Transfer Calls & Christmas!

Hi everyone!

So after serving six months in the Moreland Ward, I am finally getting transferred to the Canby 2nd Ward! (Canby is about 40 miles south of Portland) I am going to be serving with Elder Prestgard, who came out the same time I did. I didn't know him in the MTC, but we've played basketball a couple of times together and he is a cool guy so I'm excited to serve with him. I will also be the District Leader over there AND we get a car!!! Hallelujah!! I'm super excited to be able to go meet and teach new people!!

At church on Sunday, Bishop was conducting in sacrament meeting and somehow he knew I was getting transferred so he called me up and asked me to bear my testimony. It was kinda scary, but it was nice to thank everyone for their love and support and to bear my testimony to them one last time. It has been awesome serving here in the Moreland Ward and I am so grateful for all the experiences I have had and the people I have met. Couldn't have had a better first six months on my mission!

So before I talk about Christmas, I have to talk about how on Wednesday I ran into Spencer and Cam (two of my best friends from college)!! We got some lunch and they had time to kill so we took them to go see our investigator, Gilbert. We had a great discussion with him and Gilbert loved them. Gilbert will be getting baptized very soon. He says, he is "waiting for God to tell him when". It was cool being able to see them and show them the area. Shoutout to both of them!!

Christmas Eve we went over to the McDonald's and they had a ton of family over and did a white elephant gift exchange that we participated in. I ended up with a beanie and Elder Giles ended up with some suppositories hahahaha. 

Christmas morning we were able to Skype home!! It was great, but weird seeing everyone. It was also bittersweet, cause now I can't Skype home until Mother's Day. But it was awesome nonetheless. The rest of the morning the entire Zone went to breakfast at a member's house so that was fun. Then Elder Giles and I had dinner and played games at the Kohler Family's house. It was a different Christmas, but I enjoyed it. Thank you to everyone who sent cards, letters, emails, and packages!! I appreciate it so much! Thank you!!

Saturday and Sunday were spent having last minute lessons and saying goodbye to everyone. Lots of pictures! 

Jack, nicest homeless guy ever ...

Bro. Stokes, the Ward Mission Leader ...  he says he's smiling in this picture :)

 Gilbert at his record store ...

The McDonalds ...

The Tupou Family gave Tyler a lei at his goodbye ceremony ...

Tyler will miss his monthly trip to Costco for hot dogs with Bro. Christiansen! 

Tyler posing with his friend, Joseph Yeates for one last picture ... 

Tyler, Cam & Spencer at Gilbert's record store ...

Have a great week!

Elder Hill

Merry Christmas!!!

Hi everyone!

This week was different than most weeks. It was full of service and Christmas events.

Tuesday
Tuesday we helped Sister Scott move from one apartment to another and we did that for most of the day. We also went with a lot of other missionaries to go caroling at a care center so that was fun.

Wednesday
Wednesday we were walking down the street and there was a homeless guy sitting on the fence and he started yelling at us to come over. So we go over there, and we started talking to him. His name was Hathaway and he began telling us a story of how he had a samurai sword fight in our church parking lot the other night, and how he carries his swords in his cello case. It was definitely interesting haha, but then he started asking us about why we don't smoke or drink and we taught him the Word of Wisdom and he said that's good advice so at least it ended well. Wednesday we also had a lesson with Gilbert, getting him ready for his baptismal interview Thursday. He was getting cold feet and said he wasn't sure if he wanted to do it, but we had a good lesson with him on baptism and he said he wanted to do it. 

Thursday

Thursday we had a few lessons and did some more caroling with the Ward. If only I could actually sing haha. Gilbert had his interview in the evening and we went over right before he had it and we walked in and he said, "are you ready, cause I was born ready.".. and it went great!! Now he just has to pick a date to be baptized and he said he might want to do it on Christmas haha so that will be exciting.

Friday

Friday was the Mission Christmas party! It was awesome seeing friends from other Zones and from the MTC. Our Mission is very very small geographically so you get to know a lot of other missionaries and the entire Mission came to the party. There were musical numbers and skits that people put on, it was so much fun. In the evening we had dinner with Ron and Gloria Jean McDonald and they took us out to a really nice seafood place as a Christmas present. It was delicious and we got a huge dessert. I ate so much I could barely move, it was a Christmas miracle that I could walk. 

Cakes our recent convert, Carissa made for the Mission Christmas party!! 

Huge dessert served at the Mission party ...

Tyler's Zone at the party ...

