This Isn't Missionary Work, This is Missionary Fun!

 This is my best little buddy. His name is Ian. 

His family is so awesome!

He likes to wear my name-tag.

This isn't missionary work, this is missionary fun!

Another picture of our baptism

For some reason the dogs here love us. I think it is similar to the gorillas at the zoo that would have an entire room of people, but for some reason they would follow me. These dogs will follow us for miles! We feel like Noah and the ark every day.

They have bread shops everywhere that sell amazing bread. It’s usually sweet bread so almost like a donut but better. This one is called cat face haha. It doesn’t look anything like that but Mexicans are very creative with their naming lol.

My District

So far on my mission I have done pretty well. When we got home one night this little guy came running out of our room. After I recovered from my heart attack, I made my comp help me search our entire apartment for more. Luckily he was the only one but still!

I Hate Spitting Death In The Face!!!

I know a lot of you might say, oh, it's just a harmless spider,
but in my world it is the scariest thing in the universe!

On Mon, Nov 17, 2014 at 7:40 AM, Amy wrote:

Dear Elder S Hackleman,

How are you doing today? We had a great weekend. We got a new stake presidency on Sunday. We had 2 members of the 70 here to make the changes. One of them was Joel's old stake president from Twin Falls. Brother Derrick was called as the new stake president. Bishop Webber from the Papillion ward is a counselor and I can't remember the other guy. I'm sure your dad will say. I told President Derrick there was going to be a missionary in Mexico doing cartwheels when he heard the news.

Nathan and I sang in the stake choir, then we rushed out the door because Nathan was also singing with his school choir along with 6 other high schools from the area and the Omaha Symphony. They performed Andrew Lloyd Webber's Requiem. It was so unbelievably good. The Maestro even talked about Mrs. Renche and started to cry because he is so touched by her.

Nathan started show choir practice the first of November. I am looking forward to his first performance for show choir. He is loving it. He and Grant are also excited to start practicing for church basketball. Tim Law is going to be their coach again this year. The games start in January but they will start practice any time now.

I sent you a little Christmas box in the mail on Friday. I sure hope it makes it to you. I packaged it with pictures of Virgin Mary and Crosses all over it and put tags saying it is full of toothbrushes and toothpaste for the Mission. Hopefully it will make it in one piece. There is also a little something for your companion in there too. In the box there are also about 10 sets of arch supports. I tried a bunch of different brands. When you figure out what kind is your favorite, take a picture of it and send it to me so I will know what kind to get you next time around. There are about 10 pairs there so it should last you for a while.

We are getting excited to go to Fort Collins for Thanksgiving. I think I told you before we are going to a CSU volleyball game as well as a CSU football game at the Air-force academy. We have snow now and the past couple of weeks have been record breaking cold so I'm not so sure the football game is going to be fun in such weather, but we will bundle up the best we can.

Your dad had a good interview on Friday with Midlands. He doesn't know for sure that he got that job, but the interview went well.

How is the missionary work going?

I love to hear your stories!

Guess who got home from their mission on Friday? Ryan Shields.

Mitchell is in Argentina I think. Anyway both of the Shields brothers are Spanish speaking as well. So fun.

Love

Mom


Ryan is already finished? freak! First off, mom thanks for all the scriptural references and information! For some reason I couldn’t remember all of that! Thank you:) I know I can trust my mommy for that stuff! so I told dad this but I will tell you too, I wrote in my journal a couple nights ago that I changed my mind about thinking Bishop Burton was going to be stake pres. I wrote that I thought it was going to be brother Derreck. I LOVE THAT MAN!

Anyways, sorry for the pansy emails recently. I will try to do better. Did you get all of my pictures? I think I sent them to a few different of your email accounts. I also realized I forgot to send a few and I didn’t bring my camera so I guess next week haha sorry. 

Chuy Corona

I wanted you to know that my favorite Mexican soccer team is called Cruz Azul (blue cross in English). I pretty much only like them because my companion does so he teaches me about them. I know all about their portero (or goalie). His name is Chewy Corona and he is a stud. I had him teach me because cruz Azul is really big around here and I wanted a good conversation starter:) if you guys want to follow them and update me on how they are doing feel free! haha. 

