El Elder Hansen se va :(

So, sad day :( Elder Hansen is leaving.  He received a call from President to train, so he is going white washing!  There are 4 new Spanish missionaries coming in.  Kind of.  3 of them are waiting for Visas to go to Argentina.  So, Elder Hansen might train a visa waiter.  Or maybe he will get the real one!  As to who is going to be my next companion, I have no idea... But, I am excited!  There are 35 new missionaries coming in this transfer!  But, 7 of them are waiting for Visas.  There are a few in the English work that are going to Brazil, and the 4 in Spanish.  That's still a lot of missionaries!  And only four are going home, so our numbers are going to be up close to 200 now.

So, with the new mission in Irvine.  These are just rumors for right now, nothing is concrete, but the Irvine mission would take the Rancho, Mission Viejo, Laguna and San Clemente stakes from the Carlsbad mission and a few other stakes from the Anaheim mission right above us. We don't know for sure, but that might mean that we could switch missions!  Because they will need some missionaries in the Irvine mission to get it up and running.  That would be so awesome to switch to the Irvine mission!  It won't happen until July, so there is still a little time to wait, but that would be awesome!  Elder Farnsworth and I are pretty excited to change missions (if that happens).  It would be so cool to serve my last 6 months in another mission!  Also, the named all the new mission presidents!  Our new mission president is Hal C. Kendrick.  Unless I go to Irvine, then it will be Von Orgill :) jaja. Also, I think Brother Toone got called to be a mission presidente!  I don't remember his first name, but if it is him, he is going to Arizona Tempe mission.  Look it up for me, please! :)

This week has been pretty sweet.  Remember Daniel?  The guy that we translated the movie for.  He finally returned from Mexico!  We taught him again on Wednesday and again on Friday.  On Wednesday we did a review of all the lessons to see what he had remembered.  He actually remembered quite a bit!  He was finishing our sentences and he really understands the doctrine pretty well.  We tried to set a baptismal date with him, but he said he wanted to talk to his wife about it first.  He said he wants her to start taking the lessons too, so we will see where that goes!  

We also had a SWEET lesson with Arturo.  We taught him on Friday, inside his house!  His wife went to go somewhere else, so we had a lesson.  We taught him about the Restoration of the church and how we have the knowledge that families can be together and the power through which we can achieve these things.  He loved the lesson and it was super powerful.  When we shared the First Vision with him, the Spirit was so strong and he was like, "I know this is all true." But, he also said there was something that was holding him back, like stopping him... So, we will have to get over that.  We invited him to be baptized, but he said he didn't want to leave his 40 years of being a Catholic just to change right now... So, we will have to work on that too.  We have a date set for the 30 of marzo, and he is for sure going to be baptized!  It's going to be sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeet.  Arturo is awesome.

That's really all the big major lessons that we have had this week.  The work is going good.  People are slowly progressing.  Bad news though :( :( :( Pablo droppped us...  We went to his house a few days ago to try to set up a time when we could return, and he basically said, "I already told you I am sticking with the Catholic church.  I will call you when I want to learn again."  It was really sad :(  He was so ready for baptism and was willing to listen to us to help his wife soften her heart, but I guess in the end, he just didn't want it enough... He knows it is all true and wants to be baptized, but just won't do the things necessary to help his wife...  Maybe later :(

I am glad you finally received the package!  It took me a while, but I finally got it shipped off.  Hopefully you enjoyed everything!  Those Takis are soooooooooooo good.  We have to shop at Ralphs here and it is horrible :(  They don't have the Lifesaver mints nor do they have Takis...  There isn't a Wal-Mart or Target or anything like that in San Juan Capistano o Dana Point... I'm sad :( I have taken a lot of sweet pictures in Dana Point so far, so be ready to receive the card when the time comes :)

I bought Jaxon's tie from the best place on Earth!  Tie Lady!  I knew he would love it, so I had to get it for him.  I tried looking for ties for Dad too and other people, but I couldn't find any...  Out of the ties that I have, what one do you think Dad would like?

In all my time as a mission, I have only given like, 2 lessons and one talk.  It's kind of surprising, but the Spanish wards are usually really prepared with stuff like that.

The quotes you send me are all awesome!  I love reading them.  

