CONCERTS, BIRTHDAYS, and STORMS!!

Dear Family,

Last Monday was the first time in about a year that I was able to have some free time to do anything!!  So Elder Skinner and I went to some stores to look at all of the wonderful things we can't buy right now...and it was actually a lot of fun!

This week we did exchanges with Elders Hatch and Jensen...talked with a LOT of people and got some great potentials.  So many good things are happening in our area!

We have picked up some really good investigators and Winter Storm VOKAS rolled in.  Dumped some  snow on us!  (The more the better, right?  More service to be given!)  But the wind and cold were something else!

On Friday we shoveled out the church parking lot, to get ready for the big concert that night.  

I was the "official photographer" and got to take all kinds of pictures.  The concert was a HUGE success and we had about 150 people there.  The music was incredible, but I wish I could still be performing with them...I miss that!

Saturday was Elder Skinner's birthday, so I woke up early to make a Hunt traditional birthday coffee cake.  At the end of the day we went to Montana's to celebrate E. Skinner's birthday.  He got "endless ribs" so I kept taunting him to eat more and more.  Well, about 60 ribs later he called it quits.  I also let the waiter know it was his birthday, so they all came out clapping, singing and they made him wear an old viking hat.  Pretty funny!

On Sunday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!!) I played the piano for church.  I enjoy being able to play hymns and accompany, although it's not my strong suit.  I definitely do better in performing myself, but I know I'll be accompanying  lot in the future, so I need to work on that more.

We got to sit with the Primary kids and watch a video, with popcorn, while the Relief Society sisters had a big joint meeting.  It was great!

With it being mom's birthday yesterday, I really wish I could've been there to celebrate.  You're the best mom anyone could have and I'm so lucky to have been given you for my mom.

Love,

Elder Hunt

Viral Video and More...

Dear Family

We had a great leadership meeting last Monday and I'm really looking forward to working with the district leaders and STL's in our zone.  Later in the day we did some grocery shopping at Costco because Sis. Hendrickson has a Costco card and took us.  It was great to get some decent shopping done!

On Tuesday we had Zone Conference and I was asked to conduct it, which I really enjoyed doing.

During our lunch break, E. Skinner and I competed against the other zone leaders in the 5BX challenge while everyone else ate lunch.  I finished the challenge in 5:32 and got first place.  E. Skinner was done in 5:57.  The other two zone leaders finished a couple of minutes later.  That was great, even though we were dead tired after!  When we resumed the conference, Elder Nzojibwami gave a great talk on prayer, and Elder Prince gave a great talk on motivation.  After they spoke Elder Call (former BYU-I Music Dept. Head) and I played a violin duet, "Be Still My Soul."  It went really well, and really brought the spirit to our meeting.  Some incredibly spiritual things took place in that meeting!

E. Nzojibwami and E. Hunt - Brothers from different mothers

Later in the week we met a man while doing some street singing.  He asked if we were "classic LDS missionaries."  Turns out he had spent 6 months in Rexburg, Idaho, was taking the discussions there and was close to being baptized, but then moved back here.  The short version is he's ready to be baptized!


Now, I have to tell you what happened on Thursday.  We had been doing some contacting, had a great lesson with a less-active member.  E. Skinner and I really wanted to find a new investigator, so we went out knocking...no success on the street we planned, so we followed the Spirit and walked to a different street.  we almost left when we had little success, but decided to knock a few more times.  Well, a lady answered the door and invited us right in.  We taught her the restoration and had a good lesson...and now she's a new investigator!!

