Roller Coasters

Malo soifua!!!

So this week was absolutely wack. There were a bunch of weird and exciting twists and turns, and plenty of ups and downs. Here are the select highlights:

First of, moving. We are probably going to be moving around this weekend or next week. If you are planning on sending me something, please hold off for about a week (I'd hate for it to get to my house after I've moved out).

Exchanges, but wack: So we had exchanges with the Spanish 2 Elders this past Tuesday. I was with Elder Covey (who's actually the ZL, so that's fun), and Elder Kelly went with Elder Van, the DL. We split up, but ended up meeting back at the church as we ate our respective lunches we had picked up from nearby spots. As we were eating, Elder Kelley and I got a call form Sister Teuscher. We answer, and she asks us to pick up an Elder Koster from Brooklyn. His comp/trainer Elder Sorenson had to go home rather abruptly for medical reasons, so we had to help them figure things out. Elder Van and Kelley drove to Brooklyn to pick up Elder Koster and bring him back to our area for the day as well as drive Elder Sorenson to the airport. While they were off having adventures, I was with Elder Covey in the Spanish pool, trying to remember what little Spanish I could while he talked with members and had lessons etc. It was actually a lot of fun (and we got food from a nice Spanish sister in the ward), and the day ended pretty well.

At one point Elder Covey and I had a lesson with our friend Qeonna, who is actually in my pool, but Elders Kelley and Van were driving in BK, so I took care of it. During the lesson, we're teaching her about the Sacrament and how we always need to remember Christ, and she's loving every bit of it. Acting on inspiration, Elder Covey begins talking about how we can remember Christ through baptism. I clutched at my heart because this was literally our second call with her, and we hadn't even mentioned Joseph Smith or the BoM yet. But as we were talking, the Spirit came, and it was a really good lesson. She eventually just said at one point "I want to be baptized." I was so surprised I literally forgot how to speak, but luckily Elder Covey was there to keep talking with her. She's not on bap date or anything, but she has a strong desire to follow Christ, and I'm super excited to keep working with her.

Back to the snafu with Elder Koster. The next day he was still with us, and we were working on managing two different pools of people, lessons, meetings, etc, so that was fun. At about 7pm on Wed, Pres Teuscher calls us to let us know that he found a new comp for Elder Koster. We immediately packed him up again and took him back to Brooklyn where he met up with Elder Wood, who actually flew to NYC with me (we had a fun little reunion). Very crazy, but very fun.

A Baptismal Date! (maybe?): Speaking of Baptismal dates, I actually did have the opportunity to invite our friend Carolyn to be baptized! We had given her a BoM last Sunday when she came to church, and she read the first five or six chapters before we even asked her to! We answered some of her questions, and we were having awesome lessons with her. On  Thursday, we taught about the Gospel of Jesus Christ (which I have affectionately abbreviated to "GoJesus"), and she loved it. I invited her to be baptized, and she accepted! We set her baptism for February 14th, and we promised her just oodles and oodles of blessings.

And then...

The next morning she texted us and said that she's not sure about it anymore. We tried responding but she said she had something come up for work. She then proceeded to stop responding to any call or text (I think her phone was turned off). We've been praying hard for her, and we're trying to reconnect with her to see if there's anything we can do to help. Hopefully we can help ease her concerns  and answer her questions. She super awesome and super sweet, and I really hope she chooses to stay. Any prayers for us and for her would be much appreciated.

District P-Day: We decided to go to Rab's Bowling Lanes as a district and play a couple games. I ended scoring the most points in both games, so that was fun haha. It was a lot of fun, and we all had a great time. The best part was definitely Sister Yan learning how to bowl for the first time. She's a sweet little sister missionary from China, and she had never bowled before. We showed her how, and she went on to do better than at least two elders. She hit pins almost every single time, and we were all in shock and laughing our heads off at her surprise when the ball hit the pins each time. It was a great time, and I really enjoyed it. 

Guys, God is so good. Despite the hard times that are in every week, there are SO MANY blessings to be found. 

"Even the smallest lights shine in the dark. The only way not to see them is to close your eyes." 

Alofa tele lava atu ia outou, 

Elder Hill 

Photos:

• We got some snow! It melted within an hour, but it was fun
• Samoan language-practice call with Elder Vernon and Sister Kiri Chamberlain (probly the only native Samoan speaker on the East Coast) 
• Our exciting Tuesday exchange (L to R: Elders Kelley, Hill, Covey, Van, and Koster)
• District P-Day at Rab's Bowling (L to R, top row: Elders Farr, Fuller, Hill, and Kelley, Sisters Freeman and Yan. Front row: Elders Van and Covey)

Apartment Shopping

Malo Soifua!!!

This week was pretty fun. And by pretty fun I mean really long and really tiring. Not because we were super busy every single day, mind you, but because of the exact opposite. We had only about seven lessons this week, which is not very many in case you didn't know, and we spent a lot of time trying to find new people. We had a few really long/slow days, but we pushed through, and we were able to see some success for our work (#IslandGrind).

