Wanica--language barrier

Oh boy we had such a good week! I absolutely love it here in Wanica! It's so fun working in a new area. It's so different here, it's such an adventure! And this week we had one of my favorite members from Tammenga (my old branch) come on a mini mission with us. Her name is Monica and she is amazing. She is almost 17 and she has been baptised for about a year and she is so excited about missionary work. She always says she just wants to be older so she can leave on her mission! She had a vacation from school and she begged her mom to let her come out and work with Zuser Wood and I for the week. I'm so impressed with her. I don't know if I would've wanted to give up my vacation to go out with the missionaries when I was 17! She's a boss!

So suriname is crazy. There are so many different Languages that people speak here. So you have Dutch, which people learn in school, then there is Sranan-tongo which is the street language everyone speaks, then Saramacons and Ocons which are the jungle languages. Those are the languages that people speak who live in villages out in the Jungle. It's crazy right? Well Zuster Wood and I are teaching a couple who only speak Saramacons, they know a little Dutch but not much. So we have to bring a member who knows Saramacons who can translate. So this week we had my first lesson with them and it was so cool! I was speaking to the member in Dutch and then he would translate what I would say into Saramacons. We were talking to them about the plan of salvtion. And the women, Jackie told us that she had 2 children who died when they were very young and how it broke he heart and all she wants to be is a mother. When she told us that the spirit hit me so strong. And I testified to them (in dutch) about how she would be able to be a mother to her children one day and that she would be able to live with them forever. The spirit was so strong in that lesson we were all in tears. It was so cool because even though there was a language barrier and we couldn't really understand each other the spirit was the same. And we were all able to feel it! It's so awesome! 

Well I hope y'all have a good week love you

-Zuster Christiansen

WANICA

It's been such a crazy good week! This was my first week in my new area with my new companion, Zuster Wood. Zuster Wood is amazing! I am so excited for this next transfers I just know God has some miracles in store for us!

So for the past 6 months I have been serving in the same branch in the city. It was really hard to leave all the people there, they had become my family. But I was so excited for the next adventure Heavenly Father had waiting for me. My new area is Wanica and it's out in the country/jungle. It's so different from where I was serving before. There is long dirt roads with fields and jungle on the side. It's such an adventure, I love it :) And we bike so much! haha our area is huge! Oh boy I am getting buff legs! Ha but I love it here. It's crazy how I just feel at home where ever I am. I just know that God has placed me here in this area at this time for a reason. And that there are people in this crazy jungle country that I need to meet and bring the gospel to! Gosh it's seriously the best. I know this is exactly where I'm supposed to be. And I can't wait to give my heart and service to the people here in Wanica. I love them so much already it's crazy. 

We had a good week! The area here is super new to sisters so it's basically like we are starting out with a fresh area. I'm so pumped to go out and find the people God is preparing for us to meet! We don't have too many investigators so we are gonna be hitting the streets this week to find some awesome people ready to accept the gospel. I'm excited, it'll be really fun to go on an adventure through our area. 

I've got a funny story for y'all this week. So in sacrament meeting yesterday I was sitting in between a bunch of little girls. (whats new all girls here are obsessed with my hair) .They were playing with this rose and in the middle was a bud fabric type thing. One of the little girls starts pulling out the fabric in the middle. And it's like a string. All of a sudden one of the little girls holds up this string in front of her and I realized that she's holding up a red lingerie thong!!!!  The girls were just wondering what it was and I was dying laughing. It was so funny. Good times in the Wanica Branch. I love y'all have a good week! 

