Happy Thanksgiving!

Dear Family,

Happy almost Thanksgiving! It's funny because here everything for Christmas and Sint Niklaas is under way because yeah, obviously they don't have Thanksgiving here. And my companion isn't American either haha so I actually almost forgot it was this week. I am happy everyone can be together! Please send everyone my love. Eat lots of yummy pie for me. We'll be going to an American's house on Thursday for dinner but I won't be having any pie. :)

I decided that for this week's email, especially since I don't have a lot of time I just want to send a list of things that I am grateful for so that you can add my thoughts to the family list. Also, being honest, it's been kind of a stressful morning, so I think this will be good for me. So here we go. Things I am grateful for on my mission.

First and foremost I am grateful for my Saviour Jesus Christ. I am grateful for the opportunity I have to represent and serve Him here in Belgium and the Netherlands. I am grateful for His atoning sacrifice and that through Him I can overcome all my weaknesses. I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who knows me personally and who tailors trials to fit me and is always there to help me along the way. I am grateful for my mission in general. Haha an all-encompassing statement. I'm grateful to be in this part of the world. I'm grateful for the Dutch language. Haha it's weird, but I love it.

I'm grateful for my personal testimony because without it I wouldn't be able to do the work I'm doing. I am grateful for the Book of Mormon -- the keystone of our religion. I am grateful for moments when I can hand the Book of Mormon to someone and watch them hold it for the first time, to watch them read in it for the first time, and then slowly but surely to watch them gain a testimony of it. I'm grateful for opportunities to bear my testimony.

I'm grateful for the hymns of the Church and the spirit they bring. I'm grateful for people who will let us pray with them on the street during a contact or people who will let us sing.

I'm grateful for my journal that I have faithfully kept, never missed a day, since I was set apart. I'm grateful for all the pictures I've taken and the memories behind them. I'm grateful for inspiring quotes from general conference that teach gospel principles clearly. I'm grateful for the first prayer I say when I wake up and the last prayer I say before I go to bed. I'm SO grateful for long prayers and times when I can just talk with my Heavenly Father. I'm grateful for the Holy Ghost. The way that it speaks to me and the way that it touches the people much more than I ever could. I'm grateful for the love of God -- the warm, fuzzy kind that makes everything else going on around me ok. I'm grateful for repentance and the miracle of forgiveness. I'm grateful for lessons guided by the Spirit and those moments when I say something that I know wasn't me.

I'm grateful for my family. I'm grateful for every email, every card it the mail, and every prayer.

I'm grateful for the priesthood and for priesthood blessings. I'm grateful for Joseph Smith and the restored knowledge we have about the plan of salvation and the purpose of our lives.

I'm grateful for open and honest communication. I'm grateful for warm blankets and my bed at the end of a long day. I'm grateful for tea -- honey lemon and minty morocco being my favorites.

I'm grateful for an hour everyday to spend in the scriptures during personal study and the awesome opportunity to study not just for myself but for other people. I'm grateful for the everyday tender mercies and the little miracles and funny moments. I'm grateful for other missionaries’ examples of faith. I'm grateful for all my wonderful companions and the things they have taught me. I'm grateful for EFY music and time at the end of the day to maybe have a random EFY music dance party haha.

I'm grateful for charity, the pure love of Christ. I'm grateful for Bible gems -- those precious little scriptures in the Bible that I had never found before my mission. I'm grateful for my eternal worth as a daughter of God.

I'm grateful for weather -- all kinds, sunny and rain. I'm grateful for my health. I'm grateful for my agency and that I can chose to be happy. I'm grateful for goals and that with the Lord's help I can set and achieve them. I'm grateful for investigators who make progress because they chose to, and because they have received a testimony. I'm grateful for the early saints of the Church who suffered so much. I'm grateful for the principle of obedience.

I'm grateful for oatmeal and bananas. I'm grateful for green apples with peanut butter.

I'm grateful for Preach My Gospel. I'm grateful for exercise and being able to run in the mornings. I'm grateful for black pens, because blue are yucky. I am grateful for my flute. I'm grateful for my planner and being organized. I'm grateful for cell phones; they make things so much easier.

I'm grateful for member referrals, members who come on joint teach or finding, or who have us over for dinner. I'm grateful for people I can laugh with. I'm grateful for days when nothing falls through and for good back up plans when it all does. I'm grateful for district meetings and zone conferences. I'm grateful for a weekly email from President that always says exactly what I need to hear. I'm grateful for long bike rides home at the end of the day when I can pray. I'm grateful for baptismal services and strong new converts. I'm grateful for the sacrament, it's always the same no matter where you go.

I'm so blessed to be a missionary. I love this life and I love my Saviour.

Please know how grateful I am for all of you this time of year. I love you!

Met Liefde,
Zuster Holbein