Brandon's Baptism...Sergio Singing

Brandon's Baptism

Sergio Singing

Well the highlight of the week was definitely Brandon's baptism!
The first time I met him about 10 months ago I lacked a lot of faith
because I thought he might never get baptized. But God has been
preparing him for such a long time and I was so happy to see that he
was finally ready to make that huge decision in his life. He is a
great missionary and spent all week inviting his friends, family,
lawyers, and every person that he knew to come to the baptism. It
worked because almost 20 non members showed up and there was also a
good Ward assistance and so it was packed. These two older white
ladies (his lawyers) showed up and literally screamed in the parking
lot they were so excited for him and couldn't believe all of the
changes that he has made. The baptism went smoothly and then after we
spent an hour and a half talking to all of his friends and family and
gave them a church tour. Most of them don't have any interest in the
church right now but it was really impactful on his step mom, sister,
and two or three friends that either us or other missionaries will be
teaching this week. On Sunday he was confirmed and then later he
received the Aaronic priesthood and was given a temple recommend for
baptisms. He will be passing the sacrament next week! He was so full
of happiness and light and was practically swarmed with members for
those two days congratulating him. He is a great example to me and
really built my faith. If he can do it, anybody can.

Another great miracle that happened this week was the progress that
Sergio has made. Our former Ward mission leader is pretty much his
best friend now and when he picked him up he gave him a white shirt,
tie and slacks and so he came to church looking like a member and we
hardly recognized him. Haha Then later that night we sang in the stake
priesthood meeting as a Ward and Sergio and Brandon both sang in it
and said it made then feel part of a family. It was awesome! Sergio is
going on the Ward camp out this weekend so he decided that he would
feel better doing his baptism May 30th but he is so excited for it, it
makes me excited just thinking about it. It's amazing because as soon
as we started teaching him a week ago he has been tried a lot with
ridicule from his friends and family and being present for a really
deep institute class after only being taught twice. But none of that
has fazes him at all. He said it has made him stronger. He told us
that he already refers to himself as a member of the church and tells
them "we Mormons don't actually believe that" or "if the whole world
was a member of the church we would have world peace" or many of his
other great comments that always make me laugh. Miracles are happening
and I feel so happy and honored to be an instrument in the Lords hands
to find the elect and help them come closer to Christ.

Love,
Elder Hyde

Mother's Day 2015

Hi mom and family! I hope your Mother's Day was fantastic, it was
so great to see you all. :)
And mom I hope that the card comes really soon because it's pretty great.

Well you know most of the week but after I told you about our plans
yesterday I need to let you know how it went. So after the call we
went to a members house named Daisy and ate the hot dog pizza
thingys.They tasted delicious and so I ate 4 of them. During dinner we
got to talk to her grandma and she is probably the boldest grandma I
have ever met. She told us story after story of her sharing the gospel
with others and how she would do it so boldly. She has a ton of faith
and because of that she really speaks with power and it really
strengthened me. After dinner we went to our appointment with Sergio
and he was still really excited about the awesome day he had at
church. He was passed to us from the family Ward sisters that felt
that he would progress better in the YSA and they were right. He told
the sisters that he wasn't ready for baptism yet but after that
amazing church experience he said yes to being baptized five times
before I could even finish my sentence to invite him. Haha he said he
will be baptized May 23 and so we are going to meet with him almost
every day until then to make sure he is ready. He is so prepared to
receive the gospel and he has a huge family of 9 that he is having a
huge impact on because of his righteous decisions.

This week I got to go on exchanges with one of my old companions
Elder Arevalo! It was really good. He is really good at teaching to
the needs of the investigators and he was really happy to be back on
his old area. It was on the exchange that we got passed Sergio and we
had a church tour with a recent converts cousin and he also said he
wants to be baptized and came to the first hour of church and loved
it. The week was great and it made me really happy to be able to see
and talk to my wonderful family. I am so grateful for all of the moms
in my life and especially for my momma who is always the most
supportive and loving person ever. Love you mom!

-Elder Hyde

Filling my life with light and happiness...

To be honest this week was really long and full of some less
exciting experiences. But I know that we must have weeks like that to
be able to more fully enjoy the really great weeks. We still saw
miracles and I was happy for most of the week but I really learned the
power of filling my life with light and happiness.

We had an emergency with the Costa Mesa sisters and ended up
spending a good chunk of the day moving them to a new apartment and it
was one of the longest days of my mission because of the things we had
to do. They spent the next few days in the hospital but all should be
fine because they are in a new place now. :) It was also a really long
week because we had apartment checks and one of the elders grandma
passed away so we went by to make sure he was doing okay. I just love
the gospel because it helps us through everything we go through.
Especially on a mission because it will prepare us for how we face
trials and tribulations later on in life.

I got to go on exchanges with Elder Wagstaff this week. He is one
of the assistants to president Taggart right now and it was a lot of
fun being in their area for a day. They are part of an English Ward
but have a Spanish group in it so we were able to teach both and it
was a blast. I feel like English sometimes get a more wide variety of
people to teach. Because most people we teach in Spanish are catholic
and don't have much time to listen, but just in one day in English we
taught so many different people it was a lot of fun. Plus he is an
amazing missionaries and I learned a lot about studying techniques and
planning while we were together.

Brandon is doing really well and is pumped for his baptism. He
talks with everyone in his neighborhood and so took some time to walk
around with him and talk to all of his neighbors to share the gospel
with them and invite them to his baptism. Everyone is really happy for
him and we even taught some of his friends at his house this week and
it went awesome. Now that he has left drugs and is changing his life
his friends want to do the same. It's awesome! So back to filling your
life with light. As we invite the spirit into our lives we will fill
our lives with light. Something I have been doing this week is singing
and reciting scriptures a lot to take away any feelings that I don't
want in my life. It has helped me a ton and I know that as we live a
life worthy for the spirit to help and guide us will give us the light
that we look for. I am really excited to skype you in 6 days!!! :) :)
:)