Week 17-Still working hard!

Hellloooo Everyone!

So first off I'd like to express some frustration from forgetting my camera this week ... :( I had lots of cool pictures of the lightning, scorpions, and a HUGE dust storm.

      

A member of her ward sent this one to us.

This week wasn't too crazy other then the storms that happened. And there's some funny stuff to talk about.  But sorry from how short this post is.

We had a lesson with a investigator named Linda.  She's from Detroit Michigan and she's been investigating the church for about a year.  When we were in the lesson with her, we asked her if she had ever prayed about the Book of Mormon and she said no!  So we asked her if she would and she said yes!  (I can't believe no one had asked her to.) But the lesson was so good, the spirit was there and everything went pretty smooth.

Church was again interesting.  Since we go to 2 different buildings for church we have to go back and forth. One ward at 9 am, another at a different building at 12, and the 3rd ward at 1 at the first building.  I know confusing.  Sorry.  Haha.

This past week, I've really realized my love of the scriptures. They really can help you throughout your day/week.

Got ANOTHER flat tire.

And last little schpeel of the week, the Sisters had a SLEEPOVER! :) Since we are low on miles for this month, last night we got to go and sleep at the sisters house, and spend the WHOLE p-day with them :) SO fun!!

Any who, that's my short but sweet update, hope y'all (Sister Adams is rubbing off on me) have a good week, and next weeks update will be better ;)

<3, Sister Holcomb

Sister Holcomb's new friends.  She said that she was scared to hold them.  LOL

Week 16 + 3 weeks...

HELLOOOO!!!


So if your wondering about the title of this, I'll explain.  So the 13th of July was my 4 months but because of the early transfer I come home 3 weeks earlier then planned.  So as of now, I'm out 4.5 months. On Sept. 2nd, 2013 I will have one year left, it's crazy how time flies!  Sept. 2nd, 2014 I will be flying home!  What a great Anniversary present to my parents! (that's the day they got married!)

This week because I was a trainer and being transferred I met my new comp. Sister Carroll, she's from Kaysville, UT.  She's 20, and she's doing a great job!  We are white washing so the first week is a little slow but we are just getting to know the area. We also live 5 miles out of our area, so guess what else?!  WE GOT A CAR!  Thankfully we got a car because Monsoon season is coming around the corner and its going to save us!

Speaking of Monsoons... there was one this past week. First time I've seen one, first one I've been in one, and its kinda weird. There's a dust storm for 20 mins then for 30 mins its raining. First time I've seen rain for about 4 months haha. 

Oh, so there was this whole big deal about me being transferred, and how I wouldn't know anyone in my zone, well guess what? I ended up back in the same zone!!  I'm just covering a different stake now!  So, I still get to see all my buddies but since the mission changed the zone is now called the Mesa zone, no more Skyline. :(

But mostly this week we've just been getting to know the Ward Mission Leaders and all the Bishops. I can tell this is going to be a great transfer!

More details will come next week, I promise. But keep the letters coming ;)

1001 N. Burk St.
Gilbert, AZ 85234

Generation picture from right to left, Sister Collins, Sister Holcomb, Sister Adams, Sister Carroll, Sister Ayers.  Sister Collins is my "mom", Sister Adams is my "daughter" Sister Carroll is my 2nd "daughter" and Sister Ayers is Sister Adams "daughter" IM A GRANDMA!

Week 15- I'M BEING TRANSFERRED!!

HEY EVERYONE.. I'M BEING TRANSFERRED!!

So last night we got the crazy call that both Sister Adams and I would be training this transfer.  And because its been a short transfer, she's training with little experience.  But I know she'll do great!

Monday we got to teach Montana!  The spirit was sooo strong!  We taught her about the plan of happiness, the plan that God has for all of us.  She really liked that and because the spirit was so strong we committed her to baptism for the 20th of July!!  She is one solid investigator!  But because I'm being transferred I won't be teaching her anymore.   :(   But I still get to go to her baptism.

Anyways this week was crazy, it was my first 4th of July away from family so it was kinda weird.  But member invited us to participate in a neighbor hood bike parade and because us missionaries had bikes we participated!
 

The fourth of July was full of food.  All day long!  haha. After the parade we went back to study for the day and a member invited us over for lunch.  We ate some yummy Polynesian food.

We headed back to the apartments and the Elders had a surprise for us.  They made us ANOTHER lunch.  But it was pretty good, only to find out that it was horse?!  Now I can say that I've eaten horse I guess, and its the strangest food too, I might add.

And for dinner we had ribs :) YUM!! 

