REGOCIJAD (December 21, 2015)

Feliz Navidad mis Queridos!!!!

This week was wonderful! We were able to kick it up and work hard all week. People let us into their homes to share small messages with them. What a blessing!!! It doesn’t happen often! The week went by very quickly- especially because I went down to Bahía Blanca for a special financial workshop. Pres sent all of us "old" missionaries to the mission home to plan our financial lives until death. It was intense but I learned a ton! I also got to visit my first area, Villa Mitre 2. What joy it brought me to be able to visit my convert María del Carmen! It´s amazing to think that it has been such a long time since she was baptized, almost a year and a half already! It was a short trip, and I couldn’t see anyone else, but it was lovely to pop in for a bit. It was two nights in a row sleeping on a bus, but it was worth it. And even though we had a day outside of our area, I felt as though we were able to make up for it in the other days.

As if that weren´t enough for crazy, uncommon events, we also had a Christmas concert! We sang traditional songs from Spain, "I´m a Child of God" in Castillano and Italian, 2 flautists played a classical German piece, and of course we performed the carols from the hymn book. It was lovely! There´s nothing like singing Christmas carols with a ton of neighbors. Most of the people who went had never been in our church before- it was nice to be united by music.

Merry Christmas to everyone! It was well said by my companion this morning when she said- the world NEEDS Christ-MÁS (más=more). She´s cool. And what she said is TRUE! I´m kinda surprised that there are so many Christmas haters and people who don’t understand what Christmas really means. It´s helped me reflect more on what Christmas really does mean in my life. The argument for some people for not liking it- ´every day we should respect and celebrate Christ in our lives´. Good argument! Cause its true. I´m totally down for feeling the love and light and magic of Christmas more than just 1 (or 2 with Easter) days a year. But I can’t help thinking of Scrooge and Madison Square Garden´s "A Christmas Carol". Sorry, I’m going to murder the quote, but-

"Christmas may have never put a pound or penny in my pocket, but I believe it has done me good, and will do me good, and I say- God bless it!" (Nephew Fred)

For me, Christmas is just probably my favorite time of year ever. It´s a time of reflecting and service and miracles and thankfulness! It´s a time to GIVE. It´s a beautiful opportunity that we have in this time of year to focus even more on the miracle of our Saviors birth. So take advantage of it! It´s a time to dedicate again our lives to Christ. I hope you all enjoy a few days full of family and love and magic and that you take time to think about what Christmas really means to you. And then, I hope that that same spirit that you will fill lasts with you for all your year :)

Love you all! See you all soon. This is my last official email from my mission. I´ve more than loved the time that I´ve had here in Argentina!!! Words can´t begin to express it. I know that my Savior lives, and that he really did pay the price, conquering death- physical and spiritual. I know that He has restored his church to the earth through a young prophet, Joseph Smith. There are still prophets of God on the earth today! And through the restored keys and authority, our families can be together forever, and we can be sealed to God. I feel especially privileged to have been able to share it here for 1.5 years.

Have a wonderful week everyone! See you soon :) Be good!

Love,

Hermana Hill

The parable of MORSILLO (December 14, 2015)

Buenas días mis queridos!!!

So, it´s come to this, eh? We´ve gotten to this moment, huh? I´m sorry that recently I haven’t been putting as much effort as I should into my letters. I think that I´ve been subconsciously avoiding the fact that I´m not going to be doing this for so much longer. Saying that time passes quickly doesn’t quite seem to sum it all up! But enough of that sappy stuff. I´ve got a TON to tell you for this week! It was wonderful and crazy and unexpected and lame and great and oh boy have I continued to learn or what?!

Lunes- we went to Sierra de los Padres, some hills just outside of Mar del Plata. It was beautiful! Nice to spend time in a town akin to Sundance (little, scenic, tons of artists). We also worked with the Hermanas from Balcarce who came to stay the night-

Martes- Zone Confernce!!! I learned a TON, and I´m SO excited for this mission. There are a lot of new plans and tools that i just know are going to help. We talked a lot about being our "own agents"- someone responsible who is concerned and occupied with his own progression. But more than that, if we want to really progress, we must be selfless and serve others, and set goals that require effort to fulfill. We’ve learned a lot about how to set meaningful goals, the importance of charity and how to develop it.

*this is where it gets interesting so listen up.

Due to this and that, things that come up, sickness, etc., in the past we hadn’t been able to dedicate a lot of good, solid time to street working. So, after our conference, as we asked ourselves "what would make tomorrow a great day?" I responded-

"If we could have a day that at least kinda follows our plans, where we can work hard all day".

Miercoles, The following occurred:

· we had to take out money to pay rent, and the line was eternal

· crazy stalker lady called and asked us to straighten her hair (we´re safe, just weirded out a little)

· we started getting sick.

· we showed up to choir too early and missed out on some plans

But I learned to appreciate the unexpected miracles of missionary work, some of which were directly tied to the crazy things that happened. (The following happened throughout the rest of the week):

· As we waited in line for the ATM (30 minutes at least) we talked to like 5 people and we were able to share a lot. The whole line listened as a member of the church popped out of what seemed to be nowhere and bore testimony of her conversation. (WHAT THE AWESOME!?!?!)

· The elders gave us a blessing so we´d heal fast, and the members take good care of us.

· We found super prepared people while on divisions and we get to teach them soon!

· When we got to choir too early, there was a non-member waiting for the practice too. She was super nice and it was fun to get to know her! We got to show the church to about 6 other non-members that came to choir practice.

· Sunday after church, we had lunch with a wonderful family! They fed us morsillo. Yes, you heard me, blood sausage!!! :D my first time. I had only heard horror stories about it. Lucky for us, this family is the bomb and it was actually pretty delicious. (I just couldn’t look at it or think too much haha). So of all the horrible things that could have happened, we got the good kind! I kinda think it´s a parable for this week. Something not so great happens, but it turns out lovely.

· Our dear familia Sasso continues to be the bomb.com- they’re totally progressing!

And as if all that weren´t enough, we have the grand overall learning experience of the week, the way i grew closer to my Savior. So, Hindsight is 20x20, or at least close to that. And sometimes it´s hard to forgive one´s self. Many a time in these past few weeks I´ve been impressed by my many inabilities. But luckily, everything in the mission teaches us of Jesus Christ. I remember the lessons that I´ve learned, and i feel the love of our Savior. I remember that, hey- forgiveness means forgiveness! I remember that I´m giving it all I’ve got. My level of awesome today is not the same as it was yesterday. Long story short- We´re imperfect beings. Repentance is a process that for most, takes years. But Christ gave up on no one! In Gethsemane, he didn´t stop halfway and say: "No, not that guy. He´s gonna mess up the same way over and over all his life. It´s not worth it, paying for all his sins." Instead, he took them on, moment for moment. Life and repentance is hard, but we must learn to ACCEPT the atonement in our lives.

Service really makes the difference in everything, and I´m grateful that I was able to see the miracles. This week, I thought that I was stinking it up- BUT LOOK AT ALL THE AMAZING THINGS THAT HAPPENED!!! Come what may, I know that if I’m striving to be humble and clean and do my best, the Lord will turn my little ability into a grand work. We could always do better, but we are on this earth to learn and grow and to have JOY, not to be miserable.

I could go on for days ya´ll... I´ll tell you the other stories over lunch sometime, deal? Good. Read the scriptures, ancient and modern (gotta love CONFERENCE!!!!) Remember who you are!!!

Love,

Hermana Hill

(December 7, 2016)

I´M NOT DEAD YET!!!!

