Re: Happy One Month‏

Email Received August 29, 2013

querido familia,
I cant believe its been a month either. Its going by super fast. I wish you guys could meet them all too. So today we broke a record for the DR mtc as we now have more people than ever and have had to open up the 3rd and 2nd floors to the ccm. I'm kind of sad though because we have had to eliminate some patron housing but I trust the lord knows what he is doing and will still find a way for people to come and receive the blessings of the temple. I have met even more people now as there are people from Nicaragua, Guatemala, Chile, all over. Its so nice getting to meet new cultures even when you can't understand a word they're saying. I miss the Jamaican sisters already. They were incredible. One of them gave a talk last Sunday and she told us all if something is worth doing it's worth doing with all your heart, and a mission is worth doing. I don't want to waste a second of the lords time and I want to serve him with all my heart here. My threesome is going well. Its harder to teach for sure especially because we are all very different personality wise. church is pretty awesome here. We always have sacrament meeting at 9, then district meeting/Sunday school then priesthood followed by doctrine class with the president and then a church video and at 6 we get to hear a quorum of the 12 devotional each week (we get to hear them on Tuesday mornings as well and these past two have changed my life) and then we have an ice cream social and walk around the temple. So the devotional on Sunday was by Jeffery R. Holland and it spoke exactly to my needs. He explained how we are all God's investigators. We are here to learn and to grow and become perfected in Christ. It is devastating to hear when a missionary comes home and loses their testimony. they keep saying my mission is supposed to be pretty high for that but I'm not going to be a part of that statistic. The tender mercies of the lord are truly all around. I had an amazing one last week at the university. We had one more book of Mormon and I was praying so hard for somebody to give it to. we walked past this girl sitting in the corner alone pondering about something and at first we walked past her with out a thought but i had a thought, nothing big or grand where the heavens opened up for me or anything but I just thought you need to go tell her heavenly father loves her and she is important to him. So i acted. I turned around and started talking to her. My Spanish isn't perfect but I know with all surety of my heart she felt Gods love for her. Even if it was just for 5 seconds she knew how important she was to heavenly father and I was reminded as well. The spirit always does his job with out fail. She accepted the book and I hope she calls the missionaries and gets more information. I pray so hard for dad everyday. I put his name on the prayer rolls each week so he has people from all over praying in his behalf in a few different languages even but to the same god and for the same purpose and I know he will do this and do this well. I would suggest reading 2nd Timothy 1:7-8. It has helped me everyday here and every step. I have nothing to complain about ever. I'm so happy for Emma. Homecoming was my first date too and It was a ton of fun. She will have a good time with Spencer and I know I wont have to beat him up or anything after two years. Thank you so much for all your positive and encouraging words. I really am blessed with such a great family and I know God is aware of all our needs. We have nothing to fear. I love you guys and i pray for you constantly. Keep up your good work
con amor,
Elder Spencer W. Hulsey

(No Subject)

Email received August 22, 2013

Hola Familia,

I am having a great time over here in la Republica Dominicana. I love being a missionary. Nothing has ever made me so happy. My comps names are Elder Burgess, from Idaho, and Elder Mccombs from California. Both of them are amazing and my companionship is working tremendously. Its super hard to teach in 3{s but I am loving every step of my journey and its super good to learn because The gospel needs to be preached by the mouth of multiple people. The lord allows us to struggle to make us into who we need to be. He needs us to understand his ways are higher than our ways. Humility before the lord is the hardest lesson to learn I feel. Because things always came so easy to me I don't feel like I always did the greatest job of thanking the lord for everything. I am making up for it as best I can now. Elder Scott gave an amazing devotional last week and It was the first one foreign mtc{s were able to hear and watch with in a day of it being given. It was awesome to be a part of. I am glad stake conference was fun. Probably my favorite part of a Sunday is doctrinal class with the president. Everything must be answered in the scriptures or white bible. Oh by the way I have no way of getting stamps right now so to all who wrote me a letter thanks so much. It means the world to me and I love hearing from everybody but I have no way of sending you anything in the mail at the moment. So ya I have been exposed to so many cultures in the past little while. I get to see a lot because the ccm is also patron housing for the Caribbean. I love talking with everybody especially the little kids. With my companion obeying mission rules of course but hey love the missionaries and I shake all of their hands. They are really good examples to me. My favorites right now are the Jamaicans though. They are so funny and faithful. They are frustrated right now too because everybody else is learning Spanish and we all speak in Spanish and they can{t speak it ha but we have taught them a few basic things so they aren't always confused. I am so excited for you guys. Actually kinda freaking out because Eli started school. And it sounds like Caleb is growing up too. Elder Pena loves the picture of Caleb and Eli. As far as language goes I am progressing as the lord needs me too. I read Grandmas birthday card and It made me cry a little. I felt the spirit very strong. I am so happy the missionaries found her. We are all so blessed for that. Grandma reminds me of the Haitians actually. She has been very faithful through it all. Those guys have lived through so much and I am blessed by their examples. Tell Emma the job is going to be a blast. Its a little difficult at times but the harder she works the better. I can't really think of anything I need to be honest. I think living here has changed my perspective a lot. When we went to the store last week I saw man fill up his water ball with sewage run off and That experience mingled with several scriptures has changed my life already. I love this people. I love all the Caribbean people. I hope and pray for opportunities to serve multiple missions in this area. I look at my white shirts, pants, ties, shoes and that's all they are to me but to some other boy here those things are what all the missionaries where. They are the coolest things to them. They are rare treasures and blessings to them and I am honored and happy to leave all that i can with them to help build the kingdom even more. My departure date is September 10th. I love you all and I hope you have a great week.

