Good food, cancelled appointments and a great temple trip

This is Austin's mom. Jay got an email from Austin today at 5 that said, "I sent mom an email. Tell her to make sure you read it." It was in Spanish so I had to translate it. However, I never got an email. I was sick. Finally, at about 7 the email came through. The time sent said 4:55. Where did it go for that amount of time? Thought email was instant.

Hello familia!

It is so good to hear that everyone is doing well! Sounds like you all had a great time at St. George! Sounds like a lot of fun. Thanks for updating me on that. It is good to hear. Happy Birthday DAD!!!!! One year older now. I hope you had a great birthday! Sounds like everything with work and what not has been going well! Crazy to hear about what happened at the stake center. We have stake conference this weekend. Go Mckenzie! I saw your picture on the soccer field and that's so exciting! I am so happy for you! Keep it up! Congrats Maylin on reading, you're growing up so much! Alex you are going to be pretty big! That's awesome that you are growing! Hope you heel gets better, that's a bummer. Mom also I hope you arm gets better I'll pray for you and all of you.

I wrote grandpa and grandma and sent a picture of me with President Wade so they should be getting that soon, hopefully.

Everything is going well here!! Ha, today we went to a Goodwill like DI and I bought some awesome, ugly ties. I want to collect a ton on my mission. They are awesome, but ugly, of course. Got a haircut finally. Its so hot here, wow! Also printed off some pictures to put in my journal.

Ok, so an update on the people were teaching. Uhhhh yeah. That family we found and taught; we went back and the mom told us not to come back that they were fine with their church. That was a bummer, but we can't do anything about it. We taught a baracho, drunk guy, last week, but he's been really drunk ever since and so we can't really teach him. We're really trying to get him when he's sober. He is a really nice guy and wants to change, but its hard to talk to him when he's drunk out of his mind. 

Carlos Jimenez is still going strong! We had a lesson with him this last week and it was really good. We ended it with him giving a kneeling prayer with all of us (we had a member, Modesto with us) and so that was really good to see him do that. Yesterday we went to the Oakland Temple visitors center with him, his wife and his little carlito(son). It was so amazing! We started with the Christus and the Spanish Visitor Center sisters guided us and did the presentations. We brought a member (Pablo, he is so awesome) and so he was a good support. But yeah, after the Christus the spirit was so strong and the sisters asked Carlos what he felt. He just said "I feel so good and this is the feeling I get when I read and come to church and when I think about my baptism". He is so awesome and he's like a little kid just so excited for his baptism. We then watched a little presentation on Gods plan for familias. That was really powerful. After that, we had a time to share thoughts and testimonies. I testified to him about my experience being sealed in the temple. ( "Yo comparti este antes, pero cuando mi familia adoptamos un nina de china, yo tuve la experiencia sellarme con mi familia en el templo." ) (might not be too correct but yeah) After I shared that and my testimony, the spirit was so strong and the sisters bore testimony that their family could be sealed together forever. We then watched the Joseph Smith movie with them. It was in Spanish, so it was hard to understand at parts, but the spirit was the same. It was so powerful with them. The whole time I was with them I couldn't stop smiling because of how happy I was for Carlos and his family. They are so wonderful and I am so excited for them to accept all of this and to be able to be sealed in the temple in the future.

Oh, ha so we needed a member for one of our lessons. We called up this awesome member of the branch "Margarito." He is so awesome. He had a stoke so he is really slow on one side and has a hard time speaking, but he is my favorite I love him. So on the phone with him we were asking if he could come with us and he said something about being with Javier and Marcial. We were like umm hmm ok. So we headed over there to pick him up. On the way we called our appointment and they canceled on us because they were out of town, bummer, so we just ended up teaching a lesson to this member Margarito who is arecent convert. We went into his house and into his room and lo and behold we found Marcial, Javier and Margarito sitting in their room studying the scriptures. We were like no way! They said they were getting the priesthood soon so they were having a little get together to study about the priesthood. None of them are married so its pretty funny. They were just sitting in there talking and reading the scriptures. We went in and taught them a lesson about the priesthood and about obedience. They were so funny. I love them all. Javier is a lawyer from Mexico so he is really sharp and on top of thing,s but looks like a mafia member. I don't have a pic of him, but I do with Margarto and Marcial. I'll send home some time. I'll probably send the card too. So yeah that was an awesome lesson, they make me so happy. 

