Your weekly email from the Drew Brees of Iowa

Monday: O yes Monday was so much fun! We played this card game called bang and it was super fun. We then played some 3 v 3 football it was fun. It was also fun being the QB and making up these plays to see if they worked.  You could say I was looking like Drew Brees (For those of you who don't know who Drew Brees is repent)out there. 

Tuesday: We had some service at the library and there we were exposed to some pretty worldly things. Not gonna lie it just showed how society is going downhill. But the good news is we can be the light keeping the standards of our beliefs. We then did some other stuff through out the day. We then had dinner with the Hunger family and boy they are a super fun family. We went over the family mission plan and it was pretty great. We also were able to talk basketball with Brother Hunger who is a die hard bulls fan and myself who is a die hard jazz fan had a good discussion of the NBA in the 90s 

Wednesday: I was still recuperating from being sick. So I rested a little and then got back in the grind and went by some people it was fun. We then drove to Keosaqua to have dinner with the Curtis family and we were able to eat dinner with them and it was pretty fun. We then drove back to our missionary circulation meeting with the ward mission leader and a few others. The highlight of the night tho was a young man in the ward was there and he waited for us to come out of the meeting so he could show us his moped without a muffler it was the funniest thing of all time. Just this loud tiny moped with him on it.

Thursday: We went by some people and then went to Keosaqua it was pretty great we were able to talk to a lot of people there.

Friday: It was zone conference for us in the good ole Iowa City. President Sturm went over his expectations of the mission and went over how to achieve them. It was also good seeing some of the homies that I have not seen in forever. Shout out to the homies Elder Sharp and Steed who did not leave my side the whole meeting. It was great seeing other solid people. We then went to olive garden with our district. I forgot how expensive it was but it was really good food. We then drove back and were late to the game night that there wasn't a lot of people at.

Saturday: We played some basketball in the morning with some members. We played 2 v 2 and then we played 21 it was a great workout. We then went and had lunch with a the Curtis family. We then had a lesson with Maryann where we taught her the word of wisdom it was pretty great. We then went and talked with some people on the street and formers we ran into a woman who only speaks German so we used Google translate to communicate with her. We then helped a member move some heavy furniture it was all pretty heavy.

Sunday: Church was great the new youth program seems pretty cool if you ask me. We then went and helped Maryanne with a flat tire.  We also went over a family mission plan with the Trent family it was pretty great.

Love y'all 

Elder Caylor Hunsaker 

Zone confernce pictures 

Elder Steed and I 

Elder James and I 

Elder Sharp and i 

Half of the mission i think 

Elder Bingham,Ackroyd,steed and me 

Elder Critchfield and I 

Elder Mortenson (fellow Riverhawk alumni)

and I with sister Howell and Elders Burke,Sharp and Austin

The zone of Iowa city 

Cruising around Iowa City featuring no voice and a cough

Monday: We went to Ottumwa to go help a member do some service it was great we were removing branches from the ground because of a storm. It was pretty great it was a great work out plus it's always great to give service even if it is on a p.day.  

Tuesday: I woke up and felt like trash and my voice was gone. So I rested and then we had a dinner with a member and I could not speak a word. Well then we went to try by the ambulance guys again and we met a new one from Cincinnati who is also a reds fan so I got talking to him about Cincinnati and asked him if he is a Bengals fan he looked at me and said no I am a Steelers fan. There were three Miracles in that 1. I was able to speak full volume for that whole lesson. 2. I was able to relate some experiences I had in Cincinnati with him.  And that we were able to meet with the ambulance guys.

Wednesday: We ended up going to a vegetarian place (shocker) and ate some decent food on the Mahaharishi campus. Then we made our way to the one and only Iowa City for exchanges with our zone leaders. I went with guy Elder Taylor and their area is not the YSA on campus but it it is right off campus so that was fun walking around and talking to people by campus. We met some members going to medical and dental school who flagged us down and talked to us. Shout out to a guy who I forgot his name but he asked me where I was from and I said Logan and found out he was a Aggie. So bottom line Aggies go on to do great things plus best school in the state of Utah no doubt.(true statement sorry friends that go to the school down south) We had some good conversations but nothing led to anyone being taught. Also our zone leaders drive a transit van so we drove to get dinner in it and it's a party.  Also if you where wondering my voice was still gone.

