More Letters This Week

My younger brother Seth Hackleman has less than a week before he reports for his mission to Mexico

On Mon, Aug 18, 2014 at 7:50 AM, Amy wrote:

Dear Elder,

I can't believe you are 21! We have been missing you so much this week. The last week before Seth leaves has been particularly rough. Everything is so reminiscent of when you left. He even fly's out on the same flight.

Your dad had a little heart episode last night. He is taking the day off work today. It wasn't anything major, and luckily we know what it is and how to handle it when he has a heart block. He just has to take it easier for a while and quit getting so emotional. I will tell you what, he sure loves his sons! Seth gave him a blessing last night and after that he was able to sleep.

I sure hope you are able to see your blog today. You sure have a lot of birthday wishes on it. A lot of people really love you and miss you.

Seth spoke in church again yesterday. He spoke in the Papillion ward with a high councilman. Once again he did a stellar job. He is so mature for his age and he looked so sharp in his new missionary suit.

Today we are going to put his name on all his stuff and pack up the suit cases so he is ready to go. We had a pig roast on Saturday and it was sure fun. The Hadley's had a going away party for Seth. I will post pictures from it on Seth's mission blog if you want to see it. I won't get to it until next week however.

Seth and Mike and of course, dinner

The boys are in full swing back in school. Nathan started seminary again today. Grant has started football practice. He was pretty sore on Sunday. He asked me if he could stay home from church because he could barely walk he was so sore. I rubbed deep blue on him, gave him a Tylenol and said, get ready, ha ha. By the time we got to church the meds had kicked in and he was feeling a lot better:)

So how has your week been? What did you do for your birthday yesterday?

I love you!

Love Mom

Dang. Seth looks like a missionary. I can´t believe it is this week!!!!!!! I am freaking OUT! I am so proud of him. Dad is going to have a heart block if all his kids keep leaving for missions and some don´t start coming home soon. =) Seth will have a long letter waiting for him next Monday from his bro. I hope he understands spanish!!!!!!!!!!!!:......=) Tell him how much I love him and pray for him. I am excited for him to join me in the work.

My birthday was good. I was just a normal Sunday. =) A sister in our ward did have a cake waiting for me at her house when we went to a lesson with her though. That was sure nice. Thanks for the cash though!!!! I haven´t spent it yet but I will send pictures as soon as I do. =)

A sister in our ward had a cake waiting for me at her house when we went to a lesson with her.
That was sure nice!

Candles and Snacks As Well:)

You can't have birthday cake in Peru without the traditional face smearing:)

Is Nathan playing football? Mom if he isn´t, I will be super upset. Please tell me he is. It is good that he is working hard in seminary though of course =)

Tell Grant I know how he feels with soreness. It feels like yesterday when my body felt like a butchered cow must have felt in that freezer when rocky when to warm up his fists. Tell him to stick it out.

Tell Grant that the first week of football practice makes you feel like you are 

fresh meat that has been punched by Rocky.

Speaking of deep blue. My zone leader has a pack of the Doterra stuff and has saved the entire zone more than once from various illnesses thanks to that. I rest my case, It works. We do however call it our witchcraft oils because it heals and we don´t even have to bless it. Haha

I sure love you mom!

Elder J. Hackleman

More Letters This Week

Elder Hackleman showing a pet turtle owned by a family he is teaching.

Just because Elder Hackleman is a missionary, is no reason to forget his love of American football.  

You've got to love the Heisman Pose with a Turtle.

On Mon, Aug 11, 2014 at 8:51 AM, Amy wrote:

Elder Hackleman,

I can't believe in less than one week you will be 21! Happy happy birthday. We will put some money in your account on Friday so you can buy yourself a birthday present from us. Make sure you take a picture so we know what we got you:)

Cousin Macy got home from her Spanish speaking mission this week.

So Macy got home from her mission on Thursday. For some reason it made me so jealous and homesick for you. As I was looking at the picture they posted on facebook of the homecoming at the airport I started to get a pit in my stomach and started to rethink whether or not we want to come and pick you up. In a way, I would love the excitement of seeing you get off the plane and having all our family and friends around to welcome you home. Plus, I'm a little scared of trying to get to a country when I don't speak Spanish. I'm afraid my nursery rhymes won't get me too far in Peru. What do you think? Maybe instead of coming to Peru to pick you up, you could go with your dad and I to Mexico to pick Seth up. Let me know your thoughts.

