Mexcio so far!

Elder Holmquist has been in Mexico for almost 2 weeks!  We are getting emails from him on Mondays now, as that is is P-day.  We also have a new mailing address for him (check out the upper right hand corner of the blog for this!).  U.S. mail is much easier to use, so please feel free to send letters or cards that way!  It does take about 6 weeks to receive mail, so don't expect a speedy response :o)  A tip we received from the mission home there is to add a picture of Jesus Christ or a cross... apparently the mail is less likely to be tampered with when religious materials are on it.  

Here are a couple of excerpts from his latest email:

Well I am learning a lot and am starting to understand what people are saying better. I don't feel like my speaking ability is getting that much better but I am happy that I can at least understand a little bit of what they are saying.  one day i woke up and for some reason could just understand a lot better! it was definitely the gift of tongues. 

Our apartment is disgusting, and the bathroom smells horrible.  sometimes we have to pour water down the toilet cuz it wont fill up again... oh the mission life.... so... i really miss carpet... everything here is just concrete or dirt floors.. even in rich people's houses all they have is tile.. so our apartment is super cold, and we only have 2 little heaters that we have to turn off when cooking, but my bed is actually very comfortable, which is really nice.  I had to buy a bike this week. $500 pesos.  which is like $45 US dollars.. super cheap and its actually really nice.  this area of the Monterrey mission is super spread out and we need bikes to get around. A little about my area : Acuna.  its cold, huge, tons of people and  lots of work to do!  me and my comp. ride bikes everywhere and it takes a while to get to appointments.  oh and its not flat ground.. its hills.. EVERYWHERE my legs hurt so much but they are getting so strong and its only been 2 weeks.  and I am going to be in this area for 6 months...

Anyways, I am good here other than tired.Ii get frustrated when I cant speak but I know it will come with time. I have faith in our savior and his atonement and know he knows what I am going through.  and every time we are riding up a huge hill  and don't think I can do it anymore I think of what he did and the pain he felt for us.. I can take a little soreness to bring souls home to him.  I know this work is true, I know the savior is with me and that the gospel was restored through Joseph smith.  I love my life here.. I really have a purpose and I love you all so much. My love has grown for my family so much now that I have been away and I miss you all like crazy. please pray for my Spanish.  I love you and cant wait to talk to you at Christmas!

We are so happy for him and pray that he continues to love his mission life!  We are grateful for the opportunity he has to be in Mexico and to be serving the people there and the Lord. 

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

 

Mexico!

Elder Holmquist is finally in Mexico!!  He arrived in Monterrey on Friday afternoon.  After a quick peanut butter sandwich, he was sent off into the field! 

We received a call from the secretary to the mission president on Sunday.  Sam will be serving in one of the upper most parts of the mission.  In his email, he said that he is about 5 miles from the US border!

He spent about 20 hours on a bus to get to his area!  His email was wonderful and he is excited to get to work.  He asks that we all pray for his Spanish! He feels like he isn't getting it as fast as he could.

He also talked about how grateful he is for all he has back at home.  The people are very poor and do not have much of anything.  He talked about kneeling on dirt floors with families and praying. He is humbled by the members and their faith.


Please continue to pray for him, especially now that he is truly into the work!  Updates will come as we get them!  Thank you as always for you support and prayers!

Mexico Bound

We just got a call from Elder Holmquist!  He has been cleared and is on his way to Mexico on Friday!

Mom said he sounded tired but really excited!  He leave on Friday morning, has a layover in Dallas and will be in Mexico by Friday night! 

Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts! 

Great story

Here's a piece of Elder Sam's recent letter.

