Lieke, Kinderdijk, FHE, Zone Conference and Baptisms

Hallo Mijn Geweldig Familie!!!

I hoop dat alles goed is en dat iedereen een goede week hebben gehad!! I mis jullie heel veel, maar ik ben blij om hier in Nederland te zijn!! Ik heb heel veel deze week gedaan en ik hoop dat ik kan alles hier op schrijven!! Elizabeth, ik wens je heel veel success met jouw 'pirate play' deze week!! Ik denk dat je zal geweldig zijn!! Jake, goed werk met zwemmen!! Ik vind jouw gezicht in jouw 'chant' heel mooi!! Rachel, ik hoop dat alles goed is met school en dat repetitie is niet TE lang elke dag!! Mum en Pap!! Jullie zijn geweldig!! Dankjewel voor de brieven die je aan me stuuren elke week!! Ik ben heel dankbaar voor hun!! Ik hou van jullie allemaal!!

So, like I said last week. I went to Kinderdijk on Monday!! I love P-Day because I get to do things like that!! I learned a lot about how they develop the land here in the Netherlands. Because, you know....most of it should be underwater. And it's not. At first I thought that it was just magic...but it turns out that I was wrong!! It was way cool to learn how they made the dijks here!! Most of them that are still standing are super old....like from when people first started to live here!! It's crazy!! We also learned that if there is ever a storm more than a category 2, that the Netherlands would be in serious trouble because their dijks are not built for that kind of weather. Anyway....the coolest part was seeing the system that they developed to be able to get the water out of the places that they want to live. They have the Molens, or windmills, and they all have different purposes, but most of them here in Nederland are there for the sould purpose of pumping water out of a certain area. So what they would do, is they would first build a dijk and stop the flow of the main river into the area, then, they would build up three or more layers of land with more dijks and canals and they would place molens there to pump the water from one level or canal to the next until it would eventually be emptied into the main river. I think that it is totally amazing!! We went a little too early to be able to go in a tour a molen from the inside....it opens the first of April....but it is still cool!! Most of the molens here are still in operating order and they have people who live beneath them!!! It is super cool and Kinderdijk is amazing because there are like 20 or more in one little area!! I love the Netherlands!!

Also on Monday, we had a super cool dinner appointment. We had an appointment withthe Van Dalin familie(mom, zuster Van Dalin is super cool...and she has a cooking blog where she tries a new recipie every day or so and then reports on it...she is also the public affairs person here and yeah....you should try to look her up if you can!! Because she is teaching me how to cook Dutch food and all of the recipies are there on her website that I want to have when I get home!!) Anyway, at our appointment, they had invited some of their friends who are non-members to join us. We had a delicious Dutch meal and then we had Family Home Evening together. We were in charge of the lesson and for some reason we felt the need to talk about our body is a tempel. It was a really great lesson and Zuster Van Dalin requested that I sing because she had heard things from the Den Haag ward....so I did...and it was a really great experience. The family is now a new set of investigators for the Sijkenisse Elders!! Super cool huh? I thought so!!

I got to go back to Den Haag for a day!!! That was super cool!! It was also really scary because Zuster Raun and I were put on exchanges with each other....the problem is, is that we both speak about the same amount of dutch(like none) and we had four appointments that day all in Dutch!! So that was interesting, but i did get to see Ans Jansen again!! And also Sandra!! My two favorite new members in Den Haag ward!! It was a beautiful thing!! Zuster Raun and I didn't even get lost!! And that is saying something because Den Haag is a big city....and let's be honest....I was really in a fog the entire time I was there and didn't really remember where anything was!! So, that was a cool day!!

We also said goodbye to the Roberts family this week. They are the super cool people who let us live in their house here!! I love them, but they moved back to the United States so that they could be with their family that is there....I guess that is important or something. But I am glad that I am going to be able to see them again when I go home!! They even speak Dutch!! The ward threw a party for them on Wednesday and we had a super cool experience with Thomas that day as well!! We taught him the Plan of Salvation with a bunch of JoVos present. He really love the youth here and is excited to be making friends. But is was super cool to have a lesson with him about the Plan of Salvation because that is what he has had questions about for his whole life. He asked a lot of questions and even got a little emotional because he felt as though we were ansering his questions and calming his fears!! It was a super sweet experience!!

