Exchanges, Zone Conference, SINGING, and LOTS of FUN!!! ;)

This week was a pretty good week for us!  I mean, it was a pretty slow week to begin with because we had meetings and Zone Conference to prepare for, but other than that fact we had a great week!  :D

 

So as I told you last week, it completely dumped on us last week!  On Monday, the snow was coming down SO so so much, which was incredible to see but super crazy to drive in because our driver, Elder Kimzey, is from St. George and has never driven in snow before!  So, a kind of scary experience, but still, we made it to/from Sports alive, which was good.  But because of that storm, tuesday morning there was a huge blanket of snow just everywhere in the city of Waukesha, so what is it that we decided to do..?  That's right - service!  We grabbed our snow shovels from the closet and we marched across the town to Florencio's house - a less-active man - and we shoveled his walk/driveway, but that ended up taking so long because the snow was so deep, that as soon as we had finished that one house, we just went back home to study because we had already taken up all of the time we had set apart!

 

After studies, however, we got picked up by Brother Hansen, the former Bishop of the Waukesha ward, and we went out and did his home-teaching with him (we went because he teaches a Dominican lady, Hermana Seneli) and we helped him with his Spanish lesson.  After that, we got dropped off at Blanca's house -  a lady we found last Friday, and we knocked on the door.  We were worried because we didn't have a man that could come with us, and she was single as far as we knew, but when we went inside, she had invited a male friend to come and listen with her!  We taught Blanca and Pablo the Restoration, and they took it pretty well, even committing to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it and about Joseph Smith. 

 

Then that night, we started an exchange.  I got to stay in the Spanish area with Elder Kimzey, our district leader, and my companion went to English with Elder Wiscombe.

 

 

 

Tuesday basically began with Elder Kimzey and I making the super long over-an-hour walk from our apartment to the Food Pantry here in Waukesha, where we offer service.  We did service there for the 2 hours, and during that time, our investigator Rosa came through the line.  I stopped her and talked to her, and she told us that she couldn't get baptized on Saturday because she had had coffee when she was out of town, so we're working with her in that regard.

 

After that we tried to contact a less active that lived near there, but they weren't home.  So, we went over to our lesson with Brad and Ana and their family, but they didn't answer their door either!  (Note that there is probably over an hour of walking distance in between all of this)  So, we started to walk back to our apartment so that we could get picked up for our dinner appointment that night.  We were walking ,and then saw the English Elders' car outside a less-active's house, so we took some of our pass-along cards and stuck them on the windshield, so they would know that we were there...  :) 

 

Later, we got picked up by Brother Whipple and taken to their house for BLT's for dinner, then Elder Kimzey and I got to practice our arrangement of "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief" that we will be singing in the ward in a few weeks, and that we got to sing for Zone Conference on Friday!

 

That night though, we re-exchanged back and continued on.

 

 

 

On Thursday, we got to do our service at the Hope Center which is always super fun.  Today we didn't get yelled at, so that was a plus.  I just find it amusing that these people will yell at the Mormon Missionaries, but they only do it because they know that we aren't going to yell back!  We aren't going to do a thing about it so they can get away with it!  But after the Hope Center service, we went to the library to read some talks on lds.org because we were going to be teaching High Priest Group on Sunday, and we were also supposed to meet Rosa at the Library but she cancelled on us 5 minutes before we were supposed to meet, so after that we just went home, ate a tiny bit of food, and set out to walk the over-an-hour to our dinner appointment.  Midway through the walk, the weather turned harsh and it started just completely pouring rain all over us!  We had Books of Mormon that we put on the inside of our coats to make sure they didn't get wet, but it just soaked right in through our coats, our hats, and everything so that we were SOAKING wet.  Eventually we just called our dinner appt. for a ride so that we could stop getting wet, and that worked out just fine.

 

 

 

Friday we had Zone Conference!  It was a long day, but also a really good day.  We had a lot of geat trainings on Prayer and how to better utilize the members in our work.  One thing that is funny though is that thought he things that are said are super useful in member-missionary work, a lot of it can't apply to Spanish work.  I mean, we do our very best at that, but it is still very difficult to do things like that in Spanish work, especially in a city where hardly any Spanish people live.  But, my highlight of the day was either being able to meet so many other missionaries, or being able to sing in front of the 3 zones that were there, which ended up being 1/3 of the mission!  The song went super well and the Spirit was so strong during it - I loved being able to participate in that.  Sister Cutler even told me that she wants me to sing with her daughter when she gets off of her mission, so I think that would be a great opportunity!  (This is President Cutler's daughter currently serving a mission...)

