Aug 25, 2014- Pelotas

''ENJOY YOUR LIFE"

Dont remember if i told you about that last week ;) Someone in my ward told me that, haha i think it was all the English he knew:) I thought it was hilarious and some very good advice haha.

This week we had an awesome District Meeting/lunch. that the elders made... It actually was pretty good:) Was rice with meat and vegetables mixed together haha.

Also this week we made a new friend.. Her name is Vera, and she owns 20 dogs. All inside pets, don´t worry. She said there isn´t even a smell of them in her house! The poor thing ahah i wanted to laugh so bad when she said that. PEOPLE: YOU DONT NEED 20 ANIMALS OF ANY KIND INSIDE YOUR HOUSE. Hahaha I want to help her clean her house. Not in a mean way, just that it isn´t healthy for her or her dogs haha or neighbors.. :P but i really do want to help her. She told us about when her husband died and i know that the gospel will help her!!

Also went on divisions this week! I learned i really would rather run for exercise than that dance work out thing, zumba? haha how awkward at 6:30 in the morning! :P

I FOUND A HAMMOCK THIS WEEK! :) It is yellow and beautiful.

I think i comment about this probably every week, but, this week a few people commented on my largeness. hahaha. a little old lady literally looked up at me and said, "Grandona né?" (like 'you think she´s huge too, right?') and then a member.. i wanted to eat more of something, i dont remember what, and this member said 'of course! Americans like to eat a lot right?' He must´ve seen the look on my face because he quickly said, 'don´t worry we like to eat a lot too.' Hahah THANKS.. Someone else told me about something called a diet.. What is that?

That was quite a large paragraph hahah sorry.

We found some suep cool investigators this week!! Looking for less actives, we found Rose and Sydney:) They have been taught by missionaries before! Man they were awesome. Welcomed us into their home and gave us juice! Haha. No but really, they were really happy to see us. I dont know what happened, why the missionaries stopped going.. We dont have any records of them.

Well computers really do hate me.. I send pictures this week :(

I bought a popcorn pan this week:) Man i love popcorn! Hahah it´s been fun to make, and Sister Carvalho helps me eat it:P

Read your scriptures, and remember that your soul needs fed too!

<3 Sister Holden

Aug 18, 2014- Pelotas

HELLO!

This week was super cool! Still getting to know my area, and companion:) and i am loving it!

Sister Carvalho helps me a ton with Portuguese:) It´s so cool to finally have a Brazilian companion!:) She said that i am fluent! Ha can you even believe it? ;)

On Saturday we had a random little meeting with our entire zone, and a counselor in the Stake for missionary work. Man. He sure pumped us up. He talked about how some people are on missions, to plant, some are to prepare the fields, yada yada yada, ENOUGH PEOPLE HAVE PLANTED, YOU ARE HERE TO BAPTIZE! Haha it was so cool, so true! ha We are here to baptize and we are going to talk and share this gospel with everyone, because EVERY soul is priceless, we cant pick and choose who to share the gospel with. :)

Also, the famous sweets of Pelotas are very yummy ;)

Found out we have a McDonalds here! So we ate there for lunch one day;) Hahaha what am i doing..

We also made a new friend who is kind of like our security guard.. We named her Rebecca! shes a stray dog that somehow managed to find us these past couple of days. And she runs in front of us and barks at people ahaha it´s super funny..

Also this week, we found a man named Marcio, taught him about Joseph Smith and the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and asked him to be baptized. He accepted and even went to church yesterday!! He told us that he went by the lake to pray about what we taught, he prayed about Joseph Smith and asked if he really needed to be baptized. He heard either in his head or someone saying "Vai!" (which means you will) And he took it as his answer and is preparing for baptism! Aw it was so cool! :)

I know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ. I love being a missionary!!

You all are super great:) Remember, "always share the gospel, and if necessary, use words"- i dont remember who said this.. haha sorry.

<3 Sister Holden

Happy 1 year to me!

the best family ever! In Ramo União

Me and the youth of União, the night i found out i was being transferred

Sister Carvalho!! :) the best comp ever!

 

Aug 11, 2014- Brazil

Pelotas what?

No time again.. sorry, again.... But i am being transfered! To Pelotas! The SWEETS capital of Brazil woot woot! How am i going to lose weight now?  

But i hope everything is going well with all of you! This week i learned the difference of wanting to do something and doing it haha. Also made some new goals for this next transfer, should be good:) 

Love all of you!

Read your scriptures!

The Church is true!!

Love, Sister Holden

Aug 4, 2014- Brazil

It´s been a year!

Can you even believe it? 1 year. 1 year away from my home teaching about Christ.

I have learned so much! Learned a ton for my future family, a lot of things i want to continue doing for forever. Like personal study everyday. Companion study/inventory when i find my companion after the mission. Spiritual thoughts during meal times ;) haha. I have really learned what faults i have haha and that i can improve.

Man. This week was kind of overwhelming in 1 way. Almost everything that i heard, i understood! Hahaha happy that i can understand, but now it´s that they can understand me:P We almost reached the Standard of Excellence this week.. so close. But, we did EVERYTHING we could have. So, we will accomplish it another week:) one of these weeks..

Just kidding this is the last week of the transfer, and i think i´ll be transfered. But i think i´m ready to be transferred. I will for sure miss Cachoeira and the investigators and my missionary roommates haha.

This week one of our recent converts, Patrick came out with us for a mutual activity. It was SO COOL THAT I WANTED TO CRY, hearing him bare his testimony to these people! :´´´) haha. man.

An investigator named William. Not sure if i´ve already written about him. He has had a pretty crazy life.. in probably every way. He wants to change SO BAD. His mom said that when he first started meeting with us, he had drugs in his house, but after our lesson, he threw it all out! A testimony of the Spirit.. He also told us that he has been receiving answers! (that means he has actually been praying! haha) He is just progressing so much. It´s really awesome to see.