We also had another really cool joint teach this week with the Bishop's wife. I love that woman!! She speaks French and Dutch and English. And our investigoator speaks French. She really was an answer to our prayers!! She helped us out so much!! Her name is Lieke and I have made the decision that one of my children will be named Lieke. One because it is a cool name, and two because if they can be as cool as Lieke Van Wermiskerken....they will get really far in life!! Anyway, we saw a huge miracle with our investigator when she was there. He actually made a real plan to quit smoking and we found out on sunday, that we weren't the only ones following up with him on his progress, but that Lieke had been calling him daily to see how he was doing and how she could help!! So cool!!

We also had Zone Conference this week!! I got to go to Antwerpen!!! (That's in Belgium!!) I got to spend the day with Z. Stout, Z. Juchau, E. Lind, E. Ipsen and E. Pits. Most of whom were in the MTC with me!!(except for Z. Stout!) I love zone conference because you get to learn straight from President and Zuster Robinson what the Lord expects of you and what we can do to become cooler missionaries and more effective servants of the Lord. This time, we talked a lot about becoming personable and being able to relate with people better and quicker!! I loved it!! Also, I love the mission!!

I found out that day that Elder Ombach is one super cool guy!! I will have to send you a picture of him!! The coolest thing about him is his laugh and he is now in my district!! I love getting to know the missionaries in our mission so much!! There are so many cool people in the world!!

Yesterday, we went to Gouda again for another baptism that they had down there. Those two missionaries are rock stars!! But what was cool about it was that we had two investigators come and they both felt something supedr special!! I love baptisms!! The Spirit is always so strong and it helps not only me to be strong, but our investigators to feel what they could potentially feel all of the time, if they make the decision to do so!!

Also, we got transfer calls last night. I am staying here in Dordrecht....but Zuster Hinchcliff has been transferred to Amsterdam. My new companion is going to be Zuster Townsend!! I am so way excited!! Here we go for another ride. I don't have to move now...but in two weeks I do because the Roberts are gone they are kicking us out of the house. So....so much for staying in the same city :D

I love being a misisonary!! It's a lot of hard work but it is definitely worth it!!
I love you all!! Tot volgende week!
Leifde,

Zuster Israelsen

Dad's Bad Advice, Investigators, Biking With An Umbrella and Rotterdam

HELLO WONDERFUL FAMILY!!

I hope that everyone has had a great week!! It has been a crazy one here in the Netherlands. The weather is literally driving me crazy!! I have learned how to ride a bike while holding an umbrella!! Yes, I am THAT cool!!! And I haven't done my make-up in a week because as soon as I go outside I just have another shower pour on my head....so there isn't really any point anyway. I know....maybe not the most attractive thing, but better that than a black pool running down my face!!

We had a lot of activities this week that we had to go down to Rotterdam for this week!! One of them was Family Home Evening for the JoVos and it was Elder Van Overbeeks birthday!! They had a party for him, but it was a cool party because they made it a big thing so that the missionaries could invite their investigators to come. He did a great job and made sure that everyone felt welcome. We had four investigators that came!! That was super cool!! But the best part was the spiritual thought that he had for all of us. He had Madeleine and I sing "O my Father" for everyone and he talked about why he made the decision to go on a mission!! That was super cool. The spirit was super strong and out investigators thought that it was an amazing activity. They thought it was great because they were able to see that the LDS people are normal people, that they can have fun but also feel the super strong spirit even when they aren't in the church services!! It was an important experience for me too because I really felt the spirit really strong. It's hard to serve a mission and talk to everyone that you come in contact with, especially when they are mostly very negative. There are a lot of times that you second guess what you know, that you become discouraged, or doubtful. And it is spiritual experiences like this specific activity that remind me of why I made the decision to come out here in the first place. I have a firm testimony of the gospel and I want to share it with others. I know that through the gospel I have become more happy that I could have ever imagined!! It really is a huge blessing in my life!!

District Meeting this week was super cool!! We set super high goals for this transfer!! I think that it is always better to have high goals and do your best to reach them. In Preach my Gospel it says, "If you lower your expectations, your effectiveness will decrease, your desire will weaken, and you will have greater difficulty following the Spirit." Our district has made the decision to have our expectations for ourselves and also our investigators high. If our expectations for our investigators are high, our expectations for ourselves will also increase because we will be doing everything that we can to be able to help them to progress and if we are doing that then we will be able to reach our high goals. We have a goal to contact 1000 JoVos by the end of the month.....and you think that is easy...it's not when you are in appointments all day everyday....but we have set our expectation and because of that, we spend every moment that we aren't in an appointment contacting as many people as possible!! Just one example!! So remember, set your expectations high, then it will be easier to work toward your goal and actually make progress!!

