Hello family!
Well, after reading all of the sweet e-mails I get from all of you, I really have to make these e-mails short. Sorry.
We had two baptisms this week. My first two since coming here actually. They were amazing. The spirit was so strong as Lenneke and Andre were baptized and made their first covenants with God to walk in His path and follow him. It was a beautiful experience, and one which I will never forget. I was sitting next to one of our investigators (a 21 year old turkish man) and during one of the songs in the program, he had tears in his eyes. It was so beautiful to see how Heavenly Father touched him through the beautiful hymn "a poor wayfaring man of grief". That song will forever remind me of that beautiful moment I shared with one of God's loved children.
As for what I see and experience everyday, I'm not sure what to tell you- I teach people from literally all over the world, which is very cool. The Dutch people were originally extremely scary for me to contact because they are so totally blunt and honest. For example, the standard response when we knock on their door is "geen interese" (no interest) and then they close the door. Now, however, I have learned to love contacting the dutch people themselves. Most do not have any real belief in God, and it is so interesting to talk with them and follow the spirit to ask them questions and get them to open up and talk to us about our Heavenly Father. What a great country this is! Mostly, native dutch speakers are just really impressed at how fast we learn the language. Our accents are immediately recognized as American (or sometimes British for me...) and they are always impressed that we have taken the effort to learn dutch when everyone pretty much already speaks english. The Lord uses everything to accomplish his work here- even strong accents. I have had more positive conversations with athiests than ever before just because I have a really, really strong accent :)
As for my new companion, she is awesome! Her name is Sister Whitney Kriser (Heather, she was on your dance team at BYU-I) and she is in her last transfer. She is so sweet... actually a little bit intimidatingly sweet... and she is such a good example of how to be an AWESOME missionary. I have learned so much from her already. She comes from Utah by way of BYU-I and Florida and is an elementary ed. major. She, Sis. Wieland, and I are having a great time!
My health is still great. The Lord is so merciful and loving! Ok, my times is up, but I love you all so much! I pray for you every day and hope all is well.
Love,
Zuster Cherie Gulliver
Tot ziens!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
Side Trip to Amsterdam
Dearest of families,
Hello Everyone! 2/16/2009
What an awesome week we have had! I almost can't believe its already p-day again, it went by so fast. Well, we got transfer news today, and Sis. Wieland and I were correct in our assumptions that we would both be staying, but surprisingly, they decided to close down one of the sister apartments in Amsterdam and make 2 threesomes again, and we are getting Sis. Krisser here in Rotterdam! I am really excited. She was actually my trainer's MTC companion, but is leaving one transfer after her, so she is by far the most experienced sister in the mission, which I am totally excited about! It will be fun to spend another transfer learning from a super- experienced companion. From what I hear she is the sweetest, most Christ-like person ever, so we should have a fun time.
We went on exchanges this week, and I went up to Amsterdam and worked with Sis. Higham for a day. She is a mission president's daughter so she actually came out when she was 20 and is younger than me even though she's been out a full year. It was so fun to work with her and to see another part of Holland. I was completely inspired by her approaches to missionary work, and my confidence in the language was totally transformed in our day together. My companions couldn't believe how much I was saying when I got back from my exchange. I think working with her was just what I needed to help me get all geared up for this next transfer when I will no longer be "the greenie" of Rotterdam. Its funny- the more I say, the more mistakes I make, but I am also way happier and more inspired when I just open my mouth and talk. I have truly seen miracles this week in my language abilities. I even made my first 2 Dutch phone calls, which was really scary and a bit confusing for everyone involved, but successful!
Yesterday we fasted as a mission to be spiritually prepared for Elder Oaks coming in March- Did I tell you all about that already? Hmm, well, in short, Elder Oaks is coming to the Appeldorn stake conference at the beginning of march, and the area presidency approved every missionary in our mission to go and see him. A few weeks later, President Oaks will be coming to do a mission tour. No one is quite sure what is going on, but the entire mission is anticipating some big things happening in the mission very soon. Our mission president has asked us to be EXACTLY obedient and work like we have never worked before to prepare ourselves to receive direction in March, so that’s what we did! I am so excited!
