Hey everyone! How's it going?

This week, Bob came to church again! He's still off smoking and tea, so he's ready to go to the temple just about! He's so excited.

On Boxing Day, me and Elder Benson were messing about and found this tiny halfpipe in a park. THe frost on the ground made everything really slippery, so we slipped down it on our shoes. THen I wanted to go penguin style, but I said '''no I'll hit my chin!'' Then Elder Benson said ''No, you won't.'' So I went for it... and I hit my chin. I have a nice big scab now for it. :) Love you all!

Kirk out
Love,
Eldr Hunter

Dear everyone,

This week was moves call!!! And.........................











I'm staying in Bridge of Don with Elder Benson! :)
That means that I am now on my 3rd 4 transfer/6 month area... I'm so happy! :) I might end up going 4, 4, 4, 5! But we'll see what happens.

This week, we had a real miracle with xxx. I was worried that we would teach him the stop smoking program and he would forget to do all of it, but we taught it to him two weeks ago... and he is off smoking! :D Yay!!! He has stopped drinking tea, he has stopped smoking... now all he needs to be worthy to attend the temple is go to church more regularly! :) It is really cool to see the Lord working miracles in his life because of xxx's faith, and our prayers. His grace is truly sufficient.

Well, that's most of the news this week. I am excited for Christmas to happen! Hope you all have a merry Christmas! #Sharethegift !

Love,
Elder Devin Hunter

P.S. Kirk out!

Hey everyone who reads these, of whose interest I am especially grateful, :)

This week, I wasn't in Bridge of Don since last Saturday (nine days ago). I was again given the privilege to be in the ''Mormon Missionary Choir'' to sing all over Scotland in malls, St. Giles Cathedral, stake centers, and other places.

The Christmas Concerts went fantastic! The Spirit was really there, especially, I felt, at the Dundee concert. We went to Aberdeen, then Dundee, then Paisley, then Glasgow, then Edinburgh. I played my recorder in St. Giles Cathedral and it was super cool with all the echoes and stuff! So I ended up playing the piano for O Holy Night, playing an improv-play-by-ear-by-memory rendition of What Child is This on the piano, playing the recorder and singing the alto part in O Come, O Come, Emmanuel again, playing the piano in a piano-violin-solo-voice trio for Savior, Redeemer of My Soul (the version that Vocal Point or one of those groups does) and finally, the organ for Hark, the Herald Angels Sing. It was such a good experience. One of my favorite insights happened in Dundee. While we were singing Angels We Have Heard on High, I was trying to figure out something I could testify while I was singing. Then, right before the third verse, the congregation stood up (at Elder Black's request [he was the director this year and last year]) to sing it with us, and the Spirit and this realization hit me. "Angels We Have Heard on High, sweetly singing o'er the plains, and the mountains in reply, echoing their joyous strains''. Right then and there, I had heard and was witnessing angels singing, testifying of the birth of Christ, over the hills of Scotland, and the Highland mountains echoing their reply. It was a very special moment for me, and brought a special meaning to that song that will last forever.

That's pretty much all for this week. Remember to share your spiritual gifts with everyone around you! Spiritual gifts are gifts to other people - although they bless you, just like the Priesthood, they are given to share with others. Just a cool thought.

Love you all! Fit like anywho?

Elder Devin Hunter

P.S. Kirk out!

Here are some photos of his concert.  There's also a video I posted on facebook.

It's funny looking back to those huge emails I sent a few months ago... I haven't written that much in an email in a while!

This week, we finally got another new investigator, Jamie Smith! He is a fantastic young man! He reminds me of Nick all the way back in Cumbernauld - I am so excited to teach him! Nick accepted a baptismal date in the 2nd lesson... so we'll see what happens, but I pray he makes it. Elder Benson and I have been doing a lot of ''AUFs''' where we go by a baseball baptism and see if they're still interested in the church, and then knock 10 doors aside. Most of our success lately has been from this, which is a good change from last year. Hopefully we'll see a lot of success from that! Thanks for your emails and prayers! I had a good birthday on the 20th of November - much cake and good letters from home. :) Well, that's all this week. The book is true, Joseph Smith is too!

Love,
Elder Devin Hunter
P.S. Kirk out!

Short update on Devin:
He's in the mission Christmas concert again this year and they've started practicing so he didn't have time to write, but he got the result of his stomach test.  Acid reflux disease and prepyloric erosions in the stomach.  A nurse friend said that means ulcers.  He has to wait until December to see another doctor for treatment.  At least we know now.  Thanks for the prayers and support!

Hello everyone!

I have a new companion! His name is Elder Benson. He is an awesome Elder who likes Radiohead, and he plays the keyboard by ear like me! We get along really well. He is from Utah too.

This week Jim came to church. He is making such fantastic progress! He reads the assignments we give him, comes to church without us asking him to, keeps his appointments, and offers us lifts everywhere. He even took the counsel from our ward mission leader and a general authority (Elder Boutoille) at stake conference, and had us over for a fantastic dinner of spicy salad, pork steaks, applesauce, peas, chips, and pizza. Bob wasn't able to come to Church, but we are excited to keep working with him.

My endoscopy for my stomach is on November 11 (aka tomorrow). We'll see what happens!

Thanks for all the letters, prayers, and support! They are always appreciated.

Love,
Elder Devin Jay Hunter
P.S. Kirk out!

November 3, 2014

Real quick, not much time this week,

Moves call - Elder Johnson is going to Dunfermline, I will be getting Elder Benson. THis week we stayed a lot in the flat due to sickness, but still had Jim and Bob at stake conference, which was amazing. We haven't seen Laura for a bit, but will try to get back. Love Elder Hunter ps Kirk out

Dear everyone who loves me enough to read these letters,

This week was another interesting week. We are achieving the goals we have been setting for ourselves, and we had 2 people come to church again - Jim and Stef!

Elder Johnson and I gave talks in Church about our favorite General Conference talk. I talked about
Jörg Klebingat's talk about 'Approaching the Throne of God With Confidence', and Elder Johnson talked about Carol McConkie's talk. Stef loved our talks so much that she asked for a copy, so I gave her my talk outline (I like making outlines, and then speaking from them generally, like bullet points, quotes, etc.) and printed out my and Brother Kennedy's talks off of lds.org (Brother Kennedy talked about President Monson's Bismarck talk).

Laura came to Institute, and is still understanding everything great. She is starting to participate and give answers back in class, which is really good. She is opening up and becoming more friendly with us, which is awesome.

We also met a lady named Dianna in the hospital at my request, and she called me Benji (her dog's name). For further details of this crazy story, please email me - it would be better to deliver this story personally. :)

That's most of everything for this week - I also have been trying on my kilt that arrived. Here I am!

Love you all! The gospel is true!

Love,
Elder Hunter
P.S. Kirk out!

DEAR EVERYONE!

This week was a great week! We had 4 investigators at Church! We were exceedingly blessed.

Laura, the first, our uni student that we're working with that plays field hockey, has come to church twice now. She is so cool! I believe with all my heart that she will be baptized.

Jim, the second, is the former investigator who came to Church out of nowhere, and is now coming to Church, but denies formally investigating. His goal is to unite all churches so we all have one faith, and there is no contention. He is a humanistic conceptual artist, or something like that. Loves humans, basically.

Steph, the third, is a Greek friend of Jim's, and she is very cool! She has gone to a few different churches, and she came to General Conference with Jim, and then we met and taught her about the Restoration and part of the Plan of Salvation, gave her a blessing, and she came to Church!

Roddy, the fourth, our less active Bob's friend, came to Church as well. He goes to City Church, but is learning about the Book of Mormon and has a very good understanding of what we teach him. Bob came to Church too.

That is the gist of the work in Bridge of Don ward! I know the Church is true, the book is blue, revelation is too, I love you ('s all)!

Love,
Elder Hunter

P.S. Kirk out!
P.P.S. My birthday is November 20th. Just a thought. :)

Sorry, scrambling like usual this week, only news is we had an awesome investigator named Laura come to Institute on Wednesday and Church on Sunday. She is a young uni student and is very keen on reading the Book of Mormon and coming to Church. She is awesome. I have a feeling that she will be baptized. She is truly a prepared person. That's mostly what happened this week. Thanks for the emails everyone! I always love getting them. Have a great week! The book is blue, and it is true!

