Holy Guacamole

Hey Yall!

My goodness I'm a vagabond. I have been transferred once again! I am  now in Rowlett, Texas bordering where I actually first came out. So that's cool, my companion is Elder Hadley who was the 3rd of the trio I had in the MTC! So it's kinda fun being with him again, makes the "get to know you" phase a ton easier.

This new area is a car share area cause elder Hadley's back is really bad from various car wrecks and breaking when he was younger. So sometimes we bike, then the days the sisters don't need the car we get to use it, so it's pretty fun.

I strolled into the area with two baptisms goin on Saturday so that was cool, they were able to be confirmed and things are working well! I felt bad cause I was about as alert as a sloth Sunday so the ward hopefully doesn't think I'm a boring shy missionary, I was just trying to keep my eyes open all day 😂.

The house we live in is awesome, it has a full weight set and a bench so I can actually do my workout without improvised ways to do an incline bench press. So that's going awesome as well!

Dallas Daze

So news I'm sure everyone wants to hear about first is we did indeed get TONS of rain from our boy Harvey. It was ridiculous. But no crazy damage, thank goodness. It has been overcast for days now which is unusual. But nice cause it's cooler weather, humid as heck though. When Lehi talked about the mists of darkness he was referring to Texas
humidity. The other awesome thing is we do service at this cool food pantry and they like us there a lot. I had to bag these nasty carrots. I'm sure they were edible but I never knew carrots were so nasty before they are all cut nice and such. This dude in charge also overheard me say I like guacamole and gave us a box of 60 avocados so we are utilizing that well 😁😁. Talk about Texas hospitality, FINALLY.

Weeks goin good though, I appreciate your prayers beyond belief. Trials never cease on the mission cause your always growing and when you don't think you can handle it and then look back and see somehow you got through it, a feeling comes that it's the prayers of those you love sending that help. One of my favorite quotes applies I think,
"God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs." I know this first hand and appreciate it.

I learned this week a cool little experience. I was really needing some answers and as I went to church it seemed as I was searching, the meetings were set up seemingly to be exclusively for me but as I look back they were as normal as ever. What made it special as my mindset and preparation. Sundays genuinely can be a delightful and edifying
experience if you let them be. I hope you'll keep that in mind and see what the Lord can do for you this next Sunday.

I love yall!

Elder Hiatt.

Transferred

Hey Yall!

Sorry this is short, I went golfing for P day today and that took up the day so I apologize.

Cool miracle of the week. Plans fell through and it was 8:15. We decided to go see who was at the basketball courts by the hospital in Marshall and after a bit it was 8:45 and we started driving home. We were right in front of the hospital when we got a call from a recent convert who's brother was in an ambulance on the way to the hospital and she couldn't get a hold of anyone to give him a blessing. We were right outside and met them there and was able to help. It was so awesome.

Dallas Daze

This week wasn't odd as much as it was just straight Texan. We made ourselves a brisket and it was baller. Super delicious. I've got a time lapse of it so I'll send that. It had a homemade marinade, rub from Stanley's, and hickory smoked. Way good. There was also a massive bug that was on my bag when I went to grab it...it was nasty.

I'm being transferred......again. My new companion will be my old MTC comp elder Hadley. So that's interesting. I'm putting in a plug that if I get to be comps with one former companion, the other deserves the same privilege so who knows, maybe Elder Owens and I get to make a comeback. I'll be going to Rowlett on a bike so that'll be crazy. But ya! Life's good!

Love yall!
Elder Hiatt

Keep Records

Hey Yall!

This week has been great. The Dallas Daze this week is a rousing Bible study we ended up being in after trying to find and investigator. We came in and they welcomed us warmly, it was a non denominational Bible study and the pastor was actually very good, he didn't teach anything false at all! But he did thrown in subtle jabs at us being mormons of course. We assimilated very well in the group and were studying in Roman's. We referenced a lot of scriptures from the Bible trying to be casual and non confrontational. It was really good and everyone was actively participating. Well we began talking about how we should first study the word before we teach it, and they were all scrambling for analogies or verses that applied and the Bible jsut doesn't have any. Well I felt prompted to share D&C 11:21 with them. I said, "one of my favorite scriptures actually says...." And quoted it and man it was like I was breathing fire, they all like started hoopin and clapping and saying amen and the pastor was clapping and is all, "man may boy say that one more time let's hear the word of the lord again, amen brother!" So I quote it again and someone asks the fateful question, "where is that found I wanna mark that!" OH man the pastors face clicks and he realizes that that isn't a Bible verse. And begins back peddling. We were able to teach about what we believe and it went super well. Hilarious too! The words Lord's have power indeed!

