"Be still, and know that I am God"

August 19, 2014

Dear family,

The weeks are going by fast. Like really really fast. We're already almost halfway through this change.

This week's questions/answers: How many missionaries in our apartment - just Elder B and I. Last week's picture was taken in the district center, not our apartment. What's the branch like - we have an attendance of about 90 people. It's a good branch. There's a lot of really good people here, really strong members. But it is still just a branch, and they're still trying hard to find more people to fill all the leadership positions. There are two sets of misionaries in it.

More about Elder B. He's a good guy. We work well together. He's willing to work hard, and we're are both learing together. That's the way it needs to be.

So I'm discovering that I want to be the best missionary I can be - now. It's not a bad thing to desire per say, and it really does motivate you to work hard. But you also need to have pacience. There's a scripture that really helped me, that says, "Be still, and know that I am God." (Pslams 46:10). I really like this scripture. So now, I'm still working as hard as I can, and striving to be the best missionary I can be, but I'm also "still." It's hard to describe exactly that means. It's like an inward peace, a knowledge that, yes, we need to work as hard as we can, but God is always there for us, and that this is his work and his glory, and knows how to do his work. And so it's all ok somehow.

P and A continue to progress. Last Friday we comited them to live the word of wisdom, and honestly, I have rarely seen people as happy as they were when commited to live it. They were practicaly overflowing with joy. We always feel really uplifted after the lessons with them. I guess it should be the other way around, but you really can't uplift others without being uplifted yourself.

Thanks for your letters, you're all in my prayers, and I love you all.

Elder Hilton