Happy Valentines Day

Thank you Iowa and Illinois for taking such good care of Elder Caylor Hunsaker!!!! We love having him back home.

This is it!

Over the past 2 years I have had the greatest opportunity of my life. There have been plenty of times where I have been frustrated, sad. I can honestly say that those times are where I have grown the most. My mission has definitely taught me to have patience and to really depend on our Savior Jesus Christ and our father in heaven always. There are a few things I'll talk about and they each helped my mission so much.

The missionaries: I'll be the first one to admit when I got to the mission I was conviced I wouldn't gain lifelong friends. But I was quickly humbled so many of these fellow missionaries have become some of my best friends . I literally love so many of them. They have been awesome examples and yet while we were still having a party.

The people: The people in Illinois and Iowa are so nice and loving for the most part. I mean there is that part of illnois that they still want to chase you out off town haha but I guess that is what I get for knocking 20 minutes outside of Carthage. The members have been so awesome feeding us and getting to know us. The non members have been super kind so many of them have given us lemonade, water and substances with tea in them that we have to decline.  I have learned so much from all  of the people i have taught even if they did not get baptized.

What was missionary work like in Iowa and Illinois  Like (you might be wondering)? The beginning of my mission I knocked pretty much every day all day. Let me tell you it was hard work but i loved being out in that midwest heat sweating getting cussed out by all of these random people. Having old lady's with small dogs chasing you. Going on stake outs and watching the people you were supposed to have lessons leave 5 minutes before the lesson is supposed to start. Walking a ton. I was able to see 2 people enter the waters of baptism due to the act of knocking. So that is super awesome plus the countless seeds planted. I know I am super grateful when I reap a seed another missionary planted. The other part of my mission was working with part member families and helping members. 

Iowa and Illinois:  I love Iowa so much and yes even Illinois a little bit. I love that I was able to render service to the Lord on this sacred ground that my ancestors had to travel on to get to Utah. I am super grateful for Nauvoo. It is one of the most powerful places on this earth. It is so sacred and so many sacrifices and heartache was put into this city. I am also grateful for Carthage Jail. It is also one of the most important places. I loved going in Carthage jail and looking at the different perspectives of what all of these great men were thinking. It was super powerful just thinking about how my great great great great great grandfather John Taylor had to go through .

My testimony: I would like to testify to y'all that heavenly father is so aware of everything going on in our life. Alot of it is hard but I am so grateful to know everything is temporary. I know that Jesus Christ was crucified for our sins and shortcomings and he does live again and can help us get through every single trial that we have in our life. I know that Joseph Smith was the prophet of the restoration.  I know that the Book Of Mormon, Old and New Testaments ,Doctrine and Covenants and the pearl of great price are all true words of God. I know President Nelson is the prophet that God has called in this modern day .

 

 also for those of you that follow my weeklys super tender mercy my name tag was found in a snow bank.  Its scuffed up a little bit but the story is super dope. God does answer prayers and comforts us.

See some of you later this week!

Love y'all 

Elder Hunsaker 

Almost Two Years

So later this week I'll hit my two year mark of my mission soooo crazy.

Monday: Well we played this game called chair soccer and it was a fun time. It was good seeing the some friends.

Tuesday: It was the last meeting of my mission that isn't a district council. So that is so awesome. I am done with all these meetings so it is literally the greatest thing ever. But it was so good seeing some  Elders and seeing Sisters. It was such a swell time. It's also crazy because at the beginning of my time as a zone leader I knew way more people then I do now so that's pretty weird. Also on the way back home Elder Spears and I had this dope basketball talk that made me feel like I knew what was actually going on but.... it probably was just old information from a year ago.

Wednesday: We had a zone council so basically that consisted of zls and stls leading a council about what we talked about mlc. So that was great seeing the whole zone. I got to see my home boy Elder Stokes so that's always a great time.

