My wonderful family!
Thanks for the letter ~ I know that I didn’t sounds too happy last week. It was just a tough week but it was good. Good to hear about everyone! I loved the pictures, Mckenzie is so cute, you look awesome! Maylin and mom are so cute! I love your hair, she has gotten so much bigger wow! Yeah so about my contacts, my left eye is fine but my right eye is the one I need to fix. I thought about it over the past week and yes I am going to get my contacts re-fit because I am actually starting to lose my vision in that eye and the Lord needs me with both! The past couple of weeks have been a learning experience though. I have learned more about humility and gratitude. Its tough to not have a good week in our area when the other elders in our district are doing amazing. I am learning though about what Alma said that he felt joy beyond anything else for his brethren. I am learning to have joy in others success and also the success we have even if its small, I am grateful to the Lord. The Lord gave us all these blessings and he can take them away from us even faster. Don’t worry though mom, I am happy, I am loving it and I am improving a lot!
So what did happen this week:
Monday: We had three lessons that were set for that night after p-day. Every one of the lessons fell through. We brought one of the members with us so we had fun talking with him, but other than that we just knocked doors but nothing happened at all.
Tuesday: We had appointments set for every hour, a total of 8 lessons for that day. Modesto, the ward mission leader came with us because he didn't have work. He was with us the entire day. My Spanish improved so much talking with him it was really good practice. So about those 8 lessons we had, haha none of them happened. Not a single person was home, and it was weird because when we came to see some of them, they opened the door and practically threw the pamphlet back at us and told us they don't want anything to do with us. We just all looked at eachother and moved on. It was weird but hmm that's missionary work! Modesto took us out to eat at In-Out burger. (Tyler Wilden: I showed them what animal style was and they loved it. Good times!) Yeah so not much happened that day but it was good, we talked to a ton of people and I learned a lot. At about 7 o'clock that night we were heading to an appointment, and we passed a lady on the street. I had the impression to stop and talk to her. My companion didn't know what I was talking about and just pulled over. I got out and we walked over to hear. I initiated the conversation and asked her the normal question, "Que bendiciones ha visto en su vida de Dios?" "What blessings have you seen in your life from God" She started to explain that God has helped her so much in her trials. As I was listening to her I noticed she had a chest scar just like mine. I wanted to ask her about it but not in a direct manner. I was impressed to ask her a question. After I asked it she started explaining about her heart and she started crying. It was so powerful, at that moment I just had this sense of love and understanding for her. I explained about my heart and we talked for a bit, and then I shared about the gospel and how it has helped me through the trials. She understood and accepted us to come and teach her. We couldn't get any information about her other than shell meet us at the chapel. After I felt so happy, but also sad because we didn't think we would see her again.
Wednesday: Again our appointments fell through up until 3. Margarito has been having problems with his doctor and getting pills so we have been having trouble having a member and also we were supposed to teach him. At 3 we tracted a street and found 3 teenagers. We first found the sister but she wasn't too interested and so she said that we could come back and teach her brother tomorrow. We then taught Elvira Ochoa! She is doing absolutely fantastic. We taught her the gospel of Jesus Christ and she was great. She understood and really listened. She is still going strong for her baptism on the 28th!!! That night we went with Modesto again to visit people. Only one visit pulled through. We taught the family Vega, and it was a powerful lesson. We taught the plan of savlacion and they listened so intently. It was the father and his Son in law. We invited them to be baptized and I could so feel that the son in law was going to say yes, but the father started expressing doubts and we did everything we could to save it but they didn't feel ready yet. They want to but not yet...
Thursday: We taught those 3 teenagers that afternoon. The brother we were going to visit was quite sure about who we were. He thought we were there to play sports with him. We went in and taught the restoration. His friend was asking a lot of questions about life and things, which was really good. At the end of the lesson we all knelt and the boy that lived there offered the prayer. It was really good! So we then tracted Lacy lane. Our appointments fell through there but we tracted and found some good people. While we were there we walked past the alley of an apartment building. We saw two people back there doing something but we didnt really think about it. My companion then stopped and turned back and we saw a guy beating a woman. We ran over and told the guy to stop, the girl ran off and then he asked us if we wanted to fight. We told him no and he took off after the girl again. We called 911 and wow the police showed up fast! The cop asked us where they ran and he chased after him. It was crazy.
friday: We had weekly planning and thrings and then we did some daily contact with people. After dinner we had Adiack with us, he is a returned missionary. Our first lesson fell through and also our second. We found though a guy at that house. We started to talk to him and we taught him the first lesson right there in the street. It was really cool but powerful. We taught the restoration so short and powerful! The Lord truly was helping me with my Spanish to be able to teach short and clear. He lives in Sacramento though but he accepted the missionaries there and we sent the referral! We then taught Elvira Ochoa again that night about the 10 commandments. She is so awesome she was saying how she hates how her family worships the mary statue rather than Jesus. She was perfect on the commandments so we are super happy for her! Also that night we found a gal and we set up an appointment for Saturday with her. She seemed really interested! Her name is Erika! We were tracting in a park and we found Elvira there at a birthday party. She told us to come and eat with her. We cant but she gave us a taco to eat and then she presented us to her family and friends. Elvira was teaching them the gospel and how we area from the true church. I was so happy! It was awesome! We invited them to the visitors center on Sunday and Elvira was really excited!
Saturday: We tracted a ton today! It was awesome! We found an inactive family that we didnt know about there so that was inspiration to go there. At 3 we had a ward Carne asada. We went and invited all of our investigators. NOne of them showed up so we ate set appointments to find referrals from the members and then left. After dinner our appointments fell through also. Because of that our back up plan was to tract the same street, finish it, the one we started that morning. When we got there and my companion asked me where we should start, I had another impression to knock this house again. He wasn't sure about it but we did. We talked to a lady about 25 years old, and she was awesome! We didn't have a member so we taught her right on her porch with some chairs. She listened so intently and at the end she prayed and asked to know and did it just like she is supposed to! She then invited us back for Sunday to teach her again. We also taught a less active family. Only the son was home. We don't know what to teach exactly so we just asked him questions and got to know him. We then asked him why he wasn't coming to church. He explained some things and how he doesn't like the ward here compared to his ward back in Mexico. He said the people weren't as united. I then had the impression to ask him about his testimony of the book of Mormon. I was thinking at that moment a lot about what President Benson taught about the Book of Mormon and how if we question the church, it usually starts with our testimony of the book of Mormon. As we asked him about his testimony he opened up a lot. He first said, "Ok so heres the thing..." I know exactly where it was going. He shared his doubts and things and we helped him resolve them and invited him to read in the book of mormon. He told us that he wants to come to church but his family doesn't so its really hard. It was a really good lesson.
Sunday: Elvira came to church again today!!!!! She is awesome! We planned to go to the Visitors center after church but things didnt work out to well so we ended up not. We dropped by our investigators and then had dinner a little earlier than usually. It was good though because the member was a little late getting out and so we were already there and it was perfect. We got to our lesson with Erika and we were planning to teach the plan of salvation. She dint do her reading so we read with her. It was really good because he helped her clear up questions she had and we helped her so the importance of knowing that the book of Mormon is true. We invited her to read and to pray. She again offered a perfect pray at the end of the lesson. She is so awesome!
After that we went to visit a guy we set an appointment with earlier in the week. We couldn’t get a hold of him so my companion didn’t want to waste time and wanted to go somewhere else. I did as we should and told him we needed to go anyway and visit him. As we did, he wasnt home but his brother was. I did the contact and asked him if he has met or seen mission like us. He said he was meeting with some this Wednesday. We cleared some things up and those were Jehovah witnesses. I asked him is we could share our message with him and I asked him what he was looking for or wanted to learn. We then related that to the restoration. He let us in and we taught him and his 4 little daughters. They all sat perfectly on the couch and listened. The 8 year old was asking us questions and was awesome! We watched the restoration DVD and then invited the father to offer a kneeling prayer. We all knelt and prayed. I was powerful to see this little family all kneeling together asking heavenly father to help them know if this message is true. We told us we could come back tomorrow!!! We visited a member that night and got to know them which was good.
This week was amazing! I can see the Lord working and I learned about the importance of following the promptings we receive and to not doubt them. I am learning so much and I am loving my mission. I am doing awesome with teaching and Spanish. I absolutely love contacting people! That may sound hard to believe but I do! I talk to everyone!
I love you family and thanks for everything. I hope to hear from you all soon!
Love you all!
Elder Hill
Concord
P.s. transfer calls are this Friday!
