MADE IT TO TEXAS!

Dear Parents,

We are pleased to let you know that your missionary has arrived safely in the Texas Houston South Mission, the best mission in the world!!  They are happy and absolutely wonderful. President Ashton and I are thrilled to welcome them. We had a terrific afternoon and evening together on Tuesday. We enjoyed getting to know each of them.  Your missionaries received some training and then had the opportunity to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with people on the streets of Houston.  

After, we enjoyed dinner together as well as a beautiful testimony meeting. Wednesday they received some more training, met their trainers as well as many other missionaries, and then left to their areas to meet and teach the wonderful people of Houston.  They come with such courage and strength.   You should be very proud of them.

I have attached a photo from our gathering in the mission home. As you can see, there are many smiles.  We have seven children.  Our youngest is 2 and our oldest is 15. They are so excited to be a part of your missionary's life! 


Again, thank you for the opportunity you have given us to serve with these fine missionaries. We love them already and promise to take good care of them. May you find great joy and blessings as you continue to support them in bringing souls to Christ through His restored gospel. This is His work and these missionaries are on His errand. More joy awaits them than they have ever experienced!


With Love, 
President and Sister Ashton, Spencer, Braeden, Jacob, Elisabeth Kate, Ethan, Daniel, and Wesley


PS.  P-days are on Monday which is the day they will write/receive email. If they are assigned to Galveston Island, however, their email day will be Tuesday. However, this coming week P-day will be on Tuesday due to the Labor Day holiday.  I know they will love hearing from you each week and need to know you are loving and supporting them.  Please send/email at least a short note each week.  Also, if you have any sensitive information to share with your missionary that may cause him/her emotional distress, please call, text, or email my husband or myself so we can determine the best way for him/her to receive the information and so that we are aware that he/she may need some extra attention.  Thanks for everything.

Some final pictures from the CCM! 

The District

Another district picture! 

Sleepover with all the hermanas in her district! 

Teacher! 

We got this picture today! Emily in the mission field with her new companion! So HAPPY!

SICK week!!

okay this week was kinda crazy but i mean when in mexico.....what else ;)

first of all i came up with a pretty rad object lesson ON THE SPOT! ready for it?
okay so you get some M&Ms and give one or a couple to everyone and say look..we all have M&MS..just like we all have problems in this life. they are different and we have uneven amounts, but we still all have them. now put them in your mouth! the gospel of jesus christ is like your mouth because whatever problems you have, if you comeunto the gospel and solve your problems through this gospel and with the lords help, ALL problems can be dissolved ;) pretty stinkin proud of that one hahah i need to get some family investigators so i can teach children!! i also learned a SWEET trick that will entice the little niños as well! i can split an apple in half with one finger and my fist....took a few tries and some sore dedos to figure it out but now i can rock some childrens mundos!!!


okay so it was a literal SICK week because on thursday night i was up ALLL NIGHT with congestion, achy-ness, massive headache, sore throat, fever, you name it...i ended up just going into the front room and reading the BOM because i could sleep! blessing in disguise though  because i was reading in nephi about when he is asked to build a boat and felt like that would be a perfect thing to share with one of our investigators and then later when we taught the lesson he said he had been reading about nephi building a boat and wanted to know more so BOOM PERFECT! church is true.


anyway, so i found out that hermana kinkade was up all night with the same symptoms so we decided to take it easy and try and rest and what not...straight up love this girl. our cute companions took us to the doctor where we found out that YES we had a fever but NO we werent going to die and he gave us some pills...funny story about that...he was a latino doctor so there was a tiny language barrier so when he handed me the pills he said "chew now" i questioned "chew?" "yes chew"...the second i bite down on that rancid pill doc exclaims"OH NO! SWALLOW! I MEANT SWALLOW!" i was sugarcoating it earlier...language barriers were running rampant so i hope he diagnosed us right but regardless the drugs he gave us helped and i got a blessing too so im just dandy!


speaking of the blessing...elder sorensen and anderson gave us the blessings..anderson gave me the long one and it was his FIRST TIME! so cool because at first he was pressing down a little hard and his voice was shaky and nervous but then BOOM the spirit hit him and he just relaxed and gave the perfect blessing!


