E-Mail 5/6/2013

 

Dear Family,

 I had a bit of a crappy week. Lets look. Monday we did our normal thing but it wasn’t very much yet when I got home I was just worn out and I didn’t know why.Tuesday Same thing except soreness was added to my ailments. Wednesday I was really slow getting around. Sore and getting tired really fast when I shouldn’t have. Thursday morning woke up at 4 and started making runs to the bathroom. It was mostly water until about 7 when it turned into all water. We went through the day and one point I almost had an accident. Which is really funny but not so much when it happens to you. I was having to go really fast to make it to a toilet at a hopefully open chapel. Thank goodness. Friday it cooled down but was still there. Saturday I was beaten. Same thing as thursday. I was worn out, tired, sore, probably dehydrated. I was hoping the day would finish. So get it? A crappy week. It’s a pun. I made a pun.  Anyways so even with the deadness we still got out. Patrick is being pushed to the end of the month. along with a few Children of Record that apparently no one cares about. Jennifer apparently has a lot of things that will have to be resolved before she can come and be baptized and even just coming to the church. Most of it is with her husband. As for my companion. Some days I love him more than others. I’m working on it. I’ve found that praying to have that love helps a lot. Luckily we’re both even tempered so it never gets too bad. We just get kind of irked at each other and then later on it’s like nothing. Today I pulled out 300 cedis to pay for the roof and stuff.Ummm. Honestly not too much this week. I go out every day and just just try to be effective.  Elder Wheeler sent me his email. He wants to invite you guys to his homecoming on the 12th. As for Mothers day I’m not sure what’s going to happen. Well we don’t have skype close in our area and I don’t know anyone around in my area that has it and well can’t go on sunday. Right now my Zl is checking if we can go on Saturday but if not I’ll call you guys on Sunday. Maybe around 12 your time. Hopefully you’re not in church.  If we can on Saturday I’ll give a quick call to tell you guys. That’s about it for me. Talk to ya later.

E-Mail 4/29/2013

 

Dear Family,

  

  So due to circumstances that are were a little obnoxious last week I was unable to come to a cafe. As you have plainly seen. Now I’m here this week after having a successful district activity with the great powers of the world conspiring against me and others to keep me from succeeding. I will explain. I have been a district leader here for not even two weeks. I’ve had to devote at least five days of them for interviews which I was unable to split because my companion is still new to the area. On top of that our phone stopped making calls making it very hard to be able to coordinate things. Then trying to get reports and stuff for whoever. Then random power outages and trying to get the ward to do a little bit more so kojokrom can be awesome. Aside from that trying to keep this district activity organized. District feast. Well gosh dang it if I didn’t defy the odds and tell the world ” I won’t go down without a fight!” At some point last week I was at the point of being overwhelmed and falling apart when I made that statement to the world. This week I feel like I can handle it a lot better than before. My new companion is a good guy he does have a few habits I need to break him on. That was another thing, I needed to learn to love my companion a little bit more which I’ll admit I might not have been trying as hard but now I’ve seen a noticeable change. The boy Patrick is still to be baptized it will take at least another two weeks or so. We have to review with him and then this sunday we are watching general conference at the stake center. We got one of our older investigators to come to church finally. The only thing is I’m not sure if she will keep coming to church. Then another that we’re trying but the husband is indirectly stopping her from coming. and it’s impossible to meet him so I’m not real sure what we can do. Pres. is coming this week for interviews and for a district meeting. I have some few questions for him that I now need to remember and I’m half wondering if I should ask him if I can leave kojokrom. It isn’t that I don’t like it I just don’t feel like I’m here for the area. If that makes sense. I’m just kind of here right now. I’m still working and stuff but I don’t know. Anyways if he does I already have it figured out what should happen to the district. My companion should train, Elder Baird , another member of district, would be the DL. If they were smart they would shift some few people around in apartments but it would basically be the same. Because I just kind of am not having fun here anymore I’m starting to get crazy ideas to do stuff. Not bad things or even dangerous just not the normal this things. Just kind of out there type things. So the computer I’m on apparently had someone watching iron man 3 before I got on and my question is why didn’t you tell me that iron man 3 was out. I feel like that kind of important. So our district feast that I talked about was salmon, yes we somehow managed to find salmon in our area,. with lime and we cooked some fried rice along with it. It was good. Congrats to Baird, Lelea, and Kinikini for being the cooks for us. Aside from having to deal with DL stuff that’s about it for me. Oh and Kariuki still wants those pics of the girls. Remember 5 ft. 6, pretty, and a healthy weight. so signing out. Oh and Kylie my trainer elder Wheeler is going to be home this week. Wednesday if you and the family want to welcome him home with whatever. Alright peace out ,

