Dear Mum,(as my new collegue would say)
I'm doing great. The new area is awesome and my new collegue is so cool. His name is Elder West and he is from Chelmsford, Essex, England. He broke his hand jumping off a wall and his foot got caught. He said it's a blessing that he didn't break his back, just his hand. He played rugby before so he is a brut. It's really good I am with him because he makes me work out. He can't do much with his broken arm so he just tells me what to do. It kindof reminds me of Uncle Burke's prom video where Uncle Matt is punching him in the stomach every time he does a sit up. I will send a package around Christmas time and there will be pictures on there of all my collegues.
Capesterre is really beautiful. There's practically no tourists here so I guess you could say it's the true Guadeloupe here, and it rocks! There's tons of banana tree farms and mountains on this side of the island. There is a huge waterfall in the mountains that you can see from down in the city.
We have a baptismal date that we set last week with a young single mom named Auldrey who has five kids. Her life is so rough but her and her kids love the church and we get to help her out a lot. Today we are going to bring some rice and lentils from our food storage to her. Yesterday the gas for her stove ran out so they couldn't cook anything, it's so sad. But, she came to church for the first time last week and I think she loved it. She has a baby named Noah and there's another member in the branch with an infant as well so all the ladies were talking to them and saying 'mignon!'
Halloween sounds like it was awesome. My Halloween was lame-as expected. Here it's called the fete des morts and it was Sunday and Monday. So on Halloween (the 31) everyone was just sleeping and getting ready to party the next day, so the streets were empty and there wasn't much to do. Then on Sunday everyone went to the cemetery and lit a ton of candles and put them on the graves of their ancestors along with flowers and they sort of campout there all day, and the same on Monday. The work didn't slow down too bad.
I've got a feeling this is going to be a kick butt transfer. Thanks for writing to me. Tell Bryce I said hey, that's a bummer. Sometimes I'm scared my knees are going to flare up like they were doing last winter but everytime they start I just pray and pray and until now I've done alright. Hope everything keeps going good! Count your blessings! Thanks for your prayers! Love you bye!
-elder hill
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Letter 10/26
Dear Mom,
Last week I wrote one of the best letters I've ever written and I wasn't watching the time and it ran out and shut off. Usually it doesn't shut off you just have to pay more but whatever.
I always stress about everything I write.....I think I know how to just write as it comes to me now.
I just came from a barbecue. All of the Guadeloupe missionaries were there and it was really cool.
This transfer was really good with Elder Krause. We worked so hard to get people to church. I walked enough kilometers to go halfway across the states. Elder Krause makes things fun. This one day it was a billion degrees so we went to this chinese shop and bought some cheap umbrellas and we were walking on the big boulevard by the ocean and everytime we saw people Elder Krause would tip up his umbrella and say 'hip hip cheerio' and people were laughing at us. It really was a good transfer for me.
I have my next transfer and I am going to Cappesterre and I will be with Elder West who is from England! He is really buff and he has a broken hand at the moment. That's all I know about him.
Thanks for sending a package! There is a cd I wanted you to look for it's called 'primary worship' maybe for Christmas or something.
That's sweet that Max kicked butts at football. I wish I could be there to cheer him on. I don't think he got the email so I will paste it at the bottom of this one.
That's crazy that dad got the swine flu. I prayed a lot for him to get better. I'm trying to get my night schedule down perfectly so that I can do thirty minute prayers. I read a cool story about Joseph Smith where he prayed almost all night before a general conference.... it made me want to do more sincere and longer prayers.
Things are going great here. I'm absolutely digg'in it. I had a dream that I was in a car and Elder Lish(my MTC companion) was in there too and I just kept saying "this sucks that its over" and it kind of scared me...now I'm realizing how fast this is going to fly by.
I'm so proud of you Brockly man! That's so sweet you got that award. All that matters is that you have fun at the games and with your team! I miss you too man!
Bye family, bye mom love you!
