Week 28: Prettige Kerst!

Hello everyone!! How are things going with you guys? This week was an amazing week...don't even know where to start actually. haha But I guess I will just go through the coolest/funnest parts!

Monday we went to Brugge..TOTALLY GORGEOUS. I have been there before but it was super cool going with Zuster Aldous who is BOMB. Haha We had a good time going through the Kerst Markets and everything. It was really fun. All the other missionaries decided to go see some guy play the harp while Zuster Aldous and I went to see how the line was looking for the Belfort tower that is soo tall. The line was super short so we decided to climb it. It was SOO Good. Haha BEAUTIFUL. I definitely would go back with mom and dad if they haven't done that already. 

Brugge from the Belfort Tower

Then we made cookies with Julie and another guy from our ward named Willy. They turned out pretty good. Haha Julie opened moms Christmas present to her and it was Joseph and the Amazing Technicolored Dreamcoat. haha I think she really liked it.

Tuesday was a great day. District meeting was good. Then we finally had the chance to look up an inactive which we hadnt visited for a while. She for some reason always has her friend come over whenever we come. Then she leaves us with him and her son. Super awkward so we left asap. But we did talk to her other friend, Linda and we said we would bring her by a BOM in her taal. I cant remember what taal she speaks though. Its written down somewhere..haha then we finally made an appointment with Isaac and Saphaar. Youll have to look back in some emails a couple of weeks ago but he was really cool. We will meet with them tomorrow. Then we had Christmas Eve dinner with that one awkward family story that I told you last week haha where we thought the kid was a potential but then he really was just an inactive..Super awkward BUT the dinner went really well. He wasn't there but the mom dad and active daughter was. It was really nice actually. That day we got a call from Dirk and he had his whole baptismal program ready and he told us about how he was reading in the Book Of Mormon and he got the strength to quit smoking!! So he went to the doctor to get medication to help him and it was soo good!! It is amazing to see how much people will do for the Lord. I love this work. He should be getting baptized on this upcoming Sunday!

Live Nativity at the Stake Christmas Concert

Christmas came and it was great!! we went and had lunch with Julie and her son and his wife. That was fun! The Zone Leaders were there too so that was also fun! We played some cool Sabotage game which I will have to get and then Uno. Z Aldous pretty much won every round. I was jealous haha She is good! Then we rushed over to the Schiltz and Z. Aldous skyped while I watched Toy Story 3. SOO GOOOD. It got me all softened up for skyping. Sorry I cried sooo much. I miss you guys A LOT! But it was really nice talking to you. It seems like we didnt even get to talk that long. Sorry. I loved seeing everyone though. We then had SOOO MUCH to eat at the Schiltz that I thought I was going to explode. Haha but we played games and it was fun. 

Thursday is what they call 2nd Kerst. So we went caroling with the whole zone at this old peoples home. We split into two groups..and it just so happened that we got the group with all of the tone deaf elders. haha It is a good thing we were singing to people who were hard of hearing..haha It was still good though. Then we had dinner with Zuster Van Laere and her friends. It was really good. We ate gourmet food. That stuff we had at that ladies house in Switzerland. Super lekker. We also had a chocolate fountain for dessert! the Elders were there too. It was really good.

Friday, Eugeen had is interview for his baptism and he passed with flying colors. Bishop was also there and he really said some amazing things! Eugeen talked to Elder Cooper about how he gained his testimony after reading and praying. The day after he gained his testimony and really got an answer was the day we invited him to get baptized which was super cool. We also had a good lesson with Marisa!

Saturday we did more caroling with Bro Schiltz. He is the coolest guy ever. We taught him what "You da bomb" means so now he says it all the time. Haha He even said it in his talk on Sunday. Totally awesome. We visited Wouter (LONG STORY SO ASK ABOUT IT WHEN I GET HOME) and also Dirk!

SUNDAY! Best day ever. Marisa and Dirk came to church. AND EUGEEN GOT BAPTIZED! The whole service went perfectly. Bro Schiltz baptized Eugeen and it was soo good. Julie and Zr Schiltz gave the talks and we (the missionaries) even sang in the middle. It was really beautiful. Eugeen told me how happy he was and that he is leaving behind 91 years and starting a new life. SOOO AWESOME. LOVE THAT MAN. HE IS SOOO AWESOME.

Brother Schlitz, Eugene, Me, and Zuster Aldous

 More happened but I dont have time. Next week should be really good. FULL of appts and things to do. We hopefully will have time to see all the people I want to see before I get transfered! I will let you know where I am going next week!

I LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU TONS!!!

BE SAFE THIS NEW YEAR!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Week 27: Prettige Feesten Ledereen!

HELLO!!! How is everyone doing?? Mom..You are officially 50. Wow. Crazy. Haha did you enjoy your birthday surprize? Did you get my letter by chance? I hope so. 

Hmm. I dont really know where to start off this week. 

DO you remember Marisa, the lady who came to church with her son a month or so ago? Well contact with her has been off and on since then but this week we finally got into her house, taught her the plan of salvation and then set a baptismal date with her. THat was super cool. SO her baptismal date is for the 1st of February. Super exciting!

Eugeen is still on track to get baptized this upcoming sunday. Super excited. Haha I was in Gent on exchanges so I missed his lesson this week but Zuster Aldous got through the rest of the commandments with him and also went over the baptismal interview questions. She said that he while he was reading through the questions he was just saying "easy, yep that is good.." so on and so forth. He is just a cutie. Can't wait to send pictures of his baptism. 

