The Will of God: Your Divine Destiny -- 28 January 2013

I suppose one of the greatest challenges in our lives (my mission)will be living up to the divine potential that Jesus Christ has made available to us.

When I was back home, I think this is something I talked about a lot: "Divine Potential"

Here's what I mean :

 16 The Spirit itself beareth ^awitness with our ^bspirit, that we are the ^cchildren of God:
 17 And if children, then heirs; ^aheirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we ^bsuffer with him, that we may be also glorified together

So, we are children of God and have the potential to become like him.

"In the premortal realm, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshipped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize their divine destiny as heirs of eternal life. The divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave. Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally."

So, my friends, how do we fully accomplish all we are meant to do in this life, that we might "ultimately realize [our] divine destiny as heirs of eternal life"? By acting upon the will of God through the keeping of his commandments.

Sometimes we are put through times in our lives, in our missions (in my case), when we don't fully understand why things happen the way that they do, but for some reason, at the end of them we are left feeling broken, scarred, and often angry at the Lord because of our current situations. Whatever those feelings may be, we must always remember that the Lord, our Father, (who loves us) ALWAYS has our best interest in mind. He, more than anyone else, understands and wants us to achieve our divine destiny. He wants us to become the greatest people we can be. He is seeking to strengthen the foundation of our faith (see "Mountain of the Lord" by Henry B. Eyring) by testing us and giving us the opportunity to grow.

Here's a great video (mormon message by Elder D. Todd Christofferson):

http://www.lds.org/media-library/video/mormon-messages?lang=eng&id=2012-01-014-the-will-of-god#2012-01-014-the-will-of-god

For those who don't want to watch the video, here's what happens:

Elder Christofferson relates a story told by Hugh B. Brown (in the 1973 January New Era) of a small farm he bought in Alberta (ole!). When he was cleaning up the farm, he found a currant bush that had grown to over 6 feet in height (the currant bush is a berry bush... basically) and was bearing no fruit. So, understanding what the bush was supposed to do, he pruned the bush back. From here, I'll relate the words of Hugh B. Brown: 

"It was just coming daylight, and I thought I saw on top of each of these little stumps what appeared to be a tear, and I thought the currant bush was crying. I was kind of simpleminded (and I haven’t entirely gotten over it), and I looked at it, and smiled, and said, “What are you crying about?” You know, I thought I heard that currant bush talk. And I thought I heard it say this: “How could you do this to me? I was making such wonderful growth. I was almost as big as the shade tree and the fruit tree that are inside the fence, and now you have cut me down. Every plant in the garden will look down on me, because I didn’t make what I should have made. How could you do this to me? I thought you were the gardener here.” That’s what I thought I heard the currant bush say, and I thought it so much that I answered. I said, “Look, little currant bush, I am the gardener here, and I know what I want you to be. I didn’t intend you to be a fruit tree or a shade tree. I want you to be a currant bush, and some day, little currant bush, when you are laden with fruit, you are going to say, ‘Thank you, Mr. Gardener, for loving me enough to cut me down, for caring enough about me to hurt me. Thank you, Mr. Gardener.’”

http://www.lds.org/new-era/1973/01/the-currant-bush?lang=eng

We will all walk through times of discouragement and difficulty. Sometimes we will sacrifice things that seem of great importance in order to live the gospel in the way which we know is right. And at those times, we may find ourselves asking "Why? Why now? Why this way? How could this happen to me?" We may even have times when, like Elder Brown (I encourage you to watch the video or read the talk), we may shake our fists at the sky and in our broken, uncomprehending language, curse toward heaven.

At times like those, I encourage you to, as did Elder Brown, humble yourselves and pray for the ability to understand. And as He lets you know that He is the Master, you will be grateful that He has loved you enough to cut you down.

If you will turn to the Lord you will be able to walk through any of the trials of life. If you will seek to do His will, then you will reach heights which will be more great than any you have ever imagined.

He will always help you achieve your divine destiny.

