December 20, 2010

Christmas Card from Elder Hunter

Mom,

So this might be a little shorter than usual Iwrote emails to everyone then to you because you didn't email me. (Note from mom: On Cruise. But how was your cruise? How did Bryson do in Florida? What are your plans for Christmas? Did you get my Christmas cards? Pretty cool huh? I thought of the idea and take all the credit :) ha just playing.

This week was so great we had a baptism on Saturday his name was Anatoly he is Russian and he is so funny. I think I already wrote about him in previous emails. Now he is baptized though we are empty on people to teach :( Lately we just street contact all day and it actually is really fun. I am learning that faith is confidence. As I have confidence to talk with everyone that I see and enjoy it then it is a lot of fun and a lot of success.

Success doesn't come from amount of baptisms. Lately I have been trying to be perfectly obedient and that by doing that I see that is howI am successful. By having fun and a good attitude while I give it my all is how I have success. It doesnt' matter if I am the best missionary but that I am the best missionary that I can be. If I rely on the lord and seek him and his will before me and my will I will see success and be happy with what I have done with my time here. I feel like I need to grow more spiritually. I am trying to indulge myself more into the scriptures and serve my companions more. I realize that I make so many mistakes every single day and I have to repent.

The more that we seek the lord the more we will have happiness it is great. I am starting to find out what true happiness is. As I see people that are interested in the church and everybody is lost in some way and as we receive more we learn more and have more questions and we can receive more answers. Our testimonies grow as we share them and it is cool because isn't that how Christianity works as we give and consecrate ourselves we grow. And testimonies come in a growth so we don't recognize it all at once. It is way cool to know.

Mostly we are working hard and having fun. It is so cool to be able to serve in Boston it is the perfect place for me. Well I love you all so much and let me know how your trip and everything went. Well actually I will call around 7 oclock Boston time on Christmas day. So like 5 oclock Utah time. Also Tennison can invite Mackenzie too, so I can tell them congrats. I hope you had a great time on your cruise and I can't wait to talk to you. Love you all so much.

Elder Hunter :)

December 13, 2010

Mommy,

I'm glad that you got the letter and pictures. Sorry if the card was late we have been super super busy. And the pictures you should buy like a album book and put them all in it so I can have when I get back. :)

I got your Christmas package it was so good! Perfect. I love the PJs and all the things it is super cool and I loved it so much. We are printing christmas cards as a companionship and sending them to different people so I will send some to you to give to others if you want, like Brother Hess. I will tell you in the letter that it comes with. Also I would love a handwritten letter from the family like Bryson and Mckay and Tyla sometime when they are not busy I know how hard it is because I was terrible with Tenn so when they have time that would be great.

This week has been fun and very interesting. A lot of things are changing for the good but I need prayers that things will stay strong and we can keep getting people to teach. The Student wards will be slow for the holidays because everyone is going home but we are teaching two international students that will be here which will be good.

One is named Anatoly who is from Russia and is going to be baptized on Saturday he is super cool and a very nice guy. He is applying to grad school and I told him about BYU and he was super interested so he is going to look that up. Also it was funny so we have been super busy and working super hard lately and so yesterday at church I was just beat and I was falling asleep in sacrament meeting and Anatoly was seating next to me and he started asking me if I slept well the night before and stuff. I thought it was funny my investigator caught me falling asleep.

The other international student we are teaching is named Jiang Li he is from China and super cool. And it is sweet Elder Yim takes a hour of language study everyday so he teaches me Chinese for 30 minutes and I teach him English for 30 minutes. I am working towards sharing my testimony in Chinese. So I can share it with him. Even though Jiang Li speaks perfect English and we teach him in English.

Also it was super cool last night there was a sweet Relief Society Christmas concert where everyone brought their friends and stuff and we met a guy that has taken the lessons before and we are going to play basketball with him and some guys from the ward on Tuesday night and then teach him soon probably. He was super cool.

Then I don't know if I told you but I met a guy on the bus last week that had played against Hartnell in college he played at a Junior college in Cal and we are going to try to get him to start to come and play. Once we get these guys in the church our ward is so great that they will be invited to everything so that is what I am trying to do.

Also we have been teaching some guys that are crazy and just want a sign of the Book of Mormon being true. And I tell them that they should just read it and then they won't be able to deny it. It is so frustrating. They are MIT students and when missionaries gave them a Book of Mormon they researched the probablility of it being true and they say it is highly improbable IT is so FRUSTRATING!! Cause I can't bash with them I just am their friends.

We have been fed by members all the time and last night we went to a dinner with a guy that was a track runner on the BYU team. He is an avid BYU fan and so I asked him about Brandon and Kyle and he told me all about their seasons so far it was so good to talk sports (maybe a little apostate) . It was cool though to hear that they are doing good and working hard and that their team is good as well.

It is pretty crazy all the stuff we have going on here the transfer is going to fly by we don't have much free time and a lot of dinner and lunch appointments. It warmed up again and is like 40 degrees and raining all the time. Hopefully everything doesn't freeze or else the crazy drivers will be even more crazy and it will be a big mess. It is supposed to get way cold at the end of the week. I want it to snow soon. It is sweet the holiday spirit out here is strong with the real New Englanders and everyone else doesn't believe they just want stuff for themselves.

We are doing a cool Christmas thing with all of our members and I thought I would challenge you to do the same. We are asking them to think about the restoration and what it means to you. Then as you realize how important the message is to get a Book of Mormon write your testimony of its importance in your life then to give it to someone that needs it.

I know that by me having the restoration in my life that it has influenced nearly every decision that I have made in my life and that it is the key to coming to Christ and learning how to better use the Atonement to be a better person and one day becoming perfect. As we share the gospel we will only grow in our testimony and feel of the peace that living and sharing the gospel brings which is better than anything else in this world. Thanks mom for sharing your testimony and the gospel with me. Have a great time on your cruise you will really enjoy it and you deserve it same with dad.

Tell Bryson not to worry, just to work harder, sports are nothing. Just to have fun and make the best of what he can with his agency to choose. Elder Hiatt was at the Payson game. . he just went home a couple weeks ago and he called and talked to me and said that Provo sucked this year. He said he was going to talk to you guys but didn't know who you were. but he said he wants to come visit you sometime so I will give him your phone number . As for calling on Christmas we just call with our cell phones and I will tell you a time on next Monday we probably are going to have a baptism to attend that day so I will let you know.

Love you guys and have a great holiday season.

December 6, 2010

Happy Birthday Mom!!

So first I want to wish you a happy birthday you are the best mom ever! I hope that you have a wonderful day tomorrow. Also I have something I am sending for you today I am a slacker I made it last preparation day and am now sending it to you today. It isn't anything big though but just to let you know i was thinking about you and your birthday. (Note from mom, best birthday present ever. . pictures of Beau).

Most Legit Apartment
Elder Sorel, Elder Hunter, Elder Hiatt, Elder Koerper

Elder Stay and Daniel (Convert)

Elder Sorel and I

At the Boston Temple

That is so sweet that Bryson and Mckay are tearing it up in basketball. What are their records? They are both way awesome. Tell them to keep working hard and having fun that is what it is about.

