Category: Mission

Hey everyone!

Last week was a little bit slow – we’ve been knocking a LOT and we had a lot of lessons lined up, but everyone kept canceling! Which isn’t awesome… but this week will be better!

Tuesday

P-day!! 😁 We started out by waking up early – like as in 5:30 a.m early… That’s even worse than waking up for seminary! We went to go play pickleball at a park near the church, so that was really fun! Elder Hale and I SMOKED the trainers (Elder Balls and Willardson), and it was tons of fun! Also pretty hot! 🔥 We went shopping at Walmart to get our weekly food supplies, and then went to the mall with the whole district, got some Panda Express (my first semi-real Asian food here?) and then just kind of walked around. Yvette dropped us to join an evangelical church (which stinks, but at least she’s finding Christ in her life!) Then we just kind of wrapped up the day by doing laundry, and getting to bed!

Wednesday

Not much happened… We had 6 lessons planned, but most of them fell through… 😭 We got two LMPs (lessons with members participating) in though! One was with Kristina, who is on date. She’s currently 90+ days sober, and is currently trying to get off smoking as well! One was with Nathan, who is also doing pretty well! We taught him the whole restoration of the gospel, and we got to meet one of his daughters named Annabelle! She was really nice, and maybe we can get her baptized too…?? 👀 We then had dinner with the Smith’s (a young couple), who made us pancakes… Sister Smith was really cool! She watches tennis, just like me! And she plays volleyball too! Brother Smith is also awesome, he served his mission in Washington! He also makes some REALLY GOOD PANCAKES! They told us their entire backstory (how they met and such), and we ran a call with Nathan! 📞

Thursday

Not our best day… We had 7 lessons, which ALL fell through… 😠 So, we knocked! A lot… We met with the Macy’s (they were nice enough to invite us over for dinner a few hours before, knowing we didn’t have anyone for dinner…) Brother Macy is the GOAT!!! Literally the greatest ward mission leader ever… So that made the day better! but it was really just a long and painful day of knocking nonstop. However, at the end, I got to do an exchange with Elder Willardson! So we’re together for Friday. Also, Elder Balls gave me the SIM card, so I’m in charge of texting people! And I have been texting friends in our area like CRAZY (for gospel-related purposes of course)!!! Nobody really responds though… Oh well! It’s the effort that counts!

Friday

My saddest day yet. Ok, well the exchange was really fun! Elder Willardson is awesome, and we knocked a lot of doors together. We also talked to this guy with the CRAZIEST story I’ve ever heard. Basically, from what he said: he’s a prophet who got called by Jesus himself in a vision, who ran away because he was scared (like Jonah)… He was then apparently chased by lightning as a punishment by God, and evil spirits were sent to attack him, and so he became an alcoholic to relieve the pain? He then went on a 2-year trial, where he preached the gospel to all the inmates, and so apparently God blessed him by making him not guilty of the crime? And now he preaches to different churches and basically sees if they align with the doctrine of Christ. It was a pretty crazy lesson… Then, my tire popped, so we had to walk to our next lessons. While knocking, we accidentally knocked on a member’s door, but she (Sister Broadbent) needed a blessing of comfort and healing, so it was kind of a miracle we stopped by! ✨️ Thennnnn Esther dropped us. WHICH WAS THE WORST PART OF THE WEEK! 😓 Cause she was like literally the perfect person to work towards a baptism. But, she said she felt too stressed and too open. So that kind of ruined my mood for the rest of the day, and honestly the week too… But then we met with the Macy’s again for dinner, so that was awesome! Like I said, they’re the best. And they’re baby is SO CUTE! Made me excited to have kids! (sadly not for a while though…) Then, in the night, I got Elder Balls back!

