This was a very special week.

April 4, 2016

Hello family!

This was a very special week. One, for general conference, and two, because the R family got baptized.

The whole week we were preparing for general conference and the baptism. There´s a little cultural difference here in El Salvador. For general conference we always see it in the church. No one sees it in their house. Last Sunday the branch president had announced that we were going to see it in the stake center (Apopa), about a 45 minute bus ride away. But we knew that if we went over there neither the members nor the investigators would go. And also we knew that possibly Yand E (the R family) would be baptized on Saturday, and if we were in Apopa that would make it very difficult.

So we proposed to President R that we should watch general conference here in Aguilares. The problem was that he was going to be working on Saturday so we offered to put everything together. So we spend the whole week looking for someone who could lend us a laptop, extension chords, etc. We also had to let all the members know that we were going to see it in Aguilares now.

At the beginning of the week, it wasn´t completely sure that the R family would be able to be baptized because Y and E didn´t have much family support and because we hadn´t been able to find them for about a week. But we proceeded with faith. On Thursday we arrived to do their baptism interview. They passed the interviews, but there was one problem. Yanira didn´t think that her husband would give them permission to be baptized. He is almost always working and doesn´t get home until late. They live far away and buses only run until 6 o-clock. But we decided to wait. It was long after dark when he arrived. But we were able to talk to him and he give them his permission. We called an investigator with a car and he gave us a ride.

Saturday we had to get up really early. We were in the chapel from 7 in the morning until 8:00 at night. The baptism font here is not a normal font. There is some assembly required. And we also had to set up for general conference.

But everything worked out. They got baptized after the afternoon session on Saturday. It was a very special day.

General conference was great. The members were amazing. We had 11 investigators in the conference and the members brought 10 of them. I´ve never had that many in church before. Members truly are powerful missionaries.

I love you all!

Elder Hilton

This time I had a participation in the temple activity. I was angel Moroni.

March 28, 2016

Hello family! 

We keep trying to talk to everyone, but it´s way too easy to lose that habit. This week we only talked to 66 people. The really interesting thing is that I could feel a big difference. On the days where we talked to less than 10 people, I felt really tired and stressed. But if we talked to 10 or more people, I felt stress free, happy, and energetic. This didn´t happen to me at the beginning of the mission, but in a way it´s a blessing because it motivates me to do better.

This week we went to the temple with our investigators. Unfortunately we weren´t able to enter to do a session but hopefully this week we´ll be able to.

This time I had a participation in the temple activity. I was angel Moroni. I attached a picture of me with Nephi and with the M family from la Nueva.

You can probably tell this from my letters, but I never did fall in love with any other area like I did with La Nueva.

I love you all!

Elder Hilton

March 21, 2016

Hello family!

All is well. After I wrote last week I realized that I had forgotten to tell you whether or not we had changes. We did not. I was Elder P´s first companion and he will be my last.

Ca still hasn´t gotten baptized. Her mom is not sure if she´s old enough. But we´ll see what we can to do help her.

Last week I was feeling tired all the time. Really, really tired. But this week we did something different. We decided that we were going to talk to EVERYONE. That we were going to share the gospel with everyone we saw. And we did it. We talked to 100 people in the street this week. And it made such a difference. In every moment I felt full of energy and the spirit. I felt like a completely different person. My companion and the members were amazed by the change.

Originally I had set the goal to talk to 300 people this change. But think I have to bring that goal up now.

I have come to know that the promise found in DyC 84:33 is real.

"For whoso is faithful unto the obtaining these two priesthoods of which I have spoken, and the magnifying their calling, are sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewing of their bodies"

The spirit renewed my body this week. I worked harder to magnify my calling and God gave me energy.

I love you all. Keep working hard. Magnify your callings and God will bless and strengthen you.

Elder Hilton

4. We´re going to go to the temple this month!

March 14, 2016

Hello family,

Sorry, today´s letter is going to be short again.

