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As I mentioned last month
I have been called to teach Primary. I love our Sharing Times most of
all. We are learning about following the prophets - Noah, Jonah, Adam
among others. A few weeks ago the children (see picture) were acting
the parts of the prophets as we sang and learned. French is the native
tongue of our primary president. It is fun to watch her trying to tell
the stories and teach in English (she has been heard to say: "I can't
think of my words"). But on this particular Sunday she had no
problem as she said: "YOU PROPHETS - BE NICE!" Kids
always know how to have fun, don't they?
 The week we learned about Easter, a courageous primary counselor had the children divide into groups with teachers and act out the last week of Jesus' life. Fellow missionaries and friends the Rysers are narrating.
The small boy with the sword and
shield is in my class. His name is Noah. He is lying on the
ground following the earthquakes that came following Jesus' death. His
native language is French. He goes to a German pre-school. He
will only speak French in our class unless he gets angry and then... his
words are all in German. My first Sunday in class he kept pointing at
me and saying "du nicht" which means "not you".
Apparently he was afraid his familiar French speaking teacher would leave if
I was there! Didn't happen... we teach these three little ones
together.
 My calling continues to be a busy one. Sometimes it feels more like a job than a calling and that's when I begin to think about what I will do "after" I get done for the day or where I will go "on my days off" ... that is until I get three calls on a Friday night from mission presidents asking me to contact troubled missionaries as soon as possible. I remember that I am not "working" a job but "serving the Lord" and that can be 24/7 if needed. And then I am blessed to hear the stories of these remarkable young men and women who are 18, 19, 20 years old... who have put THEIR lives on hold to serve 24/7 at their own expense to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Let me tell you about a few
(no names of course):
A young sister who is an artist -
- (with her permission I share a couple of pictures) - - she was
earning money as an artist at the age of 16 but put her plans on hold to
serve a mission. Check out these murals she painted in a pediatrician's
office:
   An Elder from South Africa who in spite of opposition from his family joined the church 2 years ago at the age of 23. During the next year he prepared himself to serve a mission without the support of his family. Now 1 year into his mission his father is sending him weekly e-mails telling him, for the first time ever, that he is proud of his courage and what he is doing even though "I don't understand or believe what you are teaching."
A Sister who is experiencing
some depression. She expressed frustration that her outlet at home was
playing the piano and singing (I can relate to that having had a daughter who
did the same). Imagine her surprise and joy when she walked into
her new apartment and saw a keyboard in the living room. I have never
known another missionary apartment to have one! She laughed and cried
as she shared this story with me.
Every once in awhile a missionary
needs to return home early to get appropriate mental health care. There
are usually tears - theirs and mine - when this has to happen. But
following one such incident the very next week I received this tender e-mail
from a missionary who had gone home:
Hi Sister Purdy,
I wanted to take a
moment to thank you for your kind words and insight, and give you just a
quick update since I've been home.
First, thank you for
sacrificing your time and money to serve this mission. I know you will do a
lot of good in the Europe area, and I'm grateful for all you did for me in
the short time we talked.
Now for my update: My
mom whisked me off to her Psych Nurse Practitioner on thursday, and I'm being
weaned off the Zoloft, and am getting weaned onto a new drug called
Brintellix. From her explanation, Zoloft only targets 1 seratonin carrier,
and this drug targets all 7, or something along those lines. So, I'm hopeful
that this can level me out. Being home definitely helps.
Thanks again for everything, and best of luck on your mission!
The Lord watches over His children...
no doubt about it.
I did work on my goal of
going somewhere outside of Frankfurt each month (since I'm here in Europe it
is a shame not to see some these countries I never imagined visiting).
In April - The Netherlands (Holland and Kuekenhof) - Haarlem - Corrie Ten Boom Home - Luxembourg - Trier,
Germany. Awesome and so grateful to Rysers and Mathesons for allowing
me to be the 5th wheel on this journey. Here are just a couple of
pictures. Many, many more on Facebook:
I can't close without
commenting on the talks at General Conference - awesome. A favorite of
mine was "The Music of the Gospel" by Elder Wilford W.
Andersen. And last week at our zone conference Elder Dyches (who is in
the Europe Area Presidency) said that when the Area presidencies were taught
by the Twelve and other General authorities - it was all about keeping the
Sabbath Day holy and how we have to make that a priority in our lives.
Elder Nelson talked about not being distracted during Sacrament Meeting;
Elder Ballard about using Ward Councils to plan Sacrament Meetings so the
voices of the sisters will be enhanced; and a reminder to read Elder Eyring's
talk regarding Fast Offerings.
I got to go to Holland! Those of you who know me very well (and some who don't) might remember an essay I first read around the time Roger died and it had such an impact on my that I have shared it often... Sometimes (much of the time) life isn't what we planned, hoped and dreamed for, or feels really, really unfair. This essay helped me see that although life may not be turning out as I thought it would that doesn't always mean it is bad, maybe just different.
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Sunday, April 19, 2015
"Welcome to Holland"
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