First Week In Iquitos March 30, 2009

WELL I AM HERE IN IQUITOS AND I AM PRETTY USED TO THE WEATHER BEING IN PUCALLPA FOR A WHILE. OUR CHANGE WENT PRETTY GOOD THE ONLY ROUGH THING WAS THE FLIGHT. WE HIT SOME REALLY BAD TURBULENCE AND IT FELT LIKE WE WERE JUMPING. THE BAD THING WAS THAT IT WAS JUST AFTER THEY GAVE US OUR DRINKS, SO IT WAS A LITTLE MESSY. THE WORST THING WAS THE GUY BEHIND US HAD HOT COFFEE. AND IT WENT ALL OVER US AND HIM.

IQUITOS IS A LITTLE DIFFERENT HERE THAN PUCALLPA IT WAS KINDA HARD TO LEAVE THERE AND ALL THE PEOPLE THAT I MADE FRIENDS WITH. BUT IT IS WHAT THE LORD WANTS SO I DID IT WITH A GLAD HEART.

WE HAD 3 BAPTISMS THIS WEEK HERE IN IQUITOS AND ONE ACTUALLY CHOSE ME TO BAPTISE HER. I MUST BE DOING SOMETHING RIGHT TO GAIN THEIR TRUST AND CONFIDENCE. I AM GETTING TO KNOW THE AREA A LITTLE RIGHT NOW SO I AM STILL A LITTLE JUNIOR RIGHT NOW.
I AM SO EXCITED FOR CONFERENCE AND I WILL PROBABLY LISTEN IN SPANISH AND UNDERSTAND A LOT MORE THAN LAST CONFERENCE.

TODAY I HAVE SEEN QUITE A FEW ELDERS THAT I MET BEFORE AND IT WILL BE GREAT TO BE IN A ZONE WITH THEM. THERE ARE A LOT OF MISSIONARIES HERE, BUT I HEAR THAT PUCALLPA IS BIGGER, BUT HAS FEWER MISSIONARIES. OUR AREA IS MI PERU AND IS NOT TOO BIG.

WELL I AM EXCITED TO BE HERE AND READY TO WORK HARD TO FIND MORE PEOPLE TO TEACH.

WE DO HAVE A PENSION, BUT I MISS THE ONE IN PUCALLPA. SHE WAS THE BOMB. SHE WAS LIKE A MOTHER FOR US. SHE DID EVERYTHING. THE PENSION HERE IS GOOD. I DON'T KNOW WHY BUT EVER SINCE I GOT HERE I HAVN'T BEEN ABLE TO EAT A WHOLE LOT. IT IS WEIRD "I AM FAT BUT DON'T EAT A LOT" THAT IS WHAT THE PEOPLE HERE TELL ME. I GUESS IT IS A TRUE FACT.

WELL GOTTA GO
WITH LOTS OF LOVE, HUGS AND KISSES TO EVERYONE.
LOVE ELDER HYDE

Last Week In Pucallpa.......Going to Iquitos March 23, 2009

Hey hey hey how is my family? I am doing really good we had some really cool experiences this week.

First we had a huge marriage for like 13 couples that wanted to get married and afterwards were baptized. We had one couple that got married but they didn’t have the attendance (at church) that is needed to be baptized. It was a really cool experience to be able to participate in.

The youth of the stake had a culture party where they danced different dances typical of Peru. We went to see how many new people we could find to teach, so we got to see the different dances. It was cool.

This week it has rained really hard for three days and some of the streets were flooded. I made sure to keep away from the crap holes. : ) ( See story of crap holes on Jan. 7 2009)

Yesterday I did my last split here in Pucallpa with Set. Yep, that means that I am leaving. I get to stay in the jungle. I am going to Iquitos. The area is 9 de octubre. I am going to be comp major. (senior companion) aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I hope I am ready for that.

We are planning some baptisms for this week and I am a little bummed to go but I know that I will have much success in Iquitos.

This week we are going to do a talent show for the stake to say goodbye we are going to do a number.