Thank you so much for the package. I can’t wait to get it! And those arch supports are going to save my life so thank you. We walk so much. Whenever I get tired I just think of the pioneers and how this is just training for football haha. 

Whenever I get tired of walking, I just think of the Pioneers
And training for football

It cooled off quite a bit today! The sea breeze came in so it was really windy. I like it but everybody is wearing coats and stuff haha freaking crazy. But yeah it cooled off to about 80 degrees so it is really nice:) I’m finally not sweating! As much;) ok so I have two cool stories for you that I can think of right now. If I think of more I will definitely write them. One I hope will make you laugh and the other almost made me cry so see what you think.

1) So my area of proseliting is called Carlos A. Carrillo. It is in the Tuxtepec Zone and close to a larger town called Cosamaloapan. My area is kind of like Papillion in the sense of everybody lives hear but they all work in Cosamaloapan. That is where I sent my pictures from today. We go there to do our shopping and stuff because we don’t really have stores here. Also we go their because a sister in the ward owns a small gym their and lets missionaries lift weights for free so my comp and I go almost every Monday. 

Ward member owns a gym and lets missionaries work out there for free on our Preparation Day.  I got asked to join a weight lifting team.  I told the guy I was a missionary so I couldn't join his team, but I invited him to church:)

The first part of my story is that one time I was lifting and this guy came up and asked if I would join his lifting team because he has never seen somebody lift as much as me, (in my mind I was thinking, this isn’t even that much I’m still taking it easy from shoulder surgery), but instead I told him I couldn’t because I was a missionary and instead invited him to church on Sunday. haha he didn’t come but the best part, is that they play music at this gym. It is usually Mexican songs but Mexicans also listen to a ton of American music. One song came on and at first I just thought it was another one in Spanish so I just kind of zoned out because it is hard to understand music in Spanish but then I realized it was the If I Were A Rich Man song from fiddler on the roof! 

Mexican Rap Version of "If I Were A Rich Man"
Caused me to laugh my head off.

But in like a Mexican rap form! hahahahahahah I started laughing so hard and my comp just looked at me like What the clank? haha it made my day.

Parable of the Tie

I have witnessed true Christ Like Service
I will never be the same

2) At Church this past Sunday one of the investigators who is hopefully going to be baptized in a week or so was there. He doesn't have very much money and wore some tattered jeans and a t-shirt. Apparently he has a white shirt but no tie so he didn't want to wear it. He isn’t our investigator but the other elders in our district. They are in the same ward. After sacrament meeting, I watched as one of the guys in our bishopric came down off of the stands and started taking off his tie. I just assumed he was anxious to get home because it was fast Sunday but no he walked straight to this investigator handed him has tie, gave him a hug, and walked off. 

Before I came out on my mission people told me I am going to find people who are literally going to be willing to take the clothes off of their backs for others. I always thought of this as some sort of parable not to be taken literally but spiritually, in the sense of people are extremely willing to serve or they will help in any way possible. When I saw this, and realized this is a literal act of kindness people do and I saw it first hand, I was speechless. It made me want to go home, grab all my ties and take them to all of my investigators. 

Will you share this with Nathan and Grant? I have a lesson I want them to learn sooner than I did. Never take for granted the blessings and things we have. Somewhere in the world there is always somebody a little bit worse off than the next person. At the same time, those people are also those who tend to be more willing to serve and utilize their Christ like attributes.

So far so good here in Mexico. With the exception of spitting death in the face with that spider in our house, I wouldn't trade this for anything in the world. I love you all!

Oh one more thing. I’d love to hear from some of my aunts and uncles! Oh and tell Bro Derreck to send his favorite elder a clanking email also por favor.

Te amo mucho!!
ELder Hackleman

On Mon, Nov 17, 2014 at 8:28 AM, Tim wrote:

Dear Elder,

How was last week?? We had a wonderful Stake conference. We had Elder Nielson of the 1st Quorum of the Seventy and Elder Payne, an Area Authority Seventy. Our new Stake President is Pres. Derrick. I think you know him?? :) Anyway, Stake Priesthood Leadership was awesome!! One of the best I have ever been to! One of the overall themes for the whole conference was "Hastening the Work".

