First Two Weeks

Wednesday 14/12

Yesterday I woke up at 4 to get on the bus to the airport. we got there and the information that the CTM gave me was wrong and I had to fly on a different airline.  As a result, I had to pay R$1400 in overweight baggage fees for me and another elder whose card did not work.  the maximum was 25 kilos for two bags.  I couldn’t believe it.  The flight was less than stellar.  we had a short layover in Brasilia.  before we landed in Natal, we hit some really, really bad turbulence and the emergency lights popped on, not very relaxing, all I could think about was the Colombian flight that crashed just weeks before.  the area by the airport looks kinda like Arizona or Australia, not what I really imagined it to look like.  the president, his wife, and the AP´s were there to meet us. 

We then went to the mission office where they fed us McDonalds and the president conducted interviews and orientation.  That night for dinner, we went to the president’s house.  He has an ocean-front condo with an amazing view of the beach.  they hired a chef to make us beef wellington, chicken casserole, potatoes, and salad.  it was all really good.  then we had this mousse like stuff for desert. After we had a testimony meeting.  we slept at the AP´s house with about 20 other elders because it was transfer night. I didn’t get much sleep. 

The next morning, we had a really good breakfast at the church with hot cheese sandwiches, quiche, fresh fruit, and mango juice.  Then we got our new companions. My companion is Elder Nhatole, who´s from Mozambique. everyone says he’s a great missionary. We went to our apartment in our area, Nova República, and I settled in.  For lunch, we went to this member’s house who lives in very humble circumstances.  We had rice, beans, chicken, and macarão, which is spaghetti.  The rice and beans were good, the macarão smelled like fish and the chicken was difficult to get down.  Baptism by fire.  I thanked them and managed to eat it all but I didn´t feel good for the rest of the day. 

My companion showed me around the rest of the day and we talked to people.  When we returned home, we found that our electricity bill hadn’t been paid for the month of October, and we had no lights.  He then took me to meet the ward mission leader, or LMA, who´s a really nice guy and the fed us a really good meal. 

Thursday 15/12

We woke up and went to the chapel to practice for a play we are doing as a zone for the mission Christmas conference.  we had a short meeting and introduced ourselves.  I am in a scene about the three Magis but only say like 2 words, and I didn’t really understand anything that was going on.  we grabbed lunch and went to the building office to pay the bill but they didn’t accept Nhatole´s card so we went to the mall to withdraw cash and then we paid the bill. 

Then we went to our chapel to help set up for a missionary event where nonmembers and investigators show up.  while we were waiting for it to start, a guy named Fillipe showed up needing help.  He’s addicted to weed and other drugs.  We taught him about the Gospel and he accepted to be baptized, but he lives far away, so we won’t work with him.  After that we ditched with two other elders and got açaí, which is like sorbet. We returned home and were pleased to find that the electricity was on.

Friday, December 16^th

Today we practiced more for the play, then we had lunch at a member’s house, a young adult who lives alone.  He used to work in a mine, which is cool.  Then we went to a market to buy some stuff.  We chilled and planned for a bit, then went back out to find a contact.  She wasn’t there, so we went to this 16-year-old boy’s house – his name is Michael.  He said he was reading in 3^rd Nephi.  I talked about how when Jesus said he wanted to heal the sick an afflicted he also meant our souls and hearts, and we have to turn to Him to accept His invitation to be healed.  This I talked about the Restoration and about the 1^st Vision.  I’m not sure he’s promising, but I hope he accepts our message. 

Then we made our way back to our chapel and I suggested we get fresh coconut water.  It was super good!  For only R$2 (60 US cents)!  We went to the chapel to get ready for the ward Christmas party tomorrow night. Then we got Coke with the two other Elders and split.  We stopped by some other investigator’s houses.  We went to this one house where the boy is a member but his mom isn’t.  I showed him and his friends a card trick and they all freaked out. Our main focus on contacting right now is inviting people to the Christmas party and church.

Saturday, December 17^th

Today we went to practice again, only to find that they canceled it without telling us.  So, we just went to another missionary’s house.  My companion talked with them and I took a nap in a hammock.  Then we went to lunch at the ward mission leader’s house, which was super good.  Then we returned home to find some Elders in our house and hung out – I took another nap. 

