SMILE!!! sonreír

Sorry, I have NO time to write today. We spent like four and a half hours washing our clothes today because we don´t have anyone around to use a good washing machine. We walk like a mile or two to use someone´s machine but then we have to pull buckets of water out of a tank to fill the machine to wash, then wait, and fill it again to rinse, then hang it and do it for a total of 4 loads. Takes forever.

I put smile because in 2 Nephi 9:39 it talks about being spiritually minded. Spirtually Minded Is Life Eternal. I was thinking about it and it isn´t coincidence that it comes out like that. To really be focused on the spiritual things is what really makes us happy, or SMILE. Little things that God does to make the life better.... it´s amazing.

Silvia is an investigator that has been going to church for months and knows a member and really likes it all but hasn´t wanted to get baptized. We showed up to our appt on Tuesday and we started talking. She starts saying that she wants to buy her own scriptures and everything and then asks about the burning in the bosom thing. We explain it and then she told us why. Last week in the English class we talked baout how to bear your testimony in English. She kind of did it in the class but never said that "I believe this church is true" phrase. She just talked about prayer and general things. I left them the homework to translate their testimony and while she was translating her testimony into Englsih, she said that she felt the burning in the bosom and knew that the church was true. She talked to her mom about getting baptized and just told us that she´s waiting on her mom to be able to put the date, so that her mom can attend. It was really cool.

I did exchanges this week and while I was on exchanges, Elder Lamping and Elder Bautista taught Bety. She´s going to get baptized on October 12th, that is if her baby isn´t born before. She has been feeling a little sick lately and they gave her a blessing. When they finished giving the blessing she looked around and asked, "How many hands were on my head?" and they respond that just four. However, she responded saying that she felt more hands on her head and somebody with their hands on her shoulders, too. It was a pretty neat experience and she says that she´ll never forget it.

Yesterday we got called over to a group of drunk guys while we were walking. It happens a lot when one of them just wants to speak english. So, this guy just asked us if we wanted to drink, and of course we said no, but that we were looking for people to be taught. He replied, "I´m too drunk to be teached, but maybe next week!" I wanted to reply to him, "Maybe your just too drinked to be taught!" and see if he noticed, but I thought I´d better not. :) Where would the comedy come from without drunk people?

Anyway, love you all but I gotta go. No time left. We hope to find somehwere wlse to wash this week, but we´ll see about that.

Loves!

Elder Hill

Llamado a servir ~ Called to Serve! I Hope They Call me On a Mission, I am A Child of God y Sisters in Zion!

Gordon B. Hinckley: I love the youth of the Church. I have said again and again that I think we have never had a better generation than this. How grateful I am for your integrity, for your ambition to train your minds and your hands to do good work, for your love of the word of the Lord, and for your desire to walk in paths of virtue and truth and goodness.

Thomas S. Monson: To the youth, we plead with you to live clean lives, for the unclean life leads only to suffering, misery, and woe physically,—and spiritually it is the path to destruction. How glorious and near to the angels is youth that is clean; this youth has joy unspeakable here and eternal happiness hereafter. Sexual purity is youth’s most precious possession; it is the foundation of all righteousness.

Piernas Maravillosas, Marvelous Legs, "Mission Rolls" AND PRAYERS ARE ANSWERED!

ELDER MATT HILL WITH HIS COMPANION ELDER JOSH LAMPING

So, when Zeagler and I found out where we were going (to pure hills), he started telling members that he was going to have some "piernas maravillosas" or "marvelous legs". He´s a funny kid and it´s right.

ELDERS HILL y ZEAGLER WITH DISTRICT

LOL, ELDER MATT HILL SHINING ELDER BRANDON ZEAGLER'S SHOES!!

ELDER ZEAGLER Y ELDER HILL, still SO SERIOUS!

There have been a couple days when we are late for an appt or it´s raining, and we have to pretty much run up the hills and it´s tiring. The first week back here has been great and I´ve seen a lot of members that I met last year. There are a few from La Quebrada that I didn´t see yesterday in church, but I´m sure I´ll see them in the coming weeks. It´s been fun to be back, however, it´s a little deceiving because I feel like it should be May again and it´s nearly October. This is a good area to finish the mish because I´ll lose a little bit of my ´mission rolls´and all that, and the ward is good. 

Turns out that Elder Lamping have a lot in common, too! He´s Josh, and has a brother named Matthew. His mom is Wendy. He likes mountain biking and also worked a little in construction with his dad. Also, turns out that he played with Christopher Griggs back in the day and his grandma is one of their old neighbors. The world just seems so small. He´s a good kid and has a great spirit and love for the work. He´s usually teaching me how to keep up the good work. 

