I Can't Believe I Marked a Year in the Mission!

So yeah this week was pretty sick because those two little milagritas ("little miracles") got baptized!!!! We worked with them this week and they had already learned everything about the gospel, and they were extremely ready to get baptized! So that was really fun because my comp, Elder Hirst, got to do his first baptism! He was really nervous, but he did an awesome job, and the kids really love us! I can't believe what a miracle that was, and I was pretty excited for them yesterday. Also Hermana Rocio got confirmed. She was feeling a little sick, but she was able to come, and they are both doing great. My testimony has grown so much of the fact that when we do the things of the Lord, He always will bless us. Gerardo is happier than ever with his new job that is paying more then he has ever made in his life, and he has a lot of responsibility in his work! He is so awesome and his faith has grown so much over the time that he has started to learn about the gospel. Also Reina is doing awesome and wants us to start working with her sister and teach her the gospel, so that she can get baptized. The only problem is that she can't talk too well, so Reina translates to us what she says. She also loves the church and I think she could be getting baptized here pretty soon! So I saved the package you sent me for my year mark in the mission and opened it on Friday. I tell you, I opened my Jimmer jersey and I was sooooo pumped up! I will make sure to send you all the pictures of my year celebration. It was a really special day and we sure made it a good time. My comp said, "Wow you even have Jimmer supporting you on the mission! That must be nice! haha." My comp is a huge basketball player and a big Jimmer fan, so he was also pretty pumped about the jersey! haha. Anyway, Elder Cruz had told me to come home a little bit early that night so my comp could sign some papers for immigrations. We got back to the house early, and when i walked in, I smelled baked goods! I looked over to see some brownies with a candle, and Elder Cruz and his comp were hiding in our house! Elder Cruz still had a set of keys to the house so they snuck in to surprise me with some brownies! They then all signed my shirt and we had a nice burning ceremony on top of the house to celebrate the one year point of my mission! Major tradition amongst the missionaries. Then after they left, my comp and I ordered pizza and just ate that with some milkshakes that I made. We ate so much though, that the next day I felt a little bit sick! It was really fun though, and I can't believe that I already have a whole entire year in the mission. To answer your question mom, yeah I have liked my time as a district leader, but it sure is a lot of responsability and a lot of talking with the zone leaders. Sometimes I just wish I was just a normal missionary, but I love the opportunity that I have to get to know better and help the missionaries in my district. They are all really great people, and we are doing pretty well as a district. Well so that is pretty much it for me! haha. You guys have got to read the whole conference issue. It is amazing to review what our church leaders said to us just a couple of months ago. It is amazing how many things I don't remember them saying, but maybe that is just because I watched it in spanish! haha. Well, I love the church and I love the Lord. If this wasn't the only true church on the earth, I wouldn't be here. It has been raining EVERY DAY and we eat some of the nastiest things, but it is all worth it because I know that I am in the work of the Lord and that this is the only way people can be saved! I love you all! Elder Holmes

A Week Packed With Blessings!

Ok so this week was pretty packed with spiritual blessings, but I want to start off by saying that I have the best dad in the world. I felt bad that I didn't include that in my email last week, but I hope that you had an awesome day. You are one of the best examples in my life, and the reason why I have had the success that I have had in my life. I don't know where you got to be so smart. I hope that one day I will be able to raise kids in the way that you did, and also show the love and respect to my wife like you always did with mom. I don't think you could have done anything better in raising me and I am eternally grateful for what you have done. It was kind of weird not to be with you on father's day, so I just had to make my comp breakfast in bed instead! haha. Well So yesterday was the baptism of Rocio, and let me tell you something... It was SWEET! It was one of the most spiritual experiences that I have had here on the mission. One of the reasons was because I have been studying a lot the talks that were given in this past priesthood conference, that just talk about what the priesthood is, and why we have it. It was awesome to be able to see Gerardo exercise the priesthood that he had just been given about 3 hours before, when he was able to perform his wife (Rocio')s baptism! I have reallly learned a lot about the power of the priesthood, and what a wonderful blessing it is in our lives. A lot of times we take it for granted, but it really is the power of God on this earth to carry out His work! So Gerardo was just awesome and he had practiced the prayer and everything probably about 100 times. He kept asking me just to make sure he had it right! haha. But he did a wonderful job, and it was a great experience for everyone who was there. Ok Also something else that was really amazing were the miracles that just showed up at church yesterday. On saturday night, again we had no body progressing and had nobody to bring to church with us. I mean we have been working extremely hard, but really have been struggling on bringing new people to the church. By the way my comp elder hirst is my favorite comp and he and i get along so well! He is really nice and freaking hilarious. We are always just having a really fun time together. Amyways, so on Saturday, again we got down and began to pray together for miracles, and also in my personal prayers I was just pleading with my Heavenly Father for a miracle the next day at church. Well, we got to church and no one was there that we haven't seen before, until the second hour, when I see this less active hermana that I had visited just one time before! She has been going through a rough time lately, and has decided to come back to church, and to bring all of her kids along with her. She has two kids that have never been baptized and they have been to the church for the past couple weeks, and want to get baptized on Sunday! How crazy is that? NO one can tell me that God didn't answer my prayers on this one! I was so pumped, and the day was topped off with the baptism of Rocio! Wow what a day yesterday! Well that is about it! Can you believe that I am completing one year on friday!!! That is so nuts. Yeah we are going to be partying it up! I am going to burn one of my shirts and I think we might go for tacos with my zone leaders or something! Time flies too fast! I got a lot of work to still be done! Mom I did get the hump-day package, but I am not opening it until the 22nd! Yep I am pumped to see my gift from the jim jam! haha. love you all, Elder Boss Holmes

Two Weeks Worth of News from Mexico City!

