He is Just So Smart and Clever.....

Sup,
Another great hot week here. For pday we played a bit of
soccer and i kicked the football around too. The day was overcast for
the morning which made playing outside way fun and not so deathly.
Spanish is going well also. But its different because i learned a lot
of vocab for missionary work and gospel terms but when people are
talking about worldly stuff i have to really pay attention. In the
beginning of my time here i was embarrassed to ask what stuff meant,
but now if i dont understand something i ask them right away haha. I
want to know whats going on all the time now with conversations, ive
lived not knowing what was going on at all and it aint that peachy.
Also if we are asking questions to people it shows them that we have a
real desire to better ourselves or to know what they are trying to say
exactly. Oh man i cant believe that Elder Cache money is in the MTC,
what a greenie :) I remember when we used to call him ´trash talkin
cache´ haha good times. Messing up in sacrament is just classic
you haha i laughed out loud when i read that. Thanks for all the
support you give me and dont forget to give Cache all the support you
can. Starting the mission is tough, and continuing after you start is
even tougher, but somehow we make it out alive.
Love ya dad, Elder Hayden Summer
Hi Mom,
No i havent gotten any of those three packages that youve
sent me. I did just get one from Christmas when you all wrote a little
note and with the caramel, btw, caramel was a hit! I loved it and the
pecans and all the stuff in that package thanks! my week was good. I
got moved back over to be with my old comp elder Carter and we are in
the same area and everything. Not really anything out of the ordinary
happened this week. We did some service for a family by making their
roof and it all went way good. Service is just the best thing ever,
period. My testimony grows every time i do service because almost
directly after the activity we somehow see a miracle or someone just
falls right into our path. Its so great!! It makes it impossible to
not notice how God is blessing us every single day. Ive noticed that
He always answers my prayers but i just dont realize it somehow. He is
just so smart and clever that he does things in unthinkable ways and
they are exactly what we need, you just have to try and recognize it.
I have a hard time recognizing the good in things but the mission has
helped me do the cup half full thing better :) Its still hot here, and
there are always chances to get better at everything!

Love,
Elder Hayden Summers

A Deep True Joy That I've Never Had.....

Hey dad,
My week went pretty well. Here in my pench there are 4
elders. Me, my greeny, another missionary, and his greeny. The way
things work when we train people is that they are together 2 transfers
with their trainer, aka 3 months. Transfers is this week and we found
out that the other trainer in the pench is leaving to be a leader in
another part of the mission. My comp is pretty good at spanish and
asked for a latin comp. Ask and ye shall recieve, he got it! So the
other trainer leaves, a latin comp comes to be with my comp, and i get
bumped over to the other side of the town with the greeny from the
other missionary. My new comps name is elder Weaver, he is from saint
george but lived in austrailia his first 10 years of life. He is tall
and we both get along really well. The week was great, i feel way
priveledged to be here and to see all the blessings you guys are
getting so far away. I just love the work and havent tried to do
something with all my heart ever before and this is the first time im
doing it, i gotta say, its great :) it is just super tiring, but with
those feelings comes crazy happiness and a deep true joy that ive
never had before. Thats all i got. Some advise, dont break your hip.
With lots of love,Elder Hayden Summers
Hi mom!
Well according to the pictures of Cache that you sent to
me it looks like he finally recieved that pre-mission chunk under the
chin like we all do ;) Wow he is a real elder now.. i gotta say, im
pretty jealous... When i pulled up the pictures of him i could see
that he was just so happy and super done with the life of before
missionarydom. Your weekend sounded fantastic and mine was pretty fun
too. We prepared for some baptism madness. Its pretty crazy because on
days with baptisms something always goes wrong or is complicated or
someone doesnt show up and on and on.. And in the end its all good
because the person gets rebirthed and the light in their eyes just
shines, its the best. Oh cool thingy that i heard down here. We were
conversing on the subject of how men have the priesthood and how
females do not. We were kind of sharing our opinions and such and one
missionary had the best idea. He said that in this life both of the
parents have the same equal responsability as the parents of their
kids. The woman is in charge of the first birth, the one that takes
the spirit out of the pre-existense and into this world obviously, and
the father with the priesthood is in charge of the second birth, also
called baptism. So both the parents do the necessary steps in order to
help their child achieve eternal life by starting them off right.
Pretty cool i thought. We have been dodging Rafiki at all moments
possible, everytime we go through the plaza we get really alert kind
of like meerkats looking out for bad guys. its fun. The work hasnt
changed, same doctrine, same message, new people that either accept it
or reject it until a later date. Have an amazing week, i cant wait to
get another package from home!