Thursday: We woke up shocker. The next shocker is my voice was still gone. But the good news is I got my backpack that I had been waiting to get because I accidentally left it in my last area and I finally got it. We then had some interviews funny story. Sister Sturm interviewed me first and didn't realize I was sick even tho I could barley talk. Elder Critchfield told her that i was sick and she was shocked i didn't tell her. The whole district has been plagued with this illness and it's just been hitting each one of us. The latest victim is Elder Taylor who got sick yesterday RIP. We also had some really good authentic Mexican food from a part member family.

Friday:  we went to go to a Mennonite grocery store to get super cheap groceries with some members and they fed us lunch then they took us. We only spent 8 dollars and got a lot of food. We then went and got cheese with them. Then we went and gave a less active family a blessing and that went super well. Then we went back to the Curtis family and they fed us dinner. Then we had a game night where about 25-30 people showed up! Plus some non members it was super fun and it was really a great turn out. 

Saturday: I still didn't have my voice and we went by Maryanne. Turns out her phone died and we hadn't been able to be in contact with her. But we stopped by and invited her to church. It was pretty great.

Sunday: Maryanne came to church and she seemed like she really enjoyed it plus we had a pot luck after which was super super good. 

Overall this week has been great other then my illness. But even with it definitely was a week of miracles. 

Love y'all 

Elder Caylor Hunsaker 

Bunch of University of Iowa stuff 

Old School

Monday: We were up in Iowa City and oh what a great time it was. We played some ball and saw our whole zone. It was great seeing everybody and being able to just relax is pretty nice. Shout out to the one and only Elder James what a stud. He is a future Aggie and is fun to hang around. We then drove back to our area and went to a dinner that was pretty crazy. Got to love crazy dinners tho. Then a miracle happened we had to go to Walmart for some reason. We had gotten all the stuff we needed and I got a prompting to go down this aisle and as we got there the prompting left. So we went to check out and then someone we had been trying to contact found us because they were checking out as well! Miracles happen I am so grateful for us being put into certain places for many reasons.

Tuesday: We went to the library to do our normal service.  We went and saw Corri and then went by some other people and then we went to dinner with a member.

Wednesday: I can't remember for the life of me what happened.

Thursday: We had district council and it w as a party we then played a card game called Bang on our lunch hour, which was fun. We then had a lesson with Corri where we talked to him about stopping smoking. We then had a lesson with Mary where she told us that she would be coming to church. She also got a new dog so that is cool. 

Friday: We took a young man out with us and no one was home. So we went to teach a recent convert the new member lessons just to find out that he is drinking tea and coffee again and he kind of acted like he didn't know the word of wisdom. But we will help him. We then ate dinner with the young mans family. We then went and had a ward board game night just a way we can get some non members in the building as well as get to know the members. It was a success we played UNO ,Skipbo and we ended up playing this game called secret Hitler and it is a super fun game.

Saturday: We had helped Mary clean out her basement and she gave us a mac from the 90s and told us if we didn't want it take it to goodwill. We then were in invited to go to lunch at this organic Thai vegetarian place . It was average. We then went by some more people. Then we had a dinner with another family and they are pretty wild they had a family wrestling match while we were there.

Sunday:  we went to church both Mary and Annette where at church. The talks were from temple missionaries from Navuoo about Temples . We then studied and had a dinner. It was pretty good food. I also got 60% Done with the Old Testamant. It truly has been a rewarding experience.  I have learned so much from the Old Testament and look forward to the last 40%!

Love y'all 

Elder Caylor Hunsaker 

1. Pic of me 

2. Day of the cyhawk game 

3. Throw backing to my Peoria days with Cat 

4. Elder James the man the myth the legend.

Boom flash three am

Monday: We had p day and it was pretty decent. Elder Hammer, Burke,Critchfield and I played. Some 2 v 2 football which was pretty fun . We then relaxed for the rest of the day.

Tuesday: I had the opportunity to go on an exchange with a new missionary named Elder Austin. It was cool seeing the greenie fire that these new missionaries have. We had a lesson with our guy Corri. We then got told we needed to change our ways and get off of his porch. As he yelled and said we were being mislead I testified of the Book of Mormon and said I was fine.  We then had dinner at Hyvee(Aka just a grocery store.) 

Wednesday:  I completely forgot about Wednesday so that is my bad.

Thursday: our mission has been undergoing some changes and one of them had to do with our music rule and now it has a more relaxed criteria. So that's nice.

