DJ - 3/25/13 -

Hola Everyone!

Well still no baptisms this month, however, we are teaching some good people. Specifically we have a family that we are teaching where one daughter is baptized, and we are teaching her sister and her mom.  Both of them have felt the spirit and love having us over, but they hesitate to say yes to baptism. We think it´s because they don´t know what their boyfriends will think about it, but we will see what happens with them this week. Otherwise it was a pretty normal week. 

Something that is interesting is seeing the Mexican/Catholic culture with Easter coming.  This week is "Semana Santa" (Holy Week) and just seeing what everyone is doing for it and the decorations has been interesting. 

That´s about everything, Nos Vemos!

-Elder D. Hill

Jordon - 3/25/13

Well, this week has been a little unusual. Some things that happened are:

-We found some fairly solid new investigators.

-Elder Niederhauser is now a zone leader.

-I saw Leif Mogren walking down the street. 

-and Jesus got bucked of by a donkey.

Perhaps these need a little explaining. I'll go in order.

 

We found some fairly solid new investigators. We were going to visit one of our investigators who we haven't really been able to get in with for a while, and we found here outside with some of her neighbors. We talked to them a little bit and were able to teach them most of the first lesson. After the lesson, we were chating with one of them, Melena, and she expressed a concern for her children. She wants to teach them good values and make sure they don't "learn from the world". She seems super interested. We had an appointment on Friday, but something came up, unexpectedly, and she had to go out of town. We'll catch her when she gets back. I love super interested people.

 

Elder Niederhauser is now a zone leader. Well, transfers are this week. I'm staying Elder Niederhauser is leaving and got a call from President Howes asking if he would be a Zone Leader. He accepted, of course. So, now I get to take over the area, and I will be receiving a new companion on Wednesday. I promise to take a picture with him, so you can see what he looks like sooner this time. You know, it's kinda interesting: I haven't had the same companion for longer than a transfer, yet. But, I'm still young in the field. This is only the end of Transfer 3 of 16 in the field. I still have time. And, if pattern should follow suit, I should be recieving a call soon saying that I'm moving to a new house. I haven't had the same house for longer than a transfer either.

 

I saw Leif Mogren walking down the street. Or, at least, it looked like him. We were driving past and I didn't have a chance to get a good look at him. Where does Leif go to school again? It wouldn't happen to be at Arizona State University, would it? If not I guess it was just an imposter. But, he looked just like him: tall, skinny, short black hair. I wish I could have gotten a better look at him. Oh, well.

 

Now for Jesus getting bucked of by a donkey. Every year for Easter the Church puts on an Easter Pagent at the Mesa Temple. It's a huge production about the life of Jesus Christ; from his birth all the way to his resurrection. Funny thing about live performances--mistakes can happen. We had an opportunity to go with a part member family this past Friday. (One of the Spanish nights, by the way.)  In the play there's a scene where Jesus rides and donkey though the town. I think it's about the time of Passover. Well, this particular night, the donkey appears to have been in a bad mood because when Jesus got on, the donkey started bucking and bucked him right off. They decided to have Jesus walk instead. Anyway, the family really liked it. The Spirit was strong. I'm glad we went.

 

That pretty much covers it.

A little something from my studies.

 

Mark 13:32-37

  32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.

  33 Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.

  34 For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.

  35 Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:

  36 Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.

  37 And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.

 

Not even the Son knoweth when he should come, so how can man? Keep ye, therefore, a constant vigil, lest ye be caught unaware at that last day.

I suppose that one day the Father will say to Jesus, "Go," and then he will.

 

Hasta la proxima semana.

Con amor,

-Elder Jordon Hill-

This is Mom -

The photo below was sent by one of the people who had Jordon and his companions over for dinner this week.  Thanks, Sr. Misiego, for sending this!

Jordon - 3-18-13 -

Hola familia. ¿Cómo están?

 

This week has been kinda slow as far as mission work goes. Most of our Appointments fell through, and many people just don't want to talk to us. Don't they realize that it would actually be more convenient for them and us if they just told us that they don't want to meet with us, rather than hiding out in they're house when we come by pretending that nobody's home? It would help us by not wasting our time stopping by, and they wouldn't have to hide. We went to this one house and as we were approaching, they were doing something outside. They saw us, and immediately ran inside the house and closed the door. We knocked, and, of course, no one answered. They're obviously not interested.

 

Other than that, there's not really much else to share.

