Hola familia,
Hey sorry that I sounded down in my last letter, I was actually kinda feeling the opposite. I´ve realized so many things that took me a while to realize and that took coming out on the mission to realize, but now I can fix them so I´m really glad. That´s one thing I´ve learned out here, it´s not bad to realize that we don't do certain things right as long as we´re willing to fix them and let the Lord make weak things become strong. So I´m super happy, don´t worry. So we did get changes and my companion left. I got a new companion from Utah and he´s BRAND NEW (I´m training him). His name is Elder Beus and I believe I forwarded you an email from him that has our pictures. Training has been pretty fun so far, I like remembering how crazy and new it all is at the beginning. It´s been weird because I still feel brand new but now being with Elder Beus I realize even more how much I´ve learned in the last year. It was pretty cool because after the training meeting last Wednesday President talked to me and told me that when he was trying to figure out who should train who that he saw my name on the list and had no doubts that me and Elder Beus should be together, he said it was one of the ones that was super clear and that he didn´t have to even think about it. I can already see why because I´ve learned so much from him already. He´s sacrificed a lot to be here and has gone through some incredibly difficult things in the last couple of weeks so I´m doing my best to not be one more difficult thing that he has to deal with. He´s super respectful and brave (he talks to anyone I tell him to talk to even though he can barely form a sentence), but he´s also super green so it´s been pretty funny. Sometimes I feel like we´re in the best two years because we´ll sit down and talk with people and they´ll tell him something and he just gets a super worried look on his face and looks at me and asks me "what did they just say"? Haha I can only laugh because a few months ago I was in the same boat and I can now look back and laugh at myself for all of my silly fears and not understanding. But this kid brings the Spirit with him! We had an attendance of 97 people in church on Sunday (that´s double than the attendance when I first got here)! The weather has warmed up so that has played a big part in it, but he´s also got a powerful testimony. We have had really powerful lessons with people and people are changing their lives. There´s this one girl that about a year ago got in a big motorcycle accident while her and her boyfriend got drunk and drove away and she is now paralyzed and her boyfriend walked away unharmed. She has a lot of built up rage and such as is expected and she doesn´t like visitors, but we went over with this less-active guy that´s her friend and he told us to walk on in with him and she said she would listen. I told her a little bit about my brother because he was born kinda sick, she recently told me that when i told her that for some reason she just trusted me because she felt like I wouldn´t be weirded out by that kind of stuff. She also likes my companion because he doesn´t say much but what he says is always really nice (I think it also helps that hes super blonde with blue eyes). So as we´ve been working with her her heart has been softening a lot and she says she can´t explain it but she always feels really good when we share together (and this less-active guy has been getting super excited about the gospel again too because we always share with him there too). She has changed from saying that she will never leave the house in her wheel chair to now she´s promised that she will come to church (she hasn´t said when but we´re making progress). She also got up the courage and called her ex-boyfriend to tell him she forgives him, he wasn´t home the first time so she tried back two more times! She said she had just thought about what we had taught her about forgiving and how Christ could help her and it seemed like the right thing to do! In the short time I´ve been with Elder Beus we have had multiple experiences like that with many different people and it´s been incredible and super rewarding. There´s a part in Preach My Gospel that says the best way to help someone is by teaching them the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I know that that´s true. It´s not necessarily all about baptizing thousands of souls but you can make a difference in the lives of many just by teaching them true doctrine. Well I´m loving it out here and I´m having a great time. It´s kinda tough because we now do an extra hour of companionship study as part of the training process and I still have to do some things that pull my time out of my area, but it's all good because it´s the Lord´s work and it´s what he wants me to do. I´m trying to do my best to train Elder Beus because I know it´s completely un-related but I really want Spencer to have the best trainer so I feel like if I do my best with Elder Beus than maybe Spencer will for some reason get an even better trainer (if nothing else its helping me be a better trainer so it´s not a bad thing). I hope you all enjoy this week of school.