Then we went to a guy’s house to teach him, but he wasn’t there.  Then we walked around a bit and we found an investigator we are teaching, Raissa – she’s 13.  We taught her a bit and invited her to church on Sunday.  We walked around a bit more and went to the chapel to help set up for the party.  No one was there, so we sat and talked until it was time to pick up the investigators, who ended up not being home.  But there was a 13-year-old kid who was a member, so we took him. 

While we waited for him to change, a slightly drunk man came up to us and we started talking.  He then said a bunch of stuff about God that I didn’t understand.  My companion told me that the guy said that when he saw us, he saw angels from heaven and he needed help.  He looked sad and said that he can’t cry because he’s a man.  I told him that God sent us to help him and he was trying not to cry.  We took down his info and we’ll teach him next week, hopefully he has the same attitude sober.

The Christmas party went well and some of our investigators showed up that we didn’t think would.  We have to work hard at earning the trust of the members her because of the bad behavior of a past missionary – when my companion first got here, he felt like was opening the area for missionary work for the first time.

I know that there is evil on this earth.  I am here to overcome that evil with the light of Christ.  My companion, from Mozambique, grew in a religion called Spiritualism.  This is a very dark and powerful religion with its roots in Africa and is also here, especially in Northern Brazil.  He said that his grandma would dress herself in animal skins and perform dark rituals.  If you steal something in the village, she would have the power to make you physically come back and return it.  This is interesting, because wasn’t that Satan’s plan in the first place?  Forced obedience?

Sunday, December 18^th

I woke up and we went to pick up investigators for church.  No luck.  Church here is way different, and I’m not sure what a branch is because a ward has 30 members.  After church, we went to lunch at a member’s house pretty far away, but it was really good.  After that we just chilled for the rest of the day until we went to the other ward’s Christmas party because we didn’t have food.  At the party, they did a Secret Santa thing, where you pick a name out of a cup and say something nice about them.  I only knew one person there, the ward mission leader.  The first miracle on my mission was me picking his name.  I said in Portuguese, “he cooks good and I’m grateful for his help.”

Monday, December 19^th – P-DAY

We slept in and “cleaned” the apartment until eleven.  Then I spent some time at the internet café emailing.  After that, we grabbed lunch and went to the chapel to practice for the play with the rest of the zone.  After we practiced, the 16 of us downed a big box of acai.  We went home and my companion and I shared a pizza.

Tuesday, December 20^th – Natal Mission Conference

We woke up at 4 am to catch a taxi to the chapel for the mission Christmas conference.  We met up with our zone at the chapel and then took a bus to the place of our conference, about an hour away.  There we had breakfast and the Mission President, his wife, and a few others, spoke.  I had an Elder translate for me.  Then we had lunch, which was bomb.  We had rice, cheese potatoes, brisket with BBQ sauce, another meat, and lasagna.  Lasagna here is different.  We did our plays, which went well.  We went back to our chapel and drove by the beach, which was sick.  Then we downed another box of acai.

Wednesday, December 21^st

We accidentally slept in this morning, but we got up and got ready for the day.  We grabbed some lunch at a member’s house and then went to this big super market in a mall so I could buy stuff.  Then we returned home and went to teach.  We made a few contacts, but didn’t have much luck until later that day.  We were walking and my companion told me we should stop at this guy’s house we’ve been trying to teach, but is never there.  We passed it a few blocks back, so I just said we can do it when we return.  After walking a few steps, I felt like we needed to go now.  We went to the house and he was there watching UFC.  He invited us in and we were able to teach his family about faith, repentance, and baptism.  They are big alcohol addicts and don’t seem like they really want to stop.  But they said they will come on January 1^st.  I told them that getting over this addiction will be hard, and I shared some personal experiences when I used the atonement to help me overcome addictions. 

Then we stopped at another house to teach them for the first time.  The father, Paulo, wasn’t there, but his wife and son were there and she invited us in.  We briefly explained the Plan of Salvation, left her the pamphlet, and decided on a date to return and teach the whole family.  Then we went to go find the house of Roberto, the “drunk” who stopped us needing help.  After 45 minutes of asking people where his street is with no luck, we finally met someone we knew, who knew Roberto, and who took us to go find him.  We found him at an outside BBQ place eating churrasco.  He seemed happy to see us and we picked a date to teach him.  The guy who helped us bought me a skewer of meat, which was nice.  Then we went to the ward mission leader’s house to talk about our investigators.  His daughter was watching Legend of Karra, so I was distracted most of the time.  They fed us egg and veggie pancakes, like a frittata, and rice.

