Update

Hey everyone hows it going!? man its been a while since ive updated yall, well things are going great here, Brenda got baptized a few weeks ago, and we have another bap date set for the 24th of this month. with a kid named lewis, hes a pretty cool kid that has been coming to play basketball with us on saturdays, weve been doing basketball for about 3 months now i think? and in that time, i havent really gotten any better.... guess i can scratch that on off of the lists of talents that i need to develop. But Lewis has talked with us more about how he's been looking for the truth, and wants to do the right thing... well guess he came to the right place haha.. Elder Banner and I have been trying to get the area into the shape its supposed to be in, its close but not fully there. its been a lot of tough work but it will be worth it when its done. we havent really had to many people to teach otherwise so its been a little rough. but all in all things are good, and cant belive this year is basically over, my "black out year" is almost gone. But Hope everyone is doing well, sorry for not writing more lately, i'll try harder, promise!

Merry Christmas everyone,

love,

Elder Holcombe

Crazy Times!

Well this week was a pretty good week. First we set a baptismal date with Delores's daughter in law for the last sunday of this month, she really loves the church and the gospel and is reading like crazy. We have been having trouble finding new people to teach here lately, so nothing to new as for people really. (prayers for finding greatly accepted). So last night. crazy stuff happened, straight out of a movie or something! As we were heading back from dinner, to town, there was a van on the side of the free way that was broken down, so we decided to be nice and pull over to see if they needed any help. it was the one lady who was crying histarically. well "crying" she wasnt really really crying, it seemed like a show. and she recovered from the crazy crying really fast which was also really weird. then she wouldnt let us ask her any questions about her day or recent things that happened to her. she told us that she closed down a walmart, maxed out her Debt card, went 371 miles but you have to add 5 miles to that because she didnt restart her trip log. she was out of gas, lost looking for her bi-polar sister. she didnt know how to get back to her hotel. she tried to get us to take her to the gas station down the street. but we explained that we couldnt give her a ride or anything. but she quickly turned it to she just wanted us to follow her with our hazards on so no one would hit her. then a few min later as were following her, this car comes flying up with its hazards on and cuts us off then they get out of the car and start talking to her, then she comes and tells us that she found 2 other angels to help her. so we waited a few min, and then one of the people come and over to us and told us that they were going to take her to the gas station. The whole thing seemed weird though. the way everything played out, was really weird feeling. almost like the three were all a team and were trying to kidnap people. man who knows what would have happened if they kidnaped me, i woulda been cryin like a baby for my mommy...just kidding i wouldnt cry. haha.. but for real, this thursday is my year mark?! already?! man time has gone by so fast! happy birthday rick!

hope all is going good for you all,

love,

Elder Holcombe

Week 49

Well this week was pretty good. We have been out working pretty hard. Trying to find people to teach, with not too much success so far. We did find one person, but now they aren't too interested any more because females can't hold the priesthood, or become a bishop... but we told her that this was the Lords church and that if she read and prayed she will know the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon for herself. But she told us the next day she wasnt interested. then on saturday we went to a members daughters wedding. Oh man what an adventure that was! We ended up getting put into the bridal party and had to walk down the isle! Only on a mission.... it was crazy stuff. But the Bishop said would be ok. The girl I walked down with wasn't a member and didn't know the unwritten rule us missionaries have and scooped up my arm! Man it was super akward but hey, what can you do! Other than that not too much else has happened this week. We had our "fall festival" with no trunk or treat, they dont do that in this ward for some reason..... feel bad for the kids they are so missing out!

Well love you all,

Elder Holcombe

Williston Ward Harvest Festival!

Week 48

WOW~ basically we are done with October already?! Halloween next Monday? Crazy! This time last year I think I was camping with my friends. My how time flys! So, this week was a lot of driving around again to find people. One of the areas we cover is a town called Bronson - and Bronson has a ton of dirt roads. Well we were driving around one dirt road and turned to another, well we would have if it hadn't been for the fact that in the process of the turn the car decided it was going to get stuck in the sand! The road looked totally fine, just like all the rest of the road we had been driving on. The sand on the turn though underneath was very loose and the sand on top appeared to be solid. We had a member come get us out. With no problems either. Though later on, during the night, I was thinking about it, some call this process "reflecting" who woulda thought, me "reflecting" haha! I realized how much that experience was just like how the devil works, he makes things look good, but then once you're there, and in the situation, you realize that you're stuck in sin. Just as we were stuck in the sand. On top it was ok but the weight of the car and the loose sand underneath, we were stuck. But thanks to the member with the truck, was able to come and pull us out, just as Christ's Atonement can help pull us out of our sins and bring us back to safety. That's just my reflections from the week. Hope everyone is doing good!

Love ya'll

Elder Holcombe

Pictures!!!!

