September 19, 2016 - Augusta, GA

Hey Y'all!

So I wanted to start out with a really funny card Elder Weston bought today at the store. There's a picture of two rednecks looking at a shiny car and one says" Thats a nas car!" The other says" Yup real Nas" Then on the inside it says and thats how Nascar was invented haha:)  When you say Nas put a southern drawl on it and its makes the joke even better:)

This past week was sure one to remember!

On Monday, We emailed and then headed off to Macon for MLC. Sadly we werent able to have a P-Day on Monday because there were 2 General Authorities that were going to be in Macon to lead MLC. MLC was definitely one to remember. When we arrived at the building and sat down you could tell there was a general authority there. I don't know any other way to describe it than that. Elder Uceda and Elder Meurrs of the 70 were there and gave us some really profound lessons. One very memorable comment he made was he broke down Philippians 4:13 and used the Greek translation for what the words mean. It really changes the scripture and makes it way more meaningful. Phillipians 4:13 says " I can do all things through Christ who strengthenth me." And the Greek translation is I can overcome all things with Christ who strengtheneth me. The way he was talking about it really touched everyone in the room. The meeting was amazing! Because it takes 2 hours to travel from Evans to Macon we stayed the night at the mission home because we had zone conference the next day. It rained super bad  the whole meeting and Elder Weston and I traveled to Warner Robbins for the night to spend dinner with a member. His name was Starky and we went to a 50's style restaurant. It had a really cool vibe and it was great seeing Elder Weston soooo happy to see him! We returned back to the mission home and stayed the night. It was a lot of fun being there with everyone and knowing we would be together in 9 months sleeping there was really cool too haha. 

On Tuesday, we got up and had to manage getting ready with 12 Elders with one bathroom in 1 hour was really tight, but we made it work haha. On the way to zone conference I was a bit nervous because I would be conducting a multi-zone zone conference in front of 2 general authorities. I was a little bit nervous, but its not like I haven't handled situations like that before. It really was a really neat opportunity where I was able to sit right next to Elder Uceda and Elder Meurrs to introduce them and conduct the meeting. After I had sat back down after initially starting the meeting  and I sat down, it hit me of how much better I have become talking in front of people on my mission. I didnt stutter or make any mistakes and Elder Uceda even told me I did a great job of inviting the spirit and conducting! So you could say I gave my self a pat on the back:) The zone conference was amazing! Elder Uceda talked for 3 hours and normally when someone talks for that long it can get boring, but I was engaged the whole time. While he was breaking down scriptures and explaining things you could just tell he was a general authority. Elder Uceda really spoke to me about the importance of good studies and receiving revelation which is all some we love receiving. There were so many things that he helped me understand, but my favorite thing was how he drew this 8x8 grid on the board and asked us how many squares are there? Doing basic math we said 64. He said that's it and our mind was broadened and we saw how many more possibilities of squares there were. He said there is in total 204 squares in an 8x8 grid. He applied that to studies and said that there are so many more concepts we can understand than just the basic 64, but connecting principles and applying it to yourself is where you find more squares in your studies. On the way back from Macon we drove through Milledgeville and because Elder Showers was driving through Milledgeville too we stopped in at the apartment and almost a year later we were in the exact same apartment with each other! We saw brother Fraley and it was great seeing him there:) It as a packed day, but I loved the spirit in the meeting and it was very memorable!

On Wednesday, we had to pick up some groceries cause we couldn't on Monday. The highlights of the day were at night teaching Carolina O'reily and her kids about the Plan of Salvation. The y'all had really important questions and with the help of visual aids they really understood the lesson. 

On Thursday, in the afternoon we picked up Daniel Storrer and went to go see Zina Eddy. If I were to "rank" the most spiritual Restoration lessons I've taught this would be up there. Zina gave us an ultimatum and she said" If I don't feel anything after this lesson I'm sticking to believing in Islam. Right after the prayer the spirit entered and everyone could feel it. She asked questions about prophets, we were led, by the spirit, to Jeremiah 1:5 and it made it clear to her that there was more than one prophet besides Jesus Christ. Which is a large belief in the Islamic faith, where they believe there is only one prophet and its Jesus Christ. We bore testimony and she accepted to baptized!! She is coming to church on the 25th and we are excited!! We found Zina by tracting but even before that we prayed with a member who lived close by to open the hearts of the people and in turn we found Zina! Gotta love being a missionary! We then later on took out Alex Gomez and talked to people while tracting. Found some really nice people but no one really seemed too interested.

