My Last Email As A Missionary

Well, hello everyone! I can't believe the time has come that I am writing this email. I still can't believe that I go home in a week. It blows my mind every time I think about it. I try my best not to think about it so I can stay as focused as possible. A lot of stuff has happened since I last wrote. We have been teaching this girl for a while now and a couple weeks ago we were able to set a date for her to get baptized! Her baptism is going to be on the 16th of August so I sadly will miss it by five days but that's okay. It is so cool to watch people change and watch them accept the commitments we have extended and also have them say they will follow them and then they do. It's the best! It's crazy what the Gospel of Jesus Christ can do for people and how much it can change their lives! I know it sure has changed my life!

 

Since this is my last email, I thought it would be a good idea to write down many of the things I have learned throughout these past two years. I have a lot of things I have learned so I will just share a couple. The First thing that comes to mind that I have learned on my mission is what having genuine faith is. Faith is a topic that is talked a lot about in the church and sometimes I think people can overlook how important it really is. Some people, including myself at times just think of faith as something you have and that you just need to do the basic things of the gospel to nurture that faith. I have really come to understand how important faith is. Especially being a missionary just about everything you do MUST rely on your faith. If you have weak faith, then the Lord won't think you are ready to do some of the things he will ask you to do and he will wait until your faith has grown enough that he thinks you are capable of the task that he requires. I have seen that so much on my mission. It has forced me to dig deep and really understand how important faith is. There is a reason why it is the first principle of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Without it, we have nothing. It's also not just to have Faith. It's having Faith in our Savior Jesus Christ. Through Jesus Christ we can overcome anything. He overcame death which allows us to utilize His Atonement and repent of all the sins we commit on a daily basis. I just love that. I love how infinite the Atonement is. That is another thing that I have really come to cherish these last two years. I have loved studying the Atonement because every time you study it you will learn something new that you didn't know before. That's why it truly is Infinite. The last thing that I wanted to talk about is if you set your mind to it you can accomplish it. There have been many, many days out here where I have thought to myself that I couldn't handle it anymore. And that is okay. Honestly, it's exactly what I needed because what do you learn when every situation you're in is easy? None! You never learn anything when life is easy, it's always when life gets hard that you learn the most. I never wanted to be the type of person that just quit when things got hard because I knew that my life would not go well if I did that. Looking back on my mission and thinking about all of the situations that were really hard I can think of many things that I learned from those experiences. Whether it was living with a companion I didn't get along with super well or any area that was just hard to be in. I can look back now and say how grateful I was for being put in each and every one of those situations. I might not have understood it during that time, but the Lord knew exactly what I needed and he knew that all of those situations would help me grow as an individual. They sure have and I am so grateful for all of the tough times I have had these last two years!

 

Lastly, I just want to thank everyone that has helped me throughout these last two years. It hasn't been an easy two years but it sure is two years I wouldn't change for the world. I am grateful for the amazing support that I have had out here. You are all amazing and I can't thank you enough!

 

Here's to my next journey in life!

 

And for the final time, SEND IT FOR THE LORD

 

ELDER HILBURN

 

Church is True, Book is Blue

Hello, hello everyone! It has been a busy two weeks! It’s been great to stay as busy as we have been! We have still been finding a lot of new people to teach and a lot of the people we’re currently teaching are progressing!

 

This last week we had the opportunity to have a General Authority come and visit our mission! It was Elder Kelly Johnson and his wife.  We were able to meet in person with him and he gave us some great insights on how to help our friends become closer to the blessing of baptism. He also talked about how we can be effective missionaries in our daily efforts. It was so cool to witness someone like Elder Johnson talk to us because you could tell that he was called of God. He had so much power to his words and what he told us. 

