Turkey Day and Sadness

Malo Soifua!!!

Today on the Elder Hill Show:

 ** Thanksgiving was a ton of fun

 ** The rest of the week wasn't really

 ** The weekend (Saturday & Sunday) was pretty good though

This week was rough, not gonna lie. We did a lot of work like we have in weeks passed, but it didn't turn out the same way. People didn't seem to want to hear a message. A lot of our friends stopped responding (a few texted us out of the blue and said to never contact them again). We got yelled at a few times, and this one guy threatened to call the cops if we knocked another door in his neighborhood (he followed us for like a street to make sure we actually left). We were trying our best, but it was pretty tough.

Thanksgiving itself was a pretty good day, though. We ate dinner with the Nearys in our ward, and the Portuguese Elders came with us, so we had a big party. We ate lots of delicious food, and we played a few rounds of Telestrations afterwards (Bro Neary is terrible at drawing, so that made it really funny haha). They gave us a little food to take home afterwards, so that was nice.

This weekend wasn't necessarily better or more successful, but we received comfort and counsel for our area. Alma 26:27-29 was a nice set of verses we read during one of our comp studies. I also reflected on something that Pres Holmes said during our Thanksgiving devotional. He talked about how faith leads to covenants and obedience, which in turn leads to power. I liked that idea, so I wrote it on a sticky note and out it on the wall by my study desk. On Saturday I was sitting there looking at the notes and quotes on the wall, and I read that thought by Pres Holmes again. I noticed that it didn't read that covenants and obedience lead to SUCCESS. Rather, they lead to POWER. I reflected in the past few days when Elder Piscitello and I had exercised real power that we and our friends could feel. At that moment I felt a thought enter my mind saying,  "This week was a trial, not a punishment." Peace and comfort flooded my mind, and the day seemed to brighten. This week was still rough, but I have much more optimism and hope for the weeks and future ahead.

Mafaufauga faaleagaga mo le Aso Faafetai: 

Alma 7:23: "And now I would that ye should be humble, and be submissive and gentle; easy to be entreated; full of patience and long-suffering; being temperate in all things; being diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times; asking for whatsoever things ye stand in need, both spiritual and temporal; always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive."

(One of the best Thanksgiving verses ever)

Alofa tele lava atu ia outou uma,

Elder Hill

Ata:

• Fun statue we found
• Lots of first aid kits in our apartment lol
• Pics from Thanksgiving day with the District
• Snow on a pumpkin (it snowed like negative .5 inches yesterday, so that was fun)

Go On One, Then Become One

Malo Soifua!!!

Today on the Elder Hill Show:

 ** For the first time in the history of the Trumbull area (and the history of my mission) we found more than ten people this last week!!

 ** Also for the first time basically ever in the Trumbull area, we actually got friends of ours to come to church with us! haha

Honestly, this week wasn't super outstanding with crazy stuff. It was an amazing week to be sure, but most of the amazingness can't really be expressed well in a weekly email haha. Just know that life here in CT is good, and the weather is perfect right now, and the people are amazing. We found eleven new people this past week, which was way more than I've ever found before. The previous record for both this area and me during my whole mission was seven new people, and we set that record the week before haha. The hand of the Lord is definitely with us here.

Perhaps one of the best parts of this week was our two new friends here Helena and Nylee. I had actually taught Helena months ago when I first came to the Trumbull area. Unfortunately, through a very strange series of misunderstood texts and whatnot (it's a long story), she became angry with us and cut all communication. Well this past week we were calling through the list if all the people we used to teach, and we got to her name, and I said "hey, why not?" so we called her haha. She answered and was genuinely happy to hear from us! She remembered the confusion from a few months ago, but we were able to quickly resolve that over the phone, and all was right with the world.

Helena  agreed to meet with us again, and we had a great lesson with her and with her 18 year old daughter Nylee (who's lowkey a super fire person). They loved the lesson and the verses we read from the Book of Mormon with them, and they agreed to come to church! They didn't have a way to get there themselves, so we quickly called up one of our most exceptional and trusted members, and she readily agreed to help out! She set everything up herself (which was epic), and they were able to come to church and they loved it! They said that they definitely want to keep coming and learning more, which was super cool! (Helena even handled it well when someone brought up and discussed polygamy in the Adult Sunday School class haha). Good times and miracles all around.

