Week 6 in Vista

Wow, time sure has flown by! I have already been in Vista for SIX weeks!

So, the bad news... English classes last week were a failure :( nobody showed up :( but, tonight, we are going to try again! We had a few people call this yesterday and a few more members have showed some interest too. Fingers crossed!

So, this week, we had a really good lesson with Antonio. He prayed for the first time! It was so cool. He seemed like he was really talking TO God, not at God. Sometimes, I feel like there are a lot of times when we pray, that we just talk AT God. I read somewhere that one of the prophets said that we treat prayer sometimes like a fast food order. We just ask for the things we want and then it's done. But, what we really need to do is talk TO God. I have found a bunch of cool talks from Apostles about prayer and it has really opened my eyes about how sacred and special prayer is. God has given us prayer so that we can ask for help to not only address our needs, but the needs of others as well. I will have to send you some of the talks I found. They are super good.

We also had a really good lesson with a less active family about priorities. This family hasn't been to church in such a long time that the Dad doesn't even remember what priesthood he has... We showed him (http://mormon.org/william/) (http://www.lds.org/pages/mormon-messages?lang=eng&query=sid+going#your-day-for-a-mission) those two videos about two rugby players that gave up their careers in order to serve missions. The second one happened a long time ago and the first one is just barely. They are both super good videos.

The weather here is lousy. Sundays are always nice and sunny, but every single other day is cloudy in the morning, then super hot during the day, then really cold at night. I am never going to live in Vista.

Thanks for the packages! They were so AWESOME!!! I loved everything you sent me! The GPS is a really nice one too. I use it every where we go! (even if I know how to arrive to where we are going) It's fun! Elder Anderson really likes it too. He's the one that is able to play around with it while we are in the car.

Summer vacation just started here. There are some schools that got out 3 weeks ago, some schools got out last week and there are still some schools that are in session! You would think that since summer started, there would be more people outside... Opposite. It's pretty dead when we walk outside. And it's hard to contact people when nobody is walking outside, obviously.

My Book of Mormon Spanish reading is going really good! If you thought Isaiah chapters were hard in English, read them in Spanish. They are a lot more difficult! I just finished 1 Nefi yesterday, but haven't started on 2 Nefi yet. I love Spanish! I am so glad I was called into Spanish work! Life just wouldn't be the same without Spanish!

I am glad you received my package! I was becoming really worried that Elder Josse didn't send it.

That's it for me! This is Elder Anderson's last week as a missionary, so we are going to work HARD!

Have a fantastic week!

Love, Elder Hunt

I Love Pictures

Taylor sent home his SD card from the time he spent in Rancho Santa Margarita.

Enjoy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

So, guess what we are doing tonight? English classes!!! YAY! I love English classes! Elder Anderson served in Mission Viejo about a year ago, and he really liked doing English classes, and I really like doing English classes, so we decided to finally start them up here in Vista. Not only is it a good way of doing missionary work and helping others, but it is a good source of obtaining investigators too. After all, that's how Enrique was found! AND BAPTIZED.

 

So, when I was on exchanges with Elder Ochoa last week, we contacted this one guy named Daniel. Him and his whole family are testigos de Jehovah and he told us he didn't like that church. We asked him what he looked for in a church, and he said "The truth." Man, do we have a church for you! We set up an appointment for the next day (Sunday). We went by, but he wasn't home :( so, we were going to write him off as one of those people that just gave us their info to get rid of us. But, then on Thursday, Elder Anderson and I decided to stop by again. He was home! He seemed a little hesitant at first to let us in, but he did. He told us that he really doesn't like the way the testigos de Jehovah is set up. He doesn't think that that church is the correct one and wants to find the right church. He told us he has been looking for something better in his life, because if has felt like there has been a void recently. Then he said, "I think this is what I have been missing." So cool! So, that was Thursday and we set up a return appointment for Saturday at 2. When we went by at 2, he wasn't there again... So, we thought again that maybe he was just pretending or something... We were back in his area around 7 that night, so we decided to stop by again. And he was home! YAY! And during that whole lesson he was saying things like, "I am not happy. I drink a lot, smoke and go out with my friends, but I am not finding happiness in that. I want to change my life around." So, we talked to him about baptism, and set a baptism date for the 30 de junio! YAY! So, yeah. He's cool. He is a manager at McDonald's. He's 37, but he really looks like early 20s. So, that's Daniel.

