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.
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