tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82218880902890029702024-03-13T12:13:03.329-07:00Elder Spencer HulseyThis blog contains the emails and letters Elder Spencer Hulsey sends home while he is serving as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.Elder Hulsey Missionary Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02335894467912245126noreply@blogger.comBlogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8221888090289002970.post-34285343114644989932014-04-08T13:03:00.001-07:002014-04-08T13:03:06.426-07:00(No Subject)Email received April 7, 2014<br /><br /><div>
querida mama mia,<br /><br />Muchos thank yous por tu correo y todos tus pensamientos y oracaciones. (Thanks so much for your mail, your thoughts and prayers.) En verdad gracias a la familia entera. I didn’t try the vicks vapor rub for my toe but I do have a bit of the gripe so I might try some for help with that. I still haven’t moved. The house has been done now for 2 weeks- it’s just the legal and paper work side of it all that needs getting done. We should be able to move this week though. I think I got a little taste of Zack’s world because I had to do some paper work this last week. I had to get the dueno(landlord) of the house to sign the contract and then rush it to the zone leaders house for the APs to come and take it. I feel a little more for Zack and the stress he must feel every day for his missionaries. Me and Elder de la cross will be together for at least 1 more transfer. I’m pretty pumped because I should be here for Sara and Heidi’s baptisms. I am really praying hard for Heidi. She made some mistakes earlier on in her life and they are now coming back to bite her. Namely she had a boyfriend when she was 16 or so and he is very mentally insane and she left him and then married a Norwegian guy legally, (yeah this country is full of crazy things) and now the ex boyfriend is jealous and hates us and says we are just trying to turn Heidi against him. Then he starts to call her terrible things that no daughter of god should ever be called. But our bishop and his wife are amazing and are doing what they can to help her out. So Conference was amazing. I watched it cien por ciento(100%) en español de nuevo. My language has been improving a lot with De la Cruz and he has taught me a lot about the mission as well. He has been out the same as Zack and he is an excellent teacher. I am working hard to try and keep up and be observant of what he does. He teaches really well and I have learned more about how the people think and react based off the way he thinks and reacts. I loved Elder Holland, Elder Anderson, Hermana Reeves, y Elder Ucthdorf’s talks the most although I was a big fan of how M Russel Ballard convinced his wife he was the only ex misionero verdadero y viviente(true and living returned missionary). That was way funny but a super powerful talk as well. It gave me a lot of confidence really. It’s been 8 months now and I have learned a lot about myself. I definitely regret a lot of the I did before my mission and I want to make it all right some day. I really had quite the orgullo(pride) about a lot of things and I have learned now that the humble are the ones who learn. I can’t remember who said it but there was a talk that said prayer doesn’t change god but I can change me. I have learned how to pray and I am learning how to change. I am so grateful for my mission and for the Dominican Republic. I am so grateful god let me come down here to teach my brothers and sisters about the truths of the gospel. This is really my heaven on earth and the holiest place I have ever been. I can get so frustrated at times with the people. They are very open about a lot of things to include making fun of Americans speaking espanol but I have learned a thing or two from my grandma now and I know I can speak better and that I can be humble and just love the people with all my heart. I can’t even believe how much my mission has helped me appreciate Grandma that much more. I’m so blessed to have her as an example in my life and we are all blessed that she made the decision to be the first crazy bean to jump into the pot. My mission has also led me to love family history. I have helped a few less actives start theirs and I have almost completed the mi familia booklet Elder Cook talked a little about. President has asked us to walk with ours in our bags or Books of Mormon to show to investigators, members, or less actives who might have interest. Speaking of, I would love to hear more about our antepasados so I can write more in my book about them. Nothing big just little charactaristics or stories I can read fast translate and write down in the book to show to people about my ancestors. <br /><br />I love you all and espero que pasen una semana excelente.<br /><br />Con mucho cariño,<br />Elder Spencer W. Hulsey</div>
Elder Hulsey Missionary Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02335894467912245126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8221888090289002970.post-80630510309528009492014-03-24T19:07:00.002-07:002014-03-24T19:07:31.372-07:00(No Subject)Email received March 24th, 2014<br /><br />Dear family,<br /><br />I have some funny news to tell you- the mission accidently didn’t quite finish the house so we are stuck down here one more week. Now you might wonder why I said funny news. I am trying to be super positive about it. Honestly I laughed when they told me about the mistake. You remember that talk a few years ago by Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin that talked about taking and loving what comes our way? I was thinking about that a lot this last week. Remember he told a story about how his daughter had a blind date one night and a man came to the door and she left with him and then ran back into to the house super embarrassed because it turned out to be a different man there to pick up a different daughter who had committed to babysit that night. He said they laughed and laughed and just ended up having a good time about it. I thought about it in relation to my toe. I could be mad about it, feel that I have been mistreated, scared and worried or I can laugh about it and just understand the Lord has His purpose for all things and if we endure them well we will be blessed. It’s really not the easiest thing now. My toe was just operated on and it still hurts to walk on it especially up a super steep hill about 30 minutes but It’s ok. I’m taking good care of it and putting on the special cream the doctor gave me and elevating it and doing what is right. I like a quote from the Other Side of Heaven that says,” Sometimes the Lord calms the sea, other times the sailor, and sometimes you just gotta swim.” Right now I just gotta walk and know that Lord has prepared people for me to go and help and teach. It’s not really worth it to mope around or pout and be upset about the trials but I am learning how to laugh and be stronger through the adversities. I’m excited for this week because we should have a baptism. A girl named Thais who has come to church over a year now and has finally made the choice to be baptized. It should be good. She is very smart and will be a good member. Now we just gotta try and help her family too. I’m very grateful this Easter season. Maybe more than any other one in my life. In truth I was reading an old conference edition of the Liahona (the Ensign) and in the church news section it talked about the relief efforts for the earthquake in Haiti. I never would have guessed how much that earthquake 4 years ago could have affected me so much now. I remembered a family in Bani, the Haitian one that named me the godfather of their children. I remember in the first visit Elder Mortensen and I were sitting there talking with the mom, Roodlina about her life in general. We asked her about her family, religious views etc. and she told us that she left Haiti before the earthquake hit and she still doesn’t know much about her family. She hasn’t been able to keep communication with them. Her husband and her couldn’t go to Haiti because they had no money and working super hard already to gain citizenship here in the DR and also to get legally married. It’s a real blessing to know that even though our earthly communication is limited our heavenly communication is always here. We taught her all about how she is a child of God- He gave her her family and He will always take care of us. He loved us so much He gave us His son to die for us. Jesus Christ really did come to earth and He did set up His church and teach about His evangelio (gospel) and the way to get back to live with God again and the way we need to take to be made clean and have peace. I know He took upon Him all our sins and pain. And I love the happy words the angel said that morning so long ago, that “He is not here but He is risen.” I know He is risen and more than that, that we can rise too and live with our families again no matter what. We showed her pictures of the Santo Domingo temple and told her that we can make eternal covenants there. I know that someday she will be able to go there. I know that life doesn’t end on the other side of the veil. I have this quote on the back of my white bible that says, “I know that we will be with the savior again, that if we are faithful to him, we will stand free, unfettered and unencumbered, and that we will recognize in the marks in his flesh something of his bondage and imprisonment and dying sacrifice for us.” I testify that that is very true. There are families all over who need the gospel of Jesus Christ. They need the peace. It’s not really important if my toe hurts, or I woke up with a headache, or if it’s a million degrees and I’m sweating before I even leave the house. I know that when I leave each day the Lord is with me and is helping me help his children. It’s such a blessing to be a missionary and I’m super excited to see what these next months will bring. Thanks so much for everything and I promise to send some pictures next week.<br /><br />Con mucho amor,<br />Elder Spencer W. HulseyElder Hulsey Missionary Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02335894467912245126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8221888090289002970.post-50642271614354825572014-03-17T20:48:00.000-07:002014-03-17T20:48:06.491-07:00(No Subject)Email received March 17, 2014<div>
