Week 24: Goodbye San Sebastian!

From our personal letter:

I hope you're on cause guess what... I'M LEAVING SAN SEBASTIAN!! Wooowwwww has it been a crazy couple of days, and emotional!! I am being sent to Juana Diaz, which is right on the beach and aparently one of the hottest places on the Island... ah!! And get this, Hna Sosa is leaving too!!!!! She is going to train in San German. We were super duper worried about our investigators but the missionaries that are coming in to take our place are awesome, so that took a lot of my fear away. Hna Madrigal is staying and Hna Watkins is headed to train near Bayamon. 3 changes mom!! It's been super hard on the ward but we are all just so thankful Madrigal is staying, that will be a big help! Wow, even though it's the hardest thing to leave this stake, this ward, and the people here whom I love so dearly, I have to trust that this next area is where the Lord needs me! I have been praying all week to be calm and have peace when I heard the transfers. And the Lord has been so gracious with me, cause I know that in this situation I would usually be FREAKING out haha (I might be just a tad), but it's been alright. I have complete confidence that the Lord needs me there right now. So my companion is Hermana Escobar and I don't know if I've ever met her and I heard she is from Guatemala so that's super exciting! I leave tomorrow so next weeks letter is going to be super fun to read :) Wish me luck, I'm gonna need it!

Letter to all:

Hola todo! Well, this is the moment that us missionaries have been waiting for all week.. I'm leaving to JUANA DIAZ!! Haha this weekend was absolutely insane because we were supposed to hear about the transfers Saturday afternoon.. and they didn't have them. So then they were going to call us that night.. and they didn't have them!! So we had to wait ALL Sunday, and they didn't call til about 9 or so! Haha if you have been a missionary, you might know that it is a little bit more difficult to have patience with the transfers! Anyway, we were at the Stake Presidents house when they called to let us know and we all basically started crying right there! Wow! It still hasn't hit my mind that I'm leaving San Sebastian, but it's happening! To be honest, I am super sad to leave, but super excited at the same time! I am just putting all my trust in the Lord that this next area is where I need to be. And really, trying to have that attitude and moving forward with a lot of prayer is definitely helping with the move. And since we've only had one days notice, today has been full of packing and goodbyes, and then after emailing, more packing and goodbyes! But all is well, it is still the work of the Lord no matter where we are or where we go! So tomorrow, I'm off to Juana Diaz!

So, to talk a little bit about this week, things are going well with the investigators. They are super bummed about the changes, but we keep going, right?? Sadly Aurora and Peggy, again, couldn't make it to church.. again.., but Vicente came and he loved it!! It was fast and testimony meeting which was perfect that he was able to hear everyone bear their testimonies! And guess what?! We had a miracle in our ward. So remember our less active family of 7? So for the almost 5 months that we have been here, they have come to our ward I think 3 or 4 times now? So we have been working our absolute hardest with them, they are such a wonderful family! And I'm not sure how much I've explained about them, but the husband is President of the Elders Quorum and everything! So the past couple of times that they've come to church, they've come a little late, left a little early, and they would come in jeans and a t shirt. But, listen to this.. as Hna Sosa and I walk into church, there was the husband in a suit and tie, preparing for Elders Quorum!!!! So we went to go shake his hand and asked him where his family was, because we hadn't seen them. He then told us that he felt that he needed to come early because as President he needs to help prepare for the class and get things ready and that his family was coming in a little bit.. I didn't even know they had another car!!!!!!!!!! Hna Sosa and I couldn't believe it!!!!! And then the rest of the family came, all dressed up and tidy ready for church!!!! It was absolutely amazing and I have a feeling that they are going to be going to church from now on :)

Also, something super exciting happened in our ward this week! Friday night we had a guy come to talk about Geneology and Family History! Apparently, no one in our ward has ever sent names to the temple.. so he came to teach them how! Since there isn't a temple here, it's a little bit different because the memebers aren't as aware of what goes on in the temples and all the temple work. So, to show them how to do it, they used one of the accounts of a lady in our ward - her and her husband just went to the temple and were sealed in the Florida temple last week :) - and she had some names of her ancestors. So the guy should her how to prepare the name for the temple ordinances, and we sent them to the temple! The first names ever to be sent to the temple in the history of San Sebastian!! It was SO incredible to see and the Spirit was so strong, she even started to cry!! I have such a strong testimony of the missionary work that is done inside the temples and beyond the veil! The fact that we can help prepare with the temple ordinances of our deceased ancestors on the computer is just amazing!!! Do family history :)

Hna Watkins asked me the other day why I felt like I was sent to San Sebastian. As I was thinking about it, I'm not sure we always know the exact reason why we are where we are. What is most important is that the Lord has sent us to where we are. I have absolutely loved being here in San Sebastian. I have been able to witness 3 baptisms, the beginning of a change of a ward, the activation of a family, and I was able to spend almost 5 months with a crazy, fun Honduranian!! And to be honest, I can't even say that any of the success we had  was because of me and my companion. Yes, we are instruments in the hands of our Savior, but I know withouth a doubt that it is all because of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. How blessed I am that I have been able to seen the affects of it in the lives of others so early on in my mission! And I still have a long way to go haha! But our future is just as bright as our faith, right? And I have faith that the Lord is going to continue leading me to the people who are prepared to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Now why is He now sending me to Juana Diaz? Well, hopefully I will be able to figure that out in these next six weeks :) Wish me luck!! Have a great week everyone!!

Love,

Hermana Holt 

President Arocho and his wife

Sign in the Stake President's house

Week 23: 5 months!





Hola todo! So I don't have a lot of time, but this week was alright! I hit my 5 month mark... can you believe it?? Where has the time gone? And guess what? Transfers are this next week! They let us know Saturday... haha kinda scared but excited too! And sad because Hna Sosa and I know that we will most likely be seperated! But, vamos a ver!

