dear family - 

guess what? i had another crazy week. hah. why do i even write that?!?!?! its always this way. but this one felt more legit crazy. we travled back and forth between our countries about five times. not an exaggeration even. meetings and hullabaloo. all of it good. let me be splain. 

conference was great by the way. WOOO!!!!! i loved it. i could watch it all again RIGHT NOW. 

so, monday and tuesday were great. we had some super golden lessons with our investigators. the church is true, my friends. that i know. the restoration happened and continues to bless our lives. the book of mormon is the way to figure it out. 

wednesday we had exchanges and i went to gouda again. i LOVE that city. the people are amazing. we found some super cool new people and had a couple great appointments. at our last appointment of the evening, we saw quite the miracle. brother and sister gruppman (the russian musical genius couple that lived in provo for thirty years) had us over for dinner with a newly baptized member. we were having an enjoyable evening when the doorbell rang. we hear a voice of a dutch man...sister gruppman quickly explains his situation and that he hasn't been active for three years and they've had no communication until tonight...the night they have the missionaries over...then he walks in. what follows is one of the funniest and most interesting nights of my mission. i can't describe it exactly but i know that God arranges things brilliantly. the newly baptized brother bore his testimony of the truthfulness and said that he would live it for eternity. the gruppmans encouraged him to keep searching and not give up. although he was somewhat standoff-ish... i know that the spirit touched him. we talked, sang a hymn and prayed. the testimonies of all present were strengthened. it was super cool. and on the train home that night we got an appointment with a preacher named...preacher mike. it doesnt get better than that! woo! 

thursday we booked it back to belgium for a day of appointments and haps..packed our bags and went  back to nederland...stayed with the sisters in den haag while z.nielsen and i went to the mission leader council and our companions went on exchanges. friday was the council and oh what a delight it was. super awesome training from the classiest people. (president and sister robinson) and then the council part...which reminded me somewhat of LOTR. we discussed the haps of the mission and what needs to change with all the new missionaries coming in..and how to make exchanges, district meetings, and training more efficient. it was truly delightsome! i sure learned a lot about the importance of order and structure in the church. 

we traveled back that evening with the sisters to zoetermeer. (z.kova needed to take the ACT in antwerpen) this is when our adventures began. we only had one train going directly to belgium but in order to take it all the way....and stay legal...meant that at one stop, we'd have to check out with our dutch train cards and get back in the train...z.juchau and rigdon decided to be the runners...and booked it out as soon as we pulled in..we thought it would be great...z.kova and i stayed behind with our prime seats and our stuff. it was a while...and we got a call...they said..get off the train!!!!!! i hung up and with all our might mind and strength we began to grab our stuff and run out of the train. backpacks, scarves, coats, jackets, purses, too much stuff...the train was packed...people lined the aisles and we had to wade our way through like mad...the doors were closed and i opened them anyway and jumped out  of the train...we got out JUST AS IT PULLED AWAY. the lady who checks tickets got mad at us and i thought she was going to give us a ticket but she got back on the train and left. we sat there in stunned amazement. twas a sheer miracle. 

skip to next morning....we leave the house at 6:30 so she can get to her test on time at eight...the tram is late...then there are no trains or buses...we are freaking out a bit...we decide to call president. i ask if we can take a taxi..haha...we end up taking a taxi van across the city to a small little town. in the taxi we are all praying our hearts out hoping that we will make it on time...and that it wont cost a fortune. 20 minutes later...what seemed like hours...we arrive with fifteen minutes to spare! SWEEEEET!!!! 

okay. i have no time now. but the rest of the day and the next day was pure success and awesomeness. we found some sweet new people and rode our bikes around in the sunshine the whole day, talking to people about the good word. i am so grateful for this adventure.

i love you all. i know that heavenly Father knows us all and loves us individually. i am super grateful that He cares so well for us. i love you all! have the best week! lovessssssssss

 - katelyn marie