"I'M SWEATING BUT IT IS AWESOME!"

Hello everyone!

  

I kind of have a lot to talk about since I haven't written in 2 weeks! WOW it feels like a long time. Things are going great in the field. My companion is named Elder Diaz from Ecuador and he is the District leader as well. My zone is called Tiquisate and my area is called La Noria. It is in the coast area and it is hot and humid. Everyone says it is where you lose the most weight at so I am going to be looking slim soon...maybe. Before we went out to the area I served with an Elder Roney in another area for a couple of hours and oh boy it was tough, my legs and body was so sore. I also met an elder from St. George named Elder Thompson. He looks way familiar but not sure if I know him.

My area is hot and most houses are little cinder block or cement houses with dirt floors and stuff so it is a big change also. It is humid and I sweat and sweat and sweat but it is awesome. I have a video and stuff of my apartment I am going to try to send so you can see what it looks like. Cross your fingers it works. Also there are a lot of stray dogs (Even one named Keiser, thought someone could tell Zac haha). They usually keep to themselves though so it is fine. The church in the area is a little building that is maybe 13 feet by 20 feet with a 7x7 office inside for the bishop. It is really small!

The first week was weird but I am doing great now. I have a list of numbers of people I contacted and I am quite proud of it. Here it is: day 1, 23 people and 6 families; day 2, 25 people and 5 families; day 3, 50 people and 10 families; day 4, 12 people 5 families and Monday 12 people and 5 families. It is awesome. I am picking up the language but it still takes a lot of time. A contact is when you either knock on a door or walk up to someone on the street and start talking to them. I am hoping I can send all the photos and I will have to try to explain them.

We have 1 lady who already agreed to a baptism date for the 21st so let's hope that works cause that would be amazing. We would have one the first month I was out. The other night we were out in an area we hadn't been before and there was a complete power outage and we were lost. We started walking and we were able to find the area by our house. When we got there we decided to try to contact someone in the dark and we ended up teaching these 2 girls the entire first lesson. It was such a blessing, I know the Lord helped us.

Another fun thing is I blessed the bread in church and only had to repeat it 1 time so I was extremely happy and proud of myself! Also, I got my first mission blister and it hurts. It is right in the middle of my foot by where my toes connect and every time I step I feel it. My trainer said that every blister is a baptism though so I guess by the end of the mission my feet will be nothing but blisters haha, I hope. Also I tried a drink called atol which is basically a runny oatmeal thing. It wasn't bad though. Also they have really good fresh bread here. At church there were a whopping 49 people which was good but I hope it gets more people.

I am extremely excited to get to SKYPE home this next week. I will skype on the 25th and it will be at 12 I believe and thats 12 my time and we don't have daylight savings time so it is an hour different. They sent an email and said you have to have a skype account so maybe someone could help mom and dad figure it out. I miss you all and love you so much! Now I will try to figure out the photos and send them haha! Wish me luck! Love you all and hope you have an awesome week! 

Love,

Elder Hummel

I am going to have to lower the camera resolution so I can send more at once hehe. Also I would say send letters to the mission home cause I never received an address for here. My mom has that address so ask her for it.

Here are the first photos, I will send more in other emails.

Elder Hummel at the MTC

View of the LDS Temple from the MTC

Arriving in Guatemala -- view of some of the volcanoes

"HE IS THE GIFT"

We didn't receive a group email from Elder Hummel today.  He did let us know that all was well and that he was at the mission home preparing to go to his first area/assignment.  He said he would continue to email on Tuesdays from now on. We just can't wait until next Tuesday to hear where he ended up and how his first week in the mission field has been!

Until then we want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas.  Enjoy this video -- it is a great Christmas message for all of us and one to share with friends and family.

Merry Christmas!

Love,
The Hummels

St. George Temple

LAST WEEK IN THE CCM!

