Too many coconuts, grocery shopping, skyping, royal planching

We had to make a gift for the mission Christmas party. I made a really crappy snowman to hold your photos. I apologized to the girl that got it.

Elder Lux, Elder Hulme, Elder Perrett (Zone Leader)

Elder Maughan, Elder Jenkins 

Elder Miller, Elder Hulme (from same MTC district)

Giant snowman pinata with Elder Lux

This week we made friends with a people that have a coconut selling firm, well a small business that is a little sketchy. The two coolest dudes are named d and e. D gave us free coconuts. I ate wayyyyy too much coconut. Xander, you know exactly what happens when you eat too much coconut. bahaaaa. Needless to say, coconuts are tasty.

Mom, yes I got your big package a few weeks ago. The small package I have not seen. But we only get mail once a month, because the mission offices send it to us via the zone leaders. So I'll probably get it in January.

Grandma Dot is Number 1! I got her package. The silverware poked through the wrapping paper, but let her know that we loved the treats that she sent, especially the chocolates. Elder Lux devoured those. As did I. And we are excited to get the silverware and the other mystery present. Grandma is the best best. 

I did my grocery shopping today. I'm a big boy now. Mom, to answer your question, this is what I bought:

one canteloupe

some strawberries

3 avocados

a ton of bananas

apples

soap

sugar

toothpaste

cookies

milk

I eat oatmeal every day for breakfast, but then I hook my oatmeal up with tons of fruit, like strawberries, bananas, apples, and guavas. It's super tasty. 

CHRISTMAS. I will Skype you guys at 4:00pm MEXICO TIME. Which I think is 3pm your time. But yeah, skype skype, (I will do everything I can to be punctual at 4pm mexico time sharp, but mexicans are late, always, with everything). I cannot wait to chat with you kids.

This last week we had our christmas activity with our president and all the elders and sisters from Morelia, and another district. It was fun, but at the beginning, we got a ROYAL PLANCHING. To planch someone in spanish means to iron them, or grill them. President has got some new and very difficult expectations for us, but that is no reason that we shouldn't complete them. 

Man every week mom hooks me up with everything that has happened during the week, which is a ton, how do you guys have enough time to do all of this things, going to parties and going to wedding receptions. I forgot that Budders Walker was getting married, that is crazy, but WAHOO. 

This week was good, a little tough but good. Right now everyone is out of town or at parties all the time, so we have had multiple days of pretty much just trying to find people to talk to because no one is home. Mexico loves parties, and they party hard. Starting on the 18th, pretty much everybody goes to a different "pasado" (huge party), and parties. From what I can tell they usually start around six or seven and go all night. That is another fun thing, they are not afraid to stay up all night and do fireworks the whole month of December. 

You guys are the best, and I hope you all have the best christmaseseses ever.I sure love you all so much, and I hope yours Christmases rock da hawwwwssss. 

say hello to all the family

-elderhulme

ps, don't be afraid to send pictures via email because I can print them here.

Jello, best dude ever, Christmas tamales, ponche

Hello my friends, 

There is literally very little time to write emails today. I got sick yesterday. I called the mission president's wife to tell her I was going to take some ibuprofen because I didn´t feel well, (it's a rule), but then she told me I had to go see a doctor. I didn´t like this order, because I know that it is just a cold, and what-not. Moral of the story, when you wake up on Sunday, and it feels like there is a large cactus in your throat, just take the ibuprofin and don´t ask questions. But no need to worry, I ate some jello for breakfast and feel great. JELLO. If any of you knew how much jello we eat here, you´d be astonished. Seriously we eat tons of jello and I have no idea why, but I really like jello now, especially flavor purple.

Also we had to go to a foot doctor today for Elder Lux. He's been rocking a gnarly ingrown toenail for a month now, and decided it was time to check it out. wahoo.

Jeez, you kids had a crazy fun week it sounds like, and mom thanks for the christmas wishes and all that good stuff. I already know what I'm getting myself for christmas, this week. A sister in our ward is going to the temple, and I've got her all hooked up with money to buy me these really cool spanish scripture cases that say Mexico all over them. I'm pretty excitered. 

This week we found the best dude ever. His name is Jose C. He has been a drunk for farrr too long. He came to us, and said he was sick of being a drunk, was sick of feeling like a bum, and was spiritually lost, and wanted God to be a part of his life. GOLDEN. We had our first lesson with him on Tuesday, we told him and did everything we could to help him leave his alcoholic ways, he has been sober ever since. On Tuesday when we first met him, he looked like, well, your typical drunk, grubby clothes, raccoon eyes and scrappy beard. Kind of *tuesday-esk* We had another lesson with him on Thursday, and when we got to his house, he was in the other part of the house, so we were talking with his mom and dad for a little bit. He came downstairs and looked like one million bucks. 1000000$$$. He had completely changed up his clothes shaved and looked all spiffy. I didn't recognize him to be for realsies. We have been trying to keep him involved in whatever we can, to keep his mind away from alcohol. One of the other wards had their christmas party last week, so we took him to that, he also came to church on Sunday. The lessons that we have had with him have been incredible, because he actually wants to change. He says that he'll do anything to get his life back together. It's lovely to finally have someone who wants to go to church, and who has the desire to become closer to God, even if it requires the slightest amount of effort. We have another lesson with him today, really soon, and I am STOKED. we love Jose C. 

Dad, it was your birthday, I love your new trombone, and you'd best be practicing every day. 

Also in that christmas party we were at they had some amazing tamales. They had tamales flavored red, green (CHRISTMAS SPIRIT) And also a sweet tamale, that was flavor pineapple. Lets just say that christmas tamales are great things. There is this stuff here called ponche, its pretty much just like a cider, or wassail, but it is made with red fruits and served hot, and it is tasty tasty tasty tasty tasty stuff.