Con Mucho Amor,
Elder Hayden Summers

Song, Prayer, Song, Sacrament, Song, Prayer

Hi mom,
Its super hard for me to remember my last week or so
before i left... Wow it seems like so long ago! I do remember us
driving around my last night in Alaska and we followed a firetruck,
ate at an old fashioned diner, and just tried to enjoy the last
seconds we had. my week was great! it was pretty long though.. its
just so cool to see how things just happen for a reason all the time.
When we are doing the right things and trying our best to follow the
rules then things just fall into place and you get happiness galore!
Besides that amazingness im pretty happy. Im tired as can be everyday,
i get a little ticked at people sometimes, and things are very hard,
but i am so happy. Its really wierd.. oh well right?
we got stopped in a plaza by this random guy. He
started talking and asking penetrating questions right in our faces.
he was about as tall as my armpits and he would get on his tiptoes and
ask questions and stare at me from out of the sides of his eyes. I
named him Rafiki because i was expecting him to pull out a bamboo
stick thing and just smack us on the head with it. He was very drunk
and got mad at me when i tried to bring Christ in the conversation,
after an hour we escaped. twas an experience of a nightime.. but thats
all i got.love you alot mom!
Hey Dad,
What a week. Isnt that fast of winds supposed to be classified
as a tornado or a hurricane? Sounds like home :) I was looking through
some of the notes that i took a while ago and rolled upon a great
scripture. It is in Doctrine and Covenants 64 verse 29. It can be
applied to our callings in the church and our purpose here on earth as
well. The scriptures are just the best!! There is just not anything
better than them. I really wish that i wouldve had the habit of
reading them before i came on the mission but oh well what´re you
gonna do about the past right? Ive been having fun and just goin
through the same old fight here with the heat and the heat and the
heat. I weighed myself again and im back down to 95 kilos. Thanks for
the football i just love kicking it, its too bad that there isnt any
fields around this area that i can really lay into it. Not much more
to report this week but that it all turned out good. On saturday we
had a baptism! i filled the font up with what i thought was hot water
but the water heater died on us. when it was full it was all cold and
freezing. so i emptied it to halfway, fixed the water heater, and
filled it up again. when i came back to check it again the water was
just dripping out because i had used up all the water that the church
had... oops.. we did the service and the branch president that we have
tried cancelling church but we talked him into having at least
sacrament meeting. we had no speakers because i think the president
just wanted to end the day fast. So we did a song, prayer, song,
sacrament, song, prayer, and we left. it was about 30 minutes in
total. Im pretty sure it is all my fault in the end... next week we
should have a regular day. that was my week. have a great one yourself
in the snow. love, elder hayden summers

The Whole Field is Full of Combines....

To Nan...
wow your sacrament sounds way cool. way to go cache for being worthy,
thats cool. its almost a cool story but way cooler than that ;) my
week was full of good things and to start this week off we had a great
pday. we played dodgeball with some other elders, then a ninja attack
game that was great. to finish the day we ate some amazing lomos and
just had a great time all together. its super fun to get other cool
elders together and have fun with kids who have the same standards and
beliefs as you. its kind of giving me a sneek peak at what college is
going to be like i think but who knows! im here and im not going
anywhere till they call me home, fact, bears, beats, battlestar
galactica. there isnt much to say, sorry! the cold sounds incredible.
i dont remember it being that cold in the winter.. that really sounds
like a blast :) i cant wait to see some pics of the farewell party and
all the stuff your doing way up there. sorry this is short but thats
all i have really... i love you alot mom and your the best. it wasnt
luck that we were raised right, it was a miracle! haha nah im just
kiddin. you and dad obviously did what you were supposed to do and we
are the lucky ones to have been able to have you as our parents. have
a fantastic week!
love ya lots,
elder hayden summers

To Bart...
its so great to hear that you had a wonderful sacrament
meeting. i wish i wouldve been there to see cache crying haha that
punk. my week was just the norm. we get to see some crazy stuff here
everyday but its just dulled out after a while. its really neat though
having my comp who just got here and him pointing all of the little
things out that i was pointing out not to long ago. some things go on
here and it just makes you ask, ´why?´ and the answer is, ´because its
argentina´ haha. but i love it so much. ive said it a bunch and i´ll
say it again, its just the best here. i dont even know whats going to
happen when im confronted with that sort of sub degree temperatures
again.. ive gotten cold here a few times and it was 75 degrees! im
going to be an ice cube, a tan ice cube hopefully. i have a nice tan
spot on my wrist where i wear my watch, its not to bad at the moment
but im working on making it really noticable. we are finding more new
people everyday and some of the members are really trying to help us
out alot. without the help of the members, missionary work doesnt
function. i mean we can find people, bring them to church, baptize
them and all of that. but if the members dont help out then the new
conver will most likely fall away. just being friendly and helpful to
new members helps more than any of us even knows. also in the work if
the members arent trying to help us out then we are just two lonely
elders in a huge wheat field with sickles. when the members and the
missionaries work together its like the whole field is full of
combines and they are reaping the harvest at unthinkable speeds and
retention. thats just how it is. life is great, the sun is hot, its
all the same stuff here.
con mucho amor,
elder hayden summers

Acting On a Whim....

