dearest family: it is so good to hear about all that is going down in america with all of you. it sounds lovely - that life is moving a long well. i love you all dearly! this week has been pretty great for me as well. as a mission we were able to go to the temple. it was a great experience. its been far too long! what a small temple it is, i loved it. so cute. what a blessed place it is. i am so glad that the saints in the Netherlands have a temple of their own! how great! i also loved having everything be in dutch and speaking dutch but still learning and having a good time. :) afterwards we went to keukenhof  - a beautiful garden filled with tulips. i wish you all could've been there! it was so lovely, and blessedly it was mostly nice weather. a few days ago i was feeling a little down - a little lame and super exhausted. i decided to watch a quick mormon message (my comp had the dvd) while i was eating breakfast. i chose to watch the thanksgiving one about gratitude. i had a bit of an a-ha moment when i realized how lame it was to be down. i have SO MANY BLESSINGSSSSSS. its amazing. i started thinking about how extremely blessed i am  and began to make a list. i immediately felt better and happier. i used to write a list of gratitude every day in my journal but for the past few weeks i hadnt been doing that because i hadnt had a lot of time to write in my journal - i started to do it again and i really feel so much better. after that i started my personal study and not coincidentally i just happened to be reading in mosiah 2 vs 20..."you should render all the thanks and praise which your whole soul has power to possess, to that God who has created you, and has kept and preserved you and has caused that ye should rejoice and has granted that ye should live in peace one with another...vs21..."i say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning and is preserving you from day to day by LENDING YOU BREATH that ye may live and move and do according to your own will and even supporting you from one moment to another - i say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants..." well- obviously i added the caps. anyway it was so perfectly placed for me! i am grateful that Heavenly Father is so busy with us! He pays attention even when we don't! what a patient Father He really is! its easy to focus on the bad. we see what we want to see. but how much BETTER and joyous it is to focus on the good. it is there! hallelujah! 

well - in other happenings this week - i was told i sound south african. haha. and also - THREE people started talking to me because of my name. everyone likes to comment on it. i am proud of it! it is the best conversation starter ever. haha. i will keep track throughout my mission. we painted a sister in our wards wall. red. i am glad that dad taught us how to paint. church was awesome yesterday. our gospel principles class was half in english and half in italian. and then a lady was translating into twi...and then during sacrament meeting - we had a talk in spanish - translated to dutch and then there were people listening to an english translation. crazy! i love this crazy ward. good times. 

oh how blessedly fantastic this life is. i am grateful for it. i am grateful for all of you and your love and prayers. i feel them! i must away. i love you all. thank you for being my awesome family!!!!!!! LOVES - katelyn marie stout