Week 5

Dear Mom and Dad and whoever else may be reading this. I cant believe it has now been 5 weeks and I will departing in just under a month now. Time is a funny thing, something I have never been able to understand. I am liking the MTC, Jake hit it on the head when he said he had his ups and downs. I am definitely having my fair shares of ups and downs but for the most part its ups. I cant believe how much I have learned here about myself in just 5 weeks its so crazy I wish I had the time to explain it all. I will be ready to leave though when the time comes that is for sure. I did get your packages of food and letters from everyone. Thank you! It can make a day when you get letters and packages. I am doing well and have finally got rid of most of this sickness. Doc still doesn't know what it is but he said if it gets worse come back haha. I am about 90 % back to health but still cant run the 5 miles yet everyday which makes things hard because I love the runners high but it is what it is until I get all the way better. My friend Elder Obioma he is the one going to Madagascar and he got here a week after I did and he leaves in 11 days. I have gotten so close to him and will greatly miss him when he leaves. I will send a lot of pics next week. 

I am doing well and the language is coming along each day better than the last. I am again still trying to focus on developing a relationship with the spirit and how he speaks to me personally and how I can teach better by the spirit. Because like I said the spirit is what ultimately coverts. I am also striving for the gifts of the spirit and how to have charity for those around me. My companion has a hard time getting along with, it seems like just about everybody. And today he threw a pen at my desk and started yelling, haha I started to laugh which made him more mad and as I was getting ready to release the old me and destroy him hahah, I was overcome and restrained and I said "I'm sorry, my bad elder I didn't mean to make you feel like that." And it shocked him quite honestly and then he apologized later for how he acted, so we have our ups and downs just like everyone else here for 9 weeks with the same person 24/7. but the real problem came when he has made some of the sisters in our district feel bad enough to the point where WE as a companionship/ (him) had to be talked to by the Zone leaders.We get along for the most part though and I love him. I try to see the good in him and others. Sister Kieffer you know her as Madison Kieffer is so patient with him when he is rude she is an awesome example. And I dont know if I have ever meet anyone else that is as smart as her. I sit right next to her and I always ask her for help and a lot of times she is better at explaining things than the teachers. She truly cares about others and I have a lot of respect for her. I know you can learn a lot from others but honestly she is really the only missionary here I look up too.

Well I went to a devotional on Tuesday and that was good there were like 5 or 6 apostles there. Elder Bednar, Packer and some others I cant remember and Christofferson spoke. Which is cool and all but some people loose there dang mind when they see big names. It makes me want to go drill sergeant on them. For example some people started following them and running after them to take pictures. And some people/elders and sisters during the opening song in the devotional started standing up while singing, and they were motioned to sit down by security and they did and it just made us all look stupid haha. But it was a good devotional, he spoke on charity.

The temple was great this morning I saw the other movie in the endowments and it was good to see something different. The language like I said is good, something that is funny is that last week when we were teaching our investigator I said in my testimony that "I know our bathroom is true" and his eyes got all big and I keep going and didn't even realize until after what I said, then my comp said "we can kill the holy ghost", instead of "feel the holy ghost, haha it was too funny. Like I said I have ups and downs here, I am ready to leave now, and actually help real investigators not the ones that are paid to be investigators, I know i'ts good learning and practice but there is just something about helping people that gives me the reason as to why I am here and I know why I am here when I help people. We teach families that come every Thursday night, last week I taught Zohrab and Stephanie, it was cool to actually help them as real people and to invite them to read the book of Mormon more as a family.

I love the letters, please keep them  coming and I will send you mail when I get time and tell you everything I forgot to tell you today. My friend John is still here but he is hanging on for dear life. Anyways its about time for me to say bye. Love you all and I hope you are all receiving the many blessings I pray for. 

Love Elder Lunt

Week 4

It's hard to believe Brian has been out for 4 weeks now! He is a bit under the weather and could use your prayers and letters. He didn't have much time to write today but did share this quote and a short note.

