Hey hey hey!

This week was fantastic! Super busy, because we had a visit from one of the members of the Quorum of the Seventy, Elder Bragg! It was super amazing to have him here with us. 

By some amazing blessing, I was one of 8 missionaries in the entire mission chosen by him to have a personal interview with him, and it was so amazing. I asked some questions, we chatted, and he gave me some super amazing inspired answers that I needed. All the missionaries were jealous. What an amazing blessing and opportunity!!!!!!

He came because he was doing a tour of the mission with our presidente of mission. 

He came Friday in the afternoon, gave me an interview, gave my zone of missionaries a super amazing training talk, and so did our presidente. we played him some musical numbers (and I played the piano...man was I nervous!) , and had more talks and training and such. And Presidente Salerno (my mission pres) asked me to go up at the start and bear my testimony! I was so surprised, but grateful for the opportunity to do so!

That evening, all the members came to listen to him give a talk. We brought 2 of our investigators, and they loved it. At the end, Elder Bragg ran down from the stand to shake the hands of my investigators (because he saw them sitting next to me and knew that I had told him earlier that they would be coming). I was so grateful, and surprised at his heartfeltness and love that radiated from him. It was so amazing to be in the presence of a Seventy, and to see what an example of Christlike love and unselfishness he is!! I will never forget that day. 

Saturday we had our big Christmas dinner as a zone (Ushuaia and Rio Grande- the two zones of missionaries on the island I’m on). There were about 30 or 40 o f us, and our presidente. We had some amazing Argentine asado and desserts and pictures and a visit from santa (aka one of the funniest missionaries in the mission), and had lots of fun and a well needed break from the work. 

We toasted with apple cider and sang Christmas hymns until midnight!! And by some other blessing from heaven, got permission to sleep in an hour the next day. Truly a Christmas miracle. hahaha. (for those of you who don’t know, we have a schedule each day, and have to get up at 730 and go to bed at 11.)

Hey wanna know something crazy? For those of you wondering what s the craziest thing I have eaten down here.. up until Saturday I would not have had an answer, cause all I eat is meat, rice, and potato. but now... i have a new answer.......  cow intestine! i don’t remember the name of it, but during our Christmas dinner they cooked up some.  We were all eating asado, all was well, when I made the mistake of asking what a certain plate of meat was. The Argentine missionaries in my group realized I had never tried their beloved cow intestine, so they forced me to eat some, because they all love it so much. So I did, and it actually wasn’t all that bad... a little salty and crunchy. But I have to admit if I thought too hard about what it was, I gagged. HAHAHAHA.

Goodness.. transfers will get announced this Saturday! Either me or my comp will go, si o si. I hope to stay, because I truly love it here so much. I love the people here in Ushuaia, the missionaries, and the members. I have so many amazing memories and experiences here. It’s where it all began for me. But where the Lord needs me, I will go, and i know he has a lot more amazing experiences in store for me. I am so blessed that I have this opportunity to be here, serving a mission. I love this work. 

Marcelo - baptism on the 13 of January (due to his wedding being the 12.) I’m so excited! We are working with them a lot. He started reading the Book of Mormon, and in a few days has already reached 1 Nephi 14! What a boss.

We have a few more investigators that are progressing a lot, and I hope that they continue to progress, grow, and choose to be baptized. How exciting is this work!

Almost 4 months now in the mission. At first, each week felt like a lifetime, but now the time is starting to pick up. Some of my friends go home this weekend, and I'm so sad. They are so sad, and don’t want to leave. Before the mission, i couldn’t imagine not wanting to come home from a mission, but now I get it. You put your heart and soul into this work, these people. Its your life, your home away from home. So finishing the mission and giving it all up, knowing you probably wont ever see these people again, its heartbreaking. Man, what an adventure this is. 

I love you all so much and am incredibly grateful for you support and love and prayers. Thank you for all you do for me, I don’t deserve all of the love and praise that I get. I’m so weak and far from perfect, but I’m giving it what I’ve got. My efforts aren’t perfect, but I’m learning a lot about myself and learning to serve. 

I LOVE YOU ALL. Don’t forget about the real reason of Christmas - Jesus Christ and His birth, but more importantly, His life. He gave everything for us, so we can give back to him our love and our time. We all can go and serve, in the ways that we can. There are plenty of people around us that need our help.

I love you all. stay safe 

hermana holt