Here's a couple of things that I think would be revelatory for you and your companion (and your Zone for that matter!) - Draw a comparison between "Hastening the Work" and the "Woman taken in Adultery"

Here's another one! This one is about wayward family members compared to lost quorum or ward members...

Study Luke 15:4-5 and 8-9, the "Lost Sheep" and the "Lost Piece of Silver" really think about verse 5. Then read the parable of the Prodigal Son in verses 11-end of Chapter 15.

What's the contrast between the first two parables and the prodigal son parable?

Anyway, I am so proud of you! Every time missionary work was spoken about, all my thoughts turned to my sons. Are you doing well? I have complete faith, and I am serious about "complete", that you are in the hands of the Lord. You have the ability to accomplish his work no matter what. Just remember when there's a challenge, He'll provide the right opportunity at the right time!

So, here's some more worldly news!

Utah beat Stanford in double overtime! We seriously need a QB. Utah is now ranked 20th. I think we could have seriously played in the PAC12 Championship if we had a decent QB. Papio South lost to Creighton Prep in the State semi-finals. But then get this!!! The coach for Creighton Prep resigned for personal reasons over the weekend and won't be on the sidelines for the State Championship!!! Who does that???? The online class that I'm teaching starts on the 24th! And I had a second interview with Midland University on Friday that went really well. I think I may have that one too! It was with the Vice President of Academic Affairs. When he found out that I was from Utah, he told me about an interview he had at Utah Valley University in Orem. He said that he interviewed with Matt Holland and Asked, "Do you know Matt? I guess his family is pretty big in Utah. His dad is Jeff Holland." I almost fell out of my seat. He didn't realize that he was talking about an Apostle of the Lord.

Anyway, Tell me all about your week and what's happening!!!!!

¡Ámele hijo!

Papá

P.S. I love my wife!

Hey dad! I wrote those versus down so I can study them in the morning! Thank you! So the crazy thing, is I was thinking about it this week and I thought Brother Derrick is going to be the president. I wrote it down in my journal just to see what would happen. Snyways good for Utah! too bad no qb though.... freaking prep and what the heck? what’s up with the coach? I feel like there has to be more to it so keep me updated. That is crazy about your interview!!!!

ok so I don’t have any crazy stories that I can think of right now but I do have some recipes for you to try if you want!

I don’t remember which ones I have already told you about but here are some of my favorites.

1) This one is really easy. They make a bunch of different versions of this, but the idea is all the same. Oh and a meal without tortillas is breaking the word of wisdom here. We ALWAYS have tortillas. Take a tortilla and lightly fry it in some oil. Not a ton but just a little. Then lay it flat on the plate and spread some black beans (better if they are re-fried because then it isn't as messy if it is almost like a paste) on the bottom. Top it with some shredded chicken (seasoned however you like) a strip of jalapeno, a thin slice of carrot, avocado, and mozzarella cheese on top. Then eat it like a pizza. This is one of my favorite varieties but you can play around with it to see what you like.

2) ok my other favorite food I have no idea how to make so you might have to look it up. It is called a Bolivani. It is almost like a croissant stuffed with like cheese and ham or chicken or whatever. They are amazing and will change your life but I hear they are kind of hard to make.

Daddy I love you! All is well here. Keep me updated with things!

Te amo, Elder Hackleman

Unconventional Ways to Find People to Teach In Mexico

Baptism

Top 10 things I learned this week:

1) So my comp and I have a favorite way of contacting people on the street. We love walking up to people and asking them if they know where Enrique lives (we usually just make up a name on the spot). 

Naturally because the name is made up they say, no sorry, but then we have their attention and we can reel them in with, oh, ok, we were looking for them because we are missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and we have a message to share about.... and then we get a new investigator! This method works very well because we aren't lying, we truly do want to help Enrique, whoever that might be, but it also breaks the ice with the person on the street. We have a packed schedule with investigators but it is a good way for us to just get their address and return to deliver the message another day. 

