Moroni "Fort"ifies the land of the Nephites

So. Sister Holmes sent me a letter this week which included a thumb drive that had videos of her and Sister Ah Quin doing this video blog!! OH MY HECK I loved it. It was so awesome being able to see her and hear her! She hasn't changed! Still a goofball. It's funny though because she's starting to sound like she's from NZ with the phrases that she's using. Pretty much as soon as I started watching it I immediately starting crying because I miss her immensely. But then I couldn't help but feel happy and smile because she looks SO happy. I KNOW that she is in New Zealand serving the Lord and kickin' butt. She amazes me and I'm so proud to call her my little sister. She's the best!! :D here's her email and some pictures for the week. 

This week was pretty dang awesome if I do say so myself. Its went by supah fast though. I was sitting in church and I was like "Woah. Its Sunday! Where did the week go??" 

Anyway Happy Halloween! Halloween is not very big here in NZ but in temple View we have a party..more like 4 parties. The subject line of this email is Moroni "Fort"ifies the land of the Nephites. Now I will explain haha well we were asked to but an activity together for one of our ward parties. It had to be themes around the Book of Mormon...My first thought was "Ohh lets split them into teams make one team the Laminites and one the Nephites and make them battle! We can see which team wins!" Hmm violence is never that answer..so I still love the war chapters so I thought hmmm. Moroni fortifies the land....fortifies..fort...Oh my gosh. Lets build forts! I did some looking around found heaps of boxes!! I mean HEAPS of boxes probably like 70 cardboard boxes. Man it was a blast. What we did was have each side build a fort to protect themselves. Then when I yelled go they had to throw boxes at the other each others fort. (Still dangerous) Often I would end up being on the other team helping them. It was soo fun. Also one of our Bishops gave us Halloween candy BUT it was american candy. I felt like I was back home at a ward activity...but not really hahaha

Last Monday we went to the park and there were some little girls there. We had came and talked to them in primary and they remembered us. We ended up playing tag and some other games with them That was a hoot and a half. Then They asked what we were going to be for Halloween. The littlest girl had to be about 5 or 6 told sister Ah Quin "You should be a hero for Halloween. You can dress up as sister Holmes!' Okay, my heart melted!! I was the CUTEST thing!! They didnt know what they wanted to be.. but when we saw them at the party guess what they dressed up as?? Sister Missionaries!!! Adorbs.

We had another awesome lesson with Rachel. She is so great!! She even came to church!! It was fast and testimony meeting and she really loved it. Soo cool! We are going to see her again tonight for FHE. I am excited. A less active we are working with will be there as well. Candace. Man she is soooo awesome! She came to church yesterday with two of her girls. They are the sweetest! Always hugging and smiling. Man. But Candace has not been to church for 20 years and now she is realizing that she wants to go back and is making big changes in her life. LOVE IT!!!!

Okay get this. We have supah awesome members here in the View. One of those being a lady names Sister Kenyon. She is from the Cook Islands. For exercise this morning she was teaching me how to dance. You know like those island dancers who move their hips super fast??  Yeah like that but faster! She didnt make me go super fast today though since it was my first time haha but She taught me how to do it then made me watch my hips move in a mirror...yesh..that part was awkward haha but it was really fun! Really good work out to! I love learning cultural things!! We are going to learn more everyMonday! Should be good!!! We are also making sushi today. That should be fun..haha I can show you all my cultural new skills when I get home ;) Maybe not the dancing...haha

Something I have noticed this week or felt I guess it love. I dont know why I felt it so much this week but I just felt loved. I was sitting in the Christus room and I had never done it before but I went and I touched the wounds in His hand and in His feet. Then I just sat by Him and felt so at peace with the world. I felt soo loved. I just wanted to hug Him...then I thought..uuuuuhhh betta not. (Might look odd to see some person hugging a statue haha ) Any way I thought of just how wonderful it will be to feel those wounds in His hand when I see Him again. Just how great it will be to see Him again. Our Saviour and Redeemer. I also felt alot of love from my Heavenly Father. It seems not matter what happened this week I just thought about Heavenly Father and how He loves me. No matter what! He loves us all. Then I thought of my family and had an overwhelming sense of love and gratitude for those wonderful people He has given me! My Grandparents my Mom and My Dad my AMAZING siblings. So much love in this world! I LOVE it! Funny enough Sister Ah Quin probably hates it but I treat her just like I would one of my sisters..(lots of teasing hahaha)

Oh. I have a watch tan just in case any of you were curious. I have one. Its pretty great haha

Scripture of the day! Alma 32:18 (we had Rachel read this Chapter and she came up and was like I loved this verse!) It reads : 

                     18:Now I ask, is this faith? Behold I say unto you, Nay; for if a man knoweth a thing he hath no cause to believe, for he knoweth it.