Saturday

Saturday we did a lot more service helping the Stake move some stuff from the nativity, and then we helped a family in our Ward move a bunch of furniture. It was nice to do service for different people. We had our Ward Christmas party in the evening! It was super fun talking and mingling with everyone, and there were a lot of non-members there too so that was good. I'm gonna miss this Ward, seeing as I will probably get transferred after this week. I have been here for six months and have made a lot of strong friendships, so it'll be hard saying goodbye.

Sunday

Sunday we had dinner with the Francis'. I think they are my favorite family in the Ward ...them or the McDonald's! They had us over for dinner and they told us to stay to help them put up/decorate their tree and play pinball with them. It was a lot of fun! I'm gonna miss them! 

The Francis Family (Blair, Sis. Francis, Bro. Francis, Tyler, Ian and his wife)

Tyler & Sis. Gillette

Merry Christmas!! Thank you a bunch for the cards and packages!!

Elder Hill


Tyler's highlights this week!

*Transfers calls are this Saturday and I think I will be leaving:(

*I know I talk about the rain a lot, but they said that it might break the record for most consecutive days with rain. It's rained every single day this month. *I get to Skype the fam on Christmas!! So exciting!!!

O Little Town of Bethlehem ....

Hi everyone!

Here's what happened in the OPM this past week ...

Tuesday
Tuesday was our P-day and we went downtown with some of the Sisters and another companionship of Elders and played glow in the dark mini golf! It was awesome. Downtown Portland is crazy. In the evening we had dinner with Dennis and Jackie McDonald and two of Gayle's daughters, Tamra and Shannon! If you remember, Gayle was the new convert who recently passed away, and now two of her daughters are starting to look into the Church and learn more. We taught the Plan of Salvation to them and talked about eternal families. One of them said that they want to start taking the lessons, but the other is moving soon so she is busy with that. BUT, she is moving to our Ward so we will be helping her with the move and can make that connection!

Wednesday

Wednesday we had lessons with a couple of our new investigators! We are taking it slow with them and just shared a Christmas message with each of them, but we did get return appointments! The huge "Joy to the World" event for our Stake started! They decked out the entire gym to make it look like the streets of Bethlehem, and everyone is welcome to come look at it! They have choirs and groups doing musical performances throughout the day, it's awesome. So we go there and show people around and help set-up or talk to people. That was Wednesday, Thursday, and some of Friday. We also took some sweet pics at the photo booths haha. 

Nativity photo booth with Elder Davies 

Stake Center - Joy to the World

Stake Center - Streets of Bethlehem

Stake Center ...

Stake Center ...

Photo booth with Elder Giles and Sisters Staley & Russell

Tyler with the Sisters, Elder Giles and Sister Scott

Photo booth - Tyler is Mary :) 

Nativity ...

Friday

Friday I went on an exchange with our Zone Leader, Elder Bishop, and I went to their area. Elder Bishop is 27 and he played baseball in college so it was cool talking to him about that. We tracted and taught a couple lessons in his area, but nothing too exciting. We got along pretty well!

Tyler & Elder Bishop

Saturday
Saturday I was back in Moreland and Elder Giles and I went over to Tamra's house to help her put up Christmas lights. While we were doing that, it started pouring rain but we finished anyway since we had to go somewhere soon. After we finished, it looked like we had gone swimming haha. From there, we went to a lesson with our new investigator, Gwendilynn! We knocked on her door a couple weeks ago, she told us to come back, but we hadn't been able to catch her at home until now. We went over there with a member and she let us in. So it was our first sit down lesson with her and it went really well! She's an older black woman with dreads and she's from downtown LA. She works at a perfume shop at a club in downtown Portland. She is such a nice lady, with an incredibly strong testimony in Jesus Christ. So we focused on how we are Christians and believe in Christ as well. We didn't want to push the Restoration or Joseph Smith on her because we planned to just make our discussion Christ-centered, but the entire time I kept getting the prompting to give her a Book of Mormon. At the end of the lesson, I finally pulled one out of my bag and I asked her if she has ever heard of or read from the Book of Mormon. She said no but that she has wanted to! I gave it to her and she said that she is going to read it and that we can come back on Saturday and see how she liked it. It was an awesome first lesson! Spirit was strong!

Sunday
Nothing too exciting happened Sunday other than church meetings and then in the evening we had a lesson with Gilbert! And guess what?! He is having his baptismal interview on Thursday!!!! We had a great lesson with him and at the end he said, "let's schedule the interview."  He has to get a special interview for certain circumstances, but we hope all will go well and we are praying that it will work out! Beyond excited!!

Miss you all! Have a great week!!

Elder Hill


Tyler's Hints & Highlights this Week!

* Haven't seen the sun in a week and a half. It has rained every day for like 2 weeks:(

* Scripture of the week is 2 Nephi 7:6-8:

6 I gave my back to the smiter, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. I hid not my face from shame and spitting. 