(that would have been my subject line if this computer was working)

Bueeen día!

This week was AWESOME. Even though my comp has been fighting a little cold (typical of completing 10 months in the mission), we got SO much done and what a joy that brings! Saturday we had a fiesta de navidad (ward Christmas party), and guess what- the familia Sasso came! And so did another family that we´re working with!!! That was the BOMB. Friends, music from the primary, empanadas, sweet decorations- it was lovely. Then on Sunday, the familia Sasso came to church! The dad of the family is our investigator, it was his first time to the church meetings even though he´s been married to a member for 10 years. The elders in our ward also had a super investigator come to church- for the first time in 2 months we had investigators in church and man- it just felt so so great :) If you’re asking why that would be so important to me, here´s a basic answer- we work to help bring people closer to Christ, and we believe that His church is upon the earth today. Although there are MANY ways to come closer to Christ, one of the best is worshiping his father and learning of him in His church, and partaking of the Sacrament. But let’s compare this to a cake. You can look at it, you can learn about it, you can think about it. But unless you try it, how do you know if it tastes good or not? It´s the same way with the church. If one wants to know if the church is of God, they should learn all they can, AND go and see how it is! So that was ONE of the many reasons that we were happy to have so many people at church. The biggest reason of all is that we love them and know that they´ll be blessed for going to church.

Random- let’s just take a moment and appreciate that we get called Hermana Chill and Hermana Chilled. And if they were confused with our last name, forget about it, cause we have the same first name ;)

If you haven’t chosen a scripture to ponderize yet for this week, I’ll just give you an option here: OMNI 1:26

 26 And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye shouldcome unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, andpartake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption.Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as anoffering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying,and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will besaved.

Another fun fact of the day: kids and gypsies on the streets here offer little cards in return for "generous offers" of whatever money one wants to pay. That sure spoils our efforts of giving out little cards to invite people to church or to watch Christmas videos on internet.... even desperately shouting "IT´S A FREE GIFT!!!" doesnt work sometimes... don’t worry, we get creative and find other ways to start conversations before offering the little cards or pamphlets. I like it better anyway cause it doesn’t make me feel like such a sales person :)

This week, we also saw a motorcycle crash 1 block in front of us- it was so freaky! But luckily, no one was seriously hurt- a miracle if you ask me. 

Sorry that this email was all over the place! I hope you all have a great week! Remember who you are! Read the scriptures, pray in your families! And remember, as much as everyone around here wants to talk about how much time i have left in the mission, I’m not dead yet! Cherish the moment’s you’re living in, be good. Choose the right.

Love,

Hermana Chill.

ENCONTRAMOS Mía!! (November 30, 2015)

Queridos-

For those of you who can read that title, you might be asking- who is Mía?! What kind of great investigator is she? Although we did find some great people this week, Mía has nothing to do with that... she´s a dog! in the middle of our English lesson this Wednesday, a boy from our ward runs in and tells us the terrible news that their dog escaped. We dropped everything and ran along the busy roads looking for this energetic escapee. With a prayer in our hearts, we entered the shops along the street and FINNALY- Hermana child and I found a man who knew what happened to her! A woman had grabbed her, took her home, and cleaned her up. What a nice lady! She was probably a little surprised when a group of 20 Mormons showed up at her doorstep to thank her for finding the precious pet... haha I´m so glad nothing happened to her! Especially considering that those are some pretty busy streets that she crossed. She´s also a beautiful black toy poodle, so the kids were afraid that someone had stolen her. Prayers are answered! It was cool to see everyone come together to help those kids.

On Monday we went to the contemporary art museum- AWESOME! There’s a huge golden sea lion outside made out of alfajor wrapper look alikes. And a chandelier made out of clothes pins. A moving bridge, a mattress room, and don’t forget the weird merman. Way fun!

We´re focusing on finding more people to teach right now. It´s great! and we´re seeing some great results, but it´s also hilarious to see how many people are afraid of a little Christmas card... we´ll work on our approaches ;)

Well, all is well in Zion. Sorry that this is so short, but love you all and i hope you have a great week! Read the scriptures! Pray often!!!!!!

Love,

Hermana Hill

"Are you guys Gypsies?" (November 23, 2015)

Buen Día Queridos!

So, I’ve only got 10 minutes to spit out the best letter I’ve got, ready, GO!

Taxis are one of my favorite places to share the gospel. ´We´re going to a church! Yay, so let’s talk about it´- the conversation flows just great. Yesterday, the taxi driver told us that he has read almost all of the book of Mormon that was given to him a month ago by a few other traveling missionaries. AND he knows members. AND he basically told us everything about the book of Mormon by memory "Ah! You´re Mormons! Like Moroni, he gave the gold plates to Joseph Smith to translate a record about the Jews who came to America 600 years before Christ. That´s your religion, right? I´m not getting you confused?" Missionaries be like: WAT... haha it was SO awesome!!! The thing that bites, he works by night and sleeps by day, so he didn´t want to give us his address and "let us down cause we´d never find him in a good moment". BUT he DID say that he wants to go to church and that he has contact because he talks to the cool members nearby. He lives in our area- WOO! But seriously, some of my best contacts happen when I have to take a taxi.

OTHER STORY: Sunday were elections AGAIN because last time the candidates didn't win by enough of a percentage or something. So, once again we couldn´t proselyte. But we DID go to a baptism in the neighboring ward! It was so amazing! One of the sons of a part member family was baptized. He´s like 10, and his 13 year old brother gave the sweetest closing prayer I’ve heard in a while. He thanked God that now him and his brother would be closer and more united than ever. :,) and he definitely joked earlier on that his brother would need to be dunked 5 times instead of one to get rid of all his sins hahaha.

Add that to the beautiful stake conference of that morning. 2 young people gave their testimonies- one had just got his mission call to south Argentina, the other had just returned from her mission to Colombia. I loved that they both mentioned that they had been preparing for their missions from their birth or youth. THANK YOU TO THE MANY PEOPLE WHO HELP US GET OUT HERE. The mission is the best experience of my whole life. I´m grateful for all the testimonies that strengthened my own, to get me her now. How could i ever say enough to help you know how grateful i am!? THANK you!!!

Also, for the record, we´re missionaries! Not gypsies. We have skirts too, and yes, we talk to random people in the street- I see how one could get confused. :) Don´t worry people, we´re here to share the gospel, not to rob. So many people don´t talk with us haha for these stinking misconceptions. No, we´re not: Spies, gypsies, debt collectors etc. Yes, we are: two girls who want to help you come closer to Christ. haha I love people and their first impressions of us, it´s different with every person we talk to, always haha.

Happy Thanksgiving!! Happy Birthday Gene!!!

Have a wonderful week everyone! May God bless you and keep you!

Love,

Hermana Hill

Happy Almost Thanksgiving! (November 16, 2015)

Hullo Mutha, Hullo Fatha, here I am at... POMPEYA!! Woo! 6 more weeks with my dear companion Hermana Child in this beautiful area.

This week we started to attend choir practice. The director is a professional piano teacher, and with her insistence, got permission from our mission pres. to have us sing with the talented stake choir. I HAVE MISSED MUSIC SO MUCH!!!! My iPod broke when I left my last area 2 months ago (what can you expect from a 10 year old, well used brick...) Hermana Child and I have tried (and failed) since to have music, but we will conquer! Our goal for p-day- find some kind of cheap music reproducer. There has been a notable difference in our hearts and spirits after having those rehearsals for the conference next week.

