Church

Amazing. That's all I have to say. I went to the Brussels International Ward today. What an amazing feeling in such a small space. There is such a feeling of unity and love among these people! There are very few from America. The people are from all over! America, South America, the Pacific Islands, Europe (all over), even Africa! I met a lady who is from Tahiti and her husband is from Russia. Now they live in Belgium and go to this ward!  There was a missionary farewell today. John was his name. He is from Zimbabwe. He shared his conversion story, and the reasons he decided to go on a mission. He said turning 19 was not good enough. It was incredible! One of the other speakers gave a quote from the first bishop of the ward. (It turned from a branch to a ward in 1993). He said, 

"We all come to Brussels for different reasons... but we all share a spiritual reason. People are put in our way, and many times they go back to their home country ready to lay that foundation. You have a choice to join in this great work!" 

After church, me and another intern and his wife were invited to the Passey's home for dinner. They are delightful people! They are so willing to give of anything they have! It was a delightful evening! What a wonderful Sunday! There have been many answers to prayer today. I count my many blessings because of it!

Waffles!

It is extremely important to note that I had my first real Belgian waffle today. This is a defining point in my life, I think. Trust me, if you have had one you will agree with me without even thinking! They are to die for. At first glance, they appear nothing special. Once you sink your teeth into them, though, you are a changed person! It's like they make the batter with a sweet honey, but there is also a sugar-ey texture to them that dissolves in your mouth. Heaven, I'm telling you. It's absolutely delightful. Belgians eat waffles like Americans eat pretzels at a football game.  They just grab one and hold it with a napkin as they're shopping or walking or driving. It's awesome! 

This is a waffle bus. The writing on the side (gaufres chaudes) means Hot Waffles. I didn't get mine here, but I thought it was absolutely awesome that there was a bus, parked on the sidewalk, selling waffles. Incredible, I tell ya!

The other pictures are walking to City2, the big shopping center, 

to buy my waffles. 

The street is called Koningstraat. It is really busy all the time. Cars are crazy! They drive so fast. It amazes me that there are not more accidents all the time. I guess it works, though. It must be the way to drive here! I find it really entertaining. 

If someone has stopped in the street, you just drive around them. If there is a sidewalk in the way, you just drive onto it. I love it! It took me a day or two to get used to it, but now its just normal. Pretty view though, isn't it?

More from the apartment!

I took my camera for a walk today! This is the view out my window. 
The stairs are really teeny. I live on the 4th floor. This is a look from my door down the stairs.  

The street where I live is pretty quaint. Mine is the pink building...

 

I live on the fourth floor. My window is on the top left in this picture.

The Apartment...

As if I hadn't said enough today, I decided to take some pictures to remember surviving the shower. If you look in the picture below, you will see a white box in the shower. That is the water heater. Jana told me today that if I wasn't careful, the steam from the hot water would suffocate the small flame that was in the box, hence the heater on the floor. She said she usually showered with the window open so there was proper ventilation! ;)

Here are some more pictures of the apartment:

Me, after successfully taking a hot shower!

The kitchen.

My windows. Notice the broken shade on the right. I would have loved to see my face when it came crashing down while I tried to fix it...

Official Day 1 in Belgium

This is my roommate Jana (said Yah-nah). I guess not really roommate, but we share the rest of the apartment! She's been really helpful in learning about the neighborhood.  I intend to take my camera out this weekend to get more pictures!

An interesting note about where I live. First of all, very few people speak English. I speak no French. This makes life interesting. It seems like everybody smokes. Nasty. I live on the 4th floor of a pink building. On floors 2 and 3 (one apartment per floor, teeny spiral staircase up!) live some Spaniard violinists. Professional violinists according to Jana. They practice frequently. It is like a little taste of home!

In Belgium!!!

Well, I made it. I will have to take some pictures and post some pictures, but I'm here. So far my experience has consisted of sleeping and wandering around the streets close to where I live. What an adventure! I will write soon!

Christopher's Court of Honor

We were able to hold Christopher's Eagle Court of Honor on Sunday night. Boy did it snow... It was a lovely event. We held it in the pavilion next to the firepit that was his project. It was buried in snow. Lots of snow. However, Paul did bring some wood and Frank did get a fire going. Ceremonial at the least. Demarious offered a beautiful prayer to start, Paul Harris, Cooper Best, John gave remarks. Karen sang her song of Eagles (Where Eagles Rest). The keyboard was possessed. It would add random notes. Still sounded great. Christopher was presented the award by Mark Cottle and then Keith closed the meeting with a prayer. Great treats afterwards. Aggie Ice Cream, Cinnamon Brownies, lemonade. The little girls were about to make Semore's but the fire had been dowsed by that point. So sad, but the promise of a future event satisfied their yearning...
I'll see if we can't post a few pictures and a few more comments in a day or two... (As most of you have learned, don't hold your breath...)