DECEMBER

2014

"THAT'S WHAT'S SO INCREDIBLE ABOUT THE ATONEMENT"

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!                                          12/31/14


 I hope you all had a wonderful week because we had incredible one that's for sure!  Not to say that it was easy by any means. Satan was most definitely working his hardest on us,. I've never felt as stressed and anxious on m mission as I did this past week. It’s funny to me how Satan works. Whenever things are going good and you're seeing miracles happen he just attacks you like crazy. He makes you feel like you're failing and that you'll never be good enough.
 One day this week we were studying the Christ like Attributes for a lesson and It made me feel awful.  As I read through the different attributes I just kept having thoughts come to my mind like "You're so far from this", "You'll never be able to develop these attributes" and "You need to be so much better". I've pondered a lot about this and overall those thoughts are all true. I'm not going to be able to develop all of those attributes over night, but that's ok; I do need to be better, we all do, not one of us is perfect.   That's what's so incredible about the Atonement though; Christ does not expect perfection. However, he does expect perfect progression. What’s important is that each day we are trying our hardest to be better than we were the day before. That each week when we take the Sacrament, we take that time to reflect and recognize where we need to be better and then work on it. That doesn't mean that we're going to become perfect at being better at that specific thing, in fact I can promise you that you're still going to make mistakes, but that's ok, because The Savior is there to help us when we do. I'm so grateful for the Atonement and all that it does for me in my life, each and every day! So after a stressful week full of Satan trying his hardest and failing it ended up being probably the most memorable week of my mission.

Sister Peel, Brandon, Jon, Sister Hunter, Sister Goldwater

  JON GOT BAPTIZED!!!    And to top it off Brandon baptized him!! Brandon, who didn't want to quit smoking hookah or take off work on Sundays when I first got here! He got the priesthood back a couple of weeks ago and ended up baptizing Jon. Then Betty, one of the recent converts gave an incredible talk on The Holy Ghost and at the end Jon bore his testimony. I have honestly never felt the spirit so strong at a baptism before. My testimony has been strengthened immensely by Jon and Brandon and by simply being able to serve in this branch and teach such incredible people. I can't explain in words the Joy that I've felt on my mission, especially being able to watch people come closer to Jesus Christ and ultimately make these covenants with him.


 Jon is preparing to go to the temple and do baptisms for the dead in a couple of weeks with the Branch. He's so excited and I couldn't be happier for him. I know that this work is true without a doubt in my heart and I’m incredibly grateful that my Savior has trusted me enough to be a part of it by being a mere instrument in his hands.

Congrats Jon!!!!!

 We were able to meet with George after church yesterday (he's the one who's been investigating for like 5 years, and pays his tithing) and had a really incredible lesson with him about desire, real intent, repentance, and receiving answers to prayers. The Spirit was most definitely guiding that lesson and somehow the things we taught and bore testimony of touched his heart enough that he was willing to set a baptism date! I don't think he's been willing to set a date in close to a year. He said that he's very scared and can't make any guarantees that he will keep the date. We told him that for now he just needs to be working towards something. I think that this is huge for George and is going to be a good starting point for him to start making changes in his life. Have I mentioned lately how cool The Spirit is? Because it's incredible and miracles happen when we listen and follow its guidance. I definitely know that it’s the Spirit who is the real teacher out here, without it nothing would ever happen! Funny story for the week. We were street contacting on one of the main streets in Neenah and we were just not having any luck. Nobody would talk to us and it starting to get sad. So we see this guy sitting on a bench a ways a head of us and I get so excited! I'm like "Sister Goldwater this guy is just so ready for us and he's going to accept a He's The Gift card, then we're going to be able to talk about The Book of Mormon and give him one, and he's going to become a new investigator!" So we get all confident and are ready to walk up to him and be bold and as we get closer we're like "Man he hasn't moved in a long time. Then we realized that it was a dang statue of Abraham Lincoln! It was really sad but super funny didn't quite work out how we wanted but definitely gave us something to laugh about. Well I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and take the time to remember your Savior. 1 Nephi 10:4 "Yea, even six hundred years from the time that my father left Jerusalem, a prophet would the Lord God raise up among yhe Jews, even a Messiah, or, in other words, a Savior of the World" I know that Jesus Christ is SO much more than a Prophet. He is my Savior and the Savior of The World. He has sacrificed so much in our behalf and I hope that we take the time to remember that this week! I know his Gospel is True and I know that the Book of Mormon is True! Love you all and miss you tons! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

 Love,
 Sister Kendra Hunter

Dancer and the Missionaries

  

Vision of sugar plums 

                                              







 

SHARE THE GIFT!!!!

