Sons of Thunder...Literally?!?!

MEMORY LANE. . . Peter Pan goes on a mission!!!
But what's with the blue tongue, Elder Hunt???

Dear Family,

Well, some fun things, and not-so-fun things...like usual.  Last Monday night was a rough night of sleeping since our whole district got together, and I ended up sleeping on the bare floor in a room that 

Elder Thompson and Me

was about 90 degrees and no AC.  It wasn't much of a night of sleeping, but more waiting it out til morning came.  But it worked out okay, and then we all headed up to Moncton for Zone conference, which was really great.  Elder Thompson and I were asked to do a musical number, but we never had time to practice, so during lunch we found an arranged medley of Amazing Grace, Now We Take 

The Sacrament, and How Great Thou Art.  We played through it once before we performed and it went pretty well, all things considered.

One night this week we went to a Pentacostal Bible Study meeting a lady had invited us to.  Our appointments for the evening had fallen through, it was raining like a hurricane, so we decided to go.  It was very interesting and was a good experience.  We had some good talks with people there and we probably talked to them more about our missions than they talked to us about their doctrine.

Another day we did some service for Lucky, gave another investigator a tour of the church; we stopped in at Ben's and Molly's.  She dealing with a lot with the new baby and everything, but she's still reading and praying and wanting to be baptized.  She even took the Book of Mormon to the hospital so she could read there.  Later we got eaten by bugs again, but came across an English Riding Course.  We talked with the people there and also saw some beautiful horses!  We did a lot of walking and knocking, just steady going.  Lots of work is getting done and time goes by fast, even though it's really humid and hot out here!

Friday we were out contacting when a big thunderstorm rolled in and we got drenched!  I've never seen thunderstorms roll in so fast as I have out here...blue skies one minute and 10 minutes later there's no blue sky in sight!  For dinner that night we went to Janice's and had a great meal with her and her parents, then an amazing lesson.  She definitely gets the "Best Recent Convert" Award!  Afterwards, we stopped in downtown Woodstock to take pictures of the incoming storm.  The clouds were nearly BLACK!  There were lightning strikes going on like crazy for nearly an hour.  The clouds were funnel clouds...aka tornado style...and we could see them swirling pretty bad.  I was surprised we didn't have an actual tornado, considering there was one a couple of days earlier that tore up the town of Danforth (30 minutes south of Houlton).  But we did get an incredible sunset!!

On Saturday we helped a member build a big, wooden fruit/vegetable stand.  Elder Edmond and I masterminded the design and built the doors for it.  It was pretty fun since Elder Edmond knows carpentry really well, and I enjoyed working with him.  After that we went straight to a dinner hosted by Donald (the chef guy), with him, his wife and 4 other guests.  During the course of the dinner we were offered wine and beer...which we declined.  Later we were offered coffee and tea...declined again.  But in both cases it gave us the chance to talk about the church and what we do as missionaries.  It was a great evening of discussions, and also Donald made me play the violin and piano for everyone.  By the end of the evening we had become really good friends with everyone, and now they love us.  I got invited to each of their church's in town to play for their services...to bad they conflict with our meeting schedule.  One guy (Roger) liked us so much he had us follow him home to his place and showed us his huge art studio.  He's quite the phenomenal painter and is also a 2-time Maine chess champion!

Sunday was a great day at church.  Our investigator, Mike, came for the first time.  He actually knew some of the members, so that was great, and things went very well.  After meetings the branch had it's Linger Longer, and we took a bit longer getting out to work.  I thought it would either be a really not-so-good day since it took us longer, OR it would be a great day so the Lord could remind me how great it is to get out and start working.  Well, after I thought that we knocked on the door of this 19 year old kid.  He instantly came onto the porch and invited us to sit down.  He had just started reading the bible a week earlier (after not doing anything with church since he was a little kid).  We taught him the restoration and he is so stoked about the gospel!!  He even committed to baptism on Sept. 14th!!  A really cool thing happened with that too!  It's just so great getting to be a part of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ!

I hope you have a great week.  Keep praying for the missionary work to go forward.  It helps!

Love,

Elder Hunt

 

 

   

Elder Hunt...the Country Boy!!

