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)

Happy Chrysler

Malo Soifua, ma Manuia le Kerisimasi ia outou!!!

Today on the Elder Hill Show:

 ** Exchanges with the ZLs was fuego (except for when my bike chain broke)

 ** Christmas was great

 ** Church was full of miracles

I don't have much energy or time right now, so This'll be super short. Life is amazing and the mission is going super well. The pictures posted below give a pretty good representation of a lot of the stuff we do here haha (especially around Christmas).

I mentioned a miracle in my last email about our friend Angel and his family. We'll the miracle continues. He and his whole family decided to go to church yesterday in the Spanish ward!!! Angel and his mom haven't gone in ten years since he was baptized. His dad hasn't gone in even longer, and his younger siblings didn't even know what church was, but they were all there, and they had a great time (see pic below of them sitting in church).

Mafaufauga faaleagaga: I'm pretty sure it was Gordon B Hinckley that said it, but there's a great quote that goes something like "We wouldn't celebrate Christmas if it weren't for Easter." It really helps to remind us of the "reason for the season", the Atonement and sacrifice of our Savior Jesus Christ. Hopefully we can always remember that and be a little more like him each and every day.

Alofa tele lava atu ia outou uma,

Elder Hill

Ata:

• Cool pics of NYC at night
• The district at the church
• The district with the Sturgills for lunch
• The district (almost) at Popeyes
• A bunch of random missionaries with the Andersons for lunch
• Elder White and me trying to fix our bike
• Elder Kim and me celebrating the Feast of Seven Fishes with Fish 'n Chips
• Our Christmas setup in the apartment
• Our Christmas card (the "tinsel stables" part is a joke our district made while talking about Hallmark Christmas movies)
• Literally the greatest Christmas gift ever!! This selfie is of Angel and his family sitting in the Spanish ward for church.

Christmas Song Video by Elder Hill

Elder Hill wrote and performed a Christmas song as part of the "Light the World" campaign.

His Facebook post:  

Light The World Day 18: Songs Worth Sharing

True love is sharing the best things we have with the ones we love the most.

Share your favorite songs to rejoice with your favorite friends, and use that joy to light the world with love!

"Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks unto him; bless his name!" (Psalm 100:4)

#LightTheWorld

#LightTheWorldWithLove

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO

It's Basically Christmas (ft. Hispanic Santa)

Malo Soifua!!!

Today on the Elder Hill Show:

 ** So a guy we started teaching was is actually a less active member? (Crazy story) #megamiracles

 ** Zone Conference was absolutely epic (I'm talking fire talks, waffle breakfast, sugar cookie decorating competition, and a talent show)

 ** Our friends are the best (also some of my friends from CT got baptized!)

It's Christmas season!  Merry Christmas!! 😁🤣

So a week ago I met an 18 yr old on the train named Angel, and he was super cool. We visited him at work one time, and he seemed genuinely interested in learning more or talking with us again. This week he said we could come over and visit, so we roll up and meet him, his younger siblings, and his mom. Near the beginning of the conversation, the mom tells us in broken English that she's actually a member of the church, and our friend Angel was baptized when he was 8! They haven't been to church in a long time, but they're interested in coming to church! Angel has a super cool story of walking away from God before looking for Him again and meeting us! He wants to come back and see how it is. He couldn't come yesterday because of work, bit he's down to come back and get involved again, which is way cool! (Our goal now is to get the mom and younger kids to come to church or want to learn more).

Zone Conference was like none other before. Pres & Sis Holmes decided that we needed a good Christmas celebration as two zones. We had some really good trainings and talks about Christ, and the Spirit was super strong. We also got to have a bunch of fun as well. For our meal, we had "Christmas breakfast" complete with waffles, eggs, fruit, sausage, and hot chocolate. Right after eating and listening to Christmas music, we had a sugar cookie decorating contest, which was awesome. My table thought we had the winning design, but twas not to be (see pictures below). After that, we had a zone talent show, which had a lot of good stuff (including a special dance number by Elder Wolfgramm, the "Dancing Missionary" (who's currently AP, btw). Good times all around.

