Great Baptisms!

Hey Family,

I am sorry that i am writting sooo late but today has been a pretty crazy day for me, and i feel completely wiped out (in addition to being a little sick!)  I would like to give a birthday shout out today to MATT Winters! I hope that you have a fantastic day buddy!

So Now for the WAY good part about the week. MARIA AND RAUL GOT BAPTIZED!!!! What a spiritual experience it was to see them enter the waters of baptism. They had tons of trials and satan really worked hard on them but they won that battle. Like I told you, she couldn't even get out of her bed last week, and this week she had a great recovery and they got baptized on Saturday and they were confirmed on Sunday. I want to comment a little something of what happened in the baptismal service. After the Hermana Maria was baptized and all changed into her normal clothes, she came back into the room and asked if she could share with everyone what she saw. She told everyone about how when she was under the water she saw a light come down directly over her and explained it as if both her and I were wrapped up in the arms of angels. She said that she had never felt what she just felt when she was under the water. It was a really great experience and another great testimony of the power of baptism. They were so prepared and I will definitely miss them.

I guess that leads me into changes this week.  We always receive them on Saturday, but this Saturday was very different from the rest, because they didn't get here on time. I wasn't worried about it at all though, because I knew that I wasn´t going to be changed from my area. I only had 3 and a half months there and I had only been with Hyde for about three weeks. So saturday night I slept like a baby, not worried about the changes at all, and they told me that they would give them to me in the morning. The next morning as we went for some of our investigators, I received a call from President, which was super weird because it was at 7:40 in the morning. He told me that he needed me in the office (in Mexico City!)  that afternoon to start taking all the reports of the mission and working there. That afternoon!!  I Literally had no time at all to say goodbye to anyone or even pack my bags well. I went to church, said bye to everyone there, went home and threw my bags together, ate a little something, and went to grab my bus down to Mexico. It was so fast that I couldn't see everyone, but the people I did see, well you know me, it was extremely hard to say bye to them. I also started to cry again (yes I am a total baby) and it was extremely hard to leave my comp (and now one of my best friends) Elder Hyde, along with the awesome ward that we had there. I don't know if I ever told you about the Hermana Elizabeth and her daughter Ximena. They are the ones who gave us the reference of Koskanny, my convert. It was super hard to say bye to them. They took me to the center to catch my bus. Amazing people there in Queretaro! Oh yeah and the Amaya family got me crying and when I told them, they ran to the store real fast to by me some going away gifts. A little picture frame and a teddy bear. They are so amazing. I also felt so grateful to be able to take part in Raul and Maria's baptisms before I left.  They are such a great reminder to me of how the Lord is in charge of His work, and how He prepares His children to hear his gospel when the time is right in their lives!

SO now that I am here, we had to go pick up the new missionaries in the mtc this morning. 8 latinos got here, but all of the Americans have been waiting for their visas for the last couple of months. We have a bunch that should be getting here soon. It was really fun to see all of the new missionaries arrive. It was weird to think that I was in their shoes over a year and a half ago. It seems like yesterday. 

I know that I will grow a lot in my new assignacion, I am grateful to the lord for the trust He has in me. I have lots of work that I still need to get done while I am here. I realize the I have many weaknesses, but I know that when I put my faith and confidence in my Heavenly Father, He can help me become strong. I love you all. You're going to have to wait 'til Friday to receive my pictures!

Love,

Elder Holmes

Short & Sweet from Elder Holmes

Hi everyone.  Short and sweet from Elder Holmes this week.  He is obviously having such a good time doing what he's doing that he forgets it's time to write home!!!  Gotta love him!

Hope you're all doing well.....Carolann 

WOW MY BIG BRO IS GETTING MARRIED! THAT IS SO BOSS! I am now going to have a cuñada! That is going to be soooooo sweet. I am so excited for the both of you and I want to let you both know that now everyone here in Mexico will know that my big brosef is getting married! haha!

As for the week, it was a great one, and it is a riot to be with Elder Hyde again. We get along so great and the whole entire day is spent just laughing and having such a good time. As for the work, Raul and Maria (the ones who contacted us a couple of weeks ago) are getting baptized this Sunday! They are soooo excited, and they have already started inviting everyone to their baptism. I hope everything just turns out great for them! We also have some other investigators who are progressing and we will see when they end up getting baptized. I love this ward.  We are receiving some great references from the members and my converts are soooooo solid in the church because the members care so much about them!  Anyway, I have so many thoughts in my head, but I dont really have too much time today. I have to head down to the Estado of Mexico for the zone leader conference, so we really don't have much time. Of course, we went to play soccer today, and we probably spent way too long doing that, but it was so much fun!  And I still want to write a couple of letters to my brothers and what not!