Hi Family. Our family was in Mexico last week (Cabo) and so I didn't have a chance to send out Scott's e-mail. I'm including below his e-mail from last week and one from today. There are also some cute pictures he has included at the end. Thanks for your continued interest in Scott. We sure love you all.......Carolann Letter from Monday, June 4th, 2012 Well I am glad that you guys are just living the life down here in Mexico and that you all are just loving mi tierra! The funny thing is that my convert Andres and his wife were just in cabo 2 weeks ago. That would have been pretty cool if you would have run into them! I cant believe that you guys are so close to me, but at the same time so far. I tell everyone that you are down here and their first question is always, "are they going to come visit you?" I just tell them that you don't really love or miss me, so probably not! haha. Just kiddding. Well i want to give the birthday shoutout to Alex Holmes on the 5th and Jill Marler on the 8th of this week. I hope that they are special days for you both and that you know I am thinking about you down here in Mexico. Well I don't know what is up lately, but it has been extremely hard for my companion and me. We have been getting owned in these last couple weeks. But not to get too down, because there are still some positive things that are going on. To answer your questions about Rosio: she is pregnant and so she is always getting sick, and it is really hard for her to progress because she isn't able to come to church on Sunday. That pushes back the baptismal date that they have. But Gerardo said that he still wants to be baptized this next Sunday, so we will see what happens with him. Rosio has totally recieved an answer from God. We had this awesome experience with them that just grew her faith so much. Last Saturday Gerardo was really stressed out, as he has been looking for a job for a long time. We went over to his house and I told him that I was going to give him a blessing to help him find a job. He wasn't too excited because he was pretty bummed out, but during my blessing, I remember telling him that if he did the things that the Lord asks of him, then he will find a job. Well so Sunday he and his wife came to church and on Monday morning, Gerardo gets a call from two different places offering him jobs. He called his wife and told her and she said the first thing she thought about was the elders and the blessing that I had given to her husband. She told us that she felt something so amazing that she couldn't even describe it in words. It was a great testimony builder for me, as well, as to the power of the priesthood that we have, and that it is the only church on the earth that has such authority from God. Well other than that, we didn't have any new people in church on Sunday and we were pretty bummed out about the whole thing, but as I was reading in my studies that morning, I felt prompted that we should stop worrying, and just get to work. I have stopped worrying, and have just put my faith in God that He will help us when we are doing the things that He asks. Well that is about all that I have. I hope that you guys have a great trip, and just know that I love you all so much. Love, Elder Holmes Letter from Monday, June 11th, 2012 Hey! Happy birthday to my little brother today! I can't believe that you are already 19 years old bro! You could be leaving on the mission right now! That is a crazy thought, but hey i am glad that you aren't leaving till next year, because then maybe I will be able to see you! Also birthday shout out to the other Nick, that would be Nick Chilton on Wednesday! I also hope that you have a great day and to be honest, I don't really know how old you are turning, but I'm pretty sure it's old enough to at least get married! haha. Just kidding. NO pressure baby! Well the highlight of this week was that GERARDO GOT BAPTIZED. Yeah baby! It was a really special day for him. We had his baptismal service on Saturday and then he was confirmed on Sunday in church. We did it that way so he can baptize his wife this next Sunday, when he receives the Aaronic Priesthood. He is really excited and keeps telling me to teach him how to baptize! SO the service was reallly nice and a lot of people from the ward came to support him. He asked me to baptize him, which was kind of surprising because there were a couple members from the ward that he is really close with, but he wanted me to baptize him instead. He is an awesome guy and his testimony has grown so much over the time since I have met him. I remember when I met him for the very first time and all I could think was "this guy has got a long time before he ever really looks into the church seriously." But miracle after miracle passed with him and he was completely ready to be baptized on Saturday. He is an amazing guy and has helped us so much with his wife, as well. Well yesterday we received cambios, and the only change in our district is that Elder Hyde left. He was like my best friend here in the mission and it was really tough to see him go. He always was so pumped up and we got really close over the time that we have had here. SO I will be here in my area for another month and a half with my comp Elder Hirst and then I will be leaving here. Time is passing by really fast and I have loved the time that I have here with my comp. Well i cant really think of anything else that is new! I will let you all know the progress of Rocio this next week and if she also decides to be baptized! Your trip to Cabo sure looked like you all had a blast. I really appreciate the photos that you sent. I sure do miss the whole fam a bunch but I know why I am here and what I need to do. Love you all, Elder Holmes