Week 66: 15 Months!

Hola a todos!!

Well, transfers are here anndddd I'm STAYING in Guaynabo!!! We kinda guessed it but we were surprised to find out that Hna Ahlander is headed to Humacao! I'm a little sad - she is seriously one of the funnest sister missionaries ever and we've gotten along SO well, but at the same time I'm super duper excited for her because it's her first change in the mission; I know she's going to go on to work miracles in the mission, how grateful I feel to have been her companion. She has taught me SO much!!

This week was definitely a lot better and we are seeing some progress! Quenia ALMOST made it to church this week! We stopped by to see how she was doing and she just says, Sisters I want to go to church this week! ... WHAT?! Is this not the less active that just two weeks ago and told us straight up that she wasn't ever planning on coming back? I seriously just wanted to cry in that instant. She has been trying so hard to change and has made a lot of progress! The Relief Society sisters had started this week reading the Book of Mormon in 90 days and when we told her about it, she got right on! She's super strong and I have learned a lot by her example. For health reasons she didn't make it this Sunday but there is always the next! Prayers for her! 

Our dear Maria is believing more and more every time we stop by - she's like a living miracle! We LOVE her! She told us this week that she really believes that Joseph Smith was a prophet, wow! We keep pushing her with love to come to church and know that someday she will make that step. I know that she's been feeling the Spirit more and more, and I know that he will give her the nudge she needs :)

NEW INVESTIGATORS!!!!! WOO!! Don't you just love those two words? I do! One of them is Marcy who is actually the friend of Cecilia! One day when we were teaching Cecilia she was there and told us that we can stop by anytime, so we definitely took that invitation! She's really Catholic but she's super sweet and willing to listen. We taught her about the Family Proclamation this week and she really liked it so that's a start! 

The other is Rosa! Ohh Rosa, she is AWESOME! She's the contact I think I mentioned last week.. well anyway, she has a LOT of potential and she's really looking for some spiritual guidance, and I know where she can get that from!! The only hard thing is that she talks a ton.. haha which is super good to get to know her but it's a little bit more complicated to teach! But we are super duper excited for her! I know Heavenly Father put her into our path for a reason, and the amazing thing is that Rosa recognized that too!

Well, the church is true everyone! I realize that more and more everyday as I share that with the people here! That's the awesome thing that happens when we share our testimonies, it is strengthened! I testify that God loves us and He truly knows us better than we know ourselves. We are His children! And what Father doesn't want the best for His children? He has a perfect plan for us and as we faithfully and willingly follow that plan, He will guide us to greater joy and happiness than we could have ever imagined! Have a great week!

Love, 

Hermana Holt

 

15 months!

 Haley Brown's trainer

Emma getting baptized

 

Frayli

 

 Pin the tie on the Elder

 He's trying to peek

 My turn

 

 Goodbye Elder Kendell

 

Week 65: Zone Conference

Hola a todos! 

This week, not everything seemed to go as we had planned, but we were blessed to have our Zone Conference that really gave us the spiritual boost that we needed!! The Zone Conference was awesome, Presidente is really pushing our mission so we can reach our potential as missionaries and servants of the Lord. Sometimes we have the tendency to look at the numbers he wants and we think.. what?! But at the same time, I think, this is what the Lord wants so it truly is something we can achieve! I'm super excited and it makes me SO happy to know that this mission, and the missionary work going on in this island really is getting better every day!! The Lord loves the Puertoricans and I do too :) 

Also, it decided to rain super duper hard this week on my intercambio with Hermana Madrigal, super hard that there was no way we could walk straight because the wind was pulling us so many different directions! And then no one decided to be home when it rained so we ended up staying soaking wet all day haha! I learned a valuable lesson that day that the Lord truly sees and knows our efforts. It's not always our favorite thing as missionaries, when no one seems to be home, nor interested as you contact, and you're soaking wet. But we kept going because we can do hard things! I love the Lord and I knew He was aware of us that day because at the LAST minute of the day someone decided to listen to us, and we have another appointment for this next week. We have to trust in Him, even though at times we feel it's just better to whine and complain and do what we feel is best! We just have to allow Him to bless us!