Então, eu sei realmente que este é a igreja de Cristo, que nos podemos voltar a presença Dele. Sou muito grata por o conforto em minha vida por causa o conhecimento que eu tenho. Tenho um testemunho sobre o Livro de Mórmon, você precisa ler este livro. Realmente é um mapa por nossas vidas.

Desculpe por causa eu não posso enviar fotos esta semana. Computers hate me! :)

Have a great week! Get ready to start school and have fun:)

Love you!! Sister Holden

 

July 21, 2014- Brazil

In case i don´t see ya..Bom dia, boa tarde, e boa noite ;)

 

HI!:) Sorry for not emailing last week, had zero time, AGAIN. Pdays are so short sometimes haha.

But to catch up for the last 2 weeks... they would seem very opposite.

2 weeks ago we got a call from our mission president! He wanted to congradulate us on our work! We were SO close to reaching the Standard of Excellence. SO CLOSE! So he called and said Parabens, you sisters are awesome, and super pumped us up to go out and work! Was really cool:) he is such a busy, but inspiried man.

We saw so many miracles last week, we were fasting one day, and all of our plans were falling through, and a member pulled up in his car to tell us one of our potential investigators was at his house! So we raaaann back haha. And she had so many questions, we taught the Plan of Salvation and she just loved it! She said she and her daughter would get baptized when they got their answers. Man it was such a blessing:)

But this last week was the opposite. I can truly tell you that the adversary is real. Man and they do not like us! This week everything fell through, our investigators were dropping us, we were losing motivation. Last night, our Zone Leaders called and read us a scripture Doctrine and Covenants 6: 34 "Therefore, fear not, little flock; do good; let earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are built upon my rock, they cannot prevail."

We will continue working, we will be obedient, we know why we are here, we know whow will win this war. I have loved seeing the Spirit work in people, and seeing when they actually understand. I have loved being able to literally be an instrument in Heavenly Father´s hands, telling His children what He wants them to know. Feeling His love for them. Even though it is hard, and we definitely don´t see progress, or success everyday, i know that this work is the most important, and it all starts with love. I am a missionary in the União branch, in Cachoeira do Sul, of the Brazil Porto Alegre South Mission. And Heavenly Father put me here to talk to these specific people, because He loves them. Man, isn´t that cool?


Going off of that, this week i have noticed a lot from my Portuguese. Still super difficult, but, i can respond without thinking sometimes! Haha without conjugating or translating! I love those moments. I know that once i decided WHY i wanted to learn and know Portuguese, it all improved. Still learning, always, but it´s getting better:)


I heard there was a world wide indexing party last night? Did any of you do it?
OH! One thing, every week, we havea District Meeting, super fun. We have awesome traininings and usually a practice... This week, we practiced, and we just had to figure out the investigators problem and solve it, you know? Well, Sister Pikula and i (both newbies to Brazil, so they put us together so we actually talk haha) we start asking her questions... if she has a religion.. She sees our tags, i´m a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! "What no way!" Keep talking to her.. She starts bashing, haha. She was of a branch off. So because we didnt know what to say, we testified and invited her to pray.. That´s all we can do.

I love you all!! :) Have a super fantastic week!

Sister Holden

July 7, 2014- Brazil

Whataweek

I cant even begin to explain this week:) This week has been SO good with my new companion Sister Muñoz! We have been working working working and finding so many new, prepared people!

Things i learned this week:

-My favorite chocolate store makes their chocolate with alcohol :( OOPS.

-It is possible to feel the spirit(and feel happy) running around the street trying to talk to everyone

-Seeing the progress of others is SO much more satisfying. Patrick passed the sacrament this week!:)

-Sometimes people who you think are investigators are actually less active members

-I want to go to Figi :)

I am happy this week:) I am loving this work and these people. I am understanding more in Portuguese everyday! I am so grateful for my testimony of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. That this really is His church, and it is the same no matter where you go in the world.

Church is SO important, go if you havent. Read your scriptures and apply what you read. 

Sorry i can´t send pictures this week... What am i doing to make all these computors hate me?? ahah

7 months left on my mission. Ahhhh! :)

I love you!

Sister Holden

 

June 30, 2014- Brazil

The eternal transfer is over!

 

it was a 7 week transfer instead of 6 ;)

Manuel got baptized! i really wanted to send pictures, but computers really dont like me here! hahaha.

Some news, last night i killed my companion. :)

She finished her mission and is going home tomorrow night!;)

Tomorrow i get to take a 3 hour bus ride to Porto Alegre and pick up my companion. She is from Chile! So we will really be able to see how good my Portuguese is ;) and how much better it will be by the end of this transfer.

I will also buy something that is kind of American and  sing the National Anthem with Sister Morales on the 4th of July this week ;)

This week i have been studying my Patriarchal Blessing a lot. And i have been able to see things so differently, it´s been really cool:) and also, we had agroup scripture study haha that was fun! I loved it!

So read your scriptures, be grateful for the blessings in your life. I love you! :)

<3 Sister Holden

June 23, 2014- Brazil

June is almost over, HOLLA.

 

Can you believe that? We are almost over June... and i have about 11 months on my mission. CRAZY.

 

Not too many new things happened this week.... OH wait ;) My companion broke our shower, so we had cold showers for almost a week, that was super fun :) don´t you worry, it´s fixed now. yay:)

 

I have been making lots of lists this week.. Lists of the things i want to do in my future family, lists of future names( i´m not trunky, i just dont want to forget the Brazilian ones that i love), lists of lessons i have learned on my mission so far. It´s made me think a lot. About what i actually have learned, what i actually want in my life. How i want to improve. It´s been really cool :)

 

Anyways. This email is short, and i feel like it´s a little awkward, sorry i can´t send pictures this time. i have pictures of a blown up shower, churrasco, YUM, and awesome members and investigators in my area:) but until i get to a computer that likes me, you will just have to wait ;)

 

Read your scriptures, pray to Heavenly Father, and remember that He really loves you. So much, you can´t even understand. And He will always be there. Him and Jesus Christ are the best friends you could ever need :) That´s one thing i´ve learned for sure. And They´re REAL friends haha. They´ll tell you how you need to improve and at the same time, actually HELP you. I have such a strong testimony of prayer. And of the Priesthood, the power of God. Brings so much peace into my life. I´m so grateful for the blessings i have in my life.

