Progress!

Dear Family,

It's June 15th and I'm still wearing a shawl. Is that even possible? Haha -- weather is crazy! I got a card from you all saying that KY was in the 90s. The weather here still switches from day to day. Yesterday was beautiful though. :)

Things are going so well! Being honest, the past few days have been kind of rough, but not too bad, and we're seeing so many blessings. Number 1 -- this morning we got a text from Joeri! He’s our old investigator who was supposed to be getting baptized this coming weekend. Anyway, he texted us and said, “So I've been starting to read in the Book of Mormon again, and I just wanted to let you know. I pick one scripture everyday from that jar you gave me. Today I read Mosiah 2:22." Wahoo! That was the BEST text ever. He's not ready to start meeting again, but he is reading and that is a huge step. I know it's going to help him to start progressing again. So that's great.

But I get ahead of myself -- Happy Father's day Daddy! Almost Father's Day. I wish we could call, but I hope that my (somewhat late) card and present make up for it. I love you, and am so happy that you are my Daddy. I brag about you and Mommy all the time. I'm convinced I have the best family. William, you leave Friday? Good luck kid! That's going to be so much fun. Make sure to take lots of pictures and enjoy every minute. What's your address? I would love to write you a letter.

So the other miracles of the week. We had a lesson with Mevrouw Idema on the Word of Wisdom and ... she totally accepted it! 100%. She smokes and drinks coffee, but she's willing to stop and she knows it's a commandment from God. She also came to church again this past Sunday and she was participating in all the classes. She kept raising her hand and volunteering -- so great. We also proposed July 16th as a baptismal date for her and she said she would pray about it. That's one year from the day that her husband died which would mean that 2 years after he died they could be sealed in the temple. I learn more and more every day that baptism really is just the first covenant that we make. The temple keeps us progressing; that's what we're aiming for. I'm praying really hard for her, and if you all could too that would be great. Opposition always comes, so she needs our faith. :)

Neda is also doing really well. Every Sunday she comes to church she brings someone else with her. Unfortunately no one has been interested, but she has such a great opinion about it. She always says, "Hey I just have to offer it, right? Then let them choose." What a good little missionary. We also went over on Saturday and helped her clean out her "junk room." Oh my goodness Mom, you would have died! I don't understand how people can accumulate so much stuff! It was fun though and good to help her.

We have a lot of other good investigators too who are progressing slowly but surely. This past Thursday we had dinner with Ester and Jako, the Dutch couple we met a few weeks ago. It went so well! They are amazing people. They’ve been all over the world doing humanitarian aid things, and they were really impressed with the work our church does. We talked about faith during the whole meal, and then toward the end I pulled out the Book of Mormon to give to them. Jako looked at me and said, "You know that THAT book is the one problem people have with your religion." We said that yes, we knew that. He asked us if we knew why, and we got talking about Revelation supposedly saying there can't be anymore revelation. What was great though was that he wasn't doing it in an attacking way; he really just wanted to know. We explained that God loves all of his children. That he is the same, yesterday, today and forever, and that the Book of Mormon is another testimony of Jesus Christ. We bore testimony of the powerful effect it has in our lives, and then we got to read Moroni 10:32-33 with them. The Spirit was so strong! They totally accepted the copy, and we are going to do an exchange -- you come to my church I come to yours -- in a few weeks. I just loved how open they were.

I really saw the contrast when just a few days later we were let into a house with a lovely family, and when we pulled out the Book of Mormon the husband freaked out and wouldn't let us read from it with them. It broke my heart! People don't know. There is such power in the Book of Mormon, we just have to open our hearts and let it in. I pray for these people.

So in het algemeen everything is going really well. I love it here. And I love Zuster Perry -- she's the best. We have a lot of fun together. She is always willing to talk and listen and help everyone. The Lord has really blessed me with good companions. The Lord has just blessed me all around.

I love you! HAPPY FATHER'S DAY DADDY!!! Safe travels William! Work hard, be smart, love yourself, love the people, serve the Lord, and everything will always work out.

Met liefde,
Zuster Holbein