Ik hou van de MTC!!! (I love the MTC!)

Saying goodbye to my teacher Brother Van de Graaff.

I'm so happy to be cleaning toilets...I was sad this would be my last time

More toilet cleaning

Double teaming the toilets!

Sweater Thursday

Sister Schwab and our Custodial friend Alicia

Me with the swesome Elder Salinas and Elder Fisher.  Elder Fisher is who accompanied me in all my songs heer at the MTC.

Our teacher drew a picture of us!

Saying goodbye to Brother Robinson

Saying goodbye to Brother Norton

Saying goodbye to Brother Mohrman on the left and Brother Klippel on the right.  I had just shed a few tears because I was so sad to say goodbye to them!!

Wow, I feel like that is how I begin every post...but at the end of every week I feel like a year has gone by. I thought my 6 weeks at the MTC would take forever...turns out they didn't. They flew by much faster than I anticipated. I want every one to know that I loved the MTC!!! 

Before coming to the MTC, I had no idea what to expect. I had a pretty solid testimony of the gospel and figured we would be focusing on the language. Turns out, our main focus was on the doctrine of the gospel and on becoming truly converted. I can honestly say that I have become more fully converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ and are more prepared to bear witness of him on a daily basis. 

This week was different from all the rest. I knew it was my last week and it would have been very easy to slack off and not keep working like I wasn't leaving. The Elders and I did our very best to work as hard as we could. We did have one day that wasn't the best but other than that we did a good job on focusing on the task at hand and not worrying about the fact that we were leaving. I had some amazing lessons with my investigators and in the end committed 2 of them to baptism and set a date!!! I was incredibly excited!! I know that my investigators weren't necessarily real. They were my teachers acting as investigators but because I took the situation seriously, I feel like I learned more than if I would have thought of the situation lightly. In my mind, my investigators Daniel, Hans, Geerte, and Charles were as real as they could be. Because I chose to believe that I was working to bring these investigators closer to Christ, I was then able to. My teachers remarked today that even though they were acting as investigators, they felt that they personally had been brought closer to Christ through our lessons. It honestly, was sad to say goodbye to my investigators today because I grew to love them and I wanted to see how they would progress. It sounds like a crazy idea but it was truly an incredible experience. I truly learned how to teach by the spirit and through Dutch. I know that it isn't going to be super easy come Tuesday when I am teaching real investigators in Dutch but I know that I am prepared and ready. I also learned how to teach people and not lessons. It was really cool this week, I was teaching all of my investigators the same lessons for some reason. I prepared the same lesson for of them. The most amazing part was, even though I had prepared the same lesson, I taught the lesson in a different way with each investigator. The principles and the things I hoped they would learn were all the same but the way I applied those principles were different every time. I would share different stories or explain things differently. It was amazing for me to see a difference in the way I taught depending on the investigator. I made me realize that we are all different but God has prepared a way for all of us to come back to him. No matter how different that plan may be, he has a plan for all of us.

I went to In-Field orientation and that was a lot of fun. It got me super excited to enter the field in 2 days!!! I freaks me out how fast it is coming!!! I said goodbye to my teachers today and that was one of the hardest things aside from saying goodbye to my family. My teachers have become my family in a strange way here. I love them and they truly have helped and guided me to becoming a better missionary. I really struggled with having to just say goodbye. I did cry...I will be honest. We sang "God Be With You Till We Meet Again." I cried through that as well. They mean a lot to me and they have been so patient with me and I just am so grateful that the Lord gave me the opportunity to be taught by them. I know that there were specific things I needed to learn from each of them and I am grateful. They also made us laugh a lot and we had a lot of fun!! I will miss them a great deal. 

I am so excited to board a plane to Amsterdam in two days!! I am so excited to speak Dutch all the time and to grow to love the Dutch people. I don't know what is waiting for me in Nederland but I know that what ever it is I am ready for. I have been preparing for this moment since before this life began. I can't wait to meet my first companion...seeing as I haven't had one really and to meet my mission president!! It is going to be hard and nothing like I have ever experienced before but I know that it will be good and I can hardly wait!! 

