Transfer of bashers

So, I don't know if I have told you about Manuel before... He is about 50s.  His wife is a member, less active, and has a tumor in her brain that is impossible to remove.  The doctors told her she has >6 months to live :(  so, sometime before I arrived here, she referred the missionaries to her husband because she wanted her husband to be baptized before she died.  We have been teaching him a lot recently, and he has a baptism date for the 21 of July!  YAY!  He is really old, and kind of forgets stuff easily, but he really has a desire to be baptized.  Also, he really likes baptisms for the dead, and he wants his grandparents, children, other family members that have passed on to be baptized too.  So, baptism the 21 of July!  YAY!

This transfer with Elder Owens has been like the transfer of bashers.  I don't know why we have run into so many bashers, but it's awesome.  We were talking to a guy on Friday, and he was probably the best basher I have run into yet.  But, he was still wrong.  He was saying that we, as Mormons, worship a different Jesus Christ than he does.  We asked him all these questions about what his beliefs were, and just about everything he said contradicted itself at one time or another.  He would never answer our questions full on, and would just talk and talk and talk talk and talk and talk talk and talk and talk talk and talk and talk talk and talk and talk talk and talk and talk talk and talk and talk talk and talk and talk talk and talk and talk talk and talk and talk talk and talk and talk talk and talk and talk talk and talk and talk talk and talk and talk talk and talk and talk talk and talk and talk talk and talk and talk talk and talk and talk talk and talk and talk talk and talk and talk talk and talk and talk talk and talk and talk talk and talk and talk and wouldn't even allow us to say anything!  But, I love talking to bashers because all they are is just a strengthing of the testimony.  Any time I ever talk to a basher, I just cannot help but think, "Wow.  He is so misguided.  He calls himself a Christian, but is bashing against Christ.  I am so glad to have the TRUTH!"  it's so cool.

Then, on Saturday, we ran into another basher!  Or so we thought... We were walking by a Frazee Paint store, and then, all of a sudden, this guy walks out and starts calling us sinners and asking where our horns were!  But, turns out it was just a member, playing a joke.  It was actually pretty funny. 

We had a SUPER good lesson yesterday.  About a week ago, Elder Owens and I contacted into a guy named Jesus.  He has had a very troubled life  including prison, drugs, abandonment, you name it.  He told us he is addicted to heroine right now and really wants to change his life around.  While on exchanges with Elder Nelson yesterday, we taught him and it was SO COOL.  He is so prepared for the Gospel right now!  We have an appointment with him tonight!  He is going to be baptized!  He definitely needs the Gospel and said he has been praying for a way to get out of the path he is on right now. 

So, Elder Ochoa's greenie is Elder Nelson.  He is from Brigham City, Utah.  He is really cool and we just got finished with exchanges today.  He is a really good missionary, and he has a good trainer, so he will be even better.

Elder Owens is cool.  We don't really have any of the same interests though...  But, we get along.  He comes from a family of 10 kids, and he is the youngest.  He is from South Jordan, like a hour away from where we live! (in Utah)

The apartment here definitely isn't as nice.  I was really spoiled up in Rancho.  I have to use the laundromat in our apartment complex.  I will take some pictures and send them to you! (or try jajaja)

Recently, the weather has been really cold and cloudy.  Just like, 2 days ago it started to heat up and now it is super hot.  Like 90!  Good thing we have a car!

4th of July was good!  Holidays don't mean anything for missionaries though.  It's the same thing every day.  Thanks for the package!  I loved it!  I have the little ornament thingy sitting on the counter and it is going to stay there forever!  And thank you for the Spanish book!  I got it last week too, and it has been awesome so far!

I sent a letter to Elder Hunt #2 last week, so hopefully he has received it by now!

I am glad to hear you are all doing good!  I miss you all!  I love you!

Sorry I can't answer all the questions! I don't have much time left :( but, ask me them next week and I will answer them for sure!

Love, Elder Hunt

P.S. Jaxon's glasses look like old lady glasses

Elder Owens!

My new companion is Elder Nicholas Owens from South Jordan, Utah! (all my companions have been from Utah)  All my previous companions are now all home :(  It was really sad at transfer meeting seeing them all stand up when President Cook called their name, going home.  But, they were all really good companions and served great missions.  Elder Owens actually has the same amount of time as I do, so my prediction of receiving a companion with lesser time was wrong.  And, he is also senior companion, so we are in a co-senior  companionship.  But, since I know the area better because I have been here longer, I start the lessons and stuff.  At first, it was pretty scary because I have never done it before, but it has definitely been a good learning experience. 

