Amengual

Have you every thought about the worth of a human soul....? 

Hahah my email actually has nothing to do with that little quote but that was something president monson said to start one of his conference talks as an apostle a long time ago... and I thought it was quite the attention grabber.. so now that I have your attention let me tell you a little bit about this week.

Things are just hoppin here in Santiago. We are meeting so many awesome people from so many different places. From Haiti from the Domincana from Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, and even some chilenos here and there! We even saw some miracles and some people showed up to church all by themselves without being invited! We have been teaching a lady from venezuela (lady is kinda an overstatement because she is 20) but her husband is a member and she will be getting baptized this weekend! The best part is that here husband Javier will baptize her. I can't remember where exactly Uncle Everett served but ask him for me because all the venezuelans want to know! Who knows maybe he baptized their parents or something! 

We are also teacing another guy that is named Hector Mejia. He is from colombia he is way cool. This week we taught him about the book of mormon and answeed a lot of his doubts and helped him understand why he needs to get baptized. He has started to play soccer on roller skates in the night time... so that sounds really difficult! And he told us that he was also going to go check out some trampoline place that sounds like airborne haha he is 30 years old and really put together actually but come on.. everybody loves trampolines right??

A colombian couple also showed up to church alone and we were able to get to know them and teach them a little bit! Jose y Mariluz. jose is a member from colombia but has been a little bit inactive but they decided they needed to start to go to church again so we are teaching his girlfriend and she is way awesome. She even goes to church when jose cant because he is working!

We also had a little bit of a surprise this week because our Zone leader friend Elder Southam finished his mission and went home so his companion was left all alone. But now I am his new companion and we will be in trio until the end of the transfer while I finish training Elder Manrique. So now our sector is giant. but it will be fun! A few crazy weeks but all is well in zion.

I hope all is well back in the bury!

Elder Holdstock

(i forgot to take pics im srry)

justkidding. i remembered i took this one!

Waddup

well this week has been pretty great! We are all set with the sector now and know how we need to work so we are happy about that! One little miracle this week is that a venezuelan that we have been teaching and that my companion had been teaching with his other companion finally accepted a baptismal date she was kind of the most stubborn of all the people that we were teaching but she finally was able to receive and answer and told us she is ready. In these next few weeks we should already start to see some of the people that we have been teaching get baptized. 

So that leads me to Abby`s question if water is wet.... and I am going to say that yes yes it is.... haha I dont really know! But the missionaries always want to be wet because that means that they were in the baptismal font! 

One little kind of cool experience that happened this week is that we had to go to the church for something and as we were leaving and locking everything up my companion dropped his water bottle on a plate that was on the ground and it shattered all over the place. so we had to open the church back up and go inside to look for the broom to be able to clean it up. We cleaned it up and went to throw it away in the kitchen but the kitchen trash was full so we had to go to the bathroom... and beside the bathroom is the baptismal font. And when we were walking towards the bathroom we realized that the baptismal font was filling up... and it was about to over flow. So we were able to turn off the water and drain it out because there were a lot of kids in the chapel before we got there and I think one of them had turned on the font with out realizing...  but it was a little testimony builder for me how god will literally make things happen when he needs things to happen.. even if it is making a water bottle fall and break a plate so that we have to go back in to throw it away.

The church is true and it is more and more obvious the more you think about it and most importantly the more you pray about it.

I hope everyone has a great week!!

Elder Holdstock

P.s I got the package! muchas thank yous it was all very delicious and my companions were also very happy! ;)

God Bless the Potato

This week has been a pretty crazy one! The change has been drastic from the country to the city. Everything is so much faster but I have been grateful for the new challenge I have. My poor little companion has had to learn lots this week because his first companion didn´t help him too much. But he is awesome and is learning really quickly what we have to do!

One of the highlights this week was that we were able to watch the funeral of presidente Monson. One of my most favorite things that was said was by his daughter. When she said that one day he saw a picture of himself in a Liahona Magazine and said 'I know that guy. He tried his best!' That was just such a wonderful message for me that the prophet of the lord is human as well and that he is called just as we are to do our best. The life of the prophet was full of sacrifice and of blessings. We look forward to Tuesday when we will once again be able to testify that we know the prophet. That we know his name and we know he is called of God.

