Final Email

We made it to the last email!!!! I would have to say we I have probably had easier weeks to stay focused in my two years. We have still been out working and trying to find those who need the gospel. A super great guy we have been teaching I said goodbye to yesterday comes to mind. We have been teaching him on and off, kind of, for a couple months. His name is Antonio and he is the one, I may have mentioned before, who was investigating before, lived in Utah, and his brother is a member of the church. He had lost some hope because of some situations in his life about being baptized and I hope he was uplifted as we went and visited him yesterday. There are many other super great people I have for sure met with my time out here in Ohio, there will for sure be many that I miss. I am also excited to see everyone here soon too!!! Like I may have said before, I knew things were winding down, but it kind of seemed like things came pretty abruptly to a close as well. Thank you all, ever so very much for all of everything. I don't know if I could have done it without all of you. I am excited to see how everyone is doing and to hear your stories too!! I know the Savior lives and that His Gospel has been restored. Though we or everything  around us may not turn out perfectly we can always have hope and press onward. I hope you all have a super wonderful week!!!
Love Elder Koden Hunt

August 30, 2017

This has been kind of a crazy week for sure, including today. We have been all over the place it seems, had exchanges yesterday, and Stanford came to church on Sunday so that was good. We also got to go with Stanford to the family fun day last Saturday, it was a Stake activity at the stake center, Stanford and I played cornhole (it is a popular Ohio game, kind of like horseshoes in a way) so that was fun. I also got to see Charine briefly som that was pretty awesome. We have been able to keep meeting with people so that has been really good, there are lots of people just on the cusp of progressing along. Stanford is doing well though,he has been starting to read and pray better and the more contact he is getting with the church the better it has been.  We had a lesson yesterday with a newer investigator named Lakisha, who we or at least I had some questions about how interested she really was in learning. We couldn't find anyone to come with us to go to her lesson and the last person we thought would have a good chance of coming with about 2 hours notice was Andy Shullick, a single man who was baptized about a year ago and who we would have to pick up to come with us. We decided to call him and we took him and had a super awesome lesson with her which was pretty great. I am very grateful for him coming and the lesson we had. 

I will email again next tuesday and it is transfers next week. My mind is going about 100 miles an hour it seems sometimes, I am super excited to see everyone for sure, but have met tons of awesome people I will miss too.   Thank you for all the updates and for all you do for me. I hope you have a great week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!You are all awesome.

Love Elder Koden Hunt

August 16, 2017

It has been a very interesting week for us here in Lorain. We are seeing some progress in some of the people we are teaching and that has been good. Some are slowly making progress in reading the Book of Mormon or praying or thinking about coming to church so that has been good. We have been continuing to meet with people like James (another one) who has some health problems but is looking for a church right now, or keep in contact with Stanford who still wants to meet up with us and it is good. We are doing quite a bit of finding and still though of course there is almost always a less active person we can go by and see. We have also been able to go out with members quite abit and that is fun too, this ward has quite a few people around our age who like to come out,  lots of other members who are pretty great too. There is one lady named Sister Rose who lives in an apartment building you might think was abandoned and she is so funny. She knows she needs to come back to church, and she doesn't have a car but she calls her walker her Cadillac so that is super fun. We also went on exchanges 2 times with Sandusky this week and we had some good times doing missionary work.
 We just have most of the normal stuff going on, exchanges and looking for those who need the gospel. We get to find some funny or interesting people to talk to so that is usually great! I hope you all have a wonderful week! I feel like I cant think of to much to say this week.
Love Elder Koden Hunt

August 9, 2017

Hey, this week has been another good one. We have been getting out and teaching and just having a good old time. We have been able to continue teaching Stanford. Stanford has had some rough stuff going on in his life and he is trying to turn his life around right now. We visited him last night and we took the Stencil boys (Ethan just got home from his mission last week and Blaine is going to be a senior in high school this year) and it was a super awesome lesson we had. We have ran into some characters this week like the man who had been drinking a little and gave us some vegetables to take home or the man who thinks he is god, which was pretty strange. It always makes for some good stories though. We have been able to start keeping in contact with some of our investigators a little more this past little bit and it has been great to get to work with people a little longer than a visit or 2. The weather has continued to be awesome and it has been super nice. We have some other wonderful people on the brink of progressing along super good so we are excited about that too.
 I am still doing good, we are trying to get some things rolling along here and I think they are going to soon. I hope you all had a good week and that you have a great week to come! I also got some pictures for you!!!!!!!!
Have a super awesome week and thank you so much for all you do!
Love Elder Koden Hunt

Picture Update

Elder Whittaker, Elder Hunt, Elder Welsh, Elder Brockbank, 

Elder Knickerbocker, Elder Brooke, & Elder Nageli

Elder Hunt and Elder Walker

August 2, 2017

Hey, this week has been great! I can't believe how nice the weather has been and it is awesome! We have been blessed to find so many people to teach and it has been great. Yesterday we were on exchanges and Elder Worthington and I went to visit a lady named Sister Olson who needs some extra help and so we mowed her lawn. When we got done she had been preparing her aid a little for us to visit so, she invited her to listen in on the lesson and we were able to teach her which was really awesome. We have been able to get a good pool of investigators, now we just have to help all of them get going and progressing. Our new ward mission leader, Brother Ybarra is pretty great. He has come out teaching a few times with us lately and he is kind of like Brother Phillips from kirtland, lots of energy and a very kind heart.
 In response to one of the letters i would love to go to the temple a lot when I get back. Nothing to special happened for my birthday. We went to the Guthrie's after church and they are always good cooks so that was good. We didnt ever make it out to that part of Avon, and I haven't heard any updates from the other Elders yet on how Lorraine's cousin is doing.
 Hey, corn on the cob is great! I had some Friday at the Lee's, they are a rosie old couple that feeds us Friday. I hope you all have a super awesome week!
Love Elder Koden Hunt

