June 28, 2010

TENNISON'S FLIGHT IS AN HOUR LATE BUT WE SET THINGS UP EARLY

And then we waited. . . .

and waited. . . .

and waited. . .

Uncle Alan teaching Bryson tricks
and waited. . . .

Alexis, Tyla and MacKenzie
and waited. . . . . .

Beau and Chance. .
and waited. . .

Seth, McKay and Dallin . . .

and waited. . . .

and waited. . . .

Jamie, Michelle, and Caci

HE'S HOME AND MOM GETS THE FIRST HUG!!!

MacKenzie, Alexis, Jamie, Tennison, Tyla, Caci, and Michelle

Tyson, Beau, Tennison, Mckay, Dallin, Seth, and Chance

TENNISON IS HOME AND WE ARE SO HAPPY. . . . WE LOVE YOU!

June 21, 2010

LAST WEEK. . . . EXCITEMENT IS BOILING OVER IN THE HUNTER HOME. . .

Family,

The time has just been going by super fast! I honestly can't believe that next week at this time I will be home in a house where there is carpet and I can take off my shoes and have hot water basically whenever I want. Oh and also be able to go and do something by myself, although that may take a while to get used to. As for everything that is happening at home, I can help out with whatever you need so don't worry about it Mom! Oh, Kris asked me to give a short talk about the Holy Ghost at Kenya's baptism, honestly, I'm kind of nervous. I mean yesterday one of the speakers in church didn't show up, so the Bishop, knowing I had experience in the mission called on me and I took up ten minutes talking about unity and made everyone sit in the seats in the front of the chapel because everyone likes to sit in the back. It was really funny. Anyways, moral of the story I'm used to speaking in Spanish, but English is really hard for me. . . I try sometimes but it just comes out all spanglish. . ha ha. But it will be a good experience for me before giving my homecoming talk.

That's funny that dad is not too fond of the high tech phone you got him. I mean it doesn't really surprise me too much but I'm totally down for using it if he doesn't want it. ha ha. Doubt I'll know how to really use it, but I can learn. Oh, also we went and bought the zone ice cream today because we completed the goal for the month a week early and we are going to complete the month with more so we had a soccer/baskeball, ice cream party. It was a blast!

Well, reflecting on the mission . . .I've been able to see the Lord's hand in this work! I've really seen how he has put me in the way of the people that are really looking for the truth. I've also seen how when we really live the gospel, the Lord helps us. Maybe not always with worldly things but with spiritually and also with our family. I've been able to see one family get sealed and have that opportunity again this week. I know that families can be together forever. . it's not just some saying that we always use, it is the truth! I know that Jesus Christ is our Saviour and Redeemer and that he lives! Because of him we will be able to return to our Creator and live with him forever! Remember to always always live the gospel and we will see the blessings in our lives! It's really amazing how much he love us!

I really love you guys and look forward to seeing you next week.

Elder Hunter

June 14, 2010

Note from Mom: 2 weeks left. . . The current date for Elder Hunter to speak in church is July 11th. (Thanks Stephanie) :)

Family,

So guess where I am at? I got move back to an old area. The stake is Valle Dorado but I'm now in a ward called Lomas Lindas. David probably knows a little bit about it since he is from here. My companion is Elder Prada from Morelos Cuernavaca and he is super tight, he knows english and french (but I'm one of the only ones in the mission that knows that, ha ha). The only thing is, I don't know if we will have any baptisms while I'm here, but I did baptize two last week, which was an awesome experience. I loved it!

Its really good to hear that everyone is doing really well. I'm super excited to see all of you guys, but I'm trying not to let it distract me these last two weeks.

Oh yea, I've got some great news. . . one of the families I baptized in my first area is going to be sealed on the 26th. I'm super excited to be able to go. Their son is also talking about going on a mission which surprises me because at first he was the only one who really didn't want to do it. (not sure what "it" is. . I'm assuming join the church.) So that will be really super cool!

Well I love you guys.

Take Care.

Elder Hunter

June 7, 2010

NOTE FROM MOM: 3 Weeks, 21 Days. I guess his e-mails can be shorter now. . .Can't wait.

