dear family! this week has been quite a riotous one. turns out that i left my planner at home so i can't quite give you a play by play. alas - we laughed, cried and saw miracles. 

let me start with one of probably the funniest things that happened. 

i told you before of that FABULOUS couple in our ward...brother and sister schiltz.

he is belgian and she is irish.

we went to their house for dinner on sunday and she made chicken, potatoes and corn. 

as i ate a bite of corn...i IMMEDIATELY thought of what about bob...

this is what proceeded. 

stout: sister schiltz...is this corn hand shucked?

s.schitlz: what?....no, its green giant....no one in ireland cooks their own corn. 

i laughed SO hard. they hadn't seen the film but it still worked out perfectly. they are the funniest couple i've ever met. okay. i hope you find it hilarious. its shocking how often quotes from that film come into my mind on the daily. 

okay. what else happened. our district went from zero baptismal dates to TEN. we have a few of those and we are really excited about what is happening here in antwerpen. the Lord is putting a lot of people in our path and we are so grateful. what i have been thinking and studying a lot about lately is UNITY. why unity is so important. in a ward, in a family...in any relationship really. i made a list of a few things that can tear us apart from people. the attributes of the natural man that destroy unity rather...one of the biggest players i think is our need to feel independent. we want to do things ourselves...we want to be accomplished and smart, able to work, move, do....EVERYTHING ourselves. it keeps us from trusting and relying on others. its keeps us from accepting help. it is interesting how time and again, we are faced with a challenge that we can't actually solve or endure ourselves. we always need the Savior. He is always more than willing to help us. His mercy is infinite. at such a fundamental level...we will never be able to be independent...and really, that is okay. the breath we breathe is lent to us (mosiah 2:21) and we are given all that we have. this is a hard thing to realize sometimes...harder to let it change us....but that is why we are here, so we can change...so we can understand and apply that. in a way i can see what Heavenly Father desires of me...i know that everything i am, all that i know and understand is because of my heavenly and earthly parents. i will gladly admit that the goodness i have is because of them. easy peasy. true story. when we accept that...and understand WHY then we start to become truly unified with each other. our wills are aligned and we see eye to eye. i love it. i want to strive my whole life for this. i am grateful that this gospel is true. hallelujah! it would be SUPER difficult if it wasnt true. glory be. 

i love you all. i know that we are here to learn and be happy as we do it. everything we are asked to do, every commandment, is to help us love one another. thank you for your love and prayers. until next week! lovesssssssssss

-- z. stout