Week 8!

Week 8 in the MTC!  Time has gone by so fast, yet so slow at the same time.  Last Tuesday, we had a district leave from our zone.  This Tuesday, we had another district leave from our zone.  So, my district is now the oldest district!  It's crazy to think we only have two more weeks until we leave the MTC.  Sometimes it feels like our mission is only at the MTC, because it feels like such a long time. 

Friday, December 23 - We had some sub teachers from Spain in our class today.  They have sort of an accent in Spain.  In some words that have the "c" or "z" or "s" sounds, they make it a "th".  Like, "corazon" would sound like "corathon".  They taught our class for three hours and the next two days after that, I had such a hard time not doing the "th" sound!  I wish I was going to Spain, so I could do that sound all the time!  We also taught Hermilo, one of our investigators, about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and he said he wanted to be baptized!  But, he wanted to talk to his family first, to see if they would support him in his decision.

Saturday, December 24 (Christmas Eve!) - I told you already :)

Sunday, December 25 (CHRISTMAS!) - Christmas was awesome!  We had a huge sacrament meeting and Elder Bednar and his wife came to speak to us.  It was so awesome!  That makes three apostles in the 8 weeks I have been here in the MTC :)  At night, we had another fireside and the speaker was Stephen Allen, the managing director of the missionary department.  He also helped produce "Mr. Krueger's Christmas", which we watched right after the fireside.  It was a really good movie!

Monday, December 26 - Did not feel like the day after Christmas.  The day was not very exciting.  Just another routine day in the MTC.

Tuesday, December 27 - We taught Hermilo and he is officially getting baptized!  YAY!  We taught him the Word of Wisdom, which he seemed to accept pretty well, which is good.  Next is Tithing and Chastity on Saturday.  The Devotional speaker was Elder William R. Walker of the Seventy.  He spoke on "Ten Keys to be a Successful Missionary".  He gave a great talk and gave me a lot of things I can improve on to become a better missionary. 

Wednesday, December 28 - The most exciting things that happen on Wednesdays are service.  Other than that, it was another routine day in the MTC.  I can't wait to get out to the field!  Only two more weeks! 

Thursday (today!) - Nothing has happened yet... But!  At 12:30, we have the chance to clean the temple while it's closed!  YAY!  I know it's going to be an awesome experience.  I was talking to some other people here, and none of them are cleaning the temple.  So, I guess we have a pretty lucky opportunity! 

Thanks so much for the presents!  It was awesome being able to open one a day and see what you had gotten. 

About the doctor:  I did leave the MTC because I had to go to the pharmacy.  They do have a clinic, but they just checked me there and sent me to the pharmacy down the street to get some meds.  I did see Grandma's cousin and they have one of those Santas Grandma made on the desk!  The doctor visit was ten dollars, and the meds were only seven or eight dollars.  So, not very much.  There's a pharmacy just down the street, so Elder Simmons and I walked down there.  It was AWESOME.

I don't have any info about going to California today, but I should be getting it sometime today.  The MTC usually gives travel plans two weeks in advance (which is today! YAY!)  I will get you more info on that later. 

I don't really have anything else to say!  I am sooooo excited to get out to the field.  I like the MTC, but once you are here for eight weeks, it gets pretty boring.  It's the same thing every single day.  But, I'm glad to be here and be learning.  In my eight weeks in the MTC, I have learned more than I ever did in the three years I took Spanish, which is CRAZY! 

I am just about out of time.  I love and miss you!  Have a wonderful week!

Love, Elder Hunt

Feliz Navidad!

Feliz Navidad!  We aren't able to call on Christmas, so I guess the next best thing is email!  Christmas so far has been great!  Last night, we had a Christmas Eve Fireside and the Relief Society in the MTC put on a play a lot like the one that is put on at Grandma Steele's house.  They had angels and shepherds and Mary and Joseph and everything!  Then we watched an old version of "The Christmas Carol", which was really good.  Also last night, all the Elders in my district had a sleepover, and this morning we all opened presents that we had received over the past few days.  Thanks so much for the presents!!!  For sacrament meeting today, we had all the missionaries in the MTC (2,000+) and had a big sacrament meeting.  Elder Bednar  and his wife came and spoke to us.  It was such a great talk!  He talked on how the natural man is an enemy to God, and how we need to get rid of of natural man,.  He said that when Christ was on the Earth, he did nothing for himself.  He also said while we are on our missions, and throughout our lives, we need to be doing the same thing or we have a chance of falling away from the Church.  Added on to that, he said we need our investigators to do the same thing.  If our investigators aren't truly converted to Christ, then they will have a chance of falling away from the Church when we leave that area.  He also said that we, as members of the Church, have to have more than a testimony.  We also have to be truly converted to Jesus Christ.  It was a really good talk.  After sacrament, we had lunch, then went on a temple walk and took some more pictures of the temple and our district.  Now I am here, emailing you! Yay! 