Then you can look over to verse 21 and it reads :

                      21: And now as I said concerning faith---faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hot for things which are not seen, which are true.

Shall we all exercise more faith?? Even if we can only desire to have faith "Let that desire work in you even until you believe" Alma 32:27 I know my faith has grown so much and in that my desire to serve the Lord has grown and it has indeed blessed my life and I know if we all nourish our faith the same will happen. You will be blessed so much!

Hope you week was as good as mine! Love ya heaps and miss ya more!!!!

Kia Kaha! 

Sister Holmes

Sister Ah Quin & Sister Holmes
(this picture was from last week)

Sister Holmes, Sister Ah Quin, & Sister Penales

welcome to the jungle...

Here's Sister Holmes' email from 11/24! Transfers! I'm not gonna lie I'm kind of bummed that she got transferred just because I was able to email her Sunday nights for a few hours during her PDay. I know that she is supposed to be in PukeKohe and she's gonna rock it. Lucky people! :) 

........the jungle of South Auckland that is! Yepper! Transfers happened on Thursday and President decided to finally kick me out of the VC and Temple View!! I miss it but my new area is great. VERRRRRYYYY Different from the View. Soooo I am in a place called PukeKohe in the Papakura Stake/Zone. Its been referred to by my new bishop as the Bronx so that is fun :) Also I have a daughter! (which just means she is new and I have to train her...But now I have to pretend to know what I am doing hahaha )Her name is Sister Pearce. She is from Heramin Utah! She is great! We have heaps in common so that is good!

I went and said good bye to a few of the people that I had grown really close to...

#1 Kristen and Chantel. They were not home so I left a note. then Nek minit they are called and are like where are you! We have something for you (chocolate) and they wanted to say goodbye! They had been driving around trying to find us! Soo sweet.

#2 The Golders. They are one of my favourite families. Brother Golder looks at me and says "Sister Holmes, You have changed so much" I will miss them!

Saying goodbye to sister Ah Quin was pretty hard. She is my half daughter haha We had heaps of fun together and I will miss her. She cried..then I cried. BUT Don't cry because its over, smile because it happened! We def had heaps of smiles in our time together!

Sooo it is HOT AS! Man I got a mean as tan!

We are double covering a ward with Two elders. Elder Hester and Dellaca. Elder Hester and I came in at the same time and he was in my first zone!!! He is GREAT so I am excited to be able to serve with him!!! and Elder Dellaca..haha

We went and met with our Bishop he is huge and Tongan. We are in a primarily Islander area. But Meet with the Bishop nek minit have to give a talk! So we did that Sunday. Our ward is really small..but shouldn't be...there are HEAPS of Less actives and part member families. We def have our work cut out for us that is fo so!

We have a Brand new flat. Pretty Flash...lots of bugs. I had to kill a huge as spider! It was black and fuzzy..so yeah...Sister Pearce is terrified of spiders..so that means I get to take care of them. Which is how it was with sister Ah quin as well. I just have to man up!! haha its

I read this poem and it has definitely helped me so thought I would share!

The Man Who Thinks He Can

If you think you are beaten you are

if you think you dare not you don't

If you like to win but think you cant

its almost a cinch you wont

if you think you'll lose your lost

For out in the world we find

success begins with a state of mind

if you think you are out classes you are

you've got to think high to rise

you've got to be sure of yourself before

you can ever win a prize

life's battles don't always go

to the Stronger or Faster man

but soon or later the man who wins

is the man who thinks he can

Walter D. Wintle.

