NOTE FROM MOM:  Hunter had an amazing visit from Virginia friends, The Weidner Family!  

Alright, so first off I'd like to point out something funny I realized this week.

Mark 3:14-17

"And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils: And Simon he surnamed Peter; And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder:"

So from this we can establish that Jesus gave people nicknames. Haha.

So funny. This week we went on an exchange with Elder Savainaia and Elder Hamby my MTC comp!  I went with Savvy. He's from New Zealand! We built a chicken coop. Yup. That was basically it. We also had Zone Conference! I got to conduct the first half (wasn't that exciting). We talked about using the Book of Mormon more! I love talking about the Book of Mormon! I challenge everyone to read it in just about every email I send. This weeks a bit different. I did some statistic research this week. The two arguments that can be made about the Book of Mormon are that Joseph Smith translated them by the gift and power of God, or that he made it up and wrote it all by himself. (People have tried to argue that Sidney Rigdon, Joseph Smiths scribe actually wrote it, but that wasn't to hot. Using word prints (matching up texts with writing styles I believe) a study was done comparing the Book of Mormon to Sydney Rigdons writing style. It was decided that Sydney wrote the Book of Mormon. So some students at another University compared Sidney's writing style with the Articles of Confederation and it was discovered that he also wrote most of those! And he did it before he was born!) Anyway. Let us consider some conditions that must apply to someone writing a book comparable to the Book of Mormon.

1. You must be no older than 22. Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon from the age of 21-22.

2. You can only have a 3rd grade education.

3. You must write only on what you know. You are allowed to do no research.

4. Your book must include 239 chapters. 54 about wars, 21 about history, 55 about prophecy, 71 about doctrine, 17 about missionaries, and 21 about Jesus Christ's mission.

5. Your book must include a history of two distinct and separate nations.

6. You must describe the religious, social, economic, and political institutions of these countries over the period of 1000 years for one nation, and 2000 years for the other.

7. You must include and base your book on Christianity.

8. You must finish in approximately 80 days, and when finished make no changes (except for spelling mistakes of course.) 9. In telling a scribe what you wanted written, and pausing for sleep and food, you must never ask him/her to repeat back to you the last sentence/paragraph to you.

10. You have to fulfill bible prophecies in your book without making any kind of mistake or misinterpretation.

11. You must add 180 proper nouns to the English language.

The list goes on, but I don't have time.

So a challenge I'd like to issue to everyone, and his is a standing challenge for the rest of my mission, is to read the first 50 pages of the Book of Mormon, and try and write 10 pages like it.

The Book of Mormon is true. I know it. It doesn't make sense that it's not.

Love you all! Here's a few pictures of the car escapade last week!

Elder Hunter

1.-4. Elder Fauatea and I. Appreciate the dirt.