Crack!

Dear family and friends,

Why do all of my things keep breaking on me?

This week I seemed to have a good amount of things decide to stop working the way that they should. Two pairs of pants ripped. My special touch screen fine tip pen broke. My companion broke one of my pens. Pretty consistently for the last four days or so, something has broken/been ruined every day. Yesterday I found a huge rip in the pants I wore. The day before I dropped my IPad and broke the screen (ouch). The day before the special pen broke, and the day before that the normal pen broke. Well, I'd much rather have those things break, rather then, well, I don't know, my face.

Well, my face on my IPad looks broken too!  :-)

Last week we met a wonderful lady named M. She is the neighbor of the member who took us to San Antonio a couple of weeks ago. She moved from Louisiana and she is a spunky lady. A lot of what she says makes me laugh. She has been reading the Book of Mormon, has accepted a baptismal date for the 30th, and she's moving right along with learning about the gospel. The funny thing is she is likely moving into the Carriage Park area in a few months, and will likely meet the members that I worked with just a couple of months ago. While I'd like her to stay here, well, it's ok.

In a phone call to the area I found out that there will be a few baptisms happening there. T, not the one we worked closely with, will be getting baptized. After the Sister missionaries left the area, I think he got refocused on the important things. I didn't really get to teach him ever while I was in the area. I suppose it is ok though.

This week we had the opportunity to go on splits with a few members. I've never really gone on splits all that much. I believe that I went on splits once or twice in Uvalde, but all the other times I have been with my companion, and they were technically just having the member accompany us. We have the goal to go on splits at least three times each week, with predetermined times to go out with people. We taught with members five different times, and three of which were splits. It was an enjoyable week.

We also had zone conference with Elder Reimschussel and Elder Vergara giving trainings. I love those two missionaries a bunch. And worst of all, Elder Vergara is about to finish his mission. No, you can't leave me too! So far, as I've counted, I think at least 5 missionaries that I served with will still be serving after I go home. That's five out of seventeen so far. Wow. I served with a bunch of great missionaries.

Elder Vergara and Me at the Training

Other than the breaking things this week wasn't really all that bad. We ate at Fuddruckers this past week. It was funny, because I asked for a pretzel bun, but instead they gave it to my companion. I was denied. And although we intended every day this week, basically, to ride our bikes, we ran out of time every day. Oh, and actually I've been sick with a cold this week. I suppose I can add that to the list of broken things. I was a little disappointed because of overcoming the same general thing back in Huebner Creek, only to have it follow me again to here. Pray that I get better, I'm almost there.

Look closely!  This is actually a cake that one of the members made, not actual Scriptures.

Questions and Answers

How are things going with J? 

He decided to stop meeting with us. He said that he wanted to keep the religion of his father and grandfather, in order to stay close to them. Understandable, even though it isn't the best reason. He did however want to keep his copy of the book of Mormon, so maybe it'll touch him some day.

Where did you say Elder Hansen is from, and what are some things about him and his family?      

Colorado springs, Colorado. He has one younger brother. Young family. I think one of my siblings is old enough to be his parent.

How has knowing and working with your companions and other missionaries and other people strengthened you?

I learned last week that salt loses its effects when it is combined and mixed with other things, say for instance, dirt. The fun thing is that I consider my relationship with past companions to be the opposite -- they imbue me with power and strengths that they have and I lack. We often mix and match our abilities and come out stronger than we were before. Life is grand, I say.

How is your weather by the lake?

I can't really say it's much different in comparison to what it was like in Lago Vista in Cedar Park. It's been getting a little colder here, but not as cold as it was last year.

How has the Spirit guided you this week?

I felt that M needed a MoTab choir cd. Hopefully I'm right. Really, the spirit guides us the most in the finer details of the work, like when we plan at night or as we teach. As we are taught though, sometimes the most important decisions the people we teach make happen when we are not there. So we must set them up for success so that they can feel the spirit when they make the most important decisions.

Loves,

Elder Hall

Texas San Antonio Mission