Ga jij vandaag het verschill maken?

First of all, sorry I'm emailing so late....we went to the Anne Frank house early this morning and then after were in Amsterdam for a while, and a member took us 4 missionaries out to eat to Hard Rock Cafe, and he actually paid for all of our meals at this really expensive restaurant last week that we went to for 2 missionary's birthdays...(don't worry, we really hardly ever eat out!!!) also Wes, he lived in the Coconut Creek ward a few years ago...he was bishop there. but I think he moved out before you guys moved there. His name is Alan Evans. Super cool, friendly guy.

Last week we went to the Van Gogh museum...that was sick

Also I went on exchanges last week and it was a day full of wonders. we met some super cool people...I mentioned one of the stories in one of the emails with pictures in them

my companion is getting transfered to Den Haag and I am getting 2 sisters! we are going to be a threesome! this will be fun :) I am leading in Amsterdam so wish me luck haha. 

this just in...we just found out our bikes got stolen and....this email is ending haha. we had some other miracles but right now I can't think straight. 

welp. not to cause a dramatic ending...but I have to go. love you all!

 

 

this just in...again. the elders found our bikes (they took them without us knowing and called and told us they were gone because they couldn't find them...) lol just pooped my pants.

skirt.

ok well...yeah pretty much sister doxey and I just went through a roller coaster of emotions. here is my ode to Holmes (my bike)

I cry when I'm on you

I laugh when I'm on you

I sing when I'm on you

I wear my helmet when I'm on you

I talk to people about the gospel when I'm on you

you are my everything

I can't wait to see you again

ok bye

(please know my ode to holmes wasn't actual real) (well sort of it was)

 

 

a week of miracles

HALLO!!!!!!!

It has been a fantastic week of miracles here in Amsterdam. The past few week we have been finding, finding finding and this week we saw some of the finding pay off! We got A MEMBER REFERRAL FROM A DUTCH WOMAN LIVING IN CALIFORNIA WHO'S NON-MEMBER SISTER AGREED TO LETTING US COME BY!!!!!!!!! and the coolest part is that we were "conveniently" (toeval bestaat niet) at the church one evening for institute when we heard the church telephone ring. well, no one really wanted to pick it up, and being here for only 3 weeks I didn't know what to do haha but my companion ran to get it and it was a woman telling us to go visit her sister! it's just cool because what are the odds we would have been there to get this referral? so we went over the next day and sadly she wasn't home but we tried calling her yesterday because we got her number yesterday and she answered and we set up an appointment for this week. If you don't understand how GOLDEN member referrals are then just know that it's comparable to driving down university avenue in Provo and all the lights being green haha. So we were stoked about that. prayers are needed hard for this woman!

Also, another miracle: last week for P-day we were going with the Zaandam elders to a museum and we were running a little late so they were just chilling at Amsterdam Centraal at a tourist shop. As they were there, a girl said "Hey! you're elders! I'm also a member of that church. But I want to write myself out of the church" (or something along those lines) so they were like ok, well maybe we could get your number so we can get ahold of you? (save your salvation) and so they swapped numbers and later that day she texted him saying something along the lines of "Is there any way I could meet with the sisters one last time before I decide if I want to do this?" and so he called us right over and we said yes of course, and then right after she texted us asking if she could meet with us. turns out she got baptized about a year and a half ago and met with the sisters a lot and wanted to go on a mission (she is almost 21). so we met with her and it went REALLY well. we got to know her, and her conversion story. We talked a lot about the basics. we asked her how she felt the influence of God in her life and showed her a cool video on mormonchannel called "The Hope of God's Light". we could see a change in her. we invited her to start coming to church and start in the book of mormon but she didn't want to so we just committed her to praying once a day for 3 days that week. she said she would. we are meeting with her this friday! she is such a cool girl.

Another: Sidney. we went on splits a few weeks ago with some sisters that had to be in amsterdam for a few hours while their companions were at meetings and my companion and another sister found a guy named Sidney who is from Aruba while street contacting and he was super excited to talk about Christ and church stuff. so they got his number and gave him a book of mormon and told him they'd call him in a few weeks (he was busy with moving to another area of Amsterdam). so we called him up and made an appointment for last week  and it went really well. he was super excited about the book of mormon and actually before we even asked him if he wanted to be baptized, he was like "I really want to be baptized! I know I need to be baptized." and we were dumbfounded hahaha so we told him that as missionaries that's what we do, is help people prepare to make that covenant with God of baptism. So he said yes and said he's come to church (sometimes you can't get your hopes up too high with people saying they'll come to church because 99% of the people don't) but we prayed he would and had faith and he came! it was a good experience for him. He participated in gospel principles class and made some friends in priesthood. we have another lesson with him this week. Super cool guy. 