Thursday: We went on exchanges and I went with the Elder Bensen and we had to track down some people in this apartment complex and the buildings just had letters so we walked around the whole complex it was pretty crazy. We also went and played some volleyball and as we were driving down the road the other side of the road was blocked off then we realized that the president of the United states was in town and then all a sudden all the state police suburbans start hauling and then some chargers started hauling and then we see this giant bus with lights on it and then the typical secret service vehicles. It was pretty funny cause it was just dead and then they go flying by. We then went and played some volleyball.

Friday: Elder Bensen and I went by some more people and they didn't answer or talk to us pretty typical. We had lunch and this Mexican restaurant with our district.

Saturday: We really didn't do anything cause we were both sick so that sucked but shout out to the Raccoon River Elders for the visit.

Sunday: We went to church and it was pretty good. Then we went home studied and then I finished the new testament so that's super cool I have finished the quad know so that's super super cool. Super glad I did it I know that all of these books contain so much good and testify of each other. We then had dinner with a family and they were legit the funniest. I talked about fried chicken and how I spent some time in Illinois on my mission and now they call me the fried chicken elder. Then we had come follow me and Sister Hart and sister Sumner gave a dang good lesson shout out.

Well this is my last normal weekly. Next week I'll probably do something special to be the last weekly of my mission so that's pretty crazy. 

Love y'all 

Elder Caylor Hunsaker 

Me with Hermanas Fieldan and Harper 

Me on the phone lol

Mlc pic 

Come follow me selfie with Sisters Hart and Sumner 

 Elder Kobe Bryant Cricthfield  and I 

Elder Walter's and I 

Elder Petey and I 

Hermana Torres 

RIP my name tag and Kobe

Monday: It was a casual p day all was well I got to play some basketball with @ElderLowell who is 6 7 and we were doing some basketball exercises so I had a broom and was trying to swat him and tried to block him on my own without a broom he is a really good  I also got to get to know the zone a little bit better and shout out to the homies. Then we had some dinner with a member family who has a 6 month old daughter who is just straight wild. 

Tuesday: we did some stuff nothing to eventful happened so I won't bore you. 

Wednesday: It was interviews so went to subway with our district to talk about some things yanna yanna. We also found out about that virus in china and how its killing people. Kind of sketchy. I also lost my pocket tag which I have had my whole mission so that was a fat bummer so I was bummed about it I looked everywhere for it hopefully I find it. But if not I still have one of my tags. I also realized that the name tag is just tangible but all the stuff I did in the name tag I can always still remember.  Also super funny I get into interviews with President Sturm and for the first half of the interview he is just talking to me about home.  I guess all I have to say is even my mission president is getting on the bandwagon of trunking me out.(making me excited to go home.)

Thursday: Thursdays are for the boys and today I went with a true one. Elder Lowell and i went on a exchange in his area which is all the perks of a city but you still got those poedunk towns. So we went and talked to people at the Winterset town square and we ended up going to a luncheon with their food pantry member and it was just a ton of old people but they where nice and one of them asked us where we were going to college and I said Utah State and her husband was straight up wearing a mountain west jacket. I latter found out their son is the deputy commissioner of the mountain west. Then Elder Lowell and I went and did some other stuff and found this bridge that the locals love but it wasn't anything special because we drove through Waukee to get home and their literally was the same bridge but just in a city. We also heard weird noises on the bridge it sounded like a wildcat or something but it wasn't on the top or the bottom so spooky.  We then finished our day off with a b dubs trip yuhh . To bad it was just women basketball playing but the food is always good.

Friday: We finished up our exchange and we ended up going and helping at a food pantry. You meet some different types of people so that is always interesting /cool . We then had a lesson with a member who didn't know where the church was and helped her learn more about temples and how to use gospel library. While I taught her Elder Butler Taught Her grandson about the restoration.  Plus he gave me a hug when I showed him the book of Mormon videos. 

