We've got some catchin' up to do!

Hey world.

So Thanksgiving week was a good one. We barely worked in our area AT ALL. We did a bunch of difference exchanges and blitzes for the elders and sisters here. Well.. exchanges with sisters and blitzes for elders. Let's get that one straight. 

 

Ok. first. Thanksgiving! Food and a lot of it! We just went from one member's house to another and to another. But the second house that we went to was a member that is a professional chef. Yes. For real. The food looked really pretty.. best looking food I've ever seen. 

Next. TRANSFERS! Sister Petersen goes back to good ol' Utah this week :( so.. boys? She's a really great person. And FUNNY! If you want to laugh.. ask her on a date. She'll be at Utah State. Ready. Go.

 

Really though, I'm going to miss a lot of these people. Our zone is changing a lot! There has been a lot of missionaries here that have touched my life. It's official.. this mission has the best missionaries. Shout out to the TMM. Best Zone ever!

Oh! Side note. You all probably know this already, but I didn't write about it before. I talked to President Maluenda and I get to EXTEND! I'll be home on April 8th now. (Happy 80th BDay to my grandma) 

Okay quick story.. This past Friday, Sister Pete and I only had a few hours to work in our area, but we set really high goals that day. When we left the house I said, "Are you ready for this Sister Pete? We are going to have the BEST DAY EVER!" Yes I probably looked and sounded like a 5 year old, but we went out and worked as hard as we could. Laughing along the entire way:) We ended up surpassing all of our goals! We really gained a testimony about the importance of having a good attitude and working super hard. It was a really good way to end the transfer. And now I have abs because of how much we LAUGH! I'm sure going to miss my ginger. We have so many times like this.... yes we did that!!

 

 

Okay another quick story about this ginger called Sister Petersen. We were teaching a lesson in spanish and there was a picture about prophets, so she tried asking what the person thinks that these old men are doing (viejitos) but instead she asked what the person thinks these little sheep are doing (ovejitas).. close. Prophets=sheep? hahaha. I probably laughed for about 10 minutes. Okay well.. that's it for Thanksgiving week...

Onto this week:

This has been one CRAZY week! Sister Petersen left:( That was a sad moment at 5 in the MORNING! I might have shed a tear or two..or twenty. 

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Now I'm with Sister Vazquez! And guess what!.. This is her last transfer. So yes, I'm sending another one home! I just chill here in the background. That also means that I get to stay here in Laredo for another one after that! YES. Life is good. 

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So the day after transfers we left back down to McAllen for our meeting with President. It was really fun! And guess who got to work on bikes AGAIN. Yes. I was put with another sister that's pretty new to the mission that has been having a lot of health problems. They wanted me to work with her and basically tell my "story" you could say. Just to give her a little bit of hope. I had a great time working with her! I definitely learned a lot about attitude this week. President focused on it a lot! Especially during the STL meeting. I've always made it a goal to always have a great attitude. I used to think of it as a weakness, but after a lot of work, I've seen the Lord change it into a strength. Mom and Dad, you'll be excited to see the change! President told me the other day that my strength was always being HAPPY. When I was working in McAllen on bikes, the only bike that was there was from a REALLY tall sister. Okay you all know me. I'm the opposite of tall. And the seat wouldn't move! So I definitely had to ride the whole time standing up! My legs are a lot stronger than they were a few days ago:) 

The Hunt hair cut place is now open! I cut all the sister's hair up here:) 

I think that's about it for now! 

 

I love you all! 

Eat some peanut m&ms for me:)) 

Con amor, 

Hermana Hunt

p.s. watch the His is the Gift video!! Share it with your friends:) 

 

p.s.s. don't forget to mark your calendar, I come home APRIL 8TH... See you all at the airport!!

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Going to put on a few pounds this week.... And write me!!!!

Mis queridos amigos.. oh and family!:) 

This week was a super awesome week here in Laredo, Texas! Okay something super special was that Elder Foster from the Seventy came and spoke to us! So yes, we got to drive all the way to Corpus Christi to meet with the other zones to hear him speak. Him combined with President Maluenda was the BEST. I don't even know how my mind was able to receive so much revelation. He is such a powerful speaker. A couple things he said hit me really hard. He said that we have a really short time to serve our missions, just 18 months or 2 years, but we'll have an ETERNITY to think about it. Are we going to look back and think, "Man. I wish I could have done more, or done something different."? Or are we going to think, "I am so grateful for my mission. I worked really hard." What are we going to say in our very last prayer as a full time missionary? How are we going to end it? Are we going to be grateful that it's over? Or are we going to be grateful for all of the experiences that we had that changed us as people? 

