Dear Family and Friends,
Well, it's the end of the first week in the transfer! Our zone has made a goal to have 50 member present lessons with investigators every week of the transfer. This means that we have to stretch ourselves, but I know that we can do it with the Lord's help. We got to 42 last night, so we are very close to achieving our goal as a zone. Out here in Oklahoma you can see the work of salvation hastening as we push forward. It is an exciting time to be a missionary.
On Tuesday we were able to have a Zone Conference here in Lawton. President Walkenhorst gave a great training on working with members and accelerating the work. We talked a lot about working with Ward Council and our responsibilities to help our Bishops out with updating the ward with what is going on with the less active members of the church.
Saturday was probably our busiest day of the week. We had four great lessons with some new investigators, all with a member with us. That rarely can happen for us because of the schedule of our investigators and the member's busy lives, but it all worked out.
Update on the investigators we are teaching:
John Stenman is the father of a recent convert that was baptized around December. He is originally from North Carolina. He moved down to Lawton to stay with his daughter because of the medical programs in Oklahoma. He is a devout christian who has a testimony of Jesus Christ. When we began to teach him at first, he was hesitant because he had heard a lot of negative things about the church. We addressed all of his concerns and questions, and he is a lot more interested in the church and its history. We are working towards getting a baptismal date with him, we are going to try to get one this week.
Takisha is a investigator that we have had for a long time but I have never taught before. We dropped her once before, but we picked her back up after we were able to stop by her house and set up a solid appointment. We were able to set up a baptismal date for July 19th, so we are excited for her.
Hannah was an investigator that was taught previously by some missionaries out of the state. She contacted us initially because she wanted to return a Book of Mormon and some pamphlets to us. She didn't feel like it would be right to throw them away. Funny enough, we began to teach her again and she is progressing. She is making an effort to change for her children.
I believe I have already talked a bit about Tommy, but for this update's sake I'll just go over him again anyways. Tommy is an Army vet who went to Iraq for a deployment or two, saw some things, and came back. He is currently married, but he feels like his marriage isn't working out for him. He struggles a lot with his PTSD. He likes us coming over because it makes him feel better about his life. He has just begun to read the Book of Mormon and is praying often. He is making large steps in the right direction. We are planning on setting a baptismal date with him this week.
Jay and Patricia Vickers are very slowly progressing. Jay knows that what we have taught him is the truth, but he is afraid to act on his faith because his wife doesn't want to convert to another church. It's a bit frustrating because we had made so much progress so quickly with him, but we don't want to upset his family and his marriage. In a sense, he's in the Lord's hands now.
Beau and Monica have had their baptismal date dropped. They are still planning on being baptized, but they haven't gotten married yet and Beau still has some overcoming to do with his smoking addiction. They have made progress, it's just slow. I am sure that they will come around eventually.
We haven't been able to meet with Pam this week. She has been out of town.
Nick has also been out of town, but he will be coming back on the 26th. We are going to get with him this week to catch up on how he's doing and see if we can't get a lesson or two in with him.
I'm excited for this next week, we're going to see some awesome miracles in our area and our zone. The work is hastening, the pedal is to the metal and it's going to be kept there. I am grateful to be a missionary in today's age and that I have been given the opportunity to work hard and shoulder to shoulder with the many great missionaries of the Oklahoma, Oklahoma City mission. I know that this church, this gospel of Jesus Christ, is true. I know that the scriptures are true and that they give us our daily bread. Most importantly, I know that Jesus Christ lives, and that he is my savior and redeemer from my sins.
Thank you all for your support,
Elder Holbrook
Monday, June 23, 2014
Service Happy Father's Day! 6/16/14
Hey Family and Friends,
We've had a good week in Lawton! We had the opportunity to do a lot of service for ward members, which was great. I was able to plant a garden in an elderly couples yard, which was great because I hadn't done that for a long time. I don't have a green thumb by any means, but there is something about growing food that is fun and fulfilling.
On Sunday, Elder Chavez and I did some math and we figured out that we have 7-8 hours of church on a weekly basis, depending on the meetings that we have that day. This area can get a little crazy sometimes. I like church.
An update on our current investigators:
Nick is out of town till the 26th due to his work. He said that he would be in Kansas providing security for a general, but we haven't forgotten about him. We send him some reminder texts about praying and reading on a daily basis.
Jay and Patricia are on the backburner for now. Jay continues to study himself but Patricia is dragging behind. We're wanting to focus more on Patricia and helping her understanding of the gospel increase.
