Week 25

Yeah the beer can story was something that I won't forget lol! :) Yeah work has been going slow but it is okay! I was also sick ALL week lol so we only went out for 2 days but we got a lot of work done!

The weather here has been a little chilly! We are walking and biking still and It will probably be like that for awhile. It is okay, I don't mind it. It means we get to try and talk to people. I say try because usually no one wants to talk to us lol usually they yell out "MORMONS!" and everyone runs away lol so street contacting goes okay lol

So we are dropping a lot of our investigators because they are not progressing. So the idea for missionary work is to find an individual willing to let us teach them and leave with them for certain commitments that invite them to repent and to prepare for baptism. So for example a commitment invitation could be for them to "Will you read 2 Nephi 31 before our next visit on Thursday, and pray to know if baptism is the path you should follow?". So people accept the invitation, but they don't do it therefore they are not progressing and after awhile if they are not progressing then we drop them so we can focus on people that are willing to keep commitments. We still keep in touch with them and help them and love them, but we just stop seeing them frequently. 

We haven't added anyone new because everyone is white... therefore we can't teach them, all the Mexicans we find live in Mexico. So it has been hard. 

 

So i went on exchanges with Elder Cuautli and we went and had a pretty interesting day, we went and taught someone that was on the street and I swear that this guys must've had some sort of leprosy or something his leg was jacked up!!! We went and taught him and left him a book of Mormon, but it was crazy! 

 

Last Night we went to the Temple and saw all the light with Freddy and Geovany and Yasmin. It was soo cold, but super pretty and they had musical performances. It was super spiritual and Everyone that came with us felt the Spirit super strong. 

 

Love you all!!!!! 

Elder Hays

Week 24

Hey guys! I am glad that you liked your letters! :) All is been going pretty well over here! Thanksgiving was REALLY GOOD! I ate some delicious Tamales and Tacos and Turkey and I ate with like 3 families so it was awesome! So I have a pretty funny story about thanksgiving night.

So, our investigators told us to come by at 8p for dinner, and we were walking around and it was about 7:45p and we see their dad and daughter get out of the car from black friday shopping. Yasmin walks out with this big box for a theater system and wont let us help her. So I run up to the dad to help and he hands me this huge box. It was really dark out so I didn't see what it was but as I started walking to the house there was enough light for me to see that it was a 40 case of beer! So I was like crap, I better just run this up there real quick before anyone sees me with this, I was thinking that just the mom was up there since it was early and that it was no big deal. I get up there and open the door AND THE WHOLE FAMILY WAS THERE! There was like 20 people all looking at me and it was super funny, everyone was staring and then I said " Traigo la cerveza" or I brought the beer! Everyone was laughing and I explained the situation and how we DON'T drink and how it isn't ours and it all worked out good, we ended up teaching one of the uncles there which was super cool! 

I will definitely save the packages for Christmas! :)))) Thanks! :) And no we dont have a christmas tree, I am glad that you guys had fun doing the party! I definitely wouldve eaten all the food.

 

Ok I will put the walmart giftcard to good use. and yeah the Visa gift card would be great! 

 

The work has been slowing down because we baptized everyone that was progressing lol which is good! :) So we are having to drop a lot of our investigators so right now it seems as if we have about 3 investigators. In order to find more people we have to go knocking door to door. We serve in a predominantly white area and there are very little people who speak spanish. We have a goal of adding 20 people to our teaching pool so we will see if we can start teaching and baptizing more people. :) It doesn't help that I am sick :p 

Love you guys!

 

Love, Elder Hays

Week 23

Hey Family!!

I got your package! thank you so much! I am suuuuperrrr excited for it! Right now I am emailing at the San Diego State University Library! It is so weird being on a college campus lol! There are so many cute girls! But don't worry I am still staying focused lol This week was pretty slow, but still good.

 

I am super glad to see that you are having such a great time in Charleston! I never would've thought that it be THAT awesome! It looks pretty from the pictures, what do yo guys plan on doing for the actual thanksgiving day? oh this is kinda not to good news, I noticed in Dad's letter that he mentioned skyping on Christmas, I am really sorry, but that is only for foreign missionaries, I just get a phone call, UNLESS we get Ipads before then, which is possible because it has been mentioned that our mission will be using Special missionary Ipads. So there is a slight chance :) 

I am sorry this is such a lame email, but honestly NOTHING HAPPENED THIS WEEK! so I am kinda just rambling so you can get a long email :) 

 

Oh yeah last night we ate tamales ( A really delicious and fattening Mexican meal that I can't describe) they were to die for!! we had to bike for 30-40 minutes to get them but it was worth it! A member made them for us so that was good! we have been fed a little bit more than usual, Freddy (our recent Convert) has been feeding us a little when we go over, which is like every day because all of our investigators are related and live on the same street and in the same complex so we spend hours teaching all the people there, but it is all in the same spot lol. Which is weird for the mission. We also ate boiled pig feet which was not half bad, the texture was terrible, but hey it was free food! :) 

 

I love you guys!!

 

Love always,

Elder Hays

This is my district in the Logan Heights Branch after our District meeting.

 

 

These are most of the missionaries that are around Downtown San Diego (English and Spanish) after we did service in the famous Balboa Park.

Week 22

 I am getting so skinny! Still keeping my muscle for the most part. I have just been eating fruit and cream oatmeal in the morning with a scoop of Protein and sliced banana, then for lunch a small "lean" gourmet frozen meal with a protein shake with frozen fruit. then for a snack I eat some of those Quaker rice cakes (WHICH ARE SOOO YUMMY AND HEALTHY!!!)  with apples and carrots and then i eat some vegetables too! We usually skip dinner, and eat a snack when we get home. It has been great we have been fed a little bit more, just not as much as English missionaries lol :) There is definitely a difference between the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and la Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Ultimos Dias. The members here in Logan have only really been members for less than 5 years and are all converts, so they don't know much of the organization and stuff like that. Our branch just started the dinner calendar about a month before I got here lol, it is all good though, I absolutely LOVE IT!!  WE ARE EATING WITH THE BRANCH PRESIDENT AND SOME RECENT CONVERTS ON THANKSGIVING :))) I love my branch president so much, I have learned so much from him. Also He has really bad Parkinson's and doesn't make an excuse for anything. Last May his Parkinson's got so bad that he could really function, yet he still magnified his calling. At that time he had already been branch president for about 4 years and thought that he was going to be released when they call the new stake president, but the new Stake president kept him in despite his condition, then President Lopez (my branch President) found a new form of medicine that is in a patch, and he has gotten better ever since. He is probably the best BP or Bishop that I have seen. He was invited out of the stake to be BP because he is that good. He said a comment during ward Council last week that really struck me. He said, " Home and Visiting teachers are the most important callings in the church. Even greater than the responsibilities  of the Prophet". That is a bold statement, but after thinking about it, it makes since. Bringing lost sheep back into the fold is so important, even Thomas S. Monson can't accomplish it all by him self. We truly do become more like the Good Shepherd when we expand on those callings. I have a testimony of that, there are so many people that are less active that need our help, I see it as a missionary every day (mainly in Calexico, because I have no members in my area her in San Diego). All they are looking for is someone to be looking for them. 