 He spoke all about our purpose here as missionaries. If you ever want to feel special or like you have purpose, read Alma 13! I have that thing marked up so much it's nuts! We shared it with all the sisters here in Laredo this week. We had a little meeting with them so that Sister Petersen and I could train them on a few things from President. One of those things was appearance.. I was DREADING this training! How am I supposed to tell sisters to wear make up? That's a bit awkward. It went exactly how we thought.. awkward. It's alright though! What's life without a little bit of awkwardness? We also talked a lot about obedience. I thought giving these trainings because I always learn SO much while we're preparing for them. Obedience is something that I talk about a lot. It's SO important. Especially for missionaries right now because we have a lot of rules! I've really gained a testimony of how we receive a lot of blessings when we're obedient. It also applies to us in our every day lives. When we do the things that God wants us to do, we're blessed. It really is as simple as that. We say that a million times a day to our investigators and members. After saying it SO MUCH, I better have a testimony of it:) So.. do good things. That's the point of all of this. 

Okay story time.. Sister Petersen and I were walking in this CITY of apartments the other day, and we saw some little kids outside. We don't usually just go up to little kids.. creeps.. but we did! We asked to talk to their mom and BOOM. We found the most legit family of 6 ever! They had been taught by the missionaries before, but they moved around and lost contact with them. They had been waiting for more missionaries to find them. Found. Yes. I can't wait to see them progress. God is good my friends. 

Okay well I'll let you all go now. Oh! Eat a lot of food this week! 

Con mucho amor, 

Hermana Hunt 

p.s. letters are always fun! If you haven't written one in awhile.. here you go. You're welcome:) 

Texas McAllen Mission 

200 W. La Vista Ave. 

McAllen Texas, 78501

It's beginning to look a lot like CHRISTMAS!

Dear world!

Okay  these past few weeks have been nuts! We had MLC again, so we drove all the way down to McAllen for 3 days, then drove back up, then 2 days later we drove back down for the entire week. Now we're back! 12 hours in the car with the elders here.. It's been an adventure. But I can't even explain how spiritually drained I am right now. This past week was a training for all of the STLs, zone leaders, and district leaders. Basically what happens is we listen to President Maluenda speak and blow our minds.. It's the best. I always come back wanting to change and make myself better. It's a really humbling experience. Something that our mission President talked A LOT about was prayer. Prayer is soo powerful. If we have the faith, we can know for a SURETY that we will receive what we ask for. If our hearts are lined up exactly with His will, we will always be able to call down those miracles. Especially as missionaries, that is so key! When working with investigators and members, we always need the help of the Lord. This work would never progress without Him, so why not include Him in EVERYTHING? President Maluenda invited all of us to really ponder, study, and pray about three gifts that we need (Like patience, humility, love, all that stuff) and include it in every single one of our personal prayers. He chose his 3 things while serving his mission and he has never said a personal prayer without asking for his three gifts. My dream is to become as spiritually strong as him, so I'm taking that challenge to heart. You all should try it too! Use the scriptures, prayer, your patriarchal blessing, all the tools we have here and find those three gifts that you want to always have with you. One of mine is the gift of understanding. I know that if we prayer for these things and try really hard, these gifts will become a part of who we are. We will be one step closer to being like our Savior Jesus Christ. 

​Another amazing thing that happened two Sundays ago, the Barrientos/ Herrera family got baptized! All 4 of them:) It was one of the best moments on the mission so far. I can already see them getting sealed in a year from now. 

 

 

Sidenote: It's getting COLD here! Like super. Okay people from Utah.. we're wimps here. It's like 45! When we went down to McAllen for MLC, I was working with a greenie and we were on bikes.. What in the heck? It was really fun though! I may have lost the feeling in my toes.. but it's ok! We went around and everyone told us to go home because it was too cold.. well how about you let us in your house? Nope. Haha okay quick story. I was working with the new sister and we needed to get on the other side of the fence, so she went first and CRAWLED under it. Mad and all. I just stood there for a second looked around, then just walked around the fence! Literally 3 feet to her left the fence ended! I probably should have said something earlier, but it was so funny! We definitely laughed for a good 5 minutes. 

