Grateful for Warm Showers!

Greetings from El Salvador. Things are going alright here. The work is slow, but that’s nothing new.  My companion and I are getting along fine. I’m getting used to the new area. It’s a lot more rural than SantaAna. It’s a little bit more dangerous too, like more gang activity. But nothing has happened yet. One of the things I love most is that the showers here are naturally warm… ha-ha. In some areas here they have to ''bucket bathe'' which is exactly what it sounds like, dumping buckets of water on yourself. Luckily our house is really nice and we have showers.

We had a really good multi-zone meeting last week and we talked a lot about the atonement. The atonement is so much more complex than I thought, and it’s crazy how little we really know about it. I guess that’s where faith comes in. But yeah we watched this talk by Bruce R. McConkie. It was the last talk he gave before he died. It’s a must see if you haven’t already seen it. But I’m sure you guys saw it live back in the day. But anyways his testimony of the atonement was so powerful.  I love you guys so much. I know Christ lives and loves us, and gave everything to save us.

I don’t have any pictures of my new area but I found an old picture from my time in Guatemala. It’s weird to see how much I’ve changed. Also a huge cicada, as big as my finger… so gross! And of course, the token animal picture of some cats…no kids this week.

Love Elder Hoy

Almost a year ago in Guatemala

Giant Cicada

Cats.cats,cats

Changes!!!

CHANGES! SO... yeah as I’m sure you all figured out, I had changes! My new area is called Turin, and the zone is Turin as well.  It’s about 30 minutes away from Santa Ana. I’m no longer district leader which is fine by me. I was getting super stressed from that. Now I’m just senior companion. My new comps name is Elder Candray. He is from California, but both of his parents were born here in El Salvador. He has 19 months in the mission.

Did you guys watch "One Good Man" yet? I loved that movie so much. The new area is really hot. It feels like I’m back in AZ! I am really going to miss my old area though. It was hard saying good bye to everyone. It’s crazy how attached you can get to people in just a few months. 

And yeah it’s crazy to see all the sisters that are going out on missions. A third part of the missionaries in my mission are sisters now. It's so great! But yeah... I love you guys a lot! I only have about a year left... ha-ha!

Elder Hoy

My Old Companion

My New Companion

Saying Good-bye is Hard!

Things are Better!

Hey family.  How are things going back home?  Things are getting better here. This week was a lot better than last week.  We have started working a lot better with the members so now we are finding a lot of new people to  teach. I watched this one church movie called ''One Good Man'' that made me laugh and at the same time inspired me and helped me a lot. I highly recommend it for a FHE or something.

 And yeah… Jaime and his family came to visit me and we went out to lunch.  It was really good to see them.  That’s what some of the pictures are of.

Juan Antonio still hasn’t been able to get married yet because his wife Noe has problems with her documents. So now I don’t know when they are going to be able to get baptized.

 I can’t wait until General Conference. It’ll be really good to hear and watch ! Our mission is soooo small that we have zone meetings every week. I think I’ve gotten taller and gained a little bit of weight...not much though.

I might have changes on Wednesday. If I don’t write you next Friday then that means that I had changes and my new day to write will be Monday.

 I love you guys a ton! Here are some pictures of me and cute kids and stuff. My pictures are always with niños… cuz I love them. I LOVE YOU ALL! 

Elder Hoy

Thumbs Up!

Jaime, Harlan and Family

Guapos Chicos!

Hermosos Ninos!

Streets of Santa Ana

 

Baptism Date Set

This week has been a little challenging. We are struggling to find new people to teach and the people that we are teaching aren’t progressing very much. Other than that, things are going really good. We have been working more with the investigators of the Hermanas that got taken out of this area. 

We set a baptism date with a 13 year old girl that we have been teaching for the 27th of this month. That will be great! We are also hoping to put a date with Oswaldo. He is the guy that plays the guitar. He just has to get married first. That’s a really big problem in this country. The law of chastity and the Word of Wisdom are probably the two most difficult commandments for the people here. Everyone drinks coffee and the people don’t like to get married here.

