mputer 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 ne
w 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 T
yler 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.
