Goodbye to Tacloban

I can honestly say that these last 2 years have been an amazing adventure.  When I first opened my call and read Philippines Tacloban Mission I was not really sure what to expect.  I can say that the time that I have had to serve here has been one of the greatest blessing in my life.  I love the Filipino people with all my heart.  A sign in Tacloban says "Home to the Happiest People on Earth" and I am proud to be one of them.  I will miss the amazing people that I have met and been blessed to associate with. That has been one of the best parts of the mission is bringing others unto Jesus Christ

I know that this is the Church of Jesus Christ here in the last days.  I know that he is at the head and is guiding the Church through President Russell M. Nelson.  Heavenly Father knows each and every one of us and loves us perfectly, even if we aren't perfect.  He has a plan for everyone to come back to him.  I have loved being a disciple of Jesus Christ and it will be difficult to not be spending my time in his service as a full time missionary.  But this is just the start of a lifetime of service.  Love you all, Thanks for sharing this amazing journey with me!  Paghinay Tacloban Mission, permi ha akon kasingkasing

Elder Holmstead

These are the jersey's we created for our Zone.

A typical Filipino style home.

I love Borongan

We had the best video chat with Elder Holmstead.  3 of his friends, Andrew, Elder DeMille (returned Tuesday from Chile), and Elder Sherman (returned last Wednesday from Honduras) were here and got to talk with Wade.  It was so fun seeing them interact together and share mission stories.  They compared languages and Wade said he's going to need to learn how to speak Spanish so he can understand Jonah and Malan.  He told us the first vision in Tagalog and Cebuano and we were all surprised at how different those two languages are.  Oh and he was talking back in forth in Waray Waray with his companion too!  It's fun to think he can speak 3 languages, 4 including English.  Here are some highlights from our chat:

• I have to bear my testimony at my last Zone Conference this week.  There were 5 of us that will be leaving so it was an awesome meeting.  I didn't cry (in case you were wondering) but everyone said I was the most emotional.
• We had a good week of missionary work.  We found 3 new families and 1 new friend to teach.  Please add the Bajado family, Cargando family, Gunda family and Gennelyn Grafil to your prayers.
• We had splits this week with two districts.  The missionary I was on splits with got sick and so did my companion so I spent 2 days cleaning the apartment.  I'm glad they are feeling better so we can get back to work.
• We have so many dinner and lunch appointments set this week.  I guess the key to having members feed you is to tell them that you are leaving soon and they will all want to feed you one last time.  It's going to be the best week!
• The member in our ward from Canada fed us this week and it was awesome.  There was so much Filipino food - it was awesome!
• 17 more days...everyone says I'm trunky but I'm really not.  I'm still working hard and enjoying every minute of my mission.  I love it here!

Love you all,

Elder Holmstead

Last Zone Conference

The member in our branch fed us the best meal this week.

Happy Father's Day

Highlights from our video chat with Elder Holmstead:

• We had an awesome week!  We found 3 new families to teach.  We were going to an appointment that we had with Dominic and is started pouring rain.  He ended up not being home but his neighbor let us in so we didn't soaked. They had been taught about the gospel before so they knew who we were.  The mom had been recently bit by a centipede and her arm was swollen all the way up to her shoulder.  Elder Lazan and I both had the feeling that we should give her a blessing, but we didn't know how to bring it up.  The feeling came again to us both so we just asked her if she wanted a blessing.  She said yes and at the exact moment that Elder Lazan said amen the rain suddenly stopped.  It was so powerful!  We have a follow up appointment with them this week.
• Ricky and Gemmalyn came to church again but we had to bump their baptismal date back to August because of some Word of Wisdom problems.  But they are continuing to work through them so we are hopeful.
• I have my last Zone Conference this week so I will get the chance to bear my final testimony as a missionary to my Zone.  There are 5 of us going home together so it will be an awesome conference. 
• I am working on making custom basketball jersey's for my Zone. Who would have thought I would be using my graphic design skills from high school on my mission in the Philippines!?
• It has started raining again so it looks like summer in the Philippines is over.  It's still so hot and humid.  I'm honestly looking forward to the dry St. George heat.
• Welcome home to my bro Clancy!  Can't wait to see him and hear about his stories from Scotland and Ireland.
• I'm working hard to finish up these last 3 weeks strong.  I love my mission and am so grateful to be here!

Happy Father's Day!  Love you all.

