BYE-BYE ELDER ROJAS!

Well so I would like to give a couple of birthday shoutouts to Craig Chilton this 3rd of May and also that same day I want the Padua family to know that I will be thinking about them as it has been one year since Uncle Bobby has passed away! I love you all so much and I hope that day is great for you all. Also happy birthday to Bishop Willardsen. I know I am a couple of days late but I hope that it was a special day for you on Saturday! Ok well this week came as a pretty big surprise for all of us here. It was the week of cambios and I thought that for sure we would both be staying but Elder Rojas was called to go to a different area. We found out Saturday in the night and he was pretty sad to leave his first area and also a little sad because we had a boss day on Sunday!!!! So let's just say that a bunch of miracles happened and that the Lord blessed us a ton. Well to start off Carmen and her mom came to church and Carmen is really pumped about her baptism for this next week. She has really changed a ton and she had a really good time playing soccer with us this last Wednesday and all of the jovenes in our ward. So also 6 other people came to church yesterday with a baptismal date for the 13th of Mayo. Yeah I know a pretty great week huh. Well that isn't even it, 3 of those people were a mom and her two daughters. I called her in the morning on Sunday to see if she was going to be able to come and she said no sorry, but we will have to come next week. She already had said that to us last week so I was feeling a little bit frustrated with her. Well so I kneeled down to say a prayer asking God to work a miracle with her and her family. So we then went to pick up the other investigators that we had planned to come with us to church. One of the ladies said that her daughter was saying she was not going to go to church and all of this stuff but then when she woke up on Sunday, she had a change of heart and wanted to come to the church with her mom. Well she is the same age as Carmen and so they were able to talk and became pretty good friends so that was boss. And then the last lady we went to pick up said Elders I think that God was showing me this morning that I should definitely go to church with you guys today. We asked her why and she went on to tell us that she woke up and wasn't going to go to church because she had a bunch of work to do and stuff but when she got to her computer, the internet crashed and wasn't going to work for 24 hours, and then her clients bailed on her and weren't answering their phones! Pretty awesome huh? This is the same lady that we talked with her sister and the crazy we experience with the door opening behind her and everything, so we have had some real cool experiences with her. Well so we then all went to church and I was pretty happy with the three people we had brought and they all seemed pretty great, but then when we got to the church and the lady (elia) and her two daughters had come to the church by themselves because her daughters started to tell their mom how much they wanted to go! I know that God heard my prayer and that through her daughters, they were all able to attend the church as well. It was a really awesome experience and a great answer to all of the prayers I have said and the hard work we have been putting in. So we will see how everything progresses with all of them and I hope that they will all be able to progress towards their goals that they have set. So this is all why Elder Rojas was a little bit ticked to leave, because we just started to see the fruits from all of the work that we are doing and he got called to another part of the state of mexico. You're probably all wondering who my new companion is and where he is from. Right? (yeah i know you mommy! haha)! But I am actually going to be training again so I won't receive my new comp until tomorrow! I will let you know who he is but I am pretty sure that it will be an american kid. Right now for today I am with Elder Hyde and he actually just got a new comp as well, and his comp is elder Messner! He's my friend from byu that was in the same hall as me and also a good friend of mine in the mtc, so that is pretty boss. Well on top of training again, they have also called me to be district leader, which is pretty overwhelming and humbling, but I know that I will be able to do everything with the help from my Father in Heaven! Well that is just about it for this week! It was a pretty eventful week and I am a little bit nervous to be training and having to give my first junta on Wednesday, but all will be well! I sure love you all! Love Elder Holmes

Time is Flying By!