 

 

Com amor, Sister Holden

June 16, 2014- Brazil

Oi gente

 

Zero time today, i know, what´s new with that? haha.

but i HAD to send these pictures! Dont judge me, i know that i´ve gained 1,000 pounds. haha.

this is Patrick´s family:) (he was baptized about 2 weeks ago) We had lunch wiht them, and they are just so awesome! They are so supportive of Patrick and are following in his example, super cool:)

The other picture: Festa Junina. We had sugary peanuts, cornbread, popcorn, conjika?kind of like pudding stuff.. i ccant explain it haha it´s super good though. i should stop eating everything i can haha.

this week i got a new companion. Siste Johnson, and she is going home in 2 weeks! Crazy! Also this week i learned how to make chimahão, herby tea stuff, muito bom ;) então, i will be able to make it in a super yummy way for you when i come home! haha :)

Love you!

Sister Holden

June 9, 2014 - Brazil

Oi oi oi oi!

Yes it literally has been over a month that i sent pictures. Today i found a computer that actually likes me! ;)

I have absolutely 0 time, but things are good.

Watch the film "On the Lord´s Errand, the Life of Thomas S. Monson" i can´t get over it, it´s so good.

I gave talk in church yesterday, haha i was soo scared, i just prayed that someone would understand what i was saying and it would help them haha. It went better than i thought it would :) I spokeabout patience, and talked about Nephi, and the patience he had with his brothers. What a great example he was. Bah.

By the way, this week, we found these awesome World Cup cups:) i got onewith Porto Alegre on it, it has a little gaucho (cowboy of Brazil) on it.

Read your scriptures!

Love Sister Holden

June 2, 2014 - Brazil

MAY IS FINALLY OVER

May actually went by kind of fast for me haha. 2 months is Brazil, what? ;)

This week... What did we do....

PATRICK WAS BAPTIZED!!!! Man, i can´t even explain how exciting that was.I will never forget the way that i felt as he was baptized. To be an instrument in helping this 14 year old boy, gain a testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Super special. :)

Also we had interviews with the president today, that was good :) He is for sure an inspired man and helped me realize important things haha. Like that i need to stop comparing my mission in Brazil to my mission in Chicago. I need to trust the Lord, but not just a little bit. With EVERY PART OF MY HEART. No doubts, not partial trust. And that i need to wake up in the morning and tell myself, "I will choose to be happy today" because it is a choice, and i can be happy.

AND today, we went to this SUPER LEGAL park! It had tons of plants from all of the world, flowers that look like butterflies, trees that you can punch and not hurt yourself, beautiful lakes that have giant GIANT goldfish. haha. So cool.

Sorry i can´t send pictures, some day i will find a computer that likes me :) maybe.

i will hit my 10 this week. Woot woot! :)

What else.. For real read you´re scriptures, so much strength comes from them. I am so grateful for my testimony of the scriptures.

Love you :)

Sister Holden

May 26, 2014 - Brazil

What happened this week... By the way, computers hate me, and i can´t send pictures this week. :( i look the same.. plus some. ha. but im sorry that i wont be able to send some this week either.

Então..

This week we read the baptismal questions to Patrick and Vinicius! And Patrick is so prepared! Like he has a testimony. Its been really cool.

We had a family home evening with some recent converts and the relief society president, about service :) It was really cool. We had them write down things that other people do that made them happy, then had them read them out loud so everyone knew, so everyone could do something to make someone else happy haha. The things they mentioned were so sweet. One lady just liked going for walks with her husbad. A girl likes when her sister helps her with her hair. Just little things, it was cute :)

Yesterday Giulia came to church!:) (I love her name) and she loved it, and everyone loved her and her little baby. Haha.

This week our branch is having a dance! 60s themed! And the youth are learning a dance and will present it for everyone :) Haha i dont know if we´ll be able to go, but it´s going to be cool for everyone who goes.

This week i had a dream that i was in likea  YSA conference, and 3 couples got engaged haha and i stood up and said, " i guess if i want to get married, i have to go to BYU-Idaho" haha. So maybe i´ll go there :P I just thought that was funny.

Sorry again about the pictures, read your scriptures. 3 john 1:13-14 ;)

Love, Sister Holden 

May 19, 2014 - Brazil

Olá

Hi!! I have absolutley no time, mas, i love you all, things are good. I´ll send pictures one day i promise. We have 4 investigators on date and they are so legit and awesome. I have seen so many miracles.

<3 Sister Holden

May 12, 2014 - Brazil

Mother´s Day, 9 month, Churrasco, oh my!

 

What a week! :)

First of all, i got my first Brazilian resipe :) muahaha. Creme. It was so good. like a pudding, you know, there is no way i can describe it. And i don´t have a picture this time.. sorry...

Remember those boys that we found? like 14 years old? WELL. We taught them the Restoration of the Gospel, and i asked what they knew about Joseph Smith (because they had gone to church like twice before we could teach them haha) THEY KNEW EVERYTHING! Hahah it was so cool! Like "oh, he was14 years old, saw Heavenly Father, was called as a prophet, and given the priesthood. That Joseph Smith? Yeah, i´ve heard of him." Hahaha. It was super cool:)

Also, before i forget, Rogerio wants me to give a hug from him. Mainly for my family but why not share the love? ;) He is an awesome member that we see almost everyday haha. Love him and his family.