Hello Everyone,

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. It was pretty great for us. We got to have a live devotional by David A. Bednar. It was a broadcast devotional but still way cool. You all should look up his cell phone talk because that is what it was. He passed out a bunch of cell phones at the Provo MTC and they could text in questions and we got to email in questions. It was so cool to see him answer things on the spot. It truly showed how much knowledge he has and how much the Spirit is with him. Our Thanksgiving is pretty great we got to have a big dinner with turkey, stuffing, potatos, and everything else really. They said they understand how hard it is and they hope this helps. How was everyone else's Thanksgiving and Black Friday? I hope it was great! Anyone buy anything fun?

There is a thing down here called demonstration day that isn't very safe for nortes so we couldn't go to the big market which kinda sucks but they did take us all to Wendy's and the CCM bought everyone's food. It came out to be 1500 quetcales and the conversion rate is 1Q for ever 7.50 dollars so you can do the math. It was delicious and fun though. Then we decorated the CCM for Christmas, so it wasn't that bad of day.

We got good news about Elder Galvan, they said he can stay he just won't be able to run or play sports for the next 2 years which will be hard but it will be worth it for him. Also Elder Fua has had some knee problems in the past and had a hard time with them recently so I got to give him a blessing. It was so cool. The Spirit was so strong in the room at the time.

  

On Sunday all the nortes sang Nearer My God to Thee in church. It was so cool to sing because none of us are that good alone but all together we sounded great. It was kind of a celebration for us because it has officially been 1 month for us on Saturday. We all had hard times but it is well worth it. Also I am not sure how email will work next week because we leave the CCM on Tuesday and that is when we write so I have no idea what will happen to emailing. So if you don't get an email from me that is why! On the bright side, when we leave I do get my camera and cd player back so I will be happy about that! Speaking of music, on the Mac at home is The Work sound CD. Tyler knows what it is. If I could get that burned to a CD that would be awesome and I want the David Archuleta song at the end of Meet the Mormons.

I am glad to hear people are getting my letters. I am always worried that they won't make it but it is a relief to hear they are. How is everyone doing with their reading? I hope you all are doing it. I heard a promise by Gordon B. Hinckley about if you read the scriptures in the language you are learning, by the end you will know 80 percent of the language. So I have started doing that, and lots of prayer and work, but I am learning more and more about it and picking it up. Also, an amazing thing is just the answers you can find in your scriptures when you search and pray and ask. I don't think I have ever marked my scriptures more than this in my life and that includes in seminary.

A cool thing we got to do this week is go out street contacting and me and my companion did the best in the whole district. We handed out 5 Libro De Mormons, 1 pamphlet and we got 5 peoples names and numbers. Also we got 2 references of people who would like to hear the gospel. As a whole district we got 13 names and numbers so we had over half.

I am so sorry and sad to hear about JT. I know it must be hard on their family. He was a great friend and I know he is doing God's work in heaven. I had not heard anything about it until I got on my email today so it came as a surprise and hit me hard, but I know through prayer and reading the scriptures it will all be okay. Thank you all for writing me!

I love you all so much and I am sorry the letter is so short this week. There should be more to write about the next time I write. I am missing you all but I know that I am doing the Lords work and will receive blessings as well as all of you! Thank you all for everything you do and for emailing me and writing me. Love you all!

Love,

Elder Hummel

Taylor and JT McKean
"Until we meet again, my friend"

Zach Carney, Taylor, JT and MJ Wall

SURPRISE! WRITING A DAY EARLY THIS WEEK!

Hey everyone,

How is everything going on the homeward bound? Everyone reading the scriptures? What has been going on in life? I have had a few cool experiences and some hard ones too.

To start of the week we lost our first investigator. She told us that she prayed and decided the Mormon church wasn't for her anymore, so we sat there and talked to her for like 15 minutes and left her with our testimony and then we had to leave. Even though it was just our teacher it is still hard to say goodbye to an investigator who we have worked so hard on and put so many hours into teaching and who we felt was going along great. Also Saturday we lost our second investigator. It sucked as well, especially because we had already set a baptism date and he was going to church and praying. It seemed like everything was going right then he remembered what his mom said right before she died. She said never switch religions. He was the hardest to see go because of how much progress he made. Once we got back to class though, our teacher threw us a curveball and said we are still going to teach him but it is now going to be like 2 years later and we have to use the notes that another companionship has taken. So it makes it hard because we know how much progress we have done and what we have done, but we have to start from where they are.

