Hey everyone,
I want to share something Drake’s Dad
shared with him: "A mission will
teach you to ask God for help; to trust the help He gives as sufficient, and to
take it like a man. You develop thick skin on your mission and a real sense
of who you are, and what you can do, AND WILL endure for the gospel to spread.
Think about the calluses on your hands. The thick skin on your hands that came
from lifting things a normal person could not do. Those calluses came from a
lot of pain and pressure. Eventually, those hands could grasp 500lbs without
failing. Now think about your spiritual
calluses. You need to grow through a lot of pressure as well as pain."
Sunday the 17th: Sister Overson, the
wife of the first counselor in our CTM ward bishopric, talked after I did
(usually you speak your last week in the CTM. I spoke on the atonement in Portuguese and finished with the
currant bush talk in English.) I also shared the quote from Grandpa Faust, "There are only 2 types of
missionaries in this world,..those who serve in Brasil, and those who wish they
did!"
Sister Overson spoke on a story about
Grandpa ironically. She said in 1940 Grandpa converted the very first family
ever in the city of Curitiba. Now that city has a temple, an entire mission,
and thousands of thousands of members there. Her point was that one person can make a difference. GRANDPA MADE A DIFFERENCE. I
was very emotional during her whole story. I just felt so proud of Grandpa!
That I was related to such an amazing
man and how lucky I am to be able to
serve in Brasil, the place that Grandpa did so much for and how highly
respected he is here. EVERYONE knows President Faust. It made
me imagine him up in heaven, watching me and every time he sees me doing
the things I should or he sees the success I’m having, or when I overcome
something difficult, or I learn his language, Portuguese! Up there I can imagine him cheering for me, "That’s my grandson
down there! Serving in the best country in the world! Making a difference!
Answering the call to serve!" I can imagine him up there being proud of
me. That is one of the best
feelings in the entire world.
Wednesday: Yesterday was crazy. I met
the President Farnes and his wife! They
are so loving and sweet! I love them so much! At the mission
home I ended up meeting that Elder, Elder Hatch who served in my mission that
my grandparents know. He was leaving the day I was arriving haha, more
irony. I arrived and received my new comp, Elder Medina from Chile!
He speaks extremely well, but no English of course haha. He knows what he is
doing, he is extremely diligent and knows what to say always. He is very good
with the people. He is also 18 years old and he has been out 7 months. He is
also very loving and supportive and helpful, and he pushes me just enough to
help me. I seriously could not have
asked for a better companion!
It’s funny what has been said about
my new area so far. I am in the city of Brasilandia. It is one of the highest baptizing cities in the
mission. The reason for that is because it is mostly favelas! My area is extremely, extremely poor. The
first night we went out and in 3 hours we had 13 street contacts!!! So many
people talk with us and are interested! We also taught 2 lessons! All of that
in 3 hours!
Brasil is madness but I love it! I am still having a hard
time understanding because of all the different accents and because they speak
so fast. I was able to help a bit during the lessons and talk on the street but
it is very, very hard. But I know this
is where I am supposed to be, and this is what I am supposed to do.
Also during a lesson Tuesday
night...We were teaching the Restoration and our investigator just whips out
her boob to feed her baby during Joseph Smiths first vision. She didn’t even try to cover up or
anything, so I was teaching and I was like um, um, uh...but we finished the
lesson.
Everyone here calls me Wolverine
(pronounced: "volverriny" here) or the muscular Edward Cullen! It’s
like the 8th grade all over again! Or together, they say my companion and I are Edward and Jacob! Lololol!
It’s difficult with food here, also,
there is no time to make food here, so everything needs to be quick, so that
means breakfast was weird tasting milk and cookies.
Studying was terrible, very boring,
very hard to focus, we wake up at 6 most mornings to go use weights at a members
home, but the weights are tiny and they don’t do much for me, but it’s better
than nothing. We go with 2 other sets of missionaries. In our apartment we have
one other pair with us. One is an American who will be leaving soon, and the
other is a Brazilian. I like them both. The American elder speaks no English to
me, unless he absolutely has to for a few words, as we have been instructed to
do that so I will learn faster. It is
100% Portuguese here all the time.
