Mar 25, 2013

Hey Family,

Today I am using the Senior couples cumputer because the Internet is down here. I have been transfered to Kagugu branch to finish my mission and I will be a normal missionary. I will miss the people in Kishushu they were awesome and we had a good time and they are such awesome people. Now the Lord needs me in Kagugu so thats were I will go. Elder Terry is the new Zone Leader and I was super excited for him he will do great. My new companion is from Zimbabwe and his name is Elder Mushonga he lives next to Elder Shinga. I will also live in a four man apartment with Elder Steffenhagen, and Elder Mwetu. Elder Cardon was sent back to Uganda to finish his mission. It was sad to see him go and the Kagugu branch will miss him. Also Elder Bitter is now Elder Terry's new companion. So this week was pretty intresting I said goodbye to some of the recent converts and most of the members I will see them around though until I go to Uganda. Also I was able to learn some of the area in Kagugu and some of the people here they are all great we have a pretty great family called Ernest and Pauline they have been married traditionally and he is going for CPA in accounting so he is a pretty smart guy and he has been coming to church regurally with his family. Also we had four baptisms this Sunday with Robert, Valance, Oliver, and Emmy I don't know them too well I was just transfered to the area, but it is still great that they were baptized. I will also be able to work with the Branch which is somehow struggling because it is still young their Branch President Jean Paul isn't married and he is still young in the church himself so it doesn't have much right now so we are striving to find those who will make a more imediate impact on the Branch and even still it will take some time for them to receive the Melchezedeck priesthood so I still have work to get done. We have a good number of investigators coming to church some we will be meeting with this next week and helping them progress towards baptism some seem really great so I am excited to see how they progress. So for the first few days this week I will be back in Kishushu because Elder Terry needs to go to Uganda for a Zone Leaders Training so I will be working with Elder Bitter until Elder Terry comes back which will be Wednesday night. It will be great to go back to my old area and see some of the people. Anyways it will be a great week the new apartment is wonderful it's clean and pretty big. I will show you pictures of it next week. It will also be great because we will have many people to teach and share the gospel with. I will be praying that we find a family to bring into the gospel to really help the church grow here. Well I am grateful to be in Rwanda and I know it is such a wonderful blessing to be here with these humble people. They look at the name tag and just stare the church is new here when it gets recognized it will grow we just need to find the right people to help it grow. Anyways love you all hope you had a great week!

Love, Elder Hildreth

Mar 18, 2013

Hey,

This last week went really great we had a wonderful Sabbath day yesterday I would guess mainly because the people baptized were confirmed this Sunday their were six of them. Yesterday was really interesting we had six confirmations and that took up most of the first hour of church then in priesthood we had four people receive the Priesthood and three more receive the Melchizedek Priesthood and then two more people were set apart for their callings. So yesterday we were super busy getting all of those ordinances done so it was really great just to see the priesthood in action yesterday. Also we had a most powerful baptism their is that family of Christophe, Claire, and Claudia. Christophe founded the church because of Mitt Romney and the spirit guiding him and he is a farm businessman. Claire was pretty hard but now she knows the church is true she has worked for Parliament and now owns her own lawyer business so they are a great family and as they were being baptized you could really feel a wonderful spirit about them and they are going to bring a huge impact on the church here in Rwanda. So yesterday was really great plus we had a women from Uganda named Tracy she is a member and she brought a few of her family members to church which was awesome. Yesterday went really great we felt a wonderful spirit about all of those being baptized and those who were confirmed. The ones who were confirmed are ready to serve missions and to help they all received callings as Branch missionaries at least the male ones so that was awesome. Well this week is transfer week and I will find out if I stay in this area or not I guess it is the last transfer sad, but wherever I go I will work to the best I can and work as hard as I can. Yeah we are teaching a few more people now hopefully we will have some great baptisms this next transfer and we hope that we get recognized by the government so we can go and find more of the elect. Next week we could have a few baptisms with Joseph and Martin they are friends of Isaac and are really great people they have been coming and one even lost his job so now he can be a church member. Actually that is pretty sad, but he is excited and really has a strong desire to follow Christ. This week has been great and I am looking forward to many more great weeks. I love this gospel I know it is true and I know that priesthood truly has been restored on the Earth and all of the principles and doctrines and what a blessing it is to know that in these time. Well It was a great week and I am looking forward to another great week.

  It is great to hear everyone is doing so well and having a great time I am blessed to have such a wonderful family. Have a great week love you all
Love Elder Hildreth  

Mar 11, 2013

Mar 4, 2013

Hey,

I am doing great this week we did pretty well we had a few people progressing. A few of the people we were going to baptize we pushed so next week is going to be a big day for the Zone potentially 20 people on our side we have about 6 or 7 hopefully. Nelson, Oliver, and Clementine were all confirmed this Sunday so that was good. We had a pretty decent week we really learned that through trials or tribulation if we take it the right way it can make us stronger and more qualified to become more like our Heavenly Father I know that sometimes he puts us through these experiences to help us grow and become better and I am grateful for trials that make us stronger as we work hard and are obedient he will be there to help us every step of the way. Our Investigators are doing well Lavine who is preparing to be baptized next week has been coming for awhile we actually contacted him and he has been coming ever since he is a body guard pretty cool guy. Also we have Deo Dohny, Jackie, and Chantel a family they are also preparing to be baptized this week really great. So our investigators are doing well we have seen a little drop in attendance this past week and I know that there is more work for us to continue to build Heavenly Fathers Kingdom. This Sunday we were able to see a few less actives come to church they have been lost for a some time and it was really good to see them actually these were people that I met in Uganda who were really great people and strong in the church. So things are moving forward and we are excited for this next week. We are just hoping everything runs as smoothly as it needs too. Well I am doing great I have a great companion and a wonderful Zone it is great to be a missionary at this time declaring the gospel to everyone and I know that we are blessed as we bring souls to Christ and our Joy wit h our Heavenly Father is full. I am grateful to serve here I love the people they have been so kind and wonderful and I will continue to push forward and do the best I can tell they say it's over. 

