Try, Try. Try

Weeks are flying!! Mission time is super weird. It is honestly a different time zone that works so slowly fast. And it has been this way everywhere I've been on my mission. Georgia, Brazil, and even Covid Iowa! I believe it is the way the Lord has it for missionaries. He makes it slow for us to learn but makes it very fast for us not to suffer. It's fun. I enjoy it.

We've seen a couple of miracles this week with the people we have been teaching. It is so comforting to know that God has his hand in my life! Vanessa, a person we are teaching, is finding that changing from everything is difficult. I can only imagine the heart break. To learn and taste of such a sweet message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and desire it for yourself, yet realize there is a lot to leave behind in order to truly embrace it. I am learning a lot about the love our God has for us. We love Vanessa so much! And of course we need to ask how she's doing when we speak with her to see how she is doing in avoiding things that are harmful for her soul, and to see and a hear teary eyed young woman say "I'm trying" is the most heart warming and humbling experience. It causes me to reflect on if I'm really trying? Would I have the humble answer to meekfully say "I'm trying" when asked the same question? Would it be sincere? Am I really trying to change and become better? It is the attitude that we need to have. Remember, "A saint is a sinner that keeps on trying". Consistently trying is the way we change. It isn't always over night! President Eyering gives a fantastic talked called, "Try, Try, Try". It is a very sweet message about the importance of trying! We need to make a better effort to try. WE NEED TO TRY TO TRY!!!!

Well the world is in quite the funk huh? It's so interesting to be able to see the world through the eyes of a missionary. I'm seeing that every answer can be solved by missionary work! I'm so grateful to be a missionary at this very time to be learning these lessons.

I loved reading about Ammon this week in Come Follow Me. My favorite part(Alma 17:29) is when the servants of King Lamoni start crying because of the sheep problem and then Ammon's heart swells with joy! Why? Because he had power from on high to help encourage others and help show others where joy came from. Is this not the same power that we as members have? Shouldn't we be jumping for joy right now? Our world is physically and metaphorically "crying" right now due to all the hardships with Covid-19, riots, civil unrest, and all the other craziness of the world. It is our job, as both missionaries and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to JUMP for joy! Be excited!!! Now is such a great opportunity to show forth the power of God. To show all people that they can yet still find and feel joy and comfort through Jesus Christ. We need to show them that the true Gospel of Jesus Christ can solve all of their problems. It solved all of King Lamoni's problems and the problems of the servants of King Lamoni as well! This Gospel is for everyone. Let's get excited to share it. It is our job and there isn't a better time than right now!

I encourage all to pray and find out who it is you are supposed to find during these times of turmoil. The work is for every member and our message is for every non member. Try. Try. Try.

I love the Lord. I love my life here on earth. I love my family and I love the opportunities I've been given to be useful to God.

Love y'all!

Elder Hixon 

Gettin' Busy

Heyyyyy y'all! It's been a fantastic week here in the Quad Cities. We have had so much fun this week teaching and finding more people. We have had a few times to be in person with a good amount of people this week as well!! 

On Sunday we had a brazillian dinner with an inactive Brazillian member and it was super cool. He invited almost all the missionaries in our zone and he also invited his friends and neighbors. So, at a safe social distance, we were able to make friends with non members and get contact information as well as fellowship our inactive friend, Luciano! AND he had Guaraná... one of the best drinks that exists on this very earth. It was a fun time to dust off some old Português and enjoy food and furthering the work. 

Our new companion, Elder Timothy, is a great help! He is fresh out of the online MTC and has a very strong spirit about him. He is from Highland Utah and is the first missionary in his family. It has been such a blessing to be able to learn from him. I feel like I am realizing more and more that each companion I have or person I meet on my mission has many important things to teach me. For that I am grateful. I love to be taught! I'm grateful the Lord has put me in many positions to learn. There is so much in the world to learn so gosh dang it we need to try and learn from anybody and everybody. 

As I was reading in Preach My Gospel this week it talks about the key to receiving personal revelation. It stated that someone who will diligently study the scriptures will receive personal revelation for them in their lives. So there it is! As we continue to try and find how we "Hear Him", as our prophet has asked us to do, we can really figure that out through diligent and personal scripture study. To hear the Savior is not a confusing and difficult thing to figure out. Read your scriptures and I promise you'll hear him! The scriptures are our spring board for revelation. As we follow the commandment to daily read our scriptures we can have the Holy Ghost with us. And then the Holy Ghost can make the connection from what we are reading in scripture study to what we need in our life. It is the simplest but often time one of the hardest to keep! Satan does not want us reading the scriptures because he knows this. So read the dang scriptures. And I know your life will improve. Mine certainly has! 

Elder Hixon  

It's a Boy!

Well wow this week absolutely flew! I was very surprised to put my head to sleep last night and realize that it had been an entire week! These weeks are so fast!! 

Well, something fun that happened is a call we got from president in regards to transfers! This week Elder Forest and I will stay together in our area but the 2 of us will be in charge of training a brand new missionary! We will get him on Thursday and we are way excited. Neither of us have trained before so it will be a new experience for us. And it'll be funny to do it together. I haven't heard much of 2 missionaries training a single new missionary. But hey, these are "unprecedented times" huh? So pray for our new companion! He will be brand new to the field and that is hard! 

In regards to the work... we have really tried to set goals that cause us to reach and work hard. Goal setting is the process by which we change. Change doesn't just happen! Change happens by diligent goal setting and consistent effort to achieve those goals. Just praying and praying won't get you anywhere. I know many many missionaries that pray their hearts out hoping a miracle lands in their lap. But then they don't work for the miracle. They don't look for it. If you are looking to change, then ACT to change. I have been in many bishops offices, stake president offices, and mission president offices, and I never changed until I decided to ACT to change. Yes it took a lot of courage to get myself to those offices on the many occasions but that just wasn't enough. It wasn't until I decided to ACT to change. Not just LOOK to change. ACT! My joy becomes more full when I am consistently acting to change. I am eternally grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ. Without him, there is no change! There is no joy and there is no peace. We have been able to see many people this week who are interested and have desires to be baptized. We are grateful to be blessed as we have tried to better change our own lives in an attempt to please God. 

Be excited for our boy with Elder Forest and I haha!! 

What is it that you have been looking to change about yourself but have not yet acted to do so? Think about it. Pray about it. Then ACT! Jesus Christ will help! Trust in Him. 

Love you all! Fica com Deus!! 

Elder Hixon 

Alegria!

We are ROLLING here in the Quad Cities. We are excited. The work is going forward. There is no better time than RIGHT now to share the gospel. Don't hesitate. You'll be blessed and feel real joy. Elder Forest and I have seen many miracles this week. We are teaching people regularly now and are joyful as we watch people make and keep commitments to become better at following commandments and keeping covenants. This work is our eternal role. There is no rest in sight. In both this life and the next. Learn to do it and learn to love it!

So we are almost always in our apartment or in the church building. Those are, for the most part, the only places we can go. So for adventurous stories... I don't have many. We try to make days fun. Randomly we will just go outside and run around or pick up a basketball and shoot hoops for 15 minutes. Sometimes I feel like I'm losing my mind staring at my phone all day. Personal study time is amazing. To be able to read real paper scriptures rather than eyeballs in phone. Personal study time and the Sabbath Day have really become a delight for me. In such a busy work, it is imperative for our stability and happiness to find time each day to focus on things that matter most. Then to also have the Sabbath day. A full day to dedicate to the Lord. I am glad that on my mission I am better learning these lessons.

Well, there isn't much more for me to say but to promise joy! President Nelson teaches us that joy is for the saints! Other people can feel happiness but only we can feel true joy. We are promised to feel joy as we center the focus of our lives on Jesus Christ and the Plan of Salvation. If you are struggling during these times to feel joy, pray to know what more you can do to center your life on Jesus Christ and the Plan of Salvation. Then act! You will be blessed. I am grateful for a living prophet today. I am grateful for the work we have been given to accomplish. I am grateful for my family! There isn't a better team out there than the Hixon fam!

Um abraço forte!!

Elder Hixon

A Obra

Another week! This week was full of miracles. Even amidst the chaos of the world, the Lord still has a work to do and it still needs to be our top priority. It is all that matters and all that will matter. His work is the sole purpose Jesus Christ was sent to atone for our sins. His work is the reason we have been put together into family units. His work is the reason every prophet has been called and every apostle has testified. Once we gain a focus on the work, our fear of the chaos of the world will fade. And the things that matter most will become more apparent in our own lives. I am still working on focusing solely on the work but I have found great joy as I refocus on the work. DO IT!

It was another week of Facebook finding. I think I'm getting pretty good about it. I friend request every person that lives here. Which is much like knocking on every door of every person that lives here. It's a much more efficient way to do the work. At first Facebook finding really discouraged me. I wasn't seeing success and I was always bored and my head hurt from being on a screen all day. But when I began to compare it to the missionary work I'm used to, it got more fulfilling. And in some ways more appealing. I can friend request 50 people in 5 minutes. I could never knock on 50 doors in 5 minutes. In some ways it feels like I've upgraded to a much quicker way of reaching out. Bringing the two aspects of the work, the tracting grind of Brasil and talking to anyone and everyone about the gospel, and then being on social media and uplifting and thinking of creative ways to catch people's attention has been miraculous! And yes I use the word miraculous because miracles have been seen. We are so grateful for our God who blesses us with miracles. My companion and I re-evaluated how our work ethic was and looked at our goals, made new plans to do better and have fulfilled our goals each day. No matter how tired or boring it was. And the Lord has already blessed us with 4 new people to teach. All of which of course have families so we are excited. One is a Brazilian! I called him and he answered in English and I may have surprised him by responding in Portuguese ha! He wants to make us Brazillian strogonoff and is excited to talk with us! He didn't seem very thrilled at first but I explained my situation of being in Brazil and now being here because of COVID and how excited I was to be speaking Portuguese and then he started getting excited. People will become more engaged as they learn why you're engaged. They will care more if you show them how much you care! It was a little miracle and a sign of the hand of the Lord in my life!

One of the highlights of the week was getting ice cream with some good friends.Turns out the Layton's have family here in Iowa (maybe Illinois... it's confusing because our area is 10 minutes into Illinois and not Iowa so I can't always tell who lives where haha) and they bought us good ice cream and we talked in a socially distanced manner with them for a bit. It was so energizing to have interaction with members and also have them feel like close friends. As missionaries we love now more than ever to be in good contact with the members. You guys are almost all we have right now! It was a tender mercy to receive a call from them wanting to come be with us. My heart is grateful for wonderful people.

(The sweet Pawlowski's showing us some good ice cream and much needed conversation)

Also, due to the riots and things that have been happening fairly close to us, the bridge over the Mississippi was closed down. So my comp and I were closed off from the rest of the mission as we live in Illinois and not Iowa. It was crazy. But I'm also being dramatic. The bridge was closed for maybe 12 hours and I was asleep during about 10 of them. But still, kinda cool.

All in all this week has been fantastic. Perspective is everything. And I'm grateful to be a missionary! The Lord is real and is with us. I know that to be true.

Love y'all! Keep on keepin' on

Elder Hixon 

Elder Forrest and Elder Hixon