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