Easter, Spring & News

Hello Family!

Happy Easter! I hope that you all are having a wonderful time together in Utah. Zuster Fritz is here this week with her mother and she told me yesterday at church that it's still been a bit snowing out there. Crazy! We are finally enjoying the warm weather here. This week has been absolutely glorious.

I have so much news! I'm being transferred! I'm going to... Gouda!! Now first things first, do not pronounce it the way we say the cheese. Pretend like you are saying "cow-da" but instead of saying the "c" make the guttural "g" sound. That's the name of the place. It's a small city in the southern part of Nederland, actually in what they call the "Bible-belt" of the Netherlands. Our area is big though and we work a lot in Rotterdam. I'll be working with Zuster Perry! That makes me super happy. She came into the mission when I left Antwerpen and I already know her pretty well. She's a dear; we're going to tear it up down there! I leave Wednesday, but of course a part of my heart will stay here in A’dam. I'm actually really sad to leave, but I know that there are people in Gouda waiting for me. So my new address is:

Crabethdstraat 5
2801 AL Gouda
Nederland.

Mail is lovely as always. :)

So other news -- William's baptism is actually postponed. It'll be on May 7th now. There were a few complications, but it is all working out and his baptism will still go through! :) I'll be able to come back for it as well which makes me really happy.

This week has honestly probably been one of the hardest, most emotional, yet best weeks of my mission. I cannot explain the lessons I have learned or the peace I have received, but I can say that I know that Christ really did suffer for all the pain and all the experiences we have. He knows us personally. I love that.

The sun is shining and the work of God goes forth! We were able to go to the temple this past week! Ahhhh I LOVE THE TEMPLE. I kind of never want to leave when I go in. It was such a beautiful day and it was great to be gathered with all the missionaries. After the temple we all got to go to Keukenhof. Oh my goodness I don't think I have ever taken so many pictures. And they really can't do it justice. It was a lovely day. I would say I will send some home, but you know how bad I am at that... I'll try! :)

We have been blessed this week to do a lot of really good finding. Amsterdam has come alive with this weather! Everyone is out -- in a boat, in a bike, walking (my goodness those silly tourists -- I think just last night I almost ran about 10 people over. They just walk right in the bike paths! Crazy people.)

Other funny moments of the week. We got contacted by some Jehovah's Witnesses. That was interesting. We actually had a really good talk with them and we switched pamphlets. They were very nice people and I admire their zeal for doing missionary work. And it was interesting to be on the other side of the door for a change.

Yesterday we had a beautiful Easter service at the church. I love this ward. You asked to tell a little more about it (haha), so before I leave it I guess I could explain. It's a very diverse ward. We really have a little bit of everything. There are the Dutch, Surinamese, Africans, Spanish speakers, American families -- really everything. We try and work a lot through referrals and we have a lot of members who are great with that. We are also incredibly blessed with Br Zonneveld our amazing ward mission leader. Sundays we have Relief Society first, it's in Dutch and then I do the translation to English, or the other way around when someone who speaks English gives the lesson. Then we have Sunday School, given by Br Zonneveld, then Sacrament meeting which is also in Dutch and either Elder Garret or I will translate. It's been a great ward.

And Zuster Kremer quickly, SHE IS AMAZING. I am going to miss her with all my heart. She's only been a member of the church for 3 years, but she has a burning testimony. She's Hungarian but was born in Belgium in the French speaking part, but was raised in Hungary, Belgium, and other places. She studies business and language and speaks Hungarian, French, Spanish, English, and now Dutch fluently. She's been teaching me but I must say it's hard! I can pray in Hungarian and Spanish (my Spanish is better), and say a lot of random things in other languages. She is a dear, she’s been a blessing to work with.

Well lieverds, I love you all! I'll be in Gouda next time we email. Pray for the adjustment; you know me, I don't always like change. It's going to be great though -- I'm excited for the next adventure! Hurrah for Israel!

Met liefde,
Zuster Holbein

Happy Easter

Dear Family!

It's been such a great week and again I only have about 10 minutes to write because we are so busy! I’m glad that everything is going well at home. Congrats John and Brittney on graduating! That's super exciting. Jake too. It'll be weird next fall without you all there. William, when are you heading out? And dang, so many people are getting married, that's crazy. Give everyone my love.

This past week has been great! So many exciting things going on. This past weekend were the Donny Osmond firesides which ended up being such a success. We had 3 different ones, one in Rotterdam, one in Haarlem, and one in Utrecht. We went to the one in Harrlem with our investigators and then we had to go the one in Utrecht to help out. It was crazy, about 300+ people came to each one, and we got a ton of referrals! We gave everyone a card who came in and then asked them to fill out their name and address and then to circle 1-10 how interested they would be to learn more about the gospel. Brother Osmond gave an incredible talk, basically a first lesson, and talked about how the gospel has blessed his life. And then at the end we passed out copies of the Book of Mormon with his signature in it. It was an incredible idea and we'll be getting all the referrals from President on Wednesday. I think we're going to see a lot of success! It was fun too. Mom, I kept thinking of you the whole time.

Other exciting things -- William is getting baptized on Saturday! We're so happy for him! He's made so much progress, it's going to be beautiful. Zuster Fritz is even coming back to visit and I'm so excited to see her. Elder Klippel and I are going to be doing some kind of musical number and the whole ward is coming. It's going to be beautiful. A great Easter weekend.

