Email received January 27, 2014
Dear family,
Wow it sounds like a lot has happened lately. I really love this area. It is a way amazing but also truly humbling area. I am trying so hard to be a more humble person. i was reading a lot about the sons of Mosiah and also Nephi and Lehi the sons of Heleman. Mom I don't know if you remember this but i remember this time when we were very little and sitting on your bed reading from the book of mormon. I remember you reading the part about Nephi and Lehi in the prison. we were looking at the pictures of it, I don't know if you remember reading the book of Moromon with the pictures with us nightly, but i remember you telling me that Nephi and Lehi reminded you a lot of me and Zack. How amazing it is for me now to be a missionary like Nephi or Lehi and knowing that my older brother and best friend is doing the same thing. I really am honored to be a part of this work and there is nothing in the world i would give it up for. I am so grateful to have grown up in a home where the book of mormon was taught, where legal and more important eternal marriages are key. Here in the DR they don't really believe in legal marriages. Its just a piece of paper to them so whats the difference. The family truly is under attack. I was very happy yesterday though because i walked into a house in the poorest part of my area for a first lesson with some contacts we had and saw that they had framed their marriage certificate and hung it proudly on their wall. To me that gave me a lot of hope. They were poor but moral values to them were maybe more important than the food they needed that week so that they could get married. It does not matter the commandment god always provides a way for us to keep it. I know its true and i have truly seen the windows of heaven open up to me down here. Mom i will be honest with you i did not want to leave elder Mortensen or Bani. When i found out i would be going to the capital i was even less excited for some reason. I started moping about it for a little bit at a noche de hogar (family home evening) and i said a silent prayer in my heart to give me peace about leaving. The spirit chastised me pretty hard. I heard a very clear and direct voice ask me why i was so sad about leaving, i had done the work that the lord had called me to do in Bani and for elder Mortensen and now he needed me to buck up and get going on to buenos aires because he has a very important work for me here. I was very humbled by that to be honest. I know maybe that sounds all a little bit prideful but it really happened. I know i am here for a reason. I know i was called here for a reason. I am living currently 30 minutes away from my area for reasons i really don't want to go into to many details about to save you some scary feelings. Its up hill both ways and when i say hill I'm not talking about the grass mound in Aunt Diana's back yard but i mean hills. They are so steep and i don't know if i have ever been so tired in my life but its just simply not important. You really are blessed with strength beyond your own on a mission. The lord gives you daily exactly what you need. I don't know anything better than this. I was reading a conference talk given a little while ago by jeffery r holland in the which he said I don't think any youth has or could ever love their mission as much as i loved mine, to that statement i gladly contest. i love serving my mission more than anything in the world. i love these people more than anything else in the world. I have kinda become dominican as well. JAJA thanks for the compliment about working out its actually because I accidentally shrunk my shirts a little. The washing machines here are unforgiving. I have only wrecked one pair of pants in it though. Well i love you guys and i hope you have a great week. Keep working hard and doing whats right.
Con love,
Elder Spencer W. Hulsey
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Monday, January 27, 2014
Monday, January 20, 2014
RE: New Area
Email received January 20, 2013
Dear family,
I'm honestly very happy here in my new area called Buenos Aires. Its in the capital and its honestly the best area in the whole mission from what i have heard. Its very different from bani. Its a ward with a way cool bishop who is very excited about the work and is always willing to help us. The ward is very accepting and i have already made so many new friends here. I worry about elder Mortensen about every minute of everyday. JA i cant believe he wrote you but that was very nice of him to say. Really i look so much up to him and i learned so much from him. He is one of the most logical guys i have ever met. He was so funny too. They sent him way out to the Haitian border. Anyway everything worked out and i am totally fine. something kinda cool about this area is that it was where elder Gatherum started his mission. He was my first zone leader and had a really big influence on me. he was a great missionary and he just finished his mission on Wedsenday. Everybody in the ward still remembers him. One thing i already love about this ward is they are big into basketball. I'm very excited to get to play with them. My comps name is elder cragun and he has one transfer less than me and is in his first area still. he is a really hard worker and we will have a fun time together. I'm what we like to call his step dad. I live in a way nice house with 4 other companionships. I feel so bad for this one though. His name is Elder Ramos and he is a recent convert from Honduras and he is really struggling. His trainer is a good guy from Costa Rica and i know they will be able to work things out. He has a strong testimony and that is whats most important. He just needs a little time is all i think. Something funny he told me is that he cant understand the people here. They speak too fast and use too much slang i suppose. I guess he also believes Honduras speaks the most pure form of Spanish as well. JAJA he is funny. Anyway I like what I'm seeing back home. It sounds like a lot of missionaries will be leaving soon and for that me alegra. I am super pumped for Ashley. She will learn so much and be super blessed for her service. Tell Alyssa that the mission really is the best thing in the world. Don't pressure her into going but just say in my opinion she would be a fantastic missionary. I was thinking a moment about what you said about Satan's plan. really i think i always took pity on him because i guess i kinda thought he was at least trying to do the plan of god and maybe got really offended. But then i thought that in his plan there really would be no sacrifice made because there would be no need. He wouldn't need the father and the father would not have needed him in truth it was the biggest something for nothing plan ever created. he wanted all the glory with out paying the sacrifice or atoning for it. Christ entonces was a humble servant of our father who gave all the glory to him and paid the price for us in the end and now i am trying so hard to be his humble messenger to these people here in Buenos Aires. Yes the work is hard but the benefits are many. I have learned so much and i don't ever regret my choice in coming out here. I never ever could have known how much i really could love a people before i came here. I look at everyone the way Christ would. I know he loves them. I know he called me specifically here for a reason. I love this work and i love him. Me encanta el idioma y estoy aprendiendo cada dia. En verdad me encanta la musica cristiana aqui y probablmente voy a escucharla por el resto de mi vida. Os amo bastante y espero que todo este bien.