Tot Nederland,

Zuster Adams

Be a Good Girl

Last week in the MTC...I can't believe it went so fast!! This week was AMAZING!!! Best week in the MTC so far!! I can truly say I love Dutch! I taught the best lessons I have ever taught and can honestly say without a doubt that I love being a missionary!! It is so great!!! 

This week started out with a video, I watched in one of my classes. It was a talk given by David A. Bednar at the MTC. It was about how we need to stop worrying if the spirit is guiding us and just be good boys and good girls. He said that rarely do we know before hand that we are receiving promptings. The majority will come by us just living righteously and doing what we think is best. I needed to hear that!! I had been so worried about following the spirit that I forgot that if I just do what I am supposed to the Lord will work through me. I really tried to apply that principle this week and it turned out to be absolutely amazing!! On Tuesday, I was in the middle of teaching a lesson and my companions teacher came and got me because my companion had gone back to residence and hadn't come back. Apparently, she had been gone a long time. I quickly ran back and found out that she was really sick. I ran to the Health Clinic and set her up an appointment and then stayed with her for the rest of the day. I missed all my classes and missed the Devotional Tuesday night. I was a little disappointed because I love class and I love devotionals but I am so grateful I stayed back with my companion. I needed to be there with her and I loved the opportunity to serve her. While I was with her, I really felt like she needed to receive a  blessing. I made her get up and we found her branch president. He gave her a really beautiful blessing that answered so many of her worries. It brought tears to my eyes. I love my companion so much and knowing that her prayers were answered were an answer to mine. I love serving others!! Wednesday, I committed one of my investigators to baptism!! It was so amazing and I really felt like we needed to just ask him and he accepted!! I was so excited!! We also got 6 new missionaries in our zone on Wednesday. They are all super nice and I think they are going to be a great addition to our zone!! On Thursday, I had an amazing lesson with my investigator Daniel!! I taught him about faith and how he had faith! He didn't believe me when I told him he had faith. But he had prayed in our last lesson even though he didn't know if there was a God-that is faith! I explained to him that we gain faith through small acts and read him Alma 32:21!! It was so amazing and I knew he was understanding what I was teaching him!! I felt like for the first time I was truly able to express myself in Dutch! It was an incredible experience. The other amazing part about that lesson was before my lesson I didn't really know what I was going to teach. But I trusted in the Lord and believed that I would know what to talk about when the time came. The Lord guided me through the entire lesson and helped me find the scripture Alma 32:21 in my dutch scriptures. The Lord gave me just enough knowledge and guidance to help my investigator! It was so amazing! Daniel is the investigator that things have been going so well with. I have another investigator, Hans, that I feel like nothing has gone right with until Saturday. I had been praying to know how to help him. I had been trying so hard to get it right because I had really messed up. I decided to not plan a lesson and just go in and bear my testimony because I had not felt prompted to teach Hans anything in particular. When I got in there, I asked him what he had learned from all our lessons. Hans answered so simply but told me that he didn't know very much about the Book of Mormon. I was able through the Lord's help bear testimony of the Book of Mormon. Hans said he would read the introduction and the first chapter in Nephi. It was such an amazing feeling knowing that I had finally turned things around. He also said he would come to church on Sunday too!! I was so relieved after the lesson because I had been stressing so much over this investigator. It was really neat though, after my lesson I realized what I had been doing wrong. I had been so focused on teaching Hans that I had forgotten to teach to his needs and be his friend. I had stepped back and said Heavenly Father, I don't know what I am doing, I want to help this investigator, please help me know how to do that. I forgot about the lessons and just tried to help the individual. Even though, I didn't know what I was going to say before I went in, the Lord gave me exactly what I needed when I needed it. I just needed to have faith in the Lord and faith in Hans!! I I have learned a lot about having faith in ourselves, faith in the Lord, and faith in our investigators. I learned that if I am a good girl and believe in myself then everything will work out. I don't need to worry about if I am following a prompting, I just need to live righteously and the Lord will provide a way. Ahh it was such an amazing realization!! For those of you out there that worry about anything, remember to rely on the Lord and believe in yourself!! When we rely on the Lord, live righteously, and believe in ourselves we will never go wrong!!! Yesterday, we had an amazing devotional!! I love the devotionals here and all that we learn every time!! I was asked to sing in Relief Society "l'll Go Where You Want Me To Go" in front of all the sister missionaries yesterday! It was really amazing and it went really well. Elder Conatti and I are singing a duet of "If the Savior Stood Beside Me?" at the new missionary orientation on Wednesday! Well It was an amazing week!! I wish I could say more but this gospel is true and the Lord is in charge of this work!! I love the being a missionary!!! I can't wait to work super hard this week and then get on a plane and serve the people of the Netherlands and Belgium in one week!! 