1. I love you all. A lot.

2 Fun story of the week: We were looking at the lists of members we have. There´s one very interesting list called non baptized members. I imagine that the people on that list are people that received a name and blessing as babies but never got baptized when they got old. Here´s the interesting part: on that list was the branch president´s daughter, who´s leaving for the mission in a week. That obviously threw us off a bit.  We jokingly thought, "Yes, new investigator! Let´s baptize her tomorrow!" We were so intrigued by that list that we went to the church and checked MLS: Now her record appears. She´s no longer on that list. Who knows why she as on it in the first place. We also thought of her arriving to the mission and having people ask her "When did you get baptized?" "Last week." or worse arriving to the mission without being baptized. It would be cool to baptize your companion though.

3. The daughter of one of the recent converts, C, possibly will get baptized next week.

4. We´re going to go to the temple this month!

Love,

Elder Hilton

We had a really great week.

February 22, 2016

Hello family! 

We had a really great week. We have some really good investigators. Almost all of the really good investigators are referrals from members.

There`s a recent convert called A. A has been bringing his family to church recently. His wife, daughter, and 2 sister in laws. None of them are members, but they`re all interested in the church and have gone several times.

J. He´s the nephew of our mission leader R. J is only 11. He´s been begging us to bring him to church for a long time now. The problem is that his parents are kind of against the church, but we finally listened to J, got the permission of his mom and grandma (the people who raise him) and brought him with us. He went to church for the first time yesterday and loved it.

The H family. They´re still doing fine. They still all come to church.

The P family is not doing well. They´ve stopped coming to church. We going to stop visiting them for a while.

I love you guys so much! Thanks for all your support! Live the gospel. Read the Book of Mormon. Be missionaries. Oh, and keep going to the temple.

Elder Hilton

When we are diligent in seeking revelation for our area, we see miracles and our area progresses.

March 7, 2016

Hello family!

Changes are this week. They haven´t let us know who has changes yet though. For the moment, I am still with Elder P but that could change next week.

This week I learned something about revelation. Alma 37:40-42. I feel like those verses very much apply to missionary work. The Liahona for us is revelation. When we are diligent in seeking revelation for our area, we see miracles and our area progresses. But if we fall into routines and are slothful in seeking revelation those miracles cease, the progress halts, and we spend a lot of time wandering in the wilderness, not traveling a direct course and being afflicted with hunger and thirst. Joseph Smith said, "Es en vano que alguien trate de ministrar sin revelacion". I don´t have that quote in English, sorry. And this principle, revelation, applies to everything. Family, callings, study, work, etc.

I love you all!

Elder Hilton

Thinking of these thinks made me think of my family. Because these things were always present in our home.

February 29, 2016

Hello family!

Training a missionary lasts for twelve weeks and today Elder P finishes his training. He´s made a lot a progress. He´s going to be a great missionary.

We had a good week. One of the families that we are teaching the the R family. They recently moved here. Before they lived in San Salvador but where they lived was kind of dangerous so they derided to move here. They live pretty close to a family of members and one day, Y, the mom of the new family was talking to them and told them that they were looking for a church. The members invited her to church and asked her is if they would like that we visit them. She said yes so we started to visit them a few weeks ago. They came to church for the first time yesterday.

Today in my personal study I was studying in the guide to the scriptures and I came upon something that called my attencion. The word worship. It means to love and reverence God. I thought of the different ways we can do that. There are many.

1. Prayer

2. Fasting

3. Church service.

4. Ordinances

5. Obedience

6. Scripture study

7. General conference

8. Family home evening

9. Temple attendance

10. Hymns

11. Family history

Those are just a few things. I´m sure there´s lots more. Thinking of these thinks made me think of my family. Because these things were always present in our home. I have no doubt that my parents love God. I´m very greatful for having such a great family.

I love you all!

Elder Hilton

Almost all of the really good investigators are referrals from members.

March 22, 2016

Hello family! 

We had a really great week. We have some really good investigators. Almost all of the really good investigators are referrals from members.

There`s a recent convert called A. A has been bringing his family to church recently. His wife, daughter, and 2 sister in laws. None of them are members, but they`re all interested in the church and have gone several times.

J. He´s the nephew of our mission leader R. J is only 11. He´s been begging us to bring him to church for a long time now. The problem is that his parents are kind of against the church, but we finally listened to Jefferson, got the permision of his mom and grandma (the people who raise him) and brought him with us. He went to church for the first time yesterday and loved it.

