The Spirit Is Strong In This One

Hello.

Last monday night we went to a members home and had dinner. They served us the LARGEST pork chops I've ever seen in my life. Easily over a pound of pig, all in my belly. They were amazing. Then while we were teaching them a lesson, it started getting REALLY windy and raining way hard. I kept looking out the windows and they're like, "Oh it always storms like this". I just wanted to see a tornado. Haha I hope that isn't bad. We got a ride home, (because we didn't have a car this week) and the kid driving us was like, "You don't have to worry about it until the sky turns green, then you can worry." As soon as he finishes his sentence we come out of some trees and look to the left, and the sky is green. He simply says, "Ya like that. That's green." So I started to get excited. No tornado though. :(

Tuesday Elder Claridge and I walked over to this elderly woman.  She is 92 and looking to live to 100. They had done some service for her before in the earlier months, and we just wanted to touch base and try to get a lesson out of it. (Because we still have 0 investigators) She said she needed some help for cleaning up her yard. The storm had blown some branches and all the bark off the trees. As soon as she said that I thought, "Heavenly Father is looking out for us." So we scheduled to come help her the next day. We then started walking to this other old ladies house that was way far away. on our way, we talked to everyone we saw. EVERYONE. This one guy was super nice, and loved talking to us. We found out he had read a lot of Anti-Mormon literature, and LOVED the Book of Mormon.... musical. He joked with us and talked to us a little more, but I think it was just for some entertainment. We got all the way to the old ladies house, and she wasn't home. So we went and visited a recent convert and talked to him about Patriachal blessings. After dinner, we still had a few hours of unscheduled time. We weren't about to sit around and waste the Lord's time, so we said a prayer. We both got the feeling we should just start walking around. So we said another prayer, asking for guidance, and to put people in our path that we could help.

We started walking, and got to a corner. Elder Claridge said, this way. We walked. I felt like freaking Nephi, "And [we] were led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which [we] should do." We walked, and walked, and walked, looking for ANYONE we could talk to. Turning corners where we felt like we should, and somehow we ended up in this apartment complex with a park. We walked through the park and found a family from Congo playing basketball. We talked to them about the gospel. It went SO WELL. The spirit was strong and they took Book of Mormon's from us and committed to reading them. Elder Claridge and I both taught simple, quick things, and they really stuck. We gave them our number and left, knowing Heavenly Father had answered our prayer. IT WAS DOPE. BUTTTTTT we forgot to get their number.... so we're praying that they'll call. AHHH. hahaha

We kept walking, and met two more people, both potentials. One was a couple. The FUNNIEST man I have ever talked to in my entire life. He works at a cemetary, mortuary, and cremetorium. (I spelt that wrong I know. I don't really care.) He believed in God, but had trouble with church, saying it was a fashion show. We talked to him about prophets, the restoration, the Book of Mormon... a bunch. Then they agreed to meet with us again. They really liked Elder Claridge, he was making way funny comments. SO we have their info, and we will be contacting them tonight. We went home, and just died. We were drained. The Lord answers prayers when you pray in faith. We got home, and the Story City Elders needed to do an exchange because one needed to interview someone in our zone. So I got to go to Iowa Falls! ROAD TRIP.

I went with Elder Newhouse (NH), and we drove about an hour up to Iowa Falls. It's a way small town, and super picturesc. (Don't care) We had a full day of work up there, so we dropped our luggage off at their SICK LUXURY apartment and headed off. Elder NH is pretty quiet. He's a tall, blonde missionary who is from a way small town in northern Idaho. He may not say much, but when he does, he packs the spiritual punch. Such a homie. ANYWAYS. We took care of his business (meetings with members, scripture study with members) and it was time to GO GET PEOPLE. At this one house we knocked on the door, and waited. A huge black guy drove his gangster car up and parked out front, he was blasting Kanye, I was rapping it under my breath. He goes to the other door and we asked him, "Do you know if _______ still lives here?" He says, "Nah I'm not from around here." 'Well where are you from?' He responds in a way deep, "THE SOUTH" and closes the door behind him. HAHAHA I almost died laughing. We visited some former investigators, one had been reading the Book of Mormon and agreed to meet with missionaries. Another excitingly accepted a offer to teach the following week. Basically Elder NH and I were tearing it up. Then we went "Sister ********'s" house, (another former investigator)