We had transfers and I am now in a trio companionship. I am serving with Elder Yim from Hong Kong China and Elder Black from Mesa Arizona. It is so fun being in a trio companionship it is like just hanging out all the time. And when we go contact on a busy street we can talk to so many different people. It is way cool. We cover the LP1 and LP2 wards so it is sweet all the grad students pretty much in Boston. Some very smart people. Our wards are awesome they are always taking us to eat and feeding us. And now that we are in a trio companionship it will be very easy for us to do splits we will only need one member to do splits with us.

Since I last emailed you we have been super busy we have been teaching a lot of lessons and trying to get organized as to how to be most effective with both of the wards that we cover. It is really cool and a lot of fun trying to get a hang of things, but stressful at the same time. I don't know exactly or at all what I am doing. Elder Black has been out for 13 months and is a great guy but this is his first time in the city so he is still warming up to that he is kinda quiet but a very good teacher.

Right now we have 3 investigators that I have taught. First one is Anatoly from Russia he has a baptismal date for this Saturday, but we are going to have to move it back a week to better prepare him. Then we have Max who is a bum he mostly just wants to learn about deep doctrine he is a religious major about to go to grad school. We probably will drop him soon. Then we have Jiang Li who is from China and getting a Phd at BU in Physics. He is super nice and likes us a lot I think. He doesn't have any religious backround at all so we have to teach him very slow.

Last night we watched the Christmas Devotional and all the people that were in the Charles River Ward were there and they are mad that I left them. I missed them. Jim and Jessica were both there and I talked to them for a little. They both should be members but just have to develop that faith in our Savior to have the courage to commit to baptism. It is cool to see them and talk with them. I really am learning how to love people and care about people so much it is crazy. Every person that we teach it instantly builds a good friendship with them, and they learn to trust missionaries so fast.

I cannot think of any specific experiences that I have that I am anxious to share with you right now, but I do know that Heavenly Father loves us all and that he answers our prayers. I have been trying to be able to define blessings better lately and I looked it up in the dictionary and to bless is to show divine care for. That is exactly what Heavenly Father does when we are obedient to his words we are cared for and we see how he cares for us. I think that there are many people that are blessed but because they don't have the gospel they don't realize that love he has and divine care he shows for us.

One thing that was said at a fireside that I thought was very cool was about Celestial Service. First it was said that telestial service is when you serve someone but do it because you have to and then you tell people that you are serving others or brag about it. Terestial service is when you serve someone out of love and kindness and do it in secret. And Celestial Service is where you ask the lord what you can do in service and then follow the spirit in whatever thing that he asks you to do. I was thinking that it is way cool that we need to rely on the Lord even when we are doing good to do everything the best that we can according to his will for us.

Keep working hard and relying on our Savior and increase your testimony all the time. It either is growing or shrinking it never is at a standby or stays the same. Learn to apply it in everyday life and share it with others and that is where we find true happiness. I love you guys and thank you very much for everything. Hope you have the best Christmas ever through following our savior and showing love towards others.

Love Elder Hunter

November 22, 2010 and December 1, 2010

December 1, 2010

Hi Mother,

I am glad you guys made it safe to Fresno and back (Note from Mom: Sam's 100 year old grandmother passed away and we drove to Fresno for the funeral). I was worried about you guys, but dad is amazing and could stay awake for a month and has before so I wasn't too worried. And don't you just love basketball season? All the games, how did Mckay do in his games? I am glad that Bryson played and did well. He just needs to work hard. I think that Drury will spend the preseason trying to figure things out. I have no doubt that they will have a good year. That is crazy you did Thanksgiving on Wednesday, but that is cool that you made time for it still. Being busy is a good thing but recently I have been reading the conference talks and Elder Uchtdorf's talk is about slowing down when life gets crazy and focusing on the things that are really important. I know you and dad already focus on things that are most important.

Well it was transfer week so it was a long 10 day week with no p-day. The hardest week by Tuesday you can barely open your eyes. Not too much exciting things happened, but I have learned and continued to grow.

For Thanksgiving we went to Bishop Neilson's house and it was so much fun. We had Jim there and he is the funniest guy ever. He knows a lot of information about everything and is very opinionated and doesn't ever hide his real thoughts. He got along just well. Then the rest of the week went by pretty good. Elder Sorel had a sore in his mouth so he stayed home one day and then we went to Mass. General Hospital the next. The hospital is super cool. It was hard for me one day I cleaned the apartment super clean and cooked meals for our roommates because I didn't have anything to do. It was funny they kept making fun of me for it.

We taught one lesson to Jessica and another to Jim. We are trying to make the best progress that we possible can but it is hard to get them to progress it seems like we are stuck. Both come to church every week and fit in well. Jim has a little bit of drug problems and stuff but he is getting a ton better every time I meet with him. I have been searching the scriptures trying to find an answer to how I can better help them and I haven't found the right answer yet. I think by just always being there for them and making sure they are reading and praying and going to church the rest should fall into place.

We just found out about transfers and Elder Sorel is getting transferred and I am staying. I love the city. It is a challenge everyday to go out and talk to everybody, there are so many people everywhere. It is funny I am always looking around for people to talk to and if I am not talking to anyone I feel bad. I am going to come home and be so weird:) that is a good thing. So as for transfers I think that Elder Yim will be my Companion and we will be over LP1 and LP2 wards which are the wards that have the singles under 31 years old that are in Grad school or just working. It will be pretty fun because people are pretty smart and Ii can help them. That is my prediction and I will find out tomorrow for sure who my companion is and stuff so that will be fun. I think that Ii am finally getting the hang of things here. Well hopefully as soon as I say that is when I realize I don't know anything.

Also the weather here is still way good. Like the 40s which is a lot better than a bunch of snow. Having a lot of snow would be hard here in Boston. People already don't want to stop and talk with us so with snow it will make it even worse. Anyways this one is a little shorter than normal I apologize I will be sending some pictures home within the week and letters. I Love you and thank you for everything you and dad have done for me. I will email on Monday next.

Pictures of Beau and Boston in the Fall Beautiful!

Sunset by Cambridge

Love,
Elder Hunter

November 22, 2010

Dear Mother,

The weather here has been really good so far. I am surprised. The last couple of days have been freezing though like 32 it isn't the temperature that is so cold but more it is the wind. It is so ridiculously cold. Brrrr... We are focusing more on contacting on the T and buses so I don't feel bad stopping people in the streets. Up to this point though the weather has been terrific like 40s all we have to wear is a suit and not our scarf or big coat yet. That is cool that you are going to Fresno to great grandmas funeral. It will be a great experience to see all of our relatives and hear of our heritage. Make sure to travel safely.

As for Bryson and Mckay I am so excited to hear about their basketball seasons. They both will be better than I was they are such studs. Except Bryson because I never hear of him. He better email or write me soon! Mckay emails me every week he is so awesome and growing up a ton I can tell.

I can't believe that Willie is back time is going buy so fast. I have been out for 3 months and 6 is right around the corner of winter. For Thanksgiving Bishop Neilson is having us over and some other members of our ward it should be really fun. As for our work and investigators we are still working with the same people and trying to find some new ones it is really hard finding people that even have the slightest interest in religion here, and if they do have a religion or interest they just want to bash or tell us why it is all made up and fake. People here are all so prideful it is sad. There are some people that are very nice though.

