1.27.2014

Good afternoon family!

It is so good to hear from you guys! I just got a really nice letter from Dad in the mail this morning.. I really will start getting letters sent again in the near future.. Preparation days have been a little crazy lately.. Falling behind is no fun.

So to answer a few questions and as a few things before I get into how our week went..

- Last week we found one public library that was still open. That was kind of a relief for us, because we had Zone Conference the next day, followed by an exchange, so we didn't know what was going to happen with emailing..
- Fayetteville is the Ward that we serve in, but the Sister Missionaries are missionaries in Fayetteville. We (the Elders) cover an area called DeWitt. DeWitt is actually about 5 minutes away from the Syracuse Chapel, but about 20 minutes away from the Fayetteville Chapel. Crazy Ward Boundaries!

We had a really good week here in DeWitt. Last P-Day was pretty fun. Elder May and I went "Thrift Shoppin"and got some cool stuff. Elder May got shoes for $2.50, and I bought a ceramic bowl for my Oatmeal... I feel like I've aged a lot on my mission. Haha! We also went to a men's clothing store that was having a sale. Unfortunately, the ties were still around $40, but we found some really warm, sweet hats on clearance for $5.00. Here's our picture modeling our victories from last week.

(I'll try to send more normal pictures next week.. Sorry Mom!)

Just because I've been on my mission for 18 months and have had a lot of cool experiences doesn't mean I don't make dumb (funny) mistakes every once in a while... In fact, it happens more often than it should. On Tuesday of last week, we had Syracuse Zone Conference.. We got everything ready and had a slight delay getting off because of bad weather, but got on the road and were excited to see everyone there.. About 10 minutes into the drive, Elder May commented saying "This is a really odd way to get to Liverpool..." to which I responded- "Wait.... Liverpool?" I had accidentally thought we were going to the Syracuse Chapel instead of Liverpool. But, it all ended up being okay. We made it there on time.. Almost. :) So that was a pretty funny moment.

After Zone Conference, we started an exchange with the Cortland Elders. I took over in DeWitt (that was quick!) and was with Elder Arbuckle. That was exciting, because about 10 months ago when I was in Massena, he came to Massena on his first exchange. It was cool to see the changes in him in the past 10 months and get to see what would happen when I took over the area. We've really continued to do a lot of finding this past week, and have yet to find any new investigators. We did have a guy we tracted into yesterday say that we could come back tonight, so we'll hopefully be able to start teaching him. We've also made contact with a few less-active members of the Church that seem receptive to us coming back and helping them return to the Church. Things are moving along, and I'm developing patience while we're at it. Life's good.

I'm continuously amazed at the way that the Lord's work is accomplished. I know that he is active in our lives if we are willing to slow down and seek him. I've seen (even as a missionary) how busy life can be, and how the small and simple things can start to slide downhill when life gets busy or times get tough. Luckily, I've seen that though, which allows me to make changes, make a difference, and make sure that doesn't hold me back. I'm grateful that we get to utilize the Atonement and repent, and I know that the Lord can change us and help us progress, if we are humble enough to let him do that. I love being a missionary and I love all of you guys. Stay warm and stay safe.

Have a great week!

-Elder Hussey

1.20.2014

Hello Family!

January is going by really quickly.. It's really scary to see how quick the time goes by! Elder May's year mark... I'm not sure! We have someone that signed up to feed us, but I'm not sure if there will be anything else exciting going on. We'll probably find some kind of adventure!

So things here in Fayetteville are going good! The Ward is way great! We got fed 5 times last week and are signed up for 5 times this week, so I probably won't be losing any weight while I serve here. We had a "Munch and Mingle" after Church this Sunday, and the primary kids sang a happy birthday song to our Bishop. There were about 35-40 kids at church... A little different than Massena and Lowville! But the people are friendly and like the missionaries quite a bit. I'm surprised to see how big the Ward boundaries are though. I expected them to be a lot smaller compared to Lowville, but we actually cover a pretty big geographical area! Some of the areas we drive to can be about 30 minutes away. However, we have a set of Sister Missionaries in Fayetteville as well, so we don't cover all of it.

