February 24

Greetings from the beautiful land of Assen! Or as I've been told to call it. Awesome. :) I'm down.

I have had a pretty interesting week to say the least! I'd love to share all of the details, but moving to a new place is a bit overwhelming so I don't remember really anything.

Monday and Tuesday I said my goodbyes to everyone in Dordrecht. It was pretty sad, but I think I was finally ready to go. Our days were actually full with how many people wanted to meet with us before I left, so that was really nice. It also prepared me for this place, where our schedules are full with people wanting to hear the gospel! WOO! I am really excited to be working here. I left Dordrecht about 9:30 Wednesday morning, and didn't get to Assen till about... 4:30, so it was a pretty long day of trains and over stops.. But I got here and loved it immediately. The members love having us over, and are really just super excited about mission work. It is super cool to see! Friday actually one of the members was celebrating his retirement and invited us along with a bunch of people from the branch, and the work to this super fancy Chinese buffet place! Oh man it was the most delicious thing i've eaten in my life. We probably could have fasted this whole week with how much we ate though. Oh man.

Pretty much... That is all that has happened. I've met a few of the investigators, and continue to meet them as the week will go. I've met our most recently baptized member, who actually recieved the Priesthood yesterday! So that was way cool! Really, I'm just excited to be here!

Oh. I do have a story from yesterday though... Well... pretty much if you want companionship unity, get one of you locked in the bathroom. I'll have to tell you something about dutch "water closets" They are litterally closets. With room for a toilet and a sink your hands don't fit in... And I got locked in it. Because the dead bolt is stuck. And might have been locked in there for over an hour and a half... Luckily after calling 6 people our mission leader came to the rescue. So. Welcome to Assen! I'm going to go see the Olympic team now. :)

Ik hou van jullie!

Liefs, Z Packer

February 17

I´m not sure how I feel about this week.

It was a week of goodbyes. I´ve known for the last month or  so that I´m leaving Dordrecht... So... I said a lot of goodbyes.

Zuster Packer and Brown

So where am I going? To Assen! Litterally on the other side of Nederland! No idea how I feel about it since I´ve been here so stinkin long! But I am excited to see something new! And I´ll be working with Zr. Anderson! (The woman who saved my life in the MTC... Ok a little dramatic, but she definitely helped.) So I have to say I´m pretty excited for that. This email really is probably going to be a description of all the pictures I´m going to send. Because I took a lot this week. Starting with when Family A invited us over for N´s birthday. That was pretty fun. Africans definitely know how to cater a party. N has been like my temporary Jason/Colie/Dayana. He is the same age, and hilarious as can be. I like the kid. I will definitely miss my Ghanian family.

Wednesday we had Zone conference! You know what that means?! Spiritual feeding. Definitely needed. Oh, I also got to see a lot of my good friends! like Zr. Spencer! and Zr. Rosenlof, an Zr Brown.. Basically it was just a really good day! I really lucked out on this mission. The people here are hilarious.

Zuster Packer and Rosenlof

Valentines day was pretty fun. M got us Stroopwafles and we had a nice talk, and the C invited us over for an anti-valentines dinner! Probably the yummiest pizza I´ve had in my entire life. And a whole lot of fun if I do say so myself.

The miracle for this week was M again! He cancelled several things for the church. Saturday night he came to a fireside we had at the church on Positive thinking, and LOVED it. Of course. And then skipped his political party whatever to come to church again! He is really loving it. We are still working on him recognizing the spirit, but I know it´s coming. He told me yesterday that even though I´m moving he would like me to come back WHEN he gets baptized. Boo Yeah.

There were a lot of really great moments yesterday, but my favorite was probably as I was leading the music in sacrament to a Dutch hymn I´ve never heard in my life and a very familiar voice comes out over the congretation saying Àston?! Aston?`.. Yes, it was T. M's oldest son. SHE CAME AGAIN!!! It was so amazing. Definitely a great way to leave this place. I´ll miss it a lot, but it´s the Lords will. P might die, but he says that every time sisters get transferred. so. That´s it for this week! I love you all!

