Ja, toch? Of niet? Ja wel!

South and I had a very cool week. We had some awesome lessons; people are coming along well for the most part. The sad bit is, WE CAN´T FIND GULIA! She hasn´t responded to us and hasn´t been at church. We don´t know what´s happened! UGH!!! It blows.

But Eliza brought a friend to church! That was really cool. I had to translate for her. I did okay! It´s kind of weird though, because translating directly into English isn´t hard, but trying to translate into simplified English while defining unfamiliar gospel terms is REALLY HARD.

If you can´t tell by the many phrases of capital letter screaming it has been an emotional week. Ups. Downs. Shake it all arounds.

Do things like Dad? I dunno, Dad, what did you do? I make it an effort never to mix my Dutch and my English, especially when speaking English. We refer to that as Nederengels. Missionaries are notorious for doing it, but I´ve noticed that all the people truly good at the language never do it. SO! I have made it an effort not to do that! I get sick of hearing about how "Lekker" things are. Or people talking about how many "Doop"-dates they have. Ewwwwwwwwwwwwww.

Most fun moment of the week? Well, we did some service for a member this week. He had all of the missionaries there. So we all sang a bunch of songs and had a really great time while helping him get his new house ready to be moved in. It was definitely fun.

Well, the big thing to say about Dutch holiday traditions is a big topic of debate over here right now. They have a very catholic Santa Claus, and then his helper, Zwarte Piet (Black Pete). Black Pete is always a white person, dressed in black face, with very red lips, and he´s Santa´s little helper. Thus, the country is caught in some civil war over whether or not it´s racist to keep a children´s holiday tradition around because it has to do with race. I´m really tired of hearing about it, and it´s ALWAYS in the freaking newspapers. Dumb.

Here are a few pictures!

PONY! IT´S SO CUTE AND LITTLE!

(Mom note: the entire picture didn't download in the email)

Elder Bitters and bikes. (Crouching Pony, Hidden Exchanges)

Rotterdam at night (Meaning 5 in the afternoon)

Artsy picture of really awesome dart throw by Elder South

Good bye!

Elder Shaw

Dutch rain ruins clothes!

It´s true. I have clothing that has been stained and ties that have changed color because of the rain here. How ridiculous is that?!

This week has been wet, and cold! I wear a scarf and jacket everyday. It´s kind of funny; the colder it gets, the less we look like missionaries and the more we look like everyone else. Since we´ve had to start pretty much always keeping the white shirt covered, we don´t really get call outs on the street. Just feels strange to NOT be stared at constantly. People still stare at the badge of course, but they don´t really notice it when you go hauling by on a bike.

The best thing about being in a big city is...... It´s fun! It´s lively; there´s a pleasant hustle and bustle to the streets, but not one too intense:

Mom Note: Elder Shaw wanted me to put in a picture of the Shibuya District in Tokyo, to show you what he meant. We happened to be here a few years ago and the crossing at the intersection outside the train station was exactly like this--so full of people! He thought it was really a little too congested, and assures me that Rotterdam is not like this!

We live nearly right in the center of the city, so It´s very cool to have all that business constantly around you. Then, when it gets too much we can go and work in the suburbs! So that´s nice, too! 

I will probably get transferred. That will be on Dec. 10th. Yay?

I can read Dutch and all that just fine. But there´s this super annoying thing about street names here. They are not marked well; sometimes you have to go down three streets just to figure out where the heck you are, and they´re SUPER LONG! Also, many streets in an area will have the same beginning, but just different endings. e.g., Crooswijksestraat, Crooswijkselaan, Croosewijkseweg, Crooswijksebak, and so on and so forth. Dumb right?

Pictures!

Us in Raymond´s swaggin' shades

Have pamphlet, will teach. (Chinese Edition)

It´s cold!

Zwolle tickets: So espensive!

Zwolle Group: Thom, Cook, Neptune, Taggart, Roemer, Kemp, Me!