July 25, 2017

It has been a pretty awesome week for us really. I am staying right here in Lorain in the same spot with the same companion.  It is kind of crazy though. I have been companions with a lot of the people who are going home this week so that is really weird. We have continued to be blessed with lots of great people to teach, we found some pretty awesome people lately, but it is just getting them to stick that has been a little more difficult. It seems if you can at least meet a few times people will progress, at least some. We just taught 2 middle aged ladies yesterday and they are looking for truth and answers it seems for their families. We have been trying to continue to ride bikes and it has been great. The weather has been marvelous here and I hope it stays like that. I also had some of the best pie I think I have ever had Sunday. We ate dinner at the Buchanan's, they are retired I think but own a berry farm and Sister Buchanan cuts hair. Brother Buchanan used to be a top 40 recording artist a while back, in country music I believe too. Anyway, she makes the best pies ever! We have been trying to hunt down quite a few less actives lately too, there are a lot it seems here. We just keep plugging away.



I am still doing well, I am very blessed to be able to serve here and this week I have learned much. I have learned more that it is all about service. That to lift where you stand is one of the best things you can do. I hope you all have a super awesome week too! We are going to try to get going "harder in the paint", and do what we need to do. Thanks for all you do.
Love Elder Koden Hunt

July 19, 2017

We have again been blessed in many ways this week, it is kind of amazing how it happens. First, it has warmed up this week and we have had some nice humid days for sure. We have been able to spend lots of time with one of my favorites Brother Pickersgill this week. He has been baptized for about 4 years now and is the Sunday School President in the ward. He is a bigger man and cant walk to far, so he rides his wheel chair around a lot. We went with him to eat dinner on his birthday, went to a couple appointments with him, and he has the sisters in his area so I think he liked the change up so much that he took us out to eat again on Saturday. He is super nice and loves missionary work. We also got to visit with the Maynard family this week. They are an older couple who Sister Maynard is pretty active, and as Brother Maynard puts it, has been investigating for about 60 years. They could tell you stories all day about missionaries and it was fun to meet them because I had heard a lot about them. We also visited with Stephanie again this past week, and had a great lesson. She is really seeing the need for the Gospel in her life right now and wants to make some changes it seems, so that is super great. Yesterday we went on exchanges and had some super awesome things happen. We did lots of bike riding and some tracting too, and when the day was over we had 3 new people to teach for our area between the 2 of us.

I am glad to hear summer is cruising right along, I was thinking recently that this time of year used to be kind of like summer was almost over. It is transfers, so I will email on Tuesday next week. I should be staying but there might be a couple little changes that happen so it is better to be safe than sorry. The other elders had an appointment with Marie, but she cancelled because she was sick so they are going to call on Tuesday and try to set something up. 

 i havent really ran into any Amish much, I have been in the city most of the time. I know there are places where there are hitching rails at wal- mart for them though. 

Elder Walker and myself are doing ok, we are quite different thats for sure. He is super caring about the people we teach and that is always amazing. As far as getting used to companions, it depends. some it takes some time to adjust, some are pretty easy,  but always you have to adjust things. 

 I am so thankful for all that you all do. Have a great week!!

Love Elder Koden Hunt

July 12, 2017

This week was one full of events for sure. Of course going to see President Uchtdorf was awesome. He is just so smooth and good with people and he is a fabulous speaker. He talked about lots of different things, but one thing that stuck with me a lot was what he related to Independence Day. He was talking about of course the 4th of July and what that means for this country and then said everyday should be an independence day for us. When we go to bed at night we can review the day, repent where we need, and go to bed having put the day behind us, except of course what we learn, and starting the next day fresh. We can go to bed with the past day out of our minds. Then we wake up and pray we will do the best we can and begin as if yesterday didnt really happen. He also talked a lot about having a testimony of the Book of Mormon.
We are still working to find people who are really prepared still. We taught one lady named Stephanie who has lots of health issues and is living in a pretty rough place, but she wants to learn and get the blessings from the gospel. We have been doing lots of biking lately like usual. It has been warming up and raining quite a bit too. Nothing super crazy for us, just in search of those who are ready and helping those who need a hand. I have for sure learned a lot about what it means to truly care for people and hopefully do what Christ would do this week. The teaching has gone pretty good, we have been able to have some good lessons, and some that aren't official lessons, but we have been able to share things with people and it has been good. I have learned how to study the scriptures better I think this week so that has been something I have really enjoyed learning more about and got to study about too.
It sounds like you are all having lots of fun and I hope you all have the best week ever. I am grateful to be here in Lorain and be able to learn all I have here. You will probably get message from a lady who said she saw a blog to take pictures of missionaries and send them to their moms, so we arent sure who it was, just a random lady.
Love Elder Koden Hunt