Never forget how loved you are and how much our father in Heaven loves all of you!!! 

Ik hou van u

Zuster Adams

Sisters in my Zone

Sister King and I

My Zone

Me in front of the Provo Temple

So beautiful

Elders and I

Sister King and I

Alison Curtis' roommates that I saw at the Temple

Elders messing with my camera!

Add caption

Freaking out over my travel plans!!

YOMO! You're Only a Missionary Once!

Hey everyone!!! 

So I'm just going to explain my title right now...this morning I was talking about potentially chopping off all my hair and getting more of a bob(still considering it) and my companions told me YOLO and I responded no its YOMO-you're only a missionary once. I felt pretty proud to have thought of that all by myself...haha Besides it is really true! This week I get my travel plans and I am already more than a month into my mission. It is going my so fast and I am realizing that I really need to make the most of this time and not waste a second. 

Anyways, this last week was my hardest week yet! I had two lessons at the beginning of this week with my investigator Daniel and they went so bad...it was super discouraging. I began to feel like there was this spiritual block. I felt like I couldn't feel the spirit and really had no idea what the Lord wanted me to do. It was a very scary place to be especially since I rely so much on the Lord!! Thankfully, I didn't have gym because my companion was not feeling well. So I took that time to really figure out how I could break down that wall. I prayed very humbly and asked to know what to do. I asked for forgiveness as well because I felt that I had kind of built that wall by relying too much on myself. The peace I received was amazing! Almost immediately I felt my spiritual block fall down. I felt the Lord guiding me again. I felt like I could go back to work with direction. I guess because I felt the wall come down, I thought my lessons the next day were going to go better. The next day was my hardest day at the MTC yet. I taught a lesson in the morning and it did not go well and I felt like I was fumbling through the whole thing...my poor investigator. I became really frustrated because I was trying so hard and nothing was working. Later that evening I did a role play with my teacher and I was trying to teach prayer/holy ghost. It was so bad and I was so frustrated that my teacher stopped me half way through. I was pretty demoralized by that point...it was as if I couldn't get anything right. Then we had class and Brother Mohrman was teaching us about revelation through church attendance. I have to say this first Brother Mohrman is super hard on the Elders and I. It is all for the best but sometimes it is a little much. That night it was too much for me to handle. At one point, I felt like he was questioning my testimony on church attendance. The combination of him being hard on us and being more than frustrated led to a break down. After he left I began to cry because I didn't know what the Lord was trying to teach me and I didn't know what to do. The Elders could tell I was frustrated and gave me a lot of really valuable advice and helped lift my spirits. Before we left for our residence they gave me a blessing that was much needed. After everything that day I realized some very important things. I realized that I had been relying so much on the Lord that I had forgotten that he had called me for a reason. He expects me to still do things to the best of my knowledge. He trusts me to plan the right lessons without Him necessarily telling me everything I need to do. I need to follow the spirit and rely on Him but I also need to remember myself. He called Allison before he called Sister Adams. I am still me and I need to teach with my own personality which I hadn't been doing. I was kind of teaching like a robot. The Lord called me because he needs me personally in the Netherlands. I needed to remember and learn that!! The next day I taught a decent lesson that I felt good about. I felt the spirit more and felt more confident. To those of you that read my blog or my emails, remember who you are. A title doesn't change who you are. It may change how you act in certain situations but you are still you!! Be confident in who you are and the gifts that the Lord has given you!! I also realized this week that I don't need to limit myself. I need to do all I can and not belittle myself. The Lord believes in me so I can do all that is asked of me!!! 

