The Last Letter: HOME!

Dear Mom and Dad,

It´s so wonderful to know that I am coming home. I love you so much.
It will be great to see you. Two years I completed on Saturday, and
I remembered the day that you dropped me off in the MTC. The many
tears come to my mind, and the courage to walk away from you all and not
look back, which has been a constant theme in my mission: Love God
over all people and all things. I have learned to do (and am still learning)
how to do what He wants and not what I want. In the last week, it has been
a battle to balance all of my responsabilities, asignments, etc., and the idea
of coming home. More than anything, I want to return home with the same
missionary spirit with which the Lord has blessed me.

I have also gained weight this month, too. I expected to lose weight, but
in stead of losing, I have fattened up for the slaughter. In Honduras,
when you say,"I´m fat" or "he/she is fat", some people respond,"You´re
not fat, you´re beeaaauuuutiful." Beautiful is Fat... In Honduras. So I´m
coming home a litte more beautiful.

Maybe, quite possibly, if at all possible, we will have a baptism tomorrow.
Nevertheless, I will have to wait until tonight to find out. Cross your fingers
for good luck! Or bet yet... Pray!

Thank you, Mom, for getting my high school transcripts and, Dad, for the
information on the job. Isabel wrote me and said that her parents are going
to give me a parrot that´s name is feathers and likes to eat chocolate. I hope
it doesn´t annoy you. Supposedly, they are going to visit us on Friday.

See you on Thursday! I love you.

So this is the last letter!  I will miss these letters from both Christopher and Isabel.  It has been adventure and I awaited each letter with anxiousness and excitement.  My Mondays shall become very dull.....and did you know just a little more than 2 days.  Pictures of the Airport to come!!!

2nd To The Last Letter!

Hi mom and dad, Thank you for painting the room and thank you for the money. I don´t know if it would be possible, but would it be to late for Jared to be at the airport?  It woud be neat if he could be there. If not, I would like to go visit him on Friday or Saturday, please. Who all is going to come to the airport?  It would also be nice to go see Aunt Debi, Uncle Mike and Julie,  and Jeff and their kids.  I hope that I don´t have to wait until Christmas to see them. Tell the missionaries I would like to visit with them on Friday and Saturday and Sunday.   I will tell you why.  I had an experience on Saturday.  We went to Picacho to see the Christ statue and there were a lot of members of the Baptist church in Texas who participating on a charity mission. I shared with someone named Blake the Restoration in English and I realized that talking about the gospel in English is slightly different, like more real or something, and I would like to practice a little in English. Also, I started applying for BYU last week.  I need to take an SAT or ACT test, which I will have to practice for when I get home  I need my high school transcripts and... have an interview with my mission president which I am going to do right... now...  I think.  I have almost all of the process completed but the High School GPA stuff. I also need to send a copy of my GED.  Could you find that stuff please? Like, could you go to Roy High and get my transcripts with GPA information (even though it is the most embarrassing transcript on earth.) Anyway, one week.  Here we go! Love you all Bye! Only 9 days left!

Beautiful to be in the Service of God!

TO DAD

Dear Dad,

I would love it if my homecoming talk could be on the ninth. Brother Mike, a friend of mine who was painting the temple here, wants to come. He lives in Utah, but returns to Honduras on the 12th of August. I don´t know if that would be possible. I would like to give a talk in this branch, though. And Mom said that you would like to go to the temple in Spanish. We can do that as well. What do you think about the trip to see the historical sites of the church?

In other news, we took 3 families to church this week! That was really neat. One of them is getting baptized on the 28th this month. It is really beautiful to be in the service of God.

I love you, Dad. See you soon.

Love,
Elder Hill

TO MOM

Dear Mom,

This week we are continuing with the interviews of the Elders in the city. This week I bought something for Grandma that I hope she´ll like. I am looking for a feather of a Guacamaya parrot for Grandpa or something of the sort. I hope that he feels better. Thank you for painting my room. I appreciate that. I remember that story. I think you´ve told it to me a few times. Dad told me that the Spanish branch asked us to give a talk on the second Sunday of August.
Isabel also told me that they are going to go on a road trip to Washington and are only going to pass by to say hello for a second. I would really, really like to go for a road trip to see the historical sites of the church. Do you think we could do that as a family, please?

I love you mom!
See you soon.
Elder Hill

Thoughts On The Future!

TO Dad! Dear Dad, I really liked that picture.  Thank you for sending it to me. What do you want to do in 3 weeks?  I don`t know how, but I have had this thought that it would be incredible to go to do a church history site tour, like from the Sacred Gove to the Hill Cummorah and other places.  What do you think? I also want to come back to Honduras.  I will share with you something interesting.  Currently I attend church in the same chapel twhere I began my mission, which means that I see everyone that I used to know and even some that I baptized.  One of the member families invited us to eat lunch with them.  So, we went to there house, where the Elders from this area were eating as well, and we ate and left.  When we left, I wanted to visit a family that was baptized there.  The dad was a member inactive and we baptized the wife and daughter.  Sadly, they went inactive.  So, on Sunday, we visited them and they are all there still After almost a year and a half, they were all there and had stopped going to church because the members of the church offended them.  But I was so happy to see them. We helped them with their porch they were building and I could actually speak to them in Spanish so much better and actually understand them.  After a few minutes, I had the biggest desire for them to go to the temple.  And I want to do that with all of the families that were baptized here.  And all of the investigadores.  Just like the baptism without the confirmation is nothing, without the temple they can`t live with God.  I don`t know how, but I pray that God will make it possible to be able to take every convert from my mission to the temple. Anyway, love you! See you soon!  TO Mom Thank you so much mom!  I am so sorry that I am bad with money.  I spend money like an idiot.  It is something I need to improve.  So, we have been really busy traveling for almost two weeks.  Yesterday, I got to work in Catacamas!  I had always wanetd to work there...(it is a place where North Americans don`t go, which is really far away from the city, but really beautiful with giant green hill-like mountains.)  The bad thing is that someone took my camera charger.  Haha.  And so now I can`t charge my camera.  I will have pictures, but... few.  Haha.  It will be better to come back to Honduras and visit.  I think that is so neat that you are juicing.  Keep it up.  Don`t give up. I will do it with you when I get home.  Happily.  :)   I want to diet as well. I am a little fat in the buttocks.  Haha.  I like doing exercise.  Maybe I will talk Dad into doing lots of exercise as well.  Things I would like to do: become friends with our neighbors, visit less actives there,  visit the Griggs family to help them go to church, do family home evening. I would also like to take a trip to see the historical sites of the church. And then I want to come back to Honduras to help other get sealed here. How does that sound?  Oh, I also want to study, get married and work. And I want to go to Perù... and Mèxico... some day.  I want to learn Chinese as well.  And German.  And Arabic.  What do YOU want to do? I have to go!  Love you, bye!    From the Mom: Just three weeks left!!!!!!

