Heat wave! and I get sick...

Hey Fam!

So this week was a little different.. It's just my luck that right when we have a heat wave and the sun is out all the time I get the flu.  I got really sick Wednesday night and had the flu all the way until Saturday. I DESPISE throwing up more than anything.. But from this I learned and was reminded of many things.  At one point I was feeling pretty discouraged because my greatest desire is to fulfill my calling and to teach people but I was just sitting at home feeling terrible.. And doing nothing.  I really felt like I was losing my patience because I really did not want to be at home.  I had been reading and listening to lots of talks and came across the CES devotional,"Lessons from Liberty Jail" by Jeffrey R Holland. I have listened to it before but thought it would be good to listen to it again. In this talk Elder Holland says,"I ask you to be patient in things of the spirit. Perhaps your life has been different from mine, but I doubt it. I have had to struggle to know my standing before God. As a teenager I found it hard to pray and harder to fast. My mission was not easy. I struggled as a student only to find that I had to struggle afterwards, too. In this present assignment I have wept and ached for guidance. It seems no worthy accomplishment has ever come easily for me, and maybe it won’t for you—but I’m living long enough to be grateful for that.  All but a prophetic few must go about God’s work in very quiet, very unspectacular ways. And as you labor to know him, and to know that he knows you; as you invest your time—and your convenience—in quiet, unassuming service, you will indeed find that “he shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up” (Matthew 4:6). It may not come quickly. It probably won’t come quickly, but there is purpose in the time it takes. Cherish your spiritual burdens because God will converse with you through them and will use you to do his work if you carry them well." The experience and counsel of our Apostles today has helped me push through so many trials, especially as a Missionary.

I feel like I may sound a little dramatic about just having the flu but for me there are few things worse than the thought of possibly throwing up.. Again.. But if anything, being sick, helped turn me to the Lord. I started feeling better on Saturday but then my companion got it.. One of the downsides to being with someone ALL the time. So I have been doing tons of studying :) I read over 100 pages in the Book of Mormon! Yes Dad, I actually read that much ;) AND went through about a dozen talks. But the Holy Ghost led me to see lots in my reading.

I was reminded again of the great benefits to making and keeping covenants with God.  If we remember in the book of Mosiah, Alma and his brethren were walking uprightly before God and were honoring their covenants but, the scripture says, (Mosiah 23:21-22)

21 Nevertheless the Lord seeth fit to chasten his people; yea, he trieth their patience and their faith.
22 Nevertheless--whosoever putteth his trust in him the same shall be lifted up at the last day. Yea, and thus it was with this people.

Then we see the result of this "chastening" in the next chapter. (Mosiah 24:13-15)

13 And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage.

14 And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do
visit my people in their afflictions.

15 And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.

I feel like The purpose of the Lord here was to teach and remind the people to trust Him.  They were not delivered immediately but they did learn to submit cheerfully AND with patience to all the will of the Lord.

I have also seen it time and time again where someone who is has made and is keeping their covenants with God has to go through some incredible trial. I was reading a talk by Elder Richard G Scott called,"Trust in the Lord" (October 1995) where he says, "Just when nall seems to be going right, challenges often come in multiple doses applied simultaneously. When those trials are not consequences of your disobedience, they are evidence that the Lord feels you are prepared to grow more (see Prov 3:11-12) He therefore gives you experiences that stimulate growth, understanding, and compassion which polish you for your everlasting benefit. To get you from where you are to where He wants you to be requires a lot of stretching, and that generally entails discomfort and pain."

 I LOVE his perspective. He obviously speaks from experience but it's so true. I guess overall my thoughts this week are centered on enduring through the trials we and those we love face on a daily basis. They are given to us deliberately by our Father in Heaven to help us become better than we are today so that one day we will be worthy to return Home to live with Him again. I know God has a plan for us.  I know that it will push us to our limits but if we always remember Him and keep our covenants we will have the power we need to make it through anything. AND we can do it cheerfully and with JOY. I know we are all brothers and sisters and we are here as a family to help each other along the way, one little baby step at a time :)

I am so grateful for all of you and the great support you are to me!  I love you all!

Elder Holland

Sunshine :)

Hey Fam!

