Winter is coming...

Hey Fam!

This week was awesome!  The weather is definitely changing... It snowed here for the first time in like 3 months! The temp has dropped down to the 40's  and it has been raining almost every day this week.  I love the rain.  It truly is refreshing when it rains here.  Hopefully everything gets green one more time before it freezes over for the next 5 months...

Thank you so very much to all who sent me an e-mail or letter for my Birthday! Holy smokes I am so loved and truly do appreciate the love and support I receive :)

Elder Ruzicka and I got to go to a leadership meeting in Billings this week.  It was fantastic!  It is so amazing to see the love and dedication that the leaders of the Church have for those they have stewardship over.  Something that President Mecham said really stuck with me, "If you felt it you already knew the answer, you are just looking for a vehicle."  I love this.  It really helps me to understand how the Spirit works and how we as humans try to understand it.  I often feel something is right but i guess because of the natural man, or just because of the fallen state I am currently in, I look for another confirmation.  To progress I feel I need to continually trust in the Lord and know that, because I have chosen to keep His commandments, that the first thought that came to my mind is the choice I should make.  I am so grateful I have the Spirit as a constant guide and companion.  I believe one of the hardest things is to be able to truly focus on the promptings we receive from Him.  This is something I focus very hard on with every single person I am blessed to teach.  It is a life long process and truly is the vehicle by which the Lord brings joy into our lives.

I am soooo excited about General Conference this weekend!  I have literally been running around telling everyone about it!  I usually open with how I truly feel about Conference, "It is better than Christmas."  People usually look at my kinda funny but thats ok cuz now I have their attention.  I believe that a living Prophet is more valuable than anything on Earth.  This belief only comes to me because I completely understand what a prophet is.  To know that there is a person who has been given the Authority from God to be his voice to the World is priceless.  The scriptures are also priceless because of the same reason.  The only difference is that the prophets in them were given revelation pertaining to problems of their day.  Although there are many prophecies of our day they do not go into the great specific detail I would like them to.  So how valuable is it to have someone who can say, "The Lord says...." because he actually speaks with Him! The problems of today begin to shrink as we listen and obey the words of our Prophet, Thomas S. Monson.  I know that he is a prophet.  I know that he is guided by our Savior, Jesus Christ. I love this Gospel and could think of no better thing I could ever be doing with my time than to serve Him.  

Thanks so very much for all your love and support, I love you all

Elder Holland