Con amor,
Elder hulsey
Dear family,
I'm honestly very happy here in my new area called Buenos Aires. Its in the capital and its honestly the best area in the whole mission from what i have heard. Its very different from bani. Its a ward with a way cool bishop who is very excited about the work and is always willing to help us. The ward is very accepting and i have already made so many new friends here. I worry about elder Mortensen about every minute of everyday. JA i cant believe he wrote you but that was very nice of him to say. Really i look so much up to him and i learned so much from him. He is one of the most logical guys i have ever met. He was so funny too. They sent him way out to the Haitian border. Anyway everything worked out and i am totally fine. something kinda cool about this area is that it was where elder Gatherum started his mission. He was my first zone leader and had a really big influence on me. he was a great missionary and he just finished his mission on Wedsenday. Everybody in the ward still remembers him. One thing i already love about this ward is they are big into basketball. I'm very excited to get to play with them. My comps name is elder cragun and he has one transfer less than me and is in his first area still. he is a really hard worker and we will have a fun time together. I'm what we like to call his step dad. I live in a way nice house with 4 other companionships. I feel so bad for this one though. His name is Elder Ramos and he is a recent convert from Honduras and he is really struggling. His trainer is a good guy from Costa Rica and i know they will be able to work things out. He has a strong testimony and that is whats most important. He just needs a little time is all i think. Something funny he told me is that he cant understand the people here. They speak too fast and use too much slang i suppose. I guess he also believes Honduras speaks the most pure form of Spanish as well. JAJA he is funny. Anyway I like what I'm seeing back home. It sounds like a lot of missionaries will be leaving soon and for that me alegra. I am super pumped for Ashley. She will learn so much and be super blessed for her service. Tell Alyssa that the mission really is the best thing in the world. Don't pressure her into going but just say in my opinion she would be a fantastic missionary. I was thinking a moment about what you said about Satan's plan. really i think i always took pity on him because i guess i kinda thought he was at least trying to do the plan of god and maybe got really offended. But then i thought that in his plan there really would be no sacrifice made because there would be no need. He wouldn't need the father and the father would not have needed him in truth it was the biggest something for nothing plan ever created. he wanted all the glory with out paying the sacrifice or atoning for it. Christ entonces was a humble servant of our father who gave all the glory to him and paid the price for us in the end and now i am trying so hard to be his humble messenger to these people here in Buenos Aires. Yes the work is hard but the benefits are many. I have learned so much and i don't ever regret my choice in coming out here. I never ever could have known how much i really could love a people before i came here. I look at everyone the way Christ would. I know he loves them. I know he called me specifically here for a reason. I love this work and i love him. Me encanta el idioma y estoy aprendiendo cada dia. En verdad me encanta la musica cristiana aqui y probablmente voy a escucharla por el resto de mi vida. Os amo bastante y espero que todo este bien.
