Thanksgiving at the Stephens

Email sent home from the Bro. Pat Stephens in San Antonio:

We had the privilege of having your young men at our home for Thanksgiving dinner. We had our neighbors who are nonmembers at our home with us as well. My name is Bro. Pat Stephens and I am in the red shirt behind my wife Shala in the maroon shirt holding our daughter Lucy. McKay is our 4 year old and Brennley is our 7 year old. My mother is wearing the light blue shirt on the far left and was visiting from California. It was a great meal and I can guarantee that your sons were well fed! I was impressed with Elder Loveridge who successfully tried a serving of each of the 5 pies that we had for dessert. Of course this was after his 3 plates of dinner! Awesome Elders, we love them!

Pat Stephens

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to family, friends, etc., etc.

It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving is already upon us. Soon Christmas and New Years, and pretty soon summer will be here, and in a year I'll probably be saying just about the same things.

Thanksgiving is a time to be, well, thankful. I'm grateful of this holiday and how it can be a yearly reminder to not only count our blessings but to be thankful in our circumstances. I'm thankful for the members of Universal City ward. They are extremely generous, and I haven't gone a single day without eating at a member's home with the exception of P-day. The members here are completely willing to help us in several aspects of missionary work, and they lift where they stand. I'm also thankful for the support of members back in my home ward and what they to to help me keep the faith and maintain hope.

Earlier this week we met a different fellow. As we went visiting people in our records, we came across Richard. When we knocked he immediately invited us in and we sat down with him in his garage. After a little while we had learned that missionaries visited him many times before. During those visits he was still struggling with a drinking problem, and as a result was not sober whatsoever during those visits. He managed to quit the habit 9 months ago, and so we were the first missionaries to talk with him while he was sober. The older missionaries still had a tremendously good affect on him, which resulted in him inviting us in so soon. He told us how he would love to read the Book of Mormon, how he felt dissatisfied with his current religion, and wanted to come closer to God. He told us how God was a major help to him during his addiction, and how he strives still to overcome his addiction to tobacco. His wife may not be as interested, so I ask for your prayers on his family's behalf, that they might have softened hearts and be willing to listen to the message of the restoration.

Gloria was sick when we visited with Ramon, so we were unable to teach her. We've now learned that Ramon has read the Book of Mormon twice before, and she's working on a third read through. While she has a testimony of its truthfulness, she's still nervous about baptism, and when we asked when we could come over next, she said "Oh, sometime after the holidays." When we asked if she meant Thanksgiving, she responded, "no, after Christmas." Luckily her son helped us by pointing out that we may not even be there after Christmas. She's still extremely apprehensive though, and we'll do all we can to strengthen her testimony of Christ. Prayers are always welcome, and I thank you for them.

Rain, rain, rain. On Saturday night, it poured like mad. Since Elder Loveridge needed to pick up some medicine, we used the less productive hours in the dark to go pick it up. When we came out, the sky flooded. Walking back to the apartment through the few blocks was like swimming. Our shoes were filled. Luckily, however, we had brought umbrellas with us and the rain only wetted our pride, and not our shirts.

I had tres leches cake for the first time before yesterday. Pretty good. For those of you who don't know, tres leches cake is a local dessert made of several things and three kinds of milk, goats', normal, and sweetened condensed. It's extremely moist. Can't say it was my very favorite, but certainly something to try if you're ever in Texas.

Elder Loveridge and I wrecked on our bikes. No worries, I didn't rip any pants this time, but we both felt silly after it all transpired. Going down a, err, I'm not sure what to call it, basically it's a pathway for water to drain, we came to a part where there was a fairly large drop off. To avoid it, we took the side which was a little bit slanted but otherwise level and a safer way to get to the lower level. Seconds after he got on, Elder Loveridge promptly fell over. Moments later following him closely, I slipped too. Apparently all of the rain had slicked the path making it difficult to go over without slipping. My leg hurts a little from the fall, but I've done much worse.

What else, what else? It seems that Alamo 2nd has been doing fairly well. The people we were working with are progressing, and they still find new people.

A family has already invited us over for Thanksgiving, so I'm not to preoccupied with what is happening then. Holidays such as this one aren't the best time to proselyte, so it might be a lazy day. Those shouldn't happen too often.

