week 97, THE LAST ONE

This week was by far the fastest week ever! Little by little I have been recognizing less faces on Zoom Calls until the majority of people I know are all home and replaced by new missionaries. Today was transfers and because of some crazy logistics in our zone I had to go down to Woodbridge (about 45 minutes away) for all of Pday to be with Elder Weatherly who is awaiting his trainee, and so we had as much fun as we could playing pool and basketball all while I gave him tips on how to be an effective district leader/trainer, gave him some great training ideas for district council, and planned some fire lessons for tonight. I could tell he was sort of nervous but I have know doubt that he will do a fantastic job! 

This last Sunday was a very special one. I missed my mom a lot as we sat through the mother's day talks at sacrament meeting and then afterwards I said goodbye to all the faithful branch members that I had worked with for the last 4 months. There were lots of pictures taken and hands shaken and elbows bumped, etc. And we left that church building for the last time :( Also I found my Book of Mormon that I had lost the last time and that made me soooo happy. I have put so much energy into that book that I have used the majority of my mission, and although I was prepared to go home without it, I have it back with me and I can go home in peace! I love the Book of Mormon!!

I apologize for the lack of detail in this email, but transfers are dang busy and either way, I can tell most of you all about it in 2 days! See you all!

A beautiful quote from Elder Holland that I dedicate to my mom:

"How can mortal love be so strong that you voluntarily subject yourself to responsibility, vulnerability, anxiety, and heartache and just keep coming back for more of the same? What kind of mortal love can make you feel, once you have a child, that your life is never, ever your own again? Maternal love has to be divine. There is no other explanation for it. What mothers do is an essential element of Christ’s work ”

week 96

Hello everyone! This week was another interesting one filled with its ups and downs. The sad news: Our Friend Jacinto Sanchez who is to be baptized on May 8th moved to Richmond Virginia (over 2 hours away) on the day of his baptismal interview and even though he is so ready, it will be physically impossible for him to be baptized because he can't drive. We are working to find out his new address to pass him off to the missionaries down there, so they can get to know him and do the interview and baptize him.Everything else: 13 of our 34 lessons we had planned this week happened and each of them were great! We taught the Restoration many times and got to meet a few new people that started from mere conversations on Facebook. One guy I've been helping with English said he'd love to go meet at some restaurant but since that's against the rules I told him let's just do a videocall! He called me right then and there and I got to know him and his entire family - wife and 2 kids - and they are so amazing! He said he would love to meet me in person and tell me about more of his Honduran culture and hear about what we do as missionaries! If we are able to get an appointment somewhere in our area (because he lives in my old area) then I might actually get an in-person lesson for the first time since being reassigned before going home next week! I was reflecting about one of my past exchanges we did with a companionship and how humble one Elder was. He was a convert of the bare minimum when he left on his mission. He did the at-home MTC by himself and had no support and he arrived to the mission field and didn't know who Joseph Smith was. Since then he has read the Book of Mormon and gained his own testimony of it and learnt Joseph Smith incredible role of the prophet of the Restoration and during a lesson I heard his simple, heartfelt, humble testimony in broken Spanish and it was incredible. I was thinking of how I could share my testimony with that level of humility and eliminate any pride from my life and I was reminded of the inspiring words of my Mission President about pride and humility. Pride often slips into our lives as a counterfeit way to make ourselves feel justified when our performance or feelings are less than our spiritual capability.Humility, on the other hand, is a sign of spiritual strength. It causes us to think deeply about the things that really matter in life. It tempers harsh and judgmental thoughts and communications. Humility prompts us to rise above our own limitations so that we can lift and strengthen others. Truly humble servants of the Lord actively seek to know His divine principles and will so that they can reach toward Him by consistently adjusting their thoughts and personal behavior. They know that commandments and principles provide the sure way to heaven through the atonement of Jesus Christ.I love my Mission President. All three so far have had a profound impact on my life. I am grateful for my mission and I pray that we all learn to love obedience and that we all work to defeat pride in our lives and “let God prevail”. I love God’s commandments and want to fill every day with compassion and concern for the well-being of others. Let's all rise above any prideful rationalizations and worry ourselves less with our own small discomforts or insecurities. With that I hope you all have a great week and find someone to help! 

Love, Elder Hilton :)

week 95

Hello everyone! This week was another amazing one, and there were plenty of miracles that happened! Here are some highlights.