 

We had another lesson with Eden and Corey this last week and it was pretty great. We had planned a lesson on one day and when we showed up no one was there. Two days later we thought we should stop by to see if they were home and sure enough in good ole Indiana fashion they were home sitting on their porch smoking and Corey without a shirt on haha. I swear that is a common day occurrence of seeing someone without their shirts on. Don't know what the deal is with that, but I see it way more times that I would like haha. Anyway, we got talking to them and we asked them if they had read anything from the Book of Mormom. They said they hadn't yet because they had been so busy and they had been meaning to do it like every day. So, we asked them if we could read a chapter with them and they said they would love that. We read 3 Nephi 11 with them as this is always the go to chapter to read for people who have never read from it. As probably all of you are aware, this chapter really emphasizes the importance of baptism, but not just baptism but being baptized by the proper priesthood authority. After we finished reading, we asked them what stuck out to them the most and Eden just straight up said that she needs to be baptized. We were both like well, dang yeah that’s awesome! She said that she still is going to pray about it to get an answer for herself but it truly was a testimony builder for me about the Book of Mormon and how key it is to conversion. Now Eden has a long road ahead before she can be baptized but really that doesn't matter. She has expressed that she feels that she needs to be baptized and that is why us missionaries are put in the places that we are put, to simply help these people towards baptism. I have loved to see throughout my mission people grow and eventually get baptized. It is so awesome to witness the change that occurs in their lives.

 

Anyway, I had such a great week and am looking forward to the time I have left here in the mission!

 

SEND IT FOR THE LORD

 

ELDER HILBURN

 

We Have Been Set Free!!!!

Hello everyone! This last week has been super exciting! Last Monday we had a mission wide zoom meeting with our mission president regarding Covid restrictions being lifted. We are basically fully back to normal! We can do so much more now, than we used to, even from just a couple days ago. Say goodbye to those stupid masks that never did anything from the beginning haha. We no longer are required to wear them anywhere or in any meetings we have. Thank goodness!!! We now are allowed to tract again and do personal contacting out in the streets! THAT IS HUGE! I'm not a huge fan of knocking doors but I love to PC! (Personal Contact) Although, we have done a decent amount of tracting this last week and I can say that I have actually missed it! Haha. It has just been so nice being outside and walking down the streets and trying to talk to anyone we can! We are now allowed to have meals with members as well so that is pretty awesome. I'll definitely get to know this branch pretty well before I go home. 

 

I had a really awesome experience this last week. It started on Tuesday, which was the first full day that we were back to normal and allowed to essentially do everything that we did before covid. So, we planned to stop by some people who had previously been taught by the missionaries before us. One house in particular that we stopped by the person that we were going there to see didn't actually live there anymore, but someone still answered the door and we asked if so and so lived there and she said no. Well, I then asked her if she would be interested in hearing a unique message about Christ and I briefly explained what we believe. She said that she would be interested to learn more and hear what we had to say. So, we set up a return appointment! Fast forward to Friday, the day we had a lesson with her. We made it to her house and her husband answered the door and he comes out and starts talking to us for a bit. We get to know him and then we asked him if he has heard of our church or anything that we believed. To my surprise he hadn't heard of our church before. Which honestly was a good thing haha, most people out here who have heard of us already have a negative connotation about what we believe. Anyway, Eden, who is the lady we met on Tuesday comes out and joins our conversation on the porch. Elder Church and I hadn't planned to teach the restoration right then and there, but the spirit prompted me strongly and that is exactly what we needed to teach them. So, that's exactly what we did. Now I have had a lot of pretty cool experiences on my mission but I think this one is in the top 5. The spirit that was present in this lesson was amazing. I felt like the words coming out of my mouth weren't my own, it was most definitely spirit led, there was things I said I usually would never say on the first lesson but I did. I can especially remember when we taught the first vision, Eden told us that she got the goose bumps and actually started tearing up. She also mentioned to us after we explained the Book of Mormon that she always was curious about the people in the America's during when Jesus was around if God had just abandoned them. She told us that this answered her question right then and there and told us that she is very interested and will read the Book of Mormon. 

 

It’s hard to really put into words to explain how cool of an experience it was. The reason I tell this story is to paint the picture that we need to have the spirit with us at all times. If I didn't have the spirit with me that day I would not have been able to teach them what I did. I have noticed a tremendous difference in my life when I have the companionship of the spirit. I invite you all to find ways to invite the spirit into your lives more frequently. I know it sure has blessed me!