I'm grateful for email. Technology has helped the work hasten very much, and it continues to be the way that missionaries and families can continue to communicate. Thanks to everyone who sends a friendly message from time to time.

Questions:

What do the people in the Universal city area do at Thanksgiving- are there turkey pinatas or what?

I don't think there are any turkey piñatas. That would be a little strange. They probably do it just like people in Utah do, except with less snow and more barbecue. I'll just have to find out for myself though.

Has the weather let you use your bikes much this week? 

A fair amount. We don't use them in heavy rain and we no longer ride them at night, but we take them out as often as we can. Feet can't beat wheels for efficiency.

How are Ramon and Gloria doing? 

Gloria's a little sick. Ramon is worried sick. We're leaving this in the Lord's hands, because there isn't an awful lot we can do to help them if we can't visit them.

What was the funniest thing that happened to you this week?

Maybe this wasn't funny, but I had a dream that I got sent home. It was funny that I could remember the dream, and it was funny I couldn't remember the reason why I went home. I dream a lot more often than I remember I did before I left for San Antonio.

In what way(s) has the Spirit been guiding you this week?

Through helping me to study better, through helping us decide who to visit. By touching the hearts of us and those we visit, to allow open conversation to flow. I'll need to come up with more specific things next week. Certainly the Spirit tried to guide us away from crashing, but we did have heavenly protection anyways.

By the way, how is your edifying music player working? Can both you and Elder Loveridge hear it well enough?

It's pretty loud. I don't like the broken switch, but it's a minor nuisance.

Did you locate your glasses?

Yes. I found them underneath the suitcase at the foot of my bed. Probably the last place I would look for it, so it took a while for it to turn up.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Elder Hall

P.S. I suggest that all of you offer at least one prayer of only gratitude this week. Make it as long as you desire, but don't get up if your heart is still full!

Increasing in Faith

Hello family, friends, and all,

A somewhat slower feeling week this week. The last few days we got a fair bit of sprinkling rain, which prevented us from using our bikes those days. Once again, I am very grateful for bikes, and the rate at which they can get us from appointment to appointment. We've really relied on members for rides an help during the darkening hours of the evening. During our first dinner when the weather started turning bitter, the members who fed us took pity on us and gave us both gloves and hats. They even gave Elder Loveridge some thermals and myself a scarf. I won't be needing any more winter gear, probably. That was extremely kind of those members. It did help, however, that this member gets free gear in relation to his work, so we weren't taking anything that the didn't already have a grand excess of.

I've gotten a little bit sick in the past few days. One day I pulled my back somehow, and the day it recovered completely I caught a cold. I am taking my vitamins, but I could probably do better to take care of myself, namely exercise harder and eat smarter.

Somehow, I don't know how, I lost my glasses last night. I had them with me before I went to bed, but I must have done something strange, because they haven't turned up yet. If y'all could put in some extra words in your prayers that I might find them or stop being so weak and get over it, I would appreciate it very much. It reminds me of a night in Windcrest back in my first transfer, when I woke up and found my retainer was under my bed somehow. 

Yesterday we ate with Call family. I was very surprised to learn that Brother Call is the younger brother of my former MTC Branch president, President call. When I took another look, he did look an awful lot like him, and they both sound very similar too. They fed us well and we enjoyed their company, but it did make me a little bit nostalgic when they knew the town I'm from. Oof. Lots of good members in plenty of good places.

This week we met with the non-member mother and non-member cousin of another family in the ward for lunch. There were so many people present at the lesson, however, that it took a very long time for us to share the doctrine that we wanted. It goes to show that gospel study sometimes is more efficient in more personal theaters. Gloria, the cousin, has the desire to be baptized, but is a little distraught that she needs to meet with missionaries in order to do it. She'll need all the prayers she can get in order to overcome Word of Wisdom difficulties. Ramon, the mother, has already read from the Book of Mormon, but doesn't seem as interested in learning more. She too, I think, will come around as she continues to read and pray. In reality, if we as members aren't reading and praying daily ourselves, we  can't continue to know that the church is true. It's a gospel principle for everyone.

