Doctor Appointments and Cookies

It's been about a week since I returned home, and since then I have had a few appointments--I said earlier that I would be meeting with a physical therapist this week--we actually met with doctors from the physical medicine and rehabilitation and neurology so that they could evaluate my head and neck symptoms and come up with a treatment plan. The plan now is to start the actual physical therapy in about a week and a half.

For now, the doctors are focusing on my muscle spasms and after that settles down, they will see what concussion symptoms need to be addressed. I am really looking forward to getting started with physical therapy.

Now, I want to talk about cookies (bear with me...it all connects I promise). For those of you who know me well, you know that I love to bake--especially cookies. I like baking because I always know that if I put a certain amount of butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, flour, etc. together and bake it for 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees, I will get cookies. I have a recipe with exact measurements, the tempurature to set the oven on, the amount of time to put on the timer--and it always works out if you do it right (hint: don't melt the butter).

I have always been a recipe kind of person--I have always liked knowing exactly what was going to happen and having a plan for how I was going to do it.

When I got my concussion and had to stay in, there were times when I just needed to do something other than lay down so I wouldn't go totally crazy, even if I felt sick doing it. My sweet companion would hand me ingredients I needed as I sat in a chair in the kitchen with a bowl and electric mixer in my hands. And I started to experiment. My companion was my guinea pig for the creations I made. Even though I had no idea how I was going to make what I wanted, I added a little bit of this, then a little bit of that until it looked and tasted right. It was simple, and I couldn't do it very often, but it was something that helped me through that time.

Sometimes in life, we don't have a recipe. Things happen that we weren't expecting. I didn't expect getting hit by that car, or slipping on that ice. I didn't expect to come home when I did--it wasn't part of the recipe I thought I was using. But I'm realizing and trusting that the Lord has something a lot better in mind for me.

The Lord knows us. He loves us. He has a plan for us. We just need to trust Him. He doesn't want us to feel lost or alone, but to reach for His hand. He doesn't leave us alone in our trials--He'll carry us through them.

A Time for Healing

As many of you know, I recently came back home for health reasons. I thought I'd tell you all what led up to me coming back.

On November 28th, while biking to an appointment, I was hit by a car. The woman who hit me wasn't paying attention and forgot to check for bikers. My bike was "taco-ed," and I was left with some scratches along with whiplash. The woman who hit me was very sweet and helped pay for a new bike.

 On December 26, while biking across a bridge, I hit a patch of black ice and fell--I don't remember the fall, but my companion still cringes when she thinks of it. I hit my head and got pretty bruised up. The concussion was a lot more serious than we initially thought, and I was on bed rest for about two weeks. 

My view while on bedrest

  After trying to get back into work, my symptoms were getting worse--I had to go to the ER a couple of times and each time they wouldn't see me. After much effort and time we finally got an appointment, a CT scan and MRI scan that told us there was no permanent damage. With time, some symptoms got better, others not. 

 It was a daily struggle to work with the pain--we tried to find solutions to ease the pain and to figure out its source. For almost 5 months I did my best to work with the pain, but I was never able to work a full day (the amount of time I could work became less over time)--me and my companion did our best to use what time we could work the most effectively, and we saw many miracles. But the pain wasn't lessening-- the mission medical team suggested that I could have severe whiplash, which I got in both accidents. Treatment would include physical therapy, which wasn't available for me there. My mission president, along with the mission medical team, suggested that I return home to receive treatment.

I feel so blessed to live in Rochester, MN, where we have such an incredible hospital--the Mayo Clinic. I had an appointment my first day home, and the doctor told us that I have severe whiplash and lingering concussion symptoms. She said, "You really got your bell rung." The main source of all the pain comes from intense muscle spasms in my neck, which is from the whip lash. I will be starting physical therapy this coming week, and I am looking forward to feeling some relief from the pain. 

I am so grateful for the time and experiences I have had while serving as a missionary--my experiences have helped me realize just how much I love serving the Lord and His children. Thank you all for your love, support and prayers as I go through this time of healing.

Lead Kindly Light

 Familie Schiltz (They have us over for dinner every Sunday)

 Zuster Faa!

