Things You Might Think are Cool

The ward mission leader here has kept me updated on the NBA playoffs.  

Everybody has at least one dog which is a struggle for me because they jump all over me, but it is also a blessing because my allergies to them haven’t acted up during a lesson yet it usually acts up a little bit after though.

We were treated very nicely on Easter, people gave us plenty of candy and stuff.  I won’t be surprised if I gain a little weight here because everywhere we go we get offered stuff to eat.  We have a tea appointment(dinner) about every other day.  I actually like eating at people’s houses better because they usually have better food than we make ourselves.  We get 230 aud per month which I think is definitely enough to last.  I love this place.

Sorry I am running out of time but I still have a lot that i wanted to tell you so I will try to next week .  I love you guys.  I am having an awesome time here so don’t worry about me.

Love, Elder Hyde

I am pressed on time so i will just tell you a few more things that you might think is cool. Who ever said that I wasn’t speaking a foreign language is wrong, some of the people are hard to understand.  The people here use holidays to get off work so they have a lot such as Friday was Good Friday and then black Saturday then Easter Sunday then Easter Monday then Anzac day and they all get work off these days and that is why I did not write until today which is Wednesday here.

Teaching and Culture Shock

THURSDAY- We started right into the work.  We wake and have a perfect morning which consists of working out and then 2 hours of studies. Then we go out and start teaching.  One of the families that we are teaching is the Rodda's.  They have an 8 year old boy that is going to be baptized on Saturday.  We were asking him who he wanted to speak so he named somebody in the ward and then me. So I will be speaking at a baptism.

FRIDAY- This is where a little bit of the culture shock sets in. I am in an area kind of like the suburbs of Adelaide called Elizabeth.  Our specific area ranges a lot from very poor to wealthy. so it is very interesting.  We have been working more in the poor area.  Everything is smaller here, other than it being smaller it is very similar to America.  Anyways, about the culture shock, we knocked on a door and it was just the screen door because the other one was open. The next thing I see was like a naked 7 year old boy running towards the door waving his arms in the air and yelling like a monster.  It was awkward at the moment but hilarious.  Whenever I think about it, it makes me laugh.  My companion says that he is used to that kind of stuff now, so I am guessing I will have a lot more stuff like that happen.

My Arrival in Adelaide

This week has been awesome.

 THE PLANE RIDE-We got on the plane and thought that it was going to be fun because the seats all had a TV and we got our own eye shade things. That excitement lasted about 10 minutes because we realized that we couldn’t watch movies and that there really wasn’t going to be anything for us to do besides sleep.  We were able to watch the plane take off and throughout the flight because the plane had a camera on the tail so we watched some of that, other than that we slept and ate.

UPON ARRIVAL- The mission president was at the airport to meet us and then he had the secretary drive us to the office. At the office we were processed then had dinner.  We met our companions, then had a testimony meeting, then went back to our flat and unpacked and learned a little bit about each other.  My companion is Elder Pack from Logan, Utah. He is very good at singing so maybe his talent will rub off. My companion has been out for five months.

A Letter from the Mission Office

Parents of Australia Adelaide Missionaries,

Just a note to let you know that because of the 5 day Easter holiday in Australia your missionary will not be emailing home until Wednesday April 27^th.  Thanks so much for all of your support of this mission.

Kind Regards,

Sister Mertin

Australia Adelaide Mission Secretary

No Email This Week

We thought we would get an email this week from Elder Hyde.  But we heard from other moms that it is a national holiday in Australia and the public libraries are closed.

We hope Alden has had a great first week in Australia and we hope to hear from him next week.

The Australian Holiday is Anzac Day .

Missionaries help with Anzac Service.

This is how they celebrated in Adelaide.

He has Landed

Elder Hyde is now on Australia soil.  His plane landed at 6:21 am Sydney time.  He will be leaving Sydney at 9:45 am which is still an hour away.

It is odd to think he is just starting his day in Australia

I'm leaving on a Jet Plane

Alden left Los Angeles last night at 11:29 pm to fly to Sydney.

Right now it is 1 am Wednesday  in Sydney.  He still has six hours left of his 15 hour plane ride.

He will then have a 2 hour flight to Adelaide.

Letter Mailed to Parents from MTC

Dear Dad,
The weather has still been crazy, for a few days it was snowing down here so I figured it was up there also. 

I am glad to hear progress is being made on the basement, even if it comes at a price.  (Chocolate covered raisins)  At first I didn't think the raisins would bet eaten here but then my district started to help me out and I am sure they will be gone.  We have a lot of stuff to eat the next few days though, because we have all gotten some packages and stuff.  We don't have a lot of time to eat it.  Today is our P day so I think we are going to try and eat a lot of it.  We just stuff all our food in one drawer and eat whatever we want whenever. 

I just hope the work that I did was beneficial to you guys.  I appreciate and thank you for the example you have been for me and all of the things you have done for me.
I love you,
Elder Hyde

Dear Mom,
I am glad you had fun in California. 
Do you do the blood work in Salt Lake or at the Ogden Clinic?  Who will take you?  ( Alden was my ride any time I needed to go to the Dr.)