 

Saturday we had Correlation Meeting instead of Rosa's baptism - that was kind of a let-down...  But, we were able to do weekly planning today so that ended up being productive anyway.  AND then on Sunday of course, we had studies, church, dinner, phone calls with the District Leader (where he checks up on us), and that was my week!

 

Everybody who reads this, I know that missions are such an important part of life, and it is so incredible to see the changes that it brings to people.  I have seen so many changes wrought in my life already because I am serving a mission - I highly recommend it!  And I recommend preparing for it every day that you live!

 

I love you all so much!  Keep the faith!

 

--Elder Nathan Hubert

-- 

Elder Nathan Hubert

My InCrEdIbLe WeEk!!!

I can't believe that this week has already gone by!  it just completely flew by - too crazy!  :D  And if it means anything to you guys - I wanted to let you know that it is currently snowing WHITE OUT outside!  I can't see anything but white!!!  I am so excited to walk outside...  :P

On Monday, I got to email all of you guys - the people I looove!!!

But, on Tuesday, we had such an incredible District Meeting.  Before it started, Elder Kimzey and I practiced an arrangement of "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief," and then the Zone Leaders joined us for District Meeting and recruited us to sing that song for Zone Conference this coming friday- a combined conference of the 3 Milwaukee Zones!  That is 1/3 of the mission, and a LOT of missionaries that I get to sing in front of - wish me luck!  :)  Later that day though, we ran into a family that wanted us to come back so we could 'compare beliefs,' I'm excited for that!  I just hope it doesn't turn into a bible-bashing session, because if it does we will leave...

Wednesday morning studies were interrupted by a service project that we got to go and do, to help a woman in the ward move a couch from her house into her truck so she could drop it off at the English Elders' apartment - that was fun!  She ended up wanting to get rid of a bunch of stuff and gave us a fan, towels, blankets, cooling racks, cookies, and a chess set...?  :)  Then we offered service at a Food Pantry here in town, where it was super great.  The people there just love the missioanries!  I think it's because the Elders have offered service there for 18 years, but there might be another reason...  ;)  After that, we met with Jose, our investigator who was supposed to be baptized.  Now, this lesson was the 'do or die' lesson, to decide if he really was ready to be baptized, because ever since his father got back from Mexico, he found out that his dad doesn't want him to be mormon, but Catholic!  So, during the lesson, we addressed his concerns, and decided to drop the date until we could talk to him and his dad together and discuss their mutual concerns.  I mean, it stinks to have to have done that, but it is good that we took care of it now instead of later.

Thursday, the usual eventful day that it is, was just about the same as always!  We did our studies, then we did service at the Hope Center, helping needy people get clothes for free, and then we did weekly planning.  :)  However, this night was special because we got to go to a Stake Priesthood Meeting, and it was super super fun and we got to hear a bit of the olympics as was mentioned in some of the talks!

Friday was LOOOOVE day!!!  So thank you family for the LOOOOVE that you sent me via the amazing box that I got today...  :) And hey, the Lord must love us because today we went to an area that has plenty of Latinos, but not many that will listen...  But, we were able to teach 7 other lessons in all of our efforts, which is a bit number for one day, and get 4 return appointments!  One of my favorite experiences was with Blanca, who opened the door and we started talking about the Book of Mormon, using the paintings in the front to teach a lesson about families and testify that the Book of Mormon testifies of Christ and is a record of the Ancient Americas.  She even gave us her address (she was visiting) and told us to come back on Tuesday!  I'm stoked!  :D

Saturday, we had Correlation Meeting in the morning, where Brother Tadioca made us breakfast...  He is too nice to us!!! :)  After that, we did our studies until the afternoon, when we got picked up from the other Elders to go and practice our song that we'll be singing this week.  It sounds pretty good!  We got a sister missionary to play the piano part, which is pretty hard - so I'm pretty pleased by that!  :D  Then after that we had a dinner appointment at 5-ish, which was really fun because it was with a member that I don't really know that well, but they are super fun!  They are the Browns, and it was kind of funny because his name is Nathan and so whenever his wife would say something to him or ask him something, I would almost react...  Kind of embarrassing, but hey, at least I remember that I have a first name!  :)

Sunday was ward conference here, and we got to meet our Stake leaders!  Also, I got Elder Kimzey and I booked to sing our duet in church in a few weeks - i'm going up in the world!  :P  No, but I'm just really glad that we'll be able to share our testimonies through song.  What a blessing it is for us to be able to do that.  :)

Anyway, I hate to be so brief, but the work is calling!  I love you so much, everybody, and I would love to hear from each of you personally!  :D  (No promises when I'll be able to respond, but still...)