Dear Family,

Last week our P-day was really good.  We went around to a bunch of different music stores, playing around on instruments, and looking for a recording mic for me to use.  Nothing too great turned up today, but I'll keep looking.We taught a few lessons that night, had some interesting experiences with being offered weed and heroin...to get rid of us...and it worked.  But also met some good people, too.

On Tuesday I did an exchange with Elder Evanson (a zone leader in Frederickton) after our District meeting in Caribou.  It was really fun because we knew each other back in the city and got along really well.  He's from Lethbridge, Alberta, and he plays rugby.   We had a few lessons throughout the day, and then we walked downtown Fredericton...MUCH bigger than Houlton...bigger, but not necessarily better!)
There were so many people there, and it's just a very different feel than back in Houlton.  Did some contacting on the big walking bridge.  Talked to a lot of people there.  Then we met some guys that were chipping golf balls from their front yard grass, across the main road, into a grass field with a hole in it.  They offered me a chance to try it, so I chipped one with a club...a perfect, one-hopper, right over to the hole.  :)  It was a great exchange day all the way around!

Wednesday - I got to go to a second district training with Elder Evanson.  It's always fun to have a "double-dose" of trainings.  We then had a lesson with Cassie, a great 19 year old investigator who's getting baptized next week.  Then we went down this street that was super ghetto!  We talked to tons of people from Congo, Africa, Columbia, Russia and the list goes on.  Even threw a rugby ball around with a guy who is on the New Brunswick Provincial Rugby team.  After that we drove back to Woodstock and exchanged back  We had dinner with the Marshalls and then we went with Bro. Marshall to visit Janice.  We had such a good lesson with her.  She's speaking in church on Sunday!  Only a month after her baptism!  What a special lady she is!!

On Thursday I learned that taking two allergy pills is NOT a good thing.  It was also a day of people not answering their doors, or hiding from us, etc.  We had dinner with the Spinneys and then I used his metal detector to see if it would help me find a special ring I lost on the 4th of July.  No luck.
Sister Peters also called to let us know that Molly had her baby that night.  Baby Noah weighed 7 lbs 1 oz and was 20 inches long.  I'm so happy for Ben and Molly!

Friday we did some more service at Brother Bosvert's house.  We finished digging our 5' deep square for him to use for a wood pile.  It took us a little while, and was pretty hot again, but I really enjoyed going over there and helping him out.  After our service, his son took us down and showed us some of their horses.  They have some big Clydesdales, Belgians, Norwegians, and stallions.  Some great, big work horses that double as riding horses.  If I'm still here in the winter they're going to hook up their sleigh and take us for a carriage ride!!

On Saturday Bro. Robertson took us to the Tarbells.  We did service there, and cut up a bunch of wood.  I got eaten alive by bugs again, despite my bug spray.  Even had a big moose fly bite a pretty good chunk out of my head and it bled a lot.


Had a skype interview with President Leavitt in the evening, then made some home-made meatballs with spaghetti for dinner.  After that we had a contact referral.  It was for a member in Preque Isle who's mother lives in Houlton.  They have an incredibly nice house, complete with a HUGE, nice yard.  She invited us in, got us lemonade, and for the next 45 minutes talked about what the missionaries do, and the conversion of her daughter's family.  Then, the next 45 minutes we taught the restoration.  A lot of really cool things happened, and it's exciting to see the way the Lord has been preparing her and her husband to be receptive to our message.  It was a really special experience, and I'm looking forward to teaching them.


The Country boy in Elder Hunt is really starting to come out!!

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday was a great day at Church.  It was really geared toward missionary work and our branch is doing a really good job with trying to implement the new technologies to help do missionary work.  After church, we were walking down an old country road with only about a million trees around us, when about 30 yards away a big shotgun went off.  It scared us half-to-death because it sounded and felt like someone was shooting at us.  We kinda took cover for a minute before we realized they probably weren't aiming for us.  It was a pretty startling moment.

All in all, it has been a pretty good week.  We are being blessed with some really good people to teach, and I love being in this area!!

I was so excited to hear that Harrison is now in the MTC.  He's going to be such a great missionary!!  I love knowing that we're "in this together!"  Missionary work is HARD, but it's also GOOD!  It's amazing to be a part of the great work that is going forward.  There is no other place I would rather be at this particular point in my life.  I know the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored to the earth, and I'm so glad I have this time to serve as a missionary and share the truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Hope you all have a great week!!

