Week Eighteen: July 19th, 2010

Hello Everybody,
So this week has been pretty good. We have been really working on a Flia Gonzalez. They have at least 5 grandchildren that are old enough to be baptized. 4 boys between the ages of 9 to 12 and a girl who is 15. It is really fun to watch them read and pray and progress in the gospel. They are so amazing. They all leave with their parents and grandparents. There have 16 people living in one house. It´s crazy. The grandparents and their kids are all baptized but the grandchildren aren´t. The grandmother somehow got offended and so they decided to stop going. It´s crazy how open the boys are to the gospel. They all have their own book of mormon and we come back and asked them what they think and they were all like it´s good and we´re like well did you pray about and they are all like yeah and they know it´s true. So we have been really working on them and we have also been working on Karina sister of Krishna. She has a baptism date for the 7th of August. Well the bishop got a hold of us that Charlie apparently has pictures of girls in his room and was wondering if we could help out. So we went over and taught the law of Chastity. We´ve been really working on him. His baptism date is 31st of July. So I believe his interview is coming up. So my doctor sent me to another doctor last Monday and she subscribed me 4 different creams. 2 for my hands and then 2 for the acne on my face just to be nice. So I called my doctor and he said that the hand creams the church will pay for no problem but the acne only if it´s not over $50. So we went to go pick them up and they were only about $30 so I´ll be picking those up this week because they have to be compiled. Also last week we had my final greenie meeting. It was awesome though. We got free pizza which was a sight for sore eyes. Well everything is going good here. I hope all is well you guys.

Love,
Elder Holton
Elder Young and me with some of the families we have been teaching!

Elder Young, Lizardo the ward mission leader and me with some investigatore

Week Seventeen: July 12th, 2010

Well Hello Everybody,
Well I have a lot to talk about today. So starting with Tuesday, We took Elder Young to a specific chapel where everybody that has changes meets and our President talked for a minute and then they put the lists up of who is going with who and where. So my new companion is named, Elder Van Buren. He is from Ogden, UT and has been in the mission for 16 months. He is really cool. So we took a taxi back to our house and got all settled in. Elder Van Buren loves the Fleemarket here and apparently we have a really big one which is pretty sweet. This week has been a different week because where as before I was the follower now I´m the leader and to be perfectly honest I feel like I´m teaching him which is way weird. Every night for planning I just do it all because I´m the only one that knows everybody. It´s just strange because like before Elder Young would carry the conversation but now that the members only know me they look to me too carry it which is fine because I´ve gotten to the point where I usually have a pretty good idea of what is being said and I have no problem responding so that´s good. It´s just hard because whenever an appointment falls through I feel like it´s up to me to figure out what to do and I don´t know the area that incredibly well. One good thing though is we haven´t gotten lost yet which is a really good sign. So yeah this has been one of those slow weeks but it´s all good and we´re still trying hard. Hopefully our success will continue. Sorry this is a shorter email but I don´t really have as much to say. I love you all.

Love,
Elder Holton

Week Sixteen: July 5th, 2010 PICTURES!!

