12/8/14

Hey everyone!

This week was super awesome because I went and visited all of my old areas!! On monday I went and visited the Ferro Family and it was super great.  it was super great to see them and see some of the families that I taught last year. This week TWO families are getting sealed in the temple, and the President gave me permission to go! So I´m super excited about that!

Sunday I went and visited Santa Fe, my first area, and I visited the Uceda family (that was married and baptized a year ago) and just this last week they went and were sealed in the temple as well. It was so great to see them! They are doing so well and they have changed so much and progressed so much in the gospel. It was wonderful seeing the people that I taught a year ago and how much they´ve grown even closer to the Lord. 

It´s been hard saying goodbye and thinking that I´m down to my last week in the mission field, but I´m trying so hard to stay focussed and use every minute the Lord has given me. The last week in the mission field is just as important as the first or the 30th or the 50th. 

Talk to you all, for the last time in the mission, next monday. 

12/1/14

Hey everyone!

This week has been super awesome! Fiorella, a girl that we´ve been teaching for almost three months, was finally prepared for baptism! On saturday we had her baptism, and she was SO happy! It was great to see the change that always happens when people make that first covenant with God. 

Not much else has happened this week. I´m just trying to stay focussed and not get stressed about the fact that my life will be drastically changing in two weeks. Today, I´ll be going to visit some families in Bello Horizonte, in my old area, for the last time. I´m excited to see them, but I´m not too excited to say good bye. 

It sure is amazing how fast time goes by. I´m really just trying to stay focussed and be better about using every minute that the Lord has given me to preach His gospel.  One thing that I´ve tried to remember during my whole mission, is, just as Christ came to serve, and not be served, I came to serve God´s children. After the mission, even though I won´t be an official representative of Jesus Christ, I made the covenant at baptism that I would serve His children and be a witness of Him at all times and in all things and in all places. I´m excited to see what opportunities the Lord will give me to be able to serve His children. As members of His chuch, that is a great responsibility that we have. I´ve never had a stronger testimony of visiting and home teaching, and having church callings. I hope we can always seek to magnify our callings and look for other ways to always serve the people in our lives. 

Don´t get stressed and remember the true meaning of Christmas! I hope you can all take time to watch this three minute video about the first gift of Christmas!www.christmas.mormon.org 

Love you all!

Hna. Hulse

11/24/14

Hey everyone!

Not much has happened this week. I´m trying to work hard and not think too much about going home. I gotta stay focused! 

This week we had my last multi-zone conference and so I had to share my testimony with the president and all the missionaries. I´m trying to act as if this is like any other transfer and I just gotta keep working hard and focussing on the work of the Lord, but it´s kind of hard when I have experiences like that or my zone asks me how many days I´ve got left and my companion says 22! haha, I think they´re all more Trunky than I am (trunky is a mission term for a missionary that´s thinking about home a lot).

Anyway, This week not much has happened. In the zone conference I learned a lot of stuff that I wish I would have learned at the start of my mission instead of the end of my mission, but I guess that´s how life is, right? It´s better late than never. 

There´s a kid in our ward who was getting ready to leave on his mission in december, but he found out that they accepted his visa to go work in the States, and now, instead of going on a mission, he´s gonna go live in the States. There´s also another kid in our ward who is a pretty good pianist, and isn´t serving a mission because he´s afraid that he´ll loose his talent. 

I just can´t even express to them or anyone how incredibly mistaken they are to think that God would take away blessings for dedicating and sacrificing two years or 1 and a half years of serivce. I am so excited to see the doors that will open and the talents that will increase when I get home. I know that when we make any sacrifice, God gives back 100 fold. We can´t trust in the blessings of the world, that are few and short-term. God´s blessings are eternal, His guidance is perfect and sure. The way that He guides us are through keeping His commandments. If we keep His commandments, we will have the spirit with us and we will be able to make the choices and sacrifices necessary to have greater success and happiness in this life and in the life to come. 

It´s not a commandment for girls to serve a mission, but that in itself is a greater way to receive greater blessings! For young men, it is a commandment to fulfill the covenants and priesthood duties that they have. Whether you struggle with paying your tithing, loving your enemy, or knowing whether or not you should serve a mission, look to God, and seek to keep His commandments, and He will strengthen you and bless you with success in all things. 

I love you all so much and I hope that you have a great Thanksgiving! I just remembered it´s around that time, haha. I´m grateful to be serving a mission. I´m grateful for my wonderful friends and family. I´m grateful for the knowledge that I have of the gospel, and to know that we are all God´s children, eternal, dual beings of a perfect and glorified Heavenly Father. 

Love you all! Work hard and have fun!

Hna. Hulse

11/17/14

Hey everyone,

It´s super crazy to think how fast time is going by. It´s stressful. I have a LOT to do in very little time, and my number one goal is to enjoy every single minute and not let myself get overwhelmed or stressed or disappointed in the slightest. So that´s the goal . . . not being stressed. Fulfilling my calling as sister training leader and working hard to bring souls unto christ. 

