Sushi and Revelation

Family and friends,

On Tuesday night, I had a wonderful experience, which was a gift from God! I finally got to visit in person with a man and his wife whom we've been teaching, and it was a Spirit-filled time. The woman is a member already, but the man is not. He ended up arguing for some incorrect things that he believes; but sadly, his argument had many holes, so I was able to dissect his argument easily. I was filled with the Spirit, to the point of overflowing, and I saw by Him exactly how to lay it all out before him. He ignored it, though, and he rejected what we said, but I saw the miracle in myself. Many people rejected even the miracle of the raising of Lazarus, but that didn't change the glory and reality of the miracle. I feel the same way about my inspiration, and I'm so grateful for what the Lord continues to do for me. It's been a long time since I've felt like that, and I love it because it makes me feel so powerful, like I could do anything. My mind is always so chaotic and noisy, but whenever the Spirit comes in I can always feel a marked difference, like a smothering, beautiful calmness, or an overflowing channel of light straight from Heaven. I love it.

For dinner on Thursday, we went to a local sushi buffet to celebrate Elder Murdock reaching his one year mark! It was pretty good food, and it was extremely filling. Elder Linford wasn't able to stomach all of his, so I ended up eating all of my 18 sushi bits and probably over a half dozen more from his plate. I was feeling completely full for the rest of the day.

Yesterday morning it got down to 34°F, and I awoke to SNOW ON THE GROUND. I commented on it excitedly in the zone chat, and you can see the funny response in the attached screenshot. You can also find pictures attached of the snow. That was my first time experiencing snow at my actual residence, as opposed to visiting Utah in December to see it, or something. I'm happy we're getting back to this part of the year, at last.

The last thing I want to say is that I have once again received a renewed testimony that what I am doing is right. I know I am on the right path. God has blessed me so much that I will never owe Him one modicum less than everything I have, and even after giving everything to Him I will still be indebted forever. And that's a joyous thing for me. He is good.

Love,

Elder Hill

Fotos: LA NIEVE, el sushi, cuando voté, y algunas fotos de otros lugares lindos por acá.

I AM FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

 Friends and family,

This week was exciting, mainly for one incredible reason: um... actually, I'll mention it a bit later.

[Suspense kills the audience.]

Dangit, suspense! We talked about this!

...Anyway, first off, Mom, in your email you asked me if I have had the chance to go back to Winter Quarters since the first day when I arrived in Nebraska. Sadly, I have not. I also don't think the visitors center is open right now, so we would only really be able to visit the grounds of the Temple if we were to go. But honestly, that would be worth the trip. Maybe I'll do it sometime soon!

Now, there was something amazing I forgot to mention last week: on Conference Saturday, Amy Barron was baptized in Grand Island. This is significant. I'll tell you why. I taught her from the start, and she has been golden the whole time! She was baptized within only about five weeks! She had moved to Grand Island without preparation, due to some emergency I don't remember, and she ended up in a homeless shelter because for a while she had no job or connections or friends. One day, soon after moving in, she saw an ad on Facebook from one of our missionary pages, and she requested a visit from the missionaries. We called her up, and she said she had just moved, and was looking for a church to join! Those were her words! She drank up everything we discussed, and was baptized, as I said. And, the most unique thing about it all? She was the first person baptized in this mission who was found through our current virus-spurred Facebook initiative!!! Sure, she was baptized after I left, but I don't care! I'm so happy for her and her progress, and for being so ready that she took the title as the first successful "Facebook baptism" in this mission!

Now, for the moment you've all been waiting for... [hopes there's still someone left alive in the audience to appreciate the grand reveal] ... WE ARE NOW ALLOWED TO MEET IN PEOPLE'S HOMES. President Ence announced it to the mission on Saturday morning.

You have to see this from my perspective. I had been teaching in person from January 2019 through mid-March 2020; and then I was stuck inside, then sent home, and then I simmered down for six weeks in Arizona. Then I came back out, and the current normal was to do lessons on video calls. That was normal. The past seemed so far away that I basically forgot the joy of my previous missionary life of meeting people face to face.

Then, last night, we met with Hno. Taboada in person, in his house. He is a hardworking man who was separated firmly from his family by country boundaries closing, with his family still in Colombia; but he calls them EVERY night to talk with them, read a chapter of the Book of Mormon, and pray. He is a good example of faith and diligence in these hard times. He even has no furniture in his living room, so we sat on the floor together, but all three of us left his apartment buzzing because we were so excited to be able to be with people physically, again! It was like an itch that we had ignored long enough to forget about it... but then it was suddenly scratched. My companion Elder Murdock explained it well when he said that it gave him renewed hope. I finally got to associate closely with someone who wasn't a missionary -- a revolutionary new concept, indeed!

THAT is what characterized my week. The lesson was short, sweet, and energizing. I loved it.

But one more uber-important thing happened, too:  Jacob Hill, Elder Hill the Younger, left his Home MTC early today for the mission field in the New York, New York City mission. His first area is in Staten Island, and he will still be learning Samoan in a trio, with one companion learning Mandarin and the other learning Italian. What a diverse companionship!

"And it came to pass... that they separated themselves and departed one from another, trusting in the Lord that they should meet again at the close of their harvest; for they supposed that great was the work which they had undertaken" (Alma 17:13).

God speed, my friend. I'll see you in two.

With much love,

   and a new energy for the work,

Elder Hill the Elder

Fotos: el bautismo de Amy, la lección con el Hno. Taboada anoche, un buen ejemplo de las calles locas de esta ciudad, yo con mi Blizzard (para festejar el cumpleaños de Rosalie, obvio), Taco Bell después de la reunión de distrito esta semana, yo mirando adentro de un cañón en un cementerio, el Presidente Ence un auto desde atrás (es asombroso, ¿no?), Y yo, resplandeciendo por la luz de la ventana.

Conference Fast

 Family and friends,

This week was very long, because I was waiting for General Conference so anxiously. I was blown away by the first session on Saturday, by all the teachings on personal progression, being prepared, and that the end is VERY near. I was frankly shocked at times by the directness of their pronouncements. NOW IS THE TIME! We have to prepare!

Elder Linford's mom sent us a huge tray of cinnamon rolls and cookies on Friday for Conference, and we still haven't finished it, even though the Elders upstairs came down to watch the sessions with us (which made five of us) - there was a LOT. I'm not complaining.

On Saturday night, I started a fast I had planned to do to receive inspiration in the Sunday sessions.  

I certainly was blessed on Sunday, and I am pleased with what I got out of it. I received many more revelations and thoughts on things to improve, sometimes unrelated to what I was hearing or even thinking at the time; but I know that God was guiding me.

Now, to repeat what I said on a Facebook post yesterday, I want you all to know that if you think there were no "changes" in this Conference, you are one hundred percent wrong. One hundred percent. Ever since the first session, I had the recurring thought, "What more can He say than to you He hath said?" - a line from the hymn, "How Firm a Foundation". I testify that all the direction we need to survive spiritually in these next few months has been given to us in the past couple of days, and that if we look for the guidance of the prophets in everything we do, we will grow to understand it. The most important "change" from the Conference should be our own beginnings of fuller obedience to the Lord, and giving closer attention to the Spirit's whisperings. Let the Lord lead you from morning to night, day after day, and from one year to another, forever. I'm VERY slowly learning to do that, myself, and it is a process that has brought the most vast joy imaginable. It is a deep pleasure I feel in knowing beyond doubt that God is pleased with me. It's not that I'm perfect, but God accepts my efforts. That is true joy.

God is good.

Love,

Elder Hill

Fotos:  yo siendo un nerd (los días que llevo en la misión y los días que me quedan, los dos en el día 1 de octubre, divididos por 3, ¡eran números primos!). (This part says, "Me being a nerd (the days I have been on the mission and the days I have left, both on October 1, divided by 3, were prime numbers!)"

un amiguito, mirando la conferencia.

Also, from Ben's mother:  A sister in Ben's Grand Island ward sent us a paper copy of the Sunday paper from a couple of weeks ago, with the article about the missionaries helping so much with local service groups.  I like the headline on this print version much better.  The online headline read, "They weren't supposed to be here."  

Sickness, Financial Emergency, and Revelation

Family and friends,

I am very tired, mostly due to lethargy. On Saturday, Elder Murdock came down with something that made him sleep for the entire day, and as he had the SIM card in the companionship we got very little work done, and Elder Linford and I didn't find motivation to do much that day. That cloud of lethargy stayed into Sunday, but we managed to get a bit more dine because Elder Murdock was actually awake: he had recovered by the end of Saturday. We had some lessons planned for yesterevening, but every one of them said they wanted to do it another day instead, so we lost a lot of our work. But this week should be better, because I found a way to contact the people who only have addresses listed in Area Book: delivering letters to them. Even though we can now teach anyone outside their house, we are still prohibited from knocking doors, even to contact people with existing records; so we have to get creative, and though it's very simple, I have high hope that it will yield some small fruit. I pray it will.

Last Tuesday, we managed to help a realtor bail a man out of a financial emergency. To make an extremely long, sad story very much shorter, this man had no education to speak of and was selling his house for no reason, despite his having no house to move into and having a wife and two children. Then, he did everything completely wrong in the process of selling his house and he found himself on Tuesday (the day before closing) in an absolute pickle, having done nothing the realtor had suggested. We became involved in all this because this is a man we were teaching, and we were also translating between him and the realtor, because neither knew the other's language. Messy. In short, the realtor loaned them some money to pay off some stuff, and proceeded to work his tail off to save this man's financial life. All we did was translate and get his possessions into the moving van, but the realtor - bless his good, good heart - was constantly working and sacrificing to fix things for him. Things ended up turning out well, by a miracle, and the sale was closed. I still don't know why this man sold his house in the first place, but at least he didn't financially die doing it. Now he's living in a hotel, and he says he bought a car, and... all three of us Elders know he will be broke soon, but there us nothing we can possibly do about it. I'm just praying for yet another miracle for this man, because I don't want his family living on the street. They are in a sorry situation, but I pray God will have mercy on them.

I have been receiving revelation on many, many things I am to do when I get home, and others I am to leave behind; and that makes me happy, because I know what God wants from me when I get home. But for now I am content to keep praying as fervently as I can to know of ways to serve here effectively. I know I say this a lot, but I mean it every time: God is so good to me.

Love,

Elder Hill the Elder

Fotos: nuestro video de introducción en la Rama Río Vista; un folleto en el apartamento en el idioma de Burma, Karen;  ¿no parece él casi igual al Elder Thornton, mi último compañero en Argentina?; Elder Murdock demostrando su amor; y la reunión de zona que tuvimos esta semana.

"You Really Ought to Give Iowa a Try"

 Family and friends,

As of today, it is 79 days until I return home again. I could have sworn that yesterday it was 83, and I especially could have sworn that the day before it was over a hundred days left! Time is flying, and I'll be flying soon enough. Meanwhile, I am enjoying my time here.

Life here in Omaha has been interesting. I now work in a Spanish branch called Rio Vista. I thought things were bad in Grand Island with four companionships to a ward; but here we also have four companionships, all for the same miniscule branch. We make up about 30-40% of the Sunday attendance, and about 70-80% of the priesthood of the branch.

This branch is the result of a division of an old ward, which divided into two branches; our branch has maybe fifty members in total, counting people who attend and those who do not - thus, we as missionaries step on each other's feet VERY much. Each companionship simply has a list of about seven members to whom we minister, and that's what we do, whenever we can manage to get hold of them. We also teach investigators, though, and we even found someone new to teach yesterday! Her name is Sandra, and we plan to meet with her on Saturday in person and perhaps teach the rest of her family, too! We are pretty excited for her.

Now, I will take a moment to tell you about the streets here in Omaha: they are devil spawn. I don't know who was the genius who designed the traffic flow and the street system, but I think he was too genius for us mortals to comprehend any bit of his work. Where I live is close to downtown, and there are so many freeways that they are all in a gargantuan, disgusting tangle.  There are also so many one-way streets that I get lost easily -- I wholeheartedly abhor one-way streets; and far too few of the streets are in any kind of grid system. I miss the Phoenix area: there, even though the downtown has one-way streets and I hate it, it's at least a grid system throughout. But this is not fun. It honestly, literally, physiologically gives me stress driving here, especially when my companions get on my case for not knowing how to get to a certain place - which is SO easy not to know because of the obscene tangle.  [And because he has only been there for 5 days by now.] I am certainly not one of them, prideful enough never to ask for directions or use Google Maps. We actually got lost the very first day on our way home from the mission offices, because the one companion who knows the area gave me very bad directions, and STILL they don't like looking up directions. I will never be one of those who is ashamed of using directions -- particularly because I won't be the one getting lost.

One day this past week, I ended up missing the correct freeway interchange and going a moment longer. We continued onto a long bridge with water below, and at that point Google said, "Welcome to Iowa". That was pretty funny, I think, but it also illustrates well how compact and confusing everything is: one missed turn on any given day, and I will end up back in Iowa.

But to finish, I want to inform you all that I have felt so strongly that I really am putting on the armor of God, now. I can feel the protection of each piece beginning to take effect, and it gives me real joy.

"Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Ephesians 6:13-17).

I love especially the imagery of the sword of the Spirit, which is used both to attack and defend. When used correctly, the Spirit is a tool of both justice and mercy, always perfectly in accordance with God's will --  rebuking when the Spirit indicates, and afterward showing an increase of love. It is beautiful to me.

Love,

Elder Hill, Senior

Fotos: una pintura como si fuera de Minecraft; el sol atrás de las nubes al atardecer; y los Élderes de Río Vista 1; y mi relación familiar con una Hermana Wilcock en este distrito [and also with his companion Elder Linford].

Jeopardy, Baptisms, and Surprise Transfers

 Family and friends,

This week was a roller coaster, truly. We made it on the front page of the Grand Island Independent Sunday paper yesterday, we had two baptisms in the district this past weekend, and we were having a grand ol' time. I even blew away the competition in Bible Jeopardy on Thursday, in case any of you didn't see it. And, the thing I personally am most proud of, we even made an incredible introduction video for all eight of us missionaries in Grand Island, modeled after the intro for the show Family Matters. See the link below. It was SOOOOO fun to make, and very satisfying to see completed.

