Pérola 6

Dear people,
This week was a blast. It was the last week of the transfer so we were working really hard. Also Pres. came to have another conference with us to do our interviews and for Christmas. It was pretty good. They talked a lot about being a consecrated missionary. Pres. gave us three things that are a recipe for success in the mission and life. Obedience, work, and focus. Then his wife gave us a nice talk too, and then talked about being clean and staying healthy, like any good mother would.
The missionaries from far away were staying with us for the weekend because of the conference so it was fun to talk with them. We would have them work in our areas and find people to teach for us while we were teaching people we already found so it was like we had 4 missionaries in our area so that was fun.
The week ended well. We had 5 people come visit church with us and one of them felt the Spirit so much he said he didn't need to pray and ask God if it was true because he already knows it is.  So that's pretty awesome, we will have to work with him and his brother to be baptized.  The others were all youth that liked it too and found friends quickly, but we have to go back during the week and see what they felt spiritually too.
I know I said I would take more pictures, but I am sorry, I actually didn't take any this week so I don't have any to send.  I think I got used to not having a camera, sometimes I just forget.
Oh, and this transfer I am staying here in the same area with the same companion.
Love,
Elder Holcomb

From Isaac's letter to Brian:
Sounds like a good week. We ended up cancelling the big stake baptism because just our area was going to baptize with the area that goes to our same chapel. However, the two siblings we were going to baptize ended up going to their dad's house because their uncle got into an accident and their mom had to go help him so they would be [t]here for the weekend, and we had to move the baptism [to] the 29th.
I am pumped to talk to you guys next week too. I am not sure exactly what time I will call, but I will go to a members house with wifi and talk on one of their cell phones.
I am not really sure how people feel about [the curriculum changes] because as the missionaries it doesn't change too much and we haven't gotten a Come Follow Me manual yet. However I think people are excited for the 2 hour church.
I am glad everyone is enjoying the ski season.
Yeah, we ended up running an 8k to the bank because we ran out of money for the bus which actually ended up ok. I was surprisingly feeling pretty good. But yes, the other runner will be here this transfer too, and it is our goal to run more.

Pérola 5

Hello people!
This week was fun. Our trip to the mall was fun however the missionary that I was going to run with got sick and didn't want to run anymore so we ended up using the bus anyway. However, the mall was fun and we had a secret Santa thing that was fun. The mall is always fun to visit because you can always see things that you don't see in the work; like there is a movie theater you can pass in front of and see all the movies that are coming out and then you get sad and miss home.
Conference with President Aidukaitis and Mission President was fun; we learned a lot. However, it was funny because Aidukaitis responded to every question by just like burning the missionary that asked it. So one time I asked if he had any tips to bringing people to sacrament meeting because we are trying really hard but not that many people are showing up. He responded and asked what my goal was for this week, and I was like "6." He asked how many people I am teaching and I was like, "20." He was like, "so who are the people you don't want to bring?"  I was like, "ummm, I want to bring all of them, but I made a realistic goal." Then he flamed me and said, "you will never bring people to church with that attitude. When God told Nephi to build a boat and sail across the sea did he tell God it was unrealistic? No, that's what Laman and Lemuel said. Stop being a Laman and Lemuel." And everyone was like "dang..." so now I get to say I got burned by a general authority and that can go in my journal.
New president is cool, I like him a lot. We didn't get to talk with him because he had another flight to catch but he is coming back this week to have a Christmas lunch with us so that will be when we can talk with him.
This week I got a bit sick too, so working was a bit hard, but through it all we have 3 people to baptize this week so that should be fun and hopefully they all work out.
Everyone here is excited for Christmas but it doesn't really feel right because there still isn't any snow haha.
Love,
Elder Holcomb

