Hey 10-31-11

Hello everyone, Happy Halloween. They don't celebrate Halloween down here it's probably a good thing they don't too ha. I have had some great experiences this week. When John when he was being interviewed for baptism by Elder Mogadima he said that John was the most prepared person he had ever seen which is awesome! Florence is really trying but she just needs the courage to stand up for herself, she hasn't been able to get the answer and I asked her what she is expecting and she said that she was expecting a vision. We told her how the spirit works that it doesn't necessarily come in visions or dreams, but in the feelings we get and receive so she said she would keep praying and listen for the answer. Johns brother Brian is doing amazing, he has shown a wonderful interest in the gospel and wants to be baptized which is also wonderful. Yesterday, for church, we went to a place in Kawmpala to listen to Elder Rasband and Elder Cook of the seventies speak to us which was super powerful. I loved to listen to them the spirit was so strong. When it was over people sat there for like 5 minuet es just waiting to hear more of what they they had to say! Nothing happened so they got up and we got ready to leave.The father of the Ballyjusa family stated to me yesterday "When they were speaking it felt like I was in the Temple it was so spiritual!" We had several people come on the bus too, we probably had over ninety people come to listen to them from Entebbe and out of those ninety Elder Shinga and I had ten investigators come to watch which was great! Another spiritual thing that happened this week it was when we got to see John and Concy be baptized it was so awesome. We were going to perform the baptisms at the church, but the night before we turned on the water at the font and the next day nothing was filled up the water didn’t work so we decided to go to the lake and it was such a spiritual experience. Everyone who came felt a wonderful spirit. I asked Brian how he felt and he said "I felt like I needed to go in myself and do the same thing". It was so cool and such a wonderful experience you could feel the spirit. This week has been full of filling the spirit it has been amazing and we have been finding some wonderful people. Yesterday we came home and there is a home close to where our apartment is and we haven't been there so we decided to go and see if the people were interested and when I talked with them they said they never heard of what we had to say, but were always interested in knowing because they saw us go by all the time. It is a huge family and so tomorrow we are going by there to teach them the gospel so I hope it all goes well. Samuel Kadi is doing great he came to church and is continuing to want to know more yesterday for the conference he took notes and everything he is super powerful.

It was such a good week, Elder Shinga and I are continuing to work hard and we are seeing the fruits of our labor. More of the ward member missionaries are wanting to join us in the search for bringing people to Christ it feels as if we have brought a new excitement to the ward for missionary work.

I love it so much here in Uganda I know that the spirit is real and that it guides us in what we say and what we do I am so grateful for the gospel in my life and I’m glad I have this time to share it and I will always want to share this gospel because I know it will bring much joy into peoples lives. I know God lives and loves us and created us and that he sent his son Jesus Christ to Atone and die for us and I am so grateful for that. Many people here in Uganda recognize how much the Savior loves them these people truly do love Christ and I hope that they will accept the gospel into their lives. I know this is the true church on the face of the earth and that it was restored through a Prophet of God and that we once again have a living prophet on the earth that leads and guides us. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is true!

Thanks for all you have done I hope you have a great week and enjoy the pictures and the email. This week was a great week one that can't be truly described, but felt. I love you and miss you guys!