This week I have gotten to know a few of the investigators and members that we are teaching right now. Silvia is about my age and has been coming to church for a while and I don´t really know why she doesn´t get baptized because she wants to read D&C and everything, comes to church, comes to activities, and all. We have an appt tomorrow to see her. There are a few people that Elder Lamping hasn´t really been able to tell me about because when he met them for the first time, he didn´t really understand what they do or things like that. We have contacted a few people like Francisco and Maria. They were two different contacts that we did in the street looking for other people and they seem really nice. We have appts to contact them and teach them this week. We´ve been focusing a lot on ALWAYS asking for referrals, which is what it says in the back of PMG. This week we got 10 and we hope to get more this week. Antonio is a less active member and his wife, Maria, isn´t a member but seems to like the church a lot, but hasn´t gone in a while. Efrain is a guy who just loves to have us over and feed us dinner but he doesn´t want to commit to doing anything in the church. He doesn´t want to stop working. Our appt on Saturday we were going to drop him and not visit anymore, but as we were leaving his sister in law asked us how to read the BOM and then we realized that prayers are answered. We hope to be able to teach her about how to read it and all that tonight. There are a few other people that I honestly don´t remember right now. Don´t have a lot of time, but I´ll be sure to take better notes next week and let you know more. 

Time to just keep haulin´ along in the Valle de Tules and work hard. The district is really cool with Elders Chandler (knew him in Queretaro) and Bautista, Elders Valdez and Garcia, and Sisters Ibaven, Pérez, and Rosa. 

Be good! Love you all! 

Elder Hill  

Well, I was going to upload a picture or two but looks like this computer has a virus and erased my memory card. Patience is obviously a virtue I have yet to master. :) 

Thanks for looking into it all. If you could please just do that I would really appreciate it. Also, think about coming down in the summer instead of getting me. I think that it would be a lot easier. Gotta go. Love you. Forgot to write that we have cockroaches again, too. I was going to send a picture, but it´s gone so I´ll let you know what´s up later. 

Loves ya tons, 

Elder Hill 

¡Feliz Grito de la Independencia! !Happy September 16th! Weird Transfers!

¡Feliz Grito! ¡Viva México!!! "¡Vivan los héroes que nos dieron patria! ¡Viva la independencia nacional, viva el bicentenario de la Independencia, viva el centenario de la Revolución! ¡Viva México!"

Wow.... transfers were so weird this time! 

Elder Zeagler and I were to totally thinking that we wouldn´t have transfers because he was being trained and it´s not too common that they change that sort of companionship. What´s even more strange is that they take both Elders out and put Sisters in! I received a call from Pres. Call on Friday asking about the area (and it´s not the safest area out there) and when I told him that it wasn´t too safe for sisters he told me that he needed to find a lot of areas for Sisters. However, I didn´t think that they would be put in my area.  The Sisters are taking over the mission! There were a ton of sisters in the office today!  It´s all good though. I have been super stressed out since Saturday when they told us that because we had to let the people that we had been teaching know because we couldn´t just leave them there hangin’ and we went around with the ward mission leader to show him the area and all that jazz. Lots of filling out paperwork and getting the house clean so that the sisters could get there without problems. I started packing this morning at 9:30a and that was the hardest thing ever.

ELDER HILL AND ELDER ZEAGLER WITH ELDER ZEAGLER'S NEW COMPANION?

On Monday night we had an FHE lesson in Spanglish! The Bishop´s son and wife and a young couple came down from California to visit and see the grito for the 15th and the wives didn´t speak a whole lot of English. So, for the bishop to understand and an investigator that they brought, and the wives to understand, we spoke Spanglish. It was a lot harder than I thought trying to teach in English. It´s a whole different world. Also, the Bishop´s daughter in law was asked to speak in church on Sunday and the bishop just calls me up and says, "And now Elder Hill will help Sister Flores translate here message."...... I´m just like... What? It turned out being okay but I spaced out sometimes and forgot what she said and I had to ask her again. 

ELDER ZEAGLER CLEANING

Also, the question that usually comes up in any relationship came up last week. Elder Zeagler asked me, "When you first saw me, what did you think?" and I told him that when I saw him he was the only one with glasses and looked really serious and really lost and I thought, I hope it´s not him. (because, two serious people just doesn´t work too well) and he said, "When I first saw you I was like, yep´! I want to be with him because I know he speaks English!" It was funny and I was dead wrong about him being serious! Ha! He´s a funny kid! I´m sure I´ll miss him! 

