It's Lunes!

Hey Holman Crew!

How’s it going? I can’t believe the time has come and gone, i feel like I was just writing you guys a couple days ago, and before i knew it, it was Monday again. And this week is going to go by even faster, we have so much work going on in our area, lots of members have part member families for us to teach, service to be done, and there is ton of stuff we have to do for the zone, like today we planned our zone p-day together, we had a water fight in all this heat, and we made tacos. We have a Mexican hermana in the zone, so she taught us how to make real Mexican tacos, i love Mexican food! i think I’d be fine eating burritos, and tacos for the rest of my life, i also like anything that’s spicy too, here in Argentina they don’t even use pepper because they think it’s too hot...haha anyways this Tuesday or tomorrow we have a zone meeting that me and my comp are going to teach, and then Friday and Saturday we have to help our president do interviews. Our zone is so big that he wants us to give him a heads up every 15 minutes he’s in the interview. And there’s a whole lot of other fun jazz going on in the mission, like super baptisms to plan, and people to baptize, lots to do, and I’m running out of time!

This past week was a awesome one, we finally had lots of time in our area, and not a bunch of meetings with the steak, so we got to work a lot! Sometimes i wish i didn´t have a single meeting in the day, so i could just work like crazy! This past week we had a really cool experience that strengthened my testimony a lot. We have an investigator that was a reference from other missionaries. We have been passing by a lot but there really has been no progress happening. We fixed plans with her to make a North American breakfast (i made waffles) and made plans to watch the movie of the restoration with her, the movie that’s an hour long. Natalia is a very devote Evangelists, and has family that are pastors and everything...as we began to watch the movie, my heart was filled! I felt the spirit so strongly. It testified to me once again, that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and that he was called to restore the gospel of Jesus Christ. I also learned for myself once again of the power of the Book of Mormon and the powerful witness that book is, that Jesus is the Christ and that Joseph Smith was and is a prophet.

As we finished the movie it became apparent very quickly that Natalia did not feel the same feelings i was feeling, in fact, she was mad, she had so many questions, and looked so outraged that we could believe in a book other than the bible that she could spit! haha! As she began to reject our message, and try to tear it apart with her knowledge of the bible, i didn’t know what to say...i wasn´t sure how we could get to the heart of her and help her feel the spirit...As i began to open my mouth a small miracle happened, words that i have never spoke and things i have never said, began to pour out of my mouth, inspired questions came out of my mouth, it was unlike anything i had ever experienced. Each sentence would just suddenly come to my head, and the second i finished it, another thought was placed in my head. And i knew in that moment I was receiving the inspiration. It wasn´t me speaking in that moment, the lord was literally saying every last word. As my mouth was going and the inspiration was coming, i scared myself, because a question came right out of the blue and pierced Natalia to the soul. She just started at me. For more then 2 minutes nothing was said, we just looked at each other, and in those two minutes we started straight in the eyes, and we could see that she was holding back the tears. As the lord spoke through us, she still would not budge, she was as hard as a rock, but we did all that we could do, we testified to her that we knew that the Book of Mormon is true, and i looked her straight in the eyes, and said that i know that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God, the Prophet of the restoration, and he is not my savior, but he made it possible for me to reach my savior. He made it possible for me to be saved through my savior by restoring the priesthood and bringing once again to the earth saving ordinances, such as baptism, and the sacred works we do in temples. And that through him, i have learned for myself, who Jesus Christ was and is. As we finished with a prayer, and somewhat thrown out of the house, me and my companion began to speak, and express the miracle that happened in that house, we both felt that the spirit spoke through us, and that he gave us the very words we need to say, every step of the way.

As we walked away from that house and the rejection of our message, i learned a great lesson, and that was that sometimes the lessons we teach are not for our investigators, but are mostly for us. We had both felt the spirit, and it had testify to us of the divinity the prophet Joseph smith, as well as out savior Jesus Christ. I walked away in complete awe of what i felt in that lesson, and in that moment i recognized that really the reason why the lord sends us out on missions and makes us sacrifice so much, is because he wants a convert, and that convert is us. Yes we leave to save souls and help others come unto Christ, but sometimes the only true way that we can come unto Christ, is by us giving the Lord our heart and soul, and then the miracle happens. When we help others come unto Christ, we to come unto Christ. And that’s what i realized that night, by me trying to help someone else come unto Christ, my Savior found me, and touched my soul. Matthew 10:39 states he that findeth his life shall loose it; and he that looseth his life for my sake shall find it. I feel that is exactly what has happened to me on my mission. I lost my life when i started my mission, and after two years of working hard in the sweating stinkin’ sun, walking my heels off, i found my life, a life in Christ. My life now is spent trying to be a disciple of Christ, and to be his servant, and do and say what he would. I am trying to be like my savior each day of my life, some might say that I’m missing out on so much, but to them i say that i have found everything that i could ever hope for, and that is a life like my savior.

I love you guys so much, and invite you guys to try and live your life like Christ, when we truly understand what we are, and whose we are, we will give everything to Christ, and strive each and everyday to be more like our savior!

Well there’s so much to be done this week that next Monday is going to come fast, ill talk to you then! But in the meantime know that i love you, pray for you, and miss you!

Love Elder Holman