Thanksgiving Week

Hey everybody!  Man it feels so good to have P-day again - but super strange as well.  I just feel like this week has flown by and it is so strange to me.  Things are going so well right now, with the area, the companionship, and everything.  (Besides the fact that I'm a little sick right now).  But I'll just give you a quick weekly update:

On Monday of last week, as soon as we were done emailing, we went hiking!  Well, kind of.  It was more like running up and down some muddy hills in the backwoods of Green Bay, but we called it hiking.  I included some videos and photos on Dropbox - it really was beautiful!  It was raining and muddy, but I enjoyed it.  After that, we changed into some sports clothes and played sports at the church with other missionaries until we had to go and get to a dinner appointment.  We got a ride from some other missionaries, but the only problem was that the rain had turned into snow, and that as we were leaving the church parking lot, the designated driver slid the car into the curb.  We hit it pretty hard, and were shocked to see no damage done to the car.  We were all okay, so after a minute of composing ourselves, we drove to dinner...  :)  To end up the night, after dinner we went at taught 3 lessons!

Tuesday was a very good day too.  We had studies in the morning, and then we had to go over to the church to have District Meeting.  Of all of the district meetings that I've been in charge of up to this point, I feel like this one has been the best.  Part of that is that instead of just having the 4 of us regular elders in the district, we now have the Zone Leaders assigned to our district as well!  But the meeting was all about Conversion, understanding the process, experience, and doctrine of conversion.  It was great to be able to go to the scriptures and discuss examples such as Alma the Elder and Zeezrom, and to be able to understand that conversion is something that comes with time - another term for it is "a mighty change of heart."  It was also great to apply a scripture that talks about Nephi's conversion story - where he comes to believe the words of his father - and how each of us needs to be converted as well.  We were then able to discuss how we are thankful for the influence of the Spirit in our lives and in our own conversion story, so we were all able to share and it was such a spiritual experience!  I love the elders in our district!  After that, I had exchanges with Elder Eyring, one of our Zone Leaders.  Throughout the rest of the day, he and I were able to teach 10 lessons together, talking to everybody we came across.  Some of the really good experiences involved me learning that it doesn't matter what someone is doing - walking their dog, shoveling snow, or something else - the gospel is for THEM and we need to do our part in getting it to them.  :)

Wednesday we finished our exchange with a great study session and a few more lessons before re-exchanging and me getting Elder Norris back.  :)  We had an interesting experience when we came across a man who was a Jehovah's Witness.  Now I don't know much about the church, but he was attempting to tell us that Christmas was a bad thing, but it was great to see both of us bear testimony to him of the power of the Spirit at this time of year, and how we should not condemn a time that causes us to think about the Savior and dwell on Him.  Unfortunately, we have not been able to get back in contact with Manuela, and we have no idea what's going on there, but we're still trying!  Later, we had a lesson with the Nieves family where we committed them to pray every single day as a family, and to come to church.  We basically had to put everything on the table and say:  "If you want to be baptized, this is what you have to do.  There is no other way!"  But as we were bold and loving, they understood their role in becoming converted to the gospel, and then knew what they needed to do.

Thursday was THANKSGIVING!  It was a strange day - it seemed to go by so quickly!  We had studies in the morning, just like normal, but around noon-ish, the Zone Leaders came and picked us up in their van to take us to our first food appointment with the Gonzalez family, so we had a Puerto Rican/Dominican Thanksgiving.  It was very good, and it was great to spend time with the members!  Later, we got dropped off at another home of some of the other Spanish Elders' investigators, for Round 2 of Thanksgiving - a Honduranian meal.  That one was good too!  But that was the extent of our day.  :P

Friday morning began with a Turkey Bowl - I guess in Wisconsin they do it the day after Thanksgiving.  But basically what it is is just that a bunch of members get together and play football in the snow.  It was SOOOO cold!  But it was fun and we did pretty good!  By the end of it, we were playing missionaries versus everybody else, and we held our ground!  :)  After that, we went over to Luis Munoz's place and talked to him about missions and what he needs to do now to prepare for a mission, and then we role-played a lesson with him that we were going to be teaching the next day to the Nieves family.  Later, we went home and we Weekly Planned before we went and contacted a bunch of people, having lessons with Liliana, Brandon, and some other people.  Then we had a very interesting experience.  We went to contact a nearby potential, and in the doorway we met a very Catholic, very drunk man.  He was yelling at us in Spanish: "I am of the Virgin of Guadalupe!!  I have my Virgin!  I am Catholic!"  And when we offered him our hands, he refused to shake them.  But later, we went and knocked on a door, and were let right in by some very kind Hispanic men.  After a few minutes of talking to them, the drunk man entered their house - they were his friends - and began to bash BIG TIME.  He grabbed his bible and was yelling at us, asking us questions, and then interrupting us when we tried to answer him.  It was a huge testimony to me of the truthfulness of the gospel, because though he was yelling and contending, we were able to remain calm in the midst of a threatening situation.  Eventually, we left, with an invitation to come back whenever we wanted!  And thus we see:  good triumphs over evil!  :D

Saturday, it was a pretty full day.  We tried to teach Manuela again, but to no avail.  Rather, we talked to the Cortez family for a bit.  Then, we went to the Nieves family's place with Luis and he was such a big help.  Because he has gone through a lot of the same things they are going through, he was able to bear testimony of the things that helped him, namely the Gospel, and the Spirit was so strong in that lesson!!!  Later, we had a great lesson and dinner with the Rosario family as well, and we also met a bunch of crazy people on the bus!  :D  That makes for an interesting day!

Finally Sunday was a long day, because I was feeling very sick and congested, but we had the primary program during church, and the Nieves family came to see!  Later though, we were able to go and use a new survey that has recently been pushed through the mission to try to use as a new finding method, and we got two new investigators through it!  :D  Life is SO great right now!

I'm doing well, feeling better than I was yesterday, and I am loving where our area is right now.  I love each of you so much, and I hope that you are having a great week!  I know the Gospel is true and the Spirit is SO real - it is with us always!  :D  I'll talk to you later!

--Elder Nate Hubert