This week was really go though. We got some sweet cups a member made for us and that was way cool. They hold ice for like a day and a half. It's sweet. 

I had a really awesome study this week pondering on personal evidences I have of the reality of God and how I know him to be real. I encourage everyone to think about it, cause it's really imperative we remember these experiences. Our roots fade if we don't remember them. And I remembered some experiences I had almost forgotten about but this time I've written them down. There is true power in keeping records, I understand why we do it lately and I hope everyone will. 

You can start by asking yourself this question and writing an answer, be as detailed as you'd like. 

Many witnesses in heaven and in earth testify of God’s existence. What evidences of God and His love have you experienced?

I hope everyone had a good week. 

Love yall!

Elder Hiatt.

The Barbershop and Baptism Drowning Fear

Hey Yall!

This week was great and the silly moment ties in with the awesome
moment as well so they shall be combined today.

First couple things to share about is week was it was a pretty darn
normal week. We got some haircuts because a lot of haircut places
aren't open on Mondays, which I learned. But there was a specific one
we wanted to go to because it caught our eye. It was an awesome lady
named Vicky and is a black barbershop. If there is one thing I've
learned on my mission, it's that black barbershops will leave you
looking fresher than Febreeze. With very affordable prices none the
less. And come to think of it, we've got two Dallas Daze worthy
moments this week. So this can be official number one. We pull up and
see the barber poll goin, those are how ya know they're legit, not
anyone can have a barber poll I've learned. So we roll in and time
stops, I'm pretty sure we were the first white people to ever set foot
in the shop. It was like we walked in and shouted, "ALL EYES ON US!"
We couldn't have drawn more attention wearing bathrobes than we
already had, even the blind dude was lookin at us! Vicky was trimmin
up a dudes afro and doing a dang good job, coulda slapped Wonder on the
side and called it bread, and greets us. She legit asked first, "how
are Yall Doin! Are Yall lost?" We cheerily replied how we weren't lost
but lookin to get some of the best haircuts in town! She said, "well
alright write your names up on the seating list!" We go do that, and
take a seat and the patrons waiting and Vicky begin goin back to
normal. Got revival African America gospel choir music bumping, some
goofy talk show playing, vending machines from the early years of
Moses high-school , it was like a time machine. We sight see the signs
around and I notice that she only accepts cash, I being not a newby to
this, had withdrawn a 20$ so I could get a haircut when we did. Elder
Dertina did not. So we told Vicky we needed to go get some cash,
apparently she didn't believe that we really intended to have her cut
our hair cause she said, "there's an ATM down the street or there's a
salon place a little further down the road to go to?" Well we went to
the gas station and got a drink and withdrew some cash, or would have
but the gas station didn't let us know they don't do money back until
AFTER he payed. We then sought out a Brookshire's and got the job done
and bought some handy dandy little trees for our car. We come back to
the shop and Vicky then knew we meant business. Well Vicky began
asking us who we were and having the whole, "you're dressed silly
what's wrong with you" conversation which was goin awesome. Elder
Dertina gets up there and she starts goin to town. It was like the
sculptor and the statue of David man. She took her time makin it look
good all while talking to her about missionaries. She gets done and
Elder Dertina has the best hair cut a companion of mine has ever had.
Best part? He says how much do I owe ya, she's all "12$" WHAT!?!? Was
like a 30$ worthy cut. So he tipped her some extra and that was that,
then there's me. We began talking where I'm from and more about
missionaries and she loved it. Began cutting my hair and we talk about
her career and such and she says, "it's cool Yall came in here, I
really have never gotten to practice on any Caucasians at all, so I
hope it's good for Yall." Aka, Yall are the first white people to ever
come here, so this is sweet. Hahaha it was awesome! We talked to the
whole store and it was a grand experience. My haircut was 15 and she
loved the little swoopy thing I do with my hair in the front and made
sure to leave it be. So that was funny and we invited her to the
baptism Saturday. She said if she could get off she would be there. It
was a really good teaching experience and a really good haircut. But
it was a first for me! Moral is, if you want a bomb haircut and don't
have a certain favorite, find yourself a black barbershop and you win
the game of being fresher than fast food places claim they are. And we
all know how fresh they claim to be!

