2 1/2 Days of Rain!

This week was a little crazy! From about 7:00 Thursday evening til about 11:00 Sunday morning it rained. Almost constantly. Everybody was talkin' about how weird it was for Arizona to have rain like that, 'cause, well, it's the desert. But it felt so good, and cooled things down really well. And made using a bike all the time extra fun.

 I got put in a trio around the end of the week, and our areas combined, so we are now covering two wards for a little while, hopefully not for very long. On Saturday one of our member families took us to Golden Corral and that was pretty awesome. It had been a long time since I had been there. So for the first time in a long time I had hush puppies, bbq beef, and banana pudding. It wasn't quite North Carolina quality, but it made me feel a little more at home. 

We had a baptism for a 10 year old boy named Micheal, but that was an interesting situation, cause he had been interviewed and everything for baptism before we even got there, so we really had nothing to do with it. We just had to move things along and make sure the baptism went well. But it was cool. We've got a few more people we are teaching so that is always nice, and we are expecting high 60's or low 70's for the next couple of weeks, so things should be pretty nice for the next little while.

 I hope all is well back home. Take care and God bless,

Elder Hiatt

This pic was taken after knocking three floors of apartment doors with no one opening! There is still beauty...

So Many More People Can Now Be Touched

Well this week was a pretty decent week. Nothin' too crazy has happened; but we were able to teach a few people. There was a man named Fred who has come to church a couple times with his friend who is coming back to church after about 40 years. They have been friends for a long time and he's actually started sharing it with him now and Fred has shown a little interest. He's a pretty quiet guy but he has a great desire to learn and to find out for himself what is true. We also got a call from the seminary teacher that there was a guy named Aldo who was interested in meeting with us. He has been coming to seminary and has already started reading the Book of Mormon. Unfortunately, he is moving to Mexico this week, but hopefully we will be able to keep in touch with him through Facebook! It's a pretty cool opportunity to be able to teach people all over the world online. It has definitely changed how we do missionary work and how far we can reach. So many more people can now be touched by the gospel than ever before and it can happen at a much faster rate. it's awesome to see peoples' lives bettered, and families brought together by the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I hope everyone is doin' well. God bless you all.

Elder Hiatt

Lots of Love

Well, this week was pretty interesting. We're still learning our way around the area and so that has been fun, trying to find shortcuts through the neighborhoods and learn where all the roads start and stop and start again. We don't have very many people to teach right now, but there are tons of great people in the ward. Lots of families that aren't all members that are interested in learning and bringing their families closer together. We had a baptism for a brother named Lee this weekend, and that was pretty awesome. He is under legal guardianship of his aunt and uncle because of his situation growing up and they have really helped him to become an awesome part of the youth program. Lee is an awesome kid and you can just tell he loves everyone around him. You barely have to know him and he will greet you with a hug cause he just has that awesome ability to just love everyone. Definitely an example for me. We have also entered a new age of misisonary work, using more technology to share the Gospel with more people. That has been pretty interesting trying to get used to. But definitely exciting! I hope everything is going well at home. Take care and God bless,

Elder Hiatt

Sorry...

sorry i didn't have time to send a blog this week. i'll try to double up next week.

But, he has been transferred to the Ahwatakee Zone in Phoenix, his companion is from Reno, NV, and has been out 6 weeks. There are 2 baptisms already scheduled---all right!

So Long, Yuma!

Well, this week I am saying, "So long" to Yuma! Transfers are Wednesday and I'm headin' out to a new place. This last week was really good. We talked to a couple of really cool people. One couple we talked to was Pedro and Veronica. They are a super awesome couple who are really trying to do the right thing. They have definitely been through some tough times in their lives and I think they are really looking for something more. We also started teaching a guy named Scott, who is an 18 year old kid, and more curious than anything, but he has a strong belief in God and wants to do what is right. It's been awesome to see the people that God puts into our path who are really prepared, people you might not think would be interested in learning about God but when you actually reach out and talk to them you find they have a lot more going on than you thought they would have. Yesterday we were able to talk to a couple of guys who were outside painting their car. At first they weren't interested but then when we were able to help them paint the car they started asking questions and everything, and even accepted a Book of Mormon and an invitation to read and pray about it. Moral of the story? A little service goes a long way. 

