Yah' te' ee'!
Hey everyone! So I've been on my mission for a week! I'm on Fort Defiance, Arizona, and its in the Navajo Nation. IT IS LITERALLY A DIFFERENT COUNTRY HERE. I'm learning a lot of Navajo too!! The poverty is shocking, and I've been so humbled to be here.
Oct 8, 2013
First official day! I was assigned to Elder Lloyd and we drove from Farmington for 3 hours to Fort Defiance! I am on the Rez! The Navajo people are so friendly, and I already feel a love for them. We dropped off my luggage at the small mobile home behind the church where I'll live. Then we went over for a dinner appointment at the Tullies! We gave grandma Tullie a blessing of comfort, and their daughter a blessing of healing. Brother Tullie gave the blessing to his mom, speaking half of the words in Navajo, and even though I couldn't fully understand it, I could feel God's love for the woman, the spirit was so strong. They fed us Navajo-style hash and tortillas, it was delicious! My first Rez meal! Sister Tullie tried to trick me into eating a SUPER spicy pepper. Elder Lloyd ate it and his eyes watered up and his forehead started to sweat haha. Next we went to the bennet home. Sister bennet is a ward missionary. I found out that brother and sister bennet had lost their missionary son to a heart attack only 2 months before. Their son, Thomas' death caused his inactive sister Shelly to take a new interest in the family and in God and church. I want to reach out to her! Seeing the Bennet's small trailer and their situation, coupled with their humility and faith was amazing. I am truly humbled today. We went on to teach a few lessons that day, and I am so overwhelmed and humbled.
Oct 9, 2013
First time tracting. We went door to door between trailer homes, and the condition of the homes was HORRIBLE. Cardboard-covered warped windows, shattered glass and old garbage lay everywhere. I was pretty nervous. Every house had an attack dog chained up outside. Rottweiler central. At the same time I wasn't too nervous because I said a prayer asking for courage to talk to people. I knew the Lord was behind me and that he was protecting me. Elder Lloyd had already been bit and sent to the hospital before I transferred in. We met Priscilla, an old retired Navajo, and she told us we could come by some time! Later that day, we went to do service on a roof. There was a storm predicted so we went to help out. This Navajo family doesn't even have a roof! The dad is too lazy to help, and the 23 year old son is an alcoholic and doesn't help either. It was difficult working on this roof for them for hours, especially when the daughter walked by and we said hi and she looked the other way, ignoring us. Haha, and mom, if you knew how dangerous that roof was, with the thin boards and SUPER windy storm that literally almost knocked us off several times, you would kill me :)
But it ended up being a good day. We met a woman named Georgina and are now teaching her :)
Oct 10, 2013
I love the Navajo people more and more!!
Today we went by Shelly and Lawrences trailer and caught them at home. Shelly is interested in God, and Lawrence does too, they both need a lot of help getting jobs and starting off their family. Their little girl is so cute! The navajo babies have the HUGEST brown eyes. At the end of our lesson, Lawrence prayed for us, and he thanked God for sending us.
After that, we went to visit Cindy. She was very sick, and asked if we could come back later. She was a contact, and I wanted to meet her, so instead of letting her close the door, I introduced myself and told her I was so excited to meet her. She paused for a moment, then invited us in. We talked with her for a while. She is a Catholic and prays daily. She has Shingles, and has been very sick.
She broke down and started crying, telling us that she prays and prays, but she wants to know for sure that God is there for her. She feels something missing. I asked her if she wanted to come to church with us, she said yes! I told her God loves her and will care for her. We asked to give her a priesthood blessing of healing, and she said yes. I explained to her what priesthood was. Through her faith in Jesus Christ, she could be healed. We gave her the blessing. As the words were spoken, I watched her hold her poor wrinkled hands out in front of her, in a humble, plea to God. Her palms faced upwards, and her bony fingers trembled. I could feel her earnest hope. I could feel God's love for her too. The blessing promised she would be haled. Her faith would make her whole. I begged God to heal her and comfort her, and bless her. At the end of the blessing she closed her eyes and made a relgious gesture. It was so touching. (We met with her since, and she is feeling SO much better! She is now reading the Book of Mormon and is coming to church with us!)
I don't have time to write anymore, but moral of the story: GOD IS GOOD. There are so many people here who need His love, and I hope I can share it as much as possible.
Besides the 3 other missionaries here, I am the only white person. I have seen men addicted to alcohol, a woman beat by her husband, with her hair torn out, attack dogs in the streets fighting,
true poverty, abuse, and so much more. Please keep the Navajo people in your prayers.
Please write me letters, I need to hear from you all!
Hey everyone! So I've been on my mission for a week! I'm on Fort Defiance, Arizona, and its in the Navajo Nation. IT IS LITERALLY A DIFFERENT COUNTRY HERE. I'm learning a lot of Navajo too!! The poverty is shocking, and I've been so humbled to be here.
Oct 8, 2013
First official day! I was assigned to Elder Lloyd and we drove from Farmington for 3 hours to Fort Defiance! I am on the Rez! The Navajo people are so friendly, and I already feel a love for them. We dropped off my luggage at the small mobile home behind the church where I'll live. Then we went over for a dinner appointment at the Tullies! We gave grandma Tullie a blessing of comfort, and their daughter a blessing of healing. Brother Tullie gave the blessing to his mom, speaking half of the words in Navajo, and even though I couldn't fully understand it, I could feel God's love for the woman, the spirit was so strong. They fed us Navajo-style hash and tortillas, it was delicious! My first Rez meal! Sister Tullie tried to trick me into eating a SUPER spicy pepper. Elder Lloyd ate it and his eyes watered up and his forehead started to sweat haha. Next we went to the bennet home. Sister bennet is a ward missionary. I found out that brother and sister bennet had lost their missionary son to a heart attack only 2 months before. Their son, Thomas' death caused his inactive sister Shelly to take a new interest in the family and in God and church. I want to reach out to her! Seeing the Bennet's small trailer and their situation, coupled with their humility and faith was amazing. I am truly humbled today. We went on to teach a few lessons that day, and I am so overwhelmed and humbled.
