August 22, 2016 - Augusta / Evans GA

Hey Y'all!

It's been a roller coaster week of emotions for me and I've felt both sides of the spectrum. But, I've definitely learned a lot about myself this week and what kind of person I want to be.

It's been quite a "wet" week with lots of rain and tons of storms! You might have heard about the flooding in Louisiana and we got some residual effect from that. Definitely not as bad as down there though. Oh, and some other good news before I dive into my week is that you can tell it's getting cooler and starting the fall season so ALL the missionaries are pumped for that!

On Monday, As usual I played basketball after I emailed at the church and this man came into the gym with his son. He had a Duke polo on and I asked him if he was a Duke fan and he just said "I played for Coach K (Duke's coach) when he coached at West Point." Instantly my mind was going a million miles an hour trying to get to know him and ask him some questions about recruiting. He gave me a lot of advice and we even got to play a few games against each other(I won) haha but it was such a great experience to play with someone who played for coach K. He told me some valuable advice that he said "Don't go to a school solely for basketball but go for the education and things will fall into place. So my mind went instantly to Utah State and it just felt right. He was telling me that big schools like Utah State sometimes don't have walk-on tryouts because they have a full roster or they don't have any more scholarship money. I'm definitely trying to reach out to the coaching faculty to get my name somewhat circulating so that when I go they will have the name in mind and I wont be just another player trying to make the team. His son is playing for the BYU soccer team and it was great playing and meeting him.

Tuesday, we went over the Savannah river and into South Carolina for District meeting and exchanges with North Augusta. It's so cool that I went to three different states on my mission which is something some missionaries cant say they did. District meeting was really good as we talked about making the Book of Mormon stories be more apart of our lives and that we should be like Moroni and talked about qualities he had that we should pursue to have too. Before district meeting I walked into the church's gym and it was more of an older gym with one light on in the middle with a ball under the hoop and I know it sounds crazy but it was such a pretty sight to see and so I "had" to put up some shots because it was just too pretty! I went on exchanges with Elder Blanding and he didn't have many set appointments for the day so a lot of the day was tracting and trying to find people to teach. In just a few hours of tracting we got rejected and doors slammed left and right and it was pretty frustrating. I've faced that time and time again on my mission but for some reason this day was hard to find anyone who would want to talk to us for whatever reason. But after a good southern cooked meal with some okra, lamb, rice, and some collard greens with a member we were able to find a few people to teach that day.We ended the night out with going to an institute class. The institute class was a stake institute and Waynesboro is in the Augusta stake and I was able to see some old friends from the Waynesboro ward and it was fun to see them again:) They told me its great to see me without a broken wrist or scrapes on my face haha:) I also met a guy named Auben Kendell who served in the Denver North mission for his mission and knew Elder Johnson and alot of the missionaries I mentioned from Colorado. We went home and Elder Blanding tried to teach me how to do a Rubiks cube. I've learned a lot of things here in Georgia, but that is one thing that I probably wont understand how to do haha.

On Wednesday, Elder Blanding finished out our exchange by tracting 3 more hours with little to no one talking to us. It taught me alot about perseverance and working through hard, not fun things that a lot of people wouldn't ever do. Tracting definitely isn't the most effective thing and that was evident by how many people we talked to but without any plans, it was the only we could do. Elder Weston and I have pretty diligent planners and planning really shows the Lord how committed you are and how devoted you are to being a missionary. So I talked to Elder Blanding about planning and things we all could work on to help move the work forward, but we both learned a lot from each other. While tracting and getting rejected time and time again the thought of many Book of Mormon prophets and Christ came into my head and I thought about when they got rejected did they cower in unbelief or walk tall and protect the faith. Tracting definitely isn't the most effective way to do missionary work, but there is value in tracting and you can learn a lot about your testimony and yourself as a person while you tract. After we exchanged back a lot of the day was going to investigators homes and either getting told its not a good time or shared a short message. We had bible class and read Matthew 25 and learned alot about not procrastinating the day of your repentance and being spiritually ready when the Savior comes again. Also in the parable of the ten virgins the virgins that didn't have oil asked the virgins that did have oil if they could borrow some and the virgins that were prepared didn't give them any, which shows us that we cant depend on other peoples testimonies to make to it back to heaven but we need our own testimony in Christ.

