FAMILY.
Well, this letter isn't going to be long, because we have to head off to montreal soon, for the Christmas party with the rest of the zone. But I have a great Christmas present for y'all. This Christmas I will not be calling home. It will not be happening. At all. Actually I will be giving one little call. But just to make sure that everything goes right.
I will be Skyping. Yes. Actually I will be using a system called OOVOO, google it. I'm going to call you at 8 o clock pm my time so 6 your time, to set it up with you and make sure it all works out fine. So to make sure we're all on the same page.
Sunday night, Christmas night. your time, 6 pm. Be there or be square.
As for the little truth-bomb that Carter dropped. hmm. WHAT?!?!? Jeez! Congrats! That's good to hear, it's about time! I would like to know more about her, she sounds like a keeper. Inform me.
So I have a lot of stories to tell you and I have no more time, but I will tell you all next week.
Well, have a good week everybody!
Peace be the journey,
Elder Holm
December 20, 2011
December 13, 2011
December 14th, 2011
Dear Family,
Hey hey hey, Things are going well here. We had a good week, a rough one but a good one. We had very many investigators at a christmas dinner. I tell you I have never worked so hard to get an investigator to an activity, than when we took the bus for 20 minutes and walked for 3 kliks to get to one investigators place, so we could ride the bus back with him and show him how to get to church. This is such a big culture shock for him, coming from Namibia. He was excited to tell us about when he takes showers in the morning. When he saw the turkey dinner, his eyes were huge! At our table we had two from Namibia, one from Mozambique, Angolla, and Germany. It was an interesting dinner. And then I tried to pour pepper on my meal and the lid came off. poured the entire bottle of pepper onto my plate. Man. It was not good.
Our Korean family is good, they didn't make it to church unfortunately. We'll have to talk to them a little more. It has been beautiful weather here! Still 4 degrees! No snow. Santa is real!
The work is going really well, we spent the entire last week on splits, it was crazy. Nothing helps the week pass by than having a different companion in a different area every day! We had a District Leader training seminar on Thursday, President Cannon drove down with the assistants and together we trained the district leaders. Elder Leavitt and I had to give a training on splits and Adjusting goals. Wasn't too bad. President also brought down packages, that was nice! I must admit, I already opened the package, it was wonderful! I loved the ricebag. The candy was delicious as well, thank you so much!!! I haven't dove in too deep into the package yet...
Well I have to get going, have a good week!
Peace,
Elder Holm (1)
Hey hey hey, Things are going well here. We had a good week, a rough one but a good one. We had very many investigators at a christmas dinner. I tell you I have never worked so hard to get an investigator to an activity, than when we took the bus for 20 minutes and walked for 3 kliks to get to one investigators place, so we could ride the bus back with him and show him how to get to church. This is such a big culture shock for him, coming from Namibia. He was excited to tell us about when he takes showers in the morning. When he saw the turkey dinner, his eyes were huge! At our table we had two from Namibia, one from Mozambique, Angolla, and Germany. It was an interesting dinner. And then I tried to pour pepper on my meal and the lid came off. poured the entire bottle of pepper onto my plate. Man. It was not good.
Our Korean family is good, they didn't make it to church unfortunately. We'll have to talk to them a little more. It has been beautiful weather here! Still 4 degrees! No snow. Santa is real!
The work is going really well, we spent the entire last week on splits, it was crazy. Nothing helps the week pass by than having a different companion in a different area every day! We had a District Leader training seminar on Thursday, President Cannon drove down with the assistants and together we trained the district leaders. Elder Leavitt and I had to give a training on splits and Adjusting goals. Wasn't too bad. President also brought down packages, that was nice! I must admit, I already opened the package, it was wonderful! I loved the ricebag. The candy was delicious as well, thank you so much!!! I haven't dove in too deep into the package yet...
Well I have to get going, have a good week!
Peace,
Elder Holm (1)
December 6, 2011
December 5th, 2011
Dear Family.
Well it seems like you've had a wilder week than I could have imagined! I'm sorry to hear about Grandpa, and the house, and the fence, and everything else that went down, sheesh! Happy birthday Chandler, those mocassins look super comfortable.
This week we found some new investigators, one particularly who has only been in canada for 3 weeks. He's from....Namibia? Somewhere in Africa, he's a refugee. We've been trying to help him find an apartment and a coat and some boots so he can be ready for winter. Speaking of winter it has been wonderful here! There's no snow on the ground, averaging around 40-50 degrees with light rain, what a blessing! this winter is going to be a short one, and I'm already enjoying it more that the last one.
We're having a big push for baptisms right now in our zone, and it's working. People are giving the last 10% to find those investigators and commit them. We're excited to see the zone double it's baptisms by the end of January.
Church is a hoot, I love Canadian people. So very polite! We've been taking the buses a lot this last week. It's kinda different, because you can't actually contact people directly, you have to casually bring it up in conversation... A little more difficult! but it's a fun new challenge. We've gotten lost a couple times, and usually end up running down through down town Ottawa to get home on time and such. It's fun.
Well that's about all for this week, have a good week, and enjoy December!
Peace be the journey,
Elder Holm (1)
Well it seems like you've had a wilder week than I could have imagined! I'm sorry to hear about Grandpa, and the house, and the fence, and everything else that went down, sheesh! Happy birthday Chandler, those mocassins look super comfortable.
This week we found some new investigators, one particularly who has only been in canada for 3 weeks. He's from....Namibia? Somewhere in Africa, he's a refugee. We've been trying to help him find an apartment and a coat and some boots so he can be ready for winter. Speaking of winter it has been wonderful here! There's no snow on the ground, averaging around 40-50 degrees with light rain, what a blessing! this winter is going to be a short one, and I'm already enjoying it more that the last one.
We're having a big push for baptisms right now in our zone, and it's working. People are giving the last 10% to find those investigators and commit them. We're excited to see the zone double it's baptisms by the end of January.
Church is a hoot, I love Canadian people. So very polite! We've been taking the buses a lot this last week. It's kinda different, because you can't actually contact people directly, you have to casually bring it up in conversation... A little more difficult! but it's a fun new challenge. We've gotten lost a couple times, and usually end up running down through down town Ottawa to get home on time and such. It's fun.
Well that's about all for this week, have a good week, and enjoy December!
Peace be the journey,
Elder Holm (1)
November 28, 2011
November 28th, 2011
FAMILIA.
This last week was great, we had an interesting time. We had Thanksgiving Dinner in a small french bakery in Montreal, while we were down for Zone Council. It was delicious, chicken noodle soup and a Chicken panini sandwich with a Kiwi snapple. YUM. I felt very cultural. We've only been in our new area for a couple days and it was....interesting. We are pretty bad a talking to people about the gospel in english, it's kind of funny. Good practice, it was. Luckily, the first lesson we had was with a part member family, and we were able to commit the boy who isn't baptized yet, he's 11 years old. It's a family from Korea. They are so awesome, we're excited to see them progress.
The ward here is awesome. I've never seen a ward in my mission that is so excited to magnify their callings. There is a definite difference between the 1st generation convert french wards, and the stable old english wards. HUGE DIFFERENCE. It's lovely here.
Well, there isn't much else here to write...things are great.
Have a great week! Life is good.
Peace,
Elder Holm (1)
Pictures,
Dinner with BunnyRabbit.
And I forgot the rest of the pictures already, sorry.
Chinese church I think.
This last week was great, we had an interesting time. We had Thanksgiving Dinner in a small french bakery in Montreal, while we were down for Zone Council. It was delicious, chicken noodle soup and a Chicken panini sandwich with a Kiwi snapple. YUM. I felt very cultural. We've only been in our new area for a couple days and it was....interesting. We are pretty bad a talking to people about the gospel in english, it's kind of funny. Good practice, it was. Luckily, the first lesson we had was with a part member family, and we were able to commit the boy who isn't baptized yet, he's 11 years old. It's a family from Korea. They are so awesome, we're excited to see them progress.
Have a great week! Life is good.
Peace,
Elder Holm (1)
Pictures,
Dinner with BunnyRabbit.
And I forgot the rest of the pictures already, sorry.
Chinese church I think.
November 21, 2011
November 21, 2011
FAMILY.
Once again Elder Holm is blasting off, flushing out of another area. Two transfers, two areas. I feel like a wandering Jew. President Cannon and I talked about this in transfers and when I brought up how many areas I've been in his eyes shot up and he said "WOW. you may have the record for the most areas by the end of your mission!" Rats. Ah well, onward and upward to DownTown Ottawa! Sadly we're leaving 3 baptisms behind, but the sisters that are taking our place in Gatineau will do a good job. I'm a little sad leaving a french area, going to english--but at the same time I am very much excited to preach the word of God, uninhibited by language barriers and miscommunications. Oh happy day! There is a great power in testifying in your first language. The missionary work will explode in Champlain, (downtown ottawa). We will literally be starting from nothing. Opening up the area as we call it.
Okay, spiritual experience time. So we started teaching this part-member family, the husband is a member and the wife isn't. They have a little boy, 1 and a half years old. They are haitian. We'll call her Daisy. When we first met with her the first thing she told us is "Look, I don't agree with baptisms for the dead, temple work, you say the sacrament prayer wrong at your church, and families can't really be together. I've already been baptized." Ooof. But we knew that she had been pushed by the missionaries in the past, so we prayed hard and really tried to follow the spirit. Her husband promised not to push her, he doesn't even say anything during the lesson, except when we ask him to testify.
3 weeks ago. We ask her to read the book of mormon, to put all her problems on the book of mormon and to pray to know if the book is true or not. She says she will.
2 1/2 weeks ago. We change our lesson plan 5 minutes before knocking on her door. She didn't read. We read with her, Alma 32. Re-commit.
Two weeks ago. A monumental change. As Elder Leavitt was teaching her about fasting and trying to ask her to fast, she mentioned something.
"Will you fast to know if the book of mormon is true? We will fast with you.."
Daisy-- "But I already know..."
Elder Leavitt didn't catch it, he just kept testifying about the fast. My ears had perked up when I heard her mumble it, and I interrupted Elder Leavitt and asked her. "Wait a second, you know? You already know what?"
And there it was. Her little testimony of the book of mormon had taken root. She discovered in reading that it couldn't have come from man, the book of the mormon was from God. And you know what? All her problems dissolved, because of the chain. She understands, if the BOOK IS TRUE, so is the rest. How beautiful. Daisy is already inviting friends to church and passing out our pamphlets. The sisters will take her from here.
Well it's been great in Gatineau, off to Ottawa. Have a great week everyone!
Peace be the journey,
Elder Holm (1)
P.S.
I'm going to try and write Carter and Chandler Next week. Thanks for the pictures!
Once again Elder Holm is blasting off, flushing out of another area. Two transfers, two areas. I feel like a wandering Jew. President Cannon and I talked about this in transfers and when I brought up how many areas I've been in his eyes shot up and he said "WOW. you may have the record for the most areas by the end of your mission!" Rats. Ah well, onward and upward to DownTown Ottawa! Sadly we're leaving 3 baptisms behind, but the sisters that are taking our place in Gatineau will do a good job. I'm a little sad leaving a french area, going to english--but at the same time I am very much excited to preach the word of God, uninhibited by language barriers and miscommunications. Oh happy day! There is a great power in testifying in your first language. The missionary work will explode in Champlain, (downtown ottawa). We will literally be starting from nothing. Opening up the area as we call it.
Okay, spiritual experience time. So we started teaching this part-member family, the husband is a member and the wife isn't. They have a little boy, 1 and a half years old. They are haitian. We'll call her Daisy. When we first met with her the first thing she told us is "Look, I don't agree with baptisms for the dead, temple work, you say the sacrament prayer wrong at your church, and families can't really be together. I've already been baptized." Ooof. But we knew that she had been pushed by the missionaries in the past, so we prayed hard and really tried to follow the spirit. Her husband promised not to push her, he doesn't even say anything during the lesson, except when we ask him to testify.
3 weeks ago. We ask her to read the book of mormon, to put all her problems on the book of mormon and to pray to know if the book is true or not. She says she will.
2 1/2 weeks ago. We change our lesson plan 5 minutes before knocking on her door. She didn't read. We read with her, Alma 32. Re-commit.
Two weeks ago. A monumental change. As Elder Leavitt was teaching her about fasting and trying to ask her to fast, she mentioned something.