 

Anyway, about our investigators. Sadly at the last minute, Peggy, Vicente, AND Aurora said they couldn't come to church. I literally about cried! But, we keep going! They all said that they will be able to next week, but that's what they said last week haha. Positive thoughts everyone!!! But other than that, the lessons with all 3 of them are just so fun and great, they all really have desires to change and learn more and more! Vicente still isn't drinking coffee, woo!! Even though he said he has gotten more headaches haha.. but all is well! We have had more members come and visit Aurora which I know is helping her in receiving her answer. Saturday night we went over to Peggy and Vicentes to make dinner! Hna Sosa made what she calls Baleadas, which is a food from Hondurus, super good! So it was fun to just bond with them!

We had some of the other people we are teaching drop us.. but we have been blessed with Ismael!! So I kinda got the names mixed up last week, oops! Ivan is Ismael haha, his friend's name is Ivan! Sorry! Anyway, our lesson with him Wednesday was incredible! I didn't even know what to say! Since he can't see, he is so receptive to the Spirit. At the end of the lesson he just told us, there is something different. He said that he can feel it and just feels that it's true. It was awesome!!! But, sadly, he works Sundays. Gah! So we'll have to work with that too!!

That's all I have time for, love you all! Have a great week everyone!! Be excited to hear about transfers!! :)

Love,

Hermana Holt

 

 

 

 5 month mark

 

 So excited to hit 5 months

 

 Making dinner at Peggy's

 

 fruit from a generous neighbor

 

 How my companion cooks

 

Surprise visit from Sister Howell before she heads back to Utah

Week 22: Hermana Sosa's feeling 22

Hola todo!! Well, on to the week! Things are going well with our 3 progressing investigators!! Even though Aurora and Peggy couldn't make it to church yesterday...gahhh.... Vicente came!!! He is so awesome!! And I think he liked it! This past week we taught the Word of Wisdom with them and it went super well! Peggy doesn't have any problems with it obviously, but Vicente drinks coffee. And has soon as we finished with the lesson he told us that he will not be drinking it anymore! Talk about determination!! And it was so funny haha cause the moment he got to church, the first thing he said was, I didn't drink coffee this morning!! Woo! They are so great. And Peggy expressed to us that she feels like she has received an answer. Progress!! Hermana Sosa and I are SO excited! With Aurora, she absolutely loves what we are teaching her and always reads and everything and has the biggest desire to receive an answer, but says she still hasn't yet. "But I go forward with faith!" she says, which is the perfect attitude! She wants to see a baptism before hers though.. so we are coordinating with the Elders of our District because they should have a baptism this week. Vamos a ver!

So, I have two more names to share with you guys! One is Ivan! Ivan is someone that we contacted and we've already taught him twice this week! He is almost blind, so with the Book of Mormon it can be hard, but he listens really well and takes everything in. When we talked about the Priesthood he was super interested also and has a desire to know! We are planning on bringing him to church this week!

The other is Janis. Janis's husband is actually the cousin of Hno Nunez (the member who lives above us), so family! Woo! But her husband Edgaurdo always happens to be out of the house when we are there.. but Janis is so awesome! She has a little bit of confusion with all the different churches and people who claim to be prophets, so this was a little bit hard for her to grasp when we taught the Restoration. But when we talked about the Book of Mormon, she seemed super interested to know and promised she would read it! So we'll see what happens with these two investigators this week! We're excited!

Also, our inactive family came to church again this week!! We ran into both the mom and the dad throughout the week and so we reminded both of them of church this Sunday! There are no coincidences ;) And, we also have a lesson planned with them this week. They are so great! And they speak English so that’s always great too :)

Well, it rained like CRAZY this week!! Which it hasn't done in a while so that was a surprise haha. Also, Hna Sosa turned 22 this week!! Woo!! Saturday night we had dinner, cake, and ice cream with the Nunez's! Super fun! Things are going good with the ward, Hna Sosa and I were actually able to have more member lessons this week which was so great! And also, a couple in our ward went to Florida this week to get their endowments and be sealed in the temple :) They have only been members for about 4 years or so, and are so awesome! Super strong in the Gospel! So everyone in the ward has been talking about that!! How us missionaries and the members here long for a temple in Puerto Rico!! But I know that as we work hard here, members and missionaries together, one day the Lord will bless us with a temple in Puerto Rico!! Talk about motivation, right?! Yay for missionary work! Have a great week everyone!

Love,
Hermana Holt

Week 21: SNAKE!

Hola todo!!

Well, this week I can honestly say I don't even know where to start haha. I have good news, I have bad news, and I have crazy/scary stories!! And for some reason, I'm not sure why, but this week has gone by a lot slower.. but all is well!! I think it felt slower because this week was full of meetings! Tuesday we had a Zone Conference and then this past weekend was Stake Conference, which we had to attend both Saturday and Sunday. And then Stake Center is about an hour away in car so there was a lot of traveling involved! These meetings were amazing though! I feel so grateful to have such amazing zone leaders and also stake leaders! President and Hermana Boucher joined us Sunday as well as Elder Cornish, who is the Area 70 for the Caribean. He is awesome!!

So I guess I'll start with the bad news.. actually it's just a lot more surprising! So I'm pretty sure I told you about that family last week? The mom and 3 kids? Well we had an appointment with them Thursday and Wednesday night the daughter texted us saying that the mom didn't want us to come anymore. Huh? What happened!! She then tried to explain to us why, but we couldn't understand her texts so Hna Sosa called her and the daughter put the mom on the phone - I'm not sure what all she said, but it looks like we won't be teaching them anymore. I am so crushed!!!! We both are! Especially because we have no idea what happened. It was so out of the blue. But, I'm just praying that sometime in the future they will accept missionaries again!

But, Heavenly Father is definitely part of this work because we still have 3 progressing investigators (Peggy, Vicente, and Aurora) who are doing well!! Reading and praying and everything. They couldn't attend Stake Conference because of the distance but we are really really really praying for this Sunday! We have moved all of their baptisms to the 20th of September and they are all willing to work for that date. Only Vicente says he has recieved a specific answer, so we'll see how this week goes. I know going to church will make a big difference! Haha oh my goodness and guess what? Peggy was so excited when we taught her this week because she says, look what our TV has!! And then she pulls up the Mormon Channel! With all the videos and talks and the scriptures and everything! Haha she was SO excited and of course so were we!! So we watched some Mormon Messages :) My favorite!!