Liefs, Z Packer

February 10

Life as a missionary... Is pretty awkward.

I have become one of the most awkward people I know... In reference to my social life. Yesterday at dinner with a member, her nonmember husband, and inactive son (who is also a chef, and R&B artist with his 3rd CD that just came out...) We were talking to the son about his music.. He bailed as soon as the food was done, and the kitchen was clean. Wished us luck on our missions and my last comment was Ì´ll look up your music!` .... No regrets.

This week was pretty interesting. I finally got over what ever the heck I had on Friday, so the rest of the week is a bit blury. Let´s just say I would go out for a bit and need an hour nap in between each appointment. It kicked my butt, but with lots of prayers, rest, and herbal tea with honey and lemon.. I got better. Thank heavens. We had 2 really great appointments with M this week! He is REALLY progressing. Like.. I don´t think I can say up until this point that i´ve actually SEEN someone progress. But man, his faith is growing like a wildfire. He also came to church for the second time this week, and LOVES it! It´s the craziest thing! We frequently lose him in the building because he talks to EVERYONE! And what is even better? They all love him! We were a little worried yesterday about teaching the Word of Wisdom, because in his words: "I´m addicted to coffee, but that´s just a Dutch thing, if you are Dutch you have to drink coffee. So I can´t go without". Well. We taught the WOW, and had a killer joint teach, and he talked about how he knows it´s just logical, and healthy, and his doctor would probably agree... And then he said he is going to follow it and get off Coffee!!!!! What I love even more, is we always set up a follow up appointment (this weeks happens to be right after a fire side he wants to come to!) And he told us this week that he will call us if he can any earlier! Who does that? Cool people. I´m really excited for him!

We had another pretty interesting appointment this week. I´m not sure if I mentioned our super cool contact about a week or so ago or not.. But pretty much I contacted him, he was real nice and went on his way, and then RAN back to us to get more contact information to talk to us. Super cool! Well he emailed us, and then we called and set up an appointment. He wanted to walk around the city with us and just talk. We basically taught the restoration, but more in conversational form. He is currently going through a pretty rough time in life, and picked 2 random American girls to talk to.  But it was really cool, and he wants to take us on a tour of Amsterdam... We will see if that ever happens. He is really strong Catholic, so we are taking it slow, but he was a cool man.

Thanks for the love, and updates, and other great things I hear every week! I love all of you and am so grateful for the support you give me!

Veel Liefs, Z Packer

Hello everyone! Has it really been a week already? Time is seriously messed up on missions...

We had a super great week! You are probably curious about the subject as well.. Well I'll explain! This week was the NL Doet or pretty much a Nederland wide service day. So our little branch signed up to fix up the Kinderboederij or in English, the child farm. I was confused too. It's really just a petting zoo! It was way fun too! We painted and the men built things, and then we painted those! They have these GIANT bunnies that were running around while we painted and other cool animals. I guess some news people came too and interviewed some of the branch leaders about who we were and what we were doing. Way cool! We will supposedly be in the newspaper this week.. now I just need to find one.

Other cool things we did included Zr. Andersens and my combo service which is that she gives massages while I play music on the piano. It is a lot of fun! We waited a lot for trains to go on exchanges because every time the weather changes the trains break down. We made mississippi mud pie for the branch potluck. And made a lot of appointments! We looked up a few former investigators as well as a few inactives this week and made appointments with most of them which is super exciting! It is amazing to see that they are still open and willing to learn about the gospel. And personally, I just love talking about it! There was one pretty sad moment this week... If you think getting dropped by an investigator is frustrating, get dropped by a member. It was heart breaking, but one of our members (who goes back and forth between us and the Jehovahs witnesses often) Told us that she doesn't want any contact anymore. I guess this isn't the first time it has happened. So hopefully she will come back.. again. We still love her though :) 

We had a lot of other really amazing appointments this week, and if I were to talk about all of them I'd be here for the rest of the day. But pretty much, it's amazing to watch people develop faith. And I've noticed my faith develop a ton out here. Miracles do still happen, every day. And this work wouldn't be possible withouth the hand of the Lord. It is HIS work.