-elder hill
Fuiiiiiii ahakapunaaaa
Hows it going max?! Are you on the Oak Canyon team or the Timpanogos one. I remember when I played football in eighth grade at Oak Canyon and my team made it to the championship. The team we played had way huge guys. I remember we were all crying when we lost. I hope you do good though man. I'm root'in for ya! What number are you?
Read and study the Book of Mormon right now. Just try and read some everyday even if it's just one verse. You have to really know for yourself if its true. Lots of people will tell us that we shouldn't even have a religion or believe in God and it was way hard at first. I've been studying the Book of Mormon so much and praying so hard to know if it is true and now I do know again that it is true. Do all you can to live the things that you learn from the Book of Mormon and you will have great faith. I love you max. Keep doing good and working hard.
Love
-elder hill
Last week I wrote one of the best letters I've ever written and I wasn't watching the time and it ran out and shut off. Usually it doesn't shut off you just have to pay more but whatever.
I always stress about everything I write.....I think I know how to just write as it comes to me now.
I just came from a barbecue. All of the Guadeloupe missionaries were there and it was really cool.
This transfer was really good with Elder Krause. We worked so hard to get people to church. I walked enough kilometers to go halfway across the states. Elder Krause makes things fun. This one day it was a billion degrees so we went to this chinese shop and bought some cheap umbrellas and we were walking on the big boulevard by the ocean and everytime we saw people Elder Krause would tip up his umbrella and say 'hip hip cheerio' and people were laughing at us. It really was a good transfer for me.
I have my next transfer and I am going to Cappesterre and I will be with Elder West who is from England! He is really buff and he has a broken hand at the moment. That's all I know about him.
Thanks for sending a package! There is a cd I wanted you to look for it's called 'primary worship' maybe for Christmas or something.
That's sweet that Max kicked butts at football. I wish I could be there to cheer him on. I don't think he got the email so I will paste it at the bottom of this one.
That's crazy that dad got the swine flu. I prayed a lot for him to get better. I'm trying to get my night schedule down perfectly so that I can do thirty minute prayers. I read a cool story about Joseph Smith where he prayed almost all night before a general conference.... it made me want to do more sincere and longer prayers.
Things are going great here. I'm absolutely digg'in it. I had a dream that I was in a car and Elder Lish(my MTC companion) was in there too and I just kept saying "this sucks that its over" and it kind of scared me...now I'm realizing how fast this is going to fly by.
I'm so proud of you Brockly man! That's so sweet you got that award. All that matters is that you have fun at the games and with your team! I miss you too man!
Bye family, bye mom love you!
-elder hill
Fuiiiiiii ahakapunaaaa
Hows it going max?! Are you on the Oak Canyon team or the Timpanogos one. I remember when I played football in eighth grade at Oak Canyon and my team made it to the championship. The team we played had way huge guys. I remember we were all crying when we lost. I hope you do good though man. I'm root'in for ya! What number are you?
Read and study the Book of Mormon right now. Just try and read some everyday even if it's just one verse. You have to really know for yourself if its true. Lots of people will tell us that we shouldn't even have a religion or believe in God and it was way hard at first. I've been studying the Book of Mormon so much and praying so hard to know if it is true and now I do know again that it is true. Do all you can to live the things that you learn from the Book of Mormon and you will have great faith. I love you max. Keep doing good and working hard.
Love
-elder hill
Sunday, October 18, 2009
To Grandma 10/5
Dear Grandma Hill,
Thank you so much for sending me an e-mail. I was so glad to see that I had received and email from my grandmother. I am so glad you were able to figure out how to get it to work and it is so dear to me that you kept trying!
Thank you for your support. Some days are really hard to think if we have had any success but you are right, there are people we influence that we may never even hear or know about.
