Thursday, December 23, 2010
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Monday, December 20, 2010
Week 5
Hello Everyone!
Dang, so this last week went by super fast! It has been pretty fun, but still really cold. There was a day or two where it got a little bit warmer, but only for that day. So it’s really lame. No one really new that we are teaching this week, it has been kinda hard because it’s Christmas time and cold outside, no one really wants to let us in to hear what we have to say. It’s funny how rude people can actually be. I mean, if your going to the door just to lock it, or to open the door and tell us your not interested or don’t want any, and then close it, why open the door to begin with? But on the other hand we have met a lot of people that will listen and talk with us, but then let us know that they respect what were doing but they simply just aren’t interested. But hey, Elder Graham and I are having fun still, he loves Christmas music so he’s constantly singing! A lot of the time he changes the words to go along with whatever were doing which makes it kinda funny.
So last week I told you how I saw a fight, well this week, Elder Graham wanted to visit some less active members. So we ride our bikes to this one house, that’s like in the middle of nowhere land. The houses are way back off the street, and there is a forest behind the houses. So we ride up to the first less active members home, just to even see if the person lives there. We put our bikes down knock real fast, and she opens and invites us in. So we go in just to see how she’s doing, only plan on being there a few minutes, and she's a talker, talked about crazy stuff, like how she see's spirits and all this other stuff that has happened to her with and the spirits. Well we finally are able to get out, and Elder Graham's on the phone and they asked him how he's doing, and he's like great how are you? I was like, umm Elder... and he looks at our helmets laying there, and he told the person on the phone he'd call them back.. so yep, our bikes were stolen my second week out here. We had to walk a good distance to the bishops house, which was where we were planning on going next anyways. But, the bike I was on was not my bike, it was another Elders that left it at our apartment and is in a whole different area, so I was using that until the one I bought got here. Elder graham said that the Elder won’t care at all, but if he does, I'll give him mine or buy it from him - I guess.
So yeah, the last week has been a bit slow because we are walking, the other Elders needed the car this last week (go figure, and they have bikes) but oh well, other than that, I can’t think of much else to report this week. I’m working hard, trying different ideas to get people interested. I love you all, hope to hear from you guys soon.
Love,
Elder Holcombe
Dang, so this last week went by super fast! It has been pretty fun, but still really cold. There was a day or two where it got a little bit warmer, but only for that day. So it’s really lame. No one really new that we are teaching this week, it has been kinda hard because it’s Christmas time and cold outside, no one really wants to let us in to hear what we have to say. It’s funny how rude people can actually be. I mean, if your going to the door just to lock it, or to open the door and tell us your not interested or don’t want any, and then close it, why open the door to begin with? But on the other hand we have met a lot of people that will listen and talk with us, but then let us know that they respect what were doing but they simply just aren’t interested. But hey, Elder Graham and I are having fun still, he loves Christmas music so he’s constantly singing! A lot of the time he changes the words to go along with whatever were doing which makes it kinda funny.
So last week I told you how I saw a fight, well this week, Elder Graham wanted to visit some less active members. So we ride our bikes to this one house, that’s like in the middle of nowhere land. The houses are way back off the street, and there is a forest behind the houses. So we ride up to the first less active members home, just to even see if the person lives there. We put our bikes down knock real fast, and she opens and invites us in. So we go in just to see how she’s doing, only plan on being there a few minutes, and she's a talker, talked about crazy stuff, like how she see's spirits and all this other stuff that has happened to her with and the spirits. Well we finally are able to get out, and Elder Graham's on the phone and they asked him how he's doing, and he's like great how are you? I was like, umm Elder... and he looks at our helmets laying there, and he told the person on the phone he'd call them back.. so yep, our bikes were stolen my second week out here. We had to walk a good distance to the bishops house, which was where we were planning on going next anyways. But, the bike I was on was not my bike, it was another Elders that left it at our apartment and is in a whole different area, so I was using that until the one I bought got here. Elder graham said that the Elder won’t care at all, but if he does, I'll give him mine or buy it from him - I guess.
