Good mornin' y'all!!

Good mornin' y'all,

I'da like tah use this eh Taxus accent, but dat wood take too long. Never mind that.

I drove safely during exchanges. We had a wonderful dinner with the Coats family, a part member family. Brother Coats expressed a great deal more interest in our message than he ever has before, and we answered a fair amount of his questions over dinner. He asked us what the most rewarding thing was about our missions. And I had to ask that of myself as well. He'll progress on his own terms though, but seeing as he accepted a calling to be the assistant cub scout leader, he'll come around one day. I'm happy that he loves his family.

This week we got this special black box that sits in the upper left hand corner of our car and judges us. In reality, it gathers data as we drive and warns us if we are driving too fast, turning to quickly, or driving recklessly. While Elder Bertelsen is still the assigned driver and so I haven't taken on this responsibility (I only drove during exchanged when he wasn't with us,), using the black box we could theoretically trade off, because we would be attributed and accountable for our own driving. Elder Bertelsen likes driving though, so he probably will do most of it, if not all of the remainder of this transfer. I don't mind working the GPS, backing him up occasionally and recording miles, however, so I have nothing to complain about, really.

Anyway, this Sunday I gave a talk, the first one since I gave my farewell, almost nine months ago. Almost a third of my mission has been used up and gone. That was the first time I can remember ever using a piece of paper and pen to write my talk, rather than just typing it. I was blessed to speak on the topic of preparing to serve a mission. Daniel and Gina came to church for the first time, and their neighbor, Mauro, who incidentally is a catholic priest, also came. But don't imagine that he came in a priestly robe or anything. it was because of Mauro that Elder Bertelsen and his last companion were able to find Daniel and Gina. They went looking for him during Christmas time, and they found them at the front porch talking, so they shared He is the Gift with them. They were touched by the message, invited them back, and the rest is history. While I didn't see too much success coming directly from He is the Gift, it obviously affected me in the future.

We had tons and tons of success this weekend. We had been planning a missionary activity for some time, and this past Saturday was finally it. Together with our Ward Mission Leader we planned an activity where return missionaries would bring a food or two that came from or represented their missions. There was catfish, empanadas, funeral potatoes, and plenty of other foods. With Daniel and Gina's family, included, we were able to get 11 investigators to the church for this activity, where they got blanketed in fellowship and the testimonies of a few of the RM's. At the end a few return missionaries gave testimonies, and I bet that it touched them fairly well. Casey, Daniel and Gina's friends George and Lucy and their kids, Casey, and Christina and Johny, a boy and his mom who live next door to our 1st counselor in the ward all made it. If things progress the way they ought to, many people will join the church in this area. I'm excited for all of them.

Then after church on Sunday, Daniel and Gina came to the Bishop's home and we ate dinner with them all. We were only a tad bit disappointed because they didn't bring their kids with them. Their kids didn't make it to church either, but we did make it as clear as we could that their kids were invited next week.

If I didn't talk about them in previous emails, George and Lucy's family is nearly inseparable from Daniel and Gina's. If you find one family, you'll certainly find the other. After the missionary activity Saturday night, we took them on a church tour where George expressed a strong desire to discover his roots. We'll get him to the Family History Center and let the spirit of Elijah take over. Gina and Lucy seem to want the gospel a lot, and their husbands are understandably skeptical. They all need to read the Book of Mormon though, so we will approach all of them in a similar manner. Keep them in your prayers. Oh boy, I just hope they don't transfer me out of here so I can be there to see them become members. But if I get called away, it'll be fine.

Questions and Answers:

How has the new driving responsibility been for you?

It was only that day, so it hasn't really been prolonged at all. I might drive in the future, but like I indicated, I don't think it's terribly likely.

Has the Spirit helped you to be calm?

Sí.

What kind of car do you use?   

Ford Fusion. Much better turning radius than a malibu.

How was your meeting on Saturday?

Did I say I would have a meeting on Saturday? Well we had that activity. The day before when we got the black boxes President Slaughter talked about the millennium. That was great.

Were Daniel and Gina and Casey and others able to come?   

Oh, so you did mean the activity. Yes and yes. This was a real success at the ward level.

Were your ward people able to participate?    

Many were there.

