Getting Warmer!

Hey Fam!

 

This week was awesome!  It has started to warm up and has been like in the 40's!  I still think it is strange to see people walking around in shorts & a t-shirt when there is still snow on the ground but I am loving the Vitamin D I have been absorbing :) 

 

The library was closed on Monday and we had a crazy day yesterday so sorry the letter is late but this is the only day we have had enough time to write letters

 

We had some really cool experiences this week!  Our Zone training went really well and I was so grateful for President Heap because he came and spoke to us about how to be Christ like teachers.  He has such a profound understanding of the scriptures I just love it when he teaches. 

 

I got to speak at the stake humanitarian day which was great.  All the wards had their own projects they were working on and much was accomplished.  I love that no matter where you go you find Disciples of Christ doing the same thing differently to serve and love one another.

 

Before lunch I had an experience that was quite powerful.  As we were talking to different people in the gym a man grabbed myself and my companion and said someone needed help in the parking lot.  We went outside to find an older man who I know well who had fallen and was laying face up part way under his truck.  There was very slick black ice in the parking lot and we weren't sure how long he had been laying there. 911 was called and we put salt all over the ice to help.  He said he had hit his head really hard and that he could not feel the cold anymore.  I began to be worried and felt a strong feeling come over me that we needed to give him a blessing before the ambulance arrived.  As we knelt down to give him a blessing I had the most amazing, calm, peaceful feeling come over me.  As we gave him the blessing I felt inspired to tell him that Angels would arrive with the medical team and that they would guide him through this experience and help take away the pain.  When the fire truck and ambulance arrived something incredible happened.  As I looked into each of their faces they truly did shine and I felt a warm feeling that God had granted the blessing and sent Angels to minister to the needs of all present there.  I know and testify that Angels are real. They minister to us daily and are proof of the love our Heavenly Father has for us.  I am so grateful to know that even though there are billions of people on this Earth God takes the time to send aid to each and every one of us.

 

We also had an awesome teaching experience with these some college students.  We were teaching this guy named Drew and his roommate Will.  Drew's brother was in town and he sat in on the lesson.  All of these guys are very Bible savvy and so we taught the Restoration starting with multiple scriptures from the Bible that talk about the Book of Mormon.  This led to an inspired discussion about the Church that Christ has Restored here today.  At the end of the lesson we invited all three of them to follow the example of their Savior and be baptized by someone holding the Priesthood authority of God and they all said yes!

 

I am so grateful for the knowledge and peace I have in my life that can only come from living the Gospel.  I heard President Heap testify to someone this week that we as disciples of Christ do not believe His doctrine to be merely theological or just a thing of the past but we believe it to be practical and we do our best to live it daily.  I know that there is no other way to peace and everlasting happiness.  Jesus Christ lives and loves each one of us.

 

Thank you all for all your love and support! I am grateful for and love each of you.  Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Holland

Almost out of the cold!

Hey Fam!

So I really thought it was gonna start getting warmer here but this last week proved me wrong... it was freezing!  The lowest I saw was -29. Not cool.  It warmed up to like 31 today and I was almost sweating.  I only have my white shirt and suit jacket on and was fine.  I think I'm gonna melt my first summer home from my mission.

Life is fantastic here in Bozeman.  We have a bunch of new people to teach and the ones we have been teaching are progressing very well in the Gospel.  As a missionary all we can do is invite someone to do something.  Our invitation in all things is to experiment on what we are saying and seek for Divine confirmation.  I just love seeing how personal the Gospel is for each person here on Earth.  We taught this new investigator this week.  He is extremely Bible savvy.  We discussed the origin of the Bible and how it came to be by reading the section, "Bible" in the Bible Dictionary.  It led him to see that we as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints truly are Christians.  He learned that our intention is in no way to take him away from what he already believes but show him that he is right!  That he is correct in believing in our Savior, Jesus Christ.  That because God loves us he has given us Prophets since the beginning to lead and guide us. And that His church has been Restored through a Prophet today and as evidence of this the Lord gave us the Book of Mormon. I am so excited for him because we were able to show him references of the Book of Mormon in the Bible and he was really excited about what he had learned.  Most of all the Holy Ghost testified of truth and he felt that it was true.

