Travel Log: Abril 4 al Abril 10

Hello Family,

Thanks for the update on the homefront. I loved the fotos and the videos from the concert and from the cabin. Sounds like everything is chugging forward there. Hope that the little ones are doing alright in school because i never hear from them haha. Well here comes one of the best travel logs you´ve ever heard, because really it is a travel log. This past week was full of car and train rides.

Monday as you know i went to our mission´s Leadership council. it was pretty cool. I got to speak and did a workshop with a sister missionary from the other side of the mission. (probably one of the only times when an Elder and a Sister missionary will ever give a joint workshop: it was kind of funny because our topic was on companionship unity and so i made it clear to all of the missionaries that we still are not aloud to go on exchanges with sister missionaries. Everything went super well. during those two day i was as sick as a dog though but now I'm feeling a lot better.

so if you want to look on a map from monday to tuesday we traveled to and from Cartagena to Malaga and Murcia. Then when we came home we had our Zone meeting on Wednesday morning. and that went super well. A lot of missionaries told us that is was one of the best ones they have ever been to in their missions and so i felt really good about that. in our zone meeting we had a big conversation about if we were really doing everything we could as missionaries to help people come unto christ. It was a good discussion. Oh and we talked about that question the the young rich man posed to Jesus Christ of ¨what lack I yet¨ its a good question that we all have to pose sometimes in our lives. it went really well because we also asked our stake president to come and to talk about us of the subject. He said something really cool about how our goal in this life is eternal life which basically means becoming like god and to be able to have everything that he has.  God is willing to give us those things but we have to show him if we want them or not and we do that through our obedience to his commandments and by making covenants. Thats why the church is so important. Because only through the restored church of jesus christ we can be able to make those promises with god and those who have authority from god to teach and baptize and help us to do all of the other things we need to do. End of the story is that if we don´t do all of those things, we can´t have those blessing and we do not get to live with god again or recieve what he has. What god asks of us in exchange for everything he has is something very small: that we give everyting that we have. And so i´m excited that i get to be a missionary and do that on a large scale.

So after wednesday we went and worked in one of our small towns in our area called TorrePacheco. it was a good day we were able to teach a lot of friends there and make some new one and then on thursday i hopped on a train to go to barçelona.

Yes Last week i went to Barçelona and it was awesome! I get to say that i left my mision boundaries during my mission (people are going to htink i´m super disobedient) haha but its because my comp is originally from bolivia but all of his family lives in barçelona and  and about 3 years ago they set an appointment to become citizens of spain. and so my comp got special permission to go back home for this appointment and i got to go with him to see his family and go to this appointment. it was cool but we had a lot of travel. Basically we got there on thursday night and worked with the asistants to the president in barcelona and crashed in their piso and the next day we had the appointment, left barçelona and went to Alicante and stayed with some other missionaries friday night and then we got home on saturday.

So yeah that was basically my week, I´ll send pictures from the trip because it was pretty cool.

for a spiritual thought today and family night i invite you to just rewatch your favorite general conference talk.the´re all on lds.org. mine were from President Nelson, Elder Cristofferson and elder Holland. it was a really good conference and everything they said is what we should work on over the next 6 months. i know that as we do that god will bless us for our efforts, we will be able to overcome trials, and we´ll feel a lot more peace and happiness in our lives. 

I love you guys all tons and hope that you have an awesome week. Put your trust in that spirit which leadeth to do good, take hold of that iron rod and keeping on going. Until next week.

Con mucho amor

Elder Holman

Con mucho amor y poco tiempo. Les amo mucho Aril 4, 2016

Hi family

Wow what a good general conference! I couldn't really enjoy it very much because I've been sick the past few days but I'm doing a little better now. I'm in Malaga today for the mission council meeting here. I'm actually speaking in it tonight so I would appreciate your prayers. This past week was pretty good. We had some really good times together. We've been teaching some families in all parts of our area. Which was super cool because the gospel just works so well for families. The other day I was just thinking about how marvelous it is that through the restored gospel of Jesus Christ Families can be together forever! I'm really grateful for that and it's a joy being
able to share that with other people. This past week was like all of the others, the work is really good and exciting but whenever I look back on my weeks I don't really think of exciting things to tell you. There was a Baptism this past Friday and we had a family in Cartagena come to see it. It was super cool because right after they told us. "We need to talk more about this later." And we will! 

I'm sorry I'm going to be cutting this email a little short but I want to share just a small message. From the proclamation to the family. "Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities." Everyday family life is being attacked by the world and by Satan so I invite you all to pray and apply one of these principles to apply with your family this week.


Love you all very much. Thanks so much for all of you emails andpictures. Have an awesome week.

