This blog is for family and friends who wish to following Trevan as he sacrifices his time and talents to go forth and teach the Gospel in the Belgium/Netherlands Mission for the next two years. Follow him as he grows through experience, challenges and triumphs throughout his mission. May our prayers provide him comfort and protection as he serves the people in his mission and may we all be inspired to be missionaries in our own lives.

Monday, April 25, 2016

Seeing the World - April 11, 2016




I'm convinced that not much compares to spring mornings in Europe. Lately the sun has been out and shining every day, with temperatures around73 degrees Celsius and flowers and greenery pushing through all around us. I will never forget the mornings when sun rays hit the cathedrals and churches that have stood around for centuries and the streets of cobblestone. We spent the morning and afternoon in Brugge today. We decided on a whim yesterday to take a train out there and enjoy the city. We took a really nice and cheap boat tour of the city and had a real chill pday with the other Antwerpenaars. This place is spectacular. Belgium will always be a piece of home.

We have been able to do a lot of raw, diligent work this week. Countless doors knocked, passerby’s stopped, and people met. I hit a few moments of inspiration this week when other missionaries asked how to keep confidence and their cool when all you do is knock all day. We are beat over the head with the fact that knocking doors is the least effective finding method especially in Europe. Yet it is what you do when you have NOTHING to do. So I came to a conclusion. You knock a door, you say who you are and why you are there and what you have to share, you get a negative response back usually, if the door isn't closed by the time you get through speaking your own name. Is that their chance to hear the gospel? I'm convinced it isn't. 

Say you receive a friend request on Facebook. What does it take for you to hit accept? Most likely, you recognize the name, if not the profile picture maybe, then you remember how you associated with that person, what they said to you, maybe taught you, or did with you. Then based on how many of those things were positive experiences, you judge your decision to accept and follow through with it. I've been out for a while, but I feel like that is still the general process with how that works. So what does it take for someone to accept something more important, like, I don't know, say the restored gospel of Jesus Christ? I drew this parallel this week in West-Vlaanderen: I seek adventure and stories. I invest in every person I speak with on the door as someone who I will learn from and someone who has a story, a favorite vacation spot, a favorite ice cream flavor, and an embarrassing encounter with strangers. I KNOW that by investing in them and learning about them, they will in turn take interest in us and love us for who we are and what we do. Missionaries are not robots. People quote me on that here in the mission. My goal is to make every person I speak with worthy of being an accepted friend on Facebook. Someone who passed enough of the criteria above to stay in touch with. And it has worked so much already. And you know what? As you stay in touch with the cool things you have done together, they will see you post Gospel messages and videos on social media, time after time becoming acquainted with the restored gospel. That will make me never actually leave my mission. IT's so cool and I already have a handful of people that I have met and been able to love in this wonderful place in the world.
 
Ok that was my revelation for the week. I also had interviews with President this week and planned quite a bit of the remainder of my mission. But I will keep you hanging until it’s confirmed with transfer calls haha

We worked all over the beautiful Belgium countryside this week and even made it to the French border. So I drove for a bit in France. I've now driven in 5 different countries. No big.

We also almost got T-boned HARD yesterday morning getting onto the freeway. Somehow the other car stopped just before hitting us and we were fine. But it was my side of the car and it was really intense. Then 10 minutes later we were driving through Zaventem and saw the Brussels airport on the way to Leuven for church. Sorry mom.

I think that's long enough for this week.

Love
Elder Trevan Scott Reese

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