10-22-12

¡Oye! ¿Cómo estaí choro?

That's how all the fligtes (gangstas) here talk. I don't know if google translate will give you a proper translation of that or not.  Haha.  

This past week has been really good for me! I hope the same for you! Everyone looks really good in the videos, especially Kurt. It's fun to see how everyone is still the same, goofy person (that's probably mostly directed at Dad haha).

On Saturday, we had the coolest opportunity to have Elder Bednar come and speak to us. I got a good seat only a few pews from the front! Instead of him giving a talk, he turned it into a guided discussion but also gave us the opportunity to ask him questions! My mind went completely blank when that happened so I didn't ask him anything haha. The best way I have been able to describe that meeting is to first, imagine feeling the Spirit like getting splashed with a bucket of water, now, the meeting was more like jumping into an olympic sized pool of the Spirit haha. It was really powerful and I learned a lot more about missionary work and life.

I have some days in which Spanish still feels hard, but then I have some where I feel like I have almost no problem with conversing. I naturally talk to people now and I don't need Elder Smith to translate for me. So, once I get a Latino companion, I'll be fluent in no time haha. I love Elder Smith though so when that happens it'll be hard to move on to another companionship.

That skitzo investigator we have has gotten a lot more tranquilo (calm) over the past few weeks. Coming to church and talking to us has done him a lot of good, and we still haven't even taught him a lesson! He has come to church every Sunday and actively participates in class. Despite the good things that are happening for him, he still is kind of crazy and I don't know how far he'll really go, but I do believe that he can go the distance if he really really really wants it.

Our primary investigator is doing very well. He is incredibly smart and soaks up everything we teach him and then he seems to do his own studies outside of what we teach and commit him to do. It's good and bad because he looks at anti-mormon stuff too, but he seems to take it all in well and he loves being with people from church. He definitely feels the Spirit I'm sure but he hasn't let himself come around to accepting that entirely yet. He's such a good guy though and I'm 99% confident that he's going to stay strong as he is right now and once he receives a spiritual confirmation, he'll get baptized. We're pushing hard with him though and his friend who originally invited him to church is pushing him hard too. He has a lot of good infuences around him. :)

Another newer investigator we have (I can't remember if I told you about him) is 17 and a very good kid. If Elder Smith and I keep teaching him and he really has a desire to know the truth (which I think he does), then he'll get baptized. We're going to have a Noche de Hogar with him tonight. He has definitely felt the Spirit too, but we might need to help him recognize it.

We're contacting a lot, although I really want to find more people. We have a 13 year old, a mom who did service in Africa with Latter-day Saints, this one man who likes talking to us inside our apartment complex, and we just met a very promising man when we ate lunch today.

For P-day today, we went to a place called Santa Lucia, which was super rich and pretty. It also felt weird to be walking around the city in street clothes! Haha.

I miss you all like usual and I'm always giddy to read what's happening at home and update you on how I'm doing. 

That's all I can write for now. I'll talk to you next week! 

Muchisimo Amor,

Elder Hill

P.S. Can you let Kelly and Susan know that I'm thinking about them and I hope they're doing well? Thank you! 

10-8-12

Thank you so much for the happy birthday video! :) President and Hermana Wright called me this morning and sang me happy birthday too. Elder Smith helped me celebrate today by making really good homemade tacos (I also made myself partially uncooked pancakes for breakfast, Kurt, thought you'd be proud of that, and Mom you're probably proud that I was able to make pancakes!). Conference this weeked was amazing! I was able to watch the whole thing in English with all the other American missionaries and with an American family. 

I'm doing a lot in the work here! Yesterday, we went to see a family right after General Conference and talked about the temple with them. I told them that I could see them dressed in white in the temple being sealed, and I think it gave them some motivation. :) I'm seeing how love makes such a difference in people's lives and I'm doing what I can to show Christ's love through who I am. Although I can't express it very well through words, I'm expressing it through kind acts of service, a laugh, a smile, an "hola" haha. I'm confident I will become the missionary the Lord intends for me to be, but I need to work harder. I feel a little more like an equal in my companionship with Elder Smith now. I know the ropes and I offer every bit of support I can give him. He has told me he's grateful, and it's the least I can do for all that he is doing for me.  I can have very good conversations now, but they just aren't natural, and I still have too much of an American accent!  My goal is to completely lose my American accent when I speak Spanish.