New President

Mom and Dad,          On Friday night, we picked up President Fortuna and his family. President Fortuna walked out from where their baggage was to ask us a few questions, and when he returned to where their luggage was President Flores took his missionary badge off . I said to him,"The keys were passed."  And he was no longer our President.  The funny thing is that you could feel it.  The authority of the other became known by the Spirit. On Saturday, we had meeting during the morning with President Fortuna and in the afternoon we took President Flores and his family to the airport, which wasn`t difficult but very emotional. Very beautiful.  I didn`t have much time to be with him, because I was running around with President Fortuna fixing some proplems he had with his luggage the night before. Yesterday, we drove President Fortuna around in the afternoon to some meetings here in the city.  And in the night time, he visited two families with us.  He is very direct with people and knows he is a servant of God. You can feel the power of the Lord when he teaches.  I will learn lots from him. In other news, Elder Archibald and I took him to a school to register his kids for school.  And after, we took them all to eat their first baleada!  Haha.  It is like training an already trained missionary. This week we are going to be traveling to all the zones to present  the Fortuna familia.  Next week, we began a tour of interviews driving to every house of every missionary for 10 days.  The last week of my mission we will be doing Leadership Trainings.  We are teaching two families that could get baptized this month.  They are incomplete families.  The Soto family:  The husband, who is a professional doctor, is the only one that is not a member.  This week in Church, he attended for the first time in 3 months or so.  He said to us that Jesus Christ told him that he could not let his family go to church with out him.  He looked rather worried, but it was really neat to see how the Lord communicates with people. The other family is the Silva Alvarado family: Gina, the wife, is the only one that is not a member.  She is putting up walls, but we suspect that she knows this is the true church.  She has even commented that it is better than the catholic church.   But according to her, she is still waiting for an answer.  Pray that the Lord will give them an answer and courage to act upon that answer. The sad thing is that for the craziness in the last two weeks, I spent almost all of the money that was given to me.  Thank you so much.  I don`t have anything for souveniers, but I am calm in that I have enough for what I need. Well, 30 days left...  The time has gone by so fast.  I love you all. See you soon. Elder Hill 30 Days!!!!

Two Days Later and I am Still Alive!!!

These are some of the most special people I´ve known that have gotten baptized.  I hope that they are part of my life forever.  I want to come back to Honduras and help all that I helped get baptized go to the temple.  That would make me happy.

I want to tell you all that I baptized Bill and it was really special to say the baptismal prayer in English.  It is different. I love Spanish, but I feel a need to preach the gospel in English. I remember once we taught a North American pastor in Siguatepeque.  It was the first time that I ever gave my testimony and I felt the Holy Ghost testify so strongly that I cried. I had not felt that kind of spirit when giving testimony for a long time (in that moment of my mission) and giving my testimony in English for some reason helped me remember.

Bill said in his testimony that he wanted to go to the house of his Father.  That has stayed in my mind.  There is no doubt that I will return to go with him to the house of his Father.

I love you all a lot.

(P.S.  Mom, Dad and Grandma & Grandpa, thank you for the money.  It is a great blessing right now.)

With love, Elder Hill

"BuSy-NeSs"

Hi mom and dad, This week and the rest of the weeks of the mission are going to be very busy. We had tranfers this week, received new missionaries and sent missionaries home who finished their missions.  Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we were driving from Tegucigalpa to Talanga to register weddings there because they cost less there.  We took 7 or 8 weddings to register. It takes like an hour and a half to drive there.  Also, we were running errands in the truck to get papers for wedding and visiting with other missionaries so that their investigators would accept a baptismal date. Last week, we had 95 converts in the month of June.  We also had 79 baptisms proposed for this week.  However, about 28 have been canceled.  We have been so busy and working so hard and the results are falling.  If we can achieve more than 150 baptisms we will achieve more converts in one month than in the last 10 years of the mission.  Which could be wonderful, but it is the will of the Lord (not ours).   We pray that we will have more miracles happen today. Today, Bill, Francisca and Suani are going to get baptized.  He is the first North Amercian to get baptized in our mission.  I love these people a lot. And they are all really excited to get baptized.  It has been a beautiful process.  I did receive that package.  I have a little problem.  Right now, I don´t have money at all.  If you could deposit even a little today that would be amazing.  To buy things it would be nice to have 100 to 200 dollars probably.  To travel, I don´t know how much I will need.  The church doesn´t provide anything but pay for the baggage.  It would probably be good to have a hundred dollars.  I don´t know if we have to pay taxes entering the country or not (especially if I bring souveniers).  It would be nice if you could research that.  Also, if you could find out if they would tax me for bringing 25 pounds of cacao into the country.  :) Again, if you could deposit money today, that would help so much.  Also, the people made my new suit are charging me 900 lempiras for my suit pants, which was not part of the deal exactly.  So, I need a little money to take care of that.  I am sorry for asking for money.  I don´t like doing it, but being here I kind of have to.  :/  Sorry. I also think that my life is just going to get busier.  I looked at the schedule for working with President Fortuna (We are going to be traveling for 3 weeks straight!!!!  Whoa...) and President told us that we are basically going to be stuck to his side for the first month.  So, did Isabel get moved safely to Las Vegas?  I am guessing so, but no one said anything about it.  I am sure she´s fine.  But it is always nice to know.  Tell her that I said Hi. Anyway, I love you all.  Oh, do you know that I packed everything today but my clothes?  Weird, huh?  See you soon. Elder Hill P.S.  Tell Will he should move back to Utah and that I love him.           There is also a possibility that when I get home I will work          in building temples.  

Baptisms & Thoughts Towards The Future!!!

Letter to Dad from Last Week

That is really special that they came to church! How wonderful. It is a special experience. So, what did they all say when I said that I was willing to work? Hopefully
you will take pictures of the baptism and send them to me. Although you probably
already thought of that. Or it is already understood.

I love you, Dad. I am really glad that you are alive, like you mentioned. I love you with all of my heart. And I don´t want that to be confused. I am so grateful for being able to have served a mission and to continue to do so. Through it, I have been able to come back to Christ. And I always want to be there with him, and with You, Mom and Jared.

I have to tell you that yesterday I had what was the best experience of my mission. I am the Assistent to the Mission President, right? One of my responsabilities is to do exchanges with the Zone Leaders. As of now, Elder Delahunty, my companion from the MTC, is a Zone Leader. We prayed on Saturday for who we should do splits with and we felt the impression that the exchanges should be with Elder D. and his comanion.

Elder Delahunty was the last Assistent to President Flores, before I was. He began teaching Brother Bill Shrum and his family, who I took over the responsility of teaching when Elder D. had to leave. So, for the last five months, I have been teaching Brother Bill and his Wife Francisca. Everytime that we have made the baptismal invitation, they say that they are going to wait to receive a confirmation. They were like that for almost six months.

Yesterday, we planned a special Family Home Evening with the Cheney Family, who is from Utah. Brother Cheney is the GM of the construction of the temples in Central America. In this visit, we planned to watch the last talk of the Prophet and share our testimonies with him and invite them again to be baptized. So, we began with a prayer and a hymn and Brother Cheney gave an introduction to the video. While we watched the recording of the Prophet´s talk, I prayed fervently in my heart that the Lord with let us see a miracle and that they would feel the Spirit testify to them that Thomas S. Monson is really a Próphet of God.

After the video, Brother Cheney gave thanks and a short testimony about the reality of a living Prophet of the Lord and gave us the time. To begin, I expressed the love that I have developed and have for this family and gave my testimony of Christ, the Church, the Modern Prophets. Elder Delahunty also expressed his love and testimony, but said that as he watched the movie, he had a vision of Bill, Francisca and all of their family with Elder Delahunty in the "Celestial Court." And he began to cry as he was filled with joy and love. Then I gave the invitation that Thomas S. Monson had said,"Come... Come unto me. It´s time. Come back. Come home. Come." I invited them to be baptized once again. Sister Francisca asked Bill,"Should we get baptized?" in her best-possible English."

