Hey Fam!

I SAW A NAKED MAN!!!!!
It was dark out so I didn't really notice at first but this dude was
just running down the street with his clothes in his arms and he saw
us and was like "im so sorry!" And I was thinking, "why?" And then he
got closer and ran past us and I was like "AH OH MY GOSH. THATS WHY."
So a car pulled into the drive way right as that dude ran out the back
door naked, with clothes in hand...so we have a pretty good idea of
what was goin on in that house. Salt Lake City is literally, the
weirdest mission ever. It's not like any of the other Utah missions at
all. Like this wasn't even the craziest thing that has happened.




Read D&C Section 6! It's super amazing. I'm probs doing
this whole ponderizing thing wrong, but I pick a chapter to ponderize.
And I've been ponderizing Alma 29. Amazing chapter. Oh and last Monday
we went to DI and I bought this copy of the Book of Mormon from the
70's and its big and fancy and super awesome hahaha. So now I'm
reading from the very beginning again and I like it cuz all the pages
are so clean and I can start fresh. My quad set scriptures have soooo
many markings on each page. So I'm going to start all over reading
this one and highlight awesome verses and write my thoughts on the
sides of the pages and then I can give it to my future children lol.

The work is progressing so much. We have a baptism on Saturday and
have 7 progressing investigators! And I still think we can be doing
better but my companion and I don't quite think a like haha. But I'll
just keep doing what I can do and work my hardest. The boy that is
being baptized on Saturday is 9 years old and he is so cute haha. Like
in his prayers he prays that all the other people who aren't baptized
will be baptized and he prayed that he hopes the prophet can come to
his baptism....yeah it was sad to explain that he couldn't haha. But
we told him about how the prophet will be at the Christmas devotional
and he got so excited. He said that he better be at the top of our
list who gets tickets haha. We just met him last week and he just
wants to get baptized so bad. He is a super smart kid! When we asked
if he had any other questions, he said "uhhhh everything else you
haven't taught me?!" Hahaha. He's awesome and has such a strong desire
to learn.

Sorry I don't have a whole lot to write for this week but there's much more awesomeness to come!! Love you all! Write me! I look so unpopular at district meeting when everyone else gets their mail :P

My address!

Sister Sydney LaRee Holcomb

1535 S Edison St. 

Salt Lake City, Utah 84115

                                                          Reaction from my cute companion when she saw the snow.

Another Baptism!

Quote of the day:

"Have a good night Tony!"

"How am I supposed to have a good night when I have to sleep in a trash can!?"

He had to move out and didn't have a place to sleep last night so he

said he had to sleep in a dumpster. Lol I know I shouldn't be

laughing, cuz I think he was being for reals but it was just so funny!

Tuesday was the most bizarre day ever. We were contacting all our

referrals and met this guy who "had no idea how we got his info" but

that he's been "waiting for missionaries because he wanted to teach

US". Yeah, shoulda left then. He probably referred himself just so he

could talk to us haha. But he caught us and talked to us for sooooo

long. Like 2 hours. Apparently he has a doctorate in bible study or

something. And he just kept saying we didn't know the bible well

enough and he just kept reading us verses that I had already known,

but obviously we just interpret differently. I kept trying to get out

of it but he was like "this is what you're supposed to do right? Talk

to people?" And we were like "uhhhh" so we kept talking to him and he

wasn't argumentative or anything but he just kept quoting the bible

and telling us that things we believed didn't make sense according to

the bible. He ended with telling us that he was telling us all this

because he cared deeply for us and our salvation and that if we were

wrong and if we are teaching people false doctrine, then we can be

sending people to hell lol. Wahoo!! First person to tell me I was

going to hell! Haha we invited him to read The Book of Mormon and he

said no, that he believed he had all that he needed in The Bible, and

we said, "Well how do you know if you never read?" And then he invited

us to read The Bible to know if it is true and we said "Sure but we

already believe it!" Lol. And later in the evening, we came across

this Native American guy, and he said that he really admired the work

that us missionaries did and that it's good but that he has his own

faith...he said this all before we had even said hello haha. But he

sang an Indian prayer for us and it was actually very cool.

The most amazing thing happened!!

We've been teaching this guy named Tony and he's .... An interesting

fella haha. He has a batman tattoo on his face and he's like 40

something. He said that he was shot in the head, so he has a really

hard time remembering things but he is so funny. He was praying once

with us and this guy walks up and tries talking to him in the middle

of the prayer and he was like "Dude! I'm trying to pray with my

women!" He always calls us his chicks. But anyways, he's been being

taught for a reallyyyyy long time. Like over a year. But all the other

sisters wanted to drop him. They just didn't want to put in the

effort, because he talks off subject a lot and can't remember things

well. But we have been working so hard with him. And so we invited our

district leader to sort of practice interview him because we just

couldn't tell where he was at spirituality and like where the line

would be if they weren't like 100% mentally there. So we were present

for the interview and oh my goodness. It was the most amazing thing

ever. The spirit was so strong and Tony answered every answer

perfectly. He was remembering everything and he started crying and

bearing his testimony. So we didn't have him on date, and at the end

of the interview our district leader said "I know you don't have a

date picked out yet, but you know what, I just have a feeling you need

to be baptized on Saturday!" (This interview happened on Thursday

night!!!) so we threw together a baptism in 1 day and it happened!

