HOW FAR AWAY IS THAT PLANE?

Dear Family and Friends,

Picture this. Three girls walking the streets of Potosi, MO on September 26 doing some good ole tracting and a plane flies by. 

Audre (the member who was with us) says: "Hey Sister Hill? How far away is that plane?" 

Me: "I don't know."

Audre: "About 18 months sorry."

Me: "No...17 actually!"

That's right all... I hit my one month mark! It was a great day. We ate mexican food to celebrate and I reminisced on all the good things that have happened this past month. I also decided that wearing my missionary name tag is like the coolest thing ever and when President Stafford wants to release me (sad) I'm going to sneakily put my nametag back on when he makes me take it off :)

This week was great and full of crazy stories which means it's time for the weekly highlights!! (I feel like I should do this Sportscenter-style and have the top 10 plays that happened this week... but I can't think of 10 or else that would be fun)

1. 30 day shred: yep. We bought a Jillian Michales DVD. She promises us that we will be "shredded" in 30 days....? Sister T almost passed out while doing it so we're off to a real good start!

2. Knife Club: You guys. I've made it. I'm officially in the knife club!!!! So backstory... we have a recent convert named Dustin who is 19 and is a bit obsessed with knives and gave Sister Turpin and her old companion pocket knives when he got baptized. I met him for the first time on Tuesday and lo and behold he gave me my very own knife! He said, "I give you knives because the chances of you having to use it are very high." THANKS so comforting. Oh and also he calls us his nuns.

3. Baby You're All that I Want: we had these cupcakes this week from this place called MAB. No joke I was singing that Bryan Adams song Heaven in my mind the whole time I was eating it hahahahahah. It was that good you guys. 

4. ZLT: We had zone conference which was super awesome! President and Sister Morgan were there and talked to us about being obedient. It was super good for everyone to hear and a good reminder. Don't worry- Sis Turpin and I are super obedient :)

5. Wait...Who's Esther?: We were watching the Courage Mormon Message with our recent convert Betty, who is super sick and wants to die. The Mormon Message is about the story of Esther. It was going perfect until she asks, "Who's Esther?" Okay I thought I knew the story of Esther inside and out. lol wrong. I said "Oh she was this girl who married a king named Mordecai and she was a Jew...." Hold up. Mordecai is her uncle. Wait. It got worse. Sis T, "Yeah and the king said that all the Jews couldn't pray or else they would die so Esther had to save her people..." I look at her and I'm like "No.... that's not Esther.....?" Basically good thing we had the Bible with us so we could just read it! But then Betty was so concerned about how the Jews were hated and she was getting so fired up about Haman that the point we were trying to make about courage didn't even get made. My favorite Betty quote: "Haman hated the Jews. And then came Hitler..." yep. Haman and Hitler were definitely in the same time period Betty...

6. Women's Conference: Okay it was so good. Am I right? AHHH it was so so good. I definitely loved all of the talks and can't pick a favorite. I did really enjoy President Uchtdorf's story about Aunt Rose. That was good! 

Potosi is crazy town but I love it!!!! We had some really good teaching moments this week as well:

1. Julie K: She is my favorite investigator (is that okay to have a favorite?!). She is progressing right before our eyes and I love it. We taught her the Plan of Salvation and talked a little bit about church. She hasn't been able to make it to church yet and we know that if she makes an effort to go that she will be blessed. I can't even remember what I said to her but I do know that I bore testimony of church attendance and promised her that she would receive strength to make it through her trials she's going through. It was pretty neat. Keep her in your prayers because we want to get her to church!

2. Ron: Oh man. I can't even adequately explain Ron to you guys! He is sooo hilarious. We took him with us to a member's home for dinner and then watched the Joseph Smith movie. THE SPIRIT. Oh man I could've cut it with a knife. So strong and so awesome. Afterwards, Ron was saying how he KNEW Joseph Smith was a true prophet and how he knows the Book of Mormon is true. His faith is stronger than ever and I am watching him learn to rely on His Savior. It's an amazing thing to watch someone learn to apply the Atonement in their life. He is still on date to be baptized November 14 and is hopefully getting his work schedule changed. Pray for him! I wish you all could know him. He's a special person and I'm the luckiest because I get to teach him!

