Two emails

(No Subject)‏
From: Zachary Hill (zrhill@myldsmail.net)
Sent: Thu 7/30/09 7:33 AM
To: wodenowl@hotmail.com

hey dad
how's it going? how's the language you are developing coming? sorry i couldnt help you out with that more before i left. i just wanted to send you a letter to tell you that things are going well here and to thank you for the sweet package. the contents were delicious. what jared said was true tho. im 167 lbs now. i weighed like just under 160 when i weighed myself at brits house. life at the mtc is great. it's going really fast. today is preparation day, which is the best day. we get to go to the temple and all that and it's pretty sweet. also, gym is pretty sweet. the referral center is so much more intense now because instead of just asking if people received their items we have to teach them principles as much as we can and we have to try to teach them according to their needs. gotta go love elder hill



FW: ‏
From: Janice Hill (quiltingqueen57@hotmail.com)
Sent: Thu 7/30/09 8:45 AM
To: Spence Hill (wodenowl@hotmail.com)


> Subject:
> From: zrhill@myldsmail.net
> To: quiltingqueen57@hotmail.com
> Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2009 14:27:42 +0000
>
> hey ma! it's been pretty darn sweet out here lately. it's hilarious about your situation with the humming birds. i dont know why we didnt think to just set your camera up in the first place. im sure you can tell jake to come over and take care of the other big birds that try to drink out of the humming bird feeder. he's pretty good at that i hear. so how's life for you? is it pretty sweet having nyssa back? what is nyss gonna do while you are in kentucky? oh also, i dont remeber seeing a model car. i didnt really throw much away, because dad told me to keep it and decide what to do with my stuff after i get back. but yeah, the language is still going pretty well. we've been teaching our progressing investigator all in indonesian, and its pretty intense. but its awesome because when the investigator asks questions, it really tests my ability to speak. it's crazy how much i feel i can speak after four weeks. i feel like i can understand the teachers pretty well, but sometimes they speak really fast and it gets all crazy. we have a teacher who is from indonesia, so it's pretty cool to hear him speak. he tells us people speak fairly fast over there, so it's gonna be a little tough. also, he said malay and indonesian are 75% the same, so it shouldnt be too bad. but the funniest thing is that my teachers tell me indonesians and malasians are really gullible. my teacher that went to indonesia for his mission told us he used to tell people that he was from indonesia and that the reason he was so white was that he lived in a mountain that always had clouds, so he never got sunlight and he said they believed him. so i think it should be pretty fun. anyways, i should probably get my laundry back to the room. ill get you a letter out with some pics later on today to tell you of my crazy antics.
> love ya mom.
>
> elder hill
>

interesting tid bit

I thought you might want to see where the following products came from. We bought a pair of ink cartridges for the printer and look at the country of origin.

july 25th, 2009

Another letter from Zac. It looks like foursquare is out!

Zac gets another care package

DearElder.com Receipt
Dearelder.com Package Purchase Receipt

Package ID: 153904

Date: July 24, 2009 1:16 pm
Name: Spence Hill
Phone: xxx-xxx-xxxx

Order:

NEW! Craver's Chocolate Chip Cookies


Kits

* 1 Spice of Life

Missionary Address:

Zac Hill
Provo MTC
87-0831
Singapore
8/31

Sender Address:

Spence Hill
2525 Calico st
Las Vegas NV 89108

Price of Package and added Kits: $32.98
Shipping & Handling: $2.00
Insurance: $0.00
Tax: $0.00
Total Charge To Credit Card: $34.98


Thank you for supporting DearElder.com
If you have any questions, please contact us.

Another letter to his Mum, July 23,09

FW: ‏
From: Janice Hill (quiltingqueen57@hotmail.com)
Sent: Thu 7/23/09 12:11 PM
To: Spence Hill (wodenowl@hotmail.com)


> Subject:
> From: zrhill@myldsmail.net
> To: quiltingqueen57@hotmail.com
> Date: Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:26:39 +0000
>
> hey ma! how are you enjoyin things? haha taylins farewell talk was 5 min?? lame. mine was short too tho. it's crazy that he has less than a week til he gets here. i feel like ive been out for a while haha. but i still dont know much. this couple asked me and my companion where a building was, and we totally didnt know. unfortunately for us, it happened to be the building we were standing right next to. it was pretty ridiculous. but i feel like the language is goin pretty well. its weird, there are only two of us that try to speak. my companion is struggling, and so are a few other elders in my district. it's kind of weird that they just dont get it. i guess im lucky for having taken a language before the mission, so i kind of know how to learn a language. i see a lot of the other elders dont have very good study habits. so are you gonna make dad speak for an update on me if the bishop asks, or are you gonna do it? it's not really like there's anything to update on yet. it kind of feels like every day is the same here now. but the days are flying by. it's like every time i turn around it's preparation day again. preparation day is the best day of the week. it's pretty tough to study all day every day. ive started to get some back pain again so it's kinda not cool. i bought some alieve, i dont know if that's the stuff that you gave me. is alieve an anti inflamatory? i cant figure out how to tell. but anyways, ill get a letter off to you telling about my latest adventures later on today.
>
> love, elder Hill
>

letter from Zac, 20th of July

Finally a picture!

