December 27th, 2010

Sup Fam,

So the sun came out for the first time today in forever. I've never been so happy to see the sun! Too bad it'll set in about 5 hours. Ah well, wouldn't want to get a sunburn. There are a couple things I forgot to tell you about Val D'or. They don't shovel the sidewalks here, because people just use snowmobiles to get everywhere. Really. I've seen like five people just driving their snowmobiles down the streets and on the sidewalks to get everywhere. It's crazy.

I don't know much more to say, we just talked on the phone like two days ago...

Someone just walked into our office/church and told us a story about how his son just got ambulanced to a hospital in another town and he can't make it there because he just lost his job at the mine and his settlement hasn't cleared the bank yet and he doesn't have any gas in his car. The town is called Rouyn Noranda, that his son is in. Turns out he used to be an investigator and he knows that we are "nicest people he's ever met" and his girlfriend used to teach the gospel principles class, but that didn't sit well with him because he knew she wasn't practicing what she preached. But he used to go to church and he knows the mormons. He said he wants to come back-but people will say anything for money. He was asking for 50 dollars. E. Johnson whipped out 45 and just handed it to him. Sigh. The guy was actually upset that we didn't have the last five. He tried to sell us his radio, but we told him that's all we had, because in reality, we're missionaries, and it's the end of the month. He didn't buy that we were out of money, in an angry mutter he said "I'll be here for church" and stormed out.

Great. Kind of fouled up our morning there. Hopefully he realizes how much it is to give up 45 dollars, and he'll be a little happier when he gets to church. On the bright side, we have a new investigator now, heheh....sigh. It's all about the numbers anyways, right?

Our new investigator called yesterday and wants us to give her a priesthood blessing today, that's some landmark progress for this lady, she's known the church forever, literally, forever (she's the 95 yr. old) So that will be good, it kind of tears our P day to shreds, but that's alright, there's nothing to do in Val D'or anyways.

We went tracting last night around 7 o clock, it was -12 Celsius, with heavy winds, and heavy wind chill. I had forgotten my beanie, and by the time I had thought to use my hood, my hood was stiff from the cold and I wasn't about to wrap that frozen hood around my head. By the end of our tracting, I literally could not feel my forehead. It must have been a funny sight to see, as we got into the car I was furiously pumping my eyebrows up and down, trying to get feeling back into my face.

I can't believe that Carlie is Pregnant! That's insane. Still isn't registering.

So we got our callings yesterday in the branch. We're the Young Men's Presidents, and the Branch Presidency whenever the branch presidency isn't there. Which is about every other week. It was surprising, we had about 12 members show up for church. Soon we'll have it doubled, no worries. Actually, we make a trip out to Rouyn Noranda each week, to work there, because a lot of members come from there. So our goal is to set up a new branch in Rouyn. That's what we're looking at, our goal for the next six months there. It can definitely be done.

Welp, that's about all that's going on. It was good to talk to everyone, Everyone sounds about the same, that's good.

Love,

E. Holm

December 20th, 2010

Qu'est-ce que sup, family,

Woof, you guys almost struck out completely on letters this week, good thing pops pulled through with a letter from his blackberry. Thanks Pops! But I understand, it's a busy time and all.

So. Transfer calls. Crazy things happening. I'm going Senior Companion to an elder that is only one transfer old, and we are flushing into the VAL D'OR area, or more commonly known as Ahbitibi. It is the furthest north in the mission you can go.I'm going from the furthest south in the mission to the top of the top. In the dead of winter. I'm going to die. There's a super strong branch up there, of 8 people. heheh. But the work is turning around up there, they just had the first baptism in 4 years up there last transfer. My new comp, E. Johnson, and I will tear it up for sure. It will be fun.

I gotta learn french. It will be nice to be senior finally. Not that I'm shooting for position or anything, I just think I could be so much more effective in a senior position. I've had some good ideas shot down by some seniors that I know would have been effective. NOW IS THE TIME.

So, to get there from montreal is a 4 hour bus ride to ottawa, then 5 hour drive to val d'or. Yikes.

This past week has been nothing but tracting. Woo... But I have learned an extraordinary amount from E. Valido, especially about the bible. Like crazy things. Ah well, I still like the Book of Mormon better.

We got to help at a toy-donation event here at the church, and set up a missionary table and everything. E. Valido and I have been working very hard this past week, and a couple days extra. So this past week and a half. And in this time we have found 50 potentials. Crazy, I'm kind of sad to leave Drummondville after only being here for a week. The work here is going to explode. Man, it's already exploding.

Christmas this year will be kinda lame, seeing as we are flushing into an area. But I'm sure E. Johnson is cool, we'll have a blast. Thank you so so very much for the packages, I have to open them tonight though to make sure everything fits in my luggage.

VAL D'OR.

So, if you guys have a quilt handy, I promised a member I would ask for one before I headed out to Val D'or. If not, that's fine, I'm sure they have a lot of blankets up there. I feel bad asking for one right after you sent the christmas packages, but I might die.

I'll be calling Christmas Eve sometime, probably around 9 o clock for me, so 7 o clock for you guys. I might try a little earlier, like in the morning too. I'm just gonna call to let you know what time I'm calling on Christmas.

Um, that's really all we did this week, was tract, nothing crazy exciting or anything. Not even that many interesting people. It's been a long week. Ah well.

I'll talk to you guys on Christmas,

Joyeux Noël,

E. Holm

December 13th, 2010

Hey Family,

I'm now in Drummondville-which is an hour north of Sherbrooke. Some other elders were having some trouble getting along up here, so President asked me to take part in an Emergency transfer and swap out one of the elders. This happened friday morning, so I didn't get to say goodbye to anyone from Sherbrooke, but you know, that's life. I'd like to think of it as a very BATMAN exit, someone is still asking a question and all there is is an open window and some curtains blowing in the breeze. The transfer ends on the 21st, so I should just be here for one week, or more if President transfers me here for good. So it's a very limbo week, for sure. I'm sad to be broken up with E. Cherry, after we got off the phone with president he wasn't too happy about the situation either, he described us splitting up as "having an abortion against your will," I really like E. Cherry. I felt like I left Sherbrooke in good standing, we were able to boost our numbers from 3 to 15 investigators, and reactivated a good part of the ward, it was cool. Onto the next area.

My new companion is E. Valido, he is a VERY interesting character. He is 27 years old, decided to go on a mission right before he finished his masters in Critical textualism of the bible. He was a full time baptist minister before he was converted to the Church. He curses like a sailor, and is not a clean person--he's about the same height and shape as uncle Tim. Maybe a little shorter. He's also a graphic designer and a marine/army guy, he did both. He knows a whole lot about the bible, that's for sure.

So yeah, my comp is a baptist minister. How crazy is that. The branch here is really cool, really excited about missionary work, that's for sure. A longer letter will come next week, when I have something to write about here in Drummondville. I will also let you know where I'm going next week, if I'm going anywhere.

All the Best,

E. Holm

Before the change, there wasn't much going on. Just working and all that jazz.

December 6th, 2010

Hola Familia,

This week has been a very difficult one, but a very successful one at that. Including this week's work, E. Cherry and I have been able to quadruple our teaching pool since the beginning of the transfer. It's very exciting, a lot of people are progressing towards conversion. It was rather funny, one of our investigators had a question about evil spirits, so when we showed up the first thing he did was turn on "Amytville Horror" and ask us, "does stuff like this acutally happen?" It took us about a minute and a half to explain to him, in french (everything takes longer to say when in french) that we needed him to turn it off, and by then we had seen/heard 5 people get gruesomely murdered in the film. It was kind of difficult to bring the spirit back into the lesson, but by the end we got it back.

We knocked into this guy house --he let us in and we sat down on his bed in his little apartment; he sat in his chair across the room. He had a big tub of cigarettes and a tall glass of beer on the table, and we could hardly see him through the cloud of smoke. He told us a story of how he used to go to church until his pastor caught him coming out of a strip club and told him he couldn't come back anymore. He's been looking for God ever since. We were able to teach him the first lesson and commit him to baptism, his answer was "Yes, I will get baptized, but I don't want anything to do with your book, just Jesus." So we have a little bit of explaining to do, he still doesn't get that the Book of Mormon is all about Jesus. Which is weird, cause it says so right on the cover.

Another new investigator we found this week is from Nepal, she is Hindu, but doesn't like Hinduism because she believes in only one God. Banksy. She talked a lot about Ghandi and the Dalai Lama and the importance of the soul and how you should have no fear, because whatever happens, God is in it. Then she interpreted E. Cherry's dream, that was crazy, and she showed us her temple in her room, which consisted of trinkets from every religion you can think of. My favorite part was the Lava lamp next to the nativity scene.

