Weeks go by days

Wow, I cant believe its already the 26th! It seems like just 2 weeks ago I was talking with you all on Skype.... Ay, so yeah this week was pretty good, it was busy like always. more splits, long meetings, baptism, awesome investigators and Fun times. So yeah Tuesday we had along meeting called MLT,(not to be confused with MLC) MLT happens every other transfer, and it is with all Zl, dl, Stls and we talk about more Mission wide things like trainings, teaching and How to be a better leader. It was a great meeting other than the fact I had a Extremely Horrible headache and I could not focus well, I wrote some things down, but mostly I was just trying to relax and get my headache to go away. Anyways then we had a little meeting about LA English, that was mostly just to show how our units are doing, and if we should keep them or, cut them. I thought we should cut them, but our unit said otherwise, So we will be keeping it on Trial and changing things up to see if we can get more people there. Then Wednesday we had exchanges, with Elder Santos. He's from Mexico, but grew up in Arizona, mostly Maricopa and chandler, He's really cool! I learned a lot from him  He is an awesome teacher and really focus's in on our investigators, We had Dinner with a super cool family that night that is just awesome, super active and love missionaries. Then we taught ***! He is super awesome. He has a really strong desire to Get baptized. He really is doing good about drugs. As far as we know he's been clean for a few weeks now.  we Talked a lot about repentance and how that is the only way he is going to make this change permanent. Then We tried visiting some others but, no luck... anyways Thursday we were back together We cleaned up a little more in the apartment, it gets so messy so quickly... mostly because its so small... but we live with it.  Then we went to the church to work on a spreadsheet with all of the info on the zone, Baptisms, recent converts and baptismal dates. then we Had a baptismal interview for someone that was going to get baptized in our area! yeah I don't know if I told you, but we had a baptism yesterday! It was awesome! ***** was super ready to be baptized. 

 

So yeah we had that and she passed! It was great. and then we had dinner with The *** family! they are super awesome and we love visiting with us. basically its a recent convert family and they really do will with a lot of things, they come to church faithfully and also they are the guardians of 3 kids, a 12 year old, 5 and then a 6 month old. They are super busy but Are loving everything about the church. I love them so much, And then Friday we went on another exchange. With Elder Barker, He is super cool. We had a fun time up in Hollywood! its an interesting place. We talked to a lot of people. And I walked right by paramount studios. Elder Barker says that famous actors always walk out of there like everyday. Then Saturday we just tried to visit a lot of potentials. then, we ran into a former investigator and talked to him and, he says the book of Mormon is true, he knows it is. so we set up another day to come by. It was cool. But nothing else really happened. We Visited the ***'s and they are progressing super well and we taught them about the Law of Chastity and it went really well, and she isn't breaking it (as far as we know) but she didn't commit very strongly to live it, I think mostly because she has a boyfriend, and she is married to someone else.  We told her that we would help her out with that. we set up a visitor center trip this next week and then they also came to the baptism on Sunday.

 At church we had lots of good things happen, The baptism went smoothly, and *** and The *** came, it was super good, and then at the end, The *** asked what do we need to do to get baptized? we told them that they are already doing what they need to be doing, and we would talk more about it at the visitor center :) We will hopefully be setting a date with them this week, Finally

 

Well I hope everything is going good, and that you all will Have a great week! I love you all, and hope that you continue In the right way! Reading the Book of Mormon and Always having a smile! :p

 

Love,

Elder Hollingshead

Me, Elder Ceron, and Elder Rich, the elder who baptized her!

Elder Rich, ***, Elder Ceron, Zerin

Hola Todos!

Hola Todos!

