The End.

Well, I planned on making this email a lot longer initially, but a very cruddy day has put a stop to those plans. I have a few minutes, but I won't be able to say as much as I wanted.

I'm currently in the Mission Office, trying to keep my cool. This week has been nothing short of stressful; I'm so shaken I feel like I'm writing differently than normal. 

I had a lot of late nights, but managed to do some good work despite our heavy load of member appointments. I really would love to tell you more about my last week, but I'm afraid my lack of time is going to cut that short.

I would like to say one thing before closing off this email. I've specifically avoided doing the whole "preachy-missionary" emails, but I'm afraid you're about to get one. Hear me out!

I think that many of you reading this blog are not members of the church. Don't worry, that's okay. I'm not going to yell about you all being baptized and coming to the only true and living church on the earth. I could do that, but my focus is somewhere else. I want to talk specifically about The Book of Mormon. I encourage you all to read it. The lessons I have learned (and taught) on my mission have convinced me of its authenticity and its importance for every person currently living on earth. I believe in The Book of Mormon, that it is the word of God, and that's why I'm here. If you don't have a copy, ask a friend, or me. I'm sure most members would be MORE than willing to oblige. Read it, ponder its message, and then pray to God (whether or not you are sure He exists) and you will receive an answer. An answer and a joy like nothing you knew existed. The comfort of the gospel of Jesus Christ is a big one. Give it a shot. I dare you!

Okay, I'm going to end it here in order to finish my legality crap. I'll post a few pictures when I get home.

See you soon!

Elder (last time I'll write that) Shaw

So Little Time, Mountains of Work.

​This week was cool. Starting with last P-day, we went out for an activity with the ward. It was a big picnic! We had a good time playing games and goofing around with everyone. Then Timo went and ran us through some rugby conditioning drills. We were sore for multiple days.

We finally got to do some teaching this week! We had an awesome time with it actually. It felt good to be a little bit busy. Don´t get me wrong, most of our appointments still fell through. It´s an odd thing. People say that the Dutch always say what they´re thinking and always keep their appointments. I´ve seen a different side of the Dutch on my mission. Despite what they'd like to believe, they´re just like everyone else.

Well, I gave my "going away" talk yesterday. It was pretty cool, then afterwards we got swarmed by people trying to get appointments for this coming week. It made me feel really good about myself. I really hope I have helped the ward in some way. I really like them a lot.

Well, I´m keeping it a little short; I have a lot to do today! Goodbye!

Look at all the Ryans!

A castle!

Black swans \m/

Wet with cat.

Love you!

Elder Shaw

´Til the Storm Passes By

These emails keep getting more and more difficult to write. I feel like I´ve been doing them for so long that it just becomes a repetition of the same jokes over and over again. Heck, I wouldn´t be surprised if I had written this already. Or that!

Our week was funky. We didn´t teach very much, in fact. It was one of those weeks where you look back and go "What did we actually do?" I know we were outside working. But I don´t recall much coming from it. It doesn´t help that I was on exchanges for two days of this week. I spent a decent amount of time in different cities.

A fun observation about one of those exchanges-- we did a TON that day. We were just running from appointment to appointment in Heerlen. One of the missionaries there, Elder Stanworth, has become a very good friend.

Actually, I just realized. For the two investigators that were taught this week, I was in a different city. I didn´t teach an investigator in my own area! That´s really weird.

You want pictures? I have a few from this week. It´s about all I have really.

Mr. Drink!

You can´t see it super well because they scattered once we got close. It doesn´t help that Elder Drinkwater was going out of his way to scare them. BUNNIES!

Graffiti walls. My favorite!

Vegan Power!

There was a "big" jazz festival in Denbosch. There were a few small stages set up all around the city center. Elder Drinkwater and I lingered for a second to watch these cats play. It can only be called jazz in loosest of terms. Blues pentatonic scales and 4/4 timing aren´t really the most jazzy things in the world. They are Dutch; they are doing their best.

Our favorite part of the week, Numbers!

I´m hungry; Imma go get some brunch!

Love you!

Elder Shaw

Death Row

I feel like I´m walking it. The reality of coming home is setting in, and it´s that time of panic! Am I afraid to die?  Nah, I don´t think so. But like most people it´s not something I spend a ton of time looking forward to. The circle of life! 

