On Tuesday March 29, the Olivers and the Van der Puts arrived for dinner and the Olivers began the process of settling in to Mechelen. We moved our few remaining things to the Holiday Inn Express near the center of Mechelen. It seemed a bit strange to be leaving the place we have called home for the last 10 months.
On Wednesday morning, we walked with the Olivers to the City Hall to begin the process of registration with the city, but they were missing key paperwork from the mission office, so we had to reschedule the appointment for the following week. We also tried to help them open a bank account, but the bank was short staffed because of the Easter break and so they will also have to do this next week. We were able to transfer the internet service into their name.
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| Elder and Sister Oliver by St. Rumbolt's tower |
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| By the city hall |
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| By the famous wayfinder showing the people from Mechelen trying to extinguish the moon. |
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| We got the Olivers to snap our picture together |
Next, we ran the Chevrolet Orlando into the shop for an oil change and dashed down to Brussels in the Opel Corsa to inspect the missionary apartment and visit Makro. We ran back to Mechelen to pick up the Chevrolet and then drove over to the Leuven Ward building so Sisters Caldwell and Oliver could teach a couple of piano lessons. We also fed the missionaries, attended institute class and then inspected the missionary apartment in Leuven. It made for a long day, but the Olivers adapted rapidly and seemed to already be in the groove.
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| The first apartment inspection with Elders Roberts and Bringhurst in a Brussels suburb |
On Thursday, we showed the Olivers where the grocery stores were in Mechelen, ate lunch at Il Cardinale (best burgers in Mechelen and maybe Belgium) and the Olivers invited us for dinner that evening.
On Friday we left early in the morning to inspect the apartments in Gent and Brugge. Sister Caldwell wanted to drive to Oostende since we have not visited there yet on our mission. We located a parking lot a couple of blocks from the ocean and walked along the ocean. We made a failed attempt at lunch since we picked a bar that served snack type food. After waiting more than an hour for our food, we had to leave after paying for our cecemel (chocolate milk) and apple juice. This also put us in a bit of a crunch to get to Groningen in time to assist Elders Walker and Crowson in teaching their investigator. We ate crackers and cheese for lunch, stopped for a McDonalds 1 Euro hamburger for dinner and made it to the Groningen Church building just in time.
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| The North Sea at Oostende |
On Saturday, we had three members and four missionaries over for dinner and to watch the Saturday morning conference session. We enjoyed each other's company and the session very much. Sister Caldwell and I stayed up late to watch the Saturday afternoon session because my niece, Becky Lord was one of the conductors for the BYU-Idaho choir that sang in the session. She did her usual professional job and the choir sounded amazing.
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| The conference crowd at our Groningen apartment. Xander, Sanaa Brandenberg, Sister Wilkinson, Sister Duncan, Elder Crowson Elder Walker, Shea Harms, Sister Caldwell, Elder Caldwell |
On Sunday, we went to the Groningen chapel to listen to the priesthood session (the sisters simultaneously listen to the women's conference. The live broadcast would be at 2:00 AM so it makes sense to do it that way. They then watch the Saturday afternoon session and then tune in for the Sunday morning session live at 6:00 PM. Conference is a bit different on this side of the planet. We were even an hour later in Kuwait for the last five years.
As we entered the Groningen building, we saw many friends from our first mission. President Dallinga is still going strong at age 89. Bart Koens and Jan Weening were both on a building mission and built the beautiful building. I was privileged to work on it from when they drove the piles in the ground and started the foundation. We got to spend Saturdays during the day working there.
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| Beloved President Dallinga |
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| President Dallinga and President De Jonge (He was Elders Quorum President at the time) |
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| Jan Wening - a Building Missionary from our Era |
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| Our District plus a couple of extra members in front of the Groningen Chapel |
The following week we spent three days working in the temple to support the six zones who attended the temple. Two zones each day participated in a temple session, ate pizza at the nearby Zoetermeer chapel and then went to Keukenhof each day. We only went to Keukenhof on Tuesday with the two zones in the north.
Keukenhof is the world's largest spring garden with more than seven million bulbs. It is always a highlight for the missionaries. It was for us long ago on our first missions. I remember wishing that my grandmother could see it. Bonnie wished that her mother could have seen it as well.
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| Elder and Sister Hill with their daughter and son-in-law |
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| Bonnie enjoying the beauty |
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| Elder Walker and President Bunnell |
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| Shea Harms |
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| The whole gang: The two northern zones, one-third of the mission |
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| In one of the greenhouses. |
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| How do four elders get the same picture? |
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| Elder Hirsch (op klompen) and Elder Hosea (our zone leader) |
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| We really were together on this trip. |
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| So were President and Sister Bunnell |
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| President Bunnell was still working, but at least enjoying the sun. |
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| Sister Caldwell posing by a flower bed courtesy of some newfound friends who helped her get down and back up. |
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| Here is one of those friends. |
After the temple session on Thursday, we rushed to help with the food at the Zoetermeer chapel, listened to the testimonies of four sisters who were departing and drove back to Groningen to prepare the meal for the young single adults on Thursday evening. The week certainly flew by fast and now we are just waiting for our son's family to arrive on Monday, April 18.