Pérola 4

Hello,
I don't really have a funny story to share this week really. However we worked pretty hard during the week.  We had lots of people that said they would go to sacrament meeting so we said we would walk with them, but when we showed up Sunday morning only two kids were awake to walk with us. However when we arrived at the church there were 4 people who said they wouldn't be able to make it, but went anyways, and we got super happy to see them there.
Yesterday a member had his 60th birthday party and we were invited and so that was fun. We ate lots of free food.  Then after, it completely poured, so after we got home we switched clothes and ran around in the rain jumping puddles, and that was probably the highlight of the week.
This week we will have the rest of P-day tomorrow. Today we are just using cyber and [tomorrow] me and the other American that ran cross country are going to run from our house to the shopping mall and race everybody taking the bus because you have to take two buses to get there.  We think the bus route is slower than the direct route so we are going to race them.  I am not really sure how long it is, but I think maybe 10 miles. The only problem is that it has been a year since either of us have run so that will make it a whole lot more fun.  P-day is tomorrow because the missionaries from Obidos and Oroximina need to ride a boat [iun ??] and don't get here until tonight, but we wanted to spend P-day with them.
Christmas is coming up and everyone here is preparing too. It's a bit strange to see all of the Christmas decorations in the heat and without snow, but I guess that's just the way things go here.
Love,
Elder Holcomb

[check out Light the World this Christmas https://www.mormon.org/christmas for ideas of how to serve this Christmas season and to see what Isaac mentioned he was excited about few letters back]

Pérola 3

Hello people,
This week was a fun one. Work wise was pretty much normal however we brought one guy to sacrament meeting who is pretty awesome. He is 22 and accepted our message and wants to be baptized on the 15th. I don't remember if I said this or not, but on the 15th of December we are going to have a stake baptism night where like all of the baptisms in the stake will be at the stake center and it will be like a big party so everyone is planning baptisms on the 15th. So he wants to work to be baptized then, and we have 3 other people that want to prepare to be baptized then, but the others still haven't made it to church and that's kind of like a key requirement to be able to be baptized is actual go to church. However the area is doing good. The ward mission leader is super good and always helping members go out with us to teach. This week we hit our zone goal for the month so everyone went crazy and celebrated and got happy and we were the only zone to hit our goal for a long time in the mission so the Assistants to the President got happy with us too, and we will probably be able to go to the beach and have churrasco on the beach one P-day.
Also Pres. Almeida got sent home early for health problems so the Mission President changed again and now it's President Nougeira. He was already president in the Brazil João pessoa mission (which is the mission that baptizes the most in Brazil). So everyone is a bit nervous to see if he is super strict or relaxed, just like when Almeida showed up. However he also is only going to be here about 6 months before he goes home and we will get a new president. So I guess President Staveskas who I thought I would only spend a little of time with will end up being the Mission President that I spent most time with and got to know the best.
Also I bought a camera from one of the missionaries that live in our house so now I can finally send more photos again. Also people are getting prepared for Christmas here so that's fun and it brings back memories of when I first arrived here in Brazil; so that's fun I guess I am an old missionary now.
It's fun to think about how much I have learned and grown. And yet lots of it has just been from personal study of the scriptures (lots from others too) but I was surprised by how much we can learn by personal study and prayer. We have lots of good teachers, but the best teacher of all is The Holy Ghost* so sometimes we need to sit and get a nice lecture from Him too.
Love,
Elder Holcomb

[*Here's some links I've added to elaborate on Elder Holcomb's thoughts:
(short, but has links to more) https://www.lds.org/topics/holy-ghost?lang=eng
(medium) https://www.lds.org/church/news/my-most-influencial-teacher-the-holy-ghost-helped-me-serve-the-one?lang=eng
(long) https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2017/04/how-does-the-holy-ghost-help-you?lang=eng]

Pérola 2

This week was awesome! We weren't planning on baptizing anyone, but there was this one girl that's been to church a lot, but always went to her aunt's house to help out. So the days that she would go to church she wouldn't know, so we could never plan a baptism, but then Wednesday she was like, "I will be here this Saturday; baptize me." So we were like, "great!" and planned her baptism. It was a lot of fun and everyone was very happy.
We found lots of cool people during the week to teach, however, on Sunday nobody came to church so we got a little sad, however we will talk to them this week.  Two cool people from this week: There was one house we knocked at right before going home at night and it was a mom and daughter. The mom lives like far away in the middle of the jungle so won't be able to make it to church, and the girl was like "I am a part of the igreja da paz." We were like, "ok, but we still have a cool message for you guys," and so we left the message.  Then when we went to follow up the next day the girl was like, "we did what you asked and prayed and asked if what you said was true and my mom said that God sent you two here to help us and now we both know it's true and we want to go to church." So that was a cool experience and showed the power of prayer. Sadly the mom went back to the middle of the jungle and only visits civilization like every four months and the girl went to her aunt's house for the weekend, but this week will be back in her house.
Then there was this other guy that stopped us in the street and said he needed help fixing up his life because it's ruining his relationship with his family and wants to be a good dad for his family and didn't know why but wanted to ask us for help. So we marked a time to meet with him tonight.
The ward and area here are awesome.  The members are all lots of fun and the area is pretty and great to take photos. I am going to buy a camera from one of the missionaries I live with so I will send more photos soon!
Love,
Elder Holcomb