So yeah, the last week has been a bit slow because we are walking, the other Elders needed the car this last week (go figure, and they have bikes) but oh well, other than that, I can’t think of much else to report this week. I’m working hard, trying different ideas to get people interested. I love you all, hope to hear from you guys soon.
Love,
Elder Holcombe
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
New Pictures from the Mission Home
I was able to get some new pictures from when Taylor was in the Mission Home the first night in Jacksonville, FL.
Back Row: Elder Rowley, Elder Oteo, Elder Marquez, Elder Grant
Middle Row: Elder Smith, Elder Holcombe, Elder Lyman, Elder Barnes, Elder Woodard, Elder Dandridge
Sitting: Sister Fitu, Sister Patterson
Middle Row: Elder Smith, Elder Holcombe, Elder Lyman, Elder Barnes, Elder Woodard, Elder Dandridge
Sitting: Sister Fitu, Sister Patterson
We pick them up at the airport and pack them into the mission van for the 40 minute ride to the mission home. The sisters ride with Pres and Sister Barry
They come hungry! It's fun to see how much they can eat. We cooked 3 huge roasts and not a sliver was left.
They look satisfied and ready to sleep. It was a long day.
Now, if I could just get Taylor to send me pictures! :)
Monday, December 13, 2010
Weeks 3 & 4
Hey everyone! So last week when I traveled to Florida it was this mission’s P-day, so I didn’t get to write.. sorry. But as far as week 3 went, it was just another week at the MTC... teaching, teaching and more teaching and reading.
Week 4, my first week out here, was....interesting. lets see, my new companion is Elder Graham, like the cracker, he's a cool guy - really nice. And kind of a neat freak - haha, but it’s ok, that’s good for me, maybe a little bit will rub off onto me. Also we’re in a car share with 2 other elders, so one week bike, other car, so on and so on. So the first day here was just meeting with the mission president, and I won’t lie, at the end of that day I felt a little scared, homesick and nervous. I’m not sure exactly why, I think it was just because it was a change and they gave you so much info at once. Then, Tues when we all went our separate ways, it was kinda hard, I miss elder Oteo, he was a funny guy. But Elder Graham has been nice, and helping me out a lot, teaching me different things, mostly things that I should know about in the area. Like, there’s a lot of Jewish and Baptists in our area, and they will be nice for the most part, but they don’t really care about anything we say. Oh well, I'll baptize them all. lol. Speaking of baptisms, the mission President, Pres Barry, told us that apostles have said that for 2011 they want this mission to get 2,000 baptisms! That’s crazy, and I guess outside of Utah, this is the highest baptizing mission in the US or something close to that, crazy! I’ve had fun so far, after the first day out here. So Elder Graham had just talked to this kid, Phil Jon, like a day or two before I came out, and all he was able to do was talk for a minute with him and give him a Book of Mormon. We visited him a few times this past week, and he went to church with us yesterday, which was cool, he said that he really liked it. There is a girl that we talked to real fast just riding our bikes, and she said she was new in the area and was looking for a church, so we invited her to go, she said ok and we gave her the address, then we didn’t hear from her for a few days so Saturday night we left a message on her phone just re-inviting her for church. Well Sunday morning she called because she was lost and couldn’t find the church, so we ran to where she was so she could follow us in the car and she brought her mom, that doesn’t speak English, they're Heshan. So all 3 of them went to church and all loved it, which was awesome. Florida is false advertising.. it has been freezing. Like, I could see my breath a few times since I’ve been here, what..the..heck, if I wanted that I would have just stayed at the MTC! Well I can’t think of to much else to write right now, so I'll give my address so you guys can write me. I'll be here for 5 more weeks, at least. 10275 Old St. Augustine Rd Apt 1010 Jacksonville FL 32257
Love,
Elder Holcombe
Week 4, my first week out here, was....interesting. lets see, my new companion is Elder Graham, like the cracker, he's a cool guy - really nice. And kind of a neat freak - haha, but it’s ok, that’s good for me, maybe a little bit will rub off onto me. Also we’re in a car share with 2 other elders, so one week bike, other car, so on and so on. So the first day here was just meeting with the mission president, and I won’t lie, at the end of that day I felt a little scared, homesick and nervous. I’m not sure exactly why, I think it was just because it was a change and they gave you so much info at once. Then, Tues when we all went our separate ways, it was kinda hard, I miss elder Oteo, he was a funny guy. But Elder Graham has been nice, and helping me out a lot, teaching me different things, mostly things that I should know about in the area. Like, there’s a lot of Jewish and Baptists in our area, and they will be nice for the most part, but they don’t really care about anything we say. Oh well, I'll baptize them all. lol. Speaking of baptisms, the mission President, Pres Barry, told us that apostles have said that for 2011 they want this mission to get 2,000 baptisms! That’s crazy, and I guess outside of Utah, this is the highest baptizing mission in the US or something close to that, crazy! I’ve had fun so far, after the first day out here. So Elder Graham had just talked to this kid, Phil Jon, like a day or two before I came out, and all he was able to do was talk for a minute with him and give him a Book of Mormon. We visited him a few times this past week, and he went to church with us yesterday, which was cool, he said that he really liked it. There is a girl that we talked to real fast just riding our bikes, and she said she was new in the area and was looking for a church, so we invited her to go, she said ok and we gave her the address, then we didn’t hear from her for a few days so Saturday night we left a message on her phone just re-inviting her for church. Well Sunday morning she called because she was lost and couldn’t find the church, so we ran to where she was so she could follow us in the car and she brought her mom, that doesn’t speak English, they're Heshan. So all 3 of them went to church and all loved it, which was awesome. Florida is false advertising.. it has been freezing. Like, I could see my breath a few times since I’ve been here, what..the..heck, if I wanted that I would have just stayed at the MTC! Well I can’t think of to much else to write right now, so I'll give my address so you guys can write me. I'll be here for 5 more weeks, at least. 10275 Old St. Augustine Rd Apt 1010 Jacksonville FL 32257
Love,
Elder Holcombe
Monday, December 6, 2010
A letter from the Mission President & his Wife
Dear family of Elder Holcombe,
We are happy to send the good news that your missionary has arrived safely to the Florida Jacksonville Mission. What a great joy and privilege it is to greet each missionary as they come off the plane in Jacksonville. The smiles on their faces showed their excitement and readiness to be here. We promise to take good care of your missionary.
They have enjoyed a dinner together at the mission home, have been interviewed by President Barry and were trained by the assistants. We have taken pictures and I have attached a picture of him with President Barry and I. As you can see he is well and happy although a little tired. We also took a group picture which you can view later this week on our blog at:
www.floridajacksonvillemissionnews.blogspot.comWe are happy to send the good news that your missionary has arrived safely to the Florida Jacksonville Mission. What a great joy and privilege it is to greet each missionary as they come off the plane in Jacksonville. The smiles on their faces showed their excitement and readiness to be here. We promise to take good care of your missionary.
They have enjoyed a dinner together at the mission home, have been interviewed by President Barry and were trained by the assistants. We have taken pictures and I have attached a picture of him with President Barry and I. As you can see he is well and happy although a little tired. We also took a group picture which you can view later this week on our blog at:
You are welcome to check this blog often to catch a glimpse of your missionary and find out what is going on in this mission.
Your missionary will be able to e-mail home on Preparation Day which are each Monday. They will let you know where they have been assigned to serve. (Just a reminder ... when Monday happens to fall on a national holiday, those who use the public libraries will not have access to a computer, therefore, they usually email on Tuesday instead.)
Your missionary is about to make an eternal difference in the lives of others. We hope you will be encouraged and comforted by this quote by President Lorenzo Snow: “There is no mortal man that is so much interested in the success of an elder [sister] when he is preaching the gospel as the Lord that sent him to preach to the people who are the Lord’s children.”