Dirk is doing better! We had a really good lesson with him this week. He was prepared for what we were teaching which made the lesson more enjoyable. He still has a hard time with smoking and drinking coffee so hopefully he can get off of those before his baptism on the 4th of January. We might have to push his date back. We will see. Keep him in your prayers. 

During our District Meeting on Tuesday there is one person that is randomly picked to lead the discussion on a set of scriptures that we read throughout the week. Of course I was picked to lead it..ha. But We were all confused on which scriptures we were suppossed to talk on..I had ended up preparing for the wrong scriptures...Awkward. But I just flung it and tried my best. It was surprizingly pretty good because I had to rely only on the spirit. THat was a really cool experience for me. The Lord helps you out! 

Wednesday we went caroling! Super fun! I love singing for people. It totally brightens everyones day, including mine. 

Saturday night was the ring kerstverhaal (the ward Christmas story) and it was really good. There was a choir that sung and then someone told the story of Christ's birth while actors played it out. It is crazy that I can understand this language. It is really cool. Haha. 

Sunday we had Dirk, Thinley and her sister at church. Super cool. They ended up staying the whole time! Woot. Thinley and her sister even stayed for the ward Christmas party, which was a huge success. Loved hanging out with the people from this ward. SO ya. That was fun. 

Of course more happened this week but that would take ages to write. Oh yeah. We were walking on the street and some guy comes up to us with a Poinsettia (I have no idea how to spell this..its the flower that is everywhere during Christmas time) and asks which one of us deserves this flower. I quickly point to Z. Aldous and he just says..Hmm let me think. He thinks then hands the flower to her and says "You are really pretty but she is the better friend." haha, I don't really understand what that was supposed to mean but it was funny. I am glad she got the flower because I didn't want to hold it all day. haha

Love you guys! Have a Merry Christmas!!! 

Zuster Kohlert

Week 27: Alle Mannke This week was crazy!!

Hey family!!! So I am just so blessed to be out here. And you have a wonderful family like you! I miss you dearly and pray for you everyday. You guys are the craziest, coolest and funniest people I know. Thank you for being you. I am so going to miss sharing Christmas together but don't fret, I will be home next Christmas soo no bigs. haha!

This week was totally nuts and dont have time to tell you everything that went on.. it would just take forever.

First Off HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! I will be sending a letter to you this week! I hope you all do something great and that you just get to relax for once. I love you. You are the best mom in the world.

Let me just skip to one of the best parts of the week. Tuesday. WOOT. So I can't remember if I told you but this lady in our ward works for the Public Affairs in Belgium with the church and so she was invited to this women gathering thing to tell them about Mormons and how we celebrate Christmas. They invited 8 religion (including ours) to come present to about 80 women. So she decided it would be a great idea to bring us along. She didnt think it would be that big of deal to have us come because she though she would have a table and then the women would come to her..boy was it different. We walk in and its SUPER FANCY. There are 8 tables set up with about 10 chairs on each table and the people are dressed up all fancy. The women in charge comes up and is like..Who are these people? We dont have enough seats for them to be at the table...The lady from our ward was like.. OOOPPSS. So they figured something out where one of us would go around to the tables with her and the other would be sitting by the door with a display table. Very last minute the lady who is in charge gets a call from the Islamic person and they say that they cant make it. SO they were one presenter short. Of course we were there for the resuce and took over the other table. That night we ended up teaching the first lesson to 8 different tables with 8-10 people sitting at the table. SUPER COOL HUH? They were really interested also and LOVED US. So shocked that we would come out here for a year and a half just to spread our religion. They also asked soo many times why we were so happy. THey also couldnt get over how good our Dutch was. Anyways. Long story short, the LORD IS AWESOME. He totally makes things work out so that His will and word can reach every person. He inspires and influences people to help them out. Totally awesome. All of our BOMs were gone along with our Joy to the worlds and A lot of our pass along cards. Totally cool.

Eugeen is still on track for Baptism!! So excited for him. I think he really enjoyed church yesterday. Dirk is doing better. Still working with him. Love him to death though.

Thursday we had our Christmas Conference in Amsterdam.

Zuster Aldous and I

Friday night we had dinner with the Schiltz and it was great. Totally got us in the Christmas mood. We were waiting at the tram halte when we just started humming Silent Night and doing some really good harmonizing when a guy next to us said 'You have got the right season for that' We ended up just having a good convo with him. We were rushed to get on the tram so we didnt get to give him a passalong card or BOM but then we realized that he was on the tram with us. As we got off Zuster Aldous goes up to him and says 'since it is the christmas season, we would like to give you this gife' and hands him the BOM and we walk away. It was a really cool experience..I know it doesnt seem like it over email but it was. I love the Chritmas season. Such a great time to serve others.

Sister Aldous and I Decorating Schlitz's Christmas Tree

I hope that we can all remember the reason behind Christmas and turn outwards and serve others. I was sitting in sacrament meeting during sacrament..And I was thinking about Christ up on the cross..and the pain that he had to have felt was enourmous. I could almost feel it as I was sitting there. He loves us soooo much. It is amazing that he would do all of those things for us just so we can return to live with our Heavenly Father again. I am truely grateful for the Atonement in my life and that I can become better everyday through our Lord, Jesus Christ.

LOVE YOU GUYS SOOO MUCH!!! Cant wait to skype with you at 6 pm (my time) on Christmas!! LOVE YOUUUUUUU
MISSS YOU

Zuster Kohlert

Week 26: Whipped in the Face...Ha ha....Not Really!

Hey family!!!! How are you guys doing in the FREEZING weather? It sounds like you guys are colder than we are. It is starting to get a little cold here..I had to wear two pairs of tights the other day....and the winter begins.

