Op Zending

Our toilet is in a separate little closet in the hall W.C. (water closet). We are fortunate to have a miniature sink in the corner. Mind you that this is a bonus, most W.C.'s do not have a sink and you simply head down the hall to the bathroom or kitchen to wash your hands. Even the sink in our trailer back home is bigger than this one, but we are not complaining, I just think it is kind of cute.

A sister here in the branch (sister Steinvoorte) loves miniatures and when we were invited to dinner the other night she showed me her latest project. Her son in serving a mission in Greece and so she made this cute house for him for when he returns next month. First the Elders apartment (most of their apartments are not this tidy) and then of the two of them knocking at the door of a typical home in Greece. The Elders even have a cell phone, bottle of water and Books of Mormon in their bags. The little girl in the yard is reading Harry Potter, and the woman in the kitchen is holding a huge knife. The story goes..... The two Elders met this woman in the town square and asked if they could come to her home and made an appointment. The next day when the appointed hour came they knocked on her door only to have the son sent them away. When he went into the kitchen to tell his mother who was at the door and that he had told them to scram, she yelled.. Oh No!!.. and ran after the Elders down the street holding her huge knife. The Elders thought she was after them to kill them so they ran even faster and got away. Later the truth came out and the Elders were able to come back and visit.

I wish you could see all the little details. Even the cut up vegetables in her salad bowl are unbelievable. The scale is 24/1 and I don't know where she gets the patience. Certainly not something I could do. She also does some fantastic counted cross stitch. She spends a lot of time in the waiting rooms at the doctors offices and hospital because her husband has some major health problems. He had cancer in one of his kidneys and had the kidney removed, then the cancer returned to the cavity where the kidney used to be and also to the lungs. He is on some mega mega strong medication and apparently the cancer is gone but he is totally wiped out with the side effects. It has been a miracle he could hang in there this long, they had thought he would not see his son return from his mission. They feel very blessed that things are going as well as they are.

I think I have already told you how we love the new place mainly because of the elevator. Boy are we getting old and tired fast. This two year mission is aging us about 10 years but no complaints right? I took these pictures of the new apartment but remember we ended up with left over furniture and "stuff" from missionaries who have gone home. Most places end up with an early attic and IKEA combination. The senior sister who lived here before us loved red so we have become very patriotic. Remember the Dutch flag is also red, white and blue. I did have to add a few of our own things just to make it look more like us. I took down all the maps and also all the Ensign pictures that were thumbtacked to the walls. That might be o.k. for some people, but I just could not handle that scene. I still love those picture but I would rather have them framed.

We do have an extra very small bedroom off the living room with beds so if any of you want to come and hang out for the weekend, you are welcome, we would love the company. We could even show you around in our little sardine can car and the branch could use a few people to fill all the empty chairs. Be prepared to probably give a lesson or a talk at the last minute if someone chooses to stay home from church. We just found out that the second counselor in the branch presidency is in-active and the first counselor and his wife have been called from groningen about 50 kilometers away to fill the calling. This branch is really struggling and we just hope we can be of some help here.

I just love all the flowers here, even the fake ones on bikes. My littles shopping cart is a very dull checkered one but many of them are decorated to the hilt. Everywhere you look you can pick up a bunch of fresh flowers for just a few Euros. No home should be without flowers if you live in the Netherlands.

Don't be afraid to trust an unknown future
to an all-knowing God.!!!!

We have learned that the Lord knows what we need and where we need to be much better than we.

