There is sunshine in my soul, even if it's not in the sky!

Hello family! 4/6/2009

I sure do love you all. Mom and Dad, thank you for your letters. They really do mean so much to me. Its just so uplifting to hear from home and your little snippets of testimony throughout your letters just keep me going.

Well, our first week without Zr. Kriser was a good one- challenging, but good. Its just kind of funny when something doesn't go according to plan, and I look at Zr. Wieland and then she turns to me with this blank stare and says something like "uh, so what do we do now?". She is doing her very best and is really doing great as a brand new senior companion. It is a bumpy road with two young missionaries together, but I feel like I am learning very fast to be the missionary the Lord wants me to be. I really don't have a choice actually- the work has to get done. It is sobering and humbling to think that we are totally in charge of the progress of these special children of our Heavenly Father- it really is a daunting task. Luckily, we're never alone and as long as we try our hardest to remain close to the spirit, we are always guided by a much greater "senior companion".

It was, naturally, a week of hilarious experiences! Actually, Zr. Wieland and i have had quite a problem this week with unwanted attention from young men... which is a really awkward and hilarious experience as a missionary. Saturday, a Chinese student approached me and asked me for directions to the metro station. We were going in the same direction, so he and his 6 friends all started walking with us to the metro station. They were a bunch of college guys on vacation to Amsterdam, but were somehow lost in Rotterdam. We had a good conversation- a little choppy due to the broken English, but still good, and then we got to the metro station and gave them a card. They all started talking to each other in Chinese and pointing to each other like they were choosing who had to say thank you or something, and then they all started saying "hug, hug" and one started in to hug sis. Wieland. I just watched and laughed until his buddy came over to me and started in...Yikes! My sister missionary protective-reflexes definitely kicked in and I pushed his shoulder away and said something like "uh, no, that’s ok". They all started laughing and laughing- and then the cameras started coming out. We decided that a picture was ok, so of course they all had to get a picture with the "American Mormon girls". Keep an eye out for some blog with a picture of me and a bunch of Chinese guys!

Now that its down to just two of us, we don't teach quite as many lessons and work a lot more with members, which slows us down a little bit, but the work here is still amazing, and the Lord is still working hard with his children here in Rotterdam. We have been challenged by our mission president to re-read the Book of Mormon between now and July 1st and pray for an additional witness that it is true. It will be awesome! I have truly learned to love the scriptures way more than before my mission- I just love scripture study! I hope that is something I will always have. Oh, on a sad note, we just found out that one of the sisters who was in the MTC with me (in the group before me with just 3 sisters in it) decided to leave the mission and go home. We were all so sad to see her go, and it made me so grateful for the support I have from my family, Ryan, and all of my friends. I feel truly blessed to have such an awesome network of support from such strong members of the church- I would never dream of leaving, and you would always support me in staying!

Ik hou van jullie!
Zuster Gulliver