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)