I will be on the lookout for a plate.  I don't know where I would find one though...  I haven't received Grandma's letter yet, but probably today at transfer meeting.  I hope she is doing better!

More pictures next week because we have to go because Elder Hansen still has to pack more.

But, I love you!

Have a wonderful week!

Love, Elder Hunt

Buenos dias/tardes mi familia

Hola! 

So, this week has been so-so.  We haven't had many lessons with anyone and it has been very difficult to find our investigatores in house.  We have had to drop a few people because they are so impossible to find and haven't shown any desires to contact us in any way :(  But!  Todo esta bien!  I love the ocean :)

We had a lesson with Pablo last Friday, which was a sweet lesson.  We talked to him a lot about how he needs to be baptized because he knows everything is true.  He understands the need to be baptized and he wants to do it, but his wife is so unsupportive of him that he is afraid that his joining the church would ruin his family.  He has a little boy, 7, Richard, that he (pablo) doesn't want Richard to grow up with two different parents in two different chuches.  So, we are going to continue passing by like once a week to teach him, and hope and pray that his wife softens her heart.  He really wants to be baptized, but he has a fear that his wife will never support him and it will tear his family apart. So...  Yeah.  Pablo is cool though.  :)

We had a lesson with la familia Berdeja, but they are still super floja.  Oswald, the dad, actually came to church on Sunday, which was sweet.  They have a little 2 year old kid, who is super travieso, and so Maria and Oswald take turns watching him every other week while the other goes to church.  The mom works all the time, so she can't do it.  But, everything is well with them.

We were so close to having a lesson with Arturo on Friday too!  We were going to go to a member's house to teach him, and we were going to meet up somewhere so he could follow us to the house.  I don't think he heard us well enough over the phone, because he arrived there without a car and just hopped in ours... And we have a rule that we can't do that, so we didn't teach him :( :( :( he is super cool though and wants to know more about where his son went after death.  He will definitely be baptized next transfer, if we are able to meet with him.

We dropped Alejandro because we could never find him and he hasn't shown any effort to contact us :(

We were going to have dinner with China and Elenor (the crazy people) on Thursday, but she had a doctor appointment that she had forgotten about, so we rescheduled for Monday (yesterday).  Elenor made some SUPER good spaghetti.  But, China is insane.  She's like a funny insane though.  Last night, her dad told a joke and she went off like, "Dad, I would TOTALLY come and see your improve show, if you had one.  I would even throw tomatoes at you!  I would pay so much money to see you do improve Dad!  You are so funny!"

She's crazy.

So, I don't think the library was closed on Friday, but school was definitely out...  They had a four day weekend!  Crazy! Friday was a super nice day. Like, 80.  The ocean was pretty.  I took a picture.

Sounds like you had a SWEET weekend in Vegas!  I wish I could have been there!  Maybe the next one :)

So, Elder Hansen had to go to the doctor today.  In Lake Forest!  My greenie area!  Man, it was so weird going back.  I missed it though.  It was cool to go back. :)  

Tell Shanny and the cousins thanks for the package!  I just received it yesterday and it was sweet.  I will be sending my package out to you today, so expect it in a few days :)  There is some cool stuff!

Well, I believe that it is it for this week.  I hope everything goes well this week and I can't wait to write again next week!  This is the last week of the transfer, and the last weeks always have SWEET miracles.  So, be prepared to see some miracles next week!

Love, Elder Hunt

Estoy vivo pues

Don't worry, I'm not dead!  Yesterday all the libraries were closed because of Lincoln's Birthday.  So, today we can email!  Hooray!  Yesterday didn't feel 100% like P-Day and today doesn't feel 100% like a regular day...  

Anyways!  How are you?  I am doing wonderful out here with the ocean!  I love the ocean.  It's so pretty.  But, I still don't have my camera, so no pictures.  I am going to end up leaving before I even get my camera, so then you will never see the ocean... How sad would that be?! :(  But, I think I am staying.  I hope.  I would miss the ocean.

So, investigators.  We haven't seen Alejandro since last Sunday... So, he will most likely not be baptized the 23rd... He seems really cool and he wants the Gospel, but he works so dang much...  He has a super funny daughter.  She is 3 years old and super fat, but she's so funny!

