Fiesta, Fiesta, Fiesta

Greetings to my beloved family, friends, and ward family,

The subject-line of this email has a purpose, and I suppose I should address it sooner than later so I don't confuse y'all. To preface, I really don't like random holidays.

There is a celebration in San Antonio every year in the month of April that draws somewhere around a half million people at a time to the down town area. Many of the people we've met this week explained where it came from, but it's hard to summarize. Essential it is a 10 day string of celebrations in this month that occupy most of the down town area, and it draws a bunch of people there. Whether the people are taking part of the festivities, working among them, or working additionally because of them, Fiesta affects many people. Other celebrations precede and follow it, occupying April completely.

The funny thing about Fiesta is I wasn’t sure what it was up until it happened. But as soon as we entered into the 10 day period of Fiesta, it made it difficult to contact anyone who was involved with it. I had no idea how much I didn't know that I didn't know about this local holiday. Essentially, there are names for the different festivals and parades, but Fiesta is an umbrella term. We have "the Holidays" for Christmas, Hanukkah, New Years, etc., and "Fiesta" for all the random events and things that are in April.

Karla was almost impossible to find. She worked in a restaurant in the middle of downtown, so the only way she could get in was if someone dropped her off and picked her up at the beginning and end of each work day. We only finally caught her on Saturday because she cut herself on the job and had leave early. Sad for her pain, but glad to finally see her again, we'll visit with them later this week. Other people were also hard to find, but specifics evade me at the moment. Fiesta became such a common reason for missing people, that whenever we couldn't find anyone at home, we would sigh, "Fiesta."

On this last Wednesday, we had exchanges. I went with Elder Hart and worked in his area, which means I worked in the same area, but we looked for Spanish speakers. Elder Hart and Bertelsen were lacking miles, so we were going to bike to nearby places and contact some people who had potential to start investigating the church. We took our bikes out, but I learned that Elder Hart had never used his new bike before, and it had been a while since he rode a bike. We spent some time adjusting things, I shared some tips for riding that I learned in Windcrest and Universal City, and eventually we headed out. During this time, his kickstand snapped. By the time we actually headed out of the complex, it started to rain a little, and we decided not to use our bikes, just for safety.

Then the world began to pour.

Rain everywhere. On our way out of the complex, lightning struck the complex, and I nearly jumped out of my skin. I screamed so loud, Elder Hart thought I was hit, even though we were underneath the walk way. (Hard to describe how loud that crash was) we began to venture out of the complex, and we were soaked before we could cross the river. Did I say river? I meant to say river-like street. We only got so far when we got a call from Elder Drennan and Elder Bertelsen, with Elder B on the phone, chewing us out for being outside walking in this weather, in a loving way. We hid under a tree waiting for them to rescue us, and saw someone outside so we jumped to go talk to him. Eventually, we realized we could have just walked back to the complex, when they showed up, took us home, and we changed into some dry clothes. The raining stopped at that point.

Elder Drennan and Bertelsen on exchanges, visiting the Fernandez family and their donkey.

Later in the evening, we went searching for baptismal clothes for a family that was getting baptized in their ward. I had fun using Spanish, and feeling a little more confident about it. Elder Hart was excited, and I felt his love for this family. Heavy rain hit us severally times in the middle of the night this week, and we took some fun pictures.

Rain looks cool with the camera flash.

Yesterday morning, Elder Drennan and I woke up throwing up. I seem to get sick at least once in every area that I serve in. We were worried because we expected many people at church, and we didn't want to set a bad example for them. We made it to church however, but only for sacrament where we proceeded to return home, and I slept for almost 5 hours, off and on. It was a little sad, because we had appointments set up for almost the entire day. We feel much better now, but we are still recovering. I believe that I ate two bowls of cereal, one of which I substituted water for milk, not wanting to throw up what I ate. That was my diet, save for plenty of water.