And speaking of music, a highlight of this week was the ward primary program. The church was decorated with red, blue, and yellow footprints, and a stand displayed the art and photos from al the year´s activities. We thought THAT was cute, but then we saw the kids. They were decked out with matching hair bows and suit ties. :) Our ward has 8 Valiant (is that what they’re called? the kids 8+) and only 2 tinny CTRs and how could you forget the 4 little sunbeam cuties? They invited us to sing "called to serve" with them- DREAM COME TRUE!

On Tuesday, walking to a member´s house to pick up our food for the next day, a thought flashed across my mind to knock a certain, well illuminated door. Out came a sporty, middle aged woman with a huge smile and invited us to pass through her gate. Our thoughts were: is she a member or something? We never are received like this! But as she began asking us where we are from and who we are we knew that she wasn’t familiar with us ¨Mormons¨. Her two boys came out- Agustin ("Justin" age 9) and Juan Ignacio "Juani" (age 11). We began to ask them a few questions to get to know them, and she invited us inside! (That rarely happens). Her kids are SO cute and very interested in our message. Agustin somehow managed to answer all of our gospel questions with movie references and his own genius inventions. Have you heard of resurrection? "Yeah, like Harry Potter, when Voldemort killed him and he came back to life" Where do we go when we die? "I saw in the Simpson’s once that you take flowers to the graves... but I don’t know where the dead person goes..." Yeah, this kid and I are already great friends.

I’ve been learning a lot of good lessons on patience. We set up appointments, and they aren’t there. Or then there are times when we can’t be there, and they were waiting. Man, it´s hard. But it’s crazy to see the way that it all works out. If we do our very best, all we can, God helps us work out the wrinkles and tears of our work. He helps the people forgive us, and helps us forgive ourselves. But one of the things that amazes me the most is that when I think that something went "wrong", many a times it went exactly how it was supposed to. When we found Romina and Agustin and Juani, we had planned on being in a family night with a member and her neighbor. It was canceled, but we found this great woman and her children that are eager to answer life´s questions. We will have more chances to talk with all of them :)

The whole world has been hit by the violence in France. We´re all praying that God comfort and bless those who have lost loved ones. I pray too that He comfort all who in this moment wonder where He is and why these terrible things happen. Stay close to our Father in Heaven! He is real and He loves us. I´m so grateful for the message that I have the blessing of sharing with the people here! For those of you who know it, share it! And for those of you who don’t- please ask. And everyone- don´t forget that there is SO much to be grateful for!!!

Love you all SO much! Have a WONDERFUL week!!! Thanks for all the love and letters of support- I appreciate you more than I could ever say!


Love,

Hermana Hill

Just another crazy week in Paradise! (November 9, 2015)

buen dia queridos!

It´s kinda hard to explain this week... it was crazy!!! Like, super weird things just happened all the time... I´ll save you from all the details, just know we´re safe and happy and the work goes on!!! So you don’t freak out with the lack of details, here´s a few: random unattended bonfires in the middle of the streets, finding a comic store on p-day and teaching the owner about the Restoration while standing by an Ewok and the elder wand, being followed by a homeless man (we hid and miraculously lost him), and we saw a popcorn truck that just stops on the side of the street, rings a bell, and hands out multi-flavored pochoclos among other assorted fun stuff! I love the mission :) Ooh! And it´s finally warm here!!! I got my first sun burn and first bug bite of the season! Bring on the summer!!!!

This week we were able to find a lot of families that haven´t gone to church in a long time. :D And they want so bad to change their lives! I´m excited to keep visiting them and learning from them and from the spirit! The members here are so great! They help us tons, and give too much food, and are always looking for ways to strengthen each other. We have like 3 family home evenings planned for this week! I´m supper stoked.

So one of my friends asked me this last week what my thoughts are about trials- and even though I’m late in getting back to him, I figured I´d write it in my weekly letter just in case one of you might benefit from it :) It´s something we talk about EVERY DAY in the mission. So many of us are looking for the WHY to all these crazy things that happen in life. I´ll try to put it in a few words... :) Part of the purpose of life is to be tried- to learn how to choose right from wrong and to learn and grow. We could compare it to a refiner´s fire. I love the parable that explains it. Just like a metal work of art, we must be molded and put under pressure, changed chemically and physically. It takes a lot of change to get a lump of metal to be a silver water pitcher! The master knows what He´s doing- we are carefully held in his powerful, capable hands. The metal is not "done" until it perfectly reflects the image of the Master. We´re here to become more like our perfect Father in Heaven, and receive his image in our countenance.



Sometimes we face trials due to our own decisions. If we do bad things (sin) hard things tend to come our way. There are consequences! ALWAYS. Our loving heavenly father gave us commandments to protect us from those natural consequences of bad decisions. Sometimes we face trials due to the bad/unrighteous decisions of others. There will be judgement for them now and in the end, but for those affected by their decisions, God loves them and wants to help them!!! He will give us no trial that is beyond our ability to endure. That doesn’t mean everything will have a happy ending. But if we endure it well- BOOM you can´t even imagine the blessings that you get now and in the future. He offers His Help. His Son died that his grace would heal us.

Dang, I could talk about this ALL DAY. And really, every one of the scriptures speaks of these things. READ THEM!!!! With all my heart, I pray that you read and love the scriptures. They ARE the words of God- how stinking cool is that?!?! It´s amazing!! And you all live in a modern world where you have the blessing of having them in your hands. Like the parable of Moses and the iron snake that he raised, that the people would look and be healed from the venomous snakes- LOOK! READ! PRAY!!! Stay strong. Nothing makes me happier than to hear that you are working to strengthen your testimonies! Remember, all things are made right by Christ and His Atoning Sacrifice. (Omni 1:26). If you wonder how, or you think it´s craziness on my part- just investigate! You´ll never know unless you look! :) Also, Doctrine and Covenants 59:23 and 84:82-85

Sorry that this was so long, but know that I love you all very much! I hope you have a WONDERFUL week. Learn lots. Be strong! May God bless you and keep you!!!!

Love,

Hermana Hill

Dulce Diesiseis! (And Happy Halloween!) (November 2, 2015)

Queridos!

This week we have seen many of the fruits of our labors!! 3 less active members came to church with us!!! And one of our investigators unexpectedly showed up to the Relief Society Knitting party-thing! It sounds crazy, but you have no idea how wonderful it was to see all these things happen.

Lorena is one of the three that came back to church. The day we found her, we had been working and walking all morning. She was the last person on our plans, we were super far from home and already really hungry for lunch. It crossed our minds to just go home early. But we decided: ´nah, for some reason we had put her in our plans, and one more person isn’t that much extra effort`. When she let us in and asked: "how did you find me?" I thought we were in for a verbal beat up... but a miracle happened instead. Tears began to pool in her eyes as she told us her story and testified that God knows exactly when to send us. She´s been passing through a lot. She´s prayed every night that God help her find the strength to return to church. All of her 6 children have decided to reject God in their lives (for now), and if she were to go to church, without all or any of them, it´d be like really accepting that they´ve left the way. To help her, she just needed a few friends, a few hugs, and a few scriptures. By small and simple things are great things brought to pass. Listen to that still small voice that´s telling you to reach out! IT´S WORTH IT. And you wouldn't believe all the miracles that she´s seeing in her family now.

This week I also got news that my investigator Luisa (from Barrio Pueyrredón) was baptized!!!! CONGRATS LUISA!!!! I´m so so happy for her!!!

Shout out to my new nephew Bohman Batty!!! I can’t get enough of the little picture mom sent me. What a handsome boy!!! I´m so stoked to get to hold him :) Welcome to the family, kid!