Met liefde,

Zuster C 

Easter//Transfers

Happy Easter :) Wow what  a week! I don't have a lot of time to email this week so my letters going to be short, sorry! I'm at a members house right now and they are about to take me and my comp to this really cool place in the city. We got transfer calls and after 6 months here in the tammenga branch I'm being transferred to wannica. It's really bitter sweet! I'm so excited for the new adventure ahead in wannica but I'm going to miss everyone here so much! I've fallen in love with the people here. I love all my investigators and members and I've had a blast serving with them.. It's going to be hard to leave. But I really am excited for all the new adventures that await me. My new companions name is zuster wood. She's awesome. I'm so exited to serve with her :) 

General conference was amazing! Oh boy it really is like the super bowl for us missionaries. I just absolutely love hearing from those amazing and truly inspired men and women. I can't wait to get the ensign with all the talks so I can read them again! Hahah I learned so much. Well I love yall sorry the email was short. But I'm happy and absolutely loving it here in Suriname. Have a great week! Love you :) 

Zuster C

New Investigator

It's been a good week! It rained a lot haha I'm really starting to turn into a Surinamer cuz I am freezing if it's anything less than 85 outside! So if it's rained all day and I'm soaking wet when we bike home at night I have goosebumps!

We have an investigator Estelle. She is so amazing and such a miracle. She had a book of mormon at her house and started reading from it before we even started teaching her. She is the next door neighbor of one of our other investigators, Sister Betty, who has been meeting with the missionaries for a long time. Estelle is 14 and she is so excited about the gospel, loves reading from the book of mormon and coming to church. And she is a great example to Sister Betty. Haha I think Sister Betty doesn't want to get showed up because she came to church again this week for the first time since I've been here. Estelle really is a miracle. She is so sweet. This week at church she kept running up and hugging me telling me she was so grateful she met me and that she can come to church. It was adorable. I love her so much! And she is going to be baptized at the end of the month! I'm so excited for her :)

Heavenly Father is so good. He loves us so much and he knows our needs and concerns  He is perfect! He knows exactly what we need to feel better. I'm so grateful for him and all he does for me. But my favorite part of my mission has been seeing what he does for other people. I love seeing how when people turn to God and rely on Him how much He will bless them. Something else I have learned recently is if you are struggling or feeling down. Ask God for help then look for someone else to serve. When you are in the service of others that is when you are the happiest! I'm so insanely happy right now and I love that I get the opportunity to give my whole self to the service of the people here in Suriname. It's so worthy every sacrifice! Doing the Lord's work is the best and will always make you feel better. I'm so grateful for my time as a missionary. I love it with my whole heart!

Thank you so much for all the love and support! I will talk to you next week. And remember to serve and love those around you :) Have a good week!

Love, Zuster C 

Zuster Walsh Update

It's been a really good week! 

Zuster Walsh update: We went to the doctor earlier this week and spent lots of time at the hospital and they ran a couple blood tests. We are going back today to find the results. But we are pretty positive it is Chickun gun ya and there really is no cure for that. You kinda just have to let it run it's course... and it doesn't go away for like a year. I feel so bad for her but she is so amazing and strong. I've got an awesome companion. 

Good news! We were able to go out and do work this week. It was a kinda crazy week though. President and Sister Mehr came for Zone Conference with Elder Cornish a member of the Area 70. Oh man it was so cool to hear from them. It was a total spiritual rejiv. I learned so much!

We had an awesome lesson with our investigator Brian and his daughter Melissa. We talked to them about the atonement and the fact that Jesus Christ died for us and that through him we can become stronger. Brian has struggled with Drug addiction for most of his life. I told him God can take his addiction away from him, he just needs the faith to pray and ask for help. Then the next time we met with him he said he had a really good prayer with God and we were able to set a baptismal date with him. He still has a long way to go but he has the faith that God is going to help him. It's so awesome to see the atonement working in peoples lives. Love y'all :)

Zuster C 

Finally out of the house!!

This week was good! I was able to go out and get some missionary work done. Cheniva, the member girl who is waiting to go on her mission to Georgia, came out with me while Zuster Walsh stayed at a members house. Zuster Walsh is still pretty sick, we are going to the doctor later today so hopefully we can find out what is wrong and she can get better real soon! Keep praying for her!