One fun thing that I will share is that Hoopes and his family came up here this last week to visit all of his converts. He was still a missionary the whole time, which he said was a little hard, but they had a great time getting to know Mexico. It was really fun to see them, and It made me so excited for when you guys are going to come down to visit!  The bros have to start learning spanish. Tell Lev-cox to put in the pilas and to start teaching them, SO they can at least say more than the diferent colors! haha. Just kidding Levster! 

Well love you all so much! AND DONT YOU THINK I FORGOT YOU MOM!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! I CANT BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE GOING TO NOW BE 65! HAHA. I love you so much mom, you are the best, and I don't know where I would be without you! You deserve to have a day where everyone just spoils you! I hope you have a great day, and just know that I am always thinking about you!

I love you all!

Elder Holmes

A Couple of Great Weeks for Elder Holmes!

Hi everyone!  Here are bits and pieces from Scott's last two e-mails.  Our family has been in Canada (of course, Scott references that here!)  Hope all is well with each of you........

JANUARY 21, 2013.........Well I am not going to lie, I am pretty dang jealous about where you guys are at, and it has definitely been hard to not think about it this last week that is for sure. I thought it was a even a bigger smack in the face when I saw that you guys went curling! Everyone in the family ALWAYS made fun of me when I would watch curling in the olympics and laughed when I said that I wanted to do it! Well thanks for inviting the one who has really wanted to curl! haha. It looks like you guys are just having an awesome time up there. I hope that you are all getting along, as well! You know me, the peacemaker!!!

This week was pretty uneventful, and I don't really have too much to write about. My comp only has a week left of the mission, and he is getting excited for his parents to come down here and pick him up. He has finished his mission off strong, and I am proud of him.

I would like to just take a little bit of time to thank my Uncle Lee. I heard that he will be going in for another surgery soon, and when I heard that I felt so bad for him. Uncle Lee I love you a bunch, and I don't know how you do it. I hope that you know you are in my prayers, and the sacrifice that has been made in behalf of my dad and my family has not been made in vain. You taught me what the words love and sacrifice really mean. Thanks for everything that you have done, and I pray for you every night. Thanks Uncle Lee.

Also I want to congrat Nathan Jensen! That is so awesome about your mission call to serve in Taiwan. You will love it, and just know that the Lord sends us to the place where he needs us most. You will be a great missionary! Love you bud! Great decision that you made!

Love elder holmes

JANUARY 28, 2013............Hey guys,

Well the pictures that you guys sent me looked absolutely gorgeous. I hope that you all just had an amazing time. I still can't believe still that you went without me, but I guess I will get over it some day! haha. I also want to make a couple of Birthday shoutouts! I missed Sean Cassity's birthday on the 25th. I hope that you had a great day. Man you are getting old! haha. Also Bryan Padua on the 2nd and Mary on the 3rd. I hope you guys have a great day. I am thinking about you! Feliz Cumpleaños!

So Elder Hoopes just left today! It was a sad departure, but I will see him for the last time next Sunday! He finished his mission this week but is touring around with his parents.  You guys will not believe who my comp is now!! It is my good friend Elder Hyde! He was with me down in Tepalcapa. I watched him be born (in the mission sense! haha!) He is a great elder, and we are super excited to work together. I am sure that you guys kind of remember that name, because I always talked a lot about him, but next week I will send you a foto so that you guys can remeber what he looks like. He should bring some great excitement to the area! 

As for the week in the ward, it went pretty well for us! About three days ago we were walking down the street when a lady who was standing in her door contacted us, and invited us in. She started to explain many different problems that she had in her life, and she just looked super sick. She told us how her husband had left her six months ago, she is bipolar, and has a bunch of other diseases. We prayed with her, invited her to church, and invited her to be baptized! She accepted everything, but we weren't too sure if maybe we just found her on one of her good days!! The next day we met with her again, and when she answered the door, she looked completely different! She was all dressed up and smiling. We also noticed a man in the kitchen when we walked in. She said, "God has worked a miracle, and now my husband is back with me in the house!" We sat down and talked with both of them, and the husband also accepted everything! Then on Sunday we went to pick them up for church. For many people it is hard to go to church, because it's at 8 in the morning. Especially for older people. But when we passed by they were both ready to go! They said that they loved church, and we have a cita with them this Tuesday, so we will see how things go with them! It was a great experience!

Well, I'm loving the mission and the awesome experiences I'm having. I love the chance that I've been given to help people change their lives!  Keep being strong members of His church, and keep the faith!  I love you all.

Love, Elder Holmes

A GREAT WEEK

Hi family!