Wednesday night there was some crazy
riot. Tons of cops, wreckage, and tons of fire; we had to change our walking
routes because they were closing the streets down. We later found
out that a bomb had gone off and huge, huge gunfight had taken place! Wow!
Super wild!!!
Also, we don’t eat dinner
here.... In Brasil we have a HUGE lunch in members homes everyday, but no
dinner. So we work from about 1pm after lunch to 9pm without food.
Interestingly though I stay pretty full even though we walk SOOOOO much!
My diet is out the window here. You
honestly are lucky to get what you get, so we eat as much as possible when we
can. We buy stuff from the store, but again, our time is very limited, so
cookies and milk or whatever is quick we eat.
Also very cool, every Thursday
morning we go to a farmers market and buy fresh fruit. Tons of interesting
Brazilian fruits! I will try to get pics next week!
Thursday: I was feeling a little sad
and unmotivated during study, but everything
always gets better when we go to our lunch appointment and start our work for
the day. We ended up having 20 street contacts, 7 new investigators and we
taught 5 whole lessons. I also saw more of how poor the area is. Some people’s homes in the favelas are
smaller than my room in the US. Also, it is difficult to get any pictures of
the favelas because it is not safe.
My favorite time here is in the night, there are always parties going on, tons of music, lights, and fun. Everyone is out and about and we are
able to talk to more people. And it is cooler
outside! But again, no pictures of the night for safety reasons. I am in a
pretty dangerous area in Brasil. At least our area is.
We visited a single sister with young
children, she was telling us about how lonely she was, she was crying. We also
went with the ward mission leader named Irmao Dilermando; he is super cool! He
is an older man, but he wears super swagged
out clothes and he is SUPER spiritual.
In my broken Portuguese I told the
woman the same thing I’ve said before when someone said they were lonely, "God is always with you, because Jesus
Christ suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane. He has felt every pain, suffered every
affliction, He knows exactly how you feel, every temptation, everything, I can
testify that you are never alone; He is always with you; He is with you no
matter what and I KNOW this is true.”
"Why is this so hard? Because Salvation is not a cheap experience,"
in the words of Elder Holland. I also heard Elder Holland spoke at the CTM the
day I left.... come on...
I had to bear my testimony and
introduce myself to the ward during sacrament meeting, and to make it more stressful,
President Farnes and his family made a surprise visit to our ward. I did alright. Church
is similar here, but not as organized or as strong, but there are still great faithful members.
After church we went to work, we
ended up teaching the Restoration to a group of 18 people in the middle of the
street. I was nervous, but I prayed and
when it was my turn to take over the lesson I spoke well and bore a very strong
testimony. A lot of them were hard looking muscular guys. Crazy experience.
There are also these super sketchy apartment buildings we don’t like
to go in because they are owned by the drug cartel. If we go in, guys with guns and walkie talkies tell the
other people in the building that a muscular American and a smaller Chilean
have entered the building. SUPER Sketchy! We have had no problems with anyone
yet which is good.
Soooooo, last night we were leaving a
lesson in the favelas, and there was a
crazy dog and my companion and I were trying to leave. I miscalculated my jump
to escape and I rolled/strained my ankle pretty bad. I had to be carried
back into the house. It was bad enough that we had to call someone to pick us
up because I cannot walk and we were over 10 miles away from our
apartment. It was also very difficult explaining to my comp in Portuguese
my previous ankle issues from football. I was able to call someone official
from the mission and talk with them. I am able to walk, but very, very slowly
and cautiously.
Overall, I LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE BRASIL SOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH. My companion has taken such good care of me. I am making such amazing
progress.
From Tuesday night to Sunday, we had 95 street contacts, 1
confirmation, 5 investigators with baptismal dates, 6 investigators who attended
church, 7 lessons taught with a member present, 18 other lessons taught, 30 new
investigators. I also forgot to say, on my first day I invited 2 people to
be baptized and they said yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My shoulders are narrowing, my body is
shrinking, but my Spirit is growing huge. I want to lose myself to find Christ; I will gain my muscle
back when I return, but the things I am learning here are turning me into a
better future husband, father, and Son of God.
This is truly amazing, But I will say it is EXTREMELY DIFFICULT every single day. It is very hard
for me, but I just love it so much!
I love you all!
Elder Hunt
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