I-Pads

Well guess what everyone! I got an iPad this week! So yeah Saturday after i took the act, we went to a training and each missionary got an iPad at the end of it. For those less than 6 months. we have church i pads, 6 weeks from now I will be returning mine to the mission. But yeah so it will be fun being able to use it for a while and get to teach with it, it's still a work in progress, but it's pretty nice.

Little cool things happened this week.

Thursday we were helping a member out and then this lady crossed the street and she was looking at us for a while and we were a little confused, but then she asked us a couple of questions and it comes to that she had lads friends and then her son is going through a hard time and so we stopped by on Sunday and we talked for a while and they as a family became new investigators!  Then we were contacting some people and this man who I guess we contacted, came up to us and was like hey an why didn't you ever call me I was waiting.... That's sometimes super embarrassing especially when you don't recognize them.... But yeah we also had a couple of really good lessons with *** and also ***. They are slowly but surly progressing I think, hopefully we will be able to go to the visitor center this week. This is the last week of the transfer, and I feel like they're is progressing pretty well. Sadly we haven't been able to meet with ** and **, they are MIA, haven't heard from me and haven't seen them in a while. But we are going to have a lesson with M***'s F** tonight! Sunday at church, we had a lesson with M**! She wants to get baptized. She kind of of invited herself to get baptized it was pretty easy, but we can't set a date because she lives outside of the ward, but she thinks next week she might be willing to have us come over and teach her at her house. If that happens she will be baptized super quick! She is just one of those people that is just been super prepared. P*** is doing good, she super smart, but mostly we just need to get an in with the parents, once that happens I think it's going to go great.

 

Thanks you all for your love and support, especially your prayers is week for my test. I really felt at ease with the test, who knows if I passed, but I hope it will go well and be able to start school. I love you all and have a great week!

 

Elder Hollingshead

 

Sent from my iPad

Buenos Dias!

Buenos Dias!

 

well this week has been alright. it was little hot and humid this week, its the start of summer here. Its really not that bad, but it can be sometimes and the worst is that we live 20 mins from the center of our work area so by the time we get there were hot and sweaty, but such is life! we have been on a less active search! I was noticing that we hardly visit any of the members, so I made a list (longer than I expected) of all the members that supposedly live in our area. We have found some, some have moved, a couple have died, some not interested.... its been interesting. but we hope to help a couple people come back and along with that, find some people to get baptized. ** and *** well I hope they are doing alright, we haven't been able to find them. we call and its the home number and luz is never there so we cant find her, but we have talked to *** and he's doing good he's reading and praying.  School got out here in LA this last Thursday so now its where all the trouble happens... teenagers... We found and started teaching a 13 year old. her sister got baptized a long time ago, but now doesn't live there, but p***** is super Cool! she used to go to church along time ago and loves it, but her mom works and her dad is almost deaf, so he they don't like to go to church, anyways she wants to come, hopefully we can slowly but surly help her parents come. Then m** G** didn't come to church, hopefully next week we can get in contact with her, and then *** our investigator, last week she didn't seem super interested anymore. then we came back and taught her and she was a little more willing. we did a lesson purely on coming unto Christ. we read some scriptures from the new testament, watch the #becausehelives video and then tied it all in to what we do as missionaries. she was a little more happy and then we downloaded the app on her phone so she can listen to the book of  Mormon while she's at work! Saturday we went on exchanges again. it was fun, we talked a lot about LA and how crazy it is, and how much the gospel really can bless their lives!  then Sunday there was a bug surprise, Elder(hermano) Low a missionary that left last July came back and visited the ward, he calls it his home because he spent more than a year there and everyone knows him. I think I'm almost as close. except no one can pronounce my name. Any ways. It was fun to see him and talk for a little bit between classes.

 

Well, I just want to let you all know that the mission is the BEST! im so glad to be here, I have learned so much! Each time I study in the morning it brings me so much happiness to know the gospel. I see so much sadness and wickedness that, sometimes it brings me down, but there is a CD mom and dad sent me a while ago about Christ and a bunch of testimonies from apostles and prophets. there is one in there that talks about the light of Christ, it says that even when the darkness of sin and Satan, where we think that the light cannot penetrate, the light of Christ comes and can illuminate any darkness that is there! Its so true! its one by one, that's how the gospel comes to pass, and even thought the problems still come, there is one by one, people entering into this gospel and happiness!

