Workin' Never Smirkin'

Dearest Family, Friends, etc. important people,

I learned from Elder Craner last week that Gerardo was baptized. I'm extremely excited for him, and the choice that he made. The Lord truly gathers his prepared people.

Elder Craner, his new companion and Gerardo.
Gerardo was baptized not last Saturday, but the one before. FANTASTIC!

Another fruitful week in Austin and things are looking up. I am beginning again to remember the dreams I have at night. While I had a few interesting ones this week, I probably won't share them.

We had a Spanish conference this week. I was able to see some great other missionaries that I've had the pleasure of serving with, and others as well. We did plenty of interpretation exercises. For example, we would listen to a paragraph of a conference talk in English, and then translate it to Spanish. We would translate an English speaker actively as they spoke, and plenty of other activities. I loved the motivating atmosphere that existed there. I am so close to passing the tier 3 test of Spanish, I can nearly taste it. Just 25% more until I ace it!

Last P-Day Activity as a zone

They also talked about using our Spanish hours to plan out what we are going to do to improve our Spanish throughout the day. I realized that there is more that I can be doing to make use of my Spanish during the day, even as we teach, preach, and communicate in English with most of the people here.

Tony, unfortunately missed church yet again. He's exerting himself a bunch to keep the commandments that we have taught him so far, but he barely missed the opportunity to attend. He accepted the message quite quickly; it makes sense for those we work with to have concerns in some areas while they are void of them in others. Ken did not make it either, which was sad, but livable.

These wards feed us too well. If they don't stop, I'm going to get fat. Almost every evening we eat with a new family and enjoy the spirit of their home. The tricky part is asking the right questions to help them to share the gospel with their family and friends. Full time missionary really is a fancy way to say missionary work assistant. I've grown to notice that this work isn't so much of getting the help of members, but helping them.

Could I give y'all a request? Think of the most odd-ball sentences you can, and send them to me. I can translate those, and hopefully learn some new words as I go along.

Some other pictures for you to enjoy:

I found my home street!

We love the members in our area, and not just because they feed us well.

Tony and Stanyelle and kids at their baptism.  How I would have liked to been there!

Questions and Answers

How are you and Elder Hovinghoff doing in your efforts with Ken and Tony and his family and Elliot?

As described above. Elliot actually lives outside of our area. As sad as that could be perceived as, it is great that other missionaries will have the opportunity to work with him.

How is your Spanish studying going?  

As well as it can, with improvements on the way. Elder Hovinghoff and I like to take about fifteen minutes each Spanish hour to study together. I'm working on boosting my vocabulary and my ability to translate hard things. The evidence of the gift of tongues in my mission is abundant. Never in my wildest dreams would I be able to grow so rapidly outside of a missionary environment, Spanish area or no.

Are there in your and Elder Hovinghoff's apartment with more than one companionship or just you two?  

We got the whole world (apartment), to ourselves . . .

What has the Spirit taught you this week? 

Mistakes and sin are a natural part of life. I've come to realize on my mission that people are imperfect and need repentance. Repentance is an immediate remedy that would act as a salve for all mistakes. And when I do make them, which surely will happen, I can trust in the undoing power of Christ.

Have you felt any hints of Autumn?   

Vaguely. The calendar is the biggest hint. The next biggest is the night falling earlier each evening. Coming up in third place is degrading heat. I've survived two Texas summers, woot!

I suppose the Halloween decorations are another example.

Have you has any animal companions around?

Compared to Tenth Ward and Carrizo, Carriage Park does not have as many companion sized animals. Although in Lago Vista, the deer pretty much roam free with little care about what surrounds them. It almost makes me angry how oblivious they are, but a then I remember that they are deer, and there really isn't a reason to be irritated. I suppose though, they might become a hindrance if we were to hit one with the car!

Does Elder Hovinghoff also like smoothies?

I believe so. He makes slightly different ones that I do.

--

-Elder Hall

Texas San Antonio Mission