Trainee

Date: June 25, 2012

Area: Santiago, Chile

Companion: Elder Barnes

​Hey Family!

So this week was a great week! I was pretty nervous about it as I expressed in my last letter but all the prayers helped a ton and really it was a great week. I guess that I´ll start from Monday because I was with Elder Salzl and an elder Villagran all day Monday and we went to the driving range which was fun to just do something different so that was a lot of fun, golfing in church clothes!

But Monday I stayed in my old house in Renca 2 and we went up to the mission home the next day. The new missionaries got in pretty late so we went to a restaurant before going to the mission home and my stomach was in knots the whole time cause I was nervous. It doesn´t happen to me very often that I get nervous like that and I hate the feeling, it is terrible! But I was nervous the whole way over to the mission home and then before meeting the trainees. But what happens for the meeting is that all the trainers go into a room with President Essig, Sister Essig and the assistants and we all start singing ¨Called to Serve¨ and then the new missionaries start walking in from another room and come in and take their seats. But even at the beginning of the meeting I was still feeling pretty nervous. But we started to sing and everyone was standing up and the spirit entered into that room so strong. All the nervousness that I was feeling completely left me and I felt calm and even excited to be there and have this challenge. I felt so good in that room and I know that the change was so sudden from what I was feeling before hand that there is no other place that it could have come from but our Heavenly Father. I knew in that moment that He wanted me there, that I was doing what I was supposed to be doing and more than that but that He would be there supporting us both as we both learn together.

But they call out the new missionaries and then the trainers and they go up in front of everyone to

meet one another and do the Chilean hand shake, hug thing. But then we went and sat down and President said a few words. But the meeting was over in like 10 minutes and then we were all out the door on our way to our respective sectors. We got there pretty late and before we went out we sat down and planned out a little bit what we were going to to that day and what to expect as being a missionary. Buy my companion, Elder Barnes, is the best. I only have great things to say about him. I am so lucky and blessed to have him as my companion and am thankful that we can work here together. He is from a town outside of LA called aguadulce and he played Football last year(QB) for Southern Virginia University. Hes really relaxed, fun, speaks Spanish really well, has a great testimony of the gospel and is just a great guy. I´m learning so much from him everyday that we are out here and am really just so glad that I am his companion.

The week started off pretty slow because we didn´t know where we were or any of the investigators

that were being taught before we got there so we walked around pretty lost a lot of the time but things got much better at the end of the week. Whats more is that we had a couple extra meetings because for the new missionaries and the trainers which took out of our working time (and as a new missionary there is a little different schedule where you study more every day which I like alot, I like studying) But we received qualquier (so many) blessing this week. We were able to find lots of new people to teach and now know the ward and the area much better and are being very blessed. I can really feel the Lord helping us here in our sector in so many ways and I am very excited for these next two changes we will have together.

Well got to go but know that i´m doing well and know that I love you!

Love,

Elder Jaromy Holland