hey mom,
its always good for me to here things from your
childhood i dont really hear too much about it.. only that you had
really short hair and that you were a youngest child who everyone
loved :) my week was very sun filled. we get to work all the way
through the part of the day that everyone in this world down here
sleeps. we do as we are told by our leaders even if we dont know why
just to be obeying them. yeah i saw the Lords hands in the baptisms
because every little detail was perfectly falling in place in order to
do it here with us at this time, awesome! im going to second your
opinion about following the spirit no matter what. here i call it
´acting on a whim´ because sometimes there is no time to think about
what your supposed to do or say. so if your being a worthy person then
your first immediate thought will be the correct one. acting on whims
is also interesting and fun :) we are now getting more help from the
branch down here and things are starting to fall into place. im trying
to teach my comp all that i know and also try to make it a good time.
i know i had a hard time at first and i promised myself when i got a
new missionary i´d do my absolute best to make him enjoy his life and
have a good time serving the Lord. i hope im helping him out. enjoy
the pics :)
love,
elder hayden summers

the snow sounds like a lot of fun. im going to love cleaning it up
every day when i get back in a bit. hey if cache has any questions
about stuff tell him to send me a line or something. nowadays you can
just go on your cell phone whenever you want and just send me emails
so if he´s got stuff to ask tell him to do it. he is going to hate
shaving everyday, i know i do. my week was good. before hand in the
mission after we eat lunch with a member family at 1pm we got to go
back home and study during the siesta and then leave about 4pm to work
until 930ish. but now they took that away and are having us working
all day long. im not to against it but the country we are in is...
they take from about 2pm until 630 or 7 to have a nice nap and if
someone knocks on their door in this time they are mad. but when the
new rules come we gotta do what we are told. have of the mission
experience, if not more than that, is just obedience. plus i just have
to follow these strict rules for 2 years and after that im going to
feel free haha. the work is work and i wouldnt have it any other way.
luckily doing commercial fishing warmed me up so now i know how to
work here. even if i did sleep in the front most of the time. love ya
dad, have fun in the snow and with work.

love,
elder hayden summers

Everything About How to Be a Missionary....

To Nan....
My new years was okay. we played a board game and watched the fireworks
that were going off all over the place. it sounded like a war, its
hard to imagine, but believe it! it was way cool. we made brownies and
drank pop until the fireworks ended then went to bed so we could get
up on time to go to church. we had a miracle happen here with me and
my comp elder carter. a new family moved in and they asked us straight
up to baptize their two kids. we said, okay! so we had that little
bunch of amazingness fall into our laps this week, mega awesome. it
took work that was tough anyways even though it was so perfect but it
all happened greatly. im doing great. here it is averaging 38 degrees
celcius everyday. we have random hail storms in the nights too. a
whole huge grape field got demolished by the hail. all the leaves and
grapes were just destroyed and not a thing was left on the branches. i
guess that field wasnt all white and ready to harvest... i love life,
its hot here and cold there, good luck with that :) i have another
package in the mission home but i wont get it for a while i think.
thanks to EVERYONE!! the packages and all of it was just great! i love
you lots! elder hayden summers

To Bart...
 stuff in the temple is just the most best isnt it! my week was great and
i hope yours was too. im getting to teach my comp everything about how
to be a missionary. in the mtc we learn alot but when we hit the field its all just right
there in your face and its just you versus the world. the people are
real and everything we do is to truly help their lives out. i am
realizing now how much ive progressed since i got here in argentina
almost a year ago. it all comes so slow and almost un noticabley then
all of a sudden im conversing with the people like its nothing. like
the other day i realized that i was teaching and this other missionary
that was new as well was with me for the day and he started playing
with the kids. i took a step back and realized that i would do that
too. and its good there is someone to do that because the kids were
being very loud and when he occupied them they hushed up and let us be
so i could teach the sister what was up. roles switch really fast. for
the last 5 months or so ive been the main speaker and itll probably
continue that until its all said and done. love ya
dad, tell my bros they are fat ;) elder hayden summers

Christmas Skype......

Best Christmas present EVER!!!  We got to call Hayden christmas afternoon and then skype with him for the last  40 minutes.  He looks SO good, he is incredibly happy and said that the work is just "hard" but he loves it!  He was in a members home.  This lady Rosa is kinda his Argentina Mom, she has been doing thier laundry and he says she pats thier hands and reprimands them if they look scroungy at all.  I love her!  We got to see her on skype too, she had no clue what we were saying but she just smiled and waved at us.  The funnest part of his call was when I just sat back and watched Hayden, Cache and Fischer talk to each other.  They laughed and laughed, it was heaven to a Mom's ears.   We showed Hayden the snow outside and he went crazy, he is adapted to the heat some but it is still almost unbearably hot.  His new companion was doing well for his first week out, I think Hayden likes being the trainer.  All in all, the reason for the season is Christ and his birth, seeing Hayden serving and loving this time is better than any present I could think of.  He glows with the spirit, you can feel it in each word he says.  He sends his love to all of you, thanks for packages and letters and all the support.  Next christmas we will have him home.....blessings!!!  Love, Nan