On Friday, we planned a majority of the day, but Elder Weston and I have really developed a good relationship of planning and its made such a big difference in how we do missionary work!

On Saturday, we played ultimate Frisbee with the Army and got all my competitive juices out for the week, definitely needed. The highlights of the day were seeing Scott. He's been less active for 30-35 years and we prayed about what chapter we should read with him from the Book of Mormon. We decided on 3 Nephi 18, talking about how Christ administered the Sacrament. It was cool because he had prayed about coming to church for the sacrament and after we had read it, it was affirmed he should go to church and on Sunday he came!!! Which was really cool! We are going to watch conference with him and he is excited:) We went by Sister Coopers and on the way there we talked to this elderly lady and immediately she said to us. I know you boys from somewhere, don't know where but I've seen you before. She accepted to have us over and we are seeing her on Wednesday!Super Awesome!

Sunday, where do I begin, Church was really great and I sure did learn a lot from the speakers. One of them talked about being prepared for the lessons and how if a teacher brings a jug of water and the hearers bring a cup they aren't prepared to takeaway much more than a cup but if they bring a jug it will mean a lot more to them. After church we went to  the Gomez family and had lunch. They fed us a Mexican style taco and gave us these sea urchin looking things called leaches. They taste like a grape but they have a pear texture. Kind of funky. I'll just say right now that Sunday I was about to explode with such a full stomach! After lunch we hada lesson with Dan and the Urbanawiz family where we talked about temples and learning. She is getting baptized this Saturday!! We are sooo excited for her!! She is sooo ready:) We then went to Dinner where we had lasagna, homemade bread, and it was with a family where it would be mean to not going and get 3rds. Then after dinner we traveled to South Carolina for a lesson with an 8 year old getting baptized friday. The Yalso's

 

fed us tacos after the lesson. It was a full day. But the lesson at the end of the night teaching the girl about baptism was so sweet. We sang When I am baptized with her and it meant a lot to her. We left her with a Book of Mormon with our favorite scriptures and they loved them!

Alright Y'all the church is true and just like a seed a testimony comes a little bit at a time:)

-Elder Hill

#NCAAhereIcome  #motivatedanddetermined   #ZoneConf.

 

Holy Moth!

September 2016 ​MLC with Elder Uceda and Elder Muerrs!

 

Elders with Books of Mormon!

On the Mission Home Steps! Only 9 months baby. :)

September 12, 2016 - North Augusta / Evans

Hey Y'all!

Weeks just keep on flying by!! This past week sure was a fast week and lots of really awesome miracles happened!  Oh and yes I LOVE Georgia Peaches!!! A year ago in Waynesboro a member had an orchard and we would go over on P-day and pick a basket and they are Delicious. Georgia Peaches were probably the fruit that Satan tempted Eve with haha just kidding but yes they are very good and I'll have to bring you back one:) I'm glad that the ward and Grandma and Grandpa like my blog, it takes some time but it is definitely worth it:) God definitely protects us from so many things more than we sometimes realize! 

I'll start this week off with a quote from Elder Cook last night at a devotional we were able to go to. Elder Cook said "It's a lot better to strive to be Christlike than to be authentic." I thought this was a very profound statement because its so much better to strive for the right things that may in the end be more difficult where on the other hand to stand out for the wrong reasons. If you don't stand on decisions based around Jesus Christ you may find yourself searching  and floating for happiness, but when we make decisions by counseling with God we are able to find joy and direction from someone who knows ALL things. It's definitely easier said than done to choose the harder right than the easier wrong, but the Lord will bless you as you choose righteously.