Because we switch cars every other week with the South Syracuse Missionaries, we didn't have a car last week. Luckily, the weather was really nice for most of it. However, it got pretty chilly on Saturday and Sunday. We were riding the bus around trying to get to the areas we worked.. I have been really spoiled so far having a car. It's crazy to think that so many people don't have cars and have to rely completely on the bus system! It takes us about an hour to get to downtown Syracuse on the bus system, and we switch the car back on Mondays. So it's one week with the car, one week without. Keeps it pretty exciting! It'll also help me get back into shape... all the walking we did this past week wore us out!

The biggest thing we're trying to do here in DeWitt is find new investigators. It's kinda like when I got to Lowville- We just don't have many people to teach. I've learned that the Lord is willing to bless us and help us, especially when we are willing to do his work, so we just need to be diligent, obedient, and do our best. I'm sure we'll see good things happen and see the work increase. We're planning a "Ward Missionary Blitz" that will be happening in a week or so, that might help us find some new people. Being a missionary is great though! The variety of things that have happened on my mission have taught me a lot.

One thing that I've really seen this past week is how easy it is to talk with people about the gospel. We have had several good conversations with people that we might not have talked to if we weren't missionaries. Just smiling and saying hi to someone in the store can do a lot for someone, and it also brings opportunities to share the joy of the Gospel with others. Asking a friend if they have anything happening on Sunday provides a chance to invite them to Church. Mentioning someone you knew that served where someone is from, etc. Back before the mission, I never really even thought about talking to people about Church. That's something I hope that I will do differently when I am no longer a full-time missionary. I guess time will tell!

Thanks again for all of your love. The preparation days since Christmas have all been really busy, so I'm trying to get letters sent out to people who sent things to me.. Sorry I'm slow! I love you all though and hope that you are doing great things!

Love,

-Elder Hussey

1.13.2014

Hey family!

I am doing great! I hope that things are going well for all of you back home. Fayetteville is really good and Elder May is awesome! We get along so well.. It's actually been really weird. We do a TON of the exact same things, and we've probably said the exact same thing at the exact same time about 8-10 times already. It's been good and we have laughed a lot already.

 

Leaving Lowville was a little bit tough. The weather was WAY bad the during the week before transfers.. One day, the HIGH temp for the day was -4... The low was -26. And that doesn't include windchill... It was SO cold! But Elder Sedgwick and I bundled up and still got out to work! It was sweet!

 

 

Saying goodbye to everyone I loved in Lowville was tough, but saying goodbye to the crazy weather made it a little bit easier.... ;)

 

DeWitt is pretty cool! It is pretty much the suburbs of Syracuse. The people have been really nice and everything has been good. The really nice thing... it's so warm! The high here in Syracuse the other day was about 60 degrees. The snow all melted and we didn't have to wear coats. That was great.

 

The Fayetteville Ward is quite a bit bigger than I'm used to now. Being in Branches for the past year has really changed my expectations for Church! So when I saw a lot of kids come into the building, I didn't quite know what to do! There are a lot of young families though and everyone loves the missionaries. It'll be really fun serving here.

 

Elder May is from Arizona and has been on his mission a little bit under a year. He's a hard worker and knows that you can have fun on your mission too. Like I mentioned earlier, we get along really well and have a lot of fun. He said that I remind him of his best friend back home, and he reminds me a lot of TJ as well. We will have a lot of fun serving together.

 

The work here is going good as well. We don't have many people we're meeting with as of now, but we're working on that. We had a sweet investigator that we taught who is way cool and I can tell that he has been prepared for the Gospel. However, we helped him pack up a uHaul this Saturday, then he moved to Buffalo after church on Sunday... Dang. 

