Fresh Winds from the Lake of Change

Hello everyone from home,

I'm glad to be here in Lake Travis for yet another transfer. Unfortunately Elder Hansen is leaving the area. I will receive a new companion, Elder Anderson. From what I hear he is a great missionary and quite easy to work with. He was just in the area called Canyon Lake with Elder Drennan which I find very hilarious. And also today I am trying out a new experiment. I'm using this app that we recently received in our iPads as missionaries that allows us to dictate our, well, anything that we wish to and I'm going to try to use it for an email. I think the best part about this app is it makes me practice my English so I can actually be understood, to minimize the amount of mistakes that I have to go in and fix later. Here goes nothing, everyone!

 As all of you are aware of the accident last week, a funeral occurred on Saturday that was for the young woman who passed away. Elder Hansen and I were able to guide traffic in these nice florescent vests. They look snazzy and I'm sure no other missionaries have ever worn them before. But that was beside the point. We guided traffic into the parking lot and after about an hour and a half or so we went in and watched the rest of the funeral. The woman's grandfather came to speak, and he gave many insights on her life that I didn't know before. My heart is so full for that family. I hope they are doing the best that they can.

  

We went into the cultural hall and ate some of the food that volunteers provided for people attending the funeral. We did our very best to talk to as many people as we possibly could, and we did have some good conversations. While we did not find anyone that wanted to be taught, we were able to talk to the father of the young woman later on in the day. He told us that there were some families that they had in mind. We hope to share the gospel with them when we are given the opportunity. So cool to hear of all the families like his support to this family especially those that are not members.

 V finally came to church yesterday. I cannot believe how excited I was to see her walking, a little bit late but otherwise in good condition, and enjoy the sacrament. A returned missionary from the ward spoke on Sunday and a lot of the people that she taught had concerns similar to V’s. It may be that the talks really applied to V. For all of you that prayed for her, I think you sincerely. She is doing her best to keep the word of wisdom and we came over on Saturday to help set up a plan how she could do it. If she can make it till Sunday pretty much be clear.

 It's kind of funny because up to this point, the speaking app or whatever has messed up a lot of things that I said. It can't seem to spell the neatest thing mind even in this paragraph. The problem that I'm going to see with using this app is that the paragraphs are going to be smaller than they usually are. Usually when I'm writing with my fingers I can keep going even without running out of breath because my fingers don't need breath to keep going. :-) One black beetle bled only black blood but the other black beetle bled blue!

 Another great piece of news is that we were able to find P and his wife B on Sunday again. Been a long time since we last saw them, and this time a member was with us. We taught in the plan of salvation they finally seem to understand what authority is. B is not too inclined to read the book of Mormon though.

But on the other hand, P has read a couple chapters of the book Mormon and seems even more committed than he was before. I'm so excited for all the people in this area, I can't wait to see them progress even more.

  

The odd thing is that for transfers only Elder Hansen is leaving among the people in the apartment here. Elder Greene is going to you Uvalde (the app said Valby), my past Ward. I asked him to visit a couple people like J and C. So the district pretty much stays the same.

 Something also interesting about the ward is that it is really gotten close together since the recent tragedy. I don't know if I've seen a ward rally that quickly after the tragedy of that kind. It also makes me happy to know that the members are going to work with us and to receive help from us too. There's plenty of work to do here in Lake Travis. Also, including the recent sister missionary that came home from her mission, there is another one that is willing to visit some people with us, all we need to do is provide another priesthood holder so that we can actually walk inside the house.

  

Something else that I've had to come to grips with, is that this is my second to last transfer. I probably will not see another ward and I probably will not see a new area. While I don't want to go ahead and jinx myself, I'm not sure that much change will happen. Lake Travis would be more better. Yes yes yes, more better. Much more better-er.

  

Now the app has quit working. I'll give it a break and begin to type all that I want to share with you lovely people.

  

So you probably heard the news about, wait a second, this happened this week, so you didn't. Anyway, so S has been reading the Book of Mormon as far as we know. On Wednesday morning we get an ominous text from this number that says nothing but "Please do not bother us again", lacking punctuation of any kind.  We were heartbroken! Those three that we taught were wonderful. But we thought it was a little fishy after we responded, asking if there was a particular reason why. He didn't ever respond. So later in the week, I think Friday or Saturday, we tried to call him again. No answer. Then we called B and asked if he caught wind of what had happened. He didn't think that S and T hated us or anything. So we finally texted him, and found out that he did not in fact send the text, but that someone had taken his phone and texted that. We were right. We asked him about his reading and he did say that he needed more time. We would hate to come to this conclusion, but we think that T may have sent the text. Hope not. She seemed nice enough, anyway.