This week was crazy and I don´t have much to say other than we made a lot of trips to the mission offices for the sister that was staying with us and a lot of trips and meetings and things like that. 

We are teaching MarcAntonio who studied at the University of Chicago, and his children live there, but he came back to Peru to spend the last few years with his mom, who has cancer. He has two little kids with his new wife, and they are adorable! He first met other missionaries in our zone by walking up to them in the street, and saying to Eld. Bulloch (from the US) ¨Hey, so what´s goin´ on?¨ You don´t meet people every day who speak english (other than, Hey baby! what´s you´re name? I love you!) So yeah, they invited him to church, and he came! He came to church and has been attending every sunday, three hours, ever since. We are super excited and he´s preparing to be baptized on the 29th. 

It´s amazing how the Lord really does prepare people and how He puts them in our paths. Also, Hna. Graciela (who was baptized a few weeks ago) is doing so super awesome. This last sunday, she did a 24 hour fast (because she wasn´t able to do it the week before), and paid her fast offerings and everything all on her own. I seriously can´t describe the happiness that comes from seeing someone that you taught the gospel, keep the commandments of God and become desciples of Christ. 

I´ve dedicated such a short time to the Lord, a year and a half. Some people might think that that´s a long time or that 2 years is forever. But compared to eternity, it´s nothing. The eternal joy that we will recieve from resting with our brothers and sisters in our Father´s kingdom, is worth more than anything else that this world has to offer. I love being a missionary and if I could waste away my whole life in this service, I would do it, because there is a happiness like nothing else, that one receives from sharing the restored gospel to those who are seeking the truth. 

I know that God lives and that Jesus Christ is His son. I know that they are two seperate beings, with physical bodies of flesh and bones, perfected and glorified. I know that the Bible was written by ancient prophets, as was the Book of Mormon. I know that the Book of Mormon is a record of God´s dealings in the ancient americas and that it was revealed and translated by a prophet, Joseph Smith, by the power of God. That book was part of the Restoration of the gospel, to bring back the fulness of the gospel, and things that had been lost during a time of darkness and confusion, called the Great Apostasy. I know that God called Joseph Smith as a prophet to restore His gospel and prepare us for the Second Coming of our Savior Jesus Christ and that He continues to reveal unto His children His will through a living prophet, Thomas S. Monson, and twelve apostles of Jesus Christ. 

If you doubt these things, get on your knees, and ask God, in the name of Jesus Christ, having faith, and He will tell you if these things are true through the Holy Ghost. 

James 1:5

I love you all so much and I hope that you can take the time to share your testimony with someone this week. Whether it be in person or on facebook or however you want to do it. And if you don´t have a testimony of these things, that you can ask the Lord.

Love you!!

Hna. Hulse

D&C 15

11/10/14

Hey everybody!

This week has been super crazy. But I have exciting news!! I´M STAYING IN TUNGASUCA! 5 transfers in Tungasuca! And I´m staying with Hna. Ramirez! So yeah, we´re super happy and we´re working REALLY hard. This past week was insane. We did a LOT of praying, a LOT of fasting, and a LOT of searching. This week was the last week for people to attend church to be eligeable . . . eligible . . . for baptism this month, so we´ve been praying that God would put in our path those who were searching for the truth and ready to make covenants with Him. And we were super blessed! We had two new investigators come that we had invited, and we were super happy and excited. Our goal was to have 4, because the Mission´s standard of excellence is 4 baptisms each month with 2 families, and it´s super exciting when someone acheives it . . . and I´ve never achieved it and everyone´s always like, ¨wow, Hna. Hulse, you´ve never achieved 8-4-2?¨and I´m always like, No, thanks for reminding me. Sooooo . . . I´m kind of running out of time to be able to achieve it . . . so I was at first REALLY sad that the people who committed going to church were dead asleep when we passed by their house, even after calling them at night to remind them and calling them in the morning to wake them up . . . But then I remembered and realized that I´m not here to baptize, I´m here to bring people unto Christ. If these people weren´t prepared and willing to make a covenant with God, there´s nothing I can do about it. I know that I tried my best and that God will be happy with the work that I did this week. I know that the people who came to church this week with us were led their by God and that they will have the desire to make sacred covenants with Him and then KEEP those covenants so that they can have Eternal Life. 

So, Sunday morning, I ended on THAT note . . . and in the middle of our mission correlation meeting, we get a call from the President´s assistants saying that we have to do a week long emergency work visit with one of the sisters. So we had to run back to our apartment and I had to pack my bags and the other sister is staying with my companion until she gets transferred to another mission. She has problems with a stalker, so my companion is playing body gaurd and I´m playing the double . . . don´t worry about me. We´re called as Sister Training Leaders for our awesome karate skills.

So yeah, It´s been kind of loco, but we´re dealing with it and I´m excited to hopefully be back in my own bed with a working shower by next week. woohoo! bienvenido a la misión Peru Lima Norte!

Love you all so much! Hope you have a fantastic week!

