Hello family!
Today is such a sunshiny day- something that is a little rare in this season, but the weather matches beautifully with the sunshine in my soul!!! I love my mission!
It has been quite the up and down week. Saying goodbye to Zr. Ekstrom was sad- I miss her, but I am so excited for this transfer with Zr. Stapleton. She is a character- her personality is very sweet, and she's got quite the sense of humor. Her Caribbean culture gives her some amusing characteristics, which are taking a little getting used to, but how fun! It is great to get to know the culture of the islanders better- we teach quite a few, and it is great to see their "ïnside life".
As far as the Dutch responding to black people, some have a problem, but if they have a problem with Zr. Stapleton (which is rarely the case), then they're probably not open to the gospel anyways, so we just move on. She had visa problems in the beginning of her mission and served in Washington DC for a while, and didn't get any Dutch practice for 3 months, so she is still playing catch-up with her language, which makes things a little trickier for her, but her faith is HUGE, and we have already seen so many miracles. Plus, anyone who comes from the islands is automatically her best friend, so it makes contacting anyone from Curacao, Suriname, St. Martin, or Aruba a breeze- they're probably related to Zr. STapleton, or they know each other's relatives :)
I saw my first bunch of tulips in the store today- spring is slowly creeping in, but I'm afraid we've still got at least 8 weeks or so of winter weather ahead of us. Zr. Stapleton is totally freezing, poor thing. President Brubaker instructed us to use some donated money from a few of his "business associates" to go buy her some heavy winter boots today, because this northern weather is really difficult for her to handle. She is such a trooper!
I am so grateful to be on a mission at this time in my life. I am still learning so much every day, and I am inspired to work now with Zr. Stapleton and learn even more. Joanne, my favorite investigator, is still doing well and progressing beautifully. She opened up this week about her biggest concerns with baptism, and we were able to address them a bit and she'll be just fine. It is so fun to watch her latch onto the Gospel and let it enlighten her mind and soul. She is a musician, and was invited to write a song to be sung/played next week in ward conference. I was informed that I will be the soloist... yikes! It'll be fun. I love the Gospel so much! I am so grateful for the plan of our Heavenly Father that allows us to teach and help each other on our journey back home to our Heavenly Father, and I am so grateful that I am able to focus all of my time here on doing just that. I love you all so much, and pray for you nightly. Take care of yourselves and each other!
Ik hou van jullie!
Liefs,
Zuster Gulliver
Monday, January 25, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
Sad Day, Happy Future!
Hello family!
Well, to day is a sad day- we found out that Zr. Ekstrom will be leaving to go to Amsterdam tomorrow, and we´re both a little mopey about the whole thing. We just got along so well! Its ok though, I get to stay here in Groningen for another blessed transfer, and I will be joined by Zr. Stapleton, the Zr. from St. Kits who was in the MTC 6 weeks behind me. It´ll be a fun challenge to combine her Caribbean personality with my good old-fashioned American work ethic. It´ll be fun :)
We had an amazing zone conference this week in Amsterdam. I was truly inspired by the messages from the assistants and President Brubaker. He spoke about optimism and how we can develop a spirit of optimism in our work. It sounds a lot like the coaching workshop dad´s going to. Anyways, he talked about how helplessness and despair are the opposites of hope and optimism. He emphasized how they are all learned responses to our situations and we can control and reprogram ourselves to respond to our situations with optimism. He talked about how the Gospel is the gate that leads to optimism, Christ being the only person who has truly overcome the world and the cares that it brings. It was very inspiring and a great reminder to keep our expectations and optimism high.
We saw an amazing miracle this week. We went tracting on Monday night and were let into a door of a young Indian woman. She led us upstairs and had us sit down and said "I´ll go call everyone". It turns out there are 13 nurses who had immigrated about a week before for a work program from India, and we were able to teach a first lesson to 11 of them and made a return appointment to bring them all copies of the Book of Mormon. It was so cool!! We got 11 new investigators in just one hour of tracting. A total miracle!
Our other investigators are doing well too. Joanne, our favorite, is doing great and is working to recognize her answer to the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. She says that she´s pretty sure she has her answer, she just has to wait a little while to be sure ;). She will miss Zr. Ekstrom a lot, but we are convinced that she will be ready soon to be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost. It is so exciting!
I spent a day after Zone conference working in Zwolle, and was able to work with Zr. Wieland, my comp from Rotterdam, again for a day. It was fun to get back together and see how we have grown and changed in the 7 months since we served together. She goes home in 6 weeks, along with the group of sisters that was just ahead of me in the MTC. That will leave zr. Bennett and I as the oldest... yikes!
Life is just fabulous here on my mission. I am just so full of joy as I get to work here in Groningen. The Lord has taught me so much, and has so much in store for this area. It is probably a blessing that Zr. Ekstrom and I are being separated- we were just so comfortable together, it was hard to progress like we do in other companionships. It will be great for us. I have been feeling lately that I need to do some serious pondering and figure out what kind of missionary the Lord needs me to become to accomplish His work in the best way possible. Our potential when we work with the Lord is so large- and I don´t want to just work at the comfortable level and never achieve the kind of missionary that He knows I can become. It is a daunting task, but I want to do everything possible to be the best that I can.
I love you all and hope that you all stay happy and safe.
Ik hou van jullie!
Liefs,
Zuster Cherie Gulliver
Well, to day is a sad day- we found out that Zr. Ekstrom will be leaving to go to Amsterdam tomorrow, and we´re both a little mopey about the whole thing. We just got along so well! Its ok though, I get to stay here in Groningen for another blessed transfer, and I will be joined by Zr. Stapleton, the Zr. from St. Kits who was in the MTC 6 weeks behind me. It´ll be a fun challenge to combine her Caribbean personality with my good old-fashioned American work ethic. It´ll be fun :)
We had an amazing zone conference this week in Amsterdam. I was truly inspired by the messages from the assistants and President Brubaker. He spoke about optimism and how we can develop a spirit of optimism in our work. It sounds a lot like the coaching workshop dad´s going to. Anyways, he talked about how helplessness and despair are the opposites of hope and optimism. He emphasized how they are all learned responses to our situations and we can control and reprogram ourselves to respond to our situations with optimism. He talked about how the Gospel is the gate that leads to optimism, Christ being the only person who has truly overcome the world and the cares that it brings. It was very inspiring and a great reminder to keep our expectations and optimism high.
We saw an amazing miracle this week. We went tracting on Monday night and were let into a door of a young Indian woman. She led us upstairs and had us sit down and said "I´ll go call everyone". It turns out there are 13 nurses who had immigrated about a week before for a work program from India, and we were able to teach a first lesson to 11 of them and made a return appointment to bring them all copies of the Book of Mormon. It was so cool!! We got 11 new investigators in just one hour of tracting. A total miracle!
Our other investigators are doing well too. Joanne, our favorite, is doing great and is working to recognize her answer to the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. She says that she´s pretty sure she has her answer, she just has to wait a little while to be sure ;). She will miss Zr. Ekstrom a lot, but we are convinced that she will be ready soon to be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost. It is so exciting!
I spent a day after Zone conference working in Zwolle, and was able to work with Zr. Wieland, my comp from Rotterdam, again for a day. It was fun to get back together and see how we have grown and changed in the 7 months since we served together. She goes home in 6 weeks, along with the group of sisters that was just ahead of me in the MTC. That will leave zr. Bennett and I as the oldest... yikes!
Life is just fabulous here on my mission. I am just so full of joy as I get to work here in Groningen. The Lord has taught me so much, and has so much in store for this area. It is probably a blessing that Zr. Ekstrom and I are being separated- we were just so comfortable together, it was hard to progress like we do in other companionships. It will be great for us. I have been feeling lately that I need to do some serious pondering and figure out what kind of missionary the Lord needs me to become to accomplish His work in the best way possible. Our potential when we work with the Lord is so large- and I don´t want to just work at the comfortable level and never achieve the kind of missionary that He knows I can become. It is a daunting task, but I want to do everything possible to be the best that I can.
I love you all and hope that you all stay happy and safe.
Ik hou van jullie!
Liefs,
Zuster Cherie Gulliver
Monday, January 11, 2010
A Letter Finally!
Hello familie!
Sorry about the short letters the last few weeks. We went down to Zwolle for a zone p-day and didn´t have much time to write, with all of the travel, but today I have my full 30 minutes, so here goes:
The snow here is still insane! It is snowing more this year than it has in about 15 years, supposedly, which is throwing all of society into quite a panic as snow plows, shovels, and salt is in very short supply. The roads are pretty bad, and church was even cancelled yesterday because they couldn´t clean the freeways fast enough to keep it safe to drive. The temperatures are around the same last year, there´s just a bunch of pretty powder everywhere that makes missionary work all the more interesting :)
One good thing is that I am now an expert in staying warm out in the snow for hours at a time. My snow gear generally consists of a wool sweater, my wool coat, a thick scarf (the Dutch people have the cutest scarves ever!), either a wool hat (bought with my Christmas money from Grandma G- Thanks Grandma!!) or these cute little ear-muffs that Ryan sent me, two pairs of gloves, 3 pairs of tights-leggings, two pairs of socks, my boots, and some awesome wool insoles. Geared up like this, we could stay out all day and be just fine. The only thing that stays tricky is biking in the snow- I haven´t fallen yet, but I´ve peeled Zr. Ekstrom off the ground a few times. When its actually snowing, we have these totally dorky-looking hats that resemble riding helmets (as in a horse-riding helmet) and match each other. They have a brim on them, so when you wear that with an ear-band, it keeps the snow from flying into your eyes. Without it, its possible to ride, you just end up with mascara ALL over your face... lovely!
