Week 20

Yo!

So last night we got transfer calls. I pretty much had already started packing because I was sure I was getting moved, and I took pictures with everyone at church too. Instead they made Elder Lewis a Zone leader and moved him to Buffalo and I'm staying here. I'm really happy I'm staying though! this area is awesome and I didn't feel ready to leave, so that's good. 

This past week was pretty good. We didn't get to see everyone that we wanted but we still made some progress. On Wednesday night we went to the Methodist church to play basketball again. Everybody that played last time said hey to us and we're meeting some cool kids there. The Owens, a family from our branch, have their son, Nate out on a mission in Arizona right now, and we met this kid named Darnell who knows Nate really well, so hopefully we can talk to him more.

Oh yah, so a big storm/cold front came in this week, and we got a Mission wide text Monday night saying that if temperatures were under zero on Tuesday that we needed to stay inside. The snow storm missed Springville, but it was negative 7 all day so we didn't really do much. We drove to visit a couple people but that was about it. I'm guessing that Dad probably tracted in that type of weather in Finland all the time, so he'll think we're pansies.

Anyway, I think that's it. We spent most of our time this week working with a couple people/complicated situations that I would like to tell you about, but it would take a really long time to explain them fully and they wouldn't make sense if I only mentioned a couple things about them.

Alright, well I hope everyone has a great week!

Love, Elder Holt  

Here are some pictures...

                         

Sister Barts and I. She is 70 and her farm is still going strong.

  

Me and Dennis "The Legend" who Reigns

Me and Brother Becker

The truck that the other Elders "Totalled"!

The Daily Sunrise

Week 19

Hey Everybody!

I'm having trouble remembering what happened this week. It went by so fast. It hit -12 for a bit,
then it was 40 yesterday, then this week we are supposed to have a crazy, crazy snow storm
with -30 wind chill and stuff like that...should be fun.

 

We did have a cool miracle this week! On Wednesday, we were just having an off day. All of our plans fell through, and we really didn't have much energy either. We didn't know what we were going to do in the evening either because when it gets dark no one answers the door, and if they do they aren't happy about it. We got a text from Kelly saying we should come over for dinner. So we drove the 20 minutes to her house, ate, and we were driving back from Springville, and I was coming around a corner going decently fast (we were driving on snow) and I saw two cars stopped on the road, and one was sideways on the road, so I slammed on my breaks and we started skidding toward the car, and there was no way we were going to stop in time. Somehow I was able to steer the car just enough to the side while we were skidding to avoid hitting the other car. Then we got out, because this guy had gotten his truck stuck in a ditch on the side of the road. He had gone and got his other car to try and get his truck out, but he was having a lot of trouble. Anyway, we were able to get his truck out of the ditch with ours, and then he invited us into his house for a little bit. He asked us a lot about what we do as missionaries, and he was interested to hear more, but he was really sick so he said to come back another day. He's a recovering alcoholic and has been sober for 4 years, and just by talking to him he seemed like he's open to hearing what we have to say. So we are excited about him.

 

On Saturday we were able to go to the temple because a girl in our branch received her endowments (she's leaving on her mission soon) so that was fun to go up to Palmyra for half the day. I think thats about it for last week. Besides meeting that guy, I think we had a pretty normal week. I hope everybody's doing good!

 

Love, Elder Holt

Week 17 & 18

Hello,

Well I didn't write an email last week so I guess I have to cover a couple weeks. I think that nothing too big happened 2 weeks ago. Chuck did say he would be baptized though when we invited him, so that's sweet. We're going to try to see him more often so that we can speed up his growth because we have only been seeing him once a week. This past week was pretty crazy though, with all the Christmas festivities going on. 

 

On Monday last week we were driving to a dinner appointment and we pulled up to an accident, and it was actually the other elders in our district. they were going to an appointment the same direction and we pulled up like 30 seconds after their accident. Apparently there was a tractor that was driving on the road that didn't  have any lights on, except a tiny white light at the top that can barely be seen, and they just rammed into the back of it going around 55mph. The kid driving the tractor was completely fine, and the elders didn't have any injuries at all, but the truck was wayyyyy totaled. We hung around till everything was cleared up so that we could give them a ride, and it took almost 2 hours for everything to be sorted out. That was pretty crazy.