So you know, I´m going to be returning home on the 29th/30th of December- I can’t believe I've already been out here for 16 months today... We´re totally going to celebrate by eating ice cream on the beach and buying my comp new shoes. But I’m also stoked to be staying here for Christmas (NOTHING against my family and friends back home!!!) It´s just so special to be here, especially during Christmas- It´s the best to testify of our Saviors birth!!!! And our whole mission is going to have a Christmas get together too! I´m glad I don’t have to cut my mission 2 weeks short to be able to be home. I reiterate though that I love you guys SO SO much and that I look forward to skyping you! :) hope this is alright :)

It´s sad that they don’t celebrate Halloween here- just the English schools :) But we totally ate a bunch of Argentine candy to be the Americans that we are.

Also, in our mission, our daily schedule changed!! So now we leave at 8:30 am to preach and we study during the Siesta when everyone´s sleeping... WEIRD RIGHT?!? Lots of changes... I´m still trying to figure it all out!

Miracles are real. The church is TRUE. READ THE BOOK OF MORMON.

Love you! May God bless you and keep you!!!

Hermana Hill

La Cucaracha...(October 26, 2015)

Family of mine! (Familia Mia),

Hey ya´ll! Sorry, this is gonna be short, computers have decided to be lame, so I don’t have much time. It´s not that I don´t love you! It´s just that I had to save my pictures from the abyss of deletion. :) But my dear companion has given me permission to send you hers... she´s great- best of the best. Her letter will be at the end of mine :) so, here´s a couple highlights that my comp didn’t mention:

We found a cockroach in our house yesterday, it was the size of my index finger. Appetizing.

I cut my own hair this week! That was crazy!!! I now have bangs... for the first time since I was five... BANGS!


Like my comp said, we´re teaching Malvina!!! She rocks. She wants to change, but her past makes it really hard for her to trust. We´re going to pass by with members that have also been through a lot so that she can relate better. Not that we haven’t been through a lot, but it´s so important to have the help of the members! They´ll be here even when we leave, so it´s VITAL that we help them make friendships. The experiences of people are sometimes the strongest testimonies- don’t ever be afraid to share your experiences and testimonies!!! That´s one of the many reasons we go to church- to learn from what others have already learned. YOU are important. We go to church not only to learn and feel the spirit and renew our covenants, we go to edify and lift others too. So, why do we go to church? BECAUSE WE LOVE GOD.

Ok, here´s my comp:

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

​Hey I have time to actually think of what to write Y´all this week, and I am hoping that it makes sense. You might be thinking or asking why I have a lot of time on my hands. Well, on Sunday (yesterday) everyone was voting and so our mission president made us all stay home cause it’s a little dangerous to be out in the streets, during voting. Lots of Riots, or protesting, I suppose. So after church on Sunday we just went straight home and as missionaries you can’t do much especially when you don’t have any electronics. So I plugged in our little heater and it took me about 20 min to find a pen that worked and then started to write this letter.

This week we have been teaching Malvina and her husband Ariel after about teaching her 3 times in the street she finally let us into her house, as we entered there was a nice whole in the floor you had to be careful. And this big black thing on her wall that’s used for witchcraft. But she just uses it to hold her bread cause it was a gift and she can’t throw it away. She has 3 kids under the age of 8. She believes in basically everything and Ariel is Evangelista. They don’t have a sink just a bucket full of water and while we were teaching them Ariel was making coffee with a nylon sock as the filter, used or not used. (I don’t know) The littlest girl kept asking me for stickers and annoying her mom so her mom told her to leave and gave her a cup of coffee to drink (not the smartest thing to give a 4 year old coffee). We started to teach them the 10 commandments and we only got to commandment 2 before they started getting after one another for not keeping these commandments. Then started to ask us if we had boyfriends or kids. And if everyone in the states has blue and green eyes. But this whole time 1 of their 3 dogs was chewing on one of the legs of my chair and I though it was going to eat my leg, then started to gag and I thought it was going to throw up all over my legs. Then Ariel was telling us that you just can’t throw away socks. While he was sowing a sock. BUT hey on the bright side Malvina said the closing prayer. :) It will take a lot of patience to teach this family but I am up for the challenge. :) They are awesome they just need a lot of help!

Hermana hill and I have done tons of contacting this week and knocking and clapping doors as usual. And we have decided: That you just can’t knock doors at any time or they will get mad. But you just continue and try and find those who are ready. But we have learned: You can’t knock around 11 or 12 cause they are eating or cooking lunch and you can’t knock 1 to 5 cause they are sleeping during the siesta and don’t want to talk. And 6 to 7 they will kinda listen to you. And from 8 to 9 they get mad and ask you why you are knocking doors when its dark and they tell us how dangerous it is.

It’s crazy how many rejections we get and we still work hard and when a miracle happens you just forget about all the rejects and just continue moving forward. And that you just are blown away with the miracles. :) With the miracles that happen I definitely couldn’t have done it alone. LIKE wow. THIS CHURCH is just so TRUE!!

con amor HERMANA child

(from hna hill:)

I love you all tons! Have a wonderful week! Sorry for the crazy letter! Pray, read the scriptures, go to church! LOVE YOU!!!

Hermana Hill

FELIZ DIA DE LA MADRE ARGENTINA! (October 19, 2015)

Aloha Familia!!!!!

No, sadly that wasn´t a reference to a warming climate in Argentina... I think we had one day this week that was nice, and it was BEAUTIFUL! I only wore a jacket and a scarf. The rest of these days.... boots, two pairs of tights, coat, umbrella, scarf, sweater, gloves... But who doesn´t love Antarctic winds? It just makes me feel closer to the penguins, so I´m good. I just hope to see a little of this Argentine Spring!


Mar del Plata is HUGE. I have never seen so many two story houses and cars and well-kept gardens... It´s absolutely beautiful! Every time that I want to stop and take a picture of these huge houses that I find, I find one that´s even bigger... Yet again, what has amazed me with all of this, is getting to know the poor that live among such richness. I´m grateful for the opportunity that the mission brings to walk the back streets and get to know the people. One of them is Malvina, a sweet woman bashed by the circumstances of her life, strong and still fighting. We´re working so hard with her right now to help her see her worth in the eyes of God. She has lost faith in praying for herself- she thinks God doesn’t love her. But she hasn’t given up praying for her kids and hoping that He will help her. She has more faith than she thinks she does! It´s so humbling to help her look at her life and examine the ways that the Lord has blessed her. She knows keeping the commandments keeps her safe. She recognizes that she would be WAY worse off without them- that´s a manifestation of the love of God- His teachings. The worth of souls is GREAT in the sight of God! And I could share hours about that. HE LOVES YOU! He doesn’t control you. He doesn’t want you to suffer. He gives us agency and we have to live with the agency of others. It´s hard, but it´s worth it.

Another quick thought: A lot of these houses we go into are HUGE and beautiful on the outside, and bare walls and empty shelves on the inside. Don’t judge a book by its cover. People need your smiles and your love more than you know.

Sorry, I´m definitely out of time this week, but I love you all tons! The work continues her in Argentina!! I love it here! My companion is the best!!!!

Speaking of my companion, she´s hilarious. I told her the other day that she rocks my socks. She responded "I don’t like rocks, cause they’re in my sock..." She insists on using her old broken shoes every day... We fill them up with tape and cardboard so that water doesn’t get in... haha

Have a wonderful week!!!!!! Work hard, remember who you are! (Sorry for the kinda lame email this week, it´s not cause i don’t love you!) ;)

Keep on rocking my socks!

Hermana Hill


PS: Happy Argentine Mother’s day mom!!! Thought about you a lot this week- I´m SO grateful for my mom and grandmas!!!!

