Hard work and answered prayers

What a week! I honestly don’t know how I’m going to tell you everything with such little time.

 

So being in a trio has its ups and downs. It was a rough start to be honest. We were not used to teaching with 3 people and had some pretty lame lessons, so that was frustrating. We were having some other little problems with studying and decision making because were covering two areas and it was just really hard to adjust. So Mondayand Tuesday night, I prayed for help and a little relief, and that’s exactly what I got. It’s so amazing to see the hand of the Lord in all things and I know that he really does work in mysterious ways.

 

Wednesday morning we got a phone call from the assistants. I answered and they needed one of us to accompany an elder to the hospital for some surgery he was going to have on his leg and I accepted. When I got to the mission home I was able to see two of the best missionaries ever, they were heading home: Elder Reyesleyva (my papa) and Elder Spence (my zone leader from Comitan) it was so great to see them and catch up with each other! They’re such great elders and so dang funny. I’m going to miss them. After that I met up with Elder Caredenas (the missionary that was going to have surgery) and we headed over to the hospital. He’s from Peru and has been out on his mission for about a year. Sadly he’s going home to recuperate from the surgery. It was  nice talking with him about our missions and the differences between the USA, Mexico and Peru. It also gave me time to catch up in my journal, PMG, and the scriptures. When I got back to the area I was refreshed and filled with energy and ready to work, and that’s exactly what we did.

 

Carmen and her kids are doing great!!! Her son is getting baptized in 2 weeks and her daughter in 3 and then Carmen in 4 (because she didn’t come to church), but it was a blast teaching them this week. We taught them about the 10 commandments and talked a bit about the law of chastity. 

 

Adolfo is doing great as well. So far so good with the Word of Wisdom and the lessons. He came to church yesterday and everything was going good for his baptismal date until we got the awesome news that Elder Oaks is coming to Tuxtla AGAIN!!!! I’m so excited, but he’s coming Saturday morning and that’s when we had Adolfo’s baptism planned. We can’t to it in the afternoon so we’re thinking of doing it on Sunday because it will be stake conference and he won’t be confirmed until NEXT week anyway. So basically, everything is great with Adolfo!

 

Saturday was a crazy awesome day. We went on divisions for the whole day and so we had a TON of lessons with members, a total of 20 for the whole week!!! (that’s a good thing)

 

Sunday was the best Sunday ever. We had 15 investigators at church!!! It was a miracle. A couple were nonmembers that were invited by member friends or part member families but most were investigators that are actually progressing. Remember Maria and Jose Luis? Their kids came to church! It was awesome!  

Just a great eventful week and I know you’re all going to hate me because it’s a really un-detailed letter but don’t worry mom, I’m still writing in my journal and I’ll explain EVERYTHING when I get home!

 

Love and miss you all tons!!!! You’re the best!

 

Elder Hunt

 

PS . . . . Happy birthday Madeline and Ciera, I hope it was fantastic. Miss you both a ton!

Miracle Week!

Ok, this week was crazy and today is too but I’m going to explain everything chronologically

 

Monday we taught Carmen and her family about the word of wisdom. THEY ARE SO GREAT! They easily accepted the word of wisdom. It was funny, they were apologizing to us for drinking coffee. They said, "Oh we're so sorry, we didn’t know it was a commandment! We’re so sorry. We’ll get rid of it right away!!! It was so awesome! Jorge, the 10 year old son, reminds us every week about his baptismal date! He’s so awesome!

 

Tuesday we found a man named Servin. Let me try to give you a picture of him. He’s about 6 ft. 2in. and 200 lbs., scars all up and down his arms and hands and some on his face as well. We didn’t know this about him until we talked to some of the members and investigators who live by him, but he’s got a reputation in his neighborhood for the crazy bad stuff he’s done. Everyone says he’s robbed combis (taxi vans), gotten in tons of fights, and is always drunk. Now for the good about him . . . . When we contacted him he said "I want to change" in fact he said it about 100 times. After teaching him about the restoration he asked if he could come to church! We were like, "of course you can!" Anyway, we see a man who has made a TON of mistakes, and who really wants to change.

