Oct 17, 2016

Alles is zo snell gegaan! Ik kan me niet geloven dat wij zijn door de middel van oktober gegaan!

We've had another great week this week. We finally moved back into our normal apartment, finally. It's almost been a month since we were there. It feels so good to have a nice, organized apartment again. This week has flown by so quickly. I guess I'll keep saying that for the rest of my mission (since I have been saying that for weeks).

We've had some awesome experiences this week. We've been doing a lot of finding, to build up our teaching pool again. Our mission president had the mission split all their areas up into 6 or 7 smaller areas. He then had us prayerfully choose one area to make our 'Designated Contacting Area'. He then told us to go through the entire area and contact every single house there, the promise being that the Lord not only has people prepared to receive us in that area, but that the Lord has people that are ready to be baptised. It's cool because we've seen a lot of success from it. What's also cool is that it helps the members in that area. We tell the members that the Lord has inspired us that this specific area that we've chosen has people that are prepared. That'll help the members realize that there are people around them that are prepared, even people that they know.

One cool investigator we found is Joey. What's cool is that we've contacted his house twice before, and no one was home. We contacted it a third time, and we met Joey. We taught him the Restoration, and WOW, he has soooo many good questions. We taught him about the Book of Mormon yesterday, and he was asking us questions like "Did Joseph Smith have the priesthood while he was translating the golden plates?" and even asked us "How has the Book of Mormon impacted your lives"? He is totally prepared and we're very excited to continue teaching him.

We've also been teaching a lady named Seeta. She's a member referral, and we had taught her in the past, but she hadn't really made progress. We hadn't taught her in over 3 weeks, during the whole apartment drama, but we've started teaching her again. We've had very spiritual experiences teaching her the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. She said she'll be baptised and that she'll attend our church. Those were two worries that we'd had before, since she's comfortable going another church. But, after having these spiritual lessons with her, she's opened up a lot more, and we're very excited to continue teaching her.

The more I read the Book of Mormon, the more stronger testimony I receive of it. I was reading in Helaman 3 the other day, saying  29 Yea, we see that whosoever will may lay hold upon the word of God, which is quick and powerful, which shall divide asunder all the cunning and the snares and the wiles of the devil, and lead the man of Christ in a strait and narrow course across that everlasting gulf of misery which is prepared to engulf the wicked—

 30 And land their souls, yea, their immortal souls, at the right hand of God in the kingdom of heaven, to sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and with Jacob, and with all our holy fathers, to go no more out.

There is such power in the Book of Mormon. It's the foundation of all that we do. Thorough, continuous study of the Book of Mormon helps us understand how 'quick and powerful' the Book of Mormon is. It's a compass for us (Alma 37), and when we look to it as a compass, it will guide us in our day to day lives.

Have another great week!

Ik hou van jullie!!!

Elder Hunt

Sunset behind the trees it looked like it was on fire

Purple colors in the Sunset

Building in Suriname

Schurtolschotel, a Dutch dish that is delicious. A member fed it to us this week. It's a cross between lasagne and Shepard's pie.

Pictures of Suriname

Countryside in Suriname

Sunset

Amazing Sunset colors

Gold Sunset

Hanging out with other Elders

First of the Month...

Landscape at dusk

Streets of Suriname

October 3, 2016

What a week! We've had quite a lot happen this week. We've had a lot of meetings this week since President and Sister Egbert were in Suriname again. But between Zone meeting and General Conference, we've had a lot of spiritual experiences and learning experiences.

Chandra is still doing really well. We tried to get her to General Conference but things didn't work out. We had a cool experience running into her sister though. She's been telling her family about us and the church and about the Book of Mormon, and apparently her sister is totally interested. So we're biking down the road on Tuesday when this lady flags us down from off the side of the road, shouting "Elders, Elders!!" Apparently this lady was Chandra's sister, and she recognized us from off the side of the road. She then tells us "My sister has been telling me all about your church, and she said that you gave her a really cool blue book. I want one of those blue books too"! We're planning on seeing her tonight and teaching her the Restoration. Fun way to get a new investigator!

And honestly after that, not too much has happened in terms of our other investigators. We haven't really been able to sit with too many of them because of our meetings and General Conference. More missionaries are coming into Suriname this week though (6 of them) which will be really nice. We'll be able to concentrate more on our assigned area.

Zone Meeting was amazing! One of the most spiritual that I've attended. We were asked to role play (I hate role plays) in front of everyone else. But we've learned a lot about finding new people to teach. And President Egbert gave an awesome challenge at the end of the meeting. He told us to strive to have at least one baptism a transfer. To go along with that challenge, he also told us to pray for a baptism every transfer, every prayer that we say out loud. Between contacting people, receiving referrals, working with members, and hard work, he said that every companionship could baptize every transfer. That goes right along with the goal he set at the beginning of the year, to double the number of baptisms in Suriname.

GENERAL CONFERENCE! I loved General Conference! It's so great! There were so many good talks. Normally, the church plays General Conference in Dutch here for the members, but just days before the conference the satellite to the church broke, so the church was unable to get Dutch translation which was disappointing. Luckily, most members understand at least basic English, so we watched it in English.

Right now, my favorite conference talk was Elder Nielsons (it keeps changing, but as I type this Elder Nielson's has been my favorite. He talked about the simple truth that the gospel enables us to always be happy, joyful, and hopeful. That was such a wonderful statement. To this day my favorite hymn has always been Now Let Us Rejoice. We have the words of the Restored gospel in our hands. That message is one that brings an unending source of happiness and hope. The difficulty sometimes is to always realize that. I also learned a lot about prayer and how that is the channel that I can develop my relationship with God. An awesome quote from Elder Bednar that I heard was,We come to know the Lord as we feel His love". That is such precious knowledge, just like what Elder Rasband talked about. Never forget those truths.

Have another great week!

Ik hou van jullie!!!

Elder Hunt

District meetings 

Group Lunches with the Senior Couple Elder and Sister Crawford

Hallo en groenten vanuit Suriname!

Oh my goodness, this last week we have been ALL OVER THE PLACE. We're trying to catch up on visiting everyone and getting things in order the way they are supposed to be. Elder Ort said his goodbyes to people he wanted to see and then I was with some other Elders until my new companion came in.

My new companion is Elder Voigt, and he is AWESOME! He's from Minnesota, and like me, he had to visa wait a little bit before he came into Suriname. It's fun serving with him though. He does cross country, wrestling, choir, and knows how to make a mean omelet haha. It's fun being a trainer though because the place that he is at is exactly where I was just months ago. He flu in Thursday so we've been able to work in the area after that. We're trying to go see everyone so that we don't fall behind scheduled baptismal dates, etc.

We've continued teaching Chandra. She's been dealing with some crazy things in her life, but it's awesome to see her turn to the Lord for strength. She talked to us yesterday about how she learned how prayer is so important to her now, and how she finds strength through prayers. That was awesome to hear. We'll hopefully start teaching her sister and son-in-law this next coming week as well. She's been telling others about what she's been learning which is awesome.

We're also teaching another investigator named Ritchelle. She's a referral from a member here, and the way we made contact with her was really cool. As we were visiting the member, he started talking about her and how he wanted us to teach her. Just as he started doing that, she showed up to his house. So we've exchanged information and are now teaching her. Cool way to find a new investigator. She's been really receptive to the Book of Mormon though. She wasn't able to make it to church this last week, but she said with General Conference coming up she'll be able to make it to one of the sessions.

I'm more than just excited to see General Conference this week. It's like missionary Christmas. You bring lists of questions to conference and watch them get answered one by one. I found a wonderful scripture about walking by faith in Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

I love to think about that word evidence. I think about the different miracles that happen by walking by faith, and how those can show evidence of the Lord's help in our lives. Even though we can't see the Lord's ministering angels or fully comprehend what the Lord's purposes are, we can have faith in not only promised blessings, but also in blessings we've seen in our own lives and in the lives of others.

We also were able to go to Bruinsberg again. It was an awesome trip. I'll send pictures. It was great to be in the jungle again ;). Have another great week!

Ik hou van jullie!!!

Elder Hunt

My new companion Elder Voigt

This lake as two names. The Dutch name is the Van Bommenstein Reservoir and the Saranan Tongo name for it is Brokopondo (literally 'broken pond'). 

 It's that big lake you see on the map of Suriname

Amazon Tree View

Amazing rock color and water fall

Josh in Jungle

Josh and the Amazon Huge Trees

Changes going on September 19, 2016

Hello everyone and happy Monday! We've had a very exciting week this week, full of changes that will kind of lead to a crazy week this week.

