Wednesday, March 12, 2014

This Weeks Pictures from Honcupampa, Peru

Elder Hackleman at Honcupampa, Peru



I found pride rock.....just sayin














From Dad

On Mon, Mar 10, 2014 at 8:35 AM,

Yesterday was Grant's birthday. He is officially a teenager!!! We missed having you at our little family party, but I would rather you give him the example of righteous service that you are giving!! I'm always so proud you work tiger!! You inspire your old man to do better!! We had fun with him. He is having an air soft war with some friends from school on Tuesday. He's so excited that he couldn't sleep last night.

My talk went really well. I think. You are not going to believe this either.... I didn't even sweat!!! Only the third time in my church life that I didn't sweat giving a talk!!!

How are things in Huaraz?? Have you been able to visit the village of indigenous people that speak a different language?

I forgot last week to tell you two sports things!

1. Brian Johnson left Utah and went to Mississippi State to become QB coach there.

2. LeBron scored 61 pts in one game last weekend!!!

Well, I just want you to know that everything is great at home. Seth told me yesterday that he hopes he goes Spanish speaking so that you and him can talk about things without us parents knowing what you're saying!!! He's such a knucklehead.

Please be safe and keep up the hard work!!!

¡Ámele hijo!

Papá

Haha Wish grant a late happy birthday for me! Sorry I am writing late. We went to this awesome place called Huacupampa. I was sick. I got tons of pictures. I can’t believe you didn´t sweat! I haven´t sweated in over a month since I have been in Huaraz. Crazy. So we have this awesome family of three that we are teaching. They are all going to be baptized in 2 weeks. The cool thing is that the parents are both def! My companion and I are learning sign language in spanish to be able to communicate. I will be technically trilingual when I get home if all goes well! Tomorrow is transfers and my companion is getting transferred already! We only have one transfer together! So we´ll see how that goes. He is pretty bummed though. I can´t believe Brian Johnson dropped like that! He dropped like lebron drops threes! Haha Love you dad!

Elder Hackleman

From Seth

On Mon, Mar 10, 2014 at 10:43

Hey Jaren,

I miss you. I'm starting to work on my mission papers. I had an interview with bishop so I am working on all the forms and everything. Maybe I will get called to Peru and I'll get to see you. I love you.

Seth

That would be so awesome. I am praying for that every day. If not, you at least need to get called spanish speaking. I love you big guy. Someone’s 18th birthday is comin quick!!!!! =)

Elder Hackleman

From Nathan

On Mon, Mar 10, 2014 at 10:42

Jar Bear,

Hi. I am officially a great basketball player. How are you doing? How is your new zone? You better be liking it, but if not it's all good I guess. Amen

Nathan

Hey buddy! Now you just need to play for your school team you clanker. I love my new zone! Ámen!

Elder Hackleman

From Grant

On Mon, Mar 10, 2014 at 10:39

Hey Jar, I'll bet you will never guess how old I am now. I got almost everything I wanted. Basically almost everything. I got 10,000 air soft b-bees. I got Doritos, Hershey, gummy worms, gummy bears, and a 15$ gift card from the Laws. I got safety glasses for my air soft war. Whistles, duct tape for the guns, balloons, a bunch of pallets, Ferrari toy model. I got headphones and targets for my air soft gun and 6 orange bandannas and 6 bandannas that are green. You are probably wondering what these are for. They are for the birthday party I am having on Tuesday. It is going to be awesome. We are going to use the pallets to make bases in our back yard and I am going to invite a bunch of people over to have an air soft war. Mom got me an airbrush paint kit, we are going to spray paint our bases. It's going to be fun. Seth is going to technically be our host and maybe even his friend Collin. I know you probably wish I would spend my money on something else, but I am using my birthday money to buy a new air-soft gun. That's basically it. I wish you could be here for the party.

Love,

Grant

You’re the best brother in the world.

Haha buddy, You have no Idea how unsurprised I am that you are going to use your money for that. That sounds like so much fun though! I wish I could be there. Shoot some of your buddys extra good for me! Love you big guy and FELÍZ CUMPLEAÑOS UN POCO TARDE!

Elder Hackleman

Your oldest brother in the world

Monday March 10, 2014

On Mon, Mar 10, 2014 at 10:31 AM,

Elder Hackleman,

This has been an eventful week. Grant had his 13th birthday yesterday. He has had a rough couple of weeks. I have gone back and forth trying to decide whether I would tell you about this. It's not that big of a deal, so I don't want you to get too fired up, but I will go ahead and tell you.