July 5, 2017

This week has been a really crazy week for us. After last email Elder Walker ended up getting pretty sick so we would go out in the morning (Thursday and Friday), then after lunch he wouldnt feel to good so I listened to some General Conference talks mainly. On Saturday we went on exchanges with the other Elders in the ward and it was great. We have had some amazing weather lately and we got our biking in for the day for sure. We had our Stake Coordination meeting on Sunday with president Brown, President Snyder (stake president) and the sisters and other Elders ( which would be Elder Stephens and his companion) so that was fun. We also ate dinner with a family that used to be in the Cleveland Ward a couple of years ago, so that was fun too. We had interviews on Monday, and then we went on exchanges for the 4th of July with the Elyria Elders.
I have been able to learn so very much this week and it has been wonderful! I have been able to begin to see people in a different light, I have been able to see more of people's true identity which has been great. I have also" learned again, for the first time" as Elder Gong puts its, about how powerful prayer can be and the effect it can have on all things. Thought I learned much about prayer before, it actually goes right along with the talk I am giving in church on Sunday. I am giving the talk on prayer and they referenced me to a article from the October 1981 Ensign by President Spencer W. Kimball which is super good.
We dont have anyone who is moving super fast right now, we were able to meet a younger man with some great potential. He just got out of jail and is really looking for the truth right now. We went to the wrong house for our appointment with him yesterday, so we tried to call him and he didnt answer. He tried calling us back while we were driving but forgot to get back to him once we parked the car. So later while we were riding our bikes we didnt recognize him, but he flagged us down and we were able to talk to him, it was pretty great.  We also have some others in the wood works.
There are only Elder Walker and I in our apartment, the other Elders are on bikes and dont live super close, but we pick them up a lot because they are a long way from things, especially the church.
Glad to hear you had a great 4th of July. Elder Brown who I was with yesterday loves the 4th of July. He has lots of family in the army or some used to be. His mom also works at the Joseph Smith building on temple square so she has some cool stories. I hope you find all the cows and that you get some rain too. We keep chugging along here and it will be a great week to come , I know that. I hope all goes well with all the activities and that your summer is super great, which it will be with all the fun family things going on.
Thanks for all you do and I hope you have an amazing week!
Love Elder Koden Hunt 

June 28, 2017

It was an interesting week here in Lorain. We did lots of finding and we again reaped many rewards from our labors. We went on exchanges with the Elyria Elders and it was a great time. We had some Hungarian soup for dinner and were able to start teaching the lady from Puerto Rico who had already gotten a Book of Mormon before. We also got a good soaking while riding our bikes around, but it was all great because it was so warm it didn't make to much of a difference. We got to eat lunch with the Lee's who are a pretty old but super nice family. We also were able to start teaching a lady who requested a Bible online so that is always a great opportunity to teach people. A lot of the people we are teaching right now are in the beginning stages which is a super good experience to try and help them progress and keep commitments. We have been traveling all around the last couple days, because of the lower number of missionaries in the mission at the moment we are in a big district which includes missionaries about an hour away, so we drove to their church building on Monday for District meeting and yesterday we went to the Mission Office for mission leadership council.  I also talked to Elder Jennings, the Site director, and he knew Grandma Schmutz and he knows Kim and Becky Hafen too. Sister Rice who works in the office and is also from St, George also said I need to stop by her house when I get home to visit, she is a super nice lady.
It has just absolutely been amazing weather for us here, in the 70's usually, maybe a little breeze and mostly sunshine. I am continuing to learn things all the time and it is wonderful. We are going to keep pressing on here and I hope everyone has a super wonderful week!
Love Elder Koden Hunt   

June 21, 2017

The Lord has poured out his blessings upon us this week. So i am in " The Great Lorain Ward" as they call it out here and it is pretty great, I like it a lot. Lorain is about right in the middle of Ohio by the lake. It is a smaller place from where I have been the last 15 months or so, but there are still lots of people to talk to too.

 My new address is: 1310 Shaffer Dr. Apt. A     Lorain, OH 44053

There was an investigator in the area book that hadn't been contacted in a while and Elder Walker didn't know him, so we went by. When we got there a man was setting on the porch and said his son wasnt home, but said we could visit with him. He speaks Spanish as his first language it seemed but it was a super awesome lesson. When we were getting towards the end his son showed up and visited with us for a few minutes and it was super cool. They both wanted us to come back and visit with them more. We also got to start teaching a man and a lady who is hopefully his wife, who just moved from Cleveland not to long ago and there last name is Morman, so they took a Book of Mormon for sure. They are really looking for the right church and how to better follow Jesus Christ in their lives. It is pretty cool. We have one man who has a baptismal date for July 23rd so that is pretty fun too, his name is Josh and his wife is a less active member.  

Elder Walker is from Pleasant Grove and is a great guy. He has one older brother and his parents are both school teachers. He has been out on his mission about a year but is older than me. I didn't get a picture with him before we came to email, so we will shoot for next week.

