Libo Li, Leuven, Nov 28, 2010
Libo was not found by the missionaries, he found us. After researching religion online for several months, he came across Sister Brubaker’s mission blog and sent her an email. In his own words, Li asked if it would be possible to “join the mormon family” in Belgium or if he would have to wait until returning to his homeland in China. That was an easy question to answer. Four weeks later he was baptized. He believes strongly in God and Jesus Christ as his redeemer and is happy to live the word of wisdom. The gospel for him gives the guidance and direction that he has been seeking for his future. One of the reasons why Li was baptized so fast was because there wasn’t much left to teach him. He had already studied out many of the commandments on his own. He also noticed that there were many negative things written about the church; however, after viewing Sister Brubaker’s blog he was impressed by the appearance of happy, nicely dressed men and women who were definitely not polygamists, so he knew that all of the bad rumors must have been false. (Written by Elder Conder)
Elaine Liyi, Apeldoorn, Nov. 28, 2010
Elder Verwey and I just did a lookup of a former investigator when we saw this Chinese girl with groceries walking in the distance. She was really easy to spot because she was wearing a bright orange shirt. So we pulled a little sprint and caught up to her. She didn't have any time to really talk to us so we invited her to come to the English class in the Jovo center, gave her the card and went our way. Two weeks later a member walks into Dutch class, followed by a Chinese girl. She explained she found her on the street looking for the Jovo Center with the card in her hand. We made an appointment with Elaine and she came to church that first Sunday. She has been coming to all the activities ever since. Hasn't missed a day of Church and has been way solid throughout the entire teaching process. It doesn't get a lot more golden than that. (Written by Elder De Bruijn)
Nda Family, Gent, November 27, 2010
Elder Sanford and Elder Hanks asked a recent convert to pray about someone that she could share the gospel with. She gave the Nda family. They started teaching them, and they were solid. They all got baptized. They started teaching them in August and were baptized 3 months later. Elder Zeeman’s favorite is Priscilla who is two years old. They are really committed to their decision to be baptized. This is the future bishop of Gent. The missionaries knew that they would be baptized from the very start. They have already referred another family to be taught by the missionaries. Elder Zeeman felt like the mother was a loving motherly relief society member who gave him many large smiles when he walked in the door. They accepted commitments very easily. (Written by Elder Thompson and Zeeman.)
Joseph Elijah, Den Haag, Nov. 27, 2010
Joseph was found one day as he was riding along on his bike, the missionaries smiled and waved to him and he stopped right away to talk! He told us later that he knew who we were, he had been to our church a few times before in Germany, and he had given his number only as a joke. But then during the first lesson he really heard and listened to the message of the Restoration and just felt that he needed to read the Book of Mormon. Joseph is a man of very great faith, despite many attempts from friends and acquaintances to sway him from being baptized and joining the church, he knew that the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith were truly from our Heavenly Father and progressed quickly to baptism. (Written by Elder Favero)
Basri Tefik Yusuf (Yunuz), Den Haag, Nov 27, 2010
Yunuz was found by the Sisters in Den Haag. He had little Christian background in the beginning but believed in God. Yunuz is a great example of humility and meekness. He told us he could feel the peace and love of God so much stronger in his life when he went to church, the Young Adult Center (Jovo Centrum), and read in the Book of Mormon. He is sensitive for the spirit and teachable which helped him to experiment upon the word, read in the Book of Mormon, pray, gain a strong testimony and then take the step of baptism. (Written by Elder Favero.)
The turkey was cooked to perfection, thanks to brand new ovens in the mission home, and a little help from Martha Stewart.