I learned a TON from Conference that I'm going to integrate into my life. I'm going to serve more, show people the Lord loves them, show them that the Atonement is without a doubt real, use faith and reason to work miracles, convert myself to His gospel more so I can say without hestitation at the pleasing bar, "Yea Lord, thou knowest that I love thee." I love the Gospel. I thought about how although we are all over the world (family and friends), I felt so close to all of you during General Conference. I felt so much sacred honor and responsiblity whenever someone spoke about missionaries during General Conference. That's me! I'm one of the Lord's servants! He directly spoke to me on Saturday and Sunday in my opinion.

I love you everyone. :) I never have enough time to write you everything I want to say, but I think about you and I pray for you always.

Some quick responses to letters I received this week:

Grandma and Grandpa Hill: Thank you for the birthday email! I love you!!!!!!

Emily: Thank you for your letter!!! I'll try to write you as soon as I can, but that might not be for a while. I love you Emily!!!

Ashton: I got your letter too!!! I'll write when I can as well and I'll beat your drawing. Your river rock battle comrade of unimaginable Elderness, Seth.

L-dawg Yoshimoto! Thank you for your letter!! I'm not being very fly right now by responding by email. But I'll write you when I can!

To all those who have written me and I haven't responded, I'm sorry! I'll try to write when I can but missionary life is incredibly busy! You're in my prayers and I am incredibly greatful. Your love and support mean more to me than you know. :)

Okay I gotta go now. 

¡Les quiero muchisimo!

Seth's birthday package

Seth and Elder Smith taking a snack break!

Seth's mission area!

Watching General Conference! (Well, actually Music and the Spoken Word).

10-1-12

 

Hola hola!

Saturday night, I we got our calls to see if we were being changed. The AP said, "Elder Hill.........se queda [stay put]." So, I'm in Los Plátanos for another change! Elder Smith is still my companion too. I've completed my first change in the field! I've made a lot of progress in the past six weeks, I've learned to be more patient with myself, to always strive as hard as I can, and to always smile and be grateful for the blessings the Lord has given me here.

 

We have an investigator with a baptism on the 14th. He's 12 years old and his name is Byron (not Bryon). I'm excited for our investigators to watch General Conference. We contacted another investigator and taught him the first lesson. He is very tranquilo [laid back] but has a strong belief in God so we hope to help him grow his testimony of the Restored Gospel. He's actually coming to our Noche de Hogar [FHE] tonight!

 

I haven't received the photos and the package yet, so we'll see if it comes this week. I have my fingers crossed! Thank you for the video you sent me, Mom and Dad. It was nice to see you. I tried to make a video but it was too big. I'll try to have something ready by next week. I actually didn't take pictures this week so you'll just have to enjoy the ones that I tried to send last week haha. That was a good picture of Kurt by the way. Sundays haven't changed haha. I also received a letter from the Zappe's a few weeks ago but forgot to thank them! Thank you Zappe family! Also, thank you everyone who's thinking about me, praying for me, or at least checking the blog.

 

Spanish is fine, I feel like I made some big steps this past week. I'm much better with conversing with people and don't struggle too much. I still have such a far way to go though haha.

 

On the way to the internet café, we ran into a couple that stop to talk to us! They said the see Mormon missionaries a lot and have wanted to talk to them. They live near our apartment so we're going to pass by sometime this week. The Lord's hand is in the Work here! I'm so grateful to be here and that the Lord is using me to work miracles in other's lives and that He is constantly qualifying me for this calling. I went on divisions [splits] with the stake president last night and I learned a lot from him--I'm always learning.

 

Life is good here! I hope you are all well!

 

Love,

         Elder Hill

This was the picture of Kurt Seth was referring to.

9-24-12

¡Hola familia!

 

Wow, has it really been over three months since I left? I have a hard time believing that. I love being updated with life at home, although I feel like I'm missing out on a lot. I guess that's the same for you when you think about me though! 

 

We met this week with the area president, Elder Arnold, and it was really good. He's really big on obedience and gave me some great ideas to improve my missionary work. Dad, I haven't used the Wilford Card yet, I need to try it!  Mostly everyone I run into here in the ghetto is disillusioned about religion and doesn't give it a second thought. It's tough - and that's an understatement. Everyone either lives in apartment complexes where missionaries aren't allowed or in houses surrounded by gates, which makes a door approach super hard. The only possible way to conduct successful missionary work is through the members. Thankfully, there are great members in this sector, but it's still hard even for them to find anyone, and Elder Smith and I know because we've talked to them and they try and try. On the bright side, I think Elder Smith and I are invigorating the members even more. We use ward activities as a tool to bring nonmembers to church.

