March 29, 2010

Hello you good old family of mine,
My e mail worked out. As you could have probably guessed there was no real problem. I'm just a bit slow with the computer stuff. i did have to recover my password from the church website so i think that took some Internet savvynes to do:)

I did get that package from grandma with the book 2 weeks ago as well as four or five of her letters at once. So yeah the mail is weird here. Also i got dad's dear elder letter. It seems that that was a week faster than the normal letters so that might be the way to send the written letters. And how did grandma know i was doin that in the MTC?

We are now in our 3rd apartment in 1 transfer! I was in the last one for just 2 weeks because we were just waiting for the one we're in now to be ready. In our newest one we have a decent washer but still know dryer.

I tried to send you some pics but i accidentally formatted my memory card! yeah I'm not great with technology. but now that I'm on the new website i should get some to you next week. in the meantime Elder Dirkmaat should send one of us at the new apartment. Which is a whole 2 story house!

We have one guy that could possibly be baptized in two weeks. It's Ralph the security guard that i told you about a few weeks ago.So it he comes to church the next couples of weeks he'll be dunked. Else wise nobody else seems to be down for it yet. One lady had a really great lesson with Elder Schroath and a zone leader while i was on exchanges and the spirit was really strong there after they asked in prayer with her if Joseph smith was really a prophet. But she just said she felt weird and said that God always makes things really clear for her like in a dream because she's had dreams that helped her before...oh boy.

I think I'm gonna buy a new seat for my bike because we bike a ridiculous amount of miles a day and its just not working out with my sore behind.

Still no cultural center trips. Probably because we have to move every p day. But theres a pretty cool Hindi temple and a big mosque by where we live.

SO i accidentally heard about standings in the NBA yesterday while biking by a sports bar place;) I heard the lakers were not in the top 2 in the west so I'm happy.


Well that was great to hear from the cuzins too.
Sorry i have no idea what my address is but we didn't move far so you can just look at the streets and think of me biking there.

I don't know if i answered all you q's but hopefully i did.
I love you all! Thanks for that packages( that hopefully get here soon.. or ever)

Love Elder Hayden Van Meeteren

Mar. 15, 2010

This week has been a good one. We had zone conference and the best part wasn't even the buffet of food! You talked about reaping some awesome rewards for my mission but in zone conference we talked about responsibility of the priesthood and dat ik naar de hel zal gaan als is niet hard werken! I never thought i could be so overwhelmed just listening to someone talk. But after I thought about how much Heavenly Father wants us to have and that i accepted this in the pre earth life i realized it's not impossible but it is when I'm by myself. Which as long as I'm not dumb will never happen.

In my interview with Pres. Gamiette he reassured me that the rewards were totally possible as well. I had to give a lesson in my first zone conference too! They picked us right before the meeting started. It didn't go bad but it definitely looked like i was knew. Pres. also told me that almost all the older missionaries are leaving very soon. Then he asked me, So Elder Van Meeteren, who will be left to train the new missionaries? ...uh oh. So i don't know exactly what that means yet but i guess it means i should be figuring out how to use the area book a little more...


We still teach that Henk guy with no legs. He is really a solid person. There's no doubt in his mind that as soon as he can get out of the hospital he's coming to church... too bad everybody else we have taught has legs. However we did have an awesome lesson with a new investigator...awesome means somebody actually invited us back.


You don't need to worry about me missing out on any cool historical sites or cultural activities...because Suriname has no historical sites and the culture.... well i don't think anybody that lives here really knows what surinamese culture is. It's just constantly hearing something new everyday that you had no idea about. Did i say anything about pawgwa yet? I dont know if that's how you spell it but it and Indian holiday were they throw paint on you. Yep. i now have a ruined silk tie.I 'll send you those pics asap. But i really need that info soon.

Ok i love you and miss you all. I hope you all feel what I'm doing has blessed your lives as well.

Love
Haydne...or how ever you spell that.

Mar. 1, 2010

No letters or packages yet. My apartment has a regular washer and dryer. like I said its a pretty nice place. Our place is the second one on the north side of the street I think but some of the buildings are new so I'm not sure.
I'll be able to send pictures on the Internet but you have to give me my account name and password for the account I used for my missionary papers because they made a new emailing website that works well with pics but I need that info before I can make it.

That's cool that Nick is on his way out aling with Cam close behind and Kylee too. If you here anything about Shane or Ryan Petersen let me know because Shane is in Chile where that earthquake hit and Ryan is in Hawaii.

Um this week is nothing too new. I'm still just following Elder Schroath around looking like I have know idea what's going on.

We had a lesson with this guy that has no legs and he's been in the hospital for six months because doctors are on strike so he can't get the help he needs. We taught him twice and the second time he seemed really happy and was able to accept his situation. He had read the book of Mormon before he met missionaries so that's cool. I guess he got one in New York when he lived there for awhile. SO this could end up being pretty cool. ..I wonder how you baptize a guy with no legs..

That's really cool to hear that all of my friends are heading out right behind me. I bet Plain City is becoming quiet unless the rising generation are trouble makers too.

I'm glad to hear that Spring is approaching for you. I won't see spring for two years. I miss seasons a little bit. I kinda miss dry weather too because I don't feel like I've really been clean since I left the mtc. The only variation in weather is rainny or sunny. Both are pretty intense but sometimes ya get just enough rain mixed with sun to be a good day...but its mosty just hot.

That Surinamse(yes I spelled that right) food was pretty good. It was mostly too spicy to taste at first though. And I personally think my diet is just fine.I have money left over from what I took out for my bike so maybe that's the difference. I've been eating a lot of pancakes lately. That seems the best way to keep my belly full and its not that expensive so i feel fine with what I'm eating....at least it doesn't give me gas like MTC food.

So yeah, I'm still just in the getting used to stuff stage. I'm really excited for those packages and letter! That will make me happy I'm sure.

OK now I gotta get my Email to the President.
Love ya all!
Love,