Columbus day Oct 13th

Happy Columbus day! (i only know that because of my calendar)

 

this week was good. i really like our area and i love my comp. I cant remember when i mentioned it but i am seeing obedience really is a key factor in mission life and really, life in general. 

 

my comp and i have been working hard and trying to be more obedient and relying more heavily on Heavenly Father. this last week it literally felt like we were being led from house to house, meeting people God led us to. Theres no such thing as coincidences.. (sorry i cant spell that word ha)

 

for example we can upon an apartment building with three doors and i ask my companion which one to knock? shes like i dont care. I look at them and feel like we should knock on the first one to the left. We knock, no one answers so we slide a card underneath with our names and number and the direction.. umm address of the church. we begin filling out another card to have ready when the door opens. a middle aged woman picks up the card and we start talking to her. it wasnt long and she opened up like COMPLETELY to us. about her life. about how hard it is, how her family is screwed up and shes been praying and praying for help...

 we share words of encouragement and comfort and just help in the best way we could. mainly listening to her. She shed tears but she felt very thankful we had stopped by. she asked us to come back and asked us when church was. we have an appointment with her tomorrow. 

Another experience that happened this week was when my companion and i were on our way home and stopped at a colmado (store) so she could have food for breakfast the next day. on our way home from the colmado a car pulls up next to us and holds a bag of eggs (yah they bag eggs here ha) and tells us we forgot them. my companion hadnt even realized the eggs werent in her bag. we thanked him and felt blessed of how nice people are here. well just yesterday we passed by the same colmado and the same car pulled up next to us. this time we hadnt forgotten anything lol. we began talking to us. he speaks english because he works at a call center and begins to ask a lot of questions and talk a lot in general. I basically taught him the restoration. about Joseph Smith, God in general, etc... I say I because it was english... which was weird because im so used to teaching it in spanish that i actually had to translate it from spanish to english in my head. never thought thatd happen lol. anyway he asked if it was a coincidence that we met and i told him i didnt think so. that really things happen for a reason.

 

i do truly believe that. That God, our Loving Father in Heaven is control and that He has a plan for us... and that "His ways are higher than our ways". That we really cant even begin to imagine how it all works.

 

God is real. God loves us. He hears our prayers. He answers our prayers, it's usually through other people He meets our needs but he takes care of us.

 

I am so exhaused and its crazy to think i'm only halfway through because i feel so old and achy... but its worth it. we we are obedient and work work, relying on God.. He guides us in the right way.

 

I have a quote on my desk I like that reads:

"when we focus our efforts on helping others, we're joyfully exhausted instead of irratingly tired."

 

this is God's work. He's in control. I love and trust Him. I'm not perfect but i'm striving to be.

 

I love you all! 

 

<3. Hna hildman 

Conference Week Oct 6th

I had a really good week (and took a lot of pictures.. you guys will have to check my blog for them. hermana.hildman.blogspot.com)

some highlights this week:

1.tried my first tubi. aka a weaving cap. all the dominicans wear them. i like to use them (only in the house of course) when its really hot. i like it too because it prevents kinks in your hair.. unlike just pulling it up with hair ties.

2. we made dumplins.. dominican style yummy.

 

3. had a really cool lesson with a new investigator named Elizabeth. She had a lot of questions and actually had read the pamphlet we gave her... shes really interested.

4. my comp hit 9 months... haha youll have to see the blog for those pics

       (stay tuned for this picture)

5. contacted a mute man.

6. made cinnamon rolls with hna beaukers for conference.

7. General conference.

8. ate lunch at bishops with his family.

9. oh a i tried a china. its technically an orange but instead of calling it naranja they call it china because if its called china its ready if its naranja its not ripe. also theyre green here. i like them though... but more in a juice... less work on eating it ha.

10. i got mail!.... always wonderful.

alright, so i feel a lot of people are going to talk about conference so ill be brief. i thought it was cool there were a few speakers who spoke in their native language. spanish was the coolest because then it didnt have to be translated. huge martinez if the the 70 who talked is the 2nd counsler for the carribean... aka my area lol.

i also discovered that richard g scott translates his owns talks into spanish so that was neat.

as for talks i liked, its harder to follow in spanish than in english.. go figure right? however, the overrall theme that i picked up on is that we live in hard times. were going to have rapids, however we have the tools to secure us, secure our safety so we can get passed it.