Mafaufauga faaleagaga: In a recent interview with Pres Holmes, we talked about the difference between going out and serving a mission and going out and becoming a missionary. I'm willing to bet that all my missionary friends know what I'm talking about haha. This applies to every aspect of life. There is a very big difference between doing something because you have to or you feel you should, and doing something because you want to or it's just a part of who you are. I wish I had learned this sooner as a missionary. Another quote by Pres Holmes goes "you want your mission to last forever [and be awful]? Don't get lost in the work. You want it to go quickly [and be an amazing experience]? Get lost in the work. Put the Lord first, and forget everything else for the time being." I can testify that this works. These past few weeks have been some of the fastest and best of my mission, and I largely attribute those feelings to the fact that I've been really working on losing myself in the work and only focusing on what God wants, not what I want. The results have been incredible.

Alofa tele lava atu ia outou uma,

Elder Hill

Ata:

• Pretty fall leaves 
• Cool shot of Shelton (w/ & w/o the Book of Mormon)
• Nighttime pic of Shelton skyline (and the Derby skyline in the background)
• Dope car we saw (also literally everyone in Shelton drives a Subaru Outback, and it's so weird)
• Mom, what kind of plant is this? Is it a squash or something?  [Yes, exactly]
• Cookies from the Cookie Lady herself, shipped all the way from the Salt Lake Valley!  [The Cookie Lady is Elder Hill's sister, Shirley Bushman]

Too Easy

Malo Soifua!!!

Today on the Elder Hill Show:

 ** We set a goal as a zone to find 70 people this week, which wouldn't be impossible, but it'd be tough. We ended up finding over 100......

 ** Also last week we (the whole mission) broke the mission record for finding by finding 513 people. This week we found over 850 🔥💪

 ** Almost found two families this week, so that was kinda hype (#knockingmiracles)

 ** Chop-cheese sandwiches are the best thing on this planet

 ** The Charleston Gang is at it again

Literally the most exciting this this week was finding TONS of people as a district, zone, and mission. My district alone found 62 people, which is more than some ZONES usually find. Also our zone found 103 I think, which was the fourth most(?) in the mission, but we also have one of the smallest zones, so that was mad impressive. In our own area, Elder Piscitello and I found seven people, which is more than I've ever found in one week on my mission. It should have actually been more though, but that's alright haha. We'll just find em next week.

We found a couple families, and they're super awesome! One of them is the family of a yellow dot ("interested person") named David, who we had never talked to before. We had tried calling him, but his phone didn't work (found out later he had gotten a new number), so we decided to give him one last shot and knock on his door. Well he didn't answer, but his wife did, and she was super nice! She vaguely remembered him meeting with the Sister Missionaries here some months ago, and she was kinda curious about what we had to say! We gave her a BoM, and set up a time this week to give her a call and talks bout it! Hopefully in our call we can set up another time when her husband will be home, and we can find/teach him and the oldest kids in their young family. Super exciting miracle, and super exciting time.

In Thursday we had to go to the Bronx to get an emissions test on our car (had to go there because our car is registered to NY, and CT shops won't certify it the same way smh). We drove down there, and literally the first thing I did when we dropped it off was pull out my phone, find the nearest Boar's Head deli (iykyk), walk there (it was only 3 minutes away haha), and order a chop-cheese sandwich. If you don't know what that is, you're missing out. It's basically if some New Yorker went to the Celestial Kingdom, saw a sandwich that God was eating, came back down and made it for humans. That's about what it is. I hadn't had one since I left Manhattan in August, so it was so nice to have a proper deli sandwich again (also just good to be back in NYC again)

Mafaufauga faaleagaga: I had a personal moment of inspiration/revelation earlier this week. So as missionaries, we set TONS of goals, and we work of achieving them before resetting them to push us even higher. My area here has been doing well, but I just KNEW that there's more potential than what we're achieving. In reflecting on goals that we set, a concept came to my mind, and I wrote it down because it was really good. It was "set goals to DECIDE the future, not hopefully predict it". That may seem obvious or small to some, but it was strangely profound to me. I realized that I had just been setting goals and hoping that it would happen. Instead, I now knew that I had to set a goal and then dedicate work to make sure I hit the goal. I made an effort to apply that this week in our finding, and we saw soooooo many miracles. I could write them all down, but it would take hours to do it. Just know that God is aware of us, and He is just WAITING to bless us with more than we can imagine. All we have to do is plan on it.