Love,

Elder Hunt

4th of July in Houlton, Maine!!

Dear Family,
Here in Houlton they have a thing called "Midnight Madness," where there are hundreds of booths are set up for food, concerts, games, etc.  It's the works!  Everyone in Houlton and surrounding areas was there.  So Elder Edmond and I walked around and talked to a lot of people.  It was boiling hot and everyone was sweatin' up a storm!!  There was one booth with music stuff, so I looked at a violin, and the lady running the booth let me set up the bridge and everything on it, and then let me play it for the night.  So, most of the night I stood on the street at the town square in downtown Houlton, and played the violin.  I had a few really large groups at certain points, and a lot of people listened to me play.  It was a cool opportunity.  I got lots of compliments and had many people take pictures of me.  AND the bugs were out in full force, too!  I counted a grand total of 60 bites all over me in ONE NIGHT!

Oh I forgot to mention, we did a couple of hours of HARD labor service for a member earlier today, and forgot to put on sunscreen...we got fried!


Thursday was the 4th of July.  We watched the big Houlton parade in the morning and then went to a large get together at the Carters.  A lot of people were there and we played volleyball and softball.  I actually ended up winning the softball game with a walk-off home run!  I forgot to put sunscreen on all afternoon though.  Then I really started to look like a deep-fried tomato.  Later we went to the Peters' and Storm'e was visiting for the weekend.  She had bought me a tie for my birthday!  That evening Elder Edmond and I parked out in the potato fields to watch the fireworks.  All in all, it was a great day, but I paid a hefty price that night...burning all over because of the sunburn AND itching all over because of the bug bites!  NOT a good combo!!  However, I still felt extremely grateful for our freedom in this country, and for all of those who have paid that price, to make it this way.

 

 

  

 
On Friday Elder Edmond's and my sunburns were SO bad that we weren't able to accomplish much.  AND we still don't have AC in our apartment, so it's like a sauna in there.  Even at 9:30 p.m. we drip sweat with three fans blowing on us!!  It has been a long, hot week!  I think so many things combined, along with the holiday, really hit me hard and I had my own personal mini-meltdown...missing home, my family, loved ones, etc.  Being on a mission and trying to be a good missionary is the hardest thing I've ever done!  But I'm also thankful for the experience and all of the things it's teaching me.  And I feel to be an instrument in the Lord's hands to help so many people.

Saturday was another rough day...we worked at Lucky's hose doing service for nearly 2 hours.  We DID wear sunscreen, AND I wore a hat, but my already sunburned skin just got worse!  My forehead turned into full-on blisters, which were rather painful and gross.  I got a huge cluster of canker sores below my lip from the sun...plus the biggest canker sore I've ever had inside my lip...it's huge and it hurts!!  Plus a bunch of NEW bug bites, too!!  I felt one bite the top of my ear, which took a little chunk out, and it just dripped with blood from that one bite!  So, things have been rather "challenging," but I also know it could be much worse!

Farmer SUNBURN!!

Sunday was a big blessing even though I woke up to my face peeling off and people joking about my "leprosy" at church!!  I LOVE going to church every single week because of the spiritual strength it gives me.  I'm able to be clean from my mistakes, and feel the spirit so strong.  Today was a good, emotional fast and testimony meeting, and I really needed to hear some of the things that were said.  Sister Hann shared 1 Peter 1:7 which talks about how the trial of our faith precedes the blessings...and how the trials we face are more precious than gold.  I would not have thought that true many months ago, but now I understand it and it's true.  Without our trials, we would be lost in ignorance and have no chance for salvation.  So, I'm grateful for my trials (sunburns and subsequent 'leprosy' look, bug bites, bad knee, heat wave, cold sores, canker sores, no AC, just to name a few!), because I know I'm learning from them, and I will be a better person because of that learning and growth.  I'm loving it!!  And I'm also confident that next week will be a lot better!!

Love,
Elder Hunt

(Elder Hunt is very "a-pealing!!"  AKA "Leprosy Man!"  This too shall pass, Elder Hunt!!)

My First Birthday As A Missionary...