On Thursday, it rained a ton that day and we were in a monsoon all day walking through down pouring rain that never let up the whole day! This day was a pretty rough day I'm not gonna lie. Every single appointment we had set canceled and every person we tried either wasn't home or "had" something better to do. It was a hard day and you really had to depend on God to strengthen you. Throughout the day it was easy to get don't on yourself and lose the faith, but instead of letting us get beaten down by it we made up songs, and tried to lighten the mood. We had dinner with the Gomez family and they made us some quesadillas with Chicken that were awesome! We had a lesson with the Kings family and they had a friend there that didn't like the Mormons. I asked her why, she said" Because they try to change their religion and they believe in polygamy." We told her that polygamy strengthened the saints as they traveled west, it helped the single widows as they traveled west, and it was a commandment by God to do it. She brought up t.v shows that were about our church and polygamy. We explained that our church doesn't practice polygamy and that the t.v shows are about the RLDS church who broke off from the church and is different from members of the LDS church. We also explained that we don't try to convert you, but we invite you to find out for yourself if it's church is and the spirit will naturally motivate you to look into the church and the truth within it.

On Friday, we planned for a good majority of the day, but at 5:00 we had dinner with Dan and the Urbanawiz family. We taught Dan the Plan of Salvation and it was such a good lesson that had the spirit there. As we laid out the Plan of Salvation and explained it a lot of her questions about the spirit world and the 3 kingdoms were answered. She told us about other churches beliefs about after this life and how our beliefs make so much sense and there aren't any flaws in it. She had a hard time understanding the concept of the spirit world, but as we explained its role and told her about how its a discussed in Alma 40 she really understood it well and she is progressing well! We are very excited for her!

On Saturday, we played Ultimate Frisbee with some soldiers from Fort Gordon and some investigators in the morning. Ultimate has been one of the highlights of the week and that's where I get all my competitiveness out and I put it all on the field. I had some pretty sweet catches and the grass was wet so after you dove you would slide for a good while:) It was the Elders against the soldiers and surprisingly we won both games haha:) We met with Scott after Frisbee and had our ward mission leader come with us and had a GREAT lesson with him. They both had very similar life stories and they related really well and he is planning and preparing to come back to church! Later that night we had a lesson with Trisha and she taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ, she told us that she doesn't plan to become a Mormon and she thinks we are wasting our time. We told her that most converts to the church don't plan to become a member but often times it just happens and the their life leads them in that direction! So we will keep teaching her and see the growth in her testimony. 

Sunday was an awesome day.... The talks at sacrament were about eternal marriage and the couple that gave the talks just radiated with the spirit and everyone enjoyed the spirit. A less active that had never came in like 11 months came and we were so happy for her. We had a great gospel principles class and Dan was asking lots of questions about the gift of tongues. We turned to the chapter we were teaching that day and it happened to be the gifts of the spirit and her questions were answered and confirmed by the spirit. It was a great class and it was awesome! The 3rd hour we went into primary and helped the primary kids stay focused and nothing makes you happier than watching the J.r primary explode from their chairs during the songs sunbeam! Classic!! It was a great service. The rest of the day we found a new move-in family and got to know them and taught people at Lady Antebellum park. Its a pretty nice park (see pictures).

I love y'all, the church is true, and keep the faith!

-Elder Mitchell Hill

#14monthsthisweek  #Southernstateofmind

 

Card from Primary Children!

Savannah River!

 

August 15, 2016 - Augusta / Evans

Hey Y'all,

Weeks keeping on flying by and the work is continuing to move along here in Evans! Haha I laughed when I saw your "Hi Y'all Mitch"... you're startin to git the southern feel:) haha.

