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)

Written October 24, 2011

Hello again everyone.. .Time is flying by it's so wierd. But at the same time it's slow... and I am working, doing my best. :)

Not a whole lot to tell about this week, I had a down week in terms of sickness.. it was tough.. however...

-Our On-Dates both fell off-date :( but for reasonable reasons.. still hope!

-George (one of the on-dates) was schitzonphrenic, had the biggest pile of weed i ever seen in my life on his coffee table, and was freaked out by deep doctrine taught in church. He said he didn't want to meet anymore.... which is sad, he had potential to change and progress A TON, but I know that someone else will find him.

-Antonio the 9 year old was on date for yesterday, but his dad wouldn't give permission for him to be baptized. However, on the bright side, his mother seems to be making huge progress. She really is feeling the spirit and coming closer to God. It's so cool to see that! I think it's worth just as much as the baptism statistic to see a re-conversion. We're still working with them, praying really hard that their dad will give permission.... he wants to wait till he's older and can 'decide for himself'... this coming from the guy who wanted to baptize him when he was a baby into the catholic church... womp womp.. We still have charity for him..

Our district leader, Elder Larson, is training a cambodian missionary (Elder Sorn), straight from cambodia, he's a really funny little guy. We were talking to him a ton it's amazing how fast people learn english (he's still learning, but he's good..) haha.. Last time Elder Larson was training a random foreign kid we told him he was getting deported (Elder Song)... this time we put his name tag in Jello, I think it made his whole life. He was showing all the other missionaries pictures on sunday during our zone get together 'fireside'... So funny.. hopefully we'll get our hands on him again and get some funny phrases into his vocabulary.

Overall, it was a long week really, I've been hammered a lot recently, I'm just doing my best! Keep praying for me and I'll pray for you. I know the Church is true.. I can see the eternal perspective. Christ is living, He is so so so so close. I love the Lord, I love His Gospel. I'm slowly aligning my will with the will of the Father.... very much not perfect. But I'm doing the right things, trying my best.

Love ya! see ya soonish relatively

-Elder Hill

Written October 17, 2011

How is life everybody?!

This last week was good.. it was crazy, and I felt like crap for most of it- BUT! the church was true.. and my birthday was fun. haha .. We're really trying to make better relationships with the members... both active and less active.. and potential. We were able to get 2 more people on date, one of them is a boy named Antonio.. he is 9 and his mom is a less active. She realllllly wants him to get baptized but the tricky part is his papa is called a "devout" catholic. Which in this case seems to mean, he doesn't go to church, know what he believes, or strives to keep any commandments, BUT! he calls himself Catholic.. we need his permission.. he won't give a response. :/ so he's on date for sunday but.. it's tenative.

We also have a guy named George who is 25 from the dominican republic. He came to church and was put on date by the Renton Elders for the 19th of November. (pretty far off...but we're hoping to bump it up).. November 5th would be good. I think one cute member girl could be the difference maker for him. haha... you know they say- Date em', Dunk em', Dump em' is one of the best conversion techniques.. (I don't know who 'they' are.. don't ask.)

I'm still sick and crap.. it's raining a lot now, but we got a car again so mission President feels for me.. I hate my immune system.. It should be called my 'mune' system.. Cause I'm definitely not IMmune. .. ponder on that thought.. get back to me. haha

Elder Merrell's birthday is today, so we are going out to lunch with Sister Wie and probably going to go shopping with all the money he made from selling his Magic The Gathering cards. He is a super nerd. hahahaha... anyways..

I got to attend a sealing this last week for the Dalrymples.. so awesome. They were Recent Converts in the Burien ward. Brother Dalrymple was reactivated, Sister Dalrymple baptized in October last year, now Brother Dalrymple is in the Bishopric and Sis. Dalrymple is in the Relief Society presidency.. pretty good swing. Now they're stuck with eachother for eternity.. if they are faithful of course.. .. It was cool to be invited and see them recieve their endowments and sealing covenants. :) church is true.

Well--- Overall it wasn't a bad week, all things considered... I hate being sick, but I'm growing from it.. I love the Gospel, I'm studying, learning. such wonderful stuff. The Book of Job has been a favorite, really deep truths can be found there. Wonderful comforts. I envy his persevierance and patience in trial.. I'm working on it. haha,,

I love you all so much.. Keep being good.. I'll see ya soon.

-Elder Hill

HOla! familia! + friends.

Today is a great day, I've been blessed witha P-day B-day. haha It will be super fun I'm sure of it.. and I'm sure I'll not tell you alllll about it next week.. as for the last weekk..

-I'm with my good buddy Elder Merrell, We're partying all the time, and getting a lot more effective work done. It's amazing. I'm enjoying it, my health is still a bugger.

- Tim Asay came to church yesterday in a suit and tie, with shiney shoes, and shiney new scriptures.... it was awesome.. He usually showed up late and in a polo and jeans.. so big jump.. Church is true.

- Tim Asay ALSO was baptized for the remission of his sins by his could be future father-in-law last night... He was seriously speachless, and I've never seen the little tyke so happy. (actually he's bigger than I am, and older, and smarter, but...)

-It never gets old to see people making right decisions, ... really reinvigorating.. Hopefully we'll see some more real soon. . . . Church is true afterall :)

-I'm the one who writes my own story.

- It appears, that the Ward loves us now. It's miraculous actually.. I don't know how to explain it. A lot more fun and optimistic. Also, the Burien ward loves us, we have dinners with them as well.....