Anyways we did this to a group of probably 8 or 9 people yesterday who were just sitting outside of their house laughing and having a good time. They were very nice and to our surprise, the person we asked for actually lived on the next street over. Remember we just made up a name but this time the person actually existed. They told us where she lived and after we gave them our two bits, all 8 of them asked us to come back and talk with them another day! It was awesome! But the best part is now we have a referral! hahaha so we visited this mystery lady and when we called out, she opened the door and immediately invited us in and had us sit down on the couch. She was on older lady we were a little surprised because we hadn't even told her who we were or anything. Anyways long story short, turns out she was baptized years ago, and lives with a big family full of non members and less actives in the same house. Because of this one visit we have 2 new investigators with baptismal dates and like 5 or 6 more potentials! It was crazy! I learned two lessons from this one, the first, is the Lord works in mysterious ways. The second, be prepared for anything when you are asking for random people.

2) So this one is nice and short. We had another baptism this week and his confirmation was in sacrament meeting on Sunday. Well 5 seconds before they called him up to the stands to be confirmed my comp told me I was going to be the one to do the confirmation. The good news is I didn't actually die from the heart attack as I walked up to the stands. He told me what to say because I haven’t memorized that part in Spanish and then I just gave a blessing guided by the spirit. I learned two things from this as well. The first is the gift of tongues is real. The second is I found out we don’t really have a good hospital close by if I had died from that heart attack. Oh well.

I performed my first confirmation
And I didn't die of a heart attack!

3) I had something interesting to eat this week. It is called cabesa de perro or head of dog. hahaha the only problem is they didn't tell me it wasn't actually dog head until after I had eaten it all. Lesson learned, meat tastes much better when you don’t think it came from the family pet 20 minutes before you arrived.

Eating a meal titled head of the dog is not awesome.
What is awesome, is when you find out it is just the name of the dish
And not really the family pet.

4) Another quickie, remember the guy who sold me the cologne in our ward, Hermano mike? Well apparently he got married 26 days after he got home from his mission. Lesson learned, I am really competitive and now everybody thinks I really am going to try and beat his record and get married 25 days after mine.

People say I'm competitive

I say, who me?

5) The activity was kind of a bust and a blessing all at the same time. None of our investigators went but it was a great ward activity. We only got one new investigator from it but the good thing is everybody knows where our church is now because of the speaker that drove around town! haha. I will send you a video of the announcement even though you probably won’t understand anything. Lesson learned, even when you think something didn't work, it probably didn't but at least you had fun doing it! 

In the car there is a speaker.  I came up with the idea.  I talked a member into
advertising a fireside at the church over the loud speaker.
I thought we wouldn't be able to fit everyone in the building.
Turns out only one person who wasn't a member of our church came.

Ok I am running out of time so I will send the next 5 next week. Sorry mommy! Love you! Oh really quick, I went to Veracruz this week for my visa thing. That was fun! And ask dad about my interview with the mission pres! You’re the best!

Love Elder S. Hackleman


On Sun, Nov 9, 2014 at 10:55 PM, Amy wrote:

Elder S. Hackleman,

How are you? We are doing good.

The weather is supposed to really cool down this week. I guess I am not quite ready for winter yet, but it's coming weather I like it or not. There is a phrase from the movie, "Frozen" that goes, "The cold never bothered me anyway." I made a poster with those words, then at the end, I said, "Just kidding, I hate the cold" ha ha.

So we had _______ over for dinner today. I wanted to write to you about something that might apply to those you associate with when it comes to missionary work. This is something that has bothered me over the years about a lot of people and I hope you can learn from it, as far as what not to do. Maybe even help other missionaries you are around to help them learn as well.

A lot of the time people will be joking around and having fun with the boys, and it gets a little bit out of hand. They can be rather rude and eventually take it too far. The theme tonight seemed to be, make fun of Grant night and make him feel dumb for not saying the right things, or in the right way. I finally put my foot down and stepped in. I think it is never appropriate to say comments about someone that are derogatory, even if you think you are doing it in fun. It was not fun for me to hear it and it certainly was not fun for Grant. He tried to laugh along and go along like it didn't bother him, but believe me, it did.

I think it is going to be a while before we have __________ over again. They are fun nice people, who just say enough rude things to rub a lot of people the wrong way.

