Volviendo a casa

Heading Home! 

Goodbye Argentina!

La Carta Final. El Fin De Una Jornada Hermosa.

Wow, two years have come and gone. I honestly can´t express in an email what this time here in the mission has meant to me and how it´s changed me. This time that i´ve had to serve the people of Argentina has been absolutely incredible, and I wouldn´t trade these two years for anything. 

My plane sets off this next Monday, so this will be the last email that I send from Argentina. Well, to give a little update on last week, we did splits with the José León Suárez Elders, had Interviews with the mission President, and just worked as usual.  Also, on Saturday we had a very special baptism. I´ve mentioned Sofia before, she´s a young woman who´s been trying to get baptized for quite a while now, but her Mom never gave her permission. Well, with the support of our Bishop, we decided to proceed with faith, we set up her baptismal interview and made invitations for the baptism, and pretty much planned it for Saturday. Thursday night, we were there for like an hour trying to convince her mother that she (Sofia) was ready for baptism. We just testified and testified. We didn´t get the permission that night, but the next day, when we showed them the invitations that we´d made, something clicked in her head, and she gave the permission (She even came to the baptismal service the day after!). I still don´t know what happened, but it was a miracle. It was another lesson to me about how we need to charge forward with faith.

My beloved brothers and sisters, I just want to exhort you with all the energy of my soul to press forward and exercise your faith daily. Do this so that you´ll be able to look back at the end of your life to see the effects that your faith has had. We don´t have much time, for as said Jacob: "26 And it came to pass that I, Jacob, began to be old... wherefore, I conclude this record, declaring that I have written according to the best of my knowledge, by saying that the time passed away with us, and also our lives passed away like as it were unto us a dream"

I have a testimony of the importance of action, for as we read also in the book of Jacob, respecting the allegory of the vineyard:

"35 And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard said unto his servant: The tree profiteth me nothing, and the roots thereof profit me nothing so long as it shall bring forth evil fruit."

We can have wonderful and grand desires (belief), but if we don´t put these feelings into action, as James taught, our faith is dead.  I beg you to use your talents and gifts in the edification of the kingdom of Heaven here in the earth, there is no better work to be consecrated in.

Once more, I just want to leave with you my testimony. I know without a doubt that Jesus Christ lives and that he is our Saviour and Redeemer. He is the source of our salvation, for he has paid the price of our sins with his atoning blood. He is the only way to receive reconciliation with the Father. I love the Lord, and in him I find my hope. I know that this is his church. The Book of Mormon is true, as are the other standard works. I know that Joseph Smith was a Prophet as well. I testify of the veridity and power of fast and prayer. Also, I testify of the importance of missionary work, for I know that the Lord works alongside his servants. Once more I testify: Jesus is the Christ! This I leave in his name, yea, even in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

--

-Elder Holtry

Sofia's Baptism

Splits with Elders Ryan and Smith

Street graffiti of Jesus saying "And that´s how I saved the world" 

Sofia's Baptism Invitation

Sunday Morning

No Llores Por Mí Argentina

Work work work. Just do it. Hurrah for Israel! Etc. So ya, it´s been another fantastic week here in Buenos Aires! finally, i´ve been able to actually work in my own area for a whole week, and Elder Lucas and I are getting along great.  We´ve been focused on talking with a ton of people in the street this week as always, and I don´t know what happened, but the people have been really hard-hearted this week. It´s really required extra work and extra prayers to share the Gospel and Books of mormon with those that we could. As I´ve said before, I´ve really come to understand what Alma meant when he said: 1 O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people! 2 Yea, I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance and the plan of redemption, that they should repent and come unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth.

I wish that I could comunicate this message with the power of an angel to make this people understand it. I honestly don´t have the strength that this message deserves, and though I always plead for more strength from the Lord, I can´t be perfect, I can just try and try to do my best. As Alma said also: 3 But behold, I am a man, and do sin in my wish; for I ought to be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me.

The Lord has been merciful in the blessings that he´s granted to me, and though I probably don´t deserve it, he keeps blessing. As the Psalmist said: "For the Lord is great, and greatly to be praised" We should be grateful that the Lord knows  us, and that he´s always willing to help us in all our labors and trials. I testlfy that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the World, and that this is his church. I invite you all to dedicate yourselves time and time again to be his disciples!  As we dedicate ourselves to the Lord, we will find greater happiness and light in a world that so desperately needs it. 

I love you all, have a faith-filled week! 