On another note, (and explaining a little bit better my subject for this email) On tuesday another religious leader will be coming to chile.... the Pope. In fact he is coming to my sector.... oh no. haha I have no idea how it will be but what I do know is that while there will be many people hoping to catch a glimpse of the pope or el papa in spanish we should consider ourselves blessed to be able to hear from the lords chosen leader the prophet. Papa means pope... and papa also means potato so figure that one out...) 

We have been teaching a lot of new people this week and that has been our focus in finding new people to teach because when I got here there wasnt that big of a group that was really progressing. So we were able to find more to teach. In this sector there are a Ton of dominicans so shout out to Tanner Anderson cuz we are serving the same mission right now ;) actually there are less chileans here than there are foreigners.

I will keep you updated on those people that are doing well! Sounds like we took out the trash in soccer. and that jedi braid is lookin fresh.

Elder HOldstock

New Year Changes

Welp. My time in the country side was shorter and sweeter than a cold lemonade on a hot summer day. I am writing from my new sector here in the heart of the ciudad! It was a little bit of a shock to receive the news of changes but god has his hand in everything so I am sure it will all work out.

I am now in a part of the city called Amengual, it is pretty cool though because I am in like the first stake that they had in chile! It is quite the change though from the country side! I was said I wanted to live in the city... but after a little bit of time in the country and in the coast... I started to like it a lot! But I know I will love the city as well!

My new companion is named Elder Manrique he is from Peru. He is my third peruvian in a row! I think I am destined to know how to make really good peruvian food! He is super new in the mission this is only his second transfer. I came to finish training him because it looks like his first trainer wasnt cuttin it. But he is super awesome! He is a convert of four years and was the first to get baptized in his family but now just about his entire family has been baptized.

I was a little bit sad to leave my last sector though because we were just getting started! We had a little bit of a miracle this week because there is a family of converts that we were teaching who have been members for almost a year now. Before they were mormon they were Jehovahs Witness.. so it has been a pretty impressive change for them and sometimes they still have some of their JW traditions. So when the parents got baptized their daughter Josefa was 8. But they thought she wasnt prepared enough to get baptized. Now she is 9 and so that makes her our responsibility. Anyway we were on our way to a lesson with them and we ran into the bishop.. and he counseled us to not go in right away with the idea to baptize her because he said that the dad was pretty closed off to it. He said we should try to be comfortable with the dad first. So we changed our lesson plans to follow his suggestions. We showed up to their house and started the lesson we got to know them and I asked how long they had been members. They replied a year and so I said oh that is great you are all just about ready for the temple then! And the dad said no.. I dont think so we still lack a lot of things. Then out of nowhere he said and besides Josefa still has to get baptized! So the rebel that I am just came out of nowhere and I asked Josefa why she hadnt been baptized and she said she hadnt felt prepared. Then the dad just told her that it isnt necessary to have a perfect knowledge of the things before showing our faith and getting baptized. So we went with the idea of getting the dad to let us help her get baptized and we left with the dad convincing his daugther she was ready. 

Then on sunday the bishop said... Elder that is a miracle!

But the sad news is that they had to leave on vacations so I will only see her baptism in photos. 

I hope everyone has the greatest week!

Elder Holdstock

¡Feliz Año!

Well and just like that there goes another year! Pretty crazy isn't is how fast time goes. This week for me has been as I am sure it has been for all of you a good moment to take a step back and realize where I am who I am what I have done and those things I want to accomplish as well as think about the person I want to become.

Don't forget changes always happen, and that is part of the process of life without changes there isnt progress and we are here in this world for that purpose to progress so i guess that would mean that it is hoped of us that we also change a little bit too. I mean isnt that the reason there are missionaries all around the world? To help people change. To help them become what God wants them to become to be able to inherit what he has to give them. It is pretty incredible when you think about it.

This week was awesome! We found a lot of people... like the most I have ever found in one week in my mission so that was great. One of the people we are focusing on right now is named Ruth, she is a grandma with a lot of energy. Her mom was a member but she could never get baptized becasuse she worked a lot, but now she doesnt work so she is loving learning more about the gospel and going to the activities with the ward and everything!

For new years we went and had a dinner with some investigadors that had invited us and had permission to stay out until a little bit later. After we went back to the house and waited for midnight but the honest truth is that I was really tired and took like a half hour nap before midnight arrived then we made a little bit of noise and then hit the sack. 

I hope you have all had a great year! I sounds like you have been super busy and doing lots of great things. Keep it up! Thanks for all the pictures! Everyone looks great... and so do the ties everyone is wearing ;)

See ya this year!

Elder Holdstock