I really liked a verse in Mosiah, specifically Mosiah 23:14 that teaches us that we should trust no one to be our teacher, except that person is from God. With all the different sources of information, we need to make sure we tap from the best ones, and limit the others.

How are Gregg and Yesenia doing?

They are doing well. Not much to talk about. We shared a little bit about teaching and learning with them, and they fed us some great food. They've been coming to church consistently, and I'm doing my best to include them in my prayers more often. Often, it seems, diligence in prayer allows us to receive more blessing, and for those blessing to fall more abundantly on others.

How are Jonathan and Sandra, and Karla and her family and Chrystal and Alex?

Unrelated to Fiesta, we weren't able to visit with either group during the week. Sandra made it to church, and it was a little funny, because we saw Jonathan leaving the church parking lot after dropping Sandra off at church.

Chrystal and Alex were out of town, and then busy for the rest of the week. Well, we'll catch up with them later.

Questions and Answers

How has the Lord's Spirit infused you with courage this week?

Maybe not the type of courage you're talking about, but I feel like I've had courage to overcome all the random dog experiences we have weekly, and even bi-weekly or daily. This area is dangerous if you aren't careful, but y'all need not have fear for me. Randomly this week we saw a pigeon get taken out by a boxer, and we did what we could to distract the dog (on the other side of the fence, we were in no danger ourselves) to allow the pigeon to get away, but it was to no avail. I believe another pig bull almost followed us as well.

Talking to everyone and inviting people to make big changes in their lives is scary. People, though they have hurt spirits and are seeking relief sometimes don't look or act at all how they feel. They can be intimidating. But I feel that situations that would normally cause me to shrink don't affect me as much. That is, of course, if I choose to heed the promptings that urge me to be courageous.

And where did that courage take you?

We found some great new people this week. As normal, I probably won't mention them until/if we meet with them more, but I'm excited for people to progress.

How are your ward members?

They are well. We are working our best to increase activity in the ward though visiting those less active members of the ward.

What sorts of flowers and flowering trees are growing in your area?   

Pretty ones, I guess. I'd have to ask the locals here, I have not idea what any of the flowers are called.

Do your dog friends like flowers?

Maybe. Who knows?

  

--

-Elder Hall

Texas San Antonio Mission

Chapter 2

Hello All,

Might as well start out with some very good news: I met Elder Vergara this week at transfers, and he told me that Rocky has a date to be baptized on the 9th of May, and also that Tony and Staniel are engaged and will be married on the 6th of May. I was really red in the face with joy at this.

Actually, I didn't find out where he himself was sent, though I learned from him that he would be a District Leader. Elder Drennan and I came early enough for the Spanish test held the morning of transfers, but all else we did was talk to some people, like the missionaries covering Windcrest, and left. I caught Elder Bertelsen on the way out and found out he was leaving, and that the ward is doing well. Elder Downer will stay there. Before transfers, I was wondering who the new missionaries in the district might be. 

I saw Elder Zelaya at the transfer meeting. Elder Drennan knew him from his schooling at BYU.

Then, later that afternoon, we got a call from the missionaries in Las Palmas B. Instantly, I recognized a voice, familiar, but not from Elder Olsen. "?Sabe quien habla Elder Hall?" (Do you know who is speaking, Elder Hall) "No, no lo puedo creer, ?! Elder Bertelsen!?" (No, no, I can't believe it, Elder Bertelsen?) So sure enough, Elder Bertelsen is my new district leader. It's quite funny, because Elder Hart was Elder Downer's MTC companion, and so Elder Hart swapped his trainer for his MTC companion's other trainer. Elder Christensen is the new zone leader (he served in our area about a year and a half ago) and Elder Black is Elder Hill's new companion. They came into the mission at the same time.

This past week we've started to narrow down on our teaching pool. A few of the part member families that we were working with are near impossible to catch now (Chris and Darian are one example, the J family is another), so we didn't teach as much this week as we would have liked. But things are progressing with the people we are teaching, and we have a lot of potential that we need to follow up on, so we can start teaching new people.