3. Joy: She is a less active but we visit her every week. She is going through some really hard stuff right now and it breaks my heart. We sang hymns to her on Saturday and after we sang she just cried and cried and said how she doesn't think she can endure any more. It was one of those moments that you can't prepare for in companion study. You can't role play this kind of situation. So we went by the Spirit. And let me tell you. The Holy Ghost is real. It directed our thoughts and words and I couldn't tell you what we said. But I know that we bore testimony of the Atonement and that it is real. I know that Heavenly Father was wanting so badly to comfort His daughter at that time but He couldn't. So He sent us to her and impressed upon our minds words that He would say to her. Man... someone please tell me how I got so lucky to be here in Missouri serving my Heavenly Father?!

It was a pretty awesome week! Something that I've been thinking about this week comes from the Joseph Smith movie. There's a quote in it that says: "The Lord called Joseph in his weakness but qualified him for His work." That hit me hard! Most days I feel inadequate to be doing this work. Most days I wonder why Heavenly Father would call me, 19 year old Emily Hill, to share His perfect Gospel. But then I remember that I have the Atonement. And I can call upon Christ to strenghten me and in His strength, I can do ALL THINGS. We all can. Whether you are called to be the Bishop or the Relief Society president or a parent... Heavenly Father often calls us in our weakness so that He can mold us into something great and qualify us for the work He has asked us to do. I know that is true! 

I hope you all have the best week ever. CONFERENCE WEEK HOLLA!

Love and prayers your way!

XOXOXO

sister hill

#potosi4lyfe

STARTED FROM THE BOTTOM

Hello my dearest family and friends,

To find out the reason behind this title, you will have to read on....

I hope you've all had a great week although I bet it wasn't as great as mine because I spent mine serving the Lord in Potosi, MO! 

HIGHLIGHTS:

1. Sister Goeller: Sister Goeller is probably one of the greatest humans to ever step foot on this earth. Picture this: 5'10'' lady, slightly insane, has her phone dangling from one of those repelling clip things on her jeans, and has a PRAYER ROOM with pictures of Jesus taped all over the wall. Clearly she is legit. Anyway, she is a less active and we go visit her and read from the Book of Mormon (the usual). Well we were visiting and she just kept cussing. Hahahah but then she would say, "well... at least I didn't say THAT word..." classic. too classic.

2. We chalked the Plan of Salvation in the park! Maybe people went and looked at mormon.org after they saw it, or maybe they didn't, but to make myself feel better, I'm gonna say they did. 

3. Sis T and I were driving jamming out to MoTab (the usual as well) when we got a text saying we got a referral!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Okay people that is not real life. Good things like that don't happen to us very often so I literally just froze and was like "uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I think we just got a referral......?" So we're all freaking out and excited so we call the referral lady to see where this guy lives. Turns out he lives two hours out of our area. Heart wrenching but it's fine. We made some Elders' day by giving them the referral since it was in their area. Charity is one of our strengths :) 

4. Lix: Lix is basically Nielson's frozen custard's twin. And it's right by our apartment. SO GOOD I JUST CAN'T STOP. Don't worry, we go on brisk walks every morning to work it off!!!

5. The Wall: hahahahhahahahha okay so we go to lunch at this chinese buffet every Wednesday with our ward mission leader. He is the greatest. So anyway, I had heard some horror stories about the great wall restaurant so I went in expecting it to be straight up nasty but............... I loved it. And I'm like so embarassed to admit that because everyone makes it out to seem like the worst possible thing but I just can't hide my love for it. It's like when you love someone that no one wants to love but your feelings for them just can't be hidden. Yep, that's how I feel about The Wall. I'm in love I'm in love and I don't care who knows it!