The second thing that happened this week was I had to teach a lesson on the Book of Mormon to the whole class. I originally wanted to teach out of the D&C, but I got shot down. So I decided to do a scripture in Alma. It turned out all right. For those of you who want to know the scripture it was the one that says if I could be an angel with a trumpet or something like that. I can't remember the chapter exactly, sorry. That made me think though, if you all were going to teach a lesson for 30 minutes out of the Book of Mormon using one chapter what would it be and why?

Many of you are wondering why I wrote this week and it is because the older elders are leaving tomorrow and we won't have time to be on the computer because we are all going to a big market tomorrow. So we won't even be in the MTC to be able to write. Also we get to go to Wendy's tomorrow so i am pretty darn excited about that. It is kind of hard seeing the older guys go because we have become such good friends and they are just leaving but things change, it will be okay. One cool thing we do when they go to leave is we all sing God Be With You Till We Meet Again to all the older guys the night before. It is such an amazing experience and the Spirit is so strong.

At the market they are going to have awesome scripture cases for pretty cheap. I bought one and it is Bronco colors, so if anyone wants one tell me what kind of scriptures you have and what color and I will try to find it the best I can. I still need people's addresses though so I can send letters and stuff!

Lately I have been missing you guys and someone showed me a scripture. It is D&C 100, it is so cool. I think all of you should read it and let me know what you think. Another cool one to read is D&C 18 and everywhere it says "twelve" replace with missionary and it is way cool to read. I know even though things get hard I will always be comforted and helped and I know this is where i am suppose to be.

I have been writing stuff in my journal and letters and stuff and I keep throwing in Spanish words so it is really weird especially when it is to one of you guys that I am writing. I am writing a lot. I am almost through my 2nd pen which is weird because I never write a lot. Sunday we had some devotionals and I took 10 pages of notes between those, church class and my personal study notes. It is weird to take so many notes, but it is cool to be able to look back at them when I need inspiration or anything.

Now for something i am not so proud of. I lost my temper the other day with a Latino and stormed of and was mad until I went to bed that night and I prayed for comfort, forgiveness, and peace of heart and I got my answer. I know even though things get hard sometimes if you trust in the lord you will be helped. I hummed Primary songs to fall asleep and I felt so much better the next day so it was a relief.

I sent a couple letters out and I was just wondering if anyone has gotten them or not. I know it probably will take until Wednesday but I was not sure so I figured I would ask.

Another cool thing happened Sunday. The 4 Samoans who are here all sang an awesome song. The Spirit was so strong. People were crying and it was just amazing. I don't know what else i could say other than WOW!

So I am wondering how your reading is going and if you guys are reading and praying every day and night. I know it is hard sometimes but you are so blessed if you do and remember to pray before and after your studies. I know sometimes you may not want to but that is Satan getting to you. I know if you do it you will be blessed.

Me and some of the other guys did the Ultimate High Five from How I Met Your Mother. It was awesome and our hands hurt for a good 20 minutes but it was worth it. If you have no idea what I am talking about ask Tyler or Erica and they can tell you!

I love you all so much and thank you for everything you do for me! HAPPY THANKSGIVING AND BLACK FRIDAY TO ALL OF YOU! I wish I could be there to celebrate with you but I will be able to in 2 years so it will be okay, just eat a lot of ham and stuffing for me! Also enjoy your shopping adventures!

One last thought, I was looking through my scriptures and I found a note, it says "What do you want to be remembered for when you are finished". I think we could all use that in everything we do so just remember that and be happy and hard working!

I love you all and hope you have an amazing week!

Love,

Elder Hummel

P.S. We found out Thursday we get a big Thanksgiving feast for all of us and we get to watch "Meet the Mormons" so we are all pretty excited. I love you all and miss you all!

Taylor's branch at the MTC.

Tay's branch and other branches

FIRST BOOK OF MORMON PLACED!!!!

Hello everyone!

Well things are going great here and I have taken people's advice and made a list of things to talk about so hopefully there is some method to the madness. haha The first is a story of Elder Fua and I. When he first got here he offered me some lotion after we shave and we had been using it every day and our faces were getting so dry. Well, last week we looked at the bottle and realized it is actually body wash not lotion. haha  Safe to say we have stopped using it! haha  The next is we got 2 new roommates, they are both Latino elders, one from Honduras and the other from Mexico. We try to speak more Spanish but still don't know what to say yet.

How is everyone's scripture reading going? I wanna hear how far you are and stuff so please share! Also it has reached the point where if you want to send a package it has to go to my mission home or else I will not receive it, so just a word of advice. I also would love to receive more pics of just what's going on, everyone, the garage, everything. I am curious and a little cut off in case you couldn't tell. Also, please give out my address either for the mission home or for the CCM or for my email. I love getting mail and email, I don't care who sends stuff!

So we had a fun event called Tie Steal Saturday where you take someone's tie Friday night and wear it on Saturday and return it that night. Well someone thought it would be funny to come and take every one of my ties that I had. haha I got them all back but it was a fun experience.

I need some help from everyone. Please, please, please pray I can get use to the schedule so I can stay awake in class. I am having a hard time with them but I know I will get use to it. Also, I really need people's addresses so please send them, please! I wanna send letters!

All of you should look up missionary work and the atonement on youtube. We watched it yesterday and I almost cried it was so powerful and so amazing! We have a missionary in our district who before he came out tore his meniscus partially and is having problems with it and if it doesn't get better he will have to go home. So Monday we all fasted for him and we gave him a blessing. The coolest thing was I had the opportunity to anoint the oil before we gave the blessing. The Spirit was so strong and amazing! So in your prayers include Elder Galvan he is a convert and a member for a little over a year and so his testimony is strong and amazing.

Another cool thing which is the subject line for this letter this week is...We got to go out on the street contacting and my companion and I placed a Book of Mormon! We got the guy's address and phone number so the missionaries can go over and visit. It was such a cool and spiritual experience even with the little Spanish we knew. Also our district total placed 11 Book of Mormons, 4 pamphlets. and got 10 names and phone numbers. It is so cool and the Spirit was with us all. It just reminded us why we were here.

Everything is going well. I am still having a hard time with the language but I will get it in time, I know I will. So keep praying for me. Also, the food is still fantastic and I eat probably more than I should, but I am so eating so. haha We have reached our half-way point in the CCM, which is awesome, but also really making me nervous because I don't think I know the stuff enough. We have been trying to do better in class and everything studying wise but it is coming slowly. The Latinos are kind of hard, but I love it because we can learn more and more. Also I am thinking of doing a fast on Sunday that I will learn the language, so if anyone wants to join me that would be awesome! I love you all so much and thank you for the letters and everything. Also send more pictures! Also can someone send me a picture to my email of my leg before and after the surgery? I love you all so much and am always so excited to hear from you and all the fun stuff going on!

Love,

Elder Hummel

Elder Hummel's District

Guatemala LDS Temple

LATEST NEWS FROM THE GUATEMALA MTC!

Hello Everyone!   

Well it is my second week here and it has been interesting. 

We got new investigators and one is named Veronica. She is really coming along and I like teaching her. The other is named Gabriel. He is Catholic and everything we say to him he has a comment about which sucks! 

I am loving the mission. I will be honest, this week especially, I have been having a hard time and wondering if this was right for me and where I was suppose to be. Then Sunday night we got to watch the Joseph Smith Restoration video and it was amazing! In the scriptures it talks about a burning in your bosom and I truly felt it! I started crying and I knew, without a doubt, this was were I was supposed to be! Then I read all your emails and it confirmed it even more! I have been praying for all of you everyday and hope you feel them. I would love if you could all pray that I could learn this language. I know it isn't easy but it is worth it! 

I have a new candy for you all to try, it is called Minties and it is from New Zealand (haha). It is amazing! Also a candy called Flake Bar. Elder Fua had brought them and we ate them all in a couple days! Also Elder Fua brought 4 lavalavas and gave one to each of us in the room. It is so cool and quite comfortable! 

I love hearing from you all every week! Also you can write me handwritten letters. I get them in about 8 days. I found that out, thanks to Jacky! Today we got to go to a shop/market type thing. It is so cool and so different but I am going to love it! 

Sunday we had to give a lesson that we didn't know. We ended up taking 10 minutes to prepare it and I feel like it was one of the best lessons that day! Then again, I am kinda partial! I love the feeling of the Spirit here!

The food -- you all asked, it has been a little bit of everything and so delicious. I love it, but then again I eat anything! 

I love getting on and seeing emails from everyone. It is so comforting and great! Also an experience with Veronica is, the other day we had to go teach the lesson and during it I was speaking and saying things I didn't even know that I know the words for! I know it was the Spirit helping me! I want you all to go watch the Joseph Smith video. It is at the temple visitor centers and it is the one with the steamboat. I don't know how else to describe it! 

I hope everyone had an amazing Halloween and I wish I could have been able to be there and see all the cute costumes but I will in 2 years so it will be okay! 

It is awesome that it is an all Region 9 playoff again. Anybody who is able to, go with mom up to the games, it is so fun for her! 

This past 2 weeks have just been Non-Latino people, so we have all been having fun. haha Today we got the first set of Latino people. We will be getting a lot more tomorrow. I think a total of 70 come tomorrow!! 

You all are so amazing and such amazing examples. I love you all! Keep the pictures coming! Also has anyone been reading the Book of Mormon and praying like I said to do? I wanna hear how the progress is going! 

Everyone said you will speak only Spanish here. That is wrong. We speak about 25% Spanish and the rest in English. But, with Latinos coming, that is going to have to change! 

What has everyone been up to? Anything new and exciting going on in life? I am so happy to be here! The view from the computer is the top of the temple and I can see Angel Moroni, so that is cool! The sessions, when we go to the temple, are in English! So that is lucky! 

The next fast Sunday we have will be my last week here and we were all talking about how quick time is flying by before we are in the field. It is nerve racking but also very exciting. Sorry about not having any caps or being able to do paragraphs like last time. My computer is being weird and won't do "enter" at all and the shift is being weird too. haha So just bear with me, it should be better next week! Just so you all know, I think, while in the MTC, most of our p-days will be on Tuesday so aim for that, but I can't promise anything! 

We had a guy in our district start crying in class this week. He is a convert and has only been a member a little over a year. He is having a hard time because he doesn't remember a lot of the stuff and it was sad, but it was cool to be able to talk and comfort him. 

I know this church is true and that God is our Heavenly Father and will grant us blessings if we humble ourselves, get down on our knees, and ask for help. The more i have been here the more humble and fervent my prayers have been. I know we all made fun of my dad for how long his prayers always are but there have been times I get down and by the time I am done I have been kneeling for 20-25 minutes and have not felt better! 

For anyone curious, the money we use down here is called Quetalice or something spelled like that. The exchange rate is 7.50 Q for 1 dollar so it is pretty interesting going to buy stuff and a candy bar being 21 Q. It took some getting use to. 

We have to prepare talks to give in Sacrament Meeting because they just call you out on the spot and you have to get up and give a 5 minute talk. I have realized how hard it is to write talks when you know so few Spanish words haha! 

The weather here is pretty great. It rained 2 days last week but other than that it has been sunny and nice. We all, for the most part, sleep with the window open and we feel good without a blanket! 

I am sorry if this letter isn't very organized and just rambles. I just have had so much I wanna say and have been bouncing all over trying to make sure I get it all in! I have been writing some letters but I may wait to send them because they charge 1 dollar for a stamp and to send them all would be expensive. Also I NEED EVERYONE'S ADDRESS! PLEASE SEND THEM NEXT WEEK OR EVEN BETTER WRITE ME A HAND WRITTEN LETTER SO I HAVE THEM! 

I love you all and thank you so much for writing me! I love the examples each and every one of you have given to me and also thank you all for all the help you have given me!

Love, 
Elder Hummel      

P.S. Everyone has made comments about how much I whistle here. haha Thought you all might enjoy that! Love you all and I will write you in a week! Love you!!!

(NOTE: Mom had to do a little editing on this post for him -- it used to be all one big paragraph! We have to remember he types on Spanish keyboards and he has to type fast since he doesn't have much time!)

FIRST LETTER FROM GUATEMALA!!

Hello everyone!

My first week here has felt like it has gone on forever. I am slowly learning my Spanish language but it is a lot more difficult then it was in high school. They speak Spanish most of the time in class and we just have to learn it, so it is interesting. We have learned how to say the invite to be baptized in Spanish and also how to say the Spanish baptism prayer, which is cool. This Sunday was fast Sunday, like most of you know, and it was awesome! The spirit was so strong and so amazing.  My district i am in is called "Mateo", which in English is Matthew. We are basically the best district! On Sunday, after only being here for 4 days, we ALL got up and bore our testimonies. Oh ya, they were all in Spanish as well. They said that is the first time they have seen that in years! I know the Lord is helping me learn the language, but it is still hard so keep me in your prayers!

We have started teaching an "investigator". It is actually our teacher in costume but it is all in Spanish! His name is Jaime. We have taught him the 10 Commandments, the Word of Wisdom and about the temple and families. The coolest experience is my companion and I went in and were planning on only teaching him about the Word of Wisdom and families but when we got in we showed him pictures of our families. He started looking through my picture book and saw the temple picture mom took on the back page. He asked if that was the Church and I told him no it was the temple and he asked what was so special about it, so we started telling him about it and about how through the temple families can live together forever and he said he wants that for his family. The Spirit was so strong in there. Some of the words I said I had no idea that I knew. I know the lord was helping me. We committed him to get baptized on November 28, 2014. It is so spiritual.

A lot of you asked about my schedule, so here it is

6:30    Wake up shower and get ready

7:30    Breakfast

8:00    Personal study

9:00    Language study

10:00  Coaching study
11:00  Grammar

12:00  Lunch

1:00    TALL (computer work stuff)

1:30    Lessons

2:30    Grammar

3:15    Sports and shower

5:00    Dinner

5:45    Teach Investigator or companion study

7:30    Snack

8:00    Teach investigator or companion study

9:00    Companion planning

9:30    Write in journal

10:15  Be in bed

10:30  Lights out

So as you can tell it is a jam-packed day! haha  My companion's name is Elder Hales from North Carolina. He is a little guy but very good at learning the language. He doesn't eat a lot which is good for me 'cause i get to finish his food! Also in our room we have Elder Chandler from California and Elder Fua from New Zealand. He and I get along great, we both love rugby and are big guys.

The food here is great I am loving it!

We got to go through the temple today and it was so cool. It is smaller than the St. George Temple but it is so cool and the spirit is so strong!

I am nervous 'cause I feel like I am not picking up the language as fast as I should be able to, but I know I will if I work, trust in the Lord and pray!

Yo se que jesucristo es el salvador y Thomas s monson is un profeta y el libro de mormon is verdadero. Este conocimiento me ayuda a vivir feliz, y superar desafios.

Translation: I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior and Thomas S. Monson is a prophet and the Book of Mormon is true. This knowledge helps me to live happily and to overcome challenges!

I know that any trial i have if I pray and love then I will be able to get through it. I love you all and thank you for writing me!

Love,

Elder Hummel

P.S. I can't send pictures because they take our cd players and cameras when we come in. I will get them back when I go into the field in 6 weeks. Send me pictures though, I can view them on these computers. Also, we can receive packages in the MTC. It takes 2-3 weeks to get here they said. I love you all and am so thankful for all the prayers and help!

P.S.S. I hope you all are cheering for the Jazz and Broncos for me. I have worn my Bronco shorts and Jazz shirt and everyone talks to me about them! I love you all and hope everything is going well! PRAY FOR ME AND WRITE ME FOR NEXT WEEK.