Bill, however, has never expressed his testimony to us, but last night, he poured out his heart to Francisca that he wanted to get baptized. He wanted to get baptized with her. In his own words he gently declared,"I want to be with your for eternity."

The room went silent as Bill and Francisca kept their vision locked on one another. I felt the Spirit so strong and my heart was so moved by this precious manifestion of devotion. I said to Francisca with tears,"This was the most beautiful thing that I have ever heard. I promise you that if you are baptized you will be together forever. I know that that is true... We are having a baptismal service the 23rd of June. Will you follow the example of Jesus Christ by being baptized on this day?"

With much silence for 2 or 3 minutes, we waited. Bill said,"I want this..." And Francisca looked at him and then at us and then at the floor. Elder Delahunty reassuredly comforted her by saying,"You will be ready for this date. We will prepare you to be baptized. To which I added as lovingly as possible,"You will be ready. Will you be baptized this day?"

... And she nodded. She said,"Sí."

And now after almsot six months of attending church, they will be baptism. Everyone hugged each other. Even Sister Cheny gave Elder Delahunty and I hugs and Brother Cheny told her,"They can´t do that!" S

She replied,"They didn´t do that. I did that."

Haha. And it was so... cool to be able to teach with my companion from the MTC and help someone exercise their faith in Jesus Christ, which truly brought them happiness.

Next week the family Rodriguez will get baptized and then the 23rd, Bill, Francisca and Suani (their granddaughter9 will all enter the waters of baptism.

Thank you for paying for my mission! I love you.
Until next week.
Elder Hill

This Weeks Letter to Mom and Dad

Hi mom and dad,

Today I have been thinking a lot about the future, which is a symptom of being
tired (today we had to wake up at 3:50 am to take someone to the airport). I
have wondering about how I will put it to practice everything that I am learning
in the mission in real life. I have felt like the mission is some type of training.
I also wonder how I will be social enough to become friends with everyone and
help them know the gospel. I remember one time when I was working at Focus.
There was a mexican girl named Anna that always sat in the booth next to me,
who was dating a young LDS man. She asked me lots of questions and even
confused my ring with a bear paw print for a CTR ring. Haha. That was one
of my few missionary experiences before I came on the mission. One afternoon,
she asked,"So... In what exactly do you believe?" And I was stunned. I thought,
"What am I going to say to her?" Haha. But I remember that I was quickly
enlightened by the Restoration fo the Gospel without having really studied it.
It was the second time that I shared the story of the First Vision with someone.
And she responded, "D... Di... Did that really happen?" And I thought,"Did it
really happen? And it did." I told her,"Yeah. Joseph Smith was called as a
prophet."

The first time I shared the first vision was when I was visiting teaching for the
first time. I was all by myself. I remember I had a white shirt and tie with a
brown sweater on. I knocked on the door of this family and I asked if I could
share a message with them. I entered and thought,"Where is my companion?"
Haha. I might say that after the mission, too. I remember talking with this man.
He asked me if it really mattered to God which church he attended? And I just
know that I would loved to have been me now in that moment, but I felt the
Spirit and I knew that I needed to share the first vision and I did. His reaction
I don´t really remember, but I want to always have that experience after the mission.
I have gotten accustomed to finding and helping people get baptism. I have been
blessed to baptism almost every month of my mission (except for 3 or something).

And so I want to have these experiences always. Always, always, always.
Find, teach, help them get baptized, go to the temple, etc. I don´t want it
to stop, even if I am not the one with the authority.

We also baptized the Rodriguez family early this Saturday. It was really beautiful.
I will send you pictures, okay? I love you a lot. Invite people to come to the gospel.
Get to know everyone around you. You don´t know who might be ready.
I love you all.

Elder Hill.

For wondering minds.... 50 Days!!!  Wow so hard to believe.  I am so excited to see him, to hug him, to listen to him and to love on him a little!  It is also slightly bittersweet...no more Monday letters.  I miss Isabel's already.  Almost always the letters are spiritually uplifting and I will miss that in my Mondays of the week!!!  Till next time....Ciao (at least I can say hello and goodbye in Spanish)

 

Pictures are Worth a 1000 Words!!!

To Mom

Hi!
You are so good at counting the days till I come home. Haha. Why is that?
A picture is worth a thousand words.

SO... you have four thousand words.
I love you!

Dad's Letter (you will have to see if Dave will translate it for you or try Google or Bing translate)

Yo pienso salir con los misioneros todos los dias cuando regrese. No hay tiempo que perder. Dígales que pienso salir. Diga al Obispo que quiero trabajar. Y diga al Presidente de la Rama que allí quiero trabajar también. No quiero dejar de trabajar. Ayudemos a las personas a venir a Cristo. Su Expiación es real y debemos invitarles. Papi, tiene que ser amigos con más de nuestros vecinos y tiene que conocer más personas. Yo creo que el Señor prepara a nuestros amigos, compañeros de trabajo y otros conocidos que sepamos. Él está alli siempre. Me angustio porque depués de la misión no tendré esta autoridad, pero no quiero no trabajar. ¿Me entiende? Es complicado, pero se puede.

Ayer tuve una experiencia bonita. Una familia investigadora que ha venido a la iglesia por como un mes que vive fuera de nuestra área me llamó la atención. Sentí la impresión que tenía que bautizarse, que el Señor les llamaba. Entonces, después de la reunión sacramental, al final de la clase de investigadores, invité a todos los investigadores presentes que seguirieran el ejemplo de Jesucristo y se bautizaran. Esta familia, la familia Rodriguez, aceptó el compromiso. No les habíamos enseñado una vez, pero sentí que estában listos y, sí, estában listos. Les visitamos en la noche y invitamos a ellos y sus hijos al bautismo nuevamente y todos aceptaron. Es hermoso ver el cambio en la vida de las personas.

También, un logro como Asistente, en la misión logramos 123 bautismos, 17 familias y 26 hombres mayores de 18. Esta fue excelente. Nos arrancamos de los numeros bajo de 100. Sentimos un gran animo por elevar nuestra fe. Hemos trabajado mucho por ayudar a los misioneros que se arrepientan y que sean obedientes. Les hemos enseñado sobre el valor de invitar a todas las personas a venir a Cristo por medio del bautismo enseñándoles como dar testimonio sinercero y varias otras cosas. Y me he cansado haciéndolo también. Hoy en la mañana, a las 5.30, me levanté y me arrodillé para orar, pero instantaneamente, me dormí! Jaja! Y my compañero no me dijo nada. Solo se fue a hacer ejercicio. Y cuando me desperté eran las 6 am ya. Jaja. Tan cansado está el cuerpo, pero el espíritu muy feliz.

Buen, papi. Te amo mucho.
Hasta lunes.
Oh, y hoy cumplí 22 meses. Pasa rápido el tiempo, verdad?

Bueno. ¡Nos vemos!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Happy Birthday, mom!

How are you? I am fine. Look. You might kill me because I forgot my camera. And so did my companion. I am really sorry. Do you know what I miss? Going to get a drink with you. Do you remember the "let´s go get a drink" days? I do. But I think it would be better to kick the soda drinking habit.