So, are you ready for this story? You are not going to believe it! But it happened!! So, we were driving back from Mayaguez (where the Stake Center is) and we were just silently listening to the music when Hna Sosa screams "CULEBRA!!!" (snake)! So I'm looking outside the front window obviously haha thinking uhh where? How could she have seen a snake? When all of the sudden, lo and behold there was a snake outside Hna Sosa's window wrapped around the sideview mirror!! And it was HUGE and LONG!!!!! Hahaha so of course we all start screaming our heads off (Hna Sosa had already unbuckled her seat belt and was half way in my lap hahaha) and I couldn't stop the car because there were tons of cars! So I just screamed TAKE A PICTURE, so you guys would have evidence haha, but after about a minute of screaming and Hna Madrigal struggling for the camera, the snake fell off the mirror into the street!!! Wow. Haha I still can't believe it happened. I still get chills! But really! It was SO big!! And so long and so gross and so close to us!! Luckily Hna Sosa didn't have the window open because it totally would have got into the car!! Now, how did it get there? Yeah, that's been our question all week haha! So I guess the members who live above us weren't kidding when they said check the car for snakes.. we'll be a lot more cautious the next time!  

Well, that's all I can think of right now. My companion hit her 1 year mark this week and we celebrated with some delicious gluten free cake :) And her birthday is next week so we'll be celebrating all over again! Things are good here in San Sebastian, the sun is hitting us super hard here that's for sure! And then, I think of the Arizona heat and then I can't even complain :) I hope all is going well with everyone!! Saludos de Puerto Rico!!

Love,

Hermana Holt

Yo, Madrigal, Watkins, Sosa


un año

Week 20: Designated driver

 Hola todo!!

Wow, a lot of walking this week. Haha a lot of walking this week, BUT it was a good one because we extended baptismal dates... to a family! Finding families in the mission is basically Christmas haha, especially if they are receptive! So I might have mentioned them last week, but I'm not sure. The mom's name is Migdalia and she has 3 awesome kids, Shakira who is 13, JessMarie who is 11, and Edwin who is 8 (all baptism age :) haha). The first time we met them was just a getting to know them and explaining a little bit of what we teach as missionaries, and right off the bat the kids were so excited, especially when we gave them the Restoration pamphlets! After we had left, made an appointment, and passed the house later again that day, Shakira was outside answering the questions at the back of the pamphlet!! So we went back to their house this past week and taught them the Restoration and it went SO well! Haha I thought so! We had little activities for the kids to help them pay attention so it wasn't too boring for them :) And as we were talking the mom said how she just feels something different when we talk. She had told us too that she had taken a lot of different classes from different churches which has left her a little confused! So as the lesson finished, my amazing companion said the baptismal invitation and all of them accepted!! Like what?! So we are hoping and praying that all will continue to go well with them! They weren't able to make it to church yesterday, and now it's a little complicated this week because we have Stake Conference at the Stake Center which is an hour away in car... so I'm not sure how many investigators we will have at church this next week.. but we'll see!

Speaking of investigators at church, Aurora came!! We haven't had a lot of success with investigators attending church so this was huge!! And since this was the first time she has attended church, we are going to have to push her baptism date back a little bit, but really, she is so awesome. She reads from the Book of Mormon every day and has been praying hard to know if it's true! Little by little I know she'll know. So we were SO glad when she came to church because that's so essential as well. We have 2 appointments with her this week and she is hoping to go to Stake Conference too! 

Ohh Peggy and Vicente. Haha I love them so much, they are hilarious. But sadly, again, they couldn't make it to church... gah! So we will have to push their baptismal date back too. And also, because of Peggy's health they can't make it to Stake Conference. But all is well!! I really love the lessons with them because the Spirit is always there! And since she has a computer we watch Mormon Messages and other videos with her which are SO powerful! And of course since it's in English it makes it that much more fun haha! But really, one of the hardest things here in my mission is getting people to come to church!! A lot of people here have such a desire to come closer to God and have TONS of faith, but they don't act on it. And helping them change that is the hard part. But, as missionaries we just keep going!

So guess what?? I have been assigned as the "designated driver" of our area!! Oh my goodness driving the car was so nice haha I kinda miss it! I sent a picture of us 4 in the car, and don't worry haha that is not how I actually drive, that's just how I feel!! :) Oh and listen to this!! A while back we were teaching a lady who had been taught by the Jehovah's Witnesses and we kept stopping by and she was never there. I was SO sad because I thought she had potential!! So it's been about 2 or 3 weeks since we had seen her and we were walking in the rain when a car came up and it was her!! She offered us a ride!! And then she was saying, I am so sorry I've been so busy and haven't been home but you guys are welcome to come back and teach me! So we have an appointment Tuesday :) AH!! I about died!! 

Well, we were able to teach new investigators for the first time this week so hopefully next week there will be new names for you guys to read :) All is well here in San Sebastian, it's hard at times, but that's the mission! I can't believe it's already the 3rd week of the transfer.. where is the time going?? My dear companion hits her 1 year mark this Thursday... party!! Haha love you all!!

Love, 

Hermana Holt

I'm the new designated driver

Wow! It feels so good

Week 19: Just keep teaching!

Hola todo!!

So, this week! It started off a little sad because Tuesday morning we had to send off Hermana Howell! She was transfered to Saint Kitts! And Hermana Madrigals new companion wasn't coming in until Wednesday (because she was in Saint Kitts) and so guess what happened Tuesday? TRIO!! Haha oh my goodness. So fun!! A little different, and a little hard because we had to try and get as many of both of our investigators in as we could, but it was SO great! So wednesday, Hermana Watkins came in and oh my goodness she is hilarious! She's from California and has been out in her mission 7 months, but has been in the island the whole time! And the island speaks English!! So we are in the same boat together continuing to learn the language together!