We talked to her about why she stopped meeting with the missionaries. She said that everything was going fine, but then they called her "an abomination" and she was really offended. She was straight up and really blunt about everything, without being rude. She apologized for her bluntness and I just said, "No no it's fine! I'm the same way!" We talked super casually and she started to like us a little I think. She began to be more open, and she told us about her church, and how it was just alright. She didn't really "feel it" anymore. Then SOMEHOW we started teaching the Restoration. I was doing most of the talking... no surprise, and it was going really well. When it got to the part when you talk about Joseph Smith and his vision, I got super nervous. (Elder Claridge and I had role played it the day before, and I couldn't recite the first vision very well in a lesson. I didn't have it memorized well enough.) So in my head I said, "Heavenly Father, this is it. I need your help. I can't do this without a lot of help." haha. So I went for it! I started with the Prophet Joseph's words. "I saw a light, exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me. When the light rested upon me, I saw two personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name, and said, pointing to the other 'This is my Beloved Son, Hear Him.'" SHE WAS FEELING IT. Her eyes were watering, and she just stood there. I will never forget the look in her eyes. We bore testimony, and as we were doing so, her son came and she kind of shrugged the Spirit off and acted normal again. We asked if she would like us to come back and teach her some more. She declined. So we smiled, thanked her for her time, and started walking back to the car. Once in the car, I realized how big of an idiot I was! I didn't give her a Book of Mormon! I pulled one out, wrote a little message in it, with the missionaries number, and we ran back there and gave it to her.

We finished our night in Iowa Falls teaching an inactive grandma. She was the nicest person ever. She was SUPER old and was a caretaker. The lesson went really well, and when we left it was dark. One of the sickest things about Iowa is the Fireflies. When we left, there were SO MANY FIREFLIES OUTSIDE. We grabbed some empty gatorade bottles and Elder NH and I caught as many as we could. It was super funny. hahaha.

OPPOSITION IN ALL THINGS.

Back in Ames, with no investigators, Elder Claridge and I once again said a prayer, and went out searching. We came across this guy taking the finish off a desk. He worked for the Baptist church for a long time, and wanted to talk to us about his beliefs. I'll keep this short, I don't want to get upset, and I'm almost out of time.

He talked to us about Grace. Asked us questions, and when we answered, would try to confuse the doctrine we used. He spit scriptures out at us and asked us what they meant. It's not like he knew anything we didn't his perspective on it was very misunderstood. You could tell he was very studied in the Bible, and that he was very proud of his "knowledge". He thought he was teaching us a lesson and making us second guess our religion. Here's the thing though. HE DIDN"T TEACH ME ANYTHING. I already knew everything he was saying. He did not make one valid or non-hypocritical point. He COULD NOT understand the doctrine of Grace, the atonement, our purpose, our potential, God's purpose... It was so frustrating. It was like talking to a person with a misunderstanding of 2+2=4. We weren't going anywhere, and we had somewhere to be, so we started wrapping it up. He said, "If you guys ever need some water or anything, come back if you're not scared! I'd love to teach you the truth about Jesus." HAHA scared. That was really funny to me. Elder Claridge and I started walking away. Both of us very frustrated.

We ended the night digging a window well for some members! 6 feet in a hole, working hard, I loved it. Perfect way for me to blow off steam. Ha, probably the best part of my day. All the daughters were gathered around watching us dig and talking to us, it was really funny. Then they gave us a pizza, and that made me happy.

The last few days have been relatively uneventful. Half the people in the ward are moving, so we have been moving A LOT of furniture. We moved like 3 families this week, and more this coming week. We fasted for new investigators, and pray for them all the time. The Lord's time frame is difficult to get acquainted with. But I know he hears us, and if we are faithful and work hard, he will bless us. That's what we have to do, WORK HARD, and FOCUS.

I love this work. I love the opportunity to be a tool in the Lord's hands. I know he answers prayers, he knows us personally, and he loves us. This is truly HIS WORK. So, farewell for now. I'm gonna go sweat in this Iowa heat.

-Elder Hollan

Pictures

IOWA

Hello! I made it to Iowa! It's been a crazy few days, and it has been very different.

In the MTC there is this thing called TRC. Where you practice discussions and lessons with "fake" investigators. But everyone acts real. My companion, the spirit, and I... well.. to say the least we dominated the lessons. Got two people to cry, (It was weird), and got a baptismal commitment out of one. "I boast not of my own strength, but of the Lord's."

We sat around on tuesday because we didn't have any lessons or anything. Then Tuesday night came and the sisters in our district asked us to give them blessings. Sister Browne asked me to give her one. I was freaking out. I said a quick prayer and put my hands on her head, (with the rest of the district in the circle). I dont remember anything I said, but I tried my hardest to just listen to the spirit and say what it told me to. It's crazy how in tune to the spirit the MTC has made me. I finished, and she was bawling.. haha. I was a little nervous still though that I hadn't listened to the spirit. Then Elder Payne (my companion) asked me to give him one. I don't remember anything I said in that prayer either. Because I don't remember what I said, I'm thinking the whole thing was the spirit. So not only did God answer my prayer by helping me with the blessing, but hers too. It feels amazing to be a tool in the Lord's hand.

