Hello 2015

Well I hope everyone had a great New Years! I had a awesome one, or should I say, a boring one, we got stuck inside at 6 so we just talked a lot and did not much else. Then, Yeah so where do we start, oh, So transfers.... I'm Staying with elder Ceron, That was pretty much expected. but heres the unexpected part. We go combined with another zone.... so now instead of 9 companion ships its now 13. And it covers a huge area, basically all of downtown, and all the way to Hollywood ward. and 4th ward. So it just doubled in size, and so its going good, just more work! But yeah, so as zone leaders we give the transfer calls out, so we had to go to artesia and have a little chat with president, He gave us a little report about how the mission is doing, anything he wants us to work on and then some stats on number o missionaries, and how many are coming in and leaving. So Last year our mission goal of baptisms was 794, now that is huge and not even close to what is was before, but it kept us working, and at the end of the year we had 577, Now its not about numbers I know that, but When we think of that, and then how much work it has taken to get just one baptism in an area or how much work it takes to get the baptism running smoothly, we all are very grateful that we were able to help that many people take this wonderful step. And So Overall for 2014 I will always remember as the ONE year I devoted 24/7/365 days of the year service to the lord, I will also remember it as the year I learned what true happiness is and how the gospel makes people so happy! It makes me happy, Even through all the hard times, the rejections and the stress, and pain. its all worth it. In our apartment there is a piece of paper that some one drew and put on our door. It says "Eternal Lives depend on YOU!" Its true, and That charge that is given to us (18-24 year olds) My question is always why? and how? but With the help of God and our Savior Jesus Christ, it is possible and we help people everyday to understand how much HE loves Them! How Awesome is that!

 

Anyways so our investigators are doing great! The family *** Came to church! It was super cool. They are progressing and *** the 15  year old is reading a lot, they came to church, but it was hard, the girls don't speak any English so we were trying to find, a young women who could translate for them, but we couldn't find her and the girls got tired of waiting and just left and then came back for the last hour. so yeah, then we had 2 new families move into the ward, one actually just got married/sealed 1 month of go. Its super cool. They have 3 kids and they are returning members, it sounds like they have been dating for a while, and they got married and her 2 kids now live with his son, its really cool. Then the other family we are going to have dinner with tomorrow. We have found a ton of new investigators and its great to see them all progress and have interest in the gospel. Mostly what we have been doing is finding. this area had a ton of baptisms last year, mostly from part member families so we got to keep it up and continue the success.

 

I love you all. I hope you had a great New Year and 2015 brings a better and happier year with more peace and Blessings. Enjoy making goals! and striving to keep them and meet them at the end of the year. Stay strong and have a great week!

 

Que se Cuiden! (take care of yourselves)

Elder Hollingshead