Saturday: We went by some people dropped some bananas off at these twins house we are teaching and they are 9 years old so funny story. I asked them if they wanted bananas and they both said no. Then I asked again and one was like bananas make banana bread we will take them. It was way funny. Then we went and taught a less active member and his girlfriend and got to see how they were doing. It was way funny he was watching Forrest Gump as we talked and I got the tender mercies of seeing the part where Lt. Dan's history of his family members dying in war it was pretty funny. We also went by our guy Royal who is a less active member just due to health so we check up on him everyone in a while and his stories are just to funny. We then went to Texas roadhouse to celebrate elder Lowell's and elder Butler's  18th month mark. It was jammed packed. 

Sunday:Well we went to church and a speaker talked about Rudy and member missionary work so I really liked that talk priesthood was alright always can get weird really fast tho depending on who is teaching. Then we waited for like two hours to talk to the bishop which was a while but there was this three year old kid that was telling all about how he was bad in primary and then he got good in primary then got the glass fruit. Don't ask me why he was given glass fruit that is a mystery I still haven't figured out. But he told me that he was a big boy and knew what he was doing then he talked to me about his mom's phone and some game he can't play because its hers. It was so random but funny. Then we had dinner with the bishop and it went well. We then went and studied and then went to come follow me which got cut short because people where late then the police showed up and had to sweep the building due to some threats. While we were leaving the church after the bishops meeting a good mission buddy who is home sent me a message that Kobe died and I thought it was just a joke. Then we got back to our apartment then my mom sent me an email about it so RIP Kobe.

You only have 2 more of these to read! 

Love y'all 

Elder Caylor Hunsaker 

Pics to come later today

Cold Blizzard

Monday: p day was lame no one showed up till late. But it was good emailing people and talking to my family shoutout.

Tuesday: I am doing this thing called my plan which is basically what missionaries do in their last 6 weeks and it actually has been good and not cringy like I thought it would be. We then did some stuff and then had dinner at this bbq called Jethros and then and went and played some ball with some non members and members it was super fun.

Wednesday: I got to go on a exchange with Elder Barnes and he is just a fun dude. We started out the day went by some folks who weren't home. Then we came back for lunch and then maas 360 a program on our phones deleted most of our apps so we couldn't do missionary work so we went to b dubs and then we took his district leader prep at the library.  We then had dinner with a super fun family in the Waukee ward. It was a good old great time. We then went and got beverages and then we drove back and I got to talk with Elder Thomas and Elder Barnes some more.

Thursday: Elder Lowell Gave a super dang good district council and then we had a district lunch. Where one of my songs that I recorded in Pontiac came back into existence so now my whole zone is listening to me singing hey there delilah in my cringy singing voice.  Then we went and gave some sisters a blessing and then we made the decision to drive down to Iowa city because a snow storm was supposed to hit early Friday morning and we didnt want to chance it. So we all met up there 5 of us that drove down and we had a good old time.  Shoutout to the aps for saying that we were staying with them that turned into staying with Iowa City ZLS, which turned into us getting sent to the Iowa city YSA's apartment at like 11:20. But it was fun I loved hanging with Lowell and Barnes it was a good time.

Friday: We had a meeting that took forever and basically told us how we need to increase baptisms in our mission and how we need to keep each other more accountable etc. It was a long meeting and while we were there was a blizzard just wrecking havoc  as we had the meeting. I got to see some of my buds from the mission one last time because it had all the leadership there. Seeing the missionary I trained Elder Anderson was pretty awesome and seeing some past comps as well was a great Time. Story time so we drove back and the roads were super super bad. But we were told to drive back so we drove back . It was pretty sketchy then we had dinner at this Brazilian restaurant and it is literally the best. All of the meat is just so tasty.

Saturday: We had a lesson/ got to know a less active lady who wants her family to learn more about the church. So that is super super exciting we are excited. It also was super super cold. So weren't able to do much.

