WEEK #62 The Trenches

Hey everybody!!  So things are going good here in The Trenches o sea Trincheras!!  The weather is finally starting to cool down a little which is nice!  Plus I got a sweet new cooling towel from the fam that is crazy cool and keeping me cool as well.  So good getting a package this week from them!!  Sooo much American Candy!  Seriously the best!

So this week went pretty well!  Finally starting to work with the members a lot more which helps so much!  We found this sweet guy last week named Moses who is super pilas and loves the Book of Mormon!  We watched The Testaments with him and his family (you guys gotta watch that!)  and he told us that he loved it and said he wants to believe that Christ came to the Americas and he feels deep down that its true but its just a lot to take in!  So we read Alma 32 with him and it was perfect and hes super smart and basically taught himself and told himself what he needs to do which is experiment with the words we are teaching and pray to know if they are true!  It was super cool and then he got out his guitar which is the same guitar I played the other week cause him and the other kid Cesar are brothers come to find out and he could actually play and what was funny is both of our 2 favorite songs to play were the exact same!  Dust in the Wind and Stairway to Heaven haha what a coincidence!!  Then we started talking about lifting and other stuff too!! This guy is way legit and it gets even better!  Hes married!!  I so hope this one goes over good!!  It would be sooo coool!!

Also Elder Hadley has been teaching us how to skinny ties so thats been fun and stressful cause I suck at sewing.  Learning though so thats good!

Our ward missionary leader is a boss!  He gave us last week a reference of an entire family granted they have to get married but theyve been coming to church and we had a pretty cool first lesson with them!!  Gonna watch the Restoration video with them here soon!!  Miguel is soo pilas!  We could be baptizing in the future this entire family with the help of Miguel and his wife!!!  Excited for that!

Rosa is still as pilas as ever and is gonna get married soon in November and we have her baptism date planned as well as little Jefferson who is her nephew whos gonna get baptized as well with her!  Hes a funny little kid!  

Funny thing that happened this week was that we started our fast in the church on Saturday and then we went out to teach Rosa and she wasnt there so we sat down and taught Jefferson instead!  My comp was super tired and a little out of it and me too.  But what happened next was that the older brother Victor came out who is a member and gave us both glasses of Pepsi.  Ririe says thank you without thinking and starts chugging the Pepsi to get rid of his sleepiness and headache and I was thinking either and started to drink a little and then it tasted so good and I realized that we were fasting and we were outside on dirt so I spit out my Pepsi and Ririe looks at me like why would you do that and then he realized we were fasting as well!  Anyway the kids asked us what happened and we told them we had forgot we were fasting for a sec.  Just goes to show how tired we were I guess.  But the funny part is is that we asked one of the kids to open with the opening prayer and as he was praying he said Thanks for this Day Thanks that the Elders could come over, Please forgive Elder Hunt... and Elder Ririe for drinking Pepsi while fasting.  Etc.  It was so funny!   I thought he was gonna say Elder Hunt for wasting his Pepsi, but it was all good.  But ya oooops.

Anyway that was about it for my week!  Been getting super tired lately but thats good cause were working hard.  I hope you all have a great week and enjoy the leaves changing and the cold weather coming in!!  Also good look on the opening of the Deer Hunt!  Wish I could be there with you all!  

Love Elder Haden

WEEK #61 General Conference Weekend

Hey guys!  I hope you all had a great week this past week and that you were all able to enjoy the conference talks as well!!  They were sooo good!  If anyone didnt see them make sure to go back and watch them.  Its worth it!  We are so privileged to know this restored gospel and know without a doubt that our church is guided by Jesus Christ through his prophet and apostles!  Were so privileged to be apart of the only true church on earth and to be able to receive instruction and advice and encouragement to be better disciples of Jesus Christ.  How cool is it to know that we have these great men to guide us and tell us the things that God himself would have us know?  Makes you wanna share it with others.

Today was so fun.  Took a trip down memory lane.   We woke up and went to the beach!!  I haven't been back there since a year ago when I was in Puerto Cortes taking it back to my first area.   and it was so good to see it again!  We drove right through my area I had worked in and it was so cool to be back there again.  Funny cause that place is still embedded in my head like it was yesterday and it was a year ago.  Miss it!

