Most Effective Planning Ever!

Hello everyone! I hope that you are all doing well! 

Coconut!

This week was good and a lot of changes happened. 

This week I got a new companion, his name is elder Caleja! he is from the Philippines! He only has a few more months left so finishing strong. This week I also felt a little homesick so it was very nice having so much support and prayers from everyone. I know they help me. 

Last week Elder Yu and I went to Sally's house for some BBQ! It was a lot of fun! We also said bye to a few other members as that was Elder Yu's last week here. We were also given a coconut which was very good haha. 

At the hiking trail

Me with a hand drill at the hiking trail

Me pushing some kids on a swing

Due to the map which we used while planning last week we were able to have an effective week. It was nice to walk from one street to another while visiting every member on our path. If we just planned without the map we would never have known of those members until we got to know the area better. So basically with the aid of the map we were able to use our time very effectively. 

Elder Yu and Chanta at Sally's BBQ

Elder Yu and Sally at her BBQ

We were invited to a Cambodian cultural awareness night which some of the members of our branch were dancing at. We went and it was very good! We learnt a lot about the genocide that happened and what some of the people went through. It is important to be able to know those things as it helps you build stronger relationships with the members. It was full of non members and a few of them asked if we were part of the organization (because of how we dress probably). We told them why we were there and who we were. It was really neat as one woman was very curious about the church and asked us a lot of questions! We also ate a lot of Cambodian food afterwards! 

Cambodian Cultural Awareness Event

At the hiking trail

We helped out with a service project on Saturday which was very fun. We made a hiking trail! It was a lot of work but the soil was soft like cake so it was very easy to cut into! We then did a lot of digging and also put these huge railroad wood blocks into the soil around the bends as we were making a lot of switchbacks. 

At the hiking trail

We drove so much on Saturday that on the way back from Stake Conference in Walnut Creek we saw that we had little gas left. Luckily we made it to stake conference at the temple in Oakland the next day, but then we couldn't do anything else. We were invited to a party in Castro Valley (about 25 minutes away) but had no way down there. Luckily, we were able to find a ride from a member whose brothers we are teaching so we were able to get a ride and also teach a lesson! The party was fun and we were able to get to know the members more. 

Stuck in a bouncy castle

Some branch members at a party

I am glad to be serving my mission right now and I hope that if you are thinking of going on a mission that it is one of the best things that you can do! I know the church is true. And I know God exists. I know because of the blessings that I see in my life because of living the Gospel. I don't know why anyone would procrastinate joining the church. There is so much more happiness in doing so and in living the gospel. 

I love you all!

- Love Elder Kloosterboer 

Service with a lot of Ants!

My District

​Hey! 

Me Looking at the Map

Thank you all for your support while I am on my mission :-) I really appreciate the time and prayers and they help me a lot. 

I am glad to be serving a mission. It has been on the mission that I have been able to gain a lot of knowledge and skills that will help me in my future life. 

This week we finished the map and we used it in our planning. We know when we are going to walk and when we are riding in the car - pretty organized. We will see how it goes this week when we execute the plans that we made! 

Our Map

We got our transfer calls this week and Elder Yu is going to the Bay Ward in downtown San Fran. I will be staying here and my new companion is elder Caleja! He has already served in the branch before so it will be a lot of fun! 

Because Elder Yu is leaving some ward members bought him a shirt and they also bought me one too! Over the last few weeks I have gotten a lot of 

Service Project - Before

T-shirts :-) lol We also got one from a service project! 

Service Project - Lots of people helping, like ants

Food from Service Project

We joined the youth of our stake in planting some plants and then covering the ground with mulch! It was a lot of work and it was a ton of fun! Plus we got all this free food! What a deal! 

Service Project - Me Working

Service Project - After

I love serving as a missionary, because it is service just like service projects. It is one of the best ways to be happy. That is what the gospel is designed to DO! It cleanses us from our guilt and sins! Making us clean, if we do as Jesus asks, and being able to dwell with our Heavenly Father in heaven again. 

Our hike today

Food!

It is for this reason why I am serving my mission - So that they can enjoy everlasting peace and happiness.  

I know this is true through he Holy Ghost. I invite you to learn more if you are not a member! It will be the greatest thing that you will do! 

- Love, Elder Kloosterboer

Our hike today

Going to San Francisco

Hello! 

Sorry I have such little time today! We just got our hair cuts and it looks pretty good :-) Elder Otuafi did it (My last companion's cousin!) We are also going to go back to finish up making our shirts today - since we can only do that on Monday - our Preparation day. 

Elder Hong

Firefox!

This week was decent. We went on exchanges this week with the assistants since they are in our district. Elder Hong came over to the Cambodian branch with me and we spent a few hours trying to fix a laptop. Later we took a few wrong turn on the freeways haha at rush hour because the GPS wasn't clear haha. We taught Thorn. He just moved into his girlfriend's house . Which is bad as it means he can't get baptized until he either moves out or marries her. He did have a baptismal date, but we decided to drop it until next year. For now he is really enjoying church and is bringing his daughter and his girlfriend's daughter too which is great!

Map

Prison

We also taught a less active member named Max. He was working outside when he turned around and saw us, his face was full of disappointment. He did not want us to come over haha, but he let us in anyway and we watched a Mormon Message. It was really good but he wanted us not to come back. We were really bold with him which is really nice being a missionary to be bold. 

