La Villa! :)

Hey Everyone! Can I just say first off that I love the Villa? There´s just a ton of humble people there, and it´s super fun to talk with them! Along with that, there´s a lot of people from Paraguay, so we´ve been learning a bit of guanani also! Along with that, there´s a group of them that have a volleyball court where they play without hands, kicking the ball, and hitting it with their heads and shoulders also. Super legit. The villas pretty crazy too sometimes, there was a huge party yesterday, with people playing music, dancing, and there were some kids with silly spray (We got sprayed a bunch of times :D ).  A few fights broke out too, which was pretty fun.

Anywho, this has been a good week. We´ve been doing visits and working with a few principal investigators. Nancy (A nice middle-aged lady who we´ve been teaching for the last few weeks now. she´s so awesome!) Leandro (He´s a bit odd, but funny! He´s gradually progressing, but has a few doubts.) Roberto and Emilia (An old couple. Emilia´s from Italy, and Roberto from here. They´re coming to church every Sunday, and learning really well) and Angie and Mica (A few younger folks who have an aunt that´s a member. Their main struggle is getting to church Sundays...) But ya, I love visiting these people, and the members here. 

I´ve thought about the scripture in Jacob 5:35 a bit this week.  It basically says that a trees roots won´t be beneficial to the master of the vineyard if the fruits aren´t good. And it´s really because of that that Faith is a word of action.  Yes, obviously we need to believe and accept the Lord, but we´re only beneficial to the Lord as we´re doing his will and, as President Monson spoke on in the last general conference, keeping the commandments.

Well I love you all, I love the work, I love the gospel, and I wish you a happy week! :)

-Elder Holtry 

Making Arroz Choufa (Fried Rice) with some members and Nancy 

 so good!

So good!

So full!

So Feliz!

Going Ice Skating with the zone!

Volleyball on P-day

 me sweaty after volleyball

watch tan

Training meeting where we go to hear general authorities speak by broadcast

We trapped a hornet

Parque Avellaneda 1

Hey Team! Well, first off, this has been a great week! Elder Fleming and I are working well together, and having a great time. I can honestly say that this has been one of the greatest weeks in my mission. As I said last time, Elder Fleming was my District leader back in the Zona Norte, so we were SO psyched to be in the same companionship. We´ve pretty much been feeding off of each other´s energy all week! hahaha Also, Elder Fleming made the type of Mate that we´re allowed to drink, so we had some of that last night. The culture is real. :) Also, I said last week that our area is capital and Villa. Well, we pretty much only work in the villa. I love it! It´s a bunch of poor neighborhoods with alleyways and brick houses everywhere! It´s just the coolest place! 

So ya, this weeks been good. We´ve been visiting some investigators named Nancy, Angie, Roxana, Leandro, and some new ones named Roberto and Emilia (They were being taught by Elder Steele and his companion , but turns out they were in our area! whoops! :) ) But ya, we´re pressing foward there, and oh ya, Elder Steele (My comp from the MTC, if you don´t remember) is working in the same ward as me, so that´s been fun. 

Well, there´s not a whole lot to report this week.  We´re just visiting, working, serving, and bringing the Gospel of Christ to the people. Well, this is the Church of Jesus Christ, and I´ll never get tired of saying it.

-Elder Holtry

One of the many little friends in our old apartment

 we found this poster in our apartment. Does anyone know what it means?

A Birds eye view of my new area Parque Avellaneda

 Bowling Alley on P-day

 I got a total of 3 strikes this game and tied for first with Elder Edmonds for first place

 Elder Flemming and I traded ties

 Elder Flemming and I in our new apartment

 Elder Molina, with me planning in the the background

 Living on the Edge!

