Elder Christian Hall in TSAM: Another Chapter

Dear Family, Ward Family, Friends, and Fellow Saints,

The mission has still continued well. My new companion's name is Elder Vergara. Don't let his name fool you, he is an English missionary as well. I really shouldn't complain, but I was hoping I would get a Spanish companion. I do know however that Heavenly Father will give me the companions that I need, not necessarily the ones that I want or am looking for. He was just serving in San Marcos, part of the Austin Area. He's extremely easy to get along with, evident by when he asked me, "Is there anything I'm doing that annoys you? If so, tell me and I will stop that." He will not however be a district leader, so I won't have to worry about him going zone leader on me. I also learned that he has ADD as well. That'll either act as a challenge or an asset, it'll just be interesting to see how that affects our work. It shouldn't, really.

Elders Hall and Vergara

I do miss Elder Loveridge. His touch was felt easily by all that we met. Many people seemed to plead to know where he went, and all I really know is that he's in Austin somewhere. It'll be hard since we won't be spending Christmas together, but it'll be ok. More companions just means more friends, I suppose.

Elders Hall and Loveridge

As Christmas advances closer, hearts have been soften even more. Unfortunately, we haven't found any new investigators as of late. Tony and Staniel are our best bet. We had a good lesson with them last Friday where we read from 1 Ne 1-2. Tony is a little more apathetic than his wife, which we will work to overcome. We invited them to church on Sunday, but something kept them and they didn't make it. I never realized how much revelation we could receive during sacrament meeting until I came on my mission. You learn so very much during your mission that springboards you into further gospel study later in life. It's because of my mission that I plan on dating as many return missionaries as I can. It's interesting how insightful both Tony and Staniel are.

I'm excited for the upcoming Christmas Conference which will happen on Wednesday. There will be a few group pictures, a large program and a talent show. I'll follow up on what happens, but point is I am quite excited for it.

At the weekend the Relief Society President of our ward asked us to go on some Reconnaissance and find out what a few needy families wanted for Christmas in order to help with a secret santa. We had some good dinners with members as well, and tacos seemed to be the most popular thing to make. We had that two nights this week. The members do take very good care of us here in this ward.

Not too eventful this week. We taught few lessons, re-met plenty of members as Elder Loveridge said his goodbyes and Elder Vergara said his hellos. We're working on finding more people to teach. And as such, we won't be teaching nearly as many lessons until we do find some. I'm going to need to be humble if we are to find anyone new.

The best news of this all is that Elder Vergara's parents speak Spanish, so that while he is not fluent, far from it, he can understand a good amount of what i say, and I'll probably use him a lot to learn more Spanish. I'm wishing that next transfer I get sent to a Spanish area. But I shouldn't go contrary to where I'm sent, and as a result I probably shouldn't complain about where I am now. It's hard not to be ungrateful sometimes, and i suppose the Christmas season is a great time to learn not to be.

Well, tell us about your new companion-

Who?

See above.

Where from?

From Sacramento California. I've only had two companions from Utah so far: Elder Loveridge and Goodman

What's he like?

He's what he described himself as, "a jock and a nerd." Very sincere, slightly abrupt, he has the desire to make this area the "area to serve in" as well as "leave it better than we found it." He's not too similar to any other of my companions so far, and I'm trying to get a good read on him.

He wants to bring comp-unity into our companionship as soon as possible. I am content to let our skills flourish together little bit by bit, but he does have a point. I hope that together we can have success: not necessarily success with numbers, but success that shows us that our efforts here were not wasted.

What about his family?

One younger brother, three dogs, and a cat or two. His parents are both converts to the church, so he has a great opportunity to be an example for them. I haven't learned too much about his family quite yet, however.

How are you learning together?

Well enough, I hope. We haven't been together for even a week yet. He has a different teaching style, finding style, and I'm still trying to see what I can improve on that he can demonstrate for me. We're learning from our studies and from simply doing the work.

And then, how are Tony and Staniel?

Well. I would love for them to get to church, but there must be an obstacle that they're hitting that we don't know about. Maybe it's the early church time (8:30am is pretty hard to do :O). Maybe it's something else. But whatever it is, they'll need lots of prayer and proper fellowship.

I thought the "Teach me to walk in the Light' CD might be good for them?

Probably would be good. I don't want to come across as "I want you to be baptized, so here's this cd", so I'll have to be careful how I give it. Probably I will just give it as a Christmas present.

How has the Spirit guided you this week?

I could have done better to follow the Spirit this week. A few times the Spirit prompted me to do something and I was too pig-headed to follow. In one case I stubbornly decided to follow the schedule we planned instead of diverting when an opportunity arrived. I suppose the Spirit taught me a little by trial and error this week.

I'm trying to learn to love my companion in more exquisite ways. Be more creative about it, and such. While creativity isn't a requirement, it certainly helps.

What made you laugh last week?

Yesterday every squirrel and it's dog was out climbing trees. It was funny to see how many were out. When we went to an appointment yesterday,we knocked on the door and his wife came out, telling us that he wasn't there. We sadly walked to our locked bikes, and as we unlocked them we saw a car pull up to his house. It was funny that our timing went as it did. If we were a few minutes late, we might have caught him. But to avoid the appearance that we had waited for him to show up, we left to visit some other people instead.

I've proceeded to torture my new companion with my incessant puns. Something that Elder Loveridge told me that I have plenty of. I suppose that's kind of funny.

-Elder Hall

Texas San Antonio Mission

P.S. I'm still looking for Christmas stories on how you've come closer to Him during the season. Feel free to send them.