1.prayer

2.following the example of Christ

3.establishing strong families by doing things together

4.recognizing whats more important (fruit or prayers? see talk by l. tom perry)

5.going to the temple.

6.following the prophet. (d&c1:38)

7.listening to the holy ghost

8.loving others

9.strengthening your testimony

i love conference and feel so blessed to have had the change to watch it but more importantly i feel blessed knowing we have a living prophet today to guide us.

he really is a prophet of God. I have prayed and received a wtiness to my heart that he is Gods prophet. It wasnt anything big, i just wanted to know if he really was because i believed he was. One day (before the mission) after having prayed to know.. i was listening to a few lds talks. when i heard his voice... the spirit bore withness to me in my heart that he really is a prophet.

im no scholar or anything nor know a whole lot but i am tahnkful to know a few truths.

one being, i dont know nor do i need to know all things because God does. And just like it says in Isaiah 55:8-9, God's ways His thoughts, are higher than ours. He knows... whats best andw e can trust Him because He loves us because we are His children.

ive had it mentioned to me before that no one really knows fopr sure if theres a God or wahts going to happen untilo we die and find out. However, i feel if we have that kind of mindset were going to come face to face with God and either be like "i didnt know" or "i always believed.. but i never knew". to which i feel He would say in a loving fatherly way... "why didnt you just ask me?"

I'll admit... asking is much easier to do than receiving an asnwer, but i promise you that youll always receive an answer. sometimes its not in a way you expect, sometimes ita not a yes of no answer. but when we pray wanting to know with real intent.. God will answer us.

I love the scripture found in 1 Samuel 16:7 that says "..for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart".

God knows us. He knows our intentions, our dsires, our fears, our doubts, our weaknesses, our strengths... and He loves us all equally because we are all His.

At times that statement has troubled me. How could He love me the same as a murderer, a cheater, a robber? or how could He possibly love me the same as the prophet, Jesus, or Mary?

Because we are His children... all of us. It doesnt matter what weve done or will ever do... His love is always there. always. Hes only waiting to bless us. .. were the ones that push Him waway but He's only ever an arms length wawy because thats only as far as we CAN push Him.

I testify that God lives, loves us and sent His Son Jesus Christ to atone for us so we could return back to Him... if we want.

I love you all!

con amor,

Hermana Hildman.

First week in Villa Aura II

Alright so this has been like the weirdest week of my mission life.

monday (pday)- was super chill. it was hna buhrleys last day and we threw her a surprise little party with empanadas and ate some no bake cookies

tuesday- hna burhley and mayfield left for new adventures. burhley homeward bound and mayfield off to the yuka. we spent all day cleaning and packing and then went out for a few hours.

wednesday- we waited a long time to move to our new house (the elders old one). to pass time we slept, played cards, read, slept, ate, etc. Finally we got moved... well taken to our new house. Well, we were super saddened/upset when we got there. Remember how i mentioned we cleaned like all day? well we left our house BEAUTIFUL and came to a house that wa far from it.. however i feel so thankful that both the assistants and office elders were there to help and the old elders to help us clean it all. so wednesday we spent another day cleaning. (12 of us)

thursday-

we showed the elders our area so they knew members, recent converts, and investigators we were working with.

friday-

they showed us around their area.

Saturday- in the morning we went out with the elder to see our NEW HOUSE... well i say new house because i want it to be. it was super nice. the day we moved into our new house we were told we were gonna move no more than a week... so that wa nice.. they dont like us living above the guys who live below us so they want us out of there pronto so we should be moving sometime this coming week so a new place.

then the rest of the day we went out on our own and didnt get too lost.

Sunday- our first sunday. church was awesome. it was ran very punctual.. which is rare here in this country so that was cool. we had a meeting with the bishop and other leaders on how to help the ward and it was super cool. then the bishop and his wife went out with us for 2 lessons and it was great. We ended up visiting who needed our visits.

Anyway, so that was my week. out new area is HUGE... and full of hills. butt work out for sure. Its also full of some mixed feelings. Some are super excited to have us hermanas here but also some were attached to the elders... they havent had hermanas here in over 10 years.

so yah, im excited to work in this area though. We have a lot of area to cover and i hope a lot of work.

