Sunday, July 31, 2016

July 25, 2016 - Columbus, GA

Hey Y'all! 

I'll start out with a new southernism for the week, so you would say this to someone if its a yes or no question..."Does a cat have running gears? or Does a gator have teeth?" So both of those answers would be yes haha:)Wow you guys had aneventful week it sounds like. I'm sorry to hear about Kristina but I'm glad that she is recovering. I remember when I almost had to get my tonsils out but then they got smaller and I didn't have to get them taken out. But recover well and take it easy, I'll be prayin' for ya. Continue to keep me updated with the home  and I know something will come up! There has been lots of rain this week and a lot of the times we were caught right in the middle of it tracting so it made for some good memories and wet clothes. Actually here in Columbus the wind got so bad that a few trees landed on cars and houses. I just hope they had insurance because if they didn't that would stink! And by the way I'm getting transferred to a new area, I'll still be a zone leader but not really sure where I'll end up. We have narrowed the possibilities down to 4 possible places. The first is Tifton, Georgia, the second is Hinesville, G, and the third is North Augusta, GA. If I had a choice I would choose Hinesville or North Augusta, but wherever I go is where God needs me to be.

On Tuesday, we traveled over to Lanett, Alabama for exchanges there .All the missionaries were speculating where I'd end up and wanting to stay in Columbus I was reluctant to pick where I'd go. Columbus has been my favorite area and I've made so many friends here it will be sooo hard to leave, but it will all work out. Elder Hales and I went on exchanges and it rained reallly hard that day and we tracted the whole afternoon. It seemed that everyone we talked to weren't interested or were fully content and satisfied with their church that they didn't want to go to a different one. But this week I had a lot of encounters with dogs and very large dogs to be exact. The first was in Lanett when we were on the porch of this mans house. On the side of the porch there is a banister to and the whole house was covered to bugs ranging from spiders to ants, to Juno bugs. All of a sudden we hear this crackling of weeds and heavy stomps and this huge German shepherd who was close to 4 feet on all four paws comes whipping around the corner and jumping through the banister trying to bite us. With so much adrenaline we run off the porch and with the fence protecting us the dog pounced on and off the fence warning us to not come back. But wow it was a very large dog and could've done some damage! We then had shepherding visits and I went with a member from Lanett. His name is Bennie or some people call him possum. Only in the south, and we visited some less active members and Bennie took me to see a textile plant going back to the 1860's that was very unique and its so sad to see all the textile plants not in business because they outsourced to other countries leaving lots of people without work. 

On Wednesday, we exchanged back and Elder Memmott and I had a great day. We had a bible referral that we planned to contact and bible referrals come often and often times the people just want a bible and you to leave their house. But this one was way more different than that. Their names are Manny and Carol and Manny is one of the most open guys you'd ever meet in your life. Any question that you want to ask him he will answer and Carol is a super sweet elderly lady that loves learning about Christ and the bible. WE shared the message of Restoration with him and the authority that the church has really stuck out to Manny and Carol they said they wanted to be baptized and were looking in the calendar to see if that day worked for them! They truly want the restored gospel and I knew that I was supposed to meet them on my mission! They have such powerful testimonies and I cant wait to hear about their progress as they move forward learning more about the church. 

On Thursday, we did service at the Food Bank and sorted lots of canned goods gotta love that good ol' service. One of the highlights of the day happened at night and it was definitely a memory that I'll always have. So we had a member call saying that they needed to get into the building because they wanted their AAU basketball team to practice before the elders came and played basketball later that night. So we opened the door for them and we had about 20 minutes before our bible class and we took the opportunity and I was able to scrimmage against the AAU team in my white shirt and tie and boy was it fun! One of the coaches there said I look like a player off of Wisconsin that said I match his playing style! It was so much fun to get back into that speed of playing and in a coaching setting!!! So much fun!! 