Last week he told us that there was a kid at school who has been bullying him. His name is Dane. Grant only has one class with him which is PE and they only have that class every other day. He also sees him during lunch time. Grant's group of friends at school are mostly the same kids he knew at Anderson Grove Elementary and his buddy Garret from church who is a grade ahead of him in school. Unfortunately, none of those kids are in his PE class with him. It has been going on for a while. The kid is always making fun of him and calling him gay. Grant just ignores him and moves on. Last week, he went into the boys’ bathroom during lunch to wash his hands and Dane was in there. He tried to pick a fight with Grant. Apparently he is rather tall, but very skinny. As you know Grant is not a fighter and he didn't know what to do. He was cornered and couldn't just walk away. Luckily another kid from their class came in the bathroom, distracted Dane and Grant was able to get out of there. Now he didn't know how to handle it.

We had many long discussions with him, but everything we tried to say just got Grant more upset. He didn't want to tell on Dane because he felt like he would only get made fun of more. Seth was at work so he wasn't involved in the conversation, but Nathan was so fired up I thought he was going to go straight to the school and take the poor kid out. Grant, Tim and I went grocery shopping at Walmart and as we were walking out a couple of kids were sitting by the door and had smiles on their faces as we walked by and sort of nodded to Grant. I didn't know what this Dane kid looked like, but I figured one of these kids must be him. I just about jumped on them and scratched their eyes out. I know I am one who over reacts, but it is my Grantie Bear we are talking about. When we got in the car Grant told me neither of these kids were Dane and one of them was his friend who he was thinking about inviting to his birthday party.

Grant told me that my over reaction was exactly why he didn't tell me stuff like this and he never planned on telling me again. This went into another long conversation, but to make it short, I told him he has to understand that I am a lot of talk and that is just what moms do, but I wasn't really going to scratch his eyes out.

After Seth got home from work, we told him all that had gone on and he had a good talk with Grant. When he talked to him, he didn't get all upset, he actually listened. It was like Nathan, Tim and I were chopped liver and Seth was the only one who made sense even though he was basically saying the same things we were, he was a lot calmer about it and he used his salesman abilities to really get through to Grant. He stood him up and taught him how to fight. He told him if the kid ever approaches him even one more time, don't wait, don't hesitate, don't even think about who is around, just punch him in the nose and break his nose. He told him not to ever let the kid victimize him again.

Anyway, that evening I was getting a lesson ready for church the next day and the first thing that popped up on LDS.org was a video from the church having to do with Bullying. After watching it, I wasn't 100% sure if we gave him correct advice, but I do know that Grant has such tender feelings that he wears on his sleeve, that he can become a victim very easily. I didn't think he would really punch the kid in the nose, but if he at least thought in his own mind that he might, he would come across differently and maybe it would go away.

The other thing we decided was to plan a big air soft war birthday party. We made awesome invitations and last Monday Grant started passing them out to 12 of his closest friends at school. Since then everything at school has changed. So far, Dane hasn't said another word to Grant, and there are lots of kids buzzing around Grant all the time now.

We picked up a bunch of pallets and today we are going to build some barricades for the teams to hide behind. The party is tomorrow. The boys are out for spring break all week. We are going to have pizza and snacks and Seth is going to organize the games so they continue to be awesome and fun.

I really think the combination of Grant knowing how to fight, and having something to look forward to, really has turned things around for him.

We finally got Grant to agree that we could come and watch him play dodgeball on Wed. and so we could at least see what the kid looked like. Seth, Nathan and I went and watched him play. We never could figure out which kid was Dane, and by the time we got there, Grant changed his mind and he wouldn't tell us. Maybe it was for the best.

We did tell him about some of the run-ins you had while you were in high school. He was too young when they happened so he didn't know about them at all.

On another note, Grant has been getting straight "A's" at school. Academically he is doing the best he has ever done. He has always worked so hard and it is finally paying off for him. He was given an award at school that the principal gives to kids who he thinks are doing something right. The school randomly gives a plate of cookies to a kid of the week. Grant got the award in February. He also was invited into the National Jr. Honor Society and exactly one week ago today, we got the acceptance letter. He is in. We are so proud of him.

So, today we are building, building, building. It's going to be fun.