Even with all the craziness that has been going on here it has been so amazing to see the blessings and miracles God has placed in our path. We have a new investigator Brian. He is so willing to change his life and follow God. He has been addicted to weed for the past few years but he has been slowly trying to wing himself off drugs. This week we had a lesson with him and the spirit was so strong as I testified that Jesus Christ knew his addiction and knew exactly how he felt. I told him to give his pain and heartache over to the Lord and he would find true happiness. Not that moment of happiness that comes from a high but the long lasting happiness that comes from the gospel of Jesus Christ. The spirit was so strong with us and I could see the desire in His eyes to find a true, long lasting happiness. I love looking at him and seeing his willingness to change and to follow Christ. He loves the Book of Mormon and reads every night! He really wants to change and I just know if he gives himself over to God, God will change him. That's something so real and amazing about the gospel. It has the ability to change our lives for the better, to help us become stronger, happier people. I've loved seeing that in the people I teach and also in myself. 

We taught mission prep yesterday. It was so awesome looking out at everyone and seeing the potential that they all posses, to go out and preach the gospel through out the world to people God is preparing for them to meet. I had so much fun teaching and bearing my testimony of the importance of a mission. I absolutely love my mission. It's the best decision I ever made. The work that you do as a missionary is unlike anything else. It's God's work. I get to go out everyday and make a difference in peoples lives that will last for eternity. It's so special. I wouldn't trade it for the world. I love it here and I have given my heart to these people. I love getting to serve them with my whole heart. It's the best! Thanks you so much for all the love and support. Y'all are the best. Have a great week! 

Met Liefde, 

Zuster C 

Phagwa

Hey Y'all!

Wow what a week... This week was Phagwa. That is a Hindu holiday and basically everyone dances around in the streets throwing colorful chalk and paint at each other! It's absolutely crazy! Well there is a member of our branch that was Hindu before she was baptized so she had all the missionaries over to celebrate. It was so much fun! We were covered in a bunch of colors and it was fun to embrace the culture with the people here. I loved it! And my hair is still green... I've scrubbed my hair but I can't get all of it out. So I'm going to be a green haired missionary for a couple more days! hahah it's unique right?

Zuster Walsh has been feeling a little better so we were able to go out and do some work this week! It was really hard staying inside and not getting the chance to go out and see people and it got my spirits down a little bit. I don't think I have ever prayed so hard in my life that God with bless us with a miracle and that he would give Zuster Walsh the strength and confidence to go out and work. After I prayed I opened my scriptures to a verse. 2 Nephi 4:29 it says: "Do not slacken my strength because of mine afflictions" That scripture hit me so hard. And it made me realize that I was not going to let my self feel down because I was going through a hard time. Life is full of hard times and full of ups and downs. That's why we are here isn't it? To be tried and tested! So I made up my mind right then that I was not going to slacken my strength because of hard times. I am going to give my all to the Lord and my all to the people here in Suriname in every way that I can. 

Later that day we had a lesson with one of our investigators, Sister Better. We have been teaching her for a while. She was almost baptized before I got here but she doubted her self and since then she has not had a strong desire to do anything with the church. But when we came to her house she was smiling and so happy that we were there. She told us that she had read from the book of Mormon every night since the last time we visited. She had that excitement and desire again. I was so happy! God gave us the miracle I had desperately asked for. God, loves us! He really does. And he looks for opportunities when he can bless us and answer our prayers. We just have to be humble enough to ask. I am so grateful for the hard times because God always finds a way to teach me something. So when life seems like it's too hard and everything seems to be going wrong, Remember "Do not Slacken your strength because of your afflictions!" Stay Strong! I love y'all so much! Have a great week and remember God loves you!

Met liefde, 

Zuster C 

Cabin Fever

Hey y'all! 

It's been a kinda slow week. Zuster Walsh has been super sick so we've been stuck at home basically all week. I feel so bad for her please keep her in your prayers! And meanwhile I've been trying to keep myself busy... I've cleaned and reorganized our apartment close to probably 100 times now, watched all of the random church movies we have (I can almost quote all of the testaments), and I started reading the new testament. I made a goal that I'm going to read it from start to finish all the way through. And yeah basically I'm just trying not to go crazy and help my poor, sick companion feel better!

