Christmas Skype!!

Eli Mail 12/22/14 Letter 23; Eli Bullets 12/29/14 (Zaandam, Netherlands)

Well here it comes – Christmas is already upon us! With the mild temperature and the lack of snow here, I haven't quite been able to feel too much of the Christmas spirit that I'm used to. But, no matter. The street decor and Christmas trees scattered about the city will suffice. We had a very busy week of an assortment of activities, including a Christmas party, and we even got to enjoy doing a little service with our part-member family. On Monday evening we taught Jane and Pieter, the part-member family, and they talked about wanting to take us to their cabin to do some service, which was located in about the only forest in existence the Netherlands. After receiving permission, we loaded up in Pieter's car after our studies and headed out. It was a very pleasant experience. We spent most of the time hauling tiles around and attempting to get the water out of the pipes for winter. Afterwords he took us on a little walk through the forest. We ate while we walked, which included slices of bread with only cheese in the middle and a few clementines, a very simple but surprisingly satisfying meal. We ended up in a clearing, and a wide expanse of flat ground unfolded before our eyes. And we just marveled for a little while. It made for a good day, but it didn't distract me from the busy week of work we had in front of us.

We found a couple of really cool potentials, one including a lady who is currently searching for the right church, and that was special. We have also been receiving referrals from our Facebook campaign, in which people can order a free Christmas DVD and expect "representatives" from the Church to follow up on it. We received one that lives in Monnickendam, a little town located on the coast within our proselyting boundary. Unsure of how to get there and having no maps, we decided to go to Amsterdam Centraal on Saturday and try to find a bus that went there. We did, and it ended up not being a very far bus ride. We watched as the scenery around us changed from busy, city buildings to flat countryside. We arrived there in no time and even found a map located at the bus stop. Having found the street and the right house number, we approached the door and were greeted by an older gentleman. After a short conversation, we discovered that this man has been doing genealogy for years and is very interested in stories of his ancestors (yes, I know: perfect missionary opportunity). He told us a little more and we were able to tie it into the Book of Mormon, which he willingly accepted a copy of. It was overall just a very cool experience, and I'm very excited for a lesson with him planned for January. (Everyone here doesn't want to schedule appointments in or around holidays. Makes it a little hard for missionaries, but it's reasonable).

To conclude, we had a great opportunity on Sunday, and that was to participate in Pieter receiving the Priesthood. After over 20 years of sitting on the less-active list, someone finally looked him up (the missionary that I replaced here in Zaandam). And because that Elder was diligent and spent over an hour trying to find his house and didn't give up, this family has found the gospel and are changing their lives, and Pieter will be baptizing his wife coming up shortly. It's a very humbling experience and missionary work at its best.

Looking forward to seeing my family in a couple days on Christmas, and I would like to thank all those who sent me letters/emails and Christmas packages, they were much appreciated, including the letters from my Seminary class and Young Men's group, glad to hear from you guys. Hope this week is swell. I'm looking forward to it. Love you guys!


12-29-14 BULLETS

Sadly, I don't the time to write a big email this week. Lots to talk about, but no time.

I will update you on a couple of things though. We had a baptism yesterday! Jane was baptized by her husband Peter, and we got to help Peter along the way to getting the priesthood and also teaching Jane. It was awesome, missionary work at its best.

Discovered yesterday that my bike is stolen. I've been very careful about everything, making sure it's safe and locked (you know how I am about that stuff), but nonetheless, it happened. But, I may have lucked out. We called the bishop, and he said there's a bike in the church that I can have free of charge. Such a blessing.

My body has been feeling achy and my throat is suddenly sore. So, like the whole mission and this country, I might be coming down with something.

But I hope that isn't a splurge of bad news. Things have been great. I'm loving it out here, and the Christmas hustle and bustle is fun.

Tell Linus I miss him and hope he gets better soon. I really hope he'll be okay.

Love you guys; have a good week!

Eli Mail 12/8/14 (Zaandam, Netherlands) Letter 22

Oh, man everyone! I'm not even sure where I want to begin. It was quite an interesting week, to say the least, with the start of a new transfer and everything. I hope everyone has been doing well. I sure have been. I've been very much tunnel-visioned these past few months, focusing mainly on the work at hand and the day-to-day activities, taking no time to look around me and enjoy where I am. So, I'm glad I'm finally getting a little bit better at that balance.

Wednesday was supposed to be a pretty normal day, but we got a call on Tuesday during District Meeting from a part-American, part-Dutch family that's in our Ward. Brother DeVries told us that they had a house fire and needed us to come help the next morning for some clean up. It was a rather sad thing to see. Brother DeVries left a bag of camera equipment on this heater thing in his sauna room (they were just using the room for storage at the time) and one of their kids flicked on the wrong light switch, turning on the heater. So, yeah – excluding a few details, that's basically what happened, which led to the combustion of the bag. Brother DeVries quickly attempted to put out the flame to no avail. The flames kept creeping higher and higher towards the ceiling. They attempted water and all sorts of things, but the flames just seemed to inhale everything and spit out masses of smoke. In a last ditch effort, he grabbed his wife's partially wet bath towel and took out the fire. Who knew a bathrobe would save the day? Sister DeVries joked later after everything, sounding disappointed, "Honey, that was my favorite bathrobe!" So, Wednesday we spent the long process of carrying smoke damaged things out the house and hauling them to a storage facility in North Amsterdam. It was rather nice doing service. It changed the pace of things, despite it being a rather unfortunate occasion. That evening we had a dinner appointment set up that ended up canceling last minute, and I was a little annoyed with it since we had no back-up plan. But luckily we powered through it and it just worked out, and we saw miracles because of it. If I remember right, we taught a lesson and gave out two Books of Mormon, which was awesome and very satisfying. 