Hello Everybody,
Well this has been a very full week I must say. Wow. So we are just going to start from the top. Monday night we had FHE (we do it everyweek and sometimes twice a week) with our next door neighbors (Part member family). The lesson went really good and then we made some home made completos. Talk about amazing. Food is awesome. Tuesday: Well to be perfectly honest nothing incredibly exciting happened Tuesday. All our appointments fell through which is a usual thing. Also on Tuesday the owner of our House kinda randomly showed up at 9 PM to fix all of our stuff but we convinced him to come back tomorrow. He lives in argentina and he is basically a 52 year old hippie that loves to talk. Wednesday: We had district meeting like usual (PS Mom whenever I get letters, Packages, or dearelders it´s at that meeting) and we got the testaments movie I bought from the Distribution Center. Then the owner came by and went to work on our roof. It kinda stunk cause we had to cancel most of our appointments. I hate cancelling appointments on our behalf but what can you do right? Thursday: Was an overall good day not much happened though I guess haha. Friday: Now this was a huge day. First off We had to go meet our new Mission President. We had to leave the house at like 7:45 to be there at 8:45 and we were still five minutes late. He is huge. He´s 6 foot 5 inches and he is as broad as Ed Kehl just ripped. It was kinda hard to give him a hug. Plus He has an incredibly deep voice. His Wife I´ve actually already met in the MTC. She´s pretty cool too. The interview went good. After that we had to go buy my companion a better ankle brace because the one that the Doctor gave him wasn´t good enough. Saturday: Well it first started off with cleaning the house and the owner coming over to finish the roof. Then At like 1 we had to go start filling the font. We had Almuerzo with the Bishop and had Chinese food which was a little piece from home in a sense. Then we went back to the Chapel to get all the chairs ready and everything and the water level was at mid shin so we got two big pots and started boiling water. We only had time to do that twice.Once everyone got there we turned it off. The meeting went good. The bishop conducted. Then we headed to the font. When I got in it was only up to my knee. Haha darn Then when she got in she said that it was way to hot. I asked her if she wanted us to turn on the cold water but she said she was ok. The water was up to her mid thigh which isn´t very high. So I basically just dunked her as fast as I could so that she could be fully imersed. Her feet pomped up after but the witnesses said that I was good so sweet. I fell kinda bad though. After that we had refreshments but the ward could pay for them so it came right our of my pocket. Oh well. After all that we changed and talked with the family and everything. Then we changed again and played some soccer and then went home. Sunday: We did the confirmation. It was my companions first confirmation. I think he was just a little nervous but it went all good. After that we had Almuerzo with Ward famiy and had Tacos. We did really well on appointments though and were able to hit most of them. We had family night with a Family where the Mom just got reactivated and she wanted us to come and get her husband baptized. We started off talking about different churches and he told us how he has been surrounded by so many churchs. So then we decided to teach about Joseph Smith and tell his story. It went really well. He was very receptive and interest. His wife shared her testimony. It was very good. Well Sunday night came and we had what is called Changes. It´s where we receive the phone call to see if and who is changing. In our Zone only 4 people are changing. Normally a trainer will stay with his trainee for 2 changes (12 weeks) but my companion has also been in this sector for 5 changes already (30 weeks) So the chances were he was going to be transfered. Well that is what happened. So on Tuesday he packs up and we go to the Mission Office where I receive my knew companion and he gets his. It´s kinda sad. He said I was his favorite companion. I´m just thankful for the time we had together. We had a lot of fun and a lot of success. We had our high times and our low times. But life goes on. Today we will be visiting some of his favorite families. I´m really glad though that I´m not changing. Lets see one more thing I forgot about. One day during my Personal study I found some thing very interesting. It´s called a Chiasma. I heard in the MTC that they existed in the Book of Mormon but no one knew where. Well I found one. It´s in Alma Chapter 36. A Chiasma is like for example the word racecar. You can read forward and backward and you´ll get the same thing. Well I found something like that but with principles. It teaches a bunch of principles in a certain order and then goes in reverse and teaches them again. Check it out. Well I hope all of you are doing well and working hard. I´ll talk to you all soon

Love,
Elder Holton

My first Baptism Krishna is 9 years old.

Me and President and Sister Jones!

At the Air Museum!

The BEST!! Completo!

Completo! (a smothered hot dog! YUM!!)

This is where we live!

This is our kitchen

The bunk beds we sleep in

The extra room. Check out our weights!

The extra room we study in.

Sister Jones, President Jones, Me and Elder Young

My first companion Elder Young from Arizona
Elder Christensen, President and Sister Jones, Elder Monsen, Elder Holton
My plane getting ready to leave Utah!
The Airport in Salt Lake City

