Sorry, I hate writing letters! As yall know I'm in Waycross again, and since I've been here I have been chased by more dogs than my whole mission! Not sure what's the deal! They come out of no where and start to chase us when were biking, almost got bit twice, but the Lord was protecting me for sure because I got away each time! The area is picking up, were starting to teach more and more people, which is good, but at the same time, most of them are, well they are great people, but a little out there. They are good southern people, thats for sure! One has a detached retna in his eye, loves the church, and has known about it, the Book of Mormon, and Joseph Smith for about 30 years and believes it all to be true, but dosent really believe in joining a church, (really...??) So were trying to help him, but he's coming along pretty well, and made a few comments about joining the church. There are a few other part member familys that were working with, all great people, some are more active than other members, but just arent baptized.. (again really?? some people...) Then we have a few people that we meet on the side of the street that invite us over and then ask us to break some bread and have fish with them. (I HATE fish...) that was interesting. I love the Ghetto thats for sure. Even if some are a bit bi-polar / skitzofrenic (heck if i know how to spell that). Then finding, well we didnt find, the other elders found a husky/lab mix that's maybe 6 weeks old just sitting in the middle of the street. I will neither confirm or deny if we are keeping it outiside in the small closet we have to take care of it while we find a member to take it off our hands. And I will also neither confirm or deny that it has been named Penguin cuz its black and white. Or the fact that is very very cute and playful. Well that's about what's going on with me out here! Hope all is going well back home.

Love,
Elder Holcombe

Hello!

Well, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Hard to think this last year is gone already! Well I was transferred, and now I'm back up in Waycross, only this time I'm in the Waycross 1st ward. Which means a few things. 1) There must have been someone I was supposed to find last time and I'm back for another chance and they moved to this side of the town. 2) I better not get 2 bikes stolen again... or even 1, I better get no bikes stolen (will need mighty prayer for that one) and 3) I get to see a lot of great people again! Right now, things are going good. We have a few people to teach, but nothing to major at the moment. We're in the process of fixing that tho, trying to find as many people as we can. I'm really excited for this new year and the chance to help even more people in the FL/GA/SC areas make changes and ultimately come closer to our Savior Jesus Christ. Last year was so fast it's not even funny! Which only means this year will be faster. If anyone doesn't have the address here, its the same as last time, 823 St Marys Dr, Waycross GA 31501.

Hope all is going good for everyone, and that y'all set some good goals for this new year! After all it is "suppose to end in Dec" haha!

Love,
Elder Holcombe

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