Transfers!!!

Well ladies and gentlemen ...

We received transfer calls on Saturday, and I'm leaving Canby. I am getting transferred to the Sandy River Ward in the Mt. Hood Stake. So I'm going to be even more out in the country than Canby is! My new companion is Elder Wheeler. He is from Orem, Utah and has been out 19 months. I have heard a lot of good things about the Sandy River Ward so I am excited! And I'm going to be the district leader still over there so that will be exciting as well. It has been awesome serving in Canby and I am grateful for all the experiences I have had and for all the people I have been able to meet. I can't believe how fast those three months went by.  It feels like I just got to Canby and I'm already leaving, but I know I'm going to Sandy River for a reason. I think the one thing that I have learned here in Canby more than anything else is that God knows us personally and has a specific plan for each one of us. His hand is always in our lives and we are put through different experiences to become the person He wants us to become. No matter what we go through in this life, everything has a purpose and there is a reason. We just have to have faith in God that it is for our benefit. 

Nothing too exciting happened this week. Monday we had FHE with the Knowldens which was a lot of fun.  We shared a message and played Five Crowns with them. Throughout the week we did a lot of tracting out in the Boonies which has been our most successful way of finding investigators. We have met a lot of interesting people that way too. We knocked on this door and a guy opened it and we started talking to him and then we hear from inside the house, "don't talk to them, they pray to an alien on another planet!!" So that was kinda funny. A lot of people say that tracting in the country is ineffective but we were out doing it and this one lady answered and said, "I thought you would never find us out here!" She said they have been looking for a new religion and so we gave her a Book of Mormon and she said we could come back! So tracting in the Boonies does work!! 

We also did a lot of service as usual and then Saturday we got transfer calls. I totally thought I was staying because the Zone Leaders said this District is the best in the Zone and that President wouldn't change up the District Leader. So I thought I was staying for sure and then I find out I'm getting transferrered so it was a little bit of a surprise! 

Saturday and Sunday was spent saying goodbye to a lot of people. Nothing too exciting happened on Easter. Our dinner appointment cancelled so Elder Garfield and I made our own Easter dinner and we hung out with Arian, our crazy neighbor! I'm going to miss Canby and all the crazy people here!

Crazy neighbor, Arian

Have a great week!

Elder Hill

Tyler's Hints & Highlights this Week!

*Shoutout to my sister Nicole getting married! Wish I coulda been there! It looked awesome! 

*Happy Easter! What an amazing day in which we had to remember Our Savior. Our Mission President sent us an Easter email and it was awesome. Here is some of it as he talked about the Atonement:

"He who had created worlds without number was about to enter a quiet, secluded garden. There was no fanfare, no crowd to witness the most profound event in human history. This was a moment so sacred, so sublime, that no human mind could fully comprehend its transcending importance. The hour was at hand. The Son of God stood alone in all His majestic power against all that Satan could muster. Here was divine love in its purest expression doing battle against evil in its cruelest form. This was the place and the time for the Atonement of Jesus Christ." 

I haven't ever really been the most spiritual person in my life, but if there is something that I have learned in the last 9 months of serving a mission, it is that the Atonement is real. I have seen it change the lives of people and give them hope when they thought there was none. Jesus Christ, the living Son of the living God, suffered and felt every single pain, heartache, sorrow, grief, disappointment, and tragedy that anyone has ever experienced. There is not one person who has ever lived or will live that will go through or feel something that Christ hasn't already gone through Himself and it is because of this that we can be forgiven of our transgressions and feel peace in our hearts. He took upon Himself all of these things so that we might repent, and be able to be in the presence of our Heavenly Father. I have made so many mistakes in my life I wouldn't even know where to begin, but because God loves us enough to literally sacrifice His Son, I can be forgiven for those mistakes and feel peace. I am beyond grateful for my Savior and what He did for me. I know that I am nothing and could be nothing without Him. It is only through the grace of God and the enabling power of the Atonement that I can be reconciled to my Heavenly Father. 