Ever since Elder Anderson left, I have been feeling a lot more confident in being a missionary.  Maybe it was because I have always had a companion a lot older than I am and now with Elder Owens, we both have the same time out, and so sometimes wwe have no idea what to do!  So, that's a good thing I am learning too.  Really just how to do missionary work.  What's effective and what isn't and so forth. 

This past week has been exciting!  On Thursday, we didn't have the car, nor did we have appointments...  President Cook told me to help Elder Owens to get to know the area really quickly, so we spent all day walking around, talking to people.  I have never walked so much in my life!  But, it was a lot of fun!  Nothing super exciting happened on Thursday nor Friday, but on Saturday, we ran into these 3 Hispanics who were resting and have some drinks.  We started talking to them and then one guy started asking us where we received our authority to preach.  He was drunk.  He went inside his house, picked up his Bible and came back outside to talk to us and said, "Tell me what your message is today, and I will look inside my Bible and see if it is true."  He was drunk.  So, we just left because the conversation wasn't going anywhere.  And yesterday was like Basher Day or something.  We were out looking for antiguos and there were these guys from a Christian church called Victory Outreach or something.  They started talking to us and wanted to know the difference between our church and any other church.  So, we told them our church was restored through Joseph Smith and that it is the one and only true church upon the face of the Earth.  Then he came up with this weird analogy that if you have this old 57 Chevy, you can't replace the old engine with a brand new one from a brand new Charger... (if that doesn't make any sense to you, it's okay, because it didn't make any sense to us either).  He was tripping all over his words too.  We would give him a piece of TRUE doctrine and he would agree with it, and then like, 5 minutes later, contradict himself in what he believed.  Bashers are funny.  They think that they are doing harm to missionaries, bashing on one's beliefs, when in realidad, they are actually helping to build our testimonies.  Yesterday, we also ran into another guy that basically called us devil worshippers.  He said that not everyone is a child of God and that we had to do certain things in order to become children of God...  That we are made out of clay and by living the Gospel, we can then become children of God...  Kinda weird.  I am glad we have the truth!

Another thing that I have realized since Elder Anderson left is that my Spanish has gotten a whole lot better.  There are a few certain times in my mission that I have realized my Spanish knowledge has basically skyrocketed.  When Elder Price left, when I came to Vista (that was probably the biggest change), when I started reading el Libro de Mormon and when Elder Anderson left.  It's really cool to see how much I have grown since the MTC; missionary wise, Spanish wise, pretty much everything.  Missions really are life changers and I am so glad to be on one!

So, with English classes, we are still trying super hard to get them started!  We started a list of people that want them, and we already have like, 8 or 9!  WOO!  English classes, here we come!

Sounds like those fires are scary!  While we were walking home from dinner yesterday (it was close by our house, so we decided to walk) we ran into a bishop of one of the English wards.  He asked where we were from and I told him Saratoga Springs and he was like, "Wow, I have heard there are a lot of fires over there right now!  Is your family okay?"  So, I hope that everything is okay over there!  I haven't heard of any fires or anything here in Cali...  The weather is really nice.  It's warm, and most of the time is 75-80.  I love it.  Elder Owens was serving in Oceanside before, which is also part time car, so he has a bike.  We will probably start riding sometime soon. 

As for pictures... I don't have a thing to connect to the computer to put pictures on!  Maybe that's something you can send me :) The only time I could send pictures was with Elder Price because he had a connecter thing... And the library doesn't have anything like that, so that's no help :(  maybe you can find something that will connect my camera or SD card to the computer to send pictures!  Then I can send pictures all the time (when I take them)  ;)

So, that's all from me this week!  I LOVE YOU ALL.

Love, Elder Hunt

Transfers!

So, tonight, I will be getting a new companion! I am staying in Vista! The Assistants called on Saturday and asked if I would be Senior Companion...  Scary!  I don't want that!  I will most likely be receiving a companion that doesn't speak as much Spanish as I do, someone with less time than me, so I am going to have to take charge...  All my companions before have been Senior and have always been the ones in charge, but now it's my turn!  It's scary.

