Week 33: A GREAT WEEK!!

   This transfer has been passing by rather quickly, but for me thats good because it means we are busy and working hard. We have a baptism confirmed this saturday (the 4th) and one more the 11th.  As a District we are putting all our efforts into our work to be able to achieve ´´district of excellence´´ We are setting our goals high as a district and supporting one another to be able do this. Everyone in our district has a baptism for the 4th so we are all working even harder to achieve district of excellence. i really want our district to find more men and families, because i know we can have more results this way. Our district is going to fast tuesday until wednesday for our goals.
      Elder Washington and I are really focusing a lot more on striving to be missionaries of power and faith. We want to be escalator missionaries, not elevator missionaries. We really want to work hard the rest of this transfer to set up the next transfer to be a golden one.  We want to be even more obedient and diligent to achieve this. We really want to baptize weekly and we have lots of faith that through lots of prayer and fasting, miracles can occur. I am still very impressed at the way Elder Washington teaches. He truly teaches with the spirit and teaches people, not lessons. He understands people´s problems and gets to the bottom of things. He knows how to gauge situations and people´s necessities then take the situation with powerful teachings, goals, and testimonies
         Mosiah 20:11 says ´´...therefore they exerted themselves and like DRAGONS did they fight.´´ The mission is just like that. You have to work hard and fight every day like a dragon. I am always learning with Elder Washington as well as with my responsibilities as a district leader.  This week we had various interesting lessons. some very heated, and others relaxed and funny. We taught a family the Restoration. Washington and Joyce are the names of the parents. Washington (investigator) got really fired up about his beliefs and delayed quite a bit. There were lots of interruptions, but we taught well and bore powerful testimonies. In the end Washington (investigator) practically remarked, shouting at us, that in the end we´re the same as all the other churches, that we say, in the end, that we are the only true church.´´ Joyce, on the other hand, was a lot more receptive and warm . She told her husband many times throughout the lesson to shut up and let us continue our message. haha.  The next lesson we taught that day was to another family: Mario and Sara, and their son Mario. Mario accepted everything and asked lots of questions. He was really happy and funny. He is obviously a drinker, but we still taught with the same love. He said ´´Amen!´´ and shook our hands about 50 times throughout the lesson! it was a little annoying but hilarious at the same time.
     On Wednesday there was a 2 hour world-wide transmission for all missionaries. Dallin. H Oaks and a council of other church leaders gave training on ´´Teaching Repentance and Baptizing Converts´´. They also presented new changes concerning our schedule, and other things. That night we taught Joana and her daughter about the B.O.M. It was a very spiritual lesson and I was impressed at Elder Washington´s way of teaching it. Hosana accepted to be baptized on the 4th of Feb. and I will baptize her! She is super happy and excited as well as grateful for us. I am very impressed at the faith she has. Last Sunday was her first time going to our church and this sunday will be her 2nd and she has already committed to be baptized.
   Thursday I interviewed two girls from the sisters´ area. One is 14 yrs old and the other is 11 yrs. old. It went really well and Taina Santos de Andrade (11yr old one) chose me to baptize her!

    Friday we had a super yummy lunch with a super happy lady. her name is Mirian. She doesn't even live in our area but she insisted that we have lunch with her. She prepared a ton of food just for the 2 of us. I was stuffed!

We taught Raimundo the Plan of Salvation. It was an interesting lesson, because he always has good questions. Raimundo is a great investigator. He has accepted everything and can be baptized. There are only a few problems. First he isn't legally married. 2nd his wife is totally against us. She is a member of Candomblé and doesn't even want to talk to us. She won't even shake our hands. hahaha
We had a family night with Gilvan afterwards. Thais, Magno, and Manuelito came with us and we taught the Restoration to Gilvan. Gilvan is an investigator with heaps of potential. He is going to our church building and wants to get married so he can get baptized. He already quit drinking too! The only problem is that he doesn't live in our area. He lives super duper close to the boundary, but its not our area. We talked to the 2nd councilor of the Stake Presidency and he will see what he can do to change the boundary lines.