I am really excited about this week!  On Friday we get to have our Zone Training and after praying quite a bit about what we should do for it we decided we were going to focus on the Atonement.  Our Stake President, President Heap, will be speaking for an hour as well.  He is one of the greatest inspirational speakers I have ever met. He dedication to serve the Lord has given him a great knowledge of the Gospel and as a result he has become a master scriptorian. 

I also get to speak at the Stake Relief Society Humanitarian Day on Saturday.  I am a little nervous about this one but I am sure the Lord will fill my mouth with what I need to say.

Thanks for all you all do and the great love and support I feel here as a missionary!  

Love,

Elder Holland

It's freezing here...

Hey Fam!

So I have been able to adjust to some pretty crazy weather in this part of the world but WOW this is nuts!  I now know without a doubt what a blizzard is!  I think these next few days are gonna be insane too.  We were out walking around in it on Saturday and my face legitimately froze.  First time for everything.  But I love it.  When the wind calms down it truly is beautiful :)

Elder McCandless and I had a fantastic week!  We are now teaching a guy from India.  I love how no matter what walk of life we come from if we have eyes to see we know without a doubt that there is a God.  Thankfully God gave us Prophets and Scriptures to help us understand His true nature.  I am excited to keep working with him and to witness him receive the Truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We had a fantastic lesson with another investigator yesterday!  He has been meeting with missionaries for months and has gained a testimony of the Restored Gospel but had not accepted a date to be baptized.  I prayed for him many times over the passed few weeks and really felt the day was March 1st.  He said he wanted to pick the day himself and that he would pray about it and let us know.  Yesterday we taught him at President and Sister Heap's home and at the end of the lesson he told us that he prayed and felt that March 1st was the day.  Yes!  I love how revelation works and am so grateful for it because every time I feel something and then someone else feels the same thing and we find out we both felt the same thing by acting my testimony grows. 

I do not have much time now but I am very excited for this week! I get to speak to some seminary kids on Thursday morning and am so thankful for the opportunity.  I wish I had decided to pay attention in seminary because of the amazing things they learn from the scriptures!  I get legitimately giddy in the mornings before scripture study because I know that I am going to learn something incredible and that I will be able to apply it to my life immediately.  I hope you all have great experiences with the scriptures and you cherish the time you get to read them.

Thanks so very much for all your love and support!

Love,

Elder Holland

A great start to the transfer :)

Hey Fam!

 

Hahaha I get to stay another transfer in Bozeman!!  So at the end of these 6 weeks I will have been in the Bozeman area for just a few weeks shy of a year :) Half the missionaries in this area are being transferred to other parts of the mission though...  We throw down playing dodgeball every monday so hopefully these missionaries coming in are athletic :) Unfortunately, Elder Rodriguez will be heading to Billings tomorrow.  It has been awesome to get to serve with him again and hopefully it happens a third time!

We had some awesome lessons this week!  I love how my confidence is changing as I become better acquainted with the scriptures.  I am currently reading the New Testament and the Book of Mormon.  I have really taken the promise of the scriptures to heart, "But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak." Matthew 10:19.  I test this all the time and it really is true.  Last week we got a call from a guy named Drew.  Apparently he has a reputation for being somewhat of a Bible basher.  This was the first time we had set an appointment like this that I was really really excited about it.  I love it because I know without a doubt that the Spirit will bring to my remembrance scriptures to help confirm the truth of the message we are sharing.  I have also learned that this does not just happen but you have to prepare for such occasions.  In the Doctrine and Covenants section 11 verse twenty one says, "Seek not to declare my word, but first seek to obtain my word, and then shall your tongue be loosed; then, if you desire, you shall have my Spirit and my word, yea, the power of God unto the convincing of men."  So like all things, we have to DO something first and then the Lord is better able to assist us.  So during this lesson with Drew he brought up many subjects about our beliefs and we were able to show him exactly why we believe what we do from the Scriptures.

I feel that there are so many wrong ideas about what we as Mormons believe and that it is our responsibility to make the truth known.  I have realized with most people that like to Bible bash that they are to one extent or another trying to prove you wrong.  I openly tell them that I am in no way there to prove them wrong but that I wish to prove them right.  My desire is to help confirm what they already believe about Christ and come to a knowledge that because He loves us so much He has Restored His Church once again on the earth.  The most common comment I get from here is, "Show me"  and then I get the opportunity to show how in the scriptures.  I feel if we approach all who are seeking to learn and grow in the Gospel we must let them know that they are on the right path but there is more.

