Dec. 23, 2013

Man it is sure nice to see some pictures of you guys and can’t wait for two days from now! =) and plus I got everything figured out for Skype here. We are going to go to a member’s house. He is named Raul and is cool, kind of like the Hermano G of the Recreo branch. I will be calling you guys at about 7 o’clock Chile time like the old plans and I still have all of the info I need to log on =) I hope nothing gets screwed up or I might get fairly upset!!

Sounds like you guys all had a great week this week. I have really been missing you guys and the snow too... it is hard to be in the blazing heat in the middle of summer...in fact, yesterday we had a choir devotional and I participated in it. I loved being able to sing again, it reminded me of choir concerts of high school but I felt so weird singing Christmas songs in the heat...it is a strange sensation.

That is so fun that case and Cynthia came over and so nice of them too! I was thinking about them on Friday and about all the fun things that they were probably doing! =) I am happy for them.

Me and my old housemates

Q & A

1. I am all set up for it and psyched! I hope that you guys are too.

2. My new comp is cool. He is from Arizona. He is 20 and has about 10 months in the mission field. I came here on Wednesday and that is when I met him and he seemed really cool. A couple of elders helped us haul my crap to the house including three packages I got on Tuesday (two from you guys and one from Phips =)  

We have had a lot of activities this past week for Christmas and stuff so it has felt like that we haven’t done a ton with the mission work that is “normal”. Elder M is a nice funny guy, he talks to me in English all the time so that hasn’t helped me improve my Spanish at all.... and I talk in English in return. I am just practicing English for Skype.

On Friday we had a cool experience. We had recently finished a fast in the zone to find new people. We did a street contact which went pretty bad and was embarrassing for us. Later we were walking and Elder M said we need to contact here. We did and nothing came from it. It was disappointing but okay. We crossed the street and then a lady came up to us and said hey I want you guys to talk to my son. Turns out he speaks English decently and is named Felipe. He is super interested in our message and in religion. He went to church with us and is already saying he can live the law of chastity because that is what we learned about in principles of the gospel!!! He is such a great guy!  

The house we live in is SOOO tiny! Four elders live there, three gringos and one Argentine, but it is home for the next month and a half at least. The sector is just about the same but the style of houses is just a little different. It is a nice place, just blazing hot! It is probably exactly five miles away from where I was! Huge change huh?! ;)  The ward is cool. I met all of them mostly yesterday and they all seemed really nice and kind of friendlier that what I remember Baquedano being... haha that might be just me.

3. Last Tuesday we had a Christmas activity and it was fun! We played ultimate Frisbee, dodge ball, and soccer. We also had some spiritual stuff earlier on in the day. The next day we did a huge service for about five hours of pulling weeds. I got cooked on my neck. I’ll try and send a picture. Tonight we will be singing some songs in the plaza de armas in Rancagua at 8. It will be pretty cool. We have been going to a lot of little activities lately with Elder M.  (PS I got my packages on Tuesday at the activity and I haven’t opened them yet! Well, I peeked at two =) )

Sorry this email isn’t huge but we will all talk in two days =) I love you guys so much and thanks for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers! LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! 

Love,

Elder Tegan Hall =) 

Dec. 16, 2013

I love the photos! Thanks so much for sending them to me =) it really makes my day... I won’t be able to send any photos today because we went to do service this morning and I didn’t bring my camera with me... I’m sorry! I also had a little paper that I wrote down the highlights of every day this week but I didn’t bring that one with me either.... so I am sorry if this email is a little bit lame! 

Oh I am so glad that you guys got my package! =) It arrived really fast actually. I was hoping that you would get it before Christmas and my wish came true! =) ha-ha sweet! I hope you like the things that I sent even though that it wasn’t much! Thanks for giving me the opportunity to be out on a mission! =) I appreciate it so much! It is a huge blessing for me! 

I am so glad that you enjoyed your week it sounds like that you all had a great time with everything that happened and basketball was fun even though they got swept this week. Blake and I emailed some fun emails to each other back and forth last week and it made me smile. I miss him! He said he had a killer birthday and it sounds like you guys did too ;) Olivia what a funny girl! She is such a great little sister and such a great example to me!!!! =) thanks for giving me such a great little sis!! Wow we are going to have 17 missionaries out from our ward....?¡?¡ That is crazy!! So cool =) 

Q&A

1. So this week, we started off Monday after p-day with getting a new investigator named Mariano. He is cool but kind of weird. Later this week we have been talking with Sandra. Jorge is progressing well but I feel like we are missing out on feeling the spirit in lessons with him... we are just teaching.... that is a little bit how my companion rolls but it is ok because we have talked about it and we are going to try and fix it. This week honestly was really hard. We had 6 less actives lined up to go to church and one investigator.... none of them went yesterday. Only two recent converts... it was frustrating.