Hey guys! I am so glad that you all had such a great time in utah with sean's homecoming and everything. It sounds like that you really were just living the life. Hey, if i am not mistaken, my aunt tammy has her birthday this week on the 25th. I hope that you have a great day! Well Mom i am in the stake of Tepalcalpa and i am in the ward Lomas de Cuatitlan. I dont know why you wanted to know that, but there are like four other wards that go to our same church, so it is always packed with members! I am not going to lie, this week wasn't as eventful as last week, but it did seem to just go by in the blink of an eye. Honestly, the time goes by just so flippen fast sometimes and yesterday i completed 10 months in the mission! I can't even believe that. I still have a lot to do and the time is going by just a little bit too quickly! So this week the miracle we had was a young girl named Carmen. We have been teaching her and her mom, but she has been the one that has really progressed a ton. I mean she is only 16 years old and most girls at that age are doing some pretty dumb stuff, but she is just awesome. The other day she invited some of her friends from the school to come to her baptism which is scheduled for the 13th of May (which btws, is the day that I am going to be able to skype you guys, which is going to be so boss. and yes, mom I have a place to use the computer and everything.) So Carmen is doing really awesome and she and her mom came to church with us yesterday, but the mom isn't married and her husband really doesn't want to get married, so that is really the only problem with her. We found a couple other really good investigators this week that I hope will be able to progress, because most weren't able to come to church yesterday with us. So changes are next week and who knows what is going to happen. My district right now is so awesome and I love my district leader and his comp, Elder Hyde, who is from the same generation as my comp, Elder Rojas. Actually, I think this week went by so fast because we did a couple of intercambios and so i was working with my district leader, as well as his comp, for a couple days, which was a great learning experience, as always. A bunch of leaders from the mission will be going home this week in this change so we will see what happens with like my district leader and everything. We also went to play soccer today for pday and the other district in our zone isn't half as cool as our district! haha. We have been working like crazy and I really feel myself becoming a better missionary everyday! I love being a missionary so much and definitely enjoy receiving the blessings that are just waiting for me here in this area. It will be interesting to see what happens with this change that is coming up. Ok so this is just a little random but dad, I think i received some revelation for you and the family! haha. You need to buy a fish tank. haha. Like everyday this last week I went to houses with these boss fish tanks, or saw them in the street, and I was just thinking about how it has always been your dream to have a cool fish tank and I thought that you definitely need to buy one! haha. But get one that like covers the whole wall and put a nice shark in it for me before I come home! haha. Well, I love you all so much and i appreciate all of the support! Everything is going well for me and I am glad that you are all doing well. Love you tons, Elder Holmes

Living the Spiritual Life!

Hi guys. Well sorry for the kind of weak letter last week. I was just pretty excited about that boss new suit that I had bought and I hope you guys all liked it! haha. Wow I can’t believe how fast time goes by. Sean is already coming home this week! It felt like just yesterday that he left and I can’t believe how fast time is going for me, as well, in my mission. SO to start off, this week was a pretty awesome week and I will tell you why!

Number One, Ros got baptized!!!!! He asked me to baptize him, and I am not going to lie it, was a pretty amazing experience for me. I was really hit by the spirit on how inspired my call is for me to be called to this part of Mexico. Not only to this mission, but also to the area that I am in. I think I have told you before but Ros has probably met with about 10 different sets of missionaries over the time he has known the church. Everyone in the church already knew who he was and they always told me not to get too excited because Ros was an eternal investigator and would never be baptized. This might get some missionaries down, but I just knew it was his time. I had seen many so miracles working within him and I never lost the faith that he would get baptized. I have developed such a really awesome connection with him and he has become one of my best friends!! So, leading up to his baptism he had a couple of doubts and stuff that satan had really been attacking him with, butt he pressed on and when thursday came, he was ready to leave everything behind and do what he knew was right. SO his service was really awesome. Reina bore the sweetest testimony about baptism and shared how she felt the day of her baptism. I am not going to lie. The spirit was really strong in that moment. (oh btws Reina is just doing awesome. She got confirmed on Sunday and read like 200 pages of the Book of Mormon in this last week! She was so chosen by God!) Anyway, we then did the baptism and after he was baptized, we were about to leave the font and he said to me, "Hey Elder Holmes. I just want to wait right here for a minute. I feel something so strong right now even down to my fingertips." This was also a moment that almost made me tear up a little. He gave me a big hug and said how glad he was that he finally followed the spiritual promptings that he had always received. So after that, his friends played him a song on the guitar and sang to him, and then Ros got up and bore his testimony, as well! Let’s just say that it was an amazing experience! He is such an amazing young man and i know the Lord sent me here for people like him!!!