Love,
Elder Devin Hunter,
P.S. Kirk out!

Dear everyone,

Surprisingly, this week I have 23 minutes from this moment to write this letter... which is a strange but welcome surprise.

This week we had some surprising success - Elijah, our new investigator from Nigeria, says he is Pentecostal but is not like other Christians - he believes there are other inspired writings out there besides the Bible, like the Dead Sea Scrolls, he mentioned the Talmud, other ''gospels'', etc. and he believes the Book of Mormon could be one of them. He has read the Introduction and the Testimonies in the beginning, and he finds it all very interesting.

Laura, a young university student, kept her return appointment and we taught her about the Book of Mormon in the hallway. She is from a Church of Scotland family, but stopped attending when she came out for Uni. She is eager to read the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it is true. She is very humble, and I know the Lord has prepared her for this time to come into the fold.

We also have a new investigator named Peter who is a referral we received from the Whitehall elders. He says he read the Bible twice while in prison, and wants to become a Mormon. He's separated and has 4 kids, two boys and two girls. He seems to be kind of a bit slowed from previous addictions, but he is very genuine and we can have a very intelligent conversation with him. He loves helping disabled people, whether mentally or physically, and he is a really good guy. He has an American bulldog named chaddeus or something like that. :)

We also got move's call and... I'm staying in Bridge of Don! Woohoo! Sister Pugh is leaving the ward though, and Sister Condie is training a new missionary. My friend from back home, now Sister Turner, is coming into the mission... so I hope we get her! Or maybe Sister Solum, another sister in the Aberdeen district, will be able to train her instead. Well, that's all this week! I know God is mindful of us, and gives us our agency not only so we can make mistakes, but also so we can do much good as well!!! :) I love you all!

Love,
Elder Devin Jay Hunter
P.S. Kirk out!
P.P.S. Stomach issues being addressed this week... yes! :D

Dear Everyone,

This week was pretty good - despite stomach problems Elder Johnson and I worked hard and met and even passed some of our weekly goals. I thought we were doing poorly, but we did everything we could to get members out to joint teaches, and we had 4. Success!!! We also had 3 new investigators. One is a cool african pentecostal named Elijah who believes the Book of Mormon could be true. Another is a years ago former investigator named Jim who wants to start investigating the Church again. He called us randomly and said he was coming to Church, so he did. It was awesome! Plus,1 of our our ward missionary, brother Albiston, is fantastic at coming out and volunteering and is a fearless missionary. Bridge of Don is good. Sorry it's short again, but family seems to take up all the time.

Love,
Elder Hunter
P.S. Kirk out!

September 1, 2014

Dear everyone,

This week wasn't super eventful, but good nonetheless. We met a new investigator named Annick who is very good at keeping commitments so far, and is a very good listener and observer. She has read a bit of the Book of Mormon already, and the Restoration leaflet she read all the way through too! :) She is a bit shy and has had rough and dodgy experiences in the past, but some of them have actually prepared her for this experience. She is so good.

We also worked at Billy's farm this week, and helped herd his sheep. Then, when they were all caught, we had to divide the males from the females. We had to scare them into a narrow 2 foot wide or so gate and tunnel to seperate them, and I got to pick one up and drop it over the fence, and they bucked around a lot and put up a good fight. I even wrestled a bucking ewe to the ground. I felt so alive afterwards. I know I would have loved farm life... actually I speak too soon. But I might still love it. Well, that's all for this week. I know the Church is true!
Love,
Elder Devin Jay Hunter
P.S. Kirk out!

Hello everyone, this time I have 12 minutes, time always flies by so fast for some reason when I am emailing. I guess I think too much while reading emails.

So this week, we did a lot of finding again, and have some pretty good potentials that we came across, 2 of which live right next to each other, Annick and Mark. Annick is interested in religion in general and is very teachable. She asks good questions and is a good listener. Mark talks a lot and knows quite a bit about our Church actually, so teaching him means we will have to answer his questions that he got form the internet about temples and ''secret mormon stuff''. But he's very solid seeming. We are also teaching a spanish couple, tony and laura, laura is the niece of 5-month recent converts jorge and noame, so that is good. They seem like the Lord is preparing them too. There is another country to add to my ''people from different countries that I've taught'' pool. Also, yesterday, for Zone Development Day, we played capture the flag and had lunch at Slain's Castle in Cruden Bay. It was a blast! I jumped off a wall to avoid being caught, and captured the flag for the last game. Then we played chair football and had a nerf war in the gym at the stake center.
This week I learned in my personal studies that the Word of Wisdom is a concept that was taught to Adam (aka the fruit was not for eating, and brought death), and also that Lehi landed in South America. I must be silly, but I did not know that the location of his landing was known. Jesus the Christ is a very informative book. Well that's all for this week. I know that Jesus Christ lives and that He leads His Church and the Father's children. In the Name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Love,
Elder Hunter
P.S. Kirk out!

Dear everyone,

I've only got about 9 minutes until this computer auto logs off, so here we go.

I moved to bridge of don ward after some fantastic goodbyes and stuff in sligo. I will miss the branch more than i miss american food, which is very very much. bridge of don is an amazing 70 strong ward with cool members and a recent convert named stuart who i was in the circle with for hisw confirmation. i live in a small flat with elder johnson, my new companion. he is very funny and not serious at all, which can be a very good lifeline sometimes, especially when finding is getting long-winded. our ward mission leader, brother twigger is fantastic. we also went and herded some cows (pronounces COO'S in Scotland) at a farmer's farm in inverury, where we do our service for him. he is an investigator who runs his farm practically alone, but he seems to be doing a fine job. something funny that happened this week was that i have already mixed up two members and the bridge of don sisters over the fun. Here's a picture or two from bridge of don. Hope you's have a great week!
Love,
Elder Hunter
P.S. Kirk out!

Elder Erickson

 In Sligo, with the branch mission leader.

Dear family and friends,
I learned that the official name of a person from Sligo is ''Sligonian''. Who'dove thunk?

So, to catch up on the past 2 weeks... and big news at the end...

2 weeks ago, we had an awesome experience with a woman named Moirade . We traveled to a small town outside of Sligo, knocked 2 doors, and nobody answered, but the 3rd door we knocked, this woman answered and she was probably the most prepared conversation I have ever had. She asked the right questions, we taught her about the Book of Mormon, and she asked for our contact info, and said things like she didn't practice her faith, but ''I guess now is maybe the best time for me to investigate this.'' It was very cool. We are going back to see her near the end of this week. Not much else happened that week.

Oh! So 2 weeks ago, and this week, we were teaching Sean, our miracle man, and he has been getting up early, reading the Book of Mormon, and praying every morning! I was blown out of the water! He has been very accepting of our message and, although a ton of it is new to him, he has demonstrated great faith in learning and asking questions and his actions. We are still trying to help his family accept that he wants to join the Church, which is the only thing in the way it seems at the moment. I have great faith that Sean will be baptized in the future.

Also, for my last P-Day in Sligo... we went to Strandhill Beach and found a jellyfish and some small crabs. Then I went jumping down the sand dunes and it was a blast! Although none of the other elders wanted to do it with me, so it was kind of awkward jumping down the dunes with a bunch of little kids... but hey that's life I suppose. Elder Banks burned his suit because it was the end of his mission. It was intense! We made a makeshift suit frame of sorts to stand it up, made out of a tree branch, drenched it in some white spirit, and lit it with a shirt torch. I will send pictures and video to you as soon as I find a new enough computer to work with my camera... :l

We also went to teach a woman named Betty, and she is prepared as well, but right before we came by her sister was diagnosed with cancer, and so we gave her some comfort and will wait 'til next week to hopefully teach her more. Brother Tiernan is still hilarious! :) On Saturday, we had a baptismal interview for Tom, who has been taught by the Mullingar elders for a few weeks. He passed, and he is good to be baptized next Saturday. Woohoo!!! :) Also, at Eagles Flying, we really connected with the people working there, and taught them a bit about the Church. Hopefully in the futre, there will be ample teaching opportunities for our friends there.
Yesterday, I got pictures and signatures from all the members there, just in case I was moving. It was a very emotionally charged day. And now, the news you all have been waiting for... Elder Erickson is... Staying and is TRAINING for the 2nd time IN SLIGO! :)

As for myself,


I will be leaving my very dear home in Sligo and will be serving in the Brdige of Don ward in Aberdeen! HOW COOL IS THAT? I will be serving with Elder Johnson as senior companion. Time for a little more responsibility as President put it. I'm excited to move to a new area and hopefully make a good impression and work hard there to build the ward and serve them in any way I can. 
It's double spacing now. Dumb. 

