May 23-28, 2010

This is a picture of Kurt (tall one on left), a young man that got baptized on Sunday in Antwerpen after church. He is with several young adult friends. The AP's taught him. There is a strong group of young adults in this area and they have been wonderful at fellowshipping these new members. Another young adult was baptized last week. After the baptisms we always have a celebration with refreshments and clapping.



This is Patrick, a very nice member of the Antwerpen ward who proudly brought pictures of all the missionaries in the mission back in 1992 and 1993. One of them was our son-in-law, Scott Slater, who served in this mission back then. It was really cute to see the pictures. Patrick was baptized in 1992 and says he remembers Scott at that time.




Loel and I spent about 6 hours last Saturday shopping. We used our trusty GPS which sometimes said we were there at a store and there was no store to be found. We're looking for a crockpot as it will greatly help as we cook our lunches each Monday for 10 or 11 of us in the office. So we we haven't found one but hope to get one on base. In our meanderings, we discovered this little Farmer's market - they're so picturesque, always selling flowers, seafood, nuts, Belgian waffles, breads, vegetables, and a variety of other things. It was kind of funny - we wanted some trail mix and so Loel said "un kilo". The lady looked incredulous and like she didn't understand, so we kept saying, "oui, un kilo." So she loaded us up - we didn't realize one kilo would be so much! I told him we now have trail mix for our whole mission! We also found a nice mall, and a bookstore that actually sold some English books and had a very nice English speaking employee who helped us quite a bit. Finally, some customer service in Belgium! You don't see it much in French speaking countries.

This is a view from our office conference room where we have our lunches. I love the way the old buildings look. The view is pretty incredible from any window in our office. We're on the 8th and top floor.

This is our Monday lunch group except this Monday we had an extra English man there from the Church to talk to the President about moving our offices to the Netherlands, which we hope to be able to do soon. Our Mon lunches usually include the AP's, office elders, us, the Pankratz, Pres and his wife, and anyone else who happens to be there. The elders were in heaven as we made sloppy jo's, Sunday salad, peanut butter rice krispie bars, and chips.

This week was transfer week, so Tues morning we're up early, taking the van to the airport to meet our new missionaries. These are the 7 new ones that came in. They were tired, but so enthusiastic and excited to finally be "in the land", as they say. The President invited us to spend the entire day with them to experience the first day of a new missionary's life in our mission. It was a very good, but very long day! I got to visit with the three sisters at the airport for a while. After the airport, we loaded up the van with the suitcases and took them to the office. Here they fill out forms I give them about themselves, they get their financial talk and card, and a talk on legality in Belgium and what it takes to live here. They all get personal interviews with the president while all this is going on.

Then we load them up and take them to the mission home for lunch - Sis Brubaker always makes great food - we had crepes for dessert - so good! Then they all go upstairs and take a nap for a couple of hours. Then we're back to go to the dedication site - a gorgeous, huge park area where Pres Holland dedicated the land for missionary work in 1997.

We park the cars and walk, with the Pres and his wife, and the assistants, for quite a ways into the park. We pass this little "hunting lodge" of King Leopold. Kind of a cute little cabin, huh? It was gorgeous.

This is the dedication site. Here the Pres and the assistants talk about the missionary work in this country and how the land has been dedicated and how it is moving forward. It was really quite a spiritual time for all of us. I love listening to the missionaries speak of their love for this country and their testimonies. It kind of felt like the sacred grove with the sun shining through the trees.

After this we walked back to the cars, but have to wait for the assistants, as they're talking to an individual they just met from Italy who wanted them to take a picture. They ended up talking for about 15 mins. The Pres talked with the new missionaries and gave them a kind of lesson on contacting people and how it's done. When the assistants joined us, he had them talk about their experience and how it went. It was a great example of how it's done, right in front of our eyes.

Next we're off to the Grand Place, the most famous tourist site in Brussels and the center of town. It's beautiful with lots of old buildings, cathedrals, etc. Here they tell the new missionaries that they're going to pair up (usually one new one with a seasoned one) and do some contacting. Most people there are tourists and usually speak English. Loel and I were even doing it, too, which was a little nerve wracking for us, but we actually did talk to a few people. Some of the missionaries had some really great experiences with giving away cards and getting email addresses and phone numbers. The new missionaries seem to feel pretty pumped up and excited about it all.

Then it's off to eat dinner at this same Greek restaurant that they've been bringing missionaries to for years. After that, they get their first Belgium waffle, hot off the waffle iron, right there on the street. They loved it. Finally it's back to the mission home where the Pres gives a really nice talk and then they open their call letters and find out what cities they're going to be serving in and with which companions. It's really fun because all the new missionaries, having been in the MTC for the past 2 months, have gotten to know their teachers really well, who were usually former missionaries here so the elders here all know their teachers, etc. I loved how positive the assistants and the Pres and his wife are as they would open their calls - they would rave about the cities they were going to, the baptisms they've had there, how great their companions are, etc. It's really fun to see.

So we finally got home around 10:15 pm, exhausted but happy. The next day was another early day for us - I was at the office at 6:45 am Loel and Elder Pankratz had to take all the new missionaries to the train station where they were meeting their new companions who had ridden in, plus they had to pick up the 7 departing missionaries from the train station, who were leaving the next day to go home. It was quite a fiasco, as it was pouring rain, and Loel said it was the worst traffic he's ever been in his entire life - Elder Pankratz said it's the worst he's ever seen. The new missionaries were deathly quiet in the back seat as they would often come within 2 inches of other cars - and Loel was driving the president's car!!! Lots of the trains were late, some missionaries missed their trains, so the departing missionaries trickled in all day until 3:00 pm.

The President interviews each departing missionary. I ask any of them if they want to talk about school, financial aid, majors, applying, etc. and they all jumped at the chance to have an individual conversation with me in my office. So I felt like I was back at UVU helping students - two of the the elders were even going to UVU so I was really able to help them - got on the website, printing stuff out, etc. They were all so appreciative and thanked me a lot. Then they leave to go back to the mission home for dinner, testimony meeting, spend their last night there, and then it's off to the airport in the morning.

So the third and final day of transfers is Thursday and this day I opted to stay home until around 9:00 am and Loel was off early again to take the luggage to the airport and say good-bye to the missionaries. He said he got kind of emotional saying good-bye. We haven't known them very long, but they're a great group. Sis Brubaker said it was very hard for her to say good-bye - these missionaries have been with them for a full year and they got very attached.

Today Loel went to the base to get a haircut and ended up talking to the lady who did his hair about the church and got a referral, which I promptly send off to the Paris France mission, since Brussels isn't part of our mission, but it's in the France mission. It was pretty cool as she was asking Loel what he does here, etc. Turns out she's read part of the Book of Mormon but had questions. Loel explained a lot and got both her cell phone and home phone and she agreed to see the missionaries! He came back very excited!