On Friday, we helped Sister Meadows with some service and went to her house and did some yard work. The first majority of the time we weeded and cleaned up the grass. Then  we grabbed the bush trimmer and trimmed the bushes! You could say it was very hot and we were very sweaty but Sister Meadows took care of us! She is sooo nice! We weekly planned for a majority of the afternoon and after dinner we went over the Brother Cotates' home and helped him move some boxes into his home! They have been going through alot recently but through it all they have been keeping the faith and we wanted to to help them out. At the end of the service we helped him rearrange a office desk and we got talking about his mission and the differences. Brother Coates told us that "Your mission is the hardest in the world and you face so much rejection and loneliness that I'm impressed to see men like you who are staying positive through your trials." He served his mission in Brazil and he told us the struggles he had on his mission was retaining all the baptisms they had. He said that it was so frustrating baptizing over 200 people on his mission and seeing close to 3 people remain active. And he expressed that it just didnt make sense to baptize someone if they wont remain active. But at the end of the service his mom yelled upstairs and said  that their dog was bleeding and it turns out that their dog went into another yard and a dog bit their dog and he had to take her to the vet. There was alot of blood and I was not expecting the service to end the way it did.

On Saturday, we finished weekly planning and in the afternoon we visited a lot of less active and recent converts. One of the less active members we saw expressed why she hadn't been coming to church and the reason they didn't come to church is because a member offended them and they still haven't gotten over it. That is one of the highest reasons someone doesnt come back because a member offended them and all of a sudden that means the church isn't true... No the people are the variable in the church and the church is perfect but the people are not and so if can use the Atonement and overcome those hardships the Lord will bless us. We had a lesson with Manny and Carol with a few senior missionaries that was really powerful and Manny said he'd come to church! Later that night we had transfer calls and my name was called and so I will be transferring on Tuesday.

On Sunday, I had a lot of mixed emotions going into church, Manny came to church and enjoyed it but it was so hard saying bye to all the people I got so close to throughout the whole day. You've been apart of their lives for 6 months and all of a sudden you have to move on and bless other peoples lives. It's a hard transition and in my mission its been the hardest transition yet. Columbus feels so much like home and all the memories and good times and hard times here will be hard to leave behind. In the afternoon we said bye to Justin Robinson and Ruth! We had a lesson and had a Nerf war in their house one last time. Crazy story at J.R's house we got out of the car and J.R'spit bull chased me for no reason and came centimeters from biting my leg but I las t the last second I high stepped and dodged the dog. J.r tipped the boat over onto the dog to protect me and it all happened so fast but don't worry it all worked out. I'm going to miss Columbus so much, I've grown so close to the people here and I've learned so much. I hope I will have a great impact on my next area and will continue to love the people and share the gospel far and wide!

I LOVE Y'all!

-Elder Hill
#dogsarecrazy   #Ilove Columbus  #Alwaysandforever 
Nerf Wars!!

Flatrock District!  Columbus GA 2016

Sunday, July 24, 2016

July 18, 2016 - Columbus, GA

Hey Y'all!

I'll start off my weeks email with a southernism I heard this past week"If you put a brain in a jay bird, it would fly backwards" any guesses on what it means??? It apparently is a way to offend someone but that is a very loose definition so I'll leave it up to y'all to interpret it. But I'm glad that y'all are doing well! I like the USU football connections Kevin is getting, Kristy keep on doin that horse thang, and way to go Michelle on that ballet💪. Mom and Dad keep on looking for a home or land I know it will come and I'm glad y'all are doing well! I haven't had time to pay the ticket yet, but I'm probably going to do it after I email today so I shouldn't have to go to jail after today:)  Hopefully that will bring some comfort haha. I'll tell you what though my mission just keeps on just getting more interesting with more experiences the longer I'm out here and I just wish I had the time of the day to email ya all the things but just remind me when I get home, and I'll fill ya in on all the stories I may have missed.

On Tuesday, I was finishing up my exchange in Auburn with Elder Burgess, we found out early on that day that it was "Cow day" at Chic-fil-A and we had to do something for it! If you're unfamiliar about cow day its where if you dress up like a cow at Chic-fil-a you get a free meal... So we put black tablecloth and cut out patches to put on our white shirts and it made for a great story haha! People loved our costumes and we went twice to different locations cause hey why not:) We exchanged back later in the day and drove back to Columbus. I cant remember if I told you about this lady named Theresa but we met Theresa when we were driving by this road and we saw Theresa on her motorized wheelchair and stopped the car to talk to her. She could speak so she wrote that she wanted to meet with us on Tuesday, so we came by and visited with her and the family that she lives with. I'm still a bit confused on how they got connected together but nonetheless they are some of the sweetest people I've met here in the south! Theresa just makes you appreciate the small things about life and really the little things are what makes the difference and small things can add up to great things. We had a very busy night planned that night and we had dinner with the new Fort Benning senior couple the Youngers. The Youngers are from Roy, Utah and they are super nice. Sister Younger reminds me of Grandma Hill just from some of the things she says so it always has a homely feel when I talk to her. We met with a member later that night who has been going through some marital probably and we visited with him and you can see his testimony in Christ increase and how the power of Christ can help you overcome any guilt you may feel from past transgressions. The power of the Atonement really is sooo crucial as we look at the purpose of life and knowing Christ knows exactly how we feel during every situation and without the Atonement it would be very hard to have hope for a better future.