Gregg and Yeseñia are doing well. They are trying to figure out a new marriage date, we believe, because they are taking steps to find a new dress, a maternity one. They will move forward, just slowly and steadily. They have made it to church two weeks in a row, sacrament meeting too, and their oldest daughter should be baptized on May 3rd. She's just a 8 year old, but hadn't been baptized yet. Greg should follow her soon, if the ideal situation plays out. Because Gregg has been taught so much already, we're only teaching a little bit each visit and focusing more time on his scripture reading.

Jonathan and Sandra are doing well. We met with Jonathan a few times last week, and he read from 1 Nephi 1 to about 10 in one evening. We're hoping to help him read less each day, rather than many chapters in a single day, so that the influence of the Book of Mormon can be more consistent, and so that he isn't overwhelmed as he continues to read. Unfortunately, he didn't make it to church Sunday. At the same time though, reading is a great start! The difference between  Jonathan and Sandra, and Gregg and Yeseñia and how they all progress, and the other part member families is Sandra and Yeseñia are putting concerted effort to be an example, and they want to be active. Other couples fall by the wayside because the effort of the member is limited. It's amazing to see the effect we can have on the ones we love.

We couldn't meet with Karla this week, but they were reading a little bit. Crazy thing after another kept us from meeting, all coming to a grand climax at the end of the week. She started working for an old employer of hers, and her schedule conflicted with a few of the appointments we set. Then Fiesta, a random state-wide party holiday event thingy, gave her the opportunity to go to a party which conflicted with another appointment we had. Then, we dropped by, and learned that his brother's girlfriend was injured in a car crash, and he she ended up taking care of all 6 of his kids. She's still interested in meeting, seems like she's progressing, but event after event made things difficult this week. 

On this particular day trying to contact members, we got into the car and saw two people, we though a man and a woman, punching at each other in the middle of the street. They never made contact with each other, so we weren't sure if this was domestic violence, or a somewhat friendly bout. Luckily it was more of a bout. We talked to them and invited them to hear our message. We also made friendly joking comments about the stage combat they engaged in earlier. Chrystal and Alex were their names, and they receive the message well, albeit with frequent cursing and foul language. Alex is a former Jehova's Witness and she would got to different Christian non-denominational churches. They acted a lot more rough then they turned out to be, and towards the end of the lesson Chrystal showed us her 3 or 4 bibles that she had. They also had a 1 year old with them, I forget the little guy's name, and he seemed really distressed as we taught. Chrystal is actually the sister of another rough guy we met a few weeks ago, and had been trying to meet with. You should have been there when we first saw them, I had no idea what was going on.

I'm hoping that we can pick up on all of the potential that is laden here in 10th ward.

Another thing happened, 

This past P-day we went to SAS, the San Antonio Shoe store, which is actually quite famous. We had no idea that it was in our area, and Elder Drennan had though it was in 10th A's area. It has a lot of random exhibits, really expensive shoes hand made shoes that I didn't even expect to buy, and ice cream. We bought ice cream and took this picture.

Me and Elder Drennan with ??

Questions and Answers

I'm really glad you get another transfer period with Elder Drennan.  So, what are you doing with your opportunity to work together for a longer time?  

We've continued our pledge to drop by every member of the ward residing in our area. In doing so, we've found even more part-member families, less active members that want to come back, and other people that we can help. We're working to realize all of the opportunities that have been given to us. No matter if we baptize, we will insure that those who follow us should.    

How are Gregg and Yeseñia doing?

They are doing well. They are progressing steadily. They feed us dinner once a week, which is very kind of them. Apparently Elder Bertelsen knew them because he served in the Spanish-branch that covers the Stake, where her family attends.

How are Karla and her family?

Also should be doing well. Her priorities a little mixed up, but many of them are in the right place as well.

How are Rosa and Brother B?

