The Work Hastens in my View

Hello Everyone!

Right about now the work seems to go even faster. As a missionary, every week seems faster and faster. I still have many months left, but I don't want to waste a single day. From the emails I've read, so many things have changed at home. I can hardly process all of the good and difficult things that are happening at home. Stay strong, everyone.

Questions from Matt. W:
Is your companion taller than you?

No, he isn't. But the height difference isn't large, and he looks taller than me when we sit down.

What color is your tie right now? OR ARE YOU EVEN WEARING ONE!?!?!?
Maroon. Maroon with two white stripes.

Questions from Mom:
How have members of the Church in your area been able to assist your work?
I love this question.

Members mean everything in missionary work. They can unlock the way for missionaries to touch people's hearts.

   The members helped us this week by fellowship neighbors. We had a wonderful pioneer day party on Saturday, and while Elder Scroggs and I invited several people to this party, only the people invited directly by members ever came. We weren't demanding of the people we invited, but the fellowship that members engage in is quite different than the love Missionaries show.

Members also help us by doing work that we can't efficiently by ourselves. Member are awesome :). I'll leave that at that.

What is your favorite San Antonio style food you have encountered? 
My companions favorite is "Tacos Al Pastor." This dish is authentic, and reminds me of the gyro, like ones you can buy in New York City. My favorite so far is "Chicken Mole". The mole has a slight sweet taste to it, and normally you roll up tortilla to eat the mole like the tortilla was a spoon. Yum.
 What is the most wonderful way that the Spirit has guided you this week?  

This question is very difficult. The spirit has guided me in many ways, and I don't feel like I can judge which is most wonderful. I did, however, receive the chance to give a priesthood blessing to Bruno.

What is the most important thing you have learned this week (anything of physical, mental, spiritual, sociality -any category of learning)?

 As a missionary, it is extremely important that my faith stays in Christ, and not in results. This will bring true success. Also, I learned it is important to love my companion.

Have you seen any turtles in your area : )? 

Yes, I did, I saw some in a family's home that we visited. This family lives in the Sister's area, so we don't see them too often. We went to their house to give a blessing to the father, and a daughter who will go through operations this week, and then a blessing of comfort to the mom.

I saw them in a tank as we came in.

Alright, this week was jam packed with many share-able things.

First off, on Friday I went on my second exchange with Elder Lundstrom. Elder Lundstrom is an assistant to President Slaughter, and I learned many things from him. His companion and he are urgent about all of their decisions. They understand that the time they have is precious. This missionary is full of love for everyone he meets, and I felt it abundantly during the time we spent on the Lord's errand.

 Speaking of the Pioneer Day Party on Saturday, it helped me feel a good taste of home. The members of our ward treat us kindly, just like the ones back home. We had a watermelon eating contest, and I completely thought that Elder Scroggs would win. He didn't.

Here's a picture of myself and Elder Lundstrom:

​

-Elder Hall

P.S. I love the emails. I promise that I will read them, even if I don't reply specifically. Questions help too.

My Favorite Thing in San Antonio

Greetings, everyone!

Here are some questions I got:

Questions- 

Are you in contact more with Spanish speakers than English speakers this week?

Honestly, hard to tell. Probably more English. The reason why my emails are in english  is because our neighbors are typically english speaking. I try to surround myself in Spanish from time to time, but I still think in english. I still pray for the gift of tongues often.

What is the most peaceful experience you have had this week?

The Frost family invited us to dinner yesterday. They live pretty far away from our apartment, and because of how our scheduling ended up, we had little time to get there. I don't think I've ever had more fun "biking my heart out" in my life. Meaning, we biked vigorously, but I enjoyed it. When we arrived at their home, I was very tired. They were extremely understanding to us, and I loved to learn about their family. After we ate dinner and Brother and Sister Frost showed us family pictures, Elder Scroggs and I sang Joseph Smiths First Prayer with them.
By the end of the song, I felt great peace. The type of peace that only the message of the restoration (Joseph's prayer in particular) could bring. I love this message.

 What was the most encouraging experience you had this week?

I'll talk more about this later, but I sang "Abide With Me Tis Eventide" for zone conference this week. This experience encouraged me because I knew the Holy Ghost was comfortable with my singing. If that makes any sense. :)

What was the funniest thing that happened this week?

This week was really funny in general. In between a few appointments we stopped and knocked at this one house. The house was pretty tall, and had a window directly above us as we waited at the front door. Next thing we know, this man pops his head out of the window and says he wasn't interested. I had no idea where the voice was coming from, so it was pretty hilarious when I saw him. Well, I suppose the context made it funnier than it sounds.

This was the first thing that comes to mind.

This week I had my very first Zone Conference. Future missionaries, get excited for them. They are wonderfully long, but you'll like several parts in between.

