April 28, 2014

Good day my loverly family and friends!  Well it's been quite the week!  Kind of stressful actually, BUT still amazing!  I don't have much time so I might keep it kind of short this week but i DO want to talk about the miracle of the week.  On Saturday the 26th of April 2014 our brother Abimbola Shabi Sulaiman otherwise known as Sule made a covenant with Heavenly Father.  It was BEAUTIFUL and then on Sunday he was confirmed a member of the church and recieved the Holy Ghost.  What a blessed moment it was!!  I am so proud of him.  He bore his testimony after his baptism and it truly was amazing.  What a blessing it is to be a part of these people's lives and their conversion!  Other than that I think I'll just go into the last half of the week since I already did the first half.

Donderdag- We went on exchanges and I was in Ghen with Zuster Watkins.  It was good but I sure did miss my people in Turnhout.  I did get to go to dinner at Blessing's though.  Man do I love her!!!  She's amazing.

Vrijdag- Reunited and it's a good thing.  Also I finally got my package YAY!!!!  We teach a referral Stef and he's SUPER cool!  I'm excited to teach him more.  He's kind of like a mini version of Tommy haha.  Speaking of Tommy we have a lesson with him at the Peeters house after dinner and we bust out the ressurection.  Man it feels so good to correct false indoctrination!  Also we taught Sule for the last time as an investigator!

Zaterdag- Sule's baptism.  It was wonderful.  It's amazing how stressed you feel trying to get everything ready and then the peace you feel as it all just falls into place.  Then we went and helped the branch paint for the road show set and then we had lessons with Jobe and Maria with President Peeters.  

Zondag- Sule was confirmed and it was a beautiful blessing!  We went and taught Greet and then also Gertje and then we finished up or worked on finishing up weekly planning and then taught Maria.  What blessed people.

Wonder of the week was definitely seeing Sule make a covenant with Heavenly Father.  He was soo ready and it was an amazing experience

Ok I'm runnning out of time so I've got to run but I can't wait for this week!  We are going to the temple and also the Keukenhof this Wednesday and also we are staying in Zoetermeer so I get to go see Rens!  AHHH!!! I'll have lots to tell for next week I'm sure.  I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful week!!  Also I'll send pictures of Sule's baptism next week.

Veel liefs,

Zuster Mizell

April 23, 2014

Well hey there my loverly family and friends!  It's Wednesday!  Wierd right!?  You may be wondernig why we changed our P-day to Wednesday and there are several reasons.  One is because monday was Tweede Paas daag (second easter day) and so no stores were open and the library wasn't open and so forth and also two because we wanted to go to the playing card museum and they are never open on mondays.  Well it's been a good and crazy week!  I'll try to go into details but there is just sooo much to tell.  First off; SULE IS GETTING BAPTIZED!!!! WOOOOOOO!!!! I am literally SOOOOO excited!  Also my birthday was wonderful and of course Easter as well. Ok into the week we go.

Maandag: After emailing we went to the carnival in Geel and rode some rides and it was SUPER fun!! Then we went to Stefaan's for FHE and ate cotton candy yum!

Dinsdag: Went to district meeting and then had a lesson with Emilia and a super long but good lesson with Tommy =)

Woensdag: We went on exchanges so Zuster Larsen came here to Turnhout.  We taught Mia and then Sule and Zuster Kokx and then Jobe and then we went to familie Van den Berg with Joana.  Oh those blessed people!  They are soo good and they just share the gospel and helped Joana and they have the CUTEST twins =)  Then we had correlation at the church.

Donderdag: Exchanged back and I was super glad to have my Zuster back.  I love her!  We had a good lesson with Mia and then biked for FOREVER looking up inactives in Vosselar and Veerse.  Then we had dinner and another lesson with Tommy then one with Filip and then Jobe and Amusa.

Vrijdag: We taught Roberto and he is soooo cool!!!!  He's super sincere and wants to be baptized!  Then a great lesson with Sule and then Emile.  Then Sule had his baptismal interview and passed with flying colors!  Then we ran to a baptism for one of the ward family's son.  Then we had a lesson with Jobe.

Zaterdag: Taught Roger and then we cleaned like crazy for our cleaning inspections and we passed whew!  Then we taught Mia and Emilia and then we worked on weekly planning.  Also we baked a chocolate cake for my birthday =)

Zondag: I came upstairs and Zuster Otteson had decorated for me =)  What a sweetie!  Then we made pancakes and ate them with REAL maple syrup!  Then we had church and it was wonderful!  I felt lots of love from the members and also from investigators.  We had a lesson with Tommy and he gave me some chokotoffs which are delicious and then we went to Mia and her family told her if she gets baptized they won't talk to her anymore =(  That was soo sad.  Theln we went to Familie Klas for dinner and they had put up a sign and made me some cards and then they had bought me this really lekker cake =)  Then we went home and celebrated!  I opened all my packages and then popped all the balloons with 21 reasons why Zuster Otteson loves me.  And then I blew out candles on my cake and then we popped open some sparkling cider since I did turn 21 after all!  It was wonderful!  A GREAT birthday!

