"Soy un hijo de Dios"

Dear family,

It's been a good week here. Time seems to be going really fast now.

First some answers to some questions.

1. Allergies/asthma: Not been a problem. It seems like should because there's some much greenery here, but it's not a problem at all.

2. Food: We pretty much just cook our food. We eat a lot of pancakes, eggs, cereal, and other easy quick stuff. When members feeds us it's usually some combination of eggs, beans, and tortillas.

3.Transportation: We usually walk everywhere. A few times a week we take a bus to one of the outlying parts of areas, but for the most part just walking.

4. Spare glasses: I haven't gotten them yet. It's on the to-do list though.

One thing Elder Andeasen and I are working on is improving our first visit with members. We decided that one don't want to do is just go straight into the restauración. We've seen that that's not so effective. What we've decided to do is find out their needs, and then teach to their needs, from the Book of Mormon. This gets the Book of Mormon in their hands right from the beginning, and also gives them a desire to read it. This seems to work better, but it's much harder. We're getting it down though. One thing that we're finding that helps is to start with a hymn. This sets the tone and invites the spirit. One that we've been singing a lot is "Soy un hijo de Dios," or I am a Child of God. This really seems to have a powerful effect on those we teach, especially on children. One time, we were teaching a man and his little boy. We sang them this song, and by the end of it, the boy was in his dad's lap and they were hugging each other. The spirit was there, and now we could teach.

 Earlier this week the branch president and his wife invited us to teach one of the missionary lessons to them. As we planning, we decided to teach the restauración. We wanted to apply it to them though. As we were thinking in what their needs might be, we received the impression that they needed to know that the Lord was pleased with their service and all that they are doing. And they're doing a lot. There are all lot of important callings unfilled right now, so all the extra work falls to them. So after we taught them the lesson, we just told them about the impression we received that morning. The hermana, Hermana Flores, just started to cry. She said she hoped that it was true, that the Lord was pleased with them. She said that in her patriarchal blessing it says that they will have many opportunities to serve, and that the Lord would be pleased with them as they fulfilled those opportunities. She said she's been feeling stressed lately, because they are doing so much. We testified of what we had already said; that the Lord was pleased with was they were doing. The spirit was so strong. It was was a really cool experience.

I love you guys! Thanks for your emails.

Elder Hilton

"Revelation is the Key"

Dear family,

 

I’ve really enjoyed my time here. I’m in San Vicente, El Salvador. It’s a really nice area. Outside of the city, it’s basically just jungle/mountains. It’s really hermoso. It’s pretty hot and humid, but as long as you drink lots of water you don’t notice.

 Our branch here is a nice little branch. I’ve met a lot of really good people here. There’s a lot work to do though.

 We got to meet our new president last Thursday. He’s really cool. One of the things he said that really inspired me and my companion was that we need to give our investigators a vision, a desire, to come unto Christ. That’s something that is hard to do. Here, almost anyone will be willing to listen to us. Some people will actually come to us and say, "Preach to me! It’s good to here the word of God." But it’s a very passive request. They just want to listen. They don’t want to do anything, Change is hard. So that’s what we’ve been working on this week.

 

We had one lesson where we got it. We were teaching two people, Patricia y Alcides. We had already taught about the restauracion, but we hadn’t talked about the Book of Mormon. We decided that instead of just presenting the Book of Mormon like normal, we tried to focus on how it can help them. So we asked them what about the purpose of life, and then we taught them doctrine from the Book of Mormon. The spirit was so strong in that lesson. When we asked them to read the Book of Mormon, Alcides said, "Me entrego completamente" or algo así, which means, "I give myself completely." They both committed to be baptized, and they both came to church yesterday. We’ve been talking about that lesson pretty much everyday sense then, trying to figure out what made it such a good lesson. We think that one of the keys is that we received revelation to know what they needed to know, and then taught them that from the Book of Mormon.

 

I am attaching some photos. One of me and my MTC companion, one of the view from our window in the MTC, one of the El Salvador temple that I took as we drove here, and one of me and my current companion.

Love you guys!

 

Elder Hilton

 

 

"Hello from El Salvador!"

Dear Family,

 

Hello from El Salvador!
 

So early Tuesday morning last week all the people in the CCM going to El Salvador got on a van and we drove to here. The drive here was a nice chance to see the country. The entry into El Salvador was by far the easiest entry I've experienced. All they did was look at our pass-ports. Easy.

 

We arrived in San Salvador late afternoon and a few hours with Presidente and Hermana Glazier. We stayed the night in the office missionaries apartment. Wednesday morning we went to the change meeting we were all assigned our trainers and Pres y Hna Glazier said their farewells. That was their last day as mission president. Our new President, Presidente Vasquez, arrived Thursday.
 

My new companion is Elder Andreason. Hes from California. I really like him. We going to work well together.  He's been in the mission for 16 months now. Our house is actually pretty nice. We cant drink the water because we'd get sick, but that's not much of a problem. They have water in little bags and that's what we drink.
 

