November 21, 2016 - Augusta / Evans, GA

Hey Y'all!

What a week! It sure has been a busy week for Elder Hill and the crew, but its definitely way better to be busy than not:) The fire is mostly is in northern Georgia but the smoke from the fire has traveled to Evans and it has made for some smokey days. But we have not had a good solid Georgia rainfall in a while so it is a bit dry here which is probably why the nosebleed happened because of the lack of humidity in the air, but it hasn't affected us too bad.

Lots of growing experiences this week and the work keeps on moving forward!

On Monday, after I played basketball we went to Brother Criswell's home and watched him process a turkey for one of his friends. Definitely an eye opening experience physically watching how a turkey is prepared for sale. It definitely doesn't just come from the store. Brother Criswell does it in a very humane manner and always thanks the bird for its life before he slits the bird throat with a sharp knife. It definitely helped me understand that meat just isnt there in the store but its the concept of a life for a life. That night we taught Corey. I haven't told y'all much about Corey but he's friends with a member here in the ward and is interested in knowing more about the church. We watched the Restoration video with him and it helped him understand the spirit of the first vision. We are trying to help him know for himself that Jesus Christ sacrificed himself for the world because he doesn't have much of a religious background and we are trying to help him recognize his answers through the Holy Ghost but hasn't received an answer yet. It will come in Gods timing...

On Tuesday, we woke up at 5:00 and had a a lot to get done. After working out and getting ready for zone conference we had to go clean the car inside and out before car inspections. It was a pretty brisk morning so it definitely woke you up washing a car before the sun is out. Elder Weston and I were busy bees trying to get everything situated for zone conference. We had to figure out a lot of electronics and make do with what we had. It went really well and we found solutions to the problems. So many wonderful training's were given and it was so beneficial for me. I learned of a new way to mark the Book of Mormon to where you can get a jist of the spirit of the Book of Mormon and know of its truthfulness in 90 minutes. We used it this past week and when asking someone to read the Book of Mormon its alot less daunting of a task because it wont take as much time and helps them commit to reading. We also received alot of direction in finding joy through trials and suffering. President Russell talked about finding your individual purpose in life and using the motivation of who God wants you to be be the light to finding joy amongst all the darkness around you. We also were taught about the new Christmas initiative coming called #LighttheWorld. The video will be coming out this week and it will be a great way to start talking to people. Zone Conference definitely a spiritually motivating meeting and I'm always grateful for an opportunity to learn from our mission leaders. That night we met with Brother Rivera and had dinner with him and I always love going over to his house because I always feel the spirit in his home. We talked a lot about our future spouse and different things that contribute to the decision of picking someone to marry. Don't worry y'all its a ways out haha.

On Wednesday,  it was a pretty basic day where the plans you had worked out jus the way you'd hoped and found a lot of success in our plans. We talked to a lady named Garnet and asked her she'd be interested in knowing about the 90 minute Book of Mormon challenge and she said that she would read the Book of Mormon with the marked up Book of Mormon where before she was opposed to reading anything contrary to her Catholic church. So small and steady we are hopefully planting a seed within her heart. We tried a few more potentials and shared the Restoration with them, and that night we went to Madison Boswells home and had a delicious dinner with her and her parents. Madisons parents have opened up quite a bit from the first time that I met them and we have gotten to a very friendly basis which is awesome! It's amazing how much the Lord can help us bind relationships with people through the gospel. Our conversations that we have at dinner are always gospel centered and because the spirit is there it unifies us and helps us understand where each person is coming from. A lot of people look at the church and pick out the differences and that's all they focus on, but as you look for the good in everything and everyone your whole perspective on people change and you want to understand more.

On Thursday, a good majority of our day  was tracting and finding new people using the training's we had at zone  conference. We walked along a road called Hereford Farm and knocked on all of the houses off the road knowing that missionaries probably haven't knocked those homes. The first road we went down was a long dirt road covered by trees and if there was a moment on my mission where I felt like I was in the south that was it! At the end of the road there were four homes with dogs on leashes barking at you with no trespassing signs posted all over the property but both Elder Weston and I didn't really feel scared or nervous about knocking them. No one ended up answering but it was cool experience. Later we knocked into a lady who shared a story of how she overcame cancer and how much faith her son has in her and how she'd overcome it. Her son has been on 2 tours being a gunner for a tank and has had miraculous stories of survival. We also met this lady who was hesitant of accepting a Book of Mormon because she had read bits and pieces from missionaries in the past but became discouraged because she wasn't receiving an answer. We told her about the 90 minute Book of Mormon challenge and she loved it and from being hesitant to completely agreeing with the reading the Book of Mormon. We are excited to check up with her after Thanksgiving. We had dinner with the Aldermans who fed us a southern meal of salmon patties, cornbread salad, and peas. Gotta love southern cooking:) We met up with Justin and Tracy that night and taught them about the Plan of Salvation and by the spirit he was able to have a few of his questions answered and it all made sense to him which is exciting!

