Week 98: Lots of Service

Goedemorgen!

The sun is shining and summer is here! It is getting pretty hot, but it isn't really too bad. As for missionary work, this was probably one of the most difficult weeks I have had on my mission.
My whole mission I have been super used to "grinding" all day long, oftentimes meaning knocking with an occasional appointment in between. Here is has been pretty different with the combination of the Branch Council and Elder Blackwell. We spend a lot of time with the ward, attending the many activities, and strengthening the less active members, so that does fill in a lot of time I am used to spending on finding. And Elder Blackwell has a lot more of a laid back missionary style than me. So the pace of this week just really threw me off.
But what is still really surprising to me is that we still got a lot done, and found several new people who are interested. And now that Elder Blackwell and I have gotten through this first week and understand each other a little better, it will just keep on getting better.

We did a bunch of service for the ward this week, which was mostly just yardwork. We took out the entire backyard of the President Prins, which was quite satifying, and we worked on another member's yard with the youth.

I'm excited to see how this next week goes, especially since I don't have many left and I really want to make it count. Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Thornton

Week 97- Lelystad and the Branch Presidency

Goeiemorgen!

This week has been super cool! And really different from what I am used to. For most of my mission I have just hit the doors and streets super hard, just looking for those elect, but here we work a lot more with the members and spend more time with them. I like it, but I am still getting used to it. I'm certain I will able to a lot from the members here, my new area, and my companion.

My companion is Elder Blackwell. He is in the same group as me so we will both be going home together within the next 6 weeks. He from Canada, and he is a great guy! He does an excellent job here with the ward and I am excited to learn a lot from him.

I got to say goodbye to a few people this last week in Apeldoorn. I going to miss them! Bart and Remco are still doing really well, and as far as I know the baptism of Anita went through. I am excited to hear from all of the other missionaries how they are doing.

Fun fact about Lelystad:
Flevoland, the area/land/province that Lelystad is built on, is only 60 years old! They built the Dijks to keep the water from flooding Nederland (since most of it is below sea level) and then they filled in a HUGE area of the Ijsselmeer with dirt, and now we have Flevoland. That means Lelystad is super new, and not quite a picturesque as your average European City.

That is pretty much it for this week. Have a great week, and good luck with everything!
Love,
Elder Thornton

Familie Methorst in Apeldoorn! Last Dinner before I left

-Bert! One of my favorite investigators from my mission

Elder Blackwell hunting a "wild animal" during our hike with the Elders Quorum

 

Week 96: Last Transfer crazyness

Hallo!

This week was great! And filled with a lot of crazy stuff. We had Zone P-Day, MLC, exchanges, Mother's Day Skype calls, remodeling a member's house, and my last transfer calls.

And of course since I was planning on staying in Apeldoorn for my last 6 weeks, God threw me a good curveball to keep me on my toes. I'm being released as a Zone Leader and getting sent to Lelystad. There I will be serving with my companion Elder Blackwell as a Branch Counsellor, something that never happens on this mission because almost everywhere is a ward or has enough Priesthood holders. And what is even more exciting is that Elder Blackwell is in my group,  so President Bunnell told us that we have 6 weeks to reactivate 2 members to fill our places. Pretty crazy. We will be praying a lot this next transfer :).

I'm kinda sad to be leaving Apeldoorn, with all of our wonderful investigators,  and the incredible members. I will miss Bert and Remco, and I will also miss the baptismal service of Anita :(. But Elder Niederhauser and his companion will take good care of them.

As for the rest of the week I will just attach some photos and let them do the explaning.

-We did dodgeball for Zone pday. I thoroughly enjoyed it :)



-driving safely in the zone leader car :)


-destroying the drywall at a member's house

Week 95: Tulips!

Hey jullie!

I probably say this every week, but it was a really good week! It was vacation, so we were a little concerned with how many people we found and how many people were home since everyone here goes somewhere, but we saw some miracles and made quite a few solid new appointments.
We also had a Zone Conference combined with a trip to Keukenhof, the world famous tulip garden here in Nederland. It was super beautiful, and I got to spend my time there with Elder DuWors, my companion that I trained back in Antwerpen a little while ago. He told me that Tahir is reading daily in the Book of Mormon! Tahir is someone we met in Antwerpen, and has a really long story, and I can't explain it all here, but that is incredible! A super big miracle.

We went on exchanges with the Assen District Leaders a couple days ago, and that was pretty cool. We had some excellent appointments with Bert, who is still progressing to his baptismal date, Remco, and a few others. Even with all of the business with still managed to find multiple new people. One of them was Tom, a guy who was sitting out on his balcony. We had already walked past him on the other side of the street when Elder Kennell said,"I feel like we should talk to him, but now it is awkward." But since it always seems to be easier to follow someone else's prompting, we ran back to him, taught him about the Book of Mormon, and set up a return appointment to bring him his own copy and explain the Restoration. Pretty cool.

Church was also pretty fun. Remco and Nelson came, both regulars now, and Laurence also came. I'm not certain if I have already mentioned him, but he is interesting. Really smart, really socially capable, but pretty prideful. So that made Priesthood very interesting when the combination of him, a less-active but actually atheist member, and a deeply studied older member took over the lesson. I had to chuckle at least a couple times. People are funny, especially when they take themselves so seriously.

I hope you are all enjoying the wonderful spring weather, and that you are all getting excited for summer! Have fun!
Love,
Elder Thornton

Photos:
-Thinking about my best two years on The Best Two years bench

 - Mirror photo with Elder DuWors