On Wednesday, we had an extremely busy day! We started off the day by going to Sister Meadows house for some service. Keep in mind that we have a zone training meeting on Thursday and because we were on exchanges and didn't have time to plan it out, we had to prep a meeting for 40 missionaries in a day while catching up on all of our investigators and doing things in preparation for ZTM. Sister Meadows was an answer to a prayer because she gave me ideas for my training that I could do. I wanted to focus on repentance but also the Will of God and aligning our will with his. As we were doing weeding for her, thoughts of the difference between flowers and weeds really struck me as something I needed to talk about in ZTM. I'll talk about what I mean by that on Thursday but we did some service  and it started to rain as we finished up and we were really muddy! The rest of the day we were zooming around everywhere trying to get things in order and visiting some peoples. 

On Thursday, our day started at 5:30 and we ran and worked out, got everything squared away and set up at the church for ZTM. This ZTM was one of my favorites that I've been apart of. The training's by everyone and everyone's participation really played a big role in the meeting. My training went pretty well. Sister Meadows brought in fruit for all of us to have and to relate it to my training. I related how weeds are like sin where they sped so fast and if we don't maintain them it can spread through the whole garden.Weeds also grow by root systems and often times we cant see the affects of how sins connect until we use repentance and the Atonement to pull the weeds up. Its also hard to see the flowers if its overcrowded by weeds. I also talked about the will of god and showed the Mormon message where sometimes the thing we want in life isn't what God wants us to be but if we align our will with God's and his timing then we will feel fulfilled in this life. Overall the training went super well and Elder Memmott gave an awesome training about the missionaries purpose and why we came on missions. Sister Farmer and D'avila gave great training's as well! I was pumped about it! I then went to Americus for exchanges and had a great night filled of tracting:)

On Friday, we exchanged back from Americus and found a really cool building that we had to take stud pictures haha:) We saw Theresa with a member later and we had to speak very simply and those are the best lessons when you just say things simple and to the point. We had interviews with President Grayson and he asked me a lot of questions about Milledgeville and training in that interview so I might be training next transfer so we will see. If I could pick I'd want to stay here in Columbus because its my favorite area so far and the work is awesome, but I'll go where God wants me to go. We saw a few referrals later that night and got BIG with my boy Elder Memmott that night!

On Saturday, we went to the ranch and you'll be proud of me... We shined some saddles and bridles and I just knew that Dad and Kristy would be proud of me:) I weed whacked and had fun petting all the animals.We had a really cool experience later that day where we planned to go see a see a member who has been less active and at the same time we did one of the members here went and visited her at work and the member said shed like to visit with us again. I haven't met with her in like 2 months and I was very excited to see her on Sunday. That night one of our investigators had a sign shown to him that night. Elder Memmott and I studied Ether 12 that morning in studies and we shared a scripture from Ether 12 and it happened to be the same verse he randomly opened up to that day. Not only that but as we left his house for dinner he called us back and told us that the page that we read from fell out of the binding on the ground after he closed the book. And he took it to mean that God was trying to tell him that you didn't get this read it again. Ether 12 talks all about faith and that really hit home for him . Then he prayed for a sign and he set his phone with one bar of battery on the Book of Mormon and when he picked it up to call someone after the prayer he looked at the phone and it had 3 bars... Small and simple miracles... they do happen!

