25 Diciembre 2012-Happy Christmas!

Hello once again Hubbard family!

It was really good to talk to you all on Saturday.  I miss you all a tonnn. It was good to meet Jeff and almost to say hi to Oliver. I was glad to hear that everybody was together having fun. I have a great family and I am so grateful to be able to know that it can be a forever family. I love every one of you. I hope that Christmas goes well for you in Fallon, Reno, Boise, and Washington.  Christmas is definitely the best when you are with your family.

We had a few Christmas activities this week. One of them was a ward dinner and a ton of investigators went. They set up about 5 piñatas and I thought that some little kid was going to loose an eye. It was so nuts but really fun to watch. It might be a good Christmas tradition to add in when I get back. Some of them even put fruit into the piñatas instead of candy, but so dad doesn`t freak out, we can just put some gobstoppers in there. Haha. 

Yesterday, we ate two huge meals. One of the was La Comida. La hermana made us tacos al pastor, and tacos de longaniza. It was straight cash. Each taco had like a pound of meat on it. With our ward mission leader we ate pierna and pasta, with an apple salad and tamales. I didn`t really enjoy it as much I could of due to the full stomach. We ended up getting to the house early and we just watched some Christmas movies.

Today we didn`t do much. We have p-day the entire day. I ate some Subway for the first time since the Land Before Time. It reminded me of high school basketball gams. Glory days. I put it on the tab.  My companion talked to his family and I read a lot in the Book of Mormon.

We lost Cristina this week. She is going to move to another state along with her daughter, Lupita who asked the million dollar question this week, "Què tengo que hacer para bautizarme?" It is always a bummer when they just escape to another area.

I opened up my presents that you sent me today and I really like all of it! Thanks a ton. Thanks for the sweatshirts, the usb, the twistables, the dry fits, and the good candy. I was thinking of all of the things that I have to be thankful for and there are a ton. I am greatful for my mission, my family, and my Savior.

Okay, I want to ask a favor to mom, or Bree, or Shayla, or the three of them. I want a calender for 2013 with pictures of the family on it. Could anyone hook a Hubbs up? Gracias.

Merry Christmas! Be safe traveling and Prospèro Año! I love you!

Elder Hubbard

http://www.mormonchannel.org/mormonmessages?v=911129090001

18 Diciembre 2012- Feliz Navidad

Dear family,

I got the little package you sent me and the Christmas cards. I can totally tell that Bree made the card since she was always a stud in that area. I love to get things from you and all of the pictures are really good too. Thanks a ton. I still haven`t opened the big package that you sent. Tell Kristi gracias for the jerkey.

This week we had a Zone Training with a Christmas Activity.  It was actually combined with two other zones here in Iztapalapa. Elder Herrera and I trained them for two hours about asking inspired questions. We had the idea that the people we teach should mark the most important things as we read with them during the lessons. I really like doing it because they can recieve their own revelations that way. You have to watch out though, because if you aren`t looking, they`ll steal your twistable! Haha. After the training was the Christmas Program. President and Hermana Valadez spoke a little bit about Christmas and then there was a talent show combined with the three zones. There were some really funny sketches. Even los Valadez danced in costumes around the stage. They are really fun.  We then ate (half of the zone woke up with diarea the next day. Haha.) and President Valadez let us play futbol for a couple of hours! It was the first time that we were allowed to play in about a year. My team lost a bunch but I did get one goal in. I`m not going to be catching Messi any time soon.

Numbers wise, we had a pretty rough week. It felt like it went by so fast that we didn`t have time for everything. There was one lesson that I liked thought. On exchanges we read Alma 36 with Raymundo and his mom, Luz. We gave a twistable to Raymundo and as we read, he marked every time that it mentioned Christ`s name. Luz marked something else that I can`t remember. But as we finished the lesson, I gave them a pen and paper and told them to write down all of the things in their life that they want to change as we sang a hymn. We could feel a lot of peace in the room and I hope that they really do make those changes in their lives.

Christmas time is my favorite time of the year. I love all of the traditions we have at home of reading the Christmas story and eating clam chowder. I love being with my family. But the most important part to remember is that without Christ there is no Christmas. Without the Atonement and an empty tomb, we would have nothing to be happy about. I am glad that I can be a representative of Him. I invite you all to come unto Him and believe. I know that He is my Savior.  He is yours too. Merry Christmas!!!! I love you.