Love Elder Hildreth

Oct-23rd

Hey,
This week was a really great week and man time just flies it is once again the end of another transfer so we had Zone Leader Council again.This time guess what I have had the chance to have another companion that became an Assistant! Elder Omondi is awesome and he truly deserved it I saw it coming. This Thursday President came and told him he would become the new Assistant and I am super excited for him because I knew he would be a great one. Both Elder Flinder and Elder Omondi are the greatest they are so powerful and I was so privileged to work with them and learn from them. What a blessing it was I was so grateful to be with Elder Omondi the time I had he was a great missionary and a great leader. So now I am with Elder Chaparadza he is from Zimbabwe Harare and I am super excited to be with him he is going to be a great companion I can already tell so I am expecting a great transfer. Also two missionaries in our zone are training Elder Gilstrap in Njeru and Elder Nielson in Walukuba both of those Elders are great and they will get the work done that they need to so I am super excited to be with them! So this week we were able to find some new people and most came as referrals from Richard a member and they were some pretty great guys so I was super excited to find them one guys name is Patrick and he has a group of friends Meshack, Charles, Alfred, Isac, and a few others that are also interested in the gospel. Patrick was able to come to church this Sunday and I am sure he will progress very well so I am excited to work with them. The friends are also good, but we need to help them have a desire to come to church and gain the testimony of the true and living gospel. Also we were able to meet a guy named Richard who was super excited to learn about the gospel he is also a friend of Richard so he was very accepting of a baptismal date. So we are hoping these ones can progress and come unto Christ. We had a great last week as a zone and truly pushed ourselves so this next transfer will go great and I know that it will. So we will continue to find and bring families to Christ. The family of 20 we are still trying to get it so we can teach them all. I know that the Lord can help us find those who are ready. Also this week I had the chance of visiting a recent convert family if you remember the Kutyabami family John, Yecko, and leah I had the chance to see them and it was super awesome to see how they were doing and man they have progressed so much in the gospel and I was super excited for them! It is so great to see a family you taught progressing so much! So I was happy to see them and even other missionaries told me how the families I have taught are doing and most are doing great so I am so glad and happy to hear about that! It is such a blessing to know this wonderful gospel and share it with those who are in need! I know we need to show our loyalty to the Lord and as we do so we will be blessed and strengthened! I am so grateful for the gospel and I know I need to work harder and find all of the families that will progress toward Heavenly Fathers kingdom! Let us continue to share our testimonies and better yet let us Be our testimony. 
 Thanks you so much for the wonderful email I am always so grateful for them! I hope you have a Happy Anniversary I am so grateful and I hope it is a great great one I love you both and wish you the best!
love Elder Hildreth

Oct-15th

Hello,
It has been another great week we were able to have a great time in sharing the gospel with everyone that was around and also we were able to have a good baptism this Sunday his name is Enoch he speaks mainly Swahili so Elder Omondi was mainly able to teach him I was there teaching but he understood Swahili much more then English so I let that be in the hands of the Lord he is truly a humble guy and loves the gospel so much and I am grateful that he was sent to us. He is a bicycle bodda bodda guy and took a member to church and wanted to know what went on here and Sister Beatrice said to come and see for yourself so he came and he saw and he kept coming and eventually my companion and I were able to get teach him actually I didn't even notice until like the third week. Also we are teaching now an old man named John who everyone thought was a member, but apparently wasn't he always comes to church like always and we have finally taught him and he really doesn't know too much, but he is a great guy and he also doesn't know much English but it was a blessing to be able to meet him and see him.
Also Owen who we have been teaching finally decided to go away from his work because it was holding him back from coming to church so he gave up work to be able to come to church so hopefully he can find a new job very honest and sincere kid. Also Edgar is still doing great and Justine and Sandra, Francis is also doing well and Justin is kind of struggling but we will see what happens with time. Our other investigators we have Daniel who is Francis friend and I wish we would just be able to teach him, but he has no phone so it makes it somehow difficult. We met the other day a guy named Samuel he is a great guy referral from one of the Couple missionaries so we saw him and he has a big interest in the gospel so I am excited for him. As for Trevor and Agnes we will still wait tell the father is ready I have no idea when that will be. So things are still going great here in Jinja and I am grateful for the companion I have super strong and has a great attitude towards everything also the Zone is doing great the missionaries are really ready to push themselves this week and I know how great each of them are so I am excited so this week is the last week of the transfer and we will see what happens with the Zone.
This 6 weeks went by super fast it has been good and I am so grateful for the time I have had. So we were unable to see conference that will be not this week, but the next week so it will be awhile. I did yesterday however was able to see the priesthood session it went super well I loved it so much! So that went super nice I had a good week this last week and am looking forward to another great week! I hope everyone has a great week! I love you all and thanks so much for the email!
Love Elder Hildreth