As part of our contacting efforts this week, we attempted to sing at people's doorsteps. I remember Dad telling us the stories about his companion that would sing "We thank thee o God for a Prophet" and that every time they managed to get into the door. Dad, I don't believe you anymore......I tried this technique on about 10 doors this specific day....and not a single one of them were pleased. And I am pretty sure that your companion hadn't ever had voice lessons before.....but I could be mistaken......I just thought that it would be a good idea...and it ended up being more of a joke than anything!!

We have seven progressing investigators right now in our lives. So we are pretty much booked solid all of the time!! It's a super cool thing to be busy, but there are some days that I would like to sit down for three minutes. But with one of our investigators we were able to have a super cool appointment with him this week!! President De Jonge(the stake president) he speaks French and so does our investigator. So he came along with us to our appointment and we had a really great lesson and figured out ways to be able to help Sana to quit smoking. He knows that the Book of Mormon is true and he has a desire to be baptized but this one thing is really holding him back!! But it was really great for him to be able to hear a testimony in French and to feel the spirit really strongly in his mother tongue!! It was suepr cool!!

Also, in our contacting efforts, we have found a NEW INVESTIGATOR!!! His hame is Thomas and he is 18 years old. He is cool!! He is studying to be an artist. And not any random type of artist, but one that would work for pixar.....so I guess that would be an animator.....? Ok, I really don't know any more words in English....I guess. So yeah. He is from Belgium and is a super cool kid!! We love his Flams accent and he loves the fact that we teach him interesting things that help him to feel better about himself and what will happen after this life.

Also, I have decided that I have fingers of steel...because my fingers were so strong that I broke through the wires on my bike brakes.....both of them in the same day!! So, I have to fix my bike....and I don't know how to do that....so I am trying to learn how to use tools....Jake, I think that that would be a good thing to learn how to do....is fix everything on your bike so that if you don't have problems or have to pay someone else to do it. Anyway....that is my bike adventures this week!!

Also, we tried to make bread this week....and it didn't work....it kind of exploded in the kitchen and it was crazyness!! But it still tasted ok....so I guess that's good!! I should have learned how to do that too....cook.....that would be some good skills to have when I was away from home!!

I love the mission!! And I love being able to see the people here in the Netherlands be changed through the Atonement of Christ. It is a beautiful thing!!

I love you all!! I miss you too!!

Can't wait to hear from you again!!

Tot ziens!!
Liefte,
Zuster Israelsen

Mastering Dutch, Frikandele, and Investigators

MIJN GEWELDIG FAMILIE!!!

Hoe gaat het met jullie?!?!?! Ik moet zeggen dat ik jullie heel veel mis!!! Elke avond kijk ik naar de fotos van jullie en elke keer ik lach!! Wij zijn heel grappig!! Ik hou heel veel van jullie en ik hoop dat jullie veilig en gezond zijn!! Ik hoop ook dat iedereen heel goed in school is!! En dat jullie worden niet TE gek zonder ik!!

That is just a little taste of my Dutch. It's still not perfect but everyone here is really surprised at how much I understand and how much I can speak. I still sound like Elder Calhoun though....because I am more focused on understanding and making sense than what I sound like. Don't you worry!!! I have a goal to have a Dutch accent by the time I come home....you all won't be able to understand my English....and then you will see how ridiculous my life has been!!

I have officially hit my 5 month mark on a mission. Isn't that weird? It feels like just yesterady that I was in the MTC wishing that I would be able to come here to the Netherlands!! Tomorrow....I will have been here in the land for 3 whole months!!! That is CRAZY SAUCE!! But for real!! The time really does move fast....and d-day(aka....when all of the new sisters come into the mission) just keeps getting closer and closer. May 1 here we come!! I am hoping that my Dutch will be good enough to be able to help those coming in to learn and feel comfortable!! I hope that I can also help them to have a blast while here in the Netherlands....because...come on!! We are in the land of the tulips....aren't we?

Doordrecht is SUPER COOL!! It's a lot less busy than Den Haag was but I like the change. I feel like I am going to be able to get to know and work with this ward a lot faster than Den Haag. I feel bad for missionaries in the states because their wards are so HUGE!! That's what Den Haag was like, but active members here in the Den Haag ward....is about 50....or so. I love it here though!!

