Another amazing week has passed! Wisconsin is great!

Hello everybody!  :D  How are you all doing?  Things out here are going really well.  There has been some progressions made this week and details learned this week that were very mandatory in knowing, which only makes room for more progression to be made, so that's super good!  Just a quick run-down of the week:

On Monday was just a normal P-day, but a good part of the day where we were able to do some missionary work was when we went up to the FHE Activity of the YSA Ward in this area.  We didn't just go up there for ourselves though - we went up and spent time with our investigator Lavon.  We did our best to introduce him to the various people up there, but he seemed very uninterested by them.  He is a pretty quiet guy, and he told me that he doesn't like people.  So when I asked him why he doesn't like people, he told me that it's because "people are weird."  But we got to play Beach Volleyball and have a powerful lesson on the power of testimony from the YSA Sisters.  It was really good!

On Tuesday I learned a good lesson on patience.  :)  The only reason I say that is because we had several plans to contact lots of other people, but unfortunately we were not able to contact any of them because none of them ended up being home when they told us they would be!  Even our dinner appointment cancelled on us!!  But that's okay, because Elder Kimzey ended up cooking for us anyway...  We did get to teach 1 lesson and get a referral, but that was just about it.  Patience is a virtue though, so I have no complaints.  The more Christlike I can get the better, right?  :)

On Wednesday we had to go to the Wales church building at 9:00 am because we had the great opportunity to have interviews with President Cutler!!!  It was awesome!  My interview was like 40-minutes long, but it felt like 10 minutes.  We discussed the doctrines of the Atonement and the progression of the work in the area.  It was very pleasant so I was happy about it!  However during the rest of the day, we had to make the difficult decision to drop our investigator Maddi because she is living in a different city for a few months, so we can't do anything about it.  Then later in the evening, we went down to the Fox River at the park across the street from our apt. to watch a Water Skiing performance that was down there, and while we were there we got to teach 2 lessons and get a new potential investigator!  It was awesome to be able to do that, and all because we were told by President to start incorporating Park Contacting.  He's such an inspired man!

Thursday, we went to go and have a lesson with a man named Rafael across town at 10:30, but the address he gave us is the only house on the street that isn't actually there..  Sneaky...  That is actually the first time that had happened to me on my mission...  :P  Then we had the Hope Center service for 2 hours, which was fun because we got to talk to some of the other volunteers and that was fun.  Then we went tracting and actually got to teach 5 lessons with people, and get 1 new investigator!  I also got the door response: "I'm Jewish and I'm not going to change."  Never heard that one before!  Later, we had team-ups with Frankie where we went to go and contact some Less-actives and some people on our list, but were unable to find any of them home.  However, we did get to go and help a family in the ward move some heavy furniture right before we headed out to go have our Correlation meeting which went well, and then we began our exchange!

I got to spend time with Elder Larsen in the English Elders' area, which was really fun!  We spent an hour tracting, and once again got to teach a bunch of lessons.  It was fun and we actually got to use the Family History finding method that they've been trying to incorporate and it was great!  Later, we got to teach Shannon about the power of prayer and we tried to set a baptismal date with him, but he didn't want to yet.  Then, after we had offered service and tried to visit others, we went and had a dinner appointment with the Seneli family, which was great!  We then went to downtown Waukesha and contacted at this Friday night activity thing before we headed back to re-exchange.

Saturday we began the day with Frisbee contacting with members and non-members, and actually got to talk about the gospel and about missionaries with the people that showed up to play!  Then we headed out to go to the YM Fundraiser of barbecuing food outside of a store, and we went and supported them in that.  Then, we went and contacted Jesus and helped him burn a bunch of vegetation and fix up his back yard, which was a great opportunity to help him out with.  Then we had dinner with hermana Morales which was sweet, and we were able to teach her non-member son a lesson as well, after which we Weekly Planned at the apartment.

Sunday, Jesus was unable to come to church, but Lavon came to the YSA ward according to the AP's who called us later!  We also had a great dinner with the Lovelace's and we got to go to a goodbye party for someone in the ward who is moving...  But that is the week!

