Elder Seth Hilton & Elder Gibson at CCM

Elder Gibson (Orem) in Central Park, Guatemala City, Guatemala.

February 22, 2014, Quetzaltenango

This week I talked to pres and he explained a lot of stuff to me about the extension. He told me that it is by revelation that the mission is only 2 years. He said that the Brethren have said that when 2 years are up, the mission has fulfilled his obligation and purpose as a missionary. After that, he explained to me that after my mission will be studying, finding the future Mrs. Hilton, and providing for my family and serving in my ward. He also explained to me that it is almost impossible that I could get an extension because the Brethren don't really approve it very often, almost never. So, with that being said, I am going to go home on my normal going home date.

My flight date is June 12th, and Elder Lundquist will be calling you soon to give you all the details. It would be cool to have you come down here and pick me up, however, the flight prices are outrageous from what you showed me last time. I honestly, would be happy with ending everything normal as well. Then, afterwards we could come back and visit. That's what I would like to do most. Just finish normal and come back to visit with you and dad and Levi if he still hasn't left on his mission and everybody else that would like to. I wouldn't worry about coming down and picking me up. It'll cost a lot and I'll be very happy with a traditional homecoming.

Anyways, with that being said, let's get to the investigators. We have Claudia, who is doing great. She has now read 310 pages in the Book of Mormon and is going to get baptized on March 7th. What a great birthday present! She is awesome and I love to go talk with her and see how she is doing because she is just progressing so much. I love it. We're working with some more people that seem pretty positive. We've got Gabriel, he is 18 and is a recent convert's friend. He is listening and his friend is making sure that he progresses. We also found a 25 year old man named Julio about a week and a half ago. He is willing to get baptized and we hope that he goes to church tomorrow. He is really cool. We found him on the only day that he got off work early. He saw it not so much as a coincidence, but as something that was meant to be. Kenia isn't doing too hot anymore because she just doesn't really want to go to church. We are going to talk with her again tonight and see what's up. I am loving the mission. It's always hard, but very worthwhile.

Love,

Elder Hilton

Elder Tejero and Elder Hilton, being nerds (tape on noses?)

The chapel that Claudia was baptized in.

Sister Lopez, Sister McGill, Claudia's Baptism day, with Elder Hilton and Elder Tejero

Sister McGill ( Bountiful, UT) , Claudia Alvarado, Elder Hilton

Sister Lopez (Guatemala), Claudia Alvarado, Elder Tejero (Mexico)

This photo, when we asked Seth what it was, he said it was and infection in his elbow.  We also asked how long he had this infection,and he said about a year.  He said he was given medicine to clear it up.  It went away for a while, then returned.  He said that the mission nurse gave him some stronger medicine,and that it was clearing up.  When Seth returned, I ask him about this infection, and come to find out, this photo was not even Seth's infection.  This was elder Tejero's photo.  Seth's infection was a rash on his arm.  So, we worried for no reason over this infection. Ba humbug.

On the road to El Quiche.

Cool bridge on the way to El Quiche.

Totonicapan

Happy Valentines Day- February 15, 2014

  Things are going pretty well. I feel better about what I am doing as assistant, however, it is still pretty dang stressful! Honestly, it is quite fun. I like it a lot because I get talk with all the elders in the mission. Elder Tejero says hi and thanks for having raised me so "well." Things are going pretty well. We have found a few new investigadors this week that I think are really going to progress a lot. We keep working with Claudia here in Xela, but it's kinda hard a lot of the time because she is super busy. Last Sunday, she couldn't go to church because she had a training conference in Guatemala City for a week. So we haven't been able to talk to her very much, but last time we talked to her she was doing great. She has read like 200 pages in the Book of Mormon and really wants to get baptized. Last Sunday was kinda tought because we didn't have too many investigators at church. Only Aura came, and she is almost an eternal investigator. We are trying to help her understand everything, but she is just afraid of getting baptized again. She is very confused and really feels like she can't make a decision because she was already baptized in the Catholic church. We also found out that her dad is kinda scaring her. 

