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

What Month Is It?!?

Buenos Días mis Queridos Locos!

Weekly weather update: The trees are in bloom... um, what?! Yes. Yes they really are! We´ve had a few days of uncanny heat, and it´s been WONDERFUL! we left the house without tights!! A miracle. But today, it´s back to winter :) Argentina doesn’t know what it wants. 

HAPPPPPYYYY BIRTTTHHDDAAAYYY JOEY BROTHER!!!!!! Que los cumplas muy feliz!!! I saw some pics of you at your scout camp and died laughing and crying because I miss you and love you. Keep eating blue things- it complements your face ;) Love you dweebster! But really- can I say again that i love you?

And now... for the moment you´ve all been waiting for... how are the people of Pueyrredón? Well, after a week of playing Hide and Seek with our investigators (they´re master hiders. like seriously. They’re winning. and we don’t really want to play anymore...), we FINALLY found Jenifer!!!! She had a horrible week. Her phone broke, her baby got sick, her uncle died out of the blue. We found her miraculously on Friday, when 2 women were outside the apartment building and we could sneak in to knock her door (there are no doorbells in her apartment). (She told us that next time we can throw pebbles at her window btw haha). She invited us in and we talked. We taught her lots about the plan of salvation, and with her questions she found out what she needed to know and was able to find peace. She then told us- "I finished the questions the other day! But I couldn´t do one of them because i dint have a bible" SHE DIDNT JUST READ THE PAMFLET, SHE DID THE ADDTIONAL STUDY IN THE BACK. And her answers were beautiful. We explained baptism, she asked "What do I have to do to be baptized?" and she came to the church on Sunday with her baby boy all bundled up. (Seriously he´s so fat I love it!!!). She loved the church! And today she´s going to go to institute with a friend she found at church!! I´m so happy for her and I pray with all my heart that she can continue in her path to find God´s will for her. She really wants to know, and i know that God will bless her for that. She faced so much recently, but she´s conquering satin in every step she takes. She related to us that she´s grateful that she met us, so that she could have the comfort of knowing God is with her in these hard times. So many people see these problems that they get after talking to us as a sign that they shouldn’t talk to us, but she chose to see it the other way. She said she felt something strong and bad when she first started looking at the questions, and that her mind felt fuzzy and unable to think, but she used all her strength to pray, and a peace came to her mind and heart. She is such an example to me!!!! 

(There´s a political march outside right now... rights for women I think. Don’t worry, they’re peaceful, there’s just a lot of drums and soccer-fan trumpet things.) 

Speaking of what month it is, I LOVE THE MISSION!!!! ...and I´m going to enjoy it with all my heart! The time really does fly.

This week, my dear companion shared with me a talk by Elder Holland and her thoughts about it. In the talk, Elder Holland describes the moment of the Atoning sacrifice of our Savior in Gethsemane. Christ only asked of his apostles: "tarry ye here, and watch with me" (Matt 26: 36-46)- to abide with him in this moment most difficult. They slept through it, 3 times. The sacrament is our chance to abide with the savior in special reverence of his sacrifice. The savior often made reference to his sacrifice, but it was done in only one instance, not every day. We too must often remember his sacrifice, but there is only one special opportunity that we are given to abide with him- i hope we make the most of the time we are given to go to church! to take of the sacrament. It´s SO SO SO important- and so often it is forgotten and underestimated. It kills me when people forget the importance of working in the church, and I’m destroyed when people forget or don’t recognize their need of the sacrament- remember 2 Nephi 31:19-21. We ALL have an important work to do in this life! YOUR INFLUENCE MATTERS.  And Service matters, for your salvation and that of others. Examine your lives for more ways to abide with the Savior. Do service, read the scriptures, pray! Moroni 7:48

I love you all so so much!!! Have a wonderful week!!!!!! Abrazos!!!

Hermana Hill