We woke up way early, went out to the bus, and got on a plane to Denver. Elder Mckell and I took advantage of being together and became travel companions from the get-go. We sat next to each other on the bus and first flight and got caught up. Once in Des Moines, we met our mission president, he's super funny. The first off the plane felt like walking into a steam room. Holy Crap. It's incredibly hot here. We went to the mission home, sat around, ate, and got sleeping assignments for the night. The next day, we drove out to Iowa City for a transfer meeting. I was assigned to the Ames 1st Ward, with Elder Claridge as my trainer.  So then we started the drive ALL the way back to Ames. First, the trailor door fell open on the freeway. I was laughing very hard. Then, the tire on the trailor popped, and we had to change it. We ate at Arby's so that was good.

We got to Ames, helped the sisters move in, (oh Sister Browne was assigned to the same ward that I'm in), and went to our place. My new address is 3500 N Grand #3 Ames, Iowa. Our neightbor is a smoker, and the smoke seeps through the wall. We opened the door to our apartment, and it smells like crap. Some weird mixture of cigarette smoke, decaying plants and wet stuff. It's awful, and apparently it's smelt like that as long as my companion has been here. (hopefully he's not the problem). But we move next month so then it will be awesome.

WE ALREADY HAVE A BAPTISM. I'm just kidding, I freaking wish. The first day here, we volunteered all day at this GIANT event called Iowa Games. It's like the Olympics for the state of Iowa, for every sport there is, and some fake ones. The first day we showed up way early in our shirt and tie, and grabbed some lawn chairs and jumped in the back of a moving truck. We chilled (more like cooked. It's so freaking hot.) in the back with the door open having people give us the weirdest looks ever. We were with this CRAZY old guy with tatoos all over his body and I'm pretty sure he was on some type of drug, and this other guy who drove the truck. We moved crap ALL DAY LONG. Countless boxes of jersey's, TONS OF BEVERAGES, podiums, fruit, literally everything every sport needed. It was freaking heavy, freaking hot, and took freaking long. Ha we drove all around dropping everything off. The old guy kept it pretty entertaining with his swearing and crazy old cackle, but to say the least, it was hot. Everyone kept saying, "IT IS SO HOT. IT'S USUALLY NOT THIS HOT". And i just thought, well great, I'm glad I'm cooking out here. Finally the day ended, and some members took us out to dinner at this world renown BBQ and icecream parlor. It was very timely and appreciated. The next day, we woke up even earlier and volunteered again, keeping score and doing the stats to the basketball tournament for Iowa Games. It might have been the longest day of my life. It was entertaining though. I had my favorite team, and player, (number 3, he was a baller) and they went all the way to championship! Oh, we got the 6th graders too, forgot to mention that tidbit. haha. It was everything youth sports are cracked up to be! Sub-par quality of play, swearing jumping coaches, and CRAZY mothers who get kicked out of the game! It was really really funny. but 12 hours of scoreboard sucks.

We've had two lessons with members, with 0 investigators. So we have a lot of work to do this week. We have to share the car with the sisters so this week we don't have a car either. I can't wait to actually start preaching the gospel. That's what I love, and that's what I'm looking forward to. I want to change someone's life by teaching them the Restored gospel! freak.

I know that I have been called to this work, and cannot wait to GET TO WORK. This is a work to change lives, to give people the opportunity to be happy forever with their family. I'm grateful and humbled that He trusts me enough to retrieve his lost sheep. I know God loves his children, and that I get to show them their potential, and remind them how much he loves them. We missionaries are an army, with Christ as our captain and leading the way.

-Elder Hollan

First P-Day

Dear Family and loved ones,

 

I made it! I'm at the MTC. Finally on my mission serving the Lord. The MTC is a lot different than I thought it would be. The days ARE SO LONG. Each day feels like an eternity. By 3 PM it feels like 9:45. And I'm always tired. There is no such thing as enough sleep while on a mission. So sleep and enjoy it and think of me not sleeping. The first few days were kind of a blur to be honest. Everything was so fast and so new so I don't really know how to describe it. I had to carry my huge suit cases up all 4 flights of stairs to the top floor. We've got the penthouse. It's hot, and you're always wearing a shirt and tie, so it gets pretty smelly I guess... #febreeze

My companion is Elder Payne. He's from Pocatello Idaho, and a really good guy. He works hard and is very timely. He's really humble and pretty quiet. He's a typical Idaho kid. Never really been out of Pocatello and he has a little bit of an accent. Haha it's really funny. There's one thing that he cannot stand, breaking rules. He is a letter of the law guy, not spirit of the law. I don't know how I am, but I know I'm different than him. He's helping me be EVEN MORE OBEDIENT. He's really quiet, so at first I found myself talking the whole time pretty much.

