Email - January 3, 2012
Well, Happy 2012 everybody! I'd say that I hope you didn't party too hard, but I honestly hope that you did. After all, this is the last New Year's Eve we're going to have because the world is going to end this year! I hope that you are all gearing up for the imminent zombie apocalypse! Last week on Wednesday I was able to go on exchanges with the Osage Beach Elders. Our district leader is Elder Nordine and he came to Eldon with Elder Rich and I went to Osage Beach with Elder Jeffs. This is Elder Jeffs' first transfer (six
weeks) in the mission field and so this was his first opportunity to lead his area. He did a really good job and we got quite a bit of work done. He and I got along really well too which was great! He plays guitar too so we did lots of talking about guitar playing and music and stuff. The next day, after district meeting, we went and took the Christmas tree back to the members from whom we had borrowed it. They have an 18 year old son, Ronnie, who is really strong in the church and is really helpful to us too. He is always
willing to come out with us whenever we need him to. His grandma is less-active and so we were able to spend some time talking to her. On Saturday night, for New Years Eve we went over to the Miner's and Brother Miner invited another one of his younger
brother's friends to meet with us! He agreed to be baptized later next month! The Spirit was really strong in his lesson. So Dallin is Bro. Miner's 17 year old brother and we have been teaching his friend Tyler. Tyler is really sweet and he is getting baptized on the 21 of February, right after he turns 18 because his mom isn't supportive. On Saturday, Dallin had Tyler over and was also hanging out with his friend Devin. This was before we got there on Saturday but we had met Devin on a previous occasion. Apparently, Dallin and his friends got on a gospel conversation and Devin expressed his interest in meeting with us! So, that night we were able to
teach him the first two lessons (The Restoration and The Plan of Salvation) and he said that he really felt the Spirit! He expressed to us that he had felt that his current church was "hollow" and that he felt what we were teaching him was true. Tyler and Devin both slept over that evening and so they were both able to attend church the next day! Last night we did find out that Devin had
asked if he could postpone his baptismal date, so hopefully we will be able to find out what happened and resolve his concerns. Regardless, it was still a great spiritual experience.
weeks) in the mission field and so this was his first opportunity to lead his area. He did a really good job and we got quite a bit of work done. He and I got along really well too which was great! He plays guitar too so we did lots of talking about guitar playing and music and stuff. The next day, after district meeting, we went and took the Christmas tree back to the members from whom we had borrowed it. They have an 18 year old son, Ronnie, who is really strong in the church and is really helpful to us too. He is always
willing to come out with us whenever we need him to. His grandma is less-active and so we were able to spend some time talking to her. On Saturday night, for New Years Eve we went over to the Miner's and Brother Miner invited another one of his younger
brother's friends to meet with us! He agreed to be baptized later next month! The Spirit was really strong in his lesson. So Dallin is Bro. Miner's 17 year old brother and we have been teaching his friend Tyler. Tyler is really sweet and he is getting baptized on the 21 of February, right after he turns 18 because his mom isn't supportive. On Saturday, Dallin had Tyler over and was also hanging out with his friend Devin. This was before we got there on Saturday but we had met Devin on a previous occasion. Apparently, Dallin and his friends got on a gospel conversation and Devin expressed his interest in meeting with us! So, that night we were able to
teach him the first two lessons (The Restoration and The Plan of Salvation) and he said that he really felt the Spirit! He expressed to us that he had felt that his current church was "hollow" and that he felt what we were teaching him was true. Tyler and Devin both slept over that evening and so they were both able to attend church the next day! Last night we did find out that Devin had
asked if he could postpone his baptismal date, so hopefully we will be able to find out what happened and resolve his concerns. Regardless, it was still a great spiritual experience.
Email - January 9, 2012
Well, I'm staying in Eldon! I will be senior companion to Elder Harter . Elder Rich is leaving to Ava, MO and will be a district leader.