Con amor,
Elder hulsey
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
(No subject)
Email received January 13, 2014
Querida family,
Ok- I did get transferred. In fact my whole house did and we have no idea where any one of us will be going. We will be told tonight. So anyway Santiago will leave tomorrow. He is pretty excited. we had a great turn out in church for his last Sunday and i got to do an intercambio with him on Saturday which was kind of a bummer because nobody was in their houses. I hear the last full day of work in the mission is usually like that. Anyway we ended up getting ice cream and having a good time. Elder Mortensen technically has to be trained for the next 6 weeks. Training lasts usually for the first 2 transfers but i guess he is ending early and will be heading for another area soon. I am very curious to know where i will be going and who will be my companion. Its a really weird feeling though. I didn't want to leave bani and i really wanted to stay and finish training elder Mortensen. But like the song says a donde me mandes ire senor. I know i will be fine its just hard for me dealing with the unknown. Elder Meek is pretty upset. he told me he was just getting used to area. Its actually the second time he has been white washed out of an area. He said the first time was worse though because he had a lot of baptisms lined up. Which also kinda makes me sad because i wont get to see Jennifer be baptized. The lord has his plan though and i just really hope these new sister missionaries that come in will be able to finish teaching her and that she will get baptized and complete her family. Also we have been working with this Haitian family. Woodlyn and Roodlina. They have two kids named Udlovin (or as i like to call him mclovins) and darlin. She is also pregnant and yesterday told me that she is going to name me the god father of her child and that i get to choose the name. Jajaja so how bout that i am going to have a Haitian god daughter. i have had a stake conference well i guess really a district conference. Bani isn't a stake- its a district of branches. I guess at one point it was dang close to becoming a stake but it turned out the district president was stealing tithing money and when he got excommunicated a lot of people went in active. A bread and jam social huh? that sounds pretty cool. I'm a bit jealous to be honest. Wow Ashley is getting her call this week? Tell her i predict Mision santo domingo oeste la republica dominicana. Because it is the best mission after all. Really though i love it so much down here. I'm having the best time of my life and i cant believe how fast its going by. I love you guys all so much and hope you have a great week. Remember to trust in the lord and please pray for me. I'm very nervous to start in a new area.
Gracias por todo que hace,
Elder Hulsey
Querida family,
Ok- I did get transferred. In fact my whole house did and we have no idea where any one of us will be going. We will be told tonight. So anyway Santiago will leave tomorrow. He is pretty excited. we had a great turn out in church for his last Sunday and i got to do an intercambio with him on Saturday which was kind of a bummer because nobody was in their houses. I hear the last full day of work in the mission is usually like that. Anyway we ended up getting ice cream and having a good time. Elder Mortensen technically has to be trained for the next 6 weeks. Training lasts usually for the first 2 transfers but i guess he is ending early and will be heading for another area soon. I am very curious to know where i will be going and who will be my companion. Its a really weird feeling though. I didn't want to leave bani and i really wanted to stay and finish training elder Mortensen. But like the song says a donde me mandes ire senor. I know i will be fine its just hard for me dealing with the unknown. Elder Meek is pretty upset. he told me he was just getting used to area. Its actually the second time he has been white washed out of an area. He said the first time was worse though because he had a lot of baptisms lined up. Which also kinda makes me sad because i wont get to see Jennifer be baptized. The lord has his plan though and i just really hope these new sister missionaries that come in will be able to finish teaching her and that she will get baptized and complete her family. Also we have been working with this Haitian family. Woodlyn and Roodlina. They have two kids named Udlovin (or as i like to call him mclovins) and darlin. She is also pregnant and yesterday told me that she is going to name me the god father of her child and that i get to choose the name. Jajaja so how bout that i am going to have a Haitian god daughter. i have had a stake conference well i guess really a district conference. Bani isn't a stake- its a district of branches. I guess at one point it was dang close to becoming a stake but it turned out the district president was stealing tithing money and when he got excommunicated a lot of people went in active. A bread and jam social huh? that sounds pretty cool. I'm a bit jealous to be honest. Wow Ashley is getting her call this week? Tell her i predict Mision santo domingo oeste la republica dominicana. Because it is the best mission after all. Really though i love it so much down here. I'm having the best time of my life and i cant believe how fast its going by. I love you guys all so much and hope you have a great week. Remember to trust in the lord and please pray for me. I'm very nervous to start in a new area.