We have moved from Belgie (Belgium) to Nederland (Netherlands)and there is a big difference. Beautiful open areas with tons of windmills, canals and even more bikes. ( The people here do say hello where ever we go and that has been nice. No more staring down to the sidewalk when we approach) We went to Groningen for church today. This is a ward we will only visit every once in a while. It is a very functional ward and we are probably not needed there as much anyway. We were sent here to work with the Institute program in Groningen but will be attending the branch in Leeuwarden and the ward in Heerenveen. The lingo is not as difficult as we were told it would be, let's face it, Antwerpen was a place like no other. We just got home and got a message from Habiba telling us she would miss us. We were not able to say goodbye to her before we left because she was out of town. We will miss her also. When the Elders got transferred she said that she would not need lessons any more and that she would just come to church, pray and maybe read the Book of Mormon. She will take a long time to take the big step because she really does not read a lot, but the ward is keeping her in close contact.

This last couple weeks seem like a blur now that I think about it. Moving is really tough on "old folks" I did not realize how settled in we really were in Belgie. Thankfully the Elders were able to come and haul all our "stuff" down the stairs. Moving in here was much easier with an elevator up to the 8th floor. (here they call it the 7th extention) We thought we would be in Antwerpen for the whole two years so guess what? I stocked up on groceries because that is what all good homemakers do, right? Food storage is in the blood after all. I remember a friend back home that moved several times in one year and he finally decided that food storage should just stay part of the house like the roof and floors. One way to really get your new ward to dislike you is to ask the Elders Quorum to come and help you move in. If we get transfered again we will just leave it all for the new couple.

You saw the picture of me and the little boy Jadrix who is here with his mom and grandma for cancer treatment. We just heard that his grandma Ingrid died this morning. She had been going down hill for about a week and her children and her husband came to Holland to be with her. This will be very difficult for the family as well as the whole Rotterdam South ward who have come to love and care for the family. She is now in good hands and in no more pain. We are all praying for her family during this time.

The strangest thing happened after church yesterday, my Tante Ans who we visited the other day called me. She had to go to a lot of trouble just to get our phone number. (I forgot to leave it with her) She called the mission office and played musical phones to get to me but finally got through.
O.K, here comes the best part, after talking a while and getting some more family stories she just happen to mention my great great grandmother and told me that she came from Azerbaijan, Soviet Union. I had never heard that and when I checked my "Family History File" I noticed that not only do we not have a birthplace on this grandma but all of her temple work had not been done for her. For years I was under the impression that all of the work going back in my mothers line had been completed. As I was looking through some of the other records I found more work that needs to be done. I was told by my mom that all of the searching on that line had come to a dead end. Now I know why I had to find my aunt and with all the "coincidences" that have gotten me this far, I know what I need to do. Funny how things happen some times.

Yes two. Our "baby" Rachel announced that she and her husband Jeff are expecting a baby in January and we are all very thrilled for them. They will make fantastic parents. More level headed than I ever was, and much more patient. We have seen the ultrasound and the baby seems to be healthy from what we are told.

Also our daughter Debbie just told us that she and her husband are adopting "again" this will make 13 children for them. The new little fellow just turned two on my birthday last April and his name is Jaxon. Welcome to the family little one. There is always room for one more, the love will just multiply. (We hope to get a picture of him soon.)


The Lord has really blessed our family and this proves it. We will still be serving this mission for another year so the hugging will have to wait until we get home probably the end of June 2010

I did find a little one to hold while in the Netherlands however so I thought I would share this picture, his name is Jadrix and he and his mom and grandmother are in Holland for his grandma's cancer treatments. Their home is in Aruba but the medical treatment is not as advanced there. They have seen some great miracles since coming here and the senior couple serving in Rotterdam have been a fantastic support to them all. This little one will just have to do for me until we go home.

Well the word is final. The mission President wants us to move up to Leeuwarden in the very northern part of the Netherlands next week. (about a three hour drive from here) He had us go up there last weekend to check on a few things and now we will be living there. Ben will be teaching Institute which is just where he needs to be. We will also be traveling a lot and visiting different branches and wards. We will be part of the Leeuwarden branch as well at the Groningen ward. There will be a lot of traveling involved to some far out places visiting in-actives as well as helping out in the branch and ward. Right now we usually put just a little less than 2000 kilometers on the car each month but the couple we are replacing usually travel about 4000 kilometers. Thank heaven for our GPS, and gas prices have come down to about $7.50 a gallon which was about $9.00 a gallon when we got here a year ago. There are no Elders serving in Leeuwarden so we will be the only missionaries there.

