Well I only have like 17 mins left to write and I realized that I hadn't written my weekly letter yet.  So unfortunately this one will be pretty short.  Let me just start off by saying it has been a great week!  I have felt all of your prayers in my behalf and it really has made ALL the difference.  Being a missionary is harder than I ever imagined but it's so worth it.  We are really working on finding the people in Zoetermeer that are ready to here the gospel.  We are working right now with two investigators.  One eternal investigator Rens who hopefully will actually stick to a baptismal date and then a newer investigator Luisa we found knocking doors.  Dutch people just take a really long time making a careful decision but once they decide they are set for life.  Also hopefully we will have a new investigator Angelo on Wednesday when we teach him.  Well the weather here is finally warm for the first time in a LONG time.  Our apartment hasn't had heat for the last 3 weeks so we've been freezing!  I'm actually surprised I still have my fingers and toes by now.  Today we are visiting Delft a cute little town which should be fun.  This weeks should be great!  We are starting to work with each of the families in the ward to create their own family mission plan to really get the work rolling here.  I can't believe it's already summer at home and everyone is out of school.  They have pretty much year round school here.  Well I love you all!  Thank you again for all your prayers and support, they do make a difference.  Tot later!

 

Zuster Cassie Mizell

Hallo familie!  Wow what a week!  As the title says haha.  I can honestly say that this week has been full of ups and downs but what mission isn't?  So Let me think if I can remember the week.  Ok on Monday we did shopping. YAY shopping!  I bought two movies Rio and Anastasia in Dutch!  I of course can't watch them here but one day my kids will watch them and learn Dutch.  I really want to get some of my favorite Disney movies in Dutch though because you just can't find them anywhere else.  Let's see Tuesday was a good but hard day.  Zuster Rigdon had to try and go to the doctor because of her ear.  So the way it works here in the Netherlands because its a socialist country is you can only go to the health clinic you are assigned to by residence. Well we went and they weren't even taking new patients.  So President and Zuster Robinson came to pick us up and took us to an ER after hours and she had to pay 85 euros for a consultation!  WOWEE!!  It was expensive.  I can honeslty say after experiencing both socialist medicine and the kind we have in America I really do prefer the way it is at home.  But the people here love it and that's all that matters.  So because we went to the ER that night we got to eat dinner at the mission home with President and his wife.  So it was just the four of us so that was really nice =).  Oh also that day in the afternoon the Elders came and we did blitz were all four of us went tracting.  We didn't find anyone from it but it was still fun.  Ok Wednesday was probably the best day so far in my mission!  It was a day full of miracles!  We had exchanges so I was here in Zoetermeer with Zuster Schwab who is great!  We found and talked to quite a few potential investigators so we will have to see where that leads.  I learned a lot from her that day.  Also we had a really great lesson with our new investigator Luisa.  We met her door contacting the week before on exchanges.  It was a powerful lesson and I'm excited to teach her again!  Also we had a fun dinner with the Ramen van Eden familie that night and then we had a great lesson with a less active member Zuster Uljee.  I just love her to death!  She's such a fun and sweet lady!  Alright Thursday was another one of those really tough days.  It rained ALL DAY LONG.  Oh also some bad news, my "raincoat" that supposedly is waterproof isn't.  Bummer I know.  I have to buy a new raincoat here if I don't want to be soaked again.  Also it was just so cold I started crying at some point because I couldn't feel my hands haha.  Oh but we had a GREAT dinner with the familie De Jong from the word.  SO great oh and funny story.  Zuster Rigdont got up from the table but her skirt was so wet and so heavy that it didn't come up with her!!!  We all laughed so hard!  Ok so Friday was zone conference which was wonderful!  We talked about what being a successful missionary means, about personalities and how to strengthen them for the mission, and then about our goals as a zone and as a mission.  It was a good way to recharge my battery.  Also it was really fun to meet all the missionaries in my zone.  Also Zuster Robinson's birthday and President's birthday are a week apart so someone made them a beautiful cake and cupcakes and we had gifts so it was a fun party!  Saturday we tracted and tried to talk to people at this little fair thingy going on.  That didn't really work haha.  But we did try talking to people about family history and that did seem to work!  We will probably use it more often.  Also at the end of the day we met Mingming from China.  She's really sweet and very interested in family home evening.  She wants to hold one with us there.  She's buddihst and has an adorable daughter.  Sunday was pinksterdag which means Pentacostal day.  They celebrate more holidays here than I've ever even heard of!  Also all their holidays last three days long so nothing is open today.  It's kind of obnoxious.  Anyway all the talks at church were about the Holy Ghost and that's about all I got out of it haha.  Oh but in RS it was about the temple and I made a comment.  SCARY!  Then we had a lunch appointment with the Engelbrecht familie and then dinner with familie Lake.  So every member familie I meet here I just fall in love with!  I love the ward in Zoetermeer!  I will try to send some pictures home today but since everything is closed it may have to wait until next week.  Well I love you all!  Tot ziens!