 

Speaking of ward activities, our investigator Ignacio is doing so well! He actually reads what we leave him to read and more! He's super analytical though and said he's studying the Old Testament with the Book of Mormon to check all the facts like Nephi's reference to Jeremiah and such. He loves the ward though, has been to church twice and to two ward activities. He actually lives outside our sector so we're trying to hand him off to the missionaries in his sector by introducing him to them and sending him to institude where he can meet people in his actual ward.

 

We accidentally invited someone with schizophrenia to a ward activity on Friday haha. Elder Smith and I just finished some service and were walking back to the pension to change before the activity and this one man came up and started talking to us. He was with a friend of his who is a less active member and they asked us when the ward plays volleyball (since we played last Monday). We told them we didn't know but that there was a ward activity in 20 minutes. They looked at each other and said "Vamos," [let's go] which caught me by surprise. After we got to the church and sat down, the bishop pulled Elder Smith and I aside and told us that they're both schizophrenic... We ended up having to babysit them basically that night to make sure nothing bad happened. Then, the one that was the worst of the two showed up to church yesterday! Although I know you should never turn someone away from church, Elder Smith and I might need to figure something out if he keeps coming. He's nice, but he could possibly become dangerous really quickly and he's already drawn too much attention to himself. So, those are my "best" and "worst" investigators for the week haha.

 

Spanish is going well, I'm just trying my best. I'm always getting better even though I don't always feel like it. It's kind of like working out. Sometimes I get so exposed to Spanish and I try so hard to learn it that my brain gets tired and I feel like I'm doing worse. But later after some time and rest, I find that I've learned a lot. Hopefully by Christmas I'll be good to go!

 

I gotta go.

 

Con muchisimo amor,

Elder Hill

9-17-12

¡Hola!

Life is good here! Elder Smith and I are neck deep in the Work. Sometimes it feels like we're neck deep in water and other times in molasses haha, but we're doing what we can to make the Work move forward. I think we're starting to spark the whole ward into missionary mode. :) Yesterday, none of our actual investigators came, even when we went by their homes the night before and then in the morning before church. BUT, the members brought three investigators that we met for the first time yesterday! One of them looks like he has a ton of potential; he seems very interested in the Church and we have an appointment set up with him on Thursday. We are very excited. :) His name is Ignacio so keep him in your prayers! Our investigator Raúl might not be able to make it to baptism sadly. We talked to his cousin who came for the holiday, who was actually a bishop, and he told us that Raúl is really good guy. I think our less-active members are starting to come back to church more! Yay!

Elder Hill with his ward

Fiesta!

Our little volleyball champ ;)

On Tuesday, Santiago went crazy. On 11 de Septiembre here, people form mobs and run around Santiago. Most people do it just to do it, but I think it started as a way to celebrate their freedom that was taken when Pinochet (Chile's former dictator) took over a couple decades ago. We had to return to the pension early because there were gun shots heard for hours and some people threw chains on the electrical lines to take out the power. It's so widespread that the cops don't do anything about it really. Elder Smith and I just bought some "pan" and returned to the pension and had a nice "once" (chilean meal after dinner) while listening to Elder Holland and the gunshots haha. I went on divisions Thursday and had a great time with Elder Krewson. There was a demonstration in his sector so while we were walking to an appointment, we walked through a cloud of tear gas! When we realilzed what was happening, we got really excited and I took of video of us, since it was a new experience for both of us. ;) I saw how being a friend as a missionary makes up a HUGE component of being a missionary. He made everyone he visited laugh but was able to teach the Gospel in a serious way too. I hope to be like that.

The ward in our sector put on a huge party on Saturday for the holiday. People danced the "cueca" (national dance of Chile), we had "mote y huesillos" and empanadas (so good!), and there was a talent show. People in Chile can dance! Today, we played volleyball with some of the people in the ward. I'm really beginning to fellowship the members and investigators, even though I still can't speak super well. I talked with one of the misioneras on the phone today though and understood her perfectly. Like you said Mom, I can understand a lot better than I can speak haha. The language is a process. I hope the way I interact with others leaves something more powerful than my words.

I'm loving it here. I love the ward, the people, and even the drunks (one drunk kissed me on the cheek last night, which was interesting...haha). Tomorrow is the big 18 de Septiembre, which is Chile's independence day!

I love and miss you all!

¡Hasta la proxima semana!

