Caldwells in Belgium and The Netherlands: St. Rumbold's again, Nederlandse Tattoo, Sisters Conference

Monday morning, September 21, we had a visit from Sisters Voss and Young and Elders Silva and Walker for a Preparation day activity. Since the last activity we did in Mechelen, all of the Elders and Sisters in the district had been transferred. Sister C prepared a lovely pancake breakfast and the missionaries spent their allotted hour doing their email. We pressed two computers and two iPads into service to support them.

We decided to climb the St. Rumbold tower again since the missionaries had never done it before. Despite our previous determination not to do it again, we embarked on the journey of 538 steps (in each direction). St. Rumbolds is also interesting because there are three large carillon systems installed in the tower. There is the older carillon with 49 bells, the bass carillon and the new carillon, also with 49 bells. Mechelen is home to the world's best carillon school and there are two carillon concerts per week during the summer. There is no clock-face, but a clock chimes every 7 1/2 minutes, so you are guaranteed to hear the chimes several times during the ascent and descent. Another lovely feature is a glass enclosed "skywalk" on top of the tower where you can see the skylines of both Brussels and Antwerpen.

An interesting story about the tower occurred in 1687, when a citizen on his way home from a pub noticed that the belfry was on fire. He roused the town and they organized a bucket brigade, only to discover that the "fire" was the moon shining through the stained glass windows. The mayor and townspeople tried in vain to suppress the story and even today, they are called Maaneblussers (moon extinguishers). You can even buy chocolates at Sjolaa (our favorite chocolatier) celebrating this now famous event.

Before the ascent

In the crane chamber (only 160 steps up.

Sister Young and Elder Walker next to the old carillon

Sister Young photobombing Elders Walker and Silva

In the clockwork room by the old carillon

Sister Young enjoying the climb

By the bass carillon room. The new carillon is built on top of this room.

Elders Silva and Walker with their exotic fruit from Makro. We took
Elder Walker there to buy a winter coat.

On Tuesday, we attended the Zone training meeting in Antwerpen and Sister C prepared dinner for about 34. The huge pot of strogonoff disappeared quickly and was appreciated by all. The Zone training meetings are always well run and a great success. This one was run by the two zone leaders and the three district leaders ran breakout sessions.

Antwerpen Zone missionaries ready to depart

Elder Thornock and Elder Bernier (our zone leader)

Elders Bernier and Hirsch, our great zone leader

Sisters Caldwell and Johanson showing off their long fingers. Sister Johanson
is also from Washington county and is a great ragtime piano player

On Wednesday morning, we started out for Leuven to help a member move, but received a call when we reached Brussels that she was sick. We tried, in vain to make apartment inspection appointments with the Ghent district and braved the rush hour traffic a second time to return home. That evening, we drove to Aarschot to visit a less active family. They are wonderful people and we were able to visit them with their long-term home teacher, Brother Mesotten who is much beloved by everyone he meets. He was the first member in Leuven and is truly a saint. This lovely family has a testimony of the gospel, but have many trials supporting their 11 grown children and 34 grandchildren.

Thursday, September 24, was a marathon day. We drove to Maastricht and Heerlen early in the morning to do apartment inspections. This required us to brave Brussels traffic yet again. We tried, in vain to find lunch at an Indonesian restaurant and settled instead for a smoked sausage at the Hema (a variety store with famous sausage). We returned to the Tienen area and visited the last two addresses that the Elders had not been able to visit (of less active members) and then visited another family in the area who have not been able to attend recently. Sister C then taught a piano lesson to the son of the Bishop and we met at the Church at 8:00 PM for a bishopric meeting. We ran the Elders home at about 9:45 PM and returned to our apartment at about 11:00 PM. Long days for old folks.

On Friday, we drove to Harderwijk to see Henk and Jackie Rensen. This great couple joined the Church through a visit to the Playmill Theater in West Yellowstone, Montana and the influence of the Merrill family.

Henk and Jacqui Rensen

In the domed market in Rotterdam with Sister and Elder Robison

After visiting with the Rensens, we drove to the Mission Office to meet the Robisons and journey to Rotterdam to attend the Nederlandse Tattoo (Taptoe). This is a show involving a large number of military bands from all over the world. The show did not end until after 11:00 PM and we had to rush to the subway station and then the train station to catch the train back to Leiden. We caught the next to last train back and arrived at the mission office close to 1:00 AM. We were graciously hosted by the Robisons that evening so that we could go to the Mission Home the following morning for a sisters conference.

Waiting for the show to start. Great seats.

Dancing bagpiper from Canada

We always knew that sousaphones were at the center of things.
This was the band of the Polish Border Guards

We were also treated to performances of the police, the fire department
and the customs agents, complete with emergency vehicles.

The USMC band from Quantico, Virginia

The massed bands at the end of the show.

A soprano soloist singing with the bands.

On Saturday, we attended a Sisters' Conference held at the home of the mission president. There were about 36 sisters plus four senior Elders charged with preparing lunch and President and Sister Bunnell. The sisters were thrilled to see each other and politely removed their shoes.

They heard from President and Sister Bunnell, worked on service projects together, sang and ate. Elder Romig organized the lunch and we served chicken salad sandwiches, fruit salad, chips with brownies and ice cream for dessert.