I hope everything is going well at home. Take care and God bless!

Elder Hiatt

Conference Weekend

Well, this weekend was conference weekend-- which is always nice. There were so many good talks it can be hard to go through them all at once  (haha) but it seemed to me there were a lot of talks about ministering. They were about following our Savior's example to reach out to individuals and help them come closer to Christ. One thing that I think President Eyring said was that "we can't change the tragedy, but we can help them feel God's love." That is so true. That is ultimately the purpose of missionary work: to reach out to others and help them feel that God loves them. It isn't just the purpose of missionaries, but all disciples of Christ have a responsibility to reach out in love to others around us. To those who may be going through heartache and suffering, difficult times, or feelings of abandonment, God loves you. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ so that we can be freed from the sufferings of this world if we are willing to come unto Him. I know that that is true and that if we turn to Christ for help, He will help us. May God bless you in whatever trials may be facing you.
 With love,

Elder Hiatt

Happy 8th Birthday!

Well, this was an interesting week. I was actually up in Wellton for a day. That's an interesting place. Very very very rural, lots of farms....well practically all farms. The elders there never ride bikes. They drive their truck close to 100 miles a day to get every where they need to be. And it's an hour or more away from Yuma. So that was an interesting day. 

This weekend David got baptized. He is an incredible guy, who has made a lot of changes in his life. We have been able to see the change in him. He has an 11 year old daughter who is also a member and together they have been some of my favorite people to work with so far. It's definitely been awesome to see the gospel change his life. What a great 8 month birthday present!

 The gospel is true. Jesus Christ is our Savior and it is through living the gospel and striving to become better that we are able to receive peace in this life, and eternal life in the world to come. I'm grateful for the opportunity I have to be on a mission to share this great message with others.

 I hope everything is going well back home.

Take care and God bless.

Elder Hiatt

The Importance of Family

Hey Everyone,

This week was a pretty good week. We started working with a man named Paulo, who really has a desire to change. He drinks a lot of alcohol, but agreed to have missionaries come over be cause he believes the word of God will help him to change, and he really wants to change. He has a couple of kids and a wife, but she doesn't speak English, so I'm not sure how we are going to work that, but there is a lot of potential with that family. We also started working with Tamian and his mom Janelle and their family. They have been coming to church for about a month with a member family and finally decided to listen to the missionaries! So we are way excited for them. And Tamian is a beast at the guitar, piano, and drums. He's just a musical prodigy. He seems like a lot of fun to be around. 

One thing I realized this week is the importance of families in God's plan. The family is central to His plan, both in this life and the life to come. The gospel is centered on the families because it is only through the gospel that families can remain together for eternity. I am grateful for that knowledge, and the opportunity I have to share that knowledge and the love God has for all his children with the people here in Yuma. 

I'm also very grateful for my family, and for the love and support that we have for each other. I hope everything is going well back home. Take care, and God bless. 

Elder Hiatt

Hola, From Mexico...well, Almost.

Hola from Mexico!....well....almost. so this was my first full week in Yuma AZ, which is about as close to the border as we can get in the mission. We are covering two wards and both of their boundaries actually go all the way to the border with Mexico, so I am pretty dang close. There are definitely a lot of opportunities to use Spanish here, but at the same time, there are parts of the city that seem just like any normal American suburb. So there is a pretty big variety in this area. The work has been good. People here are pretty happy to listen to you, they are way nice, but a lot of them only want to listen to you once. The ones that we have been able to really talk to are way good people who have a sincere desire to follow Christ and to do the things that are right. One guy, David, is living with a member and is planning on getting married to her later this month. He is a way cool guy who has been on drugs but kicked them, and like a lot of people in the more poor areas, is struggling to make ends meet. But he has such a good attitude, even with the difficult things he has gone through and is still going through, that he really is just a great guy to be around. 