I had a really cool experience this last week. I had my first yorkshire pudding. You might be asking yourself,"What in the world?!?! I thought that you were serving in the Netherlands." Yes, ladies and gentleman....I am indeed serving in the Netherlands. BUT there is this super sweet familie in our wijk. The Van Bieman familie. The husband is Dutch and he runs all of the church financial stuff for Belgium and the Netherlands and his wife is WELSCH!!! Super cool huh?!?! They both served their missions in England(different places at different times) But they met randomly outside of the London,England tempel after their missions!! They are a super cool familie and their kids have Dutch accents when they speak Dutch but Welsch accents when they speak English!! We got to hear a lot of super cool and really hilarious mission stories and we have another dinner appointment with them next week!! We have decided that we love the Van Biemans(even though they have a dog the size of a horse....I am not kidding. I will take a picture next time and then you will see why I was afraid that he was goint to bite my head off!!)

We also live with the coolest JoVos(Young Adults....or jongevolwassenen in Duth) EVER!!! I really love being in a home with them and being able to have someone else to talk to at the end of the day!! They are also super good at coming on joint teach with us!! Especially Madeleine!!! This last week she saved us more than once and she is also making sure that we are eating only the most delicious foods here in Nederland!! This last week she had us try a Frikandele. It's this super huge braught (sp?) with curry, onions and other delicous ingredients on top!! It was super good and it made me really happy because we had forgotten to schedule in dinner that day.....(we have a goal not to do that again this week) Anyway, I really love her so much and I am glad that we are now best friends/roommates!!

We had a special zone training this last week. So, our mission president came into this mission and his way of doing missionary work is to follow the keys of the priesthood. And the men who have the keys over the actual missionary work in the any given area are the Stake President and Bishops. So, our special zone training was to receive the Rotterdam Stake mission plan for this coming year. I think that it is a really cool idea to get the missionaries and ward members to work more with one another. The plan, simply put for the missionaries is: Every member an investigator. We are to go and meet with at least one member a day to build relationships with them and help them to continually build their testimonies. The gospel is a pattern of living that doesn't end after you are baptized, or married or wat dan ook. It is something that should always be a part of our lives, but sometimes we forget about it and we need help to have a continuous living testimony. And the plan for the members is: Every missionary a child of our family. So they are supposed to treat us like their children. It's a cool idea....I don't know how they are going to treat me like their child.....but it is a cool idea. It helps everyone see that they have a role to play in this exciting work of the Lord!! I LOVE MISSIONARY WORK!!

Also, we found an American Candy Store!!! It is a beautiful thing that we have found!! I got some Runts....and the candy man(is now our best friend) is ordering Dr. Pepper for my companion and I...and he is also going to get goldfish(Zuster Hinchcliff really misses them) So that was a way cool find this week!! It made us both so very happy!! I think that I may have to get some Reeses!!! Spannent!!

So, we have a lot of investigators!! But we have two really solid investigators that we are working with! I really just love them!!

One is named Merel. She is super smart!! I am not cool enough to be able to answer her questions. Everytime she reads something....there is something that she has a question about and I don't even know if I could answer them well enough in English to satisfy her needs. But, so here's the cool story, the whole time that we have been meeting with her she hasn't understood why Jezus Christus is so important in everything. She thinks that people really don't put enough emphasis on Heavenly Father. So, when she prays, she prays in the Name of Peace.....BUT this week has been really cool for her. Somehow, we were able to help her see that the baptism she has had was not complete because she didn't receive the Holy Ghost. That was a miracle!! Then, we had an appointment with another investigator and we had been looking for a joint-teach for five days and no one could come, so she volunteered. We were a little afraid, but in this lesson, she prayed in the name of Jezus Christus, and she helped us teach a really powerful word of wisdom lesson!! She bore her testimony and everything!! That was super cool!! But the coolest part of this week was during sacrament meeting, she got us to bear her testimony and she told everyone there that she was finally beginning to realize how important Christus is in her life. And that He is a centraal part of Heavenly Father's plan for us!! It was a week full of miracles with Merel!!

And Sana, the man from the Ivory Coast. We had the word of wisdom lesson with him and Merel this week. He finally admitted to us his problems with the word of wisdom and he told us that he is at a place in his life that he is ready to stop smoking and drinking!! That was a really cool lesson that we had together!! And we made a plan with him to help him to quit so that he can be baptized. So we are putting together service projects every day to get him out of his house!! I love working with Sana!! He is a super cool guy!!

Also, I had my first Fufu ever this week. The Ampems are a family from Ghana and they had me eat this stuff with my hands....and I had to eat the bones too......it was yummy but it was also weird.