What do you have planned for your birthday? Are they having another big party for you?

How did it go with President Archibald?

Seth had his mission farewell talk yesterday. It was so good. I will send you a copy of it. Grant also spoke. I will send them in the next email. I have to run Nathan to work so you will actually get one more email from me in a half an hour.

The boys start school this week. Grant starts on Tuesday and Nathan on Wed. Nathan is still working at the baseball fields today and tomorrow. It has been a great job for him.

I love you.

I will write more in a few.

Love mom

Hey mom! I know it is pretty nuts that I will be 21. I don´t feel 21 yet....haha

Mom don´t worry about coming up, I am more than happy and excited to come walking down the hallway in the airport to see you guys in wonderful Omaha! I´d love to go to Mexico! I have a bunch of friends from there now that can show us the sights.

President is going to come this week I guess. I am stoked though, the man is a man of spiritual power. It is so awesome to learn from him.

I love you mom!

P.S. am I heismaning a giant turtle?.....you tell me......

Missionary Letters from Peru This Week

Thoughts from Dad

Dear Elder,

I'm sorry I haven't been able to put money in your account. If you need some right away, then let me know this morning and I'll work on it. The air conditioner went out on us a couple weeks ago and it cost us about $1,000 to get it fixed. They say that we really should replace both the AC and the furnace, but that will cost about $6,000 to $8,000. That would take all the money we have saved up to come pick you up from your mission.  It's running fine right now, so we'll use it until it dies for good! 

School is going to start in a couple weeks. The summer has gone by so fast! Is it still considered Winter down there?

You guys should be coming up on Transfers soon, aren't you? Elder Sandoval seems like such a great guy. You can see his spirit in his smile. Is the Lima West mission still getting a lot of new missionaries? Maybe you don't hear too much about it out where you are.

I keep forgetting to ask you if you are still playing a lot of soccer. 

Well, we are doing fine. Just the normal struggles in life, but at least we know to turn to the Lord. Even in all our weaknesses. I found my new favorite quote from the LDS Missionaries Facebook page.

"The soul always knows what to do to heal itself. The challenge is to silence the mind." - Caroline Myss (whoever that is)

Please be careful. You and Elder Sandoval are doing great things. Thank you for being such a great son and example and disciple of Christ.

¡Ámele hijo!

Papá

Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2014 14:28:37 -0500
Subject: Re: Week of 8/4/14
From: jeffrey.hackleman@myldsmail.net
To: tim

Elder Hackleman visits The Sacred City of Caral-Supe which reflects the rise of civilisation in the Americas

Hey dad!!! Don´t worry I am doing fine. Just whenever you can. It is still considered winter. It has been pretty chilly but there is a lot of sun today. I just got a letter from one of the missionaries in the Veracruz mission where Seth is going. He is the secretary in the offices and he was in my zone in the mtc! He said he got Seth´s info and looked at him and recognized me right away!!!!! Cool huh!

Yeah my companion is awesome. We don´t have transfers until the 26 of august. Seth will already be on his mission! Haha yeah we still play a lot of soccer. I am getting to be pretty fantastic, not gonna lie. Haha. We supposedly will be getting more than 20 new missionaries in the mission this transfer and then every transfer after that until I go home will be even bigger. We are going to be getting a ton of missionaries! Haha

I sure love you dad!

Elder Hackleman

Dear Elder Hackleman,

How are you doing? Nicole Uhl got married on Friday. I pulled this picture of off facebook. She looks very happy. Marissa is getting married this week too and Caroline, Madison Grunig's sister is already married. Everyone is getting married ha ha

Nicole Got Married

Marisa Aguirre Got Married

Seth is at Grandma Karen's right now. He gets home on Tuesday. It sure seems quiet around here with him gone. This is going to be an adjustment when he leaves on his mission.

Seth has his farewell talk on Sunday and they have asked Grant to speak that day as well.

The boys start school next week. I can't believe the summer has flown by.

We are still hoping to be able to come to Peru to pick you up. I’m not sure if Joel is going to be able to go with us. He told me he is not sure if he can get away because he is so busy, but Ann told him he is going and I have a feeling she is going put the pressure on him. Your dad and I still plan on coming if no more major expenses come up around here.

Do you have any new photos for me? I love pictures:)

I read your email to your dad, and I have to say that is so cool about the missionary in Mexico who could tell Seth was your brother. How awesome is that!

