Hola familia+mi amigo/as

Monday, December 12, 2011 11:17 AM

I love you.. so much..

This week was a good one. I'm really loving the Holiday season... Christmas is the best! We've been rocking Christmas music since Thanksgiving for heavens sake.. this week we got the susan Boyle CD... pretty good.. no complaints, 'cept I still don't believe it's really her, she doesn't sound old at all.. ANYWAYS..

This is probably going to sound like a scatter brained journal entry. But that's just how my brains have been working recently. In church on sunday, I had to speak (found out Saturday night.. with no computer).. So I threw together a talk on the subject of 'John 3:16' and I twisted it to be "If God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten, what are YOU giving".... with a sub-twist of "Please be more loving to eachother and our investigators.."... I think it was inspired. It really was a cool experience speaking, elder Fukuyasu who has been speaking English for 3 years now, spoke as well.. for like 16 minutes, so I had to cut mine down to about 8 minutes.. it was pretty cool overall, to feel confident in speaking to a ward of strangers (well.. not so much strangers anymore.. they were making faces at me while I was speaking and sitting..) haha.. The church is true in this ward.

I had a few really profound moments here this week.. some serious conversion process 'wows' we've been tryin to help Brother pipkin make his date of the 23rd.. really urging him to lean upon God to be able to overcome his smoking problem.. he has to be clean from friday till the 23rd to be elligible ... We were talking to him in our lesson. Fuku asked him "Do you believe that God can help you with this"... he kinda paused a second got choked up and said "I really do, a month or so ago I would say no, but now.. I really do."... it was a moment I've seen before.. but this time the spirit really punched me in the face... I realized, man.. This man wouldn't be here at this time, if I didn't pursist at the beginning.. Such a humbling thought- The Lord has blessed me so much.. it's immense. ---- So far I think he's done well, He came to all 3 hours of church, announced he was getting baptized on the 23rd in Elder's quorum. :) I love the gospel and the wonderful spirit herein. :)

It has been a crazy couple of weeks.... A few part member families were our focus this last week.. we had a really powerful lesson with the Yost family, spoke about the book of Mormon, and our lesson with the Ethridge family was less than powerful or good. haha... It was a bit hostile, Fuku wasn't used to that.. I've hit it a lot so, it didn't really affect me, I just think it's sad to see them or rather him (the rest of the family is active) reject truth that will bless his life. He used the excuse that we were 'naive' ... haven't experienced 'life kicking you in the face'... I think he really just isn't ready.. I tend to think a person who thinks it's more important to make money than to unite with his family for eternity, is the naive one. haha... All in all.. it was a truth of church prover.

The Gospel was well and prevelent in my life this week... I love the restoration.. I'm grateful to live in a time when I can have the truth. I'm so happy to see my savior in my life. He's shaping me and changing me... I'm humbled to know he loves me enough to keep trying.. I'm a bit of a trouble maker. The church is true- The book is blue. I'm a missionary :)

LOve you ALL!

-Elder Hill :)

p.s. quick comment- turns out Elder Fukuyasu isn't as american as I thought, he doesn't understand a LOT of words that are very funny.. I'll explain someday in a more appropriate situation.. haha.. hahahahah.... veterinarians.. oh man.. LOVE YA!

bueno mi amigos

Monday, December 5, 2011 12:53 PM

Hello my family and friends.... and occasional strangers..

This week was pretty awesome. There was drama, and intense situations, some deep illness, some fighting of illness, some partaking of prescriptions, some recovery, some baptism, some work. Overall the church was highly true this week.. The scriptures were as beautiful as ever. :)

--I had strep or sinus infection or something to that effect, i got a prescription for it and have been taking that for a while now.. I am getting better... ish.. mostly i'm less congested. Got plenty of sleep and study time and had one of the least amounts of work hours in my life...

--BUT! The Lord loves me, for reasons beyond my comprehension. On Wednesday I was feeling as low as ever, canceling my meetings, trying to arrange something to stay home sleeping... somehow it was the 'perfect storm' that caused me to have to teach one lesson that day to Brother Pipkin, who has been a part member family target for over 14 years. We talked to him, i was straight forward as we taught the Plan of Salvation, I challenged him to be baptized before Christmas. He accepted.... a long day turned wonderful. :) Missionary work has that affect. .. .. Church is true.. truth is restored :)

--Elder Fukuyasu and I set a baptismal calendar and challenged an investigator to get his family involved... he accidentally spilled the beans, i accept that as inspired. The family is pretty excited....

--The Book of Mormon was a great comfort this week... i was reading through 1st and 2nd Nephi... i just love the psalm of Nephi in 2nd Nephi 4.. absolutely summarizes my frustrations at times.. Thank goodness for the gospel and repentance..

