SISTER KNIGHT'S FIRST TACO BELL

So I heard that if you write a missionary snail mail you automatically get into the celestial kingdom....................................................................

JK don't quote me on that but on the realz... you do get blessings so............... write me. plz. plz. plz. 

I just had to start out with that while I still had your attention lol 

Okay anyway..... this week was so rad in Potosi.

Weekly Highlights:

1. s"NO"w: it finally snowed. School was cancelled for three days. What is this? I was like honestly a little hurt because it has to snow like ten feet before they cancel school in Idaho. But here... it literally snowed two inches and everyone was like "oh dang cancel school, cancel the RS activity, cancel everything" no joke. That is not an exaggeration. The snow made me so grateful to be a car missionary though #blessed because can you imagine riding a bike in the snow when it's like five degrees? No. 

2. Musical number #3: so the zone leaders texted us and asked us to do ANOTHER musical number at zlt. lol. That's literally three times in a row. I'm like... wait, isn't anyone else in the zone musical or nah? It's ok though because Sister Knight just sang with another sister. Hehe I love having musical comps. But yeah zlt was SO GOOD. Ohhhh myyy goodnesssss. We also got to watch this world wide missionary broadcast. IT WAS SO LEGIT. I'm so sorry most of you couldn't watch it because you're not missionaries... they talked a lot about how our purpose is to "teach repentance and baptize converts" amen.

3. SIS. KNIGHT'S FIRST TACO BELL: okay. January 21, 2016. The proudest day of my lyfe. Baby g was forced to eat Taco Bell by me!  It's like watching your child take it's first steps. It was so monumental. Her life will never be the same. 

4. Chili cookoff: I got to be a judge with Elder Stoddard for the ward chili cookoff!!! It was so intense though, people get so serious about their chili. 

Teaching Highlights:

1. Dennis: when you realize that your recent convert is like the chillest most perfect recent convert there ever was....seriously though. He's already in 3 nephi. What is this? He was supposed to read the Book of Mormon in 100 days but instead he's gonna read it in like 50. ARE YOU SERIOUS. Dennis is so aWeSoMe.

2. Julie K: we had such a good lesson with her! We talked about fasting and watched "The hope of God's light." We talked about how we've tried to get her divorce OUR way but now we need to do it GOD'S way, and we'll get help by fasting. She said she would fast with us on February fast Sunday eeeeeeep! 

3. William: we taught him the first half of the commandments and he said he understood them all! William is so precious! It's so cool because he has soooo much real intent. He fully intends to act on the invitations we leave with him. You just know that he knows that it's all true. He is really progressing and awesome. We are so grateful for him!

4. Hayden: just in case any of you were on the edge of your seat wondering what happened with all this.... we decided to drop him. He kept cancelling on us and we are trying to build up God's kingdom in this area and by having him take up so much of our time and then to keep cancelling, wasn't allowing us to do that. So we dropped him and to be honest it is such a relief. I'm a huge believer in dropping and then finding golden gators! It happens more times than not! Maybe someday he will be ready to accept the gospel fully and completely!

We had ward conference yesterday and here's a quote from our stake president that I loved:

"Any two of us compared is not that different when compared to God."

It's soooo trueeeee. But I know I forget this a lot. It's easy to look at people and be like "oh they will never accept the gospel." Or to find fault with others. That's a weakness of mine. But let's all try to remember this and LOVE everyone we come in contact with. It will bring you JOY. I promise :)

Also how have I been out for five months already? idk idk idk it's scary.

I hope you all have the best week ever! It's the last week of January so make it a good one :)

xoxo,

sister hill

Idaho Sisters

 Sister Hill and Sister Knight heading to Zone Leader Training

A SURRY in a members house!

YOU'RE A BAD DECISION

(Letter sent January 18, 2016)

Heyuhhhh.

Oh wow this week was super weird lol!

Basically yeah. Probably gonna be a short email............. but its chill. 

You know what? At the end of the day, we are alive, we live next to a Taco Bell, and it's still double digits outside. So #blessed

Okay weekly highs from the good ole pot oh sigh:

1. Pizza kitchen: so we went over to this member's house in Farmington for dinner with Audre and they literally live in a mansion and have a PIZZA KITCHEN. Like who does that?! It was literally the most legit thing I've ever seen. Life goal: to have a pizza kitchen.