We are still extremely low on investigators right now in Groningen. We are still working with Joanne, however, the young girl who´s like our best friend. She is progressing so wonderfully in the Gospel and we are sure she will receive a testimony of the prophet Joseph Smith soon and decide to be baptized. She is the most sincere person I have ever taught as far as her investigation of the church goes. It is such an honor to work with her.
Hey daddy-o, thanks for the talk about planting seeds that you sent. I felt like we should share the story in it about Tunutu with a sister in the ward when we went to teach her a lesson, and as I was reading it, she began to cry. At the end, she expressed how the description of a young man with long, unkempt hair and tattoos described perfectly her non-member son, who had strayed very far from the Gospel path. She said that hearing a story from someone who had watched such a man embrace the Gospel and be changed through it gave her so much hope for her son. It was a very tender moment for the three of us. Who knew that your mission would help people I work with here on my mission? The blessings of the Gospel and our service to the Lord are truly eternal. The things we do now in our lives have such an impact to bless or hinder ourselves, and our families in the future. I love the Gospel!!!!!
Another transfer is winding to a close, and Zr. Ekstrom and I are sure our time as companions in limited. Who knows what next week will bring, but I´m excited to see what the next big adventure will be. Since Belgium is open for sisters, I´d love to serve there at some point. Only time will tell. As far as when I am flying home, whatever works best for you all is great. LAX will be fine- I'm not too big on small planes anyways. It´ll be fun to drive home and possibly go to the temple. Plan away!
Enough about that stuff... I am so grateful to be here. It is such a great time to be serving the Lord. I love you all and pray for you every night.
Ik hou van jullie!
Liefs, Zuster Cherie Gulliver
P.S. I´m printing pictures to send this week. Keep a look out!
Sorry about the short letters the last few weeks. We went down to Zwolle for a zone p-day and didn´t have much time to write, with all of the travel, but today I have my full 30 minutes, so here goes:
The snow here is still insane! It is snowing more this year than it has in about 15 years, supposedly, which is throwing all of society into quite a panic as snow plows, shovels, and salt is in very short supply. The roads are pretty bad, and church was even cancelled yesterday because they couldn´t clean the freeways fast enough to keep it safe to drive. The temperatures are around the same last year, there´s just a bunch of pretty powder everywhere that makes missionary work all the more interesting :)
One good thing is that I am now an expert in staying warm out in the snow for hours at a time. My snow gear generally consists of a wool sweater, my wool coat, a thick scarf (the Dutch people have the cutest scarves ever!), either a wool hat (bought with my Christmas money from Grandma G- Thanks Grandma!!) or these cute little ear-muffs that Ryan sent me, two pairs of gloves, 3 pairs of tights-leggings, two pairs of socks, my boots, and some awesome wool insoles. Geared up like this, we could stay out all day and be just fine. The only thing that stays tricky is biking in the snow- I haven´t fallen yet, but I´ve peeled Zr. Ekstrom off the ground a few times. When its actually snowing, we have these totally dorky-looking hats that resemble riding helmets (as in a horse-riding helmet) and match each other. They have a brim on them, so when you wear that with an ear-band, it keeps the snow from flying into your eyes. Without it, its possible to ride, you just end up with mascara ALL over your face... lovely!
We are still extremely low on investigators right now in Groningen. We are still working with Joanne, however, the young girl who´s like our best friend. She is progressing so wonderfully in the Gospel and we are sure she will receive a testimony of the prophet Joseph Smith soon and decide to be baptized. She is the most sincere person I have ever taught as far as her investigation of the church goes. It is such an honor to work with her.
Hey daddy-o, thanks for the talk about planting seeds that you sent. I felt like we should share the story in it about Tunutu with a sister in the ward when we went to teach her a lesson, and as I was reading it, she began to cry. At the end, she expressed how the description of a young man with long, unkempt hair and tattoos described perfectly her non-member son, who had strayed very far from the Gospel path. She said that hearing a story from someone who had watched such a man embrace the Gospel and be changed through it gave her so much hope for her son. It was a very tender moment for the three of us. Who knew that your mission would help people I work with here on my mission? The blessings of the Gospel and our service to the Lord are truly eternal. The things we do now in our lives have such an impact to bless or hinder ourselves, and our families in the future. I love the Gospel!!!!!
Another transfer is winding to a close, and Zr. Ekstrom and I are sure our time as companions in limited. Who knows what next week will bring, but I´m excited to see what the next big adventure will be. Since Belgium is open for sisters, I´d love to serve there at some point. Only time will tell. As far as when I am flying home, whatever works best for you all is great. LAX will be fine- I'm not too big on small planes anyways. It´ll be fun to drive home and possibly go to the temple. Plan away!
Enough about that stuff... I am so grateful to be here. It is such a great time to be serving the Lord. I love you all and pray for you every night.
Ik hou van jullie!
Liefs, Zuster Cherie Gulliver
P.S. I´m printing pictures to send this week. Keep a look out!
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