God loves us

 Nikki's email from March 9th!

"Sister Young and I!"

"belgium! we take trams pretty much everywhere and also walk a lot"

"the church building here!"

"it's just about spring!"

"a church in Antwerpen"

"Antwerpen Central Station"

"transfers!"

"The elders in this picture are Elder Carter and Elder Ames--they were in Zoetermeer with us. Elder Carter just went home this past week."

"At the station in Zoetermeer"

"all my stuff (minus my bike--it was just outside the station)

"my birthday from Zoetermeer!"

"the cake Mos made for my birthday!"

"Mos put up decorations :)"

"the elders and Wouter"

"A pretty church is Den Haag (close to where we had lunch after district meeting)"

Hallo from Belgium!

This week was a great week. I really miss the people in Zoetermeer--Zuster Faa, the members, our investigators--everyone. But I know that the Lord is taking care of them.

Monday night we had family home evening with Familie Rahman van Eeden and it was so fun--one of the little boys made a pictionary game for us to play. They're a great family--the mother, Misha, is the woman who knows Elizabeth Cheney.

We made a lot of calls to let people know I was being transferred (a lot of people asked us to), and it was hard but I really felt loved and happy about the relationships that I've been able to make is Zoetermeer. A lot of people wanted to meet with us before transfers, so we did our best but weren't able to have lessons with everyone. Sister Uljee had us over on Monday--she is so wonderful. 

Tuesday was great! We had a great district meeting then went to lunch with the whole district (a tradition for the last district meeting in the transfer). We met with Angela and she is doing really well--she really wants to know the truth. We also met with Jimmy and Jetti--they will hopefully start coming to church. Mos had us over for dinner and cake (he makes amazing chocolate cake). The Elders, Wouter and another member (Gunter) were there as well. Then we had a lesson with Lucie and her family, which was so good. After that we went to Rens and Veronica's for a quick goodbye and birthday cake (also delcious).

Wednesday was a bit crazy--it was pretty sad to say goodbye to Zuster Faa and everyone else--after lots of traveling, our group of missionaries got to Belgium! It's insane to travel with so much luggage and a bike on trains with other missioanries with all of their stuff as well. But we survived!! The handle pully thing on one of my suitcases broke off... My companion bought me a waffle right after we got in (she said I have to start off with just a plain one and then build up slowly). It was delicious!

The people here are wonderful and we're seeing lots of miracles. We met with a recent member, Agnes, who is from Africa. She has a beautiful testimony and was very kind. Cynthia is a new investigator, and when we met with her she was pretty down--she is in a hard situation right now, but we were able to help bring her comfort through our love and the gospel. She has a sweet eight year old girl who has special needs--she is a sweet girl.

We looked up a referral named Nathalie on Saturday night--it was such a cool experience. She is so open and prepared, and she loves talking about the gospel. She is an amazing mother and wants the best for her family.

Yesterday was a great day--lots of introductions--the members here are awesome. A woman walked in right before sacrament meeting and sat by us, and we found out after sacrament meeting that she has been investigating the church (while she lived in America and Japan) and just moved here last week. She found the church herself and wants to meet with us--her name is Anne and she is so awesome! We had dinner at Familie Shiltz--they have all 6 of us (the zone leaders, two elders and us) over for dinner every Sunday night--so fun.

I love it here in Belgium--it's always hard to transition, and it was especially hard after being in Zoetermeer for so long, but Heavenly Father is helping me every step of the way. He loves us, He's with us, He knows us.

Thank you all so much for your love and support--love you all!

Zuster thomas