 Hello!!                                                     12/15/14

Wow we have had such a neat week here! Jon came to church again yesterday! He showed up wearing a white shirt and tie (that's the first time I've seen him wear that) and I almost started crying! He is just making so many incredible changes! Temporal and spiritual, I probably say it every week but he is so incredible and I feel so blessed to be able to be an instrument in God’s hands to help him accept this gospel! He and is all set for his baptism on Saturday! He has his interview tomorrow but we know he is ready and that it will go great. So last week for FHE the branch members went out with a survey, Book of Mormons, and He Is The Gift pass along cards and tried to share the gospel with people. Jon was so excited about it and had an awesome experience. He was with a group and told them that he felt like they should go to Shopko. They split up and he started talking to a lady and ended up giving her a Book of Mormon! He's not even a member yet and he's handing out Book of Mormons! He told us that it was kind of scary at first but he ended up really enjoying it and definitely felt the spirit.

Look at that wonderful white shirt

On Tuesday we had a lesson with someone in Oshkosh but she ended up not being home, that was a bummer.   So we took advantage of the time and walked around UW Oshkosh. We stopped this guy named Antonio and started talking with him about He Is The Gift. It ended up leading into the Restoration and talking about The Book of Mormon. It was really cool and he was really excited about finding out for himself if the Book of Mormon is true. We invited him to be baptized and he said he would if he comes to know that it’s true. He's going home to Milwaukee for the break but we will be sending missionaries over to teach him! It was an awesome experience and taught me a lot about being bold with people. That's one thing I've struggled with a bit on my mission, it’s just so out of my comfort zone. But the spirit prompts us to do things that require us to be bold and when we act on it MIRACLES happen! 

We had another experience in the Library when we were watching the new Angels From the Realms of Glory video with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. If you haven't seen this video GO WATCH IT!!! It's so good and invites such a strong spirit. Anyways I just felt really strongly that I should ask the girl sitting next to me to watch the video with us. So I asked her if she would like to watch this really neat video and she came over and watched it with us. The spirit was so strong as she watched it and she even started to tear up. Her name was Principenia and it turns out that she had actually talked with missionaries on the bus in Chicago about 2 weeks ago! She just moved to Menasha from Chicago a couple days before and doesn't know anyone so of course we invited her to come to activities and she was really interested and we were able to give her a Book of Mormon. The Spirit is SOO cool and I have such a strong testimony of the power that comes from listening to it. Like I said earlier I know that miracles happen as we listen to the spirit and that he truly does guide every day if we will take the time to LISTEN!

In my studies the other day I came across this scripture that I absolutely love! Its 3 Nephi 27:14 and it says "And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that i might draw all men unto me, that as i have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the father" I just want to leave you with my testimony of my Savior Jesus Christ. I know that he lived and was literally lifted upon the cross by man, so that he could draw us unto him and lift us up through our lives and in our times of need. I know that he not only does this for me but for each one of you. As we allow him into our lives and come unto him, all that he has done for us will and does take action in our lives. I love my Savior and I am truly grateful for the knowledge that I have of him. I hope you all take the time to ponder about your Savior and what he has done for you and how you can share that knowledge with others. #ShareTheGift, that’s my invitation to you this week! Share The Gift with others especially this Christmas Season!!

Love, 

Sister Kendra Hunter

WE ALL NEED TO SHARE THE GIFT!!! 

"The Christmas Bells"

Christmas in the field is a blast!!!

     I AM A MISSIONARY!!!!!

Hello Family!                                                                12/8/14

How has everyone's week been? My week here was incredible of course because I'm a missionary and even when we have hard days we're still doing The Lords work and miracles and blessings come from it!

 

Some of the members of the Menasha Ward

                                                                                               

Jon is doing incredible! He came to all the activities that the branch had this week. FHE on Monday, went to the movie night the branch members had, he came to President Munson's house last night to watch the Christmas devotional, and to top it all off HE CAME TO CHURCH THIS WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!      


 He finally got things worked out with his job and will be able to
come to church!! Everything is looking set for his baptism on the 20th! They announced it in Sacrament meeting yesterday and all the branch members are super excited for him! His friend Maria, who introduced him to the missionaries, has been basically less active the past few months; but with him gaining a testimony, coming to church and the different activities she's started coming again. It's so neat to see the gospel not only change Jon but change Maria as well!

So I can't remember if I've already talked about this so if I have I apologize, but President Cutler has given us all this survey to start using when we go tracking. He told us that it was a great way to get inside people's homes and then be able to turn it into a lesson about The Restoration or The Book of Mormon. We've been trying to use it but people have just not been very receptive at all.. But this week we were able to go to Oshkosh and tract where all the students live and we were determined that we would have success with the survey. The first door we knocked on the girl let us right in! Her name is Shannon and we were able to teach a lesson about The Book of Mormon and get a return appointment. It was such a miracle and really strengthened my testimony about expectations. I've definitely learned on my mission that when we go out with expectations miracles happen. This work has so much to do with our attitude. If we don't believe that we can see success than chances are we won’t, but when we expect those miracle to happen they do!

