Autumn in Belgium... and Little Miracles

This week went by so-o fast.  And so many wonderful things happened to help me grow to become a stronger missionary. Not everything was easy. In fact a lot of it was hard, but I've learned to look at the little miracles. The Zusters in my mission do something every night where we write down our Wonderen and Grapias. (Miracles and Jokes). It's such a cool thing that I think every missionary should do.

This week we began to teach Nadia the new member lessons and we were going to start with the Restoration, of course. The day had been really busy and we never really had time to prepare this lesson. We didn't have time for companion study either so I was feeling so unprepared. We were finding in a neighborhood and I was just having the worst attitude. No faith that anyone cared, and feeling super nervous for the Restoration lesson later that night. I told Sister Jones how I was feeling and we decided to do a little comp study of role playing as we were walking. We came across this super pretty forest with a mansion and water fountains and ducks and the whole deal.

We basically had our own little Joseph Smith moment in this random forest. Zuster Jones was wonderful and gave me a much needed pep talk, We said a prayer to begin and practiced telling each other the story of the Restoration.  I know a lot more Dutch than I think I do and I definitely wasn't giving myself enough credit. We ended up feeling so prepared for the lesson, and it turned out great! The Elders were also there so we surprised them and asked one of them to tell about Joseph Smith at the end. The spirit was so strong. Also it is SO cool when we get together with other missionaries and they can do things on the spot. I hope to be so familiar with the lessons on my mission that I can share whenever, without too much preparation. I LOVE being a missionary!

First exchanges of the transfer this week! I stayed in Antwerpen and I got to work with Zuster Heiliner for a few hours. Shout out to her! We had a blast teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to our investigator Suni. It was a really cool lesson because I got to work on leading it and taking charge. Also it was in Dutch and I spoke Dutch. Whaaaaaat. We had a very last minute joint teach come and we were so thankful for Sister Van Wauwe. It was a coooool lesson and I felt like I have improved so much in my teaching. After that we exchanged again and I worked with Zuster Cowles. She just came in this transfer so it was cool that both of us are pretty new. Our appts fell through for the day but we had lots of time to contact in our area of Wijnegem. People were actually pretty rude with us that night- not quite sure why because we both were speaking some pretty good Dutch! We didn't have much luck, but we decided that it was good for us to not be as successful because we were being humbled. Also our companions were rocking it in Gent, so that's pretty cool!

I am now legal in Belgium and Nederland!

We went to Nederland for the day. It takes about 2 hours to get there so we wrote lots of letters and caught up on things during our long traveling day.

We ended up running into Zuster Jones old companion and the sister she is training, so we made a day out of it and got lunch together. Nederland is so different than Belgium! I feel like an outsider whenever I go there, haha, but I love it. One thing that is different about Nederland and Belgium is that when they are trying to ask... "What did you say?" They say... "Wat zegt u?" in Nederland and in Belgium they say "Wat bleev?" So I accidentally said the Belgium way to a Nederlander. Ooops. Also I think I just spelled it wrong. I don't know how to spell anymore. But yes. I love Belgium and I never thought I would. Flems is my favorite and it's probably going to be really hard for me to leave!

Just to end off with for the week... I have been reading in Mosiah. I'm in chapter 24 right now and I love that the Nephites go back and forth with fighting with the Lamanites and all of that stuff... but that what stays constant is their faith. They were not allowed to pray out loud or they would be persecuted by Amulon, but they prayed in their hearts, and they were soon delivered out of bondage. They didn't just pray and everything was fine though. They had to be active and Cheerfuly and also Patiently do the will of God. This is what we have been teaching a lot of our investigators lately. We need to be active in this Gospel! Just praying won't do anything. Pray then get up and work! I'm beginning to grow a firmer testimony of that. I know this Gospel is true and that it is hard but it is so worth it. Reading the Book of Mormon even for a few minutes everyday will give us enough strength to conquer the things that are in our way. Step by step is how we learn the gospel.

I love you all and I am thankful for your wonderful examples and support in my life.

Have a lovely week!
Zuster Bush