This week has been hard nobody wanted to talk with us i think i had one real conversation all week while contacting on the street. It is tough especially since last week was so fun. But we keep on pushing we are trying to get the ward more involved with splits and different things but it will be hard with the holidays, i think once we get the ward more involved then they will see how hard it is and want to bring friends to church.

I learned a couple of lessons this week though that I think were very good for me and I would love to share them with you and my family. The first one was we were walking in Allston and there was this guy that was in a wheelchair balancing on the hind wheels forever with the biggest smile on his face. He had long hair and looked kinda crazy. I went up to him and started complimenting him on his ability to do a wheelie for so long in his wheelchair and he looked up at me and started telling me how he was a pro. Anyways we got to talking and he explained to me that he was hit as a pedestrian by a drunk driver 20 years ago and was paralyzed from the waist down as well as his right arm didn't work only his left. After he had told me those things he immediately told me how he is learning the piano and the guitar and how he writes songs. It was so cool to see someone that was that optimistic under those circumstances. Everything that he told me he had the biggest smile on his face and it was so awesome! It made me so grateful for everything that I have been given and that I have a body that works fine. I thought that was the coolest attitude that I had ever seen.

The second thing that I learned was about not judging people by their looks. So Ralph, who I have a picture with that I sent home he is so awesome. He grew up in the ghetto of Boston and in the streets. He has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and HIV. We are pretty sure that his parents abandoned him when he was young. Well we teach him every week and he always has something new to show us. He usually has 3 or 4 layers of clothing on and 4-5 watches on his arm. He just is so funny.

Well I always just thought that he was just crazy and what not and that he probably didn't know much about other people or care too much. this week was different. When we taught him this week he walked in he still looked the same, but he brought his little brother with him. His brother was just like any normal guy. He told us about his 5 kids and how he loved them and his wife.

Then as he was explaining to us about how he grew up he told us that Ralph always protected him and helped him many times and saved his life. As I thought about where they grew up and what their circumstances were it made sense why Ralph has a big fro and wears a bunch of layers of clothes. It is probably because people won't mess with him if he looks that way. People will stay away from him. As we talked with his brother, Ralph interupted us and politely told us "what was the lesson that you have for me and Chris today." We then taught about the Book of Mormon and Ralph told us about Joseph Smith and Angel Moroni which he usually doesn't remember anything about. We gave his brother a Book of Mormon and Ralph was so excited that his brother was going to read it.

I don't know if I have ever seen or felt so much love one brother has for the other. Ralph's brother loves Ralph and thanks him for everything. I developed a love and appreciation for the type of brother Ralph was for always protecting his brother and keeping him out of trouble.

Beau and Ralph

Well this morning we went to the food pantry and moved a bunch of turkeys and helped out for like 3 hours it was a lot of fun. They are giving out like 600 this week which is cool. Also last night there was a musical fireside put on by the missionaries for investigators and members to bring their friends it was so awesome. It helped free my mind and think of what I really need to improve on. I love hearing from everyone and how everyone is doing.

I have been blessed with so much in my life I don't think I could ever be thankful for everything or show my gratitude to you and dad. You have always done so much for me. By the way it is the last week of the transfer so I will email you Wednesday. I don't think I am being transferred but maybe a new comp. Elder Sorel has been here for 7 and a half months. It is a long time in one area but time goes by fast if you take it one day at a time and don't think about tomorrow because tomorrow always comes. It is about making the best out of the position and place you are in now.

I love you very much and I love getting letters from dad they are my favorite. I will write him back. Also I love getting letters from Grandma and Grandpa they always tell me things I need to know and grandpa sends poems that are always applicable to what I am dealing with. Tell the family I love them. and good luck on their games they are all so awesome.

Love Elder Hunter

November 15, 2010

Dear Mom,

There is so much that happened this week it was such a great week!! But first I want to talk about home and how much is going on there. As for Tennison and Mackenzie that is great if they feel right about it. I trust Tennison and his decisions and Mackenzie is an awesome girl and has a very awesome family! I am happy for both of them!!

Bryson is such a driven and dedicated person that works too hard sometimes. He works out and his back is going to always bug him unless he makes sure his core is super strong and he needs to eat right. I have been having a sore back with my missionary bed and I started eating things with less fat and sugar and working out my core twice a week super hard. I feel so much more alert all day and my back is fine now. He is such a stud and I pray for him every night that he will meet his potential.

You and dad are so amazing. I Don't know how you guys do it. You are superman and superwoman for real. All the things that are going on in life and you just are so awesome in getting everything done, and do a very good job at it. Work will be good to stay busy and a challenge' that is how we progress. I have been thinking about the Savior a lot lately and how the Atonement really works. If our goal is to one day become perfect then the Atonement is not just for our sins it is for anything that we need to increase on. Everyday we become a little more perfect then we accomplished our goal for the day. The easiest way to change ourselves is to focus on others. Which I think is why you and Dad are so amazing because you don't think about yourselves you think about others first mostly us your children. Thank you for everything that you do for me and have done for me. I know that I am the person who I am because I have had such amazing parents to show and be examples for me.

Well anyway about this week...

I don't really know where too start. I have been able to talk to so many people in such a diverse population. Everyday I meet and talk and get to know someone that has different goals and different situations. What is cool though is that no matter what peoples objectives or challenges are the Gospel of Jesus Christ can help everyone. So I think I want to just tell you the different types of people that I talked to this week and some cool experiences. We haven't had a new investigator this week but we have taught a few lessons on the street and I am becoming better at helping people realize about the truth of church that hopefully one day they will join when the time is right in their lives.

I don't remember what day I talked to all these people but it is sweet. One day Elder Sorel and I went to the ghetto. It is a 45 min -1 hr subway ride and that is my favorite place to talk to people, but nobody wanted to listen to me on the way there. So I handed out a bunch of cards to people that spoke Spanish haha. When we got to Quincy we got on a bus and were in the back talking to two white rappers that started rapping about Latterday Saints and stuff it was funny so I started talking with them and it was way fun discussing their dreams of maybe going big or making a living off of music. Then we saw a Walmart and went in for a second because we hadn't seen a Walmart yet here. It was still the same. Then we went back to the bus stop to wait for a bus to go back to the train station where i talked to a Methodist black guy and started discussing service. He was saying that we didn't do enough service and if we did that we would have more success as missionaries. We explained all the service that we have done while here and all that the missionaries do. He was surprised at how much we do. Then I started talking about his religion and then about ours and how everyone has the opportunity to help in the services and give talks he was very interested and we explained where a church was. His opinion changed way quick.

Then on the bus ride back to the train station we talked to a convict who served 6 years in prison he talked about Jesus with us and he had been shot like 3 times or something. It was crazy he was kinda scary too. But it was cool to see how Heavenly Father helped him.

