Meet A Prophet This Week!

Well hello everyone it's been an interesting week here in Indy. Been a good week but a hard week as well. Challenge is for the better though haha. Started off with finding out that I would be going on splits and I  leading my area. I have only been in the field for about two and a half weeks so that was pretty nerve racking. I also was kinda just sent out there with no help and no one helped me to prepare. I guess that's just how they do it out here in Indy. So on Wednesday we went on splits and I was left leading my area with one of the zone leaders. I think it went pretty well but still not sure. It was a good push for me to realize that I can do it and that I am capable of doing it. Then on that same day I was asked if I could prepare a training for my district council that would be on Thursday. So I feel like everything was just handed to me all at one time and I had absolutely no time to think. Which was probably for the best because I think I probably do best when I don’t have much time think. But it was still scary haha. Althoug, I'm still here and I made it through the week. I live to see another week! Haha. 

On Saturday we went to teach a man that claimed he was a "prophet" that was sent down from God. He told us that he has been a prophet for the last 22 years and God talks to him on a regular basis. So we were like, well "do you want to meet again and talk about God and Jesus??" And he said yes so that was dope. I was really hyped because I thought it was funny how he thought he was a prophet. Anyway, we went to go meet with him and he started talking to us about how he became a prophet a d how God called him. He then went on and started prophesying to us about our lives. He told me that I will be getting married in the year 2021 in November or December. He also told me that I have already met my wife so waddup wife here I come I know who you are. Hahaah. He also said that my parents will live for a very long time. So Teri and Dave your gonna be around for a long time.  That was basically the highlight of the week I have to say. Other than that we had our days pretty full like usual which is good because it keeps me nice and busy. 

Today we had a quite interesting experience. Its P-Day so you know we just do all the things a missionary would do on a normal P-Day. But nooooo, not today. Today was very different. It all started our normal but quickly got interesting. So we were just at walmart and I was getting a haircut and my companion got a call from our dear friend that you guys all know as SCOTT. (Yes the man that cussed us out and threw bottles at us). He called us up and wanted to talk to us. He seemed to be very down on himself and was getting angry quickly. We tried to talk to him and get him to know that we are there for him and want to help him. We are on Facetime so we can see his face. Anyway he pulled out a knife from his kitchen and he expressed to us that he wanted to end his life. We didn't really know what to do so we said to him Scott we will come over to see you. He then hung up on us and we were freaked out so we felt that we needed to call 911. So that's what we did. We called them and they got a police unit and ambulance unit dispatched out to him. We drove over there to meet the police and see what was going on. They had about four police cars already there and one ambulance. They went in and got him out and had him and cuffs. They took him to the police station because he did have a warrant out for his arrest so he will probably be in jail for a little while. So oops. Not it's for the better. This way he will be able to detox in jail. 

Other than that my week was pretty normal. I love being a missionary and helping people every day. Love it out here in Indy!!

On another note I have my first baptism this Saturday for a little boy and a little girl so that is cool!

SEND IT FOR THE LORD

Elder Hilburn

 

Loving this beautiful place!

Ward Halloween Party

First Taste of REJECTION

Well I guess you could say this is my first full week but I have been in the field for two weeks so whatever you want to call it.  Well, my days are packed, every day. It seems like we have a lesson every hour of every day. It's pretty crazy out here in Indy. Everyone in this area is very open to hearing what two little kids have to say about Jesus Christ and I'm pretty surprised but that's good haha.

I can't even remember what I did yesterday so bear with me as I try to remember what I did this whole week. There is this family in our ward that doesn't really come to church all that often and the dad has lots of back problems so he always is in the hospital. He asked if we could give him a blessing so that's what we did. From that point on though I feel like we've been over there like 20 times. I don’t mean to brag but I think it's just because they like having the missionaries around or it's probably ‘cause they just like me but who knows, that's all speculation. But this family is very poor and lives in not a great  part of town but they are very nice people and three of their kids are baptism age and haven't been baptized. So we have been teaching the little kids the lessons and we just got them to set a date so they will be baptized on November 2nd which is pretty cool. This will be my first baptism so will be a cool experience for me as well. This last Saturday Brother Wood called us up (oh yeah their name is the Wood family so there's that) and told us that he was having a barbeque and he wanted us to come over. We told him that we had appointments but we would try to come. Sure enough all of our appointments fell through so we got to head over their house for a cook out haha. We spent probably a couple of hours there. Oops don’t know if you’re supposed to do that but hey there were non-members there that we could start teaching if we wanted so I think were in the clear haha. We taught the whole group a little lesson and it was good. The funny part was after the lesson the next door neighbor rammed in to the Wood's car and put a huge dent in it and that began a huge fight between the Woods and the next door neighbor. So me and my comp were just sitting back and watching the great show. I gotta say it was pretty dang funny. The best part was when the next door neighbor went and got two beers to give to the Woods as a peace offering. Just thought that was funny. So that was a pretty chill day.