7 For the Lord God will help me, therefore shall I not be confounded. Therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.

8 And the Lord is near, and he justifieth me. Who will contend with me? Let us stand together. Who is mine adversary? Let him come near me, and I will smite him with the strength of my mouth. 

This is one of my favorites because it tells us to be humble but to always stand for what we believe in and to never compromise, and the Lord will help us do that.

*We took Christmas card pictures with Jeff

Christmas Season!

Hello everyone!

Can't believe it's almost Christmas! 

Monday
Monday for P-day we went to a lot of thrift stores and went shopping for Christmas stuff haha. We found some sweet Christmas ties and socks.

Tuesday 

Tuesday we were able to go to the temple! I love going to the temple! There is an incredible Spirit you can feel, along with prayers and questions that can be answered!! Plus we took some cool pics. We had a couple of lessons in the evening with Caroline Scott and Rowan!

Wednesday
Wednesday we had a special Christmas Zone meeting with all the missionaries in the Zone. We talked about how we can increase our efforts and be effective during the holiday season. It was a great meeting! After the meeting, I went on an exchange with the Young Single Adult Ward companionship. I went with Elder Hanegan to their area and Elder Beamer came to Moreland with Elder Giles. Elder Hanegan and I taught two lessons to a girl who was recently baptized and a less-active member. It's so weird teaching people that are the same age as you compared to people who are usually way older. It's cool to be able to talk to the young single adult people and teach them because you can relate to them and talk to them about what they're doing in their lives. So that was fun, and I was with Elder Hanegan the rest of the day and in the morning until we changed back at 1 pm the next day!

Thursday 

Thursday we did a lot of tracting and finding so it wasn't too exciting and no one was really interested. Nothing too exciting to report on Thursday and Friday.

Saturday 

Saturday we had a Zone service project in the morning where we helped this lady redo her entire yard. It was fun working with all of the other missionaries and helping the people out with their yard. After that we went over to Rowan and Brother Roberts' house to play Parcheesi. It was the first time I have ever played and it was pretty fun! Then we had a nice Christmas lesson with them. Later, we went over to Gilbert's and we had the best lesson with him! We talked a lot about him and what's been going on and then he brought up baptism. He said that he believes everything, but just wants to know for sure. So we read Mosiah 18:8-10 in the Book of Mormon with him. He read it out loud and he started crying. The Spirit was so strong! He said that's pretty amazing, and we testified to him the blessings that will be poured out upon him when he takes the next step and commits. He then took us home and when I was getting out of the car he said, "Hey Elder Hill I need to tell you something. I'm going to become a Mormon, I'm gonna do it..... and you're the only one that can do it. I will not be baptized unless it is by you." He said he might be baptized on Christmas Day, but isn't sure yet. So keep praying for him! I have loved getting to know Gilbert and we have become such close friends, I am so thankful for him!

Sunday

Sunday we had church, watched the Christmas devotional with the Francis's, and had a couple less-active lessons, but the day I wanted to talk about is yesterday!

So Monday we had Zone Conference with five different zones in the mission. Elder Arnold who is in the Presidency of the Seventy (and talked in general conference) came and gave us some training and counsel. In the morning we had a leadership meeting for the District Leaders, Zone Leaders, and Sister Training Leaders where Elder Arnold came and did some training. He made each person stand up and answer some questions he had about what we are doing in our areas. It was really nerve racking haha, but Elder Arnold is such an awesome guy who has one of the most powerful testimonies I have ever heard. He said, "just two days ago I was sitting face-to-face with the Prophet and I KNOW that he is a Prophet of God as sure as I know that I am standing before you right now." We had a meeting with the rest of the Zones for the rest of the day and he gave us some incredible and inspiring counsel.. But I swear I always get picked on for doing something at these meetings and this time it was to give the closing prayer. I was just trying to lay low! Haha, but it was a cool experience......... In the evening we had FHE at the Holgate Center and it went really well. After that we had a meeting with Rowan and Rowan's mom. So if you remember Rowan is Brother Roberts' (our Elder Quorums President) non-member daughter who we have been teaching for the past few months. Rowan's mom is not a member and she lives with her mom for most of the week. So we go over there and they basically said that Rowan does not want to go to church anymore and she doesn't want to be taught. So leave her alone..... Let's just say that put a damper on our day. In the past two weeks we have lost two of our main investigators with Annette and Rowan. We've been on our knees a lot recently looking for help.

Have a great week!

Elder Hill


Tyler's Hints & Highlights this Week! 

