Busy P-Day

​Only have a few minutes this week. 

Things are going okay here. ​We took Peng with us to visit Max this week which ended up being really good as Peng was able to relate to Max especially as Peng is starting to come back to church now. When Peng first came back to church after 14 years of not coming, a lot of the members welcomed him even though he thought otherwise would happen. I really like the statue of Jesus Christ in every visitor center of the church near some temples as this always reminds me that His arms are always wide open for us to come back no matter what we have done. I know that He loves us and is always there for us. He wants us to return to Him and we do so by following Him.  

I know the church is true. Try it out for yourself and you will know if you are sincere in your search. I know that we have a loving Father in heaven who has called a prophet - He wants us to be happy and through the prophets He has told us how. I love blueprints - everything we need to do is in it- ever wondered why the Book of Mormon is blue? I know if we follow the prophet we will be saved. No matter what the prophet says, if
we follow him we will be blessed for that. If we apply this - we will find more happiness in life - Look at me! 

- Elder Kloosterboer

Saying Bye to President Meredith

Street Art Everywhere

Hello! 

With Elder Eh and President and Sister Meredith

This week these things happened! We went on exchanges - Elder Day came to my area with me and we had a good day where we went to downtown Oakland to talk with people and we tried to find some to serve from the City Center which is super nice! Then we went all the way down to Fremont and then we saw this huge cloud of black smoke... so we followed a fire-engine and there were about 9 or 10 on scene! 

So we said good bye to our president Meredith (who is over our mission for a few more days now) at our zone conference. The new mission president will be here soon and his name is President Frandsen! In the conference they told us to eat healthy as virtually all missionaries within 9 months of starting their missions are malnutritioned!  

Saying Goodbye to the Pascual Family

On Saturday our plans fell through a little so we decided to try to find a member who lived in a super rich area in Oakland! It was very weird to see that. We decided to tract there which didn't seem to be so successful but we talked to a lot of people and had fun doing that. In the evening Justin came with us and we were a little stuck as the people we had planned to see for some reasons were all former investigators who we think speak more Cambodian than English - Justin and us only know a little Cambodian so we were stuck. 

We went to visit one less active member and as we arrived we saw that the house had no lights on. We decided to park and knock anyway. We then saw a man outside and started talking with him.  He ended up being the less active member we were looking for and he said it was a miracle how we just showed up out of the blue as he had been praying for help and there we were! This is not a coincidence. 

Elders Rowley and Eh

Fire!

Who are we teaching right now? We are teaching Pream and his family - they are Buddhist right now and they are so kind! Each time we come they offer us food and I love that we can build a good relationship with everyone we visit! We are also teaching Thorn who is slowly changing his life for the better. Another person is Sierra who is a recent convert! Our goal is to help her go to the temple to do baptisms when the temple opens again. She also just recently invited her cousin who we watched "Meet The Mormons" with on Sunday! Her name is Lyana! We gave her a Book of Mormon and she was reading it after we left! 

Fire!

Elder Day Tracting

I know the Book of Mormon is the Word of God along with the Bible which we believe to be true as far as it is translated correct. I know it is true by experience. It is solid evidence that God lives and that Jesus has suffered for us - which makes it possible for us to return to live with God again - which I know is true. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen! 

End of Zone Conference

Father's Day

- Love Elder Kloosterboer

Story Time

Tracting

Hello!

Cool miracle. As missionaries we are supposed to be back at our apartment by 9:00 unless if we are teaching a lesson then be back at 9:30. On Saturday we got back at 9:30 and we saw that someone had parked in our parking spot - so we parked in the loading/unloading zone for our apartment. After a little bit we needed to move the car or it would get towed.  We didn't want to tow the other car in our space so we decided to go in the streets of Oakland at 10:00 to try to find some parking... We found some close by and stated to walk back. As we were walking these girls pulled over next to us - it ended up being Savanna who Elder Yu and I had taught a few months ago and lost contact with her. We called her the next night and then invited her to come to church. But if God hadn't placed that car in our parking space we would never have seen Savanna again! 

Flowers by the roadside

We watched Meet the Mormons with Peng who is a returning member. I really enjoyed it and again was reminded that this gospel brings everlasting joy and happiness and peace. 

Raiders (American Football) Player

We also went to a "Why I believe" fireside which was great! One of the raiders american football players was there to share his testimony also to us. He shared a story how steel is made. First it is taken from a hill, or mountain or cave. Then that raw material is sent to a refinery where heat and pressure are applied. After that a blacksmith then applies more heat and pressure to make it into a shape. The raw material is us and through trials we grow to be stronger. This earth is a refiners fire. Remember what the Lord is trying to shape us into though - we are His children and he wants us to become like Him. 

"Why I Believe" Fireside

Sometimes we feel like we are so small and insignificant. But just as a screw is small it has a huge part to play in making a building stand strong. We all matter. 

Another man spoke and he reminded us of our young life when we had some blanket or stuffed animal to protect us. Some of us had those right? He had a bear and named it testimony. If we switch the first name and last name it says Bear Testimony. In life sometimes when we have difficulties or trials we say, oh let me deal with this first and then come to church. But in reality what we should be doing is what kids do - to hold the bear closer to them - so to bear testimony and even cling tighter to it. 

