I Need Thee, Oh, I Need Thee -- 24 June 2013

Dear Everyone,

You're probably wondering about the flood.

I don't have much to say about it, but what I will say is that I am safe, happy, and healthy.

It's a short one this week, but one quick miracle. The standard of excellence has been raised in our mission, and our missionaries are performing incredibly. I am proud to be in the Lord's service. Remember Dallas? Well, he was baptized on Saturday. Amazing.

I love you all.

Elder Hill

Flooding -- 24 June 2013

I am alive. I am safe.

Someone that I know passed away this week trying to help a flood victim. Insane. Thank goodness for the gospel of Jesus Christ. A member of the ward in Okotoks.

High River was the first area evacuated. Our missionaries called us at about 9:30 telling us that the basement suite they live in was filling up with water. So, we told them to evacuate to Okotoks. They gathered up a few belongings and went to Okotoks. The next day High River was completely under water, people were being rescued from their rooftops by helicopters.

Later that day, we were down in Okotoks helping the Elders move to the apartments on higher ground because the Sheep River was also flooding.

Some of the Elders in North Calgary have been moved to higher ground as well. The Elders in Medicine Hat are also alive and well. The Bs live far from the river and shouldn't be directly affected by the flood, but they have certainly been in my prayers. I don't want any friends harming themselves around the flood.

Truthfully, this natural disaster is being treated rather casually by everyone in Calgary. The floods are big, but people don't really see how devastating they are. We drove over a bridge 2 days ago and saw the river flowing over two full golf courses.

The incredible thing is, though, that things like this make the Lord's hand so easy to see. None of the missionaries have been harmed, but we are getting our bright yellow shirts ready for when the floods go down. We've built upon a solid foundation, which is Christ, and we are ready and willing to serve, lift, help, inspire, and love. Many have been harmed by nature's course, but God will lift them up again. Amazingly, we are His servants who have the opportunity to be a part of that incredible hope. The Lord is humbling His people, and much happiness will come as the hope and light of the Gospel spreads forth. I can't wait until we can help. :D

The Driving Force -- 17 June 2013

Today I am full of something. It's not beans. it might be love. It might be hope. It could be peace. Maybe it's just the Spirit that makes me feel this way, but the way that I feel is undeniable. I cannot deny that I feel a fire. Something is raging within my heart that I can't seem to quench and really have no desire to.

It is hope.

It is light.

It is a knowledge that today I can stand and proudly proclaim that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored to the earth through the prophet, Joseph Smith.

It is the happiness that is available through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

It is courage beyond anything that anyone can say or do to hurt me or try to tear me down.

It is faith that God's work is rolling forth boldly, nobly, and independant.

It is the love of God, telling me that no matter how hard I fall, He will always pick me up again. It is peace speaking in my heart, proclaiming to my soul that I am never alone. Never forgotten.

It is a boasting of my God. A rejoicing in Him. A knowledge that in His strength, I can do all things.

It is a knowledge of my own nothingness.

A gratitude for who I am as a servant of God and as one of His children. A disciple of Christ.

A relization that He does not need me, but He wants me. No matter how broken, no matter how pathetic, no matter how alone or displaced I seem to be. He loves me.

It is a testimony that He is with each of you. A promise that you are not forgotten of God. An oath that you will never be alone as long as you are seeking to be in His light and a promise that He is always searching for you.

It is a commandment to feed His sheep. A covenant to be His. At all times, in all things, & in all places. A promise to give my all.

It is the vision of the best of the best, who will only get there through Him. It is a desire to be somenoe He can always depend on. To be a higher calibur of missionary.

It is walking tall. Driving hard. Moving fast. Loving all. Being one. Teaching light. Bearing Priesthood. Sacrificing my heart. Loving the Son. Testifying of His divinity. Reaching out. Lifting hands. Strengthening feeble knees.

It is the work of Almighy God.

Loyalty.

Virtue.

Growth.

Faith.

Light.

We are never alone.

I am His.

I love you all.

Elder Taylor J. Hill

p.s. 16 Therefore, let us ^aglory, yea, we will ^bglory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his ^cmercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel.