On Thursday we went caroling as a district. We all wore Santa hats and went door to door singing a bunch of songs. It was really funny but we had a great time. At one of the homes when we got done the lady got all excited and told us how much she loved The Book of Mormon.... the musical and then asked if we had seen it.. haha uhh... no. 


Also that night I may have accidentally turned down a one way street going the wrong way.. haha I just started screaming/yelling and Sister Goldwater just couldn't stop laughing….; we’re all good though we just flipped around and then we were going the right way :)

Last night we got to watch the Christmas Devotional, if you didn't see it go watch it!! It was really good! Richard J. Maynes, a member of the Presidency of the Seventy gave a really great talk about the attributes of Mary and Joseph and their family. I had never thought to study the qualities and attributes that they had but I think it's a great invitation and I want to extend it to you. Study them and write down the attributes they had that you want to have as a parent, spouse, or even sibling. You can apply the attributes that were used in raising our savior in your own home! I know that as we apply them to our lives we will be happier and will feel that closeness to our savior that we feel at Christmas time all year round

I love you all and miss you tons!!! 

Love, 

Sister Kendra Hunter

Now that is a cool snowman!!!!

THANKSGIVING!!!!!

Hello Family!!                                                           12/1/14

Wow what a week! So many great things have happened but let’s start with Jon! Jon is doing just absolutely incredible! We are meeting with him twice a week and re-teaching him the lessons so he can be ready for baptism. Last week we brought up the fact that he needs to quit drinking coffee again and he wasn't super excited but he said he would try. On Tuesday he had made it one day without it and by Saturday he had gone five days without it, threw away all of his coffee stuff, and even took it off his Christmas wish list! Haha I thought that was funny but wow the changes he's making are amazing. He told us that it was hard at first but it's gotten easier and he just knows it’s what he needs to do because he knows The Book of Mormon is true! He even said that he's not as tired in the mornings as he thought he would be. The Lord truly blesses us when we keep his commandments! It's so neat to see the way people change once they know The Book of Mormon is true. Jon is experiencing the "Change of Heart" that it talks about throughout The Book of Mormon and it's really amazing to be able to see it happen. Jon has started coming to different branch activities and even helped us clean the church last week. He gets along so well with the branch members and loves the activities. Everyone just loves him and they are really excited for him to get baptized. He is actually talking to his boss today about getting Sundays off so he can start coming to church and be baptized so please keep him in your prayers that everything will work out! I have faith that it will but extra prayers can never hurt right? :)

I think Brandon got the Priesthood yesterday. Sister Goldwater had the flu so we weren't able to go to church, which is super weird as a missionary in case you wanted to know, but he told us on Saturday that he would be getting it and that his dad was going to be able to ordain him! I'm so excited for him and he's already made a goal to get to the temple to do baptisms for the dead and to even take his own names when he goes!

So how was your Thanksgiving?!   Mine was really great and we definitely saw miracles! We started the day by playing in the Neenah wards turkey bowl. It was so much fun and believe it or not, yours truly even scored a couple of touch downs. It was freezing cold and we were playing in the snow but it was a ton of fun.

Turkey Bowl Wisconsin Style 

 We had two dinner appointments and we originally were going to tell the second family that we already had a dinner and just go help them cook but then we just felt that we needed to go for some reason so we went. When we got there we found out that another couple, Noah and Missy, were coming. Noah is a returning member and Missy has been investigating for years. While we were eating we felt really prompted to talk to Missy about baptism and why she hadn't been baptized yet. Bishop King (bishop of the Neenah ward) then asked Missy if she would like us to help teach her because he thought she could really benefit from Sister Missionaries (because Sisters are better than Elders ha ha just kidding). She was really excited about it and said she would really love it because she feels like she could connect better with Sisters, plus we can come by during the day when Noah isn't home. After we left I just thought about how grateful I am to have the Gift of the Holy Ghost and I'm grateful for spiritual promptings. Without those promptings we would not have ended up having that dinner appointment nor would we now be teaching Missy. Heavenly Father knows what he's doing and it's so important that we recognize when he's telling us what he needs to do. Miracles happen when we act on spiritual promptings and I have such a strong testimony of that. I'm grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ and the sacrifice that he has made for each one of us. Remember that he truly is the gift this Christmas season! I love you all and miss you! Hope you have a great week!

Love,

Sister Hunter

Sister Goldwater and Sister Hunter