Week 71: Please read the Book of Mormon

Hola a todos!!

Guess what?? So Presidente called us this past week and this morning we got a Mini Missionary!! Her name is Hermana de Jesus and she's from the Ponce Stake - she's going to be with us for a whole week, basically as a missionary! It was so fun to go to the office this morning and see all these youth from the Island willing to serve a mini mission!! Their families were there and everything, we took some pictures, heard some words from Presidente, and were off! She's super cute, she's a convert of about 2 years, and she has THE most Puerto Rican accent so it's gonna be an amazing week :) We are excited!! 

This week was a fun one! I don't remember if I had mentioned it, but with our investigators Yubelki and Mariano, apparently Mariano's sister is Mormon! So this week her and her kids came into down so they invited us over to meet them! They have plans on staying here in Puerto Rico so ahora more members, AND Yubelki and Mariano have some member support! And it's even better because they are family! We taught a super great lesson with some help from them and it turned out super great! Now we just need to get Yubelki and Mariano to church!! I'm not sure why that's the hardest thing for everyone!!

We FINALLY got to see Victor and Mari - it scared us for a bit because we thought they were ignoring us, but they had been in the hospital for a few days with Victors mom. They are doing good, they want to come to church but when Sunday morning comes they don't show up! I have so much faith in them though, they have so much potential!

So I don't know if I have mentioned, but some months ago after Elder Holland came, he encouraged us to be a Book of Mormon mission. With that in mind, Presidente asked us to read it together as a mission, and we finished it on Sunday. Also, that Sunday night we ALL got together (that's right, the whole mission) and we had a testimony meeting about the Book of Mormon. Could there be anything better? It was absolutely amazing, not only to see everyone, but to hear everyone's testimonies and experiences from these past months reading and sharing about the Book of Mormon. This time reading it I decided to mark every time it said God or Heavenly Father or Jesus Christ, and all the other names they are given; and I can testify with all of my heart, just as clear and bright as you can see those names marked in pink color pencil in my scriptures, that They live!!!! They love us so much, more than we can imagine! Heavenly Father's plan is perfect, He gave His perfect Son to us, and we can know about them for ourselves!! There is power in reading the Book of Mormon, I testify that it can change people. I know that because I've seen it and because it has changed me as well. It's hard for me to completely understand what God has planned for us, but the fact that He has blessed us with the Book of Mormon helps me to realize that it's something amazing. How amazing are the prophets that we read about! That most of them spent their life and others gave their life keeping the records, writing history, and testifying about our Lord and Savior! I encourage everyone to read it, to really study it, to treasure it, and to pray to know if it is really true!! The true in heart and the sincere seekers will know of it's truthfulness. I hope we can all take time to truly read it this week!! Have a great one :)

Love, 

Hermana Holt

 

 

All of my companions who are still in the mission field

missing Hermana Sosa and Escobar 

 

Week 70: Sweet 16

Hola a todos!

We are just on a roll!! Or better said, Heavenly Father is SO merciful!! This is our third week in a row finding more investigators to teach and it has been a blessing. It's kinda hard sometimes going a while without teaching a single lesson; so it just feels so good, so amazing to just sit down with these people, feel the Spirit, and just testify and share what we know is true. There is no other feeling like it! We hope and pray that these people will want to progress, but I've learned a lot about faith this week, and that it all is in the hands of the Lord. 

We had a super fun Noche de Hogar (Family Home Evening) this week with our amazing less active Quenia! She had invited over some other members too and let me just say that there is POWER in hearing the testimonies of the members!! They gave her so much encouragement and support which makes her process of coming back so much easier. We are all pumped now and want to do one with all of the less actives! Success? Si :) I've come to realized that just spending some time with the people who need it and just offering help, love, and support can make a lot more of a difference than we think! It's the pure love of Christ that changes hearts. 

Hermana Patino and I have been focusing a lot on the Book of Mormon, especially in the contacts we do and we have been amazed at how much we are using it and how many we are giving out to people! Who doesn't want to hear how Christ came to the Americas?? There is so much power in the Book of Mormon and I love reading it and studying it everyday. We have been reading it together as a mission and we will be finishing this week - what better way to feel the Spirit of the Lord than to read the prophesies and testimonies of the prophets? I testify with all of my heart that the Book of Mormon is true and that it does testify of Jesus Christ. It changes the lives of people - I know because I have seen it, and I know that it has changed me as a person, as a missionary, and as a disciple of our Lord and Savior. How blessed we are to receive so much love from our Heavenly Father!! I hope we can all be a little bit better this week in our personal study of the Book of Mormon, it has been given to us for a reason!!

Love, 

Hermana Holt

 

16 months down and...

 

 

 2 to go!

 FHE with ward members

 

 Quenias rottweilers-they are huge

 Dr. Frayli

 Mi Patino

 

Week 69: People are Prepared!

Hola a todos!!

We have ANOTHER new investigator, and even better it's the wife of Victor, the new investigator from last week! WOW. What an amazing lesson, the Spirit was so strong and I really feel that they are prepared to hear the Gospel! When we got to the lesson and they had both read the Restoration pamphlet and were ready to learn! And it was so crazy because apparently last week when we were teaching Victor, one of their family friends had had a serious accident but survived. And that all happened in the same hour we were there! He said that after we had left he had immediately started reading the Restoration pamphlet and as he finished he received the phone call from his wife telling him. It was obviously super hard for them and he said that he started to pray with his family, which he never does, and that he felt something telling him that all of what had happened (us passing and then the accident) was a testimony to him that it was true and that God was in charge, and that it was giving him the strength that he need during this time. He was basically crying when he told us this and his wife was too!! I was so shocked but wow, I felt so grateful! I KNOW Heavenly Father hears the prayers of His children. We are super excited to get to know them more and to teach them more :)

Quenia now has THREE sundays in a row coming to church!! I LOVE it!! She's doing super great. Still is struggling with some things at home, but it's so amazing to me to see the strength of these people with what they go through. She has so much faith and is an example to me of really relying on the Lord in ALL things.