I'm move off of the super serious side and tell you about the fun things that happened this week!! So I broke my permanent retainer again...skilled I know. Anyways, it meant that I had to go get it fixed. So I went on Thursday to the orthodontist to get it fixed...IT WAS SO WEIRD!! I went into the real world. We drove by BYU and all over Provo...it was so weird to be outside of the MTC. When we got the Ortho, the radio was playing. My companion and I had a serious struggle...we knew all the songs and of course they had to play all my favorites. It was a moral dilemma of if we should listen and how we should feel about listening to it. It was pretty funny...the Hygenists were laughing at us for freaking out. Oh and the Orthodontist gave us free

 slushies at the end of the appointment...life doesn't get much better than free food!! I also taught a lesson on the Restoration and told the whole Joseph Smith story in Dutch!!! It was a big deal!! Plus I had no notes or vocabulary helps!!! Elder Parkinson left this week and I was sad to see him go because he is super funny and easy to be around. We got a new Elder. He's name is Elder Snider and he is going to Denmark. Oh big news that I almost forgot about, I got called as Sister Training Leader for these last two weeks at the MTC!!! It is kind of cool. I mean it isn't that big of a deal but I do get to welcome in the 6 newbies to the zone this week!! MY ZONE IS DOUBLING!!! I am kind of excited...if you can't tell. We are getting two new sisters and I can't wait to meet them! We are getting 3 Swedish Elders, 1 Norwegian Sister, 1 Norwegian Elder, and 1 Surinam Sister!! Can't wait to meet all of them and have more friends!!! So this week is going to be kind of crazy...Sister King and I are teaching together as companions and neither of us have had companions so that will be interesting. Then we have 5 investigators and we have 10 lessons to teach this week and then classes and normal stuff on top of that!! I am praying that I survive. I am grateful for the chance to speak Dutch a ton though. I really feel like I will be so much better at Dutch by the end of the week!! Pray for me...its going to be an adventure!

I love being a missionary!! I am learning so much and becoming a better person everyday!! I can't wait to get to the Netherlands and hit the ground running!! I can't wait to get my travel plans at the end of the week!! My time at the MTC is shortly coming to an end but I am going to make the most of every minute!! Have a great week!!!

Oh, and  I just found out that a girl who was in my Y group and in my Psychology class from Summer semester is going to my mission and I am crazy excited!!!!

Ik hou van u!

Zuster Adams 

Pro-Toilet Cleaners!

Allison's invitation to perform

Solo Sisters

Allison's Zone  before the Danes left.

Wow, another week gone and it feels like only yesterday I was writing my previous letter. When I get to P-day I never know where to begin because I feel like a whole year has gone by in the space of one week. 

This week has been hard, amazing, and just what I needed. At the end of last week I was feeling on top of the world and I knew that it was only a matter of time until I was humbled to some extent. 

Monday was good until class that night. We were practicing how to get to know an investigator in Dutch and also how to ask the right questions to get a feel for their needs. I really struggled with this. I am good at getting to know people and how to carry on a conversation but throw Dutch in there and things get hard. It is hard finding my personality in Dutch. I began to get frustrated. After feeling frustrated, I had to go meet my new investigator Hans. I made a fool of myself at the door and was a little discouraged. I went back to my classroom and my teacher asked me how I was. I responded that I was fine and then he asked how I really was. I began to see all my insecurities and it was a scary moment. I told him that I was struggling and that I was scared of offending someone because of my language barrier...and other various concerns. He told me that I need to trust in God. He told me that I needed to let go of my insecurities as a missionary and let the Lord fill in the rest. Those were exactly the words I needed to hear. Every day is not going to be easy. I am not going to feel on top of the world every day but as long as I rely on the Lord then I will be blessed. I read a talk given by President Eyring entitled "Trust in God." It was exactly what I needed to hear and I would encourage any of you, if you are struggling, read that talk! It will give you the strength you need!! 

