Week 7

June 1, 2009

Heyyyy everyone!
Can you believe I'm almost done with my first transfer?!?!? It has flown by so fast! Well, I have some crazy news for you! President Pugh called us on Saturday morning to tell us that, as we all know our mission is being combined with the Pittsburgh mission on July 1st (which is going to be a stinkin huge mission! Pittsburgh is 4 hours from where we are!). But here is the sad/crazy news. On July 1st, the whole Scranton stake is going to be moved over to the Philadelphia mission!!! Which means that all the missionaries who are serving in those areas are going to be in that mission!! Sad huh? AND!!!!!!! That means we are losing Scranton AND the Priesthood Restoration site :( I told Sister Deal what a tragedy this was, I am losing the two most important things in my life.....The Office and the Church History. hahaha, ok so maybe not the most important things in my life but two of the coolest sites in our mission!!!! I'm going to try to get President to let us have our last zone conference with him up at the restoration site. How cool would that be??
Anyway, this week was pretty good. I'm not going to lie...it's been a little hard. Sister Deal just seems to be getting sick and more sick, so we had a lot of stay in days this week. Thankfully not all day, but a lot of hours were spent at home. She's already been through all the tests and doctors and everything and they can't find anything wrong with her. She thinks she's lactose intolerant but still when she stays away from every dairy product...even things that may have dairy in them like bread, she still gets sick. So it's been really hard for her and for me. Being a new missionary...you still get a little home sick. So staying in is not a good idea for me. Although I love Sister Deal and she is a great missionary and trainer, I hope I get transfered this next transfer so I can be with a healthy missionary and work a lot more! For my sanities sake! 
Well, Krista you wanted to hear some finding stories....so here is a good one. When we were doing a little tracting this week, we saw these two men standing out at their cars a couple townhouses down. We had a couple doors to knock before we got there but I could hear them say "Oh no! Let's tell them that we are christian!" hahahaha, oh the things people do to try to avoid us! So when we finally got up to them we just started chatting a little small talk and then I said "So I heard you guys say that you were christian! That's great!" haha, I think i threw them off a little. They were like "Ohh...ya...how did you hear that?" haha, I should have something like the spirit told me or something outrageous but I just said "I have great hearing!" :) Well that got there attention and we got another appointment with them. They are interesting men...their names are Stormy and Hoover and they were prison ministers! I'll let you know how their appointment goes next week if they keep it :) 
Anyway, I am almost out of time, but I quickly wanted to say thank you krista for sending me a letter this week. I haven't gotten it yet but it will come. It will be so much better to read a real letter when the mail comes instead of reading the junkmail we get while my companion reads 2-3 letters a day :) Oh, and will you find out what my friends have been up to?? Becky did email me about having her baby! She's been good about keeping me updated but everyone else...I have no idea! Is Sabra engaged yet? Is Natalie getting serious with a boy? Is Katelyn or Josie pregnant yet? Is Sherri's baby going to be a boy or a girl? I need to know these things!!!
Well I hope you all have a great day! Thanks for your love and support! Can't wait to hear from you!!! Love ya tons and tons!
Love, Holly

Week 6

May 25, 2009

Hellooooo!
How are you all doing? Things have been pretty good here.....this week has been such a blur to me! haha, I'll try to rack my brain and remember what happened. Well, of course the biggest thing that happened is my first baptism!!! Joan Rios got baptized on Saturday (5/23) Yay!! It turned out really well and it was such a happy time. :) It was funny though, she is a 77 year old woman and the man that baptized her is just about her age. They have been friends for 20 years plus and he is in our ward, so she wanted him to baptize her. Well when the actual "baptism" part happened, I was praying and praying so hard that they wouldn't fall over! hahaha! I was so worried that she wouldn't be able to bend back very well and worried that he wouldn't be able to lift her back up!! Well, it's good to say that they didn't fall over at all :) Although it was very, very slow getting her back up. But it all worked out wonderfully and she's now a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! It was also pretty cool because the week before the baptism she kept telling us that she didn't think any of her family would come. But half way during the program (unfortunately after the actual baptism) one of her sons and grandsons showed up! Atleast they came in support. It was good to see them there!
Last Tuesday, we had a New Missionary Luncheon at the mission home. They do that with all the new missionaries 3-4 weeks into the transfer, so I got to see all the elders that I came out with again and their trainers. It was great to see them again and hear about how their first few weeks. They are all awesome missionaries! I really wish I could remember more about what happened this week! I feel like the majority of it was planning the baptism. Usually the ward mission leader does that I guess, but he was out of town and the bishop is out of town. So we had to do a lot of it ourselves. So maybe thats why I can't remember a whole lot of anything else! Anyway, I'll probably have more exciting things to tell you next week! But I sure do love you all! Thanks for your support!!!
Love, Sister LaMont

