Old Hiller, the Fossil of Westchester

Malo Soifua!!!

Today on the Elder Hill Show:

 ** Yeah so I'm officially the oldest missionary in the zone, and I hate it 😂 (k I don't hate it, but it's weird)

 ** My new comp is Elder Jensen from Riverton, Utah. He's reassigned from Ukraine (he can't go there yet for obvious reasons😬)

 ** Got to go on an exchange with Elder Conover, one of my ZLs, and it was absolutely amazing 

 ** Guys, Jesus Christ is so cool. The more you study the Atonement, the more you learn about it, the more it just blows you away 

So yeah, transfers happened this week. I picked up Elder Jensen, and he's a great guy and a good missionary. We've gotten along really well, and we've gotten some good work done here in Westchester. I'm no also officially the oldest missionary in the whole zone. Only one other missionary in my zone goes home this transfer, and it's a sister, so I've get her beat by six months haha.

When I met Elder Jensen and we were talking, we got to the topic of my going home soon. I said, "I hope you brought a shovel to bury me," to which he replied, "I was thinking we'd go more the Old Yeller route." Yeah, we're gonna get along great, haha.

There are also some fun statistics for y'all as well as two kinda interesting parallels:

 - Elder Jensen is my 15th companion (including MTC)

 - He's also my 7th reassigned comp [i.e., originally called to a different mission, but reassigned to NYC because of Covid or world conflict], and the 10th that I'll have for only one transfer

 - First parallel: my comp is in his 5th transfer in the field, which how long I'd been out over a year ago when I was comps with a dying missionary 

 - Second parallel: there's a sister in my district who came into the field this transfer, which is what happened during my first transfer in the field (having a DL who's going home your very first transfer)

Interesting stuff

Near the end of the week, we had an exchange with the ZLs, and I got to go into their area with Elder Conover. We had a great time with lessons and with finding, and we learned a lot together. He taught me a bit about the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and it just opened my eyes. I started studying it more, and I was blown away by what I've learned (more on that later). We were working on extending baptismal dates on the street and in every lesson or contact. It worked pretty well! Our goal now is to invite as many people as we can to be baptized, and then to get them all to church so they can actually progress and prepare for that covenant with God.

Mafaufauga faaleagaga: Here's a beautiful quote from Preach My Gospel about the Atonement. Read it and really think about it, and it'll blow your mind:

"All that is unfair about life can be made right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ."

That is a BOLD claim to have. Literally everything in life, including all of our sins and afflictions, but also including family trouble, mental or emotional disabilities, losing a job, losing a family member, doubt, fear, confusion, even the normal and natural decay of the human body that comes with age, ALL OF THESE WILL BE MADE RIGHT AND PERFECT. Is that faith? Yes. Is it hope? Yes. Is it true and real and worthwhile? YES. God is so good, and through His Son, our lives can become just as good, just as peaceful, and just as joyful.

Don't believe me? Get on your knees and ask God yourself. Or if you want, message me about it, and we can talk about it and probably end up asking God together.

Alofa tele lava atu ia outou uma,

Elder Hill

Ata:

 - I'd seen this stone bench thingy intact the day before, but I guess something crazy happened overnight

 - Smile a lil

 - Random metal artwork of train workers

 - Train station in Hartsdale

 - Trump missionary mug hehe

 - 4th of July fireworks & zone pday