Elder Holcombe and Elder Preator 

Elder Holcombe and Elder Preator Florida Gators Stadium 

Travis, Elder Marquez, Daniel, Samantha and Elder Holcombe 

Elder Holcombe 

Elder Praetor, Bishop Janson, Mike Snow and Elder Holcombe 

Elder Praetor, Gloria, Elder Holcombe 

Elder Holcombe 

Friends and Elders 

Brown Family, Elder Marquez and Elder Holcombe 

Elder Marquez, Travis Grosson and Elder Holcombe 

Elder Bigalow, Elder Waechtler, Elder Neville and Elder Holcombe

Week 47

Man, it has been a pretty long week this week that is for sure! Well first off, pictures should be home tomorrow (the 18th) wow.. just realized that today is the 17th, I've been out for 11 months now?? Crazy! It's gone by so fast! Well this week has been crazy, Elder Banner and I have been trying to see a lot of people that used to be taught by missionaries, and the GPS that we have has put us on a lot of dirt roads, but luckily we never got stuck, its been a lot of fun though. We also got a media referral for this lady, Karleen, well our GPS didn't know where she lived. First, we got sent way out on one side of the town she lives in. Then we tried again, and it put us all the way in a different town, well in between the two that she was supposed to live in, then finally we found her, way out the other side of the two areas we had been in. It was crazy. But when we started talking to her she said that they weren't sure if they wanted us to come over still to meet with them. We gave her a Book of Mormon and a few pamphlets, and talked to her a bit, and she said that we can come and talk to them. So things should be pretty good. Things will keep going up, we've made a lot of progress so far. But that's about all that's new this week. hope everything is going good for y'all.

Love ya,

Elder Holcombe

Week 46

Hey everyone, well this week was pretty good. Elder Banner and I have been working pretty hard. We've been trying to find people to teach lately, by going through our area book and visiting all the formers in it. We spent all day yesterday trying to find someone to teach, and after visiting about 20 people or so, we talked to about 15 people, and none of them let us in, so it was kind of a bummer. But this week we did meet Delores, she's an older lady who's met with missionarys before but moved and lost contact with them. She's been reading the Book of Mormon and told us all the things that she likes and doesn't like about it so far, (how Lamen and Lemual beat up Nephi) she's great. Other than that, not too much has happened this week. Hope all is going good for ya'll,

Love 

Elder Holcombe

Weeks 42 - 45

Well it's been a while since I've sent one of these updates! Sorry! Well lets see, seeing as it's been so long, this will basically be a recap of the last transfer that just ended. Elder Preator and I had two baptisms, Mike and Gloria, both are way cool and sweet. And are doing pretty good. We had a lot of fun and got a bunch of things set up for this coming transfer. Elder Preator is now home, that was his last transfer, so he's back in the normal life. I'm now with Elder Banner, he's been out a little bit longer than I have. We both served up in the same district when I was in GA. It was nice to know him before we started serving together. Things are going pretty good, this last week was a bit slow, just because we have been trying to get some things organized for this transfer. We have a lot of big plans and things that we want to do so it should be really good. Man, so much has happened this last little bit it's hard to put it all into words... maybe I'll send some pictures home soon, each one is worth 1000 words right? Haha, also I'll try and get all letters out by the end of this transfer. Sorry I've been slacking, but we've been really busy!

Hope everything is going great for everyone, and y'all learned a lot from conference like i did, it was so great.

Love,
Elder Holcombe

Weeks 36 - 37

Hey everyone! Well things have been going great out here - that's for sure! Hope everyone is doing good as well. Well let’s see, we have four baptism dates set for the end of august and beginning of September! First is Jim, we meet Jim by going to the hospital and giving his fiance a blessing, and we started going over to their house every now and then to see how things were going. Well we started to teach Jim and he said he would be baptized. He knows it’s something he needs to do. We’re just working with him to overcome some hurdles and trying to get him to read more, but he’s a great guy. Then there's Laura. We've been teaching Laura off and on for a while now, since I've been in Waycross, but she's been having missionaries over since Jan. Laura and her husband Michael are pretty cool, we haven't been able to teach him as much cuz he's a truck driver so he's gone during the week a lot.

Then we started visiting a member of the ward, Sis. Duke. One night while we were talking to her and her son, she told us she was going to try and get her grand kids all over one night so that we could meet them and try and get them to come to church, they've been somewhat less active lately and she wanted us to get them there again. Well one of her granddaughters is married, and her husband Daniel isn't a member. So after the first night he said he would be interested in learning more. So we started to teach him and he's liked everything this far. He hasn't read too much from the Book of Mormon but already told us that he believes it to be the word of God. It’s so great to see the Spirit work on those that truly desire to know!

And lastly there's Scott - Scott is one of Sis. Dukes granddaughters boyfriend that we've been teaching for a bit now. He's already living basically every commandment that there is, which is really sweet. He loves to joke around so we get along pretty well.

That’s about it for who were teaching at the moment, and they all have baptism dates set! Transfers are next Wednesday and we get the call this Saturday, I'm hoping and praying that I get to stay here for all of that. Nothing much else really, Elder Holland isn't coming to the mission anymore, he has to do something else which kinda stinks, but it’s alright.

Hope everyone is doing good.