On Monday night, we were able to go over to Brother Fry's home and he cooked some pork and grilled some corn on the barbecue! While we waited for him to finish making dinner we all played a Nerf war around the house and it was a lot of fun! After we had dinner we went to go to the Carabellos home,we were a few minutes early and so we were getting out of the car to go and tract for a few minutes when we saw a couple guys playing basketball:) Haha you know me I cant pass up an opportunity like that. I played 1 on 1 against one of the kids there and it was a lot of fun:) We left him with a scripture and a pass along card and he invited us to come back over sometime to play and have a message! So dont hide your talents! After we got sweaty we went to the Carabellos home and it was Justin's birthday. He said he was really sore from training for MMA and I could relate to being sore all the time from training. We sat with them and sang happy birthday to him. We are starting to build a relationship with him and his family. We are excited for whats to come! 

On Tuesday, we hopped on the bikes and rode over to Sister Coopers neighborhood. We tried to visit a few people and see one of our investigators, but ended up talking to Sister Cooper for a time. While we were on our bikes its crazy how many people notice you and recognize we are missionaries. Its become a habit to waive at every car that you ride past as they glare at you which is a good thing becomes everyone likes a happy smile and a wave. We got back home and got into a really good conversation with one of our neighbors about churches and how he doesn't like how Pastors don't know know what they talk about half the time. He also talked about how he doesn't like the doctrine of the trinity where God and Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost are one being. Over the course of my missions I've had my time talking to various religious leaders and pastors and I've found that most churches have the same foundational beliefs with Jesus Christ. But a lot of churches here in the south believe in the trinity where they are all one being. I look at the garden of Gethsemane and cant seem to understand how Jesus Christ could be praying to him himself and not the Father. Or when Christ was baptized and the Holy Ghost descended in the form of a dove and Heavenly Father said, "Behold, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Its hard for me to believe that they are one person. But we talked with him and established a good relationship with him. Later that night we had English Class and taught the class about commands and how to say things in a nice way. It went well and I am thankful IO took Spanish for 4 years in high school, its helped me out quite a bit:) 

On Wednesday, we were able to meet the new missionary here serving with Elder Cayton, him name is Elder Hooley. He just came into the mission and it was fun talking to him about his mission. We did service at Mrs.Morris' and cleared some weeds for her. A lot of Wednesday was tracting and trying to find people. We met a few really nice people who had questions about the church and differences of what they believed. Everyone is entitled to their own belief and that's why this country is so great. I love talking to people about their beliefs and here in the south its a great blessing that everyone has heard of Jesus Christ because religion is big down here. The struggle is just helping people understand how important it is to have a second witness such as the Book of Mormon and the importance of having a prophet on the earth today like Moses or Jeremiah in times of old. We had dinner with the Ganuza family and I love their home because you can tell Sister Ganuza loves her husband and her kid which is evident by how she talks to them and treats them. We finished the night off with Bible class and reading in Mark 3.

On Thursday, we were able to get on the computers and update referrals. I watched a talked by Dallin H Oaks and he said a quote that was really powerful he said "When you are involved in the work of the Lord, the power behind you, is always greater than the obstacles before you." I loved that and I think of all the members and families praying for the general authorities, missionaries, and each other. It's like we are one big family working for the same goal! We talked to Sister Sapp about the Plan of Salvation and helped her understand where we go after this life. I've thought about the divine Plan of Salvation this week and how perfect it is. I got a bunch of CD's mailed to me this past week from someone in Sandy, UT. The guy was talking about how he had a question about what happens to the man who lives in China but doesn't know about Jesus Christ? He had a hard time believing that that person would go to hell and that's where the spirit world comes into play and how we can learn there for those who didn't get the chance to here. Later that day we talked to Zina Eddy and we were able to set up a time to come and see her. Thursday, we were trying to see people but they kept on rejecting us and saying to come back later. It was hard, but nothing in life comes easy.