We'd like to take this opportunity to thank you for all you have done to prepare your great missionary to faithfully serve a mission. We look forward to getting to know him as we serve our Heavenly Father here in the Florida Jacksonville Mission.
Please accept our love and gratitude for trusting him to us and more importantly to the Lord.
May God Bless You,
President James W. Barry and Sister Marilyn T. Barry
Headed for Florida!
Bright and early this morning we received a phone call from Taylor! He was at the SLC airport waiting for his plane for Jacksonville, Florida. It was so awesome talking to him. He is doing so good! He was anxious to get out of the Utah snow and somewhere warm. He will stay tonight at the mission home, then tomorrow he will be taken to his new area. As a mother, I could not be prouder. As Christmas approaches, my heart is so sad Taylor will not be home, but the joy I feel for having a son on a mission will fill that hole in my heart. Thank you everyone for all of your support! Here is the mission home address if you want to write to Taylor:
Jacksonville, Florida Mission Home
8651 Baypine Rd #105
Jacksonville, FL 32256
Jacksonville, FL 32256
Once Taylor is settled into his first area, I will post that address.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Week 2
Happy late Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you guys all had a better one than me, as far as the food goes! I had 2 slices of turkey, an ice cream scoop of potatoes and an ice cream scoop of stuffing (gross) and a roll. Then for dinner, a sack lunch with ham sandwiches, ham? What the heck! But it was good overall. We did a service project and cut out stuff to make backpacks, it was nice. As a MTC whole we made like 33,000 or something total, which is cool. We also got to hear Pres Malm and Pres Holland talk during the week, both great talks. Pres. Malm is such a funny guy. I don’t have my notes that I had been taking all week so I would have more to write, but either Pres Malm or Pres Holland said something along the lines of "If your doing the Lords work, the Lords way, what are the limits?" That is awesome, because the Lord has no limits, so hopefully everything will be as I hope it will be when I get to FL. I know there will be hard days and easy days, but it will all be worth it. Elder Oteo and I keep getting a lot of compliments on our teaching, which makes us feel even better. Everyone wants to teach us and us to them so we must be doing something good. Well I leave on December 6th, so I’m not sure what day I'll be able to write next week, but pictures will be here sooner or later. Love you all.
Elder Holcombe
P.S. I really wish I had my notes. I had so much good stuff to say too, but now I’m drawing a blank. =[
Elder Holcombe
P.S. I really wish I had my notes. I had so much good stuff to say too, but now I’m drawing a blank. =[
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Week 1
Dang, this week was fast, how about for you guys? I have an awesome district and companion, we're all going to FL which is nice also. I've been learning a lot since I've been here, my scriptures are actually getting marked, along with little tags on the outside of it, since like seminary? My companion Elder Oteo and I had a few practice teaching things, and everyone has told us that were doing very good for our first few times, which is awesome, and hope they mean it and not just saying it cuz were still learning haha..
I cant stand Utah, its snowed like the last 3 days or so, man, Elder Oteo and I can't stand the cold, so we're running between classes. The food is not that bad really, but you can eat as much as you want, which isn't good cuz I'm just gonna get fat before I even get to FL - lol. But if I start gaining too much weight I'll definitely hit the 'gym' area a lot harder than I have been. I got to go to the temple today, which was so amazing, and when we came back out, it was snowing....again... man how I miss the sun back in Vegas. But oh well.. so they tell me that we're supposed to leave here on Dec. 6th which is good, I won't be here very long in the cold. I hope that I can make it till then and not freeze solid. Well I should probably start marking down thoughts for this, because I'm out of them now.. so until next week,
love you all,
Elder Holcombe
Monday, November 22, 2010
November 19, 2010
Boys,
I am super excited to be going to Jacksonville, Florida. My companion is super cool and his name is Elder Oteo. He is from California, so not far from us! I'm in a room that's not too big, with my companion and two other Elders from my district. A district is like a primary class full of guys all going to Jacksonville. Well boys, one thing you three should know is that I miss you three. Even writing this and thinking of you all makes my eyes water a bit. But also it is hard. I'm not used to getting up so early! Boys, keep going to church and learn all you can, because it will help when you all go on missions. Joe, read Deuteronomy 31:6 to Ben and Sam, that's my favorite scripture and it is helping me go each day away from you all.