El Salvador reminds me a lot of Korea. The way people drive, the way it smells, and the weather make me think of Korea. Its really hot and humid here. But because we don't have air conditioning, no one has air conditioning, you get used to it fast. I don't even notice it anymore. 

 

The way they talk here has been a bit of a challenge. With some people, I can understand casi todo, but other people speak with this crazy mumble where I cant understand a single word. Either way, my level of understanding is really disproportionate to my level of speaking. In our first lesson, I said almost nothing. Now, my companion and I are alternating doctrinal points, but he's still talking way more than me.
 

I wish I could say more, but I'm almost out of time. I love you guys! Ill try to send some pictures next week.

Elder Hilton

"Excited to get to work"

Hi Mom and Dad! I only have a minute to write you to tell you that I've arrived in El Salvador. I'm really excited to get to work, and I love you a lot!

Elder Hilton

 

 

 

We also got an email from his Mission President, President Glazier, with his mailing address and a few pictures:

 

Elder Alden Hilton

Misión El Salvador San Salvador Este

PO Box # 3362

San Salvador, El Salvador

Central America

 

 

 



 

His preparation day will be on Mondays. We are excited to hear from Elder Hilton again soon!

"The best part - giving away a copy of the Book of Mormon"

Dear family,

 

     Another good week here at the CCM has gone by. This is our last week here. Next time I write, I will be in El Salvador. I'm really excited to go. I'm not sure when the next time I write will be. It's possible that I might not write next week and have to wait for the next P-day.

    

     Our trip into Guatemala last week was great. The best part - giving away a copy of the Book of Mormon. After going to the market, they took us to a big courtyard and just set us loose. Elder Beecher and I were really excited/nervous and ended up wasting some time just standing there figuring out who to talk to. Finally we ended up talking to someone named Kevin. He was so nice, and he accepted a Book of Mormon, committed to read it and pray about it, and gave us his phone number. It was so cool. For the rest of the day we kept thinking about him and praying for him.

 

     This morning was our last trip to the temple. In all, we got 83 names done. I'm so grateful that we had the opportunity to go to the temple so much. It really has been a blessing.

 

     During our lessons this past week, we started to use the Plan of Salvation thing that Aimee made for me. It really helps, and all the other missionaries wish they had something like it. Thanks Aimee!

 

     Love you all!

 

Elder Hilton

 

 

"Another good week at the CCM"

Dear family,

    It's been another good week at the CCM. I've learned at lot. I can now pretty much understand Español - as long as it's about the Gospel. Anything else, I can barely understand. On Tuesday we had a devotional where one of the mission presidents in Guatemala came and talked to the CCM. I really enjoyed that. And I was able to understand him, without even thinking about it. It's kind of mind-boggling to think about. I still struggle speaking in Spanish though.

     I'm writing today because tomorrow we're going out into Guatemala tomorrow. We're getting a little tour of the city, a little shopping, and we're hoping to get a chance to place some copies of The Book of Mormon. They used to provide regular opportunities for that, but they had problems with missionaries just getting some fast food instead of working. But we specifically asked if we could, and they said we could.

     Tomorrow the majority of the missionaries leave. The Latinos only stay for 2 weeks, so we've already had 2 groups of them come and go. The new group arriving Wednesday will be our third and final group. Everyone is getting impacient and just wants to get out of the CCM. They say it feels like a prison. That's why there's so much excitement for our venture into Guatemala tomorrow. That's not exactly the way I feel. I really don't mind just sitting around studying all day without going more that 100 feet from the same building. But I do want to go. I just want to get to work. Our president always talks about work, work, work, and makes us excited for it, but we're here. I'm working on putting that excitement to work into studying.

     It's cool have such a small group of missionaries here. We're about to get to know the presidente much better. Every Sunday evening, he has all the nortes (under 30 right now) in his apartment for a family-home-evening type thing. That's really cool. We're not going to be able to do that much longer though, because the ratio of nortes to Latinos is going to completely switch soon, because the nortes are just getting out of school, and schools starting back up for the Latinos.

     In other news, I've figured out how to make paragraphs! I just have to hit the 'Save Draft' button, and it will start a new line.

     I love you guys!

Elder Hilton

"Instant Brotherhood"

Hi guys! So I'm beginning to get more used to the routine here.
Everything seems much more normal now. Just lots of practice and learning. We're getting much better at teaching. One thing my companion and I are learning is how to teach together. I tend to dominate the lessons, which I really did not expect to happen because I tend to not talk much, and he's really outgoing. But we're getting better, and you can really feel the spirit in the lessons. The rededication was really good. I directed the music for the opening song, I Know My Redeemer Lives. I was glad I got to do that, because it was being broadcast throughout central America and I from what I have seen so far, no one else here knows how to conduct. Our song, The Olive Tree, went well too. Oh, and speaking of singing, in one of the new groups of nortes (as in people from the US) there were two guys from BYU Men's Chorus. I didn't really know them, but I recognized them and it was like instant brotherhood. I love going to the temple here. We've done the work for a total of 42 people so far. And any time someone mentions the temple or family history I always feel the spirit. I love you guys! Elder Hilton