<br />Dear family,<br /><br />Thanks so much for all the prayers that you say for me. I really do feel them and am noticing more and more miracles everyday. It’s a blessing to be here in Buenos Aires with elder De la Cruz. I am learning a lot of Spainish and even more than that I am learning a lot of better ways to preach the gospel. It’s really cool getting to learn so much. I am so grateful for these past 7 months I have had. I really have notIced a change in myself and I can’t wait to keep bettering myself. My companion is trying so hard to learn English and he is learning so much. So good news I am moving tomorrow to a very safe house the church just built for us. It’s amazing because they built the place in a little over a month. I’m super grateful for all the hard work that went into it. We will be living next door to a few members as well and one of them is super excited. She said she is an excellent cook but ya hay las reglas (but we have rules). Anyway I got to see a picture of my next mission president as well at a zone conference. He is an American who served in Spain and was on a church assignment I believe in France for 5 years as well. He lives in California. I’m excited to meet him but I will really miss Presidente Rodriguez. I have learned a lot from him. I’m very happy for all of the kids. It’s crazy Emma is almost a senior and in a year we will probably go to Snow together. I really don’t want to leave this country though. There will always be a special place in my heart for these people. Heidi had a problem this last week but she told us that she prayed with faith and things are getting better. Nos dijo que tiene mucho deseos para seguir adelante (she told us that she desires to keep moving forward). I know she can do it. I know the Lord has a special plan for her. It’s such a blessing to be a messenger of that plan. We also found a family and they now have a date for the 10th of May. There are a lot of time rules here for when we can and can’t baptize. Anyway so today I had a bit of an adventure. I had to go to the ccm (Dominican MTC) again so the doctor could cut my toe nail. Yeah- let’s just say that I might have had a minor infection from when I tried to cut it out myself and there was a lot of puss....jaja but one minor operation later and I’m good to go. The doctor said to take it easy on the walking though. Thank goodness we are moving tomorrow. I love you all so much and I hope you have a great week. Thanks so much for the package as well. Elder De la Cruz loved the sasquatch thing and the jerky. He said if you want to adopt him you can jajaja anyway I found this store that sells American candies and he is now addicted to gummy worms. i got invited to a members wedding on the 29th of Feburary 2016 so I told Elder De la Cruz that I would bring him as much jerky and gummy worms as possible when I come back for that jajajaja. <br /><br />Mucho thank you (something a menos activo who is learning English likes to tell me) for everything,<br /><br />Elder Hulsey</div>
Elder Hulsey Missionary Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02335894467912245126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8221888090289002970.post-66949595957844033242014-02-27T05:37:00.005-08:002014-02-27T05:37:54.624-08:00(No subject)Email received February 25, 2014<br /><br />Querida familia,<br /><br />Wow what a crazy week. This was the last week of the transfer and it turns out Elder Cragun will be leaving tomorrow. I’m a bit bummed to be honest-he is a very hard worker. I won’t find out my next comp or if I will be training again until tonight. I’m grateful to be here in Buenos Aires and I really love this ward. One thing is for sure- they love playing basketball and this Thursday is independence day down here in the DR so we have planned a big ward basketball game for the early morning. The bishop is a really good player and his sons are very good as well but he is adamant that in his old age he can still whoop up on them. I actually have an ingrown toenail right now that I just got treated and it’s still tender so I will be taking it a bit easy in the game.<br /><br /> Wow! I can’t believe Maren is already doing missionary work. It’s really true that just being a friend to someone really is just the start. She is very sweet. This week we found a really cool investigator named Heidi. She actually contacted us on Tuesday morning I think and asked about the English we have been teaching at the church. She asked if she could come even if she wasn’t a member and we told her absolutely and gave her our number and told her to call us if she was interested in hearing a message or just needed service or anything. She laughed and said that we talk funny but she would love to talk about God anytime. We got the chance to teach her and she read the folleto(pamphlet) for the restauracion(restoration) and marked it up all nice and had amazing questions. We were blessed to be able to answer them clearly enough and she really understood. She showed up to church yesterday and loved it. She said she has gone to a lot of churches but there was something different about ours, she felt different. We explained it’s the spirit, the same spirit she feels when we talk with her and she is reading and it’s telling her that it’s all true. She loved the Book of Mormon and asked if she could go to institute to get even more help understanding it. The institute teacher and her husband are both recently returned missionaries and said she is more than welcome to come to the class or their house with any questions about the book. The work is really progressing. Things with Sara are going well. You know me. I get easily frustrated when I feel that things are clear and people don’t understand but I am trying to learn humility and remember all God has ever worked with is imperfect people and he deals with it so I need to humble myself and do so as well. We pray for her everyday and we are seeing progress with her father now as well. We have a family prayer with them every night. It’s hard because we live so far away but it’s worth running home late at night to be on time and help them feel the spirit a bit more. So anyway the girls definitely hiss here and blow kisses a lot. All you can do is ignore them. We were teaching a menos active (less active) at a member’s house and the door was opened and we sing a hymn to start every lesson and a girl outside heard me sing and started blowing me tons of kisses and hissing at me and telling me how bueno I am and so we closed the door and I think the menos activo tried to put a curse on her with a chicken or something but I didn’t understand so well. I really do love this place so much. Best of luck to Meg and Maren. Tell them I am praying for them and I hope the very best. I know they will do great.<br /><br />Thanks for everything i love you all so much.<br /><br />Elder HulseyElder Hulsey Missionary Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02335894467912245126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8221888090289002970.post-63180932345708271852014-02-18T20:59:00.005-08:002014-02-18T20:59:53.462-08:00Email received February 17, 2014<br /><br /><div>
Dear family,<br /><br />Thanks so much for all the prayers for Sara and her family. We have had excellent lessons with their family and Mari and Sara show up to church each week but there is still just something missing so we are postponing the baptism just a little bit more. Elder Cragun and I made a cake for them though and are showing as much love as we can to them. I really love Elder Cragun. I don’t know how much time we will have together though because the transfer is almost over. I can’t believe I already have 6 weeks here in Buenos Aires. Don’t worry about the fan club- they just see the name tag and the white boy and go for it. I haven’t had problems other than cat calls and well last night and my first week here I got proposed to but don’t worry I’m totally fine. It’s just kinda funny to us now. I remember this one time playing baseball with Eli almost right before I left and him telling me, “ Spence I love you, thanks for playin’ ball with me. Can we play tomorrow too?” I remember that moment a lot now and I am excited for the day I can play some ball with him again. I do have very fond memories with each of you. The Dominicans really are just like family to me now. I love them so much and I know I have so much to do here. I know I have bad times here but I don’t remember them to well. I just love it in truth. No hay otro lugar en lo que yo querreria estar (There is no other place I would rather be). It sounds like you guys had a great stake conference. This ward is so amazing doing the work with us. We are trying to give it to Mari’s husband hard and we feel that family history could be an excellent way to do it. He does really love the