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

WEEK #56 Awesome Week

Hey guys hows it going?!  Hope you all had a great week and thanks for all the emails and love sent my way always!  I love you guys!  This week was suuper hot and I keep thinking its gonna cool down a little but..maybe at the end of October haha.

Gonna keep this one short.  But Ririe and I have been coming home every night so exhausted from working its crazy!  And God just keeps on giving us new things to do, more people to work with and its honestly such a blessing.  Im just so happy right now to be doing the Lords work and to have such a cool comp to do it with!  

So Tuesday was an amazing day like honestly one of those days I always dreamed that my mission would be like.  I never dreamed of my mission with regards to rejection, haha i never even though about that aspect of the mission.  But I always had this dream of success and seeing people see so clearly the message of the restored gospel for what it is.  And thats exactly what happened this day.  We set up 3 baptismal dates!  One with this dude we found named David!  Working with him to help him overcome his addiction to drinking, but putting this fecha with him definitely puts a light at the end of the tunnel for him and something to work towards!  Also set up a date with Carlos and Dunya for the day after their wedding!!  They are such a cool family and story.  Carlos is like a ex gang member but is spun a 180 with his life and now has a family he cares for and realized the truth of this gospel and how it can help his kids in their future.  Hes a real smart guy and started speaking English out of the blue with me this week.  I was shocked cause I had no idea he even could hahaa.

So just some cool thoughts going through my head this week.  I honestly felt this week like I was opening up my mouth and the spirit was speaking through me.  Like words were seriously coming to my mind and I would just say them as they came and I could just feel the spirit working through me.  I explained some things that are usually hard to explain, and it came out so easy and I knew that the words were not just my own.  I looked back and tried to remember what I said and I really couldn't  this reminded me of a really cool scripture in Doctrina y Convenios 100:6. You all should read it.  The other cool thing that happened was just realizing the power and authority that Ririe and I teach with.  I recognize that this power and authority comes directly from our setting apart as missionaries and worthiness and faith and diligence in the work.  Alma 17:3 is one of my favorite descriptions of this power and authority that I'm talkingaabout. These lessons we have been having though seriously couldnt be planned though and I can see the Lords hand in our lives every day using us as his instruments to call to his chosen people.  

Anyway I just wanna say that its a blessing and privilege to be out here serving in Honduras.  Im so grateful for all these experiences that Im having.  No where better I could be.  I love you all and hope your all having a great start to the school year and doing great in work and in church!  

Love Elder Haden

P.S. Shout out to my homie Kyle Schauerhamer for getting his mission call to Milwaukee!  Hes gonna kill out there and work so many miracles!  Love you dude!

WEEK #55 Exploding

Loving the work!

This week was so crazy!!  Hardly had time to catch my breath cause there is so much work we have to do here and that were doing!  Literally running around all day and meeting so many cool people every week!  We are definitely exploding this area!!  Wish that we had more hours in the day cause there is just so much to do and so many things to keep track of!  I seriously come home at night and Im dead tired.

This week we learned how to make Baleadas twice!  So I think we finally got it down!  Gonna try it out sometime this week with our new stove!  Hopefully Ill have it down by the time I get home so I can make Baleadas for everyone cause they are too good for anyone to not try them.  But Ririe and I are getting pretty pro.

We got out of a lesson this week with this guy who had studied a whole bunch of religious stuff throughout his life like Mythology, Theology, and has multiple degrees from studying the Bible.  Anyway I cant remember all that stuff that this guy had said about all the stuff he has studied but he knows alot to say the least.  However we were able to answer his every question and explain to him new things that he had never known before in the Bible.  We got out of that lesson at Ririe said to me you know its crazy that were only 19 years old but yet we can keep up with a talk like that in a language that isnt even our own.  We figured its because even though hes studied all that stuff he only has bit and fractions of the truth but we have the whole truth and thats the difference.  Pretty cool to think about it.

We had a multi zone conference this week too and our Mission President bore his testimony at the end about Jesus Christ.  I swear I could see Jesus glowing through our President.  That man is so awesome.  You all should look up the message the church has called The Messiah its a song that was performed way back when.  Super cool.  

Thursday we went with some of our investigators and we found out that their uncle had died and it was really cool to just sit down with them and talk with them about the Plan of Salvation and to be able to tell them that their uncle is in a better place and that they will be able to see him again one day.  Then that night we went to teach English Class and well the key broke that we were trying to open the church door with and then basically a hurricane came down on us!!  It was crazy, lightning sttriking a thunder booming, all the lights went out!  We just kinda waited it out and thank goodness the roof of the church provided some shelter so we didnt get soaked!!  