We didn't get alot done because everyone was out of town... In Arizona that IS a possible thing because its so hot.

A lot of the focus at church was missionary work, it was great! The primary kids made us a poster.  :)  So cute!!
 

Sign that the primary kids made us.

Can't get enough studying.  :)

And then last night ended with the transfer call.  Sad day, still cant believe I'm being transferred!

Well if any of you want to write me letter (cuz I know you do) make sure to send it to this address:

1001 N. Burk St.
Gilbert, AZ 85234

Hope you all have a great week and you're all in my prayers!  ♥

Love, Sister Holcomb

Week 14! It's getting HOT down here!!

Hey Everyone!

This past week has been GREAAAT!!

Monday we had prep day of course. But it was great, after that we went over to the Halberts for din din, and Bro. Holacher was over because his family had left for Cali the whole week.  He is HILARIOUS.  He told lots of great stories about his mission which are always funny and about his crazy companions.

It's 118!  I think I'll go for a swim.  NO!

Remember the less active I was telling you about?  Well as it all went down, she realized that the church was true.  She's still struggling with the cancer but realizes with God's help she can tough it out.  Just because she believed didn't mean it made life easier.  She just had the strength to keep pushing through.

We had one last temple trip with our mission, since everyone is being put into different missions. But it was fun.  And speaking of changing missions. Here's the address you can send mail to ALSO. If you please..

1001 N. Burk St.
Gilbert, AZ 85234


After the Temple we were able to go to the Visitor's Center with a members friend.  Her name is Tana and she is so interested in our religion, she sees something different and great about it and wants to be apart of it.  She's solid.  :)  She's super interested in family history too and was able to start some. She found out that a few generations back, they were Mormon (LDS)
 

One of the dinners we had this week was fun. Crazy kids, breakfast for dinner and the kids asked us the most crazy questions... like I really had to think about the answer.

A members friend's boyfriend said he was interested in the church... but because he is 20, we had to have the Elders teach him..  :(   That's like the 10th referral we have given the Elders.  haha.  Maybe we are in the area to help them though.

I found out on Thursday I had laryngitis.. It was kinda lame cuz I couldn't talk in the 3 lessons we had that day.  But I was able to drink milkshakes and slushies because it hurt to swallow.  And in that same night, we got 2 referrals!!  We were in the right place at the right time!

We had our first official lesson with Montana. I still couldn't talk but I could whisper so we did the lesson half whispering.

Saturday morning we got to do our first day of service.  And since we were helping someone move into apartments in the area that I cover we got to wear normal clothing, pants and a tshirt (since I don't have jean shorts) But it was cool because now she's one of our new investigators. Her name is Claire. And on the same day that we dropped off all the progress records for the Bishops and ward mission leaders, it was 118 degrees.  HOT!
The hottest day I had been in, EVER!

Add caption

Anyway good week, and good weeks to come. I love serving the Lord in ARIZONA!

Hope to hear from you all soon!

With ♥,
Sister Holcomb

Sister Collins and Sister Holcomb

New companion Sister Adams

Week 13. I'm officially training, she's pretty great!

This week was somewhat crazy but so great, as is every week of missionary
work :)

I'm now officially training a new missionary from the MTC (missionary
training center) Her name is Sister Adams and she's from Georgia :)

This week we also found out that I will be serving in the Gilbert Mission.
Since the boundaries are changing and since I am staying where I am, I'm
officially in the Gilbert AZ Mission.

So NO more mail should be going into this address: 1871 E. Del Rio Dr.
Tempe Az 85282. If you have its fine, it will just be fowarded.  ALL MAIL
should go to this address: 4776 E. Guadalupe Dr. #1036 Gilbert AZ 85234

Another new thing is that one of the Bishops from one of the wards that we
cover told us that night that we have a new person to teach as of July
13th! So we are pretty excited.
And last night, there was a worldwide leadership/missionary broadcast,
here's the exciting news:
http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/mormon-lmissionary-work-worldwide-broadcast?CID=HPL2P01W01032

Hope you guys have a good week!

12 weeks, or 3 months out... I'M TRAINING! I'm gonna be a mommy.

Hey Everyone!!

This week was super fast and busy, and full of many tender mercies!

Well first of all, I got the call last night that I will be training! I will be staying in the same area though, so if you want to write me a letter its still the same address.

4776 E. Guadalupe Dr.
#1036
Gilbert, AZ 85234

Friday we were able to go to the Visitors with Jennifer.  It was a great and very spiritual experience.  We were able to watch the Restoration and you could tell that she felt the spirit.  We also showed her the Mesa Temple and she told us that she felt the spirit there too.  She told us that she liked the fact that we can spend eternity with our families through the gospel.  It was a really special experience to be able to do that.