 

I love you all Have a great week!

 

Elder Hollingshead

 

Well Hello Everyone!

Well Hello everyone!,

 

well this week was pretty good. Lets see. Tuesday we had iPad training. It was really good, but no we did not get our ipads yet, we still have to complete some online training today, then later this month we will get one, but the chances of me actually getting one are very slim, seeing I would only use it for about a month. so who knows, we shall see, but the thing about the training was good, it talked a lot about how we need to control how we use technology, and how the safeguards are in really in our hands, we choose how to use it effectively or not effectively. so the principles behind a lot of the things that we taught were good, and really can be taken into after the mission.  so that was good, then yeah, we had a lesson with some new people throughout the week, seeing that some of our investigators are not progressing and we are not visiting them as often. we met with ** and **, they are 2 kids we have been visiting, and we finally taught the mom (grandma) and she was nice, but we not for sure if she really wants to visit with us. We had a fun little story, we were looking for this potential and then this older lady comes out and she was like what do you do, we said we teach about Christ and his restored gospel and then she just goes on about how we are liars and from the devil. she was die hard catholic and she was not very nice, and she asked my companion if he was baptized catholic, he was like "yes, when I was a baby, but I didn't choose that and then some missionaries taught me and now im here" she was very offended by that and she basically told us were going to hell. we kindly said that we respect everyone and we hope other respect us too, and she scowled and us and then here husband was like "keep doing what your doing beasue its really good," then the lady was like "No! they taking people to hell" we just walked away.... it was fun! then we had a lesson with this girl named **, she's Christian and she just wants to learn more. We taught her at her work, and out side of the place they had a taco stand, so it smelled really good the whole time. But it was one of those Spanglish lessons. she grew up here, but speaking both and so both are extremely natural for her, so she would just go in an out of English and Spanish, it was fun! she says she doesn't want to change, but wants to learn, but at the end she was interested in reading and finding out more.

*** came to church again! it was great and she likes it a lot, we taught her the plan of salvation after church, then went to a baptism! she loved both and really likes to learn from them all! The people that got baptized this last weekend I have know for a long time. They had moved into Inglewood ward when I first was there at the beginning of my mission. and I saw him here and there when ever I would switch wards. they could never get baptized because they were living together and already divorced. but they finally got to be able to move out and get baptized, they were super happy!

We had a 2 lessons  with ** and ***  and they both went really well. they are reading and we set a baptismal date with them this week for the 5th of July! it was super fun! there is some sort of family situation, and she doesn't want to talk too much about it, which i'm fine with, but her husband cant come and stay at the house anymore and hes always in the hospital. But he is interested in listening to us!

 Well I hope you all have a great week! and Good beginning of summer! Stay strong everyone and remember what Christ says " If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me." (moroni 7:33) that was a scripture I found that I really liked this week! With faith all things are possible, especially in his work!

I love you all!

 

Elder Hollingshead

 

Hello!

May 25, 2015

Hello Everyone!

Happy memorial day! I hope that the lack of emails is because everyone is having fun vacationing! Don't worry, its all good here in LA! This week was Fun! my new companion is great! hes got a lot of energy and we have fun! we have seen a lot more miracles and success in the area this week! Tuesday was a great day! we had 3 lessons! I think that surprised me more than my companion for the first day together! Then next day was supposed to be just as great, but almost everything we had planned canceled. so we walked a lot and got a lot of conversations. it was fun! Long but fun. Then  Thursday we had a special training with President.  He had some trainings last week! But as he was there, the august transfer kept coming to his head. so he was thinking about it. in the august transfer that goes home, there are about 35 of us. the biggest group in the mission. it's pretty nuts. And he was very impressed, to invite us to do something astonishing! he went into this training with us, not having any plan, and letting us talk and make a plan. so we went in, he read a little bit from the Book of Mormon,  about the story of the sons of helaman. He was talking and then we said a group prayer (actually I said the group prayer) and then we went off for 15 min to make a plan for our area, and mission. we came back and talked a little bit more and then set a very high expectation, and goal. as a mission we usually average about 10 baptisms a week. President invited us to double that number by the time we go home. so we talked a lot about uniting in faith and working in a way to be able to do that. It was a super spiritual meeting and we all came out of there more energized and excited to go out and work like a dog, with whatever it may be. It was a super spiritual lift for me.

