Hello everyone! I hope you were all able to enjoy the free slurpies on the 11th of this last week! Such time honored traditions are extremely important. This week was pretty exciting. I drove around a lot and got a little more familiar with my new area....so much driving. This week not much happened! Just driving. Lots of driving. It poured for the past two days here! We haven't gotten rain in forever and we just got oodles and oodles of rain! Apparently it was coming off of some hurricane in Mexico or something. And we are supposed to get some more rain today! I LOVE RAIN!!!!! Since not much happened....again this week, here is my short though. This is a part of a General Conference talk that I love. It talks about the power of the Book of Mormon in helping people to know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that he told the truth.

"Elder F. Burton Howard of the Seventy acquaints us with a strong testimony of the converting power of the Book of Mormon: Sister Celia Cruz Ayala of the Puerto Rico San Juan Mission decided to give the Book of Mormon to a friend. She wrapped it in attractive paper and set out to deliver her present. On the way she was attacked by a bandit who stole her purse and with it the wrapped copy of the Book of Mormon. A few days later she received this letter:

Mrs. Cruz:

   Forgive me, forgive me. You will never know how sorry I am for attacking you. But because of it, my life has changed and will continue to change. That book [the Book of Mormon] has helped me in my life. The dream of that man of God has shaken me. … I am returning your five pesos for I can’t spend them. I want you to know that you seemed to have a radiance about you. That light seemed to stop me [from harming you, so] I ran away instead. I want you to know that you will see me again, but when you do, you won’t recognize me, for I will be your brother. … Here, where I live, I have to find the Lord and go to the church you belong to. The message you wrote in that book brought tears to my eyes. Since Wednesday night I have not been able to stop reading it. I have prayed and asked God to forgive me, [and] I ask you to forgive me. … I thought your wrapped gift was something I could sell. [Instead,] it has made me want to make my life over.

Forgive me, forgive me, I beg you.

Your absent friend.

Such is the conversion power of the Book of Mormon."

The Book of Mormon is the most powerful book in the world. Like I do in just about every email I send, I want to invite everyone to read it if they have not, ponder and apply the teachings that are in it, and ask God if it is true.

Here are some pictures from my last week in A4!

Elder Hunter

1-3. How exactly did this (accident) happen???????

4. Elder Meyers and Dawg.

5. Elder Meyers and I with Sister Atkinson. She was a visa waiter to Australia for two transfers and she just left. Yes, I am holding a u-lock.

6-7. My new area!!!!!

This week was amazing. We had 15 lessons as opposed to our regular 8 or 9. We have found a number of new people to teach as well. We finally have J on date! He is a ten year old boy whose father was baptized 3 or 4 years ago and became less active and involved in Gang activity, drugs, alcohol, the works. He really wants to be worthy to baptize J. I am so excited for everything in this area! We are working with the Elders Quorum president to make Home teaching assignments for the Ward. There are about 20 people in the Ward that have home teachers. In working with the HPGL, we have given him assignments and he hasn't done anything. In making home teaching assignments his first question is "Who lives closest?" Doesn't matter if the person is less active or no one knows if they even live there anymore. So we are finally getting some structure to home teaching! I'm set excited!!! We are also trying to give callings and assignments to less actives, less active part member families, and new members in order to get them active. V, the girl we baptized last weekend, is already less active....there is no fellowshipping in the Ward at all. Please pray that our Ward members will have a real desire to live the gospel! We came up a list of 9 people yesterday with Bishop that we can rely on. These are the only people in the Ward that are living the gospel. Home teaching works. Living the gospel works. If people are not doing and have no desire at all to do either one or both of those they should consider having their names removed from the records of the church because that will just make it worse for them when they die. Anyway, love you all! 

Elder Hunter