So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish

Malo Soifua!!!

Today on the season finale of the Elder Hill Show:

 ** Had a cool finding miracle on Tuesday (exhausting, but good)

 ** Couple quick snippets (American man, parking lot, fire alarm x2, Inwood)

 ** Had my departing interview with Pres 😭

 ** That's all folks.... (See bottom for info on my homecoming talk)

On Tuesday we had set a finding goal of 10, and we had about five or six hours of finding time, so we felt confident we could hit it. But like last week on Saturday, we started slow and couldn't find almost anyone. We had made the promise that we wouldn't go home until we found ten new people, and so we stayed on the streets for hours. We changed finding places a couple hours in, and then we contacted in the second place for hours. All in all almost 8 hours (we had no other appointments that day). When light finally faded and we had to go home for the night, we were frustrated because we only had found 9 people. We got home and started calling some of our friends who previously expressed interest, and the VERY FIRST guy that we called answered his phone, and we ended up teaching him a little over the phone. Cool miracle. And THEN, in reporting and doing a final count of all of our finds, we realized we actually HAD found ten on the street, and the phone find was number 11. Miracles and tender mercies to be sure.

Also we saw this guy in a big ol' jeep with a big American flag on it blasting "God's Country" and I thought it was awesome haha. Definitely made my day.

On Wednesday we went to this really big mall parking lot to go contacting there. We used to go there all the time before they kicked us out. Elder Jensen had never been there before, and it had been a few months, so we gave it another shot. We had some success....right up until we got kicked out again haha. The security guys are chill so there wasn't a problem. We'll just have to find somewhere else to find.

On Thursday very early in the morning our apartment building's fire alarm went off again. That's the third time this transfer. Fun times...

The fire alarm went off AGAIN Thurs night. It was the second time that day, and it was right in the middle of a meeting I had haha.

On Friday we went to Inwood for my interview with Pres (read more below) and we got some epic pizza from a spot a few blocks over. There were tons of Latinos everywhere, loud music, busy streets, fire hydrants spraying water into the street (we counted three), the works. It was a nice little touch of the city for me haha.

Mafaufauga faaleagaga: I had my departing interview with Pres Holmes on Friday, and it was such a powerful experience. He said a prayer to begin the meeting, and the Spirit just poured into the room. Not gonna lie, I almost burst into tears at how much love I felt from Pres Holmes and from my Heavenly Father. Pres Holmes share some wise council, and we talked for a little bit. The most touching thing for me was him telling me that he was proud of me, and that the Lord accepted my labor. That may sound self serving or conceited (OK, maybe it is), but it was something I had worried about and really needed to hear. It was an incredible experience that I can't and shouldn't try to put all to words, but it was something I hope I never forget.

Well,  folks, we finally made it. After months and transfers and miracles everyday, this is my last time writing as a full-time missionary.

Alofa tele lava atu ia outou uma mo taimi uma [Much love to you all forever],

Elder Hill

P.S. I'll be reporting on my experiences on Sunday, Aug 28th at 12pm (noon), and I'd love to see you all there!

2740 S Lindsay Rd, Gilbert, AZ 85296

[Zoom link for meeting -- join around 12:20 PM Arizona time] https://zoom.us/j/96024666430

Ata:

 - Week 6 Zone Leadership Call pic

 - Cool pics from around White Plains (2 of cool buildings etc, 2 of cool paintings in the works)

 - Cool wall art of the Cross County Center, a big mall we found at a lot until they kicked us out (politely) a couple times 😬😂 

 - Wall of Pres Holmes' office with some really cool art (the big middle one of Christ looking at Manhattan was made by a returned missionary, a few years ago)

 - Pretty forest drive from Inwood back to Westchester 

 - Departing pic with Ronnie (middle), a great member, and Bossman (right), a friend we're teaching

Link to Elder Hill's Homecoming Meeting 8/28

Elder Hill will speak in church on Sunday, August 28th.  The meeting begins at 12:00 PM (Arizona time, Mountain Standard Time), but the Zoom stream will begin at about 12:15 or 12:20.  We don't know yet if Jacob is the first or last speaker.  Also, the Hill family will sing during the program.

Here's the Zoom link:

https://zoom.us/j/96024666430

Church address:  2740 S Lindsay Rd, Gilbert, AZ 85295

The Big One Hundo

Malo Soifua!!!

