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