family and I think it would be good to show him what we really believe as far as eternal families. I know that the spirit of Elijah has been poured out over the face of the earth. I know that maybe if nothing else could this can touch his heart and soften it. It’s such a blessing to have a temple so close to us here in the DR. We have shown the family so many pictures of the temple and I really have the firm hope that someday they can walk in there to be sealed. That really is the goal. I can’t even think of anything that would make me happier at this point. It’s easy sometimes to get down on ourselves in the mission. But I know I need to have hope for a brighter tomorrow. Everybody has the potential of godhood someday. Even the bum on the street you normally wouldn’t give a second glance to is a child of god and has such a wonderful potential for something so much better than what he has been asked to pass through here. What a blessing we have as members and missionaries of this church to spread that message-to bring and establish the peace of Jesus Christ. Uncle Rick wrote something on my Halloween card that had a bigger effect on me than he probably thought when he wrote it. It simply says “Bring the Peace”. I thought it was suiting. There is very little peace here but it’s not important. I was called by God to serve here and help bring that sacred peace that can only be found through obedience to the laws and ordinances of this church. I’m very firm in the faith here. My apartment is super fun. We are building a new one right now and I got the chance to see it and it looks like it will be pretty nice-two bathrooms por lo menos(at least). We have an interview every two to three transfers and we visit the temple every 6 months so I will be going in march. We also do have zone conferences but they are rare here. I love you all and thanks for thinking about me and praying for me. I really feel your love and prayers here all the time. <br /><br />Love,<br />Elder Hulsey </div>
Elder Hulsey Missionary Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02335894467912245126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8221888090289002970.post-73313267682431915712014-02-10T19:25:00.002-08:002014-02-10T19:25:59.735-08:00(no subject)Email received February 10, 2014<br /><br />My Dear Family,<br />So first off Sara was unable to get baptized this last week. We had her all set but during the interview some things came up and we felt it best to have her wait for two more weeks. It’s actually a good thing though. This way her mom can hopefully get baptized too with her. Her mom really has so much faith and does know it’s true but her husband or rather man she has been living with for the past thirty years doesn’t want to get legally married. We gave them a Proclamation copy and had him read it out loud with the family and even though he denied it I know he felt it was true. The spirit was super strong and Mari y Sara were crying quite a bit in the lesson. After Mari shook my hand and told me thanks so much for all your patience with us and all I could really think was I should be the one thanking her. I know it’s not easy to have two young Americans come to your house trying to speak Spanish and explain to you what you should do for salvation but I am so grateful she opened up the door and more importantly her heart. I was very grateful for the bishop of our ward as well who after sacrament meeting yesterday visited with Sara and offered her some good counsel and encouragement. He is a fantastic bishop in truth. Elder Ramos is doing better. He told me a few things about the Dominican Republic he heard back in Honduras and he is kinda freaked out about the country. You know how Latins can be. They are very quick to believe the first bad thing they hear and assume it all to be true. He told me he is terrified to leave the capital someday and I told him I started my mission down in the south and that he doesn’t need to be afraid. You really are protected from all the bad things as long as you just do what’s right. Wow I can’t believe Eli is already four! I love showing his pictures to the Dominicans because they absolutely love his blonde hair and blue eyes. I remember there was this one little boy in Bani who was super smart and had about 2 years but talked super well. He also had really blue eyes and blondish hair (not Eli blonde) and when he saw that picture of Eli he said oh he looks just like me. I laughed and laughed and was really reminded in that moment that that little boy was my little brother too and god had given me the chance to teach his family the gospel of Jesus Christ. Being a missionary is really the coolest thing in the world to me for that reason. Give Eli a big hug for me and wish him a super feliz cumpleanos. Any way it sounds like everything is going great up there in the old Utah. I haven’t heard from Elder Mortensen, we can’t write the other elders in our mission but I know he is doing just fine. He is a great missionary and I’m so grateful for the chance I had to get to know him and help him start his mission. They do celebrate Valentine’s day here. The Dominican Republic es el mejor lugar en el mundo entero y estoy bien animado para vivir aqui por 18 meces mas. (the DR really is the best place in the entire world and I am so happy to be able to work here for another 18 months). I really can’t see myself doing anything else besides this. <br /><br />I love you all,<br /><br /><div>
Elder Spèncer Hulsey</div>
Elder Hulsey Missionary Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02335894467912245126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8221888090289002970.post-39365997693976750782014-02-03T19:00:00.001-08:002014-02-03T19:13:50.150-08:00No SubjectEmail received February 3, 2014<br /><br />Dear family,<br />Wow i cant believe it has been 6 months tampoco(either). by the way excuse the spelling in this email because the keyboard i am using is super broken. Anyway i love my new area. Im still not allowed to eat with anybody due to rules of the country. Its actually not just a rule of the missiion but the area seventy for the caribe(carribean) said missionaries in the dr shouldn’t be eating with members or investigators. It’s all for safety reasons. I have been blessed with a lot of health and strength during my mission. I actually burned a tie on my sixth month mark with my house. It’s so weird living with so many missionaries. Three companionships are a lot and I’m one of the older missionaries time wise in the house. The only one with more time with me is elder Diaz, the Costa Rican and he only has two more weeks on me. He is a super hard worker. His comp is really struggling though. We pray for elder Ramos every day to start adjusting more to the mission life. He has a good testimony he just needs to adjust is all. It can be hard we all know. Anyway if all goes well this Saturday I will have a baptism. Her name is Sara and I hope you guys keep her in your prayers this week especially. She is amazing and really does have a testimony but this week before baptism is always so hard. Her mom really wants to get baptized too but her dad said he doesn’t believe and doesn’t want to get married to her and she doesn’t have enough money to leave him. We gave it to him hard on the family yesterday. We read the Proclamation together and I knew he felt the spirit. He still told me he didn’t believe in all this but he respected our views on the family. All I could say was that realmente no estamos aqui para convincir le que estas cosas son verdaderas pero estamos aqui para invitar le. Por favor hermano hacer una oracion y pedir su padre celestial en el nombre de jesus si este es el camino que el quiere que tome. Si su familia puede ser eterna.(really we are not here to convince you that these things are true. We are only here to invite you to find out for yourself. Please brother, offer a prayer and ask your Father in Heaven in the name of Jesus if this is the path that he want you to take-for your family to be eternal). And after testified that I know families are forever. I really have learned that a lot here on the mission. I love the concept of families. I know there is no such thing as a perfect family. I know we didn’t have one but we really do have a happy family. I really love all of you guys and I am forever grateful to our heavenly father for the opportunity I have to be with you guys forever. I know I gave up two years with you guys to help others feel this same way. I can’t explain to you how happy I am to teach about forever families. I’m very grateful for these past 6 months I have had here. I will always be grateful for them. I can’t wait for these next 18 months. It’s sad to me that I am already a fourth of the way done. It’s weird how fast it is all going. I remember in my setting apart President Eddy said that the angles will guide me home. Really I think he meant that the angles will probably be the only ones with the strength to drag me out of this place. I can’t picture myself anywhere else besides here. I really love these people so much and I can’t believe how much I have learned from them and I am so excited to get to learn even more. <br />Yo espero que todo este bien alla. estoy muy agradecido por cada uno de ustedes. <br />Con mucho amor y un abrazo,<br />Elder HulseyElder Hulsey Missionary Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02335894467912245126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8221888090289002970.post-21252393760769368402014-01-27T20:22:00.000-08:002014-01-27T20:22:08.550-08:00Re: Hola Mi NinoEmail received January 27, 2014<br /><br />Dear family,<br /><br />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.