I AMsterdam

From e-mail dated 29 June, 2009

Hi!
So, Amsterdam is definitely different-- as is working with a new companion. Like I said last week, Zr. Miller is my new companion. She's pretty great...
We live in the Bijlmer--which like you said, is pretty far from central Amsterdam. But we only work in South East Amsterdam and a couple of other towns within the limits. There are 4 Elders in Amsterdam that handle the rest of it. The Elders are Elder Patrick, Elder Douglass (he was in the group older than me in the MTC), Elder Spurrier, and Elder Owens (a brand new greenie). The city is HUGE!!! Millions of people in the city limits. It's definitely different from Haarlem. We teach a lot of Africans here, which is good--but they definitely bail on their appointments a lot. I have never spent so much time just trying to figure out where our investigator is. I miss Haarlem-- but I am coming to love Amsterdam--especially the people in the ward. They seem to be super great. I already feel a bond with a recent convert from Thailand named Lucky. We ate dinner with her on Thursday, she came finding with us on Saturday, and she was at another dinner appointment yesterday. She is pretty funny.
We don't have a lot of progressing investigators right now... But-- we found 11 new investigators since I came on Wednesday--hopefully some of them will really move on to progressing soon. There are currently no baptismal dates in Amsterdam-- but hopefully that will change quickly.
This week is going to be super interesting--President Woodland is going home and we are getting a new mission president--President Brubaker.
My bike crash wasn't that bad--I promise. It could have been A LOT worse. I may be a little beat up, but I'm healing quickly, and it hasn't caused me to miss a beat in the work.
Thanks for the card with the pictures. I'll be looking forward to getting Mom's and Renee's letters. Tell the other kids they should at least say hello one time. It's weird to think that I've already been gone 5 months. It has gone by quickly, and yet so slow sometimes. I know at the end of my mission though I'll be looking back and wondering what happened with my time here. I need to make the best use of every day--do my best to know what Heavenly Father would have me do.
I know the gospel is true. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and that He is aware of everything that we go through. This last week, as I've been trying to figure out how to handle situations, I've really realized how much he is there for me--how much he knows exactly what I'm going through--that He has felt it and will help me to be able to accomplish everything that I need to--He will guide me. I know that you are being watched over. I hope that everything is going well--I pray for you daily. Thanks for all of your support and your love. Tell everyone I love them.

Veel liefs,
Zuster Chantelle Fowler