June 23, 2018 in Ellsworth, Maine

Hola!

What a fun week this has been! It was soooooo busy!

So, we had to do the 4 hour drive down to Manchester for the court case. The court case made me frustrated, but at least it’s all over now. I thought about writing out my big story and complaint, but decided no one wants to hear that kind of negativity, so I’ll summarize by saying that I’m fine and it won’t go on my record or anything, I learned a lot about court and people, and the church only paid part of what the guy wanted. 👍

The rest of the week was awesome though! Being back in Exeter for a few days while we waited for transfers was AWESOME! I love the people there. :)

It was sad to see Elder Lockwood go, but I’m excited to see what he does. He’s down in Lawrence speaking Spanish now and I know he’ll do super well!

We then headed back up to Ellsworth, and I have 2 new companions! Elder Anderson (from Springville Utah, been out for 18 months) and Elder Sika (from Missouri, been out 15 months). We helped out with the Bucksport Bay Festival this weekend and had a great time! It was great getting to serve there, and we also had a booth where we did the Book of Mormon experience.

Sunday we celebrated Pioneer Day as "Ellsward" and all dressed up like pioneers for church!

Ward lunch after church

It’s been such a busy week, so I’m excited to see all our people again now!

Y’all need Jesus. Prayer works.
Love,
Elder Branch

April 17, 2017 Transferred to Newport Maine where we got to be the Easter Bunny =D

Hello everyone!!!! :)

Sorry I didn't get to send an email last week! I found out I was getting transferred and then the next few days were a blur! The ward was so nice and after we found out Saturday night around 7 that I was leaving, they threw together a party and all went out and bought food that night and we had a great big dinner and party at the church the next day! It was one of the sweetest things ever, I sure love the people in Exeter! ❤️ We had 4 tables of food and at the beginning they had me come up and they said all this nice stuff about me and had me give the prayer. I'm sure I was blushing, it was so sweet, it was basically like having a second mission farewell! :) I got to see a bunch of awesome members of the ward and it was so great to get to say goodbye! :)

We had a ton of people who wanted us over to say bye and so we ended up visiting people all day P-day! Haha, we taught like 5 lessons, visited lots of other people, and had 2 dinners and I never got to email! It was so wild but fun! :)

Man, SOOOOO much has happened in the last two weeks and I don't have a bunch more time, so I will have to summarize a LOT!

So, I am in Newport Maine now serving with Elder C. He is super cool! He has 4 months left on his mission. We are the Zone Leaders for the Bangor West Zone. We're in a branch here in Newport and they LOVE to feed us! We have someone who's calling it is to arrange meals for us, so we are fed every night, and sometimes twice! HAHA, it is wild! :) We live in a mobile home, and are, as a paper in the mobile home says, "High class trailer trash" haha! :) Also, life as a Zone Leader is crazy, we have to drive crazy far distances and have so much we have to do, so we have only had time for 1 morning workout so far, and won't have time for another one till Thursday!! HAHA :) We get to drive a Jeep Compass which is pretty sweet! The roads here are insanely bad and it is super dusty and spread out. I feel like my moms wish of me going to the middle of nowhere in Montana has come true! ;) It is super cool though, we still found a ton of new investigators this week and teach a lot! Honestly if you take every chance to talk to people as a missionary and are happy, you won't need to go tracking all the time, you will have plenty of people to teach! Just be happy and have fun!!!! :)

Last week in Exeter was super awesome too! We found a bunch of cool people and taught some super promising investigators! Exeter is an awesome place! :)

I'm so happy and I love being a missionary! It is cool to get to be a Zone Leader and to get to help the other missionaries! There is a lot to do, but I know we can do it with the Lords help!

I just want to say in closing to all you who are thinking about or preparing for missions, or who aren't and should be. Going on a mission is the best thing I have ever done. Missions are such an incredible experience! If you go into a mission ready to be obedient, work super hard, and love the people, you will have the best time of your life. We had a crazy spiritual lesson with a family who is really struggling last night. We just had the feeling to go over there and we followed it. It turned out that they were definitely in need of help. We were able to have an incredible lesson with lots of crying and love and completely filled with the spirit. After walking outside from the lesson into the pouring rain, feeling sorry for what they were going through, but totally blown away by the spirit of the Lord and the peace it brings, I couldn't help just saying a prayer of thanks in my heart for the opportunity to be serving the Lord.

I know the Lord loves us all and is so aware of us! I know that if you pray to God, repenting daily, and ask him for help and to know if he loves you, you will receive an answer! :)

Sure love you all!
Elder Hunter Branch :)

Saying goodbye to the awesome people in Exeter

(This is the only pic that caught the awesome Matt!)

Transfer Meeting

In Newport, we got asked to wear the Easter bunny suit 

at the community Easter Egg Hunt. 

While Elder C., the rabbit man, would take pictures with the families 

I got to talk with them! 

I was able to get us return appointments with two families for this week!

Me as the Easter Bunny