La honestidad

Hello, good day to you all. This week (Like each one) Has had its ups and downs, its victories and trials, but ya, I´m enjoying it all. :) As Elder Tito and I work with the members more and more every week, I grow to love this ward here more. So ya, just suffice to say that all in all, we had a good week. 

It´s certainly getting colder here, it reminds me alot of my first area (Because i arrived in the winter).  And ya... by the way, random thought, there´s this one kid named James (He´s the son of a part-member family that we´re teaching) and he´s just a little ball of energy. but seriously, every time we visit, he´s just shaking with energy, giving us high-fives, and running into things.  He´s about 2 or 3, pretty much the cutest thing I´ve ever seen. Hahaha

So anyways, Just a little thing that i´d like to share is something I heard from a brother in our Ward (Brother Machuca) on Sunday.  He said that when we´re teaching here in the mission, we need to always be ourselves and not go to great lengths to be someone that we´re not. If we´re just ourselves, and bearing testimony of the truths of the gospel that we know, then the Lord can testify through the Holy Ghost of those truths. So ya, be yourselves, and focus on gradually increasing your Christlike attributes so that the Lord can do his work better through you.

Well, I love you all, thanks for the prayers and support. This grand work goes on.

--

-Elder Holtry

just a look at where I study in the morning every day

We lost our phone (Sigh) So a member loaned us one.  It´s weird having this as the wallpaper...

Hasta que tengamos Fe

Happy transfers!... For the rest of the zone that is, out of the entire zone, we´re the only companionship that isn´t changing. So ya. Honestly, i´m pretty psyched still for this transfer, because Elder Tito is a great companion, and we´ve done some good work here already. We´ve helped to raise the church attendance in the ward, and we´ve built up more confidence with the members here.  We´ve had some fun times too, like when one of the crazy´s in the street ran up to us, started to shake our hands, danced around a little bit, and then poked my comp in the forehead and said "Sos un hijo del infierno" (You´re a child of hell) Hahaha! Then he snatched my hand, hit it a few times with his fingers, and said "what do you think to do here?" and then ran away after that. So ya.

All in all a good week. We´ve been working with several people this week.. We had some investigators in the church this week, but the only problem is that they can´t progress for now because they´re not married (That´s pretty flippin common here...) But ya, we´re going to continue helping them for now until they make that decision to keep the commandments more fully in their lives (Davíd, Javani, and mariana(Their spouses are members btw) if you could throw in a prayer or two for them, that´d be just dandy).  Along with them, we´ve found several new people this week. the most likely to progress are Marisol and Rosa, so ya, a prayer for them would be appreciated also.

This week, I read a scripture that made me think a bit. It´s Helamán 5:41. There´s a bit of background, but i´d just like to focus in on the part where it says to cry out until we have sufficient faith.  This is a great principle, because it highlights the importance of diligence. Maybe just diligence in the little things, like reading scriptures and praying for just a little bit every day. The point is that we need to continue doing the right things and keeping the commandments until our faith is increased, and until the Lord can work great miracles in our lives. 

Well, just to close, i´d like to share how grateful i am for my mission. It hasn´t been easy (In fact, it´s probably been the hardest thing that i´ve ever done...) But it´s been so worth it, because the Lord has blessed me and opened my eyes in countless ways. I know that this is the path of the Lord and that this Gospel is of him. Let us all press on with diligence.

The Adidas Store

A Shrine to River

Me being a punk

 There...that's better 

Some photos from the Zone

Entendimiento

Solid week.  Well, fun fact, the price of buses doubled.  The system we use to pay is called Sube, and it changed from a minimum of 3 to 6.  We always walk, but every few days we have to use it a few times to travel, soooo..... oh well. This week also, I did divisions with Elder Bennett in my area, so Bennett and I worked together for the day. I learned a ton from him about the importance of visiting the members that are here in the ward to work more efficiently in the mission work.  That was something that I already knew, but the principle was reinforced.  

Well, there are a few people that don´t understand why I´m here.  A non-member that we always talk to in the neighborhood asked me one time "Dude, what are you doing here wasting your time? When you could be in California doing this or that. " Well, I know the answer to that and I hope all of you understand why.  As missionaries, to put it simply, we´re here to bring people unto Christ, and unto his Gospel that he´s restored to this world.  Everything we do is for that purpose. I´ve had many opportunities to help people do this here in the mission, and i´m grateful for that. From the Family gatherings we´ve assisted with to the lessons we´ve taught, we´re gradually doing the Lord´s work.  I´m not perfect (Far from it honestly) But I have the hope that the Lord can continually help me as I´ve seen him help others. And this is his promise, that he´ll help and lift us as we seek to follow him.  

Well, I love this Gospel, and I love the work that the Lord is doing in this world.

--

-Elder Holtry

Divisions

 That moment when you use money as a bookmark...

 Zone reunion to watch another session of general conference

La Vida

Hey, so much has happened this week... obviously, there was general conference.  As always, some solid and enlightening talks.  I especially love how Bednar can always explain concepts really clearly, and Holland can put power behind his message. I liked the talk of Elder Christofferson as well, about fatherhood.  I´m grateful to have been blessed with an incredible father who has shown me what a man should be. 

Also this week, we had interviews with President Ayre. As always, It was a fantastic spiritual experience for me.  He gave me some good insight about a few things.  and as I´ve pondered, i´ve been able to receive personal revelation.  One thing i´d like to share is the relationship between a testimony and conversion.  I´ll bring up the classic example of Nephi, Laman, and Lemuel.  After being chastised by an angel, they still murmured.  Don´t you think that after seeing and angel, and living what they lived that they had a testimony? They did.  But still, they went against it.  So, as our leaders encourage us always, let us be as Nephi, and bring ourselves closer to the Lord, and seek, learn of, and do his will.  I´ve had times that have been difficult, as everyone has, and I´ve learned the lesson that as we bring ourselves closer to the Lord and do his will, we have more long-term joy.  It´s a simple principal, but it´s hard to follow sometimes.  

As I spoke with President Ayre, he said something along the lines of "If you weren´t in the mission, you´re life could be a lot easier right now, but that´s not the point of life".  I understand well enough now why it is undeniably necessary that we have the harder times in our lives.  They open our eyes, change us, make us who the Lord wants us to be, and if we endure them well, all of these things shall be for (our) good.

Well, I love the mission, and I love what we´re doing here. This is the truth, and the Lord will prosper us in our struggles.

-Elder Holtry

If you are interested in listening to any of the talks he refers to from General Conference this weekend, here they are:

Elder Holland: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/04/media/session_5_talk_11/4829903593001?lang=eng

Elder Christopherson: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/04/media/session_4_talk_9/4829392210001?lang=eng

Elder Bednar: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/04/media/session_2_talk_11/4828695901001?lang=eng

Watching General Conference!

We ate some choclates, and those were inside... hahaha!

 Lunch at "Mi Peru" on Saturday in between conference sessions

 Drove by my old area of Munro

 I got an Easter Package!

 Interviews at the house of President Ayre

 Vamos Barcelona!

 A Chocolate bunny a ward member made for me

 The White Elephant Building - It´s a big building in Elder Steele´s area. There used to be a ton of people living inside, but there was a ton of drugs and all of that, so the government came in, kick everyone out, and removed the elevators, and.... ya, there it is now.