Alofa tele lava atu ia outou uma,

Elder Hill

Ata:

• Pretty sunset
• Got the tea stash from our friend so now he's keeping the Word of Wisdom (he's a baller)
• The Portuguese Elders have a super nice apartment (the layout is identical to ours, but they've got way more and way nicer furniture)
• My new missionary fit 🤣
• Fun sign on some person's door (ft. Elder Piscitello and me)
• My ZLs being goons during our accountability call lol
• LEGO Infinity Gauntlet at a member's house
• Elder Manwell in a shirt and tie and checkered shorts (it was after hours, don't worry 😂)

Family Reunion

Malo Soifua!!!

Today on the Elder Hill Show:

 ** Zone Conference was AMAZING (so was the Thanksgiving dinner lol)

 ** Hah, y'all thought I couldn't have a family reunion while on a mission. Get rekt fools 😂

 ** The grind is real here

This week went pretty dang well, and we definitely saw a lot of blessings. I'm feeling much more comfortable as a trainer and as a district leader (not perfect mind you, just more comfortable about my capabilities). Elder Piscitello is a good missionary, and I'm grateful that I have a privilege of training him. We did a lot of knocking this week, and we ended up having pretty good or comprehensive conversations with people from a bunch of different backgrounds (different major religions, one or two antagonistic to our church, and a couple that were against religion in general). Some of the conversations themselves weren't my favorite, but the experience was good (especially for Elder Piscitello haha). We alternate each door we knock, so I make sure he gets lots of practice 🤣.

This week was both Zone Conference and interviews with Pres Holmes (literally right after ZC). Both were absolutely amazing. During ZC there was a big emphasis on working with members, but also keeping focused on moving key indicators (PMG style). I had actually been wondering and pondering about how to more effectively work with members, and this was honestly a direct answer to prayer, so I was super grateful.

Each Zone Conference includes a meal all together, and this was no exception. The only difference was that Pres Holmes made sure that we got an early Thanksgiving dinner, complete with turkey, mashed potatoes & gravy, stuffing, and pie. Lemme tell ya, it was soooooo good haha. A lot of us went back for seconds, and we were all absolutely stuffed. Hands down the best meal I've had at a ZC.

Another fun part of Zone Conference was that since we meet with the Westchester Zone, I was able to run into Elder Fanning and his comp Elder Hwang. Now for those of you who remember back to my very first emails from my mission, Elder Fanning is the first missionary I trained, my "son". Elder Hwang, on the other hand, is the Elder who trained Elder Checketts, who trained me. Thus Elder Hwang is my grandpa, and Elder Fanning's great grandpa. Now combine that with me being there with Elder Piscitello, my second son, and we had a nice little family reunion. See attached pictures below of the good times.

Mafaufauga faaleagaga: During Zone Conference, Pres Holmes testified of Joseph Smith, and of the truth of his prophetic mantle. He spoke about some of the"fruits" that Joseph brought about (the BoM being but one), and how they prove that he was a prophet of God. He spoke with power and conviction, and the Spirit flooded the room. I already had a testimony of the truthfulness of the Restoration, but hearing what he, and the Spirit, said only made it stronger. Praise to the man indeed.

Alofa tele lava atu ia outou uma,

Elder Hill

Ata:

• Fun fall pics (me, tag in leaves, pretty trees x2, janky leaning tree, pretty sunset x4, sun over the housetops) -- you're welcome, Mom
• Cool army truck just chillin in a lady's driveway
• Cool old Fiat I wanted to buy 😂
• Plethora of interesting foods to eat as appetizers at a member's house (the beets and dates were actually pretty good)
• Family photos (me with Elders Fanning and Piscitello, and us three with Elder Hwang)
• They got a lotta jeeps

Video: CPR

Here's an old video that Elder Wall and I made that we totally never posted.

Church. Prayer. Reading scriptures.

Which one is your favorite?

Click Here for Video

Dang, I Feel Old....

Malo Soifua!!!

