SPECIAL GUEST...

Hi family! I'm really sorry but this is going to be really short because of a special activity we had today. President Taggart said we were going to have a mission wide p-day activity today... We were really curious of what it was going to be because he told us we couldn't bring our iPads, phones, recorders, or cameras. We got gathered together and he announced a new mission presidency which was cool and then he told us the guest speaker was coming in. Kelsee, you are going to be jealous. Brother David Archuleta came in and we had basically 2 straight hours of hearing him speak, sing, answer questions, and take pictures with us. He is a really respectable guy and sings really good in person. I got to shake his hand and chat for a second, he speaks really good Spanish!

So that was super fun and then the week was the fastest week of my life. Activities, teaching members, and worrying about these jovenes. I feel like it is so easy to connect with them but they have many problems and struggles in their lives and so we have to be careful not to get down because we have to be there to cheer them up. :D It has been a great experience and I'm learning a ton. Plus the members are awesome and bring their friends to institute all the time. So we are able to teach them there and then invite them to the many activities. I am learning little by little what God wants me to learn in this area, which is a lot, and I am just happy in the service of the Lord. I know that He lives and is guiding His church today! Love you all!

Elder Hyde

(We sent him an Easter (Spring) countdown package and asked him to send us a picture of it hung up. Love the weights!)

I love YSA!

What a week it has been and it was amazing because we didn't have even a single normal day the entire week. Something really great about the Ward is that we have activities all the time. Every Monday we have an FHE with a spiritual thought, food, and lots of social conversion for investigators, recent converts, and for us to get to know everyone! :) Then on Wednesday we have institute and have a class from some awesome teachers. This last week we watched the best two years, with President Taggert's permission of course, and it was great! Rosi Lomeli, from Costa Mesa came and also our investigator named Brandon. He has overcome some of his huge problems with the word of wisdom and still has some stuff to overcome but he is awesome and comes to everything! He has a baptismal date for May 16 for some other reasons that are going on but he will for sure be baptized!

Then every Thursday we have a Ward activity. This past week we went to the temple, the members went in to do baptisms and we gave a temple tour to investigators. It was a really spiritual experience and it was the first time that I have given a temple tour but it went really great. This week we are having a spiritual thought and then playing sports. I'm excited because it changes every week. Then we have church on Sunday! Four planned activities every single week! It is amazing and investigators progress so fast here because they have so much time with the members not only learning about the gospel but also having fun! I absolutely love how open and willing the young adults are here. They are so amazing and make me really happy! I have been on exchanges in the Ward many times and I have met a lot of the Ward members before from their family wards and so it is great to already know so many of them and also get to know the rest.

My companion Elder Pace is really great! He is from Highland Utah and is a really smart and has been a zone leader for 6 transfers so he really knows what he is doing. He really loves basketball and kind of reminds me of the Marchants, he is really great! Our week was really crazy with all of the activities, trying to find some more jóvenes to teach, and also fulfilling our responsibilities. We are the elders closest to the airport and got a call during lunch this week that we needed to get to the airport ASAP to find a missing elder. It took a few hours but he was found, loved, and is happy to be back to normal missionary work, but wow it was a crazy day. We have a great zone and it is interesting to know that our Ward boundaries are way bigger than the mission boundaries. Good thing there are sisters in the Ward that cover the north half and we cover the south half. We still have to drive a ton but it's great because I have served in every single family Ward that we cover right now so I know their families and now I am meeting their kids that they talked about so much. We also have over 20 Ward members serving missions right now and there will be a constant flow of missionaries coming home in the next few months which is really going to strengthen the Ward.

About a year and a half ago the Ward was really struggling with only about 6-10 jóvenes coming each Sunday to church but yesterday we had 49 and it is growing so I'm really excited to be here in this Ward at this time. I know this is where I need to be and I feel super prepared that my past experiences in life and in the mission have prepared me to be here. I love it so much. This week Elder Pace and I also made some amazing plans and goals. After much prayer and planning we came up with what we call "6 weeks to conversion" which is a program that will help the members become more converted while bringing a friend to the waters of baptism. It focuses on the members reading and praying every day, and helping them learn how to extend commitment invitations to friends. We will be having the members extend the invitations to read, pray, come to church, and to be baptized. It's going to be awesome and have a huge lasting effect on not only the members but also the people they invite to hear the restored gospel. We are staring with the bishopric and prayerfully selected about 5 other members that we have stared on the program. I'm excited to see the miracles!

I love you all so much and I want you to know how much joy and happiness comes to those that share the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is something that has completely changed my life and I know it will change yours as well. If you are ever looking for more purpose, happiness or fulfillment in your lives you will find it as you share the wonderful truths of the gospel with those in your life. I love you all, I know that God trusts all of us in the places that He has placed us and that He is always there to help us. President told us something this week that really helped me. "You know enough right now to do all that the Lord expects of you today." I know that is true and I have seen it on the mission.

Love,

Elder Hyde

A new week and a new beginning...WOW!!!