Friday was very wet. We listened to the wind just howl through our partially cracked-open window and watched trees blowing and the rain whipping around during our studies. We went out anyway, of course, and starting biking through the headwind to do a look-up. Thankfully, the family was home. We were able to talk with Diana, a non-member mom, and her mother, who is a member. I may have mentioned them before, but the whole family is from Columbia, so whenever I'm over there I think of the slight chance that my cousin may have taught them or something. But anyway, we followed up on our praying-as-a-family commitment from the previous month, and it turned out they have been praying as a family and loving it! Super cool to see people progress and find a love for the Lord.

We had an awesome stake conference this weekend. Every ten years the stake presidency of the Netherlands changes, and that was this week. It was super cool to be able to sit back and enjoy. The Church actually rented out a sort of hotel building for it, since this country doesn't have a stake center.

That's all the time for this week! Lots of exciting stuff coming up this week, love you all!

Eli Mail 12/8/14 (Zaandam, Netherlands) Letter 21

Hello everyone! Another week has come and passed here in the Netherlands, and the pace of things is really starting to pick up. Transfer calls were last night and, as I predicted, both Elder Toole and I will be staying in Zaandam for another transfer. He'll be the first companion I've had for more than one transfer. The Amsterdam Elders have an interesting situation, because Elder Tjong-Ayong (my favorite Suriname friend ever!) extended and has only four weeks left on his mission, not even the full transfer, and they just received word that they'll be getting a greenie now between the two of them. That'll make for a pretty packed apartment, with the APs who are already there – five missionaries in total.

But anyway, enough of the missionary transfer stuff. What exactly happened this week? Well, sadly and excitingly, Sinterklaas came and went. All eight of us missionaries in the Amsterdam area were invited to members' houses both Friday and Saturday night, very convenient to not have to be out and about when it was a "feestje dag". Elder Toole and I set off at about 5pm on Friday evening to the Roos's apartment, which was located somewhere in Amsterdam. We ended up doing all sorts of crazy tram navigation, me trying to orientate ourselves on the map and both of us wandering around until we eventually arrived at our destination. The member's apartment was a three-story flat, with insanely steep staircases that led up to a wide open kitchen and living room area. We spent the evening singing Dutch Kerstmis songs, eating little goodies, and doing a bit of a "spiritual" gift exchange in which everything related to a scripture or something like that. On the way home, the tram stopped in the middle of the road and just sat there for a while. It was getting late, and I was pretty anxious, so we got out of the tram to see what was going on. Sadly, some guy was laying on the spoor (tracks), possibly dead/drunk/high – and, therefore, we couldn't move. What seemed unfortunate led us to another exciting adventure of navigating back to station, and sometimes you just have to enjoy the little things like that on a mission. But at both parties we shared "The First Gift of Christmas" for our spiritual message, which is a great, new Mormon Message that came out recently. I'd highly recommend watching it.

http://www.mormon.org/christmas

Exciting news: we finally had a lesson with our Chinese investigator, Alice! She was found and taught for a long time by Elder Tjong-Ayong in a little town called Deventer. She lives in Zaandam, now, has been super busy, but is very much ready to progress. We just sat down and talked with her about how things are going in her life, and she said she received an answer to her prayer, which was awesome. It's really hard to teach Asians because of their very limited knowledge and concept of God, but Alice finally realized it, and now she just needs to know that our church is true. Elder Moriara made an interesting comment about Asian people: a lot of members are a little apprehensive to baptize Chinese people, because they usually go back home. But that's a good thing, he said. When the Lord says every nation shall receive the Word, that could be very well how it works for China – the people come here and are taught and then they take it back with them into China. Cool thought. We have a number of potentials floating around right now. We just need the right opportunities, and we could have a number of new investigators, which is what this place needs. The work is going great, though. I love the satisfaction of knowing that I'm doing all that I can, and it is comforting to know that it is enough for the Lord.

I've started the Book of Mormon again and am now currently in 2 Nephi. I noticed something in chapter five that intrigued me a lot. The chapter starts with Nephi being very depressed and grieved because of his brothers and what's going on around him, but by verse 27 it says, "And we did live after the manner of happiness" or something to that extent. So, you have a very striking difference in terms of how Nephi is feeling and living, within a manner of 27 verses. My challenge is to read what's in between those verses and try to notice what made the difference, between living in sorrow and living after a manner of happiness.

The weather has for sure been a lot more tame this week – not nearly as bone-chilling cold. Still no snow, but I'm not expecting a white Christmas necessarily. I've already been hearing a number of fireworks go off, which makes me excited for the craziness of New Year's and Christmas here in the Netherlands. I love hearing from you guys. Have a great week!

Thanksgiving: Visit to Zaanse Schans

Eli Mail & Bullets 12/1/14 (Zaandam, Netherlands) Letter 20

 PHOTO CAPTION: A visit to a missionary holiday event (last year) by Sinta Klaas and his Zwarte Petes. (Read below.)

Wow! What a week. I hope everyone enjoyed a gezilig (enjoyable) Thanksgiving. Reading emails about everyone’s plans did make me think of all the delicious smells, preparation, and the feeling of the holiday season. But being on the mission for the holidays is something special and unforgettable. We were very busy this week, so I’ll jump right into the events and experiences.

