5/19/14 - DJ

Hola Everyone!

So this week was cool. On Wednesday we found some new people to teach. We just aren't sure what we will be able to do with them.  First is Rose, she is currently visiting her mom and grandma. Rose is from Kansas City and has lived there for the last 40 years. Her grandma has Alzheimer and it seems like the mom might be starting to get it too. We've helped Rose with some family problems by talking about the Plan of Salvation and making sure we keep an eye on "the Big Picture."  It was funny because she kept switching into English, and neither my companion nor the member that was with us speak much English, so I had to translate when she would do this. It was even funnier because it didn't register with me she was speaking English.  I understood what she was saying and didn't notice the language [change]. What made me notice is when everyone was looking at me to find out what she said.  It was good practice for me to translate as we were talking and made for an interesting lesson. 

Axel is progressing rapidly; making lots of friends and learning and applying what he is learning. No great stories about him, but he is gaining a strong testimony very quickly.

That's all for this week. Nos Vemos!

-Elder Hill

5/19/14 - Jordon

Well, this week was eventful. Not so much for Investigators as much as for us.

One of our investigators, Janet, is doing rather well. She has had some health problems recently, so getting to church has been a bit of a hassle. But, that does give her plenty of opportunity to read. In our last lesson with her, we asked what she thought of the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith, and the Church. Her response: She believes the Book of Mormon to be the word of God, Joseph Smith was a prophet, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the true church of Christ restored to the earth. That's amazing!  She wants to be baptized. Now we're just working on a date. More to come soon.

Guess what happened to me this past Saturday...My tire blew out.(see attached pictures) On Wednesday, we were riding along and my tire made a noise, so I stopped to inspect it. There was a bit of an s-bend in the tire. So, I took apart the wheel, and put it back together, and it looked fine. The next morning, as we were leaving the house, my tire was flat, so I pumped it up. The next morning, same thing. And, the same thing Saturday morning, too. Well, as we were inside visiting with a member family, it decided to give. I had a feeling it was coming, but I didn't know when. Thankfully, it was on  Saturday and not Sunday. Rest assured, I now have a working back tire and tube.

 

 

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I forgot to mention something. Last week, one of our members took us out to Lunch. As we were talking, he asked what we wanted to do for a career when we got back. Naturally, as I've done so many times before on my mission, I told him I was looking at getting into Voice Acting. We talked a bit more about it, and then he did something I was not ready for. He told me that he has a friend, whose daughter happens to work for Nickelodeon. He then gave me his friend' phone number and told me to call him after I'm home from the mission. I'm not certain how I feel about this. This might help represent how I feel inside: Does that help? We'll see how that turns out in a few months.

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That's about it for this week. Until next time.

Con amor,

-Elder Jordon Hill-

5/12/14 - DJ

Hola Everyone!

To start, HAPPY MOTHERS DAY! It was Saturday here in Mexico. It was Saturday (it's always May 10th), but up there in the US, it was yesterday. But since I don't write until Mondays, I'm saying it today to all the mothers out there reading this.

Ok, next we had a good week. First, we have a new investigator named Axel. His friend who lives a couple areas away from us introduced him to the church and got in touch with us to start teaching him. He is fantastic! He loves everything and asks questions when he has them. He came to church yesterday and to the ward Family Home Evening we had last night.  His only concern is how his family will deal with it once he's baptized, so we're teaching him in the chapel for now.  He's making friends fast with the ward members and so it should be great.

Speaking of the FHE, it went really well. We had a lot of ward members as well as some investigators (including Axel) and several less active members. My companion taught a good lesson about Lehi's Dream (for those reading that don't know what I'm talking about, it's a vision found in the Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi chapter 8. Check it out!) after I shared some Magic tricks with spiritual lessons attached. (Dad, people really liked when I taught about the importance of Prophets with the 3 card monte trick. thanks for sending me that one for christmas.) then some other ward members organized a game of charades.

that's about all for now. Nos Vemos!

-Elder D Hill

5/12/14 - Jordon

Well, this I pretty much told home about how things are going here in my call home yesterday, but I'll talk about it for those not involved with the call.

 

We have a few investigators across the spectrum as far as progression is concerned.One doesn't want to meet with us until she reads the whole Book of Mormon, and we can't sway her otherwise. Another is fairly interested, but has difficulty in meeting with us because she has some health issues (it also makes it difficult for her to come to church on a regular basis). And, our last one Is really interested and wants to be baptized in June. However, her father is causing issues, and we can't meet with her until either her father gives the go ahead or the girl turns 18, which happens to be next Thursday (the 24th). But, we're guessing her turning 18 will not solve the problem. All we can do for her at this point is wait. We hope this pans out alright.