There are so many blessings that each of us receive every single week, and even though sometimes (usually) they are not as evident as we would hope them to be, they are still there!  And even though this last week it was harder for me to notice those things, they were still very evident because I was looking for them.  Those are the kinds of things that we should hold on to constantly - to know that the Lord is very mindful of us and will always bless us, so long as we do the things that He has asked of us.  He loves us so much, all we have to do is love Him too!  :D  And I love you all so much too!

Have a great week!

--Elder Nate Hubert

I never know how to title these....

Hey everybody!  Well, another amazing week has passed from lovely Waukesha Wisconsin!  And the crazy thing is that I'm halfway done with my 4th transfer in this city!  The odds are that I'm going to be transferred because I've already been here for 6 months almost, but it is not unheard of for missionaries to stay somewhere for 5 transfers, and I have the strangest feeling like I'm going to stay here for one more...  But that might just be wishful thinking because I love it here.  The people here keep things fun because they are all crazy...  :P  Here's a quote from a member of the ward (convert of 3 years):  "99.99% of Waukesha residents are off their rockers.  I know because I'm one of them!!!"

There were never truer words than those...  :)

But yeah, I definitely had a good week!  On Monday, we decided to mix up P-day a little bit.  We had done the same old thing every single P-day since I got to the area, so what we ended up doing was this: right after we went shopping, we ran over to Goodwill, which is a thrift-store, and us 4 Elders spent like $5.00 each and got some shorts/polo t-shirt, and we got all spiffed up to go mini-golfing!  :D  There should be some photos on Dropbox for this one.  :)  If you'll look, the shorts that I'm wearing are super huge, and that's because they're a size 36, but I only wear a size 30-32, so they are super poofy, but they are fun!  It was such a fun day!  We did that as a district for a while, and then at around 3:30 we went and played an hour of soccer with the rest of the people that usually go to sports, and that was pretty fun, too!  :)

On Tuesday, we had Zone Training Meeting, where we had a really good training by the Zone Leaders on using the Book of Mormon and having powerful invitations to act.  I really enjoyed it and got a lot out of it.  I would definitely tell you more about it, but I forgot my study/meeting journal so I forgot the things that I wrote down...  :P  But later, we had lunch at Jizzle's - this hole-in-the-wall place in Milwaukee, where I had a scary experience because my companion left me and I thought he had gotten kidnapped or something...  :P  Later we had a lesson with Jesus, which went great.  We talked about his concerns and questions, and encouraged him to keep on praying.  Then, we went and tracted out an area, where we met a crazy Puerto Rican lady who went all Pentacostal on us - it was pretty funny.  But I decided that I have tons of respect for the missionaries in Puerto Rico, because the way they speak Spanish is super fast!

Sisters Hansen and Silcox

Wednesday we got stood up for 2 lessons in the morning, but that was okay because we actually got to teach Maddi at the Black's house about following the prophets!  And then we met Omar and Jeni, and taught a pretty powerful lesson on the Restoration.  Then that night, we had team-ups with Bro. Baer and got to visit some less-actives from the ward, which was awesome.

Thursday we had a lesson with Lavon after we went searching for him!  He wasn't home, but we found him at Carrol University in the Art Center, and he wanted to have a lesson there which we were cool with.  :)  Then, we went to home teach Antonia with Bro. Hansen, which was good, and then had a lesson on the Gospel of Jesus Christ with Joe, where we were able to challenge him to act and live the things that we had talked about, including baptism, and he told us that he would think about it!  :)  Then we had a dinner appointment/lesson with Jesus at the Loutensock's home, which was great!  After that we went to Spring's and Deanna's with Bro. Tateoka, and that was awesome too!

Around Waukesha

Around Waukesha

On Friday, we had a lesson with the De Los Santos family, but it turns out they are moving.  Then, we went and helped Latoya move her couches, and had weekly planning the rest of the day!

On Saturday, we got stood up by George Campos for a service project, so instead we went to play Frisbee with the Elder's Quorum and their friends, which was amazingly fun!  Then we went out with Bro. Cuzner and taught a lady named Charlene, who invited us to come back.  We also visited some other people with him, and then after dinner, we went out with Bro. Seneli to visit his hometeaching families. 

And on Sunday, we got to go to the YSA ward with Lavon!  All in all, a great week!  Sorry if it was rushed, because it was...  :P

Love you all though!

--Elder Nate Hubert

-- 

Elder Nathan Hubert

Where do I begin?

Well, this week has been amazing!  Definitely the greatest week of my mission as far as fulfillment.  We were able to accomplish so much and I felt so amazing about it.  The Spirit has been driving us to the things that we would not have otherwise seen.  It is so comforting to know that God is the one directing this work, not simply a bunch of 18-20 year old boys and girls.  We would not be able to do the things that Missionaries do without divine help.  We all need it so much!  :D

To start out the week though, we had a very powerful lesson with Jesus and Gao about the Parable of the 10 Virgins (answering a question that Jesus had), and because of that, Gao and he were both able to finally understand what it meant they had to do in this life, which is always a comforting feeling.

Tuesday, during studies, I got to finalize a training that I had been asked to do during our District Meeting, and guess what it was on?  The parable of the 10 Virgins!  So the lesson we had had the day before was just some practice for me.  But the training went very well!  I was really happy that the preparations that I had made were able to pay off!  Later, we were able to have a lesson with Rosa, talking about member missionary work.  She, at first, thought we were asking her to teach her family (who are NOT interested), so she got a little upset, which was surprising.  But as soon as we cleared up any misunderstanding, she agreed to working on it.  Later in the day, however, we were on our way to go and contact some potential investigators near our apartment, when we saw a man sitting on a porch not far from us.  I felt impressed to start talking to him, and that resulted in a return appointment and an entire lesson on the Restoration.  And during that time, I did something that I had never done before - I challenged him to be baptized in the first contact!  (This was all in Spanish) and then he accepted the invitation!  So, when we have our next lesson with him, we'll probably extend a date, so that's exciting!

Then, on Wednesday, we were on our way to go and tract out a new area that we had found, but on the way there, we felt very impressed to knock on just one random house on a street, but when we did, we found a 60-yr-old Mexican man who only spoke Spanish, so we taught him as well and he invited us to come back!  That was such an amazing experience!  And later we were able to meet another man who invited us back, too.  That night, we went up to Pewaukee for an awesome dinner appointment with the Phillips family - they're great!

On Thursday we were able to have a follow-up lesson with Lavon, a referral from the English Elders.  We had a complete Restoration lesson and that was coupled with a baptismal invite for a Saturday in July, and he accepted it!  So basically Lavon is just like Michael Oher in 'The Blind Side.'  He's big, black, quiet, nice, and super sincere.  He's a bit slower too, but that's okay.  The only thing that I wish was different is that we have to give him over to the YSA Elders because he's 23 and is single, so he's their jurisdiction, so whatever...  :P  After that, we had a great follow-up lesson with Jamie and Joe, who were apologizing to us because they only read the first book of Nephi...  But that is much more than any of my other investigators have ever read, so we thought that was awesome!  And the best part is that they had a friend there who kept on saying the Book of Mormon was unnecessary, but eventually Joe just said: "Hey, get this, the Book of Mormon is just like the Bible, it's just written by a different tribe!  It is just talking about how they found God in their own ways!"  And we were both blown away by that, super awesome.  But then, Thursday night, we got a text from Gao telling us that she was moving out of Jesus's place because he wanted to be baptized, so we called Jesus and set a date with him for when..?  June 14th!!!  (stay tuned - this is a good story)

Friday, we go and have a great lesson with a lady named Heidi, but then we went and started teaching Jesus.  He wanted to be baptized on June 14 so we were teaching him every day so he could do that.  Friday we covered the Plan of Salvation AND the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  The rest of Frieday was Weekly Planning and going down to the Father's and Son's campout for dinner.

Saturday, we played Frisbee in the morning with some members and their friends as a finding method, and then went right over to our lesson with Jesus where we taught the commandments and about prophets.  After that, we had more Weekly Planning and dinner.  We also helped Mason Durst finish his eagle project.

