June 25, 2012

Hey mom I am on. And I just thought I should let you know that I have been transferred to Lubango.

The name of the girl that (we) baptized is Quina and she has no close family. Her mom actually made her stop taking the lessons a while ago, but than just barely aloud her to sit with the missionaries again. But five of her cousins are members so that is good. Nobody here goes by their last name, but the Mother of the family is Mena. But I obviously wont be teaching them because I got transferred.


The banks are on the side of the road, but nobody really goes in them because on the outside of the bank there is an ATM. Stores normally don’t (take US debit cards) but I just pay everything with cash, and most of the ATMs will take my card I think so I can just pull money out that way and than pay for things like that.

So I am not sure if my ingenious plan (for pictures) will work because I am in Lubango now, so I will probably have to hold off sending pictures for a while. There might be a way I can send pictures through the computers here, but I am not sure yet, and I would not count on it. But you could probably look up on Google Earth and see it. I have seen a few Google earth images and it is pretty much what it looks like. You could even look up a store called Keros. (I used to live a little bit away from that store, but that was my area.)

Lubango is great though! At night it actually gets a little bit chilly. The first night I was here we were teaching a lesson outside and it started to get a little bit cold and than I smelt a fire. It really reminded me about Labor Day Campout. Lubango is definitely a lot more calm than Luanda. In Luanda there is just so many people everywhere and a lot of traffic. Here there are a lot less people and it is more country like. I would kind of compare Luanda to Gilbert or maybe Phoenix and than Lubango to Thatcher. Also normally when people come here to Lubango they have to take a 20 hour bus ride that leaves at Midnight, but I do not know why but President bought me and the other Elder (Kelsey)  who came with me plane tickets to come down here, so we took an hour flight instead, so that was really nice.

My companions name is Elder Davis. He is a really good missionary who likes to work hard and is really loving his mission. He is from Utah and loves sports and hopes to go play for the BYU lacrosse team when he gets home. So that is pretty cool, and I think he has been out for a little bit more than a year. Things are going well here though, I am trying to find my way around and everything and get to know people, but it is coming around.

So in my personal study this week I was reading in the Bible Matthew and I was reading where Jesus talks about how the law used to be "love your friends and hate your enemy" than he says that that law is changed and that we should Love our friends and our enemies. So I was just thinking ok yeah I need to do that, but than afterward Christ begins to explain the "why" behind it and how it is easy to love your friend, but it is hard to love your enemy, so you receive no reward because loving your friend is easy. So after Christ explained the why behind it, I had a greater desire to do what He taught. So I was thinking that I need to teach the "why" to my investigators and that way they will have a great desire to what we are teaching them. Also as I was writing this I realized that if life is easy there is no reward. We have to do things that we do not want to do and things that are hard, if we want any reward in the life to come. Just a little spiritual thought I had that I thought I should share!


Thanks Mom for your support! I love you so much!!! There is an Elder I am living with and he said he does not write his family very often . . . I was just thinking wow! I am not sure if I could go longer than a week without writing my family! But thanks so much for all your prayers and support! I love you!!! Elder Tilley

Last Zone Conference in Luanda. Food at the Mission Home is AWESOME!!! I think I'll start with COOKIES!

June 18, 2012

…This past week has been very good, and we have been doing well. We were really excited because we had a baptism on Saturday so that was a lot of fun helping her get to the point of baptism and than now helping her these next several weeks gain a stronger testimony as a recent convert.

So a miracle experience we had this week, was that we have been teaching a family. A husband, wife and three kids. We went over there on Sunday with a member family and the two families really connected. So we started the lesson and the youngest of the three kids told us an experience that she had this week (she is only 12). She said that she was reading the Book of Mormon and did not understand something so she went back to the Restoration pamphlet we gave her to try and figure it out. When she was looking in the pamphlet she saw that it said to pray before you study and then pray afterwards. So that is what she did. She than went to bed after that and then she said when she woke up the next morning she just felt so good and she knew that the Book of Mormon was true and she ran and told her mom. It was so awesome that the little girl was such an example for her family and I think that the rest of the family will follow in her footsteps and read and pray about the Book of Mormon to the know the truth.

