Hola!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
OH man I am so pumped for these mission calls!!!!!!!!! I got called on Thursday morning and the office elder that called me was way excited for you Spencer! So I actually already knew Travis was going to Argentina. It was the weirdest thing but on Wednesday I had a dream that someone opened their call to Argentina and then I got called and they told me Spencer is going to the DR and so then I started thinking and I could so easily picture Travis in Argentina. The Mendoza mission gets pretty cold (a guy in my last ward served there and 2 guys in the Mtc with me, also two guys in the mtc and my mtc teacher served in the DR, I think one is there right now, I also met a girl from the DR in the MTC, she was really nice), and the Mendoza mission is in a really nice part of Argentina. I want you guys to send me Travis´s email because our rule for the cyber just barely changed and we can now email friends and family and we have a bit more time so do it so I want to let him know a few more things about Argentina that i've learned. Gosh I´m just so excited right now! I had such a great week last week (by an amazing miracle we had 6 investigators in church!) and these mission calls just got me so pumped and really affirmed to me that I´m in the right mission. I love my paraguayos so much and this country too. So this week was the presidencial elections here so when I found out about Spencer´s call the first thing that popped in my head was that he is going to go and bring all of those republicans to the light (just a joke though because I´m a republican myself). So Spencer´s Spanish is going to be so much better than mine because rumor has it that the best and fastest Spanish spoken is in the DR! Don´t worry about the MTC because i´ve talked to several missionaries that went straight to other MTC´s and they always make it okay and love the MTC´s. The DR mtc used to be a hotel so its super nice and it´s right by a big university so they get to go and contact the people in the university! its super cool! also Travis just so you know they normally call about a week before you´re supposed to enter in to the Provo MTC to tell you that you´re actually going to the Argentine MTC so watch out for that. So if you want a little worldly preparation for your missions the music that is really popular in the DR is obviously regatón (This will be really popular among the people that Caleb will be serving as well) and some of the really popular artists are Daddy Yankee, Wisin y yandel, ñengo flow and pitbull (at least here in Paraguay they are always playing music so loud in the streets so I´ve been exposed to a lot, But I´m not listening to this kind of music don´t worry I´m still obedient, I got these names from Elder Menchaca, he loves regatón). In Argentina they listen to something called Cumbia Argentina and I only know one really big group and its called Nene Malo. In Paraguay they listen to something called Cumbia Paraguaya. I don´t know if I should recommend to any of you to look any of these groups up because a lot of these songs (at least the ones I´ve heard in the streets) don´t talk about really great things. But that´s actually one reason that I was thinking about how my mission is perfect for me and Spencer´s for him. Regatón is a lot like the music that he used to listen to and Cumbia Paraguaya is more like what I used to listen to. I´m not going to lie, I was a little jealous because Spencer´s Spanish is going to be so good, but it was really good motivation for me to study the language even more diligently. Also that day that they told me about Spencer´s call I just got so pumped about Paraguay for some reason! The mission is so great and it really doesn´t matter where you serve because the work is all the same and it´s all super difficult and it´s all super rewarding!
So we still haven´t heard anything about changes but we´ll find out today. Elder Williamson and I are down to stay together another change, we´ll just see what happens. We´ve been working with this little 10 year old named Diego and he is so awesome! He´s been teaching the lessons to his mom and all of his family and neighbors and he knows the doctrine surprisingly well! He understands things super well and he has this brother that´s been teasing him about talking with the Mormons and Diego just tells him straight up that he really wants to be baptized a Mormon! The kid is so dang awesome! Also he got 4 of his cousins to come to church and his sister in law and they´re all preparing to get baptized too! We´ve been working really hard and it´s been a little slow but we´re having some great success right now and finding some amazing people so it´s awesome!
Mom I was thinking about what you said about the Patriarchal blessings and it´s true. Also if you want to understand it in a completely new light try translating it into Spanish! I´ve been doing that lately for part of my language study and it´s shed some really cool light on a couple of things. Tell the boys not to worry about the Spanish because it comes, I promise. Yesterday I gave a talk in Sacrament meeting for a little over 10 minutes and the only notes I had were a couple of scriptures that I wanted to use. The language comes as you´re diligent in your studies and just try to talk. It´s rare now that someone tells me something that I just have no idea what they say or that I can´t communicate what I want to say. Spanish is really cool and it´s pretty easy to learn, don´t worry.
Well I really love you guys and I guess we´ll be talking in like 3 weeks or so (I can´t believe how fast the time is passing by). So this week I learned a lot about how the Lord can do all sorts of mighty miracles. There was this lady named Sebastiana that was so close to getting baptized like a little over a year but she did not want to get married. So a few weeks ago we were walking in front of her house and her friend called us over. She wanted a blessing with oil (this friends sister is a member so she knows all about it). We gave it to her and then talked with them for a little while. Sebastiana was super closed and kinda mean. She said she decided since she wasn't ready to comply with one of the commandments that she wouldn´t comply with any. We very nicely but very directly explained the error in her way of thinking. She kinda got angry then went inside and we taught her friend. Well then a little while later we went by to teach Sebastiana´s son (he´s got baptized when Sebastiana was going to get baptized) and Sebastiana was completely different. She told us she realized that she needs to start by just keeping some commandments and then it will be easier to keep the rest of them. She had had an accident that made her think a little more seriously about the gospel. She is now preparing for baptism! There are still a couple of big obstacles that we need to overcome with her but her desires are right and now it´s just in the hands of the Lord. I know that it wasn´t us that changed her at all because not once has she mentioned that anything that we´ve said has had any impact on her, but that the Lord has been communicating with her, and that´s exactly how it should be! This work requires humility but when Elder Bednar came to my mission he told us to get out of the way and let the Spirit work. If we humbly accept that we are just here to invite and help investigators feel and recognize the Spirit than the Lord will do just that and people will be converted (not just get baptized). I love this work so much and I know that it truly is the work of the Lord. Have a great week and don´t worry about me at all, I´m on the greatest adventure of my life and I´m loving it so much! Spencer, Travis, and Caleb will soon understand what I mean. You can´t express it very easily, but you just love it. It´s so hard and it really shows you what you are really made of. You come across many experiences where it seems like you have absolutely nothing but the Lord, and that´s really when you learn how to depend on Him. It´s in the incredibly difficult moments that happen where we really see the power of the Lord kick in, and you happen to be able to participate in that process a lot in the mission and it´s such a wonderful experience! Work hard and love it all because the time goes way to fast.
Con Chorros de Amor,
Elder Hulsey
(Chorros is a bit of Mexican slang for you Caleb)
