April 23, 2018

April 23, 2018- 36 weeks down

Hola!

So we had transfers...... and ..... I'm leaving! and staying! haha super confusing but basically I'm leaving my area of Playa Union with my comp hermana lapuaho and we are going to Rawson. a town 20 minutes away. BUT we still will be working in Playa, beacuse we have a few investiagotrs there. Thats right, I have TWO areas now! Not just one! That means a whole lot of work, planning, and traveling. Man its going to be a loaded 6 weeks! I'm a little nervous for a ll of the responsability, but I'm sure it will go well. We have a few people getting ready for baptism... but we have a lot of work to do.

I've only had 1 baptism in all of my mission. That's how hard it is to baptize here, but we are so close with some people, and I'm afraid that with all of the things we have to do, all of the responsabilities and everything, that its going to be hard to focus 100 percent on each and every person we have to teach. But I'll do my best, and try my hardest not to stress hahaha

The weeks fly by, can't believe I'm already writing you all again! So much happens each week, its like a month of things in each week, but it goes fast. crazy.

Loved the pictures of the chicken coop!  What an awesome project!!!!!! I'm so excited for you guys!! i hope Ginny doesnt try to eat them hahaha

Two people commented to me in the same day that I look a lot skinnier. out of the blue. So that made me happy. I noticed it too, less cheeks in my face haha. 

My week was good. crazy. busy. some successes, not a lot of time to work. but we are having some great lessons with Karen still, and we found a new investiagor, Maria. She came to church with her two kids this week, which was our miracle of the week. Seriously it was so neat to have them there.  They were a little nervous and trying to figure everything out, but they liked it. Maria has started reading the book of mormon! It's awesome. whatta feeling. 

Pato and Maxi should be baptized soon, but we are having some troubles meeting with them cause they have been sick this week and not answernig the phone... so it may be pushed back a week or two, but we will do all that we can to help them get baptized!!!!

I'm doing better health wise. Still a little bit of the cough remaining, but that's about it. I feel good and happy and everything. 

Weather has been great here, sunny and a little bit of cold. super great.

Went to the beach for the last pday in Puerto Madryn, but didn't see the penguins sadly. So beautiful and neat. 

Everything good here!  I miss you lots and love you lots!!!!!

amy

April 16, 2018

April 16, 2018 35 weeks down.

hey momma!

HAHA you are idealizing me now? oh uh.... thats not good... you might be real disappointed when i get home haha! but you’re sweet

this week was... not good. hard and no one wants to listen to us. but Saturday and Sunday were super amazing!!!!

haha yeah they have all been complaining to me too about going back to school. I sure wouldn’t mind going back to school! its really not that bad haha. That’s funny about Ashlyn. Wait, i got cranky when you came down with me in the mornings? i don’t remember that at all. I thought that i enjoyed it?! hmm, I’m really starting to lose my memory of the life before the mission haha.... yes i sure would enjoy a few moments with you in my mornings now!!!

awww i cant believe Brandon will turn 12. cant believe it. cute little guy. he will be so good passing the sacrament on sundays. i will really miss being able to see that. i cant wait. he’s such a good worker, so smart. Still learning a lot in school and impressing the heck out of everyone? I’m glad he’s a good little worker. and that Aly is sweet and tranquila and easy going. I cant believe she will be graduating soon

duck legs! hey way to go... the kids liked them??? awesome

i miss your food!

way to go dad!!!!! Im glad he’s trying to be healthier. Oh, i hope he quits soon. Gets a job doing something easy going, something he actually likes to do. And yeah, i would be super down to move to Wyoming or somewhere... but only if we can take our ward with us hahaha sooo not possible but hmmm. id love to live the country life, more simple. more like Argentina! ( a little... haha)

160 of Spanish way to go! entonces como te vas con tu espanol? bien? estoy orgullosa!! Te amo mucho mami

im so jealous of your cooking, eating well, running, exercising... i dream of the day i can do that again. i feel so ugly all the time, i refuse to look at old pictures of before the mission. i feel like i look like a different person. not because I’ve gained weight, but because i look just, different. whiter, a little bigger, no muscles at all,  short hair... it makes me sad. i don’t know what to do. i am getting a tiny bit tanner here because there is more sun, and my hair is growing, but im quite sure ill never look the same again and it makes me depressed.