   Saturday: we had lunch with Jamerson (2nd counselor in the stake). Last night our power had big problems. the lines were burned so our power was super weak. It didnt support the microwave, or the fridge, or the washing machine. We could only have 2 lights on at a time. We ate real quick, ran home to grab our clothes we needed for the day, returned to Jamerson´s house to use his iron, then booked it to the baptism. i entered the water for my first time and baptized Taina Santos de Andrade. It went really well.

    Sunday: We cut out all the baptism invitations that we made and printed yesterday and gave them out to our branch. At church some investigators that we thought for sure would show up, didn't show up. But Joana proved faithful! she came into the chapel walking fast in her colorful tennis shoes, tank-top and jeans. I was so happy to see her. She is the funniest most active 60 years old lady i know. She always tells me about her walks that she takes her dog on at 4:30 in the morning. This week we are going to work hard to prepare lots of people for baptism. We are going to set up next transfer in a way that will make it possible to baptize weekly. That is our goal!

     I know this work is inspired.  I am grateful to be a part of the miracles among the children of God. I know that when we serve others we are truly in the service of God. i know that only through faith, obedience to God´s commandments, our dedication to follow the Savior´s example that we can find lasting happiness. Through the gospel of Jesus Christ we can have happy families, and be prepared for Christ´s 2nd coming. Im grateful for the knowledge of these gospel truths that i have. It is this knowledge and my family  that inspire me to keep going when times get tough and when I want to quit. Thanks for all your support and love everyone!

-Elder Hilton

Week 32: Another great week with a MIRACLE!!!

   While my family and everyone i know back in Idaho are still living in a winter wonderland full of snow and lots of good skiing, i'm baking and sweating in this wonderful Brazilian sun. hahaha. This week has been a great one. i know i say that every week, but that´s because it's true. Every week in the service of the Lord is a good week.
    Tuesday night, we spent the night at the other elder´s house in Engenho Velho to have a division the next day. In the morning we had interviews with President Bangerter at the church before district meeting. I gave/lead my first district meeting as a district leader. My training was on ´´Contacts of Power´´.  President also took 15 minutes of my meeting to talk about a few important things; one being ´´contact of lunch´´.hahaha. He told us how we can have more lunches with the members of the church and even less-actives. The rest of the day was a division in the area of the other Elders. I was with Elder Loureiro, the zone leader.
    Thursday we just worked, walked, and talked a lot. Elder Washington figured that we walk about 10 kilometers per day, that's more or less 6 miles!
    Friday: Up to now we have 7 people that accepted an invitation to prepare to be baptized: Paulo 14 yrs, Mary 19 yrs, Cintia 22 yrs, Raimundo more or less 60yrs old, Joanna more of less 50 yrs old, Débora 31 yrs old, and Hosana 26 years old. we invited all these people and more to go to church with us on Sunday
     Saturday: We invited and confirmed our investigator for church the next day. At lunch with Washington ( a member) Elder Washington and Washington had a long conversation about profound doctrines. it was crazy and made my head hurt. hahaha. those two are a very knowledgable about those types of things as well as all the scriptures that backs it all up.
     Sunday: we woke up really early because church starts at 8:00 a.m. and we had lots of people to pick up and walk to church with. We coordinated with a few members to help us out. We had a total of 11 investigators in church. Elder Washington and I were really happy!
      Monday: Today we walked  to the mission office to grab more book of mormons. it was another long heavy return home with backpacks full of books and pamphlets. Elder Washington needed to stop at the bank to draw money in some other weird way since he is from Nicaragua, we waited in line for an hour and a half and when it was his turn he couldn't get any money, because we didn't have some document that only our owner of our house has. So we were late to lunch that we had marked with a less-active. When we arrived we ate then talked for a little bit with Elizabete. She went on complaining about life like she does every visit we make, but this time was different. Elder Washington told me that he always feel a bad feeling when we go there, like a negative, dark feeling. Elder Washington interrupted her and asked, ´´what happened in your life´´.  Elizabete went on to explain, in tears, how she had it all, and lost everything. It really as pretty sad. We gave her a Blessing of comfort. It was powerful and she was very grateful for our visit.
     This past week of work in Federação, Bahia has been a great one! I am already learning a lot from my new companion Elder Washington. I am learning newer and better ways of teaching as well as figuring out how to be a better district leader. I have a lot to learn. I am really grateful to be with Elder Washington this transfer. He really is a great missionary and friend. Him and I have talked and prayed a lot about how we want to work hard and be more obedient and dedicated in order to see more results in our wonderful Branch. we got right to work. Even though we lost a days worth of work because of the division with the other elders in Engenho Velho, we were able to have a lot of success finding and teaching investigators. Even better, i was elated when we had a total of 11 investigators in church. it was a lot of hard work and dedication but totally worth it and exciting!! We were able to accomplish a lot of our goals this last week and we are ready to work to meet our goals that we set this week. Now i want to talk about Elder Washington. He didn't tell me any details about anything negative about himself. He just simply said that he hasn't always worked to the potential he has. He told me that he feels really good about our area, Branch, and our investigators and wants to work hard. He gave a super powerful talk in church that lifted the spirit in the meeting and got lots of member motivated. Afterwards various members told us that between his talk and having 11 investigators in church it was a special and inspired Sunday at church. We are planning a lot better and i have realized that a well-planned day/week truly can bring miracles into our work. It was proved true when we had 11 investigators in church. I had never seen a more full class of ´´Principios Do Evangelho´´ in all my time here in Branch Federacao. There were more investigators than members in the room. After class ended i got up and jumped to the front really fast and asked if i could say a word. I said, ´´i have never seen a fuller class in all my time serving here in this branch and that i am really happy to see you all here today. i don't want to forget this day so can we please take a picture?´´ We took a picture and in the picture there isn't even all our investigators that came. Two left early after sacrament because they had other commitments and three others weren't in the picture because they were in other classes. It was really exciting to see that our frequency in the Branch was 61, 11 being investigators. That means that about 1/6 of the attendance was our investigators!