Love,

Elder Holcombe

Week 35

Hey everyone - how are you all doing? Things are going great out here. Yesterday we had a baptism! His name is Travis. I haven’t said much about him because we really only met him like 2 weeks ago now, his mom was baptized last September and one day he decided he wanted to go to church with her - and loved it. he's really cool and funny, he loves movies and games so he might possibly update me on things when we see him...He read the whole gospel principles book in 2 days, and read all the way through Alma 40~ish in the two weeks and loves the whole thing! We have been teaching a lot of lessons lately as well, and spending a lot of time planning new ways to find more people to teach, things are going really good, and time is going by way to fast. Things are going pretty good. Nat's are just crazy, they are hell spawns sent by Lucifer himself to make missionary’s mad. That is for sure. But thankfully the southern people let us in on one secret (other than bug spray) … dryer sheets, just keep one in the collar or rub it on your skin... and it actually works… who would have thought? Anyways, hope things are going good and ya'll are surviving the summer better than me!

Love ya'll
Elder Holcombe

Weeks 32 - 34

Well sorry for not writing the last few weeks, with the holiday and all and just not having much time here at the library because of all the other things we had to do, I forgot until after we were already gone. Well let’s see, Hunter hasn’t been baptized yet, he's been having a lot of struggles, but he's slowly over coming all of them. So hopefully one day soon he will be able to get baptized. We have been teaching a lot of lessons, like the most I have my whole mission the last few weeks. It’s crazy! We do have a baptism coming up either this Sunday the 24th or the following Saturday the 30th, he's not sure what day he wants to have it yet, but we'll know by Thursday. His name is Travis, his mom was baptized last September, and when we were meeting with her (two Saturdays ago), he walked outside and talked with us for a bit, then said that he would possibly see us at church tomorrow (two Sundays ago). And he was there! We went and started teaching him and he likes it all, he's read a lot and feels that it’s true and is excited to get baptized. It’s way sweet. Elder Marquez and I are still trying to figure out new ways to work with members more, and feel that things are starting to move along now also, which is really good. Also just found out that August 13th Elder Holland is going to be here and having a Mission Conference with him! So sweet, and he's talking in the Kingsland stake which is the one that I’m in, so it’s going to be a good weekend – haha. Not too much else, going on, although I have probably seen more rain in the last few weeks than I have in a few years back home in Vegas, so im having fun!

Love you all, and hope all is going well. (Mosiah 2:41)

Love,

Elder Holcombe 

Week 31

Hmmm... Well.. this week has been alright. Long - that’s for sure! We've been pretty busy teaching people, and working with the ward members.....and getting bikes stolen last Wednesday. This is the third bike to be stolen, two in one transfer! I'll never forget the little town of Waycross, GA that’s for sure. And to top it off, it happened at the RS pres's house so the whole ward knew about it, and we heard that it was even on facebook. I’m sad because it was a cool looking bike. Maybe I was too prideful in it or something. Well Hunter has defiantly had some opposition the last week. We weren’t able to see him at all and he wasn’t able to go to church. Hopefully we can still help him this week though. Not much else really happened but I hope ya’ll had a better week than I did, and thanks for all the love and support,
Love,
Elder Holcombe

Week 30

Wow... have I really been gone for 30 weeks now? thats crazy i must be miss counting or something... we'll things are going pretty good. the fires have really kept the area warm and smokey. Elder Marquez and i have been blessed with some pretty great days. each day is a new thing, with new people that want to learn more about the gospel. its hard work tho trying to help keep them strong and not falling off the straight and narrow. Hunters doing great still, his baptism has been pushed back a week, just beacuse he couldnt make it to church yesterday. We were also lead to these young kids, named Holly and Robert. they are brother and sister and are pretty interested in knowing more about god and finding him for themselfs. they are pretty funny and love having us over. they actually read everything we ask them to, and if we dont give them enough to hold them over until the next time we see them, they swap assignments and study them also. they are way better than some older people we've met thats for sure haha.. everything is going good and the fires arent to close, so no worries there. and i failed to mention last week that my bike got stolen... thats 2 so far.. but this one is not going to get stolen, its a pretty cool bike so i'll hunt someone down if they take it and swap them back my bike for a book of mormon. but thats about it for me, hope ya'll are doing ok,

 

Love,

Elder Holcombe

Week 29

Well this week has been pretty good for me. I hope it has been for everyone else also. Hunter and Sandy are doing really good, Hunter is super excited to get baptized on the 26th, and is already telling us of a few people that we should go see with him! He came to church yesterday even tho he wasn’t feeling good - he told us that he really liked it and can’t wait for next Sunday. I’m still trying to get used to the humidity as it seems like one of the things that God didn’t intend for man to get used to! Count your many blessings people! so there’s a senior couple that’s serving in the district now, and they’re from Las Vegas - the Lakes Stake right around us haha, small world. We'll be going home at the same time (still a very long time away thank goodness) They don’t know if there going back to Vegas or not yet. They are really great and have a lot of fire, they are going to help out a lot. Not too much else really to report, hope all is going good with everyone.
Love,
Elder Holcombe

District Meeting with President Barry

Waycross District

Elder Holcombe, Elder Marquez - District Leader, Elder Waechtler, Elder Nelson, Elder Banner, Elder Woodard, Sister Elliott, Elder Elliott