Last Tuesday we had a really great lesson! After emailing because the library was closed on Monday, we exchanged with the
Elders from Osage Beach. Our district leader, Elder Nordine, came up to Eldon with me. We went with Bro. Miner, our branch mission leader, to go and teach a lesson to the Reed family. They are an older couple and she is a less-active member due to medical conditions and he is not a member of the church. Elder Rich and I had gone over and met with them before but we usually just shared with them a simple spiritual message. However, they recently have started to really progress and Bro. Reed has been considering baptism. We had a great Restoration lesson with them and then we invited Bro. Reed to be baptized. After we asked him, he grabbed his copy of the Book of Mormon and immediately bowed his head to pray. Of course, as he did so I did the very same. When we talked about it after, I found out that Bro. Miner and Elder Nordine were both praying as well and I'm sure that Sis. Reed was as well. Apparently we had enough beacons of light going up to heaven because he received an answer to his prayer. He told us that he wanted to be baptized and that he wanted his wife, who has limited mobility due to some medical conditions, to be able to be there as well. She doesn't talk much, but at this point she piped up and bore a powerful testimony about how she knew that the church is true no matter what anyone says. She said that she was able to keep that testimony through persecution even from her family and wanted her husband to be able to be baptized because he had that conviction as well and not because of her. The
spirit was definitely strong and he is going to be baptized as soon as we can find a wheelchair for Sis. Reed to be able to make it to the service. On Wednesday we had a fundamentals of Preach My Gospel conference. Basically, the zone gets together and we receive and give instruction on different teaching skills and so forth. Honestly, they go on too long but I feel that it does give me some good tips and tools to become a better teacher. Also, I really enjoy when the zone gets together because I get to see some other missionaries. It is always great to see Elder VanWaggoner who was in my district in the MTC. The meeting lasts from 9 to 4 and it is an hour drive to and from St. Robert, MO and so that took up most all of the day up until the Book of Mormon reading group. However, nobody was really able to show up for the group, so we cancelled it and we just sat and talked with the young men
from the branch about missionary work and such. We have another new investigator that we are teaching and she is also a Miner! Our branch mission leader's younger brother is married to a non-member and she agreed to start meeting with us. She definitely has a lot of concerns and I feel that conversion may take a while to come for her but she is a really nice person and is really sincere and so I know that God will answer her prayers. She really likes the Book of Mormon and they read it as a couple on a regular basis. The 6th was my 6 month mark! I really didn't do anything exciting though. I just did service all day with Bro. Miner and I did burn a tie.
Nothing too exciting the rest of the week. We took the Reeds the sacrament on Sunday and the Spirit there was really great! As well as, we finished up our lesson with Sis. Miner after having them over for dinner at the Branch President's house. I hope all is well, or mostly well, back home. Love you all! Elder Cody Holmes
Last Tuesday we had a really great lesson! After emailing because the library was closed on Monday, we exchanged with the
Elders from Osage Beach. Our district leader, Elder Nordine, came up to Eldon with me. We went with Bro. Miner, our branch mission leader, to go and teach a lesson to the Reed family. They are an older couple and she is a less-active member due to medical conditions and he is not a member of the church. Elder Rich and I had gone over and met with them before but we usually just shared with them a simple spiritual message. However, they recently have started to really progress and Bro. Reed has been considering baptism. We had a great Restoration lesson with them and then we invited Bro. Reed to be baptized. After we asked him, he grabbed his copy of the Book of Mormon and immediately bowed his head to pray. Of course, as he did so I did the very same. When we talked about it after, I found out that Bro. Miner and Elder Nordine were both praying as well and I'm sure that Sis. Reed was as well. Apparently we had enough beacons of light going up to heaven because he received an answer to his prayer. He told us that he wanted to be baptized and that he wanted his wife, who has limited mobility due to some medical conditions, to be able to be there as well. She doesn't talk much, but at this point she piped up and bore a powerful testimony about how she knew that the church is true no matter what anyone says. She said that she was able to keep that testimony through persecution even from her family and wanted her husband to be able to be baptized because he had that conviction as well and not because of her. The
spirit was definitely strong and he is going to be baptized as soon as we can find a wheelchair for Sis. Reed to be able to make it to the service. On Wednesday we had a fundamentals of Preach My Gospel conference. Basically, the zone gets together and we receive and give instruction on different teaching skills and so forth. Honestly, they go on too long but I feel that it does give me some good tips and tools to become a better teacher. Also, I really enjoy when the zone gets together because I get to see some other missionaries. It is always great to see Elder VanWaggoner who was in my district in the MTC. The meeting lasts from 9 to 4 and it is an hour drive to and from St. Robert, MO and so that took up most all of the day up until the Book of Mormon reading group. However, nobody was really able to show up for the group, so we cancelled it and we just sat and talked with the young men
from the branch about missionary work and such. We have another new investigator that we are teaching and she is also a Miner! Our branch mission leader's younger brother is married to a non-member and she agreed to start meeting with us. She definitely has a lot of concerns and I feel that conversion may take a while to come for her but she is a really nice person and is really sincere and so I know that God will answer her prayers. She really likes the Book of Mormon and they read it as a couple on a regular basis. The 6th was my 6 month mark! I really didn't do anything exciting though. I just did service all day with Bro. Miner and I did burn a tie.