<br /><br />Con love,<br /><br />Elder Spencer W. HulseyElder Hulsey Missionary Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02335894467912245126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8221888090289002970.post-90789969999147241112014-01-20T15:22:00.002-08:002014-01-20T15:22:22.788-08:00RE: New AreaEmail received January 20, 2013<br /><br />Dear family,<br />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.<br />Con amor,<br />Elder hulsey<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Elder Hulsey Missionary Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02335894467912245126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8221888090289002970.post-9583414636417417112014-01-14T21:18:00.000-08:002014-01-14T21:18:22.836-08:00(No subject)Email received January 13, 2014<br /><br />Querida family,<br /><br />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.<br /><br />Gracias por todo que hace,<br /><br />Elder HulseyElder Hulsey Missionary Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02335894467912245126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8221888090289002970.post-28522959743733959262014-01-06T19:47:00.003-08:002014-01-06T19:47:58.551-08:00Re: First Sunday in JanuaryEmail received January 6, 2014<br /><br />querida familia,<br />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.<br />Thanks again for everything,<br />Con mucho amor y un abrazo por cada uno de ustedes,<br />Elder Spencer W. Hulsey<br />
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<br />Elder Hulsey Missionary Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02335894467912245126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8221888090289002970.post-14450993615516836592013-12-30T21:54:00.001-08:002013-12-31T06:30:19.938-08:00Re: Happy New Year!Email received December 30, 2013<br />
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Dear family,<br />
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I am super happy that Christmas passed super well and it sounds like you guys had a very fun time. Actually the day after Christmas went really well. A lot of people were in their houses and we taught a lot and worked super hard. Elder Mortensen has taught me a lot. He has really taught me how to be more relaxed about the work and remember that numbers are really people and not just something to report to the zone leaders to show off or something. We’ve got to remember our purpose in each house. Sorry if i took up a lot of your guy´s time. I was able to do all that i needed to do that day and i felt very happy all day long. Elder Santiago is very impressed with your Spanish and Hermana Gutierezz thought your accent was perfect. He really enjoyed talking to you all. He is such a good missionary. I am so impressed with him. It’s weird and kinda hard for me to think he will be gone soon. Me and him went on an intercambio last Tuesday and we talked for a long time. He told me he is having such mixed feelings right now because he really is excited to go home and start his life but he says he has loved his mission more than anything in the world. And he also gave me some advice. He told me that throughout the mission i will pass through plenty of moments of Gethsemane. But never let those moments get you down. You have to just roll with them and put all your trust in the lords plan and brighter days will come. The most important thing is to fear no man. Never let your basic fears or anxieties get in the way of preaching the word. You never know who needs to talk to you on a particular day. So open your mouth and be friends with everybody. Its weird to me now looking back to just one year ago- i don't think i was very personable. I was always a little intimidated talking to new people. Well now im serving people who will be your best friend for just spending two minutes asking them how they are. they really are such a special and dear people to me. I love them so much. I love this work so much. It’s such a special time to be a part of this work as well. I came out at the right time for me i know it. I’m right where i am supposed to be and like i told you at Christmas, I’m really home. Now new years will pass pretty crazy i assume. We will probably have to be in the house early that day. But my plans right now are to go teach our part member family and hit them super hard with the word of wisdom, they have already committed to live it again but i want to be sure they understand why especially for that night. The 14 year old daughter told me she really likes her beer but i testified that this is a commandment from god and he will give her the strength to follow it. I know he will. I know she can. I have the faith she will. Its not a bad thing to have hope and faith. Even though a lot of the times you will be let down a little bit. The investigators a lot of times for whatever reason don’t come to church but the lord really does know what he is doing. I’m only here to follow his plan. It’s all we can do and i still hold faith that miracles will happen and the people will feel the need to come. They are very laid back and the more i think about it, the more i start to realize I’m pretty laid back too. And if i can get myself to church every week i have faith that they can too. I love you guys,<br />
<br />
Elder Spencer W. Hulsey<br />
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Elder Hulsey Missionary Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02335894467912245126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8221888090289002970.post-15210849023729883722013-12-23T06:43:00.001-08:002013-12-23T06:43:34.752-08:00Re: Hola!Email received December 17, 2013<br />
<br />dear family,<br />Sorry about yesterday, we were in azua for a long time but it was a ton of fun. I really enjoyed seeing the missionaries i knew and the spirit was very strong. My poor companion really didnt know too much of what was going on because it was all in spanish. He doesnt have bad spanish just that usual gringo block. Tal vez yo tengo eso todavia pero cada dia estoy mejorando poco a poco mas. Me gusta mucho el idioma. I really am loving the DR. I definitely can feel you all walking with me everyday. Its really such a blessing to have a family who loves and prays for you. Especially with the knowledge of forever families. To me its such a blessing preaching to people about a message of families being together forever. What a blessing it is to these people to have a temple so close by. I love the santo dominigo temple a lot. My mission president gave me a temple recommend holder with a picture of the temple that says Mision Santo Domingo Oeste 2013. Ok so i will explain the whole socks and flip flop thing oh and the pants as well because if you noticed, I made those pants i was wearing, kinda. Anyway so in the mornigns for study we need to be in missionary clothes but not shoes and i don´t actually leave the house until 2 in the afternoon. It's the schedule president gave us trainers. But anyway i get this call at about 830 here and it was Brother Roper telling me he was on Calle Las Mercedes looking for our house so i went out to the street but was too lazy to put my real shoes on so i just took the chancletas with my socks. the pants, its a tradition for every dominican missionary to make pants down here. Meaning you find a man who makes pants and ask him to make you some. So i made those pants for pretty cheap and they are pretty nice. Luckily all my shirts and clothes have been holding up great. I will be able to skype with yall at 3 my time so noon for you guys. I am super pumped and yes i plan on just using 40 minutes because its the guidline in the white handbook. I have some pretty crazy stories to tell you guys. I told a lot of stuff to my comp this week. He has been really struggling out here especially with his testimony. I tell him everyday that no matter what he will never regret the decision to endure to the end of his mission. And reminded him that its just like the himno says, Solo el que trabaja, se siente feliz. The only way to feel happy is to work. Its all we can do. Wow its crazy how grown up everybody seems. I know its only been a few months but it just seems crazy is all. Cant wait to play some ball with adam when i see him. We will play dominican style. They definitely play a little bit different down here. <br />Well I love you all and hope this week is great!