Genk Exchanges and Sacrament Meeting Singing

Geachte familie and vrienden,

We're still making progress! It's slow, as always, but we are getting Heerlen and surrounding areas taken care of. We had exchanges this week with Genk. I was with Zr. I. from Westminster, CO who is a swimmer (small world, huh?), Zr. N. was with Zr. B., who was in the MTC at the same time as me. We got a lot done, so it was awesome.

We've got some way exciting appointments set up for this week and the ward has been way helpful and supportive. It was a bit of a slow week in terms of lessons: only one. We haven't seen or heard from another investigator since Sunday, so we're disappointed about that. But we've got some awesome potentials/formers on the schedule for this week, so it'll be way cool.

You read that title right, we (Zr. N, Zr. S., and I) sang in sacrament meeting yesterday. Be Still, My Soul in Dutch. It actually sounded really good -- the Zr. S. is an awesome singer.

Thought for the week: I can testify and promise that there is no impossible mission or calling. Difficult, yes. Of course. Impossible, never. If you do your best, your mission/calling will be fulfilled exactly the way the Lord expects and wants. He will fit the task to your abilities, and He will also fit your abilities to the task. He will hasten your learning, He will heighten your capacity. We might not fulfill it in the way we want or expect, but He knew what He was doing when He called you. He will make everything possible that He has called you to do. This is His work, and He will make sure it gets done. So don't worry! Do your part, and He'll take care of all the rest.

Hope all is well,

Liefde,

Zuster Stevens

Zone Training and Belgian Trains

Hallo hallo,

This email is een beetje laat (a little late) because yesterday was Pinkster, a Pentacostal holiday that no one actually celebrates, but that shuts down the entire city. Quite literally. And we can´t use the computers in our church building (at least for now). So now we´re in Breda for district meeting using their church´s computers. Our district includes Vlissingen, Breda, Eindhoven, and us, so we´re pretty spread out, and we switch between having district meeting in Breda and having it in Eindhoven.

Highlights of the week: Zone Training! That was last week in Antwerpen and it was amazing. We talked a lot about the why of our missions and everything and it was great. We also had exchanges with the Antwerpen sisters, who are leaving this week, but who are amazing. I´m really glad I got to work with them both for a little bit. Coming back was an adventure! We decided to come through Belgium this time, having been told it might be faster, which it might have been if our train hadn´t broken down. But we were able to get on another train, so it worked out all right, we were just a little later than we'd hoped. But we had an investigator come to Church because of that day, so it was all worth it.

Dutch pannekoeken are pretty different from our pancakes. They´re a lot like crepes, and you put stuff in them. And they are super good.

Thought of the week: "Shining through all missionary service is the reassuring faith that the work is true and that the service being given is given unto God. Missionaries serve with faith in their hearts. It is a phenomenon of great power that quietly whispers, 'This cause is true, and to you there is an obligation to serve regardless of the cost.'"--President Hinckley

Love to you all!

Love,

Zuster Stevens

Hallo! From Heerlen

Greetings to my very favoritest family in the whole world, plus other faithful supporters,

Life is good in Heerlen! Despite the fact that we are not in Heerlen all that much (we've been doing lots of traveling), the work is picking up and doing just fabulously. We had two planned lessons last week and one impromptu lesson as well. One was with an investigator who is just golden. He has a super sincere heart and has been going to institute. Another was a referral from another city, and he was absolutely stoked when we contacted him. He is SUPER ready for the gospel. He has been through a lot, but has a ton of faith in Jesus Christ. He's also super smart and was taking notes during our lesson. Neither of them speak Dutch, which is actually rather nice for me. It probably delays much Dutch learning, but helps me get really good practice teaching.

We've got several lessons lined up for this week that we're pretty excited about. It'll be a little crazy because we've got Zone Training in Antwerpen on Thursday, and Sister N. has to be there the night before, but we've got an appointment that night. That'll be fine though, because we're going to exchange with the Antwerpen sisters Wednesday. So lots more traveling, but that's sort of normal here now. It is nice that it's possible to travel that much, because of the public transportation.