On Sunday, we had a great church service with a lot of people at sacrament! I went to Fort Benning with Elder Fabiano and taught 9 soldiers the commandments. It amazing to me how much I've been protected from things by the way I've been brought up and kept the 10 commandments as wel las the other commandments. God surely does bless the willing. The testimonies given at fort Benning were awesome and one of the best parts is getting to know the soldiers before the meeting starts it's really quite the experience. We met with Mary later that night and talked with her and reminisced a lot about old times. At the end of the conversation we were both feeling it was time to go and I was pretty bold and talked to her about what happened and why she stopped coming. We were in front of her daughters and she didn't want to do it in front of the daughters so we went outside and chatted. She was going to Calvary Chapel (remember Mark Swift) shes been going there and she had some conflicting concerns about doctrine. Their church teaches that no one has seen the face of God but we look in Acts about Peter seeing the right hand of God...so if God has a hand what else would he have to have... a body??? Yes he would!! But we answered some concerns and we are seeing her Wednesday WOOhoo!

Thanks for all y'all do and I LOVE YOU!!

-Elder Hill
#busybee  "no day will ever be your day if you give up!"
Columbus Zone July 2016!

Cow MOO Day - got a free meal by dressing up!

Creepy Cabin!!

Sweet Mill!!  With Elder Hill!!

Sunday, July 17, 2016

July 11, 2016 - Columbus, GA

Hey Y'all!

I just want to start of by saying that this week was one of the busiest weeks I've ever had in my life and that is really saying something and I hope that I have enough time to tell you about it because some amazing things happened this week and a few experiences we might have to wait til after the mission to discuss because they are just that spiritual! I'm so glad that everyone is doing well!  So my week was pretty hectic and busy, but such a memorable week as well!

On Tuesday, we drove to Auburn for exchanges and while we were waiting for the other Elders to finish emailing we walked around on Auburn's campus and took pictures by the Auburn stadium! It was awesome to be there and experience Auburn! It's a very VERY nice campus! And no this time I did not get a ticket when I was in Auburn, I'm just very cautious whenever I take a left turn there now haha:) But I went exchanges with Elder Clark who is one of the most humble and down to earth missions I've ever met! He is very nice and caring and I hope when I'm about to head home like him that I'll be just as upright as he is! But we had a great lesson with an investigator about the gospel of Jesus Christ and he definitely is gaining a testimony in the church! A bunch of our plans fell through that day so we have been trying to go through and contact the new move ins in the ward that might not know anyone from the church. So while we were doing that we saw a truck in front of a house with Colorado license plates on it and you DO NOT see that here in Georgia and Edler Clark being from mostly Texas, there was a Texas sticker on the side of his truck so we had to talk to him! It was like the house was made for us! It turns out that he is a very hard man to catch with how much he works but he has been looking for a church since he moved here, but was tired of the pastors who preach one thing and live another way and we invited him to come to church and shared the Restoration with him! We later had a great lesson with a member who has fallen away from the gospel and the church for a while and he has been dealing with marriage and child custody problems. It really was a spiritual meeting and he sincerely wants to come back to God but is trying to receive inspiration on how to do it, but with faith he will!

On Wednesday, we drove back to Auburn and exchanged back. In preparation for the zone conference to meet President and Sister Grayson Elder Memmott went to go by some new shoes and it was the 1st time I've been in a JC Penney since Colorado so it was a throwback! We had to get tons of logistical things in order for zone conference and work out some things with a few members. It started to rain and storm super bad as we were going to the church for the meeting! We were all very anxious for the Graysons and the transition and the knowledge that both of them will bring! The Graysons are such great people, very humble, willing to listen to you, they both have desires to serve even though they are unfamiliar with how missions or the mission department functions. They have been thrown into a lot of new things but they are confident and willing to be here! We had a great meeting and I look forward to serving with them in the future! In the meeting they discussed the importance of teaching repentance and baptizing converts and how we can do it more effectively. Their insights were spot on! Later that night we helped move a couple fridges into Kenya Boyers trailer and the Lord has truly blessed her for her obedience to the gospel and to the Lord!

