Good day to all of you,

A new video promoting Christ's resurrection has been created by the church called, "Because of Him." just like "He is the Gift," it shows a wonderful video about the power of His atonement, and the love He has for all of us. I would encourage you to all watch it, and share it however you can, through social media, through a text, word of mouth, whatever.

Because He Lives

helives.mormon.org

While I was emailing, there was this man playing a computer game placed diagonally from where I am, and all sorts of other distracting things at the library. Video games are kind of annoying to me now, especially since the work we do encompasses something much more important. The man didn't take his eyes away from the game until he stopped playing it. I'm glad I don't have that distraction with me.

In the past weeks, we haven't been having too many member dinners with the families in this ward, especially since so many more active members live on the north side, but this Sunday the bishopric put attention to this, and tried to rally more support for us in the South. I was glad for this, but thought they gave us a little more unnecessary attention on us that we needed. Few member dinners is actually a little bit better, as it allows me to watch what I'm eating with a little more precision, if you get what I mean. But I was glad for the ward's desire to help us. Seeing as there are so many less active members living in this ward, it's stretched thin as far as callings go already. The members who are active do much more work than they would if everyone participated. But we are on the way to change that.

This past week we added three or so new part member families to our teaching pool, and we might add a few more in the coming week. This past Monday night, we decided to go by the former investigators that lived in our apartment complex. We usually would avoid by this, because it is tempting to visit the people who live nearby, and if we stop by them at the end of the night, we have no where else to go, essentially. But this night we decided to visit a few, seeing as we hadn't done that all transfer. We contacted three doors, with nothing to show for it, when after leaving the last door, we see a head poke out the neighbor's door, none other than our Elder's Quorum President. We were puzzled, but we went in, and quickly found out that his daughter lived there, and that he brought his wife and youngest son to have a Family Home Evening with his daughter, and her boyfriend. His wife, the daughter, and as a result, the boyfriend, aren't members. We got something to drink there, said hello, but left, because we had another appointment to get to. That fell through, so we decided to text him and offer to do a family home evening message.

We contacted yet another part member family, the B family, (family name shortened for privacy of the family) and while making a return appointment, (a dinner appointment as well) we got the text to come over, and rushed back to the complex, practically sprinting up the flights of stairs to the third floor. We shared Joseph's first vision, and they all agreed to read the Book of Mormon, even Jared, the non member boyfriend. It was a miracle. If we had tried to approach the Sis. G (also shortened, she was the non member wife) and the rest of the family in any way, it likely wouldn't have worked. We have a return appointment for tonight, one with the B family for Wednesday, and doors opened that we couldn't have open on our own.

Another part-member family that we fell out of contact with was Rosanna and Jimmy, her fiancee. Jimmy was taught nearly everything, but because of his long parole, couldn't get baptized in April of last year. When complications arose with them, and they separated for a time, the missionaries lost contact, and he lost his desire to get baptized. Since then, he started attending a baptist church, and preaching regularly in the prisons, giving back to God as best as he could. He thought intently that preaching in the prisons would keep him from going to church actively. He didn't phrase it that way when we visited, but that is the meaning we got. He is a really repentant man, who thinks he is purely a sinner, due to his past and the doctrine his particular church teaches. It's hard to meet with him however, since he owns his own plumbing business, and can't say exactly when he'll be home. We're supposed to text the day of, which can be a little difficult.

Yet another family is the J. family. We knew that they were a part member family, but we decided to contact them one night. This was our first attempt as a companionship, and it worked! Severally attempts had been made by previous missionaries, all of them coming up dry. Brother and Sister J were baptized about 7 years ago. Since then, they have has extreme financial trouble, especially as he was previously a Jehova's witness, working with others of his same faith. When they were baptized that might have caused him to lose his job. In various situations, they had been offended by members of the ward, and encountered additional financial trouble. We met Bro J, his older son Xavier, and a few of his other kids, all unbaptized. He and his family had a fantastic relationship with the missionaries, so that allowed us to help in trying to resolve the offenses that occurred. It was hard to make sense of what happened. When we asked the kids about baptism, they seemed excited about it, so much that as we left that night they followed us out. Sis. J wasn't there, and she was probably offended the most. Sometimes being a member of the church requires that we have thick skin, especially as we work with imperfect members of the church every day.