We found a guy named Ricardo on Wednesday. We were leaving the private residence where he lives and he was standing in the door and just says, "Adios Elderes!" Now when that happens here you just stop dead in your tracks and go talk to the person ‘cause that doesn´t happen too much. Turns out that his brother is from La Quebrada and I know him! We met last year. So we started teaching him and all that and he´s pretty interested. The sisters have an appt tonight with him. It was interesting how we got to run into him because if things would have worked out how they were planned, we wouldn´t have been able to. Long story short, we went to eat but they wouldn´t let us in at the other entrance of the complex and they made us go to the other side. I was super frustrated because the renta cop was talking smack to me and I just decided to leave. I talked to the owner of the security company who gave us permission to go in whenever we want, and turns out that the sister wasn´t there so we went back out the way we came and there was Ricardo. He for some reason didn´t have work that day and he happened to be standing in his doorway with a movie paused.. Coincidence? I think not!! 

ELDER RICHARDSON AND ELDER HILL

Well, I gotta go. The whole Mexican 4th thing turned out okay. I actually slept that night which is really weird. I haven´t been sleeping well and on the night that probably made the most noise, I slept. Thanks for the stuff you sent with César. He´s a cool guy. I took advantage of the opportunity and left him with a few pamphlets from the Church and he said that he´d read them. We´ll see what happens. 

Have a nice week! Love you all! 

Gotta go because it´s late and we got work to do. 

So, If you could just confirm that for me about DCSO and all that, perfect. It would be a good part time job if they pay for post and paramedic. If you could just get the timelines good that´d be great. Also, I was thinking, It might be easier to come down during spring break so that des doesn´t get out of school and it will be easier to do other things when I ´m not a missionary.... etc. think about it. 

Loves,

Elder Hill 

fotos-Elder Zeagler at work dusting the couch cover and Elder Lamping

ELDER MATT HILL WITH ELDER JOSHUA LAMPING

from Draper! Totally forgot to let you know that he´s my new companion. I´ll tell you more about him next week. 

Sacrament and White Sheets....Symbolic

ELDER MATT HILL

So, I´m not sure if I´ll be able to write next Monday, it might be Tuesday. Next Sunday and Monday is the annual "grito" (on the night of the 15th) and the parades on the 16th for the Mexican 4th of July. Normally everything is shut down on that Day and nobody does anything but games and parades and everything. Others just get drunk, but I won´t go into much detail about that. So, just a heads up, you might not get a letter on Monday, but on Tuesday. It´s pretty crazy around this time of year because they always shoot off fireworks all hours of the night and day and a lot of people get drunk.... really drunk. I´ll let you know next week how it went. 

Elder Zeagler snapped this of Elder Hill! LOL!

ELDERS HILL Y ZEAGLER

We´re still not finding new people to teach but we´ve been teaching the members and it´s been good. We have been teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Gift of the Holy Ghost, Enduring to the End) and two families have told us that it´s been an answer to their prayers, and we didn´t have any idea they needed it. It´s a good feeling to be able to help teach people sometimes as if they were an investigator as well. None of us is perfect and we all need the same teachings over and over because we tend to forget even the most important details. 

DAVID Y ELDER HILL

PAULINA Y FAMILIA Y ELDERS ZEAGLER Y HILL
she's studying here in Utah!

Yesterday in the Gospel Principles class we talked about the Sacrament. I was reminded of a couple times when I was volunteering in the ER I was asked to help move some patients who had passed away. The view of a deceased body while it´s on the gurney covered by a white sheet and the Sacraments while it´s on the table is a striking resemblance. It´s supposed to be symbolic and I remember how I was thinking about who that person may have been, what he do fro a living? What was his family like? The feeling was a feeling of reverence and I feel like sometimes I take that attitude away from the Sacrament. I should be thinking more about Christ and getting to know him. It´s just a thought that came to mind yesterday. 

We visited a family this week who has quite a few grand daughters. One of them was talking about bones and she turned to her sister with whom she was arguing and said, "If you didn´t have bones, you´d be all soggy!" It was just a funny moment. :) 

Well, keep going. I hope that all is well. If you are going to come down as a family it would be okay if Josh & Des came down but you´d have to rent a car because to go a whole bunch of white, English speaking people on the bus, well, that´s just nuts! We´ll cross that bridge when we get to it. 

Thanks for looking into everything for me. I´ll let you know later what´s going on. 