 

On Sunday, we taught Antonio! I am pretty sure I told you about him... We taught him about the Restoration and watch the movie The Restoration. I LOVE THAT MOVIE. The Spirit it brings is incredible! (even in Spanish!) There is no doubt in my mind that Jose Smith really saw God and Jesus Christ. He helped them restore the ONLY TRUE church upon the face of the earth. I was reading in 1 Nefi yesterday for language study and I was reading that there are only two churches on the earth: the church of the Lamb of God and the church of the Devil. We are part of the Lamb of God. Other churches are still good, and teach good things, but they are not this church. Therefore, they are part of the Devil. I am so lucky to be a part of this church! WOO! Antonio is progressing good too! He still works on Sunday, which isn't good, but we are working on that.

 

Here's another little thing about how AWESOME the Book of Mormon is and how much POWER it has. Lately, I have been struggling a lot with understanding people when they speak Spanish to me. Not white people, but Mexicans and other people who speak Spanish natively. So, after interviews with President, he told me to start reading el Libro de Mormon. So, I did and my understanding has improved so much more! It's so cool how little things like that work. It's another strengthening of the testimony I have of how powerful that book is. There's nothing better than the Book of Mormon.

 

And that's it. Today is my birthday and I am old. 20! I received all the packages and letters, but haven't opened them yet. I hoped you liked my Spanish letter! I wrote one to Elder Guthrie in Spanish, so and I realized that I hadn't written a Spanish letter to you ever! So, I did! It was fun! Good thing DeVere came to help!

 

In interviews with President Cook, he just asks how you are doing, if there are any concerns with anything, and if you have any questions with any sort of doctrine or something. They only take about 5-10 minutes. We have them every other transfer, so just about every 3 months. He speaks in English! Maybe next time we can try in Spanish!

 

I have been in Vista for a month! Time flies! Elder Anderson goes home the 26 de junio, along with the rest of his district, including Elder Price and Elder Josse. All together, there are about 20 missionaries leaving (almost half of the Spanish missionaries!) I will probably stay in Vista for a little while longer. I am guessing for two or three more transfers (3-4 months). And I will receive a new companion! Elder Anderson really thinks I am going to train a new missionary, but I guess we will have to see...

 

I haven't taken hardly any pictures this transfer... Next week, I will try though!

 

The weather here is a lot like there. Never the same two days in a row. In the mornings, it is SUPER cloudy, like it's going to rain. Sometimes it stays that way, sometimes it changes. You never know!

 

Well, I think that's all! I hope you all have a marvelous week! Thanks for the birthday wishes!

 

Love, Elder Hunt

All in Spanish

Voy a escribir esta carta en puro espanol, está bien?

 

Pues, primero... Just kidding! These past few weeks have been really dead... :( We have had a few good lessons with some investigators with some potential, but we haven't found any new investigators since I arrived here. When I arrived here, we had an investigator that was going to be baptized, but he has pretty much fell off. I met him my first night here, and he seemed super excited! But, since then, we haven't taught him or seen him or anything... :( So, we do not know what happened to him.

 

Another one of our investigators, Antonio, is pretty awesome. He seemed to be losing interest, so we were thinking of dropping him. We taught him the Plan of Salvation this past week and he was asked if the plan had made it want to learn more, and he said yes! So, that's good. The story behind him is that he lives with a less active family that works ALL THE TIME. The less active family gave him to us as a referral and are really excited for him to be taught. But, the family works on Sunday, and Antonio works with them, so they don't come to church... They control when they work, and they choose to work on Sunday... So, that's kind of frustrating. But, Antonio is doing good!

 

Another investigator, Claudia, is super awesome. She is the sister of a member, and she lives with them. She was taught by the missionaries about two years ago and was super excited and was ready to be baptized! But, her husband did not allow it :( so, she couldn't. But, now her husband is in Mexico, and he is not coming back. So, she can be baptized now! The rules are really weird. But, we are teaching her now! She told us she did have the desire to be baptized two years ago, but not now. But, what she doesn't know, is that she really does have that desire. She just needs help to realize it! Her whole family that lives here are all members, and they all really want her to be baptized too.

