Update -FINALLY!

The holidays and a computer virus have put me behind in updating letters from Elder Holden.

He's still serving in the South Mountain area of Phoenix but has moved out of the Shack. In fact, since I've last updated he's moved twice. They moved right before Christmas into the apartment where Elder Wright lived with Elder Alling before Tyler arrived to the mission field. There were 4 missionaries living there for awhile and that's where Tyler spent Christmas. He is now living with The Miten family along with another set of missionaries.

South Mountain ward was split as of January 1st into 2 new wards. Tyler is serving in the new ward which I think takes up more of the eastern area of the previous ward.

He also has a new companion, Elder Smith from Preston, Idaho.

Elder Holden's great grandma, Aunt Larraine, Uncle Jerry and numerous cousins live in his area so he was able to go to their house for Christmas Breakfast. I've included picutres sent to me from Uncle Jimmy from that day. Tyler loved being able to spend Christmas with family. Later that day we were able to speak to Tyler and it was great to hear him and speak to him in Spanish which is doing very well. He was eager for the ward split to take place so they could get going in their "new" area which was really just a smaller part of his old area.

He's now on bike now and has had one crash. He said it must have looked pretty funny from the distance as he crashed first and then his companion crashed into him. He said his shoulder hurt a bit but other than that he was OK.

The following week he sent a short email saying that he had been hit by a truck while riding his bike. He gave no other details in the letter which of course left me a bit concerned. I know he's on the Lord's errand and the Lord will protect him. The following week upon my prodding he let me know just a little more but it was all very minor and required no medical attention.

The Elders living in the new place have also encountered some Arizona wildlife. They found a snake under the kitchen table whichthey named Tina after the Llama in Napoleon Dynamite. They've also come across several scorpions now. Both of the English elders sharing their apartment were stung by scorpions last Monday. One while taking a shower by a scorpion which was hanging out on the shower curtain and the other Elder by a scorpion which was in his shoe when he put it on.

In this past week's letter Tyler wrote of an experience that happened to another Elder in his mission:

One quick story, there was a missionary and he was giving the reading assignment and he meant to give the assignment of 1 Ne 3:7-8. Instead of "I will go and do..." he gave 3 Ne 3:7-8. You need to read and and you will understand why the investigator didn't work out like they wanted it to. [If there's anyone out there who doesn't have a Book of Mormon or isn't familiar with the Book of Mormon you can read this passage of scripture here http://scriptures.lds.org/en/3_ne/3 . It's basically a letter from the leader of the Nephites AKA "the good guys" to the leader of the Gadianton Robbers AKA "the bad guys"]

Finally a note on the work... It's coming along very well. They had a baptism last week which Tyler briefly mentioned but I read a more detailed account on Elder Klemme's blog:
We were also able to welcome in another sheep into the fold this past Saturday. Elder Holden and Elder Smith, the Elders that cover the East Side of our ward, were able to baptize an hermana by the name of Nancy. It was a pretty amazing experience for me to witness. She has been married to a member for quite some time and all of their children of age have been baptized but, until Saturday she wasn’t. With this baptism they were able to help complete the family. The service itself was very nice and the spirit was present in every part of it. Congratulations to them!

Elder Klemme and his companion have also set up baptisms for a few investigators that Tyler and his companion were teaching before the ward split.

Letters from 11/18 and 11/26

Elder Holden is still working hard in the Montana del Sur ward in South Phoenix. Here are letters we recieved from him the past two weeks:

From letter written on November 10th:

A week ago was my first PDay in the mission field. It was OK but very different from those in the MTC --no temple and laundry is different as is checking email. We played football which you can't do at the MTC so that was a pleasant change. We also played sand volleyball which was OK.

Thursday was Zone Meeting. Three elders spoke on different things all related to the Book of Mormon because that is our biggest gun. We need to remember to always use it. We went to Subway for lunch. Thanks again for the gift card for Subway.

We then went on exchanges with the zone leaders. We tracted a lot and got one return appointment which will be mentioned later.

