Temple

Hey fam!

This week was soo awesome!  Elder Brock and I get along really well and I can tell this is gonna be a sweet transfer.  He is in really good shape and the first thing I told him was how I want to get into good shape before I go home so the first thing he did was throw away all the junk food and candy in our apartment.  It was a full trash bag that weighed about 30 lbs...  Elder Fox left a boat load of stuff... It wasn't all mine... I promise.  Haha I was sad but it was a good thing.  We have been exercising like crazy in the mornings and I def have lots more energy each day.

We have been trying to plan this for a few weeks but were not sure if it would actually happen so I did not say anything about it.  BUT, I got to go to the Temple last Saturday!  We were all super happy because whether or not we could go all depended on if we got transferred or not.  My good friend from Bozeman finally got a Temple recommend and we got to go with her!  There were a bunch of other missionaries that came too and it was such an amazing experience.  She is such an amazing example to me of someone who takes their trials to the Lord and is strengthened to overcome them.  She was born into the Church and was baptized at 8 but fell away for a number of years.  She was in and out of jail for about 20 years and then in august of 2013 President Heap visited her in prison and invited her to read the Book of Mormon.  She read it in 2 months and prayed and received a testimony that it was true!  I got to start meeting with her immediately after that.  We have been workiong with her for over a year to try and help her get a Temple recommend but it just was not happening.  About 6 weeks ago her son was killed.  He was 20 years old.  It was a tragic event for her and I am so impressed with how she handled the situation.  When trials like this happen most people do one of two things.  They turn away from and are angry with God or they turn to Him and grow from the experience.  She turned to the Lord and 3 weeks later received a Temple recommend from her Stake President :)
 

She received her Endowment in 2003 but had not been back to the Temple since then.  It was such a happy experience to be there with her in the Temple.  I just cried happy tears and loved every second of the experience. 

 

I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to rub shoulders with such amazing people here in Montana.  People keep bringing up the fact that I go home so soon and yes I am excited for the amazing things that I know are in the future but I am so sad to have this chapter of my life come to a close.  If anything, it has increased my drive to work like crazy all the way to the end :)

I love you all and am so grateful for all you do for me!

Love,
Elder Holland