 Zuster Johanson

 Zuster Goodman

 Zuster Hanny

 A good chunk of our MTC group

 Typical Elder selfie

 Elder Nye and Elder Childs (the zone leaders in Antwerpen)

 Elder Ames and Zuster Faa (we served in Zoetermeer together)

Zuster Fleming!

 Agnes

 Myriam

 Gabby

 Zuster Nuyens

 Steffany

 Broeder Nuyens

Zuster Whittington, Elder Childs, Elder Nye

Hey everybody!

This will be a quick email, but I just wanted to share some thoughts about this past week and coming home. It's been a big emotional rollercoaster, but Heavenly Father has helped me feel an inner peace. I trust Him, His timing and His plan.

 We had a great lesson with Nathalie about the word of wisdom--she has already slowed her smoking way down (before we even committed her to) and is so excited to be baptized.

On Friday, we had MLC (mission leader council--the zone leaders and sister training leaders throughout the whole mission meet at the mission home). I was so excited to discuss how we can improve the mission, and I wanted to go and put all of our plans into action. But I knew I couldn't. That was hard, but then this question came to mind--don't I want to leave loving missionary work with all of my heart, wanting to go out and do all I can? Anyways, after the general council, the sister training leaders went upstairs to meet with Sister Robinson--she had me bear my testimony at the end, and it was a special moment. I have made so many dear dear friends on my mission, and I am so grateful.

Sunday was a special day--I love this ward so much--the people are great...a little nuts...but wonderful and so kind. The opening song was "Lead Kindly Light" which has a special place in my heart. My first Sunday at BYU, when I was missing home and feeling lonely, that song was sung in my first sacrament meeting there. It brought such comfort and peace. My last Sunday at BYU, it was sung as well. My first Sunday in the MTC--Lead Kindly Light. And then again yesterday. I felt such comfort and peace. The Bishop asked me to bear my testimony, and I spoke about Lead Kindly Light. Heavenly Father will always guide us. He can see the big picture, and always wants what is best for us. Even though it breaks my heart to leave, I know that Heavenly Father has a plan, and that the Savior knows of my struggles, hopes and pain.

I love you all, and I love being a missionary. Even without a nametag on, I will continue to serve the Lord however I can.

Liefs,
Zuster Thomas

He can help us bear our burdens

Nikki's email from today, May 4th!

"gent"

Hey Fam!

This week was an adventure with lots of lessons both taught and learned. 

We had a great lesson with Ann this week about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and how the Gospel is the path provided for us so that we can be the happiest we can be, and so that we can return to God. She asked us at the end of the lesson if we could ask our "boss" (she meant our mission president) if we could travel with her to Gent later in the week. We called President, pretty sure he would say no, but he said that we could go--he said it was a good way to support an investigator with a baptismal date and that we could teach her a lesson on the way (that was the plan beforehand). So we went to her to Gent later in the week--it was beautiful! And we had a really good lesson with her on the way there. And she helped us find a new potential investigator! She said she wanted to see how we do missionary work, and so on the train we talked with a woman from Africa and got her information. The African woman wanted to do corn-rose on my hair...we'll see about that...

We finally met with Myriam this past week--it's taken a while to be able to meet because she lives pretty far away and she's been busy. Myriam wrote herself out of the church a long time ago but really wants to come back. She has a tender heart and has had some special experiences in her life that helped guide her back to the Church. She was so excited to meet with us--she just soaked everything up like a sponge--she knew most of the things we talked about, but she really wanted to understand everything--we ended up going through all of the first three lessons with her in one sitting, and it was so great. She has such an open and kind heart. She had us stay for dinner and we met her husband and son--both non-members, and we had a great time. They have bunnies for pets in their backyard, just hopping around. Anyways, Sister Whittington and I thought that was funny. 

We had a great lesson with Natasha this past week--Sister Vanwawa, a sweet woman from our ward, came along with us. We talked about fasting and tithing, and after we talked about that Natasha talked about how she has a hard time finding time for herself to read, pray and go to church when she works so much and also has to take care of her children. Sister Vanwawa shared some special experiences about when she worked and raised her children as a single mom. 