So, English classes... Failed again :(  And they probably won't be started back up...  We told the Ward Mission Leader and Bishop that we were going to do English classes to try to round up some more investigators, but they pretty much shut it down...  They said they don't want to start them up until we have five sure people that will go.  The only problem is, we hand out flyers all the time, and we don't know how many people will show up... They are looking at English classes as just teaching English, while the missionaries are looking at it as a way to try to get more investigators, and help others learn English as a side effect.  It's kind of frustrating, but that's what happened.  We are still going to try, but they probably won't be starting any time soon...

We had a cool experience on Thursday!  It was like, 8:30 P.M.  and Elder Anderson and I had to use the bathroom really bad.  I also had a really bad headache.  We were super close to our house and we going to go home and use the bathroom and then stay in and plan.  We were really close to finishing our contact goal of 25 people; 4 contacts away.  We were walking on our way to our house (we didn't have the car).  We then decided that before going home, we were going to finish our goal, no matter what. So, we took the long way around. We found four different people to talk to, they all rejected us, but we felt fulfilled because we had finished our goal.  Then on our way home, we ran into this family that was on their way home from the park.  We talked to the dad before they got into their car and left and it turned out that he had talked to missionaries before!  He used to live in Oceanside (the next city over) and then moved to Vista and lost contact with the missionaries.  He is a really big family man, and so we shared the Plan of Salvation with him.  He seemed super excited, and said he would love to learn more!  So, we got his info and then he left.  Sadly, he isn't in our area :( so, we don't know what will happen!  But, it was still pretty cool.  It goes to show that the Lord will bless you when you make the effort to finish your goals!

Elder Ochoa is training this transfer, so there will be another greenie!  I don't know if I told you this, but there is a HUGE gap in between my group and the one ahead of me (of Spanish missionaries).  Elder Anderson, Josse and Price are in the group that are leaving today.  Then there are like, 2 or 3 missionaries leaving next transfer (in 6 weeks).  Then after that is Elder Ochoa and his group, which is like, 2 or 3 missionaries too and they leave in November.  Then there's the group I came out with.  There's almost an entire year gap!  My group of missionaries are going to be the oldest Spanish very quickly. 

It has been really hot the past few days here too!  Saturday is when it started.  The days before that were really cool, not too hot, not too cold, but then Saturday hit and BAM!  Burning hot!  It's no fun trying to work in super hot weather :(

My fire danger sign failed!!! :'( :'( :'(  That fire sounds really scary.  I hope everything turns out okay!  Poor fishies :(

I cannot believe Zack is going to the MTC TOMORROW!  OMJ!!!!!!!!!!!  Elder Hunt #2!  That's so crazy! 

Devon hasn't left yet; he leaves the middle of July.  Where did Josh Yates go on his mission?!

I think that's all for this week!  I hope you have a wonderful week!

Love, Elder Hunt

Week 6 in Vista!

Wow, time sure has flown by!  I have already been in Vista for SIX weeks!

So, the bad news...  English classes last week were a failure :( nobody showed up :( but, tonight, we are going to try again!  We had a few people call this yesterday and a few more members have showed some interest too.  Fingers crossed!

So, this week, we had a really good lesson with Antonio.  He prayed for the first time!  It was so cool.  He seemed like he was really talking TO God, not at God.  Sometimes, I feel like there are a lot of times when we pray, that we just talk AT God.  I read somewhere that one of the prophets said that we treat prayer sometimes like a fast food order.  We just ask for the things we want and then it's done.  But, what we really need to do is talk TO God.  I have found a bunch of cool talks from Apostles about prayer and it has really opened my eyes about how sacred and special prayer is.  God has given us prayer so that we can ask for help to not only address our needs, but the needs of others as well.  I will have to send you some of the talks I found.  They are super good.

We also had a really good lesson with a less active family about priorities.  This family hasn't been to church in such a long time that the Dad doesn't even remember what priesthood he has...  We showed him (http://mormon.org/william/) (http://www.lds.org/pages/mormon-messages?lang=eng&query=sid+going#your-day-for-a-mission) those two videos about two rugby players that gave up their careers in order to serve missions.  The second one happened a long time ago and the first one is just barely.  They are both super good videos. 

The weather here is lousy.  Sundays are always nice and sunny, but every single other day is cloudy in the morning, then super hot during the day, then really cold at night.  I am never going to live in Vista.  