 On Wednesday during the day we were invited to take part of an activity in the Kyle Stake called "Camp Helaman." It was similar to the missionary week. We were each paired with two 14 to 20 year olds where we had a "companionship study" to teach them how to teach, focused on a person that we were assigned to teach that day. Brother Damron and Brother Harris from the Kyle ward were with me. I think Brother Damron was about 14 and Brother Harris about 17. Brother Damron had a bunch of energy that reminds me of deacons, in a good way. Brother Harris had done this a few times before and had a silent confidence and energy. They were both extremely goofy.  We then had a visit from President and Sister Slaughter, dinner, and then we headed out to tract before we had the appointment with an old Vietnam veteran named W. We knocked on one door and shared the Easter video with V, and she allowed missionaries to come back. She said she was nearly born and raised there, as she was born in a hospital out of town. Not born, but raised there. That was funny.

They had name tags and everything!

This isn't his regular smile, don't worry.

 

Oh how fun it is to ride, in a youngin companionship!

Great opportunity to work with all them!

Then on Thursday we had a district meeting and I gave a training. I had tried to send emails to the district with a role play that I wanted to do, but everything went to chaos. I had to resend everything. But I believe they knew and it went well. Then we all got together and got a district picture.

Our district. Elder and Sister Zirkle from Lano Branch, Elder Mackay, Elder Aguila and Elder Smith, myself, Elder Greene, then Elder Hansen. From left to right.

OH BOY.

Questions and Answers

How are V and her family doing?

She is doing quite well. She is keeping the Word of Wisdom and she said she would come to all hours of church next week. She said that because she only made it to two hours yesterday. Keep your prayers for her. She is going to work hard to eject all of those substances out of her system until Saturday, where we will celebrate with her being a Word of Wisdom keeper for the rest of her life. She is excited for the health and spiritual benefits that will come as a result.

Harder than inviting her is inviting D, her husband. Seeing as he hasn't attended for quite some time, he probably isn't too inclined to come back to church. Our ward mission leader had the brilliant idea of using activities, and sometimes creating our own as a ward mission, to invite them both to. Then he might warm up just a little bit.

How does knowing that all things are in the Lord's care encourage you when people that you wish to serve move slowly or seemingly not at all?

Yes, it does give me patience when I remember that great truth. It's like playing a game of Chess that you already know you are going to win. As if you have already been told by a mighty source of wisdom that things will turn out ok. You will not know how many enemy pieces it will take for you to win. You will not know at first which of your pieces will be taken. And you especially do not know which pawns will make it to the end, and become powerful queens. All this is in the Lord's hands. If I follow his counsel and serve with all I have, moving the major pieces where they need to go, then it will be ok. Sometimes I have to remind myself that God doesn't care sometimes if I move my knight first or my bishop. Some "casualties" may occur. But those casualties never have to be permanent. Those who do not accept the gospel now may likely accept it later in their lives. Not that we need to make excused though.

What are some blessings that come working with ward mission leaders?

Now I am not sure what you mean by this question. Oh wait, never mind. It make sense now. At first I omitted "ward" from "ward mission leaders," while simultaneously using it. It became "mission leaders from the mission," and "WML's, Ward Mission Leaders.

So as I understand the question, working with our WML is great. His goal is to put us to work in an effort to bless the ward and bring converts in. He helps us to teach repentance and baptize converts.

I greatly enjoy the support we get from him. He is called of God to fulfill a capacity that is very involved and full of hard work.

What was your favorite food this week?

So this week had a Sunday like dinner on Tuesday, food at camp Helaman on Wednesday, Baked pasta and such from a family whose father served in Italy, and probably my favorite, also why I saved it for last, home barbeque wings on Thursday.

How is the ward family doing this week?  

Everyone was heavily affected by the passing of the young woman. The ward is becoming of "one heart and one mind" as mentioned in Isaiah. The grieving process will occur eventually for everyone.

When and how have you felt the Lord's love for you this week?

When I see how much he loves everyone here, I can't help but think, "Elder Hall, do you think He loves you too?" I pause. The answer, coming not from me, but a heavenly source, sets in and lights me afire. Joy from the gospel is so pure it cleanses like fire, and burns the heart of hate or anything ungodly. In a song by Rend Collective, a Christian band that I started listening to sense I receive the songs form a past companion, they sing "Burn like a star like a fire in our hearts," "We will not bow to sin or to shame, we are defiant in your name. You are the power that cannot be tamed, we are defiant in your name. Our Lord, our God, our conqueror." I like those songs, but especially hymns of praise to Him. No idea if this band are members of the church or not. I like how the songs remind me of Christ nonetheless.

  

More Pictures

V in between us, and two of her fellowshippers in the background

Their spouses couldn't come because of the need to care for children, so we got one form each couple.

A couple of pictures that Elder Smith took in Marble Falls on exchanges. I had seen these before, so I decided to take them from him, with his permission, and pawn them as my own.

Not in Marble Falls, but reminds me of Zombie outbreaks.

Bluebonnets in front of a member's house.

Bonzai!

Love,

Elder Hall

Texas San Antonio Mission

Ever Thought Following Him Should Be Eastier?

Dear everyone,

Before addressing my general email bulk covering a full week of last, I wanted to take some time to address a tragedy. Last Friday evening a youth couple that was going on a group date with others in the ward was involved in a horrible traffic accident. I won't mention them by name or more details to keep their privacy and avoid putting too much attention on them. I hope y'all might be able to pray for their families. The ward has already done much to support the families. We missionaries only stood back, wept and prayed from them as the others served. It made for a somber Saturday when we learned the news that day.

