dearest family, 

today is christmas eve. happy christmas eve! tomorrow i get to speak with you all! woohoo! i am so excited. even though we will be speaking soon, i shall still give a quick run down of the haps. because lets face it...there is no way i am going to remember this tomorrow when i am busy crying! 

monday: for pday we went into town on a book hunt. trying to find harry potter. couldn't find it. so - guess what we found instead? the diary of anne frank...in dutch. an old version. only six euros! and i found a copy of ot en sien! FINALLY!!!! and the story of the ugly duckling in dutch, and the poky puppy in dutch...called, hondje eigenwijs. how adorable. i am totally excited. who doesnt love a cute dutch childrens book?!?! 

tuesday: went to leiden for our christmas zone conference. z.rigdon and i wore our matching christmas sweaters. (i'll send a photo next week because i forgot my card reader) we looked great and it was the hit of the party. we learned many things and really had a great time. 

wednesday: we met a lady from macedonia! her name is maria. turns out she lives in our building and we talk to her son all the time - small world. she wants to come to the church! woohoo! she is lovely. 

thursday: a day full of greatness. my favorite thing was our lesson with z.goudsblom. her grandson showed up. he is almost 12. he reminded me soooooooo much of nathanael. of course, we got along great and we talked about legos and knives and survival. blessedly i had a small survival guide in my bag and i was able to give it to him. he is studying english at  school and wanted to practice with us. and i had the idea that he could be penpals with nathanael....what do you think, bro? i will ask you again tomorrow...but think about it. his name is justus. super cool kid. 

friday: we went to dinner at a sisters house in our ward - she is super cool...and we started talking about the great promise that was given to the Netherlands from president kimball...that there will one day be 43 stakes of zion here. this sister said that she was there and she knows it will happen...then she said...so that means, haarlem would become a stake...alkmaar would be a stake...and she began to list all of these cities...as she spoke i got goosebumps and NATURALLY began crying and became just overwhelmed with happiness because i know that will happen. but i know that it will also take a lot. but i am excited for that day!!!!! 

saturday: we had our first lesson with a woman named blessing. she is from nigeria. she is dating a dutch man and they have a cute little baby. the lesson went well and we are hoping they dont forget us til we meet again in january. they are ready to be an eternal family. i feel it! 

sunday: we had a beautiful time at church - everyone was in a good mood and so cheery. we watched the christmas devotional. it was so lovely. there was also a really lovely talk given about habits. some are good, some are bad and then he began to specifically name habits that we should stop as a society. we dont need to complain about the weather. we dont need to complain about people. we dont need to be so busy. and he said....just pick one bad habit...and replace it with one good habit...and dont worry about all the other things you want to do until this one is done. it was so simple, we've heard it all before. but the way he shared this message was great - he was so specific that by the end of the meeting i had already made my new years resolution and plans for it. oh snap - dont you just LOVE this gospel? it is truly a blessing and a help so that we can become better. 

well dearest family - i love you all. i am so grateful and glad to have another nephew! welkom lieve marshall. ik hou ontzettend veel van je! oh my heart and prayers and tears are with you all. how blessed we are to have prayer. i always feel connected to you all and i know that our prayers are heard and answered. I know that Christ understand EXACTLY how we all feel. i watched mr.kreugers christmas last night and i LOVED what he said...that Christ walks with us during our hardest hours. he is our dearest and closest friend. i am so grateful to have a family who constantly exemplifies the love of Christ. i love you all and i know that God is mindful of his children. and like elder holland said "it is not possible for you to sink lower than the infinite light of Christ's atonement shines" i know that everything will be alright with dearest marshall and that he will gain strength and be able to fight his way through. we have so much power in our prayers. The object of prayer is not to change the will of God, but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant, but that are made conditional on our asking for them. Blessings require some work or effort on our part before we can obtain them. Prayer is a form of work, and is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings. - bible dictionary . 

i am glad to be working with you all to receive those great blessings for marshall! 

have a lovely merry christmas! talk to you tomorrow! lovessssss. 

- zuster katelyn marie stout