Thursday, December 22^nd

This morning, I went to the clinic to switch my bandages and get a new x-ray of my foot.  It was a relief to finally take the bandages off for a short time.  My toe still looked really swollen, but it looked better.  When my toe broke, the doctor said it would take 3-4 weeks to heal.  So, I wasn’t expecting much.  The doctor told me today that the toe healed fine and I would return in 5 days to remove the bandages completely.  I was really surprised, but I knew the Lord blessed me.  When I first got here, my companion said we had permission to take it easy, but I wasn’t going to let a petty thing like this get in the way of the salvation of souls.  Even after walking all day every day, my toe healed and I barely have a limp.  I don’t think it would’ve healed that fast if I sat around all day.  It still hurts a little, but I’m sure in a couple of weeks it will all be good.

We then went to grab lunch at a salgradinho, which is kind of like a bakery.  Everything they sell is some form of fried or baked dough with meat inside.  It’s really good.  Then we taught for a bit and then we went to teach a little girl who is about to be baptized at her parent’s request.  We arrived at 7 and we had a dinner appointment 20 minutes away at 7:30. I wanted to cancel, but it was too late.  We finished at 7:35 and called the family to say we’d be late.  Everything worked out, but I was mad.  I later discussed with companion the issue of missionaries teaching children of active families who are being baptized at the age of 8 – especially when it put other investigator appointments in jeopardy or where we could be teaching real investigators.  The dinner was really good – probably the best one we’ve had.  I love the family.  Something about them reminded me of home.

Saturday, December 24^th

We went to go teach a family, and on the way called some members to help us teach later in the day.  One agreed and we made the arrangments.  We taught the family, but the rest of the appointments fell through for the rest of the day.  We tried to contact people, but everyone was either drunk or had their mind on partying.  So we went home.  There were 2 Elders from another zone who needed a place to crash and shower, so they stayed at our place.  My companion, 2 other Elders – Orizinto and Flores, and a guy from the ward chilled for a couple of hours.  Then we went to the ward mission leader’s house for a Christmas message and we started eating at 10:30. We had lasagna, rice, chicken stew, and chocolate coconut cake.  Then we returned home and crashed.

Sunday, December 25^th – NATAL!

I slept in and we went over to the ward mission leader’s house to Skype my family.  I had a nice conversation with them.  I also Skyped my grandparents who just woke up.  It was nice to talk with them.  Then we watched Return with Honor and went to church. 

We had church at 4 instead of 8:30 in the morning.  After the sacrament meeting we went to our house to get a change of clothes because we were going to go to the zone leaders house that night to make churrasco (bbq).  I went to get some shorts on the top shelf in my dresser, that I haven’t touched since I put them there 2 weeks ago, and when I lifted them up these really small ants started pouring out and I found an ant nest in my clothes. I took each article of clothing, shook the ants off, and put it in a plastic bag to be washed.  I then took bleach and doused the remains of the nest with it which killed most of them.  Oh well.  I grabbed the only shirt and shorts that weren’t affected and we walked the long way to the zone leader´s house. 

We finally got there and we built the fire for the bbq.  I thought we were just gonna cut up some meat and put the skewers over the fire, but the zone leaders bought a rack of cow ribs.  We made a make shift spit and put the ribs on for three hours.  I slept a little in between and finally (at an undisclosed time) the ribs were ready.  It was pretty good but it needed bbq sauce, not something that’s common here.  I managed to sleep a bit more until we had to leave the next morning at 7:30 because we had to meet a guy at our house who was going to but insecticide in our apartment for cockroaches and fix our fridge.  we got to our house late but luckily the guy was late as well.  I change, showered, and then we left and I got my haircut.  

At the Mission Conference

Premeiro Semana no Campo

Bom Dia!

I forgot my journal which had what I was gonna say, so you’ll get it next week.  I love it here but I know it is going to be very difficult, and a huge change in lifestyle. 

I work a lot in the favelas so I see a lot of poverty, but the people are happy.  The first lunch I had with a member here was one who lived in the favelas, and let’s just say I surprised myself on what I could eat, but I thanked them profusely for bringing us in.  Every lunch with members since than has been really good. 

