1st Week Back in Waukesha

It's super crazy to be back in my second area Waukesha - it finally hit me yesterday when I was at church and got up to share my testimony of the Gospel, and I looked out over so many familiar faces that I loved and had missed, and just this huge wave of love just came over me.  It was a great experience and I've had a lot of fun throughout the week to show up to members' homes to visit them and share a lesson, and have them see me and have them start freaking out because I was back in 
Waukesha.  :P  It's been SUCH a good experience so far!

The Munoz family

The Soriano-Vallejo-Ruiz Family

The Velasco's

The Santiago's

But this week hasn't all been sweet - there's been quite a bit of bitter as well.  And that was because I had to say goodbye to so many of my best friends in Milwaukee.  On Monday night we went over and said goodbye to the Velasco family first thing at 6pm, and that was super tough.  Steve wasn't there, but I had to say goodbye to Marco, Leti, and Melanie.  I was at the brink of tears because I've been able to watch this incredible family learn and grow and progress thorughout the Gospel and it's been such an amazing sight!  I'm going to miss them TONS, but I'll see them sometime.  We also had an appointment with Annette and Isidro and Delainy and Roman and Tiffany, and that one was difficult to say goodbye as well.  I had to write in their little book that they have all of the missionaries write in, and I honestly had such a hard time saying goodbye.  We ate dinner, got some photos, and then I started to cry.  It doesn't help that the scritural message that I had come up with to share made me cry every time I shared it!  It was from Alma 17:1-2, talking about how Alma and the Sons of Mosiah had separated, and then when they met again they had a joyous reunion because they were still strong in the gospel.  I applied that to how I had to go, but that when I would come back it would be the same kind of a reunion because we each would have stayed strong.  :(  It was sad.  Another sad goodbye was with the Soriano-Vallejo-Ruiz family that night - Julia, Ghyslaine, Lizbeth, AND Angel.  That one was a tough one.  Tears were shed.  Absolutely.  I was doing good at the beginning of the night, but slowly and surely, the more people I said goodbye to, the more I cried.

The Martinez family

Justin and Elder Hubert

The Isidro family

Tuesday morning we had to say goodbye to the Martinez and Justin, and then we had the great opportunity to take out the new missionaries!  It was great to be able to see their greeny-ness.  Kind of funny actually, but they're each so solid and have great desires to be out here!  :)  After we did that, I finshed up packing and then we went and had a dinner/goodbye appointment with Angelina and Camila, and it was especially special to me because they pulled out a birthday cake because I was going to miss having my birthday with them and they gave me this super awesome jacket as well!  We also had to say goodbye to the Munoz family - Orlando, Kelly, Brittany, and her brothers...  That was was SO sad too!  :(  And at the end of the night, saying goodbye to Jared Rivera was SO tough...  :(  No bueno...

Happy early birthday!

Angelina and Camila and Elder Hubert!

Wednesday was an interesting day for sure - in the morning we went to the church and I just chilled there until my new companion got there, and then we went back to Waukesha!  We got to the new apartment and spent the rest of the day talking about the area and we visited some members as well!  It was great to be back!  Each of the members totally freaked out every time they saw me - it was awesome to see them all again!

Elder Trogdon and Elder Hubert

Another great thing was on Friday AND Saturday, we found 2 Spanish Families that we're going to go back and visit!  That was super exciting!  AND we were able to visit a super promising Puerto Rican family named the De-la-paz Duque famliy.  I like them a lot - they are so much fun!  I also got to visit with the Loutensocks, the Schuenke's, the Osmond's, the Tovias, and the Black families throughout the week, which was incredible.

Sunday was especially cool because I got to see all of the members that I had not yet been able to say hi to, and when I bore my testimony it was cool to be able to see all of them (like I said at the beginning of the email).

But yeah!  I'm glad to be back!  My new companion's name is Elder Trogdon and he's from Washington State, and has been on his mission for 4 1/2 months.  He's great to work with, and I'm excited for the next couple of week!  :)  Love you all!

--Elder Nate Hubert