 

 

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

 

SENT IT FOR THE LORD

 

ELDER HILBURN

 

Disc Golf Bro's

Hellllllooo everyone again. For my last couple weeks, I have made a goal to write an email every week! I know that sounds kinda sad to hear since I should’ve been doing that all along, but hey forgive me I'm not perfect haha. 

 

This past week has been awesome! Ever since I got here, I have kinda taken the reins on things and taken charge. That is kinda what this area has needed. I'm not trying to call out previous elders that have been here but they just weren't using time wisely and weren't effective. At least that's just my opinion haha. Since I have been here, we have found five new people to teach, four being this last week. I haven't done that since being in my first area in Avon which that area already was a super good area and had a lot of people to teach. Not to mention it had inner city Indianapolis which had lots of people there. My area currently is just another small town in Indiana so that is unheard of! We sure as heck haven't done it alone. We have asked the Lord daily to help us find new people to teach and he blessed us with five in the last two weeks! Pretty incredible!

 

One of the people we found was a man named Danny. His wife is a member and has been for a while. He is in his early 90's so he is getting up there haha. He's a super cool guy and has told us that he has a strong testimony about priesthood blessings. We had a lesson with him this last week and we didn't have much time so we just shared a short message with them about faith but plan to meet with him again this week! Super cool!

 

Another cool thing that this area does is every Wednesday there's a group of guys in the community that meet up and play frisbee golf. Well, my companion and his companion before I got here were walking around that one park that they play frisbee golf at and the people who played invited them over to talk with them and also play with them! So, for the last two weeks we have been meeting up with them and playing frisby golf with them. The coolest part about this though is how many questions they have asked us about our missionary work. Two of the guys we play with have expressed solid interest and we are planning on setting some lessons up with them separate from playing disc golf! It's super cool to see how the lord brings his people to us. If we can't go to them then the lord brings them to us. Since being on my mission that is something, I have gained a strong testimony on. Especially during such an odd time to be a missionary it has given me great comfort that the lord is still preparing his children and that there is so much that us missionaries can do!!

 

We also had zone conference this last week which was great! Even though sometimes the meetings go way longer than they should... I still manage to get a lot out of them! We talked a lot about how to get members involved in the work and it helped us come up with some ideas on how we can do that! Overall, it was a good zone conference! There's nothing like driving 3 hours down to Indy then staying there for four hours and then driving another 3 hours back up to our area haha.

 

I love you all and hope you have a great week!

 

SEND IT FOR THE LORD 

 

ELDER HILBURN

 

 

What is up everyone? I know it’s been awhile. Sorry… I'm trying to be better about sending out updates more frequently. So a good amount has changed since my last email. Last you heard I was in Plainfield with Elder Hardman. Well as things turn out, I have been transferred. I'm in a place called Angola, Indiana. It’s the farthest northeast of the state and the mission. I can get to Michigan and Ohio in about 10 minutes haha. My new companion is Elder Church. He has been out for about 10.5 months. So it’s possible he could be my last companion. Now it’s not for sure that this will be my last area but with only two transfers left the likelihood of me moving next transfer is very slim since I just got here. 

The area is another small town. It’s weird though, it’s not like one of my other areas, Elwood, which was a super small town and had like nothing in it. This place at least has a Walmart haha. As many of you are probably aware I'm kinda more of a city boy than I am a country boy by a long shot haha so being in this small town has definitely been an adjustment and I'm still getting adjusted. I'm hoping that within a week I will be adjusted and feel at home. But at the moment it's not quite like that yet haha. 

Lemme tell you, missions are hard! It's funny, the fact that I only have just under three months left you'd think that moving to a new area wouldn't be such a struggle just because I've done it so many times. But it never seems to get easier. The Lord must want me to grow and I think I am here for a reason! Now I might not know that reason and I might feel helpless but I do know the Lord can help me through anything! As I reflect on the last 21 months I have been a missionary, one thing that hasn't changed is the desire and need to rely on my savior. That is something that I have realized I need every single day. Some days are easier than others but I know if I turn to the Lord and use the Saviors atonement I can overcome anything! I love this gospel with all my heart and I urge anyone that is reading this to reflect and ask yourself, how am I using the atonement in my life daily and how do I rely on the Savior? I don't know why I felt prompted to share this with y’all but I know it has helped me reflect on how I can be a better disciple of Jesus Christ!