Hey so This week is going to be short. We are running late on time and were here sitting in the middle of a Korean Internet cafe! Its great. Its MLK day so we had to find a cafe to email at. We had to go to the mission office also because my companion had to take an english test that will tell him if he really can speak English or not. Haha, well he can speak English but doesn't have alot of confidence in it. This week has been pretty busy. we had lots of good things happen. and then also 2 exchanges back to back so i wasnt in my area for 2 days. Great! it was a little stressful. Lets see where to begin. Oh So on Tuesday, we had MLC (missionary leadership council) basically all the zone leaders and sister trainer leaders got together to discuss how the mission can improve and what we need to work on. Its 5 hours of great trainings and councils. President was a little worried about the mission, so we created a training schedule for this transfer on things we need to do better on. One of them is using and reading the book of Mormon. So this week I started my new book of Mormon Reading topic im excited because its all about the Plan of salvation. I hope it goes well and i learn alot. What else, Im not for sure... we went on exchanges on friday and Saturday. That was fun. but nothing too exciting. Oh never mind. we before that, we had to create our trainings for the zone Training meeting on Friday, instead of District meeting. So we had alot of discussion and what we needed to do. So hopefully. we see some improvement. Overall the training went good, but we lacked alot of participation from the zone. Then after we had to update our report on the zone (ie baptismal dates, recent convert progress, etc.) then we went and ate taco bell because we didnt have time to go anywhere else. we went on exchanges with elder Piangnee, hes super cool. hes actually from an island/country off the coast of south africa, and so he speak french, then he moved to Utah when he was 12 and his mom got married to some guy there and so he learned English, and then he got called Spanish, so hes super cool. hes just a chill guy, doesn't say much and when he does its always funny. It was  fun b ut short exchange. Then, I went with elder cox, hes from Indiana, and is super relaxed and seems really serious, not that he is, it just looks like he is. Hes also really fun, and loves to work. Literally we walked around for a good 4 hours trying to contact potentials or formers, It was fun, we got to talk alot and get to know each other. Theres a super cool family that got baptized in their area a little while ago, so we went and visited them, and one of her other sons, just moved back from Chicago, and so they are teaching him right now.

We set up a temple baptism trip for this friday so hopefully we get a bunch of the recent converts in our area to go. It will be great! Then also, we found a really cool guy named ***. He is actually the other son of ***( a recent convert in our area) So he is trying to get himself out of drugs, he has been clean for a while, so we will be working with him alot and hopefully he stays clean, we set a tentative baptismal date for the 22nd of February. and hopefully it goes well. But I think the effect of drugs has really made him mind go like 90 miles an hour. Literally everything that comes out of his mouth is just like Super fast, and he also cant sit down very long, we think its because hes trying to get off and because hes been clean for a while, his body just starts doing weird things, or he does the weird things to keep him occupied and not fall again. He really has the desire to learn, and really wants to change, he says he wants to be a missionary, we told him the first step is baptism, and even then its up to the bishop, but that we could help him out with that. SO were working pretty hard with him. but before the exchanges the week was going pretty slow. And then, all the work happened while i was gone.... Owell, this week we are doing even more exchanges. It will be great!

Well I Love you all. I hope you have a great week! Keep reading the Book of Mormon, because it will bring you a Greater light and Knowledge! I Hope you have a great week!

Love
Elder Hollingshead

What A Week!

Hello Everyone!

 

Well this week has been pretty crazy. It was great to have transfers, but with a big zone its a pain sometimes. we were pretty unorganized at first. I think were getting the hang of it now. 4th ward is An awesome ward. they are super busy and have lots of work. We went up there earlier this week to drop something off and pick something up, and it sounds like there are lots of work. Our area is doing pretty good. We have lots of work and its hard to keep up with everyone, but were getting it done. Our main focus right now is *** and the *** family. They are both coming to church every week and even in the rain, they came and walked/rode a bike. It was super cool. We had a awesome lesson about the gospel of Jesus Christ and they understand a lot and love to learn. the moms Boyfriend who doesn't live there, but has lots of potential was there too, and he opened up and really showed a lot more interest than the times before. Basically we love this family so much and it will be awesome when they get baptized. I'm actually tired of LA English, we just are not getting enough people there and it takes a lot of time out of our night on Tuesday. but o well lets just hope that it gets better and better.

 

So this is probably something that will change my testimony forever. So As a mission we finished the book of Mormon the week of Christmas, and then I was really wanting to study the New testament again, so I started reading it. I was super excited at first, but as time has gone on. I did realize how much I miss reading the Book of Mormon. let me rephrase that, I didn't realize the change the book of Mormon had on me. So On Sunday it was just a rough morning for me. we had pretty good success during the week, but The work was not as fulfilling as before, and it was getting rough for me. So during church, I had a very Distinct and Direct Prompting, Open your book of Mormon and read. So I did, and almost immediately I felt a new light and peace I hadn't felt in a little bit. Whether it be because of stress or lack of decent study, I felt  something different within my self when I read the book of Mormon yesterday. So I know that IT really is true, that it really testifies of Jesus Christ and Because of that, it brings the spirit which testifies of all truth. So That is a spiritual experience that happened this week that really helped me.