Then transfers hit. And I'm leaving.

This is exceedingly confusing on many, many levels. Firstly, I was a district leader and a trainer, which I thought would keep me here for at least one more transfer; second, Elder King, my co-trainer, already left three weeks ago, so I naturally presumed that I would stay for longer to compensate, maybe even until the end of my mission in three months. As it stands now, Elder Crowley will have lost both of his mission "dads" in the same transfer - I guess we just REALLY needed some milk, you know? Enough for it to require both dads to get some... But also, the Elder who will replace me is Elder Duffy. Sound familiar, perhaps? It's because that is the same Elder who took my place last transfer. He is a zone leader in Lincoln, as I write this, and tomorrow he will be a district leader in Grand Island. He just can't stay away from me! He was also only a leader of that zone for a single transfer, which is strange. And Elder Harwood, my previous companion in Lincoln, will now receive his fourth companion in his four transfers in this mission. That is so weird! In my letter to President Ence today, I expressed my confusion to him, and he even responded and expressed the same right back! He had planned to have me in Grand Island for longer, but instead he was inspired to move me. Thus, instead of me leaving my trainer after one transfer, as I did in Argentina, I'm leaving my trainee after only one transfer. What goes around come around, right? Weird times to be living in, these are.

But I also take consolation in what President told me, because that means that, insomuch as he would have kept me there but I was moved regardless, that means that there was indeed inspiration involved, and I am grateful for all that God still does for me to guide me to where I am needed. I know that this is His work, and He can place His instruments where He wants them. Thus, I am going to.... [cue drum roll]... Omaha! I will be in the Rio Vista ward. I don't know where that is, but I know I am needed there. God is so good to me.

Love,

Elder Hill

Fotos: Elder Crowley siendo Elder Crowley; yo en un campo de maíz; y también yo esta mañana, luego de peinarme - estuve bueno, pero en verdad no me gustó.

Also see the newspaper article below Elder Hill's video and pictures.

                              This is the Grand Island Missionaries video

[Ben told us last Friday night that the interviews for the following article had taken place that day, and that the photography was to be the following day as they worked at a Habitat for Humanity project.  Ben wasn't at that project, so isn't in those pictures, but is in a picture taken at a local church's supper event (in the picture with sister missionaries carrying boxes -- he's kind of behind the tree, and he's wearing a black tie.)  The article appeared on the front page of the Sunday edition, 13 September 2020.]

In-Person Meetings, and Eating Jalapeños

 Family and friends,

This week was also a bit hard. It has been a bit more difficult to keep my spirits up, but I'm making it through with God by my side. I am truly grateful for everything He always does for me.

This weekend, we visited the State Fair here in Grand Island for a bit, and it was a cool time!  See the picture taken in the huge cattle barn.  We plan to return today to explore it more thoroughly, as time did not permit, last time. But there was a burger place called Cactus Jack's, which was the typical place to go at the fair. I got the most spicy burger there, the "Ragin' Cajun", which is described as follows: "A spicy Cajun blackened burger smothered in pepperjack cheese, jalapeños, jalapeño crisps and our sriracha aioli". It was not actually nearly as spicy as I had been expecting, but it was most certainly a very tasty burger. And the best part? I didn't pay for it! A member appeared out of nowhere and ordered us to use his credit card to pay for all eight of us who were there. What a kind man! And even as we waited in line, another member of the ward found us and tried to hand Elder Crowley a $100 bill, but we convinced him not to because someone else was already paying for it. We felt very loved.

Speaking of spicy foods, though, all eight of us in Grand Island were together for dinner on Wednesday night, and we each ate a jalapeño, all at once. It was quite the experience. I'll leave it at that, and just send you the video. Good times.  [Note from Ben's mom:  the video is way too big to include, so let me just say that almost everyone was in great distress.  Ben was stoic, but still in pain.  One elder kept eating jalapeños until there were no more on the table.  😀😀😀]

Last Saturday, we heard from our mission president that our restrictions are now loosened a tiny bit! The only difference now is that we can meet with people in person, as long as it is outside their house. We already could meet with them at the Church, but now we can meet there as well as anywhere outside any other building. It's a step forward. We're excited to begin meeting people in person again, even though we have nearly nobody to teach but members.

In the end, I want to reiterate that I know God lives, and that He is still so good to me. I love my life, and I am glad I have a few more weeks of being a missionary before December.

Love,

Elder Hill

Fotos: muchos servicios que hicimos, comiendo jalapeños, los misioneros de Grand Island en las festividades, y yo extendiendo mis alas.