11 November 2009

Blauwgrond is very nice.


This past week was better than the week before, except that none of our investigators came to church. Many of them said that they would come, but they just did not show up. We don’t know why they would not come. We are teaching many good people, they read the Book of Mormon, they pray and are searching for answers, but they are not taking the step to come to church. It is really sad, because we need to let them go when they are not making progress and find other people to teach. We are contacting new people that are willing to take those steps.

The choir is making great progress. We have about 15 people come to our weekly rehearsals. It is challenging but also very enjoyable. We are learning fast and it start to sound pretty nice. We still need to work on some details before we can perform, but I am confident that we’ll succeed. Elder Dirkmaat, a senior missionary is also singing with the choir and he really enjoys it.




The Blauwgrond district is very nice. There are many rich people here that are not willing to talk to us, but there are a few that are humble enough to listen to us and are willing to pray and ask if the message we share is true.

The unit in Blauwgrond is very small they have a many less-active members. We are visiting a less-active family that have not come to church for many years. It is sad to see these people when they don’t realize what they are missing out. They all say; “We will come again when we are ready for it. When God want us to come, we will come.” I wish they could feel the love of the savior and understand the atoning sacrifice of Christ, and how important it is to renew our covenants by taking the sacrament each week.





I am grateful for my testimony. I am so grateful for the church and the sacrament. When we repent, attend our sacrament meetings and partake of the sacrament, we can be forgiven of our shortcomings through the atonement of Christ. I hope and pray that we as missionaries can always reach out to people and have them understand the joy the gospel can bring to each of us.

By the way, I just received a call from the senior missionaries that a package arrived for me. I will pick it up today and I am anxious to find out what is in it. Thank you dad for the music you sent me. I can really use it.

Love you all,

Jeff

02 November 2009

I really enjoy working with these great people

Last week I mentioned that I may have to go to Nickerie, well I received a call that I have to stay in Paramaribo to assist with the choir. I am now staying in Blauwgrond which is located at the north side of Paramaribo. My new companion is Elder Baantje. He is from Utah and a great missionary. His Father is Dutch and his mother comes from Indonesia and also lived in Holland.

We had our first choir rehearsal on Saturday and during this time we were visited by President Nazier from the District Presidency, President Hymas, counselor in the Mission Presidency and Area Authority Elder Averado. They were just interested to see how I was doing with the choir. After the rehearsal they told me that they enjoyed it and that they look forward to the Christmas concert. I personally think that it will be a great success. The choir has excellent singers from the Paramaribo area. There are also members from my former area in Wanica. We will have a rehearsal each Saturday at 6:30 PM and I really enjoy working with these great people. We have to be finished on 19 December.

We had a very good week. The sacrament meeting was very uplifting. The spirit was very strong and I felt edified. I feel so blessed to learn from the members here in Suriname. They work so hard and they have a strong desire to grow. I have never seen so many faithful and dedicated members and they are so focused on achieving their goals. I am sure that the Lord will reward their faithfulness and hard work.

I was very happy to hear that mom gave a great talk at the Stake Conference. I am sure that she spoke with a strong spirit when she talked about the atonement of Christ. I am also very grateful for the atonement and I am especially grateful for parents that taught me the gospel. I realize that I have learned a lot from your testimonies.

Well that's it for this week. I love you all.

Love, Jeff

22 October 2009

We cannot be without Christ...

14 October 2009

99 new contacts in one week


We received another e-mail in Dutch this week from our son. He wrote many personal things that would not be appropriate to publish in this blog, but he is doing well and he enjoys his mission. He had a very uplifting week and had a great discussion with his mission president. His love and testimony of our redeemer Jesus Christ has grown and he loves to share the gospel and musical talents with the people in his mission field.

He and his companion Elder Roepers had set a goal to get 100 new contacts this week and they achieved 99 in one week. They also have another baptism scheduled on Saturday of young man that studies in Paramaribo.

If you have some time, please send him a letter and let him know how you are. Missionaries always love to receive mail. His mailing address is posted on this blog.

Love,
A Missionary Dad


Video created by Davidkat99 (youtube)

05 October 2009

Happy Birthday Dad

Happy Birthday, Dad. As I was sitting in Priesthood meeting I could not help but think about all of those times that we sat in Priesthood meeting together and listened to the words of the prophets. I am grateful for you as my father. I love you very much. Thank you. I hope you have a great and successful day.

I was able to learn so much during this last weekend. The words of the Lord's anointed have touched me deeply. I have been thinking a lot about personal revelation and charity and that is what conference was all about. (At least to me that's what it seemed like. I think it is amazing that different people get different things out of conference.) Service through charity is really the key to success and I have been able to see that in my life and in the lives of others as I have worked as a missionary. I am grateful for the fact that I was able to listen to the prophet and the other leaders of the church.

We were able to baptize sister Williams after the first session of conference and confirm her on Sunday after the first session. She is a great sister. She has such a strong testimony of the restored gospel and she shared that with the people at her baptism.

At conference I was able to see some of the great members of the Wanica branch. I was happy to see the Ritfeld family, the Druiventak family and some of the others that sang in the choir and they have become great friends. I was even able to see some of the recent converts. It is always great to see the people you baptized that are active in the church. The members were proud to report that they had kept the choir going and that they had performed during a district conference just before I came back. I have heard many people talk about the choir and their performance and they were amazing. Now that I am back they want me to teach piano and start another choir in the branch I am serving in currently.

I know our Heavenly Father lives and loves us. His Son Jesus Christ did in fact die for us. He engraved our names in the palms of his hands, and I am thankful for that. I am thankful for parents that have taught me that and have made it possible for me to teach others about what I know to be true.

Love, Jeff

For those that missed seeing general conference, you can still watch it @ http://www.byu.tv/

 

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