i exercise a lot more in the mornings and have realllly cut back on gluten, a lot. 

i hope you get the box back soon as well! ugh. when does dad go to BA? 

i miss you a lot too. you guys are on my mind a lot, maybe a bit too much. i constantly dream or during the day have random flashbacks. i miss you all. but hey 10 months really doesn’t sound that bad. 10 months ago i was coming home from BYU... that feels like yesterday.

hah you have not failed as a parent why would you say that. i think you are a better parent than ever before. you are so amazing, you have no idea mom the parents of the people and missionaries here. they are awful. there isn’t any love. i feel spoiled when i get to say i have two parents, active in the church, that write me each week. thats rare. 

i LOVE YOU. I LOVE YOU. i hope you are happy and well. Im doing well. Learning a lot. my studies of the scriptures are amazing. The hour that we study flies by in a second. Spanish is natural now. a little harder, now that i have a gringa companion and we like to joke in english sometimes, but someone today told me in a store that my accento es lindo. So that made me happy, even though i have a gringo accent at least its pretty ... I guess hahahahaha

love you send more pics

ames

April 9, 2018

April 9, 2018- 34 weeks down

hey guys! whats going on! Sorry I haven’t sent out a lot of group emails lately... Time is so limited to write, but I always think of you all back in TO and love you all!

So this week... after Conferencia with Presidente Salerno, we finally got back to my area late late Tuesday night. So we got back to work Wednesday, with expectations and spirits high. Well.... it turned out to be a week of rejections, closed doors, investigatores calling us to tell us they don’t want us to teach them or visit them anymore, people with baptismal dates closing the door in our face and telling us to not come back... yeah long story short it was rough, especially after a super uplifting conferencia. Sadly, i let it get to me a bit. i was pretty downtrodden and i still worked my hardest, never letting the hard times get in the way of my work... but it definitely had an effect in me. Well, the Lord was still listening to my prayers, because starting Saturday and continuing into Sunday we saw lots of Miracles that made me and my companion realize that he is here still, helping and guiding us and blessing us for our efforts.

we have 1 investigator progressing a lot... her name is Karen. 24 years old, and has a 5 month old baby Ramiro. we contacted her in the street last week, and we’ve already had 3 lessons with her. She’s reading the Book of mormon, and praying and doing everything! Saturday we had a SUPER amazing lesson, and during it she started to cry and told us that since she met us, she has felt a lot more peace and tranquilidad in her life. She feels like she is receiving answers and knowledge. We invited her to go to church Sunday, and she said a bit hesitantly, ok. 

i have to say, i had my doubts she would go. for the last few weeks, we have not had investigators come, because our area is a bit hard and really far from the chapel. But we passed by her house at 820am Sunday morning.... and she was there ready waiting for us!!!!! We went to church together... and 2 other investigatores showed up as well! we were on cloud 9. Testimony meeting was SO powerful, and every single member in their testimonies said I know that this is the church of Jesus Christ. I know he lives. It was such a powerful meeting. 

A few other miracles this weekend was that we saw one of our investigatores out in front of her house, and it had been a week since she had answered us and let us pass by... so we ran over real quick and she let us in. We had an amazing lesson about temples and the plan of salvacion, and at the end as i testified to her i could see the tears in her eyes. Man, theres no other feeling in the world as amazing as when you get to look someone in the eyes and tell them that families are meant to be eternal, and that God has a plan for them. 

Bueno, lots of other amazing things happened this weekend, but thats all thats coming to me in the moment.

Also, when we were in a colectivo (bus) a mochilera (backpack traveler) from buenos aires was rapping in the bus and started rapping about us as missionaries.. it was pretty funny. 

Also i think one of my favorite things from Argentina to eat is Chipa... this type of cheese bread. ohmygoodness its so good. 