- OH! I got to see almost all of the people that got baptized while I was in Burien.. still active, and asking for callings.. :) I love the gospel, and that is the happiest thing ever.

-Not a whole lot of excitement.... I was sick again this week..

So- Spiritually speaking, I really was praying hard for a baptism the last few weeks and trying to refocus to get work done. I think I recieved exactly what I needed. I hope I can get a lot mroe done before my time is up. (which should be not soon.)

I love the Lord and I love the Gospel. I was reading in Alma 14 yesterday, it really touched me how Alma said that they still had work, that the Lord would take care of them.... That chapter is kinda depressing, all of their recent converts and investigators get burnt.. in front of them-- but! Silver lining, they all go to heaven.. for dying in the cause of christ..

The church is true ladies and gentlemen... read those scriptures, and change your life daily.

I LOVE YOU MUCHO, ELder HiLL

Friends and Family... This week was trying..

Well- Fantastic news everyone.. We're going to have a baptism in SeaTac, hopefully this weekend. Things are looking really good with our investigator Tim. Tim texted us last friday while I was on exchange with the District leader Elder Spencer, He asked if he could meet with us (which was surprising because he has been super hard to get ahold of). He basically said that he had been talking to his member girlfriend, during a tribulation ridden week, he gained a testimony of the book of mormon.. And basically put himself on Date. for October 8th.. I can't think of a better birthday gift. it's christmas... (Pray for it to happen..)

I should probably mention what happened with transfers... I'm staying in SeaTac! Elder Fullmer was transferred to Bellevue and is going to be companions with Elder Jackson (My last comp) and Elder Merrell returned to SeaTac to be my companion. Elder Merrell was my District leader when I was trained, he was in SeaTac for 14 months, I replaced him.. now he's back. haha It's a pretty crazy series of events.. It'll be a good change of pace from Elder Fullmer.. I loved Fullmer, but man he was something. haha

The Church was so true this weekend.. Conference was lifechanging.. really revealed a lot of things I needed to know. I also got an opportunity to talk to some of the old members from the Burien ward, have Pouli and Lynn write in my journal... If I had no other accomplishments than working with Pouli and Lynn, I would say my time was WELL spent. It's amazing. I can't really express how wonderful it was. A true testimony builder, and humbling experience. I'm very very grateful.

Well, not a whole lot to report on this week, it was the least amount of actual work I've done during my mission experience.. I attempted to ride bikes, I don't think the hills are doing well to me.. almost died.

Well, I'm workin hard and striving my best to keep the faith! i'll do the right thing I promise. Keep praying for me everyone! I love you, I need mail from you. haha Remember, I'm authorized to promise blessings. -- Consider them promised.

Love always, Elder Hill

(sent sept 26)

The Last week was tough, rewarding, filled with lots of opportunities to grow :) A good week..

Some interesting things that happened...

- I finally got a nickname from Grandma, Elder Fullmer has been "Crazy Boy" for months, and I just recieved the nickname of "Handsome Boy" and she said my aura is better now than when I first left home (I showed her pictures) so, I suppose that's a positive :) haha .. Thank you grandma for being awesome..

- We accepted an invitation to go have "chinese food" with sister Wie and Brother Smith... Lets just say it was authentic. We ate Jellyfish, Sharkfin, 'cold chicken', Duck, some slimey stuff I don't know, salt and pepper fish, and thank goodness for the plate of mongolian BEEF. whew.... Elder Fullmer ate a chicken head, including the beak for 30 bucks. eek, Even grandma was grossed out. haha

- We taught the Plan of Salvation to Van and some of his buddies.. It was a good lesson, but we're struggling to get through the importance.. so maybe a lesson on Jesus in General to get the spirit going could do the trick..

- We tried to teach a 9 year old the other day, He was so distracted, and constantly kept bringing up his dead cat... oh- How my patience has grown. I love my family more than ever, ya'll were never that bad afterall.. haha.. Some peoples' kids.

- Watched some church movies with Sister Wie, Grandma.. Grandma is slowly getting closer to baptism... for the second time.. long story- but, she's getting copies of all the movies cause she loves them... if only she wasn't leaving next wednesday..

Anyhow.. I've been studying and really learning a lot... In my down time when I'm frustrated and really just wanting to work and not be bogged down with my stupid health, I find solace in the scriptures. It's such a beautiful thing the Lord has given us... Throughout my mission experience people have asked me "why does God let bad things happen"... If we take things in perspective understanding how God sees the beginning from the end, death really isn't the worst thing.... I just recently had the epiphany helping me understand Agency SO MUCH MORE... We truelly have the choice between eternal life or eternal damnation and death... The Lord cannot take that choice away. We have equal right to be damned as we have to salvation. Bad things like murder or rape happen, that's an example of someone's agency, choosing to do evil... Sadly, they have the right to that.. Anyhow.. kinda off topic.. The Church is true...

^^^ Came out as spiritual thought vomit... decipher if you dare.^^^

I'm doing my best to keep workin, I'm slow, but I'm putting the effort forth, I'm gonna do the right thing :) The Lord will abide I know it! Faith is great ain't it?

I love everyone! Keep being awesome.. I will see you all soon (not too soon..)

-LOVE, Elder Hill

(sent sept.20)

this is my quick email!

