Fixed Screen and a Clear View of Life

Dear Family and Such People

Mom, Elder Aguila says thanks for the nuts from Alpine.

Some good news, some normal news, and bad news.  M is still in contact with her member friends, but she dropped us. Her friend suspects that the pressure from family, including the fact that her sister in law became a minister for another church, and that she might have gotten into anti information. Well, it happens sometimes. When her stress normalizes, it might be possible for us to meet with her again. *Sigh*, life happens.

But, in other great news, we met a non-member who is married to a less active member in our ward. V is her name, and she accepted our message with open arms.  She said at one time, "you all came at the right time, and I'm looking for a change in my life." She has a baptism date for the 27th of February. PRAY that she stays strong and faithful even as opposition that may arise, and that we will be able to meet with her husband and reactivate him. We came to meet her with her home teacher, and we didn't catch the husband at home.

I bought a Gyro in a restaurant in the area. Anybody that knows my trip to New York knows that I love authentic Gyros. It was better than the one that I had in Grand Central Station, but not better than the street venders. Much more expensive though.

Otherwise the week was a fairly normal for my mission. I was able to exchange with Elder Mackay, and we learned that we had a lot of similar interests before the mission. We enjoyed good lessons, and scaring away little dogs and deer. There are plenty of deer over there. I grabbed a little cat's tail and pulled it, and it wasn't too happy. Interestingly enough, generally cats don't mind if you pull them up by the tail a little bit, but maybe kittens do. It didn't help my point that I said it wouldn't mind to Elder Mackay, and then it did in fact mind.

And as the subject suggested, I finally got a new IPad screen. It took a couple of days, but I was glad that it finally was done. I was pretty surprised though, because it cost a lot more that I would have expected. 1.5 hundred dollars. Fewf! Remind me not to drop my IPad ever again. I took my notes for the World-Wide missionary broadcast on pen and paper, because I didn't have my IPad back. But then later I just hand typed it into my gospel library app. That took some time, but was worth it.

The broadcast talked a good amount about different principles that we should follow as a missionary. Elder Anderson and Elder Oaks spoke to us, in addition to other people.

Questions and Answers

Have you used the survey again this week, and has continued to help in getting to know the people?

A little bit this week. We haven't had quite as much success as was promised us, but we haven't asked too many people to take it either.

Are you getting any rain and storms headed from the west as we've had them?

Rain, rain, never came, might come by another day. 

How are A and M?   

They've been having some medical concerns, so we weren't able to meet this week.

How is M in the quest to help her be baptized?

Faltering. We might have to pass her along in the future, if she allows us.

How has the Lord's Spirit guided you this week?

You always need guidance during meetings. It was helpful to have it on Wednesday. I liked what they taught that when we ask who people know that might be interested; we ask also, who else do you know?

l love you all. Unless I don't. And that is because I haven't met you yet. J

-Elder Hall

Texas San Antonio Mission

Challenges and Teaching

Dear everyone,

First, an interesting street intersection we passed through the other day on the way to district meeting. We're recognized in Marble Falls!  Look closely at the street direction sign on the stoplight cross pole.  Mission Hill or Mormon Hill, which to choose?

M is doing ok. As her fellowship progressed, it seem that her family (who provides financial support for her) found out that she was meeting with us, Her move back was put earlier on her calendar. She was originally going to move later March, but they are pushing her to get out as soon as she can. *sigh*, At times opposition can come from anywhere, even from family. Prayers are welcome, as we will try to allow her to keep her current baptismal date, and bring some fellowship from her new area to prepare her for the move. It won't do any good for her to have great fellowship here, move out there, and then have little to no connection with anybody anymore. 

Another piece of sad news is that her daughter called her out to pet sit over the weekend, and as a result, she was unable to attend church. Go figure. Next week, then.

We are also working with a couple A and M. Those two remind me heavily of Brother and Sister Johnson who passed away. I did say that right? Yes, I did report that. I believe. Hopefully, anyway, they do not have quite the same concerns as the Johnson's did, but it may be a little bit of a flashback.

The other night, I had a dream that I was assigned to speak Italian in addition to Spanish on my mission. Cool, but I don't think I've met a single person, not including return missionaries, who speaks Italian. There were some other weird things that came into my dream as well. But I now can't remember. Everything is bigger in Texas, even the dreams.

I still haven't gotten my journal back from my last area, and it has become increasingly hard to motivate myself to type my journal. The paper to pen experience is completely gone. Hard to know what to do. So I guess I need to just saddle up and write. Write, write, write.

