Planting Seeds

   A cool thing happened to us the other day...we were sitting by a man named G--- and we were just shooting the breeze because we really wanted to teach him...trying to gain trust and a friendship. This man comes up to us while we are talking and introduces himself as S----. He asked us if we were the Mormons. He told us that he has always wondered about what we believe but he just hasn't had the opportunity to talk to missionaries before! He told us that the first contact he had with hearing about the church was off of his cable tv. He said he stumbled across the "Mormon Channel" and started looking at the videos and talks from the presidents of the Church along with Joseph Smith stuff! He asked us about the Book of Mormon and so we told him that if he scheduled an appointment with us we would love to give him a free copy of the book. He replied Yes! So we saw him last night and oh man is he cool! It was my highlight of the week it was so good! He told us just after we taught him about the Apostasy that the Priesthood was off the earth and men were then not able to baptize and preach. He really understood the Apostasy and why there is only one church with this authority now! I really hope he can read the Book of Mormon and pray about it so that he can really start investigating the Church! 
Oh man it was the BEST!!!

   We had a good lesson with V----- and we were able to talk to her about the Book of Mormon. It was a super sweet lesson! The Spirit was just burning in my chest and oh my goodness did it feel good! She is super cool because she is always telling us how much she desires to know and, she says some really great prayers. We have high hopes for her. We were going to invite her to get baptized but she wants her husband to listen as well so we're going to wait to invite both of them hopefully! 

   A---- is doing good but she just won't come to church! She is really great but I'm not sure she understands the significance of going to our church. So this week we are going to make sure she understands the doctrine and then let her use her agency and decide what she would like to do and how she is going to proceed!

   We are also kind of bummed about a family of girls we've been teaching. I'm pretty sure we might drop them this week. They just won't keep their commitments and won't come to church but hopefully some missionaries in the future pick them up and maybe then they will be a little more interested.

   It breaks my heart when those we teach feel the spirit and want to be baptized, then for some reason decide not to. Their friends or relatives talk them out of it, or they come in contact with 'anti' information. These are people that we have come to love and to see them turn away from the gospel is really agonizing. All we can do is plant the seed as described in Alma 32:28, and hopefully they will accept the things that are true.

cashew

nutmeg

R & R

Necessary Stress Relief and Relaxation ....
 'a change is as good as a rest'

P-Day Excursions:   Grenada Chocolate Company, Leaper's Hill, and Turtle Watching   

   

Elders Loewen, Dohrman, Larson, Hill, Smith, Strong...Sisters Smith, Grigg, Smith

 Well I just want to say that seeing those mammoth turtles was like the most wonderful wonder of the world I've ever seen!  It was so amazing.  Behind the massive shell was a quiet beautiful animal.  It was neat to see the egg laying process, which took about an hour.

Down Hill ...

   

          Happy Hump Day!

We're so proud of Aaron's accomplishments and his dedication as a missionary. As he serves, not only is he making a difference in the lives of those he teaches, but the experience and testimony he is gaining will touch his life forever.  He is a great example to all of us!

Elder Larson and Elder Hill

Zone and General Conference

   Man...Zone Conference in Barbados was AWESOME!  Our flight was at 9:20 pm, with a stop at St. Vincent.  It was pretty sweet!  I love plane rides!!  :)  The conference was on working our way to exaltation. 

   Then, 3 days later...General Conference was super spiritually uplifting!  I thought Dallin H. Oaks talk during the Priesthood Session was AMAZING! I loved how he told all of the priesthood brethren to know and understand that women are just as important in the priesthood as men are!  In fact the priesthood wasn't fully restored until the Relief Society was established!  I liked Elder Bednar's talk as well.  It's hard for me to give one of my favorites because they all touched me in a special way!  It was great to receive so much personal revelation for things that I could be doing better in my own life.  I had some questions that I was seeking answers to going in to conference. I received my answer like a freaking typhoon!  Stay Faithful, Have Courage, Be Strong, and Work like Crazy!  That was the thought given to me by the spirit telling me that I just need to do my best, God will always lift us when we need lifting and He will always comfort us when we need comfort!  I love the gospel so so much and I would not trade it for anything in the world!