Thanks for the packages!  They were so AWESOME!!!  I loved everything you sent me!  The GPS is a really nice one too.  I use it every where we go! (even if I know how to arrive to where we are going)  It's fun!  Elder Anderson really likes it too.  He's the one that is able to play around with it while we are in the car.  

Summer vacation just started here.  There are some schools that got out 3 weeks ago, some schools got out last week and there are still some schools that are in session!  You would think that since summer started, there would be more people outside... Opposite.  It's pretty dead when we walk outside.  And it's hard to contact people when nobody is walking outside, obviously.  

My Book of Mormon Spanish reading is going really good!  If you thought Isaiah chapters were hard in English, read them in Spanish.  They are a lot more difficult!  I just finished 1 Nefi yesterday, but haven't started on 2 Nefi yet.  I love Spanish!  I am so glad I was called into Spanish work!  Life just wouldn't be the same without Spanish!  

I am glad you received my package!  I was becoming really worried that Elder Josse didn't send it.  

That's it for me!  This is Elder Anderson's last week as a missionary, so we are going to work HARD!

Have a fantastic week!

Love, Elder Hunt

Mom

Dear Mom,

 

You are the best Mom in the world.  Thanks for everything.

 

I love you.

 

Love, Elder Hunt :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

So, guess what we are doing tonight?  English classes!!! YAY!  I love English classes!  Elder Anderson served in Mission Viejo about a year ago, and he really liked doing English classes, and I really like doing English classes, so we decided to finally start them up here in Vista.  Not only is it a good way of doing missionary work and helping others, but it is a good source of obtaining investigators too.  After all, that's how Enrique was found!  AND BAPTIZED.

 

So, when I was on exchanges with Elder Ochoa last week, we contacted this one guy named Daniel.  Him and his whole family are testigos de Jehovah and he told us he didn't like that church.  We asked him what he looked for in a church, and he said "The truth."  Man, do we have a church for you!  We set up an appointment for the next day (Sunday).  We went by, but he wasn't home :( so, we were going to write him off as one of those people that just gave us their info to get rid of us.  But, then on Thursday, Elder Anderson and I decided to stop by again.  He was home!  He seemed a little hesitant at first to let us in, but he did.  He told us that he really doesn't like the way the testigos de Jehovah is set up.  He doesn't think that that church is the correct one and wants to find the right church.  He told us he has been looking for something better in his life, because if has felt like there has been a void recently.  Then he said, "I think this is what I have been missing."  So cool!  So, that was Thursday and we set up a return appointment for Saturday at 2.  When we went by at 2, he wasn't there again... So, we thought again that maybe he was just pretending or something...  We were back in his area around 7 that night, so we decided to stop by again.  And he was home!  YAY!  And during that whole lesson he was saying things like, "I am not happy.  I drink a lot, smoke and go out with my friends, but I am not finding happiness in that.  I want to change my life around."  So, we talked to him about baptism, and set a baptism date for the 30 de junio!  YAY!  So, yeah.  He's cool.  He is a manager at McDonald's.  He's 37, but he really looks like early 20s.  So, that's Daniel. 

 

On Sunday, we taught Antonio!  I am pretty sure I told you about him...  We taught him about the Restoration and watch the movie The Restoration.  I LOVE THAT MOVIE.  The Spirit it brings is incredible! (even in Spanish!)  There is no doubt in my mind that Jose Smith really saw God and Jesus Christ.  He helped them restore the ONLY TRUE church upon the face of the earth.  I was reading in 1 Nefi yesterday for language study and I was reading that there are only two churches on the earth: the church of the Lamb of God and the church of the Devil.  We are part of the Lamb of God.  Other churches are still good, and teach good things, but they are not this church.  Therefore, they are part of the Devil.  I am so lucky to be a part of this church!  WOO!  Antonio is progressing good too!  He still works on Sunday, which isn't good, but we are working on that.

 

Here's another little thing about how AWESOME the Book of Mormon is and how much POWER it has.  Lately, I have been struggling a lot with understanding people when they speak Spanish to me.  Not white people, but Mexicans and other people who speak Spanish natively.  So, after interviews with President, he told me to start reading el Libro de Mormon.  So, I did and my understanding has improved so much more!  It's so cool how little things like that work.  It's another strengthening of the testimony I have of how powerful that book is.  There's nothing better than the Book of Mormon. 