Isaiah 53:5 "He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our sins: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." 

*Here is my new address just in case you want to send me a letter or something;)

Elder Tyler Hill
39415 Dubarko Rd., #39415
Sandy, OR  97055

Lifted a house while tracting ...

Bro. Knowlden in his purple suit!

 Bro. Steele, Canby Ward Mission Leader

 Kris Barrow. recent Church convert

Kelli Weisz, Lyssa (investigator), Tyler, and Cody Weisz

Elder Garfield burning a tie, celebrating six months on his mission!

Happy Almost Easter!!

Hi everyone!

Happy almost Easter! It's a perfect opportunity this week to invite someone to church, so don't be afraid! 

Tuesday we went on splits with our Ward Mission Leader Bro. Steele (he is awesome) and another member. We went to go see the Johnsons and they were sleeping; but the grandma answered the door and we had a really good conversation with her. She says she wants to learn more so that was exciting! 

You would think that with Easter coming up people would be more willing to listen and want to talk about Christ. but we had some rough times this week. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday we we did a lot of contacting and tracting, and we were getting yelled at left and right. We were tracting and this guy opened the door and was like, "you better get the *bleep* outta here right now! Go on get!" And then another time we were just walking down the road and someone drove by and yelled, "you Mormons are a *bleeping* joke!".... Then there were some other incidents, and it got to that point when we were just like what the heck are we even doing here. BUT then Friday I received a letter and it had a picture of missionaries with a broken bike and it said, "When do the best two years of my life start?" I was thinking, "haha ain't that the truth." On the inside it had the scripture, Alma 26:27: "Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said.. bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success." That scripture changed the week around. Even though we didn't have much success this week, the Lord knows what we are going through and what we need to do to have success, we just have to put our faith and trust in Him. So shout out to the person who sent me that, you know who you are! 

Tracting in the boonies ...

Random lake ...

On Thursday we hooked up Jerry Johnson, our investigator, with a dentist in our Ward to get some free dental work done for his toothache after the office closed. We went over there after they were done and we shared a lesson in a dentist office. We also took some pics of us being dentists!

We did a ton of service this week too. We chopped wood, helped plant some trees, pulled some ivy at a nature park, and of course played Pinochle with the old folks. It was hilarious because there is this old lady who likes to give you a hug and kiss on the cheek when she meets you, and I forgot to tell Elder Garfield about her so he is sitting there playing cards and she comes over and introduces herself and hugs him, and then he turns back around to play and she comes up behind him and kisses him on the ear! He jumps up and was like what the heck hahahaha it was hilarious. 

Love and miss you all!!  Have a great Easter!!

Elder Hill

Tyler's Hints & Highlights this Week!

* The new Church Easter video is out and I posted it on Facebook! So if you haven't seen it, go check it out! And don't be afraid to post or share it. 

* On Saturday it was "bring your own cup" any size to 7/11 for slurpees. So we found a couple big 'ole containers in our kitchen and got giant slurpees for $1.50 haha. 

* This is the last week of the transfer! We get transfer call Saturday so we will see what happens!! 

* Ponderize Scripture: Romans 8:31 - "What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?" As missionaries we get yelled at, mocked, and cussed at, but as long as we have God with us what is the worse that can happen? Another translation for this is "if God be for us, who can prevail against us?" When we rely on God and have His spirit and power, there is no one that can discourage, hinder, or stop the work and purposes that He has planned to fulfill. 

Sketchy house = Chicken lady

Hello everyone! 

Thank you for all the emails and letters you send. I appreciate it a ton!

This week was pretty solid! Nothing too exciting happened Monday and Tuesday, but on Wednesday we had an exchange; Elder Garver came here with me. He has only been out two months and he is an awesome missionary. We went tracting out in the boonies and as we were knocking on this door, we looked to our right and a goat was poking it's head around the corner of the house looking at us! Then, three more poked their heads around and then they all ran up to us and were standing on the porch with us, It was hilarious. If the person would have answered the door there would have been two missionaries and four goats on their doorstep, but they didn't answer. 

 Tracting with goats ...

Later in the day, we got a call from a less-active member who has been really stressed out with some health problems. She asked if we could give her a healing blessing. Elder Garver anointed and I gave the blessing. After, she was crying and said that she had received a healing blessing a couple months ago and that I said some of the exact same words that were said in the previous blessing given to her by a different person (well I didn't say them the Lord did cause it's what He wants to say). That experience just strengthened my testimony even more of priesthood blessings and how they come from God, not us. 

Thursday, I was able to do a baptismal interview for an investigator in another ward and it was probably the best one I have been a part of, her testimony was awesome. She shared some experiences that led to her conversion, and then she said the closing prayer of the interview and it was incredible to hear her express so much gratitude to Heavenly Father for allowing the Gospel to come into her life. I felt as if I was able to catch a tiny glimpse of the Divine love God has for His children. 

Friday we had a mission-wide fast for finding new investigators. We had been consistently finding one new investigator per week which is not that good and then on Friday and Saturday we found four! We spent a lot of our time tracting and contacting potentials or formers and God just placed people in our path who were receptive and ready to learn, so hopefully things will progress with these people. 

Sketchy house where a "chicken lady" lives ...

Sunday we had FHE with a part member family and they have a nine-year-old girl that prepared a scavenger hunt for me and Elder Garfield. The loser had to get dressed up in a costume, take a picture and have it posted on Facebook. Well, I barely lost, and a lot of you know that I am pretty competitive so I wasn't too happy haha. But it was fun and I looked pretty snazzy in the costume haha. Elder Garfield even wanted to try on the costume cause it looked so good haha. It was a fun FHE!

 

Sunday night the missionaries all sung in a choir at a fireside so that was pretty fun, It was a good fireside!

Thanks for all the support!  Have a great week!

Elder Hill

Tyler's Hints & Highlights this Week!

* I am halfway through reading Jesus the Christ... The book is forever long, but it's good.

* The Church's new Easter video is out it is called #Hallelujah, go check it out!!

Mules, Temples & Fender Benders!!

Hi everyone!

This week was long! We didn't have a car the whole week because I may or may not have ran into something a few weeks back that put a crack in the front bumper, but we won't talk about that. So it was in the shop all week, but we get it back today and they are still letting me drive so that's good. We walked everywhere this week and it was actually pretty fun. We were able to talk to a lot more people and knock on more doors. 

Tuesday

Tuesday we had a Zone meeting about working with members and I was asked to conduct the meeting which was kinda fun. It was a solid Zone meeting. 

Thursday

Thursday we had our temple trip! It was awesome. We are so lucky to have a temple in our mission that we can go to every other transfer. It kinda recharges you spiritually and you can receive answers to your questions! 

Friday/Saturday

Friday we prepared/served food at the Canby adult center. We haven't been able to play Pinochle because we have been busy and all the old folks that play came up and asked us where we have been haha. We told them we would be back this week so no worries. Friday to Saturday we had exchanges with the Zone Leaders and I went with Elder Hintz to their area. We were able to have a lesson with the ex-husband of one of their investigators (the ZLs never met him before) and he wanted to talk because he felt as if God didn't love him because of the mistakes he had made. We had a really powerful lesson with him and the Spirit was really strong when we taught him about our Heavenly Father. He was in tears by the end and we gave him a blessing! It was a cool experience. We ended the exchange Saturday afternoon and then Saturday night we had a lesson with Kelli (one of the youth in our Ward) and her friend, Lyssa. We had a lesson on the Plan of Salvation and Lyssa was like, "what, you can learn more after you die??" Kelli invited her to church and Lyssa said yes which is exciting because she had said no before and had never really been to church. We talked to her after church on Sunday and she said she liked it! 