The church was true this week.. lives were changed, and Christ was testified of. :)

I know the work is true, everyone read your scriptures! I LOVE YOU WRITE ME!

hello Everyone..

Hello! This was a serious week. For serious work.

The Lord really guided us in the limited time we had.. we got some good work done. I'm soooo grateful for the blessings :) Thanks to everyone who is helping with prayers, support from home thank you so much!

We had a really rollercoastery week. but my favorite parts were on Sunday.

-We had a recent convert/investigator meeting with the Stake Presidency, President Larkin, and all the missionaries in the zone. Pan Manna, whom was one of my recent converts in the Burien ward was there, along with some chuukese people I worked with. :) We got one Burmese kid to come, his name is Van and he is 16- really interested.. When they went around the room bearing testimony, Pan Manna bore her's in Burmese.. it was so powerful, I have no idea what she said- but it was great. After she was finished, i turned to Van and said "What'd she say" he said "She like Jesus." haha.. that's good! haha..

-THEN we had a special Stake Conference with a video broadcast from SLC, Elder Holland and Elder Packer were the speakers.. along with Elder Snow of the presidency of the Seventy.. and another woman whose name and title escape me.. They were really good messages, it was really cool-- But before the conference started, Van had to leave because there was an emergency at home.. so he left.. :( We were sad that he missed the experience of hearing from modern Prophets... It was still good.. Pan Manna paid attention, and even took notes a little (She barely speaks english.. how amazing..) haha ..

-We had a dinner with a family- The Crockers.. Some of my favorite. Very smart people. I got to reminisce a little bit with Brother Crocker, as he was familiar with IT Crowd.. - Josh you know what that is. - hahaah... so funny.. They were great, and talked about psychology a lot. Very interesting.. Brains do a lot of stuff.. haha..

-After dinner, we felt prompted to go see Hatnu and Mary (Burmese members) We were in the midst of showing them a video, Elder Fullmer and I were glued to the tv, and someone walked in and sat down on the couch accross from us.. After the video I looked over- THERE WAS VAN! .. from earlier.. apparently he knew Mary from school, and he speaks more than just Hakha/Burmese.. so they can talk to eachother.. What a great miracle- There's the fellowship. haha He should be our Burmese priesthood one day.. It was so cool, to talk to them about temples.. they're excited to go one day.

Overall it was a tough week. I'm pounding vitamins like a madman, and praying like crazy. I'm confident that the right decision will be made. The Lord does work in mysterious ways.. Usually it's tough. I reaaallly hope I can retain all the knowledge I've gained out here.. One of my favorite things this week was studying D&C, with background story.. D&C 11 was really special to me this week. It was a revelation to Joseph as Hyrum asked him how he could serve the lord.. The Lord was so pleased with his willingness to help. :) There's a short verse, I don't remember which one, but it goes something along the lines of this "Your work is to strive to keep my commandments with all your heart, might, mind, and strength." Thats OUR work for everyone.. as you strive to do that, the Lord will lead you to those you can help. I'm striving my best, I'm feeling the promptings, and seeing miracles in my life. I challenge everyone to read D&C 4 and D&C 11 and choose a goal to do better on this upcoming month or so. Lemme know how it goes.

I know this church is true.. I love the savior so much... he truelly 'leadeth me' as it says in... I want to says Psalms 23.. Check it out..

I love you all so much.. Keep writing, and if you aren't writing.. WRITE. haha I love mail. I'm grateful for all the help i receive. I miss ya, I'll see ya soon (Not too soon.) haha

-Love always, Elder Hill..

Hey family and friends... how are you? good? good.

Hello everybody, It's Elder Hill again.. just another week in paradise here.. It rained, then it was too hot, then it rained, and I went 'toes' with a Born again... so much excitement..

The work was improved this week.. I got some encouraging phone calls from the mission President, I mustered the motivation to 'run from person to person' (in a limited sense, I'm sick...) We had a few pretty cool experiences...

- Contacting by a bus stop, I was talking to one person about 'finding god' in the scriptures, and saying prayers to find comfort in trials... I could sense this guy hovering around behind me... I finished the conversation, turned and talked to him.. his name was antonio, he was from federal way, and he was near tears... I kept asking what's wrong, asking how we can help, what we could do?,, He just said "I gotta get home man." I asked where home was, he said Fed. Way.. He had no money for the bus,.. so we got him a bus pass, he promised to call the missionaries and change his life.. .. it's tough, but I pray he does it.. . It was just peaceful as we sent him away, even with all the people freakin out at us (Pac Highway isn't a very nice place..)

- Trying a new tactic with the Burmese, talking to them about temples.... It was a bit of a desperation attempt at success as they have been drifting from us.. It worked pretty well.. They were very very interested, seemed to feel the spirit just by looking at the pictures. I hope they realize how important it is.. I love them, but they really just don't understand.. grrr... pray for a miracle!

- We got to give a blessing to a lady last night; I as the voice. She is having a return of breast cancer, struggling to know.. It was so tough! Such a wonderful lady, so filled with faith.. It was humbling to have the words given to me. To counsel someone almost 40 years older than I on what she should do... These are the moments when I'm so thankful for divine guidance.. I am so grateful to be worthy of such help. I love jesus.

