Just Like the Movies

Malo soifua!!!

Today on the Elder Hill Show:

• I'm in Manhattan now! Elder Hamilton and I walk a lot and ride lots of subways. 
• This part of NYC has almost all of the touristy or scenic parts of the city that you see in every movie or picture or trip, so that's real exciting. 
• We have some awesome new friends here, and a couple are really close to being put on baptismal date! 
• General Conference was absolutely amazing!! #Oaksforpresident2024

This week was absolutely incredible. We had exchanges on Tuesday, which was a party. I ran into Elder Baird (an elder from my first few transfers here) and Elder Checketts (my trainer/dad), and we had a happy little reunion and some good pictures. I said goodbye to Elders Kelley and Fanning, and I met up with my new companion Elder Hamilton. He's a super nice guy, and he's actually dying (going home) this transfer, so that's pretty exciting. 

Our area here is really big (not as big as Staten, but still big), and it's entirely "big city" style. Everywhere we walk, there are buildings at least four stories high on either side of the street. I constantly feel swallowed up in the bowels of a giant behemoth of a city, and I love it. The subways are really tricky to figure out here, but they're a lot of fun. Elder Hamilton knows his way around pretty well, so that's really nice. I attached a picture below of a map of Manhattan. Everything in Manhattan in that picture is in my zone, so that's fun. 

I got to meet a bunch of our friends here in Union Square (my area). A couple of them are really really close to being baptized. Two of them, Cindy and Tony, watched almost all of General Conference, and they loved it!! Tony said he felt Jesus so strongly, and he wants to follow Christ's example. Cindy said she loved the music, and the peace the messages brought. We also got to watch a session of conference with our friend Kyron, who is also kind of close to being baptized. The work is going well here, and I'm excited and blessed be a part of this area. 

Today for P-Day, Elder Hamilton did our errands, and we visited the 9/11 Memorial and I took a few pictures. We were only there for a few minutes, but I really liked it. I've been there before, but it's still one of my favorite memorials. (see attached pics)

Mafaufauga faʻaleagaga: GENERAL CONFERENCE!!! Where do I even start? I absolutely loved how so many of the talks on Saturday were focused on kindness and love towards others. I loved the diversity and music of the Sunday morning session, and its HEAVY focus on the Savior, Easter, the Atonement/Resurrection, and the Plan of Salvation. I also just loved how there were multiple talks where apostles and general authorities just slammed down the doctrine and stance of the church on many of the pressing issues of the world today (just go watch Pres Oaks' talk on the Constitution again if you don't believe me). Each session just confirmed again and again that this church is true, and that these prophets and apostles are 100% called of God. I already can't wait to hear what they have to say in October haha. 

Alofa tele lava atu ia outou, 

Elder Hill 

Photos: (tourist photo dump here we go)

• Elder Baird, Checketts, and myself at transfers
• The Google building
• The "CVS Pantheon"
• Lots of random buildings and streets
• The One World Trade Center (day and night) as well as one of the reflection pools and the Oculus
• An entrance to Central Park (I'll probably visit that sometime soon haha) 
• Map of Manhattan subway system (chee hoo)
• Beautiful cherry blossoms (just for you, Mom)