Temple!

Hey Fam!

I am so excited we just found out this week we will be having our zone conference next week in the Temple!  Wow I have not been to the Temple since last December and yes I miss it soooooo much.  This week will be awesome too!  Normally our mission leadership council happens in Helena and is just a one day thing but President Mecham is having this one in Billings and it will take 2 days.  This is how it was exactly a year ago when I went to my first one.  I love these because I get to see President Mecham in action and it always adds to my testimony of the Priesthood and the sacred calling that he has been called to as the President of the Montana Billings Mission.  So we will leave Missoula today at 2 and will not get back here till late Wednesday night.

So a couple weeks ago when I was in Kalispell I accepted the 30 day challenge to go 30 days without saying anything negative about anybody.  Up until now I had not made it passed day 4 without restarting but I am currently on day 7 and still going strong!  This is one of the most awesome things I have ever done.  I feel like I normally have a good outlook on life but things are getting exponentially better!  2 weeks ago the thought can quite clear that I need to start a prayer journal to write down the things that come to my mind as I am praying.  Ethan gave me a sick journal before my mission and I was gonna use it when I fill up the one I have been writing in but now it has become my prayer journal.  2 weeks ago all I did was write the words, "Prayer Journal"  in the front and that was it.  Since then I have had 3 different missionaries act on promptings and invite/commit me to keep a prayer journal.  I started writing in it just a few days ago.  I love being able to look back on things I have prayed about and not just remember the feeling I had when I prayed about them but also the impressions I had in my mind.  I seriously invite all of you to do this if you are not already.  It is amazing.

My new companion, Elder Thomas, is a giant.  He is 6'6" and played football.  He is from Orem Utah and is hilarious.  Him and I get along quite well :)

Thanks for all the love and support I receive from you all!

Love,

Elder Holland

Staying in Missoula!

Hey Fam!

I get to stay here another 6 weeks !  I'm stoked! I love it here.  Unfortunately, Elder Griffith is being transferred but my new companion, Elder Thomas, sounds like an awesome missionary.  He is like 6'7" so it will be interesting getting used to looking up at someone.  He is from Utah but i'll have more details on him next week

We did tons this week! One day we got a call from a lady who said she needed a "little" help in her yard. Haha!  We showed up to find 9 pallets of sod ready to be laid!  It was hard work but we got it done! 

On Saturday as a zone we all went to the Osprey game for "Mormon Night".  Haha, honestly it was not my favorite thing I have done on my mission.  President Mecham requested we all go and there was a bbq before hand which we cooked and handed out food to a couple hundred people.  I loved doing that and just talking to everyone but then we went and sat and watched the game for 2 hours from 7-9pm.  It was just different because I am used to constantly going places and being much more productive than that.  I am sure I will have similar feelings when I get home from my mission.  Last time I saw President Mecham he said, "I have noticed in my life when I fail to keep myself very busy I begin to be very ineffective."  I agree completely. 

I went down to Stevensville on an exchange this week!  We had our zone training, Which went really well :), and then I went to be with elder McCandless and his companion for 2 days.  They serve in Corvallis and their area covers the polygamist town called Pinesdale.  I never thought in my life I would have the opportunity to teach the Gospel to someone who practices polygamy!  We met with a bunch of people and there are about 15 who are preparing themselves to be baptized right now which is incredible. 

At one point we got a call from someone who needed help loading up all his hay cuz it was about to rain so we drove over and in our white shirt and tie began to load it all up.  Then it DUMPED! There was crazy lightening and thunder and we decided we better go inside.  We got drenched!  Soaked from head to toe!  Haha, I have never been that wet in a white shirt and tie.  It was actually pretty exciting so I had a great time.

Thanks for all of your e-mails and great love and support!

Love,

Elder Holland

Stevensville this week! Where am I?

Hey Fam!

This week was a blast! I have been on tons of exchanges lately and have been traveling quite a bit. We went to Stevensville to find some of the young single adults to invite to come to institute and church here in Missoula this Fall. It was fun and quite successful :)  We went on a really awesome hike up Blodgett canyon.  It was kinda smokey cuz all the fires all around us but wow it was fun. I absolutely love hiking in montana :)

I have been studying as much as I can about learning from and being guided by the Holy Ghost in the past few months. A member here let us borrow a talk on cd called, "Receiving Answers to Prayer" By Elder Gene R. Cook. I listened to it last week while driving up to Kalispell and wow it has really inspired me to change everything about how I teach and how I deliver a talk. The basic principle is faith the the Lord will fill your mouth with the words the people you are speaking to need to hear.  I have really thought about the revelation in Doctrine and Covenants 84:85 "Neither take ye thought beforehand what ye shall say; but treasure up in your minds continually the words of life, and it shall be given you in the very hour that portion that shall be meted unto every man" We have our zone training this week and I had decided to fast yesterday to best prepare for the discussions that will be given.  About an hour before sacrament meeting we got a call from a member of our Bishopric saying the speakers called and said they are sick and can not give their talks and asked if we could fill in for them. We said yes, of course we will and he said the topic would be on the sacrament. I have always put together some sort of outline for a talk but I felt impressed to trust in the Lord on this one and to ponder my own personal experience partaking of the sacrament and what it means to me.  It was incredible because as we were greeting everyone before the meeting started I began to have thoughts flood my mind like crazy of things that these people are struggling with. It truly was amazing.  So the meeting began and the youth speaker spoke and then Elder Griffith spoke and I had about 20  minutes left to fill the meeting.  As I stood up to speak I had no clue what I was going to say but for some reason I was completely calm and knew something would enter my mind.  I began the talk by bearing my testimony and as I did words just came. Events and scriptures that I had not thought of in a while came to my mind. I felt a peace and comfort on the stand that I have never felt before.  At the end of the meeting there were a number of people that approached me and said something that was said was an answer to a prayer or a personal struggle they were currently dealing with.  I am so grateful to know without a doubt that we are supported by God in this great work we are engaged in.  I know that I am nothing but with the Lord I can do all things. I know the Holy Ghost is real and He truly does enlighten our minds and give us that which we lack in the very hour and moment we need it. I know that because Christ performed the Atonement we are not only Redeemed from the fall of Adam but we are enabled to do better and be better. I am forever grateful for this knowledge.

 

This week is the last week of the transfer and we should find out if we stay or go this weekend. It is crazy to think I have been here in Missoula for 6 months already! Time is just flying by but I love every single day :)

Thanks for all you love and support, I Love you all

Elder Holland