Anyways, that's the news for this week. I hope you all are well! I know the Church is true, no matter where you go or what active members you meet, the Church is true. Like Elder Boyd K. Packer said, ''Follow the Brethren'' and you will know it is true. I love the Lord! I love His work! I'm not afraid to get my shoes and trousers a little dirty to make it happen. Stay faithful my dear beloved family!
Love,
Elder Devin Jay Hunter
P.S. Kirk out!

Hi everyone, this P-Day Elder Banks, an elder in my district, has his last P-Day and so I have only had 45 minutes to email. It's lame but anyways I will email a double letter next week. Hope you're all doing well! :)
Love,
Elder Hunter
P.S. Kirk out!

Dear brethren and sisteren,

This week Elder Erickson and I worked hard to help Yolanda progress, but soon we will have to drop her and just teach Jade. We invited her to church again, but she did not show.

We met some great people in a place called Dromohair. Elder Erickson suggested we go there, and so we drove the 15 minutes or so, arrived in town, and, I being the driver, and I tried to follow the Spirit to discern where to go. We ended up in a nice neighborhood, and, after knocking 15 doors or so, this woman opened the door, and we introduced ourselves. Then she said she her husband was a member. ''I am the wife of Roman.'' I racked my brain, then realized that it was the house of the 1st counselor. Then we found a very good potential 3 doors down or so named Allison who is extremely prepared and I am excited to teach her, as well as a very prepared potential named Clodagh in the town of Sligo. Not much else happened - Elder Banks is winding down on his last transfer. Hopefully next week I will have more news, and we will be able to see people at Church! It was actually very full with the new family that moved in from the Isle of Mann! They have six children with them - two daughters who are YSA age, one a returned missionary, and four young boys.

I know the Church is true, and I know the Lord has a plan for each us, and even though it may not involve us seeing all our desires fulfilled, He does the best for us so we can be the most happy. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Love,
Elder Devin Hunter
P.S. Kirk out! :)

Hey all sorry this week is a really short letter, with emailing my family there just isn't enough time to get out a lot, but we met with our Filipino investigator named Willy and he read 3 Nephi 10 instead of 3 Nephi 11 and was really confused ha ha but he said he would follow the answer he receives from God when he asks if the Book of Mormon is true he is a faithful, active Catholic (also in an organization called couples for Christ) , but is willing to change if God tells him to. He has a baptismal date for August 30.

Not much else happened this week except for an All-Ireland Conference, which was great to see Elder Christenson, Elder Boehme, and President Brown and Sister Oliphant and others from Glasgow who moved to Ireland again.

What is Ecclesiastes 9 all about, do you's think?

That's all for this week! I know the Church is true! Live it, love it, build it, laugh in it.

Love,
Elder Devin Jay Hunter
P.S. Kirk out!
P.P.S. You know how rushed I am when I disregard and skip punctuation and grammar yo.

July 14, 2014

This week was crazy! Not too much to report this week except:

Willy Bebose, a cool Filipino guy we met who works with a thing called Couples for Christ is reading the Book of Mormon, and is very understanding of the principles taught in the book. He is our 'progressing' investigator at the moment.

We are also teaching Yolanda and her husband, Domo, the stop smoking program this week.

Today, I am going in for a stomach appointment - medication hasn't helped a ton, so I'm going to get it checked out.

Something interesting that I learned in Matthew 15:1-6... 1. We don't need to wash our hands before we eat, and 2. as in 4-6:
 4 For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.

 5 But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;

 6 And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.

I learned that we must honor our parents - it is not just a 'gift' to be nice or help or obey our parents, but it is a commandment. Something to chew on that I really learned a lot from. I appreciate my parents a lot, and I think I learned a good lesson for the future.

Well, that's most of everything for this week! Sorry it was so short - but all y'alls are in summer, so I suppose you must be pretty busy anyways. I love you all! I know this Church is true, and that parents are a gift from Heavenly Father. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Love,

Elder Devin Jay Hunter

P.S. Kirk out!

Hello everyone!

I am staying in Sligo, and received Elder Erickson as my new companion and district leader. I cannot say enough about him. He is very humble and mild and is a good leader. I have much to learn from him. We get along very well, and he is a good missionary and teacher. I cannot wait for the transfer upcoming to work even harder and see miracles with him! So...
On Sunday, June 30 or so, Elder Jackson and I headed up to Dublin (Baldoyle to be exact) and stayed there with Elder Cziesla and Reece. It was sad to see him go. I will miss our singing and close friendship. On Monday, we received word that Elder De Vries (who sat next to me on the plane to Manchester, and it was the best plane ride ever! We have so much in common.) was in the hospital since 2 Sunday night via ambulance from a colon inflammation. So we went up, grabbed his companion Elder Bailey (who hadn't slept) and Elder Cziesla and him left to sleep while Elder Reece and I sat at the hospital with Elder De Vries (the world cup was on on the TV, but we didn't stare at it) and kept him company when he woke up. Then Elder Cziesla came back and stayed with Elder De Vries overnight while the three of us went and did missionary work. Then, on Tuesday, we went and got both of them, sent them on their ways, and we helped a non-member move. It was very chaotic, especially during move's chauffeuring. I finally got my new companion on Wednesday, Elder Erickson, and this week on Thursday and Friday we worked hard to do missionary work. On Saturday, there was a BBQ at the Christensons celebrating the 4th of July (on the 5th) and it was a blast. Brother Christenson is from Provo. Nobody came to Church tomorrow, and we're still working with Yolanda's family. We met a former named Emilia who is Polish and wants to join the Church and learn more about the Book of Mormon. It's exciting. We also taught Shupai about the last 1/2 of the Plan of Salvation. It was informative for both us. I hope she is able to recognize her answer from her prayers about if it is true. That's about all this week. Also, I have been getting close to the vultures. They can bite my shoe now, and I have fun with them (not cruelly, but like letting them nip my shoe or walking close to them. Elder Erickson thinks I am crazy.)

I know this Church is true. I know the application of every Gospel Principle is true. I know Jesus Christ answers our prayers, both for us and those we love and care about. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Love,
Elder Devin Jay Hunter
P.S. Spock out!
P.P.S. Just kidding. Kirk out!

This week was crazy! The greatest thing that happened was that Jade came to church... BY HERSLEF!!! She said that she would definitely be there... and her word was good. Sister Benson picked her up at 10:15, and then they drove to Church. Sacrament meeting was really interesting... so Elder Jackson and I offered to give sacrament talks... and I spoke after Brother Tiernan and Sister Holmes bore their testimony. I gave one of the best talks I have written on personal experiences knowing the Church is true, and the gifts of the Spirit in Moroni 10. It was really good, but towards the end, I started to feel sick... and I was about to throw up, so I told everyone I felt like I had to throw up, and awkwardly slunk off toward the bathroom. I didn't end up having to throw up, but Elder Jackson just got up and gave his talk. It was really good. I think that Heavenly Father was telling me ''time's up''! But that's just a theory. :) The new missionary is going to be Elder Erickson, who has been out a little over a year. He will be the new district leader. Elder Robison also went home on medical leave. I will miss him and Elder Jackson very much, but I am excited to serve with Elder Erickson. Hopefully Yolanda will mom up and go to church next week and Jade and her can support each other in learning the Gospel. Well, that's all for this week! I'll tell you about Elder De Vries in the hospital for 3 days next week, because we don't have much time, and we have to go pick him up, and I'm in Dublin right now with Elder Bailey and Elder Reece. Sorry this one isn't very long, but that's why. I love you all! I know Christ leads His Church through a modern, living Prophet, and that if you get a bad trial, that means that the Lord trusts you to learn from it, so it is a great opportunity. I love you all! In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Love,
Elder Devin Jay Hunter
P.S. Kirk out.
P.P.S. I met Elder Chris Bernier's convert, Elder James Thomas Reece, in Baldoyle, Dublin (he's serving there with Elder Cziesla). I found this out last night. Somebody tell him please! :) He is a way cool missionary. Love yous all! ={)

Dear family and friends,

Due to this being Elder Jackson's last P-Day and my time being mostly taken up by emailing my family, this email might be a bit short, so don't get short with me when it's not very long.

