Our baptism went great! We had Allen interviewed by a member of the mission presidency, because we felt kind of uncomfortable, but he passed! He's got the intent, just zero understanding. He refuses to let go of past spiritualist things......and refuses to accept English definitions of words because that's not what they actually mean. It took 30 or so lessons with him, each at least two hours to finish teaching him everything. He just exhausts me. After he was confirmed a member of the church in church yesterday (the guy that confirmed him was a former gang member that had done prison time for a few years. He was super nervous and was asking me to go over it with him a whole bunch before. He gave a beautiful blessing) and after everyone stepped back at the end sat there humming in the chair. He thinks feeling the spirit is unnatural or something. We need to go over that with him.....probably will read about receiving spirits that are not of Him.....he went up and hugged a sister missionary yesterday after a music fireside.....President Taggart and I were both about to pounce on him. He is very lovable, but sometimes it is just a little to creepy. And we aren't sure of his intentions. But whatever they are he needs to realize that just about all of what he thinks is appropriate is not. For example, he wanted to do his baptism in the nude....but notice his haircut in the picture! I did that. 

We have a baptism lined up for the 13th, and one for the 20th that was actually a Referal from a member! It was a great lesson. They wanted to have a family night and talk about the plan of salvation, but we made it work, and extended an invitation to be baptized with a specific date! It is gonna take some miracles, seeing as the happy couple is unmarried with a child, but they are solid. The guy is a returning member. We are really excited for that. We are hoping to have another kid on date for the 27th. His dad is a less active member, and has loooots of problems. But we had a talk with him and he wants us to help him get his act together so he can baptize his son. He showed up at church today!! That was a miracle because he has not been in ages. And he said 2 days ago that he probably wouldn't be able to make it. 

Heh. The members. We have earned the trust of the ward council very much so. From reporting on assignments we've been given, and we have organized a set night each week to go on splits/exchanges with the priests and a youth leader. It's good for them. We are starting to have more young men show up it seems! The rest of the ward is basically Innactive. We currently have a list of...it was 30....now 17 people we have to hunt down and see if they are A. Alive  B. Still live there. Or.  C. Are interested in coming back to church and would like home teachers or not. That's just us. The missionaries. All the other quorums and auxiliaries have lists of their own. So we have our work very much cut out for us. Here's an awesome story for this week!

So on Friday we went on exchanges with our District Leader. I went with his trainee who is just finishing. Elder Smith. We started off by visiting two less actives. One was a less active. We talked about her experience doing temple work and her problems. I felt impressed to share a story someone gave me about a missionary that taught someone that was having much worse problems, and promised her that if she read the Book of Mormon and prayed about it, everything would be taken care of. She read a verse and prayed, and nothing happened so she thought ha, they were wrong. She dreamed that night that a man appeared and asked her if what she was planning on doing (dating a rich guy for his money) was right in the eyes of God) and after being asked twice, she said, well how else am I supposed to care for my children? He said open the book. She woke up, opened it, and opened it to the page of Joseph Smith.....the man that had appeared to her in her dream. She hadn't seen his picture before. She got a slew of phone calls from the government saying that they could do various things to help her out because there were abnormalites in the system that shouldn't have been there, but were, so she could make use of them. After telling this sister this story I promised her that if she would listen to what the missionaries (elder smith and elder kuehne) would ask her to do everything would work out. The lesson with the returning member was short and uneventful. The next lesson was a short teaching the daughter of a less active on the doorstep and inviting her to read from the Book of Mormon. Then we went to the church because I had to pee. Elder Smith was trying to figure out what to do, and I asked him if I could see his area book. I glanced through the potentials, and stopped on one, and opened it up and asked him if he would like to go visit that person. So we did. She had spoken with missionaries exactly 376 days previously. We taught her the plan of salvation and restoration on the doorstep. She said she wanted to change her life around. She asked us if we had been baptized, and then said that she hadn't been baptized. So I said, well, how would you like to be baptized?! We committed her to reading the Book of Mormon and set up a return appointment for tomorrow. And she said she would love to be baptized if she feels like the Book of Mormon is true, and was even asking us what exactly had to happen for that to happen. It was a great day. I'm especially glad, because he is about to be put with an elder that I love, but is pretty apostate. He just likes having fun more than working to find people to teach the gospel to. Soooo....in other news.....transfers!!!

I am staying in A4 with Elder Meyers, and I have been called as a district leader. There are 25 missionaries leaving this transfer and 2 coming in. Next transfer there are 30 leaving and 25 coming in. I was talking with President Taggart about it and he gave me the scoop. :) Love you all! Can everyone please answer my questions though......that would be great. You can email me again on Monday you know. And during the week. But if you don't answer my questions, I'm in the dark and I don't know what's going on!!!

Love 

Elder Hunter

So this week we baptized Allen! This is when lock picking becomes useful.....no one had keys to anything in the church building, so I had to pick 3 different locks to make the baptism happen! I was quite impressed with myself. But after three grueling months of teaching Allen, it finally happened! Notice his handsome haircut.....yes, I did that....I am very proud of that too! As far as baptisms go, it was an interesting one. I'll leave it at that. This week was one of my favorite weeks! So much happened! We had so many great lessons!!! Transfers are also happening today! Elder Meyers and I are staying together. Every Ward that has two sets of missionaries is going down to 1! A year ago there were 240 missionaries in the mission. Now there are 140. So in the next 3 transfers we are getting a huge influx of new missionaries! 

Here is my short thought for the week!

In my studies this week, I read a few conference talks from ages ago...here is a passage of one that stood out to me.

"Through his experience and his omniscience, our Heavenly Father knows the end from the beginning. Through his prophets he has revealed and does reveal the history of mankind, the timetable of life upon this planet. This is the dispensation of the fulness of times, when the keys of all former dispensations have been given to the prophets of the restoration, a time when God has spoken from the heavens and angels have appeared to man, a time when men and women have the Holy Ghost conferred upon them, and by the power of the Holy Ghost we may know the truth of all things. There is need for this great power in the earth today. The history of this world is in fulfillment of the plan prepared in the heavens before this earth was created. That which the world calls Mormonism is based upon the rock of revelation."

I am so grateful for the revelation that continues today. Revelation is what the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints stands on. Either there is a prophet on the earth that continues to receive revelation, or there is not. The Book of Mormon is proof that revelation does continue. You cannot honestly read it, and honestly say that it is not the word of God. I have read the Book of Mormon, and more convincing than the many evidences there are of its veracity, I know it is true by the power of the Holy Ghost that allows us to know the truth of all things by testifying to our souls of truth. I'm so grateful for the guidance of the spirit in my life, and his role in testifying of truth. I'm grateful for the revelation that is continuously received by the prophet Thomas S. Monson today. I tandem with the email I sent a couple weeks ago about the Book of Mormon, I want to invite everyone who reads this that has not read the Book of Mormon from cover to cover and prayed to God to ask Him if it is true or not, to do so. I promise He will answer if He is asked with real intent. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen. I love you all!

Elder Hunter

Pictures 

1. Elder Wilding, one of our zone leaders, at the baptism.

2. Elder Meyers and Allen

3. Elder Meyers going at a piece of chicken.