Other than that, we found somebody who's name is Julio. He is 25 years old and has two returned missionary cousins. IT was a really sweet experience, the way that we found him. We were just contacting and we felt like we needed to knock his door. Then, we found out that he had gotten out of work very early that day and that he felt like it was meant to be. He works in a little store and usually gets home around 10 at night. We found him at about 4 or 5 o'clock in the afternoon. It was definitely meant to be. Today we are going to go back to visit him to take him to church tomorrow. He is catholic, but never goes to church. It was a very divine encounter. Life is very good. I think that I am going to ask for a mission extension. I am worried about everything else and life after the mission, but I have felt like everything is going to be fine. I feel like I need to do it and I feel like if I don't do it, it will hinder my ability to receive revelation after the mission. I am worried about maybe not being able to see Levi for 4 years, and for  the work situation, and for missing out on a month of life, work, and fun. However, I feel like the Lord is going bless me and you and the family. These two years have been the best of my life. I cannot believe that it has gone by so fast. I feel like the Lord has blessed me so much during my mission and I hope that you have been blessed as well. I need to tell president this week if I want to extend my mission. So, I will tell him that I want to, and then it will be in the Lord's hands. It is going to be a step of faith, but the Lord blesses for steps of faith especially when we don't know what lies behind the door.

I am so thankful for you and for the family. I hope that you have a wonderful Valentine's Day and that Dad does something special for you. I love you and the family and all of my friends. I am so greatful for all the of the people that are supporting me and praying for me. I love you.

Love,

Elder Hilton

PS--One of my favorite Mormon Messages-- http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=1452683656001

February 8, 2014

Freddy and Amalia got baptized on Monday night. Amalia was not feeling too hot as she had gotten sick to the stomach during the day and had diarrhea all day long. She didn't even got to work, she just stayed in bed all day long... Until her baptism. We talked to her a little bit and gave her a blessing and she did it. It was a pretty crazy day, but it was very nice. They are such great people and I love them a lot. I am very grateful for being able to get to know them.

We have a lot of sweet investigators right now, but we need to find more. I think that we'll find them this week. Claudia has a training meeting in Guatemala for something this week and so we haven't been able to visit her at all this week. We keep working with Kenia, and she is going to get baptized soon! WE also have got Aura, she is such a nice lady. She always takes care of us and treats like we're her own kids. She has been progressing a lot more than she had been. We have been teaching her a little bit more about the doctrine and just clearing up some doubts that she has. We have also been teaching an inactive member named Ramiro. It has been tough to get him to come to church, just because he has a lot of fear of losing the relationship that he has with God. It was kinda weird yesterday because he had some questions about polygamy and we helped him to get that cleared up and he still has some other questions about the Book of Mormon. We cleared up those questions pretty well, and he just didn't have it. It's kinda tough with him. I think that the real reason is that he is still hurt from what his family members did to him like 30 years ago. He got baptized, went to Guatemala City to live with some family members that were also members of the church at that time. I think that he started to fall away from the church and his family members didn't really care or say anything to him and that made him feel really, really bad. Since then, he hasn't gone. I think that is his major challenge.

Thank you for all your support.

Love,

Elder Seth Hilton

Elder Vilca (Peru), Elder Funk (Arizona)

Heading to Lake Atitlan Look Out Point - Elder Vilca, Hilton & Funk

Chichicastenango

On the way out of Chichicastenango.

Lake Atitlan Look Out Point

The park at Lake Atitlan Look Out

Cool beatle

February 1, 2014

Things have been going pretty well. I have just been a little bit stressed  out because my zones. However, we have a pretty great week coming up. Freddy and Amalia are going to get baptized this week. Yay! They are such saints. I love those people. Everytime that we go, they give us dinner and it is just awesome. Also, Claudia and Kenia are going to get baptized soon. Last Sunday, Claudia couldn't go to church because her husband came from Guatemala City and they ahve been having some problems lately. She has been wanting a divorce because of the situation that she has been in for the past few years. She has one daughter and her name is Clara Luz. It sounds like after she was born, the dad took off to Guate and during these years has been living with another woman. That other woman would call Claudia and call her all kinds of names and would do all kinds of nasty things to her. However, Claudia has handled everything very calmly. Her husband came on Sunday morning and wanted to talk and so she couldn't go to church... She is really great and is progressing a TON! Yesterday, she told us that she had read 209 pages of the Book of Mormon. She is just doing a great job.