Thanks for the letter ~ I know that I didn’t sounds too happy last week. It was just a tough week but it was good. Good to hear about everyone! I loved the pictures, Mckenzie is so cute, you look awesome! Maylin and mom are so cute! I love your hair, she has gotten so much bigger wow! Yeah so about my contacts, my left eye is fine but my right eye is the one I need to fix. I thought about it over the past week and yes I am going to get my contacts re-fit because I am actually starting to lose my vision in that eye and the Lord needs me with both! The past couple of weeks have been a learning experience though. I have learned more about humility and gratitude. Its tough to not have a good week in our area when the other elders in our district are doing amazing. I am learning though about what Alma said that he felt joy beyond anything else for his brethren. I am learning to have joy in others success and also the success we have even if its small, I am grateful to the Lord. The Lord gave us all these blessings and he can take them away from us even faster. Don’t worry though mom, I am happy, I am loving it and I am improving a lot!
So what did happen this week:
Monday: We had three lessons that were set for that night after p-day. Every one of the lessons fell through. We brought one of the members with us so we had fun talking with him, but other than that we just knocked doors but nothing happened at all.
Tuesday: We had appointments set for every hour, a total of 8 lessons for that day. Modesto, the ward mission leader came with us because he didn't have work. He was with us the entire day. My Spanish improved so much talking with him it was really good practice. So about those 8 lessons we had, haha none of them happened. Not a single person was home, and it was weird because when we came to see some of them, they opened the door and practically threw the pamphlet back at us and told us they don't want anything to do with us. We just all looked at eachother and moved on. It was weird but hmm that's missionary work! Modesto took us out to eat at In-Out burger. (Tyler Wilden: I showed them what animal style was and they loved it. Good times!) Yeah so not much happened that day but it was good, we talked to a ton of people and I learned a lot. At about 7 o'clock that night we were heading to an appointment, and we passed a lady on the street. I had the impression to stop and talk to her. My companion didn't know what I was talking about and just pulled over. I got out and we walked over to hear. I initiated the conversation and asked her the normal question, "Que bendiciones ha visto en su vida de Dios?" "What blessings have you seen in your life from God" She started to explain that God has helped her so much in her trials. As I was listening to her I noticed she had a chest scar just like mine. I wanted to ask her about it but not in a direct manner. I was impressed to ask her a question. After I asked it she started explaining about her heart and she started crying. It was so powerful, at that moment I just had this sense of love and understanding for her. I explained about my heart and we talked for a bit, and then I shared about the gospel and how it has helped me through the trials. She understood and accepted us to come and teach her. We couldn't get any information about her other than shell meet us at the chapel. After I felt so happy, but also sad because we didn't think we would see her again.
Wednesday: Again our appointments fell through up until 3. Margarito has been having problems with his doctor and getting pills so we have been having trouble having a member and also we were supposed to teach him. At 3 we tracted a street and found 3 teenagers. We first found the sister but she wasn't too interested and so she said that we could come back and teach her brother tomorrow. We then taught Elvira Ochoa! She is doing absolutely fantastic. We taught her the gospel of Jesus Christ and she was great. She understood and really listened. She is still going strong for her baptism on the 28th!!! That night we went with Modesto again to visit people. Only one visit pulled through. We taught the family Vega, and it was a powerful lesson. We taught the plan of savlacion and they listened so intently. It was the father and his Son in law. We invited them to be baptized and I could so feel that the son in law was going to say yes, but the father started expressing doubts and we did everything we could to save it but they didn't feel ready yet. They want to but not yet...
Thursday: We taught those 3 teenagers that afternoon. The brother we were going to visit was quite sure about who we were. He thought we were there to play sports with him. We went in and taught the restoration. His friend was asking a lot of questions about life and things, which was really good. At the end of the lesson we all knelt and the boy that lived there offered the prayer. It was really good! So we then tracted Lacy lane. Our appointments fell through there but we tracted and found some good people. While we were there we walked past the alley of an apartment building. We saw two people back there doing something but we didnt really think about it. My companion then stopped and turned back and we saw a guy beating a woman. We ran over and told the guy to stop, the girl ran off and then he asked us if we wanted to fight. We told him no and he took off after the girl again. We called 911 and wow the police showed up fast! The cop asked us where they ran and he chased after him. It was crazy.