Sunday: Our church ended up being cancelled. So we ended up going to the Racoon River ward with some other missionaries and it was one of the best sacrament meetings I have been to in a long time.  We then had lunch with a member from that ward and they fed us ribs so that was super yummy. We then went and taught these two old ladies a come follow me lesson. Then we had dinner with a young family in our ward. Then we had a come follow me time which was super good.

Love y'all 

Elder Caylor Hunsaker 

Pics

Critchfield and I 

Steed and i 

Beals and i 

The Pontiac guitarist and i 

The Elder I trained and I 

Barnes Lowell Critchfield me and Sister Torres. X 2

The whole leadership pretty much except for some trainers

The Fan Club

Monday:It was p day we got to hangout and get some good information about each other. Then that night my family ordered My companion and I and some elders we were on a exchange with pizza so shout out to the best parents ever. While on the mini exchange. I went with Elder Stokes and for you guys that don't know or remember Elder Stokes. He is literally the coolest so we went and talked to some less actives and got some low key return appointments so hopefully those go through. Funny story we took a wrong turn and wound up in a Chevy dealership and a salesman tried to Sell us a car it was funny but when he asked which car we were checking out instead of saying we took a wrong turn we told him we were checking the Corvette out. You had to be there cause it was way funnier then I'll put in this email.

Tuesday: It was my last zone conference ever. I had went through 18 of these things and some of em where good some of em where just way long. But we do this thing called departing testimony's and since it was my last transfer I was able to give mine. I talked about my experience in Iowa and Illinois and joked a little bit up there and had everyone laughing so it was good. It also made me realize how much my mission has meant to me.  After the meeting like 50 people wanted to take pictures with me so I guess I am a celebrity now. We then went to red robin and it was some good food with some good people.

Wednesday: We went and blessed some sisters apartment. Yeah haha after Fairfield it's kind of just been a normal thing to go help missionaries with some problems.  We then went by some people and found out that like all the people we went by had moved. We then had dinner with a family that likes history and football so it was a great mix of all the fun stuff. We then had missionary correlation meeting so that was pretty usual.

Thursday:  We did some service at the food pantry and we helped some people out so that was pretty fun. We then went to the boonies of the area and then found out some members had passed away and some were just cranky to see our face with those pretty black name tags.

Friday: It snowed and I have never seen the roads so bad in Iowa If I am being honest with you. So we went and helped a family move in so that was fun. We then had a lunch with them. We then went to a lunch apartment and then drove back to the apartment to go weekly plan and I did some of this thing called my Plan which is for missionaries going home so that put me in another reflective state. We then ate dinner with the raccoon river elders and boy do I love those two studs.They are way cool and we tried to cook porks but their oven is dumb so we burnt them and then walked to Casey's in the snow it was so fun. Elder Lowell and I were joking about world war 3 to so it made the night way fun.On the way back instead of going through a yellow light I stopped lol and it was on a snowy hill and we are in this little tiny red corolla that doesn't go up snowy hills. So I had my pedal to the medal and we finally made it up the hill after like 3 minutes of trying to get up the hill and being passed by a person or two haha. 

Saturday: We went and shoveled a less actives sidewalk and then they invited us in to play some board games with them. We then went and had dinner with Brother Flindt and he has one of the biggest testimony's I have ever seen. We then showed a family the Christ child who are not members and they are the coolest I hope that we get to go back because they have a testimony in Jesus Christ and would be such good members of the church.

Sunday: We had church it was great a new member threw down and I loved every second of it haha. We then went and got some info for stake coordination and so then we had like 2 stake meetings that we had to go to then we had dinner with a family with some young kids so that was pretty fun.

Love y'all 

Elder Caylor Hunsaker 

Pictures:

Sister Jeppson and I 

Hermana Lynn and I 

The cuz and I 

Elder Benson and I 

Sister Johnson and I 

Sister Hart and I 

Sister Hart and I attempting to make a bull with our hands #aggies #outofheloop

Elder Stokes and I 

Sister Sumner and I 

The future NBA player Elder Lowell  and I