Friday we had 2 amazing lessons!  One with a less active and the other with our 2 investigators Carlos and Dunya!!  In the first one with the less active Vanessa we hadnt really planned anything and went in and ended up talking about Jesus Christ and when he was walking on the water and Pedro went out to meet up and sunk when he looked at what was all around him but then called out for the Lords help and immediately the Lord grabbed his hand lifted him out of the water.  We all bore our testimonies and she told us with tears running down her face that she had never felt the spirit that strong, then what she had felt in this lesson and that she kind of just went through the process with the missionaries but never felt anything or the spirit like that.  She kinda just got baptized cause everyone was pushing her into it but then she looked at us and told us that she knew without a doubt that this church was true and that she would start coming back!!  So cool!  Also we finished reading 2 Ne 31 with Carlos and Dunya and we were testifying about the authority and he asked us why we say that we are the only church with the authority and we explained the Restoration a little more and he finally got it.  HE UNDERSTOOD PERFECTLY!!  He told us now that he feels just so much better and that he has a peace of mind and heart when he thinks about joining our church now!!

Saturday we had a Mission Conference and it was a broadcast from Tegucigalpa Honduras because President Neilson came and spoke there and it was broadcasted to all the central America missions!!  It was so cool and the spirit was so strong and I learned so much!!  We also got some yummy food before and after.  Dennys to start off and some Chilis after!!  Got to be with all my buddies and it was such a good time!!  Also gave a talk yesterday in church and tons of our investigators showed up that we didnt think were going to!!  So stoked about the work here!!  Anyway busy busy busy here.  Having a blast with Ririe!  Freaking love that guy!!  Trying to get everything organized with all the work were getting.  Well get it together soon!!  

Love you guys and miss you tons!!  So great hearing from all of you always!!  Til next week!

Love Elder Hunt

WEEK #54 Trincheras #2

My new companion Elder Ririe

SORRY I HAVENT BEEN ABLE TO SEND PHOTOS THESE LAST COUPLE OF PDAYS ITS CAUSE MY SD CARD GOT A STUPID VIRUS ON IT AND YA TRYING TO GET IT FIXED.  BUT THATS WHAT YOU GET ON THESE LITTLE HONDURAS COMPUTERS.  BUT BESIDES THAT EVERYTHING IS GOING GOOD!!  I LOVE THIS NEW AREA, NEW HOUSE, NEW COMP, NEW EVERYTHING.  

THIS IS GONNA BE SUPER SHORT BUT LIFE IS GOOD!  HAVENT BEEN THIS HAPPY IN A WHILE.  SEEING LITTLE MIRACLES EVERY DAY!  WE HAVE A COUPLE THAT WE ARE WORKING ON MARRYING.  THEY ARE SO COOL AND COME TO CHURCH EVERY SUNDAY AND READ THE BOOK OF MORMON AND THEY WANNA GET BAPTIZED HERE SOMETIME IN THE SHORT FUTURE AFTER THEY GET MARRIED!!  HAVE A DIFFERENT COUPLE AS WELL THAT HAS 2 KIDS WHO GOT BAPTIZED LIKE 3 MONTHS AGO AND THEY JUST NEED TO GET DIVORCED WELL ONE OF THEM AND MARRIED TO EACH OTHER SO WE ARE WORKING WITH THAT AS WELL!  DOING STUFF HERE IVE NEVER DONE BEFORE LIKE MARRYING PEOPLE BUT ITS AWESOME!  

FINDING TONS OF NEW PEOPLE HERE AND WEVE ALREADY FOUND LIKE THIS SUPER PILAS FAMILY THAT WE TAUGHT YESTERDAY AND THE HUSBAND IS SO EXCITED TO LEARN MORE AND ALSO FOUND THIS REALLY COOL GUY NAMED DAVID WHO HAS PROBLEMS WITH SMOKING AND DRINKING BUT TOLD US HE WANTS TO CHANGE.  SUPER HUMBLE GUY AND WE TAUGHT HIM THE RESTORATION AND HE TOTALLY UNDERSTOOD IT.  SO COOL.

ANYWAY LOTS OF GREAT THINGS HAPPENING HERE!  MY COMPUTERS REAL SLOW SO IM JUST GONNA KEEP IT SHORT AND TELL YOU MORE COOL STUFF NEXT WEEK!  LOVE YOU GUYS TON AND MISS YOU ALL!  TIL NEXT WEEK!

LOVE ELDER HADEN

WEEK #53 Trincheras

Hey everyone so I had a pretty crazy week with changes and all, but definitely one of my favorite weeks of the mission so far!!  So I left Brisas del Plan, Villanueva Wednesday morning and the lights were connected bad in our house in Brisas so I got home from saying goodbye to everybody and couldnt pack cause we had no lights that worked and a flashlight didnt cut it.  So I went to bed pretty late trying to get what I could ready and then wook up at like 5 the next morning when the sun was coming up to get everything packed!  We all went to the Banquet in San Pedro Sula to get our new changes cause as you know they didnt tell us.  It was pretty cool though cause they all took us into seperate rooms divided as zones and then 30 minutes later the APs came in with a paper that told us all where we were going and so then are ZL read them off to us and my change to Trincheras in the Fesitranh zone going as companeros iguales (or like were both senor comps)  with wait for it Elder Ririe!  I was so stoked to find out that he was gonna be my new comp cause hes one of my buddies that I had met when I was in Santa Barbara, when he was comps with my best bud Elder Fackrell.  Anyway hes freaking awesome and super chill.  Weve been having a good time, working hard and laughing tons.  Its amazing.  Hes from Utah.  And we actually have some cool people at home that we both know!

