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.
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Well I love you all! 

 

Love you guys,

 

Elder Hays