May 30, 2011

Hello Family,

Well You could say that each and every week just gets crazier and crazier.  I have absolutely no complaints.  We have so many awsome people that we are teaching and we find even more new people every week.  Its really quite amazing what is happening here.  Im not sure what it is but there has been a huge change in this area and in the zone.  In March and April the entire zone baptized a total of three each month with 12 missionaries.  In this month of may we baptized 13 and we baptized 8 in the area that im in.  And we have lots more that will be coming in June and July.  The only thing that is hard for us is we have so many great investigators but not enough time to teach them all.  Its basically impossible to teach all of the good investigators that we have.  So its a little painful in that respect because unless we could be in two places at once it would be impossible to be able to teach everybody.  So we are just trying to
get to the best of the best and even that is proving to be hard.  Like i said i love what is going on in my area but we just arent capable of doing everything that we want to do.

This week we had a family get baptized.  Their names we Carlos the dad Mery the mom and the two kids Anita and Cristhian.  There were a few minor difficulties but the important part is that they got there on saturday and were baptized.  They were them confirmed on Sunday in the sacrament meeting.  It was fast and testimony meeting because there is elections here next week and there is no church the sunday of elections.  and in the sacrament meeting we confirmed the four in the family and gave their two little ones baby blessings.  So that took up just about the entire sacrament meeting.  It was pretty interesting. It was great to finally see the family get baptized.  I had the opportunity to baptize Carlos Christhian and Anita.  So that was
awsome.  Something ive noticed on the mission is that something always happens the last week before the baptizm that tries to prevent them from being baptized.  Always something happens.  Its just a matter of preparing the people so that they dont fall when thier trial comes. But the family got through and made to the waters of baptism.  It was a neat situation.  It was funny because after baptizing the little kid he screamed out, ¨You almost killed me!¨ So that made everybody laugh but things like that are uncommon.  The last kid i baptized a month ago screamed Dont Drown ME! HAHA.  Anyways we had a great baptismal service and a great week over all.

As far as responsibilities go this week we have to travel twice to go to two different meetings.  Its going to be a little hard because like i said we have a tone of people to teach and now we will be out of town for two days this week.  So that will be a little bit difficult but im sure we will manage.  Everything usually just seems to work out.  So we will hope for that this week.  Okay thats all for now Miss you all a ton i hope everything is going well up there in the states. We are working hard and having a lot of success.  Miss you all a ton and i hope that everything continues to go well.  Keep me updated on the news and feel free to write me any time.

Love,

Elder Hess

PHOTOS

1. The family plus the missionaries (The senior couple helped them get married so thats why they were there)
2. The family plus us again
3. The family

4. After being baptized with a few of the members

More pictures

1-3. are from when we got lost looking for a members house to eat lunch it was really pretty so we took pictures but we walked around for three hours in farm fields looking for the house.
4. a fruit called granada its one of the wierdest things ive ever eaten

5. we moved the guy is the branch president he has a
mototaxi.  Its the peruvian version of a car.  hardly anybody has a
car here if they have something its a mototaxi.  

6. With a little shopping cart!

May 23, 2011

Hello friends and family,

Well i just finished the craziest week of my mission.  Things just get crazier and crazier each week.  We have an emergency change in the zone this week.  My companion left and the companion of the other zone leader left and now we are companions and they combined our areas. They called us at 1030 at night and told my companion he had to leave first thing in the morning.  It was a little sad because i really liked my companion and i only had one week with him.  Its been a really hard week to try and combine the two areas and visit all of the investigators.  But that was the least of what happened this week.

The next day after having the change the assistants came on a surprise visit to our area.  That was all well and good but we had to take some time out of our day so taht they could do some errands.  We were in charge of organizing and setting everything up for a multizone conference on friday.  Then on Saturday we got lost in the middle of a giant farm trying to find the house of a member for lunch.  All in all we were walking for 3 hours.  In the middle of a farm field.  So that was interesting.  Lets just say that this week has been a little stressful for me.  But im doing relly well.  The area we are in is having a ton of success.  There is a family of four that should be baptized this coming saturday.  Im really excited for their baptism
because we have been working with them for a long time so that they could get to this point.  Today we have to move rooms.  Im going to live in a different house now.  So that should be fun.  