I know that I can find my purpose for being here in Angola if I strive to do everything I can. We just had our weekly district council meeting and the prominent theme was our missionary purpose and why we come out on missions. One thing that stood out to me that I have heard many times was the quote by Gordon B. Hinckley that says "forget yourself and go to work". I have been trying to think of that when I start to feel sorry for myself. I know that I am out here to help others receive the blessings of the gospel that I have been so lucky to have all my life! 

I love you all and hope you have a great week!

SEND IT FOR THE LORD 

ELDER HILBURN

Elder Hardman and Elder Hilburn

Elder Hilburn was district leader of this great group

Eler Warren and Elder Hilburn on exchanges

Elder Warren and his greenie with Elder Hilburn

It's Been A While

Well hello everyone! It has been a minute since you have all heard from me so lemme give you an update on what has gone on the past couple months or so. I guess the biggest change so far is that transfers just happened last week and finally after 7.5 months of being in Noblesville I was transferred! I have been transferred to a place called Plainfied. It is not far from where my last area, and is just on the west side of Indy. It actually borders my very first area which is the Avon 2 area. That was the area where I taught a crazy amount of people everyday haha. This new area that I am in is not as fortunate as that even though its so close to it.

 As well as getting transferred I obviously got a new comp. His name is Elder Hardman and we actually came out together! There is kinda of a funny story behind why President put us together. So first of all me and Elder Hardman have already been really good friends with each other even before we became comps and we have served around each other for about the past year. Elder Hardman is a great guy and a great missionary but sometimes he just does what he wants haha, and President knows that lol. I forgot to mention we were in the same district when I was serving in Noblesville. So last transfer at interviews Elder Hardman told me he was going to ask President if he could pit us together because he was going to tell pres that we would work very well together and that we already are good friends so we would be able to have fun while we work hard. So of course my thought to this was "haha ok good luck with that, pres will never go for that". Well I was obviously wrong haha. On the Saturday morning before transfers when we were going to get out news of where we would be going were got a call from President Page to let us know the news. Sure enough he told me that I would be serving with Elder Hardman down to Plainfield. I was  in shock! I didn't think that was actually going to happen haha. Prez told me that he has a good feeling about it and that he trusts me to be a good influence on him and that we will work great together. He also told me that I was going to be the District Leader down there. It is pretty funny that it actually happened but its been awesome!

We do work really well together and this last week we had over 20 lessons which is more than I’ve had in quite a long time. It is pretty cool to see that the Lord knows just where we need to be at a certain time and puts us with people we are meant to serve with! It's been pretty dang sweet! If you've been on a mission you will understand the fact that when you get transferred with someone new that you don't know it can be awkward for the first couple days trying to get to know them and be comfortable around them. Well in this case I didn't have to do that at all so that was nice haha. 

This area isn't necessarily "bumping" with people to teach but the ward is very missionary minded. I think out of all the wards or branches that I have served in this one is by far the most missionary minded. We have a lot of member lessons which had been really good because we have been able to get to know the ward pretty well in a short amount of time. My new district consists of three sets of sisters and another set of elders. Soooooo yeah its a lot of sisters lol. Since I have to call them every Sunday night I'm probably on the phone with each set of sisters for at least 30 mins and then when I call the elders were usually talking for like 10 mins hahaha. But it's all good, I enjoy doing it.

Overall life has been going pretty well. It’s starting to warm up which is so nice. It's also been sunny the past couple days which has been so great. Hopefully winter is completely gone by now cause I'm over it. But I’m grateful for this opportunity serve the Lord and the people here in my new area.  

SEND IT FOR THE LORD

ELDER HILBURN

District goodbyes

Friends from Noblesvile

Best family in the Nobelsville ward

Jaydon Got Baptized!

These past two weeks have been great!! A little update: I am staying in Noblesville for another transfer which is hype. This will be my third transfer here and I love it. I got a new comp and his name is Elder Zweifel. Words can't describe this kid haha. He is a goon but I love it. He is a super nice kid just a little different but we are getting along great. He is actually pretty funny so things are going pretty solid. On another note, it is getting really cold here. Indiana winter round 2 lessss gooooo. Weird to think that this will be my last winter here! I'm definitely looking forward to some snow dropping hopefully soon. If it's gonna be winter might as well feel like it is.

