Elder Hunt: January 11, 2016

Hallo iederien!! Het was een andere geweldig week in Uitkijk geweest! It's definately an exciting time to be a missionary in Uitkijk with lots of awesome things going on.

Wednesday I was on a trade off in Koerasan (the branch just east of Uitkijk) with Elder Prosman. Prosman is another missionary from the Netherlands. . We did a ton of service that day. I was able to use een hower (machete) a bunch. We cleared off some vines and plants off of a building, taught a few lessons, and then went to another member's house to cut down some trees (yes using a machete). I did get pictures I'll send them after.

This week we were able to go to an area called Calcutta. It's an hour's drive west of Uitkijk, past Groningen and Tigercreek. As far as we know, me and Elder Dibb are the first missionaries to go as far out as Calcutta, which was a cool feeling. We had received from referrals out there and so me and Elder Dibb were able to make it out there with Broeder Bakker, a recent convert here. Our first appointment was a referral given to us from the RS President in Paramaribo. He showed us around his orchard that he has, gave us a tone of fruit, had some roti (there was a lot), and then had a lesson with them. Our second appointment had dinner with roti for us as well. That was very nice of them to do. I felt sick from how much food they gave us on the car ride back haha. They were very friendly, don't know how serious about the Book of Mormon they are, but it was cool. Quite the adventure being the first missionaries there.

We did a lot of service this week. We crushed up some charcoal for Gerde, one of the members here. It turns into some powder used in pot making. I got some fun blisters from it. That same day we also went to the church and cleaned up the front of the church. The church looks a lot more presentable. I have before and after pictures that I'll send.

In terms of investigators we have some awesome stuff going on. The R family are absolutely on fire right now!! They came to church again last week, which was awesome to see all 8 of them there! I won't go into detail but the R family have been going through some struggles. And instead of putting the gospel off, they're doing the exact opposite. They're having family scripture study as well as family prayers everyday which is awesome. The last appointment we had with them, Zuster R said "Het macht niet uit, wij gaan naar de kerk!" (no matter what, we're going to church!). It is absolutely awesome to see the blessings of the gospel blossom in this family. They just need to come to church one more week and they'll be set for baptism.

We haven't been able to meet with "M" this week. She lives in Groningen area and has been really busy with work so it's hard to meet with her since we only go to Groningen on certain days. We are also Zondag, also in Groningen area. He has had some struggles with the Word of Wisdom and now wants to meet with the missionaries so he can over come these problems he's been having. We have taught him a couple of times. In our last appointment we taught him the Restoration. In that appointment he said "Ik wil meer van dit in mijn leven." (I want more of this [happiness] in my life). He's been reading the Book of Mormon and is very much so interested in learning more.

Other then that it's been a good-old, exhausting week this week. We biked a good 120 miles this week with some fun service like smashing charcoal and chopping down trees with howers. It's an awesome time though! I absolutely love it out here. It's awesome to see the miracles and blessings and power the gospel brings not only in the lives of our investigators, but also in our lives as missionaries. It's really cool to see.

Thank you all again!

Ik hou van jullie!!!

Elder Hunt