Snow in the City

Malo Soifua!!!

Today on the Elder Hill Show:

 ** We got snow!! Not a lot tbh, but we got it

 ** ZONE CONFERENCE

 ** Our mission has been POPPING OFF with miracles and blessings

 ** Super hype miracle maybe?

So this weekend was super windy and cold, and it wasn't very fun. On Friday night it started snowing (not hard but persistent) and it kept going until Saturday evening. About 6 inches total, so not too bad but definitely respectable. It made church attendance suffer a little, so that was rough.

Zone Conference was fire as always. It was in Manhattan again at the Temple, so that's always a good trip. It was Elder Rasmusson's first time in Manhattan, and that's always a fun experience. The conference itself was super good 🔥. I'll mention the highlight in my Spiritual thought at the end, so stay tuned. Just know that it was fuego and I learned a ton. We also had a super good roleplay with Pres & Sis Holmes watching, and apparently we did well, so that was nice haha.

So our mission has exploded with success and miracles this last month. As far as finding, we're finding well over 1200 people a WEEK as a mission (the record is about 1600), so that's way hype. Ask any RM and they'll tell you that that's insane. We also, as of today, had 68 baptisms in the month of January, which is a mission record as well. God is so good, and He is POURING out his blessings on this city and on this people (think Alma 26:11-12).

So we had a super cool miracle happen on Sunday, but it might be negated soon? I dunno yet. Basically a mom approached us after church and asked us to teach and baptize her daughter, who turns 9 in a few weeks!! The mom wants her daughter baptized AFTER her ninth birthday, so that becomes a convert baptism, which means us missionaries have authority to teach/baptize her. It's super cool because it's basically a for sure baptism and everything will work out great.

BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!!! We found out later that the daughter mayyyyy in fact be turning 8, NOT 9. If that's the case, then we can't teach or baptize her. We're not sure which one is correct, so we're trying to get in contact with her mom and we're just praying that she's already 8 haha (maybe it's selfish, but hey miracles are miracles).

Mafaufauga faaleagaga: Our purpose

Pres Holmes talked at Zone Conference about God's purpose, Christ's purpose, and our purpose. He talked about how in reality they're all the same, and that's "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39). He talked about how no matter what calling or assignment you hold in the church, your purpose is to help those you have stewardship over come back to the presence of the Father. That may be through helping someone get baptized, or be endowed or sealed, or get their recommend renewed, or bring them back to church. Whatever the case may be, we ALL have the same purpose, and that's to do the will of the Father. That really opened my eyes, and I hope it opens yours a little to the possibilities. What does it mean to magnify your calling? Fulfill the purpose of Heavenly Father.

Alofa tele lava atu ia outou uma,

Elder Hill

Ata:

• Snowww
• No-bake cookies
• Chicken n' Waffles
• Elder Rasmusson & me stuck on the train for 40 minutes (someone got injured or something so they stopped the train and held us there for a while)
• I caught a pigeon and named him Falco
• Cool lights and colors on the train platform (ft. The BoM)
• Taco Bell mural
• Impromptu district pic

Be a Priesthood Man

Malo Soifua!!!

Today on the Elder Hill Show:

 ** Transfers happened! I'm still in Rego Park and I'm training Elder Rasmusson from Iowa!

 ** Less than 17% of our scheduled lessons happened this week (ask any missionary, that's a ridiculously low number)

 ** We also found six people this week, but four of them don't count 😭

 ** BUT God is still good, and miracles still happen. 

So flashback to last Monday after I sent out my weekly. We were all together as a district walking to go get dinner when Elder Kim decided  it'd be smart and fun to climb over the church's gate. Let's just say he wasn't meant to be a paratrooper 😂. He sprained his ankle pretty bad, so we took him to the hospital (a senior couple lives right next to the church, and one if them is a physician, so he helped out immensely). We were there for about five hours until they discharged Elder Kim with a wrap and some crutches. A boot was ordered, so he'll be alright. We were just up until about 2 am packing his stuff for transfers tomorrow.

Speaking of transfers, it was pretty great. I got to see a few missionaries I haven't seen in a while, and I got to bid farewell to some amazing missionaries who went home this past week. I also picked up my new trainee. His name is Elder Rasmusson, and he's from a tiny town of 3500 people in Iowa. He's actually assigned to the Leeds England Mission, but he's just waiting for his visa. (It is actually waiting at the mission office for him, so he could be leaving for his assignment at the next transfer if not sooner). He's a good guy and a good missionary. We're still figuring some things out, but I'm excited for the things we'll do this transfer. 