It is sad to know the carpet is changing in the cabin. Maybe one day I will be able to tell my kids some great stories about the shag carpet and low roofed shower. The cabin is a really amazing place. It will always have a sacred place in my memories. I have many memories of times spent there with family and friends and especially memories of the times spent there with those who have now passed on(Matt). It has really blessed me and my family. I don't have much time to write today but thanks for writing me and I love you Grandma.
Elder Hill
Thank you so much for sending me an e-mail. I was so glad to see that I had received and email from my grandmother. I am so glad you were able to figure out how to get it to work and it is so dear to me that you kept trying!
Thank you for your support. Some days are really hard to think if we have had any success but you are right, there are people we influence that we may never even hear or know about.
It is sad to know the carpet is changing in the cabin. Maybe one day I will be able to tell my kids some great stories about the shag carpet and low roofed shower. The cabin is a really amazing place. It will always have a sacred place in my memories. I have many memories of times spent there with family and friends and especially memories of the times spent there with those who have now passed on(Matt). It has really blessed me and my family. I don't have much time to write today but thanks for writing me and I love you Grandma.
Elder Hill
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
9/28
Cher Famille,
Sounds like everythings going great back home. That's sad about that monkey. He did always look like he was so tired of living there anyway. I wish I was there to sign Max's cast. That's awesome that Mitch is playing the trumpet. That's the perfect instrument for him. I hope he gets really good before I get back. I'm going to send a package off soon.
Everything is going good here. We've got some investigators that are really good. We have two investigators who love the Book of Mormon and have already read more than the chapter we gave them to read. I really hope they can progress further. There's also a cool family that's been investigators for 8 years or so and the wife is from Brazil and the husband is french and they have one daughter. They have invited us over for dinner for three weeks in a row now and I think they are progressing. They love to ask us how to say stuff in English. I started reading the Portugese Book of Mormon along with the English to try and pick up a tiny bit.
Elder Krause is awesome and way funny. It was pretty hard to see people last week and one of our investigators said he didn't want to discuss anymore so it's been good to be able to laugh and joke about it with Elder Krause.
It has been so incredibly hot this last week. Even the Guadeloupiennes are saying it's hot so that says something.
I'm running out of time, sorry. I will try to write a better email and send a picture next week. Love you ! Bye.
elder hill
Sounds like everythings going great back home. That's sad about that monkey. He did always look like he was so tired of living there anyway. I wish I was there to sign Max's cast. That's awesome that Mitch is playing the trumpet. That's the perfect instrument for him. I hope he gets really good before I get back. I'm going to send a package off soon.
Everything is going good here. We've got some investigators that are really good. We have two investigators who love the Book of Mormon and have already read more than the chapter we gave them to read. I really hope they can progress further. There's also a cool family that's been investigators for 8 years or so and the wife is from Brazil and the husband is french and they have one daughter. They have invited us over for dinner for three weeks in a row now and I think they are progressing. They love to ask us how to say stuff in English. I started reading the Portugese Book of Mormon along with the English to try and pick up a tiny bit.
Elder Krause is awesome and way funny. It was pretty hard to see people last week and one of our investigators said he didn't want to discuss anymore so it's been good to be able to laugh and joke about it with Elder Krause.
It has been so incredibly hot this last week. Even the Guadeloupiennes are saying it's hot so that says something.
I'm running out of time, sorry. I will try to write a better email and send a picture next week. Love you ! Bye.
elder hill
Monday, September 21, 2009
9/21 To Family
Dear family,
Next week I will send some pictures for sure.
This week was awesome but pretty weird at the same time. It's my first time ever changing companions and I had to be the one that knows the area now. It seemed like I was forgetting about alot of people or missing appointments but I wasn,t and everything worked out awesome! We went to this new area that I had always seen on the bus and I always wanted to go there but never got the chance. When we started tracting there we got to teach two lessons within 8 houses and we found a couple people that we're going to see this week too. We also have a ton of members really excited to work with us in a city called Saint Francois. You can probably find some great pictures on the internet of a place called Point de Chateaux in Saint Francois. Next week were going to another waterfall so I should have some cool pics.
