September 24,2012

About my week, things were kinda chill this week. We had a multi zone conference on Tuesday with President and Sister Bautista, the asistents, and the Momostenango zone. It was really sweet, tons of words of wisdom to learn from. Elder Salgado, one of the asistents talked about attitude. I don't know why, but I always love to learn about how an attitude can change a situation completely! President also talked about doing hard things. The first line of our mission motto is: We do hard things. They really hit this hard with the conference. Yeah, there are hard areas out there, but that is what we are here for--to do hard things. It was a really good conference. They talked about the new plan that we have--utilize the less-actives to help us build faith in them and in their friends that do not know the gospel. It is a wonderful plan. I'll explain more about it later. All that was Tuesday. Wednesday, we went to get to know a family that we are teaching. They are the Family Guarchaj Cocom. They are basically all Catholics, except for their father, Salvador. He isn't really anything. He works at a school and drinks sometimes. When he drinks, he gets kinda crazy and hurts his family relationships. He is the brother of Hermano Odaviano, who is the High Counsel member of our ward. All of Salvador's siblings have told him that he needs to find a church that helps him to stop drinking because it is killing his family. So, when we went Wednesday, only his wife, Micaela, was there. We talked a lot with her about her family and what she wants. She told us that if what we have helps her husband to stop drinking, and really stop, she would join the church too. We went and taught them on Saturday as a family and it was sweet! Salvador knows a lot about Mayan Culture and knows that there was a White God that descended from the heavens. So, when we talked about how Jesus Christ came to the Americas, he got kinda wide-eyed. He was very interested in the Book of Mormon. I am very excited to see what happens with them. They can be very blessed by the Book of Mormon, they just need to pray. That is a big problem here. A lot of people can't really see the need to pray or to know that there is only one true church of God on the earth. I really hope that this family eats up the Book of Mormon. We will be praying for them and hoping for the best for them.

Thursday, we had a little activity to kinda get the members involved in brothering the investigators. Salvador and all his family came to this and it was a way fun night! I have pictures, but I forgot my usb cord today, so I'll have to get them to ya next week!

Friday and Saturday we did exchanges with the Zone Leaders and it was way fun! I got to go to a place called San Cristobal. There in San Cris, everybody speaks spanish and I was with Elder Chicas. It was a really good time to be able to joke with people and talk with them in spanish! In Nahuala, really, the people only speak spanish when they have to, like when we talk to them. It is tough, however, we do hard things!!! Love you all, this is basically all I have time for! sorry I don't have photos either. Love you!

Love,

Elder Hilton

September 17,2012 Nahuala

Tono took us to the waterfalls that are near to look for

a place that we could have a sweet Family Night with some of the
members. It was so sweet, and off the beaten path. Very Beautiful!!!
It was really back in the Jungle.

Wow, can you believe Braiden is home already!? I bet he did such

a great job in his mission and his homecoming. He is such an awesome
kid! About Mike, that really is very sad. He really is a killer guy,
but just had some crappy influences in his life. I am learning a lot
about crappy influences here in Guatemala. Some people just start
drinking and drink everyday til they're dead. I don't know how they
come up with the money for it, but it really is the truth! What you
said really should be the point of life for everybody! We are all
given what we are given, we should use what we are given to build
others, and as we do this, we will build ourselves. Thank you for
reminding me of that! I will try to look for the good in everyone and
let them know. If Christ was perfect, why shouldn't we try to be more
like him!? In all our efforts to be a better person, we are becoming
nearer and nearer to Him. What a blessing, this life that we have to
learn and to make ourselves better.
Those kids sound so freakin cute! And Levi, that champion! Thatso cool
to see him stick with that running business! I really think that he
will be a great runner and we will see some great improvements!
The week in Guatemala! I guess that there was a eruption of a Volcano
in Antigua! The sky has been pretty messed up, but we haven't really
received any ash from it. There are quite a few volcanos here, and
Elder Monge said that a volcano also erupted in the last week in
Nicaragua! Its kinda crazy, everything that's happening! I still am
not sure if I have a picture of my apartment, but I'll get on that
business!
Oh wow, things are moving along at a very rapid pace!!! It is very
crazy! Last monday night, we went to eat dinner with family in our
ward, and they gave us some tostadas. They were so good and such a
good break from the regular! I think that I might have had like 20
tostadas. Tostadas are basically big nacho chips, then you put some
black refried beans or something like that, then they boiled some
cabbage and carrots. Top it all off with some ketchup and chile! It
sounds kinda gross, but they were very good! I think that my tastebuds
have changed with time.
Still workin with the Quiche. Yesterday, we visited a family and the
mom doesn't really speak Spanish. So she asked us which day we could
come to eat dinner. I didn't understand the phrase word for word, but
I understood her! I tired to respond to her in Quiche, and she
understood me!!!! What a miracle! I was in shock! It really was way
sweet!
We have been working more with what Elder Duncan, from the 70, told us
about visions. It is really cool to see what the Lord's servants can
do. We are going to try to move the missionary work more to the
members. I am very excited for it! We actually already have 2 or 3
families that are ready to be taught. These families were found
because of the members. The rule actually is that we shouldn't knock
doors, contact or baptize. They really are pushing for everything to
be done by the members. We are only here to find the people that the
members don't refer and to teach. I am way excited to see how this
plan works! It sounds kinda crazy, but I think it will help a lot!
This past Saturday was Independence Day for all of Central America!
So, friday, they had a little parade with all the littler kids.
Parades are very different here! Basically all the kids play an
instrument in their school and I think that each school has been
preparing for this parade for a month! The schools are very different
here, too. Sometimes I don't really think that they push their kids to
do hard things, and I think that really restricts them with their
abilities for the rest of their life! Saturday, they had a bigger
parade, where all the "Secondary Schools" performed. It was much
better than the first. Here, all the schools prepared bands and
basically every kid in the school played something in the band.
Yesterday, they had a 65th Anniversary deal for the Church in
Guatemala. I guess that missionaries have been sent here for only 65
years and we now have 2 temples in Guatemala. It really is cool to see
how this work is guided by the hand of the Lord. I have been reading a
Book of Mormon Liahona magazine, lately. It really strengthened my
testimony and helped me to figure how I can better use the Book of
Mormon to bring others to the Church. I think is from October 2011, if
you'd like to read it. I know that it will strengthen your testimony
if you do read it. I love the Book of Mormon. It contains all the
secrets to life. What is more important is that we have prophets now,
that also talk with God. They transfer the words of God to us in our
day. Take the promise of the Book of Mormon to heart. If we ask God if
it is true, He will let us know. I know that this promise is true, I
know that the Book of Mormon is true. I love you all and thank you for
all of your support!!! Love you!
Love,
Elder Hilton