"Obedience brings forth blessings, exact obedience brings forth miracles."
I love you all so much. I just want to share a small piece of my humble testimony that I believe with out a doubt, that I know God lives and He answers our prayers in His own time. His son Jesus Christ is our advocate and knows us personally and loves us so much. Love you all.

Elder Lunt

Week 3

Hey Mom and Dad! 

Well i hope everything is going well for you and i pray for you all everyday multiple times a day. I never realized how much i would pray. I really like what dad said about praying like it is up to the lord and working like it is up to you. I write these inspiring quotes on my notebooks. Well did you get my last email??? the big long one? with the pics? i hope so. I did get those muffins from Joan, that was nice of her, im getting a lot of packages from friends and letters its great. I love getting letters from you and dad and the family. Dear elder is cool because while we are in the mtc it gets here the same day. 

Well this week has been a hard one. Last night i got a beat down by the language and kicked as i tried to get up. Have you ever been so confused you don't even know what question to ask? haha yeah that was the case here. But my teacher sister Crawford is so cool and very patient and makes sure i get it somewhat before moving on. We speak Armenian so much it just hurts your brain. We have given so many lessons in Armenian without notes. we just memorize words and phrases and do our best with Armenian investigators (usually Armenian RM's) Its tough at times not being able to communicate but its interesting how when you can only say so much you pick your words and phrases carefully. Simplicity is amazing how it can speak just as easily sometimes easier to someone. Like i said it can be tough at times but its not until i bare my testimony as best as i can that the spirit comes in to the room and touches their hearts and i can feel it! There is power in testimony and prayer as i have found out.

 I got to host 3 new missionaries for their first day yesterday it was cool to see them and their families and remember those same feelings and emotions i went through 3 weeks and 1 day ago. Like I said last week i feel i am changing so much and for the better each day. I am learning so much about myself and how to get along with people and look for the good in others. Also i am still trying to learn what it really means to lose yourself and be a true servant of Christ. Like i have said i may not be the smartest but i am always the hardest working. I think everyone one in my class has taken a few naps now its kinda frustrating but i try not to say anything. I never miss an opportunity to better myself to eventually better the people of Armenia. I always carry flash cards with me and i am learning a lot. This language is so freakin weird, the sentence structure makes no sense its like saying...never mind i don't want to even try to explain the madness haha. 

I am still running about 20+ miles a week. I have had to cut back a little bit from ever day because of shin splints. I run with an elder named Elder Obiama he is 23 and such a stud. He has a maturity and calmness about him that us younger ones don't have. We have gotten really close this last week and he is going to Madagascar on the 7 of July. He is the black one in the picture and he is from Arizona. We are keeping in touch for sure. The temple this morning was great i did initiatory work and then went to the celestial room always a great re charge. Well i always feel like i have so much to tell you until i start emailing then i forget it haha. I hope all is well and i love you all so much. please keep the letters coming. I love all so much and miss you. 

 Well know that i am so grateful to be out here and i cant believe how much my testimony has grown this past 3 weeks. its more growth than i have seen in my whole life here spiritually, mentally, and even physically...well maybe a tie with physically when i was in Basic. i wish i could share these experiences with you i love this gospel so much and realize how much i have taken it for granted. I know that God and Jesus Christ live and they love us so much and listen to us and are always there to help us. Thank you so much for the packages and how fast you sent them. The water-bottle is awesome as well thank you i will use it for sure. My comp saw all my stuff with bug spray and coleman hand sanitizer and a water filter and was like you going camping? haha hes a funny guy and we get a long really well most all of the time. I love you all and want to hear about whats going on out there? I hope the heat lose..and i am sad that OKC got beat. Also the blog is so cool. thanks so much to heather and jake for that. tell carson thanks for the letters they are hanging up in my desk. Love you all.

