Bikes, Bulgarians and Broadcasts

Dear all, well I did it again...fell of my bike. *tear* but no worries, luckily, I was wearing a helmet. (I say this through gritted teeth), not really.  I didn't even get hurt, but never bike around tram lines - those guys are sneaky...

This week we had a zone P-day and played soccer allemaal and then ate waffles togezzer #Belgianlife.  We also had a worldwide mission broadcast that we watched in Brussel, which was pretty cool as well as cool - church buildings in Europe are never warm! Gah:)

Us on our way to kick some voetbal butt:)

We only got kicked by several elders...

Me putting on the whip cream in the background...post soccer waffles:)

When the elders find your camera..

Last Thursday, we had an awesome lunch appointment with a sweet woman in our branch and then the elders and us headed on over to our new branch mission leader's house for correlation (where he promptly fed us...even though we were still full from lunch) and then because of bus schedules, we had to leave his house to go straight to our dinner appointment *disclaimer* this does not happen very often, but the fact that it even happened once is crazy!  I ate rice and ice cream three different ways that day; all delicious, no complaints.  They're all so great:) Transfer calls happened anndd I'm staying!  I'm starting my 11/12 transfers and so Imma hoping I can just stay here in this lovely place forever.

Antwerpen Centraal

een beetje sneeuw

So, I have a problem.  I literally always contact the people that can neither speak Dutch or English...it's an issue, but proves for some of the weirdest and funniest conversations I'll ever have.  We met this man from Bulgaria on the street and with his little English he began to go off on weird stories and wild explanations for why he was here in Belgium and what his beliefs were. What a funny bunny; people are weird and awesome:)  But yeah, there are a lot of people here in Belgium and in the Netherlands that can't speak Dutch and sometimes even English which then turns into Zuster Dobler playing charades with them as I try to explain why we stopped them...these are the moments you'll never get back, that's for sure.

Made cheesecake with Jelle

Visiting Pascale and Josef :)

We saw a miracle this week as we've been working with an investigator who was actually suppose to get baptized the first week I had moved to Gent. Because of several different reasons, the baptism didn't go through and he kind of stopped showing any desire to really work towards it again. He didn't really feel like he needed the church anymore, just cause everything in his life seemed to be going just fine without it.  But he's awesome and he came to church this week and of course it seemed perfectly tailor-fitted to him.
He asked us if we would start teaching him again:)

It's just a witness to me of the potential we have as children of a Heavenly Father.  Yeah, our lives sometimes seem redelijk (reasonably) good sometimes and seemingly the best that they could get, but why would we ever deprive ourselves of receiving more happiness? Why would we settle for mediocrity when it's our eternal happiness that's at stake?  Sometimes it's difficult to see a need for more, for a change, but if we never try anything out, we'll never know.

Now, we will compare the word unto a seed.  Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves-it must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my sould; yea it beginnith to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me. (Alma 32:28)

Our souls are enlarged as we continue to have experiences with the Holy Ghost and we become more substantial as human beings and children of God.  We slowly begin to see things as God sees them, to recognize the importance and necessity of certain trials and experiences in our lives.  And, because of our frequent exposure to the influences of the Spirit, it becomes "delicious" to us because it has become a precious tool in understanding ourselves and God more.  And as we continue to exercise our faith, ye shall grow in the knowledge of the glory of him that created you, or in the knowledge of that which is just and true. (Mosiah 4:12) and slowly our faith become understanding and knowledge.

Well, fijne week allemall en groetjes uit Gent:) (Have a wonderful week from Gent) of Gand (als je Franstalig bent) (if you're French)

liefs, Zuster Dobler