Next, after a few days of finding peeps to teach, we decided to help
again on the house thing we are gonna be living in. We have grown
really close with the Keith family that is Doin it for us and they're
kids are awesome. One of em, Ashlynn, comes out and is all, "I want to
help!" Well when 6 year Olds say such they never are much help as they
are an extra body but what the heck ya know? So we get her a scraper
thing and show her how to mud the corners of dry wall and prep it for
me to put the corner on. For the next 3 hours Ashlynn sits and talks
to us and literally turns out to be one of the biggest helps ever! She
was mudding faster than I could put on the corners and she was doing a
good job too! Her brother came and helped a bit too but she enjoyed
doing it, he did so much because she was doing it and couldn't let her
show him up. So he left pretty quick. It was awesome, we got a ton of
mudding done on the drywall thanks to the help.

Then the finale of the week. Al's baptism. We went and got things
ready for it that afternoon and set it all up. We had the programs
perfect, the piano and decorations, awesome statue of Jesus. It was
sweet. Elders aren't incompetent like many members seem to think. Al
showed up an hour early so nobody but us were there. We gave him the
jumpsuit we thought should fit him, he goes in and tries it on. We
were waiting outside and we here, "it don't fit" We look and there's
Al.....half dressed with no shirt in the middle of the church so elder
Dertina runs and grabs him and I run and get another jumpsuit, we have
him try that. Once again no luck. So we are scrambling, the relief
society president hadn't brought the rest back so we had no jumpsuits,
but we had some white pants? So we grab some and run out and have Al
try em. After 5 tries, some fit! Though he can't zip the fly up but
you couldn't tell so it was good! Well the white shirt came from Elder
Dertina cause he had felt to bring a couple extra shirts and they fit
Al! So we got him one of those and perfect timing he was there. So we
walk in and the program starts after about 10 minutes. Everything is
goin well, a recent convert gave their first talk and did an AWESOME
job. Doin sweet, then comes the baptism. I was confidant it couldn't
be that hard. So Al and I start walking back. He makes is way slowly
down the stairs into the font cause he's got a bad leg from a stroke.
After having practiced it all before, we get into the waters of
forgetfulness and it's now as if we hadn't practiced at all! Hahaha
meaning, we stand and I hold out my hand for him to do the thing ya
know and he just stands there, and I'm like "grab my arm..." He grabs
it with his right hand, "other hand" he grabs his right hand with his
left hand, "no other arm," he grabs his left hand with his right hand,
"no grab my left arm with your left hand, " takes it by the under
side, "no over the top," back to square one, "okay here (forcefully
shows him) now put your right wrist in my left hand, like we did ya
know?" He just takes my hand and I'm like whatever it works, feel like
Rex Kwon Do. So we go, I say the words, big moment, go to put him in
the water.....! Aaaaannndddd he resists and goes stiff as a board,
"I'm scared man, I got a bad leg I don't wanna slip." I tell him, "no
that's why I'm here I got you." He's all, "you got me?" "Yes I've got
you," We try again. Say the words, almost there! Again.....doesn't.
After 6 attempts and a very embarrassed Elder Hiatt, we get a chair.
We put the chair down in and he sits in and just has to lean forward.
Perfect, easy, no worries. We go for it, I say the words, Goin
awesome, Aaaaannndddd Al can't bend over far enough and just puts his
face in, he thinks he's good and comes up smiling but it wasn't done
yet, he couldn't bend over his belly. So we try again, nothing.
Man things were getting rough, our bishop is a witness and trying to
talk him into it all, we are just trying to do get this down any way
possible. Well we eventually call in the parachute squad and Elder
Dertina comes and gets in white too and we both are in there. We
decided to go forward and so Al almost makes it under the first
attempt, and the second Elder Dertina and I just are like, this one's
happening, so Dertina kinda bends Al's  knees and is like getting him
to squat a little lower and I help him bend over enough and BAM all
the way under! he was immersed and came out so happy! He was so
excited to be baptized like Jesus was, just scared of drowning. So
that was awesome! It was about a 15 minute ordeal but we finally got
him through it. After which it went awesome the rest of the way and
life was good. Al kept apologizing for his fear but he was so thankful
and so happy. It was so darn cool. He told all of his family and
friends about him being baptized and found the truth. It took him a
long time to finally pray and ask if it was all true, and finally he
did, knew it was true, and is now baptized and confirmed. It was a
blessing to see it go through, and kind of intense.