- Had a few lessons with some of the elderly people in the ward, trying to gain good relationships with the ward, blessings of course. haha.. We love them so much.. we were invited to attend a sealing for a Recent Convert couple.. but our ZLs wouldn't let us go *womp *womp... it's sad, but we were touched to be invited... They all had such a happy look as they saw us at the door. :) That's blessing enough for me, just to know I've helped someone be happier. it's my calling in life. haha

- OH! Grandma, (The vietnamese lady upstairs who is actually sister wie's sister, but we call her grandma) is psychic, I'll have to tell you guys about her, she's freaking amazing.. so eerily accurate.. it's creepy. haha She's great, doesn't speak much english.. She's teaching me a little vietnamese.

Overall, it was a week. It was a long week at times, a wonderful week at others. The mission is so amaazing. We are doing a lot more walking now, cause our car was surrendered to Normandy Park..So.. That may not bode well. But I do love the gospel, so there's that. . . . Something interesting that I've been studying is the life, ministry of Paul.. I love that man and his conviction. What a great example.. I urge everyone to read the amazing teachings of the New Testament. learn from Christ's words :) The Bible is amazing! I love it.. The Book of Mormon is life changing, and together.. they make such a great testimony.

I love the work :) Keep me in your prayers everyone :)

-Elder Hill

Hey friends and Family

Hey-Lo everybody, I'm Elder Hill.

So- This week was very much slower than previous weeks.... pretty much the slowest of the whole mission.. we still had 7 new investigators, taught a few new families.. got back in contact with an old one.. but only taught 10 lessons.. and I was not feeling too well so, just overall inneffective. and frustrating.. However, I do still love the Lord and know the church is true! So that's wonderful. I just need extra prayers. Everyone remember me. please.. I'll remember you. haha

Anyhow.. let's see... things this week that happened..

- Our napali friends whose nicknames are cocoa and little one... were caught hiding in front of the walgreens putting makeup and fake nails on yesterday... we thought that was strange.. and as we walked to their apartment complex, we saw their mother searching for them.. so we told them they had better get home.. haha.. they had makeup all over them.. very funny little kids. I don't know how we are such good friends with them.. their family wouldn't meet with us.. haha (a while ago the little one tried to order the 'finding faith in christ' dvd from the number on the card we gave her.. and accidentally called 911, had to explain THAT to her parents.. hahaha...)

- this homeless guy in the park has all the stoners convinced that we are feds.. which isn't super good, pretty funny though?... we actually taught a lesson to one or two of his buddies...

- Sis Wie and Grandma made 'vietnames dinner'... it consisted of fried pig ear, some chewy stuff, squishy fish, "the slimey vegetable" and rice... .... pig ear... eek... tasted like ... ... yuck.. BUT! On the bright side we came home to fresh spring rolls yesterday, and we love those.. Grandma is great.

- Last transfer they didn't announce who was transferred to the whole zone.. they did a silent transfer in which each individual companionship got a call if they were transferred.. so naturally, i told our district leader we got whitewashed.. he was shocked to see us at zone meeting.. haha.. good times.. I'm terrible I know..

OK so on to bigger and brighter things.. This week I studied a lot.. I usually study a bunch- but this week i studied a lot. (Lot>bunch) Aaand I read the book of Daniel last night... It was awesome the stories of meshack shadrach and abed--nego NOT being burned in the fiery furnace.. and Daniel and the lion's den.. and.. lots of latter-day prophecy... Such awesome faith by these people.. to hold to their God in the moment of truth.. Testing whether or not they truelly believe.. and in both circumstances they come off conquerer... The Bible has really become one of my favorite things to study.. We use it all the time in the foreign community, that's all we have.. I've come to love and admire the apostle paul.. and Peter the apostle as well.. If I can find some way to have the vigor of those men.. It could be goooood. haha... I read the trial of Paul in front of King Agrippa yesterday (Acts 26:13-27)(I could be off..)... It's so cool.. how similar it was to Joseph Smith's experience, how the simple testimony changes so many hearts.. we all need to heed this and stand up for our belief.. God is good.. gotta love Him.

Well, the work was hard this week.. the work was slow.. Its tough, but we did get to have some progress in our area. I got to see Ipha from my last ward, teach her brother who lives in my area now.. he'll be attending Burien ward, but we might snatch the teaching for him. I'm excited, I'm just working while I can! I love this work, I love the gospel.. trials are hard but I'm striving to overcome them :) Everybody write me.. and I promise blessings.

I love you all, read your scriptures! Study them! Live them!... They are such a blessing. You have to know what's in them.. I miss ya tons.. see ya l8er!

-EELDERR HILL

Hey E'erybody

What a week.. Thanks for everyone's contributions through prayer and panic. :) You know who you are.

So this last week was crazy, with all kinds of random excitement, but I want to focus mostly on the spiritualllly awesome side.. OK?

-Elder Fullmer taught a lesson with sister Wie as his companion in the waiting room of the doctor's place... The lady was hisitant but took the book of mormon and said she would read it... so that was cool?

-I got to take my District leader to SeaTac, show him how to find foreign people. Usually a Burmese contact goes something like this "Hey, We're missionaries, we teach about jesus [hand them a card] are you christian?" they say "Ya?" and i ask "where are you from?" they say "Burma"... I say "Where do you live, can we come teach your family?"... they show us where they live, and their family loves us so much.. Needless to say, he was shocked at how easy it was to get into their house.. often times children ran after us and yelled for us to come to their house..

-Also with Elder Spencer, (DL), we were talking to a guy from Burma, and little napali children (we are very familiar with them now.) came up behind the guy and just made sad faces, so I nonshalauntly hand them a card, and then reach into my bad (the entire time keeping a conversation going) and hand them a soda.,.. They love us.