from this your son,

Elder Holder

E-Mail 4/15/2013

Dear Family,

  Well I don’t really know what to say. I guess grandma is doing alright now but Now great grandpa is gone. Sorry. This past week was a downer for teaching. Every single day was dead. We had one woman as we taught the restoration come and say from her own mouth that we need to find the true church and that it’s The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Then we asked if she would join it and that was where she had trouble. Sad day. We’ll see if she is able to make those first few steps and start coming. Then we had similar lesson with a boy who had been taught before and he accepted a baptsim date for this month. It surprised me because it came kind of suddenly. We’re running low on investigators so we’re going to start building up again. I did organize a pizza day for us but I didn’t get to enjoy. Luckily I still got pizza and it was good. Before I forget transfer news. So Pres. Shulz thougth I was doing such a great job here that he decided to make me temporary mission president while he goes and visits a loved one in the hospital back home. He’ll only be gone for maybe 3 or 4 weeks so not even a whole transfer but he feels I’m up for the challenge. Jk. Really E. Kariuki is leaving me and now I’m getting my first Nigerian companion, E. macauley. Oh and I’m also a DL again. shucks. The Ap is coming down and training in my district. The kojokrom ward is powerful in that even though our building got moved farther away people still come. Better yet the people who didn’t come last week are beginning to continue to come. I will have to talk to my new companion but I already have a goal in mind for us. To help attendance grow to the point that we can’t stay in the new building simply because it won’t hold us. This will be done by RC’s and reactivativation. I gotta figure out how to get it going though. A cool experience though. We are supposed to get some things called gospel conversations. 35 a week. Usually we don’t get. sooo yesterday we were at 31. We needed 4. Instead of going back to our usual walking routine I said let’s go here and go get the 4 in some other place. We go and talk to some people. I was ready to walk somewhere to get the last one and my companion says that he’s going to sit in some spot and wait for the last guy to come. Then that guy came and he’s talking to him. then a girl walks up and says “please can I talk to you?” I figure ok. As it turns out she was baptized two years ago and then her parents seperated and now her mom doesn’t let her come to church. She wants us to come and talk to to her at her house. hmmm ok. So she shows us her house so we can find her later in the week. I just wonder what would have happened if we went our normal routine. I don’t really have any news to share. and we’re going to have trouble geetting home tonight so I’ll end there. Love ya latas,
Elder Holder

E-Mail 4/8/2013

Dear Family,
    So before i forget I got a dear elder from Mckay. It was nice except that he wrote the entire thing in spanish. (sigh) So a few guys could read a little spanish and what they got out of it surprised me. One of them got that Justen and amanda were like together and the other one said that Amanda was pregnant. If you could tell mckay to send the letter in english I would very much appreciate it. Well this past week was alirght. We ‘re starting to see the people who are looking more serious than others. I imagine that soon we’ll be dropping a few people. Aside from that we have two people wtih baptism dates but we’re waiting to see the answers that they recieve from their prayers before we make it set in stone. We also just moved to a new building in a other area. Logically the building is farther away from our area and actually makes it harder t for the member to come but that being said we did have a goode number come still.. My new motto for Kojokrom is seperating the baptized from the converted. It’s  going to be tough but we’ll just have to make it work. This is week 6 of the transfer and to be honest I don’t thingk I’m going to  be with my Kenyan for another transfer. We had a secret zone conference last tuesday. The reason I say secret is that Pres. didn’t tell anyone that it was conference just taht he was coming to our districtt meeting. then lo and beho0ld the other zone was there. That Pres. he got us again. Thanks for the conference updates Theyll probably be the most I get until next month when we watch in church and then get our Liahona or ensigns or whatever.I also found today that our mission is out of planners. So that’s fun. I’m not ectually sure what I’m going to do yet but we can figure out. The black and yellow spider went away but we found bigger ones just outside our compund. I was surprised to find them that big. Called af ew people yesterday from Bakaano and then got sick of eating rice and beans. We had already eaten those things for like two days so me and my companion were like ughhhand we waited until today to break the cycle. the sisters that I came with on mission are going home next week. It’s sign of the times. As for Kariuki I think you just need to find pics of girls that fit the criteria if you know who they are that’s just a plus. Not too much else to report on. Talk to ya later? or possibly now.
Elder Holder

