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