<br />Love Elder Hulsey Elder Hulsey Missionary Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02335894467912245126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8221888090289002970.post-75053604147373606642013-12-10T18:50:00.000-08:002013-12-10T18:50:40.235-08:00Email received December 9, 2013<br /><br />My dear family,<br />estoy muy tranquilo, algo un poco diferente aqui es la frase que lo que? es como que tal. So i have some pretty big news actually, im training right now so my new comp has only 1 month and is fresh out of the ccm. Crazy right? the lord has trusted me with a pretty big responsibility and im super pumped for the challenge. Its definitely different but im super excited. His name is Elder mortensen. He is super tall and super funny and his spanish is improving everyday. Im super blessed to be training a guy like him. It sounds like adams birthday was a lot of fun. im happy he is my little brother. So i still don´t have all the news as far as skype goes but i will know for sure next week. By the way expect an email a little later next week. We are going to have a christmas conference next monday and it will go all day. We are going to this place called azua for it and im pumped because out on there basketball court there is this huge utah jazz logo. ha there is also this company here that has totally ripped off the jazz logo and im going to try and take a picture of it to show you guys. ITs pretty funny. I heard the jazz arent doing to good this year though. oh well still going to be a fan for life. So basically the dominicans started preparing for christmas when i entered the field. We always sing christmas hymns here in sacrament meeting. Something cool is that we received permission to eat with members on the 24th and the 31st of this month. Im super excited for this. We already have this member named nancy who said she has been dying to cook for us ha im so grateful for her and her family. super nice people. yes my stone passed the last week of the transfer. I was really fine, ya i was uncomfortable and in pain but i was blessed with strength beyond my own. I know the lord hears all of your prayers and has allowed me to feel this many times here. I don´t want you guys to ever feel worried or sorry for me. There are people with a lot worse here. I have been able to give quite a few blessings here to quite a few really struggling people. I know the priesthood is real. I know i have direct access to a loving heavenly father who is always waiting to answer my prayers. Much like president monoson i find no greater joy than following a spiritual prompting and finding out it was the answer to somebody prayers and i always the lord to know that when he needs an errand ran, Elder Spencer Hulsey is ready, worthy, and able. I remember this talk by jeffery r holland we listened to in the ccm. It was very powerful. It was part of training for new mission presidents a few years ago and it hit me super hard. He talked a lot about christs mission. Often times on missions we get to caught up in the hard things that we miss out on the good things. I find out 3 people from my group already went home due to anxiety issues. It really made me sad. I am not saying in the least that these people deserve any degree of disrespect or dishonor. But i remember in the talk Elder Holland pointed out some great stuff. Why cant everything just be easy, why isn't my only fear that of catching a cold due to the amount of time i spend in the baptismal font, why wont these people accept the truth, why wont they read the book of mormon, why is it simply just hard at times? well if you look in the bible at christ´s life and say wow sounds like he lived the easy life you would be absolutely and 100 percent crazy. Do you think it was very easy to be cast out by your own people, do you think it was easy to suffer the atonement, do you think it was easy to be tempted by the devil after fasting 40 days, do you think it was easy that despite all the miracles signs and wonders the people still rejected you, the message, and everything you knew would give them happiness? then why if it was never easy for the man we represent should we assume it to just be easy for us? The truth is its not easy but i promise you it is worth it. I cant even remember the faces of people who have rejected me, or scared me or anything else that was bad. I know they happened but i really find it easier to just remember the good. <br />Anyway i love you all and hope you have a great week,<br />Love,<br />Elder Spencer W. HulseyElder Hulsey Missionary Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02335894467912245126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8221888090289002970.post-54292944922510094602013-12-02T18:59:00.000-08:002013-12-02T18:59:14.407-08:00Email received December 2, 2013<br />
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Querida familia,<br />
So really quick i will be staying in Bani for the next 6 weeks at least. I will be receiving a new comp tomorrow though which is good because Elder Manubay has been here for the past 8 and half months and he really needed the change. it was only his second area and he is finishing his mission in may ha but anyway it sounds like thanksgiving was a blast. I ate the pies you sent me and they were very good ha its been a while since i have had pie but the flan down here is super good. i love being down here in the republica. Church well its always interesting and always different. Last week the chapel was full but this week it was a bit empty but its ok because the branch does have the animo to work with us and we are pumped to get things really going down here. We are working so hard to accomplish our goal and it does look like we have at least one family already reactivated with a few more on the way. We have been teaching less actives like crazy and we are having a big bonfire for an fhe tonight way out in the boonies and we hope some less actives can come. Wow poor grandpa i hope he can pass. I hear the jazz arent really doing too well this year either ha looks like i left at the right time huh? ha anyway everybody sounds a bit baby crazy over there but its awesome. I love having a big family and a super close family. Something kinda funny is the branch right above us has this recent convert named frank. He is the coolest and a super funny guy and we are trying to set him up with our young womens president so yesterday we had another choir practice and we totally got them talking and he fell so in love but she still isn´t sure. He made her help him with the hymns though and i think it will all work out for them ha Anyway i decided that i will also be bringing these two little girls home. one of them is super funny and has a problem with her voice so she sounds like a man but she is only 6. She is adorable though and the other one is a sad story. There is this special needs girl who has palsy and lives in the poorest part of my area. Her family cant afford much but they are less actives and are really trying to get to church but its hard because they don´t have a lot of money and live pretty far from the capilla. They told us she loves when we stop by though. she loves feeling normal and being treated kindly which was the biggest reason the family joined the church. Because nobody told them their daughter was cursed just that she was loved and a blessed daughter of heavenly father. She always smiles at me as we walk by and i always smile and wave at her and its hard to fight back tears sometimes. so she is coming back with me in 20 months. Happy birthday to adam this week. Can´t believe he is already ten. I toats remember when he was born. i sure do miss that little guy. So i sent a letter home in the mail this last week. There is something in there for everybody, nothing too long or too special but stuff that i could do. I will get to skype with you guys at christmas. I should get more details later on that.<br />
I love you all and hope this week is fantastic for you,<br />
con mucho amor y un abrazo por cada uno de ustedes,<br />
Elder Spencer W. HulseyElder Hulsey Missionary Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02335894467912245126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8221888090289002970.post-57927224284115108902013-11-25T20:29:00.001-08:002013-11-25T20:29:48.195-08:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Email received November 25, 2013</div>
<br />Querida familia,<br />I'm sorry my letter kinda freaked you out last week. I guess i just couldn´t really think of much to say but i promise i had a fantastic week. I love you guys so much and thanks for the all the prayers. I hope you know i pray for you all as well. Ha actually last pday we celebrated thanksgiving here as a zone. Our zone is very american so we all decided to get together and have a little party. We couldn´t cook a turkey though so we just bought some rotisserie chicken ha it reminded me of some good times me zack and jeff had. My president is a really good guy. He is very spiritual and you can tell he has so much love for his missionaries and for the work. He is a strict man but very sincere and very obedient. There is a very real opposing force here to the work. I have seen a lot down here in just the past 2 transfers and things that really i just can´t share because they are very sacred but I promise i am totally fine. The lord loves and protects each of his missionaries and i have been blessed with strength beyond my own. We had so many less actives in church yesterday, it was truly amazing to see the capilla fairly full. I loved it so much. The work is really starting to take off with the less actives. We taught a lot of them last week and we are really only struggling with getting this one woman to return. I'm pumped for uncle Ben. That took a while but its good that it happened por fin. so about the humanitarian stuff, I would love if she sent some things but in truth i don´t think i could be the one to hand the stuff out. If she wanted to she could send it to the mission office or something and they should be able to distribute but I don´t think its a good thing for me to do. The hardest part about my mission so far i think has been having to tell people i cant help them out financially. Its super hard but i can always share a quick message, give them a pack of oreos, and testify to them of the love our heavenly father has for them. I thought a lot about the song love is spoken here this past week. I have seen some pretty messed up homes here. The physical structures and the families that live inside them are full of problems. I thought about the line, mine is a home where every hour is blessed by the strength of priesthood power. What a great line. I know its true in our home and it can be for their homes as well. Thats what i am most grateful for. I grew up in a home knowing that no matter what happened the priesthood was always there. I had a mother and father who taught me gospel truths my whole life. When i was blessed to know that everything would be ok with you guys when i left in my setting apart, i didnt really understand how until now. I know mom that we are a forever family, what else matters? I hope thanksgiving is a blast for you all. We do have fhe´s with the members but we are not allowed to eat there. I havent really been sick but we did eat some weird food from this one restaurant and my whole house including my native zone leader got incredibly bad tummy troubles. Transfer calls will be here on sunday and i am thinking my comp will leave. I will be finished completely with my training so depending on the amount of missionaries coming in, i will be training. If its the lords will of course. I did receive the package yesterday. Thanks so much for sending it.