I am doing great, learning so much everyday. One thing I learned in my studies this week, and I cant quote it exactly from Preach My Gospel, ... when we let Christ's words sink deep into our hearts then we are able to be enlightened with new knowledge. It made me think about the importance of pondering and not just reading the things we study, or in other words " treasure the words up". I later learned how we cant just learn things from reading them, and we cant just learn from experience, we need both. When we have the knowledge and the faith, we have the " power of God unto the convincing of men". 

The weather has been pretty good for us really, we have had some great enjoyment walking and biking around and talking to all sorts of people. I hope you all have a great week. I didnt get to tell dad Happy Fathers Day! I am 2 steps behind this year. I appreciate all everyone does for me and the support I receive. I hope you all have the best week ever and keep it up.

Love Elder Koden Hunt 

June 13, 2017

So the big news.... Yes, I am leaving Cleveland and going to the Lorain Ward. It is not super far away, it is still in the same stake and is the ward where Bishop's relatives live I'm almost 100% sure. I will get you the address next week when I know it. My new companion will be Elder Walker. I remember him from when he came out last summer but dont really know him, it will be good. I will still be a zone leader there too. Elder Stephens and I were banking on staying together 1 more time, but I will still get to see him around at meetings we will have so that will be great. This week flew by like it has been. We had zone conference and that was wonderful. Brother Packer from Kirtland came and was acting as a Bishop for a role play we had. It was super awesome for him to come and to be able to see him again, he is a really great guy. We then had exchanges and I was with Elder Williams who just got here from Russia. He had been serving his mission there for about 21 months or so and then when they shut down the mission over there, he got transferred here, he goes home in July. We had a great exchange though and he is a good missionary.
We were also able to go to Kirtland with Charine and her husband and it was awesome. They enjoyed it and Charine came to church Sunday too. She is doing as good as some of the ward members already. I have been able to learn a lot this past week and it has been super wonderful. Jesus Christ's power can help us all to truly find peace and happiness. He can help people change.
I hope everyone stays busy and keeps having a blast doing it this summer. It sounds like that wont be a problem either. It has warmed up pretty good here this week, in the 90's some of the time. We do continue to stay busy and try to keep finding those who are prepared. I hope you all have a great week. I appreciate all everyone does.  Keep up the good work and don't blow away! haha
Love Elder Koden Hunt

Elder Hunt with the Gardner's and their son

Elder Hunt and James Mitchell

Elder Hunt's buddy Elder Taylor

Charine Zsaludko, our investigator

The Lloyd's

June 7, 2017

This week has been kind of like running around like a rabbit trying to dodge the brush, jumping and going all over the place. We also were able to see how the Lord was able to help us dodge those big old pieces of sage brush. We went on exchanges with our district leader in his area which is just north of us this past week and it was great. I was with Elder Harmon who has been out about 3 months and we did lots of bike riding and walking and their are so many people in his area we talked to a lot ( which wears you out pretty good). We also ended up in downtown Cleveland which isnt quite like to many other places I have been, it is like a downtown you see on movies or even picture in your head. Elder Stephens got a flat tire towards the end of the day so that made for a good adventure trying to patch his tire and eventually we just had to go by a new one after trying 3 different tubes. Yesterday we got to do some service for the Lloyd's other, other neighbor and it was really great. We got to help this older man who is probably around Grandpa's age put some wire around his gardens fence to keep the rabbits out. He has a super awesome garden and it was good. Cherine is still doing awesome, she loves to learn still and is commit able which is a great blessing for us. We had some great testimonies this week in church and served as a great boost for us. Truly, I have been taught many things this week which is a great blessing to help me progress and improve. The Gospel truly does bring happiness.
I did get a treat and the converter and Elder Nelson said he was pretty tempted to eat it before we got home. That was another thing that threw a twist in the week, I wasnt sure what to think. We were talking to some people when Dana called and so we didnt answer but when I heard the message I couldn't believe it was her for a few minutes. Avon is a little bit away from us but I hear a super nice place.  It is amazing to have the support I do and I hope you all know how great you are and how much I thank you!
We will be rolling our sleeves up this week with zone conference, exchanges, and then transfers. I will be emailing Tuesday again next week. I hope everyone is having a great summer and continues to have a great one. It sounds like everyone is staying busy and that is great! So am I! Have a great week!
Love Elder Koden Hunt 

May 31, 2017

Another amazing week here in Cleveland. On Saturday the other elders had a baptism, and Cherine and Mike came which was really good. They liked it a lot. Cherine talked with President Brown for a few minutes and that is always a good thing, she was enlightened you could say. Cherine is doing amazing right now which is a great blessing. She came to church and she just loves to learn. Mike also came to church but the house he is living in now he wont be living in this weekend because the rent isn't paid, so who knows what might happen there... James also came to church and he is still progressing along at his own pace. Sot the family, Doug and Ashley, are different from the ones who wanted homework. They just have craziness going on all the time so it can be a good challenge to meet up with sometimes. Many are progressing along pretty good right now though. Last week Bishop was telling us that there was a lady who called him who none of the rest of her family are members but her grandparents, who live in our area, and her dad who would be visiting from Chicago would like a blessing because the grandparents aren't doing the best health wise. They live close to the Lloyd's who are great, so Brother Lloyd came with us to give them all a blessing. It was a super great and spiritual experience. The daughter who is the member we found out moved to Arizona for college I believe, got baptized and got married in the temple too. We also found out the dad of the member has a son who is on the track team at Utah State right now, just like Elder Stephens will be. Hopefully that all makes sense. It was super awesome.

