Monday, September 24, 2012

September 24th Letter

This week was just amazing.

I tried a new thing called a donair, which is probably the most unhelathy thing on the face of the planet to eat, but sure is delicious.  (Donair was introduced in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada in the early 1970s.  Sliced meatloaf made from a combination of ground beef, flour or bread crumbs, and various spices, and the sauce is made from evaporated milk, sugar, vinegar, and sometimes garlic. The meat and sauce are served rolled in pita bread with condiments such as tomato and onion.  Not too unhealthy, unless you eat them ALL the time, Elder Hunt!!)

Bill Thompson showed us more of his military stuff and let us try on a couple of his swords.  This week, was Linda Thompsons baptism. It was amazing to be apart of and see her husband Bill baptize her. She has M.S. and is in a wheelchair, so when Bill baptized her, he was holding her in his arms and both of them had to go under the water to be fully immersed. It was a very symbolic thing and such an amazing thing to be apart of. I've been playing the piano quite a bit too, and enjoyed playing all the music for the baptism.

Remember how I hated reading anything before I left to come out here? Well....the Lord works in mysterious ways. Now reading is my favorite thing to do. I can't ever get enough time to read the Book of Mormon, and other church books. One I'm reading right now is Our Heritage, and it's an amazing book describing things that pertain more to our day.

Elder Robert C. Gay of the Seventy visited us this week. He taught us so much and was so inspiring. He will be speaking in the Saturday afternoon session of General Conference in a couple weeks, so be sure and watch!

Spiritual thought for the week:
Going throughout our lives, there are incredible people that help us along the way. Especially our Bishop. If we develop a strong love and relationship with him, it will be one of the greatest blessings we can have in our life. He will be there for you if you are willing to go to him, and allow him to help you. As I've personally experienced that, I found someone who changed my life forever. So, if you haven't already, go to your Bishop and develop that relationship. Allow him to exercies his authority, and guide/council you in your life. As you do, I promise he will help.

This IS the one and only true church of Jesus Christ on the earth today. Don't waste away the time that you have here on earth. Take that time, and use it for good. Use it to learn more about the Gospel, by reading the Book of Mormon and studying those things that prepare you to serve our Heavenly Father. Use this time to strengthen your relationships with others. First, strengthen your family and your home. The family is so important to God and as we serve and love our families, we will receive more blessings. Charity is one of the biggest and most essential Christlike attributes. The more you serve others, the more you will come to find the Light of Christ, and will see the blessings in your own life. I promise it will bring amazing things into your life.

If you take nothing else away from what I've said, remember this:
1)   Utilize those people in your life who are there to help you. (e.g.,. Bishop, Family, Jesus Christ)

2)   Time is a blessing, not a curse! We often find ourselves looking ahead, and end up wasting the joys of the present by focussing on a far-off distance. Take advantage of the time you have!

3)    Charity. Use charity and love to strengthen your family, others around you, and those you may not even know. That Christlike attribute alone will provide you with blessings you cannot comprehend.

As you think about these things, don't just take my word for it. Kneel down and ask Heavenly Father what he wants you to be doing. No matter what is happening in our lives, each one of us can benefit immensely from doing these things.

I am a witness that Jesus is the Christ. I can testify and know that He is my Redeemer and knows exactly how I feel. He goes through my joys, as well as my sorrows and pains with me. That doesn't mean my trials will be easy, but they will always be worth it, and Christ will always be there with me. I hope everyone will strengthen and develop that personal relationship with our brother, and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Elder Hunt

Friday, September 21, 2012

Missionary Snail Mail. . .



What a fun surprise!  We got a snail mail letter from Elder Hunt today!  Way to make Friday an even BETTER day of the week!!  He included notes from a Zone Conference that he wanted me to include, (and I noticed on the program that he was asked to say the Opening Prayer.)

Mom, thanks so much for the package with the Ryan's Lion in it.  I love it!  (This was the blue lion we had been given from the Mapleton Bartons when Denzel died...a very special "trackable" lion...which reminds me, I better update it. . .  http://ryanslion.org/)


Also, thanks for the journal entries! They were great to read and relate to. (I had copied and sent the first week of MY mission journal entries when I got to Canada, and also sent my father's entries that he had sent me when I was new to the mission field...)

How's everyone doing back home?  I really miss everyone, but especially the nieces and nephews...

Things are really starting to pick up here.  Time is flying by, and by the time you get this, I'll have two, maybe three, baptisms already.  So the work is great!  :)

It costs $1.05 per stamp to send letters to the USA, so I want to write everyone but I won't unless I get a letter from them first.  

