Week 42: Going to Den Haag!!

March 31, 2014

Geliefde Familie: 

Ugh, transfers are the worst. I want to stay here forever. But...I know I have to move on to what Heavenly Father has in store for me in Den Haag (The Hague). So yes, it's a huge city (WOO), and I'm going to be in a tri-panionship with Zr GW and Zr A. I don't know Zr A very well, but...I know ZR GW. I’m staying ZTL, which means I get to go on exchanges with Zr K, so I'm pumped. PUMPED I TELL YOU. 

This week has been a lot of helping our investigator, Pepsi, and his family move. Man, oh man. Obviously two girls with two bikes isn't going to cut it, so we got the ward involved which was so stressful (especially for Zr WB for one day while I was on an exchange in Den Bosch...). Basically I'm really thankful for members who are willing to serve and help in whatever way they can. And the Elders in Heerlen helped SO much. And the ZLs...Yes, it was a big ordeal and it still is. One night the Elders didn't get home until 11. I felt so bad. 

More on Pepsi: His wife is named Kate. They are awesome. They're from Cameroun, the place in Africa that idk if I'm spelling right. He is great, and gives us lots of referrals. I love it. Also, Kate, wraps her baby in a cloth thing around her back. It's so cool and I'm going to try it with my kids, but first I should probably become African or else I won't be able to pull it off. 

Federica! We were actually at her house when President called and said I was getting transferred. I was pretty bummed. I just love Maastricht. Mostly because of her, probably. She's just so cute. But she said that since Zr GW and I are together, she's going to come visit us in Den Haag! That will be AWESOME. She tried to come to church this week but got kicked off the train...invalid ticket. We really need a ward in Maastricht. But that is coming along! We started institute here and it's going SO WELL. The bishop is really impressed with it too. SO HAPPY. 

DAD, oh my gosh. You have to read a book called Visions of Glory. Idk if you've already read it, but if not, you must. My companion's sister edited it and she tells me about it all the time. You'd love it. Plus, you buy it and then I'll read it when I get home, it's perfect;)

Well, IK HOU VAN JULLIE. I hope you are all doing well and making mormon.org profiles. MMMMKAY?! Alright, I gotta go take pictures of the most glorious city in the world. Maybe I'll send some next week. LOVE YOU.

Zr Heilner

Week 41: Another CRAZY Week!

March 24, 2014

Geliefde Familie:

Well, another week has CRAZILY come and gone. I cannot believe how fast time goes. This is the last full week of this transfer. I'm on my sixth transfer, and sisters have 12 in the land. YIKES. 

Ha, I just opened a new tab on this public computer in the library and half of the "most used" links are from mormonchannel.org or lds.org since I've used so many sites today haha. Missionary work. Speaking of, if you guys ever need to write a talk, use scriptures.byu.edu. It's great.

We thought it was turning to springtime. We were wrong. We walked out of someone's house the other day, into the SUNSHINE, and it began to HAIL. WHAT?! And it got cold again! Oh well. It's getting better at least. It won't be like it was in February again. 

It started hailing in the sunshine...

So I went to Den Haag this week! We slept there so that we would be closer to Leiden for Mission Leader Council. We got really lost. Zr WB served there for two weeks, so she got us pretty close to the apartment, but actually getting there was a little difficult. But its okay, Zr GW came and saved us. It was fun getting to see her again. She's there in a tri-panionship. Those three have the worst luck with bikes, ever. And you guys thought I had it bad.

Well...my bike situation update. So last Monday, I got a flat tire. But we had an appointment with the ward mission leader that night, so I asked if he'd be able to come help me fix it that night. He did, but then he realized that it wasn't a problem with the tire, but with the actual wheel. It's the back wheel, which is usually more expensive to buy new than a good bike...so he told me he would look this week for an extra wheel. So nice of him.

I went on an exchange with Zr Juchau (the end-all-be-all of a sister missionary. And it's her last week before she goes. It was really sad. She gave me a lot of really good advice though.) in Breda. I had a great time with her. She's a phenomenal teacher and so selfless. Anyway, when I got back to Maastricht, I was really confused why Zr WB was walking towards the bike stalls. I knew they had to have taken the bus because the ward mission leader told me to just wait for a week until he could find a replacement wheel. So I asked what she was doing and she told me she and Zr S had achter opted from the apartment. I felt so bad that she would have to carry me on the back of her bike back up to the apartment. But she insisted. So we got to the bikes and she unlocked a green bike that I had never seen before and claimed that she just had a random key. But then I found out that while I was gone, Broeder van der Pluijm came to Maastricht and dropped this bike off for me! And he wouldn't let me pay for it. It's a lot different than my old bike, not quite as nice, but it was SO nice of him to give me! I couldn't believe it. It would have been SUCH a pain to have to use the bus the whole week, that was such a miracle. 

So church was great. We had Diana and Federica there. Since this ward is like little America, we have potlucks every fourth Sunday. During the potluck, Diana went up and asked a member if he would baptize her. When she came up and told Zr WB this, we were so surprised. He of course said that it would be his honor. Anyway, Zr WB asked Diana when she would like to do that, and she supposedly told Zr WB to stop asking when haha. But that's AWESOME!

Federica is doing well. We couldn't get in contact with her for a while, but we stopped by one night and she let us in. She basically told us how she'd messed up and she didn't want to come to church or institute to be around all the people at church. We talked a lot about how church is not for perfect people and how when we try to make changes in our lives, we usually fall. I'm so thankful that Heavenly Father is longsuffering. What that means is that no matter how many times we mess up, no matter how many times we say we're never going to sin again, sometimes we fall, but Christ will never tire of helping us back up. We wouldn't learn without the falls. 

Well, exciting things are happening here. I love getting to see the Lord's hand so often. I want everyone to serve a mission. I learn so much every day about how Heavenly Father looks out for us. 

IK HOU VAN JULLIE. I hope you have a great week. 

Love,

Zr Heilner

At the mission home--Zr Wood and Elder Lewis

At the mission home--Elder Muse

Week 40: WHOA WE'RE HALF WAY THERE

March 17, 2014

Geliefde Familie:

My companion made confetti and threw it at me on my birthday

OH MY GOSH I can't believe I am half way officially. Sometimes I'm like, "what? I just got here." but sometimes I remember how long it's been haha. 

So...the bath and body works soap...why would they make it NOT anti-bacterial? I don't get it. 

What's my blood type? The other three Limburg missionaries are O negative, and I just have no idea. I'm probably an outsider. 

Limburg missionaries

DEANNA AND LUCY-- oh my heavens. You guys. Deanna, that book. I love it so much. Thank you for all the work that went into that. I will cherish it seriously forever. And thanks, Michael for the candy. And the wristlet, you guys spoil me. Luc--miss you gurl. Thanks so much for the notecards! They're perfect. LOVE YOU.

SO, some great news: we have started having institute here in Maastricht! It was a GREAT success. I hope it's the basis for a branch that could get started here in Maastricht. It's so far for the members and investigators to travel to Heerlen...currently it's being held in an elementary school. The benches are really tiny, which is humorous, but it works!! I felt the Spirit just the same. Federica and Ivan came. They both had great questions and I am so excited to see what happens this week. I'll actually be on an exchange in Breda, but Zr WB is going to be great. 

Poor Sister WB this weekend: she had a slight case of food poisoning AND got attacked by Diana's dog...it was ridiculous. But she is a trooper and everything worked out okay. 

The most insane dog in the world that attacked Sister WB

JAMES--you're entering the final days....good luck! I'm so excited for you!

Well, this computer keeps shutting down, so I have to be careful, so I should probably get this sent. I love you guys. You're constantly in my prayers. I sent a letter a few days ago. I also sent one to Nancy. Hope she's doing well. 

IK HOU VAN JULLIE. Thanks for looking out for me. Thanks for the prayers. I miss you and can't believe that I will see you in the same amount of time I have been gone. That's insane. 

Love,

Zr Heilner

This man posed for me at Carnaval

Carnaval

Carnaval

Week 39: I SURVIVED CARNAVAL 2014

March 10, 2014

Geliefde Familie: 

Yeah, it's such a big deal that it goes in all caps. It really was pretty insane. We noticed that as the festivities went on, the weather got better. It was great when it was all rainy outside--nobody wanted to party in the cold mist. But it's gotten to be BEAUTIFUL weather (winter never really happened, or so I hear, but I was still thankful for my coat a lot of days) which means there's nothing stopping the party. People are finally coming back into town too, so YES.

ALEX, I met a Chi O from Baylor!!! I was so excited. I gave her a sticky note. I actually talked to some of her friends for longer, they're so nice! She's studying here in Maastricht. SO COOL. 

YOU GUYS I WENT TO BRUSSELS TODAY! It was so fun. Elder S (who is from McKinney haha) proposed this idea last Tuesday. The opening line was, "Sister Heilner, has anyone ever taken you to Brussels for your birthday?" Basically he used to serve in Belgium so he had all these really cheap tickets, so we just had to buy a ticket to the first stop in Belgium (which is like super close to us) and then we went with the Elders! We met up with a bunch of other missionaries too. So fun. I SHOPPED AT PULL AND BEAR. My favorite store in the world that isn't in America. I got some really cool jeans and a great sweater. Such a good day. And now Elder S can say "I've taken a girl to Brussels for her birthday." Ha.

Brussels

On my birthday evening, we went to the Wheatley's.  That's the family that called Dad while they were in America. Andrea lives with them. The Johnson's were also there. It was a lot of fun. They wouldn't let me do any dishes. That DAY, my companion bought me Kibbeling, basically fried fish. It was amazing. And we bought companionship pants. They are basically leg sweaters. They're so cool. 

So our AWESOME investigator Federica was out of town this week because of Carnaval, but we got to see her on Sunday. She's determined to quit smoking. She knows it's going to be hard, but she's so serious that she had us take the tobacco (and even her emergency cigarette that was hidden in a box on her shelf haha) and lighter FROM her. It was amazing. She's so strong. I love her. I told her I'm going to meet her in Italy and she's going to show me around Verona (her home town) and I'm 100% serious about it. She also met missionaries while she was home and talked to them hahaha. 

We've been walking Diana's dog basically every day recently. He's half pit-bull, half American Stafford. He's really really strong. It's absolutely hilarious though. We take him to a doggy park and throw a stick to him for like 15 minutes. It's a great service for her, and fun for us. Then he's so tired that he doesn't bother us (as much) in the lesson. It's great because we have almost daily contact with Diana and we help her out with Charlie. She can't walk him on her own. 

Well, I love you guys so incredibly much. You should make mormon.org profiles.

IK HOU VAN JULLIE!

Love,

Zr Heilner

Week 38: Ugh, would everybody please stop telling me I’m 20...

March 3, 2014

Geliefde Familie:

I STILL HAVE FOUR MORE DAYS OF NOT BEING OLD. This week is crazy. Carnaval is happening here in Limburg. Carnaval is happening, and it's ruining my life, I should say. Not REALLY...but let's just recap what happened last week. 

For one thing, we found this really cool American named Alexa! She used these words, "actually I’ve been thinking a lot about God recently, so yeah, I’d actually be really interested,” so at that point we basically fell over at her door. Our lesson with her was AMAZING. Then she went out of town to avoid Carnaval.

Federica stopped smoking!!! She's doing so well. I want to see her so bad this week but I can't because she went back to Italy to avoid Carnaval. 

We had an appointment with some really cool guys for Friday morning but it fell through because they were hung over from Carnaval.

We can usually go contacting in the Centrum when we don't have appointments, but since it's absolutely insane and packed with drunken people, we have to avoid the Centrum to avoid Carnaval.

Seeing a pattern?

So Carnaval is this week long Halloween sort of thing. It's like a DUI parade. And by DUI I mean Disney Under the Influence. It's all the parades and children dressed up of Disney but all the creepy smells and confusion of the drunken bums of the streets of Moscow. 

We DID however have 3 investigators at church on Sunday, which is a HUGE DEAL for us in Maastricht. It was insane getting them there though. Rides from Maastricht to Heerlen...wow. I totally understand why mom never let us have sleepovers on Saturday nights. She’s traumatized from Sunday mornings being the most insane thing of her mission. So Diana was at church. She´s basically already a part of the RS. It was so cute to see her help everyone with the potluck that we had after the meetings. Pepsi was also there. Yes, that´s his name. He is our main source of referrals. It´s fantastic. He was sort of falling asleep though...I hope he enjoyed himself. He´s from Cameroun. Ivan (who aslo has a baptismal date) loved church. I am SO happy about that. 

Dad, it was really funny. At church, there was a little girl lying on her dad´s lap because she was sick. Her dad was patting her back and comforting her, just like you would have done. But instead of you telling me when I was sick a Scooby story or something, he was telling her about the molecules in her body that were reacting to her disease. The difference between parents who do and don´t go to med school.

Alright, I'm actually at the ward mission leader's house emailing because everything is closed BECAUSE OF FREAKING CARNAVAL but I’m probably just going to spend more time next week emailing. grr.

Alright, I love you people. Don't fear--fear is something that we have to overcome in this life. Let us offend Satan by serving God. 

IK HOU VAN JULLIE!

Love,

Zr Heilner