Monday, Yolanda and Jade finally met President Cunnane, and we had a good lesson on Tithing, in which we showered Jade with Haribo packets.

Tuesday, We had a good district meeting, and I went to Mullingar to work with Elder Banks. It was funny because we saw a video of him when he was back at home and he had a goatee. It fit him very well, but it was still funny to see.

Wednesday, we had a blitz with Mullingar, in which they taught Sean, the miracle man McGowan. He fasted and prayed about how to get his family in on the fact that he seriously wants to join the Church. We will be seeing him again hopefully in a few weeks. He fasted and prayed, and he's not even a member/current investigator. It's so cool! He says he will tell his wife again soon.

Thursday, we taught Yolanda and Jade about obedience, tatoos, lip piercings, the Word of Wisdom, Church, and baptism. It was very scattered but still ended up as an informative lesson.

Friday, Elder Jackson and I met with a recent convert, and it was super interesting. We were supposed to do Family History that morning, but he called us and asked if we could meet, so we agreed and met at the church. When he walked in, he was visibly drunk. We started teaching him, but it was clear that he wasn't in the right state of mind, and he started getting really pushy (verbally) and saying horrible things about Joseph Smith and things, and was about to get up to leave, but as he did, he staggered to the right, bumped into some chairs, and then fell through some chairs to his left and slowly became unconscious. It just kind of stunned me at first, but after feeling his pulse and making sure he was breathing, we called an ambulance and they came and took him to the hospital. It was pretty scary.

Saturday, We met with Yolanda a third time and taught her about praying often and Baptism and Confirmation. Her understanding is solid, and I think Jade is soaking in a lot, and she retains a lot of information. We decided to wait 'til after she comes to the Church the first time before we set a date with her.

Sunday, nobody came to Church (no investigators or less actives, I mean), but we're still working hard to get people there. We taught a nice Filipino man named Willy who does a thing called Couples for Christ and he is brilliant. He appreciates the Book of Mormon and took a lot from it when we read with him. Expect to hear more about Willy soon. I'm looking forward to teaching him. We also didn't teach Shupai, but we're teaching her again next Sunday.

That's all this week! A lesson learned: never ever ever ever drink alcohol or it will ruin your life.
I know this Church is true, and I know that Heavenly Father has a plan for each of His children, and He's watching over everyone and gives all of us great gifts every day. I know the Atonement works. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Love,
Elder Devin Jay Hunter
P.S. Kirk out!

The rooftop view from our bathroom window, looking towards the Quay Shopping Centre

Dear everyone,

This week was pretty good, with a few weird ends.

On Monday, we had a Family Home Evening at Sister Holmes home with the Ducusins, Sister Holmes, the Tiernans, Sister O' Leary and her daughter (less actives), and Yolanda, Jade, Malcolm, and Robin (Malcolm's niece). It was awesome! We had a huge dinner of rice, curry to put on top, a nice shepherd's pie type dish, and vegetables. Then we played a game of charades and the guess-the-name-written-on-a-piece-of-paper-on-your-forehead-by-asking-everyone-questions-about-it game. Then we met with Evan, and had a good lesson with him, but he still isn't making as much progress as we hope he will. He recently got accepted into the army this week as well.

On Tuesday, we exchanged with Mullingar and I worked with Elder Banks in the evening. We taught Yolanda and Chris Wren about the 10 Commandments and Law of Chastity, and about missionary work, respectively. Yolanda's lesson went well. Chris took over for the duration until the end when Brother Tiernan blew Chris's concern about the Jews being able to receive the gospel out of the water with a fantastic doctrinal and historical explanation. I couldn't even tell you half of it.

On Wednesday, we ended up working in Mullingar the entire day, and we taught Kira (their baptismal candidate soon, she didn't get baptized yet) and Elder Robison and I went out and had juice with a less active.

On Thursday, we had an amazing Zone Interview Training on the Nature of the Godhead, working with less-actives, and vision in weekly planning. It was very spiritually uplifting (except for the part where the sister training leaders put two headings on the board that read LA and Bury Weapons and I misinterpreted it as Californian gang activity plans.) The interview with President Brown was great. Also, I guess the seed of the Tree of Life in Lehi and Nephi's visions is the knowledge of the character and role of Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world. My understanding was greatly enlarged in that meeting.

On Friday, Elder Robison and I worked together in Sligo, and we got to go to Eagles Flying and hold more birds. It was a great experience. Elder Robison struggles a lot with depression and stuff, so it's great to spend time with him and try to cheer him up with quality Peregrine Falcon time. I also finally GOT TO PLAY THE SAXOPHONE AT THE O' LEARYS! I played the Tenor Sax with Brother O' Leary, and it was a wonderful experience for me and him! He was delighted and made delighted little laughing sounds after each song. I haven't lost any of my sax magic yet, as far as I can tell, and he wants to have us over every week. After every song that I harmonized with him-- he said ''No bother to ya!'' (translation: that was pretty good!)

On Saturday, Elder Jackson and I worked hard, and had a good day.

On Sunday, Church was great, and the Ducusins brought a huge breakfast for us all at Church which we ate at lunchtime. Then we taught a less-active Zimbabwean member named Goodrich and a 7th-Day Adventist named Shupai. We taught her the Restoration last week and yesterday taught her the Plan of Salvation up until the Fall, which is where we got stuck trying to explain that the Fall was necessary. But she still wants to learn more, and the Ducusins made good friends with her as joint teaches, although we could have used them more in the lesson. I'll work on that. She's a great investigator though!

A special shoutout - Happy father's day, all you fathers who have helped me in my life! You are all wonderful, and have had a great impact on me. Thank you Tyler, for teaching me so much and being a good example. Thank you Papa, Grandpa Gines, Grandpa Larry, Uncle Kevin, and all my other family role models and those whom I love very much! Thanks Bishop, Le-Bryan Hinton, Lynn Baldwin, Brett Young, Brother Munger, Jerre Paulson, Jon Crawford, Lex, Greg Dibble, and many other leaders that have made me who I am when I had no other father figure to turn to. And, thanks to my dad, Cory Larry Hunter, who was a great example of Christlike love, service, helping/loving kids, and who helped me be the man I am today. I love you and miss you tons. I know you are helping me now and that I will be with you again. Happy Father's Day!

Love,
Elder Devin Jay Hunter
P.S. Kirk out!
P.P.S. Enjoy the summer! =)

Me and Elder Robison, from Apple Valley, California. =) 

''Chips and Salsa''

(That's a garbage can.... Devin can't eat jalepeno's without that effect.)

First of all... Happy birthday mom!!!

Now the rest of the stuff.
I've been out now for 9 months! It's funny seeing everybody's emails in my generation on a mission. Alex Gomez has been out 11 months! Whoa!!!
This week, nobody came to church... again! We tried our best, but Yolanda's niece or some other relative, Kaylee, ended up having a terrible nightmare and freezing up or something and had to be taken to the hospital - you guessed it - Saturday night. We are bringing her to Sister Holmes' place for dinner tonight with Malcolm and his son Colm, and her daughter Jade, and possibly Kaylee. Also in attendance tonight will be the Tiernans and Ducusins. Hot dog.
We had a very cool experience with Yolanda this week. We had a great lesson with her on the Gospel of Jesus Christ and invited her to be baptized on June 29th. She was a little bit shy at first, but we asked her if we could pray about it with her. She agreed. As we prayed, the Spirit was so strong there. After the prayer, we asked her how we felt. She gave us kind of a funny look and smiled and said, ''Didn't you feel that?'' coolest thing ever!...to know the Lord will come through for you.(translated into Dublin accent - ''Didn' you feel dat?'' It was very cool. We also gave her a baptismal calendar.