Still Holding up the Banner , Nahuala, September 10, 2012

 Incredible Fog- made me think of the vapors of darkness in the Book of Mormon

 This picture was taken from inside our apartment

A beautiful hike in search of someone needing a blessing.  Got real foggy on the way home

Dear Family & Friends,

Friday, we took a hike to find a person that needed a blessing. This person lives way up in the mountains. So we hiked for about 2 hours and did not even reach the house. The people told us that we still needed to go one hour more to even get close to the house, so we turned around and started back home. We found a lot of cool stuff on our little trip. It was so beautiful. As we were heading back home, it got a little foggy. Then, it got even worse. As it got foggier it also got darker. The phrase used in 3 Nephi about the vapors of darkness came real. This week I have been thinking a lot about how probable it could be that the Book of Mormon took place here Guatemala and Mexico. But really, it was kinda creepy how dark it got just from the fog. I tried to take a picture of it, but it does no justice to the actual situation. 

When we got back to our little pueblo, Nahuala, we went to visit a family of the ward. It started raining so hard, I couldn't believe it!!! I tried to take a little video of this but couldn't see anything because the lights were out. The people we went to visit live like 5 or 6 feet below the street. So, we knock on the door and wait for an answer. As we wait, we hear something fall from the street. I looked back to see what it was and couldn't see anything. Then, about like 10 seconds later, we hear something move again. I kinda shrugged it off and then a few seconds later I see this man walk past me and walk up the stairs right next to me. We followed the man up the stairs and found out that he was drunk. Also, it looked like he had broken his leg bad. It was a very strange experience, but also a little funny. We asked to see what we could do to help him, and he just kept walking. This week was a little crazy, to say the least. 

On Sunday we also had Stake Conference. It was way sweet. Elder Duncan from the Quorum of the Seventy came and spoke. It was so amazing the power that he spoke with. He suggested a lot of things and made me want to do them. One of the things that he spoke about was having a vision of what you want. He talked about a woman that wanted to swim a pretty big body of water to an island--like 40 kilometers long or more. The first time she tried, she did it, but it took her a very long time. Now that she had the vision of what she wanted, she was prepared to do it much better. She tried it again and beat the men's record of this swim by more than 2 hours. Perhaps the way I retold this story didn't do it justice, but it really slammed into my mind the importance of visions and how much success comes from having a vision of what we want. That is why visionary people are so successful. I think it could be one of the secrets of life! Elder Duncan used it to create a little analogy between us and eternal life with our families. If this is our vision, what else is important? I loved what he said, he really just made me feel like I wanted to be better. Haha my words are probably so jumbly and don't make sense! So sorry!!! 

Love you all and thank you for everything!

Love,

Elder Hilton

Nahualá, almost one change done!‏ September 3, 2012

This is what turned from a spontaneous act of service into 

helping carry 200 75-lb. bags of cement like 75 yards in 

the rain!!
  

 
Hey friends and family!  

Things are rolling like a rock cut from a mountain without 

hands! I love this business. All though it isn't always 

easy, it is definitely worth it. I am learning to cope 

more with different types of people, too. I am still 

trying to learn a little Quiche from our ward mission 

leader, Tono, but it is pretty tough and weird. He has 

been a huge help and support for me. It's also amazing 

the missionary spirit that he has. At times, he has more 

pizzazz for the work than my own comp. He really wants to 

help in whatever way that he can! 