  I am glad to hear everyone is doing well I am so grateful for all of you and I hope you have a great week.

Love 

Elder Hildreth

Feb 25, 2013

Hey,

I had great experiences this week. We have been staying pretty busy as you know teaching and progressing all of the people so it has been going great. Yesterday we were able to have four baptisms with Nelson, Clementine, Yves, and Oliver. Yves and Oliver are the children to Cecil and they loved the gospel and have been coming to church for a long long time. They were all great and they will all build the church so that was really good. I had a pretty interesting interview this past week as I interviewed Pascasie's family for baptism the kids they did well, but when it came to sister Pascasie she had a very interesting story behind her and actually even the kids have an interesting story. It has to do with the genocide so I will have to tell you later. They were also able to tell me that the name "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" has a very special meaning like we know it does, but in K-Rwanda it has a very great meaning. So it was a good interview and all four of them passed. As a Zone last week we were able to have nine baptisms four from us four from Kigali 2 and one from Kigali 3 so were able to have a good amount of baptisms. Something else that happened this week was there was a pretty big storm it hailed and was pretty interesting we were in the church but as we went out some trees were knocked over and even some houses were damaged it was the biggest storm I have seen since I have been here. I am grateful to serve and to be on the Lords errand and I hope to continue to bring joy and peace to everyone I see. Still waiting for the church to be recognized here. We hope it happens soon.  Well I am doing great we are working down here and there is much more to do. 

Thanks for the wonderful email I hope you have a great week and that all goes well. I love you all and hope you have a great week.

Love Elder Hildreth

Feb 18, 2013

Hey,

The work is going on very wonderfully here. The church meeting went really well two of our investigators were confirmed and one received the Priesthood so that was really great. Also we had 80 people at Sacrament meeting and about 31+ were investigators. Some I have no idea where they come from.  It is somehow hard to keep track of them all. Most of those who are progressing come to church all the tiem.  Next week we should have some good baptisms with Clementine, Nelson, and Cecils two kids Yve and Oliver. So we are excited for that also we have a pretty busy week this week making sure that everyone will be ready for this week. Also another great achievement was Claire said she was ready to be baptized on the 16 of March she is Christophes wife and the story how he found the church and the spirit that led him is super amazing. That family will be a very strong family in the gospel. So Sunday went really well. The missionaries that are here love it too much ha it is really just a fantastic place. There are people who have a hard time keeping some commitments, but they are a little bit better. My companion Elder Terry is awesome and a really great friend now, he is a hard worker and ready to go. Also the others are great too. They send some of the most trusted missionaries here. So I know they are all wonderful. These next couple weeks will be really busy for me and the Elders that are here. I know that the a humble people can truly feel the spirit and I can feel and tell these people are very humble and that they can feel that spirit and have a huge desire to learn they know that this truly can strengthen them. Also I know their ancestors who have passed on are waiting for them to go to the Temple to do their work for them. They remind me a lot of the people who lived just after Christ came to the Americas humble and really accepting and no manner of Ites among them. No tribalism no I am better they are similar and it is just such a wonderful place to be. Oh and by the way this week was a cold one maybe if you were here you wouldn't think so, but I was freezing I even had to wear a sweater to sleep and go out in a sweater so that I wouldn't freeze pretty crazy.

  Glad to hear everyone is doing well and having a good time I am grateful to have such a wonderful family and friends and I hope all of you have such a wonderful week! Love you all

Elder Hildreth

Feb 11, 2013

Hey,

I am still doing wonderful here and I am loving it so much! This week we were able to see a good number of people baptized and progressing to baptism soon. We had 3 people baptized yesterday Isaac, Cecil, and Oliver. All of them have been coming to church for a long time and have been really excited and just waiting to be baptized. Isaac helps with translating all of the time which is awesome. Cecil is an older lady who I guess has been coming for a very long time, but no one knew she wasn't a member and when they found out she started getting the lessons and now she is baptized and her kids will follow very soon. So that was something really great this past week. Also at church we had a surprise Christophe, Claire, and Claudia all came they said they wouldn't be able too, but they did and it was really neat to see them. We are hoping that family will be baptized soon. Along with them we had many other investigators 29 of them. We just have so many people who feel the spirit and want to learn more. We also had 75 at church  so very many have been coming and it is really cool to see the church grow here and I believe it will continue to grow a ton. The Branch is now also starting to give callings and they are getting home teaching ready so that is another great and exciting thing coming up. It is really growing in the right way right now and it will continue to grow very well. So this week I was able to learn some Rwandan culture  really neat too. When someone has a child they gather the whole family around to name the baby so what ends up happening is everyone comes and then everyone has a chance to hold the baby look at the baby and say I call you ... and you say a name this is happening while the mom is away and the dad writes down the name and asks what does the name mean you tell him and then after everyone says a few names they decide what the name is going to be and if they choose your name you choose for the baby they give you some sort of present it is pretty neat. Just thought you would like to know some Rwandan Culture still getting to know it. Well being here there is a lot of work to do even without proselyting everyone brings their friends and the church just continues to grow. We are just hoping we can see all the people that come to church and just get these people prepared and ready for baptism, but we know there is a lot of work to be done. I am grateful for the spirit which is there and will always be with us as we are worthy and obedient to what the father has asked. I am grateful for the work and I love it so much the people here are so amazing and wonderful it is a blessing to be here. 

  I am glad to hear everyone is doing well and I hope you all have a wonderful week this week! Love you lots!

Elder Hildreth