Hey Holman Family!
How you guys doing? Thanks for all the awesome emails! it was so great to hear from all of you! Sounds like you guys are up to lots of fun things! That’s pretty sweet that mom and dad are on the other side of the world, send lots of prayers there way that they´ll be okay :) I hope you all have a super fun Labor day, I’m glad that you can all take a break in your busy schedules and have a little family time! Remember to have noche de hogar...or family night tonight...since you all are together, its the perfect excuse to have it...i met a married missionary that told me that him and his wife have never missed having a family night in 30 years of being married! Pretty impressive!! Sky good luck with heading back to the Y. Try not to date anyone cuz i don’t you getting married well I’m on the mission ;) haha Thanks lil brothers for all your awesome emails! just so you know Jaden I’m not sitting in a comfy place right now...but thanks for wishing that i was! I am currently sitting in some random ciber in the city of La Plata! Today me and my comp woke up early hopped on a taxi and then a bus to get here. Today were having a activity as a zone, it should be pretty fun...well at least more fun then what me and my comp do for p-day normally...which is a big lot of Nada!
Hahaha! this week was super awesome, and super fast. The more time i get in the mission, i feel like the weeks are days, and the days like a couple of hours. Me and my comp are always running as fast as we can to always teach as many people as possible, and when you do that, the days fly by fast and the weeks even faster...in fact i wish it would slow down a little bit for me, its almost moving to fast for me...
Yesterday was fast and testimony meeting in the branch...i had kind of a cool experience, i got to give a baby a name for the first time in my mission...haha just so you know he´s not my baby ;) But this less active sister brought her two babies to church and asked if i would bless them and give them there names! it was pretty sweet! She invited lots of her family members that were obviously not LDS to come to church to watch the baby blessing... As the testimony meeting started, i realized that we had more non members in the sacrament meeting, then actual members...haha and after president and the 5 people got up to bare there testimony, i realized that the meeting still had like 30 minutes to go, and i was the last person in the meeting that could share my testimony, so i thought i would take the 30 minute opportunity to teach all of the non members a little bit about our beliefs...
In each testimony that was stated they all said one thing in similar they all said that I know these things to be true. But nobody actually explained how they know these things to be true. After explaining a little bit about our beliefs and what is the Book of Mormon i opened up to the 5th chapter of alma and read to them the testimony of Alma, and how he new that these things were true. He states45 And this is not all. Do ye not suppose that I aknow of these things myself? Behold, I testify unto you that I do know that these things whereof I have spoken are true. And how do ye suppose that I know of their surety?
46 Behold, I say unto you they are made aknown unto me by the Holy Spirit of God. Behold, I have bfasted and prayed many days that I might know these things of myself. And now I do know of myself that they are true; for the Lord God hath made them manifest unto me by his Holy Spirit; and this is the spirit of crevelation, which is in me.
Alma new that these things were true because the holy spirit testified to him about these things...and not because he had seen or witnessed something...It is exactly the same for all of us. If we truly want to know the truth, and receive an answer of the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, we can receive one....
I have noticed in my life over the past few weeks, something that is a miracle to me. Each time me and my comp entered a lesson, i felt that we were not teaching alone, each time we would teach and testify, the spirit was there, to give a witness of what we were saying is true. I have developed for myself in the mission the ability to concern when the spirit is working through me. I have felt the very presence of the almighty savior in our lessons as we taught our investigators...and that was through the Holy Ghost. I have leaned with a perfect knowledge that this Gospel is true, That Jesus is the Christ and Joseph a profit. I have learned that through the quiet and gentle impressions of the Holy Ghost. Gently guiding and leading my life...telling me where to go and what to say...