This week we will be participating in a worldwide missionary broadcast. Who knows what they will teach us, or announce, maybe there will be many new things going on, or possibly none new, just great reminders of the gospel we already have. It'll be quite fun.

I finally found an iPad repair place in the area. Last p-day, we went to the nearest Apple Store that really wasn't so nearby. When we went in, they told us that they would replace the iPad, and that they didn't do screen repairs. I stomped off, a little singed in the pride, and we found a Japanese grill place to eat dinner. We saw this Pokémon store, and I felt like visiting.

But, we found a place that will replace the screen, so that after I'm done emailing today, I won't have an iPad for a few days, most likely. Might not even have it for the world broadcast, which means I might have to go classic pen and paper for the meeting. That would feel weird, considering how much I've used the iPad for note taking.

Finally, here is a picture of Elder Greene who exchanged with me. He is Elder Jason Bushman's cousin, if any of you know him.

Questions and Answers

How have splits with members worked out this past week?     

It has worked out fine. We didn't get anyone to come with us this past week, but we are getting signup sheets going around in the coming weeks, and we should have to shortage of success with them.

Also, in our district meeting of last week, a proselyting senior couple trained us on the use of a survey that is supposed to help us meet new people. We visit houses or talk to people outside, and share a short survey of ten questions, that by the end should open them up to learning more, watching a video, setting a return appointment, etc. We've only had the chance to try it a few times last half of the week when we had it. We haven't taught anything after it yet, but it does open people up to telling us a little bit more about themselves. After all, people don't enjoy so much hearing about you, but telling you about themselves.

Over the long run, how have your challenges shown you Heavenly Father's love for you?  

   

Well, it's like the weight of an exercise machine. Too much will not work, but just enough shreds our muscle and prepares it to grow.

Y'all probably noticed the somewhat anxious quality of my emails at the beginning of my mission. Through a variety of ways, God has trained me to do more with my confidence, and to displace dark anxiety. Being anxious, isn't completely of itself bad. It can motivate us to work if it is used in appropriate amounts. Now it is manageable, now I can use it to my advantage. Now things work quite well.

Does living in an apartment with multiple Elders make your work different in any significant ways?     

Not too much. It's still the same work. Sometimes it helps to have someone else to bounce ideas off of, or someone to talk to other than your companion, but it generally doesn't change too much. More food in the pantry and more mouths to feed?

Have you seen any lizards lately?     

Why yes, I think I -- no. Just kidding. No lizards.

Elder Hall

Texas San Antonio Mission

Crack!

Dear family and friends,

Why do all of my things keep breaking on me?

This week I seemed to have a good amount of things decide to stop working the way that they should. Two pairs of pants ripped. My special touch screen fine tip pen broke. My companion broke one of my pens. Pretty consistently for the last four days or so, something has broken/been ruined every day. Yesterday I found a huge rip in the pants I wore. The day before I dropped my IPad and broke the screen (ouch). The day before the special pen broke, and the day before that the normal pen broke. Well, I'd much rather have those things break, rather then, well, I don't know, my face.

Well, my face on my IPad looks broken too!  :-)

Last week we met a wonderful lady named M. She is the neighbor of the member who took us to San Antonio a couple of weeks ago. She moved from Louisiana and she is a spunky lady. A lot of what she says makes me laugh. She has been reading the Book of Mormon, has accepted a baptismal date for the 30th, and she's moving right along with learning about the gospel. The funny thing is she is likely moving into the Carriage Park area in a few months, and will likely meet the members that I worked with just a couple of months ago. While I'd like her to stay here, well, it's ok.

In a phone call to the area I found out that there will be a few baptisms happening there. T, not the one we worked closely with, will be getting baptized. After the Sister missionaries left the area, I think he got refocused on the important things. I didn't really get to teach him ever while I was in the area. I suppose it is ok though.

This week we had the opportunity to go on splits with a few members. I've never really gone on splits all that much. I believe that I went on splits once or twice in Uvalde, but all the other times I have been with my companion, and they were technically just having the member accompany us. We have the goal to go on splits at least three times each week, with predetermined times to go out with people. We taught with members five different times, and three of which were splits. It was an enjoyable week.

We also had zone conference with Elder Reimschussel and Elder Vergara giving trainings. I love those two missionaries a bunch. And worst of all, Elder Vergara is about to finish his mission. No, you can't leave me too! So far, as I've counted, I think at least 5 missionaries that I served with will still be serving after I go home. That's five out of seventeen so far. Wow. I served with a bunch of great missionaries.