If you're wondering about what my area consists of, basically it's the whole province/area of Limburg. So that includes Roermond, Maastricht, Kerkrade, Heerlen, etc.

Map of the province of Limburg

Now, here are some of this week's miracles: We absolutely could not find a joint teach for one of our lessons, which we were really concerned about because then we would have had to find somewhere outside to meet and sometimes that doesn't go over so well. [Note: there must be 3 women to meet with a single man]. But then about 2-3 hours before our appointment, we called up this JoVo (young single adult) from our ward who just dropped everything for us and came, driving her own car. It's about a 30 minute drive too for her. Also, the lessons were pretty miraculous, with how excited they both were.

Scripture thought for the week: 3 Nephi 27:27 (what manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am). And just remember that this commandment IS possible, with the help of the Atonement. But ONLY with the help of the Atonement is it possible.

Love,
Zuster Stevens

Geachte familie,

I am currently sitting on a train hoping it will soon pull out of the Antwerpen Centraal station (usually their public transportation is super good, but our train's been delayed -- also, I think it's not as good in Belgium as the Netherlands). It was cool to visit Antwerpen today, even though we saw not very much besides the train station. By the way, the train station is huge (and beautiful  -- 4 floors of train platforms. Zuster N., my trainer, had to go to a district leader council meeting that involved the zone leaders, the district leaders and their companions, and us. We got up at 5:30 this morning, left at 6:30, and finally got to the church in Antwerpen at about 11:30. So, lots of travel. Normally it shouldn't have taken quite so long, but we had a few complications too. But it's fine, because I got to go to Antwerpen, which is a sweet city. Also, I got a chance to meet a few more missionaries here, which is always cool.  We're kind-of out in the boondocks, at least in terms of being far away from people. The closest missionaries are in either Eindhoven or Genk, about an hour away by train, so other than today (and on Wednesday & Friday when I met most of the other trainers), I haven't met too many missionaries yet. But we'll have district meeting tomorrow, so I'll meet a few more then.

Tuesday was Koninginnedag, Queen's Day. Also the day of the coronation. And that's what we flew into. There was a lot of orange all over in celebration. We all had interviews, went contacting in Leiden (we stayed in a hotel across the street from the mission office, because there was no room for us i the mission home [with 11 of us, I can imagine why]). And took a 2 hour nap. Then we opened our "calls" to our first areas. As I said, my first area is Heerlen. That includes Maastricht and clear up north to Roermond, and everything in between, so we're pretty spread out. Our ward has members in 3 countries -- Belgium, Nederland, and Germany. If ward members invite us to dinner, we can go to Germany, so that'll probably happen pretty soon. Apparently the Dutch accent is pretty weird here, being a mix of Dutch and Flemish, with German influences, but I'm so busy figuring out what they're trying to say, I can't really tell, to be honest. So I might speak pretty weird Dutch after I get transferred, but that's all right. Because our ward is a military ward, pretty much everyone speaks English, which is both nice and a bit of a drawback for my learning. But I just met another missionary who started out in Heerlen, and he apparently turned out all right, so I figure I'll be okay. The ward is great -- the members all love us and are way excited to have sisters. I'm pretty excited.

Part of the reason things have been a bit slower this weeks is because on Friday we had to go back up to Leiden to finish up becoming legal in the Netherlands, because the legality office was closed the day we got here, for obvious reasons. We'll get started for real here pretty quick, though.

Talking to people is definitely weird, especially with my limited language capacity, but people are pretty patient with me and mostly pretty kind. The Lord has been helping me a ton too -- so many tender mercies practically all the time.

It is so beautiful here. It really could be in a fairy tale or something. The architecture and countryside are something else. Everything is beautiful. Heerlen is the only area in the mission (at least in Nederland) that has any kind of hills. So that makes it harder to bike, but a lot more like home.