*"God already owns everything you have. He gave it to you. Your house, car, clothes, games, everything.. he owns it. The only thing He doesn't own is your will. That is the only thing you have to give to the Lord is your will. So give it to him." - Elder Arnold

*There are some sweet videos on LDS.org about Christmas so go check them out! I posted one on Facebook. Don't be afraid to comment or share it!

*Jeff, our cat, came back to visit us this week! We came home at 9:30pm on Saturday and he was sitting on our front step so we let him in to feed him and plan with him and then we let him back out hahaha.

*If there are any packages or cards you want to send, it's best to send them to my apartment now since it's too late to send them to the mission home. 

Elder Tyler Hill
1830 SE Linn St., Apt #5 

Portland, OR 97202

Thank you so very much for all the love and support. It means a lot to me!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hi everyone!

Monday 

For P-Day on Monday, we went to an aquarium with our Zone and it was pretty fun. We got to touch the fish and pet an iguana (picture of me and Wesley the iguana). In the evening, we had FHE with the Tupous again! It was as good as usual, and we always play a bunch of games after. 

Tuesday
We had a lesson with Rowan and dinner with a less active member. He hasn't been to church in a while, but he says that he wants to come and he has a really strong testimony but he just has work on Sundays. But it was awesome to see him have such a strong testimony still. In the evening I had the opportunity to give my first baptismal interview! As District Leader, you get to do the baptismal interviews for all of the investigators of every companionship in the District. It was a pretty cool experience! It was with a girl in the Young Single Adult (YSA) Ward and she was super ready to be baptized so it went well! 

Wednesday

Wednesday we had lunch and a lesson with Gilbert. It's been tough with him because he doesn't want to take that next step even though he said he believes all of the doctrine. So keep praying from him. In the evening we got the one of the worst texts you could ever get as a missionary. Annette, one of our investigators that we have been working with for the past few months, had a bad experience with a member or something (we don't know the whole story), but she texted us saying, "I am not going to convert ever. I honestly feel bad for you guys. Don't come by anymore okay".... Not a great way to end the day.

Thursday 

Thanksgiving!! One of the family's in our Ward throws a big Thanksgiving dinner every year for their extended family and for anyone else who doesn't have anywhere to go so we went over there for most of the day and helped them set up, eat and hangout. It was fun, and they had Despicable Me playing so we listened to it while we helped set up haha. We weren't allowed to go door-to-door proselyting, so we just hung out at the church for most of the day with the members. The kids did a little skit for everyone too so that was funny and we played a little bit of basketball! 

Friday

Friday, we had District meeting and a couple of lessons. Nothing too exciting happened. 

Saturday 

It was a busy day! We had three lessons and we found two new investigators! We went tracting and no one answered for like an hour and then finally someone answered and they said that they want to learn more and have us teach them, it was the craziest thing ever that never happens. So we were super excited! Later we ran into a super nice black lady that said she loves Jesus Christ and told us to come by and share a message with her and her seven daughters. So we are looking forward to that this week! For some reason a lot of our investigators are older black women haha.

Sunday

Sunday we had dinner with a part member family! We had breakfast for dinner ... my first time since being out here, so that was super good. Then we had a lesson with Carissa in the evening and she is doing super well! She has work every other Sunday so she can't come to church but things are going great for her! 

 
Have a great week!
Elder Hill

Tyler's Hints and Highlights this Week!

*I'm reading in 3rd Nephi in the Book of Mormon and I'm trying to finish by the end of the year! 

 
*President Ballard texted us and told us congrats on our baptism and to keep it up! The little compliments mean a lot to us haha. 

 
*It's the Christmas season! A perfect time to talk to others about Christ! So don't be afraid! I'm so thankful for the Savior in my life and for the opportunity we have to celebrate His birth this time of year!

Best. Week. Ever ...

Hi everyone!

Craziest/best week!! Sorry this letter is long, so much happened.. We had a baptism!! Carissa was baptized on Saturday, but I will get to that later. 

Monday
Monday night we had FHE at the Holgate Center and it went great! Tons of people showed up and Elder Giles and I gave a lesson on how Heavenly Father answers prayers. Everyone participated and it went great.

Tuesday 

Tuesday we did some finding, had a couple lessons, and in the evening we had dinner with a non-member family! We helped this family move some stuff in prior weeks and they invited us over to have dinner at their house. It went well and we even were able to share a message about families and we gave them a Family Proclamation pamphlet. They have two kids in elementary school and the parents are awesome. They said that we are welcome back anytime, but the challenge will be getting them more interested in the church. They are an awesome family though!

