Elder Samuel Holdstock

  ¿Qué pasa? I hope that everyone is doing great! This week has been so good. So many incredible experiences took place.  The first happened last Wednesday night. We had just gotten back to our rooms for the night and winding down. People were brushing their teeth and showering and this Elder comes hauling into our building just yelling "OIL OIL! WE NEED OIL! SOMEONE IS DYING!" So my companion, Elder Jones, threw his consecrated oil to the Elder and he took off back outside. We were all curious about what was going on so we took off after him to see what we could do to help. There was a Sister that had been having migraines all day and as she was walking back to her room that night she just passed out. By the time we got there the ambulance was already there and she had been given a blessing so there wasn't anything that we could do. Someone had the idea to pray with all the other missionaries there so we stood in a circle and prayed then decided we could do one better an...

  ¡Hola a todos! This last week has been really really good. It hasn't been smooth sailing, but you can't expect it to be on the mission.  A lot of the days are similar. We spend a lot of time in class learning how to teach in Spanish and how to connect with people on a deeper level in order to really know how we can help them and their concerns or needs. My Spanish has gotten so much better already in the 2 weeks we've been trying to do all Spanish. I hope that when I make it to Bolivia my Spanish will be good enough to at least kind of be able to understand the people.  A miracle that I've seen this week has to do with the uniting of my district. A lot of times people talk about how they loved their MTC district and they were friends for life, but that wasn't how the missionaries in my district were. There was a lot of contention between companionships and you can't have that. After a lot of prayers and district meetings, I've been able to see how much the...

 Hey everyone! I hope everyone has had a great holiday season and a Happy New Year!  I've been a missionary for 24 days now and in the Provo MTC for the last week. Being a missionary is both everything I thought it would be, and nothing like I expected.  The coolest part is how much you can feel the spirit when you really focus on Jesus Christ and the gospel. You can't really be a missionary without it so it's something that I've really strived for.  Since starting in Provo everything is supposed to be all in Spanish, but it's hard to learn when everyone would rather speak English and find any way they can to get around using Spanish. We did teach a lesson in Spanish this week though! The gift of tongues is real! I don't know a lot if Spanish, but I was able to have a full conversation with a lady and was able to introduce the Plan of Salvation to her and how it can bless her.  I have a long long way to go to becoming the best missionary that I can be,...