We've also been meeting with a 87 year old with rock in his soul named Bro. Najera. He's really kind, and open to the message, though he doesn't comprehend is as quickly as he could if he were younger. He talked about a cruise he went on, when he went to a dance, and was the oldest person dancing there. He's really quite fit for his age, and devoted to Jesus Christ. The difficulty with Brother Najera is that we need to establish contact with his kids and the rest of the family he lives with, because he wouldn't be able to got to church actively on his own, and it could be interpreted as an attempt to take advantage of him, especially because of his age. He's really cool, and if I weren't a missionary, I could probably spend a day listening to that old fella' tell stories. Hopefully he'll be able to understand what he reads from the BoM.

We had a brilliant Zone Conference that focused on principles of teaching. We know that the understanding of who we teach is influenced by our personal worthiness and our spiritual power. Lots of role plays and fun stuff. We also played a quiz game focused on 21 chapters selected from the Book of Mormon, and the teachings contained in those chapters. I did very well, but our team did not win a round. It was a little more active compared to most activities we had. Elder Downer and Elder Bertelsen were there, and doing well. Christina, Ed, and Johnny are doing well, and they even invited some friends to watch general conference with them. Gina and Daniel are well too. Casey however dropped them and told them to lose his number, and Sister Aguste got offended and left the church. WOAH. Lots of changes in just a few weeks. I hope Sister Aguste calms down and returns, her kids were very close to baptism. But God has everything under control, and he will help that family on his own time table. They also found new investigators that are doing well.

We've taught a bunch of people, and found many more. I couldn't hope to detail even the visits we had with those we've taught more than once. I'll try to update y'all next week, and tell you about more new people and their wonderful stories.

In a package from Elder Drennan's mom, we got a bunch of food. We are also being fed many times this week, so I do believe we will not perish for the want of food this week. I'm sleeping very well, much better than I can ever remember before. The dogs are just as numerous, and many dog bites have occurred in our mission and the surrounding ones. We'll need to be careful ourselves. The dogs aren't quite as cute as you'd think they should be.

Questions and Answers

What did you teach about when you gave the training during district meeting?

I taught about "How to Begin Teaching," a principle in Preach My Gospel and setting expectations with those we teach. I felt like it was a success, and I re-purposed a role play from another part of PMG and used it to my own advantage. *laughs evilly*

How are The Fernandez family, Chris and Darian, Juan and Kathy, Gracie and her brother Jesse, Robert and Monica, and Jonathan and Sandra and the baby?

We didn't meet with the Fernandez family, Chris and Darian, or Juan and Kathy, unfortunately. The F family canceled on us just before our weekly appointment, and they didn't respond when we tried to reestablish contact. Chris and Darian just weren't home when we made appointments. In one case, we made an appointment for the next day, and they weren't home. How frustrating. Actually, we did meet with Juan, but we missed Kathy on the weekend when their family was busy. We had to reschedule for this Thursday with Gracie, and Robert and Monica canceled last minute as well. I really don't know what happened with Chris and Darian. They aren't so urgent about the whole issue as we are, I suppose.

We DID however meet with Jonathan and Sandra, so I got to finally meet him. He has a wicked beard. We met his sister, Lilly, and we might try to stop by her in the future. We read about the tree of life. He seemed to enjoy the analogy, and asked plenty of questions.

That was an awesome experience you talked of with the Dias family from Colombia. How has the Book of Mormon helped your teaching this past week?   

Well, the Book of Mormon is the center of conversion. We read from the introduction page with many people this week. If we didn't have it, we wouldn't really have anything. I'd hate to be handing out copies of the D&C to people that we meet. Not too many of the people we've met have been reading. Read the Book of Mormon! Just do it! That goes to all of my friends and family at home too. There really isn't a substitution for reading it.