Sunday

On Sunday we had dinner with a family who has a bunch of puppies and a mule named Gus so we took pics with them.

Have a great week!

Elder Hill

Tyler's Hints & Highlights this Week

*We found one of those things that tells you your speed when you drive by it so we wanted to see how fast we could run (like that episode on the Office). We took a video and it said I ran 16mph!! I'm pretty sure it was wrong cause it dropped down to 12 haha.

*Easter is coming up and the Church is coming out with a new Easter video so be on the lookout 👀 

*I hit my 8 month mark last week. Already 1/3 done, crazy. 

*Scripture this week - Romans 3:23 - "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." 

Nobody is perfect and everyone will make mistakes, but even though we may mess up a billion times, God still loves us unconditionally. He wants us to be happy and He is there for us. His loving arms are always extended toward us and no matter how far gone you think you are, He is there for you.

"Our sisters are getting married without us!!!"

Tracting with Gill!

Hi everyone!

This week was good.. We had a lot of lessons, but we also did a lot of tracting. 

Monday

Monday night we had dinner and FHE with the Leders. They are a super fun family and we played spoons with them and people were screaming it was pretty intense. 

Tuesday

Tuesday we had a lesson with our new investigator Kim.  We were planning on reviewing the Restoration, but then she started talking about how her aunt just passed away so Elder Garfield and I felt like we needed to teach the Plan of Salvation. We did an impromptu lesson on the PoS and it was legit. Afterwards she said she really needed that and it was a great lesson! We then went and played Pinochle at the old folks center and I had triple aces around which is "unheard of in this town" so that was exciting. Later we did more service serving food at a Lutheran church. 

Wednesday

Wednesday we tracted forever and we met this one guy who said that he broke both of his legs, both his arms, and 17 ribs in a boating accident and when he was knocked out from surgery he had a vision of the Second Coming, and he said we are very close. But, then he started to talk negatively about the Book of Mormon and told us that serving a mission is a scam and what not.  So he wasn't very interested in learning more.

Friday

Friday we did a lot of tracting again.  We knocked on one door and they let us right in. We were freaking out because no one says come on in without talking to us for a little, but then we found out that they were members that hadn't been to church in a while haha.  It was still cool talking to them...

We had dinner at Sister Newell's house.  She has been less-active for a long time, and we have been working with her for the past couple weeks and she says that we have helped her so much, AND she was at church on Sunday! So that was pretty sweet.  First time in years.  She's awesome.

Saturday

Saturday we were out tracting again it was not successful at all. We got yelled at a bunch and then dogs were chasing us. The only bright spot of tracting was when we taught the Restoration to two mini horses. Committed both of them to baptism..... 

Later in the day we had a member lesson with Brother Newgren.  He is an active member, but recently he was diagnosed with cancer. He has been doing chemo so he hasn't been able to do much. He is awesome though. He says that he is sorry he hasn't been giving us referrals because he has been sick. He is the best missionary out there! He said he gave out 1000 pass along cards last year. That's insane!! The guy is incredible.

Sunday

Sunday was busy we had three lessons and they all went well. We have a few people that are close to baptism but just need a little push!! 

Things are good in Canby!  Have a great week!!!

Elder Hill

Tyler's Hints & Highlights this Week!

* Elder Garfield and I have created our own reality tv show called "Tracting With Gill" (Garfield+Hill=Gill). We use our iPads and record our tracting adventures, Usually when we are out in the boonies walking in between houses to help make tracting more fun.

Crocodile shoes ...

* Watch the video "Because of Him" on LDS.org it is super good especially with Easter coming up!

Coons, Possums & Service

Hi everyone!

This week was okay.  We didn't teach a lot of lessons, but we did do a lot of service. 