Yesterday, which was Sunday we got to teach a man from Puerto Rico who’s name was HARRY who strongly believes in the TRINITY. He also knows his way around the bible very well so that was pretty scary. We went over to his house around 2 and had a "bible study" with him for about two hours. We then left on a good note and said goodbye and decided that we weren’t going back there. A little bit later my companion had the strong feeling that we needed to go back there and teach him the first lesson. I was like uhhhhhhh ok then. So that's what we did. We went back there and taught Harry about the restoration. I have no idea why we went back there because that was the hardest rejection we've had yet. He told us that the Book of Mormon is hindering us and it is useless. He told us that we would be able to convert more people if we just used the bible. There must have been a reason though for why we felt prompted to go back there and teach him. Who knows maybe in a couple years he'll pick up the copy that we left with him and read it and find out that it is true. But it was still a cool experience even though he rejected us very hard. He was still nice about it and we said a prayer together and we left. Who knows maybe it wasn't for him why we went over there. Maybe it was for his children and maybe someday they will see the Book of Mormon we left them. 

I had my first experience with eating some absolutely disgusting food. This family that we've been meeting with is from Ethiopia and their culture is a lot different. We went over there and just visited with them for a little but and then the wife comes out with a plate of what looks like nuts. But there was something on top that I'd never seen before and it looked like little balls of peanut butter. But oh man lemme tell you it was NOT PEANUT BUTTER. I ate it and about threw up. Afterwards they told us what the food was made out of and get this. It was a combination of barley, COW OIL, and GOAT MILK. this stuff was absolutely nasty. So thats my first experience with disgusting food. 

That was about all that happened this week. I know there was more that happened but I can hardly remember any of it haha. See you all next week my dudes. 

SEND IT FOR THE LORD

Elder Hilburn

 

One of the Many Nigerian people to teach in Indy

FIRST WEEK IN INDIANA!

What is up everyone this is Elder Hilburn here clocking in from Indianapolis Indiana!!! I finally made it here! The MTC was great! I loved it there and will miss the people there but I'm glad that I'm back in the real world. 

My journey to Indy took all dayyyy longgg. We left the MTC bright and early at 6:45 MST time and didn't get into Indy till 7:30 EST. So it was a long trek to say the least but it was worth it. When we got there we were greeted by our mission president and his wife, President and Sister Page, and the two AP's. My mission president is super cool and really laid back. He is always cracking jokes with us and acts like an 18 year old sometimes, but I love that. His wife Sister Page is super nice and is always looking for ways to help her missionaries out. The AP's are cool and since I already knew one of them that really helped me to get a little more comfortable with the whole being a missionary. From that point on we just went straight to the mission home. They had planned to take us to the temple and see it but it was already like 10 o clock before we even left the airport so we just went straight to the mission home. When we arrived they had food all ready for us and that was a freaking blessing because I hadn't eaten all day and literally thought I was going to die. The food was pretty solid and I liked it. The next morning we were all taken to the mission office where we had some initial training and then we were hooked up with our companions and sent off to our areas. My new companion’s name is Elder Driscoll and he's from somewhere in the middle of nowhere in Idaho. So that's cool lol. My new area is called Avon, Indiana and it covers basically the western outskirts of Indiana. It's an interesting area to say the least. There is basically only a couple places we go though, because that's where most of the work is. There is a place called Westlake apartments that has basically all of our investigators. It is a legit compound. The place is enormous. It looks like a government built complex that houses thousands of people. But yeah that's mainly where we are everyday because most of our investigator’s come from there. The area that I am in has a big population of Africans in it and a lot of them speak Yoruba. So, I have been learning a couple phrases in Yoruba because they say it is an Ice breaker and if you say something as simple as hello in their language they will want to talk to you. So I have been learning little phrases here and there. I even get a name tag in that language which is pretty tight. There are a lot of people that we are teaching. There's probably 15 people that were teaching on a consistent basis and there about 8 on date within these next two months. So the work is not slow around here what so ever. My area is supposed to be a full time car area but we are actually sharing our car with another set of elders so we get the car three days a week and they get it three days a week and then we share it on P day each week. We are currently just using the other missionaries bikes until we get our own. But this area like I said is only supposed to be for a car so the boundaries are fairly big so when were on the bike we have long treks to everywhere we go and can't say that it's all that fun. Even though I love bikes and love riding bikes, riding them on flat ground with no jumps what so ever gets old pretty quick.