Seems that sometimes, and by sometimes I mean nearly daily, we encounter trials. Some of common place, some world shaking like this accident I mentioned. Easter helps me to remember that Christ's life and trials born for us are a whole lot "eastier" than the things we have to deal with. I mean not that our trials are not insignificant or important -- they are -- rather when we remember His role in God's plan for us, it makes it a whole lot easier to bare our burdens with patience, and then at our strength to others as we help bare their loads.

This last week I had a bit of nausea through out the week. It was likely because I forgot to take a medicine the night of the exchange with Elder Greene, which medicine caused nausea as I first got used to it. My body likely had to re-adjust to it, as if I was starting the medication again. This trial, insignificant to what Christ did for us, helped me to put things into prospective. Do I pick a life as a mortal with regular let downs and trials, or do I suffer for all of my sins alone, instead of putting them on Christ through repentance? Not even to mention that he paid for every life, and every sin ever committed, -- well know or committed in secret. We are ever in the debt of our Savior.

Otherwise, we had a good week. We tried multiple times to get ahold of J and S. We called S, and she hung up on us, and we gave her the benefit of the doubt. But when J did the same thing, saying "Wait just a second. . ." after picking up the phone and introducing ourselves, we figured they weren't too interested anymore. We finally texted S asking if it would still be ok for us to visit on a particular day, and she pretty much said they were both comfortable in their churches. Shoot. Well, it happens. They'll have an opportunity to listen again some other time.

Daylight savings needs to be tried for treason. Well, just kidding there. I'm just letting out a little bit of my yearly frustration. I really do enjoy the extra light that we get as a missionary. But back home, that hour of sleep lost would often set me off for a couple of weeks, and wouldn't be worth the cost. Here's another reason for frustration:

V missed church once again. Yes, we have been spelling her name wrong this whole time. We visited for a short minute Saturday night with a member couple, and only re-invited her to church -- that is all she had time for. But then we discovered from those same members that daylight savings was happening. Before we could alert her sufficiently, we tried to send a text of warning to her the morning of church, and got a text later that she would have arrived at 10 if we hadn't told her. Family was over, so she could no longer make it to other parts of the meeting. Next week, for sure!

But the good news with what happened, is on Wednesday when Elder Greene exchanged into the area, we went on splits and I visited V at a member's home for a family home evening. It was funny, because Elder Greene headed a split in an area that didn't belong to him. But really, since he was with the ward mission leader, he didn't need to lead too much. That was his first split (split meaning one missionary goes with one member, and the other with another), and it wasn't even his ward either. But anyway, we taught the Word of Wisdom and a few other things, and while she had some concerns with the WoW, she is ready to live it. We're going to do our best to help her do so. Please pray that she will make it to church this week, and be willing and ready to follow the commandments that we will teach her.

J and his wife met with us this week, and towards the end of testifying of the Book of Mormon, they admitted that they liked talking to us, but they base their beliefs on the Bible, and weren't really looking for a different faith. *Tear drop*. We responded and testified of the role of the Book of Mormon in our lives, and how they can truly come to know it is a true book if they read it and pray, ready to act on any answer they may receive. We might meet with them again, but it isn't likely. Sometimes it is better to move on with faith, knowing that they may search again in the future, than to get down on yourself. While I widely consider this era of missionary work (the digital one) to be a time of mainly harvesting, less planting, there is still some planting to be done. I'd be silly to think I was just going to snack on bread all my mission.

But great, and a redeeming source of blessings, was when we finally caught S and his daughter, T. So S's family member, J, was referred to us by their neighbor a while ago, that neighbor being a member. We had tried SO many times to set up an appointment, and S in deed was willing, but a bunch of things kept coming up -- for both of us. We decided to do the random drop by on Sunday, and we caught S doing yard work, and his daughter T (late teens, early twenties, not sure) and her (probably) boyfriend, B. They have very ranging beliefs, from a belief in God like we believe, to another religious belief, to more of an agnostic view about God. We taught them the Restoration. We asked them questions as we could, trying to channel a training we received a couple weeks ago about asking appropriate questions, and shared Joseph's vision of God and Jesus Christ. B seemed touched by it in particular, but when we introduce the Book of Mormon as the evidence, they all were for reading and praying about it. B lives in another ward, closer to Cedar Park area, and we probably won't teach him again, but we are definitely going to work with S and T, hopefully catching J, who wasn't home at the time.

Questions and Answers

Do you have any special approaches in your teaching as Easter draws nearer? 

Well, just like every special and sacred Easter or Christmas season, we have a wonderful video prepared for us that we are trying to flood the Lake Travis area with -- but not the lake, that's already full.

Watch www.FollowHim.mormon.org  and share it with everyone! Share it on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Myspace, Snapchat, wherever y'all go online to digitally socialize nowadays.

We're using the video to help give people a sense for why we follow Christ in the first place. He can take away our sins, clean our past, and lay out before us our future. He can give us new life. If you haven't seen the video, watch it. If you have, share it! #Hallelujah

With the bluebonnets around, have you encountered any foraging Indian Paintbrushes?