On another note, your buddy David Mattes was in a car accident last weekend. He was driving home from Sidney at 3 am and ran into a guard rail and totaled his truck. According to the news report he spent a few nights in the hospital and alcohol was involved.

Ok enough depressing stuff, on a much lighter note, Lauren Gull just got her mission call. She is going to Argentina and leaves in July. Good for her. Did I tell you Brenton Christian got his mission call to Venezuela. I guess Mitchell Shields is going somewhere spanish speaking as well. Good for them:)

Seth met with the bishop and officially started his paperwork for his mission. We still need to get him in for his physical, shots, and dentist visits so it will be a little while, but hopefully we can work on all that stuff this week. He is out of his brace now and his doctor said he would sign him off for service. It's pretty exciting!

I love you!

Love mom

Hey sorry I am writing late. We went on a cool trip today to a place called honcupampa. It was awesome. That is a huge bummer about grant. I know how he feels. As much as I wanted to be in school, I was never really a fighter either. Seth will help him out, and nathan too. They are good big brothers. I am so proud of him though! And I hope his party goes great! NJHS! WOOOO! haha That is cool for the sidney kids. I hope seth goes spanish speaking as well. It would be awesome. I sure miss you guys. My comp elder guzman is getting transferred tomorrow so I will have another new companion! It is really weird but I have thought about david alot the last couple weeks. I don't know why but still. Hm. Bummer deal. I love you mom!

Elder Hackleman

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Letters This Week

On Sun, Mar 2, 2014 at 11:58 PM, Amy wrote:

Elder Hackleman,

How are you today? What is new? We had a great Sunday. Tim and Becky blessed their baby today and your dad stood in the circle. That little guy is soooo cute!

This week has been a good one. I started a new blog two weeks ago. It is just random things, like recipes, diy projects, quotes, and anything else that might catch my eye. I am running ads on it. The idea is to someday make enough money to cover Seth’s mission costsJ In two weeks I have gotten over 1,000 views. Not too shabby.

It has been freezing cold here for the past couple of days. I am done going outside until spring ha ha.

I got a message from a friend of mine this morning. She was an exchange student who went to my high school. She lives in Sweden. I guess she met Tanner at church this morning. Pretty awesome!

Grant has been playing dodge-ball after school on Wed and Fridays. He sure loves it. Nathan told me today that he might go out for golf. We will see how it goes.

We are hoping to teach a missionary lesson here tomorrow. Our family has been helping the missionaries with a 15 year old investigator who never will commit to baptism. Seth and Nathan have helped teach him since October.

Well, I sure love you and can't wait until tomorrow when I get to hear from you:)

Love

Mom

Hey mom! I sure miss the cold. I can´t complain because Huaraz is like perfect weather, but getting a snowball in the face can believe it or not, be missed at some point in a person´s life if they haven´t had the experience in a while. That sounds like a fun blog! If you make a little more, you can at least get to where you can pay for date night or something. Haha Speaking of Tanner. He sent me an email today. Apparently a missionary in his mission got hit by a car the other day and passed away. It doesn´t look to me like Tanner knew him to well, but he did know the missionary´s companion who is pretty shaken up as one can imagine. How sad....

That is awesome that grant is playing dodgeball haha. I hope he knows his big bro was champion in intramurals at SVU! Nathan better go out for golf!!!!! Has seth started his mission papers yet? I have been doing the math and if all goes well, he could receive his mission call around the time I call home for mother´s day! Keep that in mind =) I love you mom!

Elder Hackleman

You can´t tell in the picture but I am in front of the church and it is flooding with rain. I stepped out into the road and water went up above my ankles Crazy! 


This is grafitti of a Huarazino or Cholo

On Mon, Mar 3, 2014 at 9:07 AM, Tim wrote:

Dear Elder,

We had a great week. It has been super cold here. It was 0 degrees when we left church yesterday! brrrrrrrrrrrr. But Thursday it's supposed to get up to 50! Your mom and I went to a UNO hockey game on Friday. I got tickets from work. It was a blast!!! Sam (our Mormon CEO) sat behind us with his wife and daughter. I should have introduced your mom, but I didn't :( Kicking myself for that one. Anyway, I have attached a photo!
UNO Hockey Game


How was your week? How have the lessons been going? I forgot to ask you if you are the "senior" companion. You have to let us know when you get put into leadership roles as well! Like District leader or Zone leader.