Unfortunately my health hasn't been too great this past week, but as I talked with Sister Robinson throughout the week, we talked about how we need to consider and use the strengthening part of the Atonement, not just the healing part, in this healing process. The Lord does not always take pains or burdens away--sometimes he strengthens us instead. I have been striving to access and use that strengthening power. I have been studying grace lately, and I encourage you all to do the same. The Lord is not waiting for us to reach a certain required point of righteousness or worthiness until he will help us. He is right next to you, right now, ready to help you. He loves you as you are right now.

I love you all and I love being a missionary. 

Liefs,

Zuster Thomas

Miracles Happen

Nikki's email from April 27th!

"We had a fun dinner appointment the other night with all six missionaries.  The family that had us over speaks Spanish, so they were helping me remember a few things"

"The forest we walk through to get to church--it's finally green!"

Hey everybody!

This week was wonderful and full of miracles.

Last Monday, we were waiting to wait up with a girl who was going to interview us for an article about LDS missionaries. While we were waiting, we ran into Danny, who Sister Young and I had met before--we had given him a Book of Mormon and gotten his address, but when we visited the address it was his Mom's house and he wasn't home. Anyways, we ended up teaching him about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon (the first lesson we usually teach people) and set a baptismal date with him right there on the park bench. It was so cool. He told me "When I look at you I feel happiness. As you talk about these things I can just feel and see the happiness that is in you. And I want that happiness." It was such a wonderful experience.

Tuesday we had a lesson with Nathalie. I was on exchanges with the sisters from Gent--I was in Antwerpen with Sister Begazo (she taught me how to beat box by the way :) ). It was such a great lessons about faith, repentance, baptism and the  gift of the Holy Ghost. She loves talking with us and reading in the Book of Mormon. She said that she was ready to set a goal date to be baptized--so we did! She has a lot of steps to take to get there, but she is excited to take all of those steps, and she knows that she has us and Heavenly Father to help each step of the way.

Wednesday, we had a lesson with Ann. The Zone Leaders came with so that they could  give her a priesthood blessing, which was really great. We talked with her about what will happen after this life, and how important what we do here is. We talked with her about baptism and why it is so important. We set a goal baptismal date with her! She is a bit nervous to tell her family about it, but she knows that she is not alone.

The rest of the week was great as well--we met with Sena, a less active, who is really sick. The Zone Leaders came again to give her a blessing, which was so needed. She has such a good heart and it was so sad to see her so sick. She was too sick to even go around the corner from her apartment building and  buy groceries, so we got some things for her. We met with Shilpa as well, who is also a less active. She is so kind and good and such a good example to me of serving others. 

I am so grateful for the opportunity and privilege I have to be a full-time missionary. I love loving people and helping them feel God's love. I love meeting God's children and helping them realize their potential and worth. And I know that miracles happen--Heavenly Father's hand is in each of our lives, we just need to look.

I love you all! I will forward you the article that was written about Sister Whittington and I

Liefs,

Zuster Thomas

Give it all to Him

Nikki's email from April 20th!

"Zr Young and I went to a lekker "chocolate bar"--um...yeah, it was delicious.  I miss that girl! We had such a great transfer together"

"the Elders at Steffany's..."

Hallo!

This week was a bit nuts but great. The last couple of days with Zuster Young before she got transferred were great--we got to meet with Lynn (she's doing awesome, she had her big soccer game yesterday so we'll find out soon how that went!) on Monday and that night we went to Stefanny's house and had fufu and sang together--she put videos on facebook--Mom said she saw them. It was so fun :) Fufu is an African dish...it's interesting...it was like the ultimate play-with-your-food meal. 

We met with Agnes this week as well--she is such a superstar. She had a friend over when we met with her, and her friend is Muslim. We share with them the Easter video and afterwards, Agnes turned to her friend and said "You need to become Christian. You need Jesus in your life." and went on to testify of Christ and how the Church has changed her life. She has such a beautiful way of expressing her feelings. And she always calls us her guardian angels. She's the best. 

Ann is doing So well--we met with her on Tuesday and had such a good lesson about recognizing the Spirit and also going over her questions about baptism. I love meeting with Ann because it feel like we're all good friends having a great discussion about the gospel. She drove us to and from Stake Conference yesterday (it was in Brussels) and we had a great chat about baptism and her family. She is afraid that her family will think she's crazy if she tells them she wants to be baptized--but she started talking to her dad about it!

