Wonderful Birthday Week!

Dear Family,
First of all I need to thank you all for the wonderful birthday
wishes and letters that I received. I truly do appreciate all the love
that I feel from all of you. Especially my wonderful family with so
many fun little pictures of them forming letters with their bodies, or
the wonderful memory that they have of the treats that I love. It was
a wonderful birthday, thank you all so much! :D With the surfboard
piñata that you sent we set it in a tree and just like kicking a field
goal we kicked a soccer ball at it. Oh course the elder from Peru was
able to kick it down and then I chucked it in the air and it smashed
open for everyone to get the candy. It was a lot of fun! I got sung
happy birthday many times that day and the Calderon family had us over
for a few minutes to eat s'mores with them. That night we didn't have
too many birthday miracles because we had to let some investigators go
that weren't progressing. But we did find a really cool guy named Jose
who loves missionaries, he is just a little too focused on aliens.
Haha
This week we had Zone conference and it was a very interesting one.
I really enjoyed it but you could tell it was president and sister
Taggert's first one. They talked to us a lot about gates and how we
shouldn't be satisfied to only have the investigators dressed in white
once but to help them go through all the necessary ordinances that we
need in this life. Then we had a training from the assistants,
including my former companion elder Arèvalo. It was also a great lunch
to be able to catch up with Elder Lindsay and my old district and see
how all of the investigators are doing in Santa Ana 5. Lourdes and her
husband are looking really solid to being baptized in the next couple
weeks.

We had some vey interesting lessons later in the week. One with a
recovering meth addict and it was sad to see how badly she has been
affected by drugs and alcohol in her life. It's going to be
challenging to help her comprehend everything that we teach. We also
were asked by the bishop to take over the teaching for one of the
sisters investigators. He has been taught everything but the bishop
doesn't feel he has shown enough fruit and so we have to be very
upfront with him and try to find where his desires are at. Really nice
guy but just can't see to take anything serious. But I think as we
show love for him and his desire to be baptized he can make the
necessary changes. The other sisters have had some problems with an
investigator and so every time from now on that he is taught we need
to be there for everyone's safety. A lot of interesting situations but
also a lot of progress with people this week so it has been worth it.

I got to interview this 14 year old kid Ignacio this week. His
whole family (of 6) was baptized in April but he didn't want to be
because he didn't have a testimony of the gospel. I really admire him
for now making the decision to find out if it was what he needed to
do. He is a really humble kid that really wanted to be baptized to
obey his Heavenly Father and all of his commandments. I absolutely
love being able to interview people for baptism and feel of the love
that these wonderful people have for the gospel. He was baptized
yesterday and President and sister Taggart came and even shared their
testimonies in Spanish. It was really awesome! Plus President Taggart
is way awesome and invited and challenged everyone there to learn
English and that it would be blessing to their family in the future
and give them more oportunies to provide better for their families.
People were really surprised but it was defiantly done with the spirit
and it was a neat experience.

As for our area we found a few new families that have some
potential and an older lady that lives with a recent convert that says
she has met with missionaries before and has never felt ready to be
baptized but she thinks she is now ready and so that was a big
blessing to find her. Again nobody came to church, but the sisters
investigator that was passed to us came to the baptism and had a good
experience there and even joined the ward choir this week and came to
the practice.

We also had exchanges with the zone leaders this week and it was a
really good experience to see a lot of good things that I do well and
even more things that I can improve on. :) Elder Harvey came to our
area and we had a lot of fun talking to a lot of people and helping
the sisters teach that investigator about repentance and what he can
do to overcome those feelings of guilt that he still has. He even
talked to the bishop on Sunday and seemed really happy with the whole
experience. I think he is truly changing. I am reminded of an inspired
part in a talk by President Thomas S. Monson. He shared

"Another principle of truth which will guide us in our
determination is that boys and men can change. I’m reminded of the
words of a prison warden who taught this fact. A critic who knew of
Warden Duffy’s efforts to rehabilitate men said, ‘Don’t you know that
leopards can’t change their spots?’ Warden Duffy responded, ‘You
should know I don’t work with leopards. I work with men, and men
change every day.’"

