SEPTEMBER

2014

SPLITS AND OKTOBERFEST

Hello!!                                                              9/29/14

We had exchanges this week which were really great of course! I was with Sister Eden from.. wait for it... Brigham City Utah! Both of her little sisters were in Madrigals with me! It’s so crazy to me how many missionaries out here are from Brigham City but it's so great. It was really fun to talk with her about things back home and people/families we both know. Oh and I figured out that Jenn used to live in her ward so that was just really fun to have those connections. Sister Eden is so great though, she's so sweet and kind and probably one of the most humble missionaries I've ever met. She's a huge example to me and others! I'm so grateful I had the opportunity to learn from her for a day!

Sister Training Leaders (Sister Eden next to Sister Peel)

Adams still doing great! He's got everything planned out for his baptism next week and he's really excited about it! I can't even explain the joy and happiness that I'm experiencing being out here, especially seeing Adam so excited to make this change and accept this Gospel in his life. I know that the Savior and our Heavenly Father love him so much! It's been so incredible to feel that love while we've been teaching him. I know we can't fully comprehend that love, but what I have felt and understood is incredible! We are all his children and he loves each and every one of us unconditionally!

So our less active we've been working with, Brandon, is doing so great!! He's been coming to FHE and other activities that the branch has regularly and he's really enjoying them. It's been so great to see him getting involved again and really wanting to change his life around. HUGE miracle though with him this week! The whole time I've been here we've been trying to get him to come to church, but he works and he hasn't really wanted to put much effort towards trying to get Sundays off. Last week he told us that he was going to talk to his boss about getting the first Sunday off of every month and we were really excited! Well this week he told us that in two weeks he should be having Sundays off from then on! He said his boss isn't too happy with him but he knows it’s where he needs to be and it’s where he wants to be! Such a miracle! The Lord is incredible and I'm so grateful that he's helping us out so much in our area!

This weekend we volunteered at October fest. One of the wards here sells Tiger Paws (giant scones covered in cinnamon sugar) every year as their fundraiser for the youth activities. Lots of drunk people everywhere but that's to be expected, after all we are in Wisconsin and it was October fest, but it was fun to be able to help the ward out.

Sister Hunter and Sister Peel at the Oktoberfest 

Oktoberfest

I hope all you Women went to the Women's Broadcast cause it was incredible! I loved the focus on Temples. The importance of getting there and making and keeping those sacred covenants. Temples are so important!! I never realized how spoiled I was in Utah having temples so close! Please take advantage of the temple and go there often! Take advantage of the blessings that are there waiting for you!

I love my mission, it’s the best decision I ever made! I know the Book of Mormon is true and it changes lives! I've seen it and its amazing! Love you all and miss you tons!

Love,  Sister Hunter

Dangers of Chair Soccer 

played chair soccer last Pday.. yes that is a ball imprint on my shin.. and yes that is bruising.. and yes the mark is still there one week later!

 I Love Being a Missionary!!!!

Family!!!                                                                                                9/22/2014

It's been yet another great week! We had interviews on Saturday and that of course was really great! I love getting the chance to sit and talk with and listen to the insights/inspiration that he has for us and our areas. He truly is such an inspired man and always seems to know exactly what I need to hear at the time. It's incredible!

Adam is still doing great and everything still looks good for his baptism to happen on the 11th of October! We're really excited for him!

We were only able to meet with Jon once this week, but our lesson was so great! We invited a less active, Brandon, to come and he added so much to the lesson! It was so cool to see and hear him testify about the Book of Mormon and how his life has been changing since he's been working to come back to the church. He shared with Jon that he knows there was something missing in his life and he recognizes now that it was the gospel and how he’s working really hard now to have it back in his life. The spirit was soooo strong and it was just so neat to see this Amulek moment happening right before us! THE CHURCH IS STILL TRUE EVERYBODY!

I gave a training at our district meeting on Virtue and I'm really grateful for that opportunity. I've always known it’s important to be virtuous, after all it is one of the Young Women values, but studying about it as a missionary made me realize how important it is not only for me but for my investigators. If I’m not striving my best to be virtuous the spirit can't be with me. If I don't have the spirit with me when I'm teaching and testifying than how can I expect that my investigators will be able to feel it? We as missionaries have to rely on the spirit to touch our investigators hearts and testify to them through us. I want to always live worthily of having that spirit with my and a huge part of that is Virtue. So just remember that the spirit can't dwell in unholy places so we need to keep ourselves and our thoughts clean and pure so the spirit can always be with us! I love you all and miss you tons!