The H family. They´re still doing fine. They still all come to church.

The P family is not doing well. They´ve stopped coming to church. We going to stop visiting them for a while.

I love you guys so much! Thanks for all your support! Live the gospel. Read the Book of Mormon. Be missionaries. Oh, and keep going to the temple.

Elder Hilton

This week Elder Duncan from the area presidency visited our mission. It was really cool.

February 15, 2016

Hello family! 

Sorry I don´t really have much time to write a family letter this week.

1. Know that we doing well.

2. Know that I love you.

3. This week Elder Duncan from the area presidency visited our mission. It was really cool. We learned a lot. We had a meeting as all of the mission and then he had a meeting with the leaders of the mission (assistants, secreataries, and zone leaders). I was invited because no one else could play the piano. It was really cool.

I love you all!

Elder Hilton

Now I´m the district leaders of Aguilares and....Nueva Concepcion!!!!

Hello family!

Well, something really cool happened this week. Before there were two sets of missionaries here in Aguilares. I was the district leader. But they closed the area last week due to some safety issues they had been having. So they changed the district. Now I´m the district leaders of Aguilares and....Nueva Concepcion!!!! District leaders in order to train the other missionaries do interchanges with the other companionships. So this week I got to spend a day in Nueva Concepcion. It was amazing. And it won´t be the last time I go.

I went to go work with one of the missionaries that´s there right now, and his companion worked here in Aguilares with Elder P. They basically hadn´t planned the day so that I could show them the area. I introduced them to a whole bunch of less active members they didn´t know and former investigators.

We also had a branch presidency meeting. President M and Hermano T were there. Also Hermano F the Elders quorum president was there. I never thought that I would have the opportunity to be in a branch presidency meeting in Nueva Concepcion again. But I did. And oh am I happy. We talked about the progress of R Ma. R and his family are close to completing a year of being members. We talked about his preparation for the Melquizidec Priesthood and their preparation to enter the temple.

After the Presidency meeting, we did divisions. I went with President M and F. Elder M went with Hermano T. They visited two less active families. We visited R, L and N, and the M family (R and I, M, etc.). R was one of my investigadors that got baptized after I left. L and N aren´t doing so well. They only go to church every now and then. But the branch hasn´t forgoten about them and are still trying to help them. R is doing great. In the lesson with R, I was just thinking of what a blessing it was. To be able to be with my convert, about a year after his baptism, with both the branch President and the Elders quorum president, talking about how he can prepare for the priesthood and temple ordinances. Meetings like that just don´t happen. I feel so blessed. I hope to be there when he recieves the Melchiqudec priesthood. 

We also saw M (M). He´s still active. He cried when he saw me.

I love you all. So much.

Questions/answers:

How do you feel about not having change meetings?  It doesn´t really change much for me. If I were a secretary still it would because not having a change meeting creates all kinds of logistical problems I would have to solve. 

How will you get packages? I have no idea. That´s one of those logistical problems. But don´t worry. Elder N is smart. He´ll figure it out.

Is Elder P still with you? Yes.

Do you still think you will be coming home on April 21? Yes.

Adios!

Elder Hilton  

One of our investigators got baptized.

Hello family!

This was a good week. 

1. One of our investigators, W, got baptized. Attached is a picture. I wrote about her family when I first got here: the H family, but I forgot to keep you guys updated.

2. We were able to find a lot of new investigators. I wrote to President V about it and I want to share it with you guys too but I don´t have enough time left to translate what I wrote. So Dad, if you could help me out here, that be great. 

Quisiera compartir algo que aprendí esta semana. Elder Cook nos pidió que enseñáramos mas. Que aumentemos el número de lecciones que tenemos. Aunque nuestro propósito no es simplemente enseñar, enseñar nos permite cumplir nuestro propósito. Hay poder en la enseñanza. Entre mas frecuentemente visitemos a nuestros investigadores, mas rápido será su progreso. Eso es porque ellos no tienen el don del espíritu santo. Nosotros sí. Nosotros llevamos el espíritu a su hogar. Si pasa una semana sin que les visitemos oque guarden sus compromisos, pasa una semana sin que sientan la influencia del espíritu y no hay progreso, porque el espíritu es el que convierte.