--Elder Oaks told us to stop eating out.. so we're cutting back.. we only had taco Bell 3 times this week.. impressive yes?

--Had Sushi with my main man pouli from the Burien ward. He is part time working for Dennis (Brother Smith we live with) love that man..

--I got to see my boy Remson get baptized in the Burien ward, love those chuukese people. He really has changed a lot.. It's a great testimony..

Overall it was a tough week but a good one. i know the Lord is close, i know the church is true and I'm doing my best to follow.. The work is real everyone should be involved.. even if it's just by being a good person.. i happen to think that's the best form of missionary work is to love everyone.. if you love everyone, they'll know and they'll ask why. :)

I love you all so much.. write me!

-Elder Hill

Keeping the law.... Keeping the law....

Monday, November 28, 2011 12:15 PM

For Behold... remember that work that was about to come forth among the children of men?... it's here.

This week was epic/fail. or Epic+fail.... Monday was a volleyball game... the rest of the week was downhill from there.. It appears I have strep or a sinus infection again.. so that's fun.. BUT! It was a holiday week and miracles happened regardless of my innability to function! God IS a miracle worker.

-Brother Pipkin is progressing still! He came to church and we had a really powerful lesson about commitment and Christ. The level at which he commits, is the level at which he will recieve help. So, he's really changing and gaining a strong testimony. It's spectacular how well he has progressed. Still reading, still praying, still coming to church, and striving to keep the Word of Wisdom.

-The Yosts were taught and had a good lesson.. I did not attend due to infectious illness... BUT! Elder Fuku had a great opportunity to teach with Elder Woodruff, who is a good guy. The Lesson went well, he forgot to commit them to come to church-- no harsh feelings. haha they're still good people.

-The Burmese had a ton of food donated to them from a ward member (sister Wie as usual) and Thanksgiving was saved. It's working out pretty well, we got them a copy of Confrence in Burmese and.... we're really hoping to get something started.... it's crazy.

Thanksgiving was good.. we spent it with Sister Wie and Dennis, didn't eat turkey but had prime rib... pretty good stuff. I really tried to be super thankful this week and remember all the things everyone has done for me.

SO--- I was assigned to talk in church in the topic of Charity. I found some great stuff in the ensign... from Elder J-R Hollands. He is the man. THEN... I prepared to speak on and challenge everyone based upon the Scripture in John 13 and famous primary song, "by this shall men know ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.." Basically having the statement that one of the best ways to support missionary work and to help, is to practice what we preach. AND ACTUALLY LOVE ONE ANOTHER. .. So I was excited to share this idea, and testimony.. and then on friday we got a call that said they double booked and I was no longer 'on the hook'.. .. not going to lie, i was relieved and let down. haha... The Church continues to be true and I will not speak.. Fuku did get assigned to speak in a couple weeks though.. that's good.. haha ..

Well, I'm struggling to remember information to tell you.. mostly because the week was spent laying down mostly.. I do love you all so very much.. and realllly want to hear from you. SO write meee... You know the address.

10675 NE 20th St.

Bellevue, WA, 98004

USA!

(with my name attached of course..haha)

I miss ya tons.. I'm working hard.

<3/Elder Hill

Hey Everybody... It's another week..

Monday, November 21, 2011 12:35 PM

The Church is true!

This last week was pretty great. My new companion Elder Fukuyasu gained a plethora of nicknames, and we really get along well... Despite he being Japanese. Just kidding, I know that the Japanese are good people. hahha... anyways.. It was a humbling and a growth filled week. I learned a lot and remembered a lot of lessons I've learned in the past. Turns out I probably will never stop learning and re-learning.

Some funny ones....

Elder Fukuyasu had some first time experiences of America...

-The drivethru at McDonalds couldn't understand a thing he said, he was already stressed and blurting out random things... accidentally ordered a large sprite instead of fries, and asked for a double cheese burger with mcfrysauce.. (idk?)... to add to it, the people behind us were honking their horn making him even more stressed, he has since vowed to NEVER DO IT AGAIN. haha

-Struggled to use the 'self checkout' at the Fred Meyer.... after sliding his card a million times, I pushed the checkout button.. and the checker lady informed him he only scanned half of his stuff.. so he had to start over.. hhahaha... afterward he again vowed to not use it and exclaimed "Gosh, AMERICA SUCKS!"... hahahaha

-At some fo the elderly members of the ward, they were struggling to say his name Foo-Coo-Ya-Sue, petitioned to call him 'Chopstick'.. it stuck.

-Sister Wie also wants to call him Chopstick, but with her thick vietnamese accent, it comes out 'Chapstick'... it also stuck.

-He's also very ticklish, homophobic, does not speak Tongan at all.

Some more spiritual sides of the week..