Friday, was mostly planning but that night we another lesson with Corey and talked to him about 3 Nephi 11 and how answers come by the spirit. We shared many different insights with him but TJ the member we took with us had a really good insight at the end and he said" That in a car we pass by tons of cars and don't really notice a specific car until we pick it out and then we start seeing it everywhere. It's kind of like blessings from God that if we don't look for them they can pass you by and it's easy to not notice all the plentiful blessings." He committed to look for at least 3 ways each day the Lord has blessed him this week!

On Saturday, It was a physically laboring day which started with Frisbee and me being on a team with 4 people when the other team ha 5. You know me and how I always love a challenge and we stuck with them right to the end and I was sprinting everywhere haha. After we got to our apartment I had a prompting to help a family move who was moving in front of our apartment and ended up helping them move all their furniture from a third story across the parking lot. We met a man named Chris who then after it was over took us out to lunch because he loved how we were in the service of God. We talked alot about what is true happiness and living in such a way that people notice you. We talked about having integrity and how the world today lacks integrity. He loves the work we do and wants to stay in touch! 

On Sunday, Corey came to church and whenever an investigator comes to church your nervous about everything and how they'll accept the messages by speakers. Corey seemed to like church but I could see he had lots of questions and we are meeting him tonight so we will see what questions he had. A few other investigators came to church and are progressing well! After church we went to the Gomez' home and had a meal with them! We played with their pet parrot and yes I took a picture haha:) I gave a blessing to Brother Gomez because he just had surgery and the spirit was very evident! We then took a Brother who just returned from his mission to see a lady named Lisa when instead we met her husband and wow what a conversation... He was those kind of people that makes a very blunt point and then when you try to answer wont let you talk and we had to raise our voices a few times because he was contorting lots of things that weren't true about the church. He also believed that the earth was flat and that science has lied to us all these years and yep... I know right... But he wasn't willing to listen so hopefully the way we took his yelling made an impression on him. That night we had a stake priesthood meeting and received training on how to improve our home teaching. I got to see a member from Columbus and it was great to see him!

It was a great week with lots of learning experiences! I know the church is true and I LOVE Y'ALL!!

-Elder Hill

#Turkeyday!

Augusta Zone Conference November 2016

If that aint a Fall tree, I don't know what is?!

Pirate Elder Hill

November 14, 2016 - Augusta / Evans, GA

Hey Y'all!

It's definitely been a memorable week in many different ways and I'm excited to share it with you! Even though you say your week went slow I love hearing about what y'all are up to! The fall colors are in full bloom here and its been very colorful with the abundance of trees here in the south. And about the Sisters riding bikes, they wear a skirt but they are told to safety pin their skirts to wear their skirt isn't caught in the chain...I'm interested to see and ask sisters how they like riding on bikes but we don't have sisters in the area that have bought bikes yet so I'm excited to hear how they liked it haha. You get to see a whole new side of Georgia when your a missionary on a bike and some of things you experience you wish you wouldn't have haha I have personal experience haha.

My week sure was a busy one and we taught a lot of people, saw many small victories, and had fun doing it!

