Miracles

This week I truly realized that we see miracles every single day. I can no longer accept that there's any such thing as a coincidence. That concept sounds ridiculous! As I describe my week maybe you'll see that theme too!

For example: We were going to go to a tiny little dorp (village) to contact a referral, but we missed the bus... As a result, we had time to take Sis. Woodbury's bike to a shop, where it got repaired for free in two seconds, and then we visited a less-active recent convert and he was finally HOME and we got to talk to and encourage him. It was incredible.

On a side note, earlier in the week I was biking behind Sis. Woodbury and she stopped kind of suddenly and I accidentally crashed into her. That's NOT what made her need to get her bike repaired, I promise... Neither we nor our bikes were injured... It was just kind of funny and I learned to pay better attention if I'm closely following my companion :)

Okay, another miracle! On Monday, we had an investigator call US to make an appointment. Which is great, because we hate being the needy annoying girlfriend who calls until you finally answer. We've had two great lessons with him this past week with members present. Woohoo!

A few days ago, we decorated our apartment for Halloween! That is an absolutly un-celebrated holiday here, so it's nice to get into the spirit of it a little bit with fake spiderwebs all around! I hope everyone in America is having a sufficiently spooky month!

The biggest event of this past week is probably Sister's Conference! Our mission has never done anything like it before. But on Saturday, we (all 42 sisters) gathered in the mission home to council together, and it was fabulous. First of all, I got to stay Friday night in the mission home, which is beautiful. Also, I got to see my beloved MTC group sisters again!!! I missed them so much. It was lovely to be reunited. We heard a lot of good council, but President Robinson had a message I really appreciated- about our responsibility in the work of gathering Israel. It was way cool and re-established some of my passion!

Reunited with my lovely Sister Robbins from the MTC!

 Every Sister Training Leader presented a little thought too, and I loved it. One that really stood out to me was that the spirit of fear doesn't come from God, so we can't let it govern us. I think that applies equally well to missionaries and to everyone in everyday life. God will always inspire us, and we can't let fear be paralyzing! Another really good thought was about the balance between being an obedient missionary and not being a robot. Sis. Woodbury made a really good point that I appreciated; being a missionary, being believing, is a huge PART of my personality. It's not something I'm sacrificing, it's something I'm developing! Being obedient to every little rule will help me to feel fulfilled and myself. So basically, Sister's Conference was way awesome.

All of our MTC sisters; I missed them so much! (Also, can you see my boots? They're new, and Dutch, and exciting to me. So there's that too) :)

Here's something else: Assen is way awesome! Especially after getting to talk to my greenie MTC sisters, I realize how blessed I am to be here. I speak Dutch with absolutely everyone- members, investigators, people on the street- so my Dutch has rapidly improved, and I can tell that I'm already so much more comfortable with communication (and the members tell me that frequently too). In other areas, people speak a lot of English to the missionaries. So this is defintiely a blessing! Also, the members are straight up amazing. They are excited to work with us and do their own missionary work, extremely kind, they feed us delicious food... For example: A very Dutch dish is mashed potatoes with all sorts of vegetables mashed in- it's called "stompot". It is so yummy!!!! Another reason why Assen is awesome is Sister Woodbury. She has been a fantastic companion and trainer, and I have learned so much from her! Thus my conclusion that Assen is the best city ever to be "born" in (missionary lingo for where you begin your mission).

Three generation picture! My trainer's Trainer, Sister Rosenlof (my "grandma" in missionary slang) My lovely trainer Sister Woodbury ("mom") and myself.

This is slightly random, but: For breakfast this morning I wanted to have my usual yummy yogurt with granola. But we're out of yogurt, so I thought I'd just use milk, until I realized that we have tons of stroopwafel vla.... Which has basically the same consistency as yogurt. So for breakfast I had granola with vla, with apple pieces sliced in, topped off with whipped cream. I love dessert for breakfast!

Now, the best miracle of all for me happened yesterday. We went to visit a part-member/inactive family for dinner and an FHE lesson, and it was wonderful! Spending a whole evening surrounded by little kids helped me feel at home, since I've been missing my siblings (their youngest is 4, so it was spot-on with my 3-year-old brother). That was a tender mercy in and of itself, and we had a great lesson with them. But then, at the end, the wife/mother asked us, "do either of you need a winter coat?" That has been one of my biggest stresses, that I didn't have a coat to prepare me for the coming season, and it was hard to find a good one without breaking the bank. The coat she had is long, cute, fits me perfectly, warm, relatively waterproof- I could not have found a better one if I had tried. And it's practically new! I am so grateful that Heavenly Father takes care of His children and missionaries. Matthew 6:28-34 reminds us to consider the lilies of the field- they toil not, neither do they spin, but they are arayed in glory. Why do we take thought for ourselves, what to wear, what to eat? The Lord will provide. He did for me! So that was a cool experience.

We watched a session of General Conference in Dutch yesterday. It was cool that I got the main points of every talk,l but it was hard to get spiritual impressions... I definitely have a testimony that everyone needs to receive the Gospel in their own language.

As a last note, my bike could use a name, and I've been having trouble thinking of a good one. if anyone has any good ideas, submissions are now being accepted... Anything Dutch or missionary-themed would be good, or bike related... Use your imagination!

I love you all! Have a great week!
Veel liefs,
Zuster Voss