The Long Visa Wait

Disclaimer: I am not a very patient person.

That being said, I was under the impression that obtaining a Visa to a foreign country would be a piece of cake. I was dead wrong. When I received my call to serve in the Brazil Sao Paulo Interlagos mission, I had no idea that being able to do so would involve so much paperwork.

The most beautiful sight in the world.

Here are some tips to avoid problems with Visa applications:

1. Have a passport before submitting your missionary application. Unless you submit that you have no interest in serving in a foreign country, then don't. But, save yourself four weeks of waiting to start your Visa by obtaining a current passport.

2. Read over the application process very carefully. Then read it again. Then have your mom (or another parental figure) read it. Anecdote: to be a missionary in Brazil you have to be an ordained minister of sorts. This means that you have to provide details and records about your religious training and certificates of everything from your baptism to seminary graduation. Yeah. It's kind of a bear.

3. Make sure to look over everything after you have completed it. When I was getting my police clearance from City Hall, I assumed that they had filled out the form correctly. WRONG. They marked that I was male. Which I am not. If my mom hadn't made me check over all the documents for errors, I may not have gotten my Visa.

4. Have faith and pray. This is probably the most important part of the process. For the past two weeks I have been obsessively checking the status of my Visa. It was only about a week ago that I started praying that it would come in. What?! Silly me; pray early and often and miracles will be wrought.

I've been ready for this since February.

 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is true. I know it. I can't wait to serve the Lord and help my brothers and sisters in Brazil to "come unto Christ."

Job 23:10

Sister Abbie Hills

Learning to Teach

Wherefore, I the Lord ask you this question—unto what were ye ordained?

To preach my gospel by the Spirit, even the Comforter which was sent forth to teach the truth.

Doctrine and Covenants 50:13-14

I have had very unique opportunities in the past year that have helped me to learn a little bit about how to teach. As a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I will teach people the restored Gospel and help them to "come unto Christ." 

At the end of my senior year of high school, I opted to join the Relief Society instead of continuing in the Young Women's program. However, in April I was called to teach Primary. I was asked to teach the 10 and 11-year-old class (of which my little sister, Maren was a part). I had only six weeks left in Kansas before leaving to work in Jackson Hole, but I accepted the calling anyway. 

That year, the children were learning the teachings of the Book of Mormon, and when I started teaching they were already in the book of Mosiah. This opportunity was a little bit challenging. First, I was used to teaching boys how to swim, not teaching almost-teenagers doctrines of the Church. Second, the age that I was assigned to teach is an in-between period where you can't teach them like children or adults. Lastly, I was not fully prepared. At. All. 

I tried so hard to be the "cool" teacher that sometimes I don't think my class fully grasped the doctrinal concepts that I was attempting to teach. I focused a lot on hand-outs and games. The one thing I did learn was how to adapt lessons for different ages. Pre-teens are hard to teach. The scriptures use difficult language for them to understand, but they need to get used to it. I used a mixture of scripture reading and using the Book of Mormon videos online to show them what they read. My lessons were definitely for audio-visual learners. 
My second opportunity came not as a teacher, but as a learner. When I went to the Teton High Adventure Base in Jackson Hole, I had never been in a canoe in my entire life. Period. However, sometimes the best ways to teach someone is hands-on. At least that's how it was for canoeing and later C.O.P.E-ing. I watched and listened and failed, but kept going until even I was amazed at how far I had come. Watching and listening are two of the most important aspects of teaching, whether you're the teacher OR the learner. 
In my adventures as a C.O.P.E instructor, I learned another valuable lesson. Not everyone learns the way that I do. I am an audio-visual learner. Others are not. I can't tell you how many times I would talk through and show a group how to do a certain obstacle and then they would just stare at me like "Huh?" Most of the time I had groups that would just jump right in and try it without giving much thought as to how to work things out. This usually didn't work. I also had groups that would talk things to death. This. Was. The. Worst. In relation to the gospel, over-thinking and getting in over your head are super common when first starting the conversion process. However, some people learn this way. We can't force anyone to learn in a way that is not conducive for them.
Lastly, I worked as a paraprofessional at Wasatch Elementary school during this past school year. I got to work with two different age groups: first and fourth graders. I was in charge of helping the under-performing first graders with their reading and math. This was soooooooo hard. Some days I just wanted to say to the kid: "Let's just quit while we're ahead." Other days I was so excited about their progress I couldn't contain it. 
The most important lesson I learned is summed up in the following conference talk by President Thomas S. Monson:

Isn't that great?! Everyone has the capacity to change into a wonderful person. I saw this in my first graders and even in some of my punky fourth graders (I still love them). It was hard sometimes to remind myself of this fact: Everyone is a child of God and has the potential to become like Him. This is true for the worst reader to the snarkiest fourth grader.