Beau and Monica are working towards marriage. Beau is still struggling with his smoking addiction, but he has been making progress towards quitting. Their baptismal date will have to be dropped because they need to attend church three weeks in a row, but we will most likely get a new date this week.
Pam is slowly progressing. She has begun to say her prayers, which is a huge step. We're going to teach her the importance of the scriptures and why we should study them. We should also be seeing her at church this Sunday.
Happy Father's Day to all of the fathers and future fathers out there! Thank you for all that you have done for your families in providing and sacrificing for them! I am excited to have a family one day.
I have been gaining a better understanding of Jesus Christ's atonement that he has offered us. We need to make sure that we are doing all that we can to apply it to our lives. As we continue forward in faith, we will see how this Gospel blesses our lives and others in this dispensation.
Love ya all,
Elder Holbrook
We've had a good week in Lawton! We had the opportunity to do a lot of service for ward members, which was great. I was able to plant a garden in an elderly couples yard, which was great because I hadn't done that for a long time. I don't have a green thumb by any means, but there is something about growing food that is fun and fulfilling.
On Sunday, Elder Chavez and I did some math and we figured out that we have 7-8 hours of church on a weekly basis, depending on the meetings that we have that day. This area can get a little crazy sometimes. I like church.
An update on our current investigators:
Nick is out of town till the 26th due to his work. He said that he would be in Kansas providing security for a general, but we haven't forgotten about him. We send him some reminder texts about praying and reading on a daily basis.
Jay and Patricia are on the backburner for now. Jay continues to study himself but Patricia is dragging behind. We're wanting to focus more on Patricia and helping her understanding of the gospel increase.
Beau and Monica are working towards marriage. Beau is still struggling with his smoking addiction, but he has been making progress towards quitting. Their baptismal date will have to be dropped because they need to attend church three weeks in a row, but we will most likely get a new date this week.
Pam is slowly progressing. She has begun to say her prayers, which is a huge step. We're going to teach her the importance of the scriptures and why we should study them. We should also be seeing her at church this Sunday.
Happy Father's Day to all of the fathers and future fathers out there! Thank you for all that you have done for your families in providing and sacrificing for them! I am excited to have a family one day.
I have been gaining a better understanding of Jesus Christ's atonement that he has offered us. We need to make sure that we are doing all that we can to apply it to our lives. As we continue forward in faith, we will see how this Gospel blesses our lives and others in this dispensation.
Love ya all,
Elder Holbrook
Miracle In Lawton! 6/9/14
Hey Family and Friends,
Whew! Elder Chavez and I have been able to work hard in this heat this week! We had transfer calls last night, and basically nobody in our district is going anywhere. Not exactly the most exciting transfers, but we have a really good district right now, so I'm excited to spend another transfer with everyone. The last couple of nights have been stormy, but we haven't had anything too bad weather wise, which is good.
At the Stake Conference I talked about last week we had a miracle that had happened that we didn't recognize at the time. There was a young soldier by the name of Nick who stopped in at church on a whim. He has a member friend who told him a bit about the church, and that was enough to peak his interest. He sat in on the Sunday meeting, and then approached a member asking how he could join the church. The member explained that he would have to meet with the missionaries, and he promptly got us and we began to talk with Nick. He had a lot of questions, especially about life after death, so we went right into a discussion of the Plan of Salvation. We set a baptismal date for the 21st of this month, which was pretty awesome. So all throughout this week we met with him and taught him about the Restoration as well as addressing the many questions that he has about the Gospel. Yesterday (this last Sunday) he asked a question about missions and if he would be able to serve one. We said that he would be eligible to serve, even with his current military circumstances, if he chose to become a member and to continue making and keeping further covenants. He seemed surprised at this, and you could tell there was a tinge of excitement in his tone as he said "Really?". He has a very busy schedule due to his job, but we have been able to get appointments with him and he has been fulfilling commitments, so I can say that he is interested in the Church.
We got Jay's baptismal date set again after we had a really good meeting with them. But, unfortunately, it was dropped again when he talked to his wife about it. She is afraid of him joining the church because she fears that it is going to tear their family apart. We're working with them both right now. She needs to come to church and pray about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith.
I hope all is well with everyone. Know that I pray for you all daily. I know that as we apply the atonement to our lives, we will be able to progress and overcome ourselves. I'm thankful for the blessings that God has given me.
Love you all,
Elder Holbrook
Whew! Elder Chavez and I have been able to work hard in this heat this week! We had transfer calls last night, and basically nobody in our district is going anywhere. Not exactly the most exciting transfers, but we have a really good district right now, so I'm excited to spend another transfer with everyone. The last couple of nights have been stormy, but we haven't had anything too bad weather wise, which is good.
