Hola

From: Kyle Hudgins <kyle.hudgins@myldsmail.net>
Subject: Hola
Date: 29 Oct 2012 09:20:57 AM MDT

Hey family! Things are going well here in Argentina. It is really starting to heat up, it´s nice to here that you guys are getting some snow up there haha.

This week was a pretty good one. We had stake conference and we also had transfers. There weren´t many changes here in our district. Unfortunately the only one who is leaving is our zone leader Elder Heaps who is going to be the next assistant. So that was pretty sad. It was probably the best district I have ever been in. But it should be good because Elder Nance who was with me in Rawson is coming to be the new zone leader so I´m sure we will still have a great time.

So this week we were able to finally find Sebastian again. He moved and we weren´t able to find him for a while. But we finally got in contact with him and found his house. It was not easy to find his house either. Everywhere in Argentina there are like 5 houses behind the house that closest to the street so that makes it difficult. But we were able to teach him and his girlfriend and it was a really good lesson. His girlfriend doesn´t have very much religious background but she really liked the lesson. We weren´t able to have much time but we were able to bring the spirit while teaching the message of the restoration. It was awesome. So hopefully we can start teaching them more consitantly and get them going to church so they can progres toward baptism.

This week we were also able to talk to Federico. He is doing well and gave the final prayer in our lesson. He still hasn´t really thought about his own baptism but he recognizes the importance of baptism so thats good. He is still having a hard time coming to church because of futbol but hopefully he will be able to continue to feel the spirit and have desires to come.

So this week we had stake conference. It was really good but they talked a lot about eternal families and stuff which is not the best topic for a missionary to here but it was really good. I also saw Hna Ganga who was visting her daughter in Gaiman so that was awesome to see people from Trevelin. A sad thing is that they took out the missionaries in Trevelin. Its sad to hear but I think it will be for the best. I really loved those members there.

Well I hope you all have a wonderfull week full of great things to share with me next week! Love you all so much!

Elder Kyle Hudgins

¡Buen día!

From: Kyle Hudgins <kyle.hudgins@myldsmail.net>
Subject: ¡Buen día!
Date: 22 Oct 2012 07:52:30 AM MDT

Hello family and friends. Everything is going well here on this side of the earth! It sounds like things are great all the way up there. Its nice to finally be entering into summer here in Argentina but it is getting a little warm. But it is better than rain and snow I guess.

So this week was a really tough week but we sure had some good experiences. This week we went to a baptism. Elder Stokes and Elder Wagstaff taught the kid, Ezequiel that got baptized and we all went because he invited us all. He is a great kid who always comes along with us on p-days. Its a pretty awesome story that he has and how he was found. He was really happy to be baptized and bore his testimony to all of us. It really was an awesome baptismal service.

After that we had a stake mission activity. We all went to the Union 2 chaple and we watched the movie 17 Miracles. We didn´t have the best showing but the movie was great and I think everyone there was able to feel the spirit during the movie. After that we had another activity this time with the ward. Yesterday was mother´s day here in Argentina so the Elders quorum did a dinner for the mothers. We ate some fideos caseros. They were really good. But these activities really helped in getting our spirits up from this really dificult week.

This week we had a ton of appointments that fell though on us. I think we had at least 10 appointments that were really solid that did not go through. So that really was hard on Elder Ruano and I. We weren´t able to see the investigators that we put baptismal dates last week all this week. So that was really frustrating. But we were able to go and look for some old investigators. We found one. His name is Mario. Man does this guy smoke a lot. In our 45 min visit with him on Friday, I think he smoked 5 cigaretts. He says that he really wants to quit. So we set up a cita with him and we visited him yesterday. We talked about the atonemnet of Jesus Christ and how through its power he could stop smoking. We talked about praying, reading the scriptures and going to church, and how if he does those things he will be able to resist the temptation. He agreed to do all of it so we invited him to pray at the end of the lesson. He said he didn´t want to but we were persistant with him and he finally said the prayer. It was a simple and very powerfull prayer he gave. I felt the spirit really strong and I knew that God was there by his side ready to help him.

Well thats about all I have for today. I hope you all have a wonderfull week. I love you all!

Elder Kyle Hudgins

Hello family!!