Weeks 27 & 28

Well sorry for not writing last week, with it being a holiday and all we didn’t really get a chance to email very much, but not a whole lot happened. Well I did get a new companion, Elder Marquez, we came out from the MTC together. he's pretty cool. We spent most of last week organizing all of our paper work and dividing the area up into different sections and finding out who lives where. It was pretty long and boring to tell you the truth. This past week we worked a lot tho. One night we went to see a former investigator, Jessica, that we had an appointment with. We get there and she was working a bit outside, so we talked with her a bit, to see what she remembered and get to know her. After talking to her for about 45 min or so, we finished up and were leaving. While Elder Marquez was backing up there was a guy standing on his front porch that said hi to me and asked how things were going, so I said good. I went to introduce myself, Elder Marquez was a little confused at first I think. Well he gets out also and we introduce ourselves to him, his name is Hunter. We met his (we think) wife and their 4 month old baby. We talked to them for a bit and taught them the first lesson! He said he was wondering what we were talking to Jessica about. He said he has dyslexia but will try to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it, and that he was excited to read it. He asked us to come back in a day or two. so we go back and he had to go to a neighboring town but would be back later that night. We asked him if he had read any and he said "Well, to be honest with you guys...I was reading and praying about it" and at this point, I won’t lie, I was kinda thinking "dang he's gonna ask us not to come back" but he said "and I heard a little voice in my head saying 'just prove one thing about it wrong' " and that he can’t prove anything wrong, and he likes it because "it means exactly what it says, and there is no way to twist it really, like the bible can be." So we went back later that night and the first question he asked was "So how do I join the church exactly?" Elder Marquez and I both were super happy - it was hard to talk for a few min! We then told him how, and he committed to be baptized the last Sunday of the month! And that he’s not even going to try and prove anything wrong because he knows it’s true, and that Joseph Smith is a prophet, and if he didn’t believe it yet the Book of Mormon would tell him otherwise! And for a little icing on the cake, his wife wasn’t there that time but we went back a few days later and she still wasn’t there, but she told him she wants to join also! the Lord defiantly blessed Elder Marquez and I for the long "boring" work we did, and for this dang heat and humidity that were out tracting in! We’re super happy this week, and hope everyone is doing really good,
Love y'all,
Elder Holcombe
ps: I’m getting the country lingo down, I have to edit some of the words I put into my letters now so they are "normal" haha

Week 26

So this week went by pretty quick. Not to much happened really. But we did meet this one guy named Chris. He’s such a funny guy. We ended up talking to him for about an hour, after talking to him a bit about the gospel, he was just asking us random questions and telling us some stories. We were all laughing for about the rest of the time. He is a sweet guy. Nothing else really happened this week. well did hear some crazy stories about how there’s an asteroid coming to hit earth in 2012, and there’s one that’s going to pass between earth and the moon this November. Scary. But other than that not much.
Love you all
Elder Holcombe

Week 25

Hey everyone, how’s it going this week? Well this week was pretty good for me. Just wanted to start out by saying Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms, sorry it’s a day late, but better late than never right? :) So let’s see, what happened this week.. well we went tracting, and was having a little bit of success, and at about 8:15 we were getting ready to go somewhere else or see one of the members in the area. We decided to knock the last few houses that we were at, and ended up meeting Steve. He's a pretty cool guy, and said that he’s seen missionary’s around but never talked to them. So when we asked if he's heard of the Book of Mormon he said that he sure had and would like to get his hands on one so that he could read it. Well we gave him one and set up a time to try and come back. He has a pretty busy schedule he said and we were lucky to catch him - so hopefully we'll be able to see him again. Then, just a few days ago we were tracting and knocked on this one door, and we can hear a pretty big sounding dog behind the door. Well no one answers and we walk all the way down the lawn, and the people let the dog out and it comes charging at us. Like a train, there was just no stopping this thing it was a big ole pit. It runs all the way up to Elder Neville and I, we both gave pretty weak attempts to tell it to go home before it got to us.. (cant lie it was pretty sad) but then it stopped and turned back and ran all the way home at the last second, it looked like it was about to jump on us. So outside of that, not to much, hope every one is doing good,

Elder HolcombeLove y’all,

Week 24

Well ya'll, it’s been a long week. Not too much new really. We did a lot of tracting, and tried to see a lot of former investigators. Most of them either moved, or didn’t answer the door. Now that I am thinking about it, I don’t think we actually got a hold of any that we tried to haha. We did meet some other people that let us talk to them for a bit but that was about it. Earlier this week we went with a member to teach a recent converts mother, she only speaks Spanish, so obviously we can’t teach her. BUT, we did sing a song in Spanish. When the member asked if we could sing, first thought was "Haha, I cant sing to save anyone’s life!" Then it was, "Crap, I only know like the first verse of a few songs!" But then I saw him holding two hymn books so I thought we were good. Well he hands one to Elder Neville and I to share, and it’s in Spanish...what the donkey?! Well we ended up singing a song in Spanish, it was pretty cool. Then on Saturday, a few of the local churches all teamed up to rebuild a few houses here in Waycross. So we went to help, we helped tear out some "winders" to put new ones in. It was fun, and I got a free shirt out of it. Nothing much else really right now, just a lot of tracting, only one funny story from it this week. We were walking past one house that we just knocked on, and no one answered. Well while were walking to the next door, this big old dog comes running up barking at us. We got a little scared, I wont lie. It was a big dog. Well then, this little 10 year old girl come running from the next house runs past us and yells, "Don’t worry, he's scared of me!" She then runs up to the dog and starts beating the crap out of it, yelling at it screaming that she’s told him not to bark at people. It was pretty funny.
Well got to go, love you all,
Elder Holcombe