I got some sun this week! And it was nice and warm! It would have been fabulous had I not been sick. It´s probably actually allergies, but it has been very disruptive. I haven´t been able to sleep very well, so I´ve been operating on very little sleep, a small appetite, and a crap ton of enthusiasm. It should be better this week though. I´m feeling better today.

We´ve been having a little trouble these few weeks. We want to find more investigators and get the ward more involved with them. Wards need to see that the missionaries are working as hard as they can; it helps them have faith in the work. Sadly, I feel like we have so little to show for the work we put in. We can´t get people to church. We are having trouble even getting scheduled lessons! I want the ward to feel like the work is moving forward, and know that we really can help people be happier, but it´s a little difficult at this point. We just have to keep pushing. Something will break and this ward can see miracles and come closer together. 

I should apologize. I don´t actually have any pictures this week. It was beautiful, but my mind was elsewhere... (and I was sick).

There will be pictures next week! I promise!

Love you!

Elder Shaw

One thing I will not miss is Dutch weather. This last week was very frustrating. We've had these really annoying days full of rain for an hour, then clouds and wind and cold for two hours, and then sun for fifteen minutes. Wash, rinse, and repeat. It wasn't the best.

One cool thing from this week was that we went to Nijmegen for Kingsday. I sent some pictures from Kingsday last year, and I have a few more. It´s basically when the entire country celebrates the King's birthday. Wouldn't that be nice? An entire country selling off all the old junk they don´t want in honor of your birthday? "Hey, it´s the King´s birthday tomorrow! We can finally get rid of all our baby clothes!" 

"Man, what are we going to do with this computer from 2003?" "Isn't it the Kings birthday next week?" "Perfect!" 

Yeah, I don´t get it either. Traditions are the most bizarre things. Every culture has them. Wanna know another Dutch one? You congratulate everyone at a birthday party. I mean everyone. "Wow, our friend-in-common is one year closer to death, Congratulations!"

One tradition which I consider pretty intelligent is in almost every Dutch bathroom I've been in...or.. toilet. The bath and shower are almost never in the same room (also not a bad idea). Anyway, every Dutch toilet has a little calendar hanging on the wall. What is on this calendar? The birthdays of everyone you know! What a interesting country. It seems like life revolves around that annually changing number that is your biological existence. They also throw big parties for people that turn 50-- calling them Abraham or Sarah respectively. I think that´s disrespectful to Abraham. He had a full 49 years on you, and that was when he was told he would have his first child! HE had plenty more fruitful years in him. Your 50 pales in comparison!

Okay, comedy rant over. Obviously I don´t have many stories from the week. I have some pictures.

Kingsday crew!

What´s a gathering of missionaries without a self-taken-photograph? (Avoid that "s" word)

Elder Morrel and I got into a little tiffy about the correct way to deconstruct our stand (which was better suited for selling Snow-Cones than sharing the gospel, honestly).

I love you all; have a good week.

Elder Shaw

Ik blijven.

Guess what!?! I´m staying in Den Bosch with Elder Drinkwater for my last transfer. We´re going to keep on keeping on! I am very excited! More exclamation points! More! If you can´t tell I´m quite happy that I didn´t get transferred. This (my last) transfer is actually only five weeks long as compared to the normal six. Five weeks in a new city would not have been ideal.

It was a decent week. Lots of knocking. It actually turned sunny and warm a few days ago, but changed back to dismal, dreary, and downright cold. It happens.

A few cool things. Elder Drinkwater and I did a lot of cooking this week. We baked a cake for our district, baked slutty brownies (yes, wonderful name) for a family, made curry for an inactive member, just.... yeah. I really enjoy cooking. Look out, ladies!

Yeah, I think that´s about it for the day. I don´t feel like typing anymore! You´ll see me soon enough, anyway! Pieces of trash. You´ve just been home doing your garbage while I´ve been here saving the world. I might as well just stay here and make all of you miss me even more as pay back...HAH!

I have a few pictures!

This is my eggie... Todd. I put him in brownies.

Goslings. I named them all Ryan.

I love you!

Elder Shaw

Chicken Poop.