On Thursday, we had to get an oil change for our car and we had to switch cars with the Cusseta missionaries because they were going to get a new car. So while our car was getting an oil change we went to the Food bank and helped them sort food and pack food for them! We then returned and exchanged cars so we would be driving a jeep for a few days:) I'm not sure if y'all remember the pastor from Calvary Chapel from a few letters back but there was a member that wanted to meet with him to help answer any questions from the last time or resolve any conflicts... well that was the hope:) We went into his office with the member and the member we brought was very VERY knowledgeable of the gospel, why we believe what we believe, and the divinity of the church. He is very good at explaining things so a child can understand it and as we discussed differences about doctrine, it was interesting to see the change of spirit from the beginning of meeting to the end. The pastor was very against the church and was trying to pick a fight with every little thing we stated. The member and us were able to diffuse a lot of difficult situations in the conversation and really help him understand the doctrine of what we believe in. As we discussed the first vision and how Christs church was restored back to the earth we explained it with simplicity and backed it up with versus in the bible and the Book of Mormon. All in all, it was quite the experience and even though we didnt all believe in the same way, we protected the faith and at least now he can walk away knowing what we actually believe instead of hearing rumors of what we believe. We had a very spiritual lesson later that night with Chelsey watching a few bible videos at the church and hearing the song come unto Christ:) Great stuff!

On Friday, we had to go to Macon for MLC and I'll tell you what the pictures we took on the way up and the way back were spectacular! It was like living in a calendar! Georgia is so beautiful! It was President and Sister Graysons 1st MLC and it was a very well thought out and constructive meeting. You'll love one of the highlights from the meeting... So we were talking about repentance and how important repentance is in conversion and they first demonstrated through a role play how they would teach repentance. Then they opened it up to us once they finished that they wanted one of us to teach the Graysons repentance. As expected many of the missionaries in there were apprehensive of the situation and waiting for someone to say they'd do it. Well Elder Memmott and I weren't scurred and we said "WE WILL DO IT!" So in front of all the leadership and the mission presidency we put our selves out there and taught them the importance of repentance. You'll be happy to know that many people complimented us on the clarity and simplicity we taught with. We used each other and taught with power and authority! It was an awesome experience. MLC is awesome too because we got to see lots of old friends and reminisce. On the way back we drove through Warner Robbins and saw the Air Force base there with tons of crazy airplanes that were HUGE! It was awesome! We also visited one of  Elder Memmotts converts there and he's receiving the priesthood this Sunday and that is really what its all about! Seeing someone really embracing the gospel and doing acts of faith to get closer to God.

On Saturday, we were able to help a member with lots of service who were going through rough health problems at the time and it was awesome to see how the service helped mend and build relationships. We did lots of weeding and got into a great conversation about the Book of Mormon and the truthfulness of it. We had lots of lessons with some investigators who werent able to see because of the meetings we had during the week. There was baptism in the Rivercrest ward where the man getting baptized yelled" WOOOOHOOOO!" after he came up from the water and it was pretty funny! But also that really is how we should like at it in a spiritual sense is it's a WOOHOO moment!

Sunday, was a SPECTACULAR day! We showed up to church and there was a couple who had never been to a Mormon church before and so we went over and introduced ourselves. They loved the service and they were fellow shipped really well by the ward! She told me that "I've been looking for something like this my whole life and I'm so glad that I came:)" She felt very loved and told us that this is the one church that doesn't judge me for who I am but just loves me for who I am, which is hard for people to say nowadays. Later in the day we went to the hospital to give a blessings and it was interesting when we walked into the room, apparently they were just thinking about calling us to come and see if she could give a blessing and no later than when they said they we walked in the door and I was able to give 4 blessings right in a row which was pretty spiritual. It doesn't happen everyday! We had dinner with a couple on fort Benning who has a very cute baby girl. He's going to ranger school soon and we talked alot about what to look for in your future wife and talked about the recent events in Texas. The world is getting worse and worse so just affirm your testimony in Christ! We gave extra food to one of our investigators that was homeless and it really made his day. Sunday night we had a very very spiritual experience that I'll have to share after the mission but just kniow that the priesthood is real and there is nothing like it!

I LOVE Y'all sorry for the long letter but keep on keepin on and thanks for all you do!!

-Elder Hill
#Whataweek  #oneforthebooks
 
Two Peas in a Pod! :)

Pic with the man! And Cam Newton was there too:)

President and Sister Grayson!
 

Sunday, July 10, 2016

July 5, 2016 - Columbus, GA

Hey Y'all!