 

Liefde,

Zuster Mizell

Hallo familie!

Wow it feels so wierd because I feel like I was just talking to you!  Oh wait I was haha.  I wonder what time it is there in America right now.  Well it's 2:15 here so it must be....... 6 in the morning there.  It's weird sometimes to think how far we are apart and how it's a different day there sometimes.  Well it was just jolly and wonderful to talk to you all yesterday!  Boy do I love seeing your faces!  Even though they all looked so tired from having to wake up and talk to me so early haha.  Well the news since I've last talked to you is pretty scarce.  My companion was still pretty sick so after she finished talking to her family we just ended up going back home.  It was only an hour before we were supposed to go in anyway.  I did lots of cleaning and took care of her while she laid in bed.  Then today we slept in very late! =O  Not so good since we really aren't supposed to do that as missionaries.  And by sleeping in very late I mean like 4 hours.  But it was really good for my companion so she could heal.  She is feeling much better today since a lot of the stuff in her ear drained our last night EWW!!  But now she is not in so much pain which is really great.  The greatest feat, wow how do you even spell that word, will be for me not to get sick now.  But I've been ok so far so keep me in your prayers! 

So today we went grocery shopping always a source of pure enjoyment!  No really!  And our fridge officially looks Dutch!  What does a Dutch fridge look like you may ask, well let me tell you, basically it is just filled with drinks!  We bought 3 liters of juice and have like 6 cartons of milk.  The only thing we are missing in our fridge to be truly Dutch is fla.  Let me tell you about fla.  Everyone here in the Netherlands eats it, it's pretty good, it comes in many different flavors, and basically it's just a thinner pudding that comes in a carton.  Also we only spent 12 euro on groceries yay!  So today I had like a worst hot dog for lunch which was so good and I think we are going to look for stroop waffles or get ice at zinn's.  Oh so ice is ice cream here and Zinn's is the BEST ice cream place probably in all the Netherlands.  Also I think we are going to do a bit of winkelen which means shopping in Dutch.  Isn't that just an awesome word for shopping!?  I love it =)

We have a pretty fantastic week planned and I am excited!  We got 2 new investigators last week and have a total of 4 now which is pretty good compared to the zero we had 2 weeks ago.  We are going to try lots of different ideas for contacting each day.  So each day we are going to try a new idea like one day we are just going to talk about Mormon.org, another day we are going to show the church DVD's, another day we are going to share the family a proclomation etc.  I'm way excited to see what happens!  Also the DL's are coming down to Zoetermeer to do a blitz which means we just have twice as many missionaries to go out and find people which is awesome and then on Tuesday night the Zusters from Harlem are coming down to do splits so again we will have twice as many missionaries finding and doing the work here in Zoetermeer.  It's going to be an AWESOME week full of miracles.  I can just feel it in my bones! 

Well I am planning on sending my package to you guys today so I really hope it doesn't cost me an arm and a leg!  People here say that packages sent to America are REALLY expensive so I'm pretty nervous!  Well I think that's about all I have to say for this week.  I am excited to continue working and let you know how it went this week.  I hope you all have a wonderful week!  I love you!  You are all in my prayers!  Oh and don't forget to write me letters!  Here is my address again like you asked:

Zuster Cassie Mizell

Savelsbos 187
2716 HJ
Zoetermeer
Netherlands

Liefde,

Zuster Cassie Mizell =)

Dear Parents:  

Your son or daughter has arrived and all is well.  We picked them up at the 
airport Tuesday morning at 8:30 am.  We brought them to Leiden but our Mission 
Office is not big enough for the orientation, trainings and interviewing--AND--the 
mission home is not large enough to have this many stay, so we used the Tulip 
Inn across the street from the Mission Office.  We checked them in and got right 
to work with orientation and interviews with President.  After lunch of panne 
koeken,  we finished interviews and they went street contacting.  They are 
amazing!  We then let them have a nap and at 6:30 pm we had a wonderful dinner 
at the hotel with a fireside and testimonies.  Last of all they opened their 
'first call' letter to find out who their trainer would be and where they would 
be serving.  They were in bed by 10:30 pm.  At 9:00 am Wednesday morning, the 
AP's trained them.  At 10:00 am, they met their new companions and spent 45 
minutes hugging, talking, laughing and learning about the mission.  We trained 
on the 12 week program,  and had lunch together.  They all headed to the Mission 
Office to pick up phones, keys, etc.  Then, two by two they left with all their 
baggage over to the train station to head off to their new assignment.

