Week 21 - Learning a lot, Excited to meet the new Mission President

I love you so much and I am so happy when I get to read your email. You really do let me know what’s going on. I will let you know mom that I am learning a lot this week and the weeks are flying by I really think that this week was a busy week. We are doing so much contacting and we have been handing out flyers left and right trying to get them to people and get people to come to the open house. I have been learning about light a lot and actually I asked Dad to share what Ï told him about what I have been learning. I really do feel like it’s right for me to be here.

I feel kinda like Luke in star wars how he had to go away and felt like he needed to be there for his friends. I feel like that I had to go away so that I could learn to be a Jedi. That there was more for me to learn but I needed to be taken out of my old life to learn them. I am trying so hard to get a grasp on this perspective god is giving me right now and it is tough but I know and actually had a blessing from Dave last week that told me that I have to do just that and that I will have to go back home after my time and teach my younger brothers. I have been learning a lot about light and all these things and it’s tough because I feel like I have been dwelling in darkness my whole life and now I have to re figure out the light. Dave has been an instrument is this enlightenment and it is definitely the road less traveled but I know that it is the correct one.

The language is actually coming along very well and E. Claflin wants to help me set up a language plan this week. I am super excited. We are going to play beach volleyball at the beach this week and I am super excited. the new mission pres. comes in this next week and our last email to him is this week I am excited to have my mission pres. now that I have had these two for a temporary amount of time it will be good to have this one and I am going to really try to get to know this one well. I am excited but there will be a lot of change in the mission and everyone I know is going home I swear so I am no longer going to be new at this and will be deep in the midst of it soon enough. It will be exciting but definitely weird to think about.

Elder Jardine Belgium

Elder Jardine China Town

 

Elder Claflin

Elder Jardine

 

Look in the mirror

Elder Jardine & Elder Claflin

Week 20 - Working Hard and Having Fun

I have been working hard this week. Our investigator Saskia dropped us this week which sucked but it was an ok reason for us to be dropped. We had zone training this week so our hours were killed. I got to go to a farm and do service with the whole two wards here both Wassanar and Zoetermeer. I got a blessing from Dave and it was a life changing blessing. I know how I need to develop and move forward. I have to relearn all these things though. Its tough. I had a great P-day last Monday, it was really fun we bought some matching jackets and then (I will have to get the pictures from Dave) we locked ourselves inside that jail thing. haha so fun you would put in 1 euro and then get in for 5 minutes. So fun. I loved last p-day. Me and E. Claflin have been really putting in the time though. We go for contacting walks some days because it’s a lot harder to contact on a bike than walking. So sometimes we walk to our appointments and contact on the way and that’s a ton of fun. I love it. Well I am out of time but I am learning lots and it is a fun time.

5 min Jail

Jail is Open

We paid to be in Jail for 5min E. Jardine, E. Claflin, Dave

We are in Jail longer than we thought (joke)

Okay its time to get out please

Farm we did service at

Flowers

Dirt Car Art

Dirt Car Art

Noordeinde Palace and monument of Prince Willem I van Oranje - Den Hague, Netherlands

Noordeinde Palace - Den Hague, Netherlands

Water Tower in Zoetermeer

Noordeinde Palace - Den Hague, Netherlands

Elder Losee

 

Flyers for open house event

President and Sister Robinson with Elder Jardine

Elder Jardine outside Noordeinde Palace - Den Hague, Netherlands

Streets of Den Hague

Streets of Den Hague

Streets of Den Hague

Elder Claflin outside Noordeinde Palace - Den Hague, Netherlands

Week 19 - Hard Work, Hard Work

This week was a hard week. I am knocking on so many doors you wouldn’t believe it and in the rain and heat and it’s just crappy sometimes. I have been working on following the spirit more and that is my main focus I am working on my attitude and trying to work inside myself to convert myself to the work and to change how I think and to open up to the spirit.

Elder Claflin a little ice cream

Elder Claflin in love with his ice cream

Elder Jardine

Package from home

Elder Jardine Bike Selfie

Riding to an Appointment

Week 18 - Missionary work is real!

Me and my new comp click well I think that it will be great oh and btw I have been spelling his name wrong it’s with a "C" Claflin haha whoops! That’s awesome you get to go back into YW like you where forever ago I remember that you enjoyed and Mom just be yourself because you are awesome and super funny! I love it so much I think that it will be fun to click with the YW again. I know that it has been three months but I have learned very well on my mission and even before that things happen for a reason 

Yeah our teaching pool isn’t growing but Saskia the mom I was talking about has a baptismal date for the 4 of July and she told us basically yes but she said that I think that you (me and E. Claflin) already know what her answer will be when she prays about it.  So yeah I am super excited about that. 

Well I don’t really know what to say to the ward other than Missionary work is real. I have seen it by just choosing to go on a mission. That Heavenly Father has a path for everyone that he knows us individually that we will always have him watching us and yeah he might not intervene but he still does in his own way through other people our thoughts or even things that occur. Remember Nephi that the Lord give nothing save he shall prepare a way. The mission has really shown me that. That God is good at what he does and that we shouldn’t doubt him. 

This week we got to do a lot of crazy stuff. We helped a family history convention in Leiden and that was so cool to see so many people excited about doing temple work. Me and E. Claflin have done so much contacting this week in the rain and everything because I didn’t schedule appointments well. I think I got it good for this next week. We will see though. We have some work to do and I want to baptize 2 people this transfer and I want to finish the Book of Mormon this transfer too I am in Mosiah and I want to do it alongside Mikey. 

Transfer day was fun because basically I dropped E. Thomas off at the hotel near Schipol Airport and ate lunch with all the leaving missionaries and then went to Lieden and got E. Claflin and it was a crazy day but it was good. I actually wish that I had a few more weeks with Thomas because we actually started to click a little and he opened up and I think that he had a hard time going home but he didn’t want to show it. I really got to see how much love God had for him I got to see it and that’s what I had been praying for is to see it. It was pretty cool. 

Tout Ziens
Elder Jardine

Elder Jardine 

My crazy one speed bike

Elder Jardine

Elder Thomas setting up some appointments

Elder Thomas and ???

Train at the train station

Elder Thomas and Elder Jardine - Dropping off E. Thomas for his transfer home