At the Stake Conference I talked about last week we had a miracle that had happened that we didn't recognize at the time. There was a young soldier by the name of Nick who stopped in at church on a whim. He has a member friend who told him a bit about the church, and that was enough to peak his interest. He sat in on the Sunday meeting, and then approached a member asking how he could join the church. The member explained that he would have to meet with the missionaries, and he promptly got us and we began to talk with Nick. He had a lot of questions, especially about life after death, so we went right into a discussion of the Plan of Salvation. We set a baptismal date for the 21st of this month, which was pretty awesome. So all throughout this week we met with him and taught him about the Restoration as well as addressing the many questions that he has about the Gospel. Yesterday (this last Sunday) he asked a question about missions and if he would be able to serve one. We said that he would be eligible to serve, even with his current military circumstances, if he chose to become a member and to continue making and keeping further covenants. He seemed surprised at this, and you could tell there was a tinge of excitement in his tone as he said "Really?". He has a very busy schedule due to his job, but we have been able to get appointments with him and he has been fulfilling commitments, so I can say that he is interested in the Church.
We got Jay's baptismal date set again after we had a really good meeting with them. But, unfortunately, it was dropped again when he talked to his wife about it. She is afraid of him joining the church because she fears that it is going to tear their family apart. We're working with them both right now. She needs to come to church and pray about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith.
I hope all is well with everyone. Know that I pray for you all daily. I know that as we apply the atonement to our lives, we will be able to progress and overcome ourselves. I'm thankful for the blessings that God has given me.
Love you all,
Elder Holbrook
Stake Conference-Elder Villareal 6/2/14
Hey Family and Friends,
This week was a busy one. We had stake conference on Saturday and Sunday. We had a presiding 70, Elder Villareal, come and give two excellent talks on how we all need to work with the ward leadership so that we can hasten the work. Elder Villareal is solid in the gospel and bore an amazing testimony of this church and how it helped him.
So this week we had some interesting things happen with some of our investigators:
Jay's baptismal date dropped. His wife has some concerns with our church and we haven't been able to meet with them yet. We haven't given up on them though, I know that Jay will be baptized eventually. It's been a little frustrating because his wife seemed very open to him being baptized when we talked to her and now that totally blindsided us.
We were able to meet with Pam the other day. We had a short lesson with her but we were not able to set any dates with her. Hopefully next week we will be able to get a commitment out of her.
Beau and Monica are still on the fence as to getting married. You can tell that they want to do it, but Monica is still having trust issues with Beau, so tonight we're going to go over and encourage them.
We have been trying to track down a lot of less actives. Bishop gave us a list of people to look for, so a lot of our time has been taken from doing that. In a way it's pretty enjoyable, because we're constantly finding people that we run into while we're doing that, but we haven't taught a whole lot as a consequence.
I hope this finds everyone in good health and safety. I have a testimony of this gospel. I have seen miracles out here in Oklahoma; it's added a lot to my testimony. I want you all to know that God loves all of his children, no matter what.
See ya all,
Elder Holbrook
This week was a busy one. We had stake conference on Saturday and Sunday. We had a presiding 70, Elder Villareal, come and give two excellent talks on how we all need to work with the ward leadership so that we can hasten the work. Elder Villareal is solid in the gospel and bore an amazing testimony of this church and how it helped him.
So this week we had some interesting things happen with some of our investigators:
Jay's baptismal date dropped. His wife has some concerns with our church and we haven't been able to meet with them yet. We haven't given up on them though, I know that Jay will be baptized eventually. It's been a little frustrating because his wife seemed very open to him being baptized when we talked to her and now that totally blindsided us.
We were able to meet with Pam the other day. We had a short lesson with her but we were not able to set any dates with her. Hopefully next week we will be able to get a commitment out of her.
Beau and Monica are still on the fence as to getting married. You can tell that they want to do it, but Monica is still having trust issues with Beau, so tonight we're going to go over and encourage them.
We have been trying to track down a lot of less actives. Bishop gave us a list of people to look for, so a lot of our time has been taken from doing that. In a way it's pretty enjoyable, because we're constantly finding people that we run into while we're doing that, but we haven't taught a whole lot as a consequence.
I hope this finds everyone in good health and safety. I have a testimony of this gospel. I have seen miracles out here in Oklahoma; it's added a lot to my testimony. I want you all to know that God loves all of his children, no matter what.
See ya all,
Elder Holbrook
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