Merry Christmas!

This week was awesome!  Can't believe it is already another PDAY!  

This week - on Saturday all the Zones in Guayaquil got to have lunch with the Mission President and his family and play games.  It was awesome to see all the missionaries here!  After that, we had our first baptism in our area.  It was awesome!  I had the awesome opportunity to baptize Ricardo and it was a great experience!  He really has faith and loves the gospel.  And he knows English so it was awesome to get to talk with him! 

Crazy that I have now finished my 1st transfer in the mission!  It was sooooo hard but I have learned so much! Spanish is hard and it is hard to be away from family and friends but I know I will be blessed and that the Lord is here with me and helping me! 

The church is true!  God loves us and knows us! 

Alma 38

Con amor,

Elder Hoole

PS. Skyping the family was awesome!  I love them so much! Can't wait for Mother's Day haha!

 With missionaries from zone

 Ricardo's baptism day

 Elder Alvarado, me, Ricardo, family & friends

 Baptism day

 The trunky dollar bill!  A missionary tradition here!

 Lunch today!  Pizza!

 Elder Hoole has lost 15 pounds...he needs to eat that!

 Happy elders

Parque Samanes

Wow, this week was great!!  So our church puts on a Christmas festival each year here and it was this last Thursday-Sunday.  All of the North, South and West Guayaquil missions were invited to attend!  It was great to see so many missionaries! We had some missionaries dress up as the 3 wisemen and a sister missionary as Mary and I took pictures for people.  After taking their photo, we would get their information and we are going to reach out to them with their pictures, and also you know teach them about the gospel of Jesus Christ!  It's a great way to spread the gospel!  I took well over 150 photos of just new investigators!  It was an awesome experience.

Sunday morning we walked into church and BAM the Bishop told us we had to give a talk that day in Sacrament meeting and that i was first!  Well, it was so bad hahah but I did my best and talked about faith and enduring to the end!  Well, that's about all this week!  Church is true!

Yes, it is hot here!

We have a baptism this weekend and we are super pumped! 

All is well!  Merry Christmas!

Con Amor

Elder Hoole

It's Hot As Heck Here!

Well this week was interesting haha!  I spent a day in a hospital this week.  (This part has been edited for TMI - just keep him and his digestive issues in your prayers! :) - Ann) The doctor was a great guy who is also LDS!  Also my toenail was having some problems so a member performed surgery on her front porch for me and well, all is well with me now!  So the members here are great!

I also finally ran into Elder Roberts here at a zone meeting! (Went to Alta High School) He gave me some great advice and man, has he grown up haha!

A family we are teaching here told us they don't want to hear from us anymore. They like coffee too much.....so we are invited and going back tonight to their house and we are going to do our best to get them to have faith!

We are also teaching this great guy who is 23 and is awesome! He was curious about life on other planets and he asked me about it.  As you know, my spanish is so bad but I pulled up a scripture that I couldn't remember having read before in Moses chapter 1 and it was awesome! So he's doing great and right now he is getting baptized next Saturday! (Christmas EVE) It's going to be awesome!

The work here is hard.  It is very unorganized and it gives me headaches but I've just gotta deal with it!
 All is well!  It. Is. Very. Hot. However, my Spanish is coming along everyday!

The Church is true!

Con amor,

Elder Hoole

All is well!  Keep the prayers coming!

Zone Conference

Eating lunch with the Torres family

Enjoying Chicken and Rice Tacos

The food is pretty good!

A fun lunch with his companion and a member family.

The members here are so kind!

Fun P-Day Island Visit and Pictures!

Hello! 

This week was great!  All the zones met up and went to the temple and it was great to see my old MTC companion and so many others!  The temple is great!  It is way crazy that I have now been on the mission for 2 months!  That was way fast and way hard haha!  Spanish is still hard!  I don't understand people and when I talk they don't understand my English accent!  Anyways it will come with time.  The Lord is just really testing my faith and patience! 

We had a family we are teaching come to church!  It was awesome!  I also bore my testimony and my Spanish was soo bad but it felt good!  So a family in our area is getting my companion and me PIZZA HUT!  We are so pumped! 

Sorry this update is way short.  We have a new rule in our mission.  We can only email for 30 minutes! So if I don't reply to you I'm really sorry but just know I'm always way happy you emailed me!  If you do email me, just try and do it by Sunday night.

Also, for P-day today we went out to an island and it was so cool and beautiful!  However, I got eaten by mosquitoes!  Hopefully I don't have ebola or something else now!

Love you all!

Elder Hoole

Mosiah 24:15-16

***I really do love to hear from all of you!  Again, sorry if I can't always reply now!!!!!

 Apartment

 Temple Day

 Meeting up with the zone

 Visiting the Island

 On bikes

 It's humid...lots of mosquitoes in these areas!

 Loving life in Ecuador!

 A different kind of investi-gator! :)

An island house

Que Pasa

Hello people in North America! 

This past week was fast!  (which is dope!)  So last Monday night we went to Family Home Evening at a member's house.  It was kind of a party for some elders going home!  (Elder Paulsen from Holladay UT) and they made me explain what faith was and man I was scared. I said a quick prayer right before I spoke and my Spanish was not good at all, but that is not what matters.  I really think everybody felt the Spirit. The Spirit really lead me and helped me to know what to say. 

That leads me to Spanish. Man...it is hard...I try my best to really understand what is going on, but it is tough.  I have set goals this past week and that really helped me!  I want to finish the Spanish Book of Mormon by April 1st! Right around General Conference!  I might not understand anything I am reading but it's a good goal. I also want to finish the English one around the same time!

We have been teaching this family named the Vivas Familia and they are great!  They are about in their 40s I think haha, and they have finally committed to baptism!  I had them read Ether 12 in the Book of Mormon about faith cause Hermano Viva was struggling with faith in the Lord and I read him verse 27 and gave a little testimony and I think it went great.

Ecuador is hot and super confusing, but it is pretty fun here!  I have been struggling with Spanish and other things so The Zone Leader let me Read THE RICCIARDI LETTER!  Missionary or not everybody should read this!  It is awesome!  It really helped me!  I won't say much about it because I want you to read it but it is a great read.  I'm sure you can find it online!

I hope everything is going swell back home!  Church is true!

Elder Hoole

Elder Hoole at Guayaquil Temple 

Guayaquil Temple

Quick photo while riding through Guayaquil neighborhoods to his first area

First Pictures ~ Arrival Day and Temple Visit

The day Elder Hoole left the MTC, his brand new luggage pull handles all broke off!

It was nothing short of a miracle that it happened when it did (if it was going to happen),

since his dad and I were able to take 2 new suitcases straight to the airport

and have him move all of his belongings from the broken bags to the new ones.

(And yes, the luggage store where we purchased them completely refunded our money!)

So the silver lining was that we were able to see him and talk to him for a short time

before he went through security and also give him one last hug! 

Arrival in Guayaquil Ecuador

He made it!

You can see Elder Hoole over his Mission President's shoulder.

Elder Hoole - back row - far right side on the end

A great group of hardworking young men ready to serve for two years!

Elder Hoole - front row - 2nd from left

The new missionaries - Sisters, Elders, and the Mission President and his wife.

1st Week in Ecuador

Hola!

This past week has been CRAZY!  First, last Monday all of my luggage broke on the way to the airport from the MTC.  I have never been so scared in my life, but luckily my lovely parents came to the rescue and saved me with two new pieces of luggage from our house!  haha  It was great to see them!  So then when I got to Ecuador late on Monday night and I picked up my luggage the TSA had put a lock on one of my suitcases!  What THE!  I don't think anything was taken out of it but it was just frustrating to deal with my luggage problems again!  haha 

On Tuesday we went to the Guayaquil LDS temple and it was an awesome experience!  It is really so beautiful!  I also got my companion.  His name is Elder Alvarado and he is from Peru. 

So being here for the last week has made me think, "Did the MTC even happen?"  haha  My Spanish is so bad, but I know it will come with hard work and practice!  I am serving just right outside the city of Guayaquil in a neighborhood called the Amazonas.  It is really hot here and I miss blue skies but it is dope!  So everything is going great here! 

Here's a weird thing about Ecuador - your money (bills) can't have a single little rip or tear in it or they won't accept it.  It's really weird.  Luckily a member of our ward traded me for my $20 bill that had a tear on the corner!  Also, don't expect any photos for a while.  We can't take cameras outside in my area here.  

Hope to hear from all of you soon!  Happy Thanksgiving!

Elder Hoole

The Last Supper

Well, this is it in the great ol' MTC!  This week really woke me up!  I leave Monday morning at 6:00am to the great city of Dallas,Texas.  I have a 5 hour layover and then fly to the greater city of Miami, Florida with a 2 hour layover and then I head out to the Promised Land!!!!!!  Ecuador this Monday BABY!  I am so pumped!  I get there around 11:00pm!  It is going to be a swell time! 

So this week a lot happened!  Jenny Oaks Baker came and spoke to us on Sunday night and her family performed for us and it really made we realize I suck at playing instruments and I don't even play an instrument haha.  On Sunday night the Primary President came and spoke to us and her talk was great!  It was very simple and very meaningful!  It was seriously one of my favorite talks I've heard so far here.  She mainly just shared her testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ and told us to go out in the mission field with confidence!  

This week was also pretty sad.  We all had to say good-bye to our teachers here at the MTC!  They have been great!  Hermano Nash and Hermana Johnson are great people!  Honestly, they are angels sent from heaven to teach us the gospel and Spanish! 

Last night, we all had a sleepover with the other district in our zone leaving Monday as well, and we just talked about the Gospel and just looked for truths in the Book of Mormon and it was honestly the best experience so far that I've had here with the Gospel and the Spirit!  I can truly testify and I promise that the Book of Mormon is the word of God!  The Church is true and I can't wait to share this message with so many people throughout my life!

Thanks again everyone for all the support!  The MTC has been great!  It went by so fast!  Next email I'll be in 100 degree weather and 70 percent humidity weather!

Here are a few pictures from the past week! (Getting my flight plans, My teacher Hemano Nash, and my boy Elder Day!)