Elder Hubbard

11 Diciembre 2012

Buenas tardes!
How is everybody?! I am doing good down here. I am glad that everything is well at home and that you are getting ready for Christmas.  It doesn`t feel like it`s Christmas time here but a few people have put some lights up.
This week we had the baptism of Cristina. It was impressive because she had only been an investigator for about a month and a half. My companion and I saw that she has repented a ton, and had a testimony of the Book of Mormon, so that she was ready for her baptism. We had to teach her almost all of the commandments and the Plan of Salvation, and the Restoration this week so we went on splits quite a few times. I went every time to go teach her with our ward mission leader, Marcario. They weren`t the greatest lessons I have ever had but she learned what she needed too. On Sunday after church Marcario baptized her. You gotta love that trademark green Iztapalapa water. The Xalpa ward isn`t quite as sharp as Contreras in their missionary work, but they do give us a ton of referrals.
We actually taught a ton of lessons this week, including twelve with a member there with us. Elder Herrera got a lot better in our lessons and set like 9 baptismal dates with our investigators. One of them was a nine year old kid who`s mom is less active. His name his Raymundo. He actually was just baptized by immersion in another church. We wanted to help him see that he would need to be baptized by somebody who has the authority to do so. We taught him all about the priesthood, how it was given to the apostles and how it was lost when they died. Then we explained how Joseph Smith recieved the same authority from the same apostles. We used some good examples and then at the end invited him to ask Heavenly Father in that moment if the church is true. He did it and when he said Amen, my comp and I didn`t say anything. He told us that he felt something in his heart, and then said it feels like "Dios esta en mi corazòn." It was amazing to see a 9 year old boy feel an answer to his prayers and now he has a stronger testimony than anyone in his family.   We had a lot of experiences like that as we taught this week. We should all have a testimony from the Spirit that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints is the kingdom of God on the earth. If you don`t know, ask Him. If you do know, keep asking Him. If there is an answer that we haven`t recieved, we just have to want it more.
Right now I feel like I am in a weird stage in my mission. I really want to keep getting better and not stop progressing. I am trying to stay focused on my purpose of inviting others to come unto Christ and to become more like him. I love to read how my friends our doing in the other missions. Elder Stockard is running the streets in Tampico as an assistant. I got a letter from Elder Christiansen this week and he is a great example to me. I am glad I have such great friends and family as examples because I need it.
Thanks for your letters and I can`t wait to talk to you! I don`t know if you`ll me in Boise or Fallon, or walmart, but we`ll talk!  I`ll practice my english so that you can understand me well.
Love,
Elder Hubbard

4 Decimiembre 2012

Que hay. That was a long week!! So many things happened that I probably

won´t be able to tell you about to much. Reading mom´s letter, I think she

thought I would have to travel a long ways to my new area. But our mission

is one of the most tiny ones in all of the world and we never leave the

city. We took a taxi from Contreras to a huge stake center named

Churubusco, and then from there went in micro, or a little bus, to my area

in Xalpa, Iztapalapa. I am pretty close to where I was in my second area,

Leandro Valle. My new companion is Elder Herrera from Jalisco. He is a good

guy, a little dramatic, but a good guy. To each his own. He goes home in

June too.

The first few days I didn´t really feel too comfortable in my area. I think

sometimes my shyness comes back to me. The house we live in was super messy

when I got there, which doesn´t help either. But as I was with a new

companion, in a new area, with new investigators, and new super chilango

members, I remembered that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is infinite and

unchanging. The same things that have comforted me for my whole mission,

continue to do so now and more than ever.  It´s a good anchor that got me

through this week and now I feel just fine. Mom would be proud of me

because I went and bought cleaning supplies and just did work. It reminded

me of some of those BYU clean checks that Elder Special K and I dominated.

 A clean house always helps.

My area is straight city, except for some huge hills that jet out of

nowhere. There is one of them that has three crosses on top. The people

sing as they talk and use a ton of slang. That´s why I said they are super

chilango. We have some cool yellowish water too, and right now are without

electricity and hot water. There are a lot of upsides too. The stake center

here is the prettiest one that I have seen in DF. The members give us a lot

of referrals.  The area is small too, but with the hills, my legs will be

as big as ever. Haha. Oh and I am pretty sure our bishop is black. That

might be false doctrine though. My zone is really small now. In Contreras I

was in charge of 38 missionaries, and here in Paraíso, 14 missionaries.

Only three districts! I like it because I can focus on them more. I feel

like this zone hasn´t really started working with the members and less

actives very well so we are going to hit that hard.

We are teaching quite a few people here in Xalpa. One of them is Cristina,

who is scheduled to be baptized on Sunday. I shared with her Abraham

3:22-23 in our first lesson, and she started crying a ton. She said that it

was the third time that people have told her that she is escogido.  I am

trying to get to know the rest of the investigators, but we also are

teaching a guy named Xavier who accepted baptism this week.

So a lot more happened this week too. For example, Elder Herrera and I ate

outside yesterday because we couldn´t go inside with the hermana who was by

herself. So we just ate in the shade looking over the great DF. Just eating

some chicken and tortillas. Out of nowhere, about 5 dogs made a suprise

attack on us trying to get our chicken. I stood up and scared them off, but

it was pretty funny. Who do they think they are?! Haha.

Thanks for your letters this week. I love to here from you. Somebody told

me that I have a package in the offices too! So have a good week. Remember

that faith is important but faith in Jesus Christ lets us return to live

with God. Look to become more like him in this Christmas time. I love you!

Elder Hubbard

26 Noviembre 2012 - Cambios!!

Hey Hubbards!!!

So my time is up in Contreras and with Elder Jones. We had a good six weeks together and we could say that Contreras is officially our stomping grounds. Haha.  The APs told us yesterday that I will being going to an area named Xalpa. Pronounced with H like Hahlpa. It´s right in the middle of the city in la delegación Iztapalapa.  It´s gonna be sweet! I am going to a the senior zone leader with Elder Herrera. I already know him a little bit but not too much. So today I have been packing my bags and tomorrow I will be heading out. I am really excited for new challenges and new places.  I didn´t sleep very well last night because I was thinking about it so much. My zone´s name is Paraíso.

This week was a lot of fun. Elder Jones and I decided on Thanksgiving that we wanted to make the box of brownies that I had in my suitcase. The bad part here is that almost nobody uses ovens to cook. If they have an oven, they usually use it as storage. Haha. So we decided to experiment and we ending up cooking them in the microwave. I was shocked to find out that it actually worked and we enjoyed every bite. I forgot how much I love brownies. For Thanksgiving we ate an investigator´s house, Yolanda. She gave us one of my favorites, pozolé and tostadas with creme. I want to learn how to make it. She invited her daughter and her husband to and we taught them for the first time. We shared the last verse of the BM and explained them what our purpose is as a missionary. Jorge, the husband, said, "Oh, so your purpose is to help the judgement bar be pleasing for me." I thought he understood it pretty well.  Yolanda has chosen her baptismal date to be on December 8. She has gone to church a ton of times and there is nothing stopping her from being baptized.

On Friday, we took a suprise trip to Topilejo and got there at about 8:20 am and found some pretty shocked missionaries. Haha. We had to talk to them about being more obedient and focused in the work. They are really good elders with some personal challenges. I think that we were able to help them more. Topilejo is still the same and everybody was excited to see me.

So working with the less actives, we have found a lot of new good investigators. It is always interesting to hear their reason for not going to church. This week I heard a new one, "They changed the cover of the Book of Mormon." Por favor!!  We go to church to be forgiven of our sins and to follow and remember our Savior, not because of the color of the BM, or because our family are members, or for any other reason!! I wish I could get people to understand that. It´s frustrating.

It´s always weird to leave an area behind, knowing that I will probably never come back here. But the work of the Lord will roll on. Nothing can stop it. I love you all!! I am glad you had a good Thanksgiving. You all sound crazy with all of the guns you are shooting. Remember that we don´t point potatoe guns at people´s faces. Haha.

Elder Hubbard

20 Noviembre 2012 - Happy Thanksgiving!

Hey Hubbardazos!
It was nice to hear that all is well at home. Dad is still the funniest guy I know and Shayla has some Legolas swag going on. And I´m sure that mom will be making some goood food this week. You can always send that in air mail. I had a really good week too. Things are kind of crumbling in our area right now and we are experiencing some growing pains in our new and improved way of working. But we do see little small miracles that keep us hungry for more.
The cool thing about working with menos activos is that it´s not working from 0. I hope that makes since in english. They are already familiar with the church and we can be more bold and direct with them. Elder Jones left the homework to one of them to read the Book of Mormon and mark all of the times that it talks about God, Christ, or the Holy Ghost. After years of not being able to read the BM, she started and is loving it.
We taught Kimberly this week two times. Our ward has done a great job in fellowshipping her. The young women´s president came with us to a lesson with one of Kimberly´s friends from the ward and she loved the Restoration. The last time we taught her was on saturday in the church. When we opened the doors to the baptismal font, we could feel the Spirit gushing out. It was sweet. We invited her to be baptized and she accepted it but afterwards we saw that she is really worried about her family since it is obvious that they don´t want to go back to church.
We are also teaching all of the members the Restoration. We taught our bishop and his family this week and it went really well. We almost recieved some referrals too but we are going to check on them this week. They gave us some churros and hot chocolate after the lessons which is always a nice touch.
One of my favorite experiences this week was that I finished the Book of Mormon once again in Spanish. As I prayed afterwards, I realized that the BM is another testament of Jesus Christ and as a testament, it does the same things that Christ does. Christ frees us from sin, temptation, and pain, and the BM, one of His representatives, works in the exact same way. When we read it we recieve the power and knowledge of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and we can reconcile ourselves with Him.  I know that that book is from a divine origin and we must read it to be able to know Christ.  Say no more.
Elder Jones and I also gave a zone training this week about teaching members of the church and also helping them be able to talk to their friends and family about the church. It went really well and I feel a lot more confident teaching big groups than when I was first a zone leader.  President Valadez himself showed up with his wife, and of course, gave us a doctrinazo. I have know idea how to say that in english, but to be short in writing, he taught us well. He said that when we left to go on our missions we left some things behind that we will never return to. True that.
So when we get text messages, the phone has the same ringtone as are wake up alarm in the morning. To make a long story short, we got some text messages at 11:30 on sunday night, and we got up, said our prayers and almost started doing excerise when we realized that we had only slept for one hour. Who´s the funny kid texting us at 11:30 at night? Haha.
Well, I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving! I am definitely thankful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the forgiveness that comes through Him. I am greatful for all of you too. The old me would have said my peeps. The new me says the same. Have a great week and watch a lot of football. Also read your scriptures. I love you!
Elder Hubb ard

