Elder Jason Cook Belgium/Netherlands Mission: 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