Juliet Ezomo, St. Niklaas, Nov 21, 2010
Juliet began investigating the church about one year ago when she was referred by a recently baptized member in Antwerpen. Around the same time Juliet’s mother passed away, she began to question her purpose here on this Earth. Through her difficult times she learned to know her Savior Jesus Christ and also came into contact with the missionaries. She would meet off and on with them but also admitted to avoiding them from time to time. Around the baptism of Jackson Vijarona, Juliet began to really to catch fire and committed herself to listening to the message the missionaries brought. She began to find new strength and happiness through reading the Book of Mormon and learning about her divine potential as a daughter of God. Juliet has now been baptized and really wants to be an example to her family and help them learn to love the gospel as she does. (Written by Elder Sanford)
President Brubaker met with the Stake Presidents and Elder Sterri, who is our area authority of our mission today in the Hague for the quarterly meeting. I went to church with Elder and Sister Tibbitts in Antwerp.. We were invited to dinner after the baptism in Sinte Nikklaas. Sonny Gulati is the ward mission leader. He is from India and is one of the most dedicated mission leaders! He is so eager to help with missionary work. We were treated like kings and queens in their sweet, inviting home.
Herbert Wekking, Hengelo, Nov. 20, 2010
Br Wekking has been investigating the church for a little over a year. His wife is a member from Mexico and she has been a great influence for him. In the beginning he wasn't really interested but listened because he knew it made his wife happy. After they returned from summer vacation Brother Wekking began taking things a little more seriously, but was still very skeptical. However, he had been coming to church every week for a year, was reading and was praying together with his wife, so we knew that he had some sort of testimony, but he didn't think he did. We decided that we would go through the baptismal interview questions with him to see where he was sitting. The Elders had done this several months earlier and most of his answers were very unsure and shaky, this time around it was a very simple "Ja". We asked him if he could have said that a year ago. At this point he realized that he hadn't been able to do that and he did indeed have a testimony. Now with everybody smiling we planned his baptism for two weeks from that Saturday. He and his wife are still smiling. (Written by Elders Fritzler and Mueller)
Esmee van den Broek, Den Bosch, Nov. 7, 2010
Esmee van den Broek is an awesome 11 year old girl. She is extremely lively and talkative and excited. Her mother was baptized about 20 years ago in Norway. She then moved to the Netherlands, and got married to a Dutch man. They had two children, Daniel and Esmee. When Daniel turned 8 years old, his father didn't want him to be baptized, he felt that he was too young. Once Daniel turned 13, his father gave permission for him to be baptized. So, the same pattern followed with Esmee. She had to wait about 3 years to be baptized. Finally, she asked her father if she could be baptized, and he gave her permission, and we began teaching. We taught her for a period of about two months. You couldn't really call it teaching. She knew everything before we ever taught her. It was fun to see her get more and more excited about her baptismal service as it drew closer. She was baptized on Sunday November 7th 2010 in Utrecht. The baptismal service went great. (Written by Elder Christensen)
Ramses Everts, Eindhoven, Nov. 19, 2010
Ramses Everts was found in the centrum after a consecrated hour in which the missionaries did a chalk drawing of the Plan of Salvation. The missionary got his number and address and went to visit shortly thereafter. The first lesson was only ok but after a baptismal date and one time in the church he was hooked. He now talks about how the church seems, to him, to be the atmosphere of heaven and he loves to just walk around and look at the pictures on the walls. Ramses struggled for a really long time with quitting smoking and marijuana but he has now been clean for some time and is solid. He loves church, comes with public transportation, and often comes an hour early to make sure that he isn't late. Ramses is amazing and it was great to see him get baptized. (Written by Elder Wilcken)
Adriana Bulder, Kortrijk, Nov. 14, 2010
Adiana is 11 year old. She’s the niece of the Kortrijk Branch President. Elder Van Doesburg and Johnson started teaching her about four months ago. She was referred to the missionaries by Branch President Leman. She was taught at her grandparent’s house, who is Luke Leman, the Branch President in Brugge. They were present for all her lessons. It was a priviledge to teach her. We were impressed with how she was always positive, even though it was at the end of a long school day. The Lemans family has been very helpful and supportive throughout the teaching process. Her baptism was very nice and many family members were there. She was very excited about being baptized.