Number two. We had a pretty crazy experience on Saturday when we were out working. We went to visit one of the contacts I had made, but when we got to the house, there was no one home. We waited for a little bit, and right then someone pulls up to the house in the car. Two ladies get out of the car and I recognize the one as the contact i had made. She tells me “hey I am going to go shower right now, but my sister will talk to you guys while I am showering”. I was like “ok sweet!” SO we went in and started to talk with the sister of my contact. Well it turns out that this lady is a member of the church who was baptized about 6 years ago and since then has been inactive. OK well so in this moment, I start to realize that this was definitely an inspired visit that Heavenly Father wanted us to make. She goes on to tell us how her husband had been murdered. She asks me to explain a little bit of the plan of salvation and where he is right now. SO I start to tell her about the spirit world and all of this and how she needs to do the temple work for her husband and everything. She gets really emotional and also realizes that we were there at that reason for a specific purpose. Well, as we are talking about her dead husband, all of a sudden we hear someone turn the door knob and open the door that was right behind us. We all turn around to see who it was when the lady says, "NO one is there". She then went on to tell us that every time she talks about her husband, things will occur such as doors opening, she’ll see his reflection in the mirror, and a bunch of crazy stuff. SO yeah at this point, the spirit is pretty crazy strong. She asks me why things like that actually happen. I explained how the spirit world is actually here on the earth and that the veil is so thin that sometimes we can see through to the other side. I bore my testimony how he was just waiting for her to get worthy, to go back to church, and to do his work for him in the temple! She got emotional again and told me how when I had been explaining these things it was as if i had a light surrounding my figure, as if i were an angel. Well that one hit me pretty hard. I had never heard anyone say that to me before! Let’s just say that it was an amazing learning experience for me and my comp on the spirit world, the spirit, and the calling that we hold! SO yeah, we are going to go back to being able to teach her sister as well!

And just a random side note, all of my dreams are now in spanish and they are all about missionary work! haha. I don’t think I have had a normal dream for like a month now. My comp says he will here me talk in my sleep, giving someone a lesson in spanish! haha. Or asking, "hay algo que podemos hacer para ustedes! (Is there something we can do to help you?” Oh but the other day i did have a crazy dream and I woke up in a dead sweat, because in my dream, Dad was like some apostate who was ripping me on how the Book of Mormon isn’t true and all of this stuff. Obviously, I owned him in the discussion! haha, but when I woke up, I got to thinking how lucky I am to have been raised by two great parents who are members of God’s church. I Wouldn’t be where I am today without you, mom and dad, and also this gospel in my life. I have no doubt that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that just by applying its principles, we will completely change our lives, and find true happiness! Sure love you all,

Elder Holmes

Happy Easter Family!

Well shout out to Mark Lewis! Sorry, I totally missed your birthday this past Saturday and I feel really bad, but I hope that you had an awesome day uncle mark!! And also I hope that you all had a wonderful Easter and that you could really remember what our Savior did for each one of us. My being here in Mexico is a bit different. The first Easter parade I saw here was a little bit shocking and a lot different from the states. There were guys walking down the streets and people following them. whipping them with cords extremely hard. It seemed terrible! And some places take it to the extreme and actually crucify someone. They like pampered him for a whole year with things like a new house and car and everything and then they end up sacrificing him. I wouldn't ever want to sign up for that job! But as for me, it was nice to be able to think about how my Savior still lives and what all that actually really means to me! I am so in debt to him, and so maybe these two years and the suffering I sometimes have, will help pay off the great debt that I have to Him.