Hna. Hulse

11/3/14

Hey everyone!

This week is gonna be lame with the email, but I´m sending pictures! 

I don´t know what order they´re in, but we´ve got Jeny´s baptism, Graciela and Yesenia´s baptism, a park by the Stake Center that is NOT in my area (because my area is full of dirt fields and garbage), and me eating Cuy (Guinee Pig). In this last month I´ve eaten Cuy, cow intestines, cow stomache and chicken blood . . . all with the same sister in our ward. If I have to leave to another this transfer, that´s the only thing I WON´T miss, haha. But hey, I´m alive and well and I´m still LOVING the mission. I can´t believe that I´m going into my last transfer today . . . It´s crazy how fast time is flying by. But I´m going to keep working as hard as I can every day! 

I love you all so much!

Hna. Hulse

10/27/14

Hey everyone!

So, this week has been one of the best weeks in the mission. ¿Por que? Porque Jeny got married and she got baptized and her HUSBAND saw her get baptized and felt the spirit and got all teary-eyed and was happier than I´ve ever seen him and now they´re all a happy family living the law of chastity and receiving blessings!!!!!!!!! yyyaaaaaaaaay!!!!!!! 

Friday was the day of the wedding, and it was stressful, let me tell you. We received a lot of support from the ward members, from finding a dress to organizing the reception. A lady in the ward has a salon, and that morning, we went with Jeny and got her all prettied up and what not  (she said it was the first time in her life that she had worn make-up or been to a salon). Then she had to go get the kids ready, and we went to the government building that I have no idea what it´s called in english (Municipalidad .  . . municipality?) Anyway. . and waited . . .and waited . . . and the marriage lady started saying, we´re only going to wait 10 more minutes. . . .and I was freaking out! But then they came! The whole family all in their suits and dresses, just in time! So we started, and Hna. Osorno  (my old companion) came because her and I were witnesses! 

And oh man . . . it was great. I just felt so happy that they were getting married. This marriage that they had was only for this life. They were married until death shall part them. But they´ve taken the first step. They are now living and keeping one of the most important commandments from God, which is the Law of Chastity. God gave us this law to protect the family, which is central to His plan for the exaltation of His children. We cannot receive exaltation without a family. Husband, wife and children. It was such a wonderful feeling to see them repent, and be legally wedded, so that they may raise their children in a home where mother and father are keeping marital vows and striving to live the commandments of God. 

In the letter that we recieve with our mission call, it says that in our mission we will experience greater joy than we have ever experienced before. I often ask myself if I have felt that joy. That night, in her baptism, as she shared her simple testimony of the restored gospel and that someday her family can be forever and eternal, I felt almost the same joy that I felt the day that I was sealed in a temple of God to my own family. 

I am so happy to be doing the work of the Lord. There is no greater joy in this life than that which comes from doing the Will of the Lord. I know that the family can be eternal. That is what God wants for His children. I know that one day Jeny´s husband will follow the example of his family, and one day (a year after they are baptized) all of them will be sealed as a family in God´s temple, and that they will be married, not just until death parts them, but for time and all eternity. THAT is why I am here. Not to add people to the church, but to help my brothers and sisters return home to their Heavenly Father, by helping them make covenants in God´s temple. 

I love you all so much. Have a fun Halloween!  The other day, there was a group of teachers and school kids marching with a sign and yelling in a megaphone ¨No a Halloween! Sí a Cristo!¨ . . . it was funny (Halloween No, Christ, yes). Anyway, have fun and be safe! Love you all so much!!!

Hna. Hulse

10/20/14

Hey everyone!

So, this week has been super great. It´s amazing how time is flying by! It´s definitely going way too fast for me. But anyway, this week Jeny is finally getting married! Seriously, getting all the paperwork done and paying all the fines for her marriage has been harder than requesting my visa to come to Peru! It´s been a big pain, but it´s finally happening, and she´ll be getting marriedthis friday, and that same day, we´ll have two baptisms, and I´ll be sure to send you all pictures!

This week we´ll be having interviews with the president, so I´m excited about that. Alsoooooo . . . I got an email with the time and date for my last interview with the president, for the end of my mission . . . and it´s crazy. It´s slowly dawning on me that I´m nearing the end. The veil is getting thinner . . . aaaahhhh. Que loco. 

Anyway, I´m just trying really hard to not waste this last bit of time that I have left. I know it´s going to go by way super fast, and I don´t want it to pass by without me noticing. People always compare the mission to the Plan of Salvation. Our time in the mission is like our time on earth, and what happens after the mission will depend on how we prepared ourselves and how we spent our time in the mission field . . . and it´s so true. Our time on earth really is a time to prepare to meet God. How are we using the time we´ve been given? If we haven´t been using it wisely, we´re still alive because God is giving us time to repent and prepare. Don´t lose that time. Don´t waste it. Don´t take for granted your time here on earth. God didn´t just send us here to work and then die. He sent us here to learn, grow our faith and knowledge, make and fulfil covenants and to help others do the same. He sent us here to gain and become a part of an eternal family. If we´re spending the majority of our time focussed on things that have nothing to do with the things of eternity, we´re wasting a precious treasure that God has given us: time. And if you don´t use it, you lose it. 