Time has gone by so quickly in the MTC.  It feels like yesterday was the start of the seventh week, but tomorrow is already the start of the eighth.  Just a few more weeks and I will be out to California!  OMJ!  I am really sad that I don't get to spend time with you this Christmas, or even call, but I know this is where the Lord wants me to be in my life right now.  I am super excited to share the Gospel with others who don't know much about it and the happiness it can bring to people.  This Gospel has changed my life for the good, and I want to share that change with everyone!  I just have to start with Carlsbad ;) I just want to let you know that I love you and want to thank you for doing everything for me so far.  You are the best parents anyone could ever ask for.  I know that this Gospel is true, and I know Jesus Christ suffered for us all so that we could have the opportunity to be with each other always and forever.  I love you and miss you. I hope you have had a great Christmas so far, like I have!  Talk to you in a few days again!

Love, Elder Hunt

Also, how much snow have you gotten?!  Since I have been here, it's snowed four times... And only once did it stay for more than a hour.  This is the strangest Utah winter ever!  No White Christmas for me... :( How about you!?

Merry Christmas!

Semana siete

I figured since I am speaking Spanish, I should write stuff in Spanish too!  Just kidding :)

This week has been wonderful!  Not much has happened, because not much can happen in the MTC.  Nothing happened on last Friday or Saturday, but on Sunday, when we have Devotionals, I got to say the opening prayer!  It was a really cool experience because I got to sit up on the stand where the speaker and the MTC Presidency gets to sit.  I was super nervous, one reason being that I hasn't prayed in full English for seven weeks haha.  Richard Heaton, the Administrative Director at the MTC, spoke and gave an awesome talk.  Nothing happened Monday... Tuesday we had another Devotional, and Elder L. Whitney Clayton came and spoke to us.  He is a part of the Presidency of the Seventy!  That makes a total of three of the members of the Presidency of the Seventy have spoken to us.  Also, on Tuesday, I went to the doctor!  About two weeks ago, I got a cold.  But, then I got over it, but the cough I had was still there.  The cough started to go away, but then I ran a few laps during gym time (which I usually don't do; I play four square!)  and my asthma acted up and my cough got worse.  Elder Simmons was sick too.  So, on Tuesday, we went to the doctor!  Then, after, the doctor told us to go to THE OUTSIDE WORLD.  IT WAS SO AWESOME.  Just having a change of scenery made it so amazing!  We got to talk to REAL people (people who don't work at the MTC) and got to see the real world after being stuck in the MTC for seven weeks!  It was wonderful!  I bought some medicine that the doctor prescribed and then we went back to the MTC.  Wednesday (yesterday) was awesome too.  We had TRC and this time we had to teach for fourty minutes straight!  Before it was teaching two different twenty minute lessons.  And Elder Simmons and I taught all in Spanish!  And I understood most of what the volunteer was saying!  It was such a good feeling and a lot of fun too!  And that brings us to today!  Nothing has happened.  P-Days in the MTC are sooooo boring.  And the temple is closed until January 3, so we can't go there...  There's nothing to do...

My pictures were taken with my camera.  I didn't have a chance to look at them, which I should have, because I got them and then just sent them in the envelope.  I am glad you like the CD!  I heard David Archuleta is serving a mission soon!  There are some Elders here talking about it!  Tell me more, if you know about it!  The first time I used my credit card was Tuesday, when I went to the doctor.  Other than that, I haven't spent much money.  They give us six dollars every Wednesday night, and I usually just spend that. I am glad you got a new job, Mom!  Hopefully it is going well. 