On Wednesday we had a zone meeting (our zone only). It went very well. I had my regular interview with the Mission President and I asked him how I could consecrate my fears. He told me that the decision of consecration could be immediate, but the actually change would happen over time. Kind of funny how we need to exercise patience in a variety of ways before we become better. And even then, we do it completely through the grace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. During lunch myself and a few other missionaries wandered a little through the chapel, when this bird runs face first into the glass of a door, and dies. It was so sad, but you couldn't help but laugh at how sudden it was. None of us will live on this earth very long. The time we have to prepare is preciously short.

 With the holidays approaching as fast as they are, we'll need to prepare ourselves to teach like mad during the Christmas Season. Hearts are always softer, words are kinder, and people are generally more receptive to a message of Jesus Christ during the holiday modeled after his birth, Christmas. Please keep the people of San Antonio in you prayers, and pray for an opportunity to lift the life of another during this great time.

Universal city will certainly be a new experience.

 

Will you please tell us more about your new ward area?
Sure.

. . . .


Just kidding.

This ward has plenty of English speakers, but no pure Spanish speakers. Anyone who speaks Spanish in this ward will also be able to speak english. As a result, all of our work is in English. It's a little sad that I can't use my Spanish as often. Instead, I just annoy my companion by saying everything first in Spanish and then translating it into English. Well, that's what I'll try to do.

The members feed us daily. So far in being in this ward, the members haven't missed a single day with us. We have an officially called member in the ward who organizes a calendar and makes sure it gets filled every week. And while we do eat every day, it isn't with the same families every week. It gives us a great opportunity to lift the members of the ward as best as we can.

We have a good sized ward. It covers the three mini-cities of Shertz, Universal City, and Live Oak. Bikes definitely come in handy, but the few days that we've had to walk haven't been entirely fruitless.

What is Elder Loveridge's family like?

A younger family. He's the oldest of four, and from what I understand his mother is a convert. His father served in Brazil on his mission. His younger sister who is finishing up her senior year is planning on serving a mission too. Pretty exciting stuff.

Where does he come in his family as to brothers and /or sisters?   

Two younger brothers and one younger sister.

How has the Lord blessed you this week?

We wouldn't have found Gloria or Ramon at all if it weren't for the members of the ward. Some people you find through hard work. Others come to you as you work hard. Luckily the Lord doesn't bless us in the same ways every single time. If he did, we would begin to believe it was through our efforts that people accepted the gospel, which wouldn't be accurate.

With love for God, and for you all,

-Elder Hall

Movement is Fine, Missionary Work Continues

Good day to you all,

Elder Loveridge and Me Selfie

Yet another change in the mission field. Last Tuesday I found out that I'd be shipped out to Universal City the following day, and I did so. Elder Loveridge is from Ogden area, and he's the first companion I've had so far that is taller than me. He's also a English Missionary, which made me a tad bit sad considering I won't be able to speak my every thought to him in Spanish, but I'll still be able to learn.

This Wednesday a new missionary from Alamo 2nd Ward left on his mission. In about 2 weeks, Elder Galvez will be in the Kenniwick, Washington mission. We attended his setting apart on Sunday, and there were many tears shed -- a majority of them being his. He has an extremely large heart.

Other than that, not much happened in Alamo 2nd happened before they carted me away unexpectedly. We visited a few Recent Converts, had a great first lesson with another couple, and enjoyed our other time that we had. But, let me tell you a little more about Universal City. This area is another Bike area, which means I won't have to worry as much about gaining weight :-). We cover a whole entire ward, different than what we did while I was in Windcrest. There are a variety of different families in the area, and this ward feeds us very well. We make most of our communication with members through dinner messages and when they help pick us up later in the night. I'm still getting to know this area as best as I can, and it'll take quite a while.

I've not spoken any Spanish with anyone except myself, and the only Spanish contact that we've had this whole week. He seemed pretty interested, but when he said his street was called "Navidad," I was pretty sure that he wanted to soft drop us. That was alright thought. It proved to my that my Spanish hasn't completely dissipated yet.