What was your most notable experience of the Spirit helping you and teaching you this week?

There is no way we would have found the G family, J family or B family without the Spirit guiding our plans.

Did you have any more funny dog  (or pigeon, or rat) experiences this week?

Not really. Oh actually, there was a pigeon sitting on a mounted light on the side of our apartment complex, and actually the side of our apartment too. (We live on the end). It wasn't really nice, but I threw some crasins at it, and it didn't even move an inch. Not even when I nailed it. Talk about "steadfast and immovable." Finally, Elder Drennan went inside and hit the inner side of the apartment next to the pigeon, and it flew away. I'm trying not to have as many fun experiences with dogs, just for safety reasons.

Because He lives, we too might have everlasting life. Never forget His sacrifice. "No matter who you are. Or who you were."

--

-Elder Hall

Texas San Antonio Mission

Pictures!

Myself and Elder Drennan

Old Companionship with Texas Super Hero T-shirts

Pigeon in New San Antonio Apartment

Daniel and Gina's Kids Chalk Drawings

Christina, Ed and Johnny

Daniel and Kids and Mauro, the Catholic Priest

My Desk Setup in 10th Ward

10th Ward Boundaries like Hercules in Profile

Elder Sheffield and me tag swapping.  We met in the Provo MTC, way back when.

Dogs, cats, rats and homeless people

Dear Family, Friends, and all others who are reading,

Dogs are everywhere in this area. And homeless people. And homeless dogs and cats. And dogs and cats that act like they are homeless. It's almost impossible to go a day visiting people without seeing an excess of 10 or more random animals. It was actually pretty funny, because the other day while on exchanges in Las Palmas B with Elder Hart, Elder Olsen's companion and trainee, there was a pack of dogs that started following us. Then they began chasing us, but just as they approached, one of the dogs in the back veered into the front, and completely mows down the first dog with a direct tackle, causing the other dogs to trip and lose interest in us. That was hilarious. Elder Olsen says that when a harmless dog starts following you, all other dogs will ignore you. This is called a proselyting dog, or a pros dog. We must have had a proselyting mercenary dog. 

We're beginning to teach a lot of new people, who I really hope will progress, but some inevitably won't. We contacted this one referral who requested a bible, gave it to her along with a Book of Mormon. She seemed pretty prepared. But, unfortunately, when we came to follow up and teach more, the circumstances where weird. This is basically how the conversation went:

"Hello."

"Please take these back. The pastor of my church gave me a bible, and I don't need yours anymore."

"Are you sure? You're welcome to keep the bible and BoM, they don't cost anything."

"Yes, I am take them back."

"Is there a better time we could come back and-"

"No thank you. Don't ever come back."

It was unfortunate, but understandable. Her pastor probably felt threatened by our meeting with her, and gave her some miss-information about the church, which scared her. Give it time, and she might become interested again. One day. But that isn't to distract from everybody else we met. One couple was Juan and Kathy. Juan is a disabled military veteran who loves to talk, and will welcome anyone who knows on his door. Kathy is his hardworking wife. Elder Drennan and Elder Scott found them before we came, and we had another visit with them this Saturday. Juan was deeply touched by the idea of the resurrection, and Kathy understood what she read from the Book of Mormon in between our last visit very well. It was hard to keep the lesson short because of Juan's tangents, but Kathy seems to have genuine real intent.

Other people that we met, that should progress, but I'd rather not mention in-until we teach them, seemed to show real intent. We found a few huge families that I'm excited to go by again. I see exactly why President Slaughter separated this area into two companionships -- there is so much going on, and this is only half of the ward boundaries.

We had a lesson with a referral from the Las Palmas B Elders who was awesome. We taught her, Gracie, and her brother Jesse, and the interesting this is that neither of them smoke, drink, do drugs, and as far as we know, drink coffee or tea. That was crazy. Jesse is funny, but he's also really stubborn. We complimented him for keeping a law that many people we teach have a hard time with. But that didn't really help him to accept the invitation to read. I am still grateful for him even being there, because he made a point to come visit his sister early because the Las Palmas Elders said we need to have another responsible adult male in the home to come visit. Even though his sister was infinitely more interested than he was, I was grateful for his coming to visit earlier.