Yeah, it has a story; I´ll get there in a second.

I am feeling more and more tired as my mission starts to draw to a close. I feel like it is impossible to get enough rest. We are as busy as two little beavers could be. It feels good. Maybe I´ll finally be able to sleep on the flight.

We had a trip to temple this week; that was nice. After we were done there, we all went to Keukenhof, that Dutch Tulip-y garden thing. It was very busy, so touristy, and a decent time. I took a lot of pictures of the "show" flowers. Honestly, that was the only thing other than the petting zoo that really interested me. The rest of the gardens are pretty... artificial looking. They just look so pampered and controlled. It was nice, but I wouldn´t go out of my way to go again. However, I picked up a chicken! It scratched my face, called me names, and pooped on me. I think it´s safe to say we´re friends.

I also got really frustrated with some Christians of another denomination. They invited us in and proceeded to tell us off for not following the bible closely enough. Yeah. I was really done with them. Elder Drinkwater was much more patient than I was, and he kept it in control while my temper was flaring like the twin suns of Tatooine. I wanted to hop on out of there, but Elder Drinkwater took care of it all and it ended on a tentatively good note. Even after all this time I still struggle with my anger. We are just human.

One more little story: in the Netherlands everyone has a little luggage rack on the back of their bikes. They use them to carry their groceries and children and best friends. I went on exchanges on Tuesday in Eindhoven. The Elder working in my city accidentally took his bike keys with him. I had to ride on the back of a bike the ENTIRE day. Granted, no one really gives you a second glance here; it´s pretty common, but ALL DAY?! My butt was less than satisfied with the seating arrangements.

Pictures!

Piggy!

Peacock!

Some flowers.​

Oh yeah, Moestuintjes. They´re something from Dutch grocery that they do once a year in the spring. It´s a bunch of seeds and some little pots to plant them in. We can grow our own veggies and herbs. Missionaries go crazy for these.

Pronounced the same as Bossa Nova, but then having to do with Den Bosch. Good name for your boat, sir. I salute you.

Love you all!

Elder Shaw

"Never miss out on a chance to slap your wife´s butt!"

Words of wisdom from a member. Elder Drinkwater and I pretended to be appalled, but thought it was hilarious. My new mantra.

It´s another lovely day in Den Bosch! The weather has been super unpredictable this week. Some days we're bundled up in thermals and coats, other days we're warm and we just want to relax in the sun. It's also impossible to predict. Morning weather is often opposite of how the weather will be for the rest of the day. It´s frustrating, but part of life here.

I have a few good stories. First, Friday night: we went out to have dinner with Timo, at McDonald´s, which is much more expensive here than in the US. It was a nice evening and we had a good talk. Afterward he took us to this beautiful little.... I have no idea what to call it. It´s really pretty though, and just South of Den Bosch. It´s called the Bossche Broek. If you look it up maybe you can see it.

While we were there Timo decided he wanted to race, on foot, not bikes or anything. I thought "Yeah, what could possibly go wrong?" I´m an idiot.

By the way, Timo plays rugby; he isn´t huge. He´s fast.

Elder Drinkwater gave us the signal and we took off. I managed to keep up with Timo through the first five or six seconds, then I ate it. I tried to lean so far forward and take such a long step that I could no longer stay upright. I ate some concrete and slid about six feet. My clothes were fine, my face was fine, but my left arm got a bit scraped up. I´m okay, but I was frustrated and may have let out some choice words...I am my father´s son after all. (He´s going to be so unhappy that I wrote that). Don´t worry, Dad, you´re a wonderful example!

Then I had the chance to sing for a fireside put on by the YSAs of the stake (Young single adults, for those that were wondering). It was an interesting evening. We had a good time, and I was able to see some friends, both missionaries and members. But--it´s weird when all anyone can talk about is how soon you´re going home. I´m so old...

A few other cool things... We had a competition with the district on proselyting hours this week. That fireside screwed us over on Saturday, so we owe the district a cake. Luckily I really enjoy baking, so we win anyway! HAH!

Also, our Moestuintjes are growing well! However, we did have to steal some dirt to keep them alive. I`ll explain that one next week. I need to give you something to look forward to!

I only have one picture from the week; it was a poster I saw while on splits with the Zone Leaders. Elder Wilson and I laughed really hard!