-Had such an awesome lesson with hebrework, Sisay Mosisu had very profound statements for him.. he was asking lots of 'bash worthy' questions.. that I didn't want to slam down.. so Sisay simply said in his broken english... "no more question.", "You read that book, You ask them questions from reading, and you'll know." .... Sisay was a guy that Elder Jackson was teaching in his first transfer in seatac, so he's pretty fresh into the church.. He's from Ethiopia, and he's like a great loveable teddy bear.

-Recently, PMG DVDs have been the rage in study, so I've seen all of them naturally.. and actually learned a lot. When we devote time to do ALL the stuff we are supposed to.. Things just work out better.. You feel the spirit more, you find answers to prayer faster, you have greater charity... So we're still working on it, but progress has been made... haha.. also- we have nothing else to watch, so it's like movie night allll the time..

-Transfers happened (thus emailing on tuesday)... I'm still in SeaTac, probably be in this zone forever.. haha It's a good zone, I like it.. I'm hoping that we can all stick around together for a while.

Mostly I've just really grown a lot.. and learned a lot from Elder Perry.. who came on friday..

he talked about how his father was a worthy member of the church... 10 of the 12 had inactive or non member fathers.. Amazing right? I'm so happy that my dad was a great example for me.. I'll strive to live up to that.

He also talked about how service goes further than the mission... He told a story about building a church building in Japan.. Long story, find it somewhere on the internet... haha

Anyhow it was just a powerful feeling when he came in. To be THAT close to an apostle of the Lord, is spectacular. He's a super funny guy, just overall amazing. I loved it.

The work is well, I'm doing my best family and friends... don't believe any rumors that are circulating. I'm doing fine, I'm working. I love the Lord and I love this work. The Scriptures are so great..... On sunday I was called from the pulpit to give a talk on baptism.... I'm just so happy that I've studied the scriptures and I was able to overcome the short notice, share my feelings.. I've been so blessed! I am learning a lot.. Keep praying for me, I need it. :)

Love you all! -ELder Hill

p.s. boy I love these ekg boxes.

Hola!

This last week was a trying one.. Zone conference, sick, super finding... frustration..

Anyhow- We have Elder Perry of the Quorum of the twelve coming on friday so that will be amazing. I love when general authorities come and speak to us.. usually rebuking us but I accept it and feel the spirit.. :) chastening is a good sign... when you read through the scriptures.. people usually become their best selves after the chastening.. And I'm striving to be my best self.. so That's a start.

The work was good this week.. We've taken a step back from attacking all of our Burmese families, really thought about what will move them forward.. We neeeeed member help, and priesthood leadership to start a Burmese group in our ward. So- We attacked that, we visited the members that are ward missionaries, and searched for our Burmese male priesthood potentials. ... I prayed hard, and we found Tha Peng! He speaks Hakha Chin.. which is my favorite (Mostly cause the original Burmese spoke that..) ... he has a great family.. he felt the spirit.. language barrier is the problem still.. or as they say "Ranguage is Probrem".. hahahah... ... -- hopefully there are no sensative Burmese people reading this... : /

OK- So there were some good moments, we tried to get into a part-member family this week, they were really good people.... it appears they weren't aware of their dog's doings in the house however.. As we sat down on the couch to give a lesson, Elder Fullmer turned to me a few minutes later and said "...I'm sitting in dog urine..".. I immediately shushed him and moved on with the lesson-- Missionaries have the obligation to put up with any crap, afterall, if we offend them.. it's bad. very bad. ANYHOW... we headed to another appointment and halfway there, it smelled SO BAD, Elder Fullmer had the great idea to rub hand sanatizer all over it, which made it 10X worse.. so we headed home. (I apologize for the run on sentences, I don't have time to proofread) ANyhow.. I came upstairs to see if Sis. Wie had done our darks yet- she had- and asked why I needed those pants done.. I just casually say "Oh, Superman got dog urine on his pants"... she stops and says "WHAT? he have accident?"(Imagine this in a vietnamese accent)... so I was like.. "yeah, he accidently got urine on his pants"... she imediately goes off about Dog urine.. telling us "I have little dog a long time ago, one day, he get piss off and pee e'erywhere!"... hehehehe.... she's not a fan of dog pee, and she made him wash his pants in the sink before going in the washer, and she wouldn't wash anything else with them.. hahahaha... Also- another note about sister wie, she makes the best Spaghetti I ever had. period.. and she put steak in my salad.. so she's awesome.

OK- On to spiritual stuff.. The work is so great here. My body tends to betray me a little... grr.. but I'm working hard to find those Elect sons and daughters of God.. Last night I was able to attend Teray's Patriarchal Blessing... .. It was such a huge blessing to hear him so excited about this gospel, and tell a little bit about his conversion and his devotion to the work. He's so excited about the Temple... his faith is unwavering. I love him.. It's amazing how some people can grow and learn so fast. Being the first to contact him in Seattle.. It's so humbling to see what the Lord has accomplished through a weak soul like me. I'm doing my best to continue..

