¡LA CONFERENCIA GENERAL!

Howdy! Well, as some of you may know, we just had general conference! SO awesome!!!!! As usual, the talks were super powerful, and this time, i got to listen to them in Castellano/Spanish! I was able to understand it, and one fun fact is that those who speak Spanish (Like Elder Christofferson) prerecord their talks in Spanish and then play that.  One thing that I liked was in the talk of President Eyring.  He said something along the lines of that we need to remember that the pains and challenges that we face in this life are so that we can be tested.  It´s crucial to remember that these problems have a purpose, so that we can endure them and, as it says in D&C, endure them well, so that God will exalt us on high.  Another point that I´d like to mention is from the talk of Elder Cook.  He talked a bit about the importance of exercising self-control. There´s a reason that the scriptures tell us to pray and fast often, and to not set our hearts on the riches of the world.  Self-control is like a muscle, and as we exercise it, through fasts, charity, and earnest prayer (cosas así) we can become more like the Savior, and gradually have more and more power to change our lives.  Of course, there´s a ton of other great topics in there, but those are the ones that I´m focusing on for now.  

Now, a fun experience that I had this week was with an investigator named Ignacio.  First off, the manner in which we found him was interesting. Usually, we contact people in the street, asking if we can give a card from the church to them, and starting a conversation.  Well, we were in a store near our apartment, and as we were looking through the products, a woman asked us, "Excuse me, can I have one of your cards?" We were like "What???" Usually, people don´t want to talk to us first! Hahaha, well, she was the grandma of Ignacio, and Ignacio´s pretty awesome, his dream is to work for United States Airlines, and he pretty much loves everything about the U.S. So, he´s been learning English, and he asked us to teach the first lesson in English.  It was actually super weird talking in English and even weirder TEACHING in English. but, we did it! hahaha! So ya, i kind of realized after that point that I can more or less understand (If not completely speak) two languages.  Because also earlier that day I had a full conversation with a guy named clyde in a bus. Of course, that was pretty hard, but I did it i suppose... hahaha! 

The mission´s really a roller coaster ride.  We had plans for a few people to attend with us to general conference, but they all fell through.  For example, there was one woman named Palmyra.  She wasn´t able to due to some complications with her computer in the house.  We tried to help her see that she needed to exercise her faith in the Lord with attendance.  She said she believes these things, but she wasn´t willing to attend.  Now, I always think of this question, but what is Faith without action?  The scriptures tell us that Faith without works is dead.  Also in the talk of President Eyring, he said (I don´t know exactly in English, but...) If you know something´s good, and you should do it... do it... Simple, but not simple, right?  Sometimes, it seems like we´re not strong enough and that... is sometimes right.  But that´s why we have the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  To lift us up, and through the BELIEVING part of our faith (Prayers), Receive the strength that we need from him, in order to perform the ACTIONS.  This is a process, but, as we exercising our faith, through things like prayer and fasting, we can gradually perfect the process. 

Como siempre, estoy agradecido por este Evangelio- La verdad que contiene el poder para ayudarnos a mejorar nuestras vidas.  Jesucristo es nuestro Salvador y redentor.  Por medio de la fe, podemos ejercer la Expiación AHORA en nuestras vidas.  ¿Comprendemos la importancia de esto?  Probablemente no, pero, podemos todavía confiar en Él, en sus enseñanzas, y en su iglesia.  Sé que esta es la iglesia de Jesucristo, otra vez restaurada a la tierra a través de José Smith, un profeta de Dios. ¡¡¡Para siempre Dios este con Ustedes!!! 

¡Les quiero! 

(Jen’s note: I translated the last bit for you: I am as always, grateful for the Gospel Truth that has the power to help us improve our lives. Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. Through faith, we can exercise the atonement now in our lives. Do we understand the importance of this? Probably not, but we can still trust him, in his teachings, and in his church. I know that this is the church of Jesus Christ, again restored to the earth through Joseph Smith, a prophet of God. God be with you !!!

I love you all!

I also thought I would include something from his personal e-mail to Brent and I. It was funny:

Here´s some quick things and fun facts for you guys!

Remind me to not play videogames when I get home.  We have a returned missionary in the ward, whenever we visit, he´s always playing WOW... en serio.  So ya, there´s that.  Also, (don´t worry, it´s not a problem) the girls in Argentina are seriously beautiful.  Again, don´t worry, i´m focused, but seriously, sometimes it´s like... dangit, why do you have to be so beautiful right now?? hahaha! So ya, also, I don´t know if it´s possible to send music through the computer, if so, could you send music from THE LORD OF THE RINGS soundtrack? If not, don´t worry about! So ya, just a few things that came to mind this week, that I thought would be fun to ask/share! Well, I sure love you folks! 
-Elder Holtry

On the bus

 Chinatown!

 All you can eat restaurant!

 Preparing for the P-day feast!

 Selfie??