What a wonderful week we had!! I don't have time to go through everything, but I will definitely hit the highlights. Okay so, Tuesday we had a dinner appointment with this cool family and then on our way back home we were talking to this lady on the tram. She started talking to us in English because she heard us talking about what stop we had to get off on and everything. We tell her that we are here for our church and she says cool that is totally awesome. What church? We tell her and the second she realizes we are Mormons she turns her back and says "Oh I changed my mind, I'm Jewish." ... super random but also sad...Oh well. The cool part of the story is coming up. There was a lady sitting close by her who would smile at us and be nice. Both Zuster Aldous and I felt that we needed to talk to her so we did. When the other lady got off, we got a conversation going with her. She was really sweet and pretty interested. We gave her a Book of Mormon and everything. So hopefully things will get going with her.

Wednesday was full of miracles. We had a lot of free time in the morning to do contacting, so we started knocking doors near one of our potentials. No one was really answering but we decided to keep going. The next door we knocked was this really nice lady. She had a friend who was Mormon so she was pretty interested. She ended up letting us in!!! Super cool!. She loves learning about new religions and stuff. We gave her a Book of Mormon with our testimonies written in it. She was really cool. We couldn't get another appointment with her but she said she wants to drink some tea with us again and just talk. haha... Oh yeah, she gave us some tea and we told her we only drink kruiden tea..uhh herbal tea haha and she was like ya ya. So we get our tea and take a sip and as we are she tells us it is Black tea..Woops awkard. I felt bad....Oh well. Black tea tastes nasty. Later that night we went back to Isaac (the potential in that area) and he wasn't home but is younger siblings were. His sister said that in September she had gotten a Book of Mormon from some elders and was really interested. and his 4 year old brother was like "I want a book of my own" so we gave him one and he was super excited. She wants to be taught with her brother so we will try to get to them this week..the only hard part is that he is only home on Wednesday nights and this week we are going to the Netherlands for Zone training and we have to leave Wednesday night.

I am super nervous for Zone Training by the way...I am singing again. AHHHH I will let you know how that goes. Totally not ready.

But guess who is ready??? Eugeen!! We taught him about the law of tithing this week and he was soo accepting that he even wanted to pay extra because he had missed 90 years of his life. We told him he just needed to start when he got baptized. I love that man. He came to church and I think he really enjoy it.

There was a crazy wind storm this week and I heard it was pretty bad in the Netherlands. Good thing we are in Belgium and the weather is milder. I love it here. Seriously, I never want to leave.

Sunday was Sister Aldous's birthday!!! WOOOT So I made some breakfast burritos for her and they were pretty good. We then had a rocking dinner appointment after church. Then later that night we had strawberry shortcake! I will send pics..We got in a whipping cream fight. Hence the title " Whipped in the Face" haha I thought I was pretty clever. haha Anyways.

Happy Birthday Zuster Aldous

Whipped in the Face

This week I really realized how awesome our church is. A member showed us this Mormon message "The reason behind Christmas" or something like that and I almost cried my eyes out. The church is true. The Book of Mormon is the word of God and also a super awesome story that we can learn SOO much from. We can receive personal revelation as we read and ponder its words.

LOVE YOU SOOO MUCHHHHHHH WE GET TO TALK TO EACH OTHER SOON!! Woot;

p.s. Congrats to Jake Larson and Hannah Bradford! I wish them the best with their new companions and this step in their lives! Super exciting.

Love, Zuster Kohlert 

Week 25: New Companion....and TWO Upcoming Baptism!

HEY AWESOME FAMILY!!!

 

Well it sure sounds like everyone had a really great week this week. I love hearing all of the stories and whatnot. Thank you for the awesome pictures. You guys are seriously the coolest people ever. I am soo grateful for all that you guys do for me and the love that I feel from each of your letters.

 

This week was a really great week. Zuster Rigdon and I had a great time together and I really miss her but I am sure she is doing great things in Leeuwarden. Zuster Aldous and I are just BLOWING IT UP!!!! This week was soo great and I love her. She is super fun and perfect for Antwerpen.

 

We had soo many blessings this week that I dont think I can add everything in..Sorry. But where to begin, I dont know.

 

Monday we went bowling for Julie's birthday and it was SUPER FUN!! I love her and everything that she does for us.

 

Tuesday we had a great district meeting and a really cool lesson with an inactive member. She ended up calling her friend over and we got to give him a lesson. That was really cool. Then we had lekker Thanksgiving dinner with the Familie Schiltz. You guys know much about them. They are the best ever. I almost cried my eyes out and I am not even leaving Antwerpen.

 

Wednesday was transfers... WOOT WOOT. Haha I said goodbye to Rigdon..That was hard. Definitely crying. But we then had to wait for our new companions. Ended up playing some Mafia and Ninja in the station where no one was. It was really fun. Then Zuster Aldous arrived. I just love her to death. She is super cool. We went by some potentials but they weren't home so we just knocked doors. Guess who's door we knocked on first? BLAS. Haha And guess what he did. KISSED ME ON THE CHEEK. Haha super hilarious, but I was shocked. haha Then we went by the Schiltz to introduce Z. Aldous. They are just so awesome.

 

Thursday was AMAZING. In the morning we stopped by Victorias and Creolas and this is hilarious..We were sitting in this like kitchen thing and talking to Creola, when a guy comes in and they talk to each other in Romanian and then he goes into this small bathroom thing like 2 feet away from Zuster Aldous. It has this weird curtain-like thing as a door. Then while we are talking we hear the splashing of his poop in the toilet..HAHA it was super hard not to laugh. That was funny. We then had a lesson with Eugene. We reviewed the Restoration by watching the movie. Julie was the perfect Joint Teach for us. She just said everything that needed to be said. We then talked to him about baptism and GUESS WHO IS GETTING BAPTIZED ON THE 29TH? EUGEEN! We are super excited. And I think he is too. Then we had an amazing Thanksgiving dinner with the Taselaars (this older cute couple) and their daughter who is also in the ward. It was nice getting to know them better.