 

And that's it.  Today is my birthday and I am old.  20!  I received all the packages and letters, but haven't opened them yet.  I hoped you liked my Spanish letter!  I wrote one to Elder Guthrie in Spanish, so and I realized that I hadn't written a Spanish letter to you ever!  So, I did!  It was fun!  Good thing DeVere came to help!

 

In interviews with President Cook, he just asks how you are doing, if there are any concerns with anything, and if you have any questions with any sort of doctrine or something.  They only take about 5-10 minutes.  We have them every other transfer, so just about every 3 months.  He speaks in English!  Maybe next time we can try in Spanish! 

 

I have been in Vista for a month!  Time flies!  Elder Anderson goes home the 26 de junio, along with the rest of his district, including Elder Price and Elder Josse.  All together, there are about 20 missionaries leaving (almost half of the Spanish missionaries!)  I will probably stay in Vista for a little while longer.  I am guessing for two or three more transfers (3-4 months).  And I will receive a new companion!  Elder Anderson really thinks I am going to train a new missionary, but I guess we will have to see...

 

I haven't taken hardly any pictures this transfer... Next week, I will try though!

 

The weather here is a lot like there.  Never the same two days in a row.  In the mornings, it is SUPER cloudy, like it's going to rain.  Sometimes it stays that way, sometimes it changes.  You never know!

 

Well, I think that's all!  I hope you all have a marvelous week!  Thanks for the birthday wishes! 

 

Love, Elder Hunt

Book of Mormon

Voy a escribir esta carta en puro espanol, está bien?

 

Pues, primero...  Just kidding!  These past few weeks have been really dead... :(  We have had a few good lessons with some investigators with some potential, but we haven't found any new investigators since I arrived here.  When I arrived here, we had an investigator that was going to be baptized, but he has pretty much fell off.  I met him my first night here, and he seemed super excited!  But, since then, we haven't taught him or seen him or anything... :( So, we do not know what happened to him. 

 

Another one of our investigators, Antonio, is pretty awesome.  He seemed to be losing interest, so we were thinking of dropping him.  We taught him the Plan of Salvation this past week and he was asked if the plan had made it want to learn more, and he said yes!  So, that's good.  The story behind him is that he lives with a less active family that works ALL THE TIME.  The less active family gave him to us as a referral and are really excited for him to be taught.  But, the family works on Sunday, and Antonio works with them, so they don't come to church...  They control when they work, and they choose to work on Sunday... So, that's kind of frustrating.  But, Antonio is doing good! 

 

Another investigator, Claudia, is super awesome.  She is the sister of a member, and she lives with them.  She was taught by the missionaries about two years ago and was super excited and was ready to be baptized!  But, her husband did not allow it :( so, she couldn't.  But, now her husband is in Mexico, and he is not coming back.  So, she can be baptized now!  The rules are really weird.  But, we are teaching her now!  She told us she did have the desire to be baptized two years ago, but not now.  But, what she doesn't know, is that she really does have that desire.  She just needs help to realize it!  Her whole family that lives here are all members, and they all really want her to be baptized too.

 

We have a few other investigators, but we haven't been able to meet with them very much, since I arrived here, so I don't know really know them...  But, I actually lied.  We did get two new investigators on Sunday!  La familia Gonzales!  They live with another member family, in a little apartment thing on the side of their house.  They have been taught by missionaries before, but are really busy, so it is hard to set appointments with them.  They have two cute little girls, 5 y 3, and they seem like they have some potential.  They really like the temple and the fact that families can be together forever.  Hopefully their work schedule settles down, so we can actually find them!

 

Sorry I don't really have anything this week... Next week will be better! 

 

I really like all the talks by President Benson about the Book of Mormon.  "There is a power in the [Book of Mormon] which will begin to flow into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of the book. You will find greater power to resist temptation. You will find the power to avoid deception. You will find the power to stay on the strait and narrow path.”  So true!  I have the October issue of the Ensign; the one 100% dedicated to the Book of Mormon.  SO AWESOME.  I LOVE THE BOOK OF MORMON.  BEST BOOK IN THE WORLD.

 

Oh yeah.  We had President Interviews yesterday!  President Cook is so awesome.

 

And you didn't ask me any questions, so... I hope you have a fantastic week!

 

Love, Elder Hunt :)