Guess what we had for dinner? Ceviche. I know you and Wes would have loved it but me? Not so much. I ate it and I didn't complain or make faces. You would have been proud. (Ceviche is a marinated seafood dish which isn't cooked but rather marinated in citrus juice. Tyler strongly dislikes any kind of fish or seafood. When he was growing up and I served fish I'd always tell him, "You better eat this because someday when you go on your mission you are going to have to eat it so you may as well start eating it now.” He never would eat it but looks like Mom was right about eating fish on his mission)

Friday we went on exchanges with the Spanish APs. We went to Ranch Market which is like a Mexican grocery store. With all the Mexican influence here it is sometimes hard to remember that I'm still in the U.S.A.

Saturday we shoveled rocks for service and now I think I officially hate rocks but it was OK. I read the John Bytheway book you sent me and it was a very, very good book. (The book was How to Be an Extraordinary Missionary.) Saturday night there was a boxing match on or something like that so everyone we tried to see that night failed to work out. That's just part of the work.

Sunday was OK. I'm understanding more and more but we only had one investigator come church. One of the other Spanish elders made the statement that it's hard to break 200 years of tradition of only going to church twice a year. We were glad the investigator, Briceida showed up because she is getting baptized on Saturday. That night we went over to meet with her. She had her baptismal interview and she passed.

Monday we briefly helped a member moving into the ward. We then had splits with Chewy and Benji who are both 19 and preparing for their mission. It's weird for two reasons. First, that was me a few months ago and also, they are both older than me. For dinner we had mole which like a meat in a spicy chocolate sauce. It was very interesting and was pretty good.

Tuesday we had a tri-zone conference and they emphasized the Book of Mormon and using it as our primary resource. We then had a series of wonderful appointments. First with a family who is having financial problems. We talked about prophets and their council on what to do when having financial difficulties. We then met a lady that I had tracted into with the zone leader. Her name is Roberta and she and her family were very active in the lesson. I was able to bear my strongest testimony in Spanish to date thanks to the spirit that was there.

Next, we met with a young lady named Isabel who asked us what she needs to do to get baptized. We are trying to get her on date for the end of the month or the beginning of next month.

Hope things are going well at home. The work is good and only getting better. As long as we have good missionaries trying and good members willing to help the work will move forward.

Letter written on Thanksgiving:

Last Thursday was weekly planning. For dinner we had mole for the third time in four days that week. Before that my trainer had only had it twice in 15 months.

Last Friday we went to the Mesa Temple Visitor Center. The Mesa temple is very cool looking like amazingly cool looking. Our investigator, Eusebio, came and we watched the Joseph Smith movie he loved it and we hope to get him on date for baptism soon. While we were driving there I realized I only live about 5 miles from the hotel we stayed at this summer when we were down here.

On Saturday we had our baptism of Briceida at 2:00. It was wonderful. Me and Elder Klemme taught while they were changing and I did asi asi. . Bricedia's mother-in-law now seems interested and her husband was just baptized in June.

We had a ward activity at the church during which we were pulled out by one of the youth because this random guy wanted to talk to us. He started off by telling us he was drunk. Instead of talk he just wanted to argue and it was all sorts of wasting our time.

Sunday I went to ward correlation in Spanish which was a new experience because I wasn't with my companion. I went with Elder Klemme so I had to describe our investigators by myself in Spanish.

On Monday we went tracting and found two good investigators. Our big lesson of the day was with Bricedia, our recent convert, and her mother-in-law. The mother-in-law now seems really interested. We set up a time to go with them to the Visitor's Center at the temple a week from Friday.

Last Tuesday was my first district meeting. During the meeting we were told of a promise that we have the most people prepared to listen to and accept the gospel in our district. More than any other place in our mission, in Arizona and in North America.

Later we saw Isabel and she went with two of the youth go mutual. We set up a time for us and a group of youth to go with her to the Temple Visitors Center.

We also had a good appointment with a new investigator who is the friend of one of the members. She is now on date to be baptized on December 19th.

Yesterday was good. I got a letter from you and Lino. We tracted and found 3 new investigators.

All is well.

More from the first few weeks in the mission field...

I'm falling behind again. In this post I will update with info from letters and emails from Tyler's first few weeks in the mission field. He has also sent pictures too. We've got the obligatory map picture from the MTC, Elder Wright in the kitchen of the shack and a view of the front yard of the shack.