 

Friday we had a great day also!! Just met with some members and they were super sweet. Nothing super special except for Zuster Aldous got hit on by some guy in a tram. HILARIOUS. haha

 

Saturday. We went and made soup with the Schiltz, Stapaels, Boegaerts and Johan for the homeless. That was really fun. I wish I could send pictures but I don't feel like I have time because the elders are waiting for us....sorry. Then we took Creola to the church and gave her a tour. It was cool because Zuster aldous played the piano and I sung for her. She recorded us. Super hilarious. But the spirit was really strong. Then we stopped by a previous investigators house who had a baptismal date a month or so ago (who's wife is a less active) and we cleared some doubts with him and we set another baptismal date with him for the same day as Eugene. COOL HUH? So we have two baptismal dates!!! We are super blessed. Then we had another lekker Thanksgiving dinner with the Verhaegens who are the coolest people ever. It was really nice and super fun. I really missed having Thanksgiving dinner with you guys but it was still really great.

 

Sunday, Creola and Eugeen came to church. Great day. Paula got confirmed so that was cool for them to see. I think it went really well.

 

Okay I am out of time but I love you guys sooo much and I know this is the Lords work. I wouldnt have it any other way. I know I miss you guys like crazy but I will see you again. AM I CANT WAIT. I LOVE YOU SOOO MUCH AND MISS YOU!!! Party it up for me and Thanks for the pictures.

 

LOVE Zuster Kohlert

Week 24: Staying in Antwerpen

Hey family!!

First off, sorry I forgot to tell mom and dad for all the wonderful presents and packages that I got the other week! Seriously the best, especially the hot buffalo wing pretzels. LEKKER. And the double-stuffed Oreos.. THE BOMB.

Secondly, I AM STAYING IN ANTWERPEN!! Woot woot. Sadly Z. Rigdon is going to Leeuwarden...which is all the way at the top of the mission..She is going to freeze...I am going to miss her a lot. Bummer. BUT guess who my new comp is? You guys don't know her actually...But I think I have talked about her a little while ago...Drum roll please........Zuster Aldous!!!  .... I just have to tell you something. We just got a text from this cute lady in our ward who we have been working with. Her daughter brought a friend to church last week and she really liked it. There was also a baptism from the elders and she stayed for that also. So we just got a text from her saying: "Good morning Zuster. I have good news. The friend of Ashley wants to get baptized, will you guys help us please? " OF COURSE WE WILL HELP YOU! Awesome huh? So I will keep you updated on that. 

Okay back to what I was saying. So Zuster Rigdon got released as a Zuster Training Leader (which is great) and so now she can do normal missionary work! More great news, I am not the ZTL's companion anymore, so we can do REAL missionary work! Super excited.

Onward! haha This week was really good! We had an awesome turkey bowl last Monday for P-day! I miss playing american football so that was nice. We then had a really good FHE at Julies house. Julie loves you guys. I love her a lot. Ashley came and she just amazes me everyday. Really though. She was the one that brought her friend to church. I love her to death. 

Tuesday...OH MAN. Haha We had an awesome adventure with Bwatu that day. We had a lunch appointment so we met up with him and all he says is "follow me." So we follow him. (Keep in mind that he is from Congo and has awesome broken english and is just hilarious). He brings us to the bus stop and says "the bus is going to take too long, follow me." Next thing we knew, we were in a taxi going who knows where. That is against the rules but we didn't know what to do! Anyway, the taxi driver was hilarious, and a whole other story, but we did end up giving him a BOM. We pull up to this restaurant, walk in and it looks like a bar. The guys at the bar are all like " HEEEYYY hows it going" like they knew us..haha...Bwatu of course knew everyone there. We then walk to the back of the place and there are actually nicely dressed business people there eating. We kinda felt under-dressed and we were in our missionary attire. We ate something...I cant remember what it is called but yeah it had mussels, clams, squid, baby lobster looking things and shrimp with LEKKER rice. Zuster Rigdon doesn't really like seafood so guess who did awesome and ate all of it? Me:) It was actually really good. But it was just nuts. Probably doesn't sound that crazy but once I tell you the story in real life you will bust up. Haha 

Moving on to Tuesday....Remember that lady that called us on our way to Brussels 2 Fridays ago? We had our appointment with her on Wednesday and that went really well. Her daughter was just soaking up everything we said. We didn't get a return appointment but at least we planted a seed. 

Then we had a really good dinner with Bishop and his wife. They are super sweet people. Their kitchen just got remodeled so she was super excited for us to see it. It was GORGEOUS. 

Thursday we had Zone Training (which we had been planning for for like the whole week btw) and it was soo good. Haha You guys are not going to believe what we did...The whole zone reenacted Daniel 6 which is Daniel and the Lions den. Oh man. It was good. We even had the missionaries bring some costumes and we decorated. It was good. You guys probably think that that was pointless but we were focusing on the Spirit for Zone Training and Daniel is a super good example of being a true disciple and having the spirit IN him. You guys should read that story for FHE and then act it out for me. Please take pictures. Thanks. 