Saturday

Better than Friday! We fasted for breakfast and lunch with Elder Hale and Willardson for Nathan and one of their friends to work towards being baptized… We met with Nathan, so that was awesome! We taught him the entire plan of salvation with Brother Pinegar. We also met with this guy named Jay (who we found at the Walmart we went to on Tuesday), who is a wrestling coach! He was already a member, but has been inactive recently… He had all these questions about the gospel (Polygamy, blah blah blah), and we taught him the restoration and answered his questions. We then invited him to come to church! (which is a funny story, more on that later…) Balls and I then played a fun board game called Splendor (I’ve never heard of it, but it’s pretty cool!) We broke our fast with Hale and Willardson at the nearby Wendy’s 🥓 (reminded me of high school days…) Besides that, just a bunch of knocking…

Sunday

A pretty chill day! Met with a lady named María, and while Elder Balls talked to her about the gospel, I distracted her little kids with some magic tricks! Hahaha again, I just love little kids so much, they’re so cute and fun to be around. Then, stake conference! Kristina and Edgar came! Jay also came, and bro is crazyyyy! First off, he’s wearing the craziest fit ever, like a bright blue shirt and this backpack he’s wearing over the front. He gave us some uncrustables 🥪, so that was awesome! He also kinda went around and grabbed all the girls’ numbers that he could find… So that was funny! Also, he’d randomly just start raising his hands and say “hallelujah!” or “Amen!” whenever the speaker said something he liked… Also, after a special musical number from the YSA, he started clapping REALLY LOUDLY and Elder Balls had to quiet him down LOL it was reallyyy awkward. But he’s a really cool guy! Fun to talk to, and really nice. Elder Hale, Willardson, Balls, and I stayed after for a linger-longer! We ate some rock-hard baked potatoes, and we talked a bit to the mission president, President Loo, and his wife! They’re both so nice! They’re from Peru, so they are both learning English! So I’m really trying to work on my Spanish… Duolingo has been revived… We then did some weekly planning, called up some more people, and then had some meetings and did personal study!

Monday

This morning started out AWESOME!! We got 2 referrals overnight, which we called and scheduled appointments with both of them before 8 am! So that’s already 2 new people… then we did our district meeting (i played some gethsemane on the piano)… i also had a lesson with my in-field mentor, and she was really nice! We met with Gale and went through 2 Nephi 2 with her! She had some reallyyy cool insights and we talked about some good questions, like “Does Satan have agency?” We then had dinner at a place called Angie’s (I’ve never heard of it, but it was really good!!) Thennnn a monsoon started, which we had to bike and knock through. We met with a guy named Bobby! He has 2 kids (one was a 3 year-old girl who was SOO CUTE!) We went over the restoration with him and he wants to come to church! Then we did some calls later with Brother Macy!

TLDR

Pretty chill week – lots of effort on our part! But we didn’t really get a lot out of it which stinks… 2 ladies dropped us from baptism and we didn’t get as many new people ad we wanted… but this week is already looking better! So I’m pretty hopeful!

Hey everyone!

Today marks a full week I’ve been in the field! Despite my hopes, the MTC did not prepare me at ALL for what was to come in the field. I mean, of course, learning the lessons was nice, but I was not ready to knock at all. We’re knocking for 3+ hours per day, giving back-to-back lessons, and NONSTOP BIKING. Yep, I’m in a biking area. In Tucson. At least I’m getting my exercise in! I’m gonna go from a weak little Asian boy into a slightly less weak little Asian boy! Also, I am getting the best sleep of my LIFE here! 9+ hours every day, as compared to my 6-7 [hehe] hours back at home. Anyways, let’s get into the week.

Tuesday (8/4)

The worst day of sleep I’ve ever gotten in my life. 1 hour. I mean it was totally my fault I went to bed late, but that doesn’t mean I can’t complain. I had to wake up at 3:30 AM to get on this train to the airport. Said goodbye to the besties, Elder Goodfellow and Elder Tafisi… Elder Burgett was OUT but I already said bye the night before. Broooo I’m gonna miss them a lot. When we got out into the street, I was delegated to become the leader of our group of 24 to get everyone to the airport safely. I wish I could say I did a good job, but we missed the first bus… So we were rushing to get onto the next one which came 30 minutes later, and then finally we got to the airport. I met some cool people there that were also going to Tucson… Obviously I knew my MTC companion already (Elder Pieroth). But I met Elder Hale, Elder, Elder Baker, and Elder Rahn too, who were all pretty cool! They let me show some magic tricks as well.. On the plane ride, there was a protestant missionary (a middle-aged filipino lady) who wanted to have a “discussion” with us LDS missionaries. Oh boy. I mean she was completely surrounded by missionaries so everyone was like whispering to each other and telling each other what to say. But Elder Hale was the GOAT!! He spent like the entire 2 hours basically talking to this lady and not backing down. Shoutout to him, cause I mean he had no field experience… He’s gonna be a great missionary. He’s actually in my district now! When I stepped outside of the airport, HOLY!!!! That is the hottest air I’ve ever felt. 107 degrees!! We then met the mission president, President Loo (pronounced “Low”, found that out quickly…) Anyways, the rest of the day was kinda just orientation and all. We also went to the Tucson temple. It was so pretty! We then slept at a senior missionary couple’s home. I PROMISE NOT EVERY DAY IS GOING TO BE AS LONG AS THIS!

