Hey Holman crew!
Thanks for all your emails! They really mean a lot to me! It sounds like everyone is pumped on the trek coming up! I’m all pumped that you guys get to go push some carts like the pioneers! It’s gonna be a killer experience. Remember to trust in God when it gets hard, if you do, there just may be unseen forces helping you pull that cart just like with the pioneers!! If you get the chance you should all read the talk by Thomas S Monson in this last Ensign. I don’t know what its called in English but in Spanish its called Pioneros hoy en dia! Its super good you should all check it out!
Mom and dad i hear that you may be traveling a little bit for the big 50th birthday. I’m super jealous; that´ll be a blast for you guys!!
Well as for me i had another awesome week here in the mission field. Maybe i didn’t have the big miracles like i did last week, but i had lots of little miracles and in Alma 37:6-7 it states
6 Now ye may suppose that this is afoolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by bsmall and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise. 7 And the Lord God doth work by ameans to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very bsmall means the Lord dothcconfound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls.
I saw many little miracles this week manifested by God. We found lots of new investigators, taught lots of less active families, and felt the Holy Ghost working through us. And through the small things the lord brings about great things.
We started off the week by contacting a reference from a member. The hermana that gave us the reference is named Natalia! She is so funny. She has 4 little kids (i baptized one of her kids). They live in very humble circumstances. There is no floor in their house, they live in dirt, and barely have a roof over there head, yet they are the happiest and funniest people i know...just a side note, that our worldly circumstances or earthy possessions isn’t what brings us happiness, its the ones around us, its our family, and the lord Jesus Christ. You can literally have nothing, but still smile because you have the Son of God or Jesus Christ at your side constantly... We left from Natalia’s to go visit her friend who surprisingly greeted us very warmly. We shared with her the message of the restoration. She listened very carefully as we explained our message, and my comp for the very first time, without any help from me, shared the story of joseph smith in Spanish, i was so proud of him. What shocked me the most is how simply Jessica (the investigator) accepted the message. So many people have questions and doubts, but i feel that God has been preparing Jessica for a long time to hear and accept this message. I don’t know what it is, but some people instantly recognize the promptings of the spirit when they come in contact with it, and that’s exactly what happened with Jessica when she heard the message. She accepted it as truth. As we returned later in the week to her house she was deeply touched as we testified to her of the plan of salvation. Her Father recently had passed away, and she had no idea if she would ever see him again. The moments that i love the most on my mission is when i can testifying to Gods children that death is only a small and necessary part of gods grand and mighty plan. And when the spirit touches their hearts and testifies to them that its true, tears rush to their face...because they can feel that it’s true. And that’s exactly what happened to Jessica....
Later in the week, things got a little bit harder. We went fishing for souls and we just didn’t find anything. We had some hard icy cold nights where we were walking around aimlessly. Some of our older investigators told us that they didn’t want to hear anything more from us, and lots of people were turning us away...The fishing was bad, we weren’t catching anything. Instantly what came to my mind is the night before the disciples saw the resurrected lord. They had been out at sea all night, and the fishing was lousy for them as well. They hadn’t caught anything, and then a man shouted, some safe distance from the shore, to cast their nets on the right side of the boat, as they did so, more fish swam into there nets than they could pull in...Instantly they realized that the person that had yelled to them was no man, but their Resurrected Lord.
As I thought about how bad our fishing was going, i gained strength and hope from this story. We didn’t find anyone that night, in fact we only received more rejection, and people making fun of us, but in the morning is when that all changed, just like how in the morning the disciples saw their lord and God....We found a lady named Mirta. Or more like she found us, as we went to church i saw an unfamiliar face sitting in the back corner on the back row. After i blessed the sacrament i sat by her and we began chatting. I invited her to stay for the next two classes, after the meeting, cuz i was teaching them both :) In gospel principles, she explained to me more of her life story. She told us that she was living in chascomus with her daughter, that her husband had abandoned her. He kicked her out of the house with literally nothing. She explained to us that she had recently spent some cold nights sleeping in the middle of parks in Buenos Aires. She was completely homeless and had nowhere to go, but she told us that she had faith in god that he would help her. Over some period of time she made her way down to chascomus and moved in with her daughter, who is a member that is starting to come back to church. She explained to us that through her faith in god She received strength from god to deliver her from her trials. It was a really cool experience....I asked her if we could stop by her house after the class, and she replied yes. We´re passing by tonight, so keep us and her in your prayers, pray that everything will go well!
Well i don’t have too much more time but i want you all to know that i truly do love being a missionary. There might be some tough, hard, cold days out here, but my lord is my strength and will warm my soul on those cold dark nights, and he will pick me up when I’m weak. I can testify of that because it has happened to me. Those moments when i think i can’t go anymore or it’s just too hard, a miracle always happens, and unseen forces begin to take over! i love being a missionary. And i love all of you! Thank you for all of your prayers, and for all your encouraging words! I want you all to know that you’re in my prayers and in my thoughts and heart. Have a Good week, and know that I’m prayin’ for ya! Love you all!
Elder Holman
P.s. It totally snowed here yesterday! it hasn’t snowed for 7 years and it totally happened yesterday!! You all enjoy your hot hot summer heat, and I’ll send some cold thoughts your way as your pushing handcarts in the hot hot sun :)
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