This week has been tough I wont lie. We had a lot of investigators stop investigating for one reason or another and we had a tough week trying to find new investigators. It wasn't all bad news though, we had 3 different non active families show up to church this week that we have been visiting. Its awesome to know that we had a part in the re-activation of a family. Lots of people get baptized or sealed in the Temple even and then they stop going to church and its sad cuz they think that they are good people and they don't need to go to church. Its awesome if you are a good person but they forget that they made a promise with God, that they were going to do all these different things and going to church may seem like a small thing but it isn't. Its where we get a chance to take the sacrament, and get a chance to re-baptize ourselves in a way and become clean of our daily and weekly sins. When you get a chance you should go and read the sacrament prayer, its so powerful. The end part says that we can have the spirit to be with us. If you want the spirit to be with you..... the sacrament is key. But ya sorry that was my preachy moment where I just went off on a tangent.
We need bikes here but we don't have bikes cuz our areas are very small and if we did have bikes we wouldn't be able to talk to as many people and on top of that the people here love to steal. Haha but no bikes are one of the easiest things to steal so its to much of a hassle.
My feet suck!!! I have a spot on the back of my foot now that has 4 blisters on it and all 4 of the blisters are in the same spot.... if that makes any sense. To clarify a little bit, there is one blister and then another blister formed on that one and then a another one formed on that blister and then one more formed on that blister. But honestly its not slowing me down that much. We're still out working everyday all day. So with this week being really hard I'm a little down... but whats awesome is that when your down your odds are way better that your life is going to change for the better soon. Besides there is a promise in D&C 84:30-33 about how God will renew your strength and your body, its awesome. But hey its supers short this week I'm short in time but I love you all, thanks so much for the package with all the stuff in it to help me. I love the pedometer, haha your awesome!!! But hey still don't know where my memory card is...hope it didn't get stolen in the mail cuz it wasn't in the package. If you can check on the ctr ring for me I think the size is 10 or something like that. But love you so much thanks for everything.

-Elder Hovey

Hey mom hey dad!!! ya i got both your packages thanks so much!!! you are the best!!! haha seriously the other missionaries probably think I'm a polygamist or something because i was getting new packages every week. and sometimes 2 packages at a time. haha they probably were thinking hes got to have more than one mom...... but nope i just have 1 awesome mom. and it does help when Branda is sending me packages too. so ya its good to hear everyone is doing better. i was getting a little worried there for a min but I've been praying my guts out and i know god is taking care of all of you. so what was the sickness called that Steven got?? i was trying to explain it to my companion and i couldn't figure out how to explain it, mainly cuz i don't really know what it is.
so this week has been good. i still hurt.......everywhere haha, but i worked pretty much a normal amount. we didn't have a TON of success but honestly it was a good week. we lost a few investigators, but we found 4 new ones this week too. 2 of them have baptismal dates and by the end of the week we have another investigator who is most likely going to have one too. I'm excited. hopefully they keep progressing and growing and they can uphold their baptismal dates.
so my companion still doesn't speak any English, he understands a little bit but my Spanish is coming along really good. I've been teaching him a few English words too, its really cool. only i have pretty much been teaching him words that don't matter that much like yikes.... or jinks(for when we say the same thing and the same time). So I'm gonna send you a picture of this thing called a completo. they are Chilean hot dogs and they are huge. they put guacamole, tomatoes, cheese, a ton of mayo and whatever else you can think of. they are sooooooooo good!!!! oh man i had 2 just before i wrote this email.
they just changed the schedule for us on our p days and we get up an hour earlier cuz we have a class with our zone every Monday morning at 8 am. it was hard getting up this morning i wont lie. but today has been great, i bought a pair of shoes for 24 bucks that would normally cost at least 50 there in the us. how are things with the new president?? haha i walk down the street here and every yells go home jankee(Yankee), or they yell como esta obama(hows Obama). its really funny. i just laugh it off when people yell things at me. i´m starting to realize how corrupt and wicked our word is, things i used to think were no big deal are now clear in my mind that they are not good at all. but that doesn't take away from the fact that their are still some very loving and good people in the world. and I'm trying to find those who the lord has prepared for me. its hard at times but I'm so glad I'm here. I'M so jealous!! i have been craving going out 4 wheeling!!! well don't have too much fun. and take lots of pictures!! has my camera came back yet?? you guys better put it to good use!! and send me some pictures, i don't know if you know how but have Nate or someone show you how if your not sure, or someone in our ward. oh speaking of which i met and old couple who was baptised forever ago, so i thought hey brother haggard served here forever ago........ maybe they know him. so i asked them if they knew brother haggard.....well elder haggard and they said hold on. they went into the back room and pulled out a stack of like 100 pictures of elders that were here in chili a long long long time ago haha, and i started sorting through them. each picture has the name of the elder on the back with a short note to the couple. sorry i forgot their names........i know big surprise i forgot something, but ya i sorted through the stack of pictures and to make a long story short.........i didn't find brother haggard. haha lame ending huh??? ya i know but i thought i would tell you anyways. but ya i love you all thanks again for all your support.
talk to you next week.