<br />I love you all,<br />Elder spencer w. hulsey<br /><br /><br />ps here is marisol at her baptism<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Elder Hulsey Missionary Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02335894467912245126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8221888090289002970.post-30106229863039989552013-11-18T20:15:00.002-08:002013-11-18T20:16:40.813-08:00(No Subject)Email received November 18, 2013<br />
<br />Dear family,<br /><br /><div>
First a big happy birthday to Caleb. I miss that little guy and I'm looking forward to talking with him at Christmas. Its weird because i cant even imagine what he sounds like. I learned a lot about patience and overcoming adversity this past week. Bani is a real make you or break you area. and we can only do so much but we still wake up and start working anyway. I love being a missionary. I hope all is going well for you guys. I really hope you are able to find more missionary opportunities as well. So i have only had one zone conference here but we have a big mission conference coming up in December. Interviews are every 2 transfers and my president cant speak too much English so its for the most part all in Spanish. Ha pero esta bien, mi espanol no es perfecto pero puedo entender y puedo contestar las preguntas. Estoy mejorando cada dia y pienso que ese es la manera que el Senor quiere. Well I love you guys and I hope you are having a great week. <br /><br />With love,<br />Elder Spencer W. Hulsey</div>
Elder Hulsey Missionary Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02335894467912245126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8221888090289002970.post-76418882247815910282013-11-11T20:12:00.000-08:002013-11-11T20:12:02.371-08:00Re: Happy Veteran's DayEmail received November 11, 2013<br />
<br />Querido familia,<br />Yo tuve mi primero bautismo en jueves y fue confirmado ayer. Tengo mucho felicidad por eso! really i cant even express how awesome it was. She was so nervous to do it in front of everybody, we actually had quite a few people show up to it which was awesome as well, but we were able to calm her fears by having everybody besides the witnesses close their eyes and reminding her how happy heavenly father was for her. I don´t know if i will see many baptisms here or not but im so happy i at least got to see Marisol get baptized. And im still committed everyday to go out and find the people who are ready. Thats how preach my gospel says to measure success. Are you still studying it? I cant really answer your questions about how its different from the discussions but i trust you will come to know it soon enough. wow that is crazy about russel eh? it really does go by just too fast. Mom you have absolutely no idea how much you have done for me and how much you do for me. Thanks so much for not chatting with the other moms or anything like that. I feel all your love and all your prayers. Frankly i feel like i have the best mom in the world. Y entonces, FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS!!!!!! Im so blessed to have you as a mother really. I have seen a lot down here. Too many struggling families and im always reminded just how blessed i am to have my family and the promise that if we keep the commandments, we will be together forever. Im going to be working super hard this week with emphasis on reactivation. The time is now. I know i am a part of the great and maravillosa obra de los ultimos dias. No puedo expresar mi sentimientos con palabras pero yo se que el Señor esta conmigo cada dia aqui. Yo se que ese es verdadero. Yo se que jesucristo vive y nos ama. Soy un representante de el aqui en la republica dominicana. Tengo mucho amor por ellos. Si es dificil, si muchas personas me odian pero eso no es importante. porque soy llamado por dios para ayudar a estas personas a encontrar salvacion. Dios quiere que yo haga eso. Caun grande es mi llamamiento? I really do love what i do. So we have these two sisters in our zone, and one of them has been sick lately i guess and they haven´t ben able to get out in a while. The zone leaders asked us to go to the hospitial here in bani to help them get some kind of a test. So we did and while we were waiting a cristiano pastor came and started to try and throw down some doctrine with us. Elder manubay knows the bible like the back of his hand but we refuse to contend. We just invited and despite the many traps he tried to trick us into the lord kept his promise. That if we opened our mouths they would be filled and we would not be confounded before men. He told me he just couldn´t believe in the words of joseph smith. I asked have you read them? and he said an interpretation of them. So i asked him to do this, read the book of mormon, which is ancient scripture translated by joseph smith but not his words, and forget his doubts but only have faith. And then you can believe by the power of the holy ghost that this is true. Salvation comes through Jesus Christ and these are his words. Its very nice to have the lord on your side and to know when you speak by the spirit you are speaking the exact words he wants us to say.<br />I love you all,<br />Elder Spencer W. HulseyElder Hulsey Missionary Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02335894467912245126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8221888090289002970.post-46585187873175821382013-11-06T21:17:00.000-08:002013-11-06T21:17:21.758-08:00Email received November 4, 2013<br /><br />Dear family,<br />Sorry for writing so early for you guys but today is a holiday here. Halloween kinda works like this here i guess, its a whole weekend. So basically its been halloween for the past few days here. the 31st was super crazy though because the day before Boston won the world series and Bani is full of Boston fans. Haha we heard the loudest cheers and all manner of shenanigans that whole night. Something kinda funny about Dominicans is they dont know that the United States are more than just new york and boston. They always assume thats where im from so just to help them out a bit i say i am from a campo a cerca de Nueva York se llama Utah. Im honestly doing really well. For the first time in a while we had more than one investagator attend church. Its been raining a lot here and the problem with our branch is that its huge and people can only afford motorcycles so when its raining its almost too dangerous to come to church but there are definitely some faithful members. I was pretty scared to death yesterday though ha not for my life or anything but we had this guy julio nunez show up to church. We were absolutely thrilled and i explained that this is a fast sunday and we will hear testimonies of the members to him. Then Jugo stood up. We love jugo a lot but he said some things he really shouldn´t have over the pulpit and then to make matters worse the district president stood up and called him out on it in front of everybody. Testimony meetings are always super interesting ha but anyway julio said he really loved meeting anyway and that his door is always open and we could visit him whenever. we are working really hard to try and teach the members the doctrine now too. The thing is i know i was called here for a reason and im just trying to do my best to help out this branch. Its all i can do. Predicar mi Evangelio huh? Its a really amazing book. I don´t really know how you did the work before at all but everything in preach my gospel is supposed to be based off what the spirit tells you. We study it like crazy and its super helpful in creating lessons plans that should directly help the persons direct needs. If you guys can try and look up this talk by Jeffery R. Holland he gave at the mtc back in March. I got to watch the brodcast of that in the CCM and it was really helpful to me in trying to become a better preach my gospel missionary. I really love studying in Chapter 6 and also in chapter 10 specifically in the como comenzar enseñar part. I think those really explain what we try to do as missionarys. In truth we aren´t just here to preach the palabra in your faith but we are here to be representatives of jesus christ. So chapter 6 explains what we need to do to be a good representative. This past week we were out tracting and it was raining super hard and we didn´t have umbrellas or anything so we were just getting drenched which kinda helped because more people were letting us in but we came up to this one house and heard this quien invito las mormones? this woman then turned around starred