From: Kyle Hudgins <kyle.hudgins@myldsmail.net>
Subject: Hello Family!!
Date: 15 Oct 2012 08:53:54 AM MDT

Hello everyone back home. Looks like you all had a good time this week with lots of fun things this week. Congratulations to Justin and Kennedy for getting married this pased week! Things sure are changing at home!

Well this week was a very good one. We were able to find some new people and we were able to committ new investigators to baptism. I´ll start with Federico. He is the brother of Karen and we started teaching them this week. We talked about the restoration and he really understood everything. He doesn´t know a lot God or Jesus Christ but he has a lot of faith that they are there. He is a quite kid but he has desires to learn more. We were really focusing on the Bookf of Mormon in the lesson an how it is the way that we can know these things are true. We comitted him to read it and pray about it and said that he would. Unfortunately he wasn´t able to go to church this week because he had a birthday party to go to, but I have a lot of faith with Federico because Karen is progressing really well. She shared her testimony and the feelings that she had when she got baptized. It really brought the spirit and she with be a big help for her brother.

The other people we found this week were Schirley and her daughter Maria. It was a contact that Elder Ruano did a while back but we were never able to find them. But we finally got into the house this past week and man Schirley is awesome. We talked with her and her 10 year old daught about the Book of Mormon and how with the Bible we can know exactly what God´s plan is. Schirley talked to the missionaries when she was a little kid with her mom and she really liked it. So we left them with something to read and to pray about it. Schirley said that Maria goes to an adventist school so she is used to reading the bible. Maria said she was really excited to read this new book. Maria even said the prayer at the end so she is awesome. I´´m excited to teach these two and I´m sure we can get them progressing.

So this past week in church was really awesome. We had testimony meeting and Angelo and Janet both bore their testimonies. The were both really awesome and they both brought the spirit so stong. Its awesome to see these two become converted. Janet reciently had her baby so that had just made them stronger. It really is a blessing to here one of your converts say I know this church is true.

Well I hope you all have a wonderfull week. I love you all very much!

Elder Kyle Hudgins

This is a picture of our last P day. We went to play some tennis on the clay courts here in Trelew

Tennis with the zone

Hello Family!

From: Kyle Hudgins <kyle.hudgins@myldsmail.net>
Subject: Hello Family!
Date: 8 Oct 2012 08:42:19 AM MDT

Well this past week was really good and especailly with the opportunity to watch general conference. It really was an event that uplifted me and strengthened my testimony. Unfortunatly we were not able to watch the priesthood session but all the other ones were really awesome. I would have to say one of my favorites was by Elder Bednar. I really liked how he talked about being converted to the gospel and not just having a testimony. I really liked how he related it to the parable of the 10 virgins and how you can´t barrow the oil of conversion. I had never thought of the parable that way. And of course the other one I liked was Elder Holland. He had just so much love for the gospel really and makes sure everyone has the opportunty to recognize their faults to repent. It was awesome. I really liked all the talked thought but those two really stuck out to me.

Well this week we saw some really good things. We are really focusing on going throught the area book and contacting old investigators. This week we found Sebastian. He is a 20 year old and he was investigating the church only about 6 or 7 months ago but the missionaries stopped because they could never find him. But we were able to talk with him about the restoration this week. He accepted it very well. We talked about the authority and he said that this is something that he believes is true about the church. We tried to commit him to baptism but he said he wanted to wait because he wants his girlfriend to do it with him because she is not baptized in any church. So we set up an appointment to talke with them both but unfortunately they weren´t there. But we talked to him last night to set up another one and we well be seeing him this week. So hopefully we can help these two gain a testimony of the restoration and get a baptismal date.

We are also teaching an investigator named Omar. He is a really cool guy. He has been taught a lot and he knows a lot about the church. The only thing he has a problem with the praying. We were talking a lot about the restoration and prayer with him. We committed him to pray and he also prayed at the end of the lesson. Unfortunately he was not home when we came by for our next appointment so we don´t know how it went. I know that praying is the key thing to recieving a testimony of the gospel. Its the only way that you can know the truth. Hopefully he can recognized this and we can help him form that testimony.

Well thats about all I have for you guys this week. I hope its a wonderfull week. Happy birthday Mom, I hope you have a great day on Wednesday! I love you all!

Here is a picture of our lunch in between sessions on Sunday. Elder Wagstaff and Elder Heaps made us some really good taco salad.

