So, I'm sitting here eating my lunch and perusing the threads when I have a flashback to my mission!

Once upon a time (ya, it's like a fairy tale) in the Netherlands, my companion and I were riding out to a small village to meet with investigators (2 separate families). We were planning on showing the film strip "Man's Search for Happiness". When we got there, we had the film strip, the projector (we had these little cheap projectors that looked like a Fisher Price ostrich egg) but we had forgotten the cassette tape. No matter...

He whipped out his harmonica and I did the whole dialogue from memory. Damn! I'd forgotten all about that...and... shit, I can still do most of it!!

(harmonica in the background softly, dude with a pompador hair do on a wooden bridge staring into the distance on the wall projection)... and..
[cue the voice]

"Soms, in u zoeken naar geluk, denkt u aan de betekenis van het leven. U tracht in het begin to herinnerin, maar alles dat u weet is het nu." "Wie ben ik? Waar ga ik heen? Waar kom ik vandaan? Wie weet werkelijk wie ik ben?"

Makes me squeamish!

Ron

Ive never seen it. I'm watching it on YOuTube now out of curiosity.

...My gosh. This is so boring!

ya, but wait 'til you get to the part about the dancing girls "count 'em, 50!, count 'em".

LOL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vo_AoUa_b0

Yeah. At that part it said "base desires" and it caught my attention. The Youtube comments are priceless.... "Oh thanks so much for posting this! I can't wait to show it for Family Home Evening to my kids, blah blah. " Haha

Hey, your Dutch is still pretty good. When were you here, 1970s?

Check out my blog - the only Dutch-language blog with the insider's perspective on Mormonism (cost me 35 years of my life to get it, unfortunately).

http://www.mormonisme.nl/



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/09/2010 04:42PM by rt.

It is impressive that you did it from memory, Ron! You must have been a talented missionary, and your investigators must have felt it a privelege to be taught by you!

flipper Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It is impressive that you did it from memory, Ron!
> You must have been a talented missionary, and
> your investigators must have felt it a privelege
> to be taught by you!


I don't know if I'd go that far, but I had good numbers and still communicate with some of them. They really don't care that I'm not a member any longer. It helps that I have extended family there.

Ron

rt Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hey, your Dutch is still pretty good. When were
> you here, 1970s?
>
> Check out my blog - the only Dutch-language blog
> with the insider's perspective on Mormonism (cost
> me 35 years of my life to get it, unfortunately).
>
> http://www.mormonisme.nl/

75 - 77, just three months after I mustered out of the military. Started out in Apeldoorn, then den Haag, then Soest, then Hilversum (Zendings Kantoor), then Maastricht and then Alkmaar.

Thanks for the link. Uitstekend!

Here's my favorite part:

"..maar in de begintijd van de kerk hadden Mormoonse kerkleiders als Joseph Smith en Brigham Young er geen enkele moeite mee om getrouwde mannen en vrouwen met andere getrouwde mannen en vrouwen te huwen."

"..but in the beginning fromt he church the Mormon leaders such as Joseph Smith and Brigham Young had no problem whatsoever with marryied men and women marrying other married men and women!".

Goed gezegd, jongen!

Ron

Did you or rt happen to know an Elder T. Hassler or an Elder Mead? I believe they would have been there in the late 70s.

Hmm, I was only 4-6 years old when you were here; my parents joined in 1973 and attended Maastricht first but some time before I turned 8 we started to attend Hasselt branch in Belgium (we lived in Belgium the whole time).

So, we may or may not have met. I was the boy tied to the pew on a dog leash...

Ron, the only important issue here is the one you failed to address..

Did they convert??