The work is increasing, becoming almost too much for just two missionaries to handle, which is a really good thing. We were able to watch the Christmas devotional yesterday, in French, it was really good. We've also started really studying Spanish, because 7 of our investigators speak spanish, and we would like to be able to talk to them.

Good luck Chandler at the concert! That's really exciting - someone take pictures! Good luck Noah at the Ballroom recital! Are you waltzing this time, or a different kind of dance?

Good luck with everything! Oh, and transfers are coming up on the 21st, so everything you mail has got to go to the mission home for now, because I might get transferred.

Thank you so much for everything and have a nice week everyone!

E. Holm

Picture Update

First companion; Elder Perry.

Newest companion I believe... Elder Cherry.

First baptism.

"At the symposium. Me pretending to be interested in art so others would come ask questions. Furthest right in background = E. Perry talkin' it up."

"On our way back from the symposium in Quebec City, we saw a bunch of dinosaurs, so we took pictures."

"Dinosuars and monster trucks! Spare Time! Yeah right :)"

November 22, 2010

Family,

So this week has been...hard to remember....Things start to blur really fast out here. The ward is doing really well, E. Cherry and I are helping out the ward choir, that's a fun little break every sunday afternoon--I never thought I would be saying that about choir.

This week we had a lesson with an enormous family down in Stanstead, about an hour's drive south from Sherbrooke. We discovered that when we drove into the town, we were less than 3 miles from America. I could have driven straight into Vermont! What a strange feeling. The lesson went horrible, the parents were constantly yelling, at each other, at the kids, the kids were yelling at the parents, and at each other, we abandoned the thought of trying to teach them a full lesson and somehow squeezed out a good scripture and spiritual thought. The family is less active, but their two younger sons haven't been baptized yet, and the parents really want them to go through the lessons and be baptized, so we'll be making a lot of trips to the Vermont border in the next couple weeks.

We had an excellent lesson with our Gay investigator, we watched the testaments-and by the end he outright told us that he believed that Christ visited the Americas and started tearing up. But he's had a lot of rejection in his life, being gay-he's not even really gay, he's like a non-practicing gay...it's strange... so we invited him to church but he's just too scared of being rejected there. But we'll find a way to get him there.

We were sitting in church, and saw a girl sitting a couple rows ahead of us. Neither of us recognized her, we later found out she wasn't a member! We had an investigator at church without even knowing it! She came this week as well, the members are really working well with her, so we're giving her time to come to us, we don't want to push ourselves onto her and scare her away.

We had a couple from Madagascar visit our english class, they liked it and they are bringing their children next time...so hopefully we have some time to prepare a lesson for them. Also a Columbian guy is coming and bringing his daughter, so we'll have six new students in the class who don't speak any english. As my Iranian friend would say "Dat's Crazy."

One of the biggest problems here in Sherbrooke I've found is that missionaries in the past here, haven't really done anything, except baptize people who were not ready to be baptized. Most of our recent converts are inactive or going inactive because they were hardly taught anything before their baptism. Alot of them think church is more like a social club, and have no testimony--so we spend a lot of precious time fixing past missionaries lazy halfbaked work and reteaching these recent converts. But you know, work is work when you are a missionary. E. Cherry and I get along extremely well, we usually spend our in-between-houses time translating songs into french, songs like "There can be miracles" from Prince of egypt. All songs sound better in french.
E. Cherry and I have gotten really good at winging lessons in our Sunday school classes, because of course the default teachers are always the missionaries, the past two weeks we've been improv teaching, it has it's own thrill to it, that's for sure.

We had another investigator at church yesterday, the mother of the girl that comes on her own, and the older single ladies of the ward put on a dinner after church. While this investigator was eating and telling everyone about herself, (we were in the cultural hall) a girl kicked a ball and it hit her square in the face. I just about choked on my food, my first thought was "This is hilarious." I could just picture the rumor going around how mormons lure you in, and then hit you in the face when you least expect it. But she was cool about it, she got a little angry and rambled off something in spanish, but hey, everyone does that here. Spanish is the Angry language.

Well that's about all that's happened so far around here, E. Cherry and I are going to rock our own little thanksgiving this week, it will be...well pitiful. Neither of us like to cook and we found a sale on Ramen, so we've been having oatmeal and ramen this week, a 'self motivator to get more dinner appointments'

That's about all, keep up the good work at home,

E. Holm

November 15, 2010

FAMILY.

The Baptism went really well. We spent all day preparing for it though, but it went really well. Everyone who was supposed to be there showed up, I was lucky enough to conduct the meeting (Absolutely terrifying) but it all worked out to the best. There is nothing like a baptism, the Spirit there is a strong one. I just sat there, on fire the whole time, it felt like. I have a picture of the investgator and her husband and the son of the bishop and the coolest black person ever. He went to jamaica on his mission, english speaking, so whenever he speaks english he has some crazy accent slang thing going on. Also, I don't know if I told you this, but our bishop is black, like from the congo black, with some crazy cool gray hair going. He looks like Nelson Mandella and Morgan Freeman mixed. And excellent combination. He's way cool. Thanks to our investigator's excellent example, we now have two more baptisms coming on the way, two of another brother's sons from a previous marriage will be getting baptized within the next couple months, how excellent. It's amazing how many people are affected by one person when they decide to follow the light.

French is going really good, comprehension is at an all time high, speaking is still okay. We've run into so many people from columbia however, that we have started studying spanish, so we can make initial contact and set up another appointment, where we can bring a spanish speaking member with us.

E. Cherry is amazing. I was quite nervous at first, because transfers are like blind dates that last 6 weeks, but E. Cherry is almost like being comps with Carter or Hayden or Chandler or Noah. I knew we would bond quickly when he mentioned that he was a fan of the old Olsen twin movies they used to put out. I have never, ever met anyone who has seen those old movies. We are very much on the same page. It is going to be one of the greatest transfers ever. He's been out for 4 transfers, so we're both learning french really fast, and it is so nice to have a companion that isn't going home soon. The work will be exploding quickly, as it already has. Cherry is from Snowflake Arizona, so we are both going to freeze this winter. That's about all that went on this week, Hopefully more baptisms will follow. Our goal is to keep the font full.

Light up the Darkness,


E. Holm

November 8th, 2010

Family,

This week has been a good one, we went down and helped out with the Symposium held at a college, it was really cool. Yet, as missionaries on campus we weren't allowed to proselyte, we were there just to answer questions and show that mormons are normal people. There was of course a little confusion in the presentations, because a lot of them were done by religious professors and the like, so they weren't always accurate, but they weren't strictly contrary to our beliefs either. My favorite lecture was called "God is an American" It wasn't as bad as it sounds.

E. Perry and I were in charge of the art gallery and the homeless choir exposition. Yeah, apparantly an LDS guy wanted to do some good, so he rounded up a bunch of homeless guys and taught them how to sing. They weren't half bad! They didn't really mention the church or anything at all though...but it was a nice concert.

I've still been nasty sick this week, but only this awful cough remains now. The funniest thing happened in English class.

So our Iranian friend is studying and working in cryptography, which is message coding and decoding. He was trying to explain to our chinese lady student, what it was, so he got up and wrote and example on the board. This is the example he used.

"Attack on the eleventh September"

Using a sequence, he coded the message with Alberta wheat can't.... etc...Just a simple sentence, with which if you have the key, it's easy to read. There was a miscommunication upon the date eleventh september, so to jog our memories, our Iraqi friend drew two buildings and a plane flying right into them.

So quick recap. An Iranian, and Iraqi and a Chinawoman are discussing cryptography with the sentence "Attack on eleventh September" on the board next to a drawing of one of the most tragic terrorist attacks in history.

I'm teaching english to a terrorist cell. Haha. Anyways I thought that was humorous.

I'm excited for this Saturday, it is the day of our investigators baptism. We've got everything picked out and everything, she's just gotta make it to that day. Cross your fingers, or better yet pray. It will be exciting for sure. Today is E. Perry's last day in the mission field, tomorrow we're driving up to Montreal for Transfers, my new companions name is E. Cherry. Kinda strange, eh?

He's only been out 3 transfers, so it is going to be fun, we will both learn a lot.

There's not much else to say....


E. Holm's Christmas list.
1. Christmas music, more specifically Amy Grant and Taylor Swift's christmas album.
2. Christmas music, more specifically Amy Grant and Taylor Swift's christmas album.

