The Bro

It's the little things that brighten my day.
I messaged with the Bro today. He is coming home from an LDS mission in less than 3 weeks.
It was such a surprise and little pick-me-up to have a short conversation with him.
I sure love that kid.
20 days and counting.

Happy Birthday, Jake!

Happy Birthday, brother!

 It's brother Jake's birthday today.

He is currently finishing up an LDS mission in the Chile.

He will be home in 59 days, roughly 8 and a half weeks.

I seriously cannot wait.

For those of you that have had siblings leave on missions, I'm sure you know how exciting this is.

I'd like to just share a few things that I love about him:

He has always been an example to me. In every way.

His love for the Lord is so powerful, that he was willing to leave his family to serve Him.

He is amazing with computers. No lie.

He is a great member of the LDS Faith, even before he chose to serve a mission. He has always taken his callings, church meetings, etc. very seriously.

He is a celebrity with all the old people in my ward. This is no joke. They all love him. Jake is amazing with elderly people and is constantly visiting them, serving them or just talking to them at church.

He has a way of being strong when it seems impossible.

He gives great advice, even though he is more than 5,750 miles away from me.

He reminds me of my dad, which is a huge honor. He is loyal, service oriented, kind and loving.

He is my brother. :)

happy 19 months, jake!

happy 19 months, jake :)

in honor of that, i want to post his last letter.

i don't usually post his letters on my blog, but it's probably his most powerful letter yet.

enjoy.

Hey Family!!

Manuel was baptized last Saturday. We ended up filling the font a little low because we thought that because of his weight the water would rise.. It was exactally the opposite, the water didn´t rise. We turned the hot water knob on in the baptisimal font hoping that it would fill up rapidly. Manuel weighs a little under 400 lbs, so we put two chairs for him to sit on. It ended up that about half of his body was out of the water, so we resorted to the ¨Sunbeam Chairs¨, the chairs that the sumbeamers use. This made life easier, the first time he was baptized his leg was sticking out, we had to have him cross his legs the second time.. and after the second time he was completely submurged. He recieved the Holy Ghost yesterday in Sacrament meeting, after the branch president confirmed him as member of the church .. we shook his hands and he was crying because he knew for sure that he was in the right place and he made the right decision.

It´s such a ¨Pay Day¨ seeing someone make a covenant with God, seeing someone recieve the Holy Ghost. God has people prepared for each missionary, our job is to find them.

This week I´ve read Acts chapter 5 quite a few times. The following below is a story.

 1  But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, ^asold a possession,

 2   And ^akept back ^bpart of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain ^cpart, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

 3   But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to ^alie to the Holy Ghost, and to ^bkeep back part of the price of the land?

 4   Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not ^alied unto men, but unto ^bGod.

 5   And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and ^agave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.

 6   And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him.

 7   And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in.

 8   And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much.

 9   Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to ^atempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out.

 10   Then fell she down ^astraightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband.

In this story we learned that the portion that Ananias and Sapphira payed wasn´t sufficent. In this case they were talking about Tithing, or a Offering. We can apply this also to ourselves and to the church.. Are we really giving the ammount of time, and the ammount of service that god expects from us in our callings? Are we really paying 10% of all of our income?  As a missionary this applies to us also, are we really putting in the effort that God expects from us, or are we putting in less that God expects from us?

God’s vision of missionary work has been shared with his prophets. They see the same opportunity that He does.

President Spencer W. Kimball once said, “If you could only see the vision I have. I wish I had your bodies to do this work. I would run from house to house telling everyone of the gospel, and after I lost strength to run I would begin to walk, and after I collapsed from walking, I would begin to crawl, and after my knees were so bloody that I could not use them I would use my arms to drag myself, and once my muscle in my body was gone I would begin to yell…oh, only if you could see the vision as I have.”

We need to also apply this to us as members of the church. Are we really doing all that we can so that everyone can have the blessings of the restored gospel in their lives? Are we really preaching and standing as a witness of the restored church in all times and all places? God only expects the best out of us, the best effort and the best enthusiam in doing his work.