So here's a quick note saying I love you and dad so much!  Thanks for preparing me so well to be a missionary!  You've done your job well!  :)  Hope you and dad are having a good time!  Love you guys!

Love,
Elder Hunt #4

1.  PRAY for Missionary Opportunities
2.  LOOK - Anytime, anywhere; always be open to finding someone to share the gospel with
3.  SPEAK - Open your mouth...it doesn't have to be doctrine, it can be something like "Hey!  How's your dog!  Talk to people.  Don't be so focused on yourself that you aren't aware of the people around you.
4.  INVITE - This may seem hard, but many people don't know about the church, or simply don't come because they haven't been invited.  ASK them to come.  It doesn't have to be complicated!!

Monday, September 17, 2012

Elder Hunt's Eventful Week

Hello Everybody!

This week was truly inspired. 

Earlier this week, we were tracting up in a pretty sketchy area, and we turned a corner to see a ton of police and whatnot. turns out someone got shot right where we were tracting...crazy stuff. But anyway, then we had a strong feeling to go tract this street called Grumpy Lane. There were only three houses on the street, and I felt we should start at the top of the hill, rather than at the bottom where we were. So we start at the top, and the first two didn't answer. So as we're walking to the third, a car pulled in and a lady went into the house. We knocked on her door and on of the first things she said to us was, "you just knocked on my daughters house, and she's not ready for the Gospel. But I'm ready to hear the Gospel, Elders." She is not a member, but has defnitely been prepared by the Lord to be taught at this moment. I'm so excited to be able to begin teaching her and help bring her closer to Christ.

A few nights later, I went on exchanges with another Elder, so I was tracting down along the waterfont right by the big Halifax Bridge. It's really a sketchy neighborhood, so we got done a little early when it was dark, and went to take some pictures down on the boardwalk of the bridge and the city lights. A cute couple occupied our ideal lookout spot, so we had to move over to a much less satisfying one. Had those obstacles not been put into place, we wouldn't have had such an amazing experience as we did. 

As we stood there admiring the view, I heard a tune of Called To Serve being whistled. Long story short, It turned out to be a man by the name of Ryan Oliver. We talked for a short bit, and he ended up taking us to dinner at a seafood restaurant right there on the waterfront. 

Now, if you know me, I don't like seafood...of the little that i've tried. But that night, Ryan ordered me a "Seafood Platter" with assortments of callamari, shrimp, salmon, haddock, and scallops. Surprisingly, I ate it all and it wasn't too bad at all!; a few fishy bites here and there, but nothing too horrible! Hooray! Anyway, as we sat there and ate, Ryan taught Elder Sloan and I so many different things. We literally felt like what he was telling us was truly inspired and what we needed to hear at that time. I don't have too much time to go into all the details, but I will say one thing. As little of a "coincidence" as it may have seemed, Ryan Oliver truly changed my mission and my life. I will always remember the things he taught me and the truth of his message. Ryan lives in Highland, Utah, so I can't wait for the day when I come home and can go see him again. Thanks for everything Ryan.

Other great things/events that happened this week:

I fell asleep in the car and Elder Deem is hilarious, so he slammed on the brakes and screamed, as if we were getting into a car crash. I woke up, mid-heart attack and punched him...

Linda Thompson is getting baptized this weekend, and her husband Bill had us drink a cup of water with a spoon full of Cayan pepper in it...It's very hot, but is supposed to help your blood flow and pump better...So now Elder Deem and I do it nearly every day. who knew? Also, Bill, reminds me so much of John Locke off of the TV show Lost. He looks and acts like him and is just great! 


I was able to have dinner over at a family's house on Saturday, and celebrate Mexican Independence Day! It was one of the most fun things i've ever experienced! Viva!! We had so much good authentic food, a pinata, and so much more. It was such a great time!

Well, I truly cherish the time that I have to read the Book of Mormon each day. Before my mission, I read it, but didn't really read it. Now, I am learning and understanding so much more, and it is really the highlight of my day to be able to dive in and learn more! I am learning so much! 

There is a talk that I am including in this email. Go to http://www.mediafire.com/?37xdrke0pycc7e7  .  Go to that link, and download the talk. The talk is by W. Cleon Skowsen, and is one of the best talks I've ever heard and learned from. Please take some time to sit down and listen! And mom, you could even post this talk on the blog or something. It's amazing!