We have a lot of awesome friends here in Rego Park. We set a goal of having four friends come to church, and we got four! It was actually really hard because two of our solid church-goers we're out of town, so we had to really work on getting more people to come. I haven't met my church goal multiple weeks in a row for a loooong time haha, so that's been nice. Now we just need to get them all baptized haha.

Speaking of baptism, Helena and Nylee, a mother and daughter that I taught in Trumbull, got baptized yesterday! Even though the Trumbull area was closed, Pres Holmes let my "son", Elder Piscitello, keep working with them in his new area, and they made their date for baptism! I'm not out here for numbers or anything, but not gonna lie it's still kinda nice to see tangible success for our efforts haha. I wasn't able to be there of course, but I'm soooo happy for them (and for my son, Elder Piscitello, for getting that done 💪🤙)

Mafaufauga faaleagaga: President Holmes is just the greatest guy ever. He talked a lot at Zone Conference about Christ and His mission on the Earth. One of the points that he made was that everything Christ did was voluntary. His entire life was a gift to God and to the rest of us. Even while hanging from the cross, he chose to wait until he had paid for it all. No one could have taken His life away. He had to give it. Because He did, we can get ours back too one day. And because He suffered for so much more than just our sins, His Atonement can help us do SO MUCH MORE than just repent. 

God is so good, and He is so good all the time. I wish you all a very merry Christmas, and I hope you all take the time to love God and love your friends and family.

Alofa tele lava atu ia outou uma,

Elder Hill

Ata:

• Pretty sunset from our apartment window
• Cool subway car interior
• Sunset from the subway platform
• Sugar cookies from our competition at Zone Conference (mine is the one with the train car and the baptism, but the First Vision one won first place)
• Random pic of me looking down through the slats on the raised subway platform (there's a road and a car below my feet in the pic)
• Finbar and me (ft. His dope pink and black suit combo)
• Helena and her daughter Nylee at their baptism!!
• Hispanic Santa caught on tape

It's Funny 'Cuz Corona

Malo Soifua!!!

Today on the Elder Hill Show:

 ** Quick PSA: the 2022 Youth Album is absolute FIRE 🔥🔥

 ** Finding is way easier here haha

 ** We went to Manhattan, and I felt like I was home haha

 ** The ward Christmas party was epic #blacksanta

It's the holiday season, folks. If any of you want to send me anything (cards, letters, packages, gifts, large amounts of money, etc 🤣), my address is 

37-47 98th St #2f, Corona, NY 11368

(Yes I live in Corona, in Queens. Yes it's funny because coronavirus).

The Rego Park area of Queens is WILD. It's so fast paced and energetic here. The work is crazier and faster than anything I've ever seen before. My comp Elder Kim just came from the Korean area, which is lots of hard work, and he's been in awe of the success and the miracles that we see each day. We use the trains a lot to get from our apartment to our chapel, and it's a prime setting to find new people to teach. We've gotten more phone numbers and new people than I frankly thought was even possible. Our goal now is to somehow have time to teach all of these people haha, and to find ways to keep them progressing. Exciting stuff is coming.

We had to visit Manhattan for a quick errand on Thursday, and it was sooo nice. Queens is wonderful, but I'm still getting used to the metro and the streets. When we stepped out into the street in lower Manhattan, I knew exactly where we were and exactly where to go. As we walked I pointed out famous places or places that I'd been before, which was a nice walk down memory lane for me.

On Saturday we had our ward's Christmas dinner, and it was amazing. One of our friends came, which was really nice, and there was a good number of members there. They made SO MUCH FOOD for everyone, and I literally ate so much I felt a little sick haha. We sang some carols and read the Christmas story from the Bible and the BoM, which was super cool. After those, they brought out DESSERT (I thought we'd already had it lol). I got a piece of pecan pie, but I was already so full I couldn't even finish it. Good times all around.