Those let´s get a drink moments were actually really important moments when you taught me, did you know that? Once we were driving and as we passed the church, I was talking to you about what I wanted to do in life or something (I don´t remember exactly what) and you said to me,"You will accomplish nothing in your life without Jesus Christ in your life." And that phrase haunted me as a teenager... Because it is true. And it made me think and wonder.

 Another time I was somewhat troubled about problems in the world or something, and I remember you bought me a doctor pepper and you asked me if I knew if the church was true. And I felt the spirit and felt uncomfortable. And I knew it was true. Even to the point of a swollen throat and tears I was at. I knew it. But I could´t come to terms with the reality of His love.

You have always been an example in testifying of Jesus Christ and the church. And because of those moments, you will be more than blessed in the world to come. The Spirit has marked them in my mind and I will always remember your testimony of Him. Thank you so much for that. 72 days.

I love you so much.
Happy Birthday
And Happy Mother´s Day.
Elder Hill

A Letter To Dad!

Dave Received this on Friday Night.

Dear Dad,

Thank you for writing about your mission. It makes me feel good knowing about your mission.
It is something I need to hear and really want to hear more. I would rather listen to you talk about
your mission than to tell you about mine. I´ll learn a lot. I would love it if you would write more
stories down. I have never heard them before, but would love to bind a small book about your
experiences, and with yours, maybe I could combine mine. Maybe those of Ted and Grandpa
we could make a book for them, now that they have served missions. It would be a fun
genealogy project to do.

I don´t know what I was doing with all my life in my teenage years. It was a very difficult time.
I would love with all my heart to go on the same father son activities that we would have gone on, and do Family Home Evenings, do visiting home teaching. I would even love to work on your mustang with you. :)

Today at 6:00 we are going to have the baptism of a family, la familia Enriques Sosa. A member,
Linda Raudales, who just moved to Utah to study in BYU, presented us to her friend Dalis Sosa.
When we arrived at her house we said,"Hey, is your husband here?" ... Because we always have
to have someone of the same sex present, right? And she said,"No, he´s not here (in her mom´s
house, where we were at.) He´s in our house."

And we were really bummed out because we expected to teach a family of a father and a mother.
But then she said,"hey, but we can go to my house. I live right around the corner." Which made
us really happy. She had received the missionaries before, right? But her husband never listened
to the missionaries. This time when we arrived at their house, he accepted our visit. And they
both changed their life and have shared with us things like now they don´t get angry with one another.

Armando, the husband with tears in his eyes, yesterday, after his baptismal interview said,"I feel like, in that room, with that missionary, I just took a load off of my shoulders... I feel so light. I want this change to be permanent."

I have learned that we can impact the life of a person through Christ, even in 5 minutes or one visit or over the course of one month. The secret, I have learned, is the testimony of a person. My testimony. My repentance. My baptism. My spiritual experiences. When we share them with others, it will change them. Like anyone that might have been with Christ in person at one point or another, was changed. I invite you to teach someone with your testimony.

I love you a lot.
I respect you as the Patriarch of our family.

Sincerely,
Elder Hill

Pictures From Sister Flores (mission president's wife)

I found these on facebook on Friday.....LOVE, LOVE them! They are from President and Sister Flores.  Happy Mother's Day.....tomorrow we get to Skype and see the handsome boy!

BUSY & CHANGES

So I have been slow in posting.  Chris didn't write last week until Friday and then we heard from him again on Monday.  Here are the letters!  Oh...and yes....we will be skyping with the cute boy and see his cute face on Sunday....best Mother's Day ever...I am sure it will be!!!

FRIDAY'S LETTER

This has been a a really busy week. Zone Conferences, Evaluation of the new missionaries and their trainers, and the Meeting to Capicate New Trainers. I haven´t taken a break and next week we receive the new missionaries,have to train them and then we have Transfers and we have to send a bunch of missionaries home. Yay!

And a family we are teaching compromited to getting baptism. Love you bye.

Thank you for everything.
I love you.

MONDAY'S LETTERS

That is the neatest thing that Zach Christensen is getting married. I think he is a jerk for not letting me see his wedding. Haha. Tell him that. This week we are having changes. My new companion will be Elder Yela from Guatemala. He will be my last companion. This is my last area and my last assignment.

I have my flight information. I will be arriving in Utah August 2nd at 11:15 PM. After Elder Ahlborn, the secretary gave it to me, that night I had a dream about being in the airport with those from my group. I remember calling you guys and that´s all I remember.

When I arrive I will have a Honduran treat for you! And... yeah. I love you all very much. These are
two weeks of work. Pray that we might acheive 200 baptisms in the mission. We are doing al we can
to motivate the missionaries to have faith to do it. I am so excited for these my last two changes.

I am sorry mom that you didn´t get your wish and I really liked the story about your dream, dad. I love you a lot. Is there any chance that you could find about getting my teeth fixed when I get back and what are the best options with braces or whatever technology exists. Um. I need money, too. I don´t want to bother, but I need money.

With love,
Elder Hill

 

AND MONDAY'S 2nd LETTER ABOUT MOTHER'S DAY

 

I forgot about that. I will have to call you about that. Don´t worry. I will call you during the week, okay? I am going to try to talk by skype. My church is from 9-12. Haha. So... I don´t know what we´ll do. But let me talk to the medics about Skype and then I will give you a call and we´ll arrange it. Okay? Okay.

 

Love you bye.

 

 

 

A Letter To Isabel & TRAVEL PLANS!!!

To Isabel From Chris

I agree. Girls would be better assistants... But girls don´t have muscles, so they are not allowed to be assistants. Haha. I´m just kidding. My companion is okay. He has a lot of challenges with pride and it is trying to work it out. He doesn´t open up very much about his life. I know that his dad has diabetes and kidney failure, like mine. My health is good. I weigh about 180 more or less right now and don´t get sick. I eat lots of cacao here. Haha. It and the Lord keep me healthy. Once when we were in that store... Oh man, I forgot what it´s called. What is the store called where we used to go "window shopping"... that is in Riverdale? TJ Maxx? I think that´s it. Haha. My mind has atrophe. Anyway, when we were there once I saw a coffee cup that said,"There is nothing that prayer and chocolate can´t fix."

How is your health? And I´m sure you feel like a fish out of water. Haha. But that´s okay. Change is important, right? Speaking of change, what are you eating these days?

I have a question for you. What changes have you noticed in me in these 21 months? I want you to know that I am not worried about what happens after the mission. I truly trust in the Lord and I know everything will be okay. I have thought about going to a Spanish branch when I get home, but I feel like I need to learn to teach the gospel in English. In other words, I understand how you feel con lo de enseñar en español. What do you think about that? This week I, for the first time, taught a Sunday School class in English and it was really difficult. We have an investigador and several members who are working on the temple who speak English and the Bishop assigned me to be the teacher temporarily. The Spirit was really strong though with us, a group of 6 persons. The lesson was on Mosiah 1-3, which I hadn´t prepared, many had shared their testimony and the spirit filled us all.

So what does the BYU visitors program consist of?

Oh! To answer your question, I get home on August 2 at like midnight or something.

Sincerely,
Elder Hill

Teaching in English

CHRISTOPHER'S LETTER

Hey!

I don´t have much time. This week I complete 21 months in the mission. Wow.

This week I taught a Sunday School class in English, and very few times have I
taught in English. It was very special.

I love you.

Bye!

A Day in the Life of the Assistant to the President

Dear Mom and Dad,

Just so that you know, I´ll say the prayer of gratitude and pray for Jared.
I wrote it down.  I won´t forget.