 

We have a few other investigators, but we haven't been able to meet with them very much, since I arrived here, so I don't know really know them... But, I actually lied. We did get two new investigators on Sunday! La familia Gonzales! They live with another member family, in a little apartment thing on the side of their house. They have been taught by missionaries before, but are really busy, so it is hard to set appointments with them. They have two cute little girls, 5 y 3, and they seem like they have some potential. They really like the temple and the fact that families can be together forever. Hopefully their work schedule settles down, so we can actually find them!

 

Sorry I don't really have anything this week... Next week will be better!

 

I really like all the talks by President Benson about the Book of Mormon. "There is a power in the [Book of Mormon] which will begin to flow into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of the book. You will find greater power to resist temptation. You will find the power to avoid deception. You will find the power to stay on the strait and narrow path.” So true! I have the October issue of the Ensign; the one 100% dedicated to the Book of Mormon. SO AWESOME. I LOVE THE BOOK OF MORMON. BEST BOOK IN THE WORLD.

 

Oh yeah. We had President Interviews yesterday! President Cook is so awesome.

 

And you didn't ask me any questions, so... I hope you have a fantastic week!

 

Love, Elder Hunt :)

First talk!

So... Not very many things happened this week. Last Wednesday we had a cool experience though. When we were on our way to an appointment, there were these two 15 year old kids sitting on one of the green electric boxes, playing around with their skateboard. They seemed like two little punk kids, so we were going to pass them up. But, we ended up talking to them, and it turned out really good! We started to talk to them about mormon.org and that it was a super cool website. Then, we talked about the Book Of Mormon and that Jesus Christ came to the Americas, after he was resurrected. One of the kids was like, "Wow! That's so cool! I didn't know that happened!" He seemed really excited. So, we gave him a card to call to receive a free copy of the Book Of Mormon, and when we were leaving, he pulled out his phone and called the number! It was pretty cool.

 

On Friday, we rode the bus for the first time ever! We had a dinner appointment, and we didn't have the car, and we couldn't find any members to give us a ride... So, we rode the bus! How exciting!

 

On Saturday, I went on exchanges with Elder Gneiting! He came out the same time I did, and it was really cool to see how much we have actually progressed in the mission. His trainer was Elder Josse. We had a few lessons, which was good. Also, when Elder Toronto was here (he went home :( :( :( ), he told Elder Gneiting that if he (Elder Toronto) could choose three Elders out of the group that came out the same time I did to train, it would be Elder Kitchen, Elder Gneiting and me, because Elder Toronto thinks our Spanish is the best out of all the new missionaries. And when this transfer ends, there are a lot of Spanish Elders going home... Scary!

 

Sunday was fun! I gave my first talk ever in sacrament meeting! In Spanish! It was awesome. I was supposed to talk for 7-10 minutes, but I only ended up talking for 5. But, everyone told me it was a good talk, so it's okay! I received a lot of compliments on my Spanish too, which was sweet. A lot of people have been telling me I speak really good Spanish for just 6, almost 7, months. And that's really all the happened this week. Not very much :( This area is kind of dead! But, Elder Anderson and I are working hard!

 

The mission home is really close! Like a 10 minute drive. Better than it was in Rancho! Like a hour or more drive!

 

I don't know if I have told you this yet, but just about every single member, when I tell them where I am from, they say "De la fabrica de los misioneros!" (Of the factory of the missionaries). There are LOTS of missionaries from Utah! Everyone in my district is from Utah, except Hermana Jones (Idaho) and Elder Ochoa (Peru). Everyone from my last district was from Utah also, except Hermana Kohrman (Indiana) and Elder Gibbons (Virginia). Lots of missionaries from Utah!

With our car share, Elder Anderson doesn't like to ride bikes, so we just walk everywhere. Our area is really big, so we usually just work around the same area all the time, unless we get a ride from a member.

 

The weather is really good in Vista! Every morning is super cloudy, like it's going to rain, but then it clears up. It's been a lot more hot, but that's because summer is coming up.

Memorial Day was just like any other day: finding and teaching people. I forgot it was Memorial Day, until I saw a bunch of kids outside, when they should have been in school. Then I was like, just kidding. It's a holiday.

 

Well, I hope you all have a wonderful week! Hopefully next week will be more exciting!

Love, Elder Hunt

VISTA!