 

I meet with the councelor again tomorrow, and a meeting with the doctor for meds seems to be in the works, although I have no proof of that. I've called Sister Leptage, the mission health consultent, about setting up an appointment with the doctor, but I never hear back from her. I'll see what's going on this week and let you know.

 

I love you all mucho. I hope you're getting along well enough without us. I enjoy hearing from you each week.

Until next time.

Con Amor,

-Elder Jordon Hill-

DJ - 3-11-13 -

Hola Everyone!

So we had a little bit more success this week! No baptisms, but we did find several potential investigators last week. Sunday at church we had 1 investigator and 9 less active members that we had visited earlier in the week come.  It was great.

In other news, the Martin Carrera ward (The church location DJ is serving in) is getting another set of missionaries today, as in there will be 2 companionships: me and Elder Butterfield, and the other missionary companionship.

Speaking of my companion, here are some pictures since everyone wants to know what he looks like.

I also gave another talk this week in sacrament. The members tell me that my Spanish has gotten a lot better over the last 2 months. 

That`s about everything. Nos Vemos!

-Elder D. Hill

Jordon - 3/11 -

Well, this week has been kinda interesting.

 

As for your request from last week, picture (below) contains a picture of my companion.

Elder Niederhouser and I have definitely been improving this week. We haven't been "fighting" nearly as much, and we've been a lot more tolerant of our differences. Of course, we still have our quarrels, but we're working through it.

  

The work's moving forward. Elder Niederhouser and I are doing what we can to bring the people of Tempe unto Christ. This past week, we found someone who was meeting with the missionaries in Mesa, but then moved out here and lost contact with the church. his name is Job. We found him, talked to him a bit, and he's interested in meeting with missionaries again. Better yet, he wants to be baptized; he just wants us to tell him what he needs to do, so he can do it. This is really exciting. We went to the Visitor's Center with him on Saturday to watch the Joeseph Smith movie. Picture (below) shows us in front of the Christus. Myself, Elder Niederhouser, Job, and the one wearing shorts is Christian, our driver for the night. Unfortunately, we got there late for our appointment because Christian got pulled over by a police officer for making a stupid driving error, so we had to stop the movie early, about where the saints are being driven from Misourri. Kind of a moot point to stop at, but it was a great experiance, none the less.

 

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Moogles (Final Fantasy)

Moogles are rather peculiar creatures. They tend to be friendly and are usually rather formal in speach. They like to make people feel welcome when they are visited, so they will usually conclude every sentence, or so, by saying, "You fit in." The unfotunate part of this is that they have a slight issue distinguishing between present and preterate tense. Cupo!

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That about covers it for this week. The Lord has many great things in store. I just know it.

I love you all very much. until next time.

Con amor,

-Elder Jordon Hill-

 

 

DJ - 3/4/13 -

Hola Everyone!

Well I´ve made it through another week in Mexico. Again we didn´t have any baptisms this week but we´re working hard and have some good investigators that will probably be baptized in the coming weeks.

One of these investigators is a Cuban lady named Rosa. We were brought to Rosa by a member that lives next door to her.  The member said she wanted Rosa to listen to us and left us at the door with her.  Rosa said she was Catholic and had no intention of changing, but after we said the opening prayer, she suddenly softened and listened to everything we said.  She even said we could come back Tuesday. Here´s hoping things keep going well.

That´s about all the news I have at the moment. it´s pretty much just the same as the last few weeks.

Nos Vemos,

-Elder Hill

Jordon - 3/4/13

Well, this week has been an experience. I'm still adjusting to the new area. I haven't quite figured out the street layout yet, but I'm recognizing names and faces now. The hardest struggle I've had to face, however, is my companion. Elder Niederhouser: good guy, great missionary, clashing personality! Each day, he and I find something else to argue about. We're working though it though. In lessons, even though our differences show, the spirit is usually with us, and the lessons turn out great. I just have to "endure to the end", I guess.

 

Yes, I met with the Councelor. It was mostly just a "see what my sittuation is" kinda visit. I told her all about my situation, and she told me her analasis; high anxiety. She gave me some tips to lower my stress, and also to help me get to sleep at night. It appears to be helping. I'm still waking up periodically throughout the night, though. I'm going to meet with her again soon for a follow up appointment. I'm also going to meet with Dr. Reeder (?) to see about putting me back on the Adderal. I'm sure that will help.

So, this morning for excersize, we decided to take a hike up what's called "A" Mountain (named such because it has a giant "A" on it). I decided to take some picures of the view. Welcome to Tempe!

 

That pretty much covers it. I'll talk to you again next week.

Con amor,

-Elder Jordon Hill-