Today was an extremely busy p-day, and we are just getting back from playing soccer all day.  We also went to eat with some of the elders. It was a really fun day and I was able to try the new soccer cleats that you guys sent me for Christmas, which were super awesome. So I really don't have that much time to write again, and it is now kind of hard to write for a long time, because my comp doesn't really need to write because he goes home in 2WEEKS! So he just kind of sends them an email saying hi and then just waits for me to finish.  I gotta say that he has had it pretty nice, because he is finishing off the mission well! 

I say he is finishing well, because we had an extremely spiritual baptism yesterday of the Familia Amaya and Claudia. We had the service at 4 in the afternoon, and a bunch of the ward members came. The whole entire room was filled with people, and all those that were getting baptized felt great on their special day. The spirit that was felt is unexplainable.  For sure, not even a non member could have denied the amazing spirit that was felt. We had Koskanny (our recent convert of about a month) give a message before the baptism. He stood up and gave one of the best talks that I have ever heard on baptism. He then shared an awesome testimony as to how he knows the church is true and he told this little family how they will never regret the decision that they were making on this day. He shared how he is the only member of the church in his family, and how the other members of his family really didn't want him to get baptized. He also shared some of the trials that he has had since the day of his baptism, but that he knows the church is true, and that's what really makes him happy! He almost got me to cry! I'll tell you, the spirit literally just hit me like a train. Right after that, the ward mission leader asked Claudia and Viviana to share how they were feeling on the day of their baptism. Claudia got up and started to talk about the Holy Ghost. While she was explaining how her heart felt like it was about to come out of her chest, she just broke down into tears. I don't think there was a single dry eye in the room. Then Viviana got up and told everyone about the dream she had had of her baptism day. She was also crying, and all of them testified of the spirit that was being felt. In this moment, I  felt a happiness that I believe can't be felt in any other place, or in any other time of one's life. How amazing is the feeling of knowing that you have helped someone find the path back to our Heavenly Father? It truly is amazing to be a missionary and to help these amazing people in their search for the truth. I will for sure send you guys the pictures today of all of the events of the week. 

After all of that success, we really don't have any one else in our teaching pool right now. We have to work super hard in these next couple weeks to find those who the Lord has prepared next. Oh and before I forget, I also wanted to thank today all of the people that helped my mom out in creating that wonderful book she sent me with the favorite quotes of all those that read my blog. I really have enjoyed reading them and they have also helped me in my teaching ability. I have been able to share those quotes with many of my investigators and elders in my zone. Thanks for taking the time to do that for me. 

Dad I think you would be happy to know that I did the fun egg trick with the broom in our recent Zone Conference. We talked about kicking/knocking Satan out of our lives so that we (the egg) can have a successful mission (the cup of water). They were all pretty impressed by it, and it was also a great moment this week where the spirit was felt. Many elders after came up and told us that it was the best junta they had ever attended. SO to wrap it all up, it was a GREAT week, but now we have to start searching for others who have been prepared to hear the message that we are so blessed to carry.  I love you all so much!

Love,

Elder Holmes

Another Spiritual Week!

SO another spiritual week!!

I dont have too much time today because I got a bunch of letters from all of my bros and stuff, and I have to be going down to the state of Mexico in a couple of minutes so that we can go to a junta for the zone leaders.  But the best part of the week is that the family is still just progressing like crazy. We have seen so many miracles with them and the ward is being so extremely nice to them! This week I thought I would just share a couple of different stories that we had with that family. 

We went one of the days to drop off a couch that some people in the ward gave to them, and we went with a really solid member family. Viviana told us of a dream that she had and how she was in the pila bautismal and her friend Aaron (who died) was there watching as she entered into the water. They were all in tears explaining to us how they knew this was where God wanted them to be. On sunday they all came to church and they were inviting all of the members to their baptism next week. In church all of the members got together to see what kind of things they had extra to help out the family. They collected an extra stove, couch, table and some other small things like utencils. This family is so special, but they really don't like receiving things. They just like giving us stuff! haha. They didn't have anywhere for us to sit this last week so they went out to buy these little chairs that we could sit on so we didn't have to sit on the floor. And every single day this last week they invited us to eat. We tried saying that they didn't have to do that, but they just love giving us everything that they have. One day my comp said that my favorite food is green enchiladas and the next day, that is exactly what they made for us. I then told them one of my favorite foods, and sure enough, the next day they made my favorite! I can't believe how great this family is, and how prepared they have been to listen to the gospel!

SO our other investigator who is getting baptized is named Claudia. She wasn't progressing too quickly until this last week!  She is also way pumped about everything she is learning and has already invited all her non-member friends to her baptism next week in the church! We are just seeing some great blessings from our Heavenly Father! t The work is amazing!!!!  

Love,

Elder Holmes

The Best Week Yet!