I haven't seen any Indians painting anything no. Jaja (haha), if I had a picture, I'd probably know what to look for. Maybe I'll ask the other elders for help to identify it.

How has the Spirit helped you this week?

While not personally affected by the tragedy in the ward to any notable degree, I felt a profound sadness for the families involved. I wished I could have done more. So I prayed. All of my prayers to this point have included them to some point. I want them to recover as best as they can, no matter how well the youth injured in the crash were damaged.

Plus, I felt a little hurt when Jamie and Shana ignored us. In Texas, generally, we don't even get door slams. People like their doors and are too nice to do that. While some people may say they aren't interested, it can hurt a little if they don't tell us directly. Plus, it takes a little more time. And some advice to you dating people back home, just be direct if you don't want to date someone. I think it hurts when we give mixed signals to one another. But back to the real world (Texas missionary work), I felt peace as I asked for it in both occasions.

BYE.

--

-Elder Hall

Texas San Antonio Mission

Christ's Atonement: Surpassing Affordable Spiritual Cleanser; Don't Go Through Life Without It

Hello Everyone of value in my life, and others of still infinite value,

Today we took our car through an automatic car wash. We decided to get a monthly pass that allows us to wash the car infinitely within this month. It was sprinkling a little when we arrived, but we took it in to wash anyway. We'll be able to take it again before Zone Meeting this week, to make sure it is extra-special clean. The car wash ended, just for more rain to dust our car and make it just a little dirty. The wash is very much on a level endlessly lower than Christ's sacrifice. What He cleans, stays that way.

This week my iPad has spent much time in intensive care. So I took it in again to take advantage of the warranty, as a few things were off with it: loose home button, some dirt stuck under the screen, and a couple of other things. I dropped it off last p-day, and got it again on Wednesday after our district meeting. A few things were fixed, but a couple of other problems were made. The inside of the screen wasn't clean, so it was akin to having a double layer window with gunk stuck in between that you can't reach. So again I dropped it off on Thursday, gave a call to the office on Saturday, and found out it still wasn't ready. I went iPad-less for the first Sunday ever since I got it in the first place. When we dropped by today, we found out that the man in chard of ipad mini repairs still hadn't taken it in. Looks like I'm going to go without it for a little more. *sigh*. Another thing that doesn't stay fixed.

A variety of successes came this week. On Saturday V came with a member and us and toured the church building. Her little granddaughter was in love with taking pictures -- she took pictures of paintings of Christ, of rooms, of the hallways, and we frequently slowed down to let the little girl catch up. V was committed to coming to church. Then the unthinkable happened. On Sunday, Dennis, her husband, woke up not feeling too good, and that confined her to home with him. *Luke Skywalker "no!"* So close. She is pretty committed, but so is the adversary in giving her things to jump over. Well, next week for sure. FOR SURE. FOR. STORMING. SURE. (When I get frustrated, that's the word I use. "That storming traffic light!"). So we are going to have a family home evening with her and another family in the ward, and we are going to help her progress a little closer to baptism. It's going to happen. The question is only, in a month, or two. Just kidding. I believe it's soon, but I really have not the agency to say exactly when.

What else happened this week?

Saturday was a funny day. We came home and cooked ourselves some dinner. This past week, we didn't have any ward families sign up to feed us, so we had plenty of dinners together. Elder Aguila and Elder Smith were also cooking, as their dinner canceled. It was actually the first dinner we have ever shared the apartment for. Anyways, we cooked some sausage, and whatever, and afterwards, Elder Hansen kept grabbing more foods. You should know, Elder Hansen can eat. At first I felt it wasn't a problem, but then I started to worry. I said, "Elder, it's not healthy to eat so fast you can't tell when you are full." He responded we didn't have time to wait for things like that. I continued to (overzealously) counsel him not to eat so much, adding that the Word of Wisdom adds not only what not to take in, but also to take in moderate amounts of food. Or at least I think. Don't quote me on that idea. He later seemed to agree. But that isn't where it gets funny. Please. I have a sense of humor.

So we walked down a street that we had had plenty of work to do, and we pass by a duplex where J, a single mother lived. She had talked to us for a little bit and pointed us to another person we could visit. That day we had visited that person, and a few persons that that person had pointed us to, and that was part of the purpose why we passed by on Saturday, to catch some other people that were down that chain of referrals. We pass by the other half of the duplex, and a lady bringing some things out of her car calls out, "you guys seem to walk this road a lot." I silently replied in my head that we did. She in turn invited us to her half of the backyard to have some dinner with her and her kids, and eventually J's family showed up too. We learned that J's neighbor was named S, and that her best friend growing up was a Mormon. She asked us a few questions about the word of wisdom, and the temple, and she seemed to accept the answers, not simply hear them. After a second dinner, we taught them the restoration. S was indeed the most interested of them, but J did stick around, distractedly joining her kids efforts to clean the yard of leaves every once in a while, which S explained was common for J. They accepted the invitation to read the Book of Mormon, though they have their own home churches. Who would have thought we would randomly get invited to a stranger's picnic dinner? Elder Hansen took that as a sign that maybe he did grab too much food, but I refrained from echoing "I told you so."