I would like some music actually! It would be really cool if you could get a cd of classical piano. Try and get a cd of Chopin songs actually. Any motab cds are great.
My companion has been out for one more transfer than me and he is awesome. He is so funny and a good missionary too. His name is elder Krause and he is from San Diego. He is pretty smart and he studied bio chemistry before the mission.
I'm hoping to baptize this family that's been coming to church for 8 years or so but they can't get baptized because the dad doesn't like paying tithing. They're named the Lepennec's and they love having us over for meals and they ask us tons of questions about America and just about us. The mom is actually from Brazil and she speaks Portugese. They have a dog named chance that always tries to eat toads and Sr Lepennec says "c'est pas possible chance! laisse le crapeau!" They're way cool.
I am compeletly legal on october 7. Maybe I will go to french guyana!
Love you fam! I'll send you pics next week, desolée!
Next week I will send some pictures for sure.
This week was awesome but pretty weird at the same time. It's my first time ever changing companions and I had to be the one that knows the area now. It seemed like I was forgetting about alot of people or missing appointments but I wasn,t and everything worked out awesome! We went to this new area that I had always seen on the bus and I always wanted to go there but never got the chance. When we started tracting there we got to teach two lessons within 8 houses and we found a couple people that we're going to see this week too. We also have a ton of members really excited to work with us in a city called Saint Francois. You can probably find some great pictures on the internet of a place called Point de Chateaux in Saint Francois. Next week were going to another waterfall so I should have some cool pics.
I would like some music actually! It would be really cool if you could get a cd of classical piano. Try and get a cd of Chopin songs actually. Any motab cds are great.
My companion has been out for one more transfer than me and he is awesome. He is so funny and a good missionary too. His name is elder Krause and he is from San Diego. He is pretty smart and he studied bio chemistry before the mission.
I'm hoping to baptize this family that's been coming to church for 8 years or so but they can't get baptized because the dad doesn't like paying tithing. They're named the Lepennec's and they love having us over for meals and they ask us tons of questions about America and just about us. The mom is actually from Brazil and she speaks Portugese. They have a dog named chance that always tries to eat toads and Sr Lepennec says "c'est pas possible chance! laisse le crapeau!" They're way cool.
I am compeletly legal on october 7. Maybe I will go to french guyana!
Love you fam! I'll send you pics next week, desolée!
Saturday, September 12, 2009
A little about Guadaloupe
Guadeloupe
Facts:
* Population is about 406,000
* This island is owned by France and is part of the European Union. It’s currency is the euro
* French is the official language but many of the inhabitants speak Creole
* Christopher Columbus is credited with discovering the pineapple on the island of Guadeloupe in 1493 during his 2nd voyage.
* Tourism is its key industry
Church:
There are 6 LDS Church branches in Guadeloupe and about 400 members
* Abymes (church-owned chapel)
* Basse-Terre
* Capesterre
* Gosier
* Lamentin
* Moule
Missionary Work
As of June 2009 there were 14 elders serving in Guadeloupe and one senior couple - Elder and Sister Collings
History:
Among the first converts in Guadeloupe was the Claire Dinane family. Dinane came into contact with the Church because of his duties as a customs officer where he met Latter-day Saints. His family soon moved, but a nucleus of members had joined the Church through contact with Dinane. The Guadeloupe Branch (a small congregation) was organized in June 1982, but was discontinued several months later due to the apostasy of a member of the Church.
In June 1984, West Indies Mission President Kenneth Zabriskie sent French-speaking missionaries to Guadeloupe who had been transferred from French-speaking missions in Europe. Through their efforts the Grande-Terre Branch was organized by Elder Ronald E. Poelman of the Seventy (one of the governing bodies of the Church) in August 1984. The branch was strengthened by Dusan Kolvic, a Yugoslavian refugee who learned of the Church in France, but was not baptized. Kolvic’s work as a policeman for the French government required a transfer to Guadeloupe, and one evening he was dispatched to arrest a drunkard who was attacking two missionaries. Kolvic later joined the Church and served as branch president from 1986 – 1988. Because of Guadeloupe’s connection to France, there have been several members from France who have lived on the island for a few years and brought valuable experience to the Church there.