Thursday night we were returning after a failed attempt to visit someone, and Elder Loveridge's chain on his bike snapped in two. After a kind member came and picked us up, eventually dropping us off back home, we had to take his bike to the bikeshop down the road. As a bonus, they took a look at my bike and fixed a few problems that it had as well. But as a result, we did a bunch of walking on friday, and a little bit more when we went to go pick up our bikes. I must say I haven't walked that much in a single day since my mission began. It helps me to feel grateful for the opportunity I have to bike, rather than walk to all of our appointments.

The work in general has been a little slow. Right before I moved into the area, my companion tells me that 6 of our investigators moved out of the area. And so we've had to do plenty of door contacts and looking for more people to teach. Luckily we've been blessed with a few doors opened to us. You'll have to wait until next week to see if the work picks up. All of your prayers on my behalf have been felt. My testimony of the power of prayer has increased especially since all of these crazy changes.

How are you doing in your new area with your two zone leader companions?( It must be very interesting and providing lots of new experiences.)    

Well, only a few. We had another lesson with Jamal. He's extremely humble, and he's very willing to learn.

What has been your favorite experience this week?

Kind of hard to say. We met a great fellow named Eric yesterday, and from what I was told, he has a sincere desire to know if the things we talk about are true. We read 3 Nephi 11 with him, and he seemed to drink in every detail he could. Though it's hard to describe. I felt blessed to meet him. Since he's single's ward aged, he'll likely be taught by the Sister Missionaries who cover the single's ward in this area, so we may not be able to teach him much more.

What are the people in the single adult Ward like?   Have you used either of your sweaters yet?

They are wonderful. They freely take suggestions and do their best to change in order to become better. Also because their schedules are so all over the place, it's very easy to meet with them. Visits late earlier in the day are sometimes as those at night. Which was a blessing. I'm glad that Elder Goodman and Elder Tews are allowed to continue to work in their area.

And yes, both sweaters have come in handy. The day I came in it rained for a full 24 hours straight. I've never seen such rain, and especially not in Texas.

-The gospel continues to sound everywhere. It is true.

Elder Hall

P.S. Hopefully the quality of my emails haven't decreased. All questions you have are welcomed.

Elders Goodman and Tews, my 5 Day Companions

Starting Anew

Dearest Family, Friends, and Ward Family,

I've been emergency transfered.  This just means that I've been transfered earlier than the normal cycle. No injuries here, instead Windcrest A has been dissolved and added to Windcrest B, making a larger Windcrest area. Thursday night the assistants called us and said to pack our bags and be ready by 11:30am the next day. And so we did that.

I'm now working in the YSA ward of Alamo 2nd, which is the area Elder Tews is in. We're companions once more! I'm now apart of the San Antonio West Zone, and Elder Tews is one of my Zone Leader companions. Elder Goodman, our other Zone Leader, is my other companion. My first few days here have been great, but it seems that we won't be teaching anyone in Spanish. Our ward is completely English.

Now all of the sudden I am in a new area. Alamo 2nd has already been quite different from Windcrest. First of all, sacrament meeting is extremely reverent. Not a single crying baby to disturb the silence. I've never been to church in a ward like this. 

Transfer meeting on Thursday was great. President Slaughter talked about the first and second great commandments, and focused on part, paraphrased: "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." He suggested to us that it is a commandment to have love for ourselves, but that this love is different than pride. Sister Slaughter talked about sustaining the decision of leaders, telling a story about her mission. Both helped me immensely in my situations.

While I miss my old area, I know that Sister Johnson and her new trainee Sister Rowley will take care of the ward, especially the recent converts that Elder Tews and I taught. It was a little funny coming back from transfer meeting, because we all got lost coming back to the apartments. On another topic, it was great to see the immense change that Sister Johnson went through in here journey to be baptized. She doesn't smoke anymore and her language is very clean. Even Brother Johnson was making changes before I left. I sure will miss them.

Elder Hernandez and I are companions no more. I wish him the best as he works with the Zone Leaders in North Zone. Now my new companions are Elder Tews (less new to me) and Elder Goodman. Elder Goodman has 9 other siblings, and is the 8th down the line. He has a very kind nature, and he speak sincerely to everyone. He studied Spanish in high school for three years before his mission, and his Spanish is very good. Because no one speaks Spanish in the ward, we speak the language with each other as much as we can.

