WEEK #20 Feliz Navidad, Prospero Ano y Felicidad

So its the 22nd and its bright and sunny and hot here in Honduras.  Super different to not have the snow and coldness of Utah in this time of the year haha.  This week flew by like I feel like it was PDay yesterday.  But lots of fun, good things happened this week!

So much fun!

For starters today we woke up and I made some really good cinammon panqueques (pancakes) and then we went to go play soccer on this turf caged indoor field kind of like the ones in Lindon!  It was super fun 5 on 5 and we played for an hour! I must be super out of shape or something cause I was dying after like 30 minutes, but my team won!  Like 25 to 20.  It was legit!  Tons of fun!

This week we had our Cena Navidena!  Ward Christmas Dinner and it was awesome!  There was so much work that went into it though!  For one we performed as a choir and weve been practicing like at least twice a week for 2 or 3 hours every Sunday and Thursday and we also had to set up the lights and trees and decorations for the dinner and that took a while cause we got out the lights and like 10 out of the 40 strands worked so we couldnt go buy new ones cause we dont have a lot of money here in Honduras so we had to take each light and test it on one that worked and then replace it on the strand until you did every single light like 150 or something like that and my first strand after all that effort didnt even light haha so that was fun but we finally got all them working after a while and set up everything and it looked really good ill send some photos.  

A lot of work turned out to be a lot of fun!

Friday was the Cena Navidena and it was a great turn out!  We had the investigators there that we wanted.  Omar and his son Kenith and their friend Johnny, along with Yolany and Cory.  I dont know if any of you have heard about Miss Worlds or know what that is or if you heard about what happened to Miss Honduras like a month ago but Cory is the sister of Miss Honduras which is really cool.  Miss Honduras was killed a month ago and I dont know all the details about that but her and her sister and her mom are all members and we visit her mom a lot and Cory is the only one of them that was never baptized so were working with her real good right now.  That family is amazing.  The choir did the best we ever had and I could feel the spirit really strong as we were singing.  We then had Dinner and some of the ladies in the ward did a little funny dance and then santa came and all the little kids got a little toy car or a doll.  Pretty cool to see being as for a lot of them, that will be the only present that they receive.  Makes you grateful to have so much.  Our investigators really enjoyed the dinner though and it was a great turnout all and all.

Merry Christmas!

So I said last week that Yolany was gonna get work off but I guess Hermana Lucia didnt tell us the truth cause we talked with Yolany this week and she said that her boss didnt say that.  So that was a bit of a bummer but I told Baird to not worry cause we fasted and maybe it just hasnt worked yet.  So we kept up the faith and she talked with us 2 days later and said that she quit her job because she wants to go to church and its that important to her.  How amazing.  A little Christmas Miracle.

Another Christmas miracle is that lately ive been able to understand a lot more of spanish and speak a lot better so thanks for your prayers.  To finish I want to share a something that Gordon B. Hinckley said in a video about Christmas that I watched.  The video is of him in Jerusalem and he talks about how 2000 years ago our savior walked these roads and worked miracles in this city.  Alot of people like to go where the Savior has been and walked where he walked.  But he then goes on to say that it doesnt really matter that we walk where he walked but how he walked.  In this Christmas season we need to try to think more in the savior and be more giving to others.  Read the scriptures more and try to share Christ with more of our friends who arent members.  The biggest gift we can give to others is the gift of Jesus Christ.  To let others know that his church is once again restored on the earth and through him we can live again with our Father in Heaven.  

I love you all and hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!!

Love Elder Haden

WEEK #19 Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

Merry Christmas 

We had a Christmas Multi Zone meeting on Tuesday which was awesome!  We got to listen to our Mission President and his wife and eat lots of food and Sister Dester even made us brownies!!  They were so delicious!  I got to see my old companion from the MTC Elder McNeely and it was awesome being able to talk to him and everyone else and enjoy eachothers company and sing songs and celebrate Christmas some more!

After using a machete for 4 hours we made this... Oh Christmas Tree!

We have our investigator Omar who has really been progressing and giving us tons of references and has been doing really good and we had a baptismal date for them on this Saturday but I dont think its going to happen cause he didnt show up to church this Sunday and I guess hes been feeling a bit to rushed so that was some kind of sad news to hear.  But hopefully we can push the date back a little further and be able to keep progressing with him!  Hopefully we can figure that out and have some good news for next week!

This is a little miracle we were able to see this week.  One of our investigators Yolany hasnt been able to make it to church lately because she got a new job and they required her to work on Sunday.  So we had a lesson about fasting with her and we decided to fast that her boss would let her be able to go to church on sunday.  We fasted and were looking for her on Sunday and it was a no show.  so we were kind of bummed, but then we talked to the little old lady she lives with and she told us that her boss told her that she could start having work off on Sunday and we were so happy!  A little miracle we were able to see through the power of fasting and it made my testimony of fasting grow even stronger!

