DEFTIG WEEK!

OOOH Mijn Geliefde Familie,

 

                Familie, familie, familie! Family I got a lot of your letters this last week and let me just say, THANK YOU. It was so nice to finally get some mail/news from home after a long 2/3 weeks! oh and also let me say.... GO UTESSSSSS! You guys acted all surprised that they won and that they have won the past 4 years... WELL HELLLO?!?!? Its freakin Utah we ain't got time to play with cougars! WE BE IN DA PAC 12 SONNN! hahah so GO UTES BABY! Its pretty weird for me to think that the next time they play I will have been home for a year.. FREAK! pretty "gek toch"?! But yeah I'm sure you all enjoyed that game, just know that while you were all enjoying the game... yeah I was working my butt off in Nederland! haha

 

            But yeah anyways familie this week was a good/rough/normal week of missionary work here in Eindhoven. Last Wednesday I actually went on splits with a new missionary in a city called Heerlen and it was one humbling/awesome experience! The Elder I went on exchanges with was Elder Hunt and he is one of the thirty new missionaries we received at the beginning of this transfer, meaning yeah he spoke about 2 words of dutch. So for a full two days I was speaking non-stop dutch as we did 5 hours of finding in the pouring rain - knocking about 100 doors and teaching a cool spiritual thought with some members. It was humbling because when I say we did 5 straight hours of finding in the pouring rain I mean we legit walked around a city for 5 hours talking to anyone we saw on the street and knocking on every door we came in contact with for 5 flippin hours! No joke. And guess what... out of the 5 hours we spent in the freezing cold rain not one person let us into their house and only one person said we could come back...(gotta love Europe)! but you know what, it was so humbling and honestly looking back I am so grateful for that opportunity and the opportunity I had to grow as a missionary. The Lord just loves to put me to the test that is for sure.

 

         On a brighter and happier note of missionary work, Elder Cockbain and I did probably one of the coolest things in the mission world this week... Well we received a headquarters referral this last week of a less active who wants to come back to church. Well turns out this less active lives about an hour train ride away from Eindhoven in a city called Venlo (about 6 kilometers from the Germany boarder) so we planned and used our time wisely to go look him up. We had a super cool lesson with him and it ended up going pretty long. But yeah he told us he is going to come to church and that we should also plan to go back later this week!

 

       So that's about most of the highlights for this week. Most of our investigators fell through with appointments and since I was on exchanges this week I did a lot of work in another city. But family I do want to end this email with a testimony of mine. 

 

          Family since being on my mission I have learned/ tried my best to be truly grateful. I'd be lying to you all if I said it has been easy and a lot of fun. Family it has been hard, no doubt about it. But I am so grateful for these trials. Everyweek/ everyday is different in the mission field as far as emotions go. I think about you guys a lot and miss you all so much. I've always asked myself "why am I leaving the people I love most in my life (you guys) for two years? Why do I have to be here for two years? Holy cow two years is a long time.."    but familie I can tell you all one thing is for certain - I am being personally converted everyday. This church is true family, the gospel we were all born into is true. As we go through hard times or are having personal problems such as feeling lonely or sad or depressed, NO MATTER WHAT LIFE BRINGS YOU, the lord is there. The gospel of Jesus Christ is there. As hard times come, remember that that is the time the Lord is picking us up and literally carrying us upon his shoulders. He is walking side by side with us. Big Daddy and Gram Gram are walking side by side with us and even sometimes pushing us through our hard trials. Family no matter what we are going through please remember that the Lord is there for us, family remember that I am here for you guys. Being away from you all has been the hardest thing of my life, but not one days goes by in which I don't get on my knees and thank the lord for not only getting me through that day, but always for giving me a familie in which I was raised in the gospel. I pray for you all individually every day. I pray for you all in my heart every second. And i know that the lord is watching over you guys. I know that happiness is through the gospel and through each other. I love you guys and pray every second for your happiness. The Lord is with us. Never endure family, only ENJOY. "Enjoy to the End" in all things.

 

-Elder Cook

   mosiah 2:41

Me and My Comp just doing some "companionship inventory"

Just Chillin..

Venlo Train Station

"Het Komt Goed Mannnn"

OOH MIJN HEMEL FAMILIE,

  Well what to say... familie missionary life is awesome! Its hard, humbling, stressful, etc, BUT awesome! I can't believe it's already half way through September. I literally felt like September just began - "WAT DE GEK"! It's super true here in the mission life- "days feel like weeks, but weeks feel like days"! Thus far in my mission I have had some crazy downs, some crazy humbling moments, and some crazy testimony building moments. Out of all these moments and the many more to come, all I got to say is THANK YOU. Nothing better then being thankful in life right?