I love you all so much and I hope that you all remember that God is our Loving Heavenly Father, and knows us perfectly inside and out, and has given us this time on earth because we have been prepared for these times in the pre-existance, where we lived with Him before  we came here. We have been prepared, now it´s up to us if we chose to use the time we´ve been given for the things of eternity or for the things that will eventually die away. 

Stay on the Lord´s side, and if you´re not there, ask Him to help you get there!

Love you all so much!

Hna. Hulse

Pictures: All of the sister missionaries in the zone! Who can spot me? haha

10/13/14

Hey Everyone!

Sooooo, I´m sorry that my last email was probably depressing and lame  . . . but, just so everyone knows, I´m a lot happier now and I know that God does everything He does for our happiness. Also, my family will be happy to know that I will not be going back to school this semester. I´m gonna take a couple of online classes, but I´ll be home all during Christmas and at least until april when spring semester starts.

Before considering extending my mission, I was set on going back to school. I didn´t see or consider any other option. So I really feel like this was God´s way of helping me consider other things and, well, not go back to school this semester. So, I´m a lot happier, because I was happy to extend my mission because at the time, it was the Lord´s will, and now, well, the Lord´s will is for me to go home . . . when it´s your time to go it´s your time to go, and I´m not ¨trunky¨ but I´m glad I´m gonna be home for christmas, haha. 

Sooooo, I´m working harder than I ever have before because I all of a sudden have less time and I´m living like I´m dying! This week we finally got all the papers settled for Jeny´s wedding and we also had two AMAZING people, Graciela and Yesenia get baptized AND General Conference was AWESOME because we got to listen to two spanish speakers and I also understood WAY more . . . I actually understood everything . . . and it´s so weird to think how very different it was. The first time I did not get a single thing out of General Conference, having to watch it in spanish. Now, watching it this last time, I filled up PAGES with notes. 

Something that I really loved from the conference was how almost everyone talked about the importance of receiving and seeking personal revelation, and the importance of prophets and apostles receiving revelation for the world. God really does guide us through prophets. If you doubt it, like I always invite you to do, get on your knees and ask God. I´m so grateful to have the knowledge of the Restored Gospel. I know that Christ has organized his church once again on the earth. I know that He has called 12 apostles and a prophet and that the authority of the Priesthood has been restored. We are preparing for the Second Coming of the Savior, and just like it was repeated many times in conference, one day every knee shall bow and every toungue shall confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord and Savior and Redeemer. I´m so happy to be hear, being a voice of warning to the people and inviting them to come unto Him and partake of the fulness of the Gospel. 

I hope that everyone can remember that difference between ¨Good, better and best¨ and keep the focus of why we really are hear on earth. If you´re not happy, make better decisions to do what´s BEST for your time. Don´t focus on things of little importance. Focus on the things that will effect eternity, and stop giving into the little distractions or the small pitfalls that we sometimes give precedence over the important things. Always ask, Ïs this good, better or best? 

Love you all so much! I hope you have a great week!

Love,

Hna. Hulse

p.s. Just so everyone knows, the stuff I was eating in the video that was posted . . . is cooked chicken blood. Welcome to the mission ;) 

10/4/14

Surprise! I´m writing on saturday!

Monday we have the Soccer World Cup as a mission, so we´re going to be gone to that all day long. I´m excited, it should be fun. 

This week we are still working hard to get the papers to go through so that Jeny can get married, but in the mean time, we´re preparing three baptisms for this weekend! We´ll be doing it between General Conference sessions. Here in Peru, this sunday, we have elections, and it´s mandatory to vote. So they have to cancel church because everyone has to travel to their hometowns to vote, and if they don´t, they have to pay a huge fine. So, we won´t be seeing general conference this weekend, and instead we have to go to my companion´s town so she can vote! It´s going to be insane, and I´m not looking forward to the traffic (anyone from the states who has not traveled to south america cannot possibly imagine, haha). So anyway, I´m glad to be an American, where we have the freedom to vote.

Soooo, I had a lot of things in mind to write about, but I just opened an email from my mission president, and now that letter is ALL I have on my mind. So I guess I´ll tell you guys about it . . . He said that he got a letter from the first presidency telling him that no more thirty day extensions will be allowed. He said that, unless the Prophet announces it today in general conference some kind of change, I won´t be able to extend my mission. He said, if it were up to me, I´d have you extend until I finish my own mission! (another 18 months) . . . I don´t know if I would go for that, haha . . . but I´m a little disappointed. I don´t know why the Lord gave me such a clear answer and prompting to extend my mission, if I wouldn´t be able to do it . . . but I know there is something to learn. Maybe it´s like Abraham and Issac. Maybe I just had to be willing to make the sacrifice, but not actually go through with it. . . although, instead of a feeling of incredible relief and overwhelming joy that I´m sure Abraham felt as he lowered his knife to his side, and hugged his son . . . I´m feeling pretty disappointed . . . but I know that the Lord has a plan for me and now that I have less time than I thought in the mission, I´m definitely going to work even harder. These last few months in the mission, I´m going to work as if every day were my last. I´m determined to learn the lesson that the Lord is teaching me. 