​Okay I think that's all for this week! 

Shout out to all of my friends that are getting home!!! :) 

Con mucho amor, 

Hermana Hunt:)

Two Weeks in One... What a Mess and Baptizing Russel from "UP"

We're a mess of a duo - week of October 27th

Hello! Okay so I can't figure out how to send pictures on this computer.. so we'll see how that goes. 

This week was great! Highlight of the week.. Sister Pete and I killed a cockroach. We saw it in the bathroom cupboard, but we got scared so we just left it! Then later when we went back it was still there!! So we decided to man up a little bit and just kill it.. so. I got some windex and went in for the kill. It took up like an HOUR because we kept LOSING it! We got it though:) Don't even worry about it. Oh! And we have videos. But can't seem to figure out how to get them onto the computer :(

The other crazy part of the week is that we found out that we are addicted to chocolate.. like for real. We were talking to one of our recent converts the other day who's been having a little trouble with the word of wisdom lately. She told us that she's completely quit coffee if we quit chocolate. Freak. That probably lasted like a day. Shout out to Timmy for the package! Full of CHOCOLATE! :) I hid in the closet and ate one. Whoops. Really though, it's hard! Not to mention Halloween this week! I think I'm just going to have to face the fact that I'm an addict. Yeah I'm not doing this challenge.. 

 

 

Besides that this week was pretty normal. Early shout out to my dad! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! Everyone go give him candy and chips! Te quiero mucho papi! I'm giving you a baptism for your birthday this year! Yay for Thursday baptisms!

Alright, her are a couple of pictures..

Stay cool. Stay humble. (I'm trying to work on that one) 

The scriptures are true! Read those things! 

Con mucho amor, 

Hermana Jennifer Hunt 

 Hello world! - week of November 2nd

This week was a great one! Jr. (aka Russel) got baptized! He told us that it was his "dream week." No week could have been any better for him. Since he's only 11.. yes I gave him a little hug after. Everyone laughed at me.. Oh well. 

Isn't he a cute fellow? 

Okay so I realized that I haven't really talked about missionary work too much lately. Yes I'm really a missionary. So let me tell you a little bit about the people we're working with. 

 

We're working with a family of 7 right now. I LOVE them! Who wouldn't love five little kids running around? Originally it was just the mom and the kids, we had no idea where the dad was.. then randomly one day the dad came back from somewhere in the country. We were a little worried because we knew that he drove missionaries away in the past. We were a little hesitant to talk to him at first, but hey. Fear does not equal faith. So we just did it and invited him to sit in on a lesson with the family. Surprise. He loved it! He has been coming to church for the past couple of weeks! He even came with the kids by himself this last week because the mom got called into work. After church we asked him how he liked it.. and his answer was. "I loved it! I'm really excited to get baptized next week!" WHAT? Yes. The family is getting baptized next week! It's crazy how God blesses us. He can touch anyone's heart, it doesn't matter who it is. I have absolutely fallen in love with the people here in Texas. These relationships will last forever. 

Okay now let me tell you a little bit about our Halloween. We had to be back at our apartment by 6:00, but we had a lot of fun! We went to a branch party for a little while, then we went home, made cookies (gluten free) ate popcorn, and watched Doctrine and Covenants movies. MY FAVORITE! We even dressed up. I was Snow White and Sister Pete was Ana from Frozen.. neither of us have seen that movie, but she's a ginger.. 

Everyone have a great week! 

Con mucho amor, 

Hermana Hunt

New favorite tacos - Gringas

Family and Friends!

This week was a good one! TRANSFERS! Thank goodness I'm staying in Laredo! Sister Pete and Hunt for another one! We started off the transfer by re-arranging our room. We're new people ;) 

 

JACQUIE got baptized! ..yes her name is actually spelled like Jacquie in BULGARIA. 

It was the BEST! She was so prepared I can't even explain it. I can't wait for her to start this new life. Their family is going to be so extremely blessed! 