Week Fifteen: June 28th, 2010

Well Hello Everyone,
Sorry I´m a little late today. Every thing was closed today until after the game. It´s insane how much they love soccer down here. Well to start off this email I´ve decided that I´m going to do this on a day by day basis. Well nothing too exciting before Wednesday happened so we´re starting there. Wednesday, We had Mission Conference. Our Zone leaders told us the night before that they wanted to meet at 8:00 in the morning to go together. It just so happens that where they wanted to meet was harder to get to than the conference itself so we convinced them to allow us to go by ourselves. Once we got there we discovered that the meeting didn´t start till 10:00 so getting there at 8:30 was more than perfect. The conference was amazing. President Jones is so amazing and I´m going to miss him so much. It was such a powerful conference. His parents were there and they gave their testimonies but it was nothing to the power of the closing prayer given by President Jones. He blessed us by invoking the power of his priesthood keys. Then after We all gave him a hug and we also got to hug Sister Jones. It felt really good to get a Mother´s hug. She is so cool. Well Thursday we had division where I go split and go with the companion of the district leader and the district leader goes with my companion. It was a little different considering his companion is from Peru. But it was good. I´m to the point where I can understand most of what´s being said to me. It was fun though. Most of the appointments he had planned for us fell through. Although I got to meet the Relief Society President of his ward and she just randomly told me that I talk with really good clarity. That was nice to hear considering I´ve been totally worrying if I have this crazy accent going. So apparently I don´t. Then the next morning we switched back early because Elder Young and I had to go to the doctor early. It was way cool though. The Doctor´s office is the Church Office building for all of Chile and is right next to the temple. The doctor basically said that the bumps on my hands are from the sweat glands clogging up because it is dry but that doesn´t make sense at all considering my hands aren´t dry and I lotion them everyday before anyway. So I don´t know but he gave me some hand cream to try so we´ll give it a shot. Elder Young Had to go because his ankle has been bothering him and it´s not getting better. The Doc just gave him a brace. We also got to check out the Distribution Center which was way cool. Well Saturday we got to go check out the feria (fleemarket) which they have 4 times a week. It is absolutely crazy. They have everything there no joke. From Cereal and milk to fruit to door hands to movies to really nice clothes. It is just wow. Plus all the people there too. It´s just so chaotic. Then Saturday night we had Ward Council and Sorry Mom and Dad but they brought Once to us so we pretty much had a big meal at ward council. Sunday was way cool. They ran out of gas at church so they heated up two big pots of Ecco (it´s like coffee but made out of Wheat) and gave it out to everyone. That night we had the Baptism interview for Krishna which she passed. She originally wanted me to confirm her and Elder Young to baptize but he convinced her to switch it. So the baptism is next Saturday. It´s very exciting. And today has been crazy because of the soccer game. Well it´s time for me to go. I love you all.

Love,
Elder Holton

Week Fourteen: June 21st, 2010

Well Hello Everybody,
Things are going good here. Big things that happened this past week. 1. We got 2 knew baptism dates set and we lost one So right now we´re at 3. 2. It rained like crazy last Thurdsay night to the point where we woke up to a puddle in the kitchen. It was leaking in the ceiling and the windows. Plus it was leaking in the family room area. Some parts it was just a continous stream of water. Well it kept leaking until about Thursday night and then started just a little be Friday. We got some cups out and turned the fans on to try and get it to dry. Right now there are water stains but it´s not too bad. We called the mission office and they told us to call the owner. So we called the owner who apparently lives in Argentina and he said he would send someone out in the next week. So that was pretty eventful. So we finally set a baptism date with Charlie but the only problem is we´re worried he is doing it for his mom and not for himself. So we´re going to work very thoroughly with him to ensure that he is converted. His Mom went crazy when we said he would do it. As good and encouraging as that is it´s kinda working against us right now. The other date we set was with an Investigator named Ani. She is very smart and very intelligent but sometimes she can ask the most random questions. Like for example What is a spirit made out of? Well it´s all good. She loves the Book of Mormon and seems to understand it pretty well. At first we had her read different sections but now we just had her start from the beginning and she is already at Nephí 17. This week we´ve been really focusing on getting new investigators. It feels like we´ve knocked so many doors and have only received half the amount of news. It´s very strange. We did meet this old lady named Rosa. When we first met her all she could talk about was that she wanted to see her husband again. She talked about how she has 9 kids and none of them visit her. She´s like 85 I think. Well Sounds like the perfect investigator right? Casi. She pretty much blind and has a hard time focussing. So how we´re going to teach her I do not yet know but We´ll find a way. Last week we did some remodeling and I have to say that it is just awesome. For the first 2 weeks we were sleeping on mattresses on the floor in the kinda entreway/familyroom. Why you ask I don´t know. My companion says it´s how it was since he has been here and that he doesn´t want to move back into the bedroom because he is scared of spiders. Well we decided that if we cleaned it up it would be livable. So we vaccumed it and sprayed RAID all over. So far, It´s been so much better. Sleeping in a bed rather than the hardwood floor in a bedroom with carpet. Wow so much better. I haven´t been cold at all since. Another odd thing that has been happening is I´ve been getting these like spots on my fingers. I have no idea what they are but I need to call in about them. I have like 5 on one hand and 3 on the other. When you touch it, it stings a little but it doesn´t hurt at all. It´s just annoying. Another cool story. We went to visit this family that my Companion wrote in his planner. Only thing was he had no idea who they were and why he wrote them there. Well we went to visit them and it just so happened that it was a Mom with her 2 boys and her husband (we didn´t see him) and apparently the past week everyone has been telling her (even her inactive family and inactive friends) that she needs to go back to the Mormon church. Well we pretty much told her the same thing and challenged her and on Sunday guess who showed up with one of her boys. Yup it was pretty cool. We also met another family that we´ve even passed by a couple times and said hola and apparently all the adults (like 10 to 20 people) are inactive members but would love for us to stop by. It was like what wow. That was pretty cool too. Well things are going great. We have another investigator we´re going to try and get a date set up with. And one of ours has their baptism interview next Sunday for her baptism on the 3rd of July. Well I hope all is well and I hope to hear from you all soon.