So onto the investigators!! Aurora - we are trying our best to try and teach her more than once throughout the week to help her continue to progress, but we can only get a hold of her once a week, so we work with that! Sadly she couldn't make it to church..... but she has been diligently reading the Book of Mormon and loves it! We asked her to read the Intro to the BofM and she had underlined words she didn't know and wrote down questions to help her to understand! We have to teach the lessons in parts because she always has SO many questions, but she has such a desire to know it's amazing!! However.. she needs to come to church! So we are praying and praying that she will be able to this next week. But she is doing great!

Peggy and Vicente - Peggy got super sick this week so we were only able to teach her once and she wasn't able to make it to church either. But listen to this!! So, first, we had intercambios (exchanges) this week for the first time in a while apparently! I guess the sisters haven't had them a lot in their mission. But anyway, I was paired with Hermana Brotherson who is from Utah and has only about a month left in her mission! She is the best!! But to be honest, I was kinda freaking out for these intercambios haha being the "leader" I guess you could say for the day. But wow, I loved it!! I learned so much and I actually gained a lot more confidence in myself with my Spanish haha since she made me do a lot of the talking. Anyway, so we stopped by Peggys and her daughter answered saying that she has sleeping and was still super sick. So, we started walking to our next lesson which was a good 25 min or so walking distance. Once we got there, they weren't there either!! Gah!! But then, Hna Sosa called me and said, where are you guys?! Uhh working? Haha apparently, her and Hna Gomez (her companion for the day) had passed by Peggys house and Peggy had just woken up and heard that we stopped by and so she freaked out saying, are they coming back to teach me?! Hahaha so we basically sped walked back to Peggy's house and taught a great lesson in English about 3 Nephi 11 :) She has such a desire to know and has been reading as well! So we are hoping her health gets better so that she is able to come to church!! It's SO crucial!

Anyway, sadly our other investigators have dwindled which has been really hard on Hna Sosa and I. But, we contacted a pueblo we haven't gone to yet, (it's a walk haha but it's worth it) and found some great people to teach! So we have a lot of lessons to teach this week and we are praying all goes well!! Sorry I can't write more!! I love you all and have a great week!! :)

Love,

Hermana Holt

 Mayaguez zone conference

pretending to eat a bug

 too close for comfort

 I can't do it

Week 18: 4 months

So Transfers are this week...

 

I'M STAYING HERE IN SAN SEBASTIAN WITH HERMANA SOSA!!!

 

Haha what a stressful and emotional week it has been anticipating to find out if I was staying or going and who was going to be my companion! All the members have been freaking out too haha. And especially because right before we got the call from our District Leader, we extended 3 Baptismal Dates and they all accepted!!!! Hahaha so we were just hoping and hoping that we would stay, of course keeping in mind that it is the will of the Lord! Our District Leader called us when we were walking down the street, and when he told us we literally started dancing and jumping up and down haha all the cars were probably like who are these missionaries?! But it was something worth dancing for! We are super excited to have another 6 weeks to work here together!

 

So, let me tell you about these 3 investigators! I think I talked a little bit about them last week, but one of them is Aurora. She is awesome!! She has the absolute biggest desire to know the truth! She has visited so many different churches that all have different doctrine, so she is super confused about a lot of things. So she has a lot of questions too though, which is good! As we taught her the Restoration she was completely intrigued by the Book of Mormon, and I almost cried when I saw her reaction as we gave it to her! She just kept telling us over and over how happy she was to receive it and how she was super excited to start reading it!! Yaya!! She accepted a date for the 23rd of August, so we are going to work really hard with her. The only thing is, she is super busy during the week so we only get to see her once a week, but we are hoping we can teach her twice a week! Vamos a ver!

 

The other two are Peggy (the American) and now her husband Vicente! Oh my goodness she is hilarious!! And guess what? We have been teaching her in English and it's been SO fun! Haha and really, Hermana Sosa is rocking it too! Vicente understands English too, but we want to take time to teach him some of the doctrine in Spanish too so he can really understand. It's been a little weird knowing what to do with the different languages, but I feel that the Lord is guiding us in knowing what to say. And oh my goodness, Vicente is so cute to Peggy! He always re-explains the things we say to make sure that she understands! Haha so when we mention Joseph Smith he'll be like, "You know Peggy, the prophet that..." and stuff like that haha it's so great! They are super receptive and are super willing to learn. When we extended the Baptism Date, Peggy was super concerned because she is in a wheelchair and thought that we were going to baptize her in the river!!! Haha what? We talked about it though with her and it's all good now!

 

Now, the only thing is, with these investigators, and actually with ALL of our investigators, is getting them to come to church. And going to church is just as important!! Gah!! It's frustrating sometimes, but we keep working with it! Concerning our other investigators, sadly none of them are progressing as much as we would like them to. HOWEVER, we have 6 more weeks so they haven't gotten rid of us yet :)

 

One amazing thing that happened this week!! So, there is a family of 7 in the ward  - seven!! - that recently became less active about a month or so before we got here, so for about 4 months now. We had only taught them one time when we first got here and the other times, they were never home and the mom wouldn't answer our calls. The kids are 14, 11, 6, and twins that are 3, such a cute family! The ward has been fighting to try and get them to church so Saturday we decided to go check to see if they would let us in, and they did!! We talked about the talk that President Uchtdorf gave in the last October General Conference! Haha I'm not sure what it is in English but I think it's like, Come and Join With Us, amazing talk. We shared this and invited them to come to church. As we were sitting in Relief Society yesterday morning, the Stake Presidents Wife was giving the lesson when she basically screamed, they came!! The window in the RS room outlooks the parking lot and THEY CAME TO CHURCH!!! I kid you not, all of the RS women were literally almost in tears and the RS president kept blowing me and Hermana Sosa kisses haha but of course, we all know that it wasn't us missionaries, but the Holy Ghost testifying to this family too! We have another appointment this week, so we are hoping all goes well and that we can have 2 weeks in a row!!

 

Well, that's all I can think of right now! We are praying hard here for the work to keep progressing, and I am so excited for the 6 weeks more that I have to work! Have a great week everyone!!