On Friday,  the day was mostly planning for the people we have been teaching, but in the afternoon we went over to go to teach Dan about the commandments. She is getting baptized on September 24th!! She has ate up everything in the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and it's been an absolute joy watching her testimony grow. She's had questions answered by God and she has felt the Holy Ghost. I go back to the reason why Dan was interested in the church. I think I might have told y'all before but Dan wasn't living in a good situation and the Urbanawiz family invited her over to live with her. Dan was impressed and felt the spirit in the home and asked why they do the things they do and they said it all goes back to what we believe in the church. That following Sunday I had the impression to ask her if she was interested in the lessons and she was! She kept telling us that I probably wouldn't have asked you guys because I'm shy so if you didn't ask me I don't know if we would be having a conversation about baptism. She received an answer through Alma 7 and now she is just eating up everything we have been teaching her! The ward loves her and she is definitely going to do great things! She asked us to pray for her on the way out that she might be able to get a job that she interviewed for and through the power in prayer Dan heard a few days later that she got the job!! I'm sooo excited for her!Later that night we had a cool experience where it was 8:45 and it was an awkward time because its too late to go see someone and you don't want to go in early so we went to Big Lots to figure out what is even Big Lots. On the way out we ran into Justin Carabello and talked to him! Just a small world moment but those are the things that make the biggest difference.

On Saturday we played Ultimate frisbee and got better:) It's a lot of fun and wet haha! We got a call from a member in an nearby area that needed help moving a friend. She had some of the heaviest pieces of furniture in her home I've ever moved. I've moved some crazy stuff on my mission like a grand piano from a 3 story building but all of her dressers were crazy heavy! She is a super nice lady and we loved getting to know her! We had dinner at the Whites home and we had a crazy small world moment:) The Whites used to live in Colorado and I asked what part and they said Westminster. I asked where in Westminster? The lived over by Standley Lake but I asked if they knew anyone near where we lived and they said. "Do you know the Parkers who lived in Amherst?" I was like no way!! They lived kiddie corner from us growing up!! Apparently the Whites would go over to their home all the time and so we might have bumped paths somewhere along my life! But it was a crazy small world moment! I raced their kid up a hill and he "beat me" haha he was a fast 5 year old:)

Sunday, we had a great Sunday! Church was great and we talked a lot about the Sabbath day. We talked about strengthening the family in the home and how we can do that better. After church we had ward council, I was very impressed as to how Bishop Richards conducted himself and got the ward involved with family history work. He is very understanding and he loves the people. After church, Alex Gomez came out with us to go see some Spanish families in a nearby neighborhood. We went up and talked to these guys grilling out and drinking some beer. In the Spanish culture they are very inviting and want you to just eat! We had some really good tacos and Alex talked to them in Spanish.The one guy who had the beer was eating a jalapeño right off the grill and he said I should have one and I was like why not! Well after one bite my ears were ringing and I couldn't feel my face!! I was trying to compose myself and not make a scene but my pain was evident in my watery eyes. The only liquid available was his leftover beer and I've never been tempted to drink beer before in my life but the only reason why it was tempting was because it would calm the hot coal in my stomach. Don't worry fam I didn't drink the beer. Don't worry:) It was a very funny time and I was glad to receive a cold water at the next door we knocked on. We had a dinner with a very cute family and their kids were really cute:) Later that night we watched Elder Oak's devotional and I really learned a lot about the challenges youth face. He gave great insight and I loved learning about how we can over come challenges:)

I LOVE Y"all and the CHURCH is true!!

-Elder Hill

#Livingonaprayer  #jalepeNO

Go Green to Stay Lean!

Green Georgia!

September 5, 2016 - North Augusta GA

Hey Y'all!

Wow! It sounds like it was quite the big week for both of us! It was definitely a week I'll remember for the rest of my life. Fall is definitely approaching Georgia, although it is coming in very subtle you can tell its not a sauna anymore. Before my mission I dont think I'd ever say "Yay summer is over until now haha" because its cooling down which is definitely a blessing. I'll talk about the hurricane later on in my letter, but it worked out and was not as bad as many people thought it would be and yes it was a crazy time to make sure everyone in the zone was safe and ready for what may come.

I'm so glad that y'all had a great week it sounds like!

But WOW what a memorable week it was...