Love you,
Elder Holcombe
P.S. Tell mom I'll try to take pictures.
I am super excited to be going to Jacksonville, Florida. My companion is super cool and his name is Elder Oteo. He is from California, so not far from us! I'm in a room that's not too big, with my companion and two other Elders from my district. A district is like a primary class full of guys all going to Jacksonville. Well boys, one thing you three should know is that I miss you three. Even writing this and thinking of you all makes my eyes water a bit. But also it is hard. I'm not used to getting up so early! Boys, keep going to church and learn all you can, because it will help when you all go on missions. Joe, read Deuteronomy 31:6 to Ben and Sam, that's my favorite scripture and it is helping me go each day away from you all.
Love you,
Elder Holcombe
P.S. Tell mom I'll try to take pictures.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
November 17, 2010 - Day 1
Dear Family,
Dang, day one is done! Can't believe it, it went by pretty fast, all things considered. I know that my writing all around needs to be worked on so I'll try my best. My companion is Elder Oteo. He is from San Diego and is a pretty cool Elder. We're not "dudes" or "guys" anymore, we're Elders. That will get some getting used to. Mom, how is the camera thing working? Going to swap camera cards every other week or so? There is another Elder in our room, Elder Smith. He is really quiet, but that is because he seems to be home sick. I feel bad. I know it will hit us all sooner or later, but I hope to avoid it all around. It's only the first day. Everyone keeps saying just make it to Sunday and you'll be fine. So, that's what I'm doing, making it to Sunday. Well, love you all, miss you guys tons. Mom this orange dot is what was on our tags to show that we are new. Figured you would want to "scrapbook" this, so here it is.
Love you all,
Elder Holcombe
Dang, day one is done! Can't believe it, it went by pretty fast, all things considered. I know that my writing all around needs to be worked on so I'll try my best. My companion is Elder Oteo. He is from San Diego and is a pretty cool Elder. We're not "dudes" or "guys" anymore, we're Elders. That will get some getting used to. Mom, how is the camera thing working? Going to swap camera cards every other week or so? There is another Elder in our room, Elder Smith. He is really quiet, but that is because he seems to be home sick. I feel bad. I know it will hit us all sooner or later, but I hope to avoid it all around. It's only the first day. Everyone keeps saying just make it to Sunday and you'll be fine. So, that's what I'm doing, making it to Sunday. Well, love you all, miss you guys tons. Mom this orange dot is what was on our tags to show that we are new. Figured you would want to "scrapbook" this, so here it is.
Love you all,
Elder Holcombe
Friday, November 19, 2010
First Day of Taylor's Mission
November 17, 2010 ~ We brought Taylor to the MTC in Provo, Utah. Before dropping him off at the MTC we went across the street to the Provo Temple to get a few more pictures.
Becoming an Elder
November 15, 2010~ Today Taylor officially became an Elder in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
Rick Pierce, Robert Fowler, David Creasy, Taylor, President Richards & Bishop Pullen
Farewell Sunday
November 14, 2010 ~ Today was Taylor's farewell. Taylor spoke in sacrament and then family & friends came over for an open house. Another great day.
Temple Day~
October 30, 2010 Taylor went to the Las Vegas Temple. It was a beautiful day.
Las Vegas, NV Temple
Dad, Taylor & Mom
Mom, Taylor & Dad
Dad, Taylor, Mom & Grampy
Good Friends, Tracy & Danny Moore
Good Friends, Rick & Cindy Pierce
The Mission Call!
September 9th, 2010 ~ Taylor received his mission call!
Taylor thought he would be cute and take his time opening the envelope!
Maybe he'll read it out loud...
maybe not...
Finally! Taylor read the call...
Jacksonville, Florida Mission!
I think Taylor was very relieved with his call!
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