I hope everything is going good there, it sounds like everyone is having fun.
I love you all and send my best with lots of love .
love, Elder Hyde

Dental Work Without Being Numbed, What do you do when a girl wants to greet you with a KISS? March 16, 2009

que tal mi loving family how is it going in Utah? Well everything sounds like it is going well and it sounds like everyone is in good spirits and health.

I am doing really good it took the whole week to get my tooth fixed they do things a little different here. Well I had a root canal and the first visit he put a hole in my tooth and the next two he spent cleaning out the nerve and then the last he put a big hole in it and put something inside and then filled it.
So it was a long process without the numbing. But all now is good.

I am doing good health wise, and I have been flossing and brushing everyday, so I don’t know why my tooth went crazy on me.

I really enjoyed the last package. I would have to say my favorite are the M&Ms and the peppered jerky, they were very tasty. I love all the things that were sent. I loved the calendar and the pictures from the kids I have a whole collection on my wall by where I study.

I have a funny experience that happened this week. You know how they greet here with a kiss on the cheek. We went to a member’s house where we found one of their friends, this was the first time she had talked to or greeted missionaries and so she leaned in to give me a peck on the cheek and I like jumped and then my comp told her that we couldn’t do that and she was really embarrassed and took off. Well I felt bad and so we went to find her and got to know her a little. We got to teach her and explain our message and why we were there. We have visited her a couple times and now has a baptism date for the 28th.

The cool thing is that the member that she is living with didn’t want to go to church and so she came all by herself, which was amazing because the day before she said she would only go if someone would go with her.
In the church she met new friends and she like it a lot and I think she knows that it is true,. We also had another young women come to church this last week and she said that when she left that she felt like a huge burden was lifted of her shoulders. She also has a baptism date for the 28th. The sad thing is that I really think that I am leaving this change on the 25th. :(

Well my time is up.

I want everyone to know that I love them very much and hope to hear from ya next week.

LOVE ELDER HYDE

Interviews with the President, Set blesses the Sacrament March 10, 2009

Sorry that we didn’t write yesterday we had our interviews with president and we didn’t have p day
We are doing pday today This morning we went and played soccer in a big stadium and last week we had a big Baroque. Yesterday I got your packages the one with the beef jerky and also one from Chantel with the calendar. It is great I love it. I can’t think of anything that need right now. So what ever you feel like sending.

You are going to notice that I took out about a hundred $$$ from the bank.(One hundred Soles is about 32 dollars.) You know my front tooth that I had filled a few years ago it has opened up and is infected and now I need to get it fixed we have found a pretty good dentist so you don’t need to worry. I don’t know shy I am having this problem because I have brushed every morning and every night and often in the afternoon. Well other than that all is good

Mom I remember often when you would talk to others that you were really happy when you saw your boys passing the sacrament or blessing it. I now know how you feel. First seeing Set baptize and then this Sunday he blessed the sacrament. It really is a sense of pride when you see that.

Set’s cousin Claire has returned and we are going to talk to her, hopefully this week we will dunk her in the agua.
Something that happened that wasn’t too great, is that the brother in law of Set doesn’t want to get married to Set’s sister. We lost her baptism unless she decides to leave him. We will keep trying to talk to him. I think he knows that she wants to get baptized and he thinks that if they are two different religions it will cause problems. But he is the one causing problems now. We don’t really know what to do....Pray for them.

Well I've got to go
FAMILY thanks for all your love and support........and candy.
You’re my favorite family
nos vemos love Elder Hyde

nosotros tambien tuvimos una semana excelente March 2, 2009

As you can tell Derek knows Spanish! His letters are becoming more difficult to translate. I will do my best. He throws is Spanish words but he also organizes his sentences differently. My comments are in blue.

We had a pretty good week. Like I commented last week that we had a baptism planned for this week, it was a baptism of a young girl that we have been working with to reactivate su mama. Everything went great. The best part of all is that Set (nuestro converso) baptized her. That was freakin’ sweet!

We have also organized a matrimonio massivo (huge wedding) and we have a family (the parents, the kids are members) that is going to get married and get baptized.