I gave training during district meeting, which I felt went very well. I only had a few days to prepare, and I felt proud that I could share something that benefited the district. We're set to have an exchange with Elder Goodman once again, which should be fun.

Chris and Darian are healthy and well, but they didn't make it to church, and they weren't home when we came for our appointment on Thursday. I was a little sad. We'll visit them tonight, and check Chris' progress in the Book of Mormon. It's such a little task, but it's the difference between someone we taught progressing, and losing their testimony of the things they've learned. Robert, another non-member living with a member, Monica, wasn't reading either, so we had to impress the importance of reading every day. We'll be sending daily reminders to both Chris and Robert, hoping that'll prompt them to read. Still their choice however. Another non-member boyfriend is Jonathan, who I haven't even met since I've gotten here. Around the time I came was the time that his girlfriend, Sandra, started working again. He's really tired taking care of their baby. I can't talk from experience, but I'd imagine he is only worn out because this is his first child. He'll gain strength in the future.

A kind of fun childhood dream fulfillment happened. Elder Drennan and I got to tour two different ice cream trucks. Brother Martinez, a less active member of our ward, supposedly, requested a bible from us, and we brought it to him. He let us tour his ice cream trucks, which he was quite proud of. I can't imagine what a five year old would do with that same opportunity. After sharing a visit with them, they didn't seem half as less-active as they let on, but it was a good visit. Brother Martinez is funny. He made "Mangonadas" for us, which Mexicans seem to really love. It is really more of a acquired taste, with this type of powder that Mexicans will sprinkle on ANYTHING. The first few bites were so sour, my eyes wanted to pop out. Not bad, but Elder Drennan did not have the same response. Though he covered his initial discomfort after tasting it, he said he wouldn't ever eat it again unless offered by someone, to show respect. Maybe my tongue is just a little more Mexican or something.

On the 25th, I'll have been in the mission for a total for nine months. I'll celebrate by yelling in the middle of the night or something. Just kidding, of course. I'll find something else to do. Wow, time goes quicker on the mission. How long has it been back home, five years or ten?

Questions and Answers

How is the Fernandez family and Chris & Darian?   

The Fernandez family is well. Because of Bro Fernandez's work schedule, they haven't been to church since they were confirmed, which is lamentable. Keep them in y'all's prayers. Chris and Darian, well, are doing just like I said. Chris needs to act if he wants to be baptized. I wonder if he has fears about acting.

Have you heard anything about Sister Rubio, and Tony and Staniel  and the people in Uvalde?

No news about Sister Rubio. I'm praying that she get's baptized soon, so their family can be sealed. Tony and Staniel, as far as I know, have been coming to church consistently now, which is a step up. No marriage plans yet.  

How is the sewing going?

I haven't started yet, we were a little busy. I'm trying to catch up on my journal writing first, and then I'll get to repairing my hand bag thingy mabobber.

What encouraging experiences have you and Elder Drennan had this week?    

There are a bunch of prepared people in this area. We're contacting a bunch of referrals, and trying to work with the less active members of the ward. It's encouraging to see people progress.

And how has the Lord's Spirit guided you this week? 

During exchanges with Elder Hart, we taught one of their choicest families, the Diaz family. They are from Colombia, and Brother Diaz is getting training on one of the bases here. We read from the Book of Mormon, because they hadn't read between visits, and answered questions. Their questions were quite intense, and after talking about it with Elder Hart, the lessons with them have been fairly docile. I certainly had a bunch of spiritual guidance occur then, and I felt blessed by being able to recognize my progress in the language of Spanish, especially since the MTC. I couldn't have responded half as well without that divine help. They did feel as if their questions were answered.

Are you sure that spring doesn't happen in San Antonio?

No evidence of it thus far.

Is it too far south for bluebonnets and Indian paint brushes (those are flowers from my youth)?    

I think so. If it wasn't, I'm not sure I'd be able to recognize those flowers.