Today on the Elder Hill Show:

 ** This is my 100th email....crazy stuff

 ** Learned a lot about humility and miracles this week

 ** Church was absolutely nuts for us, but it all worked out swell 👌

 ** I gave two departing testimonies on Sunday, so that was.....fun (I attached a recording of one of 'em at the bottom)

Holy cow, where does the time go?? This is my 100th email as a missionary, and I only have one more to go. It's so crazy that my last full week as a missionary begins tomorrow. My brain is still in full denial of that reality, so we'll see how this goes haha. 

Our week went pretty well. We were pretty behind on our finding goal by the time the weekend rolled around, so we set a daily finding goal on Friday of about 10. We had some reliable spots picked out and roughly 6 hours of finding time, so we weren't too concerned. Well as fate (God) would have it, finding went poorly for the first bit. The first area we picked had been good before at a similar time, but that day it was dead. We went to our backup area and there were lots of people, but no one wanted to come to church or talk with us. 

By 4:30 or so, we'd only found 3. And by "we" I mean Elder Jensen found three. I was getting a little discouraged, but I decided to just start praying and asking for help. We're told to expect miracles, and I decided to give it a shot. I prayed that despite the grueling heat (Friday was a brutal day with the weather), people would want to talk to us. I made the resolve that I would not stop talking to people until one of three things happened: 1. I found one person, 2. Elder Jensen found 10 people, or 3. The clock hits 7:30 and we have to stop for a lesson at that time. Well as time passed my comp found two more, putting us at 5 total. By 5pm we regrouped and redoubled our efforts. My prayer changed to "Heavenly Father, I'm not having any success right now, but Elder Jensen is. Please help him find more people to teach." 

By the time 6:30 rolled around, we were both incredibly tired. Elder Jensen walked over to me and told me that he'd found a total of ELEVEN people (including 7 in about 30 minutes). It was an a amazing miracle, and it taught me a lot about faith and humility. As soon as I let go and let God do His thing, everything fell into place. 

In other news, Church was wild for us. We had a lot of people confirm that they were coming on Friday and Saturday. But as these things tend to go, most of them either didn't answer or cancelled on Sunday morning. A few said they would try, so we kept our hopes up, but we didn't see any of our friends show up. A couple times during the meeting, we got texts or calls from our friends regarding church, so we were in and out if the chapel sporadically, calling and texting and waiting to see if anyone else would come. After sacrament meeting ended, we discovered that not one but TWO of our friends had come in during the meeting and sat in the back! We talked with them and got them situated for the second hour. 

During Sunday school we again kept checking our phone and texting with another friend who told us she was on her way (very late) but was currently lost. We ended up walking down the street two bus stops to get her and walking back to the church with her. She was able to sit in the back of the Spanish branch's sacrament service, so that worked out. My comp and I were very tired physically and mentally, but we hit our goal and had three friends come to church, so that was epic. Miracles indeed.

Also on Sunday I gave two departing testimonies. The first was in sacrament meeting. I was guessing I'd be asked to speak at some point anyway, so I jumped the gun and gave my departing testimony a week early haha.

Sunday night was our weekly zoom with the whole mission, and I was the first one picked to share my departing testimony with the whole mission. I had a lot of emotions going during both, and it was so surreal. I felt so much love for others (and from God to myself) and gratitude for all the amazing blessings I've been given. I won't say too much because I'm saving some of that for my homecoming on Aug 28th hehe (spoiler alert)

Mafaufauga faaleagaga: I'll just attach my departing testimony I gave to the mission at the end for y'all to listen to.

Alofa tele lava atu ia outou uma,

Elder Hill

Ata:

 - A few pics from our trip to Manhattan last pday

 - Cool flower wall thing in White Plains

 - Sick matte black Maserati

 - Elder Jensen personal studying 😂

 - Elder Jensen with a spoon on his face

 - Wore masks for the first time in a while and I absolutely hated it 😭😂

 - Still frame of a funny video we made of me figuring out I'm going home

 - Amazing hot dog restaurant called Dog Den with FANTASTIC hot dogs (and punny signs hehe)

Click Here for Elder Hill's Departing Testimony

Go Big Or Go Home (....Why Not Both?)

Malo Soifua!!!

