Elder Davis Hilton, Farmington, NM: Make every day a walk with Christ!

Ya'at'eeh!

How are all of you! Haven't heard from everyone all week!
This week was great! We dropped all our non progressing investigators and less-actives, and really focused on helping the people who we can honestly help progress. So we have seen a lot of awesome growth with our families we teach. It has been really rewarding!

Christmas is coming! I am sending a lot of you letters and presents so watch out for that!

The reservation is crazy! So many insane stories this week that I don't know what to share!

Hashke gets baptized this Saturday! And we have Dennis on date for 5 weeks away, which is awesome because we have been teaching him since I got into Fort. The family I am most excited about is Brians family. Last night we went over to share dinner with them for Audrey's 18th birthday. She got us souvenirs from Las Vegas where she had been with family last week, and told us she felt bad because all of the things she wanted to get us, her mom told her they were "inappropriate", which was hilarious! So we all gathered together in their living room, and sat Indian style (no pun intended) on their woven rug, and ate Navajo Tacos, which are fry bread with chili and condiments on top. Its SUPER good, but your stomach will complain afterwards. Then we shared stories with each other and joked around a lot! I shared the story of one of my ancestors who was captured by Natives and had to run away during the night and hide inside a log. She eventually began to starve and had to eat a rabbit raw, until she could escape back to the pioneer trail, and make it home, only to find her husband had remarried. Haha thanks for telling me that story, Grandma! They got a kick out of it. Arlinda (the mom) told us all about the oppression of the Navajos growing up. How they were put into boarding schools, whipped, and told never to speak in their native tongue. When they did, they were told they were bad, and washed their mouth with soap. I couldn't believe some of the stories she told us!

After dinner, Audrey's parents turned out the lights and lit her birthday candles, then sang her a traditional Navajo song. The words were new, but the meaning translated to something along the lines of "God be with you, as you grow and become older". He sang in loud tones while he shook a traditional native shaker with feathers and beads on it. Wish you guys coulda heard it!! Then at the end, Brian gave her a feather stick to bless herself, and then she blew out the candles and we feasted on cake!

Arlinda has been practicing some Navajo with us!
"Shi ei Elder Hilton yinishye!
Dine Bizaad bihoosh'aah, doo dine bizaad shil ya'at'eeh, ndi ei nanthl'eh.

"I am Elder Hilton! I am learning Navajo, and I like it, but it is hard!"

Well, not too much more to share from this week. But I really did have a hard time being discouraged. I think I started to fall into the trap of going through the motions, and not making every action meaningful. It's easy to do good things every day, because that is the point of a mission, but it is a constant struggle to make every day a walk with Christ. So that is what I had to remind myself in the middle of the week. I read my farewell talk, and some of the letters and notes from friends and family, and was really reminded of why I am out here. The work is so worth it, and I love the people. But I needed that reminder to make every note count.

So that is my challenge this week!
Start over with God, tell Him that this day is for Him!
Try living one day with Christ by your side, and see how it goes!
Give everything to Him, and acknowledge Him in every moment with you.
Try it! :)

Love you all, have an amazing week.
Diyin nihil holo doo.
Hagoone :)

Elder Hilton