"Will you fast to know if the book of mormon is true? We will fast with you.."
Daisy-- "But I already know..."
Elder Leavitt didn't catch it, he just kept testifying about the fast. My ears had perked up when I heard her mumble it, and I interrupted Elder Leavitt and asked her. "Wait a second, you know? You already know what?"
And there it was. Her little testimony of the book of mormon had taken root. She discovered in reading that it couldn't have come from man, the book of the mormon was from God. And you know what? All her problems dissolved, because of the chain. She understands, if the BOOK IS TRUE, so is the rest. How beautiful. Daisy is already inviting friends to church and passing out our pamphlets. The sisters will take her from here.
Well it's been great in Gatineau, off to Ottawa. Have a great week everyone!
Peace be the journey,
Elder Holm (1)
P.S.
I'm going to try and write Carter and Chandler Next week. Thanks for the pictures!
November 14, 2011
November 14, 2011
Family,
So things have been going well. Unfortunately one of our missionaries went home today... sad face. Due to mental health issues. It was rough, but it was good as well, for him. We are seeing more success than I've ever seen in my mission, here in Gatineau. Unfortunately We'll be moving areas next week to be closer to the stake president. Some sister missionaries will probably be put in Gatineau...I hope they keep up all the good work. We had very powerful lessons with all our investigators, all our investigators are committed to baptism and we are sure of 3 of them, that they will be baptized in December. More could change with this next week. It's strange when you are doing so well, it is a beautiful, and stressful thing. The ward has clicked. We're ready to launch!
Elder Leavitt and I are doing great, we had a little falling out the other day but were both men enough to rise above our pride for the sake of our zone. We're best buds now. I just lost patience with him the other day because I was sick, but now we're right as rain, except for the fact that Elder Leavitt got Dear John'd today...ooof...He was one of the few left with a girl waiting for him...yikes. I feel like the last of the Mohicans over here. By the way one of my District leaders is Elder Fitzgerald, he showed me a picture of his sister and Carter was in it! His sister is currently dating Carter's Roommate apparently. Small world.
It's starting to get dark, and all the missionaries are literally afraid of the coming winter. It's not going to be as bad as last winter I believe, but nobody is excited. Winter here is like a giant tunnel. It's long, dark, and cold, and there's only light at the end of it. We had a "Winter sky" the other day, where the whole sky is covered by one large, in indistinguished grey cloud. Time to dive in!
Well sadly I must get going, our team of three sisters here is having some major problems getting along. Elder Leavitt and I need to go help them work things out.
Peace be the journey,
Elder Holm (1)
P.S. Ate Rabbit last week, it was...interesting. That's the end. Okay bye.
And I'll be posting a Mormon.org profile soon, look it up! and make your own, it's good for the church!
So things have been going well. Unfortunately one of our missionaries went home today... sad face. Due to mental health issues. It was rough, but it was good as well, for him. We are seeing more success than I've ever seen in my mission, here in Gatineau. Unfortunately We'll be moving areas next week to be closer to the stake president. Some sister missionaries will probably be put in Gatineau...I hope they keep up all the good work. We had very powerful lessons with all our investigators, all our investigators are committed to baptism and we are sure of 3 of them, that they will be baptized in December. More could change with this next week. It's strange when you are doing so well, it is a beautiful, and stressful thing. The ward has clicked. We're ready to launch!
Elder Leavitt and I are doing great, we had a little falling out the other day but were both men enough to rise above our pride for the sake of our zone. We're best buds now. I just lost patience with him the other day because I was sick, but now we're right as rain, except for the fact that Elder Leavitt got Dear John'd today...ooof...He was one of the few left with a girl waiting for him...yikes. I feel like the last of the Mohicans over here. By the way one of my District leaders is Elder Fitzgerald, he showed me a picture of his sister and Carter was in it! His sister is currently dating Carter's Roommate apparently. Small world.
It's starting to get dark, and all the missionaries are literally afraid of the coming winter. It's not going to be as bad as last winter I believe, but nobody is excited. Winter here is like a giant tunnel. It's long, dark, and cold, and there's only light at the end of it. We had a "Winter sky" the other day, where the whole sky is covered by one large, in indistinguished grey cloud. Time to dive in!
Well sadly I must get going, our team of three sisters here is having some major problems getting along. Elder Leavitt and I need to go help them work things out.
Peace be the journey,
Elder Holm (1)
P.S. Ate Rabbit last week, it was...interesting. That's the end. Okay bye.
And I'll be posting a Mormon.org profile soon, look it up! and make your own, it's good for the church!
November 7, 2011
November 7, 2011
Family Holm Evening,
The zone activity was great, we went to the Museum of Nature--and we saw the skeleton of a blue whale! That was cool, it was HUGE. and of course there was some other interesting things, but I was mostly in it for the blue whale. Zone conference was the next day, very powerful, we talked about teaching to peoples' needs and how basically we don't need to follow any format in our lessons--just plan well and then let the spirit guide you. This is a very difficult technique to master, and it takes lots of practice. We've been speaking with the stake president here and he wants to get really involved in the missionary work. We're excited. Ottawa really wants a temple, but until their numbers and temple attendance goes up, they have to keep heading over to montreal.
Our area is doing really well, We are leading the rest of the zone and we had 6 investigators at church--it was great to see them all there. I believe that that's one of my favorite aspects of being of missionary is seeing investigators come to church. For people who haven't yet had the truth in their life it is a great opportunity to see them feel the spirit. I look at them being overwhelmed by the spirit and I wonder "Man, why haven't I ever felt a super blast of the spirit like that at church?" And then I remember that I've been blessed by feeling that ALL my life and I move on.
We've had a couple people just come up to ask us if they can be baptized. We're really excited for this area, we Finally got the ward warmed up to us and the idea of missionary work has wriggled it's way into their hearts. It'll be really hard to leave soon. One of my favorite families here is a young family from mexico who are expecting their first child soon. The brother is a mexican teddy bear who loves to help the missionaries and invited a family over to his house to meet with us. Now that is a member that cares. He only speaks spanish, so communication is rough, but our spanish is enough that we can talk to him. His wife is tri-lingual as well, that helps.
Well, that's all family, hope everyone has a great week!
Peace be the journey,
Elder Holm (1)
The zone activity was great, we went to the Museum of Nature--and we saw the skeleton of a blue whale! That was cool, it was HUGE. and of course there was some other interesting things, but I was mostly in it for the blue whale. Zone conference was the next day, very powerful, we talked about teaching to peoples' needs and how basically we don't need to follow any format in our lessons--just plan well and then let the spirit guide you. This is a very difficult technique to master, and it takes lots of practice. We've been speaking with the stake president here and he wants to get really involved in the missionary work. We're excited. Ottawa really wants a temple, but until their numbers and temple attendance goes up, they have to keep heading over to montreal.
Our area is doing really well, We are leading the rest of the zone and we had 6 investigators at church--it was great to see them all there. I believe that that's one of my favorite aspects of being of missionary is seeing investigators come to church. For people who haven't yet had the truth in their life it is a great opportunity to see them feel the spirit. I look at them being overwhelmed by the spirit and I wonder "Man, why haven't I ever felt a super blast of the spirit like that at church?" And then I remember that I've been blessed by feeling that ALL my life and I move on.
We've had a couple people just come up to ask us if they can be baptized. We're really excited for this area, we Finally got the ward warmed up to us and the idea of missionary work has wriggled it's way into their hearts. It'll be really hard to leave soon. One of my favorite families here is a young family from mexico who are expecting their first child soon. The brother is a mexican teddy bear who loves to help the missionaries and invited a family over to his house to meet with us. Now that is a member that cares. He only speaks spanish, so communication is rough, but our spanish is enough that we can talk to him. His wife is tri-lingual as well, that helps.
Well, that's all family, hope everyone has a great week!
Peace be the journey,
Elder Holm (1)
October 30, 2011
October 24th, 2011
Dear Family,
How are things on the home front? Things are going well here, We have been pushing really hard to be a good example for our zone. We maxed out at 7 member present lessons and 4 new investigators...I read Elder Hayden's letter about getting 20 new investigators in a week....sheesh. Getting people to church is the toughest part, I wish him luck. We had an investigator come to church for five minutes, because he said he would come, but he had some other appointments so he couldn't stay long. But luckily he brought his ENTIRE family, there is nothing more exciting than teaching a family. They will be coming to church next week. his name is Abel, he's committed for baptism next month. Every time I see him I think of the book Abel's Island...strange. Ahh, Africans, love 'em. I feel like I've got to serve all round the world during my mission, this last week we served in the Congo. In fact, I don't think we have 1 white investigator. Huh. Crazy. Our zone is struggling, there are some teams who are having some personal problems which are affecting the work, but we are still accomplishing our goals. We only missed one, our new investigators. Whew. This Friday we drive to Montreal to report to President Cannon our goals and actuals in Zone council in front of all the other zone leaders. And I hear President Cannon gets his wrath on when you don't meet all your goals...I'll let you know how that goes.
This last week we went on splits with the Assistants... Crazy stuff, got to be an assistant for the day. They are busy all the time. But it would totally be worth it to be Assistant just to live in their apartment! Seriously, best apartment in the mission, no joke. I got to be with Elder Jaquier, he's from france, he was actually in the Liahona the other month (just liahona, sorry) it was fun, we spoke french the whole time. He railed on my french, good learning experience. But hey, I've never served with a francophone companion, I've done pretty good despite that. Elder Jaquier is called to serve here in Chinese, so we had some lessons with chinese people....lost. that was a headache.
Thanks for the Package! I finally got the package, thank you, it was good. Mom, you've got this whole package thing DOWN. I haven't had much opportunity to listen to the music you sent, but I will on the way to Montreal this Friday! Anyways, I have to get going, keep it real down there, Winter is a comin!
Peace be the journey,
Elder Holm (1)
How are things on the home front? Things are going well here, We have been pushing really hard to be a good example for our zone. We maxed out at 7 member present lessons and 4 new investigators...I read Elder Hayden's letter about getting 20 new investigators in a week....sheesh. Getting people to church is the toughest part, I wish him luck. We had an investigator come to church for five minutes, because he said he would come, but he had some other appointments so he couldn't stay long. But luckily he brought his ENTIRE family, there is nothing more exciting than teaching a family. They will be coming to church next week. his name is Abel, he's committed for baptism next month. Every time I see him I think of the book Abel's Island...strange. Ahh, Africans, love 'em. I feel like I've got to serve all round the world during my mission, this last week we served in the Congo. In fact, I don't think we have 1 white investigator. Huh. Crazy. Our zone is struggling, there are some teams who are having some personal problems which are affecting the work, but we are still accomplishing our goals. We only missed one, our new investigators. Whew. This Friday we drive to Montreal to report to President Cannon our goals and actuals in Zone council in front of all the other zone leaders. And I hear President Cannon gets his wrath on when you don't meet all your goals...I'll let you know how that goes.
This last week we went on splits with the Assistants... Crazy stuff, got to be an assistant for the day. They are busy all the time. But it would totally be worth it to be Assistant just to live in their apartment! Seriously, best apartment in the mission, no joke. I got to be with Elder Jaquier, he's from france, he was actually in the Liahona the other month (just liahona, sorry) it was fun, we spoke french the whole time. He railed on my french, good learning experience. But hey, I've never served with a francophone companion, I've done pretty good despite that. Elder Jaquier is called to serve here in Chinese, so we had some lessons with chinese people....lost. that was a headache.
Thanks for the Package! I finally got the package, thank you, it was good. Mom, you've got this whole package thing DOWN. I haven't had much opportunity to listen to the music you sent, but I will on the way to Montreal this Friday! Anyways, I have to get going, keep it real down there, Winter is a comin!
Peace be the journey,
Elder Holm (1)
October 18, 2011
October 17, 2011
Family,
Things are going great here in Gatineau. We have been teaching more lessons per day than I've ever had in my mission. It's been great fun. I'm most excited about one of our investigators, whose name is Don de Dieu...which is translated to Gift from God. And he has 8 children. I haven't yet met him, Elder Leavitt has told me about him. Elder Leavitt is a blast, we get along great. He's from Alberta and he is super cool and very obedient. He's been a zone leader for a transfer, so this one is a good learning experience, we'll learn together. I've never been so busy in my life, but it is a great challenge.