THEN, when we got in for the night and we checked the mail...there was a letter from London, England for me.  More specifically, it was a letter from the Senior researcher for the Discovery Channel, asking permission to use the video that went viral (of me knocking myself out for my knee surgery a couple of years ago) as part of a documentary they are making on the chemistry of the body and how anesthesia affects it.  That was pretty cool!!  VIDEO LINK

Saturday we went street contacting downtown and we talked to quite a few people!!  It was nice because it warmed up to 5 degrees today!!  It was a perfect contacting day and we got some good potentials!
Oh, and can I just say that missionaries know the WORST day of the year is.....spring daylight savings time...when we lose an hour of sleep!!!  Worst thing, ever!  *_*
And then there was Sunday...I played a violin solo of Be Still My Soul with Sister Hendrickson accompanying...but it was a bit of a Gong Show!  After I had run through the piece before the meeting started, I completely loosened my bow with the intent of tightening before I played.  Well, I totally forgot when it was time to perform, so I began to play and very quickly realized my mistake!!  BUT there was nowhere with a break for me to tighten it for the first page!  UGH!  I basically played on wood with a couple of loose horse hairs for the entire first page.  The Lord somehow helped me, because it all sounded perfectly fine, too.  So, the piece went very well and I was pleased.  Whew!!
Sure do love you all!  Make sure Harrison knows I think about him a lot and have tried to email him...but I never hear from him!  Soooo, let him know for me!

Love,
Elder Hunt

NEW ZONE LEADER!!!

Dear Family,

Elder Wolsey tried to "box up" Elder Hunt while he was packing

So, Elder Wolsey is being transferred this week, and Elder Skinner (from when I was serving in Houlton) will be my new companion.  It will be so awesome to be companion zone leaders together!! While he packed things up on Wednesday, I cleaned the whole apartment.  Transfers went smoothly on Thursday.  I've been a zone leader for 6 weeks and now I'm supposed to teach Elder Skinner how to be a zone leader.  A bit of pressure, but also I'm excited because I already know what a great missionary he is! 

The whole week was a bit hectic, some teaching, some contacting, and I love serving with Elder Skinner.  On Sunday the Hendricksons had us over for dinner, determined to get Elder Skinner full from a meal.  They served us mounds, upon mounds, of chocolate chip pancakes, sausage, and potatoes.  We both got absolutely stuffed.  We also watched the CES Devotional broadcast from BYU-Idaho with Sister Linda K. Burton, who happened to be Kristy's mission president's wife when she was serving her mission in Korea!!  Small world!

Sorry this is so short, but next week's letter will be better.  

Love,

Elder Hunt

Looking forward to the Missionary Concert in a couple of weeks!

Interesting...and AMAZING Experiences This Week!!

Dear Family,

So, what happened this week???   One night we accidentally knocked on the door of a gal who turned out to be an “escort service.”  Can I just say it was a bit awkward, and we left rather quickly!  

The next night we had the most amazing experience!  We had been out contacting and had some good appointments, but then headed over to the church to finish some training we would be presenting the next day.  Well, it was about 8:10 p.m. when we arrived and the bishop was there…but he’s never there on Tuesdays.  Turns out he felt impressed to go to the church.  What he didn’t know was that a non-member man was searching for God, and was led to the church…but the doors were locked.  God told him to wait a few minutes then try the other side of the building.  He found a car on the other side with a few people inside…it was the Bishop.  The two went into the church and spoke together.  Bishop started teaching him and just as he was telling him about the missionaries, we walked in.  Amazing!  

The one time Bishop was there, the one time we happened to go to the church, and the one time this man was guided to go to the church…wow!  Bishop introduced us and we had an hour long discussion in the church with Chad, who has been so prepared by the Lord.  We never get people like this…who walk into the church and say: “I want to learn more, I want to come to church, and I want to meet with you.”  What an incredible blessing this has been!!  I am grateful!

The last bit of news is that Elder Wolsey is being released as a zone leader and is transferring to Moncton for the last two transfers of his mission.  I’ll be getting Elder Skinner (from Houlton) as a new (old) companion.  I’m excited because we worked so well together in Houlton and have so much in common!

That’s all for now. 

Love,

Elder Hunt

How To Stay In Shape...in Canada!!