Kenia is also going to get baptized soon. She is a great girl, and just wants to make sure that she is ready to get baptized when she does it. We have also been working with an inactive man named Ramiro. He is really great. He has been inactive for more than 30 years and is just another one of those saintly people. He went inactive because he went to live with his family who are members and they treated him really, really badly. He reads the Bible a lot and really knows how a saint should act. And that is why he is having a tough time going back to church because he goes and sees all kinds of imperfect people in the church and says, "alright, this isn't the church." He also has a really good, close relationship with God. He feels like as he starts going to church again, he is going to lose that relationship that he has. He is a really good guy and could probably be an authority if he was an active member of the church. He is a really great guy.

I am loving the work, and cannot believe how close I am to the end. I am just going to keep working hard and do as much good as I can while I am still in the field. I love you mom.

Love,

Elder Hilton

Pizza at our house with Elder Pena, Elder Da Silva, Elder Tejero, and Elder Lundquist.

A Special Meeting with Elder Cook.

Baptism for Miguel and Domingo, with Maria,her mother and kids.  Elder Hilton & Tejero (Mexico)

January 25, 2014

My week has been fine. It has been kinda tough because we have been trying to find a house and we had all kinds of things going on lately. However, today we finished moving to a different house. It isn't quite as nice, as the old one, but it will be better because there won't be 4 of us there. We also had a meeting with all the zone leaders on Wednesday and we had to give some talks. I felt really unprepared and just super overwhelmed. However, I talked to president a little bit about it and I think that things are going to start going a little bit better with the new house. Something that I'm going to be doing is making a list of priorities as an assistant. I just felt so overwhelmed on Wednesday because I would love everything to turn out perfect, but I felt like there was just so much to do that I had to do a mediocre job. And I don't really want that. After talking with president a little I felt like everything was goin to be manageable. Anyways, that's enough about me.

Things have been going great here. We have a lot of really positive people. This week we learned a lot more about Claudia. She is a Psychologist and is really deep into it. It is kinda interesting to see what her take is on a lot of stuff. She is also trying to get a divorce with her husband because he isn't really supporting her too much. Her daughter, Clara Luz, is 12 years old and is really, really smart. She speaks english, and is just incredibly intelligent. Claudia is super busy right now. She is a college professor, and is also a youth school director. So, she's got a ton on her plate, but she is really awesome and knows how to handle all of it. I'm a little short on time, but I'll try to get a little more of next week. I love you a lot!

Love,

Elder Hilton

January 18, 2014

Dear family and friends,

I love being in the mission. It has been such a blessing for me. Today, we had the first mission conference of my mission. Elder Quentin L. Cook from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles came today to speak to us. It was amazing. Words cannot describe it. I loved it so much. He talked about just building the Church wherever we are. It was awesome. His words were great.

Today we are going to have a couple baptisms in Cantel. These boys have been wanting to get baptized for a while, but their dad wouldn't give them permission. However, it seems like there is a member of the branch presidency that is good buddies with their dad and get their dad to give them permission. Their names are Miguel, Jose Feliciano, and Domingo. They are pretty cool kids. They speak Quiche and spanish is a little bit hard for them, but they're doing a great job. Freddy and Amalia are going to go to the baptism as well. They are so golden. Freddy changed his schedule so that he didn't have to work on Sundays, even though it was very hard for him. It has been great to work with them.

This Saturday, Kevin and Kenia are supposed to get baptized. They are great and it will be nice to see them get baptized. I has been a great blessing to serve this mission and I love it. We need to go look for some baptismal clothes. Until next week. Love you all!