Malcolm still is putting along, but says he would join the Mormon church in a second if he could break the word of wisdom. He also recently said if he could find a wife he would join the church then, because his loneliness would be gone, and he wouldn't want to do that stuff in front of his wife. We're still working on him.

We didn't see Shupai again though.

All in all a great week! Also, we got a new missionary, Elder Robison, who has had problems with depression and health problems, and we are going on exchanges twice a week now for him. We also had a zone development day with capture the flag in stinging nettle... I had so many stinging bumps! Don't ever run through stinging nettle. It's the worst. Well, that's all for this week. I know the Church is true, and I know Jesus Christ loves us enough to teach us lessons and put us through what others feel so we can help them. I know he can answer prayers. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Love,
Elder Devin Jay Hunter
P.S. Kirk out!
P.P.S. Thanks for the emails this week!
P.P.P.S. Fun Irish phrase: 'What's the crack?' i.e. how's it going, what's the news, etc. :)

  

Here's Lynn and Connie and Elder Jackson and I!

Elder Robison is the front row, 2nd from left with the white shirt, Elder Banks is the one next to him at the left, # MC # fakemustache # greatdance

Me and Elder 'Bames' (Boehme)

Me and Elder Scott, my Zone Leader who is a huge fan of Marshall McDonald, and is a great friend. We are very close to the same type of person, and share a lot of likes, attributes, and skills. He's amazing. :) He also plays piano by ear too!

 Me drinking out of a glass I 'modified'

Elder Jackson's birthday peanut butter cookie and toothpick candle.

 Me and Kayla, a Peregrine Falcon.

Dear family and friends,
I am running out of time really fast this week, but we met with Yolanda, and she is recognizing the opposition and, she told us at her last meeting, that she doesn't feel that way anymore when she prays! She didn't come to church, but we're not giving up or losing faith, even a tidbit. We also met a woman named Shupai who loves the Bible, and knows quite a bit about where it came from. We had a great lesson with her yesterday where we tried to ask her about her background in religion, her questions, and her purposes in meeting with us. She smiled and said '' I am just here for a study! What have you prepared for me today?'' She then promptly pulled out a notebook and her bible and took notes during the lesson on the Restoration. She is very friendly, from Sedan I think, or somewhere in Africa, and is a Seventh-Day Adventist, but is very friendly, and wants to know more! :) We are excited to teach her and help her learn more. Also - a vulture bit my shoe and played and chewed on it a bit while I was cleaning their cage on a wooden platform! It was SO CUTE! Well, that's most of this week. I know that this Church is true, and that God leads His Church and leads us all by the hand back to Him.
Love,
Elder Devin Jay Hunter
P.S. Kirk out!
P.P.S. It's cool to hear Abby is going to Mexico!
P.P.P.S. I can play the guitar a bit now. I love you all!

This week was up and down, but pretty good!

Yolanda and her family, as well as Malcolm's, didn't make it to Church again, but she is determined to make it next Sunday. I hope we see her! We also committed her to live the Word of Wisdom, and she accepted! She also has been praying, and expressed concerns about the opposition she feels. She knows this is important, and wants to do it, and recognizes that Satan is working hard for it to not happen. But she is going to be baptized!

Also, we met Michel and, consequently, Bazil, at the Globehouse on Sunday for 'Africa Day', a celebration of African culture. It was good to spend more time with Bazil and continue to strengthen our friendship with him.

That's mostly what happened this week! It felt like a really short week, but things are looking up this week! We hope to help Sligo continue to feel the missionary spirit. Have a great week everyone! Thanks for your support and emails. I know this Church is true, and I have faith in the Lord's promises to bless and guide His children to Him. Love you!

Love,
Elder Devin Jay Hunter

P.S. Kirk out!

Here we are at the top of Knocknarea Mountain on P-Day! :)

Dear family and friends. This morning we got our move's call. The news is...



Elder Jackson and I are staying together in Sligo for another transfer! This is his last one on his mission. Which means... I will be ''killing'' him off! That's two missionaries I'm killing off in Sligo. Who's next!? :)

This week has been absolutely fantastic, with some blotchy spots. First off, we met with Bazil, and explained baptism and confirmation to him to make sure he understood why we put an emphasis and keep talking about baptism. We sensed he is a little put off by it, and now hopefully he understands better. According to Michel, our friend in the branch who resides currently at the Globehouse, he doesn't want to be baptized, but wants to attend church. He also currently drinks coffee, tea, and occasionally alcohol, but wants to stop. We hope to see him progress soon.

We also met with Yolanda, and she is doing great!!! She has prayed and has received answers to her prayers, she wants to change her life and herself, and she even tried to come out to church on Sunday with Jade and Jemma, her daughters, but her lift (Robin) ended up having to go to the hospital on Saturday night, and she was unable to find another lift with her brother Malcolm, so she couldn't make it. She has accepted the invitation to pray about the baptismal date of June 21. She is so golden! And her daughters Jade and Jemma are learning and starting to like it too. At least we have a good discussion about it every lesson.

So I am most likely, unless the Lord whitewashes the area at the end of this moves, going to stay in Sligo for at least 2 more moves. Fantastic, huh?

Yolanda is also raising a baby crow, because her less-active dad, Chris Wren, found it in his chimney and saw it was abandoned, so he told Yolanda she could care for it, or he could just wring its neck. She, being the good-natured and ''can't see anything or anyone get hurt'' person she is, took it in, and now is taking care of it. It's pretty weird seeing her feed it. It like swallows her finger with the food, and then let's go, and keeps crying for more until its full. It's disgusting and cool.

Well, that's all for this week. I'm gonna send pictures and stuff now. I love you all, and I know that the Lord forgives, watches, and tends to and keeps us even when we can't feel it or see it. I know this Church is true. Keep the faith! I love you all!

Love,
Elder Devin Jay Hunter
P.S. Kirk out!
P.P.S. Hope you all had a good Mother's Day! :)



​P.S. Here's me with some Himalayan Vultures. :) They're so cool!

Hello family and friends! This week in Sligo, we had some really good moving forward points. This is the 2nd week in a row that the Walshes have been to sacrament meeting! It's good to see some progress with them, because they've been unable to attend the past 5 weeks or so.

Elder Jackson and I had a cool experience with Who, What, When, Where, a tool given specifically to the Scotland/Ireland Mission, where we went to a specific street we prayed about at a specific time, and, in the short 20 or so minutes we had, we met the person we had planned for. It is a great faith-building experience.

We've met with Malcolm, Yolanda's sister. He wasn't able to come to church, like Yolanda, because of their niece's christening. But we met Yolanda on Thursday night and we had our first semi-formal lesson. We used the leaflets to teach the Restoration of the Gospel, and, amidst bingo cards, people going in and out, and random questions and conversations happening everywhere, we taught Yolanda and her daughter Jade. They had amazing questions, and we were able to answer them and I could tell it made sense to Jade. We told Yolanda how she could know it is true, and she said she already knew it was true, but she needed to rekindle the feelings she had as a youth with her LDS friends. She is also open to baptism and coming to church.

We're still serving at our new Eagles Flying place, where we get to clean up after and help show off rescued birds, animals, and all manner of living beings. It is a great experience to be able to work with these animals. I might hold a bird this new time, instead of being on the alert to avoid vultures. I also got to take a feather home. Normally those are around € 80, but I got one for free. Pictures next week, I forgot the camera cord this week. Sorry.

We also met with Bazil and explained baptism and confirmation a little more clearly. He has the desire to change, but he wants time to change things like the Word of Wisdom, and to invite his friends to the baptism. He is still on the radar, but needs work.