Thanks for the gifts and everything too!  Every morning, before I go to class, I open a present and it makes the rest of my day better!  :)

Sophie won Survivor?!  I don't think she deserved that... She seemed like a coat tail rider the whole game... A season with Russell and Brandon would be so good!  I would love to watch that one! 

I don't have much else to say... I hope everyone is doing well and being happy!  What are you doing for Christmas?  I hope it will be fun!  I know mine will be!  My time is just about up, so I gotta go... Merry Christmas!  I love you all!

Love, Elder Hunt

Week #6!

This is Week #6, I believe.  I brought my journal this time, and I won't mess up! Haha.  The ending of last Thursday, I was feeling pretty frustrated.  Elder Simmons and I taught our investigator, Pedro.  We were talking to him about baptism, and he seemed like he was accepting it pretty well.  But, then we shared a scripture with him, and it kind of rubbed him the wrong way, and the lesson just bombed from then on.  I felt really frustrated because I thought I was explaining everything fine, but it all made Pedro even more confused.  And, even though Elder Simmons and I have tried to teach him, he still just doesn't understand.  That all happened Thursday night.  Then Friday morning I was still feeling pretty terrible, but the day went on to be actually really good.  Saturday was the opposite of Friday.  The morning I was feeling really good and then Elder Simmons and I went to teach Pedro during the night.  Pedro was still focused on baptism and why it was necessary for him to be baptized once again (he is Catholic).  The lesson was alright, and we kind of made some gain, but not much.  After that class was over, Hermano Hardy (who really is Pedro) pulled me aside and said that all missionaries are hard on themselves, and he doesn't know why.  He told me that I just need to have faith in Jesus Christ and everything will be a lot better.  And he was 100% right!  I have really tried to do that since then, and it really does work.  I know the Lord blesses his missionaries during their trials because he wants to succeed.  Then, on Sunday, I was called as District Leader!  It was kind of by default, since Elder Simmons, who was 1st DL, can't be it again, and the three other Elders in my district, Elders Call, Harrison and Nealy, were called as the new Zone Leaders the week before.  But, being District Leader is still pretty cool.  That Sunday Devotional, The BYU Men's Choir came and did a musical program and it was AWESOME.  They are the biggest college choir in the world!  Nothing happened on Monday.  On Tuesday, Elder Simmons and I taught Pedro again.  We taught him about Jesus Christ and how he is our Savior and his love for us.  Then, we asked if he had any questions, and he went straight back to baptism!  We just can't seem to get off that subject... For Tuesday Devotional, the General Young Women President, Elaine S. Dalton, came and spoke.  She, and her husband, are such great speakers!  And Tuesday is when I got your package!  Thanks so much!  It's awesome!  I am excited to open each present!  And I promise I only open one a day :)  Yesterday was Wednesday, and I love Wednesdays.  We have service, which I think I told you about already.  Then Gym, which is the BEST.  And we also have TRC!  It's like Home Teaching and it is such a refreshing break from teaching the investigators.  And that brings us to today.  As a district, we went to the temple super early this morning.  And had breakfast in the temple which is SO much better that MTC breakfast!  And that's my week!  How was your week?!

It turns out that I can't call home on Christmas in the MTC :( I guess it's a rule they have because they don't have enough phones for every missionary to call home.  However, when I leave to the airport on January 10 (when I leave the MTC) I am able to call home from there!  I don't know what time it will be then, but hopefully I will be able to call someone.  Elder Nealy's girlfriend and her family send letters to him all the time.  That is one of the big reasons he found the Church.  I have seen Elder Cipriano quite a few times actually.  Mostly at dinner, and in the mailroom.  He is a DL too, so he gets to pick up the mail for his district, like me! :)

Ever since I became set apart as a missionary, I have never been able to sleep in past 6 AM.  It's crazy!  Even without an alarm, I wake up around 6. I do use my alarm though ;)

Well, don't have much time left.  Hope to hear back from you!  Hope you got my package as well!