I learned sooo much. My presentation skills got better, my confidence and now I ENJOY contacting people. When we focus on having a strong spirit with us, it really does make a HUGE difference. I feel like this training has changed my whole outlook on missionary work. Echt Waar. My dutch is even getting better. Zuster Anjeweirden(?) and I even sung a duet together in front of everyone. It was ok but at least it brought the spirit. I hate singing in front of people.

Then I went to Gent with Zuster Brophy on exchanges and we put what we learned at Zone conference to use! AND I TOTALLY SAW A DIFFERENCE. We got so many potentials that night. Then Friday morning we were contacting and I saw this girl on the tram that I felt like I needed to talk to..She got off at the same stop as us but as I was going to stop her she like ran away. I was super bummed. When we were knocking on doors we came to some bell ups (hard to explain but maybe you know what they are) and I was like NO. We should just move on but Brophy just said come on there are only 6 of them. So we did them all. The first 5 were not interested but then the 6th was a lady who couldn't understand us very well so she had us come to her window. She had her daughter help her understand us and guess who her daughter was?? That girl on the tram that I was supposed to talk to. Crazy huh? The mom was SUPER interested. I am excited to hear about her. 

Zuster Rigdon and I got back together on Friday and did some contacting before our awesome dinner with the Schiltz family. While contacting this guy came up to us and was talking super close to our faces. His name is Blas and we joke that he is my new boyfriend because he was only paying attention to me.. Anyways when we gave him our info he looked at me and said "is this YOUR number?"Rigdon said "ya it is OUR number." He pretty much ignored her and was only interest in me. Haha He actually came to church..So funny.

Saturday we visited with the Willems for a little before lunch. Super cute old couple that speak really hardcore Antwerps...and I can never understand him. He gets frustrated. Haha its funny. But he taught us some funny words. Then we helped out our favorite, Julie! She made us LEKKER pudding and I helped sand down her door so that it wouldn't get stuck anymore. (Julie, ik weet dat u dit zal lezen. Haha Ik houd van u. jij bent de beste ooit en gelukkig verjaardag! Wij zullen je vanavond zien!)

We are going bowling for Julies Birthday today! It is going to be awesome!!!!! I am super excited. 

 

Eugeen is doing great! I wasnt there for his lesson but I heard it went well. I will be seeing him on thanksgiving:)

Victoria and Creola are good, didn't get to have a lesson with them this week but hopefully this upcoming one. 

TASI! Guess what? That song you sung for me, the I Need Thee Every Hour one. well I heard it the other day and started crying hardcore. It sounded just like you. Anyways. I love you and miss you tons! Thanks for the awesome email!! 

I hope you guys all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. The members here are really taking care of us, I love them soo much! This IS the true church. I miss you tons and cant wait to hear from you! 

Sing beautiful songs for me!! and dont forget to act out Daniel 6. THanks. haha Love you!!!

Zuster KOHLERT 

Week 23: Alma 32

Hey family!!! Mom and Dad! Thank you for all the treats and presents! I got them from Julie last Monday and they are totally awesome. I haven't opened all of the presents because I will save them for Christmas! I am so grateful that you guys had a great trip and a lovely time with the members here. 

I got a big hug from Zuster Boegaerts and Julie when I saw them. They are both in love with you two. Z. Boegaerts told me not to change myself and to stay spontaneous like my momma! I hear that you met the ZLs and pretended to be a visitor from Germany. Haha So great. the Elders told me that you (Mom) and I are exactly the same and I am very proud of that:) Haha! 

This week was a weird week but still really awesome. Things with Eugene are good. I think I told you that he fell and hurt himself so now he has to either move to a rest home or move in with his kids..Jammer. We will see what happens with him this upcoming week. 

We didn't get to meet with Marisa this week...Total bummer. She is kinda flaking on us which sucks but we hope we can get an appointment with her this week. 

Remember the Romanians? Victoria and her friend Creola? Well we stopped by their appointment the other day and they were totally open and happy to see us. We read Alma 32 With them and it was super spiritual. Creola was so excited because that scripture answered a question she had. She bought a pot a couple of months ago that said something like "the pot is the hope and the flower is the gift or faith or something" Anyways she was wondering what that meant and after reading she was super excited because she understood what that meant. (If you don't know what I am talking about you should probably read Alma 32 this week)

Zuster Rigdon had another meeting in the Netherlands so that meant a lot of traveling and me spending time in Maastricht knocking doors. I do have to say that I am getting a little better at my Dutch. Haha Whenever we are by Julie she always gets super mad if we say anything in English..thanks mom:).  

We went to the youth stake fireside on Friday night which was super good and also Saturday night we had the adult session of Stake Conference. That was SOOOOOO GOOOD! the Area Seventy who spoke was so bold and just said everything that everyone needed to say. He definitely is pushing the members to do their part of missionary work and I think it is great. He is also pushing us to do better. I think it is fantastic. 

Haha.. Saturday night the Turnhout sister slept over (because we had stake conference in Brussels on Sunday) so we decided to have a competition to see who could finish a can of whipping cream the fastest. I didn't win.. I thought I was going to though. Haha It was fun. 

Sunday was fabulous. We picked up Ashley (one of the youth who we reactivated) and went to conference with brother Schiltz. He is totally awesome btw. He told me about Belgium and life in the car. He is really a cool guy and can't wait for you guys to meet them when you come pick me up. Stake Conference was great. When the Seventy spoke..it was sooo good. Ashley was even crying (which means of course I was crying). She told us that she really wants to go on a mission and is going to start preparing now. Soooo cool. 