Love always,

Elder Spencer W. Hulsey

(No Subject)

Email received August 15, 2013

Hey mom!

Thanks so much for all of this. I know it couldn't have been easy but you must know how much I love these people and how much I am dying to share this message with them. My companion is a good guy. He tries his best and I love him. I will be in a threesome for the rest of the experience though because we just got a whole group of Latins in and elder Peña is going to be with them. Oh and the Haitians left. I am a bit sad about that but they will do amazing things. They are the nicest most faithful guys I have ever met. They have been working as hard as they can their whole lives for this and they are doing the true work of the Lord. By far my favorite teacher is Hermano Rubio. He is a Dominican form of Zack. I have seen people who remind me of a few of our family members. Elder Horner is definitely Sam Reber and Elder Peña is totally Jeff, ha. He is even a huge Walker Texas Ranger fan haha. Oh we also got a ton of Jamaican sisters in. I actually haven't been sick at all but a guy in my district has a colon infection. The doctor here says that its common for north Americans though. Oh and by the way If I ever get sick here I am supposed to come back to the MTC and have the doctor here check me out. He is a super funny guy from America and he and I talked a lot because of my kidneys. He just said be wise and drink water. anyway school should be fun. Summer sure blew away huh? Well I know Dad is going to do great things. He has the lords blessing and I have been to the temple twice now and have placed his name on the prayer rolls. I know the lord will bless him and all of you. To help solidify this point I want to share a very amazing experience I had. So the role play we do here is all with our teachers. My teacher Hermano Rubio has been dubbed the hardest one but I love it because its supposed to be the real thing. His role play name is Jose Cuevas and everybody in my district leaves the lessons very downhearted because he is so difficult. And he knows the scriptures very well. I decided with my companion and through much prayer and study that we need to Just get to know him and understand how our message can help him before even saying we have a message for him tonight.  I had studied hard and used my scriptures and got to know him super well and taught according to the spirit. I felt the spirit incredibly strong through this all and I know all of this came because of him. Last night I had never felt it so strong and I challenged him to be baptized (again because he said he was already baptized before by immersion in the Church of Dios) and he totally accepted. All things were made possible through Christ here. I am just some little boy from Utah but the Lord is using me to be an instrument in His hand. He is turning me into who I need to be. I have learned so much this week and it is as you say a baptism by fire. But even seemingly impossible tasks are made possible through the love and grace of god. I haven't regretted a single minute of this. It's scary and hard at times but I am doing it and I know you all can too. Its a blessing having all your prayers. Thank you for helping me get here. I pray for you all everyday and night. I love you all. and yes I can receive packages here. By the way I have received more mail than any other elder here ha so thanks to everybody who has written me.

Con mucho amor y abrazos,

Elder Spencer W. Hulsey

(No Subject)

Email received August 8, 2013

Thanks so much for the email it means so much to me and I know I can tell you anything. I know this is the hardest thing I have ever done but I am doing it and it has been getting easier everyday. I love the food here it's all native Dominican food but with less parasites. Its mostly just rice beans meat and bread. I have this feeling all the time that I am like Samuel the Lamanite and I have a big wall I need to get on top of to preach to the Dominican people. The wall is called Spanish. Cada día I feel the lord helping get a little higher on the wall. It takes a lot of hard work but I love it. I know he will do the same for you as well. Thanks again for the email and I will talk to you more next Thursday.

Tequiero mucho
Elder Spencer W. Hulsey

Elder Spencer Hulsey is on his way!

Elder Spencer Hulsey's visa came through on Monday, July 29th. He was set apart on Tuesday night, July 30th. He flew to the Dominican Republic to report to the MTC there on Thursday, August 1st.



Up on time and doing personal study the morning after being set apart



The ride to the airport on Thursday (4:45am)



At the airport with siblings



At the airport with Mom and Dad



At the airport - last picture with the family