The next day we brought Margarito again to a less active lesson. We taught he doctrine of Christ and it went really well. The other Elders showed up and we had dinner at this house. We were at the house of a member, but with this less active person. The food was amazing! It was a huge plate of chicken, beans, rice and platanos. Wow it was good! Margarito was practicing his English on us and I was laughing so hard so was he. It was so awesome. He calls me Elder Hills. He always gives me a big hug and says " Elder Hills Elder Hills" He is awesome! So yeah after dinner we had ice cream. I had one scoop and I was like wow I'm stuffed. But Elder Mower was like,  "nope have two more scoops and then well see if your girlfriend will still love you." I was like girlfriend? I don't have one. He said, oh well. You need to get fat. I was like uhh no. Other than that this week was full of fallen through appointments and door contacting. I am getting a lot better at door contacting and talking with people. Still getting over the fear, but I am doing well.

This week was really full and busy because we had leadership training. That was amazing! Went from 9 in the morning to 3 from Tuesday to Thursday! Elder Foliaki (his companion from the MTC)was there so that was exciting, got to talk to him and see how he's doing. President Wade conducted everything, but all the presentations were done by missionaries, Zone leaders, assistants and so on. We said afterwards that it was so amazing it was kind of like if we were Moses and had been "taken up into a high mountain". It was awesome. We had to present ourselves to everyone. I stood up and said Elder Hill from Bluffdale, Utah and we were supposed to say our position so I was like uhhh and just sat down. (He doesn't have a leadership calling right now.) Me, Elder Robinson and Elder Foliaki were the only new ones out of everyone there. We learned so much though.

I did some practices with one of the assistants and he told me that I was a really good teacher and could discern things really well. I just told him it was because I was educated by an amazing teacher at my school named Ms. Updike who taught me to Research, Reason, Relate and record. It really has been great to have that skill. We read with people and have to reason it and then relate it to them, so they can see the relevance of the scriptures in their lives. I am able to read the scripture (in Spanish) and then reason it and relate it to them. Thanks American Heritage, Mom and Dad,  and all my teachers! Thanks Mom and Dad for raising me and teaching me how to be the best I can be. I love you! I am so grateful for everything that you do!

This week I get to go on splits with Elder Robinson, one of the elders that came in with me so that's going to be fun! We get to eat dinner with Javier that night so I am super excited! We are planning a carne asada soon to try to bring all the members less actives and nonmember friends together. I am excited for that. Food here is amazing!

I love everyone! Grateful for what everyone does. Talk to you soon. Time is flying here. and I ill get ahold of the mission office about that doctor's appointment pronto! Pues les Amo! Espero que todos esten bien! Nos vemos entonces. Spanish is awesome ha.

Mom let me know if Erik gets his call, also Tyler. Let them know I say hi and that I am super excited for them to go out on a mission. It is so amazing! There are a ton of Asians in this mission and I keep think that Erik is going Chinese speaking, I just know it, and to the Oakland/San Francisco mission. That would be so awesome!! Mckenzie could you do me a favor, I can't remember Holly's birthday it's somewhere in June but I just wanted to shoot her a letter on that day. Love everyone! Alex keep growing, Mckenzie keep playing soccer and being amazing! Maylin I'll be home Thursday! ( of 2014) Thats sad... Love you. (Maylin says at least 3 or 4 times a week that Austin needs to come home on Thursday. I shared that in my last letter.)

Well, talk to you all sooon! Have a great week and I'll work hard!

Elder Hills*