Last night we had a lesson with a man from Etheopia named Hebrework.. His wife is divorcing him, he is really struggling.. When we contacted him in the park, I taught directly from the bible (which has become my forte) as that is what he knows and loves.. he said to us before we left "If you have something better, please tell me."... that's the sign of a prepared soul.. I'm humbled to have been able to contact him, and have one of the more successful lessons with him in his home. He said he would read the Book of Mormon and pray. I promised him through patience, obedience and prayer he would know the truth of this message. :)

My heart is so full of charity, joy, humility.. It's so wonderful to be out here at this time. I'm doing my best to find those I need to and keep working despite trial and affliction. The Lord is my light, I WILL go where he wants me to go :) EVERYONE KEEP PRAYING AND STUDYING SCRIPTURES... GO FORWARD NOT BACKWARD! (D&C 128:22)

I love you all Elder Hill.

HEY E'ERYBODY!

Isn't Life great?

This week marked 7 months in the mission.. holy crap it's gone so fast.

Well, The work is going really well.. as usual I have a few ridiculous moments prior to the seriousity.

*Sister Wie has a propane Wok on her back porch, she made some steak and shrimp... absoulutely to die for, we also had the Burien Elders over so got to hangout for a few minutes... soo good.

*We called Burien from our phone to invite them to dinner, it was on speaker phone and Elder Weed answered like a girl... Sister Wie dubbed him 'the queer one'... hehehe...

*We watched the joseph smith story with a napali family... Not planned.. We were actually supposed to teach a Burmese family, who ditched us and the Little napali children bartered their parents' time for a 'limited edition' card. hahaha... super funny... they made us watch one of their movies too.. now I know how it feels to watch arbitrary scenes with gibberish noises.

*Elder Fullmer has been trying to distinguish between people who are 'high/drunk' and 'not'... and the only ones he was sure enough to mention were autistic.. and the same person 2 times. haha... gotta love it..

*We were teaching Christ Hai's family, her dad is now in town, and we were teaching about the restoration... come to find out Paw Paw (the 10 year old) has the first vision memorized..

Well- The work is going well.. I didn't get to do as much as I would have preferred, still struggling a little with health issues, but we still got almost 20 lessons, which is much above average, and had 11 new investigators.. which is unheard of? usually? we've done that a lot.. haha anyhow.. The Lord is helping me so much, I really can feel it.

My studies have been refocused on the Preach My Gospel lessons and the Book of Mormon... I read teaching of the prophet Joseph smith.. which was awesome.. but it wasn't exactly relevant to our lessons so I digress. . . .

Had an amazing lesson in church, about 'having a vision'... from Proverbs 29:18.. I believe (I could be wrong.. memory not so good.) ... anyhow, I thought it was awesome. It's so important to really have that vision of who you want to be, and start to 'fake it till you make it'. If you want to be a more Christ like person.... BE more christ like. As we make goals, exhert our greatest efforts.. the Lord completes us in our trials :) I love Him.

Well- Overall.. Miracles happen... there are examples in my life as well as in the scriptures (Ether 12, Hebrews 11)... Look for them, pray for them, search for them! .. Seek and ye SHALL find. :) I love this work and I'm doing my best. the work will move forward.

I love you all! Write me tons! (Most importantly, read your scriptures and PRAY ALWAYS..that ye may come off conquerer)

-Elder Hill

SOMOS MISIONARES!

Hello again family and friends... Tis' another week in SeaTac...

A few wonderful memories from the weekk...

-The McDonalds drive through lady's name is Maria, and we gave her a pass along card... she also gave us some memoral quotes such as "... Wow, you guys come here in the morning AND at night??" and.. "See ya tomorrow!".... slightly embarrassing.. slightly touching to the heart...

-Elder Fullmer got a package from his Mother, and she didn't write a note... pretty funny.. pretty sad.. haha

-Our Investigator children have a shrine of all the different passalong cards pinned on the wall.. I'll try and snatch a picture..

-One of the kids quoted Joseph Smith's first vision.. not verbatim.. but impressively..

-Sister Wie speaks french... now I want you to imagine this.. She's Vietnamese, with an awesome Vietnamese accent.. now imagine french coming from that accent.. and in Buddhist terms, you've reached Nirvana.. (Nirvana came from Seattle you know..)

-Brother Smith came downstairs a few nights ago.. told us something Sister Wie was crackin open (A jack fruit?) made the whole upstairs smell like baby poop... it was true.

-! OH ! Sister Wie gave us some yellow Water melon... so wierd.. taste like Red, BUT IT'S YELLOW... very asian

-.... Sister Floydd made us dinner yesterday, and gave us "all you can eat cupcakes"... holy cow is all I can say. I'm going to be so fat.

-OH and-- wait.. probably not appropriate, ask later. haha

......

Ok- Some more serious notes.. and stories and testimonies of mine own...

The Work is well. I'm still shall we say 'under the weather'?... which means periodical naps, moaning, complaining about not getting enough mail (.. C'mon guys..) haha... and then of course studying adn praying.. much needed study and prayer.. it was good. We were still productive and got 4 people to church! Our families still love us, and we found another Burmese family (That actually speaks Burmese) to teach! Life is good.. ALSO- I got a sweet Shirt from the Karen people, they literally made it themselves, by hand.. with wood and string.. or something.. and They said they would make me a man skirt so life is good..--Oh- RIght, this is the serious portion.. haha, OK.. Well, some of the cool moments, Christ Hai prayed in english that her parents would let her get baptized, at the end of our lesson. and as she was interpreting for me, she mouthed "ASK IF I CAN BE BAPTIZED" haha.. It's so crazy how well they are doing. They ASK for scripture chapters to read, and they are so sensitive to the spirit. :) Beautiful.. D&C 18 is legit.