Rain has entered the realm around here. I'm surprised. It's been so hot, and now the weather is morphing. Make up your mind, Texas, what season are you?!

I'm thinking of buying a hoodie to commemorate my time here in Lake Travis, by buying something with the local high school logo or whatever. But I might wait a little bit. I'm not leaving quite yet. I'm not going home yet. I'm not going home yet.

Questions and Answers

So, how are H and his wife, and V , and and P and B and B, and W, Jr and D, and A?   

(Apologies, my blog master will shorten all those names to an initial.)

V: (See Above)

H: We had a successful hand-off and now he is being taught by the Sister Missionaries. We attended a lesson on the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the sisters and their ward mission leader. He seems to understand baptism, and we talked to their young son who is old enough to be baptized about baptism too. We still haven't met his wife, and he missed church this week though he was committed to come. Next week then.

P & OTHERS: No chance to catch them this week. He's retired, but pretty busy. We did talk to his wife and him for a little bit when we tried by, and he has been reading. He's still technically not investigating, however, because we haven't been able to get another appointment scheduled. The same family that invited V for a FHE tonight was planning on doing a FHE-dinner-Family History thing, but they are still getting ahold of a time that works for all of them. They'll make it to baptism eventually, they may need more time than I anticipated.

W & D: They are reading the Book of Mormon together, finally, as we were able to get ahold of a large print Book of Mormon in the mission office when we visited on Tuesday. Still might be a little of a struggle to get them to church, but they are on their way.

A: Really busy lad. Since taking his new job, they have been putting him to work like crazy, as the business is still short on staff. He wants to read and come to church, but he said that it will probably be several days before he can go at a concerted effort at both.

Funny thing, when we followed up with J and S's reading, we visited a house on the same street to ask about their neighbor, who was supposedly a member of the church. Another J answered, and we taught the Restoration in Spanish. It is kind of hard to see if he really understood authority, as he took to heart, probably more than any non-member that I have ever met before, the concept of "One faith, one Lord, one baptism." He believes that his baptism was valid, though he wasn't sure where the authority came from. He has the makes of a budding testimony. And what's better, is if he progresses, then the Spanish Sister Missionaries will have another family in the somewhat immediate area to work with. It'll make their miles a little more worth the use, I hope.

Also, is this week transfer week?

No. So because of the extra 7 week transfer, we get the information in two weeks from today.

Have you noticed any flowers on the road way? 

Actually, I saw a flock of Bluebonnets grazing the freshly fallen sunlight. I was so glad that the other elders pointed them out to me. We were on our way to district meeting, which is in Marble Falls don't you know, and there was some on our way into town to the side.

How is your car doing this week? 

It feels really nice and shiny, as we waxed it last week. Softer than a baby's bottom, if a baby were made out of the same metal that a Corolla is. By the way, we named the car Cora. I mean, who wants to waste their time saying a three syllable word when they can shorten it? You can now call me "Eld' 'all."  Just kidding. Don't call me that.

On Tuesday morning, we drove both Cora and "Shelby," the Chevy Cruise, and took them to San Antonio. Seeing as Shelby was overdue for being sold, we finally took it in. I didn't shed too much tears, but I thought I could have gotten a cheesy picture with Shelby. I hope "Lola," my car back home doesn't get too jealous. But wait, she's a CAR. CARS don't get jealous.

Did you get to use your bikes this week? 

We tried SO hard to use them this week, but every day we put them on the back of the car, either weather, timing, or logistics didn't agree with us. Hello? Clouds? Can you cry less?

In what ways has the Lord sent his loving Spirit to help you this week?

As for the logistics of Spirit transportation, I have no idea how he "sends" the Spirit to us. Sorry, I'm a little bit of a smart alec aren't I? Well, my patience bubble was about to burst on Sunday. The natural man wanted to blame others that V couldn't make it to church. But I paused, swallowed my pride, and said a silent prayer for D. The Spirit has helped me in a multitude of other ways. For some reason, I just haven't been getting enough sleep at night, and during morning studies, I frequently almost-kind-of-fall-asleep or at least close my eyes for inordinate amounts of time. I had this problem back in Windcrest, but it seems to be coming back. I'm finding creative ways to stay awake (like smiling like a madman the whole time or scratching my pinkie with my thumb), and relying on the Lord for grace and mercy. Ugh. It's embarrassing to fall asleep in school, but on the mission, I can just imagine God looking down and muttering under his breath, "You have got to be kidding me, Elder Hall? Can't you stay awake reading the words of eternal life? Fine, send a prompting to his companion to poke him in the ribs."

  ___

< O-O>

     \--\

A Picture of Yoda. My iPad had a bad time taking quality pictures that day.

Best of happiness to you all,

Elder Hall

Texas San Antonio Mission

Every Member a Fruit Fly

Texas howdy y'all!