Picture from Transfer Day

Elder Bigelow, Elder Holcombe, Elder Neville, Elder Waechtler, Elder Perez, Elder Frampton, Elder Greco, Elder Murdock, Elder Fergus, Elder Collard, Elder McArthur and kneeling is a wonderful member who drives the missionaries.

Week 23

Hey everyone, how's things going for ya'll? Hope things are going pretty good. Things are going pretty good out here. Not to much happened this past week, and it went by really fast, because I had to go on two different trade off's which always make the week go by faster. We've been working hard to find some people to teach, and we’ve been finding some people, but won’t know if they really want to learn until next time we go to see them. I hope so. Tracting all day isn’t the most fun thing in the world, that’s for darn sure. Well hope everything is going good for everyone, and don’t do nothing I wouldn’t do! Sorry for no cool stories this week
Love,
Elder Holcombe

Week 22

How ya'll doin? I got transferred to Waycross, GA – a small city of about 20,000 people. I am not too sure how to handle myself. It’s very different than what I’m used to, that’s for sure! But the people are way nice out here. I am kind of bummed that I got transferred, but it’s all good. Let’s see… this past week we had a pretty cool thing happen to us. Elder Neville and I were going to see this referral that a member gave to us. We went in the morning and no one was home. Then, later on in the day we decided to go try again. On the way, there was a family outside playing, we waved not really planning on stopping, but one guy waved us down and ran over to us. He was like, "Ya'll Latter Day Saints?" We were like "Sure are" He was like, "Ya'll don’t happen to have a Book of Mormon that I could have, do you?" We were kind of shocked, and told him we did. He told us that he had just gotten out of jail not too long ago, and found the Book of Mormon there, and read 1 & 2 Nephi and loved it. He said it helped him out a lot. He also loved the tree of life and how it explained a lot of things. So we taught him briefly and set up a time to come back. He wants to learn more and is way excited. Outside of that, I’m still getting to know the area and people, but it should be a pretty fun time here. We went fishing and snake hunting this morning and that was fun. I didn’t catch anything but it was still fun. Well I love you all, remember me as the sun sets and it’s still nice and bright back in Vegas, because it’s pitch black here!  Kind of like a zombie movie or something! J

Love,

Elder Holcombe

New Pictures Finally Sent Home!

Here are a few pictures that I sent home...

Go figure! 02/03/11

Elder Udy, Elder Holcombe and Elder Graham 02/11/11 

Elder Graham, Elder Holcombe and Elder Udy 02/19/11 

Elder Holcombe, Elder Graham, Elder Brimhall, Elder Hinton and Elder Udy 03/01/11

Elder Udy, Elder Hinton, Elder Holcombe, Elder Brimhall and Elder Graham 03/01/11

Elder Holcombe, Andy Jones and Elder Wily 03/26/11 

Elder and Sister Kellett lighting my bday candles 03/31/11

Happy 21st Bday Elder Holcombe! 03/31/11

Make a Wish! 03/31/11

Elder Holcombe and Elder Wily 04/08/11

Week 21

Well another week has gone by, I can’t believe it. So this week we started teaching this guy named Brad - he’s a cool guy. He's really interested in knowing more about life after this life, and after learning a little bit about it he wants all of it haha! So we've been teaching him and set a baptism date for April 25th. Brad is way excited and really cool. Other than that we've just been working. We are doing what we can to help the ward out as well. hmm... well transfer calls came in Saturday night and I’m leaving, 5 months here and I’m leaving now. Kinda sad, but cool at the same time. I don’t know where I’m going until tomorrow though, that’s the only scary part. Anyway, not much else, so I hope everyone is doing good!
Love, Elder Holcombe

Week 20

Well everyone how’s it going? Things here have been really good. Thanks for all the birthday wishes.. I can’t believe I'm 21! That's just crazy. No more birthdays for me, that's for sure, just anniversary’s from now on. Well this week has been good. We've found a few new people to start teaching, They all seem really cool. This past Saturday, just after the last session of conference we went out tracting for a bit, and found this one young couple. They said we could come back Sunday morning. So Sunday morning comes around, and as we ride up to their home and they were in their car, and the thought "Great, they were trying to leave before we got there!" went through my head. So we started talking with them and they said that they were just cleaning out the car and invited us in. We taught them the first lesson, and they seemed really interested. But the cooler part is that they made cinnamon rolls for us. That put them up a few points in my book :) Other than that, not to much really going on. we are still visiting with Jon and Natalie, they are great, and really like church. They just have to get married when they feel ready, to get baptized. Andy Jones was sick this weekend so he wasn’t able to see conference, but is still doing good also. So I hope everyone is having a great time, and all of you better have watched conference! If I can sit through all the sessions, then anyone can! haha..
Love you all,
Elder Holcombe