 

He is a great example of someone who had no idea he even needed the Gospel. Something prompted him to meet with the missionaries, then they had a strong experience with the Spirit and helped him identify it, and he's been progressing well since. The missionaries in Buffalo have already contacted him and are probably way excited to be meeting him.

 

Unfortunately, we don't have a washer or dryer here in DeWitt, and we also have to go to downtown Syracuse to drop off the car for the Syracuse South Elders, so P-Day is going to be a little hectic while I'm here.

 

Know that I love serving as a missionary. I continue to learn and grow in my relationship with Christ and love his Gospel. I love being here in New York and think that serving a mission is one of the best decisions I could have ever made. Thank you all for supporting me and making it possible for me to do that. We'll talk to you next week!

-Elder Hussey

1.6.2013

Hey Family!

SO.......................... Somebody is getting transferred.. Just letting you know. But, for anticipation, I'll be putting that information later in the email. :)


Mom asked what missionaries do on New Years. This New Years was pretty exciting! We're supposed to try and get appointments, but if we couldn't get anything set up, we were supposed to go inside when it got dark. We had a fantastic dinner with a few members at the Furr's home and then headed to Carthage. Because we were having an exchange with the Carthage Elders, we planned with them for the next day, then spent the night there. It was pretty fun!

The next day, Jan 1st, we had District Meeting! We had a really good training on the Spirit. We talked a lot about how we can have spiritual experiences-
1. Individually,
2. As a companionship
3. In missionary experiences

It went really well and a lot of the comments people made really opened my eyes up. If we can sanctify ourselves to the point that we can have frequent spiritual experiences, our Faith will continue to increase. If we're having spiritual experiences with our companion, then the relationship will strengthen and have a solid foundation. The importance of being prepared so that we can feel the Spirit, then recognizing it and talking about that with others gives us the opportunity to all help each other grow spiritually. It's vital in any relationship that the Spirit is involved if we want it to be Eternal, because temporal things fade away and don't last into the eternities.
 
After District Meeting, we all took pictures together. It was really good, but weird, because we knew that there were going to be a lot of changes happening with Transfers. We had all gotten pretty close to each other through the past few months and it's hard to see the District split up. But, it'll be good. Everyone will have great experiences and continue to learn and grow!


So, as you may have guessed, I'm getting transferred. I'm going to Dewitt, which is a part of the Fayetteville Ward. It's right next to Syracuse in the nice suburban area! My new companion will be
Elder May.  I don't know much about him, but I've heard he's really fun and fun to serve with. That will be really cool, because I might get to go on exchange in Syracuse! That would be so cool! I am sad to be leaving Lowville, but I feel good about going to Fayetteville. It's going to be an adjustment getting used to serving in a Ward again, but I'll be able to learn a lot from it as well. Elder Sedgwick is staying in Lowville and will be joined by Elder Dutson. I don't know anything about Elder Dutson, but I know that this will be good for Elder Sedgwick. He has done so well and is constantly impressing me, so I know he will work hard and see a lot of miracles happen.
During our exchange in Carthage, it started to get REALLY cold. Like, the high temperature for the day was -4. The windchill temperature was -30. It was SO COLD! We just wrapped up and made sure we weren't too exposed to the wind and it was okay. Luckily, we didn't have to do much tracting. Dewitt only has a car half of the week, so I might need to buy some more thermals.. We'll figure that out when I get there I guess! (Just FYI, I might be buying some at Walmart today when we go shopping.) The weather right now is windy, and it is raining and snowing at the same time... Not sure how that happens, but it's totally happening! We're supposedly going to be hit with a few more feet of snow this week before transfers. Should be an adventure!

It's always kinda weird when transfers come up to see what happens. Most of the time, it isn't what I expect, but I know that President Wirthlin is inspired and that the Lord is in control. I'm excited for the upcoming transfer and I know that the work will continue to move forward! I know that good things will happen as we just do our best and let the Lord take care of the rest!

I love you guys! Thanks for all that you do. Take care and stay warm.

-Elder Hussey