Shiney Shoes & Shaving Machines

Dear Family & Friends,

This week has been great. We had a Zone Conference yesterday and Elder Richards (area seventies) presided. We went out that night and continued the mission work. We put 3 more people on date for baptism in one evening. The lord really does care for his children.

At the zone conference we had a shiney shoe contest. It was fun (I shined my shoes the night before), but my shoes were too new. They didn't want to compare brand new shoes with those that had been out for 2 years I guess.

My companion is from the Dominican Republic and still learning English. He wanted to go to Walmart to buy a shaving machine (electric razor)...it was pretty funny.

We had the opportunity to speak in church in our Spanish Branch. It went pretty well. Our topics were missionary work.

The work is going great here. Lots of walking, but it is so worth it. There are lots of dogs around. We got our first snow here--nothing stuck, but we've been watching it come farther and farther down the mountain over the weeks.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ really does bless everyone. Our faith is strengthened when we spend time with the Spirit--in the scriptures, prayers, etc.

Love,

Elder Bunker

Forbidden Love & Shepherds

This has been a fairly interesting week.

We are in a companionship of 3. We went tracting in a trailer park in a nearby city. We picked up a few new investigators. One in particular was very good. She seemed to be interested in the message, was very attentive, and talked to us a lot. A few days later, we went on splits with a member from a nearby ward. We had to split up to cover all of our appointments on time. 2 of us went to this investigators house, while the third went to another appointment. The companion I was with told me "that's too bad Elder ___ can't be here...they seemed to really bond (as native spanish speakers)". It was us 2 gringos trying to talk to this native investigator. Turns out she was busy, so we rescheduled. That night, we got a phone call from her. Our native companion answered. She was concerned that he had left. She then told him that she liked him and wanted to go out with him (despite the fact that she is married with 3 kids). Since that is DEFINITELY not our purpose, he bluntly told her that there was no way possible. She asked us not to return. Too bad, because she would have been a good investigator. Oh well.

We went on exchanges again this last week. I was in Gunnison spanish speaking again. This time, we went to go teach a Borregero, or sheep hearder (shepherd just sounds weird) in the fields. He is a very humble man from Guatemala on a work visa to care for these sheep. He came to church sunday when we invited him. These men just go and live in a small trailer in the mountains or fields and care for the sheep 24/7. They have lots of time to read, study, etc, so we visit them often.

There is a trailer in a different trailer park here that sells authentic mexican tacos. You can get cow eye, brain, stomach, rectum, tripe, cricket tacos, carne asada, del pastor (sheep), etc. Lots of different kinds of tacos. I was brave enough to try Tripe (innards)...it wasn't that bad. I've also had lots of Tamales, Pozole, Fajitas, encheladas, etc. Pretty good food.

Well that's about it for this week's adventures.

Love & miss you all.

Elder Bunker

Pozole & Faith Walking

We started off this week by taking our car in for repair. Apparently some missionaries about 6 months ago slid off the road in the icy conditions into some barbed wire fencing and scratched up the back of the car. One Auto body workshop offered to fix it up for free for the mission. We didn't have a car for about 3 days. It was good walking and finding rides--a little difficult to find so many rides in one day. We also went on exchanges because my companions have been out for only 6 weeks and I have only been out 2 weeks. We are all greenies, training each other. We will do exchanges frequently. I went to Gunnison (Spanish speaking) for Friday night and Saturday Morning. It went very well, I met a lot of people there and taught many great lessons.

We had a ride up to Mt. Pleasant to switch back another elder, and the Mt. Pleasant elder with us said we would be there for 3 hours, so we sent our ride home. It turns out that he was just kidding, so we had no ride back to Ephraim (14 miles away). The Mt. Pleasant elders had to go to a baptism, so they couldn't take us. So we just started walking along the highway (aka Faith Walking). We got about 1 mile before someone stopped and gave us a ride back to Ephraim. It is a no-no, but when you have no choice...

