17. From Elder Steve Hill

An excerpt from a letter I received while serving in Rio de Janeiro in February 1969 from Steven J. Hill, a friend from my freshman year at Brigham Young University, who was then serving in the Germany South Mission. I quoted this paragraph in my missionary journal under date of February 22, 1969, and then stated, “There was much more, but this most impressed me.”

We’ve met some good people, but as a whole the race seems somehow awkward and disgustingly, though I suppose understandably, bound by tradition. I have, though it’s been a fight, developed a much stronger testimony, one I can never deny. I’ve developed a tremendous appreciation for the Prophet Joseph Smith, and a greater understanding of the mission of the Savior, and therein gratitude and appreciation for the gospel of Jesus Christ.