 

Love,

Hermana Holt

 How should I celebrate?

With a gluten free pancake

our investigator, Zaida, and her cute dog

cutest missionaries ever

Week 17: Another baptism

Hola todo!

Sorry I couldn't write yesterday, there was a holiday here or something so the Library was closed! But guess what also happened yesterday? We got a text Sunday that we were having a Zone activity for our P-day.. and that to be ready to go bowling!!! Hahaha yup, my whole zone went bowling for P-day, it was SO fun!! Kinda weird to see everyone in regular clothes, but it was a fun time!!

So guess what... YAN CARLOS WAS BAPTIZED!!!! WOOO!! It was super nice and a lot of the ward members came!! Haha well, his uncle is the Stake President (President Arrocho) who is in our ward and baptized him, and actually, basically all the Arrocho family is in the ward! So they were all there haha but it was really great!! And his mom was super excited for the baptism too which was so awesome to see!! Yayaya for baptisms!!! 

With our other investigators though we didn't have a lot of luck this week, but we are hoping to have more contact with Marilin, Nilda, and Sandra this coming week. Everyone was just super busy this past week which was hard! But however, we did find two more investigators to teach who are ready to hear the Gospel!!! One of them we might actually have to teach in English... YES!!! Haha Hermana Sosa isn't as excited for that as I am :) Anyway, her name is Peggy and she is actually from New York and moved here to Puerto Rico like almost 30 years ago without knowing Spanish! Crazy, right? So she has learned over the years but sometimes, especially talking about Gospel things, it's a little bit more confusing for her in Spanish. And she can't read in Spanish! So we are teaching her the Restoration today in English :) and I'm praying it goes well!! The other is Aurora!! She definitely is ready to hear the Gospel! When she was talking to us she was telling us how she has searched and searched for a church to help her feel completely whole, I guess you could say. A church where she would know and feel the truth, all of the truth. Umm, hello!!! We are hear to help you with that :) Gah!!! We are super excited to go back and teach her this week!! 

Friday we had our actual Zone Conference and it was amazing!! I love President and Hermana Boucher, they are seriously the best! President definitely has goals for the mission and so we are working hard to try and achieve them. Also, 2 days before the conference they asked if I could help with the musical number.. ahh!! Haha they tried to find me a violin but they couldn't find one so I played the EFY version of I Know That My Redeemer Lives and some of the sisters sang it!! It's a pretty big song and I was super nervous, but all went well!! 

So, this week is my last week of training... where has the time gone?! This Saturday (my 4 month mark) we are going to find out about Transfers, who is staying and who is going! Hermana Sosa says I'm most likely staying, which to be honest I am kind of scared about this.. ok I'm freaked out!! Haha but really, I know the Lord is going to send me (or let me stay) where He needs me!! Entonces, vamos a ver!! 

I'm sorry I'm keeping everything super short, I have less time today because we have more appointments for the day!! I hope everyone has an amazing week!! The Church is true!!!!

Love, 

Hermana Holt

 bowling with my district

 funny to wear jeans

 Yan Carlos baptism

 Yan Carlos family

 Hermana Boucher-mission president's wife

Hermana Howell

Week 16: More teaching

Hola todo!!

 

Well, what a week this has been! First off, we have a baptism this weekend!!! Surprise!! Haha so here is what happened, so there is a family in our ward, both the parents are members and they have two sons - one is 13 who was baptized and the other, Yan Carlos, who is 9 who hasn't been. The family only comes to Sacrament meeting and I guess when Yan Carlos turned 8 they just didn't baptize him? I don't know exactly what happened but we have been teaching him once a week ever since we have been here in San Sebastian! He's never been to Primary so we have to teach him pretty slow and simply. His mom still doesn't bring him to Primary, but we have been praying really hard and we are starting to see a change in her as well. So we are hoping that after the baptism she will bring them!! We thought that this baptism would be part of the ward, but actually it is one of ours because he is above the age of 8! So he is going to be baptized this weekend!! Wooo!!

 

So we were hoping to have baptismal dates with 3 of our investigators this week, but it didn't exactly work out that way! So with our first, Marilin - she is our investigator that has been progressing the most! She literally is completely prepared. She was the one that I talked about in the previous email who we are pretty sure was Mormon before because she knew and understood everything! We taught her the first part of the Plan of Salvation this week and she absolutely LOVED it. And get this!! So we asked her if she read the Introduction to the Book of Mormon and she literally marked the whole thing and the testimonies of the 11 witnesses! And she wanted to make sure she understood everything and so she explained it back to us, and it was better than I could have explained it in Spanish haha she seriously is a gem!! We extended a baptismal date at the end of the lesson and she paused for a second and said.. You know what, I need to ask someone first... (haha we were thinking.. um who??) ... I want to ask God to see if this is the right date for me to be baptized. Uh YES! Ask Him!!! We were going to visit her again later in the week but she got a surprise visit from her nephew so we weren't able to. We have appointments set up with her this week so we are praying that she can continue to progress!! Her desire to know is amazing! And it was so funny because the other sisters are teaching her mother in law and Marilin happened to be over at her mother in laws house when the sisters were teaching her the Restoration! And the sisters told us that Marilin was helping them teach the Apostasy hahaha how funny is that?? She is great!

 

So our other investigators are Nilda and Sandra, the mom and daughter. We taught them 3 times this past week and they still say they have a desire to be baptized, but they still want to learn more before they make the decision when. And they are not exactly keeping with their committments.. gah! When we stopped by Saturday to teach them, Sandra was just about to leave with her guy friend - no they aren't "boyfriend and girlfriend" so she says haha but we are a little worried because he is a lot older than she is and when she saw us she just left with him. NO!! But it gave us the opportunity to really talk with the mom and the baptism. They were going to come to church with us on Sunday but they cancelled.. again!! We were so sad!! Right now, we are kind of stuck on what to do. But we have more appointments this week so we are just praying that everything will work out the way it needs to and that we'll be able to help them progress!