Elder Wagstaff and Elder Heaps

Hello family and friends!

From: Kyle Hudgins <kyle.hudgins@myldsmail.net>
Subject: Hello family and friends!
Date: 1 Oct 2012 07:59:29 AM MDT

Well this week was pretty sweet. We had another baptism! Karen was baptized this week and it was a really good service. Karen comes from a less active family that has been inactive for about 10 years. The mom and one of her younger brothers (who is not a member) came to ther service and all had a great experience. The brother is a pretty cool kid. He said he liked the baptism a lot and he respected the decision of his sister so we will see what happens with that. The only problem is that he plays soccer on the weekends so that keeps him from coming to church. Hopefully we can work with the parents and get all the family active and baptized as well.

Well this week turned out to be a really hard one. But there were a few bright spots where the lord blessed us. We were able to find one of our investigators Omar. He is a really big guy who plays on a rugby team here in Trelew. He pretty much understands and agrees with everything that the missionaries have taught him. The only thing is that he has never prayed about it. But his last visit we were with him we made is a goal that we were not going to leave that house without him praying. So we were very persistant with him and finaly he gave in and said the prayer. He was a little nervous but he was able to get through it and he said he felt good doing it. So hopefully that will be a start for him in gaining a testimony and start the process of conversion with Omar.

The other one was with a couple Diana and Mario. They had been listening to the missionaries for a while but they stoped going by. So we went to check on them to see how they were doing. They let us in really warmly. We talked a lot about the families and gave them a copy of the proclamation to the family. We talked a little bit about family home evening as well and we asked them if they would like if we would do one with them. They said that they would love to so this week we are going to do something fun with them. Hopefully that will help get them going in the gospel.

Well today is Elder Stokes birthday so we are going to Puerto Madryn to celebrate so I don’t have to much time. But I just want to give a shout out to Dad who is turning 50 years old this week! I hope it is a wonderful birthday! I love you all and hope you all have a wonderfull week!

Elder Kyle Hudgins

 

From: Kyle Hudgins <kyle.hudgins@myldsmail.net>
Subject: photos!
Date: 1 Oct 2012 08:18:16 AM MDT

So the first picture is of the baptism of Karen.

The other one I forgot to send last week but it is of my district in Rawson, Elder Hernandez, Me, Elder Menghini, Elder Yobanolo.

Hello from Trelew!

From: Kyle Hudgins <kyle.hudgins@myldsmail.net>
Subject: Hello from Trelew!
Date: 24 Sep 2012 08:57:42 AM MDT

Well I´m here and settled in in my  new area of Parque 2 in Trelew. Its a pretty sweet area. Definately the most humble. It made me really realize that I have been serving in some pretty rich areas my whole mission. But its a nice and different experience. But anyway, I´ll tell you about the wonderfull week we had!

Alright well I´ll start off with the not so good. So on Monday night I was saying my good-byes and everything and we were with Hno Chemin. He bought some sandwhich meat and he bought some raw bacon pretty much. I was kind of sceptical about it and asked if we were supposed to cook it or not. He said no and then started to eat it. And so then I was like whatever and ate it. It wasn´t too bad but not the best either. So we left to the terminal in Trelew to drop off Elder Yobonolo and to meet up with my new comp and I was not feeling very well at all. So I went to the bathroom and threw it all up right there in the Terminal. So we went to my new apartment and I´ll just say that my first night in Trelew was the worst night of my whole mission. I woke up every hour of the night to throw up. Yup I had food poisoning. It was not very plesant at all. So I was in bed all day on Tuesday. I was deffinatly not a fun transfer haha.

Alright well I will then start with the good. We had a baptism this week!! He name is Janet. Her husband Angelo is a member who is returning to activity and the two had just gotten married two weeks ago. So that was awesome. Elder Ruano said that the had been a little disanimated as of late but we went by on Wednesday and she said that she wanted to be baptized this week. So we were like yeah I think we can do that. So we set up everything really fast and we had a great baptismal service. One of the best things was that on Friday during the interview for Janet the bishop had an interview with Angelo and he was found worthy to baptize and confirm his wife. So that was awesome. It really was a sweet service with all the family of Angelo there (who are active members of the ward). So that was a good way to start off the transfer.

