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!🤣