Eli Mail 9/12/15 (Leiden, Netherlands) Letter 55

Hey, everyone! This is a very unexpected email, but guess where I am? Leiden, Nederland! This is quite a surprise, but I have been actually called as an "Office" elder, meaning for the next six months. Elder Cook, Elder Evans, and I will be in charge of everything concerning legal and financial business for the mission. I have been avoiding talking about the subject at all, because it was only speculation by other missionaries. To fill everyone in on mission mechanics, every six months two new missionaries are called to the office with Elder Evans, who has and will be serving his whole mission here (the reason for that, I am not sure, but it is not too important). Normally, every six-month period there will be two companionships in the mission who become threesomes, which happened to be me. Halfway through the transfer (right now) those companionships will typically receive a call if someone is being called to the office, and that was me this past Sunday morning. The call wasn't anything unexpected for me. As soon as we became "tripanionship" everyone started cracking jokes about me leaving, which ended up being true. Initially, I was pretty taken aback, not sure what to expect, but for the next couple weeks Elder Heinrichs will be training me to take over all the finances for the mission. Big job! And for those wondering, yes, we still do normal missionary work, thankfully. So, there you have it. And because of unexplained reasons, Saturdays are our official "P-days" here.

Wednesday was my last day in Spijkenisse. I was trying hard to make the excuse with investigators that I was leaving and to try to meet with as many people as I could before I left. Some went through and some didn't, but one of the great ones was our appointment with Rebecca. Quick fill in, most of my time proselyting in Spijkenisse was either spent pulling over on my bike to start up a conversation with someone, or on the street – both surprisingly effective (when you learn how to do it in a not-so awkward way). And Rebecca was one of those "golden" investigators found by pulling my bike over. She is incredibly open, Christian, and is always checking for her own understanding when we teach a principle. I have learned so much just from teaching others. One of the most powerful ways you can teach is done by asking inspired questions in such a way as to help them discover for themselves the truth of the principle. And that's what it is like for her: she has a questioning, searching mind, and I always try my best to help her answer her own questions. A sister missionary told me once that when we teach and testify about a principle, we feel the Spirit, so with investigators it is the same. We help them uncover truths and feel them. We were planning to teach the third lesson but ended up spending the whole time answering her questions. It was awesome – you can see the light of Christ working in people. 

Tuesday we went to our typical dinner appointment at 6 p.m. by family Van de Pebbel. They live a little ways out, and we travel there by bus. It was rush hour. Everyone was going home after work, and the bus was packed (almost like a Belgium bus!), so Elder Shelton and Henrichsen stayed up front while I walked to the back to find a place to sit. And just like every bus I get on, of course I fall asleep. I was dozing pretty nicely in and out when I suddenly shaken awake and noticed the bus to be a lot emptier than before. I looked nervously around, and my companions were nowhere in sight. I was alone! I sighed, barely able to believe I had really slept through our stop and rushed to the front to speak with the bus driver. I asked her how far away we were from my stop and she let me out on the side of the road. She pointed in a general direction, giving me instruction on where my bus halte was, and I started running through a city I barely knew, trying to find my companions while simultaneously not being late for the dinner appointment. After a brief jog I turned left, having a somewhat vague remembrance of my surroundings, and I cornered the first row of houses. "Marmoot," read the street sign. I was on the right street! I walked a little further searching for the house and rounding the other corner at the same time were my companions! It was a glorious reunion. Being separated from your companion is never fun. We all exchanged smiles, Henrichsen cracked a joke about me "trying to run away," and we rang on the doorbell at 6:02, not a moment too soon.

The rest of the week has been an adventure in every sense of the word. I had no idea what to expect here, but it's a lot of work and responsibility. But I am loving and just accepting the renewed feeling of every new beginning. "What the heck am I doing?!" Lastly: testimony time. One thing I will forever "treasure up in my heart" as the scriptures so firmly decree, is the Word of God itself. Reading the scriptures used to be me trying to just "start a good habit" or "fulfilling an assignment," none of which are inherently bad, but I enjoy now "getting into the scriptures." With a simple prayer and determined heart, finding and learning truth through the compiled, inspired stories of others can be "enlightening" and really joyous. I love a study that I prepare myself physically and spiritually for, and I just dive in. It's like the rising of the sun. Gradually with time (and a little needed effort), God can communicate with us.