On the train-ride back I sat next to this guy that had a long red beard he was a skinny wirey guy with long red hair too. I started talking with him and asking where he worked and stuff. He then started talking to me a lot about the church. He knew a lot and said that he had problems with different things. I was able to address all of his concerns which was sweet. He then pulled out his necklace with a star on it and said that he was a Satanist and explained to me what their religion believed, I listened. Then when it was close to my stop I shared my testimony with him and I felt how much Heavenly Father loved this guy. Who is his son. I will never forget the way that his face lit up and how his whole countanance changed. He then stood up and shook my hand as I walked off of the train.

Two other times I have talked with people that have came up to me telling me that there is no way that the Book of Mormon is true. Through my testimony and the spirit telling me what to say. I have changed the peoples opinions of the church although they aren't very interested in joining now it still is great to know that i am at least doing something that is good. Elder Sorel and I have had so much fun this week. we get along great and have lots of fun everyday. I learn so much everyday. And this is a quote we always quote sometimes a little mockingly but it is so true. "People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care" Lately I ask people about them and what they are doing with their life and it is great. I wish that I could share all my opportunities with you guys there are so many of them.

Well, I Love you guys all very much. I have the best family in the world. I don't need anything out here. I am all set with everything. Just remember our Heavenly Father loves all of his children no matter who they are and we need to love everyone too. Tell Tennison that Scott King was good friends with Soloman Jaar in his mission in Chile. And also CONGRATS I am very excited for him and Kenz. They will be amazing!!

Well I love you guys a ton and cannot express how grateful I am for you guys!

Elder Hunter

November 1, 2010

Hi Mother,

Mom that is great that everything seems to be going so well. That is too bad about football for Bryson but they will get better. And also it is cool he can concentrate on a real sport. Also that is so sweet that you are in the Stake Young Women's presidency. You will do so amazing at it. It is truly a blessing that you have that calling. The more you sacrifice to the lord it will remind you at how temporal this life is. And how to find true happiness.

So this week was very long. We had one lesson on Monday night and that was dumb because the person we taught wasn't very interested and didn't listen much. But it is okay we gave him a chance. Nothing really probably will come of it. So many people want to learn about the gospel because they see the difference that it makes in the people that are members so they try to learn about it with no intentions to convert so they will never know why people of our church are different. Anyways the rest of the week was extremely long we had only one dinner appointment. And the rest of our time was spent on the street trying to contact people. I probably talk to close to 1000 people a day and nobody seems interested. It is very hard and long days. Sometime I feel like I am not even on the earth. That is okay though because right now I am trying to just forget myself I think that will be the best thing for me to do. It is so hard though to forget everything about myself. I do not know how the Savior did it. But I work hard and sometimes I am not the best I can be. But I am trying to do the best I can do.

Anyways I don't have too much to say today about this week. I will share the highlights. On Thursday night we had dinner in the Copley plaza with a member that was way sweet. It is a park right in between the Boston Public Library and some huge church. In the Park there is some stairs and a fountain. A bunch of skateboarders are always there and they are way good at boarding. There are just thousands of people walking by it is pretty cool to see. We just ate sandwiches but it was fun because we got to teach a lesson to a member. Friday and Saturday were the longest days of my life we had nothing planned except district meeting so we contacted all day long both days.

Yesterday on the other hand was the best day of my mission so far. First we had stake conference which was sweet. One of the Presiding Bishops for the first presidency was there and he came up and shook our hands and talked with us for a while. He was so nice and an extremely awesome speaker. Also President Evans spoke at the meeting too. President is an amazing guy he is just so full of love towards everyone all the time.

Then the second part of the day that was even better was that we had a baptism. We didn't really teach the guy too much his name is Daniel. But we taught him a couple of times and were incharge of organizing everything for the baptism. Daniel is a way cool dude. He is 25 and into singing. His baptism was amazing the spirit he brought. He brought some nonmember friends that were way cool and for the special musical number he had his voice coach sing a song. It was a great thing having a non-member be a part of such a great atmosphere. Hopefully we can teach him. He was extrememly nice. Since it was Halloween we were supposed to be in at 6 but the baptism was at 5 and then they were having people over for dinner at one of the members house to celebrate Daniel's baptism. So we got to go to that. And we could stay longer. That was way fun just sitting and talking to people for a while.

Anyway that is all that my week consisted of. It was a hard long week. But I know that as I forget myself and do Heavenly Father will I won't regret anything. Also I am trying to learn how to rely on him more than myself, because I realize that me myself, I am nothing. I cannot convert anyone unless I say what the spirit tells me to say. Anyways I guess that there is a viral infection going on to some missionaries so keep in your prayers that they will get better and that we won't get it either.

I love you guys very much. Tell dad that I love him and I want to say thanks to you mom for everything. I have the most amazing family and I know that everything will go well if you trust in the lord. Keep striving to be examples of Jesus Christ.

Much Love

Elder Hunter

October 25, 2010

Hi Mom,

Everything is going great we got a new ward to cover. So we have double the work. It is kinda hard though because we have one church starts at 10 and then the other ward starts at 11 at a different place. So we go to sacrament then jump on the train and go to the other ward as fast as we can.

Our new ward is going to be so much fun. They are all cool dudes most of them right out of college looking to get married. They all are still excited about missionary work which is good. We had ward correlation on saturday morning at Patricks house who is ward mission leader for the LP 1 ward he is way sweet. He is from Carmel, CA and when I told him I lived in Salinas he started asking if I knew some of the people in the stake out there. We knew a few people in common and that was way sweet. During our correlation the funniest thing happened to me. There was breakfast and it was french toast and bacon and sausage and we were just eating in a living room on the couch and my plastic fork broke. My hand was on one side of the plate to balance the food so when my fork broke it sent my french toast like five feet across the room on face down on the floor. I felt like such a spaz. Everyone was laughing so hard for like 5 minutes straight.

That was my funny experience for the week. We got a new roommate and our apartment of missionaries could beat any other missionaries at any sport in the whole world. Elder Koerper is the man that moved in with Elder Hiatt in the university ward. He is like 6'6" and weighs like 250. He looks like a football player but he is a baseball pitcher and pitched for New Mexico St for a year before his mission. We have a blast every night. But we all work super hard so we only hang out at night. I live with a bunch of guys that i would have loved to hang out with during high school. It is way fun.

Having such a fun apartment is a bad thing though too. We always go to bed late like 11 or 1130. And Elder Sorel and I are always up and out of the house by like 7 in the morning for ward council or correlation. Today I got to sleep in till 630 it was so nice. We weren't studying at all, so we started taking our studies at night which is nice. It is crazy how much you can learn in an hour of studies at night. We are also learning how to be super busy and efficient. The bus system here is bogus though the buses are never on time and sometimes they don't come. Sometimes we end up running a mile to make it to an appointment. The city is the best thing ever. I am getting skinny though. Like no muscle or fat it is crazy. I feel like a twig!!

As for investigators we have 3 new investigators from the LP1 ward. One of them is being baptized this Sunday he is legit. He is this black guy that sings. He quit his job because they wouldn't let him have Sundays off. And immediately he got another job. It is sweet seeing the lord bless people. We didn't teach him really but are in charge of his baptism. He said that he is going to bring a bunch of friends to the baptism that are non members so we are going to try to do something sweet in between the baptism and when he changes to make them all interested. The other investigators we haven't met yet neither of them were at church yesterday. But we are working super hard to get them there.

