1 Month In!!

Hurray for being in the MTC one month! :) Wow, I can not believe time
has gone by so quickly. Really, it's flying by. It's true what
everyone says about the MTC- days go by like months but weeks go by
like seconds. I love it here, I really do. I am learning so much and
I know this time has definitely been needed.

This past week was an interesting one. It's funny when I look back on
it because a lot of hard/trying things have been going on but my
overall feelings on the week are very positive. It's so true that in
the MTC you have so many ups and downs. I really think I have had
some of my lowest lows or seen people struggling through some of the
hardest things here but at the same time I have seen SO many miracles
and I have felt so happy that words can't even really do anything
justice.

One of the elders (in our branch but not in our district) went home
two days ago. It wasn't for any bad reasons, he just didn't feel he
could handle the stress. It was so hard for everyone, especially his
district, to see him go. I think it really made everyone re-evaluate
why we are here and what our missions mean to us.

Even though things are way hard and I'm frequently pretty stressed, I
know this is where the Lord needs me to be and I have been blessed to
have His help constantly. I have a real testimony that the Lord does
look out for his missionaries. So on a happier note- MY FBI CLEARANCE
CAME!!!!!!!!!!!! YEAHH!!! You have NO idea how happy I was to get
that dearelder. It was right after dinner and I literally ran and
danced down the halls and made all the Swedish and Danish missionaries
come out and celebrate with me. Wow, what an amazing blessing! It
was so great because just that morning I remember thinking how badly I
wanted it to come. Talk about a tender mercy from the Lord. We still
have one elder waiting for his so if everyone could pray for him that
would be great.

I can't believe we leave a month from today. Well, a month and a few
days. Thanks again for all the letters! They make me laugh and are
such a strength to me. Mom thank you for the package! The scarfs are
adorable and I love the headband. You are way to nice to me THANK
YOU. :) I'm glad to hear seminary is going so well. Tell your class
thank you for the card, it made me laugh. I know they will all be
great missionaries. Oh and congrats to Kate and Sam!

William going to prom?! Haha thanks so crazy! Congrats on being such
a good kid. Dad how is work? How are your students? Thank you so
much for the inspirational story about the Chile mission that you sent
me.

Ok so life here is just as good as ever. I have learned so much this
week, I wish I had time to write about all of it. Dutch is getting
harder and harder everyday. It's a good hard though, I love learning
the language and I know I am being so blessed.

We're continuing to teach Al and things are going pretty good. We
finally got him to pray and he feels like he believes the JS story.
It's the Book of Mormon he's having a hard time with. Zuster Pierson
and I are working on a lesson over the BoM to help him better
understand.

Teaching in Dutch is such a humbling thing to do. I really have to
rely completely on the spirit and hope that my studying and preparing
will pay off. Our teachers here are great! With the other Dutch
district gone we have two more teachers who come in and do a lot of
one on one work with us. I think verb conjugations are my biggest
problem. I have been really blessed when it comes to understand the
language though. I can actually understand basically everything said.
I just get frustrated when I can't always respond how I would in
english. I know that will come with time though.

So some random facts-We can now officially shake hands in the MTC! I
guess the flu season is over. Shaking hands is weird haha and I think
some of the elders like it a little too much...haha but it's good to
know that people aren't getting as sick. I actually am sick right
now. Nothing to worry about though, just a cold and cough. It's
really not too bad and I'm taking medicine so I should be better soon.
I feel better each day.

This past week has been a big week for learning spiritual things. The
spirit has been teaching me so much lately-things that I know are just
for me. I am loving learning how the spirit speaks to me and the
blessings and revelation that come into my life as I strive to listen
to what the Lord would have me do. My testimony of the truthfulness
of this gospel grows every day. It's crazy!

Just this past Sunday I had a really powerful experience that taught
me the importance of bearing testimony. Sunday was fast Sunday and I
was so happy to be able to go to sacrament meeting and to bear my
testimony in English and to hear the testimonies of others. There was
an overwhelming powerful spirit in our sacrament meeting. As I was
sitting there I thought, "Wow, this is so great. I love this feeling.
It's addiciting. I wish I could bear my testimony in English more
often." And then it was like the Spirit seriously punched me in the
face. I heard in my head "No. You must keep learning to bear your
testimony in Dutch. That is the most important thing you should work
on translating." Wow. What truth there is in that statement. Ever
since then I have been working so hard to translate my testimony to
Dutch and I have felt a lot of power come into my life as I bear it
throughout the day.

I just wanted to let you all know that there is real power in bearing
your testimony. Your testimony will become more real to you as you
bear it and you can bless the lives of those around you by telling
them what you know to be true. Last night Bruce C Haven came and
spoke to us about testimonies. He said there are 3 parts to a
testimony 1) reason 2) spiritual evidence and 3) experience. I can
promise you that it really does require all three things. I think
before coming into the MTC I realied on the first 2 points too heavily
and I am now learning that experiences are SO important.

Ok so I took too long writing this email and time is up. I want to
put my testimony in Dutch but there isn't time! JAMMER. Ok well know
that I know this church is true. Everything about it is true. The
atonement is real and powerful. Bear your testimony frequently.
Study the scriptures with an open heart and the Lord will reveal
things to you. The Lord does not call perfect people, but he does
perfect those he calls. I feel this everyday.

I LOVE YOU ALL. :) Doi- Zuster Holbein