Let Your Light Shine

Hey yall!

This week has been amazing. Two experiences I want to share will suffice I think.

So the Stadler family we've been working with got cold shoulder for a bit cause much to my dismay, there was an elder that lately has been extremely pushy trying to set a baptismal date with their kids and they kinda got mad. Well I solved that problem and went and had a ton of pecans someone collected and I shelled them all (lemme tell you that is harder than breaking in to the Pentagon) and made those like cinnamon roasted pecans you can buy and I made them homemade. We took them over for his birthday and rekindled some relationship and had  a really good talk about what our true motives are and how we want to love them and help them anyway we can. We talked about bringing their kids at least to church and they said totally. Well we set it all up and then Sunday we got a text saying that even more kids than expected wanna come and he'd be bringing them instead. We'll the ward hasn't seen them for 4 years at church and wasn't looking pleased that it was 10 minutes in and no Stadlers. Well after the sacrament we went and got them out of the foyer and you shoulda seen the faces of the bishopric! Oh man the "good job elders" head nods we got. The Sunday went SO GOOD. I forgot I was teaching gospel principles and elder Hartley was with the kids in primary on splits. So I accompanied the dad and he the kids. It was awesome. Well my gospel principles lesson turned out awesome and for once the class was FULL. it was about developing talents and man oh man it was awesome. The spirit spoke through me and I was told after by brother Stadler and others I should teach more often. Glory to God for that cause it wasn't me. It all went super well, the ward was hyped. 

Then another experience. This lady called us and is a referral who wants a book of Mormon. Her name is Angie and she is seeking exactly what we have. I ended up having an amazing lesson over the phone with her and we set a lesson with her for tonight. She is eager for us to teach her and it was really fun to have that. 

This week has just been a confirmation of my efforts and I glory in God he's seen fit to forgive me and give me the spirit to make my words more than sound waves. It's been awesome. 

Light the world is one of the best things ever BTW. I've never felt better than I do doing this much service. It's the best! I put it on Facebook contradictory to many people who think I'm prideful in putting my good works to glory in my self but as christ himself said, "16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." and i ask that you see that who I am is only by God's mercy and the sacrifice christ made. I am worthy of the spirit finally and I've never felt better. The great change is of God and I boast of our God that he still works among us.

I love yall! Hope things are well! 

Elder Hiatt 

Making an Impression!

Hey Yall!

This week has been great. We had Elder Pearson of the 70 come and it was a fantastic meeting. I don't think I've ever received more clear revelation than I did during that meeting. Like discerning revelation that clearly has never happened that strongly. It was so cool. So I've made some huge changes in my lifestyle and it's awesome. If you actually give the time of day to your studies and meetings I promise revelation abounds.

Every day this week we went over to this family we are teaching and have helped with cabinets and taught a lesson. It's going so well and it's so much fun! We are getting really close with the people and the ward council is stoked that we finally made contact with this family. So we are teaching them and it's going awesome. 

We got to begin forging knives out of rail road spikes. This member invited us to and it is way super cool. 

I was told this week by three youth that are 18 and such that they hope I don't get transferred, they opened up and said how much I've helped them and they like that I'm not weird or corny like so many missionaries, I give the glory to God because he's been merciful in molding me. But it was comforting to know I'm having some kind of impact. 

Our light the world activities each day have led to a ton a of awesome conversations and I really enjoy it. Everyone loves our hats and ties we wear for it. It's been awesome. 

I wanna invite everyone to do the light the world challenges each day and it's legit! It's literally so much fun and really brings the Christmas spirit. So it's been really sweet.

Things are Goin excellent! Love yall!

Elder Hiatt

Mt. Dew Chair

Hey yall!

This week was kinda crazy with the holiday and stuff. Just lots of funny stuff and such I can talk about. 

So at service earlier in the week for whatever reason Pepsi donated 20 pallets of Mt dew to the food pantry and they said, "elders, we want you to take as much as you possibly can..." And you know normal people might have been like "yeah haha we will take a few." But missionaries are far from normal. Therefore we were able to obtain enough to build a throne.  How many is that you ask? 111 cases to be exact. And if that doesn't put it in perspective this will, that my dear friends is 65 gallons of Mt. Dew. Why? Because, why not! We also had our own Thanksgiving dinner and cooked some awesome food. Elder Bushman is a dang good cook. Fun thing is he and I have served around each other for almost 7 and a half months of our missions. And when we do we see each other often so it's like he's been my companion. 