Mom, you asked what a day in the life of being the assistant to President is
like.  So... I´ll tell you.   We wake up an hour earlier than the other missionaries,
at 5:30 AM.  We go running outside, do exercise, eat, study and then go to
the office of the mission (on Monday´s, usually, unless we have a meeting with
President Flores).  The other days we visit the areas of the other missionaries:
sometimes we study with them in their personal and companionship studies.
Sometimes we carry out exchanges, which is where my companion or I
trade places with one of the Zone Leaders or District Leaders for a day to
a week, depending on the the missionaries´ needs.  In exchanges, we teach
the missionaries about how to find people teach, show an example of how
to teach, plan and study.  It´s more showing than telling.

When we are not with the missionaries, we are planning and making goals
to have more success in the mission... to raise the vision of what we can
achieve and how we can impact the faith and life of the other missionaries.
Also, we have meeting with President to talk about conferences and trainings
that we will have.  Sometimes we sit with him in his office and he teaches
us from the scriptures, which is one of my favorite things we do with him.

There are also those strange details when, in the middle of the night,
President Flores calls to tell you that you have to go pick some very ill missionary up
and take him to the hospital, or, like today, we had to go inspect the
house of some sister missionary because robbers broke into their house
while they were sleeping (don´t worry.  nothing happened.)

Today my companion and I ate lunch with him and his wife, which I had never
done before.  While I was eating, I had a flashback from when I opened my
calling and saw their picture for the first time.  I said to them,"When I saw
your picture for the first time, I never expected to be here eating lunch with
you.  Who would have thought?"  And we talked about how the letter I sent
to him when I was in the MTC.  He commented that I was one of two Elders
who had sent him a letter before coming to the field, and he said,"I also never
thought while I was reading your letter that you´d be my assistant."  Haha.
You never know how things are going to turn out in the end.

 Anyway, I love you all.  Thank you for all that you do.
Pray that the husband of Paola gives her permission to get
baptized.  He is CRAZY.

Love,
Elder Hill

Going Through The Motions!

Here are Christopher's Letters from the last two weeks.

Last Week's
Hi mom and dad and isabel,ç

I have been working a lot, but not so hard.  This last week was a week
of babysitting and running errands.  Haha.  We picked up the new Latin
American missionaries and then the next we picked up the new North
American missionaries.  We took some old missionaries to the airport
to go home (one of which was my beloved friend, Elder Singh from
Panama.  I don´t have a picture of him, but if there was one person
that I loved and trusted here it was him.)  Two days of conference
were had, and we finish with today, where at 3:40am we woke up to get
ready to take Sister Murillo, who was scheduled to go to Mexico but
had to wait to get her visa and so they sent her here, to her flight
to Mexico.  It has been a busy week and yet last week I was only able
to teach 3 lessons.  It´s strange not finding, teaching... but
miraculously we are baptizing.  :)

It was so fun to see the pictures of Isabel... in the airport... in
front of the temple... even eating Sushi.  :)  It makes me happy to
see you all happy.  I love you.  When I saw the pictures, I felt the
emotion of being there.  I remember on Wednesday while we were eating
with the new Elders, I felt an impression to look at my watch and I
said to President´s wife,"My girlfriend just got released."  And I had
that thought many times during the week.  Again, I love you.

I don´t have very much money right now and a camera costs around two
hundred dollars here.  They´re pretty expensive, but I am not too
worried about the camera.  However, I need money for food right now.
Being that we have to travel and have lots of random things we have to
do, money sometimes gets spent.  If you could deposit some money in my
account for food and things, that would be a lot of help right now.
Thanks.

Thank you for the pictures.  The house looks really nice... especially
with an Isabel in it.  Haha.

I love you all.
Elder Hill.

This Week's

Dear mom and dad,

Yesterday we had a wonderful activity, which began as a Zone Leader Council. I´ll explain.
Every month we have what is called Zone Leader Concil, where all 9 companionships come
from far and near to the office to report on the work that has been done in their area, to
discuss possible difficulties and successes and to prepose what they will accomplish in
the next month. President Flores and the Assistents both respectively present a theme
or workshop where we can learn or practice certain Gospel principles.

This Monday was rather special, rather different than the other ones we´ve had. We did
the Council as normal, but from 12:30 or so onward, we watched the 10 Commandments,
and ate Subway. At 5 or so, we played soccer by President´s house for an hour and
later ate Pizza Hut with his family.

From the 10 commandments, you learn a lot about being a leader. Honestly I had never
had such an interest in Moses in all of my mission, but now he is kind of like what
Wolverine or Batman was to me as a kid. Haha. The 10 commandments is easily
one of my favorite movies and I think that movies will bring on a new type of learning
after the mission. I remember the first Christmas I was here, we watched Scrooge
and if I wouldn´t have been in the mission, I would have never seen how the Gospel
of Christ is truly a part of that. But it is. Even one missionary told me that watching
that movies IN THE MISSION helped him confess sins that he hadn´t confess and
was able to mend the tears of his spirit.

Anyway, this is how the week has begun. There is a lot of work to do.
Thank you for the money.

If I could ask for anything, it would be... money in the next few months to buy
a few things for you all. Haha. I haven´t bought any souveniers really.

Ah! No, I lied. There is something I need. So, I bought my suit right? Well,
I use my suit like almost every day in meetings. One thing I sort of need is
money for another suit. I´m really sorry to ask, but I´ll be here for 4 more months and don´t
want to wear my suit out... My black suit is a great suit to get married it.
It has a vest, too! Haha.

I have to go. I love you! Bye!

This Mom loves this boy and misses him a ton....even more now that we have Isabel home!  Time is moving quickly....pray for him please to be focused on the things he needs to do and that he will find success and be able to prepare to come home!  Approximately 114 days!!!

Bienvenida a Casa Hermana Florido!!!

THE BEAUTIFUL GIRL IS HOME!!!

Hermana Florido arrived at the Salt Lake City Airport on March 27, 2012 at 11:44 PM.  She gave hugs to all there, took some pictures, gathered baggage, made phone calls to her family, climbed in the red truck, ate a salad from Wendy's, a Klondike Bar from the freezer and finally crashed around 3:00.  She met with the Stake President the next morning at 8:30 and was released from her mission.  It has been so fun to have her home and here are some pictures of the airport and a few of her firsts.  Oh and let's not forget her first purchase, an iPhone, which she loves and has made good use of!  Isabel, we are so proud of you, your efforts and service that you have given to the Lord and the humble people of Bolivia! We love you!!!

20 Months!!!

So, I was living in the hottest area of Honduras for 4 days and
Wow... I feel burnt to a crisp.  For half a week I was living
in Comayagua as a Zone Leader, more or less.  And I was
always sweating, like hotter than the Vegas sun.  My feet
radiated with heat and my toes seemed to suffocate in the
covering of my shoes. The nice thing about all the bodily
persperation was that... I didn´t stink.  Haha.  I have found
a trick for not stinking in the arm pits.  Haha!  But.. it´s
a secret.  Shh!

Also, while I was in Comayagua, robbers ripped the door
lock off of the metal door and broke into our house, robbed
my camera, money and an iron.  So, the sad thing is that
I lost photos for from about 8 to 10 months.  I am not sure
what I will do about that, but I don´t want you to worry.
I´m not worried. 