Entonces, si queremos que nuestra área progrese, tenemos que para 100% de nuestro tiempo enseñando por el espíritu. Hay un relato en Predicad Mi Evangelio página 163 donde habla acerca de pescadores. Unos pescadores están ausentes de casa por 12 horas y tienen el sedal de la caña de pescar en el agua 10. Otros están ausentes de casa por 12 pero solo tienen el sedal de la caña en el agua 2 horas. Esos últimos no tienen el mismo éxito. El tiempo que pasamos enseñando es el tiempo que pasamos con el sedal de la caña de pescar en el agua. Si pasamos todo nuestro tiempo a fuera de la casa sin enseñar, de nada nos sirve. Y además, si no enseñamos, nos cansamos y nos desanimamos tan rápido. Pero si enseñamos por el espíritu, no, porque:

1. El espíritu renueva nuestros cuerpos porque magnificamos nuestros llamamientos (DyC 84:33)
2. Obtenemos la bendición que se describe en DyC 50:22.

Esta semana nosotros nos pusimos la meta de no pasar más de 5 minutos sin enseñar. Llevaba mi cronómetro. Si pasaban más de 5 minutos sin enseñar, buscamos alguien con quien hablar. Eso nos permitió mantener el espíritu, ánimo, y encontrar nuevos. Vamos a seguir haciéndolo para que podamos encontrar a los escogidos.

The famila P came to church again! We kind of lost them for a few weeks but they´re really excited to keep learning again.

We´ve had to stop visiting R. He got scared of the Book of Mormon and now refuses to learn more.

I love you all! Thanks for everything!

Elder Hilton

Think of things you can do to share the gospel.

January 25, 2016

This week we received a lot of instruction. On Wednesday  there was a worldwide conference for missionaries. That was amazing. On Saturday Elder Cook came and visited us. That was good too.

Everything turned out well with the musical number The Day Dawn is Breaking. I enjoyed playing the piano.

Lately it´s been a little colder, especially in the mornings. I think that it barely reaches the mid 60s but I feel really cold. I´m already used to El Salvador heat.

On thing that I really enjoyed for the conference was a video they showed, https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2013-06-1031-ill-go-where-you-want-me-to-go?lang=eng. It´s about member missionary work. I honestly cried when I saw it. A common element in each one is that the members and the missionaries worked together. Before I came on the mission, I tried to share the gospel. I prayed for missionary opportunities, I gave away Book of Mormons, I invited my friends to church activities, etc, but I never invited my friends to listen to the missionaries. But now I realize that neither we, as missionaries,. can reach our full level of success with out the members nor can the members without us. We need to work together! Watch the video. And then think of things you can do to share the gospel.

I love you!

Elder Hilton 

We found a really prepared person, or rather he found us.

January 18, 2016

Hello family!

This week was a lot better. And we`ve got a really cool week ahead of us. Wednesday there will be a worldwide training for missionaries. And on Saturday Elder Cook with be talking with all the missionaries of El Salvador. Our mission was assigned to create a small choir for that event. I will be playing the piano. We will sing The Day Dawn is Breaking. I was able make a pretty cool arrangement for the piano.

Changes are the first week of February. We don´t know what will happen. It could be that one of us leaves or that we stay together. We don´t know.

We found a really prepared person, or rather he found us. His name is R. He came to church last week - alone. He talked to missionaries one time in the street two years ago and they invited him to church. He told them that "any moment" he would come and visit. Last week was that moment. He really liked church. He came again yesterday too. He doesn´t even drink coffee and almost everyone is addicted to that here. 

Thank you everything! I love you all!

I attached a picture from the christmas activity.

Elder Hilton

"Let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed."

Hello family!

I glad you guys saw that videos I sent you. President V and President L are great examples for me and I have learned a lot from them. 

This week was a tough week. Everyone in Aguilares is partying right now. They have been partying ever since Christmas. The parties officially end on the 15th. Until then...people that are partying don´t want to hear about God.

The P family didn´t go to church again. This week we had some trouble finding them.

This week I´m ponderizing a scripture that I recently found. It´s in Doctrine and Convenants 123:17. "Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed."