Wow, time is going by super duper fast.. my companion hits her 9 months this week and it feels like i was just there!! Time really does go by fast when you're sharing the Gospel :) Share it with someone this week!! Your week will go by SO much better!! The Church is true everyone!

Love,

Hermana Holt

Week 68: Make it Rain!

Hola a todos!!

This week Heavenly Father definitely heard all of our prayers over here in Puerto Rico because man, did it RAIN! We've had about 3 or 4 days of pretty good non stop rain - it'll pour for some hours and then sprinkle for a few more and then pour again! Luckily it has been pouring mostly at night but I'm pretty sure I've been wet for about half of the week haha. But we need it! What they've been saying is that this drought is SO bad that we'll be in it if not until December, until 2016, and then until who knows when! It's pretty bad. This week they actually started turning off completely the water; living out of water gallons is definitely a different experience, but it's a good one! 

And due to the rain, the people were locked up inside their houses! BUT, Heavenly Father has blessed us even more this week with 3 new investigators!! We are SO excited. And even better, one is a family! They have a 2 year old daughter who is so cute! The mom's name is Yubelki and we actually contacted her taking the bus one day and she was super willing to have us over! We stopped by and met her husband and had a great lesson about the family! It was SO crazy though because right when I was about to mention baptism, a ton of their nieces and nephews came running into the house!! Hahaha not the best moment, right? But we are super excited to get to know them more! 

Our other new investigator we found on my intercambio with Hna Madrigal!! Love that Sister Missionary! Anyway, we decided to go contact into the mountains a little bit when it started to POUR like crazy.. but we still felt we needed to keep walking and I'm so glad we did because we met Victor! He let us teach him right then, but since his wife wasn't home we just shared our message outside and we have a return appointment this week and his wife is going to be there too! It was such a blessing for me to be in the lesson because I felt really that the Lord truly is preparing people to hear the Gospel. Victor kept thanking us for stopping by and kept telling us how he felt so much peace as we shared with him about our Savior Jesus Christ. I felt it too! 

Guess who came to church again?? Quenia!! She's great and I love her SO much!! She's still thinking about moving to Texas with her kids which kinda bums me out, but if that is where the Lord needs her than I'm ok! I loved it because we went home with her after church for lunch (she makes the BEST Sancocho!) and I asked her, So what have you done this week? She just looks at me and said, Well, basically I've just been reading the Book of Mormon! WOO HOO! I love it :) It's a powerful book you know! Make sure you are reading it EVERY day!! 

We have some high goals this week and I know that with our Savior, Jesus Christ that we can reach them. This is the Lord's work!! How grateful I am to be a part of it! Have a great week everyone!!

Love, 

Hermana Holt 

 

There are no words

 Hermana Madrigal always brings the rain to Guaynabo

Week 67: Meet Hermana Patino

Hola a todos!!

So my new companion is not Latin haha but she is SO great!! Her name is Hermana Patino from Jacksonville, Florida and we have already had a blast together!! People have already told us like 10 times that we could be sisters which I don't know why haha but that's a compliment for me because she is adorable!! Tuesday was a long day of waiting for her to arrive but as soon as she got her we were right off to work! Poor thing, I've already taken her around like only part of the city on foot so we've been super tired (and apparently I walk super fast.. oops!).. the city has been a change for her since she was just in the mountains for the past 4 months, but she has adapted quickly and is already a city girl - she is already teaching me so much!!  

Well this week has definitely had its ups and downs, its funny times and scary times! It has been interesting but good! You guys aren't going to guess who came to church yesterday, QUENIA!!! When she walked in I seriously wanted to cry!! Haha I probably almost knocked her over because I basically ran up to hug her, but I was just too excited! After sacrament I asked her how she had felt and she just looked at me and said, Let's just say that I'm going to keep going.. Wow, it was amazing and we are so excited to see the changes that she's making, what a testimony builder to me! Church was also amazing because all the youth just got back from SOY, or their EFY and WOW best testimony meeting ever?? 6 of them had gone, 4 of them were counselors and 2 went as youth and let me just say that not only is that SOY changes lives, but it is more that the Gospel changes lives. These youth came back stronger than ever with SO much energy to live the Gospel everyday of their lives! The Gospel is just pure joy!! It was amazing because one of the youth, who I had never seen before, bore her testimony and shared how she left not even wanting to go and came back not even wanting to leave, she said she was a whole different person.. what an example! What an experience those youth had! Haha I remember those EFY days, and I add my testimony with those youth! The Gospel is the one thing that brings us happiness and something that should be lived everyday to the fullest! 

Soo this week we kinda worked without our cell phone.. hahaha super long story but lets just say that it was left in someones car and we've been without it for like 4 days now.... oops!!! I know back then they might not have had phones as missionaries but it has been so hard to work without it!! Technology really is a blessing that we can use to hasten the Lords work and we should take advantage of that and never loose it haha!! 

Wow time goes back so fast, that's all I have time for right now! The Gospel is so worth it, the Church is true, the scriptures really do testify of Christ, and I know that with all my heart! Heavenly Father knows who we are and what we need and He is a lot more close to us than we think He is. Have a great week everyone!!

Love, 

Hermana Holt

 

 

Hermana Patino and I

 This is what the mission does to Americans

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