We had a lesson this past Tuesday with a lady who happens to be a former investigator. A couple weeks ago we were biking around, doing work as usual, when we passed by a lady unloading things from her car. As we passed by she said,”Oh, hey, Elders!” Elder Toole and I exchanged confused looks and stopped our bikes. We turned around and confronted the lady who somehow recognized us as “Elders.” Long story short, we made an appointment and found her record later, buried deep in the depths of the area book. So, we had the lesson and just got to kind of know this Surinamese lady a little better. She’s funny, a little sassy, but very down-to-earth and pretty positive about the gospel. For one reason or another, the lesson became very powerful and the Spirit was really strong and the discussion turned towards the message of the Restoration. We both bore our testimony pretty powerfully to her. She was still skeptical and wanted to know if we really did believe all that stuff. This was my response: “I wonder that too, actually, if it all really is true, and I get the opportunity to find that out every morning.” It’s a cool experience to be on a mission, because by simply keeping the commandments and aligning our will with God's, we really can feel of His Spirit and receive answers. So, we'll see where things go, but it made me grateful to have the gospel in my life.

On Wednesday we had another visitation of a general authority! A few months ago we had Elder Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve apostles, and this time Elder Moriara (I can’t spell his name) of the “zeventigers” came to our mission. He told a really cool story of some navigators who years ago were always afraid to sail past a certain cape. This cape had been rumored to be extremely dangerous, with sharp rocks and the actual edge of the world, where you would fall off the face of the planet if you went too far. Crazy right? A silly, preconceived notion that limited them from their full potential. Their travels and journeys were inconvenienced because of a rumor or assumption. He related that to us as missionaries with our proselyting areas. If we hear bad things or don’t expect miracles, we just limit and hurt ourselves. That's one of the big challenges of our mission, especially. A lot of it is mental. The work becomes a lot easier when we accept and acknowledge that the Lord is preparing people and fulfilling His promises. I love the challenge here. Nothing comes easy. You really have to work and have faith if you want to see anything happen. But anyway, those are just my thoughts on our mission in general.

Thanksgiving was good, too! We spent that afternoon mostly knocking doors. The temperature feels like one or two degrees Fahrenheit, but that’s because of how thick the air is here. I've definitely got to get some warmer under clothing too, but for now I don't care; I'm from Wisconsin. We had a Thanksgiving feast that evening at the Church. A member wanted to have one and invited a number  of American members and even some non-members. In place of a turkey we had deep-fried chicken wings. Not bad. There was a huge vat of potato salad and number of other creations. It didn’t quite compare to an American thanksgiving, but I was pleased none the less. We even got to explain a bit about the Restoration to a non-member, which was cool. We have a lot of food right now, too. We got a ton of leftovers from the Thanksgiving, on top of all the other things we've gotten. A member went to Germany and brought us 100 “Pick-ups,” a German candy bar, along with two buckets of chocolate-covered pretzels. So, yeah, we have a lot.

Oh, by the way, Christmas is this Friday, everyone. For some reason, the Dutch like Christmas so much they have three of them. This Friday is when Sinter Klaas drops off a sack of “cadeautjes” and “snoepjes” on the doorstep. So, we’re going to try to avoid knocking doors Friday. People are expecting Sinter Klaas, not two missionaries from America! Another fun fact: in place of elves, Sinta Klaas has servants named “Zwarte Pete.” That just means black Pete. Basically, Sinter Klaas’s servants go down the chimneys and get covered in soot. Hence, the name “Zwarte Pete.” So, you will see random people on the streets dressed in a weird sort of court-jester costume with their face and hands painted black. If you find images on the internet, it will definitely appear a little weird and perhaps racist to any American, but trust me: it's not.

I’ll leave you with one last Spiritual thought for the week. It was a question asked in Sunday school, and it led to a very good discussion. “How can the Atonement become effective in our lives?” I’ve learned for myself and through my investigators that repentance doesn’t just involve acknowledging our mistakes. It is a process, a change of our thoughts, desires, and actions. So, when we look at the Atonement and we want to make it effective in our lives, we first must truly repent and forsake our transgressions.

Ik hou van jullie en ik hoop dat jullie allemaal een geweldige week verder zullen hebben!

Groentjes,

Elder Eli Andrew
Aan de Vaart 18
1506 TW Zaandam
Nederland

CHRISTMAS PACKAGES:

Belgium/Netherlands Mission
Elder Eli Andrew
Schipholweg 66
2316 XE Leiden
The Netherlands

BULLETS – Here are a few of Eli’s comments in some emails on 11/17/14:

·         Yep, that's the building. Only one ward meets there. A little sad, I know, for such a big city.

·         We do mostly door contacting. We have our most success from street contacting, but we just don't have too many good areas for that. Then if you really feel like it, you can do “bell ups,” which is at an apartment complex, and you just ring their number. Yeah, they have a crazy amount of apartment complexes in this country, so sometimes you just gotta try.

·         The weather has been off and on. The rain doesn't bother me much, but the fact that it is now dark at 5 p.m. does. Just since we have to be out and about ‘til 9 p.m. makes it a little more difficult. But, I'm learning to just accept it and plan smart.

·         Speaking of bikes, my back tire was completely flat so I took it in and got it fixed. Spent 35 Euro on new tubes for the back tire, so it’s all ready for winter. Sadly the front tire might need some repairs here soon, but it won’t be too pricey.

