December 30, 2013

Skype at Christmas!

1.)  I haven’t thought of one yet, but I will let you know... what did you give everyone for their spiritual gift this year? (Spiritual Gift)

2.) President said that the latest I can stay is 17th of March so that is when my release date is.

3.) We are teaching a family, Helder and Edna, are their names. They have been hard to sit with but we were able to sit with them yesterday and I felt like I should invite a member to come with us, Benito, So I called him and he said he could come. We taught about the Book of Mormon and how to receive an answer to know if the Book Of Mormon is true or not. Also Benito did really well in the lesson and bore some great testimonies and Benito and his family had soooo much in common with this investigator family it was awesome. I definitely understood why the Spirit told me to bring him along. It was a very powerful lesson, unfortunately at the very end some family members or friends came to their house and it seemed like they were people they had not seen in a very long time and so it really distracted from the lesson, but we were able to bring it back together and we gave them the baptism invite and they accepted (most Angolans accept to be baptized so don’t get too excited just yet:) We did not do a baptismal date invite just one that said when or if they come to know these things to be true will they be baptized and they accepted to that. They could be very strong members that would help the branch out a lot so if you could please pray for them by name that they will receive answers to the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith and the Church and have the desire to be baptized that would be great! Thanks!

4.) No not really (any events coming up). We went to Tundavall over Christmas in Lubango which was fun. I would send pictures, but we are in an Internet place that I do not trust and I do not want to lose the pictures that I have.

Hey Pres!!!

Happy Birthday on Thursday!!! You will be a Teacher!!! Wow! Dont worry

though because I will still be able to beat in 21 when i get back!!!

love you Bro!

Elder Tilley

This Christmas was alot of fun (to travel to Lubango…where I served at the beginning of my mission) and I was able to see some people I worked with there! That was awesome! People celebrate Christmas, but it is nothing like it is in the States, only a few people put up lights and things like that and normally they put them up on Christmas Eve.

Were you able to send that email to Elder Chandler that I sent him?

If you could keep sending some of Becs highlights that would be great

I really enjoy watching them!

December 23, 2013

It took me about 1 hour and a half to get into my email today so I am not sure how much I will be able to write. FYI

1.) (Christmas day at 4 -5 PM my time, so i think that is 8-9 AM your time. We will try and do it at 4, but we might be a little bit late, but we are shooting for 4 PM my time. And it will be through skype! maybe make sure you have your email up on your phone just in case something doesn’t work and I have to email you.

2.) we leave tomorrow morning and we come back on Thursday (joining 4 Elder’s in Lubango for Christmas…8 hour bus ride).

3.) 40 minutes and President is pretty strict on it. He said we need to say our goodbyes before 40 minutes so that we actually end on time.

So this past Saturday we had a Christmas party and it went really well! My companion Elder McCune was Santa Clause! All the kids really liked it!

We (the missionaries) also sang the first noel and we wish you a merry Christmas! So I talked to President Last night and he moved my going home date to the 17th of March (with Elder Whilhem), however President said that he would talk with the missionary department and will see if we can stay any longer then that... so we will see. Elder Whilhem and I had a cool experience with that, that I can share on Christmas! 

Love you Mom!

Elder Tilley

These are sick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Becca’s basketball highlight videos)

Love you Mom!

Talk with you on Wednesday (4-5 PM my time)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Bec)

Nice job!! Keep up the great work! dad tells me you are being a great missionary! keep it up! Make sure to play your very hardest!!!

What were those leggings you were using against Basha!? At first I was like what the heck is she wearing! then I was like " those are sick!!!!!!!!)

Love you Talk with you on Wednesday!

Elder Tilley

(Josh)

Hey man! I just wanted to wish you A Happy Birthday! Big 27!!! You are getting old! :) I think I can remember when Jeff was 27!

Happy Birthday Bro and Merry Christmas!

Tell your fam I say HI!!

Elder Tilley

December 16, 2013

Answers:

1.) Only government hired people can do it. No leaders here in Angola can perform marriages.

2.) Elder Chandler baptized Guilherme, Ilídio the branch mission leader baptized Florença and I baptized their 8 year old daughter Vau.

3.) Probably not, he is a great man, but probably not the right man for the job. We have other worthy people here that COULD be the Branch President, but there are a lot of issues and so that is why I am the Branch President right now.

4.) :) Funny question we probably drop more investigators then we teach :) That is maybe a little bit of an exaggeration, but pretty close. We drop investigators all the time.

