YOSO (You Only Serve Once)

Hello,

Good things have happened this week. We were able to do 10 hours of service this week so I am getting more tan! Here are some things that have happened this week.

Blood Drive

I love service and it makes me so happy! On Monday we helped members patch up paint in a house, it only took a few hours and looked way better. We went to Brother Banks' home to put his washer and dryer back since it was pulled out because of gas issues. We added a gas pipe and then put the washer and dryer back. I also like service because it gives us experience. We went to a blood drive on Friday morning so we helped with registration and making sure people didn't fall over.  I would never have done this in my personal life, so it is just another benefit of serving a full time mission. 

Service with Cutting Bushes

We helped the Higbee family cut their bushes, in 98 Degrees F.. Some members tore down their bathroom so we helped them move the rubble into a car. After that service we went to eat lunch at the Remington's to teach them a lesson.

On Wednesday we taught Tina and the lesson went well. We invited her to be baptized on the 16th of August! And she accepted! It amazes me how much she has changed in the last couple of weeks! We taught the Remingtons lesson 3 which is about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

It is funny the things you practice because sometimes the exact practice that you did happens for real! On Sunday we taught a lesson in the choir seats for the first time. We taught the lesson we had prepared, but it only lasted for 20 minutes when we had a 50 minute block. Luckily we were able to keep the lesson going and we talked about tithing and fasting. The class went very well and there were 3 members there who contributed.

Emailing in the Church

We went to eat dinner at the Despain family on Sunday, we have stopped just sharing a scripture with members at the end of dinners and have been trying to help members feel more comfortable sharing the gospel. We decided to do a role play and my companion decided to  role play how we do a companionship inventory each week. It was pretty difficult because it was pretty funny, though we got through it. Dean Despain, is going on his mission in two weeks and he said he is terrified of weekly planning now! Those were a few highlights of my week in the mission.

The mission has been the best thing in my life and I have never worked so much in my life before and it is because I love the Lord. I am amazed at how much love I feel towards the people of California in such a small amount of time. I know that God loves each of us because we are His children.

love,

Elder Kloosterboer

Moving Forward

Laundry Room at our Apartment Complex

Hello everyone! 

As missionaries we don't have any quotas at all. But we have been given a promise, this promise is if we each talk to 10 people a day then our baptisms that we would normally have on our mission will double! Last week we only talked to 8 people :-( But this week we decided to walk to Safeway before lunch and that we need to talk to ten people before we are allowed to eat. When we talk to 10 people as a companionship before lunch it feels great and gives us a lot of motivation to talk to another 10 people throughout the day. This week we talked to the most people I have ever talked to in a week. One day we were able to talk to 39 people!

Chalk on the Pavement - the Plan of Salvation

I recently changed my view on talking to people. I got caught up in setting expectations for OYM's  (Opening your mouth, or talking to people) by thinking they would just say they were good and in no need for our important message. But in meetings recently I was reminded that we need to have a vision and faith when we talk to people. So I started to have an image that every person we talk to was going to be a new investigator. If you set low expectations it will lower your effectiveness. So it is important to do your best.

On Tuesday we were invited to a Relief Society activity (The largest women's organization in the world, to strengthen families and homes). It was a cultural activity so loads of women made a lot of different food. I was so full!

Exchanges with Elder Bybee

We started exchanges on Tuesday evening so Elder Bybee came to my area. We had a fun day! We taught a lesson to Tina! She is so ready! We taught her the first lesson and brother Stoddard was there too! It was a great lesson and she already recognizes the spirit and knows the Book of Mormon is true! I love teaching lessons and I know that the spirit is so essential in teaching others what they need to know. I love what True to the Faith (A study aid in the gospel) states about the Spirit communicating with us,  "His communication to your spirit carries far more certainty than any communication you can receive through  your natural senses."

The Night Sky

We also went to talk to Betty. She has dementia but she is funny! I asked her if she served in Young Women's (A program for young women) and she thought I asked her if she was a women! Her roommate said, "What a stupid question." haha I am glad that Elder Bybee knew what I asked! Then later I brought up something else and she asked back, "It is good to smoke? Smoke what?"  haha. Later that day we worked with bother Calloway to invite people to come to church who had moved into the ward but never showed up yet.

We had interviews with our mission president on Thursday. They went well and at the end I asked him if we were getting Ipads, he said that he doesn't know, but said that we are going to be trained in September or October from people from Salt Lake and it will probably be about that. :-) This was also my companions year mark so we celebrated by going to Cold Stone (an ice cream parlour)!