On another note..

Last night I got to accompany one of the reactivated/recentconverts, that I worked with in Burien, to recieve their Patriarchal Blessing... WOW AMAZING.. To be able to see them swing from one end of the spectrum to here.. is spectacular.. They told me they wanted me at their sealing, so I'm stoked :)... such a beautiful pure spirit as they spoke of their potential and strengths.. :) legit.. also, The Patriarch, Patriarch Nelson, gives a sweet lesson on the Blessings prior to-- I loved it. Life is good

Nothing is more touching than someone from your previous area saying they miss you. I'm so humbled to be in the situation I am in. I'm so excited to make more connections here in SeaTac.. Life is good! I love the Lord.. especially when I'm feeling sick and frustrated. I'm doing my best. Keep writing me everyone.. I love hearing from everyone. :)

-Love always, Elder Hill

p.s. Yes, All the Burmese children DO call me Sensei.. :)

Hola Familia

OK! FAMILY! I LOVE YOU.... and other persons.. You're in my heavenly family so you apply as well..

I posted some pictures.. some of which you have to find all of the vienna sausages.. some of which.. I don't remember what I posted.. So check them out!

This last week was pretty intense and very miraculous..

I was feeling pretty 'under the weather' if you will.. this week. So I'm trying to recover.. this week we had 8 lessons going into saturday.. and not a whole lot of hope to reach our goals.. Saturday morning, still under the weather-- we decided we needed to give it a chance! I told Elder Fullmer, I believe we can put 12 lessons in today. We Concurred and prayed hard for help... (Most companionships don't get 12 in a week.. or even 2 weeks)... Headed out with a Fierce Hope and Faith! we contacted like crazy and taught people on the street.. saying prayers and sharing scriptures and testimonies like madmen... 8 lessons before noon... .. later that night we had 2 more, and made contact with 6 new investigators.. 1 new burmese family, who is familiar with the gospel as they have met with missionaries before.. :) we got our final lessons on Sunday to reach our goal.. and 17 'Other lessons" which is the most I've ever had in a week before.. so that's a cool thing? Also- the Burmese progressed, they're loving the scriptures, and praying for help.. and most importantly, recieving answers and growing testimonies.. :)

On a lighter note... Elder Fullmer and I contacted a guy named Joey... Joey was stoned out of this universe.. and absolutely roasted in his brain... During our lesson he siezed up and keeeled over- Gently in to a patch of grass... if we hadn't stopped him to talk, he would have smashed his head onto the sidewalk. We're saving lives already.. hahaha... He turned out ok.. he just had the munchies real bad and headed off to a local 7-11 for some bugels I'm sure.

The Lord has blessed me so much.. it's nuts.. I actually remember things I study? can you imagine that?! ... I got a chance to study out of the Old Testament this week... reading parts of Jeremiah, the lord comforting him as he was overwhelmed with his call... Job, as the Lord trusted his faith and he overcame his trials to be triumphant over satan... and Joshua who promises the Lord's protection to those who are faithful... Read your scriptures people.. they will change your life! You will love them, if you live them.

Also- Cool thing, Elder Fullmer is from Circleville' UT and he's completely oblivious to most things in the world.. you should have seen his face when we contacted Joey, and also a few people who were so stoned on hallucenogens.. it was so funny.. .then when he finally attempted to recognize it.. he was like "This guy is stoned".. and I said "No, this guy has autism"... hahahaha... oh the sheltered.. :) (This Paragraph and the one about Joey are probably not even missionary appropriate, so disregard them. Thank you)

The Church is true! I love it. Keep praying for me I need it.. I hate being sick.. :P BUT I"M GOOD, don't worry.. I'll take care of myself.. Sister Wie (whom I live with) definitely mothers us. She made me drink some strange liquid substance yesterday... it seemed to do.. something.. I'll have to give your contact info to her, she'll contact you!

Life is good... Don't ever pass up an opportunity to build your testimony, I love you guys so much.. Always remember what matters most.

-Love elder hill

HOLY FRIJOLES!

THIS WEEK WAS NUTS!

First week in a new area (especially a dead one) is usually super painful.. and painful it was as we walked out of the house on Wednesday with NO plans, and only tracting to do. :(... Elder Fullmer was hesitant, because tracting usually isn't so productive.. however- the secret, is tracting in low-income/refugee housing.. haha.. so we headed out.. first 4 doors either swore at us, slammed the door, were muslim, or hindu.... or all of the above (somehow?).. Well.. we were bummed.. so we knocked on the next door and a wonderful Burmese lady ('Dah Dah' <--her name.) answered (oh how I have come to love seeing them...) her daughter 'Christ Hai' spoke perfect English and translated... they started asking their friends and family to come let us teach them,... somehow we ended up teaching over 13 lessons to Burmese people this week.. in 4 days... 5 doors cold knocked and we have 6 or 7 families to teach... MIRACLE! WOOT!.. anyhow.. some side story- We nicknamed all of the kids after different foods, and our pass along cards have developed into a high demand low-income housing trading card.. I'll explain someday.. maybe. haha

One of my favorite Dilemmas as a missionary is having too much work to do, not enough time to do it. Too many families to teach, a gospel that is too true to not teach it!.. AND extra families at church.. we filled an entire row and a half.. in our first week as a companionship. Our stats were through the roof.. and we've got 6 people ready for baptism.. :) .. the work is amazing. .. .. ..

SeaTac is a pretty sweet place.. but some very interesting things we've learned.. is ALL of the young Burmese girls speak English, most of the boys do not. haha .. harldy any of the adults do either.. So we have been really bonding with the random groups of 8-10 year old little girls who plea for jesus pictures and for us to teach their families.. haha Nicknaming them from Flour, to sissy, to moonpie, and cupcake. (Depending on what foods their names sound like..) one of my favorites is a girl named Dorito (that's her real name) we call her pringles. haha.. .. I'll send some pictures, there's literally hundreds of Burmese people, and they love us so much. it's so humbling.. On Friday, we found a case of vienna sausages in our cupboard.. neither of us eat that crap, so we were handing them out to all the kids haha.. in return for teaching appointments. (no, it's the opposite of priestcraft) .. haha It's so good.

The work is amazing, the spirit is bright.. Elder Fullmer has been a really refreshing companion. He's a very much outgoing, loud, singing constantly, saying everything that's on his mind type of guy.. very different from Elder Jackson.. but VERY funny.. He's also a wonderful teacher, (when he stays on task) has a great testimony (when he's reverent), and really just makes the work great. I'm glad to have him.. A little humbled to be put into a leading position here in a dead area early in my mission life.... It's SO GOOD!

I love you guys so much.. write me lots.. I need letters, even though life is great, I NEEEED to hear from home. Thanks so much for being amazing and supporting me... I'll see you all soon!

Elder Hill

(sent July 13)

HEY FAMILY/ASSORTED LOVED ONES!

Hey everybody! I'm no longer in Burien... :( Elder Jackson will stay and I moved... to seatac. Which just so happens to be where 4 of our On Date for baptism investigators live, so I'm taking them with me :)

Life is good in the hood.. I moved in with Elder Fullmer, I'm super excited to stay in the same zone... heck, I'm still attending church in the same building.. a ton of the members from the Burien ward said they would start attending Seatac in addition to Burien now.. haha I love them.. it's so sad to leave but such a great reassurance that I've done my best. I've left the area in an upward climb.. Baptizing Pamana in my last night in the area... The work is just beginning in the Burien ward! I've been reassigned to boost the work in a dead area (a dead area full of burmese people :) ) so.. I'm not bummed, I'm stoked.. Plus we live with a member now, Brother Smith and Sister Wei.. (Sister wei will probably be calling you periodically to tell you how i'm doing.. she's very loving)... sister wei is vietnamese.. and has an awesome accent.. so I'm brushing up on that.. hahah..

This last week was awesome... it had some seriously defining moments. Brother Decampose a long time 'less-active' had a family crisis of sorts, and commited to come to church.. evidently someone broke into his store so he wasn't able to come, but it was definitely the most solid commitment he's given us! I see the light turning on in his mind, he has a wonderful family that NEEDS to go to the temple to be sealed..

I bore my testimony to Boli, and told him that he needed to read the Book of Mormon to know if it's true.. He's sad to see me go.. BUT! Luckily the Koerners said they would fellowship him.. the Koerners are awesome.. I love them.. I've got pictures.. but I forgot them in the car. haha (Did I mention that Seatac was assigned a car last night after I found out I was transferred... HA! YES! I get to drive!) anyhow.. I see grreat potential in Boli, hopefully Elder Jackson sees it through. :)

The work is going great! as usual... We taught Burmese people a lot.. this time teaching them Hymns and Primary songs.. having the family sing.. completely off beat, tune, and timing.. but so wonderful to hear them say these words.. "I am a child of God"... they really loved the song "Love at home"... they're so great..

Pamana was baptized on Sunday :) after the most hectic day of my life... one day I'll have to tel lyou.. let's just say reader's Digest version: double pickup, confusion, pop tire, chased kids, eventual letdown, baptized. spirit strong, Pamana member. :)

I LOVE THE GOSPEL! .... One last-- more sad experience.. Sunday afternoon, we ended up seeing our Seatac Burmese family... after we walked out, we were pretty much attacked by these Born-again "Christians"... Such hateful things they spread... Their foundational message is one of predestination.. grr.. they honestly believe that God sent His children here, predestined to either Heaven or damnaton... predestination damnation makes me sick... I can usually take people attacking me, my religion, etc.. but the point at which I lost my cool and was offended.. was when they directly attacked the savior... Telling me the savior DID NOT LOVE EVERYONE.. and only loved THE CHOSEN... that His atonement would not cover everyone's sins.. and that He wasn't teaching love. . . . I truelly wanted to correct this misled child of god.. but I instead turned and said "You're speaking absolute blasphemy, and I apologize that you believe this garbage." and walked away. . . . to their comment "You don't believe in the jesus we do," i agree.. 'MY JESUS LOVES YOU STILL.. even though you're an aweful human being'... (That was not an exact quote)

Anyhow.... I know my savior lives and loves me so much... He truelly does love everyone.. He's there for all of us. Never lose your faith! Always believe in Christ... as Nephi in 2Nephi33... very end (I think) said... If you won't believe the words of the book of mormon.. at least believe in christ, and if you believe in Christ, you will believe in the book of mormon.. it's glorious..

Everybody write me.. I neeed letters, and don't send things to Burien.. and if you already did, I can get it from them.. haha I love you so much.. Keep me in your prayers. :)

<3/Elder Hill