Hermana Hill and the Chocolate Factory (October 12, 2015)

Hola lindos!!!

Sorry for writing a day late, yesterday was a big holiday here and NOT A SINGLE SHOP OPENED UP. Soooo, p-day is today!

Here´s the rundown of this awesome week:

Pompeya is awesome! The area is HUGE. I don’t think I’ll ever get to know all of it. I love my companion! She makes me laugh every second of the day out here. We found TONS of new people to teach this week! We had a lot of setbacks- people came to fix our house, we have to be in the house at 8 because it´s a little sketchy at night in the city (don’t worry mom and dad we´re safe haha, it just makes the work a little different), and a bunch of things just happened. But we worked hard with the time we had and miracles happened!

Favorite parts of the week:

A little old lady, 93 years old, shared her testimony this Sunday. I´m just going to quote her so that you can experience the comedy gold. Imagine it in a scratchy cute voice: "I know the word of wisdom is real! The missionaries taught me to stop drinking all those delicious alcoholic drinks and I did! And now I don’t have to take a single medicine. I loved those drinks... but I’m happy now" haha and: "I have to confess- I LOVE watching soccer games. The one last night was especially good. But I KNOW the scriptures are true and I love them, so after the game last night at 2 am I read my scriptures! It was great! Today is Sunday, and it´s a holy day. so even though I love soccer, I’m not going to watch it" I have never laughed so hard in a sacrament meeting! I’m so grateful for this lady and her example and for the way she made me laugh!!!

To explain the title, we toured the alfajor factory this week!!! BE JEALOUS. It was amazing. And we got free alfajores! And it was delicious. Our neighbor across the hall works there, so we got an exclusive behind the scenes tour.

Thought of the week:

I don’t know if I have mentioned this before, but I had a thought that really struck me this week when we were talking to a sweet old man named Don Natalio. Many people tell us: "I admire you for what you are doing and for taking time from your lives to help others! Way to go! I’m already lost, (or I’m fine), good luck finding people to teach!" But here´s the thing- that’s what everyone says!! We can’t help anyone if everyone thinks that they´re not worth helping! Or if they think that they´re a waste of time! We´re not here to help only the hopeless, but the message of Christ and his gospel is for EVERY ONE OF US, and everyone, myself included, needs to keep on learning and take this message into their hearts. LET THAT PERSON THAT WE TEACH BE YOU. Who knows? Maybe you´ll find something you needed. But you´ll never know until you try. You´ll never know if you need part of this message until you hear it! It’s within every one of us if we want to change or not. If we want to act or not. But the least you can do is TRY. no, the least you can do is HEAR! You don’t even have to act on our invitations if you don’t want to! But I promise that if we take the promise of Alma 32 and we plant and nourish the seed of the word with our actions, we WILL KNOW if the fruit is good for us. I hope we can all plant and nourish the seed of the gospel. Ask questions. Look for answers. And then look some more. We need more people who search, and less people who tell others to search.

I hope that made a little sense... it goes for every one of us. How is that seed doing in my heart? Am I nourishing it? Have I searched and pondered on how to help it grow? And now, is this fruit good for me? (See the talk of Elder Uchtdorf from the last conference)

Love you all!!! Things are wonderful here, and I hope they are for you all too, wherever you may be in the world. May God bless you and keep you!

Hermana Hill

From Pueyrredón to Pompeya... (October 5, 2015)

Hola mis queridos queridos!!!

This week was full of miracles! 3 boys, Bryan, Facundo, and Adrian, came to 3 of 4 sessions of conference... WHAT?!?! What 16, 12, or 11 year old would do that on their own without the support of anyone? They drew us pictures and shared their gratitude to the members for helping them. Out of the blue!!! Woah- I’m so excited to hear about how they’re doing.

I am amazed by the power of prayer. This Thursday, every planned service activity that we had fell through. And it was raining, so we couldn’t sweep the front patios of people like we did before (it´s an Argentina thing, you wouldn’t understand...haha). And it was cold... sadly, after a day of searching, still we hadn´t found any service... at least, we talked to a few old ladies that needed company, and we ate a lot of fried cake, but we felt awful for not completing our goal and responsibility. So, we went home, planned, and went out to work. Our 2 teaching appointments also fell through. We felt super sick from all the fried cake. OKAY. It was time to pray long ago and it was time to pray again! We stopped and my companion offered a fervent prayer, asking specifically to be able to find and set appointments at least 4 of the people in our plans... I asked "four?" it was something that came to her mind, so she said it. We set out with all our energy to find the people waiting for us. It was amazing. We hadn’t had that kind of success in days! 2 hours of work in that day was the equivalent of maybe 2 normal days full. We found old investigators that accepted our visits with joy, we contacted amazingly receptive people in the streets. My nametag fell off and even in the traffic and noise and rain, I noticed it just a block after it had fallen and we were able to find it. At the end of the 2 hours, looking back, we had exactly 4 lessons. Exactly 4 future appointments. For something my companion felt prompted to ask for 4, and what a wonderful day that followed! We can ask for specific things. And if we ask with faith, as moved upon by the spirit, we WILL receive it, according to that faith and the will of God. Listen to the still small voice!!!!

Well, transfers came! I have left my dear Pueyrredón and I´m now in the beautiful land of Pompeya, Mar del Plata. It was hard to go. Once again, it´s as though my heart was ripped out and jumped on a couple times... Our Heavenly Father helped me though, and I feel a LOT more peace in accepting His will and trusting that Bahía is in His hands :) And in addition, we got to watch the AMAZING General Conference!!! AND I´m now with the Hna Child! Yep, you heard right, my Aunt Cami´s next door neighbor! Ever since I heard that she was coming to this mission I wanted to be her companion- dream come true! I´m excited to see what these next 6 weeks will bring!

Read your scriptures, ponderize, pray, listen and study conference, go to church, keep the Sabbath day holy!

LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!

Hermana Hill

The Adventures of Hill and Unicorn in Monte Hermoso (September 28, 2015)

Hola Queridos!!!

Today, my dear sweet companion was unwilling transformed into a unicorn. Sorta. (Luckily she doesn’t take offense with that nickname...) It all started when the elders declared this Monday Super P-day. We took a bus/car one hour away to Monte Hermoso to play on the BEACH!!! Yeah! Stinkin awesome right?! We have loved it :) It was a lot more fun before we started playing baseball... I smacked a good run and sadly got out at home when hna Saunders bunted (just fyi). It was an accident, don’t blame hna Saunders. But that’s beside the point... To cut to the chase- the solid wood bat slipped out of the hands of poor elder Baldwin and flew cartwheeling directly into the forehead of the innocent bystander, my companion. In seconds she grew a mound between her eyes... It´s still huge 5 hours later. Needless to say, we picked a different game. She´s so strong! Didn´t even cry! Only a few tears slipped out! ...crazy right? Love you hna Taborda! I hope you feel better! And I hope you don’t have brain damage.

Other than unexpected brain injuries, this week we have enjoyed the grand progression of our investigator Luisa. She´s going to be baptized on the 10th of October! Her testimony is beautiful. She first heard the gospel 5 years ago in Pedro Luro from the elders. Her husband too learned of the church and they went a few times. In this time of their life, the depression of her husband took him over more and more. After going a few times, he was offended for something in the church, and forbid her from meeting with the missionaries or members. It has been 2 months now since her husband died, and is now living here with her daughter, a recent convert to the church. Although they suffer the loss of their husband and father, Luisa is really growing in her love of the Savior and for His Gospel. Nothing can explain the joy I feel for her! She shared her testimony with everyone in our gospel principles class- it was wonderful! In fewer words she said "I know this is the only true church, and I´m so grateful to have found it. I´m excited to be baptized soon!" It hit my heart. It´s amazing to be able to watch and work in the conversion a child of God.

