greetings dear family, friends and countrymen.

welcome to the first week of the transfer. its going splendidly. :)

monday! - i was sick. we walked our bikes to the shopping center and got z.rigdons bike fixed. we waited for three hours in a dutch mall. i bought two boxes of tissues. then we had a sweet lesson with hanneke at zr. jansens house (mother of Helena). it was fabulous!

tuesday: district meeting. it was great. we called z.goudsblom and sang for her. later that evening our appointments were called off so we stopped by z.goudsblom to say hello. turns out......she STOPPED SMOKING THE SUNDAY PREVIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!! ARE YOU SERIOUSSSSS HOW AWESOME IS THAT!!!!!!!!?!?!?!!!! oh wow. i was super excited. and i just barely (one minute ago) called her to see how she was doing and she is still doing well - not smoking. amazing. ahhh!!!!!!!! miracle. seriously. a miracle. (thank you for your prayers family!!!!)

wednesday: we spent our day cleaning at various members houses who needed help...i even ironed for the first time in YEARS. wow. it was a riot. i really enjoyed getting to know the members and that they allowed us to serve them...that is not always easy! it was lovely. then we had a great evening with familie den hollander and familie letort. brother den hollander is not a member but he made the FUNNIEST COMMENT EVER. let me break it down. sister den hollander was talking about how her book club invited the author of a book they had just read, to come and talk to them and do a reading...and i made a joke about having them read the book of mormon next....and brother letort (their son in law and the ward mission leader) said, and maybe you could get some of the authors of the book of mormon to come speak...and thenn...broeder den hollander said...."yeah, but there are only three that are still living!" HAHAHAHAA. i laughed so hard. he is awesome. he reads the BOM with his wife every night. what a good man.

thursday: we listened to two of the talks from the christmas devotional with sister in our ward...i loved the talks. wow. WOW. so good. and so funny and so beautiful. have you heard them yet? they are swell. esp from e. uchtdorf...about ACCEPTING. that was awesome. so beautiful. it changed my perspective a bit on christmas. who doesnt love to give gifts...and seriously - who doesnt love to receive a gift? they are both great but of course we always want to focus more on Christ...or giving...and then receiving gets the boot. but i loved how we showed us that in both learning how to give and receive with love and gratitude - we can learn about Christs love and ultimate gift of the atonement. i really loved it.

friday: we spent the ENTIRE DAY in a big van driving to and from brussels. it was so much fun. so much. we were only in belgium for an hour or two. we ate lunch and sister rigdon signed a paper for legality and then we were back on the road. probably a nice seven hours total in the car. it was a great roadtrip. our row in the van was a riot. me, rigdon and e. andrews (from my mtc group) and we had such a fun time, at one moment, we realized that we all know and love the THROAT BAGPIPES. we played the entire song of praise to the man. how lovely. we got home just before nine. yeah.

saturday: we had a great relief society party called a "verwenochtend" which means...an indulging morning...we drank tea and listened to smooth jazz, learned about how cool our brain is from an old dutch documentary...it was fabulous. i had a part too...i taught the sisters how to massage their hands...and a little about reflexology.( is that a word?) it was great. then we had a cool story read to us...then we painted our nails...then we did other stuff...theeennnnn THE BEST PART. zr rigdon was in charge of this part. we had a ball of yarn and she held on to a piece and then gave a compliment to a sister, then threw it to her...and then everyone repeated it. it was SO COOL and so IMPORTANT and AWESOME for the sisters to not only HEAR a compliment but to give it...in public...actually spoken...oh it was beautiful. so great. then we had made a huge web around the room and we read this scripture. " and he commanded them that there should be no contention one with another, but that they should look forward with one eye having one faith and one baptism, having their hearts knit together in unity and in love one towards another." mosiah 18:21 HOW COOOOL

sunday: awesome day. perhaps i freaked out a bit because i realized that i was giving a talk in dutch...again. ahh!!!! but then hanneke said something awesome to me. i asked her to pray for me and she said she would...then she said...from the moment you stand up to speak, you will be carried. oh! how sweet....and so true. we are helped in times of need. Heavenly Father wants us to succeed. we need to trust in Him. turns out - it DID go well. super well. i was a bit nervous because i had memorized a favorite poem in dutch...and was afraid that i would forget it because of nerves, but i didnt! it went well. oh i was so grateful. :) did you want to know which poem? that one from the corrie ten boom house.

my life is but a weaving between my God and me
i do not choose the colors, he works so steadily
oft times he weaves in sorrow, and i in foolish pride
forget he sees the upper, and i the underside

not til the loom is silent and the shuttles cease to fly
will God unroll the canvas and explain the reasons why

the dark threads are as needful in the weavers skillful hand

as the threads of gold and silver in the pattern he has planned.


but it was in dutch. i may have shared this poem with you before. but its still good! :)

THEN on sunday evening we went to rotterdam and sung in the christmas concert there. we didnt practice. and it was alright. haha. but the other people who performed were amazingly good. a boy about 11 years old...sounded like he was a part of the vienna boys choir...wow. beautiful! and some amazing violinists and beautiful piano pieces...so lovely. then we made our way home. ALSO - i talked to a new elder in my district who lived in russia for a few months and he taught me some cool new words...but i also taught him some great threats and such. we are going to have a russian party soon. on a pday. it will be klasna.


alrighty. dear family. i love you. so much. really. i am SO excited to speak with you all. this week as been great. this is what i have learned. CALLLLMMMMM DOWNNNN. calm down. to calm down. to rustig aan. that is dutch for calm down. sometimes we think we need to not be calm because it will fix our problems. it doesn't. i want to be calm inside. all the time. i think about Christ and how even in the hardest moments..or the most crazy times...he was calm. because he had a higher understanding of everything in this world. so - if he is calm....we can be too. i need that. it allows me to feel the spirit. it allows me to think before i speak. and it allows me to ENJOY the moment. :) thank you for your love and prayers. y'all are fantastic.


lovessssssssss - zuster katelyn marie stout