This past week has been another scorcher with record setting heat. If I were to describe how hot it is, is it would be like doing missionary work in a sauna. Georgia doesnt really cool down until November and even then you might find the heat back up to 90 degrees, but I'm definitely looking forward to feeling cold again:)

On Tuesday, we had interviews with President Grayson and I really enjoyed the conversation that we had! One thing that we did talk about was the different ways we feel the spirit. I told him that I wonder why as a missionary you dont receive burning sensations all the time from the Holy Ghost like you may have at home, but instead of a burning its more of a confirming"YES!" feeling rather than a fire in your heart. I think it has something to do with the fact that you experience and listen to the Spirit so much that "you get used to it" over time. Like for example if you're in extremely cold weather over time your fingers go numb and you dont really know you are cold until you get out of the cold. It might be something like that but it was just an interesting topic to talk about with him. Later that day we had English class and it was very good. We taught 7 people how to use the word "want" in English! One cool thing that we do in the class is we sing "I am a Child of God with them and it helps them understand how words flow in English and the lyrics to the song are simple and it shows how much God loves us.

On Wednesday, a lot of the day was preparing for ZTM the next day and trying to figure things out within the zone. I watched this talk at our time to check our referrals and I thought you might enjoy it. https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2011/04/a-living-testimony?lang=eng . Its from President Eyring and it was very moving:).

On Thursday, we prepared for ZTM in the morning. The North Augusta zone is alot different than in Columbus. In Columbus we had close to 45 missionaries  in the zone and so there were always uneasy, nervous feelings for your training's, but in North Augusta we have about 20 missionaries and its definitely a more personal meeting. Which makes it kind of nice because sometimes missionaries are afraid of saying something wrong or are scared to pose their idea in front of everyone, but with a smaller group people feel more comfortable. I gave my training on what it means in Jacob 1:8 by "suffering His cross" and putting on the whole Armour of God. It went very well, I played the primary song "He sent His Son" and we all felt the spirit from that song. It was interesting, we were talking about "suffering Christ cross" and what that means for us. I think it means that we help bear the name of Christ and help him bear the cross if bring to the immortality and eternal life of man. That with complete, willing obedience we can help him bear the weight on his shoulders. I think it also means that we all bear our own cross and no one knows how your cross feels but Christ, and if we expect our trials to be easy then we will let them trap us in, but if we trust in God and run at the storm instead of letting it chase us we can overcome anything life throws at us. After ZTM we had an amazing day where we the Lords hand in the work. We first met with Jeff and Gabe Smith. Jeff has been ready to be baptized for over a month now but his situation at work doesnt allow him to go to church on Sundays and so without him being able to come to church he cant get baptized. We fasted with him last Sunday and even though there wasnt an immediate change with work that it doesn't mean it wont happen cause we have to understand we have to align Gods timing with our timing. We taught about the priesthood and how to magnify the priesthood and I know its only a matter of time before something will change with his work. After that appointment, I had one of the most spiritual and humble lessons on mission. We taught this girl named Dan. She is from Vietnam and on Sunday I kept getting a prompting to go and ask her if she wanted to know more about the church after gospel principles class. At the lesson she said" Elder Hill I'm so grateful you approached me because I had been praying for answers to my questions about life and I know that what this church believes will help and I  was too scared to ask you guys." Dan had been living in a rough situation but had recently moved in with a member and was very impressed how the members treated each other. She loves the focus of families and the spirit their home has. We taught  her the Restoration and with tears in her eyes accepted to be baptized and she said" I haven't read the Book of Mormon, but I believe it is true..." She is so prepared and ready to embrace the gospel. We are planning to meet with her this week for another lesson!To make the day even better, we had dinner with the Fry's and at dinner he told us about his war experiences. 

So that picture of me with the goat last week was at the property of brother Criswell and Brother Fry told us a story from Brother Criswells time in the army that blew my mind. Brother Criswell is a linguist and in the army he was the top guy and went on a lot of missions to help interpret for the U.S embassy's and this one mission he parachuted from a helicopter, with a radio on his back, teleprompter on his chest, he listened in on the transmissions from the Iraqi forces and translated their calls, told the soldiers how to re position themselves, in two minutes. So instead of the soldiers being in a huge firefight over the course of a few weeks, they landed on top of them and invaded a large city. But it was a pretty neat story and Brother Criswell is a beast! 