My new companion is Elder Bruns He is from New York.  He is a really good missionary.  I dont know why but i always seem to get american companions.  Its almost unheardof to have to americans together in the mission but its the second time for me.  But its all good we are working hard and having fun.  We had 10 investigators in the chapel this sunday which was awsome.  So im hoping that we have a lot of baptisms in the weeks and months that come here.  Ive said this from the beginning but i really like my area here.  Its a great area and has a ton of potential.  We just have to work.  This week has deffinitely been the most eventful and maybe the most difficult of my entire mission but i know when we have  the challenges we get the rewards.  Im hoping that today we will be able to rest and take it easy a little bit so that we can recharge the batteries a little bit. The weather here is starting to cool down quite a bit.  Im now wearing  a sweetter at night to keep warm.  We are in the desert so the temperature drops a lot at night.  But durring the day its normal. Everything is going good i have nothing to complain about jsut hope i can find an hour or two more durring the day to get some stuff done.

Love you all tons,

Elder Hesselgesser

May 16, 2011

Hello Family,

Well this week has actually gone pretty well.  All the stress was on monday and after that we could finally settle down and start to get to work.  We had a really successful week.  As an area thigns are going really well for us.  We have a baptismal date for a family on the 28th
and they came to church as a family on sunday and stayed all three hours.  It was awsome to finally get them all there.  We also started to teach a super old guy this week.  he is almost deff so the lessons are funny because we are shouting at him so he can here.  

There is a lot of great things happening here.  Its been a little stressful trying to help all of the new elders in the zone.  Two new areas opened up here so the Elders dont have any idea where anything is. But its all a part of the process.  I really really like my new companion.  His name is Elder Fuentes he is from the northern part of Lima so hes not too far from home here.  He is a really good missionary and is helping me out a lot.  The only bad part is that
this is his last change so he is headed home really soon.  But hopefully we will be able to do some work while he is here.  Nothing too crazy has happened this week i have just been working hard and very busy.  Sorry for the short letter but i dont have a ton of time. One of the snior couples in the zone bought a ping pong table so we are all going to go and play ping pong today haha welp thats it miss you all tons and see you all later.

Elder Hess

May 9, 2011

Hello Family

Well this week has been extremely eventful and just like every day in the mission a learning experience.  On Tuesday we had a meeting with the zone leaders and surprise surprise the assistants came without letting anybody know beforehand.  Apart from that one of them came with me for the day.  So i had a surprise visit from the assistants on Tuesday and he stayed with me until 11 in the morning on Wednsday.  He told me on Tuesday that i needed to go to a meeting for all the zone leaders in the mission the next day.  So the next day i got together with the zone leaders from here and we went to Lima together.  We got there at about 8 at night and had time to go out to dinner.  The mission office is in the richest part of Lima.  Everybody that has money lives in this part and if they have money they have a lot of money.  So all the restaurants in this area were super expensive.  We went to a mexican restaurant and payed a ton of money for a tiny bit of food.  The wierd part was there was more english speaking people in
the restaurant than spanish speaking.  It was really wierd.  Im not used to being around other people that speak english.  That night we stayed with the office elders in their house.  They have an entire floor of a skyscraper as their house.  So it was cool to be able to look down on the city from up high.  The next morning we left super early and went to the temple.  The temple was fantastic like always. I enjoyed it very much.  After that we had a zone leaders council. And for lunch we had pizza hut! that was awsome.  It was a really interesting experience and i learned a lot.  

On Saturday night the changes came and more than half the zone left.  In one of the areas president took out both of the elders and put in two new ones.  It was really crazy and im not exactly sure how its gonna work but we will make it work.  We have a lot of work cut out for us this change to get things going here.  Im hoping that we can get the work going here because its been dead for about 6 months now.  To complicate things more im not even companions with the other Zone leader.  Im not exactly sure how thats going to work but its going to be a little
difficult.  On saturday two of our investigators got married.  It was stressful trying to put their reception together but everything turned out really good.   And at least,  they are now married.  Well thats been my life this week hope everything is going well for you miss you
all and love you and happy mothers day!