Happy 4th of July!! I cant believe this time last year I was in the MTC not knowing what I was about to get into:) Since that time I sure have been through alot as we all have I'm sure. HAPPY BIRTHDAY KRISTINA!! I hear you're turning 15 congratulations!! Haha jk but I hope its a good one. Sorry that you had a rough week at work, and I cant believe he hit you... Just tell him the next time that happens that you have a brother in Georgia and people in the south dont mess around. But I'm sure that Dad has it under control:) The cruise in Logan sounds like a lot of fun and it sounds like y'all will have a fun 4th of July like I had!. 4th of July in the south brings on a whole new meaning and celebrating our country has always been one of my favorite holidays, but being here in the south experiencing the patriotism on a military base surrounded by soldiers makes it a little more meaningful. They sure aren't the same with your family though, but just think the next one we will all be together:) This past week has been one of the busiest and fast moving weeks of my mission. There was probably one or two times throughout the entire week where we had 10 minutes of rest. Just what I like...

On Tuesday, But anyway we went on exchanges and hurried and I had to just put my frustration behind me and go see some investigators and at 5:00 we helped someone moved. It was a really great service and it was definitely needed to get my mind of the ticket. Later in the night while tracting we met a man who grew Carolina reapers and Ghost peppers in the back yard and its crazy how they grow them and that you need goggles just to pluck off the peppers cause the dust is so hot.

On Wednesday, we switched back early in the morning and we went to district meeting in Columbus. Following that we had to rush over to Fort Mitchell where I would stay in Fort Mitchell and Elder Memmott would stay in Columbus. I was with Elder Munn for the day and while we visited people there we say soldiers in airborne school jump out of Apache helicopters and float down to the ground. It was quite the experience. We met a member who had a son who loved playing brio train and you know me and my childhood that was life. So I had a fun time building "tracks" with him and playing trains. STILL so much fun:) We had an awesome lesson with one of their investigators about the Book of Mormon and at the end of the lesson she accepted to be baptized into the church and while she has some things to go through I could see the faith she had in the gospel to change her life around. She told me"I wish you could stay here in Fort Mitchell... I like you" which made me feel really good. It was an awesome exchange and Elder Munn is an awesome missionary.

On Thursday, driving back from Fort Mitchell we decided to go take pictures on the Chattahoochee river to get our mind of some stress and I'm sure you'll enjoy them:) we had quite a memorable "southern" lesson with one of our investigators. The sky as we started the lesson told us it was probably going to rain pretty soon but as we got about halfway through the Plan of Salvation it started to really come down and Willie was underneath his awning and invited us to come sit by him. It was raining CATS and DOGS!! It was coming down so hard that in a matter of 15 minutes the streets were flooded. We had to yell to each other just to hear each other through the noise of the rain. Regardless of the noise you could still hear the quiet whisperings of the Spirit which he knows to be true. We challenged him to read the Book of Mormon everyday for a month and he said" You know I don't back down from a challenge" And I replied" That's my kind of answer!" We had a really spiritual lesson later in the day when we watched the Bible videos when Christ brought Lazarus back to life. The part that always sticks out to me was when Christ prays to Heavenly Father because he is that humble where he knows he can bring him back to life but he is still submissive and obedient to his father. POWERFUL! 

On Friday, Elder Memmott and I had a really neat service project where we weeded some flower beds for Sister Meadows and layed mulch down for her husband for a surprise! It was great to talk to her about my ticket and later on in the week she even gave me a quad because I told her that I have been looking around for one! It was such a blessing to provide service and save a turtle:) Later in the night we met with one of our investigators , Barron. Who introduced us to his friend that he goes to church with. The other day I watched a video on protecting the faith and the best way to do it and Elder Memmott and I definitely protected the faith. We taught them the Plan of Salvation and we both bore powerful testimony as they questioned how we believe the in three degrees of glory and as we directed them to 1 Peter 4:6 and 1 Corinthians 15:40-43 they still tired our faith, but as were backed up doctrine and scripture with the spirit you could see that it made sense to them that God doesn't just want to save a few of us. The Plan of Salvation is simple and covers every question people have in life thats why its my favorite lesson to teach. Difficult but my favorite!

On Saturday, we went to finish Brother Sootqueas trailer (The guy who had a yucky trailer) we helped them tear out floor boards, flea infested carpet, and ceilings. I felt like I was on Extreme makeover home edition and taking crowbars and destroying things!! It was pretty nasty but don't worry we didn't get too eaten up. We treated them well and recovering from the bites. The whole time I was just in awe of how some people can live the way they do, but you just gotta love 'em and serve.