Maybe possibly just send christmas music if at all possible as soon as possible? I am grieving over the lack of Christmas music on my ipod.

Have a good week!

E. Holm

November 1, 2010

Howdy,

This week has been a good one, a hard one, but a good one. I've gotten to the point now that when we go contacting, I'll usually talk to one person while Perry crosses the street and talks to another, there is no better feeling than conducting a full conversation while introducing yourself and then asking for a number and address and saying farewell in a whole nother language. It feels great to be at that point. And I've started making phone calls in french, that's just terrifying. But it's working out! I still need a whole world of practice before I am fluent however.

We had a temple trip this week, it's kinda crazy, before anything happens, they have a vote to see what language will be the language of the session, luckily it was english this time. Whew! Sometimes it's spanish and mostly french, how insane. We ran into a lot more Columbians this week, so many that we've pulled out a little book of spanish phrases so we know how to introduce ourselves in spanish. It's crazy.

We have a baptism coming up in a couple weeks, on the 13th, hopefully it won't fall through! But the investigator is ready and willing and wants to be baptized really bad, so I'm sure it won't. It's too bad that that's the week after transfers, so E. Perry won't get to be there, he's headed home to Alberta! But he's headed to Ogden to Weber State for college, it's a small world! Speaking of E. Perry, he's been awful sick lately, and I've finally caught it from him. I woke up a couple days ago without a voice, which makes it kind of difficult to contact and speak french and all that, so I've just been practicing my comprehension and listening skills. The doctors haven't gotten back to us yet, but they think that E. Perry might have pneumonia, hopefully my chest cold here doesn't progress into that. That would be a nightmare. We're on strict orders from the Mission President and his wife to stay home and rest, which is the MOST FRUSTRATING thing in the world. But what can you do? It seems like I was just progressing with the language too, but there are other ways to practice it than to speak it I guess. I've never really lost my voice like this, it's strange. Eh, give it a day, it'll be back.

There's snow on the ground up here. It's already begun, crazy. I might be buying boots pretty soon, especially since it's still snowing. We're headed up to Quebec city tomorrow, for the big symposium expedition thing, it should be awesome!

Well, that's about all I can think about, Have a good week, and take good care of Grandpa,


Peace be the Journey,

E. Holm

October 25th, 2010

Hola,

It's been a busy week! We started out with a zone conference and afterwards had a split. I went with E. Ninataype for a good day and a half, it was an interesting experience. All our appointments were in spanish. I learned a lot. I need to learn french, and then probably spanish. A LOT of people speak spanish here, a lot of columbians immigrate here. But I had quite the miracle happen while on splits. It's amazing how you must encounter trials or darkness before you see the light. We were knocking doors, and had no success, until we hit the basement door. We knocked, this guy opened up while our hands were on the door knocking. It was pitch black inside, the only light came from the smoldering end of the cigarette hanging out of his mouth. Due to the lack of light his eyes were enourmous, almost too big and dark, and his eyebrows were crazy all over the place. He had a huge agitated smile, almos panicky looking, on his face, while he held back his rather large bulldog. Some low, rythmic music was pulsating in the darkness.

The first thought that came to mind was a direct response to the feelings I had for this guy.
"woah, well you're the devil." He slammed the door after we tried to introduce ourselves, and E. Ninataype asked me "did you feel the evil-ness man?" It was a disturbing feeling, to be sure. But after such an encounter you always find the light.

We were walking back to the car when we stopped on a street corner, so E. Nina could take a phone call. I saw a short, middle aged woman walking towards us, with her ipod on, and thought "why not." Then I thought "how you would feel if someone interrupted your music listening experience?" Then I thought, "oh wait, it's the GOSPEL." so with reason enough to interrupt her, I gave it a shot.

In shattered french.

"Hi. I come from the States, I am learning french. Is it okay if I walk with you and we practice french?" (I find that people are usually more friendly when you instantly state your inferiority from the get go. No joke)

-Okay- was all I understood out of her next sentence, so we began to walk. She was very nice. Eventually conversation turned to church (the nametag helps) and I asked her what religion she is

-Christian!-

"What is it the church that you wait at?" I asked her.

-I am Christian but I don't go to church-

"why?"

-Because I don't know which one to go to-

I almost laughed out loud, it sounded like a roleplay from the MTC. so I told her

"why not come to church with my friend and I?"

She said sure! and afterwards E. Ninataype came and saved the conversation. We found a park nearby, taught her, and committed her to baptism on the 6th. Hopefully it works out. She seems very excited.

That was crazy. Now think. If I wasn't here. No split. the missionaries wouldn't have had need to practice their french, they would have continued to walk or contacted her in a way that might not have been optimal, she would not have found the gospel. Being here is already worth it.

I've got a whole lot more stories, but I'm out of time. I can't believe mom got in a three car pile up! Crazy stuff, what vehicle was it in? That probably didn't help the sickness. That stinks, I'll keep her in my prayers. For everyone else, it sounds like everyone is having a good time, Good! Keep up the good work, send me some pictures, Pictures pictures pictures!!

Oh and somebody Better be using that camera, if it's not being used PLEASE send it up here, I'm dying with this little point-shoot.

It's starting to frost outside. It's below freezing all the time now. Sigh...gonna be a long winter.

Peace be the Journey!

E. Holm

P.S.
We have a couple new members in our english class, every single person is from a different country. (E. Perry is from canada, alberta, so we are all from different countries.) It is verily insane, but the Highlight of my week! Also, I got to play a hunting horn this week, I forgot how much I miss the trumpet!

October 18th, 2010

Bonjour-luh.

So this week has gone by pretty fast, I have to pull out my journal here, everything in the mission field becomes a blur after a while. So I'll pull out some crazy stories. Here we go.

We visited a less active member who is a professional artist. Apparantly he is the most well known artist in Quèbec. He is into abstract art and such, it's cool. He told us the story of how he decided to come on a mission. Or, rather, how it was decided for him. He wanted to go on a mission, but his father would not let him go. So the member called up his stake president and told him the news. Some twenty minutes later, Ezra Taft Benson walks in and begins to talk to his father. Benson sees a chess board, sitting on the coffee table. Turns out the boys' father is the region champion. Ezra Taft Benson says -how about we play a little game of chess. If I win, your son goes on a mission, if you win, he stays. - Benson won.

We have had a lot of dinner appointments this week. And a couple with some spanish families. I now know what Dad was talking about when he told us he used to throw up after dinners on his mission. Spanish people will never. stop. feeding you. I find that a majority of my prayers nowadays include the sentence -Lord, please help me eat all of this food.-

For some reason, people around here love Cream of Carrot soup. Which is possibly the most disgusting thing I've ever tasted. It has the texture and consistency of baby food, and tastes like Carrot, honey, salt and garlic, with a tang of soy. Man, that was difficult.

So big news! The last week of this transfer E. Perry and I are heading up to Quèbec city, for a whole week! I guess there is a big "symposium" going down, and every year the city selects a religion to showcase, this year it's our turn. So they are pulling in the Quèbec city missionaries and the nearby surrounding missionaries to help at this big...thing, to present material, teach lessons, all sorts of stuff I guess. I hope I can speak french by then.

The quèbecois accent is close to being unlocked. Here are a couple things that have thrown me off the most when talking to people. "Luh." Similar to the article "le" which can mean he, it, the. They stick is on every sentence they spit out. Sometimes multiple times. It's like saying like in english like all the time.

Bien oui luh, je vuex luh, luh très grand voiture luh. At first out here I tried to direct translate everything. so.... good yes the, I see his, the, very big car it.

By the time I even figured it out, the conversation was over. Sometimes they even just say "Luh Luh LUH luh!" kinda sing song like. It means various different things. And instead of saying "tu" which means "you" they say "toy" which, to them, means you. ou est-ce que toy viens? WHAT.

But in general, I like quèbecois much better than regular french, it's much more fun. Correction, it will be much more fun when I finally get it down.

English class was crazy this week, because The two chinese ladies, the regulars, asked us if we could tell them a story out of the bible, they thought they were very intriguing. So I asked them 'have you heard the story of Adam and Eve?' 'Oh yes, it is very popular in china'

So we ended up teaching two chinese ladies and the iranian muslim man the plan of salvation. They had some very difficult questions. Like "What is Devil?" "What is God?" Why just put two people on earth, why not many people? "Your God is all powerful, why does he not stop wars?"
And the hardest ones came from the muslim "After that, for eternity, we do what?" or. "Where did God come from?"