E-Mail 4/1/2013

Oh Dear Family,

To start I sincerely did try last week. My companion and I figured
we’d try the cafe in our area. we made a few calls and found out that
the power was off in our place so we waited some hours. Then we
decided to go with the other guys in our apartment to a place in their
area. I was able to open and read one email and then the power went
off. So we trekked back to our area and found that the power had come
back. We found our cafe. We started using it I finished reading the
emails from last week when yet again the power went off. So we gave up
for the day and decided to try on the morrow for district meeting. We
got in and everything but then those computers wouldn’t let us into
Myldsmail. We each tried maybe 3 different computers. We decided to
give up on that for the week. The week before I don’t think too much
happened. and then this week when I finally realized that easter was
coming I decided to read the account of the sacrament, suffering in
gethsemane, trial and condemnation, crucifixion, and resurrection of
Jesus Christ in the 4 gospels, followed by Jesus the Christ, and a new
testament manual for institute to kind of be prepared for easter. It
was nice. Kept me busy. Build here a little and there a little. Then
sacrament on Sunday was half about missionary work because one of our
members is leaving to Lagos Nigeria this week. One member gave a good
talk in which he used one of my favorite hymns,I stand all
amazed,-193. I also bought ice cream for our apartment to enjoy sunday
night. Strawberry frosty bite. it was all right. All our investigators
are seeming halfway right now. I can’t tell if there ready to progress
or not. I had a bad dream on saturday so I was kind of dead that day.
I didn’t really care what we did so it ended up flopping. Oh, one day
we were teaching this kid Kenneth when lo a woman comes out of nowhere
shouting. I turn around and her entire front is covered in blood. It’s
running down her face and arms and clothes. She had been cut in her
forehead by someone over a disagreement. The entire area went into
unrest and we discontinued the lesson. I also thought of “Be of good
cheer, I have overcome the world” I remember reading Talmage this week
about when all those things were happening to the Savior he never got
angry or upset. He never gratified himself. As Talmage said he truly
overcame the world. I’m trying to think of spiritual insights from the
past weeks but I think I was goofing off too much this morning to
remember any. though I will admit I am still trying to figure out what
I’m doing in Kojokrom. anyways back to this morning. So there’s a
black and yellow spider that has been sitting in one of our trash cans
outside for who knows how long. This morning as I cleaned I decided
that we should try to catch something and put in the web so we can
watch it kill and eat it. Our attempts proved fruitless. We tried
other smaller spiders, a fly, some other flying insect but we couldn’t
get it in the web. Then we found like a caterpillar or something like
that. It was in a cocoon. and we got it in the web and the spider
looked like it bit it but nothing happened. So we hoped that it would
do it later. This one was supposed to be for last week. Since Mckay
doesn’t want to be my brother in law I have a solution. There are a
few guys in my apartment that may be interested. He”s Zimbabwean and
his name is Elder Jakopo. I don’t see that going anywhere but more
importantly my trainer will be home in May. May 1st to be exact. He
might be a little chubby but let him work it off he’ll be a stud. oh
also for last week can you guys do my kenyan companion a favor. Find
and send pics of girls around 5 ft. 6 and that aren’t chubby but not
too slim. He wants to see if could like American girls. Now that I
remember some of last weeks email. You asked if I thought I had
changed. I do. Though I actually think i’m less serious than before.
You guys always talk about how spiritual kylie has been since she got
home and it makes me nervous because I don’t feel that way at all. I’m
not saying I don’t feel the spirit just I dunno. oh and when I send
you guys emails it isn’t to complain or I’m miserable I’m just telling
you guys straight what’s been going on. It doesn’t mean I’m not
enjoying. You can even talk to preso shulz. I remember telling him way
long ago that if I had family to go back to every night I could do
this for however long. Well aside from that all is well.  I’m doin
good and thanks for the brownies. Talk to you guys later.
From the one, the only,
Elder Holder