As Gatineau missionaries, we cover all of Ottawa in french, so all french investigators in Ottawa are taught by us.
I literally cannot think of anything else to write. I've only been here in Gatineau for a couple days... Ah, we live in a basement apartment of some members, by far my most favorite apartment yet. Winter is coming, it snowed in Val d'Or today a little bit...so it's only a couple days away, the snow.
We've been working with the Stake President and trying to find the key to member present lessons. We'll be going on splits with the stake presidency to show him some of Ottawa's most progressing investigators, so hopefully we can find the key.
I really need a new suit, as soon as possible, could you put some money on my card? Thank you so much!
Peace be the journey,
Elder Holm
Things are going great here in Gatineau. We have been teaching more lessons per day than I've ever had in my mission. It's been great fun. I'm most excited about one of our investigators, whose name is Don de Dieu...which is translated to Gift from God. And he has 8 children. I haven't yet met him, Elder Leavitt has told me about him. Elder Leavitt is a blast, we get along great. He's from Alberta and he is super cool and very obedient. He's been a zone leader for a transfer, so this one is a good learning experience, we'll learn together. I've never been so busy in my life, but it is a great challenge.
As Gatineau missionaries, we cover all of Ottawa in french, so all french investigators in Ottawa are taught by us.
I literally cannot think of anything else to write. I've only been here in Gatineau for a couple days... Ah, we live in a basement apartment of some members, by far my most favorite apartment yet. Winter is coming, it snowed in Val d'Or today a little bit...so it's only a couple days away, the snow.
We've been working with the Stake President and trying to find the key to member present lessons. We'll be going on splits with the stake presidency to show him some of Ottawa's most progressing investigators, so hopefully we can find the key.
I really need a new suit, as soon as possible, could you put some money on my card? Thank you so much!
Peace be the journey,
Elder Holm
October 10, 2011
October 10, 2011
Dear Family,
Well I've got some good and bad news. But before that I got Elder Holm 2's email, and am just blown away by the immensity of the work down there! 20 referrals in 1 day? I haven't received 20 referrals during my entire mission! That's an incredible blessing, to be working in a place where the field is white, and ready to harvest.
Bad news, Elder Dalton and I are flushing out. It's transfers this week, sorry, forgot give you heads up. We are both leaving Ville Marie. In fact, we are both leaving Montreal. IN FACT we are both going to Ottawa. Elder Dalton will be going to Fallowfield as the District Leader, and I will be going to Gatineau, as the New Zone Leader for Ottawa Zone. Strangely enough, I will still be serving in French. I don't know why president has kept me in french for so long, it's usually quite rare. But ah well, I'm grateful!
Our leading investigator (lawyer from Ivory Coast) Bore his testimony to us about Joseph Smith, and he is preparing to be baptized...hopefully the elders who take over Ville Marie will take care of him.
Sorry Family, no big stories this week, we've got a lot of things to do to prepare for transfers and all that jazz. Hopefully better stories next week!
Peace be the Journey,
Elder Holm (1)
Well I've got some good and bad news. But before that I got Elder Holm 2's email, and am just blown away by the immensity of the work down there! 20 referrals in 1 day? I haven't received 20 referrals during my entire mission! That's an incredible blessing, to be working in a place where the field is white, and ready to harvest.
Peace be the Journey,
Elder Holm (1)
October 3, 2011
October 3, 2011
Dear Family,
I hope you all enjoyed Conference! It was one of the best, I believe. We had a lot of investigators come and watch, they loved it. My favorite was an investigator from the Ivory Coast, used to be a really rich lawyer, but since he moved here, his education doesn't count for anything. So he went from a big house with a car and a lawn, to an apartment where all 4 of his kids are sharing a room. But it's safer here, so he is happy. He golf-clapped at the end of Uchtdorf's first talk. And he kept nodding his head at powerful points in the talk, he got really into it. 
We had an interesting experience this week. I am going to type it right out of my journal entry to save time.
Thursday 9-29-2011
--Man what a day, We walked a long time today, through ghetto-ville...knocking in a really sketchy, super dee duper sketchy apartment building. We had some extra time before going to an appointment, and this apartment building caught my eye, so we went in. We knocked a couple doors, nothing. Then we knocked a door, and an african man let us in. I was very nervous about going in, but we went in anyways. As we sat on his couch and listened to the domestic violence that was taking place in the apartment next door, the african was washing some mugs so he can serve us some water. I looked around his apartment, it was bare. So bare, An empty bookshelf, a desk with a laptop, and a coffee table and couch. That was it. No paint, nothing. One light in the room. On the coffee table, there was a notepad with a pen on it. I began to read it, while waiting for the african who was still in the kitchen. The page was half full, and began like this.
"Je regrette rien de rien, Le passé est oublié et payé...."
I don't regret anything, the past is forgotten and paid...
He went on to describe something negative, something bad. And in all caps was a word, that I didn't recognize at first. The last sentence was in scribbled english. It ended as if we had interrupted him when we had knocked on the door.
I really struggled with this letter, I wanted to know what it meant. I understood the words, but I wasn't getting the concept. Then as the African came in, he handed us our water and quickly put away the notepad. Elder Dalton started making small talk, I sat there thinking. Then it hit me, and it did just as our African friend was telling us he was feeling a little depressed as of lately.
It was a suicide note.
We had interrupted his writing of his suicide note. I instantly started sharing our message of happiness and, panicking, testified of a loving Heavenly Father and the purpose we all share as his children on earth. Elder Dalton followed my lead and we promised this man that he is loved and that he has a purpose. The spirit was very powerful, very present. He wanted to know why God would let bad things happen, why life is so hard. We promised him he could be happy the rest of his days if he aligned his will with the Savior's. This african man told us that he was waiting for God, for something, before we had knocked. He said he's not sure, but he thinks we are wait he was waiting for. We told him we know it. We are seeing him again next week.
The atonement is real. The gospel really comes into play, becomes a rule of reality, once people reach that stage where it looks like there is no escape. I am very grateful to have been there, because no one knows what could have happened if we weren't there at that very moment. And through faith in Jesus Christ, we can all be pulled from the deepest depths. The 3 affects of faith, as found in the bible dictionary, give great insight to this as well.
2nd Corinthians 4:8,9,6
Peace be the Journey,
Elder Holm (1)
P.S.
Thanks for the pictures pops, I love pictures! You're looking thin as well pops, keep up the good work! Mom, I'm excited for the package, and I bought a new, european satchel bag. Yup. A fashionable piece of work. I split the cost between the cash I had and my personal debit card, just so I can have a reserve of cash on me. More of the cost went to the card. I'll try and send some pictures soon.
We had an interesting experience this week. I am going to type it right out of my journal entry to save time.
Thursday 9-29-2011
--Man what a day, We walked a long time today, through ghetto-ville...knocking in a really sketchy, super dee duper sketchy apartment building. We had some extra time before going to an appointment, and this apartment building caught my eye, so we went in. We knocked a couple doors, nothing. Then we knocked a door, and an african man let us in. I was very nervous about going in, but we went in anyways. As we sat on his couch and listened to the domestic violence that was taking place in the apartment next door, the african was washing some mugs so he can serve us some water. I looked around his apartment, it was bare. So bare, An empty bookshelf, a desk with a laptop, and a coffee table and couch. That was it. No paint, nothing. One light in the room. On the coffee table, there was a notepad with a pen on it. I began to read it, while waiting for the african who was still in the kitchen. The page was half full, and began like this.
"Je regrette rien de rien, Le passé est oublié et payé...."
I don't regret anything, the past is forgotten and paid...
He went on to describe something negative, something bad. And in all caps was a word, that I didn't recognize at first. The last sentence was in scribbled english. It ended as if we had interrupted him when we had knocked on the door.
I really struggled with this letter, I wanted to know what it meant. I understood the words, but I wasn't getting the concept. Then as the African came in, he handed us our water and quickly put away the notepad. Elder Dalton started making small talk, I sat there thinking. Then it hit me, and it did just as our African friend was telling us he was feeling a little depressed as of lately.
It was a suicide note.
We had interrupted his writing of his suicide note. I instantly started sharing our message of happiness and, panicking, testified of a loving Heavenly Father and the purpose we all share as his children on earth. Elder Dalton followed my lead and we promised this man that he is loved and that he has a purpose. The spirit was very powerful, very present. He wanted to know why God would let bad things happen, why life is so hard. We promised him he could be happy the rest of his days if he aligned his will with the Savior's. This african man told us that he was waiting for God, for something, before we had knocked. He said he's not sure, but he thinks we are wait he was waiting for. We told him we know it. We are seeing him again next week.
The atonement is real. The gospel really comes into play, becomes a rule of reality, once people reach that stage where it looks like there is no escape. I am very grateful to have been there, because no one knows what could have happened if we weren't there at that very moment. And through faith in Jesus Christ, we can all be pulled from the deepest depths. The 3 affects of faith, as found in the bible dictionary, give great insight to this as well.
2nd Corinthians 4:8,9,6
Peace be the Journey,
Elder Holm (1)
Thanks for the pictures pops, I love pictures! You're looking thin as well pops, keep up the good work! Mom, I'm excited for the package, and I bought a new, european satchel bag. Yup. A fashionable piece of work. I split the cost between the cash I had and my personal debit card, just so I can have a reserve of cash on me. More of the cost went to the card. I'll try and send some pictures soon.
September 26, 2011
September 26th, 2011
Family,
Fun fact about Montreal. You can't turn right on a red light. VERY illegal. Crazy eh? Just on the island, the rest of Quebec you're fine.
This week has been very fulfilling, but very stressful. One of our teams has been struggling, and it finally reached critical mass and we had to have an emergency transfer. Wednesday night I went on splits with the Zone leaders to try and find a reasonable solution to this problem, but the final result was an E.T. That night, by the time we had spoken to all parties and swapped teams around to make everyone happy, we arrived at the Zone Leaders' apartment at Midnight. Sigh...There is a couple of hours of sleep I'll never get back. Quite the all day extravaganza. STRESS. Ah well, this week is over.
Elder Dalton and I have been focusing on being more bold with our teaching, and it is paying off. More people are progressing and more are being found, it's great. Something big is going to happen here in this area soon, we've involved as many members as possible, everyone is getting excited.
There was one certain experience we had that rather frustrated me. We were on the metros, and I contacted a man that was super interested, asked questions and worked with me to better understand the Book of Mormon. In fact, during the contact we spoke of baptism and he showed interest and asked what he needed to do to qualify for baptism. It was a wonderfully spirit packed discussion, and as I showed him a scripture in the Book of Mormon, another man came up, and waved his hand to get my investigator's attention. Turns out this other man, (whom elder Dalton and I have dubbed STEVE) was a catholic missionary who was passing out rosemary chains to interested parties. He interrupted me and introduced himself by telling us how messed up the mormons are. He went on for a couple minutes, just spouting off blatant blasphemy, and then something that confused me. He spoke of virgin Mary, and showed us all how to pray to her, using the beads--one of the most complicated systems I have ever seen. The Spirit was gone, obviously, and Elder Dalton and I were trying our hardest to not argue, to give this man the same kind of respect that we in fact deserved. It amazes me what power lies in Moroni's promise, and how great it is to say with full confidence, "Ask God, and He will tell you if it's true." No other religion I have encountered trust their religion, or even trust God enough that they would share the same challenge. We offered this invitation to this Catholic Missionary, but unfortunately he only prays to Mary. Thus, he cannot ask God if our message is true. Hmmmm.... I don't get frustrated with people, but I get frustrated when people act under misguided faith in incorrect principles. I found that the bible dictionary section on FAITH is very informative. I recommend you read the effects of faith, and the change of perspective that leads to repentance.
Unfortunately the investigator guy walked away, not interested in learning anymore. We left them with a strong testimony, hopefully later he will find the truth again. As for the Heckling Catholic missionary, it saddens me that two young men must be better dressed, and more mature when sharing the message of LOVE and RESPECT and HAPPINESS. He must have missed that day in 6th grade. We pray for him, we pity his misunderstanding, respect his desire, and condone his method of sharing.
But in all reality, the work is going forth much too strong to be stopped by anything. We got more baptisms this month than ever as a mission here in Quebec. Things are progressing. The work is rolling forth.
