I'm No Good at Goodbyes!

Another week, another transfer, and another area.

That’s right, I’m getting moved once again, this time to Selsdon. So much change. But the good thing about leaving is that it gives you time to be grateful. I love the people of Epsom. I don’t know how, but it feels like every time I move, I fall even more in love with each area. This last week, I’ve truly fallen in love with the UK.

It’s no secret that I’ve had a hard time being away from the U.S. Even though I’ve loved everyone I’ve served, I just haven’t felt like I belong. But this last week, that all changed. Maybe it’s the weather, or maybe it’s just the time I’ve spent here—but I really feel like the UK is becoming a home I love.

Last Thursday, I met with the second counselor in the bishopric. Turns out he’s a black belt in the Chinese martial art Sanshou, and every Wednesday he and another black belt train together. He invited me to join, and it was one of the best experiences of my life. A few non-members came as well, and I got to connect with a lot of people and learn so much. I absolutely loved it.

On Sunday, Paul and I had our last run. Part of me worried that because I was connecting so personally with people, they might stop coming to church after I left. I thought they were coming just to see me—and at first, that might’ve been true. But as we’ve continued to invite with the mindset, “Come as you are, don’t plan to stay as you are,” all my friends have made commitments to come to church next week. :) That makes me so happy! When I connect with people, I’m able to invite them into life-changing experiences. After that, it’s up to them—and our Savior, to change their hearts. And it works!!

I love you all, and I’m going to miss Epsom and Elder Fenton. But next stop: Selsdon!

Elder Hixon

Miracles! Too Many to Mention!

Hi everyone! :)

As you all know, during my last week in Kingston, after much prayer, I decided to leave all my boxing equipment there—except for some weighted gloves that Smitty gave me.

I didn’t know what to expect after that. I still feel a strong desire to pursue boxing when I get home, and I don’t feel like God was telling me not to. He was just saying, “Trust Me.” So I did, and this transfer has been filled with blessings. It wasn’t a miracle with a direct, obvious correlation, but I know I was blessed for my sacrifice.

The first miracle was running with Paul. It helps keep my mind and body healthy, and it gives me the chance to minister to the one. Running during the mission isn’t easy, you have to convince your companion to spend time running with you or just watching you. So being able to teach Paul while we run has been a huge blessing.

The second miracle: I learned that the Church does kickboxing every Wednesday. You can imagine how happy I was to hear that. I gave up something I loved, and God returned something even better. The ward member who hosts it is a high-level kickboxer. Even though this is exactly what I’ve been looking for, I was still hesitant, because after I left my heavy bag, I also promised God I wouldn’t use His time to train. But this member, who’s in the bishopric, told me that 10–15 non-members come every week! It’s a perfect opportunity to use my talents to meet people where they are. I’m so excited.

God really does bless me as I follow Him. Seeking the Holy Ghost is the most important decision in my life, and nothing will ever come before that.

I love you all :)

Elder Hixon

Finding the Why

Last Week

On Wednesday, we had interviews. This transfer, I’ve struggled a little with what I thought I was hearing from others, it seemed to conflict with what the Spirit was telling me. I expressed to President Sinclair my worries about my shortcomings in discipleship. Even though I’m doing my best, maybe I’m doing something wrong. He gave me this counsel: focus on how my actions align with my key indicators for conversion.

Listening to the advice of my brothers beforehand, I humbled myself quickly and followed President Sinclair’s counsel. But I didn’t fully understand it until Sunday. A family in the ward had us over for lunch that afternoon, they’re the best. They have four sons who are great friends, so it was a really fun time. The father asked me about mission culture and what I thought would happen if I participated in church activities and other events that aren’t typical missionary work.

It was the Spirit’s response to that question that helped me internalize what President Sinclair had taught me. I told him it’s not so much about what we’re doing, but where our focus lies. The Lord can magnify our efforts—if I’m diligent, He can magnify almost anything. Preach My Gospel says again and again, “The Lord will magnify your ___ as you ___.”

So where does our focus lie? Am I going to the store just because I want something, or am I hoping to meet someone who needs Christ? Am I attending a youth activity because I’m tired of proselyting, or because I want to inspire and encourage those youth who have a natural gift to love their friends to invite others to partake in greater joy?

My why is much more important than the how. That’s how I see it, anyway. And as I’ve kept my purpose at the center, everything else seems to fall into place.

Love you all again,

Elder Hixon

Running with the Spirit!