We also had a lesson with a former investigator scheduled for Friday but it fell through.  But like my motto is, everything happens for a reason and it did.  We ended up outside the apartment complex at another investigator and a less active member is driving by and sees us and asked us if we needed any water?  Of course we did.  Plus we had been trying to meet with her ever since I had arrived in the area 12 weeks ago.  So we get inside and we talk for a little and she tells us that she's been doing good but she is struggling a bit. We didn't really ask anything, when she tells us that she has cancer.  We talked some more and asked if we could read a scripture.  Mosiah 24:8-15.  After sharing she started crying.  We then knew that she really trusted us and started talking about many things of why she's been struggling.  Just to keep things confidential we won't go into details.  In a nutshell, she's been struggling from anti-ing from her co-workers and that she feels that because her cancer has come back she is very angry with God.  She told us that she's been struggling for the past few months about her knowing for herself if this church is really true and she asked for our help.  We had shared a couple more scriptures with her and told her that she really needed to qualify herself for the answers by attending church, reading her scriptures daily, saying her prayers and truly wanting to know for herself if this church was true.  That night she sent a text asking what scriptures we had shared that day and we told her three.  The last one, we were inspired to share with her.   She then replied and told us that the last scripture we gave her was the scripture that her patriarchal blessing was marking.


So we go by the next day and we brought the Restoration movie because we knew that would help her. When we started the movie the dog was on her patio, barking.   She said a little prayer in her mind, that if the church was true, to have her dog stop barking. (she told us this afterward)  She told us during the first vision,when Joseph Smith saw God and Jesus that her dog didn't bark anymore.  And she told us she knew it wasn't coincidence because of the scripture and because what she felt.  She told us she knew it was true.  It was amazing to see what can happen, when the Lord's hand is really in place.

I'm so grateful the opportunity to serve a mission, and to be able to touch people's lives with this true Gospel.  I know it's true because I've prayed about it.  I know that God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon is another Testament of Jesus Christ.  I know the power of prayer and the Holy Ghost is real.  I'm grateful for it everyday.  I know that I wouldn't be out here if I didn't know it was true.  And that's why I'm out here, because I do know its true.  I love this gospel so much and I want all of you reading this to know, that God loves each and everyone of us. He knows us individually and wants us to have to chance to return to him again.  The Atonement is real.  I've seen the power of it in my life and others.  I love you all and miss you so very much.  I say that in the the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Week 11 Already?

Hello!!

This week has been crazy.  The ward members are super awesome and I would be sad to leave if I was leaving this next transfer.  Since everything has been so crazy because of all the changes happening in a month there is about a 95% chance that I will be training already!  This week will be 3 months of me being out and Ill be training a new missionary!!  But this week was pretty good. There was a few trials here and there, but its all a good learning experience.

There was actually something read in church yesterday:  "When we seek God's will, we follow a course in which there will be no failure".  That doesn't mean that there won't be trials and that everything is going to be easy but that everything will fall into proper place if we do choose to follow God's will.  It just really stuck out to me because as missionaries we face trials everyday but because everything that happens is God's will we just keep pushing through.  When was a time that we yielded to the God will?

We had a church tour with Jennifer this week, and it was really neat to see that the spirit had touched there hearts. That was the first church tour that I had done and once we got into the chapel the spirit was totally there.

We had met with Jennifer 5 times this week and she's learning so much.  She's been reading the Book of Mormon and prayed about a baptism date. The only thing thats really holding her back is the fact that her parents and grandparents are busy on Sundays and they expect her to go with them.  So she hasn't gone to church yet, just the church tour.  She's been making lots of friends though with the YW.

This last week was also the last interviews that President Howes was doing with the whole mission. We get a new mission president on July 1st.

All in all I'm just really nervous to train!  But the Lord defiently qualifies who he calls, so if that's what Im supposed to do, Ill do it.

Something that I want to end with which I think is really cool to think about.  WE (each of you reading this) were put on earth in the time period you are supposed to be.  God chose you because you were one of his strongest children.  It's 2013... He could have put us on earth in any of those 2,013 years after Christ came or even before Christ came but He knew that we would be able to survive these days.  Isn't that cool?  I do. :)


Anyway, time to go!  I really do appreciate all of you that take the time to write me or email me.  It means alot!!

Love you all & Hope everyone has a great week!

♥, Sister Holcomb :)


P.S. This is my district on P-day playing basketball :)

(Left to Right): Elder Loomis, Ash, me, Sister Collins, Elder Hall and Kloepher!