E-Mail 2/27/2012

Hey so I thought it was super interesting that you watched “Atlas Shrugged”. Or whatever it is. But when I was in AP English we studied Ayn Rand and my favorite book of hers was “Anthem”. It’s only 90 pages but it has a pretty cool setup. The movie was crap if I remember right but the message behind it was pretty interesting. I love what you found in the scriptures about all of that. There have been some interesting things that I have come across reading in Mosiah and Alma. and other places that I can not remember, but it’s kinda scary and cool all at the same time, But you can definitely tell that the second coming is close, because the world is going to crap. Anyways, So this past week was uneventful really. We did normal missionary stuff. Nothing really out of the normal. We just said good bye to all the missionaries who went home and i forgot to tell you that we had a funeral for them before we left. I sent a picture, but it was totally awesome. It was so much fun. I hope they hold one for me when I leave 🙂 So Sis. HONG and I have a goal to have 10 baptisms this month. We are super excited for it and are going to be working hard to accomplish it. We have pretty much made a plan for how we are going to make it happy. Simply. We will only focus on people who have the desire to be baptized. That seems obvious, but it can be a real challenge half the time. The plan should work wonderfully. As long as we are exactly obedient. My struggle as well. I’m always like 5 minutes late for bed and I sometime fall asleep in personal study. It is horrible. You have to be constantly working on things or they slip from your fingures. Anyways, we have a ton of new people in the Zone and they are amazing! We has a new Assistant and his name is Elder Hansen. He’s super shy and doesn’t know what to do with us Sisters. We have the sweetest District Leader Elder Plowman. He’s from Chicago and will be a great leader. OH and there are 2 black people serving now. I am no longre the only African American type. :p Super funny. Oh And who are the elders that are coming and or already serving here. They might be in my zone!
Anyways. I can not believe that Shaundrey is preggo again!! That is so crazy. Kathy hasn’t killed anyone yet has she? It’s a good thing she has those two puppies!
Well the family sounds like things are going well…… -ish.
Oh and i was thinking. It sounds like financially this year things are going to be super rough. I would love it if you came and picked me up. I’ve been telling everyone that you were coming, but I don’t want it to be a struggle to do so. If you can do it that would make me so happy. But if you find that you can’t.We can save up and go for family vacation and I could show you the whole mission or something. What do you think?
So this week I have been learning a lot about increasing my faith and believing. I have been struggling with this one investigator and he makes me so frustrated i want to throw a book of mormon at his head. I got to read ether 4 and 12 and D&C 5 and then it some how lead me to alma 5 and how as members we need to be going the extra mile. it’s not good enough to just be a good missionary or a good member we have to go beyond that. So for Carl (investigator) I just have to go the extra mile and help him just a little bit more and he will get baptized. they were really good scriptures so i thought i would share.
Anyways i got to peace out. I love you and miss you.
Sis Holder

Emails 2-21-2012

 

So Family,

I guess I can tell you about transfers… Sis Hong….. Stays! Sis. Holder….. Stays! And thats that. :p Yeah for me there isnt much changing, but as for all the companionships around me everything is changing. Elder George and Neeley are going home and that means I get a new assistant, district leader and sis. pack is getting a new companion as well. so i also get a new roommate. crazy right? out of the 70 compnaionships only 12 stayed the sasme, and i just happened to be on of them.I thought for a very long time that I would transfer. but the assisstants kept messing with our heads so i just stopped caring. but it was kinda shocking. i have been here for a very long time… 6 months. but i’m ok with that. i’m by everybody and thing that i want to be by except a super walmart… i hate the fact that they dont have on in my area that is within a reasonable distance. but anyways whats up?

oh yeah and i’m not worried about the getting married thing. it’s just something that was getting talked about a lot and no i do not think that mckay is the one, at least for right now. so not even worried. and as for getting a long with people i get along with everyone. but when you have been with someone for so long eventually people start butting heads. but yes sis hong and i are doing great we have bad days and good days and bad weeks and good weeks. we probably have some of the most unique personalities on the mission and they had to put us together cause we would run everybody else over. elder kealamakia calls me the bulldozer(sp?) i’m not sure if thats a good or a bad thing. anywas thats whats up right now. oh cool story. so both of our converts were confirmed on sunday. well charlene went to sunday school and there was no teacher because we were with a baptismal interview and the ward mission leader is MIA so charlene taught the class! how cool is that! she is the most solid person in the gospel ever. she’s better than most members. i’m so excited for her! and i get another 6 weeks with her. i am truly blessed. 🙂 anyways i dont know what else to write about. any insights?