So another good thing is that we are going to have a baptism this week too! Her name is Karen. Her mom is menos activo but Karen is really animated about the church. She is 16 years old and she really likes it. She came to sacrament and she really liked seen the confirmation of Janet. So that is really sweet.

So yeah I´m pretty content with Trelew we have a pretty sweet district. Elder Stokes is my new district leader. It was awesome, I was talking to him about Trevelin and he was telling me a lot about the people that we were seeing and he said that a lot of them are slowly progressing. One of them in particular was Lucas. I don´t know if I mentioned him but he had his own business and was a volunteer firefighter, he was pretty much a copo. We were only able to talk to him a few times in his business. But Elder Stokes said that he is now listening to the missionaries in his house and his wife even cut his hair. He also said that one of the girls we found Alejandra is now going to church. So that was really awesome to hear. Even though I might not have been able to baptize anyone in Trevelin we were able to plant some seeds. And now I can see some fruits of my labors which is awesome.

Well thats about all for this week. I hope you all have a wonderfull week. I love you all!

Elder Kyle Hudgins

So one of the pictures is with Gustavo, Tomas, and Fernanda with their new baby Jazmín.

The other pic is with Janet and Angelo for their baptism!

 

hola!

From: Kyle Hudgins <kyle.hudgins@myldsmail.net>
Subject: hola!
Date: 17 Sep 2012 09:22:18 AM MDT

Well hello there everyone back in the USA. I have some news to share here. My bags are all packed and I am being transfered! And I´m sure you wont be able to guess to where because I am being transfered just a half hour away to Trelew! haha. I have been transfered to the other zone that is in Trelew and my new area is Parque 2. So that will be interesting. When I found out that I was being transfered I couldn´t believe it haha. Usually when you get transfered in this mission you have to take at least a  7 hour bus ride. So that will be nice. It would be nice to get to know other parts of the mission but i´m sure Parque will be a great place. But I sure am going to miss Rawson thats for sure. But at least I will get to come and visit P-days if I want. It pretty funny because whenever I tell anyone that I´m being transfered to Trelew everyone laughs because its so close and also because there is kind of a rivalry between Trelew and Rawson. So I guess I´ll be playing for the other side now. But I´m sure Trelew will be great.

So this week was pretty good. We met with Augusto and his mom Claudia this week and they are progressing well. They have both talked to the missoinaries in the past but Claudia has never really been interested. But now in our lessons with them she is very involved and Augusto always likes it when we come by. So thats really good. I can see a lot of good things in the future for them. We gave them a Book of Mormon the other day and they said that they would read it and were very excited about it. So we will see what happens.

The Pelozo family is also progressing well. The dad Daniel and the daughter Aylen are the most interested. We talked about the Book of Mormon with them and they were very interested. The mom Marta is a little closed and is always doing chore and stuff when we go by so that makes it a little difficult. The thing is that they dont have a wash machine so she has to wash by hand. So we asked a member that lives close by if she could lend the services of her washer and she said yes. We still haven´t been able to tell Marta but I´m sure that will make her really happy and also give her a friend in the church. So that will be really awesome.

This week we did divisions with Elder Menghini. We sure did have a blast. We were working in Playa Union and we were able to teach a bunch of lessons. One of them was with an investigator that the recently contacted. We taught the restoration and it was awesome. She was asking the perfect questions and we could answer all of them so she could understand. It also strengthened my testimony of the restoration. Its always awesome when that happens.

Well in the next coming week I´ll be writing from Trelew. I hope you all have a great week! I love you all!

Elder Kyle Hudgins

Oh yeah my new comp is Elder Ruano. I think he is from Guatemala. He was my replacement in Trevelin. Also Elder Stokes is being transfered from Trevelin to my district in Trelew so that will be fun. It made me laugh a little in you letter about all the work you did. I´m pretty sure I´m always tired but after a while you just get used to it so I don´t really notice it anymore. But hey I´m going to sent a couple pictures. I hope you have a great week. I love you.

Elder Kyle Hudgins

Kyle and a wale tail

Wale Tail

A picture of me and Elder Hernandez with Puerto Madryn in the background.