 

The next day was the Christmas Eve mission party, so we all drove up to Rochester for that and that was awesome. We got to hang out pretty much all day and there was a talent show and stuff. It was pretty fun. We also were given a brand new 2014 Chevy Silverado while we were there, so now we get to drive that around. It's pretty awesome. Then the next day was Christmas! We got to go to a few members houses and we also got to skype which was really nice. I appreciate all the packages and stuff too! I have sooooo much candy though, and I don't want it to go to waste so I've just decided that once a day one of my meals will just be candy. So far that's been horrible and I just feel fat and gross.

 

Thursday through Sunday were just normal days. On Saturday we went to the Myers, the people that have the goats and stuff, and we helped them clean out their chicken coup. I'm not going to lie, that was straight up disgusting. Chicken crap is the worst smelling thing I have ever encountered. I was trying to breath through my mouth the whole time, but sometimes I would accidently breathe through my nose and I would almost throw up. At least I know how to clean a coup now, I'm sure that's a skill I can utilize later in life. Anyway we're supposed to have a big storm this week and I am not looking forward to it. Enjoy the 80 degree weather you Californians. Alright bye!

 

Love, Elder Holt 

Week 16

Hey!

Man its been a weird week. It has not stopped snowing since last Tuesday. Seriously, it has been ridiculous. We have gotten at least 3 feet of snow and driving in it totally stinks. Anyway, Tuesday was a normal day, we checked in on Chuck and visited a few other people, and then we had exchanges starting that night so I was with Elder Stapley. Then on Wednesday afternoon my companion Elder Lewis was told that he was supposed to go to a mission leadership training meeting up near Rochester, so he was picked up by the zone leaders and I went with Elder Stapley and Elder Allred to Arcade.

Elder Lewis was supposed to get back on Thursday but because of the snow he couldn’t come until Friday, so I was down in Arcade from Wednesday afternoon to Friday afternoon just going around with the other elders. Elder Lewis and I got back to Springville at around noon on Friday and it was just dumping snow outside, so we walked around with shovels looking for people who needed help shoveling their driveways, which actually worked out really well and we found a couple people that said we could come back. It's nice because people can't tell us to go away when we are shoveling their driveway for them, so they pretty much have to listen to us.

Saturday was like that too, then on Sunday we went up to the stake Christmas concert. We rode up with a lady in our branch, and we went 30 mph the whole time because it was snowing pretty bad, and there was also lightning, which was super cool because it would reflect off the snow. Weird stuff. The stake Christmas concert consisted of a musical number from every ward choir in the stake. Lets just say the concert was….inspirational. It left me craving some yl 4^th ward choir. The last musical number in the concert was supposed to be by the Cattaraugus branch, but no one showed up except the pianist and the chorister, so the four elders serving down there had to get up and sing a song in front of the stake that they have never even heard of, after 30 seconds of preparation. It was probably one of the funniest things I've ever seen. We know the Cattaraugus elders really well and they were sitting right in front of us when they were told that they had to get up and sing. I think the song was “Still a Bach Christmas” or something like that. Anyway, I think that’s it for this week. CYA!

Love, Elder Holt 

Winter Storm

                          

Icicles

                                                   

Week 15

Yo,

So this week was pretty slow. We had all of our appointments either cancel or just not answer the door, except for our one lesson with Chuck. That went well, at least we think. We taught him the Plan of Salvation, and he absorbed it all, but he needs a few days to organize it in his brain. He had never even considered that there was something before this life so he was thinking about that a lot. He didn’t disagree with any of it, he just needs time to think about it and re-read the pamphlet we gave him. Yah, so that was good.

Oh and the sweetest thing we did this week was on Wednesday night. A couple months back we met a guy at the park when we had our basketball night, and he invited us to play on Wednesday nights at his Methodist church, so we went and it was awesome. There were a lot of people there and they were all cool, and wondering why we had nametags on and stuff. We had a good game so now they like us, so we’re probably gonna keep going back and try to talk to more guys. It was nice because me and Elder Lewis were both craving to play, because its been snowing and we haven’t been able to do anything outside lately.