That´s it. Hope you laughed. Party down.

Elder Shaw

SO LITTLE TIME!

Guess what, amigos! We are still busy! I´ll give a little list of things we did:

I made oven mac & cheese for a less active member.

I lifted a lot of furniture and boxes. 

I spent a long time being very frustrated and NOT SWEARING at my bike.

Elder Drinkwater and I cooked curry!

I set things on fire in a district meeting!

And taught a ton of lessons to wonderful people.

I went on exchanges to a little city called Nijmegen. I bet you have no clue how to pronounce that!

I took pictures with cats!

Elder Drinkwater took a full 18 seconds to get a joke!

I played Ticket to Ride with some members.

I watched a lot of conference. It was very enjoyable. I know there are a lot of you that aren't members of our church that are reading this, and I highly suggest going to lds.org to watch some of the talks. They are inspiring and uplifting.

I did not sleep as much as I should have.

I have pictures!

Double rainbow! Look close.

Black and white train tracks!

Black and white Elder Drinkwater!

Kitty!

Also Kitty!

Purty, eh?

Also! Iz a dragon amigo!

A friend came to visit our whiteboard during weekly planning.

Wut.

Also pretty!

Have a good one friends. Do cool things!

The Shaw

Maak je geen zorgen.

I would like to start with a big I´M FINE. The attack wasn´t in this country and even if it had been, Den Bosch is such a low profile place that you wouldn´t have to worry. I´m safe and happy.

This week was busy. Very busy. And a bit stressful, to be honest. Everything went really well, but it was just a lot on my plate. Elder Drinkwater barely made it through. And this week promises to be even busier. Heck, we already taught a lesson today! Craziness coming through!

Well, honestly... as busy as we were this week I don´t have a ton to talk about. In part, I´m just kinda out of words. I have to fix my bike and all kinds of crap today. I´ll try and find something to talk about.

Oh, Easter things. Well, a common concern I´ve heard expressed by this ward is that we don´t do enough for Easter in our church. I must say I agree. Easter really should be the biggest focus of all reverence and celebration for all that call themselves Christians. Because the ward thinks this, we had the wonderful opportunity to celebrate some other days of this past week, paralleling the last week of the mortal life of Jesus Christ. We celebrated The Last Supper on Thursday with a family in the Ward. Then we did a genealogy fireside for Good Friday. Elder Drinkwater and I were able to do a little presentation for that as well. Hahaha, Just one more thing we had to plan.

Well, pictures!

A member was showing us something called Occulus. Elder Drinkwater has no clue I´m taking a picture of him here.

Welcome to exchanges with The Shaw. Elder Drenth was a good sport.

And finally, a hilarious picture of Elder Drinkwater, selfie master.

Love you all!

Elder Shaw

Hey there, Hi there, Ho there

I can honestly say this week was an improvement over the last few. Elder Drinkwater and I got a lot of work done. We´re pretty beat at this point. However, we don´t have much time to take it easy either. We still have a lot to do. 

I just realized how many hours I spent talking to people on the street and doing doors. Dang. We have been all over this city just chatting away. I spent a long time on my feet. These shoes are showing some wear. Let´s see how bad I can kill them before I come back.

Well, some interesting things. That referral campaign we´re doing is getting HUGE. We have so many referrals at this point that I don´t know how we´re going to contact them. I think Elder Drinkwater and I will have to arrange splits with the members in order to get to them all. Especially since many of them are far away. It feels good to be busy, but sometimes you do find yourself wishing for a little break. Maybe I´m just lazy.

Another cool thing from the week is that we had my favorite Stake conference I´ve ever attended. Elder Charles from England was speaking (I don´t believe they ever mentioned his full name) and he did a wonderful job. We went with Timo and were all very uplifted. I also got to translate for a little meeting he did with recent converts and investigators in the stake.... Far from easy. That boy can talkkkkk. It was awesome, I also had the opportunity to see some friends from other wards and things in the stake.

One last thing before you get pictures-- I knew when I came on my mission that I would meet wonderful members and investigators. I expected to meet people I wanted to emulate and have great companions. However, I did not realize that these people would become my dear friends. I have been so blessed to have met the people I have. They have taught me so many wonderful things. 