Peace be the Journey,
Elder Holm (1)
Fun fact about Montreal. You can't turn right on a red light. VERY illegal. Crazy eh? Just on the island, the rest of Quebec you're fine.
This week has been very fulfilling, but very stressful. One of our teams has been struggling, and it finally reached critical mass and we had to have an emergency transfer. Wednesday night I went on splits with the Zone leaders to try and find a reasonable solution to this problem, but the final result was an E.T. That night, by the time we had spoken to all parties and swapped teams around to make everyone happy, we arrived at the Zone Leaders' apartment at Midnight. Sigh...There is a couple of hours of sleep I'll never get back. Quite the all day extravaganza. STRESS. Ah well, this week is over.
Elder Dalton and I have been focusing on being more bold with our teaching, and it is paying off. More people are progressing and more are being found, it's great. Something big is going to happen here in this area soon, we've involved as many members as possible, everyone is getting excited.
There was one certain experience we had that rather frustrated me. We were on the metros, and I contacted a man that was super interested, asked questions and worked with me to better understand the Book of Mormon. In fact, during the contact we spoke of baptism and he showed interest and asked what he needed to do to qualify for baptism. It was a wonderfully spirit packed discussion, and as I showed him a scripture in the Book of Mormon, another man came up, and waved his hand to get my investigator's attention. Turns out this other man, (whom elder Dalton and I have dubbed STEVE) was a catholic missionary who was passing out rosemary chains to interested parties. He interrupted me and introduced himself by telling us how messed up the mormons are. He went on for a couple minutes, just spouting off blatant blasphemy, and then something that confused me. He spoke of virgin Mary, and showed us all how to pray to her, using the beads--one of the most complicated systems I have ever seen. The Spirit was gone, obviously, and Elder Dalton and I were trying our hardest to not argue, to give this man the same kind of respect that we in fact deserved. It amazes me what power lies in Moroni's promise, and how great it is to say with full confidence, "Ask God, and He will tell you if it's true." No other religion I have encountered trust their religion, or even trust God enough that they would share the same challenge. We offered this invitation to this Catholic Missionary, but unfortunately he only prays to Mary. Thus, he cannot ask God if our message is true. Hmmmm.... I don't get frustrated with people, but I get frustrated when people act under misguided faith in incorrect principles. I found that the bible dictionary section on FAITH is very informative. I recommend you read the effects of faith, and the change of perspective that leads to repentance.
Unfortunately the investigator guy walked away, not interested in learning anymore. We left them with a strong testimony, hopefully later he will find the truth again. As for the Heckling Catholic missionary, it saddens me that two young men must be better dressed, and more mature when sharing the message of LOVE and RESPECT and HAPPINESS. He must have missed that day in 6th grade. We pray for him, we pity his misunderstanding, respect his desire, and condone his method of sharing.
But in all reality, the work is going forth much too strong to be stopped by anything. We got more baptisms this month than ever as a mission here in Quebec. Things are progressing. The work is rolling forth.
Peace be the Journey,
Elder Holm (1)
September 19, 2011
September 19th, 2011
Family,
Good week this week, really good. President Cannon has been stressing the importance of setting realistic goals and then achieving those goals in a steady consistent level. Our mission has been converted into a goal oriented mission--which is good, this means that we do effective work and people find the gospel. Unfortunately when I was transferred here, the goals for this district were already made, and 1 of my teams, the Hochelaga Elders, whitewashed in. Elder Gibson came from Val d'or, and he is training a new missionary. Needless to say, they haven't hit the high goals that were set for them by the previous team, because city missionary work is very different to Val d'or. Everything is different to that place. So that means that Elder Holm and Elder Dalton have been playing the "Work as hard as possible to cover for the other team" game. Because we as a district report our goals as a district. We are a team. all our lessons count towards the same goal. The joys of being district leader, you get to be responsible. Yay. We have worked really hard and for some reason everything has been coming together for us. Huzzah. Lots of lessons, I've never taught so many people in my life. It's excellent.
We were visiting a less active member and her inactive daughter, the other day. This member has been less active since her baptism, and her daughter is deaf, and only speaks french sign language. We don't know how the missionaries in the past taught her enough for her to understand and be baptized....sketchy... But We were over at their apartment talking when all of the sudden a knock comes at the door. the Mother says "Oh, those are my daughters friends at the door, they sign with her." She let them in and then...we knew. Two very nice Jehovah's Witnesses walk in. AWKWARD. We shook hands with them and they sat down. ...silence.... I asked them "so, you speak sign?" "Yeah! Do you?" Elder Dalton said, "All I know how to say is the phrase --did you go to church yesterday?" Outgunned by the J Dubs. We can't compete with them when it comes to communicating truth to this already confused less active member. Grr..... It was like Batman passing Joker in the Cereal aisle while of walmart. Awkward timing, that's for sure. We'll keep trying.
Well it's been a ball, back to the city for me!
Peace be the journey,
Elder Holm (1)
Good week this week, really good. President Cannon has been stressing the importance of setting realistic goals and then achieving those goals in a steady consistent level. Our mission has been converted into a goal oriented mission--which is good, this means that we do effective work and people find the gospel. Unfortunately when I was transferred here, the goals for this district were already made, and 1 of my teams, the Hochelaga Elders, whitewashed in. Elder Gibson came from Val d'or, and he is training a new missionary. Needless to say, they haven't hit the high goals that were set for them by the previous team, because city missionary work is very different to Val d'or. Everything is different to that place. So that means that Elder Holm and Elder Dalton have been playing the "Work as hard as possible to cover for the other team" game. Because we as a district report our goals as a district. We are a team. all our lessons count towards the same goal. The joys of being district leader, you get to be responsible. Yay. We have worked really hard and for some reason everything has been coming together for us. Huzzah. Lots of lessons, I've never taught so many people in my life. It's excellent.
We were visiting a less active member and her inactive daughter, the other day. This member has been less active since her baptism, and her daughter is deaf, and only speaks french sign language. We don't know how the missionaries in the past taught her enough for her to understand and be baptized....sketchy... But We were over at their apartment talking when all of the sudden a knock comes at the door. the Mother says "Oh, those are my daughters friends at the door, they sign with her." She let them in and then...we knew. Two very nice Jehovah's Witnesses walk in. AWKWARD. We shook hands with them and they sat down. ...silence.... I asked them "so, you speak sign?" "Yeah! Do you?" Elder Dalton said, "All I know how to say is the phrase --did you go to church yesterday?" Outgunned by the J Dubs. We can't compete with them when it comes to communicating truth to this already confused less active member. Grr..... It was like Batman passing Joker in the Cereal aisle while of walmart. Awkward timing, that's for sure. We'll keep trying.
Well it's been a ball, back to the city for me!
Peace be the journey,
Elder Holm (1)
September 12, 2011
September 12, 2011
Family,
This was a wonderful week. A long, difficult, wonderful week. I don't remember if I told you, but Yan Ricard, the man who got baptized when I was in Val d'Or, received the melchezidek (not spelled correctly) priesthood and is now 1st counsellor in elders quorum. What joy sharing the Gospel brings! We have been working really hard here in the Big city, it can be frustrating when you are responsible to share the gospel with millions of people--this mission is definitely lacking missionaries. We can now drive and because of our mobility we were able to meet with our amies and we will have a baptism next week, hopefully. We have been working hard with the members and all is well in our area. It's starting to cool down here, getting and staying darker earlier. I'm excited for fall. There was a jumper in the metro station the week before I got here, suicide by metro train. We've been told these will happen more often as winter comes. The missionary work here is terribly different than in the boonies. out in the outer parts of quebec, once you get a phone number to call or an investigator, you hang on to them for deal life. Here in Montreal, you call once, if nothing, you dump the number and move on. CRAZY.
Elder Dalton and I are getting along great, taking on the big city. We live in a little apartment next to a little park, it's in a quiet part of town, right next to a metro station.
The work comes forth, life is good.
Peace be the journey,
Elder Holm (1)
This was a wonderful week. A long, difficult, wonderful week. I don't remember if I told you, but Yan Ricard, the man who got baptized when I was in Val d'Or, received the melchezidek (not spelled correctly) priesthood and is now 1st counsellor in elders quorum. What joy sharing the Gospel brings! We have been working really hard here in the Big city, it can be frustrating when you are responsible to share the gospel with millions of people--this mission is definitely lacking missionaries. We can now drive and because of our mobility we were able to meet with our amies and we will have a baptism next week, hopefully. We have been working hard with the members and all is well in our area. It's starting to cool down here, getting and staying darker earlier. I'm excited for fall. There was a jumper in the metro station the week before I got here, suicide by metro train. We've been told these will happen more often as winter comes. The missionary work here is terribly different than in the boonies. out in the outer parts of quebec, once you get a phone number to call or an investigator, you hang on to them for deal life. Here in Montreal, you call once, if nothing, you dump the number and move on. CRAZY.
Elder Dalton and I are getting along great, taking on the big city. We live in a little apartment next to a little park, it's in a quiet part of town, right next to a metro station.
The work comes forth, life is good.
Peace be the journey,
Elder Holm (1)
September 6, 2011
September 5th, 2011
Hello Family.
Life in Montreal is fantastic. It's incredible to finally be working in the big city, I love it! Truly an amazing experience. I've had some interesting encounters on the metros, but none of the them have been negative yet, so we will keep going strong! There was this one time when I contacted this lady and she mumbled in broken french while signaling to her ears and such, and making another funny sign with her hand. I, assuming she was deaf, leaped at the occasion to practice my sign language contact and promptly signed to her "Jesus Christ." (That's all I know so far.) After about 5 seconds of awkward silence, She looked at her boyfriend and he turned to me and said, "She speaks spanish man." Ah. Okay, not deaf. gah... So I stuttered out a spanish contact and she gave me a look like "ah...that's a nice trick..." And as she started to respond the doors opened and she had to leave. Terrible. But you know it worked to my advantage, because after they left, everyone was looking at me, I just gave the next person a look that says "that was awkward, wasn't it?" and then contact them. It's a blast really.
We had a really rough week, when looking at lessons taught, but fortunately we had 8 investigators at church. I'm always nervous about inviting investigators to church on fast sundays because, sometimes I don't trust the members. But nothing too terrible went down, and the investigators really liked it. We had 2 african families there. Missionaries are here in this mission to teach the immigrants, I fully believe that. The native quebecois people have very hard hearts in comparison.
I am the district leader of the french district of Montreal. That means my district covers all the french speakers of Montreal City, Elder Dalton and I cover the West half of the island and another team of elders and a team of Sisters cover the East half. It's crazy crazy. There is a spanish District here and an english District and a Chinese district as well. It's just too much fun here on the Island, I love it, although those sister missionaries in my district stress me out of my mind sometimes. 
Well, I'm glad to hear that everyone had a good time in Zermatt and that Hayden is getting better! I bet you he'll be teaching the scenario for all the new incoming elders soon. That'll come. I wish him luck being P1, it's...a good thing, it is.
I hope everyone has a good week! And if Mom and dad could send me that driving report as soon as possible, that would be incredibly helpful. We have a lot of investigators we can't see, because neither elder Dalton or I can drive. Thank you so much! The Island is where the office is.
Peace be the Journey,
Elder Holm (1)
Life in Montreal is fantastic. It's incredible to finally be working in the big city, I love it! Truly an amazing experience. I've had some interesting encounters on the metros, but none of the them have been negative yet, so we will keep going strong! There was this one time when I contacted this lady and she mumbled in broken french while signaling to her ears and such, and making another funny sign with her hand. I, assuming she was deaf, leaped at the occasion to practice my sign language contact and promptly signed to her "Jesus Christ." (That's all I know so far.) After about 5 seconds of awkward silence, She looked at her boyfriend and he turned to me and said, "She speaks spanish man." Ah. Okay, not deaf. gah... So I stuttered out a spanish contact and she gave me a look like "ah...that's a nice trick..." And as she started to respond the doors opened and she had to leave. Terrible. But you know it worked to my advantage, because after they left, everyone was looking at me, I just gave the next person a look that says "that was awkward, wasn't it?" and then contact them. It's a blast really.
We had a really rough week, when looking at lessons taught, but fortunately we had 8 investigators at church. I'm always nervous about inviting investigators to church on fast sundays because, sometimes I don't trust the members. But nothing too terrible went down, and the investigators really liked it. We had 2 african families there. Missionaries are here in this mission to teach the immigrants, I fully believe that. The native quebecois people have very hard hearts in comparison.