We went and helped a member pull out a kiwi tree from their yard.  We had to dig out the entire root so that was fun. Then we went and prepared/served food again at the adult center which was cool because you go with all these other volunteers and prepare food in the kitchen, then you go out and serve it to all the people.  We did another service project with our Zone where we had to pull ivy and blackberry vines at this nature park. The guy in charge was like, "I need three people who are crazy and adventurous, who are they?" Two people raised their hands and then he pointed at me and said you look crazy and adventurous come with me. I was like oh crap (this guy was a little crazy himself). He took us to the top of this big steep hill/cliff thing and then he pointed over the edge and said that he needed the ivy to be pulled off this hillside. It was pretty big and very steep so it was freaky. Elder Carl, who was with us, almost died. He reached for a branch in front of him and it broke off so he was about to tumble down the hill, but Elder Mugleston grabbed him as he was falling! Crazy. But it was pretty fun! 

We were seeing the part member families in the Ward trying to find some of them who haven't been to church in a while, and we knock on this one door in a mobile home park and a lady comes out to talk to us. She said, "my mom is a member but she is busy right now and I am a Pagan.  So yes, I do worship Satan, but I also believe that God is everywhere." She points at the grass and says, "that is God". She points at a plant, "that is God". She points at a post, "that is God" and she continued to tell us how she has learned Japanese and she started speaking Japanese to us. It was kinda funny and then she stopped and said, "I like you guys, come into Frackburger (a burger place in town) and I will hook you up with a burger." Apparently she works there and she can get us free food! She wasn't interested, but we still get lunch! 

So we have come to the conclusion that one of our investigators, Trina, was kidnapped or killed. Last week we knocked on the sketchy door with "insane asylum" on it and met Trina who said she was interested and told us to come back. So we go back on Thursday, when she says we could, and we knock on the door. A lady answers and we ask if Trina is there. She says, "no I don't think she lives here." So we explain how we met her and she says nope and closes the door. That was weird. We go back two days later and knock again. A guy answers this time and we ask for Trina and he says that she might be back in a couple of days.... So now we don't know what to think, Elder Garfield says that they are trying to cover up the murder, but their stories don't add up. I'm starting to believe it haha. But the other people that we tracted into last week with the super long driveway, let us in!! We stopped by again and they let us in and we taught the Restoration and it went well! They want us to come back! It's crazy, tracting actually worked for once! So we are excited about that. Our teaching pool is growing! 

Tyler & his companion, Elder Garfield 

Broken window in their apartment from a recent storm!

Members trapped a coon and possum down by the river ... 

gotta love the country life!!! 

Have a great week!

Elder Hill

Ponderize scripture: Ether 12:4 - "Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God." 

I love how it says that when we have faith in God we hope for a better world and how that faith is an anchor for our lives in which it will always lead us to being steadfast and abounding in good works. It all starts with having a belief in God. He is the source of all truth and happiness. With a belief comes hope, with hope comes faith, and with faith comes a desire to be better and be more like our Father in Heaven. 

Duck + Rooster = Dooster!

Hi everyone!

New transfer! It was my first week with Elder Garfield and it was awesome. Elder Garfield is from Henderson, Nevada and he went to BYU-I for a year before his mission. He is hilarious, and we get along super well! This week was the best we have had in Canby! We taught 18 lessons and found four new investigators. 

Saying goodbye to Elder Prestgard!

Monday

Monday we had FHE with one of the families in our Ward and they invited an investigator and her family over.  It went well and they seemed to really like it. 

Tuesday

Tuesday we did service almost all day. We chopped some more wood, worked at the adult center, and helped a member cut their blackberry vines. Blackberry vines are the worst! They have huge thorns and we came out of their looking like a cat had clawed our arms to death haha. The member was an older guy and she really appreciated it! In the evening, we had a really good lesson with an investigator who has been taking the lessons for four years!  We are trying to figure out what to say or teach that will help her because she is ready to be baptized! She just has to take that next step. 

