ELDER AND SISTER HILL: Well, Here We Are

Well, here we are, actually into missionary life in the Netherlands. We arrived in Amsterdam on October 10th and spent our first 2 1/2 days at the mission office and mission home receiving instructions, getting Registered with local authorities, and taking a driving test (we needed to learn European road signs, etc.). We then were sent to Eindhoven, where we will take up temporary residence for one month. Eindhoven is a city in the southeastern part of the Netherlands, only about 15 miles from the Belgium border.

It's seems like we have been on the road almost every day since we arrived. We've put approximately 1,000 miles on our car since we got here, traveling to Belgium twice, to the west coast of Holland (near Rotterdam and The Hague) three times, traveling to do cleanliness inspections at four missionary apartments, and traveling to a neighboring city to teach YSA institute, etc. The mission president has asked us to spend a day or two with each of three other couples serving in the mission to get some training. We've spent a couple of days with a wonderful couple in Belgium last week and will leave tomorrow for a couple of days with a couple in Groningen, the furthermost north city in the mission. We've also been to stake conference in Brussels and attended a mission temple day in The Hague.

Shopping has been a whole new experience. The first day at the grocery store we spent over two hours trying to decipher food labels and names of spices. Susan has prepared some great treats for the YSA students at institute (strawberry shortcake and apple crisp). We typically have seven or eight in attendance. Several of them are returned missionaries. They are all great; we have enjoyed being with them

On November 6th we will be transferring from Eindhoven to Deventer which is more in central Holland. Unless otherwise directed, that is where we will probably spend the rest of our mission. We love and miss you all, but are grateful for our mission experience (so far 😊).