·         Yeah, if I knew how to fix my own bike I could save a little money, but for now I'll just go the safer route.

·         Yeah I could be little Dutch books.. I'm planning on buying my favorite John Green books in Dutch and reading them when I get off the mission. If you want the Dutch shoes.. they are very uncomfortable but they're keepsakes for sure.

·         I'm not that that familiar with Zaandam quite yet. We’re on the 3rd floor. I did a tour of the Genk apartment and I'll do one of the Zaandam one too. I’ll just have to send you the SD card when it’s full too, those video files are way too big.

·         Psshh.. nah, members are good about fast and testimony meeting. The missionaries bare their testimony their first Sunday in their new area that’s how it usually works.

Eli Mail 11/24/14 (Zaandam, Netherlands) Letter 19

Last Monday night we taught a Plan of Salvation lesson to a sort-of-new investigator, Danny. He's about 40 years old, single, and very willing to hear what the Mormons are all about. We started the lesson with the typical exchange of normal small talk and then delved into the lesson after a prayer. I had just refreshed myself about 20 minutes before, and I rehearsed the flow of the lesson the whole bike ride there, so I was very confident in my teaching skills that evening. Elder Toole and I both taught very well, and Danny spent most of the time listening and taking in the information. It all seemed well until we explained kingdoms of glory to him. He just got very upset, because he felt like he could never know for sure if he was going to heaven or not. He felt like you could live a good life, but you could never be 100% positive. I suppose he is right to a very slight extent; we technically don't know until we stand before the judgment seat. I was reminded of the hymn “Keep the Commandments.” It’s one of my favorites, and at one point they sing the phrase, “keep the commandments, in this there is safety and peace.” So clearly, by just simply doing what we’re supposed to do (keeping the commandments, and so for), we just feel comforted that things will really work out. As much as we tried testifying and explaining, Danny just couldn't get over his own trapped mindset. So, it was a sort of a sad conclusion, but it got me thinking a lot, and perhaps one day he'll change his mind.

Hope it isn't getting too cold in the States. This sure has been my mildest fall season I've experienced. The weather has been going back and forth a lot lately. A majority of cloudy, typical Europe overcast days with the occasional rain storm, and about one or two days with sun. If I had to describe this week in one word, I would say drowsy. Drowsy, because of the busyness of normal missionary work and getting home late a few nights in a row. For those who don't know, the Zaandam Elders are typically known for a lot of travel. And we do. If we have an activity at the church on a Friday evening we can expect two hours, round trip, of travel, not even including the activity itself. So, if the time is creeping past 8 o'clock in the evening, we can already expect to be home past 9 pm. That's not necessarily a bad thing, just the life and circumstances of a missionary. One last quick note about time (perhaps I've mentioned this in a previous email), but the darkness is creeping up fast. We are in complete darkness now just before 5 p.m., and the sun doesn't rise till about 8 a.m.  It's so sad to see the sun setting at about noonish, but oh well, just makes us work smarter when we plan.

This week was our annual Turkey Bowl! It was fantastic. We arrived at Vondelpark in Amsterdam at about 10 a.m. on Saturday. It was just the Amsterdam zone, so about 30 or so missionaries in total. We had a lot of fun. We broke up into four different teams and battled it out in some good old American football. I spent most of the time receiving and enjoyed weaving in and out of the crowd. Our mission president even joined the fun, too. He loves and encourages the Turkey Bowl every year, and it was awesome seeing him getting very into it. Just a good overall day, and the Amsterdam Elders with my companion and I went and had some Suriname/ Chinese food. Speaking of food, there are annual food stands that go up about this time of year for “oliebollen,” these deep-fried bread balls covered in powdered sugar. They are way better than I imagined, with a perfect mixture of a crispy outside and a warm, doughy inside. The sprinkled powdered sugar is just icing on the cake, so to speak, and you can also get them with raisons.

The weeks are really flying by here in Zaandam, and I hope everyone enjoys Thanksgiving and Black Friday! We have plans for a dinner at the church on Thursday, so not to worry – we have a place for some sort of Thanksgiving meal. Love you guys. Have a great week!

BULLETS – Here are a few of Eli’s comments in some emails on 11/24/14:

·         Had another busy week filled with a variety of activities, and another busy one to come.

·         I don't have a lot of respect for dogs anymore. Dutch people are very much dog and cat lovers, and we hear a lot of ferocious dog barking at a lot of doors we knock. Not to mention that all of my dress pants basically just attract dog hair like a magnet. But that's not to be pessimistic – just my current feelings on dogs right now.

·         Dutch people have no idea who their neighbors are, unlike most of us Americans. I know that made Elder Nye really sad last transfer; we would knock doors and ask for referrals, but people barely had a clue that they even had neighbors. I guess Elder Nye was used to Utah living, where you get to know your neighbors, I suppose.

·         I don't know if I have had any adventures on bikes. I just take control of the road when I'm on them, because you can do that here. I want to get a little speedometer though. My bike had one, but it got lost a few transfers ago, so it'd be fun to keep track of miles and my speed. Metric system, though, of course.

·         Oh yeah, lots of thievery. One of the sisters in Amsterdam just had a bike stolen the other week. She didn't lock it, but still. There are gangs who go around in black vans apparently and snip locks off of bikes in Amsterdam. Scary stuff. Bikes are just easy money, but I think mine is safe here in Zaandam.

PHOTO CAPTION: Aerial of Vondelpark, Amsterdam. 

