Feb. 13, 2017 in Exeter, New Hampshire

Hey Pals!

We ended up shoveling a few people out today during P-day time and have only emailed for 30 min and we have a dinner appointment so I'll get back on later tonight and finish my emailing time! :) Love you guys!!!! ❤️

We're at the M.'s house finishing emailing now! The M.'s are a super cool young couple from Austria and Germany! :) I'm sending a picture of a painting by Brother M.

It has been a wild and good week, just like most are and we're doing pretty swell! :) I am loving it, it is great!! It is hard when sad stuff happens but great when good things do! :) We have had some big storms and are supposed to get a few more so that is pretty sweet! Nothing better than brushing a foot or two of snow off your car and shoveling all around it! ;) We have been able to help lots of other people as well which is pretty sweet!! :) We started teaching a guy named P. who we found through shoveling and we have two others who we want to go back and start teaching!

J. is doing great! She and L. had a crazy week with the snow since he is a taxi driver, but she's doing well! C. is good too, life is still stressful but good! We have become really good friends with and are teaching a lady named S. and her daughter E., who we met through M. We also are teaching a lady named D. and her 2 kids, J. and R., and we hope they will set baptismal dates this week! :)

It is crazy that we are already on our 5th week of this transfer! We have exchanges with the Derry Elders and the Assistants this week so we are excited, and there is a ward party on Saturday! :)

So today we shoveled for this guy named P. and we called him to let him know we were done. We had talked about teaching him before but he was busy, so today Elder Morris said, "Hey, would there be a time that we could come back and teach you a lesson?" P. joking said, "What, you want to teach me a lesson, what are you gonna do, beat me up?" Haha, it was really funny! :)

Sure love you all!!! :)
Elder Hunter Branch

Feb. 8, 2017 in Exeter, New Hampshire and the Boston Temple

Hey Pals!

It has been the WILDEST week and a half!!! I have like no time so I'll have to send a long one next week, but to give a quick recap:

We got asked if we could get someone a Dime bag ($10 worth of pot), got hit on by a lady a few times our age at an investigators Super Bowl party (we also picked up an investigator at it though which was sweet), had 4 people come to sacrament meeting, had five new people start learning from us, N. and C. came back!, J. read all the way to Jacob in the Book of Mormon!, went to the Boston Temple with M., had some sweet exchanges, went to the place where Joseph Smith was born for New Missionary and Trainers meeting, got too much snow and ice rain and had to sleep in Bedford with no change of clothes, and just had an INSANE but AWESOME week!! :)

Sorry I have like no time, I'll try to write more next week!

Love you all!!!
Elder Branch :)

Boston Temple

on our preparation day

Exchanges with the Zone Leaders

At Sharon Vermont, the birthplace of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 

for New Missionary and Trainers Meeting

Object lesson at New Missionary Trainer Meeting

Thanks to the wonderful Senior Missionaries for the photos!

Jan. 30, 2017 in Exeter, New Hampshire

Hey all!!!! :)

I am doing pretty swelllllll! This was a good week!! :) I had Mission Leader Training on Tuesday which was really fun, then we had a *drumrolll*.... MISSIONARY WORLDWIDE BROADCAST on Wednesday! It was pretty neat! They changed the schedule (which they told us in my mission about a month ago for all those in leadership, so we have been living that already) and they changed the key indicators (which we hadn't heard about)! It was super cool and they shared lots of sweet stuff! :)

T. is doing well! We saw him at Subway this week which was way cool!! :) He seems to be doing better, he had broke his foot, but he has a boot now! Ya, we gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon and he had been going to start reading it but hadn't when we last went by, that is awesome it sounds like he has started reading! :)

J. has been okay, Elder M. saw her while I was at Mission Leader Training this week, but then she has been really sick the rest of the week. :( C. sadly we STILL haven't heard from! It is really sad, we hope she is okay!!! We did start teaching two other people in her apartment building this week though! C. is well too. We saw him twice this week and he is going to need to move his baptismal date back because he will be moving (still in our area), but needs to focus on that and keep learning. He said he would come to church, but then didn't come again which was super bummer!! We are gonna go visit him again soon though.

Mission Leader Training was soooo cool and fun! It was cool to see all these other missionaries who are super cool and pumped about missionary work and to get to learn with them! :) Elder C. is a District Leader now so I got to see him there as well as a bunch of the other Elders who I have meet who trained people from my flight group so that was fun! :) We learned a TON and I am excited to keep working on improving!

We have been using the GPS a TON, thanks for sending it to me! We would be in trouble without it.