MOTHER´S DAY. I ate some cool things... like chicken hearts! And brocili with like lime sprinkled on it, which is super good btw.. something called "Nhoc" from Germany, i loved that! It was pasta-y stuff.

It was a good week overall :)

OH we had a cool lesson with Julia, she has a 3 month old baby girl, and we talked a lot about family and how babies are gifts from Heavenly Father. And she loved the Restoration lesson and accepted baptism!

The Church is true:) Go share it with someone ;)

<3 Sister Holden

PS i had some awesome pictures to send... but i can´t figure out how to send them, so they´ll have to wait for next week i guess, desculpe! :)

Mother's Day Skype

It was so special to be able to talk to Sister Holden on Mother's Day. She was just glowing with happiness and joy. She bore her sweet testimony about the truthfulness of the gospel and the strength of the Spirit. Being in Brazil has humbled her in so many ways. She mentioned that a simple thing like carpet is something that she missed seeing. The homes are usually one room and maybe a sink for the kitchen. We have so much to be grateful for living in the US.

 The culture in Brazil was different. If you only eat firsts at a meal, you hated it. If you had seconds, it was pretty good. But if you have thirds, it was delicious. She mentioned a little possible weight gain. :)

She shared with us her experiences in tears about the faithfulness and love that the members have there. She said that one sister who has a few children was signed up to feed the sister missionaries. They showed up to the home and, like explained above, the sister missionaries were encouraged to eat seconds, while the woman's children sat hungry asking if they could eat yet. Sister Holden was very emotional, as were we all, as she explained that they give all they have and are so willing to serve.

As Sister Holden's family, it was amazing to see the changes and strength that she has gained while being on her mission. We were so grateful to talk to her and see her sweet, sweet spirit.

April 21, 2014 -Brazil

Brazil, what?

Olá! Tudo bem! ha. First of all, HI!

I love it here. This week was super crazy! We walked everywhere, what was i thinking not exercising before my mission... My legs HURT! Ha but its okay. just means they will be super toned right? :P the people here are awesome. And i love my companion! She has been out for 14 months, AKA shes te best. I am her 16th companion and she has been training almost every single transfer since she was at 4 weeks. Shes that great :)

My area is called, Cachoeira (which means waterfall in Portuguese). But, there are no waterfalls, sorry. hahaah. But i love it. Right before i got here they had 5 baptisms, so this week, we get to find! :) Yay. :) Clap doors and everything! hhah.

My portuguese is sad, but i learn so much everyday. It hurts my head.

Easter was cool.. I lead the music in Sacrament meeting, and i dont speak portuguese yet, and they asked me to get up and introduce myself, but i didnt hear/understand that that was what they said, so i just sat there, smiling. Haha everyone was just staring at me and the branch president was dying laughing haha. So i got up, said "Hi! I´m sister Holden, ive been in Brazil for 3 weeks and my portuguese is really bad!" then i sat down. i was so confused! hahahaha. Hopefully i made a good impression ;) jokes. Hopefully these members practice what the teach about forgiveness! hahahah. After church we had a GINORMOUS lunch. and i couldnt breathe. haha SO GOOD. we had kind of a chicken caserole, but the dessert.. Mmm.

ALSO, you know how i love hot dogs? WELL. Brazil has their own kind of hot dog. Man. i shouldve taken a picture of it... It has mayonaise, ketchup, peas, potato chips, corn, cilantro, cheese, some weird ot sauce... MAN. Eu gosto, muito :) haha. They also have interesting desserts here too, i can explain them.. kind of the consistency of a thick pudding, with brownie type stuff in it.. I´m sorry. I shouldve taken a picture of that too. Ha. Next time.

What else what else.. i love it here. Definitely different, but i love it :)

Hope everything is well!

<3 Sister Holden

PS i will send pictures later on today. and my address if you want to write me a letter to see how long it takes ;)


Also, this is my address!

Sister Janelle Holden
Brazil Porto Alegre South Mission
Av. Princesa Isabel, 342-B
Santana
90620-970 Porto Alegre -RS
Brazil

What an address :)

Tchau!

PS I don't have time to type everyone's name in, if someone could forward it to someone that wants it, that'd be super :) 

São Paulo. Our CTM room had the view ;)

the TV thing in the plane. It took forever for that little guy to get to Brazil haha.

My companion, sister Morales :) she's the best.

view from my apartment now! This is the drveway.

 

April 2, 2014 - Brazil!

Eu estou em Brasil!

By the way, i have no idea if that is correct. :)

 

Hi!! Just wanted to let cha know that i made it:) the flight was LONG... Haha. And i was sitting in between an elder a Brazilian guy, who when they were sleeping leaned towards me.. So i didn't really sleep. At all :) haha. but the food was good! I liked it. Can't complain.. I was almost in tears though when i thought that my carry on got left in the US.. don't worry, it didn't :) PHEW. So i have all my stuff.. too much stuff. They let us take a shower and un pack a little, now email! Next is Lunch! :) YAY! My companion is awesome, i'll send pictures next week, or whenever my PDAY is. It smells different here! And it is muito quente! ;) BTW, i'm giving up English tonight, i think i told you that yesterday.. but it's cool being here and EVERYONE speaks Portuguese! I think i'm gonna love it here :)

Love you all! :)

 

Sister Holden

March 31, 2014- Indiana

You have one week!

I guess now it is one day.

Last Tuesday, we had a new missionary training. We talked a lot about
awesome things that helped me figure out how to be a better
missionary:)

Then we watched a video if the conversion story of the Robles story,
such a good one. Watch it.

Then President Woodbury called Sister Edwards and I up, and asked all
the missionaries what they thought of the video. An elder stood up and
talked about time and how we need to take advantage of all the time we
have. Then president looked at me, and said, "You have one week,(I
thought he was talking about the challenge to baptize someone by the
13th of April) your visa has come and you leave in April 1st."