I know you are never one to say rude things, but sometimes I think other missionaries need to be called out on it, or at least have the discussion brought up to them. It’s just a thought.

I sure love you! I would love to hear the top ten things you learned this week on your mission. That was so fun last week!

Love mom

Hey mommy! Yeah I always hated that when people do that. Remember that one missionary we had in Sidney who hated me? Yeah luckily Mexicans are very respectful. I haven’t seen a single one who even sort of does that down here which is good. Tell Grantie he is my man! How is your toe doing? Oh and I do have some stories for you today! But first I have some doctrinal questions:) Your my girl when it comes to doctrine!:) Ok so maybe I just don’t know the answers to these because I was reading in my Spanish Book of Mormon, so maybe I just didn’t understand it quite right. They both come from first Nephi. So in 1 Nephi 13:42, it talks about Christ coming. It says something about the first shall be last and the last shall be first. Naturally I took that to mean Christ would come to the Americas first during the second coming because he came to them last during his earthly ministry but I thought he was going to descend on the dome of the rock? or no? I can’t remember what the dome of the rock is. I know the significance of Adam ohndi ahmen but I was just a little confused. Also (actually this isn’t really a question, more of a thought), I know there is a lot of patterns and numbers and stuff in the church but when I read 1 Nephi 11:35, I wondered if there is some sort of connection with the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 apostles? Maybe one apostle from each tribe? I don’t know, what do you think? Anyways I will tell you some stories now.

(Stories moved to the top of the page)

On Mon, Nov 10, 2014 at 9:35 AM, Tim wrote:

Dear Elder,

How was your week? Just as crazy as ever? One thing that I have been curious about, but have always forgotten to ask you is, how is your shoulder? Have you had any problems with it since you've been out? I put $20.00 in your account. I can't remember what the minimum amount was that you could get out of the ATMs down there. I hope you can get that. If not, and it needs to be higher, let me know.

How is your companion doing? What adventures are you having?

You're not going to believe this! So Papio South lost 3 games this season. Bellevue West, Millard North and Creighton Prep. First game of playoffs we beat Bellevue West. Last Friday, we played Millard North. They are undefeated at 10-0. Because we beat Bell West we got to have Millard North at home! We beat them 38-35 with a 27 yd. field goal with 2 seconds on the clock!!! It was amazing!!!! So now the Titans are in the Semi Finals!!! And guess who we play??? Creighton Prep!!! Not sure where, but I don't feel good about this one. They are a passing team and our secondary is still not great. But we'll see!!!

We are all doing well up here! I have an appointment with a surgeon this week. I don't know if you remember when I had my belly-button hernia repaired back in Sidney? Well, it has opened up again and it's much larger. So, I may have to get that fixed. Also, I will be teaching a "Fundamentals of Print Design" class for Bellevue University. It's an online course that starts November 24th! Because it's online that means I can set my own hours and do the work at night a couple times a week. I'm excited and a wee bit nervous too! Also, Midland University called and said that they have a class for me as well. That one probably won't start until after the first of the year. I'm really excited about that one because it's one that I will actually have to go into a classroom and teach.

We're all excited for Stake Conference next week. We're getting a new Stake President. I think I told you that. Your mom and Nathan are singing in the choir. They are having fun doing that. Speaking of music!!! Are you playing the piano??? I always loved to hear you play the piano.

Anyway, I love you so much tiger! Please be safe and always heed the promptings of the Holy Ghost.

¡Ámele hijo!

Papá

Hey dad! That is crazy! Be careful with that hernia dang it! That is soooo awesome about papio south! I realllllllly want them to beat prep. ANd $20 is perfect! I have had to use a lot of personal money lately because I haven’t gotten my transport reimbursements yet. Those should come through this Wednesday. When they do I hopefully won’t have to keep using my account. Sorry about that, but thank you for the extra help! It has saved me a couple of times. 

