has certainly been an interesting one. We have talked to some cool people, taught some cool people, and just had a pretty good week. When the lessons fall through--sometimes there's something better. Or sometimes, there is just a lesson that fell through. But everything has it's reasons.

 

My "pointless miracles" rant was a little incoherent last week. It was more of an inner debate I had to have with myself. But I think this week I think I want to add to it. It has to do with the quote "sometimes things fall apart so that other things can fall into place." Emphasis on the sometimes. But those sometimes, I've found, are really worth it.

 

This week, we had an appointment lined up with this really cool guy, we had even called and confirmed it, but we called almost every active woman to be a joint teach, and nobody could come with. So we finally arranged for the elders to come with, and at almost the last minute, he called and said he had to work late. So, it being the half way mark of my companion, we needed to do something to celebrate (and we had also scheduled too many appointments that night for dinner so yay-cancelled appointment means we can eat, in this case) so we decide to go get ice cream. And the sign on the door says it's open until 8 but it is definately not 8 yet, nor is it open. So we turn back, and on the way, there are some men at a bar, sittin outside, who see us and are talking among themselves about the mormons, when my companion, overhearing them, goes up to them and gives them a card. I was just thinking "wow, I wish I was as cool and fearless as my companion. I am going to contact the next person I see." The next person I see happens to be drunk or at least severely intoxicated and was also smoking. He was at least a nice one (mean drunks are not fun) and he actually seemed pretty interested. He talked to us about his addictions--how he had been trying to overcome them but he was in a relapse. He told us about how he hadn't been sleeping. We were able to tell him a little about the enabling power of Jesus Christ's atonement, walk with him to our church to show him where it was, invite him to maybe come to church sometime, and say a little prayer with him. He gave us his address and then we said we'd be in touch. His name sounds like Shirt.

 

A few days later, my bike decided to just stop working. The back wheel (darn those back wheels) wouldn't turn in a normal circle, it was way too loose but unable to be tightened. Not sure exactly what happened, I just know it stopped working. So we had to walk/take busses/rent a bike. My companion's bike started having issues, too.

 

Well, Shirt didn't come to church on sunday--we didn't really think anything of it, but today, we went down to the station to take my rented bike back and also took my companion's bike in and we thought we'd go to the church really quick to see if we could pick up a Chinese Book of Mormon. We also took my bike on over to the church so that it wasn't sitting at the station too long and getting taken away. I was practicing the piano when my comp and I heard knocking on the door. We went out to see who it was, and it was Shirt. He seemed a little eccentric today, but he said he was sober and that he had been getting some sleep, so we gave him the benefit of the doubt. We talked to him a little and I mentioned my bike was out of working order and he said he knew an old man who's hobby was bikes--I said I'd rather just buy a new one because mine was so bad--I showed it to him. He agreed. And then he said he'd line me up with a new bike. It kinda didn't seem like he would actually do it, but I thought "well, I need a new one today, so by the time he does, I'll just say I already bought one, and it will be fine." But he left, we went back into the church so I could learn how to play the whole song (top and bottom hand! I am getting so good! haha) and then we got a call from Shirt. He said he got a bike from this old man friend of his and he was on his way back with it--asked if we were still at the church....we were. So..I paid 20 euro and it's actually a really decent bike. Obviously it needs a headlight and a chain to lock it up, but otherwise...it's great. But then there's the question--did he just go steal this bike and now I'm riding a stolen bike?

 

When do you stop assuming positive intent? How do you ever really know if people are sincere? Maybe he scams people often. But we have his address and phone number. So...is he stupid? Or did he really need somebody to reach out and show him love and now he's giving back? There's also the miracle that we went to the church at that time and stayed for that long and that he came knocking at the church doors. All the signs point to--miracle. Well...a lot of the signs.

 

Maybe it was a miracle. Or maybe I'll get stopped by the police for stealing a bike and the miracle will be invalidated. Or maybe the person who's bike it is will find me and I'll give the bike back and it will turn out that this person is open and ready to recieve the gospel of Jesus Christ. Or maybe, this miracle is just right in front of me and I need to accept it as such. All it took was one fallen through appointment.

 

Christ said "consider the lilies of the field how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin;...wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the over, even so will he clothe you if you are not of little faith. Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things..."

 

I, like Nephi, don't know the meaning of all things. But I know that God loves His children. He knows our needs. And He answers our prayers. 

 

I don't know if this was also incoherent or made sense...but I feel better now :) Some things fall apart so that others can fall into place. Some things fall into place so that miracles can happen. As Einstein said--there are two ways to live: one is as if everything is a miracle. The other is as if nothing is.

 

Happy Saint Patrick's Day, friends! I hope you all are wearing green. :)

 

xoxo

 

Zu