October 1st

Hey Everyone,
So yeah it is a special experience to have been here when Rwanda opened and see the gospel go to them it will grow pretty big there I believe! Yeah how I feel about this age change is awesome I truly love it! For a few reasons we were talking to a member a returned missionary names James and we talked and he said it is super great! We were talking about how most of the time why people can't serve missions is because from 18 to 19 is when there isn't much going on and that is when someone will more then likely mess up. So when it is put at 18 they skip that stage of doing those things and they can grow from boys to men much easier. So I was super excited and I know that the Lord is needing more forces to share this gospel so it can go to all of the world. Some big things are happening that is fore sure! So for me I am doing great here in Uganda and I am healthy and strong and ready to go as always! The people we are teaching are doing great they love the gospel and have a strong desire to follow Christ. So as for Trevor and his sister Agnes they will still have to wait. The Dad is never around like he is always gone from morning to night even the wife and I feel for the kids not having a strong support basically it has been us the missionaries and that is just sad for me to see. We talked with him the other day and there are some let me say the puzzle is being put together. So we will see what happens. We have a old man that always comes to church and he wasn't able to come yesterday, but he always comes and I thought he was a member. The Branch President checked and told us that he is not a member and that we need to teach him and get him baptized. So we will get that done now. Also we have two guys Enoch and Simwa or something like that have been coming for the past five weeks so we are hoping that they will be ready for this upcoming week. Also Owen and Lucus are being prepared for not this week but the next week they are doing great. So yesterday we had an awesome day we decided to knock these few doors the first one was a no go, but the second one was so awesome! We met a family of 20!! One man one wife it was so awesome actually we only met 9 of them and the others not yet because they are now in Kampala so that was an exciting experience yesterday! It was a very spiritual first meeting too so it all tied in well no we didn't commit them to baptism but they seem so excited and I am excited for them also it will be awesome to teach them. That is a new family we are teaching and we are striving to find and teach one family a week so we are committed to do that to find and bring families to the church. Also Francis friend Daniel came to church again which was great and he is super excited to be a part of the church. We just haven't had the chance to meet with him because he has been busy so this week I believe we will get the chance. The Zone is doing great I love each one of them they are great and have great work ethics and I am excited for each one of them these coming weeks. They are continuing to work hard and bring souls unto Christ so I have been blessed to see great workers in each and every single one of them. The members are also doing well just one thing we are hoping to strengthen is getting families to come together there are some families where one week the wife will come the other the husband and we just need the families to come together and most of the time its husbands coming without wives so we are really hoping to strengthen each of the families. Also we put in a new Home teaching list and we are going to be helping them in all they do to try to build the home teaching because I know if our home teaching gets going that the church will really grow here in Jinja. So the Branch is awesome and doing well they still are excited to help the missionaries in all things! So it is great and I am loving it here so much! Well its been an awesome week we went on splits with Walukuba and that was fun Elder Moll is awesome he is from South Africa and is a great worker almost done with mission, but still pushing himself and also Elder Nielson from Utah he is doing great and a fun guy. Next week is with the Elders from Njeru Elder Call Elder Gilstrap, Elder Baloyi and Elder Chola all of them are so awesome and I hope to get to know them better! Well its been another great week and I am excited for this upcoming week and I hope to continue to work hard! I know going on mission is such a great blessing in my life! If I hadn't of gone I would have never of seen the lives of people change and see the spirit working in their lives and the happiness that they have received if I had not of come they may not have received it or I wouldn't have been able to see that persons life change and in me become changed in a certain way I know the Lord puts certain people in your life to build you and strengthen you. I am so blessed to have been able to come I have learned so much and grow in the gospel and be strengthened by companions, missionaries, member, recent converts, and even investigators all these things would have been lost if I had not come. This is just a short time in my life and I know that I will be back home someday and I guess the same is true for Heavenly Fathers plan for us that this time on earth is a short time and he has a home prepared for us if we but do what is right on this earth life and enjoy living the gospel. There is so much joy in living the Lords way and just being happy!
  I am glad everyone is doing well I love you all so much and I hope everyone continues to do great! Love you have a great week!
Love Elder Hildreth