Have you caught any of your rats singing hymns?

Thankfully, no. The pigeon outside our balcony does the singing; he just has early morning shows, which aren't appreciated half as much as they would be, say, at lunch time.

-Elder Hall

Texas San Antonio Mission

Clever Subject Line Loading, Please Wait

Hello to everyone at home, or abroad, or simple not in the TSAM at this time,

I realized fairly quickly after sending my last email and leaving the library that I forgot to answer questions. Pretend that I didn't, and read these:

How has your perspective of your mission changed this week?  

I guess at first I approached missionary work as pressing random buttons that I didn't quite know what they did, under my leaders' direction, and hoping that something good would come of it. I didn't understand what my purpose as a missionary was, and I'm starting to grasp it a little more. I'll think on this a little more, and respond more about it.

What has been this biggest surprise you've had this week? 

Yesterday we met a young man who was having a little spat with his girlfriend, and heavy cursing was involved. It made Elder Drennan and I wonder why they are even in a relationship, if they talk to each other like that. But nonetheless, we approached him, (Sunny or Soney or Sun-e or something. Probably the first spelling, but I have no idea.) We started talking to him, and it was amazing how open he was to the message. He said he read the Bible, but it didn't seem like he had a Christian background. I hope things progress with him.

Oh, and I found out that Elder Drennan knew Elder Zelaya before the mission, and that he when to Elder Zelaya's mission call opening (in BYU, of course.) Small world, eh?

In what ways have you felt Heavenly Father's love this week?  

Heavenly Father loves me, because he gives me the chance to grow, and he chastises me when necessary. I've wanted to improve my level of consecration, and so I want to study the Christlike attribute of virtue, to make sure that my thoughts are as consecrated as my actions are. Elder Drennan is extremely patient with me, and with anyone. If he ever gets angry, it's for millisecond bursts that I am unable to see with human eyes.

What is the funniest or finest thing that came your way this week?

Animals are quite funny here. In this one cul-de-sac, there was a dog that barked like it had no voice. It tried so hard to sound intimidating, but it simple couldn't. There are birds here that sound like they are charging up a laser rifle, and shooting several rounds. I hear those often. I have heard a siren go off at least once every day since I've been here. This morning I woke up to the sound of a bird, which at first I thought was an owl, but turned out to be a pigeon, chilling in the balcony closet that had somehow been opened last night.

This area has a bunch of potential, no wonder they have two sets of missionaries here.

Last week on Tuesday I had an exchange with Elder Olsen, our district leader who covers the same exact area, except he works in the Spanish ward. His companionship and mine are always passing referrals, or people we meet and teach, to each other. It's nice to know that the people we find are in good hands when we send them off. Usually you don't know the fellows you're going to refer those you meet to. We worked hard, and I learned the value of preaching by the way. We found a man who had met missionaries before, they set up an appointment to meet him, but never came back. That really upset him. He mentioned many times that the Elders were liars since they weren't true to their word. While it is hard as a missionary to keep up with everyone, since you see several new faces every day, I understand where he is coming from. Elder Olsen made a huge note not to miss the appointment with him.

At dinner, a lovely old Spanish lady fed us tortas. Boy, they were good. For some reason, she thought I was extremely funny. I made a fool of myself on several occasions, and at one point, for no good reason, she looks at Elder Olsen, says his name and points at me and starts laughing. Is my face really that ugly? Just kidding. Anyway, I've never met anyone who thought my mere presence was enough to make them laugh. Ouch. I haven't really considered being a comedian as a job, but if people in general thought I was as funny as that Spanish lady did, I would consider it. It's like I developed a temporary super power or something.

We also taught during the exchange a couple that was searching truth. After I recounted Joseph's First Vision, the lady began to tear up. Wow, the Spirit has the magnificent power to touch hearts. I certainly didn't think I had much to do with it. The day was super busy.