On Tuesday, we started the week off sprinting! Elder Hooley and I went on exchanges and we had made a goal of teaching everyone that we saw and we definitely saw great results! We started the day off by tracting in an elderly neighborhood and shared many different messages with people that fit their needs. It's interesting when you get people talking about what they believe how many similarities there are between each other. It's been a blessing here in the south of teaching so many people about Jesus Christ who already have a firm belief in Jesus Christ, but because of incorrect understandings we look at different doctrine differently. You'll find a lot of people in the south believe that Jesus Christ was killed for the sins of the world and we are saved by the grace of God and no matter what we do here in this life His sacrifice saves us without any effort on our part we will be in Heaven when we pass on from this life. That all you have to do is accept Christ as your Savior and you're good.. Which is partly true, that Christ did die for us so that we can return to God physically and spiritually, BUT a key point to receiving the blessings of the Atonement we really have to try to be like Jesus Christ and endure to the end after you've received all the blessings of the gospel such as faith, repentance, baptism, the gist of the Holy Ghost, then you have to keep working and working at the gospel. Just like if you're trying to get stronger, the more you work your body out the stronger you get, when you don't workout your strength fades away. We taught a lady who is a very devout Catholic, but doesn't understand how we have the Priesthood from God because the Catholic church has an unbroken chain from the Apostle Peter. It was hard helping her understand how doctrines were changed during the time of the reformation and how the priesthood needed to be brought back from its original fullness. I love talking to Garnet because she really wants to understand the truth and is open to hearing what we have to say. The highlight of the day was teaching a man named Joseph Smith about Joseph Smith haha. We have a investigator who's name is Joseph Smith so when we explain the first vision and ask have you ever heard of Joseph Smith before? We all had a good chuckle:) We taught the family the Restoration and their kids asked if they could be baptized and the mom said they could if they believed everything that we had to say which is definitely what we should do! It was a spiritual lesson and we are excited to teach Joseph Smith more and more haha:) But coming in that night we re caped the day and taught 8 lessons that day and you could say we slept great that night!

On Wednesday, we started the day off by exchanging back after studies and we all went to RMT and prepared for my training for ZTM. I trained on attitude and how important a good attitude is, there was a quote by President Monson that says" Good timber does not grow with ease, the stronger the wind the stronger the trees." Without adversity we wouldn't grow but the only way we will grow is by having a good attitude. Another quote that I really liked was one you might have heard before "Happiness is a choice, pan is inevitable, and misery is a choice." The highlight of the day was a lesson with Jennifer Brumfield, Kelly, and Sister Newell. We talked about Jesus Christ and his mission coming to the earth but the topic of the trinity came up and we explained to them why we believe in the Godhead that they are three different beings and not 1 in three. We talked about different occurrences in the Bible where Christ is praying or honoring his Father. We talked about Christ baptism where a voice from Heaven said "Behold this is my Beloved Son" and Christs Atonement. But ultimately what we bring up in scripture wont change their belief that they has to come through the Holy Ghost, but it made them both think. We also taught Corey that night about the Restoration and it was a good lesson. Corey doesn't have the biggest religious background but he said that he felt the spirit when we shared the first vision experience which is whats important and we are excited for all the growth in his testimony he will have through the Book of Mormon.

On Thursday, we had ZTM and it was a great meeting! I gave a training on attitude and I did an activity where I placed a ping pong ball (representing good attitude)on a water bottle filled with Jolly Ranchers( representing good things in life) one of the elders had to flick the ping pong ball off the water bottle with three rules 1. He had to keep his finger up right 2. He had to walk fast 3. He couldn't bend his elbow. Those represented the problems in life. When you focus on the words good attitude its a lot easier to hit the ball than focusing on the ball itself. A lot of people will miss out on the sweet things in life because they don't have a good attitude, but when we do we will open the good things in life and they will be more enjoyable. I also talked about not having regrets when you go home and working the hardest here in the mission. Sister Cottle always said" Work your hardest here because when you're there you wont be here." It was a great meeting and all the training's shared were awesome! That night we taught Larry Hawkes and he has a learning disability but wants to be baptized we taught very simply and right in the middle of lesson I got a random nosebleed so I left my companion out to dry but it alright he could handle teaching alone for a few minutes, but I had to retire a white shirt because blood got on it.

Friday, we planned most of the day, but we got some fried chicken from Sister Cooper and she told us some funny stories of how she cut down a Christmas tree! That night we taught Dan and she is doing well, she has been getting letters from her mom that her mom is upset that she joined the church cause she thinks its of the devil but we shared some stories in the Book of Mormon to her and helped her feel the Spirit and she definitely appreciated our visit and we are very happy for her!