 

We met with Adolfo afterward and taught about the priesthood and the organization of the church. He’s much better, healthwise, and is still super excited for his baptism even though we had to put it back to the 13th.

 

Wednesday my companion got sick and we got super lost going to the doctor

 

Thursday we met with Carmen again and talked about the Sabbath. We went with the bishop’s 2nd counselor and his daughter, Brother Rivera and Monce. They were a great help! Their testimonies were much needed and now Carmen and her kids have some great friends in the church.

 

Friday honestly was a bit frustrating no one was home, but we had a great correlation meeting with Brother Sanchez! He’s going to be an awesome ward mission leader.

 

Saturday we put on the boosters and were contacting like crazing and teaching as many people as would listen to us, even if it was a little 5 min. lesson with a prayer at the end. We also had our last choir practice to prepare us for ward conference.

 

Sunday we had our ward conference and it was awesome!!!!! We had 190 people in church and Carmen came with her kids, Servin came, and so did Adolfo!!! It was awesome!!!!! They all loved it so much! The choir did really well too. I didn’t mess up too much! The theme of the conference was the Holy Ghost! It was perfect for the investigators and their needs

 

Monday we got the transfers . . . . WE’RE IN A TRIO!!!! It’s me, Elder Perez, and Elder Rosas. They’ve closed down one of the areas in the ward so now we have 3 missionaries covering 2 areas! So basically were going to be doing divisions every day since we have 5 investigators that are pretty much sure for baptism this transfer!

 

The Lord works in mysterious ways. I don’t know why it is happening but I know the Lord has much planned for us here in Aguilas ward!

 

I love ya all tons thanks for the love, prayers, and letters!

 

Elder Hunt

A COLD week!

It was cold in a lot of aspects. First of all, it was cold; like in the temperature. I ACTUALLY HAD TO SLEEP WITH THE COVERS ON! Second it was cold because Adolfo got really sick. He couldn’t come to church on Sunday so we’re going to have to change his baptismal date. We don’t know when we’re going to end up doing it because Adolfo wants Brother Sanchez to baptize him and the NEXT Saturday brother Sanchez is going to be in Tapachula for one of his Church callings. So it might be the next NEXT week. But Adolfo is amazing. Tuesday after verifying the law of chastity and the word of wisdom (10/10 in both) he said the closing prayer and it was the best prayer I’ve ever heard. He speaks as if he’s speaking to someone sitting next to him! He prays like an innocent child. In his prayer he even prayed for his enemies!!! He said in effect, "and God, please bless my enemies. I know you want me to pray for them so I’ll do it. I don’t know if I have any enemies, but if I do, it’s probably because I did something dumb. So please bless them". I love that man!

Tuesday we also had exchanges with the zone leaders again and I went with elder Crowley from Virginia. He’s such a great guy, always happy. We worked our buns off on Tuesday and were able to teach Carmen about the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was a good and simple lesson. They said yes to baptism again and we set a date, but they didn’t come to church so it fell through.

Wednesday we had a great worldwide missionary conference! Several apostles spoke and it was a great edifying meeting. They talked about many things but one that I really liked was about the Spirit. Elder Bednar said that we can’t jam the spirit into people. We have to teach in a way that they can feel it.

Thursday we had another conference with an Area Seventy and it was incredible! His name is Elder Toris and the man is a fireball! It was so great to see the revelation not only being received by him but also by us as he spoke. He taught us about focusing on the members and working with them, they’re the secret to baptizing every week!

Saturday was crazy. José and Maria were moving. It was a last minute thing and so we and the other Elders helped them out. They’re going to be moving to the other elder’s area; sad, but it’s all good because it’s still the same ward!

Sunday no one came to church and it was really frustrating to be honest, but I know this is going to be a much better week. We’re going to be looking for some new investigators and we have a new ward mission leader . . . . BROTHER SANCHEZ!!!!!!!!! The work is going to explode with a former temple and stake president, bishop, and Area Seventy as our ward mission leader!

So that’s how the cookie crumbles here in Tuxtla on cold weeks. Next week is going to be even colder, temperature wise, but were going to heat things up a bit.

Love and miss ya all a ton!

