dearest family: HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!! what a great holiday. i thought perhaps i would have a year without it...but i was wrong. turns out, i had a great idea to throw a thanksgiving party for my ward, an activity to help people feel happy and comfortable to invite friends. at the beginning there were a few people who were very wary or uninterested...but we plowed on with our plans. turns out that many were just unsure that such a young set of missionaries could pull off such a party...little did they know. :) 

well - you know...i am going to wait to tell you about the party for a moment. lets go through my week really quick. because it was AWESOME. 

monday: galavanting through the centrum in haarlem. it was awesome. efficient and lovely. 

tuesday: we went to an appointment in a far away town of our area and she didn't show up...so we were walking around the small streets of hillegom and i saw a window...it was beautiful...full of cool decorations and it just caught my eye and i felt like i NEEDED to knock on that door. so we just walk right up to it and knock...next thing i know we are being invited in. turns out she knows about our church because she LOVES THE OSMONDSSSSSS. so much. hallelujah. i also love the osmonds. they are great examples. we had the greatest lesson ever  - her name is corrie. she loves family and knows there is something more to this life...her husband passed away many years ago at a very young age but she still feels his presence and knows its not the end. she spends all of her time with her children and grandchildren. (she is probably in her mid fifties) we are meeting with her again next saturday and get to tell her such good news!!!!! i am so grateful. THIS is why i am on a mission. family. love. peace. doesn't get any better than that!!!!!

wednesday: went on exchanges in GOUDA. cutest city in the netherlands after haarlem! i would love to serve there next. it was AWESOME. i got to spend the day with zuster kova! my first companion at the mtc. it was soooooo great. she is awesome. we had the loveliest time ever. met some awesome people, made burritos, spread the good word! awesome. 

thursday: great and busy day, running around the city for appointments and preparing for the big party! also...we discovered a new flavor of chips. spicy reggae chicken. turns out reggae tastes great! i hope they send that flavor to america. 

friday: weekly planning and craziness. had a great appointment with hanneke - we did the gospel drawing activity. she drew such a beautiful picture of what it means to her. a big sun representing faith, a tree and the changing leaves representing repentance, a lake of water for baptism..etc....it was so cool to see how she views it. her progress is SO COOL TO SEE. its amazing how someones life can change within such a short time frame. she is becoming happier and just radiates faith. what a blessing to my life to see such a process. the other part of this day was spent grocery shopping with our ward mission leader. buying 15 kilos of potatoes, 20 bottles of cassis and apple juice, gravy ingredients...good day. 

dramatic spin: b. letort (our WML) told me that the turkeys were NOT FLAVORED OR ANYTHING - when before he told me they were all prepared to put in the oven. then i finally got it out of him that he didnt think the turkeys needed anything. oh deear. i told him that we can't do that. we must add flavor. so i gave him a list of spices and said we'd meet at the church early the next morning to prepare....

saturday: the big day. 10:30 at the church. i called another sister in our ward to help...we prepared four huge turkeys. i taught them how to mix spices with butter and put it under the turkey skin..hahah....it was awesome. they freaked out. (thanks for teaching me that, dad!) we prepared these beautiful birds and sent them to various ovens of members around haarlem. and we cooked one ourselves in the church. zuster rigdon and i then spent the morning setting up for our party...at around two, hanneke came to the church and helped us peel potatoes and finish setting up..for hours! she was amazing! i made the gravy...and can i just say...it was good. good gravy. i conveniently had the secret ingredient of vegemite with me. seriously - EVERYONE LOVED THE GRAVY. its as though they had never had anything like it. (thank you again, dad!) i am jumping the gun though...it was about quarter to five and we began to mash the potatoes...people started just pouring in...i thought this would be like 20 people maybe...we had over 50 people EASY. we are freaking out trying to mash all these potatoes, warm up the gravy, carve these supremely hot turkeys....ahhhhhhslakjfsldkjaf;lskjd!!!! then, EVERYONE starts asking if they can help and throughout the evening, everything is done, not a single hitch in the get along...smooth, classy, beautiful, it was so nice. our mission president and his wife came...they helped as well. as we were dishing up the food i saw the bishop dishing HUGE portions of potatoes and i was a little worried thinking we wouldnt have enough...i go over to see and we still have an abundance...i promise you it was as the miracle of the loaves and fishes...which i had coincidentally read earlier that morning...it was a THANKSGIVING MIRACLE. there was so much food. and it was perfect. and the people loved it. and they came back for seconds and thirds and we had so so so so much left over it was ridiculous. sister rigdon and i weren't even hungry so we didn't eat. we were busy running around talking to people and pouring drinks and talking to our AWESOME investigators who all came. oh and they each brought stuff to share...and zuster goudsblom brought a huge pot of soup and three massive trays of salad...it was like a professional caterer. she wasn't even feeling well and she did all of that for the party. unbelievable!!!!! talk about a miracle. also - people just started doing the dishes...cleaning up, helping out in every way...sister robinson (wife of our mission president) got in the kitchen and helped me clean off all the meat from the turkeys and put it in containers to give away - fabien started doing more dishes, the bishop started to vacuum..OH and during dinner, a sister in our ward who is a teacher, gave a power point presentation about the history of thanksgiving. hahaha...it was GREAT. this evening was awesome. it made me so happy. this ward is one. there was such a unity. everyone helping out, doing something to help...i wanted to cry - it was such a miracle to me. some of the older ladies in our ward motioned me over and said...how old are you?! i can't believe you can throw this great of a party at such a young age! i wouldnt ever dare to do something like this! ...haha it was so sweet. but i know it wasn't just us. it was truly a miracle...and it was many hands making work light that made it all happen. people were helping to the BITTER END. we didnt even get home too late! and just as the miracles of the loaves and the fishes - there were more than 12 baskets leftover. 

sunday - at the party i had everyone write what they were grateful for on small paper leaves...we hung these up in the church on sunday so everyone could see and remember. the most popular thing written...family! amen. everyone loved the party and continued to thank us for it...we even got applause in relief society. haha...it was so sweet...because really - it was them! not us! and also...the turkeys. it was so new and exciting. what i saw though - was the love of Christ, who encourages us to help our fellow man, rallying together for a good cause. that same unity that they showed can be the driving force and power to bring hundreds of lost sheep back to the fold. that same unity will help them stand tall and stay strong amidst the mighty storms that will come there way. i am blessed to have been a witness of such a miracle. we are all important and are all of great worth...but our worth is for eachother. we are here to help others and we will receive help along the way! 

i am so grateful for all of you. i am grateful for the ABUNDANCE in our lives. there is always enough...and more than enough when we share. it is a common law of life. i am grateful for Christ, who taught us this by example. i also am still working on REMEMBERING THIS. 

"having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember? when i brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? and they say unto him, twelve. and when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? and they said, seven. and he said unto them, how is it that ye do not understand?" mark 8:18-21

i know that we see miracles. i also know that the natural man can easily forget...and that Christ asks us to understand what he really means. to look beyond. i am still searching, still working, still trying to understand. how i long to consistently remember the great goodness of the Lord. i know that just as we learn to walk step by step, we learn to walk with faith. i am so grateful for this AWESOME earth and all of the SUPER AWESOME people upon it. what a blessing! i love you all. thank you for your great love and support. i am grateful for you all! have a swell thanksgiving! much love!!!!!!!!!!

- zuster katelyn marie stout