George is doing good.  We haven't been able to teach him since the last time we went over.  He was busy all week last week with soccer and with school and will be busy all this week because of Valentine's Day junk :(  but we have an appointment with him on Saturday or Sunday, so all is well :)

La familia Berdeja es FLOJA.  They just don't want to do anything... Maria and her 9 year old sister came to church though, which is sweet.  Maria is really the only one that is progressing ish.  We were going to have a cita with her yesterday, but they had to leave... So, hopefully today!

We had a SUAVE lesson with Arturo last week too.  It was sooo awesome.  We went to his house to try and find him, and he was home! (he usually isn't) He wanted to have a lesson right then, so we called a member to ask if we could come over and we went!  The lesson was about the 2nd half of the Plan of Salvtion.  He has a son in jail, one son died and a little 10 year old nina.  He really wants to change the way of his life to set a better example for his nina.  He is so cool.  The lesson we had was sweet too.  We haven't invited him to be baptized yet, but next lesson for sure!  He is awesome.

Had exchanges with Elder Farnsworth on Wednesday and Thursday last week.  It was sweet.  Elder Farnsworth and I were down in Esco together, but in different districts, so we never went on exchanges... But, we finally did and it was awesome!  Exchanges are a lot of fun because you can see how other missionaries work and other things you can do to be better.

I don't think I have ever told you about Javier Moreno... he is a recent convert that Elder Chavez and Elder Hansen baptized.  He is super cool and wants to go on a mission (he's 22).  He hasn't come to church since the new year, but he finally came on Sunday!  YAY!!!!!!!!!  Javier is sweet!  He always gives us milk and bananas :)

Monday we had conferencia de zona!  YAY!  It was excellent!  We learned a lot about how to make better invitaciones and how to make better questions to make people think.  it was a sweet conference.  Elder Acaro was there too! 

Yesterday was crazy.

We went to the temple! YAY!

We went to Killer Dana, a sweet surf shop.

We had a lesson with a crazy lady. 

We knocked into this one lady a few weeks ago and apparently she has been feeding the Spanish missionaries for years and years, but neither Elder Hansen nor I knew about her, but she knew a lot of other missionaries over the years. Her name is Elenor. We went over to visit her last night to see when we could come over and so we went inside and started talking to her and he family.  Her daughter, China, just got out of rehab. She's crazy.  Anyways, while we were having a "Bible study", a fight broke out in the alley behind their house; it was just a few girls fighting over drugs or something.  But then, all of a sudden, China ran out the door to try and stop them.  At the same time, some two random Mexican guys (I think they were Elenor's sons) bust out from the back rooms and try and stop China from going anywhere.  There was lots of yelling and screaming and Elder Hansen and I just chilled on the couch reading from the Bible.  It was sweet.  

I received the package and it is SWEET!  Thanks so much for all the pens!  All the Elders here are jealous and want to know from where you bought it.  It is so sweet.

Elder Jensen actually sent the package back to me through the mission mail system, so it hasn't gone out yet... Sorry.  But, I should receive it this weekend and it will go out next Tuesday.  You could possibly be receiving dos :)

Camera still in Vista, I think :( but, temple pictures from Elder Hansen! And the ocean!

We actually have a little part of Laguna Niguel in our area.  We don't go up there often (only dinner with a few members), but it is a nice place!

I think that's all for this week.  I hope that everything is good!  Did you understand my Spanish from last week? I love Spanish :)

Have a suave week!

Love, Elder Hunt

P.S. I love the ocean :)

P.P.S. Cool thing Elder Hansen and I did.  Our area is so close to the ocean, on my GPS there is an elevation feature.  We NEVER go above 300 feet.  We went as close to the ocean as we could and we got like, 9 feet elevation.  IT WAS SWEET!  I LOVE DANA

Week #2 in Heaven (a.k.a. Dana Point)

So, to answer your question, yes, Dana Point is heavenly!  It's so awesome here.  This is probably my favorite area to live in so far.  

First off, bad news :( Pablo didn't get baptized...  I think I told you this last week, but he wanted to talk to his wife first before being baptized.  We went over the next day after his interview (Tuesday) and sat down and talked to him and his wife.  We thought everything was all good.  She is Catholic, and told us she probably wouldn't have time to go to Pablo's baptism, if he got baptized.  So, that was a bummer, but he said he would still do it.  Then, on Thursday, Elder Farnsworth and Elder Hansen went on exchanges and taught him.  They said that he had completely changed and didn't want to be baptized anymore :( :( :( He didn't come to church on Sunday either, and things are not looking good for Pablo :( But! We haven't given up yet!  He has had his interview and is sooooo ready.  We don't know what to do yet, but we will find a way to baptize him this transfer!