I hope everyone has a good week! And if Mom and dad could send me that driving report as soon as possible, that would be incredibly helpful. We have a lot of investigators we can't see, because neither elder Dalton or I can drive. Thank you so much! The Island is where the office is.
Peace be the Journey,
Elder Holm (1)
August 30, 2011
August 29, 2011
Family,
MONTRÉAL CITY, Here I come! Transfers have come and I am heading off tomorrow to Ville Marie, the downtown french area of Montreal City! Apparantly we cover half the Island of Montreal, all french investigators are taught by Elder Dalton and I. We`ll be using the metros and buses a lot. METROS. AH. It will be interesting, to say the least. The area of Mascouche has now become the areas of Mascouche and Terrebonne, there was so much work and potential in the two wards that there will be another set of missionaries there!
I will be district leader again in Montreal, and I will be over 2 other teams, 3 of the missionaries in those teams will be new to the Island, 2 of them will be new to the mission entirely! It will be great to see how this goes, hopefully our district will pick up quickly!! Anyhow, That`s about all there is to talk about this week, nothing too outstanding, just preaching the gospel, teaching the Word, and knocking lots of doors!
Peace be the journey,
Elder Holm (1)
August 22, 2011
August 22, 2011
Family,
This is uncle Elder Holm checkin' in to say congrats on the BABY. Merci is alive and healthy, that's good to hear! It's interesting, she was born on Saturday, and let me tell you, I should have known that a strong and powerful GOOD was coming into this world because Elder Brown and I faced a terrible and awful BAD that day. Definitely one of the worst of my mission. I was looking for a good feeling or a little confirmation from the spirit when Merci was born, I didn't even think to consider all the opposition as a sign of a safe birth. But hey, we learn these things as we go.
We were going to have a baptism next week, but our committed, the lovely older lady we've been teaching, called us saturday to have an emergency meeting. We knew that that was not a good sign. Being rather disgruntled, I walked into our bathroom and knelt and prayed. I asked the Lord to bless me with peace if everything is alright, or is going to be alright.
We stopped to do some tracting right before our meeting with our committed. The first door we knocked on, an old man came out and truly and sincerely expressed to us just how Crazy Joseph smith was and how foolish we were for being here. Not a good sign, most contacts usually don't comment on Brother Smith like that.
We arrived to the lesson, I was still filled with beehives of anxiety and terribly disconcerted. We sat down for the lesson and the first thing she said was "I don't want to be baptized anymore. " We asked why, we had talked to her just two days ago, helping her set up a time where she could go do baptisms for the dead at the temple, for her mother. She was more than prepared. Her husband had shown her that morning some ANTI MORMON material on the internet. And...that was the end of that. It hurt really bad, and I testified with all boldness, hoping that somehow if I showed how strong my desire for her to know the truth was, that it would somehow change her choice. It almost did, the spirit was so strong she was almost moved to tears. I know she will be back for more one day, sadly I won't be there when it does happen. Oh, and by the way, apparrantly Thomas S. Monson drinks coffee...that was a new one. BLASPHEMY.
We left that lesson a little heavy hearted and commenced a 4 hour block of tracting, to be followed by another 3 hour block after dinner. Full of hate, beautifully flowing streams of curses and insults from the doors we knocked on. Just one of those days. Nobody let us in. I really should have known that Merci was being born.
Other than that, we had a great week, a fantastic one at that. Our district is going better than ever, teaching more lessons and finding more investigators proportionally than the elders of Montreal. There is some powerful momentum in our area, and opposition always precedes success.
Well, that's that, transfer calls are this Saturday. Terrebonne ward might get their own missionaries, so I might stay and open up that area (just keeping working in the half the area we have now.) Or I might move on somewhere else. OR I might stay. No idea. President Cannon is unpredictable. I like it better that way.
Well family, have a good week, say hi to Merci for me.
Peace be the journey,
Elder Holm (1)
This is uncle Elder Holm checkin' in to say congrats on the BABY. Merci is alive and healthy, that's good to hear! It's interesting, she was born on Saturday, and let me tell you, I should have known that a strong and powerful GOOD was coming into this world because Elder Brown and I faced a terrible and awful BAD that day. Definitely one of the worst of my mission. I was looking for a good feeling or a little confirmation from the spirit when Merci was born, I didn't even think to consider all the opposition as a sign of a safe birth. But hey, we learn these things as we go.
We stopped to do some tracting right before our meeting with our committed. The first door we knocked on, an old man came out and truly and sincerely expressed to us just how Crazy Joseph smith was and how foolish we were for being here. Not a good sign, most contacts usually don't comment on Brother Smith like that.
We arrived to the lesson, I was still filled with beehives of anxiety and terribly disconcerted. We sat down for the lesson and the first thing she said was "I don't want to be baptized anymore. " We asked why, we had talked to her just two days ago, helping her set up a time where she could go do baptisms for the dead at the temple, for her mother. She was more than prepared. Her husband had shown her that morning some ANTI MORMON material on the internet. And...that was the end of that. It hurt really bad, and I testified with all boldness, hoping that somehow if I showed how strong my desire for her to know the truth was, that it would somehow change her choice. It almost did, the spirit was so strong she was almost moved to tears. I know she will be back for more one day, sadly I won't be there when it does happen. Oh, and by the way, apparrantly Thomas S. Monson drinks coffee...that was a new one. BLASPHEMY.
We left that lesson a little heavy hearted and commenced a 4 hour block of tracting, to be followed by another 3 hour block after dinner. Full of hate, beautifully flowing streams of curses and insults from the doors we knocked on. Just one of those days. Nobody let us in. I really should have known that Merci was being born.
Other than that, we had a great week, a fantastic one at that. Our district is going better than ever, teaching more lessons and finding more investigators proportionally than the elders of Montreal. There is some powerful momentum in our area, and opposition always precedes success.
Well family, have a good week, say hi to Merci for me.
Peace be the journey,
Elder Holm (1)
August 19, 2011
August 15, 2011
Fambilical cord.
This week was a good one, we were able to find 6 new investigators--our entire goal for the month was 7. So yeah, a good week. One investigator might be getting baptized on Saturday...Maybe. She might want to change it to the 13th of September, which is the date that her mother Passed Away. Understandable, but we`re going to try to convince her that she could just do baptisms for the dead, for her mother, on that date if she got baptized this week....because bad things happen while you wait like that.
I went on splits with the Zone leaders, in Spanish Montreal downtown. Holy smokes, what a trip. It was my first time metro contacting. And let me tell you, it was a lot less scary than I thought it would be, only because I wasn`t thinking about it. The spirit usually sharpens the senses and brings you to a higher, enlightened state of mind--unless you need the opposite. As an answer to prayers the senses were dulled and I was allowed to not really think about the fact that when I get on the metros, everyone in the metro car is looking at me, and as I start talking to people, moving from person, to the person next to them, to the person next to them...it has potential to get awkward. Extremely awkward. I`m glad it was a positive experience. There are people from ALL OVER in Montreal, and if you don`t speak Spanish English French, you`re not really being as effective as you could be. Instantly you are blocked from helping a good chunk of the people you meet. I can`t tell you how many Italians and Spanish people I`ve stopped to talk to, only to be frustrated by a language barrier. Usually they want to talk to us. But can`t. Gah. Very frustrating. Sat through a couple spanish lessons with Elder Meza on Splits. Yeahup. But I sat well, like a missionary. A very good, very silent, very french speaking missionary. Gotta learn spanish. Pratiquamos espagnol, pero es difficil. Spelling is a beast when learning by ear.
I asked the mother of bishop Munoz how I could learn spanish--she said "Marry a Honduran" Sigh. Useless.
Anyhow, that`s about it, life is going well and unfortunately transfers are coming up. Sigh...it might be the end of my journey here in Mascouche. But transfers aren`t until September 1st.
Peace be the Journey,
Elder Tanner Holm
This week was a good one, we were able to find 6 new investigators--our entire goal for the month was 7. So yeah, a good week. One investigator might be getting baptized on Saturday...Maybe. She might want to change it to the 13th of September, which is the date that her mother Passed Away. Understandable, but we`re going to try to convince her that she could just do baptisms for the dead, for her mother, on that date if she got baptized this week....because bad things happen while you wait like that.
Anyhow, that`s about it, life is going well and unfortunately transfers are coming up. Sigh...it might be the end of my journey here in Mascouche. But transfers aren`t until September 1st.
Peace be the Journey,
Elder Tanner Holm
August 8, 2011
August 8th, 2011
Family,
This week was a great one. We had a successful baptism on Saturday, everything went as planned. We now of a new member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. His story is an interesting one, thus I will share it with you.
As a young kid, this brother was conscripted into the Columbian army (or resistance, I`m not sure what side he was on, and I don`t think he`s sure either.) All he knows, is that if he was to survive and protect his family, he had to fight. His father was a pastor back in Columbia, but unfortunately he found only doubt and confusion from his father. He`s searched for peace, for truth longer than I`ve been alive, and he`s visited more churches than I have years, looking for truth. His conversion to the Gospel of Christ was not an easy thing. His wife is a member who introduced him into the church and he has been deeply investigating for 3 years. In Elder`s quorum he bore his testimony.
"I am here. I`ve searched everywhere, all the churches. My father was a preacher back in my country, didn`t fit. I`ve known this church for 3 years and I`ve had over 20 missionaries at my house, and they have all tried to baptize me. I said no every time. Then I got here, (in mascouche) and the second I saw (the elders), it hit me. Before (elder Holm) said anything, before I said anything-I knew that I needed to be baptized. Thank you elders, you were the ones."
Now I must explain how we met. We wet at the ward Ball. Elder McRoberts and I had volunteered to help because we thought it would be a formal ball. Nah. There was lots of normal, american music and lots of lights flashing and very much like a high school dance. Elder McRoberts and I were taking pictures for the ward, and I snapped a picture of this man, then shook his hand. In the music, and with his accent, I thought that he was already a member, and that day he had told me "I want to be baptized now, I`m ready"
I misheard him and thought he said "I was baptized a while ago." So I said, "Oh, hey that`s cool!" and walked off. What a terribly funny situation.
Thank goodness for repentance and the fact that when we are living worthily, our very prescence can communicate the message to the people we need to touch in any situation. Missionaries have special callings, and people recognize this. I taught this man nothing, but in this situation I just needed to BE there, with Elder McRoberts. And that sufficed. God uses us in any way he can, and sometimes all he needs is our prescence. Remember, we sparkle.
Sorry I can`t write back to Chandler and Noah, I have no time. Someone tell Hayden to send his letter to me as well. And if you share this letter, please change the names and be careful with the information. Canadians have internet too.
Peace be the Journey,
Elder Holm
P.S.
The family of our newest member used to be the official cooks for the President of Honduras. We be eating good over here!
This week was a great one. We had a successful baptism on Saturday, everything went as planned. We now of a new member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. His story is an interesting one, thus I will share it with you.
"I am here. I`ve searched everywhere, all the churches. My father was a preacher back in my country, didn`t fit. I`ve known this church for 3 years and I`ve had over 20 missionaries at my house, and they have all tried to baptize me. I said no every time. Then I got here, (in mascouche) and the second I saw (the elders), it hit me. Before (elder Holm) said anything, before I said anything-I knew that I needed to be baptized. Thank you elders, you were the ones."
Now I must explain how we met. We wet at the ward Ball. Elder McRoberts and I had volunteered to help because we thought it would be a formal ball. Nah. There was lots of normal, american music and lots of lights flashing and very much like a high school dance. Elder McRoberts and I were taking pictures for the ward, and I snapped a picture of this man, then shook his hand. In the music, and with his accent, I thought that he was already a member, and that day he had told me "I want to be baptized now, I`m ready"
I misheard him and thought he said "I was baptized a while ago." So I said, "Oh, hey that`s cool!" and walked off. What a terribly funny situation.
Thank goodness for repentance and the fact that when we are living worthily, our very prescence can communicate the message to the people we need to touch in any situation. Missionaries have special callings, and people recognize this. I taught this man nothing, but in this situation I just needed to BE there, with Elder McRoberts. And that sufficed. God uses us in any way he can, and sometimes all he needs is our prescence. Remember, we sparkle.
Sorry I can`t write back to Chandler and Noah, I have no time. Someone tell Hayden to send his letter to me as well. And if you share this letter, please change the names and be careful with the information. Canadians have internet too.
Peace be the Journey,
Elder Holm
P.S.
The family of our newest member used to be the official cooks for the President of Honduras. We be eating good over here!
August 5, 2011
August 1st, 2011
Family.
This week just blew by. We mourned my year mark with some good hard work. Lots of tracting this last week, but that`s okay. It was a strange feeling, waking up July 28th. "Huh. Been doing this missionary thing, for like a year now." And then it was compounded by the fact that Hayden just barely started his mission. I was doing the EXACT same thing a year ago. Crazy. It`s also crazy, may I mention, that when I was in the MTC, Carlie and Joey got married. Now whilst Hayden is in the MTC, They will have their first child. Life in the fast lane, that`s for sure! I can only imagine what grand event will take place when Chandler heads off on his mission!
Going into the second year has a different feeling about it. If missionary work is like walking a tightrope...it feels as if someone took down and rolled up my safety net. There isn`t anymore time to learn or to make mistakes. The time to save souls is now. I just wish I knew what I was doing by now.
Baptism this Saturday, 5 o clock. Be there or be square. All spanish speaking members in Québec are invited apparantly. Brother Israel is coming into the fold!
Not much else is happening. Being District Leader is a trip. It`s finally cooling down here in Canada, I think the worst of summer has passed. Which is a relief.
Well, have a good week, hopefully there will be more to talk about next time.
Peace be the Journey,
Elder Québec
This week just blew by. We mourned my year mark with some good hard work. Lots of tracting this last week, but that`s okay. It was a strange feeling, waking up July 28th. "Huh. Been doing this missionary thing, for like a year now." And then it was compounded by the fact that Hayden just barely started his mission. I was doing the EXACT same thing a year ago. Crazy. It`s also crazy, may I mention, that when I was in the MTC, Carlie and Joey got married. Now whilst Hayden is in the MTC, They will have their first child. Life in the fast lane, that`s for sure! I can only imagine what grand event will take place when Chandler heads off on his mission!
Going into the second year has a different feeling about it. If missionary work is like walking a tightrope...it feels as if someone took down and rolled up my safety net. There isn`t anymore time to learn or to make mistakes. The time to save souls is now. I just wish I knew what I was doing by now.
Baptism this Saturday, 5 o clock. Be there or be square. All spanish speaking members in Québec are invited apparantly. Brother Israel is coming into the fold!
Not much else is happening. Being District Leader is a trip. It`s finally cooling down here in Canada, I think the worst of summer has passed. Which is a relief.
Well, have a good week, hopefully there will be more to talk about next time.
Peace be the Journey,
Elder Québec
July 27, 2011
July 25th, 2011
Tu viens plus à l'Èglise, Joseph.
I`ve decided to start heading all my letters home with quotes from church DVDs. Well folks, another week down in Mascouche town. Elder Brown is a great guy, we get along. I haven`t been with him long enough to find his personality yet, he is a super quiet guy. He is really struggling with understanding french, but he speaks pretty well. Comprehension comes after immersion, just like in the gospel. HA. Baptism joke. Man...
We have a lot of steady investigators who are progressing rather well. Things are just going swimmingly here in Mascouche, which is good, because it gives me time to figure out what in the world I`m doing as a District Leader.
This is the Big week for Elder Holm (2), as he heads off to the MTC. Man, I look back upon the MTC with almost fondness, but the field is so much better. There is a certain comfort and a super strong spirit within the MTC however, so Hayden should be excited for that. And also the fact that the teachers now speak to the missionaries entirely in their mission language the entire time. Good luck, HAY-DO.
Well, the wards are going well, I`ve been promoted in Soccer in the Elders` Quorum game each Saturday, to "Most usually well capable of handling the ball and passing." I`m still waiting for the prized "Can be trusted to make goals, or at least try" title. I know it`s a comin`.
I hit my one year mark this week, YUCKY. Not a fan. I tell ya, my paradigm shifts so fast as time flies, I be getting dizzy.
I have some pictures attached, enjoy.
the buff guy is elder Jensen, I`m a big fan of him.
Peace be the Journey,
I`ve decided to start heading all my letters home with quotes from church DVDs. Well folks, another week down in Mascouche town. Elder Brown is a great guy, we get along. I haven`t been with him long enough to find his personality yet, he is a super quiet guy. He is really struggling with understanding french, but he speaks pretty well. Comprehension comes after immersion, just like in the gospel. HA. Baptism joke. Man...
We have a lot of steady investigators who are progressing rather well. Things are just going swimmingly here in Mascouche, which is good, because it gives me time to figure out what in the world I`m doing as a District Leader.
This is the Big week for Elder Holm (2), as he heads off to the MTC. Man, I look back upon the MTC with almost fondness, but the field is so much better. There is a certain comfort and a super strong spirit within the MTC however, so Hayden should be excited for that. And also the fact that the teachers now speak to the missionaries entirely in their mission language the entire time. Good luck, HAY-DO.
Well, the wards are going well, I`ve been promoted in Soccer in the Elders` Quorum game each Saturday, to "Most usually well capable of handling the ball and passing." I`m still waiting for the prized "Can be trusted to make goals, or at least try" title. I know it`s a comin`.
I have some pictures attached, enjoy.
The tall red-head is elder brown
and then there is elder McRoberts and I doing the classic Wilford Woodruff pose.
Peace be the Journey,
Elder Quebec
July 19, 2011
July 19th, 2011
FAMBLY-LA.
Yes, it has come, the sad day that the Dream Team splits. Elder McRoberts is heading out to THE ISLAND. Off to Montreal, to McGill, english YSA. He`s very excited but very nervous as well, seeing as, whilst on the island, you must Metro contact...which sounds downright terrifying to me, but Elder McRoberts will do good. I`ll be staying in Mascouche, as the Mascouche District Leader. Our entire zone got whitewashed, save myself and one other elder in Laval. My new companion will be Elder Brown, this will be his first area in french, and the other elders of my district will be Elders Mendoza, and Pistorius. This is their first area in french as well. Elder Mendoza returned a couple months ago, from a broken leg incident, and has been in Spanish his whole mission. Elder Pistorius has been over in Ottawa zone, in English. This will be very interesting, that`s for sure. STRESS.
Birthday has been pretty good, spent the morning cleaning for Elder Brown`s coming and helping Elder McRoberts pack. Not sure what we`re going to do for the rest of the day.
This past week has been hot. Got over 100 degrees with humidity a couple times. We`ve been walking so we can properly ration our mileage limit. It`s ridiculous just how drenched with sweat you can actually get. I hope Elder Brown likes to walk!
Lots of service and plenty of lessons, we should be having more baptisms in two or three weeks, but life is full of surprises, so don`t take my word on that, that`s just me being hopeful.
Gotta go,
Peace,
Elder Holm
P.S.
photos--
Temple, me winning at chess in a ridiculous manner, cool puddles (not cool photo) baptism, photo of a tandem bike of a couple who are biking across canada for the summer. (CRAZY) And Space Door.
Yes, it has come, the sad day that the Dream Team splits. Elder McRoberts is heading out to THE ISLAND. Off to Montreal, to McGill, english YSA. He`s very excited but very nervous as well, seeing as, whilst on the island, you must Metro contact...which sounds downright terrifying to me, but Elder McRoberts will do good. I`ll be staying in Mascouche, as the Mascouche District Leader. Our entire zone got whitewashed, save myself and one other elder in Laval. My new companion will be Elder Brown, this will be his first area in french, and the other elders of my district will be Elders Mendoza, and Pistorius. This is their first area in french as well. Elder Mendoza returned a couple months ago, from a broken leg incident, and has been in Spanish his whole mission. Elder Pistorius has been over in Ottawa zone, in English. This will be very interesting, that`s for sure. STRESS.
This past week has been hot. Got over 100 degrees with humidity a couple times. We`ve been walking so we can properly ration our mileage limit. It`s ridiculous just how drenched with sweat you can actually get. I hope Elder Brown likes to walk!
Lots of service and plenty of lessons, we should be having more baptisms in two or three weeks, but life is full of surprises, so don`t take my word on that, that`s just me being hopeful.
Gotta go,
Peace,
Elder Holm
P.S.
photos--
Temple, me winning at chess in a ridiculous manner, cool puddles (not cool photo) baptism, photo of a tandem bike of a couple who are biking across canada for the summer. (CRAZY) And Space Door.
July 12, 2011
July 12, 2011
Dear Family,
Well! This week has been a good one, to say in the least. Good, as in, very busy. We helped the new bishop of the Terrebonne ward move, and let me tell you, he has some extremely heavy items! I think my back and shoulders are well enough destroyed from this whole moving everyone in the last two months deal. But everytime we`ve helped someone move, immense blessings have come forth.
On Saturday, one of our investigators was baptized by her father. She is 9 years old, and a very sharp, sensible girl. She`ll make a great addition to the ward of Mascouche. The baptism went perfectly, there was hot water in the font and we even had some investigators come to see what a baptism really is. Supremely successful. She`s truly a gem. Our two Haitian 10 year old twins came to church too, they are such a hoot. It was their birthday on Sunday and we brought them some ties for their birthday, because they never have ties to wear. They told us--we don`t want our ties yet, wait until we get baptized. SOUNDS GOOD TO ME. They have been prepared, now it`s just a matter of talking to their mother about her concerns. Hopefully all goes well. It`s always fun listening to Elder McRoberts trying to talk like them in order to connect to them "Hey Man, don`t forget to read your scriptures, man. You gonna do that, man?" It makes me laugh, there is very little slang left between us as missionaries.
We`ll be having a spanish baptism on the 30th. A part member family with an eternal investigator who is finally ready to have the lessons and wants to be baptized, we are really excited to work with them. I went on splits with Elder Meza the other day, and we had nothing but spanish appointments the whole time. Very humbling and frustrating, it was, I felt like I was at the beginning of my mission again. Luckily with french one can understand about 40-60% without any previous spanish, but speaking is nonexistent. Time for some good ol` prayer and El Libro de Mormon!
The Mission president raised the monthly goal of new investigators to 500 this month. That`s a lot, for 80 missionaries. We have been pushing really hard and I have discovered a really huge No-Brainer. When I tract for the purpose of finding someone to teach, with a real desire to find someone new, we Find people. I don`t know how Carlie and Carter felt about tracting, but I always found it was kind of like a default plan, something to do in between lessons, because you have to do something. But lately we`ve been planning our lessons around our tracting and major differences have taken place. God gives to you according to your desires. You have to want it.
I went to the temple today, it was strange going through the temple all in french. makes you pay a little more attention, that`s for sure. Anyhow, as I was searching for peace, I found a particular scripture I had found in my first transfer in the mission, but had forgotten about, that brought me great peace. 2nd Corinthians, chapter 4, verses 8-9, then 6. This has comforted me in many a way, and I advise Hayden to really take this scripture to heart, it will save him from unnecessary worry and grief in the field.
I also advise Hayden to start reading chapter 10 in PMG, I believe, the section called "how to begin teaching" This one I found would have helped me the most had I studied it before my mission, very good to know. And also, to be 100% obedient-no matter what anyone says. If you want success in any fashion of missionary work, or life, 100% obedience is key. There will be a lot of people who tell you as you prepare for your mission "Be obedient, but don`t be a zealot." Or something like this. This is just mediocrity. Ignore this blasphemy. Full obedience is only for the strong, for the best. Power in obedience. Something I`m really trying to strive for. Remember, by accepting your call, you promise to be 100% obedient. Keep the promise.
Well okay fambly, this letter has been super long. Hope everyone has a good summer, and I`ll talk to you all next tuesday, on my birthday!
![]()
Peace,
Elder Holm
Well! This week has been a good one, to say in the least. Good, as in, very busy. We helped the new bishop of the Terrebonne ward move, and let me tell you, he has some extremely heavy items! I think my back and shoulders are well enough destroyed from this whole moving everyone in the last two months deal. But everytime we`ve helped someone move, immense blessings have come forth.