I also got to skype my family. It's so weird and cool to see how old and different and still the same everyone is! Never underappreciate family or family pictures. They are the among most precious of things on this Earth.

Well, that's all this week!



Just kidding! HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY all you mothers out there! Mom, Grandma Betty, Grandma Vada, Grandma Gines, Nana, Nana, and all the other moms who have and are making me who I am! I hope you enjoyed your day. You are so special to me! I love you!

That's all this week. I know the gospel is true! It brings peace, hard work, charity, faith, and hope to our lives! I know Jesus Christ lives and loves all of us. Keep true to the faith!

Love,
Elder Devin Jay Hunter
P.S. Kirk out!

This week was a slow but quick week for us. We taught Morris about the Family Proclamation and he absolutely loved it! He took in every word and we discussed it in intimate detail. He said it was the best leaflet he had read in a long time! But still no church beans to his name. We weren't able to see Bazil, or Yolanda, but we contacted her brother Malcolm, who almost joined the Church two years ago, but didn't because of the ''man-made'' rules; basically, the Word of Wisdom. We hope to work with him and his 18 year old son Collin some more in the upcoming weeks. The Jacobs (our lovely Enniscrone couple) are inviting us and Elder Jackson to visit them again. We hope to teach them more, and help them to start learning the gospel. Today, we had a branch activity where we had food at the church and then we went to the beach. It was a blast! At first, I thought it was only going to be us, the Branch President, the Tiernans, and the Ducusins, but then Michel showed up with 3 Venezuelans and a Zimbabwean who looked Indian. It was such a great night! Then Sister Tiernan taught us and two more of Michel's friends some line dancing and then an Irish jig. Sister Holmes, bless her heart, stopped the dancing because she was afraid that missionaries couldn't hold members hand... but don't worry, no white handbook violations occured. Me and Elder Jackson simply danced as a two instead. Then we went to the beach in Strandhill, and had a grand time. I'm looking forward to working more with the Globehouse members, or rather, prisoners, in the future, especially the Venezuelans and the Africans! :)

Well, that's pretty much all this week! I'm exhausted again, but the work is still moving forward at His rate. I hope all of you experience or are experiencing the joys of missionary work. There are none greater. I love you all, and thank you for your support and letter I received this week! I truly appreciate it! :)

Love,
Elder Devin Jay Hunter
P.S. Kirk out!
P.P.S. Just for fun's sake.

April 29, 2014

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was an incredibly short and crazy week. Bazil was in Dublin all week, and won't be back until Thursday. Morris had us over with Brother Tiernan, and they make such an interesting combination! We hope to get him to church soon. We are also working with Yolande, a mom with 3 daughters and a son ( I think). They are a crazy family who smoke and have people going in and out of the house and joining the conversation a lot. She wants to stop smoking, and learn more about God and Jesus Christ. Our lessons have been a bit scattered so far, but she is looking forward to reading the Book of Mormon and Bible with us. She grew up with Mormon friends, sometimes attended Church and Young Women, and her dad is a member.

Other than that, the only other news is we had something called a Zone Development Day, where the whole Dublin zone got together and spent a day doing fun team-building activities and strengthening our friendships. We played capture the flag, ultimate frisbee, blindfolded person touches someone in the circle with a spoon and makes an animal noise and the touched person  makes the noise back and the blindfolded person has to guess who it is, and then we had an improv drama activity. It was a blast, and, if you know how hard I hustle when I play something or work at something, you can imagine how sore I am. :) Anyways, that's all this week. I am kind of worn out, which explains the not very detailed and short email, but thank you for reading them! Thank you for your support and emails I receive each week. I really feel loved from the amount of support I continue to receive. Have a good week! I know the Church is true, and that the Savior Jesus Christ can change who we are if we keep His commandments and trust in Him with faith. I love you!

Love,
Elder Devin Jay Hunter
P.S. Kirk out!
P.P.S. Mother's Day soon! =)

Dear family and friends,

This week was a fantastic week! Monday and Tuesday, Elder Butler, Elder Boswell, and I did work in the Finglas ward because Elder Dustin left on Sunday. I met a lot of African people. I felt the Spirit strongly during a lesson with 2 recent converts (both African) and their friend. Elder Butler decided to make it a testimony lesson, and, reflecting back on my testimony and experiences, I realized how much the Lord has done for me, and how much I really love Him and my family and other really close friends back home.

On Wednesday, we walked through the Botanical Gardens in Dublin - they were beautiful! When you get old, you appreciate plants more. I mean *older. Then I picked up my new companion, Elder Jackson, from the bus station. We drove for about 45 minutes from Dublin and then I got a call from the Finglas elders - I had their keys, and they had my suitcase! *slap my forehead* So we drove back, exchanged stuffs, then we drove to Mullingar.
Thursday was a great day: we met with Bazil, and he basically knows he wants to be baptized, but is still procrastinating it. He came to Church on Sunday though. He loved it! Brother Tiernan is so funny, and his loud, unshushable laugh is too contagious!
Friday, we met with Yolande, who grew up with Mormons - her dad is a Latter-Day Saint - and she wants to quit smoking and follow Christ more. She has a lot of different beliefs in ghosts, but had an experience in her youth that gave her a strong belief in Christ. We also met with a Ghanan (Elder Moffit, I'm teaching your people) couple, Alison and Francis. They are so golden! Alison was asking questions like - why are there so many churches, how does she know if a prophet is a real prophet, she talked about the changing of the Bible over time... she is great! Francis was a bit quieter, but he seems amenable to learning, and the Spirit was there. We also had a good lesson with two young men named Tom and Rickie - excited to teach both of them again. Oh yeah, we taught Alison on Saturday. On Saturday, Ed gave us his Baptismal certificate - he wants to get his name removed the records. :( The members of the branch said he goes through ups and downs, though, so I pray that's what's going on with him. We also met with a former that Elder Dustin and Elder Phippen taught, Francis. He is an African who came over as a ''missionary'' - unofficially called, but self-proclaimed. He has a good knowledge of the Bible, and is quite friendly, and is very enthusiastic and friendly - he gave us spaghetti (or scabetty, as I called it when I was younger). He thinks he is a prophet - but he loves the Book of Mormon, and loves to expound a LOT.
Sunday - Bazil came to Church, and his friend Tobi was supposed to come. When Tobi didn't come, I could see the disappointment in Bazil's face. It broke my heart. I know the Lord will bless him for his efforts to do missionary work. He is still really good. I hope he gets baptized before June - and I'm going to work hard to help that happen.

Well, that's all for this week! I hope you all can endure my long email. Anyways, I love you all, and don't be afraid to mail me! I still haven't received any mail the last two transfers or this one... but no complaints! The emails have been absolutely wonderful. 'Til next week! :)

Love,
Elder Devin Jay Hunter

P.S. Our branch is doing a weekly Preach My Gospel study night with the members, which I am so excited about! It starts this Tuesday. More on this class next week! :)
P.P.S. Kirk out!
P.P.S. Happy Easter! I know He lives- and that He loves me.

Guess what? It's moves's call time! I will be....






In Sligo!






with... Elder Jackson!

From what I've heard, Elder Jackson has an amazing voice, and he is a wonderful musician. I hope we can work hard and use our car less. :) This week, a small twist came. Bazil's name is spelled with a Z and not an S! We met with him, and he still wants to be baptized, but we need to figure out how to help him realize that making it a priority will increase the spiritual life he is already experiencing.

Ed relapsed in his drink habits, but we will keep working with him. A big key will be to help him feel like the ward building is a place where he wants to be. And to start praying again.

These last few days with Elder Dustin have been interesting. I got really sick on Thursday, so Weekly Planning was slow and painful. We spent the day in doors, with me in bed a lot of the time. Then on Friday, we went to Mullingar to do a 'blitz' : where we both work in Mullingar's area. We slept over that night.

Elder Dustin finished on a good note, and I am excited to be working with Elder Jackson. Sorry it's kinda small this week, I am in a trio, so we are taking turns for emailing, so this week's email is short. But thanks for the support and love!

I love you all very, very much.

Love,
Elder Devin Jay Hunter
P.S. Kirk out!