The picture is of me and a boy named Christian. He is a very special son of an awesome Sister here. I love him so much. I told his mom that you taught a seminary class for special needs kids and she wishes you were here to teach her son:-)

Oh ...and in 10 days I’ll complete 11 months! Almost to the 1 year mark! Pretty crazy to think about! Well I love you guys a ton! Hope y’all have a fantastic week!

Love, Elder Hoy

Big Smiles from Christian and I

Work is Slow but Going...

Sounds like you guys had a fun week! Ours was alright. The work is going a little slow but it’s still going. We’re teaching the investigators that the hermanas were working with.  Yesterday we went and visited one of them. He is doing good. We are going to go see him again on Tuesday and set a baptism date for him. He is teaching guitar lessons to the members there and I was able to go and help him in the class.

Ummm… as far as stuff goes for you to send, more pictures of the family would be nice and anything else you want to throw in there. Here’s some pictures of your handsome sonJ.  I’ve adopted the Latino trend of slim fit everything J

I love you soooooo much momma. You’re the best mom any one could ever have asked for. Thank you for all of the wonderful things you taught me. I’m sorry if I ever did anything to disappoint you or make you mad. I loveeeee  youuuuuu!!!!

Elder Hoy

Your Handsome Son "Latino Style"

Stressful but Learning a Lot!

Hey Momma I’m doing good. This week was kind of rough. They couldn’t find a house for the sister missionaries so they had to send them away to other zones. So now I’m in charge of taking care of their area and their progressing investigators as well. I’ve been on interchanges with one of the assistants to the president for the last two days which is stressful but it’s also fun and I’m learning a lot. 

ASHLEY IS PREGNANT??? Finally!!! I’m going to be an uncle again! That’s so exciting! It’s good to hear that Travis is finally getting married as well! When he dropped me off at the airport when I left buffalo, he told me good luck on my mission. Then…I told him to get married. I’m glad he is following the wise counsel I gave himJ

Bummer to hear that the west is in a drought, but I guess that’s nothing new. I haven’t used my camera much at all much lately. I did send a picture of a cool cathedral here in Santa Ana and a pic of me my companion and one of the assistants.

Hey… guess what?  I realized I already have 10 months now... and in like 2 and a half months, I’ll get to talk to you guys again on Mothers Day!  I loved the valentines box. Do you think you’ll be able to send me those books that I asked for? OK thanks mamasita.  I love you a ton.

Elder Hoy

Cool Cathedral in Santa Ana

My Companion, AP and Me!

Happy Valentines Day!

February 14th, 2014
Ok ... I was going to ask you to send me some things but I wasn’t expecting that package. Thank you for the surprise Valentines Box. I loved it!

This week was really stressful. Being district leader is fun but a lot more work. And it didn’t help that four of the sisters in my district got their house robbed. They lost a lot of stuff. I felt really bad. They have to find a new house to live in or they will have to close their area. And they have 2 baptism dates. So today we are going house hunting for them.

But I’m enjoying having Elder Elias as a companion. Yeah, he is pretty small, but he is really funny. He is from Peru and his Spanish is kind of hard to understand, but I’m getting used to it. He’s a crazy little dude but he knows a ton about the bible. He is very good at what we call ''macheteing'' which is basically like bible debating, something that I’m not very good at. But we are getting along great.

I always show off the picture you sent me of the Gilbert temple at sunset. Everyone thinks it’s so beautiful. I’m sad I’m going to miss the dedication. The work is going alright. We are having a hard time finding new people to teach, but the search goes on. But I love you lots momma. Say hi to everyone!

“I’ll love you forever, I’ll like you for always, as long as I’m living, my mommy you’ll be”! Happy Valentine’s Day! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

Elder Hoy