Wk #40: I am grateful.

Tender mercies

Hello from TALLAHASSEE!

Errick (L), Antonio (R)

Once again, it was another great, hard, miracle filled week! Campus has had a weird vibe the last couple weeks or so, and their is a lot of opposition. There has been a lot of rejection, but that comes with the work. :) It also has been the hottest week of the summer. Everyday has been in the hundreds, and somehow I am still alive! We hear that August is pretty brutal, so I'm just trying to enjoy what I can now! 

 

Donut break!

There have been some pretty crazy storms again. The other night, the lighting was so bad that the sky was purple for about half an hour with pure lightning, nonstop! I have never experienced anything like it. I was a little nervous. The rain was comin down pretty hard and the wind was crazy too! As much as I LOVE and pray for rain, I'm not sure the aftermath is worth it! Talk about HUMIDITY! We walked outside the other day after a rain storm, and there was steam coming off the pavement EVERYWHERE. It was so hot. Also, the puddles here are about 187,000 degrees, puddle jumping is a very big no go. Unless you want your feet to be boiled off...

Silly Sisters

Also, lizards and squirrels rule campus. The squirrels I can handle... but the lizards? SO GROSS. Oh, I can't even tell you. I hate them. I also got chased by one yesterday and made a big fool of myself, but what else is new?

 

On a more awesome note, you know how every once in a while you'll find some change in your couch? Well, let me tell you a story.

 

The many faces...

We come home for lunch after sweating our guts out, and I sit down to open a package from mom. (THANKS MOM!) I'm lovin my life, and am enjoying the yummy treats. I stand up to do something and realize that I am wet. But not just a little wet... I am W E T. There was NO WAY I was that sweaty! and if I was THAT sweaty, it would be a serious problem! So, after Sister Rindlisbacher stops laughing she comes over to see what was going on. I went to change, and she realized that my water bottle had been tipped upside down and had dumped out onto the couch and me! How I didn't feel it in the process, I have no idea. So, I grab some towels and start trying to dry the couch. We decide that it would be easier to just take the cushion off, so I did, and low and behold.... I found my pink pen that I have been missing forever! I was so excited!! Then, Sister Rindlisbacher points at the couch and says "What is that?" There were some folded papers stuck in the back of the couch. I reach back there (which is always gross... you know how it is..) and grab the stack. Before I pulled it out, I noticed a 100... no way... I pull it out... $100, $50, and a $20... ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! Who finds $170 in their couch?! haha I am still mystified and speechless! Tender mercies BABY!

On another awesome note, we got three new investigators this week! Heavenly Father has been pouring out blessings on us. I am SO grateful! One of our investigators is a Corner on the FSU football team! We were excited about that :) He's working hard to get into the league! And he is the most respectful guy I have ever met! He is from Jamaica and is super awesome. They are all awesome! OH I LOVE THE GOSPEL.

This week I have been overwhelmed by the things I have learned on my mission thus far. I am eternally grateful for the physically trying moments, the moments of despair, pain, sorrow, loneliness. I'm grateful for the moments of opposition, rejection, rudeness and adversity. I am grateful for the feelings of inadequacy, fear, embarrassment. The times in which I feel like I cannot go on any longer. I am grateful for the Savior's hand that is continually reached out to ME. For the times I have felt the physical push on my back helping me make it all the way home. I am grateful for the profound joy I have been able to experience that is beyond anything I have ever felt before. I'm grateful for the many opportunities that I trust in the spirit, and say the things that are put into my heart at the exact moment of testifying. I'm grateful for the strength that has and is continually being added to my testimony. I'm grateful for the knowledge I have of my divine potential and the person I know Heavenly Father wants and needs me to become. More importantly, I am extremely grateful to serve my Father and my Savior. I'm grateful to have this time to do nothing but represent Jesus Christ, and this is a time I cherish and will forever hold dear to my heart.

I love you all, and I am so grateful for the continued support you give! 

All my love,

Sister Holmes

ps... transfers are this week! We find out on Sunday. SO if I get transferred off of campus, my next email will come on a week from Monday. stay tuned ;) 

 

Wk #18: Tender Mercies

Ya'll! It's been an awesome week!! Sister Rohwer and I have had so many amazing experiences that we have been so overwhelmed. The Lord has given us tender mercy after tender mercy, and we have been SO grateful for that!!