Really, I just love being here and able to do the work of the Lord!! It is so amazing to be able to see the difference in the lives of others when they embrace the gospel in their lives!! It is so cool and it helps me to realize that if I continue to better myself through the gospel and do those things that I am asked to do that miracles in my life can happen!! It is a beautiful plan that our Heavenly Father has given to us!!! I LOVE IT!!

I love you all so much and I miss you!!
Take care of each other!!
Tot Volgende Week!!
Liefde,

Zuster Israelsen

P.S. The picture of me and my companion on by the water is when we are actually on the water bus!!! I love the water bus!!

Church in Building used by Nazis in WWII, Apartment in the Attic, Doordrect and Amsterdam

February 25, 2013

HELLO MY WONDERFUL, AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL FAMILY!!

I love you guys so much!! I love the opportunity to be able to write to you every week and update you on all of the crazyness that is going on!! It really is the only thing that seperates the days and the weeks because everything just blends together!! This week has been super crazy and I am just loving life as a missionary!!

This week started out with me actually becoming a legal resident here in the Netherlands. I had to pick up my verblijfsvergening, which is my ID so now I don't have to carry my passport around with me all over the place. That is a nice thing because I have been worried about losing that the entire time I have been here....it's a worry of mine. But now, I just have this little card....I might end up losing that easier than my passport, but I guess we will see.

But Pday was super exciting because we got to go to Amsterdam!!! I love Amsterdam!! It is a super cool city!! I thought Den Haag was big, but I walked out of the train station and my breath was taken away. Amsterdam is super pretty. The buildings are really old and it is super cool!! I mean, we were in the nice parts of Amsterdam....I have heard what goes on there. But we went to the Hard Rock Cafe there and it was DELICIOUS!!! It was the first real hamburger I have had since we have come here!! I miss my good old burgers, but It was a beautiful thing to be able to enjoy something normal. We don't really buy meat very much here because it is super expensive so I got the biggest burger that I could afford because I miss my red meat!!

On Monday night, and part of Tuesday I was able to say goodbye to some of the members of the Den Haag ward because I think that they are super cool and they helped me out a lot while I was there in that city!! It was super sad to leave, and we were super busy so I didn't really get a lot of time to pack, so everything just kind of got thrown into my suitcases(one of those things was my camera....and I still have not had enough time to dig it out of my stuff.....so I don't have any pictures this week....I am so sorry!!! I will make it up next week!!) And on Tuesday, we had five different appointments with people that we had finally found!! It took us so long to build up an investigator pool there in Den Haag, so I was sad to leave right when we had people to teach, but I know that the work is still going forward there and that they are going to rock it!!

So, I am now here in Doordrecht. Doordrecht itself, is a super small town. It is the oldest harbor town in the Netherlands and it is super special because it didn't get bombed down in World War II. It is super cool and super cute!! The architechture of the town is so old and it is picture perfect Europe!! We have a super huge church called 'Grote Kerk'. It is super huge and they are restoring it right now, but one of these days we are going to get inside and tour it so I am excited!! Our area is super huge and it is pretty much a lot of little islands seperated by huge canals....like huge canals!! The bridges to cross over them are super huge and it is a killer to have to bike up them!! We do it at least five or six times a say!! BUT we found this super cool thing that is called the Water Bus. Pretty much, it is a boat that we can get on and take our bikes and then they take us where we need to go. And it is super cool to be on a boat. Don't worry, it is totally allowed, President actually asked us to use that more than biking on the bridge because the bridge is more dangerous!! So I get a boat ride a few times a day, There aren't very many missionaries who can say that, now are there?

Our living arrangements here are pretty cool. So the Bishop made an apartment for the missionaries in his attic, and now we have three Young Women who are return missionaries who live here with us. First, we have Elizabeth, she is American and her dad was the bishop(he got released on Sunday). She is super cool and served her mission in Greece!! Then, we have Madeleine. She is Dutch and she served her mission in California. She loves musicals and she is helping me to know what Dutch musicals I should look up when I go home!! And then we have Tatiana, she is Russian and served her mission in Russia!! She is super cool! I love all three of the girls, it is a little weird though because I feel like I should just be in college while I am around them, but it really nice to have them around too because they really know this area better than I ever will!!

In Doordrecht, we have a ton of investigators, we have five progressing investigators as well as others on top of that. We are super busy, all of the time!! I love all of the investigators I have met so far, but I haven't even been here long enough to have had a meeting with all of them!! It is super cool to see that change and to learn to love people as soon as you meet them!! I love it!!

