Ring In the Christ

Family and friends,

As this year ends, I am completely astounded at how quickly it has flown by. I am so overjoyed to be able to stay here in Argentina for another year, but I miss you all, as well. Thank you for making home a place where I want to be, and thank you for the support that so many of you have shown me from all the way over there.

Elder Ericksen and I obliterated our record of highest number of people contacted in a week, getting 215 where the previous record was 134. A great way to end the year. And 215 is perfect because the hymn "Ring Out, Wild Bells" is a hymn for the New Year, and it's number 215 in the Church's hymnal. That may or may not have been intentional.

Honestly, I don't have much more to say, just that I love you all, and I miss you, but I am also happy where I am. Thanks be to God for a wonderful year that has given me a clean heart and pure hands.

With endless love,

Elder Hill

"As gentle as feathers, the snow piles high.

Our world gets rewritten and retraced every time.

Like fresh plates and clean slates, our future is white;

New Year's resolutions will reset tonight."

 - "Snow", Sleeping At Last

"Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,

The flying cloud, the frosty light:

The year is dying in the night;

Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

"Ring out the old, ring in the new,

Ring, happy bells, across the snow:

The year is going, let him go;

Ring out the false, ring in the true.

"Ring out the grief that saps the mind

For those that here we see no more;

Ring out the feud of rich and poor,

Ring in redress to all mankind.

"Ring out a slowly dying cause,

And ancient forms of party strife;

Ring in the nobler modes of life,

With sweeter manners, purer laws.

"Ring out the want, the care, the sin,

The faithless coldness of the times;

Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes

But ring the fuller minstrel in.

"Ring out false pride in place and blood,

The civic slander and the spite;

Ring in the love of truth and right,

Ring in the common love of good.

"Ring out old shapes of foul disease;

Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;

Ring out the thousand wars of old,

Ring in the thousand years of peace.

"Ring in the valiant man and free,

The larger heart, the kindlier hand;

Ring out the darkness of the land,

Ring in the Christ that is to be."

 - "In Memoriam", Alfred Lord Tennyson

Fotos:

• Con Elder Jones en Alvear, 24 de diciembre
• Festejando la Navidad
• Un otro cubo que me compré (un Skewb)
• Un Gear Cube que me compré
• Una sandía que llevé en mi bici; pesa 12 kilos
• La Luna al lado de Venus

Mosaically Obedient Dyslexic Woman Evades Leprous Gringo

Family and friends,

Thank you all who sent your holiday wishes! I really appreciate it a lot. Also, happy anniversary to my dear parents and to Shirley and Forrest! ¡Felicidades!

This week, a couple of funny things happened which are worthy of mention. Firstly, I made the stupid mistake of making a smoothie with loads of fruit and two entire lemons in it, including the rind. It was terrible. But hey, at least it fixed any bad breath I may have had. There was also a moment when Elder Ericksen somehow used children as a measurement of time, referring to duration of marriage, which was really funny because it doesn't make sense. His parents are about the same age as mine, but they only have four children, and the way he said it made it logically sound to say that my parents are more than twice as married as his. That was extremely funny to me.

The last funny thing I'll mention is what the title references: Mosaically obedient dyslexic woman evades leprous gringo. We have been complaining too much as a companionship about how illogical and rude everyone is, so we made it a goal to give everyone a stupid excuse to lighten the mood. One day this week, an older woman completely rejected even the card that I offered as a free gift, just waving me off and passing by. I was a bit bummed, because it bothers me when people do that, for obvious reasons. But then we developed one of the silliest possible arguments for her behavior: she obeys the law of Moses and therefore avoids lepers, they being unclean; she obviously misread my intention, so she's obviously dyslexic because she didn't read correctly, and thought I was a leper, so she completely passed me by without a second glance, because she misread my actions and thought me unclean. Hence, the newspaper heading: Mosaically Obedient Dyslexic Woman Evades Leprous Gringo. I'm really happy with it. Good for you, Jewish lady.

I had the opportunity to work in a hospital this Friday with Zona San Rafael, singing hymns for the people in the morning and then returning in the afternoon to play with little kids to help them pass the time enjoyably. The second half of that was honestly one of the best times I've had in my mission, because I love children so much. See pictures. We also sang hymns in the morning in Kilómetro 0, the center of the city, and it seemed a lot of people appreciated it. It was a good day, and I was very happy.