Tears. I could not believe it. Still can't believe it. 7 1/2 months
have flown and I am so grateful for everything I've learned. Soo
grateful for my awesome mission president and all the advice he's
given me.

Man oh man.

Chicago will always have a chunk of my heart. I will come back!

Today I am going to stock up on peanut butter and stick deodorant! Haha.

I also got an email from my mission president, in Brazil, in
Portuguese, saying that the winters in Brazil are intense. But has he
endured the coldest Chicago has ever seen?;) that was fun news hahaha

Love you all, I'll send pictures of Brazil next week ;) and I'll let
you know what the Brazil MTC is like!

Love
Sister Holden

Women's Conference

Women's Conference

District Unity :)

March 26, 2014 - Indiana (Via Facebook)

Brazil, here I come!

Hello! I just wanted to write a status update about how much I have loved being in the Illinois Chicago Mission, getting to know all of you has been great! I've really found my voice and my testimony of the Book of Mormon and the gospel of Jesus Christ has been strengthened. Next Tuesday, April 1st, I will be in a plane to Brazil! I will finish my mission there, but a part of my heart will always be in Chicagoland. 


(PS we all asked if it was an april fools joke and Janelle said its for real! yay!)

March 24, 2014 - Indiana

Bom dia!

Olá! Como vai?

     Este semana fui BOM! ;) I got to talk to someone in Brazil! In PORTUGUESE. :D
There is this family, I love em so much. And they knew how much help I
needed with my Portuguese, so they called up their friend in Brazil
(who happens to be interested in the gospel by the way) and we got to
skype with him! Found out that he's even been reading they Book of
Mormon! All the way to Mosiah! Wow! It was really nice to be able to
get feedback on my now horrible Português :( hahaha
Stake conference was also this week, are you a fan of Christ?
Better not be! Fans are: enthusiastic admirers
Be a FOLLOWER of Christ. When your teams losing, do you switch teams?
Not if you're a true follower ;) soo many good talks were shared. A
TON about missionary work.. I wonder why..
 Something else that was talked about was the priesthood and how it
shouldn't be used as a last resort. I thought that was awesome. The
priesthood is for everyone and for everything.

We also got to teach the Law of Chastity this week! Wahoo! Hahaha why
do they have us 19 year olds teach this... It went really well! The
investigator we were teaching accepted it, had lots of interesting
questions, but understands it and is committed to living it :) yay.
We also got to go on exchanges this week! Guess what broke the day of.
That's right. The GPS. I've been here for about 2 1/2 weeks... And the
gps breaks. Man. So we were pretty much lost the whole day :) we did
stop by a less active though. Sister Hernandez. She is 9 months
pregnant, and her husband is over seas in the Air Force reserves.
He won't be home for 5 months.

And so just talking with her about her life and everything, we could
just tell how overwhelmed she was. Well on Sunday we had an
appointment to go back, and a member offered to drive us/ go with us.
Sister Phair is super awesome and nice but I never thought about her
being the friend that could get Sister Hernandez to the Michigan City
Branch. Good thing I'm not in charge, because they had so much in
common!! I am just so grateful that we had Sister Phair with us. It
was super cool:)

The rest of exchanges was trying to find our way around haahha. Fun!
The branch asked me to give a talk on covenants... Guess who is going
to be called to repentance on Sunday! ;) just kidding. I'm excited to
talk about this. Still nervous to talking in sacrament meeting, even
if it is only 50 people.. But this is such an awesome topic. Covenants
are just so great :) the talk I'm talking about it, "The Power, Joy,
and Love of Covenant Keeping" by Linda K. Burton. READ IT! :)
Also read this talk: What Are People Asking about Us? By President
Gordon B Hinkley in the November 1998 Ensign. He answers questions
that the world is asking about us. It's scary how true the answers are
even 15 years later :) I LOVE PROPHETS
Pretty much, I love being a missionary, love this area, Português is
awesome, and I'm almost at 8 months, what?!
Love y'all
I mean, eu ama vocês!
Sister Holden
PS why don't dinosaurs talk?
PPS because they're all dead.
PPPS who knows what that's from?! Hahahaha

Pictures: 

My hairs are shorter

Mrs Green isn't creepy at all. We want to play a joke on the elders
with her... Bwahaha

Also, this picture is our new friend, sister green ;) she likes to
hold tissue boxes

My companions mom sends the best stuff

 

March 17, 2014 - Indiana

Whistle like a bird!

Well hi!

This week literally flew by. Literally.

We got to teach family home evening at the church.. Guess who loves
visuals! We do! Too bad it didn't work ha. We tried doing the pepper
and soap thing but used cinnamon instead... It smells better.... But
doesn't really work ahaha.

TUESDAY. Man oh man what a day! We had a zone conference! Woot! It was
an elevated zone conference... We pretty much got called to repentance
ha. In an awesome, loving way. We are going to elevate our language,
no more: darn, dang, gee, gosh, geeze, freaking, sucks, "guys",
"like", "um", "you know". It's been fun! For real. In the scriptures
Christ tells us that we shouldn't swear by the heavens or the earth,
but that we must reply, "Yea yea, nay nay" Will do!  Haha. And thatgoes for habits too, like cracking knuckles, biting your lip/ cheek,
touching your face. We were challenged to record ourselves (on our
handy dandy iPads) to see what we look like during lessons.... Whew!
Haha.

It snowed. Again. So guess who did some S-E-R-V-I-C-E! That's right,
the elders! Jokes. We shoveled:) got 2 new investigators out of it!
MIRACLE MOMENT: the lesson we had set with the guy we shoveled for, we
brought a sister with us, and honestly, I had no idea why we we're
bring her. There was no way that she would be good for him, blah blah
blah... We walked in, and she said, "you look familiar... Fred?
Fred!!" They hugged and gabbed. Crazy! We said a really nice thank you
prayer :) such a blessing. Without her there, I know that the lesson
would have been COMPLETELY different.