    Elder Washington really seems to be a good hard working Elder. He is from Nicaragua.  He is 20 years old. only him and his mom are members. beginning at age 10 he investigated lots of different churches. Being only 12 years old he read the scriptures and investigated various churches. He  found lots of incorrect things about other churches and things that didn't line up with the Bible including his mom´s.  Then he found the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Him and his mom were baptized together when he was 12 years old. he was ready earlier than his mom, but he wanted to be baptized together with his mom.  she was taught, softened and accepted the Church and was baptized together with her son. He is more dedicated than any other companion i´ve had. He has a super strong testimony and teaches and motivates in such a way that gets our investigators to progress. We have had various experiences with some investigators where i just marveled at his ability to respond to the needs of investigators with inspiration. He truly teaches people, not lessons. I want to learn everything he knows and develop my abilities by working and studying with him. he is very knowledgeable with the scriptures and has some well-developed teaching techniques. He is very logical, reasonable and inspired. One thing that i noticed is that he is comfortable inviting people to be baptized and setting goals with them. For this reason we have 7 investigators with a date and i have lots of faith that that number will grow. Elder Washington told me that he would like to stay one more transfer here with me, because he sees that great things can happen here. He is also excited to be able to have language study with me. I will be able to practice my Português with him and he wants to learn more English with me. I am enjoying the work and had a great week.
 Now i would like to share my testimony: I know that our testimonies along with the accompaniment of the Holy Ghost is what can make a change in the lives of others. It is what makes our invites to follow the Savior´s example more powerful. I know that truths that are stated clearly, as to be understood, cannot be denied, especially when they come from a pure testimony. I know that God lives and that he truly loves us and longs for our return. I know that we really can live with him and our families in the Celestial Kingdom. I am very grateful for my family and they are what motivates me to help other families. There are a lot of people here in Bahia in need of real joy; not temporary happiness and pleasures, but eternal joy which only comes from living the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That is what I want to help people here realize. When they come to a knowledge of this they will want to start their journey of discipleship by being baptized. I´m thankful for this opportunity to serve a mission. It definitely isn't easy, but its always worth it when you are obedient and work hard.  I know that Jesus Christ lives and that he loves us. He understands us and wants to help us. I know that NOW is the time to prepare to meet him, because soon He will come. I know that the commandments are what we need to stay on the strait and narrow path, and prepare to meet God and Christ. Im grateful for my opportunity to learn, and at times struggle in my mission to be able to become a better disciple of Christ. This is my testimony.

-Elder Hilton

half our house payment!!!!!

My new companion, Elder Washington!