Love, Elder Hunt

Start of Week #5

I brought my journal this time to help to email, but... I was looking at the wrong days.  I started right, but then ended completely wrong... I got to the end of the week, which was supposed to be yesterday,  but I was looking at last week's Wednesday... :( :( :( And I ony have 3 minutes left, so I have no time to write out a whole email :(

So, I will just cover important stuff.  I saw Elder Guthrie, which was awesome.  I always love seeing a familiar face from my "past life" haha.  In four square, I pretty much got punched in the mouth.  We were playing and I went to hit the ball and so did this Hermana and she hit my mouth and her fingers hit my teeth.  We were both bleeding, not a whole lot, but at least I made a new friend out of it! haha.  Uh... Elder Simmons and I have been teaching Hermilo and Pedro.  We asked them both to be baptized, and they both said, "I want to, but I need my faith to grow more." Or something along those lines.  I have more details in my journal, but I have very few seconds left.

Sorry about the short email, but I will send you a letter about my week!  Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Love, Elder Hunt

Week #5 continued...

Dear Family, December 8, 2011

Sorry again for screwing up the email for this week. I started out right, and my journal closed, and I ended up writing about what happened last week! So, I deleted the whole thing and didn’t get to write much. So, this letter will be my “email” for the week!

December 2- Friday
Like I said, I saw Elder Guthrie! It’s always good seeing a familiar face. I have seen him a few times since then, and it’s always good to see him.

December 3- Saturday
Saturday was boring. It was one of those days that just passed by without anything.

December 4- Sunday
First Fast Sunday! The day went by fairly quickly and I really didn’t feel hungry at all! Fasting feels a whole lot different in the MTC. On Saturday, Elder Simmons, who is District Leader, forgot to assign the lesson for our District meeting for Sunday, and so him and I had to teach. It really ticked me off that he did that, but I just put it behind me, and started to prepare. We taught our lesson and it actually went pretty well! For our devotional, we just watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. It was really good. After the devotional, we watched a movie about Joseph Smith. Watching that movie strengthened my testimony even more so than it already was.

December 5- Monday
I think I told you in my email that I got punched in the mouth. Well, today is that day it happened. I pretty much told you all that happened, so there isn’t much else to say. Elder Simmons and I taught Pedro about baptism again. This was about the third time we taught him about baptism. He said he wants to be baptized, but he wants to know why it’s necessary. That’s what we are teaching him tonight!

December 6- Tuesday
The devotional on Tuesday was by Elder Steven E Snow of the Presidency of the Seventy. He was a superb speaker.

December 7- Wednesday
Wednesdays are Awesome! We have our service assignment “Behind the Scenes” in the cafeteria. It’s pretty awesome. We get to load/unload things in the cafeteria.

And today is Thursday! We haven’t done anything really today. We went to the temple in the morning at 7:00, which was awesome.

Thanks for the package of doughnuts! They are super good! And thanks for the pictures! Speaking of my friends…none of them write me, except Zack. You should post on my Facebook and tell everyone to write me!

I chose pictures to print off today and they should be ready by Monday, so I will send them then.

Gordon told me he was going to propose when I saw him before Thanksgiving, so I’m glad to hear he is engaged now! I haven’t seen him since then though. When is he getting married? Does Tom still work at the MTC? I haven’t seen him and I always forget to ask Gordon when I see him (which hasn’t been for a while).

Thanks for the BYU update! Do you know who they will play in the Bowl Game? Also, could you update me on BYU basketball too! :-) I know that it is harder to update, but I would very much appreciate it. :-) Also, how are the NBA negotiations?

Also, ask Grandpa when & where he served his mission. My Branch President might have served with him.

Anyways, I don’t have much else to say. Hope everyone is doing excellent! I love learning Spanish. Most of my teachers went to Cali, and they are pretty fluent and I can’t wait to speak like they do!

Love, Elder Hunt

ES EL COMEINZO DE SEMANA NUMERO CINCO. ME GUSTA ESPANOL Y MIS CLASES. YO NO PUEDO ESPERANZA A ESTOY EN EL CAMPO. YOU SE QUE LA OBRA DE LOS MISIONEROS ES BIEN. EL SENOR PUEDE BENDICER NUESTRAS FAMILIAS MEDIANTE LAS OBRA DE LOS MISIONEROS. ¿PUEDEN ENTENDER MY ESPANOL? ¡ADIOS!

I think this is the beginning of Week #4

Beginning of Week #4!  Thanksgiving was last week, and Elder Russell M. Nelson and his wife came to speak to us.  We had TWO Apostoles in one week! How AWESOME is that?!  We also built injury kits to send to Sudan which was awesome too.  Then we watched 17 Miracles and it is SUCH A GOOD MOVIE. I got the package!  Thanks so much!  All the Elders in my district were super jealous.