We taught her the Word of Wisdom, which was easy for her to accept, owing to the fact she has learned about it before, and she already has a testimony of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith being a prophet. She's less excited about getting married, maybe because of her past divorce and the relationship problems that came with it.

 And the Aldridge family- how are they?  

They said they would come to church, and the Fernandez family would be able to come as well, but they didn't make it. . . . I kind of expected it, given the fact that going to church is really hard when you haven't gone for a while. Pray for them, and we'll continue doing.

And how are the stray dogs treating you?

Like hostages.

Allow me to relate this experience:

Last night we were looking for people that Las Palmas B had related to us to go visit, and we decide to walk the block, talking to people outside. Not as good of an idea as we thought.

We ran into this stray bulldog, and even though we tried to avoid us, it kept tailing us. Some neighbors outside said, "be careful, that dog gets aggressive!" but we weren't sure if they said that just to get rid of us. 

We ended up continuing further and further down the street, all the while that it seem to circle us, approach us, sniff and become disinterested, and continue on. Midway through the trip a car passing us honked loudly and startled us, probably trying to help us lose the dog. It would mark its territory on something as it went, occasionally as it went. It was funny but also terrifying, because every time that we attempted to bail and go the opposite direction when it was off examining something else, it would see us in the distance and come right back -- not running at us but trotting just fast enough to catch up. Was it a pros-dog or were we its prisoners? We also wondered if it was just escorting us through its part of town. Eventually we got out of its area and it left us.

Were we protected, or was it actually friendly? You decide . . .

--

-Elder Hall

Texas San Antonio Mission

Us in our fancy shirts

I wore my invisibility cloak for this one.

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Conference, a Spiritual Buffet

Hello Family, Friends, and All Others,

Conference was great. Serving as a missionary really helps me to appreciate a modern day prophet and his counsel for us. Many people here in Texas don't have that restored truth residing in their heart, and that can be the cause of some difficulty. I hope you all enjoyed conference. If you missed it, make an effort to watch at the very least a single session. But really, you can't just watch one! :)

For me, a few of the messages that seemed to emanate the loudest were of temple marriage and family, reading the Book of Mormon everyday, everyday, everyday, the role of Christ and His Atonement in our lives (grace included), and preparing for when Christ comes (which should be a daily journey as well). What did y'all notice in conference? What will you do differently because of the messages you've heard? I will be literally waiting for next conference, trying to implement the things I noticed. A fun bonus was that yesterday I wore nearly the same exact tie as Elder Holland was wearing, except with more frequent stripes. The stripes remind me of the fall of Adam and Eve, redeemed by the sacrifice of our Loving Savior (the knot of the tie).

This week was pretty good. As I had guessed, in trying to meet with people again we discovered which were more ready, and which were less ready. I'll try to describe our experience with some of those who received us.

When we went to visit Brother Najera, he told us that he had thought about it, and he didn't think he should continue to meet with us, but that he should stick to the church he was going to. Interestingly, Elder Drennan and I came to the conclusion that he was right. Being as old as he was, it would be extremely difficult for him to be active in the church if he were baptized. His family, or so as we could tell, was not as interested as him, and family support would be critical to his spiritual growth. We were able to plant a seed that might be harvested on the other side, or by another faithful set of missionaries. I know that our Heavenly Father's love is great, and that he hasn't by any means lost his chance to receive the gospel. We see him on occasion while we are in the neighborhood.