I don´t know what I´ll be doing when I get home. I don´t know if I´m going back to school in the winter. I don´t know any of my plans whatsoever . . . and who knows? Maybe the prophet will announce that sister missionaries can serve longer . . . I just know that I´m serving the Lord´s mission right now, and that´s all that I´m going to think about. I know that the Lord guides and directs us to do what´s best. Whatever my future is, I know that it´s in the Lord´s hands, and He will give us success if we trust in Him and follow His counsels. 

I love you all so much and I´m so grateful for everyone´s support. It was hard for my family to support me extending my mission, but I am so grateful for their willingness to do it. My family had already seen many blessings in their decision to support me. I know that the Lord will continue to bless them. I love you all so much and I hope that we can all frequently turn to the Lord and seek His will, and be willing to follow it, even if things turn out very differently from what we thought they would turn out. He´s in charge. He knows what´s best for His children and everything His does is for our benefit.

Have a wonderful week, and I´ll talk to you all on monday next week.

Love,

Hna. Hulse

9/29/14

Hey everyone!

This last week we had a training from the mission president about happiness. He taught about how our happiness doesn´t depend on anyone or anything or any circumstance that we are in. That through obedience and faith, we can be happy no matter what challenges life throws at us. So, at that very meeting, the financial secretary who´s helping us with our wedding, gave us the bad news that Jeny wouldn´t be getting married that weekend because of some papers that didn´t go through, (getting married here is harder than taking out a loan in the states). So . . . the Lord was definitely preparing us for that. I was sad. I was really sad. I was mad and disappointed. . . . but that only lasted for about 20 seconds, and thanks to my companion´s example, we were able to put a smile on, and trust that the Lord is in charge and that everything will be ok and will work out. 

So these last weeks we´ve been seeing what´s going to happen, and we got a call from the secretary, and he told us that he was able to get the paper work and they even refunded some of the money that we had lost, and now everything is going to be paid for from the Pollada (in the states they do yard sales or kids do lemonade stands  . . . here, they sell chicken), and now her husband, who was always too busy to listen to our lessons, is listening now! We are now helping them prepare to be baptized as a family, not just Jeny! I know that the Lord does everything He does for a reason. It really does make a difference when we CHOOSE to be happy and to always look outside ourselves. When we choose to be happy, we are able to see a clearer picture of eternity and the plan that God has for us and how much He really loves His children.

We had cambios this last week! Everyone thought that I would be getting transfered, but surprisingly, my companion got sent to San Juan de Lurigancho, and I´m training Sis. Ramirez from Lima as a new Sister Training Leader. She is super great and we are excited to work together. 

Well, I hope you all have a great week. Thank you all for your support and love. I really am so happy to be serving a mission. One thing I was thinking about this morning was just how fortunate I´ve been to be able to learn spanish, and through learning another language, I´ve been able to meet and get to know incredible  people and come to make friends that I will treasure for eternity, and I wouldn´t have been able to have that without serving a mission and learning spanish. I´m so greatful to be here serving my brothers and sisters in South America. I love God´s children, and I hope we can all work together to return home with our brothers and sisters to God´s presence. I challenge you all to ask God for opportunities to serve someone, and then be willing to act on the opportunities that He gives you and presents. I know that we can be happy through serving and loving ALL of God´s children. 

I love you all so much! I hope you have a great week!

Love,

Hna. Hulse

9/15/14

Hey everyone!

Sooooo, these last two weeks have been very interesting. I´ve spent a long time praying about what I should study when I get back for winter semester at BYUI because I have to sign up for classes pretty soon . . . and well, after much fasting and prayer and scripture study, I received the firm conclusion that I need to extend my mission! I´m only extending it for 30 days, but for some reason, the Lord needs me to work a little longer in His vinyard. I´m super happy and super excited, and even though this means missing out on a LOT of things, my family is already seeing the blessings that will come from making this decision. If there´s one thing I´ve learned on my mission, it´s that we can´t do anything without God. If we don´t consult Him and seek His will for us in all things, we´re never gonna have success. Trusting in our own judgment and power will only give us what the world can give us. Trusting in God´s plan for us and having faith in that He sees much further down the road than we can see, will give us divine power and success. 

So, this week our investigator Jeny will be getting married in the mass wedding we´re having! Almost 30 couples from our mission will be getting married, and then Jeny will be getting baptized saturday. We´re so excited! It´s such an incredible family and we´re gonna be helping all week long with our ward mission leader´s wife to throw together a small reception and buying a skirt for jenny and doing her hair and makeup! . . . it´s really stressful putting a wedding together in a week, but we didn´t know if her papers were gonna come through or not . . . so yeah! We´ve got that going on this week. 