So this week was good!  We had some really good progress with our investigators.  Getting some good lessons in.  Had some divisions on Tuesday with my old comp Elder Baird!  Haha great going out with him again!  Had a good time with him and my comp!  Played some good Monopoly that night and got a good guitar playage in!  

Friday we did some divisions with the ward missionaries!  Man they are so pilas leaving with us and actually telling us that they have appointments that we need to go to!!  We had one appointment that ended up turning into me and the 2 young 16 year olds teaching like 10 people the Plan of Salvation and they all froze up and it was all on me!  A little bit scary but I pulled out a sweet video and they all loved it and they had tons of questions!  Found 2 new investigators out of it!!  We were able to get a lot done splitting up though!  It was real cool.

Well biggest news of this week was conference!  We got 11 investigators there in total!  Huge difference from having 3 show up in Puerto, and zero in Villanueva!  It was legit!  The work is really progressing!  Im just learning a ton of patience with myself and with everyone.  People just put the lamest excuses here for not coming but thats normal.  Just gotta love it when they tell you they have to work or do something and then you go to their house and theyre just chilling outside doing nothing.  Or they tell you well I need my Dads permission to be able to go and hes not home and his phones not working.  These kids never need permission for anything.  No but its all good!  Just definitely learning patience!!  and more than anything Im grateful for the great turn out we did have!

Anyways I gotta go!  Thanks for all your prayers, love, and support!  Miss you guys and love you all!

Love Elder Hunt

WEEK #60 Progress

Hey everyone so this week was a much faster and better one!  It was nice to be able to get out and work hard, and thanks for all the comps that went my companions way!  He is feeling a lot better and we were able to get back into it this week and get a lot done!  The weather was perfect this week and its still staying cloudy and overcast which is so nice!  Little drizzles here and there!  The rain season is coming upon us!

So this week we were able to make some really good progress with the investigators and drop a couple that weren't going to progress.  We had some really good lessons and were able to answer a lot of their questions and doubts that they had!  As opposed to a zero assistance of investigators in church last Sunday we were able to get 8 this Sunday!  I think that might be a record in the mission for me.  It was so awesome and Ririe and I were so stoked to have that many!  The members are actually starting to help us out more here and its awesome cause 2 members brought new investigators to the church that already have interest!  Were gonna go visit them this week!!  

We had a super sweet contact this week and one of the most favorite Ive had in my mission.  We got out of a VAP or a lesson with a member and then as we went outside we saw these 2 kids like around 16 playing a guitar on the corner or learning how to.  So as we were walking past them I felt like them holding that guitar was like a sign from God saying talk to them.  Contact them.  So I asked them how it was going, and if they could play the guitar good.  They said no but were learning and they asked me if I could play I said somewhat and I sat between them both and started playing a couple of songs.   It was super cool and we hit it off just like that!  They are also super interested in learning English so we invited them to the English classes that we are giving as missionaries and they said they were going to show up!  It was also super cool cause they kind of just opened up to us and talked to us and told us that they arent like regular Honduran people here.  And many people think that they are a little weird or not the norm.  They said they dont like to do bad things.  They dont like going to bad parties,  they dont like drinking or smoking or having bad girlfriends.  They were just like we like to do good things and help people and stop bullying.  We find greater joy in doing good things.  So that was shocking to hear from 2 kids here.  Weve already taught them twice in the church and they love the message of the Restoration!  See what happens with them!  But pretty cool being able to contact them by playing the guitar!

Also got to go with my comp to another baptismal interview he did but we had some time like 30 minutes before the interview started so we were walking to it and I heard something very familiar.  Then I realized that it was a baseball bat hitting a baseball.  So we looked over and saw some dudes playing around with 2 mitts a baseball bat and a ball.  I havent seen a baseball in like a whole year!  So we went over and were watching through the fence then the ball came to us so I threw it back and they invited us over to play with them.  It was so fun hitting the ball and throwing with some guy on a baseball team.  Ive missed it so much and honestly been wanting to throw for like 8 months now.  It was so fun!!  We invited all these dudes to church as well.  