I need to start bringing my journal to email time so I can actually remember what I did!  The days all mesh together and so it is difficult to remember what I did and when. 

We got a new "investigator".  His name is Pedro.  The teacher who is playing Pedro is Hermano Hardy.  He lives in Saratoga Springs!  But, he lives in the big development, so he isn't in our stake.  :(

My district is so awesome.  Elder Harrison (going to Sacramento, Cali) has got to be one of the most funny people I have ever met in my life.  He always has such a good outlook on life on everything.  Elder Nealy (Carlsbad) is super awesome.  He is a convert of about a year and two months.  He is from Oklahoma and his family has basically disowned him for joining the Church.  He has such a strong testimony and I am super excited he is coming to Carlsbad.  Elder Call (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) is awesome too.  He studied a whole bunch of Spanish before coming and he knows a lot.  He doesn't know a lot of vocab though.  If he and I could combine our language knowledge into one, we could probably be out in the field right now!  Elder Simmons (Carlsbad), my companion, is awesome.  He is a funny guy and always knows how to make someone laugh.  I don't really know the Hermanas in my district as well, but I know they are all AWESOME.  There are two Hermanas going to Nashville, Tennesse (where Elder Dalton is!), one going to Carlsbad and another going to Sacramento. 

We did TRC (Teaching Resource Center, I think) yesterday and last Wednesday.  It's a lot like Home Teaching.  Doing TRC is a GREAT refresher from having to do Progressing Investigators. 

My Spanish is coming along fairly well.  I am SO glad I took a few years during school.  Those few years really helped me lay a strong foundation. 

I see Gordon a lot more often now (I know where he teaches!).  But, no matter how many times I see him, it is always good to see a familiar face.  I have seen a few friends from high school here too, but they are all going English speaking :(  Elder Guthrie should have come yesterday, but I haven't found him yet. Hopefully I will soon! 

I can't think of anything else to write, and I have about ten seconds left.  If I do remember, I will write you a letter! :) 

Love, Elder Hunt

P.S.  Thanks for the BYU scores :)  It's really difficult to know what is going on in the outside world in the MTC haha

Week #whatever week this is

Yesterday marked my first week in the MTC!  It's only been a week, but it feels like a month.  The time in the MTC feels so distorted.  If I hadn't been writing in my journal, I would have forgotten what day it is by now! 

Once last Sunday was over, the days have just flown by.  Like Grandpa said, the days are long, but the weeks are short. 

Elder Simmons and I have been teaching an "investigator", Ramiro, and it's gotten a whole lot easier.  Our first lesson was absolutely horrible (we forgot to commit him to anything!).  Our lessons after that have been 1000 times better.  Just yesterday we had a lesson about eternal families.  At the end of the lesson, we asked if he would follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized.  He told us he had already been baptized (he is Catholic).  Elder Simmons and I had gone over this in the lesson before, but I guess he didn't understand what we had meant then.  So, I tried explaining it to him, and I used words that I didn't even know I knew!  I could feel the Spirit coming into the room, and I could explain some things that I could not do the day before.  It was an awesome feeling.  We then asked him if he would read El Libro De Mormon and he said he would, so that's good!  We don't teach him again until sometime next week, so it will be a while before we can find out what he did.  

Our District is bonding pretty well.  We had one Elder that had to leave on Tuesday because of some personal problems, so now we only have cinco Elders in our District.  It was really sad when he had to leave, but he promised all of us going to Carlsbad (four of us, including me) that he would see us in the mission field as soon as he could get out there. 

My Spanish is coming along pretty well!  It has really helped that I took a few years in school to give me a basic understanding.  I only wish that I had studied Gospel principles in Spanish before coming, because then I would be a lot farther along in class.  We have LOTS of class time haha.

Well, my time almost up!  I hope to see more letters within the next week ;)

Love, Elder Hunt

P.S. Mom, thanks so much for packing my SD cards; I don't know what I would do without you :) <3

First week in the MTC!

Yesterday marked my first week in the MTC!  It's only been a week, but it feels like a month.  The time in the MTC feels so distorted.  If I hadn't been writing in my journal, I would have forgotten what day it is by now! 