This week was one of beginning anew a getting ready for change. On
Tuesday we had an entire mission technology conference with Elder
Nelson of the first quorum of the seventy and brother Heaton from the
Provo MTC. Wow, it's such a great privilege to have the entire mission
all together at once. It was a really great training about how we are
going to turn a new page with the technology phase. They told us we
were one of the test missions of 33 and they had no idea what they
were doing when they gave us iPads and Facebook. A year later, now we
have training guides and we know how to and how not to use this tool
to bless missionary work. I am really excited for all of the new
things we learned and for the guideline and help that they are giving
us to help everybody stay safe and be productive online and with the
iPads. We were basically told to forget everything we did before and
re-train our brains. So that happened Tuesday, we left Facebook and
then got new iPads on Thursday. Which I learned that I will be part of
the first group that gets to take their iPads home. I am really
grateful for he privilege I have been given to use it and I know it
will be something that I will be able to take and teach to many others
even after the mission. It's not just going to bless our lives now but
so many in the near future.

For that it was a crazy week along with a new trainers meeting
because Elder Gardner will be training!, and I got a call from
President asking me to be a zone leader. Later on Saturday I learned I
will be going to the barrio de los jóvenes adultos solteros (young
singles adult ward)((YSA)). I feel like I just got here and I'm kind
of sad to have to leave so many wonderful members and investigators. I
love this ward so much! But I know the Lord needs me elsewhere and I'm
excited for the new opportunity. My new companion is Elder Pace, an
awesome leader and I'm really excited to learn from him.

As for the week, Elder Garner and I had an amazing last week
together as we had a lot of members come out with us and really
friendship our investigators. Lorena is doing great and as we read in
the Ten Commandments about keeping the sabbath day holy she told us
that she wants to stop washing and shopping on Sunday before we even
had taught her about it. I know it's because the spirit was really
strong there and the spirit is by far the best teacher. I also know
that when we learn the gospel of Jesus Christ we automatically want to
follow his teachings and become better. I am really excited for this
transfer and for the opportunity to work with the young adults. My
area will now be bigger than half the mission so we will be driving
while the other is texting all of the awesome youth. There is so much
to learn and I am just looking toward the future with faith that the
Lord will guide us and help us know what to do. Have a blessed week!

:)
Love,
Elder Hyde

Elder Gardner and Elder Hyde

Elder Maughan, Elder Hyde and Elder Kemp

District Elders

New Members of Santa Ana 10

Teaching Families :)

His spirit inspires mine each week but this one was a tear jerker for me! Prayer works! ~Cindee


Hi family!

I feel like I just email you so I'm not sure what to say.
Elder Gardner and I have been so blessed the past few weeks and we are
seeing so much progress with our investigators it makes me really
happy! Lorena has had a pretty tough week but her testimony of the
power of prayer grew a lot. One day she was just really down when we
went over because of some things that had happened that day. She
prayed earlier and said that helped her but by the end of the lesson
she told us about an unexplainable joy that had come over her. It made
me feel so great as the spirit was able to comfort her and give her
joy. Then another day she was excited to see us to tell her of a
miracle. Her husband lost his wallet and they hadn't been able to find
it for three days. She and her husband had been praying(he never
prays) so that they could find it. Then somebody knocked on their door
and returned it without wanting anything in return. They were so happy
that God had answered their prayer and the husband acknowledged that
it was an answer to his prayer. He even told us he was happy to see us
and joined us for the first few minutes of the lesson before he went
to work. He is changing so much! :)


The Contreras family that is living with a recent convert is doing
really good even though they have their doubts they are reading the
Book of Mormon. If they continue to do that and pray, all of their
doubts will go away. They are a great family and we really became a
lot closer to the dad Eduardo this week. He even wants to be baptized
and accepted a baptismal date for March 29th. He and his wife will
need to get married before then but I have faith that he can make it.
The other two families we are working with are the Perez family and
the Gonzalez family. They are the two families that both lost a
daughters in a car accident last October. They are progressing very
well! One family is on date for the 29th of March and the other knows
that we were sent from God to teach them His gospel. I can't even
express how happy these families make me. It is such a privilege to be
a missionary, I know that it not only is completely changing my life
but the lives of many others. I am but an instrument in the hands of
the Lord, but I know that each one of us can do much good! :)


I have an Esteban quote again for this week. Somehow we were
talking about cavemen and we asked Esteban if he knew what that was
and he told us "yeah, a caveman is like a bear but it's not a bear and
it comes out of a cave and eats meat." Haha I love that kid. Have a
wonderful week and always remember who you are and that I love you.
And even more importantly you have a Heavenly Father that loves you.
:D


-Elder Hyde
P.S. I won't be on Facebook for a few months. We are having a big
meeting tomorrow for new technology training. I'm excited!
P.P.S. I almost saw Elder Holland this week. He came to speak at a
Chapman University that is in my ward boundaries but the investigator
that was going to come with us cancelled last minute so we didn't go.
But a lot of the ward members went and they said it was great! :)