 Nothing to special for us for Memorial day, it was really great weather and that is always super nice. We did some biking around like usual and trying to visit people too. It did pour rain a couple times too, but more like thunderstorms and not just raining all day, at least for the most part so that is good.

I am doing really well. We have many wonderful opportunities all the time which is great. I hope everyone has a super awesome week. We also got an elder from a mission that got shut down in Russia, and he goes home in July, so it will be a crazy adventure for him. We stay super busy with all sorts of things to do all the time which is good. Hope all is well for everyone and you all have lots of fun being out of school and doing summer stuff. Thanks for all you do for me. Have a great week.
Love Elder Koden Hunt

May 24, 2017

Talk about having a super blessed week, this was one of them. We found some super awesome people to start teaching this past week, one is the family and the dad has already read the Book of Mormon 2 times! He has some family who are members of the church so that is how he has read already. We went on exchanges twice and it has been fun, really great as far as the work, and pretty crazy for us too. We also had 4 people come to church on Sunday. James Mitchell came again and so did Cherine and Mike Obryon. Also, Jared who is someone we have been working with for a little bit came to church. He is in a band and is super into music. I think he had a little concert he did a little bit ago too somewhere. We have been blessed to be able to set some baptismal dates with some more people too, thanks to President Brown and his counsel, which makes things super fun.
We were up in Cleveland Monday and we had a crazy lady in a wheelchair ask us if our church had a choir and we said yes. She then went on to sing to us which was kind another one of a kind experience. It is amazing how many people want to talk about Christ though. For us this past week, some people blast some christian soul music which makes you smile and other just want to get in a big circle and have you say a prayer.
 The weather was pretty awesome this past week, but I think it is going to rain most of the next few days, but it looks like it wont be to cold either. I am so blessed by the gospel! I hope you all have a wonderful week and enjoy no school too.
Love Elder Koden Hunt

May 17, 2017

Another week and especially couple of days since we talked for us here. We have just been so greatly blessed in so many ways. Monday we had district meeting and then we had some great lessons with some of our investigators including Mike Obryon and James Mitchell. Brother Obryon is still striving to hit his baptismal date in June. We were pretty busy yesterday as we had a meeting at the mission office and then went our with Brother Simbeck and had some more great appointments mainly talking a lot about the Restoration and how to find peace in our lives. I totally left my camrea home like usual when we went to see James this week so I will try to remember next time. The weather has been very good for us here luckily, it has stayed pretty warm. I hope it warms up for all of you there for sure. Thanks for the pictures, the fort looks pretty awesome. We are going to be doing missionary work again this week like usual. We have exchanges and and always lots of things to do here so that is good. We forgot to bring the converter for the sd card for my camera so hopefully next week I can send you the pictures I took. I hope all goes good for you and you have a wonderful week. Thanks again for all that you do!
Love Elder Koden Hunt

May 10, 2017

It seems the weather in Utah you talk about always is what happens here the next week, so I am excited to hear good weather coming. It was a rainy and cold week really this past one. it rained for 2 or 3 days straight I think and was in the 40's some of the time, but we were still blessed a lot. We again had great conversations with people and were able to find some wonderful people to teach. I went on exchanges with Elder Parra this past week and he is from the Dominican Republic and he is like that one speaker from General Conference that spoke about how he got baptized, super excited and sincere.  Yesterday we were biking around and went to an appointment we had with a potential investigator. We got there and her husband came out and we were able to teach them and they said we could continue to teach them too. The cool part is the husband, who's name is Bryan, reminds me of Uncle Jeremy so that is pretty sweet. Also, the highlight of this week is James Mitchell. James is the 71 year old man that lives in Cleveland we have been teaching since my first couple of days here, but he was able to come to church on Sunday which was great. I will have to get a picture for next week, but he is super awesome and loved church. We also are going to help the lady who tried to give us money again, but the Lloyd's are great and they hooked us up to help there other neighbor with her yard work which is a pretty great thing, a great way to find people. I also had some really awesome donuts this week, I know you asked about a donut shop and I think this is the one. It is called Spudnuts, Brother Romick brought us some when we were going out teaching with him and they were great. We see President Brown about 4 times a transfer or so, we also are in touch with him sometimes too, more than others. President Brown is great. We try to play basketball as much as we can, but it has been a little slower lately in that category.  I am still doing great, as always lots of things to take care of and be done all around which is great to keep us busy. I hope your week goes good and you keep having some wonderful weather. Talk to you soon!
Love Elder Koden Hunt