Take care!

Elder Hunt

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Whistling in Halifax!

This is Mom talking...

Elder Hunt and Elder Deem were supposed to have a lunch appointment with Sue and Bruce Hampson on Thursday of this week.  They were going to take the Elders to "the best fish and chips place in all of Nova Scotia" on the last day it was open for the season.  But the Elders never showed. . . Sue was very disappointed!  They waited for 45 minutes, then made the 20 minute return drive home, wondering what had happened.

Turns out the Elders had gotten a new planner, and hadn't transferred all of their appointments into the new planner.  Oops!  And knowing Elder Hunt, he is equally disappointed, but feels even worse for "messing up."


Then, I received a phone call last night (Friday) that went something like this:

"Hello?"

"Hi, this is Ryan Oliver.  I happened to be in Halifax today, happened to see some Mormon missionaries, and happened to take them out to dinner.  You wouldn't happen to know anyone out here, would you?"

(After I stopped laughing he told me the rest of the story...)

Ryan (from Highland, Utah and was in Nova Scotia on some real estate business) saw these two elders standing on some rocks by the harbor, in their suits, so he kind of casually walked by them whistling "Called To Serve."  He said the elders kind of looked at him, he made an "investigator" comment, which got their interest piqued, and then confessed he was LDS and from Utah.  And he took them out to a "very nice seafood dinner...Elder Hunt's FIRST (in Canada) as I understand it..."

Anyway, we had a long talk as he told me of his impressions of Elder Hunt and what a fine young man he is. Ryan was impressed.   And it was a very nice phone call to receive.

LOVE that Elder Hunt is having some very cool experiences!!

We can hardly wait to hear HIS reactions to his week!!

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

First Email from Nova Scotia!


Welcome to Nova Scotia! The land of hurricanes, spiders, and fish everywhere you go!

SO after my long escapade of travelling in New York and everything, I've finally made it to Canada! I am loving it out here already and know there's a lot to look forward to. 

On my first night of tracting, this guy slammed his car door shut as we walked past him, so we asked him how he was doing... this was his reply: "How'm I doin?! I wanna get a machine gun and blow all yo religious heads off! Tha's how i'm doin!"  OH boy i can't WAIT for more missionary work. So i've already had some funny and crazy experiences, but all is well.

Let's see, so many things to cover so it's just gonna jump around a lot:

-My companion has a haircut kit, so I will just be giving myself haircuts to save on time and money. I didn't do too bad with my first one..but did miss one little spot in the back... (thinking of you mom!)


-My companion is great! His name is Elder Deem, he's from Gilbert Arizona, and has been out for 8 months now. He's a solid missionary and i'm really glad to be getting trained by him. We boh have faith and set some pretty high goals, but we work hard and can get them done. It'll be an awesome time together.





-Oh! he has a digital photo frame...I WANT ONE! it is so nice because he has it on his desk and it can just go through the pictures for you and you can have them right there. That way i wouldn't have to pull out a picture book every time, and then you wouldn't have to print pics either. You could just attach them through dropbox and i could put them on the usb and straight into the frame. SO if you get a digital frame, make sure it can have a usb plugged into it. It would be really nice... (:

-The ward we are serving in is amazing because it's the ward Bruce and Sue Hampson are in! We have dinner appointments every single night because the ward mission leader's wife coordinates it for us and does a fantastic job. Not to mention we are having fish and chips with Bruce and Sue on Thursday for lunch. Woohoo!

-So they have this store up here called Bulk Barn. It's the most amazing store ever. Everything is in separate bins, and you just scoop out how much you need of whatever it is, and then pay by the weight. I love it!  

-The music rule up here is i can listen to anything that brings the spirit...so definitely put some music into dropbox! (:

-We went to a place called 2 Boys Meat Smokehouse. Best meat i've ever had in my entire life! such a low price, about the price of subway for a footlong sub, but theirs is about 5 times the size...it's great! Not to mention they sell bones there for dogs that they get their meat off of...and they are about 2-3 feet long and massive! There's a picture in dropbox with one in it.

-Literally...Spiders. EVERYWHERE! Forget South America...this is the place where all the spiders are. It's kinda ridiculous. I have a little friend that lives in my office in the apartment..There is a small hole in the wall right next to where I sit, and he comes and goes as he pleases. I figure i don't wanna make him upset since he probably has his army throughout all the walls...so we're on good terms for now, but it could turn into David vs.  Goliath up in here...and I wouldn't be Goliath. 

