Week 72: Homeward Bound

God is great. This week has been such a beautiful week and I am so grateful that our loving Heavenly Father has blessed us sooo much. I will have to tell you more details on THURSDAY but I just wanted to let you know that I love the this gospel. I love the happiness that it has brought in my life and the lives of others. This is the Church of Jesus Christ and He guides us and helps us to return safely to our Heavenly Father. I know that He listens to our prayers.

 

I want to share an awesome experience that I had while on exchanges in Maastricht. We had just gotten out of a lesson and we didn't have anything until 8 or so that night. Sister Reeder just looked at me and said I feel like we should drop by some flowers to this less active that lives nearby, would you mind if we go to the store quickly and get some flowers and then drop them by. I said "guuurrl that is a fine idea!" WE got flowers and biked to her house and then rang on her doorbell. She lets us in and she looked kind of surprised and out of breath. But we thought nothing of it. We sat down and started talking and then randomly this member said "I am so glad you guys are here. I was just having a freak out moment (she has depression and other medical problems) and running up and down and I couldn't stop myself. So I prayed to God that He would help me and 5 minutes later you guys rang on my doorbell." We were so shocked. THat my firends is how Heavenly Father answers prayers. As we are open and receptive to the Spirit, we can be a blessing to others. I hope that we all can continue to strive for that Spirit. I am so sorry for my short email but I will be seeing you all soon. Thank you for you support and love! I love you so much!!! (:

 

Oh by the way sister Maughan is staying in Utrecht and is going to be training....AAHHHH. She is going to to great!! We should definitely pray for her.

 

LOVE YOU! THANK YOU!!!!!!

 

Liefs,

Zuster Kohlert

Week 71: JULLIE ZIJN DE BESTE OOIT.

Hey family!!!!! 

It's starting to get FREEZING cold here..how is the weather in Utah? I should probably buy some warm clothes or something because I don't think I have any clothes at home. (haha mom is probably snorting saying "ha funny, she has tons of clothes") haha But anyways. I am so grateful that I am a missionary! It's so awesome the things we are able to experience out here! This week was FULL of meetings, conferences and firesides! It was so great to be spiritually uplifted and to be able to see all my friends before I leave. It's crazy to think that I will be chilling with you guys in just over a week. I am so excited.

Zwarte Piet! He is Sinterklaas's helper

We had turkey bowl this week and it was sooo much fun! (: We went to Rotterdam and played at this park called Karlingse Bos and it's just such a great place. Brings back good memories from when I served there. Afterwards we had a wonderful family home evening at family Dubbelds and Fiston (one of our investigators) came! (: He really had a great time! It was fun. SO it was a miracle that he made it and that family Dubbeld was so open and welcoming.

Feeding the Birds After the Turkey Bowl

Tuesday I went on exchanges with sister Watkins, she is from my same MTC group so we just had a blast doing missionary work! We even listened to some awesome Mormon TAB christmas music haha That is the best way to warmth into your soul when your whole body is freezing. haha

 Wednesday we had a zone conference with Elder Moriera, an area authority or 70? I am not quite sure, but he is sooo great! He taught us about how important Repentance is and that we need to repent to receive mercy. Of course I knew that before but the way he taught it was just amazing. Repenting is joyful! (: ahaha And I also gave what we call my "dying testimony". Pretty much the missionaries that are "dying" give their testimony to all of the other missionaries. I cried. But I think it went okay. Wednesday night we brought our investigator Hans over to dinner at family Dubbelds (again, they seriously are amazing) and it went well. We had a good spiritual thought and enjoyed our time with them.

Thursday was great! haha We did some contacting and we ended being "held hostage"(not really) for an hour by a muslim who was trying to convince us of his religion but it wasn't working. haha And we couldn't get away. Strange people. We had lunch with a member from Almere! Madelon. SHe is great. Then we went with Fiston to a fireside in Den Haag where Elder Moriera also spoke and the spirit was strong. Fiston decided that he wants to serve a mission with his wife when he is older. We also had thanksgiving dinner on the train. haha It was a really fun thanksgiving. Definitely one I won't ever forget.

My Parents Away from Home

Friday I had mission leader council which is where all the leaders (zone leaders, sister training leaders, ap's and president and sister robinson) get together to talk about the mission and what we can to do help the mission out. Elder Moriera was there so he talked with us the whole time. He is great. I learned a lot about the importance of the spirit and also the importance of marriage and raising families. haha kinda funny that we would learn about that but we did. It was just so great to be able to see my friends again. :) I love the missionaries here. And president and sister Robinson are also amazing.

Sister Training Leaders

This week I learned about how important it is to use your time wisely and how sometimes we just need to give investigators some time to themselves in order to help them progress. We are praying and working to find a stable family for this ward and I would love it if you guys prayed with us! Thank you :) You guys are amazing.

I am so grateful for the agency that I have and that I can choose what I want my life to be. Heavenly Father is loving and amazing. And has made sure that we have good choices to choose from:) That is why he has given us Jesus Christ and the gospel. (: haha I love Him. He listens to you and to me.

Picture of the Utrecht Train Station Bike Stall

Love you and can't wait to see you!!!

Zuster Kohlert