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.