Today on the Elder Hill Show:

 ** JEAN GOT BAPTIZED!!! (#allgod)

 ** Also our mission set a new record for baptisms with 148!!!! (#alsoallgod)

 ** Went on exchanges and it was super good (might be my last exchange ever 😭)

 ** Got free pizza twice this week so that was hype (literally the best cheese pizza I've ever had in my entire life)

 ** Going to Manhattan for P-Day les goooooo (again for one of the last times)

 ** God is good. It's really that simple, yet so profound

JEAN GOT BAPTIZED!!!!! It was touch and go for a little bit in the middle of the week, but it all worked out right at the end. Literally so many miracles happened this week, and I know for a fact that God was involved in it. She didn't text us back at all on Thursday, which was incredibly stressful. On Friday morning she finally got back to us and we were able to set up her baptismal interview. She passed it on Friday night, and from there we had a mad scramble to finalize the details of the baptism for the very next day. A few brothers from the ward came, and it was a small, cozy service. I got the privilege of baptizing her, and it was a great experience. She came to our sacrament meeting today, and Elder Jensen confirmed her. All in all a very irregular and hectic week, but it all worked out alright in the end.

And yeah our mission went absolutely bonkers and baptized a total of 148 people in the month of July. It was absolutely incredible, and we really saw the hand of the Lord in all our work. Of special note for me was the fact that the Westchester zone has been infamous for only having 5 baptisms a month (the "famous five"). Well this month our DISTRICT had SIX and the zone had THIRTEEN. Truly a marvelous work and a wonder. I'm honestly just in awe if the incredible things God has done here in our mission, and even now we're still just getting going. Pres Holmes is convinced we can break 200, and I'm inclined to agree. 

I got to go on an exchange with Elder Pack, the District Leader in the New Rochelle district. Normally two DLs don't go on an exchange together (not illegal, just uncommon), but we made an exception of sorts. This is Elder Pack's second transfer as a DL, so I shared some tips, tricks, and advice about the assignment. We did some good work that day, and we had a great time together. We had a good pillow-talk with laughs and some heart to heart. It was a great experience for both of us, and it's a huge help for us DLs to feel more unified and together in all that we do in supporting our zone together. Good stuff. I did this same thing two transfers ago with Elder Carter when he was a new DL is New Rochelle, do we just repeated the process again, and the results were again quite superb I would say.

In other news, Elder Jensen and I got free pizza twice this week. We're tight with Arianno, the owner of Via Garibaldi's near our apartment, and he keeps giving us free pizzas, and they're sooooo good haha. Easily the best cheese pizza I've ever had.

Today for P-Day we're going to Manhattan as a district. Sister Holmes reserves "Manhattan P-days" for social occasions and big achievements, and we finally have a doozy. Reaching our district baptism goal for the month was one, and we hit SIX (again, all God). We also crushed all the rest of our district goals for the month, so that was hype. To ice that cake, I'm going home soon, and Sister Thomas in our district is going to her original assignment in the Netherlands at the end of the transfer, so neither of us will ever get to go to Manhattan again (as missionaries, anyway). Needless to say, Sister Holmes had to say yes, haha. We're taking the Metro North railroad to get down there, which I've never done before, so that'll be fun. I'll share some pics of our shenanigans next email (which will be my next-to-last one, btw)

Mafaufauga faaleagaga: During my exchange with Elder Pack, he asked me to describe my mission in three words. I hmm'ed and hawed, and I complained that it was impossible to contain two years worth of incredible and extraordinary experiences into three words haha. I finally received a small burst of inspiration, and I said, "Three words: God is good." He asked me to explain it, and I did. To make a long story short, God is just so good to me. I never thought I would be here in NYC, but I would never prefer anywhere else. I've grown in so many amazing and uncomfortable ways, and I've honestly loved almost every bit of it. I've experienced miracles in my life, and I've witnessed miracles in the lives of others. God is just so good. I can't really say it any better than that. My testimony of this church and this truth has grown stronger, and, perhaps more importantly, my conviction to God and to Jesus Christ has grown and strengthened. I love this church, and I love my Savior. I really, really do. With less than 20 days left to wear His name on my chest, I've been overcome with gratitude for the amazing things that I got to experience and be a part of.

It's really that simple. God is good.