-There are tons of accents up here...this is definitely my kind of place! There's British, Scottish, Irish, etc. You name it, it's here. I love it!

-Church here is SO different than back home in Utah. It was a little weird being a missionary in the Gospel Principles class because the teacher asks questions, and then looks at you, expecting you to know it since you're a missionary! Ha! far from it...

-I'm SO tired.....ALL THE TIME!!! it's exhausting doing this stuff...i always fall asleep during personal study, it's ridiculous. It'll just take time to get used to it I guess.

-I don't know if you were able to watch the CES Fireside on Sunday that was actually down at Dixie State College with Elder Holland speaking. I saw a few people in the crowd that I knew so it was great.

-So i guess a hurricane is supposed to be rolling in...right now it is pouring outside...not like st george pouring...like crazy downpour i've never seen before. So i guess i should go buy a raincoat today! oh, and we got lost driving back to our place last night because we couldn't see the exit signs on the freeway...that's how thick the fog is.

Other than those exciting adventures, the work here is great. There are always challenges of course, but we have two investigators named Sheila, and Linda. Sheila is a golden investigator. We taught her a second lesson this week, she came to church, and will have a baptism date this coming week. So exciting. and Linda has MS, can hardly move or talk, but has such a strong testimony. She will be baptized on the 29th, so that's also exciting! I love the work more and more each day. The challenges and trials get harder day by day as well, but it's all abou your attitude. So I just keep chuggin along and doing the good work the Lord has prepared for me.
  
I hope everyone is doing well, and makes time for the Lord in each of their lives. It really is the most important thing we can do on this Earth! Love and miss you all!

Love Elder Hunt




P.S.  The things Elder Hunt forgot to mention:  He is in the Cole Harbour Ward which is in Dartmouth, the location of the Mission office.  The Halifax Canada Temple is located right next to the Dartmouth Stake Center where the Cole Harbour Ward meets.  The elders' apartment is pretty close to the temple.  And Sue LOVED it when Elder Hunt came up to her at church the first Sunday he was there and gave her a BIG bear hug!

 

Friday, September 7, 2012

AMAZING!!

Late this afternoon I was looking at Facebook and noticed a comment posted by Sue Hampson on my page.  It said, "Guess which elder is serving in my ward?  He went for supper at my visiting teaching companion's home tonight and had a good meal!  A roast beef dinner!"

Before I go any further, I have to give some background.  When I served my mission 35 years ago in the Canada Halifax Mission, the first area I served in was Halifax, and the very first night my companion took me over to the Millward's, a couple with two young children.  We had a nice visit with them, and the several months I was in Halifax, even after Sister Tolmie was transferred, we taught the Millwards.  Sue and her husband, Hugh, ended up divorcing after my mission, but we remained in touch; another cool story for another time will explain how Sue and her two older children joined the church, Sue married Bruce Hampson in the Toronto LDS Temple, and they ended up moving back to Nova Scotia.  Sue and Bruce came to Utah and stayed with us, and we loved it!!  When Dallin's mission call was opened, Sue was the first one I called!!  She was almost more excited than I was.

Soooo, Sue had mentioned to Shannon, her VTing companion about her friend's son who was coming to "our" mission.  Sue and I were both a bit worried that he would be sent to Newfoundland, or somewhere else remote and that she would never get to see him.

Then this evening she received a phone call from Shannon saying she had fed Elder Hunt and his companion a roast beef dinner earlier tonight!!  He has been called to serve in Sue Hampson's WARD!!  She will be seeing him THIS SUNDAY!!   

We are both ecstatic!!  (Poor Elder Hunt won't know what anonymity is, that's for sure!!)


Thursday, September 6, 2012

Assumptions. . .

We were able to talk with Elder Hunt about 4 different times yesterday, which was really quite fun!  Apparently he made a LOT of phone calls with all of the time they had waiting in the airports.  It's fun to hear who he got a hold of, and SAD to hear who he missed!!  :(

One of the things he told me over the phone, but didn't put in the last letter he wrote from the MTC (see below) had to do with all the letters I wrote to his MTC district.  He said, "Mom, it was SO cool.  I got all the letters, and when I walked into my district I said, 'EVERYONE got mail today!!'  There were shouts of 'No way!' and 'Let me see!' and sure enough, everyone in my district got a letter from you!  They were amazed.  And then they thought maybe the letters all said the same thing, so they started comparing.  Every letter was different and they LOVED them!  Thanks Mom!"