Week 31!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  I have gotten so many emails and pics about all the record breaking snow and coldness in idaho and utah, and i have to admit, i am a little jealous! i can't believe that is wont see snow or get to snowboard for 2 years. its okay though. Brazil is awesome too!

     I have had an awesome week. We are only starting the 3rd week of this transfer, but we got a call on Saturday and found out there is going to be an early emergency transfer. Elder Bastos was transferred to Brotas (a different place in Salvador in a different zone) and i will stay here in Federação. Only President Bangerter gave me some other big news too. He said that I'm senior companion. and DISTRICT LEADER!! i'm going to be taking on more responsibility.  im excited and not excited. it should be good. District leaders have more responsibility than zone leaders. district leader have to prepare training to give every wednesday for district meeting, etc. and zone leaders just pass training that pres. Bangerter gave for Zone conference.  My companion will be elder washington. he is from Nicaragua. a spanish speaking country. he has way more time on his mission than me and more experience but i'm senior companion and district leader now.      As for Debora, so still wants to be baptized but can´t until she starts obeying the Word of Wisdom. She just needs to stop drinking coffee! we are going to help her and hopefully she will be baptized this transfer, if not the next. Natila will probably be baptized this transfer im hoping. I think now that Elder Bastos is gone he will be more willing to let his daughter be baptized. we will see.
  I am excited to work with Elder Washington. im sure i will find new difficulties, but i will learn more too. it should be good.
  Well i want you to know how much i love the gospel and my family. i wouldn't have anything i have if it weren't for this gospel and this wonderful restored church, i wouldn´t have been born into the great family i was born into, i wouldn't have the opportunities i´ve had, the testimony i have, and most importantly the relationship with Christ that i have.  Its all closely connected and its very clear that the Gospel of Jesus Christ truly does bless families. it teaches us to be better one to another, to serve one another, and to love one another. its help us see the bigger picture and purpose in life. It helps us set productive useful goals that are achievable, even in an eternal perspective.  It helps us be able to return to live with our Father in Heaven, which is my goal. i want to live with my family for eternity in complete and full happiness.  I want to share my testimony that i know that Christ lives and loves us. in whatever stage in our lives, he is completely aware of us and is involved in the details of our lives. He is helping us become what he wants us to be when we listen to his counsel. I´m grateful for Him sending His son Jesus Christ to be our Mediator and our way to return. I know there isn't any other way to return; only through Christ. Im grateful that God gave us families. i know that God has a plan for our families and that is really is a Plan of Happiness.  Im grateful for and i know that Christ´s example that he left for us is one of pure love. He was a perfect man, yet he was baptized. He patiently endured hardships and difficulties until the end of his life.  He accepted the will of His Father. I know He wants the best for us and is there for us every step of the way. i am so grateful for this. i just wish everyone could understand the reality and depth of Christ´s atonement. i don't completely comprehend it and i don't think anyone really can. But i know that he did the things he did for us because he loves us and wants us to be like Him. He served and forgave others, something we should always do. He comforted others. He  shared everything he had with others.  All these Christ like attributes are there as an example for us. I know that we will be blessed when we try to develop these attributes. That is what i'm doing on my mission and i´ve already seen the blessings flowing in. i´ve experienced more happinesses, learned more, and grown in ways i didn't know were possible. I am so grateful for all of it.
   These are some of the things that i am grateful for and a little bit of my testimony that i would like to share with y´all. Have a great week!

with love,

-Elder Hilton

here are some pics of zone meeting. there is a new elder from twin falls idaho. this is his 1st transfer in the field. and the other elder is Elder Pyne. he´s cool. i practically spent all of today with him.

Debora´s family. she is the darker skinned one. Her sister is the whiter one. everyone in the pic (including her son) are members. we just need to get her to stop drinking coffee then baptize her! 

Elder Bastos and I, I will miss him.  He was transferred.  We worked so well together!

Hanging in the mission office

Emailing my mom and dad in the mission office!  And in the air conditioning!!!!!  I loved every minute of it!  Plus, free internet!  BONUS!!!!!! 

