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!