We got a letter from Zac and a PICTURE!! it's nice to see that he's actually alive:

A letter to Zac's mom

Subject: .
> From: zrhill@myldsmail.net
> To: quiltingqueen57@hotmail.com
> Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:32:04 +0000
>
> hey ma! how's it goin! sorry i dont write that much. we can only write/ email once a week, so it's pretty non cool. anyways, everythings great up here. the time is flyin by pretty fast. i cant really keep track of what day it is very well. so how are things at home? is dad treatin you all right? haha. i dont remember if i already told you but i totally got to see the fireworks from the stadium of fire. but it was kinda late and i was really tired. plus it was kinda lame because the fireworks lasted like 10 min. and we got sprinkled on. it was crazy it rained like every day of my first week! i feel kind of like im getting a decent handle on the language tho. most of the guys in my district are pretty crappy at it, but there's this other kid who's pretty good so ive been trying to talk to him so we can get better. today while i was standing in line for breakfast i totally met this elder who was from malaysia so it was pretty cool. i talked to him for a little bit, but he had a pretty thick accent so i couldnt understand much of what he said. he told me that the work is going pretty well in malaysia, so it's pretty exciting!
>
> anyways, ill write you a snail mail letter today and fill you in on the rest of my crazy activities.
> love, elder hill

another letter -- 11 july 09

I got a new letter from Zac. I think he needs your care packages!

letter #2 July 9th, 2009

This is the first email from Zac. Notice the address and send him letters if you want. But I suggest you send your letters to dearelder.com while he's in the MTC. That way he can read your letter while he eats and not during the short (1/2 hour) period he gets to email only once a week. And he'll be able to spend the whole 1/2 hour to write you.


hey it's Elder Hill!‏

From:	Zachary Hill (zrhill@myldsmail.net)
	You may not know this sender.Mark as safe|Mark as junk
Sent:	Thu 7/09/09 6:49 AM
To:	wodenowl@hotmail.com

Hey dad

it's my preparation day so i get a chance to email you today. things have been
going prety well here. how have things been at home?

i dont know if i already told you, but my companion's name is Elder Larsen.
he's pretty cool i guess. it turns out he's from brigham city, utah, so i guess
i did get stuck with a kid from a small town. in fact, i think there are only
2 or 3 of us in my district who aren't from utah. it's crazy. my district is
pretty cool tho. there are 11 of us, which i hear is pretty big for a district.
all of us are going to singapore so it's pretty exciting. there is also another
district of indonesian speakers in our branch. 5 of them are going to indonesia
and the rest are going to singapore. i hear the work is starting to boom
in malaysia.

there's a group of malagasy speaking missionaries in our branch, but they
leave on monday and i hear yesterday in the new group of missionaries we
got a new district of missionaries going to mongolia.

the first half of a week seemed to go by pretty slow, but now that we are
into our regular schedule things are going by pretty fast. the language
classes are pretty awesome. it's exciting to finally be able to say more
than "there is a little boy on top of an air plane." i feel like i'm progressing
well, but it's hard to find time to study. it's pretty busy here and we're also
working on learning the discussions. we got to teach the first discussion to
people in our disctrict, and yesterday we went to a teaching evaluation where
we teach people who are role playing as investigators. that was pretty awesome.
both my companion and i froze once during the lesson, but the other companion
was able to come in and take over. it was a little rocky at first, but got
easier towards the end. when we were done, they gave us some advice and
told us how to make our lessons more effective. we also got to go to the
referral center where we called people who had ordered materials from the
church to see if they received it. that was pretty nerve racking at first
but while i got into it, it wasn't so bad. pretty much everyone in my district
was really nervous before we started.

so i can get pretty much everything i need from the book store they have here,
which is pretty sweet because i totally forgot to bring pens and paper.
and hangers. my clothes have been pretty wrinkly lately. they have an iron for us,
but it's a little outdated. it does all right, but i can't get all the
wrinkles out. and one of the shirts i brought is pretty much a tent on me.
it's ridiculous how big it is. i dont know how that happened but it was
pretty hilarious when i put it on. i guess that's what i get for not tryng
on all my shirts before i left.

well my time is pretty much up for today. i totally forgot to bring the letter
where nyssa told me the email addresses to the computer room and yours is the
only i remember, so make sure mom gets to read this. haha. anyways, i love you
all and i'll probably get a letter sent out some time later today.

