5/26/14

Hey Everyone!

So, this has been one of the craziest transfers, EVER!  . . . so, I don´t even know where to start. First, they told me I was getting transfered, which wasn´t a surprise. So, I said my goodbyes all day monday and tuesday morning, we left to the offices. How it works, everyone who has transfers goes and stands outside in the courtyard, and we have a prayer, and the president announces one by one, the new companionships and areas. So, my dream area, is San Felipe. The missionaries´s apartment is one block from our apartment in Bello Horizonte, and they have the best pencionistas (the lady in the ward that cooks breakfast and dinner for us), it´s the same laundry lady, and they meet in the same chappel as Bello Horizonte, and on the other side of the street is my old area, plus a million other awesome things about it, besides the fact that I would be RIGHT next to my old area and be in the same chappel and could see all of my investigators and ward members. So anyway, Hna. Valdivia gets paired with Hna Shelton, my companion from the MTC, and it was super exciting. And then, wouldn´t you know it I got called to train a new missionary from the MTC in SAN FELIPE!!!! MY DREAM AREA!!!! When he said that I literally punched my fist in the air and yelled YES!!! I was SOOOOO excited! I would be one block down from my old apartment, just on the other side of the street of my old area, and right next to my two best friends in the mission! I was sooooo excited! 

So we were eating pizza with the newbies from the MTC (it´s a tradition that we do every time) and we waiting to be assigned to our new companionships, when the assistants to the president came up to me, and they´re like, Sis. Hulse, The president wants to talk with you. And I´m like, Oh no . . . what´d I do? Well, I went into his office and he looked super stressed. And well, Hna. Ku (from california, who went home sick, but then came back in the mission), hasn´t been doing well. The president is doing all he can to help her finish out her mission . . . and well . . . he changed my assignment. He put me in a trio with her and Hna. Luna, from Mexico, and we´re working in an area called Tungasuca. He wanted me to help her . . . but the next day, she went in for an interview and he told her that he´d start the papers to send her home. So, it´s been really really weird. Being together again, in a trio, and we even have the SAME zone leaders that we had when she went home the first time. It´s been incredibly sureal. We also got to go back to San Juan to see a baptism for a girl that we taught together in September. So yeah .  . . it´s definitely been interesting.  The hardest part was giving my first assignment in San Felipe. I told the president, before I accepted, ¨I want you to know, that that is my DREAM area . . . but I´ll do whatever you need me to do.¨ This week I learned a lot about trusting in the Lord. He knows the desires of hearts, but He wants us to be able to set aside our desires, and follow what He knows is best for us. My companion, Hna. Valdivia gave me this leather book mark that says, No llores porque ya se metió el sol, las lagrimas no te dejarán ver las estrellas. (Don´t cry because the sun has set, your tears will keep you from seeing the stars). So, even though I´m not in my dream area, I´m trying every day to count my stars, and the Lord really is blessing me here. I love my companions, we have awesome investigators, and I know I´m going to be blessed and be happier here in this area, because it´s where the Lord needs me to be.

I love you all so much and hope that you can keep me in your prayers, because I definitely need it. Also, please pray for my companion, Sis. Ku. I love you all so much! I pray for you all every day!

Love,

Hna. Hulse

5/19/14

Hey everyone!

Bueno . . . we have transfers today, and I have no idea if I`m staying or going. It`s CRAZY! I have no idea what`s gonna happen, but I know that whatever happens, it`s what the Lord needs to further His work.

This week was pretty good. We had a Pday activity as a mission and it was super fun and crazy. We had a world cup soccer game, and we all divided into countries and it was crazy . . . for all those returned missionaries or missionaries who are serving . ..  you know that part in the mission manual how it says that if we play sports, we shouldn`t be competitive? . . . yeah, well, I felt like I was at a high school football rally or at spirit day during homecoming week. It was so weird, being with all the North Americans, and speaking english, and yelling USA! USA! USA!  . ..  but our mission president was there, so I think it was ok, lol. It was fun, and I think we got our butts kicked . . . I don`t really know, because I was talking with all my sister missionary friends from the MTC and wasn`t really paying attention, but I`m just assuming we got our butts kicked, lol. Anyway, during the game, a family that I taught in San Juan came and surprised me and some other sister missionaries! Maggy, this girl that I had been teaching, is finally getting baptized! So they came to tell us the good news and we went to Mega Plaza (like a little slice of the States) and went to Chili`s and had a good time. So I`m super excited to go to her baptism. 