Cool Miracle. there was this lady that came to church. I had seen her a few weeks ago, but thought it was someones investigator, then a member commented on her, and so I told myself when she comes again I will ask her who she was, and get to know her. come to find out. she has come about 4 times. She is struggling really bad right now, her husband doesn't want her to go to a church, but she through prayer made a promise to find a church, if her daughter would get healed. So her daughter is progressing a lot right now, so she is on a search to find a church. a family friend gave a Book of Mormon to them and she kept it for 4 years. She called the visitor center number I think and they gave her the address of the church. So she has come, against her family's will and is loving it. shes been reading the Book of Mormon. She doesn't want us to go to her house because her husband doesn't want it. but she does and shes going to keep coming to church. So we shall see how it goes. she doesn't live in our area, but we taught her and hopefully we can figure out where she lives and get the missionaries to teach her.

Thanks for all the support and love i get from you all! I hope you all have a great first week of summer vacation! its crazy to think that its already here! have a great week!

Love,

Elder Hollingshead

Transfers!!!!!

May 18, 2015

Well, I'm staying! I'm going to be with Elder Villanueva. he was Elder Delgado's comp in the MTC. so Hopefully it will all be good :) its only a 5 week transfer! So its going to go by quick!  So this week we had a little more success. we found 5 new investigators. and it really lifted our spirits. sometimes we as missionaries thing of tall the things that go wrong, and it really just brings us down, but as we start to work and have fun, it really helped us see the good and the fun in the work. our relationship improved and it really just mad the week less stressful. We still had our moments, but its been good. We found this couple, ** and **, they are young have a couple of kids and she's 6 months pregnant, but they are very interested in learning and getting closer and more into churches. It was a good lesson, they committed to come to church, but didn't come, but little by little I hope we can find some good things in it all. Then also we had an awesome experience at a Chinese restaurant... So Saturday night we didn't have dinner and our apartment is far so we just stop and eat in the area, there's a Chinese food place that's cheep and decent, so we stopped by and grabbed our food. as we finished eating the one girl who was basically running the place, starts cleaning the tables and floor, so we started talking to her, and she was telling us how she feels like she needs to change a lot in her life, and get closer to God, she says she goes to various churches just to see what they have, but she feels a little judged. as we talked more and shared what we do, she became really interested. so we exchanged info, and hopefully we are going to meet up some time. we thought she was like 21,but she's 17 so it was really cool to see someone who wants to change. she told us some of the things she does and she is just like I feel horrible, but I haven't found peace. so she was a cool finding miracle that day. Funny thing was that day we contacted like 4-5 teenage girls and many of them said yes they were interested. So who knows maybe that's going to be our teaching pool for a little bit.

 

So this week in my Book of Mormon reading. I found a chapter that I really liked. Its Abinidi's finial teaching to the king. and he is talking about Christ, But they way he talks is like its already happened. It struck me that that is Abinidi's testimony. he knows (150 or so years before his birth) that Christ is the redeemer of the world. These words I thought were really powerful "   But there is a resurrection, therefore the grave hath no victory, and the sting of death‍ is swallowed up in Christ.  He is the light‍ and the life of the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened; yea, and also a life which is endless, that there can be no more death." (mosiah 16:8-9). He is that light! Its so true, there was also a part in the new Ensign, Elder Bednars talk "Therefore they hushed their fears" And it talks about how a firm Faith, founded on Christ, Chastens away Fear (any fear). I'M So Grateful for this mission and the opportunity its given me to establish my firm faith in Christ, sometimes I get fearful or lazy, or tired, but that light lifts me up and I feel its love!

 

Thanks for all your prayers and support! Keep it up and Have a great last week of School for those kids that are in school! Don't freeze at the cabin this weekend!

 

Love,

Elder Hollingshead

Mother's Day

May 11, 2015

For those Mothers' that are reading! HAPPY MOTHERS DAY! Sorry its a day late, but that's just the way it goes.

