Pictures from the hike we went on last week.

Then we had dinner. Dinner with a Tongan is great! There was corn, mashed potatoes, and some pork tenderloin. Sister Wright asked Elder Kupu if he liked corn because he had only eaten one ear, and he said, "yes, but......I like meat more!" It was pretty funny. We crashed a Halloween party a Ward member was having on Thursday. Then on Friday or Saturday we helped set up a haunted maze at an elementary school for the kids. That's about all that happened this week! So let's jump to the good stuff.

Something I learned last week that I did t have the time to write about it that perfection isn't just an end like we often think of it.

It's a means to an end, because perfection is also a process. It's something that we should continuously be doing.

Thought number two. The commandment to keep the sabbath day holy.

Under the law of Moses, it was strictly enforced with specific rules and punishments. You could only walk a certain number of steps, you had to have food prepared the day before (or you could only prepare certain kinds of food. Something like that) and there was no business done on the sabbath. Breaking this commandment was punishable by death. Now the law of Moses has been fulfilled, but the commandment to keep the sabbath still stands. We use the sabbath to worship God and renew our covenants with him. Please turn to Mark 2. The last two verses talk about the sabbath and the relation of it to man. Then the last verse kind of randomly starts talking about the Son of Man.

A.k.a. Christ. So we discussed in Elders quorum the translation of that and how the Greek didn't translate too well, but when it was translated to another language, all the 'man' and 'son of man' in the last two verses translate to 'mankind'. So in that context, the last verse says 'mankind is Lord of the sabbath.' So does this mean that we can do whatever we want on the Sabbath? No, of course not. In both the bible and Book of Mormon there are parables about vineyards. We often hear references to 'the Lord of the vineyard.' What does 'Lord' imply in this context? The Lord of the vineyard TAKES CARE of his vineyard and works with his servants. He leads by example. Thus as Lords of the Sabbath, it is our duty to TAKE CARE of it. Truly make it a day of rest from the labor  and cares if the world, and 'pay our devotions unto the most high.' The Lord blesses us for keeping His commandments.

I'd like to challenge all of you to take time to make a list of the blessings that come from keeping this particular commandment and have an honest inventory with yourself on how you are doing with keeping it. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen. I love you all tons!

Elder Hunter

Pictures

1. Us at the Halloween party we crashed.

2.-4. Setting up the maze for the kids.

 Last picture of manaquins at Nordstroms...

This is just part of a letter Hunter sent last week:

Sounds like Sarah is like some of our former investigators. Having her over to the house is definitely helping her. There's a talk by someone.....I forget his name, but I think it was in the ensign in 1989. It's called 'keeping the gospel simple.' I was given a hard copy early on in my mission and read it every now and then. It is extremely powerful. Maybe take a look at it and see if it would be good for Sarah! The whole 1/3 thing is kind of ridiculous if you ask me. That's just natural selection at its finest if you ask me! Stupid people make stupid choices! Please feel free to share that with Sarah and quote me! Good to hear that Justus finally got his license! Sorry your Memorial Day or Labor Day, whatever it was, wasn't fun. :/ 

Thanks for the thought! That sparked a few thoughts and gave me something to ponder for the next little while. I had a few I wanted to share, but I'll have to save them for next week. Is week, we discovered that our bathroom door wasn't shutting well because the top hinge was stripped. Then the middle one went. Now we have no bathroom door. :) Sight and sound at ALL times from now on!!! Love you dad! Sorry I didn't write more today. I was running around ALL day, literally from 6:00-present. 

Hunter

Here's a couple pics of a hike we went on today! Went to a place called black star falls. It was lots of fun. 

Alright, I just wrote up an email and it got deleted. So here's the shortened version!

1. The mayor of Silverado personally paid for us to go to this farmers market/festival thing.

2. We had a fireside for recently baptized people's! It was so cool to hear their testimonies of the restored gospel!

3. We had our temple trip today! It was wonderful.

Love you all!

Hunter

Pictures:

1. Me walking down the canyon road.

2-4. Temple trip pictures!!!!!

So this week was transfers! Elder Kuehne and I are staying together for 6 more weeks after which he will most likely leave. We got a whole bunch of new missionaries in our zone, and two brand new missionaries are getting here tomorrow! Not much went on this week except for the rain. And on Friday we had a booth in this festival that Tustin does every year. Besides that...... Who watched General Conference?! For those of you who didn't, the new Apostles are Elder Rasband, Elder Stevenson, and Elder Renlund. It was wonderful to have the opportunity to sustain them as Apostles of  he Lord Jesus Christ this Conference for the first time. Here are a couple pearls of wisdom I gained from Conference.

Bradley D. Foster said, "Be engaged in intentional parenting." For those of you who are parents, you can find ways to best apply this in your lives. For those of you who hope to someday be parents, myself included, decide now how you will be actively involved in the lives of your children. Parent isn't just a noun. It's a verb!

Larry R. Lawrence challenged everyone to, "Ask the Lord what is keeping us from progressing." I'd like to challenge all of you to read that particular talk on LDS.org and then to ask that very question to our Father in Heaven. The Holy Ghost gives customized council and will be completely honest with you in what you need to do.

Richard J. Maynes compared creating pottery to our lives. Just like we must have for he clay perfectly centered on the wheel, we must have our lives centered perfectly on Jesus Christ in order to produce the results we desire.

There is so much more I'd like to share with all of you, but I don't have the time. I might share little bits and pieces for the next few weeks. But even better than hearing it from me, you can go read or listen to these talks by yourselves! Love you all so much! Here are some pictures.