 

This week was slow, but good. We had a baptism this past Wednesday and we might have one on Saturday. one of our investigators came to the baptism and now wants to get baptized! so we have 3 people that will be getting baptized in December! :) Busy Busy. We had tons of meetings this past week so we didn't get out much for teaching, but it is all good :) it is hard when it comes to finding those Mexicans because we live in a predominately white area, but we have the faith necessary to find some. We actually did find a complex of Mexicans so we started knocking on their doors, no real luck yet. :) all of my recent converts are doing good. The Garcia family in Calexico is at church every Sunday and passing the Sacrament and Julio I believe is in the Elder's Quorum presidency! :) They are awesome I love them so much, it stinks not being able to teach them, cuz they would feed us all the time lol.  :D I miss you guys, that is why i always keep you guys close :) (reference to the picture I sent you) Oh yeah and I also climbed Mt. Miguel last week for pday :p I was pooped, it was super hard to do but so worth it! :)
I miss you guys and i think about you a lot, but the time is honestly flying by, the times around the holidays will be hard, but I promise that these 2 years will soar by. I am doing the Lord's work, in turn he will bless you and he has blessed me, I have grown so much in these 6.5 months. I know that this is the RESTORED church of Jesus Christ, we honestly are the only church on this planet that follows the Bible exactly. We do have a prophet that has been called of God to be a special witness of Jesus Christ and His Atonement. I know that power of the Atonement is real. I have felt its effects everyday. I am changing through its power. We can become more like Him through accessing the power of his infinite sacrifice. As we put everything on the altar of sacrifice (a broken heart and a contrite spirit, and whatever is holding us back) we are promised to feel the comfort of the Holy Ghost (the First Comforter) which then sanctifies us. This sanctifying power cleanses us and makes our bodies clean like the temple and as we make a peace offering to God, by attending church, partaking of the Sacrament worthily, going to the Temple regularly and doing all we can to follow him, we are promised with the presence of the Second Comforter, Jesus Christ. Mom and Dad right now the Lord has asked a lot of sacrifice (Nothing comparable to His), but I know with all my heart that as you continue to remain strong in the times of trial, you will feel more than the Holy Ghost in your life, you will feel the overwhelming love of the Savior as you have been prepared for His presence. I have learned this on my misison. Everyday I study the Atonement and it literal applies to everything. For almost 3 weeks I studied the law of sacrifice using the Bible Dictionary and the Scriptures and my eyes were opened. The law of sacrifice of the times of Moses actually directly applies to us today, and it all falls on the Atonement. Right now you are sacrificing a lot, but there is always more. I know and promise you that you will be comforted throughout these 2 years and the rest of your lives you apply these things in your life. I have never been happier before in my life, and i have never sacrificed so much before either. Our nature doesn't want things to be hard or to have to sacrifice anything. That is why the Lord has given us the law of tithing. We pay tithing not to help fund the Church, but to give to the Lord only a 10% of our money which is representative of our time and efforts. The same applies to the time we are in now. I am almost 20 years old, I have spent all my life with you, but now the Lord is asking for my tithing, 10% of my life only 2 years of my time and my efforts. the windows of Heaven will be opened. I know this to be true.

Love always, 

 

Elder Hays

 

 

Week 21

Things have been going great here we are baptizing the world!!! :) I am so happy to be on my mission, I miss you guys so much, but this truly is the best time of my life and it is going by soo fast! So Freddy has been coming out with us and he is a boss! He is really following the promptings of the Spirit as he goes and talks to people on the street with us, we have seen some sick miracles! We also were supposed to have 3 baptisms on this past Saturday but just had one. but we went and talked to one of the ladies and she said that she wanted to fast with her so she can receive an answer, so we did and she is getting baptized tomorrow night :)))

 

So cool story...

The other night I was praying and I had a strong and distinct impression to ask God to have Luz (an investigator)  have a dream that would confirm her thoughts on being baptized and for her to tell me about it the next day. Which was weird because it was in the middle of my prayer and completely random. Also Never before have I asked for anyone to receive a dream. The next day we had an important appointment scheduled for her regarding her baptism. She then tells us that SHE HAD A DREAM!! Her dream was that it was the end of the world and that she and her husband Julio (both non members) were standing on one side of a gate and her parents (both members) were on the other side all dressed in white. She said that her and Julio were sad and that they could be with her parents who were happy!!! I freaked out when I heard this. She told us that she wanted to get baptized the next day. So then at the end of the appointment she said the closing prayer and asked God to give her a dream again tonight, but just less scary. Then the day of her baptism she told us, that she had ANOTHER DREAM!! This time she was with her friends and they were all telling her not to get baptized, but then this angel appeared to Luz and told her to follow him, he then lead her to this beautiful garden and they talked about her baptism and how it was important and how her baptism was an answer to her prayers!! WHAT!? She got baptized last Saturday :) Here is another thing that happened. So before her baptism we had a missionary meeting and in the middle of the meeting we left to turn on the font, and when we came back 30 minutes later (It usually takes an hour to fill) the font flooded the room!!!!!!!!! And on top of that our mission president was there at the baptism!!! It was so embarrassing, the good thing is, no real damage was done and that she got baptized and she along with everyone else was able to feel the Spirit!

 So I email at the FHC (family history center) here and the reason why my time gets short is because transportation, but it doesn't happen to often! Well I gotta go hike a mountain now! Love you all! :)

 

Elder Hays! :)

Week 20

Good news!! since my wrist injury, I am finally able to do pushups! It is great my chest is actually sore for once!

The work is exploding here in our area it is weird. As soon as I got here I was told all negative things about how they had absolutely no success and then all hell broke loose the first few weeks and now we are experiencing sooooo many miracles! Freddy and Leonardo got confirmed this past Sunday and then got the priesthood. Freddy actually gave Leonardo the priesthood! It was awesome! Then we got to meet Leonardo's friend from Venezuela, she is a model!!!!!! She is gorgeous! She also wants to get baptized! I am baptizing a Venezuelan model!!!!!!! But she will probably have the ordinance done in Venezuela but she has already been to church and loves it, and Leo has been teaching her lol! It is great! ( sorry my time was cut short again) :(

Love Elder Hays

Week 19

Hey mom and dad, sorry but I have like an hour to email this week something came up, but it is all good :)
 I also got your package and I am SUPER HAPPY!! Thank you! :)
This week has been good. I bought a cheap but super good workout band that is high resistance for like 12 bucks! My Recent Convert Freddy also hooked me up with some thirty lbs dumbells for less than 5 bucks. So I have been working out! :) But my tires got messed up so I had to buy like $10 worth of Tire stuff at walmart :p

The baptism went sweet! We also have another one this weekend and then 2 the following weekend! :D BOOM!!!! :D 

I love you all so much and I will have a better email next week! :)))

You all are awesome!!! Love always,

Elder Hays

Week 18

We are killing it in our area!!! So they were actually considering shutting down our area before we got there because it was having no success and there were really no hispanics to teach and the ones that were there previously being taught weren't progressing. But we HAD A BAPTISM LAST WEEK and WE ARE HAVING ONE THIS SUNDAY AND THEN ANOTHER NEXT SATURDAY THEN 2 ON NOVEMBER 9th!!!  