Elder Hunt

Another great week in Tuxtla!

Hey family! My toe is great! Thanks it actually looks like a toe now! This week was a pretty great week.

Adolfo got sick on Sunday so he couldn’t come to church. I still think he’ll be able to keep his baptismal date for a couple reasons, one, he’s got cancer and he’s old, two he is a BOSS! We went over to visit him Sunday to see how he’s doing and guess what . . . knowing he wasn’t going to be able to make it to church, he had read the corresponding chapters in the Gospel Principles and Teaching of the Presidents of the Church manuals!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He is so awesome!!!! He is having a hard time with coffee though, so please have that in your prayers, if he can’t overcome that he is not going to be able to be baptized!

Carmen and her kids Jorge and Angela are doing great too. Carmen really opened up to us and talked about her life story and wow, it is sad and super dramatic. It could be a movie, though it would have to be rated R. She cried as she opened up to us. We talked about the Plan of Salvation and the Doctrine of Christ and how baptism cleanses us of our past sins and how we can be comforted. We invited her and her 2 children to be baptized and they all said yes!!! We set a date for the 27th of February! Only Jorge could come to church but their date still stands.

José Luis and his wife Maria were hard to find this week but their kids came to our new English classes!!!!!! We’re going to be visiting them today and set a baptismal date with them too.

Saturday we had an 8 year old baptism! Her mom is a member so it’s not a convert baptism but it was still a great experience.

Sunday we had ward choir practice because were having ward conference on the 31st and guess who the pianist is . . . . yeah, me! And I just want to make it official that I totally regret not continuing with lessons and not practicing hymns on Sundays, because I am finding out I really cannot play well at all. I’m sorry mom for not practicing! YOU WERE RIGHT! So, Lincoln, practice your hymns because when you get your call to Argentina, those people are going to be counting on us greengos to play the piano for them!

It was a good week and a really fast one at that. I’m ready to keep working hard, these last 6 months are my chance to shine! I love the gospel and love the church!

Elder Hunt

 

Temple work and Pedicures

The awesomeness and the weirdness of the week matches the title . . . .

We found a family of 6! They’re really awesome and LOVE listening to us! We kicked it off really well with them when we contacted them in the park the week before. Within a couple minutes we were already laughing, and they easily gave us their address and we went over on Monday. The mom and dad are Maria and José Luis. They have 5 kids and 4 of them are baptism age! Were super excited to teach them. We’ve only been able to talk to them a bit about the restoration but haven’t finished it. They’re so great though.

Wednesday we saw Galaor and taught him about obedience and the word of wisdom. He’s a great kid and so willing to follow! But he can’t find time for church. We’re going to start including some of the priests in the ward to help us teach him. We finished the plan of salvation with Adolfo! He’s such a great guy! He tells us "thank you" like 400 times in every lesson! He even went to visit the temple with brother Sanchez (there’s a little room that’s inside the temple but a part of the temple that nonmembers can enter. There they can read scriptures and watch church movies and stuff. It’s pretty great)! Adolfo loved it and already wants to go to the temple and do family history work! I love the guy! He came to church with us on Sunday and like usual, loved it.

Friday, I got my ingrown toenail taken out. The doctor who did it in Comitan didn’t do a great job and so I’ve been suffering for about 4 months now, and now that I’m in civilization, I can have a foot doctor do it. So we went to the mall Friday afternoon to a place called "todo para sus pies" or translated, "all for your feet." You can probably imagine the look on everyone’s faces when two Mormon missionaries went inside and some American asks for a pedicure.

Anyway, I sat in the chair and took off my sock and when the lady saw how nasty my toe was, she was like, “do you want me to work on just the toe, or do you want me to do the whole foot?" I said just the ingrown toenail, but then she’s said "I’m going to charge you full price either way" so I was like, "ok, then all my toes please." So I got a pedicure! It was so weird and so awesome! I feel so much better!

Due to the fact that my infected toe was healing, we couldn’t go out and work but we did however get permission to go to the temple! It was incredible! I hadn’t gone for about a year and it felt so good to go through all over again!

I’m loving the mission! It’s hard and fun.There are disappointments and excitements. It really is the best 2 years.

