Papua New Guinea Pig.

Hola! Now that I´m done with a FAR too long deep clean of the apartment and all kinds of other minor inconveniences (which are often the most frustrating kind), I´m here to email.

It has been a very long week. It feels like I haven´t emailed in forever. The movement of time on a mission is so inconsistent. Sometimes you sit and think "Dang, didn´t we just have Zone Conference yesterday?" and other times it´s like, "When was the last time I slept?"

First, it´s happening! Schiedam is exploding! We´re just pumped! We have way more people to teach and all sorts of other good things happening. It´s coming at a perfect time, too. Now that it´s getting dark earlier (dang daylight savings), contacting after the hour of 6 becomes really ineffective. It´s better than nothing, but it´s way better to teach than contact that late. Thus, we´re glad that we actually have people to teach now!

More cool things-- we went and had a big zone service project at the Salvation Army last Wednesday. We sorted clothes for the packages for refugees! It was a good time.... and in typical missionary fashion... by the end it was basically a big dress up party. Luckily the people working there found it very amusing! Otherwise.... there could have been issues. I must say I look pretty good in old lady floral print skirts and furry coats.

We traveled in Den Bosch, and had the concert in Eindhoven. It was definitely the best concert I´ve done so far. We were worried that we wouldn´t have enough room because it´s a very small church building, but we made it work and had a great evening. It was really odd..... We were absolutely swarmed for pictures afterward. I was frustrated because I was trying to talk to people and have a nice spiritual time, but instead I ended up being in a million pictures... Yeah, not a typical missionary problem.

Then we had Stake conference yesterday. I could hardly hear anything... but I enjoyed it anyway.

Well, I have pictures!

Conatti and I were going to go to the service project as twins! But he changed after this picture was taken. Dang, we didn´t even have tags on yet!

Elder Conatti really liked this...... blanket?

It´s been awhile!

You´re welcome everyone!

Lastly, these are a Dutch treat specific to Den Bosch. It´s basically a massive cream puff covered in dark chocolate. They have to be good for Elder Conatti to eat something so sweet.

Love,

Elder Shaw

"Boxtel is a great place. It´s pretty and smells like horse poop."

Once again, thank you Elder Conatti.

It happened. We had a great week! Elder Conatti and I managed to get in contact with multiple potentials and teach them! We even found someone for which we had the wrong address. We just "magically happened" to knock at the right door. Coincidence, my rear-end! It was nice to see that persistence pays off! Heck, with persistence, I could be a princess if I wanted. I´ve been learning a lot about the way that works, and that it´s an attribute I want to develop more and more. It feels good to work for things and have them work out just when you feel like giving up on it.

SO that was all very nice! Then, this week we worked in a Military Ward. So.... most of the members were American. It was a culture shock, but the appointments all ended up being amazing and the people were great. We met an adorable little boy that we were tempted to trade our stuffed bear for.... long story. But yeah, his parents asked him if he wanted to be a singing elder. He just put his hand up to his face and said "I can´t." We asked why and he replied, "Because I´m just a little boy." I about died, it was so cute! Like, do you ever have those moments where something is so cute you just want to hit things? Or are we just nuts?

I don´t have many stories really, but I do have some pictures!

I found her! I´ve been waiting so long to meet Beyonce!

Oh yeah! We had Temple conference this week! This is Elder Henderson (the other guy in our apartment.) We had a wonderful time there. And I had an interesting experience you may be hearing about soon.

This is a terrible picture of a beautiful city. Sorry.... it´s hard to get good pictures from a car.

Elder Conatti could be the next Yo Yo Ma (except that he's a cellist), if we could teach him how to hold a violin correctly.

Make muffins, not war.

Elder Shaw

And move from Kneeling Duck into Bruce Walrus.

I was leading the others in some yoga this morning. By that, I mean I was doing yoga and the others were watching me. I didn't know names for poses, so I made them up. Kneeling Duck and Bruce Walrus were just what came to my head.

Okay.... this week was... pretty uneventful actually. We practiced this week for a Christmas performance we are going to do! It´s going to be a lot of work, but SO fun! I´m very excited. Elder Hunter is still working on the script, but we already have two songs learned and we´re working on perfecting them.

Elder Conatti and I contacted a lot; we´re still have trouble actually teaching people.... but we have given away many copies of the Book of Mormon (it´s a great read; if you haven´t heard of it, check it out.) We´re powering through. It´s going great. We´re staying positive. I´m speaking in simple sentences in the present tense. It´s been one of those weeks where your mind gives up on complex syntax.

I´m sorry it´s short. There really just is not a whole lot to say about the week. 

A few pictures!

Look at the greenie and his trainer! SO CUUUTE! Also, you can kinda see our mattress arrangement in this. Mattress on the floor, two beds, oh, and my mattress is under the bed where they´re praying. We pull it out for sleeping time, but other wise it stays in there.

Look! the greenie!

Oh! And we get to go to the temple this week! Yay!

Love,

Elder Shaw

I no wan´ ladies, I wan´ batize.

Explanation: Elder Conatti actually has a perfect American accent. His English is actually better than that of most Americans (myself included). However-- he is very good at accents and always says funny things in different voices. The above was... some sort of accent saying "I don´t want ladies, I want to baptize." (I told him he was handsome.)

We had to prepare the apartment for the extra two Elders we received on Wednesday. They´re wonderful fellows! There was a lot of adjustment that had to be done, and our mattress arrangement is a tad unorthodox, but it fulfills its purpose just fine! We´re actually going to be around and practicing this week, so we have a good chance to get to know the other Elders before the schedule gets nuts.

We traveled in Breda this week; it was a lot of fun, and we were fed a lot! Like, a lot. We made two lunch appointments during traveling. I was appreciative of people going out of their way to feed us, but it was sooooo much. My poor little stomach was crying as I crammed it full of hearty Dutch cuisine. I think I gained weight. No joke. It was a lot of food!

Well, this is a little short this week because I had a ton of birthday emails to respond to! I´m sorry! But know that all your emails were very much appreciated! If you didn´t get a response, let me know. I´m pretty sure I got everyone though...

I have a few pictures!

Look at the moon...

...and the church that was next to it!

And look! A fixed post slot!

Keep it swill err´body!

Elder Shaw