May 2, 2011

Hello family.

Well this week was a really crazy and hectic week here.  I was to say the least sressed to the max with all the things that we had to do. We were after a lot of effort able to baptize a family of four.  we have been working with them really hard for for about 4 weeks to help them be baptized of saturday.  We had to plan all their interviews and baptisms and confirmations and coordinate with the leaders of the branch so that everything went according to plan.  To say the least it was stressful.  But it was great to see all of them as a family be baptized together on saturday night.  It was a pretty special baptismal service.

My birthday went pretty well.  I didnt really do anything to celebrate.  We were helping a couple of investigators get married that day so thats what we were doing all day was helping get a reception and everything ready for them.  At night we went to my pensionistas house and she had bought a cake for me and they sung me happy birthday.  After i blew the candles out they all smashed eggs and flower over my head.  Thats a tradition here in peru is if its your birthday they crush eggs over your head.  So after that pleasent experience I ate my cake and we went home for the night. Thursday we went up to Lima because my companion had a doctors appointment.  He also had an appointment with the optomotrist.  While we were there i had the guy look at my eyes and got myself a pair of glasses as well.

On sunday we were able to confirm the whole family that got baptized a family of four.  Then we gave babies blessings to the two babies in their family.  We also helped give a babys blessing to another baby in the ward whos dad isnt a member.  To say the least there was time for only two testimonies after all of that and one of them was the dad of the family we baptized.  It was something really special.  It was neat to finally help a family get to baptism together.

Thats all thats going on here miss and love you all

Elder Hesselgesser.

Pictures

1. Me and the sunset cañetano

2. The bride the groom all their children and the wedding cake

3. Me and the wedding cake

4. Me and the birthday cake.

5-6. Me covered in eggs and flower.  (My birthday present)

7. The family and us all dressed in our baptismal clothes 

April 25, 2011

Hello Everybody

Well this week was another good week.  Im actually exhausted to be honest.  We are rediculously busy i dont have an extra second to breath here.  I got the package that you sent me.  Im really escited to eat the cake i just dont know when im gonna eat it because this week is going to be super busy and im not going to have a spare second today.  

A couple that we have been teaching are getting married today and we are in charge of their reception.  So yeah you can imagine. But we should see how it goes. Anyways this coming saturday a family of four has a goal to be baptized and it looks like they are going to be able to be baptized on saturday.  Im really excited for that it will be the first full family i have been able to baptize in the mission.  So im really excited for that.  On thursday i had a really
crazy experience.  President Manning came down to do interviews with us.  And one of the investigators of another area in my district had talked with him months previously and wanted president manning to baptize him.  So he did it.  It was pretty neat.  President manning is a guy that just radiates the spirit of God in all places.  One of my old companions called him a portable temple because anbody thats with him always feels the spirit. So it was a neat baptismal service.

Yesterday i got bit by a dog.  Its the second time this dog has bitten me.  its the dog of my pensionista so i cant avoid it because i go to that house every day.  But may ill just kick it in the face or something to teach it a lesson.  I ate a couple of wierd things this week.  Duck and cow stomach.  Ducks good cow stomach is not.  We are working hard here and trying to get the investigators we are teaching to baptism.  

I dont have any crazy stories this week i spent two days in other areas doing interchanges with missionaries in my district so like i said im very busy.  Too busy to take time to think or to miss home or anything so i guess thats a good thing.  Welp thats all for this week.  Oh and thanks for the tape recording i loved it and ive already recorded all sorts of stuff to send you.  Ill probably send it out next week.  Miss you all tons and hope everything is going well up in the states.

Elder Hesselgesser

April 11, 2011

Friends and Family

I was thinking that tylers graduation was coming up soon.  Thats crazy he is now a college graduate! I bet that feels good.  Too bad its just the beginning for him but thats alright.  And im glad to hear that all the family is now at home minus me.  Should be a busy funfilled summer for all of you up there.  As far as the work goes i have no complaints.  Im in an area that is completely different than my first area.  There is a lot less people and a lot more area.  A lot less garbage and dogs in the streets and a lot less hills as well.  all in all i really like it.  It reminds me a lot of home actually.  Well minus the houses and the people.  The landscape reminds me a lot of home.  Theres lots of green fields surrounded by brown hills.  After being in Lima for so long i feel like im in paradise.  

The week has gone really well and we are starting to have a lot of success.  When i first got here there wasnt any investigators with a baptismal date but now we have 7!  And we should have more by the end of the next week. We are teaching a lot of families which is really neat.  Last PDay we went to a place called Incahuasi.  Its some aincient ruins not to far from cañete.  We got there and it was closed and nobody was in the offices.  So in order to see the ruins we crossed the streets and climbed up a hill.  Turns out the ruins were probably the ugliest part of the view from the top.  It was really cool.  Im going to upload some pictures of it.  

Last week i weighed myself.  And concequently I am now starting a diet.  For dinner im only eating fruit.  And the only real meal im eating is lunch.  Just a small breakfast and fruit

for dinner.  Its a little difficult but necessary.  Other than that theres not much new to say.  Im really really busy and enjoying the work right now.  My new companion is a nice change from the last one. He is really calm and go with the flow.  He is a good missionary and likes to work.  So we get along fine and have had a lot of success in these two weeks.  His name is Elder Perez and he is from a city in northern Peru called Iquitos.  Its in the middle of the jungle where they eat insects and aligators and stuff... so he always has some funny stories to share.  The only hard thing is that he for some reason has the goal to gain as much weight as possible on the mission.  Exactly the opposite as me.  So he is always eating.  And eating a
ton of food.  But im learning to resist.  Okay love you all tons until next week....

Elder Hesselgesser

Pictures:  

1.  Me in a Cactus
2. Me on top of the hill enjoying the first green thing ive seen in 7 months.
3. Me and two other missionaries Elder Ewing and Elder Peterson that i was with in the MTC we are in the same zone
4. Name tag
5. Me and my companion Elder Perez on top of the hill
6.  With my new pensionista eating fruit for dinner

April 4th 2011

Hello Family,

Well being in a new area has completely changed everything.  It couldnt be more different than where i was at in Lima.  I am in a small part called San Vicente in Cañete.  Cañete is what you might call a farming town.  Its surrounded by farms and many of the people that live here work in the farms.  And since there are farms that means that there is plant life and greenery.  Which is a new thing for me too because in Lima there was nothing green.  Nothing at all. Overall i would say it is a pretty area.  It actually reminds me alot of the lower valley.  Its got farms surrounded by hills.  Im still in the desert so it never rains, but there is a river that runs through the town so its got plant life.  The peruvian way of farming is very different than the us.  For example yesterday i saw a guy on top of a 10 foot tall pile of hay stacked on a cart being hauled by three donkeys driving down the street.  And thats not an unusual thing.  

We are pretty close to the ocean here even though i havent seen it yet. And my area is giant.  theres is the city and then tons of small neighborhoods of people to the south.  Some of these little neighborhood are a half hour or more away in a car.  So its deffinitely a change.  For the first time in 7 months i was able to see the stars last night.  It was really cool.  Theres a lot less pollution here and the air is really fresh.  My new companion is Elder Perez.  He is from the jungle.  He is a good guy we are getting along good.  The only thing that is a little hard is taking on the duties and responsibilities of being a district leader in an area that i dont know at all.  Its a little hard and it will get easier as i get more time here.  There are also two senior couples in my zone.  Which is really really unusual.  Im pretty sure we are the only zone in the world with two senior couples.  They are both from the United States so consequently i had American Cake for the first time in a very long time the other day.  It was amazing.  So that was cool.  none of the senior missionaries speak spanish so they are quite dependant on the missionaries to help them out with what they are doing.  

Today we are going to go see some ruins of some ancient civilization or something. IM not sure on the details but ill be sure to take pictures.  Im doing well and happy to be where im at right now.  I hope everything is going well for everyone at home.  The heat here is starting to go away little by little.  Im actually pretty cold at night.  But its still pretty hot durring the day.  We are now starting to reach what would be the fall months.  Not much new to report this week.

Elder Hesselgesser

Pictures!

Transfer!

Hello Family and Friends,

Well so much has happened this week and weekend i dont really know where to start.  Ill start with Thursday.  I had a really interesting experience.  For the first time in my mission i talked with people from the united states that arent missionaries.  We were way up in the hills doing a service project for a family and they had a little medical tent set up and were teaching kids to brush their teach and giving out medication to those who needed it.  It was me my companion and the zone leaders that were together doing the service.  One of the zone leaders is American so we decided to go and talk to them and see whats up.  We started talking to them and it was super awkward.  It was then that i realized that ive forgotten how to socialize in english.  It was really a wierd experience.  But i was able to find
out that they were from Boston and Seattle.  There were several students from UW there so it was neat to be able to talk with them for a little while.  It made me realize how much i have sunk into the culture here.  Its just become normal life for me.

On saturday we had a baptism.  It was an 18 year old guy who we have been teaching for quite a while now.  It was pretty awsome to be able to finally reach the point when he was able to be baptized.  It was all well and good until we arrived at the baptism and none of the bishopric came.   There was no presiding authority to be able to do the baptism.  So we were scrambling to call the bishop and members of
the bishopric so we could get started.  Finally got a hold of the bishop and he was still at work and hadnt bothered to make arrangments so someone could be there to preside.  So after about 45 minutes of making calls and getting authorization we did the baptism without them.  It was frustrating but what can you do.  But we started the baptism an hour late (which is not unusual here) and he was able to be
baptized.  His name is Elmer and he makes a living by making coathangers with his uncle.  Im going to try and attatch some fotos of the baptism.

Saturday night after the baptism and all that, we got a phone call from the zone leaders about the changes.  They told me i was going to Ayacucho which is a zone way up in the mountains and the only zone in the mission thats outside the dessert.  But then they called back an hour later and said they were just joking and that im going to Cañete.  Cañete is a town south of Lima so i got out of the City.  I got here about 10 minutes ago and we came straight here to internet.  The part that scares me the most is that president called me to be district leader here.  Why? idk.  I guess the Lord knows i need to be more humble.  So it should be an interesting experience trying to accustom myself to be a leader in a zone that i dont know at all.  But hey who the lord calls the Lord qualifies.  So im a town called cañete in the part thats called San Vicente.  Ive only heard good things and they finished building a chapel here only a few weeks ago so its brand new. 

 Im really excited about being able to be in a new area again. Yesterday was a little hard saying goodbye to all the families in the ward and the converts and everything.  Especially knowing that i will most likely never see any of them again.  But its a part of the mission.  Thats it from me this week.  Im sad to hear about BYUH losing in the championship game, that sounds rough.    Im super happy to have the jump rope im using it every day.  And i need it too because im pretty sure yesterday alone i gained about 15 pounds.  When i told people that i was leaving they all gave me a ton of food to eat.  And they dont offer either.  They dont even ask if you want it.  They serve you a mountain of rice and chicken on a plate and expect you to eat it.  But hey its better than starving.

Elder Hess

March 14, 2011

Hello Family and everybody.

Well not a whole lot new happened this week.  I was a little nervous after hearing what happened in Japan.  I didnt know if my college still existed or not but sounds like nothing bad happened.  Its really sad what happened in Japan ive never heard on tsunamis reaching three miles in shore thats crazy.  Its amazing how much power water has.

Anyways not a whole lot new to report.  Last monday we went bowling. That was neet.  And today all the american missionaries in the zone got together and we cooked eggs potatoes and french toast.  It was awsome!.  I havent had american food for a long time.  And even though it was made with peruvian ingredients it still tasted pretty good.

Its still burning hot down here it should only be like this for another month or so i assume.  But im not sure we will have to see. We have some great investigators with great potential.  Im really excited about the work right. everything seems to be going pretty smooth.  We are starting to get some help from the leaders and the members and its really helping out a lot.  Unfortunately i dont think ill be here to see the fruits of it because im almost positive i will be changing areas at the end of March.  I would love to hear more details about whats going on in Japan and what happened in Hawaii. And also what happened in California and Oregon.  Im kind of cut off from the world here and dont have access to any news. Other than that everything is fantastic. thanks for all the thoughts and prayers.

TJ

March 7, 2011

This is the most recent letter I have gotten. He wrote a couple times and accidentally deleted what he wrote. Here is this weeks!

Hello everybody,

Well this week was a little on the difficult side.  I got pretty sick on Tuesday and im just starting to get better.  I was a pretty nasty stomach infection that had me down and out most of the week.  But no worries im doing better now and im taking some magical pills that are helping me out a lot.  In the little time that i was able to proselite this weeks some crazy things happened.  

The big news here in Lima is there was a rainbow.  And concidering that it never ever ever rains here that was a little wierd.  The next day we were in a middle of the lesson and there was a small earthquake.  then the guy that we are teaching said,  I knew that something crazy was going to happen today because i saw a rainbow yesterday.  That goes to show you exactly how superstitious the peruvian people are.  They are super superstitous. Every body was talking about how the rainbow was a sign of something thats to come.  Its all a little entertaining to say the least.  

But yeah other than that we have one baptism that is almost 100 percent for sure this coming saturday.  Im really excited for it because we have worked really hard with him for a real long time to be able to get to this point.  We also have three more maybes for this saturday so im looking forward to this week a lot should be real great. 

Yesterday was the last day of carnaval so we dont have to run around trying to avoid all the kids with squirt guns and waterballoons anymore because that ended yesterday.  they have a tradition here that every carnaval they pick a tree and hang a bunch of shirts pans and tons of random stuff from it.  Then a group of neighbors all take turns whacking the tree with an ax.  One at a time.  Then when it falls its a mad mass of people running to pick up all the stuff that they want.  Its like a piñata but its a tree.  And the person that makes the tree fall with their hit have to plant  the next years tree and put all the stuff in it.  Its funny because nobody can tell me where these ideas started or came from they just know that this is what they do here.  

anyways tahts whats going on with me.  Its still super hot and it will stay hot until sometime in may from what i hear.  But thats allright im getting used to it.  Miss you all tons hope everything is going well.

Jan 24 2011

Hello Hello everybody!  

Well Im extremely happy to learn about my new nephew this week!  Its been a little difficult going through the week supposing that a new member of the family came but not knowing anything for sure!  So ive been telling everybody that supposedly i have a new nephew!  haha.  Yeah but im glad to hear everything went well and that he is a happy healthy sleepy baby!  I think his name should be changed to puppy lol.  But i like Carter its a cool name. 

Well after a really difficult week last week we had a lot of success this week.  Numbers wise it was by far the most successful week fo the mission. (not counting baptisms).  But we found some awsome people to teach this week.  And some not so awsome people as well.  but yeah its
been a really good week.  I cant complain at all.  This week i have the temple to look forward to.  We are going on thursday and i cant wait. ive been to about twice as manny sessions in spanish as english.  The spanish is improving.  Little by little.  But i can communicate just fine.  Ive lost the fear of opening my mouth.  Im gaining greater confidence to talk with all the people on the streets and stuff and i believe it is for that reason that all our numbers sky rocketed this week.  We are finally gaining the confidence of the bishop because we are teaching his nonmember 25 year old son.  We are gaining more and more confidence from the members too.  We got two references of families that are married last week.  Thats rare here.  The is a huge problem here with people just hooking up and never getting married. The ones who are not married are usually the ones who are more willing to listen.  I`ve been thinking alot about why this is and came to the conclusion that the only reason anybody here gets married is for
religion.  And so the ones who are married therefor are a little more closed off to listening to the missionaries.  But we are finding people so i have hope.  I feel like we are working hard and making a lot more progress than ever before.  Its killing me that i cant be home to see my new member of the family.  And by the time i return home he will be walking and even saying a few words.  Maybe ill be home for the next one.  Well thats about all thats going on here.
Nothing too crazy happened this week.  Just walking and sweating a lot in the heat here.  My companion and i started a diet.  It doesnt work though because every house we enter they have to give us food and its extremely rude to refuse.  Oh well.  Welp thats all for this week.

Elder Hesselgesser

Jan. 31, 2011

Hola Family and Friends

Well this week has been a bit harder than last week.  Something that i am learning is that the mission is hard.  Its hard and sometimes its hard to see the results of all the work we are doing.  This week was no exception to the hard factor.  Lots of failed appointments and people that suddenly changed their mind and dont want to hear the gospel anymore.  Its frustrating at times.  The hardest part is that all we want to do is help people.  And they straight up reject us. Sometimes i wonder if only they knew the value of the gospel that we represent in their lives.  And yet to many it doesnt matter.  They dont care.  Ive found that confusion has caused a lot of people here to come up with their own theories of how god works and what we need

to do in our life to return to him.  many have been blinded and decieved by men who want nothing more than their money.  Its hard to make people realize that they are allowed to ask God which of all the churches is the true church.  Its hard to tell them that they are allowed to think when their pastors and church leaders their whole life have told them they have no right to read the bible and learn for themselves.  Things like this make it really sad for me.  But at the same time it makes me so glad for the knowledge that i have of this gospel.  That Jesus Christ really has restored the same church he established when he waled upon the earth so many years ago.  Ive often asked myself the question, Why am i a person so lucky to have been
born so close to the truth?  I dont know what i did in the pre earth life to have the opportunity to know the church but i am eternally greatful.  

We are teaching a young man of about 24 years right now and he is awsome.  He has a baptismal date for the 19th of February.  He is a super cool guy and has true ententions of finding the truth.  We are teaching several more good investigators but nobody is progressing at the same rate as him.

As far as fun facts from Elder Hesselgesser goes this week I contacted someone on the street and was halfway through explaining who we are before i realized he was deff.  We left him with a Pamphlet to read. Whenever we are walking on the streets all of the drunk people always come up to us confessing all of their sins.  I dont know why.  And yeah Im fairly sure that im gaining weight.  I went for a little run this morning with my companion and was very tired.   Its impossible to go on a diet here because In order to show thanks people give us food.  Rejecting food here is worse than punching them in the face so we have to accept.  Some days i eat so much that i really feel like im going to explode.  

This week i began reading the new testament in spanish.  Im finding the scriptures easier to understand in spanish than in english.  They are written in a more simple form of language. For four months now ive been doing all my studies and everything in spanish.  Its a good way to expand my vocabulary.

Miss you all and love you thanks for all the prayers.

Elder Hesselgesser

Jan. 17, 2011

Well this week was to say the least quite difficult.  Not a ton happened with our investigators.  Every single one that we were excited about and that had real potential to progress failed us.  We would go to their house and they would not be there.  And our investigator that was supposed to get baptized this week is now bed bound and they found out he has a tumor in his brain.  So yeah its been a difficult and sad week to say the least.  Nothing too crazy or unordinary happened.  


The weather is going from hot to hotter.  I find myself constantly covered in sweat.  But thats not anything too out of the ordinary for me.  My new companion is great.  Im hoping that we can have a lot of success.  We are working hard but the results havent shown themselves yet. I had my first interview with the mission president since ive been in the field this last week.  I felt really good after leaving.  He helped me realise that I can only do as much as i can do and I need to leave the rest up to the Lord.  Something i didnt understand before the mission was how overwhelming the amount of work would be.  There is just too much to be done and not nearly enough time to do it.  Its difficult to try and do everything.  But i felt really good coming out of my interview because I know and He knows that im doing what i can.  


Im working hard along side my companion.  And thats all we can do.  If results dont immediately show themselves then thats alright.  What is important is that we are doing everything we can do to invite people to come unto Christ.  The mission is very different from what i imagined it being before.  I dont know what exactly i imagined but i do know that it wasnt this.  Even in these first five months i have learned and grown a lot.  I feel like ive learned more in this five months than in any other five months of my entire life.  I feel like i have a more
defined goal in life.  A more clear picture of where im headed and what my goals are.  


Elder Uceda a member of the 70 and the area president said something interesting to us as missionaries.  He said
that for a person to acquire the same amount of experience as a missionary gains in two years.  It would take the average person with an average job 40years to gain all the experiences that we gain.  To me thats crazy. But yeah anyways I hope all things are going well back in the states.  Keep the prayers going there are a lot of people here that need them.  Thank you guys and miss you tons.

Elder Hesselgesser