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.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Who is This Elder Holden? I Want to Meet Him.
I've been slacking in updating this blog. I resolve to do better! On Monday we got another letter and with a camera card this time so we have new new pictures too. Here's an update on Tyler with excerpts from letters from the last couple weeks. He's been there 7 weeks now and will be leaving less than two weeks. It sounds like he's ready to move on...
Less than 2 weeks to go until I get to the heat and I cant' wait. Seeing the same sights everyday is getting old. I now dread the thought of eating another meal here. The food isn't bad but I'm just never hungry. I think I am losing weight because I have less of a stomach and all of my clothes are getting more loose. Garrick left Monday morning. I should have my travel plans tomorrow.
(photo below is Tyler and his best friend, Garrick. AKA Elder Holden and Elder Smith. Elder Smith has left the MTC and is now serving in the Detroit Michigan Mission. )
We taught the fist lesson in Spanish on Friday. It went okay except our investigator was trying to sleep during on lesson. I was a little upset but oh well, it was fun.
Anyway, here is my story for the week. It was last Sunday and our district's first opportunity to give a talk in Spanish. Before Sacrament meeting we were in class and we were talking about who was going to get called from our district. We decided nobody would because the district leaving this week hadn't given any talks yet. We were sure that district would be giving both talks. I didn't really even want to write a talk because I was sure there would be no chance I would be asked to give my talk. Just in case though I did write a small one.
Fast forward to Sacrament Meeting...
The people blessing and passing the Sacrament were just dismissed. Our branch president went up to the pulpit and said, "Today we will be pleased to hear from Elder McFarren from the departing district and Elder Holden from district B. I was sitting in the second row and I repeated what he said in my mind, "Elder Holden". I sat there and two things came to mind as to the possibilities of why Elder Holden was just said. First was, who is this Elder Holden because I want to meet him. I thought I was the only Elder Holden. Second thought was, wow! President Ramton has a sense of humor. Then the third and true thought came to me that I had just been called to give the first Spanish talk from my district and I was in trouble.
I still know very little Spanish. I wish I could have seen my face. Well, I have never prayed so hard in my life for anything and I mean anything. While the first elder spoke I listened and understood some. I thought I was doomed to failure. I thought about grabbing my comp and running for the door. I sat there laughing on the inside as my district tried to comfort me.
The first elder finished and my prayer seemed to be answered. I don't remember what I said but everyone seemed to like it. I have to say I was extremely blessed.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
It Was a Curve Ball I Was Not Expecting One Bit
Tyler's letters just keep getting better. The following was written on September 30th:
I really love the RC because you get to talk to real people about real concerns kind of like field work but in the MTC or Missionary Training Compound, I mean Center. I am up to 9 referrals there on calls on 4 on the chat.
Every Friday we have an appointment at the TEC to do a lesson with a volunteer pretending to be an investigator. We practiced last week so we could check on his commitments. We got there and right as we started he asked in Spanish, "What's the difference between a Catholic and a Mormon baptism?" Well, we tried the best we could to answer for 15 minutes. Eventually, I just told him some scriptures and hoped he could teach himself using them. It was a curve ball I was not expecting one bit.
Me and my comp have had an investigator that we've been teaching over the phone but on Saturday we turned her over to the local missionaries.
On Sunday, I got to watch Legacy and had forgotten how good the movie was. My companion is practicing a version of "I Know that My Redeemer Lives" on the piano right now so our Zone Leader, Elder Starky, can try out for Sunday's musical number. Also, check out the song, "I Heard Him Come" -AMAZING!
Yesterday I had 3 cool experiences in the RC. The first I was able to teach the first half to lesson 2 to a guy that grew up LDS. Unfortunately, he is now an Atheist. We talked about the atonement and then he went back to the subject of the creation. He and I talked about an hour and it was a good conversation. He believes something started the beginning but he doesn't quite know what. I testified of God but he just wasn't sure. He was a nice guy though.
