The week of achteroping

First off, this place is stinking bi-polar. Last week it was ridiculously hot! This week...

Let's just say Utah would have flooded by now with how much rain we got...

We were soaked to the bone! But that is ok, because now we are aware of a little bit of what we are in for, and are planning accordingly. I think it's funny that everyone asks about the weather back home, because that is honestly a conversation starter here. EVERYONE likes to talk about the weather. It is so strange to me. 

Oh the achteroping (two riding on one bike). Once upon a time we were in Zwijndrecht (one of the little Island places surrounding Dordrecht) And Zr. Elting got a flat tire... Well here in order to get a tire fixed it is 25 Euro!! What?! That is ridiculous to me! Give me some free time and a cheap kit and I'll do it for free! So we walked it back to Dort and took it to familie Ampem (The Amazing family of saints that has a spot reserved right next to God in heaven. Also the ones that feed us every Sunday :) ) Where Hans Ampem tried fixing her tire. Found out the innertube is like twice as big as the tire... That's what we get for going to a second hand store. It is hilarious. He temporarily fixed it, but today it was completely torn apart. So we have been achteroping... This is the test to see if we truly belong here. How many things can you balance on one bike?! It's pretty entertaining.

B (our investigator who was on date) is kind of not on date anymore... Because his date is this week. And we haven't been able to meet with him for the last 2 weeks because he is "tired" I get it, he works funky shifts. But we will need to move it. He also should probably come to church. The last time we went by to visit him he was in the process of kidnapping a cat whose owner abandoned it.. So he catches this cat and we are in the stairwell waiting for pest control or someone to come, when this lady comes over and just starts yelling at B for who knows what! And then he gives her bread and cream and yells at her to just leave. They were arguing about why the cat was here, and what color it was and such. SO WEIRD! Zr. Elting and I just stood there without a clue what to do. We had a good laugh after we left...

I don't remember if I told you about the man that stopped us last Sunday - M?- Well anyway he is the one that called out "sisters!" as we were biking by, found out he was baptized a while ago and such. Well, HE CAME TO CHURCH!!! And that's not even the best part. This man is PRIME! He was crying during the sacrament and just kept saying "I know this is the true church! I don't feel like this anywhere else" Oh my and he LOVES the gospel. It was one of the most amazing things to see. How great to see even just one man come back. :)

P is going nuts. He got mad that we couldn't sit by him in sacrament and stormed out... I guess that means he can't trust us anymore? Oh man, he is struggling big time. He tried sneaking beer in while we went shopping with him (and succeeded) only to find out it was alcohol free. That was hilarious. But the poor man, ah... Just needs to have the faith he can do it!

S is at 3 weeks no smoking!!!! AHHHHHHHH!! He can pick a baptism date after 1 month if the bishop approves it! We are SOOO excited for him! And he just loves the gospel so much! It is so great to see him progressing like this!

We contacted a potential too, sweet single mother who doesn't really know what to believe. We stopped by and kind of introduced what we do, and she totally wants us to come back! She is SO prepared for the gospel it is amazing. I have really high hopes for her. And our appointment with the inactive family and their referral? It was interesting to say the least. They had a lot of super weird questions, but it was a good experience none-the-less. So that about sums up my week! It has been fun! And I'm really enjoying the work. Yeah, it's hard. But I know why I am out here and that makes it all worth it. I truly am happier than ever! Success with everything going on this week! Sounds like everyone is having such a great time. Ik houd van jullie!!!

 

Liefs, Zr Packer