Still In Enid And Happy To Be With Elder Holman Thru Another Transfer!

All I really want for Christmas is a letter from each member of my family... maybe a couple of ties or any other random fun thing you find too.

I found out that I'm staying with Elder Holman for another transfer here in Enid which is a great relief. That means we'll get Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years together. It's going to be a blast.

I was asking the other elders how old Livi looks and they all said 17. Ha she still looks 15 to me. It's been a while since I've looked at the family pictures, but I know Ava and Jace look a lot different. It's going to be weird to come home to older siblings. I'm pretty sure I look the exact same, so that's pretty easy. I wish I could say I was 6'5" now, but I probably won't get another growth spurt til I'm 25. lol

Anyways we had an amazing experience with our investigator Eryn this week. She had already been to church a few times, but we took her on a church tour anyways. It was so fun to talk to her as we walked around the church and joke about the good times in life. We ended with the chapel and asked her how she felt there. It was an great calming feeling that she described. We continued to talk about the sacrament and the blessing it was to us and our families. As a mother she lost her daughter in a custody battle and we can see that the sadness and pain tears her apart sometimes. She is gaining a correct understanding that the church will provide a great support system for the vision she wants to accomplish. She wants a strong family. 

I am so grateful for the strength that the Church provides to our family. We all are becoming so much better and stronger. I love you momma!

-Elder Hoddy

Pictures!

This is all we got last week---but there's pictures!!

Hey I wanted to share a view of the fun events we've been doing this week...

Ward council, singing in the choir, speaking at church, and the 2014 NBA finals.

It sure was a busy week!

We Don't Know, ButThere Is Someone Who Does

We had a pretty special experience with two of our investigators. We went over for a lesson to talk about church and the blessing it would be for this family, but sensing contention we quickly abandoned our lesson plan and opened up to 2 Nephi 2.

6)Wherefore, redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah, for he is full of grace and truth. 7)Behold he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit, and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered.

We began talking about what it means to have a broken heart and contrite spirit, and we could see the mood in the room change. They seemed open to what the spirit was teaching them, but there was still a lot of sadness. Through her tears the wife said, "I've been praying and I don't feel like this is the man God wants me to be with. What should I do?"

Elder Holman and I sat there thinking. We are not marriage counselors. We've never been married. We don't know the circumstances. And we really didn't know what she should do. Our response was the only one we knew. "We don't know, but there is someone who does." We proceeded to drop to our knees and pray with this young couple for help. After the prayer there was an immediate peace that filled the room.

It is sometimes sad to see because we know that if we had been there 6 months earlier they could have applied gospel principles into their own life and become capable of overcoming challenges.

Alma 26:12 Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things...

Heavenly Father knows us in our individual situations and wants to help us get through them, but first we must ask for help.

Thank you for being righteous examples of living the gospel. I love you both.

-Elder Hoddy