The Lord Uses Leaky Buckets

Mom, sounds like Christmas is in full swing over there. That's a lot of craziness with the dentist- considering our mutual hatred of the dentist, I hope it's over soon. Haha, I remember Santa Land well. I'm glad you enjoyed it, but I understand the kids disappointment. Was Moana good? That one looked really good. It's called Viana here, and there a lot of ads for it. I also think that you and Dad have raised us to be high-yield, low-maintenance church members. I'm super grateful for the way you've raised us. I think about that a lot- how blessed I am to have you as parents. Also, thank you for your stories. They meant a lot to me, and I know how much you hate stuff like that, so thank you. Truthfully, I forgot to ask the president about the money thing. I'm pretty sure I can't give people straight up money though. I can think of a few things that I can help people with with the money from Melinda, but truthfully, I don't think I could come up with stuff for any more than that. 

Dad, haha, that was a pretty good grapje (I actually learned the correct spelling this week. Zuster Berrett and I have been working on that). That sounds like kind of a miserable trip, but I'm glad you at least got a good sandwich and a show out of it. Also, that whole "being on the same level as the primary kids" thing has come to a whole new level here. I sat in primary a few weeks ago with a young investigator, and it was the first time that I understood everything in church. I think I should go there more often. 

SKYPE INFO: I think that I will be skyping you at 6 our time, which I hope is 11 your time. That means that you need to turn your skype account on (preferably at least a half hour early) and make sure that it is working, so that I can call you. Also, if you could send me your skype name, that would be appreciated- I'm not sure if I remember. Also, we only have 45 minutes, so if you could keep Tyson's antics to a minimum, that would also be appreciated. 

So, this week: 

We had a really busy week planned, but it turned out to be one of those weeks where just everything falls through, no one comes to stuff they committed to come to, none of the referrals we looked up were home, etc. It actually became kind of humorous as the week went on. Yet another appointment would fall through, and Zuster Berrett and I would just look at each other and say, "'Tuurlijk" and then start knocking. 

The good news is, if we're willing to go to work, the Lord will use us, regardless of the situation. Our busy week turned into a knocking week, but we met some really cool people because of that. We met this lady named Mickey, who invited us into her home before we even finished telling her who we were. She started telling us all about her life, and how she is not religious any more because some things in her life just didn't make sense with the God she'd been taught about. We didn't have a lot of time, so we just testified of God's love for her and His plan for our happiness. I'm excited to go back and teach her the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and share the Book of Mormon with her. It really does answer the questions of the soul, and I know it will help her. We talked with other people, too, who had sincere questions and who we are going back to teach this week.

This week, in a lesson with a recent convert, Zuster Berrett shared a story about a leaky bucket. To make a very long story short, a man has a bucket that loses almost all of its water on the way from the well to home. The bucket feels bad and tells the man he's sorry that he can't help his family the way that a good bucket should. The man laughs and tells the bucket to look to both sides of the path from the well. On one side, the bucket sees a desert, and on the other side it sees a garden full of food and plants. The man tells the bucket that when he saw that it was losing its water, he started planting seeds on the path, and the leaky bucket's water made food grow that fed the man's family. 

The Lord takes leaky buckets like me, and leaky weeks like this one, and He uses all of our leakiness to accomplish miracles if we are just willing to serve the best we can. I'm really grateful for that knowledge, and I am forever grateful for an all-knowing and wise Heavenly Father who is at the head of this work and at the head of our lives. 

I hope you all have an incredible Christmas!!! Ik hou van jullie allemaal en wens jullie fijne feestdagen!!!!

Liefs,

Zuster Cluff