I am excited to get to know the beautiful city of Leiden, and if anyone still has more questions about what I do, I will answer your questions to the best of my ability.

You are all in my prayers.

Elder Eli Andrew

Eli Mail 9/7/15 (Spijkenisse, Netherlands) Letter 54

A good description of this week: exchanges. For a number of combined reasons, we ended up having a number of exchanges this week making for constant busyness, a good number of laughs, and the occasional case of sleep deprivation. I loved this week, and it just flew by. Things are starting to cool down here in the Netherlands, and perhaps the chilly autumn months are actually approaching! I had kind of forgotten my desire to slip on a pair of warm, slim, rain-proof gloves that I so dearly love.

Funny things can happen on missions. And we had one of those moments this past Monday. Our recent convert, Edwin, wanted to have us over for dinner, and we gladly agreed. He also talked to us about a movie he had found on the internet, as he has been happily enjoying all sorts of church productions to my surprise. But the film he started describing involved all sorts of weird events, including a plot surrounding Mormon missionaries in Africa and explosives and all sorts of interesting things. I came to the conclusion that we would first have to ask for permission before watching it with him, assuming that it wasn’t "Finding Faith in Christ." So, on Monday evening we scrambled out of the apartment to catch a bus leaving within a few minutes. As almost all of my companions know, I am kind of always "last minute" for things, and we had to pray and walk very quickly in order to catch this crucially important bus. Dutch people hate it when you are late. So, we arrived well, with another member we brought along, and Edwin invited us to sit, so we plopped ourselves down on the couch as usual. After chit-chatting for a while, he asked us again about the movie, and we told him we just didn't get around to figuring it out. To our surprise, he closed the blinds, served dinner on the coffee table, and started rolling the film. I am not sure why this story is worth telling, but I could feel it was Edwin giving us a "thank you" for everything we had helped him with, and for us helping and supporting him as he was so diligently preparing for baptism a few weeks prior. It was a fun evening, not because of the “apostate” watching of a movie, but it made me happy seeing him so joyous about enjoying his new membership in the church.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: I believe “Freetown” is the film Eli is referring to, which follows the faith-filled and courageous story of six LDS missionaries in war-torn Liberia who flee to Freetown, Sierra Leone, to continue their proselytizing.)

 A few weeks ago we were knocking some doors located close to our metro station when we finally struck a little gold with a pretty weak potential investigator that just said to “Come back another time." Well, Wednesday we spent our normal afternoon of doing look ups and just having conversations with people on the streets when I asked Elder Shelton, "Should we look up that weak potential we found?" And as a typical Elder Shelton response, he shrugged his shoulders and said, "Why not?" So, we mounted up, all three of us on our silver steeds, and went to the previously mentioned door. And yes, she was home and invited us in! One of the blessings of being in a three-man is you never have to worry about the "three-man rule," because you do have a third man! We entered cautiously into the dark, bare apartment. She told us to sit, and we started talking. To our surprise she was very open, had incredibly accurate ideas about faith despite being from a Muslim background, and had an amazing ability to discern "wordly things from important things" in life. We taught her the first lesson and all had a prayer in our hearts that she was feeling something, and we testified of gospel truth. She listened intently and was very excited about the Book of Mormon. Who would have known! Little miracles like that remind me of the power of the gospel and heart-piercing truth that enters into the sincere heart. One thing I have come to treasure on my mission is the rush of excitement I feel after teaching a powerful lesson, and after that lesson we biked home for a late 3 p.m. lunch, all smiles. 