So, Wednesday, I had exchanges with Elder Nelson.  It was SWEET!  They have this area in their area called La Zanja.  It is 99.9999999% Spanish.  It's like, 14 o 15 streets FILLED with Spanish people.  It's awesome!  Elder Nealy started his mission in that area and had told me a lot of stories about it and it was pretty sweet to finally see it in person.  There's always so many people just outside walking!  And they are all Spanish!  It's so cool.  Anyways, we had a sweet exchange.  We found a new investigador and set a baptism date!  It was a sweet exchange.  I have exchanges with Elder Farnsworth this Wednesday, in my area, so that will be sweet. Elder Farnsworth and I served in Esco together, but never could go on exchanges... But, now we finally can and it will be awesome!

Not much is going on with our investigadores... Elder Chavez and Elder Hansen set a baptism date with a guy named Alejandro the day before I arrived here, but we could never find him... But, we finally found him on Sunday and he is doing super good.  HE works two jobs, which is why we could never find him, but we are going over on Thursday, his day of rest, to teach him.  His date is for the 23rd, so we are going to have a baptism that day!!!

We found (kinda) a new investigador on Saturday.  He was an antiguo. his name is George.  He is 15 o 16.  He is super cool.  We taught him about the BOM and how he can find his own answers.  He is a cool kid.

La familia Berdeja is being super lazy... They didn't come to church on Sunday :( but, we have decided that we are just going to teach the daughter, Maria.  She's 16 and awesome.  We have an appointment with her tonight, and hopefully her learning will spark a flame in her dad and he will stop being lazy.  

Also, Arturo.  He works A TON, but we finally saw him last night and he is soooo prepared!  He has two sons.  One died and the other is in jail right now.  He really wants to turn his life around to try to make things good with his son and stuff.  The Plan of Salvation is perfect for him!  the only problem is that his wife is Catholic and she doesn't want him to learn, so he is going to learn in secret :)

So, the area is sweet.  It is super rich and the houses are super nice, but there are also lots of apartments with LOTS of Spanish people :)  We also have some parts in San Juan Capistrano (where we live) that are pretty Spanish.  And since we live with other Spanish missionaries, we actually live out of our area.  It's so much fun living with other missionaries.  Definitely takes a lot more discipline though jaja

I still have my bike!  And I still haven't rode it! :(  We are in a full time car, so no bike :(  Elder Chavez wrecked the car like 2 months ago and so Elder Chavez and Elder Hansen had to ride bikes for 2 weeks!  Dana Point is extremely HILLY and so I am glad that we don't have to ride bikes here.

Spanish is going good.  I am trying to work on learning vocab.  The problem with that is that I don't know what words are important!  And plus, there are so many different words for the same thing... And Mexicans have their own words and Cubans have their own words and so on...  Every culture have different words for the same thing and so it's frustrating sometimes to find the right word! But, I love Spanish.  I am mind blown about how much I have learned in the past year.  I could go live in Mexico and have no problem!  It's so cool the help we receive from God in order to preach his word to his children.  English classes are in the process :)

The BYU shirt was SWEET.  In fact, today is district activity and I think I will wear it!

I sent an email to Elder Jensen today, so hopefully my package should be out soon

Thank goodness Grandpa is okay!  I have been praying for him, so that's good to know he is okay.  I hope Grandma is okay too!  That's scary

I had no idea the Superbowl was yesterday until last week.  As a missionary, some things you just don't think about!  Elder Hansen and I really wanted to know the score so we would peek through some people's windows while walking to and from our appointments :) jaja it was funny

Pues, creo que es todo.  Espero que tengais una buena semana!  Ojala que todo os vaya bien!  (me gusta usar la forma de vosotros. casi nadie lo usa.  solo en espana. un dia me ire a espana. :) )

Os quiero, Elder Hunt

P.S.  Mi camera todavia esta en San Marcos... O esta en el correo en la oficina de la mision en Vista... Lo siento :( creo que la recibire este domingo!  Espero que si!