Well I hope everything is going well back home! Take care and God bless.

Elder Hiatt

Bye, Maricopa!

Well this was my last week in Maricopa, at least for a while. It was an all right week. We talked with David who came to the church for the Pioneer Day activity we had. He's a really cool guy and after a while of talking he ended up asking what he needed to do to get his family sealed in the temple. So it will be interesting to hear how that goes. There was also a new face at church on Sunday, Greg, who had driven past the church once before and promised himself he would stop in and check it out some time. So he came to church Sunday and we got his info and are planning to go visit him sometime this week. But of course, this week is transfers and I'm headed out of Maricopa. It's a little sad leaving my first area of the mission, especially after being here 6 months. I've met a lot of awesome people and made some lasting friendships, so it has definitely been a good time. but I am also looking forward to being in a new area, and getting to develop those new relationships with more people. Well, I hope everything is going well at home. Take care and God bless,

Elder Hiatt

Dawson's Baptism

Well this week was pretty good. Dawson got baptized. He is a pretty cool kid from Georgia, and he was here visiting his mom. We have taught him for a couple weeks but he is leaving pretty soon to go back to GA. He's a bright kid who thinks way too much (haha), and asks some interesting questions. But its all good. We got to play a little basketball with him Wednesday night and he got baptized on Saturday. He didn't fix his hair when he got up so it was pretty crazy at the baptism and then after he got dunked and changed back, his hair still looked the same....not sure how that happened. Also, Sunday we went to the Mission President's Fireside in Tempe and that was pretty cool. There were some testimonies from some people who recently joined the Church and one of our Zone Leaders sang a solo and then we got to hear the Mission President and his wife speak.  President Toone is taaaall. He's 7 feet so when he is on the stand he just looks huge! But it was a good meeting and made a good end to the week. We have one more week until transfers so things might be changing pretty soon! Hope everything is well at home. Take care and God bless,

Elder Hiatt

120 is Hot!

120 is hot!!!

So I'm pretty sure this week was the most heat I have been in, in my entire life. At first, riding your bike around felt like having a blow dryer blowing on your face all the time. but then I realized it was little more extreme than that. It's more like when you open a hot oven and that blast of hot air comes out? Yeah, its like that, but the "blast" never goes away. It feels like I'm more likely to get wind burn or something than sun burn. But other than that, it was an okay week. We were able to have a few more lessons than previously, we have seen a few more people coming back to church, and hopefully we will have a few more people to work with this week. We met some cool people yesterday, Andre and Keyona. They were just out trimming the one tree in their front yard with their two little boys, and we walked up and talked to them. They had just moved from Georgia (about as close to home as I'm going to get) and were still getting used to the weather just like I am, and they had talked with missionaries a little before. We were able to share a little bit with them and they invited us to come back next Sunday. So it'll be cool to see where that goes.

Well I hope everything is going well at home! Take care and God bless,

Elder Hiatt

6 Hours of Digging

Well happy Father's Day! I hope all the fathers out there had a good Father's Day, especially my own dad and grandfathers.

This week was a little different. We weren't able to meet with as many people as we would have liked, so we ended up doing a lot more service. Thursday we helped this guy Matt put his trampoline down to ground level. There was already a hole dug, maybe 2 feet down at its deepest spots and about the right size for the trampoline to fit in. So we got to digging and using the pick axe to break up the ground, and it was going pretty good for a while, because he had let the ground soak for a while before we came over. However, once we got all the softer dirt out of there, things got a little more tough. And this is Arizona. So things got a little more hot. And the ground got a little harder, until we brought out the sprinkler and started digging with that spraying over the hole. That helped cool things down and soften things up pretty well, until we were practically diggin in mud. But that was better than digging through solid rock, so it was nice. Finally, after about 6 hours we got the hole dug big enough and deep enough and we threw the trampoline in the ground. So that felt good to get everything done. That was probably the most exciting thing that happened this week. The sunburn felt nice, haha.

