Pascua

Howdy.  Well, i heard that Obama visited us this week. We don´t watch TV, so we don´t really know what´s going on.  Earlier in the week, a guy from Paraguay that always bugs us and swears at us told us "Obama´s going to come here!" And we were like, ok... that´s cool. But the day of, we were buying some cheese, and the guy working there said "Hey, Obama´s coming today, right" Aaaaaand ya, turns out the crazy guy was right. I don´t know, just a little fun story. 

But ya, this week has been the Semana Santa, or "Holy Week".  Good ole´ Easter! One of the things that we had this week was an activity in the ward, we came together in the church, had an Asado (Pretty much BBQ) played some games, and had a good time being with the members.  So ya, that was flippin fantastic! But ya, this has been a nice week to remember Christ and all that he did and does for us.  It´s been a time to reflect within on personal devotion to him. I was reading in the scriptures the other day (I believe Alma 41: 5-6) and I just thought about the desires of ones heart. Because really, If we really desire something, with all of our being, we´ll be able to achieve it one day, because we´ll have that drive, and that power to do it. So, we need to discover what the desires of our hearts are, and if they´re not what the Lord wants, we can pray and fast in order to redirect our desires to Christ, and his path.

Well, I´m grateful for the Lord, and for the time that he´s given me to help others come unto him.  Although I´m a  weak servant, the Lord is in this work, and he can do all things. And i say that in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

-Elder Holtry 

Some photos from last week:

A look outside our window (Just because)

We´ve been playing cards pretty much every night (I went undefeated for a few days)  

 There are 4 soccerballs on the roof out there. When I arrived there was only one :D

Cards

 Just to be cheesy

Bolivian restaurant P-day

 Making good use of the poncho

"Fragil" Must be Italian (I hope you get that reference) 

Villa

Asado

 (One of the games that we had, everyone looking for a chair, blindfolded)

enjoying the ward Activity

Me desperté

I always forget that dry humor doesn´t work here. (Sigh) I was at lunch yesterday, and I made a joke about something (I don´t remember exactly what) with dry humor, and Elder Steele was there too, so he chuckled, but the members just looked at me like I was crazy! (hahaha) It was pretty funny.  Oh ya, a little culture fact for you all.  When you´re outside of someone´s house or gate here, to call them, you clap.  You can knock too, but clapping works super well. So ya, there´s that.

Anyway, this week, I´ve woken up a bit.  I don´t know how to describe it exactly, I´ve always understood the work, and why it´s important, but I´ve received a greater understanding, and a desire to go out every day with more power. As our investigator Roberto said once, we´re always learning.  Our learning isn´t limited to one day of the week, we´re always in the process (He´s super cool, I´ll be stoked if he gets baptized while I´m here, If not, it´s alright, but I´ll need to get a letter about it :) ) So ya, we know many things, but we can learn more, and refine ourselves more and more until we´re who God wants us to be.

I know that this Gospel helps us to do this, because it was established by Christ himself. I´m grateful to be able to help people in their personal processes to greatness.  I´m grateful for the happiness God has granted me this week.  Well, until next week, I bid thee adieu.

-Elder Holtry 

El Testimonio

Howdy. So, I´ll just start out by saying that the heat´s lowering.  I can sleep decently comfortable at night now. It´s still switching between Hot and colds days now, but at least we´re getting there. Elder Tito and I are working super well together, and we´re finding some new people to teach.  It´s a funny story with Roberto and Amelia, because they know they need to be baptized, and they´re ready, they just don´t want to accept a baptismal date.  So maybe randomly you´ll see in the email that they got baptized, or maybe in a few months, or maybe you´ll know when I get home. But oh well, we´ll see. :) 

Funny story, we were at the baptismal service yesterday after Stake conference, and some of the people that were getting baptized looked vaguely familiar to me.  After a little bit of time, i realized that i´d talk them before when I did splits in another area.  When I was there, they didn´t want to listen much, but we taught them anyway. well, about a month later, they entered the waters of baptism. Just goes to show how the gospel can work in people´s hearts! I love to see stuff like that!

Another thing I love is the testimony of new converts. we were talking with Roxana this last week about church.  She told us how she loves going because she feels joyful, clean, and ready for the next week.  Hearing testimonies like that really make the daily heartbreaks and weariness worth it.

Well, I just want to encourage you all as always to do the basics that Christ would encourage you to do, Read the scriptures, pray, and sanctify the Sabbath day.  Seek a deeper meaning in every one of these principles. 

I know that this church is true, and that it´s Christ´s gospel. Now go out there, have a good week, and go make yourself a little more Holy, and someone else a little more happy. 

Que Vayan bien,

les quiero! 

-Elder Holtry 

Elder Fleming! (Reunion of District leaders)

Lunch in a peruvian restauant (Tito was happy)

Food from the restaurant

 Facturas... so healthy

Flash!

So, funny story. Elder Fleming and I aren´t companions anymore. Tuh duuuuuh! Ya, so sometimes in the mission, we have something called a "Flash". Basically, the mission president takes two Elders and switches their places.  So, that happened with Elder Fleming.  He left, and here came Elder Tito.  I have a testimony that the Lord really has his hand in this work, because as my new comp and i have worked together these last few days, we´ve been able to do great things.  We´ve started talking to Roberto and Amilia again, so we´re going to try to help them towards baptism, and we´ve also found Estela and Norma.  They´re two references from a member named Nadia.  So we have them and other investigators that we´re working with.

Elder Tito is from Peru, and he has a ton of patience, and is an amazing teacher.  Also, I´m going to be talking Spanish 24/7 again, so that´s nice! We´ve had a good start with our time working together, so we´re going to continue being obedient, and doing our best to do what the Lord wants us to do.  It´s actually funny, because the morning before the flash, i was praying to the Lord for something to help me have more spirit and willpower to work harder, and he answered that prayer, as he´s answered every sincere prayer that I´ve given. 

Well, to be short, I love the Lord, I love this work.  I have a testimony of the veracity and reality of this church.  This is the true path, and I´m happy to help people to find it. I love you all, you´re in my prayers, and i thank you for your prayers. 

Hurrah for Israel!

--

-Elder Holtry

Elder Fleming getting out of here...

 Elder Tito and I