The best part of all of this is that even though I've learned a lot about teaching, I know I still have a long way to go. But, if I put my faith in the Lord and teach what and how He would have me teach, I know that I will not fail in His eyes.

Job 23:10
Sister Abbie Hills 

 

The House of the Lord

Temples

I grew up in a beautiful, small suburb in Kansas called Derby.  Unfortunately, as a Latter-Day Saint, the main draw-back of this town is that the closest temple is about three hours away. It doesn't seem like a big deal, but when the temple is that far away you only get to go twice a year. 

This is the wonderful Oklahoma City Temple that I went to twice a year since I was twelve:

Beautiful, no?

Part of leaving on a mission is that you receive what is called an Endowment. So the endowment is a special, sacred ceremony that we (members of the LDS Church) perform only inside the temple. It is not some sacrificial, demonic ceremony that many people believe it is. Only LDS members who are worthy (ie. have abstained from alcohol, sex, drugs etc.) and who have completely repented of past sins are able to participate in this wonderful ceremony.

So after you receive your call as a missionary, you are eligible to receive your own endowment. Scheduling when I was going to do this presented a slight problem. I was attending BYU in Provo, Utah and most of my family still lived in Derby, Kansas. Because I am not going back to Kansas until June, I wanted to receive my endowment in Utah. However, my wonderful parents flew me out to Kansas so that I could receive my endowment in the temple that I had gone to while I was growing up.  

Not gonna lie, receiving my endowment didn't completely change my life. It definitely made some alterations as to how I see the world. I cannot say exactly what was taught in the temple, and nor would I want to. But here are some beautiful realizations that occurred to me after I received my endowment.

1. God loves us so much more than we could ever comprehend. John 3:16 doesn't even cut it. Not only did he give His Son for us, but He gave us our lives and a beautiful world to live in and literally every earthly possession we have. 

2. Every person is loved by God and should be loved by us. Okay, I knew this already. But, I have realized how important it is to make a concerted effort to LOVE. I get annoyed really easily, and I think unkind thoughts about people. However, since receiving my endowment I have been making real strides in making sure that my actions AND thoughts reflect only love.

3. This world is not about things. Once again, I knew this. How much I actually agreed with it is beyond me. I agree 100% wholeheartedly with this now. My life before was focused on adventures, entertainment and saving for frivolous things. Now, I am more focused on living the Gospel of Jesus Christ, getting an education and preparing to be a mother and wife in an eternal family. Nothing else matters.

Because I love the temple so much, here are some other temples I have attended/visited:

   

  

           Bountiful, UT Temple  Mount Timpanogas, UT Temple

                                

Kansas City, MO Temple   Manti, UT Temple

 

     Nauvoo, IL Temple    Oquirrh Mountain, UT Temple

     Provo, UT Temple     Salt Lake City, UT Temple

Winter Quarters, NE Temple

Finally, the temple I will attend on my mission:

São Paulo, Brazil Temple 

Job 23:10

Sister Abbie Hills 

My Mission Call

Prologue

To understand my desire to go on a mission, I have to start when I'm 17. At this time, the age for sister missionaries to serve was 21. It was Stake Conference and our visiting General Authority (a member of the highest levels of leadership in the LDS Church)was Elder Shayne M. Bowen. He held a special meeting with the youth of the Derby, Kansas Stake (a unit of members of the LDS Church based on geographical location). He recounted a heart-wrenching story of his service in Chile during the 1970's in a time of political instability. He and his companion (a native Chilean) were arrested and kept in a holding cell by a government that was infamous for having people "go missing." He told us of the prayers and faith he had that eventually, with Divine assistance, allowed him to go free. 