On Wednesday, we taught the Fernandez family, the family who's two daughters were confirmed last Sunday. And strangely enough, we found a LA family that I taught back in Universal City! Turns out they (the A family [Shortened name for privacy]) were related to the Fernandez's. I can see at least slightly a reason as to why I was sent here, of all places. I might be able to touch them, because I have at least a partial bond built up with them. Brother A gave me a tie while I was in UC. Their youngest daughter isn't baptized, but could be. I wonder what I can to support that family.

On Thursday I had a doctor's appointment down in Austin, so that took up a bunch of our day, luckily we were able to safeguard our evening for appointments. I took that time to knock off a bunch of the journal entries that I was behind on my journal writing. Elder Drennan, being the senior companion, had to drive the whole way. I felt bad for him.

Then on Friday we took the car in to get the power steering fixed. They estimated two hours for the repair, but it took more like nine. And what was worse, we had forgotten to take our apartment key off of the key ring, so when our Ward Mission Leader finally got us back to our apartment complex, we couldn't actually get in -- until Elder Olsen and Elder Hart got here, and gave us the spare key that hey had to our apartment, and we finally could do some weekly planning.

Saturday was a little rough as well. We had five or six appointments, and all of them fell through. Yikes, days like those can be tough. Those times are the times when we are really showing our loyalty and devotion to the Lord.

Sunday was great because Chris and Darian made it to church, though it's hard to tell if Chris enjoyed it. He's pretty introverted. He didn't read between when we last saw him, so that was a little disappointing. But while things can be slow here, it's great to cheer for the north side of the ward, and Elder Scott and Elder Hill, when things go well with them.

How are you and Elder Drennan settling in? 

Fairly well. The high rate of referrals we get is hard to keep up with. We're getting to know the area a little bit better, line by line and such. We got a new dish-washer, and that thing sounds like a beast. Can't tell if it's cleaning the dishes or waging war against them.

What new things about the people in your new area have you learned? 

Well, with the people in general, the men don't know how to wear their pants on high enough. Luckily, their shirts usually cover the slack, but in general it seems to be a fashion here.

"Pants (almost) on the ground, pants (almost) on the ground, lookin' like a fool with you pants (almost) on the ground."

Oddly enough, I haven't actually met all of our investigators, because we had a lesson with one while I was on exchanges, and the other didn't immerge from bed when we came to visit him and his significant other. Most of the LA sisters with their non-member "husbands" seem to have the desire to become active, but the relationship can slow that down a fair bit.

How has Heavenly Father shown his love for you this week? 

Elder Drennan is the epitome of "slow to anger" he's a good example. Heavenly Father has mostly shown his love to me by helping me sleep well, and enabling me to work diligently every day.

Have you noticed any signs of Spring yet? 

Spring? I don't think Spring really exists in Texas. It's gotten warmer here, but I can't so much as tell if Spring, or just warmer weather, is here.

Apologies, but no pictures yet, again. I need to get an SD card adapter from Walmart or something.

Heavenly Father loves you, and I do too!

--

-Elder Hall

Texas San Antonio Mission

Rats!

Dear Family and all others:

Rats were among the things that I discovered once I got to my new apartment. Well, actually, it was the second night in and my new companion, Elder Drennan, actually discovered them, but it doesn't matter too much. It's also regrettable to note that we don't have our own washer or dryer, so we have to take some extra time each p-day to do laundry. Well, I guess all that can really do is prepare me for college, right?

My new area is San Antonio 10th Ward B. When I got here, they split the ward in two, and the original elders serving here, namely Elder Drennan and Elder Scott, each receive a new companion, and are now covering different halves of the same area. Elder Scott and Elder Hill (yes, it's Hill) are covering the North side of our area, and Elder Drennan and I are on the South side. It's an english area with a bunch going on.

The Spanish ward covering the same area, Las Palmas, also has two elder covering it, with the South Zone Leaders at the north, Elder Masters and Elder Meidel, and the south with our district leader, Elder Olsen and his missionary in training Elder Hart. Because our area is covered by both Spanish Elders, the Singles Ward Sisters, and the variety of areas that boarder ours, we receive a bunch of referrals, in addition to the ones we receive from online. Seeing as the area is now split in two, the referrals should come in at a now manageable rate, where before I got here, they would get around twenty a week, and maybe contact eight of them. I'm excited to see what I can do to serve better in this area, even though it is a English ward once again. I do yearn for a Spanish ward one of these days, but I'm not really complaining.