From letter written on 11/10 which was his first P-Day in Phoenix: The last week has been long. It was good but long. I was up until 11:30 packing my last night in the MTC and then was up at 4:15 the next day.

As we got off the plane in Phoenix the departing missionaries were waiting at our gate. We talked a bit and then we left and went to meet President Beck and his wife. For my first meal outside the MTC we had a sloppy joe sandwich. We then had meetings, orientation and more meetings and then an interview with President Beck. For dinner we had lasagna and then another meeting. We were able to go to bed an hour early. The favorite people I met so far were the Spanish APs.

The next morning we got up and had breakfast. We then had another meeting and then went to the transfer building where we met our trainers. We worked some and unpacked some at the shack and then went to my first field dinner. We had tostadas and tamales all freshly made and it was super good. Before dinner we helped tutor the kids and we have done it a few times since. These kids only speak Spanish so it's good practice. I was so tired that first day that I fell asleep while writing in my journal.

We have one lady on date for baptism named Bricedia and a couple of good solid investigators that we are teaching. On Sunday I found out the problem is getting them to church. We had 12 committed and only one came -- not a good percentage. Any suggestions from anyone on how to change this?

We were checking up on a referral the other day and this guy came to the door and asked if we could come back later. He looked at us in our short sleeve shirt and asked, "Aren't you cold?" It was 74 degrees outside.

We now cover only the Spanish Ward so church is interesting since it's only in Spanish. I hope to get used to it sooner rather than later.

A few days ago we got a referral and we went to contact them. It turns out that when we showed up they had just been talking about the LDS Church. They wanted to know who had sent the referral because they hadn't requested it themselves but they were very receptive. It's a married couple and her 2 brothers and her mother. We are going to drive by on Sunday and then they are going to follow us to church. I'm super excited!

Last night we were tracting as part of the zone blitz where all of the elders in the zone try and find investigators in one area for the local missionaries. We met a 16 year old boy who was very excited when we told him about the Book of Mormon. He was like, "Hey Mom, Look! It's a Book of Mormon" He was like a kid on Christmas morning.

That's all for now. If you have any questions, just ask. Take care. The work is good and I love working hard for the Lord.

Love, Elder Holden

P.S. I just counted the weeks and I think I'll be home September 6, 2011.

Good People, Good Food

Elder Holden's first week in the mission field has ended. He sent a short email on Tuesday and said he'd send a letter which we will probably get in the next few days. Normally, his P-Day will be Wednesday but since this past Wednesday was a holiday they had it on Tuesday. I felt badly because I had intended to send him a nice e-mail for him to read on his first P-Day in Phoenix but I hadn't sent it yet not realizing that his P-Day was going to be a day early.

He is living what's referred to by the missionaries as "The Shack". I've included pictures of The Shack and the shower which is located in the backyard. I've borrowed these pictures from Elder Klemme's blog: http://elderandrewbklemme.blogspot.com/

We also received a letter from President Beck with pictures of Tyler with President and Sister Beck and with his new companion, Elder Wright.

Hope things are well for everyone there. The mission field is great! I'm in the ghetto area of south Phoenix and it's pretty cool.

I met Elder Alling on transfer day and he went up to Prescott. I got his old trainer, Elder Wright and I like him a lot. We stay at a different place then Elder Alling and Elder Wright did. We stay at The Shack. There are 4 Spanish Elders staying here and we all cover the Montana del Sur Ward. They brought in a new (for this area) set of missionaries to cover the 2 English wards so we only cover the Spanish Ward now. Elder Klemme who we met at the sign the day I entered the MTC is in The Shack with me.

I have to admit the first couple days here seemed like they were never going to end. The members here are really nice and the food is great. The language will OK but it will improve. It seems like they speak a different language than we learned in the MTC. I will write a letter tomorrow with a bunch of experiences in it. Love, Elder Holden

Travel Day to Phoenix

Tyler called from the airport early on Tuesday morning and we got to talk for about 20 minutes. He sounded like he was in good spirits and eager to get into the mission field. He said it was weird to be out in the world again after spending 9 weeks in the MTC.

I talked to him a little in Spanish and was very impressed how much he has learned.