This week was good. we had been struggling in a lot of parts of the work. That's another problem we are trying to fix, but we had a couple of good stories this week. One I shared with my parents yesterday on Skype :) We have been  trying to contact this potential named **, that we met with trying to look for a part member family. we have passed by like 4 times, and this was going to be our last stop by. So as we start talking she told us to come by when her husband was there, so we asked her how she knew the church. it was silent then she told us that she's a member, we looked puzzled and then she was like, I lied to you,  I'm the person you were originally looking for **. So we asked her about that? she told us she was baptized 5-6 years ago in palm springs. she was super active, but then there was some family situation that got brought into the church, and the bishop didn't do much and actually made a bigger mess, so she left and did not want to know much about the church. she says that recently she has been seeing missionaries everywhere! And she lied to us so we wouldn't stop by, but the patient perseverance we kept giving, her heart softened and she knows its good down inside and she wants to help her husband out who is not a member!  so that was one of our cool stories.

 
Another was just a few minuets before that, we were walking down the street, it was early in the day and we hadn't contacted much yet, but I had the feeling talk to this lady, who was working in the yard. So I stopped and introduced ourselves and then she was like yeah! your the Mormons! so we asked her how she knew about us. She was like oh like 10 years ago, my x husband was a member and he took us the church over on Vermont and also in Huntington park. She was like im not a member but I love what your church teaches! so we are going to visit her, this week, we invited her to church, she said she would come but she didn't, but that's not the first time that has happened so no big deal right now. Then we also had a lesson with this lady named **. Shes cool, and the lesson went well. And almost committed her to baptism!

Well keep me all in your prayers! Things sometimes get rough, But I know that The work of salvation will continue forward. I know that the power of Prayer works! Im reading a talk right now called "the fourth missionary" it is great and talks about the ways to serve your mission. As he states, there are 2 ways to live the gospel, the easy way and the hard way. Many times they have the same outward appearances; obedient, faithful, does what one should, follows councils... etc. The problem is inside, Many times we take the gospel as things we have to do, But that's the hard way to live it, If we take the gospel as Things we want to do out of pure love we enjoy the process much more and we had a smile on our face always. There are some things I need to work on, but I hope It will all be for the best!

I love you all! Have a great week!

 

Elder Hollingshead

 

Mother's Day ALREADY?

May 4, 2015

Wow I cant believe that this Sunday is mothers day, it seems just like a month ago when i talk to you before on Christmas. Wow but yeah so this week was alright. We both had a hard time this week. It was just well i guess. We had lots of appointments go through and lots of time that was not very efficient with anything.

WE went on exchanges this last Tuesday, but nothing extremely exciting happened. I left the area again and we walked alot but the last like 15 min we were heading back to the apartment and we ran into a man, and he started talking to us. he was really cool. not interested in what we share, but was very happy we were doing it in "this neck of the woods" hes a Vietnam vet, ex-Professional baseball player, and he asked us what are the most important 4 things in life. I didnt know where he was going with the question so i told him to answer. he Said 1, Put God First, 2 Take care of your Health, 3 Make sure your Happy, 4 Family.  He said thats the way he did it in life and he really found lots of good things come from it. But i really enjoyed it, because those 4 things are very true. And to make it Even better just put an eternal Perspective and it really makes everything else Fit into place. anyways, We also found another former investigator that was in the area book. She is pretty cool, She has received an answer, but just doesn't want to act on it. That's a big problem that i've seen here In LA, people Believe all the time, but when it comes to acting there like "but i have to work", "Its too hard", "I don't have to act, God just loves us all like we are" , God is always with us" and the list goes on. But in all reality, people just don't really understand our purpose, nor the fact that there really is life after death. Even among all the religions many people just don't believe that there is life after death,and if they do, the don't understand the purpose of the After life. We always just read Alma 34:32 "this life is a time for men to prepare to meet God" so yeah, we shall see if she'll understand the relationship between Acting and Faith.

I cant believe how fast time is going. we just started our 6th week, and this is a 7 week transfer... so wow it doesnt seem like its been that long. So yeah! Hope you all have a great week! Ill be seeing some of you all on Sunday! It will be FUN! Love you all!  Keep me in your Prayers!

Love,

Elder Hollingshead