Wow, yeah dad told me about Grandma Nezzi, I am sure they are having a great reunion on the other side!!

The trip (to the beach) was awesome we just got on the boat and went to the Island just off the coast of Luanda and we just played on the beach. We played ultimate Frisbee and football and things like that! It was a lot of fun. We were only able to go into the water a little bit, but that was still fun!! Then right before we left President Walton sat us down and had us look at Luanda and told us of the responsibility that we have to help the church grow and become strong here. He also talked about how we need to help each other and build each other up and not speak bad things about one another. It was a really cool experience!!

No, as predicted we got delayed again (on a new apartment). We have to wait for the leaders in South Africa to send us money ... Sister Walton said maybe Monday or Tuesday, which means she does not really know which probably means that it will not be till the end of this week or next. But things are actually not too bad right now at our house. We fixed the generated so we have running water and AC so it really is not that bad and I have gotten used to it. But hopefully this week we will move in!

…Yep we had a baptism on Saturday so that was really cool! All of the other baptisms we had fell through. But the work is really growing and doing well. The lesson that I explained (earlier) was so awesome!! So we are really excited about that family. But the work is going really well!

Also transfers should be this week. I do not know what is really going to happen because we heard that the Missionaries in the MTC did not get their Visas, so we are not sure if they will postpone the transfers for a little bit or what, but transfers should be this week, just so you know. I remember that you like to keep track of when Braden’s transfers were so I just thought I would tell you!

Thanks so much for all that you do mom!!! You really are the greatest Mother!!

I love you so much!!!! Love Elder Tilley

The Luanda Zone Visits the Island of Mussulo!

One thing President Walton had been wanting to do before we head for home was to visit the island of Mussulo.  Every day we look out our windows at this beautiful tropical island.  So...we took the whole Luanda zone out to the island for an afternoon picnic and down time to recharge our missionary batteries.  

After fighting our way through the throngs of young people wanting to be paid to help carry our stuff to the dock (with missionaries you always have lots of "hauling" power right at your finger tips), we loaded up the boat and headed for the island.

Once on the island Elders Sande and Tilley played futebol and football. 

Elder Kelsey took the time to spell out "ELDER" in the sand for all to see that we are here in force!  

At the end of a perfect, relaxing day, Elders Chandler and Kelsey walked the deserted beach with the city of Luanda as a backdrop. 

President Walton gathered the missionaries and had them look at the coast of Luanda, Angola, as he talked with them about the growth of the church here and their role as missionaries in setting the right foundation and creating a solid mission culture for the future of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for this special country.  This will always be a memorable day for these missionaries!

June 11, 2012

We have a debit card and than they just have places here on the sides of some roads that you can pull money out of. We actually get a lot of money, I am not sure how much, but our President thinks that we get more than we need. I normally don’t have to worry about money, we definitely get enough... so definitely do not worry!

We just got news today that we should be moving out this Friday or Saturday. Supposedly it is a really good house! We are really excited, but we are not getting too excited yet because a lot of times something gets in the way and we have to wait longer to get into the house, but hopeful we will be able to start sleeping in it by Saturday, but we will see.

(I just saw the video of bec! and I watched it like 5 times and showed my companion another 3 times!!!!! That was pretty sweet!! Thanks for sending it.)

Something really good did happen in 1820 (and it didn't have to do with a big advertisement for liquor that says, "Since 1820, from the good and the best").  That is why we are here in Angola.  Because of the Restoration of the Gospel, we have the truth to bring to our brothers and sisters throughout the world. 

(My companion and I) have been getting along pretty well! He is been a very good trainer... but that is why it has been difficult for me because I have realized that I have a lot of pride and he takes his role as trainer very seriously, so sometimes he comes across as "I am the trainer" so that has been very hard for me to get over, but the Lord has definitely been helping me, but he is a great missionary who loves to work hard and get things done! so that is really good, he just does things differently than I would do them, so I have been learning to be a follower. I remember dad gave me a blessing … before I left that said I will need to learn to be a follower so that I can be a better leader, and I think this is exactly what this blessing is talking about.