WOO! I am in Vista! San Diego County! My new companion is Elder Anderson from guess where? Utah! Cedar City! Also, guess what? He was in the same MTC district that Elder Price and Elder Josse were in. So, when this transfer is over, all my companions (except Elder Simmons and the new one I will receive) will be dying! (going home!) How crazy is that?! I am driving here too! Woo! I love driving! Except we have a car share :( so, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, Elder Anderson and I have the car. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Elder Ochoa and Elder Gneiting have the car. With an area as big as ours, having a car is not fun! There's only so much area that we can cover! But, it's fun walking too! In Rancho, we had full time car, so it's a nice change of pace to not have one. (sometimes). Elder Anderson is a good companion. He is a bit trunky because he goes home in 5 weeks, but he is still working. I really like it here so far. I miss Rancho, but Vista is a really good area too.

So, when I arrived here last week, we went to teach a less active lady and her daughter. Her daughter, 13, hasn't been baptized yet, because her father says he won't allow it until she is 18. She really wants to be baptized, but her dad won't allow it. But, we went to their house yesterday, and he was there! Elder Anderson said he has never seen him before in the 2 months he has been here. So, that was good! From what I could tell, her dad said that she could be baptized if she showed a desire to go to church and not fall away, like her mom has. So, hopefully that will start happening! When we were finished with that appointment (this is last Tuesday), we went to In-N-Out because neither of us had eaten. (Transfer days are SO busy). So, we went to go order, and while we were ordering, so guy walks up, tells us to order and then he paid for us! Then he left with the people he was with. It was so cool!

This area I am in right now is pretty dead. There are like, 4 investigators, which is good, but other than that, not much is happening. One of the investigators had a baptism date for this Saturday, and he seemed really excited to be baptized! But, recently, he has been acting weird and says he has stuff to do and vacation until the end of May... We don't know what's going on with him, but we are sad :(

On Sunday, we had stake conference, where they realeased the old stake presidency and ordained a new one. Two of the Seventys came down and it was pretty cool. One of them quoted President Eyring and said, "The Savior lets us feel his love for those that we serve." Being a missionary, that is so true! As missionaries, we are able to have such love for people we hardly know. When that happens, it's just another testimony builder about how true this Gospel really is. It's really cool. I love being a missionary.

And yesterday, we had Zone Conference! This zone is a lot bigger than the last one I was in. I learned a lot of good things that I can apply to the work I am doing now. President Cook was defintely called of God to come and be a mission president here. He is SO AWESOME.

So, you figured out what was wrong with Jaxon?! Yay! He doesn't have a gallbladder?! That's really strange. Hopefully that's what is wrong with him and the doctors can fix it! That's crazy that he and Dad both had gallbladder problems around the same time.

I did see the ecplise, but definitely not as cool as you did! Or John! It was really cloudy over here in Vista that day, so it was a lot more difficult to see :( but we did see it and it was awesome!

I don't even want to think about turning 20 in a few weeks... I am going to be so old! No more teen years!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KELSEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I didn't have any time to buy a card last week (since it was transfers) but I will buy one today and send it to you! Old lady!

I really like the poster! What's the yellow paper? And all the writing under the colored dots? The picture you sent me was kind of small, so when I zoom in, I can't read it :(

So, I think that's it for this week! I really like it here in Vista so far, and Elder Anderson is a good companion! The work is a little slow right now, but we are going to pick it up!

I love you all!

Love, Elder Hunt

Transfers!

So, I forgot my journal again today... :( Good thing I told you pretty much everything on Sunday! That was a lot of fun talking!

So, I am sending a package home with a bunch of stuff in it. (Hopefully. Today has been pretty dang busy and I hope we will have enough time to send it off before I leave.)

This is what is included:

- My Book Of Mormon from the reading challenge we had as a mission. And the super awesome case I made for it! The book is all marked up with everything I have told you about: red - names of Christ, blue - words of Christ, green - Gospel of Christ. There are some other colors too, orange, purple and yellow, but they don't really have a meaning. Just cool verses.

- A Holy Bible I received from Chris, another basher! Two Saturdays ago, we were on our way to Nico's house, and some guy and his girlfriend drove up to us and asked if we could come over to their house and learn more about the Church. From that approach, we knew they were bashers, but you still have to go over and see if they are really interested. We made an appointment with them for the next Saturday (which was this last Saturday, before Mother's Day). But, turns out they were bashers. They weren't like Christopher basher though. They were definitely more caring. I don't know how to explain it. They were bashers, but they didn't bash... If that makes sense. Probably not. But, at the end of our "lesson", he gave Elder Josse and I both Holy Bibles from his church (Calvary Chapel) with all the Bible language removed (thee, thy, thine, etc.) to make it "easier" to understand. I would take it with me as a souvenir, but I would never even use it. So, I am sending it home!