Valerie is doing AWESOME. She's sharing the gospel with two of her friends, and has been such an amazing missionary! Her testimony is so strong, and she constantly tells us how grateful she is for the gospel, then she gets teary eyed and says "Go out and find people like me. I want them to experience the things that I have. You are out here saving lives. Don't ever give up." We have had some extremely powerful experiences with her. WE ARE SO PROUD!

Our ADORABLE little investigator, Jazzanae is getting baptized on February 28th! She is a doll. I have never met a little girl with a testimony like hers. She's definitely got an extremely special purpose here on earth in the gospel. We had asked her how it made her feel to know that we can be with our families forever, and she responded "It makes me feel proud! I get to be with my beautiful sisters forever. And when I feel this way it just makes me want to hug everybody. I'm proud of my family, and my faith, and I love Jesus." Melted my heart! We are so so excited for her, and she is ecstatic about getting baptized!

We also got a new investigator this week, and he is quite the miracle. His sweet wife is a strong member in our ward, and the cutest little lady in the world. Archie LOVES to feed the missionaries, but has always been very bold about not wanting to talk about the gospel with us. (It's been this way for years, and his home teachers have been trying to work with him for as long as they've been here in Florida.. which is a where they grew up.. so a long time.) Well, Mr. Archie wanted to meet Sister Rohwer! So we set up a time to go over there, and both felt prompted to share a little gospel message with him. THE SPIRIT WAS SO STRONG. We ended up setting up another appointment, he came to church that sunday (which was H U G E), and at the next appointment.... drum roll please... we invited him to be baptized, and HE ACCEPTED!!!!!!! So yesterday (he was at church again!!) we asked him how he was feeling about being baptized, and he was so excited! We set a date for March 14th!! Keep him in your prayers! We have had the most powerful lessons with him that I've experienced my whole mission. He is ready for the gospel, and we are SO happy for him!!

We had a lesson with our new investigator, Roy. (The bible basher...) and we really focused it on the Book of Mormon. It was a little frustrating, but I was able to bear testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith as well as the Book of Mormon, and I was overwhelmed with the spirit. It really hit me. I am so lucky that I get to be out here, sharing what I KNOW is true. you can't deny something that someone knows, and I was able to truly testify with all my heart about the gospel. We have another appointment with him next week. :)

This week we also got to go to Tallahassee to get the lovely Black Boxes put into our cars! (If you don't know what those are... google them. haha they are a safety device for our cars that I'm still trying to get used to) but I'm now the designated driver, and the steward over the car, so that's fun. haha BUT, it was Zone Conference so we had an AWESOME meeting with a few of the zones in the mission! I learned SO much, and as always, the spirit was just so strong. President and Sister Smith have my heart. I'm so grateful to have them leading this mission! Sister Smith showed us this video during the conference, and it really touched me. We are all in battle with the adversary. We know we are going to win, but we have so much to do before we gain that win. http://floridatallahasseemissionexperience.blogspot.com/2015/02/training-video.html
 It was a fun little road trip, and definitely exactly what I needed. :)

Also, Sister Rohwer has converted me to coconut. Never been a fan until now! She got a cute package with coconut macaroon cookie mix in it from Kitchen Kneads and WHOA. I had to REALLY practice my self control. HEAVEN.

This week I have been so overwhelmed with the spirit, that sometimes I look at my badge and just feel so honored to wear my Savior's name on my chest, to represent Him, and to bring others to the fold! What an amazing opportunity.

Thanks for all the Valentine's Love over the weekend! I loved it all!!!

Have a blessed day!

Sister Holmes :)

Wk #17: A Weekend Full of Tender Mercies

WOW! What a weekend!! Sister Rohwer and I have been on a spiritual HIGH! :)

Saturday sweet Valerie got baptized! It was such an incredible baptism and the spirit was extremely strong. Everything went smoothly (except our water heater for the font.. poor girl. haha) and the cute program was so great. Valerie insisted on bearing her testimony at the end, and whoa. I don't think there was a dry eye in the room. She definitely has a deep understanding and strong testimony of the gospel. She has come so far, and her life has truly been changed by the Atonement. What an incredible opportunity for her! I was so so happy. I have been so grateful that I've been able to get to know Valerie. She has the most tender heart, and I am SO beyond proud of her.

After the baptism, cute Sister Rohwer and I had a big heart to heart that led to tears of gratitude. You guys. She is SUCH a blessing to me. I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father let us be companions! She is my family out here, and I will forever be grateful for her.

We rode our bikes all day Saturday, and the weather was absolutely GORGEOUS. Perfect blue skies, warm sun, and a soft breeze. Man, February in Florida is nniicceee. We were able to talk to so many people about the gospel, and there were so many tender mercies from Heavenly Father. We were so overwhelmed.