Mission Blog: Musical number was provided by Luanda 2 district: Elders Rainbolt, Tilley, Arrington McAllister.  

Also I had a Presidents interview this week and President asked what I have learned, so one of the things I said was my testimony and conversion is deepening, the other things I said was that I am learning to be a follower. He then told me that we need to be followers so that we can learn from others and then we can be better leaders. … It was a confidence booster for me that I really needed.

June 4, 2012

Mission Blog: Last time I learned that when missionaries take off their shoes there is always a smell, and it's not very pleasant.  So this time, we had them sprinkle their shoes with a little powder, and no smell!  Zone conference is always a special time to get together and recharge our spiritual batteries.  

The only (baptism) that I think is going to go through is a girl named Kina. She had been taught all the lessons and then her parents made her stop (this was before I got here) but than her parents allowed her to get baptized so she is going to get baptized on the 16th of this month, so we are really exciting about that. We are teaching a lot of other people too. We just found two families that we are really exciting to teach. One of the mothers said that we look differently we act differently we talk differently and that is why she wants us to teach her family. IT was really cool that she could see and feel the different between the missionaries and other people. We told her that what she was feeling was not specifically us, but it was the spirit of the Lord, so that was really cool. Ok I will! Thanks so much for the Reminder!!!

…We heard about those missionaries that got their mission calls changed! But reassure them that it was definitely a call from the Lord and that they are definitely needed here. Also Angola I feel is a lot better place to be than Mozambique, not just being biased to my mission, but just about of different things that I have heard.

(Bec)… that is sweet about your team and how you are starting catz!! Just work as hard as you can! It will be crazy hard but don’t just go through the motions do every drill as hard as you can!! How was the date!!! Wahoo big 16 year old!!!! Love you Bec!! SPARKLY BUN POWER!!!!

…Those were all the pictures i could send, but I love you guys so much!!! … I love you and I am praying for you guys!!! Love Elder Tilley . . . Logging off

During President Walton's training, Elders ... all listen to some of his last words of advice and counsel.

May 28, 2012

So normal typical day we wake up at 7.00 and then do our normal morning thing, pray, exercise, shower (when we can) and then start with our Personal Study than companion study. Then we do another hour of companion study, but we do this thing called the “first 12 weeks”, and it has a bunch of things the new missionary should do. Braden could tell you more about it. Than we do language study, eat and than we are out the door.

Investigators. We probably on average teach 3 or 4 lessons in a day. We are trying to focus on our new investigators and helping them to progress, because we have found a lot of people recently but we are having a hard to helping them to progress and keep their commitments. We are teaching alot of people right now, but one ladies name is Mifi and she is really sold all she is waiting for right now is for her documents to get finalized for marriage and than she will be baptized. We have another guy who is in the same situation and his name is Alberto. Another lady we have is Rosa, she is soo awesome she is a great lady and has a really strong testimony…and has a deep desire to do what is right. We also started to teach a family, but they all kind of lost interest except for one of the daughters and we had a family night and one of the members houses last week and we taught about the book of Mormon and we invited her and her brother to read and pray about it. We went to her house a couple days ago and we asked her about her reading (ohh her name is Adriana) and she said she was at 1 Nephi Chapter 4 and her favorite verse that she read was 1Nephi 3.7! That was really cool she than said that she prayed but has not received an answer yet. So that was exciting so hopefully she will continue to read and pray. The complicated thing is that she is 18 and we have to get special permission to continue to teach a girl who is under 21, so hopefully we can get that permission from President. We do have a few more main investigators, but I will have to tell you about them next time!!

Language is going pretty well. I am still having a hard time understanding the Natives, but a member told me the other day that my Portuguese is getting alot better so that was good to hear! For the most part with the language I can get what is going on, but I miss a lot of the details.