Last week we had a mission wide "hands to serve week" where we were supposed to try to get a service project every day and while we weren't able to do that, we had some cool opportunities to serve! we worked at a food bank one day and that was cool. then the next day we went to a place where they handed out the food to people and helped with that. super cool opportunity to serve this city!

this week we have been able to find a lot of new potentials. and we got a few other referrals! this city is just ripe with people that we are itching to get in contact with and teach and baptize! 

well, I hope you can all see the miracles that Heavenly Father blessed us with every day! They can be in the little things. That is something I have loved on my mission, is finding miracles in the little things. It really makes you a happier person, I promise. Remember: Alma 37:6

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!! Today we are going to the Van Gogh museum so that should be cool :) Have a lovely week!! be safe!!

Veel liefs, 

Zuster Brigette Harris <3

p.s. we chalked with Chi Chi and and Normen and it was cool (their mom is a less active member and we visit them a lot with the Zaandam elders). also we bike over that bridge a lot. and Foxy Doxey. 

 

 

Forget not to be happy now

 

Dearly beloved, 

This week was a great week of exchanges, service, contacting while biking, teaching, contacting, and more contacting :) we had some cool conversations with people on streets and at doors. We gave away Books of Mormon and testified of the truthfulness. Although the contact that hit me a lot was this guy named Peter who we met on the way to a dinner appointment. He said straight up that he was comfortable in his sins however he knew that Christ had died for his sins and that Christ was the only way to happiness, and yet he still tried to find happiness in these temporal things. My heart hurt for him. We testified of the happiness that the Book of Mormon brings and God's plan of happiness so boldly and I felt prompted to tell him that now was the time to stop living with this guilt and move on to greater happiness (he said in detail the things he's addicted to) and that more happiness lays in store for him if he'd just change. He said he didn't feel any guilt and that he was indeed happy. But deep down inside I could see that he was hurting. we just wasn't willing to make the change. he said it was too boring of a life to live the way we do, but that he knew that he would be punished for committing these sins with the knowledge that Christ made a way for him to change and he didn't accept it.  I wanted him to see that there was more to life than these things. I haven't felt so much sorrow for someone on my mission until I met Peter. It really changed my perspective of contacting. We talk to probably 250 people a week and most of them simply are not interested. but what they don't know is that what we offer, the gospel of Jesus Christ, can give them more happiness than anything else on earth could ever do. These people break my heart. But we keep going. we talk with people with love, sympathy, and a burning fire of a testimony. Then we invite them to try for themselves, gaining a testimony. That is all we can do. We can't force these people, however much we want to because we know it is for their good (dang free agency, haha) but sometimes we find people who are interested and that makes it all worth it. 

Last night our investigator Karlijn, who I hadn't even met, was on my mind. We couldn't get ahold of her for the longest time and tried going to her apartment but she wasn't home. Finally yesterday I told my comp we needed to go over again. so we went and she was home! she is such a lieve schat. She is dating a member and they are both in their young 20s. Karlijn loves going to church and reading in the Book of Mormon, but she wants to know for herself that baptism is the right thing. She'll come around :) and now we finally have contact with her! yay :)

That was pretty much our week...we had a few other lessons and they were great but we are really working on finding people that will keep their commitments and progress.  Pray for us that we will be able to find people searching for truth and that will make the covenant of baptism! These people need this happiness in their lives. 

I love you all. and the subject line comes from a talk called "Forget Me Not" by Elder Uchtdorf. Read it and let it change your life. That is all. Amen

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2011/10/forget-me-not?lang=eng

Veel Lieves,

Zuster Harris :) <3

all i did was trim my hair

Yo iedereen

well, this might be short, sorry :(

Hope you all have a great week! we sure did. last week we went to a museum about WW2 and that was super cool. and don't worry mom, I only ended up trimming a few inches on my hair ;) (i was very close to chopping it and donating it but didn't do that...) hahaha anyways, we had a cool lesson with our investigators walter and leila. they are so sweet and so interested in what we have to say and are very respectful. it's just hard to get them to church. they are so busy and working but we will keep trying. 

we also met with a suuuper sweet less active lady from Suriname. Love her! She loves her Heavenly Father so much and said some things I needed to hear. The Lord can answer our prayers through other people, I testify of that. 

Let's see...Ate bamboo last week at a member's house. she is from Thailand. she told us her conversion story (I LVOE to hear those) and it was so cool to hear how the Lord planned everything out in her life for her to find the missionaries. She is such a sweet heart! I sat by her in sacrament yesterday and she held my hand the whole time and cried tears of joy during testimony meeting. The member here are so solid. They are just amazing people. Imma cry just talking about them. They care for the 8 missionaries here and they love the Lord and do His work. I love this ward. also, yes bamboo is good. 

The elders investigator, Yvette, got baptized on Saturday. That was super cool. Baptism services are just so special. Was sure a motivation to me. 

This week was just good. Looking forward to another week of hard work and miracles. Pray for Zuster Doxey and I that we will find the people prepared to hear the gospel! love you all. Enjoy the pics. 

Veel liefs, 

Zuster Harris