We ran into a guy named Otto from China last Sunday and are meeting with him tonight. He is super cool. We met him at MIT just walking on the street and he was super nice. He said that in China nobody can teach religion unless someone enters into the church . He is only here for 6 weeks though. But maybe we can baptize him and send him to china to preach the gospel there. That would be way cool.

Yesterday we had the best sacrament meeting in the Charles River Ward. It was Elder Christianson. He had a stroke and is a professor at Harvard. When he had his stroke he lost his vocabulary of 6000 words to 500 words. so as he was speaking to us he would forget words but he talked about how to share the gospel he has a thing posted that is called 100 ways to share the gospel you should look at it there are some sweet things there. Also he is starting a Electronic mission. Where there are missionaries that post things on facebook twitter and blog so that when people google mormons there is less hate things that pop up at the start of the list. He is so awesome! He gave a crazy statistic though to us. It was that out of 1000 people that are taught the first discussion that were found on the street. 28 of them are baptized and 3 are active after 3 years. Out of 1000 people taught the first discussion and were member referals 200 were baptized and 120 were active after 3 years. The whole ward was just amazed at how powerful this man was. He was mentioned in two of the talks in the past conference. But also after his talk yesterday, we got a call from a member in the ward. She invited her friends to take the discussions, just to let us practice them since we haven't taught much yet. So we are already seeing progress in the members. I think that missionary work is about to explode here pretty soon.

Also i have been getting way better at talking to people. I was doing a terrible job at contacting on the bus and trains but i first started by talking to people not about the gospel and now i am trying to be better and twisting what they say to relate it to the gospel it is kinda hard, but i am grading myself daily to do better and prayer is helping me. There are some awesome people here it is way fun being here, and learning how to deal with people. As soon as i get good at one thing i realize i am not so good at something else. But that is where i am learning to rely on the lord to make my weak things strong. Anyways i love you mom and thank you for everything. You should be getting a package from me soon. It has a beautiful picture of the Boston temple. and some shirts and pictures. But i am going to send it with the credit card. Did you see why it wouldn't work for me? And thank you so much for everything. Also i think i need a sweater the wind here feels like crushed ice is hitting your face and going right through your clothes. It gets so freezing!! Don't get a black sweater if possible like a grey or blue or green would be sweet im sick of all black. And will you send me your Sister Kris's address i want to write boston about how boston is.

love you a ton your the best mom ever,

Elder beauford Hunter

October 20, 2010

Hi Mom,

Transfers were good. Elder Sorel and I are still together serving in the Charles River Ward. It is cool because that means I can stay in the city still and learn people skills and share my testimony with hundreds of people everyday. We also have another ward that we are going to cover which is a singles ward 25-30 year olds. It is the LP 1 ward. So our age range broadened some. I think that this transfer the work is going to start to pick up. Last week at church we had 5 non-members. None of them want to meet with us though so that sucks but at least members are bringing friends to church.

I am glad that our work will hopefully double with two wards to cover. Right now I have made some great friends of the ward that I am in now. There are so many great people that are in our wards. They are all very very smart too. Last night we watched "How Rare a Possession", the Book of Mormon video with an investigator and had pizza. It was sweet. I realized that the two members there with us were a lawyer and a Dr. They both are extremely smart. Our investigators are crazy. We still only have the same three. All three of them want to be baptized. But none of them want to be pushed into it. They are taking their time to becoming baptized. Raj who is from India watched the movie with us last night and he started asking us about Jacob 5 and the olive tree. He reads his Book of Mormon everyday and knows that it is true, but doesn't come to church and doesn't want to be baptized anytime soon. We are trying to get with our investigators consistantly and get them to keep commitments from us so they can become ready to be baptized.

This week was pretty crazy though there are a lot of people that are struggling with testimonies and what not in our ward. It doesn't surprise me either this is a tough area to be a mormon. It is crazy how important church is and how important to attend every week. Also developing a relationship with Heavenly Father. We are working with some inactive members and they stop coming to church it only makes it that much harder to come back. Elder Sorel and I had a great opportunity to feel the power of the priesthood we hold. This week we gave 3 blessings to members that were having a rough time. It is so cool that people know that a blessing is the best thing that they can do to know what Heavenly Father wants of him.

Also this morning we went to the temple. It is always good to go there and learn more about the gospel and how simple it really is. Elder Yurevich is leaving our apartment and so last night we were up till one talking and hanging out and then we got up at five to go to the temple so Elder Sorel and I are going to sleep the rest of our P day. We are beat.

I also got a bunch of pictures printed out and I will send them home tonight in a package with some other way cool things that I have gotten out here. Well I hope that everything keeps going well. I am still working hard and having fun. It is beautiful out here! You guys should plan on picking me up or at least coming out here in the fall. Let me know how Brysons game goes this week.

Thank you so much for the picture thing it is so cool. I showed the sisters and they loved the paper bag thing. They thought that it was the coolest thing. And thanks for the tie. you guys are the best!! Mckay and Tyla haven't written me back either. Love you have a great week.

Love

Elder Hunter

October 30, 2010

October 30, 2010

Pictures we received this week from Beau. Finally. . . :)

October 12, 2010

Dear Mom,

Sorry I didn't email you yesterday, it was p-day and also Columbus day so the library where we email was closed. But this week is the last week of the transfers and we won't have p-day until next Wednesday so you won't here from me until then. I got grandmas cookies and didn't have time to write her yesterday. We had a sweet day yesterday, I will tell you all about it. The cookies were way good. Me and the people that live with us ate them all in like 5 minutes. Also grandpas letter was good for me to hear. I think about it everyday. It gives me motivation. And the quote is perfect that is exactly what I am trying to do. I am not perfect at it yet but I try to be the best I can.

How are Bryson's stats in football? Does he have any good ones? (Note from mom: Good tackles, not touchdowns, quarterback depends on Bryson to block and doesn't throw to the tight end at least yet.) Any touchdowns yet? The season is probably coming to an end I bet.

My comp has been in this same area since May when he first entered the field. I feel bad for him. He is dead here. He is going through a bad thing with his girlfriend. Also he is getting sick of the area because he has been here for so long but has not had much success. He and I get along way good and he is so cool. I hope he gets transferred though because he needs something different out here. He is sick today and slept in so I did companionship and personal study all by myself.

Elder Yurevich and I are the only people that get up on time everyday and work out. Elder Yurevich is so cool, he is so smart at the scriptures and so I just let him talk to me and teach me every night if he and I stay, I am going to start learning Russian from him also.

Investigator wise we are struggling. Jim has been in the hospital with lung and back problems. He called yesterday and wants us to visit him today so we are going to. And Jessica told us that she knows that she needs to be baptized but doesn't feel ready. We are debating if we should drop her or not. I don't think that we will because she is so awesome and nice. She will get baptized eventually.

Those are our two investigators really and things are looking like they will pick up. We have been receiving a lot of referrals lately and trying to set things up so we can teach. I have a good feeling about things as long as we work hard so that the Lord will trust us in letting us teach these people. I'm really excited for these next few weeks. I don't think I will leave this area for a while though. I don't mind either. I am starting to love the people here in the ward and am learning a ton about Boston and how the people are. Plus there are no easy places in our mission no matter where you are at out here you will be working your butt off and have little "success" as far as baptisms and numbers go.