Eli Mail 11/17/14 (Zaandam, Netherlands) Letter 18

Hello everyone! I know you haven't heard from me for a while, but rest assured I am very much alive and well here in the Netherlands. I haven't explained too much about Zaandam and my experiences, so I'd love to dive in a little bit. I may have mentioned our proselyting area, but it mainly consists of Zaandam; a bigger neighborhood city called Purmerend; a few small towns; and North Amsterdam. Because of the lengthiness of travel, Elder Toole and I generally prefer to stay in Zaandam. It's a very unique and interesting town. Part of the city is divided by a couple bigger canals, and occasionally we'll get stuck waiting at a bridge because they lifted it up to let a big boat go through. Factories. There are quite a few factories in Zaandam, a number of which are chocolate factories, which makes for a very hungry bike ride if we end up passing one. Everyone I've talked to who has served in Zaandam has mentioned the smells. A strong scent of blueberry muffins lingers around in certain places, too. That is something I don't really understand, but either way it keeps Zaandam very refreshing to be around when you're out and about all day.

One big change that I'm loving a lot is the OV chip card. Every missionary gets one, and they don't work in Belgium, so I've loved using them here. Whatever public transportation you want to take – bus, train, tram, or whatever – is accessible by the wave of a blue credit card. That's another great thing about this country, too. How efficient and accessible it is to travel from city to city. The trains are very nice, too; another sharp contrast between the two countries. But I suppose that's another benefit of crazy high taxes. And for those who are wondering if I've had the chance to stroll around Amsterdam: yes, I have. Super cool city; there are always a ton of foreigners. And whether it's a cold Monday morning or a clear Friday evening, Amsterdam is always nuts and sometimes results in the occasional headache. Other than that, the only unique thing about Zaandam is the amount of windmills. There's a very famous windmill place called Zaanse Schans about a 25 minute bike ride from the apartment.

Now, what have I done in the past two weeks? Who have I taught, and where have I been? Well, I don't know where to start so I'll begin with Thursday, November 6th. We had a normal morning of studies, and we just weren't sure where we wanted to go that day. After lunch we came to the conclusion of just getting on the bikes and to start looking around for a good place to find. After about 40 minutes of biking, we ended up somewhere in the middle of a little town called Wormever. We followed a big canal all the way up to the city, not really sure where to go. Eventually we realized we didn't have all day and just went down a couple streets and parked our bikes. The day had been very cold and windy, but in this neighborhood everything was very quiet and calm, and suddenly I didn't even feel as cold anymore. We only had time for seven or eight doors to knock, and to our pleasant surprise we had nice, healthy conversations with about five or six people. We didn't end up getting any potentials or even a lesson on the door, but we just were able to share our message with them and had a gospel-orientated conversation. It made a world of difference, because most days we can knock about 50 doors or so and about 35 of them will almost immediately close the door when they see our name tags. Elder Toole told me later that he had prayed that we could talk with more pleasant people, and it happened. So, that was really special to see his prayer answered.

Another day I was on an exchange with the district leader, Elder Besendorfer. We had just gotten home from district meeting and were at an investigator's house when we learned about a holiday that was going on that evening. Apparently, in North Holland they do a version of Halloween, but the little kids have these little, bright homemade lanterns. They carry them around door to door with a sack full of candy and sing a little Dutch tune, and the people at the door put candy in their bags. The name of the holiday slips my mind, but I know it has some Dutch roots to it. So, with a little time left in the evening we knocked a few doors, and we had some very surprised people who did not expect fully grown guys at their door with white shirts and ties on. But it was fine. We even got a couple of bars of chocolate from people. It was a good evening.

Also, we're working with this super cool part-member family. The dad was baptized as kid but went inactive at 16, and his wife and son have not been baptized. We have weekly lessons with them, and it's super cool to see how much the gospel has changed them. Before they were meeting with the missionaries and coming to church, their marriage was falling apart and they just weren't happy. Since they've been keeping commitments and praying together they've been able to work out their problems and they're a lot happier now. The wife loves reading the gospel principles book, so teaching them has been super spiritual and interactive. The dad realized and know how important it is to get back on the right path, and he's working to get the Priesthood now. I love  teaching families, and it's cool to see how the gospel brings families closer together like Preach My Gospel says. The wife's baptismal date is in late December, and I'm excited to be able to take part in their progress.

I don't have too much time left, but I hope these few experiences will do for now. The hours of sunlight during the day are shortening fast and winter is soon upon us, but all is well here in the Netherlands. Christmas decorations are coming up and everyone is getting into the spirit of the holidays. Hope everyone has a good week. I know Thanksgiving is coming up, so I hope everyone is getting into the spirit too, love you guys!

PHOTO CAPTION: Zaanse Schans (image found on the Internet) 

Eli Mail 11/10/14 (Zaadnam, Netherlands) Letter 17

EDITOR'S NOTE: Eli is happy and doing well in his new area of Zaandam, Netherlands with his new (third) companion, Elder Toole. Eli promises a letter is on the way via snail mail. To tide us over, here are some bullet points compiled from emails back and forth with Eli during his weekly online session.

·         We were out and about this afternoon and decided to email in the Amsterdam church and hang out with the A'dam Elders.

·         No worries about food, we are sitting just fine with that.

·         Last p-day we were just walking around Amsterdam, and we went through this huge flower place. You can buy those wooden shoes, tulip bulbs, all sorts of tourist stuff. So, if you want me to buy some of that stuff and send it for Christmas, let me know.

