December 8, 2025

 Howdy peeps!! Hope your week went well and full of Christmas stuff. Go enjoy it for me😢. I don't see any of it, there's only one store that has lights and a lot of toys but it's tiny. But hey, we take what we get. Especially since we've been bringing our own Christmas spirit through song. I've sung so much Christmas carols from the hymn book, and its great. The titles story comes from when we had a zone leader in a Baka (African bus) one the way back to our area. We three Americans in the bus (out of 4) were singing Christmas carols the whole way back. It was so hype. I loved it. 


Ok some fun stuff from 4 days ago
- we're currently cleaning a lot of our apartment which is amazing because it's super easy to get dirty with 4 elders.
- the Baka Christmas ride was another top
- just being with people to talk to, it's been really nice to talk to people during this last week. 

Spiritual thought: I hope to just testify today. I want to kind of restate what Elder Lorenzon said in his email (shout-out). I hope that during this season of Christmas, we can be grateful for tge things that we do have. Here, it's really easy for kids and just people to be unhappy with things they don't have. And yet, they're some of the happiest people I've ever seen, and they don't care about what other people think. The culture here is different to say the least. Like some kids will take the biggest hit from their momma and be running and giggling in less than 10 minutes. 

Gratitude is a christ-like attribute. Who did Jesus ALWAYS thank? His father in heaven. I've definitely seen it in my life, that a good attitude ALWAYS beats one that is self absolve. I've created a phrase that I think I'll be telling my kids when they are growing up. And if goes like this:

If you can't explain to me why you are angry without using "I" or "Me", then I'll agree that you're not being selfish. Because being ungrateful is selfish and self absolved. Jesus ALWAYS turned outward during moments of hardship instead of turning to himself and every injustice he faced. I love this gospel because it gives us the eyes to see the beauty of what happens when we serve others, even in the hardest of times. 

I always here that e receive blessing from that to, but I think that the best blessing that comes from service and gratitude is a half mind. So... CHOOSE to care less about yourself when you feel like you're victim of injustice and turn to the service of others and I PROMISE that you can be happy ðŸ˜Š that's my testimony about gratitude. I know that this christ-like attribute leads many people to their true selves and beings not to not only them, but others as well. 

I love you guys, go enjoy Christmas for me (especially if you've got snow too enjoy it with). As always, please feel free to write to me, I always will love to see your emails. See ya later and have a Merry Christmas
- Elder Hill ðŸ‡¨ðŸ‡® 

It's beginning to [feel] a lot like Christmas

But not look like it (pretty lake though)

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