Quarenta Horas 17

Hello people,
Last email so I should probably share something special.  This week was full of miracles.  Like I had explained before we had three people we were preparing to baptize this week, but we ended up baptizing four.  It was awesome.  As always we tried to follow up with everyone being baptized everyday and on Tuesday when we went to teach Antonia her niece was also there.  She had just moved in from the (not sure how to say this in English but like country but not country because it's like jungle so "not city") and now she is living with Antonia.  So naturally we taught her about the Book of Mormon and the restored church of Jesus Christ and invited her to watch the baptism.  However she said she already knew it was true, she could feel it.  So we taught her some more throughout the week and brought her to seminary and it was obvious that she didn't want to just watch the baptism, but be baptized herself, however she had not gone to church before.  So we called the mission president and we were like we have this girl that wants to be baptized, but she hasn't gone to church before and he responded, "if she has a desire and is following the commandments, baptize her."  So we told the Bishop and he got super happy and on Saturday she was baptized with everyone else.  It was amazing for me to see her amazing faith and how close she was to the Holy Ghost to recognize a response so quickly.  She was already a member of another church where she had lived before and lots of people judged her for it.  It helped remind me that the church really is true and the importance of gathering Israel throughout the world.  To me this is a sign that Christ is planning on getting back soon and calling all of the elect people to His kingdom.  I know that Christ lives and that He worries about every one of us, and if we let Him, guides us everyday.  He guides His church through living prophets so that we can have the perfect recipe for a happy, united, and eternal family.
Love,
Elder Holcomb

Quarenta Horas 16

Isaac didn't write a main letter for this past week.  I did get sent some pictures of him and a nice message basically saying this person's kids love Isaac and it's always a party when he comes over and he always has a story to tell and they love him and he is very good at teaching the gospel.  

Quarenta Horas 15

Isaac didn't actually write a main letter this week so here's excerpts from his letters to us (his parents):

[Brian went to a concert with two of his brothers and said he had fun, except for all the vaping]
Hahahaha I forgot vaping was a thing because that doesn't exist here.  Yeah it was a good zone conference; I felt the Spirit.  Yeah we had leaving testimonies which was good and fun [Brian asked if they have the missionaries leaving bear their testimony at the last zone conference before they leave].  It's sad to be leaving the mission.  I wish I could stay and extend it, but I can't because of the visa, and it seems like people want me home now anyways, so I guess the plan of God is perfect.

I got your primary class's letters and pictures; it was super nice.  I haven't been able to get a picture yet, but I will try to this week.  We are visiting an area again so it might be difficult to talk too much today.  However I am glad everyone is happy.  Actually this week I didn't have time to study Come Follow Me because I was super rushed, and usually it's just me on Sundays by myself [I think he means he studies it by himself on Sundays].  However I am studying the beginning of 3rd Nephi about wars and stuff and it just makes me really think about how stubborn some people are and how quick we are to forget the signs or symbols that God exists.  Don't know if that applies to anything in your life at the moment, but you know it's always good.  Hope you guys have a good rest of the week and I will be praying for you guys.

Isaac did end up writing again later that day so here's his letter:
This week was awesome again.  We were able plan a baptism for three people.  One of them is going to be baptized this week, and two next next week, and we also have 9 more people that we are teaching that have gone to church and are ready to be baptized, so I  am super pumped to be able to end the mission baptizing.  This week we had zone conference with everyone which was good.  It was the last one which was sad and so all of us leaving had to share our testimony about the mission and how it changed us so that was good.  We also had stake conference and Mission President came and talked. It was funny because he basically just talked up all the missionaries in the stake a ton and talked about how good we were which made us happy.  Also there was an area seventy that came and gave a pretty powerful talk about the widow of Nain which was good as well. I hope everyone is having fun back at home because I am having fun here.
Love,
Elder Holcomb

Quarenta Horas 14

This week was awesome.  We ended up planning to do divisions with the members of the ward and they loved the idea and now we pretty much have the entire next week planned to leav [teach?] with the members and separate so it will be like there are 4 missionaries working in our area.  I am super pumped.  We have two cool people that went to church that will probably be baptized on the the 21st.  Next week is also stake conference so that should be super fun and it will also be zone conference with Presidente.  I am super pumped this last week [next week or last month?] of the mission looks to be super fun.  This morning we had a fun P-day with the zone and we all played ping pong and volley baçç [ball?] so that's what this picture is.

Love you guys,

Elder Holcomb

Quarenta Horas 13

Hello People,
This week was pretty awesome.  We worked a lot like always and we found about 3 new families that were already married on paper so that was super awesome.  We also had a good amount of people in sacrament meeting so that was fun.
However this week was super cool because we had a broadcast with the prophet and it was cool.  Elder cook was also there with his wife and they talked too.  They talked a lot about the power of the Book of Mormon and how people that just learned about the book shouldn't  start with 1 Nephi, but start with 3 Nephi 11 which is something the missionaries do about 75% of the time, but it was interesting that the prophet said to do it all of the time.  He also talked a ton about the Savior's ministry here in the Americas and how we can learn from it.  Then on Sunday there was a broadcast for all of Brazil that was cool.  He talked a lot about families and how the children being born today are the most brilliant spirits being born into the world in these days and we have the responsibility of raising them and teaching them in the home.  So that was cool, but didn't apply to me now because I'm not a dad; I'll just have to apply that in the future.  This week should be fun; I am excited for how things should go.
Love,
Elder Holcomb

https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/president-nelson-and-elder-cook-conclude-latin-america-ministry-in-s%C3%A3o-paulo-brazil