Well, thats about it. Im doing good. Working hard. Im so tired all the time but its all good. I miss life at home, but i LOVE the missionary work. I know its the Lord work. and i know that these next 10 months will go fast, so i have to make the most of them while i get the sacred opportunity to be here, as one of the Lords missionaries

I know this church is true! I know without a shadow of doubt in my heart that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. No one could even try to convince me otherwise.

Love you all

Amy

-- 

Mucho amor, 

Hermana Holt 

April 2, 2018

April 2, 2018- 33 weeks down

WOW Happy Easter!!!! Sounds like you all had an absolutely wonderful week! Saw all the pics, watched the video and loved it all. Love hearing you guys talk about me in the video and seeing how cute you and dad are... how normal everything is... blows my mind. Loving all the new clothes you guys have! Mom you look super skinny!

Yeah man General Conference was AMAZING. it was like Christmas day for us haha. I watched half in Spanish, half in English. Its more powerful in English cause its their actual voices. and WOW we are getting a third temple in Argentina!!!!! We were so excited, crying and shouting hahah! And in Russia, man the work of the Lord is REALLY speeding up here in these last days. How crazy. Conference touched me so much, my favorite talk was the last one of the Saturday afternoon session about family history work and how our ancestors can help heal family rifts now in this life. I loved it and it made me cry a ton haha! And hearing the prophet speak so many times was so amazing. I felt the confirmation of the Spirit each time he spoke, that he truly is the prophet. Its an amazing feeling to hear a prophet speak. 

Easter was basically like any normal day, but I made eggs and potatoes and pancakes from corn flour in the morning with my comp, which was nice and a little like home. We made tacos as a district for lunch, then went and watched the Conference sessions. 

Monday we traveled early to Trelew, an hour away, for interviews with presidente. We were there for a few hours, and my interview went real well. I love talking with him, and I could see in this interview he has a lot of trust in me. He asked me if we should keep my area Playa Union open, if there is potential, he trusted my opinion completely, and I said yes there is potential, so that means when the transfer ends in 3 weeks, we will stay in Playa for at least one more transfer beyond that to get some real work in! The grind is on hahaha. we are working like DOGS i tell you. We taught more lessons this week than i have in my whole mission. 25 or something like that. Inviting EVERYONE to baptism, and saw some really amazing experiences and have new investigatores. I have gotten to testify of Prophets and of the Gospel and Christ more in this week than I have in a long time. It was so exhilarating. I love this work. Its so hard still, but man its amazing. 

Monday evening the missionaries from Puerto Madryn arrived, cause we have conference joined with them. So i got to see some old buddies, including Hermana Borba (who was there for a presentation- elder homes, hermana batista, hermana bushmann ( who i communicated with before the mission) and a few others that I love dearly! Such a nice break and nice opportunity to talk and chat. 

Today was conference. from 9am to 5pm.. super long and amazing as always. OH AND LAST NIGHT. we got to stay... IN A HOTELLLL!!!!!!!!! I had a real bed, with a huge thick mattress and pillow and sheets and a shower with high pressure and a huge huge clean bathroom and oh my gosh i almost cried because it was so nice to be in a clean nice room again. All the missionaries were so happy. Its nothing compared to hotels I have stayed in with you and the family, but man it blew me away that I was blown away haha. I felt so spoiled and so happy! 

I learned a lot in Conference today.  I feel older now haha. There are lots more missionaries that are younger than me, and when I say i have almost 8 months and have been in Ushuaia they all look at me like wowww how cool are you haha makes me feel good. And I feel 100 percent comfortable in Spanish which is super great. We even got to watch the movie Coco as a zone last night. SUCH a funny movie, we were all dying laughing and singing the songs under our breaths hahahaha

Man I’m so glad you all enjoyed Randolph so much. I want to go there so bad, to live there in a such peaceful country like environment. That’s my dream too haha. 

Awww and how fun you got to see the Pomars and spend time with the Lees and Sims and everyone, birthday cake and Easter and everything. whatta time. So glad you guys are having so much fun!

Did my package arrive home yet? Because if it did, i wanted to ask for two small things if possible... a few more of those small black slip socks i use, cause i every single one i have have  huge holes already, and a cortaid, a small one.