Dear Family,

This week we planned to find 2 new investigators. We were blessed to meet a referral from Elder Stoker, a nice couple in Enniscrone, whose son Elder Stoker's friends back home met on a long ago trip to Enniscrone for golf. It was a great experience, and Michael, the husband, took us on a tour of the town, including pier, golf course, football pitch, his running route, and the local restaurants. We had an enjoyable evening, and a dinner, at which we taught them the Restoration and gave them a Book of Mormon, and asked them to read it and pray to know if it was true. They happily accepted it, and said they would. We got home at 10:30 (it was an hour drive). Whoops.

We also went to Dublin, which is about 3 hours drive, for a district leader council, and it was fantastic. Unfortunately, it was Elder Dustin's last council ever. It is interesting to serve with him and hear his thoughts on his mission and see his desire to ''endure to the end'' and work hard to the last day of his mission. I really appreciate it.

General Conference was amazing as well! The Spirit was so strong, and I was greatly uplifted and learned a lot that I needed to learn.

Well, that's all this week! Hope to inform you next week that Basil has a date. I love you all! Thanks for the emails! Keep strong in the Gospel.

Love,
Elder Devin Jay Hunter

P.S. Kirk out! Sorry, I seem to miss that lately. I love you guys and girls! :)

Dear Family and Friends,

I hope you enjoyed my Star Wars reference. Anyways...

This past week our New Yorker friend Ed or ''Citizen Mr. Ed'' as you might know him from his author name has made a concerted effort to get off the drink. And he has been really successful! He recently got a sponsor from AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) to support him. He is supposed to call him every morning. We also promised him we would call him every night at about 9:30. The first night we forgot, but he was still ok. So we set an alarm. And now every night we call him. If he is still good today, that would be 6 days without alcohol now. He has started wearing a black suit with a black shirt and a black tie and a big black crucifix, and his tinted orange glasses haven't changed.

We hadn't been able to contact Basil until Thursday, where it was mad. We prearranged to meet an indian guy named Hassan from something -istan at 1, Basil at 3, and our recent convert Peader would help us teach him. Then Basil canceled and told us he had classes that day. So when 1 rolled around, Hassan was at the wrong location (the other Ulster Bank in Sligo) and we had to direct him towards the church by phone. By the time we arrived at the church and started teaching him, it was 1:30. At 2, Basil arrived and said classes were canceled, and listened in with Hassan. Then Peader showed up early. It was kinda awkward. But it went well. Basil made it to the 2nd hour of Church, because he forgot about the hour change (so did we, but we were there early, we were lucky).

Elder Dustin and I also want to improve our teaching pool, so we set a goal to find 2 new golden investigators, and we are going to work really hard to achieve it. (A New Focus)

Nothing else happened this week, except for a haircut. Thanks for your emails and support! I enjoy hearing from you. I hope you all have a good week!

Love,
Elder Devin Jay Hunter
P.S. Kirk out!

Dear family and friends,

This week was one in which I have learned a lot about myself, and work.

First off, we met our miracle man Sean on Saturday, and it was an amazing lesson. We taught him about the Restoration, and he already knew TONS about Joseph Smith and shared many lessons from videos he'd watched with us. At one point, Elder Dustin starts talking about a short film he saw, and Sean had seen it too. To my surprise, Sean turns and starts teaching me about the video that he saw. I couldn't help but smile.

And then on Sunday morning, we got a call from Sean. He had experienced a lot of opposition from his wife and he had a ''blowout'' with her about coming to Church. He informed us that he wouldn't be able to meet with us because he didn't want to upset his wife anymore, but he said he would continue to study the videos and would contact the Elders in future. It was a hard moment for me, but I have faith that the Lord will guide him back to the path.

Basil has been in Dublin, so we won't be able to see him 'til Wednesday.

Tabby is still meeting with us, but hasn't seen any success yet. Morris is the same story.

Thursday was also Zone Interview Training, where the Assistants to the President, the Sister Training Leaders, and President and Sister Brown came to give us training. It was very uplifting, especially because I got to see Elder Boehme again! He is still awesome. I have no doubt that I will not forget my companions or not think of them in the years to come. Elder Dustin also bore powerful testimony, and we grew in our strength as a companionship. He is always serving and polite and I feel privileged to be serving with him.

We also went on exchanges on Friday, and I got to talk to Elder Banks about his family. He has gone through similar experiences, and it was a learning experience.

Well, that's all for this week, thanks for your prayers and your emails! I love you all!

Love,
Elder Hunter

Dear family and friends,

Another week has gone by in Sligo, and good things are happening. We saw Sean on Saturday, and we were again pleasantly surprised by his reaction and his story. It turns out he has had missionaries on and off for years, but never really went through with it. The last Elder he met was Elder Wallace, which, according to President Cunnane and Sister Ducusin, had to be before 2007 at least. Sometime this year, Sean was looking on the Internet, and happened upon a video of a young person opening their mission call, and started watching more of them, which led to more exploration of the Church. He watched some of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Bible Videos, and even the District! :) Then he made it to Church on Sunday, and he made friendships with a lot of members, especially with our young 18-year-old recent convert named Evan, who he had a good lengthy conversation with. In Sunday School with him and with another less-recent convert, Michel, who is a refugee from Togo, we had a lesson planned on the Holy Ghost. I'm glad we did, because we found out that although Sean has a strong desire and determination, he has learned little of what we are going to teach him; the Catholic church was his childhood church, and he says it was ''bet'' (which I think means beaten) into him. He was very surprised and intrigued by the nature of the Godhead, but picked up on it quickly, which is a good sign. So we'll keep up on him.

Anyways, the ward here is great! There is the Branch President, Donal Cunnane, (I haven't met his wife though) and then the amazing Ducusin couple, a young Filipino couple who lead the youth program, and our ward mission leader, Joe Tiernan, a cheerful, humorous old man with much spring in his step, are just a few of the members here. It is a bit strange using a car - it is a good opportunity for getting to know Elder Dustin, and it is fantastic for transportation, but it also makes GQ-ing a bit different, because we can't walk everywhere.

Basil didn't make it to Church, but we're going to call him and find out what's going on. Among Basil, there is a less-active half-Catholic New Yorker named Ed, an older man who is taking things really slow but is reading consistently named Morris, and, which is really cool, a man named Tabby. Tabby is a world-famous rock star who made it to the final round of X Factor in its first season. He is very honest, seeking truth, and is obsessed with finding out what the truth is. He is also very energetic and has seen the corruption high up where he was in the music world, with immoral influences and people being abused, and now has a great sense of charity and genuine love. He has great potential.

Well, that's all for this week. I also studied Moroni 10, and learned a lot about the gifts of the Spirit and the different ways answers and witnesses of God can come. We all have different talents and gifts from the Spirit, and they can be used to greatly benefit others. I have the gift of music, and I am working hard to prepare hymns to play in the Branch on Sunday. I challenge each of you to ponder on what gifts the Lord has given you, and then to make a goal to use it in the service of someone else.

I also was pondering on the case of Sean, and I had an interesting thought - because of one person that accepted the call to serve the Lord, and then shared it with others around the world through simply posting it online, and then many others doing the same, a man has come to desire to join the Church. We are all becoming more connected through media and worldwide communications, and the little things we do to share the Gospel can result in souls being brought to learn about the Gospel. I know that simply sharing the Gospel can bring blessings to countless lives, now in different countries even. I know that the Lord leads His Church and His Work.

Have a great week! Thanks for your prayers and emails. I love you all at home, and abroad!