Linger Longer after Church

On Sunday we had a linger longer. This is similar to a pot luck and allows people to get to know each other better. On Sunday we also visited the Scott family. It was perfect timing as one of their granddaughters had a fever. We were able to give her a blessing for the sick and I think she will feel better soon.

This week was good, I love getting updates from you all. I would love to answer any questions that you may have! I know this Gospel is true. I love you all!

Another Week in the Mission

This week has been a good week! We are working hard which is the best thing to do as it also prepares you for life. I am learning so much! We went on a Hike for a zone activity this week. We started off good as we started to hike up Mount Diablo. Though people soon started to get tired. Luckily we live on a hill which we run up 3 times a week which has helped us keep fit. We turned around at some point and a few missionaries and I decided to run down. It was so much fun! I decided that I like hiking.

Even though I am on a mission, it doesn't mean I am invulnerable. We went to the Draper Family Dentistry and I am glad that we went there. It is a bit like our spiritual health. If we read our scriptures, go to church, then we will be spiritually healthy-  and that is like brushing and flossing our teeth. But if we don't do those things then we are letting plaque build up which is like Satan attacking us little by little until we need to get fillings! Luckily Heavenly Father knew that we we would make mistakes, which brings us feelings of quilt and shame. I know Heavenly Father has provided help that we need to be able to get rid of a painful tooth ache (Feelings of shame and guilt). This is why He sent Jesus Christ to atone for our sins. (To atone is to suffer the penalty for an act of sin. He suffered for our sins and he took upon himself all the pains, sicknesses, temptations, afflictions and infirmities so that we can return to Live with God again.) I know that God loves us because He did send His son to atone for all our sins. I know this by the power of the Holy Ghost. 

Driving to Dinner

 

Who are we teaching? This week we taught Nick, though we thought we weren't allowed to teach him because we thought that we needed a male over 18 there as he is in High School. So we decided to answer some questions that Nick had. It was good and he had really good questions. My companion and I work well together in unity. Later we found that we don't need a male over 18 in order to teach male teenagers. We plan on teaching Nick's family in a few months. Edward was busy this past week so we look forward to meeting with him soon. Holland is still trying to start reading the Book of Mormon to help continue investigating the church. We got a text this past week from the church letting us know that a women asked for a Book of Mormon from Mormon.org. We went over there within a few days. I noticed that I knew Tina! I had met her a few weeks ago in church with her mum who is a member!I felt so happy that she is already reading the Book of Mormon and that she is enjoying it! She gave us a phone call on Sunday and asked us if we could teach her the missionary lessons! I am so excited! 

We are working with the ward and leaders to find more service and the ward is helping us more and more. We helped the Bairds for the last time as they moved to Colorado! We also helped a member copy hard copy pictures to a flash drive and then showed him how he could copy those pictures unto a DVD. He was super happy! Service is the best way to feel good about yourself!  

We had a zone training, about finding. I really liked it and was able to learn a lot. We are really trying to build relationships with our members and so we visited a lot of members this week. The Drapers gave us a referral after eating a lot of dinner with them. (Man, I am getting fat! I don't know how much weight I have gained though as we don't have a weighing scale in our apartment) Anyway, we went to visit the referral and we knocked on the door. Then we  heard someone inside but they wouldn't open the door! So we knocked a few more times, haha. Then we went to the car to look at our next plans. As we sat in the car we saw a group of girls come around the corner from the house we just knocked on! One of them whispered, "Where did they go?" And then one squealed , "THEY ARE IN THE CAR!" LOL! haha, my companion was driving and decided to pull up to the house for a few seconds.

Have a great week! - Love Elder Kloosterboer

Feeling at Home

This week has been good! Being a missionary is great! I have never been happier in my life! But it has also been difficult at times. I am so happy that I have been able to live in three countries and that I went to college where my life was changed, it has made a whole difference in my mission! 

Mist on the hills - a natural air conditioner!

My new companion is elder Flinders! He is from Syracuse, Utah. We get a long super well and with each companion I always learn something new that I can apply in my life. I love learning and being able to improve by using the atonement of Jesus Christ. 

It has been a warm week, we are lucky in San Ramon and other places to get a mist each day that cools down everything! On one of the other pictures, is the Draper family! This was taken a few weeks ago when Elder Rowley (My last companion) was saying bye to members. 

