Waiting on the Flight Plans

Hello Family :)

It has been a wonderful P-Day! We just got back from the temple which
was a peaceful, great experience as always. I seriously feel so
spoiled getting to go every week. I know that in the Netherlands we
get to go at least twice and maybe more if we serve in the city but it
has been nice here to have one so close. It's definitely a habit I
want to keep up when I get back. So Gelukkig Pasten! Happy almost
Easter! And conference weekend! Talk about good stuff. I am so
excited to be able to watch conference here in the MTC as a
missionary. We have all day Saturday off and we just get to watch
conference and have study time. I'm so excited! We are very very
blessed to be able to hear the words of the prophet and apostles.
Thank you so much for the Easter package! It was so nice of you! I
loved everything. Haha and yes I am going to share the chocolate with
everyone else. Easter has the best candy thank you so much. :) And
as always thanks to everyone for the letters and cards. It's going to
be a big change when I get to the Netherlands and can't get mail all
the time. Haha but it's ok, I really can feel everyone's love and
prayers.

Speaking of the Netherlands...we get our travel plans on Friday!!!
Tjonge jonge! Talk about time going by fast. I can't believe I have
already been here that long and that it's time to leave! I am so
excited/slightly nervous at times. I'm sure this next week and a few
days are going to go by really fast. I'll email you next week and let
you know about my flight plans and when I'll be able to call home and
all that good stuff. We got a new Dutch district last week. 3
sisters and 8 elders. They are all really nice and the sisters are
really sweet. It's weird not being the new ones anymore! But it's
cool because there are now 22 Dutch missionaries here. It's great
when we sing! We're almost as loud as the Germans who have so many
missionaries. I'm sorry Julia, but we always tease the Germans and
tell them that Dutch is so much better. Then they always pull a
"President Uchtdorf said our language is what they speak in the
Celestial Kingdom." Haha it's funny. I wonder if we will be able to
understand each other when I get back.

So many good things have happened in the past week! It's been quite
eventful. So I'll start with the best news first. On Thursday
morning we taught Al the Plan of Salvation. We didn't think that we
would be teaching him right in the morning so even though we had a
lesson prepared we hadn't really gone over it together. And when we
are teaching in Dutch we ALWAYS want to go over it first. I was kinda
nervous going in but I've learned that being nervous doesn't do
anything so I tried to get over that real quick. Anyways, we started
teaching him the lesson and we talked a lot of the purpose of our life
on this earth and agency and then we started to talk about the
atonement and how it is through Christ that we can return. Then all
of a sudden Sister Pierson mentioned something about baptism. So I
had us read from 2 Nephi 31 and we talked about how Christ was
baptized and we needed to follow his example. And then before I even
knew what I was saying I heard myself say that we were having a
baptismal service on April 9th and I asked him if he wanted to be
baptized! I heard Sister Pierson breathe in really heavy haha I think
I surprised us both. But then the best thing happened... He thought
about it for a minute, got a really big smile on his face, and then
said YES!!! Haha oh my goodness it was the best feeling in the world!
I thought I had misheard him, but then Sister Pierson was smiling and
we both got really happy and told him how great that was. The rest of
the lesson went great. I seriously walked out feeling like I could
fly I was so happy. We're teaching him again tonight and I really
hope that everything is still ok. But yes, the Spirit is incredible
and it was all around awesome!

Other random things-Sister Pierson and I got to go off campus Thursday
and Friday morning for two doctors appointments she had. That was a
nice little change. I got really excited to go out into the real
world haha and I wanted to find someone to talk to but unfortunately
everyone I met was already a member. Haha not unfortunately, but you
know what I mean, it would've been cool to talk to someone who didn't
already know about the gospel. Still it was cool. We actually drove
right past University Villa which was kinda weird. I said hi to
everyone out the window. :)

I saw a ton of people I know this week. It's funny knowing people who
work at the MTC. Of course I see Daniel at gym every week but I also
saw Jordan Hymas, Chuck Krebs, and the my friend Eric from the villa.
It's cool to be able to see people. I got to bear my testimony to
Eric in Dutch which was a lot of fun. Oh and some day last week, I
don't remember when, but I came into class and JD (from my old ward)
had left a note with some scriptures on my desk. It made my day! I'm
really grateful for all the great examples I have had of people who
have gone on missions.

I'm about out of time. Thanks again to everyone for the support.
Please know that everything is fine here. Haha better than fine. I
love being a missionary. I love everything about it! Learning about
the gospel and teaching it to people is one of the best happiness in
the world and I'm not even in the field. I'm so grateful to be a
member of the true Church on the earth today. I know that Jesus
Christ lives. He is my Savior. The power of the atonement is hard to
comprehend but it is so real and it is only through Jesus Christ that
we can return to live with God. I'm grateful for the tender mercies
of the Lord that I see in my life every day. I know that as we strive
to become better people and to serve with all our hearts the Lord will
make up for our weaknesses. I know that the Book of Mormon is the
world of God. I love reading from it and applying it to my life. I
can see myself in it when I read. So many times I feel like Nephi, or
like Alma the Younger, or like Moroni. I love putting myself into the
scriptures. I completely agree with what Joseph Smith said, we really
can get nearer to God by reading that book than any other. Thank you
to everyone for their strong testimonies. I love you all!!

Doi-Z. Holbein