 Missionary Work changes lives. We don´t need to have a Plack to be a ¨Missionary¨. The Lord’s plan of happiness is purposely designed to give each recipient greater peace, direction, and purpose in life.

“The gospel of Jesus Christ as restored through the prophet Joseph Smith will bless your family, fulfill your deepest desires and meet your spiritual needs,” Preach My Gospel. This promise is certainly true for all investigators. But it is equally true for all who get involved in missionary work.

“We care because the Lord, who knows the source of all happiness, has asked us to do [missionary work] and has assured us blessings and happiness and joy if we will do it. We care because when we share the gospel with others, we unavoidably get outside of ourselves; we think and pray and work for the blessing of others, and this only further enriches and quickens us by the Holy Spirit. The list of byproducts to ourselves is endless – growth in our testimonies, growth in our knowledge of the gospel, growth in our faith, more answered prayers. The eternal truth is: that which we willingly share, we keep; and that which we selfishly keep to ourselves, we lose.” President Thomas S. Monson, Oct. 1977.

I love you all, have a wonderful Memorial Day.. I forgot it was Memorial Day by the way!

Love, Elder Hillman :)

jaker 1-9

my brother hit his 16 month mark last week!

congrats jake!

see you in november, you cute thang.

okay, so maybe it's still pretty far away...

but think about this.

he'll be home in 8 fast sundays. :)

it sounds better to me.

i love you skype.

thank you

you just made my day.

with you and my lovely new webcam, my family and i were able to talk to my brother.

he called us and told us his mish is allowing the missionaries to skype with their families for Christmas.

how amazing is that?

oh i love that boy.

he is the same old brother that i love.

minus his crazy accent, which makes him sound like he's not speaking english.

haha. oh well.

i love em anyways.

i can't wait to talk to him on Christmas! 12:00!!! :)

be still and know that I am GOD.

 

missionaires are amazing.

simply amazing.

my brother wrote me this morning.

& it made my day.

i know without a doubt that he is inspired when he writes his emails.

i heard exactly what i needed to hear.

this quote has been getting me through studying for finals....

"Be still and know that I am GOD." 

i know that i couldn't get through life everyday without my communication with my Heavenly Father and Savior. what an amazing blessing it is.

good luck with finals everyone!

<3

lauren

3 AM blog post

So...I can't really sleep.

My stomach is twisiting and turning.

I don't know why.

Jake hit his 1 year mark last week!!!!!

I am SOOOO excited and proud of him.

I can't imagine how much strength and determination that missionaries have to have.

I'm glad that he is loving him time there.

 (Jake sent this picture today, for those of you who don't know, he is the one in the yellow tie.)

Kenna came over tonight and chilled with me.

I love that girl so much.

I've really gotten to know her over the past couple months, and I'm grateful for her more each day.

We went to Midnight Pizza and then shimmied back to my place and watched the Last Song.

She is so open and sincere.

She's the best. :) :)

 (Us at the Mindy Gledhill Concert)

I feel like my math class is purely going downhill.

I went and talked to my math prof today to ask him what else i can do.

I told him what I was doing and he said I was doing everything expected of me.

Which mad me kinda ticked, because I'm doing everything that is required of me and it's not enough.

So we'll see how that plays out.

I really miss Orem.

I painfully miss my family. I haven't been home in 8 weeks, which is REALLY long for me.

I can't wait for break, it will be awesome to see them.

I miss my best friend Katie a lot too.

It's really hard to be away from the ones you love.

(Day before I graduated, we went to Macey's at 2 AM for kicks and giggles. haha.)

Guy friends are the best.

Cameron, a friend from upstairs is an awesome friend to talk to.

It's sure nice to talk to guys rather than girls at times, they really put things into perspective.

Thanks Cameron for our 3:30 AM conversation. :)

I wanted to say though....

that guys that are really caring & care about to ask how you are doing...are SOOO sweet.