 Oooh familie it was a good, crazy, WET week here in Eindhoven, Nederland! It rained every single day and I'm not just saying like the casual Utah light rain.. I'm talking about like raindrops the size of Dads bald spot on his head (pretty big right?) Every single day and night Elder Cockbane and I found ourselves biking through some crazy rain storm. We even knocked doors for 3 hours in the pouring rain and well the dutch kept true to their stereotype and i've never seen so many doors shut in my face.. haha it was legit! Soo yea this week we have spent a lot of time finding since we are white washing and trying to get familar with the ward. It's been tough and hard to stay positive, but I just have a feeling that all this hard work is going to pay off and something good is going to go down here in Eindhoven. We were left with one investigator though who is named Peter and he is a stud! He is a super cool dutch guy who has a huge family and is super positive, but "helas pindakaas" his whole family is atheist. But like I said: He seems super positive and I'm really excited to work with him and hopefully help bring him closer to Christ. (and also his family too, they just dont know it yet). But yea thats all the exciting missionary work here! YAYYYYYYYYYY! 

   Now let me tell ya'll about this morning- well this morning we organized a huge "ultimate soccer" P-day with our whole zone here in Eindhoven and it was freaking SICKKKK! It rained hard and also was super sunny so it was pretty legit. I also got to see all my buddies in the Zone which was super awesome and just have a super "rustig"  day! I have pictures and hopefully some videos that will send through! 

But yeah familie thats my life right now in Eindhoven and on the mission! Im doing good, just trying to stay positive every single day and live in the moment. I love you guys so much and always remember that there isnt a day that goes by where I don't think about you all. You guys are always in my heart and always in my prayers. My quote for jullie vandag is to just be thankful: "What if you woke up in the morning with only the things you thanked God for last night". Be thankful family. I am so thankful for each and everyone of you. You all have made an impact and still continue to do so every single day of my life. I am so thankful for the Lord and for his atoning sacrifice for us. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be on my mission and to grow and be humbled everyday. And familie, I am even more grateful for the love and support I feel and have recieved every single day from jullie(YOU). You guys are my motivation and all my heros. I love you guys so much and remember that someone in Europe is always thinking and praying for jullie (you).

"Enjoy to the End"

-Elder Cook

ps: GOSH I LOVE YOU GUYS AND MISS YOU GUYS!

"Selfie Sunday" (Check out the wet line on my pants....ya I was soaked!)

My MTC homies that I freakin love!

My Roomie and I

The Boys

This is Tony in Rotterdam ( I gave my first ever blessing to him)

EINDHOVEN!

Mijn geliefde Familie,

     Well family transfers happened. I am now serving in Eindhoven with Elder Cockbain! Let me first begin by saying Eindhoven is nothing like Rotterdam, HOLY COW IT IS BEAUTIFUL HERE! I went from the ghetto of Netherlands to a legit Netherlands town and city. It is super super "Netjes" and "ik vind het heel mooi"! Elder Cockbain is a G! He is from South Africa and has got one of the coolest accents in the world. Also here in Eindhoven, Elder Cockbain and I are living in a "4 man" house with the new Zone Leaders and lets just say it is a party. haha living in a 4 man is super fun, but also super dirty, but we have a good time! The ward here is pretty cool, but personally I like the ward so much better in Rotterdam. I had the opportunity to once again bear my testimony here in church and I find it so amazing how much confidence/ how much I have grown in the dutch language. The Lord definitely is blessing me with the language!

  Soo missionary life, well transfer is always fun because not only do we all have to pack up our whole life for 2 years into 3 suitcases, but we then get to go train hopping from city to city with all of our luggage and bikes. So if you could just picture 2 missionaries with 6 huge suitcases and 2 bikes jumping from train to train and getting lost (keep in mind we're all in suites) well then yea.. thats us! Its stressful, crazy, hectic, but fun. Missionary life here in Eindhoven though is pretty different then life in Rotterdam. Here we have an 83 year old man named Harry Van De Sande who literally is the funniest and most awesome old grandpa in the world! He comes every where with us. He loves missionary work so much that he even got a name tag from SLC headquarters to be matching with the missionaries! He is super cool and funny. Oh and he only speaks Dutch.... so in other words I am now talking dutch 24/7, Seven days a week!! its hard, but really good for my dutch.

Since Elder Cockbain, The Zone Leader, and I are all "white washing" this city we have absolutely no idea where to go and don't know anyone here.... haha so we've been spending a lot of time doing finding and knocking on doors, fun right?? Its gotten to the point where i've done so much street contacting this week that I am now trying to use fruit, a soccer ball, bike, etc in a street contact to mix it up and it gets pretty fun and crazy! haha Yea so we dont have very many people to work with here, but we're determinded to find and get some investigators. 