From Elder Holcomb's letter to his dad:
My new companion is very good and really wants to be a good a missionary so we are teaching lots of people but no one really wants to go to sacrament meeting. The house is fun, there is me and my companion from Peru that also likes Avatar the Last Airbender and is teaching me Spanish. There is Elder Puche from Colombia, that served in the military (that this week caught two pigeons with his bare hands to take a picture) and his companion from the Dominican Republic. Then there are the zone leaders, a Brazilian from Sao Paulo, and an American from South Carolina (that ran XC and did show choir). It's pretty fun.
I am in the ward of Pérola and we live in the neighborhood Santo Andre next to the church; and three duplas are in different wards.

[HMU for the TBH was Isaac being silly because he says when he was in High School people said that all the time when they wanted attention and he'd love getting some mail because he doesn't get much]

mystery location 1

(photo throwback to Marituba-recently sent to Elder Holcomb)

Hey guys!
This week was fun getting to know a new area again. The area is super cool and the members here are fun.  All of the streets are mud and sand and the rain season is coming back so all of the roads became mud streams so that was a blast to work in.
The area has lots of work to do and the people here are pretty accepting. Our zone leaders challenged us to talk about baptism and invite everyone to baptism in everything, including contacts in the street. So me and my companion have a picture of Christ's baptism, and when we make contacts we are literally like, "hey, do you know Christ?" "Yes, he is our Savior and he showed us the perfect example in everything and taught us His gospel. One of the things he did was be baptized." Then we explain a bit about baptism and then invite them to be baptized. I was kind of like "that's a little up front and don't think anyone's going to accept that," but we tried it and it actually worked and I was like, "what the heck?" So this week we had ten people agree to prepare to be baptized and continue learning with us on the 24th of November and the 15th of December. On the 15th we are going to take all the baptisms in the stake to the stake building and have a big party at the stake building so we are trying to find people to take to that. 
Also, now there are 6 of us living in one house because our house is one of the biggest in the mission and it's crazy.  One guy was in the Colombian military before his mission and when we have a Nerf gun fight he always wins. We also made a goal as a companionship to sing a hymn before every lesson to bring the Spirit. We both sing horribly, but it brought the Spirit, and now we realize [when we are teaching] we can sing and then explain the Spirit  and how the Spirit speaks to us, and say, "the same feeling you had during the hymn is the feeling of the Spirit."  Then it helps people recognize responses to their prayers too.  My companion is great.  I asked him what he liked to do back home and he said "study" :-) :-) (but he actually is sweet, he isn't boring).
Love,
Elder Holcomb

PS
HMU for a TBH
[Not sure what Isaac means by this, but all guesses so far are that he wants people to write, so if you need Isaac's email or regular mail address leave me a comment on the blog, on Instagram, Facebook, or email me.]

Santarém 5

Hello people,
This week was a blast!  First off this week was the last week of the transfer so we were working real hard to bring people to church (which only one person ended up going :-( ) However, on Wednesday we had divisions and our lunch fell through and then one member from our ward that lives in a city about 5 hours away was close and said, "hey I will take you guys to a restaurant." Let me just say, this was no ordinary guy.  He picked us up with his wife in this fancy truck and then sped down the highway, and turns out he just got back from his mission in less than a year, but he is already married, and has this fancy truck, and then he took us to this amazing restaurant in the middle of nowhere on the beach. This restaurant was like one of the fancy tourist restaurants so there were some people from France there.  We took photos on the beach and in the little heart thing that I will send. However you can look it up on the internet for better photos. Then later in the week he stopped by our house and gave us a whole bunch of things from the grocery store, and it was amazing, which included Nutella (and Nutella is super expensive here) We almost cried. We took a photo I will try to send too.
However on a more serious note, I was transferred again, but only to an area about 30 minutes away in the same stake so that's a little funny. My new companion is from Peru so I guess that means I can continue bettering my Spanish. However, I am a little sad in these last two areas I have spent such a short time and found people to baptize and watched them progress and now I will be moved again before I can even see them be baptized so that leaves me a little sad, but I know they are making the right choice.
Love you guys!
Elder Holcomb

