4.29.2012

Good morning!

 

So I wonder what was similar to my mission and Dad's mission. Did Dad keep a pretty good journal when he was in Michigan? I want to know a little bit more about Dad's experiences as a missionary sometime. I remember that he was the "financial secretary" in Lansing for a while and that everyone always thought they were the feds, but not much else besides that. And the main thing I remember about Tyler's was his experiences with the dogs, as well as trying to get everybody married so that they could get baptized. It's funny to think how different the missions are, but similar at the same time.

The weather here has been pretty good as well. Walking around in a long sleeved shirt feels great, and it'll be time to put on a short sleeved shirt before we know it! I'm excited for the warmer weather and color. New York gets really gray and brown during the winter, but there will be a ton of trees blooming before we know it! Every morning we go on a run around our apartment, and there is a big apple orchard we run by. It'll be really great when it's all blooming!

To answer some questions:

In the NYUM, we get $160 a month for food, etc. Normally, that's pretty good. Because we had to start in Massena with nothing, it was a little tight at the start, but we're doing okay now. Hopefully we got our money for May today.. The mission is teaching me budgeting from month to month! If you've only got 10 bucks left, you just live with what you've got until you have more. However, it's taught me that living like that (as much of the world does) is not fun. I want to be smart with my money and get a good job so I'm not worried if I have enough for groceries the last week of the month. The things you learn! I haven't had any leftover MSF (missionary supply fund) for a few months, but when we have extra we try to fix up the apartment. Right now we just have a small frying pan that can cook ~3 eggs, so I'm going to try and save a little money this month so that we can buy a nice big frying pan for missionaries to use in the future.

My companion is doing good. He's learning a lot and improving on his teaching every day. It's weird.. I didn't really feel inadequate when I was a Zone Leader in Syracuse and had 28 missionaries looking up towards me, but I feel like I'm showing all of my faults and passing them on.. It's definitely a humbling experience training new missionaries.. We get along pretty well. We went to "Return and Report", a meeting in Utica for all of the new missionaries when they've been out for a month, and they separate the new/old missionaries and talk about how things are going. He told me he was surprised at how much some of the new missionaries were railing on their trainers. He thought most of them would have gotten along as well as we have. So that's good!  He loved doing Motocross and working on his El Camino back home, so we don't have a ton in common, but we really do get along well. He's a funny kid and he's really good at focusing on the work and just working hard. He has 2 sisters that are pregnant now as well. They're due this summer. Pretty cool!

 

Massena is doing well. This past week was a little slower because we drove to Utica and back (4.5 hours each way), but Return and Report went well. I feel like I learned a lot and figured out a few more things I can do to help out here. It was really cool to see a lot of my mission friends there too. Elders McPhee, Davis, and Chandler from my group coming out were all there. I also got to see Elder Tingey, (one of the assistants to President Wirthlin) one more time before he goes home. That was good. He was a really great missionary and it's crazy to think he's going home in 3 days.. Crazy!

We have some investigators that are really progressing well. The hurdles you have to overcome in missionary work are a little crazy sometimes, but it all works out in the end. We had a few come to church this week and we're going to work really hard and hopefully get a whole bunch of them to church next week. They really like what we've taught them all so far though.

It's crazy to think about how fast time goes by. All of the people I knew in High School are graduating this year! Heather and Tyler and finishing school. The Searle twins are old enough to DRIVE!?! That is SO WEIRD to think about.. It's crazy how quick the days and months go by. And everybody just tells me it goes by quicker and quicker the older you get. Scary! It tells me that we just need to make the most of it while we can. We can't just sit around waiting for life to happen to us, we just need to get up and make it happen! One thing that Elder Bednar talked to us about that really made an impact on me is that we as people are meant to ACT. (2 Nephi 2:14; 10:23; Helaman 14:30- I recommend looking these up and seeing what it means to you). God has created us with agency, which is the ability to choose and act upon whatever we desire, good or bad. This simple principle of the gospel has really opened up my mind and helped me see the point/purpose of life a lot more. I am determined that I will be someone who acts, and is not just acted upon, throughout the rest of my life. If you make that decision to act, you can accomplish amazing things.
 

It's cool to think that it's almost May! That's a pretty big month for our family (with my birthday and Dads).  Then before you know it, it'll be Tyler's birthday and Heather will be having a baby! That's really cool!

One thing I've been listening to a lot lately is David Tolk's album, Grace. He does really beautiful hymn arrangements. I know that you'd probably like it a lot. You should check Deseret Book or iTunes and see if he has any more albums out.

It's going to be really good to get to talk to you all on Mother's Day. This year has gone by really fast so far. It doesn't seem like too long ago that I was in Owego! But things here are good. I'm continuing to learn and grow and hope that all is going well for you at home. Thanks again for everything you do for me. I really appreciate it!

Love you,

Elder Hussey