"this week we had another apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ come and speak to us!! ......Richard G. Scott!! Amazing! the funny thing was as soon as he walked in , well of course we all stand up and we all know there is going to be one because they always remind us "if you see an apostle walk in please stand up" but they only remind us that on nights when one is coming. so as soon as they say that it gets really loud and exciting ... "who is it?!" stuff like that. anyways.. when he walked in we all stood up and then as we realized who it was me and my companion and some in our district were bummed... "ahhh Elder Scott is soooo boring...." well... he might be boring but the spirit that he brought to that room was one of the most powerful moments of my mission so far. it was great. He talked alot about feeling the spirit and what we need to be doing to feel it. so awesome. i loved every minute of it. He said this "I feel impressed to tell all you who are learning a new language, the gift of tongues is real, and with the apostolic power which i have been ordained with, i invoke this power again upon all of you elders and sisters, and as long as you are working hard and have faith in this gift, you will recieve it" it was amazing and such a great reminder for us all to work even harder. i really know i am going to need the gift of tongues because i cant speak very well, and cant understand native speakers all that well. Elder Scott ended his talk by saying "as an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, I solemly testify that he lives. I know he lives because I know Him. " that was the most powerful sentence in his whole talk! it gave me goose bumps and just made my heart pound."

We love to hear these wonderful stories!  Hope you do too!

We also found out that some of the elde going to Mexico about 3 weeks ahead of Sam were given pre-visas!  So... hopefully the doors to Mexico will open again soon and let our missionaries in!  We will keep you posted!

3 Weeks!

Well, Sam has been gone for 3 weeks now and it seems like forever!  He has been emailing home on Thursdays and has been sharing some awesome stories.  His writing is in a combination of English and Spanish... he seems to think his English is getting bad!  I suppose that's a good thing!  He is reading, writing, praying and teaching in Spanish now.  

He asked us to send him ALL of his ties from home.  Apparently the 'Tie Trade' at the MTC is really awesome.  So, all of his ties are on their way.  We are anxious to see what he ends up with. 

Sam has been able to continue playing the piano, which he loves!  He is playing at sacrament meetings and any other times he can.  He loves it and really feels the spirit when he plays.  We are so happy he has the chance to continue to build his talent while he is away. 

In his last letter home, he sent some pictures.  Here they are!

 In front of the Provo Temple.  His companion is standing next to him, with the glasses.

 We just really love this picture!!

 District 35 E

Temple walk on P-day!

First Letter!

We recieved our first letter from Sam today!  It came as a suprise because we thought we wouldn't hear from him for a couple more days.  His letter was very sweet and of course made us cry. 

There were 388 missionaries that reported with Sam last Wednesday.  He said it was quite the experience.  He also said that the MTC is very intense.  I would think so... he is already writing in Spanish!

Can't wait to hear more from him!  Stay tuned :o)

MTC

Well, yesterday was the big day.  We (mom, Kenzie and I) took Sam to the MTC. It was full of lots of laughs and even more tears. Provo is such a beautiful place and the MTC was such a cool experience!  We are so proud of him and his decision to give these 2 years to the Lord. We are so happy and excited for Elder Holmquist and can't wait to hear from him soon!


He will be at the MTC for about 9 weeks, learning the language mainly.  Please feel free to write him, I know he would love to hear from everyone! The MTC address is listed on the blog.


Here are some pictures from our wonderful experience.

 We didn't want to let him go!  :o)

 On our way to Provo and the MTC!

 Checking the luggage.

 Elder Holmquist

 Proud, happy family!  Let's do this!

 At the curb getting ready to go.

Walking into the MTC!  Good luck Elder Holmquist! We love you!

Farwell!

Thank you to everyone who joined in this wonderful day!  Elder Holmquist was set apart this evening and is headed to Salt Lake tomorrow!  We wish him all the best!

The day is soon!

Elder Holmquist will be reporting to the MTC in Provo, Utah on Septmeber 22, 2010! 

Stop by the blog for updates, letters and pictures!

As soon as we have mailing information that will be up as well.

Thank you to all of Elder Holmquist's friends for being so supportive of him through the last couple of years, his family knows of your efforts and loves you for them!