Wednesday

So, rough morning. First off, I fell off my bed. I was on like this inflatable mattress on a metal frame, and like the whole mattress just fell off the frame and dumped me onto the floor. But to make up for that, I got my trainer! ELDER BALLS!!!! It was kinda funny too (like his name), cause we talked a little bit before and I was like I hope I get you as my trainer! So that was really cool! And then he told me we were in a biking area. In 100+ degree weather. Not so cool. Anyways, he’s really chill but also really mission-focused, which is the type of person I want to be. So I’m glad I got a great example as my trainer! We went shopping (I got my burger supplies of course…) Then we go tracting (knocking on doors) for a little bit (straight to work!)  Not really any luck, as I kind of expected, but we met with this guy named Nathan who is really fun! He actually just got out of jail (not sure what for) and he has 2 daughters, both teenagers. He always has the CRAZIEST stories every time we meet him, but he’s really cool, and we put him on date for baptism! First day! I mean it was all Elder Balls… but I explained a little bit of stuff too! Then, we met with a guy named Danny after, who’s a video game developer just like me! So that conversation was really fun to have (not very gospel related, but at least I got to form a connection with him…) Then, I made me and Balls some burgers for dinner (which he said was “gas”). Then we went to bed.

Thursday

We went for a run in the morning (Elder Balls is a state track runner, and I’m a state champion in sleeping in, so I struggle to keep up at times…) Today wasn’t too crazy.. We went tracting and got a few people who were interested! We also taught a lesson to a guy with the hermanas! The guy had 3 dogs, who supposedly can (and has) bite people’s faces off. Yikes.. As scary as the dogs were though, he seemed very open to having gospel discussions with us, so we’ll be back!

Friday

We taught a 2-hr lesson to a guy named Jason and his wife, Evalina. We basically covered all the lessons, and Evalina made us sandwiches! We also might be back to help Jason install an AC mini-splitter in his house at some point… We also met with a media referral named Yvette. Her sister was transgender and kinda started bashing us and asking about our beliefs about transgender people, but we just said that we love her and accept her and she’s always welcome to church. And she liked that answer! So that’s a relief. She also asked if I have a brother… (presumably to date??) to which I laughed it off (sorry Caleb! 😆 jkjk) But Yvette wanted to meet again, and she seemed genuinely interested! Then we had dinner with the Gibson’s. They were super nice, and provided me with my first Mexican food in Tucson, some burritos! We also played Flip 7 with them and I showed them some magic.

Saturday

We met with Yvette, who we put on date for baptism! She was really happy and excited and started crying (in a good way i hope) when we told her about the gospel and that God loves her, and you could just tell the spirit was there. We also met with Nathan later and went over the restoration with him. Then we had dinner with the Goodall’s, which is a REALLY fun family. They had 4 kids and they were all talkative and fun to talk to! The youngest girl, McKinsey, made me a bracelet! (Shown in the picture below) Then, we met with Danny with Brother Macy and talked about Lehi’s vision. Thennnn Elder Balls’s tire popped and so we walked home.

