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)

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

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!

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