--

-Elder Holtry

My new comp, Elder Lucas from GuatemalaA 25nd of May activity ( basically Independence day here) with Locro

 

La Consagración

Solid week. I really enjoyed being able to work with my companions Elder Andrade and Elder Bradbury. One of the things we came up with this last week to really light up the area was "Bulldozer mode". Basically, one Elder goes on one side of the street and knocks doors, and another likewise on the other side, while the last Elder goes down the center of the street, contacting and talking to the people. It worked pretty well, and in the week we were able to find 40 people that accepted a book of Mormon and a visit from the missionaries. 

Oh ya, one fun fact that I forgot to mention last week was that Boca and River (two of the biggest Soccer teams here) played, and we were in the Villa teaching a lesson right before the game ended. While we were teaching, River scored a goal, and the world went crazy, with everyone screaming "GOOOAAAALLLL!!!!" And shooting guns in the air (And then a bunch of people started fighting) hahaha! I missed the Villa so much. 

Well, also in the news, I have a new companion to come with me to Boulogne. His name´s Elder Lucas (From Guatamala). He´s been in the mission for about a year now, so we´re going to be working strong these last 3 weeks before I leave! Honestly, I just want to use well this last bit of time that I have left in the mission. There is still much to do! 

one of the things that I was pondering this week was Doctrine and Covenants 4:

1 Now behold, a marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men.2 Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that yeserve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day.3 Therefore, if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work;4 For behold the field is white already to harvest; and lo, he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in storethat he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul;5 And faith, hope, charity and love, with an eye single to the gloryof God, qualify him for the work.6 Remember faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience,brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility, diligence.7 Ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Amen.

Basically, the thought that comes to my mind while I read this is of consecration. When we dedicate ourselves to something, we can´t hold back. It doesn´t mean we need to be constantely perfect, but we do have to do our best. We can´t be on the fence. I just want to invite you all that as you dedicate yourselves (And continue dedicating yourselves) to the Lord, that you may take the decision to hold nothing back. Don´t let fear, laziness, or doubt cloud your minds. Today is the day to consecrate ourselves. I know that this is the work of the Lord. The church is true. The scriptures that the Lord has revealed unto us (Including the Book of Mormon) are true. I love this Gospel, and I love my Savior. Continue with Steadfastness in the Lord Jesus Christ.

-Elder Holtry

A protein shake that Elder Bradbury and I made with Milk, eggs, protein powder, lettuce, peanut butter, and some other good stuff :)

Back to the Villa (Of José León Suárez)

Crossing the plains

Tirando basura no mas... 

Mas de la Villa

The workout gear in the aparment (There were extra boxes of the Book of Mormon, so Elder Bradbury made this! hahaha)

Us crossing a "bridge"

La Trinidad

What a week. It´s been an interesting one! Well, I guess one big thing I should mention  is that Elder Martinez left on Wednesday, so now, I´m working with the Elders of José León Suarez - Elder Andrade and Elder Bradbury.  We´re in a trio, and are working between the two areas of Boulogne and Jose León Suarez.  It´s been a great week, and I love my companions a ton. I really enjoy working with them.
My birthday was pretty good. Elder Bradbury and I worked a bit in Boulogne that morning in the local fair, sharing Books of Mormon, pamphlets, cards and other fun stuff with people. We were able to do alot of contacts.  

Of course, Sunday (Mothers day for you guys) was fantastic. We had a few investigators in the church building (Oh ya, the other Elders dropped me off with a member named Lucas Godoy in the morning so that we could help some investigators get to church. Later after lunch (The father of the family was accompanying me, but it was super weird being the only Elder there with the family...) I was reunited with my companions, and I made my Skype call to the family. I had a great time talking with them, and it´s weird to think that I´ll see everyone in a little less than a month.

Well, there´s one awesome guy named Emanuel. He has a baptismal date in these upcoming weeks.  We actually found him a couple weeks ago. like I´ve said before, we´re trying to talk with everyone we can, and we saw him one day seated with Joaquin (The brother of another investigator). We went over and said Hi to them, and Emanuel was super psyched to learn more. He´s already gone to church a couple of times and we´re teaching him. Joaquin´s already a member, so he´s been able to support him. I just mention this story I guess because we all have people around us that the Lord has prepared to receive the gospel. With just a simple invitation, Emanuel was like "Ya, let´s go!". So ya, just pay atention, and pray so that the Lord gives you those opportunities to share the Gospel with others. 

Well, take care and have a great week. The church is true. Hurrah for Israel!

--

-Elder Holtry

We dont have an oven so......(I sent him a cake mix and candles for his birthday)

Skype call home to the family!

 My new comps

 Ingrown toenail again :(

They ate A LOT of ice cream today!

Metas y Milagros

Good Week. Can`t complain. Well, I don`t remember if I mentioned this last week (I assume so, but I’ll say it again anyway) We´re making a great effort in our mission to leave early in the morning and contact a ton of people (Talk with everybody!) It`s been going well, and one morning we were out doing just that, talking with as many people as we could, and we passed by an old man. Instead of us contacting him, he started talking to us (Thinking that we were some people from a gas company or something like that) but we explained to him that we were missionaries and that we would like to visit him in the future, so he told us where he lived and we passed by a couple of days later. When we were looking for his house, we weren´t really sure which one was his, so we started knocking on a nearby door, just at that moment Oracio (The old man) came out and called us over. It was a miracle that he came out at that moment! Well, we met him and his son ( Named Oracio as well) and they came to church on Sunday. Oracio Junior especially loved it! Before, he was saying that this week was going to be an exception, and that he would keep going to his normal church after, but after church, he said "Well, we´re going to be seeing each other quite a bit more often now!" So ya, thanks to our Mission Presidents inspired plan we found them. Obedience (including obedience to our leaders) brings blessings! 

Anywho, this Sunday we also had testimony meeting. Walter (A recent convert I`ve mentioned before) got up and gave his testimony about the Priesthood. He said that that was what he lacked before he was a member, and that it`s been a great help to him.  It was awesome seeing him give his testimony since he`s only been a member for a little over a month now! He also has strong desires to share the gospel! It`s my prayer that we can all appreciate the blessings of the Gospel as much as he does! 

I`ve seen that when we push ourselves to achieve worthy goals, the Lord blesses us. He really does. We`ve seen miracles this last week, and I know we`ll see them this week if we keep pushing ourselves to achieve those worthy goals we have. Goal-setting is a principle that I want to apply continually during my entire life! 

Anywho, we´re working with several people so that they can make the covenant of Baptism and receive the blessings that the Lord has for them. I know that this is the work of the Lord! This is his Gospel, and he is at the head of the church! 

Hurrah!

--

-Elder Holtry

P.S. Happy Birthday Mom! (This Wednesday!) 

Los Talentos

I have one word for you: Mosquitos. So we have a happy infestation of mosquitos this year, which has been fantastic for us missionaries, since we´re always outside talking with people (insert sarcasm here). But ya, in and of itself, the week´s been dandy. Honestly, right now in the mission, we´re just trying to talk to everyone. We utilize all our time in the morning to just get outside and talk with people. We even dedicate time during our training sessions with the mission president to go outside and contact as many people as we can. Doing this once in the mission President´s general neighboorhood, Elder Martinez and I went and talked with a black lady sitting on a bench, I mention that, because they (the people from Haiti) always speak a ton of languages! We started talking to the Lady, and she asked us if we were "Jehovahs Witnesses", but she said it in English, turns out, she didn´t know a lot of Spanish, so i basically did the whole contact in English, which was super fun! I also realized I need to practice my English (Never thought I´d say that) becuase i was saying crap like "We want that you read this book"... lolses. 

But ya, anywho, Shout out to Tate Wright, who got married this last week!!! I got the invitation a bit late (a few days ago) so I couldn´t make it sadly.... :) But ya, as my Grandpa Jackson would say: "What a guy!!!"

Hey, before closing this epistle, I just wanted to throw in a subject that we touched briefly on Sunday. We were talking about callings and their importance, and really, being the Prophet or being the secretary both have great importance, the church doesn´t consist of a social ladder that we´re trying to climb. I´ve talked about this with my mother about this subject as well. Really, it doesn´t matter what calling we have. It matters what we do with it. We have to magnify our callings. It makes me think a bit on the parable of the talents. One servant received 5, another 2, and another 1. Those who recieved 5 and 2 doubled that which they had, so that they had 10 and 4, respectively. But he who had 1 did nothing. Those who duplicated their talents (Both multiplied by 2, so they made the same effort basically) received the exact same blessing, but he who used not his talent received a curse. So, let us be diligent, and use well the gifts, talents and calling that the Lord has given us!!! Love you all! The church is true! Jesus Christ lives! 

--

-Elder Holtry

 The last Planner!! 

 Do you see a theme here?