 

We found some more people to teach for this next week so we are excited! So hopefully I'll have more investigators to write about next week! The weather here has been completely bipolar it is insane! One minute it is sunny and boiling hot, and then the next moment we are literally running to the closest house for shelter from the lightning (hahaha I'm not even kidding, it happened this week!!)! But hey, it's Puerto Rico and I love it :) Anyway, I'm out of time! Have a great week everyone!!

 

Love,

Hermana Holt

 Cool walking picture

 What it looks like before rain

 It's almost here

 Service project

1st time wearing jeans

Week 15: Welcome Presidente Y Hermana Boucher

Hello everyone!! So it's super funny because to be completely honest, I totally forgot about the 4th of July this past week hahaha!! But the hard thing was, everyone here didn't! Friday, Saturday, and Sunday there was this huge festival/party type thing and I'm pretty sure everyone in San Sebastian went for all three days! I kid you not, there was NO one in the street!! Haha I literally felt like I was in a cowboy movie and a tumbleweed crossed the street! So the work was a little slow those 3 days, but we still had some great lessons this past week!

We recieved a reference from the other sister missionaries a couple weeks ago of a lady they had talked to who wanted to listen to the missionaries. We tried to contact her all last week but her gate was closed! We stopped by again on wednesday and she was there!! Woo!! Oh my goodness, she is absolutely awesome!! And she has THE biggest desire to know the truth! She has a firm religious background too so she has a ton of faith which is great! We went back Saturday and taught her the first lesson. The lesson went SO well guys!! Like SO well!! She participated and basically understood everything! When we taught the Apostasy she was like, "ohh ok yeah! And because of that, this happened, and because of that, this needed to happen, right?" And she was basically right 95% of the time!! It was kinda crazy!! It's like she was Mormon before or something haha I don't know! Anyway, one of the most powerful parts of the lesson, was the Restoration. Hna Sosa lets me teach the Restoration part of the lesson and I am SO glad she does! But this lesson in particular, I don't know why it seemed different, but as I said the first vision the Spirit was SO strong I can't even explain it!! And I absolutely am certain that she felt it too because after I finished she just put her hand over her heart and just said wow, it's true. It was incredible!! There is so much power in the message of the Restoration. You know why? Because it's TRUE! And the Spirit only testifies of things that are true!! She came with us to church yesterday which was awesome and we have another appointment with her tomorrow so we're praying that all will go well!! But really, I have never seen anyone this prepared to recieve the Gospel!! GAH!! I'm so excited!! Haha after we left the lesson Hna Sosa and I could not stop jumping up and dancing!! Haha it was awesome! How grateful we feel that Heavenly Father allows us to find and teach His children! He truly loves ALL of us!

So, our other progressing investigator, the husband of one of the members in our ward, is apparently going on a trip this next week... a month long trip. NOO!! We taught him lesson 3 and really focused on faith and how with faith, we don't need a perfect knowledge of all things and we asked again about his baptism, and this is when he told us about his trip! Gah!! So teaching him has been put on hold and we'll see what happens when we get back. He plans on reading the Book of Mormon while he's gone though and we have chapters for him to read! So, we're just praying that he reads them! Our other progressing investigators (the mother and daughter) had another family thing this past sunday so they couldn't come to church again.. but THIS sunday!! We teach them a ton throughout the week and they are still receptive! We extender a baptismal date to them too and they said that they want to feel completely prepared before they do so, but they are definitely willing! So, the desire is there which is great!! So we have a lot of appointments with them this week! We do have a little bit of a dilemma though.. there is another family in our ward that apparently isn't on "good terms" with this family we are teaching... soo we are praying that everything will turn out alright!!

Anyway, really fast, we got to meet our new Mission President this past week and his wife!! Presidente y Hermana Boucher!! They are SO awesome!! The meeting was a super quick one but we got to visit with them and everything and he talked about the mission and his vision for the mission and all that fun stuff! I'm super excited and we have another meeting next week to go over even more stuff!! So, lots of meetings and lots of missionary work!! It's basically the best :) Anyway, have a great week everyone!!!

Love,

Hermana Holt

the ridiculous missionary tan line

guenepas

so delicious

Sisters conference June 23, 2014

with President and Sister Zwick and Sheri Dew

Week 14: 3 months-Just keep walking

So last week I hit my 3 MONTH mark!! Wow, I can't believe it! Sometimes it feels like I've been here for like 5 or 6 haha but I'm glad that I'm still in my early months, and I actually really enjoy training!! My companion is a rockstar!! Oh and guess what? We got a call yesterday from our new Mission President!! Ahh he is so great! When I talked to him the first thing he said was, Sister Holt, we have something in common! We are both from the great state of Arizona!! Haha he is SO cool!! We have a zone conference tomorrow and are going to meet them and I'm so excited!

So, this week was another slow week with the investigators. Almost all of our appointments canceled this week which was super difficult, but it gave us the opportunity to find and run into some less actives!! Heavenly Father is always in charge! There are soo many less actives in this ward which is super sad. And as missionaries we are here to strengthen the ward as well! So we chose one of the less actives that comes every once in a while and started walking to where we thought she lived. 2 and 1/2 hours later.. walking... we found her! Woo!! Haha I don't think I've ever been so tired in my whole life, my feet were killing me! And it happened to be the hottest day of the week!! But that's beside the point! Anyway, when we found her she was smoking... NOOO!!! As we were talking to her we found out she has really really fallen away, but she told us that she sincerely has a desire to come back. She doesn't have a car so she used to get a ride to church from the Mission Leader but she said she didn't want to bug him for a ride every sunday. We talked to her about the power of the Atonement and afterwards she said she would call the Mission Leader for a ride to church! In all honestly, we weren't sure if she would, but we were praying for her that she would. And what do you know, there she was sitting at church with us yesterday!! It was great! We also met another less active who lives with just her 8 year old daughter (who literally looks just like Megan!). She was a little hesitant at first with us showing up at her door, but then my companion started asking her about her baptism, which was about 10 years ago. Slowly, I could see the Spirit working in her as she talked about how special it was for her! We asked her about church and it's hard for her because she works everyday. But we have another appointment with her this week :) so hopefully we can help her! As we were leaving though she simply said, thank you. Awe! I know it wasn't us though, it was definitely the Spirit!