So last week I had been going to say that this transfer is going to be crazy because we have still to come: zone conference, zone interviews, new missionary and trainers meeting, exchanges with the Assistants (they want to go on exchanges so that will be fun!!) exchanges with the Zone Leaders, and two exchanges with the Derry Elders! We also have district p-day and we're going to try to go to the temple with M. for a p-day as well, so it will be a WILD transfer, we're so excited! ;)
 
So this week we were able to have one of the coolest lessons of my mission! Elder M. and I went and visited this way cool guy who Elder C. and I found Christmas Tracting (idk if I ever mentioned that. Basically for Christmas tracting you would just knock doors of people who had cool Christmas lights and talk with them about Christmas. Usually people who put up cool lights are way nicer that the average joe). This guy is named M. and he is super neat! Elder M. and I went and talked with him and he were able to teach and testify of the restoration and the Atonment of Jesus Christ. It was SOOOO powerful and incredible! :) We are going to go see him with Brother L. tomorrow night!

Hope you are all doing well!! Oh, one last cool thing is that Elder M. and I along with a few other guys are going to be singing Brightly Beams Our Fathers Mercy this week at zone conference, it should be way cool!! :)

Love you!
Elder Hunter Branch :)

Our District

Elder C. at Mission Leader Training

He has a goal to never smile in a picture. 

I have one of him smiling though at Christmas time

 - he said I'm supposed to delete it.   ;)

Jan. 23, 2017 in Exeter, New Hampshire

Hey everyone!!

This was a great week! It started out and, as most of you know I think, I am training Elder M., whose dad was trained by my dad on their mission back in Belgium and France!! It is super cool and way exciting! We are having a great time together!

This week was pretty good, we were able to teach and find which was cool!! :)   C. has been having a really hard time and we didn't heard from her AT ALL this week!! 😦 We are praying for her and hope we'll get in contact with her soon! We taught C. Saturday night and he said he was coming to church, and then he wasn't there!!! We have an appointment with him Wednesday night, but we're going to stop by tonight and just see how he is. He is doing really well though, he had been really sick the last few weeks and was just getting over it, so we're glad he is feeling better! J. is still doing well as well!

We had a few awesome experiences this week that I want to share! So one night Elder M. and I were at Taco Bell for dinner, because that is the best, and we started talking with one of the workers. She was sweeping the floor and putting the chairs on the tables because they were getting ready to close. We just started chatting with her as she was cleaning and eventually our conversation led to the Gospel. We were able to invite her to learn more and she was really excited! We got each others numbers and we are going to go meet this week later on! :) It is cool how there are always opportunities as we are just fun and friendly! :)

We play basketball every Saturday morning at our church building with a bunch of guys, most of who are not members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. This last week Elder M. and I were able to give one of the really fun and cool guys we play with who we call The Tree, cause he is huge, a copy of the Book of Mormon and he was totally down for reading it and talking about it next week! Those were two of the fun but not typical "missionary" ways to do missionary work that we had this week.

Love,
Elder Branch :)

Elder M. (the Dad) found this picture of the Theer Family 

from their days in France and Belgium.

Jan. 16, 2017 in Exeter, New Hampshire with a new companion - generation 2 of Elders Morris-Branch

Hey everyone!!! :) 

I hope you are having a great day!!!

So J. is pretty great! We have been talking with her and we will need to move her baptismal date back a bit cause she has some stuff to do, but we are all pumped for that! :)

C. has had a hard week which is too bad, but we're hoping things are better this week. She is way awesome and we keep praying for her and know that things will get better. :)

C. is well too. Elder D. and I went and saw him on exchanges on Monday and we had a good time and he said he was gonna come to church again this week but then he didn't! Because of how the week is going and set plans, we won't be able to go over and see him till Wednesday!

We didn't get to do much finding this week, but we did get to see a few people who we hadn't in several weeks which was nice! :)

I wanted to say, thanks SOOOOOOOOO much everyone for the gifts and cards at Christmas!!!!! It was so touching and I LOVED hearing from you and I am so grateful for all the love! :)

So as many of you heard, I am STAYING in Exeter!!!!! :) I was so happy to hear that! Sadly Elder C. will be leaving to Manchester to be a District Leader in a trio, but I'm glad I got to serve with that stud! :) I will be staying District Leader and I am going to train 🚂!!!! I don't know who yet but I'll find out tomorrow morning! :)

So, story time for this week, I rode a pink sparkle bike a mile and a half down downtown Exeter... J. had a little bike that she isn't using anymore and M. has a neighbor who we are pals with and she has a young daughter. J. said we could take the bike to her, but it wouldn't fit in M.'s or our car! Soooo, next most logical option, have Elder Branch ride it the mile and a half back to M.'s apartment in the rain! M. and Elder C. drove the car and I rode the bike, which ended up having a leaking back tire, so by the time I got there the tire was just about flat! The bike was small so I had to stand up and ride it the whole way which was pretty crazy and tiring, and way fun!!!! ;) It was probably a sight to see, but it was definitely a good experience. 8 out of 10, would recommend in warmer weather. ;)

Hope you all have a FANTASTIC week, please keep me and my trainee in
your prayers, and love ya all! :)
Elder Hunter Branch :)

Last p-day with Elder C.

