Week 26 (6 Months!!!!)

Well I just want to start off by saying that these past 6 months have been some of the best in my life and eventhough I've had plenty of hard days being soaked from all the rain we had before, and being sick in the hospital, I wouldn't rather be anywhere else! This morning was quite the morning as the bus we were traveling in tipped over.... Nobody was injured and I only have a few cuts and scrapes on my arms. I have no idea what happened. My companion and I were talking and all of the sudden we were sideways and then a huge crash. Never have I ever experienced anything like it before but I could definitely feel that we were all protected by our Heavenly Father. I also have something else to tell you all.... Haha that was a joke! Just to give you something to laugh about :) But a bus really did tip over and everyone inside was okay. I'm sorry I couldn't help myself! I've always gotta be in the spotlight ;) 

This past week was a pretty good week for my companion and I. We finally got to baptize Joel and Brandon. This week we worked super hard to get the people we have progressing, but Satan was also working hard this week! We ended up only having one person in church yesterday but like it says in D&C 18:15 it's one more soul were going to save and I couldn't ask for better. We had a family that was going to attend but they all got sick so they couldn't. Yesterday we had the wonderful opportunity to visit a family of members with all 6 of the Missionaries here in this ward. The Sister Missionaries taught about Love and how important it is to have in every aspect of our lives. 

My companion shared something about me. He said how much he admires that everytime I offer a prayer I say, "Heavenly father, We love you" and how often we forget to tell our own Father in Heaven that we love him after all he's given to us! It really is such an important aspect of our lives and often times the people we have nearest to us are the ones that suffer when we don't show it. William Shakespeare once said that those whose truly love something, show it. This week in Gospel Principles we also learned about service and how important it is in our lives. Through offering service and helping others we are following the two most important commandments we have, Love the lord thy God with all your heart, might, mind and strength and the second which is like unto it, Love your neighbor like unto yourself. (Matthew 22:36-40) 

This week I want to challenge you all to act on these two things. First, tell every member in your family that you love them and second show your love for them by serving them. There are many forms of service and it doesn't matter how big or small it is, you never know how much it will help them and even though you may forget about it the next day, they may remember it forever! I love you all so very dearly and wish the best for you all. Thanks for all that you do and always remember, when you can't stand, kneel! I hope that you all have a great week! 

Con much amor, 
Elder Hunt :)

Our church

Us with Brandon and Joel

 Us with Brandon, Joel, and the family at the baptism

 Us with Brandon, Joel, and the family at the baptism

Me and David

 Us and the dead pig we found in the Market (for the girls)

 Us and the dead pig we found in the Market (for the girls)

A parrot just chillin

Us after soccer :)

The bus that tipped over this morning

The bus that tipped over this morning

The outside of our Apartment

Me being me :)

Me being me :)

Picture my companion drew for a investigator haha

Picture my comp drew for a investigator haha

Week 25

Well Ladies and Gents, in 8 days I complete 6 months here in the mission and all I can say is that in such a short time I have never learned nor grown more! I love being here in Ecuador and being able to help so many wonderful people! It has gone by so fast which is kind of scary because there is so much that I want to change and perfect in my life but the time is so short. 

Today was a great P-Day because.... WE GOT TO PLAY SOCCER!!!!! I love playing soccer but to be honest these Latinos are good soccer players!! haha Not to mention that the altitude and the sun just kills you! I'm not looking forward to tomorrow and being sore :P This past week was a good week for My companion and I. We really focused on getting our lesson count up and ended up doing it. We had 6 people committed to coming to church but only 2 showed up so that was kind of a bummer. The good news is that we have 2 baptisms on saturday! I am really excited for these baptisms because these two young men, Joel (17) and Brandon his cousin (15) want it so badly. They also really want to serve missions. Its really nice to know that we will not only be baptizing to new members of the church but two young men who are going to help so many people! 

This change my companion and I are going to focus on the members we have here in the ward. We usually just call them so they can visit people with us but they need help too. If we can strengthen the members we have, then we wont have to work as much with less actives. I have realized the extreme importance of the members in the ward and how much they can help with the recent converts. Our wards are our families and if we do not build up the entire family how are we all going to achieve the potential we all have in life? The church is not only to learn and partake of the Sacrament but also to become closer to those around us and help them become better and closer to Heavenly Father. 

It's kind of funny because everyone asks to see pictures of my family and when they see them, they are amazed that we are all gringos (White) and how big of a family I have. Not to mention the boys fall in love with my sisters haha. I love my family and all of you that have given me your support. I know that through diligence and hard work we can become the people of Zion we were all meant to be and we can build up and strengthen the kingdom of God! I hope you all have a great week! 

Con mucho amor, 
Elder Hunt

Week 24

Well Ladies and Gents, I will be spending yet another change here in the wonderful ward of Manantial with my companion Elder Monrroy. I never thought I would be spending more than a fourth of my mission here in this sector but I'm not going to lie I am really excited for this change! We have so many wonderful people here! 

On the 26th of this month we have 2 more baptisms and both of the young men that we are going to be baptizing want to serve missions. It is so great to be able to help them both reach their goal! This past week was a good week. My companion and I worked hard to get the people we had contacted to church on sunday and the hard work paid off. We ended up having 6 progressing investigators at church yesterday. It really is awesome when people keep the commitments that we leave with them! 

There isn't a whole lot more to report on this week. I just want to thank you all for your support and prayers and for the letters that I have received! It is hard for me to send letters back but I will try to get some sent off. 

Con mucho amor, 
Elder Hunt :)

We went to a members house to recieve changes and today is her sons 

Birthday so on Saturday I bought a cake for them so we could celebrate.

 He turned 2 today :)

Week 23

Well, this week was definitely a long one but it was a pretty good one to!! After having baptized the two families that we did, our amount of investigators went down a lot. We found ourselves with almost none, at least none that are progressing that is. We visited more members and less actives this week to ask for references. Here in the mission we could not do anything without the members!. Everyone we have baptized have been references from a member. I’m really  starting to realize the importance of the saying, "¨Every member a missionary"¨ We all have people in our lives that we know who aren’t members of our church and how great is the importance of helping our fellow brothers and sisters to know the truth and receive the blessing we have. 

I like the scriptures in D&C 18: 10,15,16. This also brings me to the other topic that I want to talk about today and that is found in the conference talk given by Quitin L. Cook this past April. There are so many people waiting on the other side of the veil to receive the blessings from theTemple and they cannot receive them without us. He talks about the grand importance of doing family history. I really wish I would have done more of it myself while at home. It is so great that not only can we do the things here on earth for us to receive eternal life and an eternal family but that we can help the people who have died that never had the chance to hear about the gospel. It is such an important work to be done and there is so much that we can do, even in our own homes. 

I want to challenge you all to strive to do some sort of family history work so that we can all live with our families in the kingdom or god. I also want to invite you all to read/listen to that conference talk. Being here in Ecuador and not being able to do a lot really has made me realize how important they are and how much I want to do them. Thank you all for your support and love! I hope you all have a great week!

Con mucho Amor, 
Elder Hunt