I'm not sure if that made any sense whatsoever. The work is progressing as it should, but we still can't get V to church. It can be one of the most patient growing invitations that we extend as missionaries, because sometimes it just takes a long time for people to step into a church for the first time. It's much easier for those of us who have attended since we were little and also much easier for those of us who have been members for a long time. Sometimes we are both. She told us Saturday afternoon that she was going to go on a technology fast on Sunday. Apparently she and her husband have a deal that they each (or just her, not sure) will go 24 hrs a month with no Facebook, cell phone or TV usage. She asked for the address and said she would be there. . . . And then she wasn't. Well, she'll make it eventually. She needs love, not criticism. We all do, right?

For lunch I mixed myself some protein thick cereal and a fruit fly emerged out of nowhere. Do they have teleportation technology or something? They spawn as it seems from thin air. As I frustratingly swatted it away from my food, I came up with an analogy similar to that of one of our past prophets: "every member a missionary (bird dogger)." I thought, "Every member needs to be like a fruit fly. Whenever they find someone who needs the gospel, they need to buzz around them like they were a piece of fruit. No need to gather it, just let the missionaries serve them up, and then enjoy the blessings of fellowshipping them. Or the fruit can be the gospel, and everyone should know where the fruit is, because the members will be all over it." Now to come up with an analogy surrounding mosquitos -- nope, definitely not. Nothing good can come of a mosquito. P.S. Fruit flies in late February?! Come on Texas!

In our zone conference President Slaughter talked a lot about faith, and related us to the six or so lectures on faith that were included in the early "book of commandments," one of the ancestors of the doctrine of covenants. These lectures were sent to the early missionaries to take with them on their journeys. It's really interesting that of all the things Joseph could have lectured on, he chose faith. Not baptism, not the restoration, not the plan of salvation, but faith. It kind of told me something interesting. Because I took my iPad in again to get some problems fixed under the warranty, I had to take notes with ye-olde paper and pen, and read from me-olde scriptures. I'll type them up again eventually.

Speaking of copying things, I'm struggling getting my digital journal back into my paper edition. It seems that I type a whole lot faster than I write, so if every day I write in my digital one for five minutes and copy old writings for five minutes, the hare is clearly beating the turtle. It's hard to make time to copy anymore, 'cause there are plenty of things to wind down with every night. Well, I guess I just need to put some overtime in the "copy room" during lunch each day, or something.

In other news this Friday we had the opportunity (whoops, I almost wrote "oportunidad,") to go on exchanges with a priest from another ward. Carter participated with us because of the "missionary week" that was happening this week. Other priests and laurels that are about to graduate went with other missionaries in the stake and other stakes, but only those from this stake did it. I have officially had a mini missionary with me. We taught a few people that night, of whom I'll talk about, and we had an enjoyable time. My only regret is that we didn't get a picture together. He did not stay overnight as many of them did, but he was scheduled to come with us the next day too. But then he texted us and reported he had a school project that he needed to work on the rest of the day. It hadn't occurred to me that it might happen, and so I didn't take the picture before. Well, just imagine a tall oldest sibling with nicely styled missionary appropriate hair with a kill testimony and willingness to shoot on sight (said testimony).

We taught A again about the restoration and before we offered, he asked for a copy of the Book of Mormon. That was cool. C explained how he studied both the bible and the Book of Mormon to finally figure out if his parents' faith would remain his as well. Then we visited A and W, some less active members in the ward, who I think I talked about in a prior email, but may not have. We've wanted to help them attend church and they finally did yesterday, but only for sacrament meeting.

We've also been working with William Jr. and his girlfriend Debbie. They both have a lot of trials, and we are looking to help them attend church. Debbie has a hard time walking, so we are brainstorming ways that we can help them get there. Debbie is not a member, but William is. The tricky part is we could get William to attend easy, but he wouldn't want to leave Debbie behind, and nor would we.

In addition we finally caught up with P and B and B. So, it would seem that they didn't quite understand the invite to be baptized. He's been reading and he is super respectful, but we didn't do our job to help them understand the commitment they made. So we'll re-establish expectations, and later extend another date, hoping that their full intent is to keep the date. Also, we have no idea if B or B are reading, as we only talked with Pat a little bit yesterday. His neighbors, who are members, are working on inviting him and us for dinner one night, and later to do some family history stuff as part of a "family home evening" thingy magic. It was going to be tonight but they were busy.

Things are spiffy. Also, yesterday one of the members of the ward brought one of his interns that was about the age of and knew his son pretty well. Kyle, was his name, stayed for all three hours without seemingly a single complaint. He enjoyed the classes and sacrament meeting, but alas, he will go to the singles ward and be with Elder Reimschussel and Elder Black. Oh, did I mention Elder Black is my zone leader? Well, he is. It's kind of fun to have that plug available to us. Not that I'd do anything scandalous with it.

Questions and Answers

How are things going in the work with all of your people (V, R, P, A, T and any others)?    

We couldn't meet with R and he was out of town this weekend. We'll continue to keep working with him as we can.