On Tuesday I practiced "Contacting" or in essence knocking on doors and sharing the message of the gospel. It was a little awkward but not too bad. We also had a cinnamon roll party because Sis. Schwab's mom had sent her some!!! 

Thursday was great!!! I am a pro-toilet cleaner!! We have to do service every week and it is usually some cleaning assignment. Last week I mentioned that I finished cleaning the toilets super fast...well this week we did it again!!! In fact, we begged to have them let us to toilets because we have a system down and we like finishing early because then we get to shower. I didn't expect to be a gifted toilet cleaner but what can I say...the Lord works in mysterious ways...Mom don't get any ideas. I auditioned to sing "I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go" for any of the MTC events and I got a YES!!! I sang yesterday at the Departure Devotional and will be singing at the New Missionary Orientation on Wednesday!!! It went really well and my voice held out which was a blessing because it has been having issues(the g's in Dutch are really starting to hurt my throat... it's normal but it's getting better). Later Thursday night, the Elders and I were practicing teaching an investigator in English. It was a really hard investigator and in the end we didn't really get through to him. It was just a practice but I still wanted to talk to the Elders about how we could improve. I began to ask Elder Heinricks questions about how he thought the discussion went and voiced some of my concerns with our teaching. Elder Heinricks and I probably talked to much and Elder Canotti didn't talk at all really. I felt like much of the discussion had been in circles and I wanted to talk about how we could get better. Elder Heinricks quickly became defensive of his teaching. I could feel that our conversation was turning contentious so I asked Elder Heinricks if he was defensive. He responded that he wasn't defensive and sat down and stopped talking to me. There was not a good feeling in the room and I wanted to smooth the situation over. After a few minutes of pondering what I could say I asked both Elders how I could be a better "Companion" to them? They are all I have in the way of a real companion so I asked how I could better help them. Elder Conatti, feeling the tension in the air, responded "you could fill up my water bottle every now and again." I laughed pretty hard and thank goodness for Elder Conatti!! The tension in the room had subsided but I still waited for Elder Heinricks answer. He looked at me and said "I hate it when you ask me question but they help..." I then asked if I should keep asking questions and he remarked that I should. It was a really amazing moment for all three of us. I think we all realized a little bit more that we are here to help each other and not bring each other down. I think Elder Heinricks was able to see that I wasn't mad at him and in fact just wanted to help him. Things have been a lot better since then!! My question turned a contentious situation into a spiritual situation. I really feel like the Lord gave me the right words to say. 

Friday we played games in class to practice our Dutch and that was a very nice change!! I also contacted to find my new investigator Daniel. I'm feeling good about him and looking forward to our first discussion tomorrow. Oh!!!! We got Cafe Rio for lunch!!! Our custodian smuggled us in some...it was amazing to say the least! I taught my teacher(acting as an investigator) how to pray in Dutch. It was a really amazing experience! First, I was able to explain it really well and simply. Second, I helped my teacher see how he could have taught one of his investigators better on his mission...it was really cool!! I definitely felt the spirit as I was teaching.

I met with my investigator Hans on Saturday and it went so well. I was worried that he was only meeting with me because his girlfriend is Mormon but he showed real interest and I taught him how to pray and he committed to trying to pray!! Every time I teach, I amaze myself by how much Dutch I actually know! It is really cool!! 

Sunday was good as usual! My zone was shrunk to only one district because there is only five of us now. Elder Heinricks is the new zone leader and Elder Conatti is the district leader. The Danish Elders and Sister left this morning...it was so sad. It was like saying goodbye to my family all over again. Because there were only 8 of us, we became really close so it was really a hard goodbye. I am going to miss Sister Wright a lot!! I am now in a trio-companionship because Sister King is all alone so hopefully it will work out well!! 