On Saturday we had mutual and cleaned the chairs of the chapel and then had a water war with the young men and it was a bunch of fun!!! Later we went and help the 2nd councilor of the branch paint his house. It was a fun and good day! We only found one investigator this week and we couldn’t find anyone new.... it was frustrating.... I follow being obedient but I am having a hard time seeing the blessings that come from the obedience, but I will keep pressing forward and doing what I am doing because the Lord works on his own time like Isaiah 55:8-9 says, I think. I know it is chapter 55. That is about it for this week. We did a service this morning and built a fence for a sister from the branch.

I found out about 45 minutes ago that there are special changes and I am changing sectors tomorrow to a place called Recreo, it is still here in Rancagua,  but a new area, new house, new companion, new ward... new everything.... I have no idea why. I would imagine because an old missionary is going home and I am filling his spot. We will see if I get another new companion in two weeks but I doubt it... we’ll see.  I don’t know if I am ready to leave the people here. I will go and say good-bye to them tomorrow. I will let you know next week how it goes but I have no idea how Skype is going to work out now.  I will get it figured out for next p-day... I am sorry. This is as big of a surprise for me as it is for you guys.

The best thing that happened this past week is.... my comp bought some ping pong paddles and a net and in the morning for our exercise we play ping pong on a tiny table! ;) No but really the coolest thing was the mutual I would say and also I had a personal study about the Atonement this last week because I was feeling... well, I guess not cut out for the mission and that I have been doing a lot of little things wrong... but I was able to feel the forgiveness of the Atonement and the comfort and love from my Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost.. It was really cool. If you don’t have it, you should buy the book Principles of the Gospel. It is GREAT!

2.  Yes we normally eat with members every day but there were a couple days this week that we had to buy our own lunch. The best thing that I had this week was from a member. The past Sunday he asked me what I wanted to eat because I am the oldest in the sector. I said chorillana. It was sooooo good! It is French fries with meat and cheese and mayo and ketchup and eggs over easy =) so tasty and SO artery clogging! hahahah That was on Saturday.

3. Yes I am still in the Young Men’s Presidency. 

Well that is about all that I can think of to tell you. I am sure that some interesting things will happen this next week and I will be sure to let you all know! =) I am sure that Heavenly Father is sending me difficulties so I can learn to be a better missionary and overcome my trials. There is a scripture in Alma 37:6-7 that talks about how the small things become big and how I always have the capacity to grow and be better and that goes for anybody!! 

I think that I am hard on myself too but that is who I am. I need to try and figure it all out, I try to... but when I read my patriarchal blessing and I think about all the love that I have from everyone I am able to press forward and keep my head up. 

I am nervous about Skyping too and I think I might cry so I apologize now... ;) Two years does seem like a lot but tomorrow I complete 5 months exactly in the mission. That is almost 1/4 of a mish! I miss you but it is ok because we are all going to be “together” in ten day and together in 19 months =) It isn’t too long. I love you guys and thanks for everything that you all do for me!!! I can’t express my gratitude!!!! I miss you guys like crazy! But we will talk soon... have a wonderful week and enjoy everything that you all do. Thanks for the pictures and everything. I love them!! Until next week, God speed the right!

Love Always, 

Elder Teg Hall

Dec. 9, 2013

Hey hey hey!!! It is so good to hear from you! =) Thank you so much for setting up my Skype account! I appreciate it and I am PUMPED to talk to you guys! =) it will be amazing! Speaking of that I am going to Skype you guys on Christmas day in the Godoy house!

Thanks for the 311 (I think he means 411 “information”) on the week! =) It sounds like you guys are thoroughly enjoying life back in Idaho! B-ball sounds like a blast and what more is that being with family is great! You guys are such great examples for me... thank you so much! I honestly think that I could not do the mission without all of your support and the examples you give me and I feel selfish sometimes because I am not as dedicated as you guys and I am so tired sometimes that all I want to do is sleep! =/ But thank you for all that you guys do for me and I am really going to improve myself with time!! I love you guys for who you are. =D

