We didn't receive a blog update from Elder Hull this week, but here is an excerpt from his email to his mom:
I've been super sick! It's just a head cold bug that moves into the lungs and throat that's been slaying the whole mission. It's been super frustrating, because we want to go out and do so much missionary work, and my body just isn't up to it. Today has been a super bad day, too. Normally I love the rain. In NY, I hate it. I hate it even more when I'm sick, aching all over, tired, with a sore throat and my voice almost gone, with soaked jeans and a cold wind chilling my bones.
Yesterday I woke up and the thought crossed my mind that I didn't want to be a missionary, and that I just wanted to go home. I chased that thought out. (I'm pretty stubborn about staying on my mission.) So, in short, I needed your comments on asking for comfort. Thank goodness for moms- love you <3
Your lesson sounds like something we use to teach the restoration. We have a set of Jenga with all the little blocks labeled with parts of the true church. As we take stuff out, we talk about the apostles dying and the religion of men removing plain and precious things, and then it eventually falls. Then, as we put it back together to play again, we talk about Joseph Smith receiving the parts of the restored gospel. It's a pretty effective way of teaching the restoration, isn't it?
So, I was reading over some past emails (I'm sick and don't have a whole lot else to do), I realized that I didn't really update you on my birthday/conference weekend. General Conference was great. In the MTC, when Elder Nelsen came, I noticed that he would always take notes on other speakers, so I thought it would be a good idea to emulate him. I took some great notes, and enjoyed this conference a lot more than past ones. We made this little cookie-brownie cake stuff for my birthday. I'll attach a picture. Also, speaking of food, I love NY Chinese food! Yes it's greasy and definitely not healthy, but it's yummy :) A lot of my diet is a lot more Asian now. I'll attach a picture of my dinner yesterday. Now I just need some chopsticks... I also love Mexican food, like real Mexican food. It was a little bit of a surprise that what we call tacos back home are actually burritos, and tacos are smaller, and you warm up a bunch of tortillas and have, like, twelve of them. We had a Mexican barbecue with one of our investigators and our Zone Leaders. We grilled up some thin steak and some spicy pork, heated up some tortillas, made a good salad, blended up some jalapeños, tomatoes, and avocados to make some salsa picante. It was so good! Throw in some Jarritos soda, and you've got a great dinner!
We got pulled out of Priesthood yesterday because there was a guy hanging out around the bathroom, and nobody knew him. We sat down with him in a room along with the first counselor in the Branch (who is awesome!) and started to talk. It was somewhat evident that he wasn't all there. He kept on saying that he knew he needed help, but that he didn't want help from anyone, and that everyone is basura (trash). We just invited him to pray, and when he had prayed sincerely, to call us, and then showed him out. I think it's sad that there are people who earnestly believe that everyone is trash, and that Heavenly Father would think that. It's just sad. That's why I'm here, though!
With all my love,
Elder Richard Brandt Hull
I've been super sick! It's just a head cold bug that moves into the lungs and throat that's been slaying the whole mission. It's been super frustrating, because we want to go out and do so much missionary work, and my body just isn't up to it. Today has been a super bad day, too. Normally I love the rain. In NY, I hate it. I hate it even more when I'm sick, aching all over, tired, with a sore throat and my voice almost gone, with soaked jeans and a cold wind chilling my bones.
Yesterday I woke up and the thought crossed my mind that I didn't want to be a missionary, and that I just wanted to go home. I chased that thought out. (I'm pretty stubborn about staying on my mission.) So, in short, I needed your comments on asking for comfort. Thank goodness for moms- love you <3
Your lesson sounds like something we use to teach the restoration. We have a set of Jenga with all the little blocks labeled with parts of the true church. As we take stuff out, we talk about the apostles dying and the religion of men removing plain and precious things, and then it eventually falls. Then, as we put it back together to play again, we talk about Joseph Smith receiving the parts of the restored gospel. It's a pretty effective way of teaching the restoration, isn't it?
So, I was reading over some past emails (I'm sick and don't have a whole lot else to do), I realized that I didn't really update you on my birthday/conference weekend. General Conference was great. In the MTC, when Elder Nelsen came, I noticed that he would always take notes on other speakers, so I thought it would be a good idea to emulate him. I took some great notes, and enjoyed this conference a lot more than past ones. We made this little cookie-brownie cake stuff for my birthday. I'll attach a picture. Also, speaking of food, I love NY Chinese food! Yes it's greasy and definitely not healthy, but it's yummy :) A lot of my diet is a lot more Asian now. I'll attach a picture of my dinner yesterday. Now I just need some chopsticks... I also love Mexican food, like real Mexican food. It was a little bit of a surprise that what we call tacos back home are actually burritos, and tacos are smaller, and you warm up a bunch of tortillas and have, like, twelve of them. We had a Mexican barbecue with one of our investigators and our Zone Leaders. We grilled up some thin steak and some spicy pork, heated up some tortillas, made a good salad, blended up some jalapeños, tomatoes, and avocados to make some salsa picante. It was so good! Throw in some Jarritos soda, and you've got a great dinner!
We got pulled out of Priesthood yesterday because there was a guy hanging out around the bathroom, and nobody knew him. We sat down with him in a room along with the first counselor in the Branch (who is awesome!) and started to talk. It was somewhat evident that he wasn't all there. He kept on saying that he knew he needed help, but that he didn't want help from anyone, and that everyone is basura (trash). We just invited him to pray, and when he had prayed sincerely, to call us, and then showed him out. I think it's sad that there are people who earnestly believe that everyone is trash, and that Heavenly Father would think that. It's just sad. That's why I'm here, though!
With all my love,
Elder Richard Brandt Hull