Do Not Send Letters to the MTC Address, Please

Many people have been sending Cassandra letters to the MTC address that is on the blog. She is not in the MTC any longer and so that is not the correct address and she will not receive your letters if you send them there. The past correct address is in a past post on this blog. I cannot change the address on the blog because my access to it only allows me to post on the blog for Cassandra, she did not leave me with her log in information so that I could change it and she does not remember it any longer. So it cannot be changed, just ignore it and pretend it isn't there. Her address has probably changed since she was transferred to another area, hopefully she will tell me what it is next week, however for now if I were you I would just not send her anything until the new address is posted, then send it there. I will also try to remind the people who read this blog, not to send letters to her MTC address, she appreciates your support and loves receiving your letters.

Thank You,
Jessika Hulse

Transfers! Oh boy :) 1/20/14

Hey e`rybody

So, after spending the whole first one third of my mission in Santa Fe, I finally got transfered. I was a little sad at first, but I definitely felt like I needed a change. So yeah, I got a new companion, and her name is Hna. Valdivia and she`s from Mexico and she loves Harry Potter and Les Miserables and we`re already best friends. It`s pretty awesome. She`s super cool. Anyway, we`re in Collique and our area is Bello Horizonte (Beautiful Horizon) and we`re opening up a brand new area! We have no area book, no investigators, no recent converts to teach, no less active members . . . not yet anyway. Oh, also, we`re the only sisters in our zone. The rest are all Elders . . . so, that`s kind of interesting. We`re gonna play a lot of soccer on P'Days, but it`s all good. 

It`s so super cool, though. We are in a completely different world, in this part of the mission. The majority of the homes are pretty nice, even for american standard. We`re mostly suburbs, which I didn`t know existed here, haha. So the people are really different . . . it`s a little bit of what I imagine is like serving in the states. The people are not super excited to listen to us, but we`ve been able to find people to teach and it has been amazing. 

Our first day in the area, right after the Elders left who had set up our room, we said a prayer and set out to find someone to teach or find a memebr, and after ten minutes of walking, we found a member! It was awesome. From there, we met about 10 young women who either have mission calls, are waiting for their mission calls, or are filling out their papers to leave on a mission. They have been so excited to have sister missionaries in the ward. Girls can`t go on splits and teach with the elders, so now that we`re here, they can go with us, and everyone is just so super excited that we`re there. It`s the first time this ward has ever had sister missionaries, and EVERYONE is just so super excited. We are being taken care of beyond what I could imagine, and I am going to gain so much weight here . . . haha. 

Saturday, I had one of the best experiences of the mission. The entire ward counsel (the leaders of the ward) and us, went to visit less active members, members in need and even the Elder`s investigators (our ward is divided into two areas, and the elders are working in the other). It was incredible. At first I thought it was way too many people. I couldn`t imagine 15 or so church people showing up on my doorstep, but the people were so excited to see us, and that all of these people took the time to come and visit them. It was incredible. We visited people from 3:30pm until 8 o`clock that night. It was amazing to see the sacrifice and the unity of these ward members. I seriously believe I am in the best ward in the entire mission, if not the world, haha. The bishop is amazing and we are just so excited to be here. ALSO! One of the girls just got her mission call this week and she is going to Portland, Oregon for her mission! It`s so awesome! We were both SO excited to meet each other. This place is incredible, and I know I`ve been led here by the hand of God. I love the mission!!

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

Hna. Hulse

Todo esta bien.‏ 1/13/14

Hey everyone!

So, first off, my companion is totally better and we´ve been working hard and teaching lessons and everything has been good. So far, no sign of chicken pox . . . hopefully it stays that way, haha. Thanks for your prayers! 

Something awesome that we´ve been able to do is find about 12 new investigators (people to teach) every single week this transfer (6 weeks). We haven´t had anyone preparing for baptim for a while, but we have plenty of people to teach, so that´s been really awesome. The Lord always has work for us to do.

We have transfers today, so everyone´s freaking out. I LOVE my zone, and I don´t want a single person to change, but there are 6 of us who have been in this zone for about 5 months, and that´s a pretty long time to stay in one area, so we´re expecting the changes. There are definitely going to be some tears, but that´s the mission. I don´t think I´m going to leave, because I´m in the middle of training my companion, but you never know. It´s been known to happen, it happened to my trainer, so there´s always the possibility that I could be taken out of my area. But to be honest, I´m ready for a change. I´ve been in the same area for my whole mission so far. We´ll see what happens! 

Also . . . my best friend, Kristin Mitchell comes home from her Mission in California TOMORROW! Today is her last day of being in the mission field, but that doesn´t mean that she´ll stop being a missionary :) I know she´s gonna be an awesome member missionary and I´m so grateful for her example to me and the work that she´s done. Time goes by so quickly! It´s crazy. 

Anyway, I love you all so much and thank you for your prayers in my behalf. I appreciate all that you do for me. Stay strong and cary on! 

Hna. Hulse

Hooooolaaaaaaa.‏ 1/6/14

Hey everyone!

So . . . this week has definitely been interesting. Our mission president gave us a new  . . . rule thing, lol. We have to have at least 32 lessons every week. So far, we`ve been having about 25 lessons every week. So we`ve been trying really hard to reach that standard, and it was going awesome. We had 7 lessons in one day this week, which is the most lessons we`ve had in one day in my whole mission so far. So, it was going super awesome . . .and then my companion got the chicken pocks. So, I`m back to finding members to go teach with me and finding a place for my poor companion to go rest while I teach. Story of my mission, so far.  And oh my goodness, my whole life I`ve had the fear of getting the chicken pox . . chicken pocks? I don`t even know, anyway, getting that sickness as an adult, because I had heard how horrible it is, and let me tell you, it is every bit of my worst nightmare and more, and I don`t even know how my companion is handling this. She`s so super strong. I`ve only seen her cry once, and it was because she couldn`t eat the meal that the members had brought over for us because she has the sores in her mouth and her throat, and it hurts to eat food. She has them EVERYWHERE, and when I say everywhere, I mean everywhere, yes, even on her eyeballs. It`s awful. 

But, through all of this, she is staying strong and I`m trying really hard to have patience and take care of her and keep her spirits up. At least, with this sickness, we can see an end, and she should be better next week. Please please please keep me in your prayers this week especially my companion and that I won`t get the chicken pocks. 

Remember to always always count your blessings. In every trial we have, there is ALWAYS a lesson to be learned. I love you all so much and I know that our Heavenly Father is watching out for every single one of His children.

love you all so much!

Hna. Hulse

Happy New Year!!!! ‏ 12/30/13

Hey Everyone!

Sooooo much happened this week, with Christmas and everything . ..  it´s definitely been a weird, different week in the mission. Tuesday, we had our mission christmas party and it was so weird, haha. We had a BBQ and ate delicious hamburgers and hotdogs and we watched all of the Elders play soccer and . . . it was a weird christmas, but also awesome, because I´ve been craving BBQ for a long time. But then later, we got stockings with homemade American cookies and brownies!!! It was so exciting! haha. We also watched Monster´s University! . . . in Spanish . . . I got about 80% of it . . . but it was good. 

The craziness all started at midnight, christmas eve. We live on the fourth floor of our building and we have a panoramic view of the city. The Fireworks were so awesome. EVERYONE was shooting off fireworks, (there were a few times we had to hurry and slam the windows shut to keep sparks from flying in), but it was SO cool. Christmas isnt quite as magical and beautiful and peaceful like it is in the States, but it sure is fun and exciting. I´ll have to try and send a video of all the fireworks, it definitely was awesome. I can´t wait for tomorrow night, for New Year´s, because I hear it´s even crazier! I´m excited. 

Anyway, I really hope everyone had a super awesome Christmas. I know I did. It was great to talk to my family (just for 40 minutes on Skype) and also experience Christmas in a different part of the world. I hope everyone can look at the new year with excitement and expectations and determination to change and become better this year. Pick one thing and make it happen. This year, my resolution is to study, understand and apply more fully the Atonement of Jesus Christ in my life. A lot of times, people think that the Atonement is just for sinners. Most people are only familiar with the cleansing and healing power. But remember that the Atonement is there for us, not just to become a good person, but to become a better person. The power of the Atonement can give us strength to persevere and do more and go beyond our natural capacity. So, since I have one year left of my mission, it´s my goal to fully use the Atonement of Christ so that I can use this year to give every ounce of my strength and my heart and be the servant that God needs to perform His work. Remember that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is available for all people, not just those who are going through a rough process of repentence.

Love you all so much, and I hope you can use this New Year to make a new start. Happy Hollidays! Remember to tell your family that you love them!

Love,

Hna. Hulse

p.s.

If you don´t know what the Atonement is, you can search it on www.Mormon.org