There are too many great stories to be able to share them all. I´ll try to write a letter to my parents so they can share a few with you all :)

The work continues strong and true here in Argentina! The church is true! Prepare yourselves to listen to conference! I hope you have a wonderful week :) Write you soon! Be strong, have faith and courage to do what you know you should!

Love,

Hermana Hill

I scream, you scream, we all scream for... Pumba? (September 21, 2015)

BUUUEEEEEEN Dia!!!!

You heard right, Pumba. I totally ate Jaboli this week- wart hog. Going on divisions with the Hermanas of Pigue brought me back to the countryside, and brought the countryside to my stomach. IT WAS GOOD! I loved being in a pueblo again- dogs everywhere, cars that wait for you to cross the street, people who stop to talk with us, horses wandering in the street, cobblestone walkways. It was fun and wonderful to be able to spend time and learn from the Hermanas of Pigue- I got to go on splits with Hna Saunders- just like the good old days. The brother who gave us Warthog to eat hunted it himself. And get this: when hunting jaboli, he walks for what is sometimes days, alone with his dogs, to find the jaboli. Then, while his dogs distract the poor warthog, he kills it with a knife quickly, and promptly gives thanks afterward. He says sometimes it makes him sad to kill the animal, but he and his family live off the meat for months! Warthog barbeque, ward hog with spaghetti, warthog soup... I love Argentina and her little towns.


Well, there’s your cultural moment (I hope you learned something.) And now, for the weather! (haha how boring... get over it. my mom wants to know). Even though like 2 weeks ago I went out without a jacket or tights, now, it{s FREEZING COLD. like, so much for spring... Argentina.....

Now for the moment that you’ve been waiting for, how’s the work in Pueyrredon? Yesterday, a surprise visitor came to church- a man that had simply heard of the church and who wanted to go and see what it was like! WOO! Finally, someone who understands the sign that says "visitors welcome". He was excited to meet us and wants to know more about what we believe, because he is looking for more happiness in his life. AWESOME right? I’m super happy that well be able to teach him, and I know that this message will help him! The only catch.... he lives in another wards area- the other missionaries are going to teach him haha. But equally, I’m so happy that he came :) cause lets be real, it doesn’t matter which ward he belongs to, what matters is that a child of God wants to become more close to Him :D

Yesterday our Bishop asked me to prepare to talk in church next week- I’m so stoked about the topic! "Becoming spiritually self-sufficient to be able to help others do the same" or, in other words "prepare yourself to help others come unto Christ". We must strengthen our personal testimonies first, and work in families to strengthen us all together. Then, when we are a little stronger, we will have the desire and ability to share the gospel with others. I’ve learned a lot in this mission, but one thing that I want you all to know and the people I’m serving to know- is 1- GOD LOVES YOU! 2- the tools he has given us are there to help and YOU CAN USE THEM. to strengthen your testimony and prepare to help others (and these are not optional people...) please: pray daily in family and personally, read the scriptures daily in family and personally, have family night once a week :) fast and pay fast offerings at least once a month, pay your tithing. You can do it! You are strong, capable, and important. I really hope that you do these things. Sorry for not being able to share about the why and how and share examples this week. But I know that you all can do it- with the help of the Lord all is possible! Be patient with yourselves, it might take time to establish the habit, but your diligent efforts will receive success!!!

Love you all tons! Have a wonderful week! and thank you so so much for all that you do :) Seriously, I cant thank you all enough.

Love,

Hermana Hill

Karaoke Chaos (Sept 14, 2015)

Hola Familia y Amigos!!

Just a short little note from me this week, but many great things happened here in Zion, don’t you worry. We had a WONDERFUL conference with the Area Seventy, Elder Teixeira, who came to visit us- I learned SO much! And it was stinking awesome to be able to see all my buddies from the far corners of the mission. Mar del Plata, Olavaria, Tandil, and Nicochea had their own conference- but well, at least I got to see many of the people with who I’ve served and missionaries from all the areas that I’ve served in. My good friend/companion Hna Castleman is serving her last days in my beloved Trenque Lauquen, Im glad to know they’re in good hands.

This week we also had a fantastic Tuesday activity. What was planned: Karaoke and Pizza. What happened: Teams inventing songs because internet doesn’t work for the karaoke, but it was fun anyway! Our team rocked it. And then, just as the other team was about to perform- boom, the power went out in the building! So, we turned on our cell phone lights so the other group gave a 5 star performance with "fancy" lighting and everything. Then we ate more than 20 pizzas for dinner... what? Yessica cooks REALLY well okay?! We were OVERJOYED that a TON of people came to the activity! Hopefully many come this week too!

I learned SO much this week, from the conference and from my own experiences. I’ll try to share a bit:

PRAYER WORKS. Whenever I have felt weak or frustrated, even a little bit, this week, I’ve gotten down on my knees. I’ve always believed a lot in prayer, but this week I decided to stop fighting myself, to pray immediately. Many times I try to solution out the problem and as a type of last result plead heavenly help again. I’d say my prayers frequently, but not enough. That changed this week! As soon as I felt negative feelings- PRAYER! And I testify that I gained a power that was not my own. Or at least, a power that I didn’t know I had- that I didn’t feel previously. Prayer has helped me SO much this week! And I know that it can help you in your lives as well! With whatever you face. Prayer is a commandment! God is asking, commanding us to partake of his power- how could we think that he doesn’t want to help us!? I know he loves each of us, the smallest and the biggest.

I love you all so much! I hope you have a wonderful week!!! Sorry for the short letter, there is more to come in one weeks’ time. :)

Pray, read the scriptures, go to church!

Hermana Hill

The Grand Work of ZION (September 7, 2015)

BUEEEEEEEENOS DIAS :)

Okay, this week rocked. We had a movie night (in which the missionaries who can’t watch movies made popcorn and served soda pop), we celebrated a surprise baby shower, we swept a few sidewalks for the old ladies of our area, we ate in McDonalds (has it always been so expensive?), and much much more! 

We´ve been able to teach our dear investigator Luisa various times- SHES AMAZING! And hopefully continues to progress and get feeling better. She was able to go to church this week- what joy!

That brings me to think of the great joy and focus of this week: establishing of Zion in all places. Appropriately, church was completely focused on that this week, and it all tied together nicely in that we were able to fast and share our testimonies. There was not ONE moment of silence between the people popping up to share their testimonies (experiences and witnesses of the hand of the lord in our lives). It was beautiful. Although I spent most of Sacrament Meeting playing with Jeremias (he was very entertained with my paper airplanes and "hijo de Dios" stickers), I could feel the spirit strongly. A baby was blessed and so there were tons of people to witness the happy event. 77 PEOPLE IN OUR SACRAMENT MEETING! It was beautiful to feel the spirit of a room filled up with people worshiping and giving thanks to God. 

It is SO important to support and help one another in this life! Zion = a people united in heart and mind. United by service and love for God and one another. It´s so important to attend and support the activities that we have! God commands us to meet frequently- cause, well, duh- how can you know if someone needs help or not if you never get to know them or if you don´t make an effort to see them once in a while. Sometimes we think that we need reasons to reach out and say hi to or help someone.  Wrong. Just send a stinkin’ text message! You don’t have to be assigned to do it- we should do things of our own free will! So do it! Just make your friend a dang quesadilla, Napoleon! Be nice. Smile at people. It´s as simple as: "hey, I was thinking about you today- how´s it goin?". YOU CAN DO IT!!! Zion begins with one´s own self, and each of us must put in the effort. You have no idea how much joy it brings me to see people visiting and helping one another!