 Two Weeks Ago

We started off the week with another run with Paul—we ran 10 miles. I believe God gives us our interests and passions so we can use them to grow closer to Christ. Many of Jesus’s parables were based on things familiar to the people He was teaching. On my run with Paul, I tried to do the same. I let him lead the conversation as he taught me about historic battles and the origin of the marathon.

As some of you know, I also love history. One topic that fascinated me in my youth was the Das Unterseeboot, also known as a U-boat, a German submarine. As we ran and talked, I found myself in a prayerful state, wondering what to say. But then I felt rebuked by the Spirit. I realized I shouldn’t be focused on what I want to say, I need to listen intently. Listen to my friend and to the Spirit. My goal is to be a conduit between the two, like an interpreter.

It’s far from perfect, but hopefully you understand the model: I listen to my friend, relay that to the Spirit, and then listen to the Spirit and relay that to my friend. The Spirit doesn’t always give a word for word response, He prompts me, and then uses the knowledge I’ve previously acquired to allow me to participate in my friend’s conversion.

In that moment, I felt prompted to shift the topic to historic art. I mentioned my favorite painting: The Fallen Angel by Alexandre Cabanel. If you’re not familiar with it, it depicts Lucifer as he’s being cast down. In his expression, you can identify many traits of the natural man; lust, pride, shame, guilt, and anger. I think it’s a truly beautiful painting.

I told Paul about it, and he asked why Lucifer was cast out. That gave me the opportunity to walk him through the entire Plan of Salvation. It turned into a wonderful lesson, the Spirit was strong, and Paul was fully engaged. He then shared with me the story of the warrior Ammon, and I invited him to read about Ammon in the Book of Mormon, which he accepted.

It was a good day, and one that reminded me of this truth from Preach My Gospel:

“And the Spirit shall be given unto you by the prayer of faith; and if ye receive not the Spirit ye shall not teach.” —Doctrine and Covenants 42:14

If Cal Hixon were to go out saying what he thought was best, no one would be converted unto the Lord. If Elder Hixon were to do the same, the result would be no different. People might be baptized, but my calling is higher than that, it is to bring people unto Christ, one by one. That will be my lifelong mission. And it’s only possible if I follow and respond to the Spirit’s promptings.

Love you all :)

True Friendship

Hi! Ok let's get straight to the good news of the week! Jo got baptized! It was truly a wonderful time, it reminded of Mateo's baptism. It was just really good :)

Now I want to share one experience that has brought a lot of light to my life long journey toward authentic discipleship.

The week before Jo got baptized his dad Paul came to church. I got to meet him and he is super nice and he loves the Arizona Cardinals! But other than connecting and talking a bit I didn't get his number or anything. Then he came to Jo's Baptism and he came over and said H

hi to me. We started chatting and I found out he likes to go running. (I am not a good runner but I have run a lot because of boxing). So I told him we should go running sometime. I naturally get very excited about things and I have heard it can be contagious because he started to get excited as well. So we went our separate ways with no plan in place. After the baptism I walked back over to him and I asked him what time he would like to go running. He said tomorrow morning at 6. Now this was a Saturday so the next day was Sunday. One thing my Dad has taught me since President Nelson's talk about the Sabbath day is asking myself what is my sign to God. Ever since I really learned what he meant, I have never justified another activity on Sunday, I have done things that show God it is His day. With that in mind physical exercise is not something I normally do on Sunday, however I knew my purpose, I knew the sign I was showing to God was not about staying in shape, it was about caring for one of his lost sheep. So I say awesome and we plan it and my only goal is to make another friend. To make a genuine connection because Jo has become a genuine friend. And so we meet up, we run over two hills back and forth so Elder Fenton can be in sight and sound, and we just start talking as we are running. Talking about everything. We talked all about my life experiences, what his advice is and naturally it led to how I became a missionary. 

As the conversation flowed I taught him the entire restoration including the different witnesses of the Book of Mormon and the beauty of how it testifies of Christ. I told him that I truly was converted from reading the scriptures every day, and he said he is going to start doing it. It was a super spirit filled time. One of the biggest on my mission, and it all started with the desire to be a true friend. That is something my mom taught me.

I was thinking the other day about something I shared in my farewell talk. It was about when I was 11 and my scout group had only 3 people. I loved them but there isn't a ton of games you can do with so few people. I expressed my concerns to my mom and she simply said, "start making friends and invite one to scouts". So I did, and the friend that came has taught me more lessons about missionary work than anyone or anywhere else. Cash came to scouts and became one of my best friends. After a few months his family (who at the time was less active which I didn't know) started to come to church and they were reactivated. One simple, and in the words of Elder Lambert "woefully inadequate" 11 year old boy looking for friends got to partake of the fruits of the gospel.

It's taken me all of my short life and 7 months on my mission to truly begin to understand this principle. Because of this family, I will never forget the importance of making friends again.

Once again all my love to you guys! 

Elder Hixon 

Trash and Changes

Ok I am so sorry but last week I just forgot to send a weekly so you will get two this week!

So we were running around all last week trying to see as many members as possible, and for some reason I just felt like picking up trash everywhere I went. There are lots of bottles of vodka, trash wrappers, and other grosser things in the streets so I followed the little prick and started picking them up. Now nothing crazy happened. We didn't get some amazing physical miracle dropped in front of us but I did learn a valuable lesson. A lesson of great worth. More than I could imagine for simply picking up trash.

As I was picking up trash I really started to see the effects of people being too lazy to throw things away. I decided then and there that that would never be me. It made me think about some of God's commandments. One I thought of was serving others. When I serve others, a little like like picking up trash, I feel the spirit and I feel good. As I serve, I also start to develop a spirit that would never want to hurt anyone. You could liken that to the same feeling as never wanting to litter. It's like living a lower law elevates us to want to live in a higher and holier way. Doing the smaller thing helps us not only use self control in keeping God's laws but it also changes our literal spirit toward a desire to live a higher law. I believe serving changes who we are. If I struggle with getting mad and saying unkind things I need to serve. If I struggle with being 100% faithful and honest, I need to serve. Through service we can open the door for the Lord to change our hearts. Our desires begin to align with Christ and then we can become His true representatives. Jesus Christ refers to Himself repeatedly as the Father. Since the Trinity became a thing in the 4th century, its polluted His message. What Christ teaches me when He says "I am the Father" is that His very being is aligned with God so there is no distinction. I am striving for that unity of purpose as well. We all are. As I strive to have the same desires as Christ, I can more Boldy represent him. 

In Hebrews we learn about the word Boldness. It means authority. With authority I teach and invite. But whose authority? God's. God is the only person in existence with authority, Christ's authority comes from Him and so does mine. But I need to continue to change. Not just change my actions, but my desires. I need Him to help me do that. I need to engross myself in service so God can mold my soul to become more like Him. If I can work to become better at that on my mission I will become more like Him which will be better than anything I could hope for.

Love you all!

Elder Hixon 

Desirable Fruits!

The week went by too fast! Wednesday we had a visit from President Cook! And Saturday we had stake conference. And also on Saturday Jo set a baptismal date! Lots of good things happened this week!

One thing that put my heart at rest was what President Cook was teaching. Everything he was saying was another testimony to what I have felt is right, to what Brother Vargas had said and to everything I have been learning. Another interesting thing was what happened once I fully submitted myself to the mission defined standards.

Some of you might not know this but in the England London Mission we have an additional set of standards to compliment the ones the church has put out. I had a difficult time with these because they were very constraining. But I found out that one of the people who were responsible for the creation of these was my current companion  *wow*. When I found this it I decided that I really wanted to sustain him, so for 3 weeks I was completely obedient to each and everyone, I studied and applied. But after the three weeks we got a notification saying that the standards have been updated and a lot of the direct rules are gone. It was almost as if God was telling me, "I don't care what you are actually doing but I care that you love me enough to be obedient." I feel really grateful that I had that change of heart that let me see some of the fruits of this obedience :)

God works in mysterious ways. About 2 and a half months ago I started practicing português and I still am not very good at it but I met a ward member in Kingston who is still teaching me.  I got to the point where I can set up lessons on my own. Once that happened we started getting three português referrals about every two days and I was so excited! Now the referrals have calmed back down but just by attempting to follow the spirit, God multiplied my efforts. Once again I was able to partake of another fruit, the fruit of diligence.

And now back to Jo, Jo is super cool. He was being taught for a while before I got to the area and I wasn't going to jump in and offer him a baptismal date so I just started to get to know him. And would you know it he also loves combat sports so we clicked really fast. We met up at the park and just basically had another recent convert and Jo teach the plan of salvation to another friend we are teaching. And at the end I interrupted and said, "Jo I want you to pray for a baptismal date and I'll call you this weekend and we will pray together and set it" Had I not taken the time to get to know and understand Jo, that invitation may not have carried as much meaning. But he did pray. I did pray. And then my companion and I prayed. Then all three of us prayed together. And we landed on May 31st!! That is the last fruit I want to highlight this week. The fruit of connecting!

When we partake of desirable fruit we want to share it. That's the entire tree of life and Alma 36. So these are the fruits I tasted and I liked them. So thank you for letting me share them :)

Love you all

Elder Hixon