So my new area is sooo legit!  First off my house is gigantic!  We live with 2 other missionaries another one of my buddies Elder Hadley also from Utah and another Elder from Nicaragua Elder Hernadez!  So basically in the house there is never a dull moment!  This house is so open, and like 3 times the size of the house I had last, the pile is enormous like we could do laps in it (not really), we both have seperate rooms to study in (never have had that before)  and theres always water pressure, the bathroom is like elevated and super fancy and has a super sick shower head that spits out water good, and the kitchen is legit as well, plus a room to exercise in cause why not!  And the best part about this new house is that the room that we all sleep in at night has AC!!!!!!!!!  Thats a first as well and sleeping has never been better!  The ward here is amazing,  all the members Ive met are awesome, the mission leader does work!  Our investigators are few but super pilas and are all progressing real good!  Super stoked about them!  And this area is ready to get exploded!  Me and Ririe are already seeing miracles here!!  We got some new tactics were trying and working super hard!!  Gotta feeling this area is gonna be one of my favorites!! Stoked to be here!  High on life right now!

So this week was just a bunch of getting to know people and the area.  On Saturday we had a Zone Conference/Stake Conference and a member of the Seventy was there Elder Ochoa who we have heard from before in a mission conference and he capacitated only us as a zone and it was so legit!  He helped us and all the ward leaders to look out of the box, and how we can have a ton of progress here, and inspired us all to have more faith.  Just so cool to be that close to a person who kept telling us and promising us stuff as a special witness of Jesus Christ.  The spirit was so strong there listening to him and being instructed.  

So Ill tell you all more about the investigators and area next week but Im gonna tell you about the baptisms we had this last week in Brisas!  So we had the baptisms of Dunya and Oscar!  Dunya is a 45 year old lady who is the daughter of a Isidra who is a convert as of 3 months ago.  So amazing to be able to see her see the change that her Mom had in her life and be able to recognize that her Mom is in the truth and to see her testimony grow and see her get brotherhooded in by the ward and see her progress to her baptism!  She was so extatic and after she had passed her interview the Friday before she was so excited and came up to me and said Im good to go I passed!!  The most animated Id ever seen her.  She was so ready and it was such a great experience to be able to baptize her!!  Isidra was also very happy and content and pleased that her Daughter could get baptized.  Slowly her whole family will get baptized in the future I just know it!!  One person at a time always exactly how Christ had everyone come up and see the marks on his hands when he visited the Americas!!  They both have such great faith, it honestly blows me away sometimes.

The baptism of Oscar was also just as marvelous and good!  We had Hno. Garcia baptize him cause hes their neighbor and his the Familia Garcia has helpled us so much in the conversion process of Oscar.  Man though Oscar has such a great spirit and is just straight up special.  He just understood everything so well and just has the spirit of Christ!  Such a good kid!  He wrote me the sweetest letter when I left telling me how he was so grateful for us missionaries and that sometimes he would be sad in his house and then we would always come and teach him about Jesus and teach him how he could be a better person and that every time when we had left that he just felt so much better and so happy.  Such a good kid and he promised me that he is going to do everything good so that he can go on a mission one day!!  Hes also so excited to get the Aaronic Priesthood here soon and be able to pass the sacrament like Jesus did.  He also bore his testimony after his baptism and it was honestly one of the happiest moments on my mission.  One that I will never forget or take for granted.  As he was baring his testimony the spirit was so strong and I looked over at Hno. Lorenzo and he had the biggest smile on his face and had little tears running down his face, I couldnt help but do the same.  

Just so glad to be out here doing the Lords work and I can just see his hand in my life every day.  I know that he gives us trials to learn and grow and that after every trial there is always so many blessing waiting.  Grateful to be a missionary here in Honduras helping our brothers to come to Christ.  Nothing better.  Nowhere I would rather be.

Love You all and Miss You all

Love Elder Hunt

 

WEEK #52 Goodbye Brisas!

Well this was my last week here in Brisas!  And it was a very good one!  Couldnt be happier with what happened this week!!  I definitely experienced Honduras this week to its fulness!!  Today we went to Lake Yajoa with some members and went around the lake and saw some breathtaking sites!!  We also went fishing for a while and well we caught fish!!  But they were all little minos and I dont even know how they could bite the hook haha!  But the guy that took us got some luck and reeled in 2!!  It was definitely a different type of fishing though!  Not your regular fishing with poles and reels.  We used our hands, the string, a hook, a worm, and a piece of wood to wrap of the string!  Definitely got a good feel for Honduras fishing today!!

Looks like I have to cut this one real short cause there turning of the computers here real soon.  But Ill tell you all about everything what happened this week and next week next week!  We did end up having the 2 baptisms and it was such a great experience!  One of the happiest moments on my mission so far!!  I love you guys all so much!!  Cant wait to tell you everything next week!!  Where I am, hows the new area, new comp!  How the baptisms were and send pictures and everything again sorry this is so short!!  

Love Elder Hunt