Amy wasn’t able to write a letter to all y’all this week, but I will share some of mine with you.  Thank you all for your love and support…

from Amy:

I had a good week. Baptism didn’t come through unfortunately... because we are waiting on papers for their marriage which didn't come when they were supposed to! UGH! Satan. Hopefully this Saturday. We are still working with him and teaching and everything, but he is practically ready. Just need those darn papers!

Glad you liked my letter last week. Yeah, its rare but so nice to feel appreciated! haha! I love you guys. Thank you for all your support and encouragement and letters. You are my world!

I hope you are happy and healthy, and that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I am trying to send all my photos from this week.. I have a lot!

We had a small Thanksgiving as a zone on Friday. Chicken, potatoes, pan, and a carrot salad thing, and pie! It was so great and so nice to be able to celebrate bit! We had to explain to all the latinos what was thanksgiving, but i think they liked the idea (because of all the pie!) haha

We did this crazy hike today to destress and enjoy the nature. 2 hours of straight hiking through mud and forest to get to Lake Esmeralda. BEAUTIFUL. look it up. In the Andes mountains I think. But we hiked for a solid 4 or 4.5 hours, so I’m pooped. But it was worth it for the Lake!!!!!!!

Another week has come and gone. The weeks pass fast, days slow. 3.5 months done. Some days I feel like this mission will never end and that I want it to end, other days i am perfectly content and feel like I can do this forever without stopping. Each day is literally a rollercoaster. ups and downs and ups. But I am happy. Some days are just surviving, other days fly by and are full of joy. But i guess thats how life is in general. Crazy. 

I love the scriptures so much. And I’ve starting reading this talk our mission gave us - The Fourth Missionary. AMAZING talk. I am working hard to apply it to my mission.

Much love,

Hermana Holt

Wow I feel like its been a lifetime... now just 3 months! But hey its a blessing that i get 15 more months down here in the Patagonia to teach and preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Sorry my emails to you all are always short - I only get a few minutes each week, and I always spend the majority of it writing my dear fam... cause they are the most important ones! But don’t worry.... I haven’t forgotten about you all! I love you and am so grateful for all your support, encouragement, and prayers. I know sometimes I cant respond to your emails, but keep writing. You all give me strength and happiness. I am so grateful for each one of you and all that you have done to help me progress and grow and learn!

This week was amazing. I felt so happy and things are turning around with my companion! We are able to work together alot better, and are seeing some amazing blessings and feeling the Spirit a lot. 

We organized a Noche de Hogar with the other missionaries for my Branch, and it was a huge success! It got people motivated to do more missionary work, and we taught them how to begin conversations about the gospel, and we baked Panchuques! Look it up.. some type of weird hot dog thing, but man they were good!

Also I am teaching a English class in the chapel now each Saturday. It’s kinda hard, but its fun! About 10 people came this time, and we had tons of fun! I taught them the song and dance Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes so that we could learn the parts of the body in ingles. Haha! You would laugh if you could see it. 

Our investigators  are doing well! We had lots of meetings with them, and they are progressing. Ismael and Marcelo have baptismal dates for the 25th! We are praying and have to have a TON of faith that they will get baptized, but I know they have the faith and the desire.

The sun has been out more, which has been nice! But it also snowed this week..... oh well, you can never tell with the weather here!

Sorry if my English is bad... I swear its actually really hard to type and think in English! oh goodness haha!

Gotta run, but I love you all! Keep an eye out on my fam for me por favor! They are super amazing. 

I love the Savior. I am so eternally grateful for His atoning sacrifice for us, so that we have the hope that one day we can live together with Him and our families for all of eternity. That is my hope, and why I am so grateful for Jesus Christ and His Atonement. I love you all. HAVE A GREAT WEEK and Happy Thanksgiving!!!

LOTS OF LOVE

Hermana Holt

Argentina Comodoro Rivadavia Mission 

So transfers this week........ .and I’m staying in Ushuaia with my comp! Woohoo! I definitely feel like my work is not finished here at the end of the world. I’m grateful to stay here for this next transfer!

Monday we had a fantastic Noche de Hogar (Family home evening) with Marcelo and his soon to be wife. He has a baptismal date for this Saturday! Oh my goodness my first baptism in the mission! He is so prepared and so faithful, and so ready to take this first step into the waters of baptism! I am so happy for him, and hope he is completely ready. He had to give up smoking in order to be baptized, and he smokes 2 packs a day. But he committed to it, has been praying, and is almost completely off smoking! What a miracle. 

Wednesday as a zone we got permission to do this crazy awesome hike in the morning a few miles up a mountain... and when we got to the top of the mountain that overlooked all of Ushuaia we read the last chapter in the Book of Mormon together and sang hymns. It was such a neat and powerful experience!

Friday was a rough day.. after a slow week and not a lot of progress, and some arguments with my comp, and some homesickness, and just a lot of pressure from all the responsibility that we have... we finally broke down. We had a little crying fest, and we called Presidente and talked with him, and he gave us some great great advice. After, me and my comp talked out some things, made some goals, and we felt SO much better. Like a weight was lifted off our chest. But don’t worry! We have really changed, and there is a lot more happiness and energy in our companionship now! It’s really good. 

Saturday we had an amazing lesson with Ismael, and he attended church this Sunday! WOOHOO! We had 4 of our investigators attend church, which was a true miracle, because its super hard to get even just 1 to come! I was SO happy!!! We felt the Spirit so strongly during Testimony Meeting. I love Church!

Sunday evening all of the missionaries in my district came to my area and we all taught in the streets for two hours. We saw some huge blessings that I have never witnessed before in my mission.... we taught 9 lessons, gave out a Book of Mormon, and have 2 new investigators!!! We’ve never had success like that, let alone in just 2 hours! Literally every person we spoke to accepted us and was super interested in our message. I know that the Lord prepares people for us to teach, and blesses us when we work hard! I love this missionary work!!!!!

Literally this is the hardest thing i have ever done, but the best. I am learning so much about myself, and learning how to change. I’m learning how to work hard without being stressed, how to enjoy myself while working, and how to adjust to change and be flexible! Lots of life lessons, and I’m only at 2.5 months! I’m so grateful for this time I have to work hard and bring others to the Gospel and to Christ.

I love you all and hope that all is well at home. You all give me the encouragement and energy that I need to keep going!!!!!! I LOVE YOU!

Hermana Holt (Hulk...Hooolt...Hult... no one says it right)

PS:  I feel super happy today, and am learning how to destress my personality. Who would have thought that I needed a mission in order to learn how to not be stressed out? Seems ironic but its true. lol!

 I love you!