Elder Vergara and Me at the Training

Other than the breaking things this week wasn't really all that bad. We ate at Fuddruckers this past week. It was funny, because I asked for a pretzel bun, but instead they gave it to my companion. I was denied. And although we intended every day this week, basically, to ride our bikes, we ran out of time every day. Oh, and actually I've been sick with a cold this week. I suppose I can add that to the list of broken things. I was a little disappointed because of overcoming the same general thing back in Huebner Creek, only to have it follow me again to here. Pray that I get better, I'm almost there.

Look closely!  This is actually a cake that one of the members made, not actual Scriptures.

Questions and Answers

How are things going with J? 

He decided to stop meeting with us. He said that he wanted to keep the religion of his father and grandfather, in order to stay close to them. Understandable, even though it isn't the best reason. He did however want to keep his copy of the book of Mormon, so maybe it'll touch him some day.

Where did you say Elder Hansen is from, and what are some things about him and his family?      

Colorado springs, Colorado. He has one younger brother. Young family. I think one of my siblings is old enough to be his parent.

How has knowing and working with your companions and other missionaries and other people strengthened you?

I learned last week that salt loses its effects when it is combined and mixed with other things, say for instance, dirt. The fun thing is that I consider my relationship with past companions to be the opposite -- they imbue me with power and strengths that they have and I lack. We often mix and match our abilities and come out stronger than we were before. Life is grand, I say.

How is your weather by the lake?

I can't really say it's much different in comparison to what it was like in Lago Vista in Cedar Park. It's been getting a little colder here, but not as cold as it was last year.

How has the Spirit guided you this week?

I felt that M needed a MoTab choir cd. Hopefully I'm right. Really, the spirit guides us the most in the finer details of the work, like when we plan at night or as we teach. As we are taught though, sometimes the most important decisions the people we teach make happen when we are not there. So we must set them up for success so that they can feel the spirit when they make the most important decisions.

Loves,

Elder Hall

Texas San Antonio Mission

Happy New Year

Greetings from the lake,

I finished a full calendar year in Texas! That means for the entire year of 2015 I was in that state. Pretty interesting to think. No short visits home, no excursions, just pure Texas. But that is the joy of it all, isn't it?

R is doing all right. He was able to make it to sacrament meeting yesterday, but he is taking a little bit of a rest. We probably won't meet with him for a few weeks. Which is sad, but he will come back and we aren't too worried about it. We found a fellow yesterday named J. He's a young man and he has accepted the invitation to read the Book of Mormon, and he may accept baptism in the future. I'm excited to keep working with him.

For New Year's Eve we visited a recent convert, and then left his neighborhood immediately. There we would be sure to run into people that probably wouldn't be the most responsible with fireworks. We took it calm, and some suggested, we went home at the regular 9:00pm time, like we usually do. It was pretty calm. No staying up 'til 12, or setting an alarm for it. I did not miss anything.

Today we went to a member's home in Elder Aguila and Elder Blackhurst ward. We played some racquet ball, and some wallyball. I'm not really quite sure how to spell that. Then, the members let us use their "hover board" or "swagway." Basically it is a platform on a set of wheels. As you lean back and forth the wheels move that direction. It really didn't take too long to get a hold of it. I did quite enjoy using. I probably used it the most of the Elders visiting.  Get me one of these for Christmas! Haha.

Our Ward has now made a change from 2 o'clock to 9 for the block. That was an interesting change. When we got out, I thought for all the world that it was 5. But it wasn't. Time goes pretty quickly.

What else should I talk about? Oh, President Slaughter visited our district meeting with his wife. I'd never had a visit from him to a district meeting. He taught us about our responsibility to teach repentance, and baptize converts. We'll be receiving a telecasted mission training in a week or so, and we are preparing for that.

A little short email, but thank you for keeping up. Keep reading the Book of Mormon.

Questions and Answers

How has the spiritual uplift from the temple helped you this past week?

Well, it reminded me more of my purpose. I felt that it was nice to be reminded also that we are here to bring people to the temple, not just the baptismal font.

How is your sleep monitor working for you?

I'm not sure how hi-tech it is, but apparently I've been usually getting about 7 and a half hours. I want MORE. MORE SLEEP……

Can you tell us more about the 'muy amable' people in the ward? 

Well, there are plenty of families with kids that show up on Sundays. Could you ask in a few weeks? I'll probably have better answers, anyway.

What song is in your heart this week?

"The Harvest," I got this song from Elder Brough. It basically talks about the key that we have in harvesting those prepared. "For all that we've grown, how could we forget, those who don't know, or just don't know yet. Let's harvest this field, from sunrise to sunset. The Master is coming, we are not done yet."

Love's y'all,

Elder Hall

Texas San Antonio Mission