Also we have like 4 couples right now that we are working with to get married.  Such a barrier here in Honduras.  Satan sure has worked here to make marriage so difficult to do and has made it custom to the people that marriage is unimportant and unnecesary.  So ya were trying to help all of them to get a testimony strong enough of the church so they know they have to get baptized and have to get married so they can get baptized.  Its tough but we'll keep on working with them!  But please pray for all of them that they might be able to gain a strong testimony of the church and that the Lord will open up the means for them to get married!

Have a great week and Im so excited for this general conference!  It is going to be a memorable and special one for sure.  The Lord has lost three of his 15 finest servants in the world right now.  These 3 apostles have served well in all their callings they have ever had and God has called them back to his kingdom.  This General Conference we will have the opportunity to find out who the Lord has chosen and called to be his new apostles and we will have the opportunity to sustain them.  May each one of us take the time necessary to prepare ourselves for General Conference and prepare ourselves to be able to receive the word that the Lord wants us to hear.  The things we need to know at this time in our lives to be the best members and people we can be.  We will receive what we put into it.  It is also a great time to invite others who arent members to listen to a living prophet with us and invite them to learn more about our church.  Take advantage of this time to share the only true, complete gospel of Jesus Christ with your friends and loved ones!  Also make sure to go with a question in your heart and I promise that it will be answered in this conference!  I love all you guys and miss you tons!  Have a great week!

Love Elder Hunt

WEEK #59 Pause

So today was so beautiful!  First day in forever that it wasnt a billion degrees hot and there was nice cloud coverage today like low 80s i feel like and we went out and played football as a zone and chilled!  Felt so nice to not be sweating for a change.  It was wonderful.

So not much to report about this week.  My comp on Tuesday was not feeling his best and was hurting to walk, so we went to the doctor the next day and found out that he needed some surgery.  So they did some surgery on him and basically we had to stay in the house all this week and let him rest so that he can heal.  It was a bummer not being able to work but just a little hold up!  Our Mission President came by the house to check up on him and was asking us if we were getting in some nice R and R.  Rest and relaxation. haha so ya thats basically all we did all week.  Kind of got super boring but it was nice.  Hopefully hes better so we can work this next week.  Please pray for him that he may heal fast!  But looks like every Wednesday we are going to have to go to San Pedro to get him checked up.  It was also super funny when he was getting operated on.  I just heard them like so ya were gonna inject you now with anesthesia this might hurt and a second later OUUUCH.  and all that fun stuff.  Super funny.  Hes been waddling around like a penguin all week. 

So anyway that was basically our week.  I made Baleadas for the first time without any help at all from any Hondurans and they turned out delicious.  So get ready for some Baleadas when I get back!  Also I just wish that people were married here.  We have like 4 Pilas Families that are just lacking getting married and they could get baptized.  Then they get discouraged cause the marriage process takes so long and forget about baptism.  So pray for us here please!!  Love all you guys!!  Miss you tons!  Have a great week!  

Elder Cazador

P.S. i got one of our investigators to lend us their guitar this week so that was fun.  literally played til I had blisters on my fingers haha love you guys

WEEK #58 Cooking!

Elder Hunt looking sharp with his Honduran tie!

So ya it was pretty hot this week.  But yesterday I was honestly just thinking as I walked out of the church and looking at the sunset and the palm trees surrounding the church and just thinking to myself there is nowhere else I would rather be right now.  How cool is this scenery.  but ya getting a little cooked here in the sun and also we stopped eating with our lady that makes us food usually and decided to start cooking for a little cause we were getting a little tired of the rice and beans and tortillas and eggs and chicken every day.  haha so this week we decided to start cooking and well the first day was a super funny experience.  tried making some spaghetti and it was terrible.  the sauce was so chunky and thick and the noodles all stuck together.  we started off the meal like ya man this is so much better than her food and i finally managed to get all my down and Ririe was asking me Hey man can you pour more water on my spaghetti?  He ate like half of it and couldnt finish cause it was so terrible.  I dont think ive ever heard that line before though so it was pretty funny.  the rest of the week turned out good and we actually got a sick recipe from a member for spaghetti so all is good now! 