- Proclaiming The Gospel. This is the book I received for Christmas, but it turns out it is against the rules because it hasn't been approved to be read by the mission :( The book seems like it would be super good, but since it is against the rules, I cannot read it :( :( :(

- Spanish book! I found a Spanish book in the drawer when I got here. It's an older version of the one I already have, so I am sending it home so other people can study Spanish! It's a super good book.

- A DVD of a talk by Elder Holland in the MTC last July! Oh my goodness, this talk is SO GOOD. President Cook uses this talk a lot in Zone Conferences and stuff, and so I made a copy, so you could see it! He is such a powerful speaker! Super good talk. Watch it and tell me what you think!

- My Avengers watch case. I have the watch, but I have no need for the case it came in. I bought it about 2 months ago at Kohl's. It was on sale and it was Avengers, so I had to get it! I have heard the movie was really good! Lots of people have told me, and I want to go watch it so bad... But, in 18 months!

- A water bottle from Mission Viejo City! When we did Mormon Helping Hands, they gave out water bottles to all the volunteers that were helping. I have no use for it whatsoever, but I wanted to keep it as a souvenir, so I am sending it home :)

- My Spanish dictionary from the MTC! I have no use for this either, because I now have the translator/dictionary/basically everything tool I received from Elder Morgan! It has a lot of funny, strange words marked too, so you will have to look at those

- A program from the baptism of Enrique! YAY! I thought you would like to see a program too! That baptism was soooooo awesome! So is Enrique! Also, since he received the Priesthood 2 Sundays ago, he passed la Santa Cena this past Sunday! He told us he was really nervous before and then when sacrament meeting was over, we asked him about it and he said he had no reason to worry! It was easy! Oh man, it was awesome. We were talking with Hermano Crowder last night too, and he said the ward is going to give Enrique a calling as a ward missionary! YAY! He is going to be such a good ward missionary.

- SD card! Pictures! I have had this SD card since I arrived in Cali, so it has pictures of my last two days in the MTC, and everything since then. If you need an explanation of any of the pictures, just ask :)

- My old Book Of Mormon! Another cool thing I received that I don't really have any use for in the field... It's super awesome, but I already have like 3 Books of Mormon haha.

- My Batman thing! I already told you about it and I have 0 use for it out here, so I am sending it home too! Maybe you could put it with all the other video game collector things we have.

 

So, these are things that I can remember that happened this past week. On Friday, we had an activity del dia de las madres. The activity went really good. We had a lot of investigators show up and get to know some more of the members. Olga showed up too! Remember Olga?! I was SUPER surprised to see her there! It was so awesome. So, on Fridays is when we do weekly planning. We finished about 4:30 ish and were about to head to leave and work when we received a call from Elder Gibbons and Elder Chavez asking if we could help set up for the activity. Hermano Crowder was supposed to call us two days earlier and ask, but he forgot. So, we went to the church to help set up. We set everything up and then started to help with the food too. The activity was supposed to start at 6:30-7:00, but didn't end up starting until 8:30! Hahahahahahahahahaahahahaha!!! That's what happens when you mix Mormon time and Latin time! Church here never starts on time haha. It's always like, 5 minutes late. So, we stayed at the party until 9, then went home. It was awesome.

 

Yesterday we had a pretty cool experience. We were walking in this area called Madero and there was this lady we started talking to. She was buying some food from a street vender, and so we thought about just leaving them alone and finding some more people. But, we stayed and had an awesome experience. Her husband was arrested 3 days ago and today he is going to court and will most likely be deported. She was having such a difficult time handling it because he was working a lot and bringing in most of the money. She started to cry and tell us how difficult life was right now. So, we shared with her a little of the Book of Mormon and the Proclamtion to the World. She seemed a lot more happy when we left, and she seems really prepared for the Gospel. It is really strange how the Lord prepares people for the Gospel. Elder Josse and I were talking about it, and that white people are a lot less receptive to the Gospel because they usually don't have to go through a lot of the trials as other races.

 

Well, it's time to go! Next week you will find out where I am and who my new companion is! I hope everything goes well with everything! I love you all! If there is anything else super exciting, I will make sure to tell you next week!

 

Love, Elder Hunt