One evening we had an EQ president accompany us on a few lessons. He taught us a saying that he had to memorize in the MTC regarding missionary work: Faith is the power, obedience is the price, Love is the motive, the Spirit is the key, and Christ is the reason. That is so true of why I am serving my mission.

My companions' names are Elder Johnson & Elder Lora. E. Johnson was born in Canada and lived in Texas for a few years. E. Lora was born in the Dominican Repulic and lived in New Jersey for 2 years before the mission. E. Lora is English-speaking, but he is needed in this area for Spanish speaking.

We have one investigator family that is from Mexico City. The are very hospitable. On our second visit, they fed us Pozole, which is a kind of corn & pork meat soup. It was very good & authentic.

I am so greatful to know what I do about our existance. I am so glad that I don't have to judge anyone. When we are at Judgement day with Christ & our Father in Heaven, it will be a judgement of our entire existance--including premortal. This earth life is one small blip on our eternal existance. I can't say whether someone will be going to Heaven or Hell based on their actions in this life, because I don't know how their life has been: both here and before this earth life. We can only try our best not to put a giant question mark over our heads as we leave this eath life. I testify that Christ is our advocate with the Father, that he is our lawyer, defending us from the law of justice (which demands the price be paid for sins). He knows how to judge perfectly, as he descended below everything.

All is well here. May God bless you.

Elder Bunker

IN THE LAND OF EPHRAIM

First, it is 100% OK to email me at this address (dbunker@myldsmail.net). Just please include your home address so I can reply by snail mail. I just don't have enough time to reply by email (we only spend about an hour a week at the computer on P-day) to everyone. Regular letters in the mail are great too, because I get them throughout the week, whereas emails I can only check on Mondays.

This has been a great area. This is my first 'real' transfer (a transfer is a 6-week period of time in one place--then you may get transferred to a new area). The house we are living in is one that was donated by a man to the church. Half is dedicated to the LDS Employment services and the other half is for us, the missionaries. It's pretty old, but it does the job. The oven/stove is huge and goes to the ceiling and matches the diswasher, which looks like it could be from the 70's. It probably is.

I had the chance to watch General Conference in Spanish. It is amazing how you can learn even in a new language when the spirit is present. As a missionary, it is very helpful to watch conference. It is said that you can go to Conference with any question in mind, and it will be answered if you pay attention to the words of the Prophet and Apostles and to your feelings. I testify that that is true. As a missionary, we can go with questions in mind about the specific needs of those we are teaching, and they will be answered. That is exactly what happened for me, as I was thinking about the concerns of one investigator. Ideas just kept coming into my mind about how to address them.

There are not too many hispanic people spread out in Ephraim, but there are a few trailer parks where we can find lots of humble, interested people. There is something about teaching someone who is sincerely looking for the same organization of the church that Jesus established, with Apostles & Prophets, etc.

I don't know a lot about soccer (futbol), but I will have to learn because that is a huge thing among hispanics, especially Mexicans. Our district decided to start playing soccer on P-Day (Monday), so I will be able to get better at it.

I keep forgetting to bring my camera cable, but one of these Mondays I will bring it and load up some pictures to send home.

Well, weekends have ceased to exist. Clothes have become "normal clothes" (white shirt, tie, slacks, belt, dress shoes, etc) and "P-Day clothes" (when we are doing activites that would need gym-type clothes). All the days blend together in the work of sharing the word of God. Monday is our only weekend-type day, but even that ends at 6pm and then it's back to missionary work. Tonight we have 7 lessons setup for between 6-9pm. We have to go on splits with a member to cover them all...it will be good.

The weather is cooling down now, for which I am truly greatful. The mission rules require us to wear our suitcoats everywhere we go from October conference until April Conference. Friday it was still really hot (80's - 90's), but Saturday took a huge dip. It was overcast and a little rainy and cool--probably upper 60's & lower 70's. I guess the Lord does watch out for his missionaries.

Well I better get going so I can storm Wal-Mart for a week's worth of supplies. I wish everyone good luck, health, and week! I pray for you every day.

Elder Bunker