I have also been thinking of a children's song recently called "I'll Give Him My Heart", and I think it describes well what I want to give for Christmas. With all my heart, I want to give everything to Christ, but you all already know how exceedingly difficult that is. But just know that I know that Christ was born for us to be a perfect sacrifice, by His own choice. I really know it. I am so immensely grateful for Him, and I testify of Him to you all. Have a very merry Christmas, all, and know that God and His Son love you all infinitely. A good shepherd cares for his sheep; would not The Good Shepherd care for His sheep even better? and would He not care even more perfectly for His children? I know He would, and He does.

Love,

Elder Hill

Enviaré fotos en la Navidad

Tuvimos un bautismo!

Friends and family,

I performed my second live baptism this past Saturday, and I am nearly as happy as Beatriz always is. Seriously, she is always absolutely bubbly with energy and happiness, and it is extremely impressive. She will do good things for this ward. See attached fotos.

Also, last night we attended the setting apart of the bishop's son as a missionary (which they invited the whole ward to), and it was a great experience, short and sweet. It seemed that the new missionary and his parents appreciated our presence, which made me feel good.

We also had our missionary Christmas this past Tuesday in Mendoza Centro, and it was great! We were counseled a bit on being better disciples, especially because all rules are going away with the new missionary guidebook that we will be receiving soon. I am really excited for that change because I want to obey high standards because they're mine, not because I have to. But I know this will be a challenge for everyone, nonetheless, probably especially for the mission president. He said that when the mission presidents heard in their own conference about it that there would be no more rules, all of them keeled over backwards, nearly dying of fright. But I feel like it's the right thing, and I am glad that God trusts us enough to give us this freedom.

From that conference we received gifts! We got Christmas hats and stockings and heaps of candy and alfajores, which I obviously ate all of in two days. We also did a gift trade between the missionaries, in which we simply put all the gifts on a table and we filed by picking one out of the pile for ourselves. I got a couple of little keychains that I really like. One is an onyx heart that says "San Luis" on it, which is one of the provinces in our mission. I was also very surprised by a package that Elder Ericksen received from his parents that had a gift in it for "Elder E's companion"! It was a pair of Christmas socks and a tiny travel chess game, though I traded that for Elder Ericksen's travel Battleship because I already have travel chess. But it was a very joyous time.

Honestly, I am very happy this week, and I am so glad to be out here. I am far away from so many people I love so much, but I find myself with no regrets. I would not change it for anything. And, the most surprising, I am already halfway done! As Elder Ericksen told me, they say that the mission lasts a year and five minutes. I've gotten past the year, and now I officially have only five minutes left. I'll be home soon enough. Know that I love you all immensely, but I am happier where I am, for now.

With much love,

Elder Hill

Fotos:

Élder Avila, mi primer compañero (se va a la casa después de este traslado)

Élder Mazzeo, mi segundo compañero

Élder Cardozo, mi tercer compañero

Élder Becerra, mi cuarto compañero (también se va a la casa después de este traslado); apariencia de visita por Élder Stinger

Élder Ericksen, mi compañero quinto y actual

Élderes Ricks y Steck

Mi regalo

También mi regalo

Noodle + Nutella = Noodtella

Abominación

Con Beatriz Quiroga

Beatriz, otra vez

Our BUS broke down

Family and friends, salaam,

Our week started well with us inflating our bike tires at a service station while singing out the song Take On Me, which is really popular here. A man nearby heard us and laughed, asking if we were performing for money. Then we also talked with an investigator who had never come to church after weeks of teaching him, and we had planned to throw him under the BUS (break-up speech) to explain to him that we couldn't keep visiting him if he didn't do his part. But in the middle of the lesson I felt the Spirit tell me we were being too impatient, so instead we invited him to be baptized. In other words, our BUS broke down. He even came to church yesterday, which was a true miracle! He understands the requirements of baptism, and he is willing to fulfill it all. Frankly, we were shocked.

The week even ended well, despite the fact that we were going to have a baptism yesterday but then didn't because someone had left the sprinklers on overnight; we had no baptism solely because we had no water in the pipes with which to fill the font. That was stressful, especially when one person started telling us we should have filled the font last night, even though he didn't have anything to do with the planning. Then another woman got all over our case because we didn't have refreshments for the baptism, and also because we didn't tell her about the baptism and thus she didn't bring a cake as she always does for baptisms. A couple of things: first, she's the bishop's wife, so she could have heard it from him; second, it was announced last week in sacrament meeting but she was not in attendance. And, even more confusing than anything else, why was she angry at us for not planning for the highly unnecessary "necessity" of refreshments?! But whatever, I'll restrain myself from killing more small kittens to vent my anger. (I don't actually do that, mind you; it's a joke.)