Nothing too exciting the rest of the week. We took the Reeds the sacrament on Sunday and the Spirit there was really great! As well as, we finished up our lesson with Sis. Miner after having them over for dinner at the Branch President's house. I hope all is well, or mostly well, back home. Love you all! Elder Cody Holmes
Email - January 17, 2012
Well, we had a couple really cool lessons this week and we also had transfers! On Tuesday night we had another lesson with Meagan and to the lesson she brought her friend Becka which was really cool! We talked about the gospel of Christ and we also answered a few questions that Meagan had concerning such things as polygamy and works vs. grace. One thing that I have really learned
recently is the relationship between what we call grace and what we call works. A lot of people of other denominations get caught up on the teaching that all we need to do to be "saved" is accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior and a lot of members of the LDS church get caught up on the fact that that isn't true, but that we need to participate in the saving ordinances and that is what is important. Well, they are both wrong in a way and both right. We need to remember that faith is a principle of action. Accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior, truly doing so, will result in having a desire to do those works such as baptism, making other covenants, and living the commandments. We need to make sure that we understand where our friends and neighbors are coming from
when we have gospel conversations and be sure to listen to the Spirit and use wording that they will understand. Transfers! For transfers, we have to drive 2 hours to a place called Mt. Vernon and since we are limited on the amount of miles we drive each month, we had Bro. McWhinnie take us down. I said my goodbyes and hellos to other missionary acquaintances and got my new
companion, Elder Harter. On the way back, Bro. McWhinnie wanted to stop in at a place called BassPro Shops. It was basically like Cabella's in that it is a sporting goods store with a bunch of camping gear, guns, fishing stuff, fish, taxidermy, etc. By the time we arrived back, we had time for Elder Harter to unpack a bit and then we headed to dinner with the Elder's Quorum president who
talked our ear off all night. After doing service with Bro. Miner, we were actually building fence this time instead of clearing brush, we went and saw one of our investigators who has been coming to the Book of Mormon reading group consistently, but we haven't been able to have sit-down lessons with her terribly often. The Spirit was definitely there as we talked about genealogy, temple work, and the gospel of Christ. I hope that we will be able to meet with her more consistently because I really know that our meetings are helping her progress. That same evening we had dinner and another lesson with Kaleb and Angela. She definitely has a lot of questions and concerns but I have faith in Moroni's promise to any sincere readers of the Book of Mormon, so I am hopeful
that she will eventually accept the gospel in its fullness. Sunday we set another baptism date with one of our investigators! It was Bro. Reed and he agreed to be baptized on the 28th of this month! It will be so wonderful to see the blessings that will come to Bro. and Sis. Reed because of this decision. I have already been able to feel a change in their home as they have accepted the ordinance of the sacrament each Sunday and it is wonderful to be able to help them receive that. I bear my testimony that the gospel will always
bless the lives of those who embrace it. I know that it is truly Heavenly Father's will and that it truly is the "good news" of Jesus Christ. I love you
all and thank you for supporting me in my missionary service.
