Meeting Elder Holland...and More!

Dear Family,
There sure have been lots of blessings and exciting things happen this week!  I'll see if I can remember them all.

ONE goose egg. . . filled the pan!

Storm'e is doing well and progressing in the gospel.  We've moved her baptism date to May 11th to
accommodate more people that can come from her family.  And that actually works very well for me because I can perform in the musical concert series in Bathhurst on May 4th.  We've taught a lot this week and had some really good discussions and progression with people. After one such discussion, and having to really be direct in removing some of the "distractions," one of our investigators is committed to baptism on May 18th.  Even the strep throat I've been fighting had a hard time keeping my joy down!

We had our District meeting in Caribou and I made it through that on Tuesday, but the rest of the day we stayed in because of my being so sick.  Having to stay in is the WORST!!  But we got a lot done around the apartment and Elder Clark made me some chicken and broccoli for dinner!
Wednesday was one of my favorite days of being a missionary!  While travelling to Danforth to teach George Tarbell, I saw a big moose in the trees!  It made my day!  Then, by the end of our lesson with George he agreed to be baptized, but didn't set a date yet.  That made me REALLY happy!  Driving home I saw a big bald eagle right on the side of the road.  That was sweet, too!  And when we left Tarbell's, she gave me an envelope that Porter and Celeste Nelson had left behind for me.  In it was a big gift certificate to Grammy's!!  That was really nice of them!

Later we were driving home from a lesson and were riding with Bro. Robertson, and we got pulled over by a cop,  It was pretty funny...all was good though, and we went on our way.  Heading across the border to go to Canada there was some pretty intense checking due to the stuff that happened in Boston.
We had a good dinner appointment at the Marshall's, and then we went to teach the Shaws again.  But instead they told us they "weren't interested."  That was disappointing, but as we walked away from the house, I noticed a guy smoking on his balcony across the street.  We got talking about what we are doing so far from home and what we share.  He invited us in and we had the best visit.  Strange how being "dropped" by one person can actually lead you to a family who is prepared to hear the gospel message.  It's hard to describe situations and emotions in writing . . . but that situation made me feel real good.
We ended up teaching 9 lessons on Wednesday which is pretty good for our mission!  As we approached the border to return to Houlton, there were two HUGE moose crossing the highway.  We stopped and had a stare-down for a bit, and eventually they kept going.  They were massive!!  And Elder Clark was so glad he got to see them since he missed seeing the first one I saw.

Bloody nose...yuck!!

A couple more days with being sick and working through it all was SO much fun.  Won't tell you about my disgusting bloody nose a couple of times, nor will I tell you about the humongous cold sore that attacked my lip, as if I needed one more thing to make me feel wonderful!!  But it's alright!!  It could be worse!!

Elder Nzojibwahmi and Elder Hunt meet up at Stake Conference!!
Best reunion ever!!

On Sunday morning we got up at 3:00 a.m. so that we could shower and be ready to leave by 4:30.  We made our way to Fredericton, New Brusnwick, and with the border crossing, the time changes, etc., it was almost 7:00 by the time we made it.  We got there early enough to get soft seats on the 5th row.  The meeting was to start at 9 and by 8:00 a.m. the whole place was filling up too much, so the missionaries all got kicked to the back of the church.  Then, 15 minutes later, we got completely kicked out and banished to the Primary Room to watch it on TV.  But as we sat in there, Bro. Judd (one of the high councilmen I really like) came and asked E. Clark and me to come back into the main room.  He asked us to sit with this guy who looked really nervous and was alone.  So we were the only missionaries lucky enough to be in the chapel where Elder Holland spoke.  The guy we sat by was from Panama, and it was great to sit with him.

Elder Holland and Elder Gifford Nielsen (newly sustained to the Quorum of the Seventy) gave excellent talks.  I wish I could write everything down.  Our investigator, Storm'e was there to hear it too, and she was able to sit up very close to the front.  She enjoyed it a lot, and I think it was a really good spiritual time for her.  It's always good to feel the spirit that comes when so many strong, active members are gathered in one place.

After the main meeting, there was another meeting for just the missionaries and the youth with the general authorities.  Wow!  It was so powerful!  One of the things that really had an impact on me was when Elder Holland asked us to pledge 10 years of our lives, ages 12 to 22, to the Lord and follow Him completely.  He promised us, "If you will devote those 10 years of your life to the Lord, the other 90 that you live will be the happiest you could possibly have."  He compared it to a spiritual tithing, of giving 10 years out of the 100 you could live, which I thought was a great analogy!

Afterwards I was able to shake hands with Elder Gifford and Elder Holland.  It was so great to meet yet another Apostle of the Lord!

After most everyone left, the missionaries all gathered around and sang "Happy Birthday" to President Leavitt!  What a great day Sunday was!!

Now, family, I'm glad that most all of you are going to be together in Salt Lake on the 1st anniversary of Denzel's death.  Please don't worry about me.  Being a full-time missionary, I have a special portion of the Spirit to be with me, for which I am very grateful!  I'm also glad that you'll get to be there when baby Kate is born, AND that you are all going to Erika's dance performance.  That means a lot to me, too.  Thank you for loving her. :)

AND it's Kristy's birthday on Wednesday!!  Kristy, I hope you have a WONDERFUL day, and I'll be singing "Tradition Tradition" with my hands in the air up here...maybe not...but I will be thinking about you.  I love you.

Well, I guess that's all for now.  There's so much going on with all of this, and getting ready for Nat's wedding.  I'm excited that I will get to Skype with you for Mother's Day the day after Nat and RJ get married.  I'm really looking forward to that!  I love being a missionary, and we are being so blessed with great people to teach.  This is an amazing experience.  I am learning LOTS!

Love,
your son and brother,
Elder Hunt

Look what hopped into our car. . . 

Maybe another hat???