Later that night we decided to try a new technique that another sister shared with us called "indoor finding". So we went through our area book and called all the numbers that were listed, even if they were from years and years ago. And guess what! More tender mercies! We were able to set up multiple appointments with people! Some who hadn't talked to missionaries ever before that had given their information in 2008!

We ended up having a lesson with one of them last night. We were so excited, and had one of the young women teaching with us! So we went into the lesson. And there it was. My first experience with a bible basher. Welcome to the South ya'll! It was... an interesting experience. He wants us to come back next week so that he can have his buddy (a Jehovah Witness) hear what we have to say. Yikes. haha

But church was amazing, and we had THREE of our investigators there! What a blessing! One of which was a new gator we got this week!

Sister Rohwer and I have also had some pretty awesome, fun moments. haha Saturday night, we got laughing so hard that I was crying because I was in so much pain! haha I thought my abs were going to tear! Oh the joys of a good hardy laugh. We had so many happy moments!

I LOVE THE GOSPEL. And I LOVE being a missionary. It is the greatest experience of my life. The happy moments, like Valerie's baptism, outweigh the bad every time. Sometimes missions are 98% difficult, exhausting, and overwhelming. But the 2% of joy makes it worth it beyond measure.

Thank you for all the love and support. I couldn't be out here without ya!

LOVE YOU!

The happiest sister in the south,

Sister Holmes

Week #12: Here's To a NEW YEAR!‏

Hello people of 2015! Holy weird! I hope everyone brought in the new year with some fun! I sure did... if you consider bringing in the new year at 10:30 pm! ;) Oh the missionary life. Gotta love it! Oh, and I guess it's a southern tradition to eat greens and peas for good luck on new years day. Collard greens = THE WORST THING OF MY LIFE. Did I gag? The worst I've ever gagged before! Did I throw up just a little bit? You better believe it. haha SO. BAD. But, I swallowed, and got my good luck for the year!

This week has been one full of hard, exhausting, frustrating work. But also one of tender mercies and blessings. Sister Rohwer and I have been working hard to get to know the area and contact ALL of our potential investigator / former investigator list. It's quite the task, let me tell ya. We haven't had much success, but we've been able to update the lists, and we're still trying. We did however gain a new investigator! WHOO! Her name is Shannon, and she was a referral from a returning member! She has seen the difference and blessings that the gospel has brought to Muriah's (the returning member) life. She wants to go to church, and she is super awesome. We are so excited to work with her! We also found a potential that we are hoping works out! After a long, long, long, long what felt like unsuccessful day, we decided to run into a gas station to see if we could talk to someone there. There was absolutely no one. As we turned around, the cashier began talking to us and asking us questions. He thought we sold insurance. haha So we grabbed two drinks, went and bought them, and come to find out, he just moved here! His name is Peter, and he is probably in his 20's. We told him that we are missionaries, and he seemed super interested. He wanted to come to church on Sunday, so we gave him the address and our number in case he got lost. Unfortunately, the weather prevented him from coming (talk about waking up to a hurricane yesterday!) so we were super bummed. BUT! We have a church tour with him this week, so we are so so excited! Valerie still is planning on getting baptized, but her date has been pushed back just a little. We are working real hard to help her get there, and we know she will. She is so amazing, and such a beautiful daughter of Heavenly Father!

I've had the worst luck this week. haha my scriptures have flown off my bike handle, I've fallen off my bike, I've had dog poop flipped up on me from my bike tires, I've tripped on my bike, I dropped my jacket on the street and had to bike back to get it, I've made about a million and a half u-turns because I'm not smart enough to follow the gps we have and I hit my funny bone so hard that I have a bruise! haha Sister Rohwer has been cracking up (so have I) at how much these dumb things happen to me. haha Welcome to my life I guess! It's been fun, and my cheeks have hurt so bad from laughing.

Well, I love you all. The mission life is the best life, and I am so grateful for the letters and love and support I have received out here! I couldn't be more blessed.

As you begin this new year, make a goal that will spiritually help you progress and grow! Stretch yourselves to higher ground, continue to reach that potential that Heavenly Father has for you. Never give up, never back down. And know that no matter how steep the hill of turmoil and strife are, your Savior Jesus Christ is two steps ahead of you pulling you along. If you give it your all, he will carry you to the divine end of your journey.

Happy 2015! And 23 days til ma birthday! But whose counting ;)

Shishta Holmes :)