So the schedule for baptisms is as follows:

 

October 20th (Last Week) - Freddy

October 27th- Leonardo (The guy from Venezuela)

November 2nd- Teresa (I haven't told you about her)

November 9th- Julio and Luz

 

So we went to point loma (the beach town in San Diego) and we went walking around and I bought a pair of some sick sunglasses that were 60% and we had chocolate waffle icecream sandwiches with bacon at the pier made fresh and it was the best thing ever!!! It was only 2.95! 

(My glasses are different then the one in the picture)

Then we have Freddy's baptism which went great! We had a hard time gettting him to that stage but HE DID IT!! The Spirit was soo strong at the baptism and he went up and spoke afterwards in front of 50 people and gave an incredible testimony I had to hold it in lol It was powerful!.

I love you all! I am out of time! :))) 

Week 17

So the other week I forgot to mention that as a district, we have 10 missionaries in our district, we went to this incredible taco shop named Lucha Libre that was featured on Man V. Food and other travel channel shows, and when we went in I was like crap this place is sooo expensive how am i going to pay for this, then I saw that the had some hotdogs for like a buck 50 so I was going to get that. Then there were some summer sales guys for AMP security, and they walked up to the front and said that they would pick up our check!!!! It was $87.40!! I was soo shocked and also felt incredibly blessed.  I got the surfin california burrito which had huge grilled shrimp, french fries, carne asada, sliced advocado, pico de gallo, beans, rice, sour cream, and a homeade chipotle sauce. IT WAS TO DIE FOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!    So then this past week my companion and I were looking for a potential investigator's house and some members pulled over and gave us $30 for "lunch money" and we were like sweet! and we happened to be right by Lucha Libre so we went there for dinner..... and there were more members and they paid for us!!!! So I got another Surfin California burrito and still had the $30!!!! MIRACLE!!!!!!!!! It was super awesome!! It was also great because we sat down and ate with them and there kids had on Tinker bell shirts and Ninjago!!! I flipped out and started talking about all the Tinkerbell fairies and the movies and was able to talk about Ashlyn and her favorite fairies and then I was about to talk about Brockoli and Kai and the golden dragon and all of that awesome stuff! :) oh how I miss them :) 

Another miracle is FREDDY IS GETTING BAPTIZED THIS SUNDAY AT 4!!!!!!

Another Miracle Below!!!!

 

So the guy above is Leonardo from Venezuela, he is our brand new investigator from this week. we had interviews with president on the 10th so last Thursday. In the middle of interviews with President Clayton he walks in (We were at the stake center) and says he wants to get baptized into our church and wants to meet the missionaries... WHAT!!!! If we didn't have interviews that day no one would have been there and he would've walked into a locked door! He ends up living in our area and we met with him later on that day. So he is getting baptized on November 2

!!!!!! We met with him and taught him (which is super hard because he speaks perfect spanish and his vocabulary is very educated unlike our spanish because the people we come into contact with speak very rough spanish and uneducated so our vocabulary is pretty ghetto and uneducated lol). So we ended up going to the Mormon Battalion the next night and he loved it! He also has super good questions and we hit a roadblock with him about the Law of Chastity, which was a hilarious conversation which I cant repeat because of the young audience reading and following. But he is super good now and we gave him the book of mormon on Thursday and by Sunday he was already in Mosiah 3 and he came to church and also a fireside which was 30 minutes away! he is awesome! He is meeting with the branch president tonight to ask some really good questions and how he can serve in the church!!!! once again MIRACLE!!!!!!!!! We are in one of the roughest areas when it comes to the missionary work and we have seen so many miracles!!!! :))) The Church is True!! :))))

Love you all,

Elder Hays

Week 16

So here is F****y (Luis A****** V****** Pliego), he is one of the reasons why conference was so special.

    

So F****y came to conference with us, which is a miracle in itself, because he works every Sunday and that last time that he went to church was 6 months ago. So we ripped him outta bed and had a member come pick us up for conference. He got smacked in the by the Spirit. his world was rocked, absolutely loved all the talks and really admires President Monson. Everyone at church really fellowshipped F****y so well, he felt as if he was with his true family. After the Morning session we all had a luncheon with tons of homemade mexican food. All F****y wanted to do was read in the scriptures. So why we were all eating F****y went into a private room and read in the book of mormon for 1.5 hours and said that he couldn't stop reading, he felt drawn to it.

F****y has one difficult life for a 20 year old kid. Heavy drugs, Alchohol, pornography and dysfunctional families surround him. He has change so much because he was in the center of it all at one point. We dropped him off at his house after conference, and I felt like I let him go right into Satan's hands. We went by later that night, and he was a little buzzed. We were disappointed in him and wanted to rake him over the coals, because he knew better. Immediately after thinking that I leaned over and whispered to Elder Seymour and told him to let me take care of it. I noticed that he was talking to his mom on the phone, I didn't know much about his mom except that he didn't live with her. I felt the strongest impression to ask him about his mom. I knew immediately that he drank because he missed his mom, I was able to feel his pain for that moment and I knew what he needed. So we took him for a walk. I sat him down at a bus stop and listened to him talk about how he was sorry for drinking, I looked at him square in the eyes and asked if the reason he drank is because he missed his mom and that at church he felt the Spirit so strong that more than anything he just wanted to share that experience with his mom. He was quiet for a good while and then with tears in his eyes he said yes. He then shared with us how his mom isn't supporting him in his choice to be baptized, and that he hasn't seen her in 5 years and that he just wishes that she could take part in this change that he has undergone. I told Freddy how much I love him and what I see in him. The Spirit was so strong and the words just kept flowing, and I dont really remember all that I said, but it was exactly what the lord wanted Freddy to hear. 

 

 

Love, Elder Hays

Week 15

Hey Family!!!

Today I hit my 5 month mark on the mission!!! It is flying by!!! :) :( The weather is great and it is starting to get cooler!

 

So we went to Point Loma last week!!! it was awesome!!! It is super close to where I am serving! :)

 

That same night we went and visited a referral that the sisters gave us. Their names are Julio and Luz. They are so amazing right when we met them I knew that they were going to get baptized, they had definitely been prepared by the hand of the Lord. We taught them the Plan of Salvation and they had some awesome questions. They are recently married and Luz is 4 months pregnant. We talked about Eternal Families and i shared with them about how we got sealed in the temple and the Spirit was so strong and you could see a light go off in their eyes. They knew that everything that we were sharing was true. I invited them to be baptized and they said yes! We are trying to get a baptismal date for the 12th of October. They want to keep learning and coming to church. They actually have gone to church like 5 times and they came again this Sunday! Super AWESOME!! We have an appointment with them tonight and we are going to the Mormon Battalion. So it is going to be a very spiritual experience for all of us. 