With Heavenly Father and a positive attitude we can! That is something my mission has helped me to see it that its all about attitude! It you think your mission is the best, it will be. If you think you have the best companion, they will be. If you think you can make a difference you can.

I am excited for the chance to serve in this new area! It is different and I miss Temple View BUT I am excited for what lies ahead and ready to work!

Have a good week!

Kia Kaha!

Love ya Heaps!!!

Sister Holmes :)

Get a sliver doing service at the temple. Thug Life.

Here is Sister Holmes' email from last week. :) it's a good one!

Don't have heaps of time today! But hey thats okay!

"If nothing happens nothing happens" this was said in sacrament meeting. Really stood out to me now sure why is pretty obvious! I mean if we aren't doing anything nothing is going to happen. If we want something to change but dont do anything nothing will change. We have agency and we need to make things happen.  That simple. 

This week was pretty good! A little sad because transfers are coming up this Thursday! Change is good but sometimes hard. But its nice to know that where ever I go its where Heavenly Fathers KNOWS I need to be. 

I tired Fish and Chips this week. Was not too bad..but that could be because the fish was battered and fired...haha 

Had another Lesson with Rachel. She came to church and we were able to meet with her partner. (boyfriend) That was cool She is so great!! 

We had Elder Holstom come and speak to us so that was pretty cool! I feel bad...I didnt know realize who he was until he left..But He gave a really great talk. Elder Hamula spoke to us as well and his wife. She is sooo awesome! Funny too! I got to see Sister Swindler as well so that was GREAT! Miss her!! 

We got to help put us Christmas lights at the temple!!! I have been waiting ages to do it and they finally called us! We also ended up helping with the garden. The weather was perfect and the temple is beautiful so its a win win. I did however get a sliver..I know. I know. Get a sliver doing service at the temple. Thug Life. 

We had a birthday Party for Elder Son! He is our District leader. It was great! We decorated the place and everything, played heaps of fun games. It was a hoot. 

Did some Cook Island Dancing. The sister that is teaching us says I have a natural swing. Man you have to be pretty fit to do that stuff! Its such a work out on your legs! So ladies that want a good work out. Cook Island dancing is fun as!

Another thing that stood out to me was something that Brother Bourne said its " Faith over Fear, Faith over doubt, faith over the unknown and the unseen." It reminded me of the "Doubt your Doubts before you doubt your faith" When we place faith over fear, over doubt over the unknown and the unseen everything else just seems to fall into place. We have a greater understanding of Heavenly Father and His love for us. We are able to place our faith in His Plan for us and in Christ Atoning sacrifice and KNOW that everything is going to be alright! Better than alright because we have a purpose and we have faith in that purpose. We have a hope for things which we cannot see but we know to be true. That faith can lead us to live happier and more fulfilled lives. Knowing our purpose. Its hard sometimes, but He is always there for us. 

Well outta time! I hope you are all doing well and have a great week!! We will have to wait and see what transfers bring!! 

Love ya heaps and miss ya more!!! 

Sister Holmes 

Here! Take your Little As Fork!"

So good to hear from Sister Holmes this week!! :) she's doing great in NZ but we miss her greatly here. Just about 1 year to go!! :D






Well this week went by so fast! I feel like I say that every week!! haha 

Subject line "Here! Take your little as fork" Was said by Georgie as 3 year old adorable little girl, We had dinner with her family a few nights ago and she tried to give her fork to us. Man I died laughing! Sooooo I wrote down a list of things to write about....and then left the list at the flat....so yeah haha I will try and remember what happened this week but so much happened! 

Summer is here! Man its so beautiful! Its gets pretty dang hot though I must say. The humidity is what does me in. I am sure you do not want to hear this BUUUUTTT the humidity makes me supah sweaty! Terrible. I feel like I can share things like this with you because I am on the other side of the world so I am not too worried if you know I am sweaty haha You are Welcome. 

We went on a really awesome hike today! That was great! We went with all of our elders, we all went up in a big van!! Then we hiked up to a waterfall, man It was hot as really wanted to jump in the water! It was sooooo beautiful! Then just to make it even better the Goodmans (The missionary couple who took us) got us ice cream. It was a wonderful day! This country is amazing :D I will send photos...try not to be too jealous but its only natural since I am serving in the best mission ever ;) haha 

Anyway this week was great!! One of the preparing missionaries we have been working with opened his call and is going to the Marshall Islands! So that is really exciting! Now we have 2 Elders who will be going to the Marshall Islands in March!! 