But, the coolest part of my week, or at least the part I am most proud of, was when I rode my bike with no hands. I have learned how to do that very well, recently, and it has helped me very much in taking notes on important things as I travel. But on Saturday, we were visiting an area very far to the south of Balloffet, a district called Cuadro Benegas, which technically is not even a part of San Rafael (hence, its being a district), and on our way back along the highway I began riding without hands. I rode for a couple of kilometers without hands until we came to a bridge which crossed one side of the split Río Diamante to enter San Rafael, and I continued onto and past the bridge without hands. I kept riding the bumpy, uneven road past La Isla ("Isla" because it's made an island by the split river), the neighborhood of San Rafael that is farthest away, and I continued through a lucky green light without hands. I went onto the other bridge to cross the other half of the Río Diamante, and I made it all the way to the end of that bridge, too, without having touched my handlebars for any reason for multiple kilometers. I made it up the ramp that was at the end of the bike bridge to get back up to street level, still with no hands. Then I crashed into a cement pole. It was amazing. I was not injured in any way, nor was the bike, but it was so incredibly awesome. I have ascended.

But yeah, this week was crazy, and I loved it a lot. Tomorrow, we will have the mission conference in which we will learn about the new mission handbook as well as what will happen for Christmas. I am really excited, especially for the new handbook! I want to see the changes that were made. But I know that, whatever the changes may be, I will be in the best hands, under the best law, which are God's hands and God's law.

With much love,

Elder Hill

Fotos:
Soy tan pobre
Nuestro Thanksgiving
Jazz hands
Somos swoldiers
Evolución del "heel-click" con las Hermanas de Malargüe que terminaron sus misiones
Una "Franken-pizza" con queso, arroz, salchichas, pescado, ananá (piña), y salsa de ají

Otra Franken-pizza con Doritos encima de las otras cosas, menos ananá

Un lugar que vende "chaps"; Inglaterra estaría animado
"Elaborado y envasado por: Poo Alimentos"; no quiero mi salsa de ají con materia fecal

My, how the turn-tables have table-turned

Friends and family,

This week was amazing. I saw God's hand very clearly, and I know better than ever before that I am His servant here. I felt so much power, boldness, and authority, which felt very good. One example is when we were visiting with Sergio yesterday. He was having a terrible day and blaming it all on his wife, and even in our presence was haranguing her continually. Note that she had just given birth to a new baby a couple days before, but he was still incredibly wound-up. But he said not one evil word against us, and at one point, I made him realize that I am younger than she is, but he respects me more than he respects her. That seemed to go over his head, and he continued blaming her. In short, he was in a state of deep depression and was also drinking a bit of alcohol, so I understand his struggle, but at last I had had enough. I cut him off and told him if he said one more word against her, we would leave immediately. At that point, he went silent, boquiabierto ("open-mouthed", or dumbstruck). I begged him to pray, and as he started, I felt his depressed facade crack open and his real, humble spirit began to bleed out. It was such a relieving ending to that highly stressful experience. I saw God work in him right in front of my eyes, and also felt Him working within me. I am so blessed.

But I also wanted to mention something funny that Elder Ericksen has told me that his previous companion told him: we need to have tact when talking about the Plan of Salvation within the context of a deceased family member. An example he gave was that if a baby has died in the family, this is what you should not do, by any means (obviously exaggerated, but it proves a point): "We are so sorry to hear about your dead baby; it is so sad and hard to have a baby die, like yours did. But we have a very special message for you about what happens to dead babies after they die, as dead babies do, and we know that your dead baby, though dead, will be in a good place, because God loves the babies who die like your did, because you told us your baby died." Et cetera, et cetera, etc., etc., et cetera. That's bad. But it's also hilarious to me, just because it's so incredibly lacking of tact. Don't worry, Mom, I promise I won't ever teach like that.

But just know, all, that I am very well. We are working hard, and I am absolutely loving it!

Hurrah for Israel!

Love,

Elder Hill

Fotos de Valle Grande: