Goedemorgen en vrolijkekerst (Merry Christmas)! Dec 12,2016

Goedemorgen en vrolijkekerst (Merry Christmas)!

Where has the year gone?!? Time is going by so quickly! It's been really rainy here lately. It's like that in December. We've been doing more service this week as well, and we've been able to have some awesome appointments with our investigators.

This week we had an anaconda encounter. We were biking back from doing service for someone. We were biking along this dirt road and as we came around a bend there was a good 6 foot long anaconda crossing the road. We don't have any pictures because Elder Fleming forgot his camera and I chickened out pretty quickly and started in the opposite direction.

Anyways, on a more jolly note we're getting closer and closer to Christmas! Surinamers are busy just like the rest of the world to celebrate the Christmas season. Christmas is very big in Suriname, and what is just as big if not bigger is New Year's. Here in Suriname they just celebrated what they call Kinderdag, originally a Dutch holiday, which is when Sinter Klaus (Santa Claus), comes and visits the children. He brings gifts for the children with his helpers, who look similar to elves. Instead, their faces are always painted or soiled black because they go up and down chimmies all the time. Sinter Klaus is a bit different than the American Santa Claus because Sinter Klaus looks more like the Pope, being dressed up in a red robe with golden trimming and a big long white beard. We saw a Sinter Klaus on our way to an appointment, but didn't have time to get a picture. A famous tradition is when the children leave their shoes outside their door and Sinter Klaus or his helpers will come and fill them with cookies and candy.

In terms of investigators we've been teaching this really cool investigator family. They're super active in the lessons and are excited with the Book of Mormon. One of them made it to church this week, and we're hoping to get the entire family to church this next coming week. 

This week I've been pondering about a scripture in Ether 4:12 which says 11 But he that believeth these things which I have spoken,him will I visit with the manifestations of my Spirit, and he shall know and bear record. For because of my Spirit he shall know that these things are true; for it persuadeth men to do good.

 12 And whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do good is of me; for good cometh of none save it be of me. I am the same that leadeth men to all good; he that will not believe my words will not believe me—that I am; and he that will not believe me will not believe the Father who sent me. For behold, I am the Father, I am the light, and the life, and the truth of the world.

Jesus Christ is the Light of the World. The church is busy with it's Light the World campgain. As we get nearer to the Christmas season, we should be "lighting the world", and that is through the spirit of Christ, "for good cometh of none save it be of me". Merry Christmas! Vrolijkkerst!

Ik hou van jullie!!!

Elder Hunt

the difference of new shoes ans 16 month old shoes

We had fun buying a tree and decorations for Elder Josh and his Comp

goedemorgen ik ben op! December 5, 2016 Turned 2o this week

Het heeft een ander geweldig week geweest! Soms denk ik over hoe bijzonder het is om hier in Suriname te zijn! Wat een leuk roeping van de kerk te verkrijgen! Zendings zijn het beste!

Hello hello! It's been another great week in Paramaribo! The weather here is finally calming down! From about August to November is what Surinamers call de drooge tijd, or the dry season. Every Surinamer says that the best time to be in Suriname is in December. And it's true! All those Surinamers who live in the Netherlands stay in Suriname during the Christmas season. They call December de kleine regen tijd, or the small rainy season, meaning that it rains, but it's not those crazy Amazon-rainstorms that back up all of the city's canals. The weather is very temperate. And better yet, the people love preparing for Christmas and New Year's. In America they have spring cleaning, in Suriname they have "Kerstmesopruimen" or Christmas cleaning. So we've been doing a lot of service this week, helping people clean up their yards for Christmas.

Surinamers are also very hospitable during the Christmas season. People invite us over to eat and are very friendly, "om de gezeligheid en gastvrijheid in Suriname te tonen en delen!" We found a really cool investigator family to teach this last week. They were previous investigators and are very excited to be reading the book of Mormon again. One of them even came to church which was awesome! We're hoping to get the entire family to church this next coming week. It was really cool how we met them as well.

I read a wonderful scripture today in 2 Peter 3:14. When we are diligent in keeping our covenants and remembering the Lord we maintain a connection with the Lord that is a great blessing to us. That connection enables us to have the spirit with us to guide us to know what is right. I don't have much time today, but have another great week!

Ik hou van jullie!!!

Elder Hunt

Birthday breakfast called pannenkoeke

Has always loved pasta for his Birthday

Birthday sunset

when an investigator likes you and gives you a watermelon... rode with it all day

November 28,2016 Goedemorgen! Groetjes uit dit bijzondere land (en ook het beste en groenste land)!

Goedemorgen! Groetjes uit dit bijzondere land (en ook het beste en groenste land)!

Pie kabari?!? Slamit ape aku! That's a Javanese greeting that some members taught me this week. Everyone in Suriname has their native languages in addition to speaking Dutch, one of which is Javanese among the people here from the island, Java, in Indonesia.