Facts:
* Population is about 406,000
* This island is owned by France and is part of the European Union. It’s currency is the euro
* French is the official language but many of the inhabitants speak Creole
* Christopher Columbus is credited with discovering the pineapple on the island of Guadeloupe in 1493 during his 2nd voyage.
* Tourism is its key industry
Church:
There are 6 LDS Church branches in Guadeloupe and about 400 members
* Abymes (church-owned chapel)
* Basse-Terre
* Capesterre
* Gosier
* Lamentin
* Moule
Missionary Work
As of June 2009 there were 14 elders serving in Guadeloupe and one senior couple - Elder and Sister Collings
History:
Among the first converts in Guadeloupe was the Claire Dinane family. Dinane came into contact with the Church because of his duties as a customs officer where he met Latter-day Saints. His family soon moved, but a nucleus of members had joined the Church through contact with Dinane. The Guadeloupe Branch (a small congregation) was organized in June 1982, but was discontinued several months later due to the apostasy of a member of the Church.
In June 1984, West Indies Mission President Kenneth Zabriskie sent French-speaking missionaries to Guadeloupe who had been transferred from French-speaking missions in Europe. Through their efforts the Grande-Terre Branch was organized by Elder Ronald E. Poelman of the Seventy (one of the governing bodies of the Church) in August 1984. The branch was strengthened by Dusan Kolvic, a Yugoslavian refugee who learned of the Church in France, but was not baptized. Kolvic’s work as a policeman for the French government required a transfer to Guadeloupe, and one evening he was dispatched to arrest a drunkard who was attacking two missionaries. Kolvic later joined the Church and served as branch president from 1986 – 1988. Because of Guadeloupe’s connection to France, there have been several members from France who have lived on the island for a few years and brought valuable experience to the Church there.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
9/8 To Mom
Hi mom,
I am doing great this week! That's great that the Orem house sold. I hope they like my painting job! Hannah's friends sound really cool. Everyone looks so different already! I got the package on Saturday and it was crazy to see all the pictures. It was a really good package and the drawings are the best. I wish I had peaches too. They have peaches here but I don't know about squash or zucchini. I eat pretty good. I do eat alot of fruit that people just give us when its in season. I bought a cutlas so I can cut open my own cocos now. My six month mark is this week. It's also zone conference. Last Saturday I got to do a baptism in the ocean. It was a child of record so it didn't count for us but she picked me to do it. Her name is Ashley and she has a little brother and three other little sisters who are all so crazy but also the coolest. Their mom is a single mom and it's pretty hard for her.
Stan and brandy are the coolest! I loved when they lived down the street from us. You will have to say hello for me and give them hugs. I'm doing great. Thanks for prayers. Love you!
-elder hill
I am doing great this week! That's great that the Orem house sold. I hope they like my painting job! Hannah's friends sound really cool. Everyone looks so different already! I got the package on Saturday and it was crazy to see all the pictures. It was a really good package and the drawings are the best. I wish I had peaches too. They have peaches here but I don't know about squash or zucchini. I eat pretty good. I do eat alot of fruit that people just give us when its in season. I bought a cutlas so I can cut open my own cocos now. My six month mark is this week. It's also zone conference. Last Saturday I got to do a baptism in the ocean. It was a child of record so it didn't count for us but she picked me to do it. Her name is Ashley and she has a little brother and three other little sisters who are all so crazy but also the coolest. Their mom is a single mom and it's pretty hard for her.
Stan and brandy are the coolest! I loved when they lived down the street from us. You will have to say hello for me and give them hugs. I'm doing great. Thanks for prayers. Love you!
-elder hill
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