My toe is doing fine and it feels a lot better.  My companion said that the president said that I don’t have to work hard or walk a lot these first few weeks, but I told him I wasn’t going to let it hold me back and we’ve been hard at work and the Lord has blessed me that I can walk as much as I have. 

My companion has 24 years and is from Mozambique which is cool.  He is a good trainer.  The apartment we live in is pretty dirty, and I thought that that’s just how it was, but I saw other ones in the same complex and theirs were really nice.  So this morning I told him we had to clean up.  I swept everywhere and he laughed when I moved the beds to sweep and said we didn’t need to mop and stuff.  I told him we need to buy bleach and cleaning stuff but he doesn’t care.  I’ll buy stuff and clean it.  You’ll hear about the rest next week but I’ll just focus on sending pics today.  [Editor's Note: You can find all of his pictures here.]

Last Posting from BMTC!

OI! 

So I´ll start off with a couple funny stories that happened this last week, and then I’ll share what I learned here, and finish it off with my testimony.

Last week, my two companions and I were praying before a lesson with a “fake” training investigator, when I felt something on my head and then my neck and all around.  I thought it was a mosquito or fly because that´s what it felt like and I just kept brushing it off during the prayer.  Right after the prayer I turned around and there was a cockroach scurrying away from me.  I was uncomfortable the whole lesson knowing that thing had been crawling all over my head and neck.  

Last Saturday we went proselyting at some downtown square in São Paulo.  Our goal was to place 15 copies of the Book of Mormon.  We approached these older ladies who were wheeling around these carts and started talking to them about Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon.  We asked them If they wanted one and they looked at each other, laughed, and removed the covers from their carts.  They were Jehovah’s Witness missionaries!!!! We all just kind of laughed it off and stayed away from where they set up.  Their carts were full of JW propaganda. We ended up placing 16 copies of the Book of Mormon, which beat our six the first time.   

Anyway, as my time here is quickly coming to an end, I´ll share what I have learned here, besides the language.  

In my notebook, I have a page dedicated to my metas (goals).  Every once in a while, I would write down something I should start doing or stop doing. Here is my metas:

Don´t Complain - 

No one likes someone who complains.  It takes the Spirit away and distracts you from the task at hand, and it weakens your will and strength.  One way I learned this is through fasting.  Besides the two fast Sundays I had while here, I felt the need to fast three other times, usually the day I went to the temple.  I learned that to be dedicated to your fast, you need to be focused on your reason always and know that through your fast you become strengthened the gospel and as a missionary. I can’t stand when the other elders would always complain how hungry they were on fast Sundays.  Blessings require sacrifice and complaining takes that away.  Not once did Christ complain during his mortal ministry.  So, that is something I worked to gain as a trait.

Don´t talk bad about other people, always show Christ-Like love to others-

This was a hard one.  There were a couple missionaries here who would get on everyone´s nerves. I realized that talking about someone behind their back drives the spirit away instantly.  My district would talk about the missionaries who came from Provo and how they thought they were better than everyone else.  I made it a district goal to not do that, no matter how much we thought they deserved whatever we had to say about them.  Whenever my first companion would get on my nerves (which was quite often) I would try and serve him in some way.  

Try and serve each person in your district every day-

This kind of goes with the last one.  Every time I felt any negative feelings about anyone in my district I would try and serve them.  Serving people is the best way to be their friend and have them know you care about them, especially as a leader.  

Take upon yourself each attribute of Christ and walk how He walked-

The more I tried to do this the better I felt.  All I want to do is be a powerful instrument in God´s hands and there´s no better way to do that than to be like Christ.  Last night we were given a talk to read by Spencer Kimball called “Jesus Christ, the Perfect Leader.”  I highly recommend reading it.  

Meu Testemunho-

Eu sei que esse trabalhar é dedicado de Deus, e que Jesus Cristo estendeu meu chamado para servir através de seu profeta, Thomas S. Monson.  Eu aprendi a seguir o passos do melhor missionário que andou na terra, Jesus Cristo.  Élder Holland disse que trabalhar como missionário não é facil, porque salvação não é barato.  Nós (missionários) temas obrigição andar os caminhos que Ele andou.  Quando nós somos desprezados, rejeitados, cuspes, e sozinho, nós estamos lado a lado com Cristo.  Eu sei que esta igreja é verdadeira.  Eu sei que a profeta Joseph Smith viu Pai Celestial e Seu Filho Amado, Jesus Cristo.  Eu sei que eu cumpre endo as profecias preditas nos Testamentos e no Livro de Mórmon, trazendo a ovelha perdida para o Senhor. 