Week 5

May, 18 2009

Hiiiii!!!
I just love P-days so I can get emails from you guys!!! I hate not being able to communicate with you whenever I want! haha, that's been the hardest thing for me. It's been a pretty good week though! I told you about the baptism that we have set, yay!! Her name is Joan and she's 77 years old, but she is so dedicated and committed to her baptism, it's so cool! We talked with her about the word of wisdom last week, which I kind of told you about, and she said she'd have to think about it before she made the decision to stop drinking coffee. Well on Tuesday when we went to see her, we brought her some apples and hot chocolate (cuz apples give you more energy then coffee does) and she was so tickled about it that she said she would "surely" give up coffee! :) And she hasn't had any since!! She's so cute. She's such a quiet lady that sometimes you aren't for sure what she's feeling. But with her staying dedicated like this and coming to church every week, you can see this is what she wants. We even had an experience on Saturday with her where she was being a little missionary to her sons, haha. One of them sat in on the lesson with us and said that maybe he'd come to church too but he wasn't sure if he could really make it. She piped up and said "You just don't want to COMMIT!" haha, it was so funny, she called him out! Then another son came into the room and offered us some coffee to drink (trying to be funny I think) and she was like "Don't offer them that, they don't drink coffee!!" She's so cool! Well to answer some of your questions, no the humidity hasn't set in yet, thankfully!! The weather has been so off and on, some days it's hot and you can feel slight humidity but then the next day will be rainy and cold. A lot like Idaho is :) My companion is from Seattle area and she feels like Pennsylvania is trying to be more like Washington with the way it's been raining so much. And as for all the investigators we got the other week, I think only 2 of them came through on 2nd lessons. But one of them, Andrea, pretty much read all the chapter headings from 3 Nephi to the end of the Book of Mormon and had so many questions! It was cool to see how interested she is. I think right now she's just more interested in learning how we are different from other religions, but hey it's a start. It could turn into a testimony after a while (which we are praying for). We had another cool experience with this man and his daughter this week. We met them street contacting and he's met with missionaries for like 35 years off and on. He was saying how he really hates it when the missionaries have to open up the scriptures and read, he likes it when they can recite them. So when we went to the appointment, we were really really nervous! haha, esp with me only being out 3 weeks! I don't have scriptures memorized!!! haha. But when we got there, he pretty much told us "hey i've been meeting with missionaries for so long, I know all the lessons and I have my stumbling blocks I need to get over. What I want you to do is to teach my daughter and increase her faith. She needs you" So it was pretty amazing, and nothing to worry about at all! She was sitting right there with us and was all for it. Her name is Rosie and she's 27 but has a lot of self confidence issues. So hopefully as we befriend her and get her to meet some people at church, it will be a big change for her! :) So we are pretty excited to get to meet with her some more. 
This is getting kind of long, sorry. But as for your other questions, I think there is one other elder from the Boise area. I haven't met him yet but President Pugh said (i think) that he was from Eagle. His name is Nathan Carter. But I don't remember for sure. As for dinner appointments....we have one basically every night!! And THAT'S how I'm going to get fat out here!!!!! hahaha. Sister Deal and I pretty much decided that we are going to start limiting it to 4 times a week so that'll save me for a little bit longer :) Although I do love meeting with the members. And then as for P-days, we haven't done anything way fun yet. But next week we have a fishing/BBQ day planned at a members home for memorial day and the next week our district wants to go to Intercourse, PA.....home of the Amish!!! I can't wait for that week ;)
Well anyways, it should be a good week this week. Joans baptism is this saturday, so keep praying for her!! Hope you have a good week to!! I love you!!!
Love, Holly