Tuesday was district meeting and it was great! I had to do the spiritual thought. Soo I stole this idea from someone else... but here it is. I get up and ask for a volunteer (has to be a strong volunteer haha) anyway I had him stand up by me and then I went over to the first elder and asked him "Elder Wasden, would you like a cinnamon role? " Of course he said yes and took the cinnamon roll. Then I turned to my Volunteer who was Elder Maiava and said "Elder Maiava will you do 10 press ups(push ups) so Elder Wasden can have his cinnamon roll?"  Soo he got down and did the push ups. Then I went to the next Elder...said the same thing. "Elder Son, would you like a cinnamon roll" He said yes then I asked Elder Maiava if he would do push ups so Elder son can have his cinnamon roll. So he again did the 10 push ups. I went to Sister Ah Quin, asked her if she would like a cinnamon roll, she said no. I turned to Elder Maiava and asked, "Elder Maiava will you do 10 push ups so sister ah quin can choose not to have her cinnamon roll?"  We then went through the rest of the elders. We all saw the struggle that Elder Maiava was having. We saw that it was hard for him. Some even wanted to help him..but he was the only one who could do it. Whether or not they wanted the cinnamon roll the price had to be paid. Just like the atonement of Jesus Christ. Whether or not we choose to repent and accept the blessings of the gospel and all it brings. Accept the blessings of the atonement the price was paid for each one of us. The price was paid by Jesus Christ. He suffered for us so that we can have eternal life. BUT we have to choose to accept it. The elders liked it but that may be only because they got cinnamon rolls. Elder Maiava...he didnt really like it toooo much hahahaha! They may never ask me to do the spiritual thought again haha  

After District meeting on Tuesday we had a Zone service project. Which was actually at our next door neghibours house haha we got to help paint her house which was asweosme! I got to do something called "Cutting in" They guy said are you good at cutting in? I said I dont know I have no clue what that is. Apparently it just means painting in a tricky spot. SO he told me to do that and I could say "Cutting in? Nailed it!" or "Cutting in...ehhhhhh" haha So I got to do that. Pretty fun. I would say I am in between nailed it and ehhhh haha but I have noticed more and more that the "L" in my name does not exist here. Everyone calls me Sista Homes. 

This Sunday we had to teach 3 classes. All about missionary work! It was great, we are getting the ward members pretty pumped up about mission work! We are trying to help them understand their role in the work and how important and necessary the are! They are pretty excited about it and so are we!! 

This week was sister Ah Quins birthday and man it was like it was my birthday too! Man! We got like 5 different cakes dinners, lunches! It was awesome! I made sure I told everyone it was her birthday so they could do things for her since we didnt have anything at the flat haha I did make her some apple crisp-like apple pie but not- anyway that was good and we ate it for breakfast haha then we had Indian food for lunch and Wendy's for dinner. Love Wendy's because it tastes the same as america! We had frosties and everything.Needless to say it was a great birthday for the both of us! haha 

Okay, so this made my whole week. I may or may not have told you About Kristen and Chantel. But they are really awesome! When I first came to the VC they were totally not active. We started visiting with them and got really close. They have been working through somethings and have been to church every week for a few months!! We saw them on Sunday and then Kristen introduced me to her sister but before she introduced us I heard her say "These are the Sisters that helped us." I dont know if she knows how great that made me feel but man it did. Maybe that is silly, but I am soooo blessed to be able to serve here in New Zealand to serve such wonderful amazing people and to serve my Heavenly Father. Its the best. 

Well that is all I can remember! haha I love you all and miss ya HEAPS!! At least 3 heaps! 

I apologize...this email is all over the place! May the force be with you! 

Sista Homes! 

part of the book she made for Sister Ah Quin

oh the faces.

cute!

pretty!

Yeah. Definitely do not have ANYTHING like that here in Vegas.

"My Elders! They are a special bunch"

it is so pretty there!

"No Worries!"