It's been another crazy week. We've visited a lot of people this week and have had some cool experiences finding people. This week we contacted and taught a family that were investigators of the church years ago. They were happy to see us! They started talking to us about how they were reading the Book of Mormon and taking the lessons. Then they talked about how they had a tragedy where their house burnt down and had to relocate somewhere else, losing contact with the missionaries in the process. It wasn't until recently that they've moved back and rebuilt a house on the same plot. They were very excited to get a new Book of Mormon.

We had another experience where contacted a guy at his house and made a follow up appointment. We showed up to this guy's house for the appointment later and he ended up not being home (that does happen frequently and at very inconvenient times in Suriname). Just as we were wondering what to do, a lady from across the street walks outside and to start doing some work. We contacted her and ended up teaching her a lesson. She accepted a Book of Mormon and at the end of the lesson told us how she had been resting inside but 'for some reason' felt prompted to go do some work outside. "Not even a minute" later, she told us, we were talking to her. It's cool how the Lord helps guides us in his work.

This week I was busy studying in Mosiah4:3 And it came to pass that after they had spoken these words the Spirit of the Lord came upon them, and they were filled with joy, having received a remission of their sins, and having peace of conscience, because of the exceeding faith which they had in Jesus Christ who should come...

This week I've been thinking a lot about how real faith in Jesus Christ leads to obedience.  When we see the example of Jesus Christ we want to become like Him; we follow Him. We repent in order to do that. Repentance is correcting ourselves so that we may indeed be obedient to the Lord. True obedience invites the Holy Ghost, and fills us to the center of our souls with joy.

Have a fantastic week! I can't believe it's my birthday again this week. It's so weird to think that it's been a year since I was walking around those rugged streets of New Amsterdam, Guyana!

Ik hou van jullie!!!

Elder Hunt

Sabajo kid's

Caramel Brownies 

Dutch food that we love 

Goedemorgen en groetjes uit Suriname! November 21,2016

With Elder Fleming

Cute boy in Suriname

Pres,. Gonzalez came to the Zone Conference

Normal Suriname food 

Goedemorgen en groetjes uit Suriname! Ik hoop dat iedereen een fijn week hadden gehad!

Wij ook hadden een goed week! This week we had a lot of exciting stuff happen. We met some more cool people, I got a new companion, and a general authority visited Suriname all this past week.

I'll start off with my new companion. My new companion is Elder Fleming, from Layton, UT. He is awesome to work with! He's super excited to be a missionary and loves Suriname! He's played soccer throughout High School, so he'll fit right in with Suriname's top pass time (playing soccer).

We also had a general authority come visit this week. President Gonzales is the area president of the Caribbean area, and he and his wife were in Suriname this past week. We had a zone conference with them and for 4 hours the two of them taught us about baptism, the importance to baptise, and how to extend a baptismal invitation.

...Then President Gonzales announced some very exciting news! He told us about the Caribbean Area's desire to establish a stake in Suriname! It would be the second stake in the Lesser Antilles, or the southern half of the Caribbean. He then told us that the whole purpose of the Zone Conference was to lift our expectations of baptisms in Suriname. He then challenged us to triple the number of baptisms in Suriname in order to create the stake in the next few years. His pep-talk he gave us has us all more ambitious than ever to baptise!

And to go right along with that, we've been able to meet some really cool people this last week. Among which was a young man who randomly came to church without meeting the missionaries. His friend invited him to church and he came! We're going to go over to teach him tonight. Chandra is doing well, we just had to postpone her baptismal date to the 10th of december because of the business of everything lately. Peter is also doing really well. He came to a fireside the President Gonzales gave and really liked it. He's reading in the Book of Mormon a lot. (I think he's finished with Alma now).

Here is a wonderful scripture to go along with that theme. Mormon 9:21 Behold, I say unto you that whoso believeth in Christ,doubting nothing, whatsoever he shall ask the Father in the name of Christ it shall be granted him; and this promise is unto all, even unto the ends of the earth... 28 Be wise in the days of your probation; strip yourselves of all uncleanness; ask not, that ye may consume it on your lusts, but ask with a firmness unshaken, that ye will yield to no temptation, but that ye will serve the true and living God.

Other then that... it's been a pretty normal week here in Paramaribo... haha we had a lot of stuff happen this week. I hope you all have another fantastic week!

Ik hou van jullie!!!

Elder Hunt

Goedemorgen! November 14, 2016

Aniel's baptismal service!

Aniel and Josh

Goedemorgen! Het is 'n ander geweldig week in Paramaribo. Het is 'n heel fijn ochtend hier in Nieuwe Grond!

Good morning and greetings from Paramaribo! What an amazing week! This week has been full of spiritual insights and fun experiences.