Also one thing.. if you can’t do it its TOTALLY fine.. but I’ve already worn through two of my three pairs of shoes.... and if you could send the black ones again it would be so awesome but if not its fine, they still work and are functional.. As long as it doesn’t rain much because they’ve all got a few holes in them now from walking so much hahah. But if its expensive or whatever then don’t worry about it, I can find more shoes here maybe. 

But yeah thats it. I’m doing good. i feel happy and am adjusting real well. Time is going fast. So many things are changing and progressing. Almost half of my mission goes home in June and July, so some big changes will be coming up.

well, mom, i love you. i love you so much! take care, i love your emails.  I  miss you so much!

ames

March 19, 2018

March 19, 2018- 31 weeks down

short letter! hi mommy whats up!

yeah this week was better... way different... i feel like I’m in a different country or something... completely different from Ushuaia in so many ways

Bus ride wasn’t fun.. but it was nice to be able to sit and sleep and do nothing for 30 hours haha, nice break from the usual insane missionary life. but it was long, and i basically didn’t eat for 2 days and only slept 3 hours at a time at the most.. but i arrived in one piece!

My new companion is from Utah, but is Samoan. Hermana Lapuaho. she has 1 year in the mission, but i feel like she has less time than me. shes super sweet and i know ill learn a lot from her. we have a ton of deseos to go and work.

My area is called playa union, rawson, trelew. its a tiny beach town in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. ok imagine this. the mojave desert, but next to the ocean. and a tiny little beach town plopped right in the middle of it. one road that leads to a town thats a little bigger called Rawson, and THATS IT. MOM THERES NOTHING HERE. i looked around, and it looks like the mojave desert. and feels like it too. crazy winds, heat, dirt. you walk outside for two seconds and are covered head to toe in dirt.

oh and we opened my area in a whitewash. which means that there have not been missionaries in playa union for several months, cause presidente closed it. but he reopened it, put us two here to see if the area has potential to progress, and if not, he might close it again. Its insane. But i like it. its super different. we are 5 seconds from the ocean, which is neat. and there is not a hill or mound or mountain in sight. i dont think they exist here haha.

so glad that grandpa is improving. wow roadshow looked like it turned out amazing! watched the videos, couldn’t really hear much, but loved the pictures and the outfits and everything, looks super awesome. hope they had a blast. 

loved the pics you sent.

you have a renter in the guest house? cool! I didn’t know that

ohhh poor ginny. she’s better though? yikes

so fun that you are gonna head up to Randolph! Send pics! Should be super awesome. 

wow thats right, its almost general conference and easter! what the heck where is the time going. i now have more than 7 months! and Brigitte is a missionary ahhhhh! So cool!!!!

Loved your story about the hermanas in trader joes.... how lucky they are! i miss trader joes!

We did our shopping for food today. had to walk 20 minutes to the store, shopped, and my comp is so skimpy with money its not even funny, then dragged our bags the 20ish minutes back to the house. and the wind was so bad that it almost blew us away- literally, if you want to know what my area is like. think of the mojave desert where we go quad riding. its the same !!!! hahaha

Presidente salerno called me two nights ago. he wanted to talk and see how i was, clear up some things about the situation in Ushuaia, and tell me that i have his 100 percent confidence and support, that i was in the right about everything i did, that he loved me and is super super proud of me and i have his trust. and hermana borba told me in her last interview with presidente that he mentioned me by name as a future leader in the mission, which makes me happy. 

oh yeah, hermana borba! on my trip up north, i ran into borba in Rio Gallegos, and we passed an hour together chatting! I was so happy to see her, an old face that i loved that i actually cried haha. Thats how happy i was to see someone who loved me. 

i really miss you guys! i love you. I keep thinking that each week brings me a little closer to being home. I focus in the mission, and its hard hard brutal work. lots of pressure, responsibility, and we are alone out here in this little town, with the closest missionaries like 30 minutes away by bus. I’m a little lonely, but learning  a lot. 