In having a companion that hasn't been out for very long.. a lot of the weight of the work falls on me. It has been a while since I've really played this specific role, especially because with merrell he was almost home so he knew how to work with me, Elder fullmer.. was... different.. and Jackson before that. I've really seen a lot of blessing from the Lord. I've seen how little my personal knowledge matters in teaching, How important a pure testimony is.

-Last night I was teaching a part member family, Brother Pipkin is a guy who has dodged missionaries forever, is now openning up and wanting to change. I Taught him of the atonement, the love that Heavenly Father has for us all.. and applied it by teaching the Word of Wisdom.. It was so powerful to be able to honestly promise him that if he would fully commit, that he could drop ALL of his bad habits and ask the Lord to make him able..... I could feel a spiritual confirmation that it was the Lord's way for us to give him our burdens.. (matthew 11, end of chapter..) .. So awesome. I just simply testified that it will change his entire life. I could tell he felt it.

-The Yost family has been a dream of the ward for a while. Really wonderful people... sister Yost joined the Church as a youth but left shortly after, brother yost and she are both very spiritul and close to God. They have asked to hear the lessons so we thought we'd catch them and give them a short pre-lesson, to get them ready. It was a beautiful spirit as I complemented her ideas with testimonies of truth. I can't take credit for any of the words I used, the scriptures I referenced or the spirit that was there. It was so powerful, I know they felt it and I know I felt it.

It was really a powerful week helping me to realize the Lord's hand in my life. .. .. Also it was great to see another Apostle visit :)

Elder Oaks and Elder Rasband of the presidency of the 70 and Elder bussey (an area authority) and also Elder Oaks' wife.. who was shockingly energetic and pretty funny.. she should speak in conference.. haha

Elder Oaks was really... REAL.. it helped me to see again how the Lord takes the weak and the simple and makes them more than they are. He told us all about what missions can really do for us.. loving the people, having the spirit. .. Something kinda interesting, he emphasized was the difference between the sacrament prayers.. how one says "always have his spirit" and the other says "that his spirit may be with you"... very different promises.. He talked about the restoration, how the first thing to dissappear in the apostasy was the nature of God.. the first thing restored was that true nature.. that he is a man and that he is our father.. separate from Jesus Christ. ... Very powerful speaker and very funny.. I got to shake his hand.. that was cool haha .. Idk, The Lord loves our mission right now keeps sending people here.

Overall.. it was a week for the ages. Very much learning and progress.. Also- I cought a cold. hahah But we won't go into that. I'll just work on it...

The Lord has reallly blessed me and I'm so grateful, this week I'm going to try to be as grateful as possible and really remember all the things the Lord has given me. I'm not sure what exactly He has in store. But I know it is right. I know it is best..

I love you all keep it real my homies.

-Elder Hill

Re: For Behold, A marvelous work is about to come forth....

Transfers came again... I'm staying in SeaTac for the time being. Had a long talk with President Larkin, we're a little 'at odds' so we're gonna take a break, figure things out... I love him too.

This week was awesome.. very stressful but awesome. Elder Merrell went home yesterday, so his final week we got in every single activity we ever needed to do before he leaves. Luckily that included a baptism.. Pau Mung is hopefully going to be the priesthood in our Burmese community... . . .. . . . I'm really distracted right now so this is going to be a scatter brainerrr...

- We played volleyball and got a TON of Burma people to come to the church..

- We get a chance to move forward and teach all the burmese in the stake, instead of separated by areas..

- Elder Merrell weighed in and gained 50 pounds in SeaTac, sister Wie doomed me to follow suit, i refuse..

- Lots of wonderful blessings flowing forth to myself...

I'm super struggling to remember what exactly we did this week, but it was good stuff! I swear it..

-OH! Brother Pipkin came to church! With his best pair of jeans!... He's really showing a lot of progress and I honestly believe he will be baptized before the month is through.. He knows it's true, now he's developing the desire to change.. those things create some great progress.. :)

- We were able to get Tim Asay the priesthood on sunday, the ward really rallied to make him feel welcome. I think he'll keep strong, even though his father is abosolutely cutting him off.. It sure takes a lot of faith to continue on a path that your family is fighting you on... I'm so grateful for the wonderful blessings.. :)

- Elder Oaks comes this weekend! Thats cool.. update next week..

- Heard a funny joke! Not appropriate though, maybe later.. haha... (it wasn't super bad, I just can't do the delivery over the internet... it's a problem really... I gotta get more technological)

-The Church is true... I know it...

- The Sister missionaries are still mad.

- ... Did I mention that Sister Wie went out of town and all the food went with her?

I love you guys so much.. write me more, I love the letters.. even though I'm slow to write back, I'm going to improve.... Keep reading scriptures and praying! I love jesus, Amen..