Love you!

--Elder Hubert

-- 

Elder Nathan Hubert

    This is me and my new companion!! 

First full week in Waukesha, Wi

My dear family, friends, loved ones, everybody, this week has been one full of lots of confusion, which I guess you could just call my terrible attempts at trying to get to know this area. 

But, I'm just going to do the usual thing of telling you guys how everything went throughout each day.  :)

On Monday, after I was done emailing, we went to a church building, the Brookfield Building, and had some sports activities, where we played Chair Soccer and Free-for-all Dodgeball, which was super enjoyable. 

Tuesday though, was my first district meeting with these guys out here!  Elder Kimzey (our district leader) had previously asked me to do a training for the district on an attribute of Christ, and in a joking manner both my companion and I thought it would be funny to do a training on what it says in Doctrine and Covenants 4 in regards to Godliness.  But, what started out as a joke, ended up as a pretty good training.  I mean, it wasn't mind blowing, but it made us ponder and think a lot about what it means to be like God.  What it means to be Perfect like unto He.  It was really cool.  :)  But the rest of the meeting was us talking about prayer and how we need to pray more fervently and more sincerely.  He spoke of how Christ cried several times when he would pray, so why do we not do the same thing?  Why do we not pray as fervently as did the Savior?  If anything, we have even more reason to pray as did He, the only perfect being to live on the Earth.  I just thought it was very inspiring.

On Wednesday, we were taken out to lunch by a member of the ward, to this really amazing Ribs place here in the city.  It was so nice!  One funny thing is that when we were visiting people after that, an older man shoveling his snow got after us for sluffing school, telling us to get back to class...  I think he thought we were younger than we are...  :)  Eventually though, we ended up at the Black's house to teach Jose.  We taught him the baptismal questions to prepare him for his upcoming interview.  I hope all goes well for him!

Thursday was a very cold day, but that was slightly bearable because we had weekly planning and service to do.  We has service at the Hope Center where we helped people get the clothes that they needed, and then weekly planned.  I also made Elder Schvaneveldt a year-mark cake to celebrate his hump day, and it was a tye-dye cake! I was pretty proud of my creation...  :D  Then in the evening, we began our exchange which was crazy because I was staying in the Spanish area, even though I don't know how to get anywhere...  Nuts!  But Elder Wiscome and I talked for a while, and then went to sleep. 

Friday, exchange day, went much better than I thought it would!  Luckily I found a map that I could take around with us so we wouldn't get too lost.  We began our day of work by going and contacting some former investigators. Among that time, we found a man named Victor who lived at the old house of a former, and we taught him the entire first lesson and committed him to pray before getting a return appointment!  I was super happy about the whole thing - you always feel good after you've found someone new.  Then later throughout the day, nobody else even answered their door.  But that night, we had an appointment with Ana, and met her husband Brad, who is an American.  They invited us to have dinner, an offer we took graciously.  We taught him the first lesson, clearing up the confusions that had been placed in his mind about the church and our beliefs.  He even said that he would like to learn more, which I was happy about.  Then, that night, we had a ward activity - a night of music - that was super impressive.  There were 2 girls that did a super funny song spoofing other things, and then a lady in our ward who blew me away by singing something from Wicked.  It was great!

The work we did on Saturday was that we went out with a member from our ward, Bro. Seneli, and helped him do his home teaching.  It is this thing that the ward has been trying to do since the new year, called Ward Team Ups.  It has been pretty successful up to this point so I hope we continue to be able to work with them.  :)

And then Sunday, we had church and phone calls!  :D

All in all, a regular week.  I just hope that Jose's baptism goes through this Saturday and that it starts warming up a little more!  Those are things that would make me happy...  ;)  Love you all!