J.'s pink sparkle bike

M. sent this picture of Elder Branch and Elder Morris as new companions! 

Generation Two of Elders Morris - Branch!!

Branch-Morris Companionship Video from Sister Blair

Jan. 9, 2017 in Exeter, New Hampshire

Hey family and friends!

First of all, I'm SOOOOOO sorry my last few emails have been nonexistent/small!

I am doing well!! This has been a great, hard, and miraculous transfer! Being District Leader has really stretched me more than anything before and I'm still working on trying to do all I can.

We currently have 3 people who have set baptismal dates here in Exeter!! The ward members are so excited and so are we! There is so much good happening right now and I hope I stay! Transfers will be next Tuesday so we find out this Saturday what will happen. I bore my testimony this week and talked about how there are "Good things to come". I shared the story found in the Mormon Message "Good things to come." I have come to LOVE this ward, the town of Exeter, and all the good people here that I have met and taught.

Mormon Message: Good Things to Come

So, we have J. who I have talked about before. Her date to receive the ordinance of baptism is March 18th. C., a really cool guy who has been coming to church with us the last few weeks has a date for February 25th, and a lady named C. who we met a week or two ago is going to be baptized on February 4th!

So with C. I want to share her story. We were contacting people for a holiday food drive that the ward was doing. The people needed to be at their homes at a certain time so we could drop the food off for them, and while trying to confirm all of those, there were several who wouldn't respond to phone messages, so we were asked to go confirm with these people. After talking to one of them, we saw a lady who had lots of things she was trying to carry into the apartment. We asked her if we could help and she was really thankful! That was C. She is in her 30's and has lots of health problems, but she is really nice and cool! We shared a Christmas message with her and set a date to come back. Fast forward a week and we have gotten to meet with her a time or two. We invited her to church and she was kinda hesitant, so we asked if we could do a church tour with her that night. She really liked the building and it was good to show to her. I had a feeling to invite her to be baptized while we were there at the building, and she said that she might, but she wasn't sure yet. That night M.B., a member of the ward, drove her home and they stopped for pizza on the way. As they talked during dinner he told her about all the ways the church and Jesus Christ had blessed his life since being baptized a few years back. That really touched her, and the next morning at 9am she called us and set a baptismal date for February 4th! :) It was such a cool experience! We have the Elders from the Derry area here today and Elder D. and I will be meeting with C. again tonight! :)

So there is a lot more, but I am out of time, so I will talk to you all next week! LOVE YOU ALLLLLL! :)
Elder Hunter Branch

Jan. 2, 2017 in Exeter, New Hampshire

Hey pals!!! :)

The people that texted you those pictures live in the Derry ward, but they are super cool and nice! I've only met them at Jeanie's baptism and last P-day, but they are neat!! :)

J. has sadly been sick all week, but we started going to her house and bringing chairs into her room and teaching her!! It was pretty awesome!! :)

C. is still doing really well too! He came to church again and really liked it! Elder C. and I spoke this week which was really cool! C. is having some hard stuff going on right now but he is doing really well and is loving the gospel! :)

We met two people named C. and N. this week and they are awesome!!! They have been taught before by the assistants in Manchester a few years ago, before moving to Seabrook. They are having a really hard time in Seabrook but hope to move soon.

Sorry guys, I'm out of time, but I have lots of pictures for next week! 

Love you all and happy new year!

Elder Branch

(Note from mom...)

Hunter didn't mean for this next part to go in the blog. Sorry handsome, I just love it too much, had to include it. What a kind-hearted guy ;) 

Hey mom, could you send 2 more of the red/coral ties that you sent to me a few months ago? C. LOVES it, and he wants to get one! He had a really hard time when the missionaries he'd know before got transferred, and it would be a nice thing to do to get him a tie so whether I'm transferred or not, he feels really loved! The reason for the other would be for Elder C., then we all three could have matching ties, and that would be sweet! ;) I can pay for them if needed. It is the reddish/coral colored one with little whitish dots. 

I think it was off tie-coon. 

Thanks so much, sorry I have been horrible at writing!! :(  I'll try to do better!