Santerém 4

This week was fun. Not too much happened funny or interesting to share. However we worked and walked. However, we have had a problem with helping people make it to sacrament meeting this whole transfer and this Sunday we decided we would walk to everyone's house that lives far away. So we woke up at 5 in the morning to walk on the side of the highway to make it to their houses and take them to the bus stop. We thought that the Lord would recognize our sacrifice and bless us, but it wasn't too much of a sacrifice, it was actually pretty fun.  In one of the rivers that passes under the highway we saw an old lady washing her clothes that said she would wash ours for money in the river too, but we told her that's fine we wash our own clothes. (So I guess that's a bit funny and interesting). However, we did end up being able to bring lots of people into sacrament meeting. So moral of the story, the Lord blesses you for your sacrifices by making them fun and interesting.
Also this week we went to Alter do Chão the famous beach here for the last P-day of one Sister going home. It was a blast and lots of fun, but Elder Paredes ended up getting sick and threw up on the bus in a plastic bag that he had to keep in his hands for the rest of the 45 min ride and it was funny. (He is from Chile and loves geography and we have competitions on the US states and capitals). He and my companion are also helping me with my Spanish so that when I visit Machu Picchu I can be fluent. I will try to get all the photos later. LOVE YOU GUYS,
Elder Holcomb

Santarém 3

Hello people,
This week was fun, not anything too interesting happened. One Monday we climbed up a plateau in our area with some members; it was super fun.  Then we played soccer in a sand pit and it reminded me of how unfit I am.
This week was zone conference and because we are far away we didn't meet up with the rest of the mission so it was just our zone, but the missionaries from Obidos, an area down the Amazon that's 8 hours of a boat ride away, stayed at our house.  So we got to do divisions with them for one day and had 4 of us working in our area. I stayed with Elder Bogart, an American from Missouri, so that was fun to spend a day with only an American. He is new in the mission so it was fun to remember how it was when I got in the field and didn't know Portuguese and had a really strong accent. However we taught well and it was fun. Zone conference was fun and we all got to go out to eat at a restaurant. Lots of the conference was about being more obedient and more diligent in working hard. However it was fun to be with everyone and take turns playing songs on the piano and joking around.
We had lots of people going to sacrament meeting this week but the bus that drives and picks up all the members and investigators that live far away broke and so they ended up waiting for the bus that never showed up so that was sad.
However my spiritual thought of the week would be the power of The Book of Mormon. Usually literally everyone that takes time to sit down, learn about the Book of Mormon and then read just a little bit realizes it's true and then wants to get baptized. In the start of my mission I was always a bit scared to use The Book of Mormon in the first lesson thinking that the people wouldn't accept it and always used the Bible to explain things, but The Book of Mormon actually brings the Spirit and testifies of the truth. The Book of Mormon is what makes the church the church and someone who takes the time to learn about The Book of Mormon realizes that and wants to follow. So always take the time to read it and study it and share it with others!
Love,
Elder Holcomb

Santarém 2

Hello people,
This week was a blast and super fast. We worked hard, but one of the highlights was on Thursday we had divisions and I got to be with Elder Bell, a cross country runner from South Carolina, and so it was two Americans working and it was great. We had a blast and talked about running and shoes. Then in the house we stayed at the other two missionaries were one American and one Peruano so there weren't any Brazilians. It was a blast, we had a party, and then when the Peruano went to bed we talked in English and that was fun too. Then the next day was p-day [preparation day, laundry, clean the house, something fun, that kind of stuff] because it was a holiday here so President made it p-day so we went to this awesome meat house. It was like the best meat I have ever eaten and there was just like endless meat and it was so so tasty we forgot to take pictures. Then we were going to go to a tereré store but it was closed, but I will go back because I love tereré and the store has lots of cool stuff for it so I want to buy some souvenirs. Then we hiked up a small mountain and looked out over the river and the city and it was sweet, but didn't show up too well in the pictures.
This week we found some really cool people to teach. One is a couple that sells bananas. We gave them a Book of Mormon and they read the whole thing and say it's true. Another is a kid that was never baptized because his parents wouldn't let him, but now he is 19 so he can be baptized. On a side note there is one guy in the ward that was baptized by Uncle Ben!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So that was sweet to talk to him and see that connection. Now this afternoon we are going to climb a plateau and play soccer so that should be fun. Also we met one guy that is a chess professor so he taught me some fun tips and tricks.
This week is zone conference and next month President [Almeida] is going to go on a mission tour and in February an apostle is coming to the mission so that's exciting news. Spiritual thought of the week is Helaman 10 [vs 4&5]. It is important to align our will with the will of God and when we do that we will be blessed and everything we ask for in our prayers will be given.
Love,
Elder Holcomb