I have a lot to work on this week! I am going to try and be a lot better about my studies and focus a lot more on my investigators. It is kind of hitting me that I only have three weeks left! It is time for me to focus and work super hard so I can be ready to leave at the end of the month!! I can't believe how fast the time is going! I am so excited to get out there in the field but I am also really nervous! I just can't wait to teach the Dutch people. I love them so much already!! This work is true! The Lord is in this work and is so mindful of us. Every day that I am here, I realize more and more how much the Lord truly loves each and everyone of us!! 

Ik houd van u! 

Zuster Adams

Solo Sisters with their flags of the countries they are going to.

Allison with  Netherlands flag

Cinnamon rolls!

Pointing to where they are going!

Allison with her companion

Cafe Rio'--smuggled into the MTC

Allison looking a bit guilty

Special sign made for her by Elder Fisher and Elder Salinas

Zulder Heinconadams

Allison in front of the Provo Temple

Allison, Elder Conatti and Elder Heinricks...all going to the Netherlands

Allison said , "It's so hard to get a good picture with these two!"

Her classroom where they learn Dutch

Allison's testimony in Dutch

Elder Conatti fell asleep during personal study

I think he just woke up.....

Elder Heinricks looking as if he need a nap

Allison and her sister companions at the Provo Temple

Hey everyone!! I can't believe I have been a missionary for only 12 days...it feels like I have been doing this my whole life. I honestly feel like I have only just started to truly find out who I am! I have learned so much in the last week and I don't even know where to begin! I will refrain from giving you a description of my daily activities because they are the same every day so not incredibly exciting. 

The title of the post is Zulder Heinconadams because it is a combination of Zuster and Elder and then a combination of the Elder's last name and mine as well. Our teachers have decided to call us that for their own convenience...I think it is pretty funny! The name come about because our teachers were kind of shocked at how fast we are learning the language. They have come in multiple times this week and have had something planned to teach us and we are already good at it! The Lord is truly blessing us to learn Dutch quickly. In fact, our teachers can no longer talk Dutch in front of us and have a private conversation because we understand everything they are saying for the most part. The amazing part about us learning Dutch so well is that we help each other learn it. I don't have a companion so the Elders have kind of filled in that role for me. We do our companionship study together and have had some really amazing discussions. I am amazed every day how prepared and excellent my Elders are. I truly believe that we are learning things faster because we are united and we are there to help each other. I consider my Elders family. In fact, Elder Heinricks is like Harrison and Elder Conatti is like Jacob!! Elder Heinricks and I banter constantly and it is really fun. Elder Conatti is probably the sweetest person I have ever met. I love hearing him call me Zuster...he says it like I truly am his sister and it is just great!! This week the Elders had a lesson with Jen and came back super depressed because their lesson, in their eyes had been a complete failure. I had probably a 30 minute pep talk with them and it was really good. I helped them see what things they could improve on and help them feel confident again. I wasn't sure if Elder Heinricks had really listened because his head was down the whole time but that night before we left he came and told me that I was teaching him things he really needed to learn. It was a great moment to know that what I was doing was truly helping the Elders. I have gotten to know my companion Sister Schwab a lot more and we have SO MUCH in common!! I feel really close to hear and we made a goal last week to say we love each other in our respective languages and it has been really fun!! We say prayers in our respective languages as well!! 