Once last Sunday was over, the days have just flown by.  Like Grandpa said, the days are long, but the weeks are short. 

Elder Simmons and I have been teaching an "investigator", Ramiro, and it's gotten a whole lot easier.  Our first lesson was absolutely horrible (we forgot to commit him to anything!).  Our lessons after that have been 1000 times better.  Just yesterday we had a lesson about eternal families.  At the end of the lesson, we asked if he would follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized.  He told us he had already been baptized (he is Catholic).  Elder Simmons and I had gone over this in the lesson before, but I guess he didn't understand what we had meant then.  So, I tried explaining it to him, and I used words that I didn't even know I knew!  I could feel the Spirit coming into the room, and I could explain some things that I could not do the day before.  It was an awesome feeling.  We then asked him if he would read El Libro De Mormon and he said he would, so that's good!  We don't teach him again until sometime next week, so it will be a while before we can find out what he did.  

Our District is bonding pretty well.  We had one Elder that had to leave on Tuesday because of some personal problems, so now we only have cinco Elders in our District.  It was really sad when he had to leave, but he promised all of us going to Carlsbad (four of us, including me) that he would see us in the mission field as soon as he could get out there. 

My Spanish is coming along pretty well!  It has really helped that I took a few years in school to give me a basic understanding.  I only wish that I had studied Gospel principles in Spanish before coming, because then I would be a lot farther along in class.  We have LOTS of class time haha.

Well, my time almost up!  I hope to see more letters within the next week ;)

Love, Elder Hunt

P.S. Mom, thanks so much for packing my SD cards; I don't know what I would do without you :) <3

First Email!

Today is sort of like a half P-Day, so I get the chance to do email now.  It feels so weird to be on a computer!  I haven't used any sort of technology for the past 4 days (which really feels like weeks).  They say here in the MTC that the first three days feel like eight weeks and the last eight weeks feel like three days.  So far, it's been true haha. 

My companion's name is Elder Simmons.  He is from North Carolina.  He's a pretty awesome person, and we get along pretty well.  There are ten people in our district: seis Elders y cuatro Hermanas.  They are all pretty cool people and I am glad to have them in my District.  The first two days I was here, the teacher spoke nothing but Spanish.  I understood some of it, but it got pretty frustrating to understand him.  And yesterday, we had to teach an "investigator" and that was extremely difficult! All in Spanish too!  I knew some Spanish before coming into the MTC, but none of it was Gospel related at all.  I wish I would have studied that before coming in here. 

We had our first gym time yesterday and it was AWESOME.  After just learning and speaking after the first few days, gym time was a HUGE relief.  I played basketball with a few other Elders in my zone.  I am not that good, but it was a lot of fun just to do something different.  I also know why some people gain a lot of weight here in the MTC.  The food is delicious (most of the time). 

I really like it here at the MTC.  The Spirit is really strong and the MTC is just a wonderful place.  The people are super nice.  I am having a hard time calling people Elder (last name here) though.  I found someone from school here and I always want to call him by his first name when I see him!  It takes some getting used to.  Also, being called Elder Hunt is very strange... It makes me feel so... Old!  I have talked to a lot of people here, and the past few days I have said "Elder Hunt", "Saratoga Springs, Utah" and "Carlsbad California" more times than I have ever said in my life! (Because everyone is always asking me my name, where and from and where I am going, in case you didn't get that. 

That's all I have to say for now. My P-Day will be on Thursdays from now on, so look for my emails then. :)

Love, Elder Hunt

This is not goodbye, it's see you soon

Today was the day I went to the MTC to begin my 2 year mission to California

Last night my friends came over to say goodbye- Brittney, Adam and Brock

The day started out with a haircut from Mom. My hair wasn't really long to begin with so it didn't take long. We finished packing & loaded up the car. Grandpa & Grandma Davis met us at IHOP in Orem for brunch. IHOP gives a free meal to missionaries on Wednesday before entering the MTC. After eating we still had about one hour before going to the MTC so we went to the Provo Temple and took some family pictures. 

Curbside at the MTC are about 25 parking stations. You follow the missionary guides until you get to the number assigned to you. Ours was #23

As we pulled up to the curb a young missionary met us there, he greeted us and then helped me get my bags out of the car.