6 Febrero 2012

This week was so sick. We had some really cool experiences. We went to teach one of our best investigators, Uriel. We were talking about his questions and he asked us how we know that Jesus Christ is Jehovah. We tried to explain it to him with some scriptures from the bible but he was using a different version so it didn´t really work.  We just decided to move on and started talking about how through Christ´s Atonement we can be clean from sin. I felt like I should share Isaiah 1:18 with him so I did. He read it and then said. There is my answer, Christ is Jehovoh. It was so sweet! I didn´t even mean to explain that but he learned by the Spirit. I know that when we have the Spirit with us as we teach we will not be confounded before men.

We taught another lady a bunch this week. She is Esmirald- the one who speaks english and lived in England. The problem is that she thinks way too much. Haha. But she was telling us about her testimony of prayer and how that when we prayed in her house she saw lots of blessings come. On Saturday we went and did some service for her. We fixed her pump that takes her water up to her house. It took about three hours and we were baking in the sun but it was worth it. She came to church yesterday and really liked it. 

On Wednesday we went to San Pedro to get our monthly money. I got off the bus when it was moving a little bit. I looked behind to my side and the bus driver shut the door with my companion still on the bus! I took off running, actually sprinting to keep up with it and like 2 blocks later it stopped again. It was pretty funny and we laughed pretty hard. The people hear probably thought I was some secret agent doing work. 

There is a family we teach named the Garcia family. Every time we teach them more people show up. There were like 20 there the last time. And they love me a ton. I don´t know I why. They get mad when I don´t come to teach them when we have interchanges. Haha. It is a sweet family and I love going there.

On Friday we had an FHE in Parres with an inactive hermana and her family and then some members too. Then they all went to church yesterday. We are going to baptize her kids sometime this month. The church was so full of people yesterday that we have helped go there. It feels so good to see and I know I am helping the branch here.

Last night we had a three hour long lesson with Nicolasa and her familia. It was so good. They had a ton of doubts and we answered every single one of them and with the Bible. They will be going to church soon and they are progressing really well. Longest lesson of my life.

Tomorrow is the start of a new transfer, which means I think I only have six weeks left in Topilejo. How sad is that? I love it here. I found out too that I am going to be the district leader here. It will be a big responsibilit and I am a little nervous. The coolest part is that Elder Reid is going to be in Ajusco! That´s my boy. It´s going to be a ton of fun. Thank you so much for everything. I love you all and pray for most of you! Haha. Just kidding all of you. Have a good week!

Love,

Elder Hubbard

Micro bus in San Pedro

Me inside a micro

 Me at Perisur. You can see six flags in the background.

Pesooooos

 Parres

 FHE

 making some Mexi food

Sopes

A Treasure in the Mail!

When Sam checked the mail yesterday, we had a letter from Tyler's mission president. I thought I would share it with you. It was dated 27 December 2011. Mail takes a little while!!

Dear Hubbard Family;

I have enjoyed working with your son Elder Hubbard. It has been a joy and a blessing to see him progress into an exceptional missionary and trusted representative of the Lord.

Due to his commendable example and this trust, it pleases me to inform you that your son has been selected to become a Missionary Instructor. This calling brings with it many new responsibilities. Your son will be receiving a new companion (Elder Perea). He will show him how to successfully apply the methods learned in the Missionary Training Center in the mission field. He will be a righteous and positive companion that will guide, teach, love and motivate.

I consider the calling of a trainer as the most important in this mission. As does the Lord, I love your son, and have confidence in his ability to fulfill these new responsibilities. I thank you for your love and support for Elder Hubbard.

Sincerely,


President Aaron Chavez Carpio
Mexico City South Mission

After thought!

I thought you might like a translation of the email from Tyler's mission president and since he couldn't email any pictures, I need to add one of our sweet little Oliver. We just love him!!




thank you very much for your report,
I am happy to know the great work they are doing in your area,
thanks for your faith and dedication to build the Church,

with love,

30 Enero 2012

How`s it going?

We had a really good week this week even though our numbers didn`t really show it.  It was once again another week of learning, making myself better, and learning every day. 