On Saturday, it was a pretty chilly morning to play ultimate Frisbee but it felt really good to be cold haha. So funny story that afternoon... So we had planned to tract a street and once we got out to the area Elder Weston had to go to the bathroom, after knocking a few doors he realized he REALLY needed to go so we decided to use it as a finding idea. Elder Weston asked "Sir, I know this is an awkward question, but do you have a bathroom I could use?" He said "No...I have kids" and shut the door..." We were confused that his response to that question was he has kids but we put 2+2 together and probably meant he doesn't trust us with kids in the home but the next door Elder Weston was able to use the bathroom and I got to talk to the guy inside which was good haha. We then went to a members home, prayed with them and then worked in their area. We saw lots of success and what was cool was their kids saw us talk to their neighbors and the whole family was excited to hear what their neighbors thought so it was great building that trust with the members.

On Sunday, it was also our primary program and it was great hearing so many kids testify of Christ. They have a new song that I didn't sing in primary called "Gethsemane" and its is SOOOO good! I felt so good the whole song and they sang it really loud. All the little kids up front were waiving to their parents and smiling super high and you just gotta love little kids! We had 5 investigators at church including a family from India come! That night we invited one of our investigators to Ella Taylors baptism and she felt good the whole time! I hope that she will be able to do the same thing that she watched in the future! That night we went to the Meggins, and they came to church and we were so excited to see them there!

Thanks for everything and I'm very happy to be in the service of the Lord! I LOVE Y"ALL!

-Elder Hill

#HAPPYFALLY'ALL   #WEBEWORKING

 

Georgia Fall Colors!

North Augusta Zone, November 2016

Soccer Mom's for Life!!

 

November 7, 2016 - Augusta / Evans, GA

Hey Y'all! 

It sounds like it was an eventful for y'all and for me!

As for me it was a very busy week, but it was DEFINITELY one to remember, I think I say that every week haha but every week is a memorable week haha!

On Tuesday, we had district meeting and we learned a lot about prayer and how we can make it a more personal experience. I've always reflected on a question made by Elder Uceda from conference about prayer. He said" Are we really praying, or just saying prayers?" It's easy to fall into the habit of repeating prayers, but the more we can focus on having a real conversation with Heavenly Father the more personal the prayers will become because we will be more receptive to revelation from the Holy Ghost. After district meeting we went on exchanges with the AP's in Macon. I went to Macon with Elder Ray and it was a memorable exchange! The drive to Macon is very pretty and there is a lot of farm land that you drive through with fall colors on the trees. We got to Macon and started by visiting some referrals. The first referral we tried had this house with a chain link fence all the way around with big German Shepard and boxer dogs. They didn't look like they were going to attack us so we entered into the gate and were very friendly, but really unclean dogs and after a quick 10 minute lesson about the restoration with dogs licking your pants and arms we left the gated home. After the lesson my pants were soaked in dog slobber and it was really gross. We had to find a bathroom to cleanup haha. We met this lady named KK who we taught the Plan of Salvation to her. She is loving learning more about the gospel and it was a great experience teaching her. For dinner we met at the Peacocks home where Brother Peacock owns a recycling company and owns his own swamp. Brother and Sister Peacock invited two people who weren't members to dinner and we had a great chat with them. Funny story we were eating dinner and after I was through eating I stood up to go throw my plate and cup away and forgot that there was a hanging light above me and when I stood up really fast I hit my head on the light really hard and because I didn't want to make a scene I just played it off, but I hit the light pretty hard and I was surprised I didnt break the light haha. After that we visited an elderly lady in a nursing home and read from the Book of Mormon with her and she is such a sweet old lady and it was pleasure meeting her.

On Wednesday, Elder Ray and I wrapped up our exchange by doing P-90x3 and going on a 3 mile run and having great studies! There were two quotes that I saw in their apartment that I love and it said" Don't count the days, make the days count!" The second one is"No lions are ever caught in mousetraps. To catch lions you must think in terms of lions, not in terms of mice. Your mind is always creating  traps of one kind or another, and what you catch depends on the thinking you do. It is your thinking that attracts what you receive." I love both of them because your attitude towards things can change the outcome of your trial or situation so by thinking about things that are righteous and wholesome those are the things that will come your way. Which brings a whole new meaning to keeping your eye singe to the glory of God and if we seek the glory of God then we will receive the Glory of God in God's time. We went to the mission office and picked up a few things and said hi to the office staff! We made the drive back and met up with Elder Weston and Elder Elliot. Later that day we had a very intense lesson with a lady named Jennifer Brumfield and Kelly. Jennifer invited her friend Kelly to meet  with us because she said that their testimonies were so strong and Kelly wanted to meet us. We invited a member with us that became great friends with both of them! We started by bearing testimonies of how we came to know that Christ lives and our conversion story. The Spirit was very strong during all of our testimonies and I was grateful for all of the amazing spiritual experiences I've had in my life. The member we brought with us had to leave early but we had a bit more time so we talked with them a bit more. Kelly had lots of questions about our church and what we believe "saved" means and about the Book of Mormon. We read in Ezekiel 37 and also 2 Nephi 29:7-10. She understood that the Book of Mormon could be true but had an issue with no archaeological evidence of the Book of Mormon when they have found confirming evidence of the Bible and Jesus Christ. We explained that they have found many different artifacts and buildings that could confirm the ancient Americans described in the Book of Mormon but ultimately you wont be converted to the Book of Mormon based on things you see but its the things you dont see but feel that will make the biggest difference. We walk by faith not by sight and it sure was that way for alot of stories in the Book of Mormon and in the Bible. There was alot more to the conversation and they brought up concerns that were rumors they have heard. We were very careful to answer those because if you give them those answers before the basics then they dont understand the logic behind it. You gotta start with the foundation before you build the walls and roof and you gotta start with the fundamentals before you bring in Euro and hop steps.