Anyway, I really hope you are all doing wonderfully well. . . . whoa . ..  I just realized that today marks 11 months in the mission. Time is going by so fast. Remember to use it to the fullest. It says in the scriptures that in the last days, the Lord will hasten time. It`s so true. If we`re putting off important things, like reading the scriptures, having Family Home Evening, telling a friend about the gospel, now is the time to do it. Don`t wait until tomorrow or the next day, because the day will come that we`ll realize we`ve run out of time, and by then it will be too late. We only have one chance here, in this mortal state, so use it wisely. 

Ok, time to go. I hope you`re all doing well and that you`re happy and healthy and trying to improve every day. Don`t get stressed out about the little things, or about the fact that we`re entering into a weird time continuam where we`re all going to age faster and not have time to do anything, lol. Live life, be wise, and be happy. If you have to turn in your homework late, just tell your teacher that God is speeding up time, so you need an extension, hahaha, just kidding. Ok, I`m going for realzies now! I love you all! 

Hna. Hulse

5/10/14

Hey e`ry body! 

So, I`m writing early because this Pday (monday), we`re having a giant soccer tournament and yeah . . . I`m gonna try to have fun! lol . . .no, it really will be fun I`m sure. It`s not that I don`t like soccer, it`s that I don`t like competetiveness, so yeah, we`ll see. But it`s weird writing on saturday . . . my inbox is practically empty, lol. Everyone writes on sunday or monday morning, so you`ll all have to wait a whole week to get a response, sorry! lol. 

This week has been pretty great. We`ve been talking with people trying to figure out what we can do to help Felicia and her mom (the rat ladies) and yesterday we were able to find her uncle, and we learned more about her mental issues, and the family is SO excited to receive the help they need. His wife came to the counter (we were talking in their store) and he told her that we wanted to help, and she asked, ¨Are you girls Latter-day Saints¨ And we said, YES! And she`s like, I thought so, you guys do a lot of service. And it was SO great to hear that from someone outside the church. Anyway, we`re really excited to help them, because the family has tried to help them, but they just haven`t had the means to do it and with her mental conditions, it`s just been impossible for them. So we`re super excited! 

We also had our zone conference with the president, and it was SO awesome. We talked about false spirits that walk the earth, and how we have to be able to discern between good and evil and that comes from being COMPLETELY obedient to the mission rules. It was a good reminder for me. Lately little things have crept into my habbits like, thinking that it`s ok to lay in bed until 6:35 . . . anyway, it helped me to remember my focus and the importance of being EXACTLY obedience. God doesn`t give important responsibilities to disobedient servants. In order to stand firm and carry out the responsiblities God has given us, we have to be firm in our testimony and dillegent in His commandments. To teach us this principle more clearly, at the point, Pres. Erickson transformed into Gandalf and yelled at the top of his lungs, YOU SHALL NOT PASS!!!!! . . . it was great. I really wish I could have recorded it. Anyway, it was a great conference and I always hear exactly what I need to hear to be a better missionary. Also, I`m super excited for next month, because Sis. Erickson makes banana bread for those who had birthdays and I`m not gonna lie, I`ve been waiting almost a year for this bread, and I`m SUPER excited, lol. 

I hope you all have a great week, and I especially hope you all have a wonderful Mother`s day. There are so many exemplary women that I have in my life, and I look up to SO many of you. My mom, grandmas, aunts and other women who have influenced me throughout my life. Thank you so much for being in my life! I love you all! 

Love,

Hna. Hulse

5/5/14

We have had a great week this week. Firstly, because my companion and I went to the temple with Pamela and another friend, Beatrice, and we had a wonderful time! 2ndly because we`ve been able to teach Felicia (the lady with the rats) outside, and we`re organizing a service day witht the ward and all the missionaries in the zone to go and clean her house. 

Our greatest challenge has been that some of our investigators have stopped progressing or can`t meet with us anymore, simply because they`re too busy and they don`t have enough time. Satan is so clever, and I will tell you that this is one of his greatest tools to stop people from doing what they should be doing. Time is a gift from God, and if we don`t use it, we lose it. God has given us a certain ammount of time to be here on earth, and to prepare ourselves for the day we will stand before him, to be held accountable for how we used this time. So of course, Satan will do all he can to distract us, and if we are not careful, we will end up filling our time with things that are of little or no value. If we are ¨too busy¨ to read our scriptures or do our home and visiting teaching, or call up a friend that`s in need, or serve someone, there is something that we are doing wrong, and we need to look at how we spend our time each day, and cut out those things that don`t have value. Anyway . . . when they tell us that they`re too busy, even though they`d like to meet with us, I feel like saying, ¨No! That`s what satan wants!¨  . . . maybe I should actually say it, I don`t know, lol. 

I`m sorry this email is super short, but time has really gotten away from me this week. I promise next week will be much better! I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful week! 

Love,

Hna. Hulse