On Sunday, the spirit as we sang "America the Beautiful" and other patriotic songs took a whole new meaning to me as I saw soldiers in the congregation risking their lives and sacrificing their time to serve the country. The testimonies given were so profound and powerful it really made for a great meeting. I went to Fort Benning and taught the soldiers there and if only you could see the sight as I saw when the soldiers sang "Star Spangled banner" and looking around at the tears in their eyes really impressed upon me the Spirit of America. Elder Memmott and I got back together and visited lots of less actives and tried to find more people willing to hear the gospel in the sweltering heat.

On Monday, I didn't slow down one second the whole day... We got up and did a 2 mile run in 12 minutes! We went disc golfing, and had a great time with Brother Harrison! Its really quite the fun game! We shopped for shoes and food, we then went to a barbecue that the Harrells put on and it really through back to home with the family setting and playing football in the yard. We decided to celebrate the holiday by playing some whiffle ball so hurried and ran home, gave some missionaries our spare tire cause theirs popped. We jump someones car and made it it to the field! Had a blast playing and then drove the National Infantry museum which was really awesome to see on the 4th of July! There was lots of foods vendors and people there to celebrate the country! I LOVE 'MURICA!

Thanks y'all and I hope y'all are doing well!` I LOVE Y"ALL and KEEP ON KEEPING ON!

-Elder Hill!
Demo Crew!

The Sandlot!

Tried to play baseball with two bats!  Nice follow through tho!! :)

Way down yonder on the Chattahoochee!!

Sunday, July 3, 2016

June 27, 2016 - Columbus, GA

Hey Y'all!


Life is going great!! It's crazy to think that this time next year I'll be home and in a way I feel like I just came out, but then again I've gone through so much that it feels like it's been more than a year. I'm not sure if that makes sense but I hope that ya catch my drift:) Thank you soooo much for the year mark package, the journal, the card, the stickers, and the AWESOME ties it was just what I needed. So thank you sooo much and by the way I've already got compliments for the ties so good job picking them out:) Haha and being a zone leader has its very stressful moments and I'm sure when I come home and tell you about them that we ALL will concur sometimes its hard being a zone leader, but at the same time I wouldn't have it any other way.  I'll be prayin for ya like always. This week definitely had it's ups and also had some downs and I can already tell that this summer is finna be a scorcher! (finna =going to be)

Tuesday, we had a district meeting with the district and learned a lot about how we can make our studies more effective and how we can use more knowledge from Preach my Gospel into our teaching. It was funny one of the elders in the district made a reference to green eggs and ham and he said that a lot of our investigators will say that they don't like our church and are skeptical about going to church, but just like the story in Dr.Seuss and green eggs and ham unless you try it you wont know if it's good or not. It was just interesting how he related that to the story about Green eggs and ham. Later in the day we went tracting and had a pretty great experience. We knocked doors for probably a half hour at this point and we had a few people answer the door and listen to the message of the Restoration over the course of 30 minutes. Well, we get to the end of the street and there is an older man sitting on his porch, and we start talking with him and he tells us about his life and how he grew up in Detroit and how impoverished that place is. You could tell by the way he talked that he was from Detroit and he's been through some rough neighborhoods in his life. We shared the message of the restoration with him and committed him to pray. So as we left both Elder Memmott and I both had the expectation that he probably wasnt going to progress or read the pamphlet because of his body language and the Lord taught us a valuable lesson... When we came back he knew the whole pamphlet and even told us how he felt the spirit and wants to know more... He also said that he wants to be baptized by someone holding the authority that Christ had. So the Lord pretty much slapped us in the face and told us to not judge a person before you really know him and it turns out that he is on date for the 23rd of July so NEVER JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER! Following the lesson we drove by these two 20 year olds playing some basketball and seeing that we had a few minutes to psare we got to play some ball with them and it was a really memorable time. I treasure those moments when you get to play and teach people about the gospel. It was pretty funny I had this one play where I made this kid fall down from a crossover I had and everyone watching thought the world was ending by how much they were screaming and it was pretty funny! Later in the night we had a dinner with one of our investigators because it was his birthday as well as Elder Memmotts and took us out to eat! They are such a great family and I really felt as if it was a member meal. They are such good righteous people and you can see the light of Christ in them! I'll keep you up to date with them because they are a family that will bring many people to the gospel!

