week 80

For the first time in my mission I actually went back and calculated the number of weeks on my mission and it turns out I had messed up somewhere along the way a while back and I'm actually on week 80 now! Considering that I am going home in June , I will be out for about 104 weeks which means I'm on the tail end of my mission. Two days ago I finished my third journal and reflected a lot on my experinces so far. I compared lots of journal entries from certain days to exactly one year back and was stunned at the difference in tone and maturity. I thought about things I wished I could do a year ago that I now do every day like describe my thoughts and feelings with detail in Spanish (and English!). I also realized how much my long term goals have changed for the better in the last year.

      As a missionary I am completely uninformed about what is going on in the outside world politically, but I realize that many are concered about what will happen to the country and the world. I just want to say if we trust in God and have faith in his Son it will be OK. <--- Ether 12:4 

     This week was by far the most successful of my mission so far and I know it was because of our exact obedience and diligence. We found 6 new people to teach and 5 people we are teaching attended church. We hope to schedule 2 people for baptism this week and I have never seen so much potential in an area.( I love the culture here and hope to bring some of it into my home in the future) I just want to take some time to share a miracle that happened this week - yesterday in fact. It was aound 6:50  (our lesson at 6:30 had fallen through) and a meeting we had planned with a member family and a sister we started teaching last week. We were about to start the call when my companion Elder Streiff looks at me and says "Should we invite Vladimir?" He is a man we are teaching but he has difficulty staying on topic and asks many very irrelevent distracting questions, so my initial thought was no way josé but something told me it would be ok so I asked "what do you think?" and he said "It would probably be alright... right?" and I said "I hope so. Let's do it" so we added him to the call. The lesson turned out great and we had to help out the new member family a little bit. Vladimir asked his wierd questions but Elder Streiff handled them like a master and then in the middle of the lesson the strangest thing happened. Hermana Paredes, the lady we are teaching (extremely polite and a little olderish) puts her hand over her mouth and gets emotional. I was currently speaking and I noticed her so I made a pause to ask if anyone has comments or questions to perhaps give hermana Paredes a chance to say what was on her mind. The first miracle was that Vladimir didn't speak up at all because he normally does and brings up something way off topic. Then after a good 5-10 second pause Hermana Paredes raises her hand a bit and says "I can't believe it. I can't belive it! I dreamed about this very moment and remember vividly this video call with 5 men and one other woman. I knew the missionaries were there but I didn't know who the others were but here you all are right here! In my dream I had a very important commitment to keep that would promote my image and my job a lot, but this lesson was at the same time. In the dream I chose to go to the lesson and I remember seeing all of you. I I I ...I don't know what to make of it!" In response to that I was speechless and then Sister Romero explained a little about personal revelation and gave her testimony of the Book of Mormon and both Hermana Paredes and Vladimir said they would recommit to reading it. This was probably one of my most spiritual experiences so far and it happened to happen on the one day that the day before I used the last page of my journal, haha. But anyway I felt so glad and I was able to see the fruits of some of the seeds I planted around 7 months ago. As some of you might know, I was in this same area when I first arrived here and that was when I first met Hermana Paredes and her father had recently passed away. She had been incredibly sad every time we called her back then and all we did was give her comfort and introduce her to members who did the same. And yesterday she hadn't forgotton it. She thanked me specifically for the times when I'd call jsut to ask how she was doing and said she was so grateful that I was back in the area again and able to see her in a happier state. This is the awesome part of missionary work. 

     Today was an awesome Pday! We got all our house cleaning done super early - 2 companions cleaned while the other showered and then we'd rotate, and then we planned out the day and were out by 8:30. We did the groceries and came home to put it all away and leave again to go play pickleball for an hour!!! Elder Streiff actually beat me!!! He's really good - and it was really close too! Then we went home, all before noon. For lunch we went to this place called La Jarochita which is a very sketchy looking Mexican food place that's almost hidden but SO many hispanics have recommended it to us so we decided to give it a try ad WOW it is actually da best. I ate a big ol tamale and a gordita and it was like $5 and I couldn't finish it because it was so much food! Then I home I sent a couple emails out and we cleaned out this ancient little grill thing that been outside on the porch for who knows how long.