Later that night we met with the Carabello family and it was my first time meeting them. Melissa (the mom) was talking to us about meeting with us over a meal with her sons but couldn't get a hold of her son and just as we were leaving Justin (her son) pulled up and set up a time to come by and eat dinner with them!

On Friday, we had what called a "car fast" or you could say we got in trouble from the car inspector at ZTM and he said we couldn't use the car that day. The van we have is brand new and there was grass on the floor and he got upset, so friday we were on bikes. It was one of the most sweaty and tiring bikes rides of mission. Elder Weston and an eye appointment 8 miles away in one direction, up and down hills on a busy road. There were 6 big hills and I felt like I did my bicycling merit badge in one day. We got there in 20 minutes and people were telling us"That was a crazy bike ride you guys had" WE rolled over snakes and went down hills going 30 miles an hour with semi trucks on our handle bars. Don't worry y'all I survived. We biked all over and we were exhausted when we came back. We had to bike to service and to dinner on the same road we rode on to go to Elder Westons eye appointment. We had a funny moment... So there are 2 other elders in this area and both sets of us had to bike to dinner and on the way back home we were in the left turn lane, lined up  on a busy rode and it looked like attack of the Mormons:) You just had to be there:)

Saturday,Elder Weston and I went to go help Braden Tippett with his Eagle Project. Braden was making a trail in camp Helaman. Its a camp that the stake President has for the public. It has signs for the camp sites that say like "Teancums site" or like "Joesph Smiths trail" its great and we were going to make a new trail. Braden chose the hardest trail and asked us to get a wheel barrell and bring down gravel from the parking lot to the trail. I felt like I was back in pioneer days building a temple and we came out drenched in sweat. Crossing small streams and going down mountainous hill sides. We had dinner with the Carabellos and we had great conversation! Justin is an professional MMA fighter so I kept my distance haha:) just kidding hes a great guy. Her daughter is such a sweet girl and she wants to be just like Jesus Christ, like at lunch she sits with kids with down syndrome and eats with them, or she would pledge allegiance to God and not the flag because she thinks thats what God would want. I'm so excited for this family and it is looking good!

Sunday, at 8:00 bishop asked us to speak in sacrament for 5-8 minutes on a Christlike attribute and had about 15 minutes to prepare. It went well and I talked about humility and how humility isn't a weakness but a sign of spiritual strength. I used Ether 12:27 and really talked about the necessity of going through trials and how doing small and simple things help us remain humble. After church we had to help bishop go give money to a man who had been calling us all weekend for help and because of this mans sincerity we helped him out. It was kind of a sketchy situation but it all worked out and hopefully he gets back on his feet. 

I Love Y'all and the church is true

-Elder Hill

#Sweatisgoodforya   #work

 

Another Church!

Ballers!

Working the Trail!

Still working the Trail!

 

August 8, 2016 - Augusta / Evans, GA

Hey Y'all

This past week was one that was quite memorable and I'm glad y'alls was memorable too! Montana sounds so much fun and what I would do to feel 44 degrees again in dry air! I'm glad that Mom survived that tubing experience haha and it sure sounded like a fun time! 

 

This past week was a scorcher and people here in Evans said the summer has never been that bad since the time that they moved there. It's record heat down here in Evans. I don't know what it feels like to be dry anymore. When you come home everyday you have to peel off you clothes because of the sweat and the humidity. Its so muggy! 

On Tuesday, we had our district meeting and I gave a training on what does a successful missionary mean and how do we deal with failure. I felt like there was a lot of correlation between that and potential. I described various missionaries and great prophets in the Book of Mormon and the bible. Like how Nephi was strictly obedient and even though people wanted to blame God or lose their faith he trusted and loved God so much that he didn't care what people said about him or thought about him. He only cared about how God felt and that relationship he had was the most important thing to him. Or like Peter, after Christ was resurrected he appeared the apostles when they were fishing and Christasked Peter "Lovest thou me?" Three times and in essence Christ was saying then why are we fishing for fish instead of fishing for people to accept the gospel of Jesus Christ. The training went pretty well. Everyone of us have potential to be a great everyday, we cant just be great all at once, all good things take time. Understanding that trials are opportunities to grow is crucial. We have a quote on our fridge that says," God does not send thunder if a still, quiet voice is enough." So if we are humble and have a good relationship with God, you will be more in tune with the Holy Ghost. Later that day we had English class where both Elder Weston and I taught the verb ponder to the class. It went very well and its awesome hearing their stories and why they want to learn English. The gift of tongues is a real thing because there is no way that I could remember how to construct a sentence in Spanish from a year ago, but now I can say sentences in Spanish and I know its cause God needs me to do that.

On Wednesday, we did service and finished grouting a patio for an investigator. A hard thing here in Evans is trying to find people to teach in the afternoon because everyone is at work and it makes it hard to catch people. A lot of the people here are very into their church and don't want to do with the Mormons because of rumors they've heard or think the Book of Mormon contradicts with the bible. So you can say we get into lots of "bible bashes" and the same concerns are always brought up. This one guy we tried told us that he thinks the history of the church is nonsense and said if they cant find evidence of the Book of Mormon that he wouldn't read it. He also thought that he doesn't need to ask God if the Book of Mormon is true because if it doesn't add up with history then its not true. No matter what we said he wasn't listening, but we both stood up and testified and made sure he understood what we believe before we left. It's funny because we left with a prayer and he followed with his own after ours. He prayed that we may come to the knowledge that the Mormon church is false and prayed that God would forgive us for believing in the church. We had a lesson with the Kings and we had a great lesson about the Plan of Salvation and the spirit was definitely there and they accepted to be baptized!

On Thursday, we went to the library to meet up with Madison and she was planning to go to the Pastor of a church to discuss the LDS' churches beliefs and we talked to her about what she should be ready for and how to go about talking with him. Keep in mind she isn't a member of the church but she is so faithful that she is going to other churches testifying that the church is true! So Awesome! We later had service planned for a member and the Lord had a hand in it because we got there and it was raining and the things she planned for us to do were things outside. We started the mower up and even though it worked like 5 minutes before we got there it wouldn't fire up. We looked to their neighbors and they were moving and they looked like they needed help. We asked them if they needed help and they asked..."What do you charge?" We said nothing we just want to serve! He said wow that's awesome! So we helped him pack the furniture into the truck. He told us hes not believed in God for a long time and it meant a lot for him to see good men of God serving because they want too! Later that day we drove to Augusta to spend the night with the other zone leaders because we were car pooling to MLC the next day. Whats crazy is, is that I was in that apartment a year prior with Elder Jones to the day! But I was in training and it was a crazy flashback moment.

On Friday we woke up at 4:30 to drive to Macon. We passed through Milledgeville and it was fun to see it again. We had a great meeting and it was fun to see everyone again. The main topics were trusting in God, putting on the whole armor of God, and how to effectively find people. They were all great training's and I learned a lot from the Spirit. We traveled back and got back to the apartment at 11:00. It was funny we had to fuel our van at a gas station late at night and they were bumping like gangster music and there were drug deals and we got out of there as fast as we could but just picture 2 white Mormon missionaries pulling up  in a red mini van, wear everyone else is thug-gin out and got chains around their necks and we are like "What up!"

On Saturday, we planned a lot of the day and celebrated Dads birthday when we went to dinner with a member and it also happened to be Elder Billmans birthday so we sang to you 3000 miles away haha:) We started our fast and we sweated a lot that night and it was so hard to not drink anything after we got home and I worked out haha.

On Sunday, we had a great fast and testimony meeting. I shared my testimony about small and simple things and how if we don't nurture our seed and let it grow than we wont ever gain a witness if we know its true. We broke our fast at the Crisweels home, they have a chicken, turkey, and goat farm in their backyard that is super cool and I got to hold a goat:) We had a bit of an interesting conversation with this guy later that night and it was quite the experience. We walked out of our apartment and this black guy approached us and it started off more or less where he wanted to understand what we believed and then it turned to him telling us why our church is false and his reasoning behind it. He was very well versed with the bible and the history in the Old Testament and he brought up various verses in the Old Testament where it talks about how he thinks Jesus is black and how everyone in the bible was black besides Esaw. He kept on using the phrase "our people" and 'your people". He was making fun of Joesph Smith and how he saw the gold plates with Magical glasses and saying how the White picture of Jesus is the anti-Christ and how he is raping and killing people. He invited us to come and be with his race and be saved by God. his exact words" Y'all are finna be shocked when Christ comes again and there's a black man coming from the sky." But the fact that he was the promised Israelites and that the Book of Mormon is false because it says that "Blacks are cursed" he said the whole book is false. He said" Elder Hill will you humble yourself and deny your faith if I can prove to you its true?" I said No, because I know its true and it would be a waste of time." It was quite the exchange and we quickly had to clear our minds through prayer to prepare for a lesson with the Kings. We ended up putting them on date and we are pumped!

I LOVE Y'ALL and thanks for everything!

_Elder Hill

#Churchistrue  #Evans

 

Baaaaaaaaa!

 

MLC in North Augusta!

The Bros!

 

August 1, 2016 - North Augusta, GA

Hey y'all!

Well its the 1st of August in North Augusta!! So I was transferred Tuesday to North Augusta in the Martinez/ Evans area! I'm still a zone leader but instead of covering 5 districts like back in Columbus I only cover 3. It is the nicest area I've been in in about a year! It really feels like Utah or somewhere out west. Its just so clean and the houses you would find out in Utah are the houses you'd find here in North Augusta. It's crazy that I'm back in Augusta and serving in an area only 30 minutes from Waynesboro. I was in Augusta a year ago and now I'm back! I'm serving here with Elder Vance Weston who lived in Bear Lake, Utah right above Logan and he lived on a ranch. We both came out together and its been a blast serving together! I'm glad that the 3rd hour was good and that you liked the picture! It sounds like y'all are doing great and I hope Kristy keeps on getting better, I'll for sure keep on praying:) Have fun in Montana and tell Grandma and Grandpa Hill hi for me!

On Tuesday, it was transfers and I woke up at 5:00 to finish my packing and such. It was so hard to leave Columbus! I have got so close to this area and I will surely miss it. Our air conditioning went out in the night and it got up to 105 degrees in the apartment with humidity. It was soooo hot. We woke up and we were both dripping in sweat and it was too late in night to call maintenance and all the little fixes we tried weren't working so we slept in the front room on the couch and it was more or less a rough night. But we got to transfer meeting and said hi to all the old friends. I found out that I would be going to North Augusta with Elder Weston! I was sooo excited!! I'm still a zone leader and I've heard from lots of missionaries that I'd love the area. I was super excited and couldn't wait to start working there! On the way back we drove through my old area Milledgeville and it was great to see it again! Our apartment is sooo nice and as soon as we got into Evans/ Martinez, GA I knew I was going to like it! It's sooo clean and its unlike the rest of Georgia, and it really took some adjusting to seeing the atmosphere like you would see out west. We got settled in and we had English class later that night, the missionary that I replaced was a Spanish missionary and he is a big help in that class. We were asked to help people who knew little English how to speak it and I had to brush back up on my Spanish. I'm thinking about getting a Spanish name tag because of how many people we have been teaching English/ Spanish here. 

On Wednesday, we did some service for an investigator and we put grout on her patio and cleaned up her yard a bit. She had bamboo in her backyard and it made me think that I was in China or somewhere other than Georgia. We also met up with a less active member who didn't accept missionaries into his home for a long time and we were able to eat lunch with them. Sister Dickerson made us cookies and I was intending on eating one because you know I'm trying to stay fit for college basketball, BUT then she  told us that she got the recipe for the chocolate chip cookies from a friend who paid 2,000$ for this recipe! I was caught off guard and I was like who would pay that much for a recipe?? She then went on to tell us that it was Mrs. Fields recipe for her signature cookies. So that can give you a jist of how well off this area is. By the way I have the recipe:) We tried a few other people later on and had a great 1st day!