Then on Sunday, I got to sing at church!  I sang an arrangement of "I Need Thee Every Hour," and it went pretty well.  During church though, we talked to Jesus and had to end up cancelling his baptism for the 14th and putting back to July 5th because he doesn't think the Book of Mormon or Prophets are necessary, so we'll be working on that.  :)

And of course, more things happened, but those are the things that I thought were good to share.  There certainly was a roller coaster with Jesus and his desires to be baptized and then not, and also a great week for following the guide of the Spirit, which is always good.  Also, we now have 5 baptismal dates, which is a lot for missionaries in Wisconsin.  I've never been happier to be a missionary though - just being given this opportunity to get to know my Savior even more is such a blessing.  :)

I love you all!  Have great weeks!

--Elder Nate Hubert

The end of the Marvelous Month of May as a Missionary in Milwaukee

Well, this was a really great week and I really can't believe that it's P-day again!  This transfer has flown by SO much, and it is really hard to believe that I have been on a mission for 8 months, and in Waukesha for over half of those months!  :P  But honestly, every single day is such a blessing and I love being a missionary more than anything else in the world, so I gotta cherish this time while I have it!  :)

--by the way, I put photos on Dropbox, and there are videos for you to watch--

But just a quick review of my week:

Wednesday (the day after P-day last week) was......... drumroll please.....

Sick day!!!  I was sick all day, wahoo!!!  Apparently there was this stomach bug thing going around and I got it, so that was not fun at all...  But we were still able to do missionary work and be productive, meaning that Wednesday was also our last District Meeting so we got to feel the Spirit a lot and got to take some photos.  The awesome part was that Brother Wheeler came (the institute director of Milwaukee) and taught us about receiving revelation.  It was super powerful.  And then right after that, we went and taught a lesson to Jose at his house, but we cut that short because I was about ready to pass out from lack of energy and everything...  So when we got home, I just fell asleep until around 7, when we got picked up by Bro. Davies to go and contact Bro. Campos, the less active man, and had another pretty good lesson with him.  The only problem is that he is pretty stressed out and everything, but I really hope that feeling the Spirit was able to help him.

On Thursday, we went and contacted Lavar, a referral from the English Elders.  We found him at home, luckily, and got to teach him a lesson and schedule a return appointment!  And, based on our encounter with him, he shows tons of promise!  I'm really excited to see where the Gospel takes him.  After that, we contacted some potentials down the road, but nobody answered to us...  So, instead, we went and talked to Eric and Angel and then went to the library to have a lesson with Rosa.  She is still doing great, but has been undergoing some persecutions since she joined the church.  We just tried to uplift her, and she is doing well again.  Then after that, we took a bus up to the Whipple's house, where we had dinner and I got to choose and practice a song to sing in church (next week!!!)

Friday started with Correlation, which was interesting because the English Elders couldn't be there, but we still got to talk about all of the things that the ward needs to know about and attempt to make progress with the help of our Ward Mission Leader.  Later, we got to make up our studies that we missed from the morning, and then got to weekly plan!  It was interesting weekly planning because this next week is Transfer Week so we didn't know at that time if one of us was going to be leaving, so we planned a little differently, but it was still effective and this week is gonna be great!  Then we had dinner with Zach and Latoya - it was awesome (as usual).

Saturday morning, starting at 7am, we went over to the Hebron House (just this boarding place in Waukesha) and helped finish Mason Durst's Eagle Project, which included paving a path with some big bricks.  I ended up getting scratched up a bit, but it's alright.  After that, we went and attempted a contact at Maria Young, who was not home, and then caught another bus to contact some out-of-the-way people, and even though none of them were home we were still able to find out where they lived, which was awesome of course!  We also visited with Jerry Hempstead, who has a hard time coming to church, and had a great lesson with a lady on the bus.  And to top the whole day off, we had dinner with the Bishop's, which is always such an awesome time!

Sunday was a good end to the week, with Fast and Testimony Meeting.  We did, however, get stood up for our lesson that morning...  That was kind of frustrating, especially because I called and confirmed with him!  But we had dinner with the Gardner's and a lesson with the Woods after that, so it was good.

Beautiful Waukesha Sky

Anyways, I love you all TONS!  And just wanted to share one thing.  This last week, I found a scripture in Doctrine and Covenants that I really love.  It is Section 6 verses 33-37.  I encourage you all to read it - I loved it!  Have a great week, all of you!  :)

--Elder Nate Hubert