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