Are you taking the EmergenC vits to help your body heal your throat?   

Sí.

What was your most important Spiritual experience this week? 

On Saturday there was a child of record baptism in the ward and the confirmation on Sunday. I love confirmations because you can feel the spirit strongly. Mauro was dumbfounded by the confirmation. "Was that a written prayer or something?" "Nope, it was spirit lead." Maybe Mauro was touched sufficiently as well.

What else besides Texas road kill was sort of funny this week?

Well, this wasn't as funny as it was per-say, weird.

In Uvalde there is this person, woman or man cross dressing as a woman, we're not sure, who pushes this baby stroller all over the place with two baby dolls inside of it. On Saturday we saw this person. To be honest, when you see what I'm explaining, you're not going to be sure whether you should burst out laugh or stop whatever you're doing and put as much distance as humanly possible between you and the pretender to motherhood. Uvalde, city of trees in the middle of the road, little to nothing to do recreational, and fake mothers pushing strollers.

--

-Elder Hall

Texas San Antonio Mission

P.S. Why did the Lamanites' legs all hurt?

Because of all the Knee-fights.

Awesome Onion ring.  (Not a bunch of action shots this week.)

Uvalde is Progressing

Dearest Family and others:

I really don't like the cursor I have. We're in the junior college computer lab, and someone decided to change the cursor so that it has ghost like images following it. Walmart is subpar at times. I'm done complaining.

I've made a few personal goals that should help me to "put on the saint" more often in my life. My Spanish is improving, and we had a fair amount of opportunities to teach in Spanish this week, far more than I've had working in Universal City. This area isn't technically a Spanish area, but it's closer than Universal City or Alamo 2nd.

Uvalde is really progressing! We had an exchange with the area leaders, who are Spanish called missionaries with a duty to sustain and help other Spanish missionaries, and to help them improve in their abilities. Because they live so far away from us, both of our companionship worked in Uvalde, which brought about some super results. Elder Goodman and came with Elder Downer and I, and Elder Pope went with Elder Bertelsen. We found a few families that day, including a man who was baptized when he was 12, but went inactive. He was originally hesitant and closed, but his heart opened, and he again accepted the invitation to read the Book of Mormon and meet with missionaries. We hope to teach his family too.

Tomorrow will be another exchange with our district leader. Because Elder Bertelsen is leaving, I'll be driving. I haven't driven a car in more than 8 months. That's crazy! I really don't want to crash, so please keep me in your prayers. I'm hoping for the very best here.

Casey, as he said, is starting to grow in faith. We taught him the Plan of Salvation, and  he prayed at the end. The very act of ending, "in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen," was a huge step for him, seeing as he's coming from a very un-religious background. He didn't make it to church, but i don't mind too much. Stake Conference can sometimes go over your head a little bit. He is just young enough that if he were to get baptized, he might decide to serve a mission, which would be fantastic. We'll have to teach him everything we can, so he can make a well informed decision on it all.

We started teaching Daniel and Gina again. Gina is ready. She really wants the gospel; we can feel it as we go to visit them. Daniel is more hesitant, but he has real intent, and he wants to make sure that he can keep going if he were to get baptized. We also taught the neighbors of the first counselor of our ward, and they happen to be next-door neighbors. It was funny, because at first the first counselor of our ward only knew the son's name: Johnny. So when he referred to them, they were Johnny, Johnny's dad, and Johnny's mom. Which we found out their names were Ed and Christina. Christina was struck by James 1 : 5, which she said was eerie, because she was also searching for truth, she thought it was odd we picked that scripture, and she couldn't remember ever hearing it . . .. But their family is golden.

We have a Missionary Activity coming up this Saturday, where all of the return missionaries of the ward will bring a food dish specific to their country and give small demonstrations on their mission experiences. In addition to having empanadas and completos, I'm excited for Casey, Daniel and Gina, Lorena's family, and the other few families we found to enjoy the sweet spirit. We even invited our mission president to come, but unfortunately he was already committed to go to a missionary activity down in Austin. We were just too slow. But he's interested to hear how it goes, and we don't need him for it to be a success.