Family,

My week was great! Oh man I don't think I have ever had so much fun in the mission! This week we were able to take 10 people to church for the first time and had a total of 14! We are hoping to double that number for next week. As for my companions, they are awesome! We really just have so much fun every day and that's even working super hard. Well this week we should have some baptisms, not sure how many, I'm hoping for 4, but we will see.

Honestly we have just seen so many blessings, it's crazy. Well supposedly, I'm leaving this week and going to another area for my last two weeks which should also be a blast. I can't believe how fast the time is flying by, but I absolutely love it. Oh yea, about my companion, Elder Calderwood, he was going to BYU on a track scholarship. He is one of the decathletes there. I think dad would like to know that.

Well it's crazy to hear about all the changes that are soon to be happening at home. It will be a blast! Well love you guys! Take care! Don't miss me too much!

Love Elder Hunter

May 31, 2010

Family,

Life is going sick! I have two new companions here in Villa de las Flores. Looks like I'm training the new zone leaders for when I leave here. One is from Guadalajara and the other is from Washington D.C. The cool thing is that the one from Guadalajara speaks perfect english, so its super tight. I'm super stoked for Beau's call to Boston, Mass. That's goint to be super baller. Well I'm still holding strong, we baptized two people on Saturday and confirmed four on Sunday. It was really cool! This next few weeks will be interesting and I'm going to love every minute of it. I will be leaving this area in the next two weeks, or at least that is what president told me.

Well I love you guys, take care!

Love Elder Hunter

May 24, 2010

Hi Family,

My week was great! We saw a lot of miracles and we were able to have a lot of success. We were able to baptize two people, actually two little kids and they are super cool. I was also able to talk to their dad who the missionaries for some reason never talked to. Anyways, the dad asked when it was his turn to be baptized. We told him that he had to stop with the coffee and after 4 weeks he would be able to be baptized. He really liked that.

Diego and Julio. . They are so cool!

I was also able to kind of direct a marriage of an old couple we are teaching and they should be getting baptized this Saturday. All that they lacked was getting married, so we were able to help them do it.

Today we went and visited Teotihuacan which was really cool. There are a bunch of pyramids there and really it just amazes me how back in the day they were able to build such cool looking things. It was really cool.

On our way to the pyramids

The Pyramids

Funny! Look at these missionaries clothes. . True indication of their dedication and hard work for two years. . Got to love these boys!

Well, I'm really glad that you have my flight plans. I still know nothing about them so I have no clue what time I get home or what time I leave from the airport, but its alright. I'm sure I'll find out soon enough. Oh, hey, by the way, my guess for Beau's call is that he get called here to Mexico. I mean because they are dividing various missions and stuff down here they are going to need more missionaries, so that is what I'm guessing. Also I have permission from President that you guys can call me the night you get his call. I'm super stoked for Beau and I can't wait to hear where he will be going. I'm sure he is super anxious.


Love you!

Elder Hunter

May 17, 2010

Family,

That's crazy all the things that are happening at home right now. Sounds like you guys are super busy with all of the activities that are going on. So Sheri is married now. That's kind of crazy. That is good that you got to talk to everyone. I can't believe how fast time is going by.

Well as for here in Mexico, everything is going well. Today was transfer, but me and my companion stayed the same. There is something interesting and different though, we are now going to have 2 different wards which should be really exciting. I mean I have never had 2 wards before so this will be a nice change for my last six weeks here in Mexico. Well this week I didn't work a whole lot in my area, I basically did a zone tour helping different elders out for the week. It was fun. I got to get to know different places but doing the same work as always. ha ha. Leonardo was confirmed this week and now is officially a member of the church. It was a really cool experience. We also have this other lady we are teaching, her name is Irma. Her kids live in the U.S. and she says she loves it there. Anyways she went to church for the first time and really liked it. While we were at church I gave her a baptismal date for June 4 and she said she wanted to do it so that will be exciting. Well everything here is good and going great. About the flight plans, I really don't know anything, but when I do I will let you know.

Well I love you guys and thank you for the picture of Toni. (Toni and Tennison played soccer together at Timpview) I can't believe he is already playing again for BYU. I can't believe it.

Elder Hunter

More pictures:

Me with my stunner shades on (ha ha) and Elder Ashcraft

My district and I eating breakfast

Elder Loeza and I

May 10, 2010

Happy Mothers Day!!!

Funny how I have forgotten two years in a row. Really it's just because I get so excited to talk to you guys that I forget the main reason why I get to talk to you in the first place! Ha Ha. Really it sounds like everyone has matured so much. I'm super excited to see you guys, but I just have to stay focused for the next couple of week to finish strong. Can't believe how fast the time goes by! This week was good and we have been working super hard and we were blessed with a baptism this week. Leonardo got baptized and he was super excited for it. He is awesome! He always prays and reads everyday! We have really seen his progression. Well thanks for everything. Sorry this is so short. . . it's just that we talked about everything yesterday.

Love you guys!

Elder Hunter

Me Reporting numbers (My favorite thing to do each week. . not.)

Me and Leonardo

May 3,2010

Family,

It is so cool to hear that my little brothers have all been able to advance in the priesthood! I'm sure mom felt so proud! Wow, Bryson Bryson looks like he's been doing a little bit of working out! I'm still doing my push-ups and sit ups but sure don't look like he does yet. haha

Well it stinks that Beau won't be there on Sunday, but its all good I mean I'll see him soon enough.

Well this week was great! We are working super hard and honestly I just feel super tired every single day but the Lord give me the strength to leave the house and just keep working! Well this morning we had to go and raid a house. We got there and the missionaries weren't there, so we entered and they had some things that missionaries just shouldn't have like dvds, gameboys, and stuff like that. It really makes me sad when missionaries just come on their mission to vacation. It really frustrates me! On a better note we found this guy names Jose Ricardo from the U.S. and man is he hilarious, he has a problem with swearing but he is cool. So we found him on Friday, well actually he called one of our district leaders and told them that he needed us to go to his house, so the district leader passed the information to us and we went to visit him. When we got there he called us his angels. He then started to tell us about him and how he doesn't have anything and how his wife was going to come down from the states on Sunday with his 3 week old little baby. He was really worried because he didn't have anything in his house so we told him we would try and find something that he could put his baby in. He had this sweet watch that he said he bought a while back for like $700 and he made me put it on and told me I look like a pimp with it on. haha. He wanted me to take it and sell it so I could buy him a crib or something. I told him no but we would do everything to find something. So I told the Relief Society President and she told the hermanas and they got this little cradle thing for him. Wow! The look on his face when we gave it to him. He was so grateful! So he went to church with us on Sunday and really loved it. I think he may be an ex gang member and stuff but I think he really wants to change his life around. He is so cool. We also gave him a baptismal fecha and he was like "yeah man, put me on the list." It was funny.

Leonardo is progressing really well. He always reads and prays and well should be getting baptized this week which will be awesome.

Well love you guys!

Love Elder Hunter

April 26, 2010

Hi Family and Friends,

This week was great! I can't believe how fast the time is going by. Zone Conference went really well and President said that I did a good job teaching my part which made me feel happy. Afterwards we saw a video that the assistants made about how we all need to do our best because Satan is also working really hard and we can't let him win. It was a really cool video! Anyways, we found this guy when we were knocking on doors and he was going to tell us "no" but then his suegra (wife) said to come in so we went in and come to find out the the suegra is an inactive member and their daughter is a member too. So we started teaching this guy Leonardo and he went to church with us and has a baptismal date of May 10th. I'm super excited!

Oh. . the photos of Taylor's farewell. I can't believe how big he has gotten or mature (don't know which of the two but Wow! As for everyone else, I hardly recognize the cousins. . it's crazy).

As for McKay's Birthday, there were quite a few teenagers there. . he is now 14 right? He is getting so big. Oh and B-rice turns 16 this week right? Does that mean he will be able to drive legally? That is crazy. That is awesome to hear that Beau finally got ordained. I'm sure it was a very special experience! So does that mean he will be turning his papers in soon? (Like this week?) The sooner the better.

Well Love you guys, Take Care!

Love Elder Hunter

Here are a few pictures:

There was a stake activity on Saturday and they put on the play "The Wizard of Oz"

This is a picture with the main characters. Our convert, Margarito was there helping which was great to see. Margarito was confirmed on Sunday, so it was really cool!

Root Beer Floats! Yummy!

The edge of my area next to the fireworks capital here in Mexico.

April 19, 2010

Family,

How is everyone doing? I'm doing well. This week was a really tough week. We worked really hard and found lots of people, but we weren't able to take any to church which was really hard. . especially when I should be the example here in the zone. But we do have a lot of people that we are teaching that can progress. . . we just have to pray really hard and teach according to the spirit! WE did have a miracle. That guy, Margarito that I told you about got baptized on Sunday which was really cool to see, and later that night he went with the Elders quorom president to do his family home teaching. It's awesome to see his progress already in the church! Sorry forgot my camara but next week I'll send you some pictures!

Something on a little bit more of a sad note . . Do you remember Saloman Jaar? (He was on my soccer team at Timpview. We are still in contact every now and then.) His dad died this past week on his way to the temple. If you could keep him in your prayers. Saloman right now is on a mission in Chile and said some really cool things in the article if you want to read it here is the link http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700025080/Former-LDS-mission-president-Honduran-official-killed-by-robbers.html.

Well we have zone conference this week and this will be the first time I get to direct one. I also have to prepare the teaching and everything for when president is done talking. My companion and I have to teach the zone a little bit about what we are going to be studying for the next 6 weeks so it will be fun!

Well that is really cool to hear that Taylor is all excited about going on the mission. There is nothing better he can be doing right now in his life! I don't know if there is a way to get me his email address or something. I would like to write him a letter.

Well you guys take care. I'm glad to hear that everyone is doing well and that Beau is going to be able to become and Elder soon! That really is so exciting and it is a really important step he has to take in his life! Well thank you guys for everything! I love you all a ton!

Elder Hunter

April 12, 2010

Hello Family,

I'm perfectly fine! This week went really good . . . since I'm the so called "big dawg" (response to mom's comments) zone leader! Actually, my companion and I decided to let everyone in the zone know that we are really here to help them with whatever they need, so we went and visited every companionship at their houses. Yeah, it took a lot of time because we don't have a car but went in combis. We did this on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. It was a really cool experience because we were able to help and really got to know the missionaries in our zone! Also it seems like we are doing really good as a zone! If I didn't have such awesome district leaders it would be a lot harder! My companion is also a great help so I don't feel like I'm doing everything alone!

Well sounds like things are still crazy at home! So sounds like b-rice has a friend as big as him and with somewhat of the same personality! Is he kinda like another Tui in the house? Tell Beau to remember that the church is a church of order but sometimes we are all about order over matter and sometimes forget to think of what would Jesus do? We just have to be patient and understand that there is something we can learn from these experiences. But that is awesome that Beau got to go and baptize Ryo.

Well we had a some great experiences this week. We were teaching this family that we found this week and the little kid ( about 2 years old) was really sick. While we were teaching, he started throwing up like crazy. I felt really bad for him, so at the end of the lesson we explained priesthood blessings to them and they asked us to give him one so we did. The next day he was feeling a lot better. It was really cool. Also we were looking for an inactive member and knocked on the house where we thought they lived and this kid came out and was like all happy to meet us. We talked with him and he told us that he had talked to the missionaries before and been to church many times, so we invited him to be baptized on the 18th and he said he didn't know. On Sunday we were unable to attend our ward cause we had meetings in the stake center, but after our meetings we went right back to our ward and he was there and said that he wanted to be baptized and wanted to know what he had to do. That was a huge blessing! So we have an appointment with him on Tuesday to get him all prepared! I'm super excited! We are still looking for that same inactive member. We asked some people in the street if they knew him and they were like "no, maybe its the next street", so I decided to contact these same people and they invited us in their house and we shared a message with them. It was a young couple and they were really interested in everything! The only sad part is . . they won't be able to go to church for two weeks, but I really think they are going to progress! So it was really an awesome week! we worked super hard and were able to see the hand of the Lord in this work!

McKay Happy Birthday!!!!! on Friday!

Thanks so much for everything! I love you guys!

Elder Hunter

April 5, 2010

Family,

My week was great! It was sad to see Elder Romney go, but well, it won't be long before it is my turn. He started getting really nervous towards the end of the week, which I'm sure is expected to happen especially after being a missionary for two years. (That is all we have known for two years.) He will be just fine.

I have a new companion, Elder Delgado. This is his first time as a zone leader also and they made me the senior companion. So basically everything is on my shoulders, zone wise, but it is all good. I'm really excited about this change.

General Conference was great! We were able to watch it in English except for the Sunday morning session, but it was awesome! I feel like a lot of the talks put a lot of importance on raising kids in the gospel, which is way cool. Also, I really liked Elder Hollands talk on love and lust. I don't know why, but he always grabs my attention and I love what he has to say. I also liked what Elder Uchtdorf had to say about being patient. A lot of times we just want things to happen right away but we need to remember that it doesn't alway happen that way, then if we apply patience, we can really learn and grow from our experiences. To see conference, we had to go to the stake center, which was cool. I have a picture of all of the americans watching it in a little office, but I forgot to bring my camera with me right now, so I won't be able to send it until next week. So sounds like you had a really busy week last week. I'm sure it was really fun and really made the time go by really fast.

Well, I gave Beau the stuff I needed to get registered for classes, so if you can just remind him and see if he can do it tonight when registration opens that would be nice!

Thanks for Everthing! Love you guys!

Elder Hunter

March 29, 2010

Family!

I'm doing absolutely wonderful! I''m totally enjoying my time here with Elder Romney! Well it's awesome! This month as a zone we were able to complete with 32 confirmations in the month which is supposedly a record here. We are also doing the best in the whole mission, which is awesome! Elder Romney is really helping me a lot with how to run the zone and all that! It's a lot of phone calls to stay on top of things, but well, I can see that it really is working out so it's awesome!

Well, I love to hear all the stories of everything that is happening at home! Interesting about the fight with Brice's friends. The bunny looks really cute and Tyla changes so much everytime I see a picture of her. Wow! It's crazy she's growing up quick! That is so cool about Beau's friend Ryo (He played basketball with Beau at Hartnell and set a baptism date for April 10th.) I bet Beau is super excited about it! Tell him to just keep him excited about it!

This morning we left at like 5:30 in the morning to go and hike some mountains here in our area. It was a blast! It ended up being like a 5 hour hike, but it was super fun! It was Elders Romney, Bishop, Clark and I. I´ll send you some pictures.

Elder Romney, Elder Hunter, Elder Bishop, and Elder Clark

What dates are Mckay's tournament that he is going to have in California!? And I heard that Beau got a new bed that I am going to be able to have when he leaves! Tell him to enjoy it while he can because well, at least in this mission the beds aren't the best, but you have to learn to live with it! :)

Love you guys!

Elder Hunter

P.S. Attached are some pics I tried to send the other week, but I. UY dont think that they sent for some reason. Yeah I totally bowl between the legs!

March 22, 2010

Hey Family,

Well, I'm totally loving the mission with Elder Romney. We are having a blast, it's so fun! Don't worry we aren't getting too trunky yet. Ha Ha. I mean Elder Romney only has about 14 days left and well, me, I have 98. Ha Ha. Me and one of my buds Elder Molyneaux did the count and that's what it comes down to. Really though, the mission is a blast! Being a zone leader is a lot harder than I thought, but its really fun. Our zone is doing really great and we should be completing the month with 30 baptisms. That's another hard thing about being a zone leader, you don't have a ton of time to work in your area because you have to help everyone else, but it is so worth doing all of that. Also, I don't know if you remember, but Elder Bishop is in my district, he actually lives right down the street so its really cool because I get to visit with him sometimes.

Oh yea, we had a baptism on Friday, which was really cool. Then on Sunday we had meetings with the Stake Presidencies from Prados stake and Villa de Las Flores stake! Yeah, it was really cool. I really feel like the Lord's servant when I go into meetings and the people really respect us and listen to what we have to say. It is so awesome!

Oh, yeah a photo you might like of Elder Romney and I of the baptism we had on Friday. Her name is Evelyn and well her family got baptized like a year ago and well I guess one time when Elder Romney and his companion were teaching her she just bursted out in tears and said she already knew it was true. Kind of cool experience. (If you would like to read more check our Elder Romney's blog.)


Oh, some really cool news, Elder Romney got accepted to BYU, but hes not sure if he wants to go. I would love it if he went because there are so many of us from the mission that are going and it would be an awesome experience!