2. Baby greenie: my baby g isn't the newest member of the district anymore! Our fearless DL got himself a greenie. Awwwwwwwwwwwwww. Fun timez. Last night we were talking to him on the phone and Elder Seamons aka baby g goes "vanilla ice cream is my favorite" and I said "bad decision" and he goes "YOU'RE A BAD DECISION" and then Elder Peterson was like "sooooooo...." lol I was like ouch........ fav quote this transfer.

Teaching Highlights:

1. Julie K: she read 1 nephi 9 on her own (with us sitting there) but still she actually read it on her own. I was just like THANK YOU 4 THIS MIRACLE. She also informed us that we are "normal people" I was like............ thanks?................. lol she is crazy and I love her. 

2. William: whata guy. We taught him the good ole Gospel Of Jesus Christ. My fav lesson. William is so precious. His heart is so pure and his intent is so good. He may not be all the way there, but God knows his heart! He is literally pumped to get baptized. He cannot wait. My fav quote from him: "most people think I'm 48, I'm not, im 56" lol okay. Also he came to church yesterday. #CRYINGLITERALTEARSBECAUSEWEGOTHIMARIDE He fell asleep in gospel principles but its chill. He said he liked it........ at least he was there and able to feel of the spirit!

And that's it for this week! Lotsa stuff has gone down and there are days when the work is super hard. This week I have been thinking about blessings and what blessings I have been given for serving a mission, and the major one this week is my district. 

WE ARE SERIOUSLY SO CLOSE ITS UNREAL. I thank Heavenly Father everyday for letting me serve around these people at this time because I need them! Once again, I can't imagine not coming on my mission because I would not have met these people. I have met some of my best, best friends because of my mission and I'm so grateful for that. 

God is good :)

xoxo,

sister hill

NINETEEN...AND A HALF

Hey fammmm.

Yesterday was my half birthday. Remember when we used to get each other presents from the dollar store? hahaha

Good times. I'm nineteen and a half now! Growing up so fast I can't believe it.

Anyway on to more important things... transfers are this week but good news... Sister Knight and I are both staying! (shocker) Transfer calls are the best when you're training because you already know what's gonna happen. It just hit me today that I only have one transfer left in Potosi. I am spending a third of my mission in this area... which will make it hard to leave! It will be a great transfer!

Weekly Highlights:

1. Mission Conference: HOLY COW MISSION CONF WAS LEGIT I'M STILL IN SHOCK OKAY. So Elder Rasband and Elder Martino came. Elder Rasband is in the Quorum of the 12 if you didn't know already... it was so good! I just sat there with my mind constantly being blown the whole time. He talked a lot about the inspiration behind our mission calls, which was so good for all of us to hear. He talked about how Pres Morgan is inspired and how he sends us to areas where God needs us. How ironic that this was the day transfer doctrine was being sent out ;) It's so true though. Prez is the coolest person I know. I love him and Momma Morgan SO MUCH. Elder Rasband was like "missionaries, stop complaining about your areas and your companions!" haha Elder Rasband is so cool! He was cracking jokes the whole time. Also Elder Martino knows where Eagle is! He was like "what stake are you in?" and I was like "Eagle" and he was like "oh yes! great stake!" and I was like heck yeahhhhhh it is. I also got to see Sister Turpin. I repeat. I got to see my best friend. Pretty sure all the Elders were like rolling their eyes because we ran to each other and had to sit by each other obviously. It was the best day of my life. (okay that's dramatic) It was the best day of this transfer :)

2. My future home: so on exchanges this week, Sister Sommer and I went to see Joy. Joy invited us to come back with our future family and raise them in the nursing home...................................sorry Joy I don't really wanna live in a nursing home but......................................lol it's the thought that counts amiright?

