Dankbaar - Thankful

Elder Vernes wrote another e-mail in Dutch. It is interesting to see how he has developed a love for this language. He never went to school in Holland nor did he have any official Dutch lessons. The only Dutch he heard was at home. In matter of fact when he was a little kid and we drove to Holland, he was amazed that so many other people spoke the same language we spoke at home. Below you can read his weekly message. Thank you for your love and friendship. Elder Vernes is alos very pleased for all the mail he received from all of you.

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Ik ben zo dankbaar dat ik in een gezin kon opgroeien waarin het evangelie geleerd werd. Ook de mensen hier in Suriname zijn geweldig. Ze hebben zo'n sterk geloof. Ze zijn werkelijk bereid om alles te geven. Ik heb zoiets nog nooit eerder gezien. Ik ben ook werkelijk van deze mensen gaan houden en ik ben ook zeer dankbaar voor hun.



Elder Baantje en ik hadden een vrij goede week samen. We hadden een onderzoekster in de kerk. Ze vond het geweldig. Het leuke is dat zij iemand in de kerk kent. Haar schoonmoeder is namelijk lid van de kerk en ze waren blij om elkaar in de kerk te zien. Ze wil volgende week ook komen en op 5 December gedoopt worden.

De kooroefening was Zaterdag geweldig. Deze mensen kunnen zo mooi zingen. Ze zijn geweldig. Ze zijn gemotiveerd en ze houden van muziek. Ik vind het geweldig om met hun samen te werken. Ik denk echt dat het op 19 December een geweldige avond zal worden en dat de andere leden van de kerk en bezoekers het ook geweldig zullen vinden. We hebben een paar solisten die echt geweldige stemmen hebben. Ik heb een paar van de Ritfelds gevraagd om solo's te zingen. Hun hebben echt geweldige stemmen.

Zoneconferentie was geweldig. President Gamiette heeft erover gesproken hoedat wij het Boek van Mormon meer moeten gebruiken tijdens het zendingswerk. Doordat het een tweede getuige is van Christus een een belangerijk onderdeel van ons evangelie is, is het verstandig iedereen aan te moedigen het Boek van Mormon te lezen zodat zij een getuigenis van het boek kunnen krijgen. Wij als zendelingen moeten ook iedere dag in het Boek van Mormon lezen. Ik ben ermee bezig het Boek van Mormon in het Nederlands te bestuderen. Ik ben nu in Mosiah 4. Ik leer zo veel en ik weet dat het het woord van God is en dat wij door het te bestuderen betere mensen kunnen worden. Ik ben echt een sterker getuigenis van het Boek van Mormon gaan ontwikkelen en daar ben ik heel dankbaar voor.

Liefs,

Jeff

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

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