The Chinese ladies just thought it was a hoot. They would giggle at certain parts and were just fascinated. The Muslim was very nice, "that was very interesting." That was it. But holy cow, it is so difficult explaining to people who have never heard of God or Satan or Jesus Christ. It takes careful teaching and lots of thought.

No more tripod! E. Oropeza headed home yesterday to catch his brother's wedding! He's a great missionary, but things are so much nicer with just two missionaries, now it doesn't look like a gang is beating down your down everytime we go knocking!

Church is getting better, I'm able to understand more, so that's good!

That is about it for this week, more to come I'm sure. That's too bad about mom being sick, or about Noah losing the race there. E. Perry is sick as well, I hope I don't catch it. But I will.

Peace be the Journey!

E. Holm

Made it to Canada!

Last picture from the MTC

Flood

Walking with the companions
Sideways street lights

Yuck

Apartment

Companion!

October 11, 2010

Salut!

Sounds like you guys have had a busy week! I guess that answers my question about Emery getting married, sounds like that has been the event to prepare for! That's cool that the president sent you guys a letter, he's a cool president. It's good to hear you guys rented out the condominium! Sweet! Not a fan of the smoking but nowadays a blessing is a blessing! Carlie only worked for Dr. Grant for a day?! Understandable. I'm glad we're finally finishing up with the whole applehead witch things. I hate those heads, blech. But everything sounds like it's going good there! By the way thank you for the coat money! I got a good North Face double layer coat with a lifetime warranty. The outer layer is completely water and wind proof--it's like a super tarp. the inner layer is Packed with insulation. So, in this rainy weather, all you have to do is take the inner layer out, viola! Raincoat. But I'm freezing, so I just keep the inner layer in anyways. They have a monopoly on coats here, since the average winter gets to about 30 below. not including windchill, off the river and lake. I am going to die. So I might need some money for boots later on, but I should be set for gloves because I got a 50 dollar gift card with my coat. SET.

It's been a crazy week so far. I'll probably say every week out here is crazy--that's because it is a crazy place, Sherbrooke. Really though.

But on the other hand, we ran into a lot of Muslims this week. There are two types of muslims in this world, nice ones, and mean ones. We met a lot of mean ones, who are just dying to tell you how wrong you are and what you are doing is a waste of life. These ones make us laugh. FOOLS.

I worry for Humanity sometimes.

We met a nice one though, he answered the door saying -we are all good people here, there is nothing bad between us, there is no problem here.- he sounded very nervous. We then told him we were missionaries, and that we taught a free english class- he let us in and looked very relieved. He showed us all the stuff he made whilst in prison in Iraq, he and his family are Iraqi refugees. Then they gave us some awesome Iraqi delicacy-not unlike pizza pockets filled with coconut.- He was a nice muslim.

A full sunday church meeting in french was a headache and a half. After a while I just read my scriptures. It was interesting. To say the least. I don't get many chances to speak french, everyone here is bilingual. While contacting I have to ask people to speak french to me so I can practice. Which has turned out to be a pretty good icebreaker. *Hey, I need to practice french, will you talk to me?* They usually are glad to help. Then I say *Let's talk about God, or about the family, or about the Gospel of Jesus Christ* It's fun.

We have 3 progressing investigators and hopefully a baptism coming up soon, as soon as she quits smoking. So we're having success! But soon there will be so much more, it will be fantastic. Taught a couple lessons this week, it was really good. Hopefully next week will be even better.

Also, if you guys ever want to send mail, send it through the US postal service, that way it won't get destroyed through customs and cost the mission more. Cool! and also, I need some help, I need someone to send my driving record to the mission office, in case I need to drive next transfer. Next transfer half the mission will be under 3 transfers old! Crazy!

Peace be the journey

E. Holm

October 4th, 2010

I MADE IT!! Holy cow. Im in Sherbrooke now, the farthest south the mission goes I think. It is a trilingual area, French, English, and Spanish, and its insane here. CRAZY. I wish I could write with correct punctuation but this is a French keyboard and I cannot find the apostrophe. rats. Anyhow. Im in a tripod right now, I get two dads! (Nevermind what they say about our church being narrowminded). Elder Perry and Elder Oropeza. Everything, absolutely everything is in French. Its mind blowing. And the French they speak here, not the same at all. gah. Its cool, it will all come...eventually...

This place is a huge melting pot. We had dinner my first day with a liberian woman, and in our english class there is a couple chinese women and an Iranian man, more to come, crazy eh' FOUND THE APOSTROPHE. Can't find the question mark. Hmmm....I had poutine for the first time on the first day, at Mont Royal Hotdog, a HUGE plate of double fried french fries, soggily drenched in triple thick gravy, cheese curds literally floating, stacked on top were about 7 strips of bacon, shredded and torn. It just destroyed me the first time I had it... yuck. So, much, goodness. Cannot be taken in all at once.

Knocked doors first day. Was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. Rejection is a lot easier when it comes to you in another language you do not understand- especially a pretty language like French. There are always these old men shouting such fluffy little comments of hate, it is like being slapped in the face with a feather. At least they try.

Nobody here likes religion. There are a couple nunneries, but everyone is either a non-practicing catholic or they believe in science. The catholic Church used to run everything around here, like, EVERYthing, until about...maybe..a generation ago everyone just walked away from religion, they had had enough of the catholic church taking control of stuff and telling them what to do. Look up the Silent Revolution, thats what we as missionaries are trying to fight. There is hope within the rising generation, the college kids. That is where we will most likely find success.

The first door I knocked on, I introduced myself in French, the lady spoke english. Ah ha. A lot of people here speak english. In fact, all my teaching appointments so far have been in english. Thank Heavens!

Apparantly there are a lot of gays and lesbians here in ol Kaybec. Gross. Hopefully wont run into too many.

Im sure Im going to be here for a while, we are an hour and a half from any other missionaries, so Im going to be setting up here for some long term stuff.

By the way, I really need money for my winter coat, its starting to get cold here, high 30s and such. As soon as possible, si'l vous plait. All the trees here are on fire! Such brilliant colors, the leaves are changing.

This last sunday was the first day I actually saw the sun here in quebec, its been raining nonstop since I got here. The river flooded over and shut down the bridge while we were teaching a lesson. It was a long lesson. and when we came out the apartment building had a moat. I have pictures, I am sending an SD card to Miss Bell today, hopefully it will get there soon.

Conference was AWESOME. especially in English, thank goodness. I could have used some cinnamon rolls, and it sounds like you guys had an awesome time, which is good! Due to the time change, we watched conference at 12-2 and 4-6 and then priesthood was 8-10. A crazy change for sure, but a good one. It sounds like chandler is loving the drums! does he have a practice set at home, and if so, has it driven mom insane yet? Found the Question mark! Good luck Noah in Ballroom dance, that's a sure fire way to get all the ladies!

HAHAHAHAH I cannot believe Carlie is working at Dr. Grants! Oh that is good! Has she gone insane yet? I bet she is not liking it at all. Carter is going to study abroad in China? Sweet! Sounds way cool, nothing like complete immersion in something you have no idea about to make you feel alive. I miss the good old days of DTV, sounds like Hayden is rocking the scene there. thats good, how is the old job for Hayden? Are the Allen's still alive?

I will let you know more as it comes, the mission field is a million times better than the MTC!!

Peace be the Journey,

E. Holm

September 24th, 2010

ALRIGHTY.

So sorry about the confusion, nah I'm not in Canada yet, still in MTC, it's THIS monday I'm heading out... Monday the 27th. I don't have much time so this one will be a quick one.

Elder Mendoza and I were selected to teach the new missionaries on Monday how to begin teaching/teach the first lesson. Do Carlie and Carter remember the scenarios they cycle you through the first day? yeah, we were the missionaries--they miked us up and we acted out a contact in front of about 50-60 new missionaries. The "investigator" almost didn't let us in the door. But we got in and rocked it. It was a nice little ulcer, you know.

French is going well, I'm glad I'm going to Quecbec, where French is AWESOME. Instead of saying "Vous frappez le ballons avec le pied" (you kick the ball) in Quebecois you say "Vous kickez le ball" NICE. They use a lot of english phrases/verbs. It's just a cooler sounding French is all. That's for sure.

This last week has gone by fast, did George Snell tell you I saw him?? He conducted my health awareness meeting! Crazy! It was good to see him. If you need/want to send anything out to me, it's gonna have to go to Canada...dear elders aren't any good anymore, so just email me instead!

Thanks mom for the long letter/updates, it's excellent to hear about everyone, but unfortunately I don't have anytime to reply--I'll respond as soon as I get out to the field and have more time.