 

I hope everyone had a good time at the Wedding and reception. It looks like they were super happy. I hope they had a great night and A day to remember. I wish I could have been there, but Its alright :) I was there in spirit:)

Well I love you all! Hope you have a great week!

 

Love,

Elder Hollingshead

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

 

NEW YEARS

Well this week has been pretty good! OF COURSE it was Great! it was Christmas, Even though it did not feel like it. its just not like mesa, no lights no big decorations and it was not cold, until after Christmas. The day of Christmas it was cold, and windy then the next 3 days it was just chilly and our apt was very cold, and we both didn't sleep good one of the nights, and then I finally took the time to get the heater working. it  is ancient but I got the pilot lit and it works now, its just that you have to manually turn it on and off. but its now very warm in the apt. this morning we did a deep clean, it was pretty dirty. but it was good. and now I feel a lot better. I'm Tired of being stuffed. Everywhere we went this week everyone wanted to give us food. and then we went out to eat with some members and el Hermano, just likes to stuff us and ordered more things for me right before the lady left. and then what else. The Familia ***, we skyp'd there and ate both days. They like to give us lots of food.

What else happened this week. So we Found a new family. Well we found part last week and we found the other part this week. *** is an 11 year old and we talked to his mom and she said that he could go to church, she is pregnant and just is not super interested but we have permission to teach and help him. But after we dropped Leo off on Sunday we stepped inside and had a lesson with them. it was good. it was hard to teach sometimes because there were 6 people ranging from just got out of jail, and then to teenagers who know nothing and then the parents who are super interested and leo who is pretty innocent and young.  So we taught them the plan and it was a longer lesson and it was hard, but we got through and it was good to see how it doesn't matter who you are or what you do and what you have been through, the Plan God has for us is perfect and we get to choose our path! its that simple.

Nothing much new other than that. the area is going good, were finding a lot and contacting a lot, but things should settle down for this week, and then be busy for transfers next week and then back to normal. But other than that its all good. New years we will be put into our apartment early to do planning... joy.... and then I think that's it for this week!

 

I love you all and hope you have a great week! Its was awesome to Talk/Skype with you all this week :) I love this time of year. I Hope you all Had a great Christmas and Hope you have a great New Year!

 

Love

Elder Hollingshead

FELIZ NAVIDAD! MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

 

Zerin with Pres. & Sis Weidman

Well this week has been alright. I'm still tired, but overall it was good. we had a cool Christmas devotional. and it was nice and chilly! Mostly the biggest change was dropping off elder Arambula at the mission office on Wednesday night! That was a weird feeling and we came back and it was just quite. Elder Ceron is pretty quiet and just calm. Elder Arambula was just loud and always playing around. hes a football player and he just always liked to turn the lights off at night and tackle us on to our beds. and one time at the end i was in the middle of them both and got pushed on to the floor and folded like a taco....legs right over head.... era bien chistoso. but anyways he's gone. probably with his girlfriend and freezing in Utah.... Lets see what else happened this week! Priscilla and Karina got confirmed, and it was good, Bishop did the confirmation and he said in one of them that if the time was right that they could serve a mission. It was really cool because after church Priscilla said that she would like to go on a mission! I love it when converts Say that! its just a testimony builder to me because this family has changed so much in the last 2 weeks. it went from arguing and fighting everyday to get the baptized to now being happy and wanting to go on a mission. The Gospel does change lives. its changed mine and many others in my areas and in the world. I love Jesus Christ! Its Christmas what better time to have that love! It honestly doesn't feel like Christmas.... even last year I still felt like Christmas, but I wasn't home. this year it just doesn't feel like it at all. yes there are lights and music, but it just doesn't feel like Christmas but what I do know is that Its a great blessing and honor to be here on the mission during this time.  

what else Happened this week?.... umm yeah so I didn't get enough practice time for the song I was going to play so a sister ended up playing it.. I was sad, but relieved. I really miss music, even singing I feel like I don't know how to sing anymore.... but that just part of the sacrifice.  but the devotional was great, got a picture with President! and it was a good lunch. I got to see a lot of elders I haven't seen in a while. But everything is going well. I'm excited to See you all on Thursday. Probably for the timing of the call will be between 12-2 that's what I'm guessing. Like always I will call you and then we will get Skype set up. Remember I only have 40 min. so maybe you could all have some ?s and what not, or we can just talk! I'm excited. 

 

 

Merry Christmas!