See Alma 26:28-30

I love you guys and I can´t wait to get to the field in six days.  I hope everything is going well and it’s nice to see that girls still like Reuben,  Find someone who knows Portuguese or just use google translate for my testimony. 

Love,

Elder Cash Holdaway

Week 5!

OI!

Wow I can't believe it’s already week 5.  I feel like I just got here but I think the progress is really showing.  I can hold full conversations in Portuguese and understand people pretty well and I can teach lessons without a written script. 

One cool thing the American missionaries do here is the leaving districts hold “American Night” the Sunday before they leave.  There they sing the national anthem, Called to Serve, and God be with You.  Its super cool, and ours is in two Sundays! 

The live devotional we had from Elder Renlund was pretty cool.  One thing I noticed is that I could sense when he was about to enter the room.  About 10 seconds before he came in I felt a huge surge of the Spirit and it really testified to me that that man is an Apostle of God. He also gave us an Apostolic blessing which was awesome.  The temple trips we have to the Sao Paulo temple are super cool even though I fall asleep every time, and today I did the whole last part in Portuguese which was cool, and i did a bunch of confirmations in Portuguese while we waited for the session to start. 

It looks like Reuben is glad to be back home and I hope he’s adjusting well! 

Something that I heard from somebody is that one reason I was called to Brasil is that I personally can teach the gospel best in Portuguese and that I come the closest to God through Portuguese and I thought that was really cool.  I bought a Portuguese quad today at the distribution center so i can start studying and marking it up.  Two Saturdays ago we went proselyting which was awesome and my two companions and I placed 6 copies, but it was just sweet to finally be able to teach real people and try out your skills. Anyway, I love you guys and I know with a firm testimony that the work that I am doing comes directly from God and that my small sacrifice of being away from home for 2 years is 100% worth bringing God´s children home for eternity.  This is the true restored gospel, Joseph Smith was a prophet, and the Book of Mormon came from the mouth and record of the ancient prophets. 

Love, 

Elder Holdaway

Week 3 at the MTC

Oi!

Classes are going well.  I’m in a trio now with a guy from pleasant grove and another elder and its pretty tight.  P-days are chill, we go to the temple in the morning and then email and then go out and walk around until 5.  last week we went to a grocery store and got a bunch of stuff and then I got Açai which is like acai-flavored froyo with fruit on it and I got kiwi and it was sooooo good.  There’s a mango tree in the courtyard here that might be ready by the time we leave.  I was reading a letter Kaelin sent me a couple years ago when she was on her mission that I haven’t read in a while.  There’s a really cool part I wanted to share:

"This is a serious work and opportunity.  there is a family that, in two years, will be waiting for Elder Holdaway to come to Brazil, Korea, Kopenhagen, Dallas, etc. and introduce them to be baptized."

So I guess Kaelin kind of won my mission guess.

We got two new elders from Provo in my district yesterday which is cool.  

Getting into the Swing

TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

jk

OI!

Everything is going pretty decent.  Last week we went to the Sao Paulo temple which was awesome and again today.  Last week I thought I accidentally threw my locker key down the chute so I spent an hour trying to negotiate with temple workers who didn't speak English to try to find my key.  After going threw every article of clothing in the chute they told me they had a master key, so we went up to my locker and my key was in it.  I have no idea how it got there, but it probably fell out of my pocket and someone picked it up.  I thought I was the last one to get to the bus but thankfully the Brazilians take forever in the distribution center. Last week my class and the Spanish class next door had a nice-contest after I gave them extra sandwiches that we had that were frankly kinda gross.  They gave us chocolate back and it went on and on and we all became friends.  The language is coming along. My companion went home last night and I think it was for his best.  Anyway I don't have much time so until next week.  

Tchau!

Love,

Elder Holdaway 

Week 1

Bom Dia familia!