Love,
Elder Devin Jay Hunter
P.S. Kirk out! :)

Dear family, friends, and all loved ones,

This week has been SO crazy! It started with the move to Sligo - we took a bus to the ferry, which was the most miserable bus ride of my life! It was quite enjoyable country scenery on both sides, and we came by the ocean as well! But, I suddenly, out the blue, started feeling really queasy, and I had to migrate back to the bathroom of the bus. There, I commenced in swaying and sitting and kneeling 'til, finally, I threw up. Then I went back to my seat, and then I started feeling sick again, but I never threw up again. Then the ferry ride was pretty good and scenic, where I met up with some old missionary friends: Elder De Vries, whom I sat by on the airplane ride over; Thomas, the missionary from my group that was alone in the Provo MTC; Sister Kline, one of the sister training leaders in Scotland; Elder Barney, a choir tour friend; and a few others who I made friends with. Then, when I arrived in Dublin, I was warmly welcomed by Elder Dustin, Elder Elliot, and, oh yeah, I met Elder Banks on the way over as well. They make up our district, as well as the zone leaders, Elder Lee and Elder Scott, but they are too far away to attend District meeting each week, so it's just us and Mullingar mostly.

Anyways, Elder Elliot drove to Mullingar, with Elder Dustin and I squished against each other in the back of the old Mireva, and then I drove to Sligo. I am the designated driver, and Elder Dustin's license already expired, so I will be driving for a few weeks. We also had to drive the long 3-4 hour drive for the sessions of stake conference, which were fantastic. Our investigator Basil attended (pronounced bu-ZIL, like Brazil without the r). We also had a miracle with a man named Sean  who pulled up next to us in the Dunnes parking lot right as we were walking by. He asked if Elder Wallace was still here, and then introduced himself and his situation. He asked if there was a way for blind people to read the Bible. We told him about Gospel Library, and he thanked us. He has troubles reading on his own, so those will benefit him greatly. Then he told us he talked to the Branch President, President O' Farrell, about joining the Church, and said he had to talk with us as well. Next will be his wife. Then he gave us his phone number, and drove off. We were so surprised! Elder Dustin has never met this guy, and he has never even heard of Elder Wallace. Anyways, that's all for this week. Thanks for the love and support and emails and prayers. I love you very much! Have a great week.
Love,
Elder Devin Jay Hunter

P.S. Kirk out!
P.P.S. My new mailing address is 8 Old Mill, Sligo, Sligo County, Ireland
Tanks! :)

I am sorry, I spent a lot of time writing my family and taking care of moves affairs, but moves' call was yesterday. And....
Drumroll.....






I am moving to...




Sligo, Ireland! :) With Elder Dustin!


Slygo, Ireland is in the Dublin zone, and it is a small branch where Elder Tinsley (the current Assistant to the President, and, we also just learned, Elder Boehme is being trained to be the new other AP this transfer!) said that there are ''not many people, and that I will make friends with many deer and rabbits while I'm out there''. I am looking forward to it! This might also mean that Elder Dustin and I will be leading the branch! President Brown or Elder Tinsley also informed me that there is no pianist there, so very likely I may be the new branch pianist for sunday! Which means A LOT MORE PRACTICING ON THE KEYBOARD! It's crazy how these things work out with my own talents and the keyboard being given to me... :) Elder Dustin is a very experienced missionary who I have not met yet, but apparently there is no more loving missionary than he. I will miss Cumbernauld quite a bit, Elder Christensen, the ward, Stephen, Joe, Bridy, Betty, Nick and Lee, Mary Whitton, Brother McGuinness, and so many more people! More next week when I arrive. I love you all! Please write me letters as well, I have not received a letter since January, and I don't want to sound ungrateful, because I am grateful for what I have, but I would love letters from anyone or everyone that would like to send them! I can't complain though, because I get usually around 15 emails each week (7 from missionaries, and 8 from President and others), so it's pretty good. I love you all, go Meadow's Ward Missionary Army, and have a great week! I know the gospel is true. I also know the healing power of the Savior's Atonement, and that he can also heal us through others. For example, I gave Elder Christensen a back massage to help relax (because he is training a new missionary in Cumbernauld this upcoming transfer, and the next transfer as well,) and he has stepped on my back to straighten it and help it crack, so it feels better and is less sore. At least, I hope that is good for my back... anyways... ) Have a great week! I LOVE YOU, friends, family, and brothers and sisteren in the work.

Love,
Elder Devin Jay Hunter
P.S. Kirk out!
P.P.S. Sligo might not be spelled right.
P.P.P.S. I just looked it up. It is spelled right. :)

This week was very interesting, as Cumbernauld usually is. Diane Fletcher dropped us this week. She said she had just wanted to learn more about her grandmother's religion, and she didn't see how it could benefit. We tried to see if we could come by some time this week to talk to her in person, but she refused. I don't think it's her time yet. Elder Davis, my district leader from Airdrie, told us about an investigator he had in one of his areas who he taught for a while, but they never brought up the fact that their goal for her was baptism. One lesson, Elder Davis invited her to be baptized, and she just started laughing. Then, when she realized he wasn't joking, she said ''Are you serious?'' It has re-impressed upon my mind the importance of how we begin teaching people - by setting up expectations, by setting mutual goals and an understanding learning environment, and making sure we're on the same page.

We are also still teaching Bridy, who didn't read the Book of Mormon this week, because she was busy, but we recommitted her to read, and she is feeling ''calm'' when she reads. It is great to see her faith in the Lord as she reads and cross-studies the Book of Mormon and the Bible together, and she is still learning everything quite comprehensively. We also took Brother Buckel, an older man in the ward who I have never joint taught with, to teach with us. It went a lot better than I expected, and it taught me that the gospel blesses all families who live it.

Guess what? We went to give Joe the final Come to Jesus talk, and we told him we had to see him 3 times a week, and we had to see commitment from him if we are to keep teaching him. And... he was completely sober and had been reading the Book of Mormon, and agreed to our terms. SO... Joe's back. Again. :)

Stephen has also started watching the Book of Mormon reader videos on his iPad. He enjoys them, and is able to relate the story quite well back to us. He has been keeping the commitment to pray and watch the videos. We also found out that he has been not quite honest with us all the way. He accepted coffee at the charity shop from his friends, and we don't know if he is keeping the Law of Chastity because his college friend comes over at night, and when she asked him for coffee from his bedroom, he said ''SHHHHH! Don't you want a coke or something?'' But we will talk to him this week, and be honest with him, and we hope he is honest with us. The Gospel functions on honesty - honest prayer, honest searching for the truth with ''real intent'', honest testimony, honest openness to the Spirit, eternal truth, and honest commitment to living the Gospel.

I really liked as I was studying this week in Alma 49. It talks about how Moroni fortified all the cities occupied by the Nephites. The Lamanites, intent on destroying the Nephites, first march toward the city of Ammonihah, because they remembered in the past that it was the weakest city. However, upon arriving, they are astonished because the city has all manner of preparations for war. They abandon the hope of taking Ammonihah, and revert to plan B; attack the city of Noah. Then again, to their astonishment, and even after a fierce attempt to take the city, they are defeated by the preparations and the fortifications of the Nephites. It taught me that Satan will attack the areas that he knows is weak. In Ether 12:27, it says that the Lord gives us weakness, so that when we humble ourselves and come to Him, He will make our weaknesses strong. I looked for a weakness this week, and worked to overcome it, and I saw my relationship with my companion and the Lord improve. Just like the Nephite cities, we can look for our weak points, and improve them, so when Satan comes to take advantage of them, we are prepared. It also goes the same way with missionary work. When I look for the areas I can improve, and then make plans to carry them out, I can fortify the work and help it hasten like the Lord is asking us to do.

No crazy people or animals this week.

Also... this next Sunday is Moves' Call, so Elder Christensen and I will know where we are ending up for the next transfer. I have a feeling I will be moving, because I have been here in lovely Cumbernauld for 6 months, and I think Elder Christensen will be staying (and possibly training, as Cumbernauld seems to be a place where missionaries get trained a lot, but it's up to the Lord). We will see where the Lord wants me the next month and a half! :) Which means I will not email 'til about Wednesday I believe.

Thank you for your support and emails, and I appreciate all the love I get each week. I have found out that letters and pictures from home uplift my soul and my joy, and can sometimes even bring tears of happiness. So thank you. :)

I know the Gospel is true. I know the Lord is patient with those He works with, and uses their special talents and abilities to help others. I know the Gospel bless families.

Love,
Elder Devin Jay Hunter
P.S. Kirk out!
P.P.S. Spell check thinks Devin isn't a real word... :'( oh well