So BYU is out eh? Well, they never really made
it in I guess. Whatever. Sad to say I'm used to being the victim of BYU chokes.
Good to hear Boise State lost on a buzzer beater though. Hopefully Utah goes
down soon too ;) sweet 16 is pretty good though.
Anyway, sports are NOT the focus. This week we
trekked through Rotterdam South with the project and met with several members
there. Not as many as we had hoped for but it is understandable with busy
schedules. We were able to attend a baptismal service and sing there though
which was really awesome and special for everyone there.
But the cool stuff this week has been in
DELFT. aka home that doesn’t feel like home. Tuesday we had exchanges with
the district leaders and I was with Elder Davis in Delft. We were able to
do some great finding because it was soooo beautiful that we only wore
white shirts and no jacket and everyone knows us as the Mormons. Ha-ha that’s
good and bad sometimes. We found some cool people and were able to look a lot
of people up to get contact with later. We also got in contact with Jones
again!! Elder Conatti and I taught him our first or second week here and then
we could never get contact with him. But Tuesday night we had a lesson about
the Atonement that was very spiritual and one of the few things he struggles
with. He told us how he has always been self-sufficient and believes people
should deal the consequences they have brought upon themselves, in context with
sin and suffering. We explained how everyone makes mistakes of course but related
it to a mother who gives up her only food or resource for her child and the
child throws it in the garbage. Christ has already paid the price for our sins
and is willing to take them from us. We must be humble and willing to allow Him
to do that. We plan on setting up a baptismal date with him this week. He also
randomly read the story of the Brother of Jared and loved it and reported on it
so that was super cool to see his intrigue with the Book of Mormon. He is
prayed frequently and is gaining a testimony of the Spirit!
Had a lesson with Bart again but he was being
weird, somewhat like normal, so when we brought up baptism in relation to the
Gospel of Jesus Christ we were worried. He wants to be baptized though which is
fantastic! He has investigated since 2012 though and has a weak testimony of
the Restoration so we have a lot of fortifying to do.
And our MIRACLE: Laura. Wednesday we had some
extra time after locking ourselves out of our apartment and fleeing to IKEA for
lunch (another story) so I decided to call people that were in the Phone.
(Flashback: that is what happened in Antwerpen when Elder Shelton and I
accidentally called Mark Johnson instead of Mike Johnson and now Mark is a
progressing investigator). Laura was super excited we called and we went by
Saturday morning to meet with her. She is from Suriname with a young daughter
and met with the missionaries a year ago before taking a long vacation to
Suriname. She told me that Monday she uncovered her Book of Mormon while
cleaning and needed to decide what to do with it and the lessons she had. Then
2 days later out of the blue she got our phone call and she took it as an
answer to her question. (Hence she was so excited). We taught her the second
half of the Restoration again and it was incredible how much she remembered and
took into her life. She loves missionaries and was legit testified of Gospel
principles as we taught. She believes there can only be 1 true church on the
Earth. She ate up the priesthood. She told us how her religious neighbor had
just lost her 8 year old daughter to cancer and was doubting faith as a whole.
Laura TESTIFIED to her neighbor that God knows best (cue Mother Knows Best from
the Disney Hit: Tangled) and that Gods molen draait langzaam maar zeker. Which
means that God's windmill turns slowly but surely. hahaha I absolutely loved
that! So true. She recognizes what she needs to do to receive an answer from
God. We also invited her to the Easter concert and our fireside, both of which
she "coincidentally “happens to be in Rotterdam for. Theme of the lesson:
toefallig bestaat niet aka no such thing as coincidences. So cool we will see
her in about a week with a killer joint teach too.
Sorry this letter was so long haha I just love
Delft and our 3 progressors. And the project :)
Love you all!
Elder Trevan Scott Reese
PS here is a light in Rotterdam that are
scattered throughout the city to mark places where bombs hit during the war.
Kind of creepy
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