The first person we visited after I got into Alamo 2nd Ward was George, a recent convert. I found him to be extremely hospitable to us. We shared a chapter from the book of mormon with him and read parts of it (Alma 36), when we asked him if there was anything that we could do for him. He said yes, and he took us to the kitchen in his apartment. With a sense of humor, George asked us to start the washing machine for him, which Elder Goodman readily did. Elder Tews told us after that George had promised him he'd have something for the missionaries to do when they came over next. I got a real good giggle out of this experience. 

Later we met with another recent convert named Sue. Sue is the first member of the church in her family, and her parents don't know she's been baptized already. She told us her conversion story, and it all started with a friends willingness to share his testimony of church. Sue has a strong testimony already, and it was great to learn from her. The funny part was she wore a halloween costume as we taught her, so I didn't recognize her at church. I embarrassed myself by saying, "Nice to meet you." as I saw her at church that Sunday. No worries.

We had great success last night as we went to visit another member of the ward. Soon after we got there, Carlos introduced us to his friend, Jamal. We had a great lesson with him and towards the end he introduced the concern that he had, that he didn't want to change his faith. Jamal being a baptist, we told him that our desires in meeting with him are to help increase his faith in Jesus Christ. After meeting Jamal I felt my vision raise, and my eagerness to serve this ward increase. 

The rest of the night we were extremely blessed. After the visit with Jamal we met another college student and visited with him and his sister. We have a return appointment with him. We later found another person outside and set up an appointment with him. When me moved to another complex we found plenty of people to talk to and set some more appointments. Whether these appointments come through our not might differ, but I felt extremely blessed. In the past Zone Conference Elder Hamula said "opening your mouth is the price you pay," and as missionaries we need to be willing to open our mouth to talk to everyone. Most of those we talk to don't accept the invitation to learn more. But by talking to everyone, we show to Heavenly Father that we will be ready to talk to those He has prepared for us.

I'm extremely excited to work here in Alamo 2nd. Seeing as I'm younger than the majority of the people we visit, I'll be humbled enough to teach a little better. My companionship and I joked that instead of teaching part-member families, we teach part-member apartments.

 

Here's some answers to questions:

How does knowing that there great blessings for all people to obtain (after the tests and struggles) encourage you? 

It brings a measure of hope. All people who decide to join the church, and especially those who are already members will encounter trials. Trials, as I have been taught and have learned, sometimes come because of our sinful choices. Other times they come because Heavenly Father knows we are ready to grow. Growth is a great form of a blessing, but I am glad to know that all those people who make steps to receive saving ordinances such as baptism and confirmation will be able to feel God's love as they do so.

You mentioned that Elder Hernandez played soccer, do you Elders play soccer on P day or is it basketball mostly?

We never went to P-day activities when we were together. We usually took some time to rest in the apartment and do other errands we had.

What was your most important spiritual experience this past week and  How is the Rubio family doing?

I assume they are doing very well. We saw them last Sunday, and all of the daughters are enjoying church. Brother Rubio is as strong as ever, leading his family. Sister Rubio still hasn't decided to be baptized, but attends church and reads the Book of Mormon with her family.

How is your cooking going?

Well enough. I'll probably be doing less cooking here in Alamo 2nd, at least until we all get used to sharing the kitchen space. Elder Wynne our district leader and his companion Elder Duncan share the apartment with us, so there can sometimes be a bunch of people in the kitchen at once. Elder Duncan and Elder Wynne are both great missionaries.

What funny thing happened this week?

Some of the experiences as noted in my email. Being with Elder Tews has been so surreal that we sometimes laugh for no good reason, or for at something extremely plain. I loved knocking doors with him and Elder Goodman last night.

-Elder Hall

P.S. No pictures this week because the public library we use doesn't allow us to send pictures. We'll have to wait until we use the FHC next week.

P.S.S. Those of you reading these from the blog, feel free to send letters to:

Elder Hall
404 E Ramsey Road Ste. 105
San Antonio, TX. 78216

P.S.S.S. I'm not begging for letters, I promise.