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