Con mucho amor

Elder Holman

Happy Easter...again March 28, 2016

Hey Fam.

Thanks for the letters! I really like to hear from you guys and I always love to read them even if don't have a lot of time to respond. I'm gonna be real with you guys, I really don't have a ton to report on this week. But if you guys like to read boring travel logs I have a really good one coming for you...

Last Monday elder Quispe and I went to the mall in Cartagena and so that was pretty fun. I just did some window shopping and imagined what things I would buy haha. That's how missionaries have lots of fun we go and do normal people things like eat KFC haha.

Tuesday was pretty sweet cause I had an interview with president Andersen. He is such an awesome guy he is super down to earth and wise. Reminds me a little bit of Elder Holland to tell you the truth cause he's also pretty funny but I would hate to have him chew me out. He really just started asking me about how the mission is and things that I think that we need to do. It was cool, I've been asked stuff like that before.

Wednesday was a nice day as well we taught a lot that morning and then that night we took to Elders to go and see the doctor. WE HAVE A CAR FOR TWO WEEKS (I'm going to get soooooo fat) so we take missionaries on weird errands like that. We saw a lot of really good things this past week as we were meeting with members this past week. I invite you all to go out and work with the missionaries for an hour or two. I feel like God sometimes uses tough love to teach missionaries sometimes but when we go out with members he's obligated to show us
miracles cause the members are there and keeping his commandments.

Thursday we planned and had correlation with Terry Vasey. I think I told you guys this already but he's a Knight. He met the Queen and everything. He also makes some of the best British food I've ever had in my life! He also told us some sweet stories because he lived in Bolivia for a while because he owned a charity and so he talks to us about weird stuff he ate there.

Speaking of weird stuff I ate this past week. Elder Quispe and I ate "pata de Pollo soup" the other day. Well actually we MADE it. It was the cheapest cut of meat we could find.(I'll send you pictures later). It was pretty good, you just have to make sure that you don't eat the toe nails... Haha.

But bringing it back I said earlier that elder Quispe and I need to say that they weren't all that big but I saw the hand of God as I was working. It was things just like following an impression and being able to find someone who needed our message or someone who needed a little bit of help and to be inspired. But this week we testified more than ever of the savior and his power to save us in all of our trials. Jesus Said unto his disciples a long time ago "follow me" and that is still an invitation that he makes to us today. He wants us to walk by his side and see where he went and then he helps us to see where we are going. As we follow him we see miracles just like he did and we have our faith, hope, and love for God and others increased but at other times even as we follow him we face some rejection, we walk on some raging waters that need calming clinging to our last ounce of faith and even on our knees by ourselves calling out "father." What I do know though is that as we follow him on that path we eventually will arrive to the same place as he did. An empty tomb. A victory over the world and all suffering. There we will be able to sing "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" And then we will feel even as Alma and his bretheren in the Book of Mormon when it says:

And the Lord provided for them that they should hunger not, neither
should they thirst; yea, and he also gave them strength, that they
should suffer no manner of afflictions, save it were swallowed up in
the joy of Christ.

I hope that we will all do our best this next week as we try to follow him. I love you all a ton. I'm grateful to all of you! Thank you For your prayers in my behalf. I hope that you celebrated a happy Easter and are excited for the messages that the living Christ has given to his apostles and Prophets to present to us this next week. I know that this is God's one true church and that he guides it. I hope that you all have an awesome week.

Besitos

Elder Holman

Happy Easter Week March 21, 2016

Hey Family.

How is everyone doing! I loved your letters this week. thanks for keeping me up to date oon all that´s going on back in SLC.  Glad to hear that your house has sold, Star! if you find one in Lehi that you like you should get it. I have a few really good friends here in the mission that are from there and they say that it´s a great place.

As always my week has been pretty normal but also it´s pretty hectic! On Monday it was a really fun day. Elder Quispe and I went with a bunch of the missionaries in our zone to climb up a small hill outside of the City. At the very top there is an old Castle called the Atalaya (watchtower) it was constructed by the moores a long time ago. it was super cool. the only way to get up to the top of the tower is to climb up the walls and so that´s what i did. it was cool... until someone fell. but everything is alright nobody got injured. Elder Quispe and i are working really hard to find some new pèople to teach because the area is brand new. last week we found wuite a few people. Our area consists of a very small part of the city of Cartagena, a village called Torrepacheco, and another one called La Union. so we have a lot of good places to work in.

