YEAH BYU!!!

From e-mail dated Novermber 30, 2009

Woohoo! I'm so excited! Way to go BYU!!! They'd just better win next year, too (so that my last year at BYU will be a win).

I'm glad that the play went well and that you had a good Thanksgiving. I'm also glad that you enjoyed that chocolate and waffles. How's Marci, by the way? I'm sorry the tape is so boring-- I really had no idea what to say. Maar goed. Today I'm writing a Christmas letter to the ward that I'll probably just send to the house--so you can pass it on to the Bishop or whatever...

As for the referral from Pat--we are only allowed to open emails from immediate family, so even if she sent it, I wouldn't be able to open it. It's best if you forward it on.

This week we had a cool experience. On P-day we went to something called Noah’s Ark. Basically a man from the Netherlands thought the country should believe more in God, and thought that building a replica of Noah’s Ark would help to raise awareness about God. It was cool to go there and see what he’s done and how he backs up the Bible with science and such, but even cooler was that we got a chance to talk to some of the people that volunteer there about the gospel. We talked with a couple of young men who didn’t believe in Christ as they grew up—in fact, they knew very little about Him—but they came to Noah’s Ark and felt a little bit of something. Over the next few months, they had a number of experiences that led them to believe in Christ as their Savior and they have completely turned their lives around because they now believe. We talked with them about the restoration and they were really open about it. It was a really neat experience and the Spirit was really strong as we talked with them. It was amazing to see how learning about the Atonement of Jesus Christ could change these young men’s lives. If you want to check out Noah's Ark, they have a website--just google it (I don't remember the website off the top of my head). They are currently working on building one that is supposed to be the actual size of the ark. Pretty crazy! But super cool. I know, I've turned into a gospel freak--I basically love everything having to do with the gospel. One of the pictures is of me with the Kangaroos in the ark because the boys like kangaroos (if I remember right).

Also, this week we finally got in contact with a member who went inactive the week after she got baptized. Missionaries and the ward have been trying to contact her ever since then, but have never been able to. One of the members felt like she should go by, and this girl happened to be home. The member set up an appointment so that we could go over. We were able to talk with her about what has been going on—and she talked about becoming depressed because the missionaries who taught her got transferred the week after she got baptized, and then she didn’t want to come back to church. Talking with her reaffirmed my conviction of the importance of helping investigators form relationships with members. We are hoping to help her develop those relationships and help her return to the church.

As for the other pictures, one is of us and part of Familie Todorovic (the ones from Yugoslavia) and one is of a few of us missionaries outside the Van Gogh Museum a couple of weeks ago (this is my favorite Van Gogh painting).

Well, I've gotta get running, but know, as always, that I love you. I've been studying this week in the Pearl of Great Price to prepare for Zone Conference tomorrow, and it has been AMAZING! One thing I really got a reaffirmed testimony of is the strength that comes as we remember who we are as sons and daughters of God. Even as Satan came to try to tempt Moses, one of the first things he tried to take away from Moses was his identity as a son of God by calling him a son of man. But, Moses was able to stay strong because he knew he was a son of God. Always remember that you are sons and daughters of God and you are here on earth for a very specific reason. I love you so much!

Zuster Fowler