6. MISSION CONFERENCE: wooooowwwww this was probably the greatest part of my week. Elder C. Scott Grow came and talked to us about missionary work (duh) but more importantly how our ward councils should revolve around missionary work. Okay no lie my mind was blown the entire day. And I got to see some of my MTC peeps. Shoutout to Hulme, McCubbins, and Hawkes. #districtFAM

7. Betty: Sweet Betty is a recent convert who is like 68 and super sick. Everytime we visit she says how she just wants God to take her home! Sooo yeah that's always a little awkward but I love her. She gave us $40 to go get three things for her from the dollar store. THREE. Literally her total was nothing but she wanted to make sure we had enough money hahahah bless her heart.

8. Taco Bell!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We went to Taco Bell for dinner on Saturday and it just filled my heart with joy. I know my family is rolling their eyes right now but just like with The Wall, my love for Taco Bell can't be hidden. Sister T loves it as much as I do so you can say that this companionship is definitely blessed. 

TEACHING:

1. Rose and Steve: They came to church yesterday!!! It was so great. On the way home Sis T and I were like "oh they are sooo getting baptized" and like fist bumping each other. Our cockiness got the best of us because we went over to their house to talk about church and all they said about it was that they were BORED. Ha. What. Okay I think I just sat there and didn't even know what to say to that........ but they said they will go again! So that's good. They are so awesome and really would be amazing members. They are always receptive of the messages we share with them so just keep praying that they can feel the Spirit when they go to church again! Oh and they sent us home with half a meatloaf and some italian beef? Our apartment smells like meatloaf but I don't care because free food!

2. Carolyn: Okay... here's the deal with Carolyn. I love her so much but she is not keeping her commitments so we may have to drop her which is no fun! We taught her about keeping the sabbath day holy and she totally agreed with everything we were teaching. She said that she would come to church and we told her we had a ride for her but she wanted to drive herself. BUT she didn't show up! I was so bummed! Hopefully we can meet with her this week and figure out what's going on. She's so awesome though!

3. Julie K: sweet sweet Julie K. She wants to be baptized so bad but she needs to get a divorce first. The only things is, she doesn't have money for a divorce? I don't know how that all works but long story short, she can't get baptized right now. But we continue to teach her because her desire is there! We taught her the Plan of Salvation and she was way into it! Keep her in your prayers... she is a cute lady! Oh she also has a little dog who sat on my lap the entire lesson. I know everyone is laughing right now because I AM NOT A DOG PERSON! But everyone here has dogs so I've had to get used to it. I will send a picture of me holding her dog. Yes holding the dog. Hence the title of this letter, started from the bottom, NOW I'M HERE. Miracles, people. Straight up miracles.

4. We went and tried this potential investigator's house. His name is David. We knocked and his two daughters answered. One of them looks like and talks like Holly! I dont know... there is something special about that home and family. I want to teach them so badly. I know that Heavenly Father led us there for a reason and I hope that it's because they are prepared to hear the Gospel. Keep David and his daughters in your prayers that their hearts may be open to our message.

It has been a great week! We tract a lot and tracting has now become like one of my top fears haha it's not my favorite thing but that's how we find people. I never would've thought that I would sign myself up for something that forced me to share my beliefs and talk with random people!!! But here I am and you know what? I LOVE IT. I've been thinking a lot about why I'm here. There are days when the work is hard and it's 5839209384 degrees and I wonder why in the world did I ever sign up for this! But, in those moments I like to reflect on why I did choose to come on my mission. I am here because I received an answer from my Heavenly Father that He needed me to go bring others unto Christ. It is so comforting to know that I am doing God's will for me. That knowledge gets me through the hard days. If I was out here for any other reason, it would be so much harder. But, because I know that being out here in the humid land of Missouri is God's plan for me, I am filled with hope and joy. Whether He is asking you to serve a mission or get married or continue your education... HE IS YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER. He knows what is best for you. Yes it can be so hard to submit your will unto His (trust me I know), but I can promise you that if you will do it with a smile on your face, that He will bless you. 

I love you all and keep you in my prayers each day. I'm so sorry BYU lost this weekend... maybe I wasn't as obedient as I should've been...jk...but for reals dang. Hopefully they can pick themselves up! 