So I went on Exchanges with Elder Barton this week and I was in Logan Heights again, man I love it so much there. We had some super spiritual experiences with the people there. All of the lessons we had were super powerful. We had a lunch appointment with Brother Sanchez. We had Lamb and all this super yummy high quality food! I was not expecting it because logan is super poor and dirty. But his house was clean and well kept and he actually works as a chef in Down town San Diego, and it was sooooooo good, 4 star quality. He has been a member his whole life but never active. In mexico city his parents housed the missionaries, but him and his dad were never active. He then got married and had his daughter Frita at 20 (Oh yeah he is the same age as dad) and she has mental handicaps and HAD epilepsy. The missionaries in Mexico City when Frida was 9 gave her a Priesthood blessing and healed her!!! She was having seizures multiple times a day and everyday, ever since that blessing she has not had 1 seizure!! That right there built my testimony. 

 

LOVE WITH ALL MY HEART!!!

Elder Hays

 

 

Week 14

Well this week was nuts! I wrote a lot to dad about my week and I have like 10 minutes to write you. :( But I am doing good, I am exhausted and super sore from working hard! I have learned a lot from my studies that have built my testimony so strongly. I shared with someone the first vision for the first time and the Spirit was super strong and I had the thought come into my mind that it was true, I will probably remember that moment forever. We are also taking the trolley which is super fun and we are meeting tons of white people, just no mexicans.... :( The branch is doing great and I went on exchanges this week and served in the heart of logan Heights, I WAS SAFE!! But it was so much fun I love it! It is sooo ghetto!!! Whoop whoop! We also rode the trolley and got off at Qualcomm stadium (Chargers stadium) little did we know that the game was getting over with and we got lost lol but it all worked out!! it was just a funny situation!! :)

My wrist is okay, I can type, write, shake hands and it is fine, but in certain positions, movements, and if i put weight on it i have really bad pain so I think I fractured something and I cant make a tight fist so I don;t know I have a doctors appt on thursday so i will find out.

So I weighed my self today and I am almost to the 30lb mark for weight lost on my mission. I don't know if it is from all of the rigorous walking, because we go up huge hills and trails up these borderline hills/mountains lol yeah my shoes are pretty dusty lol. I also don't know if it is from nutrition. i eat close to about 2000 calories a day but i am rigorously walking for like 5 hours a day. So it makes for good exercise! Sadly my muscle is softening up so I need to crank out pushups and stuffs once this wrist stuff is taken care of.

So I talked to some drunk guys last night and they were telling us all about the games and how the dolphins are 3-0!!! I can't believe it! That is awesome! Too bad Cameron Wake is injured! Isn't he our best DE, but don't we have that one rookie DE that did super well in the preseason? That is also nuts about the Canes! I hope you get to the game. So do the dolphins and Canes look for real or are they getting lucky? That would be sick if we could have an awesome season. I honestly think with the Heat winning back to back championships Miami is earning respect and that is motivating the other Miami teams. I wish I could watch it on monday! Will you draw me stick figures of the games?

How's Fantasy Football???  You guys could've still drafted for me! I would've picked Dustin Keller! Just kidding!  i am soooo happy for the dolphins and canes! i found a Nfl schedule on the side of the road, so I am up to date, I just need to know the scores :) oh that is freddy in the middle he is getting baptized and is supppper awesome!! :) The food situation is okay but not the best or the worst. I appreciate your guys' help.

So we are teaching Freddy and tons of random people but it is in English so we have to pass them off to english elders. and freddy is getting baptized on october 26th but He has to stop working on sundays so he can come to church!

 

So check this out! My best bud from Calexico just got emergency transferred to train a new elder and he is in my zone so I get to see him every week!!! :)))

 

 

That is so cool to hear that Aunt Denise is playing this year! How is your team looking? When does the season start? I really miss football! i miss just being able to toss the football around! I am tempted to buy a football but i don't know if I am allowed! i was so hard this week, because I was eating tri tip at an investigator's house and the game was on, and i couldn't watch! :p How was Super man? and Wolverine!? any other good movies? Yeah me and my companion went to Mexico last week and the mission president joined us it was so much fun! JKJKJKJKJKJK but it is fun being so close to mexico I am starting to feel like I am becoming Mexican! We have to do a tour of Mexico after the mish, just you me and mom. It would be so much fun, I have got all the safe, and beautiful places to go visit on a list. Dad, the time is flying by so fast, I can't believe that it has already been 4 months, the next time I check it will be 6 months. I have a feeling that I am going to be transferred next week and training a new missionary or I could stay and be the next district leader and train. I don't know yet. the suspense is killing me, we find out next Tuesday

whether or not I am staying. It would be nice to get a new companion though because he is driving me crazy! :p lol it has been a hard 6 weeks with him, but luckily it only felt like 3 weeks.

 

Oh check this out i walked 2.5 hours to a meeting lol and then the next day 2 hours to church :p i was poooped lol :) I dont think it will always have to be like that.

well I promise to email you more next week! :)

See you in less than 2 :)

Elder Hays

Week 13

 

So mom and dad I am okay! I am safe and sound! The reason i told you those things were not to freak you out just to be honest with you :)

The Lord protects his missionaries, in Logan Heights the gangs actually escort the missionaries, i am not lying, they know not to mess with us because we are "Jesus' boys".

The good thing is, I only go to church there and in meetings we are on the outskirts of logan more towards the gay area lol!

 

To be honest there is not much i can do about the food situation. I AM DRINKING TONS OF WATER! i am okay, to be honest I have a small breakfast in the morning and then a medium to large lunch at 11 a and then a apple around 7p, I am hungry,but  I am okay. The Lord keeps blessing us and providing us with food. I can only afford frozen meals and apples and milk, gatorade or stuff at the gas station are considered luxury items and are bought only when absolutely needed. 

 

We now have our own apartment, it is beautiful and has an incredible view, yes it is safe, the Lord has blessed us for our patience.  I am in San diego so i have access to everything!!

Well it is super hard and tedious to type with this brace

BUT I AM OKAY AND HEALTHYish lol :)

HOw are the kids doing? :) I misss them :(

 

So Elder Seymour and I were riding our bikes looking for an address when we were going down this pretty big hill underneath the interstate. We were going top speed when all of a sudden my back tire popped off and my chain wrapped around itself, causing an immediate brake. Next thing I know I am over the handlebars hitting head and shoulder first then skidded for about 7 feet. I ended up getting some pretty bad road rash and according to the doctor I might of fractured a bone in my wrist and tore a ligament in my hand (I am in a brace for 2 or more weeks). 

 

So here is the miracle. Where i landed on my shoulder, the shirt is ripped all the way through, BUT THE GARMENT WAS UNTOUCHED!!!! and my shoulder is perfectly fine. I also hit on the side of my head and face. BUT when I was going down, it was super slow mo (Just like in the movies lol) and my head gently rested against the ground, no whiplash, not even a mark. With all my heart I know that it was angels protecting me. I honestly should have been in the emergency room, with how i hit and how fast i was going and how abruptly i stopped, BUT the Lord protects his missionaries! 