We did get the chance to go out a couple times this week though and we got to go see one of our less active members Luciel. I love her so much, she is an older lady who lives all by herself so shes pretty lonely. So every time we go over there I make sure we give her lots of love! Well this week when we stopped by she told us of an experience that she had this week. She had to go to the pharmacy to get medicine but she didn't have any money. And just as she was walking down the street a women stopped her and gave her the money she needed to get her medicine. Then after she walked out of the pharmacy with her medicine she saw some money laying on the ground and she was able to use that money to buy bread. She said it was a miracle from God because when she left the house she didn't have a cent in her pocket and she was able to come home with her medicine and food to eat. Her story was so touching, to see how God really is in the details of our lives and he is very much aware of our needs. Now she has that testimony that God really does care about her and she is never alone! it warms my heart and makes me so happy. We do have a heavenly father who loves us :)

Also we are teaching a super cute family right now! I love them so much. And this sunday 3 of the kids came with us to church. They were so cute and so excited the whole time we were there. And absolutely loved it! They can't wait to come back next week, and hopefully there mom will come too! I love them so much. The little girl reminds me a lot of ashlen. We are best friends, she is so adorable.

Well talk to y'all next week :)

Met liefde, 

Zuster C

Transfers

Well it's been a pretty crazy week. We got transfer calls and Zuster King is going to St. Maartin. I'm gonna miss her so bad, we've gotten to be best friends and had so many amazing adventures together! So it's just going to be Zuster Walsh and I holding down the fort here in Suriname. And she's still a new missionary so I'm going to be training her. It's so crazy! I don't feel like I've been on a mission long enough to be training but I'm so pumped for all the new adventures we're gonna have together :) She is an awesome missionary with such a strong testimony, so even though I'm super sad to say goodbye to Zuster King I'm excited for this next transfer. There will be lots of change but I'm ready for the challenge!

We weren't able to get much done this week because Zuster Walsh got super sick. She started out the week with an awful Cold/Flu thing. Then a couple days ago she got a fever with really bad joint pains... symptoms of Chickun Gun Ya. I feel so bad for her, it's the worst! So we've been stuck inside basically all week. Poor thing, keep her in y'alls prayers! 

But we did get to go out a couple times at the beginning of the week and meet with one of our new investigators Brian. He is hilarious. I contacted him a couple weeks ago... or more like he contacted me. I was riding my bike down the road and he yelled at me from the roof of a house saying "Sister when are you going to come teach me!" I thought he was a crazy drunk guy so I kept riding by but he kept on yelling at me so I just turned around to see if he was legit or not. Well anyway I ended up giving him a book of mormon and setting up a return appointment. And he told me he had a problem smoking weed. So I told him God would help him to stop! 

Anyway so when I went by for our return appointment he said "Zuster Christiansen, I have some good and bad news... Bad news I didn't read out of the book of mormon. Good news I didn't smoke a joint today! :) Haha I was so proud of him. 

Well everything is still good here in Suriname. I love it and absolutely love all the people I am serving here. Oh and Cheniva the girl who worked with me last week while Zuster King was gone got her mission call to Atlanta Georgia! I'm so excited for her. She is going to be an amazing missionary! I love y'all! Have a great week! And don't forget Heavenly Father loves you :)

Liefde, 

Zuster C

Zuster Walsh

Well it's been another crazy awesome week! Zuster King went to French Gyuana to be with the sisters there so I was with one of the members for the week. It was awesome, she helped me so much with my Dutch! And we had a blast doing missionary work together. Her name is Cheniva and she is so excited to go on a mission... she is waiting for her papers to come back. They should come any time, I'm so excited to see where she is gonna go! :) 

We also got a new Zuster this week :) Her name is Zuster Walsh and she is from California and I absolutely love her! So now the 3 of us are going to be together, Zuster King, Zuster Walsh and I! We're going to have so much fun I can hardly wait for this next transfer! Zuster Walsh is allergic to Gluten and Dairy... hahah and we are in a 3rd world country. It's going to be an adventure! But I'm excited to learn how to make lots of Gluten free, dairy free food. I'll keep y'all updated on how that goes! :)