but ya it was a good week.  we got a lot of lessons in and made some good progress with alot of our investigators.  the dude were probably most stoked about right now is Will.  He is progressing so good and is reading everything we leave him and investigating it so hard!  he always has so many questions when we come and its gonna be really cool this next week cause its gonna be the first time that he can come to church cause he doesnt have to work these next 4 sundays!!  hopefully he loves it but he basically told us this week as we were asking him hows it going with his studies with the JWs he told us that well ya its been a while since ive studied with them.  ive got the truth right here and my new brothers here with you guys and im not going back!!  super cool to hear that!!  he then invited us to a family birthday party of his little niece and was introducing us to his whole family!  his mom dad and sisters and everyone!  we all sat at a table in the middle of everyone and he was like ya they are all evangelicals, and basically saying that we need to teach them soon.  basically like he already has his mind set that hes a mormon like one of us!  so awesome!!  such a humble guy!

not much more happened this week just watched Meet the Mormons this Saturday with the ward for an activity and the spirit was so strong there and we had a good turn out with investigators showing up!  gonna watch this movie with some other people too cause its honestly soo good!!  only bummer this week is that no one showed up to church on Sunday..  so that stunk but will have a good turn out next week for sure!!  good things happening here.  Rosa is doing very well as well!

Anyways I love you all and miss you guys tons.  Missing watching football and playing for that matter and all that good stuff but glad to be out here serving the Lord and helping the people here in Honduras.  Keep praying for us please and thanks for all your support and love always!!  Enjoy the leaves changing colors and the mountains.  Go BYU!

Love Elder Hunt

P.S. shout out to Dave Glenn Happy Birthday man hope its a good one for you!

WEEK #57 Dreams!

Cool kid with a Rams t-shirt!

My first baptism is going on a mission!

So this week was such a good one!  We got work done and everything just went so good.  So cool to be a part of this work and see everything thats happening!  We saw lots of little miracles this week and it was legit.

Well we just had some dang good lessons this week and the spirit was so strong.  Our investigators are progressing and learning tons every week!  Ririe is as awesome and chill as ever and were having a great time here. 

So we had a super cool experience this week.  Last Sunday we were teaching this inactive lady about prayer and she called here daughter in law in to listen to us as well and we taught them both about prayer.  Anyway it was a cool lesson and all and we just challenged the both to start praying more and stuff.  Anyways we went back for the follow up appointment on Friday and when we went back we were shocked.  So basically the daughter in laws name is Rosa and well we started talking with her and she had a couple of little questions for us and stuff and we answered them, then she told us something super cool.  She told us that after we left on Sunday night that she decided to pray.  She asked God in this prayer to know if our church is the true church and then ended and went to sleep.  Anyway that night she had a dream.  And in this dream her and her husband were both climbing a big hill.  And there were 2 Elders that were helping up them up the hill and guiding them up.  Anyway they got to this harder part to climb cause there was a steeper rock they had to go up and so Rosa wanted her husband to go up first and to help her up.. but then a random man came to her and told her that she would have to be the one to climb it first and help her husband up after she had gotten up.  So she did it and they finally reached the top of the hill and at the top there was a LDS Church and there was a bunch of other families that were going into it as well.  She said that they both went in and they knew it was the true church of God.  They both got baptized in the church and she said she saw a little glimpse into the future of their lives after having been baptized and they were blessed, prosperous, united, and happy.  When she woke up she knew that this was an answer from God and she immediately knew she had to be baptized.  So anyways she started reading the Book of Mormon and got to like 1 Ne 6 and she read the whole Restoration Pamphlet and everything!  She told this all this and we were stunned.  Such a cool experience so anyway she is progressing so fast and good and she loved the church this Sunday and just loves this Gospel.  So cool to have that experience!!

Anyways so definitely seeeing so many miracles here in this area and things couldnt be better!  I love it here!  Also gotta to see my convert from Puerto Cortes today!  My dude Dony!!  Hes doing so good and just put in his mission papers and is stoked to be going out!! Should be leaving this December!!!  Hope he goes State Side!   Had a nice little lunch at Wendys and it was so good catching up with him and seeing him.  I really couldnt speak spanish that well in my first area so it was super cool actually being able to talk with him today full out!  Hes such a cool guy!  Love him!


Anyway I hope your all doing good in school and work and having a great time at home!  Love you all!  Catch you later!   Have a great week!

Love Elder Haden