Week 35

Another week down out here in Paradise (more or less haha). It's sad to say but it's come to the point where I actually crave rice and when we eat and there is no rice, it's like we don't have any food at all. But at least I'm changing for the better and although I'll come home eating my body weight in rice everyday it's nice to know I have so many people who accept me for who I am ;) 

This week was a weird one and honestly seemed to drag on! It seemed we didn't have any time to even stop and think, let alone search for new people to teach. It's always a fear of mine that the last week of changes will be bad and my companion won't want to do anything to get new investigators but this week I'm going to make sure that we work our butts off to find the people the Lord has prepared for us. 

This last week we had the baptism of Estiven. It was great to finally baptize him and help him have more direction in his life. Estiven and his family are such great people and his little brother Alexander has a baptismal date set for the 18th of October. It's great to be able to help so many people here and to help the young people. There are so many here that get into bad things and have bad friends that lead to a life of drinking and drugs. It's great to see how much of a difference the Gospel makes in every single persons life! They truly do become closer to God and Jesus Christ. 

Although this work is not easy, it is worth it! I love having something to defend down here and to have something to give to others. I know that this Gospel truly does bless all of us and I know it is the only way to have true happiness. I hope that you all are able to watch the General Conference sessions this coming weekend and not only watch/listen, but apply and live what the General Authorities will teach us through revelation from God. 
I love you all and hope you all have a great week. 

Con mucho Amor, 
Elder Hunt

Me and my Companion waiting for the baptismal
font to fill up, watching The Testaments

Estiven's Baptism

 Estiven and his family

 Estiven

Week 34

So we are getting closer to General Conference and I’m honestly really excited!! I know that before my mission I didn't care a whole lot for Conference nor did I pay much attention but I really have learned and seen the importance that it really does have in our lives. I love being able to listen to the Prophet and Apostles that we have here on the earth and to learn more about the things we should do to have a better life and to be a better person. I hope you all are able to listen, study and apply the things we will here in the coming weeks. 

This week was a good week for us here in Santo Domingo. We worked really hard to get the people we have progressing and coming to church. We were able to have 4 come to church this week. You really can see such a huge difference when you work hard and do all that you can to help others!

 One of our investigators named Estiven had his baptismal interview this last week and will be baptized this Saturday. His little brother has a baptismal date for the 18th of October. This week in our District meeting we learned more about commitments and how important it is that they know that we are helping them to prepare to make more commitments and covenants with our Heavenly Father.

 I am now able to better understand my companion haha! He speaks really fast and he's really quiet but I've learned how to have more patience and to listen better. The people here really are great and everyday we return home with some sort of fruit:) They are so kind here and really welcoming. This week should be a great one and we started it off good with being able to play soccer with our zone on a nice turf field! I hope that you all have a great week also and can prepare yourself for the upcoming General Conference.

I love you all and wish the best for everyone! 
Con much amor, 
Elder Hunt

Week 33

Ladies and Gents, the Impossible has happened... We had a baptism this week :)  She told us she wouldn't be able to do it this week which was tough because we've worked so much with her but on Wednesday she informed us that she would be able to. Her family is going to Quito but they changed it to next week. It was great to finally baptize her! It's a family of 5. The father is less active and the mom and the kids aren't members. 

In the Stake Conference we had this last week they talked a ton about the work of salvation and working with the less active members to make them stronger and bring them back to the fold of God. This family has so much potential and what I hope to do is help the parents want to get married so the mom can be baptized and also baptize the other two kids so that they can all go to the Temple and be sealed together forever! 

I know that there are a lot of members back home in Utah and sometime's we only think that missionary work consists of finding people to baptize, but the people that are less active have already had that ordinance. There are many less active members all around us and they all need our help! They are all our brothers and sisters and just want to find where they are accepted and find the path that brings them happiness. We need to be more welcoming at church and make sure that we are including everyone and making their experience at church a good one and not a bad one. We need to act like Jesus would if he was there personally welcoming the people. 

This week was a good one with the baptism and getting her sister progressing towards baptism too. It's still super hot here and super hard when we have to fast haha but I know that sacrifice bring forth the blessings :) I love it here in Santo Domingo and I know that there are so many people here that need my help. We really have to be sensitive to the spirit because we never know who needs our help. 