I AM OKAY!!!!

 

 

 

Week 12

Hey I am really sorry but I only have 48 mins to email you, I am at a public library.

 

I am now serving in Logan Heights, CA which is super ghetto and dangerous, I know I said Calexico was ghetto, but this place is so ghetto that Tupac even rapped about it. It is chalk full of gangs, violence, prostitutes, drugs, and super poor. There is also this place in my area named Hillcrest, it is one of the prominent gay places of california, the streets are full of rainbow flags and gay bars and Adult stores. Satan is definitely here. So my new companion is Elder Seymour he is also from Florida he is from Winter Haven. He is awesome, we instantly clicked. What is funny is that he has some serious energy problems that were due to his nasal passages that affected sleep, we can talk about it next week when we have more time. 

   We are "White-washing" which means that we are both a new companionship in this area. We have no apartment, no members that live in our area, no investigators, nothing. We are starting fresh. Right now we are living with some other elders por un rato y no tenemos carro ni bicicletas oh crap sorry I am typing fast and I was thinking in Spanish. Umm yeah I am staying with the other elders for a time and we dont have bikes or anything, 

So the first day we walked for about 3 hours trying to find some investigators that the previous Sister missionaries were teaching, We found Freddy, freddy is 19/20 years old and is super awesome! He is actually getting baptized on Sept. 28th (Annabelle's birthday) he just has to come to church a couple of more times y he can be baptized, he has a lot of addictions that he has to overcome (which he can) then he can be baptized, he really wants to change and he knows that what we teach is true.

The first coule of nights were terrible because none of the apartments had AC and I was marinating in my sweat the first nights and had no sleep because it was so hot. Then the following day we walked for about 7.5 hours straight searching for people to teach and for apartments, no luck. But, I really got to know Elder Seymour and we are such good friends I absolutely love this guy! (Not in the hillcrest way ;) ) He actually reminds me a little bit of Chuck! 

I hope you got my picture weds. of Elder Seymour and I at the Mormon Batallion after we walked for 3 or something hours. Oh yeah also on our first night we were trying to walk to old town and we got lost, so we ended up asking this homeless and drunk black guy, He leads us down the side of the mountain when it is super dark for like 1/4 mile. It was super sketchy and I had my hand on my knife the whole time lol.

So after walking up and down hills with barely any water and no sleep for 2 days.... I got sick and we were cooped up for 3 days.

 

So in Logan Heights we go to a branch there, that actually meets in an elementary school. It actually is awesome. The members there are super strong in the gospel and are awesome (but none of them live in my area therefore no members feed us...). So I am super excited to see how that goes. I have a good feeling about this branch.

 

So on the day that we went apartment hunting we got to walk through downtown San Diego. WOW!!! It is awesome!! No one wanted to talk to us and looked at us weird, but it was beautiful! The city is soo different than anything that I am used to! I just got swallowed there. I liked it there though I probably wouldn't bring my kids there because of all the crap stores there. But I will definitely be visiting after my mission.

 

So today we went to the TEMPLE!!!! IT IS SOOOOOOOO GORGEOUS!!! I LOVE IT!!! Yeah I am getting married there, end of discussion :) it was so nice to be able to get away from all the stress and filth in the world and to just be able to focus on you guys and the Lord, it was so great,

So I checked on your request and it is a no :(. It is super strict.

 

So attached are pictures of the temple and a border picture with my old district. The Red head is Elder Gerber who is a good friend of mine and Sister Oliver is the blonde sister in the middle who is  my best friend. 

 

So this email was kinda negative so here is a list of things I am grateful for:

 

The chance to serve the Lord for 2 years.

Jesus Christ

My familly :)

My companion

The Scroptures

A roof over my head

Food to eat

A place to congregate for church

Freddy

Just everything that I have been given.

 

I love you all, con todo mi corazon (all my heart). I am glad yall had a good weekend.

 

Love,

 

Elder Hays

Week 11

This week was a good week! I got your package thanks so much! I loved the goodies! Yesterday we were in San Diego and it had such awesome weather! So I did the most charitable thing that I think i could do with that great donation that Perry gave, so  took my district out to lunch at 5 guys burgers. It was so great we are such a close district and our district gives so much to each other it was great to give back! Traffic in San Diego is nuts! Some really crazy traffic. Driving in it is definitely a learning experience! 

We have had some really crazy weather here. Sandstorms and lots of rain and lightning. What is also crazy is that I HAD TO GIVE A TALK IN SACRAMENT MEETING!!! It was so scary because of course it was in Spanish. what really helped is that I made them laugh right off the bat! It went well! It didn't help that Sister Oliver (my new best friend) was making faces at me the whole time!  I spoke about how missionary work is a part of the Atonement. It was such an awesome thing to prepare for, oh yeah i found out at 8p the night before! The Atonement is such an important role in our lives that when we share the gospel we are trying to activate the Atonement in the lives of others.

Oh yeah I wanted to ask, what do the missionaries do when they are over there? give me specifics please, I just want to make sire they are doing everything right for my parents ;)

I got to go on exchanges with Elder Travis Howden who is originally from South Africa and lived in Alpine, UT. He is my grandpa in the mission field because he is the dad (Trainer) of my dad. He is such an awesome guy! We are definitely going to be friends after the mission.

 

I am anxious to see if i get transferred next week :(

Anyways I love you all soo much!!

Elder Hays

Week 10

The kids look great!!!! They are getting so big :( STOP GROWING!! So I don't get mail until this upcoming monday the 26th. Well this week has absolutely flown!!!! I hope it flew for you!  We have some really happy news! Two of our investigators Raymond and Ernie are getting baptized on 09/21, they are super awesome!

We met Ernie over at the Moreno family's house and right away you could get a feeling that this guy was going to get baptized, it was kinda funny lol it was like a stud finder was going off lol! We taught him and he accepted to be baptized on the first visit! he is doing awesome! He is so excited to go to the temple to be baptized for his grandpa!

Now Raymond, we met him while he was running around at the park, and we got his information and we scheduled a follow up appointment with him. We went by and we started to talking to him but he said that he was atheist and that he didnt have an interest in what we were saying but that he was open to talking with us. He came to church on Sunday. We have taught him about the Book of Mormon and the Plan of Salvation.