Ps. Facebook is super boring.

Hey It's been awhile...

Tis true.

I have delayed blogging 

     As some of you know, I am helping out in the Special Needs Institute. There is a kid in that class that is on a “service mission” for the church. He has disabilities, but is still considered a missionary. He has a tag and everything. He got up and shared an experience he had with one of the general authorities. One day, he said Elder Holland came to speak to the missionaries at the MTC, and the service missionaries with disabilities also attended, he said that after Elder Holland spoke, he came up to him and others around him and just told them how grateful he was for them to serve. Elder ****(in our class) said that was a testimony in itself, for Elder Holland to come up to them and take the time to express the love he had for them. Elder ***** said that even though he wasn’t capable to going on a 2-year mission away from home, he is grateful to hold the title of a missionary, to share the gospel to those around him.

      I loved this because he knows that he has disabilities, but he also knows that he can still have the ability to serve a mission. I am grateful for his determination and also yours. I just thought it was sweet. Even though I’m not in an acclereted Institute class, I can have other great spiritual experiences in this class.

     A few nights ago, my friend Trevor came by from next door and hung out with my friend McKenna and I. It was a blast. He went to India his Jr. year of high school and shared some awesome experiences he had there. It was awesome. Throughout his talking, it made me think of you and all of the many customs and culture shocks that my brother Jake is having to get used to in Chile. He talked about how insane the roads were, not being able to understand the language, eating food that he wished he didn't have to. Haha. and other things like that. But, he also talked about the powerful experiences when we got used to the food, fell in love with the kids at the Orphanage and just being able to travel. It was amazing to hear about his life changing humanitarian trip to India. I really hope that I will have an opportunity to leave the country and serve those less fortunate than me. :) Just hearing him talk really reminded me of Jake.

     I went to the HOWL this weekend. It's the biggest Halloween dance held at USU every year. It's considered a little on the crazy side, but we chose to stay in the basement, where the Institute was holding their own little deal, which was really fun! I’m really grateful I have high standards. Not saying that I’m all Missus Perfect, but I am so grateful for the gospel and how to recognize places where the Spirit can/can’t dwell. Upstairs sure was insane compared to the party in the basement. I am grateful for the Holy Ghost and how he has blessed me on a daily basis in my life. I hope I can always keep him close to my heart. Also, WE THE KINGS CAME! It was AMAZING. Oh and we dressed up as Tetris pieces, pics coming soon.

I'm thankful for: 

I'm thankful for my brother's continous example of missionary work. 

I am thankful for my family. I miss them SOOOO much.

I am thankful for great roommmates. Love you guys!

I am thankful for guys that honor their priesthood and feel comfortable talking about the church outside of church.

I am thankful for awesome friends, especially my Cedar friends, Hope and McKenna. I LOVE being around them, and I feel like my standards are kept high when I'm with them.

 

We finished this tonight! :)

Mix of everything

It's my brother's birthday today.

He is currently serving a mission in the Concepcion South Chile mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. 

I can't even explain how proud of him I am.

 I hope you have a wonderful birthday. 

I love you so much and I look up to you in every way. 

Thanks for working hard and showing me what it means to sacrifice everything for this church. 

I can’t wait for you to hit your one year mark soon.

Love you! :)

ALSO....

I am very very suprised I lived through this week.

I have had so many tests, quizzes and assignments that I feel like my brain MAY blow up.

Actually it probably did.

I have been studying at the Library super late this week. I feel like I am a POL. Prisoner of Library. 

But...I LOVE the library. It is so peaceful, beautiful and open. 

Sometimes I love going in there and just sitting.

Oh something else really fun you have to try is just sit there and just "people watch."

It's pretty exciting.

Haha.

Well I better get going. I have been sick this week also and I've been coughing up a storm. I went to WalMart the other night and loaded up on drugs.

Good drugs, of course. :)

So I'm loaded with Delsyum, Vicks, Cough Drops and vitamins.

Yay for being sick right?