Here is just a thought: I remember the feeling of the day you guys dropped me off at the MTC and how sad I was and all the different mixes off emotions. Do you guys remember that? I do. Anyways. That feeling you guys had, the feelings we had were the same feelings that we had when we left our Father in Heaven except for those feelings were even stronger. Heavenly Father gave us a big hug and said "I will see you again." I cant imagine how he feels now as he watches live our lives. He just loves us sooo much. He knows that being here on earth is what we need to be doing in order to be happier and perfect like him. Just like how you guys know we need to be on a mission right now in order to be better when we get home. Thank you for all of the support you guys give me. I know this is the church of Jesus Christ. I know that I am not perfect but by live the gospel and following the words of the prophets, we can become perfect, we CAN live together forever. 

This is the work of the Lord and I am so excited to be helping and doing my part. I love you guys a ton. Hope I didn't forget anything.

Transfer calls are next week..I think I am going to be staying in Antwerpen....sadly that means Zuster Rigdon is leaving..but we won't know until next week! 

Steph thank you for the letter! I will write back asap. LOVE YOU SOOOOOOOO MUCH!!! Keep being awesome. 

Zuster Kohlert

Week 22: Can't Believe I saw Soeur Hilton in Brussels

Hello family!! And parents who are in the same city as me right now...that is totally nuts! haha

I hope that everything is going well with my siblings and my missionary parents. Haha I busted up laughing when mom said that she talked to 20 people about the church. I should give Julie some pass along cards to give to you so that way you can hand them out. haha That would be really great actually.

Anyways! Sorry for the bummer letter last week. I have now learned that the Lord gives us downs to prepare us for the ups (and vis versa (I suck at spelling?)). This week was just Full of miracels so I hope that I can remember to tell you all about them. haha

I am sooo excited for mom and dad to be hanging out with the members in my ward! You guys are going to have so much fun! Sister Boegaerts said that she was going to drive you by our apartment so I think I am going to surprise you..Just a heads up, Look at the first level of windows and you might see something there!(:

Okay, so Tuesday was a great day! We had Distric Meeting, which is ALWAYS amazing because Elder Cooper is our district leader and he totally follows the spirit. The church kitchen was full of stuff so we went to eat at Janky Shaorma. That was really fun and lekker. Then we went and visited Thinely ( the girl from Tibet...? or somewhere..she is a little hard to understand) And we had a good talk just about life. Her brother was there so we also gave him a BOM. We set up an appt to meet with them tomorrow. It will be really interesting because they are Buddists and dont believe in Christ. I am excited. Then we stopped by Marisa's house! She was that lady who stopped us on the street. She was super cute and so we made another appt with her. (Just you wait...there is more about her on the way!)

Wednesday we had a really good lesson with Eugeen. He still is having a hard time understanding the difference between our church and other churches so we taught him about the priesthood and the restoration again. Thank goodness we had this member named Javier there because we would have totally confused the poor guy. He totally helped explaining the priesthood better. Then we had dinner with the Schiltz. MY FAVORITE PEOPLE EVER! It was such a great meal and good time. We listened to Christmas music and sung hymns together. It was just gezellig. I felt like I was at home with you guys and just having a great time. I miss you guys a lot..so it helps to have a great couple like the Schiltz.

Thursday I was in Turnhout..doing a lot of what I hate...Door knocking. But hey. It wasn't that bad. I just need to be happier when I do it. No one wants to listen to someone who isn't happy! I learned a lot. But meanwhie. Zuster Rigdon and Zuster Clement were having a great day in Antwerpen! Contacting like crazy and having a great lesson with Victoria's friend (Creola) and friends daughter (Roxanna). Victoria was too tired or something. But they had a really great lesson with them. Super positive so hopefully the ball will get rolling with them when we had another lesson tomorrow.

Friday I went to Brussels to get my Belgium visa card! Woot. It is super ugly but oh well. haha BUT GUESS WHAT!? On our way down there we got a call for this lady that Z. Rigdon and Z. Clement talked to..They were lost so they went to her house to ask and she helped them so in return they gave her a BOM even though she wasnt really religious. When her kids came down stairs they asked what the book was about and the lady said "jesus" and the little girl shuttered. So She called us to apologize that her daughter had shuttered...It wasn't because she didnt like Jesus, she just thought of the suffering that he had been through. She went on and said that she was reading the BOM with her kids that night and she felt bad that she didnt know anything about it...so that is why she called us. We made an appt with her for the 20th so we are super excited about that. Super cool miracle eh? I think so! I hope that made sense. AND we were walking out of the law building and guess who I saw??? Sister Hilton! One of the sisters that Kristy trained in Rennes! Cool eh? We talked a little and that was fun. I will send a picture. That night we helped out with one of our favorite members Bday party. That was fun!

Saturday! Woot. We taught Marisa the restoration and it went really good. The spirit was totally there! She told us she was going to go to church and it was just awesome. She is totally ready. That night the young womens in the stake had a fashion show..that was hilarious and fun.

Sunday...GUESS WHO CAME TO CHURCH!? Marisa!! And her son. I think she really enjoyed it. I know that her son had a lot of fun. Afterwards he held my hand on the way to the tram. it was cute. So yea!

Great week! Totally blessed! (:

Love you guys sooo much! I hope everything is going great and I JUST LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

Zuster Kohlert

P.S.  The following is a letter that Sister Hilton (the missionary that Kristy trained) wrote to Kristy about seeing Nicole in Brussels:

This last Friday Soeur Johns and I went to Brussels to do my legality.  We get off the metro and we join up with Elder Smith and Elder Nicholson.  All of a sudden a SWARM of really unfamiliar-looking missionaries appeared. It all happened so fast, and suddenly there was a sister missionary introducing herself to me.  She said her name was "Sister Kohlert."  Seriously the wierdest moment.  I was so confused!  I was thinking to myself, "No way, Sister Kohlert is shorter and lives in Luxembourg!"  Then all the pieces fell together in my dazed brain and I freaked out... Yes... I saw your sister.