Week 30: week of baptisms

This week we are going to have a baptism, as well as the Elders, and the sister´s. We all have  baptisms planned to happen this week. Elder Bastos and I went to the Elder´s area to do an interview. After the interview finished, they came out and Elder Bastos said, ´´Natila is gonna be baptized. and Elder Hilton is going to baptize her!!`´ i thought for sure he was joking about me being the one to baptize her, but he wasnt. i never taught her and hardly know her, but she chose me to baptize her.  Elder Lima was a little upset, but it was funny. So i will be baptizing her this saturday. There was only one problem. Just before we left her dad got mad/upset and didnt sign the paper because he didnt like how Elder Bastos closed the door when he interviewed his daughter. So as of now she cant get baptized because we dont have her dad´d signature. But Elder Lima and Elder Loureiro are going to go back and talk with her dad and get things settled. it shouldnt be too big of a problem.
    We have been teaching Debora and preparing her for her baptism which will take place this Friday. I am really excited! i´m hoping to be the one that will baptize her. This week starting today Elder Bastos and I are setting high goals in order to achieve the award, ´´Padrão de Ouro´´ (standard of Gold). there are lots of requirement to get this. we have to have one baptism(ready), 25 lessons taught in the week, 10 lessons with a member present, 21 new investigators made, 140 contacts, and a few other high numbers. I´ve never achieved this goal before but im ready to work hard to achieve it this week! its kinda fun, because its like a game. you try to beat your old highscores and earn an award if you achieve it. ITS ON!!!

   Last P-day we went to t beach we went to called beach of Farol de Itapuã. Itapuã is a city and another area in our mission. maybe i will serve there one day. all of these pics are from before transfers. so we went to some families to take pics and say goodbye for elder Araujo. he served there a while back and wanted to stop and say hi and bye to a few people
and one pic will be with a dude who made me a keychain thingie. it says ´´Elder´´ he is a member too from Itapuã. This p-day we are going to the Pelourinho again. It should be a fun time! Have a great week everyone! and enjoy the freezing cold snow!

With Love,

-Elder Hilton

Week 29: Happy New Year!!!

This week was great! on p-day we went to the Farol da Barra(lighthouse) again and hung out there as a district. we wanted to stop by a few museums but they were all closed. It was our last p-day of 2016! 

        This week we just went about our normal work, but didn't teach as many lessons as we would like, because of christmas and the new years. Everyone was busy or didn't want to hear us. We did teach some good lessons though. Debora is a lady who we are going to be focusing on. She is 31 years old and  her sister and some other family are members but she isn't. She has been listening to our messages and has been enjoying them too. She is very engaged in the discussion and pays good attention. She said to us, before we even gave her the baptismal invite at the end of the 1st lesson,  that she wants to be baptized. How exciting! i hope she keeps that attitude and continues to learn and progress. Marta is another investigator that we regularly teach. She have attended other churches and is pretty familiar with the bible, so she asks lots more questions and has lots more doubts. We also have Hosana. She is 26 and lives next door to a really strong recent convert. We have been teaching her recently and she accepted us and our message really warmly. She gives us food too! We are going to invite her to be baptized soon. There was a problem with the Law of Chastity, because she lives with her ´´husband´´ and they have a kid, but they aren't married. But fortunately, as well as unfortunately, they got in a fight and now they are separated. She found us in the street and started talking about what happened. I felt bad for her. She has a black eye, and a fat lip with stitches in it. So we are going to try to help her and bring more happiness into her life through our messages. 

    Transfers were today! i am staying in Federação, Salvador with Elder Bastos. This is the 1st time i´ve had the same companion for 2 transfers. i'm actually happy, because we get along well, and we have some really good things happening in our area. I will miss sister peterson, she got transferred, as well as Elder Araújo.

   For new years we were allowed to stay out until 9:30, but then return to our houses where we could stay up until midnight to celebrate new years. So until 9:30 our district got together and ate pizza and played basketball at the church. After returning home us 4 elders celebrated together at our house. we really wanted to go to the Farol da Barra (lighthouse) where they would have a firework show, but it was too late. we only saw a few fireworks outside, but we saw the sky being lit up with various colors and flashes from all the fireworks! It was a fun new years eve! 

    I'm looking forward to this new transfer with a new fresh mindset and goals. I am confident we will have at least one baptism if we work hard. i am excited! I hope everyone had a good 2016 and is ready for 2017. Have a great week!!

-Elder Hilton

Lighting all the things we want to leave behind from 2016