Hallo Mooi Groningen! (Hello Beautiful Groningen!)

Our home for the next two years.
This picture was taken from the other side of the port.
The missionaries call it the NL building because of it's shape.

We have wanted to use our blog as a journal to help us remember days and events from our mission.  We thought it might be fun to take pictures of a typical walk to Albert Heijn, the grocery store we often shop at here in Groningen.

We are noticed everywhere we go because of our name tags.  Elder Romig, who usually keeps to himself, has become VERY outgoing in public!  The people of Netherlands love to hear us use Dutch!  Even if we are unsure of a word, they smile and try to help us.  We have said all along that the people of this country need to hear the gospel in their own language, so we are working very hard to become coversationally fluent.

This is the little bridge that we cross as we leave our home (you can see it behind the bridge.)

These views are from on the bridge.

View from behind a corner tavern and   restaurant.  One Friday evening we were walking past on our way to the store.  There was a major dart competition taking place with probably ten dart boards in use.  It was like the Dutch version of a major bowling tournament in America.  We commented that we hoped they weren't too tipsy as they took aim with the darts! 

Where we cross the street.

Notice the foot path, the fietsen padden (bike path) and street for vehicles where the garbage truck is.

Albert Heijn, where we buy groceries, send mail, drop off dry cleaning, use the ATM, etc. 

 And then we head back with our bags heavy with products.  We bought our own reusable bags and take them to the store every time we go.  No bags are free.  We carry bags in the back of the car in case we need to stop when we're driving.

View from the corner as we head back across the little bridge by our home.

View of the arch of our building from underneath.

Groningen is known for how windy the city is.  Maybe these pictures say it all...

No wind will blow this building away!

View from our bedroom window.

Close up of the city of Groningen from our apartment.

Without question, the most notable description of our apartment is "a beautiful view".  

The sunsets and sunrises are spectacular!

A common sight out our living room windows...
(There is a new picture above the couch that you'll see coming up.)

We probably see at least twenty barges like this everyday.  We often have three or four
tethered to posts in the port below our apartment building each night.

These are the house boats we see across the port from our home.

"House boat" moving day...

Our kitchen from the living room.

The living room from the kitchen. Notice the picture hanging above the couch...

This picture and the skates represent a very special experience we had when we first arrived in Groningen. We wanted a picture of molens (windmills) in our living room.  We ordered the picture, it was delivered and we were thrilled with the look.  But...it looked like it needed skates hanging on the wall by the picture. We
were driving down a very narrow road next to a canal that came to a dead end.  At the end of the road, Zuster Romig noticed a sign by a shop that said "Schaatsen". We went inside and found a fantastic sport shop specializing in boating and skating.  Elder Romig asked if they had any old skates for sale.  The young man helping us said, "Just a minute," and went into the back room.  He returned a minute later with a perfect pair of skates.  We asked, "How much?" and he said, "Nothing!" (the owner of the skates had not come to pick them up for three years). He then asked, "Can you use another pair?" and went back to the back room, returning with a second pair!  These are the two pair.

During this time, our conversation included introducing ourselves, our name tags, telling about JoVo's (Young Single Adults) and the church.  It was a wonderful discussion talking about being Christians, how he and his girlfriend attend an Evangelical church, etc.

After our conversation ended, we went home, hung the skates by the picture and took a photo of it.  We then wrote our testimony inside a Dutch Book of Mormon and returned to the shop with the book, our contact information and a copy of the photo for him to see.  We had placed our first Book of Mormon in Groningen!

Night view of the Living Room from the hallway.

Our Bedroom with a beautiful view of the port.

We found these pictures at the thrift store close to our home. 
We will bring them home with us...love the little Dutch boy & girl!