Elder Hudgins and Elder Hernandez

 

Hello from Puerto Madryn

Kyle mentioned that the computer he was on would not allow him to upload his pictures.  Hopefully next week we will see some new pictures. (jh)

From: Kyle Hudgins <kyle.hudgins@myldsmail.net>
Subject: Hello from Puerto Madryn!
Date: 10 Sep 2012 08:51:54 AM MDT

Well today I am writing you all from the beutiful city of Puerto Madryn. It could be my last P Day here in Rawson so we decided to take advandage. Madryn is a pretty sweet city. Its right on the coast. We were able to see some wales as well right of the shore. It was really sweet we were they were really close too so that was awesome. And yes I did take some pictures.

Well this week was pretty sweet. The coolest thing was the rededication of the Buenos Aires temple. It really was a great experience. We were also able to attend the cultural celebration on Saturday night where they did a whole bunch of folklore dances and stuff. But the rededication was awesome. President Eyring, Elder Chirstofferson, and Elder Ballard all came. It was really interesting to hear Elder Chirstofferson speak in spanish, he speaks really well. One of the best parts of the rededication was the talk by Elder Eyring. One thing that really stuck out was in the middle of his talk he says “I need to add something…” he then bore his testimony about how the temple ceremony he recieves a confermation there there are apostles in the Earth in these days. It was a very powerfull testimony that he bore and also something that he didn´t plan on saying in the first place. But it was a great experience. It really felt like I was in the temple again which is something that I havn´t felt for a long time now so it was very nice.

This week we also saw some progress with some investigators. We are teaching a Mom, Claudia, and her son Augusto. We taught them the plan of salvation and also really focused on eternal families. It was really awesome. We were doing an exchange so I was with Elder Yobanolo a mini missionary who was baptized only 6 months ago. He bore his testimony of the plan of salvation and it was really awesome. The spirit was so strong and Claudia was in tears at the end. Claudia and Augusto are really animated about the gospel right now. Hopefully this week we will be able to put them on a baptismal date.

The familia Pelozo is progressing well. We weren´t able to find them very much this week but we did talk to them for a little bit on Thursday. The said that they were all reading the pamphlet that we left them and were very pleased with it. So its good to see them progressing. Daniel the dad also had some questions about alcohol and stuff so we talked about the word of wisdom and at the end he accepted it. So we well see how is goes this week.

Sorry I don´t have too much time. I hope you all have a great day and a great week. I love you all!

Elder Kyle Hudgins

HELLLLLLOOOOOOOOOO

Kyle mentioned that all the missionaries in the mission will be able to participate in the rededication of the Buenos Aires Temple this coming Sunday.  He is very excited for this opportunity.  I believe they will be doing the dedication in the same manner it is done in the United States.  That is, they will make stake centers and or ward buildings an extension of the temple requiring a special recommend to attend and hold the dedications within the local buildings for those who cannot attend the temple itself.  In Kyle’s case, the temple would be a bus trip of over 30 hours.  (jh)

From: Kyle Hudgins <kyle.hudgins@myldsmail.net>
Subject: HELLLLLLOOOOOOOOOO
Date: 3 Sep 2012 08:26:42 AM MDT

Hello there my dear family. Well this week was a good week so I hope you´re ready for the good stuff.

I´ll start off with our conference with Elder Zeballos of the seventy. Yeah it was a pretty sick conference. I think its impossible to have a bad conference with a seventy. It was seriously awesome filled with the spirit. The hermana Zeballos started off and man she was pretty awesome. She was really energetic which was a welcome sight. Darn I forgot my notes but one thing that really stuck out to me was how she said that the mission rules are not just rules but rather commandment and whatever our mission president adds to that is also a commandment. Sometimes its easy to take the mission rule lightly because you can say to yourself “well its ok if I do this or that because any other member can do it.” but that is not true. As missionaries we are for sure not your ordinary member and its those commandments that make us extraordinary. Elder Zeballos was awesome. The first impression that I got from is was that he is called of God. It was nice because normally conferences with authorities we talk about goals and stuff but this one was more focused on how to help our investigators. He shared some really awesome experiences from his mission and from his time as mission president. The spirit was great and I really learned how I can help my investigators progress.