recently is the relationship between what we call grace and what we call works. A lot of people of other denominations get caught up on the teaching that all we need to do to be "saved" is accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior and a lot of members of the LDS church get caught up on the fact that that isn't true, but that we need to participate in the saving ordinances and that is what is important. Well, they are both wrong in a way and both right. We need to remember that faith is a principle of action. Accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior, truly doing so, will result in having a desire to do those works such as baptism, making other covenants, and living the commandments. We need to make sure that we understand where our friends and neighbors are coming from
when we have gospel conversations and be sure to listen to the Spirit and use wording that they will understand. Transfers! For transfers, we have to drive 2 hours to a place called Mt. Vernon and since we are limited on the amount of miles we drive each month, we had Bro. McWhinnie take us down. I said my goodbyes and hellos to other missionary acquaintances and got my new
companion, Elder Harter. On the way back, Bro. McWhinnie wanted to stop in at a place called BassPro Shops. It was basically like Cabella's in that it is a sporting goods store with a bunch of camping gear, guns, fishing stuff, fish, taxidermy, etc. By the time we arrived back, we had time for Elder Harter to unpack a bit and then we headed to dinner with the Elder's Quorum president who
talked our ear off all night. After doing service with Bro. Miner, we were actually building fence this time instead of clearing brush, we went and saw one of our investigators who has been coming to the Book of Mormon reading group consistently, but we haven't been able to have sit-down lessons with her terribly often. The Spirit was definitely there as we talked about genealogy, temple work, and the gospel of Christ. I hope that we will be able to meet with her more consistently because I really know that our meetings are helping her progress. That same evening we had dinner and another lesson with Kaleb and Angela. She definitely has a lot of questions and concerns but I have faith in Moroni's promise to any sincere readers of the Book of Mormon, so I am hopeful
that she will eventually accept the gospel in its fullness. Sunday we set another baptism date with one of our investigators! It was Bro. Reed and he agreed to be baptized on the 28th of this month! It will be so wonderful to see the blessings that will come to Bro. and Sis. Reed because of this decision. I have already been able to feel a change in their home as they have accepted the ordinance of the sacrament each Sunday and it is wonderful to be able to help them receive that. I bear my testimony that the gospel will always
bless the lives of those who embrace it. I know that it is truly Heavenly Father's will and that it truly is the "good news" of Jesus Christ. I love you
all and thank you for supporting me in my missionary service.
Email - January 23, 2012
Well, this week we had a couple investigators at our Book of Mormon reading group which was way awesome! The class is great for helping those who already have a testimony to strengthen it and for those who don't to obtain it. For on of our investigators in particular, Grace, it is becoming a great stepping stone toward sacrament meeting attendance. Plus, to those who haven't been able
to attend but would like to, we have been able to go and have a lesson with them to catch them up on their reading and give them a nice spiritual boost. This week we went over and we taught Bro. Reed a couple times. During the first meeting that we had with him, I found out that he had not been taught all of the missionary lessons. Good thing we found out because he had already agreed to be baptized but I was under the impression that he had already been taught everything. Unfortunately, We had to postpone his baptismal date but he already has a testimony and feels that the things we are teaching him are correct so I have no doubts that he will enter into the covenants of baptism and confirmation very soon. On Sunday, we were able to teach him the restoration and he says that he knows that the Book of Mormon is from God and that Joseph Smith was called as a prophet! Saturday night, we went over to have dinner and a lesson at Kaleb and Angela's. Our lesson went fairly well but, just as it is every time we meet with her, she has trouble admitting that what she has been taught her entire life is wrong. That is completely understandable of course but it is just hard because no matter what scriptures we show her she thinks we are misinterpreting them or taking them out of context. I know that it will take time with her so I am trying to not push too hard and let her ease into things, while still being as bold as I can in teaching the truths of the gospel. It definitely takes finesse. haha Well... Sorry I don't have too much to say. I'm alive, I'm being fed
well, I'm healthy, and Elder Harter and I get along swimmingly. If I missed any pertinent info then I'm sure my mother will let me know and she can add it to the blog version of my email. haha I love you all and I know that Christ lives! Elder Holmes