First off some follow up on Mario the mouse: we set up some Walmart sticky traps with tater tots in them, and the FIRST night we were woken up around 11 and sure enough there he was. We safely and humanely disposed of him and kept the other traps just in case, and 2 nights later we were woken up again around 11 by another mouse caught in the other trap (we got 4 traps) and now we think the house is mouse free but who knows!

This Sunday was incredible and the best part was when we made a new friend. I invited someone I have been talking with for only a few days on Facebook to come to church with me and he did! His name was Pedro and I didn't even know it was him til he came up to me afterwards and thanked me for my talk (Elder Douglas and I spoke to cover for some members who fell through) and then he even stayed for the second hour of church and within those two hours we became friends! Nearly every member of the branch said hi to him and "thanks for coming" and it was such a neat experience. This week we will for sure call him and explain a lot of the things he saw in church. Also Jacinto came to church again and he is SO humble. His comments in sunday school were so great and had everybody nodding and reflecting. I have no doubt that he will be baptized on May 8th. His sincere to desire to know the Savior is his motivation and because of that I spoke about the importance of coming unto Christ and how we do it. (I based my talk off of John A McCune's talk in April 2020 Gen. Conference because he used to be our old Stake President.)

Quick thought:

My mission president said this about how to become more like the Savior: 

When we spend significant amounts of time thinking about ourselves, our own comforts and states of being, we are missing the opportunity to pattern our lives after the Savior. He has invited us to leave such concerns behind, “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." 

What comforts are we willing to sacrifice to follow Christ? 

I love you all

Elder Hilton

week 94

Hello Everyone! This week was again incredible! We had another district activity that was kind of far away, so I don't have a ton of time to write a detailed message this week. The activity was frisbee and soccer, and at the end we were all tired so we just sat and talked and played signed and honestly I think that was my favorite part. Here are some things that happened this week

1) we discovered we had mice in our apartment and despite our best efforts, mario the mouse has stolen 16 of our tots already. We keep trying to catch him, but he's nocturnal so he's got the advantage. The other casualties in the battle against mario are a pack of graham crackers and a stick of butter. But today we bought real traps so we'll see what happens tonight.

2) We went to church in person and met an older couple we had never seen before and it turns out that the moved from Baltimore and they are investigating the church and just came out of their own free will! We are going to start having lessons with them to help them learn what the church is all about. It was quite the miracle and we are having a lot of success in this new branch! Speaking of success, I want to share a quote from my mission President's son about it's relationship with happiness: 

 

“In 1543, Nicolas Copernicus published De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (On the Revolution of Celestial Spheres). Until then, most of the world had believed that the Earth was the center of the universe and that the sun revolved around the planet. But Copernicus famously argued that precisely the opposite was true—Earth revolved around the sun—a revelation that eventually changed the way humans saw the entire universe.

“Today, a similar fundamental shift in the field of psychology is underway. For untold generations, we have been led to believe that happiness orbited around success. That if we work hard enough, we will be successful, and only if we are successful will we become happy. Success was thought to be the fixed point of the work universe, with happiness revolving around it. Now, thanks to breakthroughs in the burgeoning field of positive psychology, we are learning that the opposite is true. When we are happy—when our mindset and mood are positive—we are smarter, more motivated, and thus more successful. Happiness is the center, and success revolves around it."

That is something I have seen already in my relatively short life, and I intend to keep applying that knowledge to make the world a happier place. Hopefully next week I'll have a it more time to tell about my week, but for now... Hasta Luego!

1) The mario-catching setup

2) The super pretty trees in the Virginia spring

3) Our district!

week 93

Hello! This week, probably like every other missionary's week on the planet was bendecido. General Conference was a great spiritual experience for my comapnion and I and we had a great time listening to each session and invitiing all our friends to participate. We found three new friends to teach this week and all of them had lost contact with the sister missionaries about 6 months to a year ago. Two of them are from Guatemala and speak an indigienous languange and spanish, and because of that they have some funny nuances in their way of speaking.  I'll let you know how is goes with each of them next week, but until then, here's a spiritual thought for the week:

I have learned that missions can be difficult and they require a great investment of yourself; not only your time, but your heart and mind. But as I push through the challenges and willingly embrace the work of salvation, I remember that right now this work is the greatest thing I could be doing with my life and I notice some things. 