This week was so awesome!  Sorry for the late email but it has been crazy and this is the first opportunity we have had to send this out.  The snow completely melted in the last 3 days and the sun has been out almost all day every day.  I have been soaking in some much needed vitamin D :) I was up in Havre for a few days and got to meet and teach some really awesome native people. They have very similar beliefs to some of the people in the Book of Mormon! It is so sweet because the fullness of the Gospel fits naturally with what they already believe :)

We all went to Helena for our Mission Leadership Council on Friday. It was great to see all my good friends :). Lots of them will be finishing their missions this transfer. The entire thing was focused on planning.  Planning is def an eternal principle.  I never used to write things down but as a missionary we have to and now I am beginning to see the importance of writing down my thoughts, impressions, and plans. One of my very favorite Apostles, Elder Neal A. Maxwell, said, "The promoting that goes unresponded to May not be repeated. Writing down what we have been prompted with is vital... God should not, and may not, choose to repeat the prompting if we assign what was given such a low priority as to put it aside."  Planning is an eternal principle and I am so grateful to finally be figuring this out!

On Friday we had a couple appointments cancel and we're trying to figure out who the Lord would have us visit. We said a prayer and started going through our area book.  As I was looking through the many people to visit a name was literally highlighted on my iPad. Ha at first I thought there was something wrong with my iPad but I clicked it her and felt like we really needed to visit her.  There were notes that said she and her husband had not let anyone into their home for a while. Haha the timing was insane cuz right as we were walking up the steps to her porch she opened her door to let her dogs out. Ha she wasn't expecting to see someone there and she freaked out and screamed like crazy and slammed the door shut!  I love to spook people and she was def SPOOKED so naturally I started laughing really hard and my companion is just looking at me like I'm crazy. About a minute later she opened the door and said please come in! It was obvious that something big had happened in their lives because they were both quite emotional to see us there. Come to find her brother had passed away a few days before and she was confused and hurt because of her loss. She said she had praying for help and then there we were. We had one of the amazing discussions on the Plan of Salvation.  We read all about the afterlife from the Book of Mormon and the Holy Ghost confirmed truth to all of us. As we left (there was not much I could do about this one..) she literally jumped on me and gave me this giant bear hug and just cried. I am so grateful for the knowledge I have that brings me so much peace. I'm grateful to be able to act as an Emissary for our Savior. I know this is His work I am engaged in. I am constantly put into people's lives who desperately need Christ and, to me, it seems random but I know God is up there orchestrating everything. He really is the details of our lives :)

Yesterday we had our zone training! I realized this is the last one I will have as a missionary... Kinda sad but it went really well :) Elder Bishop came up from billings for it and gave an awesome discussion. It was fun toA hang out with him for a little bit.  I have made so many friends here and I know our friendship will last into the eternities. God is soo good!

I love you all and am so grateful for your support!

Elder HollandA

Book of Mormon Miracles

Hey Fam!

Okay this week was so awesome!  There were so many incredible things that happened this week!  First off, I heard yesterday that it has already snowed 49 inches this year... that's 49 inches in 12 DAYS!! Sooo much snow... but it has been fun helping people when they get stuck :)

One of the guys we are teaching has been having troubles quitting smoking cigarettes.  He has been smoking for a long time and has tried to quit multiple times.  There are many different methods people use to quit smoking but the one I ALWAYS turn to in helping someone quit their addiction is the Book Of Mormon.  How can the Book of Mormon help someone quit smoking? It turns them to Christ!  A good friend recently sent me some really cool facts about the Book of Mormon.  Out of the 531 page of the Book there are 6,604 verses.  3,340 of those verses have at least one reference to Christ.  Within those verses, there are 3,925 references to Christ.  On average, every 1.7 verses make reference to Jesus Christ!  The book was written to help people come unto Christ!  So last week I made our investigator a promise, as an Emissary of Jesus Christ, that if he would read the Book of Mormon each time he had a craving to smoke the craving would leave him.  We met on Saturday and when I asked him if he took me up on my promise to read he said it worked!! It was funny because he said it didn't work for very long.  When he had a craving he would read and he said it was amazing because the thought and feeling to smoke would completely leave him but then it would come back 30 minutes later.  I laughed and told him that is how God works.  We told him at first he will have to read tons to get away from his addiction but we promised it will get easier as time goes on.  We related this to enduring to the end and how it is not enough to just go to church once or read the scriptures once.. they are things we do throughout our lives because they turn us to the Lord.  He was very excited and happy to have finally found the way to break free from his addiction.  He will be baptized on Jan 31st :)

I am so grateful for the scriptures.  I LOVE the Book of Mormon.  I literally CAN'T go a single day without reading it.  It is the vehicle to receive the spiritual sustenance each and every day.  I hope and pray you all take the time to read it every single day. Even if it is just a few verses :)

I love you all and am so grateful for your great love and support!

Elder Holland

So much SNOW!

