"I have to admit, it's getting better"

Fala hims and hers of the audience! How is everyone doing? This last week was a jam and a half for us over here in Tapanã, and I'm here to tell you all about the good news. Dare say it was one of the best weeks we've had here yet! So sit back, relax, but not too hard or you might fall asleep, and let's get right into this puppy. 

Alright so the first half of the week was a little sluggish. We put our friend Evlyn on date for this week and had her interview Tuesday, but didn't know how confident we were that her mom would permit it (we've had problems with this for like the last severas months). Additionally, we placed the majority of our appointments on Wednesday, but also had an appointment to the Hospital on Wednesday to check and see if Elder Lokham's throats all good. Underestimated how long the hospital would take, and a 2 hour time frame turned into a 6 and a half () so we had to cancel most of our appointments. And then the whole day of Thursday was taken up by the multizone conference we had, too, so we were lookin a little behind schedule. But then something happened. Something magical occured. During the Thursday multizone, President Ribolla decided to raise the bar of the work we should be doing each day for the entire mission, and said that it'll be the new standard for each missionary. The standard became that on a daily, we need to make 20 contacts, meet 3 new folks to teach, and place 2 dates. Now that's a full day right there. After the conference ended, me and Elder Lokham both decided that in order to meet this goal, we were gonna have to be real intentional with the people we talked to, areas we walked, and time we spent at places. But we were WILLING and ready to work hard, and achieve this new standard of excellence, but could it be done?? Will Elder Hillstead and Elder Lokham live to tell the tale? Find out... in the next paragraph below. 

So when I tell you guys he locked in, dude LOCKED in. Elder Lokham heard this new standard of excellence, and immediately took it to heart. Him and I were booking on Friday and satursay from appointment to appointment to try and reach this new goal. It was funny, we were looking for scriptures to share that were good for inviting folks to church, and comp is like "yo what about 4 Nephi 1:1" (banger scripture) and I was literally like dude I forgot that 4 Nephi was a Book of scripture that we can use I'm not gonna lie. And you know what happened? It worked the heck out. We were able to meet the fresh goal that President Ribolla set, meet some amazing new people, AND did it all with 4 Nephi 1:1 at the helm. And not only was the fact we met our goal a miracle, but this week we had the most people come to our sacrament meeting as well! Usually we've got around 4 non-members a week, and this week ELEVEN pulled up. Shoutout to one of the homie members for bringing like her entire group of friends. But it was a total miracle! Everyone that came either already had a date, is interested or has a ton of potential! I know with a surety that it was the Lord working to help us out, to put people in our path so that we could the opportunity to help and to be his mouthpiece, and I feel so grateful and so blessed for the blessings the lord poured out upon us this week. 

I'll list the names of some of the gents we had at church this week to shed some life to the great people we're meeting and teaching. We had our friend Adirano Branco (I think I mentioned him on another email?) He's this awesome senhor who brought his sweet granddaughter with him, who does lawncare for football stadiums and is one of the sweetest dudes ever. We had young Danilson who is amped about baptism, but is looking to get married first, who we're working a lot with! We had Dona Val, who brought her daughter and her daughter daughter, who are all great people. Dona's progressing great and we should probably be seeing her start down the covenant path in the next couple weeks! We had the 4 friends of (the member) Sarah: Suzielle, Deborah, Randerson and Dudu (yeah dudes name is Dudu and he is the biggest chiller of all time love him) and they're all amazing. Suzielle's already on date for the beginning of March, and the rest of the homies are mad interested. And then we had this homie named Ronaldo pull up out of nowhere, apparently dudes already been to church 6 times and has a ton of member friends. All of these people are incredible, and I know that this is the Lord giving us the opportunity to bless them and to give them the chance to live with him again. 

The scripture I'd like to share with you all that reflects this week unfortunately isn't 4 Nephi 1:1, but a scripture from Alma. Here we see the missionary Ammon after God has blessed him and his missionary efforts, and the exclamation he makes is something I agree with wholeheartedly. 

Alma 26: 12

12 Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.

I know with a surety here that Ammon was onto something. The success that we saw this week was a product of yes, us working hard and putting ourselves in the right situations, but the entirety of the work would be impossible without the Lord working right alongside with us. I know that he is my creator. I've literally got nothing to boast about myself because he made everything that I am. I know that he is the God and the creator of every part of our body, our minds, our hearts and even our spirits, and if something aligns with his will for the purpose of righteousness, he will undoubtedly send his strength so that his servants can accomplish it. I have witnessed this a lot this week, and can testify of that fact with a surety. Let us all be grateful for our Heavenly Father and for his son Jesus Christ, that we may have happiness. That we may have hope in the moments of despair, strength in the moments of weakness, and success in the moments that seem impossible. 

Folks that's gonna just about do it here once again. I hope everything was cohesive and there weren't too many spelling mistakes, I ain't got the time to read it over today so I'm just gonna have to trust my texting practice from before the mission to carry me now. But I love you all so much. I appreciate all those who reach out, not important what about but it's just good to hear from you all. Each one of you is important to me. AND to your Heavenly Father, too. That's a certified Elder Hillstead fact. Until next time everyone, peace out

Email Title is from the lyrics of The Beatles’ “Getting Better,” from their album “Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band”

1-2: Multizone Conference 

3: Squad up

4: Semi-final Sunday Dinner 

5: Shopping @ Ver o Peso 

6. Maybe the hardest shirt of all time 

7. Watching the Wheels 

8. Drummer