Teaching Highlights:

1. Hayden: so we, along with Elder Peterson, felt that it was the best thing to hold off on his baptism. We just don't really feel like he has a testimony. So anyway... we got to break the news to Hayden on Wednesday..................... I never want to do that again. I did not know what we were going to say... I was so nervous. Thank goodness for the Elders though... they talked to Hayden with us and it went so well. We were all so in tune with the Spirit. Hayden just sat there after we told him and was super caught off guard. The Spirit was SO strong the entire time we were teaching. I learned a lot about how the Spirit works. I am so grateful that the Elders and us were worthy to have the Holy Ghost with us to prompt us in what to say. We truly taught BY the Spirit. It was really cool. And luckily, he seemed to take it well. (I had a dream that he threw a chair at me, which didn't happen in real life so that's good! #winning)

2. Dennis: I've said it before, I'll say it again. Dennis is why I'm on a mission! He is literally the dream investigator/recent convert. We taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ aka my favorite lesson to teach :) He told us a story about how he felt the Spirit this week and it's so cool. He's been sharing it so I'm gonna share it with you guys! So Dennis used to chew tobacco. But a year and a half ago he quit, but kept chewing some herbal stuff because it filled the void. It wasn't breaking the Word of Wisdom or anything, but it was still kind of a nasty habit. So anyway... earlier last week, he was walking his dog and was chewing some of this herbal stuff when he heard a voice tell him "get rid of it now!" He said he stood there and then thought "nah it's only $2 a can..." but the first voice he heard was so clear and strong that he reached into his pocket, got his can of herbal chew and threw it into the woods!!!! Okay it gets better. He then went home and got rid of all his cans inside the house. He realized that it was the Holy Ghost telling him to do that and I totally agree. IT WAS! The Spirit is amazing. Dennis has taught me so much. I'M SO PROUD OF HIM! He's taught me that I need to have enough faith to go and do what God needs and wants me to do. He's totally gonna be a bishop or something one day. You heard it here first!!! The Gospel of Jesus Christ changes people. It seriously does. And if you doubt that, just remember Dennis. SO COOL!

I don't have much to say this week but I will leave you with a quote:

"The Lord has called you for what He needs to do THROUGH YOU, and that will happen only if you do it His way" Elder Renlund

Retweet. It's true. Be an instrument in His hands this week :)

xoxo,

sister hill

FLOOD OF 93

(Letter sent January 4, 2016)
Hey fam.

So on Wednesday I get a call from Audre who then says "sooo uhhh... your mom just called me" and I'm thinking that there's like some family emergency right! and then she says "she wanted to make sure you were safe"

Yep that sounds like my mama ;) 

We have had CRAZY floods here. Okay kinda... in Potosi it hasn't been bad but down in Cape (where our stake center is) and up by St. Louis is SO BAD. So bad that the highway was closed. Completely shut down for 24 hours. That's crazy. People keep telling us "this is worse than the FLOOD OF 93!!!" idk idk All I know is that Cape zone which is usually referred to as "the land down under" was literally under water this week! lol fun times!!!

Weekly Highlights:

1. Taco Bell: one of our stewardship questions at District Meeting this week was "where's your favorite place to hang out?" everyone's saying all these outdoorsy things like the mountains or the lake, and then Elder Clark says "Betos" and I was like YES THANK YOU. And then I said "um... Taco Bell" hahaha I was like yessss Elder Clark you understand me. Mexican food for lyfe. By the way, transfers are next week and I'm probably gonna cry because I don't want anyone to get transferred. My district is my family out here! Prez can't take them away! #crying

2. NYE: we broke the rules and stayed up til midnight....................... jk who do you think I am! An unrighteous missionary?! Nah we were in bed by 10, but we did get to go to the Dewaal's and hang out with them that night. We played LDS pictionary (always keepin it missionary approps) and it was super fun. HOW IS IT 2016? LIKE WASN'T IT JUST 2010 YESTERDAY? 

3. Make a u-turn: so we were casually trying to find a members house and were on the highway and our super awesome gps tells me to make a u-turn. ON THE HIGHWAY. Okay chill just give me one sec.......... no that is not possible. It's a miracle we even find our way around. I'm bad at directions and our gps is too!

4. Sorry mister I'm a sister: okay you've all seen those cheesy sister missionary quotes floating around social media. Well like seriously we almost had to use one the other night! We were visiting Julie K. and her step son ish (not technically but yeah sorta) was there and we were leaving and were like "let us know if you need anything, you have our number!" And then Bobby (step son) goes "Well I don't have your number........." Julie K. was just smh-ing so hard and I was like um k............. well bye. And then we left. hashtag sorry mister we are sisters.