The sister of Set is going to get married and then get baptized the day after. The wedding is the 20 de marzo(of March) and they will get baptized on the 21 and then cambios (changes or transfers) are on the 25. I really don’t want to leave.
This area is chevere (Fantastic? On fire? The BOMB?).

Claire is going to come back this week on Thursday, I think and then we are going to baptize her. I think she wants to return and enter the waters. We have been waiting for her for a long time.

The sister of Set is really cool too. We have taught her a few commandments. (law of chastity and word of wisdom) She understands why we have these things and is going to start living them. She is also very prepared for the gospel.

We have a family that some are members and the parents want to be members but they lack the marriage and that is why we are here. : )

We are going to work extra hard this next week because we have seen the blessings of the lord. Like it says in Mosiah, when we do what the lord wants he will bless us really fast. We want to keep finding the hidden blessings of the lord.

Have you guys been trying to give references to the missionaries there? The work is so much easier with the help of the members. The baptisms that we have had are from the references from the members.

I love you guys very much and hope that you have a great week. May the lord bless you and help you in all that you do.
con mucho amor, ( I love you so much, this is the best thing that I could be doing, thanks for all your love and support, you are the best family!!) ((when you are interpreting you can think what ever you want ;D ))
Elder Hyde

Teaching the Sister of Set and going on Splits with Set February 26, 2009

I am doing great I just have a little bit of a cough still this week. This week was an ok week.
Monday we watched Lion King in Spanish it was awesome. It rained all day so I wasn’t able to go shopping. Probably today I will get something small for everyone.

Tuesday my comp was not feeling well. We had a few lessons but we were in the house a lot.

Wednesday we taught the sister of Set and she told us she knows that it is true. She feels that what we are teaching is true. She said that she has listened to a lot of different religions and that we are the only one that she really wants to visit. It was really cool the only problem we have is her husband well not yet husband they are living together and he really doesn’t want to listen to us. I don’t think that he wants to get married. Well we are not here to destroy the family, we are here to help it. We are a little confused about what we should do. Not much happen

Thursday not much happened.

Friday we had changes for the day and I was with elder Vasquez and my companion with elder Rich. We found a guy that didn’t believe that in the bible it states Jesus saying that he came to the world to suffer for ours sins. He is crazy.
GUESS WHAT?? For lunch this day we ate fish. When I first saw the fish on my plate I freaked because it had the head fins tail and skin. I ate it and it was pretty good.

Saturday we started the day with service with Elder Rich and Vasquez, it was pretty good. Then we had a gangster bbq at a member’s house.

Sunday we went to church and then ate lunch and went on splits. It was awesome I went with Set and my comp with another young man. We spent all day separated so that we could get more lessons and more contacts.We have a baptism this week, her name is Sharon. She has 9 years and we are reactivating her mother. They are a great family and they have even tried to introduce us to some friends which is awesome.

Well my time is just about up so just want to tell you have a great week and I am going to make this week great tambien.
Love you all TONS love elder Hyde
Ya I saw Elder Morton today. : )

Set will be a great missionary February 16 2009

Hey hey hey a todos. How’s everything? Sounds like you are all right. Well this week I have been feeling a lot better but I still have a stuffy nose and a cough but all is well.

You know that we baptized Set, the young man that didn’t want to accept a baptism date last week. This week we have been talking to his family and his sister wants to change her life. I really believe that this is one family that heavenly father has prepared for me to teach. Set walked around with us yesterday and he will make a great missionary, he has told us that he wants to prepare to go on a mission. Yesterday we were able to give him the Aaronic Priesthood and we have a feeling that he will be the one to baptized his sister and his cousin. Oh freak, he is an awesome convert. He recently got a job and told his boss straight up that he would not work on Sunday, He said that is my day to go to church. : ) aaaawwwwweeeeesssssoooommmmeeeee

Well to tell you about a little tradition they have here that is a little weird. It is called carnival and it is all of February. What happens, mostly on the weekends, some of the people get water balloons and buckets of water and try to soak other people. Thinking about it is kinda cool but, when you know and see the water that they use it is not. A lot of the people use dirty gross, crappy water. Sometimes we feel like Samuel the Lamanite, because we have not gotten hit yet.

Well just wanted to tell everyone that I love them and thanks for all the love and support. I am going to go shopping today and find something small for every one’s B-day. I will be sending a package soon. I love you all tons and hope your week is great.
love Elder Hyde ç

I can walk up to someone an talk to them....February 2009

Derek wrote this in a letter to a friend.

"My Spanish is getting better every day and I can actually carry on a conversation with someone.
I am getting better at just walking up to someone and talking to them. At first it was kinda hard but now it is my life. Well it is about six o’clock and it’s time to get back to work."

Staying in Pucallpa Set is baptized February 9 2009

Hey, hey, hey how’s the family. Sounds like everyone is all right except for the kids. (nieces and nephews have had colds)

We had a good week, I found out today that I am staying in the area (Pucallpa) and am really happy about that. We are going to work hard this change.

Monday we played soccer and volley and got burnt because all of us white boys forgot sunscreen.

We had a baptism this week, his name is Set, it turns out that he didn’t go to Lima so we set a date and it was this week. It was so awesome. He is a really great young man and wants to serve a mission and teach his family. He said to us his family wasn’t going to support him. He told us he is reading the Book of Mormon to his family at night before they turn out the lights. I was so surprised when he told us that because he told us that he family was not going to support him.

Wednesday I started getting sick and sneezed like a hundred times .
Thursday I felt like crap and we worked all day in the rain. Pero, we needed to get things done so I tried to do it with a good attitude.

Yesterday we talked in church and I used the January Liahona and the talk from President Eyring and the quote de President Monson. "We are in the Lord’s work and we are entitled to his help." It was really good I think. I had some people tell me that they felt the Spirit really strong. I tried not to burn the ward to hard but, just a little. That talk is really good you guys should read it if you havn’t already. Well I love you all tons and hope you all have a great week.
Love, Elder Hyde.great bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigggggggggggggggggggg hug

We Had A Great WEEK February 2, 2009

HEY I AM DOING REALLY GOOD. I GOT YOUR PACKAGE AND I HAVE ENJOYED THE CANDY AND THE NEW JOURNAL IS PERFECT. WELL I HAVE BEEN HAVING COMPUTER PROBLEMS AND DONT HAVE MUCH TIME. SORRY THAT THIS LETTER IS GOING TO BE REALLY LAME BUT I JUST WANT TO TELL YOU I LOVE YOU GUYS AND I AM DOING REALLY GOOD. WELL I NEED TO LET MY COMP USE THE COMPUTER SO HASTA NEXT WEEK. LOVE ALL OF YOU TONS. WE HAD A GREAT WEEK


Send a Happy Birthday to Conner from Elder Hyde. Love yall gotta run, hopefully I have more time next week.

Spritual Lessons January 26, 2009

It's good to hear that you are all doing good. That is really cool that
Dallin Craven is going to South Africa. Hopefully he is ready for the heat.
My week went really well. I don’t have to much time I think I might have enough time to write and tell you about spiritual lessons that we had throughout the week.

It all started with a reference from one of the members in our ward. We
contacted her and set up an appointment. We visited her and she had called her cousin to come listen to us. These last two weeks we have been visiting them frequently. Every time we go we can feel the spirit so strong. They don’t asked stupid questions either, they are very good questions that we can answer simply with a scripture or two. They are keeping their commitments to read and pray. They know that it is true. One of them was having a hard time accepting a baptismal date because his family is Catholic and he doesn’t know what they will think. He also thinks that it is really fast to accept a fetcha. (baptism date)

We talked to him one day this week and we read Mosiah 18:8-10 (the
part where it says "mourn with those that mourn and stand with those that stand in need of comfort.") and he said that he wants to do these things. then we read verse 10 and it says then what is stopping you from being baptized. It was amazing the spirit was so strong and then the three of us prayed. then we sat in silence for about 2 min. He said yes I want to get baptized.