She is seriously the happiest missionary I've ever seen.  She seems like she is really really loving her mission. We chatted/screamed about you for a few minutes and took pictures.  She looks so much like you...it was surreal.  I'm sorry that it was me that saw her and not you.  But it was meant to be because they actually had a refferal for us and they didn't know there were sisters in Liege, and we have a referral for them, and I had forgotten there were sisters in Antwerp! 

Also, her companion was Sr John's Relief Society President at BYU freshman year!  It was seriously so crazy!

Anyway, I love you to pieces and seeing your sister just made me miss you even more!  I loved getting your letter and I'm so happy to hear that your mission is so much calmer now:)  Oh and HAPPY 9th MONTH MARK bientôt:)  

love love love,

Sr Hilton

Week 21: Feeling the Spirit on the Bus

Hey family and friends!! How are things going with you guys? Thank you for all of the emails and love. It really helps.

 

Sooooo Today we went to Brugge so I don't have much more time to write my big letter. I am really sorry. But know that I pray for you daily and I wish the best for you.

 

This week went by soooo quickly but also sooo slowly. We had our awesome Halloween party and that was a blast!!! I wish I had time to send pictures.

 

Tuesday we went on exchanges and I was with Zuster Clement! Woot. Cool story from that day. We were riding on the bus back to Antwerpen and there was this super sad looking lady on the bus so I told Zuster Clement that we were going to talk to her. I just had a strong feeling that we should. So when we got off the bus we awkwardly started a conversation with her. Her name ins Victoria and she is fro, Romania but speaks English. When I was talking to her about the Book of Mormon. I have never felt the spirit that way before. I didn't have to try to speak. The words were coming from my mouth. She was touched and really was interested. SO we got her info and brought her a book later this week and she was super positive. We are teaching her this week. I cant put into words how uplifting that experience was for me. The Lord works wonders ya all. Haha

 

We had a really good lesson with Eugeen this week.. We talked a little about baptism and he doesn't see the difference between his church and ours so this week we are going to focus on the Priesthood and how important it is and hopefully set a baptismal date. Imagine baptizing a 91 year old. Nuts huh? I think it would be soo cool. Haha

 

Everything else is pretty much the same. I love my comp and we are just loving life...Saturday was a really hard day for me for some reason...Just super homesick and feeling worthless but by Sunday I felt better and realized that our ward here is great and the gospel is true.

 

I am sorry I don't have much more room. Haha I almost kissed one of the sisters in our ward yesterday because we were going in to kiss cheeks and we both went to the same side..haha Awkward but super hilarious.

 

And we went to Brugge today..I hope I didn't already say that but it is BEAUTIFUL AND AWESOME! Can't wait to send pics.

 

Other than that. it is normal life.

 

I love and miss you guys tons. Probably too much because I have dreams almost every night of seeing you. It will get better though.

Love you!!!!

Zuster Kohlert

Week 20: I Love to See the Temple

Hello family!!! How are things going with you guys!! I cant believe that mom and dad will be in the same time zone as me pretty soon. CRAZY. I am really excited that you guys get to travel together though. It should be pretty fun! haha 

Well this week was a great week because we got to go to the temple. Oh man. I miss going to the temple. It seriously is one of the best places on earth. I cant wait to go more when I get back. 

If you look on our missions blog thing there are some good pictures! If I have time I will send some but it doesn't look like I will. We have some really awesome missionaries in our mission. Man I wish that I could be as cool as they are. So fired up about the work and just sooo selfless. I have lots to work on. Haha

It was weird going to the Netherlands for the temple. It really is a totally different country. haha So clean. haha and the people even look different. I can't explain it but it just weird how people can live so close to each other but yet be so different. I do have to say that I really love Belgium. haha 

Haha....funny story. There is an Elder in Kortrijk named elder Stoddard. Anyways, he pretty much has like the same life story as I do. Weird. He grew up in California, then moved to Oregon (Clackamas area), and then moved to Utah for high school. But we got talking about Orgeon and how awesome it was. He told me that he actually took violin lessons in West Linn... And I was like, "NO Way", that is funny because I took violin there too. I asked him who his teacher was and he is like "Oh her name was Lori and she had two dogs and one of them would sing along while we practiced" My mouth just dropped. We had the same violin teacher!!! So we got talking about how we probably have met and all of these things. It's a small world. What are the chances that we would meet in Belgium? Crazy huh?

Haha sooooo Blessing (the guy we had a baptismal date with) hasn't answered his phone this week..Jammer. But we just got to keep going. We will see if we can get a hold of him this week. 

MIRACLE/CUTEST THING EVER. So we had a lesson with our 91 year old investigator named Eugeen. So cute. Anyway, we taught him the plan of salvation and he loved it and really took it well. His wife and son are dead so he is excited that he can meet them again. At the end of our lesson he goes "You guys asked if you can do anything for me last time you were here and I have been thinking about it. I don't know if it is supposed to be something physical or spiritual but I did think of something. Will you pray for me that I can live longer. Will you pray that I live longer so I can learn more about this gospel and be prepared to meet my wife again." I almost cried. He is so cute. I wish we could get him baptized asap..We never know when he will pass away  He is super sincere. So if you can, pray for him. 

Ann was sick this week so she canceled her lesson but what was really cool is that she let us help her out. We went to the store for her and just helped her out while she was sick. I love when people let us help them out. It makes me feel like they trust me! Its good stuff. 