The highlight of our week was probably when Elder Kelley and I went shopping for apartments on Wednesday. The house/apartment we're currently living in being sold, and they're going to close pretty soon. As a result of this, the Housing Coordinators in our mission and the Assistants to the President (APs) have been working on trying to find a new place of residency for us to move into. Normally, the Housing Coordinators, Elder and Sis Spanos, would go and view all of the prospects for new housing. The only problem is that they are currently serving in the NYC Mission remotely. They are still living in their home in Ogden, Utah. As a result of this, the APs messaged Elder Kelley and me and asked us to go view the apartments ourselves!

So there we were, walking into a very nice apartment complex on the North Shore of the Island, and we stopped to admire all of the wonders of modern architecture. A leasing agent met us there, and she showed us a few different apartment options that were up for sale. We settled on a "larger one-bed plan", but we didn't officially agree to buy it. We still had another appointment a few miles away for another housing option. We drove down there, met the realtor at the front door, and she showed us around the apartment. She also showed us a video of a third option, and she described a fourth one that would be hitting the market in a few days. With all of these options and pictures and questions, Elder Kelley and I went back to our car and discussed our findings for about half an hour before making a formal report to our APs and our housing broker who works with the mission.

If all goes well, we should be moving in a week or two, I believe. And if we get the apartment that Elder Kelley and I like the most, we should be getting a dishwasher and a washer and dryer!! I never realized just how nice it is to have those amenities until I had to hand wash all of the dishes and take all of our dirty clothes to a laundromat on P-Days.

Other than that, my week was pretty uneventful. We had a fun little temple devo here in the Brooklyn Stake. The Sake president and Pres Teuscher both spoke, and we watched a virtual tour of the Rome temple with Elders Bednar and Rasband. It was really cool, and the Rome temple is really beautiful. But yeah, the work goes forward. Elder Kelley and I are kind of revamping our pool, and I'm excited to see where life takes us. #IslandGind #FloodStaten #StatenZone

Alofa tele lava atu ia outou,

Elder Hill

Photos:

• A really cool drawing someone made of the covenant path. The gates are baptism, the rod is the Iron Rod, the temple is the temple (duh), and the tree is the Tree of Life. There's all kinds of cool stuff you can pull or learn from this pic, and I encourage you all to discuss it with people and see how much you can pull from it.
• I made more pizza 
• I found some lettuce shipped from AZ at the food pantry, so that made me happy
• Elder Kelley made some bomb ceviche last night with some skate-wing fillets we got from Wendy (stingray meat)
• Ceviche during the temple devo

Video: Elder Hill singing "To Those Who Came Before Me"

 A few weeks ago, Elder Hill posted this video in tribute to his forebears.  

"To Those Who Came Before Me" by Sally DeFord

"The Field is White Already to Harvest"

Malo Soifua!!!

This week was transfers. Elder Checketts, may he RIP in peace, was sent to Connecticut, and I picked up Elder Kelley, who came from the Bronx. He's a really good missionary, and a really cool guy. He got here to Staten, for the past week he's been in awe of just how different it is from his last area. (different in a good way haha). He's got a lot of fire, and he's really good at setting expectations and hard commitments (not hard to keep, but without excuses). He's been almost training me on how to "cut away every excuse" so that it comes down to "are you willing to let God prevail in your life?" We've begun a purge of sorts, making sure all of our friends are actually willing to keep commitments, make plans, and set priorities. It's been a very different experience, but I'm already loving the work we're doing. We've got some high goals for our transfers together, and God willing, we're going to get some work DONE here in Staten (#IslandGrind).

We did end up having a rather frustrating weekend as we committed almost six people to church. By Saturday night we had three confirming for sure, and another three that were maybes. On Sunday morning, however, all of them either never responded or said they actually couldn't come. We were a little frustrated, but we took it in stride, and we're going to fix some problems this next week to help get people to church so that they can begin making covenants with God. Also, Elder Kelley fits right in here in the ward. He was reassigned to NYC from the Philippines, so he spoke Tagalog for a few months. We walk into church, and Bishop's family and three other families all walk over and start chattering away together in Tagalog. Half the ward already loves him because he speaks their native language, so that's good.

President Teuscher recently reached out stake presidents in our area and asked if anyone in our mission boundaries spoke a number of languages so that they could help out reassigned missionaries here in NYC. We ended finding a Samoan sister in Manhattan (I think?) who offered to teach us Samoan!! We've met with her a few times, and it's been a HUGE blessing. My Samoan is starting to improve again, and I'm actually learning stuff haha. Definitely a blessing from God.

I've also been working on my guitar skills, which have been slowly improving. I'm working some hymns that I can eventually use as Facebook content, so hopefully that works out soon. Elder Kelley and I have also begun working on a song for Staten Island, and it's been a lot of fun working on chords and words (in the evenings during personal time haha.)