Pizza- delicious!

I gave a talk this Sunday on how Jesus Christ showed his love for others.  It went pretty well, its still hard and a little scary to give a talk in a different language, but I hope they could feel the spirit as I spoke because the spirit is the real teacher in every situation.  It is amazing how much Jesus Christ loves us.  From healing the sick and afflicted out of compassion, to washing the feet of his disciples, to giving his life for us.  There is a scripture in John 15 that talks about his love the greatest of all, to the laying down of his life for his friends.  And he says that we are his friends if we keep his commandments.  So during this Holiday season let us all be a little kinder towards one another, love a little deeper, serve one another a little more, and try and remember Jesus Christ every day and try to become like him and improve ourselves each day. 

WEEK #18 Dengue Virus

Merry Christmas!

On the first day of December a mosquito gave to me.. a virus thats called Dengue.  Hello everyone!  So this week I was down for the good first 5 days like Monday through Thursday with a virus called Dengue.  The symptoms.. well in the MTC they told us I hope none of you get this cause it's horrible.  Just had super chills, a fever of 103.7, my head hurt ALOT, it wrecked my throat and gave me a cough, and just made me so weak for like 4 days.  I had to lay in bed for 3 days straight and drink a ton of water so it kind of stunk to say the least but I feel a lot better now and am ready to get back to work!

The Sister Missionaries know how to cook-YUM!

So despite the sickness starting December we were able to end the week with the 2 and a half days we worked with 11 new investigators.  We've been doing this new thing that the church has out called El es la Dadiva.  Which means He is the gift!  We just walk up to a lot of people every day and talk to them about how Jesus Christ is the best gift the world has ever received and how much God loves us and wants us to return to Him and that is why He sent his son.  We talk to them about how we need to remember Jesus during this holiday season and need to be thinking about the real reason behind Christmas!  These pass along cards work great!  Hopefully this next week with me being healthy we will be able to find even more people!

I hope you all got to listen to the First Presidency Message on Christmas!  I really enjoyed it and loved hearing the story about the 10 cents and the candy and the one week of Holidays for that little boy.  I hope it all got you in the holiday Christmas spirit.  During this time we need to look for those people that need our help and reach out and help the people who don't have a lot.  

Anyway right now I'm missing the mountains, and the snow, and the christmas decorations that everyone has on their houses and the cold from home, but I know this is where I am supposed to be right now.  I hope you all are enjoying the cold and I would love to here from all of you and if you would like to send me pictures or a nice Christmas letter that would be great too!

Love Elder Hunt

WEEK #17 From the Beach, To the Mountains!

Twins that rival my twin brothers at being little stinkers!

We got a call on Monday night and our District Leader Elder Jordan was like, Hunt you have changes.  I was like what?  This whole time I had it in my head that my comp was gonna have changes cause thats what everyone had been telling me and so I was kinda of shocked to be going, but anyway ya i had changes.

So Tuesday we basically went around to all the people that I'd drawn pretty close to and I said goodbye.  It was kinda of sad to be leaving my first area in the mission and the great people in my ward.  Especially because I wont see them again probably for a while, if I see them again.  Sad leaving our converts, but felt good knowing that we had helped them come unto Christ and that we had had sucess.  

I'm leaving the beach...

Wednesday we woke up at like 3 in the morning and I had about 3 hours of sleep cause I was packing.  We took a bus with all the youth in our ward who were going to be going on missions soon to San Pedro Sula to the big church there and then took a taxi to the terminal cause we're not going to be having change meetings anymore I guess.  So I went to the terminal and got my new companion and we headed off to Santa Barbara which is like a 3 hour bus ride.

My new area is called Galeras 2 and the city is Santa Barbara.  Everyone in Puerto was telling me that this place was so beautiful and it is.  I love this new place.  First of all its not hot, like at all, like the first 3 nights I was kinda freezing cold going to bed and waking up in the morning.  I have to sleep with 2 blankets on  and in my last area I would sleep with barely a light blanket with a fan on me the whole night!  Second of all, it is so pretty here.  I am basically up in the mountains that are all green and so pretty and we walk up big hills in the mud cause it rains a lot here and it reminds me of hunting and hiking!  Its awesome!

My new apartment:)

My new comp is so sick!! His name is Elder Baird and he's a gringo!  He's white like me!  He's from New Jersey and well he is from all over the country cause his dad works in the Air Force so he's lived in like 10 different places like Utah, Hawaii, England, New Jersey, California and many others.  He's way sick.  It's so nice to have someone to talk to the whole day.  He's awesome!  Oh, and he is a kicker like me.  He wants to go and try to walk on to BYU when he gets home!  

Our Thanksgiving Dinner!

Church was sweet on Sunday.  They had a youth program going on which was really cool and we had 10 investigators in church.  I was amazed.  My comp says that this area hasn't had that much sucess though but by the numbers we had in church I figure we're going to have sucess as long as we our diligent in our work.  Have a baptism lined up for the 20th and the 27th so hopefully that can happen.  

So Life is good oh and Thanksgiving I had a gringo to celebrate it with and what we ended up eating was some Mash Potatoes and some cubed ham in a bag and some corn and we got some sparkling cider.  Pretty good, but i missed the good old cooking from home. Nothing beats turkey and stuffing!  

So I hope you all had a great thanksgiving!  Miss you guys!!  Love you all!

Love Elder Hunt

WEEK #16 Thanksgiving Week

This week flew by super fast.  They are all kinda just starting to blend together its crazy.  So we find out if we have changes today or not. I think we are going to be having a change but still not sure haha.  So we will see what happens!!  

So this week we taught a lot of lessons. Well not as much as we would have liked cause it rained super hard for 2 days and when it rains everyone just sleeps and they don't answer their phones or their doors and don't let you into their house wet haha.  But we had some good lessons with our main investigators this week and they all promised that they would go to church this Sunday so we were excited for Sunday,  but to no evail because no one showed up on Sunday for the third week in a row-So that kinda stinks.  These investigators we have are progressing but not progressing.  We have taught almost all the lessons with them and all they lack is going to church.  So thats kinda sad to see.  We are going to drop one of our investigators for a little (Julia).  She's one of the first people we found here and I wrote about her in my first letter and she's been to church twice and has felt the power of the Holy Ghost, but we've been teaching her for 3 months so were gonna leave her for a little and see if she notices a difference without us in her life.  I hope all will turn out well with her!  Give me some more ideas on how to get our investigators to church please!!

So this week I heard it snowed 3 feet in the mountains and ski resorts so I'm super jealous about that.  We had a huge rainstorm this week and we absolutely got soaked.  We had some youth members with us to go to the appointments with us and it started pouring cats and dogs.  The streets filled up with water and our shoes got filled with water from the pouring rain.  It honestly didn't matter if we stepped through the one foot deep puddles or not.  My companion had his new boots on and was bragging about how he didn't have any water in his shoes so we were walking to see if we could have a lesson with one of our investigators and there was a huge puddle and we started walking through it and he tried to take the high ground where it wasn't as wet but we pushed him into the puddle and we had a huge water fight which was super fun.  

Something pretty funny that happened this week, we were walking to one of our appointments and on the way saw one of our new investigators that hasn't been answering are calls or opening her door when we try to have a lesson with her.  Anyway we saw her and she saw us too and she was sitting down in her backyard, and spotted us and literally flipped onto her belly and started trying to army crawl to where we couldn't see her.  It was hilarious!  She eventually stopped and was layed out in the grass in plane sight and we waved at her and she was trying to remain hidden.  

Anyways gotta go!! I love you all and have a Happy Thanksgiving!! I will try to not miss you all to much and I'm gonna try to cook a turkey and mash some potatoes!!  Remember this week to make your prayers full of gratitude because God seriously gives us so much.  People here a lot of times don't have food to eat but they are still happy!  So make sure to eat my portion and have fun on Thanksgiving!!

Love Elder Hunt

WEEK #15 Another Nice Week in Honduras

So this week was pretty chill again.  The weather has been super nice lately.  Cloud coverage practically the whole day and light rain.  Our investigators are continually progressing slowly but can't find the insentive or the will to go to church.  So that kinda is a bummer right now.  Learned a ton of spanish this week!!  Heres a quick recap of my week.

Wednesday-  We woke up at 530 and went to go do service for a less active member.  We chopped their grass with machettes from 7 in the morning til around 11.  I got a huge blister on my finger as usual.  I probably chopped like 30 percent of the yard while my companion did like 70 percent.  My companions a beast at chopping and well i just dont think my body was made for chopping.  You can call it an excuse or whatnot but im just a lot higher off the ground than him and its harder for me to get low and level with the ground.  I have to get on my knees and chop like that haha.  My body is not really an excuse its just that his whole life hes grown up chopping and knows the ins and outs.  Im sure I'll get better at it as time goes on though!  Also we found this super cool new investigator.  I dont know if you all remember the story i told about the big family we taught on a little porch but we went and taught them again and well they dont really want much from us but they had a friend over whose name is Pedro so we asked him if we could come visit him one day and he agreed and he is awesome.  I know that God puts people in our lives as missionaries maybe solely to find the people that they know and the people that God has prepared for us.  So i hope everything goes well with Pedro.

