Hello Outside World!!!

It has been another crazy week here at the MTC. Can you believe I am half-way done with my stay here!!!! (Well almost!!!) That is so crazy!!

So I have one thing to say reguarding the whole 'you must wear a skirt thing'. I am so tired of it already!!! I can't believe that I signed up for a year and a half of this crazyness!!! I have decided that I will never be ok with any type of dress-like clothing EVER!!! And I will definitely go back to my jean wearing days as soon as I get home!!!

So, this week the Zusters in our district were talking about the Elders in our district....we decided that each of them can be described as one of the Avengers and they now all have code names. I though you might want to know what my district is like so....here it goes!!

Elder Chantry: Captain America. He is a clean-cut, moral following guy who will fight if he has to to keep the peace...but he would rather not!

Elder King: Black Widow. He is able to manipulate the words of the district to make everything we say fifty times more funny and he also has mad-like flipping and twisting and black widow skills.

Elder Staley: Iron Man. He is smart. Knows he is attractive and is full of himself. (He is still a very nice guy!! Don't get me wrong)

Elder Liang: The Hulk. He is probably the most patient person I have ever known. He puts up with the things that his companion does that aren't quite obedient and continues through life without a word about it. But, we haven't seen him blow yet.....We have a feeling that it is going to be epic!

Elder Jex: Thor. He's just Thor. We see most of his ability to fly and save the world of men in our volleyball games. He has the Thor hammer down pat.

Elder Muse: Hawk Eye. (Now these are Sister Juchau's Words.....not mine) He is useless but attractive.

These Elders are probably some of the funniest, most crazy, and cool Elders I could have asked for!! They are all here for the right reasons and I am so happy that I get to spend 8 hours a day in a classroom with them.

So, Zuster Noguiera and I had a really cool experience the other day. We were in Coaching Missionary study with Brother Wells. We have been having a really tough time being able to teach together and be albe to work off of what the other said. Brother Wells asked us to share our testimony and explain why and how we know everything about a certain topic to each other and then he had us teach him. It was probably the coolest thing ever to see how both of our experiences in life, though they are extremely different, were able to play off of each other and build an environment where the Spirit could truly reside (it was even in Dutch!!!) I am so grateful to have learned this and as Zuster N. and I share our testimonies with each other our companionship is also growing closer than I ever though possible(especially with the language difference).

Zuster N. fainted three times on Monday.....this is getting a little ridiculous. I don't know why the doctors haven't found anything yet because we have been in there for tests almost every single day since we have been here in the MTC. They also keep waiting to make the decision of whether or not she is going to stay on a mission, or if they are going to re-assign her to a mission in the states, or keep her in the BEL-NETH mission. She is getting really tired of this crazyness. She told me yesterday that she would rather know now that she was going to be doing something different than to continue to learn Dutch and then randomly be an English speaking missionary. She is on a heart monitor right now and they want her to faint while she is wearing it so that they can get a more accurate reading. We have spent the last three days either in the clinic all day so that she can sleep while I attempt to teach myself Dutch, or we have been in the hospital meeting a billion new doctors. I guess we will see how it goes but right now it isn't looking very bright.

Our district decided that we were going to have nightly devotionals so that we can have something great to pick us up after long, disappointing days. (Which there are a lot of around here) it is probably my most favorite part of the day because everyone gets to share their testimonies with each other and we have grown a lot closer because of it!! I LOVE my district. They keep me going and help me out even when I have to miss a lot of class. And it is so nice to be able to learn more about them, their families and their testimonies!!!

So, we have investigators here at the MTC. We are teaching two right now. (They are both our teachers acting like investigators that they had on their missions) We have taught a total of 3 lessons combined over the last two weeks because we are never in class BUT, we already have one committed to baptism and we are hopefully teaching again tonight. It's way cool to teach. It's super hard to teach in a language that you still don't really understand, but the best part about it is that you get to learn more about your teachers and see and feel their love for those they taught on their missions. It just makes me even more excited to get into the field so that I can meet people that I will remember for the rest of my life. I am so excited!!

On Sunday, Ann Dibb came and taught Relief Society. (For those of you who don't know, she is President Monson's daughter....yeah, it was a surprise to me too) But she left a few moments at the end of her talk for us to ask any questions that we had about President Monson. One sister asked if there were any rumors that Sister Dibb wanted to clear up about her father. Sister Dibb's response was,"It really bugs me when people say,"I can't believe a man of 80+ years would still dye his hair so that he can try to look professional.' That really bugs me because all of the hair upon his head is still naturally brown. The Prophet does not dye his hair you young sisters!! But I, on the other hand, pay big bucks to keep my natural brown" That was probably the best moment of Sunday. It had us sisters laughing for the rest of the day!!! So just you remember that the Prophet does not dye his hair!!

The food here......is really driving me crazy. It is time for some real chocolate, some homemade rolls, real meat and less grease!!! Don't get me wrong, I am very appreciative of the food that I am given to eat....but I can't wait until I can select the food I want to eat for myself and plan my own meals!!! It will be a glorious day when that happens!!!

I LOVE THE PICTURES THAT EVERYONE SENDS!!! They are probably the best part of my week!!! (Along with the letters!!!) Please keep them coming!!! If you don't, I will end up being one of those awkward missionaries when I come home because no one is keeping me up on the real world!!!

Ik hou van jullie!!!

Lobi,
Zuster Israelsen

P.S. Mom, I am positive that I don't have my USU hoodie.....I looked again. I am pretty sure that I left it in my closet....on one of the shelves. It may be inside out and therefore unidentifiable from a distance, or someone(*cough *cough Rachel) 'accidentally took it' But even if you can't find it...my west side story hoodie...or wicked or really any nice and attractive hoodie you can find would be fabulous(even though I would prefer the USU one :D)

P.P.S. Rachel, als u wilt het Nederlands te schrijven....google translate is niet so goed vor grammatica of zin structure. Mijn lerars lachen weneer zij kijken uw letter en zeide," Dis is niet goed nederlands, maar es heel plezier!!!" Ik hou van u Rachel :D

Ik hou van jullie!! Mijn familie es geveldig!!!