A lot of our other investigators are struggling a bit at the time, it seems everyone's hang up is authority. You know they read the Book of Mormon and the come to church and they think it's all lovely, but ... “I’ve already been baptized.” We've explained the authority thing over and over and over but something’s not clicking. If any of you have some new ideas, we would love to hear them!

This time next week I'll know where I'm being transferred to. I'm so sad to have to leave A'dam! Bahh... I don't like thinking about it. Though everywhere is wonderful and I know the Lord will send me where I am needed. I have a strong testimony of that.

I got to give a talk in church yesterday on the atonement. It was a very last minute thing. One of the members, Roland, was supposed to give it but he called me the night before and said, "Hey Zuster Holbein you're always asking if there is anything you can do for me and I finally thought of it... I'm sick, can you give a talk for me tomorrow?" Despite not having too much time to plan I was really grateful to do it. The atonement is one of my favorite things to talk about. I'm so grateful for the healing power available to us. I've felt it in my own life keer op keer. :)

Other exciting things -- we're going to the temple on Wednesday!!!!! :) :) :) :) :) :) And then to Keukenhof after, the big tulip field place. Spring is in bloom here, and this place is beautiful.

I hope you all enjoy being together this next week. Know that I love and pray for you!

Met liefde,
Zuster Holbein

Conference & More

Dear Family,

Hey hey hey. :) Happy April -- finally warm weather! This week has been warmer! We've had a few cold days and today seems a little bi-polar, but for the most part it has been beautiful. The weather was perfect for conference! It was funny, last night when we were watching the Sunday morning session I saw snow in Utah! Haha it made me a lot more grateful for the weather here. We haven't seen snow in a while (fingers crossed).

And yes, I did see Sister Bradford and I told everyone -- hey I know her! And she always smells really nice. Haha, funny but true, I always remember her perfume. Oh and congrats to President Hymas! I jumped when I heard them say that, and I turned to Zuster Kremer and said, "My stake president is Robert W. Hymas... I wonder if that's him!!" I love the Hymas family, please send them my love.

Anyway, it's been a glorious week! Conference was amazing. I'm looking forward to the talks going online or to getting a conference issue so that I can read the Sunday afternoon session. We got to see both Saturday sessions and then the Sunday morning one. So many inspired talks were given. A few of our investigators were able to come, but a lot couldn't. Satan seemed to be going crazy pulling at these people this past week. Zuster Kremer and I took notes on each talk though as if we were listening as our investigators and we're going to go to their homes and listen to them with them as soon as they go online.

I loved being able to watch conference here in Amsterdam. I remember last conference I was also here, but it was at the beginning of my time, and I didn't know as many people, and I remember missing Antwerpen a lot. But this time I really felt so at home. I love it here in Amsterdam. I love the ward, I love the investigators, I love my companion. I love how no matter where in the world we are from, we have the gospel that can unite us.

Oh, other random exciting news -- Zuster Kremer taught me/is in the process of teaching me how to pray in Hungarian! I can say a very simple, short prayer. Let's just say I am SO happy I didn't have to learn Hungarian. I think I would've cried in the MTC... haha more than I already did with Dutch.

We were blessed with many miracles this week. The story or theme of the past little while with everyone has seemed to be "why is life so hard?" That's why I was so grateful for many of the conference talks, especially the one by that one Seventy... I can't remember his name. It's been great though because it's really given me the chance to look at my own life and how I react to adversity. I have been studying lately the difference between "acting” and "reacting." I think in life it is so much easier to "react" to everything that goes on around us. When the weather isn't good, or when people slam doors, or try to hit you with a bike chain (true story this past week), or when investigators don't progress, or when you're tired. It's so easy to think, dang it, that stinks, now I can't be happy. But no, happiness is a choice. Just like faith. We get to choose every day how we are going to feel. And why not choose to be happy? Not only does it make your life so much better, but also the lives of those around you. Everyone likes to be around a happy person. It really does make all the difference. I've been trying a lot harder this past week to make the conscious effort to just be happy, no matter what. It's been making a big difference and it's cool to be able to testify to people that it works.

My other big personal miracle happened this past Tuesday. In preparation for a lesson with someone on the restoration, I was studying, well yeah, the restoration. I was reading the Joseph Smith story and scriptures about the apostasy, and all of a sudden in hit me, really big, and really strong... IT'S ALL TRUE. Like really, really. The restoration happened! Joseph Smith DID see God and Jesus Christ and they DID call him as a prophet to restore the true, full gospel of Jesus Christ back on the earth. Incredible! I've known it my whole life but it just hit me at once. My insides felt like they were going to burst and I felt so warm! I couldn't hold it in and I turned to Zuster Kremer and said, “It’s true!!!" Haha poor dear, probably thought I was crazy. But it really hit me, and I started to cry and I just felt so full. I know it's true. The Holy Spirit confirmed it to me in such a powerful way, I'll never forget it. It was wonderful.

I love being a missionary with all my heart. I frequently tell Zuster Kremer I hope my mission loves me as much as I love it.

Thank you all for everything! I love love love love you all and pray for you all the time. :)

Met liefde,
Zuster Holbein