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!!! :) :)
:)

Week full of MIRACLES!

This week was full of miracles, why? Because President Taggart has
been focusing his remarks to us on praying for miracles and then
expecting that they will happen. So that's exactly what we have been
doing and they are happening all over the place. One of the biggest
was finding a family of brothers that all want to be baptized. They
are all part of la familia Cruz and most of them will be coming to the
YSA with us. This week when we taught them about baptism they
responded "yeah that's something I feel really to do" and are really
excited to be baptized the 23 of May together. The most excited, Edgar
and Jessie, have both started reading and praying and love everything,
especially the word of wisdom.


Can I tell you how amazing it is to have recently returned
missionaries coming into your Ward almost every week for the past 5
weeks? Because this Ward is getting ready for something really big.
The Lord is preparing so many people right now. At church we had at
least 7 people come to church because of the members just inviting
friends to church and them saying yes. Everyone is really excited! One
of the returned missionaries named Jenny Acosta who just got back from
Mérida, Mexico where my friend Megan Manning is serving and they were
really good friends down there so it just shows how small this world
is when you're a member of the church. Haha


Brandon is doing really good but relapsed this week. He is really
hard on himself so we just have to give him a lot of praise and
realize that he can do it. He said one of the most heartfelt prayers
this week that I won't ever forget. I really felt like he was talking
to our Heavenly Father as if he was standing right in front of Him and
the spirit was really powerful. I know that as he realizes his
dependance on the Lord he will be able to overcome his addictions. And
he needs to quickly because he has to be completely clean from May 2
and on.


I found out today that I have a sinus infection and pink eye after
I was suffering this weekend with lots of congestion and a really sore
throat. But I got medicine today and should be fine soon. :) I want
you all to know that miracles are possible and because of Jesus Christ
we can reach new heights and see things that we never really thought
were possible. Gods ways are really higher than our ways and if we
have faith in Him and His Son Jesus Christ we can do all things.


Love,
Elder Hyde

YSA testimonies, I love Missionary work

I love missionary work! It makes me really happy to share the
gospel. So I'm going to have to be quick again but we saw some great
miracles this week. Brandon is really overcoming his addictions
amazingly and is on his 7th day without any smoking or drinking and he
even bore his testimony at church yesterday. He said he can finally
say that he knows that the Book of Mormon is true! Now we are just
waiting for his probation to end in May 15 so he can be baptized! He
has been talking all week about how he is going to have to save his
money so he can serve a mission and go to college and then get married
and make sure his kids don't get into the bad addictions that he did.
It makes me happy to see him progressing.

We also have some really great new investigators that members have
given to us. One guy named Raul told us in our first lesson with him
that he wants to learn more about the church because he is strongly
considering joining it. He is awesome! A little strange, but he just
really needs good friends like he can find here at he church and he
feels super welcomed at the couple activities he has already come to.

We went on two exchanges this week and I got to meet a newer
missionary named Elder Cottam who is really excited about the work and
we learned a lot together about contacting everyone and how to
contact. Then I got to bring Elder Kemp to the YSA for a day and it
was glorious to be able to have another day to serve with him. He has
grown so much and his Spanish has improved a ton since I trained him.
He has had 18 weeks with a companion from Peru so I'm sure that has
helped him. It was a really happy day.

Some cool things that happened during conference that I forgot to
mention. First off, President Bowen, my first mission president, was
called to be an area seventy. That was cool. Then our area seventy in
the mission was called to be a member of the first quorum of the
seventy. Elder Brent H. Nielson, who visited us a few weeks ago, gave
a a amazing talk and it was cool to see him teach with the same type
of power in conference as he does in person.

Today we went on a 10 mile hike in the wilderness and at the top we
climbed into a waterfall and it was really awesome. The best part of
the hike was when at the top of the hike we gathered together and
shared our testimonies as a zone. It was really spiritual and amazing
out in the wilderness without any other noises or distractions.
Something I have missed. I love nature and it really testifies to me
that God really lives and loves us and all of his creations. The
gospel really brings me more joy that anything else and I know it's
the only joy in this life that will last forever. The church is true.


LOVE,
Elder Hyde

Temple Day

This morning we were given the privilege to go to the temple. :) it
really is the house of the Lord and received a lot of revelation as I
followed President Taggarts advice to focus on accountability in the
temple and I really felt the spirit very often. I had a few seconds in
a sealing room and I just felt how great of a blessing it is for us to
be able to have eternal families. I couldn't imagine going through
life without that knowledge. We are really blessed to have the gospel.

Last week we had a lot of really good lessons and a lot of drama.
Being in the YSA they love to tell you everything that is going on but
as missionaries we aren't supposed to counsel others. So this week we
have had a huge focus on directing all of our recent converts and
members to the bishop to receive counsel because we really don't know
how to help them. :)

I really love all of the young adults in this Ward and am so happy
to be here with them. We had a mission leadership council yesterday.
That is when we have a 6 hour council with President and Sister
Taggart, the assistants, and all of the zone leaders and sister
training leaders. Wow, there are so many great missionaries and
leaders here it was a great learning experience to counsel with them
and try to add what I have learned and what impressions came to me
from the spirit as we discussed the needs of the mission. The day
before Elder Pace and I sent a really long letter to President on how
we felt we could improve our leadership council meetings and how we
could improve our vision and desire as a mission and it was great to
see him address our concerns with the whole council.

Brandon is doing really good and is making big progress with his
officers so he can be eligible to be baptized by May 15th. We also
made some big jumps with Maria Garcia and some of the new members and
their conversion. I am so excited for general conference and helping
others get excited about it has really made me even more prepared to
receive their guidance and direction this weekend. Make sure to
prayerfully have questions ready for conference and be ready to write
down spiritual promptings as you listen to their words. I want to end
with a promise from preach my gospel.

"Those who listen to and follow the counsel of living prophets and
apostles will not go astray. The teachings of living prophets provide
an anchor of eternal truth in a world of shifting values and help us
avoid misery and sorrow. The confusion and strife of the world will
not overwhelm us, and we can enjoy the assurance of being in harmony
with God’s will."

I know that as we follow their counsel we won't be led astray but we
will be able to stay on the path to return to live with our Heavenly
Father.

Love,
Elder Hyde

http://www.lds.org/manual/preach-my-gospel-a-guide-to-missionary-service/what-do-i-study-and-teach/lesson-4-the-commandments?lang=eng
Pictures: 1. Our zone at the temple! 2. Elder Pace and I :)

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!)