Love,

Elder Hilton

January 11, 2014

Things are good. I, once again, don't have a ton of time because we have some really important appointments and they couldn't do anything any other time. I guess that by sacrifices blessings are given right!? The weather is pretty good. During the day it's chill. Not too hot, not too cold, I can walk around without a sweater on. However, in the mornings it get's pretty cold. I don't even want to think about 30 below right now. We're working hard. I don't have a lot of time, but I love you a lot and am very thankful for everything that you have done for me. I love you.

Love,

Elder Hilton

On the way to Miguel & Domingo's house.

Vicente and Consuelo Family

January 4, 2014

Things are going very great. I had a great Christmas, and a nice New Years. Here in Guatemala they light off fireworks at midnight for both of these days. On New years we tried to sleep, but the fireworks woke us up. It's kinda interesting how things are here. To buy fireworks, you don't have to be a certain age, and you can buy all the fireworks you want. Even the big rockets. It was wild. They love their fireworks here! I did get Beth's package. That was fun! For Christmas we went to President's house and played some games and Sister Bautista made a feast of food. It was so delicious.

The package cost about 350 quetzales, so that's about equal to like $45. It wasn't too cheap to send, but I don't think that it was too expensive. I feel like I sent more home this Christmas than last Christmas. I always thought that prices have been about the same here and in the states, but it sounds like its cheaper here. I think I would like to keep the shirts because I can't remember exactly what was in there, but I think that when I get home we can get things sorted out. About the flute, it costed like Q30, which would be like 4 bucks. It would be a sweet souvenir, but if they like it, they can have it. I think it would be a fun gift for them. About the place mats, I can't really remember what I was going to do for those. I have been thinking about getting something for the future Mrs. Hilton, and I have a typical shirt for her. I don't know if there is anything that you think that I should get for her? It is just because President Nicolaysen in the CCM told us to. The pens were Q10 each/$1.25 they are pretty sweet and I think that if I buy like 40 I could get a better deal. When I bought them, they had a pretty good variety so I bought like one of each one. I haven't ever seen anybody making them, but I just thought they were sweet so I bought them. Let me know what you think.

Thanks for the update. Things here have been pretty great. We are working hard and finding a few new people. It has been kinda stressful this week because we had meeting with all the zone leaders and we had to do a lot for that meeting. The morning of was so crazy. We were still finishing up a few touches, but everything turned out good. Things are great in the area. We are working with a 20 year old kid named Kevin and he is getting ready to get baptized this month. He is making a lot of changes and it has been tough for him. He is really great, I love the kid. Claudia has disappeared for like a week and a half. It has been so hard to find her. We finally found her this week and we have an appointment with her on Monday. I am excited to see what she says. There is a family of four that we are starting to work with, but it has been kinda weird. The dad seems really excited when we talk with him and only him. However, he is afraid of what his wife says. We've met her and she is a really nice lady. They have a 17 year old son whose name is Manuel and he has already been to church in other places. It is just kinda weird, but we're hoping to get em in soon. Thanks for everything! Love you all!

Love,

Elder Hilton

Christmas Meal at the Mission home

Cantel

Elder Banks (Washington)

Elder Snow (Las Vegas)

Mission Leaders

Our nasty microwave. Rusted and gross.

December 29, 2013

Dearest family and friends,

Things are going wonderful just as always. We have a lot of people that are progressing very well. I am enjoying the work a lot and feel very good about the things that we are doing. As you all know, this past week was Christmas. It was a pretty great Christmas, honestly. After talking on Skype, we got to go over to presidents house and play "Bautista Ball." It is president's way of playing volleyball. It's almost the same, just with a huge rubber ball and it can touch the ground one time between each time that somebody touches it. It was pretty fun. Afterwards, president's wife made a wonderful Christmas lunch. She made mashed potatoes, green beans, jello, meatloaf, and the list goes on and on. It was a FEAST. This Christmas we have just been stuffing our faces like crazy! Here they make something called paches. They are a like little tamales but they are made of rice or potatoes depending on what they like better. They are pretty good. I love them, but after the 10th and 15th, it gets hard to keep throwing those puppies down. Life has been treating us very well. Due to a conference that we had today, I am a little short on time. Thanks so much for everything that you have done for me! I love you all,