Week 3

May 4, 2009

Hi everyone!!!!!
Oh man, I'm sorry I haven't been able to email any sooner! My P-Day is on Monday....the day I got here....so I had to wait a whole week! But I am glad it's finally here and I get to find out what is going on with everyone else! So I finished with my first week out in the field and let me tell you that it was really an amazing week! A lot of cool things have happened! First of all, I am serving in a place called Elizabethtown and I was put in a threesome. My trainer has been out for 13 months, her name is Sis. Deal from Redmond, WA and the other girl has only been out for one transfer now and her name is Sis. Bradshaw, from Layton, Ut. They are a lot of fun! 
So let me tell you about my first day....we got into Harrisburg and stayed the night at the mission home with President and Sister Pugh. They are so nice, they fed us dinner and just got to know us! You probably already got my letter from that night. The next day is when I got to meet my companions! We first went to a new missionary training session and just got oriented with things....insurance, bank cards, bikes, etc etc boring stuff.....then our trainers came in and introduced themselves, we took pictures, then off to our areas!!! We did go tracting that first day and it wasn't as bad as I thought. The first door I knocked, the old lady wasn't very nice and didn't give us much time but it's gotten a lot better since then. You'd think old ladies would be the nice and easy ones to talk to.....nope. They are the meanest out here! hahaha. 
Well I just really want to tell you of a couple cool things that I've been able to see so far. First we had an appt with a family, the Geibs, who are investigating. They've had the first 2 lessons already so we watched the restoration with them and talked about how important prayer and scripture study every day is so important. By the end of the lesson, they pretty much invited themselves to church!!! Oh my amazing!! There 13 yr old son, Joey, was so excited to have a church to go to! Well, they came to church yesterday but it was a stake conference broadcast from Salt Lake....not very fun for Joey. He got very very bored and antsy so they ended up leaving halfway through. Next week should be better for them and I think they understand that. 
Another cool thing that happened this week....on Saturday, Sis. Deal went on an exchange with a member to teach an investigator. So Sis. Bradshaw and I went tracting. She's fairly new too so I thought "this might be an interesting day!" haha. But, the Lord works wonders!!!! We were able to teach 3 first lessons in a row and they all committed to reading the Book of Mormon and we made appt's to come back and see them!!! One ladies elevn yr old daughter, Tasia, was so excited too. haha she wanted to walk around with us and be a missionary with us! She practically gave us another referrel too! She's so cute. We met some other pretty amazing people that day! By the end, we ended up having 8 new investigators!!!! It's gotta be the new missionary fire! hahaha, or just the miracles of the spirit working on people. I'll tell you more about these other people in letters. 
I have to hurry and finish. But random facts I want to tell you. First when the wind blows in from the east, you can smell chocolate in the air from Hershey. Yummmm!! BUT when the wind blows from the west....ewww it smells like maneur. And let me tell you....the maneur here is SOOOOOOO much stinkier then anything I've ever smelled in Idaho! It's terrible!!!!!!! I never thought it could be so bad! haha. Another random fact.....I saw just one Amish buggy riding around :) And an amish man with a long beard helping people put boxes into a U-haul! I thought that was a pretty funny sight. (since they dont' use cars, haha) ....It's been pretty rainy here all week but it's a warm rain. So i've been ok with it. The Dogwoods here really are so pretty though!!! They are everywhere! I'll get my picture in front of one some time soon for my plaque picture. 
Anyway, I hope all is well at home! I sure do love all of you and can't wait to hear more about whats going on! Love you!!!!!