friday: We had weekly planning and thrings and then we did some daily contact with people. After dinner we had Adiack with us, he is a returned missionary. Our first lesson fell through and also our second. We found though a guy at that house. We started to talk to him and we taught him the first lesson right there in the street. It was really cool but powerful. We taught the restoration so short and powerful! The Lord truly was helping me with my Spanish to be able to teach short and clear. He lives in Sacramento though but he accepted the missionaries there and we sent the referral! We then taught Elvira Ochoa again that night about the 10 commandments. She is so awesome she was saying how she hates how her family worships the mary statue rather than Jesus. She was perfect on the commandments so we are super happy for her! Also that night we found a gal and we set up an appointment for Saturday with her. She seemed really interested! Her name is Erika! We were tracting in a park and we found Elvira there at a birthday party. She told us to come and eat with her. We cant but she gave us a taco to eat and then she presented us to her family and friends. Elvira was teaching them the gospel and how we area from the true church. I was so happy! It was awesome! We invited them to the visitors center on Sunday and Elvira was really excited!
Saturday: We tracted a ton today! It was awesome! We found an inactive family that we didnt know about there so that was inspiration to go there. At 3 we had a ward Carne asada. We went and invited all of our investigators. NOne of them showed up so we ate set appointments to find referrals from the members and then left. After dinner our appointments fell through also. Because of that our back up plan was to tract the same street, finish it, the one we started that morning. When we got there and my companion asked me where we should start, I had another impression to knock this house again. He wasn't sure about it but we did. We talked to a lady about 25 years old, and she was awesome! We didn't have a member so we taught her right on her porch with some chairs. She listened so intently and at the end she prayed and asked to know and did it just like she is supposed to! She then invited us back for Sunday to teach her again. We also taught a less active family. Only the son was home. We don't know what to teach exactly so we just asked him questions and got to know him. We then asked him why he wasn't coming to church. He explained some things and how he doesn't like the ward here compared to his ward back in Mexico. He said the people weren't as united. I then had the impression to ask him about his testimony of the book of Mormon. I was thinking at that moment a lot about what President Benson taught about the Book of Mormon and how if we question the church, it usually starts with our testimony of the book of Mormon. As we asked him about his testimony he opened up a lot. He first said, "Ok so heres the thing..." I know exactly where it was going. He shared his doubts and things and we helped him resolve them and invited him to read in the book of mormon. He told us that he wants to come to church but his family doesn't so its really hard. It was a really good lesson.
Sunday: Elvira came to church again today!!!!! She is awesome! We planned to go to the Visitors center after church but things didnt work out to well so we ended up not. We dropped by our investigators and then had dinner a little earlier than usually. It was good though because the member was a little late getting out and so we were already there and it was perfect. We got to our lesson with Erika and we were planning to teach the plan of salvation. She dint do her reading so we read with her. It was really good because he helped her clear up questions she had and we helped her so the importance of knowing that the book of Mormon is true. We invited her to read and to pray. She again offered a perfect pray at the end of the lesson. She is so awesome!
After that we went to visit a guy we set an appointment with earlier in the week. We couldn’t get a hold of him so my companion didn’t want to waste time and wanted to go somewhere else. I did as we should and told him we needed to go anyway and visit him. As we did, he wasnt home but his brother was. I did the contact and asked him if he has met or seen mission like us. He said he was meeting with some this Wednesday. We cleared some things up and those were Jehovah witnesses. I asked him is we could share our message with him and I asked him what he was looking for or wanted to learn. We then related that to the restoration. He let us in and we taught him and his 4 little daughters. They all sat perfectly on the couch and listened. The 8 year old was asking us questions and was awesome! We watched the restoration DVD and then invited the father to offer a kneeling prayer. We all knelt and prayed. I was powerful to see this little family all kneeling together asking heavenly father to help them know if this message is true. We told us we could come back tomorrow!!! We visited a member that night and got to know them which was good.
This week was amazing! I can see the Lord working and I learned about the importance of following the promptings we receive and to not doubt them. I am learning so much and I am loving my mission. I am doing awesome with teaching and Spanish. I absolutely love contacting people! That may sound hard to believe but I do! I talk to everyone!
I love you family and thanks for everything. I hope to hear from you all soon!
Love you all!
Elder Hill
Concord
P.s. transfer calls are this Friday!
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