New Area News

Hello Family! 6/29/2009

I just love Mondays when I get to catch-up with how you're all doing... that is everyone except the little family in China. I assume you'd let me know if they died or something, so I just assume they're all doing ok :) But seriously, tell that sister of mine that I would love a teensie update on life in China.

New York sounds like a ton of fun! Your story of getting lost in the metro-maze just made me smile-- it reminded me of Rotterdam :) For a small-city girl, I got to be pretty metro-savvy in Rotterdam. Imagine having to take a bike in and out of the metros with you...Niki, camp sounds like SO MUCH FUN! I am way jealous-- I still miss girls camp. It was like the highlight of my summers. Do you think I could somehow sneak in as an assistant-leader or something next year? That'd be awesome!

Well, I have gotten somewhat settled here in Dordrecht. Actually, the transition was easier than I had expected. As soon as I got out of Rotterdam (that was the hard part :( ) and we started biking through Dordrecht, I received this overwhelming sense of joy and love for the area. I just love it here! Thanks for your prayers-- they worked!

I feel like a lot of my life experiences before my mission have prepared me to serve here. It couldn't be more different than Rotterdam. Dordrecht is a group of like 5 small cities connected by bridges to the central city of Dordt, which is an island in the middle of a bunch of canals. When we go to any of the other areas like Zwijndrecht, or Papendrecht, we have to take our bikes on a little "waterbus" that ferries us over to the other side. It so cool! It is also a very old city, so the streets are all pretty much cobblestone, which is at times kind of intense to bike on depending on how recently it was re-layed. When the roads get too bumpy, they just pull the cobblestone up and smooth the sand. Then they re-lay the same cobblestone down. That works the best because of the really sandy earth here. Anyways, so I just love the city.

As far as the work, it is just a little branch here with and American branch president who served his mission here and then came back to live here and build up the church with his wife, who also served here. It is really cool. Because it is a new area, there are not a lot of standing investigators, so we do a LOT of finding. It is a really "Dutch" area, which makes finding a little more difficult, but when we do find investigators, they are really good ones :)

Well, I'm out of time this week, but I'll write more about the area next week. I love you all tons!!

Love,
Zuster Cherie Gulliver