We got to go on (the Safari) because the Walton’s like to take everyone once so all the Missionaries who did not get to go on the last one got to go on this one. (that was only about half of our Mission). (There are 26 missionaries in Angola)

Right now I am studying the Conversion and I am going through the Book of Mormon right now just studying that. Also I am doing a study on the Life of Christ. But one of the main things I have learned about conversion is that we have to go through trials and tribulations for real conversion to take place. But we not only have to go through trials, but we have to turn to Christ through the Scriptures and prayer during our trials and when we do that our conversion becomes deeper and deeper.

When I got here in Angola I went through a really hard time, probably the hardest time of my life, but because of that experience my testimony has grown so much and my conversion has been deepened especially in regards to the Book of Mormon. There is no way that book can not be true!! …I have thought that many times about my future spouse and I have thought several times that I need to marry someone that has gone through hard trials and struggles and has turned to Christ during those times, that way I know her testimony is strong and is deep!!

So you know how sometimes you start thinking about the eternities and about things like that and your mind goes crazy thinking about it. So I had one of those experiences, but I was not thinking about the eternities I was thinking about you and how awesome you are! I am not just saying that to make you feel good although I hope it does! That really did happen to me the other day right as I was about to go to bed! I love you so much Mom!! Keep up the great work!!

Love you son!! Elder Tilley

May 23, 2012

… my companions name is Elder Rainbolt and he is American. I am living in the city right now, so not much of a Jungle really, but we went on a Safari today and saw wildebeest elephants, zebra and a giraffe so that was pretty cool. Still working on getting a new house.

Thanks Dad for the letter! Your letters always keep me going! I told my companion about some of the letters you send me and how they always pump me up!  And now he always asks me, did your dad send a pump up letter? And I pretty much have always responded yes!!! Don’t think that there is any pressure on or anything, I just wanted to let you know that your letters really do help me press forward thanks so much!! I think I am going to have to respond to your questions this next Monday, so maybe remind of those questions that you have thanks!! Love you!! Elder Tilley

I am doing well, things have been frustrating with the house we are living in because one day the generator doesn’t work, than we fix that than we run out of water, than our air conditioner breaks, than once we get everything figured out generator breaks again, so tonight will be hot night! But the work is going well we have 5 people right now that have a baptismal date! So that is really good we have 4 people for the 16 of June and 1 for the 23 so that is really exciting! This week we have also taught the plan of salvation more and I told about the Atonement and I just felt really good and I was definitely feeling the Spirit! I have been praying for you very hard this week that the Lord will help you and lift your Burdens and I hope you have been able to feel my prayers. Yeah I am adjusting pretty well, but some days are harder than others. The Lord has definitely been helping me and blessing me though!

Food here really actually isn’t very scarce here, and the food is actually really good for the most part. I eat a lot more when I am at a members house for dinner than when I am at home. IT is really hard to make good food on our own because of our house issues and lack of time, but food is not really a

big concern.

…I wrote a response last week and than the Internet shut off and erased that part and all I had time for was to log on send what I had and than it turned off again, sorry! I am learning so many things all at once it is pretty crazy! One of the main things i have learned though is apply the scriptures in our

lives. For example a lot of times we have a scripture study and we learn about some principle and after the study we close the scriptures and maybe right down what we learned and than we walk away and do not really thing about it the rest of the day. I have learned that after we learn something we need to think of a way that we can specifically apply that principle in our lives that day or that week etc. And maybe we can not do that everyday or even after every scripture study, but I think we need to do that often. I learned this a few weeks ago when I was having a hard time and I would read the scriptures and find something that would help, and while I was reading it I would think sweet this is going to help me, but than an hour later I would forget about this principle and I was still having a hard time, so I leaned that I needed to write down specifically what I was going to do that day to apply that principle. I hope that makes sense, (I do not have time to proof read it) The Safari was awesome! IT was way fun! We did not see any predator type animals, but we saw a giraffe, zebras, elephants, wildebeest and things like that! Also we got to feed wild monkeys so that was fun!! Also my camera battery lasted the entire time so I was able to take pictures, so that was good!!

