September letters ~ Cartas de Septiembre 2012

Elder Hill with a GIGANTIC lemon!

Septiembre 24, 2012

Hey, 

Sounds like everything is going great. Keep up the goodness and you will all see the blessings of doing what is right. Tell Allie happy birthday. I´ll send a list for my CHRISTMAS package next week. So far I´m thinking dark chocolate orange, orange stick, dove dark choc, reeses, maybe brownies in a sealed ziplock..... they usually last three weeks... who knows though. That´s it so far. I´ll let you know next week if anything changes. Love you. Thanks for the prayers and taking care of Josh and Des. 

P. S. Thanks for the scripture. (He who overcomes will gain eternal life, avoid the second death, inherit the celestial kingdom, and rule many kingdoms… “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that ^aovercometh will I give to eat of the hidden^bmanna, and will give him a ^cwhite ^dstone, and in the stone a new^ename written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.” Rev 2:17)

I wouldn´t mind the New Jersey boot if you want. It would probably help with my orthotics so that my heel doesn´t get popped up too much. 42 is what I have now and they are tight, so I´m sure 43 would be perfect. I´ll send my box soon... promise! 

Love you. Thanks for your love and your support. Keep up the good work with Josh and Des, and Mike. 

pics- super gigantic lemon and a macro pic

¡Felíz Otoño! 

One hermano told us yesterday in his talk that yesterday was the first official day of Fall, but I don´t really know because I don´t have a calendar like at home that says "Fall Starts" or something like that. It´s pretty nice here because the weather is cooling off and it isn´t so hard to walk all day. The sun still burns, but it isn´t hot. Elder Clayton is finally adjusting to Mexico, which is interesting to relive. I didn´t get sick when I got here, but he sure has. Poor guy. But he is battling through it like a champ! Spanish is getting much better as well. All in all, he´s just great. 

This week has been really great as far as finding those "golden" investigators. We have been working in a village called Anaya that is the furthest point in our area. I only went there twice in three months, but I felt that there were people there waiting for us. We starting working there when Elder Clayton got here. The second week we found David, Nictehah, Hayna, and Adrian. They are a family that have gone from church to church looking for something that would help them get closer to God, progress, and fill their souls. They haven´t found anything so far, but they went to church yesterday and liked it! We will see them again today, but they´re great to work with. Also, Wendy is Flor´s sister (like Jose and Flor from a few months ago). Almost her whole family are members, but just lack her, her dad, and a sister that doesn´t live at home anymore. She also went to church. One day I asked her what she learned from the pamphlet about the restoration and she said, "...that I have to go to church to receive more blessings, read the scriptures, and pray.." The Spirit can teach a heart any concept if we are open to it. It´s really great to see how the Gospel changes lives. 

Something  I learned in Alma 1:29-31, ( 29 And now, because of the steadiness of the church they began to be exceedingly rich, having abundance of all things whatsoever they stood in need—an abundance of flocks and herds, and fatlings of every kind, and also abundance of grain, and of gold, and of silver, and of precious things, and abundance of silk and fine-twined linen, and all manner of good homely cloth.

 30 And thus, in their prosperous circumstances, they did not send away any who were naked, or that were hungry, or that were athirst, or that were sick, or that had not been nourished; and they did not set their hearts upon riches; therefore they were liberal to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, whether out of the church or in the church, having no respect to persons as to those who stood in need.

 31 And thus they did prosper and become far more wealthy than those who did not belong to their church.”) is that if we want to be "rich" we should be members of the one and only true Church. Not just rich in material, but spiritual also. Blessings come in many forms for doing what is right- which is doing what God wants us to do. Keep studying the scriptures and you will feel a power and knowledge come into your life. It´s great! 

Well, Mexico is going well. The days just keep flying by faster and faster as each day goes by. 

Love you all, 

Elder Hill 

Septiembre 17, 2012

Viva México! I Have Strep Throat, So Much For My Tonsillectomy! :(

Viva México! 