Now, the mission. As I have mentioned before, there are, unfortunately a few missionaries in my zone that, frankly, don't care about being obedient. They are here for them, not for the Lord. In my interview with my mission president (who is the best mission president in the whole world, in my experience :D) I expressed concern about what to do in times when I am having to choose between being obedient and doing whatever it is they are telling me to do(I didn't really explain what was going on, I just asked). He wisely counseled that obedience is never a compromise between right and wrong, and to never sacrifice it for any small measure of gratification, popularity, comfort, or fear.  (I'm not perfect.... but I really really am trying my very very best) What has come because of my resistance to disobedience has often been ridicule from other missionaries. Another consequence of those decisions are blessings of success from the Lord. Again, I am not anywhere near perfect. Not even close. But, my friends, I know that if I will do as the Lord has asked---If I will be obedient that the Lord will bless me with what I need to feel happy, successful, and confident.

I have much to improve on. I know that the Lord has something great in store for me.

I know if we all will work toward achieving that divine potential through our steadfastness in Christ and our obedience to His commandments, we will be blessed by the Lord.

It will all work out

I love you all very very very very very very very (sideways 8) much.

Rock on. Peace, love, and temple marriage. In that order.

Elder Taylor J. Hill

p.s. Is there anything I can do for anyone? Please let me know (if you can't let me know directly, let my mom know and she'll let me know)

p.p.s. I love you, daddy & momma, thanks for taking care of my emails... and everything else... and me. :D

Elder Hill turns 20 -- 21 January 2013

Good morning, Son. It is the day before your birthday, and you are on my mind. It's a day off work (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day), so I probably won't catch you while you are online, but I wanted you to know that you are in my heart every moment of every day, and tomorrow will be only more tender. You have become a man I am proud to know, and I'm so grateful that in some small way, you are mine.

Have a sweet missionary birthday, and remember you are cherished!

Love,

Mom

***

Hiya, Momma. It's Canada, they don't celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Since I'm in Medicine Hat, I only get mail about once a month.... we're too far from Calgary to get it more often than that. So, no package for tomorrow, but that's okay cause we have a LOT of work set up for tomorrow, and I'm making the guys a sweet lunch for District Meetings (:D homemade Cafe Rio) tomorrow. It will be a lot of fun and should help me stay focused. :D Thanks for looking out for me, Momma. I love you.

Welcome to the big white world of Canada -- 14 January 2013

Elder S is posing with S, M's little girl with cystic fibrosis (try saying that five times fast... or spelling it...). We were all playing with stuffed animals when we went over to set up a lesson. We laughed and had a good time and now we have an appointment, yay!

We were playing a board game on Christmas with the members called "Quelf." Basically, you roll a die, land on a space, draw a card according to what space you land on, and then you do what the card says. It's HILARIOUS. I highly recommend it for parties, pranks, and pachangas. (Mom and Dad... hint)

Okay, this week was a little rough. We were working hard, but our numbers have certainly declined. Fortunately, it's not about the numbers, it's about the people.  That said: We've been working with a less active by the name of NJ. He is the MAN. He has had a pretty rough go at life, but he served his mission in Raleigh, North Carolina (shout out) and he is trying his absolute best to become a better man. Anyway, we visited him last night, and he told us that because of his mission, he will never be able to deny that the gospel is true. That's why he has chosen to become active. Guess what?  He is now teaching the gospel principles class and is no longer drinking coffee.

Point #1: Your mission (full time, family, part time, or otherwise) gave (and will continue to give) you a knowledge of what was true. Don't ever deny it & always live it.

We have a few missionaries in our district who we may have caught sleeping in.... until like noon. They are both going home in about 3 months, which makes it even more sad. To turn back the table of time, the First Presidency message from (I think) March of 2012 talked about us always being in the middle of our missions. We should never, ever think that since we're almost done, or since we are done with our missions that missionary work stops. It never stops. Two quotes from Elder Holland (I love this guy): "You never check your religion at the door. Not ever." "That commission was to have changed you for forever."

Friends and family, please... please don't ever shut the door on this gospel. I know it's true. From the very bottom of my heart I know it is true. Don't turn back. Don't leave. If you have left or are thinking of leaving, please give the Lord a chance. Let Him work His miracles in your life, and I promise you that you will find success in ways that you never dreamed possible.

 Point #2: The priesthood is real.

