One More In The Books

Well this week just flew right by... Time really needs to start slowing down. I'll warn you ahead of time that this email is going to be a little shorter than usual, time is short. Not that they are ever very long anyways. haha. 

I'll tell you about a really special experience that we had this week while working in our area. We were walking down a road that I had never been down before contacting around and looking for people to teach and we ran into a group of 3 young men and started talking to them. We walked right by them and the Spirit yelled at us and told us to go back and talk to them so we akwerdly stopped and went back to talk with them. We ended up sitting down with them and then taught the restoration to them. Soon after they asked us to follow them home so that we knew where they lived and could come back to teach them more. One of them, Emanuel, was especially interested and was really excited about learning more. We went back the next day to give them some copies of the Book of Mormon and to talk a little more with them. Emanuel said he had been reading the pamphlet all morning and wanted more. So that we gave! He is eating it all up. Then yesterday he came to church and had a great experience. I'm looking forward to working with them more. I am so grateful for the Spirit in this work! It would be awfully hard alone... 

Well, my week was great! Sorry that you only get an experience or two each week... Thank you all for the love and support! I love you all!

Love,

Elder Hyde

Life on the front lines

Howdy hey everybody! This week flew right by... What I would do to have more time in the day... This week was a busy one... We were running around non-stop. From keeping up our proselyting area to getting things ready for the new Elders that are coming this week. We are all so excited that we are finally getting some more missionaries here! We're running low on troops... But it looks like the visa issues have been resolved so we should start to receive missionaries more frequently. 

It truly is a battle out here and we need all of the help we can get. (Put on your metaphoric ears). Sadly Satan has such a strong force here fighting against us, the immorality and overall desensitivity of the people is quite depressing. But the Lord has been helping us recruit more and more soldiers every week. It is so cool to see when somebody decides that they don't want to fight for the other side anymore and they decide to come fight with us. We have all the weapons and strategies necessary to beat the enemy, we've just got to know how to use them. Our general, Christ, knows exactly what to do in every situation, because he's already been there, and he weeps when we're wounded, because he's already felt the pain that it causes. I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have been given to fight on the front lines of this battle that we know will soon end and that we know we will come out victorious. Satan is fighting hard! But, the armor of righteousness that he has given his troops in impenetrable. I'm so glad that I'm fighting for this side!

Well I hope that made a little sense... Long story short I am excited for the new missionaries to get here. 

My week was great! Things are really progressing here in Angola and I am content to say the least. Thank you for all of you prayers and support! I love you all!

Love,

Elder Hyde

It's A New Year!

It's a new year and I am looking so forward to it. The time around new years is always a good time to stop and reflect on the past year, see progress, need for improvement, and the hand of the Lord in our lives. This past year was one that I will never forget, I was taught so much from those I served with, the people whom I served and from the Lord. This past year I gained a strong testimony of the promise found in Ether 12:27. The Lord truly does give us weaknesses to help us to be humble, and then once we've showed our humility an desire He will help us to become better and stronger. 

This week was miraculous. I keep saying it over and over that the experiences that we have never get old. Just last night we had quite the experience as we were closing off our week with knocking doors. We walked to apart of our area that we had never been to before and were guided to the house of a family very in need of the message of the restoration. After giving our door approach, the man at the door invited us in with a smile and introduced us to his cousin, who lives with him. They had just been sitting out together reflecting on their week. There are 3 of them that live together, the are all cousins and about 30 years old. As we chatted with them about the religious life they explained to us how they had given up on church, that they don't feel like they can trust any of them. They openly expressed their sincere desire to rejuvenate their faith that had been put to the side and opened up their hearts and ears as we taught them the restoration. The spirit was strong and I know that the Lord wanted us to find them last night.

I am cringe at the thought that I only 5 months left... But I am going to give these last few months all that I have. It's a new year and it's time to keep on keepin' on! Thanks for all of your prayers, love, and support! I love you all!

Elder Hyde