Out of England, Into Wales!

March 31, 2011

Dear Family and friends,

So I have been taken sent away from good ole' England and have been put into Wales. Blackwood Wales to be exact. I'm relatively close to Cardiff(Welsh capital) and in the Caerphilly county. They have some interesting names now here. It is also weird when you look at the road signs and whatever because they all have to have the sign in Welsh as well as English. I don't know if you've ever seen anything in Welsh, but it doesn't look like a language at all. They have a bunch of double letters everywhere and stuff. Like "Ffordd" or something like that. I forget what that means, but yeah. The pronunciation of those double letters are interesting too, like a "dd" makes the "th" sound..... weird. There are weirder ones too. So yeah. My new companion is Elder Krywult. He is from Austria and has been here for 2 transfers. He's cool so far. He's into fixing bikes and game coding(on computer....so something I know nothing about). I'm excited to be here. It was sad leaving Stourbridge though. It was hard, but I loved it. And if I thought that was hilly there, I was wrong. Wales, especially Blackwood) is hilly and I've barely even been biking yet since it basically took all afternoon and such to get here from the mission home. So yeah. Fun, eh? I was very tired by the end of the night.

Change is always good, even if we don't think so. Growth is really all about getting out of our comfort zone. When we feel comfortable, that is when you need to change something up because you won't learn or grow as much just staying in your comfort zone. That is the gist of a quote that a former missionary from this mission said. And it is so true and I've seen it on my mission. If you are in your comfort zone, do something to get out of it so you can keep learning and progressing. Missionary work is definitely out of most peoples comfort zone, but you can become lax even doing it. That is why we move from place to place because we'll then relax and not exactly do all we can to make a change. Isn't that something that we all want to do? Make a change in something? And so to do that you need to get out of your comfort zone. Reflect on your life and what you do. If you feel comfortable in everything, find something you can do that you feel would be awkward and apprehensive about and then try to do it. Sound like a plan. Good!

So yeah. I've moved to Wales. It was a really fun and super duper fast transfer with Elder Stein and the area is Stourbridge is starting to get better. As I go to these new areas it is so fun because you have a new task at hand, but it is really the same one. Love the people. That's really all there is to it. If you love them, you want to help them. And if you want to help them, you'll share with them something that means a lot to you and that you now can change their life for the better. The Gospel and knowledge of Jesus Christ and his Atonement is just that. Most may know of it, but they don't know of it's power to help, heal, and save. If you have a testimony of it, look to share it. If you don't, I encourage you to search for this great knowledge whether it be in the Bible or the Book of Mormon and once you find and learn about it, apply it to your life. That is where the real power in it lies.

I love you all sooo much. I love all of the letters and emails, they really do help and provide with further motivation. I love life, and I hope that you are too. If you don't, find happiness. It is the only way to go. There is even a good scripture on how to obtain eternal happiness- Mosiah 2:41. It's simple, maybe not the easiest, but with the Atonement, it is possible!

My new address is:

54 Apollo Way

Blackwood

NP12 1WB

UK

Love you all!

Elder Hulet

All is Well in Jolly, Ol' England

March 14, 2011

Dearest Family,

So this past week was pretty good. We were finally able to find some new investigators, so our teaching pool should be getting bigger. I'm glad I'm able to be with Elder Stein. It is so much easier to work hard in a difficult area when you have a companion who is also optimistic. It was just really hard to stay positive with Elder Stokes and I think you could see it in our work effort. Now that we're both positive, things are starting to change and pick up. Hopefully it continues to do so. What was also pretty good this week was that I got to drive a car. It happened because I was on exchange with the Zone Leaders and I went with Elder Rapana to their area(Chelmsey Wood) and we had some spare time at night(5 or 10 minutes), so he let me drive(which is allowed because I haven't been in the country for a year yet and I also have my provisional license. It was weird being on the left side of the road and in the right side of the car. All I need to do now to get my full license is to take some lessons and a couple tests. They last until you're 60 too, so I could drive in Europe or England anytime legally until I'm old(eh, dad?). Another funny thing that happened was that I went to a guy nicknamed "prophecying Tom" while in Chelmsey Wood. And when we were leaving we asked him for some prophecies about us. He gave me one saying that my father was going to be getting a new job in 2 days. He told me that on Tuesday and you didn't say anything mentioning that pops, so I guess he isn't the most accurate. But yeah, life has been pretty good and this week has flown by like no other. It's quite ridiculous how fast this transfer has gone. We only have 1 more p-day in this transfer after today(to which we'll probably be paying a visit to Walsall.....so don't tell Sue mother). Oh yeah, we also went and played laser tag last monday which was soo much fun. Elder Stein won the first one and then I scored the most points out the the other missionaries in the second one(we had 2 other kids join us in the second game and one of them won it). So that was my good week.