This one day over five cats tried to get themselves run over -- or in other words jay-walked in front of our car at absolutely awful times. Luckily we didn't hit them. On the exchange with the area leaders we found a random dead rooster in the middle of the road. No road kill can really beat Texas road kill. The animals are way more exotic over here than anywhere else that I've seen.

I also got a letter from Elder Ballif, whom I didn't even know was on a mission. He's in the Philippines, WOOOOOOOOOO! Random mail like that just makes my day.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Is your weather extra warm like ours is?

Random cold snap today, but pretty much warm. I got a sunburn this week doing service -- we were setting up a playground at a members home. How in the world does one get a sunburn in February? One moves to Texas, I guess.

How is your ward doing?    

Doing well. Our ward had Stake Conference, and Elder Wright of the (6th?) quorum of the Seventy talked to us. I almost fell asleep once, it was super embarrassing. So don't tell anyone. ;)

Are Elders Bertelsen and Downer all recovered?    

Heh, almost. At the end of the exchange on Friday, Elder Bertelsen's did not resemble that of one that is fully well. He's gotten sick, AGAIN. Elder Downer is good, and I'm mostly good, just fighting off the sore throat that must have survived it's time in UC, for I still seem to have it.

How has the teaching been going this week?    

Wonderful! We found families to teach, and most of them are tan preparado como posible. I'll let you know more about them if they progress, and they should so expect fantastic news.

What has the Spirit taught you this week? 

During our lesson with Daniel and Gina, or at least initially, I was premeditating my comments before I said anything. I thought of something to say, waited for my turn and said it. But then I realized that I was going converse to what Preach My Gospel says, which advises us to avoid the tendency to think about what we are going to say, but instead to focus on listening, and paying attention to the promptings we receive. After a while I realized my folly, and changed my focus -- from me to them. Everything flowed like a nice waterfall after that, and the mood of the lesson changed immediately. The Spirit taught.

--

-Elder Hall

Texas San Antonio Mission

As you can see, Elder Downer is down for the count.

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Uvalde, Navajo Tacos, Dinners and the Work

Dear Everyone,

Well, it looks like Elder Downer too was struck down by illness. I'm beginning to believe that I might have given it to them, although I didn't have the same symptoms as they did. Early tuesday morning as we were leaving to a trainer-trainee meeting, he manifested sickness as we drove the 2-3 hour drive up to Kyle. That's a disadvantage of this area -- we are forever away from anything. We got a few trainings, and when it was Elder Downer's turn to get an interview, he came out and we were told to take him home. More driving, yay! President Slaughter apparently had said to him, "You shouldn't be here. Go home and get some rest." We probably shouldn't have left in the first place, but we didn't want to be the ones that backed out because our 'wittle companion was sick. Well, goes to show that your common sense sometimes should be heeded every once in a while.

I had the opportunity to go on splits with some of the brothers in the ward while my companions recovered at home. We taught a lesson to Lorena's daughter's Laurel and Felisha (Fi-fi). They were very well informed already and they knew an awful lot. The problem was that the room we decided to teach in had some coloring pages and colored pencils, and I had to frequently shift attention back and forth between the two sisters to make sure that they knew what was going on. Felisha's deal is she believes she doesn't need to read the Book of Mormon to know it is true. She says that she should be able to ask God, and that He will tell her. Makes sense, wouldn't it? But I did learn a lesson from her that it takes consistent reading of the Book of Mormon to continually know it is true. I'm grateful for daily scripture study.

The day before we taught a lesson to the Alba family. Sister Alba isn't actually married to Brother Alba, and she needs to get divorced from her current husband who is hiding somewhere in south Texas. Until she can serve divorce papers to him, she can get a divorce, which means she can't get married, which means she can't get baptized. She is prime except for the essential road block. Her son is a precious soul, who got baptized a little bit ago before we got here. He could make anyone smile -- anyone. We'll continue to work with the Albas and hope that they progress towards baptism.

While looking in the area book, Elder Downer came across a former named Casey. Casey had apparently stopped keeping commitments and return appointments, so the missionaries dropped him. But Elder Downer gave him a call, he accepted a visit, and we met him at the church. He's an open minded individual, albiet he calls himself an agnostic, when before he was an atheist. We thought his first question, "So y'all practice polygamy right?" might set the relationship off for disaster, but things continued and he was very cordial about his questions. He made it to the first two hours of church as well, which was a blessing. If he reads the Book of Mormon and prays about it earnestly, he'll get baptized for sure -- no doubt about it.

