My dear family and friends,
It's been a good week! We've welcomed elders to Haarlem, and it's been fun giving over some of our investigators to them and introducing them to the area. They're good elders, one is from the MTC group just after ours and the other is a groentje (greenie) fresh from the MTC. :) It's funny, the greenie's Dutch mysteriously has a very German accent, although he's never learned any German. :) It's fun to see how every missionary has their own sort of accent when speaking Dutch, even when we all sound relatively the same speaking English. I wish I knew the science behind that phenomenon. :)
In other news, there's been a cool event going on in Amsterdam which involves IJmuiden, called Sail. Basically, it's this thing that happens every 5 years where these big sailing ships, some of them really old, from all over the world, come and sail down the canal to this big lake in Amsterdam where they stay for a few days. We were busy with missionary work of course, but we took some time to go to the canal during our lunch hour on Wednesday and saw a few ships on their way to Amsterdam. It's a cool tradition!
We had some issues with appointments falling through later in the week, but we have also seen good progression in our investigators! Jennifer has been difficult to get an appointment with, but we talked with her on the phone this week and she said she's been reading in the Book of Mormon every day! She was so excited to tell us about how it's been helping her and giving her a little spiritual boost every day. We're so happy for her! :)
Well I need to get going but as a thought for this week, I want to declare my testimony about the power of positive thinking. It makes such a huge difference!! This is something I've been working on personally for years now, but Zr Kimmons and I have been discussing it lately also. It's difficult already being a missionary for a religious minority in a land where few people believe in God or live their beliefs, and it's been especially difficult with the new level to judgement we feel due to our helmets. However, we began an exercise that has helped it a lot. DO try this at home! ;) Basically each morning and each night we stand in front of a mirror together, we give each other a sincere compliment, and then we look ourselves in the eyes and give ourselves a sincere compliment. It doesn't count if the compliment is qualified by something you don't like about yourself or don't do well - it must be purely positive! If you've been feeling down or discouraged this week, grab your spouse, friend, sister, brother, missionary companion, whoever and try it! It's so important to recognize what we do well as well as what we can improve, and when you are willing to see your talents and strengths and then ask God for help with your weaknesses, you have so much more confidence to approach life and live as God wants you too without worrying about failure or judgement from others. Probeer maar! :)
-Zuster Jensen
It's been a good week! We've welcomed elders to Haarlem, and it's been fun giving over some of our investigators to them and introducing them to the area. They're good elders, one is from the MTC group just after ours and the other is a groentje (greenie) fresh from the MTC. :) It's funny, the greenie's Dutch mysteriously has a very German accent, although he's never learned any German. :) It's fun to see how every missionary has their own sort of accent when speaking Dutch, even when we all sound relatively the same speaking English. I wish I knew the science behind that phenomenon. :)
In other news, there's been a cool event going on in Amsterdam which involves IJmuiden, called Sail. Basically, it's this thing that happens every 5 years where these big sailing ships, some of them really old, from all over the world, come and sail down the canal to this big lake in Amsterdam where they stay for a few days. We were busy with missionary work of course, but we took some time to go to the canal during our lunch hour on Wednesday and saw a few ships on their way to Amsterdam. It's a cool tradition!
We had some issues with appointments falling through later in the week, but we have also seen good progression in our investigators! Jennifer has been difficult to get an appointment with, but we talked with her on the phone this week and she said she's been reading in the Book of Mormon every day! She was so excited to tell us about how it's been helping her and giving her a little spiritual boost every day. We're so happy for her! :)
Well I need to get going but as a thought for this week, I want to declare my testimony about the power of positive thinking. It makes such a huge difference!! This is something I've been working on personally for years now, but Zr Kimmons and I have been discussing it lately also. It's difficult already being a missionary for a religious minority in a land where few people believe in God or live their beliefs, and it's been especially difficult with the new level to judgement we feel due to our helmets. However, we began an exercise that has helped it a lot. DO try this at home! ;) Basically each morning and each night we stand in front of a mirror together, we give each other a sincere compliment, and then we look ourselves in the eyes and give ourselves a sincere compliment. It doesn't count if the compliment is qualified by something you don't like about yourself or don't do well - it must be purely positive! If you've been feeling down or discouraged this week, grab your spouse, friend, sister, brother, missionary companion, whoever and try it! It's so important to recognize what we do well as well as what we can improve, and when you are willing to see your talents and strengths and then ask God for help with your weaknesses, you have so much more confidence to approach life and live as God wants you too without worrying about failure or judgement from others. Probeer maar! :)
-Zuster Jensen
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