P Day at the Fort

Old Tank 

Cannon at the Fort

Cannon looking over the delta of the Suriname river with the Atlantic ocean in the background.

It SNOWED in Suriname! Great week of baptisms

Hallo iedereen en groetjes vanuit Suriname!

We had an absolutely crazy and awesome week this week. We've had so much stuff going on it's kept us on our toes.

Zuster H and the S family got baptized this last week! That was so exciting to see! It's honestly been one of the best moments on my mission. President Egbert was here for their baptism and was very impressed with their testimonies. Thursday night he came with us to teach H and the S family. He got so excited teaching. President Egbert is known for how fast he talks, and that doesn't stop when he speaks in Dutch. The AP's always say that President Egbert is the happiest when he's in Suriname #DutchIsTheBest.

The baptismal service was amazing. The spirit was so strong. There were so many members from the Wanica branch that came in support. H and the S were baptised along with an investigator some of the Sisters from up north have been teaching. Hearing their testimonies was awesome. H testimony specifically was very powerful. She got up to the podium and simply gave her testimony of the Book of Mormon and of the Restoration of the priesthood. What was cool is we didn't realize until a few days before her baptism that her uncle is the branch mission leader in the Temmenga branch. She has family in the church already and we didn't know about it until just a few days before. That was cool. The S are doing awesome! The members have been so good at supporting them. They gave awesome testimonies at the service as well.

This week I've been reading in 2 Nephi 33:  6 I glory in plainness; I glory in truth; I glory in my Jesus,for he hath redeemed my soul from hell...(9) enter into the narrow gate, and walk in the strait path which leads to [eternal] life, and continue in the path until the end of the day of probation.

The instructions are laid before us. The Lord has given us the recipe for a happy life, and a guide to stay on His path leading back home. As we live up to our covenants that we've made with God, we'll grow an unwavering testimony of the Restoration of the gospel and the message will become sweeter to us, day by day.

We had a fun P-Day activity this last week. We went to fort Nieuw Amsterdam, an old Dutch fort built back in the 1700's. I really enjoyed it. It's always so much fun learning about the rich and also very diverse history Suriname has. I learned a lot about Dutch colonial history which is one of my most favourite histories to study. It helps be realize how random but awesome of a place Suriname actually is, and how lucky I am to serve here.

Love you all so much. I'll be back with more to come next week!

Ik hou van jullie!!!

Elder Hunt

Amazing New members in Suriname

In their mission they have members in the branch do the Baptizing 

Everyone that came out to support them

One year down August 15, 2016

Hallo iedereen en groetjes vanuit Suriname! Het heeft een geweldige week geweest (zoals altijd).

We've had a really cool week this last week. We've been busy doing a number of things getting ready for this next coming week.

H was not baptised this last week. Due to some hick-ups in planning we are moving her baptism to this Saturday. She is still doing very well. This last week we had the chance to teach her about the temple and family history work. We used the magazine that the church has on the temple to teach it. She loved the picture of the Celestial room. Whenever people see pictures like that it helps them visualize the beauty of the temple and the power that the temple has. She loved the idea of family history work and temple work for the dead. We brought some members by with us, and we had to leave for another appointment, but the members stayed extra time to answer questions that she had about work for the dead.

The S family is doing AMAZING!! They are also getting baptized this Saturday. There have been many tender mercies happening that have been helping them prepare for their baptism. For example, Zuster S wasn't sure if she felt ready for baptism. But then she and her daughters were able to go on a district activity (a district is like a stake, but smaller) with the Young Women on a hike. Apparently being with other members there really helped strengthen her. Now she is as excited as ever! The members have been so good at helping the S family. President Egbert always talks about how we missionaries go away but the members are here to stay, so those friendships that they build will stay.

With all of this, this next coming week will be pretty crazy. President Egbert will be coming to Suriname with an area Seventy to do Zone Conference (for the missionaries) and district conference (for the members). President Egbert is not only our mission president, but he is also the Stake president for all the members in Suriname, Guyana, and the ABC islands so he is always busy doing other things. We're preparing for that as well as this baptism that we have this Saturday. So it'll be a bit crazy but it'll also be very exciting.

I have been pondering a lot lately about spiritual truth being described as light. I found a scripture in D&C 84:45-46 that brought me to think about it: 

45 For the word of the Lord is truth, and whatsoever is truth is light, and whatsoever is light is Spirit, even the Spirit of Jesus Christ. 46 And the Spirit giveth light to every man that cometh into the world; and the Spirit enlighteneth every man through the world, that hearkeneth to the voice of the Spirit.

I love this definition of truth. I love it because not only can we find the truth of the gospel through the Holy Ghost in our minds, but it's also something that you can feel. We can feel when we are living truth and light. I love pondering about that connection, because when you're doing what you're supposed to be doing, and setting your mind in the right place, you feel this light. It's enlightening, brightening, growing, and enduring. 

D&C 50:25 And again, verily I say unto you, and I say it that you may know the truth, that you may chase darkness from among you;

Love you all so much! I'll be back this next coming week with plenty of pictures of the baptism. Have a great week!

Ik hou van jullie!!!

Elder Hunt

Final done digging the foundation for a house

Tan color difference 

Beautiful Sunset for his One Year Mark

Got to have his favorite dinner on August 12th for his one year mark 

August 8th Week of his One year mark

Hallo iedereen!

It's been another great week in Wanica. It's also been sort of a crazy week too. We've been having bike problems and our phone broke down this week too, which has led to a lot of unforeseen difficulties a.k.a chaos. Anyways, we've had some wonderful things happen this week, and we are very excited for this next coming week too.

H is doing awesome! She's getting baptised this Saturday which we are really excited for. She is such an honest and humble seeker of truth and it's been an awesome opportunity to teach her. She catches onto everything quickly and she's also really good applying gospel principles in her life, "om evangelie beginsellen in je leven te toepassen" as the Surinamese say it.

The S family are on fire right now! They are progressing so well!! The entire family came to church together for the very first time ever and they loved it! The members have been so good at fellow-shipping them and are very excited for their baptism. We are also very excited for them as well. We've been teaching them about the importance of family scripture study, and really stressing reading out of the Book of Mormon.

The Book of Mormon truly is the foundation to everything that we do in the church. The promise has been made time and time again that one will never lose their testimony if they read out of the Book of Mormon everyday. I know that is true! In D&C 43:34 it says "Treasure these things up in your hearts, and let the solemnities of eternity rest upon you minds forever". The Book of Mormon is so amazing because it gives us a source of hope in our lives. That knowledge that brings us hope, is what keeps us going. It's what allows us to go on from activity to activity, day to day, with confidence and happiness knowing that everything will be okay. That is such a wonderful gift that our loving Heavenly Father has given to teach one of us.

Love you all. I'll be back next week with more to come. I can't believe I'll be hitting my year mark this week. Missions really do fly by! Have a great week!

Ik hou van jullie!!!

Elder Hunt

Goedemorgen Iedereen! August 1,2016

Hello everyone! Happy August 1st! I can't believe it is already August! Time has been flying by here in the mission field. We've been having so many things going on this past week. We've been seeing a lot of tender mercies this week which has been awesome to see. 

We've probably done more service this week than I've done before on my mission. We've been helping a member here build his house. We had to begin by clearing out his plot of land of Surinamese brush using brushcutters andhowers (machetes). The Surinamese are very good at draining water, something they've learned from the Dutch. It comes in handy here because the land here gets sooo swampy and muddy. After clearing out all of the brush, we started digging the foundation, and that is hard work. The soil here is a mixture of mud and clay, and is HARD to dig in. I'll send pictures.

H is continuing to do very well. We moved her baptismal date back a week to get everything organized and in order for it. She's doing amazing though. The members have been really good at fellow-shipping her into the church. I've come to gain a strong testimony of member missionary work. They're the ones that help converts last and they connect to these people in ways that we as missionaries can't. The members here are awesome!

The S family is also doing very well. It has also been really fun to go over and teach them with the members. They're getting along with the members really well. We've started singing Lofzangen, hymns, at the end of each lesson. They're so prepared and it's awesome to teach them. We weren't able to get all of them to church but a number of them still came.

A number of our investigators that we have are also making progress. We're very grateful for the chance that we have to teach these people. We've seen so many blessings that the Lord has given to us this last week.  It's been very good. We're also excited for the chance that we have to have a P-Day to help us organize everything that has been going on. We're finally seeing answers to our prayers. In Mark 11:24, it says 24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire,when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

Faith is such an important principles of prayer. Anyone who's served as a missionary will testify of that. Enduring faith and hope in our prayers will enable us to maintain our love and faithfulness to our Heavenly Father.

Love you all! Have another great week.

Ik hou van jullie!!!

Elder Hunt

Doing the Lord's Work 

South Suriname

Digging in Clay (he said it is really hard to dig 

Helping dig a foundation for a member

July 25, 2016

Hallo idereen! Hoe gaat het met jullie allemaal? Onze week was absoluut fantastisch!

We have had an awesome week. We have some very good things going in this area. I'm getting more comfortable with the area, meeting everyone and teaching to the needs of our investigators. Wanica is an awesome branch to serve in. The members here are very humble and are more than willing to help us do missionary work here.

We have some very exciting news. We found two new investigator families to teach this week. Both of them are absolutely awesome! We are so excited to teach them. The first family is the S family. They've been taught by missionaries on and off for a few years. Their biggest struggle was church attendance and reading as a family. They were finally dropped for about a year before the missionaries went over again. They are doing awesome since we've been visiting them. They read together as a family and some of them came to church on Sunday for the very first time. Not all of them were able to come but some of them were able to make it which is awesome!! They are very humble and very prepared! We are very excited for them.

H is doing awesome. She's meeting new members and keeps reading and coming to church. She understands everything we teach her and asks the most profound questions. She is a very golden investigator as well.

We were also able to do quite a bit of service this week as well. A less active here in the area has his own orchard so we helped him clear out some bush that was over growing the orchard (yes with machetes). They call macheteshowers here. Also another members is building a house in our area so we helped him clear out his yard so a foundation for the house can be built. Yep,we did that with howers too.

I'm loving life out here, rolling on with whatever the Lord has in store for us. missions get hard but they are also very rewarding. I love King Benjamin's talk on being grateful in Mosiah 2:17and18 "23 And now, in the first place, he hath created you, and granted unto you your lives, for which ye are indebted unto him. 24 And secondly, he doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you; and therefore he hath paid you.And ye are still indebted unto him, and are, and will be,forever and ever;".

And then I love the last phrase that he adds at the end of the text, "therefore, of what have ye to boast?" That is a wonderful and inspired phrase to ponder about. It is because of the Lord that we are happy and have light in our lives. We boast of Him! I am very grateful for the chance I have to be able to do that as a missionary.

Love you all so much, have another great week!

Ik hou van jullie!!!

Elder Hunt

The Suriname South missionaries 

Sunset in new area

riding home after a long day 

Pictures in the new area of Wanica

With Elder Christianson

With Zr. Marlene

The Wanica area (he called it the Day break area of Suriname)

Biking in his new area