Katelyn Stout to me

show details Nov 16 (2 days ago)

hoi hoi mijn gelifde familie! turns out- we have 30 minutes for email. it totally counts the time spent reading it. awesome eh? hopefully i can gather my thoughts well enough to splain the haps to you in this short amount of time. well - this week has been quite a wild ride. moments that were highly discouraging and super fantastic. blasted satan is trying his best. i shall not let him have any victory though. i can see right through his ridiculous schemes! we have been thrown into a teaching situation, without much time to prepare, THREE TIMES this week. ugh. twice in nederlands and once in english. all of them were extremely difficult, great things learned, but frustrating to me. i understand the methods but sometimes it can be too much. as i ponder on the events of each day, during my 15 minutes of silence before sleeping, i always come to the same conclusion. it is my choice. i am the master of my fate, i am the captain of my soul. if i choose to be patient and positive even when i feel so unbelievably discouraged or like a failure - i will have succeeded. i have been reading 1 Corinthians 13 a couple times a day. it is the greatest. i must never forget that there are only TWO commandments and if i can follow those - everything else will work out. i know these things. i always have. but i keep learning them again. i believe it will be a life long process. anyshchwayssss. aside from the fact that i am INSANE and think i should be speaking perfect dutch for only being here 14 days... life is awesome. i have made some super life long friends already. the elders in my district are hilarious. so so funny. i have had some awesome experiences that will affect my whole life in only this short time. one of my teachers is only one year older than me which is kind of strange...but he is great, he told me that i am naturally a leader and that if i focus on helping others in my district learn and grow, then the language will just come to me. i do believe it is true and will try to accomplish this. oh snap - let me just be straight with you all - i totally thought i knew stuff. not everything, but i absolutely thought i knew what was going down in this life. turns out, i only know the smallest portion. if anything, i will be EXTREMELY grateful for the humbling experience the mtc has been for me. haha. i love it. not the biggest fan of the natural man if you know what i mean. blast my stubbornness and pride! blessedly - the beautiful plan of the gospel allows me to check myself before i wreck myself too much and lets me try again and become better through Christ. hallelujah! so basically - if i can fully invest my heart in becoming more like my Savior and trying to be like him in EVERY instance, i will have success as a missionary. it is so simple yet seemingly impossible. i shall strive though. i am sorry that this sounds more like an existential journal entry than a letter but perhaps this is good. i will work out my existential funk through email and you can all share your thoughts. well - dearest family and friends, ik vindt dat jullie geweldig zijn!!!! that is probably the wrong sentence structure but you catch my drift. now, onto the vraagen.

How did this week go for you?

- well, i think the above paragraph should break it down pretty well. hopefully it isn't super vague. i will work on writing more details of my experiences.

How is the language going?

- see above dramatic paragraph

What is the capital of Zimbabwe?

blast. ik weet het niet! :(

so - i am not sure if i have appropriately thanked you for the BLESSED BEAUTIFUL BLANKET that i received! dankuweel!!!!! :)

it brings joy to my soul every time i sleep. i am sleeping much better but still struggle falling asleep. so far the schedule is fine for me though.

thank you for all of your awesome letters, dad! they are a ray of sunshine in my long days inside!!!!! i truly am blessed with such an amazing family and friends.

i sincerely and gratefully feel all of your prayers, support and love. how grateful i am to be surrounded by love! i pray for all of you and miss you all dearly.

my new goal is to be positive about ERRYYYthang here. even the food. which is the hardest. i told my district to keep me in line if i say anything negative. haha.

well - i only have a few minutes left so i must finish. I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH. my family. my dear friends. SO grateful to have you all.

my favorite phrase in dutch is of course, ik houd van jouw. it means i love you. but a real translation is i hold of you. i think its the sweetest thing ever. :)

IK HOUD VAN JULLIE :) (jullie means you all not a name...)

lovesssss - zuster katelyn marie stout.

ps: i have a few requests?

could you mail me the lyrics to the LONG dutch happy birthday song?

also: that quote that goes something like..."watch your thoughts they become your actions watch your actions blah blah i think its like yoda or the dalai lama...?

thanksssss! :)

oh oh andddd!!! i am so glad you are having fun in NYC! awesome! so jealous! love it. ANDDD BEKAHHHH!!! you need to write to me. right now!!! seriously. okay loves. bye. :)