 

We had a bit of a miracle happen the other day. We were on our way to visit one of our members, semi-on a whim, not in the area that we had planned to go to. On our way there, however, a lady (Monica) flagged us down and wanted to talk. She told us that her grandfather had passed away recently, and she wanted us to give her and her son a blessing. I figured out that she wasn't looking for a Priesthood blessing, but instead was thinking of a prayer asking for comfort. We happily did so. She was very grateful for the prayer. We talk for a bit afterward, and she said that she had gotten help from the missionaries a few times before. We gave her our number so she could call us if she needed any more help. It seems like she might have some potential for teaching. I'm glad we were able to help out.

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On Monday we got together as a zone and played Chess. I know what your thinking...Chess? Yes, chess. But what made this special was that we made it lifesize, using Missionaries as the pieces. It was a lot of fun. We brought some props to fight each other with, including foam swords, a Nerf gun, and light-sabers. I used my pointer, semi as a dagger, but mostly as a wand. And, I also brought this (see attached picture). I got a little creative. I took a wooden dowel, duct taped a tennis ball to the end, and wrapped it in some blue fabric. I think it looks kinda cool. a little like a scepter perhaps.

 

 

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That about covers it for this week. Until next time.

Con amor,

-Elder Jordon Hill-

5/8/14 - DJ

Making use of the fact that I was asked to come back to the offices to help for a little bit, we had another earthquake. This one was less but felt bigger. Everyone is safe. I'm healthy. and everything seems fine here.

Love you,

-Elder D Hill

5/5/14 - Jordon

Well, this week was a decent surprise.

 

Transfers, as you know, were on Wednesday, and I was transfered. I didn't go very far though. Just to the Stake above me. But, now I'm really confused. My first English area covered what's called "Little Mexico", last area I was District Leader over the Spanish Branch, but this area doesn't really have anything to do with Spanish. Alright, that's not really true. There are actually a lot of Hispanics that live in our area. We've been riding around, and as we pass certain houses, I'd see it and remember having gone there before. I'm sure there's a purpose for my being here.

 

My new companion is Elder Meyers. (See attached) He's been out for a few transfers now. He's a great missionary, and we have a lot in common as far as interests are concerned. The funny part is that we swapped companions at transfers. I came to his area, and his companion came to where I was with Elder Jewkes. hehe.

 

 

Oh, by the way, I'm the only Spanish missionary in a zone of 20. "Dare to stand alone."

 

Other than that, not a whole lot of news.

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By the way, I finished Pokémon Trainer. (See below) It was hard. Meganium should hopfully be easier.

 

 

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You remember the toppling terror of the Tempe Tower, but now there is one greater. Behold, I give you the grandure of the Great Gilbert Garrison! MUAHAHAHA!!! (See below.)

 

 

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And, not to be out done, few weeks ago, I found a mutilated Cheez-it. Here are some pictures. (See below)

 

 

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That's all for this week. Zone Conference on Wednesday. That'll be fun. Until next time.

Con amor,

-Elder Jordon Hill-

5/5/14 - DJ

Hola Everyone!

So I've survived my first week out of the offices. This week has been pretty great. I forgot how much fun it is going to a new area. There is the typical chaos that comes with trying to quickly learn your area, the members, and learning to work with your companion (Elder Rodriguez is awesome by the way), but I forgot how much fun it is to mess with the members with the truth. To clarify, there are some questions that always come up the first time we meet members: where are you from? how much time do you have in the mission? How old are you? With this last one I ask how old they think I am? If they don't know I've got 19 months in the mission, they guess 19-20. If they do, they guess 21-22; to which the response is "higher". Their eyes go wide at 23, and they don't believe anything higher than 25.  Once we assure them that I'm 27, their jaws drop. My companion (who just turned 19 in January) loves it.  It's fun.

 

Elder Rodriguez

 

On a more spiritual note, we found a great investigator this last week. His name is Edgar. We were looking for members who haven't been to church in a long while and knocked on his door.  After he told us that the people we were looking for don't live there anymore, we started talking to him about God and his beliefs. He told us that he was searching for the truth, but it's just so hard with all the different religions out there. He was kind of partial to one religion because the pastor had been nice to him and invited him, but they kinda had a falling out over some things. After reviewing some of our beliefs we set up an appointment to come back on Saturday when he had more time (we talked in his door for half an hour!) When we came back on Saturday he was waiting for us outside his door and was excited for us to come in and talk to him. The lesson from there went great! He asks lots of questions which I love because it keeps me from falling into a pattern when I teach, And he likes to read, so we'll see how much of the Book of Mormon he reads by our next lesson. (He read the entire pamphlet on the Restoration including the questions in the back between Thursday and Saturday.)

That's the excitement here. For those wondering: Yes, I'm enjoying myself;  No, I don't miss being in the offices (though I do miss having a computer every day) The stress level is so much lower in the field that it wouldn't be worth it to me to go back to the offices, even for the computer. 

Oh, and it Hailed last Thursday.

Hasta Luego!

-Elder D Hill