This week the Sister Training Leaders gave us a challenge. To write
down our companions strengths every day, as well as our own. It was SO
easy to write down hers! And it helped me to really see them. I won't
lie I didn't write any of mine. Probably because I don't have any :P
but I think you should do that, if you're having a hard time getting
along with someone, or even if you're best friends, it's helped a lot
:)

I'm almost done with the Book of Mormon! I LOVE it. So good. Brings
the spirit so strong. There is a recent convert that we've been
working with and she told us this week how she has noticed that when
she's been reading the Book of Mormon daily, it has GREATLY improved
her week, and that's huge coming from her :)

I seriously love being a missionary, I think I might have to go to the
dentist, and I don't want to because what if they find something that
I will have to go home to fix?! Haha. Don't worry mom.

Thank you for the prayers, I love and pray for you.

Don't forget to be grateful :)

Amor,

Sister Holden

PS: deer are everywhere! There are 5 in this picture can you find them? 

Pictures:

March 10, 2014 - Indiana

Well, I got transferred south!

Not that south ;) I am in Chesterton, Indiana!

and i ABSOLUTELY love it! I love my companion, who i get to finish training. I love the tiny little branch we get to work with. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY. the end.

This area is kind of interesting. We NEED/ are so excited to find new people, but at the same time are focusing on less active work. One thing i've learned this week: DO YOUR VISITING/HOME TEACHING! I hope that made you feel guilty.

We visited a less active, brought the spirit in her home, she felt it and started crying and committed herself to come to church. she is one of the SWEETEST people i have EVER met! If we wouldn't have gone to see her, who knows if she ever would have had that desire to come to church again, you know? Lucy Mack Smith said, "We must cherish one another, watch over one another, comfort one another and gain instruction, that we may all sit down i heaven together." LOVE.

Pretty much this week has been full of getting up to speed, so this week, now that we are on the same page, will be great! So ready to get to work:)

I am learning so much. I know that i was meant to serve a mission, I can't even picture my life without this knowledge that i've gained now! It's so wonderful. It has been so wonderful to recognize promptings and ACT on them! ha. I love how i am so aware of the Spirit now. I can tell when it's not with us and what we need to do to get it back.

Man. Something that i've been thinking about this week is the Atonement. We have this cool visual that we love to show people. Maybe i'll video it this week and send it. But it just shows that even though we are in the world, we are going to be surrounded by sin/ make mistakes, but with the Atonement, He takes ALL of that away. He has felt EVERY pain and sorrow that we have. The hard part is learning how to actually apply that knowledge. Actually throwing down our burdens at His feet.

I love you. I love this gospel. I love being a missionary. I love my family. I love my companion. I love the knowledge that i have. I love learning from my mistakes. I love learning from the SCRIPTURES! I love life.

We were talking with a member this week and she was talking about her husband dying and the temple and how she served like a 4 year temple mission (awesome!) and then she said how much she loved life. And how she wants to be here for as long as she can. What a testimony of the Plan of salvation.

Have a great week!!

Com amor,
Sister Holden

Pictures:

that sweet member, and a white handbook from 1912?ish? OLD.

SISTER EDWARDS!

March 3, 2014 - Illinois

I'm being transferred!

To Michigan City, Indiana! Crazy.

 Janelle just wrote some personal emails this week. I guess its been a pretty hectic week. But shes feeling bitter sweet about getting transferred. She said it was Sister Spackmans first area so shes excited about that. But she did send some fun pictures!

 Pictures:

district :) sad goodbye

Betty! My favorite. Even sadder goodbye

nasty Popsicle. Cilantro and garlic...

I hate snow. Make it go away!

 

 

Feb 24, 2014 - Illinois

It's almost March?!

Ohlo! (<-- that is going to come in later)

How was everyone's week? My was FANTASTIC :)

Monday, pdays, the best. Went to Chicago that night!

Tuesday we were on exchanges, I went to the city with Hermana Felt,
man that was fun! We almost go in a car accident! Hahahah. There was
like 7 inches of snow, on the FREEWAY, and we slid ALL over the place.
It was fun, thank heavens there wasn't any cars around us. Hermana
Felt thanked me for not screaming ;) then we went a walkin. And
talking to everyone we saw. She went for the ones that looked like
they spoke Spanish, there was a lot of them haha. We even went on a
bus.. Which bus contacting SCARES ME. Aahh. But I talked to some
people, no one was interested, but one lady's son was going to Fall
Out Boy's baby show that weekend, so that's always exciting... Haha.
The people you meet as a missionary ;) we also went to a lesson that
night... In Spanish... I could kind of tell what was going on, and I
participated a little bit in Portuguese haha. It was so cool to
actually be able to use this language! I can't wait to go to Brazil!
Haha someday.

Wednesday, we stopped by Brenda's.... My good ole friend Brenda.. She
decided that she doesn't want to give up smoking and drinking coffee,
she doesn't want to be baptized, she doesn't want to go to any church,
and she doesn't want us to come by anymore. OUCH. What in the? Where
did that come from? So we are going to let her just think about that
and feel the difference in her life... Not in a mean way, I promise. I
cried. That hurt so much! I love Brenda, why is she doing this?!...
She called the next day asking for service.. I wonder if she remembers
what she said. Hmmm hahaa.

