Pattern of Prayer, Sushi, Heart Attacks and Doordrecht

Hello My Amazingly Wonderful Family!!!

This last week, in honor of Valentines Day, we went around and 'heart attacked' a bunch of people in our ward!! We hope that they liked it....we were trying really hard to be anonymous.....but we aren't sure how well that worked out!! Zuster Nielson....is not the best at being sneaky!! But we had a good time and we hope that we were able to spread the joy a little bit here in our ward!!

This last week, I started reading through the Book of Mormon to understand and study the Pattern of Prayer. I heard about this pattern in a talk in the MTC by Elder Richard G. Scott and since I have been out here, I have been reading the Book of Mormon for a specific purpose. I have found that when you get a clean copy of the Book of Mormon and have a goal to learn and really study one topic within one reading that I have been able to learn a lot more than I have ever before with my scripture study!! But I really learned this week how important it is to always be growing your testimony. I learned from Laman and Lemuel how not to listen to a prophet of the Lord, and not pray to know that what that prophet has said was true. In Preach my Gospel, at the end of the Restoration lesson, we teach 'Pray to Know'. Why don't we apply that more in our lives? At first I thought it was silly to keep asking Heavenly Father for a confirmation of the truth because I had received an answer for a specific question many times. But I learned that in order to continue to grow my testimony, I need to pray to know that what someone testifies is true. I need to have a living testimony and, as I study the scriptures and learn from my Heavenly Father every day, that I can pray for an answer to know that what I have studied is true, that what I have learned has really been through Heavenly Father and not just something that I came up with. I challenge all of you to try this this coming week. Everyday, when you get a scripture study, go to seminary, or have an opportunity to hear someone bear their testimony to you, pray and ask your Heavenly Father to know, for yourself that it is true!! It really makes a huge difference!!! It's the difference of doubting everything that is going on or what you have learning and knowing for assurety!!

I have learned that agency....is sometimes a bummer. :D Ok, that is a joke. But it is really hard when you are able to find someone and they are super ready for the gospel but they still choose to reject what you have to teach them. My purpose is to INVITE others to come unto Christ. My job is to give people the opportunity to make a choice for themselves. That's the beauty of the Plan of Salvation!! But we watched the Steenheusens this week decide that they had found peace in their own belief and that they did not want to continue to investigate. That was super hard because I really made friends with their kids and I just loved their family, but they still have connections with people in the church and we think that eventually they will be able to see that what they are looking for is in the gospel!!

We finally have found some real new investigators here in Den Haag!! It was really exciting because we now have 5 new investigators and 2 progressing investigators!! I love each and everyone of them for different reasons. Elinho, he speaks Portuguese.....so we have a little bit of a hard time teaching him, but we take members who speak the language and they translate for us. Mr. Lesley Cederburg, he is a DJ and a bike fixer man....he is pretty cool and he is Surinamese!! And we found a family from Suriname also!! They are super cool and we have appointments with a lot of other potential investigators this week!!

Exchanges this week were super fun!!! I had a great day with Sister Stout!! We had a party and a lot of adventures. It was finally starting to warm up here, and that day, it was randomly cold again....and Z. Stout was really not prepared for that....so we had an interesting day trying to keep her warm, but because of her need to thaw out her feet on the trams, we found 3 new potential investigators that we all have an appointment with this next week!! We got lost a lot....but it was a good day!! And at the end of exchanges we had a sister lunch with all of the sisters in the mission!! We had that lunch in Doordrecht and it was a beautiful adveture!!! Zuster Robinson even joined us!! Party!

Well....here we go.....here is the most exciting part!! We got transfer calls yesterday. AND.......I have been transferred to Doordrecht. It is a really small city, in fact, it is one of the oldest cities in the Netherlands. My new companion will be Sister Hinchcliff!! I don't know a ton about her yet....I know who she is though so that's a start!! I travel there on Wednesday. It is definitely a bitter-sweet experience. I feel like I was just starting to be able to make friends and get to know the ward here in Den Haag and there are a ton of places here that we haven't even had time to get out to yet.....but I hope that I will be able to make as many friends in Doordrecht and that I will be able to have fun there too!! I also hope that I can begin to understand why I am needed there instead of here int Den Haag..but in order to do that, I will have to get there first!! Here we go!!



Last week, we had a great P-Day. We went to eat all you can eat sushi.....ok, it wasn't really 'all you can eat' but it was a huge challenge. You get two hours to get through 4 rounds of sushi with 8 items a round. Sounds easy enough right? Well...it's not. We were dying a little bit after we ate it. But you will be proud to know that I was really adventurous and I ate fish eggs......I don't recommend it. It's really salty....but I had to say that I had done it...because if the elders could do it...so can I right? That is what I though at least!!



I love you all!!!
I hope you have had a great week!!!
Please keep having fun!!

Love,
Zuster Israelsen