Work work work... its hard. however, i recenrly rediscovered a quote i have that says: "if it wouldnt be hard, it wouldnt be worth it".

its true. have to really show Heavenly Father how willing you are to help His children. He loves them and doesnt want just anyone toiling with them. He wants hardworking, obedient missionaries to teach His beloved children because only through those kind of missionaries can He teach them the Gospel. Those kind of missionaries teach with the Spirit, which is the key to missionary work, the key to teaching in the way God wants.

I know that this is God's work and that the only way to really have success in helping people come to Christ is relying on God to do so. I know im not a perfect missionary but i really do want to help people be happy and the Gospel is the greatest joy ive received and i want to share it.

I love you guys and i miss yah but the time is short until i see you again.

con amor,

hermana hildman

ps. General conference is next week! im so stoked!

Transfers came... SURPRISE - Sept 29th

What happened this week? haha this week for me is kinda a blur. I am glad i wrote in my journal for that reason.. .shoot! ha... I feel like that happens though when transfers come. My mind just keeps thinking on that.

 

So big news... im packing. well actuall our whole house is. Well hna burley is ending her mission so shes packing to go home. Her comp is being transferred somewhere else in the captital and the rest of us four are staying together but we're switching houses with the elders in the zone next to us. So we're whitewashing... sort of. We're gonna show our area to the elders and they're gonna show theirs to us since we live so close. but yah... a complete elder area is now getting hermanas and a complete hermanas area is getting elders again. 

 

Im really excited for the new area. i will miss this area though even though i was only here for 6 weeks. the members here are so great. We also just started to teach this guy named Hamlin and he came to church yesterday! ahh! I hope the elders keep working with him. Hes really cool. We also have some other investigators that are guys that i think we'll be better/easier to have the elders teach because we cant/dont teach them alone so itll be easier for them to teach. so im excited for that. in my new area im told there are a lot of young women that have been recently been baptized so were gonna be working a lot with them so that should be good. 

 

Anyway, sorry this email is shorter than usual but i love ya'll and the you are Grrrrrrrrrrrrrreat! 

 

God loves us and He is mindful of us.

 

love you!

 

Hna Hildman

8 months......Sept 15th

KLK. Hey family and friends,

 

I had a great week this week. Tiring week but it was good. my companion and i contacted demasiado... a ton. we hve a few people who we think would beinterested in learning more. :) 

 

one cool experience i want to share has to do with how neat it is in how God is aware of us. We were contacting in one of our areas where we have no progressing invesigadors. we go to an apartment building (after having contacted a few houses before) and use the he intercomn to beep. One responds and asks wo it is but before we can respond the door is unlocked, we say thanks and walk in. We very quickly were met by a little boy about 8ish. He then runs back up to the house so we follow up after him. We then hear people inside the house ask who it was. He's like I dont know. So we are in the front of the door and they invie us in in, have us sit down, ec. It was like we were kinda carried in.. .like pushed in to the house. it happened really fast. 

We introduced who we were, asked who they were and just started having a natural conversation,. come o find out the one lad: Rosemil knows quite a bit about mrmons because growing up she had a good friend who was mormon and she would go to church with her. The other lady: Francisca (rosemils mom) is always open to hear "the word of God". Anyway we shared with them. It was cool. One thing I though was really interesting was what Rosemil said before we had left. She said she never lets anyone in she doesnt know. however she thought maybe we were her brotherinlaw and then her son ran down and it just happened so fast.She wouldnt have let us in but I truly believe God wanted us to visit this family. 

 

Anyway i was not expecting to be let in. Alwas hoping but never expecting. Just hoping that everyone we talk to will just give us two min to hear us out. 

 

Well, I thought this lesson we had was cool. I truly believe God brought us to this family. I dont know if much more will come from this family (while im here) but i believe we needed to be there. We are going to visit them this coming week. ill let you guys know what happens. :)

 

As for the rest of my week, it was good. I have learned my companion and is biggest strength (or helper) is laughter. When were laughing, were happy and were full of love/happiness and can teach with the Spirit because theres no contentions to scare it off. Hermana Molina and I have become good friends. were kinda goofy. One da she wanted to see if we could put our fists in our mouths and come to find out... i could. not flattering to say the least so im not sending pics haha... but i discovered another weird talent i have.

