bLAsPhEmY & Baptism By Fire

Malo Soifua!!!

I actually took the time and made sure the email worked this week, so that was good (still mad about last week).

Today on the Elder Hill Show:

 ** INDIRA & PATRICK GOT BAPTIZED!!!! Literally one of the best days of my life

 ** I saw a ton of blessings & miracles while street/train contacting today

 ** I legit almost got into a legit fistfight on a train station. We ended up finding the guy and giving him a BoM, so it worked out haha

 ** Got to watch a super cool train performance on another day, so that was dope (the video's too long to attach here, but let me know if you wanna see it)

 ** Talking to people when they're drunk is really a unique experience (kinda sad but also kinda funny)

INDIRA AND PATRICK GOT BAPTIZED!!!!! The service was so good, and almost the whole was there it felt like. They were so happy and so excited. Indira's mom and two sons (all three are members of the church) came from Florida for the baptism, and it was super cool to have them there. At their request, I baptized Patrick and Elder Rasmusson baptized Indira. It was so powerful and and the Spirit was so strong. We also got to join Bishop Lariego in confirming them and giving the gift of the Holy Ghost. There was so much love, joy and peace in the room, and it was so good. I'm so excited for Indira and Patrick, and I can't wait to see them continue to grow and progress in the gospel (and in a year get endowed and sealed together in the Temple).

Train contacting really never gets old. This week we had a few exciting experiences all crammed into a couple days.

1. I approached this guy on a subway platform, and he EXPLODED in my face. He was swearing, yelling, daring me to hit him and fight him, and threatening to beat me up. I was a little bigger than him, so I frankly wasn't worried about getting hurt too bad, but I was concerned that I might actually have to fight someone to defend myself (I had slipped into a fighting stance and kept my hands up, so I was ready for anything). Luckily, blessedly, Elder Rasmusson caught a phrase the guy was saying (he evidently thought we were undercover cops), and he corrected him, pointed at our name tags and assuring him we were missionaries. He calmed down pretty quickly at that, and we reassured him a couple more times. We asked who we were and what we were doing, so we talked about it for a bit. We ended up explaining the Book of Mormon and he accepted a copy! He said he'd read it, and we got his FB Messenger account to keep in touch. Not super confident that he'll actually progress, but hey it was dope.

2. These four dudes with a big speaker got into the train we were on (a different day) and they proceeded to put on an epic show for us. Again, it's too big to attach here, but message me if you wanna see it! [Video attached below]

3. Miracles in contacting. There are too many to name, but I found and taught a lot of people on the trains this week, and it was way cool. I'm building my faith and testimony of train contacting and opening my mouth to find, and it's been paying off like crazy. My highlight was a day where I found three new people to teach in about 45 minutes (that's kind of insane if you don't know).

4. This didn't happen on the trains, but it's kinda funny anyway. We called our friend Alanzo on Saturday night, and he was DEFINITELY on something. He was barely coherent, but he still agreed to come to church haha. He handed the phone to his "scheduler", some lady named Kay, and she said they'll BOTH be there on Sunday!  So Sunday morning rolls around, and we called to confirm Alanzo for church. HE actually called US in the morning to confirm himself, but he had no idea who Kay was from the night before (he also had no memory of our call the night before, so there's that too). He still confirmed though. We called him about five minutes into the sacrament meeting, and he said he was on his way......but he didn't show up. Really weird all around.

Mafaufauga faaleagaga: I found a lot of peace and strength this past week in focusing on faith and patience. Life isn't perfect, and the mission is definitely not always easy, but God has been aware of me and has watched over me. Some days I'm in a rut, but I push through and He's there with arms outstretched and a miracle in his hands. Sometimes I get frustrated with my companion, with myself, or with the people we're teaching, but God helps me find peace and comfort and a refocus on what's really important. I love my God and I love my Savior, and I KNOW that they are so real. They will watch over you in all that you do. Just let them into your life and it will be so worth it. That's my faith, and that's my testimony.

Alofa tele lava atu ia outou uma,

Elder Hill

Ata:

• A video of an area in Queens which we hadn't been to before.  The streets were so wide, and everything was so spread out compared to other areas of NYC, that it really was weird.
• The video of the performers on the train.  4 guys perform; be sure to watch the last one!
• Pics from the Baptism
• Elders Fanning & Kitchen and their shenanigans
• Our apartment (it's really small)
• Absolutely beautiful sunset pic
• We made fry bread
• Dude just vibing with his bike on the train
• Crooked subway car (my phone was straight vertical)
• Our new role-playing pal Phil T Phont (please tell me someone gets that)
• Me trying talk to the guy on the help intercom about the BoM (didn't actually but I was soooo tempted)