Loves,

Elder Hill 

WHAT'S GOOD Y THE TITLE OF LIBERTY

So, another NC phrase is "What´s good?" I hadn´t heard it since Queretaro because there was a family there who lived in Georgia and they said the same thing. It makes more sense than saying what´s up? but I won´t ever admit that to my companion! ;) He also says "good land." When it rains, they say that in NC their future wife gets cuter by the second, so he´s always hoping that it rains (and I´m hoping that it doesn´t.) 

We were walking to an appt the other day when some guy hands us like a little advertisement for the store that he works at. My companion says, "Thanks! Let me give you one, too!" and he pulls out a pamphlet about the Gospel of Jesus Christ..... The guy just looked at him like, ´okay...thanks.... you´re weird´and I just laughed. Then another day we did an FHE with a family and Raúl took us home in his taxi. Zeagler was hanging out the window on Friday night traffic telling people to read the Book of Mormon and people just thought he was crazy. I had to be a "agua fiestas" and tell him that it´s probably not thee best idea to do that. Some people might keep that image about the church forever! 

We´ve still been struggling to find new investigators. We´re going to work more with the ward leaders and try to strengthen them. The stake president went to our ward council meeting and said that there is a lot of discouragment and suppressiveness in the ward and that we all need to pick it up and smile more. It really helps. That´s what our job will be for the next little while. 

Elder Hill, (Whom has been compared on numerous occasions to Captain Moroni),
signed his name and mission dates on Capt. Moroni

I hope that things can get better. Keep praying, fasting, and being obedient. Blessings come. 

Loves! 

Elder Hill 

North Carolinian Phrases, Exchanges & Challenges

Wheat pancakes on Sunday morning with Elder Zeagler 

This week I´ve heard all sorts of North Carolinian phrases! "Dang it woman! Open your door!" (wouldn´t open up, but were home)-- "I´m going to beat you with a wet mop!" (we bought a mop today and he realized what his mom always said about how she´d beat him with a wet mop) -- "Dang it, Nancy! (a name written on the back of my chair), "Now we´re cookin´with grease!" (anything that is going good) -- "I´ve really fogged up this time!" (stepping out of the A/C to humid hottness of NC with glasses on)

It´s been pretty interesting to hear how different things can be even from a few thousand miles away. We´ve had a bit of a hard week just with not finding anyone new to teach and having Raúl´s baptism fall through. We don´t even know why, exactly. We went to see him on Friday but he wasn´t there, so I called him and asked him if everything was OK and he said that he wouldn´t be baptized this week. We still haven´t been able to see him. We´re doing what we can to work hard in the ward, to get all the members excited and build their testimonies because when we have a strong testimony, or we really love somthing, we want to share it with everyone. We´re trying to work with the leaders first but they´re not budging to well. Little by little.

The ward area is pretty small, but we have a membership of over 400 members. Only 100 +/- attend on a regular basis. This week we focused a lot on the less actives and I was surprised to see that a few went. Little by little we are "Going to the Rescue" as President Monson has counseled. I feel just as content with an inactive family returning as I do baptizing a new family. It´s something that I haven´t understood until this time in the mission.

We did exchanges with Elders Miramontes, Richardson, Calderón, and Holmes this week. A couple of Elders who were waiting for their visas (Miramontes and others in the mission) got the call on Tuesday night that they had finally recieved their visa and they left Wednesday night. After four months, they are finally in their officially assigned mission.

Well, I regret to inform you that nothing else too interesting happened this week. It´s still fun to see how Zeagler reacts to everything that to me is old. We´ll keep learning.

Love you all. I´ll try to make this week a litte more informative and interesting.

Loves,

Elder Hillbilly

(Ma)Oh that is funny!! ¡Te amó mi hijo! Mamá

MORE TRAINING BLOOPERS!

MORE TRAINING BLOOPERS

E. Zeagler and I continue to learn together. It`s been pretty fun lately because he`s like an energizer bunny who just doesn`t stop until he`s in bed, asleep. Every second he`s just like, "We have to find more people! We have to place more copies of The Book of Mormon! We need to talk to EVERYONE!" I just smile and say, "OK. Let`s go!" It`s been a while since I`ve had a companion who actually WANTED to do everything he could to find new people and be obedient. It would be pretty fabulous to finish the mission training. It`s just so much easier to do what`s right because they don`t have old missionary habits. Doing what Preach My Gospel says is the only thing they know so they can`t go against it. It`s also been pretty funny because I`m reliving the Spanish bloopers again. He`s said some pretty funny things this week. All of which I don`t  remember, nor would it make sense in English. 

Raul was supposed to be baptized this weekend but he wanted to wait one more week and he got pretty sick. As of right now, it`s planned for next Saturday. We`ll just have to see what happens. He`s a good guy, he just lacks a little. 

