Pictures from Antigua

Email from Nov 10

Everything is going quite nicely here in Guatemala. I love it here. The people are the best. It's been crazy to see my view of the Guatemalan people as I've been here. President Markham talks about the theme 'Faith in Every Footstep' and says that now, it's not sufficient. We're not here to have faith in every footstep. Now, we must have 'Charity in Every Footstep.' That's what I've learned on the mission. I don't work as hard as I do to impress others or just to pass the time. I work as hard as I do because I love these people. When I see people progress, it makes me truly happy because they will receive the blessings that my family has received. When they decide not to do what we invite them to do, it's heartbreaking because they're missing out. Charity, that's the difference. That's the motor of missionary work.

This past Tuesday, we went to Antigua, Guatemala again. I love Antigua. It's super pretty. It's also fun to see a lot of 'white' people. Usually, they're not even from the States. I say hi to some and they respond in French or German or who knows what. Once, I talked to someone from Tennessee and the accent took me home, it was great. This time, we didn't just go to the market, we went up to a hill that has a view of all of Antigua with the volcano. It is absolutely beautiful. I love natural beauty. It's a testament that it was all made by God.

But, since we were in Antigua, I had to take advantage and buy a couple things. As of right now, i don't think i need anything else from Guatemala. I have all that i need and want. Sure, there's still a lot I could buy, but i'm good with what I have. I have a few things that I really do like and am super excited about. Plus, it's just super hard to decide on what to buy from here. Because the market is crazy packed of goodness.

This Sunday, there will be baptisms. We will be baptizing a super special family. So, as maybe you should know, i'm working in the area that I started in. The same exact place. Anyway, back when I was here my first time (a little more than a year ago) I taught a family once. To be honest, they were not that positive. Super nice, yes. But positive to receive the gospel at that time, no. (discernment by the Spirit). So we didn't try hard to make them progress. But among entering into this colony one time, I was remembered of them. They were a referral from a member family that they have been trying with for several years. They are the Camey Family. They will be baptized this Sunday. But the little daughter is so cute. Last night, she said a prayer. She used to say 'God, Please buy me the two things. Amen.' But, as we've visited she's gotten better. (She's like 4). Last night, she wanted to say a long prayer. She started off fine by praying for her family and for us missionaries. Then, she started getting crazy. She was like 'Watch over the backpack of Elder Hunt. Watch over the backpack of Elder Hansen. Watch over my mom's lipstick.'  I couldn't handle it. I just busted out laughing. The mom did too and the dad chuckled a little bit. It was the cutest little prayer ever. This family is precious. I'll talk more about them next week after they get baptized so i can send pictures.

I complete 18 months in 2 days (on the 15th). I can't believe it. But, i'm not focusing on that. It just means that i have 5.5 months to do what i need to do. It's fun stuff. I will never regret having gone on a mission. But I will continually thank my Heavenly Father for this great blessing. It's the Lord's work, that's why it has yet to be frustrated.

Go do some good in the world today!

Love y'all!

--Elder Hunt

Email from Nov 3

I get all pictures that are sent my way and i love them. I love receiving pictures.

This week has been interesting. We've had to run a lot of errands to get a lot of random things done. But it's fine.

The missionary work is booming here in the area. There are so many people that want to listen to us and enjoy what we share. Many prayers are being answered. Right now, we have quite a few members presenting us to their friends. And these friends are really excited and love church. One thing that I have learned on my mission is to make friends with the people i serve here. It just seems like they love me, and i love them. That's probably the biggest way that i've grown. I actually care about and love these people here. Like, when I see them, I get really happy. When I don't, i feel like I'm missing something.

Fun stuff this week?

I got bit by a dog! For the second time on the mission. I don't even know why it happened. I was talking to somebody at their door, and a dog was passing by. But he was like 5 yards away and just walking past. I didn't bother him or anything. Out of nowhere, he changed his trajectory and pounced right at my left calf. It hurt quite bad, but I didn't hardly even react. He bit me and ran off. A couple days after the biting, we returned to this house to teach again. The dog walked past a few times like he was checking me out. Once, he came up pretty close while i was sitting down. It made me quite uncomfortable. To make it even worse, he started growling at my like he was about to attack again! I hate these dogs and they hate me.

We are teaching a really great family, the Camey Family. They are super pilas and I love them. They have the goal to get sealed in the temple even though they're not even baptized yet. They have invited me to the sealing and have offered to pay my plane ticket to come down! They're going to get baptized on the 16th of this month. They were going to get baptized this Sunday, but they've been drinking coffee. So, we told them we had to postpone it. I told them that they had to stop drinking coffee from that day on. The next day, the dad went the whole day a nervous wreck, biting his fingernails all day. He was just craving his coffee fix. But, he didn't drink it! Yea! When I went that night, I went with someone else that wasn't my companion. He asked, ¿oh, you drink coffee? The dad answered with confidence "I used to drink coffee. But not anymore." (in spanish. "Tomaba café, pero ya no.") It was so great.

I went and worked with the Zone Leader yesterday. It was a blast. He likes to work really hard and so do i. It was our 4th time working together over these past 6 months. We literally ran around all day. We showed up to the house that night at the last second because we ran like a mile and a half to get there. We found ourselves pretty far from home when 9:15 rolled around. We should up the the house absolutely destroyed fisically. It was great. Nothing feels better than getting home absolutely wrecked after a hard day of missionary work. There is no equal outside of the mission. I'm going to miss the feeling a lot when I'm back. Missionaries in whatever other mission, don't understand what we do here in the Guatemala City Central Mission, and that's okay. It's what we call "mission culture".

Stake Conference is this weekend! It'll be a blast.

Love y'all!

Elder Hunt