5 Noviembre 2012

Sup familia,

So I can´t believe that Nevada Day is already past and gone.  Best holiday of the year.  Here they don´t celebrate it though. Weird huh? For three days starting with October 31st, they celebrate Día de los Muertos. They put a food offering with candles out for all of their dead relatives.  It´s a little bit weird and I think temple work is a lot better. One of the things that I do like is this one kind of bread called pan de muerto, or in english dead bread. It´s some good stuff.

This week really flew by especially because we had to prepare everything for the zone conference that was on Friday. On Thursday night we went to clean the stake center but when we got there, the primary was having an activity in the cultural hall and we had to wait for a while. We cleaned as much as we could and got rid of all of the extra chairs that were there too. The churches are a lot cheaper here in Mexico, that´s for sure.  In the zone conference, I learned more than any other day on my mission I think. I conducted the meeting and all went well, even my spanish. Elder de Hoyos is definitely a special witness of Christ. And his voice is really soothing to top it all of. The whole time that he talked, I understood things that I never knew that I didn´t understand before.  Most of the conference was focused in the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I learned that if people don´t understand the Atonement, it is impossible for them to have faith in Christ. The Book of Mormon is so important  because it explains clearly the Atonement while in the Bible, it has been taken out almost completely.  I really know that Christ is the Savior and that every time that I have truly repented in my life, he has forgiven me. I know that I still have a long ways to go. La hermana de Hoyos invited us to read the Book of Mormon in 85 days because that´s how long it took for Joseph Smith to translate it. As we read it in a blue BM, we are going to mark all of the names of Christ so that we can show it to the people we teach.  You can all do it with me too, it will be fun.  I am really excited to read it once again.  I am so grateful to be able to learn more about the Plan of Salvation. It is really the coolest thing that anybody can learn.

I made a return trip to Ajusco this week that was part of my first area. I forgot how high the altitude is there. It was freezing. But not really.  I didn´t see anyone I knew but I did remember a lot of experiences with Elder Leyva.  I was just a boy back then. We didn´t have any time to work in our area really this week. But we were still blessed to be able to set a baptismal date with Yolanda.  She really wants to follow Christ but doesn´t understand why a true church is of any importance. We have got some explaining to do. Teaching is also the power of God unto salvation.

Yesterday after church, our bishop gave us a list of 40 menos activos to visit in our area and he wants it all done this month. We are going to be very busy.  Contreras is a really good ward and they just do work.

So that´s about all I have for this week. I am happier every day that I am here and I know that I am learning what the Lord wants me to.  I am really grateful for President Valadez because he has helped me a ton.  I love every one of you. You are a great family and I love it when you write me. Have a good week and I hope all is well.

Elder Hubbard

Presidente Valadez

Elder Hubbard muchas gracias por todo lo que está haciendo le amo mucho, y le agradezco lo que hizo para que la Conferencia de Zona fuera muy exitosa muchas gracias todo salio muy bien gracias al trabajo de ustedes, animo!!!

Translation:  Elder Hubbard thank you very much for everything you are doing. I love him very much, and

I appreciate what he did for the  Zone Conference was very successful. Thank you very much all went very well thanks to the work of you, I encourage!

30 Octubre 2012

I am one tired kid. Yesterday morning I woke up really sick. It was because the day before an hermana gave us mole to eat. I don`t know if you are familiar with mole but it is probably definitely worth googling. I say probably because I have never done it. But seriously. Some aztec like 200 years ago had the cool idea of throwing whatever ingredient he wanted into a bowl, grinding it up, and putting it on chicken. Some of those ingredients are chocolate, chile, and nuts I think. It`s not sanitary, that`s all I am say. So I got that out of my system yesterday and all is well now. This morning we went to play basketball once again at the church. We were a lot better than we were a week ago. I love having Elder Jones as a companion. He eats corn flehh.
We looked for a lot of menos activos this week and active members of the church too. Some days we had a really hard time finding anybody but we trust in the Lord`s plan, and we won`t be doing anything else.  What I realized as we taught the members of the church is that sometimes people stop coming to church because they don`t have a reason. When people don`t understand what comes after their baptisms, they don`t know why they keep coming every sunday. But there is a ton to do in the church that is call enduring to the end. I like to think of it as progressing til the end. To help us with that, we have missionary work, callings, temple and family history work, classes, and a million other things.  It is important that we do them and understand why we are doing them. No member of the Church of Jesus Christ should be bored at any point of their life because there are some many opportunities to serve.
Our bishop when with us this week to visit Julian and Eva. It was a sweet lesson, especially when the bishop shared Abraham 3:22-23 with Julian and he started bawling like a baby. He understood the premortal life very well.  The bishop also helped us a lot because he was of the same religion as Julian and Eva before and went through some of the same challenges as them. Julian said that we gained a lot of confidence and at church on sunday, he was answering questions left and right in sunday school.  They`re in Veracruz right now and shortly after their return they will be baptized.
This friday Elder Benjamin de Hoyos is going to visit our zone from the quorum of the 70. President Valadez wants everything perfect.  Elder Jones and I have to get everything ready and I am going to have to conduct the zone conference, so pray for me. I would like to say my spanish is perfect, but I am not going to lie, it`s not. It`s got a longgg ways to go.
I love you all and I miss you a ton. Everything sounds like its good at home. Have a good week.
Elder Hubbard

Baller!

23 Octubre 2012

This was such a fun week. This morning I played basketball for the first time in about 10 months. We are only allowed to play sports with no more than 2 people.  So Elder Jones and I shot some hoops and played 21. I might way 16 pounds more that when I started the mish, but I still got some game. Anyways, right now I feel super relaxed and healthy after playing. I think it´s going to be a Tuesday morning tradition. 

Elder Jones is way cool. He´s from Rancho Cucamonga, California, and his dad is the mission president of San Antonio. That´s where Elder Cousineau is right now. I have one more transfer than Elder Jones and I really hope that we will be here till new years together.  The mission just had a ton of special transfers because we have a new assistant so I think we are going to be safe.

To start off the transfer, we had a baptism. Laura was baptized on Saturday.  I remember that when I got to Contreras, she didn´t want to talk to us at all. We always going to her house because her mom lets us use her washing machine.  So in about september, out of nowhere she asked if she could learn the gospel.  Of course! She is 26 years old I think. Her baptismal service was awesome and seh was crying a ton afterwards. Of happiness I think.

Also this week, we had the great idea to go to the bishops house. His wife, la hermana Sanchez is a family search missionary. So she showed us how we can help investigators find their anscestors. I really really liked it. I felt something really cool and I am pretty sure that I am going to help a lot doing our family history after the mission.

I also went to sign my visa for the last time this week.  I went with Elder Reid and it took all day. But the fed us Burger King afterwards so no complaints.

Yesterday, President Valadez explained to us something new that we are going to be doing. We are going to visit inactive and active members and teach them the missionary lessons. Their responsibility is to give us referrals and the ward´s responsibility is to help them progress in church with callings, ordinances, and feeling loved. We are no longer going to be knocking doors or contacting in the streets. We are going to rely on the ward and they will give us people to teach. I can´t wait and I am excited to help people return to church and help them have eternal families.  You all need to help the missionaries at home. Take them to visit your friends and family, I know they can help. 

Elder Stockard sounds like he is dominating in Ciudad Victoria. Sorry this letter isn´t so spiritual. I am still mortal. I love you all. Do work.

Happy Birthday Travis!!

Love,

Elder Hubard

 Zona Contreras district leaders

Laura´s baptism

15 Octubre 2012

Family...

Sorry about that. Once again I forgot to tell you that transfers were coming up. Just so you know, the next transfers are the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Conste. So Elder Rios and I lasted a good six weeks together. I can say that in those six weeks we had 0 problems with each other. That is always good.  He will be returning to a ward that he has already been in and will be a good old normal missionary with no extra leadership responsibilities. He is a good companion and I am going to miss the little guy.  I am now going to be the senior companion here in Contreras.  It`s not a big change because we are both zone leaders and do equal work. My new companion is going to be Elder Jones. I know him a little bit but not a ton. I am really excited to work with him. His dad is a mission president in Texas and I think that he is from California. I`ll tell you more this next week.  The zone had a ton of transfers too and I am excited to be here. 

We had a good week here.  We were able to work in our area for four days straight which was a miracle. And I got to contact in the rain which is always fun. We started knocking doors because the missionary who I was with didn`t plan anything to do. So it started raining and we just kept on contacting. We were soaked when a nice lady let us in and we taught her and her daughter. It made me feel good.

Julian went to church again this week. He got there before we did and in Priesthood taught the whole quorum the doctrine of receiving Priesthood blessings. The guy is such a spiritual giant.  In Priesthood he also asked the procedures of a correct baptism. And he is already at the end of 2 Nephi.  To top it all off, out of nowhere he decided to quit drinking coke. I have never taught a man like him before. 

I`m not going to lie, that`s all I got for this week. Today I cleaned the house and wrote a few letters. (Heads up Mom and dad)  Oh and we found a Carl`s Junior so I put it on the tab. Sorry this letter is so short and that I couldn`t send pictures today. Thanks for writing to me. Hopefully the next letter will be more interesting!! Have a great week!!

con cariño,

Elder Hubbard

9 octubre 2012

I hope that everybody had as good of a week as I did!!! I am a pretty happy kid. I loved General Conference this weekend. We were able to listened to special witnesses of Jesus Christ that receive guidance for us. Elder Uchtdorf`s first talk might have changed my life forever even though I had to listen to it in Spanish. I am pretty sure that he wrote it just for me. I was thinking about it a lot this weekend. Here in DF, we often have to take taxis if we don`t have very much time to get somewhere. They take a large effect on me because inside they have taximeters. I think that`s what they are called. But anyways, growing up in Falabama, I didn`t really know much about taxis. The taximeters show how much the ride is going to cost and go up every now and then. I really don`t like them. Now when I get into any normal car I feel anxious too. I just want to get to where we are going to so we don`t have to pay more. Elder Uchtdorf`s talk made me realize that I live my whole life like I am riding in a taxi sometimes and I just want to get things finished. Over these past few days I have changed that mentality and am enjoying every single part, even if it`s hard. I am just going to to enjoy life, not always waiting for something.

One of the sisters talked in general conference also about, "First observe, then act." As we were on our way home last night we were chilling in a bus just waiting to get to the next place. Then Elder Rios said to me, "First observe, then act." I looked around but didn`t see anything. Then he told me that the girl across the aisle was crying. I looked over and it was true. It`s always pretty awkward when a young woman is crying and even more when it is in Spanish. I tapped her on the shoulder and asked what was wrong. She said that nothing and that she would fix it. We started talking about God`s plan for us and she told us that a boy hadn`t treated her very well. We told her that she was a daughter of God and that she is worth a lot to Him. At the end we had to go but she was smiling and said that she would go visit mormon.org. I felt really good to be able to help her and help her know that God loves her.

I am pretty sure that Elder Holland`s talk blew everyone`s mind as well. I imagined Christ asking me, "Elder Hubbard, Do you love me?" It has been in my mind a lot since then. On our way home another night, I kept thinking about that and felt that I do. It is a question that makes us have to act. I decided to contact the whole bus like I did a couple of months ago. This time it went a lot better and at least some people accepted pass along cards. Elder Rios had my back too, testifying with me. I really want to show the Lord that I love him.

Our friends also had a good experience at Conference. 10 of them went in total. Julian and Eva went to the first session on Saturday. After hearing Elder Nelsons talk about missionary work, Julian told us that he felt exactly the same way that the man did that found the missionaries on the bikes. He said that he respected us before the conference, but now he really admires us. I am sure that he felt the same way about the church too. It`s always nice when an apostle is throwing all of the missionaries on the bus. Julian and Eva accepted a baptismal date and seem really happy.

We had to cross the city to the temple this week because my companion had to go to the doctor. On the way back, we went with some sister missionaries from our mission in the metro. We decided to sing "I am a Child of God" to all of the people in the metro and invite them to listen to our message. It was a really cool experience even though only one person was kind of interested.

This week was so sick that I really did love every dad. I know that my Savior loves me and that I can be happy at whatever point in my life. I invite all of you to watch conference http://www.lds.org/general-conference/watch/2012/10?lang=eng&vid=1882749069001&cid=12, make some goals and plans, and let it change your life. My name is Elder Hubbard, I`m a chilango, I`m a güero, and I`m a mormon.

one love,

Elder Hubbard

 Nacho Libre??

 Burnt

 smog

 Elder Paxman

Zone leaders and the Oillataguerre`s and president

President Valadez Alvara

Confié no solamente en el Señor sino en usted mismo, las evidencias del Espíritu del Señor trabajando por medio de usted son claras y eso demuestra también lo mucho que confía el Señor en usted porque es fiel y diligente y además competente, así que regocijese en esas evidencias y en esa confianza que el Señor le tiene y confié en usted mismo animo!!!!

2 Octubre 2012

Hubbards,
This was a great week here in Magdalena Contreras. I`ve been having a pretty hard time thinking in English in these emails.  The only time I ever speak English is if I want to say something funny. English is about ten times funnier. Congratulations to Aaron and Lynze because I am going to have a sobrina!!! I can`t wait.
So this week I had some really good experiences. We weren`t able to spend much time working in our area, we are so busy helping the other missionaries and going to meetings. Today, we sacrificed a bunch of our preparation day to train two districts. So we still have a ton of things to do including washing our clothes by hand and getting to our first appointment at 5.  One of the coolest things that happened was with our friends Julian and his wife Eva. Julian has now read the entire spanish guide to reading the scriptures at the back of the Book of Mormon which is like the topical guide and bible dictionary combined. He read it all and highlighted what he liked. He also read until 1 Nefi 13 and saw the Restoration video, and took notes. I`m pretty sure this guy is going to be a bishop in about a year. Haha.   He`s got the swagger of an escogido. From the notes he took, he decided that he needed to repent and change is life more. Without change, we can`t progress. So he put his own goals of not saying any more swear words and to live the word of wisdom. Might I add that they gave us breakfast, and gifted us some ties. Pretty impressive.  It just shows how much power the Book of Mormon has in helping us repent, change, and make our life a little bit better.  In Mosiah 5:2, it says that we can stop even wanting to sin. I know that that is true and I love when our friends can see it too.
Yesterday, we went to visit one of our friends who we hadn`t seen in a while. She had been reading the Book of Mormon, and said that she prayed and received her answer. She said that she dreamed that two young men came to her house and told her that our message was false. That woke us up a little bit. Haha. I am used to hearing them saying that they received an answer that it is true. We knew that she messed up in the process somewhere and started asking her some questions.  It turns out that she never asked God, but she did ask a santo, San Judas. He is really popular down here.  So that explained everything. We found out that she doesn`t believe that God answers her prayers because she lost two kids. Now we know how to teach her and she committed herself to going to General Conference this weekend.
Speaking of General Conference, I can`t wait. It is when the prophet today and the 12 apostles speak to the whole world. It is the best to be able to let our friends go to see if really they are servants of God or if they are just crazy old men that know how to trick millions of people. I know that Thomas S. Monson is the prophet today. Invite all of your friends to go listen to him. I know that the Lord will answers your doubts and your fears. He always has and he always will.
I`m not going to lie, I had a lot more to write this week than I had time for.  It feels good to be a missionary.
Love you all,
Elder Hubbs
p.s. If you want to pass me big game Elder Faught`s mail down there in Viña del Mar, I want to write him a little note.

You might think that all I do is eat. Not true.

25 septiembre 2012

Hey family,
¿Què hay?  I can`t believe that another week has already gone by. My life is disappearing before my eyes. I balding, getting fat, haven`t played basketball in about a year, or any other sport for that matter, and I have to stretch out every morning or I can`t walk. Haha. That was all sort of a half joke. But seriously.
This week it was time to have our interviews with President Valadez. He always helps me out a ton and always teaches me something too. Yesterday he asked me if I was ready to take over the zone and have a brand new zone leader as a companion. I told him that if that`s what the Lord wants, then I would be ready no matter what. So Elder Rios and I think that we will have transfers in three weeks. It would be a bummer because Elder Rios has all kinds of swagger and we get along really well. Today we went to the only IHOP that I have ever seen in DF. It was really good. We both bought unlimited pancakes but only at 6 each.  They`re not quite as good as Sam Hubbard`s pancakes, made with love. I have been writing down everything I eat every day in my daily planner and I realized that I eat a ton!! I am going to be making some ajustments in that area.
This week we found 14 new investigators. The area is getting along really well.  My favorite part this week was seeing how the Book of Mormon changed so many people. We have been trying to give them the Book of Mormon in the first appointment. Since it is another testament of Jesus Christ that no other religion uses, it is the thing that helps the most when people try to get closer to God. We gave a copy to a teacher named Julian who works in organic chemistry and has a ton of other talents. I will never forget that when we went back to the second appointment with him, he pulled out his copy of the Book of Mormon. He had taken off the soft cover and put on a hard cover. I opened the book and saw that with a highlighter, he had marked the important parts to him in 1 Nephi and also in the guide in the back. They we some of the same things that I have marked. When he prayed, he asked God to help him find the truth. I was really touched by the love that this man showed for the book that has changed my own life. I know that it contains the words of Christ and that it really can help a man come closer to God than any other book. I know it from experience. Every person should be able to read it.
We had Luz`s baptism this week too. Her family all came and were really happy. The Contreras ward is so strong and is already helping them get back in the groove of going to church. I have seen so many people go back to church in my mission. One inactive family that Elder Bunker and I taught spoke in church on sunday and the dad blessed the sacrament. I was so happy to see it.
The zone is improving a ton too.  In total we found 77 investigators which is good compared to the 25 that we normally find. I really love the missionaries that I work with. This week we had exchanges 2 times. I worked with my old friend from Ajusco Elder Garza and then with Elder Smith from Arizona. We can do exchanges with anybody that we want in the zone and afterwards we also put goals. I am supposed to help them learn but I think that I always learn more. They are really good missionaries.
So there`s just a little bit of my week. I hope you enjoy the pictures that I sent. I enjoy reading Elder Sotckard`s, Elder Christiansen`s, Elder Faught`s and Elder Adam`s email every week. It gives me something to do on the bus. I was wonder when Elder Johnston is going to get home? According to my calculation, he should be finishing in a couple of weeks. Aaron and Lynze went to Disneyland once again. I think that they should just buy the castle and live there. My new shoes fit like nike`s. Hey, if anybody that you know needs any of the mountain of clothes that I have at home, feel free to give them what they need. I am not using them much right now.
That`s all I have time for this week. I love you all. I got Travis`s letter this week and one from Dalene. Just to let them know.
Elder Hubbard

 

 Contreras

 Lucìa- 82 years old. Stud. She was baptized a few weeks ago.

 The one and only magnificent Distrito Federal.

Luz`s baptism