They are going to Lima this week and won't return till after changes so I kind of want to stay here for another change. He says that every time he prays he feels peace and calm.(answer from God Galations 5:22-23)

This was a good week and my eyes are better. My health is good. The weather here is off and on rain and after the rain it is really, really HOT. We are thankful for the rain, but the bad thing is the mud. Well, my time is almost up. I just want to say I love ya´ll very much. I hope you all have a great week this week.
Sorry if this letter isn't very long or very good. The time limit is killing us.

Juan Carlos is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. January 19, 2009

There was a case of disobedience in the mission so the rules have gotten tighter. Now we are limited to 30 minutes at the computer and we can only write to parents.

Last Monday we went to the nature park. It was awesome and we had lots of fun. There were lots of different animals and different artifacts to look at.

On Tuesday I sent some cds with my pictures on them. I hope you get them soon.

Wednesday, satan was working hard on us this week. First with all the rain, then today I woke up with pink eye, in both of my eyes. It kinda sucks and it hurts when the light and wind enters them. We bought some heavy duty eye drops. We got a reference from a member and she is really interested in the gospel. She has a baptism date for this week.

Thursday, we have a baptism this week for Juan Carlos. We passed by to go over the interview questions and set up the appointment for his baptism.

On Friday Juan Carlos passed his interview with flying colors. His baptism is set for Saturday and he wants ME to do it.

Saturday we prepared for the baptism, filled the font, then went to work until 6 pm. We gathered all our stuff and went to the baptism. It was a really good service and we felt the spirit really strong.

Well my time is about up, sorry it is so short, I will try to type faster.
Love you all todos,
Love Elder Hyde

Transfers and Commitments January 12, 2009

The beginning of my week was a little difficult, just getting used to the change. Every missionary works a little differently or in this case a lot differently. My Companion is Elder Garnica and he is also from Bolivia. He is from a different area than my last companion. We get along really good the only thing is he works really differently. One way that he is different is that he is kinda pushy with the investigators.
This week it has rained a lot. Not quite as bad as last Sunday and just so you know I have not fallen in any more crap holes.

We worked on Monday because of transfers. Elder Garnica flew in and we picked him up at the airport. We spent most of the day visiting members and investigators to say adios. (to elder Torrejan)

Early Tuesday morning we sent the other elders off that were leaving the area then we had p day. We did play soccer and volleyball again. It was fun. We then got lazy we ate and slept. When we got back to work we went to visit the people whose baptism fell through the last week in December. This was Tereza Y Sergio, She wanted a sign from the heavens. This day they were more than ready to accept a new date and the have chosen January 17th.

On Wednesday we visited Juan Carlos, he is the 14 year old that we have been working with. He has every thing he needs to be taught and we are just waiting for his father to sign the permission slip. I actually got to talk to his father for the first time. It went better than I expected because elder Torrejan said that he was really bad and doesn’t want him to be baptized. I did not see that side of him today. We asked him to sign the paper and he did so we have another fetcha (baptism date) for January 17th. Juan Carlos is really excited and ready to be baptized.
I am running out of time but some other things that happened. Tereza wants more time to think about her baptism. I don’t know why she is changing her mind a lot, I guess it is part of life. I think her son wants to get baptized, he just doesn’t want to disappoint his mom.

Sunday we gave talks again in sacrament.

Today we are going to a nature park and I hope to get some cds to make copies of my pictures so I can send them home. (he has been saying this since Christmas!)

Flooded Streets and Surprises January 5, 2009

P Day we played soccer and volleyball as a zone and then my companion and I went to central to buy some cool stuff. On the way there we passed a shoe store, inside the shoe store there was a women without a shirt on, but that was not all she didn’t have a bra on either. That was a little bit of culture shock for me I have to admit.
Elder Torrejon bought a backscratcher and I bought this thing that hangs on the wall and says "Feliz AAO Nuevo Pucallpa". It is awesome

Tuesday it rained like crazy. I like it when it rains for two reasons. One because it is not as hot and the other is the people feel bad for us and let us in their houses. This time of year is kinda bad here because of all the drinking. Here is an example, we have taught a lady named Noami and her children. They sell beer and it is really distracting when you have drunk people outside. Everyone is getting drunk.