There is a man that we have been teaching whose name is Scott. Oh man he is a big job to say the least. A little background on Scott, he is about 26 years old who lives with his mom in her one bedroom apartment. He has no job. He has a huge problem with drinking and smoking. He also has a very big problem with the law of chastity. Almost every time we go over there he is hammered it's pretty sad but he absolutely loves the gospel. He has already told us that he wants to get baptized but he just can't get over the drinking, smoking, and chastity problems. On Thursday we thought it would be a good idea to just get him out of his house. So we went and got him and we walked him down to Wendy's and we got lunch together. Keep in mind he is drunk at the time so we had to manage him like a little baby. We gave him a small lesson on the plan of salvation and then after we told him that he needs to get a job. He agreed. So we decided to take him all around the area where he lives and have him apply to any place he can to try and get a job. One of the places we went he started to fill out an application and the lady told him that he has a warrant out for his arrest and that she could not accept the application. So we then took him back to his apartment and left him. The next day we wanted to go back and see how he was doing and we wanted to take him to a baptism so he can see what it's like. Sure enough he was completely wasted but we took him anyway. Yes we took a drunk man to a baptism. Great idea right? He actually really enjoyed it and towards the end he became sober when the alcohol began to wear off. He was very happy and thankful that we had been helping him. We took him back to his home and said goodbye. Before we could say goodbye he started yelling at us because he thought we took his cigarettes. He was going through a withdrawal and he was taking it out on us. He began throwing things everywhere and cussing us out. It was sad to see this all happen and we were really close to calling the cops but we didn't. We said goodbye to him and that was it. We hope that his heart can be softened and we can be able to come back and he can try to overcome his weaknesses. Everyone pray for him! That's the story of the week! Haha

I also had the delightful opportunity to ride my bike in the pouring rain so that was just wonderful. I think that was the first time I asked myself "what am I doing here???"  But I know what I am doing is right and I'm glad I'm here. It has been a great learning experience and I'm am excited for what's the come. I love all you guys and hope you have a great week!

SEND IT FOR THE LORD

Elder Hilburn

 

An old buddy from home. Cameron Wade working in the cafeteria at the MTC

First Area! Trainer: Elder Driscol from Idaho

21 missionaries!

at the mission home with President and Sister Page

Riding Bikes in the rain!

Elder Hilburn thinks he is sponsored by Monster because they once sent him a hat

WHAT UP YA'LL? FIRST WEEK DOWN!

What is up my fellow people of the world!! I'm doing great here on the inside. It's been a whirlwind of a week to say the least. It all started off with getting dropped off at the compound. From there I was escorted by a host that I don't know who the guys name was but he got me all checked in and got me settled into my room. After that he walked me to one of the new buildings where I there got my nametags and then I was escorted to my classroom where I met the rest of my district. I was one of the first there so I didn't meet everyone right away. Soon about 30 minutes later everyone showed up and I met my companion who's name is Elder Wells. He's from the great state of Utah, in South Jordan specifically. The rest of my district is really cool and I like them all. From that point we met our afternoon teacher and her name was Sister Hill. She's really nice but she's really young. She looks like someone I went to high school with it's kinda odd. We had our first class then went to lunch, after that we went back to class to meet our afternoon teacher who's name was Brother Raty. He's pretty cool and easy to talk to so that's nice. That's about all I can remember from the first day and the rest of the day seemed to be a blur. Everyone in the dorm is pretty chill and its basically a fraternity. Just a bunch of dudes messing around and maybe doing some stupid stuff. Haha. But if you ain't havin fun then what's the point. Haha. The rest of the week is a little bit of a blur.

