Christmas Special

Hey everyone,

I hope you're having a Merry Christmas today. I want to share with you for Christmas how my testimony of Christ has been strengthened as I have been at the MTC. It has been strengthened so much! They say the grounds here at the MTC are sacred, and I feel that. I feel the Spirit here so strongly, and the Spirit testifies of truth, so I am learning so much! I feel the whisperings of the Spirit in my heart. Mostly it's a feeing of peace in my heart, but sometimes it comes in other ways. I feel the Spirit teach me what is right, and I do not feel it when something is wrong. I have felt the Spirit testify to me that Jesus is the Christ. That He lived! That He was born to a very special virgin mother Mary.

I have felt the love of Jesus Christ in my life. I have made mistakes before (surprise!) and have felt the guilt that comes from those mistakes. However, through the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ, I have felt the pure joy and enabling power that comes from His Atonement. He died for me, and because of His Atonement, I receive strength when I repent. I can see how much stronger I am in the MTC through repentance. I am so grateful for Jesus Christ and how much He loves me. Without Him, I would still be lost. I would have no direction. I would have no pure joy.

I love being here at the MTC. I love having my life centered around Jesus Christ and His gospel. I have more confidence in Jesus Christ and in Heavenly Father than ever before. There have been hard times, and there have been times where I have no idea what I am supposed to say to people, member and investigator alike, but Heavenly Father knows what I am supposed to say and knows what I am supposed to do. If I turn to Him, He will help me. "Tell the missionaries: If they have more faith, they will have more success." --Gordon B Hinckley.

Each of you has the opportunity to bless so many others this season and this coming up year. If you turn to Heavenly Father for guidance, He will help you to know what to do and what to say to make a significant impact on others.

I love you all and hope you have a wonderful Christmas. I hope you feel the spirit of Christ's wonderful, magnificent birth and have the chance to share it with your kids, your coworkers, and the lady you meet at the check out stand. Even the people here at the MTC I have seen sometimes need just a smile and someone to acknowledge them. Let Heavenly Father help you. Let the Spirit speak to you. Merry Christmas from Utah to wherever you are out there, and a happy new year!

Hermana Hunt

Merry Christmas

This week has been like, the funniest week ever. And I have been speaking Spanish almost all day every day. I am learning a lot and having...too much fun...

First of all, Hermana R is with us for a little while because her visa came late, and by the time her visa came, there were no flights left because of Christmas. She has now spent Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas in the MTC. Poor girl. She is awesome though. She is like, a magic closet full of right answers. Whenever I have a question I ask her!

I am going Friday to get my visa!! I am really excited about that. All the other girls in my entire zone (total of two others...haha) are going on the second, so I will be flying solo on the second. Kinda weird to be a solo missionary. I will be so lonely. haha

Okay. Funny things. Elder F ripped his pants all the way from his hip to his knee. Good thing we had some lava lavas still in the classroom because that is what he wore all the way back (across a busy utah street) to his apartment to get some new pants. It was so funny. He came back to class and announced "!Yo tengo mis pantalones!" so that is the new joke in the district. Holy jamolee. It was so funny.

Also Elder F. Addressed 20+ Christmas cards TO HIMSELF. He sent them all out and stamped them and everything. They went to the Provo mail center and straight back to the MTC. When we went to pick up the mail (my companion, Hermana S, is the sister training leader now) we pulled all these letters out that were all the same size with the same handwriting all to Elder F with different "from" addresses in the top left corner. Our generation doesn't know how to use snail mail ;)

Hermana S got her hair in the toilet water.

I got a smiley face on my hamburger!!! One of the workers used mozzarella cheese to make a smile on my cheddar cheese. I didn't even know until I went to put ketchup on my burger and found THE most fun surprise EVER. It made my day. 

Our classroom flooded and ruined a lot of our books. We had to move to a smaller classroom for a little while, and because there are eight of us in the district, Hermana W had to be IN THE CLOSET. Hahahahaha her desk was in the closet, and whenever we didn't want to talk anymore we would just close the closet door. Good old West Campus. Keepin it classy.

Also, the lady at the travel office told me about how she had to train a few sisters when she was on her mission. She was talking about how crazy the sisters were. Not only did she have to train one how to be a missionary, but she also had to train her how to walk. "You're a missionary. You can't walk like an elephant!!" So awesome. I love the lady at the travel office.

Alright. Enough funny stuff. Serious things:

We committed both our investigators to baptism this week! What an amazing feeling to see them progressing and being so much happier. What a difference in our investigator, Jose! He wouldn't even look at us when we started teaching him because he was so depressed. Now he's coming to church and making amends with his family. Praying every day. It's so wonderful. We are the third set of missionaries our investigator, Patricio, has had, so I contribute a lot of his success to the other missionaries. They dropped him though because he wasn't progressing. He's progressing now!!! I love to see how eager he is to learn more and learn what he can do to be a better father and to have an eternal family. One that will be happy in the eternities with Heavenly Father. He is getting baptized the first week of February. I am so excited for him!!