Through it all, embarrassment initially and such, afterwards it was
honestly so awesome. The spirit shown through and I definitely can say
that it's real. I've never had the privilege of that before and the
peace and happiness you feel is overwhelming. Sometimes baptisms don't
go totally according to plan, but it was able to happen. I was so
caught up in the smoothness when in reality, who cares! Someone took
their first step to following our Savior and who cares the logistics.
It made me realize that the decor, the program, the any of that, it's
all fine and good but the point is is we have the priesthood authority
restored to baptize people by immersion as Christ was, sometimes it
can be a struggle, but what a blessing it is to feel of the spirit
that comes from it.

It was awesome. And a good week.

Hope everyone's well! Love yall!

Elder Hiatt

A Cuddle Buddy

Hey Yall!

This week was a great week. We had some awesome happenings but most of
all, WE HAVE A BAPTISM THIS SATURDAY!

This will be one of the first ones I actually get to see through and
be there for! We are excited about it.

Dallas Daze

So this week nothing to absurd happened but I did have a cuddle buddy,
a very large one! We were at a recent converts house and he's got the
best dogs ever. His Rottweiler Zeus is a big pup but as friendly as
can be. He has taken a liking to me since I've been here and this week
wanted to listen to the lesson as close as he could and decided he
wanted to sit in my lap.....so I got to teach a lovely lesson with a
man's best friend chillaxing on me, he's a big dog and very slobbery!
I'll attach some pictures, I don't know what it is but dogs seem to
flock to me. But that's no issue with me! Oh! And we were at the
library and this old lady was totally knocked out in a chair reading
it was hilarious.

We spent a lot of time helping out a member who is building us a
house, and by building I mean paying for the materials and over the
past 8 months having missionaries build it. It came to a stand still
cause missionaries for a while didn't know how to do anything on it,
when I got here, it needed drywall and backer board (basically drywall
for showers), taping and mudding and everything a house needs from
there. So he's having a tile guy put in the tile this week and we
decided we wanted to be of service and not make him miss the deadline,
so seeing as how I've done this kinda stuff, we spent last Monday and
a couple days this week working with people and getting this drywall
up and mudding done. We even called in our district Saturday for extra
hands and I taught them how to mud and we went at it! I honestly love
doing this stuff, everyone had the "man this sucks but I'm happy to
serve someone" face with me "man I should do this for a living" face.
It was awesome. It's almost done! It's only 200 Sq ft but it's gonna
be an extremely nice and we'll out together place, no more ghetto
apartment! But we haven't moved in yet so we will see.

We got dropped by a lot of our investigators this week and that was
sad, but no worries because our boy Al showed through! After trying to
visit members in various apartment complexes and getting kicked out
before we could knock for setting foot on the property (they said we
aren't allowed to visit our members.....like really? #Constitutional I
swear some people hate missionaries too much) and reenacting star wars
and being told, "I am not the man you're looking for, he moved to
uh.....Kentucky....with his dad...." When clearly they are them cause
they have their business truck literally parked right there with his
name on it, and having potentials call and drop us, the shining moment
was Sunday. Sunday was fantastic. We first got to speak and I felt
very good about my talk, it's like the Lord just handed me words to
say. The spirit must have spoke cause I got many comments for it, when
I really didn't do it, but it went fantastic. Well we needed our
investigator Al at church or he couldn't get baptized Saturday. Well
sacrament starts....no Al. Opening song and exercises.....no Al.
Sacrament is passed.....no Al. Elder Dertina starts his talk.....no
Al. But then! The hallway is graced by a unfamiliar presence.....Al
sets foot in the hallway! He makes his way in and we gave our talks.
After sacrament we headed to gospel principles and kinda took over
cause Al still needed 1 more lesson before he could have an interview
(which we didn't realize we needed to do that day until right then[I
just have never gotten this far so I kinda space it]) and we taught
the commandments and it was AWESOME. Everyone participated really
well. Al wants to pay tithing and set up his bank account to do it
automatically. Then we went to priesthood, that was about taking upon
us the name of Christ and what that means. We called the District
leader and they dropped everything and we had the interview a bit
after church. It went awesome. And now we have a baptism scheduled and
he wants to go to the temple soon after. So things are awesome. Sunday
was just choreographed by God, it was awesome.

Also met my ward mission leader finally. He's legit, we are like the
same people. Same interests, same physique, same hair styles when I
grew mine out. The first thing I noticed his gaming PC and apparently
I'm the first one to ever notice. We talked about that for a while,
then found out he builds all their furniture so we talked about that,
and it was just awesome.

This week was well! I hope everyone else's was too!

Love
Elder Hiatt