Love,

Elder Hilton

Decmber 21, 2013

We are also working with a few people. Claudia committed herself to get baptized! She is really awesome and loves the church and everything that we teach. She is a GOLDEN investigator. She is really great. She is going to take her daughter with her to church on tomorrow. I am really excited to see everything that she does in the church. We are also working with Kenia and Suzethe. They are sisters and both want to get baptized. Kenia is the one that is 19 years old and has two kids already. We have been working with their older brother, Kevin, as well and he wants to get baptized. It is really great to see everything that is happening here. We are also working with Aura and Ana. They are a mom and a daughter. They love the church and have come twice to church and are thinking about getting baptized. It is really sweet to see how everything is working out here in this area. We are finding a lot of really positive people as well. There is a family here that really helps us out. It is the Gomez Family. The dad, Sergio, plays piano and is pretty dang good. He really understands that without mission work the Church would not exist. We started working with a man named Manuel this week and he is really positive too. I love the work. 

As assistant, things have been going pretty well. It has been tough, but I really like it because I get to know the missionaries a lot better. I just hope to be able to help a lot of them to better missionaries than what they are. I really am grateful to be a missionary. Time is running out too fast! I love the Lord and I know that he loves me. I love this work. Thanks for everything. Love you!

Love,

Elder Hilton

PS Skype at 11-11:30 am if you can! I really hope you can! Love you all!

December 14, 2013

I am in Xela. It is the same thing as Quetzaltenango. It is just easier to write Xela than Quetzaltenango. We are pretty close to Central Park, so that's cool. I really like the area. It is very lively. I really like it a lot. It is a pretty big city, there are like 3 million people that live here I think... I can't remember very well, but it is something like that. I am driving a little bit now. It is kinda crazy, but don't you worry mom, I am driving defensively! Yep, it's been like a year and a half since I've driven, but it's a good experience. I have been kinda stressed out lately because of everything that I have to do, but it's a great opportunity!

I still haven't gotten the package, but that's alright. Today I got my package sent off to you guys, so I'm crossing my fingers that it get to you in time! Everybody here too is getting ready for Christmas! It is kind of interesting. I feel like in Nahuala people didn't really buy a lot of gifts for Christmas, but here I feel like they buy more gifts. It could be because here, they live a lot closer to a place where they can go to buy the gifts whereas in Nahuala, they couldn't. However, I feel like here they have a little bit more resources to be able to do it. Christmas in Nahuala was wonderful because everybody just put up a little tree and did what they could with what they had. Another tradition that they have here is that they light off a TON of fireworks for Christmas and for New years. I have heard that here in Xela things just get crazy! It'll be exciting to see how things turn out. But the thing is is that they started to light them off at midnight, so that's gonna be a major sleep killer.

The Christmas season is a little bit harder to find people and get them in their houses, but it isn't too hard. This is the only vacation time that they have all year long. Students have their "summer vacation" during December and January. That would be kinda tough for me.

I love working here. The members love working as well, so that makes things even more fun! We have a ton of positive people that we are working with. We keep working with Claudia and her parents. Claudia is going to go to church tomorrow for the first time and it is going to be great! Also, Kenia went to church last Sunday for the first time and she is planning on going tomorrow as well. I love this ward so much. People are just down to help us out and investigadors are willing to DO things! A lot of times that is the hard part... Just getting them to do something. Things are going great.

I love this work and the Lord! Love you mom and thanks for all of your support!

Love,

Elder Hilton

Mom, lately I have been thinking a little bit about extending my mission a month or so. I talked to president about it and he said that it is very unlikely, but if it were possible would you be okay with that? I would just like a little more time in the mission, if it's possible. I love you a lot. Thanks for everything that you do for me. Love you!