-Elder Hill

Helllllllo Seattle

Monday, November 7, 2011 11:57 AM

Hey everybody.. this week was full of Miracles... a testemant to the Lord.

I was sick, as usual, we haven't really had the energy and health to go out and do serious finding. But the Lord did the finding for us.. Sid, a nonmember, walked into our sacrament meeting having just moved into the area and met with missionaries before. We were able to talk to him and set a time to see him. He's in a really tough spot in life, could be a great potential... Part member families that we've struggled to get in contact with forever are suddenly meeting us at the church for lessons. Brother Pipkin, another nonmember, not a super educated guy has decided to follow our counsel and has began reading the book of mormon and praying as a family. It has been only 2 weeks and we can already see a change in the demeanor of the entire family.... The scriptures are a miracle.. within the year he will be baptized and preparing to go to the temple a year later... sealing their family for time and eternity :)

We had an awesome break through with the Burmese project. A part member burmese family in our ward has been a real target to get priesthood in our burmese group. We've been teaching them about eternal families and temples seem to be the big gamechanger with the Burmese people. They're really catching the spirit of it, starting to understand why it is so important. :) At the farewell party for Elder Merrell the ward put on Bishop talked to him and committed him to a date, he will be baptized this saturday. :)... SLOOOOWLY we are getting things rollling burmese style. haha ... I asked Hat Nu what kind of food burmese people eat, she said Rice. So i asked and what else?.. she said... Rice, with meat.... so I said.. any meat?,.. like cat... she just chuckled and agreed. hahaa.. pretty wierd.. but hilarious.

The Lord is really close the past few weeks. Elder Merrell and I are figuring eachother out our spiritual connection is growing, we're becoming better people in the refiner's fire.. It has been an extremely humbling time. A lot of admitting innadequacies and doing... my best. I love the Gospel.. i can't explain how much it has changed me. I know the Lord knows my heart, he knows my soul. He accepts my offering and has blessed me immensely.. my health sucks but my testimony is strong, I'm learning so much. The other night I was having trouble sleeping and i read the book of Job. Job's story is one of great perseverence and a great example of never abandoning our fundamental beliefs. Accepting the trials we receive and trusting the Lord will do what is best with you.... I admire his experience as I don't know that I would be strong enough.. however-- I know the Lord can do all things.. :)

I love you all so much, keep in touch every letter makes a difference.

-Elder Hill

Hello everyone this week was... a week.

We had so much work added upon us by members.. it's amazing how much the members help when they know you are sincere and they feel that you care. I am really starting to love the ward here. .. We started teaching a guy who has been married to an active member for over 14 years, never has met with missionaries. I was able to talk to him a bit and show him the sad families videos. (Sad videos are one of my favorite techniques... works every time.) He committed to read the book of mormon every day, and to pray. He's not running away after we were fairly bold in telling him the goal of our meetings... which is to help him to come unto christ through faith, repentance, baptism, gift of holy ghost.. and eventually going to the temple to be sealed.. and setting an eternal example for his posterity. Even for a manly carpenter, he was getting emotional ath the thought.. :) checkmate. haha... I love jesus..

We are still trying to get into the Burmese houses, I really think speaking their language even just a little bit would earn their respect and go a looooong way. So we're working on setting ground work for that idea. Minglaba is hello in Burmese... btw.. haha.. also- Thookhethakheawh means 'Authority' in Karen which is a far out burmese language. haha.. the work goes on.. We had a funny experience with them as we chatted with one of my Burmese friends Van, He's like our informant, tells us all the details and life trials of the families we know, he got all shy when I asked him if he thought Mary Niang was cute (she's a member)... so.. that's a future angle. Using the cuter Burmese girls to attract the priesthood?.... not a foreign idea. (but an idea for foreigners.) aha!

The ward had a halloween party yesterday, so naturally we dressed up, I wore a mustache, my comp was a bum. (A missionary bum).. we were combined with the Burien Ward, so i got to see all my old buddies again, turns out all the children remember who I am. And like to steal mustaches.. darn kids..haha...

We did have a great district meeting and got to know our district a lot better. Our district leader is a little bit of a wet blanket, but his companion is straight from Cambodia.. oh man, that kid is hilarious. We taught him some key phrases and words. like "JK LOL" or "pwned N00bs" ... he doesn't retain super well though.. he's forgotten the word poop, we told him he could buy it at mcdonalds.

Overall it was a good week.. went to a doctor... she had no idea, but she was nice! haha.. The Lord loves us and is working on us. We're really growing, making strides. I gotta chat with President toooomorrow.. pray for me! I love you all.. send me letters. .even if I don't write back super quick.

-Elder Hill... The one, the only, (other than the rest of my relatives)