It`s crazy how up and down the days here are. On Tuesday we were not feeling it at all in the morning. We were just in a slump.  After La Comida we both prayed for the help and the strength to keep working hard and not walking around aimlessly. Then our day completely changed and we ended up having two great lessons.  Prayer is so important for me and I am glad I can talk to my perfect Heavenly Father whenever I feel like it. One of the lessons that we taught was with the godchild of Hermana Lulù, Nicolasa. We taught about the Apostasy when Christ`s church was lost from the earth. She asked us if that meant her catholic church wasn`t true. Haha. Somehow we answered that well enough that we went back on Saturday and taught her the Restoration. She really understands that we should have apostles, prophets, revelation, and the authority to act in God`s name. Now the family is reading the Book of Mormon and we will go back on Sunday.  We also taught Uriel this week and had a great lesson about the Plan of Salvation. He is reading, and praying, and he has a lot of real intent. It is really good to see. These two families are our most interested investigators right now.

On Thursday we had some interchanges with Ajusco. I went to Ajusco with Elder Malpica. It was so sweet. We tear it up together. We were walking on a street looking for a house when we got a little bit lost. Elder Malpica said that we had to be there for a reason so we started looking for that reason. We contacted one lady and got denied. Then we saw some stairs and went down. We were halfway down when I looked to my right and saw a young man of 17 years old just sitting on the steps looking at me. I contacted him and we taught him right there. He loved it and they got a appointment to go back. It is so sweet how our Heavenly Father knows where each one of His children are at every point of their life. That is how we find the people that are prepared to be taught so they can come closer to Christ.

On Friday we didn`t even go to our food appointment we were so busy.

This week I finished Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage. That book blew my mind. I loved it so much. Christ suffered so much in His life just for us. All we have to do is open our ears and open our eyes and He will be our Savior.  I know that Christ lives and that He will come again. And only the valient will be able to stand with Him in that day. We went to Parres and found an inactive family. They haven`t seen missionaries in 15 years. So we will be visiting them more because they want their kids to be baptized.

The only people that we were able to come to church this week were some other inactives. We have been visiting them for a while and they were finally able to come. It felt really good to see them there.

The baptisms have been pretty slow but we have seen a ton of progress in the branch. Elder Perea and I don`t want to baptize people that are going to stop coming to church in a month. That is the worst feeling. 

Thank you so much for everything and all of your love. I hope that Aunt Nancy gets better soon. And respect to Elder Adams and his mission call. 

I love you all. That`s all she wrote.

Elder Hubbard

An email from his Mission President:

muchas gracias por su informe,
me da mucho gusto saber del gran trabajo que están haciendo en su area,
gracias por su fe y dedicación en edificar la Iglesia,

con amor,

Pdte. Chávez

from his email to his Momma

We eat a lot of bananas here and mangos and limes. Oranges and mandarines too. It is all really tasty. A little better than the US. I love strawberries and cream. Mom, I weigh 178 pounds! That is nuts!! I would say this is a normal weight. I would knock Mark out. Haha. He couldn't send pictures this week, the internet was not working very well.

23 Enero 2012

Dear Family and Friends,
This week was so sweet! Elder Perea and I tore it up. We made a goal to work with members more so people can come to church with us. Every day we were able to have a different member go with us to different lessons. We ended up having more than one every day. Hermana Lulu went with us to a lesson with her godchild who is like 50 years old. I was standing on the street corner and new I had to contact her for some reason. We had such a good lesson with them and they felt the Spirit a lot. It was perfect to have Hermana Lulu there because she made everybody comfortable and relaxed. Her godchild, Nicolasa, said that she is not going to change but she already has a lot. Haha.
On Wednesday we had interviews with Presidente Chávez. We can go with questions that we have or problems that we have. I asked him to teach me how he studies and marks his scriptures and he did. It is so sweet. I wish I had some newer english scriptures. Presidente Chávez is the best teacher ever. I am convinced that we will listen to him in General Conferance some day.
I had interchanges with an Elder from Ajusco this week named Elder Malpica. It was so much fun. He knows a ton about the scriptures and the gospel and I just talked to him the whole day about questions that I had. I learned a ton. Plus we taught six lessons that day and found some great new people.
On Saturday we visited some people with our new mission leader. We went to some inactives house and read Alma 36 with them. It was such a good lesson and they are going to start coming to church again. Their kids already have came.
Yesterday at church a girl from Parres came that we have tried to visit her. We kind of thought she was already baptized and a member. She is 15 years old and named Daniela. After church we find out that she isn´t a member of our church but she wants to be baptized. Her mom and gramma are already members. It is a good blessing and we are going to teach her this week.
Today is Elder Garcia´s birthday and Hermana Katia and I made him pancakes and bacon. No numbers or candles though, sorry dad. Some people here want me to ask you for the pancake recipe and chocolate chip cookies too. The church and the members here are getting so much stronger and I have seen so much progress here. The church is now looking for land to by for their church here in Topilejo. I can not wait to see that.
I know that this work is real, and that Jesus is the Christ. Through Him and nobody else can we return to the presence of Our Heavenly Father and live with our families forever in unending happiness. And that´s how the cookie crumbles.
I love you all! Have a great week. Thank you for you prayers and your letters.
Love,
Elder Hubbard
p.s. Respect to Max Magill and Ecuador. I love you bro.

 Tyler and Elder Perea

 Who knows, somebodies home?

 Flippin' pancakes. Look at the concentration!

Barbwire face. Ouch!

16 Enero 2012

¿Que Onda?

This week flew by and I had a ton of fun. So part of my area is another town kind of by the border of Morelos called Parres.  We never went there when Elder Leyva was here but I want to go so we went on Tuesday. It is tiny. There are like 10 total streets there and a ton of catholics. We only did some contacting there this week but more than half of the people accepted us.  There was an old guy that we saw in the street that I told Elder Perea not to contact but he wanted to anyways. Old people talk forever and never change. So we just chilled for about 30 minutes trying to get rid of him as he told us that he talks to God every night in is dreams. He says that he is JW, catholic, and evangalist. He was kind of goofy. We had a good lesson that day with a lady named Alejandra Guzman and they believe everything we teach. We helped them understand the Atonement, baptism, and they said they know that they are just catholic for tradition.

Wednesday was one of the best days of the mission. I don´t even know why. Elder Garcia and I went to a meeting for leaders in Taxqueña all morning. Another time Presidente Chávez just did his thing and tore it up. He taught us that we should have pure testimonies and not testimonies that are polluted by others like the rivers in DF. Another thing that he taught us is there is a time for everything and us as people need to be happy with doing the right things at the right time. For example right now I should be here and I shouldn´t want to be anywhere else. We just have to enjoy every part of life because it is over so fast and we will miss it.  Then Elder Garcia and I went to Topilejo to do work. We went to teach two contacts for the first time. The first one is a store owner that lived in the U.S. for a while named Samuel. He says he is catholic but just started bashing on it and knows it´s not true. Then we explained the Book of Mormon and the Restauration and he loved it.  After that we taught a guy named Uriel. When I saw him and his family for the first time I knew that we had to contact them. I just felt it. They went into their house and I knocked on the door and they accepted. Uriel said that we was going to be baptized when he was 16 but his parents wouldn´t let him. He is over 30 years old now with a family. We taught him the  Restoration too and invited him to be baptized. He accepted but didn´t want to set a date. It was so sweet.  He is pumped to ask God for the answer.  After every good lesson I get so happy for some reason.  It is the best feeling. I am like skipping down the sidewalk.

On Thursday we had the meeting again in the morning but it wasn´t as good. Then Elder Garcia and I went to Ajusco to do work. It was pretty boring over there. We only taught one lesson and then visited a sick lady. I stayed the night over there. Ajusco is just like scout camp. The house is like a war bunker. At least we had hot water this time.

Friday brought be a little bit of bad luck but it was pretty funny.  I contacted another taquero-the people that make and sell tacos. I am friends with four taqueros in Topilejo. That is almost all of them. Haha.  That night we were leaving Hermana Paola´s house to go to a Family Home Evening. We were walking and I was looking out into the distance at Mexico City below when something just blindsided me in the face. It didn´t really hurt but I looked and it was a barbed wire fence. It had hit me right in the forehead. Haha. It bled a ton and Hermana Paola was freaking out. She brought out cleaning alcohol and cotton balls and then we went to the branch presidents house because it was close. Elder Perea and I were just laughing a ton. The president´s mother in law cleaned me up. She isn´t a member. We had a FHE with them afterwards and we taught all about the Atonement. It was the first time ever that they listened to Elders and we have another appointment for this Saturday. 

