Prayer and Het is Waar, Het is Waar!!! Mensen moeten het leren!!" Which means "It's true, It's true!!!

HELLO FAMILY!!

I think about you guys everyday and wonder how everything is going!! I am so happy that I got a letter from almost everyone this week (*cough cough* Rachel) and to hear that everyone is doing well. It really does make a difference in my day when I am able to hear from you!! I look forward to my hour on the computer every week!!

Well, last week I told you that we were getting a mini missionary, and we were. But on Monday night, when she was out with her family for her fathers birthday, her wallet was stolen with all of her IDs and her OV chip card and money. So she was unable to come with us for the first two weeks of this new transfer. They hope for her to be able to come out here before the end of the transfer in Den Haag, but they will have to see because she has to arrange everything with the police and earn more money to be able to come out and experience missionary life. So they are postponing until she is able to come again.

It snowed....and it continues to snow. It snows everyday. It is ridiculous!! By the end of the day I am so frozen that I have to come home and change into a different three or four layers of clothes and sit in front of the heater until I have warmed up.

The most ridiculous thing about our apartment, is that in the bathroom and kitchen, we don't have any ventilation systems. Really we don't have any in the whole apartment because it is an old building. But that means that we have to keep certain windows open so that we don't get mold problems later in our lives. So we shut the doors to our study and bedroom and trap the heat in there....but if we need to shower, or use the restroom, or eat....we book it into those rooms and then grab or do whatever we need to do quickly, and then book it back into the warmth. Don't worry mom. I am going to be fine. I have found out that the boots that I have aren't really warm enough for this weather....and also...the leather isn't really meant to trek through the snow...so we are going to buy a pair of boots while the sales are still going on. Also, don't worry...because we aren't biking in this weather. We watch other people almost die everyday trying to bike through the ice. They do alright though, because they are in pants and if they start to have a problem, they just stick their legs out and balance themselves....that doesn't really work with a skirt....yes I tried....and I will never, ever bike in the winter here again!! The only problem with not biking...is that the trams are all sorts of unreliable when it snows...and it is cold if you are walking too.....but we have figured it out, and we pretty much spend most of our time in one area for a day. Like yesterday, after church, we went down to Delft and spent 6 hours down there looking people up and contacting the two other people that were on the street.

We found two new investigators this last week!! The Lord really does provide for you, especially when you prove to Him that you are here to work, when you are outside for hours on end. The first is Mrs. Brussee. We went by her house to look up her husband who is a member of the church....but we found out that he passed away six years ago. That is how out of date our ward list is....we are working on that don't worry!! But she let us in and we were able to share with her the Plan of Salvation. She really began to understand why our religion is so important for us. And the prospect of her being able to be with her husband again really made her think about whether or not this was true. We are going back tomorrow to teach her the Restoration so that she can understand by what power we are able to return and be with our families!! It is so cool to see the seed of hope be planted into someone's heart. Their faces start to light up and every time you return, you see it grow if they are open to the message you have to bring. The gospel really changes lives!!

The other is an entire family (so I guess that they count as more than one investigator). But when Phebe Bidjai was baptized, she invited her entire school class to the baptism. It was so cool to see how many people came out to her baptism and how many people were also religious and didn't realize that the Bidjai's were a religious family either. One of those families is the Steenheusens. We talked to them on Phebe's baptism and they seemed really interested. They told us about how, over the last six years, they have tried to become more religious so that they could teach their children correct principles. They knew that as they involved the Lord more in their lives, that their children would have more of a chance of success here in this world. We tried to make an appointment with them, but they said that they would just like to look at the website and then if they found anything interesting that they would call us. So we thought that....you know....we wouldn't hear from them again. But this last week, we decided that we would call them to see how they liked the website....and they picked up and said,"Wow, it's the sisters. We were just talking about you and said that if you called, we would make an appointment." So, we have an appointment with them this next week and they are all sorts of prepared with questions and they have done their homework so we are super excited to meet with them!!! A whole entire family could be brought to the gospel!!! Cool huh?

Ans Jansen is going to be baptized this next Saturday. She is so excited!!! The whole ward just loves her and everyone is making appointments with her to be able to spend time with her. Heck, she gets more dinner appointments with the ward than we do!! (Maybe we should tag along) She is doing so well and is really trying her best to continue to progress to her goal of going to the temple. We are going to set a temple date with her after her baptism and then we are going to help her to get ready for that day. I could go through the temple with her!!! In a year!!! So COOL!!! She is also just a natural missionary!! She has given us more refferals and invited more people to her baptism that I think I have ever known in my entire life. She just keeps telling us about people who are coming and people we need to talk to because she thinks that they reallly need this message in their lives. She always says,"het is waar, het is waar!!! Mensen moeten het leren!!" Which means "It's true, It's true!!! People must learn it!!!" She is so funny!!! We are just trying to get super prepared for her baptism this week and make sure she is still on the right path!! We met her husband this last week!!! He is super funny and they are perfect for each other because he doesn't say anything....and you can't get her to be quiet!!! But he is really good at giggling in the right spots and showing empathy when it is required!! Too cute!!

I have learned what a blessing prayer is over this last week. We have an investigator named Steven. He has been in the hospital for a long time and is really not doing so well. We have been going by at least once a week and visiting with him and teaching him little simple parts of the gospel because he has a hard time understanding. And this last week we were really focusing on prayer. He says everytime that he prays everyday for the Lord to help him get better and we asked him if he would offer a prayer for us at the end of our last meeting. He was trying so hard and we went through every step really clearly and tried everything we could to be able to encourage him and make him feel comfortable with prayer. I imagine a life where I wasn't able to speak with a member of my family because I didn't know how. I don't ever want to feel like I don't know how to be able to communicate with my Heavenly Father. It really is a blessing that we have the knowledge of how to pray and that we are able to utilize this gift everyday of our lives!! I have really grown to realize what a blessing it is and I am grateful to my Heavenly Father for giving us a way to be able to communicate with Him and find peace in this crazy world!!

Transfers were this last week, and we lost one Elder from our ward. We said goodbye to Elder Maughn....the one other Aggie here in our Zone. But we gained Elder Wright. He is the new zone leader and he is still trying to get his feet on the ground here in Den Haag but he seems like a pretty cool guy!! I am excited for the opportunity to be able to work with him this transfer and also the other three Elders, Elder Li, Elder Taylor and Elder Praag!! We are quite the group and we are going to tear Den Haag up!!

Also, Mom. Thank you SO MUCH for the hand warmers!! I don't know what I would do without them!! It really is a blessing and I am so grateful that you sent them to me for Christmas!! I used them yesterday and it totally worked the whole time we were in Delft!! So Thank you!!!

I LOVE ALL OF YOU!!! I can't wait to hear from you again!! Have a great week!!

Love,

Zuster Israelsen