Today on the Elder Hill Show:

 ** Training is fun (RIP Elder Lee)

 ** Being District Leader is also fun

 ** (Doing them at the same time is less fun)

 ** Ward Trunk-or-treat went swimmingly

 ** Knocking on Halloween could be fun...

So this week was honestly the most stressful week of my mission, and possibly of my life. I survived though, and it ended up being pretty good though, so there was definitely a positive net gain haha.

On Tuesday we had transfers as well as the "meet your trainer" meeting. We had to pack two sets of luggage (for Elders Lee & Oviatt), so we ended up getting on the road later than we were supposed to. Combine that with the horrible traffic of the I-95 that I mentioned in last week's letter, and we were about 30 minutes late to the meeting. We made it in time for the actual assignments though, so that was good. Pres Holmes ran it like a game show, and it was really fun. He would read a name and have that new missionary stand up and introduce themselves. He would then say a couple cryptic or funny things like "are you a Yankees fan? You better be...." before reading off where they're going and with whom they're serving. The audience of missionaries would erupt into cheers each time, and it was just a ton of fun.

My trainee's name is Elder Piscitello (Pih-shih-TELL-oh), and he's from Corona, California. He's a quieter soul, but he's a hard worker, and we've already had some good times together. He's honestly already a super good missionary, so I'm not too worried about him. We'll just keep role-playing and knocking until he's comfortable with it all.

(Elder Piscitello is also apparently friends with McAllister Whiting, a guy I knew from the Union Square family ward. They met this past summer at BYU during the summer term. Small world)

I'm also District Leader now, and that's been all kinds of fun, but also pretty stressful. For some reason, everyone that I talked to for advice on being a DL just said "don't worry, you'll figure it out", which was really not helpful at all haha. I've had to do a lot of last minute stuff, and a lot of things without planning. It also doesn't help that my district is currently one of the highest-performing districts in the mission, so there's a lot to wrangle and figure out. I've gotten it down pretty ok this far, so hopefully things continue to improve as time goes on.

Our ward had a trunk-or-treat party on Saturday, and it was super fun. The three wards that meet in our building all came with decorated trunks, chili for the cook-off (the Elders were the judges hehe), and tons of other activities. It was super cool, and we had a good time.

As a note and a warning to other missionaries, don't go knocking on Halloween. We went knocking at about 2:30pm (well before anyone else was on the street), but we still got some funny looks and curious conversations haha. Fun times.

Mafaufauga faaleagaga: God is so good, and He is aware of each of us and our struggles. I mentioned at the beginning of my email that training and being DL are fun, but that doing them at the same time is stressful. On Thursday night I basically had a mental breakdown, which was a new experience for me. I usually deal with stress super well, but this time it all just slammed down all at once. I couldn't seem to figure out how to balance running an area (and the work was slow this week, which didn't help), training a new missionary adequately, and looking after a large district full of missionaries with very busy areas. I simply didn't know what to do. I finally just decided that I couldn't do it, and I prayed long and hard for help, for strength, and for relief. I didn't feel tons better, but I was able to go to bed and sleep, so that was a huge help.

The next morning I woke up still feeling stressed. I decided to just get to work, and not think too much about that things I hadn't done or couldn't do yet. Fast forward to that night when I again reflected on my day, and I realized that I hadn't felt that stress and worry the entire day. It was still somewhere in the back of my subconscious, but much smaller and more manageable. I immediately knelt and thanked God for helping me through that day. Now, a few days later, I feel almost back to normal. There's still a lot that weighs on my mind, but I know that Heavenly Father is looking out for me, my trainee, my district, and my friends here. 

And that is all I really need.

Alofa tele lava atu ia outou uma,

Elder Hill

Ata:

• "The Fleet" 😂 ft. Elder Oviatt
• Me with Elder Farr (one of my DLs in Staten), who also went home
• Me with Elder Fili (from Tonga) and Sister Tauelia (from Samoa). Both went home to Utah this transfer 😭
• Honking huge Subway
• White squirrel
• These pumpkins have seen some things...
• A missionary in my district just randomly made this the cover pic for the district chat (I didn't ask her to, but I did ask for the picture afterwards 🤣)
• I'm in the Fairfield Zone, so this message was pretty hype (and funny)