Elder Jeffrey R Holland

Hello! This week has been pretty fantastic! Mostly because (yep you read it right) Elder Holland came to my mission!!!!! All 170 missionaries in the California Long Beach mission gather in Cerritos to hear him speak and it. Was. Awesome. Elder Hallstrom from the Seventy was also there as well as our area authority. I haven't felt the spirit like that maybe ever, definitely not for a long time!

In the meeting we were encouraged to ponder the things we are being taught and to let this experience be a life-changing one; let it affect how the rest of our mission and as our life plays out. I definitely intend to take that counsel to heart! I sincerely hope that the way I do, and think about, missionary work will never be the same; that I will be able to recommit myself, my loyalty, my obedience, my diligence, to the Lord! One of the speakers talked about how marines are completely loyal and that once you're a marine, you're always a marine. WE as missionaries are the same way! ONCE A MISSIONARY, ALWAYS A MISSIONARY! He also spoke of how a marine is 100% LOYAL. We must also be loyal to the Lord, our Mission President, and our companions, in that order. Another piece of insight that hit me was to "leave everything on the field." The reason this had an impact on me was because I have been told that time, and time again on my mission by 2 stake Presidents (including President Weckesser) and now an area authority... I guess I'd better listen, eh? I want so badly to be the missionary I know God sees that I have the potential to become! I pray that I will be able to continue to grow and progress and constantly strive to be strictly and exactly obedient to the standards that have been set for the representatives of Jesus Christ!

Elder Holland spoke to us about our own conversion. He told us that what the General Authorities are really worried about is us! Our testimonies and our progress within the church. I know that as I sacrifice this time, I will be strengthened and blessed to be able to endure well in the gospel after I go home, as long as I allow myself to be changed by the things I experience. We are supposed to be changed by our missions! I am so grateful for the short time I have been given to serve and prepare myself for the things that lay ahead of me.

Elder Holland was also really funny haha. He told us we were apostolic but he corrected himself and said, "Now I don't want you all to write home telling your folks that I've called you to the quorum of the 12 apostles... I'm a capital 'A' apostle, you're a little 'a' apostle!" Also when we were reading a story in the New Testament about Nicodemus coming to Christ and asking him about gospel things and Christ says, you must be born again to see the kingdom of God, and Nicodemus says, what the heck? born again? do I have to go back in my Mother’s womb and be born again like that??? HAHAHA Elder Holland said, and I quote, "THAT IS THE STUPIDEST THING I HAVE EVER READ IN RECORDED SCRIPTURE HISTORY." It was so funny!

Elder Holland did talk about the gap that sometimes occurs in missionary work between the missionary and the investigator, things like; ignorance, sin, pride, misinformation, etc. He instructed us that we have to go to where they are and bring them up! That is how we bridge that gap; not by insisting they come to where we are, but by making the journey with them. We were also instructed to make every single teaching opportunity a strong spiritual experience. A lot of times we think that we just have to fill our day, stay busy. We go into a less-active member's home or even an investigator, we chat, and then share a token scripture or power thought from one of the lessons and leave them with a half-hearted commitment we know we will not follow up on. I know I am guilty of this and I know that without the spirit and without an invitation to commit or in other words to change, or REPENT, no one can progress in their journey back to their Heavenly Father! I am so, so grateful for the time I have had to learn at the feet of an Apostle of the Lord. I know that he is a special witness of Jesus Christ and that he has been called by God, our actual Heavenly Father, and Creator.

The rest of my week was good. We had a lot of people cancel on us, which was frustrating at times, but we know we only have so much control over what happens in this work. All we can do is invite the spirit and invite, invite, invite the people we teach! We were supposed to have about 5 investigators at church this week... they all said they would come, we even offered to get them rides and yet… only one showed after Sacrament meeting and it wasn't even one we were expecting! That's okay though! We are not discouraged! We'll get them next week for sure!

We have also been having a hard time finding members who are willing to teach with us, especially since we don't really have any ward missionaries... so we decided to take it upon ourselves to find members to teach with us! We sent a sign-up sheet around Priesthood, Relief Society and even the Youth and Primary (for the leaders) to see who is available to teach with us! I really do hope we will be able to get more members teaching with us! I know that when members teach alongside missionaries, it strengthens the investigators’ testimonies  and creates a fellowship and a bridge between them and the Church that helps immensely with their conversion.

This week we also met with 2 of our investigators, William and Kim, and committed them both to baptism! It brings me an incredible amount of JOY whenever I hear that these children of our Heavenly Father are wanting to come closer Him! Now, it is our responsibility to help them progress toward that goal they have made in faith!

I love you lots!

The church is true!

Sister Holt

Sorry, no pics this week! I'm bad.

Work! Work! Work!

Hello!

This week has been busy and awesome and I love it all :)

We got to visit with a lot of the usual people we meet with; less-active members that are working on growing their faith and testimony. We also got to meet with Jeffrey and his girlfriend Alina to talk about his baptism! We did some service at a museum and sorted some records, which was fun because I like organizing.