I know this church is true, and that our Heavenly Father loves us - He has given us the gospel!! What a blessing! Have a great week everyone!

Love, 

Hermana Holt

 

 Intercambios (exchanges) with Hma Madrigal

 Our mission nurse, Hma Heidenrich went home.

She's been here the whole time I have

 The Morro

 So glad to put my feet in the sand

 Just a little windy

 I love my Puerto Rico

 That ship is huge

 The jumping pic

Our attempt at a laughing picture

 Can't take the gymnast out of me

 Love these girls!

 

Such cool streets

 

Just like what I saw on Google

Week 64: Summer in Puerto Rico- Hot and Sweaty

Hola a todos! 

Puerto Rico is definitely entering the summer time because WOW is it starting to real boil up!! I'm pretty sure Hna Ahlander and I find new tan lines everyday haha! It's always a joy to have to apologize to people for being so sweaty!! I'm pretty sure that the heat is all that people are talking about now a days! We are still on water rationing and we've just heard that we are going to be on 3 days without water, and 3 days with - but it's always unpredictable so we constantly pray for rain! :)

Guess what?! Dora, our less active, got a calling!! WOO!! We are so excited and she is too!! She's going to be the one choosing and directing the music for sacrament meeting! She is always talking to us about music (she likes to write songs in English too) and so we thought this would be perfect for her! So we'll be choosing and practicing with her so she's already to start this next Sunday :) It's always fun to see the light that people have and their excitement as they start coming back to church, especially with a new calling (which is SO important for them!) and that they know they'll be serving the Lord and others! 

Maria Margarita is doing good, she is constantly reading and praying and even though she is still unsure about changing and everything, we saw a huge miracle this week with her! In the previous lessons that we've had, she has her own way of praying, the way she was taught growing up, which really is so great! But we talked to her the other week about the importance of ending in the name of Jesus Christ. To our surprise, when we passed with her on Saturday, we asked her to say the closing prayer and she ended in the name of Jesus Christ, which she has never done! It might not seem like a big deal, but to us it was! By small and simple things are great things brought to pass! Even in the change and conversion of a person - baby steps :) 

We also found another less active this week, her name is Quenia and she is so cute!! She's Dominican and I love her personality!! She is so fun! She's only been less active for about a year now and we really feel that we can help get her back :) We had a super spiritual lesson with her but the only thing is that she might be moving to Texas! So, we are hoping and praying that we will be able to her strengthen her up so she'll be ready to find the church out in Texas! It has always been so amazing to me to know that the Church is the same wherever we are! It MUST be true :)

Things are going good, the bishop has asked all the members to keep up with the references, since all of the converts in the past year from the ward have been references, so we'll see what will happen! I completely trust in the Lord because I know that when we do, it will all work out according to His plan, which is a lot better than anything we could ever come up with! Have a great week everyone!

Love, 

Hermana Holt

 

 Frayli is putting her mission papers in this week

 

Hermana Alhander hit her 5 month mark

 

Week 63:Special Visitors

Hola a todos!

This week was super great and we have seen a ton of blessings and little miracles! I'm really excited for what the Lord has planned for these next couple months, cause there is going to be some great changes!

Like I mentioned last week, fasting works and is real! After we finished writing, a member came to help us with our groceries, and as soon as we got into the car she said, I have a reference for you guys and we are going on Wednesday.. OK!! We now have a new investigator, Maria Margarita!! And the awesome thing is, is that her daughter who is a member in another ward has already given her a Book of Mormon and the Gospel Principles book and she's almost done reading both of them.. HOW great is that!! She has a desire to know, but the thing that we are working with is helping her with the change because she is really really catholic. She told us that it's going to take time for her to change, but she is willing to do it! The Lord asks for a willing heart, right? We are super excited to start working with her!