On Saturday we had a sick lesson again. We have been teaching a lady named Elisabeth for like 2 months but not very many lessons. On Saturday we taught her husband, Lucio, for the first time. It was a really disorganized lesson about the Restoration but he loved it. He asked us what he has to do to become a member of the church.  He prayed at the end and it was really powerful.

Today we cleaned the house really well and then played some soccer. 

I love to be a missionary and teach all of these wonderful people. The baptisms are pretty slow right now but we are preparing a ton of people. I am just trying to be the best missionary that I can be and have a good attidude. I love Topilejo so much and I want to spend my whole mission here. We are starting to work with members really well and there are more faithful members here. I know that this work is God´s work. It is the stone cut out of the mountain without hands and nothing can stop it. So be part of it or get mowed over. I love you all and miss you all and hope that you will remember what is really important in life. Have a great week;)

Elder Hubbard

Map of Topilejo

9 Enero 2012

Hey Family!

So this is the one year of my life that I will be serving the Lord every single day. It`s going to be sweet.  This could have been the longest week of my mission minus the first one in the MTC. With my last p-day on Saturday, it just went on and on.  This week Elder Perea and I taught 23 lessons which is a record for me by far. They were all good lessons but Elder Perea and I are still getting used to teaching together and we practice a ton to get better.  The bummer is that we are not going to have our baptism this week because Fransisco couldn`t come to church yesterday.  We will just have to wait but he is still excited for it.

The most interesting man we found this week was one who lived in the middle of nowhere. We recieved a reference to go visit  Pablo so we did. It could have been the funniest lesson of the mission. First of all we get there and he is waiting outside for us with his goofy smile. Outside his house he had a garden of herbs which is kind of weird for Mexico. I asked him what he talked about with the other missionaries and I said that we were there to give him a Libro de Mormòn. He pretty much just ignored it and started going off about herbs. In like 5 minutes he brought out a jug of brown liquid that he had concocted and threw it down on the table. He then told us how it healed his eyes, that it has cured cancer, Parkinson`s, and Alzheimer`s. He didn`t want to hear anything about the gospel, he just wanted to have us promote his stuff and make him a millionaire. It was hilarious. He started bringing pieces of dead plants to me and explaining what they do. I wanted to laugh so hard. We just left after a while, and after him trying to convince us to take some to the people we visit. Oh and it was alcoholic too. I would best describe it as moonshine.  The secret to every cure in the world has been found in Topilejo by Pablo. Mind boggling.

This week was another holiday in Mexico. The Wisemen Day. When they come to give gifts to all of the girls and boys like Santa Claus. Someone asked me why they don`t exist in the U.S. and I said I think it`s because they don`t have VISAs.  Haha. I might be the funniest person I know.  For this day we had a family home evening. We invited a bunch of investigators and members but only the family from downstairs and Hermano Oscar and his family came. It was really fun though. Elder Perea and I taught a lesson about the Prodigal Son and then we played charades and ate Rosca. It`s the designated bread for the holiday.

Yesterday I lost my cell phone in a bus! But Hermana Katia called the number and some kid from the city has it and she was going to go pick it up today. We went to pick it up so hopefully that worked out. 

I love being Elder Perea`s companion. We laugh and yell a lot. I make fun of him for his accent and we practice English all of the time. His mom his a member and his dad isn`t. His mom is a nurse and he is the oldest in his family. It seems like I don`t teach him anything but I think he is learning. We worked so hard this week and I was tired every night. We planned well and contacted people a ton too. This week we just have to help investigators go to church.

This morning we went to pick a package up from Aunt Jenny`s family. Thank you so much! I feel loved.  The picture I sent of the meet are tacos al pastor, the family home evening, Rosca, and Mauro and I. 

Okay, I am out of time. Have a great week and I love you.

How are Elder Stockard and Elder Christiansen doing? I need American stamps!

Love,

Elder Hubbard

Tacos al pastor 

 Tyler and Mauro

 Wisemen Day FHE

 Rosca~holiday bread