Oct 9, 2013
First time tracting. We went door to door between trailer homes, and the condition of the homes was HORRIBLE. Cardboard-covered warped windows, shattered glass and old garbage lay everywhere. I was pretty nervous. Every house had an attack dog chained up outside. Rottweiler central. At the same time I wasn't too nervous because I said a prayer asking for courage to talk to people. I knew the Lord was behind me and that he was protecting me. Elder Lloyd had already been bit and sent to the hospital before I transferred in. We met Priscilla, an old retired Navajo, and she told us we could come by some time! Later that day, we went to do service on a roof. There was a storm predicted so we went to help out. This Navajo family doesn't even have a roof! The dad is too lazy to help, and the 23 year old son is an alcoholic and doesn't help either. It was difficult working on this roof for them for hours, especially when the daughter walked by and we said hi and she looked the other way, ignoring us. Haha, and mom, if you knew how dangerous that roof was, with the thin boards and SUPER windy storm that literally almost knocked us off several times, you would kill me :)
But it ended up being a good day. We met a woman named Georgina and are now teaching her :)
Oct 10, 2013
I love the Navajo people more and more!!
Today we went by Shelly and Lawrences trailer and caught them at home. Shelly is interested in God, and Lawrence does too, they both need a lot of help getting jobs and starting off their family. Their little girl is so cute! The navajo babies have the HUGEST brown eyes. At the end of our lesson, Lawrence prayed for us, and he thanked God for sending us.
After that, we went to visit Cindy. She was very sick, and asked if we could come back later. She was a contact, and I wanted to meet her, so instead of letting her close the door, I introduced myself and told her I was so excited to meet her. She paused for a moment, then invited us in. We talked with her for a while. She is a Catholic and prays daily. She has Shingles, and has been very sick.
She broke down and started crying, telling us that she prays and prays, but she wants to know for sure that God is there for her. She feels something missing. I asked her if she wanted to come to church with us, she said yes! I told her God loves her and will care for her. We asked to give her a priesthood blessing of healing, and she said yes. I explained to her what priesthood was. Through her faith in Jesus Christ, she could be healed. We gave her the blessing. As the words were spoken, I watched her hold her poor wrinkled hands out in front of her, in a humble, plea to God. Her palms faced upwards, and her bony fingers trembled. I could feel her earnest hope. I could feel God's love for her too. The blessing promised she would be haled. Her faith would make her whole. I begged God to heal her and comfort her, and bless her. At the end of the blessing she closed her eyes and made a relgious gesture. It was so touching. (We met with her since, and she is feeling SO much better! She is now reading the Book of Mormon and is coming to church with us!)
I don't have time to write anymore, but moral of the story: GOD IS GOOD. There are so many people here who need His love, and I hope I can share it as much as possible.
Besides the 3 other missionaries here, I am the only white person. I have seen men addicted to alcohol, a woman beat by her husband, with her hair torn out, attack dogs in the streets fighting,
true poverty, abuse, and so much more. Please keep the Navajo people in your prayers.
Please write me letters, I need to hear from you all!
Elder Davis Hilton
400 WEST APACHE STREET
FARMINGTON NEW MEXICO 87401
FARMINGTON NEW MEXICO 87401
(I apologize right now for taking so long to get back to you all, the mail is slower on the Rez, and I missed my last P-day because I was travelling. But PLEASE write me!)
Family: I miss you SO MUCH! I want a hug from each of you.
Everyone: DON'T TAKE ANYTHING FOR GRANTED. IN THE US, WE HAVE SO MUCH AND ARE SO LUCKY I CANT EMPHASIZE THIS OVER AN EMAIL PRETEND I AM YELLING THIS RIGHT NOW. YOU ARE SO FREAKING LUCKY TO LIVE WHERE YOU DO WITH THE CONDITIONS YOU HAVE. SO DON'T TAKE IT FOR GRANTED!!!!
God bless you all,
Spread Christ's light this week.
-Elder Hilton
even though everything seems dead here, once you get used to
it, the landscapes with the mesas and HUGE clear fields and skies are
incredible. I love the red rock too.
here is me with our
investigator Earl. He is SO awesome. He yells "yah' te' ee'
ga'malii!!"
whenever he sees us. it means, IT IS GOOD, MISSIONARIES!! And he runs over with his hands up yelling yah' te' ee'!!! over and over, and he is so energetic. I wish you could meet him!! hahahaa
whenever he sees us. it means, IT IS GOOD, MISSIONARIES!! And he runs over with his hands up yelling yah' te' ee'!!! over and over, and he is so energetic. I wish you could meet him!! hahahaa
This is me and our investigator Odessa. She's 24! She is so
sweet and she makes her living by selling cupcakes on her bike! We have a
baptism date with her. She has a bunch of tiny cats that are awesome.
the sunsets here are
the BEST, and at night you can see the stars better than anywhere. I've
literally never seen them clearer
This is me and my companion Elder Lloyd (the shorter one)
and the two sisters and two elders in our DIstrict. We are eating at Brother
White's house (he's a recovering alcoholic)
We opened the door and he held out a sign that said
Love your Companion?
Make them fry bread then.
So we all made frybread for each other, haha its a navajo bread and it's
pretty good!
We put bacon and hash and eggs on it, kind of like a tortilla breakfast deal.
No comments:
Post a Comment