    We have high goals for our area and our zone and I can't wait to tell you all the miracles that will happen next week! <--- Moroni 7:29

week 78

Hello all, This week for us was amazing! Last week was transfers and believe it or not I was transferred right back to where I came from, but this time as a zone leader for the brand new Spanish zone that was created. My new companions are Elder Strife from Montana with 16 months in the mission field and Elder Krogh from Georgia with 7 weeks in the field. It's quite an interesting dynamic but the good thing is that we work very hard and Elder Krogh is learning very fast. We have got to meet the people that the past Elders were teaching as well as 5 new people we found who seem pretty excited to get to know us. We are just starting to get to know how to be Zone leaders but I feel like our purpose is much more clear after that first MLC (mission leadership council) meeting yesterday. Basically our first priority is our our own area and missionary efforts and then also giving support/help/guidance to our district leaders. We have already planned out our exchanges with them and we hope to be of great help to them. A miracle this week is that week got in contact with someone named Liliana Paredes, an older lady we found 6 months ago when I was in this area! In the past I was able to help her through a very difficult time because her father had just passed away, and I remember her always being sad. However, now she is as happy as can be and was so excited to see me again! We are now working to help her meet members in the ward. This week was full of success and I'm already excited for the rest of the transfer. My parents told me a bit about the state of the nation and if I'm honest it worries me probably more than it should. However, I know my purpose and it's not a distraction at all. 

I love the Book of Mormon and the Bible. They are so simple and easily understood by an open heart. My scriptures of the week to memorize are about peace: 

Juan 16:33   These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Mosíah 4:12    And behold, I say unto you that if ye do this ye shall always rejoice, and be filled with the love of God, and always retain a remission of your sins; and ye shall grow in the knowledge of the glory of him that created you, or in the knowledge of that which is just and true

I hope you all have a great week! 

This week for service we helped deep clean a gym...

week 76 & 77

This week was amazing! We are teaching a new friend Luis and he makes very good questions. We taught him the Restoration (it was his second time receiving that lesson but we feared that the last Elders didn't help him realize the implications of the Restoration) and the lesson went incredibly well and he participated so well! At the end he stated, "I know you have the truth." I was smiling so much but it was hard to hear what he said next "but so does everyone else. If we believe in Jesus we will be saved." I thought we had been so clear however after a brief summary and expression of appreciation for his participation we set up the next lesson to teach him the steps Christ's taught us in order to "be saved" (the gospel). This type of situation was very common in Costa Rica and I know that a great spirit-led lesson with an emphasis on Priesthood authority will help him understand. As with Carlos and Karina, they are both still reading the Book of Mormon! 

Today we had an incredible activity where us and a few other companionship got to visit the Arlington Cemetery! It was a humbling experience that I will never forget. I wish I could tell more details, however this week will have to be more of a picture-blog week 😅

Love you all! 

Elder Hilton

Week 77

This Christmas week was an amazing experience for the both of us and the highlight of my week was getting to talk with my younger siblings. I loved getting to drive through the Centerville stake center and talk to the Mission President and his wife and all the senior couples - they are the greatest. For me personally this was a very memorable Christmas. I loved being able to share the Christ Child with over 25 of our friends (most of which have not until now been responding to us) and some of the members that had not yet seen it. I'm sad to be moving on from the Christmas season, but I know that the principles that bring us happiness in Christmas can and will bring us happiness all year round. Past goals I have set for 2020 is to learn more about Christ from 1) Attributes of Christ in Ch. 6 of PMG and 2) finishing Jesus the Christ. The second one I am very close to completing and it has enhanced every Pday and bathroom break for the last month:) 

I was a little disappointed that not a single friend came to sacrament meeting because it was phenomenal, and it is sad when after our best efforts people don't keep commitments, and so that's why for right now we are taking a step back. We are helping people with their faith in Jesus Christ. Anyway, I really hope all of you have a great New Year's and thanks for reading/hope ya don't mind its short

CHAU! 

- Elder Hilton

ps I love elder holland he reminds me of peter from the new testament-just says it how it is 🔨