May 2, 2017

This week has been great! First things first, I am staying in Cleveland again and so is Elder Stephens. Elder Stephens is great, he is an awesome companion. I try to keep in touch with my companions for sure. Elder Robinson is getting transferred from our apartment and Elder Nelson who I know well will be living with us now. There are lots I would love to keep in touch with. So this week has again been packed for us. We have had lots of appointments and so we have been blessed to teach a whole lot of people this week. Mike is still struggling with some things so we are trying to help him work through those all we can. I can really feel how the Lord is really helping him right now even though things are tough for him. The referral family is super busy so we have talked to them a couple times, but no lessons yet. We have been chugging along and we are so blessed to always have lots of people to talk to who show some interest, sooner or later they will be progressing I know for sure. We were able to help the Lloyd's who take good care of us, with some service for their neighbors. It was an 88 year old lady and when she saw us doing it she wanted us to do some more than we were planning for her so we did. She was adamant about giving each of us 100 dollars for helping her, which of course we couldn't take, but we are going to go back and help them this week too. That was a big highlight. Also, a less active and her boyfriend who isn't a member came to church this week so that was pretty awesome its self. We also saw some pretty cool older cars this week too.
It sounds like things are going good for you too. I hope you have a wonderful week and thanks again for all that you do.
Love Elder Koden Hunt  

Columbia Temple Trip April 2017

Elder Hunt and a temple worker (Elder Hulet photobombing in the background)

Cool Car....

Cool Old Car....

The district April 2017 in Cleveland area

April 26,2017

Well, another crazy fast week for us here. The temple was really awesome, there was a lot of other missionaries from the mission that knew the man that was going through the temple for the first time. It was super great and we even made it home in time, barely. Right before we got home maybe the biggest rain storm I have ever seen came and it was like it just picked up some water off the lake and dumped it down. We then had exchanges with our district leader in his area on Friday, were all over the place until Monday then we had Zone conference in Kirtland again. It was super awesome, a lot about talking with everyone and teaching everyone the gospel of Christ. We gave a little discussion and helped out with some other little things. We then went on exchanges yesterday and it was good. It is starting to feel more like summer than winter around here, most of the trees have leaves now. Elder Stephens saw Mike O'bryon yesterday and he is doing good, his mom is starting to get over some health issues she had. The other family was so busy they couldn't meet last week so we are going by them later today. We have been able to talk to all sorts of people on our bikes lately and we have meet some really awesome people, we are always just trying to see them more than once.  Transfers are next week so I will be emailing on Tuesday. Elder Stephens has 2 transfers left, he is actually going to run track at Utah State when he gets home so that is cool. It is tough to predict this transfer, it is a toss up if I stay for 1 more or get transferred. Transfers are always exciting for all the missionaries. I will have an update next week for sure. 

Time really is flying by, I am not sure where the last transfer went for us either.  My favorite place to eat in Cleveland, we haven't really made it to any  local places to eat. Handel's ice cream was super duper awesome for sure, so that might be my favorite. I did have a donut from that donut place once at a members house. It wasn't the best kind of donut so I didn't get to good of a feel for it.   

 My favorite scripture is a lot of them these days, but I always have to go back to Alma 26: 12, because it is a great reminder to me that we can only have the strength we need if we rely on the Lord and his strength. With his help we can accomplish what we need to, even all things. I hope you all have a wonderful one!

Love Elder Koden Hunt

April 19, 2017

This week has been full of miracles. For Easter, nothing out of the ordinary happened really. We went to church and ate dinner with the Simbeck's. The really awesome part of the day was that we contacted a referral who, her and her family, are super awesome and we are teaching them now. They like basketball and this lady was telling us to leave her and her kids with challenges and how they want to take time everyday to dedicate to God and she said that would help their family. I will; have to telly ou more next week. Mike O'bryon came to church again and he is super nice, he doesn't have much money but he listened to what they were saying in church and he gave us a little dinner one day. We have been marvelously blessed with amazing weather lately and we have been trying to get out and bike all we can and we have been able to talk to lots of wonderful people. We had interviews this week and those are always good. We always have something going on where we are running all around it seems, but it is good.
We are headed to the temple right after this, it is just Elder Stephens and I that are going down as far as missionaries. I always love the earlier sessions, but someone Elder Stephens taught in his last ward is going through the temple for the first time so we will cruise down and back with Brother Simbeck and his daughter today. We are going to the Columbus Temple this time, it is about 2 hours and 15 minutes away.
I am doing good, just trying to do my best. I hope you all have a wonderful week.
Love Elder Koden Hunt

April 12, 2017

This week was an amazing week for us in Cleveland. We found some really awesome people to start teaching and then there is our investigator Brother Mike O'bryon. He is super awesome and came to church this week and loved it a lot. He is the one who lives with his mother who has MS and is single. He lives pretty close to the church so that is good too. We have been taking Brother Santiago with us to see him, he is and older retired member who has nothing to do but read his scriptures, say his prayers, eat dinner and do missionary or service work. He is also taking us to the temple next week so it will be a quick email, but I should get one in. We have also been trying to keep in contact with our other investigators and help them read and pray about the Book of Mormon so they can progress to the next step. We also went on exchanges 2 times since Wednesday so that was fun too. 

Something I have been learning a lot is just how to better fulfill my responsibilities and a lot of that comes down to caring more about people ( especially the other missionaries) and trying to motivate and inspire them more. Usually the funny things are just jokes or comments, just trying to have a wonderful time. We helped a member move out on Saturday and it was a really quick move but the Elders Quorum President, Brother Falahola, was just being fun and saying funny things. 

The Wynders were the Kirtland Site Directors, so they would come to our meetings sometimes and they were pretty involved. They are super awesome too. The new site directors are from St. George/Pine Valley, they are Elder and Sister Jennings. The weather really has been pretty good. It snowed Thursday night and then it was about 80 on Monday so all over the place, but it has been good. 

