Dear Family,
This week was really weird. My companion and I were sick the whole week. It´s just a cold so it´s annoying us while we work. The only day we didn´t work was on Wednesday because I had a fever. I´m doing a lot better now. I only have a cough now.
Our sector isn´t doing so well now. With all the meetings we´ve had and with being sick, our sector kind of got destroyed. We want to get back to it but this week we have 3 straight days of meetings.
There are changes in all the missions in all the world and we´re going to talk about it starting tomorrow. We don´t know what´s going to change but we´re excited to see what it is.
This Sunday was way sweet. 6 of the people that I baptized and their families came to church yesterday. It was the first time that we had all of them there at the same time because they are all relatives. It was way cool because there were like 20 of them there. Here in South America, a ward with 100 people is pretty good. 1/5 of the ward is this family now. It was way cool. Germán Castellanos, the father of the family of 4, came to church in a white shirt and tie and blessed the sacrament. That was a really cool experience too!!! It is really awesome that I can watch these families progress towards the temple. If all goes well, before I leave there will be 20+ people that go to the temple (including the little kids that will be sealed to their parents). I want to see that. That would be the real blessing for me.
I love this work. It is such a blessing to be here. I have the wonderful opportunity to help so many people everyday. If I were to count up how many contacts I´ve done since I´ve been in the mission it would be over 1,000. It´s amazing that I´ve talked with over 1,000 Ecuadorians and helped them in some way. It is so important that we don´t waste our time. There really isn´t enough of it. We must always be helping people in every single moment or we will be wasting time. I´m not only talking about me as a missionary. I´m talking about people in general. We must always be ready to serve or it´s already too late. I love this work and I know that it is true. The Lord is on my side everyday. He leads me where I need to go. He has molded me into a different, better person. Thank you for all that you guys have done for me. Each and every one of you are a blessing in my life.
Love,
Élder Hakes
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
July 19, 2010
Dear Family,
This week was pretty sweet. We worked way hard the first half of the week, but the last half we got a little bit sick. Just a cold so nothing to worry about :)
We were going to have a baptism this weekend but it didn´t happen. We showed up at his house about an hour before the baptism but he wasn´t there. We said ok we´ll wait. There were a ton of little kids playing soccer in the street while we waited for 45 minutes. He never showed up. One of the kids came up and told us that he was in his room and that he was hiding from us. We were a little bit frustrated to hear that that was what was happening. We knocked on his door again and we said if you want to talk with us again we´ll be in church tomorrow. He didn´t show up. We´re still going to pass by to see what happened and to see if we can help him.
The family Castellanos is doing really good. Germán (the dad) gave a talk yesterday in church. It was good but he was talking way bad about the Catholic Church. It was kind of funny for me and my companion, but it´s probably not a good thing that he said those things in front of everyone. They are progressing so much. They´re really excited that they can go to the temple. They´re getting prepared for it. They´re also going to go and do baptisms for the dead with the ward too!!! What an awesome family!!!!
This week we had transfers in the mission, but I´m still here in the same sector and I´m still with Élder Archundia. I´m way excited. I didn´t want to go. I can´t wait to see how we do this transfer as a zone. We have done so much better the last 2 months and this month is even better. Well I don´t know what else to say. I love you guys!!!!
Love,
Élder Hakes
This week was pretty sweet. We worked way hard the first half of the week, but the last half we got a little bit sick. Just a cold so nothing to worry about :)
We were going to have a baptism this weekend but it didn´t happen. We showed up at his house about an hour before the baptism but he wasn´t there. We said ok we´ll wait. There were a ton of little kids playing soccer in the street while we waited for 45 minutes. He never showed up. One of the kids came up and told us that he was in his room and that he was hiding from us. We were a little bit frustrated to hear that that was what was happening. We knocked on his door again and we said if you want to talk with us again we´ll be in church tomorrow. He didn´t show up. We´re still going to pass by to see what happened and to see if we can help him.
The family Castellanos is doing really good. Germán (the dad) gave a talk yesterday in church. It was good but he was talking way bad about the Catholic Church. It was kind of funny for me and my companion, but it´s probably not a good thing that he said those things in front of everyone. They are progressing so much. They´re really excited that they can go to the temple. They´re getting prepared for it. They´re also going to go and do baptisms for the dead with the ward too!!! What an awesome family!!!!
This week we had transfers in the mission, but I´m still here in the same sector and I´m still with Élder Archundia. I´m way excited. I didn´t want to go. I can´t wait to see how we do this transfer as a zone. We have done so much better the last 2 months and this month is even better. Well I don´t know what else to say. I love you guys!!!!