Love Mom

Dear Mom,

Wow.....Everyone is married! Haha that´s ok

Elder Hackleman and Elder Brown visited Caral, Peru.  

The entire mission zone went together.

We went back to Caral again this week but as a zone. That is a picture of me and Elder Brown. Am I wearing skinny jeans?......yes. Nuff said! Haha

President Archibald is coming this week! I think he is going to buy us all pizza because we were the only zone to meet our baptism goal this month!

President Archibald

Elder Brown came out on his mission the same time as me. He was in the mission office the other day and checked to see what the schedule was for our group to be sent home. It will be the transfer at the end of March.

I understand that it is a big financial deal to come out and pick me up from my mission. Don’t worry if it doesn´t work out. We can always plan a trip later and come back.

It is super awesome my friend from the MTC will serving with Seth on his mission! He is a great missionary! He said he will look out for Seth. I was his zone leader in the mtc.

I just got a letter from one of the missionaries in the Veracruz mission where Seth is going. 

He is the secretary in the offices and he was in my zone in the mtc! 

He said he got Seth´s info and looked at him and recognized me right away!!!!! 

Do you have any news on my driver’s license? It will be expiring soon. Can it be renewed by mail?

My time on my mission is flying by. I can’t believe I only have 7 months left. I still have a lot to do.

I love you,

Elder Hackleman

Oldest City In South American- Caral

Mom, this will either make you super happy, or super upset....haha but last monday, I may have lived one of your life long dreams.....wanna know what it is?

This is the oldest city found in south america. Older than machu Picchu, all of the ruins in mexico. All of it. It is supposedly the second oldest city found on earth. it is called Caral. It is about 45 min from my house. Ruins older than the Incans......Who could they be????:) Wink Wink.

Elder Hackleman Visits Ancient Ruins in Caral

Elder Hackleman 

According to Wikipedia, Caral was inhabited between roughly 2600 BCE and 2000 BCE,[1] enclosing an area of more than 60 hectares.[2] Caral was described by its excavators as the oldest urban center in the Americas, a claim that was later challenged as other ancient sites were found nearby. Accommodating more than 3,000 inhabitants, it is the best studied and one of the largest Norte Chico sites known.
Archaeological findings

Main Pyramid

The main pyramid (Spanish: Pirámide Mayor) covers an area nearly the size of four football fields and is 60 feet (18 m) tall. Caral is the largest recorded site in the Andean region with dates older than 2000 BCE and appears to be the model for the urban design adopted by Andean civilizations that rose and fell over the span of four millennia. It is believed that Caral may answer questions about the origins of Andean civilizations and the development of the first cities.

Among the artifacts found at Caral are a knotted textile piece that the excavators have labeled a quipu. They argue that the artifact is evidence that the quipu record keeping system, a method involving knots tied in rope that was brought to perfection by the Inca, was older than any archaeologist had previously guessed. Evidence has emerged that the quipu may also have recorded logographic information in the same way writing does. Gary Urton has suggested that the quipus used a binary system which could record phonological or logographic data.
Lack of Warfare

No trace of warfare has been found at Caral: no battlements, no weapons, no mutilated bodies. Shady's findings suggest it was a gentle society, built on commerce and pleasure. In one of the pyramids, they uncovered 32 flutes made of condor and pelican bones and 37 cornetts of deer and llama bones. One find revealed the remains of a baby, wrapped and buried with a necklace made of stone beads.

June 22, 2014 Letters

My District

My companion and I made pancakes with another 

companionship on our P-Day.

On Sun, Jun 22, 2014 at 10:07 PM, wrote:

Elder Hackleman,

How are things going? We have been pretty busy this week. Nathan is now working out at the fields with Seth. He is a hard worker. Friday night we had a major rain storm with flash flooding and the works. They had to call the games and have closing ceremonies in the Barn. Tim sent all the employees home except Seth and Nathan. Then stuck around until midnight, and then rode home with Time. We had Seth leave the Trail Blazer at the fields and picked it up Saturday. Bellevue actually had a guy that night that had a car stall out in deep water so he was walking out to the edge and got swept away and died. It was pretty scary. Looking out our front window the water was flowing down both sides of the streets like a river. I'm sure the dry river bed in the back was flowing as well. Luckily we were safe and sound. Quite a few people in the ward ended up with flooded basements. I know the Law's had some flooding. I'm sure glad we have a sump pump.