-Elder Hovey

That's cool that your sending these letters to people. I hope they help someone.
I really hope every one's illnesses go away!! You are all in my prayers!!!
Quick update on my status:
So this week has been good... but at the same time not so good. We haven't been able to leave the pension (apartment) much cuz of my feet. I got an infection in it and it got all swollen and it kind of really, really hurts haha. I went to the Dr again today and he said to stay in my pension and soak it 2 times a day in salt water. I have to put cream on it twice a day too. My blisters still remain ALL over my foot, but I found out its cuz I have screwed up feet. I went to an orthopedic place to get some soles for my shoes. They took an imprint of my food and said my feet are really messed up that's why I get so many blisters. So I ordered some really nice insoles for my shoes and hopefully it will help. My thumb.......it still hurts like crazy, I don't think it has really improved at all to be honest. But all the same I'm doing fine. A few physical problems aren’t going to stop me. I'm not supposed to go out and work really this week but we’re gonna go and work about half days I'm thinking. Otherwise I'll feel completely worthless, haha. But on a serious note I know the Lord is challenging me to make me grow more. He knows what’s best for me and I fully trust in him and will keep working hard, as hard as I possibly can, because I know without a doubt this Gospel is true. The same Church that Christ established 2000 years ago is today restored thanks to the prophet of God, Joseph Smith. I have come to know and love him for the sacrifices he made for all of us and above all that my Savior Jesus Christ...... I can’t even begin to explain my gratitude for Him. We would all be worthless beings were it not for Him, and Him giving, not just his life for us, but he gave us everything he had, his life, his love, his soul, and more!!! I love you all and I love this Gospel thanks for your prayers and stay strong through anything and everything.

Sorry its so short this week I have very little time today I'll write you more next week. I love you all thanks for your prayers.

Elder Hovey

hey its elder hovey!!

Good news!!! i heard we're getting a wall mart here in about a month or 2. so I'm crossing my fingers that we do cuz then i can buy all the American products i want. im nervous to find out who my next comp is gonna be. and my comp right now is going home this next Monday, he is so sad..... i feel bad for him cuz we personally didn't get any baptisms. but we do have a lot of promising investigators. that arturo guy, he is doing really well. he found a job, and we gave him a blessing on his leg and he doesn't even limp now. his leg is doing SOOOOOO much better its amazing how fast the priesthood heals people. but ya I'm doing really good. my blisters got better about a week ago, then i had blisters form in random spots that weren't there before and my feet started hurting way bad but the last few days they have been feeling way better. most of my blisters are going away and just about gone. sorry my English sucks i am forgetting how to talk in English haha. but that's a good thing. my Spanish is coming along pretty well but, i still cant freakin understand tons of what the people say here. they speak such a different form of Spanish and speak so fast its unbelievable. but arturo (my investigator) found a job, and is doing really good. he came to church this Sunday again and bore his testimony in the classes after sacrament meeting. he got up and left during sacrament cuz he said he didn't feel worthy to be there, and he knew some people that were there that also don't live the way they are supposed to, and he was mad that they were there. so we followed him out and explained that not everyone is perfect. if everyone had to be perfect to enter into the lords house.... it would be completely empty. everyone has a bad thought, or bad feelings in church, but the important thing is that as soon as those thoughts, or feelings enter our minds you kick them out and fill your head with the things worthy to be in your head. and the church is a perfect place to do that. he insisted in still going home, so we told him that there are 2 people who are fighting for him right now(god, and Satan), we asked him who he thought wanted him in church and who he thought wants him to go home. he knew the answer and decided to return and it was a whole different experience after that for him. We always need to realize that people are always watching. everyday, every hour every minute and every second there can and is most likely someone watching us, we need to be(in every moment) a disciple of Christ and an example. More importantly God is always watching. so don't forget your actions don't just always affect you, they affect the people around you too.