Miracles happen every day. It's true. Don't believe me? Well, check this out:

When I was set apart as a missionary, the Lord blessed me with "opportunities to bless others lives through the priesthood that I bear." Provided I live faithful. I was blessed to see a small fulfillment of that promise a few days ago. Brother T (a sweet guy from Elder P's side of town [Brooklyn.... maybe]) called us and said he needed us over as soon as possible. We went over immediately following a lesson we had at six, arriving around six forty-five. He told us his three year old boy (T) had had a fever for 3 days and the hospital wouldn't admit him until at least day 4. He asked us to help him in giving a blessing to T. I had the opportunity to anoint and brother T blessed his boy with a beautiful word from the Lord. In the blessing he promised health, swift recovery, and a full night of rest to prepare him for the nights ahead. We left shortly following the blessing, standing a little taller because of the faith we had witnessed. The next day, we learned that T's fever had broken that evening, and he was able to sleep through the night. Then, the hospital was able to tell them that T had an ear and throat infection. He is now being treated and is on his way to a quick recovery.  

The priesthood works! The Lord is ready to bless us through his gospel if we will only live righteously and ASK. What if Brother T hadn't been worthy to give a blessing through the priesthood? What if he hadn't used his priesthood at all? I can't say for sure what would have happened, but certainly our faith could not have grown and T could not have had the blessings that we're available to him through the priesthood. 

#3: Equally if not more important than the priesthood is Motherhood

Sheri Dew says: "As mothers in Israel, we are the Lord’s secret weapon. Our influence comes from a divine endowment that has been in place from the beginning. In the premortal world, when our Father described our role, I wonder if we didn’t stand in wide-eyed wonder that He would bless us with a sacred trust so central to His plan and that He would endow us with gifts so vital to the loving and leading of His children. I wonder if we shouted for joy ¹² at least in part because of the ennobling stature He gave us in His kingdom. The world won’t tell you that, but the Spirit will."

So, all things said, there are a few shout outs here:

1. To my momma, who is, in my eyes, the best mother on earth. Thank you for your love and for excercising your faith so that our family could be as amazing as it is.

2. To my dad, who has always used his priesthood faithfully. Without him, I don't know where I would be.

3. To everyone who is currently serving a mission, or is considering serving a mission, learn to understand and use your priesthood faithfully so that you can experience the gospel in its fullness. Thank you for all you have already done, and will continue to do.

I love you all soooooooo much.

Rock on. Peace, love, and temple marriage. In that order. :D

Elder Taylor J. Hill

The Miracle of Medicine Hat -- 7 January 2013

You know what's crazy? This place. Small town Medicine Hat.

It's awesome. "I'm still geeking out about it!"

What happened this week? 3 referrals. All from members. 2 new investigators.

Miracle.

In other news, we're dropping M. L is setting her own date (praying hard for that to work out.  It's an act of faith and it felt right, but it still makes me nervous). M hasn't been home in F.O.R.E.V.E.R!!!

I got a bunch of Christmas letters and packages a few days ago. Thank you everyone for your cards and gifts and love!

You are all amazing and I love you. I need to get a rolling, though. This one has been short. I'm sorry, but there is much to do (we have ZTM's tonight and we have a million places to be before then). I love you I love you I love you!

Letters are on their way!

Elder Hill

p.s. a shout out to my father who taught me to drive in the snow!

The Adventure -- 31 December 2012

If you've never heard of Angel & Airwaves, I highly recommend them. They're a band.

That said, Hello!!!! How are all of you?

You want to know what sucks? Going home before your mission is over (errybody calm down, it's not me. I thought you had more faith in me than that. Come on now.). One of my ZL's has been having some mental health issues. He recieved a call from SLC just a few days ago, which told him he was going home. After a battle betwixt SLC, and his bishop, stake president, and our amazing Mission President, it has been determined that he will be able to finish his mission under close supervision. OLE!

Well, my friends. Let me teach you a short lesson.

Don't ever go home before you are done. To quote Elder Holland, "You never leave your religion at the door. Not ever."

The best way to keep your religion with you is being obedient and choosing to be happy on a daily basis. By doing those two incredibly simple things, you "stand as a witness of Christ" and are thus able to be blessed by his Atonement on a daily basis.

Please always remember to do everything you can to fulfill your purpose in life, being obedient through tests and trials as well as "having joy."

Happiness is a choice. No matter your situation. If you are obedient and you choose to be happy, the rest of your life will be changed dramatically by the Savior. It's as simple as that.

The Gospel is that simple.

The Gospel is that incredible.

I love you all, have an amazing week.

Rock on. Peace, love, and temple marriage. In that order. (shout out to Bro. Staples, an incredible seminary teacher and an even better friend.)