Wednesday

Wednesday morning, I came out into the living room from doing studies and Elder Giles is sitting on the floor with a cat hahahaha. I was like, "dude where did you get a cat!?" And he said that he opened the door and it just walked right in, so what do we do!? What any normal person would do, we take a bunch of selfies with it obviously.....

  

  

 Later we visited a couple of less actives, and then we went tracting. It is not my favorite thing to do but you sometimes gotta do it.... a lot of it. There was this one lady who opened the door and said, "sorry we love everyone," and then she slammed the door. People don't even give us a chance. But we did go tracting on the river and found a spot to take some majestic pics... In the evening we had a lesson with Gilbert that went really well. The new church policy has been bugging him and so we watched Elder Christofferson's interview on it (if you have questions about the new policy go watch the interview on LDS.org!). We addressed his concerns and he says that he really wants to be Mormon, but just doesn't know if he can do it. So we are gonna keep working and praying for him. 

Thursday
Thursday we had Carissa's baptismal interview! One of the Zone Leaders did the interview with her and they were in there for like an hour which was weird because they usually don't take that long so we were worried that something was wrong, but he came out and said everything is great! Carissa was so excited!

Friday 

Friday we went over and visited a potential investigator, Amy. She is an older black woman and is super sweet and funny. She asked if we could give her a blessing and we said of course. So Elder Giles anointed and I sealed it and gave the blessing. It was the most interesting experience I have ever had giving a blessing. At the beginning of the blessing she was softly saying, "hallelujah, praise Jesus, thank you Jesus, hallelujah Jesus," over and over, and then as the blessing went on it progressively got louder. By the end of the blessing she was basically yelling, "HALLELUJAH JESUS, THANK YOU JESUS, HALLELUJAH, PRAISE JESUS." It was so hard to stay focused and finish the blessing because I couldn't hear myself think hahaha, but she said that she immediately felt better and she was so grateful. She said she wants to start meeting more and learn more, so we were super excited about that and are pumped to teach her!

Saturday

Saturday!! Carissa's baptism!! So Carissa wanted to get baptized in Forest Grove, which is out of our mission (Salem Mission) because she has a lot of family and friends over there, a close friend of hers was the one that baptized her... So we called President and he gave us permission to attend the baptism! It was such a great experience. After teaching her for four months, I have been able to get to know her really well and become great friends with her. Being with her through everything and seeing all the changes she made in her life to get to this point has been a really humbling experience for me. The Gospel quite literally changed her life, and I had never seen her so happy than she was on this day. The entire baptism I kept thinking of the scripture in D&C 18:16, "And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me"... My joy was pretty great today. 

Sunday 

Sunday was just as good as Saturday. So we were sitting in church, and there are tons of people there to witness Carissa get confirmed. And we get a text 5 minutes before the meeting is about to start from Brother Francis (he was the one confirming Carissa), and he says that he is having major back problems and can't make it to church. So we start freaking out and we tell our Ward Mission Leader who then tells Carissa. She looks at me and asks me if I will do it...... Let me just say that I almost peed my pants. I have given a lot of blessings since being out on my mission, but not in front of 100+ people!! I told her that I would love to do it. So I went and sat down and said the most sincere prayer I have ever said to calm my nerves and when it was time to do the Confirmation, I got up there and I wasn't nervous one bit. I was able to do the whole thing without any problems, and the coolest part was that someone even had it recorded and I got a copy of it. The Spirit was so strong and I can't express the way I felt but it was incredible. Being able to use my Priesthood to bless the lives of others has been the greatest blessing for me and I can't thank Heavenly Father enough for the opportunity I have to exercise the Priesthood. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be on a mission to have met the people in this area, especially Carissa. Being a part of someone's conversion is one of the best experiences ever.

Have a good week!

Elder Hill


Tyler's Highlights this Week!

*HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! Always give thanks to your Heavenly Father for everything. Shout out to my dad for showing me an awesome scripture about being grateful, Mosiah 2:20-24

*Thank you to everyone who has sent cards or packages or wrote a note on the Christmas tree cactus:) I really appreciate it!

*The weather was beautiful this past week; it couldn't have come at a better time!

Transfer Calls!

Quick side note from Tyler's mom:

Tyler's Mission office is asking that all Christmas packages/letters for missionaries be sent to the Mission home by Dec. 5 and they will then be passed out to the missionaries at a Christmas party two weeks later.  They want to make sure all missionaries will be receiving a little something for Christmas :)  Thanks in advance for remembering Tyler during his first Christmas away from home!  He would really enjoy and appreciate hearing from all his friends :)  His Mission home address is:

Elder Tyler Hill

c/o The Oregon Portland Mission Office

1400 NW Compton Drive, Suite 250

Beaverton, OR 97006

Hi everyone!