Not much extremely new happened this week. We have a baptism on Saturday- 2 of our investigators will be baptized. They had their interviews last night, and Andre- one of the investigators just couldn't stop smiling after his interview. He is sooo excited to be baptized and is so prepared to "serve God for eternity" as he expresses it. Well, actually he says "dient God voor eeuwig" but it means the same thing :) I am so excited to be here to experience their baptisms. From what I've heard, they were the most prepared people ever for the gospel, and they are already totally active in the ward. It will be fun to watch them progress as new members.
I got another flat tire last night- that seems to be my curse here. We'll try to fix is ourselves this time, but I think it might be beyond repair, in which case we'll have to pay to have it repaired again- not much fun, and expensive, but hey- the work must go on!
Oh, I almost forgot- thank you so much for the sweet valentine! I just love hearing from you all!Oh, and Sis. Bennett is being transferred from Amsterdam to Gouda, which is in our zone, so we'll have TONS of fun at zone conference together. We're really excited. I saw her during our exchange. She is struggling, but perked up a bit after we talked and laughed A LOT together! These sisters in the mission are amazing!
Well, its time to head out, but I love you all so much! Be sure to keep me updated on big happenings, or small ones too- I love it! I'm sorry to hear about Ms. Cheeky- she's in a better place now. And Niki- let me know when you find out what you're doing on your trip!
Love you all!
Love,
Zuster Cherie Gulliver
Hello Everyone! 2/16/2009
What an awesome week we have had! I almost can't believe its already p-day again, it went by so fast. Well, we got transfer news today, and Sis. Wieland and I were correct in our assumptions that we would both be staying, but surprisingly, they decided to close down one of the sister apartments in Amsterdam and make 2 threesomes again, and we are getting Sis. Krisser here in Rotterdam! I am really excited. She was actually my trainer's MTC companion, but is leaving one transfer after her, so she is by far the most experienced sister in the mission, which I am totally excited about! It will be fun to spend another transfer learning from a super- experienced companion. From what I hear she is the sweetest, most Christ-like person ever, so we should have a fun time.
We went on exchanges this week, and I went up to Amsterdam and worked with Sis. Higham for a day. She is a mission president's daughter so she actually came out when she was 20 and is younger than me even though she's been out a full year. It was so fun to work with her and to see another part of Holland. I was completely inspired by her approaches to missionary work, and my confidence in the language was totally transformed in our day together. My companions couldn't believe how much I was saying when I got back from my exchange. I think working with her was just what I needed to help me get all geared up for this next transfer when I will no longer be "the greenie" of Rotterdam. Its funny- the more I say, the more mistakes I make, but I am also way happier and more inspired when I just open my mouth and talk. I have truly seen miracles this week in my language abilities. I even made my first 2 Dutch phone calls, which was really scary and a bit confusing for everyone involved, but successful!
Yesterday we fasted as a mission to be spiritually prepared for Elder Oaks coming in March- Did I tell you all about that already? Hmm, well, in short, Elder Oaks is coming to the Appeldorn stake conference at the beginning of march, and the area presidency approved every missionary in our mission to go and see him. A few weeks later, President Oaks will be coming to do a mission tour. No one is quite sure what is going on, but the entire mission is anticipating some big things happening in the mission very soon. Our mission president has asked us to be EXACTLY obedient and work like we have never worked before to prepare ourselves to receive direction in March, so that’s what we did! I am so excited!
Not much extremely new happened this week. We have a baptism on Saturday- 2 of our investigators will be baptized. They had their interviews last night, and Andre- one of the investigators just couldn't stop smiling after his interview. He is sooo excited to be baptized and is so prepared to "serve God for eternity" as he expresses it. Well, actually he says "dient God voor eeuwig" but it means the same thing :) I am so excited to be here to experience their baptisms. From what I've heard, they were the most prepared people ever for the gospel, and they are already totally active in the ward. It will be fun to watch them progress as new members.
I got another flat tire last night- that seems to be my curse here. We'll try to fix is ourselves this time, but I think it might be beyond repair, in which case we'll have to pay to have it repaired again- not much fun, and expensive, but hey- the work must go on!
Oh, I almost forgot- thank you so much for the sweet valentine! I just love hearing from you all!Oh, and Sis. Bennett is being transferred from Amsterdam to Gouda, which is in our zone, so we'll have TONS of fun at zone conference together. We're really excited. I saw her during our exchange. She is struggling, but perked up a bit after we talked and laughed A LOT together! These sisters in the mission are amazing!