One of the most beautiful parts of the mission is Agency
and receiving answers to your prayers from God.  I love
the promise of Moroni 10:3-5:
"And when ye shall receive these things, I exhort you
that ye ask God, The Eternal Father, in the name of
Christ, if these things are not true, and if ye ask with
a pure heart and true intention, having faith in Christ,
he will manifest them unto you by the power of the
Holy Ghost.  And by the power of the Holy Ghost, ye
shall know the truth of all things."

We are never obligated to do something, rather, we are
expected to act for ourselves.  One of the skills I am
learning about Leadership is Agency, the will to act,
take choices with faith and with the Holy Ghost, even
if you make mistakes.  By mistakes we learn.  Think,
pray, plan and act.  We can´t have fear of taking decisions,
but rather we must prayer and ask for a confirmation
of the Holy Ghost if it is right.

D. Todd Christofferson said,"The Holy Ghost is who
gives you power to speak in hostile enviornments... and by
him it is promised that ye shall not be confounded before
men."  I feel that I want to be less afraid of taking decisions,
of being a perfectionist. God will guide us, if we let him,
and if we are obedient to him.  In Family Home Evenings.
In maintaining our health.  In reading and praying with
true intention.  In paying tithings and offerings.  In taking
the Sacrament worthily.
Anyway... that was my spiritual thought I had.  

I am having lots of wonderful experiences and learning about
being a leader.  I have learned that what gives you power is:
1) keeping your promises and doing what you say.  2) Your
example.  3) Knowing what to do by the Spirit and by the 
light of Christ.
I´m sure you´d like to hear more about my life, not my spiritual
insights.  Just know that I love you all.  Thank you for all that
you do.  See you soon.

Elder Hill.

8 Days till She Dies! and Time is moving Fast!!

Isabella's Last Letter

i will be home in 8 days! i was so nervous when i got the news that i threw up in my mouth a little and the rest of the days after Ive had a loose stomach but now I'm getting excited, here in the mission field we call the end of our mission dying some make jokes like, how many days do you have left? 8! wow no wonder you smell or no wonder the flies are buzzing and the elders here seem to know me enough NOT to make those comments because i might just start tearing up. i have loved my mission, there have been very difficult times but wonderful times and through both of those experiences the sweet and the bitter i have learned how much the Lord has love and patience with me. when i teach someone with love or when they need a loving rebuke, when they fall down and then get up again, when they finally understand the commandment and repent and humbly obey, and all the times i have lived those same things in my life i just am brought to a deeper understanding of why a mission is the best opportunity to know the Savior and obtain a tiny glimpse of how He rejoices and struggles with me too. i am so grateful for my mission. and i am grateful for the opportunity i had to make a small difference amongst the children of God and my brothers here in Bolivia. because if them i love this land, their particular way of living and i hold dear to my heart all the experiences the Lord has granted me here. when i get home there will be a lot of adjusting and there are probably things i will wish i would have done better but i know that the mission has trained me for the rest of my mortal life and also the here after. i pray the Lord to keep me faithful to my covenants and make of me a better disciple of Christ and someone worthy of the celestial kingdom. i am so grateful that i was allowed to stay 30 or so days more. i have planted seeds of the gospel during these days and have also baptized. i am not going to lie i wanted to spend one more general conference here in the mission field there is nothing better than taking investigators and having them look spiritually nourished and satisfied by the talks of the 12 apostles and the living prophet, but am now getting excited to see them myself in person i know i will receive instruction regarding my life. i love you and i will be home soon!

I love love this girl and cannot wait for her arrival!  She arrives at the SLC airport on March 27th at 11:40 pm.  Please join us in welcoming her home!!!  I got to talk to her this past Friday (twice)!  It was wonderful and I cannot wait to here her stories, adventures, and share with her how proud we are of all she has done in serving the Lord and Returning With Honor!

Christopher's Letter
4 Months to Go!!!

Hi mom and dad,

I am feeling very strange today. Things are all happening so fast.
There lies only a week and a half left in this change, which could
mean having another companion and supposedly 30% of the mission
is changing. But the last time, I believe 90% of the mission was
reorganized. Also, Isable is going home next week. March is almost
over and I will only have four months to work. How do you all feel
about it? Haha. I imagine that you feel quite happy. After so much time,
it will be nice to see each other. Hey! I also didn´t know that you were going to change the carpet. That is wonderful.

I want to tell you about a family that is going to get baptized the
next week. They are the Shrum Turcios Family. The father
is Bill Shrum, who is 70 years old, from Maryland and he never
liked going to church
...any church, that is, because he had some bad experiences
when he was younger. For many years he rejected any kind
of missionary, but now he received us. A month and a half ago
he began attending church with his wife, Francisca, who is
Honduran, and with his granddaughter, Suani, who is 13 years old.
They all love the church and love understanding the doctrine.
Francisca is catholic and it is hard for her to leave her religion.
They both have felt the spirit and tell us sincerely that they love us.
It is very special to teach in English and Spanish at the same
time. Bill has diabetes and poor vision, but strives to read the Book
of Mormon (in small print) even for five minutes a day. And his
wife is beginning to read, too, even though it is something hard
to understand. Their faith is beautiful. And I love them very
much. One interesting detail is that their house is a block from
where the temple is (I think I told you, but our area is the surroundings of the temple. : ) ). So, they will be able to walk to the temple a year after their baptism and also the chapel
is on the same grounds as the temple. How special it is to be
able to teach around the temple. I love it very much.
I miss very much your hugs. There is nothing like being held
and holding someone, were you feel so comfortable that you
could maybe fall asleep.

I love you, mom and dad. Thank you for everything.
I haven't given the money to him yet, but I will do that.
And I will give the letter to him as well. Also, Elder
Petersen is the general secretary. If you want, I will
take the picture and send it to you on Monday.

...

Te amo. Que disfrutes los abrazos de tus padres y
tus hermanos y tus amigos. A ti sabes que te abrazo de
lejos también. Sé que va a estar muy gozosa. Sigo
trabajando. ¿Cuentas los días todavía? No sé cuantas
son, pero recuerdo cuando eran más que 700... ¿Te acuerdas
de lo nos decíamos en ese entonces? Recuerdas como
se sentía cuando pensábamos en 2 años o 700 y algunas días?
A veces se sentían pesadas... Jaja. Hemos hecho los cambios
y tú hablas como Sur Americano y yo como Centro Americano.
Como los escucho, suenan como pirates. Jaja. Pero, no sé
cómo se suenan ahí... como índios? Espanchua o Que-spañol.

En Kiché, de Guatemala, cómo está se dice:
"¿la uts a wach?"
"uts." (...quiere decir bien.)
Tal vez podemos viajar un día a los pueblos del
mundo y prestar servicio médico y aprender
las idiomas que nadie sepa... y aprender a decir
te amo en lenguas indigenas.

Bueno, pues.
Te amo y ciao.

Responsibilities: To Love, To Serve, To Teach, To Listen!!!