[the following photos are from Elder Holcomb's last area, but someone recently sent them to him]

Santarém 1

Hello people!
This week was lots of fun! Santarém is a blast and all the members I have met are cool. My companion is new and he stayed one transfer with his first companion, however I got moved to be the second. Since he is new he doesn't know the area or really the people, and his first companion wasn't the greatest with planning or writing things so basically we had to knock on doors all week trying to find people to teach or find members houses haha.  However it is lots of fun. He is from Mexico and his dad is a Mission President so that's fun. We live in a tiny house with four people and one of them likes to run so we are going to start running every day, and I bought shoes because my other ones were robbed in the last area :-(
General Conference was lots of fun. I really like the Young Women President's talk and Elder Bednar's talk. Also the one seventy's talk about the power of conversion in the Book of Mormon. You can really see the power of that here in the mission if someone you are teaching takes the Book of Mormon seriously and reads it everyone wants to get baptized after that and knows it's true. The problem is lots of people don't have a desire to know or change or are scared of the big change it will make in their life so don't want to read it.
Love,
Elder Holcomb

Links (these are to videos, but written versions will be up in the near future):
https://www.lds.org/general-conference?lang=eng
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2018/10/media/session_4_talk_5/5845610231001?lang=eng
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2018/10/media/session_1_talk_10/5845338153001?lang=eng
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2018/10/media/session_4_talk_8/5845614426001?lang=eng

Laranjeiras Cidade Nova 6

Hello people,
This week was good. This email will be quick. Our baptisms were moved to the 13th because their grandma wanted to be there so we didn't baptize this week; and then we got the transfer and I will be leaving to go to Santarem Santarem; so I won't be able to baptize any of the people we were teaching. It was very sad news because we have 5 people to be baptized on the 13th. However, I am also excited to go to my new area because it's on the beach and I will have to take an airplane. My new companion is Mexican and his parents are mission presidents in Pueblo Mexico, so probably he is a very good missionary. I was very sad to leave Laranjeiras. The area there is super cool and the members were great but sometimes we have to follow the will of the Lord. Sorry for the short email I don't have much time because I have to catch a plane.
Love,
Elder Holcomb

Laranjareis Cidade Nova 5

Hello people,
This week once again we worked. We found one guy who is super cool. He was outside of his house and called us over and told us that he was taught by the missionaries some years back and went to church and knows that Joseph Smith is a prophet and that the Book of Mormon is true, but then he moved and didn't know where the church was. So we taught him some more and now he is going to get baptized after General Conference on the 13th. It was great to see that miracle after walking all day in the sun.
This week we had interviews with the [Mission] President and it was funny. It was basically:
"Elder do you like to be happy?"  "Yes President, I do."  "What makes you happy in your mission, Elder?"  "Baptisms, President."  "Do you like to be happy only one time every month, Elder?"  "No President, I like to be happy all the time."  "Then baptize every week Elder, I know you can do it!"
It was funny. For the record he isn't all about numbers and baptizing people, but when he got here he made a goal for everyone to baptize every week because this mission is one of the best missions in the world because the church is growing super fast here, but our number of baptisms fell by more than half in the last couple months. So he made the goal and I thought, "what the heck, that sounds impossible to find a good quality new person to progress while teaching others, and have a baptism on Saturday, and continue that cycle." However we started working hard and now it looks like it is possible with the amount of people we are teaching and bringing to church and feeling The Spirit and a desire of change and the truth. So that is cool. It just goes to show that President can receive revelation for the mission and that when we work hard we are blessed.
Oh, on a sad note I left my Book of Mormon, that I had all marked and used teaching people and was like my best friend, at Stake Conference. I was super sad and now I get to go mark everything all over again in a new one.  Oh also, Stake Conference was cool, a member of the seventy came, Elder Martins, and talked so that was fun.
In October the president of the area is coming to tour the mission and will talk to us, and in January an apostle (not sure which one) is coming to talk to the mission. However, we are guessing he is coming to dedicate the temple grounds here and start construction of the temple here, and then also pass by the mission on his way. So that should be fun. Maybe I will get a picture.
Love,
Elder Holcomb