Yesterday was the Mexican Independence Day, and man was it crazy! Friday we went to the ward´s party that we had and it was cool. We had to leave right when they were getting started, but I´m sure it turned out great. They had a mariachi band, food, dancing, and games. By the way, their national anthem is SOOOOO long! Saturday night they had what is called "La Grita!" where they shout Viva Mexico like fifty times. We were at home trying to sleep, but it was pretty loud. I also had a flashback from being an EMT this week. We walked into a house to eat this week and there was the grandma with half of her face droopy and her eye couldn´t shut. I think I shouted because the hermana shouted back QUÉ!!!???? I was like, hermana! Your face! You´re having a stroke! Then her daughter are just like 'it´s no big deal Elder'. Don´t take for granted the ambulance system or the expensive healthcare.... it´s all worth it. 

YEA! Elder Hill with his contacts at Atlantes again!

Elders Hill & Clayton with zone at Atlantes, Tula

So, nobody came to church yesterday because all of the kids have to be in the parade in order to be in school, so all of the parents went to watch their kids. There were only about thirty people in church, and they slowly started leaking out with time. We are teaching Ireneo who lived in the US and married a member there. He has been reading the BOM for 8 years but still hasn´t been baptized. He is super faithful and kind. He has been humbled through his experiences, both physically and spiritually. he lives in a one room block house with a dirt floor. Also Gaby. She is an older lady that we are teaching in Anaya, a village in our area. She is cool because she tries to read and even came to church, but didn´t want to interrupt so she went home. I didn´t know that until she sent me the text message, but next week she´ll be there. Yoletzi is still doing well and will be baptized on the 30th. Edgar and Denise told us that they won´t be baptized to our religion because they will be disowned by the catholics.... oh well, maybe someday. 

Elder Hill, Elder Clayton and his zone at
Atlantes, Tula (ancient Jaredite ruins)

Elder Clayton and I are doing well and working hard. I´m still surprised at the things that he finds as new and amazing. It´s still pretty funny! 

Keep at it. Love you all. 

Elder Hill 

2 MATEO'S!! Elders Matthew Hill & Matthew Clayton

Septiembre 10, 2012

Bueno!

This week is week number one for Elder Matt Clayton from Henderson (Las Vegas), Nevada! I told him where my grandma lives and he´s like, 'Oh yeah, those streets!' So, I´m not sure if he really knew, but it was funny! Elder Taylor left and Elder Treviño left as well to other areas.

I´m seeing the mission through new eyes now. All the little things that I have gotten used to and are just normal now, are extremely astonishing to my companion. I am also realizing that the Lord prepares whom He calls because I didn´t really feel ready to train a new missionary, but it´s not so hard. The new things that have sparked a reaction are the following:

-All the dogs in the street

-Teaching real people who accept the invitation to read the B.of M. because they want to

-Stopping people in the street to talk to them about the Church

-Eating weird things (consumé- greasy soup with beans and veggies....and chicken legs)

-Mexican people who talk so fast you don´t catch anything they say

-Well, this one I´ll just say people are more open about their feelings here than at home

-Teaching a lesson in a van while going to another area and this person saying he´s been looking for answers the last few months

-Things the Spanish teachers teach them from other countries that NOBODY does or says here

-and the list will go on for a few more weeks! :)

I ate Dominos pizza at the training meeting on Monday-- Dominos for the first time in a long time. Everyone says that they get sick when they eat American food, but it was delicious and I didn´t get sick at all! The funniest thing that Elder Clayton told me when he got here was that he remembers reading my blog before he went to the MTC.

Also, my voice is cracking again. I think my voice is hitting stage two of "the changing phase". It´s kind of funny when I speak Spanish and words that are accented funny because my voice cracks and I turn red and try not to laugh because it´s super funny. Oh, the things that entertain a missionary!

Something neat that happened was yesterday. We got in a van to go to another village and a little after we got in, a man stopped the van to climb in. As I saw him through the window I felt like I had talked to him before or at least seen him. He got in and sat by me. After a few seconds I asked him if I knew him. He said no. I introduced myself to him, and him to me, and I  said that we were missionaries. Jesús is his name, and he said that he knew that we were missionaries. He had been investigating religions lately and read something about our Church, Joseph Smith, and the Book of Mormon. As about 20 minutes of our ride went on, I taught him the whole first lesson, explained the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith, and gave it to him. He is the first person that I have met that describes the scripture in D&C 123:12  that says the people are kept from the truth because they don´t know where to find it. He´s a chosen one- he´s ready to be baptized. We just need to be able to meet with him because his family doesn´t like other religions coming over, so that would be a problem.

We have other people to teach, but I´m out of time to tell you about them. None of our investigators went to church this week so it was a bit of a downer, but all will be well.

Gotta go. Love you all! Keep your chin up and congrats on the beginning of a new school year.... or just another month if you´re an old person.

Elder Hill

This is the Honeybee that stung my throat...Elder Hill rightly chastens below:

Hey peeps,

This week is a little bit of craziness, but let me share you just a little bit of what´s going on.

We continued teaching Paulino and his family. He said that he believes that the Book of Mormon is true but that he can´t just change his religion overnight after being catholic for 50 years. I think it is more of a pride thing because he can change, but he fears what others might say if he changes. He is a great guy and his family are great people. I have high hopes for them. He came to church yesterday and sat through testimony meeting which is a bit of a miracle. In 3 months he hasn´t come to church, but he did yesterday. He left after sacrament meeting because his granddaughter came to visit. I´ll take a miracle step by step if I have to!

Yoletzi is a part member family. She came to church, too. She has a baptismal date for the 16th, I think. She´s so going to get baptized.

We were looking for a family on Saturday and a lady comes out and stops us and tells us that her son, 16 yrs old, has been acting weird, having visions, screaming, and a whole bunch of other things. We went and talked to him and there was definitely a heavy feeling there, but not too overbearing. After trying to figure out what was going on, there was a point when we asked him if he knew us. He said yes, that we were the "intelligent eyes". There were several occasions when he looked me in the eye and I felt that I knew before this life, whatever spirit he has. Crazy. We left pretty soon because he was on drugs and we can´t do anything when he´s like that. After studying the scriptures and Jesus the Christ Sunday morning,  I realized just how parallel everything that was happening with us happened with Christ when he cast out demons. We went again yesterday and gave him a blessing, but he was still a little crazy. We told his dad to start praying every day so that his son would be healed. His dad accepted a baptismal date. On Tuesday we´ll go back to visit his family.

Treviño is now a Zone Leader in Queretaro and I get to train a new Elder from the United States of America! I still don´t know who because they are still in the airport and I´m in the offices waiting with the other trainers. I´ll let you know next week, if Hermana Call doesn´t send a picture this week.

Well, gotta go. Sounds like Josh is doing good. Tell him to keep up the good work. Congrats to Abel Chavez and your mission call! What a champ!

Keep your chin up and move forward!

Elder Hill

Mom’s FB post with the honeybee…(BEWARE OF LEAVING YOUR SODAS UNCOVERED IN SUMMER, the BEES LOVE them!! Funny today, miserable yesterday! Had a WICKED ride marathon @ Lagoon with Destiny Michelle, Jaxie Taylor, & Alex. We rode 16 times, 8 straight without even getting off! We walk down and Alex & I grab our drinks, take my Rockstar and guzzle it..Feel lump, then pain and sting! Ran to car and drank water, induced vomiting! VIOLA! A dang honeybee stung me and left stinger by epiglottis! HORRIBLY painful. Hours, benedryl, prilosec & zyrtec later, miserable. So to the ER I go!)

The honey bee is a sign that you should stop drinking Rockstars and caffeine and eat more natural fruits, vegetables, and grains. They will give you more long lasting and healthy sugar. After teaching the word of wisdom so long, I can only tell it how it is. The word of wisdom is principally to free our body from ADDICTIONS, not necessarily what the pamphlet just says. There is a scripture in Corinthians that says ´the letter killeth; the spirit enlighteneth´or something like that. Look it up. (2^nd Cor. 3:6 ~ Who also hath made us able ^aministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the^bspirit giveth life.)

(Latter-day Saints know that true doctrine comes by revelation from God, not by scholarship or worldly wisdom (see Moses 5:58). Similarly, the Apostle Paul wrote that we are not “sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God” (2 Corinthians 3:5). Rather than trusting in our own interpretations of written texts, we rely on God and the glorious “ministration of the spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:8). Here we encounter a new meaning of Paul’s familiar teaching that true believers are “ministers … of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life” (2 Corinthians 3:6).)

Steve told me about Abel. That´s cool. Tell him congratulations for me.

Gotta go.