Friday: We went to the town of Keosaqua and some members took us to get cheese at a creamery in the middle of nowhere and took us to a mennonite grocery store and everything there is pretty cheap and they have pretty great deals. We also went and helped some less actives out and they wanted to play skip bo with us after we helped them so we played some cards with them they definitely enjoyed us being around. 

Saturday: Well today I hit 19 months on my mission. It is crazy to think 19 months ago I stepped foot in the Provo Mtc and got a tag on my chest. We then went to ottumwa for a baptism. The whole ward was pretty much at the Byu Tennessee game so no one was there other then missionaries and our mission president and 3 members. There were a ton of new missionaries there and one of them kept asking me how it felt to be at 19 months. And to be completey honest it's crazy to think my time as a missionary is winding down. I have realized how fast it is winding  down. I look forward to giving this last little bit my all. We then went to this froyo shop and i wasn't gonna get any things but the owner loves missoonarys so I just got something. we then gave a guy a large copy of the Book Of Mormon. We had a very Fairfield experience talking to him.  We then went and tossed around a football for our dinner hour.

Sunday: Approximatly at three am Elder Critchfield and I were awoken by a flash of lighting and some loud thunder. We had a full fledged conversation about the weather at 3 am lol. It's funny cause that is the second time we both have been abruptly woken up in the middle of the night this week. We then went to church where they talked about temples and it was pretty great.  We then went and had a dinner appointment with 2 families and let me tell you it was a complete hoot.

Love y'all 

Elder Caylor Hunsaker 

1. Suit me with a football 

2. Repping the Redskins on opening Sunday.

3. Playing catch in the rain on Saturday night

Spicy Indian Food

Monday: it was our awkward Monday. So we emailed and then got moved a chair. Then we went and dug a 2 foot hole to bury a dead dog. It was super weird holding the dead dog if I am being completely awesome.

 Tuesday: We then sat around and waited to hear our fate. Well Elder Critchfield and I will be staying together in the land of Fairfield. So I am excited for that. We went to see our guy Corri and that went pretty well. We then went to a member families house and played some bored games with them and we were able to have a party.

Wednesday : Super Pday was a party. I got to play basketball and socialize with some of the coolest people in the mission. Shout out to Elder Madsen for chilling with me all day long.  We also remembered all the great times we had in Ankeny.But it was a pretty fun day. Elder Burke and I drove through the garbage Iowa city traffic to get to Wendy's tho and we made it just to be behind a Utah driver in the drive through.

Thursday:We had a few really great lessons our people are progressing.  Also congrats to Utah for beating BYU.

Friday: We helped Maryanne put poison on her dogs grave because they thought something had been digging it up. But in reality we think the top layer just got blew off by the wind. We then helped her do that and got acquainted with her neighbor Bob who is interested in us helping him do some yard work. He was a pretty good guy so we can not wait to potentially teach him. Elder Critchfield and I both feel like he could get baptized from our initial impression.Well I heard the news about the usu game and was pretty disappointed because they were winning the whole game. But I am a true fan and hopefully the can pull off a successful season. Hopefully wake forest is just really that good but we will see.

Saturday: We had a get to know you district Council.  But before then Elder Critchfield and I went to KFC and got some chicken tenders. Then we went to and hung out with members of the two district.  It was good seeing everyone. It was a fun time teasing each other and playing some fun games to get to know.  I then was convinced to go get some homemade ice cream. It was really really good it was also good getting to know the new missionaries even more plus the ones that we already knew . We also had dinner with a member and went over his own personal mission plan with him. He also made us some Indian food. He made it "not spicy" I mean it wasn't for the first few bites but after like 10 bites it was so spicy.

Sunday: We went to church and then we went and had a dinner and played some board games and monkey in the middle with a tennis balls and Rackets. It was a pretty fun because we all got super into it . Definitely something I have never done in my life to this point. 

My spiritual thought:

 I know I am super inconsistent with spiritual thoughts. But always remember to stay worthy of the blessings that our father in heaven wants to bestow upon us. Also side note this week I have been listening to hymns more regularly then I have been my whole mission. I have been listening more intently for the words of each hymn. I would encourage all of you to find two or three hymns and listen to them multiple times and ponder the message of the hymns. You will be blessed.

Love y'all 

Elder Caylor Hunsaker 

Loss week for our college teams but Jesus is always winning.

Us with our person being taught Maryanne

Picture of me with my thumbs up