This week has been super boring! Time to go!! I'll call around 12-2 p.m. on monday! (Earlier for Miss Bell of course)

Je t'aime!

E. Holm

September 17, 2010

FLIGHT PLANS FLIGHT PLANS FLIGHT PLANS.

Oh yeah, by the way, flight plans came in yesterday. I'm heading out monday morning. I have to be at the travel office at 4 a.m. and my flight takes off at 7. So I probably won't call you guys in the morning... I'll get to DETROIT around 1, and we have about an hour lay over, so I'll probably call you people between 1 and 2. Unless you guys want a call in the morning. And then I'm in CANADA. I'm lucky enough to be the travel leader...yay.....I get to be the sheep herder for 12 other missionaries, but at least elder McRoberts and Mendoza are in our group!

As for the forwarding these emails, I don't think you should forward any of them, just send everyone to my blog, Kyra has been putting my letters up there. She has the address, I think it's www.elderholm.blogspot.com I think...

Not much going on this week, as usual, just teaching everything in French. It's especially hard to teach the principle of Kingdoms of Glory in a whole other language, that's for sure. I can barely describe it in english. I hear that Chandler and Noah are doing the bicycling merit badge - Good Luck!! That was always a...fun...one...

So Carter and Carlie got a job, eh? I thought Carlie was going back to school?? Whatever happened to that? I'm sure she's loving Dr. Grants....heheheh.....And Carter sounds like he's having fun with being a TA for english class. I don't know what it is but lately it seems Carter is always associating himself with Chinese people... strange. Sounds like everything is calming down, which is very good, cause everything is speeding up here.

Oh yes! Thank you much for the package! It was a lovely surprise! Chips are delicious, and I tried the "cow tales" candy...eh...Elder Mendoza loved them!

I heard about the photographer being out of town, ah man, that's killer. The ANTICIPATION is Killing me! I hope I get to see my only sister's wedding before I head out to Montreal! Haha it's not that big of a deal, but I would indeed love to see those pictures. SOMEBODY HELP MOM send some pictures. Chandler and Noah I know you've got plenty of free time, and you know how to work a computer-Hook a brotha up! As my black missionary friend would say. He can say it like that because he's black.

Well I'm almost out of time, it was great to hear from those who sent me letters! If anyone wants to send me anything before I head out, now is the time!

Good luck with life out there!

Peace be the journey,

Elder Holm

September 10, 2010

Salut!

So. Really boring week. Not much happening at all. Except the swine flu is spreading around really quickly. They've got at least 4 elders quarantined - including Elder Allen. I never thought getting the swine flu earlier on in life would help me prepare for a mission. Crazy. We got a whole new bunch of missionaries on Wednesday, one of the most exciting things in the world right now. Also, the hour of free time we have at the end of the day, every able bodied elder is training for the "Falconbury challenge". The challenge is this - whoever can do a pull up with Elder Falconbury on their backs, wins. Falconbury is this really skinny elder from Alabama, weighs 126. Elder Bagnall has gotten the closest.

This week in the TRC was the second week of teaching fully in French. We're really picking it up, except when talking about prophets; I struggled a little with that principle. I ended up telling our "investigator" that E. Mendoza and I were prophets. She looked confused for a second...and asked "Vous AVEZ prophets?" I thought I knew what I was talking about, so I corrected her "No no, Nous SOMMES prophets!" The E. Mendoza looked at me and said in english "Elder Holm we aren't prophets." Embarrassing.

So yeah, it's good to finally get a camera! And I'm dyin to see some pictures of the wedding! How was everyone's labor day weekend? Ours here was the exact same... kind of boring, but good for us.

What else is there to say? Ah.... 16 days left until we hit the field. It's good to hear that Chandler and Noah are getting back into swimming/whatever Noah ends up doing. Carter sounds like he's doing good, and Hayden sounds just peachy, living the dream and whatnot. It's too bad to hear about Kelsey, that's really unfortunate. Yet we all have our purpose here in life, and whatever happens to us, we must know that God is in it. ---I think that's a movie quote from somewhere.... I'll be sending some pictures soon! That sounds hilarious that Kyra is having a family council with her roommates....that'll be fun to hear about! Ha ha. Okay well I don't have much else to say, except send pictures whenever you want; I never get tired of pictures!

Peace be the journey,

Elder Holm

September 3, 2010

Salut!

Well this week has just zoomed by, but not really-- it was great to hear from everyone and I'm glad to hear that the wedding was a success! Tell Noah I wish him luck with the friendless class--but a better teacher is always better than friends. I'm glad that Chandler survived his first week of Junior High! It's a very.....place. Ah well, just something everyone has to go through.

I cannot believe that Hayden gets to drive the car everywhere. That's insane, but I can't complain, I'd much rather be where I'm at. It's strange to think I haven't driven in over a month. ALSO. We are now in the same month that I will be in Canada. 24 days left. Not that I'm counting or anything. So yeah...

Not much to say in the MTC, again. I feel like I'm just repeating the same week over and over again. Except this week in the TRC E. Mendoza and I taught the first lesson entirely in french. My brain exploded. We spoke for 40 minutes, without a lick of english, and surprisingly, the volunteers understood us...for the most part. I've been frustrated by the lingual walls I keep running into, but we just learned subjonctif, which just opened a huge door for me. I'll be speaking fluently in no time.

Thanks so much for the Package!! I never get tired of said packages. How did you know I needed pajamas? Those are going to come very much in handy when I head up to Canada! I've been DYING for doritos, thank you kindly for those as well, and the Emergen-c is going to be used very much. I've still got a sore cough and my sinuses are to the fullest, but what can you do?

Something that bothers Elder Holm.

District planning.

District planning has been very much a trial of patience for me, coming from a family who's motto is "Just do it, don't ask questions, don't be dumb." I have to keep reminding myself that these other elders are from very different places, and experienced very diffferent parenting techniques....sigh. I'm most grateful for the way Mom and Dad have instilled almost hostile obedience in us all, because it's paying off. I sat there in silence for an hour and a half while a certain elder voiced his opinion about how he didn't understand the benefit of being five minutes early to class. "I'm just going to sit here and waste five minutes, why?" was his statement. I wanted to put a hole in the wall with my head. He literally said he could not physically make it to class 5 minutes early. Sigh. And I know as everyone is reading this Carlie and Carter and Mom and Dad are just laughing, shaking their head and saying "oh, you don't even know." So we scratched off the "5 minutes early" goal. And then we planned a bunch of goals that I know no one will follow through with and ended with a song. C'est la vie.

The zone is being swept with the OJ challenge. The best record is 13 glasses of OJ in the morning--and held throughout the day. After you drink, you cannot use the restroom until the next meal. I hope this isn't too vulgar, if it is don't read the next sentence. But the victor and holder of the best record sufffered a great deal for his title--and sounded very much like a civil war cannon that night in the restroom. Poor fella, still suffering side effects.

I would love to get some pictures of the wedding, but I'm in no rush. Things are getting super busy around here. As long as it's before I head out of the MTC. Also, we've sworn off all english in our district...until the airport...it's going to be interesting. Needless to say, nobody says much. Because we all sound like children. But my french writing is down pat. So one way or another, I'll be able to communicate.

I wish I had more to talk about, but alas, everything here stays the same.

Mon coeur restes avec ma famille

Elder Holm

August 27, 2010

Salut famille,

How was the wedding? I almost forgot the wedding was yesterday, it hit me about noon, I asked E. Mendoza what day it was, and he told me thursday, and I was like "huh, my sister's getting married today, crazy." Thanks for the package! I love getting stuff in the mail, and the chips were amazing. It's been so long...without doritos. If you guys ever find yourselves without anything to do, feel free to send me pictures. Pictures are absolutely MY FAVORITE. Send ALL the pictures you can. Thanks for the donuts, but I haven't eaten any yet, I've been really sick this week. Like, really sick.

There's been this flu like bug going around our district, which is just a frightening thing to watch, because you just sit there all day and literally watch the virus crawl towards you and into your system. You can't go anywhere, you just have to pray for the best. And, of course, knowing my week little immune system, it was only a matter of time. I've been sick since last Saturday, fever cough, congestion the works. I went to the doctor on tuesday and she took a blood test and told me that I have developed an allergy. My first thought was "wow, I am now Actually allergic to the MTC." Turns out the allergy medicine she gave me is kind of completely useless, so I am to head back soon. There is nothing worse than being ill in the MTC, or the field probably. I just don't have time for it.

So I have had a couple brushes with THE GUILT here or there in the past month, but since the devotional on tuesday, it's gotten worse. Why is that, you ask? Because Elder Holland spoke, which was amazing to hear him speak, but also very burdensome. I've got some good quotes for you.