Maandag: We basically spent all day inside finishing weekly planning ugh then we taught Jobe a short lesson and then we had FHE with Stefaan and Tommy came =)

Dinsdag: District meeting and then a lesson with Joana and José.  They are actually doing better than we thought!  Then we ran to Correlation and then had branch counsel after that and then went to Mia.  Also I left my grey folder on the bus with like ALL my important missionary things so that was a huge bummer =(

Vandaag: I took a nice nap and then we went to the playing card museum and it was SUPER cool!!!!!!!  Basically all of the cards we ever play with are made in Turnhout!  Who knew!?!  So the guy gave us a tour and then gave us some free cards and then some more free cards and then some free Uno cards and then I bought some beautiful Monet cards and it was just a blast!

Wonder of the week: I think the love that I felt from everyone on my birhtday was a pretty big wonder also I discovered this video and it's beautiful and I think it changed my life Because of Him

Grapje from the week:  I think was when we found this pad like for a woman in Amusa's tiny apartment and then I picked it up and asked him what it was for and he freaked out and was like "laat het staan!  laat het staan!"  Which means leave it there leave it there!!!!  Haha it was hilarious!

Dutch lesson: ingewikkelde ( in-ge-vi-keld) It means complicated but it sure is fun to say!  

Geestelijke toutje: I am soo grateful for the mondern day revelations that we have.  There are so many things that don't make sense without the modern day revelation that we have.  I love this gospel!

Ok that's all for this week!  I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!

Veel liefs,

Zuster Mizell

Pics

1. At the carnival

2. Cotton candy

3. Large Tulips

  3 Attached Images

Goed Middag iedereen!  Hoe gaat het met jullie allemaal?  Het gaat heel erg goed hier in Turnhout.  Wij warren in Antwerpen van ochtend om een zone P-day te hebben en wij hebben voetbaal gespeeld.  Ik ben heel erg met voetbaal spelen haha.  

Ok but seriously hey jullie!  Props to anyone that takes the time to try to translate that first part.  If you don't that's ok it doesn't say anything too important.  So this week was another fandidelystastic one!  Working here in Turnhout is such a huge blessing.  Seriously I LOVE these people and also my sweet lovely companion Zuster Otteson!  Life is pretty much just wonderful all around =)  Ok so I think I'm going to add a couple of new things to my weekly emails regularly including the weekly downlo.  I'm going to do wonder (miracle) of the week grapje (funny thing) of the week, a Dutch lesson, and een geestelijke toetje (spiritual treat).  We'll see how this all works out haha.  Ok so onto the week.

Maandag- No FHE with Stefaan BUT we did go to familie Germaan and it was super great =)  We had dinner and then played a game and watched a conference talk in Portugese which was cool.  Then it poured on us on the way home haha

Dinsdag- District meeting took most of our time but it was good.  We forgot the phone to make calls which was NOT good haha.  Then when we got home we had to make a ton of calls and then we went to Famile Janssen Sr. for dinner and we helped her make a Mormon.org Profile.  It was fun!  Then we played dress up with them at the end haha will include pictures. 

Woensdag- Busy day, yay!  Had a lesson with Amusa he is really ready to progress =) Then we had a lesson with Emilia, Mia, and Zr. Kokx.  At the lesson with Mia we took ALL of her coffee and tea with us with the promise to bring her the stuff she can have the next day. We also had a lesson with Sule but it didn't go that great.  Then we had a great lesson with Jobe and we basically learned all about the situation Amusa is in.  It's pretty sad but we are going to try and help him out of it.  Then a lesson with Tommy =)

Donderdag- Another busy day but a day of miracles!  We had a lesson with Mia where we brought her her new grain coffee and herbal tea and she loved it!!! She said it was more lekker than the other stuff anyway and then she said a prayer that she could live it for the rest of life!  Then we had a quick lesson with Dymphna and then Sule.  Went to Emilia super quick and watched a talk from conference the day before in Romainian.  The day before it hadn't been translated yet but then it was it was a huge miracle! Then we had a lesson with Magda and Patrik the memeber referral and it went beautifully!  It was soo good and they agreed to be baptized =)  Then we had a lesson with another referral Dennis and he is just the sweetest guy and he just wants to get closer to Christ.  We also met with this other woman that Zuster Otteson sees everywhere.

Vrijdag- We did weekly planning and we actually got it all done in one day!  WHOOOO!!!!  Then we had a good serious lesson with Sule about being baptized and how it's a commitment for the rest of your life.  He says he's ready =).  Then we had a great lesson with Mia and then dinner and then a great lesson with Jobe!