 30 And we have suffered all manner of afflictions, and all this, that perhaps we might be the means of saving some soul; and we supposed that our ^ajoy would be full if perhaps we could be the means of saving some.

35 Now have we not reason to rejoice? Yea, I say unto you, there never were men that had so great reason to rejoice as we, since the world began; yea, and my joy is carried away, even unto boasting in my God; for he has all ^apower, ^ball wisdom, and all understanding; he comprehendeth all things, and he is a ^cmerciful Being, even unto salvation, to those who will repent and believe on his name.

36 Now if this is ^aboasting, even so will I boast; for this is my life and my light, my joy and my salvation, and my redemption from everlasting wo. Yea, blessed is the name of my God

YSA -- 10 June 2013

I have been made a Zone Leader in the Foothills zone. It's been interesting. Very interesting, but not bad. :D I love my new companion. He is from Mesa, Arizona and he is a lot of fun to be around. He and I get along very well. We are also on a three leg with the Mandarin missionary in the zone. He spends a lot more time with other members of our District than he does with us, but you need to do wha tyou need to do to invite others to come unto Christ, hey?

So, I'm living in South West Calgary in a pretty cool apartment. It's exciting times :D It's a total mess, just like all of the apartments I've gone in to, but it will be cleaned up before the end of today. It's been good.

The ward I cover is YSA and is called the Spruce Meadows Ward. So far the members are hilarious, and I'm very grateful to be serving. Because of all the returned missionaries, everyone really knows why they need to do missionary work, but nobody really understands how it can be accomplished. Fortunately, that happens to be my specialty. I've officially decided that my role as a missionary is to pave the path for the ward to be self sustaining in missionary work. That's what I was doing in Okotoks, Medicine Hat (especially toward the end), and it's what I'm going to do here, so that, in the future, other missionaries can baptize the people that each of the members prepare.

My teaching has been improving since I've gotten here. I've had to be really technically correct and focus hard on the fundamentals as I've been working with people who have served missions and who are preparing to serve missions.

I love leadership. Not because I like being a leader, because I really don't like the firing line or the microscope. I really like it because it makes me stretch. I love that the Lord loves me enough to take me out of my comfort zone and allows me to grow and expand beyond my capabilities. I love to look back at the growth I've experienced so far on my mission. God is a genius.

Well, you've guessed it, I've been moved into YSA. :D

Yesterday, the bishop called me up from the stand and had me give a 10 minute talk without letting me know beforehand. It was sweet. :D Very exciting.

In the meantime, as you are all aware, we've been working on gaining member trust and getting wards to be self sufficient in missionary work. It's been great. I love working with members.

This is one of those times when I really just don't know exactly what it is I need to be writing about.

I love you all. You know that? I feel like sometimes when I write home, the things that I say tend to be a little bold and quite spiritually based. A lot of people email me and ask what I'm doing, and how I'm doing, and these emails all seem to be about the spiritual things. The truth is, I do that because I love it. I love my mission. More than anything. I love teaching, I love helping, I love hoping, and I love learning. I really love sharing that love with others. After all, that's why I'm here. That's why we're all here. To show the Lord whether or not we love Him. That's the test, right? Just turning to him? I just love you all so much. I hope you know that.

Maybe the shortest email ever, I just don't know what else to say.

The miracles this week were many. We had an activity fall through and we didn't know what to do, so we got down on our knees and prayed. A name popped in to our minds. N. We need to see N.

So, we got in the truck and went over to N's place. we shared a message of self-worth, hope, and divine potential. We talked about life, hope, help, and happiness. We invited him to church and he came. The truth is, the Lord knows His people. I hope these miracles never seem any smaller to me. It would be a terrible day to realize that I hadn't seen any miracles. We see them all the time. We see so much good. It builds our faith and helps us to be better than we really ever dreamed. Miracles happen every day. In my life and yours.

God is good.

Peace, love, and temple marriage. In that order!

Elder Taylor J. Hill

There's a lot I could say about Moroni.... -- Tuesday, 4 June 2013

Well, let's be honest, there's a ton I could say about this week.

We set a date for baptism.

We went on exchanges, twice.

We did a lot of tracting.

We laughed harder than I have probably laughed my whole mission.