 

Dear Family,

Tuesday we froze (what else is new?) as we were knocking on doors in -35 degree weather with the windchill factored in.  My ears are permanently damaged, I think.  In the evening we had dinner with the Harkers and then we had our ward activity, which had a Valentines theme with lots of fun activities and games.  After that we drove to Saint John, NB to do splits with Elder Torrie and Elder Jensen.  These elders are great!   On Wednesday we met up with the other missionaries downtown and did some street singing.  We sang hymns and talked to people as they walked by.  We did some additional street contacting downtown, played hacky-sack with some guys and discussed the church.  We met people from France, South Africa, and British Columbia.  We got interviewed by a CCBC  reporter on the street wanting to know what our favorite Olympic moment had been so far…uhmmm, didn’t have one as we haven’t seen any of the Olympics!

Thursday we were back in Fredericton.  We started a museum tour thinking we would do volunteer service there, but partway through we decided it wasn’t for us.  Later we had a lesson with Jacqueline, and had an amazing experience!  I had asked if we could start with a prayer, but she refused.  After I explained why, she conceded. So we said a prayer and after saying “amen” she was crying.  That was just the start of a spirit filled question/answer session where we taught many truths.  We didn’t even have to think about the answer to give…the Spirit completely took over and taught.  It was so cool to be a part of.

Friday was Valentine’s Day.  Can I just say that being on a mission for Valentine’s Day kinda stinks!!  But I’m one lucky duck because I still got a package from Erika.  She sure is good to me, and I’m grateful to have her in my life.

With the storm that blew in Thursday evening, there was tons of snow, so we grabbed our shovels and dug out random driveways.  All the people we met were very nice and appreciative.  At one point we began to work on one house that looked like the snow hadn’t been moved all winter, and we started to think that it might not have anyone living there.  So we knocked on the door to check.  An older man answered the door, looking quite crippled.  We asked if we could shovel his walkway for him, and he said yes.  I talked with him while Elder Wolsey shoveled a lot.  The man had a stroke 15 years ago, and he never goes anywhere.  He lives alone and only certain parts of his body can work.  He invited us in after we finished and since he was living off of peanut butter and jam, I went through his fridge and made him some glazed, oven-roasted ham so he would finally have a good meal to eat.  It was a really neat experience as we spent part of our Valentine’s evening with Larry and felt such a Christ-like love for him.

On Saturday I had an interesting experience.  After we did several different things during the day, we had dinner with our Bishop and his family.  Going to their home truly humbled me.  I thought the bishop was a “well-to-do” man without any troubles, but we arrived at their house which was a trailer.  It was amazing to me to see how little they have by temporal standards, and yet how much they are willing to serve the Lord.  We had a wonderful dinner with them and I was grateful for the things I learned there.

After dinner we did some contacting and have some good potentials.  We also found a lady who had been baptized in the 70’s but was no longer active.  We had a good chat and even had a prayer together before we left.  My favorite part of the prayer she offered was, “…I thank thee for the good conversation and reminder of thee…even though we’ve had a few glasses of wine…but we know you understand.”

And Sunday we woke up to another blizzard!  We dug ourselves out of our parking lot and made it to church, but there were only 14 people there…total.  I played the piano for prelude, and then we just had the Sacrament and a very short testimony meeting.  The rest of church was cancelled and everyone went home.  Elder Wolsey and I, and the sister went out to do some snow-shoveling contacting.  We did a fair amount of shoveling and I got pretty sore.  I also got rather hypothermic and was pretty frozen the rest of the night, even with blankets and heater bag all over me.  Brrrrrr!!!!! 

Well, I’m sure you get tired of hearing how cold it is here…so do I!  But it really is great and as you can tell, I’m having some amazing experiences!  Keep writing.  I love to hear from you!

Love,

Elder Hunt

 

 

 

Busy, busy, busy!!!

Some pretty cool
architecture in the old buildings!!!

