This
might be my third to last time that I write you as a missionary in Chile! Thats
kind of strange. But I hope you have all had a wonderful week this week. I have
been doing great. This week was really long but short at the same time, there
was so much to do which made the time fly but it was exhausting!
We
had the interviews this week and so while President Essig did the interviews
Elder Millan and I revised the area books and the agendas of the Elders. It was
kind of fun but like I said it was exhausting. I don´t know how President made
it through the week because it was even worse for him. Monday was probably the
worst day because we got to bed about 130 in the morning (on Sunday night we
have to do all the numbers of the mission and then on Monday morning we
generally send out a leadership letter to all the leaders but we knew that we
weren´t going tobe in the office on Monday morning because we would be doing
interviews so we had to write it and send it out Sunday night). Then we had to
wake up at 530 to get ready and President Essig and sister Essig and us
carpooled up to Los Andes (like an hour and a half away). Thats when we took
the picture of President sleeping=) then we had the interviews until about 930
at night and we headed back home. We didn´t get back to our house until about
11 or 1130 or so. So we started off the week and got pretty tired. We had to
get up at about 6 or 630 everyday (which isnt really that early but when you
are going to bed late everyday it really gets to be kind of early =)
But
this week was really different because it rained just about the whole week! It
was awesome! I haven´t seen so much rain in my whole time here in Chile. It was
really cool and the best part is that it washes away all the smog and so we can
see all the mountains that are freshly covered with snow. It is a real treat,
they are so beautiful. Even though I have only been here in the city for
the last 2 years I have realized that our mission really is beautiful and that
Chile has to be one of the most beautiful countries in the world. 
This
week, in the car and if I could find a few minutes here and there, I was
listening the program from the Mormon Channel called ¨Conversations¨ and they
are incredible. I love listening to them. I listened to the one from Elder
Holland and the one from Elder Bednar. And I loved some of the things that they
said but one of the things that really stuck out to me was from Elder Holland.
He said that he has great faith and went on to explain that it is a gift that
he has and that he just believes that all these things that the church teaches
are true. He just believes it and that helps him in his day to day life to have
the strength to continue on. I got thinking about that and I thought that
it was so true. I thought about the mission and how grateful I am for the
mission and the experiences that it has brought me because I can honestly
say that it has increased my faith 100 fold. I believe these things are true
and that belief has grown into a conviction to the point that I can say that I
know that these things are true. This testimony came line upon line, one bit a
time. For me it was difficult to gain but it is every bit worth it. I know this
church is true and I know that this is the work of the savior, he loves each
one of us and we can all return to live with our Father in Heaven. What else
matters?
I
love you all, thank you for all of your love and support!
Love,
Elder
Jaromy Holland
P.S.
Did Mike Groesbeck get back yet? Did you go to his homecoming? And are you
going to go to Kelsey Peterson´s wedding? I can´t believe that she is really
getting married!
Hola,
Hola!!
Thanks
for the letters, it was great to hear from you and to know that you have all
been doing great this week!
I
have been doing great, one thing that I love about the office is that it keeps
you so busy that there literally isn´t time to think about home! Its
wonderful!
I
thought that I would send this one off to a bunch of people because it was one
of the coolest experiences I´ve had!
This
last week I felt incredibly blessed by an experience that greatly increased my
faith and taught me many wonderful lessons. I would like to share it with you.
I
was able to revise the area book of the Elders from Cerro Colorado last week
and they told me something that gave me a much greater perspective on the work
that we are doing. Towards the end of my time there with Elder Barnes we
were out working one night. We were walking in the street on the way to an
appointment and we passed a man that was going the other way from us. I had the
impression to contact him but I didn´t do it. But as we passed him, Elder
Barnes turned around and contacted him. I could tell from the contact
that he was going to be great and so I was very excited and happy that Elder
Barnes had listened to the spirit. The man told us that his name was
Jonathan and he gave us the direction to his house. A few days later we
went to general conference and between sessions we decided to go back to the
sector and work for a little while. It was pouring rain that day and we
decided to pass by for Jonathan to see if he was home. When we got to the
house we knocked and out came another guy, who was clearly not Jonathan.
We explained to him that we were the missionaries and that we were
looking for Jonathan and he said ¨I am Jonathan¨ and he opened the gate and let
us in. We taught him and he accepted a baptismal date. He quickly
progressed and a couple of weeks later, I was changed from the sector. He
was baptized a short while later. What I didn´t know about this
experience and what he tells anyone who asks him, is that the day before we
showed up to his door, he was praying to God and asking him to show him the way
that he should go. When we showed up to his door looking for Jonathan,
the man that we had contacted, he took that as a sing that God sent us to him.
I know, like he does, that this is the case. God really did send us there to
his home and to his day I still don´t know who the Jonathan is that we
contacted that day in this street, but I do know that we met him so that God
could lead us to the other Jonathan. 
This
is one of the greatest experiences that I have had on my mission and it greatly
strengthened my faith that the Lord truly knows each of his children, even by
name. He is concerned for each one of them, for each of us. I learned, as
these Elders told me about other converts and people that I visited (and some
had even been baptized after I left), that the work that one does on the
mission truly creates a ripple effect that extends out forever and we will
never, at least in this life, be able to see all effects and fruits of our
labors. It fills me with gratitude to really know this. This is certainly His
work. I simply feel blessed to know that the Lord has let me serve on His team,
to work in his vinard for this short time and I am undoubtedly the one that has
benefited by my service more than anyone else, I am the one who has changed.
Thank
you all for your love and support that you have given me, I love you all and
its going to be an all out sprint to the finish! I´ll see you all soon!
Love,
Elder
Holland
oh yeah, my new companion is Elder Berrios from Honduras. He was my zone leader when I was in Huelen in my 6th change and now we are companions=) haha its going to be really fun, he is cool and we get along really well. Here goes the adventure! =)
Patricio
y Alex. Enviaré mas fotos la semana que viene.
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