We do have 3 progressing investigators though!! Woo!! One of them is the husband of one of the members in our ward and he is awesome!! Our second lesson with him this past week we asked him how his reading went (we asked him the read the introduction to the BofM in the first lesson) and he was like, well I really liked this and this and this part and how there are all these testimonies from these men and I know that this book is true...... Um, come again? Haha oh my goodness!! He literally read allll of the introduction, the testimonies of the 11 witnesses and the testimony of Joseph Smith, and he said that he knew it was true!! Hna Sosa and I literally didn't know what to say and I'm pretty sure we smiled the entire lesson! When we extended the bautismal date though he said he still wanted to learn a lot more before he committed... GAH! So we are working on that :) But it is exciting! Our other 2 are the daughter and mom! They had some family things last week so we didn't get to visit them a lot, but we keep in contact with her throughout the week! The daughter has been reading and she says she knows it's true. Ah!! We have FHE with them tonight so we'll see how it goes!!

Anyway, Hermana Sosa and I are really excited for this week and are ready to work super hard!! We are just hoping that our investigators are actually at their houses.. hahaha oh my gosh!! This week was so weird because we literally had people RUN away from us so that we wouldn't talk to them!! What's up with that?!?! Haha I don't even know. Well, have a good week everyone!!

Love, Hermana Holt

3 month mark

tired after walking

Week 13: Goodbye Zwicks, Hello Sister Dew

Hey everyone!! Sorry I'm writing so late in the week, these past few days and this past week have been absolutely crazy!!! Last week didn't really end the way we would have like it to, but the work is in the Lord's hands so we need to always trust in that!! Some circumstances came up and we aren't going to be teaching our two families anymore. I am absolutely so sad, but right now is just not the time, so I'm praying that in the future that it will be better! We are still keeping in contact with them though which I'm happy about! So right now, we don't have a lot of investigators or investigators that are progressing, but we are praying that this next week all will go well with the people we have contacted! Also, my dear companion got lice this past week so it took a couple of days to take care of that!! Don't worry, I am completely good - we have checked multiple times!!

So Monday we had a Sisters Training Meeting for all the Sister Missionaries in the mission and oh my goodness, it was amazing!!!! You will never guess who came and spoke to us!! So I was asked to be in a musical number with 5 other sisters and as we were practicing, the missionary that was playing the piano said, "Ok, so before Sheri Dew talks..." Uh, what did you say? Sheri Dew, like THE Sheri Dew? YUP!! Sheri Dew came and spoke to all of us!!! IT WAS AMAZING!!!! And it was a little nerve racking too cause we had to sing for her!! But it went SO well! Wow, that women is amazing. The theme basically for her talk was "Live your life with the help of Heaven." How cool is that? And she talked about the grace of God and how we can use it and recognize it in our lives. The Zwicks spoke too and it was so bittersweet because it was the last time they would talk to us, so they both bore their testimonies. I don't think I have ever felt the Spirit so strong in my whole life. I will forever remember the feelings I had in that meeting, I wish you all could have been there to feel it. This church is true! I can't get over it!!! Afterwards we all went to the Mission Home for lunch!! And what do you know, Sheri Dew came too!! After we ate, she was sitting on the couch and who would want to miss an opportunity like that?? So me, Hna Van Kammen and Partridge all went up and talked to her! She kept asking us questions about the mission and how we felt and what we were learning and all that stuff and after she's like, lets just have a group hug!! AH!! I was in a group hug with Sheri Dew!!!! Hahaha my life is made. But really, the whole experience was incredible. And I am going to miss the Zwicks SO much. They are probably some of the most amazing people I have ever met and have done miracles for this mission. I'm so sad they're leaving but our new president is coming tomorrow!! Woo!! We didn''t get home from the meeting til about 7:30 at night because it's about a 3 hour drive!

So yesterday we were supposed to just get our groceries and email, but when we went to the library to write it was closed!! I was so sad haha, but I know Heavenly Father has his reasons, here's why :) So since the library was closed we went over to one of our newest investigators we had just taught a couple days before, but when we got there she said that she was just about to leave (we are going back saturday though, don't worry!) so we had a decision to make. We could contact where we were, or we could go visit a lady we had contacted and talked to the week earlier, about a 10, 15 minute walk. We decided to go visit the lady we had talked to, and we are SO glad we did! When we first talked to her last week, her daughter (16) hadn't been living with her for over a year because of some reasons and that week she was going to see if her daughter would be able to move back in with her. When we went to go visit her yesterday, her daughter was there!!! So that was a miracle in itself!! And they were going to leave in about an hour, which means we had just enough time to teach the Restoration!! :) So we did, and oh my goodness. The lesson went so well!! They are so receptive, especially the daughter!! She was so excited to meet us and wants to know more about the scriptures and the gospel and how she can change, because she said that she wants to come closer to God!! Haha Hna Sosa and I just sat there, what is happening?! This is great! The ward is having a church "movie night" tomorrow night so we are taking her to it! GAH! Heavenly Father knows everything!!! Hna Sosa and I were talking afterwards and if we didn't go there at that time, we wouldn't have gotten a hold of them!

Oh guess what?! The Elders brought us a car!! Haha well, we can only use it for meetings, like meetings for the mission or district meetings in other areas! But hey, that's good enough for me!! Haha anyway, I'm out of time! A little update on the Spanish though, I have been able to understand a lot more this week which has been awesome!! My speaking still is no where near perfect haha but I'm doing better at forming sentences and I'm trying to legit force myself to talk to people haha but I am so grateful for the opportunity to learn it!!

Love,
Hermana Holt

Hermana Partridge and I at the mission home

Our feet after walking in the rain-Gross!

our new baby Roxy

driving from the meeting

taking the scenic route home

more from our drive

Sheri Dew the most amazing speaker ever

Week 12: My First Baptisms!