 

So this week what we did was a district blitz. That's where all the missionaries work in another companionship's area. Crazy things always happen during blitzes. The other day we worked in some Elders' area and while we were walking down the street this guy comes running out yelling, "HEYYY!" We had no idea who he was talking to.. but turns out he was talking to us. So we went over there and he asked us if we were from the church. Of course. We asked him if he goes there. "YES. Well are you a member? YES. You got baptized? YES. You go to church over here on that street? no.. Wait, which church to you go to? ..Oh I don't go to church.." Hmm. So we started to teach him the restoration. I guess he had talked to the Elders the day before for like a minute. We asked him if there was another woman in the house so that we could teach him inside, but he said no. We just talked to him some more then he said, "Oh! My grandma is inside but she's reeeaaalllyyyy old. Does that still count?" Yes. Even older people count as women. So we went inside and taught him and his brother the first lesson. Then halfway through the lesson.. the ELDERS knocked on the door!! Talk about awkward.. They had no idea we were there. So I answered the door. Their faces were PRICELESS! After a few awkward minutes, the elders left and we finished the lesson with two baptismal dates! They were so awesome! And they came to church yesterday! You're welcome Elders;) 

Besides that, everything was pretty normal. 

These are my favorite Senior Missionaries. Elder and Sister Alvarez:) They took the gringas to go eat gringas:) 

 

BYE! Have a great week:) 

con mucho amor, 

Hermana Hunt

B.E.A.C.H.

Hello world!

This week was really eventful! We got to see MEET THE MORMONS! We all drove 3 hours to Corpus Christi to watch it! Everyone GO! It was so good. It's about 6 families and the last one is about a MISSIONARY MOM! So mom.. see it:) 

 

 

This is a terrible picture but we got to STAND BY the beach! Yes I missed California for a second..
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Other news. BAPTISM! I love baptisms, but they are SO stressful! They day after feels so good. Let me tell you about this family a little bit. The Elders taught them on and off for like 2 years. Then we found them again! And they were so PREPARED! Some people just need a little  bit of time. One by one their family members have been baptized. All but one sister is baptized! They are so converted it's ridiculous! It's crazy to me how fast people can develop such strong testimonies. I am so grateful to have the opportunity to see the change in people every day. 

OH MY GOSH! I met a horse dog. It's taller than me! 

 

 

I've definitely realized in the last couple of days HOW SHORT I am! I didn't know..! Why didn't anyone tell me before? It doesn't help that my companion is like 9 feet tall. I think I'm shrinking.. that's the only answer that makes sense!

So I'm definitely learning how to make Mexican food. You're welcome mom:) I even made a recipe book so that I won't forget! Members have been showing me how to make a lot of different foods. You are all invited to my Mexican party when I get home. Expect greatness. 

 

Some pictures since I couldn't upload any last week...

 

 

 

 

 

I love you all! Eat some ice cream:) 

con amor, 

Hermana Hunt

Si Senor, yo te seguire

Sorry this library can't send pictures so I'll just go through a few things of this week 

Holy CONFERENCE! Wasn't conference just the best?! I've been waiting for 6 months for this to happen. One of my FAVORITES was from Saturday afternoon from (Elder?) Klebingat! It was so JACKING! I loved it! It really made me look at myself and reflect. Some things that I liked were when he said that if we feel out of shape or uncomfortable and want to change, DO IT. Take responsibility. And that if we are selectively obedient, we will be selectively blessed. We should become really good at repenting. We definitely heard a few "ohhh..s" at the church during his talk. Everything he said was so true though! Just do it man! 

I could probably go on for hours if I talked about each talk that I loved.. So I'll probably just leave it at that. It's so cool though how if we go to conference with specific questions in our minds, we'll get the specific answers. I had a question that had to do with fear.. how many talks were there that talked about courage? A million! It was the best. Try and do that next time if you didn't this time! It really is a testimony builder about General Conference and our church leaders. 

Okay some fun facts about this week. 

-we drove all the way down to McAllen this week with our zone leaders. We had our leadership meeting with President Maluenda which was awesome like always! 

-I got peed on by a dog while I was working with some other sisters down in McAllen.. 

-I got bit TWICE by a dog yesterday. Don't worry I'm fine! It was a fat wiener dog. That has to happen to everyone at least once while on the mission right? 

-I'm definitely wearing tribal print, stripes, and polka dots right now.. 

We are working with the BEST people right now! There are so many prepared people here! We have been teaching a 14 year old girl and she took FOUR pages of notes on the Restoration pamphlet. Who does that?? And our branch president moved her baptismal date to this coming week.. 3 weeks early! We'll see about that:) 

Well that's it for now:) Thank you everyone! Have a great week! Read that little blue book sometime. 

Con amor, 

Hermana Hunt 

P.s. if you find any good looking gluten free snacks.. you know my address;)