Eindhoven is a total student town though, as the Universities here are HUGE, so there is like 2465465132 college students. It makes me miss college a bit, but "HALAS PINDAKAAS".   Familie I'm having fun, but I really hope and pray that Elder Co Bain and I will see some success here. The transition definitely has been hard, but a positive attitude changes everything. So no matter what comes our way or no matter what struggles we're going through we all need to be thankful. Being Thankful is just amazing and I love it. I am so thankful for all of you back home and I am so thankful for this gospel. I love you all and miss you all so much. You are all in my prayers everynight and every second in my heart. I love you familie and I am so proud of every single one of you.

ENJOY TO THE END

-Elder Cook

Ps. Chloe my sweet little angel- Shmoe I am so sorry and sad to hear about your wrist. I want you to know that I love you so much and will be praying for you super hard this week. Be thankful shmoe and keep your head up okay? Don't let anything or anyone ever bring you down! Stay strong my little angel and know that I love you.

Pss: my new address is:  KLUIZENAARSTRAAT #13

                                       5641 HE EINDHOVEN

                                       NETHERLANDS

This is Hernandes (It was an emotional goodbye and I'm really hoping I get to go to his Baptism)

My last day in Rotterdam just talking on the phone

BYE BYE TRAINER (Elder Alfaro)

ELDER COCKBAIN AND I (outside the church like 5 minutes ago)

Here are the people I'm living with

Me and my boy HARRY just chillin (also taken about 5 minutes ago)

Eating HERRING at a members house on Monday night

Tot ziens Rotterdam

Mijn geliefde familie,

This past week has been super exciting. On Thursday, I had the opportunity to work with the AP's for the whole day which was super cool and such a learning/spiritual experience! Elder Burton, the AP that I worked with, taught me a lot and also helped me a ton with some of my problems. He honestly is a super dope guy who probably has one of the strongest testimonies I have ever heard.  We also got 2 new investigators named Serenity and Usha this week, who are 8 and 10 years old. And they both came to church and as many of you know it was "Fast Sunday" and yeaaah they both shared their testimonies. IT WAS SO COOL! They both took my hand and I walked with them up to the stand in sacrament and whispered into their ears what they should say! It was a super cool and humbling experience for me as I whispered dutch sentences into there ears and then having them share it with the whole ward. hahaha super COOL!

Hernandes, he has a baptismal date for September 28th! On exchanges with the APS we went and taught Hernandes and challenged him for baptism. Yeah he accepted and is getting "gedoopt" later this month! Super cool and super awesome, he is such a stud and the Lord has prepared him so well for us.

BUT UNFORTUNATLEY...... yea, transfers.

Family... Transfer week... and yup I am getting transfered. I am leaving the great ghetto city of Rotterdam and I am now going to be serving in Eindhoven. Me and Elder Cockbane (funny name right...) will be opening up this new zone and "white washing" once again. So not only have I white washed this city in Rotterdam and been with my trainer for only 6 weeks, The Lord has called me to go white wash another city with an Elder who has been here in the Nederland for 5 transfers. Prettttyy CRAZY! I am excited, but super sad and have a lot of crazy emotions about it.. I have grown to love Rotterdam and the people here. Its kind of just a crazy thing that I'm already leaving my trainer and going to "white wash" another city! "HET IS GEK"  also it is sad for me because I will no longer have the opportunity to teach Hernandes and also the two little girls. I have no idea why I am going to Eindhoven, but I guess that is where the Lord wants me to go.

Family this next couple of weeks is gonna be some tough ones, but I think my experience here in Rotterdam has prepared me (well I hope and pray). I will not get the new address until next week so dont send any letters to Rotterdam. You can send them to the mission offices until I get my new address.

I want you all to know that I love you guys and I am praying for you all everyday in my heart. There isnt 5 minutes that go by in which I dont think about you all and just feel so blessed to have a family like us. I carry around a little picture of you guys in my wallet and see it everysingle day I take the bus or train. I love you guys. I hope all is going well back home and know that someone in Europe is always thinking about you guys.

"Enjoy To The End"

-Elder Cook

Ps: I just printed out all of your emails so I can read them throughout the next week, meaning: I havent read any of your emails yet! So if you had questions sorry for not answering!

LOVE YOU GUYS.

"Just another day on the job"

"Working with the AP's"

"Elder Burton and I"

"Serenity and Usha"

"These are the two girls that I have been teaching and have become best friends with! Also the ones who all 3 of us were sitting on the stand at church bearing our testimonies."