Okay, I feel REALLY good about myself right about now.  But even better, yesterday I got a letter from one of those elders (second one to respond), who wrote the following:



Dear Sister Hunt,
Wow, I have never heard of someone sending every member of a missionary's district a letter.  you are awesome!
Yes, we have had an awesome time in the MTC together.  There are lots of fun people to meet and work with.  All of us are super-excited to get to the field to start preaching the Gospel to the Lord's children.
I want you to know what an awesome son you have in Elder Hunt!  He is a great missionary and definitely possesses a Christ-like attribute of charity (as well as others, but more so charity) :)
The first week I was here I was VERY homesick and could not control myself.  Your son and his companion did an excellent job in making me feel welcome.  I was especially happy when Elder Nzojibwahmi offered to give me a blessing.  It was hard to choose between the two of them as to who I should have bless me, but in the end Elder Hunt was chosen.  I want you to know Sister Hunt that your son gave a powerful blessing.  He is truly filled with the spirit and will be an excellent tool in the Lord's hands in bringing others unto Christ.
Thank you again for all your kindness and consideration in writing to us.  We do love it!
Love,
Elder Dubyk

Now THAT was a really nice thank you letter!!  *_*

Part of an earlier letter included the following:

I'm so grateful for the time I've had here at the MTC.  I've learned so much, and couldn't be happier.  But now I'm heading off to Canada and couldn't be more excited.  I can't wait to talk to people and bring them the same joy that I have through the Gospel.  Gonna be some good stuff!

OK, but the past week I've been sick.  And every time I lay in my bed, I cough so much that I can't sleep.  So I grab my scriptures, water bottle, blanket, and pillow and head out into the hallway so that I don't keep my companion and roommates up with my loud hacking.  I sit against the hard brick corner in the hallway, read my scriptures, and magically sleep through the night.  Whether it is the Lord blessing me with sleep because of reading the scriptures, or not, it seems to be working!  So my bed for the past week has been the brick wall and concrete floor of the hallway.  Woohoo for awesome mission experiences!

But seriously, I love it!  I love this work, and love seeing the Lord's influence in each of our lives!

So, we enjoyed talking to Elder Hunt, but we enjoyed reading his last MTC letter, that arrived after our talks, even more!


9/3/12
Dear Family,
Just one more quick note before I head ut to Canada tomorrow morning.  I don’t know if you got a chance to watch President Monson’s 85th birthday celebration broadcast, but we watched it in the auditorium here last night, and the entire program was amazing.  Something that stood out though was when the lead actor from Les Miserables on Broadway sang “Bring Him Home.”  The same song sung at the Cemetery shortly after Denzel’s passing.  While he sang I couldn't hold it in.  I was in an auditorium of 2,000 people, and probably the only one with tears running down my face.   Listening to that brought back so many emotions, especially since I had borne my testimony earlier in the day about regret and how I regret every day not sharing the Gospel more with Denzel, and that I focus now to do everything on my mission so I’ll never come back with regret. 
As I sat there and listened to that amazing song, those emotions and memories of Denzel were there, but were quickly comforted as my thought turned to the Savior.  As I listened to the words of the song, I realized more than ever how hard it must have been for Jesus Christ and suffering through the Atonement.  Not only was it hard for Him; it was also hard for our Heavenly Father.  No father wants to see his son go through something like that, or die.  I know that Heavenly Father truly loves us enough, that He did go through sorrow and hurt for HIS son, Jesus Christ, as He died on the cross at Calvary.
They both suffered in different ways, but I’m so grateful for both of them and their love for me, and all of you as well.  I know Christ truly did die for us, and felt each of our sorrows, pains, and joys as well.  He is the only one that can completely relate to anything we’re going through.  He is the perfect counselor, brother, and friend.
As I serve the Lord for these two years, I am striving to be more like Him, and hope every day to be able to do so.  I hope that if anyone has felt offended by me in any way, they might be willing to forgive me.  My heart is really changing out here, and I love the way it’s impacting my life as I try to live and implement Christlike attributes in my life.    I love each of you so much and only want the best for everyone.  Always find time to put the Lord first.  There won't be spare time, but we must MAKE time.  It's a small thing to ask to read the scriptures and pray daily, considering what Christ has done for us.

I love you all!  It's my favorite thing to write home and bear my testimony because I get to understand more of what I have learned!  Next time you hear from me, I'll be in Canada!  (or maybe not!) Pretty cool, eh?
Take Care!
Love,
Elder Hunt



Wednesday, September 5, 2012

VERY Interesting Travels. . .