 

I am really excited about this guy named Brad we are teaching.  He struggles with some Word of Wisdom problems and as we were talking with his girlfriend last night she said that Brad told her yesterday, "Hey we should completely and honestly live the Word of Wisdom for the entire month of February."  I literally jumped and gave her a high five because he has decided to do his part in qualifying himself to receive further confirmations from the Holy Ghost.  We have learned that one of his major problems in his decision to be Baptized is that his friends and family do not understand the Church and are very against it.  I especially enjoy the promise of the Savior to those who forsake all and follow Him, Matthew 19:29, "And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life."  I know that this is true and look forward to sharing this with Brad.

 

Well, I gotta go now but thank you all for all you love and support!  Talk to you next week! 

Love,
Elder Holland
 

:) God is good all the time.

Hey Fam!

So, I was very sad to see Elder Rodriguez leave to Billings but am very happy about my new companion, Elder McCandless!  He was actually in the MTC with me and I know him quite well because he had been serving in Livingston for the past 3 months.  We teach well together and he really does everything he can to enjoy the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost so once again I am excited for the miracles we will get to be a part of this transfer.  

We were able to meet with Drew again this week and discuss the Gospel as explained in the Bible.  We had an excellent discussion and I just loved how the Spirit brought scriptures to mind that I have not thought of in a while.  Through the Bible we were able to show him and the Spirit testified of the true nature of the Godhead.  He is in a place where he is teachable and I look forward to meeting with him in the future.

We also had some excellent lessons with Brad, Mike, and Ty.  All of which are preparing themselves for baptism.  They are all doing the things the Lord requires to receive the Gospel and additional witnesses that it is true.  It really is exciting to be able to be a witness of this great work.

I know I have talked a bunch on the power of our words before but Mom was talking about her experiences and I feel I should share what I have been learning.  We are so powerful and really cannot in our current state grasp what we are capable of.  I have successfully eliminated the word "Hate" from my vocabulary and it has changed everything.  I am quite the advocate of positive words with missionaries and at first they dislike the criticism but after a few weeks they tell me I have cursed them because whenever someone says hate they cringe because they are starting to understand what that person is attracting to themselves.  The way I let them know is they will say something like, "I hate it when that happens!" or "I hate the snow!" & i'll just say, "Wow that's a really strong feeling towards some snow"  Or something like that and they are starting to get it.  I invite all of you to consciously evaluate how much you use the word hate and make an attempt to eliminate it.  You will see a difference in yourselves and in others.  I have also noticed all over the scriptures that things happen because someone said something.  The Power of words is unmeasurable.  Look in Matthew chapter 1 & 2 how Christ moves around the ancient world in his childhood so that, "...it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets..." Matt 2:23.  In the Book of Mormon Nephi talks about God and the Power of Words. 1 Nephi 17:31 says, "And it came to pass that according to his words he did destroy them; and according to his word he did lead them; and according to his word he did do all things for them; and there was not anything done save it were by his word."  We learn about the Power of Words all over scripture but I especially enjoy what it says in Jacob chapter 4:9, "For behold, by the power of his word man came upon the face of the earth, which earth was created by the by the power of his word..."  This always makes me think that if we are joint heirs with Christ (Romans 8:16-17) then how powerful are the words we use? I Am always looking for specific things I can focus on to help me be more like my Savior and I have found that, even though it is very difficult, controlling my words has a world of a difference on me and those I serve.  

We have Mission Leadership Council in Helena tomorrow so we get to take a little road trip!  I love the scenery here and look forward to these drives.  Lately the weather has been looking like San Diego weather ( Sunny, Clear blue skies) but then I will try to roll down the windows and drive like at home and be quickly reminded that it is freezing outside.  It's all good though at least i'm getting some sun :)

Thanks for all your love and support.  I truly do feel strengthened by your prayers.  

Love,

Elder Holland

Happy New Year! 2014

Hey Fam!