Week 2

Hello friends and familia!!!!
oh man, can you believe that I'm almost done at the mtc? i'm a veteran here now! Ya, i'm flying out on monday to pennsyvlania!!! I can't believe it's already here!!! Aaahh! The real part of my mission is coming!! But guess what? We are allowed to call home at the aiport, to let you know that I'm safe and everything. So i'll either call home at like 7:00 in the morning from SLC or at about 12:30-1:00ish from Cincinnati! I hope either of those times work for you! 
So I actually had a pretty cool "real" missionary experience the other day. We were at the referrel center on Tuesday...where people who have gotten pass a long cards call in to recieve DVD's or books....and this man called in who randomly found a card and just needed to talk to us! He actually is in a lot of spiritual pain! He was telling us how even though he's not going to hurt himself, he doesn't see any point in living. He is a very religious man. Not church going because he says all the churches are just trying to take money from him, but he reads the bible and prays all the time. So my companion and I started talking to him about how our Heavenly Father does have a plan for us and that we are on this earth so we can become like Him and be worthy to live with Him again. He totally understood that and we told him that we would get missionaries to his house as soon as possible (in FL). Usually it takes a couple weeks for missionaries to get the referrel, but when we called him the next day just to talk, he told us the missionaries were coming to visit him that day! Amazing!!! Our prayers were answered!!! When we talked to him yesterday, he told us he wants to read the Book of Mormon and told us that he has heard of joseph smith and he believes he is a prophet. We also asked him to go to church this coming sunday and he committed to go!!! Doesn't this sound all too good to be true???? I pray that he stays committed!!! he does have a problem with the word of wisdom but he knows he needs to stop! So that is one step to getting better! Talking to him seriously sends shivers down my spine! He's more than ready to be a member! It's so amazing and miraculous how he just fell into our laps! But I sure do love it! This is what gets me excited about missionary work. :) 
Other than that, things are going well still and time is flying by! Aaahh, i'm actually leaving on Monday!!! That's crazy talk. 
I'm sorry my emails are so scattered! 30 minutes is really not enough time to write to you! But I love, love, love you! Thanks for your love and support! Bye!!!

Holly's Email

From Krista:

Holly's Email address is sisterlamont@myldsmail.net. (Sound familiar?? That's the email address I used! crazy!) 

Anyway, anyone can email her, but she will probably not be able to respond. It depends on what her Mission President says.  Lets keep up our support for Holly and keep those letters and packages and emails comin'!!

Thanks!!

My First Email!

Hello family!!!!! I finally get to write emails! haha, it has taken way to long for it to be P-day! The days really have been going fast, just not getting to do laundry or write emails for 9 days is a long time! So I have so much to tell you, but I don't know where to start or what to say!! This past Tuesday at our devotional we had a pretty amazing, surprise speaker come talk to us! We had Elder Holland come and he gave such an amazing talk! He talked to us about how there is no place in the world (besides with his wife) that he'd want to be then with missionaries. Then he gave a very very passionate talk about how when we are done with our missions, we should still talk, act, and live like a missionary. It is like the right of passage as mormons into becoming mature adults and after preaching the gospel and converting people, how can we fall away from that? How can we not be converted ourselves? He also very passionately spoke about how as missionaries in the field, we CANNOT be stupid! Not only for our sake but for the sake of the church. And as we are out in the field, we should be totally and completely dedicated for all 18-24 months. It was such a good talk and so powerful! And when I say powerful and passionate, I mean raised voice and umph behind his words!! haha, I wish you could have been there to hear it!
Lessons and classes have all been good too! I really feel like I'm starting to become a better teacher and understanding how to invite the spirit into the lesson by adapting everything we tell them to their needs. There really is a need to have a strong listening ear when you talk and learn about your investigators. But it's amazing how easy it is to incorporate problems or difficulties into the gospel! My companion, Sister Pooley, and I have taught a couple lessons to teachers and classmates and people from other districts and are starting to feel more comfortable with it. Oh man, there is just so much to tell you and so little time!!!! I hate being timed when writing mail! haha! Well I just want to let you know that I love, love, love you! And even though its great here in the MTC, I cannot WAIT to get out to Pennsylvania and actually get to know and teach people!! Thanks for all you help and support! Love you!
Sister Holl-i-Sister LaMont :)