Elder Hollingshead

 

 

 

 

 

 Hey All you Family and Friends. I just want to wish you all A Merry Christmas From Los Angeles California! I hope you all know How Awesome You are!  Thanks for All the Support and Prayers that Are made in My Behalf and for all the missionaries in the World!  I Hope you all had the Opportunity to Share the Gospel with Someone this year, and especially the Shore Video Called "He is the Gift". I was going to make a card and send it to a bunch of people, but... i ran out of time.... SO You all just get an Email... Hopefully you all read it before Thursday:)   Well I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and remember all the Good times we had in the Past!  Say Hello to all your Family!

 

Feliz Navidad!

 Elder Hollingshead

 

P.S. Enjoy the Pictures! (don't make fun of my horrible art skills;)

I'm tired of being Tired.....

*** Girls Baptism

Well,

 


So this week has been so tiring. I don't think I've been this tired in a long time. we have just been on the run for long time. everything we do seems to be in a rush. I haven't had any time to write in my journal. I come home plan and its already 10:15 so I go straight to bed. and then on top of that there was a lot of stress just so that people could get baptized sunday.so where to begin. ..... so Tuesday the day after we switched comps. I got kicked out already and went on a trio exchange with other elders in the zone. I was the first time I have actually served in an English area my whole mission. it was weird. South central English people are weird. That or I have just got extremely used to Latin culture. its just crazy....yeah so then Wednesday. elder ceron had to get an ingrown toenail removed so that took like 2 hours then we came back and had to get a little better plan. then we contacted a few people then we had to go back out to Santa Monica and have a special MLC (missionary leadership council) with president and elder Baxter (quorum of the 70). that was good, we mostly talked about leadership and how it affects others and how we can become better leaders. it was good. quick but very powerful. then after we met with one of our investigators at the VC, he needed to get an interview with one of the mission presidency. so that happened and it took way to long but Darwin was all good to go and get baptized on Sunday. so that was all of Wednesday and we got back super late. Thursday we had a good day, but we had to take some time and go to the church building to set up some tables and chairs for the mission conference at our building on Friday. so we set it up and then had some good visits with people. I honestly cant remember the names.... its just been super stressful. but we did meet with the *** family. The 2 daughters had the baptismal date for this last Sunday. the mom is a less active and lets just say it was a pain in the neck and very frustrating to get them all excited for the baptism. the visit was very long and we finally got them ready for their baptism on Sunday. we set up the interview for then next day during the Christmas party. They came got the interview and everything was good they both passed. So on Friday we had 3 baptism ready to go! it was awesome.
Friday was also our zone conference. we had to get up early again to finish setting everything up with the assistants. long story short all the tables and chairs had to be taken down the night before because the building was being used without us knowing. but the conference went well. it was very long for us. we were at the church building almost all day. except for like an hour. Elder Baxter was really nice and very powerful. Honestly it wasn't much of a change meeting, but what was said was profound and very deep and it just strengthened my testimony and it just gave me a spiritual boost. I liked it. but yeah.so Saturday, when we met with **, he told us that he couldn't get baptized. he told his mom and she said that is was too soon and he couldn't do that. we tried to get him over it, but he wouldn't change, and wouldn't ask his mom. so yeah, that was a bummer. but after the lesson we both though well even if he doesn't get baptized, we still have the ** girls that will get baptized. then we show up a little later and then they just went on and on and on.... they were all arguing and sad and mad at each other. basically every little thing that the hna was mad about made her think that the kids were not ready. so....that was a little lame... but we got them ready and they agreed to be baptized. so yeah they got baptized on Sunday. now that did involve coming over at 8 in the morning and getting them ready and not mad and telling them that they were ready over and over again. and they did get baptized. on top of that, the hot water was out on Sunday because of something that happened in the ward party, so it was cold water, so baptizing them was very cold and one of the girls had to get dunked 2 times.

 but yeah there are lots of other things that happened this week, but that's the important things. oh and we did get to go to the Visitor center yesterday and we watched a musical program and then walked around the gardens and I may be biased but mesa lights are so much better. but something super cool, I saw **! from last December that me and elder Marin baptized. He is still super strong and super solid. so I got his address and will hopefully write him soon. also I saw a bunch of other people from Inglewood 2nd ward. it was super fun! Its fun to see all these people from back then. so yeah I think that's it.

I love you all! Hope you are having a very Merry Christmas!

 

Elder Hollingshead



Our Trio

 

 

 

LA Temple Visitors Center Lights