I received several phone calls while grocery shopping this morning.  Each time I answered there was no voice on the other end.  I received one more when I got home and was just going to let it ring!  But then I finally answered. . . and it was ELDER HUNT!!  Apparently his phone cards were giving him a bit of grief, but he managed to get through...with two minutes left on his phone card.  I quickly told him I would recharge the card, he said he would call back in ten minutes (still waiting...), and "boy, do I have a story to tell you, Mom! we are still in New York... But I'll tell you when I call back..."  Then he had to hang up.

Soooo, here I thought he had landed in Nova Scotia last night, was snug in a missionary bed in Dartmouth, and all was well. . . apparently not.  I guess we'll see WHAT is going on...hopefully sooner than later...Hooray!!  He called...it was only 15 minutes!!

EXPLANATION FROM ELDER HUNT:
The first leg of our flight went to Detroit with no problem.  But the flight from Detroit to New York was diverted to Connecticut because there was a really bad storm.  We sat on the runway for two hours, then we flew on to LaGuardia (New York).  Of course we missed our flight, but it had been canceled due to weather.

Well, we weren't sure what to do.  We got a hold of the missionary travel department and were told to find a hotel and we would be reimbursed...we then called our mission president.  He called the New York South mission president, who came to the airport (with his AP's and his wife...all driving different vehicles) and picked up all 14 of us.  We spent the night in Queens!  Who knew our first area would be the Bronx!?!

Our flight to Toronto leaves at 2:55, and then we sit in Toronto until 10:00 p.m.  It's going to be another long day.  When I asked him if he had enough to eat and doing okay he said, "Well, I haven't eaten McDonald's in about a year...and I had to yesterday.  It about destroyed me!"  Well, at least he wasn't hungry!  And he said the New York mission president took really good care of them.  Hooray!!

(And, NO, I didn't call Dallin's mission president!!  Probably would have if Dallin hadn't called within the hour!!  Whew!!)


Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Elder Hunt Travels to Canada

Today Elder Hunt left for Canada!  We didn't have his travel schedule, but I looked in my journal from 35 years ago, and read that we left the MTC at 4:00 a.m., so I figured we might receive a rather early phone call this morning...we did.  The phone rang at 6:00 a.m., while I was vacuuming.  I'm so glad I HEARD the phone!   It was SO nice to hear Dallin's voice as he said, "I knew I could call this early!"  Yep, we were up and getting ready for family scriptures.

Elder Hunt and his companion, Elder Zojibwahmi
There are 14 missionaries (13 elders and 1 sister) going to the Canada Halifax mission today.  He said, "It's kind of funny to see how spread out we are over the whole plane...I guess so we can talk to a lot of different people."  Sounds like missionary thinking to me!

Their flight has a couple different legs to it, stopping in Detroit, and New York before getting to Halifax at 9:00 p.m.!.  Before Dallin called, someone came up to him in the airport and asked if he was Elder Hunt.  When he said he was, the lady said, "I'm Erika's aunt."  I guess she was flying out to see her son somewhere... When Kristy was flying out to Seoul, Aunt Linda (my sister) was just returning from California and ran into her.  Kind of fun!

Yesterday was Labor Day and we were in Provo hiking the "Y" mountain with Kristy, Natalee, Dan & Janet, Cory, Rebecca and Kyle, AND a zillion other people with the same great idea!  At every turn of each switchback, we had a better and better view of the MTC.  I wanted to yell really loudly to see if Elder Hunt could hear me, but knew that would be pretty dumb, so I didn't.  However, we WERE able to drop off his camera cord to the front desk after explaining that the mail didn't deliver on Labor Day, and that he would be leaving EARLY Tuesday morning.  It was very nice of them to "make an exception" for us.  Dallin was very happy to get it.

Elder Hunt with Elder Connor Finklea

He mentioned that he roomed "right next door" to Colton Utley who has 3 weeks before leaving for Thailand (I think that's what he said...), he's also seen Austin Ovard, Conner Finklea, and a few others that I can't remember.

He said he LOVED the MTC "even though it's a cesspool of germs!  EVERYONE is sick there!"  (I TOLD him before he left for the MTC to take some hydrogen peroxide so he could gargle with it...didn't believe me...oh well...)

Sooooo, happy travels to our son!  We are very excited for him.  He mentioned that he's pretty sure his p-day is on Monday, so we won't be hearing from him until next week.  (Good to know so we don't sit by the computer all week!!)