I hope that you all have a very wonderful week. I can´t tell you how happy I am to be on a mission, doing the work of the Lord. I hope everyone can seek the Lord´s guidance in all things and trust in His plan for us! We have a Heavenly Father who always knows best, we just have to trust in Him and follow Him. 

I love you all! Have a great week! See you January 18th 2015! . . . whoa . . . 2015 . . . Love you!!!

Hna. Hulse

9/8/14

Hello everyone!!!

I am so sorry that this is going to be the shortest email ever from me. I have absolutely no time to write, but I promise that next week you´ll get a cartasa!! (a super big email!) 

What I´ve been focussing on in all of my teaching opportunities is testifying of the following; I know that Christ lives, and that He has a body of flesh and bone, perfected and glorified, and the Heavenly Father has a body of flesh and bone as well. That They (with the Holy Ghost) are three seperate and distinct Beings, but with the same will and purpose: To bring to pass the eternal life and mortality of man. God loves us and we are His children. He knows us individually and He knows us by name. I´m so grateful to know that I am a daughter of God, that I have a divine purpose, and that I can become more than what I am now in this life. Every single one of are special beloved children of God!

I love you all so much and I hope you have a great week! 

Hna. Hulse

9/1/14

Hey everyone!

I´m sorry this week´s email is going to be super short, but I hope the pictures can make up for it! This week we worked SUPER hard and got a LOT of work done. I hit a personal record by teaching more lessons and doing more contacts than ever before and I´m super excited and happy about the work we´re doing. My companion is awesome and we´re finding really great families. We found a family that is so super ready to hear the gospel. The dad was a member when he was younger, but went inactive when he turned 17 and has been inactive for over 20 years! His wife didn´t even know that he was a member! His family is super excited to learn about the gospel and they came to church this sunday, and it´s an incredible blessing we´ve received to meet this family and to be able to teach them. At the end of our first lesson with them, we all knelt down and that dad, Daniel, gave the closing prayer. We asked before hand if he wanted us to teach him how and he said, I´ve never forgotten how to pray, and he gave such a beautifully heartfelt prayer. It was the best thing to hear him pray for his family, for us, thanking the Lord that we were sent to teach his family, and many more. The spirit was SO strong. At the end of the prayer, no one said anything for a solid 10 seconds, not wanting to interrupt the good feelings. But I asked his wife, Graciela, how she felt, and with tears in her eyes, she said that she wished she had learned about all this many years ago. I´m so excited for this family and it definitely was one of the precious moments in my mission where I think, THIS is why I´m here. This one moment is worth EVERYTHING I´ve sacrificed and that my family has sacrificed for me to be here. What´s great about it, is that the Lord blesses us with MANY moments like that, but every single one is so special and priceless . . . I´m just so happy to be serving a mission and doing the Lord´s work! 

I hope you all have a super awesome week and I hope to hear from you! Love you all!

Hna. Hulse

PHOTOS!

The first two is at a cathedral and we went to the catacombs underneath and it was awesome!!  We couldn´t take pictures inside :(

The next one is at the Plaza de Armas (Like a government square)

The next one is at the point of a giant hill overlooking all of Lima. We could see the entire mission and the ocean and everything! 

The last one is of me and my companion, Hna. Osorno!

8/25/14

Hey family and friends!

This week has been super super crazy . . . I feel like I always start my emails like that, but I feel like every week in the mission is crazy and awesome, lol. 

On saturday, Angy, who´s 15, the only member of her family that wasn´t a member of the church, got baptized on saturday! It´s so awesome, because when I got here about 3 months ago, when we´d do Family Home Evenings in her house, she would go in her room and wouldn´t even want to talk to us or anything . . . I don´t know what changed, but God was definitely working on her. She went from being really closed off person, that wouldn´t even smile and greet people, to being lively and happy and the youth of the ward just flocking to her. She´s so super happy and her baptism was beautiful, because of her glowing testimony. She said that she can´t wait to go on a mission and that the gospel hasn´t just changed her life but it´s changed HER. 

I think that´s really what the gospel of Jesus Christ is all about: Change. That´s the whole purpose of our time here on earth. We are a part of an eternal progression, and progression can´t come without change. Sometimes change is really hard. Change of cities, homes, friends, school, habbits, personality traits . . . it´s all needed for our benefit and growth. There is something that is often overlooked in the parable of the rich man, that I absolutely love. When the young rich man approaches Christ, he asks what he must do to inherit eternal life, and Christ tells him to keep the commandments. He then replies that he has kept the commandments since his youth, and then asks Christ, ¨What lack I yet?¨ 

How often are we willing to sincerely ask the Lord what we lack, and what we need to perfect and change in ourselves to become better than we are? I encourage all of you to go to the Lord in sincere prayer and ask Him, ¨Lord, what lack I yet.¨ Because, like He told us in Ether 12:27 of the Book of Mormon, if we come unto Him, He will show unto us our weaknesses, and if we are humble and have faith, He will help us that they may become strengths. It´s not easy to change, but I know if we have a humble and willing heart, the Lord will help us progress and become a better person than we were before. 

