Hey everyone! Sorry for not emailing on Monday. Last week during weekly planning Sis. Kimmons and I decided to change our P-day to Friday (today) so that we could go to the Corrie Ten Boom Huis (which is closed on Mondays - some of the coolest things to do are always closed on monday, unfortunately). Many people have told us that it is better than the Anne Frank Huis in Amsterdam so we're excited. :) We're going there after I write this email.
Oh, and just a little note, our mission office has to change buildings so starting 29 October this will be the new address to send me letters and stuff:
Schuttersveld 2
2316 ZA, Leiden
Netherlands
So I LOVE IJMUIDEN/ HAARLEM! Haarlem was actually one of my dream cities to serve in and even though we live in Ijmuiden we still get to do some work in Haarlem. And most of the members live in Haarlem so we're there multiple times throughout the week. It's so great, the members and the city are awesome. And if you are familiar with the movie "The Best 2 Years", Haarlem and the members of Haarlem are the ones who were in the film. It's funny because I've been asked multiple times by several members if I've seen the film and they all tell me the parts of the movie in which they were.
The past few weeks have been really great. We're always finding new little adventures to do as we do the work. There is bunker museum in Ijmuiden, where you can go through the bunkers that are still intact from the war. We are planning to do that one of these P-days. Time just feels like it keeps running out because we have so many things we want to accomplish.
I'm getting into the mode of Sister Training Leader - which means going to lots of meetings, careful detailed planning (i.e. bus and train schedules, etc.), and going on exchanges every week with the other sisters in my Zone. Luckily, I only have two other companion ships, one in Zoetemeer and the other in Den Haag, so I only have to go on exchanges once a week. Sometimes STLs have to do back to back exchanges. I actually don't mind exchanges, i really like them but I like working in my city with my companion more which was something I wasn't super enthusiastic about when I found out I was one. But I've learned to really love it and appreciate it. Plus, it's also fun going to other cities and getting to work with more sisters.
This week has just been a really good week. Tuesday, we had Temple Conference which meant that we got to go to the temple in Zoetemeer and then with two other zones got to have a very uplifting conference - just the spiritual boost you need to go through a transfer. It's always fun to see other missionaries you've served around and catch up.
There were a few things I took away from Temple Conference:
1. We had to take a 6.24 am bus in order to catch a train, which, when we got there, was cancelled. We were supposed to do a 9.00 am session but because we didn't have a train we had to do the second session. I was really frustrated because I knew we wouldn't have a lot of time in the celestial room (which we didn't, we only had about 3 minutes before we had to leave to go the conference). BUT! When I got there in time for the second session, one of the sisters came up to me and said, "I am so happy you are here. I was praying that we would be in the same session together!" My frustration completely left me and I became grateful. My prayer wasn't answered but someone else's was and I guess that was more important. Actually, one of my most favorite things is to be an answer to someone else's prayer. I just love being able to be a conduit of showing God's love for another person; it just feels really great.
2. Two quotes that were my favorite of the conference were:
"If you allow God to be a part of every aspect of your life, He will show you that you are capable in EVERY aspect of your life."
"You can count the number of seeds in an apple but you cannot count the number of apples in a seed."
Both reminded me of the testimony by one of the new Apostles, Elder Rutland, when he said, "[God] has not called you for what you've done, He has called you for what He needs to do through you as long as you do it His way."
It's something I've thought a lot about; and getting ride of my pride is also something that I've been really practicing. On my exchange on wednesday with one of the sisters from Den Haag, she asked me for advice on what to do when her companion says certain things that really make her frustrated. I told her that most of the time her reaction is directly related to your initial reaction to something you don't like. If I've learned anything by having to be with another person 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with out a single break is that it requires you to swallow your pride, retain your self-control, and really think about your reaction before expressing what you feel. How you react makes the biggest difference in finding a solution to a problem.
She said that she was an excellent communicator. So I asked her to give me an example of a situation. And instead of saying, "wow, you're actually not that good of a communicator as you think," I immediately prayed for a way in which I could help her understand another way to "communicate." I've learned that yes, when people (myself included) think that they are a good communicator it's often not the communication the other person needs. So, I've come up with my own way of reacting to people, which I call, "creative communication." Instead of saying proudly, "I'm a great communicator and people are just stupid when they don't understand what I mean," I've learned to understand how to communicate in such a way as to help other person truly understand what I mean. You just have to step down from your pride and get on their level. I've challenged all my sisters to try it and see the difference it makes in their companionship unity.
Annnnnnd unfortunately, as much as I would like to finish this, we have to run and catch a bus. Just email me back if you want to talk more about this. I love you all! See ya!
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