Love,
Elder Holton

Week Thirteen: June 14th, 2010

Hey Everyone,
Well this week has been quite eventful to say the least. First to start this off. The Air museum was very cool (Not as cool as Hill Air Force Base Ryan :) good times) But we did go as a zone which was also fun. Later Tuesday a miracle of sorts happened. Let me just lay down the foundation for ya. A few weeks back Elder Young gave this lady named Mercedes a Plan of Salvation pamphlet with his old companion. We´ve been trying and trying to see her but our plans just kept falling through. Well finally last Tuesday we were able to and guess what. She read the whole thing inside and out and not only understood it all but believed it. It was spectacular. Especially for me who didn´t actually do anything. Well we commited her to baptizm and we´ll see how that turns out. At that point we have 4 people commit to baptizm. 3 for July 3rd and 1 for July 10th. Well on Thursday I had divisions with the DL Elder Samyn and I went and stay at his pension for a day. It was fun and it went good. We gave a blessing to this lady and all sorts of stuff. Although I really missed my companion. Haha So Friday we switched back and that was that haha. Well we´ve been working on a few different people. First is Charlie whom I told you about last week. Second is a family named Teixeira consisting of the mother named Suzanne who is inactive, 18 year old daughter named Chirly who is strongly active, 15 year old son Christopher who is active, 11 year old daughter Karina who is not a member, and 9 year old Krishna who is not a member but has a baptizm date. Thirdly, Daniela and Lissette. Daniela is the mother of Lissette and both had a baptizm date. There are many more but those are the main ones I´m going to talk about today. Well first off last saturday night we played soccer with the ward youth. Charlie came which was awesome and a boy named Elais who is cousin to the Teixeiras came(he is inactive), and his cousin Chirly came along with many others. Well we played soccer and it was awesome. The field was smaller than normal which for me was way good because that meant lessing running distance. I tried very hard and I have to say that I held my own against those Chilean teenagers. I can´t handle the ball worth crap but when it came to defense I was a force to be reckoned with. Elder Young was good but he has a bad ankle from a early game. Sunday we saw Elais at church and Charlie at church which was awesome. Plus (and this only gets better), Lissette came to church with us for her first time and absolutely loved it. She said that she also prayed about being baptized and felt that it was the right thing to do and that she wanted to. She couldn´t ever come to church before because her mom is pregnant and she always needed Lissette. That was good. Next Krishna´s sister Karina came. This is epic because Karina is very nervous about the church. 5 Years ago she went and was falsely accused of writing on a table. Not a good situation. So that was awesome that she came. Later that day we had an appt. set with Daniela and Lissette. When we got there Daniela told us that her husband (Whom I´ve never met) didn´t want us to teach them anymore and that they couldn´t get baptized. This was kind of a shock and in all honesty I think it hit my companion very hard. I´ve tried to continue to be positive and keep and happy and stay focussed but there comes a point when there isn´t anything else you can do to help. Another weird thing that happened this week was we got to eat octupus and squid. To be perfectly honest the taste wasn´t bad at all just the texture. But I can proudly say that up until this day I have eatten anything and everything put in front of me. Including a lot of things I used to hate and now I just love food all around and I´m going to stop talking about this because it is making me very hungry. (I´m always hungry). Things are going good. We´re working hard and we´ll keep our heads up. I love you all and will talk to you later.

Love,
Elder Holton

Week Twelve: June 8th, 2010

Hola Hola,
How´s everyone doing? Things are going good here. Busy busy busy of course. So let´s see. Last week I´ve had the biggest meal of my life no chiste. We had a big bowl of soup(Clam chauder) (bigger than the big bowls at home), Then the main dish which is a full plate of food(Beef, rice, and brocoli), and a full plate of salad, and a bowl(about the same size as the small one at home) of fruit. It was delicous but alot. I´m proud to say that I ate all of and and 3 big pieces of bread. I can honestly say that I have eaten everything put in front of me. I don´t have a scale but I would bet money that I have gained weight. I´m always hungry. Everyone jokes that I´m going to get fat but I don´t buy it. We´re on the go too much. Another food that I forgot to talk about that I absolutely have fallen in love with is what is called an "AS" and yes it is said just like the cuss word which is way weird. But it´s made just like a Completo except instead of a hotdog they have little pieces of amazing beef with avocado, tomatos, and mayo on top and I usually put mustard also. So amazing. My trainer Elder Young just hit his year mark last week and we celebrated with Ases. It is so funny because we are almost the exact same. We have so much fun and yet challenge eachother at the same time. We got 2 new baptism dates set up last week and this week should be even better. I honestly love it down here. I mean it is a little weird walking down the street with guys cussing at you telling you to go back to your country and girls making kissing noises and whistling at you. It just adds to the adventure. Our ward is pretty small but we love them. They feed us every day except pday and they do our laundry. It´s getting kinda cold here but it´s not too bad. It´s a whole different thing though when the only building that has a actually furnace is the chapel of the church. No one else does. Everyone just bundles up with a lot of clothes and blankets. They love love love soda. It is insane how much soda they drink. They also love brooms. They do everything with a broom. It´s hilarous. Plus they are dogs everywhere and they are always making noise. I am sad to hear about Keith Whitmore. Make sure you give him my love and that I look forward to seeing him on the other side. This work is pretty crazy. Just last week we visited a boy named Charlie who is about 15 years old. When he was 8 he was only baptized and never confirmed which means he needs to be baptized again. So we went over there to his house to see what was going on and if he wanted to be baptized. My companion started asking questions about what was going on and everything and the kid just had his head down and kept quiet. He acted like something bad was really wrong. So my companion pushed and pushed but nothing happened. So I felt the impression to bear a little bit of my testimony to him. I straight up told him that I had no idea what I was doing and that I didn´t know this language or this country but I that I do know this:that God loves him and that God cares about him and that it is only through God that we can receive happiness. I pretty much made him look at me in the face. I told him that we want to help him and that God wants to help him but first he needs to ask God for help. It was a very powerful moment. My companion said that it was like I was staring into his soul. Well He hasn´t made a decision yet but that was a very foundation shaking experience. The reason why I´m writing you today instead of yesterday is because for this week they allowed us (my zone) to switch our Pday so we could go check out this airplane museum. It wasn´t as cool as Hill Airforce but it was still fun. Sorry but I can´t send pictures. We don´t trust these computers. Maybe later in a different sector. I finally got a map of our sector which has been very helpful for learning the streets. Well It´s time for me to sign off. If any of you want to write me my address is
Elder Holton
Chile Santiago West Misson
Correos Casilla 149
Chacabuco 166
Maipú
Chile
It takes about 2 to 3 weeks for letters to get down here and DearElder about a week. That´s the misson office address but we get all of our mail every wednesday at District Meeting.
I love you all and I hope all is well.

Love,
Elder Holton

Week Eleven: May 31st, 2010

Life isn't too different from the states. Only thing is Lunch is the big meal of the day and we always eat at a member's house and they love to feed you alot. And if you don't eat it all you're basically insulting them. Which is really bad. As far as the type of food goes it's just like home. I've had things like fish, spaghetti, just whatever.

The language is coming good. The first 3 days really stunk because I could only pick out a couple of words but it is getting better. At Sunday school yesterday I could undertand almost everything and respond accordingly. My trainer is from Arizona and he is way cool. We went door knocking yesterday and we asked if we could come inside and say a prayer with them and after the prayer the lady just went crazy with questions wanting to know all about the Book of Mormon and everything. It was just too cool.