I know that this gospel is true and that God has an eternal plan for the salvation and exaltation of His children. I love you all so much and I hope you have a great week! 

Love,

Hna. Hulse 

8/18/14

Hola todos!

We had transfers and they were crazy!!!! Not as crazy as they have been in the past, but I´m finally with a real missionary!! Hna. Osorno, from Mexico (no sé porque la mayoria de mis compañeras han sido de México, pero es lo maximo). She´s so super awesome!!! Also . . . we´re the Sister Training Leaders for this part of the mission (three zones) and so I´ll be working a little less in my area and focusing more on helping the other sister missionaries, but I´m excited for the chance the Lord has given me to learn from the other sisters and help each other be better missionaries and gospel teachers. One thing really interesting about our mission is that we all live SO super close, that we have to do suprise work visits. Seriously, walking down the main road that passes through our area, 30 minutes walking and I can pass through three zones . . . I think only returned missionaries might have an idea of how small that is, but everyone else, just trust me that our mission is really small, because there are SO many people, but yeah. Anyway, I´m excited for the chance to get to know all the sisters and work with them and learn from them and hopefully help them be better. 

The mission finally has permission to go visit the Center of Lima, the historical touristy part of Lima, so I´ll finally get to see a lot of awesome stuff that Lima has to offer other than dirt and houses, haha. So that´s what we´re doing today as a zone and we don´t have much time to email, so sorry this one is super short. 

I´ll send pictures next week of my visit to Lima! I love you all and remember who you are: children of a Heavenly Father! I love you all!

Hna. Hulse

8/11/14

Hey Everyone!

This week has been super great. I´m mostly excited because . . . this week is transfers already (I can´t believe how fast time is going by) and I´m finally going to have a real companion! Hna. Sedano has been super awesome, and she´s learned a lot and is going to be an amazing missionary! But I´m excited to have a real missionary as a companion again. It´s kind of hard to explain why, but just trust me that it´s different, haha. Soooooo, she´s going home tomorrow, and I´ll be getting a new companion. 

So, I´m gonna tell you a little more about Belen and Ashley, because I´m just so grateful for the chance God has given me to know them and be a part of their life, because they teach me something new every week. Even though they´ve been receiving a ton of blessings, they´ve been having trials as well. That´s how life goes, right? So this last week, Belen, still jobeless, received a pension from her husband for the week to buy food . . . about 20 dollars. They were walking down the road (because they can´t afford the 20 cent bus ride to the market) and they found a woman who was walking with her son. Her son had rags tied around his feet, and the woman was incredibly skinny and malnourished looking . . . well, long story short, Belen and Ashley ended up giving their week´s pension of 20 dollars, to this woman and her son. When they got home, empty handed, minutes after sitting in the kitchen, wondering what they were going to do, a knock at the door came, and our ward mission leader´s wife had a box of food. She said that the bishop had called and they felt they needed to put this box of food together for her. God has stayed true to His promise, that she never would have want of food if she followed Him. It´s so true that everything we have literally comes from God, and if we want to prosper, we have to put Him first. When we put the world first, we receive only what the world can offer, and those things will fade with time, sickness, theives, and disasters. God is the only sure thing that we have in this world. I´m so grateful for the opportunity I have to share the happiness of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, and let everyone know about a better life and a better world that awaits them. I know that this gospel is true, and the only way to be happy is to LIVE it. 

I love you all so much and I hope that you have a great week! Remember that we work to live, not live to work. Take care of yourselves spiritually so that you can be ok physically and be able to take care of those around you.  Love you!!!

Hna. Hulse

I don´t know what order the pictures are in, but one is of Belen and Ashley at their baptism, the other is Jenny and her kids (I LOVE this family, and Jenny and her husband are getting ready to get baptized, but we´re waiting for some documents to get here so they can get married first), the other is of me and my companion having Lunche . . . they don´t really eat dinner here. It´s usually something like bread and hot chocolate, or something super simple like that. The other picture is . . . soup in a bag (Kristin and Selina, you should know how to say that . . . haha sorry everyone, inside joke). But yeah . . . they always sell liquids in thin bags and it freaks me out. Sometime I´ll send a picture of someone drinking lemonade from a plastic bag out of a straw. It´s a thing, here. 

8/4/14

Hey everyone!

So, this week has been super awesome, as usual. An update on Belen and Ashley, this week Peru has been celebrating its birthday, so everyone´s out of school and people are having parties and celebrating. Welllll . . . Belen´s family came this week and apologized and made ammends, so we barely saw them, but they were happy and with their family! And I know with all of my heart, it was because they followed Christ, and kept His comandments, and made covenants with God. I know that God always come through with His end of the bargain if we keep OUR end of the bargain. It´s really hard to take leaps of faith, because sometimes, those leaps are over pits of fire and brimstone, but if we don´t make the leaps, eventually, we´ll end up walking right into it and falling in. God will always be there to catch us, lift us up and bring us higher than we were before, if we´re willing to trust in Him, make the sacrifices necessary, and BE desciples of Christ. 