Love,

Elder Hilton

Dinner with Maco and his wife in Calvario, Xela. He was our ward mission leader. (Elder Hilton, Tejero, and Little.)

December 7, 2013

Dear Mother,

I love you so much. I am so grateful for everything that you do for me. For all your worries and love. Things are very much different now. I talk with President almost everyday. We live in Quetzaltenango. In the city! This is the first time that I 'll be here in Xela. I'm living with Elder Tejero, Elder Little(ex-assistant), and the secretaries, Elder Lundquist and Elder Peña. Our house is super nice. I like it a lot. It is kinda dirty, but we're getting it cleaned up little by little. Elder Little is awesome. He is from Springville and is going home next Tuesday. Also, Elder Jacolby Griffin is going home on Tuesday. Elder Vaughn is also going home.... A lot of my buddies are taking off! :( Elder Lundquist is from Logan and is an Aggie fan (LOVING IT!!!) and Elder Peña is from El Salvador. It is pretty fun. I like it a lot.

Normally, we keep proselyting. We are in the office almost everyday in the morning, but after lunch, we go out to proselyte. It's pretty cool. I like it, however, it has been kinda scary. On Thursday, I conducted a multi-zone conference here in Xela, and I messed up a good number of times. President talked about the situation that we are in and has so much faith in us. I am so grateful for him. There is a rule that if you crash the car, you can't drive anymore. Now, the old assistant crashed the car and Elder Tejero doesn't have a driver's license and so president had to call a new one with Elder Little going home. He always talks about how it was just meant to be and how it is what God wants. We could be the last assistants that president has and he has a lot of plans and expectations for us. It is comforting that he is always so positive and so faithful. I love it.

Elder Tejero and I are trying to get used to the area and not get too lost because in a few days we'll be on our own!!! We have a bunch of positive investigators and I am really excited to see them keep progressing. One girl named Kenia, has stopped drinking and smoking and going to clubs since she has met the missionaries. She is really awesome, but she just needs to go to church. We are also working with another lady whose name is Claudia. She is 40 years old, and has a 12 year old daughter. She has a bunch of masters degrees and is really smart. We have a lesson with her tonight and I am really excited to see how it goes. She is going to go to church tomorrow. I am really excited to keep working here. Sorry, I can't write too much more, but I love you a lot. I love this work. Thank you for everything!

Love,

Elder Hilton

Elder Tejero (Mexico)

A dead dog, which someone had tried to burn.

At Enrique's for Thanksgiving meal.

Enrique got permission to have all the missionaries from Huehuetenango over for Thanksgiving dinner.  Enrique had lived in the United States before, and would often make the missionaries, Cafe Rio Sweet Pork Burritos.  For Thanksgiving, the all decided to have an ugly sweater contest.  Sister Anderson won - front middle

Elder Cook (Brigham), Elder  McDonald (Las Vegas), Berrios(Guatemala), Vaughn (Kanab) & Elder, Hilton

Elder Cook, Elder Amaya (Honduras), Elder McDonald,  Elder De Leon (Honduras), Elder Berrios, Elder Vaughn, Elder Hilton

Elder Hilton & Elder Browning (Mesa, AZ) - will be rooming with Elder  Preston Browning at USU

Elder Leguizamo (Equador) and Elder Hilton - We were companions for 4 days, before I was transferred to the office.

Elder Hilton and Elder Dalton (Bountiful), a fellow ambassador at USU

Elder Berrios, Elder Baadsgaard, Elder Hilton, Elder Glass, Elder Peralta (Mexico)

TRUE BLUE AGGIES - Elder Hilton, Elder Dixon (Logan), Elder Corbett (Logan), Elder Dalton (Bountiful)

Enrique - Owner's of Zumba's Restaurant

Huehuetenango

Marvin and Stephanie and family in Huehuetenango

Morning view of the volcano from the highway

River somewhere in Momostenango

How they do things in Guatemala

Yes, that's a little Toyota Pickup truck.