I think I was able to answer all of your questions this time! I hope I did not miss any! I love you so much Mom!! Thanks for all you have done for me and for all that you have taught me!! You are an awesome, wonderful mother!! As I hear about other missionaries mothers, I continually think "man my mom is sooooooo Awesome!!!" I love you Mom, keep up all the great work you do for our Family!! Love you!!! Elder Tilley Love you!!!            Logging off

Quicama Park for Preparation Day

We first visited Quicama Park back in January with the missionaries who were serving in the Luanda area.  Since that visit, we have more new missionaries and they had the opportunity this week to visit the wildlife park for themselves.  It was quite a surprise when we entered the park to find this beautiful giraffe off to the right side of the road quietly munching on the tree leaves.  We were ecstatic and took more than our share of pictures of him eating.  The giraffe let us photograph him as long as we kept our distance.  Elder McAllister quickly handed me his camera for a more personal picture.  We were hoping this was a good sign that we would be seeing lots of animals in the park that day!

Once we got past the electrified fence (just like Jurassic Park) ... All was ready and waiting for us, so Elders Perry, Tilley, Richter, and Hansen climbed aboard for the window view.  Little did they know that they would constantly be whacked on the arms and legs by passing tree branches. ...What a ride!

In addition to the giraffe, we saw two different herds of zebras with some giant sable antelope, and two elephants that were throwing mud on their backs to escape the heat of the sun.  The truck we rode in was noisy, but we were able to get to places remote and choked with vegetation to find all the animals we saw.  It was the best preparation day yet!

After the safari tour, we stopped and ate our lunch with a view to die for.  We were up the hill from the Kwanza River.  The blue of the water and the green of the surrounding fields and trees were all stunning.  Elders McAllister, Tilley, Wilhelm, and Hobbs relaxed and enjoyed the view.  Elder Kearney and Elder Hansen successfully got the monkeys to eat out of their hands. ...All the missionaries had a great, memorable day including (back row) Elders Wilson, Wilhelm, Perry, Hansen, (front row) Elders Kearney, McAllister, Richter, Tilley, Hobbs, and Chandler.

After a full morning of touring the park, we left the animals behind and stopped at this huge Imbondeiro tree.  It towered over us and is the icon tree of Angola.  Elders McAllister, Chandler, Tilley (at trunk of tree), Wilhelm, Hansen, Perry, Kearney and Wilson all had a great first safari in Angola!

May 14, 2012

May 14, 2012 From Elder Tilley

Answers for Mom:

(Elder Tilley has to tell his President if he is staying longer or leaving early because the transfer schedule is changing). Yeah I am not really sure yet. I think once I get to that point I will want to stay. The thing that is kind of holding me back right now is that if I decide to come home three weeks early I will be able to watch the end of Becca's Senior year of Basketball, but if I stay three weeks later, than I will miss it. So that is kind of the struggle that I am going through right now. But I think I might tell President I want to stay three weeks, but I am not sure yet.

(he can’t send pictures unless he is on a “safe” computer). Ok I will do my best, I think the next time I will be able to will be the first Monday in June. So hopefully I will be able to send some then.

(My companion) is a great companion and really strives to be obedient and work hard. We get along pretty well. He is a convert and was baptized when he was 15, but none of his family are members, but he is great and definitely has his head on straight especially for not being raised in the church.

We actually have a lot more people we are teaching. We have about15-20 investigators right now, but only about 6 of them are progressing investigators. So we are teaching a lot and than when we have time we do finding, but it is crazy because we are always getting new investigators so that is fun. Actually right before I talked to you yesterday we met a security guard that works at the Apartment complex that President and Sister Walton are at, and he lives in our area and he has read a little bit of the Book of Mormon and really likes it. So we will go and teach him this week. So we do a lot of teaching, but yes we try and do at least one weekly appointment with each of our investigators, but we don't always get to them all have cell phones here and we have a cell phone to, so it is just pretty normal.