 Լովէ էլդէր լընտ (love elder lunt)

Week 2

Dear Mom, Dad and everyone who is reading this! WOW i cant believe i am writing some of my first missionary letters. So crazy, seemed like just yesterday I was getting yelled at by a drill sergeant. So intresting how time flies. I did get your letter through dear elder that same day. It was great thank you! I just want to tell  you all how much i am learning out here about myself and how the spirit speaks to me and how to receive revelation.
I have had so many great experiences out here and so much has happened i feel so different already. Last week was tough but I read Jake's talk from his mission pres, on Sunday called THE FOURTH MISSIONARY. It was inspiration for sure and I read all of it and loved it. So thank you Jake for that and always being such a good example to me and being such a good husband to my sister and a good father.
It changed the way I look at things and has helped me become that fourth missionary. I love it our here and am so blessed, so so blessed. I am doing well and staying motivated and following all the rules and going on with faith in things I don't understand. Faith is not which things that are understood but that which is hoped for. My heart and mind as well as desires are in the right place and I am serving with all my might, mind and strength, giving up all of myself to the Lord for that what makes you the "fourth missionary" and ultimately brings the most happiness and success. I never miss an opportunity out here to better myself so that I may be a useful tool in the Lord's hand.
The language is coming along nicely, I am not worried about it. As long as I speak with the spirit then it doesn't matter if I speak the language like a 12 year old because the spirit is what converts you, not the language, the spirit testifying of truth and happiness of the message we deliver. Again thanks to that talk Jake gave me, I don't compare myself to others because someone else is always going to be better than you, my measure of success comes from within, and looking on my past to see how much I have grown and becoming better than that each day, constantly changing and following the Savior to the ultimate goal of becoming like Him.

I am so extremely grateful that I have chose to be out here and if I have changed this much in just 2 weeks I cant even imagine the growth I will experience in two years!! I have been giving many lessons to investigators in Armenian with out notes or cards, I have relied upon the spirit and at times I have been given words to say that I don't remember normally. Its such a spiritual high out here. I am loving it. My companion's name is elder Stephen Gallardo, he is from Everett Washington. We get along pretty well, we are both very clean and organized and competitive haha I have to keep my mouth shut a lot because he likes to argue and get the last word in hahah. It can be hard sometimes because he is stuggling to be here, and he breaks some of the rules but I just do what I am suppose to and continue to be an example. 

I still run 5 miles a day somtimes more and have had to do other work outs sometimes beacause of shin splints from running everyday. I am losing weight and getting cut up.I love it though. I had two elders race me the other day, they would take turns switching off every other lap and I kept running the whole time, they didn't beat me but I paid for it with shin splints afterwards haha. Anyways I wanted to thank you for the packages and letters from my family and friends.

Mom and Dad I just wanted to tell you both how great of parents you both are and how much respect I have for the two of you. Most all the good I do out here is because of what you two have both taught me. I hope that you two are doing great and are staying close to the spirit and giving your hearts and minds to the Lord also. I know you both are busy but I challenge you two to go the the temple or do some type of REAL SERVICE/ ETERNAL SERVICE for somebody at least once a week. It's the only way to be truly happy as I am finding out. I can't express the love for you both and Michelle, Heather, Jake, Mia, Carson and Ruby, and all my extended family for their love and support.

In closing I wanted to bear my testimony that God loves us. He is there on call with his legions of angels waiting for us to ask for help. They are always there guiding us and cheering for us even through our times of dissapointment and sorrow. I know that only through faith and obeidence that we can come closer to him. I know that the power of the Book of Mormon is real and if we pray with real intent and act on it by studying it out for ourselves, Moroni 10:4 that we will know of its truth through the holy ghost. I know that Joseph Smith restored this gospel and that he was truly a prophet of this dispensation. I am so grateful for the goodly parents I have been given and for all the help of friends and family that have got me to this point. I say these things humbly in the name of Jesus Christ amen.

Love you all and will upload some pics of me and my companion as well as my friend John Francis who is still here.. YES!!! haha

Love you all

Elder Lunt