Merry Christmas!

Hey all!! 

This week has been pretty awesome :) That had a lot to do with CHRISTMAS! I love Christmas! It's just a magical time of the year. That is the only way to describe it. I feel like Heavenly Father just pours out his spirit on everyone! I mean really the spirit of Chirstmas that everyone talks about is essentially the spirit of Christ! We know that JOY can only be attained through that spirit of Christ, so what else could it be? I just love it :)

This week was a little slower than others because everyone was out of town.... but those that we were able to see had that special spirit with them. Christmas as a missionary has got to be the best kind of Christmas. No other time have I more fully understood the reason for the season. It's Christ. There aren't as many presents or decorations, treats, etc. It's really all about a baby born in a stable to a virgin mother, begotten by a perfected, Heavenly Father. He came in the humblest of circumstances; and in not quite as humble circumstances but still not what I was used to, I was able to appreciate the simplicity of celebrating the birth of my personal Saviour and Redeemer. I know he was born, lived, and died for us. I know he made that sacrifice so that we could be with our Father in Heaven and our families for eternity. Literally without end. I know that whatever we might be going through, Christ has felt those same sorrows, those same heartaches, and that he knows exactly how to comfort us in those times. As we reach out to him, we will find open arms, waiting to receive us. I know that whatever trial we may be walking through, it is temporary. It's a drop in the ocean in eternity and that our reward is so much greater if we endure. As we hold tight to the rod, we will receive all our Heavenly Father has prepared for us.

Other than Christmas this week, we also had a couple baptismal interviews so that's exciting! Destiny and Triston and Jeff will be getting baptized within the month! I'm so excited for these individuals and for the path to Heavenly Father that they are starting on! It has truly been the biggest blessing of my life to be able to assist the Spirit of God in bringing these people closer to Christ!

Also we had a Christmas Zone Conference. It was really great :) Sister Greener and I had the opportunity to sing a duet at it so that was pretty cool haha I love receiving training from President! I always feel that spiritual boost and It's the best feeling.

Well sorry I dont have any pictures this week.... I left my camera at home... but next week!

I love you all so much!!

Sister Holt

Sister Patterson sent us this picture from Zone Conference

Sister Holt with President and Sister Patterson

Blessings!

Hey!! This week has been freaking amazing and it also FLEW past! Where is the time going? I'm already starting to get worried that it's going to end... 

Last P-day my district had a fried chicken contest! So, the elders in my district are from Louisiana, Florida, and Texas..... and the Philippines but that doesn’t count. Sister Greener and I are from Idaho and Canada.... suffice to say we were kinda outmatched. But we got a recipe and we fried that chicken! And we came in last place. Elder Jones won. Sad, sad tears were shed that day.... naw I'm just kidding. If I'm going to be honest, that chicken was GOOD. But don't tell them I said that.

On Wednesday, everybody and their dog cancelled on us. So we went street contacting on Westminster Blvd. Oh boy, it was definitely an interesting experience haha

We met an angel of God. Yup you read that right. He is an angel sent from heaven to spy on all the people. He has wings, he earned them, but we can't see them... he also was poisoned that morning in his pepsi max... oh and the pope tried to poison him in the 80s... but that pope was replaced secretly by the cardinal later.... oh man I could go on forever with the stuff this guy was saying! It was entertaining if nothing else. We tried to give him a pass-along card and ask for his name but he said that when he tells people his name, people try to kill him and that since he is an angel, he didnt need our card. hahahahahahahahahaahha yeah.........

Anyways! Thursday was super great! We got to meet with a few of our investigators!! Man, I love them. Friday we did some service in a seniors’ centre for their Christmas party! It was a lot of fun :) We prepared and served food for 200 people! While we were eating lunch in our apartment, we got a random phone call from a woman named Destiny. She said that her husband was a member of the church and she had been going on and off since they had been married, she worked in the military, and she wanted to get baptized by the end of the month. HMMMM uh okay! So we met with her that evening and we eventually found out that she is moving to BYU Idaho at the end of the month and that right now just seems like the right time for her to be baptized. She's really sweet and we’ll be finishing the lessons with her on Tuesday and she will hopefully be baptized on the 28th of this month. Man, she has such a sweet testimony! It's crazy to see how much she has grown just in the few times we have met with her :) #theLordpreparespeople

Also a super sweet member that we meet with pretty often got us fluffy socks for Christmas; she's so cute.  

So! All in all a pretty productive week :)

The church is true!

Sister Holt

Walking In an Unwintery Wonderland!

Hey! This week has been pretty busy! We have about 6 investigators that we meet with regularly, which is awesome, so there's never a dull moment in the Beach Ward! Last week while I was emailing at the library some guy came and sat beside me and started talking to me about my name-tag and asking me questions about what I do as a missionary. It was pretty weird but also cool. He told me that he has been looking for faith in his life and he was willing to meet with missionaries! Unfortunately for us, he lives in the other mission (we're right on the edge beside Anaheim), but that's okay because we're all on the same team! That evening after p-day, everyone cancelled on us.... so that sucked lol.