Mafaufauga faaleagaga: At church yesterday we had Elder Buckner, an Area 70, come and speak in Sacrament meeting. He gave a fire talk about helping others come closer to Christ. He had the Bishop come to the pulpit, and he asked him how many baptized people live in his ward. He then asked how many people live in his ward, and he pointed out that those two numbers are NOT the same. (Our ward boundaries cover up to about a half million people). Elder Buckner said, "When you stop delineating between baptized and unbaptized members of your ward, your life will change markedly... Let's fill this room. Not with numbers, but with family." I hope you can see how profound that line of thinking is, because it's absolutely amazing. Please reach out to everyone you come in contact with. Share a little Christmas cheer with anyone and everyone.

Alofa tele lava atu ia outou uma,

Elder Hill

Ata:

• Member from the Czech Republic that we ran into in Manhattan
• Train with Manhattan on the horizon
• Elder Kim and me
• Post district council halal run with the other English Elders and the ZLs
• Fun friends we made on the train
• Christmas dinner with Elders Biggs & Kitchen and their recent convert named Finbar (he's an absolute LEGEND)
• Pictures with Santa (ft. Finbar again lol)

That 0.5 Percent Though....

Malo Soifua!!!

Today on the Elder Hill Show:

 ** We found a lot of cool people this week, which was pretty epic

 ** None of them came to church, which was significantly less epic

 ** So apparently I'm going to Queens?

Quick note: if you're planning on sending me anything for Christmas (which would be kinda epic if you did hahaha), send it to my mission office to make sure it actually gets to me. The address is:

Elder Jacob Hill

700 White Plains Rd

Suite #315

Scarsdale, NY 10583

We did a lot of knocking this week, and it paid off pretty well. We found an average of one new person per day, which is way better than we used to find in the area (our goal was ten for this week though, so there's definitely room for improvement). Another exciting change was that the new people we found seemed to be a lot more interested and curious than others that we've found before. A few of them were very excited to read the BoM and talk more about it, and a few of them even expressed a desire to come to church!! It was pretty exciting to see the blessings and miracles that were waiting for us each and every day.

The only downside was that nobody came to church. Now that's not super abnormal for this area (which is sad to report), bit we've been working really hard on it, and we actually confirmed about seven people for church, which is way more than we've ever gotten before to even say they're coming. Unfortunately, they all either cancelled last minute or didn't respond on Saturday and Sunday. Hopefully things work out better next weekend.

Finally, the exciting news. I'M BEING TRANSFERRED BACK TO NYC!!! I'm not gonna lie, I was absolutely certain that I was staying in Trumbull. I'd only been here for three transfers, and I had only been a trainer and District Leader for one transfer. I had literally told my Bishop that the chances of me being transferred were "probably about 0.5 percent". Well, I guess God heard me because that's exactly what happened. An Elder Anderson is being transferred in to finish Elder Piscitello's training, and I'll be blinding into an area in Rego Park, Queens with an Elder Kim, who I've heard about (he sounds like a fire guy). I'm sad to be leaving, but I'm confident that I'm going where the Lord wants me to go. 

Mafaufauga faaleagaga: This'll be less of a spiritual thought and more of a sales pitch haha, but you ALL need to go to LightTheWorld.org and take part in that program. Not only is it super fun, but it's really uplifting and it makes this season better for everyone (it doesn't matter what religion or beliefs you have, everyone can spread a little happiness to those around them). This season is called "the most wonderful time of the year". I can promise you that if you do your part to light the world with love this December, it'll be just that.

Alofa tele lava atu ia outou uma,

Elder Hill

Ata:

• District pics (1 normal one, 2 with emo chains & bling, per Sister Lopez's request)
• Zone leadership call pic
• "No prob-llama"
• A bunch of deer just casually in someone's yard
• Every freaking house in CT looks like this, in case you were wondering
• House with dope Christmas lights
• Elder Piscitello and me, out spreading the word
• Bumper sticker with words to live by
• I visited home for a bit (get it cuz Birch St haha. There was also a Gilbert St just around the corner)