As for T, well, he blatantly dropped us. Last week, we asked how his reading was going. He said, paraphrasing, "I read a few pages. It strikes me too similar to the bible. So many people have their own interpretation of that book that they blindly follow, and each equally emphatically claims their interpretation correct over all others. I don't want to become like those that mindlessly follow a book written many years ago. Thank you for your support, but we are going to find another way to raise our children to be more giving and caring." We tried to re-invite him to adjust his expectations, read and pray, but he didn't answer. Well, he'll come about one day. I'm super glad he was honest about his thoughts. If he wasn't, we could spend several times trying to visit them, and waste both his family's and our time.

Where is Elder Mackay from again, and is he about your age?

I do believe so. I'd have to ask to double check. His family is originally from Canada, but he moved to Utah about four years before he left for the mission. Oddly enough, he is here in Texas on a visa. Those Canadians. . . . haha, just kidding. Nothing wrong with where you are from.

Have you seen any bluebonnets yet?  

I think I have identified the number one problem with my inability to spot them. I have no idea what they look like. I would suppose they look blue. And maybe slightly resembling a bonnet. Dad, or somebody, feel free to send me a picture. I'd search it on google images, but we aren't allowed to do it. Plus, you never know with google images when someone decides to relate "bluebonnet" with some skimpy outfit or whatever. Goodness, where is this world headed?

How is your Espanol with Elder Hansen going?

Muy bien. Hemos estado hablando lo mucho posible cada día, aunque él probablemente habla más que yo. ¿Pues, no es competición, no? Voy a intentar mejor, entonces.

Very good. We have been speaking Spanish as much as possible every day, although he probably speaks more than I do. It isn't a competition, is it? I'm going to try harder, anyways.

Why is cactus your favorite plant and turtles your favorite kind of animal?

I admire the perseverance of a turtle in the face of all the flack it gets daily for being a slow, boring animal. It doesn't matter how many times it gets thrown about, it just gets into its shell for a bit, pops right out, and keeps moving on. Plus, any animal that looks cool dressed up as a ninja has got to be awesome, right?

As for the cactus, I'm not sure. Cactus just is there. They are just in it. They know style, and substance. They hold onto the water of life, and they are frugal with it. They flourish in the climates that send raining fiery terror upon many other types of life. They don't take trash from anyone. A cactus is the way of life. Cactus is the future. Vote Cactus!

 How has the Lord's Spirit supported and guided your work this week?

You would not believe how bummed out I was yesterday. We just struck out time after time. Finally as the night comes into play, we go to H's house to share a message as per our appointment, and he says in Spanish, "Look guys, I just got home from work and my wife and I are exhausted. Could you try by again another day. Oh, and I just bought that old trailer sitting in the front. It's a little rustic, but I should be able to get to church next week." I contained my gratitude for answered prayers, and Elder Hansen only barely managed to hold onto it. We congratulated him for his work, and we told him we would come with the Sister missionaries from the Spanish ward, and then they would continue to visit him. And all the while, mariachi music is playing at full blast in his neighbor's house. Such a classic Spanish scene. I felt that was a miracle and a pick me up. About a week before, Elder Hansen and I discussed what we should do to help him to get to church. Elder Hansen seemed to think we should encourage him to quit his job. I had felt before that in time, he would make the money need to get the trailer. It was an answer to my prayer and a blessing of peace for my companion that he finally was able to get what he needed.

Virtual hug!

--

-Elder Hall

Texas San Antonio Mission

Cleaning Under the Rug

Dear everyone and anyone to whom this may apply to, except zombies,

As the title would suggest, I finally figured out how to empty my ipad of photos and put them onto a thumb drive. Then for the first time ever I will be able to back up my ipad using icloud and prepare to take my ipad in again to get looked at. I took a pretty good risk last time by not backing it up. Hopefully nothing happens anyway.

We'll also do our very best to clean out the apartment for a special occasion. No, not inspection. And no, not because it is p-day. Instead, this friday we should be receiving a mini-missionary, a priest from one of the wards in the stake who will go on splits with us and stay over night. Not quite as long as the mini missionaries who during the summer would stay for an entire week, but it'll still be a fun opportunity. We'll show them what the TSAM is like, and then they'll never want to be called anywhere else. I bet my TSAM pride is showing on my sleeve. Anyway, I'm excited. Elder Drennan entered the missionary and served his first week with Elder Masters with a mini missionary. That was in Barton Creek ward, one of our neighbors here in the area. 

V is doing a little bit better. We caught her on Friday and taught her a short visit. She was excited to come to church, and recommitted to be baptized again, or rather she recommitted again (not wanting any confusion here) to be baptized on the 26th. Cross your fingers! But wait, no don't do that. That's pagan. Instead, cross your arms and pray hard. I'm really hoping her husband, Dennis, engages and starts to attend with her. He is already a member, you see, and he did not want to sit in with us that Friday. We were cordial about it, but he was quite adamant. "Is that a challenge?" Heh, prayer will soften his heart if he is ready. 

R is doing great. They fed us some great food, and the leftovers lasted a good few days, look at my creation:

I took Hawaiian sweet rolls and filled the hole of two bagles. Then I put Pad That on the bagel and sprinkled it with soy sauce and the famous sweet mango Jamaican hot sauce. Delicious. Quite filling too.

