CHANGE
Lieve Familie,
Well let’s just start this week’s
email off with a big WOW. Nope that’s not big enough... OOOH MIJ HEMELLLLLLLL!! Still not
big enough, but it will have to do.
Talk about a week to remember and a week to forget.
Goodbyes in Den Haag were just as hard as saying
goodbye to you guys on the curb at the MTC. I really can’t even explain how
hard it was. You say goodbye to everyone and do your best to act all tough
and then BAM!!.. You end up just breaking down 5 minutes after saying
goodbye. But yeah... tough times create strong people ¨TOCH¨?!?!
SOOOO First off, I am safe and sound here in Kortrijk, Belgium- no harm or
accident on the way down (besides some bumps and bruises on Bruce)- so that is
a great blessing. My new companion is Elder Argueta who is a transfer or
so behind me and is from good'ol North Carolina. He is a pretty chill guy who
has had a good testimony his whole life and loves the gospel. He will
definitely be good to help me with all the many weaknesses I have as a
missionary. So that is another great blessing! Kortrijk is definitely A
LOT different then Den Haag, actually Belgium in general is a WHOLE lot
different then Nederland and I am not gonna lie.. I miss Nederland! BUT ¨ALLES
KOMT GOED¨!
The language here is crazy- I went from
understanding about 80% of all conversations back down to 40%. It is the
dialect they use and I must also be honest and say it just sounds ridiculous
and kind of hilarious because everyone sounds like a girl.. It’s a weird
dialect that is for sure! Since we are white washing and trying to “rebuild”
the relationship between the ward members and the missionaries here, Elder
Argueta and I have found ourselves back to the basics of missionary work;
knocking doors for hours after hours, contacting people/ doing look ups, and
just praying for help from the Lord. We’ve mainly spent most of our time
finding/contacting on the street/ or going door to door which definitely may
not be the most effective work, but the only way to build this relationship up
with the ward is to bring people to church. Ps: did I forget to mention that
the church I go to every Sunday now is in France? oh well, yeah it is, so that
is a little different also. hahahah
So a lot of things have changed for me this past
week and has kind of put me back into the “feeling like a greenie mode again”
BUT “alles komt goed.” There is a reason why Elder Argueta and I are here and
we just have to keep going with trust in our Heavenly Father. Change is good-
it opens you up and forces you to get out of your comfort zone (even if some of
us think we don’t have one). Change is scary, but it also gives you the chance
to grow and really learn in a way that not so many people have the opportunity
to do so. This change has been really hard for me; my heart definitely is
really broken from leaving Den Haag, but everything will be good.
After all the Lord did say: ¨My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be
but a small moment; And then, if thou endure { ENJOY} it well, God shall exalt thee on
high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.¨
SOOO ALLES KOMT GOED EN GEWOON DOEN. ooooh and
never forget to
ENJOY TO THE END
With Love,
-Elder
Cook (koekje erbij;))
Ps: even the keyboard I am using is a French
keyboard and it is sooooo annoying!!!
Pics: saying goodbye to some of the people who I am so thankful for.
Goodbyes en dan HELLO KORTRIJK MET MIJ NIEUW COLLEGE!!
 |
| ELDER ARGUETA |
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