 

she also had me try chips and crackers with ketchup... gross right? wrong.. it was actually kinda good haha... so weird.. maybe ive been here too long :p

 

we have tried coconut icecream bars this last week and shoot man theyre divine... i really like coconut. we helped a member grade some coconut tis last week and its not super hard, just gotta be careul to not cut yourself... too much, ha. No one likes bloody coco.

 

anyway, hna beaukers and hna mayfield tried malta morena this alst week (a dominican drink...which is not super tasty) so that was fun to watch.

 

Anyway, this was m week. I hope you guys had a great weak and know i love you! I know I dont share EVERYTHING or a lot some weeks and my time is short right now due to losing power twice since ive been in internet... but i just want to leave with my testimony that even though missionary work is hard. It really is worth it because the church is true. The more i learn the more it just makes sense. The bible and book of mormon are true. This is Christs restored church, and really... if someone wants to know for themself it its the true and God's only true church... or if there is only one true church... Well they can know.. they can ask God Himself through prayer... and i promise.. promise promise promise He'll answer. Isnt that neat? I know God loves us, that we are His children. 

 

I'm not here to convince the world, I'm here to invite the wold to discover the truth for themself because thats how i gained my testimony: being invited, being befriended, excercising faith and trusting God. I know this is church is true and I know, if you dont right now, you can know too.

 

Love Hermana Hildman (JAMES 1:5)

Acia was baptized :)

Okay... i sent a lot of pics to my mom so they should be placed on my blog soon (http://hermanahildman.blogspot.com/) so i hope that is sufficient in my quality of writing because my time is superrrr short right now but this week was a good one. it went by really fast. 

 

We went to the temple this last week and it was sooo great. i seriously love the temple. 

 

Acia, one of our investigators, got baptized this last saturday. Shes sooo cute. Shes like 56ish. Short round lady haha. Shes cute. She was so so happy at her baptism i loved it! the day was the rough one but her baptism was definitely a highlight! 

 

Today we had a huge zones activity playing all kinds of games and it was super fun.

 

It's been raining like usual but not super bad. however yesterday we were stuck inside for 2 hours because it was wayyy too strong to go outside. but that was really the only day that it really rained like that. we thought it was gonna rain super crazy one day but it didnt. just a little and i had my umbrella. 

 

.

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As for the main message i want to share before having to get off is that life can be become really routine and we can be doing all the right things... and still be sad. Still feel alone. I had a great experience that just help lift my sprirts. It was yesterday coming home from church. It was fast sunday which never really helps with being the most cheerful person (im sorry.. .but its true).. and i just wanted to go home. I had felt invisible and i couldnt really help participate in church and i was just feeling super lowwwww. We came home and i just layed down and had a good long talk with God... i cried and just vented to Him. It was really good for me because i really dont like to vent to the people in the house or in my journal because i dont want to be negative or bring others down, but we can ALWAYS vent to God because He's always listening and He gives the best advice and gives us comfort.... Hes the best source to go to and I really relearned that yesterday. 

 

Please remember God loves you and He really is listening. 

 

I love you guys sooo much! 

have a great week!

 

 

Love,

 

Hermana Hildman 

short email this week... sorry guys. love you though! :)

Alright so this email isnt going to be super long, i apoligize in advance lol.

 

This week was long for some reason but not terrible. I am now over my cold I had so thats nice. 

 

We had interviews with the mission president and his wife. 

We've been talking to more people trying to find more people who want to listen to us.

We went to a different zone one day and went on splits to help find inactive members to see if they had moved or not and it not to invite them to the ward conference over there. That was an adventure. 

Today is P-day and we ate spagehtti as a district. (the pic attached is of me and Hna beaukers taking a nice nappy poo on the couch.)

 

We are going to the temple tomorrow!!! I am soooo sooo excited!

 

oh and im attaching another pic of a kid chilling on top of a van. haha... welcome to the DR folks... :)

 

Have a Grrrrrrrrrrreat week and know, please know God loves you guys!