I did get to see Hunter which was pretty cool and it's nice to know someone other than the people you are basically forced to know, not that that is a bad thing. 

The food at the MTC kinda blows. It's just basic cafeteria food. Everyone has told me it's good but I sure don't like it's naaaaasssstttyyyyy. 

Tonight we had the opportunity to attend a devotional and the guest speaker was Elder Patrick Kearon and his wife. He is from England and he is super cool. He talks to us like it was his comedy show. He was super funny and I never was so engaged in a devotional in my life. Kinda a new experience for me haha. The main thing that stood out to me in the talk was when he said "happiness only happens when you choose it." Pretty good advice if you ask me. Other than that nothing else has happened that was exciting. If any of you accidentally happen to see me at the Provo temple next Tuesday, then I'll see you there lol. 

Love you all and hope you all have a great week. 

Elder Hilburn

Elder Hilburn and companion Elder Wells

Elder Hilburn's district at the MTC

Elder Hilburn and bud from Granite Bay Elder Jeppson

First trip to the Provo Temple

Second Week In the Books!

What is up everyone! This week has surprisingly gone by pretty fast. There is a saying here at the MTC that says, "the days feel like weeks but the weeks feel like days," and that definitely is true so far. This week was our first full week of TRC which is basically just teaching "investigators". Which I still think are all actors but who knows maybe some of them are real. So far that has gone pretty well. 

Everyone in my dorm room is super chill and like them all. The sad thing is the people I've gotten the closest too are the ones in the other district and most of them leave on Wednesday but it's alright. I have a good connection with the boys in my room so it's pretty chill. Still can't say that I like the food here because I definitely don't really like it. It's just nasty cafeteria food. 

This last Sunday we had a devotional and it was the first counselor to the MTC presidency and his wife that spoke. It was a great talk and I really enjoyed that. The Sunday schedule here though is quite jam packed. They don't give you any time to rest so definitely not like the Sunday schedule I am used to but it's ok I'm getting more used to it. 

I have finally adjusted the the sleeping schedule here. I finally am falling asleep on time and I find myself just waking up at 6 every morning without an alarm so that is kinda weird but good I guess. 

In our classes we are really focusing on how to teach. So that consists of a bunch of role playing and I'm not a huge fan of role playing. I can't fake it to someone who is obviously a missionary or volunteer. That is the one thing that I don't like because it just isn't real but I get it and I do think it is helping me a little bit in the fact that I need to be better about changing the subject from regular worldly talk to how to segway the conversation into a gospel oriented conversation. Yesterday which was Monday our teacher gave us the opportunity to go into to the quad, or whatever you call the outside of the campus area, and find other people to talk to and share a quick scripture with them and explain to them what it means to us. You would think that everyone would say yes to listening to what me and my companion had to say because we're at the MTC duh. Well your extremely mistaken. My companion and I walk over to two people who seem to be unloading some food for the cafeteria for the MTC. So we decide to go over there and ask if they need any help and if we could share a scripture with them. So we ask them and they say they don't need any help and that they are "on the clock so we don't have time to listen to your thought, sorry". I GOT REJECTED AT THE MTC. HAHAH well that's embarrassing, I guess I got a little taste of the real world but in the MTC haha. 

On monday night me and the rest of my roommates were saying goodbye to another elder that was leaving early the next morning and so we kind of had a little party that night. This place is a frat house for sure. Haha. I gotta say I never would of thought I would see ten dudes singing songs from tangled at the top of their lungs all night. It was pretty hilarious and maybe a little feminine. Hahaha but that's all we got so it was chill. 

Other than that not much else had happened here but I like it a lot and am excited to be in Indianapolis in less than a week!! My testimony has grown stronger in these last couple days then it ever has in my life. I just want to say that I love all you guys and hope you have a great rest of your week!!

Elder Hilburn

Elder Hilburn's roommates

Saying goodbye to a new friend