May 2011

This is our rolling office with Sister Reber, Hill, and Roberts. Sister Roberts (closest) is going to Greece for her mission. She went throught the temple for the first time the night before and returned the next day for her second visit. The picture is taken in the basement parking of the temple in  Zoetermeer.



This is our good friend Peter. He had a birthday this month so Sister Everton baked him a cake.



We enjoyed a visit from Joe and Maria.



We drove with Joe and Maria from Amsterdam to the temple in Zoetermeer. Then we drove to Kinderdijk during rush hour. To avoid the bridge in the next picture, we followed the TomTom directions cross country to another what I thought was a bridge over the river. We turned the corner and there was no bridge, just the ferry. It was very fast loading. We were moving before you knew it. Sitting in the car going across the river at an angle made you a bit sea sick. It dropped us off right at Kinderdijk.






I think this is the highest and busiest bridge in the Netherlands. There are six lanes of traffic on both sides. Kind of like the 405 in LA. One day I saw some lights flashing which I concluded meant the bridge was going up. Traffic quickly stopped which caused Sister Everton's bow-tie salad to fly off the back seat and land upside down on the floor. The boat must have been dang big but we did not see it. This bridge is high! We were stopped for about 15 minutes which caused the traffic to back up for miles.

 


This Elder Everton using an OSHA approved ladder while drilling holes for a curtain rods. Elder Andrews and Elder Calkin is are assisting. These elders are on the second floor and there is a street light at eye level outside of thier window.




We went to the Openlucht (Open Air) museum near Arnhem with our district. The museum preserves old structures and depicts the way of life in the past. This is Sister Everton's favorite home from a fishing village.



There was a barracks at the museum that housed Indonesians. We went there early in our tour. There was an employee cooking Indonesian food. It smelled very good. Sister Everton went back around lunch time to see if we could get some food. She said she would feed all the missionaries. It was a slow day which was to our benefit. She was curious about the church so the missionaries told her about the Book of Mormon and Plan of Salvation. She said she believed in reincarnation but was interested so they gave her a Book of Mormon.

There was a black smith shop. This man had been a black smith for 30 years. He was shoeing horses which was hard work and poor pay. He is happy to work at the Museum.



Elder Bastians who is standing nex to me is very fortunate. He is Belgian serving in the Netherlands. Before his mission he visited Utah with 3 other young men that were going on missions. They wanted to visit with a General Autority and ended up visiting with President Monson for 30 minutes at the Church Office Building. He asked the Black Smith if he could buy a leave that he had made from iron. He showed us how he made it by making another one. He then gave it to Elder Bastians. He was so happy.



One of our neighbor couples participate in a group that dresses in original old costumes. They invited us to one of their programs where they show the costumes and do original dances. This was probably the most elaborate dress.

This was my favorite men's costume.




This is our neighbor selling wooden shoes as part of the act.

 

The costume show was in a nice barn out in the coutry. I had head that day that there might be ash in the air due to a volcano eruption in Iceland. The sunset was beautiful with curled wispy clouds I had never seen before. The sky was indeed a different color so maybe there was ash at high altitudes.

To My Pen Pals from Oma

My Dear Darling Maddy, Samantha, Fox, Ruby, Eleanor, Olive, George and Klina Claire,

Around the corner from our house is the path that leads to open fields of beautiful green farmland with cows, horses and sheep.

In the middle of the farmland is a forest of tall leafy trees.

We call it the sacred grove because when you go inside,
you can feel the Holy Ghost and Heavenly Father close by.

Every living  thing has a spirit inside, carefully and lovingly created by our Heavenly Father.  
In this forest the trees protect the creatures and they have strong and dependable spirits.

The birds have busy little spirits and tell the trees that the sheep are getting sheared and the horses have their blankets on.  If you listen closely, you can hear the soothing song of a father cuckoo bird.

The bright red poppy flower's spirits are grateful and remind everyone of the promise of the resurrection.

The white daisies are the first flowers to open their petals in the morning sun.
They have an innocent, pure spirit and love to feel the sunshine on their faces. 

Every creation is different, but beautiful, just like you.

One day, while we were there, it started to rain.  
They call it mot regen.  
It is just like a very soft, fine mist.  
I try to breath it into my lungs as far as it will go.  
It tingles through out my body and bursts into a tiny sparkler of joy inside my heart.

Next to the forest lives a beekeeper.  She is tending to her bees.

We drove through little farm villages the other day to find the oreo cows for a picture for you.  
They say their milk tastes just like an oreo cookie and in the winter, it tastes like oreo icecream.
(Maddy's Dad would love that!)

The animals here are very fat and happy.  Their grass is sweet and soft.  
The farmers love them and take very good care of them.  
Sometimes they live in the same house with them. 
So they have lots and lots of pets!

 

I  love Heavenly Father for creating our spirits, giving us loving families,

and making us such a beautiful world!

I Love You! 

You are my mot regen.  You always put a sparkle in my heart !

Oma, Grandma Carolyn, Zuster Everton

Oosterbeek and the War Memorial - Dedicated to Paul Nordin



We needed to visit the Elders in Arnhem. We were leaving about 5pm and decided to go to Oosterbeek. I had spent nine
months in Arnhem but had never visited the neighboring community.  Paul Nordin, a companion of mine during mymission told me about Oosterbeek when he was sick with cancer. I had often heard of the parachute landings by the allied forces in the area. He went into much more detail of the battle fought there. He showed a great love for the area.  A visit to Oosterbeek was something I had wanted to do after that talk with Paul.  This is the memorial with the graves of some 1400 of the thousands that did not return. The grass is cut like a putting green and neatly edged. We were there on the day commemorating freedom from the Germans.



I had heard Oosterbeek was beautiful. This picture does not correctly show the canopy formed by the trees that then shades the ground. Oosterbeek is dominated with tall trees and beautiful old mansions. It is likely the most beautiful spot in Holland, but it is different. Hills for one. And there are just so many different beautiful spots in Holland.



Another reason Oostebeek is so beautiful are these flowers. We have not seen them anywhere else. They grow on large  bushes that are 6 to 8 feet tall. In the prior picture you can see that the border of the war memorial is lined with these flowers.



On the way out of Oosterbeek, the GPS guided us North away from Arnhem, instead of South. I thought this would be good. We could see more of the country which is always delightful. We saw a sign for what we thought was a castle and followed it. Didn't find the castle but we found a reception center on a hill over looking the Rijn valley. I saw a man watering flowers with a San Diego hat on and just had to talk to him. This is Pete Bodaveese. He is 83. He took us to the look out point. We could see a rail road bridge. He talked about the battle that took place below. He has visted America several times and love it. We had a great visit that must have lasted an hour. Pete said his wife would ask him why it took so long to water the flowers. We promised to visit the next time we were in Arnhem.



This is a picture of the Rijn river below with a cruise ship going up the river.



This is a picture of Elder Paul Nordin on the left with Elder Duane Brown in the middle and Elder Jones on the right. Paul and Duane have passed away. Both were striken with cancer. I took the picture in 1973 at the Keukenhof Gardens.