Isabella's Letter
hi i did get my packages i just wrote too much to my president it has been a really good week we taught a lot of lessons and got in contact with the father of some kids we were teaching and we couldnt get a hold of him bc he is a truck driver. it went really well. and the family got confirmed. im sorry that i didnt write last time my parents had many questions for me. also i love the shoes so much so much that i dont want to use them. and my companion wants to buy the cardigan from me but i cant its too nice its going to be part of my interview wardrobe i have so much to say i met a deaf dad and his son is a member and ahh there is no time but janice i am so taking a sign language course the deaf need the gospel too. i love you write more next time. chris i love you. i hope that god keeps you safe

Christopher's Letter
Hi mom and dad,

Being with President Flores in the last few weeks has been an incredible
learning experience. I get to see him interact with his children and wife.
I don´t know if I wrote about this the last week. I feel like I am having
dejavú. His wife got sick a few weeks ago with gall bladder stones and
had to have surgery. We were asked to pick his kids up from their house
in the truck and take them to the hospital. And I saw how he is in his home.
It is hard to express all the things I learn, but it is truly beautiful. I am
learning to be strong, to be myself always and to always always always
ask God before doing things, which I didn´t alwasy do before. We always
pray, but this is a level of asking revelation from God always. What does
he want?

President Flores gave me an assignment: that I will do an exchange with
one of the groups of zone leaders for a week long, but I will have to pray
to find out which of them the Lord wants me to be with. He said,"Elder Hill,
Sadly you won´t have the opportunity to be a Zone Leader in the Mission
And so I want you to go and do an interchange with one of the zone lideres
for a week to gain experience and find out how you can help." So, we´re going
to do just that. I found out that I am going to be the assistent to the President
until I finish my mission, which is interesting. I will receive the new Mission President and there is a lot of work in the future.

This week we had a baptism and completed a family. It was really beautiful the
baptism.

I got my package. I wrote you a letter by hand about how much I loved it.
Thank you.

I hope you know and feel that I love you. Thank you for paying for our missions.
I will pay it back to you... but not in money, but you will have to wait until after
the mission. Ha.

I love you.

Chris.
....

I love you, too.

Manuel a recent baptism and a family complete!

A Missionary was sick and they had to spend from 12 to 4 in the morning at the hospital!

The first Mango of the season!  Chris says, "Yay!

Miracles and Distractions

Christopher's Letter

Dear Dad and Mom,

This week lots of things happened. I got to know Catacamas! Which is really dangerous apparently.
One of my old companions told me that when he was there, there were gun fights in the streets all of
the sudden. Northamericans are not permitted to go there... But I did! Haha. It was really, really
pretty there yet very hot, like the love child of the Brazilian Rain Forest and the Sahara desert. And
we saw in the market a local seller of meat... without a refrigerator. They had long cuts of muscle
of cow and pig and... armadillo... maybe (they do eat that here). Haha. And they were hanging out in the sun, as if they
were hanging clothes out to dry.

We got to know all of the largest cities of Olancho that day. This week we are going to go to La Paz,
Intibuca, and Comayagua. We are visiting these places because my companion and I and the
Medics are doing house checks. It is neat becase I will get to see all of the areas that I was in
and get to know the entire mission first hand.

As assistents, we can go wherever we want, wherever we want, whenever we want as long as its
directed by the Spirit. It is really interesting to be in charge of 160 missionaries. It is like being
the replacement parents for President Flores and his Wife.

In other news, we are having lots of success in our area as well. This Sunday, we had 4 families
in church. It is a blessing from God really, because we dont have as much time as other missionaries
in that we dedicate from 9 to 4 to bless and inspire changes in the mission, and from 6 to 9 we
work in our area. We are trying our best to bring about miracles to inspire other missionaries.
Now we are working not only for us, not only for the investigators, but also for the missionaries.
I like learning about being a leader. It has been the best blessing of my mission.


So, how are you? Tired of working yet? How is the Spanish ward? I think I will attend a Spanish
ward, too, when I get home. Have you sewn any more, mom? Or have you played the guitar, dad?
I havent been able to practice playing the piano mucho. I can read music now, but just the top line.
Reading them both is really hard. Ha. How are the dogs? And how are grandma and grandpa?
Tell them that I would like to learn how to do Family History with them. Also, I was thinking that
maybe Uncle Jared or Northrop Grumman or somewhere from someone I know, I could try to work
I dont know what I want to do. There was an Elder that told me about Third World Development
and that somewhat interests me. But I feel like being a doctor is a really good idea, too. I will
have to think more about that when I return.

Also, Danielle said she was going to get married... what happened with that ? And how is Zack and
his wife? And Mandy and her husband? And aunt Debi? And how are Mike and Jeff and their
families? And Jen and Jared? And Ted and Jenny? And Amy and chuck? And... everyone?
Tell them I love them. I want to get to know them when I get home.

So, to tell you a little bit about the miracles we have seen...
I have like, 2 and a half weeks and something really wonderful is that
we are teaching half member families, and the fathers are the nonmembers.
I have discovered that the most powerful tools are prayer and sincere testimony.
And being direct with everyone, honest, to the point. So, there is an investigator
who is named Mario Soto. In our first appointment, he said, look I will be honest with you.
I am Catholic and I want nothing to do with the church. I dont want you to waste your
time, but no. I bore my testimony to him and shared my experience of returning to the
church. I invited him to investigating and studying the church with me and he said, ok.
The funny thing is after two visits and teaching the doctrine simply and directly, he wants
to get baptized and learn about the restoration of the gospel of Christ. It is funny how
the spirit touches people. He looks like a different person and has a light in his eyes.
When we are open, god lets us have beautiful experiences like that. Miracles.

Anyway, I love you all.
Thank you for the money.

With love,
Elder Hill

 

No Letter came today from Isabel!  No pictures either!!  I will post again as soon as we here from her!!!

 

This Mom wonders if her son, Elder Hill has any idea the miracle he is and the miracles the Lord has brought about in his life!!!  I hope I recognize this boy of mine in a short five months when he arrives at the airport!!!  I love and miss Chris and Isabel so very much!

6 Weeks and 1 1/2 Weeks!!! Time is Going Fast!

Isabella's Letter

 this last package no i have not recieved yet but the other one from xmas i think just got lost the one with the brownie mix im a tad sad bc it had a sweater. this saturday just four of the 6 were baptized which i am still very happy for the very sad thing was that they didnt come to their confirmation on sunday because of a carnaval dance festival which just totally made me feel like a crummy teacher and missionary i have to find even more patience tonight we are teaching them and i am so disappointed because i felt i made it so clear that they were promising God they would obey his commandments. then to top it off none of my 8 recent converts made it to church either for the same reason. in potosi they are very very observant to their traditions if they would have been taught the commandments like they have been taught traditions potosi would have been translated. the chapel was so empty. but gotta look on the bright side i get 6 more weeks YEAH! and im going to work hard. chris i got another letter from you :) i think its awesome you are assistant. and you have a cell and a car whoa! take care love you all hna florido

Christopher's Letter

Hi,

This week has been very, very busy. I have barely slept some days.
But it has been one of the most wonderful transfers of my mission.
We magicaly baptized a family this weekend, too. That was the best.
They are named Arnold and Diana. And they are different than your
typical Honduran. They have succesful online adevertising businesses.
Their daughters name is Natalie and they give us lots of food (and Diana
makes the best flan in all of the world!).