We also at service found a sweet trench coat in a thrift store and I've always wanted one. Well this specific one is about 185$ normally and it was for 20$ in brand new condition. So of course I jumped on that wagon asap and got the thing. It's sweet. Everyone calls me inspector gadget. 

We had the Browns family staying in town this week too and they brought their dog. Her name was Tori and she took a liking to me cause I'd always scoop her up and hold her whenever we were home. She had surgery while here, and I payed the most attention to her and so every time I got home she'd come a running and plop down in my lap and chill. Was the best week ever. Tori was my homie. There was a huge dog the family we ate with for Thanksgiving had that I loved too. You already know I got Pics of it.

We've been sharing the light the world video with people the end of this week and it's been wildfire. I'm loving it. We plan to do the light the world every day this year and we are really excited about it. I hope everyone utilizes this opportunity. There is no better time than to reach out in love to our Brothers and sisters than right now. I hope everyone will let their testimony carry them to love everyone around them and let it grow more. 

Love yall!

Elder Hiatt

Dragon Fruit, Goats, and a Jeep

Hey y’all!

This week was good, I am not able to write a ton this week but the highlights was an investigator of ours is progressing extremely well. We are really enjoying meeting with him. He has been eating up the book of Mormon. We also made contact with a family we've tried contacting like 8 times this week so that was awesome. 

Fun things this week was we got to see a WW II jeep. The thing was way cool. It was one of the ones made by Ford and since Henry ford's original design was rejected by the US and they asked him to produce them he wanted to make sure they knew which jeeps were his. So on every bolt, every piece, every single part, there is stamped the Ford "f" somewhere on it. Kinda funny. We also got to hold a baby goat and such, a family in the ward has goats and they had their baby and so that was fun. His name is Cleetus. I also tried dragon fruit and it was okay. The color of it is nuts though.

Life's good, love yall!

Elder Hiatt

Choose Christ

Hello yall!

This week was CRAZY fun! Truly there is no greater joy brought to the soul of man than the joy a clean life on the Lord's errand brings!

Tuesday was awesome because we first had district meeting! I gave a training at request of my old companion/current district leader's, Elder Parry, request. I gave it on the subject of focusing our teaching on repentance and how that really is the only message we share. I read any a scripture and all that such and it went swimmingly. We then went to a guy in the 1st word's house who does these awesome portraits and bios for each missionary to post on the ward bulletin and also took many a cool photo along the way pictures shall be attached but there is a heck ton of pictures this week so there shall be another email. 

After much labor of the day we returned home. And on the morrow we had some lovely studies as normal and set out to service that afternoon. Well it was lame cause we were the only people that showed up! Both the sisters and the Spanish elders were gone! Sucks for them though cause the food pantry people have really become awesome friends and they made us cheesecake and chicken spaghetti. So it was awesome. We also had some of the best fresh apples to ever exist and so that was great too! After service we always have a habit of checking the neighboring thrift store owned by the food pantry people to see what ties they got in. They sell us ties for a dollar so we always check. Well I found myself some sweet ties, one of them being the Texas flag and figured I'd snatch it up because they normally are quite expensive. We also saw these little bow and arrow things for a dollar and both bought one and made all the workers laugh as we had a war in the thrift shop our ride got there and we then set out to find more people, to no avail. But such is a mission in Texas sometimes.

Thursday was awesome. We biked all over the place Thursday and towards dinner time we saw some cool stuff. We had dinner and afterward were going to this family of 7 that has kind of lost interest a bit. As we were rounding a corner that led to their house we felt it'd be better to give them some time and instead walk to this recent converts house to say hi. On the way there we met some kids washing their parents car, (why at 8:15pm I know not but people be people I guess). They saw us from down the street and just stopped and looked at us, ceasing all things they were doing. Well I said hi and began talking with em. They were very respectful which I've never been addressed as "sir" before and that was cool. We ended up teaching about how we can repent in our day filly again through the miracle of the restoration of the priesthood. The kids ate it up and totally understood it! They asked if they could have a book of Mormon and of course we said yes. So that was a super cool contact. We then got to the place we were headed and knocked. The recent converts parents didn't answer but their sister did. She was happy to see us and her husband eventually came out and began talking to us. Long story short he's been seeking changes in his life and wants to meet with us. We were able to take his info and we now are teaching him this next Wednesday! Was a joy to know Wed been led by the spirit. His only off days are Wednesday and Thursday so it was a way cool experience. 

