Hey everyone!
Wow, here we are again. Another P-day! Elder Jennings and I are going to build a sweet snow cave at the church. The snow is like a mile high and we've been planning it all week. It's gonna be sweet, unless some hoodlums came and knocked it all down by now... we'll see. But It’s still FREEZING cold here in Iowa. It’s killing me. But I'm doing my best to stay warm. Iowa is a different kind of cold compared to Utah. You walk outside and it straight up slaps you upside the face. Ouch! Without any warning. Which makes it hurt twice as bad! haha. I miss spring and summer tons right now. Can't wait to see beautiful green Iowa again! :) Should be soon!
Okay so you're all probably wondering how the thing went on Saturday... It was Fantastic! It went very very well. I gave my talk almost flawlessly. And surprisingly, I looked down maybe, MAYBE, twice. I had the thing completely memorized. It was sweet. I also accompanied myself and sang on the piano. I got a lot of compliments. So everything went as well as I would have hoped.
I started to worry a bit as I was giving my talk...I looked out and it was a bunch of 12 year old girls and boys mostly, most of them were very young. I started to wonder while I was standing up there whether they were understanding everything I was saying or not… whether they were able to relate. This worried me a little bit until I received calls from the missionaries from other wards saying that the youth thought it was a hit and really enjoyed it. Elder Spaulding in Fort Dodge called me and the first thing he said was, “Elder Holman. Wow, I have heard nothing but good things about you all day and I am so proud of you.” I was like What?! Why? He told me that Sunday morning, when they went into church for their correlation meetings they started to have a conversation with the bishop from fort dodge (who I have met in the past, He is an amazingly spiritual guy) They started to ask: well bishop... what do you think about Elder Holman? And they said he took a longer moment to answer and said: ..."Elder Holman is quite easily one of the most amazing missionaries here in Iowa that I have yet seen". Wow! If that didn't make me feel good enough, He went on to say: "This may sound silly, But elder Holmans talk really changed my life and really got me thinking; something that I truly did not expect coming from a 20 year old young man." Apparently he went onto to say that he felt the things I shared were so important that he completely changed his plans for the combined meetings for adults in church that day, and basically "re-gave" my talk with an emphasis on The personal radiation quote by David O Mckay (thanks dad) And apparently all through his discourse he complimented me several times cuz the fort dodge elders were there. They said they couldn't believe it, they said he just couldn't say enough good things about me and the things I shared. Wow, That makes me HAPPY! :) :) :)
Thanks star, mom, and dad for all your help in putting this all together, you helped me a ton and I could have never done it without you! You're always there for me, and I am so happy to have such a supportive family in all that I do! You guys ROCK!
Okay! So, As for what’s going on with the work, We got Todd and Sandy to go to a church tour in Mason City this week! YAYAYAYA! That has taken a lot of work, but we finally got them there! And they took us out for ribs before, and those were the most AMAZING ribs I've had in my life. You pick them up and they fall right off the bone. So good. But anyway, after, the church tour was just amazing. We had a solid member there from Utah and the bishop and his wife. They all connected instantly. It couldn't have been better! Sadly, Todd and sandy didn't make it to church as sandy has been very sick lately, which is true, she wasn't feeling to great the night of the tour, and we visited them last night and she didn't look too good. But they hope to go next week, so YEE HAAAWWW, we're makin’ some progress WHOA!
haha.. okay.. now kinda the rough news. Francisco has moved out of his cousin’s house. He's supposedly somewhere here in Hampton, but we're struggling to find him or get a hold of him. He hasn't been answering his phone which is scary... We want to get him baptized but he's stopped coming to church too... We're not sure what’s gonna happen, but we'll see.
Okay... not too many new investigators... still working on that. It's tough, because I can pretty much drive through Hampton and tell Elder Jennings something about every person and every house here. Seriously! It scares me how well I can remember every house and almost every reaction. Most of which were negative of course... so it makes it hard to find a place to tract. 6 months in an area of 4200 people is a little too long, both President Talbot and I agreed on that :) so I am definitely leaving next transfer. It’s gonna be way way sad, I love the members here so much, they are so cool, so much fun. But I gotta get out and see something new in order to keep me motivated. I'm getting bored with the area and the work here, but I know I'm gonna miss it. The transfer predictions as of right now are that I am going to Greenie bust a kid named elder Cook in Muscatine I think it’s called. That kinda makes me nervous as I will be senior companion, and I will be speaking a lot of Spanish that I don't exactly know... this should interesting, exciting, and scary beyond all reason. I’ll let you know how it goes of course hah!
Well let’s see... what else is new. This past week, I went up to do exchanges in Mason city with elder Heybourne again. It was a nice little break! We had some good solid lessons, and all that. We hung out with some sweet members up there too. Let’s see what else happened this week.. mm lots of practicing my talk, lots of practicing my song.. Oh, we're helping some members remodel. I got to knock down a wall! That’s always fun. I hope the father of the home knows what he is doing, he seems a little unsure. I'll try not to knock out any weight bearing walls, but if I do, we'll see ya in the spirit world haha, Jk. that would suck.
Well hey, I love you all! I'd love to hear from ya'll. Let me know whats new! Love you tons!
Adios,
~Elder Holman
