Sorry about not emailing
yesterday, but since it was Memorial day the libraries weren't open. So I
hope I didn't stress ya out too bad! It sounds like things are going
well and summer is off to a great start! Make sure to stay cool and
enjoy the heat at the same time. This past week was crazy busy and this
next one will be even crazier! I feel like the Energizer bunny running
around everywhere and trying to get done so much but can never find enough time to do all the things you want to do. It's probably how being
a parent is haha.
On Tuesday we went to
Phenix City, Alabama and had a great district meeting there and then
Elder Godderidge and I went on exchanges together. It was a great
exchange! We were able to help a member dig in some retaining walls for
her garden and it was in that moment in time where I remember how
dreadfully hot the summers are her and once that combination of heat and
humidity kick in they are a deadly combination. We helped here out and
then they were having voting inside the church for the school board so
Elder Godderidge and I took that opportunity to try to answer any
questions about the church and helped them understand more about the
church. We were able to teach a less active who is trying to get more
into the church again as she is preparing her son for baptism and the
spirit there was so strong that she felt comfortable to ask questions
she needed answered for her personal testimony.
On
Wednesday, we exchanged back and had a district meeting with the
Flatrock District which is always an uplifting time! Following the
meeting we got on our bikes and headed over to the Calvary Chapel where
we would meet with the pastor there who we tracted into a few week
prior. We weren't really sure how it was going to pan out or what would
happen there but we had God on our side and with him we can make it
through anything. We started out by talking about his story and how he
became a pastor of a church and the conversation then hinted towards us
as he asked about our lives and the church. He was very much a
trinitarian and believed that God was one being and it was hard for him
to understand that Joseph Smith saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. As
his belief was that Heavenly Father was just a "glory" and didn't have a
body. We discussed Genesis 1:26 with him where he talks about the
phrase let us go down and make man in "our' image. We brought up the
fact when Christ was on the cross he said" Father forgive them for they
know not what they do." And continued to say "Father in my hands I
commend my spirit" WE brought up other examples and he had lots of hang
ups with our doctrine with the Book of Mormon being in addition to the
Bible and we explained that when it says that in the book of Revelation
its talking about just the Book of Revelation because the bible wasn't
just made at one time, its a compilation of scripture. We went through
various differences of beliefs, but through it all the spirit was there
because we never tried to force him to believe anything but just invited
him to ask God with a sincere heart. We talked about different
doctrines and he told us that we were in the wrong church and we both
testified of the divinity of the Book of Mormon and invited him to read
it more and pray about it and left it at that. Over all it went pretty
well and we arent sure what he thinks now but if anything it helped bind
our own testimonies as we went into the belly of the beast and came out
alive:) Later that day Elder Haines and I had dinner with the Lunds who
Brother Lund is in the Army and it was crazy because Elder Haines found
out that Brother Lund knew him when he was a baby through lots of
different connections so its a small world especially in the military.
On
Thursday, we finished Sister Murphys retaining walls and fought off the
heat digging lots of holes for her. We met with that less active later
in the night and helped teach her about the Plan of Salvation and helped
her figure out where her testimony stands and what needs to be
strengthened.
On Friday alot of our
appointments fell through and it was just a day where we got rejected a lot for no apparent reason but just like in a Refiners fire he lets us
fall so her can build us up stronger than we ever were. Its also always a
great day when you get to play some basketball with some guys at the
park and win haha:) Always love that.
On
Saturday we got down and dirty at the Ranch and weed whacked for some
service at the ranch. Its always fun when you do service especially when
that service is in effort for nonmembers and the people that own the
ranch had a grand daughter who was preparing to get baptized and because
we came over and provided service and they got more comfortable with
the church, she was able to get baptized on Saturday which was
definitely a Macon Miracle haha:) Later in the day we taught a family
with three boys who just received the priesthood and talked to them
about magnifying their priesthood and missionary work. They are such
humble kids and it was a joy to be a able to teach them. The rest of the
day was hard to find people to teach but the Lord helped us fill our
schedule and helped us find opportunities to teach people.
On
Sunday, we had a great service at church hearing about personal
revelation and we had 4 investigators at church and the spirit was
strong and I'm sure they could feel the peace within the chapel. We met
with a family on Fort Benning and enjoyed their company for sure!! On
the way back we heard the talk "conversion of a Catholic" it was a very
powerful talk and I highly recommend it. It really testified to me that
God puts us in the place where we are needed not just because the
Georgia Macon mission needs missionaries but that my abilities here are
of use to the people here.
On Memorial day, we
went to the National Infantry Museum and it was so neat to see so many
people paying respect to the militray at the museum that day. There
were boots of killed in action soldiers who were honored that day as
well as other neat exhibits that I didnt see before. They had the actual
barracks and chapels from World War 2 and it was very cool to see how
living in the military was back then. We also saw lots of tanks and
fell the patriotism here in the south. We played basketball morelike I
did at the church which is always a great and needed time.
Today,
you wont believe what we did for service... This lady called President
Mccoy and asked him if he could get some people to help her clear stuff
from her house to donate to the Valley Rescue mission. This lady had a lot of stuff in the front room, but her son brought us upstairs and as
we de-cluttered a door frame he told us we haven't been in this room since
1970!! And all the stuffin there was from the 50's and 60's. He was
also very into computers and Dad you would've been a kid in a candy
store! There were so many unique and fascinating pieces of history there
and it definitely through me for a loop knowing that no one has been in
that room since 1970 and being an enclosed room with no air coming in
that air was probably circualted back in the 70's which is kind of a
funny thought but hey it might be true:)
I LOVE YOU and keep on keeping on!
PS - Sorry I forgot to add this in to my email so if you fit it in that would be great, but we also were able to put a man on date I have come to love on date for baptism this past week and working through some problems he made the commitment to be baptized! We were very excited for that!! We also caught some ligtnin" bugs after a lesson and you wont believe how slow they are you can catch them out of the air and it makes you feel like you 8 years old its so much fun! We also ate some honeysuckle which is a flower that if you pull the bottom off there is a string with a hint of honey in the flower and it made me feel like a true southerner:)
-Elder Hill
#Servicefordays #sobusy #preacherscanttakeusdown!
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| Weeds don't Want a Piece of Us!! |
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| Squish! |
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| TANKS!! |
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