We saw so many miracles this week and met with so many wonderful people. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father thinks I'm worthy enough to help His amazing sons and daughters. And that he keeps placing so many amazing people in my path. We had a lesson with the Kross family. I absolutely love their stinking guts! They are so cute. She is a single mom and she has 3 daughters but she lives with lots of other family so there is always lots of cute little kids running around. Oh and mom I always keep my purse full of that candy you sent me to give to them and they love it :) Anyway so we have had a few lessons with them and they are so awesome about reading the book of mormon. They all have their own and when we show up they come running over to tell us what they read. Even the little kids it's the cutest thing ever. So we had a lesson when them about the plan of salvation and I bore my testimony that I know that God gave us this plan because he loves us and He wants all of His children to return and live with Him. And that's the reason I went on a mission so that I would be able to share this amazing plan with everyone! She loved it and afterwards she said that Zuster King and I are angles and that she wants the happiness and glow that Zuster King and I have. She was so cute and sweet. It made my day.

Oh also this week we did some service at a less active members house. We helped them pull weeds and clear out their yard. Well funny thing about Suriname people, they use Machetes to cut down grass and bushes and trees. So I got to do Gardening work Surinamese Style :) I got to smash bushes with a Machete... it was really fun! :) Haha well it's been an awesome week! I hope you are all staying safe and happy! Love y'all :) Happy Valentines day! <3

Met liefde, 

Zuster C 

Birthday in Suriname

Thank you for all the birthday wishes. This was defiantly a birthday I will never forget! Zuster King's birthday was 2 days before mine so we had lots of fun together! The members were so sweet and totally spoiled us. We went over to one of the members houses and they made us dinner and a cake and everything it was so sweet :) Then we went out to help build a member in our branches house. (We've been helping out every week for the past 2 months now) It's so fun! I love going out there! And they were so sweet they also made us dinner and a cake. It was a really good birthday full of service and love... and now I'm 20... so crazy! haha I feel really old. 

This week the Zone leaders came out with us for a day. The day started out very interesting .. haha one of their bikes broke right when the day started so I just let him use mine and Zuster King and I switched off riding on the back of her bike. At one point I left my helmet somewhere and I didn't want to break the rules and fall off my bike and break my head. So i just stuck a book of mormon on top of my head. Haha so we looked real funny riding around with me on the back of Zuster Kings bike... with a Book of Mormon on my head. I think the elders were embarrassed to be seen with us. But Zuster King and I had a good laugh about it. 

This week we started teaching a family and they are so adorable. The mom is a single mom with 3 daughters. She is the sweetest lady and has the best questions! Last time we visited them we walked up and the mom was sitting on the porch reading the book of mormon. We had left her 2 Nephi 2 to read so she had lots of questions about the plan of salvation. It was so fun teaching her about God's amazing plan for us and how she can be with her beautiful daughters forever. She was so happy and really interested to know more. 

Also this week we met with Shanice and shared the Restoration movie with her. She absolutely loved it! We asked her to write her testimony in the front of a book of mormon and give it to a friend. Then give us their number so we could start teaching them. She is so excited to do it. I love her :) Then after our lesson she told us that every time we come she can feel the spirit super strong and it makes her happy. It was so sweet. We also fasted with her this Sunday and she was fasting that she would be able to feel the Holy Ghost stronger in her life. I love that girl so much she is so amazing! 

I'm so grateful for all the experiences I've had on my mission. I've learned so much and I feel the saviors love stronger than I ever have in my whole life. Some days it feels like he is right there beside me. Helping me along the way and guiding me towards those who are ready to accept His gospel. Being a missionary is the best! I love it! Thanks again for all the birthday love. Y'all are the best. Have a great week :)

Love your favorite Zuster Missionary

Shanice gets baptized!