Elder Wily, Elder Holcombe and President Barry

Week 19

Hey everyone! How’s it going? Well this week has been a decent week. It has started to warm up, but then got kinda chilly, not cold just nice and cool, which was nice. Well in all honestly, there’s not a whole lot to talk about really. At least not that I can think of. We've been tracting a lot! Although we did meet with Brother Andy Jones the other day, that guy is pretty funny and loves to joke around. He wanted us to come over and the last few weeks we were only able to meet with him a few times. He has gone to church once, but after that had a reason to not go each week. Well when we went over to his house, he surprised us and told us that he's going to church. Then yesterday comes (Sunday) and he was there bright and early. Well, 10:45! He told us that he could not get hardly any sleep Saturday night, but he wanted to be here, so he still went. It was way cool to have Brother Jones at church with us. We will keep working with him. Not to much else to report on, just the little miracle with Brother Jones that we had. Well now that things are warming up maybe more things will happen.
I hope everyone is doing great.
Love you all!
Elder Holcombe

Zone Conf.

Elder Holcombe, Elder Brimhall, Elder Camp, Elder Jensen and Elder Tenney

Week 16

Dang, this week was so legit! So I’m now companions with Elder Wily. He’s way cool and super funny. We've had a good time so far. He's been out for about 18 months now, and is really excited about this area. All week, everyday something new would happen. We are trying to get a few new things started that should help this area as well, so it’s cool. In all grand scheme of things, the few things we did get done, was not a whole lot, but they were big things that will help out down the road also. We're supposed to be going back to teach a few of the people we met this week, so I'll let you know next week about them. but for the most part they seem pretty solid. Also sometime this summer the mission right above us in GA is being dissolved and we’re getting one of the areas, the Savannah, GA area. So we’re gonna have the bulldogs and the gators in the same mission - that should be fun. Not that I want to go to GA a whole lot, I want to stay here in FL but hey, if im needed to baptize a bunch of crazy bulldog loving people, then that’s where I'll be happy to go! haha. I have got some high hopes for this transfer. Love you all, hope to hear from you to know what’s going on.
Love,
Elder Holcombe

Zone Conference Pictures

We had a Zone Conference last week....

They celebrated all of the March birthdays! Hint, hint!

Back Row: Elder Graham, Sisters LaJuenesse and Shirley, Elders Kellett, Mackey, Webster, Rasmussen, Reid and Turner,
Kneeling: Elders Brimhall, Larsen, Johnson, Holcombe, Osborn and Pelo

Elder Holcombe, Elder Oteo, Elder Taylor, Elder Preator and Elder Webster

Elder Graham, Elder Holcombe and Elder Udy participating in role play....

Weeks 14 & 15

Well, weeks 14 and 15 are really just about all the same, full of tracting! It was so .... fun, yep let’s go with that. haha! But for real it was long and fun at the same time. Nothing too crazy really happened that I can think of at the moment. We had a Zone Conference this week and it was great to see Elder Oteo again. Transfers are tomorrow, Elder Udy got picked up and transferred Saturday night, and we found out that Elder Graham is being transferred as well. I am staying, I didn’t want to get transferred yet. This morning we got a call from Pres. Barry, Elder Graham is going to be a Zone Leader, so we've been giving him a hard time about that. He's kinda excited but nervous at the same time. Later on today were going to the beach, which should be fun, I got some water guns from my brothers this week, and there going to be put to good use! Love you all!
Love,
Elder Holcombe

Week 13

Well everyone, another week has gone by, it went pretty fast actually, We really don’t have a lot of people that were teaching, so most of the week was spent tracting. We haven’t really found any new solid people, everyone that we taught were kinda iffy, I guess you could say, just let us in to be nice, so hopefully things will pick up soon. We talked with Jon and he is basically ready to be baptized but still needs to get married and not sure if they want to yet, which sucks, but I can’t force them to get married....yet... ;) lol! So, Jon and Natalie are doing good, and we talked with Brother Jones, and he went to church yesterday, totally caught us off guard. He told us that he wanted to go to see what it was like, and he said that he liked it but had a lot to think about. Which could be good or bad I guess, depending on how you look at it. Oh! We have a new companion, Elder Udy. He got put with Elder Graham and I last Monday night. He's a pretty cool guy, he's been out for about 22 months and goes home at the end of the next transfer. So about 8 weeks left. It is nice having him with us, but at the same time, tracting is a bit harder just because it’s 3 guys instead of 2 at the front door - which can be intimidating! We’re still doing good, and just keep trying to find people that are ready to hear the Gospel. I hope all is going well.