·         I also think it would be cool to just send over a load of different Belgium chocolates to you guys. If you want to pay the shipping, though...

·         Elder Toole got a Christmas package from relatives before Halloween. That was weird. But if President says to send packages now, well then I guess that's the best idea.

·         I've had it great with all my companions; no problems with any of them. It was just a little annoying after a while being in a four-man. Elder Toole is great, though. Elder Claflin had been his companion, and he told me some funny stories about them two, so it was cool when I found out I was going to be his companion. He's got a big heart, and we are very sarcastic all the time in the apartment. Makes it light and fun.

·         A church member here in Amsterdam goes to Germany and can get 95 "Pick-Up" German chocolate bars for 15 Euro. So, I’ll probably take advantage of that and get some to you guys. It's a pretty good ward. I kind of miss the small branch [in Belgium], but Amsterdam is cool. There are always Americans here on Sunday, so after Sacrament meeting they pass a mic around and introduce themselves. Pretty interesting.

·         Dinner appointments aren't very ideal for us Zaandam Elders. We get about three a week, because it takes an hour for us to usually get to an appointment in Diemen (Amsterdam).

·         Last Monday evening at a McDonald's with a member we saw a mouse running in and out of its little peep hole. I managed to snatch of a few photos of it, too, I’ll upload them to Dropbox. So nasty!

·         It's a 10-minute train ride from Zaandam to Amsterdam Centraal, but we have to take a tram that stops all the time to go to the far end of Amsterdam, Diemen, where the church is located. It makes for about 50 minutes of total travel to church. The life of Zaandam! But we ride bikes a lot in our own town, so I'm not traveling insanely like in Belgium.

·         The biking is soooo awesome here. I love it. I haven't experienced anything that crazy yet, but I have total right-of-way on my bike. It is very safe here biking, despite no helmets, with all the bike paths and everything.

·         It may only be 4C at times, but it feels even colder. Something about the index of moisture in the air just freezes you to the bone. Much more different than Wisconsin. Our apartment is loaded with hand warmers, but I don't think they all work too well. But yes, hand warmers are nice.

·         Oh yeah, I bought a winter coat for 40 Euro. I thought I was getting a great deal 'til all the buttons started falling off. I think I can still make it work though, but maybe my thriftiness will come back to get me.

·         President loves Turkey-bowl, and we have that going on in a couple weeks, so that's exciting. No thanksgiving meal, I believe: just football. But we'll see, though.

·         They don't do any thanksgiving of any sort, sadly. But a member will be having us over, not to worry. That's all the time I have. Forgive me, I forgot my journal so I couldn't write an email about this week. Expect a written one for sure, though, in the mail!

PHOTO CAPTION: Here are Google street view screenshots of Eli’s new ward building in Dieman. The satellite dish gives it away.

PHOTO CAPTION: Here is some street Eli took a picture of and uploaded to Dropbox. He probably wanted his Mom to see the Christmas lights.

Eli Mail 11/3/14 (Genk, Belgium & Zaandam, Netherlands) Letter 16

Hello everyone! Hope everyone enjoyed their American Halloween back in the States! I've had a pretty crazy couple of weeks here, so I’ll just jump right in. I'll begin with 22nd of October, the Wednesday evening we were having the baptismal interview with our baptism hopeful, Jozef.

All four of us went to Hasselt because Elder Elkins had to be in there alone with Jozef, and it just worked out better that way. So, we entered into the building, rang the buzzer, and all squeezed into the cramped elevator, and everything was pretty normal thus far. As soon as we stepped out of the elevator and opened the door to our right to enter into the hallway, a guy had his head poked out of doorway at the end of the hall. Not really taking notice, we walked a little ways down and knocked on Jozef's door. Elder Elkins entered in, greeting Jozef, and the three of us were left standing quietly in the hall. As soon as the door closed in front of us, the guy at the end of the hall started talking to us. Not just talking though – more like yelling. He questioned what we were doing, demanding that we either leave or go in the room – all sorts of gibberish and nonsense. Bugged, Elder Nye took a few steps closer and started talking back to him. After a few minutes of quarreling the guy finally closed the door, and we were left in silence once again. After about five minutes I realized Elder Nye and I needed to make phone calls, so we walked back towards the door that led to the elevator. As soon as we had opened the door, a lady and an old man appeared right on our tails. It was super weird; I didn't hear them come down the hall or anything or even hear their door open. The old lady glared at our name tags like all Dutch people do and started demanding that we leave. She was very rude, and the quarrel ended with her closing the door in our face. Annoyed and rather confused, Elder Nye and I left the apartment complex to make calls while Elder Clement stayed in the hallway while the interview was being conducted. About six or seven minutes later, both Elder Elkins and Clement popped out of the complex, and I was super confused at this point. Long story short: during the whole interview Jozef was doubting himself hardcore and didn't feel good; everyone was telling him not to get baptized. Then, some time during the interview someone was banging on his glass window over his balcony and the old lady was banging on the door, demanding Jozef open it. It turned out that the angry guy had climbed over like four balconies, five stories off the ground, and was now banging on Jozef's window. After realizing the situation, Elder Elkins felt something weird inside, and decided to stop the interview and leave as fast as possible. Why did this all happen? I don't think any of us knew for sure, but the adversary was sure working hard to keep Jozef from being baptized. I had never had problems with his neighbors before that night, and the fact that the world was just collapsing on Josef on the evening of a very important interview seems like too much of a coincidence. We called Jozef the next morning. He felt a lot better, wanted to set a new baptismal interview, and everything ended up going through with the baptism that Sunday.

