My Long Journey from Ecuador to Texas!!!

I guess it times I get everyone caught up on what has transpired so far on my mission. As most of you are aware I was called to the Ecuador Guayaquil North Mission. While there my health started to get really bad and I was going to doctor's more than I was teaching lessons. It got to the point that the Mission doctor thought it would be best if I went home and got the medical attention I needed. So on September 3rd I came home to recover and get well so I could go back out. 

My original intentions was to be out before my dad's birthday on October 30th, but thing too a little longer that I had hoped. But slowly the Lord worked his miracles and I started getting better and I was cleared to re-submit my papers to go back out into the mission field. 

My new call is for the Texas, McAllen Mission, Spanish speaking. I reported directly to the mission on Decmeber 30th. So it might have been 2 months longer than I wanted, but I am so excited to be back out doing the Lord's work. Maybe one day I will update the blog with my thoughts and struggles from this time. The time between my missions, but until that time, you can enjoy of my mission updates from time here in the Texas, McAllen Mission.

JANUARY 6TH:

I'm back baby!! (Swoosh baby!)

I am officially a missionary again! And I absolutely LOVE it! I am in the Texas, McAllen mission speaking Spanish. I am in the wonderful zone of.. wait for it.. BROWNSVILLE! Please go look that up on a map and see how awesome that is! My area actually has an island in it! It is the coolest thing ever! I honestly hope that I am able to stay in this area for a long time. So we actually teach in English and in Spanish. Almost every person that lives here only speaks Spanish though. The people here are absolutely amazing! I don't have too much time today, but I'll just tell you all a quick story. 

My companions ( I have TWO) and I were going to meet someone at the park to teach them a lesson. So we went at 3 to meet him there, but he wasn't there! So we waiting for a little while longer, but he still didn't come, so we started talking to a lady that was there with her daughter. She absolutely loved what we were saying and she invited us to go back and teach her another day! Perfect! We got in our car and started driving away, then we realized that we weren't supposed to meet that guy until 4!! So we went back to see if he was there this time.. he still wasn't. But then we ended up meeting 3 teenagers and they were talking about how they wanted to join a religion! That's exactly what a missionary wants to hear. So we taught them and I even asked them to be baptized! They said that they would, but they didn't know when they would be ready. We set a return appointment with them for tomorrow! I'm super excited! So even though we weren't able to meet up that one guy, we were able to meet and teach FOUR people! What seemed discouraging at first, actually turned into an amazing blessing! 

Okay that's it for the week! I would LOVE to get letters from you all!! My address is 

Sister Jennifer Hunt

Texas McAllen Mission

200 W. La Vista Ave.

McAllen, TX 78501 

I love you all!! 

Hermana Hunt

 

 

JANUARY 13TH:

 

Hello world! 

This week was a great week! It flew by soo quickly! It's finally getting a little bit hotter and it's starting to feel like Texas!! I am absolutely in love with this mission! I don't understand how I could possibly love it this much, BUT I DO! My companions are great, my area is amazing, and the food is to DIE FOR! 

 

 

 

Teaching wise, this week went pretty well. We found a lot of people that are really interested! There is something here called OYM (open your mouth) that all the missionaries talk about. We are supposed to strive to talk to everyone that we see! It's really hard, but my companions and I made a goal to ALWAYS open our mouths. We never know where the prepared people will be. It was a little scary at first, but I decided to let love be the reason. 

Let love be  the reason why I talk to everyone on the streets. 

Let love be the reason why I get over my fear. 

Let love be the reason why we teach all of our investigators. 

Let love be the reason why I follow all the rules. 

Let love be the reason why I ride my bike when I'm supposed to. 

Let love be the reason why we try to serve. 

Just let love be the reason:) 

I love you all! Don't forget to send me letters!:) 

P.S. we got a new Jeep this week! All the other missionaries are super jealous. We have the nicest car in the mission now:) We named him Jianie. It's a combo of all our names:)

 JANUARY 20TH:

So this week was super interesting! Last P Day, but trainer got the brilliant idea to DYE our hair with kool aid! Yes I've done it before and I might have suggested it.. but she was the one who made the final decision. HA! So she did her ENTIRE head and I just did the bottom part. Yes.. we are missionaries. But it's ok! We showed our district leader and he loved it! So I'm pretty sure we're okay.. I hope. 

Okay so weird story of the week. We were walking around Laguna Heights and we decided to know on this door. A guy answered and he started yelling, "ANGELS! There are ANGELS on my doorstep!" And he kept saying it over and over and over! Awk. Then he invited us inside, but we were super hesitant. But he kept insisting; and since there are 3 of us, we're allowed to go into all houses. But we get in there and there are 3 drunk guys! It was honestly the funniest thing of my life! But also the weirdest thing. So we taught a quick lesson and got out. Gee whiz.

So we met this lady this week named Elizabeth. She was part of the catholic church, but she knew that she needed to look at other churches because she didn't think that the way they prayed was correct. Perfect. So we taught her all about prayer. She loved the lesson, so we asked her to say the last prayer before we left. She was pretty nervous at first, but eventually she did it. It was the most beautiful prayer I've ever heard. It was just like a child. She told Him all the things that she liked to do, and just everything about herself. It was truly like a child talking to their dad. And isn't that the point? We're talking to our Heavenly Father. She really helped me understand that true purpose of prayer. 

Okayyyyy so I found some of your twins! A-ron! There is a guy named George here and you two are like the SAME person! Haha it's awesome! And also AJ and President Sheranian! Haha I found your twins in Port Isabel! Anyway, have a great week!! 

 

 

Oh.. story behind one of these pictures, I was trying to hop the border and the guard goat tried to bite me! 

I LOVE YOU ALL! 

Hermana Hunt :))

FEBRUARY 10TH:

Hello world! Sorry I haven't sent an email in awhile. About two weeks ago, I got super sick. Like Ecuador kind of sick! My life has been full of doctors appointments and pharmacy visits. It got to a point where my mission President said that if none of the doctors can help me in 2 weeks, then I'll be sent home. There was no way in heck I was going to let that happen again! I prayed harder than I ever have before. I definitely felt the prayers of you all from back home. It was a long journey but finally I got some answers! And I've been feeling a lot better! I'm still recovering, but it's been a HUGE change within the last couple of days. Thank you all so much for your support and love! 

If there was one thing I've learned through this trial is how much I LOVE the mission. Being sent home once is hard, but hearing that you might get sent home again is tragic. This has given me the determination to make every single day I'm here count. I don't want to waste another minute. I'm in this for the long run. :) I love you all!! 

My zone leaders got me a teddy bear to make me feel better:) 

 

 

con mucho amor, 

Hermana Jennifer Hunt