Dear Family,
Last Monday’s P-day was very different in Houlton. It’s so much more laid back! We got to do our emailing at the super “old-school”
library, then got groceries. I’m loving
the price of groceries here! We made
some homemade crispy chicken sandwiches since we don’t have a Wendy’s anywhere
near here. I bought some hair cutters
and gave myself a haircut. And we played
“mini-golf” in the hallway at the church.
Fun times.
In the evening we had dinner with the Robertson’s and
afterwards we stopped by Sister Beasley’s place to visit her. She has a VERY old violin, and the minute I
picked it up I could tell! As I played
the violin, it had AMAZING tone and I could tell it was high quality. We looked at the tag inside the violin: Nikolaus Amatus Fecit – Cremona – 1645. I was playing on a 368 year old violin! And when we looked it up online, the violin
turned out to be very rare, and is worth a lot of money! Sister Beasley’s going to take it to a
specialist and get it verified. AND she
is also letting me use it while I’m in the area! How cool is that?!?!
On Tuesday we went to Caribou (Maine) for a district
training meeting. We picked up Elders
McIntyre and Tusa in Presque Isle on the way.
Elder Tusa is a big Samoan, and I love him to death. It’s great to be in a district with E.
West. He’s from Morgan, Utah and he came
out the same time I did. I’ve always wanted to serve with him, so it’ great to
be around him, and we get along really well.
After the district meeting, which was really good, we went out for
pizza. After that we split up for
exchanges, so for the rest of the day I was with Elder Tusa in Presque
Isle. We were knocking, and this guy
opened the door and said he wasn’t interested. 
So we kept going down the street, knocking. As we got rejected again a few house down, we
walked back onto the street, and there was that guy, just staring at us. I walked back to him and began to talk. He eyes swelled up with tears, and they began
to run down his face. He said that he was
going through a rough time, and then walked back into his house. I thought about him all night. I went back and gave him our card and number,
and he really appreciated it. I hope he
realizes that we (the gospel) can help him through this tough time. Even though I don’t know him, I feel so much
love for him, and I feel his hurt and sorrow upon myself and want the best for
him.
After exchanging back with Elders Clark and McIntyre, it
felt so good to be “back at home” with
my regular companion. We’re just
instantly loving each other, so we have a great time. Still can’t believe how fast mail is here!!
On Thursday the 28th, Elder Clark and I had a
dinner appointment in Canada with the Street’s, who are very funny and very
English. So naturally it was a great
time! It began to snow where we were
driving there and eating dinner. When we
got done and went to leave, there was about 5” of new snow. So we drove carefully and came to a hill,
where we saw someone that was stuck. We
got out and went to help. We met a young
lade and her boyfriend. We helped them figure
out the whole situation with their car, getting it unstuck and up the hill, and
of course we talked about the gospel, too.
Hopefully they will be willing to listen to use later on. It’s always so cool how we are placed in
people’s paths, and even though we were rushing to another appointment, it all
worked out, and we made it to our lesson with Flo, who is getting baptized on
Saturday.
At that appointment Flo asked Elder Clark to baptize her and
me to confirm her. When she said the
prayer after our lesson, she asked for blessings to be upon us Elders to help
us resist temptation and keep the commandments.
Most people forget that missionaries are still normal people, and face
temptation every day, like everyone else.
So I was grateful for her prayer and understanding.
On Friday we went outside to drive to an appointment, but
the car battery was dead…so we decided to walk instead. We had to walk down to the church through all
the snow, and we saw some great scenery and I had fun walking across a big,
deep frozen river, which was pretty sketchy because I didn’t know where it was
actually frozen since there was snow on top.
(Too much information for THIS mom!) But we made it to the church where the
branch had a “chili cook-off” And Elder
Clark and I were the judges!! It was a
lot of fun eating and socializing. I
felt badly when we found out that Flo had come to the church, but didn’t
realize where the cook-off was being held, didn’t see anyone, so went back
home. It would have been so good for her
to have the association with the branch members, but things have worked out.
On Saturday Flo was baptized after some long hours of
concern, worry, and talking. Elder Clark
and I had to go over to the other chapel (Houlton’s chapel doesn’t have a font
in it), and it hadn’t been used for quite awhile…there had been a fly
infestation and we had to vacuum up over 500 flies throughout. AND we were very concerned about the font
being filled in time. But it all worked
out. The font was full by the time the
program started. I spoke on Baptism and
Elder Clark performed the ordinance. All
of the previous feelings throughout the day of fear, nerves, stress, etc., were
all taken away and replaced with the comforting spirit, which brought peace and
love. Flo expressed her joy, good
feelings, and happiness as well, which really helped me to feel better, and
know that she was ready for baptism. 
I am learning SO much from all of my experiences. I’m learning to trust the Lord, and my faith
is growing as I have these amazing things to go through. I’m learning how hard I need to work, harder
than I thought possible, and then the Lord comes through and makes up the
difference. I’m reading a TON of
scriptures and other church books. Every
chance I get I read. Some of what I’m
reading or have finished is: “Our Search
For Happiness,” Doctrine and Covenants,
Pearl of Great Price, Book of Mormon (again), up to 2nd Kings in the
Old Testament, and The Miracle of Forgiveness, which is definitely my
favorite! I love reading these words of
God and His leaders. AND getting to
attend the CES Devotional Sunday evening was great, too! Elder Bednar gave a remarkable talk that
contained many things I needed to hear.
I love the way my life is being blessed with new insights/understanding
of the Gospel and how it can bless/benefit my life now and in the future. Serving a mission is an incredible
blessing. A lot of work, but a great
blessing!!
Love you all!
Elder Hunt
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