It's already been six weeks since I started training! That's crazy! So we got transfer calls and I will be staying in Moreland for another transfer as DL and to finish training. This will be my fourth transfer and I will have stayed here for 6 months! I feel like it was yesterday that I had my first day here. I love being in this Ward and I am so grateful for all the members and investigators that I have become super close with and all of the friends I have made here in this area! 

Beautiful fall day in Oregon!

Not too much to report on this week ...

Monday
Monday night we had dinner over at Jacob Graham's house who I met up at BYU-i and became friends with. He lives in our Stake which was a really crazy but funny coincidence. There were four missionary companionships at this dinner so it was a party.

Tuesday 

Tuesday we helped the same lady from last week with the burned down house finish moving all her stuff and then we had a couple of lessons in the evening and then basketball.

Wednesday
Wednesday we had to drive to the mission office so Elder Giles could take some driving test so we hung out in Beaverton for a lot of the day. We then came back and met with Gayle's daughter, Tamra! She is starting look more into the Church and she really likes when we come over so hopefully we can start teaching her on a regular basis now. We had to give the car to some Sisters in Oregon City since they crashed their car, so we are back on bike now:/

Thursday 

Thursday we had our monthly Costco hot dogs with Bro Christiansen! Mormons must love Costco because every time we go there people are always saying hi to us and asking us if they can pay for our food, it's awesome. We might eat at Costco every day.

Later, we met with Gilbert and he said he is 99.5% there on getting baptized. He just needs an extra little push, and we have tried everything! So pray for Gilbert that he will have the desire to make that final commitment! In the evening we had FHE with the Tupou Family and they made us dinner! That family is awesome and it was a great lesson!

Friday

Friday we had District Meeting and then did service at the Stake Center for a lot of the day. We played basketball in the evening with Gilbert and the other investigators in the Stake.

Saturday
Saturday was super busy. We had five lessons!! It was supposed to pour all day and it didn't thank goodness because we had to bike all over the place. Heavenly Father is looking out for us!

Love and miss you all!

Elder Hill


Tyler's Highlights and Hints this Week! 

*WE HAVE A BAPTISM THIS SATURDAY! Our investigator, Carissa is being baptized this Saturday and she is so excited. I didn't wanna say anything the past couple of weeks so I wouldn't jinx it, but it looks like it is 100% going to happen!! (Hopefully I'm not jinxing it) After teaching and working with her for about four months now, she said that she is ready and wants to take the next step, so we are super excited for her! I have come to love her and we have become really close! She said that I'm "like her brother who always has her back" and I might have the opportunity to give her the gift of the Holy Ghost which is super exciting! 

*Go watch the Mormon Message "Hope Ya Know, We Had a Hard Time".. It's a good one.

Bikes Are From the Devil

Hi everyone!

How has it already been a week!? 

Monday
So Monday night we were biking to FHE and Elder Giles bike broke again 
so we had to walk all the way back home.... Again. Bikes are from the 
devil. 

Tuesday
Tuesday we spent all day with Gilbert helping an older lady move her 
stuff from her property to a storage unit. A couple years ago her 
house burned down and so she had been living in a trailer and now she 
is moving somewhere else. She had so much stuff and it took us about six 
hours and we didn't even finish she had so much stuff! But she was 
really grateful and she gave us all really big hugs and was really 
appreciative so it was good to help her out. Tuesday night we 
played basketball at the church and there were some non-members there 
that I think could have played for the Trail Blazers. It was crazy how 
good they were. 

Wednesday
Wednesday we had a couple of good lessons and we had dinner and a 
lesson with Carissa at the Francis's house! It was such a good time 
and a great lesson and we even played with their 1950's pinball 
machine. So that was pretty sweet. 

Thursday
Thursday a lot of plans fell through, but we did have a lesson with 
Gilbert and he said he is 99% there about getting baptized but he is 
still hanging on to his Catholic background. So we have been really 
trying to help him out with that, but he did say that if he gets 
baptized and I happen to get transferred that "Elder Hill has to come 
back and do it. I don't care where he is and when he gets moved, you 
better go find him because he is the only one that can do it and those are 
my demands!" So that was super cool, I really hope that he gets 
baptized soon and it would be such a cool opportunity to be able to do 
that! 

