The Trumbull 15

Malo Soifua!!!

Today on the Elder Hill Show:

 ** EVERLY GOT BAPTIZED!!!! She's super awesome, and I'm so glad that she made that choice to come closer to God.  #spartanwarrior

 ** Pres Holmes holds the Priesthood keys as mission president, and he can read minds (more below)

 ** Met a homie named Matt on Facebook, and we've had some awesome lessons with him!

 ** The "Trumbull 15" is a real thing guys...

First off (out of order but whatever), EVERLY GOT BAPTIZED!!! She cruised to through our three week lesson plan, and she nailed her baptismal interview last week. Yesterday, with her mom and brother present, she was baptized by Elder Lee and confirmed by me. (Side note: we were low-key trying to have members do the baptism and confirmation, but Everly, who's normally very shy, said that we should do it because we're basically family friends now, so there ya go). The meeting was short and sweet, and I'm super excited for her. Not as excited as the young women are (there are only two other girls, so they are VERY happy to have her), but excited all the same. 

This past Tuesday was interviews with Pres Holmes. We drove to the New Rochelle chapel, and we actually got to have our interviews with him ahead of schedule. For the time in the history of any mission ever lol, our mission president was actually ahead of schedule on his interviews. They went super well, and I had a wonderful spiritual confirmation of the power of the priesthood, and of the reality of Pres Holmes' priesthood calling and keys as mission president. He brought up a few things to talk about that were not only what I had needed to hear, but that i had been thinking about prior to our meeting. I never mentioned them to him before he started talking, and I checked with Elder Lee afterwards that he wasn't just saying the same thing to every missionary. He truly was inspired about what I personally needed to hear, and he gave me powerful advice.

A guy named Matt messaged me back on Facebook, which doesn't happen very much, and he actually seemed interested in meeting with us, which happens even less. We met up at a park, and we had a walking discussion for about 90 minutes. He's studying and working to become a pastor, so he has a lot of scriptural knowledge, and we ended up having a great discussion about the gospel and about our church. He asked a lot of questions, and many of them were deeper and more thought out than any I've ever heard before. We talked for a long while, and we gave him a Book of Mormon and encouraged him to start reading it. 

We met up again a few days later, this time at our church building. We gave him a short tour, and we continued our discussion about our church and the gospel. He was understandably hesitant to read too much into our church and the BoM, but he seemed willing to consider it. 

We made a deal where he would read a BoM chapter of our choosing for a few days, and we would read a Bible chapter of his choosing for a few days, and we'd come back together and discuss them. We'll see how that goes, but I'm kind of excited to keep working on with him. We're not sure yet if he's open or ready to make that change, but he's a good dude, and I'm looking forward to studying with him again.

Finally, the subject line. The "Trumbull 15" is something we were told about by a member here. Apparently the legend goes that every missionary that comes to Trumbull gains 15 pounds, and not gonna lie, but I'm not too surprised haha. The members here love feeding us, and they try to do so at an outrageous level. I've already gained a pound or two, so this will be interesting if I stay here for the holidays haha (don't worry, Mom. We're still exercising and doing our best to eat healthy haha).

Mafaufauga faaleagaga: Just a quick testimony on the importance and power of the Priesthood. I've sent the power of God bless the lives of so many people, myself or those around me. I've felt that power in blessing me, and I've used that power to bless others. Every time, I feel an immense peace, and an immense power, and an immense love. I know that God loves us so much that He gave us access to His actual power, so that we can use it to show our love and to bless the lives of others. I encourage all of you to do the same. It doesn't matter who you are, or where you are in life, you all have the ability to show your love and bless the lives of those around you.

"A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another" (John 13:34-35)

Alofa tele lava atu ia outou uma,

Elder Hill

Ata:

• Everly's baptism!!! (ft. Her mom and her brother)
• Selfie of me because....why not? 😂
• My comp about to get back in the font cuz he forgot to pull the plug (I fished it out before he had to though, so he just kinda stood there lol)
• Nice street in our area (Inwood is also the name of a part of Northern Manhattan, so I thought that was kind of funny)