Friday I got to enjoy an exchange with Elder Fredrico who joined the three-man with Elder Shelton and I for a day. Elder Fredrico is from Sao Paulo, Brazil, and we spent the afternoon doing what he calls "Portuguese finding." Portuguese finding involves walking around apartment complexes, looking at all the names listed we can bell up, and trying the ones that could possibly be a Spanish or Portuguese person. The conversation would go as follows: "Good afternoon, m ‘am, we are missionaries from the Mormon church and we are just talking with people today about faith. I saw your name and wanted to ask you if you speak Portuguese. Yes? Okay, Could I speak Portuguese with you?!" The rest is history and either involves a conversation about how sad Dutch weather is, religion, or that they don't really want to talk. But it was entertaining, I enjoyed it.

Love you guys a lot, thanks for all the support, and don't forget: I love receiving personal emails, so don't be shy!

   

Elder Eli Andrew

Eli Mail 8/31/15 (Spijkenisse, Netherlands) Letter 53

Hey, everyone! Here in little, old Spijkenisse we have reached the wonderful beginning and end of another week! Among notable events of the week, the greatest is our leap in transportation. We have graduated from foot travel to now somewhat decent bike travel, although we will be scrubbing our bikes with tooth brushes and Coca-Cola soon, which cleans a chain incredibly well. And for whatever reason, when you go a little while not biking, it always takes a little while getting your muscles all back into the biking groove. So, that's my analysis for y'all; we are still truckin' along.

We have had some great success this past week, including getting in contact with our baptismal date, Drusella. We have had a regular teaching schedule with her, lessons twice a week, and she has been attending church every week, but out of the blue she just disappeared. We received no answer to our phone calls. She missed church a few times, and when we would drop by there was no response to our knocks. Now, if I had to describe Drusella to my audience, that is not at all the sort of vibe you would get from her. She has an incredibly strong faith, always keeps every commitment we give her, and even cooks us a delicious Curaso rice meal we sometimes take home. But for whatever reason, we were just completely in the dark. Now me, being the worry wart that I am, didn't start panicking, but I was getting pretty uneasy by the lack of any sort of contact from her. But during our emailing last week I heard the phone ring in my pocket, and low and behold it was Drusella calling! It was an awesome miracle having her contact us and solidifying the next lesson. At church this week she leaned over and whispered to me, "Are you people getting the baptismal things ready, because it's almost September already." That one made me smile. In conclusion, our islander friend is still steady as a rock.

Wednesday we had the opportunity to have a member of the Quorum of the Seventy visit us, Elder Timothy J. Dikes. It was a great conference. At the beginning he asked for a raise of hands to see how many of the missionaries were “greenies,” and over half the chapel full of missionaries raised their hands. I don't know anyone here anymore! But his message was very much focused on overcoming fears and doing the work – a great message and great encouragement to keep working hard. He told a story when he served in Germany on his mission, about difficulties he faced, and I think it connected and was exactly what our missionary force needs at this point. Although it was not quite the message catered to me, it still applies.

Lots of good things happen daily here, one of them being the wonderful power of the Atonement. It is so cool to be able to see and become change and to watch as it transforms other people. I love how our message is centered on Christ and the simple but endearing fact that we do have second chances, and that no mistake has to be an end. We had a special dinner appointment with a young, recent convert family that lives close by. I loved hearing their story, beginning when they watched the Youtube channel "Shaytards," ordering a Book of Mormon, and getting two teenagers at the door. I also love the gospel principle that you can start from any sort background, like this family, who grew up with nothing but have now found so much more hope and happiness in their lives. I would encourage everyone to renew that feeling of happiness you enjoy from the gospel, because we all have a right to be happy in this life.

Here is a great video you may or may not have seen, and it is a great even after the hundredth view.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_S3TI4bYerU

Love you guys,

Elder Eli Andrew

PHOTO: These little kids are crazy about us; they call us "Eldertjes."

PHOTO: We watched the lady make this LEKKER, a little dough patty that she rolled out, pressed in a waffle iron, then cut in half and the filled with sweet hot syrup in the middle. (Those are probably the wrong order of events, but it was cool! I had never seen one made by hand before!)

PHOTO: The band back together, for the first time in a year.