Transfer calls came that evening, and my heart leaped out of my mouth a little bit as I discovered I would be leaving my comfort zone of Genk. It was bittersweet to leave, but I became very anxious the more and more Elder Elkins informed me of Zaandam (since he had served there, also). Transfer day was nuts. It was a day filled with waiting for hours in train stations, unloading and loading suitcases, and talking with other missionaries. It was alright in the end, but I didn't make it to the apartment until about 8:00 p.m., which totaled out to about 11 hours of travel that day. I was very excited to have a fresh new start, new area and everything. It felt like a new beginning of sorts. I've really enjoyed my time so far in Zaandam – the insane amount of people on bikes, very clear Dutch, and lots of Dutch trains. The Schipol airport isn't too far away, so I get to wake up and see very low flying passenger jets flying in the distance; it’s quite peaceful. My new companion, Elder Toole, is great. He’s been out for quite a while, my oldest companion so far, and is just a very easy going guy. The work is a lot different here. We’re spending more time doing finding here since we don't have too many solid investigators. We've got one solid family we’re working with, so that's exciting. I love biking around, too. Such a good change of pace. I wish I could take you on the tram ride we take every week to church. Unbelievable. It’s like going on a world class tour through Amsterdam. Super cool! The ward here is cool. Lots of Americans, which is fun. That's all the time I have this week. Love you guys a lot! 

EDITOR’S ADDITIONS. Here is a compilation of Eli’s comments [with editor’s interjections] from some emailing back-and-forth with him:

10/27/14: I'm getting transferred to Zaandam this Wednesday. So, I'm basically going to be in Amsterdam. It’s a town that's basically connected to Amsterdam. Elder Nye is going district leader and Elder Elkins is going zone leader in Den Haag. Crazy! Oh boy, it’s going to be a huge adjustment. I’ll finally have money though; we burn through so much [money] on train passes and stuff. I’ve heard it’s maybe the most clear Dutch out there. Elder Elkins was there during his third and fourth [transfers], so he’s told me a lot of what to expect. I’m really excited. The big old Amsterdam Ward – so cool! Yeah, I did have it – Elder Nye’s and my first baptism. It was very cool. Timid looking fellow, Jozef Goris. [See above.] But very patient and child-like. That was one of my mission goals: find someone myself and bring them along all the way to baptism. So, yeah, baptisms happen here. I'm glad I have my first one out of the way now, too. Kind of broke the ice. It’s a mission rule that members do the actual ordinance of baptism, which I like. Gets the members more involved and builds relationships. He’s a very interesting guy. You’ll hear more about him in the weekly letter [above], but he always says this: I don't want to be 70 or 80 percent Mormon, I want to be 100 percent Mormon. So, that's his motto. I always found that funny.

11/03/14: Amsterdam is a pretty big step up from little Genk in terms of scenery. It’s a pretty stark difference between the Netherlands and Belgium, but it’s pretty cool. The language is just very clear, very understandable. I've noticed they say a few things differently, but it’s not hard at all. The Dutch people are kind of a spray of hot glass in the face; you would not believe how hard it is to get a potential on the door or anything. But I like it – fun challenge working with rude, stubborn Dutch people. But I love ‘em all the same. Still have lots of respect. We go to Amsterdam Centraal like every day, so it’s super cool just being in the heart of the Netherlands and everything. I'm super spoiled, by the way. Got another huge, nice apartment. It’s the building in between the green and brown one. [See below.] So, no: it’s not the super cool looking Dutch one, but our complex is attached to it. Yeah, so Elder Elkins went zone leader and is using a car, now. Bought his bike off him for 50 Euro. Super nice bike, good amount of locks, very new and nice. I scored! We've had a few dinner appointments. Members of the Amsterdam Ward are pretty cool. Every week or so this African guy and his wife will have all the Amsterdam missionaries over. So, that includes the two Amsterdam Elders, two Amsterdam Sisters, the APs [Assistants to the (mission) President], and us. So, eight missionaries in total around this big coffee table. We ate some rice balls that we had to dip in soup and eat with our bare hands. Very messy, but surprisingly good. Um, we had one other dinner appointment with this guy that just made kip [chicken] nuggets and lasagna. Not much to say there!

PHOTO CAPTION: Left to right, Elder Nye, Jozef Goris and Elder Andrew.

PHOTO CAPTION: This is a Google street view of Elder Andrew’s apartment building (between the green and the brown buildings). 

Eli Mail 10/20/14 (Genk, Belgium) Letter 15

Hello fellow Americans. I hope you've all been enjoying the cold starting to set in, especially in Wisconsin because it is still fairly warm here. We had one those heat waves you typically get mid September when you'd be sitting in class, totally regretting being in class because it's so warm. But anyway, if I had to describe this week in one word, I'd say: meetings. Lots and lots of meetings.

I'll start with our exciting Monday last week. We spent the day in Brussels. We kind of wanted a day to just dink around with no real objective, just four missionaries tramping around Brussels. We went through the main central place that all the tourists go through and saw the major let down that is Manneken Pis*. And then something crazy happened. While walking through a narrow street there were four American-looking guys with white shirts and tags – we had randomly ran into Paris, France missionaries! We talked, took a picture, and the whole time they were suspicious a little bit because it's a little debatable whether or not Brussels is in our mission. We spent the rest of the day attempting to get directions from French people and walking over to this big church we saw far off in the distance. We ended up a good chunk of the way out of the city and we eventually found the subway back home. And then amazingly as we were taking an escalator down to the metro, the SAME Paris, France missionaries were coming up the escalator. It was so random to see them once and then to see them again at some random metro station. Crazy.