So for the packages just send it to the mission home. Also I thought of some things that I want but probably for Christmas if you can. I was thinking that I wanted some Protein and vitamins. Then I definitely want some pictures of the family. I am sick of describing what everyone looks like. And any other pictures that you wanted to send me that would be sweet. And then maybe a sweater.

It is crazy at how I have learned about the power of prayer and also the neccesity of prayer for everyone. Everyday we talk to some guy from MIT or Harvard that are just super smart and have all sorts of crazy things to say about religion and especially about our religion and why it can't be true. It is kind of hard listening to all these things that they say. They are all terrible things that the devil has brought forth to the people. It doesn't shake my testimony but rather helps me strengthen mine more. We had a fireside that I went to and the Dean Emeritus proffesor of religion at BYU was speaking. His name was Robert Millett. He was way sweet and said that Faith is a decision we make it isn't just believing or acting when we feel the holy ghost it is still making the right decisions even when we don't feel the holy ghost. He talked for an hour on the purpose of life and it was so awesome he did a way good job.

Yesterday I kind of spent a lot of money. Elder Sorel's MTC comp came down to the city from the cape and wanted to go see the city. We all went and looked around some sights and stuff. When we were at the TD Garden where the Celtics play they have a team shop and it had a bunch of old school jerseys. I bought a Larry Bird jersey for 85.00 dollars I used my debt card. Will you check to make sure that my credit card is paid for it declined. And we walked around there and then after that we went to Fenway Park and paid to take a tour of the stadium. It was 12.00 but I used my support money for that. It was sweet there are some cool baseball history things that happened in that stadium. I took a bunch of pictures and I am going to print them and send them home this next Tuesday.

The coolest part about yesterday was that we went to the temple in the morning. We had to wake up at 5 AM and get ready and our ward mission leader picked us up. It was so cool to go with Elder Sorel and our ward mission leader because they are so smart. We stayed for like an hour in the celestial room and just talked about things and it was what I needed to learn.

I am no where near the person want to become yet. But I am striving for it everyday. And I know that by focusing on others is the way to become who I want to be so I am trying hard to do that.

The time is still going by so fast I am trying to study my hardest in the time we have and it is hard there are so many things to learn and so little time. All the stories in the Book of Mormon and Bible are amazing and we can learn a lot from them. Thanks for everything and just send the package to the mission home. I get no mail haha except from family and my comp is getting mail everyday almost. I don't care to get a lot of letters, but when I do get them it is nice. Especially from my family :) Love you all. I hope everything is going well. I will keep you posted.

Love Elder Hunter

October 4, 2010

Hi Mom and Family,

Thanks so much for the quotes they are awesome. It reminds me of the things that I learned from conference this week. And you have always been so creative, I just guess you are now having the chance to explore more and do things that you like. Did Dad and Mckay and Tyla get their letters from me that I sent last week? I promised Tyla that I would write her back and I haven't heard from Mckay so make sure he writes me.

It was a crazy week, but kind of hard working and a tolerant week. The work is going way slow for me and my comp. We go out to street contact all day and don't get anything done but pass out a bunch of cards to people. We are trying to work with the new mission leader on how we can boost the missionary work in our ward. We have some ideas that should get us some more people to teach. Also Jessica dropped her baptismal date which we found out last night and it is sad. She is ready to be baptized she just won't take that leap of faith to be baptized. She said that she will prepare to be baptized Dec 18th which is good if she sticks with it. Our other investigators we didn't get in contact with either. But Raj called last night and asked how conference was and said he was out of town and wants us to watch some of it with him to explain and stuff so that is way cool. I think that Raj is way close to conversion he just has to pray about the Book of Mormon.

We had tours this week and my comp went out to Belmont for a day and the District leader came here which was sweet to see something new. It was cool because I could get myself around the city with ease and that was awesome. The district leader was complaining that his feet hurt after the day was over and it was a easy day of walking. Also at district meeting he said he had blisters. Oh man, I thought that was funny how easy they have it being able to drive everywhere.

I love the city. I stay in great shape (for a missionary at least) and get the opportunity to try to share the gospel with hundreds of people a day. Not many people realize what I have to offer, but hopefully I do something that can bare testimony to them, that they might feel the Holy Ghost, and then I get to walk in famous places all the time like Bunker HIll and other such places like the Minute Man Trail.

The weather is just starting to get chilly and I think that I can buy everything out here to keep me warm for cheap. The older missionaries say that it is smart to go to goodwill or salvation army and buy a cheap suit to wear in the winter so our good suits don't get ruined. I think that is what we are going to do today. It is like 10 bucks for a suit. And I will let you know if anything else that I want.

Conference was amazing Saturday. We went to Belmont with two other missionaries and watched it. The talks on Saturday were way good. I guess all of them were way good. On Sunday we just watched it at our stake center then went to our ward mission leaders house for waffles. You should definitely look at the talks in the Ensign because it was so good. It was amazing how much they talked about agency and the right we have to choose what is best for us. This conference was more serious than any of them I have listened to before. A lot of talks about the power Satan can have over us, and also on the importance of families which I liked a lot. Anyway, as I read from the Book of Mormon everyday I realize how it counsels us on modern trials we may have today. At the end of the book of Alma chapters 60-63 it made me think of what is going on in our country today. You should look at it if you have time and talk with the family. I am going to try to put some pics up right now. I don't have many yet because we are so busy but I will get more soon. No pictures :(
Love you so much and thank you for everything. You and dad have sacrificed much for me and I really appreciate it. I wish I could type everything that happens but I only have an hour on the computer. The transfer is almost over, time is flying too fast out here, so i am trying to take advantage of it.

Love Beau

P.S. Ryo emailed me and he is at BYUH and made the basketball team there!! I am so happy for him.

September 27, 2010

Hi Mother and Family!

So last week it rained on us a lot. I just forgot to tell you that. And in Utah the rain is nothing I mean here when it rains it feels like you are in the shower. You cannot escape the water you just get soaked. It is not bad though or cold it actually feels really good. But this week it was really hot and in that cause it feels like you are in a sauna. By the time the day is over we are just drenched in sweat and our backpacks are just dripping sweat and we have to hang out our ties so they can dry too. The weather here though is nice on some days it just perfect. And so that is way good. Also at MIT where we do most of our contacting the geniuses that they are they made the area a wind tunnel so that way it is always windy in the summer which is way nice it almost feels like AC in the main campus streets.

The leaves are all changing colors and it is becoming very pretty. I have some sweet pictures of Boston and the city at night with the Charles River and stuff that I will send home hopefully soon. I forgot my camera cord today. I was thinking I might just buy a camera card and send them home every transfer then you could put all the pics on the computer and then send it back and I will send you the other or something like that.

Right now we have 3 main investigators and a few others that should be shortly. All three of them have been meeting with missionaries for a long time. Jessica is probably getting baptized Oct. 9th. She is awesome and has been investigating the church for 2 years but hasn't had the faith to be baptized. Then Jim he is so awesome and crazy. He always is getting in fights and like 6 months ago injured his back and had his lung punctured so he barely had back surgery. He is just a punk white boy that is like 35 and is confused about life. He comes to church and yesterday he was so funny. So he was on his pain medicine and was talking the whole time during sunday school about what he said to a Muslim that lives by him and different stuff like hitting on the teacher and cussing. Yeah it was the most swear words I have ever heard at church. But he has a testimony and tries to do what is right. We are going to his house Wednesday to see his new tie and teach him then take him to institute. If he will join the church it could really help him get his life in order.

Raj on the other hand is a hindu guy from India he is super nice and has a middle eastern accent. He ditched us 3 appointments in a row and our ward mission leader was at all three so he called Raj and said if you don't want to meet with us then don't!! and Raj explained that some crazy stuff had come up. But Eric, the ward mission leader, was very bold with him and told him what he needed to do to have a chance and that he needed to listen to our message. So he drove an hour into town last night and picked us up and listened to our lesson it was a very good lesson and we taught him the basics of christianity like war in heaven and Adam and Eve and the need for a Savior. He understood it very well and our ward is awesome and is taking him to Palmyria in a couple weeks to see the sacred grove. He is ready to be baptized but also just needs to make the decision and take that leap of faith.

Our ward is really awesome. Eric the ward mission leader is getting his Ph. d at Harvard in finance and is going to be a BYU professor. He was just called as ward mission leader and is very cool and wants to have success. Also there are a few other guys in the ward that are just amazing and will do anything for the missionaries and also are trying to find referrals and are just amazing at fellowshipping the investigators and new members. Also the Sister missionaries were taken out of our ward which is good. So now we can teach all the girl and guy investigators. The sisters somehow didn't have any investigators they had 3 drop them in a week which is sad to hear but we are going to try to keep working with them.

The mission has been so great. I have lots of fun and me and my comp get along very well. We have weights in our apartment so we lift some mornings and run others it is a good way to wake up and be ready for study. I have been doing some bible study with Elder Yurevich who lives with us at night. He is super smart at the bible and loves to hear himself talk so I try to take advantage of that and listen to what he knows. It is great. Also I am becoming way better at contacting people on the street. I realized 2 things that help me a ton in getting people to listen a little to what I have to say. The first is being confident and speaking loud and boldly and the second thing is by Smiling all the time. It is amazing at how many people will listen to you if you look at them and smile and say hi or whatever. A lot of time I just try to talk to anyone about anything giving sincere compliments because most people here think missionaries are just salespeople that annoy everyone. But when I ask them questions about themselves they love to talk especially atheists they love to talk about there not being a god. So I just bear testimony to them of God being our loving Heavenly Father and that is about all I can do for them at the time.

We had a sweet experience. I ran into this kid who looked like maybe 23 years old and was working on a Phd at MIT. He was super smart and thought everything through a lot. He was an expert at the Bible and believed in Jesus but no main religion. So he and I and Elder Sorel talked with him on the street for like 20 minutes and he said he was in a hurry and was going to eat at Quiznos across the street so we went and sat down with him and taught him the first lesson and the importance of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. Everything that we taught him he said made sense and he said that he would pray to know if Joseph Smith was a prophet. He was ready to hear the gospel. Hopefully he accepts it. He is very busy applying to med school he said and won't have much time to meet with us. Even if he did meet with us we would have to pass him to the other missionaries because he isn't in our age range. He was just such a stud though and a great guy.

We have good experiences everyday and it is amazing. I love the mission we have lots of fun. It is the hardest thing I think I have ever done but is becoming easier every day. and I am enjoying it more and more. The time is going by fast already the weeks and days go by so fast. I need to continue working hard.

Tell Bryson to keep working hard and also Mckay, I haven't heard from him and I don't know if I have his email. I would love to hear from them. I love all you guys. I would love letters. I got Tylas and dads 3 days ago and will write them back.

Love Elder Hunter

September 20, 2010

Dear Mother,

First, I want to tell you that I want more detail not from you but from freaking Mckay, Tyla and Bryson. I miss them and would absolutely love to hear from them.

Second, When in the world did you and dad become the party animals that stay awake and outside the house past ten?? What in the world??

I am glad Bryson is tearing it up he is such a stud and I wouldn't expect anything less of him. Does he have any TD's yet? What is their record? Also is he going to Homecoming? He should. Jonba emailed me saying that he, himself was going. Bryson should go too. (Note from mom: Yes Bryson is going. . we've had 3 planning meetings at our house. . . the main theme yelled at each planning meeting is "The girl don't want to get wet" Oh My.)

This week was good it went by way too fast! Right now we have 3 investigators and they are all bums. All of them know of the truthfulness of the gospel but none of them are willing to take that leap of faith into the waters of baptism.

Jim is crazy and he has been investigating the church for a while and he is kind of a punk. He always fights people and is very opinionated. I guess he has been in jail for fighting a few people and was jumped like a month ago and had to have back surgery and a punctured lung! He is a nice guy that is lost. I don't know what his situation was growing up and what not so we are trying to get him to stop smoking and be baptized. He won't show up to his lessons we have planned with him though, but he comes to church every week and talks to us after.

Then Jessica was the only lesson we did actually have go through this week. Jessica is the only girl we can teach because when the sisters came into our ward she said that she wanted us to teach her. She has a Boyfriend that is a member which is good cause he helps us teach and we had a very good lesson with her and invited her to be baptized then kneeled right there and had her ask if she should be baptized. She committed to continue praying and asking if she should. That will be way good.

Elder Sorel and I are trying to get both of them baptized by this transfer. Which will be a hard goal because both of them have been investigators for a long time and they just don't seem to be able too have the faith to make that covenant with God. It is sad.

Since most of our lessons fell through this week we spent a lot of time on the street trying to contact people. It seems like nobody wants to listen to us. I have lost respect for both MIT and Harvard. The people that go there are so smart that they have lost all logic!! None of them are willing to open up their hearts and even try the message that we have. It is sad seeing how many of them are so lost and so miserable yet they won't accept the plan that will make them happy. Everyday we are usually down in Kendall which is by MIT and the people there are nice and will kind of listen to us. Harvard is a beautiful campus but everyone is all way to liberal. It kind of drives me nuts.

Also the guy we played basketball with last Sunday we have been playing phone tag with him and haven't quite gotten a hold of him. But his message says that he loves the Book of Mormon and has been reading from it and wants to meet with us again.

Since we haven't had much success in Harvard and MIT we decided to go to downtown Boston on Saturday and talk to people there. It was quite the experience. First we went to Dorchester where people would all listen to us but none wanted to meet with us again. They say they are already too sent in their ways of life. Then we went to Boston Common cause there are always a ton of people there and it was the wrong day to go because it was a freedom festival where they were trying to legalize marijuana. It was packed and stunk of smoke and drugs. We actually met a guy there that was just sitting on a park bench and we taught him about priesthood authority. The guy wasn't there for the festival but by meer chance of waiting for his wife to be done with her dentist appointment. He chose not to accept our message, though I think since all the chaos going around he couldn't feel the Holy Ghost. That was the saddest sight I have ever see. All of these crazy people trying to legalize marijuana and they were all high. They all looked possessed dancing crazy and saying some terrible things. And all the girls were dressed terrible too. Elder Sorel and I were so sad at that sight. It reminded me of the the great and spacious building in Lehi's dream.