The flight should be good,  I think I will be able to sleep, at least for a little while.  There will be six missionaries on our flight that I know of.  They have a scale here so I will be able to weigh my bags.  I am guessing that we won't be able to take any food with us because of customs.  I will be getting a hair cut on Friday, that should be interesting.
I've go to go,  I love you, stay positive.
Love your son,
Elder Hyde

Last Letter from the MTC

April 13, 2011

This week has definitely gone by quicker.  The crazy thing is that the weeks are starting to go by quicker but the days are still kind of slow and when you try to remember what you did yesterday it feels like it happened a year ago.  I think it is because we accomplish so much that it is hard to remember.  Nothing really unusual happened this week. they were just normal days at the MTC. Eat, study, pray, sleep, learn, but not necessarily in that order.

During class we watched a video of Elder Holland giving a talk to the MTC that happened a while ago.  One thing that impressed me from that was that we baptize people so they can have remission of their sins and not just so that they can be members.  By becoming members they can have the fellowship and the help to endure to the end and what not. 

It is very hard to focus on this email because i am doing laundry and it is loud in here. I haven’t decided whether or not to call from the SLC airport or from LAX because we have like a 6 hour layover there.  I will more likely call from LAX.  I am sure I will be able to sleep on the plane, that was a concern I had before but I am sure I can sleep anywhere now.  I am excited to get out of here although it has been good.  My companion has made this time great. 

My time is running out sorry this isn’t a very big letter I wish I had more time.  I can’t really think of anything else to write but if you have anymore questions before I leave then write a letter or something.  Tell the grandkids hi for me. Thanks for all your support.  I love you guys and have a good week.

Love, Elder Hyde

Flight Plans to Australia

Dear Family,
Just writing to let you know that we got our travel plans today.  We were all super stoked.  This is the plan.

Airline      Flight     Depart Arrive     Time Dep   Arrive            Date
United      6260       SLC      LAX       3:16pm      4:14pm          APR 18 2011

Qantas      12          LAX    Sydney    10:30pm     6:30am          APR 20 2011

Qant       741          SYD    Adelaide   9:45am      1 1:25am        APR 20 2011

So pretty much the 19th of April 2011 will never happen in my life, it will be interesting to write about it in my journal. 

I love you guys.  Thanks for the package, I got it.

Love Elder Hyde

Thanks for the Cookies

April 7, 2011    Letter to Brit and Joe and family
Thanks for the cookies, they were delicious.  The only thing that could make them better was milk.  So what did I do?  I used the card to get some milk from the vending machine. 

To answer some of your questions, the host only took us around for probably a half hour.  He showed me my room, got a couple of books and then took me to the classroom.  He left from there.  I don't think I will be a host, although some people that got here last week are already hosts.

Me and my companion are getting along great.  He has taught me a lot about teaching. 
Conference was good, except that the seats were pretty uncomfortable and we had to sit for a very long time.  I got more out of it though, so it was good. 

Well tell your kids hi, I love you guys.
Love Elder Hyde

First Email From Elder Hyde

Alden has written two letter that we received in the mail.  This is his first Email to us.  His P days in the MTC are on Wednesday.  He has been at the MTC now for a week.

April 6 2011

My time here has been great.  It started out very slow because we just sat in the classroom all day. The first few days we were just learning and stuff.  Then on Saturday we watched conference ate watched more conference ate etc.  Sorry this message will probably be all over the place just because that is kind of how my mind is right now.

At first it was hard to get to sleep because I had so many thoughts going through my mind and it was easy to wake up on time, but already it is pretty easy to fall asleep and hard to wake up because we are tired.  

The days are starting to go by quicker now because we are actually starting to teach and do stuff instead of just sit and listen.  One thing that I have learned how to do is rely on the spirit. As promised in D and C and John if we try to learn all that we can the Lord will bring to our mind the information when we need it.  I have gained a stronger testimony of the spirit and how it really can recall information.

We have only taught 3 people in a role play atmosphere.  The first one was rough.  I feel like I relied more on my memory than the spirit and that got in the way.  My companion and I have gotten better though and we feel like we are starting to teach with the spirit which is more effective when teaching anyways, instead of just blurting out information.  My companion is cool. he has taught me a lot about how to teach.

Wow, the timer just started flashing and its kind of nerve racking. I know there are many more things that I want to tell you but I might have to write another letter and send it in the mail because my mind is going blank but the timer is making my mind go crazy.  I am excited to hear that you guys are making a lot of progress on the basement that is cool.  I love you guys.  This is a great place to be.  My testimony has grown so much.  I love you guys so much, have a great week

Love, Elder Hyde

First Letter for the MTC

Hey family,
Just so you know everything is going wonderful here in this prison!  Just Kidding.  But it really is good.   They have kept us busy.  Just so you know I am not breaking any rules by writing you right now.  They told us to write you ASAP so that you would know everything is going good.

Thanks for all the yellow slips, I will probably be finding them for a few weeks.

My companion's name is Elder Morrissette from Simi Valley California,  It is about 30 minutes away from LA.  He is a good companion. 

For dinner we had chicken cordon bleu.  It was alright but the rice that came with it was kind of gross because it had hard stuff in it. 

I don't want to tell you everything because then I might not have anything to tell you next week. 

There are two other elders in our room.  All four of us are going to Adelaide, so I will not be making the dreaded flight alone.  We got a paper that said we are expected to leave on the 18th, Derek's birthday.

Well it looks like my room is going to bed so I will talk to you next Wednesday because that will be my P-day.  I love you guys and I am excited to get to work.  I know this is the true church and what I should be doing. 

I love you guys,
Elder Hyde