 Ajusco strikes back

 smurf car

13 Noviembre 2012

Que húbole.

I was reading some of the letters from the boys and read that Elder Stockard was sitting in a small internet café thinking about how fast and well the week went by. I know exactly how that feels. I know that we are going to have some stuff to talk about when we get back. I think I got lucky on how nice my weather is here. It´s a good sixty degrees I would say but people are bundled up. We should snag about 10 chilangos and put them in Rexburg, Idaho for a week. I want to see what they would do.  I can´t believe that Elder Special K Christiansen and I have been out for so long. I hope we some how get on the same flight home.

We had a sweet zone leader meeting this week with Presidente Valadaz. Él se la rifa.  He´s a funny guy. What I liked most is when he taught us about the Plan de Salvación. He said that there are a ton of pictures of the plan but the are all wrong because none of them have the Atonement of Jesus Christ at it´s center.  I also had an interview with Presidente Valadez yesterday and he taught me even more.  He also got a little off subject talking about snow chains, iPads (does anyone in our family have one of those things?), and when he met Elder Richard G. Scott. 

This week I really tried to help one of the elders that has been struggling that´s in our zone. I went on exchanges with him to his area. He is from Brasil and kind of dificult to understand since he spoke portuguese for all of his life. I saw some things that I thought would help him so we put some goals.  He is going to memorize the missionary purpose in English and Spanish, study the missionary lessons every day, and learn how to speak in Usted form better. The tu form doesn´t cut it as a missionary.

We looked for a lot of menos activos this week. One day we had been looking for some all morning when we decided to hike up our hill to San Nicolas (Saint Nick) to look for a family. We looked for the address and didn´t find anything so like the resourceful kid that I am, I asked a little girl in the street if she knew the family. She told us to go into a little alley way and look there. So we followed her advice and started banging on some doors looking for them. Before long, two people came by and we asked them about the family. They told us that they were that family. They let us into their house (that we would have never found on our own) and we started talking to them. The mom hasn´t gone to church for 11 years and her daughter now is 15 years old. A few days before she had been asking her mom about a picture of the temple that they have in their house and had been thinking about reading the Book of Mormon. She even has a friend in our ward that has told her about the church activities.  I know that the Lord prepares the hearts of the people that he put 2 lost white boy´s right where he needed them to find his children.  I can tell that we are going to have a lot of experiences working in La Obra de Salvacion (the work of Salvation).  We found one family that hasn´t gone to church in about thirty years. Right before leaving their house, I gave him a pamphlet of the Plan of Salvation. He looked at the picture of Christ on the cover and just started bawling. He said that he had a dream when he saw Christ in the exact same way.

So things are going pretty slow in our area. As for the baptisms, we are also in a little bit of a slump but the beat goes on.  We have one planned for this saturday which is a possibility. I love the things that I have been learning and living. Elder Jones is one of my best friends and we are tearing the zone up. We have a mini zone conference this week where we are going to be training them a lot about teaching active members of the church and getting referrals. So if any of you knows anybody that lives in DF, more especifically Tlalpan and Contreras, you should definitely hit us up. And be missionaries yourselves! Just open your mouths and share the joy of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

So times up, but thanks for all of your letters. I got some pictures this week, and a letter from Mr. Elder Bunn.  Oh, and I got shots this morning so I don´t catch any diseases. I love you with all of my corazoncito. 

Elder Hubbard