hoi hoi mijn lieve familie! prettige koninginnedag! that is probably spelled wrong! anyways - today is a great day. the country is having a party an we are trying to stay as far away from it as possible. we took a small trip to zaanse schans today. it was so beautiful. so many awesome working windmills. i would love to live in a windmill one day. 

well - this week has been quite a riot. a nice man named brandon took all the amsterdam missionaries out to dinner on tuesday. it was so nice. he told us stories of his mission and some good advice. it was a fun evening. our week has been a little interesting with investigators. some ups and downs. we went to our appointment with a man named tutu. he is from ghana. he was SO promising! so interested and sincere. we show up - there was not a lady at home so we asked if we could meet in the park. then he FREAKED OUTTTT because we wouldnt come inside. he was really angry with us and ended up saying he is not interested any more and slammed the door. it was so strange. i felt really sad that he reacted that way but also i felt really grateful for the strict rules of a mission and the protection we have around us. good gravy! divine intervention. he is not ready yet. 

in other news - we spent a lunch walking through an old cemetery by the church. it was so beautiful. such a peaceful place. we had a lesson with a lady who says she is a prophetess and she prophesied that i would also become a prophetess and that my companion would have a lot of children. it was very interesting. let's see...i ate a small fish bone this week. i didn't want to eat more. i don't like eating bones - what can i say. all our ghanaian and surinamse friends eat the bones and tell us to do it too. they say its good for your teeth. i am not so sure...but i can't actually study up on it. if any of you know the truth - feel free to let me know. 

here is a small story: we were sitting on a tram (my comp and i sit apart so we can talk to more people that way) and i was sitting next to this lady and i felt like i should talk to her but i just wasn't feeling well and kept analyzing it in my head (being ridiculous) and then finally i just opened my mouth - turns out she is RUSSIAN which obviously i thought was great - we had a great conversation - i said all five russian words i can remember and i started talking about the gospel - she said she is not religious because of living in russia and so on - but she seemed interested in us bringing a book of mormon by in russian - i got her number and her name (as i wrote it down she was impressed that i spelled it correctly - Ivanna - that i was  the first person in the netherlands to spell it right) right before she had to get out of the tram. so, the next day i call and schedule a time to bring it by  - i was so excited and really looking forward to it - then i got a text a while later saying "it was nice to meet you but i don't want the book and i can't meet with you" needless to say i was HEARTBROKENNNNN. good gravy! you think i would be used to this already. nope. some people aren't interested, i know this. people aren't interested every single day - but she seemed so promising and i felt like a fool. i kept thinking about what i could have said or done differently. i understand that this is missionary life - but the more i learn about the gospel and the longer i am a missionary - probably the more my heart with hurt when people decide not to listen to meet with us. the reason is because the more i learn about the plan of salvation, the atonement and the gospel of Jesus Christ - the more i realize how connected we all are as humans. we are all responsible for everyone else in a small part - because we are all in this together! none of this would matter without everyone else. people are everything. If our Heavenly Father's ultimate goal and glory is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man - then we are all a part of this work. 

well - this week has been great. i have a lot of thoughts that are half formed - and more things i need to study so thank you for listening to my thoughts! oh man i wish i could have at least three more hours of personal study! there is just not enough time in the day! also - i only have ONE YEAR LEFT ON MY MISSION!!!! THAT IS CRAZY! i can't believe how fast time flies. i feel like this time is more of a life training! i am so grateful for this time. i am grateful for you all that support and love me - oh how blessed i am. i love you all dearly! thank you for everything! 

liefs! - katelyn marie