Yesterday we were weeding in the yard and I came across a rabbits nest with at least 3 baby rabbits, right in my garden area. I didn't have the heart to disrupt them, so once again the rabbits win the race in our yard.

Nathan is gearing up for Treck. He leaves on Thursday. He is going in memory of Parley P Pratt. I am excited for him. It will be such a good experience.

Seth is getting his wisdom teeth taken out on Tuesday. This should be fun ha ha.

Grant is flying to Grandma Karen's on Tuesday to spend the week until we get there on Sunday heading out for our family reunion. We are going to do yard work for Grandma Karen's birthday gift.

I sure love you!

Love

Mom

You guys are already heading out to the Beck reunion??? Sheesh, I am jealous. At least it is my last one! You will have to keep me filled in on all the dirty details haha. Dad tells a different story about the bunnies. He said you ran screaming when you saw the nest move before you knew what they were. Haha I see that as much more believable. Haha That is crazy that you guys had all that rain. I have been out of Huaraz for a month now and I already miss the rain again. Haha That is so cool that nathan is going to trek as parley p pratt. DId he get to pick or was it just randomly given to him? He will walk in memory of his namesake! I hope you guys have a great week!!!

Elder Hackleman

On Mon, Jun 23, 2014 at 8:42 AM, Tim wrote:

Dear Elder,

So we had a great week! We got lots of stuff done. I have to tell you a funny story about your momma. We had a huge rain storm Friday night. So your mom, Grant and I decided to go out and pull some weeds in the flower beds because the ground was so soft. Grant and I were sitting on the grass next to the street sign right on the corner in the front of the house. Your mom had gone in the back yard and was weeding that little square right next to the deck. She didn't notice a little mound of dead grass about the size of a small paper plate. She's pulling weeds and starts pulling the ones next to this dead grass. And it starts to move!!!! She let's out a few of her normal screams and runs up on the deck and starts yelling out for me. Of course Grant and I can't hear anything with the traffic and such. She climbs over the other side of the deck to come get us. So Grant and I follow her back and she shows us where it moved. I instantly knew what it was. Grant used the broom handle to gently pull back the grass. Sure enough. Four little baby rabbits! When I say little, I mean like maybe a week old!!! Of course Grant wants to keep them and raise them as pets. But we just covered them back up and left them alone. He checks on them every day though.

I don't know what families you remember from the ward. But the Hadley's are moving to Oklahoma this fall! Also, do you remember the Brandvold's? Kevin was talking to us the night you were set apart. He was the Scoutmaster, then a couple months ago he got called to be the 2nd Counselor in the Bishopric. Yesterday he was released because they are moving to Texas. They called Bro. Decker to be the new 2nd Counselor. He was the Young Men's President. That mean's I'm getting released sometime soon! Maybe they'll call me into the Primary. NOOOOOOOO!!!! We've had a few people move into the Ward and a few move out. In general, I would say it's bigger than when you left.

How are things there? Those pig photos that you sent were hilarious!! Grandpa Howard would have been proud to see you with the cow!! How is the teaching going? Your companion looks like a really nice guy.

We're on our way to Idaho on Sunday. We're stopping at Grandma Karen's to help her to some yard work, then going the rest of the way to Idaho on Tuesday. We'll do the family reunion and then on July 5th we're meeting Uncle Jeff, Uncle Joe, Grandma Karen and Grandpa Rog at Bear Lake for some boating. We'll take lots of pictures to send to you!!

Thank you so much for working so hard for our Savior. I feel his love for us every day and it makes me so proud of you! You are such a great example to your brothers.

¡Ámele hijo!

Papá

Hey dad! That story about mom is hilarious. She told me about the bunnies but failed to mention the part about screaming. Haha I remember the Hadley´s of course. That is too bad that they are moving. I got to admit, it won´t be very fun to come home to my ward and not know a single person and them not knowing who I am either. Oh well Haha as long as the Laws don´t move. I will be honest, I am super jealous that you guys are going to the lake. I was thinking about it, it has been over a year that I haven´t gone swimming. I don´t think I have gone an entire year without swimming in my entire life. Haha I want us to take a boating trip as soon as we can when I get home deal? Did you look in to the stuff on machu picchu or not yet? I sure love you dad!