me right in the face and said super sternly no we want nothing to do with you we are catholic for life. I simply told her pues esta bien entonces solo querremos ser amigos y ayuda le. She just kept shaking her head and saying bye so we kept on trudging through the rain. Manubay then talked to me and said its alright i mean we will see her at judgement day right? it got me thinking though. I don´t want to see any of these people at judgement day going in the wrong direction. It really hurts me to even think about. i pray really hard for everybody who rejects the message. I guess what i want to say is missionary work much like the life of Jesus Christ can not be for yourself. Yes it was raining hard and yes its terrible being rejected but its not important. I know its true. I know it will bless these peoples lives so its not worth it feeling sorry for myself. im so happy everything is going well at home. Thanks so much for everything i got a letter from grandma and it made me all teary eyed. Im so happy we are an eternal family. I might be needing a good sweater or two because di que, dominican for supposedly, it gets cold at the end of November. <br />I love you guys so much,<br />Elder Spencer W. HulseyElder Hulsey Missionary Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02335894467912245126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8221888090289002970.post-53065801332625753932013-11-06T21:11:00.000-08:002013-11-06T21:11:48.106-08:00Email received October 28, 2013<br /><br /><div>
Querido Familia,<br />Muchas gracias por su correo. Tengo mucho feclicidad cuando estoy leyendo sobre ustedes. Mami te amo. Oro para tu cada dia. Te extraño mucho pero yo se que estoy donde necesito estar. I love being here mom. Its the best decision i think i ever could have made. I dont even know why people would ever pass all this up. Its a struggle as you know but even though there are a lot of bad times, there is always hope. I have a lot of hope for this area. We are trying so hard but the people are just very laid back. Its hard for them to understand the importance of keeping commitments. But I know i was called here for a reason. I know it wasn´t random. And i guess this is just the lucha. All we can do is work. I really love to read in the scriptures too. In spanish they are even easier to understand. I was reading about abinadi this past week. It was pretty obvious he knew he was going to die there and i to be honest he may not have known all the reasons why the lord had asked to do what he did, never the less he did it. He preached the word with power and authority and though was rejected by many he was able to touch one heart. Alma the mayor, and look at all the good that came out of that. I really don´t know everything but i know i have a sacred calling and i am going to fulfil it. What do you mean the time is going slow? its blowing by mom. My days sometimes feel like they are two hours long. Im really working hard and having so much fun along the way. They really love to play dominoes here. You often see a group of older people sitting around and playing a game ha it does make for easy contacting. Our pool is kinda growing. We get rejected a lot but if you read in preach my gospel it defines how our success is measured. WE have to be commited to find people. WE have to be commited to teach and to baptize and to reactivate. WE have to be diligent. I really love the obra mom. Church was different this week because it was district conference. President came and spoke at it and it was really amazing. He talked about the work of salvation. We did sing in the choir and it was pretty funny. I will definitely have some wonderful memories about it. We have one piano player and he is our zone leader Elder Gatherum. He is an american and hes not the one who cooks. Me and him do get a long really well though. This will probably be his last transfer here though because he is going home in january. Well things are sounding great at home. Keep faithful and strong.<br />With love,<br />Elder Spencer W. Hulsey</div>
Elder Hulsey Missionary Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02335894467912245126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8221888090289002970.post-53489945795347833202013-11-06T21:07:00.000-08:002013-11-06T21:07:07.298-08:00Emails received October 21, 2013<br /><br />Dear family,<br />This past week was a very good one to end the transfers on. We had interviews with the president last Thursday and he said my Spanish is sounding super good. He is a spiritual giant. There is really no other way to describe it. I really love him. I haven´t had any problems with my kidneys. I am being as smart as i can with the water i drink too i promise mom. I don´t plan on wasting one second of the lords time y entonces no quiero tener problemas con mi salud. Its super important to have the spirit with you always. Its the thing that really gets you through all your ups and downs. You go through a lot on a mission. You experience a lot and people look to you often to do something you really have no idea how to do but god is a very smart man. He won´t put you in a wrong situation with a wrong person so just be obedient. Follow the proper counsels and use the spirit. Thats the only way to have success. Also its very important to notice the little miracles. Oh so im staying in Bani with Manubay for one more transfer. Actually our house didn´t change at all which made me super happy because we have a lot of fun here. Zack is absolutely right. Its the only way. I think maybe for people in the church we treat repentance and the atonement as such a scary thing. Its a hard thing but its not scary. In truth its just happy. It makes everything so much easier in the end. So never be afraid to use the atonement when needed because it was made for a reason. Oh acapella. Cant believe those days are over sometimes. I trust wilcok kept the choir in line. We have a choir here in our branch but i think it would make wilcok cry for all the wrong reasons. Not too many Dominicans have a good voice. But its still a pretty fun. Tell emma its really going to be ok. I have had to learn this concept here, The lord will always bless you with strength beyond your own in the moment you really need it when you are humble and obedient. Its all going to be ok. Halloween should be pretty fun it sounds like. I think dad should go in a gorilla suit though, or maybe save that for field day or algo como si. Pues muchas gracias por todo. Yo se que estoy en el mejor parte de mi vida. Me amo todos las personas aqui. Ellos necesitan muchos cosas y se que el senor quiere darles todos. Mom i had such wonderful experiences this last week. I want to tell you about them all but I think im a bit too nervous to do so. But do know that im so happy here. I feel so good. It is hard tu sabes but im growing a lot everyday. And everyday its getting that much easier. I feel that is the purpose of life. Not to get everything right away but precept on precept. Everyday I can tell myself that i did a little bit better than yesterday. I start to notice every little thing the lord does for me. I know he lives, i know he loves me. I want to help these people as best as i can. I don´t think the lord can experience more joy than when a lost sheep is found.<br />I love you guys,<br />Elder HulseyElder Hulsey Missionary Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02335894467912245126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8221888090289002970.post-11476748551385851592013-10-14T19:00:00.003-07:002013-10-14T19:00:57.306-07:00Re: Hello thereEmail received October 14, 2013<br />
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Dear family,<br />I am loving life here in the DR. Ok so we cant drink from the taps but water is really a non issue. We have filtered water bottles that we can drink straight from a river if we wanted to sin problema and we live right next store to a big water factory called Agua Crystal. And so we are able to buy purified water for super cheap so no teprecupes ha excuse my dominican slang. So anyway haven't been sick at all really. Tired but never sick. My native zone leader cooks for us and we all buy the food and do the dishes and such all in all it all works out. I always have enough money mom really. I have never ran out of personal food or anything so we are really all fine over here. So this week was super exciting for us. Basically our area book was the saddest thing you ever could have seen. Bani has been open for a super long time and so we had a lot of freaking stuff in there. I even found stuff from an Elder Wilkes i was wondering if it was the stake presidents son, But anyway we were praying for a way to really help our area because its been a bit of a struggle. I then had a thought during personal study and reflection time and I remembered what you always said about keeping a good area book. So I talked with my comp about it and we decided to act. It was amazing. We got permission to essentially start anew and so we started literally at the ocean and are working our way down talking to everybody and keeping a good record. The blessings are coming too as Marisol finally committed to baptism. She finally read and got her testimony after being an investigator for the past 8 months. She really wants to baptized on halloween and the assistants are ok with it but we are gonna call president and be sure. So thanks so much for always talking to me mom. Because of you acting on a thought that i believe to be one hundred percent inspired by the spirit people in Bani are receiving the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, The only true way to salvation. I'm super pumped for the home ward too. And just like you said really try to make her feel welcome and invited. Ill be honest with you our branch here is quite possibly the most apostate thing i may have ever seen but I'm grateful heavenly father has placed me here. I'm so happy for the chance i have to help out the branch here. Anyway that's way awesome for Zack. We do email but he didn´t tell me that. our email are a bit funny though. Kind of like these weird half spanish half english and the occasional guarani from him. I love this work and i hope you guys are able to find more opportunities to get involved. Are the missionaries Elders or sisters? are the Spanish or English or both or what? I love you all so much. We have interviews and transfer calls this week but i am pretty sure i will be staying with Manubay for another transfer. You are usually with your trainer for at least the first 2 transfers but with the amount of missionaries there is a possibility of me training this next one so we will have to see.<br />Con amor,<br />Elder Spencer W. HulseyElder Hulsey Missionary Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02335894467912245126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8221888090289002970.post-58455356758858797982013-10-11T08:54:00.000-07:002013-10-11T08:54:01.848-07:00Email received October 7, 2013<br />