We started teaching Vicente, an older guy in his 60`s who the Elders started teaching a few months back. He`s been coming to church each week and everything, but he hasn`t been baptized yet because he still has some addictions that he has to get rid of. He, too, was supposed to be baptized this coming week, but he drank coffee again and won`t be able to. It`s good that he drank because we realized that he still isn`t converted and doesn`t really understand what SINNING and REPENTANCE are. It`s kind of despairing because each week in the Sunday school class he asks the same questions and is just looking for someone to justify his sins in his situation. It`s been a tough time teaching him, but that`s how we all grow. I hope that we can assist him in understanding what the Gospel really means. 

Hugo is a young man who went to church last week. He`s been a little depressed and not really knowing if God exists or not. When he was 8 mos old his Mom was hit by a car and killed, and she had just enough time to roll him off to the side of the road. His dad remarried and when Hugo was 10 years old, his step mom was killed in a bus accident. He feels guilty because both times they were with him. He began reading the BOM, but we haven`t seen him since last Wednesday. He didn`t go to church and we don`t know if we can go to his house because he said that his dad was a little crazy sometimes. I know that there IS a plan and that it can`t be frustrated. 

It`s been so crazy thinking that I only have 5 months left. I want to keep working so hard because time just doesn`t last. There is so much to do and so little time to do it. I know that I will never be able to serve 2 years like this again. Maybe later with the wifey and all, but it`s just not the same. Now is the time. Help the missionaries at home. I know that they`re already spoiled and all, but help them make their missions successful, please. :) 

Love you all. The house looks good and hopefully you can finish everything sooner than later. Tell everyone hello for me. 

Loves, Elder Hill 

pic- I was going to record a role play that we were doing but I accidentally hit the camera button. Zeagler says that it shows how our companionship is-- I`m goofing off and lost and he`s studying hard. 

Elder Ziggy & I´m officially gifted in the gift of the interpretation of tongues because I can understand Spanish, English, and North Carolinan!

Elder Matt Hill & Elder Brandon Zeagler

Well, I didn´t put the nickname, but a couple of people have called Elder Zeagler "Elder Ziggy" and it´s funny because he says that´s what they called him in NC. Speaking of that, I´m officially gifted in the gift of the interpretation of tongues because I can understand Spanish, English, and North Carolinan! There are sometimes that I just tell him to tell me in spanish because I just don´t understand what he´s saying. I tell him that it´s because he needs to speak spanish more to learn, but I just don´t get what he says sometimes. It´s pretty funny. He´s a good kid and everyone tells him that he has a "baby face!" Haha! We took a taxi today and the taxista told him in English that he has a baby face. After two years of stressing out and not sleeping, he´ll lose some hair and wrinkle his face a little. No worries. 

Paola was confirmed yesterday, so that was fabulous. She´s been getting to know the JAS (YSA) lately so she´s feeling more comfortable. Her brother, Raul, will be baptized this Saturday. He´s the one in the green suit from her baptism and her mom´s name is Maria de los Angeles. I saw on the blog that you didn´t have it. 

Saturday night we felt like we had to go down a certain street and we didn´t pass anyone the entire street until the end. A lady with some grocery bags walked by us and we just said hello. After she had passed, Zeagler said that he felt sick and thought that she was the one. So, we turned around and sped walk to catch up to her. We finally got there, presented ourselves and started talking. Long story short, we found out that she has been praying to know what to do with her family because she has problems with her husband. She started two years ago looking for God in her life and lately she´s felt an unquenchable thirst to get to know WHO God is. She´s not from our area, but she´s definitely one of those from D&C 123:12. I read that scripture to her on the street and she opened her eyes wide and at the end of everything said thanks for contacting her. 

Sunday night we were standing outside of our entrance to the street of our house (it´s a privada... whatever that is in English) and while I was reporting to the ZL´s, E. Zeagler was contacting people and even though they didn´t want anything, he just kept talking in his new spanish and testified. It´s fun to be with a new missionary. :) I´m learning how to trust more in God than in my own experience and knowledge. I was unconsciously praying for the opportunity to train a white man and I actually had a dream about it before transfers, so I wasn´t too surprised. 

This week we moved houses. We don´t live near as many drunk people and other problems, and we have a kitchen. I haven´t had a kitchen since La Quebrada, but hey, I take hot showers so I don´t have anything to complain about.