Love you all,
Elder Holcombe

Week 12

Well everyone, how’s it going? This week has been a bit slow, honestly, not too much is new. Well let’s see... right now its pouring down rain so I’m happy, since it never rains in Vegas. This past week we've been working on trying to find new people to teach. We did run into one family the other day, and they seem pretty interested, they invited us to come back to their home again, and she told us that when we do, that we "HAVE" to play a round of bowling with her and her husband on the wii, which made me laugh - their a nice couple. Other than that we've been trying to find new ways to talk to people, because tracting is not providing much success. We may just do contacting people on the street in public places - which wouldn’t be too bad really. But we would need to find a way to interrupt people while they are walking and most people are in a hurry to get to where they are going, so who knows - we’ll give that a shot. I also heard that Greenbay won the Superbowl, which is ok, I guess, would rather them win than the dang steelers! Well I need to get going. Love you all, hope all is good, thanks for all the support. Please pray for investigators for us.

Love,
Elder Holcombe

New Pictures!

Finally, a picture of Elder Graham, Elder Holcombe's first mission companion in the mission field. 

Green door light.... 

On Christmas day 

A Dallas Cowboy Fan does exist in Jacksonville! 

The Sapp Family  

Elder Holcombe, Elder Graham and Danny Sapp on Danny's baptism day.

Click HERE to see some more new pictures!

Week 11

So another week has come, and this one was a good one. We started doing a Wednesday night class for investigators, and because this was the first one, only Jon and Natalie were there. Natalie said that she really liked it and wants to go again this week. Then, some Elders had a baptism on Saturday so we called Jon and Natalie, to see if they could go, Natalie said she had work so she couldn’t, but that she got a new job and will have Saturday and Sunday off now and will be able to go to church, and was excited about it, which was way cool. We were able to bring Jon to the baptism, this was his second baptism that he's been to. After the baptism we were talking to him, and asking him if he has noticed any changes in his life at all since we have started teaching him and since he has been reading and praying on his own. He said that he has. So then we asked about Natalie, he said that they started to read the Book of Mormon together, a chapter a night, and that they both are living all the commandments basically so far, and that they both feel like there has been a weight lifted off of their shoulders, which is way cool. So then we asked him if they thought about marriage at all, he said he wants to, and he’s not sure if Natalie wants. That they have talked about it a little bit. But then he tells us that she's looked at rings from Tiffany’s and was looking at some wedding website, Elder Graham and I had to laugh. Then we told him that things would keep going good if they got baptized, and we think that he wants to, so we think that they might be getting married soon so that they both can get baptized, which would be way cool!

Then we also started teaching this older couple, the Jones family. The first lesson we taught them, we didn’t really say much, and Mr. Jones told us that when we first went there he didn’t really care to listen to what we had to say, but that he liked us and wanted us to come back. So we had set up a time to come back. Then last night we were near their house so we thought we would just stop by and say hi to them. Well they invited us in, at 8pm, and they said we were starving so they fed us dinner as well. Then we started talking to them a bit and Mr. Jones was saying that he wouldn’t mind being a Mormon but doesn’t think that he would be good enough. So after a bit of talking, and giving them the Book of Mormon, he said that he would read it at least 10 min a day, which was way sweet. They are such a nice family, and they want us to come back whenever we don’t have something going on. So we'll see how things go with them hopefully they keep loving everything haha...

Well I hope everyone's doing good still. Love you all, and can’t wait to hear from you people!

Love,
Elder Holcombe

Elder Holcombe Meets Elder Oaks

Taylor is in the top row, second one in on the right.

Week 10

Dang, this week went by pretty quick...and was a good week as well. First off, I’m still in the same area, like I said last time, I believe. As far as teaching goes, we don’t have very many people to teach right now, most of the people we were teaching all "lost" contact with us, which kinda bites. We are still teaching Jon and Natalie, and they both love the church - just a matter of time before they decide to get married. I then get to take my Vegas connections with me and get them married! haha But really we’re only teaching them and Philjon, the kid who wants to know more about religion. I am kinda worried about Philjon tho, he's not really progressing very much which makes it hard. Elder Graham and I aren’t really sure what he needs to help understand the gospel so were just working with him when we can. The week didn’t have too much excitement really, but then on Saturday, we had Elder Oaks of the 12 talk to our mission, and got to shake his hand, he's really funny. It was way cool to listen to him talk in person and not over TV or something. He talked a lot about being obedient and listening to the Holy Ghost and being an example at all times. Hearing Elder Oaks and the fact that I didn’t have any bike problems this week made me pretty happy honestly. Oh - so the other day, Elder Graham and I were biking to get to the area we wanted to tract at, and we stopped to talk to this guy, as I was talking to him, this other guy walked by, so Elder Graham started talking to him. I finished talking to the first guy, and a couple had walked by me and Elder Graham, so I rode past Elder Graham to catch back up to the other couple and talked to them. After we both were done talking to everyone, we had to laugh about it, because it kinda looked like something out of a missionary movie or something. All is going good, I hope everyone is doing good also.
Love you all,
Elder Holcombe

Week 9

Hey all, how’s everyone doing? We'll I really don’t have much time today, so I'll try and say what I can remember about this week. First I’m staying in this area, and so is Elder Graham. Elder Graham was called to be the DL so that’s pretty cool, he's excited but kinda nervous it seems... Saturday we had a baptism, Danny Sapp, he's 11. He's such a smart kid. Elder Graham baptized Danny and I confirmed him on Sunday during sacrament. It was a great experience. During the week we did a lot of tracting. We also got into a little accident...I wasn’t driving, no one hurt, just the front end of the car. We'll that’s really about all the time I have, I wish I could write more, but like I said, we’re short on time.. love you all, and I will write more next week - I promise!
Love you all & would love to hear from you,
Elder Holcombe

So Proud!

