Giving 100%

Goede dag mijn vrienden! Today's language-don't comes from my friends the Swedes (missionaries going to Sweden) in our zone. Apparently the pronunciation of the "o" is critical in a certain word, because otherwise instead of telling someone that Christ died for them, you might be informing them that Christ murdered for them. One sentence is sacred, the other is sacrilegious, so keep that in mind if you're ever learning Swedish.

Zuster Robbins & Zuster Voss

The MTC is an emotional roller coaster but again, I have loved this past week. Has it already been two full weeks? Time flies when you never have a spare second in your schedule.

I have already become so much better at volleyball while here. Some people are super intense but mostly we just have fun, which is a good environment for improvement. However, I was jumping up to hit the ball and collided with another Elder and landed on my foot wrong... so the middle of it was really bruised and I sort of limped around for a couple days, but all is well now.

We had some exciting speakers! Sister Bonnie Oscarson, the Young Women General President came to talk to us. Something that she said and that has really been emphasized here is that we need to give 100% and go to bed completely exhausted every day. I've been trying harder at that, not letting myself get lazy in class when my brain really just wants to fall asleep, and it has made a big difference! Not necessarily in how much better I perform, but in how much better my attitude is. It's way more fulfilling.

ALSO Jenny Oaks Baker came on Sunday! If you have not heard of her, I recommend going and searching her music on You Tube right now. She is a fantastic violinist, and she was hilarious, as well as inspiring. It made me so happy to hear her. I had a great seat- center, four rows back, so I could see her fingers without the screen. I'm so grateful music is such a big part of the MTC experience. Also, Zuster Robbins and I played a musical number in our branch on Sunday, which was fun!

All six of us Dutchies decided to color coordinate one day. I think we're super cute!

Most of the sisters in my zone, behind the temple. I love these girls!

Nederlands is a beautiful language. I'm alternately amazed at how much I know already and humbled by how much I have to learn. I mean, I can teach a lesson, have a conversation, express myself fairly smoothly in a language I just started learning two weeks ago, that's cool. I've probably learned more in the past week than I did in my first year of learning Spanish haha. But don't try to talk to me about hobbies or activities or normal things. I have all the vocabulary for a religious discussion and none for the activities you did today. But I'll figure it out! :)

We have been learning about the importance of speaking simply and demonstrating that we care about those we are teaching. My teacher recently said something really cool-" You cannot say complicated things in Dutch, and that is a BLESSING." It's so true! In English it's easy for me to get on a confusing tangent but in Dutch, I can just say, "God loves you. You are His child. He wants you to be happy."* And that is so much more powerful.

I still adore my companion. We are a dream team and being here with a best friend is more fantastic than I can describe. Our biggest companionship struggle is that we love talking with and singing with each other which can occasionally be distracting, although we can also be very productive... And I'd much rather have that be the problem than to be worried about even getting along with someone I spend every moment with! I'd voluntarily hang out with Zuster Robbins all day. She rocks.

This just shows that My companion and I have the same minds. our planners are the same, even though we weren't looking at each other's as we filled them in; from the P-Day! on top to the look at music? in the corner, we are almost identical. I love her.

It's so weird to only get to communicate once a week. All my connections to the outside world have been severed. there could be a revolution going on in our country and I'd probably have no idea. It's strange but kind of nice- less to worry about, I suppose.

I love and miss you all! Learning Nederlands is wonderful and I'm excited to go serve there in less than a month now-- I hope all is well out there!

Liefde,
   Zuster Voss

*"God houd van u. U bent zijn kind. Hij wilt dat u blij zijn."