Something I've been thinking about a lot recently is our Heavenly Father's Plan of Happiness for us. A lot of people seem to think either God isn't there, or doesn't care what we do with this life. But I think its the other way around. He cares a great deal. and he wants us to do the things that He knows will make us happy in the long run, even when things get bad for us. Its kind of like a test. We are sent here to be tested, to see if we are willing to follow Jesus Christ, and to prove we want to return to live with him. He has prepared us with everything we need, namely the Gospel of Christ, and as we live in accordance with that gospel we see the blessings of choosing correct answers on this "test", and even when we make mistakes, we are able to do "test corrections'' through repentance, made possible by the Savior. I know that the Gospel is true, and I am grateful for the opportunity I have to repent and to live my life in closer harmony with His gospel.

Well, I hope everything is going well at home. Take care and God bless,

Elder Hiatt

Their Faith is Amazingly Strong

This has been an interesting week. Its getting hotter and hotter, so that always keeps things interesting, trying to find ways to stay cool. We have been trying to do a lot more finding people to teach but we are also trying to just help the people we already are teaching progress a little bit. 

 

We are working with Lora and Kaylee. Lora's husband isn't very interested but he is just fine with us coming over to teach them. They really want to be baptized, they love the church and Kaylee is excited to go to Girl's Camp this summer. But this weekend they went through some difficult trials. They wanted to invite Lora's family to their baptism, so they did, and apparently her family wasn't very fond of the idea. On Friday we learned that they were being "cruel" about their decision to join the Church, but Sunday we  found out that Lora had been disowned by her family. But their faith is amazingly strong. Even though they have gone through some difficulties, they still have a firm belief in God and still want to be baptized. They are strong enough that once they have made their decision they can stick to it, and they are set on proceeding. But they were shaken by what happened. It has made me think a little bit about just how faithful we are. Would we have the faith to forsake our family to follow Christ? I'm extremely grateful I haven't had to make that decision because I'm not sure which I would choose. So, Lora and Kaylee are an example to me and have helped build my faith by just seeing how strong their faith is.

Well, I hope things are going well at home. Take care, and God bless.

Elder Hiatt

S L O W !

So this week was a little slow. We weren't able to have very many lessons, and people don't seem to like being outside very much. Can't imagine why.....Arizona in the summer is PERFECT weather to be working in your yard....and being outside all day. So yeah, its getting steadily hotter it seems like. So its hard to do very much street contacting. But I guess that means we have to find other ways to stay busy! So we do our best. Sorry there isn't much going on this week, but next week should be better! Take care and God bless,

Elder Hiatt

The Highlight is the Skype

Happy Mother's Day!

The highlight of this week was probably getting to skype home to my family. That definitely makes it easier to go out and do the work; I think, at least for me. People seem to make a big deal about missionaries being homesick and not being able to focus on the work after they call home, but at least for me, it kind of reminds me why I'm out here. It reminds me that my family and I have been blessed so much from the message of the gospel and that is something I want to share with more people. So hopefully this week we will have more of an opportunity to do that.

We have been able to start working with a couple more people this week. Ricky and Charlotte are a couple that live on our street, and they are way cool, super nice people, who have raised their kids to believe in God and know the importance of living a good life. They have started reading the Book of Mormon and I think things are going well with that, so we will see where it goes. We also started teaching Laura and her daughter Kaylee. They recently moved from California into a former investigator's house, and we just happened to stop by and knock and they siad they were interested. They have had some negative experiences with some church members in the past, but hopoefully we will be able to help them understand that it is the Gospel that is true, and sinners are the ones who need to come to church, not saints. They are also reading the Book of Mormon and praying about it, and things are going pretty well with that, so hopefully they will be able to see their relationship with Christ grow through that process.

All in all, things are pretty good here. Hope things are going well at home. Take care and God bless,

Elder Hiatt

Danielle's Baptism

Hello all,

This week was pretty good. We had some good lessons and were able to contact a few people who hadn't been able to get in touch with the church for a long time. So, that was nice.

Probably the highlight of the week was Danielle's baptism. She was another investigator who was very well prepared and already seeing the blessings of the gospel in her life and the life of her family. She has made so many good friends and was actually able to stay through all of church yesterday! So that was great. 

We had another lesson with Linda so that was pretty cool. We taught her about the plan of salvation and she was so quick on picking it up and realizing how it would help her in her life. She is an amazing lady and extremely prepared to accept the gospel of Christ. She's already noticed how acting on what she knows or believes is right has brought blessings into her life; including helping her develop her relationship with her daughter. She was even interested enough to go to Danielle's baptism even though they are in different wards. 

Well, things are going good here, I hope things are going well at home,

with love,

Elder Hiatt

He Can Physically Ease our Suffering

Buenos Dias!

So this week was a little slow again, we're still a little short on investigators. But its all good. We met some really cool people who are interested so hopefully things will start picking up again soon. We met a guy named Ricky, who is always really friendly to the Elders, and apparently used to have them over for dinner all the time, but never got invited to church.....so hopefully we'll be able to get things rolling with him. His whole family speaks Spanish as well as English so sometimes he will just randomly blurt out some Spanish things to his wife or kids, and we never know if he's talking about us or not! But he's a really nice guy so I trust him. We also met Laura and her family. They just moved from California and she is pretty interested. Her husband isn't, but he is prefectly fine with us coming over and teaching them. They have three kids and they should usually be there for the lessons so that will be great.

 

One thing I have been thinking about a lot, and realizing from talking with so many people, is that people don't understand how the Atonement can hellp them out in their lives. A lot of people accept that Jesus Christ saves them from their sins, but they don't realize the benefits He offers us in this life as well. People that have transgressed feel guilt, whether they realize it or not, they are burdened down by guilt. Calling upon Christ as Alma the younger did, allows us freedom from that guilt and misery. But also, because Christ suffered all our pains and afflictions, he can physically ease the burdens of those things. When he "takes our burdens upon him" He can physically ease our suffering. That is something that not many people understand, and probably no one understands completely. But as we begin to take advantage of His gift to us, we can better understand what He went through and draw closer to Him because of it.

I hope things are going well for everyone at home. Take care and God bless,

Elder Hiatt

The Work Is Progressing

Hey Yall,

So this week was a pretty good week. There are several people we are teaching that are coming along really well. Dominique and Amelia are both set on getting baptized on the 27th. They are a mom and her daughter and the mom has been meeting with a senior couple at the temple visitor's center for a few months and then finally decided she wants to get baptized this month, and when she decided she was going to get baptized, her daughter decided she wanted to check it out and maybe get baptized on the same day, so that's what's happening. They are both really prepared and have been living very closely with the teachings of the church, so it hasn't been much of a switch for them. Now they just want to get baptized before the senior couple leaves at the end of their mission, which is like, this month. Adrian is a guy we are teaching who has been dating a member for a while and just recently decided to check things out. He is way solid and is wanting to get baptized the 27th as well! Also a very well prepared person, and has already seen the love of God in his life. So things are going pretty well. The work is progressing. 

 

On the down side, when they split our area and brought another set of elders into Maricopa, they gave our car to them. So me and my companion are on bikes full time.....so that's kind of a bummer. But we'll get used to it I guess. 

 

Hope things are going well back home! take care and God bless,

Elder Hiatt

Heatin' Up!

Heatin' UP!

Well Arizona is getting hotter. We got switched to all bike last week so that is going to make the summer a little more painful. I'm not sure how I like the idea of biking around all day in 110 degree weather. But I guess that will make me enjoy the cooler season - right? I guess we'll see....

