Next transfer I'll most likely get a new companion and I guess I'll be considered trained because I'll have finished this 12 week program you study in the morning. Your second companion is called your breaker because apperently you have your preception of how missionary works set by your trainer and then your second companion does things differently and it throws you off, sometimes dramatically. So that'll be interesting. This morning I got up an did one of my favorites which is sorting through and organizing the piles and stacks of resources on and around the shelves in the apartment. I find this really interesting because I'll often find really old or cool or useful papers, books, cd's and other mission resources that missionaries have left. Today before we deep cleaned the apartment I finished off the last of the mysterious caches. I found among other interesting and sometimes useful materials a dutch language workbook, exactly what I had been thinking I wanted. I remembered how good I got at english grammar by filling out those big workbooks and I thought a dutch one would be super useful. Everyone says that dutch grammar is unusually hard and complicated, I think it's just really unusual. It's definitely much different, so it's just going to take a lot of practicing and study, and I'm excited. I'm so glad I have the opportunity of learning a language, it's really fun. I still haven't made goals for learning it, but I definitely have some pretty high expectations. I just love having church books in dutch and imagining being able to actually fully understand the more subtle, specific implications of the language, not just the general idea. So much opportunity, I must learn to balance and focus it all. Also I've been writing in my journal almost every day, it feels good.
This week we taught 10 lessons! That's a record. We also had three investigators in church. We got two new investigators this week (it's been a while since we had new investigators), both men which is good. Also justin (I think I told you about him earlier) came to church for the third time in a row, hungry to learn more and loaded with questions. I think I'm making progress and getting good at this. I just want to keep moving forward and giving more. Elder Isaksen's brother on his mission would get up at 5 in order to get to work earlier! There's no ceiling to how consecated you can become and it's so rewarding. I just feel good and I know things will continue to get more and more wonderful. I saw part Joseph Smith prophet of the restoration where he and those with him go through the ordeal in liberty jail. It gave me a glimpse at how horrible that was and how low they came during it. But afterward it said something I found really profound. Joseph said something along the lines of that "our hearts had become more tender' and it came to me that that trial was actually a blessing, they were rewarded with more tender hearts that could feel more deeply and exquisitely, something they couldn't have recieved any other way. It tied in with another quote from joseph smith where he said that if we are truely grateful for everything that happens to us, we'll learn and grow so much. To me this means that we should look at everything that happens in our lives as a blessing because everything that happens to us is sent by our infinitely wise and loving Heavenly Father therefore everything that happens, the bad and the good will teach us and lead us to who and what we need to be. It only requires us to trust the Lord enough and try to see how our adversities as well as our enjoyment that we expecience can all be taking for good. We must take everything for good, what I mean is be grateful and trusting that everything is for our own good. Sometimes that must not seem possible and I haven't been through hardly anything that felt too unbearable, but I know that because my Heavenly Father loves me he will send me sore trials in order for me to learn what can't be learned by good times, like Joseph Smith. I hope and pray and try to prepare accordingly so that I will be able to be grateful in all circumstances. I suppose you can never be sufficiently prepared, suffering is necessary to learn, but the main comfort and hope is that it will all be worth it.
Most of our time we spend in lessons or riding our bikes from place to place but lately we've been picking up on more contacting. We do it quite often when we don't have other plans. We have lots of other people we can look up though. Most of our investigators were found at the door. One of our newest we met when he was walking to his house near his house.
I love the pictures so much every time!
Hopefully I answered the questions well, I had so many emails today it was really nice! It's kind of a chore to do emailing, but it's really really enjoyable.
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