Email from Elder Corey Hurd (11/08/2013)

Thanks so much to all of you for sending me emails I really appreciate it and I love reading about how things are going on back home. I especially loved hearing about Shelby's mission call I know shes going to love it, sadly she doesn't get to go to the best mission ever (Minnesota, Minneapolis) like me, but I know that she will do many great things in Guatemala, and that she'll have to learn some new language or something. Anyway thanks Mom, Dad and Stan for the first package and my district loved all of the wonderful goodies. Sadly I couldn't let them have everything, like the Mountain Dew and the Mint Oreo's Still they had lots of fun with it. Oh ya and this morning I got six cupcakes from..... some... wonderful people who's names I can't remember right now, I'll make sure to put them in my next email, but thanks anyway they look amazing. Still waiting for the new package that Steve told me about this morning, the mail room is having a package overload. Mom those pictures were so funny and Cameron looks so cute in his Halloween costume. I apologize to everyone else who sent me emails I have been working on reading them but I don't get a whole lot of time here at the MTC to respond to all of your emails so just keep sending them and I will see them eventually. This week has just flown by I can't believe that I've already been here ten whole day's. It's crazy to think that the next email I send out will be from the field. I think I'm beginning to understand how all of you felt when you returned from the mission field, the simple council of forgetting your self and going to work really seems to speed thing up here. I can't even begin to tell you how much I've been learning mainly because I'm still trying to figure out what it is I have been learning, but what I can tell you is that I know that I am in the Lords hands and he will help me as long as I am willing to put forth the effort that is being asked of me. This week has been fun and full of learning. Monday I had class in the morning followed by a very unusual Zone Teaching where the Teacher Sister Medsker wanted us the missionaries, who are still trying to figure out how to teach, to teach her what she as a very faithful and, in our eyes, almost perfect member of the church could do to improve her pray's. We all looked like lambs taken to slaughter, by we I mean me, I thought that this was a near impossible task but we started the activity with a prayer and the spirit filled our hearts and soon after began he filled our mouths with words that seemed to come out of no where. By the end of the activity our teacher was overcome with the spirit as we once again knelt to the floor and offered up another prayer this time we asked Sister Medsker to offer it. This Zone Teaching was followed by lunch and then we had a TRC not sure what it stands for but I know what it is. Its an activity where we all break out into different rooms to teach people who are either real investigators, recent converts who act like investigators, or full time members acting as investigators. My companionship was assigned to teach Christian Solomon who's son had died in a tragic car accident, I felt something for this man that I had never before felt for another in my entire life, It was a feeling of Godly sorrow and compassion for this broken man. I knew that the Lord loves him and that the Savior loves him also, I also know that my companions and I love him as well and that we all had a message to share with him a message that would make him experience joy and happiness again. Christian had told us that he would move heaven and earth to get his little boy Alex back and he developed a hatred toward the very being who had given him a way to return to live with him forever. Christian had no idea of the plan of salvation and had hated God for quite some time, that is until we arrived and and shared with him Gods Plane of Salvation we could immediately tell that his hatred toward God was starting to fade, and the spirit was finally able to enter into his heart and help him learn. Sadly for us we could only teach him twice Monday and Wednesday, but I know that we have light a fire of desire in Christians heart, and hopefully the next missionaries to teach him will continue to help it grow. Thursday we had an infield orientation were we learned about some of the things that we are expected to learn in the field it was kinda fun but at the same time I felt like a sack of bricks had been dumped on my head luckily I had today to look forward to. Any way I think that raps up just about everything that I got out of this week, my companions are laughing at me for writing a novel of an email. look forward to hearing form you all soon.

Sincerely Elder Hurd

 P.S. Everyone's been trying to call me Hugo no clue what that's all about.