It sounds as things are going well back their and I hope it continues to be like that. We are doing good here, getting lots of biking and talking to people in.  I hope you all have a super awesome week.  Happy Easter to everyone and keep up the good work.

Love Elder Koden Hunt

April 5, 2017

It has been a really good week for our area honestly. We did see the Johnathan's and we did see Mike. It was pretty awesome, on Saturdaywe huddled in Mike's bedroom to watch the Saturday morning session. He is doing good right now, we are working on getting him to church right now. We watched the rest of the sessions at the church. There was so many great talks I thought too. I loved Elder Anderson and Elder Ballard's talks about overcoming the world and setting goals and making plans. I always love what President Monson had to tell us about charity and reading the Book of Mormon, President Uchtdorf is always great and President Eyring is one of my favorites always. We have been working and trying to improve always because there is a lot to work on. One miracle we had was to be able to teach a man yesterday who just was married to a less active lady, but now we are able to teach him. We also were able to talk to an older lady about doing her family history and she was super excited about it. She also said something like " sorry for the teeth, my doctor has them" because she had dentures of course. I thought that was funny.

 So Grandpa Terril can give all the advice he would like because I have learned that I sometimes think I'm pretty awesome and know a lot but I quickly figure out it is about opposite of that. I will take advice for sure. We also have some others we are working with, but Mike and the Johnathan's are progressing along the best right now. It has still been hanging out about 40's or 50's this week with lots of clouds and some rain too. Ohio gets somewhere and likes to stay in the same spot weather wise for sure. It sounds like everyone is staying plenty busy so I appreciate anyone who takes some time to let me know how it is going. So thanks to everyone again.

 I am glad to hear North Carolina won, they are one of my favorites for sure. March really did fly by. Thanks for all you do, I truly am grateful for that. i hope you all have a great week.

Love Elder Koden Hunt

March 29, 2017

Another wild week here in the Ohio. Last week was transfers and so Wednesday, we drove Elder Brinkerhoff to Kirtland to pick up his new Trainee because he doesn't have a car, the we did our planning the next day. Next we had exchanges and I was with Elder Carroll and it was super great because it was about 70 and sunny and we were outside talking to people most of the day. The scouts had a fundraiser that Bishop payed for us to go to and was super good Saturdayy and we were talking to Brother Mckenzie who is the high councilman for our ward who was there. He is super awesome and originally is from Idaho. He was telling us some crazy stories about where he went on his mission in the Micronesia wherever that is, like he didn't bring a pillow so he used his scriptures his whole mission as his pillow.We went on exchanges again yesterday with the new missionary we picked up Wednesday and he is pretty good already. It helps that I think he is older than me, at least graduated the same year I did. So we are staying super busy that is for sure. We are still working with Johnathan and family, but they went out of town this past week. We are able to start seeing some progression with a man named Mike and it all comes back to service is really important and softens hearts. All we did was shovel his driveway when it snowed and visited his mother when she was in the hospital and it is just super cool to see him progress slowly. We met a man named Cleveland this week, so that was interesting. It has moved up into spring weather now, mostly in the 40's which we will take for sure. Keep up the work and have lots of fun and a marvelous week.
Love Elder Koden Hunt

Picture Update

Elder Stephens and Elder Hunt

March 21, 2017

This week has flow by super fast since I emailed you last. We had Zone Conference in Kirtland and it was super awesome. We had to combine with one of the Kirtland zones so President's schedule could all be worked out. We went on exchanges with our district leader and they dont have a car, like a lot of missionaries in our zone so we rode our bikes, buses, and even a train. We found out that Elder Stephens and I are staying together here for another transfer. One of the more solid people we are teaching is a man named Johnathan and his sons Johnathan (8) and Joe-nathan (7). They are super funny, the dad wants to be serious and learn and the two boys are super excited and ask lots of random questions and so their dad is always trying to have them listen. Their step mom is around sometimes too, but we aren't really teaching her yet. They, at least the dad has been reading the Book of Mormon really well and is getting close to coming to church, we are planning on this week. They live up in Cleveland but they have a car so that is a big bonus.
It is starting to show some signs of spring, still in the 30's mostly, today might be about 40. It hasnt snowed to recently so we are getting their.
I think I can tell pretty soon after we talk to or even after we start teaching someone if they are ready or not. There are lots of different factors, especially commitment, but you usually can tell after not to long. Sometimes it seems people are like one of the parables in the new testament, about the seed that springs up fast and then quickly either by the sun, or because their roots cant got down because of rocks or hard ground they wither away. We talk to many who at first shows signs of progression, but for one reason or another fall away, they aren't ready then but maybe a little later down the road.
Glad to hear all the updates, I cant believe how time just goes right by. Thanks for all you do. I hope everyone has a great week.
Love Elder Koden Hunt

March 15, 2017

This week Ohio let us know it isn't quite spring yet, but it has been another wonderful week. It has been about 25 and some of the time snow pretty much he whole last week.We went on exchanges again this week and Elder Miller and I were on our bikes pretty much the whole day and it was not the warmest day ever. We were trying to find someone to teach, and we did teach a couple less actives but no investigators. Elder Stephens and Elder May had all their appointments cancel on them except 1. As Elder Stephens puts it "we went hard in the paint", but not a whole lot of luck. We were being looked out for though, because the next day we were able to contact 3 referrals and we started teaching them all. We also still have James and a couple others we are blessed to be able to teach so it is really great. There is also a less active man who his daughter is getting home from her mission in April and we have been able to teach him, take him teaching with us and he will be feeding us dinner twice in 3 days. He whipped up some pretty good food too. his wife is super picky and doesn't really eat anything he cooks. We also have been learning that people just cant sit around and wait for things to fall in their lap. One man we are teaching sort of has that mentality and we cant help him much if he doesn't want to do anything, but he is starting to change, slowly.