You guys got to see all of your friends this week, the olpins, the fishers, jon hansen, and mom had bookgroup, what could get better than that. Speaking of friends, the tienda that is right by our house is called *abarrotes Fer* A couple weeks ago I asked the owner his name and it is fernando, thus he calls his tienda  abarrotes FER. He is this frompy dude, with a funny haircut, that knows a little bit of english and always talks to me in english, he is the best and is one of my friends. He is a good friend.

Tomorrow we have a christmas party of sorts with the president with everyone in my zone and another zone. It will be a good time I think. 

Mothers questions:

1. I don't know when the next time I go to Guadalajara will be, probably not for a while, those last couple weeks were just extra special special.

2. This week was good, very stressful, and at times very disappointing, and at times very rewarding. I think that is how missionary work is in general. But one of our investigators didn't show up to three of the appointments we had with her during a week, so that stank. But it was a good week. It went by crazy fast.

3. Spanish is good. If the setting is controlled, I feel 94% confident. But there is hardly anywhere quiet in this city; there are always cars driving crazy, car alarms, dogs barking, babies crying, cars honking, and music playing somewhere. To celebrate christmas everyone does a ton of fireworks all the month of December. So at times it is REALLY hard to hear. 

4. We don't know exactly where we will be on christmas, I have somewhat of an idea, but it is not set in stone.

Christmas is just next week, that is nuts crazy. I'm pretty darn excited to talk with you guys. That'll be the best christmas present ever. I feel like I haven't talked with you kids in forever, but it has been 2 months. Also, I have been reading a lot in the bible, I like the bible, I mainly love the scriptures now. But for reals kids, this year, I feel like everyone is old enough to really get their minds set on the reason we celebrate christmas. JESUS. I love the tradition that our family has of reading the christmas story every year, but try to keep christ in mind and think less about gifts, giving or receiving. 

Love you all the most, hope that your weeks were super great, and that the skiing is good, and that the snow keeps falling, and that you drink way too much wassail, and eat way too many christmas goodies. (nobody here uses their ovens to bake tasty desserts, they just eat jello. I MISS HOMEMADE COOKIES).

with lots of loves love.

-HULME.

Tripa torta, Christmas devotional, New Testament is cool, any day with mole is a good day

Ok first things first, kids. Every night we pass by a tienda. There are two tiendas on the street right out in front of our house, one of which has this guy named Fernando, who I really enjoy. But the other tienda, has street food with tacos and tortas and all that jazz, and we pass by every day, and it always smells sooooo goooood. So on Friday, we decided we'd stop by. I got a torta, which I love tortas, they are everything you would ever want, greasy, big nice bread, with melty cheese, lovely. I ordered a "tripa" torta. I had heard people talk about tripa, but hadn't ever tried it, so I did. Then they had all these spicy salsas to choose from, which works out well because now I can eat spicy food like a mexican, it's great. We got to the house and ate them - never has a torta tasted so incredible, it seriously cannot be explained. After we finished Elder Lux asked me if I liked the tripa, so I told him that it was tasty tasty tasty tasty. I asked why he wondered if I liked it, I thought it was just some sort of typical meat cut, that I just hadn't ever tried. I looked up tripa, and learned it is cow intestine, well this stuff was cow intestine. AND I LOVE IT, I LOVE IT OKAY.

The next day we were out doing our work, and our next appointment was forever away, and we had a lot of time, I was like hey Elder Lux, is it okay if we stop by the house I should probably use the toilet before this appointment. The walk was about forty minutes, and it was a death march, I was about as close as you could get to ruining a pair of garments, when we got to the corner of our street, I gave him the keys and made him run forward and unlock the doors so I could hurry to the bathroom with no mistakes. Moral of the story, cow intestine is a delicious meat, but it blows right through Elder Hulme....yay.

Hey, where did all that snow come from? seriously, that is the best. SIMON DON'T CRASH STARFIRE CABBAGE PLUS. You kids be careful out there with all that snow and ice, because if you end up crashing into a Prius, or a tree, it could cost a shiny penny or two. 

This week we had more divisions, I was with Elder Jenkins (our district leader from Eden, Utah) and we were in my area. It was cool because it was the first time I lead my area, which was a bit spooky at first, but it went super duper well. We had tons of lessons with investigators and also, there is this return missionary in the ward who is super great, because he wants to help us out. So if we need a member to come out and help us he is super accessible and since he's only been home for like a month. He knows his stuff really well. I feel like I'm learning to handle some of the things people do better. I don't know why people accept appointments with us when I feel like they already know that they are going to flake out, but I've learned to cope with it and make the best. But the other day, we had tons of appointments, and every single one fell through, but all is well. 

I started the New Testament the other week, WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME TO READ IT BEFORE? The New Testament is the coolest. I started Mark today, and it is super cool because I recognize all the stories and parables, from sunday school and all that, but right now they mean a lot more to me and I understand it.  Also, this morning I was reading in Mosiah, and in 2:41, it talks about how if we obey the commandments of God, we will be blessed spiritually and temporally. That was cool, because right now we have a recent convert named M, and his girlfriend E, who is one of our investigators, who just recently informed us that they are living together again, even though M knew that they couldn´t live together before his baptism, and E wants to be baptized, but she is now living with her boy toy again. But we were trying to explain to them that when we do what God asks, God hooks us up with blessings. The problem is when you explain this to people they want you to know exactly what blessings they will receive. Unfortunately the scriptures//commandments don´t give us an X+Y=Z equation with a derivative of what the Z blessings are.

Mom, you asked about if stores and everything get all decorated here like they do in the states. They don't really. Some people will do lights and stuff, but not nearly the same. My favorite parts of all the Christmas decorations, is that they all are so incredibly tacky and cheap, it is so funny. I think it's mainly because the electrical bills and all that are super high if you have extra lights running every night for a month, so pretty much only the rich people do. 