Teaching Highlights:

1. Dennis: we taught Dennis the first recent convert lesson: the restoration. Okay 4 real. I'm gonna have the restoration so memorized when I go home it's not even funny. We teach it alllllll the timeeeee. It's a good thing I love it :)

2. Rose and Steve: we dropped them. Here's what happened. We were going to go to lunch with them and Steve texted us and said "Don't even bring your Book of Mormon." They just aren't ready right now. One day...

3. Jessica: OUR NEW INVESTIGATOR!!! Get pumped get pumped get pumped. She is in her 20's and is married (already living LOC holla). She teaches art at a high school. She has no religious background but says it's maybe something she would want. We taught the restoration and taught her how to pray. She said the closing prayer and it was so powerful. She is SO prepared. Holy cow. I love teaching people how to pray! Because they always say such simple prayers, but those are the best. Nothing brings the Spirit more than an investigator sincerely praying for the first time. 

4. William: bless his soul. We taught him the Plan of Salvation. He says he understood it but idk how much he really did. I think his desire and intent is SO good though. He did pray to Jesus tho......something didn't quite click when we went over prayer last week :) We are really trying to get him a ride to church because he wants to go. Also we set a baptism date for Feb. 7! So that's cool.

5. Hayden: we taught Hayden with the Elders and it went really really well! We taught the first half of Laws and Ordinances to him. It was so good to have the Elders there, for 2 reasons: #1: they were able to teach him about the priesthood in a more understandable way because they actually have it haha #2: he didn't talk about dating for once!  #MIRACLE We also went over the baptism interview questions with him. I have been so stressed out over Hayden because everyone was trying to tell me that he's not ready but the Elders assured us that they think he is ready which made me feel better! And he really is. Nothing that he said was a red flag or anything. So I'm super pumped for him! Sunday will be a great day! (Also can we just appreciate the fact that he gave Sister Knight a cross necklace? I'm still laughing about it one day later. haha! Oh Hayden.)

I have really been thinking about joy, since that is my goal for 2016! I read a conference talk yesterday by President Monson called "Keep the Commandments" from October 2015. He tells a story of a couple who began breaking commandments and got so deep into sin. The wife wrote a letter with her testimony of the Atonement in it and this is part of it:

"How does someone go from being one of the lost sheep and gripped by [sin], to this peace and happiness we now feel? How does that happen? The answer... is because of a perfect gospel, a perfect Son and His sacrifice for me... where there was darkness, there is now light. Where there was despair and pain, there is JOY and hope. We have been infinitely blessed by the change that can only come through repentance made possible by the Atonement of Jesus Christ."

We all have times in our lives --some more severely than others-- when we feel like a lost sheep. It's inevitable and it's okay. Because we have a way to make it back to the fold. 

Think about those times in your life when you have stayed close to the Savior. When you have followed closely the commandments. 

Now think about those times when you maybe haven't been so close to the Savior. Or maybe haven't followed the commandments as closely. 

If you are being completely, one hundred percent honest with yourself, when were you the happiest?

I would hope that you would be able to recognize that it's those times in life when we are close to the Savior and when we follow the commandments closely that we feel the most JOY. 

USE THE ATONEMENT. Holy cow I am begging all of you to use it. That's your way back to the fold. That's your way to be with your family forever. That's your way to lasting happiness and peace. Yeah, the world offers temporary happiness. Yeah, the world looks good. But I PROMISE YOU IT'S NOT. 

I know I'm a missionary and I'm trained to say this right?! ;) 

Or maybe I'm saying it because it's important and because I KNOW it's true. I've used the Atonement and trust me, it works.

Whether you are deep in sin or just slightly off the right path. USE THE ATONEMENT. 

Start today and get yourself back to where you want to be.

Oh my goodness I love the Savior. I love the Atonement. And... I love being a missionary :) because I get to help people access it and apply it to their lives. Living the gospel brings great joy but sharing it brings an even greater one. 

I always said that I was serving a mission to give back to Heavenly Father but in reality, He has given me more than I could ever ask for. This JOY is not possible to explain! 

I hope you all have a great week and think of one way you can better apply the Atonement to your life :) 

love,

sister hill

WELL THAT'S GOOD

(Letter sent December 28, 2015)

Hi family. 

