Great Falls is soooo cold!

Hey Fam,

Yes it has been freeeeeeeeezing here... But I have lots of warm things to wear so I will survive ;)  I actually have 2 dinners already scheduled for Thanksgiving and one of them said they are cooking a 34 lb turkey!  Idk how I feel about that but I am sure it will be a blast :)

This week was crazy!  It is almost like culture shock here in Great Falls.  It may be that I just got used to the people of Missoula but it is sooo different here.  We have lots of stuff happening and many people to teach.  I can already tell I am gonna love it here.  But freezing would be a very nice way of describing this place.  It was like -20 with crazy wind last week! Today it warmed up to like 25 degrees but man -20 is rough!  I am so grateful I have some crazy warm clothes and a zillion hand warmers :)

My new companion is Elder McKeachnie.  He and I get along really well and I can tell this transfer is gonna be awesome!  He is from a little town called Mona in Utah and this is his last transfer.  I am happy cuz he is a very focused missionary and is really working hard until the end.

I learned so many things this week! It is crazy how the things I am constantly learning are not necessarily new but they are taught to me in such a unique way that they have a great impact on me.  I feel like the reason I am always so amazed each day as I study the scriptures is because the teaching is done by the Holy Ghost.  I discovered yet another amazing formula in the scriptures yesterday during sacrament meeting.  While the sacrament was being passed I was really thinking about the Savior and all He did for me personally.  I had a strong feeling of hope as I was pondering and decided to look up the word hope in the topical guide.  As I scanned through the scriptures one really jumped out at me so I looked it up.  The verse is Moroni 8:25-26.  These 2 verses have some of the most amazing formulas ever in them!  Verse 25 says, "And the first fruits of repentance is baptism; and baptism cometh by faith unto the fulfilling the commandments; and the fulfilling the commandments bringeth remission of sins;"  So here we learn how to receive a remission of our sins.  Then verse 26,"And the remission of sins bringeth meekness, and lowliness of heart; and because of meekness and lowliness of heart cometh the visitation of the Holy Ghost, which Comforter filleth with hope and perfect love, which love endureth by diligence unto prayer, until the end shall come, when all the saints shall dwell with God."  It all compounds and grows to bring us to  a state of meekness and lowliness of heart.  We then are visited by the Holy Ghost who fills us with hope and perfect love (or Charity).  Then we learn how to have these things edure in our lives; diligence unto prayer.  As I sat there in sacrament meeting the Holy Ghost bore powerfully to me the need to pray.  I know this is true!  The effect of doing these things, in my opinion, gives us something that I believe every single person on this planet is searching for.  The last sentence of verse 16 of that same chapter tells us the effect of perfect love, "...for perfect love casteth out all fear."  When I read that yesterday I felt a peace that can only come from God completely overcome me.  The Holy Ghost taught me that no matter what happens in this life, no matter how crazy things get, I don't ever need to fear.  I believe this is a gift from God and is Priceless.  I know it comes from a sincere desire to follow the example of the Savior.  I have lived a life where I did not follow Him and I never had peace like this.  I am forever grateful for the opportunity God has given me to know of Christ and to have the opportunity to become something better because of Him.

I LOVE being a Missionary.

I am thankful to all of you for the great support you are to me!  Thanks for all you do!

Love,

Elder Holland

My new address is: 312 3rd Ave North Great Falls, Montana 59405.