We got to eat mole yesterday. Any day with mole is a good day. Also, we got to watch the Christmas devotional, that was super awesome. At the beginning they were having some technical difficulties, so it was in English for a little bit, but then they figured it out and we watched it in Spanish. Spanish is great too, but it loses some of its authenticity when President Uchtdorf doesn't have his cool German accent, and when M. Russel Nelson sounds like he is 25, but the messages are still great. 

It doesn't feel like Christmas because it is super hot in the day times, but I cannot wait to talk with you guys. I received the email with the information today, so I will look at that. Things I know - It will probably be on Christmas. It will be before 7:00pm Mexico time, and we will use skype, so get your skype skills up to date, and if you wanted to make an account for me and make it so we are friends, that way I can log on and we can CHAT, and have no conflicts. 

This was an awesome week for Elder Lux and I, I hope you guys had good ones as well. 

Keep it cool

Love you all tons.

-elder Hulme.

Gamberro, Pumpkin Raisin Ice Cream, God in Life Always, Thanked in Public

Gamberro means hooligan, but I am the only person in Mexico that uses it. I found it in two dictionaries. For a while I thought the word for hooligan was bomberro, but that is fireman. So, when you want to call someone a hooligan, be careful that you don't call them a fireman.

Happy past Thanksgiving family. That is sad business that St. George is out of the picture and in the past. But it sounds like you guys had a good time all together.

It is crazy that it is December. Yesterday, when I wrote down that it was December first that was nuts, the other nuts part is that Mexico gets cold. Really really really cold. The mornings and nights are shiver-me-timbers, but all is well. The days are lovely, kind of like that end of september sort of feel, where it is nice and warm in the sun, with some nice fresh air. Love it. I really miss the snow though. 

-This keyboard is totes busticated, the Shift key and Delete key rarely work.

-Christmas lights. That is super cool that you guys got all the lights up, I feel like that usually happens later, but I don't know. Elder Lux has a fetish for christmas lights and christmas trees and tacky christmas decorations. It's super funny - every christmas tree in every house he wants a picture of the tree, and him with the tree. 

-There is this ice cream place here called La Michoacana, they have the best best best ice creams, its crazy creamy and their flavors are nuts good. I had this one called rompope (I think it might be an alcoholic beverage), BUT IT LOOKED LIKE PUMPKIN, and it had raisins and was tastylicious. But yes blizzards and ice cream are lovely, because sometimes it gets real hot hot hot.

-Good news, I don't have to go to Guadalajara next week.

-So I forgot to tell you this story from one of my first weeks. In the first weeks we kept on going to a house, trying to get a hold of Vlad and C. But, they were never there, but we were always looking for them, they are inactive. Every time we passed by, I had the image in my mind for Vlad as some crusty russian dude. (This mental image came from the bike shop, either this summer or the last summer - there was a crusty old russian dude who bought a small 3500green for his grandson and some other bike for his granddaughter. Nonetheless, I was picturing crusty, grouchy, grumpalumpagous russian dude with a silly accent). After probably 2 weeks of trying to get a hold of them they finally were at their house. When they answered the door, there stood a probably 6 foot big ol muscley black man from the Dominican Republic. Vlad is sweet, he works for a bank, or something, and accents from the Dominican Republic are super.... gangster, there is no other word to describe it. So for the last probably 3-4 weeks we've been having lessons with Vlad and C semi-frequently. They had some sort of weird thing happen to them this week, where there was all this scandal stuff with money and just bad news, that scared the bejeebers out of them. Whatever happened they both instantly, FINALLY, made God a part of their lives, and God helped them out big time. Yesterday in testimony meeting, they both showed up for the first time in at least 8 weeks, and both shared their testimony, which were both incredibly powerful. (Also both of them thanked us in front of the congregation for continually visiting them.)

Couple of things I learned from this:

1. Please don't make it so that having a very serious situation with money and jail be the reason that you realize that you need god in your life. Make him part of your life always.

2. It feels marvelous to have a big beautiful black man thank you in public. 

- We have been working with less active members and families a ton lately. The mission president before mine had many rules, mottos, motivations and tactics that I don't agree with. He pretty much had no rules for who you could baptize, and all he cared about were numbers, and the only thing that made you a good missionary in his mind were your numbers, and everyone wants to be a good missionary in the eyes of their president. But there are bad consequences and stories of this. Like people were getting baptized drunk, or they felt like the missionaries were making them get baptized. The result of this kind of leadership leads to TONS of inactive people. So we do lots and lots and lots of teaching to less active people. There is something about the majority of the people here that is just great, for the majority everyone is very, very, friendly, and also very Catholic. 

-We started teaching a new investigator, her name issss... blanca. Her husband is a member but hasn't been active for 11 years or so. I really enjoy teaching them, they have an 8 or 9 year old and a 1.5 year old, super cute the both of them, and they are a cute family. But I love teaching them, she has a lot of questions, doubts and doesn't like to be taught with the Book of Mormon, but it's all good. Luckily Elder Lux knows the Bible like mom knows cooking. It's nuts how much of the Bible he knows. I hope that we can help her with all of her doubts because blanca and her family have incredible potential.

-Mom, about you changing your plans to help that lady, and then her bailing. I guess I got part of my frustration trait from you. It is unreal how often our appointments fall through. There are days when we have mad numbers of appointments and then nobody is in their house, or can't talk, or they have some lame excuse. I get really frustrated sometimes. But I know that is one thing that the lord wants me to work on, because it happens on the daily. Everyone here is at least 25 minutes late for everything - it's the culture.

ANSWERS TO YOUR QUESTIONS mom

-The only clothes I have purchased are ties, which I have purchased two. I will probably be looking into buying a new sweater while I'm here, one that can take a beating.

