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

July 18, 2016

Hallo iedereen! Goetjes vanuit Suriname!

I LOVE MY NEW AREA! The Wanica branch is awesome! There's 6 missionaries in the branch and we're the luckiest for having the best area. My companion is Elder Ort. He is from St. George, Utah and is awesome to serve with. He's been out about 20 months so I'm excited to learn from him. Our area is super nice. We work in an area called Nieuwe Grond which has a good mixture of the city and country side. The main roads here have bike lanes which are sooo nice. Our apartment is also probably the best I've stayed in and our landlady is the sweetest lady ever.

The work here is also very good. Wanica branch has about 80 active members and we have some of the best in our area. We are also teaching some very cool investigators right now. Our first investigator is H. She is super cool. She is very knowledgeable about gospel principles and the Bible but she is also humble. She asks us very good questions too. She came to church for the first time this last week and had a very good experience. She's asking questions and building friendships with the members.

Another person we are teaching is a Dutch lady named Zr. S. She is super funny and is fun to teach. She's had many trials in her life and has done a lot of searching in order to find the truth. She has done a lot of investigating in other churches and says that she is fascinated by the Book of Mormon and for its unique background. It gets to be difficult trying to teach her because she is normally very busy (as it seems the rest of our investigators are). We find time to sit with her though and we're excited to continue teaching her.

I am very grateful for this gospel and for the chance that I have to be able to serve the people of Suriname. I'm grateful for the chance I've had to share this dear message with these people. I know that the Book of Mormon is the foundation to everything that we do as Saints in the Last Days. In 2 Nephi 33:11 it says "10 And now, my beloved brethren... hearken unto these words and believe in Christ; and if ye believe not in these words believe in Christ. And if ye shall believe in Christ ye will believe in these words, for they are the words of Christ, and he hath given them unto me; and they teach all men that they should do good". I know that the Book of Mormon brings us closer to Jesus Christ and helps us learn of him. I know that reading it will help us more fully comprehend who Jesus Christ is, and what He's done for us. Most importantly, it helps us know what we can do because of what He's done for us. I know that the enabling power of the atonement can live vibrantly in each of us as we serve and obey our Lord. I love you all! Have another great week!

Ik hou van jullie!!!

Elder Hunt  

Awesome friend 

Sister Anna 

July 11, 2016

Hallo iedereen! Groetjes vanuit Suriname! Het heeft een andere geweldige week hier in Paramaribo geweest!

So first, big news, we got transfer calls and I'm leaving Paramaribo branch. It's always been a struggle for the church to get missionaries in to Suriname. We're losing 3 missionaries this transfer without any replacements so they are combining areas to make up for the difference (3 missionaries is big for Suriname, considering there are only about 20 missionaries in the entire country). I'm headed to a new area in Wanica branch. Wanica is just south of Paramaribo branch. It's been nuts. This will make my 8th transfer out in the field, with 8 companions and 5 different areas! Nuts!!! I sort of broke my streak this last transfer, but I'm picking it right back up again. I've heard some very good things about Wanica though, so I am excited to go there.

A is doing awesome! He is stoked to go to the temple. We gave him a LDS temple magazine, and he loved it! (thank you for the idea mom:) He's making some good friends in the branch, and came to a fireside we held this last Saturday. I'm sad I won't be here when he gets baptized, but I will be able to attend his baptismal service, which will be awesome.

J came to church again. It's been hard to sit with him so we haven't made much progress with him. 

Fun Surinamese culture fact: Surinamers love their birds. Naturally being at the head of the Amazon jungle there are a wide variety of birds and Parrots here. They love listening to them.You see people with birds in cages going all over the place. People have them in their yards, in their cars, and even on motorcycles. It's fun to see.

I've been studying a lot about wisdom and knowledge this last week and I found a scripture that I love in 2 Nephi 28:30 30 For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept,here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more. 

We all receive spiritual insights that we love as we progress further in the gospel. We find gold nuggets that we treasure and hold dear. We develop quite the collection as we store all of these treasures away (that's why it's so important to write in your journal, bear your testimony, and mark your scriptures), so that you can see the spiritual track that you've wandered before. That is how we gain knowledge and wisdom in the gospel. It's cool to see it all happen. Hope you all have another great week! I'll be back next week with news on my new area!

Ik hou van jullie!!!

Elder Hunt

This group loves to do SERVICE

Getting really good at cutting down weeds

So Happy to have a box from Home 

Zuster Parabiersing who Elder Hunt meet at the Washington DC temple visitor Center
where she was serving her mission

A school with Dutch colonial architecture 

pictures

Sunset in Paramaribo

Sign reads "forbidden trash"