We were also hoping that Chuck and Marie would be able to make it to the Christmas devotional last night but both of them canceled. Its all good though. This week should be good. We plan on doing some tracting in the snow so that people feel sympathy for us. Last time we went tracting it was me, Elder Lewis, and Elder Klumker, and we were switching off every door, and Elder Lewis and Klumker kept on getting the nicest old ladies that would come out and talk, and every time I knocked on the door I got some weird old bearded guy that would just tell me to go away. Seriously, every door I knocked on. It was annoying but also pretty funny. Anyway, I can’t think of anything else worth mentioning. Oh! I was able to weigh myself at a members house this week, which I haven’t been able to do in like 2 months, and I have gained 3 whole pounds since I came out on my mission. I'm pretty sure its all gone to my thighs. Anyway, have a great week everybody!

Love Elder Holt   

Week 14

Hey everybody!

So I spent so much time attaching the pictures, now I don't have too much time for this letter.  Transfer calls were yesterday and I'll be staying in Springville along with Elder Lewis, but my other companion Elder Klumker got transferred to Buffalo. It's lame because we thought we were going to stay a trio because one of the AP's mentioned we wouldn't be moved, but I guess not.
So now it's just me and Elder Lewis in Springville. This week was good, but slow because it snowed for 3 days straight, so it was tough getting places.

Thanksgiving was awesome though! We went to the Owen's, a really great family. It was just different because it wasn't a Thanksgiving I'm used too, but it was still really good. I ate a lot.

Alright, gotta go. C YA

Love, Elder Holt

Elder Knudson and I dressed up as each other for the Branch Halloween Trunk or Treat.

The is the barn across the street from the 2nd Joseph Smith Home that they used to separate the wheat and other stuff.

Entrance into the Sacred Grove

Week 13

Hello Familia,

 

It's been snowing out the wazoo out here. Well, not that much, but all the roads were covered and we’re supposed to get more tonight. Its good. I'm the designated driver right now so my companion’s lives are in my hands. Anyway, this week was good as always.

 

Tuesday was awesome because we went up with Christian to the sacred sites. We had the tour of the Joseph Smith home and then went into the Sacred grove for a little bit which is always an awesome experience. It's really nice because when we go into the Sacred grove we are allowed to separate and go off on our own, so it’s the only chance I have on my mission to be alone and think. I also got lost in there because all the leaves were covering the trail and I didn’t know where I was going. After that we went to the Hill Cumorah visitors center and watched The Restoration movie.

 

Christian’s vaporizer broke in the morning, so he had to go all day without smoking it and he’s addicted to it so he was in a bad mood most of the day. He didn’t have the experience we were hoping he would have, but it was still good. Oh and we went to Nimas after, which is this pizza place that all the missionaries like to go to because they have calzones the size of my upper body that are really good.

 

The rest of the week was good. Chuck was especially awesome. We taught him the Restoration, and after he talked about how he was initially only curious in the Book of Mormon but now he’s starting to feel something. He’s a really smart guy and gets a lot out of the reading, and he’s really interested in going to see the sacred sites as well so we might do that soon. It's really sweet to have the Sacred grove so accessible for investigators, and after taking Christian we want to start inviting our other investigators to go too.

 

Also we visited with Marie a couple times this week. She bakes all the time so we asked her to teach us how to bake pastries, so we went over on Friday and spent a couple hours baking stuff. It was really fun, and we were able to watch the Restoration video with her which she liked. She also said she would read a chapter we left with her in the Book of Mormon so that’s awesome too. Chuck and Marie were the two highlights of the week pretty much. Nothing really happened with our other investigators.

 

On Saturday the 2 other elders in our district had a baptism. That was really cool for the branch. Her name is Olivia and I think shes 17. She might be 18 though. Anyway, she got baptized and her mom will probably be baptized soon too, so that’s cool.

 

Oh and rumor has it (President Francis told us) that we are all going to get “digital devices” (ipads) pretty soon. That’s gonna be awesome because we will be able to whip out videos in the middle of a lesson, and whats even sweeter is that our area book and planners will be on there, so all we have to do is type in information about our investigators instead of getting the huge binder out and dealing with all the paperwork in there. Seriously its gonna make everything like 20 times easier.

 

Alright well that’s it. BYE. Oh and heres a scripture I liked from this week

2 Nephi 28:24 “Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion”

 

Love,

Elder Holt