Dear Journal

Looking Fit

Hello everyone,

Thank you for keeping up to date with me! I know that many pray for me and it makes a difference. 

SO many things have happened this week! Monday we played some volley ball with our district and the sisters in our ward, sister Fitu and sister T... are crazy! They hit the ball so hard! 

My 72 hour Emergency Kit

Many of our set appointments near the beginning of the week were rescheduled. With all the extra time we decided to stay productive and we visited some potentials and former investigators. Because of the set appointments falling through we were able to find more people to teach, so that is a good blessing. It was so funny because as we visited a potential guess who we saw there? Elder Pua (A member from my MTC district)! It was so cool to see that we are both working in the field! 

We also did a lot of service this week! This whole mission is doing a program named, "Just Serve". We are asked to do about 10 hours of service a week in the community. I love service so it is fun! We are trying to find more opportunities though. 

Arthur talking with Elder Nelson

Happy Birthday! It was Elder Nelsons Birthday today! I recorded myself on the phone and said, "Good Morning! Elder Nelson! It is your Birthday today! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!! - Have a great day!" haha. I made that the alarm for this morning so it was pretty funny to wake up to a new alarm sound! The ward counsel brought him a cake! It was also Arthur's birthday this past week! 

Arthur came to the Visitor Center this week and it was awesome! I love going there because we get to see the movies there about the restoration and they are always a testimony builder. 

Elder Nelson Doing Service

We also went to a baptism. Elder Nelson was asked to play the piano. (Normally missionaries are not allowed to go to baptism unless they have an investigator with them). So this created the opportunity to meet the woman's husband! Her husband lived in Holland right near where I used to live! I was able to speak a few words to him! I was asked the day before to present a presentation on lesson one, The Restoration Of the Gospel! When the zone leaders asked me to do this, I felt comfortable and excited. That is not normal! I decided to spend 50 minutes from my personal study making my presentation. When the time came, elder Nelson played the Piano and after he finished I started my presentation on lesson one. I know that I was guided by the spirit, and I know that the people in that room felt the spirit. There is no way that I did that presentation by myself. While I was speaking, I felt the spirit strongly and I was able to strengthen my own testimony of the First Vision. Later we had a fireside where the spirit was also strong. 

Elder Nelson at Service

The full time missionaries organized a fireside named, "Dear Journal." All the missionaries in the Hayward area sent in real journal entries for this fireside. We selected a few and made them into three journal entries. We also sang at that fireside and it sounded great! 

I am learning so much on my mission! The things that I am learning on my mission would take me a life time to learn otherwise. I know that God does love His children because he hasn't left us alone. How can you find out these things for your self? I would suggest to listen to the missionaries.

I love you all!

- Elder Kloosterboer 

Elder Hamula came!

Waiting for interviews

Happy morning! 

This was an awesome week! On Tuesday we had interviews with our mission President who loves us so much! Interviews are for some reason really cool because we get to talk to our mission president one to one.

We had a General Authority come and talk to us this week! Elder Hamula talked to us about so many different things like how we can receive personal revelation and how to seek and also receive it. He talked on many more things and we all shook his hand! Afterwards we had a lunch which was super good! 

Pig with the sisters

We had dinner with the Napoleone family who cooked a pig for a party because sister Fitu is going home in November! It was pretty good! 

Elder Nelson impressed many people on Sunday as he played the piano in church. He also played on this white piano which I thought looked pretty cool! Oh at this members home with this White piano we were also able to fix her computer. Luckily it was only a hardware problem which we could fix since missionaries are not allowed to use members computers. 

With Larry

I have been blessed to be here in California on my mission. I am so glad that there is running water and such. I am glad that I don't need to shower in the middle of a town with a bucket of water like so many other missionaries did in different countries. But this morning... The hot water was off so I took a freezing shower for the first time in a long time hahaha. It was good. 

Lunch after our interviews

We have been blessed at this time to be serving in Hayward. Many good things have happened here in the last couple months. We feel like we are working hard and that is the best thing to do as a missionary, because even if there seem to be no results we know that we have been successful because of working diligently. 

With Larry

We also visited a man who has been trying to come back to the church. We decided to talk about tithing and the blessings of paying our 10%. It was perfect timing. As he was working one job and was about to get a second job (Leading to 4 hours of sleep a day - which is not good and would take time away from his family). He did have another job interview a while back and if he got this job he would have a lot more time and money. Then a few days later when we talked to him again, he said that he was driving and was prompted to get out and kneel and to pray. He then he got a phone call telling him that he was hired for this better job! The blessings of tithing are real. As one person put it yesterday, he has never met anyone whose electric was shut off because of paying tithing, he has never met anyone whose water was shut off because of paying tithing. He has never met anyone who went in to debt because of paying their tithing. 

Smoothie on the ground

I know that God lives. I know it because I see so many miracles each day. I also know because I feel His love as we share His Gospel to all the world. 

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

- ELder Kloosterboer

Busy!

Making a New Belt the Right Size

Hello everyone! 

This has been a busy week! In fact we haven't finished our planning for this week yet! I am rushed on time today.

A small miracle: Clay is a former investigator that we have been trying to get in contact with for months now. As we were saying a prayer a thought came to us that we should try to see if Clay was home. We had knocked many times before, but that day he answered the door! We set up a return appointment!

Elder Nelson

The sisters took our bikes and we took their car for 24 hours! (We share a car with another set of elders who had the car this past week) It was so nice to have a car and to be able to get more done and not be super exhausted at the end of the day as much. I have never worked so hard in my life as I have on my mission! 