Teaching wise, we were able to see Tahereh this Friday. It was the first time in a while where we actually had a proper lesson with her. She is really good and she has a strong desire to follow Christ and wants to know if the church is true, but she has a problem. She isn't putting in the effort that she needs to to find out. She knows she needs to read, pray, and come to church from us teaching her, but she just isn't acting on it. This my friends is a good example of agency. Agency is sometimes something that I wish I could take away for people we teach because we know what they need to do to figure out that the church is true, but they just don't take the effort to do so and it can be quite frustrating. However, I know it is a gift from God and I know that if they truly want to know and be fully converted, then they need to exercise their agency in really searching and following what we invite them to do. Everyone likewise has their own agency to make decisions for themselves. The question then is: How do we use our agency? Do we follow God and His commandments? Do we choose to do whatever we feel like doing? Do our actions really represent our desires in life or do we just change what we do and how we are based off of who we are around? We have the agency to choose whatever we want to do or be. What we need to do is really reflect on who we are and what our morals/beliefs are and then stick by them. We need to use our agency and decide to not give in no matter what situation we are in that might threaten them. So I encourage you to find yourself and who you are and then I ask you to stand by your decision; use your agency and choose the best for yourself. I do this myself for missionary work. Do I conduct myself or work however hard I work because of those around me, or because that's how I feel I should work to fulfill my responsibility. Agency is a tricky thing. It can be a good thing and produce good results, but it can be dangerous if we fall away from who we are and choose not to follow and stand up for our morals and beliefs. Find yourself, and stand strong.

Sorry for so much rambling and if it doesn't make any sense to you, I apologize. I don't know if it makes sense to me either. I just wrote as it came to mind and who knows how my mind works. I love you all and I hope you have a good March Madness- Go PSU! Oh oh, and dealing with March Madness, we have our own competition and challenge for our Zone. We receive a certain amount of points for certain stats and then whoever gets the most points wins. At least at the end of this week, the top 8 teams will move on to the next round and so on. It should be fun and good. The Stourbridge Scallywags are sure to win!

Keep it real and be happy because if you're happy, life just gets better! I can testify of that!

Love,

Elder Hulet

P.S.We are going to Kidderminster to finish the song that Elder Stokes were making, so that should be fun. Hopefully I can get more pics up sooner or later. Also, I'm still working on my list of people I need to write to. It is getting smaller, but not as quick as I wish it were.

This Week has Flown By Like Crazy

March 7, 2011

Dear Family and Friends,

This week has flown by like crazy! If it goes that fast for the rest of my mission, I'll be home in a week. I guess I better answer some questions about the weather since I always seem to neglect that. Um.... The weather here is pretty unpredictable. It'll be super cold and rainy(maybe with some hail) the one day and then the next will be pretty warm and sunshiney. It also gets super cold at night no matter what, so I have to suit up and always be prepared for anything when I leave the flat- especially for rain. I bought a warm water proof jacket last p-day, but now I'm in search for a nice cheap, light one. I've tried by so many different charity shops since they have lots here in Stourbridge, but to no avail, one hasn't been found. Also with the weather, we haven't had any snow since that stint of snow in December(that occurred on my b-day in fact), at least an amount of snow that is worth mentioning. In terms of weather though, the official worst combo is, cold temps, rain, and wind. It's killer.

Life is going alright in Stourbridge. It is a blast being here with Elder Stein. It is so nice to not have to go through the awkward first week or two trying to figure out each other and dealing with each others quirks. We get along well still, and I hope I'm a better missionary now that I've been out longer than the first time(which was zero). I sure do hope we can turn this area around. It will take some pure hard finding work though. I hadn't done too much finding whilst I was here until last week and I loved it. I totally forgot how much fun finding can be(although rejection is even more prevalent then) and how good you feel when you can have a nice conversation with people about their lives and the gospel in connection with them, even though very few, if any have been interested. We are starting to focus on finding more people now because our list of less actives to try by and check their interest in the church has waned. I'm ready to try something new to make this area good. I'm ready to work my butt off. I've seemed to get a little to lax with the struggle of the area and blaming it on the area, when it could also be thrown back on me and my efforts. Elder Stein is good though and we'll be working hard and I'm sure God will bless us for that. Guess we'll just have to wait and see.

This week I've had a good thought about life and the work here in Stourbridge. One of the frustrations that I have had is the lack of success and help from the ward. I have been trying hard to figure out why not much has happened as I've tried so hard and been working hard to get it to turn around. I've come to a couple conclusions, factors, or characteristics that I need to work on. They are Faith, Patience, and Trust(which kind of goes along with faith in missionary work). These are some big factors as to how we can achieve success or happiness, in life(like the rest of you) and in missionary work. For me and missionary work, I need to find the faith in God that he will prepare people for me to find that are ready to receive the Gospel in their lives. I then need to trust Him and have patience that as I work hard and do my best, that the success will come and he'll place people in my path that are ready to be taught or send us to less active members that are now ready to come back and we can provide such that is needed to get them there. The same can happen in your life. Maybe you are asking God for help with something, and yet you haven't seen any evidence of an answer or some help. First, do you have the faith that he can? Second, do you trust that His answer or way is the best? And last, do you have the patience to wait for it to happen? These are vital to life, I believe. I will be working on implementing them in my work this week and if it be God's will, I hope to find some people!

I love you all. I'm almost out of time now, so I need to hurry off. Keep doing good and continue your search for happiness!

Love,

Elder Hulet