Our district has 7 elders including me, and 4 sisters. We're all going to Des Moines, and there's also two more districts going to Des Moines but we don't really know where they are. Dex isn't in my district, or even in my zone. To be honest, it freaking sucks. I still see him everyday, but the days are so long it feels like a week since I've see him, and it's only a hug and a whats up. He's a good looking guy though, so it's always a pleasure, and we're still planning on sitting next to each other on the plane a week from today to Iowa. Elder Day is my next door neighbor, and it's pretty hilarious. Our entire floor is the weirdest combination between meat heads, gamers, and farmers. Not much in between. I don't know if i fall into one of those classes, or on my own... or all three... This Elder in my district falls asleep in EVERY SINGLE MEETING, and has the funniest reasons why. Everything from, "it's so hot in here (makes no sense)" to "I'm really in tune to the spirit."

It's crazy to think that I've already been here for a week. And there is only one week left for me in the MTC. I've learned a lot. Probably too much to even communicate. I can't say that it's fun either. It's freaking work. You have hours of class time each day, study time, and no time to relax. We watch A TON of videos/talks that Elder Holland has given, and they are the most inspirational/inspiring/buttkicking talks I've ever heard. His talks make me want to be the best missionary there ever was, and makes me feel like I can. I propose the MTC be renamed as "Elder Holland Academy of Spritual Enlightenment". The MTC is the most humbling experience up to this point in your life. You don't know anything. You don't know how to convert someone or how to make them believe your message. If you try to convert someone, you'll fail. I learned that pretty fast. If YOU try to do the LORDS work, you'll fail. THE LORD IS THE ONLY PERSON WHO CAN TEACH HIS WORK. You are just the mouthpiece. You're job as a missionary is to learn the doctrine, live the doctrine to exactness, and THEN you can use the spirit to teach. You do not teach lessons, you teach people. You may think it sounds obvious, but you can't realize how hard it is until you try. You have to love the person, think of them how God does. You have to love the person before you can teach them. During discussions, all I think about is I can help them get to be happy, or be comforted, or whatever their need may be, and the Lord tells you what to say. It really is amazing, and if you're teaching by the Spirit you walk out of there thinking, "What the heck just happened? What did I say to them?" I love it. #tunedin

I've already learned so much about myself, the spirit, and his work I can't really express it. In our last devotional which was at the Marriott Center, (it was way weird getting out of there, it didn't feel like I was on a mission anymore), Elder Kendrick (hahahaha KENDRICK LAMAR) from thats high in the church, he's like a general authority or member of the 70 or something.. well anyways he said,"The Lord will never use a floodlight when a flashlight can do the job." I feel like I could ramble on for hours about this so I'm going to stop talking about how to do it haha. #sorrynotsorry

We do a lot of role play. And it might sound really dumb, cause I thought that it was soooo stupid when I first came, but nothing prepares you more to be a missionary then actually applying the things you are learning about to a particular person, and finding out how the Gospel can help them; because the Gospel can and will help EVERYONE. We have small role plays with our companion, then we have a progressive investigator, (which is a teacher who acts like a real life investigator that they know better than anyone so it's super legit,) then theirs a TRC (I dont know what that stands for) which is a REAL LIFE investigator who volunteers at the MTC. Each one is unique, and everyone freaks out about their TRC teaching, but it went way good for my companion and I. #success

We have two teachers, Sister Delaplane and Brother Adjei. Brother Adjei (ah-jay) is the sickest teacher alive. He's from Ghana (obviously he's black) and have the best laugh I've ever heard. Every time he laughs our entire class dies. He knows his stuff. He knows how to teach with the spirit and how to make the person feel loved.

Sorry about all the hashtags, the district thinks their hilarious but I'm sick of them from just doing them right then.

I know that prayers are answered, that God truly loves us and is looking to help us with anything we ask help for. He has helped me COUNTLESS times this week, everything from homesickness, to repentence, to bringing the spirit into a lesson, to giving me things to say.

I love it here, and wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Thank you for all your support. I don't know if I'll be able to write next week because my Pday for the MTC is on Wednesday, and we fly out EARLY wednesday morning... so... we'll see.

Thank you for all your letters, if you want to write me, please do. I love you all, and I love this work

-Elder Hollan

Entering the MTC

We dropped off Austin at the MTC.

 

 

They only allow 1 car into drop him off so Carl, Courtney, Tucker, my parents and I all stuffed into the car with him to ride from the temple parking lot into the MTC.

From Austin:
"Today is the day I have waited for my entire life. Time flies, and I can't believe it's actually here. I'm gonna miss my friends and family, and especially my freaking sick dog Titan. I'm excited to preach the gospel and watch the Lord work wonders through me. I hope the people of Iowa are ready for Dex McKell and me. Cause with the Savior behind us and with all of your support, we're coming!"

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