Things are going good here. We have a whole lot of blessing all the time. What I learned the most... that is a tough one. Honestly, it is that it all comes back to Jesus Christ. There is a lot of stuff, but it is really simple too. Faith in Jesus Christ so we can repent and then make covenants and keep going. You always have some help when you need it from Christ, I know that too. I can tell you for sure that through Jesus Christ we can be happy and peaceful. Many people have it temporarily, maybe, but we can have it all the time now and beyond. Christ is the Savior, Joseph Smith was called of Him, The Book of Mormon are Christ's words.

I just get pumped about everything these days so I am just excited for everything for sure.  We have zone conference tomorrow and then exchanges and transfers are next week so I will be talking to you Tuesday. I would assume I am staying here with Elder Stephans, but you never know for sure. Thanks for all you do.
Love Elder Koden Hunt

March 8, 2017

This week we have been blessed in more ways than one. Of course when we hit March then it starts acting like winter a little more, snow then melt again, and proabaly more snow this weekend as well. We had some really awesome days in the past week teaching people. One of the people we are working with is getting ready to go to the temple for the first time, so that is pretty cool. His wife has already been before, but he hasnt. We also found a man and his 8 and 7 year old sons who are very interested. We got to see James again, his foot which was broken is good enough to come down the stairs and let us in now, I will have to get a picture with him next time I see him if I remember. We have stayed very busy ourselves, we had interviews yesterday and President Brown was in a really good mood so it was lots of fun, but we have much still to do. These days we usually get our bikes, drive for a ways, and then teach and ride or walk around trying to talk to as many people as we can. It is always good to have good conversations with people and we ahve had a good amount of those lately so that has been good too.
 I am doing well, we are still building our teaching pool up but we are having a grand time. Elder Stephens is great, we get along good. The apartment is doing good. They do their own thing most of the time and they are good missionaries. Transfers are in 2 weeks, so coming right up on us again. We do jump forward Sunday so we are excited about that too, sometimes people are scared of the dark it seems.   Thanks for all the updates as well, it is good to hear about what is going on in Enterprise. It is funny you mention the wind because I don't mind the wind a all out here because it doesn't blow very hard or very much compared to Enterprise. Sometimes I like the wind here which kind of sounds crazy. I learn so very much each and everyday which is always good, now I just have to not forget all I learn everyday. Thanks again for all that you do. I hope you have a super solid week and have lots of fun while your at it!
Love Elder Koden Hunt

March 1, 2017

Another wild week for sure in Cleveland. First off, the weather is absolutely crazy here. We had a 75 degree day Fridayy to freezing cold and about 30 Saturday, snow Sunday that melted away and is now in the 50's and raining. We had a great week though. We talked to a lot of people and found many again who seem pretty solid if we can get in contact with them on round 2. Corrina came to church, but we found out she is moving to the ward next door, so we wont be teaching her anymore but it is a better living situation for her. We had a super huge Phillipino meal Saturdayy which was super good. We also had a great lesson on the Book of Mormon with one of our investigators in Cleveland with Brother Merryman. Brother Merryman is originally from Idaho but has lived in Cleveland a long time, I think he rode his petal bike out here like 40 or 50 years ago. He cant read or write to much, but the one exception was being able to read the Book of Mormon. We also had dinner at the Drewes last night they are a fun older couple. I never thought it would happen, but I got to try eating some lamb chop and it wasn't too bad. Time fly's so you have to stay in the grove as long as possible for sure. I thank you though for everything. I hope things keep going good for all of you and have a super awesome week.
Love Elder Koden Hunt 

Pictures

Elder Lancaster, Elder Hunt, Elder Davis (Kod's comp), & Elder Hulet in the rain. 

Elder Lancaster & Elder Hunt in the rain. 

Mission Conference

February 22, 2017

This week has been super busy for us. We have been going all over to appointments it seems. Corrina told us she couldn't come to church because of some family thing but ended up coming anyway and it was great for her. Brother Lloyd who is in the bishopric gave a "throw down" talk as we called it. He pretty much told the ward they are just living life and not doing anything to get better but just scoot on by. I cant remember anyone giving a talk like his in person before. It has been super warm which is great for our exchanges since now we bring the other 2 missionaries to our area and no one has a car we do lots of biking. I was just biking around in my shirt for some of the time. Nothing super crazy this week though, just trying to talk to all the people outside and around and making our way around to all sorts of places. We are always looking for someone who wants to talk to us.  We had our meeting with President Brown yesterday and you always find something to work on after those meetings.  I thank everyone for all they do. I m doing good though, just chugging right along.
Love Elder Koden Hunt