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
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