Dear friends and family,
What a great birthday I had! Thank you so much for the letters and words of kindness, support and encouragement. It was a great day full of many surprises! :) To my surprise, early in the morning of November 20, a man with a Tesco brand on his jacket and a tub of Oreo ice cream and a DOCTOR WHO CAKE arrived on my door. I was so happy!!! :)
Stewart and Teresa had a great week this week. When we went over, we had a good lunch and were sitting down to have a lesson. As I am reaching to take a Book of Mormon out of my jacket, Stewart walks around the corner of the kitchen with a cake and candles and everybody sang happy birthday to me. I was so surprised and grateful! Stewart was also able to make it to Church this week, which was great for him because he has not been for over 2 months! He also went and taught a less-active member named Nikki (you might remember her from a month ago about) with us! We have committed them to read the Family Proclamation and pray about it as a couple. I am so excited to see where they go in the future. They are a great family, and they are ready to start on the path to becoming sealed in the temple as a family after they are married and Teresa is baptized! :)
As for the Anghel family, we are still working with them. The marriage box went well for a few days, but they told us on saturday night that their children destroyed it. So maybe we should get them something less... destructible. :) I hope they will continue to work to move forward in the gospel.
We haven't been able to meet with Stefan and Rodica at all this last week because they haven't been home or have been busy. Stefan needs to know at this point in time the importance of being baptized because he knows the truth of the Restoration, and he needs to work on gaining a testimony through reading and prayer. We are praying that he will be ready to move forward and follow the path we have laid before him!
Nick and Lee weren't able to make it to Church, but we had a great lesson with them on tuesday, and then with Nick last night. The Spirit was so strong there! He has been reading and praying, and he was unsure of what to pray for. So we taught him from the scriptures about what Zenos prayed for and taught us to pray for, and he was able to recognize why he prayed and what he can pray for. He is on the path that Heavenly Father wants him to be on, and it is great to see his progress because of his willingness to do the things that God asks of him and his humility in learning and in asking. He is very kind and even offered to give us one of his old phones with google maps on it so we could find our friends that we are teaching. :) I have faith that the Lord will prepare him to be baptized and will help him to come to Church because of his faithfulness. I hope Lee will do the same as well as we teach him!
It is really crazy what happened when we went over to teach Mary and Ryan. Unfortunately, they had forgotten about our appointment with them. What was our surprise when we knocked on their door, and Nick's brother, Craig, opens the door! I have no doubt that the Lord has prepared Nick and Craig's families to come into the fold at this time. He was a bit surprised as well, because he knew us and that we were teaching Nick, and he knew that someone was coming to teach Mary and his two sons, Ryan and Deckland, but he didn't make the connection until we opened the door! It was pretty confusing at first, but once we had an understanding of the situation, it all clicked! SO COOl!
Also, Brother McGuinness made it out to Church this Sunday again, for the 2nd Sunday in a row! He is making such great progress, and I look forward to seeing him become a faithful, worthy member of the Church again! We also helped him paint his new game room, stairway, and upstairs hallway on Saturday morning. He was so jumpy and energetic on Saturday and at Church, it's a joy to behold.
On my birthday, also, at dinner, (which was at the Footes), I was yet treated with another surprise birthday cake! Elder Boehme is the best! :) As a side note, last P-Day I went and got a recorder. I talked to Sister Brown (President Brown's wife) about it, and she said it is ok to have a recorder. I have made sure not to let it distract from the work, and when I do play it, it helps me quite a bit. It's not a Saxophone, but it'll do for now. ;)
That pretty much wraps it up for this week! Thanks again for the birthday wishes, and I look forward to hearing from you all again soon!
Love,
Elder Devin Jay Hunter
P.S. Kirk out!
P.P.S. No snow yet, but it's STILL pretty freezing cold. :)