Tanto Tiempo!  

It seems like just yesterday that I was writing you guys! Oh wait that is because it practically was just yesterday. haha. We have eventually entered into primavera here in chile since we are opposites from each other when you guys enter fall we enter spring which is wild because I remember that when I got here to chile the weather was just about the same as it is now.

We had a fun day on saturday because there was a worldwide service project sort of thing and so we went to San Antonio and cleaned up a little bit around a hospital as part of the service project. We cleaned up lots of stuff like fallen power lines, TV´s that were just thrown on the ground. 

It sounds like you guys at home are also focusing on the book of mormon a lot too! That is way awesome. So many times we have people ask us what is the difference between you guys and the other churches, and that is just the question we like to hear because there are so many difference but so many blessings that we have that others can have as well. Among them are prophets and the book of mormon.

It is just so essential for our testimonies that we read the book of mormon on the daily, because not only does it testify of the restauracion (idk how to spell or say that in english anymore) but it is the rock solid foundation that Jesus is our savior and of his doctrine and his gospel. 

We are super excited for this next weekend as well for General Conference to be able to hear instructions from the prophet and the apostles about what it is that we need to be doing to grow and progress. Conference in its self is a great missionary opportunity and great way to invite people to learn about the restored gospel and who better to learn it from than the prophet himself?? 

Everyone we are teaching is doing well and progressing little by little we always find small miracles everyday with the people we talk to. Out here on the coast people tend to work... a lot.... but even with that obstacle they are able to come to church every once in a while and we have been blessed with a lot of tender mercies these last few weeks. 

I hope everyone enjoys this weekend and that you go on a super cool hike for conference! 

Elder Holdstock 

Happy Fiestas Patrias

Happy Fiestas Patrias Everyone!! That is why we are writing late this week is because monday was 18 and so we couldnt go to the ciber to write but all is well because the parties have all died down and now everything is going back to normal! I have to make a confession here writing emails of the week is one of the hardest things in the mission because I dont know all these cool things happen during the week and then I sit down and look at the computer screen and my mind goes blank. But I will do my best to remember a lot of what happened this last week.

We got to teach a lot of really awesome people this week like caterine and her little family who are still reading the book of mormon at night together. Actually teaching them is so fun because the little girl is named connie she is nine and she always has the funniest questions that she wants to know the answers to. So we always promise to return with the answers but this last lesson the mom said I have a question this week! `why did god create the families?` Oh that is just the question you want to hear when you are a missionary am I right? So we are getting ready to answer that question for them tomorrow! I have no doubt that they will love the answer. 

18 is like the chilean version of the 4th of july. Everyone flies kites... which is super cool. And like all chilean holidays everything shuts down but this time for like 4 days. Remember how we are out in the vacation part of chile? Yeah well during 18 people leave on vacation. So it was hoppin out here in the coast. There were sooo many people all over the place from santiago who escaped from the city for a few days to enjoy the coast. The chapel was full to the rim. they had to go look for more chairs a lot of different times so that everyone would fit. So for a few days there it felt like we were back in the city. but today everything settled back down again. 

I love seeing how god has his hand in every part of his work and how he just nudges us a long in the right direction without us even knowing it a lot of times. One morning we headed out to teach a few lessons and had a few people put down in our agendas to visit and as we went from house to house we found a man who was a little beat up with things that happen in the life and really needed some help and encouragement and it was incredible to see how god prepares people and puts them in our path or puts us in their path.. either way works.

Everyone is doing great and a lot of people are progressing well! We have been enjoying our time working hard and seeing the fruits of all the labor.