Aren’t you going to be worn out with 3 jobs???? and about piano, yeah I play whenever we are at the church. I might start playing for sacrament meeting. haha. Oh and I wrote a song! It is pretty cool! My comp loves it. I’ll try and record it this week so you can see. It is just the first part, but still pretty cool. I usually have 2 or 3 opportunities to play every week because we go to the church for every baptismal interview and church obviously. My wrist hurts because I played for 2 hours straight yesterday while my comp was in a meeting. 

Oh that reminds me! I had my first interview with President Cordova on Thursday! It went really well! He said he was amazed at how good my Spanish was and that I spoke better than anybody else who came out at the same time as me. He said I sounded like I have been out here for 6 months and not 6 weeks haha. He is super nice! He said a ton of really nice things about me to my comp too. He told me about it afterwards. It was pretty cool!

Love you dad! Thanks for always being the perfect example to us crazy boys.

Elder S. Hackleman

Why is there so much conflict over the Dome of the Rock?

The Dome of the Rock is a Moslem Mosque
The "Wailing Wall" is a location Jews go to say daily prayers
This location is considered to be hallowed ground for Christians as well. Tradition says:
1. It is the location of Mount Moriah, which is where Abraham was about to offer up his son Isaac to the Lord.
2. David offered sacrifice to the Lord for his sins on a threshing floor which is located on the same ground.
3. This is also the location where David’s son Solomon had a great temple built.
4. Ezekiel saw in a vision, during the Latter-Days, a temple would be built on the sacred ground.

Dear Mom,

As I have been studying the scriptures I have a few doctrinal questions for you.

1 Nephi 13:42 says something about the first shall be last and the last shall be first. So naturally I took that to mean Christ would come to the Americas first during the second coming because he came to them last during his earthly ministry. But I thought he was going to descend on the dome of the rock? Or no? I can’t remember what the dome of the rock is.

Dear Elder,

I am glad to see you are studying deep doctrine and it is causing you to have questions. You are getting a few things mixed up a bit. I will try to help clear things up for you. The answers cannot be given without quite a bit of documentation, so I will do my best.

1 Nephi 13:42 is talking about how the gospel would be spread to the Jews and the Gentiles. Initially the gospel was given to the Jews first and after Christ’s crucifixion, the apostles started preaching the gospel to the Gentiles. Now in the latter days, the Gentiles are being given the gospel first and the Jews will be getting it second.

You are confusing the prophecy concerning Christ’s visit to Jerusalem after the great battle that will take place there. Christ will save the city from destruction. The Jews will see the nail prints in the Savior’s hands and realize it is Jesus of Nazareth. The prophecy states that at this point the Jews will be converted as a whole, but by this time many Gentiles will have already joined the church so the last shall be first.

1 Nephi 13:42 “And the time cometh that he shall manifest himself unto all nations, both unto the Jews and also unto the Gentiles; and after he has manifested himself unto the Jews and also unto the Gentiles, then he shall manifest himself unto the Gentiles and also unto the Jews, and the last shall be first, and the first shall be last.”

Doctrine and Covenant Section 90: 8 “That thereby they may be perfected in their ministry for the salvation of Zion, and of the nations of Israel, and of the Gentiles, as many as will believe;
9 That through your administration they may receive the word, and through their administration the word may go forth unto the ends of the earth, unto the Gentiles first, and then, behold, and lo, they shall turn unto the Jews.”

So Elder Hackleman, now I will address your second question. Christ will not descend on the Dome of the Rock, he will go to the Mount of Olives.  At this point many great prophecies will be fulfilled including an earthquake causing the hillside to be divided in two providing a place for the Jews to escape from captivity brought on by the great seize of the city during the great battle.

A history lesson might help you understand the Dome of the Rock a little better. The Dome of the Rock is a Moslem Mosque. It is important to Muslim’s. It is also easy to see how important the location is to the Jews as witnessed by the many who visit the Wailing Wall each day. Tradition says the Wailing Wall is the last remaining piece of Solomon’s great temple. The Jews go there often to pray and they put written prayers into crevices in the rock wall.

The third group, who also believe this ground, is holy and sacred are the Christians. Tradition says:

1. It is the location of Mount Moriah, which is where Abraham was about to offer up his son Isaac to the Lord.

2. David offered sacrifice to the Lord for his sins on a threshing floor which is located on the same ground.

3. This is also the location where David’s son Solomon had a great temple built.

4. Ezekiel saw in a vision for the latter days-a temple would be built on the sacred ground.

The following two quotes were taken from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Institute Manuel.