For dinner last night we ate at the Elder's Quorum President's home, and his wife made Navajo tacos. Imagine a scone topped with taco toppings. They were good. Sister Alba and the kids came to dinner as well, but the husband got called on a job out of no where, and couldn't make it. The members of the ward are very welcome to feeding those we work with.

We also got a "ward missionary dinner calendar specialist" called this Sunday. Now we have someone endeavoring to help us get dinners with the part member, and less active members of the ward. She's a sweet old lady who seems in touch with the ward, like the youngest old lady I've ever met. Universal City has someone with this calling as well, and as a result, we hardly missed a dinner with a member while I was there. I'm exercising as much as I can in the mornings to keep the wait off! :)

Time is going even quicker. I could have sworn I just began this mission.

Questions and Answers:

Do either Elder Bertelsen or Elder Downer like singing?

Elder Bertelsen does. He's off key every once in a while, but that doesn't detract from it much. He's more into improvisation. Elder Downer plays the piano decently well, but doesn't really like to sing. I'm content to sing in the shower.

 Are you all healthy and well again?     

We are now! It took us just a little while. The package I got helped a ton. Actually, I'm still fighting off that cough from a few weeks ago. I think it might be tied to my retainer, which might be reinfecting me every night. So I'll buy some vinegar and soak it today and that should help fix things.

Did Elder Downer get his bike yet?   

Nope. He won't be needing it however.

 

How are things going with teaching and serving this week?   

We had a few appointments to serve people this week that fell through, but we did get the chance to teach a fair amount of lessons. Cars in general are just more effecient. While I like the chilling-to-the-bone wind of biking, cars allow us to visit more people across larger distances quicker.

 How has the spirit guided you this week? 

Trying to be kind in all that I do, with members, investigators, and everyone. A tri-panionship can get a little heated at times, so I want to do the best I can to clean "the inward vessel" before I engage to clean the outward one.

If you like tell us more about the members in the area. 

We got a famous roper in the ward. He has a few non-members that live on his ranch, or rather, that work there. They have a great dane that I absolutely love. It makes me want to buy a great dane when I get home.

Like I said before, most everyone wears boots, or works on the oil field, or works at the hospital, or HEB, so the occupations are much different than Windcrest or Universal City, where many military families live.

What's it like being in a car more often?

 A lot less bumpy. I'm worried that if I get sent on a bike, my keister's gonna get it. Visits are fast. We can't preach by the way as often, or talk to people as we meet them on the street, because it'd be creepy to stop by people on the road. We want to make an effort to park away from appointments so that we might find people ready to hear the gospel on the way walking.

We got some heavy cleaning of the apartment to do. Missions teach you everything.

 --

-Elder Hall

Texas San Antonio Mission

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<o    o>

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No pictures today, so here's a random text-face.

 

Slow Internet but Good Work in Uvalde

 

Dear family, friends, and all of those who have had an effect on my life for the positive,

A great week in Uvalde. We haven't gotten much done unfortunately. Elder Bertelsen came down incredibly sick this week, which prevented us from going to much of anywhere. This, however, did give me time to catch up in my journal, which I was in dire need of doing. At one point I was 10 or 11 days behind. That doesn't lend to the publishing of much detail, but it was barely possible anyways. We did visit some choice people and get some work done so that in the end, I really ought to not complain at all.

Uvalde is an interesting ward. It covers the city of Uvalde, and a few of the nearby cities, including Camp Wood, a little in the middle of no-where'sville. Our area is about an eighth of the entire mission, so we have a lot of ground to cover. Recently this ward was covered by Sister missionaries as well, but now that it isn't, we have many places to look for who is ready to receive the gospel. Some areas of this area can be extremely ghetto. Elder Downer is progressing really well, and I guess it is a regular thing in the TSAM for missionaries to come pre-trained. We have a trainer and trainee meeting this Tuesday that we have to leave our apartment at about 5:45am to arrive to on time. Ugh. One of the biggest downsides of living in an area that basically is so remote is that we have to drive for forever to get anywhere that we want to. I feel bad for Elder Bertelsen however, because while I can sleep a little, he has to drive. Well, I suppose he can sleep too, but if he does, we'd be in trouble.