Have a super great week everyone! Ik hou van jullie!

Liefs, Z Packer

Add caption

Hump Day

She might be having too much fun!

Guess who has been out 9 months of the 18 month mission?

Zr. Aston.

Oh, Zr Packer too...

We might be freaking out a lot. It is crazy how fast time has gone by! And as everyone has told us... "It's only down hill from here.." Yikes!

This week was fairly good, but I have to admit I've been pretty sick. It's looking pretty bronchitis-y but the cough hasn't really hit yet. More of a cold and whole lot of annoyance when I try to breathe. I've been sleeping a lot, and doing everything Zr Robinson and the Doctor in Germany tell me to, so hopefully it goes away soon. Definitely makes it annoying to do missionary work.

This week we got stranded out in the middle of nowhere trying to look up a few inactive members. We found both of them, and they were home and open to our visit. Just not right then... So it was good and tiring because that meant a lot of train/bus time. We will have to find time to look them up again soon.

We had a really good lesson with M this week! We talked about scripture study, prayer, and church attendance. And the spirit was SO strong! We read through most of Alma 32 with him and talked about how it applies to him, and it was truly just incredible to see the spirit teach him personally. What was even cooler? He made it to church yesterday, and LOVED it. Not only that, but the ward ate him right up! So it was a really exciting day! He is excited for our appointment tonight. Hopefully it still goes well, because this one is word of wisdom :P

Another miracle of the week was M. Our favorite less active :) She was surprised to see that I was here one more transfer! And we had a really great dinner with her and her boys. She was so sweet and open with us as usual, and we shared some mormon messages with her. That invited the spirit really strong and we asked if she would come to church. She wants to but kept talking herself out of it... Well during sacrament meeting, right as the bishop began testimonies, she walked in. I have never been so excited in my life! She and her boys squished in next to me and she just grabbed right on to my hand. I was so excited to see her there, and her boys loved church! It was truly a blessing and as she was leaving she said she will be seeing us again. Hopefully next week!

All this mom can say is WHAT?!?!?!?

P is getting better and made it to church this week! And S got to pass the sacrament this week as well!!! So over all a lot of miracles. Made for a really great "hump day" despite being sick as a dog :)

That is all for this week! I have lots of pictures though, from kinderdijk, M's boys,... And since we have been out 9 months, pregnancy photos are a must. Geniet ervan!

Ik hou van jullie!

Liefs, Z Packer

Happy Humpday!

Jan 27, 2014

Hey guys, Í might be in freak out mode this week... Why? Well.. It´s almost hump day.

This Saturday to be exact.

Ah.

In other news, this week has been pretty uneventful! We have had a lot of time with the members which is really nice. I really like the relationships we are building with these people. Last week, I forgot to mention a few things to add to the drama. Like that a member told me my hair looked like a rats nest the week before, and he is glad I finally did something about it.. .Ouch? And then my bag just fell apart as we were walking up the stairs. So Monday we had an appointment with this super sweek old lady who is pretty alone, and we love her a lot. I mentioned how my bag had broken, and she conveniently had one she was planning on giving away! What?? So she let me have it. It was super sweet of her.

Tuesday I went on exchanges to Gouda and that was pretty interesting. But then we met up again the next day for Zone conference!

Space Themed...

We have decided that in order to be called to the Belgium/Netherlands mission, you have to be weird. Why? Well, we are all just a little odd... But the space theme did make for a good time. There were "viruses" and everything! (Meaning videos of our Zone Leaders with mustaches doing strange things...) I like it a lot here :)

We had 2 appointments with M this week, because he likes to talk a lot and that´s how long it takes to get through simple concepts. He keeps saying he wants to come to church, but never actually does it... So this week that is what we will be attacking. He is on date though! Which is kind of exciting! We set a date so he can see the progress and have a legitimate goal. I think this might actually work!

Other random news, S got the priesthood this week! I wasn't there for it, but we talked to him right before and he seemed really excited! I love watching his testimony grow! It is pretty much one of the greatest blessings. Also, Br. D is right on track for quitting smoking! In fact, he is ahead of the schedule we set with him! I love it! P is having a pretty rough time right now, and could use some extra prayers. It´ll work out, the government just needs to cooperate and let him pay his darn bills off.

That´s about it for this week! I love hearing about the girls back home! And how everything is going so good! I´m praying all the time for you guys, so it better be working! Ik hou van jullie!

Have a wonderful week!

Liefs, Z Packer

Jan 20, 2014

So, you might be wondering as to why the subject this week is "A bunch of bad jokes." Well, you are about to find out.

This whole week was a joke.

We wanted to climb the Grote Kerk this week during one of our lunch times (or Big Church) and well apparently it's closed during the winter. Make sense? No, not at all. That same day our dinner and service appointment got cancelled. And it started to rain before the day was even half over... We made the mistake of wishing we could just randomly get sick and go in, because well...

Zr Aston was sick the next day. She had a really nasty cold so I made her sleep a lot. (thank heavens I worked in a pharmacy!) We did go to a few appointments that day. One with our favorite old man inactive... He planned an entire introductory sequence for the elders.. We didn´t really need to know the kind of women he was into.. (if you are wondering they are slim and educated women like Nicole Kidman...) Funny guy though, I think we are BFFs.

S is preparing to receive the Priesthood, so we talked with him a bit about that. And he is meeting regularly with the bishop! Woohoo!

The next day Zr. Aston was still pretty sick so we stayed in and did our weekly planning session. Pretty simple.. Every time she took a nap I felt the urge to cook. So, we have been eating pretty good lately. 

We met with another inactive who likes to take us on crazy tangents about his volunteer work. This week it was about how people only steal the butter, Why the butter? Just wait, that part is important for later. The real joke came on Saturday... Be prepared to laugh.

So we were asked to prepare a little lesson for primary which involved cookies. So we bought some simple ingredients for cookies (flour, sugar, butter) And made our way to the church. We planned to just leave our bikes there because we needed to take a bus to our appointment. So we did that. The appointment was good, I learned there are movies like Ice Age 4? and Red 2? Anyway, we then had the most awkward car ride home of my life. 1 of the elders was squished in the back with us, and it is a pretty tiny car... So he was being super awkward the whole ride back... We get back and someone had raided Zr. Astons Fiets taas. ( bike bag..?) And stolen everything EXCEPT THE BUTTER.... You´re kidding right? Well. We hop on our bikes to find one last open store and find.... I have another flat tire.. Good gravy.

P fixed it for me yesterday, and it is flat again. Kill me.

On the bright side though, we do have heat finally! The guy came and fixed it today! Woo, and we are meeting with M again today! So hopefully all continues to go well! I love you all, and have a dandy week!

Liefs, Z Packer

Jan 13, 2014

I´ll be honest, I don´t know what happened to time since I've come on my mission. It´s all over the place.

This week was pretty good! It was transfer week, and even though we aren't going anywhere we definitely got pulled into the madness of it! There was some fire going on between Rotterdam and Dordrecht, so some missionaries got stuck here, we went to "help"and didn't really do a whole lot. 

We have elders again! So that is pretty nice. They are both a couple transfers behind us, and frankly a little awkward. But what can you expect? The ward is super excited to have them here! Everyone was pretty surprised to see that I am still here. HAHA! sorry Dordrecht, you aren't getting rid of me that easily.

