Chikungunya and "I finished reading The Book of Mormon in Spanish!"

September 2, 2014

Dear family, 

This week was...different. Basically,  we didn't get to work at all. Elder B has some back problems, and lately it's been hurting him a lot. So at the beginning of the week, he called the President and he told us not to work until he called back. He called back Wednesday and told us that we had a doctor's appointment the next day. The doctor did some examines and gave him some medicine and that was that. But leading up to that appointment I started feeling really sick. So while we were there I took advantage of the opportunity and told the doctor how I was feeling. They did some blood tests, and I have a virus called chin-chin-cunya, or something like that. It's disease spread by mosquitoes, like unto malaria, but apparently worse. To me it seems to be a combination of malaria and chicken pox, but I'm not sure, because I've never had either. But I'm already getting better. I was bed-bound for three days, but I'm already up and about again, which is a much faster recovery than normal. 

But apart from that, I finished reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish! That's something I've been working on for a while, but just haven't had time. But we had plenty of time this week. Now I'm reading it again, but looking up every work that I don't know, and analyzing the grammer in depth and researching everything that I don't understand. I think this will help a lot.

Well, some questions/anwers. Are people nice during street contacts - yes. Too nice. We end up`with tons of references that don't result in anything. It would be easier if they were just honest. But still nice. Temple attendance - right now, we go to the temple every 6 months, but Pdte Vasquez is thinking of having attend more often. Exercize - I do push-up and curl-ups every morning, but apart from that, not really.

I love you guys! Try not to worry too much for me, I'm doing all right. And thanks for your support.

Elder Hilton

"You can accomplish whatever you focus on."

August 26, 2014

Dear family,

So. I got your package this week! It was like Christmas. Thanks for everything you sent me. It was a very special Christmas.

Question/Answers: Tracting - We don't tract, at least in the sense of going door to door. Our main source of investigators is talking to people in the street. Service - We don't have any regular opportunities to offer service, but we always ask people if there's anything we can do to help them, and we get a few service oportunities that way every now and then. Onions - I eat whatever I'm given. And for the "nagging mom's question" about spare glasses, I only have a somewhat sheepish son's responce: not yet. But I'll do something about that. Today.

Recently, we've been focusing on getting investigators to Sacrament Meeting. And it's been working. Already we've had more investigators in church this change than the last one. I guess the moral of the story is that you can accomplish whatever you focus on. But the problem is that you can't focus on everything, just one thing at a time.

I feel like I've made a lot of progress with Spanish this week. Speaking Spanish more than English will do that. I really do enjoy Spanish. I wish I had more time to study it.

This week we had a multi-zone conference with Elder Ochoa, the first counciler of the area precidency. I learned a lot. About faith. I think that's really cool. Even in a big conference of missionaries, we talk about faith. We have a family of recent converts who wants to know everything and search for deep doctrine that really just hasn't been revieled. But we always need to remember the basics.

I love you guys! Thanks for your support!

Elder Hilton

"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

"People are out there, we just need to have the faith to find them"

Dear family,

This week I've felt a lot in common with Aaron when the Lamanite king asked him where Ammon was and he said, "Behold, the Spirit of the Lord has called him another way." I haven't actually said that to anyone, but I do have a new companion. His name is Elder Bustillo. He's from Honduras. Elder Andreasen is now a zone leader in Ilopango. Elder Bustillo doesn't speak English, but that's what I wanted. My first few days with him felt like a weird dream where everyone was speaking Spanish. Including me, somehow. My Spanish has drastically improved. I've still got a ton of work ahead of me, but for now I'd describe my Spanish ability as adequate - for now. I can function as a missionary with what I have. But I want to master Spanish, every little aspect of it. I want it to be just as easy, if not more, to talk in Spanish than English. I guess I need to remember that I've only been here a few months, but that's where I want to be someday.

Men's chorus! Thanks for sending the mp3 of Nearer My God to Thee. I really enjoyed listening to it. I'm sure I'll enjoy watching it too when that time comes.

So a while ago I told you guys about Patricia and Alcides. They came to church about a month ago but then we lost track of them for a while. We visited them a few days ago and learned about their experience in the church. It was a fast and testimony meeting. Alcides told us that he was really touched by all the testimonies and that he really felt the spirit of them. He also said that he had the desire to go up and share his testimony too, but he wasn't sure if he was allowed to because it was only his first time at church, so he didn't. When I heard that, I was amazed. It was really a testimony to me that God has prepared people to receive us. Not everyone is like them, but people like them are out there, we just need to have the faith to find them.

I love you all!

Elder Hilton

 

Note from Aimee: this is the song that Alden is talking about, Nearer My God to Thee by Vocal Point, featuring BYU Men's Chorus.

