Busy Week!!!

  Well hello again my dear friends and not so dear family. I
regret to inform you that this weeks email will actually have some
stuff in it. I'd like to apologize for my boring emails in the past
but sometimes life is boring. So don't complain and don't ask
questions.... Mom...... ;)
     This week was awesome! Like I just said a ton of stuff happened!
        To start P-Day we had a big party in our zone at a park including a
relay which was unfair for the part they put me in.... They paired me
and my companion against 2 sisters for a wheel barrel race. When one
of you holds the other persons legs and that person has to run on
their hands and stuff.... Quite unfair because that's really the only
muscle I manage to workout on out here so it was no competition, sorry
Hermanas....
        We then proceeded to have a water balloon fight. Which turned bad
because I nailed one of the Sisters in the face...... I'm a bad
person... And District Leader too, because she's one of the
missionaries in my district.... Hopefully she'll forgive me one day.
Once again, Sorry Hermana.
        So that was all fun. After that I went on exchange with our Zone
Leaders. I got to head up to the Cedar Lakes area for a couple days
which was super fun. I learned a new way to knock doors that makes
things less awkward.
        On the exchange I saw a funny sign, was given some free Girl Scout
cookies( that I promptly ate the whole box by myself)... Oh and I also
got attacked by a dog.... Thankfully I buy thicker pants so it didn't
break any skin. It was quite funny. It didn't scare me really at all
and after we got out of the situation my companion was freaking out
and kept asking if I was ok. He obviously had some sort of adrenaline
going on but I was in the whole "Just another day on the Job" zone.
        Then on Wednesday me and my companion made cookies to take to a few
people! They turned out super delicious and I now have to make another
batch because we're selfish and ate too many of them....
        Now for the first big event of the week! Elder Dube of the Seventy
came and spoke to our mission! It was really funny because a little
bit into the meeting he used the scriptures to call us all out about
not speaking up in the discussion he was trying to start. I was
laughing.
        Then the next day which was the Highlight of my week!!! We got to go
to the Philly Temple Open House! The Greenwalds were kind enough to
take us to it and it was an amazing experience, not to mention the
first time I'd been to Philadelphia. The temple was absolutely
beautiful and it was really cool to see how many Non members were
there! In our tour group I kept having people asking me questions
about the temple. It was kind of annoying and cool at the same time
because I was trying to experience and enjoy it while people kept
coming to me for answers! All good though. The Architects and
designers all did an amazing job of keeping to the Patriotic feel of
Philly. One of the coolest things I repeatedly saw throughout was two
feather quills next to each other. One representing the Translation of
the Book of Mormon, while the other represented the signing of the
Declaration of Independence. Also in the main lobby there are two
paintings. One of Jesus Christ and the other of all the Forefathers
signing the Declaration. Everything was just amazing.
        After our tour we talked to a couple locals to find the best
Cheesesteak place and began our second quest for the day. This place
also happened to be past Independence hall and that whole area so we
got to see a lot of that cool stuff from a distance! And then we had
lunch... The Cheesesteak was absolutely delicious but I'm pretty sure
it's what made me sick for the next day.... Totally worth it.
        Saturday I ended up sick most of the day which sucked.
And then Sunday we had Stake Conference! Which was super cool. It all
ended up being focused on member missionary work and what the members
need to be doing.
        Thankyou all for your support and love. I hope everything is going
great on the Homefront!

                      Elder Anthony Sleigh Hicks
                  New Jersey Morristown Mission

Good Morning!

 Buenos Dias Hermanos y hermanas
     I hope all of you had a fantastic week! Because I did!
To start we got a new Ward Mission Leader..... And he is awesome! The
work is definitely going to start progressing here in Clinton with the
great member work we have going on here! I love this Ward!
    We also actually had someone be nice to us when we were knocking
doors all day on Saturday! Never in my mission so far have I gotten
the response "We super busy right now but could you guys come back in
like an hour?" That was an unexpected. I guess I just got to used to
everyone being like "Nope, to busy, get off my property."
   I personally had an amazing spiritual moment this week though. One
of the Missionaries in my district asked for a blessing and it felt
odd because I hadn't given one in a while. Back in Bayonne I felt like
we dished those out like candy but this was one of maybe 3 I've given
since I got to Clinton. Not a bad thing at all it was just an
interesting observation.... But back to this blessing. Being a
missionary and a ever growing Member of this church I'm always trying
to understand one thing in particular. That is how I feel and
understand the Holy Ghost, or Spirit, and how it works through me.
    Giving a Blessing is one of those things that you really have to
listen to the spirit. It is so hard to just let God speak through you
without accidentally adding your own words. Without taking over the
phrases. Very hard indeed to not "Think". I've found that in many
cases we as people "Think" way too much. This Blessing that I was able
to be the conduit for was probably the first moment in which I felt
that it was not me speaking at all.... None of the words were mine.
With my eyes closed I felt as if I was no longer looking and feeling
through my body, but that I was temporarily floating to the side or
above, that those hands were not mine at that moment. It was an
amazing experience. Blessings are awesome and I hope that missionary
felt the Spirit as much as I did during that moment.
      Other then that nothing to big happening this week. I got a
haircut today.... So that's nice.... Ummmm oh and I sang one of our
investigators happy Birthday with a ukulele.... That was nice..... Fun
times indeed. Go Team Jesus!