Sunday

Church! Yvette sadly didnt come to church (she accidentally slept in…), but Nathan did! Nothing crazy interesting happened, but Nathan is getting wayyy better! We taught him about the word of wisdom and some other stuff about the restoration, and we’re hoping to get him baptized soon! We also did some weekly planning, and then had dinner with the Leigh’s! They’re a pretty young family, and Brother Leigh is a software developer kind of like me! So we nerded out a lottt about that. They gave us pizza, and I ate wayyyy more than I should HAHA 😭

Monday

‼️ MIRACLE DAY ‼️

We met with a girl named Esther in the morning, and she had the CRAZIEST miracles happen in her life. Apparently we came at just the right time, because she had been searching all her life for a church to go to, and she had just started to see God’s love in her life. Also, cause her name was Esther, I shared a scripture from Esther (Esther 4:16) and talked about having faith over fear. We invited her to get baptized on Sept 5th, so now we’re completely lined up with baptisms for the next few weeks… awesome!! And then I got absolutely BAPTIZED IN THE RAIN!! (No not literally baptized.) But i looked like I had been. It was my first monsoon… and it was a LOT of rain. And nonstop. Andddd we were biking in it. I got so soaked. It sucked, but at least it cooled us off a little! We then got some costa vida enchiladas and I showed some cops a magic trick and talked to them.

TLDR

Anyways, things are going pretty well! Its hot and we’re on bikes, but at least i can make better food here in the field. We put 3 people on baptism in the first week!! And we have 18 more lessons coming up in the next week… super excited! See you next week!

Elder Andrew Hyun

Hey everyone!

This last week was week one of the Provo MTC!

I flew out last Wednesday at like 6 in the morning, which was even worse than waking up for seminary… and funny story – right before I boarded the plane, we saw a group of like 8 missionaries! They all were getting back from their missions in Mongolia! Anyways I flew out to Salt Lake (the first time I’ve flown without using any electronics)!

My grandparents came and picked me up and we grabbed lunch at olive garden with my GOATed cousin Jayden! (He’s actually also starting in a week for MTC, which is super cool!) Then, I got dropped off at the MTC.

Those elders serving in Mongolia gave me some advice about the MTC, basically don’t break the rules and follow the Spirit! How hard could it be?

Pretty dang hard! First of all, the food is TERRIBLE! My first meal was this mysterious meat with a mysterious sauce with boiled peas or something like that on the side… the only thing that probably tastes good in the cafeferia is the soda, which I’ve been avoiding and have not partaken of! (Yet)

The classes are pretty alright… I mean we just basically go over preach my gospel the entire time and do some role playing. Its good practice, but it does get boring doing it over and over again… I don’t wanna sound dumb and prideful but I honestly feel ready to just get to the field already so I can start figuring things out on my own… And cooking myself some hamburgers!!

Also, the temperature?? 105 DEGREES!! And I’m not even in Arizona yet!!

My district is pretty awesome! My companion, Elder Pieroth, is really easy-going and fun to hang out with… My goats who i’ve been playing lots of card games with – Elder Tafisi, Elder Goodfellow, Elder Mangum, and Elder Burgett, they’re really fun to hang out with! And then DL Elder Thackeray might legit be a scriptorian, and his companion Elder Blackhurst is a total goofball but a really fun guy to be around. And all of the Sisters are very nice and fun to be around as well!

On Thursday (7/30), I got VERY very sick… Like I missed all my classes and a workshop along with every meal… I also threw up in the shower.. I spent basically the entire day sleeping on-and-off. But Friday, I’m feeling much better!

I’ve been illegally dealing card tricks… (Cause technically you’re not supposed to bring playing cards, but I brought 2 decks… 🤫 I haven’t been caught yet!) I’ve gotten some respect from the zone leader and district leaders for blowing their minds, so that’s something! I put a video down below of one of my favorite ones… but everyone kind of knows me as Elder Magic now HAHA!

One thing I do wish is that I had a piano to play some of my songs on… I played piano for sacrament meeting last week but I could only play church songs… I’m afraid I’ll forget how to play all of my non-church songs I love!

We also went to the Paysen temple 2 times! We did proxy endowment, initiatories, and baptisms. Twas very fun, and the celestial room was HUGE compared to the one in Seattle… We go back on Saturday for proxy sealings!

Also, an elder in our residence hall escaped from the MTC?? And then was brought back for questioning… YIKES!

Also, I met up with an Ozone from last year’s Camp Helaman! Elder Lung… (The Asian guy I took a selfie with!) He’s the only one I actually know here from home, so it was pretty awesome to meet him here!

Anyways, next email I’ll likely be in Tucson! I cannot WAIT for that! And authentic Mexican food…

Hasta luego!

Elder Hyun