Well, its time to head out, but I love you all so much! Be sure to keep me updated on big happenings, or small ones too- I love it! I'm sorry to hear about Ms. Cheeky- she's in a better place now. And Niki- let me know when you find out what you're doing on your trip!
Love you all!
Love,
Zuster Cherie Gulliver
Monday, February 9, 2009
The Flat Tire Experience!
Geliefde familie,
Hey there family!
Boy do I miss you all! Reading your e-mails is so much fun, but it makes me remember how much I love seeing you all and being a part of your lives. But no worries- I wouldn't trade my mission here for the world!
Well, this week was an interesting one to put it simply. At the beginning of the week, i was quite frankly miserable. My hands were constantly cold, then wet, then cold again as we worked all week in the rainy/hail-y/snowy/dry and cold weather of the netherlands. The cold really isn't that bad, but we will without a doubt end up really wet at some point of the day, which makes tracting in the wind really, really, cold. I just felt like I was letting the physical trials of the mission (temperature, tiredness, etc) prevent me from really grasping the vision of my mission. I began praying for help to overcome these trials, when the most amazing experience happened- I got a flat tire.
Let me explain. We were down in the "bad" part of our area (don't worry mom- its not really that bad, just not as good as the other part) when we had 3 appointments fall through within 10 minutes of each other. We decided to head back to the church building so we could eat a little dinner and do some doors. It started raining (not really a surprise :) ) so we were riding really hard to get there before it started pouring. Well, it didn't start pouring- instead it started snowing/sleeting. I was in the back of our line-up of my companions and I, shielding my eyes with my hand so we could see the road when suddenly I realized I was losing speed. I looked down and WHAM- flat tire. I yelled to my companions who totally didn't hear me and pulled over to the side. So here I was- deserted by my companions who were still riding away from me in a busy (not really dangerous, but really busy) part of town, in the dark, with a flat tire, broken dutch, and NO idea how to get to the church building. I looked at my bike, and to my surprise, started laughing. The Lord has such a funny way of answering our prayers- I should have expected something like that. I pulled my bike up to the sidewalk and started walking in the direction I had seen my companions ride. I got a good 20 minutes of thinking in before my companions found me, and I realized something very important. It could get a whole lot worse- like seriously- a WHOLE LOT worse. The answer to my question of how to get past these temporal things is simple-- just look past them and they disappear. Instead of thinking about being cold standing on a doorstep, i just need to look at the door and imagine the people inside that I am about to talk to and prepare myself to deliver the most important message they will ever hear to them. The Lord is so merciful. Well, my companions found me and we walked the remaining 40 minutes or so to the church building together. It cost about 30 dollars to have my tire repaired. I probably could have repaired it myself, but we really didn't have any time.
We have found sooo many new investigators lately- my trainer is actually amazed. She says this is the most success she's seen her whole mission. I'm just excited to be a part of it.
Transfers are in a week and a half, but I suspect I'll stay here in Rotterdam with Sis. Wieland ( my other companion). It quite frankly makes me very nervous- she's only been out 2 transfers more than I have, but the Lord knows what he's doing. We'll be fine.
I'm sorry about the lack of details every week. We read and write e-mails every week at the library and we have exactly 30 minutes of total time, so it goes by VERY fast. I'll do my best. Oh, to answer a few of your questions from last week- yes, my legs are getting a lot stronger and bigger- weird. My apartment is a little upstairs apartment with a really steep staircase coming from one of those cute little strip-house style doors on a little cobblestone street. I will send pictures when I can.
I love you all! Oh, and Niki- Congrats on all your success!! I knew you could make the trip/Orcutt Academy!
Love,Zuster Gulliver
Hey there family!
Boy do I miss you all! Reading your e-mails is so much fun, but it makes me remember how much I love seeing you all and being a part of your lives. But no worries- I wouldn't trade my mission here for the world!