I know, I know, this blog is for Taylor and his adventures on his mission. But I have to share a phone call with you. On Saturday I received a phone call from Sister Winnie Way. Sister Way's grandson was baptized on Saturday and Taylor confirmed him a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and gave him the gift of the Holy Ghost. Taylor performed the ordinance in sacrament meeting on Sunday in church. I imagine that he was scared, but I am confident he did well. Sister Way went on to tell me what a wonderful missionary Taylor is and that he is happy. As a mother, I cannot be prouder.

I love & miss you Elder Holcombe

New pictures!

Hi there! New pictures posted! Click HERE to see my MTC photos. Click HERE to see pictures of going to Florida. And, click HERE to see pictures of my first apartment in Florida!

Week 8

Hey everyone! How's it going? I've had a pretty good week, except I'm learning that the bike I bought is slowly starting to not be worth the $100 bucks I bought it for from the other elder that was going home. I got it with a flat, so had to fix that. Both breaks went out, so fixed the back ones to start. Now this past week, one of the pedals fell off! I mean c'mon! So now I have to fix that also...but hey, I guess if that's the worst of my problems, then I think I'm doing alright - haha. So lets see, what's new this week? Well not too much really, still have a small group of people that I'm teaching, all great people. Jon just got a new job and won't be working Sundays anymore, so hopefully he'll be able to come to church now -at least to see what it's like. We haven't talked too much to Natalie, his girlfriend, she's never there when we go over which makes it kinda hard to see if she's interested or not. Philjon is really liking church, he's only 15 but is way interested in this, and he's pretty smart. He loves learning about all the different stuff there is. Then Midline, she's very nice, she loves church so much, but doesn't know a whole lot of what we believe still, because we've only been able to actually teach her like twice. But last Sunday, she brought her whole family, her mom (who doesn't speak any English) her two kids, and their dad. And they all loved it. Well maybe not as much the mom, because she didn't know what was being said - haha. There's a few others that we've been teaching also, but these are the ones I've taught and grown closest to the most since I've been in Florida. Man, I feel like I should be writing more, but there's not a whole lot more really, we tracked a lot this past week, and there are some really nice house's but the people in them are not so nice, to say the least. Transfers are already coming up! We find out on Saturday if i get transfered or not. I personally don't think I will, I think Elder Graham might, he's been in this area for 6 months now, it was his first area also. So I think that because he's been here so long he might get moved, but hey who knows, maybe I'll still get moved somewhere. If so, the transfers themselves are on Tuesday. And of course, the library is closed on Monday, so I probably won't be able to email next week. So, you will have to wait a little bit to see if I get moved or not. But other than that, it's still raining alot and that keeps me happy like a little kid. I hope everyone is doing good, and would love to hear from you all sometime!

 

Love, Elder Holcombe

Weeks 6 & 7

I know it’s a bit late, but Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Sorry for not writing last week, the library was closed for some reason. So let’s see, these last two weeks have been pretty good, still just going out each day and trying to find people. We've meet some nice people and taught a lot, but most of them kinda fall off the face of the earth after that. We're still teaching Jon and Natalie, and Jon is like totally ready to get baptized. He believes the same things we do, and he’s starting to read the Book of Mormon on his own, which is really sweet. We’re still trying to get him to pray on his own tho, he said last time we were there that he would. Then we were also talking to him about being baptized again, and what would be holding him back. He said a lot of things and that he didn’t think he would be able to follow all of the rules if he did. After a bit it was just that he doesn’t want to move out from living with his girlfriend or get married yet. So, hopefully he prays about it and that will push him to do one or the other - haha. I've been telling Elder Graham that I'll marry them so he can get baptized! But he keeps telling me it doesn’t work like that or something lame like that. These last two weeks have been kinda slow at the same time tho, but hey, it was the holidays and everything, so people will be getting home again and hopefully it will pick up! Yesterday, I think I felt more like a little kid than I have in a while. We were biking around and it started pouring on us (well, I thought it was because it doesn’t rain as hard as it did back in Vegas) Elder Graham said it rains even harder!) I mean, we were totally soaked, and at first I was kinda mad, because hey, I’m soaked now, and after a few cars passed us during the rain, I started thinking...hey, I’m on a mission, I’m on a bike, it’s raining pretty hard (for my standards)... how could it get any worse? Heck, it probably looks kinda funny to the people driving by. After that thought, it just got super fun. I mean, I’m not going to go home and get yelled at for getting soaked in the rain, so it was fun. Just one of the little things like legos that make me happy - haha. Other than that, I’m not to sure what else happened because the days really are starting to blend together. So I hope everyone is doing ok, and having fun with life, because that’s what we’re supposed to do while were here, have joy. Times get kinda hard, I’ve learned that over my mission and from working at Sears, but all the good stuff totally blocks out the bad.
Love you all,
Elder Holcombe