Sorry that this email is lame, we only had 8 lessons because of meetings in San Diego and we couldn't find anyone home. Also, I was sick one day also this week so... Yeah It was a super slow week! So please forgive me! :P


Love you all,

Elder Hays

Week 9

Hello Family!
I love you guys so much! I love these people too! They love me too lol I already have 4 house to go stay in for free when I visit! I want to go travel Mexico so that would come in handy! The Lord has His hand in this work every second. I have come to love my Savior so much more and I am changing everyday into a Man of God. I just can't wait to see my future family and experience the joys of that! I teach about Eternal families everyday, and it is kinda hard not to think of mine (Us) and mine in the future! I have come to love my Scriptures, they have become my most precious item. I know that if you read from the scriptures as a family each day, even if it is one verse. We will all grow beyond measure and we will become able to enjoy the good times and the bad, because of that unshakable foundation. I have come to learn that if you guys ever need anything, CALL THE MISSIONARIES OVER!!! They SHOULD be willing to help you with anything. Also, please find at least one friend or acquaintance that you can invite over for dinner and a church activity, and then invite them over with the missionaries. Don't be afraid, if we open our mouths and our heart, the Lord will fill it. I know that the Gospel is true and that we receive insurmountable blessings as we seek them. We added 10 investigators this week and all of them were by miracles.

The Assistant to the President came out with us for a day. We talked to 30 people on the streets. We saw so many miracles. One was Adrianna and Jesus (Ironic right), we just got back from an awesome miracle and we saw them walking towards us. We went to talk to them and they brushed us off a little bit, but we just kept talking. They stopped in a shade spot (so it was about 110 there) and we continued talking to them. They are recently engaged and very young and Jesus looked like he didn't want to talk to us. We kept pushing. We shared the message about the restored Gospel and they opened up big time. You could tell they were feeling the Spirit. We shared about the Book of Mormon and Adrianna ate it up. She had tears in her eyes because she said that she had been searching for this her whole life. We invited her to say the prayer, she resisted and said that she was inadequate to pray. We encouraged her and so did Jesus (pun intended). She said this heart felt prayer right in the middle of the street with everyone watching. She closes and we totally felt the Spirit and had smiles on our faces. Jesus eagerly asks to say a prayer and tears streamed down his eyes and said one of the most touching prayers I have heard as he cried out to his Heavenly Father for help. Wow... this was such an amazing experience. Although they didn't have phones or an address I know that one day they will find their way back to the Truth.

Week 8

Hey ya'll Everything has been going great here the weather has really cooled down! It is only an average of 118 everyday!! :) with humidity! :) I saw the Devil on the street corner trying to hitch a ride outta here cuz it is so hot! :)  I drink a gallon of water a day plus water at peoples house! I have actually lost 20lbs since May 1st!

Anyways I am not on a bike! I have a car! It is only on occasion that I am on the bikes.  Now the way the money works is that I get $130 each month to pay for laundry, house supplies, and food. So it has been pretty tough trying to afford and budget everything.

I got your package! Thank you soo much! Could you also tell Aunt Denise thank you for my package that she sent me? I really appreciated it! Thanks you guys for all the yummy gatorade! and pies!

I have been exhausted lately, I don't know why, but I am still able to work hard. I have been getting those "mental blocks" again that I was having
back in February, not as bad, but really annoying when I am speaking Spanish.

With the Lord's help my Spanish hasn't been a problem, when people talk to me in Spanish I don't have to really translate to English, I just think in Spanish lol I AM TURNING MEXICAN!!! That would explain why my mustache has been growing super super thick!! Estoy bromeando. Pues, things have been going swell with all the people here in Calexico. I honestly love them to death an I can't wait for you all to meet them after my mission. YES WE ARE GOING RIGHT BACK AS A FAMILY ;).

Oh I was the one that baptized Damian. Brother Martinez baptized the Garcia family. I was the one that confirmed Junior and Norma (Brother Garcia had work) and it was all in Spanish and in front of everyone at Church! IT WAS SOOO SCARY!! They all had like 4 names. It has been same old same old, but I have some awesome news!

Norma Garcia already has a calling lined up! and is helping us teach our investigator!

Junior Garcia and Damian are getting the priesthood this Sunday!

Yanina is getting baptized on 09/01/13 and her family will probably follow soon!!

Ernesto is also getting baptized on 09/15/13 (probably sooner than that).

So here is the rundown on Ernie. So we see the Moreno family every night and they are members. We read a chapter from the Book of Mormon with them every night. The family is awesome! They are my favorite! (I don't think I am allowed to have favorites though.. haha) Uriel is 26 and Erika is 24 they have 3 kids : Jesus, Lindzi, and Jeremy and she is pregnant with their fourth they are such an awesome family! Uriel is preparing to get the Melchizedek Priesthood and to get sealed to his family in the temple! So Ernie is Uriel's friend and came over last night. So we taught him about the restoration and he said that he "felt God's presence" and had some really good questions. We invited him to be baptized. He told us that he had already been baptized in a different Church, we reviewed the authority part of it and he is really excited to be baptized!

I love you all so much and I am so glad that you guys are doing well. I wish you guys could be right here beside me, because through them I have had so much joy and tears come to my eyes everytime I think about having to leave them one day and also that April 14th 2015 is not far away at all and that I will be having to take off this black tag.

The Savior lives,

Elder Hays

P.s. Your homework assignment is to watch the mormon message "Mountains to Climb". It is absolutely moving :) Love you all.

Week 7

So I have been feeling super fatigued, but I lost 15lbs!! :) I just keep pushing along! :)

Yes there was a baptism this week. It was such an amazing experiences! The Spirit was so strong and we had about 40 members there to support them! It was such a fantastic day. One that I will always remember. I really wish ya'll could be there. Oh yeah I forgot to bring a change of clothes and a towel.......LOL

So, I got a new companion, his name is Elder Nickel, and he is great! He is from Saginaw, Texas. He has been on his mission for almost a year. He is big into working out he is 5'8 and a powerhouse. Super Strong! He is also very knowledge of the scriptures!

So we also had transfer meeting and they opened three new languages in the San Diego Mission: Arabic (which is only taught out in the field, they don't offer it in the MTC) Laotian, and Mandarin. My friends Elders Mcombie and Poffenbarger got sent to open up the first Arabic Speaking area in the mission!! THEY HAD NO KNOWLEDGE OF ARABIC BEFOREHAND AND WEREN'T TOLD BEFORE THE MEETING THAT THEY WERE SWITCHING LANGUAGES!!! They are going to be pulling from within the mission to be speaking Arabic and I am really nervous that I am going to be switched. As soon as I heard the rumor that there was going to be a new language opening that wouldn't be taught in the MTC I guessed Arabaic (because of the high Arab population) and I had a gut feeling that one day I would be speaking it. We will see!! :O

Oh also I am going to be shaking hands with an Apostle tomorrow!! Elder Ballard! :) I am soo excited!

So How are you pops!? Mom? Ashlyn? Brock? Joe? The guys at the gym? How is the ward back home? Have you all settled on a house? How is all of your guys' workouts? Can you guys send pictures? How Grandpa? Grandma and Papa Dee?

Here are the baptism photos! :)))

 He says he misses Football.....

Week 6

Hey family!

 

So I have some bad news..... my dad (Elder Bone) is being transferred tomorrow! We have only been companions for one transfer! He was so awesome! He doesn't get to stay for the baptisms this Sunday :( Well I get a new companion tomorrow so we will see how that goes! I will let you know!

