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.