dearest family: 

another week has come and gone. tijd gaat snel! okay. here we go:

maandag: after emailing we went to the centrum where we met ROOS!!!!!!! we took a spontaneous trip to the beach! zandvoort aan zee! it was divine. we walked barefoot langs het strand. it was such a quality day. we caught up and talked of many things. it was a great adventure. later that evening we had one of the best lessons EVER. with hannah.she is so awesome. and so ready to hear and accept the truth. snap! we had a great lesson about the restoration. amazing. 

dinsdag: a man in our ward came early in the morning and put a brand new tire on my bike for me. he had the special tools needed and it was a miracle! (he is the same one who taught me to fix a flat tire!) not only did this brother come and fix my bike - but we also had a great deep gospel conversation! we read aloud from the book of mormon while he fixed it. i learned many great things. 

woensdag: zone conference. this equals extremely quality and fabulous times. almost my whole mtc district was there. it was a RIOT. it was so so so great to see them. we also learned many wonderful things. we did a great activity where we had to teach the restoration in fifty words, then twenty five, then ten, then five, then one. want to hear mine? okay. 

50 - Gods loves us and has a plan for our lives. He sends prophets and even Jesus Christ to help us learn. after the death of Christ and his apostles, truth was gone. in 1820, truth was restored through a prophet and revealed scripture called the book of mormon. pray. read. 

25 - God shows his love through prophets. Christ served, lived and died for us. His gospel is restored through Joseph Smith and the book of mormon. 

10 - God loves you. Read to know. I testify it's true. 

5 - truth and love are restored. 

3 - there is more. 

1 - Love. 

yes. there you have it folks. it was a great activity because it really helps one see the true importance of our message. i am going to use this activity on every lesson we teach. its fantastic! okay - that night we had a great lesson with fabien and a lady in our ward. it was a beautiful lesson. the spirit was present and truth was spoken! 

donderdag: this was a crazy day. too much for one paragraph. but i will say that i learned how to fold an oragami boat, among other things. 

vrijdag: weekly planning. also: we spent every moment during lunch and after nightly planning rearranging our house. it looks CLASSY. really - quite a lovely place. i'll take a picture. then we went outside and spoke to every single person we saw. it was great. (small side note - i couldn't remember the name of smeogal in LOTR when he turns bad - i said i would email my family and ask, later that night it just randomly popped into my head - gollum! woo! im sure i was talking about some gospel analogy...)

zaterdag: we had crazy weather. actually, normal nederland weather. rain, sunshine, rain, sunshine, just when you think it will stay nice...RAIN. i also found a total of 1 euro in change throughout the day. we also had a great conversation with a man from ethiopia. he just wanted to debate - we told him to read james 1:5 - he said, how can all my questions be answered in one verse? i said - just go read it and see! 

zondag: a great day. i LOVE sundays. they are the best day of the week!!!! we taugh the investigators class and it was great. we spoke about the trifecta of salvation. (i named it that...it means, prayer, scripture study and going to church) then - in sacrament meeting after one of the talks, there was a musical number. guess what i heard at that moment? not a hymn. not a church song. rather, the music from beauty and the beast. the part where the beast is being transfigured into a man. and then it was mixed it with come thou fount. un.believ.able. i never thought i would hear that in sacrament! haha...it was beautiful but crazy. then i went to thank this brother for his musical number and he explained to me the gospel significance of this movie! haha. loved it. we also met a really cool girl from poland. good times. 

this is our week. it was crazy. i hope i have accurately described the magic. i learned a lot. actually - a whole lot. the most important thing that i learned though - is that by small and simple means, are great things brought to pass. and i have a poem that would absolutely perfectly encapsulate what i want to express....but it is in dutch. maybe i will share it anyway and dad could translate it. or google. or i will do it later. yeah. i'll share it. 


als je spijt van gistern hebt en bang bent voor morgen
probeer dan vandaag gelukkig te zijn
het heeft weinig zin in het verleden te staren
je pickeren over wat er mis is gegaan
je kunt blijven treuren en door blijven zeuren
je maakt het verleden toch niet ongedaan
o had je destijds toch maar kunnen vermoeden
een deel slechts van al wat je nu zeker weet
wat zouden veel dingen dan anders gegaan zijn
maar gedaan is gedaan en je deed wat je deed
je kunt toch vandaag niets veranderen aan vroeger
je kunt wel iets leren uit vroeger voor thans
al wat je verkeerd hebt gedaan in 't verleden
dat kan je verbeteren, vandaag is je kans
o wees niet zo dom en verscrijf niet naar morgen
je weet nog niet eens of je morgen wel haalt
je hebt al zo dikwijls je plannen verschoven
je hebt al zo roekloos veel dagen gefaald
je leert uit het verleden maar staat in het heden
vandaag do ik 't beter maar dan blijft nog de vraag
wat doe ik met morgen, daarover geen zorgen
want morgen is morgen, gewoon weer vandaag 

i dont know who made that up. but i need to find out. it is brilliant. the point is simple and already well known. because tomorrow is tomorrow, just another today. it sounds better in dutch! anyways. life is great. life is a blessing and a miracle. i am grateful to be in it! woohoo! i love you all. keep it real. 

veel liefs, zuster katelyn marie stout