WHITCHICKABAM -- 27 August 2013

Okay, short and sweet, but important.

Our investigator is preparing to be baptized this weekend, and like every week just before the baptism it's been rough. She was anti'ed. Hard core. Anyway, she was texting us all day, guilt tripping us and telling us we had lied to her. Every time we sent a response we prayed before we sent it, readjusted the wording and content of the message, and prayed again; and then on confirmation, we sent it. At the end of the night it was at its worst. We continued to pray... she sent us a text... and then the Lord directed us to ask her the following question: "Is the Book of Mormon the Word of God?"

She responded, "Yes."

And then we went to bed.

This morning we got a text from her that said, "Hey."

To which we responded, "Hi." then "Can we meet with you today?"

Then she said something that almost made me cry out with both joy and heartache: "Yes :( It's going to be a hard week, isn't it?"

Here's what I've learned...When the best things are going to happen are when the hardest times come. Satan don't kick no dead dogs, my friends. When life gets hardest, it's because miracles are around the corner. In that way, struggle is a miracle.

This week may be hard. This month may be hard. Who knows? But is the Book of Mormon true? Yes.

 Is Jesus the Christ?

I boldly proclaim. "He is."

And because He is, we will always be able to stand back up.

I love you all!

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

Elder Taylor J. Hill

"I want to be a better version of an imperfect self." Elder T -- 19 August 2013

" ...for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the ^aliving God?"

I bet you can't guess what I studied today? :D

Before I begin, I need to apologize. I like "throw down" too much. I do. I love being chastized by scripture because it makes me feel like I can. I suppose that's really ironic, but whenever I hear an Apostle, or some other Authority telling me who I am able to become I just feel enabled. I see my potential... and while I know it will be a long road trying to reach it, I also am aware that I am soooooo happy when I am pushing forward, driving for a better me. So, please forgive me if my emails are sometimes a little graphic and unrestrained. I only do it because I love you all!

The good news is, I'm not planning on throwing down. I never do. I just say what comes to mind. So, let's talk.

The miracles start last Saturday.

Saturday evening we got a text from one of our investigators, we'll call her S. S has had a lot of trouble progressing in the Gospel, because she's been experiencing a lot of opposition from her family. She also wasn't really receiving any answers because she didn't really want them. Well, she was texting us, and she was dropping us over text! The nerve! :D As soon as we saw it, we prayed and we managed to say just what the Lord needed us to say. A miracle or two later (brought by God after all we could do) and she was at church the next day. :D But wait, it gets better. Tuesday rolls around and she's been reading the Book of Mormon, and has been experiencing so much joy because of it. Fast forward an hour and a half and several prayers later and she's on date for the 31st of August. :D Look at God going again. But it doesn't end there.

You see, our zone has a goal of 6 baptisms this month. That is more than this zone has done in 2 years (maybe more, our records only go that far back). So, as soon as we set the goal as a zone, miracles began to happen, with everyone. So, we have 5 on date for baptism before the end of the month. The first of these wonderful people to enter into the Kingdom of God this month is G. His baptism was on the 17th. I'll keep you posted as we go.

Anyway, S had set her own date for baptism during our lesson on Tuesday, but was still struggling. She had the answers, but it wasn't what she had expected to experience. She wasn't sure if she had the faith. Well, at G's baptism a member bore his powerful witness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ being found in this church. It was incredible (in fact, when I grow up, I would like to be like him). Well, S came up to us after the service (which she attended) and told us that she was ready, and she wasn't looking back.

Have you ever heard the Spirit say something to you like, "Boomshakalaka" or "Whitchickabam"? I have.

Miracles. Summer will be baptized on the 31st. :D God is blessing us.

So, the past week has been just a test of faith for our entire zone. Are we going to believe that God will do this, or not? Do we believe that we are able to accomplish His work, and are we willing to work for it?

Well, I believe He will. Will you?

I think that's really what it comes down to in this life. Do we believe that we can with God? Do we believe that if we will do as He asks that He will do as He promises?

Well, He will and He does. I know He does.

I have one final thought, sometimes we think we need to be perfect. Sometimes when we hear someone try to teach us we may think, "Well, I can't! I'll never get there." I just have one verse for you, "13 Thou shalt be ^aperfect with the Lord thy God." (Deuteronomy 18:13) With Him, you can make it.

Rock on. Peace. Love. Temple Marriage. In that order.

Elder Taylor J. Hill

Divinity of Your Calling -- 12 August 2013

There is a beautiful talk called "The Inconvenient Messiah" given (shockingly by Jeffery R. Holland :)) He speaks of how sometimes being a diciple of Jesus Christ isn't always convenient or easy, but that it is always possible. In his talk, he spoke of Spencer W. Kimball when he received His calling as an Apostle. This is an exerpt (full talk: http://www.lds.org/ensign/1984/02/the-inconvenient-messiah?lang=eng   ):

“No peace had yet come, though I had prayed for it almost unceasingly. … I turned toward the hills. I had no objective. I wanted only to be alone. I had begun a fast. …

“My weakness overcame me again. Hot tears came flooding down my cheeks as I made no effort to mop them up. I was accusing myself, and condemning myself and upbraiding myself. I was praying aloud for special blessings from the Lord. I was telling Him that I had not asked for this position, that I was incapable of doing the work, that I was imperfect and weak and human, that I was unworthy of so noble a calling, though I had tried hard and my heart had been right. I knew that I must have been at least partly responsible for offenses and misunderstandings which a few people fancied they had suffered at my hands. I realized that I had been petty and small many times. I did not spare myself. A thousand things passed through my mind. Was I called by revelation? …

