Mitchell Hill's Mission Blog: February 29, 2016

Hey Y'all!

I have been a very busy guy indeed haha:) So its been another busy week here in Columbus but now that I've been a Zone leader for a month now I've found that being busy is just something you can count on now especially in Columbus! It's a total flip from being in my past areas. I'll talk about the tornado shenanigans when I go through the week but it all worked out:) Not as much as me I'm not sure if thats possible haha but surprisingly hes actually pretty good so whenever we see a missionary finding opportunity to play we definitely take advantage of it.

On Tuesday we had a crazy day!! We were going to go on exchanges to Lanette Alabama and go there so I would leave the state of Georgia for the 1st time in 8 months! I was so pumped! We went to lunch and we got a call from President Mccoy saying that he wanted us to organize a project that would take cover the day. We were getting severe weather warning for tornados and President Mccoy asked us as Zone leaders to organize every companionship on top floor apartments to move to lower floor apartments. So Elder Child wasnt going to be able to help me out cause hed be on exchanges so the responsiblility fell on me as the Senior Zone Leader so we had to call everyone and move them to lower level apartments with other missionaries. It was stressful but we got it done! We went to Phenix City, Alabama and stayed there for the night. No extremely bad weather happened but a strange thing that the storm did was move and split north and south and the storm avoided us which was a miracle!

On Wednesday We had to exchange back and get ready for District meeting so we exchanged back and headed to the church for District meeting. At District meeting we did this thing called the chair where everyone has the opportunity to sit in a chair and everyone in the room says compliments about you. And it was my turn:) It was definitely something I needed because after the storm arrangements I needed some love haha:) They said some really nice things that I wish I would've recorded somehow haha:)We ate dinner with the Lowery family and they are super cool cool! Brother l=Lowery is in the Army and is super funny and bold. ASister Lowery is really outgoing and she loves to talk so it makes for a really fun dinner! They also have a kid and his name is Mathew and I often say to myself whenever I see him that he should be the baby on the gerber and pampers commercials because his facial expressions are priceless! We healped the Lowerys clean the church later in the week and I went ot go grab some more paper towels and Mathew wraps his hand around my pinky and says "lets go play soccer" with a huge smile on his face... How coyuld you say no so I went and kicked the ball a few times and went back to cleaning and being "an adult" haha. That night we had the Pine wood Derby and finished up the car! The car is so cool! It all white and has a tie on it with "FEED US" on the back. It got some laughs I'll show you a picture but it turned out great and we got 2nd in the races! Not bad for only have 10 minutes free in the day!

On Thursday we did service for Eric and helped clean his yard of thorny vines and we used machetes again and they are super fun!! He was so appreciative of the service and we loved it cause machetes are super fun to use! Eric has a brother and his name is J.R and he has PTSD. J.R and I started to talk about the Army and his experiences there and he said that I'd be a good solider for them. Haha for a second I was considering it but I want to play college basketball and live my dreams.

Sunday was another amazing day where we went to Fort Benning and help baptize Eric Duncan! He is such a good guy and you can definitely tell that he wants to follow the example Jesus Christ has set before us! We were able to baptize and confirm him a member. The work on Fort Benning is going extremely well and a big reason for that is all the soliders their are super humble. And thats what Jesus Christ asks us that we are meek and lowly in heart and thats why the soliders are receptive to our message because of their humility. I think they are really humble because of their drill sergeants that make them humble. Another aspect I think Fort Benning is booming is because they need a battle buddy from their barracks to go to church with them and often times their battle buddies arent members so their friends tell them about the church and they come and learn about it. So the more we can utilize members the more people will come unto Christ! By the way there is a Senior couple on fort Benning and their names are Elder and Sister Stevens, and they are in the same stake as us!! They are in the Grren Canyon stake in the 3rd ward! They come home at the end of March and I told them to keep an eye out for ya in stake conference:)

I cant believe that Im a 1/3 done with my mission and there has been many many hard times but also I've experienced some of the most joyous times in my life. I've realized that centering my life on Jesus Christ is the way to true happiness and he is the one who strengthens me and all of us. Its been amazing witnessing peoples lives change for the better through the gospel of Jesus Christ and helping them change their lives. Being a missionary has truly humbled me and that was definitely something I needed improvement on. It's been such a great experience and I know I have alot of time left but I feel like I'm truly finding myself and what I want to be my foundation for the rest of my life. But if I had advice for yall it would be just to love yourself and be the light in peoples lives. It's easier said then done but there is so much darkness around us and if we can be the lighthouse to the people in the stormy seas of life then we will find that our lives will be changed through Jesus Christ and through his Atonement we can make it back to live with Heavenly Father again:)

All is well and I LOVE Y'ALL SOO MUCHHH

Elder Hill

#Stormyweather #Springiscoming #NORESTTEAM #JustthewayIlikeit