Sundays are my favorite they close ofd Mem drive and set up games such as badminton and tetherball and different things and families and kids go down and play basketball and other games all the time and it is a great environment to go teach and make friends. I go down and talk with people and people actually aren't in such a hurry to so they listen and I play basketball with a bunch of 14 year olds yesterday and am nice to them. Hoping to plant a seed in their hearts and I tell them to look at the church website. It is always great fun and gives me hope!!

We see lots of historical sights in the city I live in. Somerville is where the first American flag was raised and it is a pretty sight until we see what has become of our sad city where no one is ever happy and people don't even say "Hi" they just ignore us.

No matter what happens Elder Sorel and I talk to everyone bear testimony as often as possible and work our butts off. Every night my legs are sore and I can barely stand. Put still I am on my knees pleading that the Lord will soften the peoples hearts that they might find peace and happiness in this life and forever.

We also still have lots of fun. Our apartment is sweet. We always talk and joke at night and discuss gospel. One of our roommates likes to bash so he tries to bible bash in the room it is really funny to role play with him. He is impossible to teach as a fake investigator. But I don't bash when people wanna bash i bare testimony ask if i can leave a card then walk off. This life is all about Honor and Integrity. If everyone had those two things it would be a fun place were people would be nice and follow the commandments of god!

Well I love you all very much and I miss you guys. Also you should look at doing missionary work at home if at all possible a referal to the missionaries is the greatest thing ever! Tell my siblings to write me, and also dad too! Not every week but somewhat consistantly.

Love you all you are the best family ever!!

Love Beau :)

September 13, 2010

Hi mom and family,

I made it here safe and I sent a post card and a letter telling you I made it. I was hoping that you would have gotten it by now. The mission field is crazy cool. Our mission president is the most loving and tender guy I have ever met. His wife on the other hand seems to be the one who enforces the rules more. She is super awesome too though, she cooked us food the first night and we stayed at her house and she ironed my shirt for me. Just an amazing couple the president and his wife. They will do anything for any of the missionaries.

So I received my first area and trainer. My trainer is Elder Sorel from Gilbert, AZ. He has been out for 5 months and he is super cool and we get along great. I think that we will do very very good together. We both work really hard everyday and are focused on the work. He was a baseball player in high school and is about 6' 3" so we talk sports and what not and we have similar interests which is really good. We are assigned to the Charles River ward which is the single adults 31-45 years old. We also are limited to just males because we have some sisters in our ward that teach the sister investigators. When I first heard this I was bummed but after I went to church yesterday I absolutely love the people. They are all very educated and I have no idea why they aren't married yet. Some of them have like 3 and 4 master degrees and most go to MIT or Harvard. They are all super nice and very giving. We have been taken out to eat 3 times and fed 1 so far.

Since we are assigned to the Charles River ward we don't really have an assigned area we just kind of stay in the Boston area. Mostly Cambridge is where we do our contacting. We live walking distance from Harvard and MIT which is cool. We can't proselyte on Harvard campus but we can around it. We can proselyte on MIT though. Which is good. The buildings on Harvard are beautiful. I will take pictures of them and send them home eventually.... I would now but I forgot my camera. We travel everywhere by foot or bus or subway we have a pass that lets us ride as much as we want to.

All the buildings are just so cool looking even the LDS churches are sweet. They just made a new stake center that is 3 stories and has a gym and 2 chapels in it like a couple blocks from MIT. Our ward just meets in office space thing but still it is pretty cool. Everyday when I am walking around I feel like I am in a movie because I am not used to the way everything is built and looks. We see lots of cool things everyday. Like Bunker Hill and the minute man trail. Lots of history here and I plan on future p-days to go look at it all. Also we are fairly close to Fenway which we go contacting at sometimes. It is way cool seeing everything.

There are a lot of people here that are very liberal and some people just make me mad! My first day we went out all day trying to find people to teach because our teaching pool is pretty small right now. I was yelled at multiple times and called the f word multiple times. The first guy came after me yelling at me because we disagree with gay people. Then like five minutes later a lady was yelling at me saying women don't have enough power in our religion. Then right after that this huge black guy that works in a athletic personal training place comes out saying that there aren't enough black people in Salt Lake and that he would not listen to our message until we had more black people in Salt Lake and until BYU gave more scholarships to black people. With all of these people I just simply explain to them the best I could and was very nice and told them to have a nice day. Except the black guy I told him that my message was equally important to him as it is to any white person. I think he was surprised that I didn't just run away from him. There also was a lady that was a religion major and she told me I didn't want to talk to her. I just answered that I would love to talk to her and tell her how I could bring peace to her life. She just walked away.

The first couple of days were hard. Nobody would listen to us. Me and Elder Sorel have been praying to find people and figured that we need to become more of a part of the people here. Yesterday we decided to go down to MEM street which goes right along the Charles River. Our bus was 30 minutes late. Right when we get off the bus there is a man that immediately comes up to us and talks to us about our religion. We got his info and set up a time to teach him tomorrow.

Then after we went to MEM str. and were walking around when we came to a basketball court where this guy was shooting. We went and started shooting with him. Then another guy came and started shooting too. We challenged them to a game of 2 on 2 we were in our prosylting clothes still and we played them once. They beat us but we weren't trying so we go to play again and I say if we win we get to teach you our message? The one guy replied, "I will listen to your message win lose or draw." Which was sweet. so we were playing and smoking them then we kinda just messed around and lost. The one guy was about 25 and didn't care to much to hear our message but he said he wants to start a team with us and some other missionaries. We are going to ask our president about that. He also said there are about 80 guys that play in the league and maybe some of them will be willing to listen to us. We got his number and he left.

Then the other guy said he was like 52 but he didn't seem that old at all. We think that he would fit into our ward very well. He told us to walk him home share our message and then he would get us a cold drink and a business card so we could call him. He was the nicest guy ever. He said that he spent time in the with the juvy and kids that were locked up there for 25 years. We walked him home which was like a block away and shared the first lesson on the restoration. We gave him a Book of Mormon and asked if he would read from it and pray and he said he would and also that he wanted us to come back and check up on him. It was the coolest experience ever! After we were about to leave he said that it was his birthday and that he knew that we came and talked to him for a reason. He gave us some powerade too.

It was very cool to see how the Lord puts us in places to teach the gospel to those that are ready for it. I truly am an instrument in his hands. And have a path made for me by our savior Jesus Christ. I love the mission and the feeling of my feet being sore after a hard day because I know that I gave it my all.

Today is p-day and the Spanish missionaries challenged us to soccer. So we will go play them. But usually we play basketball on p-day and there are some good ball players in our zone. Elder Hiatt is from Payson and played ball there and Elder Hansen played for Bingham. Then there are some baseball players that are all good athletes here. Boston is safe but the people are crazy and most of them lost in their life. Which sucks!! I will help as many as will here the Lords message.
Love you a ton!

Elder Hunter

Letter we received from the Mission President a week later and picture.