"Through Him, all things are possible"

Dear family,

This week was a good one. I attached some pictures this time. One with us and the family of the branch president. As it so happens, the branch president isn't actually in the picture, but oh well. I also attached some pictures from the bus ride from when we just got to the country.

Q/A: Laundry - we give our clothes to a member who washes them for us, unless we're out and can't wait, in which case we wash them by hand. Shoe problems - not really. I haven't had any blisters. Emails - to email, we all go down to the family history center in the district center. The printer doesn't work.

 Well changes are coming up. We should find out tomorrow what's happening. It's highly likely that I'll get a new companion. We had an investigator who needed a baptism interview with the president, and as he left, Elder Andreasen said, "Maybe we'll see you at the changes meeting" and Pdte Vasquez said "Es muy probable que sí!" (It's very probable. It sounds better in Spanish) and then just walked off.

So the BYU Mens Chorus/Vocal Point video is coming out! I can't see it, even though it's a hymn, but I can listen to an mp3.
 

Well I've gotten much better at Spanish and missionary stuff in general. My challenge is confidence. When I'm confident, I can do it. But other times, I struggle more. But I know that God is helping me. And I know that through Him, all things are possible. I just need to be pacient and keep going.

I love you guys! Thanks for all your emails.

Elder Hilton

 

"In the end, an instrument that's not in the hands of a master is no good"

Dear family,

This week was a good one. I probably say that every week, but it´s true.

Questions/answers: Am I taking malaria medicine? - No. I'm pretty sure that's not a problem here. Do I sleep on a hammock or bed? - Bed. We do see lots of hammocks here though, especially in the poorer areas. Is it rain season? - Technically yes, but it hasn't rained much. Do I miss piano? - No, not too much. There's not really time to think about that.

Well, this week we really learned the importance of prayer. We've been working so hard, but haven't had much to show for it lately. But we could feel the confirmation of the spririt, and we knew that our efforts were acceptable to the Lord. When ever we leave a lesson, we always ask, what went well and what didn't go well. We study and practice and strive to improve things that we identify as ineffective. We've gotten so, so much better but still didn't have anything to show for it. But this week, we realized something. Our prayers have not been that meaningful. They've been fairly repetitious and we've haven't been asking for specific blessings. So then we thought, "Maybe we just need to ask." So that's what we've been doing. I studied what Preach My Gospel saws in chapter 4 about praying in faith and what a missionary's prayer should be like. I also studied the Book of Mormon and saw how missionaries like Alma prayed. So we've been really striving to make our prayers more meaningful, faithful, and personal. And we've really seen a difference. We found more new investigators this week than we have found the entire time I've been here. The Lord truly showered blessings upon us this week.

I really can tell now who is really doing this work. Any success we have, the Lord gives us. That being said, we still need to be doing the other things, like studying, improving our teaching skills, and working as hard as we can, but we need to remember that this is the Lord's work, and that he is the one that performs that work. I think of how the sons of Mosiah say that they had been made instruments in the hands of God. I really like to think about it that way. I need to strive to be the very best instrument I can by, but in the end, an instrument that's not in the hands of a master is no good.

I love you guys!

Elder HIlton

"The gift of tongues is real"

Dear family,

Thanks for all your letters. I really enjoy reading them.

Some more answers to questions. Stomach problems - none. Blisters - none. Heat/humidity - yes and yes. But when you drink enough water you don't really notice it. We drink about 5 liters of water a day. That usually does the trick. Weird bugs - none that I've seen. We do have a mosquito problem, but we sleep with mosquito nets and they don't get to us.

Yesterday was the district conference. That was a was pretty cool. President Vasquez has the goal of forming a stake here. There's a lot of work that needs to be done though. And not just the missionaries. The branches and the missionaries need to work together, and that's something we're struggling with currently.

We had a really cool lesson this week with someone named Juan Carlos. He's been struggling to read the Book of Mormon and pray. So as we planned the lesson we decided that we needed to talk about faith, and that was about the extent of our plan. As we taught, we could really feel the power of God guiding us. We knew exactly what to say, and I was able to speak freely. That's my struggle right now. It was so cool. When we left the lesson, he know exactly what he needed to and why he needed to do it.

When the spirit is as strong as it was then, I have no problem speaking at all. Right now I'm at the point where I can understand pretty much everything without even thinking about it, so when Elder Andreasen and I are talking to people I feel like I should be able to participate in the conversation but I find myself without anything to say. It's a little bit frustrating but I really just need to be patient and keep trying. I know the gift of tongues is real. There's no way I could be at the point that I'm at now without His help.

Love you guys!

Elder Hilton