After this meeting was the general meeting. In his talk to the entire stake on missionary work, Elder Bowen said "the best way for a young woman to prepare for motherhood is to prepare for a mission." I don't know why, but that statement change my entire attitude about serving a mission. Prior to this, I had always thought 'Oh I'll go if I don't get married first.' My thoughts then changed to 'I will prepare for a mission, and, if I get married first, so be it.' This conviction wavered a little until last summer while dating a recent convert, whom I had met at a Boy Scout High Adventure Base, who encouraged me to think more seriously about a mission by saying that "[I] remind [him] of the sister missionaries at Temple Square." Really? I reminded someone of a missionary? Even after we broke up, I still had mission on the brain until.....

October 2012

I was still recouping from the aforementioned break-up and I was at my sister, Anika's, house to watch the Saturday morning session of General Conference (a televised gathering of Latter-Day Saints to listen to the General Authorities and our Prophet). The conference started as usual and our Prophet, Thomas S. Monson, was giving his "Welcome to Conference" spiel when this happened:  

My world was rocked! Could I really serve the mission I had been preparing for in a mere four months?! I thought and prayed and cried and called my parents. I decided that I would wait until after I was done working at the elementary school before I would leave on my mission. Then, I had four months before I could even submit my mission papers (sort of an application). 

February 2013

It had been an arduous journey of physical exams, shot records and listening to everyone and their dog get their mission call. On Valentine's Day, I was having a party with my friends (we're all single haha) and my friend, Carly, and I get a text from our Bishop. OUR CALLS HAD BEEN ASSIGNED! We pretty much freaked out and everyone stared at us. Two days, later I turned 19. I had a lovely day shopping and eating at City Creek Center with some friends and seeing "Beautiful Creatures" with Zoe.

Flash forward to Wednesday, February 20, 2013. I was enjoying a normal day working at the elementary school. I knew my mission call would probably get there on Friday and I had already made arrangements to gather a few people at that time. Then I got two texts: one from my sister and one from Carly. "Did you get your call?" "Ahh, my call is here!" Umm, WHAT?! I entered major freak out mode, which mostly includes me sweating and looking pleasantly surprised on the outside. After car pool duty, I raced home and called my roommate, Michelle, to check the mailbox. I reached the apartment when she reached the mailbox. 

Then I had it in my hands, which it quickly left to sit on a table. I called my friend, Maggie, over to help her with family history like I had promised. She was making fun of me being so scared of it. She felt it and assured me I was going foreign. (I later realized this is because foreign calls come with a passport application in them.) Still, I called all my family and went down impromptu to my sister, Anika's, house. 

Then it was time. My family in Kansas was on Skype, my sister Cici and brother Tim were on the phone and Anika's family (including my adorable nieces) were surrouding me as I opened my call...

The Call

So, let me preface this. I had been dreaming of where I wanted to go on my mission ever since the previous October. I knew I wanted to use the Spanish that I had learned and I wanted to go to Europe. Thus, I wanted to go to Spain. The longer I waited, though, the more I just wanted to serve. I didn't care where I went. I did, however, preferably not want to go to Idaho or Brazil. Idaho because I thought it was boring (until I found out that my favorite place is in the Pocatello, Idaho mission: Jackson, Wyoming). Brazil because I had met several missionaries who had come back from Brazil who I found really annoying. Neither one of these reasons were really adequate. Eventually I was reconciled with the latter if I could be near the ocean. 

Okay, so my call:

Dear Sister Hills (Sister Hills that's so cool!)

You have hereby been called to labor as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. You have been called to serve in the Brazil Sao Paulo Interlagos mission. You will prepare to preach the gospel in the Portuguese language. You will report to the Sao Paulo, Brazil MTC on July 17th. 

Reaction

I was in shock! My mission is by the ocean in Brazil, the one place I had reconciled to go! My brother-in-law, Tyler, was ecstatic! He served in the mission directly to the north of mine. My mom was nervous. Sending the first of her daughters on a mission to Brazil. It's not exactly known for being pleasant. The most pressing thought in my mind over the next few days was: Portuguese, Brazil, BEANS?! Yes, haha, I worried about eating beans. 

I later found out that a guy who I had went to high school with and a guy from my home ward, who I had previously dated, were currently serving in the EXACT SAME MISSION. What are the odds? I guess this mission needs strong missionaries from Derby, Kansas. I am delighted the Lord saw me fit to serve there too!

Job 23:10

Sister Abbie Hills

*Elder Bowens gave a great talk recently
**President Monson's announcement that changed my life