Well, winter is almost over (Feb.29) and it has been a mild one here in the Netherlands. We have had a few snow days but in each case not more than an inch and it melted quickly. We have probably not had more than four or five days where the high temps were below 32 degrees. Some nights we get frost but the coldest it's been is 23 or 24 degrees at night. Most of the days, our highs have been in the 40's. I think we're going to survive our first winter here just fine.
In late January we received a call from the mission president asking if we could help them with a different problem. There was a sister missionary struggling with depression and anxiety attacks and we were asked if she could come and stay with us while she tried to recuperate and unwind. That would allow her companion to be paired with someone else and continue to work rather than sit in their apartment with the sister who was struggling. We consented and so had this sister with us for about three weeks. About one week after she joined us we got another call from the mission president. It seems a new sister missionary arrived in the mission from the MTC and within three or four days was in the hospital with pneumonia. They suggested she also come to our apartment and recuperate before going back out to do missionary work. Now Elder Hill was starting to confirm other people's thinking that Mormons were polygamists (he and his three women). Fortunately, both cases have been resolved. The sister with depression was only three weeks away from completing a successful mission and so she was released to go home three weeks early. The sister with pneumonia has fully recovered and is now back doing missionary work.
We hold family home evening for the Young Adults in the area each Monday evening and Institute for them on Thursday evening. Susan prepares treats every week for FHE and a dinner for the Young Adults on institute night. She also prepares or assists in preparing meals for the missionaries at zone conferences. In February we had a zone conference in Rotterdam and she fed 60 hungry elders and sisters sloppy joes with potato salad, chips, a tossed salad and brownies.
During January a young lady from Viet Nam began attending our meetings. The sister missionaries in our district had found her and began teaching lessons to her. She was invited to FHE and Institute and began attending both every week. She also began attending church on Sunday. She was wonderful, always with a smile and happy to be around. She was not a Christian or religious in any way but described herself as a "free thinker." She said she just wanted to gain knowledge and learn about our church. She began reading the Book of Mormon and brought questions to institute about what she was reading, but was reluctant to pray about it. She told us she liked to be around members because there was this wonderful feeling she had when she was with us. She was a student at the local University studying hotel management. She received an opportunity to interview for an internship with a well-known hotel chain in Amsterdam. Before her interview we asked her if she was nervous and she responded that she was. We suggested that if she would pray and asked Heavenly Father to bless her to be calm and confident when she interviewed He would help her. She had the interview, got the internship, and then told us that she had prayed before her interview (I believe the first time she had ever prayed). She is now in Amsterdam and, hopefully, still attending institute and receiving missionary discussions.
We are loving our mission. The country is beautiful and the people are wonderful (unless you want to talk religion with them). It is a sifting process for the missionaries, trying to find those who are humble and open to receive the message of the restored gospel. We have seen Elder Thornock a few times now and he has become a great missionary. We think of our wonderful friends back home often.
With love,
Elder and Sister Hill