Love

Sister Hunter

p.s. We were driving in the car the other day and I felt something on my neck so I brushed it and it was a HUGE spider!! I flipped of course and we were driving so I couldn't jump out of the car. We finally pulled over but then we couldn't find it, but I was brave and got back in the car. Like 5 minutes later I felt something on my leg and guess what, it was the spider AGAIN!! But that time killed it so we were good after that. Basically it was like one of my worst nightmares came true. But no worries I am still alive!

ZONE CONFERENCE

Hello!!                                                                                              9/15/14

This week has been incredible!! We've seen so many miracles! Our investigator Adam is still progressing very well, he's doing great with the Word of Wisdom and was so excited to tell us that he had been invited to go to the bar with some friends but he told them that he couldn't go because he's not drinking anymore. The Lord is blessing Adam so much and it’s just so neat to be able to see it happening. We've actually moved his baptism date up a week to October 11th because of a conflict with the branch but we are confident that he will be ready to enter into the waters of baptism on that day and he couldn't be more excited!

Jon is starting to make so much progress as well! His lesson this week was a miracle in itself! We've been focusing a lot with him on the Book of Mormon and trying to get him comfortable enough to pray about it. Each time he tells us he's still not quite ready to pray about it, but that he's closer. In our lesson on Saturday we felt very impressed that we needed to not do the lesson we had planned and just read with him where he was at. We read in 3 Nephi 14 he picked up right away that it was talking about Revelations. When we got done he told us that he had actually prayed about the Book of Mormon and that he felt like that chapter was the answer to his prayers. His favorite book in the Bible is Revelations and for him to see that connection in the Book of Mormon was an answer that it is true! The spirit was so strong in that lesson! It was so incredible and I know that it was all possible because of the Lord. He has been softening Jon's heart for a long time and Jon was finally able to recognize his answer and see the difference that this has been making in his life!  

 You guys the CHURCH IS TRUE!!!!!! He wants to be baptized and we've set a date for October 25th! The biggest thing we are facing with him right now is that he works on Sundays and has only been able to come to church. We're praying that he will be able to start getting Sundays off. I know that as we put our faith and trust in Heavenly Father he can make this miracle happen!

 

This week we also had Zone Training Meeting. They focused a lot on becoming more consecrated to the work. They gave us each a copy of the talk "Becoming a Consecrated Missionary" by Tad. R. Callister. 

It’s such a great talk!! It makes me realize how much I can and need to improve as a missionary which can be really overwhelming. I know though that as I rely on my Savior he can help me become better. It's not going to happen overnight but as I take it one step at a time and always strive to improve, he will help me get there! I think it’s the same way for life in general. We're not perfect nor will we ever be, but we can always work to be better than we were the day before, and because of the infinite and eternal sacrifice of our Savior Jesus Christ we will be able to get there!

I love you all and miss you tons!   Keep reading your scriptures and praying and always strive to improve!

Love,

Sister Kendra Hunter

FOLLOW THE SPIRIT

Hi everybody!                                                                      9/9/2014

We have had just such a great week here! Our investigator Adam is really progressing! We've been meeting with him twice a week and then members of the branch meet with him at least once a week to read from the Book of Mormon with him. He is just doing so well and understanding what he reads so much better! I love the excitement that he has about this gospel and his willingness and desire to be baptized. We haven't taught him the word of wisdom yet but he knows a little bit about it. He told us this week that he's made the decision to quit drinking and doing the things that will hold him back from being baptized. It was such a testimony builder for me! I know that this work is not possible without Heavenly Father's help and I'm just so grateful that he has been blessing this area so much and is preparing these people to accept this message!

We had a really cool experience yesterday. We were planning on meeting with a less active after church but it didn't end up working out so we decided we should just go to this park to walk around and try to talk to people. After being there for close to an hour we decided to leave and while we were heading to the car we saw this girl sitting on a bench. We weren't sure if she was YSA or not but we just felt really strongly that we needed to talk to her. Turns out she's still in high school but she's been really struggling with trying to decide if she should pursue being a professional ballet dancer or go to nursing school. We gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon, shared a scripture with her, and talked about how we can turn to our Heavenly Father for anything and will help us. She started crying and told us that we were an answer to her prayers. She was such a sweet girl and I'm just so grateful we followed the prompting to talk with her! I know that Heavenly Father is so aware of each and every one of us. He truly does hear and answer our prayers and this experience just strengthened my testimony of this even more! I'm so grateful Heavenly Father trusted Sister Peel and I enough to help this girl find the comfort that she needed in that moment.

Sorry it’s not much this week but I love you all and miss you tons! The YSA Branch is awesome and I'm loving it here!! The Church is true!!

Love,

Sister Hunter