I add my testimony that men and women can change and I have seen it
time and time again on my mission. If our desires to serve God and
keep his commandments become great than our desires to do anything
else, then we can see the biggest changes. I love this gospel and the
opportunity it gives us to change and better ourselves daily. Because
of the atonement of Jesus Christ we can be forgive for anything and
leave it behind us. I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!

Love,
Elder Hyde

Also if you would like to read that from President Monson it's called
"To the Rescue" and here is the link.
http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2001/04/to-the-rescue?lang=eng

New Area...Lots of Pictures = Happy Mom!

I don't have too much time this week but I did manage to send lots
of picutres, I hope you got them. :) So this week had a lot of ups and
downs. Ups because we have been working really hard and have people to
teach and have been blessed a lot. Downs because most the people right
now aren't keeping commitments and there hasn't been an investigator
at church from our area for quite a while now. So that is are main
focus this week to get people to church. We are committed to do what
it takes and I know we will be blessed as we do everything we can to
help people come to church. So I thought I might ask you all a
question. Why is going to church every week so important to you? And
what is it that keeps you going?

So this week we had some really special lessons. We taught this guy
named Robert, who we found last week, and he is awesome. He is going
through a lot of trials right now and he has always turned to drinking
and bad friends as his solution but he had a change a little bit ago
that has really prepared him for us to teach him. He has two teenagers
and really wants to change for them and he knows that it's through
God's help that he can do it. He also is struggling because he had to
amputate his leg last Fourth of July because of a shotgun wound in the
street. He has been stabbed multiple times, one resulting in losing a
lung. To add more his ex-wife is trying to put a restraining order on
him so he can't see the kids because she fears for their lives because
of his past life. He has a lot of pain but it has been an amazing
oportunity to teach him. We focused on two things with him that really
opened him up. First the atonement and how Christ has felt everything
he has gone through and wants to help him through it. You could see
the emotion in his eyes and the hope that came to him as we read Alma
7:11-12 with him. Second we testified of the resurrection and what
that means for us. Alma 40:23 made him so happy that he will receive a
perfected body someday and it was a really cool lesson.

We also taught this cool guy named Juan and taught him in a bug
infested basement. Huge dead cockroaches everywhere and little bugs
crawling on us. But we got past it and realized how humble and nice
this guy was who let us into him home. He told us right away when he
met us we had a glow of happiness and he could tell we were servants
of God. He told us he wants what we have and he really loved the
restoration. He told us humbly that he couldn't believe he had never
heard about the Book of Mormon and was one of the most excited people
I have seen that wants one to read it. We have a lot of hope for a lot
of our investigators we just need to help them act more and show their
faith. This area is a lot of fun and we get to meet all sorts of
people. It's a really good variety here. :) mom, you asked about the
guy in my profile picture. His name is nacho and he makes my day every
time I see him. He is a very high functioning autistic bundle of joy
in his mid 30's and surprises people every day. When he was a baby,
his parents were told that he would never be able to talk, walk, or do
really anything by himself. But now he talks all the time, is really
good at drawing, bathes and dresses himself, even cooks a little bit,
and loves giving nacho hugs and gives everyone a nickname. His
nickname for me is"Flash" haha He is one of the most active members in
his family and even holds the priesthood. He is a big inspiration to

me and I love him. He lives in my old area though so that was my

goodbye picture with him. I love you all so much have a wonderful
week!


Love,
Elder Hyde

Lopez Familia & Nacho...

Poison oak stages 1.2.3...

Ramirez Familia

Sealing Celebration

Noche de hogar la Lomeli familia

Stress, New Companion & District & Driving a Chevy Cruze 2013

This week had to probably be one of the most stressful weeks of my
mission for sure. But it was good stress and really pushed me to learn
and grow a lot. So the name of my hijo is Elder Kemp! :D He's an
awesome elder from plain city Utah, which is up by Ogden. We have a
lot of things in common. He ran cross country and track in high
school, loves ultimate frisbee, and has a lot of puns. We work really
well together and we also have a lot of fun! Elder Kemp is a really
goofy, fun, lovable guy that I am really excited to have at least 13
more weeks with him!