The next was a lady I talked to. She wanted to know about baptism which I answered and that lead into a discussion about prophets. We had a good conversation about them. Then I asked her if she'd want to know if there was a prophet on the earth today. She said that she would. I invited her to watch General Conference so she could know if we have a prophet on Earth today. I was able to bear my testimony that we have a living prophet.
The last was a call back because he had requested a "Finding Faith in Christ" DVD. He said he hadn't had a chance to watch it because he had just received it the previous day. I asked him if he had any questions and he asked if Joseph Smith was really a prophet then why wasn't he in the Bible. I explained about the apostacy and the restoration. He thought the days of needing a prophet had ended. In the end, he told me I could call him back once he watched the DVD so I am going to. He seemed a little argumentative but I didn't give in and I didn't get defensive.
It seems like I am being blessed. I feel that I have accomplished more on certain skills I have been working on in these past 4 weeks than I had in the previous 5 years. I know this is because I know have more than ever the Lord's help in accomplishing things and skills I not only need in my mission but also in my life.
Something Elder Holland said when he was here a few weeks ago hit me hard. He said that we are not serving to go home to the real world. This IS the real world and you will never be more near the real world than when you are on you mission.
Love,
Elder Tyler Holden
I really love the RC because you get to talk to real people about real concerns kind of like field work but in the MTC or Missionary Training Compound, I mean Center. I am up to 9 referrals there on calls on 4 on the chat.
Every Friday we have an appointment at the TEC to do a lesson with a volunteer pretending to be an investigator. We practiced last week so we could check on his commitments. We got there and right as we started he asked in Spanish, "What's the difference between a Catholic and a Mormon baptism?" Well, we tried the best we could to answer for 15 minutes. Eventually, I just told him some scriptures and hoped he could teach himself using them. It was a curve ball I was not expecting one bit.
Me and my comp have had an investigator that we've been teaching over the phone but on Saturday we turned her over to the local missionaries.
On Sunday, I got to watch Legacy and had forgotten how good the movie was. My companion is practicing a version of "I Know that My Redeemer Lives" on the piano right now so our Zone Leader, Elder Starky, can try out for Sunday's musical number. Also, check out the song, "I Heard Him Come" -AMAZING!
Yesterday I had 3 cool experiences in the RC. The first I was able to teach the first half to lesson 2 to a guy that grew up LDS. Unfortunately, he is now an Atheist. We talked about the atonement and then he went back to the subject of the creation. He and I talked about an hour and it was a good conversation. He believes something started the beginning but he doesn't quite know what. I testified of God but he just wasn't sure. He was a nice guy though.
The next was a lady I talked to. She wanted to know about baptism which I answered and that lead into a discussion about prophets. We had a good conversation about them. Then I asked her if she'd want to know if there was a prophet on the earth today. She said that she would. I invited her to watch General Conference so she could know if we have a prophet on Earth today. I was able to bear my testimony that we have a living prophet.
The last was a call back because he had requested a "Finding Faith in Christ" DVD. He said he hadn't had a chance to watch it because he had just received it the previous day. I asked him if he had any questions and he asked if Joseph Smith was really a prophet then why wasn't he in the Bible. I explained about the apostacy and the restoration. He thought the days of needing a prophet had ended. In the end, he told me I could call him back once he watched the DVD so I am going to. He seemed a little argumentative but I didn't give in and I didn't get defensive.
It seems like I am being blessed. I feel that I have accomplished more on certain skills I have been working on in these past 4 weeks than I had in the previous 5 years. I know this is because I know have more than ever the Lord's help in accomplishing things and skills I not only need in my mission but also in my life.
Something Elder Holland said when he was here a few weeks ago hit me hard. He said that we are not serving to go home to the real world. This IS the real world and you will never be more near the real world than when you are on you mission.
Love,
Elder Tyler Holden
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