Our church building is probably the coolest thing I have ever seen in my entire life. Zuster Hinchcliff and I have decided that this next week, we are going to make a video tour of the building so that we can show you all of the cool things!! But it is a super huge, super old house that the Nazis used in World War II!!! I think it is super cool!! Oh my goodness, it made me so happy to be able to see that!! The bishop took us on a tour yesterday....and they even have vaults in the basement where the kept prisoners of war and things!!! It is super cool!! And it really just makes the whole ward feel more like a family because we meet together in a home!! I love it!!

Yesterday, it was a crazy Sunday, because they called a new bishop in the ward, so I still don't really know who is a real member of the Doordrecht ward because there were a ton of stake leaders and their entire families!! But it was an exciting day at church, in an old historical building!!

Ok, so I know you are going to ask me....so I will now tell you about Zuster Hinchcliff!! She is super cool!! She is from North Carolina. She attends BYU....I am still trying to decide if I can forgive her for that mistake....but she will probably win me over here soon. She is super loud and crazy and fun!! She uses the phrase 'turns out' all of the time. She has man like legs from biking everywhere here in Doordrecht! and she bakes delicious cookies!! I will tell you more about her as I get to know her more. But I really do love her and we are getting along quite nicely!!

You all are super lucky!!! Because of a snow storm, you got to have no church yesterday....we also had a snow storm, but naturally, I just got to hop on my bike and bike through a blizzard :D I did survive though so that is the good news!!

I love you all and I hope that you have a wonderful week!!! You are always in my prayers!!
Love,

Zuster Megan Israelsen

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

Hope, The Beast and a Huge Bag of Sour Gummy Treats

Hello Beautiful Family!!

So this week has been super cool!!! Last Monday, we went to Scheveningen to the BEACH!!! It was a really warm day and we got to play football, eat some lunch, buy some souveniers and see the oldest pier in the Netherlands!!! It was so cool and just exactly what we needed for a good P-Day to start our week!! It is the oldest pier in the Netherlands and there is a whole board that shows it's evolution throughout time and it is so cool!! The coolest thing there was the huge building that you can see behind me in the picture. It's called Kurhaus. It is a really old building and it used to be owned by some super rich man. I don't really know a whole lot about the building but it is the name sake of Scheveningen!!! I got a little magnet of it so that I can always remember it!! :D But it was way fun to be on the Beach and to be able to be out in public in jeans!! (that never happens by the way!!)

The other picture of the beach says 'I love Nederland!!!' Just in case you can't read it!! We had the Elders from Den Haag, the Zusters from Haarlem and Gouda and us there the entire day!!! It was super fun!!!

So, my bike, which was so nicely given to me, is super old. And the tires on him....kind of blew. Just the outer tires though....so I had to go and buy new outer tires for him so that I could ride him and not die when I get a flat tire every single day. Bruno(my bike) is a beast. Like, he is huge and he can take most anything I do to him....but I put that off long enough and it was time to treat him with a little bit of love....mostly so that I could stop getting frustrated!! So...as you can see, I bought some beautiful tires this week!!!

At district meeting, we learned a lot about hope. Our district has been having a really hard time lately. Almost every single companionship has been in the hospital more one reason or another in the last two weeks. So our district leader, Elder Taylor, taught us about hope and what we can do to get through the hard times. One thing that I realized, that I hadn't ever put together before is something that is spelled out for us in Preach my Gospel!! About hope, it says,"Hope is manifest in CONFIDENCE, ENTHUSIASM AND PATIENT PERSERVEREANCE.' So I realized, that lately I haven't really been confident(I know, hard to comprehend) or enthusiastic and I am not really sure yet how I am going to learn how to be super patient. But that I needed to change my outlook on what was going on. Life is hard enough and we have a lot of problems. But when we have a bad attitude, or only focus on what we can't do (like speak Dutch for example) we are not going to get anywhere in our lives. I have learned that I need to change my outlook from,'I can't speak Dutch, I'm a faliure.' To, 'I know so much more than four months ago. I can have conversations with people, and though my responses in Dutch are never perfect, I can understand and I am understandable!!' It has really helped me this week. It has helped me to feel more prepared to train here in about two months and it is no longer something scary because, as long as I am doing my best, the Lord will bless me with the things that I need in that time. I have to remember that it is in His time, and not mine.