Surprisingly this week was also one of the longest weeks on my
mission so I will go back to what seems like an eternity ago to last
Monday. I was in a trio with elder Diaz and elder Sylvester for a
night back in my old area in Costa Mesa. They had a family home
evening set with the Lomeli family and so it was a lot of fun being
able to go back and see all of them. It was really awesome to see how
happy they were and how happy I was to see all of them and be back in
their home. The next day we had a little time still in a trio while we
waited for my new companion to get here and we were able to help a
members friend move. Then we went to the office and got to meet our
new companions. Right when I saw him I knew I was going to be training
him, it was super excited to be back at presidents home and remember
the fun experience I had getting here from Mexico.


His first night in the field we got to go find some of our
investigators and just talk to as many people as we could. It was a
lot of fun the whole week just trying to find our investigators and in
the process we had a lot of success finding new people as well. So the
first couple days were filled with meeting for training and district
leaders and it was a big overwhelming but nothing unbearable. Then the
morning of district meeting when I was supposed to have time to plan
for it, the sisters called and we needed to go give blessings to a
part member family that was going through a difficult time and really
needed some guidance. The father needed to move to Mexico for his work
but his young family really needed him here. The spirit was really
strong as I gave them blessings and after a lot of prayer and fasting
they were able to make the decision that Heavenly Father wants for
them. It was a cool experience to see them work through a trial as a
family.


So anyways because of that I only had a couple minutes to plan an
entire district meeting. Most weeks the district leaders receive an
outline of what to teach, including scriptures to use, questions to
ask and quotes to share. But this week was district leaders choice. So
I had to come up with everything. :) it ended up going really well
though and I was really relieved at how well it went. I had been
stressing out about it too much and I just needed to let the spirit
guide everything. By the way my district is awesome!! It elder Kemp
and I, and then hermana Galicia, Jones, May, Noel, and Schobert. They
are super hard working sisters that love each other a ton and just
work super hard all the time. I am really blessed to have such a
wonderful district.


I really love training and being able to help and serve my
companion and also my district. I also had my first baptismal
interview on Saturday. This baker name Arturo Gomez, he has a cute
little family but is the only one that has received the gospel so far.
When I asked him why he wanted to be baptized he told me because he
wanted to be clean from his sins and he knew it would be a blessing
throughout his whole life. A really nice, humble man and it was a
pleasure to meet him. His baptism was awesome and he fits right in
with this awesome ward.


Something I learned this week is that God will never give us more than
we can handle and even though we may have trials, stressful weeks, or
whatever it may be we will always be provided with a way to work through
it. Plus those are the moments in which we grow and learn the most.The
bishop here is really excited about missionary work and it has
changed the whole mindset in the ward. They all want to help and do
their part and because they have been working so hard with the
missionaries we have at least one baptismal service set up for every
single week in August. I love this area and all of the members and I
know that there are a lot of people here that are waiting for elder
Kemp and I to go find them! :) love you all!


-Elder Hyde

P.S. Driving a 2013 Chevy Cruze around instead of biking is really
going to make me fat :D

Changes! DL, New companion, New District

Well this week was full of ups and downs. We didn't get to teach
quite as much as we would have liked but we saw some really good
progress with our investigators. On Thursday night I learned that I
would be training and district leader and from there everything has
been a blur. Haha it's been a really humbling couple of days and then
when I learned I was leaving to another ward it was really hard to say
goodbye to such wonderful families and a great ward. I'm not sure why
I am going but I know that The Lord has a plan and so in going where
ever he wants me to go. Tomorrow I pick up my new companion and I'm
really excited to have a lot of opportunities to learn and grow
together. I'm staying in Santa Ana but going to the 11th ward. I am
also doing a "white wash" of the area which means neither of us know
the area or the ward. It's going to be a challenge but I'm super
excited! :) My district has five sisters and then me and my companion
so that will be very different.

