2.25.2013

It has been another crazy week! I feel like I say that every week. But it sure does seem like a lot has been going on lately.
 

The NYUM is going from about 12 Sister Missionaries at the start of the year to somewhere around 48 by June. BIG change. Our zone has 4 sister companionships, so 8 total. It should stay somewhere around that for the time being, but who knows!
 

Speaking of Owego, they had a baptism this past week! There was a guy that I met and taught the Restoration to on my last day in Owego... And he got baptized! How cool is that!?!? Sweet stuff.

Also, we had another baptism in Syracuse! This was one of our investigators who is SO cool! He's changed his life so much in the past 2 months since we started teaching him. He had baptism as a goal right from the start, then he would always make changes to follow the commandments right when we taught him. We taught him the law of Tithing? He paid it the next week... Then got a much better job with better hours the next week. Cool stuff!
 

What else has happened.. I have the goal of getting caught up on my journal as my main P-Day activity every week, and it has yet to happen. I really feel bad! We've had 5 baptisms, the most people I've found in my mission, and everything with the Zone and being a Zone Leader, and not too much of it recorded. But, I'll make it a point to spend my time at night wisely so that I can at least get things recorded about the baptisms we've had, because I'll be really mad if I ever manage to forget about those.

Things are going good! It is truly amazing to see how great a mission is. I definitely love it. Every day is an adventure, and every moment is worth it.

I love you all! Thanks for everything you do. I really appreciate it all!
 

Thanks for everything,

-Elder Hussey

2.18.2013

I had a big email typed out so that you could hear about the exciting week we had.. Then the email freaked out. Then locked me out. So I have an email most of the way done!... I may just have to send it next week.

(The following is a partial email that we were able to get)

Another awesome week! One of our awesome investigators got baptized just this last week. She is so awesome! Elder Simmonds found her right before I got to Syracuse. Her Mom is a member of the Church that hasn't been super active in the past, but she was really interested in learning about the church. Needless to say, she knows her stuff and got baptized.It was definitely a really good service and was a lot of fun. As I'm sure you can tell, Elder Simmonds and I are both having a lot of fun and the work is going really well.

This past week was a little bit crazy... Our Zone now has 13 different areas! Wednesday and Thursday were really crazy because of this.. We were driving around a lot, talking a TON on the phone trying to figure stuff out, etc. I think Mom's advice about the "Work Smarter, Not Harder" is really good advice. Especially because in 5 weeks we'll be getting even more missionaries! Like 29 next time! Holy cow! I wonder what will happen that transfer... It'd be really fun to train a new missionary, but I LOVE Syracuse and the people we're teaching. I guess we'll find out in a little! Oh, and guess what? Because the MTC is now only 2 weeks instead of 3, the transfer cycle lost one week. This means that everyone that was already on missions will come home one weeks sooner than originally planned! That's super weird. Anyway!

Really cool! Also, we now have missionaries in the South Side of Syracuse! There names are Elder Evans (from Pocatello Idaho) and Elder Zenger (from Layton UT). Elder Zenger is one of the new 18 year old missionaries, and they're both great! We've been around them a lot.. Introducing them to less actives, helping them figure out how to get around, etc. It's going to be really fun having them so close here though!

Things are going to be very busy this transfer! I'm doing an exchange with the Assistants this week, another baptism on saturday, then another exchange the next week, then ZLC, then ZTM, and 4 other exchanges in the next 5 weeks. Crazy, huh? The nice thing is, we very rarely have nothing to do.

2.10.2013

Hey everybody!

What a crazy/good week! Seriously, it has been one of the craziest weeks of my life, but it's also been AWESOME!

Lets start with the Baptisms. Three of our investigators got baptized! It was SO great!  It was an awesome experience, and we found a new family to teach at the baptism!  Missionary work is awesome!

This week is going to be a little bit crazy... I'm still staying in Syracuse with Elder Simmonds. WHEW! Thank goodness. So as of today, our Zone has 7 companionships (14 missionaries) in it.. In 2 days, we will have 14 companionships. We are doubling size. It's going to be a little crazy! There are 7 new areas opening, and there will be 7 training missionaries in our zone. Needless to say, it's going to be a very exciting transfer! I can't even imagine how different it's going to be. Elder Simmonds and I are both really excited and about as ready as you could be for a change like this.

It will also be a great week because we have another baptism! Crazy, huh? We're really excited for it. We might have one the next week too! Elder Simmonds and I are both being blessed a lot by the Lord. It's been amazing. We are losing about 75% of the people we work with once Syracuse is split (into 4 areas instead of 2), but we'll adapt and get a lot better at tracting!

Last Monday we went to the Zoo which was really fun. It was good to get to spend time with the missionaries in our old district. 

Here's a little more info about Syracuse-Nemo, that "SuperStorm" that was coming at us wasn't too bad. We got somewhere around 10-12 inches, which was a lot, but nothing we can't handle.

Syracuse is super funny! We see/hear all sorts of funny things every week... Picture 580 is one that I really enjoyed seeing. (Email was too big.. I'll send it next week! Sorry!)

I had my first time someone thought we were feds the other day! We knocked on the door, heard a bunch of scrambling inside, then heard someone whisper- "Wait, those aren't cops!" before they opened the door. 

The work here is still going good! This next week will change things up a lot, but it'll all go good. Holy cow.. This is going to be a wild transfer, that's for sure! Because of the MTC Training Time being decreased, this is only a 5 week transfer. So in the next 5 weeks we'll have- 5 exchanges, ~4-5 baptisms, 7 brand new missionaries, etc. I don't think I'll be too bored for the next few months! :)

The mission is great though. I am definitely seeing how much the Lord blesses us as we sacrifice, are obedient, and always try and follow what his will is. I know that, and I'm learning a lot from it!

Thanks for all you do! 

Love you!

Elder Hussey

2.4.2013

Hello Family!

The work here is going great! Being a Zone Leader is full of new adventures.This past week, we went to Zone Leader Council again, which is really cool. We all get together with President Wirthlin and discuss things that are upcoming for the mission, things we need to train on, etc. It's been really cool to be able to present ideas that we have had and see them begin to be applied in the work. Then, a few of us were able to get dinner at a WAY good restaurant called Dinosaur Bar-BQ. Super good. Fun times. :)

 

This past week was very busy, and it looks like this one will be as well. We have 3 baptisms this upcoming week, with a few more happening in the upcoming weeks. We have been very blessed and have definitely seen the Lord helping us out. It's really cool to have so much great work happening and I feel like it's a huge growing/learning experience for me. It definitely is. I've grown a lot and can already see how immature I was back home. ;) Haha!

Things will be changing up this upcoming week.. We get transfer calls! I can't believe I've already been in Syracuse this long.. Crazy! But there will be a lot happening in the Syracuse Zone. We are opening around 5 new areas... Exciting! There will even be 4 more missionaries in Syracuse (8 total). That leads to fun things like getting supplies to new apartments, going through the 500 former records we have so we can divide them between us and the new area, etc. This is going to be a really wild week. But good and exciting.

I'll try and have more info to tell about Syracuse next week... It's been so busy I've gotten behind on my Journal even! It's kinda ironic that the most exciting/fun time of my mission makes me busy enough that I can't record everything that I would want to go back to later.. Oh well! That's what P-Day is for, huh?

I hope things are going good for all of you. Thanks for the updates of everything going on back home. 

Love you all! Thanks for everything you do.

You're ALL the best!

-Elder Mitch Hussey