Another thing that was sweet this week is that we found a sweet family named the Pelozo family. So Elder Rivera and I actually contacted the dad in the calle. I put a star next to him name because it was a good contact but we never got around to passing by the house. So I was looking though my old agenda and saw the name so we decided to go by. We knocked the door and they let us in right away. We didn´t even have to introduce ourselves. They are a family of four Daniel and Marta are the parents and Aylen is 12 and Lautaro is 8. They were all so nice and recieved us so well. We talked about the restoration and of the church and of the priesthood. Daniel said that he really like the idea to be baptized with the same power that John the baptist had. So they all accepted the invitation to be baptized. Unfortunatly they weren´t able to come to church this week but I´m really excited to work with this family.

Another thing was that Gonzalo finally was ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood yesterday. He has been active but always has touble wakeing up on time and getting to church right at the beginning and when he did come early there was always some sort of meeting that made it not possible. But yesterday it finally happened. There aren´t many things better than seeing your converts progress. He was in tears after he was ordained and was so excited to pass the sacrament. It truly was one of the best feelings I have felt on my mission. It also strengthened my testimony of the priesthood and its power.

Well thats about all I have. Thank you for your letters. I got the camera and was going to take pictures at the conference, but I forgot it! Sorry but I´ll send a picture with my zone with Elder and Hermana Zeballos. I love you all, have a great week!

Elder Kyle Hudgins

From: Kyle Hudgins <kyle.hudgins@myldsmail.net>
Subject: Fwd: Elder y Hermana Zeballos-foto
Date: 3 Sep 2012 08:34:39 AM MDT

Here is the picture of the conference. Yes we have a pretty small zone. Their names from left to right: Elder Salinas, Elder Evans, Elder Rivera, Elder Ayala, Elder Wible, Elder Hernandez, Elder Antipan, Elder Yobanolo, Elder Minghini, Me

Oh the front row is Elder and Hermana Zeballos, Hermana and President Lovell and Hermana Hinze and Hermana Perez

Trelew South Zone

Hello Family!

From: Kyle Hudgins <kyle.hudgins@myldsmail.net>
Subject: Hello Family!
Date: 27 Aug 2012 08:41:54 AM MDT

Well this week was a good one. We were able to see some signs of good things to come for us here in Rawson.

I will start off with my birthday. It was pretty relaxed. I hardly knew it was my birthday. We had a zone conference so that made it a little different than most days. It was a good zone conference. President Lovell talked a lot about the canges in the mission. He wants to start out with the basic things with our studies and planning. He is installing a new companionship study program to help us focus more on our investigators. It involves a lot of Prech my Gospel so I´m sure that is will show success. I´m excited to put this more in practice and hopefully we will be able to see more progress in our investigators. In the evening we had a noche de hogar in the capilla. We invited members and investigators. It was really good and a lot of people showed up. I think there was about 25 or something like that. We talked about the scriptures and watched a short movie and did a little activity. It went really well. Silvia and Oscar both came and so the brother of Gonzalo and Rodrigo. So that was good to have those investigators come and enjoy themselves. Some people brought some refreshments so afterward we ate those and everyone sang happy birthday to me in spanish and in english so that was pretty funny. But all in all it was a very good activity where we all had some fun.

This week we were also able to get in contact with a part member family. Hna. Mursilli who is a member is about 85 years old and one day we dicided to pay her a visit. We talked with her a little bit and also with her husband who is not a member. We also talked with her daughter who is a member as well but has a 10 year old daughter who is not a member. So we sat down with them and talked about the church and stuff and they were very reciptive. So hopefully we can start working with this family and see where is goes from there.

Another awesome thing that happened is that the 2 kids from Hno. Chemin´s other son, Ricardo, came to church. Gustavo and Fernanda have been telling us that they had wanted to go to church with them but the parents never let them because they said it was too early. But this week they went. After church we had lunch with Gustavo and Fernanda and Ricardo´s wife Romina came by and we started to talk with her about what her kids thought about church. She said that they loved it and were trying to tell her everything but there was just too much to talk about haha. So that is a good sign. We have seen a lot things with the family of Ricardo and we are very anxious to work with them but haven´t found the opportunity. But today we are going to stop by and hopefully we can talk more with Ricardo and Romina. I´m very excited to see what happens with this family.

So I´m really excited for this week for the opportunity to work with these two families. I sure hope it goes well. Thank you for all you prayer and I hope that you all have a wonderfull week. I love you all!

Elder Kyle Hudgins