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!! Thank you for all the letters and packages. You spoil me. I hope you remember how wonderful Christmas truly is. In Luke chapter 2, if you have time, read the story of the angel coming to the shepherds, and really focus on what the shepherds must have been thinking and what their reactions were. I loved doing that. I gained a lot of insight. Merry Christmas! Love you!

Hermana Hunt

last time i will see my teachers!! Hermano T is the big Polynesian one and hermano P is the small white guy :) They are SO AWESOME!! seriously. They have taught me so much.

sister S got 21 letters in one day. also. that green bottle is heaven. or close to.

One Month Down

Holy jamolee the MTC is so awesome. I love being a missionary!!!!

I learned this week more about faith. Faith is to have confidence in someone or something. We watched the movie "Mountains to Climb" from the Mormon channel, and it was so wonderful. I learned that when all seems to be wrong, if we have even just a PARTICLE of faith, we can exercise it and it will grow. Even when all else seems to be gone, we will always have just a little bit of faith left, and when we act on that faith, when we turn to God, our faith will increase and times will become much better. My confidence in God is growing so much stronger here as I exercise my faith every day. I see His hand in my life. 

I am grateful for all the letters. They brighten my day :)

This week Hermana D went home for medical reasons. It was incredibly hard on our district, especially her companion, Hermana S. We miss her very much. Hermana S, Hermana W, and I are now in a trio, except for these next few days while a sister from another district, Hermana R, is still waiting for her visa (so today I am just companions with Hermana S). I am starting to be a little worried with two weeks left to get my visa, but I'm sure it will all work out. We miss Hermana D very much, and hope that she will get better soon. The trio is pretty cool though. We can stay in sightsound in a triangle, and we often utilize that skill. We also have a pretty awesome handshake that turns into a rocket ship....Yeah. Be jealous.

Hermana W almost fell asleep in our lesson the other day. She exclaimed "The couch is like the Devil!!" Hahaha :) She has a hard time with the amount of sleep we get here. I've been pretty good with it. I am tired of sitting at a desk all day long though. This morning was the first morning my alarm clock was a part of my dream. My companion was like: "Hermana Hunt WHAT THE heck?! TURN your ALARM CLOCK OFF!!" Hahaha and then I realized...it wasn't a dream.

In less than three days I will have been in the MTC for a month. It seems like just yesterday I got here, and it also seems like a year ago I got here. I love being a missionary!

Love you all.

Hermana Hunt

I made it on the board for quotes. My teacher calls me Hermana Heart because, well, he just thinks that is my name and I don't correct him.

This is our goodbye to Hermana Duncan. Also this giant picture has a really funny story about framing and I like it. the picture is an original canvas and valued at over 3 million dollars. The had a really hard time getting the frame in through the doors, and they had to disassemble it like four times. Pretty funny. 

Week 3 letter :)

Today was SUPER cold, and my companion and I were walking home after our service project and both of us realized we didn't have a key to the apartment. It seemed impossible to go back to find someone with a key. They were about a ten minute walk away from us after we had already made that distance to get home. We felt like we could not turn back because we might die. Haha I know we wouldn't have, but we were seriously so cold. It was really early in the morning and still dark outside. Instead of turning back, I decided to pray and we made the last few feet to our apartment. I prayed that the door would be open, which is kind of ridiculous because it automatically locks and we have no choice to leave it locked or unlocked. However, as we approached the door to the apartment, I simply pushed on the door and it opened. I take it as my little miracle of the day. Heavenly Father is showing me that He has not forgotten about me. He loves me enough to keep me warm on these freezing winter days.

The apartments we have class in have a beautiful little stream running through them. It's amazing to see the stream with it being this cold. All the water on the top is frozen solid, and people have even been walking across it safely, but you can hear the water sometimes still flowing through under all the ice. Utah is a beautiful place to be! The mountains are gorgeous, and I love to walk home towards the temple from class every day.

I had a hard day this week with being discouraged about not being able to do this great work. This work is very difficult. I knew it would be. Still, I was having a hard day. I ended up testifying to three investigators that day to have faith. With faith, we can do anything. The bible dictionary defines faith as having confidence in something or someone. I re-dedicated myself to giving this work my all. I have confidence that Heavenly Father will make up for when I fall short.

I love love love love love being a missionary. As usual. Thanks for all the prayers and letters. I am praying for you every day, and everyone knows God gives priority to His missionaries ;)

"Be still, and know that I am God."

Love you. 