"This is His church and His Gospel--You Signed on! If you want to serve for yourself go on ahead! But Don't do it in our name and leave your plaque at the door!" He was literally shouting and banging the pulpit.

"It was never easy for Christ, why should it be easy for you?"

And my favorite, when talking about the MTC rules.
"We know what we expect is a lot, but we're not sorry---This isn't Burger King, we don't hold the Pickles!"

"Don't you DARE go home. It will RUIN your LIFE."

It was a wonderful talk, he compared missionary work to the medical field and such, he's a whole new speaker when talking to missionaries.

We got a couple new elders in our zone, one by the name of Elder Falconbury. Everyone calls him Captain falcon, he's a hilarious person. During a volleyball game he actually shouted FALCON PUNCH when punching the ball, in the correct stance and everything.

I have grown to see a new insight to Carter and Joey's opinion about Sister Missionaries. We have a few in our district, and it is truly a test of my character to be patient with them. It's come to the point where they won't sit at the table until every elder is standing for them, and they will sit at the table and wait for someone to take their trays for them. Ridiculous.

E. Erickson is the reason why I'm here, he told me to say that. He keeps trying to read Jesus the Christ in class, but always falls asleep. The sisters get mad and ask him why he doesn't try harder to learn the language sometimes, he says "look, we're all gonna get out there, have an awful six months, and then we'll know how to speak." and he puts his head back down and sleeps. He's hilarious.

We teach TRC's on Wednesday, in the afternoon. and this week we were supposed to teach the volunteer how to pray in french and the plan of salvation in english, but our volunteer was confused--and he just jumped into the word of wisdom and the plan of salvation, all in french. It was an awful experience, but we made it through....Mendoza and I sounded like mentally challenged children.

"The word of Wisdom is good for your body. Amen."
"I know what my companion has said is true. Amen."

That's basically how that went down. Hopefully we'll get better at it. Well I'm out of time, But send me some pictures of the wedding ASAP. And any other pictures too, I need a good portrait of Chandler and Noah and Carter and Carlie and Hayden to show everyone. Oh, and of Kyra.

P.S. Who edited that family shot??? OVER EXPOSURE.

Paix du journai-
Elder Holm

August 20, 2010

Bonjour ma Famille!

This is P day #4, and let me tell you, it's high time I head to Montreal. The MTC is getting smaller everyday, but I need to stay here as long as possible to learn as much as possible. Next week we are teaching the 1st lesson entirely en francais! We had a 15 minute contact, and luckily we spoke french the entire time; not once was there an awkward pause. So it's coming along. Elder Mendoza and I had a volunteer investigator roleplay with us as we taught the plan of salvation (in english), and it was terrifying. We walk into the room to find that there is an extra man in the room with our original contact. The new guy is a tall, black Haitian man, with a thick accent and a detestation for missionaries. Catholic, gross. We walked in and he started off the conversation asking "So....these are the men from the new church, huh?"

"Nope, from the old church, actually."

He didn't seem to appreciate that comment very much. We spoke a lot about original sin, and the church as a community, and I was surprised at how well things were going. Elder Mendoza and I are a great team. I answer the questions he has while Mendoza looks up the scripture to back me up. Elder Mendoza has become a scriptorian--we call him scrip-Google in our class. It was excellent. As the Haitian began to speak about being baptized as a baby, Elder Mendoza instantly perked up, caught the phrase, and opened to Moroni 8. A bold scripture, and an excellent choice. He would then read the scripture, and explain how this pertains, then I would answer the Haitians questions that arose from the scripture. We still need work though. Elder Mendoza heard a phrase, and instantly picked up his notepad and tried to draw a diagram for the Haitian. I jumped in to help explain it. The Haitian just looked at us like we were idiots and said "none of this makes sense to me anymore, you are saying many different things." Tap out.
We dumped the notepad on the floor and dove into discussion again. The turning point for him was the scripture 2 Nephi, 25. He liked the idea of a joyous church. Win.

A couple of the teachers here served their mission in Montreal, and I asked them how far up north they are sending missionaries. One guy told me that they had to close down the northermost areas, due to lack of missionaries, but since there are about 20 of us just in this group heading up there, they'll probably open up the north. The highest area (in the world) is in my mission--to get there you take a 10 hour flight from montreal, straight north. There are a good number of eskimo colonies up there, all speaking english. I've been told by many missionaries returning from there that that's probably where our group is heading. Awesome.

I'm kind of embarrassed for you guys, if Kyra is killing you at mini-golf. Yikes. Better pick up the slack on the old putting course, eh?

I have a new favorite hymn--it's only in the french hymnbooks, it's used as a lullaby now. here's the english translation

Souviens-toi
(remember)

Do you remember, my child, thy divine parents?
You were in their arms. It wasn't long ago.
Today you are here, marvelously.
Look, you are shining again, like the heavens.
Speak to me, my child, of these blessed places.
Because for you, light is the veil.

Do you remember, my child, the woods, the cities?
Are we able to imagine it here?
And the sky, until the night, is it pink or gray?
The sun waits for the snow and the rain.
Tell me, my child, the color of the meadows, and the song of the birds-
of the Forgotten World.

Do you remember, my child, the dawn of time,
We were friends playing in the wind.
Then one day, in happiness, we chose to accept the Lord,
The great plan of Life.
That nightm, my child, we promised-by faith-to be reunited.


The words are phenomenal, and it sounds incredible in French.

Elder Erickson in my district has an interesting past. His mom was actually on the price is right not long ago--You guys probably don't remember her, but she lost the mustang, won a pool table, and fell on her hindside when she spun the wheel. We probably saw her before I came. Small world.

Thanks mom and Dad for the letters, and let me know how school goes. To Chandler--It's not that bad, Jr. High is just the same as elementary the first year. And Noah, good luck in the friendless class. Just a big group of fresh minds for molding to your will. That's how I like to look at it.

Almost halfway through my time here at the MTC. Thank goodness! all the food here tastes the same, no matter what I eat.

Je t'aime,
Elder Holm

PICTURES!

Here's the first batch of pictures from the MTC that Elder Holm sent home!

Elder Holm and his companion Elder Mendoza.

It wouldn't be Tanner if he didn't send home a couple artistic photography pictures :)

This would be the wall of the classroom - lined with Canada and French flags.

District boys

Possibly the sight of the old "Missionary Training Center" sign?

In front of the temple with Elder Chuang and Elder Chung I'm guessing

Laundry day!

August 13th Letter

Bonjour Ma Famille!

Sorry this one is going to be short, the computers went down and a lot of people lost half their time for some awful reason. Thanks for the candy and everything, it is much appreciated. This week has gone by really fast, yet every day seems like an eternity. Very much like a twilight zone episode. I'll be glad to get out of here, that's for sure.

The French is coming along well - we begin teaching the lessons in French week after next. So ready or not! My companion and I finally realized that we're not made for each other, but after these points of friction we have risen above it. The food is getting old really fast, but that was to be expected. This place gets smaller and smaller every day. I have started reading the Book of Mormon in French, and it's very difficult. Took me the better part of an hour to read the first chapter of first Nephi, but I got through it. It's the fastest way to the gift of tongues, I've been told. So I'm going to plow through it. I'm glad to hear that Kyra is spending a lot of time over at the house, sounds like she might just stick around. Yes.

Sleep is beginning to allude me again - just can't seem to turn my brain off at night, but I'm sure I'll get used to it. I believe you misunderstood me about the flute. I already know how to play it, I've been checking one out here and I've got a couple hymns down already. But it's alright; I don't necessarily need you to send me one. I'll keep using this one somehow. I didn't know there was a d-center in the temple, I'll be sure to hit that up.

There are two Taiwanese elders here, Elder Chuang and Elder Chung. Elder Chuang speaks 5 different languages, studying them in college, and is 25 years old. Elder Chung graduated from school with a bachelors in nutrition before he got out here, but only took a couple years of high school English. They are both trying to learn French, through English. Elder Chung couldn't handle it; he had to go home, which is completely understandable. That's like trying to learn Russian through Mandarin. Awful. He's a braver soul than I.


I've evolved from cranes to swapping nametags. On Sunday I was able to swap nametags of two elders without them even noticing! Pretty impressive stuff.

The work in France is exploding right now, baptisms are up 40%! Hopefully Montreal will catch up soon. Elder Bagnall, he's in my room with me, told me that he's probably going up north with me. He read a part of his patriarchal blessing that said he would "Preach on the very fringes of humanity" ALDBKJADLKFHANDLFKHNDLFKGNSLDKFAMLSRJLSKAGJ crazy insane stuff! So we're pumped. It's getting kind of chilly, walking from the shower to our room nowadays, which only makes me grimace when I think of Montreal. We had a missionary here that is from Montreal, show us the Quebecois accent. It is amazing. Couldn't understand a thing he said though. But since it's so close to America, they substitute a lot of English verbs, and say stuff like "Stop-ey! or Bust-ey!" Hopefully it won't be too bad. He says the people are not religious at all though. Soon to change. Hopefullly.

Devotionals have been good. Teaching is a breeze with elder Mendoza.

One minute left, gotta go.

Je t'aime.

Elder Holm

August 6th Letter

Quo de nouf fils! (qwa de nouf feece)

It means 'What up Son?!' That's the phrase floating around here nowadays. It's great to have the first week under my belt. Time begins to fly once you start doing the exact same thing...every day...every week... No, it's good. Thanks to Carter and Noah for the cranes, they were most inspiring. Speaking of cranes, I've evolved into slipping cranes into people's pockets as they WALK. I've gotten a total of 13 cranes planted, them all bearing the message LIGHT UP THE DARKNESS. I figured it was appropriate.

I have some good quotes from one of the devotionals here -- Elder Kendrick, emeritus of the seventy, said that "selective obedience is a mockery of the law of obedience. Selective obedience is to pretend to be obedient when it's convenient." It's true, and let me tell you folks, obedience pays off. I have been having the hardest time sleeping here, until we had that devotional, and our room decided to get to bed on time that night. By simply obeying the curfew I have slept through the entire night and continue to do so, but only when I am in bed on time. Romans 5:19 better describes our need for obedience.

In one of our meetings a man spoke to us about planning, and he looked, walked, even sounded EXACTLY like Bill Murray. Imagine Bill Murray talking about baptism and people answering his questions "Well THERE you GO! NOW we're TALKING!" It was outstanding.

Another great quote, "Fear can make mountains out of molehills, faith can make molehills out of mountains." Don't let our home become a new Wasatch front, keep the molehills small everyone.

I have a humorous story to tell you. We were practicing teaching and Elder Stanley and Elder Bagnell went in for a ten minute session but came out two minutes early. "We panicked and cut the lesson short before we went in... then we ended too early" they said, so they just sat there, in silence. Then elder Bagnell said "what do you think about families, elder Stanley?" and Elder Stanley said, "I like families very much," and the silence continued. The volunteer broke the silence by asking them if they wanted watermelon, then she pretended to cut watermelon and offered some to them and they sat on the couch and pretended to eat it. Now the phrase has caught on. Whenever you bomb a testimony or lesson, it's called "eating watermelon."

I have discovered that Elder Erickson, from my district, looks just like the hedgehog from Toy Story 3. Incredibly so. I'm sending some pictures soon. There is another elder here who is Finnish, learning french, and he has a rockin accent. He sounds just like the Pinky, from Pinky and the Brain, and he's super short, it's hilarious. It doesn't help that his companion is English. People love to be contacted by them, they are fun to just hear.

Contacting in french has been rough. I have note cards so I can ask questions, but if they don't give me the exact response I'm planning on -- well, they get my testimony anyways. I'm getting better though.

I talked to my branch president, and we discussed my musical talent. He, as well as myself, have found the impression that I need to improve my musical talent through the learning of instruments. So I was wondering if Brooke Watson still has her flute? Is she still using it? Could someone mail it to me, if she does? I've been checking out the flutes here, and have made some progress, but they changed the office schedule and now I won't be able to check them out anymore.

How is the wedding coming along? I hear everything is falling into place, which is good. I know everyone is super busy, but I really could use some short sleeve shirts, and maybe a collapsible hamper, if that's at all possible.

Mon francais est tres bien! Je pleasant, c'est mal. Je suis que le Dieu est en Dieu du paix, et Joseph Smith est un prophete, aussi Thomas S. Monson, prophete moderne.

I'm preparing a talk for Sunday, all in French! It's crazy how hard they push you.

Good luck with everything.

Je t'aime,
Elder Holm

First Letter

Bonjour Famille,

I didn't have an email to send this too and forgot everyone else's. So I decided to send this one out to multiple people just in case. Email me the fam address, so next time I don't waste 23 seconds. This counter in the top right corner is freakin me out.

The MTC has been great, but I feel like I've lived a lifetime within every day. So long. Our orientation meeting was 4 1/2 hours long, just sitting there, talking about getting everyone interviewed. They told us to begin preparing talks en francais, to give in sacrament meeting, and in a couple weeks from now, they'll basically pull a name out of a hat and that elder gets to speak. Ah. My companion is Elder Mendoza, he's from Houston, Texas, but was born in Mexico, so he has dual citizenship. He's one of the most humble people I know, with a fiery faith in his eyes. He says he doesn't know much about the scriptures, but don't let him fool you. He's heading to Canada, Montreal, as well, but his call was originally for a spanish speaking mission, which he already speaks fluently. So when he got here they tossed him into french class with us to learn another language. Cool eh? He's struggling with the accent a lot, cause the whole spanish/french thing. He speaks a lot like Pedro, from Napoleon Dynamite, almost exactly so, and looks like the evil blue alien in the new show coming out soon, the one played by Will Ferrell. He's a soccer beast, which makes gym time awkward, but we soon came to an unspoken agreement that he'd play soccer whilst I ran with elder McRoberts.

I thought that it would be hard to be with someone 24/7, but actually it's very similar to my entire childhood with Hayden. So I've been prepared. Speaking of Hayden, I keep finding all these origami cranes in my coat pocket and books, all I can say is PRISON BREAK. Chapeau Hay-Do, I look forward to pwning you with my origami soon.

So I was warned about the orange juice multiple times, and I thought I was clever in quietly avoiding it for the first day, whilst the other elders unwittingly gulped it down. I was determined not to touch the stuff. But the second day, when I got immunizations out of the way, they offered me a bottle of OJ. Thinking they finally outsourced something, I figured I was safe. I cracked it open, and took a couple gulps. Who knew two gulps was all it took? My stomach was a war torn battlefield for the rest of the night. Why would they serve something so harmful to so many of the Lord's workers?

It's only been about two full days here, and we've got our prayers down, along with our testimonies, and most of our speaking is done en francais. The food here is fantastic. My favorite part is eating all the soup and salad I want, and the other elders don't mind, because they have it on their trays too, somewhere in the mountains of food they carry around.

Sleeping has been super rough. I have gotten extremely familiar with the bottom of my elder's mattress, as he's on the top bunk. Still in scout camp mode, and doing comfortably well, with no intention of stopping anytime soon. The way I feel now, I could go the whole two years.
Speaking of Elder McRoberts, his companion is Elder Anniskette, from Alaska. He's a professional beat boxer, and would have gone to national championships for adults this year, but came on a mission instead. I know about every other elder in my zone, at least 12 of us are from davis high, all going to Toulouse, Paris or Montreal.

The MTC has such as strong spirit about it; I wish I could've felt this way all the time growing up. But such is not the case. Hopefully you guys can find some common ground, maybe a white flag here or there, so that Chandler and Noah, (And maybe even Peeper) can feel the strong righteous spirit of the Lord in his work before they come.

My district leader is Elder Heywood, and he looks exactly like Kirby Heyborne, as Elder Calhoun. No joke. I share a room with Elder Stanley and Elder Bagnall. Stanley is from Cottonwood Heights, SLC, and Bagnall is from Arizona. Bagnall does every sport and every sport perfectly, and Stanley is a lot like me in eighth grade, except he's a black belt. Crazy, you never see the black belts coming. I guess they like it that way.

There are some things I forgot that I could use. We're suppose to match as missionaries in dress, and I only brought long sleeved shirts and elder Mendoza only brought short sleeved, save two long sleeved. So I could use a couple short sleevers, until Mendoza can get some more long sleevers. As well as a laundry hamper, and one of those stainless steel water bottles. Everything else, I think I'm good with. Except candy, could use some of that.

I found a scripture I read now every time I get tired, Helaman 10:12 - and then I have no excuse to be tired anymore.

Good luck this week!
Peace be the journey,
Toujours l'amour,

Elder Holm

Oh, Canada!

After several excruciatingly long weeks, my call arrived in the mail. On a Thursday. Not funny Monson. You would have thought that, as soon as I received word that my call had come, I would have "flipped out" and left work as soon as possible to go home and open. To be honest I expected that very scenario to take place, I was surprised when my boss asked me if I was going to leave right away, and I replied "Nah, I'll work for a couple more hours."

In hindsight I can see that one of my greatest friends had the same reaction when he received his call, eight months ago. He seemed calm, nonchalant, and ultimately uninterested. Which puzzled me at the time, I just assumed he was trying to be cool under the pressure. But now I know why he acted in such a strange manner, it was the same reason I stayed at work longer than I needed, and then took my time returning home.

More often than not, too much of a good thing, is rather bad for you. Too much anticipation, I realized, can lead to revulsion or a blatant rejection of the anticipated. I thought myself to be embarrassingly excited, until I knew that the next two years were waiting for me on the counter. Then I had no hurry, there was no rush to see my future set. My life had just settled into a strange and awkward waiting stage, and I had just got comfortable there.

Now as everyone stood around, and I opened the rather large envelope, there was strange and distracting comments about the relation to the mission you've been called to, and the postage on the envelope--or sudden inspiration found within my family to speak out the scariest, most dangerous missions, claiming them to be my future home for two years.

The call was opened, and rather than read sentence by sentence (for I am not a man to be surprised) I skimmed the first paragraph until I read "Canada, Montreal Mission" Now a switch within was flipped that cannot be reversed. I found myself to be filled with instant and unanimous concurrence, it seemed so completely obvious that Canada is where I am meant to serve, that all my past experiences and testimony has been tailor made and fully customized to optimize the Lord's work in our neighboring country northward.

I exclaimed my destination, and skimmed through the rest of the page. I was happy. My brother seemed a little disappointed, asking "so...english speaking, huh?" I didn't care, I was too busy happily plowing through the exciting and interesting paperwork included in the envelope. After a moment, My older brother and my girlfriend pulled my call letter aside and took a closer look. Then, simultaneously, the both turned to me and cried out "Tanner, you're speaking French!"

I froze. Thinking it was some strange joke, I reread the first paragraph. I assumed that such an important piece of information would be in the first paragraph, and no where else. But assuredly, at the end of the second paragraph read the statement "You will prepare to teach the gospel in the French language."

I was most joyous. Having thought for a solid 3 minutes that I was not going to be learning a foreign language had not had the slightest effect on my positive excitement for my mission, to learn that I would have the opportunity to teach the gospel in another language was an overwhelming addition.

I leave on July, 28th. Now that it has truly sunk in, however, I find myself walking the fine line between unbridled eagerness and true, deep horror. I have never been on a mission before, as you can assume, and have no idea as to how it will play out. Am I frightened? Or Excited? To be honest, depends on the day. Let's just hope July 28th is an exciting day.

Tanner Eats Humble Pie

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts higher than your thoughts." --Book of Isaiah, Chapter 55, verses 8-9.

So God and I haven't exactly been on the same page lately. You know, the page where your immediate future is written out all nicely and outlined for simplicity and convenience. Yeah. I don't think I even have page in my book anymore. Not that I haven't been looking for it, I've been searching for mine own reassurance--trying to steady myself with my own hand, digging my heels in deeper and gritting my teeth against the winds of change. It wasn't until I searched the Lord's book that I found the page I was missing.

"...Yea, even that they did forget by what power they had been brought up thither; yea, they were lifted up unto exceeding rudeness."

"And on the fourth day, which we had been driven back, the tempest began to be exceedingly sore."

"And it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord; and after I had prayed the winds did cease, and the storm did cease, and there was a great calm." --1st Nephi, Chapter 18

Now albeit this is a jigsawed summary in its simplest form, it was exactly what I needed to read. Not necessarily have I been practicing exceeding rudeness, but I was forsaking my Lord enough that a change needed to be made. I guess the cold shoulder, or the silent treatment, is rude enough, when it is directed at Him--be it intentional or not.

And I believe that because of my lack of constant connection and preparation for a mission, a mighty tempest my life has been as of late, after a car accident took my brother and I by surprise and left us without transportation.

This event, taking no more than 30 seconds to occur, changed my whole path that I had scribbled in the margins of God's map for my life. In order for Carter to keep his job, we had to move out to my parents' apartment in Salt Lake City, and in turn I had to quit my job. It wouldn't have worked if I had stayed in bountiful anyways, I couldn't make it to work without a vehicle.

So, no more than two days after the accident, we were living in southern Salt Lake.

To say the least, this last month down here has been, how you say, character building. Commuting to school now took 2 hours, and making a trip up to Kaysville to visit my parents' house was now an all day event. I thought I was a patient man. I thought this could be handled with ease. I was wrong.

I'm not sure how God figured out my secret struggle with patience--maybe he glanced at my instant queue on Netflix, or the extra money I shelled out for priority shipping--But He saw fit to change such a weakness, to make such a fault a way of life, until I embodied it, until it made me strong. And strong it has made me.

"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."--Ether, Chapter 12, verse 27

This wasn't the only weakness that God is making strong. I have noticed a daily struggle to keep an air of humility about myself, a struggle to serve others, and to know how it is that I can best help those around me. And a lot of the assistance I can offer is just about sacrifice. Sacrifice time, by waiting an extra half hour for a ride- sacrifice money by quitting my job, etc... Now that I realize it, God will have me sacrifice until there is nothing left to sacrifice, until there is nothing left but the strength of my soul and the will of the Lord. And then there will be calm to this storm. But until then, I must continue to pray and realize that this is where I am, and this is where I am going to stay until I am ready to change.

"He ruleth high in the heavens, for it is his throne, and this earth is his footstool." --1st Nephi, Chapter 17, verse 39

Cranium, Acromion, Patellas, phalanges!

Now this semester at Weber I'm only taking a couple classes, but my main focus is Human Anatomy, a class that is said to be ranked among the hardest at Weber. And as a survivor of the first two tests, I now know why. Kyra (Super hot genius girlfriend) is taking the class with me, and the first day of class left us both desperately worried.

Dr. Brian Chung, a pro-snowboarder gone doctor, is our professor, but he wasn't the one to address us at the beginning of class our first day. A student called our attention, dissipating a fantastic conversation Kyra and I were having about the ethnicity of our professor, (Dr. Chung is Asian, born in raised in Canada...who taught at Yale and is now a professor at WSU in Utah....something to talk about...) when we were turned to look down at this nervous student.

He explained to us how truly difficult the class was, after having failed it 3 times, reducing his credit hours and working hours just to focus on Anatomy. He also informed us that half of our classmates were returning to take the class a second time. Needless to say, we were a tad intimidated.

Now as we go to lecture each week, I've noticed a strange growth in the flexors of my left arm and wrist, the same with Kyra's right arm. After careful consideration of the causes of such a disfiguration, we came to the diagnosis that Dr. Chung's rapid lecturing has left us with hastened writing skills, and thus, enlarged writing muscles. Seriously though, Dr. Chung lectures as if he is constantly trying to break the world record for teaching the entire human body in under two hours. And I wouldn't be surprised if he makes it one day. He breezes through powerpoint slides like Kyra does Otterpops. ;)

I've been particularly frustrated with this class on the sole basis that up until this very semester in college, I have never studied for any class ever. It was until this class that I had to finally buckle down, and form some decent study habits. Lucky guesses and previous factoids were not going to get me a passing grade in this class. Fortunately Kyra is a professional studier and showed me the ropes. It doesn't hurt to have someone to study with at all times...especially when it's time to study nerves and sensory fields....

I have to admit, for some reason I have been blessed with a particular understanding of human anatomy and all things medical. Things just stick. You're going to have to ask Kyra one of these days, because every time we study she notices and it just drives her up the wall. That's one of the main reasons I'm continuing to study medicine, (no, not because it drives Kyra mad) because i'm good at it. And I hope I can stay good at it when medical school comes around. Another reason I want to be a doctor would have to be the outstanding respect and knowledge all doctors hold. Just watch this, all from one class...

Antebrachial

Buccinator

Choroid plexus

Diaphysis

Epiphysis

Fovea

Gomphosis

Haversian canal

Ilium

Jejunum

Krause Bulb

Lucidum

Meissners Corpuscle

Nodes of Ranvier

Ovale foramen

Pectineal line

Quadratus femoris

Rectus Abdominis

Spinosum

Tactile Cells

Umbilicus

Viscera

White blood cell

Xiphoid process

Yeasts

Zygomaticus

All of these words came from only one half of a semester of beginning level anatomy, and that's not even the half of it. I do admit however that I did have to ask Kyra for some assistance. Which is perfectly fine--doctors bring in consultants all the time.

Hopefully the rest of the semester will be as successful as the first half!