Quarenta Horas 12

Hello,
This week was good, but not too much happened. We worked and followed up with people to be baptized.  It was the last week of the transfers and there was lots of baptisms in the zone so we had lots of baptismal interviews to go to.  We ended up closing the month well so that was good.  This next transfer I will stay in the same area with a new companion called Elder Theobald; he is from Washington and [...spelling I can't decipher...] he is pretty cool.  He seems like a hard worker and a spiritual guy so that's good we will probably work hard.  I am excited to be able to put all I have learned and apply it in this last transfer and be able to achieve and hit goals higher than I ever have in the mission.  Sorry I don't have much to say about this week, but not much happened, it was super busy preparing people to leave for transfer, however next week I will try to write more.
Love,
Elder Holcomb

Quarenta Horas 11

This week was good.  It's near the end of the transfer, but we decided to do some family home evenings at some investigators' houses with the members.  It turned out going really well. We just sang hymns and shared a message, and then they got to know the members and feel the Spirit and had a desire to go to church on Sunday.  They did end up going.  The temple ground opening [ground breaking ceremony] was also good, we watched it online at the church.  There were some good talks given, and the area president gave a talk on the parable of the ten virgins and how being a worthy temple holder helps you be one of the 5 prepared virgins, so that was good.  We also had a special meeting with some of the friends of [the] mission [president], President Soares, that came to the ground opening at his house. They shared some mission experiences and tips and scriptures; that was super fun and inspiring.  Next week will be the last transfer before I go home so that means I need to start thinking souvenirs and making my suitcases light again.  Hope everything is good in the states.
Love,
Elder Holcomb

Quarenta Horas 10

Elder Holcomb didn't write a main letter to everyone this week.  He did call and mentioned he was helping another missionary in another area and he wasn't sure if they would be able to find an internet cafe.  He says many of the internet cafes are disappearing possibly because more and more people have smartphones.  He also mentioned all the missionaries in his mission are getting new smartphones... he's hoping they don't get robbed ;-)  (Currently they just have regular cell phones). Someone sent me pictures from a Ward party on the beach so instead of a letter we get pictures.

Quarenta Horas 9

Hello,
This week was good.  We had a counsel meeting with the president at his house again this week that was super good and fun.  This month should be super fun.  Everyone is excited about the temple ground breaking and that's fun.  The prophet is also visiting Brasilia in a little bit and will do a transmission for all the missionaries.  This week we also worked a ton and had tons of people that said they would go to church, but then Sunday nobody came.  however one girl showed up and said she had been invited by the missionaries in the street a couple of months ago and this weekend she just felt a super strong feeling that she had to go and went.  So we taught her and she accepted a baptismal date for the 17th.  Another guy came to church that was almost baptized awhile ago, but is a truck driver and traveled, but now he is back so we are going to have a Family Home Evening with him and his family at the Bishop's house.  This week we also went to ver o peso to look for stuff to maybe buy as souvenirs so that was fun.  Love you guys,
Elder Holcomb

Quarenta Horas 7 and 8

[Isaac didn't actually send a main email last week so this week's is counting as both]

This is week was good.  We had a pretty cool experience last week. We felt like we were going to find a family that was waiting for us so we spent our week searching for this family but never ended up finding it. Then last Monday Mission President sent me an email that pretty much said, "hey I feel like there is a family waiting in your area for you."  And I was like, "yeah me too but we are trying to figure out where they are at."  Then we left to work and we were just walking and then we just felt it and we looked at the biggest house on the street and went there to knock on their door.  Well turns out they let us in and listened to the message and loved it.  They have 3 kids all over 20; and one of them is a lawyer, the other works with computers, the other is studying to be a doctor, and they sell water purifiers so they are a all around type of family.  They went to church and have a date to be baptized so that is super super awesome and cool.  The rest of the week we worked and that was good.  Today we went to the park to ride bikes again so that was pretty fun and I am still waiting for the photos from the others, but I will get them.
Love,
Elder Holcomb

Quarenta Horas 6

Hello,
This week was pretty fun.  We worked hard and found some cool people to teach.  This week was the last week of the transfer so everyone was also preparing for the transfer.  Nothing happened with me so I will just stay here with my companion.  I am pretty pumped, this area is fun.  However this week we did have another meeting with President at his house.  It was fun we talked about mission stuff and changes that might happen in the mission.  The new president is going crazy and wants to make contacts and walk around in the street with us so that should be fun, I think all of the missionaries will like that.  Me and my companion are setting high goals for this transfer so I am pretty pumped and this transfer should be loads of fun.
Love,
Elder Holcomb

Quarenta Horas 5

Hello,
This week was pretty awesome!  We worked hard and we also had a zone conference with the new pres.  He is super awesome.  His dad was the first person to be baptized in the top half of Brazil, and he was the church historian for Brazil before, and is good friends with Ulysses Soares, so that's fun.  He is pretty smart and is pumped to work hard and inspired everyone.  He was at a meeting with the prophet and lots of the 12 and President Nelson said he wants to go to the ground breaking for the Belém temple and so did Ulysses Soares and Elder Holland so there might be a heck ton of general authorities here in August and the Mission President said that we all need suits so I guess I will have to buy one.  I am pretty pumped to see all the general authorities, just a bit scared to have them look into my eyes and into my soul.  I might try to have small chat with the prophet about the U of M.  Something cool this week is that we went through all of the Ensigns and Liahonas we have in our house (which is a lot) and I took out all of the posters and we taped them all on the wall so now our wall is full of posters (I will try to get a pic).  Also we had lots of cool people go to sacrament meeting this week that want to baptized this weekend so that should be fun.  I will take pics and tell their story next week!  Also, I sent some pics from the park where we went biking.
Love,
Elder Holcomb