First off, transfer calls came this week, and Elder Voigt is leaving me. He's headed up to Paramaribo branch. I'm staying in Wanica, and I will be training again! It's been awesome serving with Elder Voigt. I've learned a lot from him. My new companion should be brand new, coming straight from the MTC. I'm excited for this next coming transfer. President Egbert in Zone Conference this week, challenged us to prayerfully select a number of baptisms that we'll expect to have by January, and report that number to our leaders. It's cool because as we've been getting closer to the new transfer, we've been getting an unusual number of referrals from members and other missionaries (it's funny how that works right around transfer times ;) with new companions). I'm excited because these referrals are sweet and will allow us to get a running start this next coming transfer.

Do ya'll remember our investigator Aniel that I taught back in Paramaribo branch? He got baptised this last week! Me and Elder Lewis were able to attend his baptismal service. He was soo happy. I've never seen him that happy.

We had a cool experience with our investigator Peter. His lessons are always so awesome because he actually reads and understands and remembers everything that we ask him to read, so he already knows everything by the time we teach him! We invited him to Aniel's baptismal service, and not only did he agree to come, but he also offered to give us a ride! So how did we get to the baptismal service, by one of our investigators! I've never seen that one before.

Chandra is doing well. We had an awesome lesson with her, themed about receiving personal revelation through prayer and scripture study. It is so awesome to see her faith increase. The Book of Mormon really does bring miracles!

We had a fun lesson with the Sabajo kids this week. We sat in a circle and reviewed a Plan of Salvation diagram me and Elder Voigt made. We then shared with them 2 Nephi 2:27-28 and gave them some Dutch CTR rings, Kies de Goede Weg (literally, Choose the Good Way).

This morning I read in 3 Nephi 28:10, saying "10 And for this cause ye shall have fulness of joy; and ye shall sit down in the kingdom of my Father; yea, your joy shall be full, even as the Father hath given me fulness of joy; and ye shall be even as I am, and I am even as the Father; and the Father and I are one;"

What a wonderful promise the Lord promises each of us if we endure to the end. I find this scripture so important because it outlines that the goal is, what the Lord's goal is and what our goal should be. I'm grateful for the knowledge the Book of Mormon has given me to know that Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are constantly, non-stop working to help us and guide us so that we can safely find our ways back home. "God bless us home." a quote President Egbert shared with us from a recent convert in Trinidad.

Have another great week!

Ik hou van jullie!!!

Elder Hunt

Loves To cook

Lemon bars! Me and Elder Voigt made some lemon bars this week

hello goedemorgen ik ben op! 11-7-2016

Hallo en goedemorgen vanuit Paramaribo!

It's been quite the interesting week here in Wanica. We've had some really sweet experiences this week. I can't believe another week has gone by. Things just keep speeding up, it's so crazy how fast time flies. It's been a bit annoying as we have not been able to sit with our progressing investigators as much this week, due to random events, BUT, on the flip side of that we've been able to meet a lot of awesome people this past week!

I LOVE serving in the gemeente Wanica! There are so many awesome members here that we have the chance to work with. They're so much fun to interact with and are so willing to come teaching with us. They're great help for our investigators. We have been able to sit with Chandra this week. It's awesome to see the transition she's making. She's becoming more involved in the branch and is now a part of several classes offered at the church.

I absolutely love the Book of Mormon and for everything that it stands for. Christ himself commented on the coming forth of the Book of Mormon in 3 Nephi 16:4, saying  4 And I command you that ye shall write these sayings after I am gone, ... that these sayings which ye shall write shall be kept and shall be manifested unto the Gentiles, ... [that they ]may be brought in, or may be brought to a knowledge of me, their Redeemer.

I love sharing and teaching about the Book of Mormon to others, to help them understand the power and the impact the Book of Mormon has. The Book of Mormon is the means by which the Lord will bring about His eternal purposes in the latter-days. How blessed we are to have such a wonderful book!

Have another great week!

Ik hou van jullie!!!

Elder Hunt

The synagogue dates back to the the 17th Century

We had the chance to go visit some old Jewish ruins today. Yep, you get another one of my history rants. I love learning about this history. The Dutch have always been known for their religious tolerance. Back during the colonial period, all people living within the borders of the Dutch empire enjoyed the right to religious freedom. That freedom drew many people in Europe to Holland, including Portuguese Jews fleeing persecution.

What we visited today were the remains of the third Jewish synagogue built in the Western hemisphere (The first was built in a Dutch colony in Brazil). It was built by these Portuguese Jews who fled to Holland. These Jews who fled to the Netherlands played an important role in Dutch colonization and trade, and helped colonize and establish trade connections for the Dutch accordingly. Their legacy is marked in Jewish branches that can still be found in places like New York City, Jamaica, Curacao, Suriname, Brazil, South Africa, and even Ceylon and Indonesia in Asia.

old Hebrew writing 

With companion 

Jewish Ruin