Haha funny story. Z Rigdon and I were on the tram the other day, haha and it was soo crowded that I was holding onto her as a support while she was holding onto a pole. Haha Then the tram stopped very suddenly and both of us just fell and squished two men. My head landed on this guys chest haha, and it was soooo awkward. Haha We were trying really hard not to bust up laughing. 

We met this awesome family from India this week. The parents don't speak English, but the daughter does and she is so cute. We went and visited them and she told us how crazy it is in India and how bad it is. But I felt so much love for her. You could tell that she really trusted us even though she barely knew us. She asked for our contact information so that we could be friends after my mission. She even told us that we were her first friends here in Belgium. I am so blessed to meet such awesome people. We are all so blessed to have the safety we have and the freedom. I love you guys. 

On Saturday we went to a baptism! Isaac got baptized! He is an investigator of sister clement (the one from our stake)! Because we go on exchanges often, Zuster Rigdon and I have both been able to teach lessons to him so he feels like one of our investigators. What a great service. I love the spirit at baptisms. So fresh and strong. It was a good reminder that things can happen here. 

Dad, thank you for the email this week. I almost started crying my eyes out. You know that I have learned to be the person I am because you and mom have taught me so well. You and mom make so many sacrifices for me, its insane. So THANK YOU for everything that you guys do. 

I can't wait to hear about your trip to Europe! It is going to be a blast!!!! Haha I love you all so much! Hope everything goes good with life and school. Lauren, I sent you an email..I think it should help.

Zuster Kohlert

Week 19: Modern Day Prophets

Well....This week kinda felt like a long week..with nothing too exciting but we still did some good work! (:

 

Remember An? Well we had a lesson with her this week that went really well. It was cool because we taught her the restoration and before we had even gotten to Joseph Smith and modern day prophets she asked Who is the prophet on the earth today then? So cool because she is pretty open and everything. She really wants to know what happens after this life. It is sooo cool...hard to explain over an email...It is sooo awesome that we have the knowledge we do. We know where we came from, why we are here and where we are going after this life. We are sooo blessed(: haha

 

The rest of this week we met with a lot of less actives and had a lot of food. Z. Rigdon and I decided we are going on a diet and actually working out in the morning! Today we bought a lot of vegetables and are actually planning on eating them. I was sick this week so it was hard for me to get through this week without being super tired but I am feeling a little bit better now.

 

Hahaha side note. Z. Rigdon was having a hard time sleeping so she listens to me while I sleep. I snore loud. Real loud especially because I am sick but anyways. I was talking a lot in my sleep and at one point I snapped in my sleep. Like a lot of snaps..hahah she told me and we just started busting up. It was really funny. How do you even snap in your sleep? haha Who knows. haha

 

Thank you for everything. You guys are seriously the best. I don't know what else to say but I love you! This gospel is true. Be the best you and remember to be example to those around you..just simple things like helping someone with their cart or something. haha I am just preaching to the choir now...Happy Halloween soon!!

 

We get to go to the temple next week!! SOOO EXCITED! I love the temple and miss it sooo much. We need to go more often together when we are all back together.

 

Dad, How is the mouth feeling now? (:

 

LOVE YOU!!!!

 

Z Kohlert

Week 18: OOOPPPSSS She did it again....

Well folks...I did it again. Let me explain what went on first. So...Zuster Rigdon and I were returning to our apartment after a good day. Neither of us had gone to the bathroom for the whole day...and you know what happens when I don't go to the bathroom right? You guessed it, I peed my pants! We were only a 5 minute walk from our apartment...soo embarrassing. haha.

First off y'all, I am staying in Antwerpen for another transfer with Zuster Rigdon!! Woot woot. I am so excited because the work is going good here and I would hate to leave. haha I love it here so much.

Zuster Rigdon and me with our Ward Mission Leader

Second...I got my hair cut. Tas you would be proud because it is shorter than my shoulders....AHHHH. I don't know how I feel about it but hey, it will grow back! I will try to sen a picture of that for you guys. And then you will have to let me know what you think. Don't Judge because I already have confidence issues. Haha I just did it because I wanted a  change...haha (: I am happy though! (:

Short Hair!

This week was sooooooo goooddddd!! Okay so we got some new investigators! I told you about Blessing, the guy who came to conference right? Well we set a baptismal date with him for the 30th of November so pray for him please! We also finally got another lesson with Sena. We told her to keep the 30th of Nov in mind and she said she would. She is not quite sure how her family will take the news of her getting baptized again. But hey, that is awesome huh guys??? Oh and We are teaching this guy named Dirk and we set a baptismal date for him on the 7th of december! So excited for him! Keep them all in your prayers.

Hmm what else happened? Oh so Julie Van Wauwe is in the states still and she got to see the Prophet! Cool huh? That was her biggest dream..we kinda laughed at her for it..now we feel bad because it happened. we are sooo excited for her.

I feel like sooo much happened this week but I can't remember it because I left my planner at home on accident...stupid move huh? But the last two days we had full schedules and guess what? Pretty much every appointment fell through..so that wasn't fun. but we still had a good time. I am sooo glad that we are both staying in Antwerpen. It is not very common for trainers and trainees to stay together for more than 2 transfers.

So if I am staying until the 23rd is of Nov does that mean you guys are going to be in Antwerpen the same time as I? I need details about your work trip! Send me letters now(: Haha Thanks! I don't know if I forgot anything but It is going great here! I love you guys sooo much!!! Hope you are each thinking of someone to reach out to before Christmas because Elder Ballard challenged you to do that! Haha you guys are great.

LOVE YOU SOOO MUCH! Zuster Kohlert