I got the Christmas package with the debit card, but I have not tried it yet because I do not have the pin for it. What is the pin?

5.) A few things that I really liked (from zone conference in Luanda with Elder Hamilton) were 1.) Promising blessings he told us that we have the right to promise people blessings when they follow through with commitments because we have been called by a prophet of God and because it is TRUE! I think that is something I have not done very well on my mission. I have always told people that they will receive blessings, but I guess not very boldly because maybe I am scarred they will not happen or maybe they will happen but then the investigators will not see then and then think we lied to them or something, but since Elder Hamilton spoke with us I have been much more bold and have promised specific blessings to people even tell them that as a representative of Jesus Christ I promise you these blessings if you do your part. He also talked about how to invite people to keep commitments. I cant really express how he taught us. It was a lot of more none verbal communication and really put feeling into as well as promising them blessings and bearing testimony! That is another thing I am working on. He also talked about the Priesthood and he said that sometimes in the church we say "Priesthood on this side of the room and women on the other side" then he said "that is false!" He then explained how men are not the priesthood and then said that the Priesthood is like an umbrella both men and women can stand under it and receives the blessings from it, but it is just the man who holds the umbrella.

6.) We are having a devotional with them (Merrill’s) tonight so that will be fun! We had companionship study with President Merrill today and it was really good. One thing he said, I am not sure if he was quoting President Monson or just saying this, but he said it right after telling the story of President Monson have a spiritual prompting telling him to leave a meeting and go to the hospital, he did not leave until the end and ran to the hospital and when he got there, the one he knew had died and President Monson just missed it and the people said that the man that died was calling out his name before he died! The quote was "People are more important then meetings!" I really like that!

7.) I like Elder Tingey a lot! He is a great missionary and is a very hard worker!

9.) We will probably (call) Christmas day at 4 or 5 oclock our time, but we still have to confirm with the members in Lubango so I will have to let you know specifically next week, but it will be by Skype so maybe double check to make sure the Skype works. I remember my first time trying when I got here to Angola and it didn’t work and so we ended up facetiming, but this time we will not have any iPads near to facetime if Skype doesn’t work :)

What is this Disney Card? I have not heard of this

Wow what a present! :) Ok sounds good! :) Thank you!!

Yep i got both! Thanks! (packages)

(Joe)

Mom told me that you guys got accepted to a dentist school in Arizona and that it is one of the best in the Nation! I am really excited for you guys! And I am excited that you guys will still be in Arizona when I get back!

I love you a ton!!!

Elder Tilley

I sent some Christmas letters. I only sent them in two envelopes put there is a small personal one for everyone. Also there is a family one. Read the Family one first and then everyone can read their letters! I gave the letters to the Zone leaders to send when I was in Luanda, but I think they did not send it until last week so I am not sure if you are going to get them in time, but I hope so!

(Can you send this to Elder Chandler? I don’t have his email)

Hey Elder Chandler I just wanted to write you a quick letter! I hope that you are doing well and that you got home safe! Last week we went over to Guilherme and Floreça´s house just to stop by and say hi and they were both there and they both looked extremely happy! The next day we passed by to sit with the family and we sat down with Guilherme and the kids and waited for Florença to get home, when she got home she walked in and gave Guilherme a kiss all right in front of us! :) They are very happy! Thanks for all the great work that you did here in Angola and Huambo!! You are a great Missionary!!

Love you Bro! Keep up the hard work at home!!

Elder Tilley

Yeah I did that was sick!! I sent bec

a letter about it :) (Bec’s bball video) 

Ok thanks!

Love you Mom!! have a great day!!

Logging off!

December 10, 2013

Elder Tilley and Elder Hamilton of the Seventy

Dear Brother and Sister Tilley,
I recently had the opportunity to tour the Angola Luanda Mission where I met Elder Tilley.   He is doing a remarkable work as the Branch President in a small branch far away from the mission headquarters.   His mission president trusts him and I do too.   You should be very proud of your son.  He is a good missionary and is making a significant contribution to the building up of the Church in Angola.   Thank you for sharing him!
Sincerely,
Elder Kevin S. Hamilton
Africa Southeast Area Presidency
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

December 9, 2013

All Mission Picture-December 2013

I just sent this to Grandpa.It took along time to write so sorry if I am not able to respond to questions or write anyone back!