--Elder Hubert

-- 

Elder Nathan Hubert

Transferred..... :)

So, as you guys all know, I have been transferred to Waukesha, Wisconsin!  That has been the highlight of my week, and beceause of transfers the week has been kind of a bit on the more uneventful side, but things still happened I promise.  :)  They just happened in a slower way because Monday was spent playing sports (Whiff Waf) with the other Elders at the Madison UW Instutute Building, and then Tuesday was spent packing all day, but I'll include what I've been experiencing.  :)

So on Monday, as I mentioned above, Elder Shipp and I went to the library and we emailed, and then after that, we all went to the Institute Building and played a game that we have created out here, kind of a version of Ping Pong, Volleyball, and Doubles Tennis all mixed up together..  It is really fun!! :)  After Wiff Waff, Elder Shipp and I had a dinner that we had to run to, because we had to say goodbye to some members who were saddened to see me leave.  And then after that, we just went home and I started packing. 

Wiff Waff!

Tuesday was full of, you guessed it, me packing all day!!!  :)  Well, at least for most of the day. At 4:00 we had a dinner with the Chaparro family who were pretty sad to see us go and I was super sad to leave them because I love them so much!  :)  We also stopped by Casildo's house to see if I could get a photo with him, but he wasn't home.  But I did get a photo with Oscar a few days previous, so that was okay with me.  Immediately following dinner, we had to hurry and bus up to UW housing called Eagle heights to visit Renato, our portugese investigator.  We talked with him about his reading and then went into the Restoration, which was such a powerful lesson!  Before, when I was in the MTC learning how to be a missionary, they always said to not be afraid of silence, and I had no idea what they were talking about until now!  We shared the 1st vision and asked Renato how he felt, and after 5 minutes of crying/pondering, he finally said that he liked the way that he felt and that he wanted to be a part of it.  We invited him to baptism and he acctepted it, though we don't have a date for him yet.  We left him with an invitation to come to church, and he said that he would come.  This man is golden!  I love him so much - that was easily the most powerful lesson on my mission so far, and such an incredible way to end my time in Madison!

The Madison District

The Senior Family

The Chaparro Family

Wednesday, we got picked up at 8 by the Mt. Horeb Elders (Elder Steiner and Elder Kresge) and were taken to a church, where I was put in a truck and we drove for 2 hours to Oshkosh, the transfer hub of the mission.  When we were there, all of us going to Milwaukee Stake Center got on a bus and left, and then after an hour or so, we were there!  I'm sorry that was so short, but I honestly have no memories of what happened in the car, except for the kids sitting next to me were done with their missions and were talking about how excited they were to go home to California...  Jealous!  Not really though - I'm just jealous about the warmth...  Then, at the Stake Center, I met my new companion Elder Shvaneveldt and we drove to Waukesha, and then we put my bags in our super tiny apartment and then headed out to contact people!  That night I was able to unpack though, don't worry...  ;)

New home!

Thursday we went out and contacted people, and we did service at this thrift-store type place, and then we did weekly planning, which was basically just Elder Schvanny just telling me what we were going to do because I didn't know anybody or anything around us...  Then we went out with our incredible Ward Mission leader, brother Tatioca, who then took us to our dinner appointment with the Whipple family.  It was super sweet, though I still had no idea what was going on.

Friday, we walked around a lot!  We walked around so much that the sole of my boot on my left foot just completely came off!  There are photos of my desecrated footwear that I'll send to you...  But we were able to meet a few of the investigators, such as Rosa and Jose, who are both super close to baptism.  We taught Jose the Law of Chastity and Word of Wisdom, which he committed to live.  But that wasn't a problem because he's only 13.  Then, we had dinner with the Tovias family, which was delicious mexican food!  Then we had a correllation meeting that went by super quick.  All of the other missioanries thought it was super funny that my shoe died...  But they only laugh because they all have cars and don't have to deal with the same problems!  ;)

Ice lashes!!! 

Wore the soles off my boots!

Saturday we did some contacting on the far north side (I think it was the north side) of the city.  We were up there basically the entire day, and then we just went to dinner at Taco Bell...  :P  But luckily, we were able to find some people that were Hispanic!  The lord blesses us with success when we go out of our way to work!  :)  I definitely have a testimony of that.  :D

Sunday, we did all of our studies in the morning, and then got picked up at 11:30 for church at 1.  I did my best in trying to get to know the people of the ward, bu that was difficult.  But Jose and Rosa both came to church, which was the first time I'd had an investigator at church - so amazing!  :D

But sunday night all we had was dinner with the Gardeners, where I got signed up to sing in church again...  :)  Wahoo!

I love you guys - and I'm sorry if the days are vague, I've gotten a bit short on time right now!  Love you!

-- 

Elder Nathan Hubert