Sister Stevens is serving in Heerlen with Sister Nielsen
Sister Anjewierden is serving in Dordrecht with Sister Townsend
Sister Meier is serving in Den Haag with Sister Juchau
Elder Rudolph is serving in Emmen with Elder Pitchforth
Elder Carter is serving in Hilversum with Elder Mortensen
Elder Robinson is serving in Vlissingen with Elder Mathis
Sister Wood is serving in Haarlem with Sister Schwab
Sister Hudson is serving in Groningen with Sister Jones
Sister Mizell is serving in Zoetermeer with Sister Rigdon
Sister Larson is serving in Amsterdam with Sister Hinchcliff
Sister Brown is serving in Genk with Sister Israelsen

Here are two pictures of the fun!  I will get all the picture on the blog ASAP.  
belgiumnetherlandsmission.blogspot.com   And our personal thank you for your 
wonderful missionaries.  President and I truly feel that the future of the 
mission is in great hands!

Brenda Robinson
Belgium Netherlands Mission
0031 6 52 33 89 50

Geliefde familie,

WOW!!!  I can't believe I'm actually here!!  It's crazy it doesn't even feel real!  I absolutely love it!  So it's been a long week or so.  On monday we boarded the plane and then we got to the Netherlands on Tuesday morning about 8 a.m.  So our Presdient and President's wife along with the office elders were there to meet us.  We went to a hotel called the Golden Tulip it was really nice.  There were too many missionaries in our group so we couldn't stay at the mission home.  We did some legal stuff and then we went and got our first Dutch meal, pannekoeken and it was delicious!  Then we went and took a picture by a windmill, very Dutch!  Then we did more legal stuff, interviews with President and then we prosilyted, I don't think that's how you spell it haha.  It was hard and I was SUPER nervous!  Then we got to take a nap which was really wonderful!  I needed it!  Then we had the most delicious gourmet Dutch meal and dinner.  Actually just all the food at the hotel was REALLY good!  Then we got our new call letters and had a short testimony meeting.  I was called to the town of Zoetermeer!  And my trainer is Zuster Rigdon.  Yes she is actually related to Sidney Rigdon, but distantly.  The next day we had like a conference thing and then I met my new collega.  I love her, she is just amazing!  She is so funny and she has been teaching me a lot.  So after lunch we went to my new apartment.  It's pretty nice.  I haven't taken any pictures of it, but it's nice.  So in Zoetermeer the work hasn't been going so great so when I got there we had no investigators.  We worked our little bums off for the last 5 days and we have one new investigator and 3 more good potentials!  In total we contacted something around 130 people in the last 5 days.  So I'll just kind of do the highlights of the last week because I don't have a lot of time.  First of all riding a bike in Europe is not as glamourous as I originally thought.  I had what they call here "greenie bum" becasue your bum gets sooooo sore after the day.  It hurt very much but now I have already become pro at biking!  Oh so funny story.  So here they have a really cool way of getting on their bikes.  They like scooter with their leg on one petal and then swing their other leg over.  Anywy it's very efficient for getting on with a skirt so after tracking in an area one day I was trying really hard to do the scooter thing and failing pretty miserably.  This Dutch man unloading a truck sees me and finally stops what he's doing.  He goes to my companion and asks if it's my first time ridding a bike.  She proceedes to tell him what I am trying to do but apparently he doesn't understand because he then begins to give me bike lessons.  Showing me how to get on and then "you just go" this is all in Dutch of course so I don't really understand anything.  He rides my bike around for about 5 mins and then tells me how to get on and then guides me.  He was pretty pleased with his lessons because I was ridding pretty well.  Then he told me to "terug" which means come back but it was too small of an area to turn so I proceeded to crash making it look like I really didn't know how to ride a bike haha.  All this time my collega is just watching and laughing.  It was pretty funny.  Dutch is very hard.  I try really hard to understand but the people here talk so fast.  Yesterday was my first Sunday in Dutch and I'm pretty sure I got about less than 10 percent of what was said.  I had to give my testimony and all the members said I did really good.  SO apparently I can speak pretty well.  Dutch people just tell you how it is so if I spoke poorly they would have told me haha.  On Wednesday we had my first dinner with a member family, familie Vis.  They were very nice and they had a friend visiting from America so it was all in English whew!  So in my little town is the temple.  We went and saw it on my first day.  It is beautiful!  But I don't get to go because it isn't open on Mondays.  The ward here doesn't have church because they gave up their building to have the temple built there in like 2005.  They meet in an office building right now, but they are building a beautiful new stake center in their town that should be finished in about a year.  It can be really hard doing missionary work.  Some days it feels like we didn't get anything done.  It's hard having people slam doors in our faces or be really rude to us.  It's also hard not understanding and feeling like I can't contribute as much as a want to.  But when we find that ONE person that says they are interested in learning more, it makes it all worth it.  I love missionary work, and I definitely LOVE the Netherlands!  I will try to send some pictures today but I only have 33 minutes left.  Oh by the way the weather has been great!  It's been sunshine and pretty warm for the most part every day!  I don't even notice the humidity but I'm sure I will once it gets hot and then when it's really cold as well.  Well I love you all and I hope things are going well at home! 

Liefde,

Zuster Cassie Mizell