So our investigator Ros came to church and everything is looking more than good. He was telling everyone in the church about his baptism on Tuesday and they announced it at the pulpit and everything. But then afterwards, one of his good friends reminded him that he has school on tuesday night. haha. He had forgotten since they had been on vacations so we have moved it to this Thursday. And unless some really big trial comes along, this Thursday he will be getting baptized, and then he and Reina will be confirmed on Sunday.

Actually today we went with ros to buy my new suit and it is the most boss suit ever! I will send the pic along with the email!
The weeks have been pretty hard and we haven't been having too much success, but it has been a good learning experience for both Elder Rojas and me. One of our zone leaders actually just went home today and he was a really awesome kid so we will for sure miss him but we should be getting a new one today. The zone leaders are actually in our district! I don't know if I have said that before but I sure do learn a lot from them. On Friday i did an exchange with the one that went home today and it was really great experience as well. Time is just flying by here, but it is starting to get even hotter! This friday we have a zone conference so that should be good. I really can't think of anything else that is going on right now! so I hope that everything is going well for you guys! i love you a lot.

Elder Holmes

Tons of Blessings from the Lord!

So whats up family!!

SO wasn't the conference this weekend was just amazing? I was expecting letters from all of the bros today when one of the talks yesterday was all about sending letters to those who are far away! Haha. But then i realized that you guys didn't even get to see that session, so that must be why i didnt have a bunch of letters from all of the brothers i guess!

Well to start off, the week was tough!!!! It was another week that just pushed me to the limits and had me down on my knees crying in a couple of different moments, but was all topped off by tons of blessings from the Lord, in the form of talks by the prophet and church leaders, as well as the baptism of Reina. I have to say it was one of the most special baptisms I have had so far on my mission. Reina was a true testimony of someone who was chosen by God to hear the gospel. My comp, Elder Rojas, got to baptize her, which was the first baptism he has ever performed, so it was also a really special moment for him. If you could have been there to hear her words after her baptism, your testimony on baptism and missionary work would have mulitiplied by about 10. She shared with me all of her thoughts and she started to cry a little. She also talked with our investigator Ros (Daniel) and said that it was unlike anything you could ever do in your whole life. I think Ros was really touched by it. It was a great day, but she won't be confirmed until the 15th, because she is going on a family trip this weekend and won't be here for Sunday, but she is just so excited and really awesome.

Well as for conference, it was a really awesome experience for me. I watched all but one of the sessions in spanish, because our ward house didn't have it in english. It is a little different in spanish and doesn't have the same emotions as it does in english, but I was able to learn a ton from it. They talked a ton about families in this conference and how we need to teach everyone the importance of the family, and the invaluable time that is spent with them. Also, mom and dad, you will need to watch the second session of conference on Sunday, which had an awesome talk about the role of parents and how we should raise our kids. As I listened, though, I realized that you guys do a pretty dang good job at it, if not a perfect job! I love and respect both of you so much for the amazing example that you have set and the way you have raised all of us boys.

Ok well so after the conference we had an FHE with Ros and a couple of the members from our ward. We had an extremely powerful lesson and we could all feel the spirit really strong. Ros said that he knows that these feelings were his answer from God that he should finally be baptized into his church. LIke I said, this young man has met with the missionaries a ton and knows everything, but for the last year and a half, he hasn't attended the church. But last night we challenged him with a baptismal date for next tuesday and he seemed really sincere about it. I really hope he can face all of the trials that will come his way and be able to be baptized! He is an awesome kid.

Today we went to play tennis with Ros, which was really fun, and my first time in 10 months almost! Well that is about it! I want you all to know that I absolutely know that Thomas S. Monson is the only person on the face of this earth that holds all of the keys necessary to be the prophet of God here on the earth. Without a doubt in my mind, I know this church is not only true, but the only church on the face of this planet with the power to seal families together for time and all eternity. Anyone who doubts this just needs to read the Book of Mormon and pray to God with a real intent, and they also will know the truthfulness of these things. I love you all.

Elder holmes