Well I'm out of time but I am really excited to get working hard
with my new companion, thanks for the love and support, love you guys!

-Elder Hyde

Wedding & Church...

Already 5 days since I last wrote but it feels like yesterday. We had a service packed weekend as we basically planned and decorated a wedding within 36 hours. The lady who was getting married told us she wanted her wedding to be a finding activity for us and that she wanted us talking with all her family and friends and sharing the gospel with them. They even made an announcement at the beginning of the wedding service by announcing who we are and what we do. She also wanted us inviting our investigators and everyone that we could to come to her wedding. Hispanic wedding are very different than any other wedding I have been to but they are super fun. We hung some pretty impressive decorations and improvised a ton from the random stuff we found in the relief society closet to get everything together but it was really cool. I will send some pictures of it in a minute. It was a pretty good success as we had two of our investigator families(Lourdes's family, & Delpilar family) come and we got to introduce them to a lot of ward members and help them just have a fun time at the church. We met some really nice family members that don't live in our area but hopefully the missionaries in their area will be able to teach them more. I was really happy to see the couple get married finally. They had been living together for a few years without being married so he wasn't able to have the priesthood and they missed out on a lot of blessings. But now they are doing awesome and it's good to see them married. :)

We had a really good lesson with the Ramirez family and finally met the husband of the 6 awesome little kids. He is a really good dad and I am really relieved at how open he is. It was a lesson with 13 of us and so it was a little difficult to manage trying to involve everyone. Especially trying to help the little kids stay interested without being so basic that the parents got bored. Plus trying to involve the 3 members that came with us. By the end it seemed to have worked out really well because everyone of baptismal age accepted a baptismal date for August 24th. We also had an ward exercise activity with Zumba, P90X, health smoothies, word of wisdom dodge ball (hosted by us! :D), and more. The only problem was that not many people showed up. :( There were a decent amount of ward members but no investigators showed up so that stunk but we did get to help a lot of members recap what the word of wisdom is. Some have some miss conceptions on what the word of wisdom is and what it says we should eat and what we should avoid. So at least we got to help out with that.

Sunday we had some awesome miracles. The parents of the Ramirez family had to work but they had the uncle that was watching them brought them to church and it was so cute to see the little bundles of joy sitting in sacrament so excited to learn and sing the songs. Also the Garcia family(Lourdes and her family) all showed up. They seem to be really enjoying church a lot more, it's just hard for them to stay all three hours because they didn't grow up with religious parents so they never went to church. With the progress we have seen in them already I think they will be able to stay for all three soon. We aren't sure why the family Delpilar didn't show up but we will work with them this week. We have been super blessed. I am really excited for the people that we are working with and I'm and really grateful for all the support I receive from all of you. Thank you!

Elder Hyde

Love,

Elder Hyde

Temple week, New families

This week was really amazing for finding families! We found all of
them by just talking with everyone. :) Heavenly Fater really put a lot
of people in our path this week to help and to talk to. Oh yeah, the
reason I am emailing so late is because we got to go to the temple
early this morning and it was a really good experience.

The Ramirez family was one of the really cool families we found this
week and we are sooo excited for them. Plus the fit right in with the
ward since the bishop and ward mission leader here have the same last
name. They have 6 kids, all 11 or younger and it was a lot of fun
teaching them. They are some really intelligent kids. I love teaching
kids because they are so sincere and open. They have such a sweet
spirit and it so much fun to help them learn more about God.

