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