Los Milagros No Son Para los Vagos

Good Week. Me Happy. Spirit. Fun Experiences. (I don´t even know how to begin my emails now :D ) What else am I to say? I get tired of repeating it, but it´s been a good week! We worked hard this week, and really made an effort to open our mouths and spread the gospel. We were able to teach several people this week, find new investigators, and see a few blessings from our work. One awesome thing that´s happening as well is that the ward´s waking up a bit. The members are getting their Home teaching visits done (Or at least much more than before) and the ward´s getting its mission plan together quite nicely. They´ve also been able to help out with the investigators that we have brought to church. Speaking of which, there´s an awesome family that we´re teaching (the Balmori Family) and they have great desires to keep learning and going to church and whatnot. It was funny, because one night we went to their house to teach a lesson, and the member that was going to accompany us couldn´t come (We can´t enter into their house without another male present) so we just were intending to set up another appointment. So we get there, and decided to ask them "Hey, do you by chance have a neighbor or family member that could come with us in the lesson?" So they called their neighbor, and he accompanied us in the lesson! hahaha what´s more, he went with them to church yesterday! 

Anywho, I just want to mention once more the importance of setting goals. I think it´s safe to say that we all have the end goal of getting to heaven, right? Well, there´s also a ton of short-term goals that we can set. These are so important so that we reach higher in life! I like the quote from M. Russell Ballard when he says that mastering goal-setting will help us to make a great difference in the results that we attain in life. I´m sure we don´t want to get to the end of our lives to discover that we´ve only scraped the surface of our potential! We should never get comfortable in respect to our education, church responsibilities, relationships with others, or basically any aspect of our lives. As missionaries, we take a time frame every week to see what we need to improve and set goals- this is a practice that I want to carry on after my mission as well, because it´s fantastic! 

Well, the purpose of this life is to gain experience and prepare ourselves to return to God, so, we should prepare ourselves, learning and being engaged in repentance constantly, so that when the Lord returns, or when we return to him, we may be as similar to him as possible (1 John 3:2). The title of the email says "Miracles aren´t for the Lazy" It´s something that I was talking about with a ward member yesterday, and it´s a very true principle! We have to really be trying, but if we are, the Lord will really help us! 

Well, I just want to testify that I know that Jesus Christ lives and loves us. We have his Gospel restored in the earth to bless us, and all who are around us. I know that the Bible and the Book of Mormon contain the word of God, and that the true church of Jesus Christ has been restored in these the latter days. It is my earnest prayer that we embrace this light and hope, and that we may be able to spread it in this world that needs it so much. Hurrah for Israel! 

Elder Holtry

Ya, so there was a lizard that found its ways into our apartment this week

Con La Cabeza Y Con El Corazón

What a splendid week! (As always! :) ) Well, nothing much was new, other than the new investigators, but I´m not complaining, I´ve come to be super happy doing the Lord´s work here! (It´s the weirdest thing, sometimes I think "Why am I so happy?" hahaha just the mission I guess). We had interviews with President Smith this last week, and as always it was great. President Smith is always a source of wisdom to find what Gospel Principles I need to apply better to my life. One interesting thing that I want to mention is a talk that he showed me called "Which way do you face?". What I took out of the talk is that we, like the Prophets of Old, need to defend moral truths because if not, then we´re basically sinning.  We don´t need to focus on pleasing our fellow man, rather first we should think of God, thus maintaining the first two great commandments in their proper order. It reminds me as well of how Elder Sabín in the last general conference said that we should listen to the Creator rather than the crowd. So, just keep that in mind and be prepared to stand for correct principles when this ever changing world challenges correct doctrines.

I was able to shake President Russell M. Nelson's hand today!! He is here meeting with the North and East missions here in Buenos Aires!!! It was awesome!

One other thing I wanted to mention is something that´s helped me to strengthen my testimony of Christ. I don´t know if I already mentioned this point, but President Nelson said in Conference that he took the time to mark every reference to Jesus Christ, as found in the Topical Guide of the standard works. I´ve begun to do it, and it´s impacted me profoundly. (There´s like 18 pages of references, so i´m still in the process :) )  Just reading those special verses, I can feel something really special! It´s reminded me of something that my Mom told me 2 years ago, before I left on my mission. It was a bit of advice on scripture reading. She said: "You need to read a little less with your head, and more with your heart". This has had an impact on my studies, and it really applies to all of us. Basically, our testimony grows when we read with both out head and heart. 

Well, that´s my little ramble for today, I hope somebody´ll be able to get something comprehensive out of it. Well, I know that the Book of Mormon contains the fullness of the gospel, as well as that Jesus Christ is our Savior. This is his Church, and we are blessed to have his teachings so available to us! I love my Redeemer, and I say this in his  name, even in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 

-Elder Holtry

I was able to reunite with Elder's Steele and Hardcastle at the meeting today with President Nelson!

- I realized that I need to clean my desk

 Ward Family Home Evening in Boulogne