The next couple of days were a blur. We knocked on a few doors and then had to quickly get back that afternoon to pack for temple conference. Yes, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday we were packing for temple conference that was at 9 a.m. the next morning. After all sorts of trains that evening, we finally arrived in Den Haag (The Hague, The Netherlands). Hungry and kind of exhausted from travel we decided to eat somewhere kind of nice that evening. Let me say, Den Haag is beautiful. It was a nice, warm evening, the red cobblestone roads glistened after a fresh rain, there was gentle hum of chatter from all the cafés, and the trees were all decorated with white lights. It was such a treat after being in Belgium for so long. The following morning we did a session in the temple. The Den Haag temple is small, but of course beautiful. And it was very cool to be able to go through the session in Dutch. I'm surprised how much I understand; I can comfortably listen without worrying about understanding. The zone conference afterwards was great, too. We're focusing on our studies this transfer, and one thing that struck me was when a sister said one of her best study sessions was one verse long and she spent the hour thinking and pondering. And pondering is a commandment of God, or at least it makes it easier for Him to be able to communicate with us.

Thursday and Friday were our only days of regular missionary work, and they were both busy. Thursday was really fun. We took the bikes and looked up referrals around town solely by map navigation. Yes, physical maps. Crazy, I know. I actually really like it, and I can understand why my Dad would always pull out the enormous maps when going on road trips. We have a cool thing going on too with referrals. Some ward mission leader started this in the Netherlands. It's a Facebook campaign. He got the church to buy advertising space for the "My Family" pamphlet, which is a little introduction to family history search and stuff. So, when someone orders a pamphlet we get a text from church headquarters with the address so we can give a little explanation to the pamphlet. It's a really easy way to get referrals, and if we make a return appointment that means a new investigator! A lot more useful than eight hours of knocking doors (which we do, by the way). We also had a first lesson with an African guy. He's here for college and is from Nigeria. He really appreciated us coming over. The poor guy; he's far away from home in a country where the people don't really like him and he can't speak the language. But anyway, he was my second English lesson this transfer, and it was hard. Everything is weird in English now. Praying, talking and things have been in Dutch mostly. But it was cool in English. I can express myself a lot better and be more myself, I guess you could say.

Saturday and Sunday was Stake Conference. Sunday’s session was in Brussels. It was cool to see a lot of church members in one place, and we were able sing "Called to Serve" in Dutch and English for the whole stake. That was pretty much it for this week. I've been a little silent about Joseph, who's getting baptized next Sunday, but that'll be for next week. I'll just say this: I'm probably going to be baptizing here on transfer No. 2, which doesn't happen a whole lot. Super cool.

Calvin, I hope you get the letter I sent you. It may be a little late. Hope your b-day was great. Also, if anyone is thinking of sending me anything in the future, like food, use Amazon.uk. It saves a lot of money on shipping supposedly.

Love you guys, have a good week,

* EDITOR’S NOTE: Manneken Pis "Little man Pee" is a landmark small bronze sculpture in Brussels, depicting a naked little boy urinating into a fountain's basin. It was designed by Hiëronymus Duquesnoy the elder and put in place in 1618 or 1619. (Wikipedia)

P.S. In a separate email, when asked about food Eli responded by saying, “I love Belgium fries. They have these places called Frituurs, and they are everywhere in Belgium. Everyone loves fries, especially with this sauce called Samurai sauce. Super tasty, spicy sauce that's sort of like a spicy mayo, but better. Whenever we are in Antwerpen, we always get Cécémel, chocolate milk in a glass bottle from France. So good, you have to shake it up too because some of the delicious chocolate settles to the bottom. Everyone in Belgium and the Netherlands LOVES broodjes. They are at every train stop and all over the place in grocery stores. It’s just a normal sandwich, but all the ingredients are fresh and they just taste heavenly. The Belgium chocolate is pretty good, too, but I haven't really had much yet. But on a daily basis we make a variety of sandwiches, some sort of cooked meat with rice, or something with eggs. And yes, I do eat eggs now – look at all the things a mission does for ya right there! In the mornings, I love a healthy-sized bowl of Cruseli. Cruseli is a cereal made by Quaker and includes these nice, filling granola chunks with a fair amount of chocolate squares. All “greenies” fall in love with Cruseli, and for now I am under the spell, too. In Den Haag this past Tuesday we ate at a fancy place called Vapianos, an Italian place with pastas and stuff they cook right before your eyes. Super fancy, and reasonably priced. I ate a big calzone, sprinkled with my favorite crushed red pepper. I’ll have to show you guys how you slice bread at a grocery store.

(PHOTO CAPTION: It was a nice, warm evening, the red cobblestone roads glistened after a fresh rain, there was gentle hum of chatter from all the cafés, and the trees were all decorated with white lights.) 

(PHOTO CAPTION: In Den Haag this past Tuesday we ate at a fancy place called Vapianos, an Italian place with pastas and stuff they cook right before your eyes. Super fancy, and reasonably priced. I ate a big calzone, sprinkled with my favorite crushed red pepper.)

(PHOTO CAPTION: The Hague Netherlands Temple, taken by Eli last week)

(PHOTO CAPTION: Temple Conference for Den Haag, Eindhoven and Antwerpen Zones) 

(Brussels)