12th letter from Den Haag, Netherlands -- Week 78

Zuster Fredrickson from my MTC group went home this week

Haha... Last photo of Elder B and me..... Saying goodbye

Den Haag, Netherlands

Hey Guys,

Thank you so much for all of the Birthday wishes! It was a great birthday.  We ate at a members house and had a little birthday party with cake and candles and what not.  It was pretty legit.

Well, Elder B is gone! He left to Belgium on Wednesday.  My new companion is Elder Clukey and he is awesome! It is weird to back to an American companion after 4 1/2 months! I can actually talk about sports and awesome American things with him.  I have sure missed that.

This week we met with Arnold again and helped him clean his house.  His hoarding problem has gotten so out of hand that the government is kicking him out of his house.  It truly is the most unbelievable thing I have ever seen.  Hundreds of boxes of broken glass, pieces of wood, and old papers.  The backyard is literally just a mountain of garbage.  We helped him clean, but didn’t even begin to make the slightest dent in it.

Boniface is doing awesome.  We had 2 lessons with him this week and he is making progress.  He just needs to come to church! He always works super late on Saturday nights so doesn’t want to come to church on Sunday mornings.

 Erfan is doing great as well.  She has already read the whole Persian Farsi Book of Mormon.  The whole book isn’t translated into Farsi yet, but a solid chunk.  Haha, she even made a couple of grammatical corrections.  Maybe she will help translate the whole book into Farsi one day!

On Saturday there was a baptismal service in Den Haag and 2 sisters got baptized.  It was an awesome service and there were a ton of ward members there to support them.

Both Elder Clukey and I have been sick this week.  Not stay home in bed sick, but coughing and runny noses sick.  It is spreading around this country like a wild fire! But the weather has been amazing the past couple of weeks! I mean, we still have to wear coats but it is not freezing cold with rainy wind like it usually is.  As much as I would love a white Christmas, I think I would be just fine if it stays dry and warm!

I am super pumped for Christmas this week.  It is a privilege to be able to spend another Christmas here doing the Lords work and helping others.  Christmastime in the mission field is just the best.

Have a great Christmas everybody!


                - Elder Steenblik