Well, this week was an interesting one to put it simply. At the beginning of the week, i was quite frankly miserable. My hands were constantly cold, then wet, then cold again as we worked all week in the rainy/hail-y/snowy/dry and cold weather of the netherlands. The cold really isn't that bad, but we will without a doubt end up really wet at some point of the day, which makes tracting in the wind really, really, cold. I just felt like I was letting the physical trials of the mission (temperature, tiredness, etc) prevent me from really grasping the vision of my mission. I began praying for help to overcome these trials, when the most amazing experience happened- I got a flat tire.
Let me explain. We were down in the "bad" part of our area (don't worry mom- its not really that bad, just not as good as the other part) when we had 3 appointments fall through within 10 minutes of each other. We decided to head back to the church building so we could eat a little dinner and do some doors. It started raining (not really a surprise :) ) so we were riding really hard to get there before it started pouring. Well, it didn't start pouring- instead it started snowing/sleeting. I was in the back of our line-up of my companions and I, shielding my eyes with my hand so we could see the road when suddenly I realized I was losing speed. I looked down and WHAM- flat tire. I yelled to my companions who totally didn't hear me and pulled over to the side. So here I was- deserted by my companions who were still riding away from me in a busy (not really dangerous, but really busy) part of town, in the dark, with a flat tire, broken dutch, and NO idea how to get to the church building. I looked at my bike, and to my surprise, started laughing. The Lord has such a funny way of answering our prayers- I should have expected something like that. I pulled my bike up to the sidewalk and started walking in the direction I had seen my companions ride. I got a good 20 minutes of thinking in before my companions found me, and I realized something very important. It could get a whole lot worse- like seriously- a WHOLE LOT worse. The answer to my question of how to get past these temporal things is simple-- just look past them and they disappear. Instead of thinking about being cold standing on a doorstep, i just need to look at the door and imagine the people inside that I am about to talk to and prepare myself to deliver the most important message they will ever hear to them. The Lord is so merciful. Well, my companions found me and we walked the remaining 40 minutes or so to the church building together. It cost about 30 dollars to have my tire repaired. I probably could have repaired it myself, but we really didn't have any time.
We have found sooo many new investigators lately- my trainer is actually amazed. She says this is the most success she's seen her whole mission. I'm just excited to be a part of it.
Transfers are in a week and a half, but I suspect I'll stay here in Rotterdam with Sis. Wieland ( my other companion). It quite frankly makes me very nervous- she's only been out 2 transfers more than I have, but the Lord knows what he's doing. We'll be fine.
I'm sorry about the lack of details every week. We read and write e-mails every week at the library and we have exactly 30 minutes of total time, so it goes by VERY fast. I'll do my best. Oh, to answer a few of your questions from last week- yes, my legs are getting a lot stronger and bigger- weird. My apartment is a little upstairs apartment with a really steep staircase coming from one of those cute little strip-house style doors on a little cobblestone street. I will send pictures when I can.
I love you all! Oh, and Niki- Congrats on all your success!! I knew you could make the trip/Orcutt Academy!
Love,Zuster Gulliver
Monday, February 2, 2009
Cold Toes, Warm Heart!
Lovely Family,
Hello again! Well, its another wet and freezing day here in the NL. We were thinking about going to the zoo today with some elders in our district, but after riding to the grocery store in freezing rain/hail, we decided to go shopping instead-- a dangerous alternative, but at least its warm! Actually, I really do need to go shopping. Apparently the "no boots" rule in my call packet only applied to the Elders, because the sisters all wear boots in our mission, and for good reason! After a day of tracting and lessons, I usually can't feel my toes. But anyways, I've been using an old pair of boots that a sister left behind who went home, but they're starting to fall apart and aren't exactly nice looking anymore, so I figured I should invest in some new boots.
Oh, and I've kept a little "food journal" that I'll mail to you all today- you'll find it pretty cool I think. I figured you would want to hear about the things I eat here. My interest in food has tripled I think since coming here. The eating habits and all are so different! It really is fun.
Well, apart from being freezing and wet all the time, I am doing great. I had a really bad cold last week, but it has left me completely, and I shouldn't have any more problems- especially once I get my boots!
Our 3 baptismal-date investigators are doing great! Lenneke ( the dutch woman) is awesome. She is completely impossible for me to understand because her dutch is so good, but she is really awesome- and she always helps me out with my dutch! My trainer says she is the most golden investigator she has ever seen, and I believe it is true. Andre, our other investigator being baptized this month is also amazing- he is sooo well studied in the gospel. Our lessons with these investigators are like a breath of fresh air- they truly are elect people!