Guess what......... I HAD MY FIRST 2 BAPTISMS THIS PAST WEEKEND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Juan and Celines were baptized on Saturday and it was AWESOME!!!!!!!!! I honestly can't even describe how it feels, to see someone accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to make that covenant. AH!! The church is true!!!! I wish all of you could get to know them, they are SO great!! The week was kind of crazy helping them prepare and working with the ward to have a baptism, but the Lord was definitely in charge, and now they are both members of the church!! I just can't thank Heavenly Father enough for giving me and my companion the opportunity to teach them and to see how the Gospel changes lives. Later that night after the baptism, Celines called us to tell us how great she feels and that at the moment she was reading the Book of Mormon!! Ahhh my heart melted!!! She is seriously such a sweetheart. And it's so awesome too because her dad has a hard time seeing, so she reads to him from the Book of Mormon every day. These 2 are such gems! And their confirmation was so special too, they were both completely elated after they received the Holy Ghost, and both of them explained how they could feel it so powerfully. What an awesome weekend it was for sure here in San Sebastian!!! 

So this week we received a call from a lady who lives right next to one of our investigators and she said that she wanted us to come visit her!! Haha ok? We thought it was a lady that we have talked to several times who lives across the street from our investigator, but when we went to her house she said that she didn't call us! Haha umm alright? So she told us to walk down the street to another house where this lady lived, and ask her. So we did, and it turns out she's the one that called us! And we didn't even know her!! She is an older lady who lives by herself and someone had told her that the missionaries would come visit her so she called us!! Hahaha she is so awesome!! She is Catholic but she says that a lot of her extended family is Mormon..... :) YES! Haha so we are definitely going to work hard with her! And it was so funny because when we started sharing our little message she looked at me and said, I don't even know where but I really think I've seen you before! You just have that familiar face!! Hahaha so Hna Sosa told her that we were probably all best friends in the Premortal life hahaha great way to start a lesson right??

 So this last Pday one of the ladies in our ward took us hiking to some underground caves!! SO cool!! We had to hike about an hour or so to the first one which was a bit smaller and you actually had to slide down into a little hole to get inside!! Haha when I first looked at it I thought, no way. I'm not doing it!! But I'm so glad I did!! Haha and it seriously was like a Harry Potter moment, it looks so small from the outside and then you get in and it's HUGE!! The other one was absolutely massive and went super far back into the mountain!! I have a couple pictures so I'll try and send those.  

This week was a little rough for some of our other investigators though, it's hard when they don't keep commitments! The family with the teenage kids, the kids always happen to be gone when we have an appointment, and when they are there, they don't stay the whole lesson. It's a bit hard, but, we keep working with them! Always follow up, right?! But the Lord always blesses us with tender moments too! We taught our other family this week too, the family with 4 little kids, and the first miracle was, her boyfriend actually joined us for the lesson!!! Woo!! Baby steps!! So we took the opportunity and talked about the family and then all of the sudden, out of the blue, my companion starts talking about the law of chastity!!! Hahaha which is good but I had no idea!! So I let her do her thing (she is such an amazing and bold missionary) and they actually took it alright and they want to talk about what they want to do! So we'll see when we visit them this week! But it was so cute because we asked if we could do a kneeling prayer, so all 4 little kids and those parents knelt down with us in a circle and I was the one who got to say the prayer!! It was such an awesome moment!! Really, the mom has SUCH a desire to know and to change, we are just praying for her boyfriend to feel the same way.  

One of my funny moments this week, we were at Juan and Celines's house and we were just talking when all of the sudden I see this HUGE tarantula out of the corner of my eye!!!!! Luckily it was on the other side of the room but I about lost it!! Haha spiders are really my biggest fear!! Literally the whole time I kept eyeing it, scared that if I turned for a second it would jump off the wall and attack me hahaha but guess what happened!! So we had to say the prayer and I don't think I've ever been more scared during a prayer hahahaha but guess what happened when I opened my eyes?? It was GONE!!!! Yeah, I kinda freaked out a little hahaha but it's all good! 

Hna Sosa and I have been studying prayer this week and man, I am SO glad we did!! Wow, prayer is absolutely amazing!! We have the opportunity WHENEVER we want, to talk to the most powerful being, our Heavenly Father. How incredible!! But more than that, we studied how we need to pray. I wish I wrote down the quote but President Hinckly said in Preach My Gospel that a lot of people treat prayer as if they are calling a store and ordering groceries, that we are not putting actual effort in. Wow, bold right? But it really made me think, how am I saying my prayers? Am I really being sincere? Am I really thanking Him enough? Or am I just asking and asking and asking and that's it? And something that I absolutely LOVE in Preach My Gospel is that it says that we need to pray with real intent, meaning that we are COMMITTED to act upon the answers and impressions we receive. WOW! Think about that. When we ask for something, are we just asking and expecting it to happen? Or are we actually doing something about it? Remember faith without works is dead, and that when we press forward and show Heavenly Father that we are ready to act, He is then able to guide us. How grateful I am for the experiences I've had this week!! And especially for the opportunity I've had to try and pray ever so sincerely. It's powerful, I testify of that!! 

Well, until next week! The Spanish is still coming slowly but surely haha. And it kind of stinks because now that we are at the end of a transfer (oh my goodness I've finished my first transfer!!!!) I'm no longer the newbie missionary! Hahaha I have no excuse!! Haha no just kidding, but really! Everyday I think I improve a little bit more, but I still have a long way to go!! Have a great week everyone!!!  

Love, 

Hermana Holt

2 months down 

 our investigator's 100 year old dad

our backyard friend

Hermana Sosa's amazing food               baptism invite

Celines

baptism of Juan and Celines

 the sister's with Juan and Celines

CCM sisters

Holt, Gallardo, VanKammen, Madrigal, Partridge

 Elder Zwick's son spoke at our conference

one hour hike to the caves

looks tiny

bigger than I thought    

                                     

 I made it

I'm a missionary

Mayaguez Stake Center

scary bridge that moves when you walk on it

Crazy rain                                                 Let it rain 

my zone

beauty in the front

crazy fast driving and terror in the back

our mission leader's large turtles

holding it in my white skirt