"Yes, the Chocolate Milk Really Is That Good"

 Talofa lava!!!

These past few days have been absolutely crazy, to say the least. I've settled into the daily grind of the home MTC pretty well, and I'm suuuuper excited to keep working with these fantastic faife'au tala'i (missionaries). Before I jump in, I'll do a bit of housecleaning, etc. Muamua (First), my p-day in the MTC is on Saturday, so that's when these letters will be written. Lona lua (Second), I can to receive emails etc to my mission email and private/direct messages to my Facebook Messenger, but I will not respond until p-day (so plan accordingly). Seki, here we go.

Wednesday was the first official day for the Samoan at-home MTC in the United States. I learned that right now there is only one district of Samoan missionaries in the Provo MTC, which has exactly nine elders. Yep, there are all of nine elders that make up the entire Samoan district for the United States. Chee hoo. Our district has only one sister, Sis Long, and she's one of the teachers, so that doesn't really count. My district contains my good self, Elder Kauer (who's from my own Allen Ranch ward), Elder Brown (my soa/companion, who USED to be from the Allen Ranch ward), and Elders Prince, Mckrola, Tenney, Aloisio, Blackham, and Wilson. Two of us live in Arizona, two in Colorado, two in Utah, one in Idaho, one in Nevada, and one in Washington. It's a real party. Our teachers, Uso (means brother) Tepa, Gardiner, Reese, and Sis Long also live who knows where, so we're having a great time connecting over Zoom and studying together. We had one class that day (a kinda first-day-of-school-type gig), and then had a workshop later in the day. This workshop was with over 400 other elders and sisters from around the world who were also starting their online MTC experience that same day. One of the speakers, Elder Kelly Mills, talked at length about the blessings and the change that we'll experience on our missions. He shared a number of amazing conversion stories for both members and non-members who drastically changed their lives by going on a mission. He ended with, "Do you want to be happy? Do you want to find yourself? It starts today. Elders and Sisters...welcome to the work." The whole audience exploded in excited energy. A couple of elders even said in the chat, "Can I leave for my mission like right now???" It was so awesome to see and be a part of 400+ missionaries all riding the spiritual high into our MTC.

Wednesday night our stake Relief Society had a dinner for all of the missionaries in our stake district (again all elders, go figure). After that, we got to hear from Pres and Sis LeSueur, the Provo MTC mission president and wife. They live in Gilbert, and they came personally to talk to our district, and it was so cool. They talked at length about being good disciples of Christ, and how that would bless us even further on our missions. Pres LeSueur also spoke about how when Christ said "as I have loved you, love one another" he was commanding his apostles and disciples (the entire missionary force at the time) to love each other specifically, as that would help bring the spirit into their daily lives. It was a great lesson, and I really hope I get to hear from them again. (For the record, in response to a question about the Provo MTC chocolate milk, Pres LeSueur said "Yes, the chocolate milk really is that good. I've seen plenty of weight gain in the MTC from the chocolate milk alone." Truly an inspired man, haha.)

Thursday and Friday were full days of missionary study and work. With a few hours of study in the morning, a three-hour class at 11am, and another three hour class at 4pm, it's a multiple full days' worth of work crammed into 16 hours a day, and it's amazing. Each night I go to bed exhausted but immensely satisfied with what I've accomplished. Our classes vary between classes on missionary work and classes studying Gagana Samoa [Samoan language]. Each class is three hours long, and they're packed with spiritual content and understanding that just blows the mind. At this point I think I might have the most Samoan memorized or understood (thanks to the Malolo family and the Embark app), but we'll see how long that actually lasts haha.

Also on Thursday the home-MTC elders in my stake met at the church to play basketball. It was a great time, and we had a lot of fun. I actually rolled my ankle or something like that during a game, so I sat our for the rest of. By the next game I was feeling okay on my feet, just a little tender, so I got up to play again (we switched from full-court to half-court so I wouldn't have to run). I then (somehow) proceeded to destroy the competition, scoring five or six shots (100% shooting after the injury), a couple good rebounds, a couple good drives, and a beautiful block. I found it kinda really funny that I managed to play one of the best games of my life AFTER injuring my ankle. But hey, it is what it is.

My Samoan is coming along pretty well already. I feel incredibly blessed to have had the pre-MTC training and other help that I did, because it's really paying off now. I can already feel the blessing of the Gift of Tongues (Meaalofa o Gagana). The first scripture we learned, and now one of my favorites because of all of my experiences and blessings related to it, is Moronae 10:5:

"Ma o le mana o le Agaga Pa'ia e mafai ona 'outou iloa 'ai le moni 'o mea uma lava." Or, to the palagi, "And by the power of the Holy Ghost, ye may know the truth of all things."

I testify that this is true, and that if we are faithful and worthy, and look to the Lord for the help that we need, we will be blessed by the power of Christ and his Holy Spirit.

I can't wait to continue learning, studying, and growing. The Lord has something great in store for me, and for everyone, and I'm beyond excited to know what it is.

Alofa atu 'outou (love y'all)

Elder Hill

Pictures:

• La'u itu o le siteki, ma 'o Peresitene LeSueur ma 'o lona ava (my stake district, and Pres LeSueur and his wife)
• Lua Elder Hill (two Elder Hills)
• La'u MTC (My MTC)
• La'u itu (my district)