Remember who you are and what you stand for and remember to turn to Heavenly Father!

XOXOXO ALWAYS!

THE LAND OF WALMART

Yes, the rumors are true... I am serving in Potosi, MO! Okay real talk for one second... culture shock was definitely going down on Wednesday. I just kept thinking to myself, "no. no no nooo people cannot live like this!" well they do but I love it here!! My companion is Sister Turpin and I love her so much. She is 20 and cheered at BYU. We get along great and I'm so glad I have her. We actually live in Desloge which is next to Potosi. So yeah, life is super fun! And I will say "you're welcome" to the BYU community for the amazing two football games. My sacrifice equals your enjoyment. So you are all welcome! Also Taysom went to my comp's high school so BYU quarterback hometown girls unite. That's probably the real reason they're doing so well!! 

Highlights from this week:

1. Leaving the MTC was so heartbreaking. Like I wanted to cry the whole day. I may or may not have a slight obsession with the MTC and am totally planning on begging them to let me work there when I get home. It's just the greatest place ever and ahhhhhhhhhh I love it. (This wasn't really a highlight but I just decided to throw it in there.)

2. I got off the plane in MO and instantly started sweating. HAHAHA welcome to humidity. I was like dying and the APs just stood there and laughed at us. And then I had to interview with President that night and I looked so haggard and NOT MY BEST and he literally told me and my comps to just go to bed at 9pm. It was so kind of him!

3. So there is a Walmart in my backyard. No joke. I'm moving up in the world.

4. I'm in a branch that has about 30 people in it hahaha I am not in Eagle anymore. 

5. There are legitimate kkk people here. In our area book it has a list of streets you're not supposed to walk on unless you want to die so that's fun!!!!!

5. TEACHING REAL PEOPLE!

Okay for some stories now... I have so many good ones so bear with me...

1. We were at an investigators house (Steve and Rose) and Steve said the prayer. This is how is went: "God, this is one of those OMG moments. Please help Rose and I to get along during the lesson." k......... you guys I was silently laughing through the whole prayer! Is that horrible?! Anyway, they are awesome though. They are married and are in their 40s probably? They are coming to church in a couple weeks with us! YAY! They absorb everything we are saying but are taking it soooo slow. Patience is key though!

2. Carolyn- she is one our investigators too. We were reading the BOM with her on Thursday and were reading about baptism. At the end of the lesson we set a date, Nov. 14! Pray she continues to have that desire!

3. Ron- Ron is the man! He has a date for Nov. 14 as well. Yesssssss. He is seriously a sponge. He just like absorbs everything we say and truly has a desire to follow Christ. We meet with him again on thursday so hopefully he still wants to get dunked!!!!!

4. Keith- okay Mom you might freak out a little idk. So on Thursday we went tracting. My first time! So we knocked on this door and this man with a full on beard, wearing only boxers, and with a total beer belly opens the door......................I just stood there like what the heck have I gotten myself into lol so anyway... we started talking and he believes in science not God and was trying to convince us to watch this science show? But he said we could come back! But then as we are leaving he watches us leave from his balcony and says, "that's a nice car you got there hehe" oh Keith. 

5. Yesterday after leaving a less actives, we talked with some of her neighbors. I still don't feel super comfortable teaching but I think I'm progressing. We were talking about church and I just opened my mouth and testified to them that going to church is powerful and will help them strengthen their relationship with Christ. They didn't accept our message but I walked away with a stronger testimony of church. It was cool for me.

6. We did service at the Marty's home... a family in the branch. They live in a legit log cabin. They have no plumbing, no electricity. #campers4lyfe And I need to mention that they have three kids. Their two boys both have mullets and like to hug. Yes they hugged me and I was super uncomfortable because hellooo that is against the rules but I embraced it haha oh and their boys are 2 of the 4 kids in the primary. I am so pumped for the primary program! hahaha

It has been a big, great week. I have gone through so much change this week but have also seen so much growth! When I first got out here, I questioned why I was here. The MTC was my happy place and I could've stayed forever (which is why Heavenly Father needed me english speaking because he had to get me out of my comfort zone asap. Not cool butttt I guess He knows best:)). Potosi was like so much change and shock all at once. BUT everytime I go into a home to teach a lesson, I am overcome with a feeling of peace and know that I am where I need to be right now. We invite our investigators to pray all the time and this week I have realized that I need to pray too! Prayer is our saving grace in this world when we feel like we have no idea what we're doing. I used to think of prayer as something I had to check off my list and looking back, I see how weird that was! Prayer is literally the greatest thing! We can literally talk to our Heavenly Father. What. so sweet. I have such a testimony of prayer. It is simple, but it is strong. Whenever you are wondering what to do or why you're doing something, drop to your knees and talk with Heavenly Father. He is begging us to talk with Him! So JUST DO IT! I am so grateful to be here in cute little Potosi. The Lord is seriously blessing me. 

I LOVE YOU ALL! Thank you for all the emails and prayers. You are all the best.

Email: emily.hill@myldsmail.net 

xoxoxoxoxo

sister hill

THE VOICE OF THE COUGARS

Okay to start off.. the title of this email is of utmost importance. Are you listening? Greg Wrubell's daughter is literally one of my teachers. Not even joking. And she served in Cade's mission! She told me what a great missionary he was. Reppin the family name well! I hope that when I get back from my mission, people will be able to say good things about me like she did about Cade!

Here's some of the more funny/awesome things that happened this week:

1. My district is hilarious. Like I'm talking they are literally my people. We all discuss our failures together and just laugh it off. Also we are not the greatest teachers yet........... hahaha so first let me tell you everyone in my district: Elder Atkin and Elder Hawkes, Elder McCubbins and Elder Edwards, Elder Nez and Elder McHood (going to the Orem mission so all my Utah people, THEY ARE IN YOUR MISSION! FEED THEM!), Sister Hill, Hulme, and Peel (oh yeah Sister Bird went home:( it's been rough). So anyway...Elder Atkin and Elder Hawkes are teaching a lesson. Their investigator asks them about the premortal life so instead of answering it, Elder Atkin starts teaching about the restoration. 30 minutes later, Elder Hawkes goes, "So to answer your question about the premortal life..." HAHAHA good times. And then Elder Nez and Elder McHood were teaching and their investigator asked them "How can the BOM strenghten my faith in Christ?" k side note- this
is like the most golden question an investigator could everrr ask you. But instead of answering it, Elder Nez went off on a tangent about the Plan of Salvation. #confused And then Sister Hulme and I were teaching and our inv didn't know a lot about God so naturally we start talking about the Godhead and how they're three separate beings blah blah blah. Basically the theme of our District is "keep it simple stupid" HAHA it's fine we are improving, I promise:)

2. People have asked me about the food. You know it's food so I can't really complain but I'll just say that I did have a hamburger that tasted just like an Arby's roast beef sandwich........ idk idc. I just eat what they put in front of me.

3. We are becoming such missionaries. We literally commit each other to eat two hot dogs at dinner. We'll just casually be sitting there and someone will be like, "Elder Nez, will you commit to eating two hot dogs? I know that by doing so, your hunger will lessen." We're always practicing.

Now for the awesome spiritual things:

1. Our investigator's name is Chris. He's probably like one of the most interesting people I've met and as my teacher Sister Jones would say: he needs Jesus in his life. Badly. So we went to our first lesson and planned to teach him about Christ and a little about the BOM. We get in there and you literally could've called me and Sister Hulme butter because we were seriously on a roll! I was feeling the spirit and testifying of the BOM and he stops me and goes, "Soooo... I was just kind of hoping to get to know you guys better today. Kinda like a no strings attached thing. Just like build a comfortable environment................................. oh also he wanted to meet with the missionaries. He contacted us. So yeah that was interesting. So we "built a comfortable environment." And then we taught him yesterday and he said he would READ THE BOM! so we will see if he actually did it tomorrow. Pray for him. He needs it.