  I'm going to take the advice of M. Russell Ballard and share with you all what I have been learning in my studies of this wonderful Gospel. I have been learning from the Book of Mormon that Preparation is the best thing that we could ever be doing! Maybe not for war or for our next big test, but that which is only attainable in a spiritual sense... A TESTIMONY! As I have been reading in the book of Alma 47:9-18 Amalickiah is trying to take the chief leader position... He is tempting Lehonti to lower his standards and at first Lehonti is not budging... but after a few attempts from Amalickiah... Lehonti finally gives in and lowers his standard and is eventually poisoned by degrees. Now the importance of having a strong testimony comes into play here! Satan will surely poison us by degrees slowly and painfully... So if we have a strong testimony in this gospel, and stay faithful to what we believe in, we won't be poisoned but have everlasting life. I'm done with Alma now but it's probably one of my favorite books! 

Great Joy!

(D&C 18:15-16)

15 And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!
16 And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!

      

      

    Well the time is going super fast! I have been so busy with all of the teaching and finding we have been doing this past week! We have been baptizing a lot so we are trying to find a new teaching pool... ( I know... such a hard problem to have! :) I know that God is pleased with the work that we are doing here. I hope that you can tell I AM LOVING IT HERE!

A Likkle Moving

Hello everyone back home!

   I had an awesome experience just the other day...Well first off we moved out of the church (downstairs) and moved upstairs... It is MAMMOTH! It's the size of like a regular home. We've been told it's one of the nicest and biggest apartments in the mission. But we left the windows open because it was hot up there. The windows don't have screens, and we didn't know that bats like to fly into homes... so we got back from working a 'likkle' bit.. and there were 2 bats flying around our house. One of them flew out the window... but one wouldn't. So I found an 8 foot stick. and starting swinging! He was getting super vexed at me and was dive bombing me and I thought he was going to bite me but then SLAM!!!!! GAME OVER! 

Likkle = little... they pronounce double t's down in Grenada as a k....here's a sentence:  Will you pass me that likkle bokkle of skikkles? :)

    Well my week was good other than we were pushed back a likkle bit by moving , but we were able to get a lot of work done and so it was a good week!

    There was a man the other day we contacted that was sitting on the side of the road. He is blind. He used to be a police officer, in fact his nickname in the force was Iron-face meaning he shows no emotion. He really doesn't either. But he is a super nice spirit and has a desire to know more about God and Jesus Christ. We haven't been able to see him for a while because he was always up countryside.. but we called him the other day and he could see us. We talked to him for a while. We started talking about baptism and told us that baptism is his dream. He wants to be washed clean. It was cool to have someone else desire to be baptized.

    I also had the opportunity to give my first baptismal interview for the sisters investigator R----. He is the He is super cool and has a great testimony of the restored gospel. It was super good experience for me in the sense that I'm worthy and he is worthy and I gave the ok for him to be baptized. I loved it.

    We had a great lesson with S------ the other day. She told us that she went to the Roman Catholic church for ash Wednesday and when she sat down she just started to cry. We asked some inspired questions and found out why she was feeling bad. She told us that she felt amazing when she came to our church and knew that she needed to get baptized into the true church. She said that she wants to get baptized more than ever now. She had a great conversion experience. It has been such a great blessing to be able to teach someone so prepared.

Family Fun Night

Grenada Zone

Elders Hill and Larson

Loving the Work

Hey everyone! It's really hot in this little computer shop! haha I'm sweating like crazy!

This past week has been BOSS! So last week we had 3 investigators with baptismal dates...now we have 6... I'm pretty stoked!

We had 5 investigators at Church yesterday! That's the most I've ever had on a single Sunday in my entire mission. It was super cool. All of the people we're teaching are really literate too which makes it super nice to teach them from the BOM because they know how to read already. They really understand that we are representatives of Jesus Christ here and know that our goal is to baptize them. We have been inviting these people early for baptism... (first or second lesson) and it seems to be working well...we have also been trying to make daily contact with them which also helps build a relationship and lets them know they can trust us.

We went to see the F----- family. We taught about the BOM and helped them understand the importance of reading every day! They understand now and they told us that they cant wait to get baptized on the 22nd. It was a super good feeling again to know that I have been able to find and help prepare one of God's prepared children for this restored gospel. I still find it so amazing that when Christ can't come...he sends us!

I went on trade offs with Elder Dohrman... previous Assistant to the Pres. He is the zone leader on Grenada. It was a lot of fun being with him. We got a lot of work done and saw a lot of people. I asked him what I could be doing differently in my work and he said well i can't tell you that but i can tell you what i admire. He told me he just is amazed how much he can see the love that flows out of me and into the people. He said keep loving the people like that and you'll see success in the field. He is a great help to me and is super cool. He is from Washington. He'll be leaving to go home next transfer so in May... but I'm going to learn so much from him!