Last night we passed by the house of a few members who are planning to go to the temple to be sealed this month (WOO!). There visiting was another young couple from the ward, chatting and sharing their testimonies and experiences and visiting. My heart just about exploded with happiness. We need the help of others, and we need the opportunity to help others! To see a bunch of members doing exactly that gave me hope. We´re not alone in the work of salvation! Every member must uplift one another and those around them- it´s part of the covenant that we make upon baptism. Mosiah 18. I invite all of you to review what it is that we promise when we are baptized, and make changes in your life to more fully fulfill what the Lord expects of us- I´m going to do the same :)

I love you all so much! Thanks for you examples and your support and for all you do :)

Stay tuned, this next week we´re going to have a special reunion with a member of the Seventy.  :D  ...You could say I’m pretty stoked about it.

Have a wonderful week! Keep the faith and procure to find more :) Become converted. 

Love,

Hermana Hill :)

Ehu! Tanto Tiempo! (August 31, 2015)

Muy buenos Días!

Didn´t I just barely write you all? I can´t believe another week has passed. They go so quickly! It has been wonderful getting to know and work with la Hermana Taborda, she’s AMAZING! And hilarious. Just awesome. You can all rest assured that Pueyrredón is in good hands with her around. She also loves music! And sings beautifully! And beatboxes. Like a champ. Add that to her spirituality (spiritual status: GIANT), and to her diligence (all the diligence), and to that she's neat and clean (HELLO clean house!) = you could say that I´m pretty stoked for this transfer. How is it that I get to have all the best companions in this world?

This Sunday we had the wonderful opportunity to have a Multi-Stake/Area Conference, broadcasted in part from Salt Lake and in part from Buenos Aires to all of Uruguay, Paraguay, and Argentina. It was opened and ended by our own leaders, individually in every stake-building. OH MY GOSH IT WAS SO AMAZING. SO much power. We heard messages from our Stake Presidents, our Area President, Walter Gonzalez, Richard J Maynes (Presidency of the seventy) Neil F Marriott (Young Women’s Presidency) and from 2 OF THE 12 APOSTLES, Quinten L Cook and Robert D Hales. It was like a dream come true. I love that they invited us to use the technology that we have been given to minister, help, and uplift, to invite to activities, and to serve one another. I´m grateful that technology gave us the chance to hear these inspired messages. Each speaker shared powerful testimony of missionary work, the observance of the Day of Rest, and temple work. Bajaron principios. They laid down the law. They exhorted us to read the conference talks and with a spirit of prayer, examine our lives and improve them. I pray that you all might obtain and grow in testimony of these things as well.

A man asked me yesterday if I think I will be truly happy following the path that I´m on. He asked me if I have investigated this and other paths, and if I´ve searched inside myself to know if it´s right for me. I have! I have searched and studied and continue to do so. More and more, every day, I feel the powerful response to his questions in my heart: The gospel of Christ is True! In it is real, lasting joy! How grateful I am for the surety and peace I feel from knowing that! As I sat in that conference, I could feel the joy that His gospel brings. Every day that I read the scriptures, pray, and share with others, I feel it again and again. Maybe the answers to our questions and prayers don´t come in an instant, but I implore you- If it is but a mere curiosity that you have concerning these things of God and life and the problems that you face, ASK. Search it out! And continue asking. Search from the best sources with patience. I know that we will receive the answers and peace we need as we ask with a sincere and willing heart.

We ALL have a place in the mansion of our Heavenly Father. He loves EACH of us. He invites all to enter into His rest. He invites us to "be still, and know that He is God". <- I love that scripture. It´s a promise, a command. He doesn’t say: "you can be still". Or "you should be still." BE still and know. The way that he says that is a promise in itself. We can confide in him. He is sure of that, and he is sure of our ability to be still and to know. Let yourself believe! Many people are scared to do that- trust me, I understand! Let the seed of the desire that it´s true enter into your heart, let it grow by meditating and searching more. you will then know if it´s something good or not!

This week we have found a few of the investigators and members that we have been looking for for a long time! It was wonderful to be able to talk to them again (or in a few cases, to get to know them)! It's crazy how God puts us in the right place at the right time. Last night we passed by for a family and ended up teaching them for longer than we thought we were going to be able to (awesome!!!!) We felt we needed to stay, and I´m so glad that we did. I was worried at first because we were going to miss a little visit that we had planned for a few less active members. In the exact moment that we got to the house of these members, they too got there! They had been taking care of their grandma. If we would have arrived earlier, we wouldn’t have been able to find them. I was so relieved that it turned out well!!! It´s another fulfilling of the words of my Grandma G- "If it´s not alright, it´s not the end, because with God, in the end, everything will be alright." That’s true on a large scale and sometimes in our weeks too. Our crazy week had a happy ending. sorry that I couldn´t share more experiences with you this week- ONE DAY you will hear all of them and be completely sick of them ;)

Thank you so much for all the prayers and help that you all give! I hope you have a wonderful wonderful week!!! Read the scriptures, pray in your families, have fun together in your fam. (and eat some carrot cake for me if you find some...)

Love you!

Hermana Hill

Capilla Abierta, Transfers, and... Feliz Cumple Little Brother!!!!!!! (August 24, 2015)

Guten Tag America! 

First off, time to embarrass my bro Brendan on his 16th Birthday!!!! Happy Birthday dude!!! I hope you have a WONDERFUL week of school and that you celebrate AFUL (um, a lot) your birthday week!!!! I can´t believe you´re 16. DUDE. how the crap are you so big?! and taller than me now.... dangggg. In my mind you were just a chubby baby like 3 weeks ago! And now youre huge (no, that´s not a fat joke. You’re actually quite buff. haha) Love you duder! Happy Sweeet Sixteen! Dulce Diesiseis! 

This week, yes, was Transfers, and so that my parents don´t have to wait too long for the news- I´m staying here in Pueyrredón! I´m super stoked about that! I love it here with all my heart, and there is so much work to do!!!! My dear companion, Hermana Saunders, is going to Pigüe, a little town just outside of Bahía. Every other week she comes here for the reuinions, asi que, luckily she´s not going too far! It´s her last transfer... What a shame, I had hoped to ´kill` her myself. But instead, and to my utmost joy, I get to be companions with Hermana Taborda! We started our missions together! She´s amazing- currently she´s the sister training leader, so maybe I´ll get to travel a little with her on her assignments (haha we´ll see). She´s from Colombia, I´m really looking forward to serving with her! And I´m so grateful to be staying here in the lovely Pueyrredón- Im one of the only missionaries to stay in their area... our pres is changing the mission around A LOT!

