On August 28, we were blessed to have Sister Leonie Stein report on her mission to the Edinborough, Scotland mission. She also served an extended period of her mission in Ireland. She is an extraordinary missionary and will be attending the University of Groningen this fall, so we will be blessed to have her in our Young Single Adult group. She also spoke the following week in Stake Conference and had quite a positive impact.
On September 3 and 4 we attended the various sessions of Stake Conference. Bonnie had to play for the general session on Sunday morning and she did a good job. Sisters Harris and Leman accompanied us to the Saturday session in Apeldoorn. The weather was decent and we enjoyed a picnic lunch in a small park next to the Apeldoorn building.
On Monday, September 5, the District met at a Red Cross building to provide a musical program for a group of senior citizens. We did a mix of songs including a number of old Dutch folk songs which folks enjoyed singing along with.
That evening we held family home evening at our apartment.
On Tuesday, September 6, we attended the Branch Council meeting. These are very effective meetings and really help the branch leaders stay focused on helping members. These are held in Drachten, so it is a little closer than the hour drive to Leeuwarden.
On Wednesday, September 7, Mary Ann Jones arrived for a visit. She is Bonnie's high school friend and the two have not seen each other for years. Needless to say, they really enjoyed visiting with each other.
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| Two friends from long ago. |
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| At the Corie ten Boom house in Haarlem |
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| By the hiding place |
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| A cramped tiny space where six men had to hide for a couple of days. |
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| Outside the ten Boom clock shop |
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| Waiting for the tram in Amsterdam |
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| Taking the rondvaart in Amsterdam |
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| Walking down the Damrak |
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| A true tourist cheese shop. |
We decided to spend Wednesday and Thursday in the Amsterdam area. We started off with a visit to the Corrie Ten Boom huis in Haarlem. This is the setting for the book and movie entitled
The Hiding Place. It is always a great experience to remember this great family of faith who led an underground group committed to helping Jews escape Nazi atrocities during World War II.
We took a rondvaart (canal cruise) on Wednesday afternoon. Of course, we also had to eat an early dinner at our favorite restaurant, 'Het Loetje next to the Amsterdam train station. Sorry to report, Gordon, that is as good as you remembered. We did talk about you as we enjoyed their specialty of filet mignon.
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| On the Spui straat |
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| Best filet mignon ever! |
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| We all agreed that Gordon Farr was right. |
On Thursday, we visited the visited the Rijksmuseum and the Anne Frank House. This time we were able to get reservations in advance and it was a whole different experience without the endless wait in line and the crowds packing the museum. In the afternoon, we visited the Zanse Schaans. We rushed back to Groningen so that we could help celebrate Sister Harris' birthday after the institute class.
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| On the tram. |
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| In front of the Rijksmuseum |
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| Studying the Nightwatch. |
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| By the Anne Frank house (actually in front of the old Westerkerk) |
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| At the Zaanse Schaans |
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| Trying more cheese |
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| At the monument on the Afsluitdijk |
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| Sister Harris celebrated her birthday. |
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| A visit from Elder Harrop. He was one of zone leaders in Antwerpen and the only one who fed us dinner. |
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| Two of our young single adults in the Leeuwarden Branch. |
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| Sisters Harris and Leman with Jinni Wesseling |
Sisters Harris and Leman also had been planning a trip to the island of Schiermonnikoog for some weeks. They also invited the rest of the district, but due to the costs, the rest couldn't come. The bus ride to and from the ferry was expensive. Then there was the ferry ride and the bike rentals. We took the sisters with us in our car to keep the costs down. We also rented eBikes to have pity on our weak knees.
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| The beaches on the island are more than half a mile wide. Not many folks were there that day. |
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| The sisters enjoyed writing messages with their bare feet in the sand. |
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| Re-shoeing Sister Caldwell |
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| By the light house |
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| Waiting for the ferry back |
We take a lot of trips to Giethoorn. It is only about an hour from our home and it is an unusual and very friendly village. Our visitors always seem to be charmed. Of course it didn't hurt that the weather was perfect.
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| In front of the historic city hall where some of the scenes from the famous movie "Fanfare" were filmed. |
Mary Ann bravely took the train from Groningen to the airport (it is a straight shot and arrives right at the airport).
We held a senior activity in Leiden to welcome the three new couples who have arrived in the mission. We took a ride through the canals of Leiden and visited a museum commemorating the era that the pilgrims lived and worshiped in the Netherlands.
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| Elder and Sister Reeves help out in the office. They settled in fast. |
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| The Christensons hit the ground running. Because of their previous overseas experience, they adjusted quickly. |
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| The Goebels are the new arrivals. He served a young mission when we were here and still speaks reasonable Dutch. |
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| President Bunnell and Elder Goebel were Zone leaders together during their first missions here. |
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| The van der Puts showed the couples typical cleaning products that the missionaries should be using. |
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| President and Sister van der Put explaining the ins and outs of missionary apartment inspections. |
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| Elder Hill trying out the helm of the boat. |
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| Low bridges everywhere. It kept us all awake. |
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| Romance blooming among the Dutch senior couples. |
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| The Janssens getting snuggly |
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| We decided to follow their good example |
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| Bonnie loved the houseboat with the thatched roof |
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| The symbol of the city of Leiden is two keys symbolizing that St. Peter had the keys of heaven and earth |
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| The Bunnells entering the pilgrim commemorative house. |
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| Eating ice cream while we waited for our turn. |
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| Sister Bunnell telling us hello from inside the house. |
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| Looking at and handling 4oo year-old artifacts. |
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| The whole gang |
The following day (on Saturday) we collected a CAP buddy, David Young (from Ogden). He has visited the Netherlands often, but had never been to Giethoorn, so we went back.
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| Enjoying a mussel lunch. |
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| We found a charming Indonesian girl in Dutch costume. I think they were filming a tourist advertisement. |
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| A traffic jam in Giethoorn. Many amateur boaters. |
On Monday, the district decided to do an outing in Leeuwarden by taking a self-drive boat ride around the canals. We got permission from President Bunnell to do so, but only on condition that I drive the boat. These are electric powered "whisper boats", so they don't break any speed records. With the narrow canals and bridges, it is a good thing. Elder Waters (from Idaho Falls) figured everything out and made the reservations.
Once again, the weather was perfect and we enjoyed our time together. This was near the end of the transfer so it was nice to have this outing.
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| The district (minus two sisters) ready to leave from the Leeuwarden building |
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| Ready to board the boat - lunch in hand. |
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| Fairly narrow canals in the old center |
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| The bridges were also a bit low and often had a turn in the middle. |
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| We stopped near the Leeuwarden Elders' apartment to pick up a guitar about halfway through. Elder Johnson started the serenade. We enjoyed singing Dutch folk songs to the folks along the canals. |
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| The famous leaning tower of Leeuwarden |
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| Sisters Harris and Leman enjoying the sun and lunch |
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| Elder Waters, the organizer of the trip |
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| At the helm |
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| A statue honoring the famous Friesian cows (known as Holsteins in the US), but they originated here. |
We received a phone call from Judith van Vliet Fuenzalida that her son was being officially sworn in at a special military activity at the Grote Markt in Groningen. Of course, we had to go a meet them there.
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| The proud parents |
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| They had VIP seating behind the reviewing stand |
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| The band added to the excitement |
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| The colorful uniforms on parade |
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| Taking the oath - True to the king, obedient to the laws and subservient to the military code |
As you can see, September was a very busy month and the weather was amazing. The summer was quite cool and rainy and then September came with glorious weather. At the end of the month, typical Dutch weather returned.
