Howdy! Holly's letter from 2/15

Well, it was going to happen sometime. Sister Picard is being transfered :( I am SO sad! It's kind of a bummer to start your mission with such a wonderful companion because it makes it really hard to imagine anyone else even coming close. But--the reality is that I am going to have quite a few more companions over the course of my mission, so I need to chin up and get excited about the things I'll learn from someone new and different. Hopefully I'll still see Sister Picard a couple more times before she heads back to Nauvoo.

12. INCHES. OF. SNOW. Did the whole country get dumped on? I think I jinxed us. Last week I told you that the weather has never kept us from working--WELL.All of Wednesday we were snowed it. We got around 18 inches. Suffice it to say that we studied a lot. We also did weekly planning and cleaned the apartment, which I thoroghly enjoyed. I am always wishing I could clean more.

Zone Conference was Thursday. Exceedingly enlightening, as usual. We've been given a new challenge to take a clean copy of the Book of Mormon and hiighlight every time Christ is mentioned as we read it, whether by name or pronoun. I LOVE this challenge! I am only to 2 Nephi, and let me tell you. I've always believed it or known it intellectually, but never has it struck me so strongly as it does now what a testament the Book of Mormon really is of Jesus Christ. He is on every page. Every story, every chapter surrounds and points to Him. Its whole purpose is to bring its readers closer to Him. I love this book more every day.

I wish there was more I could say. Sister Picard needs to pack--and quickly. We are going to Newark tonight to help with Fearbuster (we pick up the new missionaries and take them street contacting--FUN!!!), and there is a lot to do before we go!

2/8

Yesterday was the Caldwell Stake Conference. All the missionaries were invited to go and sing Go Forth With Faith at the English and Spanish sessions, and since I was the accompanist, Sister Picard and I went to both sessions. Four hours of conference! It was wonderful, though. Elder Spencer Jones of the 2nd Quorum of the Seventy visited and gave a wonderful talk. We aren't part of the Caldwell Stake, so it was still fast Sunday for us--I fasted for Jonathan and Becky. All the speakers at conference had good things to say, but the majority of my notes were thoughts and impressions I received about Jonathan and Becky.

Our last lesson with Jonathan was okay. Becky, who was pretty stand-offish when we first met, actually came and sat down this time and participated in the discussion! I had prayed and studied so hard for that lesson and tried my very best to follow the Spirit in knowing what I should say to them--but they continue to "look beyond the mark" and pick apart things in the Book of Mormon that they think are incorrect. They also seem to quote the writings of Paul and regard his teachings as superior to everything else in the Bible, which is very perplexing to me. Meanwhile I have been studying the New Testament a lot and continue to find that the Book of Mormon and Bible really are perfectly aligned, that they do not teach conflicting doctrines--but I cannot seem to help them see that. It's almost as if they really are blind, as the scriptures say. Sister Picard and I are both frustrated and at a loss, but we also feel that we need to continue teaching them. We decided that we will go one more time, and if there is no change, we will drop them.

So I fasted for them yesterday, and I felt impressed to teach them in a way that we have not taught them before. There were lots of questions that I felt they needed to be asked. I cannot remember everything that came to my mind, but I wrote it all down--so I will be studying my notes and continuing to develop these ideas this week.