Mafaufauga Faaleagaga: Elder Kelley once quoted a document called the Riccardi Letter and said: "The field is white already to harvest (quoting D&C 4:4). It doesn't say the field is brown, or the field is green, or the field is sprouting, or the field is planted. It says the field is white. We are here to find the elect, the white in the field. Some people need a little work and a little help, but we are not here to waste the Lord's time by focusing on people who are not yet ready." That really struck me because I'e always wanted to, and thought I could, help everyone and save everyone. What I've realized this past week ,however, is not everyone is ready to hear the gospel yet. Some need a little more time. And for those who aren't ready yet, we need to focus our efforts elsewhere towards the hundreds or thousands who are ready and willing to learn the gospel and make covenants with Heavenly Father.

The work is good, and God is good. 

Alofa tele lava atu ia outou,

Elder Hill

Photos:

• I found a KitKat without any cookie in it, so that was neat.
• A potato as part of our last Zone initiative (loser of our friendly competition had to eat raw potatoes and send in a video to the rest of the Zone).
• Geese
• A hearty, delicious dinner while Elder Kelley and I watched the Brandon Sanderson "Why I Believe" devo on Sunday night.

"Hindsight's 50/50"

Malo soifua!!!

So apparently it's 2021 now. That's cool. It's weird that 2020 is already over, but I'm excited for what 2021 will bring. My mission is focusing on repentance and a "new year, new me" mindset when finding new people. It's been really cool, and it's given me a lot of opportunities to self reflect and look for ways to improve, make bad things good, and good things great. 

This week was pretty fun, especially on New Year's Eve when we had to keep doing missionary work, but nobody wanted to talk to us haha. We also had to still go to bed at 10:30, which was probably the first time I didn't stay up til midnight in the last decade or so. It was good though, and these past few days have been full of people looking for new focus in the new year. I've been busier these past few days, and I've seen more blessings that I could've imagined. Guys, God is good, and He rewards work. If that ain't the truth, I don't know what is. 

The big news of this week is that, after six months on Staten Island, and three of those training me, Elder Checketts is being transferred to Newtown in Connecticut! I'll miss the guy, but we've had a great two transfers. I'll be dropping him off and picking up my new comp, Elder Kelley, tomorrow. It's kinda wack, but I guess this is a good way to kick off the new year with some new comp fire.

This week we got to meet an awesome member of the ward named Bro Colbert, known locally as the Great Corrupter. He's famous among missionaries here for trying (half jokingly) to get us to do non-missionary stuff with him (i.e. Dinner and a movie, dinner and sleepover at his house, etc). He asked us if we wanted to go with him to the Ball drop in Times Square. He said "I'll give you guys a broom, and you can just say you were giving service." He really is a solid dude, and he's a lot of fun (and no, we don't actually break any mission rules, for all you moms out there). 

This Sunday was full of miracles, mainly with our friend Goldie. She is pretty solid, but she's had some concerns this past week that we have been working hard to resolve (personal, not church related). We invited her to church, and she said maybe, but then she came! She walked in, Bishop went over and chatted for a minute, and she sat down to watch the meeting. During the testimony part of the meeting, she sent us a text saying she was going to have to get up and leave, but she never did. She stayed for the whole sacrament and testimony meeting and absolutely loved it. After the meeting, she met with Bishop Reyes and they talked in his office for a few minutes. Immediately after, she asked us "so how does this baptism thing work?" We were practically bouncing up and down as we explained baptism and some of the requirements for it. She still has some things to learn, but I think that she has made the decision, conscious or not, that she wants to get baptized.

Today was Jaycut P-Day, so Elder Checketts and I drove to Brooklyn to get our haircuts, and they look kinda nice, not gonna lie. It was a lot of fun (and that chapel is the YSA building, so the basement has a foosball table, ping pong table, pool table, and a shuffleboard table haha. It's no wonder the Brooklyn YSA ward is so big). Good times all around.  [Jacob is the assigned driver for his companionship.  He told us in a video call Monday night that driving in Brooklyn is completely terrifying, and that parking is worse. He says that cars in New York City have "Park-Anywhere" lights, known in other places as emergency flashers.  The Brooklyn chapel has a parking lot, believe it or not; it's four parallel-parking spaces in the alley in the back.  😂]

The work here is good. God is good. My life is good, and I'm happy. Honestly, what else do I need? I love you all, and I miss you all dearly, but this is my chance to bring people to Jesus Christ and feel His love. The greatest mistake I could make would be not using this wonderful opportunity I've been given.

Alofa kele lava ia oukou uma (I love you all so much), 

Elder Mauga

Photos:

• Some fun with filters on a Messenger call
• Apparently Heelys are a public menace at Stop-n-Shop
• That's healthy, right? (stuffing and potatoes, cold and thick out of the fridge haha) 
• Video:  These cups were stuck together with static, and it was WACK

Light the World 2020 -- New York. Elder Hill is the narrator

 

60-Second Scripture Stories (videos from Facebook)

Nehemiah

Simeon

Naaman

Manna from Heaven

Jeremiah

Hannah and Samuel

Gideon

Ananias and Sapphira

Christmas

Feast of Tabernacles