Con amor,
Elder Zachary J. Hulsey
Hey sorry that I sounded down in my last letter, I was actually kinda feeling the opposite. I´ve realized so many things that took me a while to realize and that took coming out on the mission to realize, but now I can fix them so I´m really glad. That´s one thing I´ve learned out here, it´s not bad to realize that we don't do certain things right as long as we´re willing to fix them and let the Lord make weak things become strong. So I´m super happy, don´t worry. So we did get changes and my companion left. I got a new companion from Utah and he´s BRAND NEW (I´m training him). His name is Elder Beus and I believe I forwarded you an email from him that has our pictures. Training has been pretty fun so far, I like remembering how crazy and new it all is at the beginning. It´s been weird because I still feel brand new but now being with Elder Beus I realize even more how much I´ve learned in the last year. It was pretty cool because after the training meeting last Wednesday President talked to me and told me that when he was trying to figure out who should train who that he saw my name on the list and had no doubts that me and Elder Beus should be together, he said it was one of the ones that was super clear and that he didn´t have to even think about it. I can already see why because I´ve learned so much from him already. He´s sacrificed a lot to be here and has gone through some incredibly difficult things in the last couple of weeks so I´m doing my best to not be one more difficult thing that he has to deal with. He´s super respectful and brave (he talks to anyone I tell him to talk to even though he can barely form a sentence), but he´s also super green so it´s been pretty funny. Sometimes I feel like we´re in the best two years because we´ll sit down and talk with people and they´ll tell him something and he just gets a super worried look on his face and looks at me and asks me "what did they just say"? Haha I can only laugh because a few months ago I was in the same boat and I can now look back and laugh at myself for all of my silly fears and not understanding. But this kid brings the Spirit with him! We had an attendance of 97 people in church on Sunday (that´s double than the attendance when I first got here)! The weather has warmed up so that has played a big part in it, but he´s also got a powerful testimony. We have had really powerful lessons with people and people are changing their lives. There´s this one girl that about a year ago got in a big motorcycle accident while her and her boyfriend got drunk and drove away and she is now paralyzed and her boyfriend walked away unharmed. She has a lot of built up rage and such as is expected and she doesn´t like visitors, but we went over with this less-active guy that´s her friend and he told us to walk on in with him and she said she would listen. I told her a little bit about my brother because he was born kinda sick, she recently told me that when i told her that for some reason she just trusted me because she felt like I wouldn´t be weirded out by that kind of stuff. She also likes my companion because he doesn´t say much but what he says is always really nice (I think it also helps that hes super blonde with blue eyes). So as we´ve been working with her her heart has been softening a lot and she says she can´t explain it but she always feels really good when we share together (and this less-active guy has been getting super excited about the gospel again too because we always share with him there too). She has changed from saying that she will never leave the house in her wheel chair to now she´s promised that she will come to church (she hasn´t said when but we´re making progress). She also got up the courage and called her ex-boyfriend to tell him she forgives him, he wasn´t home the first time so she tried back two more times! She said she had just thought about what we had taught her about forgiving and how Christ could help her and it seemed like the right thing to do! In the short time I´ve been with Elder Beus we have had multiple experiences like that with many different people and it´s been incredible and super rewarding. There´s a part in Preach My Gospel that says the best way to help someone is by teaching them the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I know that that´s true. It´s not necessarily all about baptizing thousands of souls but you can make a difference in the lives of many just by teaching them true doctrine. Well I´m loving it out here and I´m having a great time. It´s kinda tough because we now do an extra hour of companionship study as part of the training process and I still have to do some things that pull my time out of my area, but it's all good because it´s the Lord´s work and it´s what he wants me to do. I´m trying to do my best to train Elder Beus because I know it´s completely un-related but I really want Spencer to have the best trainer so I feel like if I do my best with Elder Beus than maybe Spencer will for some reason get an even better trainer (if nothing else its helping me be a better trainer so it´s not a bad thing). I hope you all enjoy this week of school.
Con amor,
Elder Zachary J. Hulsey