On Thursday, we went and did RMT and after RMT we had some Turkish food at a restaurant that was really good! Later that afternoon we taught Rosemary about the Plan of Salvation. Rosemary is such a sweet lady and she cut out coupons from stores to give to us because she knew we were on a budget and it was a nice gesture. Because she was so impressed at the job we did with her backyard she told her friend across the street about us and her friend wants us to come cut down some trees and do some yard work for her.  We are excited to help her out and we will see what comes of that!We had to go and get a oil change for our van and that took a longer time than was expected , but later that night we talked to Brother Meggins and watched Elder Uceda's talk from Conference. He loved it and because of the Spirit he felt he committed to come to church this Sunday which we were very excited about!

On Friday, we woke up early to get ready to head to Macon for MLC. We had to take the Grovetown's car to Macon to exchange with a new car. MLC is always a fun and a great opportunity to learn about the gospel. Crazy news though that Sisters in this mission are getting bikes and that was something that President Cottle did not want to do and the Sisters are OVERJOYED with getting bikes. We will see if that joy sticks with them when they bike up and down them hills in Georgia's humid, hot summer haha. We talked alot about attitude and obedience. Lots of cool things learned and new perspectives that I now have. After MLC we had to go to the Mission Office to pick up Grovetowns new car. They have the new 2017 Chevy Malibu and it is SOOOO NICE!!! I got to drive it back to Grove town and it drives soooo nice! They have this feature where it can turn the car for you and it pretty much drives itself. It might be a car I might consider looking into when I get back. No idea how expensive they are, but it was way nice and it was very enjoyable ride home!

On Saturday, we started the day off with some Ultimate Frisbee and I always look forward to it because it gets my competitiveness out and the teams were stacked toward the other team and so my team was the definite underdog which is what I like haha. It was a lot of fun! The afternoon we planned for the upcoming week but that night we went over to Coreys house where he needed help putting his t.v on his wall mount. It was definitely harder than we had first expected and we had to make 8 more holes in the wall and bend a wall mount. But it worked out in the end and he was very happy with how it went and was very appreciative. We invited him if he'd like to come to church on Sunday and he said he would love to! We were floating on air that night just because of how happy he was after it was on his wall and it make you feel so great when you look outward and not inward!

On Sunday, it was fast Sunday so many members of the ward bore their testimonies. Dan went to the temple on Saturday and bore a powerful testimony on the spirit she felt there! She said"Even though I had not been there before, I felt like I was home" She is doing soo well and her testimony continues to grow and grow! Corey came to church as well as Brother Meggins! There was also a man that wants to get baptized who a member brought with them and we are starting the discussions this upcoming week with him! So there was definitely alot of positives about church and I felt the spirit so strongly! After church we went on splits with a few of the youth and we taught a few lessons and the youth loved getting the feel of missionary work. That night we were invited to go to Gospel water baptist Branch church by one of our investigators. It is definitely a lot different than our church. The doctrine they taught was correct and the symbol of baptism in the same way we do and also communion it was just the manner they did it was way different. Elder Weston and I felt very uncomfortable the whole time because it's almost like they forced you to do things with them and if you didnt it was disrespectful where as in our church you can participate as much as you'd like. Obviously the more you participate the stronger your testimony is but you aren't judged or forced to do anything. It gave me a good understanding of how people view church here though. Lots of praising God and loving him, but there's more to the gospel than just saying that you have to act on that love and share it. It really put me in the shoes of the investigator when they come to church and showed me how investigators can be nervous and uncomfortable and it made me think about what our investigators needs to feel comfortable at church.