This week we had 2 lessons with our new investigator M! Both on the plan of salvation, and I´ll tell you it was pretty interesting. The first one was Monday night, and well, we spent a lot of time discussing dimensions, and evolution, and other sciency things I couldn't care less about... So that was a little frustrating. However, last night we had another one, with a bit of a review from Monday, and the rest of the plan. We had a killer joint teach with us, and the lesson went super well! He is definitely a talker! So that makes it hard sometimes, but I know he is feeling something! He has even started trying to pray. He says he doesn't know if there is a God, but he asks us to pray for his parents... I think he is figuring it out ;)

We also had an appointment this week with a family of `dry members` meaning they have been in the church for about 5 years... But won´t get baptized. They invited us over for dinner and a family home evening, and it was one of the most spiritual appointments I think I´ve ever had. They have an amazing spirit in their home... I just can´t figure out why they aren´t baptized yet... But an amazing family none the less.

That´s about it that happened this week. S is getting ready to receive the Priesthood, and P is getting back up on his feet. Just needs to make it another month!

I´m glad everything is going well at home, Ik hou van jullie allemaal.

Liefs, Zr Packer

The Testimony of Prayer

GUESS WHAT!!!!!

I have a testimony of prayer.

Would anyone like to know why?

Well.

Because it works!!!!

I AM STAYING IN DORDRECHT A 5TH TRANSFER!!!!!

That is right everyone! Zr. Aston and I get a 3rd transfer together here in Dordrecht and we are going to tear it apart! I enlisted the prayers of some of my dear friends here who said they didn't want me to leave. I also prayed very intently for just one more, and here I am! Prayers are answered everyone. Here is your proof!

This week has been pretty interesting. It was New Years, so we spent most of new years eve indoors.. Why? Because their fireworks here are litterally bombs....

Probably the sketchiest thing of my life. I didn't sleep that night because it sounded like world war 3 had broken out. I love this place, but these people are crazy.

I also finally got my legallity for the Netherlands! It only took like 7 months, but I got it! So we spent some time doing that as well..

Our miracle this week is our new investigator M! We contacted him on the street a couple weeks ago and he was very interested in how we managed to learn Dutch in such a short time. (I'm not sure if I've mentioned this but people live here for 10-20 years and still don't know a word in Dutch.) So he was very impressed and wanted to hear what we had to say. We had the first lesson with him and he was VERY interested. Turns out he has beens searching for something to believe in, and wants to hear all of the lessons we have to share. He is a really cool man and we are very excited for him! :D

Other than that, we have just spent a lot of time with the members. One of my favorite people in this ward (C) has us over a lot, because we are all really good friends now! I love it so much, she has the greatest testimony and it's just inspiring to talk to her! What a blessing that I get to stay here just a little longer! OH! We are also getting elders again! I have no idea who they are, but it should be great! Well, that's about it everyone! I hope everything is going well. I am glad to hear the girls are doing well, and that everyone is adjusting! Ik hou van jullie!!!

Liefs, Z Packer

I Have Sisters!

Hey guess what guys!!!!

S GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pretty much it was the greatest thing of my life. It was SO good to see him so happy and ready to take this step. The ward was there supporting him the whole way. I had to give a talk... That was stressful, because well.. I forgot. And it was in Dutch. But the spirit was totally there guiding me the whole way. And The most important thing was that Sana was feeling the spirit. I am so happy for him!

I'll be totally honest I don't have a whole lot to say today since our whole week was focused on getting every last minute thing together for the baptism. We have spent a TON of time contacting people, just on the street or langs the door... wow uh. along the door? anyway. We have a district goal of 3000 this transfer, and we are truly seeing miracles there! I am getting excited about contacting for the first time in my life, no matter how many "not interested's I have to go through to get a yes. Finally.

We went ice skating today! It was SO fun! They have an outdoor rink set up in the middle of the centrum, and it was pretty cheap so we decided to do that today. Our district bailed on us, so Zr Aston and I had our own date. There was also a Christmas Concert yesterday night, with some crazy famous Russian people... We as missionaries had to sing a song, so that was interesting. But fun none the less. T came and loved it! So that was really great to see.

Sorry it's short, but uh... I'll be talking to you in a few days so.. I don't feel that bad. :) Not a lot happened anyway. I love you all so very much! Have a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! And remember who it is all about this year.