Monday/Tuesday 01/11

I met an Elder at the airport, Elder Giles.  We talked a bit and I mentioned I was in the army and whatta ya know he’s in the navy!  We talked a lot and it was nice to have a buddy to talk about the military with, a little piece of home.  He works in intel with special operations so we got along well. He and I talked mostly but we met all the other new missionaries about 12 of them.  The flight was ok.  When we arrived at the CTM (MTC) we were oriented and got our companions and rooms.  My companion's name is Elder Franklin from Layton, Utah.  Elder Giles is in our room too with his companion, he’s from American Fork and his companion is from Texas.  I’m so mad because we have bars on our windows that let the air in but we can’t see out because there’s a clothing optional swimming pool next door, everyone else has sweet views of the city.  We had a bunch of orientation classes and a devotional that night that was pretty good.  All I can say about the food here is that it’s a gamble.  Its super weird and it can be either good or bad.  Every single dessert is some form of gelatin.  The best part is the endless guarana on tap.  I drink it every day for lunch and dinner.  They also have fresh juices and yoghurt drinks like kefir but better.  There´s some really cute sisters here! like my dad used to say if he actually said it was that when you go on a mission the markets not closed, your just window shopping. 

Wednesday 02/11

Today I woke up at 6 instead of 6:30 to work out with elder Giles.  We ran some laps and did pull ups and pushups.  I thought it was sea level here but I can feel it in my lungs that it’s not.  Also Don Winter said I should do squats every day but I won’t need to at the CTM because we live on the 6th (really 7th) floor and we can’t use the elevator.  Every day for breakfast we have paninis which are just a roll with cheese and ham.  It’ll get old quick.  We had a class and we took pictures with the CTM president, Presidente Grahl.  Then it was just orientation classes all day and introduction to Portuguese.  That night we had interviews with our branch presidency for district leader who´ll lead about 12 other missionaries.  When my turn came I tried to speak as much Portuguese as possible which actually turned out pretty well.  When he came up to us after everyone was done he said the person he chose was chosen by the Spirit and wasn’t his choice.  In broken English he said Elder Holdaway will be your first district leader.  I had to double check to make sure he said the right name :)  As excited as I am to take on this responsibility, I just hope I can lead my district to success, progression, and righteousness.  They serve us a snack every night at 9 which is pretty cool, like a juice box and chocolate.  We got two new Brazilian roommates today; one can speak pretty good English and the other not a lick.  Hopefully they can help us learn quickly.

Thursday 03/11

Language class all day.  Imagine taking a language class in high school but you don’t learn the basic grammar or words on you first day, they just talk to you in Portuguese and hope you catch on. Like a big game of charades.  And instead of one hour its 6, my mind is muita cansada.  We also had to prepare a lesson to an "investigator" in Portuguese.  Batismo de fogo.  We taught him about baptism which went ok but we forgot to actually ask him to be baptized.  Oh well.

Friday 04/11

Today we were in class all day.  The lesson with our investigator went pretty well and I was able to teach him things in Portuguese from memory without it being written down.  Our Brazilian roommate shared an amazing thing with us that night.  He said that he knew all of us before, and I was like yeah the premortal life, but he said he had a dream that he was at the CTM and he recognized us all from the dream and that’s how he knew to serve a mission.  He said that growing up he was always in trouble like street fights and stuff (he’s a mui tai fighter) and he always felt the dark spirits around him all the time. But now he feels the Spirit of God all the time.  He also said that his sister can see angels since she was a kid, which used to freak him out but now he gets it,  He said like if she saw you in a room she can see the angels that surround you.  Elder Lira is going to be the prophet someday, mark my words. 

Saturday 05/11

Another long day of studying.  We get an hour for exercise every day for like volley ball or basketball.  We prepared a pretty good lesson for our investigator about baptism by authority (because he was baptized catholic) but when we were teaching him I pulled out the restoration pamphlet and didn’t realize it was the English one until I started reading it.  I tried translating it on the spot but only said "john baptism apostle priesthood authority joseph smith" it was embarrassing.  Despite that I committed him to baptism and church!  My companion’s not doing so well.  the other day he was really down about the language so I talked to him during companion study and shared with him D+C 58 3+4. I decided to do a district fast for fast Sunday.

Sunday 06/11

Conferences and meetings.  My companion is not feeling well, so I gave him a blessing before dinner to comfort him. I’ll try to be there for him. 

Sorry my grammar's so bad I have limited time to write.

I love you all and it is hard here but I try and strengthen those who need it more than me. Until next time!

Love,

Elder Holdaway