Leaving on a JET PLANE!

Hurray for last P-Day in the MTC! We have travel plans and we checked
today and I have my visa and am good to go! Hooray! I am both beyond
excited and slightly terrified. Anyways, today is a super busy P-Day,
we have to start packing and lots of other things.

So yes much to talk about and only a little time to do it. We leave
Monday morning. We report to the travel office at 6:00AM and our
flight out of SLC is at 9:45. We fly to Atlanta (I love that
airport!) and we have a two hour layover. We get into Atlanta at 3:35
and then our flight for Brussels leaves at 5:45. I am going to try
and call sometime between then. And that will be in KY time. We are
lucky to only have two flights and not a long layover! We arrive in
Brussels on Tuesday at 8:35AM which will be 12:35AM in Utah time and
2:35 KY time. Oh my goodness I cannot believe this is actually
happening! Haha so so so cool.

I have loved my time at the MTC but I am ready to go out and serve the
people in the Netherlands or Belgium depending on where I am sent.
Apparently the mission president's wife has a blog and when we get
there she will post pictures and say where we are going. My first
P-Day will not be till the Monday after I arrive so you should find
the blog so that you can know.

I'm trying really hard to not freak out or get scared or anything,
since we all know I tend to freak out more than is needed. I find
real strength in the scripture Joshua 1:9. The Lord tells us to be
strong and of a good courage and that he will be with us whithersoever
we go. The other night we were singing How Firm a Foundation and the
words of the 3rd verse brought me a lot of comfort as well. "Fear
not, I am with thee oh be not dismayed, for I am thy God and will
STILL give thee aid. I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee
to stand, upheld by my righteous omnipotent hand." I know that while
I have been here at the MTC the Lord has definitely given me aid and I
know that as I leave he will STILL give me aid.

So General Conference was amazing! Thank you so much to everyone who
sent their testimonies to me of the things they heard. We are so
blessed to be able to have a living prophet on the earth today! We
woke up Easter morning to a very snowy Provo! It was crazy, but when
I thought about it, snow actually fits perfectly with the message of
Easter. Early in the morning it looked so beautiful outside, the snow
was pretty and untouched and it reminded me of the scripture in Isaiah
1:18 where the Lord promises that he will make our sins "white as
snow." The atonement has an incredible power to cleanse us and make
us better people. I have a real testimony that as we offer our broken
hearts, Christ will heal them and return them to us renewed and clean
and whole.

I loved all of the talks, I don't think I could or really have time to
discuss any in particular. I had some really cool experiences with
having questions answered. I think this was really the first time
maybe that I have gone to conference with questions and the amazing
thing was... they were all answered! In full! It was a wonderful,
spiritual experience. I tried to go in with questions for myself and
for my investigators. While some of my questions were kinda personal,
this is something I think was cool. When we contact here I always
have trouble coming up with ways to say how the gospel blesses
families aside from "it will make you really happy" so I went to
conference with the question "How does the gospel specifically bless
families now?" Haha and yeah, as you all know, that's totally what
conference was all about! It was great! I took so many notes and I
know everything I learned is going to help so much. I also am trying
to apply what they said about teaching children to how I will teach
investigators since they are all children in the gospel. Oh and
Saturday night we got to watch the young women's broadcast which was
great. I recommend Pres. Uchtdorf's talk, it made me cry.

Last Friday we got to go to the RC and talk to real people on the
phone! Haha it was AWESOME. Most people didn't answer, but I did get
to talk to about 4 people and some of them where pretty receptive. It
got me pumped for leaving. So I have been thinking a lot about my
time here at the MTC and what I have learned. I have made this little
list of lessons learned at the MTC.

The Spirit is everything. You can't be an effective missionary
without it, regardless of your talents.
Lessons go a lot better when I do less talking and more listening.
The power of the Priesthood is real.
Everything is funnier in Dutch.
It is possible to have a prayer in your heart always. The Lord
answers prayers exactly when we need them.
The atonement is real. It works. There is comfort waiting for us if
we will open our hearts and let the Lord in.
Your testimony is the most important thing you have. Bear it if you feel weak.
No one is perfect! Ether 12:27 is so true.
There is power in the hymns. Some of my most spiritual experiences
here have been while I was singing.
A positive attitude changes everything. Be happy! Your attitude
affects more than just yourself, it affects people around you.
You have to trust the Lord. He knows a lot more than we do.
Put yourself 2nd.
Everything works out for those who love God.

There are a lot more things I could say but I am out of time. So we
leave Monday, I will be calling sometime between 3:25-5:45. Think of
questions you have cause I know I don't usually have time to respond
to everyone's questions. If you want to send any mail, I need to get
it by Saturday morning. There is no mail Saturday night and I'm not
sure if we will have time Monday morning. That goes for dearelders
too. Those have to be sent by Friday night.

Thanks again to everyone family and friends. I know and can feel of
your love and support. Know that I have a testimony of this gospel.
Last night in the devotional we were singing the Primary song "Armies
of Helaman," but when we sing it here we change the chorus to say "we
are as the armies of Helaman. We have been taught in our youth. And
we are NOW the Lord's missionaries to bring the world His truth." I
got goosebumps like crazy when we sang that. I am so grateful for the
opportunity I have to bring the world the truthfulness of the gospel.
As Dad says, the gospel WORKS. It is real. I love it! And I love
you all.

Met Liefde-Z. Holbein