Dear Family,
What a great week!!  Not only was it my birthday, but we've seeing lots of progress in the missionary work out here!
Last Monday during P-day we did a puzzle.  It is such a nice stress-reliever; I'm sure I will be doing puzzles my entire life!!  That evening we had dinner at the Wilkinson's.  They smoked an entire turkey and it was incredibly delicious!!  Also that night, we met a guy named Jake.  As we talked with him on his doorstep he said that he's been really looking for and seeking guidance from God lately...and we showed up.  He is so genuine and is very knowledgeable about the scriptures.  We taught him the restoration and he's now reading the Book of Mormon.
We are still being eaten alive by the hordes of Maine bugs!!
Tuesday, we had District training in Caribou.  I gave 90 minutes of training, and then we went to Pizza Hut for an early celebration of my birthday.  I went on exchanges with Elder Tusa after that.  We did a lot of walking and knocking in the hottest weather I've ever been in.  It was 90 degrees with 100% humidity...
it was brutal!  However, we had some success too.  We stopped by a referral we had gotten from last week's funeral, and now there are three new investigators, which is great for that area!!  We also got to visit the O'connell family who was baptized a few weeks ago.   They are the coolest family!  They have 9 kids ages 6-27.  One of the girls picked some fresh strawberries for us and we had the mtost delicious strawberry shortcake!  They also had a violin, so I played a few pieces for them.  Bill O'connel and I got along great because he played college sports, too!  It was a great night for Elder Tusa and I.
On Wednesday we exchanged back.  Since we were low on miles (being the end of the month), we walked all over Houlton, which really tweaked my knee.  It got really sore and stiff.
Thursday we taught Jake again.  He's fascinated by what he's read in the Book of Mormon and he's sharing all the things he's learning with his roommates, and teaching them as well.  But, just so you don't get the wrong idea, thinking EVERYONE is happy to meet us,  we also met a guy who basically said, "I'll see you in Heaven, and God will tell you that the Mormon's were wrong!"  That was pretty funny, and even though we tried really hard we couldn't help but laugh.  :)
FRIDAY WAS MY BIRTHDAY!  I turned 20 years old and am no longer a teenager!  (Amazing!!  I FINALLY don't have any teenagers!!...only 9 more years and I'll have GRANDKIDS that are teenagers!!)
Birthdays on a mission are much different, but a lot of people made mine incredible.  For presents, I got:  St. John's Wort, a clothes steamer, Ding-dong cupcakes, Albertson's Chocolate chip cookies (my favorite!), a nice, new white shirt, and a really nice Braun electric shaver!  All of that was from my parents.  AND I got a great new watch from Erika!!  I also got a card from Kristy and Chris.  Elder Edmond took me out to lunch at the new "Amatos" restaurant, and it was delicious!  For dinner we were at Carters and they made a big lemon cake with 20 candles on it!  I also received a phone call from my trainer, Elder Deem,.  It was really good to talk to him!  Then, after that, Elder Nzojibwami (my MTC companion, who HAD been serving in New Brunswick) called to wish me a happy birthday.  I was so happy to talk to him.  He's now an Assistant to President Leavitt, and is just a stud!  Overall my birthday was great!  And I feel so blessed to have so many people that care about me and show that love, too!!  Thank-you!!
On Saturday we had a lesson with Mike L.  We started outside where I cut his hair with my clippers.  I must have cut 4 inches of hair from his length.  It was a lot!  And that was my first "barber" experience without it being another missionary.  We taught him the Plan of Salvation and he committed to baptism on August 15th.  (Happy birthday, Brandon!!)  It was a really good, spiritual lesson.  Later, we had a lesson with Dan D.  We met him a couple of days ago.  We had been walking down the street and I saw a guy sitting on his porch, but we were going the other direction so I didn't think much about it.  But then I was prompted otherwise and we went and talked with him and set up our lesson for Saturday.  Well, it went great!  We taught him the Plan of Salvation and he really opened up.  He's 24 and going through some hard things, and has been looking for guidance from God.  Well, he's getting it!
Church was really good on Sunday.  Brother Peters was called to be the new Young Men's President, which is incredible!  We also watched part of the Missionary broadcast in the combined meeting.  I can't wait to see when our specific mission gets to try these new technologies.
Sundays are very busy as a DL.  That's when there are lots of phone calls, etc. for reporting.  My knee is doing pretty good.  Same twinge of something messed up, but my body is adjusting to just dealing with it and compensating, so that's good.
So, that's it for now.  Thanks, again, for making my birthday so great!

Love you all!!

Elder Hunt