Hey Fam!

Holy smokes it is snowing like crazy here!  I'm sure it snowed this much last winter but it is pretty crazy here right now!  We are supposed to get like 2 more feet of snow in the next 48 hours too.. This place is nuts.

So I realized this week that I have not been doing a very great job at keeping y'all (yup I just said y'all) updated on the people I get to visit with each week.  As of Saturday, we have 6 people we are working with that are preparing for baptism!  5 of them are all from one family.  The dad is a member but his wife and children are not.  So there are 4 teenage girls and his wife that are working towards being baptized.  I have learned so many different things as a missionary but I feel some of the most valuable things I have learned are the different tactics Satan uses to lead us away from Christ.  One that is extremely prevalent in the Church is people leaving because a person has offended them.  This is the case for the father of this family we are working with.  He was "offended" by what a person in the Church did and as a result he did not come to Church for 10+ years.  It was so beautiful on saturday night to watch him testify to his wife and kids that the Church is true.  He said he always knew the Church was true it was just pride and this individual that offended him that kept him from living up to what he knew to be true.  He told his family that the Church is true but the people are far from it.  At one point he looked at me and said, "You know, I didn't realize the Church was a perfect organization run by imperfect people until you guys started coming by a few weeks ago."  One of the first lessons we had with them was on forgiveness and how forgiving others allows God to forgive you and brings greater light into your life. God is sooo good!

It has been an absolute pleasure this past week to visit people and talk about their goals for the new year.  We have been specifically focusing on how their goals will lead them to strengthen their relationship with Christ.  If I had the wish of my heart it would be that everyone would let go of the grudges that are held on their shoulders.  Christ taught that in order to be forgiven we must forgive so my invitation for all of you is to think of those who have offended you at some point and chose to let it go.  Do whatever it takes to resolve the situation!  I promise you a weight will be lifted and you will feel Peace.  Some of the greatest blessings that come to us while here in this life are feelings and I know this will bring the feeling of peace we all desire.

I am grateful for a new year and a fresh start.  I have made some great goals and have consulted with Heavenly Father and know they are goals I can achieve.  Thank you to all of you for your great love and support!

Love,
Elder Holland

Happy New Year! 2015

Hey Fam!

This week was so much fun! Our Ward passed around these sign up sheets to spend an hour with the
missionaries on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day so we got to go around and do all kinds of fun stuff with the members in our ward. We played apples to apples, phase 10, Scum President (wearing hats), ping pong, we sang sooo much, and my favorite, we launched mini  pumpkins loaded with fireworks out of a sling shot :)

The weather here has been super funky.. In the passed 48 hours we have received at least a foot of snow and the temps keep going from like 30 to -5 and back. I'm not sure if it has to do with the weather but my body pretty much shut down for 2 days and I slept like 35 hours out of the last 48.. Good news is I feel great today :)

I finished the Book of Mormon! It was one of my goals to read it 3 times this year. While I was about halfway through my second reading President Mecham asked me to start over and do a specific scripture marking so I technically only read it 2.5 times this year but I'm okay with that :)  I have really become a fan of making goals as a missionary. I have some pretty lofty goals set already for 2015.  I invite you all to take the time necessary to prayerfully set goals for this upcoming year and then hold yourself responsible and do your best to achieve them. One of my favorite quotes from President Thomas S Monson is found on page 150 of Preach My Gospel where he says,"When performance is measured, performance improves. When performance is measured and reported, the rate of improvement increases." I have def found this to be true! I have learned that when I give an

accounting of my day to God in prayer at night He shows me many things I did not realize throughout that day. I usually am led to realize, with His help, I accomplished a lot more than I thought that day, I see His hand in my life and the lives of others, and I feel I am much more capable of having the righteous desires of my heart. Planning is so important and I feel when we counsel with God and do our best to align our plan with His plan then we set ourselves up for a future full of Joy and Happiness.

It was so awesome to Skype with you all on Christmas! I really enjoyed hearing your voices and seeing you all together as a family :) I am so excited for what this next year will bring! Thank you all for all you do for me. I am so blessed and feel so honored to have each of you in my life. I love you all and hope you have a happy and safe new year!

-Elder Holland

Merry Christmas! 2014

Hey Fam!

Well things are still going great here in Great Falls!  The weather has been super warm and I am loving getting to know my new companion, Elder Fox.  I still laugh at our age differences but we have a ton in common.  He is 18 and has been out on his mission for about 5 months.  He grew up in Rancho Cucamonga, California.  He really prepared well to come serve a mission and I am very impressed with him.  I am looking forward to all I will learn from him this transfer. 