Love, Elder Hill

first letter from Zac

We got a letter today from Zac. It seems he's really busy!

receipt for care package

DearElder.com Receipt

Dearelder.com Package Purchase Receipt


Date: July 4, 2009 4:19 pm
Name: Spence Hill
Phone: XXX-XXX-XXXX

Order:
Swine Flu Lockdown Package
50% Chocolate Chip
50% M&M


Missionary Address:

Zac Hill
Provo MTC
87-0831
Singapore
aug 09

Arrival at the MTC

"I'm ready," he said. "It's time to go, Right?" We had said our goodbyes and hugged our last hugs and got into the car. We really did have a bit more time than we needed so I instructed Zac to drive to Carterville road. Grandpa Joe's mother was a Carter and they were one of the first families in Provo. They settled the Provo river bottoms, so I pointed out the houses in that area that I had lived in and who lived where, then we drove to the MTC.



We were directed to park by the number 10 down the driveway. Zac took out his suitcases and we were met by three missionaries with the word "Host" on a label on their chests. One took his suitcases and the other two took our cameras. We had grandma's camera with us.



As soon as this picture was taken, two of the Hosts took Zac and left us alone on the sidewalk; that was FAST!

2 hours and counting . . .

Zac is packing his things, getting them all ready for his Awesome Adventure. Look how nervous he is! "Do I have all my clothing? do I have my toothbrush? All my toiletries? Am I really doing this?"



We all went to Grandma Naida's apartment to visit with her and to all say goodbye to Zac. Grandma was looking healthier than I had seen her in years! She was so happy to have another grandson go on a mission and serve the Lord. Look at how happy everyone is! Look at his beaming mother! Why am I scowling then?



OK, Elder. Let's take you to your new life!

Dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Hill

We visited Grandma and Grandpa Hill in Sandy, Utah and were invited to dinner, at this fine Italian Restaurant. Dang good food if you ask me. Notice Zac indicating that the shutter wasn't quite opened in the first picture and notice that I am in the second. A very nice man took the picture for us and those in the lobby behind us were polite enough to wait for our picture session to end.

We went back to Grandpa's place and had a good conversation with my brother John and his wife. I am very happy with him.

Visiting Jared's family

We drove from Duchene to Eagle Mountain to visit Zac's oldest brother, Jared and his family. We drove into the parking lot and were visited by Makkenna, my first grandchild. She is such a sweetie. She took us up and made us feel welcomed. She got a new dog while we were there so we were entertained by the dominance displays of the cats and this little Chihuahua.


Jared served a mission eight years prior to this post and was a very effective and excelent missionary. He gave Zac, and us, an hour's lecture, but because of he interruptions of the others in the room (me and Amber) it took much longer. From that afternoon to later after the next post. Jared assisted me in giving Zac a father's blessing. Then we continued with Jared's lecture. What great advice he gave his little brother. And what sweet spirit was brought by Amber. We played Yoda for the rest of the evening.



My Nephew Scott was excited to hear his cousin, Zac, was headed for a life changing experience. He came to visit and they decided to continue to visit Jared now that they knew how close they lived! Cute wife and cute babie! I was happy to meet them after reading their blog.

trip to Duchene

The last night of our stay in Denver, Zac slept on the floor of our hotel room so we could leave more quickly for Duchene, Utah, the home of my stepfather that Zac hadn't seen in years. On the way, Zac was fascinated by the massive amounts of water, rivers and streams. Being from the desert, he could scarcely believe how much water there was. And the wildlife! We counted deer, squirels and birds. We almost hit one deer! But finally, we made it to Grandpa Joe's.



Grandpa Joe, Me, Mom, Zac and Grandma Marelda.

Playing with Erin

Uncle Zac was a big hit with Erin. She learned to go down the slide for the first time when her mom practically forced her down. She screamed for the first two and a half inches then cried weeeeee! the rest of the way. She insisted that her mom take her time after time, but mom was tired, so grandpa took her once. But, ZAC! our hero! took her as often as she wanted.

Blessing Patrick

While we were in Denver visiting Brittanie and Matt, we went to a friend of Matt's to bless Patrick who is now 4 months old. From Left to Right: Patrick's grandfather (Pat Cannady), Zac, Me, Matt (holding Patrick) James Canady (Patrick's uncle), a friend of Matt's who was the son-in-law of the owner of the house and a member of the patrick's bishopric.



These are all of the members of Matt and Brittanie's families. Notice that the Hill's are in front; we are much shorter than the Cannadys.