This week was interesting - Jul 25

This week was interesting nothing like we´ve planned. We had a lot of cancellations but it did not get me down! Mainly because we then got to see other people that we weren´t able to visit before as some of them left the country, others never opened the door but this week all of those people were there ;)

The Sanna´s dad is awesome!, he read out of the Book of Mormon and we watched the short restoration movie with him.  When it was finished, he got upset and said. "That was so short, I want to know more." So we then gave him the longer version to watch ad his oldest son told us that his dad and him watched it the next day and he loved it! i´m excited for this family, I really hope that the parents get baptized. The kids get really excited whenever we come over and the parents sit with us, i hope we can make this family an eternal family.

Mirvelle, our investigator, is doing so well, in our most recent visit she took out a notebook and wrote down everything we said and read. We also invited her to come to a ZHV (Relief Society) activity, a member picked her up and it was great to see the members interacting with her. The activity was really fun, we played pass the Spirit, a numbers game and cooked food together, I love Relief Society so much.

On Friday, we got locked outside of our study room (the doorknob fell as I was shutting the door). Now this wouldn't be so bad if both our phones were not in there and all of our important things. So, Zuster Jorgensen hopped on the back of my bike and I pedaled us to the Zone leaders as the Senior Couple wouldn´t have been home. Luckily they were able to save the day! We must have looked pretty crazy on one bike and wearing our helmets.

A Guyanese man came to church yesterday. I introduced myself to him and then he said: "You are a missionary right?" Me: "Yes." Man: "So you save souls."
Now that´s a cool investigator! A member invited him to come to church. He has come to our church about 5 years ago but he says he is now ready and wants to change his life around. He is in the Elders area, so unfortunately I wont be able to teach him, but i am just glad I was able to get to know him.




Hope everyone is doing well, I love you all!

Zuster Vernes

Week went by fast - Jul 18

Okay this week went by so fast, there were definitely ups and downs but I do not get discouraged! We need to have ups and downs so then we can appreciate the ups in our lives. I also appreciate the not so fun days because that means I get to rely more on the Lord to guide me to the elect.

Hugo still isn't coming to church, the reason: he needs to work on Sundays, which really sucks, if he comes twice to church he´ll be able to get baptized. He´s sad that he cant be baptized yet. We brought this issue up during District meeting and one of the Elders said that we should ask Hugo if there´s any way for him to find a different job. My companion and I prayed about it but we were not really planning to ask Hugo to find another job. On our next appointment with him the first thing he said was: "I want to come to church. I keep telling my boss that I cannot work on Sundays. I need to serve the Lord on Sunday. So  I found a different job and I can work there at the end of December."

Another great experience this week with Hugo was when we taught him about eternal marriage. We showed him a picture of the Salt Lake City temple and he was just fixed on it. He couldn´t stop starring at it. So, we asked him what he thought of the temple. He said: "Where is the temple in Suriname?" We: "Unfortunately Surinam does not have a temple yet." Hugo: "Why not? They should build a temple here, if they want, we need a temple."

Hugo is just awesome. I miss going to the temple. Luckily I do have the Sacrament, so I can renew my covenants that I have made. Do no take the temple for granted, it is the House of the Lord! If you have the chance to go visit the temple my advice is: GO!! If you feel you haven't felt the Spirit in a while...then go to the temple! I can promise you that you will feel the Spirit! It will overwhelm you, there is work to be done!! And all of you have the ability and time to go!

I love the gospel, I honestly feel so lucky being able to to share this with others. I am so lucky to be able to feel the Spirit every single day! I am grateful for everyone who has been such a great influence in my life. I just want you all to know that the Book of Mormon really is true. Don´t loose the light in your eyes. Too many people have sacrificed their lives just so we can now have the fullness of the gospel in our hands. It is a sign of love from our Heavenly Father.

Shevello, our recent convert is on ball, he´s doing so well, he finally got his own Book of Mormon and Bible on Sunday. During a lesson, he came up to me and held his new books up in the air with a wide bright smile! He is so happy!!

Hope everyone had a good week, I love you all so much!
Congrats Winnie, I´m proud of you and send me lots of pictures!

Magnify your callings in the church!

Love,

Zuster Vernes

Clapping game pictures July 11

I am being taught a clapping game,
 I´ll have to show you all when I´m back, its very hard.

Some one asked me this week...how long I´ve got left, and sadly its only 11 months! Man...I wish it would go slower!! But I do miss you all so, so its not like I dont want to see every one again. I just wish I could be here longer!1

Baptism of Shevello July 11

Shevello (10) got baptized on Saturday! His parents are non members, they do not come to church, its only him and his siblings. Any ways appointments fell through and we planned on getting him a date. As a joke I said: "How does 9th of July sounds?" We then thought about it and he has had all the lessons multiple times and he has been wanting to get baptized for years, his mom just didnt think he was ready yet. So long story short...we asked his parents and they said YES!! It was awesome seeing him getting baptized and he was/is so HAPPY!

Here is a quote from Brother Hendricks that I like. We ask him of how baptism changed his life. This is what he said: "Through baptism I received strength to progress in life." I thought it was very true, only through baptism we are able to understand and experience God´s power. It is the only way for us to progress spiritually when we keep our covenants.

I think our biggest success other than our baptism would have to be our less actives. We were able to reactivate 3 less actives on Sunday. A lot of them come to church again and so do our investigators. I cant describe how happy it makes me to see them at church.

I hope every ones week has been amazing! Love you all, speak soon!

Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July

Crazy but good week - July 4th

The Hendricks are the sweetest couple we teach she speaks Dutch and he speaks English, Brother Hendricks is the sweetest old man, he´ll just say how grateful he is for the gospel and for us coming and teaching them.

We´ve got an awesome investigator, Stefan, he reads his Book Of Mormon every day and wants to get baptized. He will be going to the Netherlands for 6 weeks, so we wont be able to see him, but we did leave him a bunch of verses. He got really excited and said: "Zusters, I´m going to read everything you give me because I know how important this is." He´s such a great example to me, I encourage all of you to read your Book of Mormon every day.

We had an awesome lesson with Mike, another investigator, this guy is so cool. He reads out of his Book Of Mormon, and comes to church whenever his free from work. When we finished our lesson we asked him if he had any questions. He then said yes: "What will happen to people that haven´t had the chance to get baptized and are now dead?" We gave him a Plan of Salvation pamphlet and told him well be able to speak about it more next week.

I also went on an exchange, let´s just say it was crazy and I got bitten by a hamster. We got stranded at a Chinese winkel (shop) so we bought ice cream and waited for the senior couple to rescue us. Whilst sitting in front of the winkel, we took the opportunity to contact quite a few people, which is always fun.

I have to tell you about Sunday, our investigator Ramona, bore her testimony which was awesome. She was the first person to get up and she pulled out her Book of Mormon, read a verse about faith and said that she knows that Christ lives and the Book of  Mormon is true. Sheffelo (10) who is not baptized, also bore his testimony and it was powerful. And then came Mario, he is a friend from a less active that we teach. I was able to teach Mario with Zuster Wood and Zuster Zeegelaar in my first transfer. He bikes to church and lives in Wanica, which is very far. He was disappointed that his friend did not come to church, so he told me he´ll bike to his friend after church and he´ll tell him to come to church!
My week has been crazy but also good. I hope everyone is enjoying their week.


                                                 I met Jeff´s Mission President!