Hey,

I heared it was your birthday yesterday Happy Birthday!!! I love you alot

Also I just wanted to write you a few Miracle Experiences that we had this week! We traveled on a Bus this past week from Huambo to Luanda, which is about a 10hour bus ride. We went up there because a member of the seventy was coming to Luanda. So we went and had a great experience, but we had to get back quickly because on Friday we had two marriages at the chapel and then on Saturday was their baptisms and Sunday Confirmations. We have really worked hard with these couples to get married and baptized on of the couples, Guilherme and Florença, the missionaries have been working with for about a year now. One missionary who found them is named Elder Chandler and he got transferred out of Huambo for several months but then came back for his last transfer before he went home, he left to go back home today. So when we found out he would be here for his last transfer we worked really hard so that he could see this couple get married and baptized the weekend before he left! We worked really hard and several miracles happened that allowed us to have the marriage happen this past weekend right before Elder Chandler left. So we left Thursday Morning from Luanda going to Huambo to participate in the marriage on Friday and Baptism on Saturday. On the Bus ride back there was a road that got washed out by a river and we were not able to get across. The road was completely destroyed! We asked the bus driver if we were going to go back to Luanda about a 4-5hour trip back, and he said that we were just going to wait! So at this point we are in the middle of nowhere there were other cars and buses as well that could not get across and we were all just waiting. Also when Angolas said we are going to wait they really mean they are just going to wait for some miraculous thing to happen. No one was really trying to call anyone or stop other people on the road to search for help. We were literally waiting for pretty much nothing. Also the area we were in did not have cell phone signal so we could not call our President and let him know we are stranded. We waiting for a while in despair realizing that there was probably no way possible to get to Huambo before the marriage. At this point us four missionaries Elder Chandler, Elder Whitaker, Elder McCune and myself decided to go to the back of the bus and have a prayer. So we went and specifically prayed that we would be able to get signal to call our Mission President and that the Lord would provide the means so that we could get to theses marriages and baptisms that we had worked so hard for. After the prayer we sat in the bus not knowing really anything we could do. After about 5-10 minutes Elder Chandler and I decided to try to climb up a hill near by to see if we could get signal. As we were walking we talked to someone that was also on our bus and he mentioned that there was some satellite phones at a little store. So we went there and bought some minutes and then called our mission President and informed him what was going on which was comforting. He told us to wait for a couple more hours and then call him again to see if there was any progress. Then we hung up the phone and as soon as we got back to the bus the bus driver dedicated to go a different way and try and find a way to cross this river. So we go a different way and find this little dirt road and start to go down it also tons of other semi-trucks and busses and cars had found the same small dirt road. We start to go down it a ways and then we stopped because there was a huge line of cars on this dirt road and all pulled to a halt many trying to go both ways down this small dirt road. Elder Chandler and Elder McCune went to see why everyone was stopped. They were gone for about an hour and then came back and said there were several semi-trucks stuck in the mud and were blocking everyone from moving. By this point we have about 30 busses and semis and cars in front of us and another 20 or so behind us and everyone is basically just stuck. This time we are really in the middle of absolutely nowhere. Once again without cell phone signal and it is starting to get dark. Once the other Elders got back elder Chandler and I decided to go see everything. Once we were seeing the damage the idea came to us to see if anyone of the cars who were passed the semis that were stuck were planning on going to Huambo. So we start walking see if anyone has room for 4 missionaries and some suitcases! We walk down the big line of cars and we get to the LAST truck, which was a 6 wheeler semi truck. We asked him where he was going and he said Huambo we asked if he had room for 4 people and if he could take us. He only had one seat, but we told him we could fit! We ran back to our bus and at this point it is dark the bus is turned off and everyone is preparing to sleep in the middle of nowhere for the night. We get all of our stuff with everyone asking where the heck we were going, and we walked back to the semi truck and packed all of us in there and started our Journey to Huambo. It took us another 6 hours to get to Huambo and we got there at 2 Friday morning All very tired, but we were able to make it to the marriages on Friday and the baptisms on Saturday!