The main street in San Miguel 

 

 The old Zone

Capital

Helloooooooooo! Alright, first things first, we had transfers today, and.... I left San Miguel! It was a bit of a surprise, but last night, I hurriedly packed my bags, and this morning we took a taxi to San Fernando, to meet up with my new companion... Elder Fleming! I don´t know if you folks remember him, but he was my district leader in la zona norte, so, suffice to say, we´re pretty stoked to work together this transfer. Right now, we´re working in the area "Parque Avellaneda". Here, we have a little bit of the capitol area (For the first time in my mission) and also some of the villa (Pretty much the poor part of town).  

So, there´s a few things from this week that i´d like to write.  One is that we had a super cool investigator in San Miguel named Julio, who we were helping to give up smoking.  He gave us his cigarettes to throw away, and he´s reading the Book of Mormon cover to cover. He told us one time (The night before he started reading the book) he had a dream, and in that dream there was a door with a light behind it, and all he knew was that he need to follow that light, and the dream ended.  The next day when he started reading, he read the part in the beginning of the book (before first Nephi) when it has a little part about how Joseph Smith saw Moroni, and Julio thought it was pretty similar.  I don´t know, I just love little things like that in the mission.

But ya, i´ve been pondering a little bit this week how cool it is that every person that we see has their own world.  Every single person, in a city of millions, has their own worries, their own needs, their own struggles, and their own personalities that make them who they are.  We´re all different, but we have one thing in common- we´re all sons and daughters of God.  Really, the end goal of our work here as missionaries is to help these people obtain their full potential- to become like their father in heaven.  We teach the gospel of Jesus Christ (Faith, Repentance, Baptism, The Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the end) and search for those that are searching for the truth.

Amo esta obra.  Quizás no soy el mejor misionero, pero sé que esta iglesia tiene la verdad, y es del Señor Jesucristo.  Quiero mejorar siempre, y quiero ayudar  a otros a mejorar.te mediante Jesucristo, podemos lograr cualquier meta que pongamos.

These pictures are pretty gross. They are of his ingrown toenails. A problem I guess he is still dealing with. You have been warned... (also, it looks like he could use some moisturizer)

El Año Negro

Well, here we are, and we´ve officially begun 2016!!! This is going to be my year completely in the mission!  How did we celebrate new years eve you may ask... well, we pretty much followed the schedule of every other day, and were in the apartment by 8:30 (We had to return 30 minutes early, because it was getting a little bit sketchy with all the partying going on) and we were asleep by 10:30.  But ya, i´m pretty excited for this year- the only one (perhaps in my whole life) where ALL of my time is dedicated to the Lord. So, i´ve set some personal goals, and i´ll set out to acheive them, and whatever else the Lord may desire that I do. 

Now, with this week, I´ll try to pick out a few highlights.  One is that I did divisions with Elder Hardcastle a few days ago.  Elder Danneman had to do a baptisimal interview in another area, but we had an appointment that morning, so Elder Molina went with him, and Elder Hardcastle went with me. We went to the appointment (the name of the investigator is Adela, please pray for her if you so desire :) ), and it went super well. Adela had a member friend there who helped testify and bring the spirit to a whole new level with her personal experiences and such.

So that was fantastic, and also this week, we got to do a bit of service!!! A familys moving from our ward to the Moreno province (If I remember correctly) SO we helped them pack everything up and get it moved out to the truck and whatnot. I love it! 

So ya, it´s been many of the same things this week.  Searching, and trying to find those who have a desire to make covenants with the Lord.  Pues, amo esta obra. Es difícil, pero vale la pena, porque las bendiciones del evangelio de Jesucristo valen más que cualquier otra cosa que exista.  
(Editors translation: Well, I love this work. It is difficult, but worth it, because the blessings of the gospel of Jesus Christ is worth more than anything else that exists.)

-Elder Holtry

Lots of pictures this time:

 The Traditional Tie Burning at 6 month mark

Christmas Dinner with the Mission

San Miguel

Christmas Morning

 Gifts from ward members

Christmas Lunch at a members home

Misc. Pics