well whats the latest news?? are all the nephews and nieces talking yet?? we had a musical fireside last night and it was so powerful!! we had about 200 people there and wow it was amazing. i gave a talk and we had a bunch of special Musial presentations to go along with each talk and it was awesome!! well i gotta run. let me know how things are going. love you all. bye

-Elder Hovey

I'm feeling a little better. my rash went away but the itchiness is still there. i never did find out what it was. my blisters are slowly getting a little better, they hurt like crazy but ill be fine, i know god is blessing me for fighting it out. we found two awesome investigators and they are going to be baptized on the 19th, that is if they keep up on everything they are supposed to do. but i think it will work out. the work is tough, we get shut down and ignored alot but its all worth it when someone really listens. I gave a talk in church on Sunday along with the 3 other missionaries in i live with, and it was awesome. We really got the members attention and i really think we got them motivated to help us out. The best way for missionary work to go forward and best way to get people baptized is through the members so were really working on trying to get them motivated and to go out and do part of the lords work. if you see a pedometer you should send me one. i want to know how many miles i actually walk a day. and i could keep track throughout my mission.
my apartment is small, nice and full of ants haha. its really not bad at all, were really blessed to have such a nice apartment. and my companion is awesome, same with the 2 other elders i live with. we get along great and i love em. i miss 4 wheeling!!! being out here makes me really how truly blessed we are. especially people from the states. the poor people in the states would be very well off here. so don't forget to get on your knees and thank the lord for every blessing you can think of. I wanna challenge you to every night for a week in your prayers to not repeat yourself once with the things your thank full for and you will really start to see how many endless blessings god has given us. thanks for everything dad. tell everyone i love them and miss them. if i get a min after i finish writing my president a letter ill try and write a little more. but for now i love you and ill tty soon.

1st letter, sorry I am a bit behind

Hey everyone!! the mtc still awesome!! so i gotta get straight to business! NAte and bri im gonna leave the camera at the front desk so you can come pick it up or have someone pick it up. thanks so much for letting me use it, you saved my butt. i guess you dont have to buy me xmas present this year. thanks for the cookies they were soo good!! way better than the nasty cookies they have here at the mtc. the food isnt bad, only it gives me the WORST gas ever!! only it somehow doesnt smell bad. i think its because of those cleanse pills mom gave me before i left. hahahaanyways when you get my camera back i was thinking you could send it to me in chile. You should buy a thick book, thicker than my camera, and just cut out the pages so my camera will fit inside the book and tape the book shut and sned it to me in a package. That way they wont steal it.

So this last sunday i watched the testament and i forgot how good it was. I remember going up with the family forever ago when i was like 12 and i rememmber bawling my eyes out. And ill be honest i cried even harder this time. The spirit seriously hit me so hard. and i know that doesnt sound like a good description but really it did. Every hair on my body stood up on it's end. Not that i didnt know that Christ died for us before but now my testimony of that is far stronger than it was. uhhh this gospel is soooo amazing i love it!!! Sorry i dont write a lot but my district leader is a nazi about writing on any days other than p days. and we barely get any time to write on pdays so.... dont hate me. So i did see brad and he looks good. he seems to be having a good time and we took a few pictures the other day at the temple. speaking of which..... i will be on the temple grounds on sunday at 2 till around 4 if you feel like comeing and visiting me hahaha. jk but really i will be there. How are things at home?? My spanish is getting better. im still gonna struggle a little out there but ill be ok.oh and the primary sent me a big picture of an xmas tree they drew and signed. tell them thanks so much and it will be hanging on my wall in chile for sure.