Merry Christmas!

Hello family!
I hope all of you are doing wonderfully this week. We've had awarm spell in Holland (tracting without gloves! It's amazing!) and some funChristmas happenings. Yesterday in church Zr. Matos and I got to sing alovely Christmas song with Sister Pond (an American woman around mom anddad's age whose husband is working here) on the piano - I discovered the keyto not being nervous is not knowing the words well enough to be able to lookup more than once or twice! ;) But it was really fun to perform again.Lenneke and Joop came to church again, so that's 3 for 3 for both of them.They're both doing so well. Joop is sincerely praying about baptism but alsofeels like he needs to learn more and more about the church before he canget his answer - what a beautifully rational and faith-filled answer! Wetaught him the Plan of Salvation this week, which he found to be verybeautiful, especially that we lived in the Pre-Existance with HeavenlyFather as his Spirit Children before we came to this earth. On Friday hecame to dinner at the Verhoeven's (the Relief Society president and herhusband) and he's getting to know more and more members. He also said he'scoming to the ward Christmas Eve party... I love this man. Lenneke is alsodoing pretty great. Last Monday evening we began teaching her the principleof Faith in Jesus Christ, and brought the Finding Faith in Christ dvd forher... only to see Testaments lying on her kitchen table from Luit de Jonge.Testaments is pretty much the same movie but with more of a Nephites inAmerica storyline (and the flashbacks to Christ in Jerusalem are pretty muchthe FFIC dvd) so that was funny. Teaching her is so interesting - throughLuit she has so much experience with the church, but has almost no religiousbackground, so it's pretty interesting teaching to her needs. She is alsowonderfully sincere and has begun praying daily. I really like her a lot andam excited to see her continuing to learn more.

Tuesday night we headed to Goude to help out with something calledGoude by Candle Light (google or wikipedia Goude bij Karslicht). In anattempt to reach out to more people, the church gave out free hot chocolateand goodies and looooots of Joy to the World DVDs. It ended up mostly beinga lot of college / high school age girls rather smitten by the prospect ofAmerican Elders singing Christmas Carols, but it was a pretty fun andsuccessful time. =) We definitely got to talk to people from all over theworld, which was fun. That night we slept in Goude and the next morningheaded to Zoetermeer for a special Zone Conference on the Atonement. We wereblessed to be able to go the temple that morning, which was, well,wonderful. =) I'd really missed the temple, and hadn't been for about 3months, which is the longest it's been since I went through before going tothe MTC. It really is the House of the Lord and a wonderfully peacefulplace. The best Christmas present I could get as a missionary. The zoneconference itself taught me a lot about the details and implications of theAtonement of Christ, and I was able to see things in a new light. I'm reallythankful for the Plan of Salvation, that death is not the end and our ownmistakes and painful experiences need not be permanent.

Thursday we found a really great Nigerian woman named Patience.After establishing we weren't Jehovah's Witnesses (Dutch people absolutelyabhor JW's which kinda makes me sad and also results in a vitual identitycrisis for Mormon Missionaries - "Nee, wij zijn NIET Jehovah's Getuigenis!";) )she let us in. It was weird teaching in English again, and she had lotsof friends over so there was a lot of noise in the background, but as Zr.Matos started telling about the First Vision, all the side conversations inthe other rooms suddenly quieted down, and Patience could really listen. Ilove crazy small miracles like that.

Saturday during finding an American lawyer in her early 30's / late20's let us in because she "always loves a good conversation aboutreligion." She's a mother of an 18 month old boy and her husband and her areboth working her. Her bookshelves were like a dream from a past life [ohwait - that was my past life! =) ] with Claude Levi-Strauss and KahlilGibran, and she herself was pretty much exactly who I'd be if I'd grown upwithout the gospel. "I was raised Catholic and always had a strongrelationship with God but was turned off from Catholicism by all themysogyny of the Bible." She was incredibly openminded and kind, and we had agood talk over camomille tea about the Restoration, modern day prophets,gender roles in the church, and missionary work in Holland. I like to thinkwe did some good, though there's a certain kind of liberality that, in theend, is just as closed as any good Southern Baptist or devout Hindu. I trulythink sometimes the Lord sends people like me and Zr. Matos to this missionso we could see exactly who we'd be without the gospel.

Saturday was Ingemar's baptism, and everything just went, well,smoothly! It was a great service, and I got to sing Jesus Redder Van MijnZiel (I don't remember the name in English) with my comp and one of theElders. Later Andre told us in all seriousness we should make CDs and sellthem to make money for the church. Hilarious! Anyway, Ingemar was confirmedyesterday, and probably the best part of my day yesterday was seeing himwalking down the street after church between Wesly and Sharlon, two otherrecent bachelor converts in their 30s. I love fellowshipping.

Andre is doing great, and we're heading to his house on Christmas daywith Monik. That man is such a dad. He is seriously concerned about Americaand all the people being laid off (are things really that bad?) but otherthan his empathy for poverty in my homeland is doing just great. Yesterdaywe rode with him to the van den Herik's and had dinner there together. Ilove amazing families here in Holland.

So things keep keeping on. I'm blessed to be here. People are takingcare of us for the holidays, and it's a good time of year to be wearing thisname tag. I love you all.

Liefs,
Zr. Christa Baxter