Since we've gotten here, we've found four Spanish speakers to pass to our district leader and his companion. I'm probably going to teach the Restoration a fair amount of times in Spanish, so I'll get good practice.

Elder Drennan is 21, from Canton, Michigan, and really easy to get along with. I feel like if I ever offend him, he'll frankly forgive me no matter what I do. All the more reason to make sure I don't hurt him in any way. Because if I do, I have a feeling I won't ever find out. He came in a transfer after I did. So while I got into the mission field on the 25th of June, he arrived in Mexico the same day. He is my senior companion. This has been just a slight struggle for me, seeing as my pride often gets in the way. This isn't a strange occurrence for the younger missionary to lead, but I feel like I need to become even more humble and realize that the Lord wants me to serve in this capacity -- not because I am not coherent, or stupid, or not faithful enough to Him and His gospel, but because I can do more good as a a follower than as a a leader at this point. He's a great man, and he has much more experience living than I do. He's a safe driver, extremely humble too -- so much, that when a member complimented him for being very easy to talk to and get along with, he was confused after the visit and said, "oh, I hadn't realized he was talking about me back there."

He is a Spanish speaker, and I am blessed to have him to work with. His Spanish isn't quite as developed, it still sounds as if he struggles with pronunciation, and he sounds a little bit foreign to the language as he speaks it, but I know that I can be a leader in this as we teach. I need to pray for him that his ability will improve to the level that he deserves it to be at. And no matter how choppy it might seem, I need to see his potential and not to judge him. It's been pretty fun so far.

The last few days in Uvalde were effective. We had a family home evening at Ed, Christina, and Johnny's neighbor's, and we watched the restoration. When it was finished, Christina asked the question, "Who is the Holy Ghost?" A golden question. I told them I would be leaving in a few days, and shared some music with them. I'll try to keep tabs on them through Elder Bertelsen and Downer. We also stopped by Daniel and his neighbor Daniel, but Gina was working late so we missed them. We delivered chalk and music, and the kids loved the chalk.

We're working with a great deal of investigator couples where one of them is a member, and they are living together, unmarried. Man! We're having a bigger law of chastity problem here than we were in Uvalde. Chris and Darian said they would come to church, but they didn't make it. I was sad, especially since they said that they would come.

We had three confirmations at church, and I got to take a part in them. This ward strangely likes to do baptisms on a Sunday, and then the confirmation the next week, so the baptisms didn't happen this weekend, but the one before I came. This ward is growing a bunch. I hope to see a few baptisms before I leave, but whatever happens, I aim to leave the area better than I found it.

I also got great news from Windcrest:

Sister Rubio agreed to start being taught by the missionaries, since the Spanish Sister missionary and her hit it off. The unfortunate thing is she had to cancel a bunch of appointments in a row, so I'm not sure if the teaching has began or not. Please keep their family in your prayers as I'm sure you haven't really ever ceased to do.

I'm trying to work on my healthy eating but I've been impeded the last few days. We had a bunch of gift cards which we received from members, and we've must've eaten out six times in the last four days or so. And since we don't have a gym, it'll be hard to get our exercise done. And we have a car. And darn it. But, I'll find a way to drop a few pounds. And yes, I'm gaining a few. We won't get as many member dinners since most of the members live in the north, so I should be able to manage my eating habits a little more than in Uvalde or UC.

I'm excited. It's also funny, because Elder Tews was Zone Leader of this zone just before I got here. 

He was one and done here as well. He's now in Austin for the first time, lucky him. One day I hope to get sent to Austin too, but who knows?

--

-Elder Hall

Texas San Antonio Mission

P.S.

No pictures this week, not because I didn't take any, but because this library computer is being annoying and doesn't seem to let me. I'll send them later or next week, depending on if I figure this out or not.