Dallas Daze

Friday we saw an insane spider web as we were getting in for the night. It was floating in mid air, anchored down to a tree, the house and a garbage can. The spider on it was huge and eating something it caught. It was so cool! We ended up torching the web because like we were gonna leave that just chilling for someone to walk into. Heck no. But ya, it was crazy. 

Saturday and Sunday were much of the same. Biking many a mile, teaching many a people, seeking those thatll listen. It was grand. We biked probably a total of 50-60 miles this week and that felt awesome. I am quite use to it but elder Hadley can hardly walk today. 

But yes, life is sweet because repentance is real and I've discovered the joy in sharing the message of it with people. I really hope everyone is reading the book of Mormon everyday, if you're not your probably sad a lot or don't feel that much joy. Cause reading that book set me on a course that has now got me singing songs as I bike the terrible mountainous terrain of the Garland and Rowlett roads with a smile and a kick in my step all 24 miles of the ride. The book is just words, but the course they teach, the spirit they invite, and the knowledge you'll gain of the savior will change your life. Seriously nothing can be more important than things of God. I truly voice my testimony to you reading this, if in the end you have not chosen Christ, it does not matter what you have chosen. This I know. I leave my testimony with you in Jesus Christ's name, amen.

Love Elder Hiatt

Smart Phone Test

Hey everyone!

This week has been miraculous. We have had unhindered blessings upon us and I am happier than I've ever been!

Tuesday was transfers but neither I or elder Hadley got transferred! So the day went pretty normal. We set out and began working on this list we have planned to be able to visit people and that day elder Hadley and I really connected. It has been so cool and together have really become unified more than I've ever been with in my mission. That was the beginning of why the week went so well, two people desiring nothing but the Lord's will and being willing to do whatever to bring it about is when and unstoppable force comes into play. We biked 17 miles that day in our labors and it felt so awesome. 

Wednesday we had district meeting and found out my district got combined with another district and we now have 16 people in our district, which is bigger than some of the zones in the mission. It's nuts! But it's awesome too. My district leader is my old companion elder parry and that is awesome as ever. And my old district stayed the same through transfers so it really just got better. We had some get to know each other games and then elder parry talked about the new transfer. It's going to be so fantastic. But Wednesday was probably the best day ever. After district meeting we went to service and that's always a fun time. We then sought out a bike tube but Walmart didn't carry the bike tube size elder Hadley needed and we ran out if time so we got dropped off and picked up again for dinner. Dinner was great because we got key lime pie and a dinner can't be bad if there is that kind of pie involved. So we then walked from there to the church and dropped off some left overs and stuff the family gave us, some of them being tons of protein shake mixes and so that saved me a ton money. We then set out to walk to a recent converts house we haven't heard from in a month. We popped in and they were home! So that was a miracle in of itself but wait! There's more. We then went to an address of a kid we played some street ball with that thought we were these guys from YouTube who dress up all nerdy and nice that then wreck people. We did rain down the buckets them but was able to convince them we aren't YouTube guys and we weren't filming it. When we got to his house we knocked and his sister answered. She got their mom and we asked for the kid. He came out and he was happy to see us. We asked if we could come teach him sometime and he said he didn't know if there was a good time. But we then looked around through the door and everyone was just chilling so I we asked if we could come right now. They said sure and 6 people sit down to listen, which was way more than we thought were there and we were able to teach the restoration. They all desired to learn more and wanted us to come over the next day. That was 6 new investigators. Literally like......it was amazing. 

