Christmas Eve



It is Christmas eve. I was going to write an email but I kept thinking about the photo's I wanted to include in the email so I figured it would be better to do it on a blog. We love being on a mission on Christmas Eve.

Saturday we visited Anja and her mother. Desi is holding Wanda the 9 year old chicken. It was a wonderful and spiritual visit with this dear family we love.



Sunday we spoke in church. I talked about all the wonderful things I had learned from the member in Utrecht. I talked about Zander who is in this picture with me. He taught be about 'goede moed' or 'good courage' in English. He did a perfect job blessing the Sacrament the first time he was asked to do it.

We made the 20 minute drive to Molenaarsgraaf to follow up on a 14 year old referral we had visited a few months ago. No one was home so we made the return trip later in the evening. We sang Christmas Carols to Joost and his parents. He had given a report on Mormons in school as part of a school project to learn about lesser known churches. He got an A but did not want to learn more. As we sang 'Silent Night' his mother brought anther guest to the door - their minister. He had a nice talk with him and left them with a good feeling.

This photo is out of sequence so forgive me. I had to get this family leaving the church in Utrecht on thier bikes.

Monday morning Desi and Carolyn invited our Iraqi neighbors over to learn how to make Oreo cookies. They have received Carolyn's homemade Oreos several times. Their mother asked for the recipe so we decided to have them over to learn now.

Carolyn said they were very quiet and polite. I would have like to be there but was working on the Elder's apartment in Utrecht. Another note, this Iraqi family with 6 children who is living in a 2 bedroom apartment will likely be moving into apartment when we leave. The mission has decided to close this apartment which has been used for senior missionaries for 10 or 15 years. It has four bedrooms. The family is excited to move in.

Christmas Eve was spent with Lucia and Henk. She cooked Roti with lamb and duck in a spicy sauce. We ate with our fingers using the Roti to pick up the meat and potato/bean mixture. We are not meat eaters and duck is not high on our list but this meat was very tasty.



Lucia called us earlier in the week and was very distraught. She is trying to get a visa for her son to come to the Netherlands to go to school. The application was denied. She has not seen him since he left on his mission 2.5 years ago. Elder van de Graaf gave her a wonderful blessing. The visit was a tender mercy for her. She lives in a city is 30 minutes from the Vlissingen Branch but requires a 5 Euro toll through a 6600 meter tunnel. It takes us 1 hour to drive to pick up the Elders in Vlissingen.  I just marveled that her maker cared enough to allow our visit to her home. It was with sadness we said goodbye.