Love,
Élder Hakes
July 12, 2010
Dear Family,
This week was absolutely nuts. We just had a ton of meetings. I wasn´t hardly in my own sector. On Tuesday we had our Zone Leader´s Council, on Wednesday we had interviews with President Sloan, on Thursday we had a Mini-Zone Conference, on Friday we had the actual Zone Conference, and on Saturday we had a plaza presentation. It was crazy. I really enjoyed my time but I missed my investigators too!
At the Zone Leader´s Council we ended the night roasting s´mores. They were amazing. It was way fun. They also told us that we can now play soccer so we played soccer today. It was actually way fun. I´m not very good but I enjoyed my time. President Sloan also gave our zone permision to watch Toy Story 3 today. It was hilarious. We were laughing the whole time.
The family Castellanos is doing really good. I had them write in a memory book (a book with letters and pictures from investigators and members) and they wrote some really amazing stuff. They are an awesome family. I can´t wait to hear that they´ve gone to the temple. I´ll still be here when they can go to the temple. I hope they go while I´m here. That would be the true blessing for me.
Well this next weekend there are transfers because new missionaries will be arriving. I think I´m going to be leaving this zone finally. I don´t want to, but I think my times up here. I´ve been here for over 6 months in the same stake. I guess we´ll see what happens next week.
This week at church there was a family from Fresno, California here. The mom in the family is from Quito and they used to live here. They were visiting her parents. It was really weird because they´re a family of 6 kids and there were a ton of them. They all can speak Spanish too. It was way weird. Well family I love you all so much. I love being here on the mission. It gives me the chance to change who I am. I have a lot of corrections to do so I´m happy to be here. I love helping people change their lives. It is such a blessing to represent Jesus Christ in all that I do.
Love,
Élder Hakes
This week was absolutely nuts. We just had a ton of meetings. I wasn´t hardly in my own sector. On Tuesday we had our Zone Leader´s Council, on Wednesday we had interviews with President Sloan, on Thursday we had a Mini-Zone Conference, on Friday we had the actual Zone Conference, and on Saturday we had a plaza presentation. It was crazy. I really enjoyed my time but I missed my investigators too!
At the Zone Leader´s Council we ended the night roasting s´mores. They were amazing. It was way fun. They also told us that we can now play soccer so we played soccer today. It was actually way fun. I´m not very good but I enjoyed my time. President Sloan also gave our zone permision to watch Toy Story 3 today. It was hilarious. We were laughing the whole time.
The family Castellanos is doing really good. I had them write in a memory book (a book with letters and pictures from investigators and members) and they wrote some really amazing stuff. They are an awesome family. I can´t wait to hear that they´ve gone to the temple. I´ll still be here when they can go to the temple. I hope they go while I´m here. That would be the true blessing for me.
Well this next weekend there are transfers because new missionaries will be arriving. I think I´m going to be leaving this zone finally. I don´t want to, but I think my times up here. I´ve been here for over 6 months in the same stake. I guess we´ll see what happens next week.
This week at church there was a family from Fresno, California here. The mom in the family is from Quito and they used to live here. They were visiting her parents. It was really weird because they´re a family of 6 kids and there were a ton of them. They all can speak Spanish too. It was way weird. Well family I love you all so much. I love being here on the mission. It gives me the chance to change who I am. I have a lot of corrections to do so I´m happy to be here. I love helping people change their lives. It is such a blessing to represent Jesus Christ in all that I do.
Love,
Élder Hakes
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
July 5, 2010
Dear Family,
This week was pretty awesome. We had the baptism of the family Castellanos, 4 people. It was so amazing. It was a very spiritual experience. THey had so many trials and temptations this week and it was hard for them. They had a family member tell them that the Mormons have 7 wives and that Joseph Smilth was a drug dealer. The father of the family Castellanos told them that it isn´t like that and he bore his testimony to them about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. He also gave them a pamphlet about the Law of Chastity that he happened to have with him. They will be really strong members for their entire lives. Their baptism and confirmation went perfectly. The dad even got up and bore his testimony. He was going to give a talk for about 10 minutes but the bishop asked him to do it for next week. It was way cool
This week when we were contacting we saw in someones yard that they had a monkey on a leash in their yard. We started talking with them and they let us in to take pictures. It was way cool!!!! I have some cool videos too but they´re too big to put in an e-mail.
We also had a talent show this week after the baptism. We did some pretty cool stuff. I have some sweet videos of that too. They´re also too big to put in an e-mail. The time here is flying by. I can´t believe I´ve been away from home for 10 months now. I´ve been here in Ecuador for 8 months. The time is flying. Well I love you all so much. Thank you for all that you do. It´s sad to hear that Grandma Dell passed away, but I know that she´s in a better place now. It´s such a blessing that we are able to know where she is and what she´s doing right now. It´s something that only the Restored Gospel can bring to us. Love you all!!!!
Love,
Élder Hakes
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