I have seriously loved serving with Elder Burrows. We work hard and we laugh hard we roll hard and we are not afraid to do what is right. It is such a blessing to work with someone who wants it as much as you do. You become stronger. You live a higher standard. You are made more holy. You become someone incredible. He is the man.

You know who else was the man? Moroni. Did you know that I didn't actually know the story of the Title of Liberty until 2 days ago? Well, true story, bro. Guess what really happens! The truth is, the Title of Liberty came about because there was a guy who was tearing apart the Nephite society:

Yea, we see that Amalickiah, because he was a man of cunning device and a man of many flattering words, that he led away the hearts of many people to do wickedly; yea, and to seek to ^adestroy the church of God, and to destroy the foundation of ^bliberty which God had granted unto them, or which blessing God had sent upon the face of the land for the ^crighteous’ sake.

Then, Moroni won't take it anymore.
 And now it came to pass that when Moroni, who was the ^achief commander of the armies of the Nephites, had heard of these dissensions, he was angry with Amalickiah.
And it came to pass that he rent his coat; and he took a piece thereof, and wrote upon it—^aIn memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children—and he fastened it upon the end of a pole.

 13 And he fastened on his head-plate, and his ^abreastplate, and his shields, and girded on his armor about his loins; and he took the pole, which had on the end thereof his rent coat, (and he called it the ^btitle of liberty) and he ^cbowed himself to the earth, and he prayed mightily unto his God for the blessings of liberty to rest upon his brethren, so long as there should a band of ^dChristians remain to possess the land—

Then Moroni goes marching through the streets waving the banner, calling all Christians to not let that land go astray.
Behold, whosoever will maintain this title upon the land, let them come forth in the strength of the Lord, and ^aenter into a covenant that they will ^bmaintain their rights, and their religion, that the Lord God may bless them.

 21 And it came to pass that when Moroni had proclaimed these words, behold, the people came running ^atogether with their armor girded about their loins, ^brending their garments in token, or as a ^ccovenant, that they would not forsake the Lord their God; or, in other words, if they should transgress the commandments of God, or fall into transgression, and be ^dashamed to take upon them the name of Christ, the Lord should rend them even as they had rent their garments.

I really related to Moroni this week. This week after tracting I was feeling pretty hopeless, and not just hopeless, I was enraged. I felt like the world had left our Father behind... And they have. So, like Moroni I felt a little angry. I wanted so badly for the world to recognize the greatness of their Father. I just wanted to create a banner and march it around the streets, and proclaim, "In memory of our forgotten God who has not forgotten us! In memory of true liberty! In memory of strong families! In memory of Jesus Christ who gave all for us that we might live in true happiness and peace!" I began to pray within myself for an opportunity to proclaim His Gospel and to preach His faith. To help the Children of Men, God's children to remember Him. I have really continued that prayer since that day. My whole mentality has changed.

Family, friends, loved ones. Our God has not forsaken us. This is me, right here, right now, proclaiming to you as boldly, clearly, and kindly as I know how: Jesus is the Messiah. God is real. We are not a forgotten people. Happiness is here, now, available to us all if we will only do what is right. Remember our God. Remember what He has done for you. Remember all that he has given you. Remember why you are on this earth.

In the words of Elder Holland:

"My beloved brothers and sisters, to those of you who have been blessed by the gospel for many years because you were fortunate enough to find it early, to those of you who have come to the gospel by stages and phases later, and to those of you—members and not yet members—who may still be hanging back, to each of you, one and all, I testify of the renewing power of God’s love and the miracle of His grace. His concern is for the faith at which you finally arrive, not the hour of the day in which you got there.

"So if you have made covenants, keep them. If you haven’t made them, make them. If you have made them and broken them, repent and repair them. It is never too late so long as the Master of the vineyard says there is time. Please listen to the prompting of the Holy Spirit telling you right now, this very moment, that you should accept the atoning gift of the Lord Jesus Christ and enjoy the fellowship of His labor. Don’t delay. It’s getting late."

Please... come unto Christ and be perfected in him. Life is wonderful. We are not alone.

I know this Gospel is true.

Peace, love, and Temple Marriage. In that order.

Elder Taylor J. Hill

p.s. Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto ^aMoroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the ^bdevil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men.