I'm speaking in Sacrament on Sunday. My topic is Lessons Learned from Captain Moroni! Should be fun. Lots of different ways you could go, but I think I'm going to focus on strategy and defenses.

I know your mom sent you a big letter so I'll keep mine short. Let us know what's been going on! You know how we love to hear about your work!

¡Ámele hijo!

Papá

Hey dad!!!! That looks like a blast! I can´t believe you didn´t introduce mom if you know him so well. That looks way cool though. Things are going great here. We have another baptism set for this week. Her name is Pilar. She has been progressing like wild fire until these last few days she started having some doubts. That always happens the week of a person´s baptism because Satan is very aware of what is going on. It will be fine though. Us missionaries are used to the fight against satan. I am senior companion yes. Really I´m not one to flaunt or even feel proud though if I ever get put in a leadership position. To be honest, I kind of hope I don´t. It’s a lot of worries and stress that are distracting from just being a missionary. But we´ll see. Haha Captain Moroni is a pretty awesome topic. When you are studying, read every single footnote and every reference there is, even if it seems off topic. You´ll be amazed what more you learn out of those verses. We are putting that into practice in our studies right now because that is what our mission president has been focusing on with us for a while. Love you dad!

Elder Hackleman

Friday, February 28, 2014

Facebook Photo

This was posted on facebook today.  I recognize the vests as the day the missionaries and LDS Church members cleaned the beach in Lima, Peru.  Elder Hackleman and his companion found a little cove to eat their lunch.


Monday, February 24, 2014

Tayson Got Married 2-22-2014

Yeah Tayson!


Best Friend Goes Home Jan 27, 2014

Well it’s official. I dropped my companion Elder Ramos off at the offices today. I don´t know about transfers if I am leaving yet. I should know within the next half hour or so. And yea I haven´t sent pics in a while because everyone and their dog has been wanting to take pictures with us these last few weeks and they all tell me they will put them on facebook so I have just been letting them do my job for me. Haha That´s so awesome for Nathan. He is such a good guy! He has serious ballin skills. I´m glad seth´s surgery went ok. What is the word on the Sidney house?! I would die for some cold wind right now.... Haha I´ll let you know on transfers. Love you!

Elder Hackleman

On Mon, Jan 27, 2014 at 8:56 AM, Tim Hackleman wrote:

Dear Elder Hackleman

So I bet your week was pretty busy!!! What's happening? New companion! I'm sure it was a crazy time! You'll have to fill us in on all the details!

So Seth had his surgery. It went really well, but he is struggling to recover. If anyone knows how it is, it's you! He just can't get comfortable and isn't very hungry. Yesterday was kinda rough for him and this morning, as if he wasn't struggling enough, he threw up. But by the time I had Nathan to Seminary, he was sound asleep. So hopefully he'll get some rest. I'm sure your mom will tell you this but I'll tell you anyway! :) Seth's doctor came out and talked to us while Seth was in recovery. He said that he would PREFER that Seth goes on his mission before playing anymore football. That it would be as good as new with two years to recover. He could play this fall, but if he ended up injuring it again, he may not be able to repair it again. I'm worried that if Seth doesn't get on a team this fall he won't be able to get on one when he gets home. I'm okay with that, but I know how much you guys love playing. Lots of decisions ahead of him. It doesn't help the fact that he had coaches from two different schools contact him on the day of his surgery!

Maybe you should write him and give him your counsel. He'll value that a great deal.

Your brothers are doing great! Grant has straight A's in school! He is working so hard!!! Nathan is doing great on the spiritual side, but needs to pay a little more attention to the school side! :)

Well, I can't wait to hear how this past week went! Change can be very exciting and motivating!!

I love you so much and I'm so proud of you! Take care of yourself and keep working hard! You're clankin' half way through your mission!!!!

Love you!

Dad

Hey pops!

Still nothing on transfers. I am just bumming it with another companionship until tomorrow when I get my new companion. They still haven´t told me if I am changing areas as well or not. I will let you know. I was pretty bummed letting my companion go. We have become best friends. So what happened with the sidney house?! Did you finally get that thing sold? Sounds like seth has a lot of decisions to make. I will send him my input. Haha I am so proud of nathan and grant. They are rock stars for real......well without the drugs and women and parties of course. Haha I sure love you dad. I will find a way to let you guys know about transfers.

Elder Hackleman