I had a cool experience. Usually, we give our little 1st discussion to people and they listen and say something like "oh, that's really nice" or something, and its really frustruating. Our message is so unique and so bold- I just expect people to be totally suprised when we say things like "we have a prophet today". After all, it is a totally critical and unique thing. We went to teach an Ghanaian man the other day( who speaks English) and his friend was there. His friend listened to our message and was totally floored- he couldn't believe someone would claim to belong to the ONLY true church. He wasn't necessarily negative- just stunned. It was awesome! He just totally got it. I don't know when we'll teach him again, but it was so cool to see someone actually appreciate the restoration and the prophet Joseph Smith for who he is. The Lord truly prepares certain people to receive the message of the restoration and recognize it for what it is.
Another quick experience. So my dutch still stinks to be honest, but the other day we were in a discussion and I felt very prompted to say something. I bore a simple testimony, and you could actually physically see the spirit touch the man we were talking to. He had tears in his eyes. It was such a humbling experience as I promised him he would receive an answer to his prayers and even with my bad dutch the Spirit bore witness to him that it was true. The Lord is truly in control of this work and guides us every day- in evey sentence actually.
I love you all!!
Love,
Zuster Cherie Gulliver
Hello again! Well, its another wet and freezing day here in the NL. We were thinking about going to the zoo today with some elders in our district, but after riding to the grocery store in freezing rain/hail, we decided to go shopping instead-- a dangerous alternative, but at least its warm! Actually, I really do need to go shopping. Apparently the "no boots" rule in my call packet only applied to the Elders, because the sisters all wear boots in our mission, and for good reason! After a day of tracting and lessons, I usually can't feel my toes. But anyways, I've been using an old pair of boots that a sister left behind who went home, but they're starting to fall apart and aren't exactly nice looking anymore, so I figured I should invest in some new boots.
Oh, and I've kept a little "food journal" that I'll mail to you all today- you'll find it pretty cool I think. I figured you would want to hear about the things I eat here. My interest in food has tripled I think since coming here. The eating habits and all are so different! It really is fun.
Well, apart from being freezing and wet all the time, I am doing great. I had a really bad cold last week, but it has left me completely, and I shouldn't have any more problems- especially once I get my boots!
Our 3 baptismal-date investigators are doing great! Lenneke ( the dutch woman) is awesome. She is completely impossible for me to understand because her dutch is so good, but she is really awesome- and she always helps me out with my dutch! My trainer says she is the most golden investigator she has ever seen, and I believe it is true. Andre, our other investigator being baptized this month is also amazing- he is sooo well studied in the gospel. Our lessons with these investigators are like a breath of fresh air- they truly are elect people!
I had a cool experience. Usually, we give our little 1st discussion to people and they listen and say something like "oh, that's really nice" or something, and its really frustruating. Our message is so unique and so bold- I just expect people to be totally suprised when we say things like "we have a prophet today". After all, it is a totally critical and unique thing. We went to teach an Ghanaian man the other day( who speaks English) and his friend was there. His friend listened to our message and was totally floored- he couldn't believe someone would claim to belong to the ONLY true church. He wasn't necessarily negative- just stunned. It was awesome! He just totally got it. I don't know when we'll teach him again, but it was so cool to see someone actually appreciate the restoration and the prophet Joseph Smith for who he is. The Lord truly prepares certain people to receive the message of the restoration and recognize it for what it is.
Another quick experience. So my dutch still stinks to be honest, but the other day we were in a discussion and I felt very prompted to say something. I bore a simple testimony, and you could actually physically see the spirit touch the man we were talking to. He had tears in his eyes. It was such a humbling experience as I promised him he would receive an answer to his prayers and even with my bad dutch the Spirit bore witness to him that it was true. The Lord is truly in control of this work and guides us every day- in evey sentence actually.
I love you all!!
Love,
Zuster Cherie Gulliver
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Finally some pictures from the MTC.
Cherie runs into a friend, Andy Sais from the Santa Maria Stake at the MTC.
Cherie enters the MTC on Nov. 5, 2009. Mom and Dad are so proud!
Cherie and her companions show-off their Christmas stockings made by Cherie's sister, Heather.
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