I wasn't going to put this in, but Elder Nelson said I should. Peer pressure I say. As we were going to a lesson to introduce Elder Nelson to a family who he was going to baptize on Saturday I was so tired and so concentrated on looking at street names that I ran a red light! haha. Nothing happened so far.

San Francisco and Oakland in the Distance
from the Temple Car Park

People really are ready to receive the fullness of the Gospel, we just have to let God lead them or us to each other. We had 4 baptisms in our ward this week! It was amazing! Elder Nelson baptized two little girls. The spirit was strong and Arthur, one of our investigators, was able to come.

Larry, who was baptized a few weeks ago, said the sacrament prayers for his first time and we did a lot of practicing with him since these prayers are one of the only set prayers in the whole church! He is also going to buy us a suit each! 

Last night we went to a fireside called, "Why I believe" which is where recent converts talk about why they believe in the church. It was powerful and so much happened. I even sang with the YSA (Young Single Adult) group in our ward! That is one thing that I tried not to do, but I am a missionary so of course I am going to be put out of my comfort zone. 

Front of Oakland Temple with Jeremiah (rear) and Arthur (front)

I have to go, but I know that God is leading people to us and I know that this is the true church. I know it because I have lived it for my whole life. I can see its results in many church members and in myself. The best way to learn a language is to throw yourself into the country! The same is said of the gospel.

Love Elder Kloosterboer

Meet the Mormons!

Hello Everyone, 

I am currently looking to improve my blog posts! I love writing these because it helps me feel fulfilled when I email. Though they do take a big chunk of my time, I feel it is well worth it. If you happen to have a suggestion please feel free to email me it. Also if you like something about the blog, let me know that too so I can keep that in (Like Pictures) :-) 

 

I am still pretty white! Maybe I should buy some fake tan, but don't have time for that! So instead we did some service this week where I turned red! We tried to pull out some weeds, but it didn't really work! Through the service we found a former investigator! 

This week we taught a few lessons and Arthur and Abe are both progressing really well! It is amazing to see the changes that take place in people's hearts as they continue to learn about the gospel. I love the gospel! I love that it blesses the lives of those who live it. 

What is Meet the Mormons? It is a movie that is about normal people in the church. It comes out on October 10th! We were able to watch it as missionaries at a Zone Conference! It is such a good movie where you can feel the spirit of God. I encourage all to watch it and invite others too! It is great! 

Also saw General Conference at the weekend. I love General Conference and that it is available to so many people! If you are looking for more direction in life, read or watch or listen to some of these talks. They will help you in your life. 

I know that this Gospel is true. It isn't just a mere belief. It isn't blind faith. How do I know?  The knowledge that I have gained is through personal revelation through the Holy Ghost. I know there is a loving God who does love every one of us. Sometimes it may feel that we are left alone. But I know he loves us all, me, you, everybody and that He is always there no matter what we have done or are going through.  

Elders Quorum President Monte making DVD with Mormon Messages

I love serving a mission and sharing what I know to be true with others. I invite you to find out for yourself to find out what Latter-day Saints believe in. I know you will find peace and happiness in these things. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 

I love you all,

Flower Near our Apartment

- Elder Kloosterboer

Fast Days but Long Week

With Larry at the Oakland temple

This has been an interesting week. We were in a trio for a few days and Larry has been baptized! What a great week! The days have felt super fast because we have been so busy, but the week has felt like it has been a month! Here are some highlights from this week! 

Transfers

Tuesday was transfer day! We went up to the mission home to drop off Elder Walk. Elder Cutler then stayed with us for about 1.5 days because his new companion came in on Wednesday from the MTC! 

Elder Taylor Playing the Piano

We were blessed to be able to receive a phone call last week while we were emailing in the Library from one of our members. What is cool about this member is that I know his son, because his son lives in San Ramon (my last area!). He asked us to teach one of his clients from work who lost her mother. On Tuesday we taught her the first half of the Plan of Happiness. Unfortunately she lives outside our boundaries and so the sisters from where she lives came to our next meeting. It was a great meeting and she is so happy to be able to learn about the gospel. 

We also taught a few other investigators this week! We meet with Abe about two times a week and this last week we invited him to read the Book Of Mormon and he said he has already been reading it! Amazing! He has a baptismal date set for the end of Oct.! 

Larry and his son and Ella were all baptized! Being able to see your investigator being baptized is the best thing ever as a missionary just as 1 Thessalonians Chapter 2  a verse says that "For ye are our glory and joy." 

On Thursday we had planned to switch our bikes with the sisters car because we had a lesson to teach for two other sister missionaries who were sick. But as we were cycling to our destination to switch, the sisters called us and told us that the car wouldn't start! What rubbish timing! But it was okay, because in the end we were able to find a ride and the lesson went well. 

Thank you all for wishing me a happy birthday!  Two days before my birthday we ate a huge cake at a ward missionary meeting! Brother Misinale bought me a shirt with the golden gate bridge on it! The day before we were given cake from a less active family. We also met a women on the street that day and she invited us over for some sushi on my birthday, so we had that too! Then we had more cake in the evening and I was full.

Man, all this sushi makes me have stomach aches haha. Two weeks ago we met two women from another faith. They invited us over to a pot luck with them on Sunday. We went and it was so much fun! We ate a ton of food and of course there was sushi. We were able to share with them about the First Vision and they all enjoyed it. But they also live outside our area..

I know that the gospel is for everyone and that this gospel brings people great happiness. I am so happy to see how much happier our investigators are as they continue to live the gospel of Jesus Christ and endure to the end. 

Love Elder Kloosterboer