On Monday, we have an investigator who is soo ready to be baptized, but her parents wont allow her to. She is so ready that she is going to seminary and for her personal progress project she is going to various churches talking about our church to them. We were invited to go over to her house for dinner with her parents and we were very careful to talk about beliefs or the church at the dinner because we didn't want to give a forceful impression. Both of the parents changed their attitudes from being reserved and cautious to wanting to understand why we believe things without us initiating it . It was a great visit and relationships were made!

On Tuesday, we had District meeting on the Savannah river for Elder Beckman's last district meeting before he went home. There is something special about being in nature talking about God and his plan for us. Elder Cayton gave a great training on flags and he taught us about how flags distinguish a group of people and it shows what they stand for. He asked a question of what flag to we wave and are we proud to wave it and what does your flag stand for? After district meeting, we went to a Japanese sushi buffet and I learned how to use chopsticks, its a life skill. We went on exchanges and I was with Elder Cayton. Our first appointment had quite the situation. We had an appointment with a single lady that we tracted into last week, and we cant go into anyone's home without a man present. We didn't have any elders or priest age young men who could come with us. But I was thinking about what to do and Sister Cooper lived really close and she has a son that lives with her. So we first went to Sister Coopers home and asked her if Josh would be able to come out with us and found out he was under the weather and so we asked Sister Cooper if we could maybe bring the lady over to Sister Coopers home. Sister Cooper was delighted and she even cam with us to invite her to her home and from the first moment they met they were a friends! Zina and Sister Cooper hit it off and they have the same personality, like the same things, and have similar health frustrations. We had a great lesson about the restoration. Zina has studied in the Islamic faith for years and it was hard for her to grasp the concept of prophets and how Joesph Smith was the prophet who restored Christ's church back on the earth. But this whole experience was one where I could see Gods hand in the work and I was glad to have acted on impressions and set up the lesson in the way it was set up. We had English class which is always a good time:)

On Wednesday,we had a "normal day" nothing crazy happened, but we found some new less actives that we are excited to work with and provided some service for an investigator. The highlight of the day was helping Brother Criswell's friends move. His friends are from Assyria and they spoke Arabic. The son spoke fairly good English, but he had to leave to prep the home for when we moved them into it. This whole experience was a testament to the gift of tongues. I absolutely have no knowledge of Arabic and neither did Elder Weston, but we somehow knew what they were talking about and they couldn't understand what we were talking about. We helped them move there furniture and Brother Criswell knowing Arabic showed up and was able to talk to them. The mom had such a deep love for her family and we grew very close and we couldn't even communicate with words it was just by the spirit in the room. Brother Criswell talked to us about Christians in the middle east and how they trace their church back to the original 12 apostles which is very interesting! We are going to be in contact this next week and we are excited to teach them more, of course with the help of Brother Criswell:)

Thursday was a crazy day... we drove to Aiken,SC and went on exchanges with Elder Snow and Elder Olaso. Elder Olaso and I met some people with some interesting views on life. We tracted into a pastor who asked us about our belief on why we think Christ and Lucifer are brothers. To be honest this is a question that alot of pastors I've met on my mission have asked. We explained that we are all children of God and that Christ is only begotten of the father, but he is a child of God and Lucifer was created by God or else he wouldn't exist. God wouldnt have created Lucifer if there wasn't a purpose for him and we know that there needs to be opposition in all things. Lucifer and a third of the hosts of Heaven were that opposition. Without the temptation to partake of the fruit, Adam and Eve would still be in the garden and we wouldn't be here. God is ultimately in control and he knows all things. But it was a good visit. We met another lady who believed that Jesus Christ did everything for us and so we don't have to do anything here on earth. She said we don't have progress in this life or learn because Christ has done everything so we don't have to work here on earth. While she was talking I was just like then what is the point of coming to earth then?? Why did God give us a body just to "exist"? Going through trials and opposition is one of the purposes in this life. To go through a little pain to feel what comfort and peace feels like. Rely on God to get us through our trials because we know he wont give us a trial we cant handle. Through time, patience in Gods timing things will work out the way that God intended for them to work out. Learning how to align our will with Gods will is very hard to do, but you'll develop a love for God as you do the small,simple acts of faith and when you love God more than yourself then whatever Gods asks of you, you'll accept. We left her with our testimonies and set up another time to come back. We were getting calls from the AP's and President Grayson all day and with Elder Weston in Aiken it was just me to make decisions and let the zone know about the hurricane. At the end of the day, I sent over 900 texts, made over 45 calls about how to prep for the storm while doing missionary work. I'm not sharing that to show off or anything, but it was just an impressive amount of texts that I was blown away and had to share it haha. We had dinner with the Rivera family and prepped for the storm.