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Dear Family,<br />Life in the DR is super great. I am glad you got that letter. There should have been a map in there so you can track where I am at. Bani is such an amazing place. People here don´t always understand the message though. It makes it a bit more difficult but I have learned a lot of good lessons about patience. I know I have the truth and therefore everything will work out for the best if i am obedient. That's really the key to everything in Missionary work. There are also a lot of evangelicos who don´t really like or rather understand the church. I am working super hard to build off common beliefs though. I am trying to be like Ammon. So The voodoo lady actually now has a baptismal fecha. We are working really hard with her to get her ready for it. its not for a while but I really admire her faith in accepting the invitation. I don´t see too much voodoo but I know i have been cursed a few times. I watched conference in Spanish so it was a bit hard to understand but i at least got the main focus of each talk. It sounded like they hit marriage pretty hard. And yes they just broadcast it to our church. I remember a talk elder bednar gave a long time ago but we got to see the rebroadcast of in the CCM. He started with saying if you write down everything that is said word for word all you have done is made a set of large plates but if you write down your feelings you are more apt to learn. They definitely hit member missionary work too. I am so glad you are sharing the gospel back at home. Its such a blessing to get to do it everyday. Sure its hard but its also really fun. I love being a witness of Jesus Christ. Hey way to go Emma. I do miss the Lindon Elementary sometimes. I really love my comp though he is a super great guy and he is very in tune with the spirit. We work hard but we also have a lot of fun. So we don´t have a time for dinner so we get two hours for lunch and we usually have a big lunch at home where my native zone leader, Elder Santiago, cooks. Then for breakfast i usually eat oatmeal, cereal, or just like grandpa some vienna sausages and for dinner i usually have enough time in between planning and bed time to make a sandwich. Si estoy aprendiendo la idioma. Es dificil a veces pero yo se que vive mi senor. Y puedo vencer todos mis desafios aqui por medio de su poder. Es una benedicion en mi vida para sentir su amor y su poder cada momento aqui. Y con cada persona yo tengo la oportunidad a ensenar. Muchas gracias por todos sus oraciones y todo su amor. We have a washing machine in our house kinda. Its two spinners really. One of them dries the other one washes but its a little rough on clothes. They say you just get used to the crustiness of them. I don't really mind though its really such a blessing just to have the water to wash my clothes really. And soap is pretty cheap here as well. I know a marvelous work has come forth. there is something super special about this country. It was the first one Chris Columbus found. I feel super blessed to be here. Thanks again for everything and have a great week.<br />Con amor,<br />Elder Spencer W. Hulsey<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Elder Hulsey Missionary Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02335894467912245126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8221888090289002970.post-9286071054465435072013-10-11T08:39:00.001-07:002013-10-11T08:39:18.091-07:00Email received September 30, 2013<br />
<br />My Week was really good. Bani is a real make you or break you area. its super hard and often times you wont get the chance to see the fruit of your labors but I know i am helping people feel the spirit. I love contacting a lot because it is a time where i can testify to people who literally have nothing that if they listen to our message they can have everything. I love telling them that they are a child of a loving god. I know they feel the truthfulness of this. I remember this last Tuesday we found this lady out in the middle of nowhere and as missionaries we love to talk with everybody so we went up and started a conversation probably about 7 at night so it was pretty dark here. Anyway she had tons of voodoo in her house because a robber had broken in and she was super afraid of it happening again. She already didn´t have much to begin with. But anyway there was a different kind of feeling in that house. We said a prayer though and in the prayer my companion blessed the house with safety and with the spirit of god. And instantly the spirit had filled the room. We taught her about the restoration and she loved the message. she loved the spirit we brought to her that night. She is progressing now and we have a baptismal fecha for her on the 4th of January but it should move up soon. She is a fabulous lady. Anyway it sounds like things at home are going super well. So kind of a funny story but i got to go to the relief society session here To play techie with my comp. We live stream conference and that's how we watch it. I loved the talks though. Especially The first counselors She talked about how members need to involve themselves in missionary work. i really want to be a missionary for the rest of my life. I love doing what i do and i definitely feel your prayers. thanks so much for all you ever did for me. its so hard here but i know the lord walks with me everyday. i know he lives and is with us everyday. I love being his servant here. <br />Con mucho Amor,<br />Elder Spencer W. HulseyElder Hulsey Missionary Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02335894467912245126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8221888090289002970.post-17047063633632292032013-09-23T17:47:00.000-07:002013-09-23T17:47:48.219-07:00Re: Another week gone by!Email received September 23, 2013<br />
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My dearest family,<br />
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So sorry for writing so late. It probably wont be a long letter because i got to get back to work. So today we got permission to leave our area and go to another one in our zone called Nizau. It is quite possibly the most beautiful place ever with a perfect view of the ocean. We left right on time but accidentally took the gua gua that was headed for the capitol and not bani so we had to negotiate a bit and find a new gua gua. Well the gua gua we found was super crowded but way fun too. Church was really good yesterday. I didn´t teach the pmg class but i did give a talk and that went pretty well. The language is a bit of a struggle of course but it really isn´t as bad as i thought it would be. Heck I'm even teaching an English class this Saturday morning. Pday we usually all get together as a zone and do fun things. Everybody in my zone is super cool. I'm super pumped for Emma. It really sounds like she is breaking her shell. I hope she is having fun too. A very happy birthday to Maren. I hope she knows how much all of her letters have meant to me and helped me. That's so crazy about patriarch Bean. He was the first person I went to for missionary month. Its weird now being on a mission. The news made me sad but I have never felt so close to the lord at any time in my life. I love getting to spread the gospel for him. President is a very reverent guy and a very inspired and strict man. He is a perfect president for me. He has challenged us to reactivate a family and get a baptism once a month. It will be hard but I know we can do it. I absolutely love contacting. Just sharing quick messages with random people and helping them feel hope. Thanks so much for everything. Your package came at the perfect time. We had a big zone conference with Elder Civic of the 70 and thats where i picked it up. The conference was great by the way. It was super cool seeing people from my CCM group. Well I love you all and hope you have a fantastic week.</div>
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Con Amor,</div>
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Elder Spencer W. Hulsey</div>
Elder Hulsey Missionary Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02335894467912245126noreply@blogger.com