Spanish Lunch

Hey Fam!

So this week was great! The sun is shining and the weather is just like home :)  We get the occasional 30 mph wind accompanied by some rain but it clears up in like an hour and is back to sunshine.  

We had our Zone Training this week and we really focused on finding new people and obtaining unshaken faith. I got to give a discussion on unshaken faith and we searched for formulas on how to obtain this kind of faith in the Book of Mormon. We looked at 2 Nephi 31:19-20, Jacob 4:5-6, Enos, and Mormon 9:27-28. I have researched this topic quite a bit and have found that if I analyze what these great Prophets did to obtain that kind of faith that we can also gain this faith in any principle of the Gospel. It takes time but it is possible.

We had a fun lunch this week with the family here that are from Barcelona. They grew up in the Catholic religion and were baptized about four years ago. They fed us dinner last Sunday and we got talking about spanish food and so she said she would feed us a Spanish meal for lunch on Friday so we went and had tortilla Espanola and a Spanish salad. It was awesome. Elder Bishop does not like eggs so he had to deal with that and he really does not like vegetables so when Sister Ribera said you are supposed to rub the tomato juice all over the bread he almost flipped. I thought it was pretty funny.

I got sick this week and lost my voice which is kinda important to go and teach people but it's all good it is coming back and I should be all good in a day or two.

We still have a bunch of people we are trying to get in with and have appointments with many of them this week so hopefully all works out!

Thanks so much for all of your love and support!

Love,
Elder Holland

 

 

Another great week!

Hey fam!

This week was excellent as usual!  the work has seemed to slow down a bit in our area because so many of the people we are teaching are out of town because of the nice weather.  We have quite a few people that are ready to either come back to church or to be baptized but they are going to be gone for the next few weeks so we have been focusing on finding even more people this past week.

I found an excellent quote from President Thomas S Monson while listening to a General Conference talk this week. He said, “[The Lord] commands. And to those who obey Him, whether they be wise or simple, He will reveal Himself in the toils, the conflicts, the sufferings which they shall pass through in His fellowship, and … they shall learn in their own experience Who He is” (in “The Way of the Master,” Liahona and Ensign, Jan. 2003). I agree with this completely and feel this is a great explanation of why we have to go through such hard things in this life. When talking about the Savior and what he would do for us the Prophet Alma told the people, "And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities (Alma 7:11-12).  I have come to learn that if we do all we can to keep the commandments, especially in times of adversity, that we come to know who Jesus Christ really is and what he did for all of us.

My invitation to all of you is to find the Savior in your life TODAY.  To ask God to show you his hand in your life and as you pray at night and give him a recollection of your day I testify that He will show you some of the things He has done for you THIS day.  God is mindful of us all. I am so grateful to have the opportunity to live and experience trials so I can learn who I am and especially learn who Christ is and what I can do to allow Him to help me more.

I love you all and hope and pray for your health and safety. Thank you so much for your great love and support.

Love,
Elder Holland

Elder Carlos A. Godoy

Hey Fam!

This week was super busy! We were all over the place!  The weather was like 65-70 and mostly sunny all week so it was like heaven :) We drove to Helena on Wednesday for the Mission tour and stayed till Thursday for mission leadership council. Then after MLC we had to drive from Helena to Bozeman to pick up a missionary and then drove to Missoula.  It was lots of driving but totally worth it because while in Bozeman we stopped by John (The Fresh Rapper) and Heather's and got to visit with them!  They are getting married! And John has his first solo album out and is a legit Mormon Rapper! He said he is gonna send a box of CD's home so Cutler and Jaromy can pass them out to help him get his name out there. They are doing well and it made me really happy to see them. :)

I learned so many awesome things from Elder Godoy while he was here.  During our leadership meeting he went into all the different trials that Lehi and his family had to go through on their journey out of Jerusalem and into the new world.  He talked about how we typically remember Nephi as the courageous stalwart prophet who endured all these crazy trials and overcame so much but we forget that his brothers, Laman and Lemuel were right there with him the entire way.  Yes, Laman and Lemuel were the cause of much of the suffering Nephi had to go through but they went through all the same hardships; building a boat, sailing across the ocean, wandering in the wilderness, etc. The only real difference between the two was their perspective.  Nephi did his best to look at things as God does rather than just have the dark perspective of only seeing what was happening in that very moment.  It changed everything.  I believe God gives us the knowledge of His plan for us so we might have a hope for the future and so we can be happy even in the darkest of hours when the world seems to cave in on us.

Elder Bishop and I match ties like every day and our recent convert, Matt, wanted to match with us so we got 3 matching ties :)

Elder Godoy is a convert to the Church. He explained his entire conversion story in his home town, Porto Alegre, Brazil.  He is seriously hilarious! We had a great time listening to and learning from him.  He really does hold the mantle of his sacred calling as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy. 

I am so grateful for the knowledge I have of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Each day is a blessing because I get to share that unique message with fellow brothers and sisters. I am reminded of something that was taught by Elder Boyd K. Packer, the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Only when they (those struggling with the Church and their faith) have some knowledge of the plan of redemption will they understand the supposed inequities of life. Only then will they understand the commandments God has given us.  If we do not teach the plan of redemption, whatever else we do by way of programs and activities and instructions will not be enough." -All- Church Coordinating Council Meeting, 18 May 1993.

I invite all of you this week to ponder and focus your studies on the Plan of Salvation.  Focus on where we came from, why we are here, where we are going.  I promise you that as you keep the Plan God has made for us even before the foundation of the world that whatever battle you are fighting at this moment will be lifted and you will be able to bear the problems you face.  It will also help you see and understand the need for the Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to take upon himself the sins of the world.

I love you all and am so grateful for the Gospel and your love and support as I share it with our brothers and sisters here in Missoula.

Elder Holland

Mission Tour!

Hey Fam!

 

This last week was awesome!  We really got to take some time and help the members here understand the role they play as member missionaries.  We had a fireside on how to be a member missionary last night.  It was like 2 hours long and was really interactive with the members.  We did role-playing and had lots of different break out groups and discussions from Preach My Gospel.  We had been planning it for weeks and I feel like it went just like it was supposed to.  We had a couple recent converts bear their testimonies and it was so powerful.  The guy that I was talking about a few weeks ago from Clinton was baptized on saturday!  He got up and bore a powerful testimony of the truthfulness of the Gospel.  It was really cool because we focused on online proselyting and how we can be most effective online and so they showed some screen shots from his baptism.  His wife is currently living in Hawaii and he will join her in 6 weeks but she was able to watch the entire baptism on Skype.  I am so grateful for technology and how it helps the work of the Lord progress.

 

We are having our mission tour this week and we get to spend some time with Elder Carlos A. Godoy of the first Quorum of the Seventy!  He is from Brazil so we are all learning Called to Serve in portugese to sing to him.  It is actually really hard for me to speak portugese because it messes with what I have learned with spanish but i'll figure it out :)  I am excited because he will be doing a discussion for the leadership of the mission and we will probably get to have some one on one time with this great disciple of Christ. 

 

Overall everything is fantastic here.  I love the weather.  Elder Bishop and I decided to get back into shape for the month of june and set some really good goals!  We will see if we can hit them ;)

 

I love you all and am so grateful for all your love and support!

Elder Holland