The week was pretty Normal until friday. I was on a super intercambio with another missionary named Elder Rogers and we had a great evening working together. We went to a baptism and 4 of our new investigator friends showed up to see it. we went to bad as normal and then I woke up in the middle of the night and thought that i heard my phone ringing, i looked at my clock and it was 2a.m. i picked up the phone and it was my companion saying that he had just recieved a call from our mission president and that 2 missionaries were going to be coming to our piso and that he didn´t know why but that they would be coming. and so two missionaries came and stayed the night at our house because their landlord acused them of stealing 4,000 euros from the house that they were renting. All of it was just a huge misunderstanding. (I dont know why anyone would hide that kind of money in a house that they were renting to somebody.) and so that was something pretty cool. Also this week my comp and i went to the city of Murcia to have a district leader Training meeting. we were in charge of a bit of teaching that was happening there. and it was really cool becase after we got to go to lunch with President Andersen. it was sweet I love him tons.

I hope that you guys liked the video that i sent last week. it´s probably the best that i have seen so far of all of the videos in the church. we´re basically sharing it with everyone right now and we´re seeing many miracles because of it.

Yesterday I had just a little thought as we were in church about the atonement it is the single most important thing that has happened in the history of this world. That a loving Father sacrficed his own son in order to save all of mankind and a loving son who submitted to the will of his father and took upon himself all of our griefs and pains so that he can succor us in our afflictions. He took upon himslef death that he may loose the bands of death and so that all of us will live again. And paid the price of our sins. I thought about that and the words of this hymn

How Great, how glorious, how complete

Redemtion´s Gand Design

Where Justice love and mercy meet

In harmony divine.

As it says in 2 Nefi 9

21 And [JesusChrist] cometh into the world that he may save all men if they will hearken unto his voice; for behold, he suffereththe pains of all men, yea, the pains of every living creature,both men, women, and children, who belong to the familyof Adam.

 22 And he suffereth this that the resurrection might passupon all men, that all might stand before him at the greatand judgment day.

 23 And he commandeth all men that they must repent,and be baptized in his name, having perfect faith in theHoly One of Israel, or they cannot be saved in thekingdom of God.

I´m so greatful  that i have the opportunity to invite peopole to come unto christ and be baptized. I know that this is his church and that his gospel was restored through the Prophet Joseph smith. I know that Christ Loves us and he truly took upon himself all of our trials and pains and that he knows how to succor us in our afflictions.

I hope that during this week we can remember the life of Jesus Christ and invite you to all look at the website www.mormon.org/easter/easter-week  during this week, maybe everyday and just thing about what christ did in the last week of his life. I promise you more strength, more happiness and more peace as you do it. I love you guys all so very very much and i wish you all the best this easter season.

 Until next week and con Mucho Amor.

-Elder Holman

Good week. March 14, 2016

Hey Family,

Thanks for The correos everyone. Glad to see that you're all doing well. This past week was pretty crazy and abnormal but it was still a really good week. Like I said last week I've moved to a new area. Now Elder Quispe and I live in Cartagena and we work in two of the most ghetto neighborhoods in Spain: Torrepacheco and La Union. Torrepacheco is a really cool place and we've already seen some really cool miracles there. It used to belong to sister missionaries and so everyone that sees us asks if we know the "two American girls." But some really cool things is that there are a lot of people from India there and they love me because of my hair and they are really receptive to the message of the restored gospel. One man named, Swarn, came to church this past Sunday and told us that he liked it so much he's going to bring his wife and children next week. We've also been able to teach a few Muslim people from Africa. It was one of the most spiritual lessons I've taught in my life because they only spoke French and so we used pamphlets to communicate with them. They would read it and listen super intently and then we just gave testimony about the things they read in very simple Spanish so that they could
understand.

We also had a really cool experience in La Union. We went there to look for some of the Less Active members that lived there. There was a family that we couldn't find because there street wasn't on the map but we just continued on with our plans that we had and my comp had a feeling that we should talk to this one lady that was cleaning in her house and so we did. As we talked with her we were able to share the gospel with her and later we asked her if she knew anyone that we would be able to teach and she told us that she had a cousin that used to listen to the missionaries and told us where her house was and what it looked like and when we arrived there we found out that it was the home of the less active Antonia. We were able to meet with her and she was super happy that we were there in her village. So just some really small miracles but they made my day. I know that God guides and helps us when we have faith in him and follow his commandments. He is in charge and is able to do his work.


Well I have just a short message to share with you but you have to go to followhim.mormon.org to find it. 2nefi 2:8
8 Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise. I know that the words of Lehi in this passage are true and that in Jesus Christ we can all find new life. I know that he is our Savior and that he lives and that his hand is stretched out to all that are willing to come unto him and follow him. 

I love you all very much and hope that you all have an awesome week filled with hope and faith.

Con mucho amor

Elder Holman

March 7th