Okay, pictures!

Derp!

Also derp!

Sing it with me! MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.........

I quite literally pulled this cat off of a roof.

This... right here... is my.... swag.

That´s it! I love you all!

The Shaw

"I´m a Shart Smopper"

Yeah, I think you can guess which words I mixed up there.

Well, the transfer happened. Elder Drinkwater and I are trying to settle into our work here in Den Bosch. We had a really bizarre few days.

I´ll try and sum it all up. Wednesday was a transfer day. Elder Drinkwater and I were just trying to get into the swing of things. It´s always a little odd right after a transfer. We didn´t have a ton of appointments, but we were more than busy.

Thursday we went to have an appointment with Theo, and older member of the ward we visit regularly, only to find EMTs there picking him up and taking him to the hospital. He´s doing okay, but it caused a little scare and we had to make a bunch of phone calls. Then, I ended up getting a flat tire. Friday we had to go to a meeting in Eindhoven and then to the Temple in the evening, so we ended up in our area for about.... two hours. But it was awesome. Then, there was a baptism for a boy in the ward on Saturday and a big zone service project, so once again we weren´t in our area for very long.

It was busy. And we still have a lot to do to take care of all of this stuff. Elder Drinkwater and I are quite busy. It´s a good thing, but exhausting. One thing I´ve learned from my mission is that you don´t actually need a "me" day. Maybe a few "me" hours from time to time, but far less often than we think. We´re capable of difficult things!

Pictures; I know you´re excited.

The St. Jans Cathedral in Den Bosch: Night Edition.

The Den Haag Temple: Nightish Edition

Holiness to the Lord

Uh huh. You know how I does.

In the train. This window might as well be a mirror.

Did I mention that our church is an office building? Yep

Peace out!

The Shaw

"O wat een ramp! Haar mascara!"

Well, this has been another one of those weeks where appointments fell through. People need to keep appointments if they make them. I hate arriving and finding no one home. It´s exhausting to say the least.

However there were plenty of cool things this week! I learned how to make Dutch meatballs from Timo´s father. They were..... absolutely amazing. They beat the living crap out Swedish meatballs (sorry IKEA). So that´s something for you to look forward to when I come home.

In other news, we do these little Facebook campaigns over here where people can order a DVD and then we show up to talk to them after they receive it. I´ve been doing these things since the beginning of my mission, and I´ve never had one go according to plan. We have this little "ideal situation" practice for it, but I have never used it. The circumstance has never allowed for it. Which is sad because it´s brilliantly thought through and would work if we could use it. Sounds like sooooo many things in life. If there is any advice I could give to everyone in life it would be "learn to improvise". Nothing will be more useful.

Well, I have news about transfers as well. My wonderful companion will be leaving me to go to Belgium, and I will be receiving Elder Drinkwater. Yep! Poor guy gets made fun of SO MUCH for his name. He´s perfectly aware of how goofy it is. I also already know him, so I´m not worried at all!

I have no pictures this week. I´m sorry everyone! I love you, though!

Love,

Elder Shaw

"Da´s m´n stuff, yo"

The title is something I said in Dutch that really isn´t a thing. Stuff is not a Dutch word. Elder Serra and Timo have been making fun of me for it.

Timo got baptized on Saturday! We´re so excited for him. He also asked me to do his confirmation yesterday. That was a wonderful experience. It was scary to do it in Dutch as well. But it´s done now, and it was cool.

Other than Timo´s baptism, this week was really hard. There were a few roses of course, but they were far outnumbered by the thorns. I´m honestly really glad it´s all over. I think we taught... twice this week. Everything else fell through and we got to spend some evening wandering around the city centrum hoping people would take some time out of their "busy" evenings to talk to us. I´ve had better weeks.

What else would you like to know? I don´t really have any cool stories other than the baptism. I do have some pictures (from Elder Serra, I forgot to charge my camera.)

I look Polish, no thanks to Elder Serra. After he cut my hair I had to go to the hair place any way to get it fixed. 

KITTY!

Timo´s dog.

AND TIMO AFTER BEING BAPTIZED! WOOP WOOP!

thth tha th th th tha that that´s all folks!

Elder Shaw