We also had a district meeting that day... HA. So we are doing role
plays (practices) on inspired door approaches haha like asking
questions and really putting YOU into it.. So I practiced with Elder
Vaughn! super awesome missionary.. So I knock on the table, and he
turns around and says "OHLO!!" (Like off of Megamind) I DIED! Hahaha I
couldn't do it. Super threw me off! Hahahah it was way funny. Oh also,
when we walked into district meeting, there were tiny chairs. And
tables, I'll send a picture haha, I guess they did to help our
district become more unified... Silly Elders ;P

So we have been teaching active families the "lessons" and it's been
really cool! Some like to pretend to be investigators, or themselves
before they were baptized, while others want us to teach to them. So
it's been really interesting. But I love it! It gives us experience,
and it gets them excited about missionary work, and helps them to feel
confident in going out and teaching with us. :)

Saturday we tried something pretty cool.... Ha. We got a phone book,
said a prayer, opened to a page, and wrote down names and addresses
that stuck out to us. We were going to tract those streets. Man oh
man, I don't know if Heavenly Father was just trying to tell us that
that was a bad idea or.... But we didn't get a single person to let us
even finish the name of our church hahaha. Okay maybe one, but no one
was interested. I thought FOR SURE at least one person! Nope. Probably
won't try that one again;) hahah...

Sunday was good, had a GREAT lesson with Greg! Oh he's great. He was
having the toughest week though. So when we met, I just asked him,
like how are you feeling? How is everything? What were the questions
you had? And he pretty much told us that he just wanted to be with
Heavenly Father, but didn't want to go through life... Broke my little
heart. So we talked about Gods love and how this life is to prepare to
return to Him. He is seriously the best. He is so smart and has the
best questions. He said that he wants to be baptized! H just seriously
makes my day.

Hmm that was my week. Oh! HA, when we had our lesson with Betty, we
were talking about repentance and comparing it to the Catholics
confession. And she goes, "Oh, I've never had to go to "the booth". I
never do anything wrong!" Hahaha right Betty ;) it was the cutest. I
guess I say "Does that make sense?" A lot, and she commented on it,
saying that I don't go on until she's not confused anymore. No I sure
don't! Haha. She's the cutest.

Well we find out about transfers this upcoming weekend, any bets?
Third sister?;) jokes. I'll let ya know next Monday. I love the
emails, even if you don't ink your life is exciting, I LOVE hearing
about it :)

Oh and I saw a Bald Eagle on Saturday. What?! The coolest, it was
flying and we were driving, otherwise I would've taken a picture.

You're the best!
Com MUITO amor ;)
Sister Holden

I love Mondays! <3

Feb 17, 2014 - Illinois

Welp today is Monday, the 17th of February of 2014

 

 Olá!

Como vai?

This week was muito bom! First of all. BRENDA is on baptism date!! For
March 2. Ohhh it was the coolest thing ever! So we had an appointment
to teach the Plan of Salvation. We did, and when we got to the
kingdoms! she said she wanted to be in the Celestial one, with God.
"Well perfect! Do you know how to get there?" "Uhhh." So we explained
how while we are on earth, we need to make those covenants, promises,
with Heavenly Father to show our love for Him and desire to follow
Him. And we do that by being baptized by His power, the Priesthood
authority. Then she talked about how she wanted Him to kind of
forcefully tell her to be baptized... So I shared how I knew that
baptism was right for her. That if she showed her faith by committing
to being baptized, God would let her know that it was the right
decision. "If you prayed and said, "Heavenly Father, I'm getting
baptized on March 2nd! How do you feel about that?!" He's going to say
"yay Brenda! I'm so proud of you!" And she kind of stopped, and said
"Why did you pick March 2nd?" I just said I dunno.. Then she explained
that March 2nd is Johnny's birthday! And then committed to being
baptized! Ohh it was the coolest! Then we went over the baptismal
interview questions. She's the best.

We also had a zone conference this week, love those.. I feel like
president always knows what to say. Haha. He opened the meeting by
saying, I just want you to know(talking to everyone) that you are here
for a reason, you are in the area you're in for a reason, and
companions with thatperson for a reason. Heavenly Father out you here
on purpose. Tears. He's talking to me! Haha. Wah.

But it was great, we talked about appropriate music, how to help our
investigators understand prayer, and how to get referrals in a better
way;) schveet stufffff.


Guess what! We also had a lesson with Betty, and it might have been
even better than the one with Brenda.. She is also committed to be
baptized. The spirit in her lesson was soo strong! That's something
I've learned on my mission.... I CANT teach, but the spirit can for
dang. Soo important to have Him with us ;) always start with a prayer,
guys. Haha. Prayer brings miracles. Which we will be praying for, if
March 1st & 2nd come as fast as I think they will:)

Welp, 1 more pday until we find out about transfers, CRAZY. But that's
okay. HA. His transfer went by fast. What did you do in the past 6
weeks? I taught the Plan of Salvation 463728 times, because it's my
favorite! That was a joke, it really is my favorite, but we didn't
teach it that many times;)

I have learned so much on my mission, holy cow. I have learned one
very important thing. Which is: my life before I came on a mission is
gone. I will never be that same person. I know now that I don't want
to waste my life watching the Office all day long. I've learned the
types of relationships I want in the future. I've learned so many
things I want my future family to be/ have. Someone told me before I
left on my mission, "Don't worry, your life will still be here when
you get back!" WRONGO! Haha, I don't want that life! Yes I still love
my family, but I don't ever want to go back to the person I was. Haha.
I have learned such great things, why would I throw those away? Dah,
there is my rant for the week. You are awesome and Heavenly Father
loves you. "That love won't ever change."

Oh and if anyone has tips on how to quit smoking, that'd be great.

Oh and have your friends add me on Facebook ;)

Oh and have a great week :)

Tchau!

Sista Holdy-hold

Line of the week:
Betty: do you know how to cook?
Me: ummmm, why? Haha
Betty: well I saw you walkin into the apartment with a McDonald's
soda, and I felt so bad! Like dang, I need to cook for them! If you
ever goin get married someday...
Me: yes we know, we'll have to learn how to cook...
Betty: yeah! Because the way to mans heart, is through his stomach.

