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
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