As we talked to the Bishop about him, he said that Richard tends to dig deeper as he goes on. He really is an intelligent man, and Bishop recommended that we answer his questions as best as we can. We want him to keep going strong because in addition to his spiritual intellect, he would be a great priesthood holder in the ward. And while Carrizo probably needs more of those that his ward does, definitely every ward needs more. 

I went on exchanges with Elder Mackay again. We gave a church tour to one of their progressing investigators who had a dream and was told she needed to attend church. She subsequently quit her job and prepared herself to attend, I would assume it happened, yesterday. She is a sweet soul in trying circumstances and her 8 er 9 year old son is too. She wanted to be baptized, she said, but felt that May was a good time. We silently yelled in our heads, "NOOOO. . ." If she wants the comfort of the holy ghost, it should be much sooner than that. Of course, most people don't understand the significance of it at first. She had some things that she felt she needed to repent for, some things that weren't even her fault. But the Marble Falls elders have it taken care of.

Then I was feeling mischievous and I took time to draw several cactus people on individual sticky notes with a quote and a name for each cactus. I left a note Elder Greene's desk that said: "it's not easy being a Cactus. But having friends helps! Find all 22+ Cactus friends!" And then I proceeded to hide them everywhere I could. I put some in the fridge. I put some in his books, his bed, his ties, just about anywhere I could get my crazy little mind to think of. Last I check he found about 35 of them. I lost count after 22 and can't remember how many I made. See, you can still be goofy on a mission. But there is a time and a place. While at home and at your companion, or another missionary.

Then yesterday we dropped by P and his family. Another family in the ward referred him to us some time ago and we set an appointment. The visit fell through and it had been a while since we last connected with him. But we stopped by at random and he let us in and we taught the restoration. Later into it his teenage daughter Bridget showed up and sat down. His wife was busy eating in the kitchen so we did miss her. They seemed to understand things pretty well, and they accepted an invitation to read, pray, come to church, and be baptized. I was pretty astonished with how open they were. I concluded that they might not understand completely, and it might be important to teach some things over again, but we are not going to throw away what God has helped us to find. I'm just praying it isn't too good to be true. That happens sometimes. We had a successful week overall.

And earlier that week we found A. He was set to be married some time ago but the engagement broke off, and he felt bitter and sadness about it. A member who came with us explained some of the benefits of the church, and helped to correct some misconceptions A had. He did admit he was looking for a church, and that he felt like we came to him at just the right time. That's pretty cool, I think. We'll see where he goes.

Just giddy here in Texas. Elder Hansen and I have gotten to be good friends. I'm still hoping and hoping some more that I get the chance to train another missionary. Elder Downer was great, but I had to share him with Elder Bertelsen. Well, I definitely need to be grateful for whatever it is that I get. 

I also got a hair cut just a little bit ago:

You'll notice the oil container there. I got it from Elder Greene and found that since I don't carry the car keys it's easy to hang it off of a button. I tuck it in and then it always stays with me.

A mission is like good bluebell ice cream. You are always worried you'll run out, but you need to enjoy every bite.  

How are things going with R his family and V and T and his family?  

I totally spaced T. So we brought a member of the ward who speaks spanish too, and we had a visit with the parents. Couldn't nab the kids. We read the introduction to the book of Mormon, and Theodore's big concern was, "If I am a good person and I believe in Christ, why should I need to go to church?" We slightly addressed it and pounded on the importance of knowing the Book of Mormon is true. After all, everything hangs in connection to the book, all truth or all lies.

And have you been able to communicate with D again?     

Not his week. The member that came with us has been keeping in contact a little, and we figured he'd need some more time, just based on his situation. He should be to church one of these days though.

Have you anymore interesting pranks to report this week? 

I can't remember if I reported all of them so far. I have a good one planned this week. It involves a fan, and a bunch of bottle caps. Stay tuned for details.

 Are you getting rain around there ?

We got just a little bit yesterday. I was glad we didn't bike.

How have ward members assisted you and Elder Hansen in your work this week?    

Well, we had some fantastic visits with all sorts of people this week. Members connect a lot better than we do. I don't know if you share this opinion, but at times people in white shirts can be intimidating. Have you noticed that?

In what ways have you felt the Savior's love for you this week?

I felt keenly inspired with something, but I can't remember the moment freshly anymore. We did do service for a member last week. The other elders and we have been building a thin metal shed for her, and this Friday we went by ourselves. She expressed how grateful she was for us, seeing as her home teachers really didn't do their jobs. Home (visiting) teaching matters people, it touches lives. We essentially do it every day that we visit a member to teach them. I felt her gratitude resonate in me for a little bit. I'll need to search my journal for the other moment.

And how has the Spirit guided you this week?

In lessons, yes, but also in my relationship with my companion. We have butted heads on a few little things in the past few weeks, but I found a way to talk about something else personal. I felt the Spirit guide me to give the proper correction that need to happen, and remove the enmity.

Loving the mission life right now. I might crash when I get home. 

More food pictures!

OMNOMNOM.

Ciao!

  

Elder Hall

Texas San Antonio Mission