 

07/18/13

Today was pretty good we taught Yanina today. We taught her the restoration and she seemed to like it and she sees the need for a prophet today and she also has the same question as Joseph Smith  about which church is true. We gave her a BOM in spanish and english and promised her that she would learn english if she read them side by side. We also had dinner at Julio Garzon. IT was super good it was some fried fish and rice we did faith rockets and it tipped over and it burnt sister Garzons hand. Whoops. She's ok though.  OK GOOD NEWS Yolanda is home from jail! That file actually worked. Good work Dad.

 

07/19/13

I was on exchanges with elder Dietrich and it went pretty well. We had an awesome street contact and we were on bike in their area. We rode passed a house and through the bushes saw a man sitting outside, and it looked like he was reading the bible. His name was Marco and it was really funny because he was covered in tattoos of Jesus. So I knew he had to be religious or something. He shared with us how he overcame drug addictions and how his life has changed. Another cool thing was that we went to Hermana Ochoa house and we came across Rami who is her daughter. Supposably the other Elders have never talked to her before but I felt prompted to talk to her about Jesus Christ although we had planned to teach something completely different. We talked about the 5 parts of the gospel in about 5 minutes. SUPER FAST. Then I started to talk about enduring to the end and the power of prayer. I asked her "I know this is a personal question, so excuse me, but when was the last time you prayed?" and she started to cry. Then I gave her my testimony of prayer and invited her to a kneeling prayer at her doorstep and it was so powerful.
 _____________________________________________________________--

 

Well I love you all! 

 

Love you guys,

 

Elder Hays

Week 5

Hey awesome family!!! :)

 

 

Quiero escribir mi correo electronico en Espanol porque soy un misionero hispanohablante. Esta semana era muy bien. Tuve muchas experencias extranas. Nuestro investigador llamo la policia para arrestar su esposa. Era muy chistoso pero la mujer es un mujer muy compasionado. Ella va estar en carcel por un ano
porque eso el la segundo vez que ella pegaba su esposo. Tambien tuvimos intercambios esta semana. Estaba el companero de Elder Gerber por un dia. El es bien suave. Tuvimos mucho exito cuando estabamos companeros. Tuve que dirigir las lecciones paraque yo practicara mi espanol y mi abilidad como un maestro. Tengo noticia mala pero esta bien. La familia Garcia no van bautizarse este domingo porque no tuvimos la chanza ensenarles antes de sus bautismos. PERO! Toda la familia esta tan animada por la 28th de esta mes.

Tengo noticia buena!!!!!! Damian me pregunto que el quiere que yo bautizarse!!!! ESTOY MUY FELIZ!!!!!

Now in English lol

This week was pretty good! We had a lot of weird experiences. One of our investigators called the cops on his wife and she is now in jail for at least a year! It was nuts! We went by earlier that day and did about 3 hours of service. Afterwards we all had lunch and we taught them about the plan of salvation. It went great! Everyone was happy! Then we came by a couple hours later to do something else for them and we find out that the wife was sent to jail! It was soo weird because she is such a nice lady! It absolutely love her! Supposedly she has a temper lol.

We went on exchanges this week. Elder Gerber was my companion for the day and it went great. He is so awesome! He is from Georgia! He is also our District leader. It was a really cool day because I had the opportunity to lead in all the lessons and he gave me some pretty awesome compliments. He said that I had awesome Spanish that was at the level of someone who had been on their missions for about 9 months and that I was such a good missionary that he said he would be shocked if I wasn't an Assistant to the President one day :) I am so humbled by his compliments because I have been really working hard and learning as much as I can.

We had a pretty funny time teaching one of our new investigators. Her daughter Ana answered the door and she is 17 and we started talking with her and asked if her mom was home. She said she was, but that she was in bed because she had surgery earlier that week. Elder Gerber and I asked if she was okay. As we said this her mom walks up and is cradling "herself" after talking she told us that she had a certain "surgery" done. IT WAS SOOO AWKWARD!!! The whole time we were teaching she was supporting them with her arm. The lesson was like 40 minutes and suuuuper awkward. Other than that the lesson was awesome! We are excited to see where they end up because, they actually were asked three questions by a person in the mall, 'Where do you think we come from? Why do you think we are here? Where do you think we go after this life?'. They didn't know what to say.  We then came by and we were able to answer those 3 questions! THEY LOVED IT! We are coming back this week!

Damian is doing great! Guess what!? He asked me to baptize him! I was soo honored that he asked me out of all the other Elders. We are definitely going to be friends for a long time! Especially if he goes to BYU! The cool thing is, when he goes through the Temple in a year I can be his escort (if he wants) or at least I can go with him!

The Garcia's are doing great, but unfortunately we can't baptize them this week because we havent had a chance to teach them all that they need to be taught. So far they have been to 2 ward activities 3 sundays at church and 3 family nights and they hosted the one last night!!! :) They are awesome! They also brought Brother Garcia's brother to Church and Family night and he likes it. Who knows, he might be getting baptized soon. So they are being baptized on 07/28/13 along with Damian.

I taught a youth class at church this past Sunday. We invited a 14 year old Investigator to Church. The other elders had been teaching him previously and supposedly they have invited him to be baptized many times and he keeps saying that he wants to wait until he is 16 (I didn't know this before hand). So Sunday was the first day that he has been our investigator. We watched that slideshow about Christ (The one that I bought mom) and we totally felt the Spirit. In the slideshow miraculously there is a part with pictures of baptism. So I decided to talk about that. I went around and had everyone share why they thought that baptism was important to them specifically. Junior Garcia had an awesome response which was awesome because he hasn't been baptized yet haha Then it came around to Sonny and he gave this super awesome answer so.... I invited him to be baptized and he said yes!!!! The date is in 3 weeks,  but when we talk to him later on this week we are going to talk to him and his parents about it. :)) So the date is to be announced! :))) I have been extremely blessed and I thank our Heavenly Father every moment for his preparation of these people. There has not been a baptism in this ward for over 6 months. It is amazing and so humbling. I absolutely LOVE THESE PEOPLE!!!!

Love Always,
Elder Hays

 

 

Week 4

Hey family!!! I love you guys so much! I love the pictures! I really appreciate all of your emails :)

 

This week we went to San Diego for meetings and California Burritos and Horchata. The weather was beautiful and wow traffic was nuts. This past week was full of meetings so this letter won't be long. But, this is probably the most special message that i have sent home so far.

Damian is incredible and his story is a miracle. So recall how I met him at the laundry-mat last Tuesday? I had a strong prompting to go talk to him. I ignored it, it came again stronger, I ignored it, then it came again and I acted. So I went and talked to him. I am so glad that I did.

Damian is now going to be baptized. The sisters have taught him everyday and he is hungry to learn more. He said that when he saw us he immediately felt that he had to talk to us. He knew immediately that he wanted what we had. I guess that was happiness. He has come to church, reads from the Book of Mormon and prays daily. He wants the Priesthood sooo badly and can not wait to serve a mission. He is 21 years old.

His story is a miracle. If I had not acted on the prompting of the Spirit. Who knows where Damian would be today. It immediately brought tears to my eyes when I heard he was going to be baptized. I was overwhelmed with emotion, because I was so close to just letting him be and not talking with him.

The Lord has prepared people for me. I know this. I know that if we seek for the Lord's help and His guidance, he will give it too us, as long as we are inviting the Spirit in our lives. His work is true. I love being a representative of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. People like Damian and the Garcia Family. The work is exploding, there hasn't been a baptism in over 6 months in the ward, now there are soo many. The Lord prepares people and also rewards those who worked hard before us.

THE COMPUTER IS A PIECE OF CRAP AND IT IS NOT LETTING ME SEND PICTURES!!!!!

I love you all soo much and I hope the content of this letter outweighs the length.

Love,

Elder Hays

Baptismal Dates:

The Garcia Family: 07/21/13

Damian: 07/27/13

Guillermo: 08/11/13

Week 3

Hello Family,

THAT CARD WAS AWESOME!!!! What is really hilarious is I sent you that same exact card!!!! I had no idea!!!! LOL :)))) Thank you soo much for the awesome package! Could you also thank Andria for me? I don't have her email address.

Well yeah I think I have melted away! But I am super TAN! I look like a mexican! it got up to 128 degrees with a lot of humidity!!!! It was fantastic I felt like I was swimming in my own clothes! EWWW lol DONT WORRY I AM OKAY!!! I actually have lost 15lbs since May and I drink over a gallon of cold water a day. I am able to sleep just fine now, we have A/C but for some reason the room we were in was hot, but we have a fan now so we are good. Thank you for your prayers :) 

The members out here kinda feed us, supposedly this is the worst area in the mission when it comes to meals, but in my mind all the other stuff makes up for it. I have been eating ramen and chicken everyday with protein shake in the morning.
 

If you loved last weeks you are going to like this one even more!

06/26/2013

Here is a poem that the sister missionaries wrote:

 

On the transfer of June 12th we wee all brought together

Not knowing how well we would work in this freaking weather

Sweating all day and trying not to cuss

Because we're pretty sure the desert is burning the "Hell" out of us

 

Elder Gerber became our fearless DL    (District Leader)

Everyone loves him because, freak, he's just swell

Elder Dietrich, our soldier, likes to break chairs

And likes that nasty cocktail, cause he really cares

 

Elder Bone is the sweet one who loves everyone so much

Maybe that is why everyday he gets an appointment for lunch

Elder Hays is talented- he can touch his head to the floor

He speaks Spanish real great-while allican say is Hace Calor!

Hermana Hess, without her we can't keep a tune

She kept us all together in the month of June

Hermana Oliver, our indie all the way from Seattle

Is loving the desert-especially the smell of cattle

 

Us Sisters, without you, wouldn't know what to do

We're so grateful we know stalwart Elders like you

Just thinking of you all gives our hearts a tug

Maybe, one day, we can give you a hug.

 

- Hermana Oliver and Hess

06/27/2013

 

We had to take the bikes today!! Wow it was soooo HOT!!!

So Elder Bone and I were riding the bikes back home from an appointment we were riding by the park and we heard some one shout to us. So we turned back to see what was up. He was standing next to this one guy that was super drunk. He said, "you guys are the Lord's people, help this man, he needs to hear the Word". So.. we gave him the word lol The drunk guy's name was Augustine and supposedly according to the other guy (Ulysses) Augustine was part of an awesome world renown Mariachi band, but then became a drunkard and now lives on the streets. We started talking to them about repentance and God's love for them and also the 5 fundamentals of the Gospel which are Faith, Repentance, Baptism, the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End. We then sang with him "Oh esta, todo bien", which is "Come Come ye Saints". 

 

Now here is the miracle, Elder Bone and I sang that hymn all week and it was mediocre at best and we messed up every time. But, at that moment I honestly could say that we had angels on our left and on our right singing with us, it was absolutely beautiful. I felt the Spirit so strong, I had this incredible sense of joy and love. It was memorable. Augustine started to cry (Maybe we just sang poorly lol ). Afterwards we left him with a prayer, hopefully we left him off better than he was :).

 

Oh this is kind of weird, Ulysses said that he sees God in the flesh everyday and that he had a prophecy for me. It was that I would be a leader in the Church in 7 years and that I would be married in 2 years with a kid the year after. kiinda weird lol but we will see hahaha....

 

06/30/2013

 

Yesterday was 128 degrees plus humidity!! :P I forgot my camera so i will send a pic next week.

 

The Garcia family came to church again!! We didn't even have a chance to invite them! They just came :) So far they have been to 2 Activities and to 2 Sundays at church for the whole time! They love it! They are just such an awesome family! I love them soo much! The great thing is, we haven't even taught them anything! We also gave them all Books of Mormon and they were soo happy! :)

 

We also taught 33 lessons this week and the standard for the mission is 20 lessons per week... WE HAVE BEEN WORKING HARD!

07/01/2013

 

Today we had family home evening with the Martinez and Garzon families. THEY INVITED THE GARCIA FAMILY!!! It went great we had trouble with our Spanish, but it was okay! All in all..........THE WHOLE FAMILY IS GOING TO BE BAPTIZED!!! Except for the 3 year old of course. We don't have a date yet but we will when we see them this week! :)

 

07/02/2013

 

Today when we were doing laundry. There was a guy sitting on the bench and he had his headphones on minding his own business. I had a prompting that I should talk to him. I ignored it and kept doing my laundry. Then I got the same prompting, I ignored it again. Then I got the thought that said "Don't be afraid JUST TALK TO HIM". So I walked over to him. He immediately took out his ear buds and had a huge smile on his face. He immediately introduced himself to  me. His name is Damian. He started asking me about our Church and he was really interested. We talked for about the restoration for about 15 min and how we believe that Christ established a Church when he was in Jerusalem. We talked about how His Church was like an intact Jenga tower and when He and the Apostles died, the people couldn't agree on things and would remove and change certain fundamentals of His Church or in other words, removed the blocks from the tower and over time Christ's original Church fell and that is why we have so many churches today. We continued telling him how God chose Joseph Smith to restore that same Church that Christ established and that is why there is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We continued telling him how the Book of Mormon was given to Joseph Smith in the form the Golden Plates and how through the help of God he was able to translate them into what is now the Book of Mormon, and how the Bible and the Book of Mormon contain the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (The 5 fundamentals). He loved it and agreed to everything we shared and we invited him to pray about our message and if it was true. He said he would and that he wants to come to church this Sunday!!! Unfortunately he isn't in our area, but the Sister missionaries can teach him though!!! :)))

_________________________________________________________________________________________

well my hand and brain are dead lol I wrote a lot lol.....

I love you guys and I am keeping you in my prayers....

 

I usually email at 10 am for an hour and then again at 12:30pm for another hour.

 

PLEASE KEEP ME UPDATED AND I ABSOLUTELY LOVE ALL OF YOU!!!!

Love always,

            Elder Hays