“If I could only have the assurance that my call had been inspired most of my other worries would be dissipated. … I knew that I must have His acceptance before I could go on. I stumbled up the hill and onto the mountain, as the way became rough. I faltered some as the way became steep. No paths were there to follow; I climbed on and on. Never had I prayed before as I now prayed. What I wanted and felt I must have was an assurance that I was acceptable to the Lord. I told Him that I neither wanted nor was worthy of a vision or appearance of angels or any special manifestation. I wanted only the calm peaceful assurance that my offering was accepted. Never before had I been tortured as I was now being tortured. And the assurance did not come. …

“I mentally beat myself and chastised myself and accused myself. As the sun came up and moved in the sky I moved with it, lying in the sun, and still I received no relief. I sat up on the cliff and strange thoughts came to me: all this anguish and suffering could be ended so easily from this high cliff and then came to my mind the temptations of the Master when he was tempted to cast Himself down—then I was ashamed for having placed myself in a comparable position and trying to be dramatic. … I was filled with remorse because I had permitted myself to place myself … in a position comparable, in a small degree, to the position the Saviour found Himself in when He was tempted, and … I felt I had cheapened the experiences of the Lord, having compared mine with His. Again I challenged myself and told myself that I was only trying to be dramatic and sorry for myself.

“… I lay on the cool earth. The thought came that I might take cold, but what did it matter now. There was one great desire, to get a testimony of my calling, to know that it was not human and inspired by ulterior motives, kindly as they might be. How I prayed! how I suffered! How I wept! How I struggled!” (Edward L. Kimball and Andrew E. Kimball, Jr., Spencer W. Kimball, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, Inc., 1977, pp. 192–95.)

Now at this very hour, thirty-eight years and a mountain of tumors and troubles later, this sweet and Godly man clings to life not because that life has been convenient, but because he feels there might be one more mountain to climb, one more obstacle of body or spirit that needs to be overcome. The spiritual odyssey of Andrew Kimball’s son has been anything but easy. And maybe that of your father’s son or your mother’s daughter will require patience and perseverance too.

So if your prayers don’t always seem answered, take heart. One greater than you or President Kimball cried, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani. … My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46.) If sometimes the harder you try, the harder it gets, take heart. So it has been with the best people who ever lived.

I just want to bear my testimony that God not only hears and answers prayers, but he doesn't leave us alone. Sometimes we battle and struggle so that we can grow closer to the Light of God.

One of Jesus Christ's names is, "I Am." and I want to testify that I know that He Is. He is real. He is our Savior. He is our Brother, our Friend, our Advocate with the Father. He is my personal companion and He has taught me how to live like Him. How to give my all. After all, why wouldn't I? In the words of Gordon B. Hinckley, "“It’s true, isn’t it? Then what else matters?”"

It is true. I know it's true. I will and have lived it, and because of this, I know it.

I don't really know what to say about this past week. It has been good. We now have a third companion named Elder Tabler. He's a great guy.

No investigators on date in our area...yet. Our Zone has a goal for 6 baptisms this month, which has never been done by the Foothills Zone before :D. The last time we checked, we had 7 on date this month. We can do it! (it's a principle of faith)

Other than that, this week has been full of teaching. It's no longer as crazy as it was before, but it is going great! We're turning our focus back to the ward to continue to build a foundation so that our investigators still have something to lean on. YSA is insane. More than 3/4 of our ward is moving away for school this weekend.

Well, that's all I have to say about that. I love you all!

The Enabling Power -- 6 August 2013

This week was something in between really really hard, and really incredible. It never seems to be that way except for when God is trying to push you farther than you've ever gone before. I think often of Samwise Gamgee saying, "If I take one more step, I'll be farther from home than I've ever been." The truth is, one step farther, often means one step closer.

To me the mission has seemed to be asking me to take a lot of "one more" steps. God has pushed me to my limits, and even farther. To the point where I often find myself by my bed in the evening in tears, ready to just quit, and the only thing really supporting me is the knowledge that my Savior will bear me up. I am reminded each day as I do one impossible thing after the other that "can't", "impossible", and "alone" are words that God doesn't ever speak to the broken hearted. This is one of the greatest miracles of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

Sometimes we don't know how we'll manage to push ourselves beyond another limit. For me those limits are often mental blocks that stand in my way. Fear. Doubt. Disbelief. Sometimes it's a screaming, "You can't!" And Satan tries to tell me that I can't be the one to make the difference. I don't have the power, the strength, the will to accomplish this. "You cannot help these people. They don't care." "You'll never have anyone to teach." "One little set of missionaries can't make a difference." Well, there's the rub. Because, he's right. I can't.

But Jesus Christ can. He changed the world. Why not a ward, or a heart? You know, through Christ Jesus we can do all things.

So, one more step into the darkness. One more prayer. One more tear. One more hardship. It seems that they never end. But I testify in the name of my Lord, Master, and Savior, Jesus Christ that He can, will, and does walk with us. He carries our burdens if we will allow Him. The "one more" when given to "The One" becomes a joyous journey to perfection.

I love you all so much. Please keep taking one more step. Keep walking keep trying.

This week was wonderful. Brittany was baptized :D She's on her way to a temple recommend.

We had MLC this week (mission leadership council). Our zone is doing really really well. We've set a goal for 6 baptisms this month, and we're going to rock it out. :D There are so many great missionaries here. I'm so grateful to be a part of God's work.

Fast and testimony meeting was incredible. 3 non members besides our investigators came to church. :D God is blessing us so much.

I love you all! Have a wonderful week.

Rock on. Peace. Love. And Temple Marriage. In that order.

Elder Taylor "The Hell Shaker" Hill