This week was good though. We had a few people get baptized, which is always exciting, and we have a couple more working towards it. Dominique and Amelia got baptized on Saturday, and that was a little stressful. Dominique is pretty much deathly afraid of attention so we had to make sure that almost no one showed up. So there were 11 or 12 people there and she still was soooo scared, she almost didn't want to do it. Then the font didn't get near full enough, it might have barely reached her knees, but for some reason we decided to go ahead and try it....it didnt work. after the second try she decided she couldn't do it, so she walked out and me and Elder Hartung were freaking out!!! So we turned the water back on, waited for about 45 minutes or an hour, then baptized Amelia in front of everyone. Then we closed the doors to the font, me and elder Hartung went around to the back to witness and baptize Dominique with the doors shut so she didn't have to worry about everyone watching her. So everything worked out and they got confirmed on Sunday. Sunday evening we had a baptism for Adrian, and we made sure to fill up the font all the way....no mistakes this time. Its a good thing we did too, cause his foot almost came up out of the water, but it stayed under just long enough. So that went well. They are all really good people and will make solid members, so I'm excited to see them keep progressing. 

Well I hope things are going well at home.

Take care and God bless,

Elder Hiatt

                                                        These are Dominique and Amelia and Adrian

Well things are slowing down a little bit here in Maricopa. Since our area is splitting soon we have probably been focusing too much on the area we will have and not enough on the whole area; but things keep kind of changing on us. We are still in a trio, which is interesting. It makes it a little harder to talk to people on the street when there are three of us walkin' around, but its all good. The people that are receptive don't care too much about how many of us there are.

On the bright side, good ol' Linda got baptized this weekend. She was a very golden investigator who basically came in to church with her friends and told us she wanted to get baptized. So its been a quick and easy road for her, but she has such amazing faith already, and her testimony is so strong, its unbelievable. 

Things are going well here. I hope things are going well for all y'all at home. 

Take care and God bless, 

Elder Hiatt

All it Takes is an Invitation

Well it's been a fun week in Maricopa! Things have been going a little slow but they are looking up. We are about to have our area split, so we will only be working in two wards instead of four. And the two wards we are keeping have been the ones with the most work recently, so that is way exciting. We started teaching three new people his week, Zach, Adrian, and Amanda; all of them are way solid and can't wait to learn more. They have all had great experiences with the church and have good examples to look up to in the church. Its amazing how easy it is to share the gospel simply by being a good example, but it is also pretty cool to see how ready people may be, even when we don't really realize it. All it takes is an invitation to learn more about Christ and people begin to recognize the reasons why they have such good examples. Like was said so many times in General Conference this weekend, coming to Christ will bring people more happiness and joy than they could ever know, and the restored Gospel gives them the ability to draw closer to Christ than ever before.

Well, we are looking forward to another exciting week and some great new experiences. best of luck to everyone at home. Take care and God bless,

Elder Hiatt

Hello All,

Another amazing week in Arizona! The weather was pretty awesome, we had a lot of good lessons, saw an amazing Easter pageant, and had several baptisms! We gained an Elder to our companionship for a short time, Elder Smith, who is waiting for his companion to come down from the MTC....not sure why he got held up there but I guess we'll see in a week or so. We got to go to the Mesa Easter Pageant: Jesus the Christ, on Thursday, and that was a truly amazing experience. We went with our friend Mardi and her mother, along with a couple members of the ward and they absolutely loved it. We had a long talk with Mardi the next day about all the things it meant to her, and how she is coming to understand that Jesus really is our Savior and loves each and every one of us.

Last Saturday was also a great day. We had two baptismal services, one for Emilio, Neveah, and Milani, and then one for Tiffany. I was honored to be able to baptize the three kids and then to confirm two of them, so it really was a great weekend. Its awesome to see how the gospel is changing all of their lives, and bringing their families closer together. The gospel really does bless families and gives us so much peace and hope in a crazy world.