On Friday, we had an amazing day and one I'll always remember. We woke up with a storm brewing outside. Because of the storm we decided it wasnt safe to exchange back so Elder Olaso and I went on a 2 day exchange. Clouds were all over and it rained and rained and rained. It wasn't that windy, but we got informed that the hurricane slowed down when it hit the land in Florida. So when it came to us it was just a tropical storm. We werent allowed to leave our apartment til 3:00 and it just rained and rained. We put out pots and in 1 hour a big pot filled to the brim. I was honestly expecting a heavier rain and the flooding really wasn't that bad either for some reason. although we heard that Florida got the worst of it. It rained for a total of 8 hours.We had such a busy night... We first had dinner at the Rockwood's family. They have two kids and they have lived in Colorado for a time and loved it... Somewhat made me miss home but it was good haha:) After dinner we had to drop the other elders off at another dinner while we went to go have a lesson with Dan Ngyuen. The lesson was about the Word of Wisdom. It was a great lesson talking about how to keep our bodies like a temple and at the end of the lesson we followed up to her about asking God about a baptismal date. Dan is one of the most ready people I've ever taught and she just didn't feel worthy to be baptized because she didn't know everything. We ensured her that we knew she was but she needed the confirming power of the Holy Ghost. I felt that she needed a little bit more time and I promised her that if you study the scriptures and pray that you'll find out that you are worthy to be baptized. We left and went to go answer questions that an investigator had and she ended up dropping us because she doesn't believe God has a body of flesh and she just wasn't listening. We ended up leaving and picked the other elders up to take them home. Dan called us and she expressed the event that just happened. They were doing their usual nightly scripture study ans they planned to read in 2 Nephi, Dan randomly flipped to Alma 7 and the chapter heading talking about prophesies of Christ caught her eye and they read it. She said she felt this overwhelming warmth in her heart and she knew that that was her answer to be baptized.She had such a confirming power of the Holy Ghost that she knew it was right and she said she wanted to be baptized in a week!!!! I'm sooooo excited and she is soooo ready and I'm so happy I acted on a simple prompting to ask her if she wanted to know more about the church! Its been a joy teaching her.

On Saturday, we drove early in the morning to exchange back and we got back together with Elder Weston. I told him the news and we both were sooo excited!! We had frisbee and we both had some pretty awesome catches on the wet grass and it was fun:)  We had transfer calls that night and found out that I'm staying here with Elder Weston for another transfer!! I'm sooo excited:))) 

On Sunday, we had a great fast Sunday bearing testimonies and feeling the spirit. I was able to pass the sacrament for the first time in like 8 months and I took that for granted doing it soo often as a teenager, but now when you do it you notice how important the act your doing is. Your helping people remember their baptismal covenants. It's something I wish I would've paid more attention to growing up. We said bye to Elder Beckman and Elder Woolleyon Sunday. They will be missed! Had a German noodle dinner with the Tippett family. I love the Tippetts! 

This week was amazing and I know the church is true and the small and simple things may be hard to do sometimes but those are thing the that make the BIG difference in the long run.

I Love Y'all!!!

-Elder Hill

#HurricaneHerimene?   #Survived

 

District Meeting at the Savannah River!

Savannah River!

Ultimate Frisbee!

 

August 29, 2016 - Augusta GA

Hey Y'all!

I'll start off this week with a joke that I heard a members home this past week..."Whats the difference between a violin and a fiddle?.. A violin has strings and a fiddle has strangs. Haha its a lot better in person because you gotta use that southern accent with the strangs! But I'm glad that everyone is starting another school year! Stake conference at the Logan tabernacle sounds like a lot of fun! I'm glad that Kristina is better and doing well. My clothes are surviving with all the rain and sweat, I had to retire one of my white shirts this past week because it was splitting at the collar and a member was generous enough to buy me a new pair of pants which was so nice of her (I'll tell you the story in my letter haha). So our mission goes all the way to the Atlantic ocean but I haven't been over in that area yet, but maybe one day I will. My zone doesn't cover that area that is on the coast, but we will see what my future holds.  But wow what a week it has been  quite a busy week and an eventful week! Just fyi we are getting hints that we might be getting ipads in our mission so keep that in mind, I'm not sure if its gonna happen or not but I just wanted to let you know.

On Monday night, we had an amazing visit with a family in Augusta. It was quite the flashback because a year ago when I was serving in Waynesboro we helped moved someone out of the apartment complex that we were going to and it was quite the coincidence. We had a great dinner with this Hispanic family. The dad was the only person who spoke fluent English, and even though I cant put together a full sentence in Spanish anymore but I could help clarify small words to where we could understand each other. Haha so I guess those 4 years in Spanish paid off a little bit haha. While we were eating this meal he didn't tell us what we were eating until we finished, but it was rice, veggies, and the meat we had was pigs brain. When he told us that I was a bit shocked because it tasted really good it was just a bit stringy and chewy but it had a good flavor to it. We can chalk that up on another interesting food on my mission haha. But after dinner we got talking and the dad was so sincere and was so thankful we came by and they have a missionary serving in New York and you could see the love for the gospel in their eyes. We had a family prayer around the table that was one of the most humble prayers I've heard. Such a great man who knows how important a gospel centered home is.

 On Tuesday we had district meeting in Aiken, SC and Aiken is such a pretty city. It is throwback to like the 70's with lots of shops and movie theaters that line main street. They have one way streets and beautiful government buildings. I'll send some pictures:) We had a great district meeting and then I went on exchanges with Elder Cannon. There is a man we have been involved with over the past few weeks and his name is Willie. Willie wanted some help with some food and rent and we went on an errand for bishop. Normally we aren't involved with welfare but with Bishop gone and Willie being so forceful we were the only ones he could turn to. Bishop left us with instructions and in them we had to buy the food and not just give Willie the money to buy food so we had to call Willie and ask what he wanted from the store. He was reluctant but we got everything he wanted with 15cents to spare. Talk about good shopping:) We dropped the food off to him and this next part kind of upset me. We got him close to 14-15 items from the store and one of items we got wrong and all that they would talk about was the one thing we got wrong and not be grateful for the other 13 items we got right. I was somewhat just shocked by how he treated us and when we offered to share a message with him after we gave him the food he said he didnt want to waste our time. So we could tell all he wanted was worldly help and financial help. It all worked out in the end, and in the end of the night we had Spanish/English class church went really well! Taught about the present tense:) 

On Wednesday, we exchanged back nad on the way back we went to this bargain store called Ollies. They had these pants there that looked really good and they were easily pants for like 50 to 60$ and they were $10.00. The problem was is that they were 32x30 and I was a 32x32. They didn't have a changing room and holding them up to my waist they looked long enough and so I acted on faith and bought them. Because they didn't have a changing room I planned on buying them and then I would go to a nearby store and if they didn't fit I'd return them, it turns out they were a bit short... So I went back to the store to return them and they had a no return policy because it was bargain store. So I felt kind of bad that I wasted $10.00 but we went through our day and we met a swimmer who was getting recruited from Denver University and I told her how awesome Colorado is and how cool the DU campus is and she said she would look into it, so that was cool. We visited this lady named Sister Cooper, and I ripped a seem in one of my suit pants that she said she could sew up and while she was sewing them up, I talked about my pant purchase and she  had went to a estate sale and bought 32x32 pants for like $2.00 and they fit great. So it was just funny how God works and how to learn from mistakes, but it worked out in the end:) We had dinner with the Shelton family and it was pretty funny they made us breakfast for dinner with biscuits and gravy with pancakes. The funny part was is they had the same dining plate set that we had at home. So when I would look down and saw the plate design it through me for a loop because I felt I was at home haha. We had bible class later that night and read in Matthew 26 about Christs Atonement. A less active we had been working with came and loved the spirit there!