We passed by with Cecilia again this week and now we are a little confused haha the lesson went really great and she is just loving the Book of Mormon but when we reminded her of church (and we thought she had stopped going to her other church) she told us that she couldn't because she already has an assignment in her church so she needs to be there Sundays.. what?? We had no idea and we aren't sure what happened! Little bump in the road there, but we'll see what will happen this week! I know that Heavenly Father is control of the situation and that He can work miracles! That's our little theme that Hermana Ahlander and I have as a companionship, that God is a God of miracles! It's so true!! And I testify and promise that as we look for them, we will see that they are everywhere! He is constantly blessing us.

Also, our less active Dora bore her testimony yesterday and it was so great!! We have loved seeing her come to church and we love teaching her - she has a strong testimony of the Restoration and it's amazing how much the Spirit can fill the room has one testifies of the blessings one has because of a boy who asked such an important question in 1820.

Last night we had dinner with some of the members, Hno y Hna Olmo, and it ended up being such a spiritual experience! As Hna Ahlander and I have fasted, we have felt impressed to start contacting and working in Bello Monte, the area where these members lived. As we shared with them our thoughts and feelings, right there on the spot they gave us 9 names of less active families that they knew lived in the area!! The sister even pulled out her phone right then and asked one of her friends about taking the missionary discussions!! We finished the evening in a kneeling prayer, which they asked me to give, and I know that the Savior was with us in that moment. The Spirit was just so real as we asked for help with the missionary work in this part of the area! Wow, Hna Ahlander and I are super excited to start and even more excited that we've got two other companions with us as well!! ;)

The days keep getting hotter and hotter, and our faces seem to get more red everyday haha but I just love it! Not the heat so much haha but just being out! Out in the city sharing what we know! It's not always easy, but it's so worth it! Have a great week everyone!

Love,

Hermana Holt

 

 

Aunt Jenna (my mom's sister)

 

 The Millers

Uncle Robert, Emily, Aubrey, Brenna, Lindsay, Kayla, Aunt Jenna

 

Visiting me before their cruise

 This is why you shouldn't cut your own hair

 English class-they learned the names of clothes and had to put them on

 Hermana Ahlander's depiction of us

 pastalon

Week 62: We walked and it rained

Hola a todos!!

This week has been a good one! LOTS of walking, but it is all worth it :) Also, the Lord has blessed us with a TON of rain which is always the best! It's not always fun to walk around all day with wet shoes haha but we need the water! We are still on the water rationing but Hna Ahlander and I have been surviving just fine. 

This week I really want to testify of the power of fasting. Being in a new area, sometimes it's a shock and you realize that you really really need the Lords help in everything - trying to remember where you are, get used to the change of scenery, getting to know the members and investigators, etc! We've been trying especially to get the ward going with the work here, and we both felt that we should fast for the area, and for help knowing in which direction we should go. These past couple of days I feel like the Lord has heard our prayers and is guiding us to what we should be focusing on and how we can really strengthen this ward! It's going to take some time, but I am confident that it will all be worth it, because the Gospel of Jesus Christ is worth it! 

This week I met another investigator, her name is Joana! She's a single mom with a 4 year girl who is so cute! Joana is super powerful and has a lot of potential I think! She lost her mom a year or so ago and it's still been hard for her. There is nothing more sweet than testifying of forever families! She wasn't able to attend church this week because her dad was in town, but we are praying really hard for next week!

Well, I love being a missionary! The mission has its ups and downs, some things are better than others, but I just can't imagine what my life would be like without this experience that I am having. I just love this Gospel so much and there is nothing better than sharing it with others, even when it might be scary!! And believe me, hahaha sometimes it is, but remember, it's worth it!

Have a great week!

Love, 

Hermana Holt

 

shout outs to my mom and brother on their birthdays this week

 selfie in an elevator

 English class