Our first letter! Yahoo!

Hola Familia!!!

 

All I have heard since I have gotten here is spanish all of the time.  I don't really remember what I sent to you in that first letter so I will try to not repeat myself.  So Oliver Samuel Hubbard has been born!  He sounds like such a little stud and I am so glad he is here.  He is way bigger than I thought he would be.  Good luck, Aaron and Lynze and congratulations. 

Yesterday was such a cool day! We had a devotional by Elder Bednar.  It was like it was straight out of the scriptures and it was perfect for us as missionaries.  He told us how to be preach my gospel missionaries and it felt like he was talking to me personally.  He told us that we can do this! And the Lord will help us.  There were some other apostles there yesterday too that didn't speak.  We had to sit in overflow seating and watch it on a projector which was disappointing. 

So we started off our spanish with learning to pray, testify, and get to know people.  Our teacher told us that it was not their job to teach us the ins and outs of spanish.  We are supposed to really get to know the person we are talking to and then try to discern their needs.  Are most important job as missionaries are to make people feel love and feel the Spirit.  Elder Bednar told us to get out of the way of the Spirit. 

My room mates are Elder Beal from Utah and Elder Reid from Utah.  They are both a lot of fun to hang out with.  Our district of 12 people has a classroom where we are at almost all of the time.  We only study in our actual rooms for like 30 minutes a night. It is exhausting to always try to remember spanish but also feel the Spirit and learn gospel principles.  I think the hardest part of the whole thing is that I never get any alone time.  We are not to leave are companion out of sight or hearing distance and are always supposed to be in the same room.  I have gotten to know Elder Herman pretty well and I don't think we are going to have any problems.  Him and I know the most spanish out of our whole district and we study very well together.  I see people I know from BYU and home all the time.  Sometimes I wonder if I have ever actually seen the person or if I just remember them from pre-mortal life.  Haha. 

The food here is exactly like the Cannon Center at BYU which is not always the best thing but I have eaten every meal so far.  They have the BYU creamery milk and I have made a firm commitment to chocolate milk every meal.  Like I said earlier, our meal times are super early and I feel like a 60 year old farmer.  We have dinner at like 4:30.  I guess that's what time Mom used to make dinner.  From now on my P-day is on Friday so that is when I will write.  The dear elder has been working great and I have gotten a lot of letters from it.  Thank you for all of them, I like to know what is going on.  We have gym everyday and get to pick between different sports.  So far soccer is the most fun but on Monday the basketball courts open and that's where I am going to live.  Elder Christiansen and Elder Cousineau both have class on the same floor as me so I see them pretty often.  Cousineau lives on floor below me.  It is always nice to see some of my friends.  When I write in my journal at night it is really hard to remember the whole day.  They are so long and we pack everything we can into them.  I sleep well at night and am ready to wake up in the morning for the most part.  I will try to organize my thoughts before I write next time, sorry this is so confusing.  And I will try to figure out how to send pictures on Friday. Could you get me Stu's address please?  I forgot to take it off my phone. We get to go to the temple on Monday and I am really excited for it.  So we have had to bear our testimony in spanish several times here and to random people that will listen to us.  It is pretty difficult to convey what you are feeling when you don't know how to say everything.  Our teachers speak 95% Spanish to us and it is kind of tiring on my mind.  Sometimes I wish I could just lay down and take a nap.  Alright this is all I have time for.  I only have half a P-day today so I am trying to get everything done quickly.  I love you all and ask me questions so I can answer them and remember to tell you about everything.

 

Love,

Elder Hubbard