                      Elder Anthony Sleigh Hicks
                  New Jersey Morristown Mission

(The following is Anthony's email form 8/15 that I forgot to post)

 Hello good Monday subjects of mine! I hope all is well in the Kingdom.
This week was a weird one indeed. I don't know if everybody is the
same but... My brain kinda explodes when the routine is shattered....
        To explain this week do to a few people being out of town and things
not working out a few of our usual routine weekly things that we do on
a set day and time every week got cancelled. All of the sudden we had
multiple hours to fill that we've not had to fill in a long time...
Whether or not we get something to do during that time my energy saps
completely for some weird reason... If somebody knows the science
behind that please send me the pill that fixes it.
    Anyways it has also been ridiculously hot and humid. My two
favorite things in the whole world when it comes to weather! We've
also had some awesome lightning storms or the last 2 weeks and it has
rained very, very hard. They can keep us missionaries from swimming
but they can't stop us from walking through walls of water!!!!
Muaahahah.
    I did my first exchange as a district leader which was weird. How
am I supposed to be an example for these missionaries when they're
obviously better then me. It's all good though. It's fun to work with
the newer missionaries. Let's me see where I was at 9months ago and
compare what has changed.
    Teaching the Gospel is great! Sorry I don't have much to talk
about this week. Kind of a slow one but that's alright.
    Here is a picture of a rabbit.... That I may or may not have first
commented that "He is lucky New Jersey blocks guns".... Or else this
fella may or may not have turned into a mid afternoon snack..... Who
knows.... I could be lying... Maybe.

Meetings...And long drives

Good Morning fellow human beings....
        Twas quite the week!!!
The theme has very much been Meetings.......
        Wednesday was annoying because we had to drive an hour to go to our
interviews with the president which is good and all.... It's just a
long drive and we're a little regulated on miles is all...
        Then on Thursday we had to make that same hour long drive to go to a
big mission conference! Woohoo...
This was a great conference though. President Taggart actually had his
neighbor, who is not a member, train all the missionaries on
non-verbal communication which was really cool and really funny
because there were several missionaries who said very blunt comments
about other churches(which weren't totally correct) to the guy
training us and he would always joke and snark back that he's a
Catholic.... But it was an amazing training and the guy really knew
his stuff! Gonna use a lot of it through the rest of my life. You'll
never be able to hide what you're thinking from me ever again!
Muuuwahahahahah!!!!
        We also got our big training on Facebook.....
        So in case you haven't noticed yet I have been using Facebook quite a
bit lately! And it is super helpful!!! It makes it way easier to
contact investigators and members. We can also use it to send stuff to
our investigators like videos or links which have really helped out a
bunch already! Also if you guys see anything that a missionary posts
you should like it so that it can get to more people! Spread the word
to the world!!!!
        Something super cool that happened this week is that we had an
amazing lesson! The spirit was so strong and I could really see the
person we were teaching's mindset change through the whole lesson.
They were so excited to read the Book of Mormon afterwards! It really
gave me a boost for the week... Because meetings really drain it out
of you...
        A big bonus for the week also was getting to partake of delicious
food at some of my favorite members houses this week. So that's pretty
fun too. I absolutely love this Ward here.... Maybe it's just because
I've only served in 2 wards but this one is awesome and I genuinely
feel like we as missionaries are really a part of it. Not just those 2
dudes who cycle through every once and a while. It means a lot to
us.... So if you see the missionaries say hi to them, be their friend,
because they left all theirs  behind to help the area you live in.
Just sayin....
Thank you for all the support you guys give us as missionaries, it
really helps! Stay awesome and keep on spreadin the word! Love you
all, until next week....

                      Elder Anthony Sleigh Hicks
                  New Jersey Morristown Mission

I figured I got to have at least one picture to send, so here is my beautiful face.

Facebook Launch!

Hello my good friends and Family members! Twas and interesting week,
Twas indeed.....
To start off I got my new Companion on Tuesday. His name is Elder
Owens and he is from Clinton, Utah. Ironic right? He's pretty cool
even though he doesn't say Clinton, or Hunting, or Mountain
correctly... His dad is like a Speech Pathologist or something.
Apparently some people don't believe that the Utah way to speak is the
right way to speak..... I call blasphemy.
        Our weather has been the exact opposite since my last email... It has
been on and off pouring rain for the last week....  I thought the
humidity before was bad....
        I've also been called to be a District Leader was was really
interesting on Wednesday when we had District meeting because I'm
supposed to give trainings to the missionaries in my district for an
hour and a half... Except the higher ups didn't inform me on what to
train on until the morning of. So I got to practice my wonderful
skills of "Wingin' it" and come up with a discussion about finding
people to teach on the fly... I think they need to do trainings for
Wingin it.... I feel like that's what we do half the time no matter
how prepared we are. I credit my mother for all past trainings on that
subject for myself, thanks mom.
        It's different being a district leader. Not that I'm begging for
leadership but I feel so much better as a missionary, and more
motivated. And it was really weird because I got called and a switch
flicked in my head and now I spend half my time thinking about my
district and trying to think of ways to help them. It's really
different. But I love the feeling! Hard to explain but maybe some of
you can understand it in someway.
        Anyways for the BIG NEWS!!! If you hadn't seen yet Facebook/Online
Proselyting is now open in the New Jersey Morristown Mission! We can
now start Using good Ole Facebook to talk to our members and
investigators and to help find and interact with people in our area's
And AROUND THE WORLD! We now have the ability to teach anyone
anywhere. Though Face to Face is better interaction, there are just
sometimes that that isn't gonna happen. This is an awesome new thing
to be a part of and our Mission is one of the Test Missions. They
haven't even finished all the manuals and videos to train us yet, all
of them have "Draft July 2016" stamped on them. So this'll be a cool
experience and we'll see how well it works out.
        Thank you guys so much for all your support and love and I hope it's
all going well for you.
                      Elder Anthony Sleigh Hicks
                  New Jersey Morristown Mission

 Young Elder Eduardo Hicks testing out the badge