This week was sooo funnnnn. Every week is fun when you're a missionary, though ;)

Here's what went down this week...

Weekly highlights:

1. Best phone call of my life: okay so on Monday guess who got to call me?????????? Sister Turpin. OH MY WORD. Bless the zl's and the dl's who let this happen. We got to talk about Dennis' baptism and it was the greatest ever.

2. kingsolomonwells: so we were casually  tracting and this lady let us in but then all we talked about was her boyfriend who is in jail for like 10 years! Sketchy.  His name is king solomon wells. imma steal that for my first born. jk.I love missouri people!!!

3. Christmas Eve!!!!!: okay best Christmas Eve of my life. Not even joking. The elders and us went over to the Hargiss' and we got to play apples to apples.  Never play that with missionaries who haven't played board games in a long time. You woulda thought we were at Disneyland or something. I haven't laughed so hard in a looooong time. WE HAVE THE BEST ELDERS. They are my fam out here. Also our fearless DL Elder Peterson told us this story of how they were tracting and a lady opened her door and goes "I don't want anything" and he goes "well that's good!" HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA so yeah that's our district theme now: WELL THAT'S GOOD. 

4. Christmas: Christmas was sooo funnnn. We "slept in" until 7:30 and opened presents and watched some movies and then went to the Dewaals to skype! I love my family. You guys are the real mvps.

5. Wut: the Moores bought us groceries and TWO QUARTS of lix for christmas. hashtag blessed. hashtag hope I don't grow out of my skirts. hashtag too late. hashtag jk. hashtag I did ten squats this morning. hashtag I'm good til May. 

Teaching Highlights:

1. William: so William is our new investigator. He lives alone which means we get to teach him outside. So naturally it was storming when we went to go see him. I legit thought we were gonna get struck by lightning. Obviously we are doing something right because we didn't YAY! He's pretty old and gets off topic reallyyyyy easily but you know... he is prepared! We taught the restoration and invited him to be baptized. He said yes. #chill

2. Julie K: she still hasn't read the Book of Mormon. We watched the restoration dvd and she totally compared herself to Joseph Smith. I was like hehe you go girl. She told us how the missionaries found her and how she came to know that the church is true. She told us she wanted to feel the spirit again and we were like then read! and pray! then she told us she had never been taught to pray.......... missionary fail. We just assumed she had been taught to because she's been meeting with missionaries for sooo long! So we taught her how to and she was like "you know.. I might actually say the prayer next week!" YESSSS. That is huge for her you guys. I was like wutttt! Julie has such a sincere desire to follow Christ. I love her a lot and am thankful for her because she has forced me to teach by the spirit :) because I never know what is gonna happen before her lessons haha 

3. Tracting: we did a lot of tracting this week and handed out a ton of Christmas pass along cards and we found sooo many potentials! It's amazing who God will place into our path. I know God is aware of me and loves me because everytime we tract, we find someone who is prepared to hear the gospel!

Okay who's pumped for 2K16?!!!!! 

I AM! Because it will be my only full year on a mission :) That's hecka cool.

I've been thinking a lot about goals and the new year. Obviously because it's New Year's this week! Today I read a scripture in 2 nephi 2:25 that says:

"Men are, that they might have JOY."

#truethat. God did not place us here on earth to be miserable. That would make no sense at all. He placed us here to learn and to grow and yes, to face trials,  but to also feel joy. Pure joy and happiness can only be found by living the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's the only way. Richard G. Scott said:

"I witness that with faith in the Savior and obedience to His teachings, happiness never ends, but sadness does."

Happiness never ends when we follow the Savior. neeevvveerrrr. idk about you but I want never ending happiness. I know I always say it but being a missionary has brought me SO much joy. And it's because I get to devote all of my time and energy to learning about and teaching others about our Savior. That's why I'm so happy. But you don't have to be a missionary to feel that joy. Anyone can feel it, as long as we are living the gospel. It's that easy :)

My theme for 2016 is JOY. I am going to make this the happiest year of my life.

And I challenge each of you to do the same. I don't know what 2016 has in store for each of you, but I do know that as long as you put the Savior first, no matter what happens, this can be the happiest year of your life, as well.

I love you all and hope you have a great week!

xoxo,

sister hill