Elder Holdstock

Ten Traditions for the 18 of September:

1. Flying Kites

2. barbeques

3. A drink called mote con huesillo (look it up)

4. party games like bean bags and stuff like that

5. Empanadas

6. Tops like the toys

7. Chilean flags or go home

8. Dancing `La Cueca`

9. Soccer games

10. Not going to school

1234 I declare a thumb war

Here we are again! Another week has flown by. The only thing that I cant understand is how the time keeps moving so quickly. It was also a very busy week which is great! Time flies when you're having fun right? This week we spent a lot of time teaching Francisco who was a miracle. He progressed really well and really quickly. He also is a big fan of bread. So everytime we went over to teach him he had a different type of bread there for us to try. So I think that I have tasted just about every type of bread that chile has to offer now. I remember when Uncle Nathan told me how here in chile they buy stuff everyday and it is very true because the bread is always fresh. Buying bread for the week doesnt exist here, you have to buy every single day when it is hot out of the oven or else.

Speaking of bread, we should probably talk about the bread of life. This week or actually this transfer as a mission we are focusing on getting better at using the book of mormon to help people resolve their concerns and more than anything feel of the spirit which is what gives people the desire to change and to become a part of the church. We had the Zone Conference for about half of the mission out here in our chapel. Because there are a lot of missionaries that have never even seen the coast so we are pretty lucky out here. But the conference was really great it was a good reminder of the importance that the book of mormon has in our lives as missionaries in the lives of our investigators but also in our normal lives as well. I always remember how mom would not let a day slip by without reading the book of mormon, she wouldnt be able to sleep if she didnt read it and she always helped us to read it. And now I understand why! The book of mormon is honestly so cool. It has war, it has drama, it has betrayl, it has hope it has it all. It is impossible to read it without being nurtured and without feeling that it is true. (I tricked ya huh? I said bread of life and then talked about the book of mormon..... whoops)

We found this super cool family this week as well. A mom and her family. They love it. They are catholic but just like all the chileans dont go to church ever and dont even really like the catholic church at all... lol. But they are big fans of the book of mormon as well. The mom reads to her kids every night to put them to bed so she has replaced the regular stories with the book of mormon. And it sounds like they are having some pretty deep discussions as well. Our last visit she told us that she had asked her kids if they believed in the book of mormon and that the kids said yes. I just like kids because they have so much faith. I think that is why Jesus wants us to be like little children. 

This next week is like the 4th of July except chilean. So we will be celebrating with lots of empanadas and asados I think. 

Have the greatest week!

Elder Holdstock

(Did you find the relevance of the subject of this email??)

(It's ok.. there isnt really one...)

PS.

We also received an email from Clayton's first companion in the mission field, Elder David Benitez:

Hi, I'm an old companion of the Elder Holdstock.

There is a photo sent for your birthday and a big greeting for you.

*Running out of funny subjects*

Hola Hola!!

How is everyone doing?? We had a great week out here in El Quisco. The change has come to a close and today marks the beginning of another one. Nothing changes for us, Elder Benitez and I stay together out here in the coast but we did have to say good bye to our good friends Elder Plante. This week was a great one as we worked hard and searched long and hard for some new people to teach. 

We have seen lots of miracles and lots of tender mercies. We are teaching a man named Francisco who lives alone and takes care of cabins... He went to church because he was invited by a member and he loves it. He cant wait to be able to get baptized here soon. So always remember that just a simple invitation can change someones whole life and their eternity. Always look for opportunities to be a missionary. Invite someone to an activity or to a Family Night or to Church. I know lots of times we think that everyone we know is already a member or the non members we know would not be interested but that is just not true.

Because this week we taught a family we had found just contacting on the streeet. Turns out that this family lives like a few houses away from our ward mission leader... and it turns out that the wife of the ward mission leader is related to the mom of this family. The ward mission leader never would have thought to invite them to hear missionaries or go to church but turns out that they are actually really interested. So just invite people. The second to worst thing that could happen, is they say no. But the worst thing that could happen is that we dont give them a chance.

It is awesome to be a missionary and see that people are actually searching for the truth. 

This week we had to go into santiago for a training with president which was really great, we learned lots about how to give our all to the mission and be better. we came back and have been working hard this week to put all the things we learned into practice.

OH and thank you for all the birthday wishes! I got the package from you guys too. That was way rad  you guys are the coolest!!!!

Keep on keepin on

Elder Holdstock