2. Sunday was so good. Such a good change of pace. We watched the Character of Christ by Elder Bednar. I know every single missionary always talks about it but I'm going to add to it. I left with a desire to turn outward like Christ. I am not good at turning outward and being selfless and so that's a goal I have set for myself. 

3. I have really come to know that Christ is at the center of everything. Baptism is not the end goal for our investigators. Becoming like God is. And we do that by accessing the Atonement. How do we access the Atonement?? By having faith, repenting, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. CHRIST IS IN ALL THOSE THINGS! And so after each lesson we talk as a companionship and ask ourselves, "Did we help them come closer to Christ? Did we increase their desire to follow Christ?" Emulate Christ in all you do! Because He is literally the center of what we believe.

This week was SO AWESOME! I can't believe that I get the opportunity to represent Christ out in St. Louis for the next 18 months. Yes, the days are long, but I have felt God's love and have applied the Atonement more this week than ever before in my life. I am so blessed to have the opportunity to do this. I challenge all of you to apply the Atonement in your life this week. Lean on Him for healing, strenghth, comfort, etc. He will help you! 

I love you all! Thanks for the packages, letters, and emails! They are all sooo appreciated. You can continue to send me Dear Elders until Sunday:) Those make our day! Thank you for all the prayers and support. They are felt!

LOVE YOU! 
Sister Hill

WHAT THE HECK I'M ON A MISSION

FAM!!!!!

okay seriously I have been dying to email since the day I got here! Life is CRAZY. they give us no time to do anything so hopefully I can send some pictures to you today but if not then probably on Wednesday if I have more time since that's my p-day! So yeah the MTC is great. Don't get me wrong, it is sooooo hard. Like the hardest thing I've ever done, but this truly is the work of the Lord. Before I forget, I wanted to share some funny/awesome/awkward things that have happened since I got here:

1. My first night here.. like five hours into the mission... my comp and I were talking about how we could lie and say that we are from a different country. idk why but we were tired and that's what we were talking about haha so anyway I said I could pass for Icelandic and then I was like "wait what language do they speak there?" And some elder turns around and is like "they speak Dutch" and I was all, "Okay, thanks elder!" And then he goes, "YOU ACTUALLY BELIEVED THAT!" and just like starts dying laughing. And then I realized that they speak flipping ICELANDIC. Who would've thought. Sister Hill coming in with a bang.

2. There are four sisters in my branch. That's it and like 20 elders. hahahaha yaaa odds are in my favor........ totally kidding! 

okay so my comp is named Sister Hulme. She's great and is from Utah. Then there are two other sisters in our District, Sister Peel and Sister Bird. Both from Utah. Diverse, I know. My district is awesome. I love the elders! They all just graduated and so they're like little babies haha but they're so funny and we all fail together and laugh about it :) OH and also my comp and I are STLs! (sister training leaders) I know it's like a way bigger deal out in the field but it's a good experience for us. We are like girl DLs. And we get to help train the newbies on wednesday so that will be fun! And we have a phone... but if you call the number it will hang up on you. So don't even try haha 

This has been a crazy three days and my brain is fried but I am so happy. Know that I am great and am progressing in the Gospel more than I ever have before. I feel the Savior with me always and I'm so grateful for that. This is truly God's work and I've come to know that. We only have 1 investigator right now and she's not even techinically a real one, but I love her so much already! It's amazing how I am beginning to see people as God sees them. SO COOL!

K well I will write you guys a letter soon and send that. Sorry I don't have much time. I will try and send pictures wednesday. I love you all and am grateful for your letters and everything! SEND ME MORE THEY MAKE MY DAY!!!!! Remember to pray and rememeber that you can do all things through Christ. He's amazing so LET HIM IN!

LOVE YOU TIMES 1000000000.

PS- Mom... you should send me a burner phone? I heard those are better to call you with at the airport... then I just throw it away. Just let me know if you are and then I won't buy a calling card. xoxoxoxoxxo

-- 

Sister Hill