[I sometimes add links to words and phrases in Elder Holcomb's letters, but I've been told they aren't noticeable to everyone so I will start including them at the end as well]
What is the Book of Mormon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLSoH7kfBlY
General Conference: https://www.lds.org/church/events/october-2018-general-conference?lang=eng&cid=HP_TU-18-9-2018_dPTH_fCNWSxLIDyL2-1_
Revelation: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2018/04/revelation-for-the-church-revelation-for-our-lives?lang=eng
and a bonus one :-) https://www.mormon.org/

Laranjareis Cidade Nova 4

This week not too much happened again; nothing too exciting. We mostly knocked on doors. however, we did have divisions and I got to stay with Elder Schafler who reminded me exactly of the typical XC boy. Tall, skinny, and just weird. It was fun. And he did run 10ks in house. We had fun in divisions.
Then the rest of the week was normal teaching people and finding new people to teach. João Vitor, who stopped smoking and drinking last Friday (he told us he partied hard as a final going away from drinking party haha) is all ready for his baptism on the 29th because we had to move it because this week is stake conference. He also brought his sister and his mom to church. His mom wanted to go to church because she saw how much of a change it had in João Vitor. They were cool and we will start teaching them, and he wants us to start teaching his friend too.  So that's awesome we are getting lots of references that we can teach which is always better than clapping at doors.
Happily nothing got robbed this week!!!!
I love you guys and hope everyone is doing great!
Love Elder Holcomb

Laranjareis Cidade Nova 3

Hello people,
This week again we worked and time went by fast. However, in the beginning of the week my companion got sick so he spent lots of time getting better and I got to study a "how families can be happy" pamphlet thing, that I think was from the 70's, [I found] at the bottom of this box in our house. It was good.
This week I also played a whole lot of soccer (or ran back and forth trying to play soccer, but everyone out did me; however I did score one goal so that was cool). [From the letter to Brian in reply to Brian's question if Isaac had replaced his stolen shoes for p(prep) days and to be able to play soccer: I ended up playing soccer barefoot and getting lots of blisters because it's just the parking lot at the church, but my feet acustomized so they are okay now.]
We are still teaching the same people and they are progressing very well and enjoying the church. Also this week there is a 9yr old girl that goes to church every Sunday and her dad came to church and said she wants to get baptized and he wants her to. So now we get to teach her and him and her brother that shows up on the weekdays to play soccer. We also had a lady move into our area that was already taught a lot by other missionaries so we are going to start teaching her.
One funny thing this week was that the church also got robbed and they stole like the ceiling fans and stuff from the Bishop's office and the bathroom mirror and wifi and the audio box for the microphone in the chapel and they couldn't get it replaced in time for the other ward so during sacrament meeting the other ward had to yell over the pulpit but it got fixed for ours.
Love,
Elder Holcomb

Laranjareis Cidade Nova 2

(old pictures from Elder Campos)

Hello People,
Again pretty much this week we just worked and walked in the sun.
We found two guys that loved the message of The Restoration and are like hardcore studying it and things. One of them we have a date to be baptized on the 22nd because he smokes so we have to help him stop that first.  The other wants to learn more about when the Sabbath was changed from Saturday to Sunday. Luckily my companion likes to Bible bash so he has a ton of scriptures for that (we don't Bible bash* because I don't like it, but it's great to know all the scriptures to explain things). (However I started to like Bible bashing when you actually know how to do it so we Bible bash sometimes for companion study).
We also have two kids that go to church every Sunday that live close and want to be baptized, their dad just wants to talk to the Bishop first so we will go there this week to talk to them and teach their family. Also there was a girl we found this week in the street that went to church and knows lots of people there and liked it.
We also have like 5 people that want to get baptized but can't because they are living with their boyfriend and breaking the law of chastity and need to get married first. That's actually a big problem here because everyone is poor and just doesn't get married on paper. You will find like people that have been together 40 years but still aren't married, but we have to get them married on paper first so they aren't breaking the law of chastity and then we can baptize them. However the government here is super slow with that kind of thing. 
The ward here is great and funny and the leadership here is good too. We made a ward mission plan and everyone seemed to love it so hopefully lots of people start to work with the missionaries.
For a funny thing this week we taught a guy that believes in Greek gods, Norse gods, Egyptian gods, and Christ. It was a bit strange because he tried to explain all his thinking and using proof from history so that was fun; but honestly it didn't make sense to me so maybe I need to open up my mind more.
One guy who lives in our house is a new guy from Bolivia so he is teaching me Spanish and I am teaching him English.  Spanish is way easier now that I know Portuguese so that's fun. I basically can always understand everything, but talking is the hard part. However, I also now have friends from Peru who will take me to Machu Picchu and someone whose house I can visit if I ever visit Mozambique. So watch out because I will be a world tourist when I get back.
Love,
Elder Holcomb

[*for anyone not familiar with the term "Bible bash" it usually means one person says something can't be right and the other person finds a scripture to prove it right. Or it can be each finding scriptures to prove their own point.  It is discouraged because it usually leads to an argument or disagreement and contention trying to prove self instead of leading to thoughtful discussion and understanding and respect, and thus excludes the Spirit from the conversation. The Spirit does the teaching so it is vital the Spirit can be present in a discussion, lesson, or conversation. That's why
Isaac says he doesn't like Bible bashing. Like he said, it is good to be aware of potential questions or rhetoric that could be brought up in a lesson and to then have an answer from the scriptures.

Also, for the literal readers, Isaac is not literally thinking he needs to open his mind to believing in Greek, Norse, and Egyptian Mythology- he is speaking in a more abstract sense of just trying to understand how this person is connecting those things.

Here's a few links about "The Restoration":
1 minute explanation:  https://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/restoration
5 minute:  https://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/joseph-smith-and-the-restoration
20 minute:  https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2008-06-01-the-restoration?lang=eng
For those who want a bit extra:  https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2006/04/the-restoration-of-all-things?lang=eng
For those who think they've heard all this before ;-) :  https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/04/are-you-sleeping-through-the-restoration?lang=eng
With a Brazilian twist:  https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/04/the-sacred-place-of-restoration?lang=eng]

Laranjareis Cidade Nova 1

This week was long and interesting to open a  new area without knowing anything; but the members are helping a lot and always willing to receive a call to explain where the house for lunch is or to help out. However we didn't get much left behind so we ended up just wandering around a lot clapping at doors to talk to people. We didn't find too many people but we found one guy who was super interested and went to church Sunday and said he loved it and definitely is going back next week. However the funny thing that happened this week is that we were robbed two times during the week.  Like they some how climbed the wall because we are on the second floor and entered into our house and into the bedroom of the other missionaries sleeping and took their cell phone and one missionary's camera and also robbed my tennis shoes and towel (I don't know why they wanted my towel) and we woke up and were like, "what the heck how did they get into our house and rob us in the night?" but luckily they didn't steal anything too crazy. Then the second day the other missionaries got home and decided to make popcorn but the gas wasn't catching fire and he was like, "what the heck" and went outside to check to see if the gas had run out and both of the giant gas gallon things had been robbed. Like they had cut the pipe thing and taken the gas. We laughed a whole lot like, "what will they take next?" and left a little card that said, "we are missionaries please don't rob us" and left a scripture reference to Exodus 20 to the ten commandments and we haven't been robbed since. However President still wants us to move houses so we will probably move next week.
The ward here is super cool and excited to help and the Bishop is super helpful too. We did end up getting to baptize some kids that the other missionaries had taught but then were transferred and so we ended up getting to baptize them so that was fun! I will send pics.