Q and A

1. I realized I really need to start writing down day by day the highlights because when I get in the computer I seem to forget it all!.... but I have been writing faithfully every day in the journal that Olivia gave me and I still don’t have any fleas!! ;) knock on wood.... ok but I will try and give you a run-down of what happened this week. we searched for new investigators by contacting houses and in the streets but little success comes from that...I feel like we need to do something more to find new people but I just don’t know what. We did however find this really cool guy named Christian. We were walking and we saw this guy making a concrete sculpture in his back yard. I wanted to talk to him, and I asked him if I could pass and look at his stuff. (Easy in because obviously he prides himself in his sculptures) and he had a lot. Ha-ha he had a dog, an Egyptian head, a couple naked lady sculptures that I took precaution not to look at and I will save the other for a surprise in a picture! =) ha-ha! We taught him the restoration over a period of time and he told us he is really searching for God and he has desires to find Him... but he has a lot of problems in his life. However that is nothing that the Atonement can’t fix! He smoked like 10 cigarettes while we were there for about an hour talking about religion. we will go back soon! We also got a reference from the Hermana Susana of one of her friends (Susana is the mom of Enrique who is hilarious young kid in the branch). We visited that lady named Erica. We had the first lesson with her about the restoration and when we left she hugged me!!!!!!!!!!............. :/...... I felt awkward... but after I told her that as missionaries we don’t do that and she was fine with it.... ha-ha. We also found a lady who has a son out on a mission in our branch. She is called Sandra and we have work to do with her. She needs to gain a testimony! We also put a baptismal date for a young kid named Jorge who had a date for a while awhile back but then kind of fell of the face of the earth... but he is back in the game!! ;) It was a pretty good week and I am thankful for the blessings that the Lord gives me daily!

2. Rodrigo and Sebastian (recent new investigators) - we unfortunately didn’t have any lessons with them this last week but we found some new investigators like I said! =) 

3. Christmas is here is similar to the U.S. The people put up lights and they have trees and it appears to be the same as the states. Chile is really Americanized it kind of blows me away and Santa Claus here is called Viejo Pascuero! ha-ha

4. The weather is killer and I sweat like an animal every day almost but we try to get in houses and teach lessons in the heat and do the majority of our contacts later in the day when it is cooler.  It is stinking hot. I use sun screen but I still have fear that I might get cancer! 

5. My new zone leader is a really good missionary. He is a square with all the rules but that is alright because it helps us out. He is pretty quiet but I get some laughs out of him every once in a while and he is a good guy! A good zone leader and good all around!

That is about it for this week besides some pics. I love you guys and I know that this work is true and the work of God. I have struggled and always do struggle staying positive on the mission and finding who I am and staying in the limits. I feel like I am not a huge spiritual giant because I don’t have a bunch of stories to share about a lot of spiritual experiences but I can say that I have truly come to know my Savior SO MUCH on my mission and I am forever grateful for Him... I know the He lives.

I will talk to you all next week! Love you guys!

Love,

Elder Hall

Dec. 2, 2013

Hey everyone!! How are you guys?! I hope that everything is going well. Wow three weeks until Christmas break! I can’t believe it! That is cool =) I bet Olivia is stoked. It sounds like you guys had a good week and did a lot of fun things. I am so glad that you had a great Thanksgiving and that tommy tasted great!!!!!! ;) Ha-ha sounds like so much fun and that you all enjoyed the family time. I wish that I could have been there with you guys but that is ok we only have one more Thanksgiving to pass by before I can be there again =) ha-ha with you telling me all of this things it makes me miss you all but that is ok. I like hearing about all the things that you have done =) That is so cool that Rod and Traci are serving in the nursery with you guys now! I think that the bishop did that on purpose =) 

Q&A

1. Ok so the week was decent. We had quite a few visits to less active people and a few to recent converts. We only have three recent converts to visit in our sector so it is kind of hard to visit a lot of them because we don’t want to pass by their house so often. Elder H is a cool guy. He likes all of the music that I like with regards to the 80s and we talk about that. He went to an Iron Maiden concert in Mexico one time. He is a good teacher and I have learned a lot of things from him and we are both improving. This week we did a ton of contacts to find new people because right now we don’t have really strong investigators. We searched and searched and did a little more. We have worked hard but from what I have seen it hasn’t paid off yet. I just remember the scripture in ether 12:6.... That helps me a ton to maintain my faith and hope. We did however go to a reference we got to a guy named S. He is 23 years old and he has some Mormon friends. We are looking forward to working with him even though he says he doesn’t want to hear the lessons, just to talk to us... basically hang out. He is a cool guy. This next week we are hoping to find some great investigators. I hope that we do and we will work hard for it. I am kind of feeling like that I have been to every house in this sector but I haven’t. It just feels that way because I have been here for a while. Ha-ha but it is all good! We will do work while we are here.  That is about it for the week other than we had a zone activity and I made pancakes for the zone from scratch without a recipe and they were good.  I made cool shapes out of a lot of the pancakes like snow men, