By the way, I´m giving no context for that. It´s way funnier without it.
Well, this week has been interesting. I should explain something about Dutch culture. Once summer rolls around, everything changes for vacation. Public transportation schedules are different, and half of the country is gone.... for the entire summer. During this time.... missionary work slows down to octogenarian speeds. It´s awful. Investigators leave on vacation and come back no longer interested. People you contact almost never live in your city, So they just wave you off. You know, how could a church possibly be in more than one city? (I actually know why they think like this; it doesn´t make it any less annoying.) Because of this, Elder Muller and I have made it a goal to rewrite contacting. There are a lot of methods used by missionaries here, but we feel like there are more effective ways we can do it. Especially since we have less time to contact now, we need to find ways to make it as effective as possible.
Anyway! My week has been interesting. A lot of appointments were cancelled.... or people just flaked out. It makes it difficult to feel positive about your day when you can´t teach. Annoying. However, WE GOT A MEMBER REFERRAL! It´s a special privilege to be trusted with something like that, and it doesn´t happen much here in The Netherlands. But we´re excited to have the opportunity.
Oh, we taught a lesson at the beginning of the week with a guy that thought he knew a lot more about our religion than us. I can sum it up--he thinks that our church was ACTUALLY started by The Knights Templar. Oh, and he kept trying to relate to us by referring to us collectively as "Judo-Mormonistic peoples". Yeah, he really did not understand what we said and actually had no desire to. He still wants to meet with us though.... So I am SUPER confused.
We also taught some Jamaicans. They were super cool. They didn´t show up to church on Sunday, but I´m sure they have a reason. At least I hope they do. I would hate to find out that they were just being lazy. Because that´s what I´ve run into daily on my mission.... I wish there was an effective way to type a sigh.... Maybe.... HEEEeeehhhhhh. It´ll do.
OH! Also helmets! I´ve been made fun of a lot. People will point and laugh at us. I´ve been told that I should be on a scooter if I´m going to wear a helmet. We get honked at regularly. The members are worried about us. When we told them that we have to wear helmets they were amazed. That´s how odd it is in this country. I was speaking with Sister Bunnell a few days ago about it. We talked about how you don´t look as weird if you´re on a racing bike and wearing spandex. That´s right. This is probably the only circumstance where wearing spandex would make us look less weird. So I´m looking into spandex suits. I don´t think they exist.
Anyway, that about wraps it up. I have pictures, but they aren´t interesting enough to merit putting up. It´s been too cold and rainy for nice pictures.
Have a good week! I love you all!
Elder Shaw
