Bruges-The Holly Blood Procession

Every year on Ascension Day since 1291 the procession of the Holy Blood makes Bruges a very special place to be. President Brubaker decided to include Ascension Day in Bruges as part of our Leadership Council Meeting. We all met in Gent for Leadership Meeting, and then we all came by train to Bruges, only 1/2 hour away.

The Roman Soldiers

Half the parade is reptresenting scenes from the old and New Testament iterpreted by guild, trades, brotherhoods and chambers of rhetoric from the burgundain period. The second part of the procession is devoted to the relic of the blood of Jesus brought to Bruges by Derrick of Alsace, Count of Flanders after the second crusade in 1150. Ever since, the precious relic has been kept in the basilica of the Holy Blood at the burg square. Carried around once a year by two prelates in a golden shrine and worshipped in this procession by the members of the noble brotherhood of the Holy Blood.

Moses and the Ten Commandments.

Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus.

Joseph's Coat of Many Colors.

Christ carrying the cross.

The children of Israel.

The missionaries had their own personal tour guide, for a short time before the procession started.

Beautiful Stories of Conversation in The Hague

Leo is a friend of Ben Wolda, who is a recent convert to the church. Ben had been telling Leo about the church one evening and invited him to experience it for himself and come to church with him the next day. Leo accepted the invitation and came. Elder Leach and I met Leo and taught him. He was progressing so fast that we moved his date forward a couple weeks to keep up with the pace at which he was learning. He's a super star investigator and is going to be and awesome addition to Wijk Den Haag as a member. He was baptized on the 26th of March.
Elder Favero and I met Sun while riding bikes home back in December. He didn't have a background with religion wanted to come to the Jovo Centrum when we invited him. When Elder Mohrman was my companion we invited him to come to the Family Home Evening that was being held at the JVC. The lesson turned into a testimony meeting and Sun felt the spirit very strongly. He prayed that night to know if God was there and he received his answer. Since that point he made huge steps in the gospel and accepted to be baptized. He was baptized on the 26th of March by Elder Leach.
Tresna is a Dutch woman that was found by the missionaries just outside of her home and had interest right away in the Book of Mormon. She has had a lot of experience with different religions in her life and she felt something different as she spoke with the Elders for those few minutes. Tresna read the entire Gospel Principles book and most of the Book of Mormon before her baptism, but the key was once she prayed specifically about the Book of Mormon and received her answer!

Zone Presidents Training Ends in Apledoorn

Our last Zone President's Traing of the month was with our fantastic missionaries in Apeldoorn. Elder Waldie and Elder Wang are serving in Deventer. They are two Chinese speaking missionaries. We have a thriving Center for Young Adults in the Apeldoorn Zone in the city of Deventer. Elder and Sister Hofman are serving in Deventer who are assigned to the center. They will soon be released and will hand over the baton to Elder and Sister Bush, whom just arrived in the Netherlands two weeks ago. The Hofmans have become so attached to these young adults and vis versa!

Many Asian students ome to the center to find a safe place to share in wholesome activities with other young adults that are their age. They learn how the gospel can bring more happiness into their lives.......more than they ever thought possible.