we had TRC this week were we taught a real live nonmember.she was a sweet grandma named GLoria! it was a powerful lesson! at one point while i was bearing my testimony GLoria and i both started crying and the spirit was unreal! the little sweetheart shared a tissue with me! we left her a book of mormon and she was already reading it when we left! I LOVE THIS WORK!


okay in relief society we were talking about "a priceless heritage of hope" by henry b eyring. it is crazy to think that soooo many peoples potential happiness rests in my hands! not only investigators, but my posterity! holy NO PRESSURE!! the decisions we make effect MILLIONS so be careful  yall...in the words of GOrdon B hinkley "never permit yourself to become a weak link in the chain of your generations"


also, great devo by holland...love that guy...it was about how we have been called on a mission FOREVER. it should never end! just because ill take the namtag off in seventeen months...doesnt mean my purpose changes.i should still be a rep of christ and do my best to bring others unto him!
we watched that jospeh smith movie? you know the super good one? gets me everytime...HUGE testimony builder because it shows how much opposition the church was faced with when it was first starting out...satan would not have worked as hard as he did to stop a LIE....so the church is TRUE. i PROMISE!


so much to say so little time! just know that i LOVE you all and REALLY appreciate all of the love and support! anytime i get discouraged (which isnt often, i promise) i just think of you all and how i dont want to let you all down! and that youre rooting for me!


ps holy frijoles this time next week i will be emailing from TEXAS!!!!! yall better buckle up because thats gon be excitin!


last great week at the CCM! love this work! love being a missionary! LOVE THE LORD!!!


sorry this email is all over the place but it is what it is ;)


paz y bendiciones
hermana hull

"walked around the perimeter of the NINE ACRE CCM as a district!! good looking crew"

"walking the perimeter again...."

"elder anderson (sitting next to me) loves pictures "

"took our district picture which means we are leaving the ccm!! when did that happen..."

"also KING KERN bow down to the birthday boy!! hermana kinkade and i made that crown when we were home sick"

"this picture was on timer and accidentally on zoom haha sorensen dropped his scripture case and this is the 100% natural response captured!"

 "just for kicks"

"ellee! you introduced me to this girl in Y serve one time!! hermana warner ended up being a great friend here at the CCM"

"also elder lopez helped me practice my spanish and i helped him practice english!"

"elder sorensen and anderson! we love them so much"

"jokingly told the lady at the haircut place to teach me how to cut hair.... and elder sorenson volunteered!"

"dont know who took it but its exactly what i see of the city everyday! the city is just PACKED outside the ccm"

"and lastly it rains like every night here..not just rain like straight up thor and zeus fighting off some torrential beast....therefore rain jackets ARE A THING"

here we go again!!!!!

MONTH MARK!!!!!!! 

WHAT THE MONTH MARK THIS WEEK??? this mission needs to slow it down or i might have to extend to two years......

just kidding mom, im coming home in 17 ;)
okay! so this week...

thurs: one of our teachers played some hawaiian reggae song for legit like 30 seconds and it hurt my soul...listen to lots of great music for me because chica is starving for some quality jams!!!
hahahaha oh also every night at 10:30 almost on the dot some random elder BELTS the beginning song of the lion king circle of life...it was funny the first time...but now im like save it homie

friday: I GOT THREEEEE LETTERS!!! thank you grandma and grandpa, daddy, mom, and the little munchkins for your sweet sweet notes! ive sent a couple responses and am still working on some more so sit tight and keep your eyes on the mail!!

sat: today i tried reading the Liahona that michele hamilton (THANK YOU) got me!! its the perfect challenge because i dont have the english version to compare it to so i have to rely on my studying and look up spanish words i dont recognize etc...its rough, but im loving it!!
also, met and talked with a ton of latinas today..they are my favorite!! always kiss my cheeks and help me practice! we exchange tongue twisters and just end up crying from laughing so hard...language barrier isnt even a thing when you love the people!!

got locked outta the casa after gym...tried to break in..unsuccessful...but let me tell you, if i had a knife id be rooooollllin!

also...there was a crazy airborne virus that knocked out three elders in my district..they all got fevers of 102 F and threw up, sore throat, cough, achyness, whole nine yards...my hermana got a subdued version of it a long with her other health problems but it didnt really take its toll until sunday... i told the virus to "STAY ON YO SIDE" so yeah...im fine haha and this week didnt have as many exciting things happen becasue everybody was sick!! sorry!

sunday: today had every potential to be a bad day because my hermana was sick in bed and the elders were still out for the count..but it was actually awesome! we were finishing up lunch when hermana kinkade goes "are the elders gonna come eat or not??" we had been fasting for them and them not showing up to lunch had our faith waivering for like half a second...BUT THEN my hermana points out the window and yells "here they come!!" sure enough the three of them were rollin up the street! we all were waving and shouting and one elder goes "it felt like we had just survived some crazy battle and were being welcomed home from war!"" haha love it

also saw an amazing DEVO by elder bednar about the character of christ. if you havent seen it, GO WATCH IT!! its all about getting over the natural man! i loved the part where elder bednar calls out all missionaries everywhere by saying ]"GET OVER YOURSELF, THE MISSION IS NOT ABOUT YOU" such a solid piece of advice and just the reminder i needed! i am not learning spanish to benefit myself, its so i can share the sweet gospel with the spanish speakers of texas! any blessings i receive from learning this language are just icing on the cake!!

also, at dinner in the lines hermanas always get to eat before the elders so this elder wanted more tamales and asked me to go through the line for him...i said yes if he made me a nutella and peanut butter toasted sandwich...he quickly agreed not realizing that waiting for the toaster would be like the same amount of time for him to go through the line whereas for me it was no sacrifice at all hahaha oh well...also! that same elder came by our casa that night to drop off cupcakes for us all! so sweet...our elders are super good to us! they even gave my hermana a blessing for her health problems! her faith is so strong...just minutes after the blessing she felt well enough to attend our next meeting!! I LOVE SUNDAYS

monday: all of the elders were practicing how to go from a casual handshake into getting the person in position for baptism fluidly..so goofy

also at dinner in the pozole (soup type thing) there was some questionable porkk..elder sorenson pulls out a piece and goes "anyone want a left ventricle??" it really did resemble some part of a heart...yikes
also said goodbye to jessica today...actually i never actually said goodbye, just see you later! LOVED having hermana weber here with me!

tues: discussing favorite chick flicks with some of the elders? that was a thing..30 seconds of silence for Robin Williams? also a thing..cant believe he committed suicide!! i found out all the details from a cute little mexican man so if im wrong, by all means correct me! it would be awesome if robin williams wasnt actually dead...speaking of the little mexican man, he also invitied me aver for pizza with his family in seventeen months!! he was the sweetest and taught me the the most efficient way to fold the bottom sheet thing..you know with the elastic? cant wait to teach yall in 1.5

also, my blisters are almost gone so i wore real live shoes and scored a goal in soccer!! granted i wasnt playing latinas...but baby steps are okay right??

well i love you all SOO much and hope you have the greatest week! REMEMBER: God is our loving heavenly father which makes us all family..so love everyone!!
paz y bendiciones
hermana hull

also the little gift for my sick hermana!! yes we signed a mango for her hahaha

^Hermana Weber! Off to Chile!^ 

Yummy cupcakes from the Elders! 

From a walk around the CCM with her district!

A friend from BYU!

"also mexican shirts...so thats happy...it was SO WEIRD to wear real live pants...."

"yeah! today is my second to last pDAY here at the ccm...im going to cry.."

And everyone PLEASE write Emily a letter - but since it takes so long to get letters to Mexico, send any letters to the Houston Mission address (posted on the sidebar), so they don't miss her! 

the weekly

GUYS IT IS PDAY AGAIN!!!!! this week seriously flewwwww by and i couldnt be happier to be sitting at this computer to write y´all again!!

but lets get down to the needy greedy

On thursday we learned that when using the verb "gustar" and referring to a person it means attraction so like "me gusta usted" means "i am attracted to you"...just that fact alone enhanced my life significantly

friday: during a study time today my entire district broke out into that "in the jungle..." songhaha it was unreal...im talking different parts, harmony, percussion sounds, whole ten yards because we arent the kind of district to do anything halfway hahah it was excellent. 

saturday: yes im going to quote myself real quick "find the hilarity in life"...i told this to my hermana when she was having a little rough patch and asked how i could laugh so much!! it is so true though..life is hilarious...you just gotta look a little harder for the funny bits sometimes

also it was fast sunday which at the ccm means saturday lunch is your last meal...we "last suppered" so hard that we had to lay down on the grass afterwards just to digest for a minute haha oh ps this morning there was a RATCHET unidentified bug in the house, but my companion doesnt like when i kill bugs...so i scooted it outside with my foot and said to her "i just saved a life, now all i need to do is save some souls...lets do this!!" 

sunday: one of my sweet sister trainers gave the lesson on sunday and it was powerful. she asked us two questions. 1. what do you want to say you have done as a missionary? 2. who do you want to have become? SUCH good questions to really take a minute and think about...but i think that can be applied to anyone...what do you want to have done a year from now? who do you want to have become? OH YEAH!!! everybody look up general conference OCT 2007 Octaviano Tenovio and watch his eight minute bit..he taught a lesson and i straight up love this man. his gusto for the gospel is tangible and i want to be him. inbetween devo´s we played "how well do you know  your companion" and it was a hilarious and highly entertaining bonding experience as a district!! 

Oh a random mexican elder i did not know called me by name and asked to take a picture with me and then started trying to talk to me and stuff but i had to go...but later when i was leaving to walk home a different elder walks in our classroom and says one of the mexican elders sent him with chocolate and a note for one of the hermanas...and when he say my nametag he was like "oh! hermana hull! its for you i am sure!!" haha it was from the mexican elder that took a picture with me! he gave me hersheys chocolate and a note that had his email and a scripture...look up Moses 6:34....i died laughing!!!

monday: okay so today we had to go to the enfermia (doc office) first thing for my companion but we got there fifteen minutes early so we sat on a bench and i read alma 5 outloud. EVERYONE STOP AND READ THIS CHAPTER!!! it is amazing!! i love how blunt and straight forward it is!!!

had to do wall sits today for 3 minutes and 40 seconds no breaks today for losing a "por vs para" activity...my legs felt like noodles after

also ether 12 is a wonderful chapter on faith!!! everybody is all like alma 32 is like the best faith chapter and im like yeah its awesome...but lets talk about ether 12 #missionaryarguments

I GOT A LETTER FROM ANDREW AND IT MADE MY ENTIRE LIFE!!!!!!! thank you so much for your talk sweet boy! you are going to be an amazing missionary one day!! i read some of the other missionaries your talk and they were all "whoa how old is your brother?" YOU ARE A MISSIONARY ALREADY!!! oh i met this hermana that is the only memeber in her family and has NO family support...she is amazing..i dont think i could do this crazy thing im doing if i didnt know yáll were lovin and supportin back home!!! i feel so lucky to have the BEST FAMILY AND FRIENDS EVER!!! not even a biased statement ;) 

tuesday: great devo by a mexican version of elder holland. this guy was crazy passionate about the gospel. his hands where flying and i wouldnt be surprised if he worked up a sweet giving an excellent devo on obedience! he posed the question "why do you keep the commandments? those whoe obey out of habit will be come indifferent...etc etc but the best reason to keep the commandments is be cause we love jesus christ" i loved it

also since i have blisters (which i found out today one has an infection but i just take an antibiotic four times a day and ill be golden) i get to wear flip flops! which is great but the halls are super slippy so i straight up landed flat on my rumplestilskin in the hall and had all the hermanas crying becasue they were laughing so hard....do it for the hermanas...always

TODAY: got to go to the mexico city temple and it was AMAZING!!! its closed for some reason...but wer hit up the visitor center and what not and it was unreal! the temple is straight up in the city...like you are casually strolling through the craziest busiest part of town..BOOM left turn..BOOM there it is...house of the Lord! it was an amazing opportunity and the spirit was tangible!! 

on our way driving back our bus driver pulled over and bought us all bananas from a guy on the side of the road...seemed legit..haha i think it was the best banana i have ever eaten!!

well i love you all so much it hurts!!

ps try and figure out dear elder becasue snail mail is a joke here and literally moves at a snails pace...but dear elder takes like two days so please and thank you from your desparate missionary haha

LOVE LOVE LOVE

paz y bendiciones,

hermana hull

"matching the companion? sure why not"

"matching colors with jessica? sure why not"

"matching my roommates? sure why not"

"sister training leaders"

"my TWIN and sister training leader"

"oh hey its kevin!"

"some of our little latino friends!!! really helps with the spanish!!!! love them all"

more friends

friend from efy

oh the chocolate and note from my "mexican husband"....yikes...seriously look up the scripture! 

across the street.....

and then BOOM TEMPLE