How often would you say that you don't have time to fill your car up with fuel? The same thing goes with our lives - how often do we think that we don;t have time to refill our spiritual fuel tank? We need it. How does this apply to your life?

I love the church. It brings me so much happiness. Ask any convert to the church and they will say the same. Even though I was brought up in the church I wouldn't use 2 prime years to go out and share something if I didn't know it was true. A Book Of Mormon prophet said it perfectly. In Alma 5:45-46 "And this is not all. Do ye not suppose that I know of these things myself? Behold, I testify unto you that I do know that these things whereof I have spoken are true. And how do ye suppose that I know of their surety?

 46 Behold, I say unto you they are made known unto me by the Holy Spirit of God. Behold, I have fasted and prayed many days that I might know these things of myself. And now I do know of myself that they are true; for the Lord God hath made them manifest unto me by his Holy Spirit; and this is the spirit of revelation which is in me."

Bunthong

I  know the Church is true - therefore I share this message with you - that through His Gospel we can have peace. I know that life is full of trials to make us stronger - sometimes they are difficult, sometimes not so much but God stands beside us and lifts us up and I know that to be true. The atonement is there for us. Let us use it. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen. 

Love, Elder Kloosterboer

Talking With Everyone

With Elder Irvine

Transfers

Hello,

Max

This was a great week! My new companion is Elder Eh - he is from Burma! He is super happy all the time and likes to laugh! 

The Assistants

We get along pretty well as we've known each other for a little while now. We taught a lot of lessons to people and we tried to talk to a lot of people! Somehow when we talk to more people we somehow teach more lessons too. It is really cool! We call it OYM. (Open Your Mouth) Not to catch the rain falling but to talk to everyone we see.

The Rith Family

Pream and Melissa

On a Split/Exchange

My New Girlfriend

When we talk to as many people as we can it makes us feel good. Being on a mission is good, every minute matters. When we share the gospel with others it fills our hearts with the missionary spirit! I love being a missionary, and it is so amazing to be out here to serve others. All my life I have been selfish - it was all about me, me , me. 

Now that is different. Being a missionary, it is all about them, us, we, their. Having this attitude makes life so much more meaningful and helps us be happy. 

I know that God wants us to serve those around us, to give to the poor and to serve others. I know that when we do that we are blessed and they are blessed. 

I love you all and hope you have a great day!

Elder Kloosterboer

p.s. that is not really my new girlfriend - it is just a very large doll's head, lol!

Post New Year Celebration

Stuff on the street

Peng, Donovan (son) and Poamrong

Hello!

with Sally and Sean

Good things are happening here. Last week Tuesday we started exchanges and we found all this stuff outside! We taught Torn that night and his girlfriend joined us after a while. At first she didn't want to join as she thought she would talk too much - but it ended up really good. We shared a scripture in Mosiah 27 about how Alma repented of his sins and how he felt such great joy! 

Torn and Thong

This week we pretty much tried to invite as many people as we could to a post Cambodian new year celebration. It was a lot of fun,  Thorn, and Pream and Peng came! On our journey while tracking down a lot of people we met this 70 year old non white guy who was super kind. He went on to tell us how he had stayed up all night as his neighbors were stealing gas out of his cars. 

Pream, his mother, Peng's daughter

Food line

He invited us in to his house and he talked to us more about his wife who drinks everything in their indoor bar and so forth. As we were leaving, his neighbor's friend parked in-front of his house to which he told them to not do that. haha. 

Peng

Lots of Rice

Post New Year Celebration

Cookies

With Sally

Bag of Food

The world is a crazy place to live in. We were on our way to visit Max, and as we were driving there we drove past a banana tree. This sometimes suggest that Cambodians live near. 

District Missionaries at Temple

With Sierra

So we parked and started walking toward that house. As we were walking a black guy stopped us and got into my face telling me never to come on his street again. Well he was a little drunk, but then he continued to threaten me and tell me welcome to the real world. Basically all this happened because I am white and how I was dressed. So we left. This was good though as it helped me be more bold in our next visit. That same day someone bumped into our car and ran away. And something else happened that I can't remember. But I know as a missionary that we are protected and that we have a mission to do. 

With Sierra and Lyana

On Sunday we had a topic in mind that we had wanted to talk about with Sierra (recent convert). It took us over 50 minutes to find a talk from General Conference that suited our search. It ended up being a really good lesson. 

With Sierra and Lyana

We also watched a movie about Joseph Smith and the restoration of the church. As I was watching it I could feel the Spirit bear witness to me the whole time that yes, this is true. Even when  we already have a testimony of something, the Spirit can always add more strength to it. I know that Joseph Smith did restore His church and that it does have the power of God. 

So on Saturday, we completely forgot about transfer calls. I wouldn't believe that we forgot about it! But here is the news: I am staying. Elder Caleja is going to  Oakley 1st. Elder Eh is going to be my new companion. I've been on exchanges with him a couple of times before so I already know him. 

Well I only have 6.9 months left so I am getting ready to sprint. That's my plan. 

Oakland Temple by Night

Well even though we go through opposition in life, it makes us stronger. Just like the black guy who was threatening to "slap me and never wake up again" it helped me be more bold in the next visit and helped me see who I was representing. I know the Church is true. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

I love you all!

Have a great week!

- love, Elder Kloosterboer