First email from MTC 11-25-2010

I had to send a (letter last week) because we dont get p day for the first week. ya i am rooming with him (chase richins) its not bad at all. we all have fun. I am in zone 35. we have an awesom zone. and our district is way cool too. we are pretty much a family already. There are 4 of us going to the DR. Elder Moore and I are going to the East. and Elder Richins and Elder Wright are going to Santiago. we all got our travel plans which was great news but it doesnt mean that we have our visa's. we are supposed to leave the 9th and fly to Dallas then to Santo damingo. Thats great sarah had 20 points in her game. tell her great job and that i love her. Has joey started playing basketball yet? games at least? and how is Bekah's job working out? you will have to keep me posted. but dont send me emails if you want to talk just go through dear elder. thanks for getting the shorts for me. could you send me a zip up black sweat shirt big enough to go over my suit jacket? it is freezing here. I am learning spanish and i cant believe how much i know already. the gift of tounges is real and i am receiving that blessing as i work hard. we just got back from eating thanksgiving dinner already. it was really good. but before that we were at a fireside where Elder Holland was speaking. Wow what an amazing guy he is. he speaks from the heart and loves our savior so much. the spirit was so strong. he talked about what we should be thankfull for and his last point was about the atonement. He has a great testimony of the atonement. he shared that we are out doing the lords work so that our savior will not be alone while walking through the grape vineyard. meaning that we are out here bringing people to our lord and showing them how to use the atonement so that the Jesus Christ didnt suffer in vain. elder Holland was so powerfull in his testimony. you could literaly feel the spirit lighten up after he exited the room. He brought his whole family and said that they were our family for the thanksgiving holiday. his grandchildren sang a song. they were all so cute. He also talked about the reason we should never let one day pass by without working our hardest. and the reason is so that we will not let down our families or his grandchildren who look up to us so much. I tried out choir this week so that i could get really good seats for the devotionals every tuesday. It is fun. the conductor gave us the challenge to pray one time within the next two days and give nothing but thanks in that prayer. I challenge all you to do the same. i am writing a letter also so i can put more detail. i dont have much time with the computer. only 30 minutes so just send emails through dear elder unless it is on thursday. Did you guys drive through that big storm? It just missed the MTC but there was talk that it was supposed to be one of the biggest in a long time. there isn't much time to think in the MTC. we are never doing nothing. There is a spiritual high everywhere you are at. it is so amazing. we teach lessons and Elder Moore and I are becoming pretty good at teaching. with help from the spirit of course. if not all from the spirit. well if you get this soon you can respond and i will try to save some time and get on a bit later. Love you all so very much. tell everyone at Annies hi for me. and that i love them. remember what thanksgiving is all about and give thanks to god. dont worry about me at all because there is no other place i would want to be then here serving the Lord. I get to bring people unto god. How great is that.

Love you all so much!

Love Elder Jacob Holmes