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