Well now I'm all caught up on Sister Holmes' Missionary email blog. PHEW! I feel super anxious when I get behind on this thing. Here it is though! She's doing really well! :D

Subject line "No Worries" comes from Distirct Leader Elder Son. Calls us every night and says No Worries Sister Holmes or Dats Da one at least 50 times haha sweet as!

Last week we went on a hike in the bush with the Elders! It was great! First time in a NZ bush! It was really cool!! There were fat as vines. Some elders tried to swing from them..haha Dangerous. There was a water fall and a river. As well as a scary wobbly bridge. SO that was great fun. (Bush=Forest)

We had sisters conference on Wednesday. We had 4 Extra sisters staying at our house. Its funny people fight to stay at our flat. haha I have stared calling it the Temple View in. First call first serve. Sister Qaqa called a week in advance haha then when some else asked I was able to say Sorry there is not room in the Inn. We even made them waffles for breakfast. Sister Qaqa is coming back Tuesday night that will be fun haha soooo sisters conference. There were 46 Sisters in our VC theatre for 4 hours...it was great..hahaha nah it really was good. Got to hang out with sister Swindler and all my other favorite sisters so that was fun. Learned alot as week. Like how to help my feet stink less which is needed! haha Whenever you go into someones house you just take your shoes off as a sign of respect..its will make is awkward if your feet stink hahaha So sisters conference was good. Alot of estrogen in one room. I think I can wait another 6 months before we do that again haha

We met with Rachel again. Asked her to be baptized, she said eventually. Hey that is not a no! She is doing great. She said "I could listen to you talk all day" I was like aww that is sweet! No one has EVER said that to me!! haha must be the spirit she likes to listen to! Ha! Gonna see her again tomorrow! Exciting!!

We had some really good visits this week! Also really good dinners with our members. They have become like family! I love seeing and visiting with them! haha we went to dinner at the Nins home Saturday night and I love their kids. Elijah was walking around with a sleeping bag on his head and I started messing with him and he says "Who is that!? Sister Holmes! Is that you??" Love it. haha And maybe its my tag but kids just come and always want to hang out and talk to me haha sister Ah Quin said on Sunday. Man kids just love you! I am kinda Jealous. haha These kids all somehow remind me of my siblings I think that is Heavenly Fathers way of helping me be away from my siblings! 

Time for the Book of Mormon Moment: Today the Book of Mormon Moment comes from 2 Nephi 10:20 I read this verse this morning and got something that I had not noticed before. This is what hit me today: Its talking about Lehi and his family and how they had to leave Jerusalem the land of their inheritance, we all know they went through hardships in the wilderness but (here is the good part) in verse 20 it says "but we have been led to a better land" The Lord layed out the path for them. They had to have faith to follow that path that lead to the promise land. Just like Lehi and his family Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are pointing us to our own land of promise. He has a plan for each of us. They way will be hard and the burdens may sometime seem to hard to bear. BUT if we follow Him in faith we will find our land of promise. That land of promise could just be happiness in this life or in the eternities. Whatever it may be it will be better  than what we could have gotten for ourselves. In verse 23 it reminds us that we are "free to act for yourselves to choose the waty of everlasting death or the way of eternal life" I know that if we follow Heavenly Father and the example of Jesus Christ in faith we will be blessed. Love the Book of Mormon. In the MTC we were taught how reading AND pondering the book of mormon we can learn so much! Supah true! I have kept a study journal from the first time I read it while I was out and this time and everything that stands out to me is new and different than the first time. Even though the book has not changed..I have. Cool ay? READ THE BOOK ALL!! Dats Da one!

This week went by supah fast I cant remember what all happened...haha

VC has been great!! Sister Davis and Sister McLemore! They are the best!! When we are on shift together we have dinner/lunch parties! Always have a good time. I gave a tour with Sister McLemore which was cool because she was my MTC companion so we have this like special bond. Love her!

Time for the embarrassing story of the week! Ready! Go. Queso you remember how I said Sis Ah Q and I have been making video journal entries? Well we were making on at the VC while we were on chat. Then I had the brilliant idea of using British News Anchor voices...yeah..so we started and at the time we didnt notice (but you can see it in the Video) Elder McLachlan walked by then He walked back the other way. Then Came back and opened the door. I just stopped talking and Sis Ah Q turned around and said Hello...then He closed the door and we lost it. He came back in and was like man I thought you were talking to yourselves..we were like nope..just making a news cast..no big deal..haha Felt so shame! Terrible! Made for a funny video though. 