So, in the MTC, I promised myself that when I hit the 4 month mark on my mission that I would begin to study the scriptures in Dutch. So I did and guess what?!?! I understand!! I am able to read so much better in Dutch everyday!! It is so cool to see that progression!!! I still spend about half of my time in English in personal study, but that is a step further than I thought I would be at this point!! Cool huh?

Mom, I am getting my hair cut this week. I had been asking people in the ward where they get their hair cut to be able to find a place and the only person with super cute hair gets her hair cut when she goes back to the states....and everyone else just cuts their own hair. Unfortunately....idon't really trust them, so I asked the mission president's wife where to go and she gave me a place where the people are American and they do a really good job. So we will hope and pray that it looks good!! I think I am going to take a little more off this time so that I don't have to get it cut in two months...but more like four because I have to save my monies!!

I have been working super hard to learn specifically the restoration lesson backwards and forwards for the last few weeks. After Ans, we haven't had a real progressing investigator to teach and I have been doing my best to be able to prepare to be able to teach with my companion and to memorize the lesson so that I can give it better in Dutch!! We got to teach it to our first investigator yesterday!!! It felt super good and I could understand everything that was going on. I am still not perfect, and I have a lot of work to do, but it feels so good to see that I am making progress and that I am getting better!!

This last week, Zuster Nogueira got sent home. She is on a medical release and if the doctors in Protugal figure anything out then she will be able to come back to the mission!! It was really a hard thing for our entire district and we are just trying to get back onto our feet. She is always in our prayers and we hope that she can return soon.

You asked me more about my companion. She is a lot like me. She doens't really have anything to do with music. but she is sporty and super cool. The coolest thing about her is that she was a speed skater training to go to the Olympics, but that she choose to come on a mission instead of continue on that career track!! Because of that, she is super dedicated and super fun to be around. We get along great(even though we are together 24 hours a day) and we both really like the chocolate here. We also like the sour gummy treats that they have here and we get a huge bag of them every week!!! Her dutch is super good because her mom was born here in the Netherlands and her dad served here so she has had Dutch in her life....her entire life.

Today, to celebrate the almost end of the transfer, we are going right now to go and eat sushi!!! YAY!! I am so excited!!
I love you all!! I can't wait to hear from you again!! Keep up being the best family ever!!!

Leifte,

Zuster Israelsen

Memorize in Dutch, Bell Ups, Friets and This Book is Really Interesting!

HELLO WONDERFUL FAMILY!!!

First off, I would love to wish the best little brother ever in the world a VERY GELUKKIG VERJAARDAG!!! You are so old kro!!! What does it feel like to feel old? I sure love you and hope you have a great birthday....also, did you get my letter? You and Dad should have gotten one each!! Happy Birthday!! Don't have too much fun....ok?

This week has been full of miracles!! We have seen a lot of cool things this week, and also a lot of frustrating things....which I guess that is what missionary work is like, isn't it?

On Tuesday, we had our first appointment with Ans as a new member of the Church!! So cool!! She is really progressing even more that she has been baptized!! I love being able to watch how much she changes between every appointment we have with her!! It is truly amazing!! The coolest thing though, is that Tuesday, we set a tempel day with her to receive her begiftiging....or endowment. And as long as she stays on the same path as she is right now, I will be able to go through the temple with her next Februari!!!! Wow huh?!?! I think that is so amazing!! We made a calendar for her with different temples every month and we set a day for her to go to the temple every month with the young women and young men so that she can start to get her family names through the temple!! She is truly amazing and has just embraced the gospel and everything that it is about!! We really love her!!! I don't ever want to leave Den Haag because of her!! I would be happy just being able to teach and learn from her for the rest of my mission!! She is an example of faith to me!! I love her!!

On Wednesday, I had the opportunity to go to Brussels, Belgium....because I had to fill out three whole papers for legality. Fun huh? BUT we got a full day trip out of it!!! We got to see some of the cool sights down in Brussels....I felt like I was in a different world because everyone was speaking French and also, the buildings are a whole lot older in Brussels than in Den Haag. I guess that is normal though because Den Haag is a relatively new city. Anyway, I got to ride down to Brussels with Elder Bryan Andrews, Elder Van Over Beek and Zuster Noguiera!! It was a party and we had a good 6 hour drive total that day!!! Let's just say....that we know each other way too well now!!! :D I got to see my entire MTC group again!!! That was super exciting and we were all able to kind of relax a little bit because we realized how much better we are actually getting at the language and alles!! I also got a Belgian waffel!!! Yes....be proud!! It was delicious!! And we ate this super huge sandwich for lunch. I have no idea what it is called because....it's a french name.