Tyler, Elder Ellis & Gilbert

Friday
Friday we started the day out doing service for this less-active lady 
in our Ward. We went over to her place and we were taking plants out 
of pots for her. This lady is about 88 years old but she is pretty 
swift and also kinda crazy. She was taking a plant out of a pot and 
she says, "do you know what this is?....... It's cannabis! Like 
marijuana!" and she starts chuckling to herself. It definitely was 
marijuana cause we could smell it from a mile away. So I guess we 
helped a less-active lady move her weed farm. After that adventure, we 
went over to the Holgate Center and taught a couple lessons to
Sister Scott and Sister Pierce. Then, the most exciting part of the 
week!! We got a car for a few days! Long story short, an Elder in our 
district went home and so his companion is in a trio for a few days 
and we get their car. So that's nice to have a car since it has been 
raining all day every day! 

Sunday
Sunday we went to six hours of church because we had to go to church 
with the missionary who's companion went home. President Ballard 
was speaking at his Ward so it was pretty cool to be able to go listen 
to him! After church we saw President Ballard driving on the road and 
we pulled up next to him at a red light and he waved at us. I was 
driving and Elder Giles and Elder Ellis were yelling at me to race 
him. So we pulled up in front and then he blew past us haha. It was 
pretty funny! 
 

Have a good week!

Elder Hill

Tyler's highlights this week!
*Transfers are this Saturday, but I'm 99% sure that I will stay here 
for another transfer. I will be in Moreland for six months! 

*I love this Ward and all the people here.  The Ward literally becomes 
your family out here.

 *It rains all day every day now :) 
 

Four Months Down!!!

Hi everyone! 

This week there isn't too much to report on. We had a lot of lessons cancel so that was really frustrating. We did do a lot of tracting/contacting and a lot of service throughout the week.  We met some pretty cool and interesting people ... along with getting yelled at a lot!

Tuesday I conducted my first district meeting and of course the APs decide to come, but it went well and was a good meeting! 

One of the biggest highlights of the week was Gilbert committed to be baptized!! We had a couple lessons with him throughout the week and our first lesson we felt prompted to go over the baptismal interview questions and we had the best lesson! We taught him the law of tithing, the Word of Wisdom, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ all in this one lesson. At the end he said he is going to get baptized and that he is going to pray on a date to be baptized! He also said that he is going to start coming to church every week. Our second lesson with him he said that he is still thinking about a date, but that he is excited about being baptized. He also told me the coolest thing. He said, "when you and Elder Parker showed up at my door and we started meeting together, I don't think I would have kept meeting with you guys if it was just Elder Parker and someone else. God knew that it had to be you that would help me change my life and that I would actually listen to you because we can relate so well. You're my little brother man!"... I thought that was the coolest thing because people always say that you're sent to a mission for a certain reason or you're sent to an area for a specific person, and it is totally true! I was sent to Portland and specifically the Moreland Ward to meet Gilbert and to help him! Pretty cool. 

Friday we spent a lot of the day helping a non-member move all of their stuff to a new place, and it was pouring rain all day so that was fun.. Not really, but it was good to help them out! 

Saturday was Halloween!! Portland is weird on Halloween. We saw so many people dressed in strange costumes walking on the streets and in stores, it was pretty funny. So myself, Elder Giles and some other missionaries wanted to go to Chipotle to get discounted burritos for wearing a costume (we were going to switch name tags so I was dressed as Elder Giles), but the Chipotle was closed. So we went to the food court right next to the Chipotle and everyone thought we were dressed up as missionaries and not actually missionaries haha. People would walk by and say, "Happy Halloween I like your ties!" or "nice costumes!"... We were just like no we are actually missionaries come back so we can talk to you!! It was funny.. Missionaries are supposed to be in by 6:30pm on Halloween, but we got permission to go to Gilbert's house and hangout. So we went over there and ain't a bunch of candy and hung out with him, and it was super fun! (He may or may not have had the World Series on in the other room so I could listen to it.) 

Sunday makes four months down!! We had three investigators come to church and Gilbert bore his testimony again!! He got up and was talking about his situation and he asked if everyone could pray for him to help take the next step and be baptized, and at the end he said, "I would love to be a Mormon!!" It was so awesome. After the meeting, so many members came up to him and hugged him and said they would pray for him and that they loved him. Best sacrament ever. 

Have a great week!

Elder Hill

Tyler's Highlights and Hints this Week!

*At one of our member dinners they let us make our own caramel apples covered in a bunch of candy, and it was awesome. 

*It is raining every day now and biking in it has been rough.  My foot keeps slipping off the pedal and I've almost ate it a couple times, but I haven't yet! 

*A couple weeks ago we were interviewed in the park about "lost souls" and the lady sent us the podcast so we could listen to our interview. She said that it is streaming in Canada now haha so that's kinda cool. 

*The amount of candy we have in our apartment from members and investigators is ridiculous!

*When we helped the non-member family move, they gave us a couch and a mini trampoline so now our apartment is decked out. 