Another few people that we've been working with are Karla and her son, Joe. She's a young mother with three sons, the oldest of which is Joe. Karla likes to talk, but after a few meetings we've determined that she has a desire to learn -- not simply talk. Her husband, bless his heart, is a little reclusive, and while we've seen him, we've never been able to introduce ourselves. It's a pity, because we know that the family will progress the best together. We'll keep him in our prayers. This family lives with Karla's father, and he speaks Spanish. When we ran into him during one of our visits with Karla and Joe, he talked about how our churches, his the catholic church and ours, are the same. Except he did it with really quick, semi slurred Spanish, making it difficult to understand. And then I believe he transition to how he thinks this will be good for his daughter's family if it can keep them away from harmful things. He even seems to want a Book of Mormon. A pretty confusing conversation, but probably beneficial too. Joe has been reading a bunch, and Karla has read a little as well. We got confused, because Karla told us that Joe had been reading a few "sections" of the Book of Mormon. If by some way he mistakenly started reading the doctrine and covenants off his phone (he's only 11 but yes he has a phone), more power to him. I'm excited for this family.

We met with Gracie during the week, and read the introduction with her. We had a great member come with us, and she asked plenty of questions. Towards the end, she asked where "Saints" from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints came from, and we explained. She then proceeded to tell us about her experience seeing a catholic saint at church. That was a little bit of a bummer. We are hoping that her initial interest in our message and the church wasn't simply because she thought she saw a saint. I don't doubt she saw someone, but I hope this experience doesn't keep her from progressing.

Meeting with Jimmy is kind of difficult, but we did catch him this week and read a little of the Book of Mormon. We're doing our best to help him to remember how he felt when he wanted to be a baptized a long while ago. Rosanna will be a good example to him, but it'll be up to his reading of the Book of Mormon to relight that candle of conversion.

We missed the family J. They're really hard to catch. We set up an appointment with them Saturday night for Sunday night, and they missed it. We'll keep trying with them. It's also been a while since we've been able to catch Chris and Darian. It's understandable however, as we learned through their family that Darian's uncle had died. It's never easy to lose family.

The family G is progressing very well. While we can only meet with them once a week, they've been reading and that can be more important than meeting frequently. Brother G is a good example to his family. We hope to invite his family to be baptized, and to set a goal for them to reach. I continue to be grateful for Christ's enabling power, enabling us to have found them in a good circumstance earlier, so that we can invite them to come to Christ.

On this Friday, we had a great exchange with Elder Goodman. Serving with him for the first 5 days was great, and I love serving even more with him during these exchanges. This time I prepared myself by creating the goal to speak Spanish more than 50% of the time. While my Spanish is at a good level, I really need to speak consistently in order to increase my ability even more.

Questions and Answers

How has been the Work experience this week?  

Slowing down a tad bit, but we're focusing on the people we have to teach. Still trying to find, but working on retention efforts. Sunday was a hard day to proselyte because of so much time taken by conference (don't get me wrong, conference is important), but it was all worth it when we found out through a text that the G family had read together.

How are the people you are teaching?     

Pretty good. Another man I forgot to mention was Joshua, a very intelligent seeker of truth. He doesn't have much of a Christian background, but he read religious books at a regular basis. The Book of Mormon is next on his list. He works really long hours and on Sunday, so meeting with him and getting to church are hurdles.

Were you able to see much of Conference? 

All of it. I even watched the first Spanish speaking talk in Spanish. It was kind of hard to follow, but I did get some understanding, and I got the jokes about 5 seconds late.

Do you know this week how much you are loved?

Yes, I absolutely do. Our Savior has infinite love for us!

How was Easter for you?

Pretty laid back. We got some Easter treats from Elder Drennan's Mom, and watch conference. Normal Sunday otherwise, except for the grand significance of Christ's resurrection. That's hard to miss.

How did you like General Conference?

Is that even a question? I love Conference! Just kidding, that certainly is a question. I was glad to see how important the family is to our fellow Christians and many others.

Where have you been to listen to conference?  At a member’s house?  At a stake center?

We went to our regular building and watched it in English in the Relief Society room. Spanish speakers met in the chapel.

 Have you had any investigators join you?

If they watched, it was at home. Just the other missionaries and some members. We were fed a grand lunch both on Saturday and Sunday by a member family. I'm extremely grateful for them.

The Church is so true. Stay true to it, and to our beloved Savior.

--

-Elder Hall

Texas San Antonio Mission