President Slaughter talked about remembering who we are. As missionaries, we do know that we are called by a prophet to serve the Lord. We often times forget that we are also part of Israel, and we can know our lineage through patriarchal blessings. He told us that as we come to know who we are, our desire to invite others to discover these same truths will increase (not exactly the words he used). We aren't simply Israelites either. We are children of God, chosen to declare this same knowledge to others. And we will receive help to do this.

During Zone Conference, I had the chance to sing a solo with Sister Woodward as my accompanist. I didn't sing a special arrangement, but I did sing with my heart. Part of what humbled me with this opportunity was I knew a few other missionaries in my Zone who could sing very well. Perhaps sing better than me. But because Elder Rogers, one of my zone leaders, asked me to sing, I did it. I loved this experience.

Our district has had great success this week. I had the chance to attend two baptisms this week, and we only missed another because we had a lesson with Bruno (amazing man who I will talk about later) we had. Another thing I learned from Zone Conference was success depends on how we work. Often times the agency of others will interfere with a person's progress, but it will not change the success we receive for working hard.

Elder Scroggs and I met Bruno a few weeks ago as we traveled to meet with the Rubio family. He was outside working with two young guys that he paid. To keep it short, we talked, he liked us, offered us some "big red" soda which I didn't want to refuse. Because I couldn't drink all of it then, I put the rest of it in an empty bottle I had. That bottle spilled (still a bit embarrassed about this, but no worries :)) while we were biking.

Since then we've visited him a few times. I'm not sure if he completely understands why we want to visit him, but he's progressing. His christian heart reminds me that I can pray to help him, but not influence his agency.

Thanks for all of the prayers. I have felt them immensely from family, friends, and family of friends.

-Elder Hall

 

P.S.  Here's a photo of the missionaries serving the Windcrest Ward.  From left to right, Hermana Woodward, Hermana Pyper, Elder Hall, Elder Scroggs

 

 

 

Ripped Slacks

Hey Y'all!

Hard week this week, but totally worth the difficulties. All of my mission will be, and I'm not just saying that. Thank you's to Mom, Dad, Erin, Nat L., Matt W. for emails.

Yesterday ripped my first pair of slacks. It was pretty traumatic :). It was late as Elder S. and I came into our apartment complex, and because the entrance has a few mini strings of potholes there, I fell over as I made a left turn. The pants probably won't recover from the experience, and the scrapes I got from the fall on my leg hurt a bit, but I was able to treat the bleeding and I'll be alright.  The battle scars were well earned, I think.

Another highlight from the week was when we met Grace, a rough, tough Jesus fan with a contagious, positive personality. That day (Thursday) we were looking for directions when we passed by his house. At first he said something to the effect of "Nope. Move along," as if he thought we were going to talk to him. He was right. After I hollered over to him to ask for directions, we discussed streets and eventually started talking about Christ. This guy is awesome. I love how he hasn't let his past depress him, even though it was troubled and dangerous. He invited us to go eat tacos with him on Saturday too. I couldn't wait for the tacos and talking with him, but we had a misunderstanding with the time we were supposed to meet him, but we'll get another opportunity to talk with him.

Earlier last week I had my first exchange. A missionary exchange means two companionship swap a missionary with each other, and spend a day like this. I swapped places with Elder Braathen, one of our zone leaders, and I got to spend a day with Elder Hendricks. Boy, exchanges take a lot out of you because of the rapid change, but I loved talking and learning from Elder H. He's from Bountiful, Utah. He was in student council, he sang in choirs, preformed in musicals, and I could relate with him in other areas as well. Plus, he had a real power to maintain positive energy about everything that happened. I accompanied him during a lesson with Patricia, a kind chatterbox. Because Randolph ( Elder H's and Elder B's area) is so large, we drove in a car, and we visited several people in short amounts of time. Pretty awesome.

Questions from home:
How are you doing?
Pretty good. Stressed, but good.
Last week was difficult. On Thursday we met a bunch of people on the streets in between visits who were willing to talk to us.

What is the most encouraging thing that happened this week- maybe with the Dillard family?
We went out to dinner with a member named Adam, and just before we left the apartment to wait for him to pick us up, we discovered his non-member friend was going to come with him. Raul, his friend, was really nice to talk with and every part of his countenance showed me that he was prepared. We hope to teach him again today. Please pray for him, and for his family, who we have yet to meet but I have a feeling they could use the prayers. We all could.
Plus, that meal was at Whataburger, which easily surpasses In-'n-out Burger. I was not disappointed.

Also, Sis. Johnson, an older lady, has changed for the better as we meet with her. During our last lesson with her, we tried to show her a Restoration Video that was about 20 minutes long. Her DVD player wasn't plugged in properly, so I had the chance to work with wires to tackle the problem. I managed to fix it well enough that we could watch the video. Also the couple that helps us fellowship her and comes to lessons regularly, the Watkins, have been instrumental in this teaching process. Without members help, missionaries might as well try to run Apple ourselves. It would probably be easier.

How has the Spirit helped you this week?

The Spirit has helped me to know that I am a person of value, and that my effort in serving the Lord only adds to that value. And the Atonement means more to me every week as a result of the atonement.

Questions from Matt W.:

So how was your first day in the mission field?

It went pretty relaxed. Got to know Elder Scroggs, we visited a few people in the afternoon, and I was introduced to frequent stopping during a bike trip. Those stops caused me to trip. A lot. Sure, I felt stressed, but the biking did help to relieve the stress.

Compared to then, do you feel like you know what you're doing? Do you feel comfortable leading lessons or anything?

Comparatively, yes. I'm growing little by little. I don't lead every lesson or every conversation, but when I do, I know the spirit is there.

How much Spanish have you used? Have you learned any new Spanish? From your emails it seems like you don't encounter anybody who doesn't speak English.

What's the most embarrassing thing you've done so far?

During lessons with spanish investigators is when I have used the most Spanish. I've learned that the Mexican people here in Texas are very relaxed and aren't anxious about correcting there own grammar. Or yours. I can't think of anything too embarrassing right now, but speaking to natives is nothing but awkwardness and embarrassment. It's only there if you look for it.

How many emails (like average) do you get per week? Obviously i'd guess from me and your parents, but how many of your friends write you? Ward members? Any family?

About 15ish. Some are from MTC friends, others are mission related stuff, and the rest are from family and a few friends. Every email is appreciated.

 

Learning to Love The Work

Greetings everyone!

Mom, Dad, I'm very glad Erin will come to visit some time today. Can't tell you how many times I think of her, and you two as well. Wish love to her family as well, for me. Same to Tracy.

Last monday I had my first opportunity to visit an HEB (Texas pride makes the place well known : )) and buy groceries. Elder Scroggs and I bought two huge watermelons for pretty cheap. We haven't opened the second one but we took a big chunk of of the first one Saturday night. It was a well deserved dessert, I think.

I'm getting to know the members a little bit better with every dinner we have with them. We met with the Rodriguez family, biked really hard to met for an appointment, and then visited with the Scott family afterwards. It was a bit difficult because each place we stopped at was at a different corner seemingly of the area Elder S. and I cover, but I felt the power of our fast strengthening us. Additionally, we heard testimonies from the Rodriguez family and the Scotts, and that was well worth the travel time. Oddly enough, I love biking!

Preach My Gospel helps out a ton. During the hour study time we are given each day for Personal Studies, I like to read one of the chapters and study the scriptures it uses. This morning I looked at chapter 9, "How To Find," or a similar title. For those of you who are interested in going on a mission, or are mission age, I suggest you read this sometime during the week when you're feeling a bit discouraged with life. It'll prepare you more for your mission, and it's pretty cool anyways.

This week also had one of the most spiritually lead experiences I've ever encountered in my life. On Wednesday, Elder Scroggs and I tracked a little bit in Brown, one of the areas farthest away from our apartment. We had some success, but otherwise we were going to knock on ONE last house before we unhooked our bikes and left. As we approached this one house, I saw through a screen door a man approach us and invite us in. His invitation was a warm welcome. The way he treated us lead me to believe that Elder Scroggs had taken me to a members home. It wasn't one. We sat down and talked with him, his wife, and his daughter who was a little bit older. This family absolutely loves missionaries and called it a "rare occasion," almost in the same way you would describe a trip to an amusement park. Everything about these people lead me to believe that this family has been prepared to hear the gospel for a long time. Both parents are teachers at a highschool, and have known mormon students they taught.

We proceeded to teach them The Restoration, using a pamphlet to help guide it. The father knew much more about our church the mom, but these were prime contacts. I felt so blessed that I could teach them with my companion. We haven't visited them since, because the father is busy until the end of the week, but I am confident that they will become members if my pride doesn't interrupt the teaching proccess. And check this out Mom, they come from the Methodist Church. I thought that was pretty cool.

I'm growing accustom to the heat quite well. I love the moisture, and the people here are so kind as to offer water to us when we visit, even when we don't teach a lesson or served them in a concrete way. I want to reflect that love to them as well.

I hope the rest of my current and future missionary friend enjoy /will enjoy their missions. I'm super happy to be here.

-Elder Hall

Here's a picture of my bed, all nicely made. It's just about my size.

I promise I won't keep sending pictures of the apartment. This was all I had that was new, so i went with it. XD

My New Trainer and Companion

Elder Scroggs - My First TSAM Companion and Trainer