Elder Hackleman

June 16, 2014 Letters

On Mon, Jun 16, 2014 at 8:49 AM, Amy wrote:

Elder Hackleman,

I guess you heard the bad news, The Heat choked. Labron played well and made a lot of points but the Heat got stomped by the Spurs. Game over.

In other news, Nichole Uhl is engaged. She looks very happy in her pictures so that is good.

Seth is working a lot lately. 6 days a week, every other day for Bed Bath and Beyond and at the Tim Law’s baseball fields. He is running the t-shirt press.

Becky took Nathan and Grant out to the fields and let them go down the slide with her kids. They sure had a lot of fun.

Nathan has another basketball camp to go to this week.

Nathan was asked to give his testimony during church yesterday about scout camp. He did a great job.

We had a pretty low key father's day. We put a roast in the crock pot, so after church we ate then watched a few movies. You are going to love this, we watched Saturday's Warrior. Ha Ha. I remember you singing, "There is a Distant Lamp, that Lights the Way for Me, I hope they hold it high so I can see," Good times.

Then in the evening Seth and I went out with the Sister missionaries for an appointment that we got stood up for. Oh well, we had a family that I had gone to with the sisters about a month ago that we could not get into the door. The wife had been taking the lessons about a year ago, but they weren't really very interested. They were just real nice. Anyway, we knocked their door and the husband answered a month back. He was so nice, we invited him to church and he kindly said he wasn't interested. The problem is, I could not get this family off of my mind, so I asked the sisters if we could try them again with Seth. The husband is Mexican and he is an interpreter. I also saw a Nebraska flag on their house and asked if he was a fan and he told me just of the football. I was quick to observe and knew that Seth was the key to getting in the door.

Yesterday, we went back and this time the wife answered and she was the only one home. She was kind, but not interested, so I played the Seth card. I explained that he was going on a mission in August to Mexico and would really love to get some tips on learning Spanish from her husband. Now we hit a cord. She invited us back when her husband was home. She agreed for her and her husband to take the missionary lessons and help Seth learn some of the language in Spanish.

I do love missionary work. It is in my blood. As a ward council we are reading a book called, "The Power of Everyday Missionaries." by Clayton M Christensen. It has the What and How of Sharing the gospel. It is so awesome. There are couple of points that stand out in the book that I would love to share with you. First of all, it talks about how the majority of people you meet do not know how to pray or read from the scriptures. As far as prayer goes, many churches have recited prayers so even if they are church going people, they do not know how to pray for themselves. Spending an entire lesson teaching the proper way to pray and receive answers is vital to missionary work. He suggests that you always assume a person does not know how to pray and automatically incorporate the how to pray as part of your missionary lesson. Secondly, even avid readers do know really know how to read the scriptures to get answers to questions and prayers. Reading scriptures is not like reading a novel so an alternate way to read scriptures would be a wise thing to teach as well.

It is suggested in the book that you start off a meeting with a question to the investigator to have them tell you what doctrinal questions they have in their life. After you have a question from the investigator, give them a homework assignment to find the answer. For instance if they wonder about baby's getting baptized, share with them the scriptures in Mosiah 18:1-16 and Moroni 8. Then write a 2 paragraph answer to each of these questions:

1. Why does it make God so angry when people baptize little children?

2. Why does God want us to be baptized in the first place?

3. What is the process by which we come to be forgiven of our sins?

To get the answers go through these steps:

1. Pray on your knees, aloud, telling God that you got this homework assignment. Ask him to help you understand the chapters as you read them.

2. Read the chapters

3. Write your answers in draft form to the 3 questions.

4. Kneel again in verbal prayer and explain to God the answers you have written, just as if you were talking to Him face to face.

5. Read the chapters again.

6. Revise your answers based upon your deeper understanding.

7. Kneel again and pray a 3rd time. This time you need to ask God if the things that you have written are true.

I am going to use this the next time I am in a teaching situation.

I sure love You!

