HEY HEY HEY!
How's it going?!? I hope all is going well. Things are just fine here in Hampton Iowa!
Thanks so so so much for the package this week!!!!!!! It made my day! Seriously!
Anyway... this week has kind of been a bit long. Elder Poulsen and I have been working very hard. Our Zone Goal for contacts this week was 140, and we got more than that, and more than anyone else in our zone. We have spent 2-3 hours every day this week... contacting, tracting, catching up with future investigators... all that jazz. Which can make time go by really really slow! But hey, another week has gone by. And through tracting so much we met a lot of new people that we got return appointments with, so it will be exciting to teach them. One thing that I've learned about the mission is that the more you teach the faster time goes by. Seriously, If you have a full day of appointments... It just flies by... it’s crazy. Ya but busy long week.
We have some new investigators we've bumped into, a little Mexican family who we are teaching. We had a really great first lesson with them and a return appointment. I think they may have a lot of potential. After, the younger boy invited us to come to his church, and so, yesterday we did. Of course we went to our meetings, but his meetings were at night, and so we showed up at the gospel hall at 6:00 pm last night. We got several strange looks... but it was a good meeting. All I can say is that I am so glad I have been born into the church I am now. Other churches lack organization and a strong foundation. They also lack proper interpretation of scripture. The meeting was basically a testimony meeting. Men would stand up and talk for 15 - 20 minutes about how they believe they have been saved... slightly ridiculous... but some of the things they said were cool. They have a very different plan of salvation than we do. I am so grateful for the modern day revelation that has been received so that we can know where we came from, where we are now, and where we are going after this life. There answers to those questions were extremely warped... but hopefully we can help set some of them straight.
Something that many people believe out here is that all you have to do is accept Jesus Christ as your savior and then you are automatically saved. NOT TRUE. When Christ came to the earth he taught 5 very important concepts. Faith in Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father, Repentance, Baptism (which is an action that represents that we accept Jesus Christ) , the gift of the holy ghost and then ENDURING TO THE END. I have gotten in to way too many bible bashes with people that think that the only thing you have to do in this life is accept Jesus Christ. If that were true it would be WAY TOO EASY. Salvation is not a cheap, whimsical or easy experience. Salvation was never easy and it never will be. What people need to understand is that faith without works is DEAD. If you have faith, but don't do anything about it... what kind of progression will you experience? NONE. This life is about acting upon our faith, not just saying we have it and were going to heaven no matter what now. This life is the time for man to prepare to meet god! How does one do such things without acting upon his faith? It’s not possible. As a missionary I hope that I will be able to shed this further light and knowledge with those less fortunate. They need to understand these things. They are so important.
But on a brighter note, there are those who are accepting it, embracing it and living it. One of those examples would be Todd and Sandy. We had a great lesson with them this past week. They are Fabulous! They are just digging into the Book of Mormon and it is so exciting. The only thing elder Poulsen and I worry about is that they want to read the whole thing before they get baptized! We hope that we can show them in some way or another that you don’t have to read the whole thing to receive an answer and know that it is true. It’s kind of like mom making soup. If you try a little of that big pot that she has made and its good... can't you have faith that the rest of it is just as good? The book of Mormon is the same. If we taste of that fruit, and experience the fruits of the spirit: Love, peace, charity, Joy, kindness, Meekness, Etc. Then, it must be good! But that is how we test it, by the things we feel inside as we read. I know that I have tasted of the fruits of the spirit as I have read the Book of Mormon, and so I know it is true. And I know that all those who are lacking that can know it as well by putting it to the test.
But our lesson with Todd and Sandy was great. We taught them the Word of Wisdom and the promised to live it to the best of their ability. It’s so cool to see how the gospel changes lives. They both continue to read the Book of Mormon diligently and they keep talking about how they are starting to feel as though it is true because it is completely centered in Christ. Amazing. Now we really just need to get them to church. It’s kind of a struggle now because he hasn't been to a church in so long that he just works on Sundays... looks like we need to have a 10 commandments lesson. We'll work on that!
Well hey I love you all tons! I got to jet pretty soon. We gotta go shopping, and wash clothes and write letters! But I hope you all know I am always praying for you and love you tons! How did I luck out in getting the best family in the world? Believe me, I'm grateful for such an amazing blessing. Love you all tons! I will write you guys today personally too! IF you sent me a letter this week ;)
Much Love,
ELDER HOLMAN
LOVE YA!@!!!!$^!$^$&#*!^$^$@%&#%^*$^(%^*^&@$%~
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