We would like to share another experience with you as well that has to do with this. It is very expensive to get married here and when Guilherme started to do the paperwork to get married he lost his job! With much prayer and fasting he was able to still get married even without a salary, which was a miracle, but he was applying to work for other companies but no one was hiring him. Also since the missionaries have been teaching him we have promised him that he will receive many blessings if he will choose to get married and be baptized. Friday Morning he took a test for a company so that he could work there. Friday afternoon he was married and Friday night during the party he got a call from this company telling him that his score on the test was the best out of anyone else and that instead of just being a supervisor he would be a manager of the supervisors with a good salary and a car and things like that! He told me that that experience was incredible and that only the hand of God could have done that. He also told me that since the missionaries have been passing by they have promised blessings and now that he was made the decision to be married and baptized he has started to see those blessings!

… I know that God exists that he hears and answers prayers. If He didn’t then us missionaries would have been stuck in a marsh for who knows how long with tons of mosquitos and a probability of getting malaria, also it was very dangerous because if it would have rained during the night the river could have risen and several cars could have been washed away! If He didn’t answer prayers then Guilherme would probably not be married and baptized with his family with a great job now to support his family! I just want you to know that! That God lives and loves us and watches over us and will help us IF we ask Him and have Faith! The Prayer that we had in the Back of the Bus was answered! We asked to get signal, which was answered about 10 minutes later and soon after the Lord provided the means for us to get to Huambo for the wedding and baptisms! I know that God exists and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is True! I know it!

I love you Grandpa! I Pray for you, and I Fast for you often because I want to live with you forever!!

I love you Gramps!

Love your Grandson

Elder Tilley

Follow up,

I am not sure if you had any experiences like that on your mission, but I bet if you thought about it and looked back in your Journal entries you will find and remember that God heard and answered your prayers as well!!

Love you once again!!

Elder Tilley

(mom)

We will be going to Lubango for Christmas so we will talk with them this week and let you know next week

* just got the cash, but I heard that I have another package and President should be bringing it to me this weekend! They are coming to spend the weekend and Preparation day with us! Elder Chandler left to Luanda today and with leave to the states on Wednesday! I am really sad!

Elder Tingey will be replacing Elder Chandler so we will have a lot of Arizona Pride in Humabo now! Elder Whitaker and Elder McCune are already sick though of hearing about Arizona when Elder Clifford was in the house :)

I sent this to Becca but could you follow up to make sure I get them this coming Monday? Thanks!

Hey so we are having a Christmas party and I want to play the Guitar and sing with the missionaries but I don’t have the music. Could you send me some of the Christmas songs some time! Maybe just the easy ones :) Like Silent Night and We wish you a Merry Christmas and maybe Little drummer boy! Thanks

Elder McCune and Elder Whitaker have there versions of the story I sent to Grandpa if you want to see other details.

December 2, 2103

Ok, I have talked about it with President and I have Prayed about it and I really felt like I should stay and not shorten it at all. I just wanted to let you know!

Yep!  we have two weddings that will happen at the chapel on Friday and then Saturday will be the baptisms. Guilherme and Florença and their daughter Vau will be baptized and the couple that is getting baptized the wife will get baptized (the husband is already a member)

What would you say if I wanted to stay an extra two weeks and come home on the 17th of march instead of the 5th ?:) I have not felt like I needed to extend to the 17th, but President mentioned that I could when I talked to him about my release date, so it is just an option. I can come home any time between January 16th - March 17^th

I got a package I think with the money in it or with the  card I am not sure. How did you send the debit card?

(Preston)

I am glad that you are doing well in School! keep it up! yeah Braden got the hyper dunks in High school and I got the Hyper rises. Basically the same thing! They were my favorite pair of shoes. You have to get used to them at first, but then once you do you wont want to wear any other kind of shoe. Bro! You got no chance! Prediction 21 Elder Tilley 0 Preston!!!

Love you bro!! See you soon!

Elder Tilley

1.) Guilherme is doing alot better. I felt alot better about him this week as well as the missionary who did his interview.

2.) No unfortunelty we didnt. We tried to, but just didnt work out, hopefully the end of this week! But we will see

3.) He has it on his camera so he could you would just have to ask him. Or I can just show it to you on Christmas.

4.) We took a bus last night at 18.40 and got here at about 5 in the morning. It was a 10 hour ride. Nothing to crazy happened. It was a pretty nice bus and a good bus ride. Lots of leg room so that was good! and reclining chairs!

5.) we will be staying in the Gemeck house with those missionaries and the Lubango elders. They have a really big house. Enough for 6.

6.) Unfortunately no :(  (we will not get to stay with the Merrills). I wanted too... but..

Ok. the earliest will be the 5th of march if not the 5th it will be the 17th, but I dont have to decide until the beginning of january

Love you Mom!!