Love Mom


On Mon, Jun 16, 2014 at 11:14 AM, Elder Hackleman wrote:

This is my cow. Her name is Tomasa. Ok she isn´t mine but we visit her often when we go to a sister´s house that we are teaching. She has some other farm friends that live there too. Those pigs that my companion and I are holding were born during our lesson!!!!!!! Haha so we had to go grab them and take a snap shot or two. Haha

Hey mom!!! I sure feel a bit of a different spirit in your letter and in dad´s could it be that you just had a huge financial strain lifted from your shoulders????!!!! WOOOO!!!! Hhaha that is so awesome. I am stoked that Nicole got engaged as well. Haha is it to the guy she´s been dating since forever? Help Nathan anyway you can mom, every chance you get, take him out to shoot hoops. Give him a few pointers but not too many. He knows alot and he knows what he is doing. He just needs the encouragement because something Seth and I have both gone through is at his age, we greatly undermined our potential in things. We lacked alot of self confidence, the faster nathan can find that, the faster he will grow to be a great young man. As you can see, I am not even talking about just basketball or even just sports. Nathan has more potential than probably any one of us to turn into someone really special. It can come through sports, by gaining self confidence and realizing how much worth he has to his family and the entire clanking world when he invents a time machine or something! He´s growing up fast and so is grant. Seth already got there. There is no right of mine to be able to call him a kid still. He is a man. I have thought so much about my brothers this week. All three of them. For being the oldest, I sure do feel like I have three examples bigger than me in those guys. We would be nowhere though if it weren´t for our mom and dad. It has made me realize that it just may be that we weren´t just randomly placed together in the same family. I often recall the words of an old friend of mine, he said it before he even came here to earth oddly enough. ¨What is that sound? Rising up from the world. It´s the sound, of a clock, ticking on.¨ Time is ticking and my brothers are growing up. Grant for sure could beat me up now if he wanted to. Luckily for me the kid has no evil bone in his body. =) I sure do love you mom. I hope you don´t forget either, even though it passed yesterday, what a perfect choice you made 25 years ago in being sealed to our dad. He´s done so much for our family and is one who is never heard complaining. When he had jobs he didn´t like, he still got up in the morning and went to work, many times fighting his lazy kids to get up and get ready for school haha but never complained. I can work here on my mission with alot of peace in my heart knowing that my mom is protected back home by a dad who loves her in a way that only a couple people could understand, Heavenly Father and our brother Jesus Christ. I sure love my family!

Oh yeah! And wanna know something crazy, that book that your reading in ward council, I have it =) You´ll never guess who bought it for me either........ Grandma Karen!!!!

Elder Hackleman

This is my cow. Her name is Tomasa. Ok she isn´t mine but we visit her often when we go to a sister´s house that we are teaching.

Those pigs were born during our lesson!!!!!!

I love Bacon!

Photos from Peru This Week - 5-26-2014

Campo Santo. Its in a city called Yungay outside of Huaraz

There was a massive earthquake here years ago and It wiped out the entire city. I am sitting on a giant tower that is a cemetery where they buried the bodies, at least the ones they could find. Then they just put a statue of Christ on top. Campo Santo means holy field or holy ground.

Letter's This Week 4-7-2014

On Mon, Apr 7, 2014 at 8:08 AM, Amy wrote:

Dear Elder,

How are you doing? Were you able to watch conference in English and if so, who did you watch with and where?

I still have never seen any pictures of the place you live, the inside and the outside. You know how I love pictures. I have been posting some of the pictures you sent me on a google site that has 300,000 followers. It is for travel photos from around the world. It's a lot more interesting that little old Nebraska ha ha.

We had a great weekend. Seth had to work on Saturday, but was off in time to go to the priesthood session of conference. The rest of us watched all of conference. We sure had a nice weekend.

The weather has been pretty nice the past couple of days. Yesterday we went out in the back yard and threw the Frisbee around between sessions of conference. The boys kept making fun of me thinking back on the time I threw the fancy Frisbee into the rain gutter in the street. Now we are just using a cheap plastic Frisbee, ha ha.

We got Seth's graduation announcements filled out last night so we will be mailing them out today. We ran out of them, so I need to order a few more. I forget what a pain they are to do, but at least we finally got them done. I will send you a copy in another email.

Joel and his family are planning on coming as well as Jeff and Joe and Karen and Roger. We are going to have a little open house in the back yard the Saturday before. His graduation is on May 11th, Mother's Day. So basically, we will have a lot of people here to skype you this time around. I will make sure to have speakers set up so everyone can hear you:)

So what is the plan for skyping? Where will you be skyping this time?

We need to coordinate it. It's coming up pretty fast, yeah!

I sure love you.