We met with Dirck and Christel two times this past week--they are less actives that we work with. We are starting to give them English lessons--we read out of the English Book of Mormon with them and teach them how to pray in English and things like that. Dirck actually came to church! It was exciting. 

We met with Nathalie this past week as well. I LOVE meeting with her--she gets so excited about talking with us. She is a bit nervous about going to Church and being baptized, but she knows it'll come as she takes it step by step. She really wants to bring her kids to church.

We meet with this woman named Zuster Nuyens once a week--the ward asked us to meet with her; she is an older single woman who is pretty lonely. It's always a kind of funny experience there. She doesn't talk much at all so we have to try pretty hard to get a good conversation about the gospel going. We looked up a referral by her house afterwards and the woman, Sonya, was so cool! She let us in and we taught her the first lesson. She is excited to learn more. She also had chickens in her backyard and asked if we wanted to take one home. I said I would but I was nervous about the egg breaking in my bag. Anyways, you know, normal life.

We had a great dinner/lesson with Natasha this past week--she is so wonderful. Her aunt is a member and encouraged Natasha to keep the sabbath day holy-meaning no shopping on Sunday mostly. Natasha has been doing that for 8 weeks now and talked a lot about the blessings she has seen in her life. She asked us how she can improve her prayers and we gave her some ideas--she was so excited about it. Also she made us Roti sooo that was wonderful.

Also I got to see Zr Faa this past week--she is in Breda now with Zr Robbins (she's in my MTC group) and they slept over after the saturday stake conference session. It was so fun to see them.

One thing I've learned and continue to keep learning on my mission is that we need to give it all to the Lord. Our fears, hopes, selfish desires, weaknesses, talents, time--everything to Him. He will make us whole--He will heal, guide, cleanse and comfort us. He knows us--He knows our heart, our struggles--He knows how to perfectly comfort and guide us. 

I love you all!

Zuster Thomas

Also I got a blessing yesterday--my head has gotten quite a bit worse the past few days unfortunately. 

In the blessing I was blessed with:

Peace and comfort, that I may be healed, may go further in missionary work and health won't hold me back

It won't be easy but the Lord will provide a way. The Lord will trust and help me. Peace and send of trust. All will be ok with my head, eventually will be ok. 

This is a precious work and the Lord needs me.

Blessed with the Spirit and an extra push to keep going.

The Lord wants me to know that He's proud of me, that He listens and knows and understands me and my needs. As I remember that I will feel His love more in my life

He is grateful for my example and selfless service and He loves me

It was such a great blessing--I thought I would share it :) love you all!

If God believes in us, we need to believe in Him

Nikki's email from April 13th!

"tulips!"

"yummy icecream :)"

"flowers!"

"Sister Faa and Elder Ames! We served in Zoetermeer together"

Hey Everybody! 

This week was great--we had temple conference, which was wonderful. We went to the temple in the morning, which was so amazing--I love feeling the spirit in the temple. Afterwards, we had lunch and went to Keukenhof--it was so beautiful! I'll send lots of pictures.

We worked with the sisters in Gent this past week--I got to spend the day with Sister Fleming! It was great. We met with a lot of women from Africa, and I tried African food for the first time! It was fun--it was so great to work with Sister Fleming. There was one woman we met with that day who was talking about her faith, and she said that because God believes in her, she believes in Him. I love how simply and beautifully people express their testimonies. That is one of my favorite things about my mission is seeing and hearing people express their beliefs, and helping them develop and strengthen their testimonies. Seeing people grow and change--that is such a privilege to see.

We had the most unique Easter program yesterday---it was kind of hilarious. The young adults organized the program, and they asked us to sing with them. We sang songs from Joseph Prince of Egypt...and the English Sunday School (mostly families from Africa) did a musical number and totally turned it into a gospel music thing. They clapped an everything. It was hilarious/awesome.

Sorry this isn't  too long, we have a bit of a busy day planned today. I love it here and I am so grateful for the relationships I am making and the experiences we are having here. Sister Young is being transferred and Sister Whittington (my MTC companion) is coming here to Antwerpen--it'll be great! I will miss Sister Young a lot, she's a dear friend.

I love you all!

Zuster Thomas