Also, plot twist, y'all remember Elder Fanning, my very first trainee? He's in my district now! He transferred into the same ward that I cover, so this'll be all kinds of fun.

So I'm gonna be perfectly honest, this was a pretty rough week as far as the work goes. I crunched a few numbers, and found out that of the 34 lessons we had scheduled this week, only 6 happened. That's about a 17% success rate, which is shockingly low. I've never had that many people fall through on lessons before. Even those who would reschedule for a better time would then miss or cancel the follow up. We've been doing a deep cleaning of our pool of all the people that aren't progressing, aren't keeping commitments, or aren't keeping good contact with us. Hopefully we can turn things around this next week.

We also only found six people this week, but really only two. Three were awesome people I taught on the train, but they live in different areas so we had to refer them out. One was a lady we taught who has a profile in the Area Book of both sets of missionaries in our ward. For some reason, when we found her after our lesson, she came up as a green dot and a recorded find for the other Elders. Kind of really frustrating.

But hey, the mission overall is still improving and outdoing itself each week. We set a new record this last week of about 1560 new people found! That's an average of 15 per companionship!! That's literally so insane to think about, and apparently the Mission Headquarters has called Pres Holmes a time or two and has asked how on earth we're doing so well haha. The blessings are so real.

Mafaufauga faaleagaga: Be a Priesthood Man

I had another District Leader training meeting this week, and Pres Holmes dropped some fire doctrine. He hit home on just how important the Melchizedek priesthood is, and how vital the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood is. After getting all of us super fired up with the Spirit and with a passion for the work, he simply said, "The Melchizedek priesthood is way to walk back into the presence of the Father, and the way to help others do the same. So be a Priesthood Man!" Literally the Spirit felt like an electric chair, just vibrating in my body. It was the coolest thing of the week, and one of the most powerful experiences I've had on my mission.

Guys,  God is good. Sometimes it doesn't seem that way. Sometimes we see through a glass but darkly, but God is always there. If you put your trust in Him, EVERYTHING will fall into place. Easier said than done, I know, but it is definitely worth it.

Alofa tele lava atu ia outou uma,

Elder Hill

Ata:

 - A few pics from our ER adventure last Monday (shout-out to Elder & Sister Anderson for helping us out, driving us to the hospital, AND for bringing us Taco Bell for dinner)

 - Me and my new homie Vanessa (she lives in Jamaica Queens, so the missionaries there better treat her right or we gonna have words)

"Elder, Do You Hate Me?" (it's a joke I promise 😂) [except he didn't ever explain this subject line....]

Malo Soifua!!!

Today on the Elder Hill Show:

 ** RODRIGO GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!

 ** We met Elder Kim's soulmate this week 🤣

 ** We got to go to the temple in Manhattan this week, and it was amazing

 ** Transfer news....

Our friend Rodrigo got baptized yesterday, and it was such an amazing service. His really good friend Julien (a recent convert from the next ward over) baptized him. Rodrigo was so happy and he was in tears as he bore his testimony about how good God has been in his life and how good it is to be a "new Rodrigo" and be baptized into Christ's church and receive the Holy Ghost. Something kind of cool that happened with the baptism was that earlier in the day at church, a new bishop was sustained and then set apart right after Sacrament Meeting. That meant that the first thing that the new Bishop Lariego got to do was attend and take part in a baptismal service (also, Bishop Lariego and Rodrigo Julien are both from the Philippines, so they bonded over that).

We were calling people to see if any of them would like to learn more or hear a message or anything, and Elder Kim called a YSA aged girl named Khadijah. Within 30 seconds they were both laughing and bouncing off each other's energy. I was doubled over on my chair laughing because they were literally screaming and squealing as they talked about coming back to God and coming to church and all that. Elder Kim invited her to get baptized, and it went something like this:

Elder Kim: Have you ever been baptized?

Khadijah: Yeah, a loooong time ago

Kim: Well do you want to get baptized?

Khadijah: I can't this Sunday cuz I just got my hair done

Kim: Haha no worries! We like to schedule it a little in the future, kinda like a goal to work towards.

Khadijah: Okay!!

Kim: What if we scheduled your baptism for Feb 13th? That's the Sunday right before Valentine's Day, and what better way to show your love for God??

Khadijah: *Literally SQUEALS* OH MY GOSH YESSSSSS I WOULD LOVE THAT

She's super fire. We met with her two more times this week, and we gave her a Book of Mormon to read. She couldn't come to church because her mom's boyfriend tested positive for covid (pray for them), but she'll definitely be coming as soon as she can! And we'll have the font filled and waiting for her haha. 

So on Thursday we got to go to the Manhattan temple for an endowment session, and it was amazing. I've been in that building a bunch while on my mission, but only for meetings etc (there's a fully functing meetinghouse on the third floor for sacrament meetings, Zone Conferences, interviews with Pres, etc). I looked back and counted, and it had been over 15 months since I had done any ordinances in the temple, and boy have I been missing it. The session was simply amazing, and I felt so at peace and full of love. It was super cool because the city is right outside, full of noise and the world's problems, but you can't hear any of it while on the temple. Nothing but quiet and the voice of the Spirit. So good to be home again. 

Alright folks, so the transfer call was Saturday night, and it was kinda crazy. Pres Holmes is super unpredictable when it comes to transfers, so it's always a fun time. I'm staying here in Rego Park, and I'll be training and district leader (again). Elder Kim is leaving to go alllllll the way over to Woodside/Queens YSA, which is literally the next area over, so we'll bump into each other pretty regularly. He was also made DL there in Woodside, so we'll see each other on every leadership call as well haha.

It's kinda strange because the last time I was told I was training I was so preoccupied with that (and being DL for the first time) that it was almost the only thing I could think about. But this time around I have a better understanding of what's going down, and I've barely thought about it at all, which also makes me nervous in hindsight because I feel like I need to prep more. I'm super excited though, and I know this is exactly what God wants for me. 

Mafaufauga faaleagaga: God is so good. I don't have anything specific this week, but I'm not blind to the little things that God does to help us and show us that He's there. The baptismal service went off basically without a hitch, which basically never happens, btw. This week was full of tender mercies and miracles and the hand of God, and I just know that He is in the details in our lives.

"...yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator." (Alma 30:44)

Alofa tele lava atu ia outou uma,

Elder Hill

Ata:

 - Pic I finally got of the Brooklyn and Woodside zones from last Zone Conference

 - Rego Park District (I'm gonna miss these guys. Only a couple are leaving, but still)

 - Dope car with a cool shark paintjob (reminds me of the collection of air force planes that had the same paint design)

 - Evening temple pic

 - Evening pic of the Vessel at Hudson Yards

 - Post-temple trip to New York Burger Co. (One of the best burgers you'll ever have)

 - Suuuuuper long escalator (it gave me vertigo the first time I went on it)

 - Woodside zone leadership pic

 - We got a shout-out in our mission Devo for having the most people on baptismal date for our zone 🔥

 - 5 pics from when Rodrigo took us to a Filipino restaurant and ordered us some amazing food (including lumpia and ube ice cream, which is stuff straight from heaven)

 - 2 pics from Rodrigo's baptism, ft. Sisters Ortman & Erickson, who taught him almost everything before realizing that he lives in our area, not theirs 😂

Triple Double, Baby......Almost

Malo Soifua!!!

Today on the Elder Hill Show:

 ** Our goal this week was to hit a triple double, and we.....kinda got it

 ** snowwwww

 ** Our friend Rodrigo is a baller 🔥💸🏀

So this week we set a goal to get a "triple double" (at least ten friends with a baptismal date, at least ten friends at church, and at least ten new friends being taught), which is really hard to do, but we were confident. By the end of Saturday, everything was in place and we were excited to meet all the goals by Sunday night (we'd found a bunch of people, so we just needed to put a couple more on baptismal date and have everyone come to church). Sunday morning, we called and texted all the people who said they'd come (more than 20), but they all either cancelled or didn't answer at all. Elder Kim then called even more people to try inviting them to church last minute, but still no dice. After 39 phone calls made, we just hoped and prayed for a miracle.

Our final church tally was a whopping four people. Of 20+ that said they'd come (including people who said they'd being family we didn't account for), only four showed up. It was kinda rough, not gonna lie.

The tender mercy and miracle was that three of those four were people that are SUPER FIRE. Two of them are Indira and Patrick, a married couple that have kids in Florida who are members of the church, they just never got baptized themselves. Indira is ready to be baptized as soon as Patrick is ready, and he's reading and praying about the BoM now! Please pray for him to gain an extra witness that this step is the right one for him to take for himself and for his family.

The third person that came to church is our friend Rodrigo, who is GETTING BAPTIZED NEXT SUNDAY!!! He overcame a pretty formidable Word of Wisdom roadblock, and he is ready and exciting to be baptized and receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost. It's going to be amazing.

In other, very tangential, news, it finally snowed here in NYC! We woke up one morning to see a couple inches of snow on the ground! It was kind of exciting but it wasn't much, and it's almost entirely gone now. Elder Kim is hoping it'll snow again soon, and I'm just praying it won't haha (one NYC winter is enough for me haha). We'll just have to wait and see what happens in the next few weeks.

Mafaufauga faaleagaga: Read or listen to "Wrestling with Comparisons" (a BYU devo by JB Haws), "Notwithstanding My Imperfections" (a conference talk by Neal A Maxwell), and "To the Young Women" (a conference talk by Jeffrey R Holland). All three have inspired me and helped me this week, and all three are worth careful study. You're welcome 😂

Alofa tele lava atu ia outou uma,

Elder Hill

Ata:

• Literally a mask vending machine 😑🤦🏼‍♂️
• First snowfall in NYC!! Got this street pic from our apartment window
• This street sign is giving me mixed signals...
• Our friend Rodrigo and his cat in the snow (he just sends us quality pics like this haha)
• Elder Kim got ice cream for the district, so we celebrated after district council
• Nametag in the snow
• Elder Kim & me in the snow

2022 & 6017

Malo Soifua!!!

Today on the Elder Hill Show:

 ** The triple-double didn't quite happen, but the miracles definitely did

 ** Them APs really know how to get work done (and how to get us to get work done too lol)

 ** Dang, 2021 really did just end, didn't it

We had a goal this week to get a "triple-double" by Sunday night, meaning ten friends with a baptismal date, ten friends to church, and ten new friends found this week. That's a lofty goal, and it doesn't happen much. But we were set on it. And at first, we were super solid on our work, but then......the reality check hit. By about Friday we had only found three people, and we had dropped two people on baptismal date, so our goal of a triple double was looking a little far away 

That's where the APs come in. By random chance, they came to our chapel on Saturday to go on exchanges with the Zone Leaders, and we talked to them for about five seconds as they walked by. Elder Vernon looked at us and said "you guys are gonna hit a triple double, right?" Elder Kim and I looked at each other for a sec before turning back and saying "absolutely!" Elder Vernon smiled and gave some encouragement before leaving. Elder Kim turned to me and was like "shoot, now we really gotta hit the grind". We worked super hard that day, and we ended up finding five people THAT day, not to mention the FOUR people we put on date that day as well. All of that happened in less than three hours, and it was a straight up miracle. The church is true (never been truer), and God is real.

2021 just kinda.....ended. It was weird because I wasn't really paying attention recently to the day's going by until it was New Year's Eve and people were shooting off fireworks and blowing air horns (right by our apartment, which meant I couldn't sleep for over an hour smh). I'm super excited for 2022 and all that it will bring, but I'm also kinda sad. 2021 was the one full calendar year that I got to serve as a missionary, and now it's gone. Time flies when you're having fun, and buddy boy my mission has been so amazing!

Mafaufauga faaleagaga: 6017. That's how many prayers I said in the year of 2021. 6017 phone calls to God. 6017 amens said. A few of those prayers will never be forgotten. All of them helped build me into what I am now. I set a goal at the end of 2020 to count how many prayers I say in a year, and how many in a day (that's an average of 16.5, btw). I learned a lot about God, and I learned a lot about me. I didn't do it to flex or boast, but I did it to bring it to the forefront of my focus each night. Some days I said fewer than ten, and some days I said more than 25, but each day had a prayer in it, and each day I took a step closer to God (albeit with a few shuffles and backpedals along the way). God is so good, and He is so good all the time. Pres Holmes told us to set goals and do work that will "keep you on your knees." Back in the MTC, Elder McKrola's dad told him, "Pray like it all depends on God, and then work like it all depends on you." I love both of those ideas, and I hope I can keep praying as much as possible each and every day. I encourage you all to do the same. It won't be easy, but it WILL be worth it.

Sorry this has been super nostalgic and sappy and all that haha. It's been a weird few days.

Alofa tele lava atu ia outou uma,

Elder Hill

Ata:

• Costco pic
• Post-Costco elevator pic
• The district (ft. amazing Korean soda)
• NYC rats babyyyy (video)