Hermana Hunt

Funny things:

1. "Our teacher" in Spanish is "Nuestro Maestro" so naturally, every time we pray, we are grateful for Nuestro Maestro.

2. This super nice woman paid for me and my companion to have jamba juice today. Just paying in to the addiction I have.

3. We found a banana phone mixed in with all the bananas in the cafeteria. We all tried to call home.

4. Hermana S is crazy musical, and she is very impressed with my singing. I sing the soprano part in the MTC choir as well as the bass part. She's very jealous of my range. I sometimes sing all the way home from class, and notice how people are looking for where the man is that is singing. They are always surprised when they see it is really me singing. I never knew I had this talent until coming to the MTC. Why did I go in to economics with such an amazing talent like this? ;)

Sorry everyone! It has taken me too long to get Sarah's first letter up, but here it is :)

The MTC is awesome!! Seriously. The spirit here is SO strong. I LOVE being a missionary!!! Holy Jamolee. So much. I can't even describe in words how awesome it is! The spirit is here ALL THE TIME. I can focus so well! The gift of tongues is real. I can talk fairly well for a missionary here, when before I left I could not remember much in spanish. I remember words from high school spanish that I did not study a second time here or see again here, but I remember them!! It's amazing. Heavenly Father is real.

My companion, Hermana W, is the companion I prayed for. She is super chill and just lets me have my own space. The other hermanas in our apartment, Hermana S and Hermana D, are crazy and fun and wonderful! I love how they make me laugh so often. Like, every day. But I like that I spend most of my time with Hermana W. I know a lot of spanish to be in the beginning Spanish class. I know more than the intermediate people who are leaving the MTC in a week and a half or so. However, there are a lot of gospel terms that I am learning. You all know how well I learn vocab words. 

It has been difficult to eat the food here and to deal with the young elders. But my stomach is getting stronger as well as my heart. I remember that Christ can use me, even with all my imperfections. Therefore, Christ can use the very young elders as well. They put me in as the Sister Training Leader, which basically at the MTC means I get the privilege of telling the sisters when their skirts are too tight or when they are flirting to much with the elders. It's a pretty funny "calling" for me. It's not really a calling because my calling is to be a missionary, so I already accepted any other responsibilities that go along with it! I love being the leader though. Last night I called a 'very important' meeting together, and it was just fun. I love watching out for the physical and spiritual health of the hermanas. 

We're on the west campus, which is the overflow MTC because there are so many missionaries!! Everyone on this campus is learning spanish, which is so cool! Ever day I'm just speaking spanish all day long! We get our own shower for four sisters! We also walk everywhere in the COLD!! I am going shopping today for some more cold weather supplies. I am also pretty sick, so I've gone through a lot of my cough drops already. I pray I will get better before they decide to kick me out. You have to go to the doctor for a sore throat here, so pneumonia is a little intense for the MTC.

Basically I study the gospel and spanish all day every day. It's beautiful. I love it. We also have an investigator named Cristobal. We are trying to teach him with the spirit. I love the lessons and the teachers here. The work is hastening! It's a great place to be.

Funny things: 

1. One of these pictures is for my dad because he said I would "never" be able to line dry my clothes on my mission. :) Why not use the kitchen?

2. I told our investigator that Christ died for the store. (la tienda and la tarrea are very close)

3. I told a couple hermanas that Christ died for our fish. (los pecados and los pescados are also very close)

4. I cried like a baby in front of everyone at lunch. It was pretty pathetic. Everyone was all looking at me like--man, that is one crazy hermana. hahaha I didn't know I was such a GIRL!! Bah.

5. I keep almost falling off my bed. It is a small bed. I sleep in the bottom bunk, but it is very high from the floor. My poor companion has about three feet between her bunk and the ceiling!

Love you!

Hermana Hunt

home is wherever i'm with you.

I'm going to miss some people. Including, but not limited to, these ones.

to store 451.

I have never felt so loved in my life. I am going to miss working at the Spokane Valley Hobby Lobby. Everyone there has become my friend. I am so grateful for a job that was also my favorite pass-time. I loved going to work! Custom framing is one of my favorite things to do. That job got me through college with enough to spare for a mission. I am going to miss the people too. I have made life-long friends there, and I will miss each and every one of them so much. I wish them all the best in their career and in their life, and I pray that God will be with them until we meet again.

fifteen days.