First off, we had a transfer. I am staying here in Wanica, and I will be training! I'll be getting a new missionary who is currently in Guyana right now. I am very excited to train. It'll be fun being on the other end of the spectrum of getting a new missionary. I haven't decided if I'm just going to speak Dutch with him for the first day haha ;D.

These changes in companionship's are occurring because of some more visa problems the church has been having in Suriname. I've now learned it was a tender mercy that I visa waited for 3 months. Four missionaries in Suriname right now are being removed and being set in other countries on account of having no MKV's. The missionaries leaving are being flown out to places like Bonaire, Curacao, and Guyana. I'm glad I get to stay here in Suriname. Suriname is the best!

We're very excited for our investigators right now. Good things are happening in the area. Because of the appartment switch it's added an hour of travel time onto our daily schedule. Nevertheless, we've been able to see some awesome things happen. Chandra is doing really well. She enjoys reading the Book of Mormon and learning from it. It's so cool to see people change because of the Book of Mormon.

A little update about the S. The family is doing very well and have an awesome family scripture study. Broeder S was telling us about how for their family scripture study,(since reading the scriptures are new for them), they read the chapter they had read the day before, and then read a new chapter for that day. They are getting so good at scripture study. It's really something they've grown in. We got them scripture markers so they can mark their scriptures too. President Egbert gave a really cool lesson about how marking our scriptures is like leaving a history in our scriptures of what the spirit has taught us. Really cool stuff.

I read this morning in Alma chapter 26, where we learn an awesome lesson on gratitude. In verse 16 Ammon gives a beautiful synopsis on gratitude. He says:

16 Therefore, let us glory, yea, we will glory in the Lord;yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel.

It's really cool how here, is what Ammon teaches us about gratitude. When we're grateful, we take the time to search for the blessings the Lord has given us, which brings us happiness. When we learn a proper way of being grateful for everything, we take the time to make ourselves happy. Who knows how much joy Ammon felt from his mission that he served for the Lamanites, but he was grateful, and that was the source of his joy. It's a very good analysis of it.

Have another great week. I'll write to you all next week on how it is with my new companion. Wees netjes!!

Ik hou van jullie!!!

Elder Hunt

New apartment in Wanica

main area

bedroom

Study room

Happy Tues Sept 13, 2016

Hallo iedereen, groenten uit deze bijzondere land!

We have been all over the place this week and we've had some amazing miracles happen.

First off this week Monday was a Holiday. Second  we had to switch apartments. Long story short, because of the rules of the mission we're not able to move into our old apartment until mid October. We now live 30 minutes south (by bike) of where we used to live which has added a lot more travel time onto our schedule. But, even with that setback, we were able to see a couple of really awesome miracles.

Chandra is doing well. She came to church again and is growing friendships with the members. She's in the process of gaining her own testimony of the Book of Mormon and continues reading it. We had a really good lesson with her about the Book of Mormon after which we invited her to pray. Next to seeing people get baptized, hearing people pray for the first time has to be one of my most favorite parts of the mission.

We have a couple of brand new investigators that we're really excited about. The majority of them are member referrrals, so we're excited to take them out teaching with us. They all take the Book of Mormon seriously, which is very good since that's how they'll gain a testimony. We were also able to contact into some lessons with people this week. We even had a lesson where we contacted a lady, asked if we could share a lesson with her, and in the lesson asked her to be baptized, and we set a date for her! Never done that one before... It when really well though.

Other then that, it's been a typical, busy week in Suriname. I like the feeling of being rushed though. Not necessarily stressed, but always having something to do on my agenda. It makes the time go by so much faster.

I found a wonderful scripture that talks about charity and doing good in 1 Peter 3:8-10,12:8 Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:

 9 Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise (being a) blessing; knowing that ye are there unto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.

 10 For he that will love life, and see good days, let himrefrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak noguile:12 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and hisears are open unto their prayers

I love this scripture, talking about how we are called to bless others. The beautiful principle of charity that God is trying to teach us is to look for the good in the world. As it says be a blessing, knowing full well that the Lord is watching over us and will help us as we strive to do what he has called us to do. As a lady we contacted told us, "God is mijn alles, mijn ochtend en mijn avond, mijn wandel en mijn handel".

Have another wonderful week!

Ik hou van jullie!!!

Elder Hunt

A typical Surinamese meal, with rijs (rice), kip (chicken), aardappel (potatoes), met groenten (veggies).

Nederlandse pannenkoeken (Dutch crepes)