Zaterdag- Good lessons with Roger and Tommy.  Had a serious talk with Tommy about being baptized.  He still hasn't gotten his answer yet.  Then we went and had another lesson with Dennis.  Then Jobe and then we went and found Rafael.  That was really good.  Also my bike broke =(

Zondag- Fast sunday and practically the whole branch fasted for our investigators!  Jobe, Sule, and Tommy all came to church =).  Then we had a lesson with Mia where she got a blessing and it was soooo sweet!  Went by Emilia really quick and she was so different when we left so much happier =)  Then dinner with Familie Van Gijssel and then Broeder Van Kerckhoven came and fixed my bike =)  YAY!!

Ok so new stuff!

Wonder of the week: The biggest miracle this week was I think Mia.  She gave up all of her coffee and tea and totally embraced the word of wisdom!  She is an amazing woman who is following her heart and the Spirit even when her whole family was against her.  And she got a blessing that said she would heal enough to be baptized and that she gained a testimony of the Book of Mormon =)

Grapje for the week:  Jobe still calls it the Movement and it's hilarious haha

Dutch lesson: Gezellig ( guh- zell- ig with the hard dutch g)  This is my favorite Dutch word because there is no real translation in English it just means like everything wonderful in the world =)

Geestelijke Toetje:  This week I bore my testimony on how we can change through the Atonement.  It's amazing because we can feel like it's impossible to change but through the Savior and His Atonement we can become exactly who he wants us to be. 

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=2649250159001

Well I think that's about it for this week.  I love you all!! I hope you have a wonderful week and Easter and the next time I'll be writting I'll be 21!!!!  WHOOOOO!!!!!

Veel liefs,

Zuster Mizell

1. Me and Zuster Otteson playing dress up at the Janssens

2. Mia with her new coffee and tea

3. Jobe

  3 Attached Images

April 7, 2014

Well well well mijn chilé!  It's been another week!  And a crazy one at that!!  So Zuster Anjewierden has officially left me in Turnhout and Zuster Otteson had come to join me.  Saying goodbye to best friends is hard BUT the good news is, is that President Uchtdorf told us that there aren't really any endings, just temporary pauses =)  But of course Zuster Otteson is a lovely and great person!  I guess I'll just go ahead and get started on the week!

Maandag- We had FHE at Stefaan's per usual and it was great.  He gave this great lesson on working in unity.  Afterwards we caught the bus and then by and saw Emilia.  Love that woman.  

Dinsdag- Man this was a pretty hectic day.  We had District meeting and it was our last one as our district.  But we did get some good pictures! Then we went and did some quick shopping because we didn't have any money the day before.  Then we had a lesson with Tommy and then quickly with Mia and then ate pizza while biking to a lesson with Sule.  He wasn't there though and a member had come for a joint teach.  We were pretty dissapointed.  Then we went and stopped by Emilia again and then went to Branch counsel.  It was I think the worst branch counsel of my misson.  We both left there crying our eyes out.  Then we went to stop by Jobe but he was late coming home from Antwerpen so we didn't end up seeing him.  So we went home.  Cried some more and held each other and then started on the millions of things  we needed to do.  Zuster An finishd packing and I tried to help and then I cleaned our whole apartment and then worked on the Area Book.  I didn't get to bed until 2 am and I felt the effects of it ALL week long!  Never again.

Woensdag- We got up at 6:30 and rushed to the station to see Jobe before work.  Then went back got ready and then Isaac helped us take Zuster An's luggage to the bus stop.  Then at 10:30 I said goodby to her as she left on a train to Nederland =(.  Then we waited there until 4 when the rest of the missionaries came in.  I rushed with Zuster Otteson back to Turnhout and we had a lesson with Emilia then dinner with Familie Van Der Waard and then a lesson with Jobe and then Mady.  It was a long day

Donderdag- Zuster O aka Blessing came from Ghent and worked with us the whole day!  It was pretty fun!  We had a lesson with Mia and then Amusa who really opened up to us and said that he wanted to be taught and learn more =).  Then we talked quickly with Natasha and knocked some doors while waiting for Sule.  Had a good lesson with Sule, then Joyce and then Tommy, and Jobe.  It was a good but long day.

Vrijdag- Had another lesson with Mia and then went to Familie Van Steenbergen and taught Magda the referral they gave us.  It went really well =).  Lesson with Zuster Kokx and then Emilia and Sule.  Dinner and then Tommy.  I sure do love these people!

Zaterdag- Worked on weekly planning in the morning and then had a lesson with Roger and then Mia.  We then went to Familie Arts for dinner and also to watch the first session of General Conference.  Afterwards we had Correlation.  Good people!

Zondag- First we went to Zuster Van Der Waard with Mia and watched the Woman's session.  Then quickly went Emilia.  She's not doing too well with stopping smoking =(  Then we went to Zuster Smets and watched the saturday afternoon session with her and Tommy.  Then we took the bus to Familie Nwafor and watched the sunday morning session with Jobe and Amusa.  Overall it was a great week!

So my favorite talks so far are the ones by President Uchtdorf and Elder Bednar.  They are sooo good!  I am so grateful for General Conference and the opportunity we have to learn from the prophets and apostles.  They truly are inspired of God!!!!  I hope you all have a fantastic week!!

Love,

Zuster Mizell