I love being here in the mission and have already learned so much and still have a long time to go but I already know it's the best thing I've ever done and I will never regret it if I do everything that I can! Although we have some tough days I know that they won't last forever and that the blessings will come only after the trial of our faith and much tribulation. (Ether 12:6, D&C 58: 2-4) 

I love you all and hope for the best for every one of you! I can't wait to come home and give you all a hug and tell you about all the things that have happened here but until then, stay safe. 

Que Dios Les Bendiga :) 
Con much amor, 
Elder Hunt

Baptism :)

Elder Flores (Doesn't like his picture taken)

Out in the boonies in an indigenous
village but there weren't any people

Verdes

Out in the boonies in an indigenous
village but there weren't any people

Out in the Boonies. No people but there was a Soccer Field :D

Me and the foggy morning

Me being lazy :O

 

The Duck that we bought for dinner tonight

The Duck becoming dinner tonight

Week 32

So another week down here in Santo Domingo. This last week wasn't the greatest week but we ended up finding some new people to be able to teach. The weather is still hot and humid but it's great and so much better than the rain and cold! The food here is so great! The members here in this ward are great too! The only thing that is hard about this ward is that there aren't many men that can go with us to our appointments. It makes it a little  bit hard to get things done but I know that if we can strive to do the will of the Lord we will be able to do it. 

We got chewed out a little bit today for not having the best numbers but they also gave us a lot of encouragement to work harder. Elder Gonzalez, one of my Zone Leaders told us that often times as Missionaries we think that just because we're here working hard that we have sacrificed something, but work is not a sacrifice, it's a blessing! This week they have challenged us to study more about consecration so we can be more dedicated to the Lords work. 

So, this week I heard that Mike Harper, a member of my home ward passed away. It made me so sad to hear it but at the same time so thankful to our Heavenly Father that he has given us the Plan of Salvation! It makes me proud that we can be here helping those people who have suffered from losing a loved one and realize that there is hope. Death is a hard concept but like Pesident Uchtdorf said in his talk, "There really aren't true endings in this life, there are merely interruptions, temporal pauses that will one day seem small when compared to the eternal joy that await the faithful."  

I was able to study this week the conference talk given by Elder Christofferson. It talks so much about the life of Jesus Christ and all of the things that he did for us. This is the time when we need to show forth our love more than ever as Samantha and her family are having a hard time. We are all brothers and sisters and should do all that we can to help them find peace and joy in this time of hardship. I hope you all can strive to be a little bit better than you were yesterday so we can all live in the celestial kingdom in the glory of God. 

I love you all and I love my Father in Heaven and my Redeemer Jesus Christ. I know that the plan we have here in life is for our benefit and happiness but the only way we can truly do that is to dedicate our lives to him. I hope the best for all of you and hope you all have a great week! 

Con mucho amor, 
Elder Hunt

Week 31

Well, my first week down here in the coast:) First of all I don't think I've ever sweated so much in my life but hey more weight to lose right? ;) It's crazy how big of a difference there is between here and Quito! The people here are so much more welcoming and accepting of us. They are a lot more relaxed and more willing to be closer to God. But they are also more easily persuaded with the things of the world. 

There are about 5,000 members here but about 4/5 of them are less active and don't attend church. Here we have focused a lot more on the less active members and I have already met so many great people here! So in my zone we have 12 Missionaries from the States and 6 Latino Missionaries haha! We're basically over running the mission here. 

So, like I said last week my new companions name is Elder Flores and he's from Peru. He is really nice but very quiet and talks super fast. Sometimes it's extremely difficult to understand him but hey I'll learn how to listen more. 

So, we had a baptism planned for this Saturday but her dad wants her to be sure that this is the right decision and that she's not going to drop everything a few months after. I understand where he's coming from. It's better to wait a little while and be sure not to jump into something. I'm hoping the investigators we have right now can keep progressing so that we can have some more baptisms. 

The food here is really good, although this last week I have hardly even eaten but this week I actually have food in the house so that will make things better! It's basically always hot here and really humid but I like it so much more than the cold that we had in Quito. 

This week I felt like I didn't have any time to do the things I wanted to so I don't have anything to share that I was able to learn but this week I'm going to focus more on the things that are most important. I hope you all have a great week and that you all stay safe. Your all in my prayers and always in my heart! 

Con mucho amor, 
Elder Hunt :)