The ward is way fun. It is really small with only about 70 members. We try to get more people to come to church. Me and my companion live in this little house with 2 bedrooms. a living room and a kitchen which is way big for 2 people. Another cool thing about Chile is they have the most amazing hot dogs here!They are called completo!

Week Ten: May 26th, 2010

Hey Everyone,
Well here I am in Chile. Things are going great. The flight was way too long but I placed 2 Book of Mormons and had an amazing discussion on the plane for about 3 hours. It was amazing. All is well here and PS my P-days are now on Monday. I love you all. My Mission President is awesome. Now time for the real work to begin.

Love,
Elder Holton

Week Nine: May 21st, 2010

Buenos Tardes!
This past week I got to host which was awesome. It's basically where you take a new missionary and get him set up with his Residence keys and Classroom and walk him through the book store. It was fun. I can't wait to actually be able to teach. My companion leaves Monday morning at 4am which means I have to get up to drop him off. But then I have a lot of time to pack which is way awesome. Thanks Dad for teaching me to pack. I have already put that knowledge to good use by showing others. My plane leaves Tuesday May 25th at 2:45 and I stop in Dallas and then arrive in Santiago on Wednesday May 26th at 7:30 am.

Week Eight: May 14th, 2010

Two big things happened this week...

1: Elder Jeffrey R. Holland came and spoke at our devotional. I took 5 1/2 pages of notes.
He was so amazing! He told us that every good thing that has happened in his life has been because of his mission! He said "Get everthing you can out of your mission! Don't let us down! Don't let the Lord down! Teach with power and authority! If you don't get a second appointment to come back and give the second discussion then it's because you didn't do a good enough job on the first one! Knock their socks off! We are counting on you to spread the gospel. It was an amazing talk! I just love that man!

2: I got my travel plans and I leave on Tuesday May 25th and I arrive in Santiago on Wednesday morning the 26th! I am so excited to get into Chile and teach the gospel!

Me and Elder Winters are doing FANTASTIC! Last Wednesday I decided to only speak in Spanish all day! And guess what? I did it! The other missionaries in my district thought it was pretty cool so we have decided to make it a district goal to only speak in Spanish except on P day until we leave here! It will give us alot of good practice!

Me and Elder Winters in the bookstore!

These are my Spanish scriptures that I have been marking!

These are the missionaries in by district singing before going to bed.

Week Seven:May 7th, 2010

This past week on Tuesday we saw Elder Plaskett off on the bus at 6:00 am and then Elder Monsen was called as the new district leader and Elder Coates and Elder Smith were called as the new Zone leaders and I was called as the Zone music coordinator.
They also changed the companionships. I am now with Elder Winters and Elder Monsen is with Elder Christensen. We are now the oldest district in our zone and we just got a new district in that has 12 new missionaries which is really a lot!!

I have been playing a lot of four square and I love it so much! It's very intense! Just so fun! My companion Elder Winters was running up some stairs and broke his toe pretty bad. He's been limping everywhere and is wearing a boot.

Some scriptures I have fallen in love with are (and yes they are full chapters, get over it and read them! It's worth it!) 2Nephi 9, Mosiah 3 and 4, Alma 5 and 32, and also Moroni 7. I just love the Book of Mormon and the stories. It's just too good! When Nephi says (in 2Nephi 32:3) Feast upon the word, I think I finally know what he meant. I think I'm going to try out to sing a solo in the next devotional. I want to sing "I know that my Redeemer Lives". I just love that song!

Love you guys! Stay close to the Lord!

Not sure what this picture is about! Crazy Nick!!
Flowers at the Provo Temple!

More flowers!!

My new companion Elder Winters!

One more flower!

My district: Me, Elder Winters, Elder Christensten,

Elder Plaskett, Elder Monsen and Hermana Frandsen.

Me and Elder Plaskett before he left for Spain on May 4th!

Week Six: April 30th, 2010

My district is now the oldest district in the zone and will be getting new zone leaders this Sunday. It's crazy that we will be the oldest district for over three weeks. We will be getting a new district every other week so we will have to be the example for 2 new sets of newbies. It will be kind of crazy!!

Elder Plaskett finally got his visa and will be flying out on Wednesday May 5th! I'm so excited for him! My companion Elder Christensen has been getting 2 packages a day from his Mom ever since he has been here. Everyone has kind of been teasing him about that. It has been 12 - 15 packages a week all from his mom. Well our Branch President called him in and he got in trouble and he told him that he can only receive 1 more package the rest of the time he is here at the MTC. He was pretty upset about that!