Our ward here is amazing!  They sent out a Christmas sign up sheet to have the Elders and Sisters over at different hours on Christmas Eve and Christmas.  We have a packed schedule of families to go visit, play games, and share a message on Christ with.  I'm sure I will eat a ridiculous amount of food.. again.. but it will be worth it :) 

I am sure by now all of you have watched the Christmas video the Church put out called, "He Is The Gift."  We have been sharing this with literally everyone for the past few weeks and it has had a profound influence on me.  Learning and teaching others how to Discover, Embrace, and Share the Gift has been life changing.  I am so grateful to KNOW that He is the Gift.  To know that God loved us so much that he sent His Son to make it possible to for us all to return Home to Heaven once again.  The Gift of our Savior is amazing to me because it is meant for ALL of God's children but it effects us all personally.  Salvation is for everyone but we receive it on a personal level.  Yes we are all brothers and sisters here and we help one another along the journey but ultimately it depends on what we each do as individuals that determines if we will be able to return to Heaven. 

I know so many people in life, especially those I have met on my mission, who are hesitant to move forward in the Gospel because they feel they will be leaving a loved one behind.  Many of them simply will not make or keep sacred covenants with God because they are waiting for the day that a sibling, or spouse, or friend will do it with them.  I feel this is one of the greatest tools Satan uses to keep people from progressing in this life.  In Matthew 19:29 the Savior said,"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 don't believe the Savior is saying we need to leave everyone we love in the dust.  He is simply saying TRUST ME and it will be worth it.  There has never been an instance in the history of man where God has promised man something and did not deliver.  He says when we follow Him we will inherit an hundredfold and Eternal Life.  In my opinion, to TRUST him is not to leave others behind but to show them the way.  As we get closer to Christ personally we inevitably bring others with us.  

We all have things in life that are keeping us from being closer to our Savior.  As we enjoy the peace that comes this Christmas season I invite all of you to ponder your favorite sins you are holding on to and to make a resolve to let them go.  I promise you it will be worth it.  I have so far to go but am doing what I can to honor the Covenants I have made with God and I can say I have never been happier.  I have real and lasting JOY in my life.  I know that God is truly our Father in Heaven.  He loves us with a love we can not even begin to comprehend.  Everything He does is for our eternal benefit.  I know He sent His Son to pay our price so we could return to live with Him again.  I am so grateful for this knowledge and for the opportunity I have to share it with others.

Thank you all for all the love, letters, packages, and prayers you have sent my way.  I am so grateful for all of you.  I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and I look forward to seeing you on Skype! 

Love,

Elder Holland

Staying in Great Falls!

Hey Fam!

This week was super exciting!  Lots of changes are being made with the missionaries here and things are going really well!  My new companion is Elder Fox.  I met him once during transfers and he seems like a really awesome guy.  I am looking forward to this transfer and all the awesome stuff that is happening here! 

My thoughts this week are all centered on gratitude.  I will never be able to express how grateful I am

for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  This past week I took some time to reflect on the people I am currently seeing here and the people I have been able to get to know so well over the course of my mission.  Every single one is suffering in some sort of way.  The difference between each one of them is that those that have embraced the Gospel and strive to keep the commandments have peace.  I realized in an overwhelming way that even though I see and try to help people dealing with things that are very difficult I have peace all the time.  Yes I get anxious, nervous, and upset at different times but I also know that is part of it.  It is okay to feel this way because this is how we grow.  Nothing great ever came out of a comfort zone.  The amount of Light we have in our lives is directly related to our desire and actions towards keeping the commandments.  I am not even really sure where I am going with this but I am just so grateful to know He is always there.  I feel like I am seeing the influence of God in the lives of others much more and I know this experience is preparing me for whatever trials lie ahead of me.  I am grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  I know that because He did what He did we are enabled to do all that we do.  As I was pondering the trials of

others I thought about my own trials, especially in the last 2 years, and how I have been supported and lifted in every aspect.  My invitation to you all this week is to reflect back on some of the hardest times in your life and ponder this question, "Where was God?"  Then pray and ask Him that same question.  I promise you will feel peace and know that He is in control.  In doing this He has shown me many things I did not notice in the moment of the trial and I am so grateful to know He is always there.

I am thankful to you all for the great love and support you have shown me!  

Love,  

Elder Holland

P.s. I gave out the wrong address to my apartment and I have no idea how all of your letters and packages have been making it to me but here is my actual address! 

312 3rd Ave North #8 Great Falls, Mt 59401