At the beginning of the week we were biking in an area that i normally don’t like to work in, just cuz all the missionaries have worked that area in and out, and all the people that live there now the Mormon missionaries...but late on Monday night we found ourselves there, my comp wanted to stop in a store to buy a English dictionary...i thought it was stupid and a waste of time...but something said to me to go in, and so i obeyed the impression. We walked in and found a man named Nicoles working. We asked him if there was the dictionary he replied no, and we started to leave, as we started to leave i felt that we needed to walk back in and talk to him, and he obviously had the same impression, because he was walking out of the store to talk to us. He asked me what i was doing here, i began to explain to him that we were missionaries, and were here to share a message about Christ. I asked him if he had a belief in Christ, and he told me he honestly didn't know...he said he wanted to believe in him, but there was just so much confusion in the world that he truly wasn´t sure. The spirit in this moment then quietly prompted me to share with him a little of our message. He explained to me that he lives with his 5 daughters and that his wife had died over one year ago. He wanted to know if he would ever see her again. I felt in that moment the spirit guided my words, questions, and testimony. Exited to learn more, i wrote down his address, and made a time we could teach him. Later in the week we started with the absolute basics of all gospel principles, of who god is. We taught him that God loved him, that he knew him, and that he could know that god truly does live by praying to him and following his commandments. As i was teaching him, i felt like Ammon teaching king lamoni. King lamoni also had no idea who god was, and had to learn for himself through the power of prayer....later in the week we returned and taught Nicolas more. He is currently reading the book of Mormon and now trying to find out for himself if these things are true...
The only reason we even found this investigator is because the spirit guided us to him. God knows all of his children, and loves them, and when they are ready, he will send them the message of the restored gospel, and if the messengers are prepared and in-tune to the impressions of the Holy Ghost, God will lead those messengers right to the prepared investigator. I watched this process happen over and over this week. we found over 8 new investigators just by god leading us to his beloved children in the right place at the right time.
Well going back to my testimony in church, i testified to each person in that small sacrament room, that god lives, that Jesus is the Christ and that we can know all these things to be true by asking God in the name of Christ I explained that if they asked with faith, god would manifest to them through the Holy Ghost the truth of all things, and that La iglesia de Jesucristo de los santos de los ultimos dias (LDS church) Is the true and only true church of Christ on the earth today. We don’t have to be in confusion, God will manifest to us his will!
Alma states 48 I say unto you, that I know of myself that whatsoever I shall say unto you, concerning that which is to come, is true; and I say unto you, that I know that Jesus Christ shall come, yea, the Son, the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace, and mercy, and truth. And behold, it is he that cometh to take away the sins of the world, yea, the sins of every man who steadfastly believeth on his name.
49 And now I say unto you that this is the aorder after which I am called, yea, to preach unto my beloved brethren, yea, and every one that dwelleth in the land; yea, to preach unto all, both old and young, both bond and free; yea, I say unto you the aged, and also the middle aged, and the rising generation; yea, to cry unto them that they must repent and be bborn again. 0 Yea, thus saith the Spirit: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, for the kingdom of heaven is soon at hand; yea, the Son of God cometh in his aglory, in his might, majesty, power, and dominion. Yea, my beloved brethren, I say unto you, that the Spirit saith: Behold the glory of the bKing of all the earth; and also the King of heaven shall very soon shine forth among all the children of men.
I with Alma bare my testimony to you. I want my family to know, that the Holy Ghost has born testimony and manifested to me just as he manifested to Alma the truth of these things. I know them to be true. I know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ on the earth today, i know that joseph smith was and is a prophet of God. I know the book of Mormon to be true, and i know that Christ, our savior and redeemer, paid for the sins of the world, that he glorified the father by drinking from that bitter cup, and i know that through him i can be clean of my sins, and return to my home with my heavenly father. I love the mission, and i thank God each day for this wonderful gift to serve him, and teach his children about the truth!
Well i gots to run! Sky thanks for your emails man! i enjoyed them! star and chance thanks your awesome emails to! chance i think what you said is true...its gonna be even harder to leave the mission, then leaving your family, lets just be glad that i still got some time here in the field!! I love you guys so much! mom and dad take lots of pics for me!! i´ll see you guys next week!!!
love elder Holman
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