Last Sunday I taught Sunday school and also I had to give a 2 minute talk in Sacrament meeting in Spanish. Our last devotional I got awesome seats in the center on the fifth row and it was Elder L. Tom Perry it was intense. He talked about the Book of Mormon.

We went to the temple this morning we totally love the food in the temple cafeteria! Temple Breakfast is just the best! It's so much better then the MTC food! It is insane how strong the spirit is here!

Week Five:Half way!! April 23rd, 2010

This week has been good! It s amazing how the spirit works and how amazingly important prayer is and how if we don't pray before a lesson it will just go right in the gutter! It is so incredible how the more Spanish your learn the more English you forget! Last Tuesday Kevin W. Pearson of the Seventy came to our devotional. It was really good. He is so passionate. He was yelling and crying and just mad sometimes. His talk was just amazing. I love those talks that just shake you to your foundation. Elder Holland gives talks like that too! We got a new district this last week 5 elders and 3 hermanas. Elder Plaskett is doing well but he is dying to get out of here. I Love You Guys!!

Week Four: April 18th 2010

A lot of the missionaries in my zone will be flying out this week so we will be getting a lot of new missionaries in. So there will be alot of changes. Elder Plaskett is still waiting for his visa so he will be here a little longer. My companion Elder Christensen's mom sends him at least 2 care packages a day! He got 12 this week and 15 last week. He is from Orem! Everyone gives him a hard time! We had a fireside with the BYU mens chorus and a couple of my friends from Brighton were in that choir, Benjamin Lambson and Greg Fuller. Dave and I got to go up and say hi to them and give them a hug! It was way fun! My new Zone leader is Elder Ellis and he is a big jokester. My District: Elder Monsen, Elder Winters, Hermana Ackerman, Elder Woolsey, Hermana Frandsen, Me, Elder Christensen and Elder Plaskett

This is my Zone in front of the Provo Temple!

Week Three: April 9th, 2010

Well it's just another day in Paradise!! Things are going really well! Nick loved General Conference in the MTC. They got there an hour early so they could get the semi soft seats. He loves his Branch President more and more everyday! He's working hard and feeling the spirit! He has been learning a lot of Spanish. He loves all the letters and packages! Keep them coming!

Elder Holton, Elder Chrstensen and Elder Monsen!

P Day!

Week Two: April 2nd, 2010

He starts out saying "I'm always hungry and eating. I've gained 11 pounds!" Yeah right Nick, sorry I don't think it's possible to gain that much in a week and a half!! (Mabey he left his big shoes on?!)
Gaining weight for Nick is a good thing! We All know he needed to. He says the food is pretty good and hasn't gotten old yet! His Branch President is President Shelley who is "The Bomb"! He is loving all the firesides and devotionals they have had especially Charles Didier. He was just so cool and could speak 7 different languages. He has been working out at the gym everyday running, sit ups, push ups and playing volleyball. He says they had to do service and it was cleaning bathrooms and all his experience working up at Snowbird really came in handy! He says that Dave just got his flight plans and he flies out on April 15th. He says "I'm going to miss that kid mucho grande!"


Going to the Provo Temple! Temple #14!!

The two Sister Missionaries in his District!

His friend Elder Dave Plaskett will soon be leaving for Spain!

Week One: March 27th 2010

Our first letter home says that Nick is having a Blast down at the MTC! His companion is Elder Christensen from Orem, Utah. The Spanish is coming along well! He says his instructors, both returned missionaries, Hermano Edwards and Hermano Deibert are way cool. They have
6 Elders and 2 Sisters in their district. His friend Dave Plaskett is in his district and he is so excited about that. He loves all the letters everyone has sent. So keep them coming!

One of Nick's Spanish teachers!

The NAME TAGS!

Nick's dorm at the MTC!

The MTC!!

After running a few errands on our way we stopped at In and Out Burger in Provo for one final hamburger before going to the MTC! When we got there we just unloaded his luggage took a couple of pictures and a quick hug and that was it! It was a lot harder than his mom thought it would be! The next couple of days were pretty hard!
Nick and Dad!
Nick and Jonathan!
Nick and his sisters!
Nick and his Mom at the MTC.