 

Dear Pres. Anderson,

I wanted to tell you at the zone conference, but never had the oppertunity to, was that when you told the story about David and Goliath. It was really cool, I felt like you were telling us a bed time story. It was so awesome. And you and Sis. Anderson are so cute! I am happy to be serving here with you. Thank you for all that you do.

This past transfer has been crazy!!! Sis. Hong and I have had a rough past week, but over all the transfer was great. I am excited and shocked that I will continue to serve here in Davie. It was totally unexpected. But Sis. Hong and I have made a vision for the area and are excited to get it in motion. We are so sad to see our district leader leave. Elder George chanegd the whole face of my mission. But I am excited to have a new district leader and learn new things. Also, there are many personal goals that I have set out for myself that I would like to accomplish and I know that this transfer will be perfect for the leanring and growth that I want to do. There are so many things that I want to study up on and learn more about. Plus, I want to master the scriptures. I don’t feel like I know them at all. But I know all those things will come with time. Something that I have been thinking about lately is what I can work on to be a better missionary. For the most part the answerr would probably be everything.

Anyways we had something cool happen this week. Both Charlene and David were confirmed this past Sunday, but Charlene had a really cool experience. After sacrament meeting she went to Gospel Principles. Unfortunately there was no teacher and both Sis. Hong and I were with a baptismal interview. So because nobody in the class had manuals except for Charlene she was voted to teach the class. So she did!!!! We are so happy for both her and David who are doing well and are excited to work towards going to the temple.

Anyways, i’m ecited for a new transfer and the things I will learn.

Thanks for all you do!

Sis. Holder

E-Mails 2-13-2012

I have to tell you about the amazing week that I have had. Well actually it was kinda crappy, but it ended strong. So Sis. Hong and I had been upset with each other at the beginning of the week. So we really weren’t getting a lot of work done. Plus, we had a baptismal interview nearly go wrong, and because of it we were chastised by Elder George for our investigator not knowing about Thomas S. Monson. That put Sis. Hong in a depressive funk and put me in a really bad mood. So we have been at it for most of the week. So it was going really crappy. Our numbers were crap, we felt like crap…. crap crap crap! Then we forgave and forgot and got back to work and pulled our numbers up and had 2 BAPTISMS! How cool is that. David and Charlene were baptized yesterday and it was an amazing day! David we have been working with since before Christmas. He’s a 46 year old bachelor who like(s)(d) the fast life. But for some reason he decided that the life he was living wasn’t good. So he continued to meet with us. I felt like Sis. Hong and I were his mother. It was like taking care of a child. Plus he would always say that he needed to take “baby steps”. I dont know how many times we invited him to be baptized. But He finally committed and followed through. His mother is a member in the Boynton Beach ward; my first area. Crazy right. Now he is happily baptized and now all we have to do is get him a Mormon wife. 😛 Charlene whom we met about 9 days ago is the description of a “Golden Investigator”. She works at Nova University in the dental program as an assistant. It just so happens that the program only accepted 12 applicants and out of the 12, 5 of them were LDS. Crazy, right? Well because of the 5 members that were there, Charlene was able to see that they were different. They were respectful. talked kindly about there families and lived a good life. She saw that and wanted her son Ethan (4yrs) to be just like them. She started asking them questions and they told her answers. 9 days ago she met with us and was practically living everything the church asks. She quick smoking the day we met with her. She stopped drinking, she dropped her boy friend, she got rid of all the bad shows on her TV. It was crazy! So we were able to be apart of both of there baptisms and it was so amazing!
Well transfers are coming up fast and a lot of the Elders I have been with are going home. I am so sad 😦 But it’s gonna be great we’ll be friends forever! 😛 This is gonna be a huge transfer because last time only a few people moved and we have like 15 Elders coming. No sisters. Anyways life is good. You’ll find out next week about transfers.
And I have learned so much here in Davie. A lot of patience. How to set goals and accomplish them. How to be accountable. A lot about the Atonement and repentance. Charity. Marriage. I feel like this one is being drilled into my head with out anyone saying anything. It must be that I am stuck with some one for 24/7 😛
Anyways, know I love you tons and can’t wait to hear from you.
Sis. Holder

