Antwerpen

Monday, February 26, 2024

Monday morning was rainy, cold and miserable. That wasn’t unusual, but on top of all that it was also very windy. It was probably the most miserable day of our entire trip. That didn’t hold us back though, we just bundled up and pulled out our umbrellas.

Marleen had a wonderful breakfast waiting for us and I got to introduce Mom and Alex to fillet American. They have all heard about fillet American but to have it right there at breakfast is different. I don’t think either of them tried it, but I had some. Fillet American is raw hamburger mixed with yummy spices and ground into a paté.

We had parked on the street the night before so the first thing we did was head into Zwijndrecht to check out my apartment. The store front next to where I’m standing was a laundry so that is where we did our laundry for the entire time I was there. We would hand them a bag of dirty laundry and then pick up a stack of clean folded clothes. It was great. Our apartment was the first floor just above the laundry place.

Zwijndrecht was a good mix of small town, rural farms, and very dense city. It was never boring working in that area. Linkeroever, where Marleen lived was actually a part of the city of Antwerpen that was on the western bank of the Scheldt river. The name Linkeroever actually means, “Left Bank”.

After we checked out Zwincrecht we parked our car in Marleen’s parking garage and walked into Antwerpen. One of my favorite memories of Linkeroever are the tunnels that lead from there to right in the middle of downtown Antwerpen.

We used to ride our bikes through these tunnels every Sunday going to church and whenever we had to go to the train station. This is a pictures of Marleen and I walking through the tunnels that I love so much when I lived here.

Once we were on the other side of the tunnel, we just walked around Antwerpen checking out the various sites. Rather than try and give a narrative, I will simply describe each picture that I share.

This is a google maps view of where we were during the day. 

The first place we saw was “Het Steen” which literally means “The Stone”. Stone is also sometimes used to describe a castle so who knows? In any case, when I was here before Het Steen was a very lame nautical museum. It is still a museum, but a rather cool one and it's free.

From the top of one of the towers of Het Steen we had a great view of the river and of downtown Antwerpen.

In this picture you can see the famous “Onze Lieve Vrouw” cathedral in the distance and the combination of new and old buildings is kind of cool.

This is the Scheldt river viewed from Het Steen.

Another stark contrast between the old and the new. I’m not sure if Alex is part of the old or part of the new.

Mom took this picture because she loves the panther above the door. The sign tells us that this place used to be a home where pilgrims to the city could stay for free.

The work they put into beautiful ornamentation is kind of amazing.

It rained and the wind blew the entire time.

We were able to walk around the main floor of the newly renovated City Hall. They had turned the main floor it into a small museum about the history of the building and the renovation.

The Onze Lieve Vrouw (Our Lovely Lady) cathedral is the centerpiece of the city. The story I always heard is that the poor people of the city built the finished tower, and the rich people were in charge of the tower that never got finished. Apparently, that is not true. I don’t know why the one tower is unfinished but I like my story.

Standing in the courtyard of the cathedral is a statue of the hand thrower.

Rather than tell you the story of him I will include this sign we saw in a nearby restaurant where we had lunch.

It looks like the hand didn’t make it to the river. It landed in front of this store.

The buildings are so ornate. I can’t imagine anyone in America going to the expense of erecting a building like this today. Not sure they would do this in Europe today.

For lunch we met up with Lieve Croux. Lieve is from Gent and was baptized around the same time Marleen was. I didn’t know her, but she loves to meet with missionaries who come back to visit.

One of the many places we checked out was a chocolate store. They had chocolate in all shapes and sizes. The entire place was filled with chocolate statutes. You can see some of them in this picture of a guy making one of them.

We finally made our way to the central train station which was rather amazing.

While there are many beautiful things to see in Antwerpen, there aren’t a lot of unique things to see. One of the unique things I saw as a missionary was Reubens house. It isn’t unique in that it is just another rich person’s house, but it was Reubens house and that is unique.

Here is a statue of Reuben.

Apparently, some of the churches in Antwerpen have some of Reubens paintings but they charge to go in and look at them and don’t need to see a painting that bad. After the Grand Central Station, we wandered back towards Marleen’s house and checked out a few sights along the way. Don’t you love this picture that is another mix of the old and the new?

We finally made our way back to Marleen’s house, said goodbye to Lieve and then we relaxed and visited some more. At one point Marleen pulled out her photo album and shared pictures and memorabilia from the time when we found and taught her.

In this picture I think we all look like we’re a bunch of teenagers hanging out after school. On the left is my companion, Elder Bean from Washington state and Marleen, of course, is in the middle.

I remember well the day we rang the VanLaere doorbell. Her mother answered the door. She claimed to be an atheist (which I don’t think she actually was) but she said that her daughter would want to talk to us. It turns out that Marleen, who was sixteen at the time, was a huge Osmond fan.

I have no idea what I’m doing hanging out in front of a beer logo.

Look both ways before crossing?

I have no idea what we’re doing. I don’t remember the names of the other companionship either.

When we were in Zwijndrecht looking at my old apartment, I explained to Mom and Alex how there was a hallway running through the apartment that had no windows. I shared how we would sit in the dark and then someone would jump and we would trigger the flash on our cameras and it would form an image on your retina that would remain there for ten or fifteen seconds. It was cool because you could see the guy hovering in the air.

I had no idea that someone actually took a picture, and I certainly don’t know how Marleen got a copy of that picture.

What was funny is that, I had told that story earlier in the day so Mom and Alex both knew exactly what that picture was as soon as they saw it.

Marleen had a beautiful family. Her mother loved us from day one, but her dad was very leery of us. He figured we were two Americans here to steal away his daughter to America. I don’t really blame him. I would be worried if two strangers were suddenly hanging out with my sixteen-year-old daughter.

He didn’t give permission for her to get baptized until a year or two after I went home.

“Hello, we’re missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We would like to share a message from Jesus Christ. May we come in?”

I can just hear Lisa telling me to close my mouth.

Marleen also had several of the lesson materials that we had shared with her. Some of you may recognize some of these.

Apparently, I found a typewriter somewhere and wrote Marleen a letter. It is very corny, and I was hesitant to translate it for you.

Resurrection of the body

Job 25: 25-27

Isaiah 26: 19

Luke 24: 38-39

Dear Marleen;

I just wanted to write you a letter so that I can practice typing. Good? Thank you for the many things I have learned from you. You would be really surprised if you knew how much I have. But yes, I just want you to know that you are very special to me and I will never forget you.

Now you can see that I have forgotten my typing lessons. You know? I can chat a lot about things that aren't important, but if I ever have serious work, I'm always speechless.

That's why there are two of us, right? As you have seen, I am really blessed with a very nice companion. See you soon!

Lots of love,

Elder Leavitt

(alias Fred)