It blows my mind that I only have 9 months left on my mission. I can remember not too long ago thinking to myself that I have an eternity out here haha. But for real things have gone way fast it’s nuts. Soon I will have to be a big boy and actually be apart of the real world. Not super hyped for that lol. So I’m gonna just enjoy these next 9 months and grind. 

So as most of you are aware if you follow me on Facebook you'll know that someone we are teaching got baptized! It was awesome. Even though there was only ten people allowed to be there it was quite the spiritual experience. Like baptisms usually are, it was really spiritually filled. I'm not gonna lie I got choked up, I’m kinda a softy but mainly it was because I have known Jaydon for a good while now and finally seeing him get baptized and seeing him so happy after just sent me over the edge. It was so cool to see. Definitely an experience I will never forget and also a friendship I will never forget. MISSIONS ARE FOR SURE LIFE CHANGING. I LOVE IT. 

I will say things are slowing down quite a bit, mainly just because it is getting colder outside and people in general just get grumpier here in Indiana during the winter lol. We have recently just been doing a lot of contacting and trying to get in contact with people. Everyone pray that me and my comp can set up more lessons with people and have people to teach because that is when I am happiest. Doing the Lords work definitely gives me lasting happiness. 

Anyway hope y’all have a solid week and SEND IT FOR THE LORD

ELDER HILBURN

ps: if anyone wants to send me stuff by all means go for it;)

Elder Hilburn with Jaydon who was just baptized

Elder Hilburn, Jaydon and Elder Zwifle

Edler Hilburn Jaydon and Jaydon's best friend

Longest I will ever stay in one area!

What is up everyone? Things out here have been pretty chill. As the title implies I will indeed be staying in Noblesville for yet another transfer. That will make this my 5th transfer here or a total of 7.5 months. Flippin long man. I'm not complaining, let me make that clear. This area is pretty dang lit and we actually have found a good amount of success as of lately. I am also staying with the same companion. I have already been with this kid for 12 weeks now but here I am bouta pull off another 6. I love the kid though, so it's good. I will admit, I would never have gotten a long with a kid like this before the mish, my mind was pretty close minded and I had my tight knit group  of friends and didn't really sway from that. If there is one thing that a mission has taught me it is to just love people for who they are. I can't change this kid, the best I can do is love him for who he is even though he is sooooooo different. It's definitely been good for me so I'm glad I get to spend another transfer with him. But man, Heavenly Father really must be trying to teach me to not be so anal about things cause I have been stuck with so many comps that's are not clean people... He is another one of those... It makes me wonder if some of these kids were raised in a barn, you would think the simplist things everyone knows how to do but oh no they don't. I have had to teach my current comp and past ones how to just simply be clean and tidy. It is a work in progress. A lot of the time I just get so fed up with it and end up deep cleaning the entire apartment by myself. Partly because my standard of cleanliness is sooo much higher than him. Once again, don't get it but I guess I will just learn pacience in this matter.

The last couple weeks have not been super cold like everyone says it was supposed to be. It is pretty much just like what lady winter was like at home, which was not super cold. Yeah there had been a couple days in the negatives but nothing of what the hoosiers claim this winter is suppose to be. It's also possible that just because I have lived here for so dang long I have gotten use to it and my cold tolerance has just gone up, honestly couldn't tell yah. 

We have another baptism coming up in February! It is a similar situation to my last baptism. She has been investigating the church for a good while now and is just waiting to turn 18 so she can get dunked. So we will be meeting with her more now and going over the basics and just make sure she is ready. Pretty sweet!

Not much else has really happened, life as a missionary right now is pretty unique! Still love it and wouldn't want to be anywhere else! Love the gosepel and sharing it daily!!

SEND IT FOR THE LORD

ELDER HILBURN

A little P-day sight seeing

Service Opportunities

Sister Schmidt and Sister Owen are from Elder Hilburn's home town!

District Christmas Day Dinner