Geen belangstelling!

We hear that phrase at the door a lot.
Not a bad week I guess. We did a ton of contacting! It's hard sometimes, but we gotta keep pushing through!

I'm not really sure what to say about the week. We really have mainly been contacting, trying to increase our likelihood of coming across someone with interest in our message. It's not common, sadly. We did have Eliza come to church again! She is progressing very well! We are very excited about working with her. Gulia is still coming along as well. Her baptismal date was moved, but I should still be here to see it! YAY! 

I guess I can talk about today--

I'm in Zwolle right now! It's very cool. That's why the email is late today. Elder Kemp invited me to come with him to see one of his old companions, Jeremy Romer. We met Elder Taggart and a few other missionaries I haven't told you about out here and are having a very good time. Sadly, I forgot my camera. The pictures will come next week after I get them from Kemp! Don't worry! We did get permission from President to be here. We aren't just going apostate. ;D

P-day schedule: wake up, breakfast. Email! Grocery shopping. Do some cleaning! Find something to do with other missionaries! Games, sports, shopping, museum visits, anything really! Do that until dinner, then we have to work again afterward!

Favorite Dutch food: I like Oliebollen. I will have a picture of them for you next week. All they really are is Dutch, round beignets. I also enjoy Stampot. Basically mashed potatoes with things in. Very good.

Inspiring thoughts/notes from the week:

If you don't have anything nice to say, definitely don't say it to a Dutch person!

It can be difficult, sometimes it just feels like it absolutely is terrible, sometimes it sucks, sometimes you hate it, sometimes you wish you were done, or just asleep in bed. BUT! It's all good. No worries! I love it despite all that can be thrown at me!

Much love; pictures next week!

Elder Showuh*

*Why the crap is my name hard for DUTCH people to pronounce? I mean really!

Helloooooooooo, I´m Elder Shawwww (Rotterdam, Week 13)

First off, Elder South! He is....... Seth. Like, in so many ways. Similar mannerisms; he has that same really high pitched laugh. We have a lot of fun! But it´s a little easy to get distracted during study time......

Dutch is coming along pretty well. I think I´ve dreamed in it. But languages are so mixed here I can end up speaking English, Dutch, and the little bit of German I remember in the same appointment. I really want my Dutch to improve, but haven´t had the chance to do my language study in many days. Luckily I should have it again tomorrow I believe. 

Jus´ trow it on tha blog. It `ll be grand. 

Investigators? Gulia is progressing well (Yeah, apparently it´s spelt with a G). We are trying to figure out when she is going to be baptized, because for some reason she is very nervous. So hopefully that turns out for the best. We honestly had a somewhat bittersweet week. Saturday we contacted a referral from the office that is very positive, and she came to church yesterday! It was very exciting! But other than that... most of our appointments have fallen through. Every single appointment yesterday fell through, including our dinner one. And no one told us that they were canceled, we just arrived at their houses and no one was there. It sucked. It sucked hard. It sucked donkeys. It sucked eggs. It sucked like a mosquito. It, yeah, it sucked.

Yeah, we had daylight savings time. We actually had it last week! Not this one. It gets dark very early now. Which blows.

I have a few pictures.

This was outside that new investigators house. I thought it was rad.

Last anime stance with Taggart

Elder South and Elder Shaw

Hallo, Ik bin Elder Taggart.

 I have a very funny story. Elder Taggart and I went to go contact a referral from a facebook campaign they are doing here. They have this little script they want us to use with it, so I went to try it. The bumble sounded something like this when the door opened (except in Dutch):

"Hi.... uh, hello. I´m Elder Taggart, and this is my...... Oh wait! He´s Elder Taggart, and I´m Elder Shaw! We....." And yeah, I was very embarrassed about it. Thus, Elder Taggart and I have been making jokes about us both being him.