We had a grand week, let me tell ya.  All of our work, all the focus was on the end of the week- A CHAPEL OPEN HOUSE! The members, together with us, invited every neighbor on their blocks, all their friends, and people in the streets. We cooked, cleaned and decorate the capilla for the grand day. It´s amazing how much excitement and joy that it brought to us! Working together and seeing the efforts of one another- it brought a level of friendship and brotherhood to the ward that we haven’t felt in a good while. What a blessing! Although no, the whole world didn´t show up to see inside, a few great neighbors and friends made it and had the grand tour! They enjoyed the opportunity to get to know us all better. People tend to think that we´re secretive and weird and scary... the church is always welcoming people to come in and get to know us, but it´s rare that they do. I absolutely LOVED watching the members introduce and invite and teach and share! Almost brought me to tears :) We really didn´t have to do anything! the members did it all :) Two young men got there with the help of the member in charge of Futból. They then went to the young men-young women baile (dance) with all the jovenes!!! YAY!!! And guess what?!?! With the help of the young men they went to church on Sunday! You should of seen them, all sitting together on the same bench- a row of awesome young men :) one of the boys (the non-members) is deaf, but reads lips. The other boys were patient and SO helpful, always helping and explaining and being super aware of him. One of the members is going to invite them to hear the missionary lessons and to investigate, then is going to call us- THIS IS A DREAM COME TRUE!!!!!!!!!! And another woman made it and is already great friends with most of the members! And another went with her little daughter and is going to start to go to the ward of Villa Cerrito! And a young man is going to assist the ward Hospital! So, not only did we get to help out our area with getting to know our neighbors, serving one another, enjoying the baking of one another... but we also got to help out other wards with their missionary work too! It was just a WONDERFUL week. 

Everyone is sad that Hna Saunders is leaving. She helped this ward SO much. Our Bishop cried! And his wife made us homemade spaghetti noodles with rich mushroom-tomato-pork and beef sauce. The relief society wrote cards. The young men made her a cake.  I just want you all to know that I´m in one the best wards on earth. 

I stand all amazed at the love that He gives to me! His power and glory and understanding are beyond my own (multiply that by infinity). :) I´M SO GRATEFUL and SO happy to be here in the mission, and invite you all to serve and love and smile- they’re the keys to happiness! 

Have a wonderful wonderful week!!!

Hermana Hill

Sierra de la Ventana, MIRACLES!!!

Hola Familia y amigos!!!

Sí, I´m writing this SUPER late, I know… We had a SUPER SUPER SUPER P-day!! WE went as a zone to a beautiful place called Sierra de la Ventana. A 6 hour hike- steep, rocky, windy, uncut. We had to go up with a guide! It was wonderful. I feel revived! Almost to the level of feeling like i just left the temple! It was beautiful, one of the only mountains in this area. It was quite the adventure! I have lots of amazing photos, but i´ll have to show them all to you after the mish, sorry, cause it´s too hard to send them all now a days! Dropbox is no longer authorized. But know this: IT WAS BEAUTIFUL!!! We felt like we were in Utah haha it was a hike harder than most of what I've been on there. I could go on and on and on. I´m so grateful for the beautiful creations of our father in heaven. He has given us so much! I feel extremely good. I hope that gives my mom a little comfort, seeing as I'm writing SUPER late today… like, it´s worth it okay? ;) (you´ll relieve me when i say it´s windy when you see my hair…. We were almost knocked over by it! It was awesome!!!)

This week, Luisa was a light- truly!!! Its been pretty rough recently finding people to sit down and have a lesson with, but you know what? IT´S OKAY!!! We were able to spend lots of time with Luisa this week. We got to help her clean and fix her house, we took her to the doctor, AND we had a family night! We taught her again that she can pray to know if these things we´re teaching her are true, and guess what she said?! “I already know that it´s true! I can feel it when I read the Book of Mormon and go to church! I pray to thank God for bringing this to me” …I feel like I don't even have to write anything more about that. It was an experience so beautiful!!!! She and her family are going through SO much, so we don't know exactly when she´ll be able to be baptized and come to church every week, but I pray with all my heart that God continues to bless her by her feeling close to Him.

I know that God is real and powerful. He has all in his hands- what do we have to worry about?! I feel at peace knowing that He knows each of us, and has a plan for every one of us- that doesn't take away our personal ability to choose, rather, it enhances it and His grace makes up the difference for every hard and unfair part of this life. On Tuesday this week we had zone conference, and with all these experiences and all that I've learned, my heart will be full for a very long time. And don't worry, I´ve written everything in my journal to get to feel this way again and again in the future. For those of you that are enjoying the beautiful weather up north, take a minute to go outside, just bask in the majesty of God´s creations, and let the peace that he gives enter your heart!! He´s got this!! Don´t worry!!! I realized that over and over again this week. “you cant find people to teach? Don't worry about it!” “You don't understand? Don't worry about it!” If it´s not okay, it´s not the end. Because with God, everything will be right at the close.

Love you all so much!!! I hope you have a WONDERFUL week!!!!

Hermana Hill

Ponder The Path of Thy Feet

Buen día de la bonita Ciudad Bahía Blanca! Where we recently have been washed and frozen- SO MUCH RAIN!!! I´m so grateful for my rain boots and coat and umbrella- they’ve held up even though I use them almost every day. 

This week has been SO great! On P-day last week we played Volleyball with the zone! With the help of a series of new rules, we can play sports now! Yay! AND we have the entire day of Thursday to do community service! We can also drink Coca-Cola- the elders are stoked. I´m super excited about the opportunity to do planned service projects! This week we cleaned the house of a little lady named Mercedes :) She never had children, and her husband died. Her brother lives with her, but never is home. We visit her a lot, and although we have done little jobs for her before, like ironing and the dishes, we had half a day to talk and run errands and deep clean. It was lots of fun!

This week it was a little hard to get investigators to church. Argentina is electing a new president, and voting is mandatory. The only day to vote- SUNDAY! Boo. But even with all that, our great friend Andrea and her son Jeremias made it to church! They haven’t been able to go to church and haven’t wanted to go to church for quite a while now, especially with the health and behavior of little Jere. Andrea sometimes is a little embarrassed with him in church, but she doesn’t need to be!!! He brings so much joy to all of us. Especially because we played toss the balloon together in Relief Society ;) For those of you that don’t remember, Jere has Down syndrome, and is a little light to the universe! I´m so grateful that the members of the ward could come together to help them get there without problem!

I just want to say, PLEASE invite and help others to church. There are people that want to go and are just too embarrassed to ask for help! I learned this week how important it is to know everyone in the ward, and to greet them all. And it´s even MORE important to greet the people that are visiting. Not just because saying hello and getting to know someone is a great thing to do, but because usually, we have NO IDEA how hard it really is for them to get there. And when nobody even says hi... dang. It doesn’t matter how you look, how they look, how they smell, whatever. Be sure to say hello to the missionaries and let them introduce you to the investigators. Just get to know them! They´re terrified and know that the missionaries aren’t going to be there forever, just the people of the church. They go with big expectations, and with lots of questions. "If this is the true church, it better feel like the true church. Where nobody judges you and you have friends" That’s what an investigator told us this week- haha yep so there you have it! You have no idea how hard it is to get people to go to church for their first times.... oh my gosh... haha I had no idea before really how difficult it can be. So smile at everyone! In the street, in church, at school! everyone needs friends in this world!! Especially good friends with standards high that will help them choose the right. End rant.

This week my companion shared another great talk with me from President Monson called in Spanish "Examinar la senda de sus pies". https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/10/ponder-the-path-of-thy-feet?lang=eng

Where do you want to go, and what are you doing to get there? The world is filled with a ton of options, and some are sneaky and aren’t going to help you at all. Thinking about this and where I’m at right now really helped me this week. Acting how I am, will I be able to be the kind of missionary that I want to be tomorrow? At the end of my mission? After my mission what will I say about today? I can´t wait for the mission to change me, I have to change myself for the mission. It all can start TODAY! I love the mission so much- I'm going to make the most of it :)

Love you all tons and tons!!!! Have a wonderful week!!! (...sorry this was so long... more time to write = more rambling... I´ll work on doing a quality check from now on...)

Ciao!!! Besos!

Hermana Hill