Gracias por todo que hace,
Elder Hulsey
Monday, January 6, 2014
Re: First Sunday in January
Email received January 6, 2014
querida familia,
Feliz año nuevo! It sounds like you guys really had a super great time. I am happy the little boys behaved and that they are growing. This last week as you know was fast Sunday and it really kinda hit me just how short the mission really is. I don´t really know how much longer i will be in Bani, i assume until February but we will see. I really hope so because Jennifer is progressing so well despite our mistakes we make as missionaries. If i left this transfer i would miss her baptism. Sunday was a bit of a bummer because it was raining so not too many people were able to make it out to church but i had the chance to bear my testimony which always feels very good. The spirit was still very strong in the meeting despite the lack of numbers and the little apostate things. There is no such thing as an unitresting testimony meeting here. I had a really nice and short dream last night of me and Zack teaching a Mexican family together back home. I don't really know where we were exactly but i remember both of us teaching this small family in Spanish and then asking if the missionaries could come over and teach her more. It was a very powerful and nice dream and really reminded me how amazing Zack is. He is my best friend and i know he prays for me and he knows i pray for him. he is the kind of person you would really want in a leadership position because you know he will the do the job right, help the people and the other missionaries, and he will never do anything to satisfy his own pride. I have learned a lot from him and his example. I will definitely tell Elder Santiago that. He isn't trunky at all. He is very excited to get back home and he knows where he will be living and all, its just he served a very good mission. he told me he trained 4 other missionaries. That's pretty incredible. i cant remember if i told you this but i read a talk at the beginning of this transfer talking about the importance of a good trainer. A good trainer really makes a big difference and i am very grateful the lord has given me the chance to train so early in my own mission. I am trying my best and even though im not perfect and make mistakes i always feel so good every night when i talk to the lord and feel the spirit tell me that all he is asking for is my best and that i am improving day by day. I know all these feelings i have are of the lord. And even though its hard he is really helping me out here and i have seen so many miracles. Elder Mortensen is super comfortable now and is sharing with los demas. Its so awesome and humbling to see the hand of the lord in his life. I really love him and we have such a fun time together. He is honestly one of the funniest people in the whole world. So we got the name of our new mission president the problem is i cant remember it but i know he will be a north american. President asked us to include him in our fast yesterday. President Rodriguez is really such an incredible man and it will be hard to see him leave when the day comes. I really love these people mom. Today we went to this place called ocoa and saw this water fall and what not and it was incredible. We got to hike around in the mountains up there and i felt right at home. I met some pretty incredible members out there who were super funny. Played a little baseball too. Ill try and send some pics. Anyway i really love you guys. Thanks for all the prayers. Please mom if you could send me some medicine. I don't know if i will have to pass another kidney stone here but i would like to be prepared just in case. And as I've grown a little i have realized that not taking certain medicines, which are given of god, we kind of offend god and are suffering a lot more than we need to. So thanks to the mission and God i feel like maybe i am growing up just a little.
Thanks again for everything,
Con mucho amor y un abrazo por cada uno de ustedes,
Elder Spencer W. Hulsey
querida familia,
Feliz año nuevo! It sounds like you guys really had a super great time. I am happy the little boys behaved and that they are growing. This last week as you know was fast Sunday and it really kinda hit me just how short the mission really is. I don´t really know how much longer i will be in Bani, i assume until February but we will see. I really hope so because Jennifer is progressing so well despite our mistakes we make as missionaries. If i left this transfer i would miss her baptism. Sunday was a bit of a bummer because it was raining so not too many people were able to make it out to church but i had the chance to bear my testimony which always feels very good. The spirit was still very strong in the meeting despite the lack of numbers and the little apostate things. There is no such thing as an unitresting testimony meeting here. I had a really nice and short dream last night of me and Zack teaching a Mexican family together back home. I don't really know where we were exactly but i remember both of us teaching this small family in Spanish and then asking if the missionaries could come over and teach her more. It was a very powerful and nice dream and really reminded me how amazing Zack is. He is my best friend and i know he prays for me and he knows i pray for him. he is the kind of person you would really want in a leadership position because you know he will the do the job right, help the people and the other missionaries, and he will never do anything to satisfy his own pride. I have learned a lot from him and his example. I will definitely tell Elder Santiago that. He isn't trunky at all. He is very excited to get back home and he knows where he will be living and all, its just he served a very good mission. he told me he trained 4 other missionaries. That's pretty incredible. i cant remember if i told you this but i read a talk at the beginning of this transfer talking about the importance of a good trainer. A good trainer really makes a big difference and i am very grateful the lord has given me the chance to train so early in my own mission. I am trying my best and even though im not perfect and make mistakes i always feel so good every night when i talk to the lord and feel the spirit tell me that all he is asking for is my best and that i am improving day by day. I know all these feelings i have are of the lord. And even though its hard he is really helping me out here and i have seen so many miracles. Elder Mortensen is super comfortable now and is sharing with los demas. Its so awesome and humbling to see the hand of the lord in his life. I really love him and we have such a fun time together. He is honestly one of the funniest people in the whole world. So we got the name of our new mission president the problem is i cant remember it but i know he will be a north american. President asked us to include him in our fast yesterday. President Rodriguez is really such an incredible man and it will be hard to see him leave when the day comes. I really love these people mom. Today we went to this place called ocoa and saw this water fall and what not and it was incredible. We got to hike around in the mountains up there and i felt right at home. I met some pretty incredible members out there who were super funny. Played a little baseball too. Ill try and send some pics. Anyway i really love you guys. Thanks for all the prayers. Please mom if you could send me some medicine. I don't know if i will have to pass another kidney stone here but i would like to be prepared just in case. And as I've grown a little i have realized that not taking certain medicines, which are given of god, we kind of offend god and are suffering a lot more than we need to. So thanks to the mission and God i feel like maybe i am growing up just a little.
Thanks again for everything,
Con mucho amor y un abrazo por cada uno de ustedes,
Elder Spencer W. Hulsey
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