 No too much to report on this week. A squirrel almost got ran over by a car on the way here to email. This Sunday we got a new move in to the ward. Lorena, has a really large presence. But, during the majority of her testimony, the spirit didn’t seem to really be present. She had a lot of personal concerns to lie out, but finally, as she testified of Jesus Christ, the Spirit re-entered the room. She's a really sweet lady, but she has surely gone through many tough things in her life. She has two unbaptized pre-teen daughters who we aim to work with, and with regular appointments each week, they should be ready soon. It total, the circumstances in which we met her are just a little bit funny.

This Saturday was very significant. We had a mission wide meeting where we drove about two hours to meet two members of the Quorum of the Seventy, from the 6th Quorum and the 2nd Quorum, and Elder Russell M. Nelson. What an amazing experience, even life changing! He shook everyone's hands, and I could sense an almost super-human love for each and every one of us. It was funny when he made references to his talk, "Ask the Missionaries, they can Help You." He mentioned in a variety of circumstances that we need to be full-purpose missionaries -- able to do whatever the leadership of our wards and stakes need. He even talked a little bit about marriage, and how a mission helps prepare us for that. As we learn to treat each of our companions with respect, we can be assured we can treat our future spouse in kind. I had many personal questions that Elder Nelson was able to answer for me, and I will treasure this day for quite a very long time. Maybe I'll prepare a report of the meeting for next week. I didn't come prepared to do that today.

Questions and Answers:

So how are you and your companions doing this week in the beautiful little city of Uvalde?

Doing well with exception to the sickness and all -- which I cannot be blamed for, as we annalyzed his symptoms, and they didn't match up with mine. Uvalde is a great ward, it's the only one that meets in this small building. It could well be called a branch building, because while it isn't someone's basement or house, it is fairly small.

Did you bring your bike to this area?

Yes, I did. I won't be using it, probably. Elder Downer ordered a bike but it didn't arrive the day he got here, so even if we plan to do some local biking, it won't be until he gets his bike. "Desolation," as I named it, won't be getting much use in the next transfer or so.

Are you speaking much Spanish?

A fair amount. I need to push Elder Downer to speak it more often, and speak it as often as I can.

Could you tell us more of your great ward people?

It's a small ward. The average attendance each Sunday is about 120 members, and it hardly fluctuates from that, as it seems. Most of the Ward members work on the oil fields or the hospital in town, and if they don't, they likely work at HEB or Walmart.

 What part of Missouri is Elder Bertelsen from?

I want to say Jackson City, but I might be getting a little mixed up.

How are Aida and Daniel & Gina doing?  

Because of Elder Bertelsen's sickness, we weren't able to visit any of them. Aida did make it to church however, and we plan to give service to Daniel and Gina later this week.

Good news from Universal City. As I talked to Elder Vergara, it looks like Rocky will be baptized. I'm excited for that, and if I get any pictures, I will be sure to send those to you. They taught the Law of Chastity to Tony and Staniel, so hopefully they took that well, and will want to get married so that they can also get baptized, and eventually sealed in the temple.

And how is the Spirit guiding you this week?

Another couple, Ramon and Fransis, have several questions to give us and they rarely relent. So the Spirit is really important in these lessons.

What things that happened to you last week that put a smile on your face?

Uvalde could be nicknamed the city of trees. Do you want to know why? Because there are trees that sit in the middle of the road, randomly! It's like the people who paved them were too lazy to even cut the trees. George of the Jungle would have trouble driving here. Even out the window of the library we're emailing from, I can see another one of the doggone trees, mocking us with its presence.

We went to go visit a potential this week, and we decided to tract the nearby area. So when we got to this one trailer home, we knocked the door, and this cat parts the curtain at the window, meows as if to say "Nobody is home, go away!" and then leaves. When we knocked again, the cat responded the very same way. Elder Downer and I were very entertained by this.

--

-Elder Hall

Texas San Antonio Mission

P.S. No pictures this week. In addition to slow interenet, the computers can't read the pictures. At least, I hope that's the deal, and that it isn't that there aren't any pictures to view!

 P.S.S. Many droplets of love to y'all.