The Draper Family

Since there is no door to door knocking (tracting) in our area we are looking for a lot of service projects. One of the things that we try to do weekly is go to a older women's home who has dementia along with a few of her room mates, and we talk to them. I enjoy that and it is such a privilege to come and talk.

We helped the Bairds more this past week by helping them move boxes into a storage pod. They have given us lots of good food to take home! We also helped brother Curl move two massive desks upstairs in his home! We couldn't get past one door haha, so we decided to take it apart which was easy and then we got it in the room.  We also helped sister Livermore speed up her computer. Brenden Phung was there to help too. That was a fun service project because I like electronics.

iPad or this?

We may be getting modified iPads soon. We took a picture of the physical things that may be on the iPads! (Look at all that stuff that we wont have to carry around anymore!)

This week we taught James about agency and the Light of Christ. All our other investigators were out of town :-(. I would never be able to teach these lessons, but with the help from God I have been able to teach with great power! Ammon once said, "Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in His strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise His name forever." (Alma 26:12) We are continuing to practice teaching to members. The elders quorum is now helping us find times we can do that with the members.

With Ariele Herring

What did we do for 4th of July? (Holiday) We went to the church for a free breakfast! It was delicious! Then we planned for the week and we received a text in Dutch from the bishop's daughter, Ariele Herring! I was happy that I was able to read and understand it! I replied in half English and half Dutch! They invited us to have dinner at their home and other members were there too. It was fun to talk to Ariele about Breda (this is were I was brought up and she went on a mission there!). 

On Sunday we were invited to dinner where there were a few families from the church. It is a lot of fun getting to know the members and I feel like I am part of the ward!

I know this gospel is true, it is the only way that we can return to live with God again. This is what I share as much as I can, because we all need it in our lives, no matter what you are going through. Sometimes when I am having a difficult day I think of a Book of Mormon Prophet named Nephi who said, "I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them." (1 Nephi 3:7) I know this is true, and God will support us in whatever he asks us to do, no matter how hard it may seem. 

Love, Elder Kloosterboer.

One Quarter Through My Mission

With Elder Hoole and Elder Willis

I have now been out on my mission for over 6 months now! I can't believe that I have been out that long already! I have learned a lot! Due to having a busy schedule today, I will be keeping this blog post short. We got our transfer calls this past week! 

What did I do this week in a nutshell? On Tuesday morning we visited a potential investigator. The son opened the door and the family was super nice! They are catholic and we talked with them about their and our beliefs.We were able to learn about their religion as we answered their questions about our beliefs. 

We did some service for a older man on Tuesday too! It was a lot of fun and came out of nowhere! We needed help from a member as we are not permitted to use electric tools, the member operated the aerator tool while I went behind him and moved the lawn. 

Elder Hoole came to our area for exchanges (You change companion for 24 hours to learn from others). We had a great day. In the morning we went back to the older man's home and did his back garden! Brenden Phung helped us again! At the end he insisted on us plucking plums from his tree, so we took a lot! The people here are great! We are getting fed so much good food! After that service project we cycled in the morning from one end of our area to the other end of our area! MAN! That was good exercise!

Sunburn

We did more service for Banks this week and saw a lot of frogs in his pool! The p0ol is very empty and so I cleaned the bottom (the deep end had water in it.) Then we got an unexpected phone call offering us to do more service. We went over to the Cox family and helped them move a lot of boxes into storage! It was a lot of fun! I love service. Afterwards I noticed that my arms where hot! :-) 

Later that night we went on splits with ward members to see some members who haven't been to church in a while. I went with our Elders Quorum president, President Wolf. We visited a single man who just moved into the ward and that was interesting. 

On Friday we got a phone call from missionaries from a bordering mission, the San Jose mission! They asked us to help a person move into our ward.  We are getting pro at helping people move! I love it! 

Later that day we helped the Bairds move a lot of food storage into a pod container for storage. They are moving to Colorado. We also taught a lesson to a young man called Nick! We met him a few weeks ago and he was very open to talk about religion. He even went home and talked to his parents who now are also open to learning more! 

Transfer calls! I am staying here in San Ramon and Elder Flinders will be my new companion for 6 weeks! 

We taught a member a missionary lesson on Sunday, it went well and I always learn a few things from these lessons. I also like them because it gives us a chance to bare our testimonies. I know this church is the true church on the earth today and I know that we have a living prophet who guides this church. 

I love you all and I hope that you will all have a great week!

-Elder Kloosterboer