-Yes I will be staying with Elder Lux for at least until January 5th. That is when the next transfer is, but who knows if I will be transferred or what. He keeps on telling me that I'm going to train, but who knows.

-I did not have to buy blankets and pillows when I got here, I have my sheets, and my sheets, that I use for sheets, then our landlord gave us some blankets, and I have gotten really good at not using a pillow. 

-The citrus here is nuts good, except all of them have seeds, but I just eat them anyways. Oranges are crazy cheep, they are usually only 1peso, or 12 cents. BUT, the oranges here are not orange, pretty much all of them are green and yellow, occasionally you'll see an orange one. Also the clementines are unreal good. The other day, a member gave us a bag full of clementines that were from her tree, and they are spectacular, like the sweetest cuties in the world. Also all the other fruit is super good and pretty cheap as well.

Sure do love you kids. If it snows any time soon, go play in the snow for me. Oh jeez, Sundance is probably going to open this week. WOOOOH!

Have awesome weeks.

-Elder Hulme.

Sushi, little red guavas and learning to give thanks.

Today I ate makis, there will be pictures, it was honestly just sushi, but it was suuuuper good, and it was 2 for the price of one day, so that was good. mine had salmon and seaweed, and we fell well together.

Yes mom we always let our mission president know when we get robbed, we started to look for a new house this week, but finding one that is cheap, safe, in our area, not cockroach infested, the right size, and this and that and whatnot is really hard. But we will get it all figured out. The hardest part is the mission allows very little money for us to spend on a house.

Visa renewal stuff was fine, just lots of busses and waiting and what not, but we did go to dairy queen in guadalajara and I LOVE BLIZZARDS, they have a special spot in my heart now. But I have to go again in 2 weeks from today, so we'll waste some more time there. All is well.

Simon had a birthday shout hooray.

This week, yes was a bit more normal. I finished my first transfer/first 6 weeks, and these six weeks went by tons faster than the 6 weeks in the mtc. Stuff that has gone on... 

*There is a sister in our ward who is less active and we have been working with her a lot to get her to come to church, she came to church this week, that was super exciting. Her name is Angela, she also cooks quesadillas every night at 7, and her quesadillas a deep fried and unreal tasty. 

* We had a lesson with one of our investigators, Maydena, the lesson at first we were talking about the importance of baptism and confirmation, and making sure that she understood those terms, but then the lesson *mighty morphin power rangers* changed into talking about problems. And I commented this to dad earlier, But we were talking about how a lot of times the problems that we have in life are for our own benefit. God has perspective on our lives, God knows how things will end and the possibilites of how we will react. It is part of our agency to react in the best way possible and to learn from our problems. I really like to think about this. Also I like the story in 1st nephi, when they are on the boat, and laman and lemuel tie up Nephi, so much that his wrists and ankles are super swollen. Then it takes them until a giant wave is about to destroy them to untie them, and the first thing that Nephi does is pray and give thanks unto the lord. Thats a thing that I want to learn to do, give thanks for my problems. I CAN GUARANTEE YOU, that if last week  I was tied up, on a boat, in the rain, about to die, the first thing I would do after I was untied would give thanks for my problems. I want to learn to be a good dude like Nephi.

* Elder lux and I are getting better and better at working together, which is a huge blessing, I love that little guy to death, and I love him more and more as I can understand things more and more. 

* This coming week an elder that I know from high school will be coming into the mission, Elder Hutchings, I don't know where he'll go, but it'll be cool to know someone else in the mission. 

* Today was our first p-day in two weeks, which means the house hadn't been deep cleaned for 2 weeks and 6 days, It was quite filthy, and I am now pleased, Mom you'd be proud, I've learned to become really clean, with my study area, with my pots and pans and stuff, because I cannot stand to live in filth any longer. The only problem is that other missionaries don't like cleanliness as much, so I'm always picking up after elder lux. And, I can only imagine how fed up you must've gotten always cleaning up after my messes. THANKS A BUNCHES MOM.

* Next thing I want to learn. Which I don't feel like I have a very bad problem with this, but reliability. I get a bit frustrated at times with the amount of appointments we have to teach, or talk, or have a member accompany us, and how people will just not show up, or not be at their house, or the chapel or where ever, ITS THE WORST, I'd much rather have them just not set an appointment, then to not be there, But all is well.

* One of our investigators gave us this bag of mini red guavas, there was a lot and they were the tastiest thing ever, elder lux and I ate the whole bag right after she gave them to us, we both had the runs for a day.

I think that is the majority of things that have been going on. Mom, I'll try to take more photos of me in them.... 

Sure do love you all, have awesome weeks, dont get sick, play hard, work hard, learn lots, 

love you all

elder hulme.

November 18, 2013 - Waiting for interviews, robbed again

Hey kids. So it's just another crazy pants week here is Mexico. Sometimes are much better than others.

On Wednesday, I had my first second interview with the mission president (we have them every three months). We had to be there at 11:10am to be interviewed. We got there at 11. I don't know what happened with the planning and such, but we waited until 3:30 and didn't leave until 4. So that was SUUUUPER GREAT. We get lectured on not baptizing enough, but it's a little hard teach when we are waiting for interviews for 5 hours.

Then on Thursday into Friday, we had divisions again. This time I was out of my area again, with another native companion. I don't love divisions, because its real tough trying to learn a new language, area, and companion when you are with other companions all the time. We finished divisions on Friday at 2pm. The four of us went to our house to get Elder Jenkins's's's stuff, because he was with Elder Lux. When we walked in, the back door was wide open and it was a stinky pants like cigarettes. We got robbed, yet again. They took 500 pesos of Elder Lux, elder Jenkins' electric razor charging cord, (only the cord, not the razor), and our DVD player, with our copy of the District, (Thieves don't use too much of their brain). So that's that.

On Saturday, we had this huge event in the chapel that was from 9am to 2pm, called autosuffiency, it just had a bunch of booths teaching people about stuff like food storage and personal security, etc. That was a good thing, it was to help get the name of the church out there a little bit more...

Then on Sunday, we had a huge meeting with Elder Martinez of the 70, with all the missionaries from Morelia, Uruapan, and Areopuerto, and all of our/their mission leaders, bishops, and other people like YM/YW presidencies. He pretty much just grilled all of the members for not helping us as much. I feel like the members help us a ton. But someone felt they needed a'grilling.

Today, I have to go to Guadalajara again. I have to renew my visa. Why I couldn't do it when I was there last week... I don't know. Last night we did divisions once again so I slept in Elder Jenkins' house again. He is the one from Eden - super great. American companions are super fun, and probably not the best thing, because we just end up talking allll night. 

Honestly, between interviews, district meetings, mission meetings, 2 Guadalajara trips, 3 nights and 3 days of divisions, I have had about no time to do anything. I finished the Book of Mormon this week. That was great. I like that book more and more each day. 

Dad asked about my spanish. Spanish is good, yet tough, as a new language ought to be. There is lots of stuff I don't understand, but in my language study, I study my guts out because everything else I study, such as the scriptures and preach my gospel and all that does not apply if I can't talk with the people. I can talk with more and more people, but not all that well. Buuuuut when I think that I've only really been learning Spanish for a little bit more than 2 months, it's quite impressive what I can do. 

I HOPE SIMON IS HAVING THE HAPPIEST BIRTHDAY.

I love you guys tons, and you guys are the coolest. Things are great in Mexico, and I am loving it.

Elder Hulme.

If you are a thief, choose this place

Some of my favorite graffiti art

More graffiti art

One of my favorite cookies to buy

November 11, 2013 - Dishwashers, Cajeta, Mr. Spirit, Do's and Don'ts

This last week has been really crazy. 

We went to Guadalajara yesterday, all the elders and sisters that have been out here the same amount of time as me had to go to Guadalajara. Yesterday after sacrament meeting we got on a combi, and rode to the central. The central is pretty much just your intermodal hub, where all the big buses that go places go. The combi ride was about a half hour, then we waited for a little bit for the next bus to Guadalajara, which took about three and half hours, we waited for a different kind of bus, and took that to the mission office. All in all total of the travel was about 6 hours. The buses that take us to Guadalajara are really nice. They have little tablet sort of things on every seat, and they have a whole bunch of movies loaded up on them. So that is what everyone does, except missionaries. They also have music we can't listen to and whole bunches of stuff like that.

So we got to the mission offices and waited for a little. All this was a pretty good experience because I got to see all my old MTC pals - this was all fun. Once we were in the mission offices, we waited for a while and then we all slept in one of the houses of the secretaries. Eight elders and one bathroom is less than fun, but it all worked out. One of the secretaries was asking if anyone else was going to shower in the night, I figured I would ask him if he wanted me to shower at night. So I did, but I accidentally asked "do you want to bathe me," so that was a really good laugh. In the morning, we went back to the mission offices which were pretty close. We got to eat breakfast at the mission home.

The mission home is super killer nice, and we ate watermelon and cantaloupe and then this chili stuff with a crap ton of tortillas, and some beans. It was tasty. They had carpet and a dishwasher. This was the second room with carpet I've seen in Mexico, and the First Dishwasher. DISHWASHERS ARE GREAT APPLIANCES. But I've actually grown to not mind the lack of dishwasher. It also helps that the amount of dishes we have are pretty minimal as well. After we ate, and shared stories, we went to a chapel, and had a training meeting, woooooooo. It was a training meeting. Then we did the whole busing back and forth. We did tons of busing the past day, and we is exhausted. 

Next item of business. On Friday into Saturday, I had divisions with my zone leader. This is just where you work with them for a day. It was super awesome. Our district leader is Elder Jenkins, from Eden UT. He did the majority of the teaching, but I had 2 grand experiences with him. 1) We went to this partial-member family's home, and they call the grandma "grandma cookie." She is one of those super sweet old ladies who loves missionaries and loves to give them cookies. We were teaching the Gospel of Christ, and kind of focusing on repentance/the atonement. And before the lesson, we ate a ton of cookies and cajeta. Cajeta is love, it is just this caramel stuff, oh and a lot of the cookies here are just like graham crackers in circle form. So yeah, after devouring 2 packs of cookies and a whole jar of cajeta, we were talking about the atonement. I jumped on in there and shared my testimony of the atonement. It was an incredible experience, one of those where there is power behind the words, to where when the words are said, you feel it, and I hoped that everyone was feeling it as well as I was. The spirit was super strong, in so much that all could feel the spirit, despite my broken Spanish. 2) Next experience, we go to visit a drama queen, who conveniently owns a counterfeit clothing store. But we were talking with her and she was letting loose on us with all her problems. Eventually I jumped in with a little bit of a prayer lesson. I really like prayer and I really like telling people how cool prayer is. So we talked about prayer for a while and how it can help us with so many things, and once again that there Mr. Spirit was there. 

On Saturday we had a ward activity, Called "viaje a Hawaii" (trip or travel to Hawaii). It was for the missionaries to score some investigators. Pretty much we had tickets that we would give to members who thought they might have people that were interested in the church, and then they brought them to the activity. It went really well. The story was that everyone that attended, was going to Hawaii. Elder Lux and I, the pilots, totes crashed the plane and killed them all. There was a slide show and sound effects, the works, but when they died, we had an angel come out and took them to all the kingdoms of glory that were possible, starting with OUTERDARKNESS. We had rooms all decorated and it was actually really well-done. We have been planning it since the week I got here. So yeah, We haven't gotten to contact any of the new references because we have been in Guadalajara or on a bus, but time will come.

Those are the mega points of my week. Mom you asked about Maydena. Maydena is good, she is also a huge stressor..... Maydena wants to be baptized, but she is the breadwinner for her family and just barely got a job. She works always, and we are trying to find a time when she can be baptized, buuuuut, she works every Sunday, so she can't be confirmed. This is another problem, if you are a member of the church, and you don't go to church, you are inactive, sooooo, should we baptize someone who will INSTANTLY, be inactive? I DON'T KNOW. The bishop and our mission president say yes becauuuuse they want numbers, they want baptisms, they want those to increase. And I just wanna say, "Do you want numbers or true conversions? Because I'd bet you we could walk out into the street and say to some Tuesdays (homeless people), "who wants a free bath?" and we could get them some numbers. BUT ITS ALL GOOD. 

Momma Bear here are answers to your questions:

1. We are in a house, it has 2 bedrooms, kind of like a living room, which is where we sleep, the bedrooms are just used as closets, and a bathroom, and a "kitchen." I would send pictures, but I forgot my camera at the house, so that is good. 

2. We walk a bunch, use a bunch of combis and not as many buses on a typical day. Every day is different. We try not to use combis a ton because you burn through your money really quick, really really quick. But we walk a ton, but other areas that don't have combis walk more.

3. Oh gosh... do people have pets. One family has easily over 25 birds, and when we eat there you feel like you are in some sort of a zoo or birdhouse. It can be really beautiful, or reallllllly annoying. A lot of people have dogs. I am yet to see any sort of other pet other than fish. Some dogs are treated like Gold, some aren't. There is this one family that has THE NASTIEST looking dog I have ever seen. It a large dog, larger than Decca, with super long white fur. Buttttt, the dog was so old and so un-groomed, its fur was about six inches long, and the dog was sooo incredibly nappy that the fur had just turned into dreadlocks  - big dreadlocks about 3-4 inches wide - not kidding in the slightest. The beast is so putrid that the family doesn't  touch it. They use a broom to push it away from them. It was really quite gross, and comical simultaneously. Also we have lizards that live under our porch. I have yet to name them for lack of a great name, but one will come to me. 

4. I see butterflies. I have not seen any huge ones, but you see a few a day. I would like to see more, and more huge ones.

5. Yes we keep our doors locked and lock the gate. The gas thief did not get a way with the gas, but he moved it about six feet and cut the line. We have hot water now. Except, I like to think of our boiler as a pubescent girl/boy/teen. It decides when it wants to cooperate, and it just depends on your luck.

All of your family things sound super cool. Except for the poor person that crashed into Starfie, That dent will just add more character to Starfie... One cool thing about Mexico is the cars. People are really funny about stuff. They will drive a piece of crap car, with suuuuper nice rims, and suuuuper nice stereo system, and live in a terrible house, and eat nothing, but they have a really nice stereo system. PRIORTIES.

I'm super close to finishing the Book of Mormon. I like the famous quote that goes something like "if we don't learn from history, we are destined to repeat it." All the Nephites and Lamanites and Jarodites and all those cats never really understood that. They become righteous, then they start seeking for money and idols and fornication, and then they are sad, and then some amazing prophet comes along and teaches them to change, and then the next generation falls in. I want to be the kind of guy that can learn from my mistakes, and not fall back into them, a lot easier said than done.

I sure do love all of you guys and I hope all of your weeks are super duper. And if they aren't CHANGE IT. Also easier said than done. Also that is really great that Sandee has a baptismal date.

Love you all. Stay sweet. And stay strong, and remember who you are, and be polite, and always say thank you, and dab not scrub when you spill mole on your tie, and don't get ingrown fingernails, and don't eat food that gives you diarrhea.

---Elder H U L M E heeyullllme

November 4, 2013 - 3rd week in Camelinas, kitchen, washing, and burgler

Glad to hear from you as always. I'm loving Mexico. We had an awesome week this last week.

 

As far as our celebrations here, well, they were pretty uneventful. On Halloween, we were in meetings and appointments during all the night time hours, so we didn't really get to see many costumes. And then I couldn't really tell what was going on for the 2-day celebrations for Day of the Dead. All three nights there were trick-or-treaters with pretty lame costumes. They would just put a boring mask on or paint their face with whiskers. So honestly, I don’t even know what goes on with Day of the Dead.

 

The food in Mexico is absolutely splendid. I have forced myself to like spicy food. I hated it before, and now I've tricked myself into loving it. You asked about our cooking situation. It is pretty pathetic. Today I purchased my own cooking pot with my personal money, because the offices wouldn’t reimburse it. We have a mini fridge, a camp stove, a sink, 2 forks, 1 spoon (no knives), 2 bowls, 3 cups, a small frying pan, and my new blue pot. But it’s all good, we survive.

 

We wash our clothes out back. We have a sort of washing station where we fill up a bucket with water and soap, put in our clothes to soak, then we put an item on the scrubby part of the table and scrub away. Yes, I hand wash all of my clothing, then we hang it up to dry. The clothes get clean, but they are not at all soft. But it’s all good.

 

There are cybers around, right now we are in Camelinas, which is near the chapel and there is a cyber, which is just like a room with computers.

 

Elder Lux and I have been teaching quite a bit. We have one investigator --Maydena H. who we have been teaching tons. She is doing very well. Our other four investigators we have been trying to teach a lot, but they keep on bailing, which is frustrating. When we invite them to church they just say "we'll see if God wants me to go to church on Sunday." So pretty much they want it to be spelled out in their Cheerios that morning, "Go to church". But it’s all right. All of our investigators are listening to the lessons and are very interested. My teaching is improving a ton. I can teach in Spanish surprisingly well, but I have tons of room to improve. The people talk so fast and when they repeat themselves they say it even faster.

 

Hmmmm what have I learned this last week? I learn a ton. I finally feel mostly comfortable with all the parts of our area. If I know who we are going to visit, I can pretty well manage to get us there.

 

Elder Lux is the best. Before, he was studying to be an accountant but that is not really what he wants to be - he doesn’t know. He likes soccer, and just being a good dude.

 

My purpose of being a missionary more or less is just enhanced, I don't think it has completely changed. Its like if you have brownies, then you decided to add some mint frosting, then topped it all off with some Andes mints or something. You get the point. Right now I'd say my purpose, is... And this struck me pretty hard while in the MTC, is this: In Moses 1:39, God states his purpose, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. And I figure my purpose is to help fulfill God’s purpose, and that’s what keeps me out here. I'm out here serving, devoting everything I got to help out the Creator. It’s crazy how much my love for our family has grown in the past little bit. Mom and dad worry so much about us hooligans, and they want the best for us, God is our Heavenly father, he worries for us he hopes the best for us, and I want to make my God proud. In one of our devotionals in the MTC, Elder Baxter said, "You leave your families for a little bit to help others be with theirs forever."  I think that is incredible. That is the other thing I want to do: Help - help everyone. While in the MTC, I decided to study at least 15 minutes a day on charity. And it made me want to be more charitable, and I try to do more charitable acts every day.

 

Mexico is so rad! I love it here, it is honestly fun. As far as the cars go, there are very, very, very nice cars, and there are some of the largest pieces of junk you have ever seen. Something must have happened with Volkswagon here in Mexico because there are tons and tons of Volkswagons, super cool old ones and super cool new ones. DONT LET STARFIRE DIE!!!! I love Starfie. I need to write Simon and tell him to take care of her.

 

The diversity of people that we work with is great. We work with people who have very, very nice cars and pretty much make bank, and we work with people who work their butts off all day long and make 100 pesos (less than ten US dollars) a day. It is so humbling, we are so blessed. Also the area that I'm in is a very large city and has really civilized part. My area has kind of three neighborhoods in it: Santa Maria, which is a beast of a hill and is quite a bit more poor, then we also have Camelinas, which is a flatter part of the city. The transportation here is super fun. The Combi's (pronounced cahmbee) are these little vans that have seats for 16 people, but you can cram about 22 in there. They drive recklessly, as does everyone here. They all have a different color and each color a different route. They are always running and rarely do you ever have to wait more than 5 minutes, so that is the best. Also, it is a good way to contact people, but my Spanish is not all that great yet, so I get really, really nervous.

 

Oh man I can't believe I almost forgot to share this story, this is a fun one:

The Burglar

I'm asleep, I love to sleep, who doesn't at 3:30am? Elder Lux wakes me up, and I'm so incredibly confused, saying, "como? como? que? mande?" He is shusshing me, so at this point I’m just confused. He is continually looking out the window and over his shoulder. Then, Elder Lux runs over into my room, which is just a closet, and turns on the light. I'm just lost, so I just sit there in my bed. He runs back, is looking out the window, I say "elder que esta pasando" what is happening? He tries to explain this to me. A man threw some rocks at our window to see if anyone was awake or home (of course I slept through that), then he intruded into our gate. I will send photos of the house, but we have somewhat of a side where you can walk to the back. This person had opened the gate and gone to the back. After Elder Lux turned on the light, the man ran away. But a few minutes later, he returned. I'm freaking out and just praying my guts out for safety and comfort. After the guy returned, Elder Lux turned on more lights, then the guy ran off again. At some point, while in the back, the savage of a man cut our gas line in attempt to steal our gas tank. This stunk because for the next two days we had to shower in freeeeezing water, easily the coldest water I've ever showered in. We now have more safety precautions for the house and don't worry, we are safe. It was a thrilling experience.

 

You and Dad are the best people I could ever ask for in my life. I love you all so much. Also, could you send some more photos of the family? Some people want to see photos of my family but I don’t want to tamper with the photo albums I have. Thanks for all you do for me.

-elder hulme

October 28, 2013 - 2nd Week in Camelinas, near Morelia

Greetings from Mexico! Things in mexico are good. A super huge rainstorm just hit and poured out tons and tons of rain for a few minutes, then it changed into just a really large amount of rain. Speaking of the weather, the weather is a bit odd; this last week for 2 days in a row, it was absolutely freezing- I could see my breath outside, and it was just chilly chilly, probably nothing to what you guys are feeling in utah right now. 

Mom, thanks for the update, with all the stuff that happened in the past week, it sounds like you guys did a ton and had tons of fun. I'm assuming that the Costco/Winco/mall trip was for the Germans to purchase souvineers and food to take back to Germany, or that you just wanted some help getting groceries. Mom, you and Jette doing the zipline and then driving the Alpine loop sounds similar to our mini family vacation that we did just before I left. Also I'm a bit jealous of you guys getting to play in Provo Canyon while the leaves are a-changing. Probably shouldn't tell you this, but at this time of the year, usually this next week (because the end of term is always near my birthday), me and Jonny, or me and my friends, would end up skipping our class after lunch when it was nice and sunny and warm and either go hike in the canyon or drive the Alpine loop. GOOD TIMES. 

The weather here is different. Right now it is always changing, but from what I have heard, October-February is cold, March-May is hottttt, June-August is rainy, and September is lovely. I've been experiencing quite a bit of lovely, with some cold and some rain, but it is all good. 

Thank you for all the birthday wishes and love. This birthday was a little bit more odd, and yes it is easy to forget. I remembered in the morning, but I decided to wait until night to open my gifts. THANKS SO MUCH! They are all so great, but easily my favorite is the pictures... they mean so much to me. I am yet to figure out what I will do with the brownie mix because we are without an oven and any sort of vessel large enough to mix that up. I'll figure it out. 