Oh my goodness this has been the best week! Shanice got baptized on Saturday! :) She is so amazing and such a miracle. Her whole story is just evidence that God is preparing people everyday for us to meet. She is so amazing! Her baptismal service was so cute and it was so cool to see how much all the members love her already. Zuster King and I made her a journal to have everyone at the baptism to sign and write down words of advice. And everyone loved it and made her feel so loved and welcomed. I'm so grateful Heavenly Father placed her in my path and that I had the opportunity to bring her the gospel. 

I just know I was sent here to Suriname to find her and that we are going to be best friends for life :) And now I'm pumped to go out there and find more people who are ready like Shanice was. The gospel is so true and brings nothing but happiness and when people realize that for themselves it's like magic. They just change and become better. That's been my favorite part about my mission. Watching the light of Christ change people lives. It really is amazing. 

Sorry the letter is short this week! I love y'all so much and I am so grateful for all the love and support. Love you guys and remember Jesus loves you too :) 

Wanica---Suriname

Another great week here in Suriname! I know I say this all the time, but I really do just love it here so much. Being a missionary is the best! This week I got to go on exchanges for a day with Zuster Johnson out in Wanica. It was so fun to work in another part of Suriname. Wanica is more out in the country so it was fun to see how different it was. The people there were so nice! I was a little sad to leave but super happy to get back to my peeps in my area :) 

The Lord is really blessing us so much right now! Shanice is still super excited to be baptized on Saturday. She is such a miracle and evidence that the Lord is preparing people to hear the gospel. I feel like teaching her is so easy. She understands so much and then the new things she learns she applies to her life right away. We taught her the importance of keeping the Sabbath day holy and then that next Sunday she told us she switched her work schedule around so that she wouldn't have to work on Sunday's anymore! Yeah... she's awsome :) 

We also have been teaching this old man, Brother Etnel for a little while now. He comes to church every week and loves the book of mormon but he is super addicted to Cigarettes and he's an alcoholic. But he knows that our church is true and that God will bless him and help him if he keeps the commandments. So this week when we saw him he told us he is going to be baptized March 13. He has the faith that God will bless him and give him the strength to over come his addictions by then. He is so awesome. I love him!

Haha really quick funny thing that happened. Zuster King and I were biking down the road and this guy starts yelling at us "Sisters come pray for me. I'm ready to change and follow God. Sisters come pray for me!" Hahah he was saying this as he was waving a beer in his hand. We told him after he stops drinking we will come by and pray for him. Crazy people gotta love them :)

Thank you so much for all the emails and love y'all send me! Means so much. Live and love life to the fullest and remember that God loves you :)

Met liefde, 

Zuster C

I LOVE IT HERE

I've learned so much since I've been on a mission. I mean I expected before I came that I would learn about the gospel and my testimony would be strengthened and it has so much but I didn't realized I would learn so many other things! Haha everyday is such an adventure and I'm always being pushed outside of my comfort zone so it's kinda cool to think about all the things suriname has taught me. I can fix bike tires and screw on head lights, and pump up my bike tires when they are flat on the side of the road... all in a skirt I might add. That takes skill. I've also become pro at riding my bike with out handle bars. Haha something new me and Zuster king learned the other day was that people like to feed us because they think God will bless them if they do. So sometimes people will have us over and give us a whole bunch of food and make us eat it... Even if I feel like I'm gonna roll over and die because I'm so full. They are so sweet though and just don't want us to starve. I love them! That's something else I've learned, is to really love and serve people. I've given my heart to the people here in Suriname. I love them and hold them close to my heart.I am so grateful Heavenly Father sent me to be with them. They're my family for the next 18 months :)  

It's been such a great week! Heavenly Father really is there and he cares so much and just wants to help us be happy! This past fast Sunday me and Zuster King fasted that we would find someone who would be prepared to be baptized in January. We made it a companionship goal to have a baptism every month that we were together but we didn't have anyone who was ready for the month of January. So we fasted and had the faith that if we were diligent and obedient the Lord would bless us. And he did :) We had a lesson with one of our investigators that we had kinda lost contact with over the Holiday season. We talked about the restoration with her and the spirit was so strong as we were bearing testimony of Jesus Christ and the book of mormon. After that lesson we were able to commit her to a baptismal date for January 31! And she is so excited :) Her name is Shanice and she is 20 and me and Zuster King both know that we were friends with her before this life. And that we had promised each other that we would find her in Suriname and bring her back to the gospel. I love her so much and it's so amazing to see how much the Lord has prepared her for this. 