This last week we were teaching a lesson with a less active member who´s gone though some pretty hard trials with rejection from her family and living more in the world than remembering her covenants she made at baptism. So, we´ve been teaching her agian, and her non member sister, Angie, who´s 15. We invited Angie to pray to receive an answer if this is the true church, and if God told her it´s true, to be baptized this month.  This girl, Aracely, felt that she needed to warn her sister about being baptized . . . about really thinking it through, and being sure that she´s up to making that commitment and to think about the consequences of being baptized. . . . in moments like this, God really tests my patience, haha. But I testified to Angie and Aracely, and I testify to all of you, that we should think about the consequences of NOT being baptized and NOT keeping our covenants. If God witnesses to us once that this is the true church, what more do we need to know? God knows everything, and so we should trust in what He tells us. We cannot enter into the Kingdom of God without keeping our covenants at baptism, and part of that covenant is enduring to the end. Baptism (and entering the temple) is not a one time show. It is not the end! It is the beginning of a long hard road full of obstacles, temptations, heartache and tests of endurance, faith, and deligence. But it is the only road that leads the Eternal Life. It is the only road that leads to the Celestial Kingdom, where families are eternal and where we will dwell as exalted celestial children of God. If you doubt it, LIVE it, and you will see. 

I love being a missionary. I love serving God and I love bringing happiness and truth to His children here in South America. It´s not easy, but it´s definitely worth every thing that I´ve given to be here. I love you all so much, and I hope that if you´ve fallen behind a little on keeping your covenants, that you can change today, and start to put your trust in God, instead of the world. Get on your knees, and talk with your Heavenly Father, who is all knowing and all powerful, and most of all, your Father. 

I love you all so much! Thank you for all your prayers and support. I hope you have a great week!

Hna. Hulse

P.S.

I´d love to hear from everyone! 

cassandra.hulse@myldsmail.net

7/28/14

Hey everyone!

This week has been incredibly amazing. And it all starts with Belen and her nine year old daughter Ashley. We´ve been working with them since I first arrived in Tungasuca (about two months now). They have been going through some really hard trials. Belen´s husband cheated on her and left her, and as it would to anyone, it turned her world upside down. In Peru, it´s even worse, because there´s no such thing as government help or child support. So she was left without family and income and well, of course it´s been really hard. Well, she´s been preparing to be baptized with her daughter Ashley for about a month now, but before being baptized you have to go to church at least three sundays (amongst other things) and for some reason (Satan, lol) every single sunday SOMETHING happened and she wouldn´t come and we had to keep postponing her baptism. Well, finally, two sundays ago, she came to church, even after going to the hospital at 4 in the morning because her daughter had an asthma attack. They went straight from the hospital to the church and finally were going to be baptized this saturday!!! We were SOOO excited! Well . ..  the next day, she told us that she wouldn´t be able to because all of the money she had for that week she had to spend at the hospital, and if she didn´t go find work this weekend, she wouldn´t be able to feed her daughter the next week . . . I´ll tell you what . . . I´ve never been in more conflicting situations in my whole life than on the mission. In the teaching appointment, I had no idea what to do or what to say, and my Book of Mormon fell open to this scripture: 

31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

 32 For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, 

and all these things shall be added unto you.

 I literally had to ask this woman to trust in God, and instead of going to work, to be baptized. I honestly don´t know what I would have done if I was in Belen´s situation, but I know that I wasn´t teaching alone that night. The Holy Ghost bore witness of my words, and as a representative of Jesus Christ, I promised her that if she was baptized this saturday, she would never go a day without food on the table. . . this saturday, she was baptized, with her daughter, and every single day they have received miracles, and God has fulfilled His promise to her. She was brave, put her trust in God, and not only sacrificed the things of the world for Him, but sacrificed her own physical needs, relying completely on God to feed them. 

Living the gospel of Jesus Christ is completely priceless. Sometimes it´s really hard to ask people to make sacrifices that I don´t know if I would have been able to make before serving the mission, but I´m so grateful for the opportunities that God gives me to learn from these people and their example to me and their courage. It´s such an amazing experience serving the Pioneers of South America. I´m just so grateful for this gospel, and to be here and serve my brothers and sisters. There really is nothing else like it.

I love you all so much and I know that God loves you and knows each and everyone of you. It doesn´t matter what race or religion you are, you are a child of God, and He has a plan for you. I hope, if you´re wondering if living the gospel really is worth some of the sacrifices . . . make the sacrifices, pray with FAITH, and LOOK for the blessings, because I know they´re there, and I testify with all of my heart that it is all worth it. 

Thank you for all your love and support!! I can´t wait to hear from you next week!  In case you need my address, here it is :)

cassandra.hulse@myldsmail.net

Love,

Hna. Hulse