The Week 6 Grind

 Malo Soifua!!!

This was week 6, which means it was high time for the Week 6 Grind (basically we push through hard to the end of the transfer, and we end up seeing miracles and blessings). This week was actually really good, and I saw a lot of blessings and miracles. There were a lot, but I'll list just a few here.

Miracle 1: We have a guy we're teaching that was a media referral, but he only had one question he wanted answered. He told us he wasn't interested in having multiple lessons, so we were a little sad about that. Instead of letting him just slip away, however, we answered his question using a verse from Doctrine and Covenants, which led to him having other questions (he fell for our trap mwahaha). We had our second lesson with him this week (which was a miracle in and of itself), and we explained prophets (he knows the Bible, so prophets were very familiar), and the restoration of the gospel through Joseph Smith, and he just accepted it!! He just took it in stride and said it made sense to him. We then introduced the Book of Mormon as a companion book of scripture to the Bible, and he accepted that too! He not only agreed to get the app and start reading it, but he also agreed to schedule a THIRD lesson with us!! We were definitely blessed to make this work, and I hope and pray that we can keep teaching him.

Miracle 2: We had another lesson with our friend Goldie on Thursday, and it went incredibly well. Our first lesson was really difficult and unproductive, but our last two have been amazing. She's really opened up, and she's really accepting of the gospel and doctrine that we've taught to her. At one point in the lesson, she told me that I had answered a question that she hadn't even asked yet, and the Spirit just flooded the room. The rest of our lesson was incredible, and I'm so excited to keep teaching her.

Miracle 3: We got to have an area conference with President Eyring, Elder Soares, and two other General Authorities. It was a really awesome conference, and they talked a lot about finding the blessings from covid, and keeping our optimism as we keep going in such unusual and difficult times. The miracle here is that our friend Ibrahim (a trucker by trade who struggled with coming to church in person) met us at the church building, and we watched the conference together! Afterwards he told us that he really liked the meeting, and that he learned a bit from it.

Miracle 4: Another miracle from the area conference was that our friend Vanity, her boyfriend, and her son all watched the conference together. We asked her about 40 minutes before the meeting started if she was going to be able to join us, and she said, "Yeah. I'm watching it right now." Elder Checketts and I looked at each other in confusion, and I pulled up the link for the broadcast. Apparently, the Tabernacle Choir was being played for about an hour before the meeting. We realized that she and her family watched the choir for 40 minutes, and then proceeded to watch the hour-long area conference. We asked her what she thought of the meeting, and she said that of all the things in that meeting, she loved the choir part the most. She said that she and her son loved the beautiful music.

On Saturday, we had another exchange with the Zone Leader. I got to go to Brooklyn with Elder Holley, the ZL, for the day, and I had a wonderful time. I learned a lot from him, and I figured some things out about my mission. This week our mission is starting a 40 day mission fast, and Elder Holley and I discussed at great length what we each are going to fast for, both individually and in our companionships. It has been really interesting for me to do exchanges with other missionaries because I've found that collectively, we know a whole lot of stuff, but individually we don't know much. Exchanges are cool because we share and teach and learn and grow together, even though Elder Holley's been out for nineteen months as compared to my two.

Mafaufauga Faaleagaga:

In our area conference, one sister from the Relief Society General Presidency talked about how some of the Nephites in 3 Nephi moved north, and had to learn to combine their old ways of life to their new ways that they developed in living in a very different environment. She talked about how once covid ends, we will all have to combine the way we used to before covid with the way we learned to live during covid. That stuck out to me. I've thought a lot about how our world will "go back to normal" after the pandemic ends, and I've realized that we can never fully go back to the way that we were. Our lives have all been changed forever (and for the better, I think), and we will have to keep adapting and learning and growing as the world changes around us.

Our mission is doing a mission fast to refocus and gain the spiritual power we need to more fully preach the gospel and invite others to come unto Christ. During our discussion, Elder Holley said, "I've been out on my mission for 19 months, and these old bones can feel that this fast could unlock your potential as a missionary." I'm not gonna lie, I felt the Spirit then and there, and it gave me chills. I hadn't fully realized that this fast could drive me towards fully becoming the missionary and disciple that God not only needs me to be but knows I can become. That's a little wack, but It's also more exciting than I could ever possibly describe.

God is good, and the work moves forward. The Week 6 Grind is real, and it really does bring blessings. Also this week were transfers, but neither Elder Checketts or I are leaving, so not much to report on that (other than that Elder Palmer, our District Lord, is going home. May he rip in peace).

Alofa tele atu ia outou uma lava,

Elder Hill

Photos:

I enjoyed the nice sunset backdrop

We saw our first house with Christmas lights  

We are going to start doing some service for this nice lady named Wendy at her food pantry

Elder Checketts and I have too much fun sometimes 😂😎