The people love to eat something called oil down... it's like a gumbo of fish, chicken, okra, and provision (starchy vegetables and fruits) ...it's not my favorite but it's tolerable. I did get to try Sword fish and Marlin btw and it was so so so stinking good!!! Oh man it was BOSS!!! Conch is pretty good too!

Thats all the time i have today but i love you all and hope you're doing good!

Love Elder Aaron Hill

Snapshot of Grenada

The official language of the island nation Grenada is English, however the main spoken language is Grenadian Creole English, which also includes African, Indian, and French influences. Grenada’s population is primarily Christian, with the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches being the largest denominations. Calypso, soca, reggae, and rap are all popular music styles, though traditional folk music is also used in different events. Carnival is the country’s biggest celebration. Storytelling is another popular folk tradition. Cricket is the most popular sport in Grenada. The most popular dish in Grenada is Oil Down, which uses coconut milk, a variety of salted meats, dumplings, and several types of fruits and vegetables. Fish cakes and other seafood dishes are also commonly eaten.

More about Grenada in the West Indies Mission

...and More!

Grenada!

    Well everyone I arrived! haha i was freaking out about my baggage... it was a good thing that mom sent the little weight scale so that I didn't have to guess! I flew from Tobago to Trinidad on Wednesday morning, so that I could catch a connecting flight to Grenada. I didn't have my passport on me because the office keeps it, so I called the Assistants about the matter and they said they would get it to me somehow... so I was also freaking out about getting that so I could pass through immigration. My flight left T-dad around 11:00am and I arrived at 11:40 so it was a little longer of a flight than flying to Tobago. Oh man the air strip was beautiful!  It's on a really long jetty and was super cool to land on! But I arrived and Kent and Lynne Smith (senior couple) picked me up! We went to the church and had lunch and then I went with Elder Larson to our area up in Gouyave! It takes about 40 minutes to drive there and all they would tell me is I'm going to the bush of Grenada! haha so immediately I think "suck...tons of mosquito's!"....I was right!

    It's hotter here and we do a lot of walking and hiking. But man this island is beautiful. I have been in utter amazement the past few days because of how amazing Gods creations are. IT's breathtaking! But also the poverty is very, very humbling. Being in Trinidad and Tobago my entire mission so far was great but I didn't see all the poverty. I have come to realize that people just do enough for them to survive. They live in shacks and barely have enough to eat. I'm very humbled to the fact that these wonderful people offer so much when they themselves are basically starving. I know that they are sacrificing food for us so that they can receive blessings...and oh man I hope they get those blessings...it makes me sad but at the same time I know that the Lord has placed me here to realize how others live by just the bare minimum. It has been quite the past few days getting to know the area and the different people.

   The area I'm in is really small. Everybody knows the missionaries. It's great because there is lot of success! E. Larson and I had 29 lessons the past few days so it was great! We had 3 investigators at church! 27 people in all... The church is our apartment and so it's pretty fun! I had to give a talk yesterday... I gave it on the Atonement! But man the missionaries are in charge of everything! It is pretty cool but pretty tiring as well!

   Well Friday... Friday was something the Locals call fish Friday! It's so EPIC! The people here are pretty much all farmers and so they sell everything they catch. So they get together downtown Gouyave and have a massive selling party! It's quite the tourist attraction so we saw lot's of White people and they were from California and NY and Oklahoma... so it was quite interesting seeing Americans. It was a fun atmosphere and the food was boss! I tried a Lobster for the very first time and it was pretty good! But It has been a very interesting and fun past few days!

Well that was the highlights of my half week in Grenada! I love you all and hope you're staying busy because I sure am! haha

Love Elder Hill

Fat Tie Goodbye!

Hey Everyone!
So today I have been officially out on my mission for 10 months! I just want to let everyone know that I'm BEING TRANSFERRED TO GRENADA!!! haha!!! I got a phone call from the Assistants on Friday around 4:00 pm and they say "Elder Hill, are you ready to go explore the jungles of Grenada? I'm like ahh Heck Ya!" They started laughing at me and then expressed how awesome Grenada is and how its pretty similar to Tobago... but more population, and the member work is going good! I'm grateful for the chance I had to be in Tobago... I was blessed to have 4 baptisms in 4 transfers. I've had some great experiences here and made some true friends. Now I go to my third area. I'm so excited I can't even stand it!

Tying the Hulk...     

every departing Elder from Tobago has to sign it and try to tie the fattest knot