Oct. 25, 2017 in Manchester, New Hampshire

Hello everyone and happy Monday!!

This week we had the meeting with the new missionaries which you saw since we had to email late last week. The coolest part of that was the fireside at the end that we really had around a campfire! Last year there were a few more new missionaries so the Assistants to the President did most of the talking, but since we had a couple less, we decided to give everyone a part! They all either taught, prayed, shared a story, sang, or bore testimony. It was so cool and President Blair loved it! It will hopefully stay a memorable experience! :)

This week we got to work! Sad news is that N. who was progressing really well blocked us on Facebook randomly one day and we haven't hear from him since. That's how it goes sometimes though. We started teaching 11 new people this week, had a few new people come to church, and probably the best thing, we had A. at church! She was baptized a little before I got here and hasn't been able to come except for once. This week we celebrated Brother and Sister D. (they are from Nepal) with her and the family, and then she came to church on Sunday! :) It was the coolest feeling sitting in Church, M. who just got baptized sat in front of me, one of the awesome people we are teaching was to my left, A. was on my right, another Recent Convert (D.) who we visit a lot was next to A., and P. (a returned member) was next to her! Missionary work is so powerful and changes people! :) We had a special service about missionary work on Sunday. Elder Petersen spoke, as well as our Ward Mission Leader and Assistant WML. Elder Ricks and I got to sing "Called to Serve" and added a special third verse that we sing in our mission that goes:
"Called to Serve the people of New England,
With the Gospel of our loving God,
Teaching, preaching unto true repentance,
Holding to the Iron rod"

I sure love being a missionary and am so grateful for the missionaries a long time ago who taught my family! There is power in the Book of Mormon! A man we are teaching really wants to find historical proof that the Book of Mormon existed. We shared the talk from this last Conference by Tad R. Callister, and I love the story he shares. He tells of a friend who left the Church, and years later decided to investigate again. He can't get past trying to see if there is historical evidence of the Book of Mormon for a while to build his testimony. It is only after he begins reading the Book of Mormon that he learned that it's true. At last his 3.5 year investigation of the Church ended and he was baptized, all because he finally took a step of faith and read! How powerful that is!

Love you all, go read the Book of Mormon! :)
Elder Branch

Sunday late night dance party on parking garage 

after putting in mission numbers and updating all info

Mar. 6, 2017 A horrid week of sickness

Hey family!

I am better! It was horrid, we went out and worked everyday though, I think I only rested for an extra 2 hours on the second day. It probably wasn't a very good idea for that whole getting better thing we're supposed to do, but if you rest cause you're sick as a missionary you basically feel disobedient and lazy and like you just need more faith, so I didn't rest. Haha ;) But on day five of eating very little and being sick I called the mission nurse and she told me some specific meds to get and foods (hence the charge on my home card) and I got better the next day. :) Thanks for all you guys do, I sure love ya all! :)

I love what you did with my... Z.'s room!! :) It looks so cool! :) I'm thinking if I get a pillow like Z.'s mission pillow all it will say is EXETER and NEW HAMPSHIRE! ;) 

The ward is joking about how they paid the President off to keep me here my whole mission, and how they are going to change my call to the "Exeter New Hampshire Mission". ;) It is crazy how much I have grown to love the ward, and how much they love us! :) It is wonderful, it makes me start to cry to think about leaving here! :)

Well, I hope you all know I love you SOOOOOOO much, and that I miss you a TONNNNNNN! I am so terrified to think my mission is already 1/4th the way over and that I'll have to go back home someday, but also so excited for that time when I'll get to see you all and all my other friends again! I have already learned so much and am so excited to keep learning! Thanks Dad for your cool insights!! I love hearing about what you are learning, and thank you so much Mom for keeping me up to date on what is going on with the family and others! :) Thanks also for sending me pictures, I look forward to those each week! :) Know that you are doing so much and helping so many people. Like I had said before, I think in a letter to E., I sure love you mom and dad and thanks for all you do and did to help us kids. As I've seen so many different families and talked with companions, us kids were SOOOOO blessed to have to as parents, and I hope I can be even half as great as you guys are!  <3

Sure love you too Z. and E.!!! I'm glad you're doing well with school E.! I still think back a bunch to all the fun things we did and how close we got, especially that last year! :) I miss going to Taco Time to go get food with you, those were some of my favorite memories! :) Also when we got banned from going to Walmart by mom and dad cause we almost knocked over the bagels when I was pushing you on the cart (which was still a bad idea and we shouldn't have done it)... it was still pretty dang funny!!!   :)

And Z., I hope you know I sure love ya and I think about what it must have been like for you on your mission all the time! There is so much that happens that I learn and experience and I hardly get to tell you all about any of it, and I'm stoked for when I get home and can learn more about your mission. I sure respect the heck out of ya for serving and I have always been grateful for your example. :)

Sure love you all SOOOO much!

Elder Hunter Branch :)