I tried to get him to unload some of his stuff and send it to a place there in Utah for my sister to pick up but he insisted on packing and taking everything with him. He said his luggage weighed in at 47 and 50 pounds. He also said the packages I sent him were popular with his district and that he was taking a lot of the left over candy and other treats to Phoenix with him. I'm still trying to figure out how there were leftovers!

He said when he went to weigh in luggage the night before to make sure he was going to be OK with luggage weights he weighed himself. He had lost 19 pounds while in the MTC. I wonder if that's a record?

I do remember when we went to Arizona on vacation this past summer Tyler hardly ate anything the week we were there. He kept saying it's too hot to eat. Hopefully, he doesn't loose much more or we are going to have to get him some new pants and maybe a suit too.

On Wednesday afternoon the mission president, President Beck, called to let us know that Tyler had made it safely to Arizona and had been assigned to his first area. He will be serving in the the south Phoenix area in the Montana del Sur area. He will be covering one English ward and one Spanish ward. The Spanish ward is the largest in the mission so that will be really helpful for improving Tyler's Spanish.

Coincidenlty, he is taking Elder Alling's http://www.theallings.com/elderalling/ place who was transferred this week and his trainer is the same that Elder Alling had - Elder Wright. I have been following Elder Alling's blog the past few months so it's exciting to know so much about the area where Tyler will be serving.

Sister Beck posted a few pictures of the arriving Elders on her blog: http://calledtoservephoenix.blogspot.com/

I Am Ready To Go

Tyler will be leaving the MTC bright and early tomorrow morning. We are looking forward to him calling us from the airport. We got a letter from him today and this will probably be his last letter from the MTC. I think it will be at least a week before we hear from him once he gets down there so we won't know where he's been assigned for awhile. He's ready to go and while he says his Spanish still needs some help but he's ready to enter the mission field!

Here's what he had to say in last week's email and letter:

This week has gone by fast. Not much has happened. We had our last "normal" Sunday (meaning his last Sunday that wasn't Fast Sunday). The best part is we have our flight plans. I leave on Tuesday, November 3rd. I have to be at the travel office at 5 AM and my flight leaves at 8:37 I sent a copy of the flight plans home on Monday so you should get it soon.

Elder Perry came to speak yesterday. Nothing really new and no stories to share this week. I am ready to go. I can't wait to leave and neither can the rest of my district.

I will send a letter as soon as I can when I get to Arizona and I'm looking forward to calling from the airport.

Love,
Elder Tyler Holden

I Prayed So Hard After That....

Time for another update. Tyler will be leaving to Phoenix next week. On Wednesday we'll find out for sure which day he will be headed down there.

Curt was down in the Provo area all last week as his Father was/is in the hospital recovering from a stroke and pneumonia. While there he went to Krispy Kreme and had 3 dozen doughnuts delivered to Tyler at the MTC last Wedneday. He sent us a quick e-mail at the end of P-Day thanking us for the surprise and said he had a lot of friends all of the sudden!

Here's what he had to say this past p-day 10-21-09:

Hope things are OK without Dad there. Nothing much new here. Life is good but I've been sick for the last weekish so I don't have much to update. Lo siento pero I will try to write as much as I can.

Me and my companion had to go to dinner early on Sunday night so I ran into Garrick and George and we talked for about 10 minutes but after that I didn't see them again and didn't get to say good bye. That's OK in 23 months when Garrick comes home I will be waiting for him at the airport. Garrick and George both left Monday morning very early. My travel plans should be here tomorrow.

This week at the TRC we taught in Spanish, of course. The evaluator was the same as last week and he said he saw such a big improvement in my Spanish of that period so I can testify that the gift of tongues is real. I can't wait to get home and be able to talk with you and Dad and Shane in Spanish. It will be pretty cool

My RC experience this week is about a lade named Stacy. She was looking for a certain Elder and I couldn't find him so she got off the phone and called back. We repeated this process 3 times with me answering the phone each time she called back. I could never find him so on the 4th time she talked with me.

She told me she had read the Book of Mormon in 2 weeks and felt she needed to change her life and wanted the sister missionaries to visit her. As we were trying to arrange for them to come teach her my computer crashed. I prayed so hard after that, that she would be taken care of. About 10 minutes later my computer was up again and there on my screen was her name again. I talked to her for the final time and arranged a visit between her and the sister missionaries.