I hope everything is going well back home,

much love and God bless,

Elder Hiatt

                        This is Danielle, Alexis and Alyssa, with Elder Hiatt and Elder Hartung

Hola!

Well another week has passed in Maricopa. This week we have had quite a few lessons drop so we spent more time than usual trying to contact people; but we still had some good lessons. Danielle is all ready to be baptized this week, but her little girl has trouble staying in nursery so its hard for her to stay at church for more than sacrament meeting. There have been some complications with a few of our investigators getting ready for baptism, but they all still seem like they want to and are willing to keep working, so that is awesome. I don't know if I would be able to or want to keep going through some of the things they are going through, but that is the power of the Spirit. When people know what they are doing is right, they are willing to fight for it any way they have to. One good lesson we had this week was with Linda, who has some friends she works with that have been introducing her to the church. She has done a lot of searching over the years to find the church thats right for her and she loves the friendliness of the church and how it is so family oriented. She has already done a lot of reading and she feels like the church and baptism are right for her;  she is willing to work towards a date. We are also teaching three siblings, ages 14, 12 and 9 whose dad is a member but has been inactive for most of his life. Its amazing seeing how quickly they have moved from not knowing how to pray to saying some of  the most sincere prayers I have ever heard. I think its a lesson we can all learn from: how simple and sincere prayers are what our Heavenly Father most wants to hear, and often do us the most good.

Well I hope everything is going good back home. Take care and God bless,

Elder Hiatt

 

p.s. I went on exchanges with one of my zone leaders and heard more Spanish than I have in about 19 years. It kind of made me wish I was in an area where I could learn Spanish for real. But I guess I'll stick with what I have.

 

In Arizona at Last!

                                                     Me and my arrival group

Area 1: Maricopa

 

Hello all!

 

 This week marked my entrance to Arizona. I am in the city of Maricopa, and me and my companion cover 4 wards; which is actually a pretty small area. It's a lot of residential area, not much open desert, at least not in our area. Right outside the developments, though, the desert is blank for miles.

 

The work has been going really well, even in this first week. We have had lessons with several people who have expressed interest in being baptized. Danielle is a single mother who has been coming to church and feels like she is ready to be baptized. She has committed to keeping the word of wisdom and I think she understands the importance of it as well. She has two little girls that make the lessons....interesting...to say the least. We are also teaching an older lady who grew up Jewish, but her mother was Catholic. she has had trouble figuring out that Jesus is our Savior, but she had a pretty powerful experience with the Spirit this weekend that I think will change her mind on that. John and Leslie are a deaf couple living in the area, and they have expressed a lot of interest in being baptized. Teaching them is kind of difficult because we have to have a member interpret for them and us but it has been fun. Ashley and Will are very receptive and want to go to the temple. They don't have a whole lot of questions, they just soak up everything, so I'm excited to see their progression. 

 

I hope everything is going well at home.

Love,

Elder Hiatt

Hello From Provo!

Hello From Provo!

Well, this has been a pretty long week. The MTC is no easy place to get used to, that is for sure. But it is a good environment to learn and grow. We do a lot of role plays, putting ourselves in teaching situations and learning how to deal with those. It's a lot of that and study time which is good for everybody, I guess. I was originally in a trio but one elder in our zone that was supposed to leave Tuesday hurt his ankle on Monday playing volleyball in his gym time. So he is here at least another week. He got transferred to our district and is companioned with one of the elders from our trio. But that is about the most eventful thing thats happened this week.

 

 Hope things are going well for you all.

 Much love,

Elder Hiatt

The Beginning

     This is the story of the next two years of my life. I will be serving a full time mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I will be serving in the Arizona Tempe Mission until January 2015. I'm not sure where I'll be living or where I will be serving, but I am excited to find out. I'll try to keep these posts coming as often as I can! Hope you enjoy it! 

Elder Dillon Hiatt