Geweldig ervaringen! MTC: Week 7

From e-mail dated 18 March, 2009

Hoi!
Hoe gaat het met jullie? (How's it going with ya'll?)This week has been full of AMAZING experiences and there are so many more to come in the next few days. I'm super stoked! Where to begin?
Okay, first - thanks for the letters and the package. The caramel brownies are phenomenal--heel lekker! Het is een van mign lievelings eten (very delicious! It is one of my favorite foods). Thanks for the shirts, as well. I really appreciate that. Sorry for the hassle. Tell Renee thanks for her letter. She cracks me up. I love that girl! Tell her that you say "thank you" by saying "bedankt" or "dank u wel." ...
Okay - so - I'm not sure how much time I'll have for writing letters for the next few weeks -Because 1) This week I have to move rooms because all of the sisters that were in my room from my branch left this morning, so I need to move into the room with the other sisters in my branch that just arrived last week (there are 3--Sister Ekstrom who is going to my mission [we just got made companions on Monday for the duration of my stay at the MTC], Sister Reed and Sister Robson who are going to Denmark). We are the only 4 sisters in the branch now--and it will be that way until two new sisters arrive next week. 2) Next week I'll be packing to leave! I'm leaving in only 12 days!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!! I'm so excited, and a little freaking out - but only a little--mostly excited. And 3) I'm not sure when our P-day is when I get to the Netherlands - so I'll get an email off next week, but I'm not sure about when I'll be writing after that or if I'll get any snail mail off to anyone. So, if you could tell everyone thanks for their letters and support! Kristi, Gaelin, Kate, Amy, Charisse, Shane, and Liz! I will do my best to write everyone back as quickly as possible, but it may take a few weeks.
So, as I briefly mentioned--I officially have a companion again. Sister Ekstrom is from Alaska and is going to the Netherlands. She is AMAZING! She is my companion until I leave and then she will be in a threesome with the Danish Sisters. So, we are pretty much sticking together as a foursome so that it isn't a weird transition for any of them when I leave.
These new sisters are amazing! I absolutely love them already. I'm so excited to get to know them better over these next couple of weeks.
Okay, so on to my experiences that have happened this week. It has been a phenomenal week, full of ups and downs, but the ups DEFINITELY outweight the downs.
We have a district goal to speak as much Dutch as possible until we leave--so we are having complete English fasts and Fridays and English fasts during every meal. It is amazing! I'm learning so much quicker as I try to say everything I can in Dutch. The Lord definitely blesses you as you work hard.
Last Friday, during our English fast, we taught Broeder Bond as our progressing investigator, "Tijs." It was AMAZING! The spirit was super strong. We watched "Finding Faith in Christ" and testified of the reality of the Savior. (I definitely recommend watching the movie for FHE this week). Saturday in my review of progress meeting with Broeder Bond, he thanked me for the lesson and said it was the best lesson we had given--and that he left the MTC that day feeling his testimony had been strengthened. It was AWESOME!
Then Monday we taught the second lesson and the word of wisdom in Dutch. It was a little shaky language wise, but the spirit was there and it ended up going really well...
Then last night was our devotional night. I absolutely LOVE Tuesdays at the MTC. All of the Elders were making guesses about which general authority would come--whether it would be a Seventy or one of the Twelve. They asked me my guess, and I said L. Tom Perry. Well, now the Elders think I have the spirit of prophecy or something - but really, I'm just a good guesser! He talked about the importance of companionships and how companions are so vital to the work. It was really good for me to hear. I think it is going to be interesting for me to actually have a full time companion.
Other than that - this Sunday we get to participate in the Draper Temple dedication. The auditorium is becoming "an extension of the temple." Wow! What an experience! I'm so excited that we get this opportunity.
Well, I'm almost out of time!!! AAAH! So, I'm going to book it. I'll let you know about the dedication next week. I love you all! Thanks for everything!
Met al mijn liefde!
Zuster Fowler