9--10-12

Seth with Giovanni

In the streets of Chile!!

Hi everyone!

This week has been really good! Elder Smith and I were only able to meet with each one of our investigators once this week because of scheduling conflicts, which was a big bummer. On the bright side, we still visited with and saw a ton of people. One less active hermana in the ward actually came to church yesterday because we have been visiting her! That was a huge plus. :) I'm inviting everyone, including less active members of the Church, to come unto Christ. This week is Chile's independence day, so everything is a little crazy here (¡tiqui tiqui ti! - do you remember that, Dad?). We actually have to return to the pension [apartment] early tomorrow night because it gets super dangerous. But we have the Lord's protection. Something interesting the Elder Smith just told me is that the previous mission president spoke to his parents and told them that Santiago is an R-rated city that is full of temptations, but the the Lord shields his missionaries. I found that to be true because I don't notice anything of that sort haha.

Elder Smith and I are really trying to get the ward even more involved with missionary work. We're going out on a lot of divisions with the Priests and Elders and even have a schedule for the month now. I think the testimonies of the members will help us so much when we teach our investigators. The Priests have a tradition in this ward that after divisions, we go to this small restaurant called El Guatón and we get some completos [a Chilean hot dog usually served with a ton of avocado, a Chilean staple] and talk for a little bit. The Priests here are really great.

On Wednesday, we ate cena [dinner] at this one younger man's house and Giovanni came over too, it's always so good to spend time with people who are strong in the Church. Noche de Hogar [Family Home Evening] and zone activities with missionaries are really great for that reason too.

We have a new Mission Leader in this ward, and so far he's an all-star player in missionary work. I'm excited to work with him more. He also served us brownies and hot chocolate in our first meeting! So, I have no doubt he'll be amazing. ;)

On Saturday while we were out contacting, I saw this woman ahead of us on the sidewalk. I told Elder Smith that we have to talk to her and I said a quick prayer in my heart, asking Heavenly Father to let her be someone we can teach. She turned out to be super interested in the Church. She was especially interested in the resurrection, because she said her son was murdered as a child. It was a super emotional conversation. We're planning on meeting her this week.

Spanish is coming along fine. It's pretty apparent to me now that I can understand more than I can speak. I'm working on pronunciation, but it's hard to overcome my gringo-ness haha. There's an elder in our mission who everyone talks about because he's American but has a perfect Chileno accent. They say it's because he's very musical and has a good ear to notice small things in how people speak. I'm trying to listen and imitate people, but it's quite a process.

Oh, something else of note: I successfully gave myself a haircut today! And it looks pretty good!  [He didn't send a picture of it.]

That's all for now.  I love you all so much and I miss you! You are always in my prayers. :)

¡Que le vaya bien!

9-3-12

His Pension (Apartment)

¡Buenas!

I can't believe it has been two weeks already! I'm working very hard and teaching as much as I can! I attached some more pictures of a family here, Elder Smith and I celebrating his birthday with dingdongs, and a little bit of my pension [apartment].

Elder Smith and I have been going on divisions [splits] con Giovannni, an RM. He is incredible and I have a lot of fun with him. I can understand Spanish much better than I could last week. I follow a lot of conversations as long as it's within my vocabulary range. After being around rapid-speaking Chileans, the native Spanish-speaking Elders are so easy to understand. Saturday night, we went out to teach with Giovanni but couldn't get in any houses. So, we went back to his home and I ended up sharing a spiritual thought with Giovanni's family, who aren't members. He bore his testimony on Sunday and expressed a lot of gratitude to me for that service. Even when some days are hard, teaching someone like Giovanni's family at the very end of the day makes the whole day worth it.

We're teaching Raúl, who we committed to baptism on the 30th of September! We're also trying to find people we've contacted and we're trying to contact more. It is so difficult to contact here! It's a big city so everyone keeps to themselves. I've made a goal to talk to at least three people about the Church everyday so I hope I will contact more with that goal in mind. We go to a family every Monday for Noche de Hogar (family home evening) and it is a lot of fun. Either Elder Smith and I or the misioneras [sister missionaries] give the lesson and then we eat and talk, which is a lot of fun! The family's daughter has friends who she went to visit in Potomac Mills! Small world huh?

I love it here and often think of the scripture where Jesus tells His apostles, "My peace I give unto you." I am learning how to have His peace in cualquier momento acá en [at anytime in] Chile, y I hope to help others have that peace also.

¡Les quiero! ¡Que estén bien!