The Delpilar family is also super awesome and the mom, Reina, is
probably the most prepared person I have met on my mission. The first
time we met her we only had a few minutes so we left her with a
restoration pamphlet and set another day to come back. When we came
back she was so excited to see us and introduced us to her whole
family. She had read and highlighted the pamphlet like crazy and had
questions written down all over. When she read the pamphlet she said
the spirit testified to her that it was all true and with the help of
the spirit she had not just memorized but had learned and understood
the restoration. Her biggest questions were about where is the book of
Moroni located, and how she could learn more about Joseph smith. She
even bore her testimony with her family and told us she wants to share
this testimony that she has with everyone. She is going to make a
great ward missionary someday soon. :)

Lourdes and her whole family came to church and her husband liked
it a lot and wants to start joining our lessons with her. We have also
been working a lot with the less active Lopez family. We have been
able to help them out a lot this week, including blessings, scripture
study, lots of yard work, and even exercising with Nacho! :) It has
just been a wonderful last few weeks. One other really fun thing
happened yesterday when we got surround by over twenty little kids
that were really crazy. We tried to teach this huge group of kids and
it reminded me on what Elder Kimball's experience must have been like.
It was really nice to have an iPad because the pictures really helped
them stay somewhat focused. But then they started stuffing our shirt
pockets with candy, trying to take selfies with us in the background,
comparing me to the new Spider-Man actor (I have no clue who he is),
and trying to ask us tons of random questions. It was a lot of fun and
actually pretty productive. We got a handful of families to go try and
visit and some of the orders ones want us to bring the a copy of the
Book of Mormon. Little kids are the best! I'm probably forgetting
something but I will write about it on Monday because it's so soon
anyways. I love you all!

-Elder Hyde

4th of July Craziness and Rosi gets baptized

Missionary work is the best! This week was super exciting with the 4th of July and then ending it with a blast of the past at Rosi Lomeli's baptism. Remember her? The family Elder Maughan and I found back in Costa Mesa. One of my favorite families ever and I believe that one by one they will all be baptized. :)

As missionaries with such a party/family gathering holiday like the 4th of July, we had a lot of work to do. We had an early barbeque with a member and their family and actually ate really American food except for some elote covered in mayo and chilly powder, my favorite! :D I also got to eat a fig for the first time in my life. We picked them right off of their tree in the back yard and they were delicious. The rest of the night was pure madness! We handed out over 60 pass-a-long cards and had about 50 conversations with all of the Hispanics that were lining all of the streets. So many people and so many names but it was the best situation the contact people in my mission. All was fine and dandy until it got dark. Then the real show began. I have never seen so many fireworks and so many all at the same time. Most of the Hispanic here go to black market vendors to get tons of loud, crazy, and very illegal fireworks. And we got to bike home through it all. :) It was really fun! Fireworks playing in front of our faces and them going off all around us. I felt like it was a war zone. But it brought a really successful night and we found some awesome investigators. We talked to this one lady and the first thing she asked before we shared anything with her was if we go to houses and teach the word of God and when we could come teach her and her son. A lot of cool stories and miracles from talking to so many people, I wish I had time to tell all of them. We even had a couple people add us on Facebook as we told them that we had them.

This week we also taught a music class and got a picture to send to Salt Lake so that they can start sending us keyboards and more equipment to further our ability to teach them how to lead music and eventually play the piano. We are hoping to receive keyboards in the next few weeks. Looks like I might need to learn how to play! Haha

On Sunday we had a huge feast with the Cifuentes family and they made us Guatemalan tamales which take most of a day to make. Hermana Cifuentes slaved away all of Saturday and they tasted really good. They are a lot more work than Mexican tamales but I'm sure they are worth how long they take. But it was a super nice gesture from an awesome family in the ward and it is always fun to try new food. :) That night was Rosi's baptism and it was one of the happiest moments of my mission. Her whole family was there and it was soooo great to catch up with them and their crazy Lomeli family adventures. Elder Maughan and Arevalo came and they are doing really well. President Taggart and his wife also came to support her. They both can speak Spanish and wanted to show their support to Rosi which was super nice of them. There were a ton of people and Elder Maughan and I got to share our testimonies with them and just how much happiness this day has brought us. It was a really spiritual experience. I know that this church is true and it has been manifest to me in the changes and happiness that the gospel has brought to this wonderful family. It was a wonderful week and I am so happy to be a missionary and be a part of this work. I know that it is God who has prepared many wonderful people here and I am humbled to be an instrument in his work of salvation. I love you all, have a joyous week! :)

Love,

Elder Hyde