The past week, the streets of Mexico have exploded with the little skulls for Day of the Dead, which is a different holiday than Halloween. I'm really excited to see how they celebrate all that in the next couple of days. Today we were walking and I stopped at a little cart to see how much one of the large skulls cost, my clumsy self accidently kicked the table, and knocked one of the skulls down. Moral of the story: I got to pay for a candy skull that I didn't get to eat. Oh well, life is good. 

Tacos al pastor are awesome, and we ended up eating at the same place for the same tacos the next day. This week a member fed us this awesome seafood salad. It had -surimi- which i am still trying to figure out what that is. But it was super tasty. Also on my birthday Elder Lux bought a tres leches cake, and it was super tasty (nothing like yours mom), but it was really good.  Also, on Thursday, I ate something that did not agree with my stomach, needless to say, the bathroom and I became good friends.

One day while in the MTC, I remember thinking about how much I have always enjoyed getting counsel from Mom, Dad, and Xander. I look up to you guys sooo much you have no idea. This week I was reading in Alma, chapters 36-42. It consists of alma giving counsel to his sons Helaman, Shiblon and Coriantum. I really enjoyed this. I think in 38 or 39 Alma tells Coriantum to counsel with his brothers, and this reminded me of all the awesome chats Xander and I have had. Man I love you guys a ton.

Mom you asked about how we cannot just go around knocking on doors. It is true, and I know that a lot of missions are doing that. In Mexico, it can be a little tough when our appointments fall through or lessons end early, and we have a little bit of time that we have no idea what to do with. We do our best. 

All is well, Mexico is super pretty.

With love ---Elder Hulme

October 21, 2013 - 1st Week in Camelinas, near Morelia

HELLOS

My friends and family, we did it. I've almost been in Mexico for one week, and it is the coolest thing.  I am in Camelinas, and from what I can tell, or what dad said, Morelia is about the size of Salt Lake. Today for special p-day purposes, we were in the centro of Morelia. It is absolutely beautiful. 

I am talking more in lessons but not a lot. We have lessons every day, and we have some investigators and we also go and visit with a lot of less actives and recent converts. We have a lunch appointment every day, except Mondays, we go to a members home and eat their food, it is awesome. It is like our Sunday dinners where you eat too much and talk. We aren't supposed to stay longer than one hour. One interesting thing is that, typically, we eat anywhere from 200pm-400pm, so when you eat breakfast at 730, and maybe like a snack before you leave the house, sometimes we are just starving when the lunch time starts and we just devour the food. The food here is toooooo incredible, it makes me want to cry. Just about  a half hour ago I pounded 8 el pastor tacos, and loved every every every minute of it, you would be so proud of me. And all the other food is grand, just grand. My first meal with a member was mole poblano and it was exquisite. Other things I have eaten: tortas, hamburgers, other tacos, just everything, the fruit here is super tasty as well, you just have to know what to eat. I've really taken a liking to tunas- they are these little green guys, about the size of a pear, and they have a super hard skin. You take off the peel, and just eat it, the seeds are always kind of tough, but the whole fruit is super good. Also, we have tons of guavas, I like those. The other night I bought 4 tunas and a grapefruit for 4 pesos, so less than 40 cents, needless to say, I was happy. 

The people here are the best things that have ever happened. Everyone is so nice, and just loves you, even when you don't know them. Last night we ate with the Abarca family, they are awesome, have 3 kids, but only one is a member and he is 11, they have been members for about 5 years, They want to go to the states, so I told them they could stay with us for a bit around christmas in 2015. Don't know if it'll happen, but I would love it if they stayed with us. I spent a little over one hour with them and it was awesome.  I dont have a ton of time today, because I spent a lot of my email time trying to fill out reimbursment forms for the bills we had to pay.

Church is different. All the floors in Mexico are tile, so when kids are running around it echoes a ton. It is also a bit weird not having a bazillion members-I think we had less than 100 in church yesterday, and our gospel principles had about 12. But it is good, our bishop is a bit intimidating but nice at the same time. We do in fact have investigators, one has a baptismal date for 11/26,  then there is a girl who we will most likely be baptized pretty soon. 

The language - language is good and a tough. I am learning a lot every day, but  you can´t quantify it. The only way I can explain it is, I have to ask Elder Lux to repeat himself less, which is still a ton. I have such a hard time understanding everyone, they all speak so fast it is ridiculous.

We do not have any other elders in our apartment, it is just us two. I sleep on the top bunk, which I cannot say I love because I know that one day I'm going to fall the 5 feet onto the tile. 

I'm loving most everything here. Friday and Saturday were two of the worst days, because there was a training meeting for all the trainers, (Elder Lux), so I had to go on a split for two days, with a new companion. He was nice, but for whatever reason, I was down, and grouch-a-pillar the whole two days- I didn't want to be but I was. It was just so hard being in another area that i did not know, with another companion that I did not know, trying to talk to people that I did not know, and I know I have to do all that stuff in my area, but it was different. We got chased by a dog, about the size of decca, but less fat, with much sharper looking teeth. It was behind its fence, but it had dug a hole large enough for it to fit under. As we passed, it escaped the mighty mighty fence and tried to chased us about twenty yards. It gave us a good laugh. As soon as I got on the cambí on our way home to Camelinas, I felt happy again and like I was home, it was weird.

CAMBÍS. They rock. They cost 7 pesos, they are pretty much the size of a swagger wagon. You can fit 20 people into them - driver, passenger, and then the back just has seats around the perimeter and everyone piles in. All the cars here are stick shift and everyone drives them so crazy, it's super fun. 

Love you, thanks have a good week