Okay, Elder Taggart is getting transferred to Heerenveen! Which is up north and very cold. I´m staying and going to be companions with Elder South. I haven´t really met him yet, but I´m excited.... And very nervous to take over the city. You know my issue with navigation and directions......

[In response to a question I asked him about a Dutch word--Mom]

 I´m guessing the word was koekje? Which is cookie. Or kokje? Which would be...... little chef, or chefy. They minimize EVERYTHING here in conversation. If you know what it meant, I probably know the actual word.

 I got two pairs of VERY European pants which I maybe shouldn´t be allowed to wear, but am. And a pair of casual shoes. I still have a lot of money to use; I need more socks and a raincoat--still. But I´m doing fine without them right now. 

Yeah, we went to the temple! It was fun.

Yeah, I don´t have pictures today. Sorry!

Elder Shaw

Rotterdam--Week 11

Artsy

The mission moves soooooooooooo fast. Like, wow. Lets see, Elder Shaw´s weekly interesting crap.

Julia is back in town! It´s great to teach her again, because she´s so willing to accept all the aspects of the gospel. We taught the word of wisdom, and she was very positive about it, almost excited. Also we took her to a baptism a few weeks ago and since then she´s been trying to practice the movement. Elder Taggart and I tried so hard not to laugh at that. It´s just so funny. 

I don´t remember if I told you much about Ignisious, but we´re actually teaching him now. It took awhile, but he´s a very nice guy. It´s hard to get appointments because of his schedule, but we keep trying. 

Oh! So, Tim, a member in the ward from China, taught us to make spicy Chinese chicken the other day. It was very spicy, and afterward one of the Sisters promised me a batch of brownies if I would lick the plate the spicy chicken was on. The fire poops will hopefully be worth it? We´ll see if I get the brownies; Sisters are notorious for not following through on their treat promises.

Transfers are next week! No clue whether I or Elder Taggart will stay. Probably me, but we´ll know by next Monday!

I don´t know what I want for Christmas..... IT´S OCTOBER, DANG IT! DON´T RUSH ME BETWEEN HOLIDAYS! 

The best thing about serving a mission is the people that slam that door in your face. The people that yell at you on the street. The two Moroccan guys sharing a Vespa that drive by and call you homo. Why the heck would that be the best thing, other than the irony of the Vespa drive by? Because you know it comes because you are doing the right thing. That´s Satan`s way of trying to keep you from doing your work. And you know--every time you don´t let it get you down you´re pushing Satan down in the dirt, spitting on him, and God gives you a "high-five" of blessings as you both walk away laughing. Then, all of this opposition becomes worth it-- when you see someone you teach start to smile as they understand the message of the gospel you bring them. Or when you see someone cry when you share the story of the restoration with them. These are the things that make a mission worth it.

Well, that's it for this week. I miss you all!

Elder Shaw

Say, "WEEKRY PRANNING"

Elder Cooper and yours truly!

IK MOET NIEZEN

 I'm not sure what to say about the week. It was..... something! I don't know what though.

One story from the week, I guess. I went on exchanges with one of the ZLs, Elder Krebs. We had a really good day of contacting and stuff. Then, as we were getting ready to drive back to the apartment (being in a car again was weird) we got a call from some other elders in the zone. One of them was not feeling good at all and was afraid it was appendicitis. So we drove all the way over there, picked them up, and took him to the hospital. When we got there, it was already technically time to be in the apartment. Well, we got to sit in a Dutch waiting room for a VERY long time--even though there were only a few other people there. Yeah, sorry people. I'm not convinced this socialized system works!

Well, they finally told us they wanted to keep him over night, so we went home. We got there a bit after midnight. I was very tired the next day. Actually, no one has told me yet what happened with him. I hope he's okay, but I'm so out of the loop!

Party on Garth,

Elder Shaw

Picture of the hair. ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?! GOODNESS PEOPLE! It's just a normal haircut!

Um..... picture! Elder Krebs and Elder Bean (my DL) and...... Rakka? I think that's the birds name, but I can't remember.