Love,

Elder Holcomb

Marituba 23

Not much happened this week work wise. We mostly just taught people.  However this week we did have the baptism of Blenda. That was awesome, I will send pictures. She and her family were super happy.
Nothing that cool to share happened, however President of the area of Brazil said that now the missionaries in Brazil can play soccer so that's awesome. Also I ended up transferred from Marituba to Laranjaras in Cidade Nova. I am sad to leave Marituba, everyone there was super awesome and I will miss them all.
Sunday no one showed up to give a talk so we had to as missionaries and we had to give an improvised talk for 20 minutes and I was pretty nervous I didn't have anything to talk about for that long. However when I got up there I didn't look at the clock so I didn't know how long I had been speaking. Apparently I ended up speaking for 35 minutes and my companion didn't stop me and the bishop didn't either because Elder Campos didn't know what to talk about really too. However it made me feel good about my Portuguese skills. Everyone wanted to get photos after so I will try to get all of those sent too.
My new companion is called Elder Arujo I don't really know anything about him because I have just talked to him a couple of times, but he is funny. We are both going to be opening the area which means both of us do not know anything about the area so we will have to rely on the things left behind by the old Elders and the ward. That should be a fun adventure. I will miss Elder Campos too. We ended up cleaning the house last night because we both will leave too and there is a new rule that if you arrive in a dirty house you can take the money out of the account of the missionaries that were there before so we literally cleaned everything. Also in my new house there will be 4 missionaries that live there and we will be moving in a few weeks so that should be fun too. Next week my email will probably be a bit more interesting. I will try to get photos.
Love,
Elder Holcomb

Marituba 22

Hello,
This week again not too much happened. Because everyone we were teaching we had to cut we spent most of the week clapping at doors and finding new people that led to some funny stories. There was one house that had a giant big white flag that my companion said was a peace flag so "let's clap there." However when we looked past the gate my companion got scared and was like "yikes let's not clap here," but it was too late I already did. They had like a weird phrase written about their door and weird statues and then the lady there we talked to was like some weird religion where she like sacrificed animals and had weird tattoos and burns certain things to bring spirits into her body and she explained that to us which I thought was kind of cool but my companion got really scared. However she said she would make a visit to church one Sunday so we will see how that goes because she said when she visits Christian churches she doesn't feel good and wants to vomit.
Also we clapped at a door and there was like this 15 year old girl that came out and we asked if her family was there and she said no and we talked to her a bit and asked of we could come back one day and share a message with her whole family and she was like, "can I get a picture with you guys to remember you guys?" and we were like, "ummmmmmm sure I guess" so we got a photo with her. It's cool to be famous I guess, but also hard because you don't know who actually wants to hear your message. Now me and my companion have a fight over who it was she wanted to take a picture with he says it's cause I am an American with blond hair and blue eyes, but I think it's because he looks like Maui from Moana.
Then we also had a guy that we taught and were teaching and at one point he got super sad and asked if he could give us some words of wisdom and we said sure and he told us to never cheat on someone almost crying and we were like, "oh ok sounds good we weren't planning on it." And he kept repeating "never cheat never cheat" and apparently he cheated on someone like 20 years ago and still regrets it. However we were grateful for the advice.
We did end up having the baptism of the two kids and also found another kid that is ten years old, and family is all members but less active, but is returning to church and wants her to be baptized too. Then we are also teaching the sister of Arlison, if you remember him, and she wants to get baptized too. So now we  have a baptism planned for this week, next week, and the following week so that's pretty awesome. I just think maybe I will be transferred next week and I won't be able to see them all get baptized.
Also, I learned this week Muse released some songs and no one told me :( so now I have something to look forward to in 14 months.
LOVE YOU ALL,
Elder Holcomb

in response to my question about people last week and a couple of questions from this week:
Basically we figured it out because they just wanted to spend time talking about the U.S. and only could go to activities in the church but always had something come up on Sunday.
We talked to the guy a bit and tried to comfort him...
Yes I have 4 transfers in Marituba but its getting pretty lit here with a good companion...that wants to work and improve and the leadership here is ultimate the bishop is one of the greatest and I think maybe we will get another pair of missionaries here and open a new area because I think he will close the mosqiuero beach area so I would be really sad to leave when things are getting exciting so I kind of hope I stay here even longer. However the Lord always has a plan for us.

Here's some photos of Isaac and his companion taking a break while clearing jungle out of someone's backyard:

 Here are pictures from a baptism (same as the one above the letter):