I’m in a ward again! but its small, like 70 people maybe. But they like to work, the leaders are absolutely amazing, and i feel like I’m back in church again. the members are so kind and actually talk to us and we have lunches. i told everyone i cant eat gluten. so they think I’m celiac. cause the word gluten free or intolerant apparently doesn’t exist here. so I’m known as the celiac missionary now. but whatever, i haven’t eaten gluten in a week, and the stores here have tons more gluten free options, so its all good.

i think my hair and skin hate this area, cause i feel nasty all the time.

oh and when we arrived to our pension, it was abandoned cause no one has used it in months, and DISGUSTING: like you cant even imagine. we cleaned for 1 day straight and its better but it wasn’t even livable beforehand. oh gosh it was awful while we were cleaning the bathroom my poor comp was dry heaving haha.

well, ask some questions! what else are you wondering, do you want to know? Love you guys more than i can say

ames

March 12, 2018

March 12, 2018- 30 weeks down

Hi mom! so yeah you listened to the recording.. couldn’t type all that so yeah...

last week wasn’t hell week... this week was. but its all good. maybe I’m laughing too much cause I’m in shock.

SO IM GETTING TRANSFERRED TO......

TRELEW (playa union) !!!!!!!!

Tomorrow at 5am I'm going in colectivo for the joyful 30 hour bus ride to Trelew.... my comp is from Samoa and Utah... she has like 14 months i think? and we are both companera mayor so basically we are gonna be able to work a ton and baptize MUCHOO.I’m so pumped to not be trained or be training... although Ii do really like training. I’ll arrive there sometime Thursday I think.

AW I loved your email, your videos!!!!!! made my day seeing the video of the family all happy eating dinner... i cant believe that this exists still... I forgot all about what the house looks like, what you guys look like... AH! hahah!

haha you talked to presidente?? He’s amazing. yeah, they cant get involved in packages and beg us not to fedex them... I didn’t know you were gonna do it like that or i would have told you other wise... sorry- so is it gonna arrive or no? its all good don’t worry at all. Presidente is literally the best person on the planet i love him so much.

So glad that grandpa is improving. I was so sad and worried and crying a bit after I printed out your last email and read it, broke my heart, but what a miracle. what a miracle. I hope to see part of that as blessings from my service. I loved your email, but absolutely hated it at the same time, cause I wanted to be there with you guys.

Wow way to go Aly. She’s so smart, so strong. I was thinking about her a lot this week, about what’s she’s gonna do now... I think thats a really smart idea to go to Idaho for a semester, then Provo. I believe its a Not Now, not a No also. She’s amazing. I hope she is still happy and making the good decisions necessary with Ryan, mission, and school.

Also, how is it already March. this week I’ll hit 7 months. 7 months mom what the freak. Ill be home in exactly 11 months today i think. whattttt in the world. 

Thats good dad went to the baptism.. how did it go with Grandma? she writes me a lot, which is good. Makes me happy. I hope things are improving at least a little bit.

But despite the hell that broke lose this week, i saw miracles. we had SEVEN investigadores in church. THAT HAS NEVER HAPPENED IN MY AREA. I was so happy i almost cried. and now 4 of my dear investigadores are getting baptized this month... right after i leave ushuaia. in my heart they are my baptisms... but i know it doesn’t matter. it hurt to have to say goodbye to say many people yesterday. especially Alejandra and la familia Lira. i love them so much. They all gave me so much thanks for my work and example and diligence. made me so happy. and saying bye to Laura also was so hard. we cried. but she is so happy to hear that you guys want to go to their sealing in buenos aires, was telling everyone about that. haha 

Hope you understood what we were saying in the recording. To be short and not give details, there is a lot of disobedience here in my area and district. So I tried to correct things with my missionary leaders, then went to presidente, and when presidente began to change and fix things, all the crap got thrown on me for correcting things. I’ve been called in church by my ward mission leader a servant of the devil... attacked.. hated.. and yesterday all hell broke loose when hermana simons called emergency divisions and all the missionaries of andino and the zone leaders arrive at their house... i had to keep one elder from fighting the other that told on his disobedience... the zone leaders stood up for me when that same elder began to attack me.. the hardest part was that this elder is my dear friend. and the things that happened between us two was all miscommunication. So with both of us crying, we talked it out and explained everything and cleared up a lot of stuff. I asked permission from the leaders right then and there to hug him, because after the conversation and fights that were going on, i couldn’t leave in peace with just a handshake. i couldn’t, i was dying instead and so was he and everyone else. Everyone was so hurt and so done. So they gave me permission and i hugged him. and he cried. It was so hard... but i say all this because it happened and i want you guys to understand whats really going on right now for me. not gonna lie and say i had a good week.. i didn’t. but i feel happier now. stuff is still going done, but i feel better. learned a lot. and there is a whole lot of changes in Ushuaia right now. but its all good in the hood. i don’t want you to worry. i think I’m officially a grown adult now, dealing with the leaders of the branch and the mission and all this... what more do i need hahaha. 

but I’m happy to be leaving tomorrow and having a new start somewhere far away. but ill definitely be leaving a piece of my heart here in Ushuaia. its my home, i love it so much. i grew up here and learned so much. i love the missionaries, the people, the members. i love them.

so i uploaded a butt load of pics and a video

oh yeah!

we hiked up to a glacier here in Ushuaia last p day and took a lot of sick pics. it was amazing. 3 hours of straight up to the top of a mountain where the glacier resides. i sat on top of it and ate a alfajor, so basically my life is complete. i went to the end of the world, sat on a glacier, and ate argentine food. yeah not much more i need to do with my life

sorry for the novel. i love you. you look so pretty in the pics and video.

i hope everyone is happy and healthy. 

love you guys

ames

March 5, 2018

March 5, 2018- 29 weeks down

HI mom!

Wow what a letter... i didn’t read the email about grandpa but I’m gonna print it.

I’m good! the week was hard, one of the hardest ones yet but for different reasons. but through it all, I’m learning a lot. i feel like this week the Lord had to literally break me down in many different ways, so that i could learn to build myself up again and keep going. It’s a constant battle, but I’m grateful for it cause I’m learning and growing up.

yep, i better see him in that airport with that sign! 50 weeks haha. i have 6.5 months now! yay!

wow sounds like a crazy week of traveling... loco. but thats good you got to go to Vegas and be with the fam. i saw the pic and love it, you two look great. hows Maddi and Christy doing?

poor ashy. keep doing what you gotta do, all with love. charity. youre an amazing mom, so dont worry about it. motivate her to go on a mission, it will whip her into shape...

oh no aly nooo!!!! no no no. oh my goodness what happened when she read that? I’m so sad for her. but yes now its super obvious that she has another path, no doubt about it in my mind.. now she’s got to go find it...

go buddy boy! hows he doing in all his competitions and everything? He’s so smart. send some pics of him!

dad wants to retire right now? huh? explain

sure you are fine? why was it such a tough week, cause of grandpa, or other stuff? i love you so much

SO GLAD you guys got the stuff in the mail, that makes my day. i was hoping you could get it and enjoy a little bit of Ushuaia.

hey look up my friend who just went home on insta   Popagramm  jeremias ezequial popa

also do you know a Mckenna kimball (the kimball family) from the NP stake??? THEY WERE IN USHUAIA and talked to some of my companions, they are o a cruise or something... know them??

aww i dream about you guys all the time too. i miss you ! I love you!!

This week elder pop, my district leader and friend, and hermana souza, went home. finished their missions. made me a little homesick that day, along with everyone else. its hard to go to the airport and watch your friends head home happy to see their families. it hurts a bit. but the time is moving faster now. transfers at the end of this week, ill hit 7 months, and its almost easter. its moving along.

this week was hard like i said, we did a lot of contacting and knocking doors, lots of rejections. for hours. cause all of our investigators couldn’t meet this week. and also having lots of problems with the branch, the leaders, and my ward mission leader. lots of contention, problems, and it all seems to look like my fault so i get the blame, even though I'm the only missionary striving with all my heart to be exactly obedient. so that hurts me. 

I gave my testimony yesterday during sacrament. was super nervous but I wanted to do it. 

and huge miracle.....we had 6 investigatores come to church! HUGE miracle that proved to me that despite the problems and drama, the lord sees my efforts.  NO ONE ever has 6 assistences here. No one. so we were thrilled and so grateful. 

I love the missionaries here so much.  i trust them and love them more than i can say.

hermana batista, brazil

hermana simons, utah

elder beltran, honduras

elder popa, argentina

hermana souza, brasil

i love them. they are what make up my mission. and Presidente Salerno also. he is a huge light and help for me. i called him this week about a problem, and me answered me Hija mia, no se preocupe.... My daughter, don’t worry... made me feel so loved. He truly is an inspired man called of God.

My comp is doing good. starting to talk a little more in lessons, buts its still hard cause i have to talk 80 percent of it cause shes nervous or doesn’t kow what to say. I've had to grow a lot and really get out of my comfort zone. i feel like a new person now. like i said, this week the Lord had to break me down lots so that i could build myself up. Don’t worry, I’m okay, and i don’t want to worry you with all the details of everything, but know that the Lord is trying and testing me, for my benefit, ad that I’m growing lots.

i love you so much my sweet mom. i miss you. send a video!

LOVE YOU

amy

February 26, 2018

February 26, 2018- 28 weeks down

Hi mommy!

como estas? todo bien! Te amo tambien mi madre preciosa!

I love writing you too! Sorry i took so long, we went to do some things at noon, and I didn’t want to write before then, cause i knew you’d all be asleep. so we just got back, so thats why i’m writing now! haha!

aww i love that you guys take pics for me. i LOVE the pics. WOW ash and aly’s hair is the same length what the heck. she cut a lot off!

A DEER HUNTERS BANQUET?? EXPLAIN!

YAY he cut off the beard haha

Love the pics. gorgeous.

wow coraline looks so grown up and big in those pics! oh man... one day!

So my week was basically the week from hell.... but yeah. everything that went wrong went wrong. 

left the cell phone in a taxi and had to go running around Ushuaia to find it

we had to wait in the doctors to get a appointment to get glasses for my comp.... she left hers at home

our shower still doesn’t work

then the toilet broke

then i cried hahaha

and the elders had a baptism and overflowed the font and it flooded the church..

so basically, week from hell. we barely got to go out and teach.

oh yeah and now Alejandra isn’t responding .. we’ve called and she responds a little, but wont talk about the baptism... thats supposed to be this Saturday.. so we might have to push it back a week.. but we have transfers in two weeks so I’m freaking out a little

but yeah hahahaha enough about my week i love hearing about you guys!!!

oh poor grandpa. is it real serious mom? or is he gonna pop out of it soon'

HAVE FUN in Denver!! That should seriously be a blast, say hi to everyone for me. take pics

I love you so much. AHHHH BRIGITTES FAREWELL; I FEEL LIKE I JUST HAD MINE!!!!!!!!! Ill go watch those videos now!! aw i miss her so so much

i love you so much. I’m learning a lot. but i miss you guys. 6.5 months done. my district leader goes home tomorrow, and hermana souza, my best friend in the mission, went home Friday. i cried like a baby. She’s from brazil.

i love you !

amy

February 19, 2018

February 19, 2018- 27 weeks down

hey fam!!!! Love you!!

Well i wanted to write a family group email, because so much cool things happened this week, and i want you all to hear. So I’m writing this for you guys, then i will go and read your personal emails and respond to those as well. sound good? 

Bueno. this week was a bit tougher than the last, like mom said could happen. but anyways, we had a lot of lessons and two new investigators that are super amazing. and lots of miracles. lots of hard work and blessings.

One of the cool things is that we found this lady Cintia, and began to teach her. She let us in, because she’s open to all religions. we taught her a bit of the Book of Mormon, and then the next visit we taught all about the Restoration. She was flabbergasted when we said dios and cristo appeared to Joseph Smith. She sat there pondering and asked if it really could happen. We had the opportunity to testify from the bottom of our hearts that yes, it happened, that Christ continues to speak and help his people even today, through prophets. She told us something that made me so happy. She said, now I really want to read this Book of Mormon you left me. I want to find out for myself if this could be true. Its crazy, and I don’t know, but maybe it could be. There’s only one way to find out. I have to read and pray. ohmygoodness we were so happy that she committed to read and pray. The message of the restoration is so powerful. And I believe that Cintia is a person prepared for us, prepared and looking for the truth, but hasn’t found it before. Now that its here, I hope that she can have the faith to accept it, and bring her entire family with her. what a miracle. That lesson was one of the best I have had.