Funny occurrence of the week (or one of many): since they replaced Elders with Sisters here, we're living in a thoroughly Elder apartment, complete with little plastic army men all set up (no, I don't know where they came from) and a Nerf gun. And no food (although part of that was because they were closing the city indefinitely at the time). And until about a week or so ago, everyone thought sisters would be opening Hilversum and more elders could be going back to Heerlen. Accordingly, they decorated the new Hilversum apartment very appropriately for sisters and left Heerlen entirely alone. Well, they switched at the last minute, so Elder C. (from my MTC district) is opening Hilversum with pink duvet covers and I'm learning how to shower out of a hose (it is a shower, but the head came off and the hose doesn't hang up). It's cool though, because I don't like pink and our water is warm.

Sister N. is super cool. Everyone says we're super alike, and we are in many ways. We have lots of fun together and she's training me well. She'll have to be because out of necessity, I'll be training in just over 11 weeks. So I've got to learn fast.

That's good though, because it'll be evermore apparent how much this is the Lord's work and not man's. The Lord is hastening his work, which means that we have to do our best and prepare and work our hardest and then leave the rest up to Him. Whom the Lord calls, the Lord qualifies, and that is definitely and absolutely true here. That's true there too, so if you ever wonder about that, just read the old favorite, 1 Nephi 3:7 (And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.) And remember that in this work, whether it be your calling or your life, He will stand with you and walk with you every step of the way. Much success!

Love

Zuster Stevens

First week in the Netherlands!

Arriving in the Netherlands! Sister H., Sister Stevens, Sister M., Sister L., President R., Sister R., Sister B., Sister A., Sister W., Elder R., Sister M., Elder R., Elder C. (also from Colorado Springs)

First meal (pannekoeken) in the Netherlands, in the city of Lieden

This week has been an eventful week for me as well. I'm in the Netherlands for my first area, Heerlen. Clear down south. It is essentially an English ward because of the military people and nearly all the members speak English. It is in fact the ward a family from our ward lived in, and there are plenty of people still here who remember and love them, including our Bishop and his family. They had us over for dinner the other night.

I am doing very well. One of the families in the ward GAVE me a bike last night, which was super nice. I didn't get jet-lagged.

Meeting Sis. N.

My companion, Sister N., is awesome. She's from Herriman, UT and she's a professional speed-skater, or was, and is the coolest trainer ever. She's also a sister training leader, which is kind-of like a zone/district leader a little bit, which means we go to lots of meetings. Including one we just finished which is in Antwerpen, Belgium, which is where we are right now. Heerlen is awesome and the ward is spectacular. We've been a little slow getting started because we are reopening (the city has been closed for 3 weeks), but this week should be great. We've got 4 appointments. One drawback is that it's so far away from everything--3 hours by train to get to Leiden and 4 hours by train to get here. But I love it, and this week is just a little crazy. We'll get it all figured out soon.

The missionaries here are awesome, missionary work here and everywhere is awesome, life is great, and the gospel is true!

Thought for the week is found in the Bible Dictionary under grace and in Ether 12:27.
[Grace--A word that occurs frequently in the New Testament, especially in the writings of Paul. The main idea of the word is divine means of help or strength, given through the bounteous mercy and love of Jesus Christ. It is through the grace of the Lord Jesus, made possible by His atoning sacrifice, that mankind will be raised in immortality, every person receiving his body from the grave in a condition of everlasting life. It is likewise through the grace of the Lord that individuals, through faith in the Atonement of Jesus Christ and repentance of their sins, receive strength and assistance to do good works that they otherwise would not be able to maintain if left to their own means. This grace is an enabling power that allows men and women to lay hold on eternal life and exaltation after they have expended their own best efforts. Divine grace is needed by every soul in consequence of the Fall of Adam and also because of man’s weaknesses and shortcomings. However, grace cannot suffice without total effort on the part of the recipient. Hence the explanation, “It is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do” (2 Ne. 25:23). It is truly the grace of Jesus Christ that makes salvation possible. This principle is expressed in Jesus’ parable of the vine and the branches.]

[Ether 12:27: And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.]

Sorry I can't write out more, I'm out of time.

I love you all!

Love,
Zuster Stevens