On Saturday, one of our investigators was baptized by her father. She is 9 years old, and a very sharp, sensible girl. She`ll make a great addition to the ward of Mascouche. The baptism went perfectly, there was hot water in the font and we even had some investigators come to see what a baptism really is. Supremely successful. She`s truly a gem. Our two Haitian 10 year old twins came to church too, they are such a hoot. It was their birthday on Sunday and we brought them some ties for their birthday, because they never have ties to wear. They told us--we don`t want our ties yet, wait until we get baptized. SOUNDS GOOD TO ME. They have been prepared, now it`s just a matter of talking to their mother about her concerns. Hopefully all goes well. It`s always fun listening to Elder McRoberts trying to talk like them in order to connect to them "Hey Man, don`t forget to read your scriptures, man. You gonna do that, man?" It makes me laugh, there is very little slang left between us as missionaries.
We`ll be having a spanish baptism on the 30th. A part member family with an eternal investigator who is finally ready to have the lessons and wants to be baptized, we are really excited to work with them. I went on splits with Elder Meza the other day, and we had nothing but spanish appointments the whole time. Very humbling and frustrating, it was, I felt like I was at the beginning of my mission again. Luckily with french one can understand about 40-60% without any previous spanish, but speaking is nonexistent. Time for some good ol` prayer and El Libro de Mormon!
The Mission president raised the monthly goal of new investigators to 500 this month. That`s a lot, for 80 missionaries. We have been pushing really hard and I have discovered a really huge No-Brainer. When I tract for the purpose of finding someone to teach, with a real desire to find someone new, we Find people. I don`t know how Carlie and Carter felt about tracting, but I always found it was kind of like a default plan, something to do in between lessons, because you have to do something. But lately we`ve been planning our lessons around our tracting and major differences have taken place. God gives to you according to your desires. You have to want it.
I went to the temple today, it was strange going through the temple all in french. makes you pay a little more attention, that`s for sure. Anyhow, as I was searching for peace, I found a particular scripture I had found in my first transfer in the mission, but had forgotten about, that brought me great peace. 2nd Corinthians, chapter 4, verses 8-9, then 6. This has comforted me in many a way, and I advise Hayden to really take this scripture to heart, it will save him from unnecessary worry and grief in the field.
I also advise Hayden to start reading chapter 10 in PMG, I believe, the section called "how to begin teaching" This one I found would have helped me the most had I studied it before my mission, very good to know. And also, to be 100% obedient-no matter what anyone says. If you want success in any fashion of missionary work, or life, 100% obedience is key. There will be a lot of people who tell you as you prepare for your mission "Be obedient, but don`t be a zealot." Or something like this. This is just mediocrity. Ignore this blasphemy. Full obedience is only for the strong, for the best. Power in obedience. Something I`m really trying to strive for. Remember, by accepting your call, you promise to be 100% obedient. Keep the promise.
Well okay fambly, this letter has been super long. Hope everyone has a good summer, and I`ll talk to you all next tuesday, on my birthday!
Elder Holm
July 4, 2011
July 4th, 2011
Holm Family.
This week has been good. One of our golden investigators came back to church after going AWAL for a couple weeks, then we found out she actually belongs in the Laval ward, so we`ll be passing her off to the other elders. Canada is super hot, and humid, it`s like living in a crockpot. For serious. Elder McRoberts and I have been working hard and have had some good success, there will be for sure a baptism this saturday--no more postponements or anything like that. This last week contained CANADA day, which Quebec doesn`t really celebrate, and QUEBEC day, which we weren`t allowed to prosylete during. The days in between these two holidays are the national, moving days. We`ve been doing hours and hours of service moving everybody and their dog this last week. Oh, how I dislike lifting heavy things. But our service has been rewarded with lots of new investigators and member cooperation. This last sunday was the first Sunday with the two wards, we`ve been working hard to keep track of everyone and make sure that no one goes less active during this difficult change. All day at church was...interesting. Elder mcRoberts and I played an amazing game of tic-tac-toe, I`ll have to send you a picture sometime. At church on sunday we manned the doors to greet the members, and it just hit me as strange as I was sitting there--a long string of members walked by, we greeted them all, speaking 3 different languages with them. Some of them greet us in french, others want to practice their english, others are tired and find it easier to talk to us in spanish. It was a really cool gift of tongues moment as we fluently alternated from language to language without skipping a beat. Really cool. The Lord blesses you when it`s necessary for his work.
Mom and Hayden`s birthdays are coming up soon, let me know what you guys want from Canada, I`ll be sending home some stuff two weeks from now! Transfers calls are on the 16th, a saturday, and actual transfers will come on the 20th. So if you want to send stuff, as quick as you can! Because the Mail strike is over, HALLELUJAH. It`s about time. We saw a squadron of 4 large mail buses rolling out to deliver and we nearly jumped for joy, the other day.
Have a good week!
Elder Holm
This week has been good. One of our golden investigators came back to church after going AWAL for a couple weeks, then we found out she actually belongs in the Laval ward, so we`ll be passing her off to the other elders. Canada is super hot, and humid, it`s like living in a crockpot. For serious. Elder McRoberts and I have been working hard and have had some good success, there will be for sure a baptism this saturday--no more postponements or anything like that. This last week contained CANADA day, which Quebec doesn`t really celebrate, and QUEBEC day, which we weren`t allowed to prosylete during. The days in between these two holidays are the national, moving days. We`ve been doing hours and hours of service moving everybody and their dog this last week. Oh, how I dislike lifting heavy things. But our service has been rewarded with lots of new investigators and member cooperation. This last sunday was the first Sunday with the two wards, we`ve been working hard to keep track of everyone and make sure that no one goes less active during this difficult change. All day at church was...interesting. Elder mcRoberts and I played an amazing game of tic-tac-toe, I`ll have to send you a picture sometime. At church on sunday we manned the doors to greet the members, and it just hit me as strange as I was sitting there--a long string of members walked by, we greeted them all, speaking 3 different languages with them. Some of them greet us in french, others want to practice their english, others are tired and find it easier to talk to us in spanish. It was a really cool gift of tongues moment as we fluently alternated from language to language without skipping a beat. Really cool. The Lord blesses you when it`s necessary for his work.
Mom and Hayden`s birthdays are coming up soon, let me know what you guys want from Canada, I`ll be sending home some stuff two weeks from now! Transfers calls are on the 16th, a saturday, and actual transfers will come on the 20th. So if you want to send stuff, as quick as you can! Because the Mail strike is over, HALLELUJAH. It`s about time. We saw a squadron of 4 large mail buses rolling out to deliver and we nearly jumped for joy, the other day.
Have a good week!
Elder Holm
June 29, 2011
June 27th, 2011
Dear Family,
Well this week was just crazy. The ward finally split, it was probably not as big as a deal for everyone else as it was for Elder McRoberts and I. We were on the edge of our seats during the whole sacrament meeting. We now have the Terrebonne Ward and the Mascouche Ward. I`m terribly excited to go to church all...Sunday. Woo. All the spanish families will be in the Terrebonne ward, it will be interesting.
A missionary from the Mascouche ward came home this last week. He walked into one of our district meetings while he was waiting to be released by the stake president. Poor man, he just looked terribly bewildered and lost. On Sunday instead of hanging out with everyone at church, he just came and manned the doors with us. Everytime he sees us he looks like he wants to cry. He must have worked really hard on his mission in Tawain. And with my year mark coming soon, it just made the future that much darker.....
All our investigators are going well. Life is good! Enjoy summer! Here are some pictures of the Flood clean up! I can`t remember if I had sent these...
peace,
Elder Holm
Well this week was just crazy. The ward finally split, it was probably not as big as a deal for everyone else as it was for Elder McRoberts and I. We were on the edge of our seats during the whole sacrament meeting. We now have the Terrebonne Ward and the Mascouche Ward. I`m terribly excited to go to church all...Sunday. Woo. All the spanish families will be in the Terrebonne ward, it will be interesting.
All our investigators are going well. Life is good! Enjoy summer! Here are some pictures of the Flood clean up! I can`t remember if I had sent these...
peace,
Elder Holm
June 26, 2011
June 20th, 2011
Well, that`s all from my end, except that the mail strike has stopped all mail, in and out. So if you`re sending stuff, hold on to it until the end of the strike!
Elder Holm
June 14, 2011
June 13th, 2011
Family,
So this week was pretty rockin`. As usually nothing really happened during the week, except our wonderful investigator who was supposed to be baptized soon called us this last Tuesday and dropped us, without really giving us a reason as to why. OUCH. Now I know how all those girls I dated in high school felt..Haha...ah...okay. But it`s okay because all we had to do was call her fellowshipper and ask her to talk to our investigator to see what`s up, and report back. We knew what they were going to tell us however, because after a couple days of turmoil being ignorant to her problems, we fasted all day and discussed and prayed for her for an hour and a half during weekly planning, finally ending with a prayer and immediately after the prayer we each wrote a letter to her. Elder McRoberts and I shared later our letters with each other and discovered that they both covered the exact same concept. That she didn`t know that she could actually push back her baptism date and that she is just nervous and scared. Good old answers to prayers. So it was no surprise when we heard from her fellowshipper today that she still wants to be baptized but just wants to take a little bit of time with it, and not be dunked in 3 weeks total from her exposure to the church, because she was nervous and scared. Understandable. And take note, had we not spent all last transfer building strong ties with members, there would have been no net to catch this woman as she fell from investigation. Member work is the reason this investigator is going to be baptized soon. Very important.
We two Haitian twins on friday, both nine years old and just dying to get baptized. They are being transferred to our ward because the branch their family attends has no other youth. Their older Brother and sister are members, their parents aren`t...yet. The elder brother is...Hayden, but black. The last thing he said to me as we left was "Oh, he be BOSS" in his black slang talk...in english. He`s a hoot.
On Saturday we headed out to Venice! Venice, Quebec that is. Just on the north shore of Lac Champlain. 500 members gathered on Saturday to help with the flooding damage that occurred. We were stationed in a little trailer park in Venice, where it was still pretty flooded and very devastated. It was sad to see the people just living in ruins, but we did a lot of good and helped them out a lot. I`ll send some pictures. Before we left for Venice, all the volunteers gathered and we sang I am a Child of God, everyone singing in their native tongue. French Spanish and English were most prevalent, it was really cool. I wish I had recorded it. I`ll send some pictures soon.
Our ward here is splitting! It will be two soon, and the transfer just began. President Cannon has promised another set of missionaries here to help, but until next transfer we have to man two wards all by our lonesome. It`s going to be a very busy transfer. Exciting stuff! It may sound kind of boring to you, but a ward split really just rocks your world as a missionary, it`s crazy. President Cannon sounds very frustrated with the lack of missionaries coming in.
Well, that`s all I have to say about that. Oh, except one last thing. Canada Post is on strike.....no mail.....ah....Satan is a tricky son of a gun who won`t hold back any cheap shots. It`s going to be a long summer. Have a good week and Enjoy the sun!
Peace,
Elder Holm
So this week was pretty rockin`. As usually nothing really happened during the week, except our wonderful investigator who was supposed to be baptized soon called us this last Tuesday and dropped us, without really giving us a reason as to why. OUCH. Now I know how all those girls I dated in high school felt..Haha...ah...okay. But it`s okay because all we had to do was call her fellowshipper and ask her to talk to our investigator to see what`s up, and report back. We knew what they were going to tell us however, because after a couple days of turmoil being ignorant to her problems, we fasted all day and discussed and prayed for her for an hour and a half during weekly planning, finally ending with a prayer and immediately after the prayer we each wrote a letter to her. Elder McRoberts and I shared later our letters with each other and discovered that they both covered the exact same concept. That she didn`t know that she could actually push back her baptism date and that she is just nervous and scared. Good old answers to prayers. So it was no surprise when we heard from her fellowshipper today that she still wants to be baptized but just wants to take a little bit of time with it, and not be dunked in 3 weeks total from her exposure to the church, because she was nervous and scared. Understandable. And take note, had we not spent all last transfer building strong ties with members, there would have been no net to catch this woman as she fell from investigation. Member work is the reason this investigator is going to be baptized soon. Very important.
We two Haitian twins on friday, both nine years old and just dying to get baptized. They are being transferred to our ward because the branch their family attends has no other youth. Their older Brother and sister are members, their parents aren`t...yet. The elder brother is...Hayden, but black. The last thing he said to me as we left was "Oh, he be BOSS" in his black slang talk...in english. He`s a hoot.