Then, Alejandra accepted a date to be baptized!!!!! The 3 of march.. WOWOWOWOW. She wanted to be baptized, but didn’t want a date. So we taught her all the plan of salvacion, and tied in baptism at the end. It was so spiritual. When we presented the date, she said idk cause I’ve been praying but haven’t received a specific answer about when yet....then an idea came to me. I pulled out Ether 12:6, and had her read it. We receive no testimony until after the trial of our faith. i said that maybe God was waiting for her to make a decision, to try her faith, and promised that after her baptism, she would receive that confirming feeling that everyone has that it was in fact the right decision. She pondered for a minute and then said with a resounding Yes, Ok, I want to be baptized on the 3rd. 

WOWOWOWOWOWO. Me and my comp were so happy we almost cried. Seriously, it was so amazing. Now we are working hard to prepare her, because the day is going to come up fast. And she still likes coffee a little too much, but luckily all her family is members and had the same problem and overcame it, so we can all work together. If Marcelo can stop smoking to be baptized, I know she can give up coffee. All with faith and prayer and miracles.

Also, Sunday was hard. Nothing bad happened, in fact, the church was amazing with amazing talks, and everything. but in the evening, we had a little farewell with Marcelo, because today he leaves for Buenos Aires for several weeks, and it is 90 percent likely that when he gets back, I wont be here. Beause I already have 4 transfers here, and thats the max usually. so we had a little farewell, us four in his house. Mom, that’s why you saw those pics on facebook last night of us!

We talked and laughed like old friends. Made me so happy. Then Marcelo said that he wanted to share some things with me. He thanked me so heartfeltlly and deeply for having come to his house and teach him the gospel and help him, even when he was stubborn, to learn and grow and change. For presenting him the Book of Mormon, and challenging him to read it every day. For everything that we did for me. He thanked me and thanked me and thanked me. Wrote me a note. Bore his testimony. I cried... as you can imagine. we realized in that moment that we might never see each other again. it was so amazing, i was so touched.

then we talked about their goal of being sealed as a family in a year from now... and i realized in a year from now will be the week i head home from my mission. i said half jokingly, hey you should plan your sealing date for the day i head home, so that i can pass through Buenos Aires and be there.

They said, umm actually yes because the two most important people for us to be there are you and Hermana Borba. and Hermana Borba will already be home and lives close. So we figured out the exact day I would be traveling home, and they put their sealing day for the next day. February 13, 2019. Buenos Aires. Oh my goodness i was so happy. I leave Comodoro the 11 or 12, and can pass through Buenos Aires, mom and dad can pick me up there, and the next morning we can go to their sealing session, and then head for the states. I was so happy. Ii hope it can work out like that, and as far as my knowledge of the mission goes, it should work out perfectly. Its my goal.

But when i had to leave his house, I started tearing up again. he thanked me again, and told me to never give up in my mission, cause if i could fight with him, i could fight through anything that came my way. He is such a huge part of my life now, of my mission. I will never forget all those days we spent with them, teaching them, challenging them, loving them. wow.

I hit 6 months this week. felt a little crazy to think that in less than a year i will be home. still have a ways to go, but its starting to pick up a bit now. i love Ushuaia, but I’m also hoping for a change, when transfers come in 3 weeks. i think it will help. but i love Ushuaia so much at the same time. i can now really feel myself growing, changing, becoming a little better, a little more patience and loving. It’s amazing. I have a long ways to go, but I can feel the effects of my mission hitting me now, in a good way.

Well, thats mas o menos all of the crazy awesome things that happened this week.

Mom you can send this as the group email if you want, cause it took a lot of thought and time hahaha. 

I love you guys more than you know. you are my world, my light, my motivation to do what I am doing. I can’t do this without you. The mission is a family affair.

love you. ill go read your personal emails now and respond.

amy

-- 

Mucho amor, 

Hermana Holt