Thursday, March 10, 2016

Leap Day 2/29/2016

Hallo iedereen!!! Groetjes van Suriname!
It's been another great! Lots of cool stuff has happened and there will certainly be a lot more after this week! To start off the week, Uitkijk has a new Branch President! He'll be really good for the branch. We're very excited to start working with him. President Librettoe is from Wanica branch but will be working as Branch President here in Uitkijk.
Last P-day all of the Suriname missionaries went to a resort called Overbrug, about an hour drive south of the city. It was a really fun activity. It's reminded me how much I miss playing beach volleyball. It was a bit rainy but still really fun. It was pretty great to play when it's just down pouring rain haha.
J has been doing awesome! She finished reading the Book of Mormon all the way through since our last appointment which is crazy! She reads so much and is so excited to talk to us about what she's learned. She's doing awesome. She and her husband Steve made dinner for us on Sunday which was the most American meal I've had since leaving the states. I was pretty culture shocked haha.
We had an awesome lesson with M and J this last week. We were able to teach them about the first part of the Plan of Salvation. We ended the lesson by talking about the Atonement and Gospel of Jesus Christ. After explaining what the 5 steps of the Gospel were Jeanette asked if her family could be baptized which is very exciting! We're working on getting them a date right now.
Continue praying for M. We haven't been able to teach her husband at all. But M is still doing great! She always reads and is ready to talk about whatever she's read. We had a really fun lesson teaching her the 10 commandments.
We've also had some really cool contacts this last week. A lot of very promising investigators. We'll be following up on a lot of people this week for sure. The best kind of people to teach are people who were Hindu who then converted to Christianity, because they want to believe in Christ but they don't know too much about him. It's a perfect introduction to the Book of Mormon.
I've learned a lot about the Atonement this last week. Me and Elder James taught District meeting this last week. We talked about how it is through Christ that we can be cleansed from sin. There's a perfect scripture that sums everything up in Alma 7:11&12, saying that Christ "[suffered our] pains and afflictions... that his bowels may be filled with mercy... [and that] he may know how to succor his people". The atonement is very simple, in that if we accept and follow Christ, we obtain a remission of our sins (we're forgiven). Yet at the same time the Atonement is so powerful that it can literally help anyone at anytime with any trial.
Ik hou van dit zendelings ervaring! I'll be back next week with more to come!
Ik hou van jullie!!!
Elder Hunt

February 21, 2016

allo iediereen!! Het heeft een andere wel leuke week in Uitkijk, Suriname zijn! Veel gaat dit week en daar zult meer komen als de week doorgaan. Ik ben echt moe van alles dat gaat en zult gebeurt dit week zijn!

A lot of great stuff has been happening this week. We've been able to receive a lot of answers to prayers this week as we've continued on in the work here in Uitkijk. It's certainly been a blessing and I am very grateful for how the Lord is aware of each one of us.

A great answer to our prayers this last week is that we were able to build our teaching pool a lot more. We've been able to find new investigators as well as meet less actives that have been off radar for a while. The work had been struggling in that respect so I am very grateful for that.

We've had some pretty great lessons this week. The biggest miracle I think this week was with one  of our new investigators, J. She was a previous investigator who was dropped because the missionaries weren't able to meet with her because of how busy she was. BUT, we were able to go and visit her and her husband (who is a member) and talk to them about how the gospel can bless their family. It's reminded her of the spirit she'd felt before, and now she wants to take the missionary lessons again! We were able to get a baptismal date for her which is awesome! We've been able to meet with her more this week, and she's been reading A TONE and she and her husband even read to their children which is absolutely awesome!

We've been able to meet with M and J this week. M has been very busy and has had some things come up that will make it difficult to meet with her for a bit. She's doing great in her reading of the Book of Mormon, and learns and feels the spirit as she reads which is great. The next step for her is to get her husband to sit in on the lessons. It's been difficult to do that but we'll keep trying. J is also reading in the Book of Mormon, and is doing awesome recognizing how the teachings of that book can help her in her life which is awesome! We''ll see how things play out later this week.

This week's letter is a bit short. I don't have too much time this week but I wanted to say how grateful I am for a loving Heavenly Father that loves and knows us each individually. I am so grateful for the personal relationship that I can and do have with my Heavenly Father. That relationship, as well as the power of the atonement of Jesus Christ, can get us through any hardship that we have in our lives. We can and will succeed with any trials that come our way in life as long as we do our best to keep the commandments of the Lord.

Thank you for all of your support. I'll be back next week with more to come.

Ik hou van jullie!!!

Elder Hunt