This week was excellent :)  We got to do lots of service and were able to teach some awesome lessons.  We are still struggling currently to find people to teach because school doesn't start until the 8th and EVERYONE went home but we do have 3 people we are teaching that are progressing towards having truth confirmed to them by the Holy Ghost :)

One of them is named Brad.  He is a boyfriend of a girl who is a member here.  He is an extreme outdoorsy type guy and does all the crazy ice climbing stuff.  He is 23 and just recently went back to school at MSU.  One thing I love about him is that he is extremely logically minded and loves to talk philosophy.  This is exactly how my brain works so we click very well.  Premise - conclusion.  Thats it.  We met with him twice this week and had some kinda long but very productive philosophical discussions.  There is one principle we discussed that I would like to share.  After we got to know him and sort of what he believes I posed a question that made him really think.  We were discussing the promise that Moroni gives to all at the end of the Book Of Mormon pertaining to finding out if the Book is true (Moroni 10:3-5).  In fact these verses give a formula to find out if anything is true by the Power of the Holy Ghost.  I absolutely LOVE the formulas I find in the scriptures.  I asked Brad, "In your search to find if the Book of Mormon is true have you ever considered that God wants to answer you but maybe he can't?"  He was a little taken back by this and his response was, "Well, God is all powerful and he can do anything so no I think he can answer any question he wants."  This lead to an inspired discussion where we found out why the Lord Can't answer some questions.  I told him that at times God can not answer us simply because he loves us and will not take away our agency.  To further explain I showed him some examples in the scriptures where the Lord basically says that if you know me and you turn your back on me it would be better for you if you had never known me.  The Promise Moroni gives has 3 parts that have to be there for one to be qualified for one to receive their answer.  He says you must ask god, 1- having Faith in Christ, 2- with a sincere heart, 3- with Real Intent.  There are many other parts of the formula we went over but these three are essential.  In the end I explained that If anyone were to ask God something that would change their life, such as a question to know if the Book of Mormon was true, and they were not willing to act on the answer they got and God gave them that answer then God truly would be condemning them.  I told him that God loves him too much to do that and that he would never condemn him.  

I feel that he is on the verge of finding out truth because he is willing to act.  One of my favorite Scriptures comes form the book of Ether, Chapter 12:6 where Moroni says, "... I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith."  I love that because it is True.  We must first commit and take a few steps into the darkness before God can answer us.  I am so very grateful for the scriptures and the knowledge they provide for all to know the things of our God.  For me to know without a doubt that I have correctly done what I need to do to find the answers to a problem brings more peace than I can ever describe.  I know that Christ is our Savior.  That He loves us more than we can ever know.  That he has Restored His Church here today through a Prophet named Joseph Smith and that the evidence of it is the Doctrine contained in the Book of Mormon.  I invite you all to follow this formula in all things and enjoy the rewards as, according to the Lord's will, you receive your own personal answer from the Holy Ghost.

I look forward to every single day and especially this New Year!  Thank you all so very much for all the many Christmas cards and packages! I feel very, very loved and am grateful for you all. Happy New Year!

Elder Holland

Every day is a blessing and I really feel honored to be serving a mission.

Hey Fam!

This week was awesome :)  Some of the members of my ward came back so we had much more to do :) We also got to have a crazy mexican fiesta type meal thing with Rosalia's family for New Years.  She always makes her food super spicy and I think it is absolutely hilarious because the other missionaries usually can't handle the spice and by the end everyone is panting and sweating.  It was the first New Years I have gone to bed at 10:30 for in a long time but that is perfectly fine because I am usually crazy tired by about 9.  

I am really excited for our investigator, Ty, who ail be baptized on the 18th.  I think it is incredible how he has come to find the Church to be true and how he has a great testimony of Jesus Christ because his mother is a professor of religion at MSU and she is an Atheist.  I love how the Gospel truly is for EVERYONE and how all who qualify themselves to receive an answer can find the answer they are searching for.  

I got to go on exchanges this weekend in Ennis and Three Forks.  We spent the majoity of the time in Ennis but it was really fun to see the people there.  The last time I was there was like 8 months ago and people still remembered me!  I guess that is what happens in a really, really, small town but it was fun.  

One thing I have really enjoyed learning to do so far on my mission is to set and achieve goals.  I prayerfully considered many goals for this year and have a list of things that I will really have to stretch for but believe are possible.  I really look forward to looking back at the end of this year and seeing how I did.  Every day is a blessing and I really feel honored to be serving a mission.

Thanks to all of you for all your love and support!

Love,

Elder Holland