Well, keep working hard on the house. Sorry it´s been such a problem, but it will be worth it in the end. Just always keep God first and everything else will fall into place. Love you all! Keep the missionary work alive! Preach to everyone you know! When I get home I don´t want to go to the movie or even hear a cell phone until I´ve talked to everyone I need to talk to about the church! It´s going to be a while! I thought this week that I only have 4 transfers left, and like 5 months. It´s crazy, and I want to make the best of it. This is what Sis. Call wrote in her letter today..... 

 “What you lack in talent can be made up with desire, hustle, and giving 110 percent all the time.”

Jesus could do missionary work in many different ways, but he allows us in this short time, to know Him, to develop talents and abilities, gain attributes and make changes.  It is a time to become more like Him, and realize for yourself that you can do and be more than you once could have imagined.
How do you feel when you see the converts you have come to love dressed in white before their baptism? They are the reason you are here.  They are the ones that help you be a better man or woman, to magnify your priesthood, to love unselfishly, and understand a little better the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Where do we get the energy to do all this?  Sometimes you feel so tired; sleeping hours seems like minutes, the hills, heat, rain, cold, shoes with pebbles in them, etc.  The answer is simple: Jesus Christ long ago did this for us.  He took our burdens and put them on His shoulders, He suffered for each of us.  Now we must do the same for others, and be the kind of missionary who is striving to become like Jesus Christ.  Abrazos……..Hermana Call

Love, 

Elder Hill 

Bienvenido! Trainer and new companion! A greenie TARHEEL!!!

6 August 2013

Dear Griggs Family,

This letter is to inform you that your son, Elder Matthew M. Hill, has been called to fill the assignment of Trainer in the Mexico Mexico City North Mission. He will have the responsibility to train, lift, inspire and elevate his new companion, Elder

Brandon Zaegler , to a level acceptable to the Lord.

“And if any man among you be strong…let him take with him him that is weak, that he may be edified in all meekness, that he may become strong also.” (Doctrine and Covenants 84:106 emphasis added)

I cannot over emphasize the impact a Trainer has on his companion. We congratulate you on having such a fine son and thank you for having helped prepare such an excellent missionary. Please continue to pray fervently for him so that he will continue to seek, find and follow the guiding influence of the Lord.

Sincerely,

President J. Dana Call Mexico Mexico City North Mission

MISIÓN MÉXICO CIUDAD DE MÉXICO NORTE Calle Mira Lirio # 69 Col. CumbriaCuautitlán Izcalli, Edo. de México 54740

Hermana Call y Presidente Call with new missionaries

Elder Zaegler and new greenies arriving in MCN
Welcome to Mexico Elder Zeagler! We are so happy you are arrived!

Here we have Elder Zeagler with his trainer Elder Hill.  Good luck to
the two of you.

Abrazos.......Hermana Call

UMMM this next photo looks too familiar!

this is the goodbye photo..but the one I wanted was from the blog..think it is this blog's profile pix

papa y mama; adiós, mi hijo de oro.....

Pray for Companion, Transfers, Word of Wisdom & Be Grateful to Your Police Officers!

ELDERS' PALACIOS y HILL COM MARCO, (EX AGENTE DE POLICIA)

So, as I thought, Elder Palacios was transferred to Chilpa, in Tepalcapa. He was tired of being with me, but some day he´ll thank me. He´s a good kid and I hope that he finishes his mission until the end. Please pray for him so that he doesn´t have negative thoughts of wanting to go home. I still don´t know who my companion is because he gets here tomorrow. I´m going to be training again and I´m not sure if he´ll be spanish speaking or pure gringo but I´ll let you know this week.

ELDERS' HILL, PALACIOS, ? Y PAOLA Y LA MADRE?

EDGARS FAMILIA Y ELDERS' HILL Y PALACIOS @ BAUTISMO

We had Paola´s and Edgar´s baptisms this week. Edgar was baptized on Saturday by his girlfriend´s dad and was confirmed on Sunday by the same. They are both good families, it´s just that one could be so much better with the gospel. Edgar´s parents are softening their hearts little by little and I know that some day soon we will be able to teach them. It´s a family that looks like they are members.... but they aren´t yet. Paola was really excited for her baptism and told us that she felt like she was floating all day after her baptism. That´s how we should all feel all the time when we have the Spirit. It´s something that I yearn for in life is always being worthy of the companionship of the Holy Ghost. Paola will be confirmed next week, and her brother, Raul, will be baptized and confirmed the 17th-18th. Their mom was really interested in the church after seeing the baptism and the only person that we have left to convince to let us teach is the dad. Little by little. Please pray for these families so that they will accept the Gospel so that these baptisms aren´t just two or three, but entire families that can one day be sealed in the House of the Lord for all time and eternity. 