Wednesday we sent Pol, one of the members of the bishopric to buy fireworks for us tonight. We gave him thirty soles, some of the fireworks he bought looked like they were homemade. I am sure some of them were. He bought one that was really cool but pretty illegal in Utah.
We had to be at our house not later than 8 pm. It was hard to find people home. We found a few and spent a little time with some members. We went to bed at 10:30 pm. We set our alarm for five minutes to midnight so we could light our fireworks. It was fun but I felt the effects of it the next day even though it was only like 20 minutes.

Thursday we only went to member’s homes because a lot of people were sleeping and drunk. and all that not so good stuff. Loud music is a distraction too and almost every street has a bar type place, so every street has drunks.

Friday it rained again but not as bad as Tuesday. People are starting to go back to work and there are not as many drunks. Holidays and weekends are their drinking days.

I think my Spanish is getting better everyday. Well I hope it is.

I found out that I am staying and my companion is leaving to Lima because he is going to die, which means he is ending his mission this month. I am kinda bummed that he is leaving but I think I will survive. My new Companion is Elder Garnica from Bolivia and he will be senior companion. I don’t think I am ready to be senior. For the first few days I will act as senior until he gets to know the area. Elder Layton is also staying and his companion is leaving.

We started our fast on Saturday, I was very tempted by all the goodies in the fridge, but I made it. The president said that we are able to drink water if we need to. At first I thought it was weird but now I think I would die if I didn’t.

It didn’t start raining on Sunday until about 8:30 while we were walking home from the bishop’s house. It was raining so hard that the street we were walking down was flooded. The water was almost to our knees. It was actually kind of fun. Suddenly something horrible happened. I fell into a big hole that I didn’t see because of all the water. The water was up to my chest and it smelled really bad. It was so bad that when I got home I took off my clothes and showered really well. It was a septic thing that I fell in. It was funny but really stunk.
THAT WAS BASICALLY MY WEEK.
love you all mucho (tons) love elder Hyde

My Christmas Week December 29, 2008

Monday, December 22, we played Lucha Libre and watched a movie. My companion and I slept. We had FHE and watched “Joy To The World”. I think I watched this movie 10 times this week. It is a good one for the Christmas season.

Tuesday we worked until 7 pm then we went to a place called Plaza De Almas. The missionaries and ward members sang Christmas hymns, it was fun. We actually sounded good, I was surprised.

Wednesday we did service for one of the members of the bishopric at his house. We mowed his lawn and did it with shovels and machetes. It was fun, except it was really hot and I felt like I was going to die. After that we got ready for the day and went to lunch. We ate with the former bishop and we took pictures with his family. We took pictures with other families That night we made our pre-calls home.

In the night it was not easy to sleep because of all the firecrackers. I could have sworn they were lighting them off in our room, it was so loud.

On Christmas day we studied the scriptures that were attached to the gifts as we opened them. It wasn’t much of a study but it was fun to see which ones made sense in Spanish. In the phone call home I said “QUE” a lot, it is because it is habitual, everytime I don’t understand something that is what I say. We also got new beds and we spent the morning getting them up. We went to lunch and it was good but we had eaten a lot of sweets and could not eat much more. After our phone calls home we decided we are going to go on a shopping spree this week with the 300 soles that grandma gave me ;)

Friday we found out that our baptisms fell thru. They want to be baptized but they think that it is too soon. We had other interviews that we had to go to for the other missionaries in the district.
I had been falling behind in my journal writing, so Friday I caught myself up and it is up to date now. We walked around a lot today and then we found an investigator home and we taught them. We also had another interview.

We have an investigator named Juan Carlos, he is 14 years old. He is really interested and wants to get baptized. He is basically a member the only thing stopping him from getting baptized are his parents. They made a deal with him, that if he exercises everyday and losses weight and he needs to wait for his birthday which is January 18th.
We have a calendar that has a picture on each month of the coordinating season. It is odd for me….January has a sun and July has a snowman. I found that really weird and at the same time really funny.

THIS IS MY REPORT. ALL IS WELL, ALL IS WELL

LOTS OF LOVE FROM A SMALL PLACE CALLED PUCALLPA
LOVE ELDER HYDE