Elder Holmstead

Summer in Borongan

Here are some highlights from our video call with Elder Holmstead:

• We were invited to breakfast by a member this morning.  We had empanadas which are like flat dough filled with meat.  Filipinos don't really have breakfast food.  They just eat anything at anytime.
• We did a service project at a garden in Tacloban while we were there for MLC.  It was pouring rain all day so we got soaked.  But it was still a good time.  Then we had FHE at the mission home and ate really good food.  It was an Elders birthday and his parents sent some extra money so they went all out on the food.  I had said goodbye to some missionaries from the Sogod zone since I won't see some of them before I leave.  The other Elders were calling me grandpa at MLC because I'm the "oldest" missionary now. We got back to Borongan at 10pm that night so it was a long 2 days of travel.  
• I had my exit interview with President Argana.  He asked me about my goals when I get home so I've been thinking more about that this week.  He encouraged me to keep moving forward and said if I'm not moving forward then I'm moving backwards.  He also encouraged me to attend the temple often.  I want to be an ordinance worker at the temple when I get home so we'll so how that goes.
• We had exchanges with the AP's on Thursday.  I went with Elder Murphy and we did some good finding.
• Elder Pongan, an area seventy, was at our District Conference.  He had just been to St. George so we were talking about what a great place it is.  He was actually super close to my house while he was there.  He was awesome and gave a great talk. 8-10am was the adult session and 10am-noon was the general session.  They hold it all at once because some people have to drive 3+ hours to the church.
• Ricky and Gemmalyn and MayAnn all came to church on Sunday which was awesome, especially since it was District Conference and not regular sacrament meeting.  MayAnn is still on schedule to get baptized the first week of July so hopefully that will happen.  That would be the best way to end my mission.
• This week we are going to follow up with Marvin and the Estay family.  The Estay family lives far away...we have to cross a river on foot with our pants rolled up to get there.
• School just started here in Tacloban.  It's still so hot.  I'm literally sweating all the time.
• Our mission is getting Smartphones in August.  I'm glad I didn't have to worry about technology while I've been here.

Love you all,

Elder Holmstead

Philippines Tacloban Mission

Me and Elder Lazan

There was a random tank parked in our area so I got a picture with it.

MLC with President and Sister Argana

Last Transfer - New Companion

Here are some highlights from our Skype chat with Elder Holmstead:

• I did not get transferred so I'll be staying in Borongan for my last area.  I did get a new companion, Elder Lazan.  He is from Davao batch and was MTC companions with Elder Ababa.  He is awesome and we are getting along great!  He speaks really good English so that has been nice.
• Elder Nuan transferred out so Elder Spencer got a new companion too.  He only speaks Tagalog and doesn't speak much English so it's been hard talking with him.
• I am in Tacloban today for MLC.  We had to get up at 2:30am to make the 4 hour drive to Tacloban so I'm pretty tired.  We will be having activities today and then FHE tonight with meetings tomorrow.
• Since both of our companions got transferred, Elder Spencer and I actually have beds now.  And we moved into the good closets too so that has been a good change.
• I noticed a sign as we were driving into Tacloban this morning that says "Tacloban - Home of the Happiest People in the World!".  So there you have it, I'm hanging out with the happiest people in the world.  I love it here!
• Francis and MayAnn came to church and are still on track to be baptized.  Ricky and Gemmalyn did not make it to church and we aren't sure why.  They accepted tithing which is awesome because they struggled with that concept the first time we taught it.  They are working through some other problems so their baptisms might get moved until later in July.
• I have my exit interview with President Argana on Friday so that will be crazy.
• We had a dinner appointment this week with a member that has never fed us before.  They fed us a bunch of fish and it was awesome.  Fish here tastes different but I love it!  People have been asking me what I want to eat first when I get home.  I'm not sure, but a hamburger sounds really good right now!
• We have a new investigator named Marvin Gulapa.  He is married to a less-active member but he's willing to listen so we will see how his lessons go this week.
• I Bible bashed with someone this week.  It was more like he yelled at us and gave us a list of scriptures on baptism.  I was all ready to start bashing with him but then I realized it wasn't going to do either of us any good...so I stopped.  The funny part was that I looked up the scriptures he used when I got home and they didn't even match anything he was saying.  
• There is a pastor in town the always rolls down his windows as he passes us and yells "Don't listen to the Mormons."  We always smile and wave back at him.
• This is going to be a busy week.  We get back from MLC on Wednesday, have interviews with President on Friday, go on exchanges with the AP's on Saturday and have District Conference on Sunday.  An area seventy will be there so that will be awesome.  And our zone is supposed to sing a musical number but I have no clue when we will be able to practice.  I put the STL's in charge of it so hopefully they can come up with something good.
• President Argana asked me to set some goals for when I get home.  Here is what I have so far: Study scriptures for 1 hour everyday (30 minutes in the Book of Mormon), attend the temple weekly, go on one date a week and decide what I want to study after the first year at BYU.

Have a great week.  Love you all!

Elder Holmstead

Elder Holmstead and Elder Lazan