Ezekiel 37:26–28. A Latter-day Temple in Jerusalem

Ezekiel prophesied in 37:26–28 about a holy sanctuary or temple that would be part of the great reunification of Israel. Soon after this vision, Ezekiel received a detailed vision of what the new temple in Jerusalem would be like (see Ezekiel 40–48). President Joseph Fielding Smith said:“Ezekiel predicted the building of a temple in Jerusalem which will be used for ordinance work after the gathering of Israel from their long dispersion and when they are cleansed from their transgressions”(Doctrines of Salvation, 2:244).

Ezekiel 47:1–12. Waters Issue from the Temple

The Prophet Joseph Smith proclaimed: “Judah must return, Jerusalem must be rebuilt, and the temple, and water come out from under the temple, and the waters of the Dead Sea be healed. It will take some time to rebuild the walls of the city and the temple, and all this must be done before the Son of Man will make His appearance.” (Teachings,p. 286.)

The waters issuing forth from under the temple and the healing of the Dead Sea may occur when the Lord Himself sets foot upon the Mount of Olives, causing this mountain to divide in two and create a large valley (see Zechariah 14:4; D&C 133:20–24; Enrichment I).

We believe the prophecy written in the Old Testament by Ezekiel will transpire. How that will come about is a mystery at this time. No true Christian would ever cause any harm to a sacred building owned by another religion. So how the prophecy of Ezekial will unfold and when it will happen is yet to be fulfilled.

Elder Hackleman's Stories for the week

 

My comp and I took a selfie with our nametags. don’t judge:) 

So this dog is crazy. Whenever we walk by this certain house he will follow us for miles. He is nice. I named him Mole. The best part is, he is starting to respond to this name.

That is awesome! Sorry though, I’m not going to be able to send very much today. We sort of spent too much time playing soccer so now we don’t have that much time to write.

Sorry! I still love you though! lol anyways you had a busy week! Tell Becky and the kids hi for me!! And you need to take care of that dang toe mama! Oh and by the way, why does that not surprise me at all with Nathan and being cold and hungry? Oh well, at least I was never that way!;) Oh and I am still betting it is going to be Bishop Burton for stake presidency. Keep working hard at school!
Anyways I only have a couple stories today and I don’t have much time to make them funny ha-ha sorry.

Story # 1

Ok so we found this family. They are super fun and amazing and very willing to listen to our message. The problem is we can’t get them to come to church. We walk to their house every Sunday before church to try and accompany them because they always tell us they will. Here in Mexico, everybody has a fence around their house.

It is impolite to walk through the fence and knock on the door, (unless they are really good friends and members or something, but as missionaries we never do), so you just stand at the fence and yell BUENAS TARDES or something (good afternoon) and they will come out and let you in. For the past couple of Sundays when we went to their house we always heard someone yell BUENAS back, but nobody ever came to the door. We were pretty upset and whenever we would ask them about it they would say they weren’t even home. So we were very confused. Until during one lesson somebody randomly yelled BUENAS in the middle of the restoration video. Turns out they have a parrot who loves to yell Buenos, but it sounded so human we thought it was them! ha-ha my comp and I laughed about that for hours lol.

Story # 2

So my other story actually happened when I first got here but I don’t think I ever told you about it. So Elder Webb, (he was in my district in the MTC, He is the wrestler who knew Tason). Anyway he and I were walking down the sidewalk outside of the mission home. We were both so excited we were greeting and waving at everyone who walked or drove by.

Well he waved at a taxi. Taxis here will drive over a grandma and her pet puppy in order to get to a person even if they already passed them. So this taxi slams on his brakes and starts driving through the traffic in reverse to try and get to us. I was like wow elder! And he was too scared to talk to the taxi driver and explain we didn't actually need his services so I got to have some fun with that with the very limited Spanish I knew at the time. Anyways I thought that was kind of funny ha-ha.

That is all for now. Hopefully I will have a few more minutes to send some pictures. LOVE YOU MOM!