I am so grateful for the gospel and the light and happiness that it brings into our lives :) I'm so happy that I get to be a missionary and that I can share this happy message with everyone! I hope y'all have a great week! Thanks for all the love! Doei!

Met Liefde, 

Zuster C 

Series of Unfortunate Events: Suriname

Waah Gwaan Marrry!

Hahah that is what this crazy Jamaican guy we are teaching calls us! He is hilarious, he is teaching us how to speak Jamaican. We are starting a new transfer this week... and me and Zuster King are staying together for another one! I am so happy :) I love her! 

We are starting to get out of that crazy funk of unfortunate events. Zuster King's lice is gone, our bikes are fixed, and my ringworm is getting better! The past couple of weeks were insane but looking back I can see how the Lord really blessed us. I'm so grateful for Him, he really is the best and knows just how to make you feel better. All you have to do is remember to ask him for help :)

Right now we are really focusing on member missionary and working more with the members. So this week we had a lesson with our Recent Converts, Sherijl and her son Vaizel. And we asked Vaizel if he knew anyone who was struggling and needed the gospel that we could teach. And he said YES! (Vaizel is the coolest kid ever!) He said that there was a boy at school who all the other kids picked on. So he is going to invite him to FHE tonight so we can meet him. I just love seeing that light in Vaizel and Sherijl's eyes and how excited they are to share the gospel. They know how happy it has made them and how it has changed their lives and they want to share it with other people. 

I am so grateful for the gospel in my life and that sense of peace and knowledge it brings. I love how the gospel pushes me to be my best self. There is always room for improvement and a way to be better. Through Jesus Christ we can be made perfect and receive eternal happiness how cool is that? I just love it so much :) 

Thank you for all the love and emails y'all send! Have a great week! Tot Ziens :)

Met liefde, 

Zuster C 

Happy New Year!

I hope y'all all had a Happy New Year and a fun Christmas break! I can't believe we are starting a new year, this one flew by! But I'm excited to see all the amazing adventures that await me in 2015 :)

My new years was a tiny bit insane! Haha people here take fireworks to a whole other level! It's ridiculous! They light them off the whole day long, it's so funny. Even when it is still bright outside. Then at midnight on New Year's eve it sounded like a war zone! It was crazy! Me and Zuster King couldn't sleep so we went out side and climbed on our roof and watched. It was really cool, but I feel like I would've enjoyed it more if I wasn't an exhausted missionary. 

This week Heavenly Father definitely blessed us with some miracles. President and Zuster Mehr came here this weekend for zone conference. It was so fun to have them here, I love them so much! They came out teaching with us and we went and saw one of our investigators Consuella. She has a baptismal date for February 28. It was such a good lesson. President and Zuster Mehr don't speak any dutch but we brought a member with us to help translate. Recently Consuella has gotten super excited about reading the book of mormon and so we talked about how she can be a missionary and share the same happiness the book of mormon brings in her life with her friends. She loved it and we were able to role play with her and help her feel more comfortable with missionary work! She's so cute, she loved it! And we left her with the challenge to write her testimony in the front of the book of mormon and to give it to a friend. 

Then on Saturday we had a huge contacting activity in the city with all the missionaries and members. It was so fun, we were able to meet tons of people! And one of the Elders is a super good artist so he drew the plan of salvation in chalk on the side walk. It was a blast to meet people on the street and share with them the message of the restoration and The book of mormon. Gosh I just love missionary work, it's the best! It makes me so happy and I'm so excited I have this special time to give my everything to the Lord! Nothing gets much better than this!

Well I hope y'all have a great week! Thanks for sending me so much love every week! Tot Ziens! :)