12-10-12

¡Hola a todos!

It's good to hear from you! I absolutely love hearing from home and about everything that is happening. Thanks for sending me a lot this week guys. :)

I'm extremely excited for Mikey and Copeland! They are doing the most incredible thing in my opinion. A mission is one of the most important things you can do in your life. Like they already know, they will be blessed so much as they serve lovingly and obediently. There are unfortunately a lot of missionaries that serve and then go home and revert back to who they were before. One of the greatest things about a mission though is that it changes the missionary for the better--turns them more into the person that God intends them to be. Thankfully, that doesn't mean you get boring or too serious, you just become stronger and more refined as a person.

Kurt is the man!  It doesn't surprise me to hear about how smart he is in Anatomy.  Anatomy is actually helping me here with Spanish because most bones, organs, and diseases are named based on the Latin/scientific name, so I'll often understand when someone talks about diseases and stuff and Elder Smith won't haha. That's probably the only area that I might slightly know more Spanish than him. I've been blessed with an amazing companion and I'm very grateful for what he has taught me and for all the good times we have had.

Changes are next week, so there is a possibility that I'll be in another sector next Monday. We'll see what happens though. Missionaries are staying in their sectors for a lot longer now (like 5-7 months average), so we both very well might be here next week, which is fine with me. :) We also have two missionaries in our district moving in with us after Christmas because their landlord is ending their contract. They're both great missionaries and it would be a lot of fun to live with them, so if that happens, I'm excited!

Probably the biggest thing from my time in Los Plátanos has happened. One of our investigators really wants to be baptized and set the baptismal date himself! His name is "B" and is the son of Hermana "S." Elder Smith and I have seen a remarkable change in his countanence with the Gospel. The Lord has really prepared him. I easily see him being active forever too, which makes me so happy. He is the fruit that I've been waiting to see in this sector. No one else has worked out yet, but Boris plans on being baptized on the 6th of January! He is amazing. :) We are still working with "A" and "A." We'll keep pressing forward with them, but it's probably not their time yet. Like you said Dad, it's all part of the missionary cycle. I just hope I'm here to see "B" get baptized! :)

Elder Smith and I are planning on going to the temple on Thursday this week. A mission rule here is that we can only go to the temple once per year, so this will have to hold me off for a while. It'll be interesting to have everything in Spanish haha.

There was a Christmas concert here this past weekend and Elder Archuleta sang in it. We didn't go though because we had appointments and no investigators or recent converts to take to the concert with us. Besides, there was a family history activity in the stake center and that was really helpful for me so I'm glad I went to that.

I'm glad everyone in the family is well. I can't wait to talk to everyone in a couple weeks!

I wish Lindsey good luck with her musical try-outs! I'll be praying for her. :)

I love you all very much. I miss you all but I am so happy that I'm here at the same time. I pray for you always and think of you often. This work is real and I love serving the Lord as one of his missionaries!

I love you!

Elder Hill