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 

Hola queridos amigos y familia!

Wowza, the time is starting to fly. Its December! 

This week was absolutely fantastic. Well, it finished fantastic. It started off rough, because my companion is unfortunately going through a lot of emotional issues, and some days we have to stay in the pension and do certain activities to help her out. She’s is dealing with some depression like things, I don’t know the whole story, but its been really hard for her each day, which makes it hard for me too.

But by some miracle, Wednesday she was feeling great so we were able to get out and WORK! We started some new programs as a mission to find more investigators.. and they WORKED! We found 4 new investigators this week... and Ill tell you all about one of them, and a super great experience we had...

We received the reference from our zone leaders, to go a visit someone named Elias. So Friday night we went to his house, and we knocked on the door and he opened it and welcomed us in like old friends. We walked in, and his girlfriend and a friend were there, waiting for us as well. Now , this doesn’t usually happen. Usually the people give fake addresses, or aren’t home, or are home and don’t want to listen. SO what a nice surprise and blessing it was to have him willing to let us in, and that his girlfriend and friend wanted to hear us as well! 

We began chatting to get to know them, and we actually talked mainly with his girlfriend Gloria. She opened right up to us, and told us how her brother had just died 2 months ago and how she was mad at God for how unjust his death was. She was crying and it was such a sad, but tender moment. With tears in our eyes, me and my companion were able to bear our testimonies on the Plan of Salvation, and that she would get to see her brother again, and that God is a just God and gives us trials and difficulties so that we can Remember him, learn, grow and change. Then she told us that several years ago she accepted the mormon missionaries in her house, and that she has a book of mormon. We were surprised, and had no idea. So we continued to talk and teach a bit more about the plan of salvation before we had to leave. 

But it was so amazing to see how God works - that he had the zone leaders contact Elias, and that Elias lives in our area, that we got to go visit him and he was home and let us in, that his girlfriend was there, and that everything happened how it happened. I know that there are no coincidences, only blessings that show that our loving heavenly father is watching out for us and loves us so much. We will continue to meet and work with Elias and Gloria this week. Pray for them, that they will accept our message and start to progress in the faith!

I feel so blessed each day here, and can see the hand of the Lord working in my life. I know He lives. It;s so clear. It makes me so sad when we meet and talk with people that want nothing to do with god, or are so convinced that he doesn’t exist or that he doesn’t love his children. I don't know what I would do if I thought that God doesn’t exist, if I didn’t know about the scriptures, or didn’t know that God has a plan for me in my life, and that my family is meant to be eternal.

I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be here serving a mission. I wont lie, its extremely hard and trying and there are many moments where i want to throw in the towel and return to the comforts of my home and old life. But I cant do that. I made a promise to the Lord, to go and serve and learn what he needs me to learn and become what he needs me to be.

At least I know I’ll have one convert on my mission - myself. I know this gospel is true, and that this is the Lords church here on the Earth.

I am so grateful for this Christmas season, and that I get to be here in the Lord work to celebrate christmas. 

The sun came out this week, woohoo! No snow! Hopefully it stays like that.

We have transfers in 1.5 weeks, and man I hope that I get to stay here in Ushuaia!

Also Elder Bragg from the 70 is coming to our district to give a conference this weekend.... and Im super excited!

I love you guys! Thank you for all of the support and encouragement. Stay strong, keep doing the little things, and look for the blessings of the  in your life.

Mucho amor, 

Hermana Holt 

PS- From December to February the sister missionaries are supposed to wear pants instead of skirts. She was soooo excited to be wearing pants again haha. Simple pleasures I guess….

d

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!

She didn’t have much time to write so she asked me to send this short note along with excerpts from her letter to me.  So if it is a little disjointed this week, you know why!!

From her letter to me:

My week was good. We had lots of neat experiences and tender mercies. The weather changes every second I swear.. some minutes its so cold im dying, and others im just in one thin jacket. And then another second it starts to snow, and the wind, and then sun! AH! haha. 

Yep I sing hymns, read Jesus the Christ, and read my Libro De Mormon when I feel down or stressed (sooo everyday lol). We have a few awesome investigators, but its so hard to get ahold of people here because they hate to answer their phones and they hate committment. We have had SO many appointments fall through its a joke. But, those who want to learn will learn. And we are teaching a mom of a 18 year old member, and she came to church twice and is super amazing! Mom the poverty in that family is unbelievable. They barely have enough for food for the week. Their house is smaller and darker than my bedroom at home, and there are 4 of them. Its crazy. But yet on Sundays she puts on her best clothes and comes to church!

I am sleeping well, (trying to) eat well, but oh the panaderias here are soooo tempting!, Sharing my testimony and teaching during lessons more and more as I because a little more comfortable with the language each week ( I still have a long way to go).

The mission is so much more different than I originally htought it was. I thought it would be a grind every second of every day, so when I got here, I started out at full speed GO GO GO. I learned real quick that this is not a sprint, but a marathon, and its ok to take 10 minutes to cook something or buy a treat or talk to another missionary. I wanted to just run out the door and every second of the day teach people, but the mission is so much more than that. We have 3 hours of different studies each day, service and helping out the other missionaries, attending and setting up baptisms, staying long after church, meetings with the ward mission leader (hermano polanco.. he is a BOSS), and SO much more. I am learning to adjust to all of the many responsibilities and things we have to do. Its not just teaching, but being an example and a light in every moment, even on the busses or taxis. Or when we are walking miles to go pick up a lunch, or walking to an investigaotrs house. Its crazy how many things happen in one day. I hope one day to tell you about each and every detail! 

Know for now that I am learning to de-stress, have patience and humility, and remembering to have a little fun. Not in a disobedient way, but in a way that reminds me that I am still just a 19 year old girl, on an adventure, learning to share the message that brings her the most happiness! I am starting to meet more missionaries and make more friends.

 I've realized I am still in the first 3 miles of my 18 mile journey! 

I sent Amy a bunch of pictures- Aw yeah the Trunk or Treat! So sick! I LOVE THE PICS! You and dad are so cute... Aly and Ash are WAY too gorgeous for their own goods... and OH BRANDON HAHAHA. I cant even handle him.  So good to see Dave, Osten, and the Lytles faces!

Man Aly and Ash are so gorgous in those pictures with the Young Women... and wow those Daland girls got so big... have I really only been gone 11 weeks? I love seeing pics of all the young women! They are all so beautiful! I hope they are all doing well. 

Then she wrote to you all:

HOLAAAAA BUENOS

This week was great! 

One super neat experience - Saturday evening me and my comp went to an investigators house to get to know them (they live in our area, but the elders from a different area are teaching them along with me and my comp). Laura and Marcelo. Super amazing. They are super prepared and want to be baptized the 11 of NOVEMBER! We were talking with them and felt prompted to share a scripture - Isaiah 41:10 and 13. As we read the scripture, Laura began to cry. We asked what was wrong. She said that she had prayer 30 minutes before, and this scripture was the exact ansewr that she needed! We were all super surprised, but so happy that we were able to be instruments in the Lords hands for her! I have no doubt they will be baptized in the coming week.... oh my goodness I am so excited! This church is true! God lives, and He blesses us each day. 

The mission is hard, but I am learning so much about myself and about God each and every day.

Funny story - there was a baptism in the other ward this week, so we went to support them. When we arrived, half the church was flooded because someone forgot to turn off the font!!!! So we spend like 30 minutes trying to clean up all of the water... yikes!!! But the baptism went well (although we had to start like 40 minutes late!) Goodness gracias.

Lots of love

Hermana Holt