Thursday-  Taught a super long lesson to Pablo and Anna.  They always have their workers there which i think ive mentioned and always come loaded with questions for us.  They were bombarding my companion with questions regarding polygamy this time and joseph smith and everything.  He answered them all really well and we taught them again after having studied a lot more on the topic of polygamy and everything.  They like to be taught by us because they say they learn a lot but Pablo still hasnt prayed to know the truth and we can only teach so much.  The spirit is the real teacher and if they don't get on their knees and pray they can't know the truth.

Friday-  I asked Yanely if we could kneel to pray and if she would ask God what baptismal date was right for her cause shes leaving out of town for a whole month and we could baptize her in 2 weeks or in january.  we all felt the spirit super strong while she prayed and she said January sounded better for her. 

Saturday-  I got to baptize the sister missionaries investigatar David!!  Hes such a super cool young guy.  He wanted me to baptize him cause he said im big and strong haha.  So that was a really cool experience.  He was pretty nervous for it but everything went good!  We then ate homemade baleadas at the church after and he is really good friends with all the other young men in the world so thats good to see that he has a place with them and fits in perfect.

Sunday-  Had a huge stake priesthood conference.  It was really good.

Also our convert Dony is doing so good!  He has the Aaronic preisthood now and has been blessing the sacrament every week.  He has started his missionary papers.  He cant leave til a year after his baptism but hes super stoked and getting started already.  He reads at least one chapter of the book of mormon each night.  Hes been learning english and italian cause he wants to go  on a mission to Italy or to the U.S.  He comes with us and teaches with us for one day out of the week every week and bares powerful testimony of how this church has blessed his life and what a blessing it has been for him to be able to bless the sacrament every week.  He wrote me a letter in English that said, "although my friends have been mad at me for joining this church, i dont care,  im proud of this church and of you guys for preaching the gospel and leaving your families so you could find people like me."  So powerful and hes going to be recieving the Melchizedek Priesthood next week.  I honestly cant express how much joy all his sucess and he has brought me.  Hes such an awesome guy.  Im so blessed to be a missionary out here in Honduras.

Love you guys!  Have a great week in the cold snowy weather of Utah!  I miss it.  Go hit the slopes for me.  And ill keep up the work here in Honduras!  

Love Elder Hunt

WEEK #14 Chill Week

So not a lot happened this week.. we didn't have a baptism this week so that ends the 4 week streak!  Dang.  But things are going good here in this area.  I feel like its slown down a bit though.  We dropped a lot of our investigators that werent progressing, not coming to church and such.  So heres a nice little recap of this week.

Tuesday-  My umbrella finally died in a rainstorm, so I had to throw it away.

Wednesday- We went to San Pedro Sula because my companion had to get his passport and it took pretty much the whole day.  We ate lunch with the family he lived with in his first area and they were super cool.  They are evangelicos which is werid, but they house the mormon missionaries haha then we went to the mission office and met the new APs and the secretaries drove us to the bank.. got to listen to their Christmas music in the car!! Super good hearing some familiar Christmas songs!  

Thursday- Had a really cool lesson with our investigators Pablo and Anna.  They are progressing really well.  She prayed and asked God that if the message was true for this missionaries to show up to the next lesson and continue teaching them and if not to have us dissapear or go away and not teach her anymore.  Anyways we showed up so that was an answer to her prayer which was super cool and they are so receptive and he owns his own business and has a new employee worker there every time listening to our lessons.  They still havent come to church cause they had something that they had to do yesterday but next week there gonna come!  They also have two sons so hopefully we can teach them also soon!  

Friday-  We woke up at 5 and took the bus to El Centro to do service for one of the investigators of the Zone Leaders.  We basically moved a mountain.  Ive shoveled huge heaps of dirts before but this one was way bigger than anyone ive done at my house.  It was like 8 feet high and 10 feet wide.  We shoveled it into a wheel barrow and moved it into the investigators yard which was basically a swamp.  We were putting the dry dirt down so they had some earth to walk around on instead of water.  The zone leaders had a meeting so it was just me and my companion and 2 sisters from Centro.  But it was super fun and service is always good.  If nothing else hopefully they'll be able to say that the missionaries are awesome and love to serve!

Saturday-  I had to stay back with Elder Marte on divisions cause he had a fever and we went and ate lunch with a member and then went to a fiesta of this little 3 year old girl named Amish.  They kept on bringing me food and I kept trying to say no thanks, ive had a lot already but they didnt listen and kept on bringing me plate after plate of rice and home made rolls super good!  They had 2 pinatas and all the little kids and bigger kids all took 10 hits at it and it still wasnt broken so they said Elder Hunt.. do you want a turn?  I tried to say no im good, but they insisted so I took a couple hits and the kids just wanted me to break it so I finally took a good swing and showered candy all over them.  It was awesome to see them smile as it poured over them and wrestle for it.

So thats basically all that happened this last week!  This week I'd like you all to try and find an opportunity to go out and serve somebody!  I promise it will make you happy.  Remember when you are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God!  Love you all!  

Elder Hunt