A road trip with the Bros in July would be so sick in July. I'm so down for that. Time if flying so fast, I can't believe it. I'll be seing you guys before I know it. Mckay does look different with longer hair, but if it helps him play better like it helped me, that's totally cool. (To their moms dismay, they believe in the Sampson theory. . their ability is in the hair).

(McKay's team took 1st in the National Futsal Championship, picture Elder Hunter is referring to the hair).



Well I love you guys a ton!


Elder Hunter

March 15, 2010

Hey Family,

My week was great! We had a zone conference and it was really cool! President shared some really special stories with us and then really focused on the importance of always being prepared spiritually for whatever problem or trial we may have! It was way cool!

Well the members that are active in my ward are way cool. They always help us out and give us tons of food. It's awesome! The hard part is that their are a ton of inactives here and a lot just don't want to go to church. It can get kind of discouraging sometimes but we just keep working hard!

This week we sould have a baptism which I'm super excited for. She comes to church and does everything on her own. Really there are people prepared out there ready to receive the gospel! My companion is doing great and also the other Elders. I really love doing divisions and being able to help other Elders improve in the missionary work! We saw some miracles this week. I went and worked with Elder Jimenezs companion (yeah Jimenez is totallly in my district, it's so tight) but anyways we visited some people that hadn't gone to church in some time, but they went yesterday and looks like they might be getting baptized next week! It was really cool!

Oh the highlight of my week would probably be the bowling . . . it was sweet. I will send you some pictures of it! (I didn't get the pictures. . .). I'm glad to hear everything is going great at home!

Who is sleeping in my room!? (David) Has Mckay taken all of my clothes out and now using them!? (He will be so surprised at how much his little brother has grown, McKay admitted to using most of Tennison's clothes., we will need to go on a shopping spree when Tennison gets home)

Well that's about everthing! I love you guys!

Elder Hunter

P.S. I'm going to send more pictures of Teresa and Edgar's sealing:

Gorgeous Family! Contratulations!

Elder Martinez, Elder Romney, Edgar, Lalo, Teresa, Celsymar, Elder Hunter

Awesome Missionary Boys and Lalo!

Group from Tennison's First Ward in the mission!

Elder Bishop is holding up the little boy. . Great Missonaries!

The picture below made me laugh~

Two handsome boys (of course I'm prejudice).

(Note: Elder Romney's mom just informed me that Elder Romney and Elder Hunter will be reuniting as companions one last time. . . I'm very excited for them.)

March 8, 2010

Family,

So this week was alright! The zone leader conference was sweet! I learned a ton!

This week we had a really funny experience. We were teaching this guy (Eulogio) about the word of wisdom and I told him what we can't consume. I talked about black tea and chinese tea and then asked if he consumed one of those substances and he responded "whenever I talk about the chinese I try and always say something nice and never saying anything bad about them". Oh my, it was hilarious. My companion ducked his head and just started laughing and since I was the one teaching I tried to explain, but he just didn't understand. He is kind of old like 65 or 70 so maybe that's why. Then later we were teaching him about the law of chastity and asked if he was married and he said no. So we said well we can help him so the he can get married and he said, "I dont know. She is older than me and is going to die before me. I want to choose somebody younger that way I die first." It was funny. I was thinking crazy old man it's too late for that. That's just what I thought but it really was quite hilarious!

So I was able to send some pictures. The first ones are a view from my porch and part of the inside of the house where we live.

Then some of the pictures when we went to the temple:

Teresa and Edgar

Elder Martinez, Elder Romney, Edgar, Lalo, Teresa and Celysmar, Elder Hunter

Me and Lalo

Elder Romney, Elder ?, ?, Elder Bishop and Elder Hunter

baptism we had later in the day.

Then there was a new plaza that opened up in the zone and has a wendys inside which was delicious to my companion and I!



Oh yeah, Elder Martinez ended his mission last May, I believe, and came from Gudalajara, I think it's like four or five hours in a bus (to get to the temple for Teresa and Edgar's wedding).

Well things are going alright. We haven't had tons of success. I mean tons of people here are amazing at lying it drives me nuts. I would rather someone be straight up with me and tell me what they really think. But it's cool.

Well everything is going great we have some really cool members in the ward and help us out so thats cool! Well love you guys have a great week!

Elder Hunter