"Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life." 3 Nephi 5:13

Sunday, November 30, 2014

Thanksgiving Dinner...Yuummm!!


A wonderful Thanksgiving dinner was provided for all of the missionaries at a member's home in the branch. Also, a big Thank You to Sister Dhanraj for the great pictures!








Elder and Sister Poulson
Elder and Sister Dhanraj




Sunday, November 23, 2014

The Rains Came Down And The Floods Came Up!

    Well this past week was pretty great for me. It felt to me that we were able to get a lot more done than we had in the past few weeks. It was also a very rainy and gloomy week but the work pressed on! A tropical storm hit Thursday and we got soaked! Thursday morning I was awakened by Elder Poulson calling us at 6:25am (5 minutes early) to check up and see if our apartment had flooded due to heavy rain all night long. I said back to him in my best morning voice, "I don't know let me check." So I walked outside and no water was in our apartment. So I was like nah. I hung up the phone and slept for like 2 more minutes. Elder Smith walked outside and was like ahh crap! So water was in the kitchen. We took and unplugged everything. Water was filling up fast. It was coming under the door. So an explanation for you...we have a 4 inch concrete ledge to keep most water out.. but the water was coming up over it. So we got the wet dry vac... I know we are lucky to have one of those. And we scooped probably 500000000000 buckets full of water out of our house. We spent all day doing that then we went to eat at Quisnos subs. Just like America! It was pretty great.


    












   I want to talk about a family that I'm really loving right now. They are great. Sis. E---- has been a member longer than me and is a really nice lady. She has been less-active for about 10 years but she is great because she came to the church about two weeks ago and expressed to Pres Mckenzie and Brother Daniels that she wants to change and start coming back to church because she can see a difference in her life. She has a few children. The ones we are now teaching have baptismal dates for the 13th of December. I will sadly not be here for them but that doesn't matter. I'm just grateful for the chance I have been given to see them progress and accept the gospel into their lives. 

    We have been getting a lot of new investigators and they're doing really well. We have been making a constant effort of updating the Area Book so that the next missionaries will know who we are teaching and where they live and how to contact them. That was our struggle when we came in and it's not going to be like that when I leave. I really want to leave the area better than when I discovered it. As far as transfers go, I don't have any info yet.... I get my call on fri or sat so we'll see how that goes!

    My testimony continues to grow. I have a new and added testimony of the Plan of Salvation. I was given the opportunity to help a brother out in Gospel Principles yesterday. The class was able to clearly understand the 3 kingdoms and I was able to as well. I love when I have those ahh haa moments and then it just makes sense. It was a great experience to have.

Well Family I love you and hope you are all doing great!
Elder Hill


Sunday, November 16, 2014

Trinidad - Mission Leadership Conference



  This past week was such a spiritual Roller Coaster for me! It was so great to fly to Trinidad for a Mission Leadership Conference for 3 days. It was fun seeing elders I haven't seen for awhile. We were edified and instructed by my leaders and taught more of the Doctrine, and found out ways that I can effectively use my time to help the missionaries around me in my zone and how we can balance our efforts to sustain and achieve real growth! (reactivation, retention, and convert baptisms).

   We learned a lot about Alma 26:5 “Behold, the field was ripe, and blessed are ye, for ye did thrust in the sickle, and did reap with your might, yea all the day long did ye labor; and behold the number of your sheaves! And they shall be gathered into the garners, that they are not wasted.” We are the workers of the Lords vineyard. The sheaves in this analogy represent newly baptized members of the Church. The garners are the holy temples. Elder Neal A. Maxwell explained: “Clearly, when we baptize, our eyes should gaze beyond the baptismal font to the holy temple. The great garner into which the sheaves should be gathered is the holy temple.” It is a place of safety and protection for the people who accept the covenants of the gospel. I know that the temple is so so important and that we can't be exalted with out it. I miss the temple so much but I know that as I teach the people here about it, they will be more excited and willing to stick with their covenants. 

I'm grateful for the spirit I felt throughout the conference. It was simply amazing! I loved it! 


                 








Sunday, November 2, 2014

A bApTiSm!!!‏



Well everyone... 
We 
had a baptism this past week which was sweet! It always makes me 
feel so good when we get a baptism and have worked really hard with them for quite some time. It was really cool how everything happened and I can definitely see that the Lord had a huge part in the teaching process. I almost cry because of how much they have changed since the beginning of teaching them. Only the Spirit could help them. I love how the gospel applies to everyone who actually gives it a try. 

I had the opportunity to give a Priesthood blessing this past week to a member. She asked me for a blessing and I didn't think too much of it. I can't even remember what I said. Well, she came up to me on Sunday, and told me how grateful she was for the blessing I gave to her. I told her it was not me but the Lord speaking through me. She even mentioned me in her testimony of the power of the priesthood. It was very touching and really makes me think of how worthy we have to be all the time. I have a responsibility as a priesthood holder, missionary, and future husband to be worthy at all times because I will never know when the priesthood which I hold will have to be exercised and my worthiness will be a huge factor in blessing the lives of others. I have a very powerful testimony of all things that pertain to the gospel and I know that God Lives and loves us. I'm grateful for the chance that I have to be a missionary and time and time again I say I never will regret this time I've had to serve.