Alofa tele lava atu ia outou uma,

Elder Hill

Ata:

 - Jean doesn't like pictures taken of her, so we just took a selfie by the baptismal font and pretended she was there lol

 - Dope collage of the Manhattan temple made of the names of the 148 people who were baptized 

 - There was a rock concert on the street on Tuesday that absolutely wrecked our finding time 😂 (good music though)

 - Our homie Arianno (owner of Via Garibaldi's in White Plains) hooked us up with the best cheese pizza I've ever had in my entire life

 - It's hard to see, but this Audi is absolutely COVERED in glitter and glam and it's atrocious

 - "Color the Dale"

 - Me 'n my new lion homie 

 - We made a temple out of raisin boxes and hand sanitizers while at service 

 - Cool old murals in Port Chester 

Elder Hill's Homecoming Details

Elder Jacob Hill will return home from his mission on Wednesday, August 17th.  He will speak in church on Sunday, August 28th, at 12:00 PM.  Location:  church building at 2740 S. Lindsay Rd, Gilbert, AZ.

Expect The Miracles ('Nuff Said)

Malo Soifua!!!

Today on the Elder Hill Show:

 ** God is literally so good 

 ** One of the funniest things that's ever happened to me happened this week 

 ** HUGE miracles with our friend Jean!! (But she needs some serious prayers, y'all)

This week went really well. Definitely had some ups and downs, but hey, that's life folks. We did have some epic ups this week though, so here's a couple for the collection.

First, a really funny experience. We were street contacting, and I was standing near the corner of the street with two crosswalks extending out across the intersecting roads (standard street corner). A middle-aged white lady was crossing one of the crosswalks and stopped to cross the other. I did my normal thing and said hi and invited her to church, but she didn't even look at me. Just nothing. I was like "so....church? No? Alright" and turned to go. Right then she looked at me and says "you really shouldn't be harassing people like that. You really need to stop." It caught me totally off guard and I kinda was like "uhhhh, okay. Have a great day" (note, I never got closer than six or seven feet away from her, so I was super confused about where she thought the harassment was coming from).

I put it out of my mind and turned to walk away as she crossed the street. A few steps away, these two black teenagers walk up to me and go "hey man are you alright? We saw that lady harassing you. You good bro?" Not gonna lie....that absolutely made my day haha. I fist bumped them both and said thanks but I was good, and we all went on our merry ways. Funny as it was for me, I do recognize it as a tender mercy that I was pulled so quickly from that weird sad feeling that came from such negative feelings. God looks out for us.

Second, a hype miracle with our friend Jean. She's been taught basically everything before by many many different missionaries. Finally however, she's starting to fit it all together and understand it better (I give God the credit on that one). We had a lesson on Friday that lasted 90 minutes, but it was SO GOOD. We were able to really resolve concerns she had and invite her to make a change in her life. She finally accepted a baptismal invitation! Even more crazy, IT'S FOR THIS SATURDAY!!! We're already frantically putting everything together to make it work out for this week. 

In addition to agreeing to be baptized, Jean figured out two super important things without us really having to do much:

1. Her friends that just give her anti may not be the best of friends (all baptism really does is make you a better person, and if they don't want you to become better.....)

2. A lot of her personal objections or concerns are based in her not wanting to relinquish control of her life. Basically she realized that she needs to be more humble and willing to submit to God (that one was incredible to me because I had been praying to know how to help her, and this thought of pride and humility came to me, but she told us about it before I even brought it up)

So many cool things are happening with her, but she DEFINITELY needs prayers. Everyone PLEASE pray for Jean that she can keep the WoW and feel comfortable with everything before Saturday so she can be baptized. I really appreciate all y'all's help .

Third, speaking of baptisms, our mission is on track to set another mission record for baptisms in a month. As of last night we were at 112 out of our goal of 130, and the last week of the month is always packed. Each zone is still on track to hit their goals, and a couple zones (including Westchester actually) are already above their goals. Side note: the Westchester zone has gotten an even 5 baptisms every month since like December, which is good but also annoying because we want more. Well we finally beat the "famous five" and currently have had 9 baptisms, with a couple more set for this weekend! God has been pouring out blessings and mercies on us, and it's been amazing to see how much this area has grown.

Mafaufauga faaleagaga: Nothing comes to mind for this, so just think spiritual thoughts haha. The church is true. God loves you. Christ is real. The Book of Mormon is true. 'Nuff said.

Alofa tele lava atu ia outou uma,

Elder Hill

Ata:

 - Cool really big apartment building

 - Our area book app updated to allow you to change the colors of events etc, and Elder Jensen is having waayyy too much fun with it

 - Cool artwork on an electrical box

 - Janky truck from the brand Rivian (apparently it's a newer brand that's not very big yet)

 - Shake Shack with Elder Jensen (btw Shake Shack costs entirely too much) 

 - Cheesin' for the Zoom

 - Zone & Mission goals + actuals 

No Regrets

Malo Soifua!!!