Dear Pres. Anderson,

This week has been a very interesting week for both Sis. Hong and I. We weren’t doing so well to start off with and we were really getting on each others nerves. It was really rough on getting work done. But we were able to talk to it out and pull it together for the end of week and have 2 baptisms! They were absolutely amazing. Charlene, who met about 2 weeks ago, was baptized and super excited to be apart of the true gospel of Jesus Christ. She had made so many changes in her life just in the short time that we have known her. Because of the influence from members in the Orthodontics program at Nova, she had amazing support and wonderful examples that helped her along the way. David, whom we had been working with since before Christmas was baptized as well. His mother got to be apart of it and they were so happy. It was a great end to an interesting week. Though we did run into a problem that some members in the ward are not so excited that we have baptisms on Sunday or that we baptize so quickly. We are unsure how to accomadate for the problem. But we are trying hard to work with the ward council. Bishop Curtis is trying his hardest to support us and move the work along for the ward.
Anyways, thanks for everything you do for me.
Sis. Holder

 

Emails 2/6/2012

Dear Pres Anderson, This past week has been amazing for Sis. Hong and I. The previous week was not so great and we wanted to make this week much better. The results were that we are going to be having 2 baptisms and we are working with some amazing people! Elder George challenged us to only teach with the spirit and if it wasn’t there that we should stop the lesson and sing a song or say a prayer and end the lesson or do as the spirit directs. We have had great teaching moments and we have been focused on inviting the spirit and powerful lessons. We begin each lesson with a song and a short powerful prayer and testify of the things that are true. We were also blessed to have our investigator move his own baptismal date up on his own accord! David that you met on Sunday. So the work is going great and I can’t wait for it to get even better. Also this week I have been focusing on making my studies better and more effective. I can feel myself becoming more in tune with the spirit and being able to better understand the prompting that he gives me. I’m starting to realize that there is so much that I need to work on so that I am a better missionary! Once you learn one thing you have to work on another. Something I’ve always known but never realized fully. I’m enjoying my studies, and learning and growing and working a lot on myself and the things I need to do to become better. Thanks for everything! Sis Holder”

Hey!
So this week has been crazy awesome! I got your letters too. So we met this super sweet lady named Charlene. She was a member pass from the Elders. Well we go over to her house and she immediately accepts a baptismal date for the 12th! Turns out she works at Nova university with a bunch of member in the Ortho program. They were the perfect example of everything that she wanted for her son and she started asking them questions. And now she is getting baptized on Sunday WOOT WOOT! Also our buddy David whom we have been teaching since December. Finally committed to getting baptized as well. But then on Sunday he came up to us and said..”So i have to move my baptismal date.. It has to be this weekend.” We were so shocked it was crazy! So how cool is that! We have been working so hard and feeling like we were teaching brick walls and then out of the blue all this miracles start happening! How cool is that?! S Also this past week our District Leader Elder George challenged us to only teach with the spirit. That meant that if we didn’t feel like the spirit was present we stopped the lesson sang a song, said a prayer or something. then either ended the lesson or do as the spirit directs. It was a very powerful training that we had. It was video recorded too for the mission. Cause we are the best district in the whole mission. 😛 But it was powerful and amazing. These past 2 transfers have made a large impact on my mission and I am absolutely grateful for everything that I have experienced. Unfortunately it’s all going to change at transfers. But it will be a good change. I’m worried that I will be moved though. I want to stay in Davie. Ok, regarding your questions. Yes I am doing very well, just a little antzy for transfers, but I’m learning tons and having a lot of fun. We got to celebrate Elder Clark’s birthday. Today we are going out to eat with our district and then going bowling. so it’s going to be a lot of fun. Last week we went on a nature trail. I’ll try to send pics soon. As far as McKay goes. I’m just not feeling it. Since I’ve been here there is just so much that I have learned about marriage and life after the mission. I’m going to be a completely different person and so is he. So I don’t want him to think that all is well and is going to work out when we get home. I have sent some letters to him regarding the issue. The problem is that it takes months to send letters back and forth. Anyways, Those are my thoughts and I don’t think it will work out. Um.. Thanks so much for doing my taxes. And for taking care of my loan. Does everything look like it will be taken care of. And don’t forget that the paperwork for the defferment of my other loans needs to be done soon. Anyways. life is all well an dI’m excited for this week and can’t wait to tell you what happens.
Love you tons and can’t wait to hear from you.
Sis. Holder