We also went to San Francisco later in the week to visit a referral we received from the missionaries in Cambodia! He and his daughter were super nice - we talked to them for a little on the doorstep and then we asked if we could teach them. They let us in and we had a really good lesson. I love being able to be part of lessons to feel the spirit not only testify and teach investigators but also to us. 

Our main reason to go was to to see if he really needed Cambodian elders or if English elders would be fine. We have decided that his English is good enough so the English elders on that side of the Bay will teach them, but we are sure that he will want to check out the Cambodian community on this side for a few weeks. 

Tram in San Fran

We also visited a few potentials there most of whom moved or were not there, but one young man was who we showed the same Mormon Message as we showed to Max. ("The Hope Of Gods light") What stuck out to me that time was that we are surrounded by darkness, but that God promises that he will illuminate the way for us no matter how long it takes. It was a nice drive and I took a lot of pictures -here are a few. 

Lombard Street (from Google Images)

On Lombard Street (very crooked road)

We also went on this one winding road which a lot of people were taking pictures of so- maybe it is a famous road? Unfortunately I wasn't able to take a picture of the road it self but the view was nice. [Lombard Street]

Map

We picked up our map this week from a member in another ward who printed it out for us. We decided to tape the whole thing - That is how missionaries laminate things :-) We stuck small round stickers on the map of where all the investigators, potential, active and less-active members live in different colours. It is a lot of work and we still have to do a few things which we will do this week such as adding names on the side. The main purpose of making this map is to help future missionaries get to know the area quicker and to be able to save a lot of time when they plan to visit people. Since missionaries plan a week ahead with every hour filled with things to do.  

Temple from a different view

We had a Zone training meeting where we went over how to plan and using good, better, best. There are many things we can do, but what would really be best? 

Recently I have thought, about what happens on a mission. There are arguments, discussions, good times, hard times, just like life. All of which help us grow. Even when the last day of the mission comes, a missionary will still be learning, just like in life - we don't stop growing. A lot of the time we also learn the same thing over and over again. There is so much to learn! The things I am learning on my mission would take me a life time to learn - there is no substitute for it. 

Zone Training

A mission is a lot of fun but it has also been the hardest thing that I have ever done!  I have learned that a mission is designed to make us stretch, it is designed to help us grow. God knows us. God knows our limits and He helps us. Life is like this. He knows our situations, He knows how we feel and He is there lifting us up, whether we know it or not. 

At The Doctor's

Bananas

We go through things in life, but God has given us the strength to be able to bear those burdens. Many people, around us, and on the other side of the veil are helping us. 

I know that this is Gods work. I know that all of us matter to God and I know that we we can be freed of our sins, if we but follow Him. - In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

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

Elder Kloosterboer

Making Things

Hey!

Last night I went through my camera and picked out all the pictures and audio recordings that I wanted to send. However, we are in our casual clothing at a print shop right now and I left my planner in my white shirt pocket at home with all the information about the pictures and audio recordings in it. I also write down main highlights from the week in my planner so that I can write about them on here to make it easy for me. There is so much that happens in a week so I will try to remember what happened this week :-)

Cambodian New Year Celebration

In this mission we have to go running 3 times a week for 30 minutes. The other 3 days we do other exercises and then on Sunday we don't exercise. There is a lake near by in Oakland about 3 miles around which we went running around one day and afterwards I took this picture of my face super red! 

Cambodian New Year Celebration

General conference was great as always! If you missed it you can go to lds.org. On Saturday during the sessions we went to a park where the Cambodian community was celebrating the Cambodian New Year. There was a lot of food and lots of dancing! I wish that I could send some videos but the files are too large. Most of the people at that activity are less active members and we were able to get one member's phone number which is great! 

Egypt!

I forgot to mention in my last email. Last week I made some mission goals to review often. If I have a vision of where I want to be, then I can make a path to achieve that with the help of the Lord and others. In my Preach My Gospel I have gone through most of the scripture references in the blue study box and written a small description next to each reference. This helps me to study and make specific plans for people we teach. 

We taught Bunthorn this week which was good. Then his dad walked in with this fish which was still alive! 

We taught a few more lessons, but I honestly can't remember them anymore. Last night though we taught Timothy at his grandma's house. We watched the restoration movie (How the church was restored through a living prophet.) And as we were teaching after the film the grandma wanted to share her conversion story in Cambodian. Elder Yu said that his Cambodian flowed really well and he used words that he hadn't used for a long time. He shouldn't have been able to speak so well since he said he was out of practice, but it shows us that the Gifts of the Spirit are real and I know it. I know that God loves each of his children. We missionaries, when we talk to people, is one way He shows his love for His Children. And we serve our missions because we love the Lord. 

Blown Up Car

When we went to visit a former investigator we saw these two cars! 

The Oakland Temple

View of part of our area from the Temple Terrace

We also got permission to use a computer to make a huge map.We made a webpage with an Iframe on it that would create a frame big enough for us to zoom in enough on the map to show street names and  which would allow a screen grabber to take a picture of the whole map! (Really big map which covers a lot of area!) We then put this in Photoshop and sent it to a member who will have our 3ft by 4ft map ready for us on Wednesday! We are also making a t-shirt which we are making today! That is why we are at a print shop right now. If we finish this T-shirts in time we will go to play Capture the Flag with a few other missionaries! :-D 

Oh we had interviews this past week with president. And we also traveled to San Ramon this week to try to visit some less active members. Well that is what I can remember from this past week. 

I hope you will all have a fantastic week!

Love, Elder Kloosterboer 

With My Companion's Glasses on