 We ate on Sunday with Marco and Maria. Marco was the first baptism that we had in this area when I got here. He used to be a police officer and he pulled out his bullet proof vests and his club thing. Well, taking advantage of the opportunity, we took pictures. It was fun because he got excited about it, too, now that he´s retired. Be grateful for you police officers because it´s totally different here. 

A member told us something the other day that I really hadn´t thought about too much. It relates to the word of wisdom. She said that everything that God has created is what gives us strength and energy. Every thing that man has created just artificially fills us up and seems to give us energy. For example, an apple will forever be more healthy and energetic than a twinky. On the spiritual side, everything that God has created and asked us to do is what gives us true happiness and real health, while what man thinks is best just fills the space and imitates, but has no lasting value. I love learning and I love the fact that I realize more and more each day the importance that God plays in our lives, and the importance of doing what He asks. 

Love you all. Be good and be safe! 

Elder Hill  

baptism of edgar

baptism of Paola 

bulletproof vest from a member. 

WHAT EXACTLY AM I GONNA DO WHEN I GET OFF MY MISSION???

 --I¨m thinking about Gold Cross but I´m not sure if they are going to be accepting EMT Advanced or if it will just be basic and paramedic. 

--Can you see if their will be openings in the UT air national guard for medic or security forces when I get home? 

-- How much does it cost and how long does the police academy last? 

-- West Valley fire academy? Dates and Information for the next year?

-- Lakeview ER almost done? I talked to the director last year and she offered me a job, but I was leaving on the mission. She told me to find her when I got home. 

I think that´s good for now. I get home Jan 22 and I start school in fall semester. 

Not urgent. Love you. 

Elder Hill 

If Man Were Constant, He´d Be Perfect & The Blessings DO COME, but Only AFTER We Are Obedient, Faithful, and Diligent.

Elders Hill and Palacios SOAKING wet!

Aloha! 

Paola and her guinea pig

It´s been such a long week that has gone by so fast! I know that sounds like an irony, but it´s true. I can´t differentiate or remember anymore what happened last week and what happened last month! It was a good week as far as the work goes. We´ve been finding new people and putting baptismal dates. It looks like within the next month, we should have around 7 baptisms. It´s pretty exciting because we just keep increasing our numbers because we are working hard. Alejandro drank again this week so we´re not really sure what to do with him. Raul and Paola cancelled pretty much every appt we had last week and we haven’t really seen them. We have an appt today so we´ll go see how they are. Paola should be getting baptized this week as well as Edgar. Edgar´s family is a little frustrated with him because they think that   he´s just doing it for the girlfriend but he really does like church and says that he wants to be baptized. We still have to verify but it looks like we´ll have two baptisms this week! I had my second temple recommend interview as an endowed member and it´s a good feeling to be able to qualify to enter the house of the Lord. I´m grateful for the mission and the understanding that I´ve been able to gain so far. I can see how it will be a blessing for the rest of my life. 

We started teaching Lupe (Guadalupe). She´s Vicente's daughter and she has the problem of just being shut in her room all day and all night on the computer and the chat rooms. Vicente is an old investigator that has also decided to be baptized and his daughter, who used to ignore everyone and even more the missionaries, has accepted to change her life and help her family. It´s been tough because she´s really quiet and awkward, and I like to talk a lot, and I don´t know what to say. I started telling spanish jokes in one appt and since then, it´s been a little better. She´s opening up more and we are starting to see a little more light in her life. It´s something that she really needs. 

We had zone conference Thursday. We didn´t learn anything new, other than the fact that the missionary dress standards have been modified. We can now wear sweaters without a suit coat so that´s pretty sweet. It will be good when it starts getting cold outside. Everything we else was just helping us get the desire to do the things that we already know. It´s sad that as humans we just forget or tend to slack off and stop doing what we know. Someone once said, "If man were constant, he´d be perfect."

Well, congrats on the new house deal! It looks like a big chore but it will be good. The blessings DO COME, but only AFTER we are obedient, faithful, and diligent. We have to believe in something we don´t see, but that we know will eventually happen or reveal itself. 

Love you all! Be good and be safe! 

Elder Hill  

 Go betweens on Monday~Ma & Mateo

I already have a mormon.org account. I´ll have to fill it out next week because we were in the office too much time today and I don´t have time before our appt. Renting or qualified to buy? 

I thought so, but you are not on it. When are transfers? Buying :)!

I´ll check it next week. Transfers next week. I´m sure Palacios will leave

Hey, I have to go but I´m glad that you were able to get the house and all that. Just work hard and be diligent in what you know is right and more blessings are in store. 