Here is Scott's e-mail for the week.  We sure had a wonderful call with him on Christmas day and he is seriously living his dream!  He looks good and his spirits were high (no big surprise with Scott!)  He sure loves being a missionary!  Scott wanted us to pass on his love and appreciation for each one of you and wishes you a great 2013!

xoxo -- Carolann

Dear Family,

Wow what a fun time it was to talk to all of you on Tuesday! That was the best!  I forgot to tell you mom, how much I LOVED that book that you sent me with everyone's favorite scriptures, quotes and memories in it!  It was really fun to read through all of that.  Please tell everyone who contributed how much I loved it and thank them so much for me!  That was the best gift ever!  I can't believe how fast this last year has come and gone, but one thing is for sure... This was the year most full of spiritual blessings and the best year I have ever had as far as strengthening my relationship between me and our Savior. I love the mission and I'm seriously receiving tons of blessings from the Lord.  It's unbelievable. The time is just going by a little too fast. I love the great blessings that I have received and am so grateful for the WONDERFUL people we have met! 

Well so this week for many in our mission was kind of a tough one, because of all of the vacations and stuff, and most people haven't been in their houses, but for us it was one of the best weeks that I have had yet! We found some of the most prepared people that I have ever met in my entire mission!! SO let me tell you a little bit about them. On Wednesday we really still hadn't found anyone because of the holidays, but we had a reference that we had received from a funeral service that they had here in the stake. About two weeks ago, a joven of about 20 years old (named Aaron) died in a car accident. A week ago they had a funeral service for him, and we then received a reference of a 20 year old girl named viviana who was really good friends with Aaron. We went on Wednesday in the night, to find their humble little apartment. Viviana answered the door and immediately invited us in. We walked in and also met her twin sister Viridiana and the mom, Angeles, along with a little 5 year old boy named Salomon.  We started to teach them the first lesson when the mom interrupted us and said "I have already read your book and I already know that it is true". She then went on to tell us how the boy who had died told Viviana about a week before he died that he was going to give her a book that would change her life. He then died and was never able to give them the book. When they went to the funeral, a member of the church approached her and gave her the Book of Mormon and told her it was from Aaron. SO when they got home, they started to read the book as a family, and then we got there wednesday in the night. Throughout the whole lesson they were in tears and they told us that they were sure that all this was a sign from our Heavenly Father. The mom and the two twins accepted to be baptized, and it was an extremely powerful moment for all of us as we felt the spirit. Well, we put another cita with them on Friday to go back and meet her other two daughters, Angy and Luisa. Angy is 14 and Luisa is 17. We kind of had some doubts in our mind that they would also accept everything, but the second lesson was even better then the first one! At the end of the lesson we invited Luisa to say the prayer, and without a question, she started the prayer. About half way through she started crying and was thanking the Lord for sending her and her family these two angels that were answers to all the prayers that she has made in the last year! SO as you can imagine by this point tears also start to fill my eyes as I realize the work that our Father in Heaven is actively doing with his children, and how he sent us at the PERFECT moment to find those that need the gospel most. What an awesome experience it was. Walking out of the lesson we were on cloud nine, and had told them that we were going to pass by for them on Sunday. That always gets me a little nervous of the things that could happen to prevent them from going to church, but we put our faith and our prayers in the Lord, and when we went for them at their house on Sunday, they were all there waiting for us outside in dresses. I can't believe the blessing the Lord gave us this week! The mission is really the LIFE! They all loved church, and tomorrow we have another cita with them.

Well Happy New Year to everyone! I hope that you can all make your goals for this next year, and that you guys have a great night tonight. As for me and my comp, we have to be in the house at 7:30 so that is going to be a party! haha. I love you all so much,

Love,  Elder Holmes

Merry Christmas Everyone!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

I want to wish everyone that is reading this card a very Happy Christmas, and I hope that Santa brings you everything that you guys have asked for! That is, of course, if you have been good this year.  I also want to wish Elise Chilton a Happy Birthday this next Sunday! i hope that you have a great day. 

Well I don't have too much time today, and the good news is is that I will be talking to you guys TOMMORROW!! I hope that you guys are all excited, and that you get some good questions to ask me! This week was extremely busy and a really fast one that went by. I can't believe that it is already Christmas! I sure do miss you all, but one thing that is learned on the mission is the real importance of the holiday. What it really is all about, our savior Jesus Christ. What an awesome time of the year, and I hope that you all remember the WHY of such an important holiday. Because of Jesus Christ we as sinners can be forgiven of our sins and return to live with our Heavenly Father through the eternities!  What an incredible love that has been shown for us.

I am super wiped out today because we went shopping almost the whole day with our recent convert Adrian. I treated myself to some boss new pants and ties! haha. He is a really amazing convert. I was so blessed in meeting him and the miracle that occurred in his life and in mine, as well! I love you all and will see you tommorrow!

Love,

Elder Holmes