Anywayy.....chat was great! Had someone on there that kept telling me I was cursed. Talked to him or her (not sure which) for a while (over and hour) but it was going no where they just wanted to convince me I was cursed and going to hell. Meh. But we did have a good one! Got someone to commit to going to church! Will follow up see if they went! haha Oh chat. Such a special experience!

So Halloween is not really a big thing here. In The View it is. But not really anywhere else. We have a heap of Halloween parties this week! Which is great! Why? Because all the non members come to TV because they are the only place that does Halloween! Wahoo! Should be great!!

Well This looks long enough now. Haha Have a great week! Love yous heaps!! Read the Book of Mormon! Its sweet as!

Love, Your Favourite Sister

"Its our pure magic cant be helped cant be avoided. "

Well I've been a little behind on the blog. This email was from like 2 weeks ago! Lame sister I am!! OH well, here it is :)

This week went by quite fast! Cant even remember all the things that have happened!

Anyways. We had another Lesson with Rachel! She is doing great love her! We talked about the Plan of Salvation which she really liked. We have asked her the last few times if she would like to pray but she has not felt comfortable with it yet. When we asked her on Tuesday she did not even hesitate. I asked her she said yes then we and got on her knees and prayed. It was awesome. She said that she has been praying for patience with understanding and learning she said her prayers have been answered and that she has been really learning alot. which is great! We will see her again tomorrow!

We went over to a lady who is less active in the Maynard ward. She is super nice. Her cat just had kittens! There were 4 of them, only 3 days old! We got to hold them...okay well Sister Ah Quin held them...you know me..haha just admired from a distance. Very cute either way!

We got to help another less active we are working with in her garden. Yea, I felt pretty cool though. Wanna know why? Here in NZ they use things the MACHETES to weed-wack. Yes. So I felt pretty awesome machetting the weeds. However there were about 5,000 snails..no wait sorry 5 MILLION SNAILS!!! They are not little snails they are huge as snails. Eww. 

I got a hair cut...I miss my mom..haha

We had Zone meeting Friday! It was great! Really learned alot. We have 4 companionships in my zone. Sister Ah Quin and I are the only Sisters. But our Elders are GREAT! They are sweet as.

I am sure I have told you about the Less Active Lady in the Deseret ward? The one who told us not to come back..then we came back anyway but with cinnamon rolls. Then we talked to her about the temple and she told us that she needs us? Well she took her first temple prep class Yesterday! I am so excited for her! She is making great changes and she can see the difference that it is making in her life. Its awesome to see!

Just so you know Sister Ah Quin and I are a pretty hot commodity here in the VC. Everyone just gets supah pumped when they are on shift with us..and we are just like yahh. Its our pure magic cant be helped cant be avoided haha.

Queso. I may be the ONLY person who just now figured this out..but I have one of those cheap CTR rings. You know the ones they give you in primary that turn your finger green? Yea, one of those. Anyways...I was looking at it and in my head I was like okay..CTR Choose the Right. You know same ol same ol. Then I read it back words..RTC. hmm Right To Choose. Light bulb. We have the right to choose the right. Heavenly Father loves us, so He has given us the right to choose what we will do here on earth. 2 Nephi 2:27 "Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given then which are expedient nto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life through the great mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself" The choice is pretty clear. But none the less we have still been gifted with the right to choose. Let us not choose eternal death and captivity. Let us choose eternal life, peace, joy, happiness! Remember the choice is yours!  But even if you make the wrong choice we are always given ways to move forward and to be forgiven so that we can change and have the ability to choose the right again. That is through repentance. We must remember that repentance is not a punishment, its a hope filled path to eternal bliss. We must recognize the power of Christ's atonement and we must remember He did that for us. That we may be forgiven!

Okay. Done rambling now..

Sister Ah quin and I made bleach shirts. I will have to show pictures later. We are going on a hike with out Elders today so that should be fun!

Well all. Have a great week! Love ya heaps!!

Sister Holmes!