I've noticed that as you apply yourself, suddenly things of the "Spirit" begin to take on more meaning. You start to depend on the Savior's matchless power more readily. You come to love those you are called to serve. You start to stretch toward the goals that the Lord knows you can reach, and you learn how to set even more meaningful goals for yourself. Speaking of goals, as I near the end of my mission, I have been setting several long term and short term goals, and in one of my studies I came across this quote

"In contrast to the institutions of the world, which teach us to know something, the gospel of Jesus Christ teaches us to become something" - Dallin H. Oaks

and so when I heard this next quote from Ahmad S. Corbitt in General Conference on Saturday, it stuck out to me a lot! "Setting goals is a great way to see forward to who you will become with faith". Goals are like the helm of the ship that Elder Bednar talked about that steer our great potential and faith in Jesus Christ towards eternal life!

I love General Conference and I could probably talk about it for the rest of P-day, but I've got to do some other things as well, so goodbye everyone!

With Love, 

Elder Hilton

eatingbhan while watching general conference. Yum!

I think my companion was hungry!🤣

week 92

Hello everyone! Today is transfers, and I'm leaving for Fairfax. The best part of it is that I'm staying with Elder Douglas and in the Cub Run branch, but we are moving into a new apartment! I'm excited for the change in view because until now I have lived in Manassas since June (10 months!) Moving was quite the process and it took up most of the time today and we've got three lessons to prepare for tonight, so this email's going to be pretty short. I just wanted to share something that my mission President said this last week that I really like. He was talking about out transfers and the importance of loving our companion. He said, "Clearly in Heavenly Father’s kingdom we need each other to progress. “Love” is the critical factor which enriches and accelerates that progression. Whole-hearted and thoughtful love which derives from deep within our soul is what allows us to become like the Savior and our Father in Heaven. How do we achieve this level of love while serving here as missionaries? The Savior himself provided the answer to the original missionaries of his time: “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” (John 14: 21) Our president taught us that obedience is key to love. But he also connected it very well to the importance of companions in life. He taught us that life was never meant to be a solitary endeavor. The Lord made it clear that we are not here upon the earth to merely spend time together, but that we are “to love [our] neighbor as [ourselves]. This requirement is second only to, and “like unto” the first commandment, to love the Lord with “all [our] heart, and with all [our] soul, and with all [our] mind.” (Matthew 22: 36-40)" And throw in Mosiah 2:41 and you have the key to happiness! So spouses, love your media naraja(better half), and siblings love your other siblings, and we will all be so happy and blessed!!! Have a great week everybody! :)))))

Elder Hilton

we were leaving our house and were so excited to give some service to a little old man who needed a jump.  Made my day.

A fun video call watching Mazzikay and Gizmo begging for the piece of bread my mom was giving them. Hahaha

a fun video call watching Mazzikay and Gizmo begging for the piece of bread my mom had in her hand.  Hahaha

week 91

Hello Everyone! 

This week was another great one, just plugging along at all the usual missionary work! We had another lesson with Liliana about temples and she watched the video with Elder Rasband and Elder Bednar in the Rome Italy temple and she was amazed. We explained even more afterwards about what we do in temples and why it's so important and the difference between those and just regular church buildings. She was shocked to learn that there was one in Maryland less than an hour away and she wants to visit it now! We also had lots of lessons with people who don't live in our area and then helped them get in contact with missionaries closer to them (in South Carolina, Peru and Mexico). 

We also had a Zone Conference this week instead of District Council, and guess what? It was all about the Book of Mormon! I had no idea but that was what my last email was all about! We gave a 20 min training in the conference about how the Book of Mormon answers questions of the soul and it went very well. My favorite part was the testimony meeting at the end, it was incredible because all the testimonies had to do with the Book of Mormon and Jesus Christ!

Also this week I turned 21 months old on my mission! 🎉 

We had a district activity today and it was pretty far away, so I already don't have much time left, so here is a brief spiritual thought :)

 Something that I learned in this zone conference was that if you are doing your best each day, then you do not need to fear that you will fail. Why? For me it's all in the definition of the word fail. When you are disappointed in yourself and know you could have done better, that is a failure. However in Preach My Gospel we learn that

"When you have done your very best, you may still experience disappointments, but you will not be disappointed in yourself. You can feel certain that the Lord is pleased when you feel the Spirit working through you." (p. 12)

Also our mission President shared the following quote with us: “There is nothing noble in being superior to some other man. The true nobility is in being superior to your previous self.” 

So, if you are sincerely trying your best you are succeeding! And I think we can all be a little more grateful for even the small advances that we experience. I am so grateful to be a missionary and love God's perfect plan of progression for all of us!

Have a great week everyone!

Elder Hilton