Things here in Antwerpen have really changed. The Elders were pulled out of the area last week and the ward was happy to still have us. We just told them of our leaving and that did not go over well at all. We have created a bond with the ward and it will be hard to leave, but this is all part of serving a mission. I keep remembering the song we sang at the sacrament meeting just before we left the states. "I'll go where you want me to go dear Lord" O.K. so here we go. There are some really nice things about this move however, our new apartment is on the 7th floor and it has an elevator. Hurray!!!!! This climbing the stairs bit has really gotten old.
Also we will be back in our homeland, something we had hoped for all along.

The picture was taken from the balcony of our new apartment. It has a marvelous view and so peaceful just watching the boats traveling along the canal. A little bit of heaven on earth if you ask me. We have already made friends with neighbors on both sides and it will be a great adventure. It will be like a shot in the arm and we are both very excited about it all. I know we thought we would serve here in Belgie for the whole time but this will be a good move.

Miracles do happen even withing my strange family. For several years I have wanted to find my mother's sister Ans. She and my mom have not spoken for years because of bad feelings and I really did not know how to find her. We tried when we were here a couple years ago but got no where.

Let me tell you about the "coincidences" that we have experienced. About 6 months ago we ended up in Heerlen for an apartment check. My dad had given me her last known address years ago and since the place was only a couple miles away we headed there only to find out that she had moved about 5 years earlier. We did speak to a sweet neighbor lady who could not give us any information.

About 3 weeks ago we ended up in Rotterdam for a conference and spend the day and night with a senior couple there. They had been invited to have dinner at a members house and got permission to bring us along. (Gutsy friends we have) Well the family was great and we were very welcome. Just before going out the front door Ben just "happen" to ask the father what he did for a living and he told us that he worked for the police dept. and did some investigating also. I casually asked him where I could go to perhaps get some information on my aunt. I just wanted to know if she was still living. Then I was told that if I gave him her name and birthday he could maybe do something. Sure no problem. I sent him the information and several days later we got her address and phone number in another town way up north.

On our way up to Leeuwarden last weekend Ben insisted we stop by and find my aunt. I did not want to call her for fear of getting a negative response. I had heard horror stories from my mom but I did not believe them because I only have good memories of my aunt. Granted the memories go back to when I was about 5 years old, but still I remember liking her and even remember spending time with her when I was living with my grandmother for a while.

When I rang the bell I was shaking in my shoes. How in the world would she react? Well it was great, she gave me a big hug and told us to come in. She excused the mess all over her living room because she said that "I" had been on her mind for several weeks and she had pulled out some photo albums with old family pictures. She even insisted that I keep them because she would not live that much longer. (she said that she did not believe in coincidences either) She will turn 90 in December but boy is she a lively "old lady" She still teaches ballet to children who can not afford lessons. (She had several dance academies over the years) She showed me some of the costumes she had made herself and she looked like a teenager by the way she ran around the place. Cute black jeans and this massive belt. We asked if we could return another time and she told me of course, my bedroom was at the top of the stairs. She was happy to see her Iris before she died. Why did it take this long? So much time lost and so many crazy stories. Don't anyone tell my mom but they are so alike. Their mannerisms and even the way they walk. They share the same laugh and even the same features. I really don't know how to break the news to Mom, she will not be happy because she never wanted me to meet up with her again.

I just had to share a picture of my geraniums. What you are seeing is the "before" When we got back to our apartment from a couple days in the Netherlands, they looked like they were all dead. The heat here as well at the humidity it unbelievable. Hopefully I can bring them back to life. Where are my gardening friends from back home now that I need them?