E-Mail 3/18/2013

Dear Ye Olde Family,

  The week was slow. I have to admit I thought Elder Kariuki and I would tear this place up but as it turns out his idea of work and my idea of work are a little bit different. He wants to take it easy so we’re kind of slow getting out of the house and stuff. I then discovered that I apparently have a hard time taking it easy. I start to go crazy when we’re sitting in the house too long in the morning and I gotta get out. Plus I realized our apartment is one of the most consistently hot places ever. It almost never cools down, not at night or in the morning. We don’t have any solid investigators right now. We’re trying to get some but so far teh people are so so. I haven’t been real impressed with this area. We’re back to having off and on meetings. The power in our area is out just about half the time. Which if I don’t send an email one week is probably why. We had to come all the way to town today because of that and even there isn’t really a cafe in our area. We were see if could find one today but there was no power. It’s also not completely worth it to come all the way to town just to email. So we’ll see. Nothing exciting has really happened this week. We had stake conference yesterday. I found out the stake presidency here is getting released and that the africa west area pres. will also be released in the next few months. I’m not sure what I’m gonna do with Kojo Krom. I kind of don’t want to stay here for too long. As for my old companion he’s still struggling. He’s just thinking about home too much but I have to say I’m starting to get annoyed with how much he’s texting me. It’s a little bit too much.E. Kariuki is sweet. Calm, controlled, and when there’s something to do effective. thanks for reminding me I actually did call Zeb this week. During our 24 hr. no power spat I gave him a call. I think it might”ve fallen a little flat because I was unprepared. Like I had thought of what to say but I had tried a few times already the day before and the day before that but the call didn’t go through. Even that night I was calling the third time when he answered so I was caught off guard. I didn’t have too much to say but just said it would be worth it. Then I just had like a cold or something of the sort. What’s going on with G-ma rosie. Why is she acting this way?I’ll remember her in prayers and thoughts. Too much is going on right now. My trainer is getting ready to go home. His girlfriend that dear johned him is getting married the May 3rd and he’s going to be home May 1st. He said talk about a kick in the face. The fact that Jenna had a bridal shower just reminded me of that. As for the random other blessings that happened during your guys’ weeks. Cool. Sometimes wish I got see stuff like that here, but maybe I already have. Anyways before I sign off Mom, I have to thank you again for cleaning up after us. Last week I had to spend time cleaning the shower because there was mold growing on the wall tile. Today I had to go the extra mile in the kitchen cleaning up soggy soot from under the stove and cleaning the walls too. I’m starting to look at all the things that need to be cleaned. Like the countless spiderwebs on the walls. Or the random dirt stains on the floor. Or some mysterious spot that for some reason people didn’t think to  look for before. Sigh. I’m also tired of rice in the pots being left in our pots for days at a time. Or food stuff being left to mold. So thank you.
Sincerely Obaa
Your son,
Elder Holder

E-Mail & Photos 3/11/2013

Dear Family,

 Yes I have moved to my new area. Yes I am enjoying E. Kariyuki, the same Kariyuki from the MTC. Now I’m back to phase one of new area syndrome. Realizing that you actually knew people from the old area and they knew you. I will admit the members in this new area have a completely different mindset then any area I’ve been in. They actually want to give referrals and they always talk about what they can do with the missionaries. The only problem is the guy I replaced was not serious at all and so the work has apparently died down momentarily. We have to pick it up a little bit. I have to say my companion doesn’t work as hard as I would like and since I’m new to the area I kind of have to tag along until I figure things out. But I’m ready to tear this place up. Literally. The morning after transfers I had to make a call to Pres. that went like this. “Hello, Pres. Thank you I’m fine. sooooooo do you know how 20 yr. olds sometimes do things that seem like their ok and then afterwards they realize it was a bad idea? Ya I did one of those this morning.” Here’s what happened. I got up and started stretching and stuff and was trying to figure out how morning exercise would be here. I walked around our compound and realized, “hey it’s pretty dang easy to get on the roof. I’ll probably get up there one day.” Walked to the front and then about two minutes later I was on the roof. I started walking towards the front of the house when my foot fell through along with the rest of me. I ended up landing in my room on my companions suitcase with debris falling everywhere and my companion and the other guy looking at what just happened. The next two days were coordinating with the Bybee’s, couple missionaries, and some other few guys to come and fix it. We moved to the next room and cleaned everything up. The worst I got was a few cuts and scrapes and bunch of shame. Which was actually a little bit surprising since it was like a 10 ft. drop. So lucky me. So that’s my fun story of the week. My old companion won’t stop texting us but I enjoy it. The new apartment is a little hot but other than that it’s nice. It seems like I’m going to have to pick up some stuff around here. Nothing else real big to report on. As I learn more about the area I’ll send some more stuff. I’ve also been sick since I got here so that part hasn’t really been helping either. I’ve finally got money so I want to try and call Zeb this week. Just a heads up.Let’s see anything else? Nope that’s about all for now.Talks to ya latas. Say hi to everyone for me.
From the new kid on the block,
Elder Holder

 

Elder Holder falls through his roof

 

 

Elder Holder and his companion Elder Kariyuki

 

Elder Holder and members