I have so many incredible experiences to share with you all and I don't even know where to begin. I am going to explain probably the most incredible experience I've had at the MTC thus far. So in my last post I mentioned that I was teaching an investigator named Jen. Well this week we found out that we would no longer be teaching him. The Elders and I were very sad and wanted to meet the person who had acted as Jen(our investigators aren't real)! It was kind of interesting though, all weekend we thought we were still teaching Jen so we tried to prepare another lesson for him. The Elders and I struggled to come up with what we wanted to teach. Every other time we had prepared our lessons we had felt guided by the spirit to know what to teach. This time though it was as if we were hitting a wall. I did not feel the spirit guiding me anymore. Then on Wednesday we found out that we would no longer be teaching Jen. Elder Conatti and I realized that because Jen was no longer our investigator we were no longer being prompted by the spirit. It was an incredible realization. I know that Jen was just an actor...but I have realized that the Lord wants me prepared for the mission field so he is giving me opportunities to learn how to the feel the spirit and be guided by it even if the actual lessons or investigators are not real. Okay so back to the fact that we wanted to meet "Jen." Wednesday night, we were sitting in our classroom waiting for our teacher and "Jen" walks up and turns out he is our new teacher!!!! Elder Heinricks' face was priceless...it was so great!! Our wish had come true and we spent the rest of the night learning from "Jen" or as we now know him Broeder Mohrman. Wednesday night was one of the most amazing nights of my life. Broeder Mohrman told us we could ask him any question we wanted and so we did. We wanted to know if we had done a good job in our lessons and if our Dutch was good. Broeder Mohrman helped us realize that no matter what actually happened in our lessons as long as we put our best effort forward then we were a success. It felt good to hear that we had been successful in our lessons. Broeder Mohrman told me that my first lesson was my best lesson...the lesson I had forgotten all of my notes. In my first lesson, I fumbled my way through my limited Dutch and somehow "Jen" told me an incredibly personal story. Broeder Mohrman has used the character of Jen before with other missionaries and he has never shared the story he shared with me on the first lesson before. I was shocked to find that out. He said that even though my Dutch wasn't the best I did a really good job. I realized that because I didn't have my notes I had relied on the Lord. When you rely on the Lord, he will fill in the gaps and help you be a success. It was amazing!!! Broeder Mohrman was also shocked when the Elders and I didn't teach strictly by Preach my Gospel. He said that most missionaries come in and use Preach my Gospel word for word and usually have scripts on their first lesson. We didn't because we knew we need to teach to the investigators needs rather than strictly from a book. Broeder Mohrman said we are learning faster and much more than the average missionary. It was an incredible compliment and I can't help but thank my Heavenly Father for preparing me. Broeder Mohrman said my Dutch was surprisingly good for not being here for very long...although, apparently I sound like an Australian speaking Dutch. How does that work? I'm an american, who calls Germany home and I speak Dutch with an Australian accent...weird!! Teaching Jen was one of the hardest things I have ever done because first I didn't know the language and because he was a strong atheist, but it taught me so much!!!! I feel humbled and yet confident that I can do this work that the Lord has called me to!

Yesterday, at Mission Conference, we sang the EFY medley with new lyrics to "Sisters in Zion"...IT WAS INCREDIBLE!!! I cried through the whole song. Here are the lyrics to the new version 

"The Sisters of Zion are called to God's labor. We willingly serve him in Spirit and might. We go to the nations with truth everlasting. We teach of the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ. 

We thank thee, o God for a prophet to guide us. We trust in his words and our purpose is clear. The angels of heaven are walking beside us. 

We got forth enlisted with Helaman's army in numbers much greater than ever before. With power and Spirit we'll faithfully witness. The heavens are spoken and truth is restored." 

It was so amazing!!!! 

I also wrote my whole testimony in Dutch this week and only didn't know 9 words!! I was pretty excited!! This gospel is true! I am supposed to be on a mission and the Lord has prepared me for this work my entire life. After this week, there will only be five people in my zone because the Danish Elders and Sister are leaving...we are really sad but they are off to do amazing things!! I love the MTC! I love the Temple! It is a great day to be a missionary!!! Never forget how much you are loved by our Heavenly Father!! Hope you are all having a great week!! 

Ik hou van u!

Zuster Adams

Pictures!!!!

This is Allison's current companion

Soaking up the sun!  Vitamin D time

These are the solo sisters, which means they are not going to the same mission.

Provo Temple

This is her zone.  It's kind of a hodge podge group.  Only three are going to the Netherlands, the others are going to other places.

Going to the Netherlands!  These Elders are the others in her zone learning Dutch and going to the Netherlands

Look how high she got!  She's ready for the bike!

Zuster Adams!  It's official!

Allison and her MTC companion, which is going to Romania

Solo sisters

Solo sisters--all different languages on their tags...cool!