Departure

Hello Family and Friend and all others,

Drat. They're carting me out. I'm packing. I guess the didn't appreciate me in the area so my companions made a combined effort to make sure I leave. Just kidding of course. I'm pretty sad to leave this area, seeing as so many people are progressing here and I've poured my heart into our teaching, but I know I've got to go. Elder Bertelsen is becoming a district leader. Elder Downer will be blessed by that. Every companion I've had has either gone home, become a zone leader, district leader, or a trainer. So I guess I am still the leadership trainer here. Just kidding again. Complete coincidence. As Elder Vergara said, "The area gets better when you leave it. That's a sign that you were successful."

This week was fantastic. Only one person made it to church this week, but many should be able to come next week. Adam, "the tamale guy" was a member a long time ago, and probably was baptized when he was 8 in Ohio. But because we can't find his records, he needs to be baptized again. He made it to sacrament meeting, and we were excited, but as soon as the meeting end, and I mean exactly that -- AS SOON AS IT ENDED, he was off. We visited him at his house later, but he was already in bed, must have been feeling under the weather. Christina, Ed, and Johnny also missed church because Christina was feeling sick. Daniel had to work. Work and sickness can be a bane of church attendance at times.

Saturday Christina Ed and Johnny made it to a church tour with another member we brought, and they seemed to like it. We taught them the Gospel o Jesus Christ and showed them the baptismal font. They are extremely humble, and you can see they have really real intent. While they've only read a little of the Book of Mormon, the very fact that they are reading means a bunch. Seeing as the live right next door to the 1st counselor of the bishopric doesn't hurt either.

There was a little bit of bad news however. Ramon and Fransis have stopped meeting with us, and Casey told us, "I just don't believe religion is for me guys." We answered his questions and assigned him to read Alma 22 and to pray to know if God exists. If he has real intent, than that answer of 'yes,' will lead to more for him. I have no idea if he's read yet, but keep him in your prayers and hopefully with time, even if my companions don't meet with him for a long time, maybe something will stir in him. (Ugh, the 'f' and 'y' keys don't work very well on this computer.)

This week we had an exchange with the zone leaders, Elder Carmichael and Elder Butterfield. Elder Butterfield was in Windcrest the transfer before I came along, so regardless of whether he acknowledges it, I feel a small bond with him. He served in my home area, so he's got to be awesome. Elder Carmichael is leaving in a few days, as his mission is almost finished. He came here and Elder Downer went down there. He was humble. He told us that he had many things to learn, but at the same time, I could see how developed he was as a missionary. Oh, how I hope to be a missionary that could be entrusted with that kind of leadership. Don't get me wrong, I don't ever need to be a zone leader, but if I can get to the point that I feel like I was qualified to serve in that position, I will have accomplished something.
Daniel and Gina and their whole family are just golden. They will make great members -- I'm only sad that I won't be there to see them get baptized one day. But I will do my very best to keep in touch with them if at all possible after their baptism, because every convert is a serious responsibility. We taught them the Plan o Salvation up to the Atonement, and there was no end to their awesome questions. Daniel is committed. He isn't going to test the waters, if he gets in, he will become converted. Keep them in your prayers. Pray that they will continue to receive the message that missionaries will teach them. Pray that they will go to the right sources for answer. Unfortunately, the internet doesn't have a truth filter.

Pray also that I will accept the departure that approaches. I have no idea where I'll get carted off to, and I'm a little scared. I know I am needed where I'm going, but it's always hard to stay in an area for only a transfer. Hah, come to think of it, I haven't served with a single companion for more than a transfer and a half. And that was with Elder Tews. It's crazy.

Recently I've been reading through Mosiah chapters 2-5. It's amazing how apparent the nothingness of man is. Without Jesus Christ is, I'm nothing. King Benjamin encourages us to engage in this work. What do we have against taking upon ourselves the name of Christ? These are great chapters. If you find time this week, study them.

Hope I haven't missed anything.

Elders Carmichael, Butterfield, Downer, Hall and Bertelsen.

 --

-Elder Hall

Texas San Antonio Mission