The funny thing is that Elder Delahunty, my companion, was assistent
the last change. He began teaching this family, I finished teaching them
And we both baptized them. I dont think we ever thought that we would
do something like that when we were in the MTC. Ha.
My companion is Elder Perez from Quequetenango, Guatemala. He likes driving fast.
One of the perks to being assistent is I will get to know all of the mission.
All of it, even the places where they dont send white people. Haha.
This month. Wow.
What a blessing.
Today, I have been thinking about some things I would like to do (that I maybe
didnt want to do before). One is I want to study in the fall in BYU, but I cant
because the deadline was a few weeks ago. So, I would like to study in the
semester after the fall semester. Would you find out about that for me please?
Secondly, I would like to get my teeth fixed. There is a place in Provo where
they do everything very naturally. I forget what it is called, but I would like to
get braces or something of the sort to straighten my teeth and make them
pretty. I have learned that your appearance is everything here. What I want
to know is if we can use your insurance, mom and dad? 
Thirdly, I want you to know that I love you and the time is going by way too fast.
I hope you know how greatful I am for helping me financially on the mission.
It has been really special. 10,000 dollars (and more) is worth the conversion to
the gospel. Haha. 
Anyway, I love you so much!
Until next week!

Carnaval Fun in Bolivia and Assistant to the President in Honduras!!!

Isabella's Letter

so we went to go teach our recent converts and then we had a full blown water fight, it was the best ever by far times a thousand. it all started by little reichell saying hna you wouldnt get too mad if you got wet right i said no why? and she a burts a little water ballon on my head and then i threw a bucket of water and before you know it we were just drenched totally drenched and then we told hna nevarez to come out and she said no i know were this is going and i said come on i need to go home and change im freezing (it was hailing while we played) and when she came out a bucket of water flew ha ha ha. so this week we were able to find a lot of families and we placed 13 baptismal dates and we had 6 attend church it feels so good. what feels even better i get to stay one more general conference here in bolivia yay! love you all have to go hna florido

 



Christopher's Letter

Dear Mom and Dad,

So last week we had our changes and I got moved. On Sunday night,
they called us and announced to us those who would be leaving... but
not where we would be going. I had already packed expecting to leave,
but as E. Juarez and I got home on Monday night, I received a phone
call from Presidente Flores unexpectedly at 10:00 roughly. We talked
about the visits we had with Elder Martino and the investigadors that
we visited and I felt really nervous talking to him because it was strange
that he had called, but he can do that right. He IS the President.

After talking for 4 or 5 minutes, he says,"Elder Hill, the Asistents called
you right?" "...No, they didnt. Why?"

To which he sighed unpleased like they were supposed to call me, and then
said,"Elder Hill, I have something to tell you. Are you ready? ... You are my
new Asistent Are you excited? Oh, and I need you to be in the office tomorrow at midday for a
meeting with the new missionaries."

So... in other words, I am the new asistent to President Flores, which is
neat. We give trainings to missionaries, make report for the whole mission,
we have a cell phone and we have a Toyota Hylux. And it is a lot different
than walking on dirt paved roads and knocking on doors.

We work from 4 pm to 9 pm in our area, which is called Roble Oeste, which
is the most well off economically speaking. Millionares live there. The area
seventy live there. One of them teaches the priesthood class actually, which
is neat to be taught by one of the seventy on a weekly basis. Haha.

My suit is black and really nice. I will have to send you a picture next week.
This week has been full of changes and we will have to see what the next week
is like. I love you all.

Yesterday we had a lesson with a family that has been putting off baptism which
was so powerful. They talked about how they wanted to be perfect by their own
account, their own actions. I talked about that we cant depend on ourselves to
be perfect or clean. God can only do that. We dont have the power to do that.
The spirit was so strong and even they were crying at the end of the lesson.
The Bishop invited them to get baptized on Thursday, and I know that they will.
I will have to tell you more next week. We are really busy.

With lots of love,
Elder Hill

Feeling the Spirit

CHRISTOPHER'S LETTER

Dear Dad and Mom,

So, to answer your questions first. My suit is going fine, but it is going to cost a little more than I thought. It is... Ahh, I won´t describe it. I´ll just send you a picture. And no, I had no idea that there was an earthquake here. I didn´t even hear about it. And, mom, don´t worry about the violence here. It is always happening. Always, but always when we are far away or in the house. In other countries you go to sleep listening to lullabies; in Honduras, you hear the sweet soothing sounds of gunshots. Haha.

So, the setting apart was really beautiful. I really liked it. That is how I imagine you, Dad. Like a strippling warrior. It makes me feel like for 20 some odd years we were asleep. Satan didn´t want us to have a good relationship at all. Mom and Dad, would you make goals of what you would like to do as a family when I get home? Something I would like to do is Family Home Evening, visit historical sights of the church, do service together, go and work in the temple... learn about my ancestors with you so that I can tell my children. I would like that a lot.

What else... Oh, so, Wednesday Elder Martino and President Flores left to visit with us. We visited 3
families from 6:00-9:00pm. The one thing that I will say that I learned is how well Elder Martino knows Jesus Christ... And has inspired me to get to know Christ better, more personally. When he talked, he didn´t speak about Joseph Smith, about anything but the Savior. If you were there, you would be brought to tears by the spirit that accompanied us. We planned a lesson for our first appointment, and we also had "what if" plans, like, if the investigator didn´t read the assignment we left him, what would we do, etc. etc. And the interesting thing was that one of the "what if" plans, we hadn´t told to Elder Martino, nor to President. But Elder Martino taught most of the first lesson and the interesting thing is that what the spirit indicated to us to teach, he was inspired to teach as well. It was a very special experience.

Elder Martino said in one of the lessons that he had never seen Jesus Christ, but in the meeting we had
with him, he gave his testimony as a Special Witness of Christ... which makes me wonder what is a special witness. It says that an Apostle is a speical witness of the resurrected body of Jesus Christ, but a Seventy is a witness of? I don´t know.

I have to finish, but I love you all. Next week, you´ll find out where I went, what my suit looks like.
Pleeeease send the soap. Please. Please. The Soap here dries my skin and makes me itch. And I might need a little money to pay for the rest of my suit and some other things I need here. I need new socks, sandals, belt, and some other things. Sorry, but thank you.

I love you all.
Bye!

This was the most delicious tres leches I have ever eaten. It was, with all "humility", haha, my invention:
tres leches con chocolate!!!

photo of President Flores, Elder Martino and la familia that is going to get baptized this week

 I don´t know if I sent this photo, but a family we baptized gave me a painting of the countryside
and it has two misionaries tracting in a pueblo.

my companion taught me to eat watermelon (and every type of fruit) with salt, hot pepper and lemon
I always wanted to have a mexican companion

ISABELLA'S LETTER

well i dont have new pic today. one cool thing that happened is that a
while back we did and invasion and we were knocking for the elders in
san clemente and i prayed to have the spirit put words that meant
something to the people where we knocked. and there was this little
shack that i thought it looks like a junck yard but my hand was
already knocking so i waited. this old blind man named primo answered
and i started just saying that God loved us so much that he had
provided a way for our dead to be reunited with us for all eternity.
and he was so excited. he wanted to know more, i felt the spirit so
strong that i made a point to tell the elders i thought he was golden.
he is he is recieving the missionaries and the elder is sitting next
to me ordering a brail book of mormon in spanish so that this man can
gain a testimony and be saved. i love this work! i have been reading
over my diary and re writing part of it that got water damage and it
reminds me of all the lessons i have been taught be my Lord. its
beatiful. im the only soul i really have control to save. this week i
have been sick with a cold and in bed for a very long time but i hope
the president still lets me stay. Chris i dont know what i want to
know from honduras but i love to hear how people from other places
speak so maybe kids talking old people singing i  dont know. also tell
me your dreams if you have any yeah? yay! well love you all!