Haha he almost slept through it though. We had to go wake him up.

We have a 9 year old named Dylan on date for November 14 and we have 6

other investigators. The work is going so well here. It's a miracle.

Just gonna continue to do my best!

Love ya all! Write me!

 

P-day attire!

Too many awesome things to count

I'm writing this email using Siri so if any punctuation is bad don't

blame me. LOL I'm just way too lazy to type.

OMG MY SISTER IS MARRIED! Like whaaaaaa?!?! And my brothers had

homecoming 😢 they're growing up too fast man!! And congrats to my not

so baby bro Noah who is going to districts in cross country!! I miss

and love you all so much! 💕

Wow, what a week! Update on the bedbugs. I have over 30 bites but at

least I'm still alive. The mission is sending someone to clean the

carpet and the mattress next week. Pray that I don't get eaten alive!

But last Monday was fantastic! Every Monday we get to go to sister and

brother Perkins house to eat pizza and play pool. I lose every time.

But by the time I come home from my mission I'll be a pro pool player.

This Monday was a little different though. Sister Perkins heard that

my birthday was last month and insisted on having a mini birthday

party for me since I most likely wouldn't be in this area next year.

They bought me a cake and a birthday card and even sang happy

birthday. They are so sweet! We taught Ali after dinner and the lesson

went great. His friend Shafiq occasionally listens to the lessons & we

have a good feeling about him and hope that he will take them himself.

On Tuesday we ate dinner at a recent converts house. He made real

authentic Mexican food. They were so good! We brought Sister Farias

with us so that we eat in his home and well, he may have formed a

crush on her. He asked us if she was single! But she is sooo....are we

missionaries or match makers? :P after that we got to go to the church

building and watch a face to face thing with the Piano Guys. They are

so awesome and really made me want to play the piano again. I've been

practicing a little and I can play most of the hymns pretty well.

Maybe they'll ask me to play some time during my mission. I'm working

on an arrangement of nearer my God to be, our saviors love, and where

can I turn for peace. But it will take a while for me to figure it out

since I don't have a lot of free time or a piano LOL.

On Wednesday we taught Tony. He is progressing so much and truly has a

desire to be baptized. He has a hard time remembering things, but we

help him remember as much as we can and make sure that he knows that

we're always there for him. He can't read or understand the Scriptures

very well but he is really making an effort to do it anyways. He has a

really good heart and we hope that he can get to the point he needs to

be at to be baptized. We also taught Ali again. Sister Sharanion came

to the lesson and it was great to have another member present and for

her to share her testimony as well. Again, Shafiq was at the lesson

and when we were done teaching Ali, we were chatting with Shafiq a

little bit and I felt really inspired to give him a Book of Mormon and

to bear my testimony of it and invite him to pray and read about it as

well. He said he would, but he reads Persian so we are getting him a

Persian Book of Mormon tomorrow, and are taking him to see The

Testament tomorrow at temple square.

We taught him on Friday as well and invited him to be baptized and he

said yes! He used to be Muslim but has a very strong faith in God. He

understands everything we teach him so well and he wants to change his

life so badly. Shafiq has to quit smoking but we helped Ali quit so we

have faith in Shafiq as well. We are praying for what day we should

commit him to. Our dinner fell though on Friday and this random girl

driving by stopped us and gave us a $50 Olive Garden gift card!! God

is real hahaha. We didn't go that night but we are going today. We are

going to go into the city and enjoy temple square. I love being so

close to the temple. It's only a mile and a half from our apartment.

Well there's probably some stuff I left out but this should do haha.

Over all I'm doing a lot better and each day improves. Still just

trying my best to be a good missionary and to stay positive. I love

and miss you all so much!

Write me!! Can't wait to hear from y'all.

Oh my goodness I forgot the most important thing!! Ali was baptized!!

We are so proud of him. He's so awesome. We had to go to one Ward to

see his confirmation then had to book it to another right after he was

done to give talks. Covering 5 wards is so hard!!! Especially when 3

all start at 9! Sister Sauers forgot her name tag lol

Sister Boswell and I! We were roomies in the MTC. We got to see each

other at the trainer trainee  follow up meeting.

Sister Allen and I! I finally got to meet her!! She lives like an hour

away from me in WA and we met on Facebook when we saw we were called

to the same place, but we never got to meet up before she left! So

happy I got to see her.

Sabella and I! So glad I brought her on my mission <3 really. A little

piece of home :)