 

Love, Elder Hunt

Feliz ano nuevo!!!

FELIZ AÑO NUEVO!!!!!

It was a fun week! Adolfo is doing fantastic! He came to church and he keeps inviting people to his baptism! I love it.

We found a new family this week. Amauri and his wife Samantha. They have 3 kids, 11, 6 and 5 years old. They’ve recently moved from Mexico City and are trying to find a church to join. I think I told you a little bit about them in the last letter. He came up to us in the street and set up an appointment with us. Now we're actually teaching them. They’re both great, but Amauri has a TON of doubts, especially about the Book of Mormon, no matter what we say about it or how we explain it, he won’t accept it. Thankfully his wife has a softer heart and is a lot more willing to read. But yeah, it’s a little disappointing.

Yesterday we were walking by and stopped to visit them and they ended up making us dinner! They’re an awesome family, but its sad cause Amauri has such a hard heart. We have another lesson with them today at 7:00.

Galaor is great . . . but didn’t come to church again. He said he wants to be baptized but isn’t doing a lot on his part. Hopefully he comes next week.

I’m really sorry that this is such a lame letter and a short one at that. It’s hard to write everyone and tell about everything in such little time!

Sure do love and miss you all tons! Thanks for your letters and prayers!

 

Love,

Elder Hunt

Christmas in Tuxtla

What a fantastic week!

It all started with Domino’s Pizza and Walmart on my first p-day in Tuxtla!

Tuesday was awesome! The zone leaders called us and asked us to go on exchanges with them from 11:00-5:00. Wow. Those guys know how to work. I went with Elder Garcia and we were contacting and teaching like crazy! It was so much fun!

After we ended our exchanges, we went back to our area and some old guy told us he wanted to talk to us. When we sat down with him in front of his house he introduced himself to us. I don’t know how to say it in English but he is really famous in the Catholic Church who travels the world to do catholic things. From the way he explained it, I think his assignment in the Catholic Church is like a member of the Seventy in ours. Anyway he told us "I just want to talk to you guys because I love what you do". . . . ha! Lol! All the guy really wanted to do was to bash with us. We kept our cool; one thing I’ve learned as a missionary is to not contend with people, however if they need to be corrected it’s my duty to do it. So I corrected him. I told him we believe that we have priesthood authority, and that they don’t, and we are able to do sacred ordinances like baptisms and giving the gift of the Holy Ghost because that priesthood authority was restored, and we haven’t changed any priesthood ordinances like baptism and confirmation, like the Catholic Church has, and then he rebuked us. Ha! but it was funny because he doesn’t have any authority. So when he’s said “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus Christ" I just smiled and bore my testimony of the truthfulness of the Church. It was kind of sad really to see someone so important in one of the largest religions in the world, yet so powerless.

So that was fun!

Wednesday we met with Adulfo and wow that guy is incredible. He told us that he said goodbye to all his virgins and saints and idols because he found the true church. He’s blazing through the Book of Mormon. I’m pretty sure he’s in 2 Nephi already!

Thursday (Christmas Eve) was a bit hard. No one was home! But it gave me a lot of time to think about the savior and his birth and some similarities to his situation and ours. When Christ was born the only ones who were invited were a couple of lowly shepherds. No one else in and around Bethlehem knew the babe who would be their savior had been born. They were too busy just going about paying their taxes and doing their things. They didn’t even care. As my companion and I walked and walked and walked, I got thinking about that. We were going around trying to share the most important message ever and really no one cared. I got to feel a bit of what maybe Joseph and Mary were feeling, they went through a lot to bring the most important person into this world, but no one paid a lot of attention . . . . It was a great Christmas Eve, we ate some dinner with a family and then we broke a piñata!

Christmas Day was great because I got to talk to you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I miss you all tons. I’m happy that you all had a great Christmas!

Sunday was great too! Adolfo came to church and absolutely loved it. He told the elders quorum president to announce his baptismal date (30th of January) we took some pictures with him after church too! (He’s the one closest to my companion. the one without the suit)

It was a great week. I love being a missionary and love and miss you all tons!

Love,

Elder Hunt