I LOVE Y'ALL and thank you for all your prayers!!

-Elder Hill

#HAPPYFALLY'ALL

 

​November 2016 MLC - Augusta, GA

Came out together, ZL's Together!

Elder Hill's Tag - Nice Picture!!

Exchanges with the AP's - November 2016

 

October 31, 2016 - Augusta / Evans, GA

Hey Y'all! 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! At one of ours dinners this week we got talking about the difference between Halloween out west and Halloween here in the south. A big difference is the fact that you don't really have to account for the weather in choosing your costume. In Utah, Colorado, Idaho,  Montana your costume has to allow you to be warm where as here its a warm 87 degrees and you can where just the costume. But out west you might need another layer of clothing to stay warm through the night and possibly some snow boots.

This past week was full of memorable moments and another great week here in the south!

On Tuesday, we drove to Aiken,SC and had a memorable time there! I went on exchanges with Elder Sommer in Aiken,SC. We started out by riding to the area we were going to be working in. Aiken is a very pretty place and has many colonial looking buildings with cascading trees over hanging one way streets. The main street has buildings that go back to the 1800's, so its retro but it they refurbished a lot of it to make it look like up to date buildings. That's the best way I can describe so hopefully you can picture an image of the way the city is. We biked to a poorer area and talked to a few people about the Restoration and our purpose in life. The second man we talked to had been struggling finding his self worth and felt like the Atonement couldn't cover the things he had done in his life. We explained to him how Christs love will always reach out to us no matter what we have done, that through the Atonement we can come clean. We talked to him a bit more about prayer and its importance during the repentance process. We then headed back riding on a street where "Planet of the Apes" was filmed which was cool. We also rode past an equestrian race track and polo field. Aiken is one of the only places left in the U.S where they have international horse race competitions and polo competitions. It was a huge area and I had to take a few pictures. Later that night, Elder Sommer and I headed back to the area we were at to go and contact a few potentials. The people we planned to visit weren't home and we decided to tract. It is sometimes not the most effective or safe thing to do but we both felt like it was something we should do. We met a lady named Sondra who had met missionaries in the past but disagreed with some of the things that were said and how bold missionaries can be. She kind of gave off an impression that she was offended by the missionaries and we apologized to her about how they conducted themselves and cleared up the fact that all we do is invite you and we wont push you to do anything. We may encourage and let you know of the blessings of following our counsel, but we will never make you do anything. We each have our agency and she appreciated that. At this point in the night it was getting late and there was a house at the end of the street that was very dark, no cars by it and it looked inhabited. I had a strong impression to knock on it so we did. We knocked on the door and heard screaming on the other side and we didn't know what to expect. This lady with a smile on her face came to the door hung up the phone and walked out and said..."I need the word" She had been struggling with her family choosing their church over family. When we knocked on the door she was arguing with her grandma about what church she should go to. Then we knocked on her door and she felt it was answer to a prayer. She asked questions about how we seem to always smile, why we sacrifice so much to be here, and her biggest concern was do we believe that God comes before family. Our responses were completely led by the spirit and said how God didn't intend for the gospel to split up families but the gospel is supposed to bless families and it binds a family together. We bore testimony of the Restoration and she wanted to get baptized then and there!! She is going to go to the Aiken church next week and we will see what happens from there. I'm so glad I acted on hat prompting and recognized it. Then after that we were biking to the place where we were going to get picked up by the Coker Springs Elders and my bike light started to flicker and it we were going downhill surrounded by trees so it was pretty dark. I was praying that it would stay on and after it flickered for a good 10 seconds it stayed on until we turned into a residential area where I could see off of Elder Sommer's bike light. Don't worry that night  I charged the light. But that was probably a blessing in disguise which I'm grateful for. I don't need anymore crazy biking stories haha.