Liefs, Z Packer

I HAVE SISTERS!!!!!!!!

I have never been so excited in my life! I am so glad to hear everyone traveled safely and that the girls are getting settled in! GOD IS GOOD!

In other news. This week has been super random! It was Christmas and that was pretty amazing! I loved getting to talk you my family! I miss you guys, so it was good to see your smiling faces. For Christmas Eve! We got invited to Family S's house. They invited a few inactives and we just had kind of a party. Ate amazing food, played some cool Dutch games, and just had a really good evening. S came, and we are pretty sure he liked it....

Christmas we went to a service at our church. Just a short one and it was really sweet. Zr Aston and I had to sing something, and hadn't picked the song till that morning. So that was kind of embarrassing, but what can you do? Afterward we got Chinese food. Why? Because we wanted to be like on a Christmas Story. I needed my Chinese. and it was SO good. They even gave us a free calendar with it. And then we spent our afternoon with the women in the uh... zorg... Old folks home? anyway. We were there, and my favorite lady of all time - Zr. A LOVED our visit. We chatted away and she is just the sweetest. We are so glad we decided to go because she actually hadn't had any visitors the whole day! It was so worth it. And then of course we made our American Dinner at the A's. I love them so much! We are just like family and I couldn't ask for anything more.

Here, they have 2 Christmases... So we got to celebrate again! We had lunch at family D's and played some games there with them as well. They are a wonderful family.

Other than that we didn't do a whole lot this week. See, on Christmas people don't want you knocking on their door when they are having family time.. So we avoided that and talked to the loners on the street in our down time. Actually everything this weekend went wrong so we have had to talk to a few people outside. But that is ok. We need investigators pretty bad!

We did have one other dinner with a girl in our ward. I have Always thought of her as the "cool kid" Because well, she is. And she LOVES us! Cool right? we are all getting super tight and she wants to make a trip to Utah when we are back! I think it would be so fun! Anyway. This is a whole lot of random, so I hope everyone had a great Christmas! And is ready to start up the New Year!!!

Ik hou van Jullie!!!!!!

Liefs, Z Packer

Oh, And congrats to Miss Kelli on getting married!

Also, I'd send pictures, but something is going on with my card reader, so I'll get that fixed by next week. Sorry!

Christmas is coming!

Hey everyone! Guess what!!!!

S IS GETTING BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY!!!!!!

Like for real this time! Everything is getting all set up, the ward is totally on board and S is literally counting down the days! I AM SO EXCITED!!! It is so great to see the excitment and love that is happening. What a cool experience for S to get baptized right while we are all celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!!!

Pretty much, this is going to be the best week ever.

I don't know if we did much more than plan for that this week...

S on the other hand... pretty much dumped us this week. His girlfriend doesn't appreciate us teaching him the law of chastity, and well, doesn't want us to meet anymore... He agreed to another apointment for this week, so I guess we will just have to see how that goes.

We had Zone conference this week with President Teixeira? or something like that from the 70. It was AMAZING! I love the spirit that comes with a whole bunch of missionaries getting together. I learn so many new things every time and feel SO blessed that I get to be a part of this. So cool!

We got to meet our new ward mission leader this week! Totally wasn't what we were expecting when we went over to eat with them, but we are super excited. He is definitely the guy for the job, and Dordrecht is going to see some miracles through him.

Other than that we are just trying to do a lot of contacting. Dordrecht had a HUGE Christmas market this week through basically the whole city. (That means a lot of traffic.. and not with cars. People.) It was pretty exciting to go see, and we passed out flyers for a Christmas concert that will be this Sunday. People are at least a tiny bit more open when its Christmas time!

I am sad to hear things didn't go through this week for the girls (update on girls:  We are leaving Dec. 27 to pick them up)
, but I know the Lord has it in his hands. We've come this far. I am excited for when we DO get them, and will continually be praying for that!

Thanks for all of your love and prayers, ik hou van jullie!

 

Liefs, Z Packer