Saturday was absolutely CRAZY. We worked so hard we were EXHAUSTED by the end of the day. I have never been that tired on my mission. We started off street contacting and then we met a less active woman in the ward who has health issues. She's really sweet and we're going to meet with her again next week and she's bringing her friend who wants to learn more about the gospel!! Then we got to meet with Mirian, a youth who was baptized right before I got here. She invited two of her friends to learn more about the gospel so we got to teach them about the Restoration and they are interested in continuing the discussions!! Their names are Jenny and Isabela and they are very sweet. Next we taught Karie. She has decided to turn her life around this year, she wants to make a change. We read a chapter in The Book of Mormon about the gospel of Jesus Christ and asked her to follow the example of Jesus Christ by being baptized and she said yes! We are so excited for her! After dinner we saw an investigator named William, he's like 13 and is interested in learning more about Christianity. We took Mirian with us (she's such a little missionary) so we had to walk because we couldn't take her in our car because she isn't 16... so that was fun! We taught him about the importance of The Book of Mormon and he said he would read and pray about it, to ask Heavenly Father if it is His word. I love how in this gospel we believe in finding out for ourselves. We don't expect anyone to just take our word for it, to just trust us. We ask you to trust in God! Ask him if these things are true and he will tell you! I can testify that this is true and that God answers us! Not always exactly when or how we think we should be answered, but He does answer.

After William's lesson we had to quickly walk Mirian home and then go to Jeff's baptism!! It was such a wonderful experience. I love Jeff so much and I'm sad he's moving to Colorado (yep, we lost another one) I got to give a talk about baptism and I think it went okay! I felt prompted to speak about how baptism is not the finish line, you're not done! It's the first step! Now, we endure. We continually find faith in Christ, repent, partake of the sacrament and nourish our testimonies! I always tell people that there has never been a person who fell away from the Church that was; reading their scriptures, praying, and attending Church. It just doesn’t happen. We need to do these things to keep us spiritually alive! CPR: church, pray, read.

By the end of the day, we realized we were super close to meeting the standard of excellence, so we panned the heck out of Sunday, giving up our lunch so that we could try and do that... we almost made it! Sacrament meeting was really awesome, Jeff was confirmed a member and he received the Holy Ghost, AND he got the priesthood! It was a good time.

Later on Sunday, we had a lesson with William again, so we walked over with Mirian so she could be there (did I mention it was a mile long walk so it took like half an hour?) We get there and William said that he couldn’t do the lesson right then... so we walked all the way back. While we were fasting. Man, did we get blisters.

Anyways, the Church is true! I love you muchly!

Love, Sister Holt

Happy New Year!

Hello!

We got our transfer calls yesterday and.............................
I am staying in Beach ward with Sister Greener! We are very happy :)

This last week has been awesome :) One of our investigators, Destiny, got baptized on Wednesday!!! Yay! It was a sweet, small service and she has already moved to Rexburg with her husband and baby to attend BYUI. My favourite part was definitely when she was confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and she received the Holy Ghost (we did it at the baptism since she was moving a couple days after.) The spirit was so, so strong! I could feel it rush into the room and envelope this new member of God's church. It was a very special moment and I feel blessed and privileged to have been able to witness it :)

We also got to meet with some investigators that have been eluding us for a few weeks again. It was really good to see them! One of them, Karie, we met with at the church because it was raining and we usually meet her in a park. I am so glad for the spirit that resides in our dedicated church buildings! It really helped Karie to feel of God's love and let the spirit bear testimony to her of the truths we were sharing.

Saturday was New Year’s Eve and we got to spend it (til 9pm of course) with a special member of our ward named Ruth. I love Ruth so much, it hurts me that she is moving in a few weeks. She is older and her health is rapidly declining so she is moving in with one of her sons about half an hour away, but she still wants to continue attending our ward. Even if she does, we won’t be able to visit her so much since she will be so far away :( She can’t really leave her apartment right now so we go see her and read the book of Mormon since she cannot attend church. I just can’t even express how much I love her!

A member gave us some sparkling grape juice for New Year’s Eve, so that was nice :) I woke up at midnight because of the sound of the fireworks, so I guess you could say that I basically celebrated New Year at midnight haha

Our ward has switched to 9 am church so... not a ton of people showed up.  It's also gonna be a lot harder to get investigators there... but I'm sure the Lord will provide a way! I'm starting to learn that what the angel told Zacharias in the New Testament is true : nothing is impossible for the Lord!

We also had a member make a dutch oven meal for us last night and it was sooo good! :) All in all a pretty good week!

Pictures to come later! Sorry! but hopefully late today... all the libraries are closed so we email at the family history centre so we get less time.... Love you!

Love, Sister Holt

Christmas pjs :)

a little video that arrived New Year's Day - a great start to the year :)

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