to attend but would like to, we have been able to go and have a lesson with them to catch them up on their reading and give them a nice spiritual boost. This week we went over and we taught Bro. Reed a couple times. During the first meeting that we had with him, I found out that he had not been taught all of the missionary lessons. Good thing we found out because he had already agreed to be baptized but I was under the impression that he had already been taught everything. Unfortunately, We had to postpone his baptismal date but he already has a testimony and feels that the things we are teaching him are correct so I have no doubts that he will enter into the covenants of baptism and confirmation very soon. On Sunday, we were able to teach him the restoration and he says that he knows that the Book of Mormon is from God and that Joseph Smith was called as a prophet! Saturday night, we went over to have dinner and a lesson at Kaleb and Angela's. Our lesson went fairly well but, just as it is every time we meet with her, she has trouble admitting that what she has been taught her entire life is wrong. That is completely understandable of course but it is just hard because no matter what scriptures we show her she thinks we are misinterpreting them or taking them out of context. I know that it will take time with her so I am trying to not push too hard and let her ease into things, while still being as bold as I can in teaching the truths of the gospel. It definitely takes finesse. haha Well... Sorry I don't have too much to say. I'm alive, I'm being fed
well, I'm healthy, and Elder Harter and I get along swimmingly. If I missed any pertinent info then I'm sure my mother will let me know and she can add it to the blog version of my email. haha I love you all and I know that Christ lives! Elder Holmes
Email - January 30, 2012
Well, this week was relatively uneventful for one reason: Elder Harter and I have both been sick! Tuesday we weren't able to do much of anything and after that we were really only able to go to set appointments we had already made. Otherwise, we were resting in the apartment trying to get better. Wednesday we felt we were well enough to go to district meeting and we also went to the Book
of Mormon reading group in the evening. We didn't have any investigators there, but it was good that we had enough members of the branch there to still hold the class. On Thursday we went out with Bro. Evans and saw his home teaching families because he has just moved in and doesn't know many people. Honestly, it turned into a lot of driving and trying to find houses with little actual
contact with people. haha It did make me appreciate my GPS that much more though! The next day, we were actually able to go over to see the Reeds and teach a lesson to Bro. Reed. We taught the Plan of Salvation and he was really accepting, as he has been of everything. Really, the biggest thing that we need to work on with him is getting him to consistently read from the Book of Mormon. Getting people to do the "big three" (reading, praying, coming to church) is always the challenge. It has helped me to understand the importance of those things in my own life though. We were going to go see the Reeds again on Sunday to teach him about the Book of Mormon and to help him familiarize himself with it so that the relationship comes easier, but when we got there
they were both sick :( I really hope that they can recover soon! I know that weeks like this happen, but that doesn't make them anymore fun! Sorry that I've been seemingly slacking on my emails lately but hopefully I will have more to talk about next week! Thank you all so much for your prayers! I send you my love and appreciation! Elder Holmes
of Mormon reading group in the evening. We didn't have any investigators there, but it was good that we had enough members of the branch there to still hold the class. On Thursday we went out with Bro. Evans and saw his home teaching families because he has just moved in and doesn't know many people. Honestly, it turned into a lot of driving and trying to find houses with little actual
contact with people. haha It did make me appreciate my GPS that much more though! The next day, we were actually able to go over to see the Reeds and teach a lesson to Bro. Reed. We taught the Plan of Salvation and he was really accepting, as he has been of everything. Really, the biggest thing that we need to work on with him is getting him to consistently read from the Book of Mormon. Getting people to do the "big three" (reading, praying, coming to church) is always the challenge. It has helped me to understand the importance of those things in my own life though. We were going to go see the Reeds again on Sunday to teach him about the Book of Mormon and to help him familiarize himself with it so that the relationship comes easier, but when we got there
they were both sick :( I really hope that they can recover soon! I know that weeks like this happen, but that doesn't make them anymore fun! Sorry that I've been seemingly slacking on my emails lately but hopefully I will have more to talk about next week! Thank you all so much for your prayers! I send you my love and appreciation! Elder Holmes