9-15 May 2010

Paula in front of the Amsterdam Chapel where we attended a Zone Conference. Tues we drove to Amsterdam to join those two northern zones for part of their zone conf. I forgot my nametag and so wore Loel's for the day, so I was Elder Tibbitts all day. Some people noticed but many didn't as I think everyone is just so used to seeing "Elder" on nametags. The Pres had asked us to attend so we could meet all the missionaries and so he could introduce us. We then attended our own zone conf in Antwerpen the next day and got introduced to the rest of the mission. Both days were very inspiring as the Assistants taught classes, and they had a local stake president come and talk and answer questions about member missionary work. It was pretty amazing – his English was perfect. He then opened it up for questions and it was a great session on answering some of the missionary’s concerns. At the end he quoted a scripture in Luke about holding on to the plough and not looking back, keeping your furrows straight. He said your missions are like the straight line you plow the first time you plough. Then the rest of your life, if this first line is straight, you can line up all the other events to this mission line and stay strong and true. He said these 2 years go by so fast; it’s almost like 2 days. He pleaded with the missionaries to make the most of their missions, to not squander their time as it would be gone very soon.

Both days when the Pres introduced us, he gave us glowing recommendations. He said that Loel could run this mission just as well as he could with all of his church background, being a bishop lots of times, etc, but for some reason, the Lord wanted us in our particular callings at this time. He always talks about Loel being a pilot and how much he, himself, always wanted to be a pilot. Then he introduces me and talks about my church experience and my advising and career counseling experience and how the missionaries going home should utilize me, etc. He gives us such glowing recommendations; makes us hope we can live up to his praises and expectations!

After he introduces us, he has us talk a little and bear our testimonies. I give the blended family background, how long we’ve been married, how we always wanted to serve a mission ever since we got married, share that I had served a mission in NC when younger, share a little about how I would be happy to help any missionaries with school questions, bear my testimony and sit down. Loel usually takes longer but does a great job as he tells of how this is his first mission and how happy he is to be here. He talked about how yes, he’s had some great career experiences and yes, he’s been a pilot, etc., but that the most important times of his life have been when he’s in service to others. He gives great testimonies and talks!

The part I like almost the very best about zone conferences is the testimony meeting at the end. Only the departing missionaries bear their testimonies and they are so inspirational and sincere. Almost all of them talk about how hard it was at the beginning, but then about how hard it is to leave and all they’ve learned. One elder said, “these past two years haven’t been the best two years of my life. They’ve been the best two years for the rest of my life.” He talked about how his mission will serve as a foundation for the rest of his life and that the best two years are still ahead.

Antwerpen Chapel where we attend church and Zone Conference. This is Paula, her friend Julie and the Assistants.

Mondays in the mission office are always very busy. We get all the orders for supplies from the zone leaders and have to fill them. There are usually more referrals to get out, orders to make, etc. Pres and Sis Brubaker are usually always in the office on Mondays (sometimes that’s the only day they’re in) and the Assistants are in the office only on Mondays, too. Also, one of the senior missionaries or the Brubakers bring lunch for everyone in the office on Mondays. We volunteered so brought some pasta, salad, French bread (REAL French bread which Sis Pankratz and I ran and bought right before lunch – SOOO good!), and I made a lemon jello fun cake which was a real hit. Well, it was all a real hit as everyone loved it and again, we could not believe how much the elders can eat!! Pres and Sus Brubaker had to leave in the middle of lunch to run to the airport to pick up a new missionary who had been delayed in the MTC 4 weeks for surgery and then got delayed 4 hours at another airport for the volcano. It was so fun to greet this new elder – we felt like the old timers and we’ve only been here 2 weeks! So it was a long day but a good one.




This is me sitting in the back of our apartment building - it's a really pretty, manicured garden area.









This is our neighborhood bakery, or boulangerie. It has really yummy pastries, but we're not sure what they all are since the lady who works on Sat can't speak any English, so we just have to point and hold up our fingers for how many we want.





We took a walk Sat morning around our neighborhood in an area we had never gone to before. This is a picture of how the streets come together and then head out in about 6 different directions. You often will see some apartments, then lots of little stores, then maybe some more apartments, then maybe a nice neighborhood of really nice houses - all kind of mixed together.


These next pictures are of a day we spent in Brugge with President and Sister Brubaker, the Senior Missionaries and the Office Elders. These pictures are just previews. If you want to see the whole day and the Procession of the Holy Blood go to this link. http://picasaweb.google.com/loelbt/Brugge13May2010#

Thursday we got to go on an outing to Brugge, Belgium, about 1 hr and 15 mins from here. It’s an amazing old medieval town and this particular day is an annual pageant, processional thing where they do a whole reenactment of the Bible as they are walking through town in like a parade. They have live animals, amazing costumes, music, etc. There were 4 senior couples, the Pres and his wife, and the 4 office elders. The town was beautiful, scenery is so picturesque, it’s very hard to describe how incredible the day was. The Pres reserved a table in a very nice restaurant upstairs so we had a great lunch and then watched the whole processional from our restaurant window. It’s called the The Holy Blood of Christ – the story is that there’s a cloth that they wiped the blood of Christ on after his crucifixion, and that a crusader brought this to the basilica in Brugge so now it’s in a special vial. Everything was very ornate – of course the churches are, etc.
We wandered around town for a while, looked in lace shops and chocolate shops, went on a canal boat ride, which is absolutely breathtaking – kind of reminded me of Venice. It was a wonderful day.




This is one of the many picturesque canals in Brugge. Brugge has 10 miles of canals. Originally canals were the main means of travel through the city.










This is the entry to the courtyard where the Basilica of the Holy Blood is.









This is the interior of the Basilica of the Holy Blood.
















This is the Bell Tower on the square. There are 300 plus steps up to a vantage point that you can look out over the tops of the city. We didn't climb the stairs. Maybe next time.













Joseph, Mary and the Christ child with the shepherds and their flocks following.








Dietrich bringing back the Holy Blood of Christ to Brugge.