On Wednesday, we exchanged back and we headed back to Evans. We had district meeting and I trained on recognizing and understanding the Spirit. I told the district what happened that previous night and how the Holy Ghost is how people are taught that unless we have the Holy Ghost we are just saying words but as they build their faith they will see their testimony grow.  After district meeting I went on exchanges with Elder Davidsen and helped Rosemary spray her yard from bugs and poison Ivy. She gave us these glasses that were pilot glasses from the 50's. The funny part was is she thought they made us look handsome and we had to hold in our laughter because we thought they looked pretty goofy. We then rushed over to Bishops house for dinner and had some chili! Later that night we had the great opportunity to give a blessing to one of our investigators Justin. He had fainted during training for MMA and was suffering from anxiety we gave him a blessing and it was cool that he noticed a difference of his attitude after the blessing. His smile was so big and his testimony grew in the power of the priesthood! 

On Thursday, Elder Davidsen and I went and tracted an area for a good hour or so with one person open the door. Granted Thursday morning is not the best time to try to catch people at home but it still taught both of us a good lesson of pushing through things that are hard. We had interviews with President Grayson  later that day and it is always great catching up with them! They are great people and they really have helped me with alot of things on my mission! That afternoon we went to Sister Coopers place and helped her put up a decoration in her kitchen. While we were doing that I learned my new favorite word... are you ready..."Smatterchew" what do you think it means? It means "Whats the matter with you?" Gotta love Sister Cooper! For dinner we went to the Fry's and Brother Fry taught us a lot about parenting and how there isn't a book or system that tells you how to be a parent that every single child is different and will need different things. They also had been telling us about when we get off our missions that we should not rush into everything but gradually get readjusted into society because if you go in head first that Satan will be right there to tempt you and demean you at every chance he gets. I thought it was good counsel. That night we met with the Beverage family. They have been less active for some time now and when we first walked in there was some awkwardness in the air. After we talked for a while we talked about their conversion and how Sister Beverage didn't become a member because she knew the church was true but because her mom made her. She had some doubts about the prophet, she didn't believe there was a Satan, or in our beliefs in the after life. We answered her questions as the spirit directed, and after we both bore testimony of why we came on missions they invited us to come back this upcoming week. It ended really well and they felt comfortable being open with us which is always a plus! 

On Friday, we had planned for a good majority of the morning and at 12:00 we went to Dan Nguyens place for a lesson on the Plan of Salvation. Dan is doing so well and she is going to the temple on November 5th for baptisms for the dead. I think I said that last week but that's just cause I'm really pumped for her! The lesson went very well and the spirit was really strong as we talked about the Atonement and the Fall of Adam and Eve. Knowing that Adam fell so that we could have joy and that Adama partaking of the fruit was a necessary step in Gods plan is so important to understand and that agency is a gift! Later that afternoon we went to Sister Barnes' to help her rake some leaves in her yard and it was really fun to help her with that! That night was Trunk or Treat and it was alot of fun being there for the kids and decorating the van with spider webs and stuff. Alot of people came and it made you feel at home!

On Saturday, we had a fun time at Frisbee and I have noticed I becoming better and better at it! The highlight of the day was getting invited by a guy named Corey to help him put his tv on his wall mount. He didn't have the right screws but when he gets them this week we will help him get it on there. We talked with him about his family and about what we do as missionaries. He seemed super interested and he is excited for us to come back and share a message with him!

On Sunday, we went to church! Daniel Storrer gave his farewell talk and is going to Washington and it was cool to hear from him. Gospel Principles class was really spiritual and we talked about charity and we read in Moroni 7 about charity.  This is Moroni 7:45 "charity suffereth long, and is kind , and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked , thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.  I love this scripture because people are rejoicing in iniquity more than the truth but if have charity we wont want to do those things that are sins but will want the love of God more than anything. That's why its so important to build that love so Satan wont have room to tempt you and make you act on that temptation.In 3rd hour we were all combined and talked about how we can involve people with disabilities into society more and the presentation was very insightful and I remembered back in High school when I took adaptive P.E and how much fun it was to be around those kids. They are special kids and its important to include them and not disclude them. We went on splits with a few of the young men that afternoon. I went with Braden Tippett and we saw Scott Bradley who is on his way to quitting smoking which is such a great thing! It was fun going out with the youth and I wish I would've done it more when I was in high school.

I know that the church is true and as we really try in the gospel that God will help us in the places where we need help but we have to put forth that effort! Thanks for everything

I LOVE YOU!!!

-Elder Hill

#HAPPYHALLOWEEN

 

Aiken, SC - Soooooo pretty!!

Polo Field!

Goggles!  (From the 1950's) for Spraying Weeds.

Horse Race Track.