Thursday was even more nuts. To begin, we got picked by my fellow tech missionary and we were called to the mission office for some things. When we got there, they had us box up some computers and then the APs grabbed us and said, "techs, in this room, now!" We sit down and we learn that us and the APs will be the first in the mission for the next couple months to complete a task. This task we are charged with is very insane and I'm still kinda in shock about it. Laid before our eyes was two Samsung galaxy smartphones and their corresponding Sim cards. We were briefed on them and have been charged with figuring out every single thing we can about them bug wise as well as to compile instructions on how to teach the mission to use them and set them up. Sooooooo ya! I have a Samsung Smart phone now and have some info of what direction technology wise the church is heading in for missions and it's gonna be insane, but I get to test it out for the mission and so this is super cool. We did that basically all day because there was a lot of set up involved. It was like being a 3 year old in a candy store man. It was so fun setting em up. But we got back and had dinner and then set out to a lesson with the family again. When we got there and knocked, nobody was home. We were heartbroken! But we didn't stop, we decided to check the basketball courts. So we walked there and ended up meeting the oldest brother who wasn't there the day before. We got talking to him and he said the family should be getting back and he'd like to hear what we got too. So we walked back with him and every trickled in and we got to have the lesson! We planned on one thing that was gonna be awesome, but they began talking about questions they have the plan of Salvation could answer perfectly. So we threw out our lesson plan and went with that. It was kinda rusty but they learned a ton and really really liked it. We set up another lesson for Tuesday and in total now 7 investigators. It's going awesome. 

The rest of the week was good. Lots of bike repairs. Elder Hadley's bike was a piece of crap but could be good if it was fixed so I spent some time Frankensteining parts from his old bike on to it and then we road to the bike shop Saturday and got some new tires and seat. We got those put on and it was legit. His bike is way better now and we've been riding tons so it's been awesome. 

Sunday was great too, we just had a very spiritual Sunday and taking the sacrament is always good. I love conference but if we could administer the sacrament with it, it would be ideal. Going two weeks is rough. 

But ya, this week was just awesome. Ive never felt so happy and truly the change of heart and it's of the grace of the lord that this has happened. Truly repentance is absolutely the plan if Salvation. The book of Mormon brings people closer to Jesus Christ and I testify of that, it of itself doesn't change your heart, it's a book after all. It's the fact it teaches men that they must repent and turn to Jesus Christ, and if followed, you will find the most pure joy you'll ever feel in your life and see some miracle rain down upon you. 

Things are going awesome though, I love the gospel and I love this stuff. Jesus Christ works through the spirit to bless our lives if you let it.

I love you all!

Elder Hiatt

Watch Conference

Hey Yall!

I hope general conference was enjoyable to you. I cannot believe how much the meaning of it has grown since I've been on a mission. To think that I use to moan and groan about Saturday sessions, and not even watch them, as well as just sleep and ignore the Sunday sessions. What was I thinking!? The words of living prophets and I decided it wasn't worth my time to set aside Saturday and Sunday to listen. Thank goodness I got the wake up call! This conference was especially hope giving. I love that we can go and amidst a world of turmoil and apostasy the messages of the prophets are similar. Hopeful, pointing to the savior, counseling to be with people, not with screens. To trust in God, and apply those to daily living in our time. 

I loved the talks given by Elder Holland, Elder Hillstrom, Elder Callister, and President Uchtdorf. Really I loved most of them, it was like they all combined into one coherent message for me and I'm grateful for inspired words. 

This week my silly moment was I was mopping up after service at the food pantry we do. While doing so the mop bucket got tipped over and gallons and gallons of water over the floor. I got a ton of teasing for that but it was funny. We spread it over the entire floor to utilize it cause it was all gonna get mopped anyway. The head person walked in later after it was all cleaned up and said how it has never smelled so good in the food pantry and asked how we did that! Everyone was eager to tell them elder Hiatt decided to dump the mop bucket on the ground. So it was great. 

Transfers are today and I'm excited to see what they bring. Hopefully I stay in this area longer than 1 transfer as is the ongoing theme recently.

Cool fact too, I noticed I had the same tie elder Stevenson had on for his talk Saturday! So yeah, get on my level. 

All I can say is if any missed conference, please watch it. These types of things are such a blessing to be a part of and have in our day. I testify of the men and women that lead us. The prophet Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God, I am seeing his words fulfilled in my life as I read the book of Mormon more intensely. I know it to be the word of God because I am closer to him than ever before and see the strength and joy that comes. 

Utilize the words said in this conference, for they are the words of Christ. He knows each of his people individually. He prepares his servants to address each and everyone one of them in some way. So please utilize those words. Let the spirit in, open your heart and find the real ongoing power of God in these latter days. 

I love you all!

Love Elder Hiatt