*Just in case, you want to send me a letter or package for the holidays, here is my current address :) 

Elder Tyler Hill

1830 SE Linn St., Apt 5 

Portland, OR 97202 

DL's, FHE's, and GA's

Hi everyone!

I don't even know where to begin this week! There were so many cool and crazy things that happened! On Monday night I got a call from the APs and they say that there has been a change in our district with some people getting moved around and what not (which is very unusual in the middle of a transfer) and he said that President has assigned me as the new District Leader! A District Leader is the missionary that presides and has stewardship over the District. Our District has us and 4 other sets of missionaries so there are 5 wards in our District and I have different responsibilities in collecting stats from each ward, going on exchanges with each companionship, and to just keep things going in the district. I am way excited and grateful for this opportunity I have to learn and grow even more as a missionary as I train a new missionary and work as a DL. Pretty exciting!

Monday:
Monday we had an awesome FHE with the sisters in the Holgate Center. Usually only like 3 people show up but there were like 10 people there this time!

Tuesday & Wednesday:
Tuesday and Wednesday we had a lot of different lessons and we did a lot of service for people in the ward. We had a lesson with Gilbert Wednesday night and he said that he wants to get baptized!!! But.... He doesn't really understand the standard of living we must maintain to be baptized even though we have tried to explain it to him, but we will keep trying.

Thursday:
Thursday we were walking to lunch with the ZLs cause they said they would take us out and they say that all they have is $20 to pay for us but that the Lord will provide (I couldn't tell if they were joking) so I brought my wallet haha. And I kid you not a lady comes up to us on the street that was visiting from out of town and says that she is a member. She pulls out her wallet and gives us $30! I look at the ZLs and they said they swear that they did not plan this haha but that the Lord actually provides! It was pretty funny but also pretty amazing. Thursday night we had a lesson with Carissa finally and it was awesome!! We had a lesson on baptism and how it is so important, and she said that she needs to stop putting it off and just do it. So she called up the guy she wants to baptize her and says she wants to be baptized November 7th. It was so great to see and hear all this! We were super excited for her, But the problem is that she has to come to church a couple times to be baptized but she hasn't been able to since she works Sunday's. So we will have to postpone her baptism but she is very enthusiastic and excited to be baptized! At the end of the lesson she asked if I could give her a blessing so that was a pretty cool thing to be able to do.

Friday:
Friday Sister Gillette calls us up and says that she has Voodoo donuts for us and that she has a Jewish friend from out of town visiting and she had a couple questions. So we went over and we ate donuts and taught a lesson! Her friend wasn't super interested in converting but she asked some good questions. 

 
Saturday:
Saturday, the coolest thing happened. So there was a special Missionary Leadership Counsel (MLC), where all of the Zone Leaders and District Leaders went and had a meeting with Elder Richard J. Maynes. Elder Maynes is in the Presidency of the Quorum of the Seventy and he just spoke in the last General Conference! His talk was about the potter's clay and having it centered on Christ if you remember that talk. Anyways, there were about 60 missionaries and the mission presidency at this meeting.. Elder Maynes is giving his counsel and he is talking about the importance of setting goals. As he is talking he points right at me and says "Elder come up here!... What's your name? Elder Hill?... Elder Hill you and I are now companions!".. I go up to the front and he puts his arm around me and he starts asking me a bunch of questions about my area and goals we have. And then we role played setting goals as a companionship. IT WAS SO SCARY! The whole time I am freaking out and thinking I am not even supposed to be here! I have only been out 3 and a half months and was made District Leader 5 days ago. But it was such an awesome experience!! To be able to role play and be "companions" with a general authority in front of the mission president and all the leaders in the mission was crazy. It was an adrenaline rush, especially being a young missionary, but it was so cool!! Elder Maynes came up to me after the meeting and said, "thanks for being such a good sport and my companion Elder Hill."  Elder Maynes and I are basically best friends.

Tyler with Elder Maynes

Have a great week!

Elder Hill


Tyler's Highlights and Hints this week: 

*The members in this ward are amazing. They are really starting to like us a lot! We have been fed every day for 14 days straight, and someone has signed up to feed us every single day for the month of November. WHICH IS CRAZY. It has NEVER happened in the history of the Moreland Ward.

*It's starting to rain and be gray everyday. It is not fun riding your bike in the rain.

*Scripture to ponderize this week: 2 Nephi 4:16 - "Behold, my soul delighteth in the things of the Lord; and my heart pondereth continually upon the things which I have seen and heard." 

Do we ponder in our hearts the things of the Lord CONTINUALLY? 

 
*If you see something I post on Facebook that you like, don't be afraid to share it with your friends or comment on it!