dearest family, friends and countrymen.
greetings. i write to you from the small office in the church building. there is a sunroof and i can hear the rain pouring down. its qutie relaxing. i didnt realize how much it actually does rain here. but it has become almost second nature to do missionary work in the rain. if we waited for it to stop - we wouldnt get anything done. :)
transfer week was a regualar riot. as usual! snap. let me tell you a bit about my new companion. she is fantastic. her name is z.larsen. she hails from gilbert, az. i am blessed to have now had two companions from arizona. i have learned many things, including and not limited to the five c's of arizona. climate, cattle, cotton, copper and citrus. amongst other things - z.larsen is a painter and a musician. and she is quite a talent at both! every night after planning we have "classy night" where we turn on classical music, eat a piece of fancy chocolate/drink tea and make art. she paints...i make collages of strange things i've collected or i write poetry. it is really fun and truly quite classy. i am so pleased to have such refined wholesome recreation every day.
this week i had a bit of trouble with my bike. i am glad i have a bike to have trouble with though. we were casually riding our bikes to the train station and of course - my seat fell off! the screw had become very loose so i was sitting on a very percarious seat and then it broke. good times. blessedly we were close to our home and we locked it up and took the bus. the next day we had to go get it fixed because one can accomplish very little without a bike here in nederland. and because we had no time to waste - i rode my bike without a seat to the repair shop. not ideal. alas - quite hilarious to view i am sure. and then two days later i had a flat tire. turns out i dont know how to fix a flat tire! rookie mistake. blessedly i have now been taught the method and will start practicing. throughout this week with the craziness of the bike drama - i have indeed learned how necessary it is to have oppositon. because everytime i ride my bike now - i am just so grateful that i can. it is so much sweeter! and it is the same with life. every trial shapes our life and ultimately - how we handle every experience we take and choice we make defines our lives and decides our salvation. we decide this every moment of every day - who we are and where we want to go.
thusly - i am at the half way mark in my mission. i have pondered and reflected what i have learned and what i would yet like to learn. i have made some new goals and many plans to make sure that i have learned all that i possibly could whilst on this journey. i have decided to dedicate each month to a different christlike attribute. that is pretty common but its because its awesome. so i decided to start with obedience. because its the first law of heaven. i feel like if i can really begin to master it in a small way that it will be easier to do everything else in my life. oh i am so glad that i started with this! i have learned so much! what a better time than now to learn and apply it. in the morning i study it and then i go out and apply it. not so easy! alas - anything worth doing usually takes work.
okay - thank you for reading my rant about my goals. haha...i should probably share something inspiring now? here is a quote to sum up my thoughts. "we learn obedience, as the savior did, by the things which we suffer. sometime in the eternities to come, we will see that our trials were calculated to cause us to turn to our Heavenly Father for strength and support. any affliction or suffering we are called upon to bear may be directed to give us experience, refinement and perfection." - delbert l. stapley.
well. i am only six days into this study so my thoughts are still a little jumbled/in my study journal and i need to do some pondering. please bear with me. how exciting though, right? how great is it that we have such knowledge before us - ready to be absorbed! i am so grateful that Heavenly Father wants us to learn and know for ourselves. that is so vital. i love seeing this same fire in the eyes of our investigators. it is a part of every human - but some just choose to ignore it. Heavenly Father is so involved with our lives. He is waiting to pour out blessings - in fact, he already has. they are sitting before us, ready to be accepted.
so - this week was a great week. crazy. long. but good. our crew is doing well. het wordt steeds beter! alrighty - thank you for the love and prayers. i love and miss you all.
keep it real, make it happen.
love, zr.katelyn stout
greetings. i write to you from the small office in the church building. there is a sunroof and i can hear the rain pouring down. its qutie relaxing. i didnt realize how much it actually does rain here. but it has become almost second nature to do missionary work in the rain. if we waited for it to stop - we wouldnt get anything done. :)
transfer week was a regualar riot. as usual! snap. let me tell you a bit about my new companion. she is fantastic. her name is z.larsen. she hails from gilbert, az. i am blessed to have now had two companions from arizona. i have learned many things, including and not limited to the five c's of arizona. climate, cattle, cotton, copper and citrus. amongst other things - z.larsen is a painter and a musician. and she is quite a talent at both! every night after planning we have "classy night" where we turn on classical music, eat a piece of fancy chocolate/drink tea and make art. she paints...i make collages of strange things i've collected or i write poetry. it is really fun and truly quite classy. i am so pleased to have such refined wholesome recreation every day.
this week i had a bit of trouble with my bike. i am glad i have a bike to have trouble with though. we were casually riding our bikes to the train station and of course - my seat fell off! the screw had become very loose so i was sitting on a very percarious seat and then it broke. good times. blessedly we were close to our home and we locked it up and took the bus. the next day we had to go get it fixed because one can accomplish very little without a bike here in nederland. and because we had no time to waste - i rode my bike without a seat to the repair shop. not ideal. alas - quite hilarious to view i am sure. and then two days later i had a flat tire. turns out i dont know how to fix a flat tire! rookie mistake. blessedly i have now been taught the method and will start practicing. throughout this week with the craziness of the bike drama - i have indeed learned how necessary it is to have oppositon. because everytime i ride my bike now - i am just so grateful that i can. it is so much sweeter! and it is the same with life. every trial shapes our life and ultimately - how we handle every experience we take and choice we make defines our lives and decides our salvation. we decide this every moment of every day - who we are and where we want to go.
thusly - i am at the half way mark in my mission. i have pondered and reflected what i have learned and what i would yet like to learn. i have made some new goals and many plans to make sure that i have learned all that i possibly could whilst on this journey. i have decided to dedicate each month to a different christlike attribute. that is pretty common but its because its awesome. so i decided to start with obedience. because its the first law of heaven. i feel like if i can really begin to master it in a small way that it will be easier to do everything else in my life. oh i am so glad that i started with this! i have learned so much! what a better time than now to learn and apply it. in the morning i study it and then i go out and apply it. not so easy! alas - anything worth doing usually takes work.
okay - thank you for reading my rant about my goals. haha...i should probably share something inspiring now? here is a quote to sum up my thoughts. "we learn obedience, as the savior did, by the things which we suffer. sometime in the eternities to come, we will see that our trials were calculated to cause us to turn to our Heavenly Father for strength and support. any affliction or suffering we are called upon to bear may be directed to give us experience, refinement and perfection." - delbert l. stapley.
well. i am only six days into this study so my thoughts are still a little jumbled/in my study journal and i need to do some pondering. please bear with me. how exciting though, right? how great is it that we have such knowledge before us - ready to be absorbed! i am so grateful that Heavenly Father wants us to learn and know for ourselves. that is so vital. i love seeing this same fire in the eyes of our investigators. it is a part of every human - but some just choose to ignore it. Heavenly Father is so involved with our lives. He is waiting to pour out blessings - in fact, he already has. they are sitting before us, ready to be accepted.
so - this week was a great week. crazy. long. but good. our crew is doing well. het wordt steeds beter! alrighty - thank you for the love and prayers. i love and miss you all.
keep it real, make it happen.
love, zr.katelyn stout
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