Tuesday we got to meet with Joanna and Jeff (both are investigators) and Jeff is progressing really well. Oh man, he' s so awesome. Tuesday was definitely a busy day because we actually saw another family who's kids we are teaching and they welcomed us in and wanted a lesson and stuff even though their parents weren’t there which has never happened! So that was REALLY cool... when I say kids I mean like 13 and 15 haha just so you know.

We also got to do some service through justserve at a museum! The curator is 90 years old!!! She's super funny, and I love the opportunity that we have every week to provide service for her and the community.

So our ward mission leader is AWESOME, just so you know. He is so dedicated to his calling. Sister Greener and I are crazy blessed to be able to have him labouring in this white field with us! Man, I wish you could meet him.

Friday was another SUPER busy day! We taught 6 lessons. That's a lot. It was pretty great though, I love it when we get so busy with the work that we don't have a minute to catch our breaths; it makes it really easy to go to bed completely satisfied, knowing you have made the most of your time, and the Lord's time. I always feel so much joy when I am able to give everything to this great work!

On Saturday we got to go to our ward's Christmas party!! yay! It was super great, lots of food and a cute little play :) We took pictures with Santa and took home WAY too many leftovers haha.

On Sunday we had our mission president, President Patterson, come speak in our ward. He really gave a great talk about missionary work, I hope it inspires our members! We also had 4 investigators at church!!!! Which is crazy but so awesome. Yup, I'm happy. :)

Love you,

Sister Holt.

Light The World!

Hello all!

This week has been pretty swell :) I'm super bad at remembering everything that I do though... so let's see how I do!

Last P day was pretty fun! We played volleyball for like a million years because Sister Greener loves volleyball, I actually enjoyed it too! Who knew, eh? That evening we taught an investigator who is getting baptized this weekend… I think I mentioned him; Tristan. He's like 11 and his parents are members but his birth mom wasn't chill with it ‘til now... but we're excited for him!

Tuesday we did some service in the morning for a less-active lady named Heidi. She had her mom and sister’s house kinda plopped into her lap after her mom died and it was a bit of a hoarders house... she had some pros come clean it up and organize it for an estate sale so we went over here to help with that :) Then we had a lesson with Jeffrey!!! Jeff is just the bomb. He's from South Carolina and he's so funny. He always calls us ma’am and 'the boss ladies'. I love him! People always talked about how they love their investigators like crazy but I didn't understand it ‘til I experienced it! It's totally true BTW.

We also got to visit with this awesome couple named the Capps. OH my gosh! they're so funny. They’re from some mid-western state and they're just total hicks and I love it. Their names are Butch and Bo. I'm serious. They're so good! He's got THE funniest stories. For reals. I also got to meet with my ward mission leader and he is so awesome. I love him. He's pretty young but so dedicated to his calling and he and his wife feed us every week basically... when we have ward correlation with him. He's huge. Like huge, but such a teddy bear.

We got to do some more service at a seniors’ center so that was pretty fun! We got the lunch for them ready and helped clean up and stuff, it was good :) We had our sister training leaders' greenie with us because they were at meetings all day long; she's pretty cool :)

On Saturday we did exchanges with the STLs! I went to Westminster ward with Sister Watson and their trainee. IT was pretty great. I got to meet with some of their investigators and they are so cool! I did miss Sister Greener though! We've gotten pretty tight I guess. :)

Yesterday was fast Sunday and we had the special opportunity to fast with Jeffrey for his first time! He has a couple trials we are trying to help him overcome before his baptism on the 7th of Jan! Cause guess what?? He moved his own date up! A whole month. I'm so proud of him.

This week has been the bomb because we're getting ready for (drum roll please...) CHRISTMAS! I love Christmas. Probably too much. We have been sharing the new Christmas initiative video (Light The World) like crazy and I love it! I really like how it's not just a video you watch and then forget; it is inviting us to act! We need to be the light of the world. Christ was a perfect man, that is something we want become while on the earth, but we can do this! We can serve, we can lift others, we can be the light! I invite you to watch the video and make a commitment to serve during this Christmas season. 25 ways, over 25 days. Let's light the world!! :)

I love you so much and I will send pictures in a bit.... I have to use a different computer for that lol

Love, Sister Holt.
Check out the Light The World Video at: https://www.mormon.org/


or watch it on youtube: #lighttheworld

Sister Greener, Sister Holt, Jeffrey

Sister Greener, Sister Holt, Mirian

Sister Holt at Holt and Beach

Did I mention I'm in SoCal? :) 

Merry Christmas!

Straight out of Bethlehem