Love,

Mom

Hey mom!!!!! I luckily was able to watch all of conference in English. It is WAY better than Spanish. The translators don´t get everything right and it just isn´t the same as coming from the same voices who receive that revelation. =) This is the picture of the gringo crew. Everyone that watched in English. In between sessions on Saturday, my companion and I and another companionship in my district went back to my room to make hot dogs, but we decided they would taste better with guacamole, onions, tomato, ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise. You wouldn´t believe it but I at mine with all of it and LOVED IT! We cooked the hot dogs in a crock pot and figured out a way to grill them in it! Not bad for innovation huh! I will take pictures of my room for next week. I should get some cool pictures today too so don’t worry. I can´t wait to see Seth’s announcement! I am super excited to skype everyone. I don´t know where I will skype yet. I will probably find a member with a computer and good internet. Everyone is super willing to help us out with that stuff. I am not sure when or how we will skype yet, when president lets us know. I will let you know. I love you!

Elder Hackleman

In Between Conference Sessions Elder Hackleman and His Companion
and another companionship
went back to Elder Hackleman's apartment and made hotdogs.

We decided they would taste better with guacamole, onions, tomato, ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise.

The crazy thing is before his mission, Elder Hackleman wouldn't touch mayonnaise with a 10 foot pole.
Now he not only eats it, but he likes it!

This is the picture of the gringo crew. Everyone that watched General Conference in English.

This Week From Peru

Wikahuain Ruins, Huaraz, Peru
Wilkahuain National Monument –
Is a small Wari ruin located north of Huaraz.
It dates from AD 600 to 900.
It is an imitation of the temple Chavin done.
Wilkahuain means ‘grandson’s house.’
The rooms were originally filled with bundles of mummies.

This week photos

The tall gringo on the other end of this picture is my zone leader and he is BEST FRIENDS with Josh Woodbury! They are from the same little town in Texas and Josh´s mom was his seminary teacher! How nuts is that!

March 17th Letters to and from Elder Hackleman and his mom

Hello, I sure hope you are having a great week. I thought I would send you some pictures of Grant's birthday this week. We had a great time building up an entire fortress in the back yard. We got bandannas so the teams could tell each other apart. It turned out to be a rather rainy day and windy but I was very glad about that. The day before was sunny and there were so many people out and about walking up and down the sidewalk next to our house I was beginning to worry the air soft war in our backyard might not work. I'm sure the neighbors wouldn't appreciate getting shot while going out for an evening stroll. Luckily no one was out but Grant and his crazy crew. It really was a perfect activity for 12 13 year old boys. They had a ball. Seth and his buddy Collin organized the teams and the games and kept the night under control. They even had whistles. I heard some of the kids talking in the other room right before they left and they said it was the most fun they had ever had at a birthday party.

Grant's Birthday Air Soft War

12 boys in all came to the party

I made 12 pizzas.  Some of them were desert pizzas

It was raining and cold, but that is perfect weather for Air Soft Games

Grant preparing the bases for the Air Soft Game

We got pallets for free from a building supply store.

We found old siding in a junk pile and added cardboard to the smaller sections.  

It ended up being an entire yard full of forts.

Grant got biodegradable air soft pellets 

 

So one of Grant's friends got in a fight at school last Friday. Grant came out of the school and saw him getting beat up and he jumped right in and pulled the kid off. Right after that a teacher came running out and took both of the boys who were fighting into the principals office. The kid that got beat up is one of the kids in the picture. Anyway, I was so proud of Grant. He certainly sent a message that he can be aggressive if he needs to be. He also set a good example of not just watching, but taking action.

Seth, Nathan and Grant have been out of school all week on spring break and they are even out tomorrow. We have had a great time, but it went by too fast. We were preparing for Grant's birthday party, throwing the birthday party, having Nathan's party and running errands for Seth to get him ready for his mission and the week just flew by. Seth had his doctors appointment on Thursday as well as camping out at the DMV to get his 18 year old drivers license. You know how long it takes to do that. He has to go back in on Monday for the Tuberculosis test that goes in the arm and gets checked 48 hours later. Sound familiar? He has his dentist appointment on Thursday and we will find out about his wisdom teeth. He also didn't pass the eye exam so we will get him into the eye doctor to get a new prescription this week as well. Depending on what we find out about the wisdom teeth will determine when he can turn in his mission papers this week. It all feels very familiar.