Sorry for being such a spoiled rotten brat and for being disrespectful. Good thing I came on the mission, if not, my poor wife would have had to put up with me and my immaturity. 

Love you. Tell everyone hello for me. 

Elder Hill 

PIX: paola and her guinney pig

In the car and one time we were soaking wet

little shower cake thing (learned in utah)
with Raul & Carina
David & familia
Jacqueline and kids, Alison & Minely

Everyone Suffers Sometimes & Open My Eyes More on the Sabbath...Keep it Holy!

Elder Palacios w/ boy of investigators familia

Elder Palacios y Elder Hill with ???

Things seem to be getting more and more difficult as the time goes by. People say that everything gets easier after the first year, but not right now! I love my companion and everything, but it´s getting tough. Up until June 3 I thought that I was going to make my whole mission without having a "difficult and/or disobedient" companion. I know that there is something to learn from it, but it´s sometimes hard to see the sun through the rain cloud.

It was also a hard week for some of the members and the investigators. There are a lot of severly sick members in the ward right now and I feel like it´s because they need to be humbled to remember that God gives them everything and that he can take it away just as easily. Alejandro hasn´t been drinking so that´s good. He´s still progressing towards baptism. On Tuesday morning one of his neighbors was found dead. She had committed suicide shortly before her husband and 3 kids had gotten home from playing soccer. Alejandro saw her and it is marked in his head that he needs to take advantage of the life that God has given him and to not drink or destroy his body. The next day he had two friends shot and killed not too far from here because they were involved in drug trafficking. It´s a really sad situation, but Heavenly Father works in mysterious ways to bring to pass His plan.

There is a family here in the ward who has helped my open my eyes more on the subject of keeping the sabbath day holy. The dad has a calling, their sealed in the temple, he works for the church, but they recently signed up their son for a football league that plays on sundays. They sometimes go to church in the morning and then go to the game but they usually just go to the game. The son broke his collar bone during training and can´t play anymore but they go to the games still. They say that it´s a family time and that they are united but what they don´t realize is that if the brother doesn´t show up to church, he´ll lose his job. By losing his job, the marriage will have problems. If the marriage has problems, the kids will have problems. Pretty soon the prophecies will be fulfilled about those who dont´t keep the sabbath day holy. In true to the faith, conference talks, preach my gospel, and other manuals, the prophets have said that we don´t buy, sell, work, or participate in recreational activities on Sunday. IF we do, we will suffer the consequences. The saddest part is that we tried to help them see the problem but they don´t accept it. They justify their sins. I´m grateful for the mission because there are so many things like this that I am seeing and will change in my life when I get home.

I hope that you´re all doing well with the move. Let me know where you end up and all that fun jazz. Just look for the good in the trial. If we´re always focused on the negative, that´s how our life will be. Count your many blessings, name them one by one. Love you all.

Love,

Elder Hill

Hung Over In Church (Investigator) Addictions-- Stay Away From Them!

District Leaders

Yesterday we went to pick up Alejandro to go to church with us. We got to his house at like 8:30 and his mom told us that he had just gotten home from partying. We decided to wake him up and take him to church. He woke up, showered fast, and was throwing up before he got dressed. We got to church just in time for Carina´s confirmation which was a nice experience. After the first hour, Alejandro was a little bit on nerves and feeling sick. He told us at the end that he was feeling better and that it was a blessing because he would normally be throwing up in the street all that time that we were in church. Addictions-- stay away from them. 

Carina and Raul are doing well. They are already planning their sealing for next year. Well, not planning it but they do talk about it quite a lot. Raul and Paola (brother/sister) didn´t go to church but they are doing well. Paola told us that she feels that she was already prepared for us and when we began to teach her, she felt a familiar ring to what we were teaching. She´s what we call an "elect". D&C 29:7 I believe is a reference for that. 

Nothing else really happened this week. Time is going by so fast that I can´t remember. We found out that there is a sister in this ward who has always been really gossipy and she started spreading rumors about me! She doesn´t have much to rumor about but I guess that´s why they are rumors, because they´re not true. She´s on the waiting list for a good little "regañada" (mom’s translation=scolding) from the scriptures. DON´T GOSSIP! Oh, and yesterday President Call called us and asked us to go to the offices this morning. My companion said that when he called last night, his heart skipped a beat. It was just for a little interview and nothing interesting happened. 

Well, I really can´t remember what else happened this week. I´ll keep better track and inform you next week. Have a fabulous week, fam, and we´ll talk on Monday. 

Love, 

Elder Hill