Wednesday

Wednesday we had some lessons with less-active members and they went really well! We are really trying to help get them to church. We also worked at the food bank again and that's always fun. We go there with the Zone Leaders and sort canned foods. 

Thursday

Thursday, Gilbert came down to Canby to visit! He took us out to lunch, and the first thing he says is,"okay first things first, I'm working on the baptism little bro. I am getting there, it just takes time and God knows what's best." I'm glad he is still thinking about it at least! He says he wants to come down and continue taking lessons down here with me and Elder Garfield haha. We said he has missionaries up there to teach him, but he said he wants to take more lessons down here in Canby. So we will see haha. So good to see him!! We also had five lessons on Thursday! We met with an investigator, a recent convert, and then three less-active members. In one of the lessons, we talked a lot about prayer and we shared part of the Bible Dictionary definition and it was awesome.  The mom (Sister Lombard) said that the lesson really answered her prayers and helped her a lot. 

Lunch with Gilbert!

Friday

Friday we met with a former investigator named Kim.  We met her last week and she told us to come over. We walked in and she had a bunch of little snacks and drinks laid out along with her scriptures, it was awesome! We taught her the Restoration and it was solid. We taught simply and powerfully and the Spirit was strong! We are going back on Thursday to teach her again with a member. Later in the day, we helped a member saw some branches off their tree which was kinda fun. 

Saturday

Saturday we did some more service for a less-active member, helping them clean up their barn. We tracted for a couple hours, and we got nothin. It was the worst. We only handed out one BoM and no one was interested at all!

Sunday

Sunday our Ward had a regional conference broadcasted to our building and Elder Renlund spoke so that was pretty cool! We had a really good lesson with an investigator at a member's house about the BoM. She says it is just a matter of time until she is baptized. So many people are so close, they just need an extra little push!! So we had an hour of finding to do before dinner time and we drove out to the boonies to where dinner was and we decided we were going to tract the whole next street. Keep in mind, tracting has not been successful at all since I have been on my mission, so we were not expecting a lot. We took three BoM's and two pamphlets and set a goal to give them out before dinner. And it was crazy! The first two doors we knocked on we taught both of them a lesson about the BoM.  They took the Book of Mormon and a pamphlet, and said they would read it and that we could come back in a week after they had read some of it. TWO DOORS IN A ROW. We were walking off the porch and Elder Garfield was like, "what the heck is going on, this is insane." The funny thing is that we were going to skip both of those doors. One of them had a really long driveway that took forever to walk down, but we said let's just do it anyway, and then the other door was super, super sketchy. It was an old tiny little house that had a sign that said, "Insane Asylum".  We were debating whether to knock or not but we just went for it. We knocked on the door and we heard a like a weird laughing noise, and we thought we were going to be kidnapped... Saratov Approach all over again, but a lady opened the door and she was really interested. Never has that happened before with two doors in a row, but the Lord knows who is prepared. Then the next door after that took a BoM, but they weren't too interested. We ran out of supplies after our first three doors! It was incredible and such a blessing! 

Have a great week!

Elder Hill

Tyler's Highlights & Hints this Week!

-Happy Valentine's Day!! 

-When we were tracting there were some weird rooster-duck things on this ladies porch. They looked so weird so we took a pic by them! Haha 

Duck + Rooster = Dooster

-Thank you for all of the emails! I really appreciate them and they mean a lot and receiving letters is like Christmas so don't be afraid to send them:) My address is still the same!! You guys are the best!

-Scriptural thought:  Mormon 5:23 "Know ye not that ye are in the hands of God? Know ye not that he hath all power." Sometimes we tend to forget Who is guiding our lives. I really like this scripture because it is a good reminder that God is in charge and that He has a specific plan for each of us. He knows us perfectly and has power to bless us more than we can imagine. He can help us more than we could ever help ourselves. We just have to trust and believe.