Wednesday, we did service at the Food Bank and helped them sort and pack boxes. It's really cool to work with people who want to serve the community and we have been able to make lots of good friends through that Food Bank and the service rendered there. We went on Fort Benning for dinner with the Mackies and had a great dinner with them and learned alot about their missions and the experiences they've had. Being out for a year I can tell how a mission can change you as it has over the past year for me and how you interact with people and how to live your life. It's sad to see people make wrong choices and in the long wrong makes them sad, but if they would just hold true to the iron rod they would be so much happier!

Thursday, one of the highlights for the day was when we were watching the bible story on the mormon channel about the atonement and the part that really stuck out to me this time as I watched it was the part when peter cut the soldiers ear off because they were going to take him to be crucified and just heals the soldiers ear and tells Peter that he's going to drink the cup the Father gave him. I was just in awe that the people even though they just witnessed this selfless and loving miracle and still took him to be crucified and the obedience to the Father really made it clear that we need to be the same way with God and keeping the commandments no matter how hard it may be.

Friday, was MY YEAR MARK!!!! It really is crazy how fast a mission goes I mean two year in the big picture is a long time, but if you focus on the work and serving it makes time go by fatser and more importantly you change as a person for the better. This whole year I think my testimony in the Savior is the strongest its ever been and I partly wish I could go back and redo how I did things before my mission ,but at least now when I come back I can make those changes and be strong in the faith! It's tradition in the mission field to 'burn" a white shirt for your year mark and to me that just seemed like a waste of a shirt and it's not as memorable in my opinion so instead Anna Harrell wanted to smash a cake in my face to celebrate and so for lunch we drove to her house and she smashed a chocolate smash cake in my face! It was such a better way to celebrate than burning something and it was alot of fun! Later in the day we had a lesson with Amanda, her daughters, and another member in the ward that she is living with. I'm not sure why this lesson rubbed me the wrong way but as we talked about Jeffrey R. Hollands talk "Tomorrow the Lord will do wonder among you" and I might have mentioned Amanda's story in a previous post but we found her at a barbecue restaurant and after explaining how God loves us and we told her about the restoration she wanted to know more. She texted us asking for us to find her a place to stay and it's not our place to ask the ward to house someone we met so we asked the member who Amanda is staying with now for any advice or shelters and the member took her in and housed her. Not only that but recently the member took both of Amanda's daughter in by the goodness of her heart and is living with them. During the lesson she expressed that she doesn't know if Joseph Smith is a prophet or if the church is true. She is getting baptized into the Calvary Chapel's church (The pastor we talked to church a few weeks back) and so the reason it rubbed me the wrong way was because she pretty much denied that we did anything for her and wont really pray about the message of the restoration. But this might be one of those times I just wont see the fruits of the labor and who knows what may happen down the road so we will keep on keepin' on.

Saturday, in the morning we both were dead dog sore and we went to a service project that was one of the least sterile and unsanitary environments I've ever been in. There's a man in the ward who got an infection from the trailer he was living in and so the ward is providing service to help him make his home livable. He had 11 dogs, he cleaned his dishes by having his dogs lick them, there was mold growing on the walls and as you walked into the trailer you would look down and your shins would be all black from the fleas jumping on you... So we emptied the trailer and threw all of the furniture and mattress in the dump and found a place for the dogs. It was so hot and the dog dander was awful! But we got it done and we got home and showered and cleaned the apartment. We sweated so much on Saturday the heat index said it was 117 degrees and we were out in it all day. We help Brother Anson move a very heavy desk into a room and it turned out it didn't fit through door so we had to move it back on the truck. We also played some ball with some kids in the street. I told him about me wanting to play at Utah state and he  said " I'm playing with a D1 prospect!" It was funny! So much fun!

Sunday, we had a great church service and Elder Memmott and I went out to Fort Benning. We had a lesson with seven soldiers about the Plan of Salvation. One of the soldiers is getting baptized on July 24th and we are so excited for him!! We had a great dinner with the bishop and his family! He is such a great man and his family is awesome! With July 4th coming up and serving near a military base it makes me so grateful to live in a country where we can worship as we please and live like we want to live. Even though there are things that we would like to change the country, it makes me so proud to say I live in the land of the free! God Bless America!

-I LOVE YOU GUYS!!

-Elder Hill

#GodBlessAmerica   #Itsgettinghotinhere  

Ballin' with the homies :)

Dinner with Byron and Synthia!!

The view with running in the morning!