Thanks Betty ;)

(PS I'm pretty sure she's never seen the princess and the frog movie,
so it must be true) (PSS she reminds me of Momma Oh-dee, off of that
movie, except she's not blind and doesn't do voodoo or whatever
hahahah)

Selfie Sunday or missionary Monday? It's all the same ;)

-

Feb 10, 2014 - Illinois

Valentine Shamalentine

Hello All!

Hope everything is going super good. Things are going. Going fast
actually. I can't believe this transfer is half way over! Crazayzyyy.
Can't believe it. Pretty much, I love this area, even though I feel
like all of our investigators dropped off the earth or something. But
we have started teaching active members the lessons, them pretending
to be investigators. That has been so cool, haha and the feedback is
even better. I'm glad i get to be a missionary in English for a while
before Português.. I love it, and being a Facebook missionary is
getting better, and I can literally feel the Holy Ghost throughout our
lessons. (Not that I couldn't before, but it's just so much stronger)

With that, I feel like lately I have been able to recognize spiritual
prompting a lot better. I had this cool experience this week. We were
coming home from a dinner appointment, and I just thought, "You know,
we should visit Alex." (One of our investigators who we hadn't seen in
weeks.) So we stopped by JUST as he was getting home! He answered the
door with a huge smile and told us how he had gone back to work and
was so overwhelmed with bills and things but that he missed us! And
wants to come back to church! It was so awesome to be able to talk
with him and let him know that Heavenly Father is mindful of him. So
cool! Also recently, I have been having feelings of like DONT GO TO
THAT HOUSE. A lot in one night, I have heard stories of missionaries
feeling this and couldn't wait to actually recognize a prompting that
could keep me from danger! Haha who knows what would've happened if we
would've gone to these houses, but I'm glad we didn't.

Yesterday, we had a linger longer and church, and I brought my
FAVORITE. Fruit salad for a crowd. Yum. I love food, can I just say?
Haha. Oh and that reminds me of this talk I read this week.. Called, "
Sanctity of the Body" SUCH a good talk! Made me never want to eat junk
again, because our bodies truly are gifts! This talk just hit me. In
my gut. That has gotten huge while on this mission. Not really but it
didn't mean a lot to me. Hahaha. Read it!

Line of the week:
(We were in district meeting, talking about how unrealistic our zones
goals were haha)
Elder: we should call the zone leaders, right now. Tell them I just
dropped kicked my iPad so change the goals!

Maybe that isn't as funny to you as it was haahha. You all are so
awesome. Read your scriptures. And really ponder them, and ask for
revelation! I've learned SO so much from he Book of Mormon these past
6 months, so awesome. This week we have a zone conference and
exchanges with some hermanas! So excited.

Até logo!
Sister Holden

42% of the mission is sisters! so cool :)

Feb 3, 2014 - Illinois

Six months this week. What?!

Well hello!

This week has been fun..

Tuesday we went over to Brenda's and talked about the Sons of Mosiah (
AKA my favorite people) and she loved it! We were talkin about
Christ's love and I mentioned this group of teenagers and how bad they
were, but when repented, they were blessed and Christ still loved
them! Haha and we got to meet her son Johnny! So happy. And they came
to church yesterday! Oh it's was the coolest! Brenda got up and bore
her testimony and mentioned how she was going to be baptized! Haha
news to me;) she's great. We'll have to pick a date for her while I'm
still here :)

I guess yesterday was the Super Bowl? Which explains why NO ONE signed
up to feed us missionaries.. Haha so the wars mission leader did, he's
the nicest. We had homemade lasagna yum and homemade razzleberry pie,
yummier! They are so kind to feed 6 missionaries on like 1 hours
notice. Haha.

So I'm the worst. I have no idea what Sister Spackman and I did all
day. So we've been doing less active stop bys! So fun. A couple people
were home.. Not super interested. One lady said she appreciates us
coming over but she's not interested in the church right now.. But we
can stop by anytime. Haha I don't get it.. So we will be stopping by
ALL the time ;)

We have a Sisters Conference this week and I'm SO excited! We are
doing self defense, exercise, healthy eating, and homesickness
classes. Just for me, because I need all of them. Hahahah. It'll be
good.

This letter is really scatter brained, which is exactly how I feel
haha. Ahh I have no idea how people remember things and keep things
straight all the time! Haha. One thing I learned this week: I need to
be more courageous, the Book of Mormon is FULL of courageous people.
Holy cow! What good examples. Like why should the possibility of
someone not wanting to listen to me, keep me from asking?

Line of the week: (at our ward mission leader's home talking about
cows stomachs and Johnny lingo)
Sister C: Will you go dish up the dessert?
Brother C: I sure would, my 32 cow stomach wife!
Sister C: Don't let the door hit you on the way out..

Hahaha then she gave some great advice to the Elders ;)

Have an fantabulous day/week/night!

Com amor,
Sister Holden

Ps: no news on my visa, but a member told me that some brethren went
to the consulate in San Diego to explain why so many people want
visas, so she said they should be coming pretty quick. :)

I liked my outfit yesterday :)

Thanks Laurel for the Birthday poster

Jan 27, 2014 - Illinois

Just pictures this week.

dallon and sofiah- go Brazil!

Sister Hawkins!

game night- giant Jenga!

Jan 20, 2014 - Iliinois

Week 18 In Antioch, Illinois

So this is going to be a real short letter... but everything is good here! Sister Spackman is getting transferred and i will be getting a new companion! (not new, new, thank heavens i won't have to train yet:)) but i am going to miss her so so much and have a new adventure of leading in my area. Yikes. I hope all of you are doing fantastic! The work here is getting really good. hah. We have a couple awesome progressing investigators, it's so cool to help them understand and answer the questions they have. This church is true :) It just makes sense.

Love you all!

Sister Holden

These are 2 of the 4 times I blew out candles

Happy Birthday to me!

Grace and Emi!

Birthday Outfit

Kate