Love,

Elder Hoole

Photos

Elder Hoole was lucky enough to run into his cousin 

Daniel Romney who works at the MTC!

Missionary moms LOVE getting pictures like this in the middle of the day!

A little blurry selfie in his new Ecuador mission shirt!

He loves it!

Hanging out after classes and before bedtime...

these rooms are packed full of elders!

1 Week Left in the MTC

Hola everyone!

This week went by so fast.  Holy cow, it's so crazy I leave the MTC in less than 10 days!  This week was dope!  So like you all know, Halloween was this week.  We went trick or treating through the halls of the MTC. haha It was such great fun. The Spanish language is coming along everyday.  It's hard, but it's crazy to see how far I've come since I've been here!  I even gave the opening prayer in Spanish this last week at church and it went swell (I hope!) 

President Russell M. Nelson came and spoke to us this past week and it was awesome!  It's always great to hear counsel from men like him.  He spoke about how we can be successful as missionaries and it really helped me out.

I'm supposed to GET MY FLIGHT PLANS TODAY (hopefully)! 

That's all for this week! 

Shout Outs:

S/O to Shellie and Todd Jensen for the awesome Missionary package!  Thanks Jensen family!!!

S/O to the Badgers for the Package! :)

S/O to Grandma Hoole for the Halloween package!

S/O to everyone else for the awesome letters! 

Always makes my day!

Love you all!

Elder Hoole

 Enjoying the fall weather outside the Provo Temple

 Elder Hoole and Elder Isy

 Spanish study book - lots of inspirational quotes!

Elder Hoole and one of the districts in his zone

Week 4 in the MTC

Hi everyone!

Well, only a couple of more weeks here!  This week was pretty dope!  It's crazy how fast time flies here (kind of a good thing).  I feel like I just emailed.  So Spanish is hard, but it gets better everyday!  I memorized the 1st vision this week!  It was so hard, but it's kinda cool to have it memorized in Spanish, because I have no idea how to say it in English!  So Spanish is coming along.  There are a lot of rules with the language, but it'll just take practice.

 

With my little Guam friend: Every night he comes into my room and just talks with me!  He's so dope!  He saw a tie that I had (legit my favorite tie) and he asked if he could have it...so ask and ye shall receive right?...so yeah he looks dope with it on!  hahah  He said he wants to see me post mission so guess I gotta save up for a Guam trip now!  But he's a cool kid.  He always calls me his big brother and it's so cute hahaha. 

The MTC yesterday put up Christmas lights for the season so we all took pics last night. They look pretty awesome!

Also the district that left last week gave me their fridge!!!!  I'm excited!  It's pretty cool I guess!

S/O to Gee family for the package and letter! 

S/O to Grandma and Grandpa B for the letters as well! 

Thank you all!  I love your letters and packages!

That's all for this week!

Love,

Elder Max Hoole

I'm the Helen Keller of Spanish

Hi everyone!

Over 3 weeks now in the MTC and the jet lag is finally over!  haha 

Spanish is hard, but I continue to work hard everyday and really rely on the Lord.  This last week we taught a legit investigator! (well, she's probably a member, but gotta treat it real! LOL)  My companion and I did a great job with teaching her, but our Spanish is still so bad.  My companion knows German so learning a language is easy for him.  Just pushes me to do better.  But the lessons are going great right now.  I still understand little to nothing, but it'll come!  

It's kind of hard to find service opportunities in the MTC actually, so I was praying for one and I met a missionary here from Guam!  He is so awesome!  He loves American candy and chocolate and doesn't like Utah cold weather!  So I sent a quick letter to my mother and asked her for some candy and a winter coat.  Last night, I gave him the package full of stuff and it was awesome!  We don't really speak the same language, but the love we have for each other is so amazing.  I might suck at Spanish when I go down to Ecuador, but there's one language that everyone can speak and it's through the Spirit.  Always feels great to serve others!  

Keep the letters coming! 

S/O to the Badgers for the package!!!!! 

S/O to the Bonnemort cousins for the letters

S/O to everyone else for the letters and prayers!

Love, Elder Hoole

Elder Hoole & his new friend from Guam wearing his brand new coat!

Only a few weeks left for us to send packages to Provo! 

MTC fun

Week 2 (1 Month Left in the MTC)

This week has been awesome!  On Sunday, we had testimony meeting and it was great to hear from all the 4-6 weekers and how the Spanish will come and it really made me feel better about my language learning ability! haha (I can't speak any Spanish) (JK I can a little, I have Prayers down, The Purpose, Baptismal Questions, and I'm now working on the 1st vision) So it's coming along!

On Sunday night Elder Bednar came and spoke to us and it was AWESOME! (mainly because it was in English and I could understand it haha)  But he really did do a great job!  Pretty much everyday here is the same so nothing really changes.  The food isn't that good anymore and I miss my bed back at mi casa, but other than that this place is fun!  Crazy to think about when I leave this place in 1 month!  Gotta really get as much of the language down as possible before that happens! 

Talk to y'all next week!  Keep the prayers and letters coming!