On Thursday, we had kind of a rough day, all of our plans fell through and everyone we talked to wasn't interested in the message. It got to the point where we both were like who doesn't want to hear a message about Christ and what the message of the Restoration means. A lot of the times the things that stop them from hearing the message is rumors about Mormons or they are comfortable where they are at and don't want to change. They dont know what they missing out on! On the plus side though is that we had a great dinner at the Morgans and we got pretty excited for Christmas!! We got talking about Christmas traditions and it made us all ready for Christmas!!

Friday was the start to a great weekend for Dan Ngyen. We planned a good majority of the day and at 2:00 we went to go to visit her. She had some really good questions and her testimony is growing so fast! What is different about Dan than most people I've taught is that Dan wants to know the truth, she puts in the work and if she has a doubt she brings it up with us instead of turning to the internet or a friend not in the church who would know. We taught about the gospel of Jesus Christ and talked about the priesthood a good amount. She expressed to us she wants to get baptized but wants to understand it before she becomes a member. We explained to her that yes it's important to know the doctrine, but we wont understand all of it before baptism, because we as missionaries don't know everything or any person in the church. It was  of good comfort to her and from then she said I'll pray about a date to get baptized! That was just the start for her this weekend! After that we did some service with a Jamaican member, we helped her trim her bushes and mow her yard.

On Saturday, we started the day off with some ultimate Frisbee. It was the Elders and civilians against the U.S army.  Elder Weston and I were running everywhere trying to get back on defense and offense. It was hard because they were so talented and when only half your team gets back on defense they have the definite advantage and some times its only a matter of time before they score.  But it was alot of fun and it gets my aggressive energy juices out haha. We then helped someone with their move of their home and we were exhausted haha! Alot of our plans fell through that day, but the night was definitely the highlight of the day. We had the adult session of stake conference and the first half were talks of Sabbath day observance and at the end there was a question answer period where Elder Weston, Elder Billman, and I walked around with mics to people with comments. By far the most powerful comment came from Dan. Keep in mind this is her first stake conference. She had been going to the church for about a month and she gets up in front of 200 plus people and bears her testimony of the church and how she believes its true. She gave us a shout out in her comment , she said "Elder Hill and Elder Weston come over every week and answer my questions and teach me about the church." She said how I know its true and with tears in her eyes she seen her testimony grow in Christ from the Book of Mormon and reading it. She said how important we've been in her life and she told us how much the church makes sense. Everyone was very impressed and felt the spirit. I got to see Elder Showers and lots of missionaries. I talked to President Grayson about Dan and USU and he gave me some counsel.

On Sunday, we had stake conference and I got to see a lot of members from Waynesboro which was very fun!! Reuniting with people is the best! We heard some greats talks about living the gospel and making the Sabbath a delight and not a hassle. After conference we had quite an interesting afternoon. We had to wait for two hours for Elder Weston to talk to President Grayson and I got pretty hungry haha. We had an awesome lunch with the Tippetts and had some German food which was awesome! After that we had to deal with some issues within the zone that were difficult to deal with and figure out what would be best, but it all worked out. 

It was quite the week, but I love y'all and keep on keeping on!! The church is true through and through. 

P.S. Hey! Sorry I just remembered a pretty funny occurrence this past week, we were tracting last night and we knocked on a pastors door and he comes outside and we got talking about beliefs and he was pretty abrupt and we asked if we could leave a pamphlet with him after teaching about the Restoration and he said sure if I can leave you with a bible and we were like sure! He gave us this small orange bible and he said I'll pray for you... He practically rebuked us and then said the Lords prayer and he said he prayed our way into heaven and so guys guess what!!! I'm saved!!!!! hahaha 

thought you'd want to know haha:)

-Elder Hill

#14months 

Father like Son :)

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Huge Baptist Church!