mijn familie!!!

Hello wonderful family! Another exciting week at the MTC has come andgone.... but a lot faster than usual. My last p-day really does feel likeyesterday, but as long as I don't think about how bad my dutch will be whenI get off the plane I don't freak out too much. So we've been working on teaching in Dutch this week. It's kind of abeast, but it's what we'll be doing there full time, right? Tuesday we wereconfused about our schedule and weren't in class for the first 15 minutes ofour teacher's shift, so we got chastised. Then we had to get on with ourday, which involved Elder DeMass and I teaching the first lesson in Dutch.He was already ticked off because of the previous mishap, so when he wasquiet I kind of took over the lesson, which he interpreted as me dominatingintentionally and shutting him out. There's nothing like wathcing your 20year old comp shut down in anger on you during a lesson. Luckily, we wereable to talk it out and explain our communication problems. Basically, I'm awoman and I fill silences. He's a man and waits for his turn. But knowing wehave the same goal has helped us pull through, and we got a chance to redeemourselves later that day as we taught our same teacher in the EvaluationCenter in Dutch. It was entirely different. We made a two sentence turn rulewhich helped us be balanced. Further more, I was totally humbled by thelanguage and our communication frustrations, so that made actually listeningto the Spirit a neccessity... It is the strangest experience to feel thespirit as you are teaching or being taught in another language, but it'sincredible. All stretching experiences tha thelp us grow, right? The wondermous part of Tuesday was that I got TWO packages in one day!You people are amazing! Mom, thank you SO MUCH for the sweater vests! Ireturned the Sister Missionary Mall one, so that should get back on yourcard, but the navy one is such a lifesaver! My roommates joked that Itotally look like a 3rd grade teacher in it, but that's better than a frumpysister missionary with (gasp!) an untucked shirt! So it's all good. =) Andall the stickers were great. And the BREAD! I've never been so excited toeat a peanut butter and jellie sandwich in my life! MTC food really gets toyou, so it was SO exciting to eat something real from home, made with love.It totally turned my day around. =) And ALisa, your package was soawesome!!! I loved the stationary, the belgium and netherlands stuff, andyou totally picked out my favorite kind of pen! You're such a rad sister!The candy was awesome too. I'm sure I'm forgetting things, but trust me,those packages were lifesavers! =) We're able to go exercise out on the field now, so it's fun being ableto juggle a soccer ball and run outside. Sisters can't play soccer with theelders, but sand volleyball is fun, and I enjoy juggling soccer balls on myown. Mother's Day at the MTC was insane. Just nuts. We watched Music & theSpoken Word before RS at ten, which was such a mistake - there was totally aMothering Moment Montage of sap and sentiment. We were all a little teary, Ithink. And then they sang "Come To My Garden" from The Secret Garden! Somany good memories. But I'm glad I have an amazing mother and home to miss,so it's all good. Then in Sacrament Meeting, Sister Creer (wife of one ofthe counselors in our branch presidency) talked about how it feels to be themom of a missionary (her daughter is serving in Mongolia right now) - whichbasically was "I think about her ALL DAY LONG." I felt so bad for the elderswhose first Sunday was today. I've never seen so many boys cry as in theMTC. But it all works out. Incidentally, Elder DeMass and I really do get along, we just hadto work out teaching styles. Every missionary has to prepare a talk onSunday about the Christlike attribute of the week, and then after thesacrament, the Branch Pres. announces which two missionaries will speak. Ourtopic this week was patience, so DeMass and I both cleared it with eachotherto talk about our teaching experiences should we get chosen. That was prettyfunny. =) But neither of us spoke, so no worries. The rest of Sunday was okay, despite not getting to call home. (But Iwill when I fly to Europe!) Sister C and I took a walk to the temple and hada good chat. She's been doing better in lots of ways but still is reallyshaky on her testimony, and sees just how much fo a problem that is here. Ireally feel we were meant to be companions, because so many of her concernsare what I was going through in the months before I reported to the MTC. Shealso had to teach with an Elder, so we had a lot of empathy about thecommunication and teaching style differences. She and I actually taughttogether on Saturday night on the suggestion of her teacher, and she reallyenjoyed it. We had a really amazing devo Sunday night from one of the MTCpresident's counselors and his wife. His wife turned the mike to themissionaries and let people just come up and share their favorite scripturesand how it's helped them, in 90 seconds or less. SO good. Then her husbandtalked about Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing and explained the Hebrew /Biblical etymology of the phrase "Here I raise my Ebenezer." I loved it.This place is so geeky but so good. Monday we had a large group meeting about using the BoM to teachabout Joseph Smith (basically - "The Bible will not give people a testimonyof JS, even if that's the book they accept and believe") and it was almostword for word the conversation I'd had with Sister C the night before. Thisplace is so crazy inspired and blessed with the Spirit. Then Tuesday night,Elder Bruce C. Hafen spoke at the devo all about testimony, and how it'sbased on Reason, Feeling, and Experience. So much of what she needed to her,and by extension me as well. Tuesday Sister C had another breakdown and was gone for several hourstalking to counselors here. During the day I'm generally okay with all therandom arrangements that must be made - staying late in our classroomTuesday nights so she can counsel with our Branch President, having to watchthe devo rebroadcast in another room because she was crying to Brother &Sister Creer all through dinner time and we missed our chance to watch it inthe main meeting hall, waking her up in the mornings because she never gotan alarm clock, doing her laundry so she can go to more counseling - but Inoticed last night I couldn't sleep because I was so stressed out by things.So please pray for me to have patience and love and get things done. I'mhonestly not convinced she should be here if she's so unhappy - but I'mtrying to just love and make things work. Sister Gill helps me keep balanceabout things, and overall I'm very happy here, so no worries, I guess. There are just so many tender mercies. Like being taught in Dutch byElder DeMass and Elder Berry yesterday. I was playing an investigator, andit was so cool to see them following the spirit and teaching me about prayerbecause I (as investigator) needed a testimony of that. I just love thesemoments. Or this morning, outlining and diagramming the chiasmus in Alma 36(something Elder HAfen mentioned in his devotional) and having a fun chatabout Nibley with the other Danish Elder. Or reading the hilarious story ofDad surprising Lauren in the backyard whilst she was fencing. That totallyreminded me of Sense and Sensibility, incidentally. =) There are just so many incredible people here. I truly am happy. Iknow this is where I need to be, and I love watching the gospel change myheart and those of the people around me. I got "transferred" and I now teachwith Elder Helton, who def has the hardest time with the Dutch. Please prayfor me to have more patience and know how to help him out. I think he'd becontent to let me teach the whole lesson, but obviously that's no good. Oh,so much stretching that goes on here! But it's all good. I love it, I'm herefor the right reasons, and I'm being blessed. I love you family! So much. I remember missing friends who'd left onmissions, and know I think it's ludicrous I even cared when I compare to howexcited I am to see you all again someday. If eternal life is living withGod and our families forever, I am so excited! Please keep my companions inyour prayers. I love you all! Your crazy sister, Zuster Baxter