Things are kinda wild here in Nahualá. Our golden invest-

igator, Emiliano, we found drunk on Saturday. He still 

won't come to church, so we can't baptize him. He said 

that he was robbed by a few little punks, so he got drunk. 

It is amazing the way that Satan works. There have been a 

lot of people telling him a lot about his baptism. I think 

that is another roadblock that he has.  Alcohol, I am 

learning, is another tool of the Devil. He uses it to take 

away the agency of people--his plan from the start. We knew 

that Emiliano had a problem with alcohol, but since the 

time that we contacted him, he hadn't drunk. There are a 

lot of people here that drink and it is ridiculous!!! 

We found another man named Manuel, who seems pretty solid. 

The first time I met him he was drunk out of his mind. 

He could hardly speak, had no 

control over his emotions. I can't believe the array of tools 

that Satan uses. However, we were able to find Manuel when he 

was sober, and so we set up an appointment with him. We 

learned a lot about him--he has lived in L.A. for a portion 

of his life, has been thrown in jail in the States a number 

of times, but now he is ready to start over. I really hope 

that he continues to get better. I was really able to connect 

with him, I don't know why, but he really is a son of God. 

He came with us to church on Sunday, and I felt like he was 

a little uncomfortable there. I think that he will learn to 

like it more and more. 

Not a lot this week, more details to come next week. Stay 

strong in the gospel. This is the only true church on the 

earth. There are all kinds of evidence in the scriptures
for this, but if one doesn't strengthen his testimony 

through faith, he will never be convinced of the truthful-ness 

of this church. Faith without works is dead. Read the 

scriptures everyday and pray to your Heavenly Father and he 

will answer. I love you all and feel strength from all of 

your prayers!
Love,
Elder Hilton 

p.s. answers to some of our questions.

The food here does not compare to what we eat at
home. Be grateful for what you have! haha here we basically have like
boiling hot soup they call caldo. They basically cut up vegetables
into huge pieces, put it in water and put a bunch of chicken pieces
in, too! it is good, but our food, is fantastic!
Yes we are very good to each other! One change is one transfer, yes!

August 27, 2012

 At a parade.

Dearest Family,
Wow! Everything sounds so crazy!!! I can't believe that Beth did that! 13 miles is not easy... EVER. And she did it! How sweet is that!!! I have also heard that Elements is dang good food. And Levi's Patriarchal Blessing, that is so great! I'll bet that he said something about a mission in there. It is very cool to see that some things from my patriarchal blessing are coming to pass. Always live worthily to serve a mission. Always look to your patriarchal blessing to guide you. It is a blessing directly from God, specifically for you.
Yes sir! James Marriott and Alex Johnstun entered the MTC on Wednesday. They are going to change so much it'll be so sweet! And Mike is in there too, I can't wait to see the things that he does on his mission. He is always looking for ways to be a better person! He is such a killer man!
Okay, time for the update. THings were a little tougher this past week. Our investigators will not come to church so we cannot baptize them. However, our ward mission leader, Tono, is still being a killer man. I told him that right now, I am not really receiving much of a training from Elder Monge, but Tono is pickin up the slack. He is like 23 or something and is way pumped about missionary work. We are gonna start doing some game nights with the youth and, with time, English classes. However, he wants me to learn a little more Quiche before we do that. At times I think that Tono is more pumped about the work that Elder Monge is. I am also realizing how differently Latinos think. Not to stereotype or anything, but it is true. I am also learning that Elder Monge is pretty self-centered. We always get along, but it is tough at times. The work is continuing, always getting better, always with a smile on my face.
On Tuesday night, this man was calling our names!!! Elderes, he said, and I was thinking oh this guy is golden! He told us that he wanted to change his life so we set up an appointment to come back to his house, but we didn't find him. Hopefully we can catch him sometime, but we'll see!
Wednesday, we did exchanges with the District leader and his companion, who also have their area in Nahuala. So, I got to go to a bigger area and spend the day with a white guy! It was great. I got to speak my mind, and Elder Vaughn(the district leader) came to the field in the same group as my buddy Jacolby Griffin. I also learned alot more about the mission. Also, we did some service and they gave this really wonderful, sweet bread. We asked them where they got it and got some more from the same shop. Then, we went to another member's house, and they gave it to us too!!! It was really great.
Saturday, we went to the bishop's house to help him lift like 700 cinderblocks to the top of his house. He had a lot of help from others, and some were not members of the church. So, at lunch I at like 2 tamalitos. At first... A tamalito is like a tamale without meat, basically just a corn tamale. They eat them every meal, everywhere we go. They were teaching me how to say we want more tamalitos in Quiche, and then came another plate of 8 tamalitos. They told me that I had to eat all of them since I asked for them. They usually eat like 5 or so with lunch. Or so I think. Anyways, I told them if I ate all the tamalitos, they'd have to come to church. So, I did it and one of them came! I was so happy to see him there. We'll see if anything comes of it!
Well, I think that's basically it. Thank you all for your support! This is the one and only true church of Jesus Christ. Only through this church can we be with our families forever. It so perfect and so true. I love it. Mom, Dad I love you! Family, I love you! Friends, I love you! I love you all, and thank you for your support! Love ya!
Love,
Elder Hilton