 

Dear Family,

Other than some "bummer" health issues, things are going rather well!  Soooo much work to be done...it's kind of crazy.

On Tuesday we did some training stuff via Skype, then our District meeting...then setting up for a ward activity night that we were putting on...we had a "Minute To Win It" night, complete with instructional videos on how to do each thing, background music, a countdown timer on the big screen, etc.  It was a huge success with nearly 30 people there!  It was the first of our consecutively weekly activity nights.  Everyone had a blast and it was a night of laughter.

We put up posters and flyers for an upcoming concert which is the mission touring group that I've participated in before.  It should be a really good event!

Had a neat experience with a leadership training meeting.  Without going into too much detail, since there aren't adequate words to describe it anyway, all of us leaders were together discussing ideas and opinions about the missionary efforts here.  Well, it became rather chaotic, and going nowhere, but Elder Skinner suggested we pray to know what direction the Lord wanted us to take.  After we prayed, we all went to various rooms where we could be alone to think and pray more.  It was profound what took place with personal revelation.  As we got back together as a group, we could physically feel the difference in the room.  It was a great reminder/lesson how we can so gradually get away from the spirit, and kind of try to do things on our own, without really asking for divine guidance.  And that can end up rather badly.  But when we ask for spiritual guidance, it opens the doors to personal revelation, and brings the spirit back into our lives!  

Note:  I'm ready for winter to be over!!

Sunday, after speaking in church, we did some knocking and found a man who was VERY hard of hearing.  He told us to come back a bit later when his wife was home.  So we did.  At first she said she wasn't interested, but we talked for a bit at the door, and then she let us in "just to warm up," but then she had a lot of questions for us and it was so amazing to see the Spirit work in her as she wanted to know more about the Book of Mormon.  Amazing!  It's these kinds of experiences that make going through all the hard stuff worthwhile.

That's it for now.  Love you all!!

Elder Hunt

"It's okay...this happens ALL of the time!!"

Dear Family,

So, I had a lovely experience this week...maybe Mom can figure out how to load the video...anyway, we were knocking on doors in this Crescent (circle, cul-de-sac, etc.), and we had knocked at nearly every door in extremely cold and icy conditions.  We had been slipping all day long so we were trying to be careful.  Well, a car with some teenagers pulled up in the driveway where we were standing.  I thought everything would be fine because I was just standing there.  I wasn't worried at all.  Two girls and a guy got out of the car and I started talking to them... then WHAM!!!  I ate it so hard on the ice!  Somehow my body slipped and I hit hard on my side and hand.  I didn't really know what to say, because the three teenagers AND Elder Wolsey were trying so hard not to laugh.  So I just said, "Don't worry...this happens all the time..."  Talk about super awkward!!  As we left I realized I was bleeding, so we had to go back and get cleaned up...probably the most hilarious and awkward moment of my mission life!!

On Thursday we got to go to Houlton for exchanges.  It was great working with Elder Skinner again.  We found a family with two kids and they have become new investigators.  When we had the closing prayer we all held hands, at the 4 year old daughters request.  She held my hand and stroked my fingers with her thumb...and it reminded me a lot of home and our family prayers.  We also had a lesson with a Jamaican lady who talked like the guys off of "Cool Runnings."  We also had dinner with the Marshalls, and it was so good to see them again.  We met with Janice afterwards and it was GREAT to see her again.  She's doing so well and is teaching primary.  It made me so happy to see her.  

Back in Fredericton, on Saturday we had dinner with the Seely's, and we had a blast!  She is learning to play the violin, and that was fun to see.  I never thought I'd be where I am today when I first started learning the violin.  I hope she keeps it up!

Elder Wolsey has never had coffee cake, so I made some for him!!!  He loved it!!

That's about all for now.  We do so much work as Zone Leaders that it's hard to find time to write and keep track of stuff.  Sorry!

Love,

Elder Hunt