On Thursday, we went to the library for referral management time and in that time I watched the pioneer day concert by the Mormon Tabernacle choir. It was super good and here is the link to it https://www.mormontabernaclechoir.org/pioneerday.html?cid=HP_SA_23-7-2016_dMoTab_fMLIB_xLIDyL1-C_

After that we visited with an investigator and I swear in my lifetime that I have met her before but I guess she was just someone I needed to meet. She has been investigating for a long time but she just needs permission from her parents to get baptized. It is much like the situation from Columbus with Sarah Mickle. Madison is doing seminary by herself and doing personal progress by herself. I just thought it was interesting that I helped someone in Columbus with that and now I am in that same situation here in Evans. We had a super solid lesson with a lady named Trisha. She had a question about the 3 kingdoms of glory and how 1 Corinthians 15:40 relates to it. She just was concerned because shes been to churches where the church has "THEIR" verse of scripture that backs up doctrine. So she wanted us to answer that and we used 2 Corinthians 12:2 and where it takes about the third heaven and how it would makes sense that there would be a 1st and 2nd and 3rd heaven. She was very intrigued and we hope to put her on date this week.

On Friday, we had a full day of planning! We got set up for the upcoming transfer and got things squared away. 

On Saturday, we had a fun time playing ultimate Frisbee with some of the ward members and investigators. It was really humid but very fun! We met some very cool less active members and later on in the night we were tracting and we had probably 10 people reject us and slam the door. This one guy opened the door and just said "no" and I was being persistent because they didn't even give us a chance and they base everything they know about the church through rumors and things that aren't true. So I said" What did we do?" He said "you believe that you can become Gods and we will never become God's!!!" At this point hes pretty close to both of us. I said very simply. "In anything we do in life don't we want to get 10/10?" He said "yeah" I said "Is God perfect?" He said yes then I went on to say " knowing that we want to always be as perfect as we can be in this life would it be safe to say that we are working in this life to be as close to perfect as we can to God in this life? He was like... I guess. We shared the Restoration and  got a return appointment, so we will see where that goes.

On Sunday, I felt like I was back home in church because of the fact we had to open up the gym and there were lots of people there! Its very comforting to be in a ward like one you would find out west. Church was awesome and during 3rd hour we taught a visitor from Honduras( In Spanglish) The gospel of Jesus Christ which was pretty cool! So...after church we had an appointment with this guy named Mike ... So do you remember or recall Calvary Chapel? So Mike is also from Calvary Chapel and the spirit in his home was exactly the same as in Columbus with that pastor and the church. Elder Ballard and Elder Weston met him and he gave us one chance to share a message and this was that chance. He told them that anything in our church could not bless him at all... So we went into the Restoration and he had issues with the whole thing and every word we said just to disagree. 1. "He believes that we don't have to get baptized to get into heaven" and so we brought up John 3:5 and said that when Christ was talking about being born of the water that he was talking about being born and that all we do is accept Christ into your heart and your saved. I've never heard a scripture be contorted like. That point is the very point that Christ was making to Nicodemus that we need to be baptized by the proper authority AND receive the gift of the holy ghost or you cannot enter into the kingdom of God.. 2. "God sent himself to die for us so that he would know what we would feel and that he left his spirit for us... and when he died he pinned the law to the cross so we dont have to follow the law of Moses and after we have accepted Christ into our heart no matter what we are saved... My answer to that was why would you repent if you know you're going to be saved? He said to express our love... I said" No I think its more than just expressing love but its a change of heart and changing for the good. With that kind of mindset you'd become idle and complacent and that is something the Satan wants you to think. We talked alot about doctrine but left with the spirit where we both bore heartfelt testimony and he bore his and left. Its sad to see people think they've found it and wont accept anything else. We visited with members and biked later on that night. Crazy thing is, is that Elder Weston was hit the same night I did a year ago and we ended up biking together that same night.

I know this church is true and that Joseph Smith was prophet and that through Christ we can accomplish anything if we have faith, have hope, and live like his son.

I LOVE Y'ALL

-Elder Hill

#AugustainAgusta  #Protectthefaith

Bamboo Forest!

Mitchell on Bamboo!

Elder Hill and Companion!

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

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!!

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!