Today on the Elder Hill Show:

 ** Our district is so close to absolutely DEMOLISHING our baptism goal for this month, but we need PRAYERS 

 ** We went to a hospital to visit a branch president from the Syracuse area

 ** The fire alarm went off AGAIN during the night

 ** We had Zone Conference on Thursday, and it was super good (except for when I have a departing testimony 😫)

 ** I have literally no regrets about serving a mission

First and foremost, I need all hands on deck and all knees in the floor these next two weeks. We currently have 6 or 7 people in our district who are preparing for baptism this week and next week, and we want to make sure they ALL get there. A couple of them, a mother and son, literally just ran into some major complications, and they're supposed to be baptized on Thursday. Please please PLEASE pray for Shay, Dallas, Liz, Analise, Cynthia, Paul, and Riz. I'll let y'all know how it goes in my next weekly.

Anyways, here's what happened last week (the exciting stuff anyway)

On Wednesday we got a call from a guy who introduced himself as the branch president of a branch upstate near Syracuse. He had been flown by helicopter to a hospital near is to get work done on his pacemaker. He asked if we could swing by for just a moment and say hi as well as drop off a BoM and something to mark it with. We went over there (coincidentally had a perfect spot in our schedule to go) and talked for a few minutes with him. He was a pretty co guy, and we had a good conversation about missions and post-mission life etc. We gave him the BoM and took a picture (see below) so he could show them to his nurse haha. We'll see if he sends us any referrals.

On one night last week, the fire alarm in our building went off at 1:30 in the morning. Well, it happened again Thursday at about 4 or 4:30 AM. It was resolved faster than the other one, but it was still annoying. The worst part was that Thursday was also our day for Zone Conference, and we were hoping to get some good sleep before then haha. Fugeddabouttit. 

Zone Conference was still really good. We had some fuego trainings on really finding the needs of the people we teach and then focusing every lesson, every commitment every everything on meeting that need so they'll feel the change and power of the gospel. Pres Holmes dropped knowledge about the Fall and how we needed an Atonement BADLY if we were to have any hope in this life. He really hit home how essential the Atonement of Jesus Christ is, and how vital it is that we help our friends access it through baptism. It was a great meeting, and I loved every bit of it.

At the end we had departing testimonies, and I (along with four or five others) got to bear my testimony and say a couple words. It was a surreal experience, but the Spirit was powerful. I'm still in absolute denial about going home haha, so that's always fun.

Mafaufauga faaleagaga: We had dinner with some members last night, and it was awesome. They have a HUGE house and they made way good food. The dad is the ward mission leader, so we know him pretty well, but it was nice to meet his wife and youngest son. Because his son Jonathan is 13, Bro Clay (the dad) asked him if he had any questions for us about missionary work. He thought about it and he asked what the hardest thing was about it. He added "other than homesickness, I guess". That struck me, and that's what I mentioned first. Honestly? I never felt homesick. Maybe for a couple hours or for a day here or there, but never seriously and never for very long at all. I just got so wrapped up in this work and this place and these people that it was never really a problem for me. I admitted to Jonathan that there have been many many times where I've missed something from home, some activity or aspect or whatever, but like I said to him I'll say to whoever reads these words:

I have NO REGRETS about serving a mission. Zero. None. Nothing in this world would be a good enough reason for me to not have served, or to have given up and come home. I know it may not be the same for everyone, but for me this is so true. I'm not a perfect missionary, and I can't even say that I always have my perfect effort, but I know that I always had a perfect desire. I always wanted to be here, and nothing could have prevented me from it.

Alofa tele lava atu ia outou uma,

Elder Hill

Ata:

 - Pic with Pres Jones at the hospital

 - One of Pres Holmes' slides showing positives and negatives of the Fall and how the Atonement turns it all positive 

 - Pics after ZC with my comp Elder Jensen (guy with matching tie), Elder Anderson (the blond elder with yellow tie, I honestly don't know him at all but he served in this area a year ago), and Elder Wall (we were comps a year ago in Manhattan, and we both have departing testimonies at ZC. Afterwards we just sat and reminisced about how much we'd both changed since then)

 - A screenshot of a senior missionary sending us a picture he took of us stuck in a Bible bash 🤣 (we got out of it relatively quickly though, don't worry)

 - Video:  Meeting the firefighters..... AGAIN