On Saturday we headed out to Venice! Venice, Quebec that is. Just on the north shore of Lac Champlain. 500 members gathered on Saturday to help with the flooding damage that occurred. We were stationed in a little trailer park in Venice, where it was still pretty flooded and very devastated. It was sad to see the people just living in ruins, but we did a lot of good and helped them out a lot. I`ll send some pictures. Before we left for Venice, all the volunteers gathered and we sang I am a Child of God, everyone singing in their native tongue. French Spanish and English were most prevalent, it was really cool. I wish I had recorded it. I`ll send some pictures soon.
Our ward here is splitting! It will be two soon, and the transfer just began. President Cannon has promised another set of missionaries here to help, but until next transfer we have to man two wards all by our lonesome. It`s going to be a very busy transfer. Exciting stuff! It may sound kind of boring to you, but a ward split really just rocks your world as a missionary, it`s crazy. President Cannon sounds very frustrated with the lack of missionaries coming in.
Well, that`s all I have to say about that. Oh, except one last thing. Canada Post is on strike.....no mail.....ah....Satan is a tricky son of a gun who won`t hold back any cheap shots. It`s going to be a long summer. Have a good week and Enjoy the sun!
Peace,
Elder Holm
June 7, 2011
June 7th, 2011
FAMILY.
Well Elder McRoberts and I are really flippin out. All the members we`ve been encouraging and working hard with are catching the spirit, and the Gospel is flowing forth. My favorite memory took place Saturday night, we were standing in the chapel talking to our committed investigator, filling out a calendar of when we can visit her and teach her to prepare her for her baptism next saturday, when a member came up to us and interrupted our heavenly baptism conversation with the question "Hey elders, when can you come teach my daughter? She hasn`t been baptized yet and we really need to get on that." We of course have never experienced multiple people asking us to help them or their families to baptism, this was just fantastic. We have had no less than 4 investigators at church each week for the past 3 weeks and we are running out of time to meet with people in the week. What a lovely problem to have. Let`s just hope that the work continues and we continue to live up to the work!
We taught our investigator after the calendar set up, and we taught her about the Law of Chastity, The law of Tithing, and the Word of Wisdom. Her response was "Well I`ve never liked coffee or tea, smoking is gross, and I casually drink but that won`t be hard to give up. Tithing is an obvious blessing in waiting and I have a testimony of this. The law of Chastity is just commen sense."
Huh. Wow, well there goes that. Sometimes when people are super prepared by the Lord, missionaries feel useless. We have had very little to do with the conversion of this woman, but I don`t mind that in the least. She has been waiting too long for the Restored Gospel in her life, and on the 18th she'll enter into it.
We were asked to help with the Ward Ball after our lesson on Saturday. They had a DJ and everything, it was very well set up. (We had helped with the set up as well). As we walked in, we quickly utilized ourselves as the ward photographers, and some members walked up to us and handed us cameras. I received a Nikon D60, just like the one I lost to the pacific ocean...it was really nice to hold that camera again. We swarmed around the spanish families, and the Quebec families, and took lots of pictures. The two hours we were there they only played 1 french song and 1 spanish song-the rest were american hip hop songs. And 90 percent of the people there had no idea what the lyrics were, they don`t speak a lick of english. It made me realize what a headache pop culture music is nowadays and how much my taste of music has changed. Just us and Mindy Gledhill, that`s all we need.
It`s been a grand week, our fridge is full of the activity leftovers, and we have plenty of work to do.
Peace,
Elder Holm
Well Elder McRoberts and I are really flippin out. All the members we`ve been encouraging and working hard with are catching the spirit, and the Gospel is flowing forth. My favorite memory took place Saturday night, we were standing in the chapel talking to our committed investigator, filling out a calendar of when we can visit her and teach her to prepare her for her baptism next saturday, when a member came up to us and interrupted our heavenly baptism conversation with the question "Hey elders, when can you come teach my daughter? She hasn`t been baptized yet and we really need to get on that." We of course have never experienced multiple people asking us to help them or their families to baptism, this was just fantastic. We have had no less than 4 investigators at church each week for the past 3 weeks and we are running out of time to meet with people in the week. What a lovely problem to have. Let`s just hope that the work continues and we continue to live up to the work!
We taught our investigator after the calendar set up, and we taught her about the Law of Chastity, The law of Tithing, and the Word of Wisdom. Her response was "Well I`ve never liked coffee or tea, smoking is gross, and I casually drink but that won`t be hard to give up. Tithing is an obvious blessing in waiting and I have a testimony of this. The law of Chastity is just commen sense."
Huh. Wow, well there goes that. Sometimes when people are super prepared by the Lord, missionaries feel useless. We have had very little to do with the conversion of this woman, but I don`t mind that in the least. She has been waiting too long for the Restored Gospel in her life, and on the 18th she'll enter into it.
We were asked to help with the Ward Ball after our lesson on Saturday. They had a DJ and everything, it was very well set up. (We had helped with the set up as well). As we walked in, we quickly utilized ourselves as the ward photographers, and some members walked up to us and handed us cameras. I received a Nikon D60, just like the one I lost to the pacific ocean...it was really nice to hold that camera again. We swarmed around the spanish families, and the Quebec families, and took lots of pictures. The two hours we were there they only played 1 french song and 1 spanish song-the rest were american hip hop songs. And 90 percent of the people there had no idea what the lyrics were, they don`t speak a lick of english. It made me realize what a headache pop culture music is nowadays and how much my taste of music has changed. Just us and Mindy Gledhill, that`s all we need.
It`s been a grand week, our fridge is full of the activity leftovers, and we have plenty of work to do.
Peace,
Elder Holm
May 30, 2011
May 30th, 2011
Family,
Well, This week has been absolutely insane. It was pretty boring and usual until the weekend--as usual. We had mission conference in Ottawa, with Elder Malm, from the 2nd quorum of the seventy, on friday. We had to wake up at 3:30 to get there on time and then we were spiritually uplifted, and then spiritually spanked by him after he discussed our numbers vs. our potential for this mission. He shared a great scripture, which has quickly become one of my favorites, D and C 124:99. Vision is key in the work of God. I was lucky enough to give a talk during mission conference on the Book of Mormon. Wooo... That was fun, good public speaking practice.
Elder McRoberts and I were spiritually inspired after conference and have returned to the work with renewed determination. On Saturday, we had a very strange experience. A pass off potential investigator invited us to a little BBQ with some of the family, not many people. What we learned when we showed up is that this family is Haitian, and not many people= about 50. We walked into this house, with Caribbean Jazz BLASTING so loud that we couldn`t hear anyone saying anything, until we walked out into the backyard. Panicking, I looked around to confirm my fears. Yup. We were the only white people around. Just Elder Aubin, (on splits with us) McRoberts and I. We sat next to this really physically fit Haitian who was drinking and pretending to play a little recorder. Then jokingly Elder Aubin played a song he learned in elementary school on it...then Elder McRoberts played The theme of Pirates of the Caribbean, title Jack Sparrow, on this cheap little recorder. WHITE. It was a strange sensation, as all these black people just kept walking past us and talking to us... In a last ditch effort to avoid all awkwardness, we manned the grill and started taking orders. The mormons catered this party. And the funny part is, this family was throwing this party for their son, because he just finished his first Communion.
Comparison. Three Black Jehovah`s Witness who speak little english attend a baptism celebration/baptism luncheon in Star Valley, Wyoming with the Bateman family. About the same scenario here.
We were there for 3 hours, and after the first little bit, we discovered that only one missionary could man the grill at a time. So I took some advice from Mission Conference, and I "let my guard down." Hardest thing I`ve ever done in my life. But I managed to just let my guard down and talk it up with a bunch of Haitians. Hayden would have just had a ball. There was a man there that looked just like Bill Cosby.
It was a blast.
I`m very grateful to have come to this mission, because in this mission I get a little test of every mission. A little glimpse of Haiti, a little glimpse of South America, and more than a couple glimpses of Europe, just for example. People around the world live here, and it is my wonderful opportunity to meet with all of them. Canada Montreal Mission is the mission of all missions.
On Sunday we had 5 investigators show up to church, all of them brought by members of the ward. Our member encouragement is finally paying off, we`ve been working very, very hard with these members and now they are just bringing people! The work is truly rolling forth. We had an investigator who is very excited to join the church, I caught her in the library after church trying to buy just about everything the church had to offer, and while teaching her afterwards about baptism, she said "Well I would love to just get baptized tomorrow!" Haahahaha...WHAT. This women has obviously been more than prepared. And we are so grateful to be able to help her. We are doing big, BIG things in Mascouche, and we hope that with transfers coming up this Saturday, that president will leave us together long enough to do it all.
Well that`s all family, I`ll keep you posted about our investigators as they progress.
here are some pictures.
Peace be the Journey,
Elder Holm
Well, This week has been absolutely insane. It was pretty boring and usual until the weekend--as usual. We had mission conference in Ottawa, with Elder Malm, from the 2nd quorum of the seventy, on friday. We had to wake up at 3:30 to get there on time and then we were spiritually uplifted, and then spiritually spanked by him after he discussed our numbers vs. our potential for this mission. He shared a great scripture, which has quickly become one of my favorites, D and C 124:99. Vision is key in the work of God. I was lucky enough to give a talk during mission conference on the Book of Mormon. Wooo... That was fun, good public speaking practice.
Comparison. Three Black Jehovah`s Witness who speak little english attend a baptism celebration/baptism luncheon in Star Valley, Wyoming with the Bateman family. About the same scenario here.
It was a blast.
I`m very grateful to have come to this mission, because in this mission I get a little test of every mission. A little glimpse of Haiti, a little glimpse of South America, and more than a couple glimpses of Europe, just for example. People around the world live here, and it is my wonderful opportunity to meet with all of them. Canada Montreal Mission is the mission of all missions.
On Sunday we had 5 investigators show up to church, all of them brought by members of the ward. Our member encouragement is finally paying off, we`ve been working very, very hard with these members and now they are just bringing people! The work is truly rolling forth. We had an investigator who is very excited to join the church, I caught her in the library after church trying to buy just about everything the church had to offer, and while teaching her afterwards about baptism, she said "Well I would love to just get baptized tomorrow!" Haahahaha...WHAT. This women has obviously been more than prepared. And we are so grateful to be able to help her. We are doing big, BIG things in Mascouche, and we hope that with transfers coming up this Saturday, that president will leave us together long enough to do it all.
here are some pictures.
Peace be the Journey,
Elder Holm
May 24, 2011
May 25th, 2011
FAMILY.
This week was interesting. We had a pretty boring week until saturday. We had a plan to fast all saturday until our appointment with the HERNANDEZ family, because they told us we really need to in order to eat all the food they would have for us. So we started saturday morning with some service, helping a member build his porch. This small white man, who is married to a large angry pregnant Haitian woman who has 7 children from a previous marriage. Its just a sad sight. Anyways, She forced us to eat an entire pizza between us two... 3 hours before our HERNANDEZ appointment. We were screwed. But the only thing worse than an angry spanish family is an angry pregnant haitian.
At the HERNANDEZ home, they rolled out the red carpet for us. Delicious food. But, so much. We were sooo slow, and the last ones eating. As we were trying with all our might to eat this food whilst scary brother HERNANDEZ chuckled in his low, mexican mufasa voice, the home teachers came. They told us to stay in our seats while everyone else went to listen to the message, and finish our meals. During the prayer, Elder McRoberts swiped his chicken off his plate and stuffed the tomatoes in his napkin, praying that no one noticed that he had magically cleared his plate in 25 seconds. I was facing away from the family, so I had no idea when they were watching me or not. I just sat there, waiting for my stomach to digest food. Very awkward. After the hometeachers finished, one of them shook my hand and said "if you dont finish, they will be very, very offended." With this prompting I took another bite, then quietly excused myself, and went to the bathroom to vomit. And thus it was. I left the bathroom with full intention of finishing my plate, but sister HERNANDEZ had already cleared it. They were really, really offended. They told us that that was the last meal we would receive from them. And then they asked us when they were going to send spanish missionaries up to Mascouche. Ouch. Discrimination based on stomach size. It was pretty funny, looking back on it, mouthing "HELP ME" to elder McRoberts while he whispered "I am going to throw up, I am going to throw up".
The mission is a crazy place, I have found a love for french canadians and I am so glad I didn't go south. Good luck Hayden! Eat food, practice.
Peace be the journey,
Elder Holm
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