Match the Message

Malo Soifua!!!

Today on the Elder Hill Show:

• Pres Holmes is an absolute legend
• Full-length, in-person Zone Conference is the best
• We're kicking it old school with this missionary work thing
• RIP Elder Call (he goes home today)
• Pres Holmes is an absolute legend

On Tuesday we had Zone Conference, and this was the first time since the start of covid that we were able to have the entire meeting all together and in-person with no restrictions. It was about five hours long, with a lunch break in the middle, and it was absolutely amazing. Pres Holmes has such a passion for the work, and it is super infectious. He got fired up talking about our purpose as missionaries and disciples of Christ (banged the pulpit once or twice lol), and it got the rest of us fired up too. When Sister Holmes was talking, she pulled out a whiteboard on wheels and set up a Jeopardy game to get to know the Holmeses, and that was so much fun. They are actually a really funny couple, so it was fun to see them kinda joke around with us for a bit. We were competing against the other zones that were there, and my zone won! As our prize, today (Monday) will be a pizza party for the South Manhattan Zone at Central Park, so that's pretty exciting haha.

Later that night on Tuesday, my phone screen broke. It slipped off the counter and the screen cracked a little, but the display got entirely disabled. I sent it in today to get it fixed by Samsung (a local shop said they can't do it because the phone was shipped internationally, so that's unfortunate). It's been really different not having my phone on hand, and it does make some aspects of missionary work more difficult, but it also has been kind of nice. I've decided that in the times that I would just spend time on my phone outside of missionary hours, I'll just read the Bible instead. I'm already about halfway through the Gospels, and I'm going to start the Old Testament when I finish Acts. Good times.

Mafaufauga faaleagaga: I had my interview with Pres Holmes yesterday, and he is so awesome. In our discussion, he shared some of his thoughts on missionary work (kind of a continuation of his words in ZC). One of the things that he said to me in our interview is just how important it is for me as a missionary to "match the message." As a representative of Jesus Christ and His church, I (along with thousands of other Elders and Sisters) am responsible for sharing the message of the Restoration. That only works, though, if I actually live the message that I share. It was a really good conversation, and I wish I could have recorded it to listen to again later.

This one's a little shorter, but that doesn't mean the work is any less good!

Alofa tele lava atu ia outou,

Elder Hill

Ata:

• Fancy dinner we had (made from a meal kit a member gave us)
• Fancy flower wall near our apartment (they're fake, but they look pretty cool)