I had a great stake Relief Society training meeting yesterday. It really was nice to be inspired and instructed. We were taught by President Schoof from the stake presidency about the importance of the Proclamation to the Family. I really do love learning from such inspired instruction.

We had a wonderful baptism yesterday. A sister in the ward who's husband is a member but she has been taking the lessons off and on for 5 years. I was overwhelmed with the feeling I needed to share your dad's conversion story, so I did. It was very spiritual. Her husband did the baptism and also gave a talk. I was so impressed with his testimony. For sure it was one of those days filled with the spirit.

The kid named xxxx, that Seth and Nathan have been teaching with the missionaries got dropped because he just wasn't keeping commitments and wasn't progressing. The missionaries told us today that he actually texted them and said he would like to come to church again. This really is the first time he has asked to come to church. Usually we always ask him. Maybe he will come around again. We can only pray that it will. Unfortunately he ended up sleeping in today so he didn't come, but the fact that he had the desire to come was a good sign.

I sure love you. I can't wait until tomorrow. Monday is my favorite day of the week because I get to hear from you!

Love you!
mom

Dear Mom,

We had a baptism this week as well. Her name is Pilar. Her boyfriend is a member but less active she has been dragging him to church even though he has no huge interest in going and her entire family is against her being a member. She doesn´t care though because her testimony is so strong.

Baptism This Week.  I got a new companion named Elder Robles.

He is from Mexico but lived in Tucson, Arizona for a while so he actually speaks English.  He is awesome and a great soccer player so our game today is going to be sweet! 

The other picture is just a mountain that I see every day named Huazcaran. Its right outside my window. Pretty huh! I have a new companion too. His name is Elder Robles. He is from mexico. He reminds me alot of Roberto Guzman. Haha He is super awesome though. And hes big! He is my height. Haha I never thought I would have a companion my height! He lived in Tuscan Arizona though so he speaks perfect english. Its funny cuz we will have a conversation and I will speak english and he will respond in spanish or vice versa and we both understand but usually respond in the other language just to shake things up. It´s pretty fun. Haha I sure love you!!!!!

Elder Hackleman

A mountain that I see every day named Huazcaran. Its right outside my window. Pretty huh!

Elder Hackleman

On Mon, Mar 17, 2014 at 8:31 AM, Tim wrote:

Dear Elder,

Today is Seth's 18th birthday. I wish you guys would stop growing up so fast!!! I've been missing you a lot this past week. I've been having foot problems and wish I had your priesthood here to give me a blessing. Your mom swears it's gout. I swear it's not because it's on my heel. Same old argument :) Anyway, I was able to get some UNO hockey tickets for last Friday's game. So Seth and I took Tim and Austin for Austin's birthday. We had a great time!! I forgot my phone in the car, so I didn't get any pictures. :(

How did your week go?? Are you still teaching the deaf couple? That is so awesome!! I am so excited for them and what an opportunity for you. I see that it's been raining there a lot. Be careful and stay healthy!!! So when it's not raining, do you still get out to play some soccer (futbol)?

OH YEAH! How is your new companion??? Tell us all about him!

I'm sorry you don't have any extra cash right now. I will get you some next payday. Sorry. The Sidney house is still on track for June sometime. They will either have to close on it then or forfeit it back to us. The only problem with it coming back to us is that it will have to be put on the market again. I'm sure it will sell fast, but it still takes a couple of months to close and that would mean double house payments for us. OUCH!! So add the Sidney house to your prayers! :)

¡Ámele hijo!

Papá

Hey dad! I hope your foot is doing ok. It sure seems like you two will never change over this gout thing. Haha I bet those UNO Hockey games are fun. I wish we would have thought of that before! I am still teaching the deaf couple and their son. They are so wonderful. They had a baptismal date for this Saturday but it had to get pushed back until next Saturday because they couldn´t come to church yesterday. We play in rain. It don´t bother us nun´ =) We are playing futbol Americano today! WOOO! Haha I am stoked. My companion is awesome. His name is Elder Robles. Hes from mexico but lived in arizona for 8 years so he knows english! That's too bad about the sidney house. I will definitely keep it in my prayers. And don´t you worry about me. I am doing just fine. For clanks sake, I almost have a year in this country!!!! I know what I am doing and definitely get plenty of help. You guys just worry about the rest of you =) I sure love you dad. If there is one thing a mission does for us missionaries, It helps us realize how much we love and appreciate our parents.

I love you!

Love Elder Hackleman