That scripture really helped me. Even though we had a hard week, we still are cheerful, because we are doing everything that lies in our power. Because we are doing everything we can, I have the utmost assurance that we will see the salvation of God and that his arm will be revealed.

I love you all!

Hymns truly are powerful.

January 4, 2016

Hello family!

I love you all! We are all doing well over here. I´m enjoying the mission. It´s almost more enjoyable now that at the beginning because at the the beginning I had to fight to leave my comfort zone but now my comfort zone has stretched I feel comfortable doing whatever I have to.

Elder P is a good companion. He´s adjusting well to the mission. He´s very humble, obedient, and diligent. I´ve been blessed with many good companions.

The P family continues to progress. They didn´t go to church yesterday though. They normally don´t have to work on Sundays but yesterday they did. We´ll see what we can do to help them with that.

When I saw the office elders at the Christmas activity they told me that President L tried invite me over for Christmas dinner. He called the office asking for me but then found out that I had already left so he invited them instead. It would have been great to go to that. I really do admire President L. I learned a lot from him. I´m glad I got the opportunity to get to know him. I also really admire Presidente V. He is a great mission president. I have also learned a lot from too. He has a Mormon message. You should watch it to meet him. President L also appears in a video called "Volver nuestro corazón: San Salvador, El Salvador." https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/work-of-salvation?lang=spa. Unfortunately you have to speak Spanish. 

When I was in Los Alpes we had a really cool lesson. There was a less active family, the M family. They had stopped going to church because they had gotten offended. They hadn´t gone to church for years. We had already visited them several times and nothing we did helped. So we decided to have a lesson where we just sang hymns, We sang:

Keep the Commandments

Truth Reflects Upon our Senses

Oh My Father

It was a powerful lesson. The next Sunday, they didn´t go. Then I had changes. But Elder B told me that the Sunday after I left, they went. They told him that the whole week they had been thinking about the hymns we sang. They decided that what the hymns said was true. See they came back. Hymns truly are powerful.

Well. that´s all for today.

I love you all!

Elder Hilton 

They have very strong desires to be baptized and to be obedient to all the commandments.

December 28, 2015

Hello family! It was great to talk to you last week.

We´re doing well. The P family keeps progressing. They have very strong desires to be baptized and to be obedient to all the commandments. For example, in church yesterday, one of the classes was about the Sabbath day. When visited them in the afternoon, they told us that how that had put that in practice. One thing they changed was that they didn´t buy anything and they didn´t turn on the TV. We hadn´t talked to them about the Sabbath day at all, they did that on their own.

Well, I pretty much told you everything on Friday. I´ll tell you more next week. I love you all!

Elder Hilton

But they now understand the way the gospel can bless their family so they are really excited to learn more.

Hello family!

Change of plans. I will now be skyping a 6:45 PM El Salvador time.

We found a new family of investigators: the P family, W and D. They were a referral from one of our investigators. They are really interested in the church. The actually had already been thinking about going to the church. They hadn´t gone just because they didn´t know anyone there. But now they have us and so they´re going. They are really interested because they´ve been having some family problems. But they now understand the way the gospel can bless their family so they are really excited to learn more.

I love you all! Talk to you on Friday!

Oh, and this time we will have a whole hour to talk.

Elder Hilton

The missionary life really is a good life.

Hello family!

1. New companion. Elder P. He´s from Guatemala. He´s very excited to start the mission. He´s very smart. I forgot to bring my camera today. Next week I´ll send pictures.

2. I got both packages! Thank you so much!

3. Stess level: very down.

4. Skype: I will call the 25 of December at 2 PM (El Salvador time). This will be my last phone call home.

5. Mom asked some hard questions this time. BYU: Well, I´m pretty sure that I want to go in the summer session. When does the summer session start? I don´t know if you guys knew this or not, but my release date is April 28. As for housing and classes...I don´t know. When does registering open for the summer session? It´s hard to think about that. My mind´s no longer geared to think about these type of things.

6. I love you all.

It´s great being with a new missionary. He´s full of energy and ideas. It´s just as if I were brand new too. But with more experience. The missionary life really is a good life.

Our area is doing well. Well had lots of investigators in church yesterday, among them the H family.

Elder Hilton