But it was truly delicious and the friets(fries) in Belgium are like a million times better than the ones in Nederland. Weird right? But it was a good day!!

On Thursday, we saw some really cool miracles with our less-actives that we are working with!! One, is Sabeta Salik. She is from Suriname and has some issues with depression and anxiety. But she really likes us sisters becasue we are the coolest, so she has us over a lot. This last week, we went over and she had a friend over. That was weird because...she doesn't really get out very much. But he sat in on the lesson with us. His name is Alvo....and guess what?!?! He is now a new investigator. We had an appointment with him for this last Saturday but he got called in to work at the last minute....like we were literally there with him and he had to leave because he got a page. So we have another appointment with him this next week. It was so cool in our lesson with him and Sabeta though, because we just went with what we had planned for her that day and we gave them a scripture to read out loud and then we were discussing it and we asked Alvo a question and he said, "sorry, can you ask that again....I was still reading....this book is really interesting!!" I thought,"Why yes it is....it is just the truth after all!!" SO COOL!!

Another Less-active that we have been working with since we came here came to church again this next Sunday!! Her name is Giang and she is really making progress!!! She just had a baby and her husband is not a member of the church but she has made the decision that she really wants to be an example for her son and be able to raise him with the gospel!! And she is really working on developing her habits of church attendance and scripture study!! It's so cool to see someone realize why they joined the church again!! And to be able to see why it is so important to keep going with the simple gospel principles!! Too cool!!

Unfortunately, we saw most of our appointments this week fall through. That is really frustrating....because you think that you are going to be able to do so much good one day, but then your plans change all of the sudden and you don't feel as productive. We are working a lot on finding people now because we don't have any progressing investigators this week. We have a lot of potentials and a lot of investigators but we don't see them every week or our appointments fall through with them. I guess it is a good thing because I am learning how to be able to communicate through bell-ups(It is ridiculous how hard it is to be able to understand people when they speak through those things!!) and I am getting really good at contacting on the streets!! It is a life-long skill. I know Jake, you will love it when I get home because I won't have to send you to go and talk to the cashier....or will I? I might only speak Dutch when I come home!! :D But we are just working really hard everyday so that we can find and do our part so that the Lord can bless us. I have learned that principle really well here on my mission. The Lord really can't bless you until you get out there and work. I like what Zuster Robinson says,"You need to pray as though everything depended on the Lord and then you need to get up and work as though everything depended on you." That is when the Lord is really able to bless you and help you!! I have seen that with my language skills. President Robinson challenged me to memorize the Preach my Gospel lessons in Dutch, and I have been working my best to do just that and I have seen how much the Lord has blessed me with my ability to speak the language!! This morning, we read an article in a Liahona that is a billion years old, and I could understand almost everything!!! That is a HUGE improvement!!! So I am here, and I am doing my best to work hard so that the Lord can help me become who I need to be!!

I kind of had a little bit of a scare this last weekend. Mom, please don't be concerned. I had super bad abdomenal pains, and Zuster Robinson thought that it could be apendicitous....(sp?) So she took me in to the hospital. They did a lot of tests and they found out that it wasn't my apendix, but that I had a super weird reaction to the milk products here and that my kidneys and intestines are having a hard time processing them. I guess that this happens to a lot of people and it shows up in everyone differently. But it was starting to be an infection, so they gave me some antibiotics and they told me to watch how much dairy products that I am putting into my body. They said that if I take it slow here for a while and slowly build up more milk and things that I would be able to handle it but that I just need to be careful so that I don't have this problem again!! I am feeling much better right now and it gets better and better everyday. I just am letting you know, I am fine, don't worry.

Rachel, I am SO PROUD OF YOU!!! I am so happy that you made it into the show choir!! You are going to LOVE it!! And also, you are a wonderful example of a great swimmer!!! I wish I could be cool like you!! I hope Elizabeth is loving choir!! I wish I could play words with friends with her!!! Elizabeth, make sure you practice really hard because I am really good at that game!! Mom, I don't know.....any of the seniors besides Jake this year. I am sorry that I don't have any ideas for a musical number!! And Dad, I am so happy that you watched the Super Bowl!! I wish I could have been there and eaten the delicious food!! You are a beautiful family and I love you so much!!

Oh, and this transfer, I get to go on exchanges this transfer with....drum roll please.....ZUSTER STOUT!!! It is going to be a party!!!

I am loving missionary work and I am just loving it here!!

I love you guys!!

Tot volgende week!!
Love,

Zuster Israelsen