Things are getting real with only fifteen days left before I leave for the Missionary Training Center (MTC). I am so incredibly excited, but also nervous. Leaving is always bittersweet. But I'm so excited!!! I wanted to post a few talks I love love love and that have gotten me through some tough times. Read them.

https://www.lds.org/new-era/2012/08/his-grace-is-sufficient

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/04/lord-i-believe?lang=eng#listen=audio

I know that Jesus Christ lives!! He died for me, and was resurrected and lives today. I know this. I know Heavenly Father listens to me and is aware of me personally. He helps me with my deepest desires and deepest, unvoiced concerns (like learning Spanish! Now that one is voiced!). I will devote my whole self to Him for these next eighteen months in hopes of changing someone else, helping them to see how much God loves them too. 

Life goes better when we act on the teachings of Christ. Men are, that they might have joy (2 Nephi 2:25).

ten ways my mission fund has increased.

I have known I have wanted to go on a mission now for a long time, and subsequently, I have worried about having the funds to go on a mission for a long time now. Having enough money to serve has been a prayer in my heart for the last three years--especially because I used a lot of my money to make it through school. My dad lost his job at the end of last year and has only worked a little since, so my parents have not been able to help me. I also lost my insurance at that time, so any medical or dental visits had to be out-of-pocket. However, I have been blessed with funds since the time I started to pray to Heavenly Father that I would have the money to serve a mission. Here are the experiences I have had and recognized:

1. I got a job. The only reason I got that job was because I just happened to go in when a random man was doing the hiring for the random hour I went in, and that random man just happened to have gone to the same random community college as I had all the way up in Washington. Coincidence? I think not.

2. When I moved back to Washington, the only position open in my company was the frame shop part-timer. Of course I had been training in my Utah store's frame shop for about four weeks by then. I had never had an interest in framing, but the position was thrown at me in Utah, and was a huge blessing when I needed to move. I would not have gotten a job so quickly in Washington had I not had the previous training. The job at my company paid for my Bachelor's Degree, and I even had some money left over after graduating.

3. I got a scholarship. Without even applying for one. It covered a fifth of my tuition expenses each quarter.

4. I got a second job. I started tutoring economics. I wasn't even an economics major when I got the job. I knew nothing about economics! The job was given to me though, and provided a small additional income to what I was already making at my other job.

5. I got a raise. I had been praying for a long time to have enough money for my mission before I got a raise. It was a huge blessing to me.

6. My car is still running (MIRACLE), providing me a way to and from work, school, and church activities.

7. My doctor did not charge me for the visit that missionaries have to make in order to apply for a mission. While I still paid for tests and shots, the sitting fee was waived by my doctor because I am a missionary. What a blessing!! My dentist also filled one of my cavities for free. Also a wonderful blessing.

8. As school was coming to an end, I knew I would have to delay putting my papers in because I didn't have the money. I prayed that I would be able to come up with the funds. My grandparents called the next week and donated $100 per month.

9. My sister purchased all my toiletry supplies needed for the mission with coupons, and will not let me pay her back for the items she bought.

10. Yesterday in my morning prayer, I prayed that I would be able to come up with the rest of my mission money. I was falling about $50 a month short on what I needed. As I was getting in to my car to go to work, I thought to myself: "I'll just keep working and paying my tithing, and everything will work out." When I got off work, my dad told me that my neighbors offered me fifty dollars a month for my mission, that they had both been thinking about donating for a while, but hadn't talked to each other about it yet. Exactly what I had prayed about that morning.

I know that God answers prayers. In these past few years especially, I have seen miracles. Every item in this list of ten miracles was an event that happened after I had prayed. Every event happened right after I had asked my Heavenly Father to help me with my finances. There are other small experiences as well that have helped to pay for my mission. It is so amazing that Heavenly Father takes the time to care about ME. Me personally. As an individual. As His daughter. I am so incredibly thankful for all the people who have contributed to my mission fund! I am so excited to serve the Lord :)

Namaste.

it comes from within.

This song is one played often in Young Women's, but recently it popped up again while my phone was on shuffle three years after I graduated from being young. I think it applies to young and old, male and female. It testifies of our divine nature. Enjoy :)

representin.

I got my mission call!!! I have been waiting for this practically my whole life. I will be serving from November 2013 to May 2015.

Little by little, and sometimes through big experiences, I have to come to know the gospel of Jesus Christ is true, and Heavenly Father loves me. I set goals for myself while I was young that would lead me to a mission. I came to know that I am a daughter of God. I came to know that God has not stopped speaking to His children, and that He speaks to me personally. I know and love these truths!

I am happy to announce I am called to serve. I have been waiting for this day for so long. I have prayed and felt that it is right. I am called to serve a mission! I am called to SERVE!! Chihuahua, Mexico, here I come!!!!

You can watch my ridiculous opening of my mission call here (if you insist):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50c8W_F9NmE&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Seriously. It's embarrassing. But the good news is--my niece Emma will fit in my suitcase and will pass the 50 pound weight limit!

patiently waiting for the call.

I am so excited to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ!! I have been waiting for this for ten years now!

:)