Elder Christian Hall in TSAM: The Temple Approaches

Dearest Friends and Family,

For those of you who were unaware, I was able to attend the San Antonio Temple and the baptism of Sister Rubio. It was a wonderful experience. I am hoping their family is well. My only wish is that we could have attended her confirmation. More on this experience later.

The Wonderful Rubio Family

Elder Hansen and I at the San Antonio Temple

A pretty good Christmas week. Hearts were softened and people were the most part receptive. We're still looking to find some committed people who will progress in the gospel. The sad news of this week is that R's baptism will have to be postponed. We don't completely understand the circumstances following the interview, but we'll work closely with him and hopefully he'll be ready later.

As for Christmas gifts, I got a new watch. This watch is able to count steps and monitor my sleep.

It was kind of interesting, we found a lady that pulled into her driveway and loaded her kids out. We asked her if we could show the Christmas video to her, and she accepted. With some technical difficulties, we had a slight delay. About a quarter or so through the video, her husband approached and called her into the home. So when we reported to our leaders that night that we had shown the video 1 and a half times, we got to explain that situation again.

We had wonderful meals at member's homes. We ate breakfast and dinner on Christmas day with members, and a shepherd's dinner on Christmas eve, which basically consisted of a variety of different foods, not gathered in any particular way.

Questions and Answers

Please tell us about your Saturday experiences.

Because I misplaced my journal in the Huebner Creek apartment, I decided to type my journal entries to keep up:

JOURNAL ENTRIES TO RULE

The Book of Hall, Chapter one

Approximately 26 Dec, 2015 AD

Today was a marvelous faith boost to me. We got up a little earlier than normal and met with Brother Coleman at about 7:15 to get in the car and head for the 9:30 endowment session. His name is Peter Shueuerman. If I spelled it correctly, it looks like it could have been a German name. The session was beautiful. I loved the architecture of this temple, and especially the feeling I got in the Celestial room. A few questions I had were answered, some of which I already knew the answers, but need confirmation of one type or another.

While there I met a member from the Huebner Creek ward. I forget his name, but he was kind. There he expressed his happiness to be in the temple. I agree, there is a peace that can never be replicated outside of that hollowed, holy to the Lord, Temple.

Afterwards we headed off to Teka Molino. I felt it appropriate to go there, as it was probably the most impactful restaurant that I ate at in the Windcrest Ward area. I love that place, and especially order #13, Nona's special, whoever Nona is, anyway. Good food and conversation with Brother Coleman. Even better, I saw Brother Farnsworth and his sister and son there with him. I could not for the life of me remember his last name. The 'f,' was the only thing that came to me. He was pretty kind however, and he said, "most people can't remember the first letter." He let me get off clean in that one.

Now a moment of grace. Sister Aurora Rubio was baptized today, and it was definitely a moment that I could have been waiting for at least fifteen months. I can't remember how long it has been. Maybe around that. Anyway, Because Elder Hodasek could not speak a lick of Spanish, or his companion, Elder Duford, I was allowed to conduct. Hopefully I didn't botch too much. Obispo Vandenburg presided and gave a talk, and Jorge was given the privilege of baptizing his wife. It was a pure moment indeed. I was tempted to take a picture, but that didn't seem quite right. It wouldn't have been, of course. The Rubio daughters seemed pretty happy to see me, which told me that the work that I did still touched them. So precious a day. I won't forget.

What more have you learned about the people in the Lake Travis Ward?

The people here are "muy amable." There are a fair amount of recent converts and converts that live in this ward, but I haven't quite yet learned what occupations are most common in this ward.

How is R doing?

We hope that he has been doing ok. We're going to follow up with him later this week. Or next year. Tee hee.

Have you had any awesome songs in your heart this week?

Can I hear songs in my heart? I didn't hear any. I'll pay better attention this week and tell you next week.

Have you been able to get Elder Hansen's bike fixed?

Well, not exactly. He's thinking of getting a new bike, since this one is quite old, and in bad shape. It's a little hard to work on since you need tools to do it.

What has the Spirit taught you this week?

Every missionary has a place and has an impact. And no matter what the impact looks like in the beginning, it is always significant if we are faithful as we serve.

A couple of fun Pictures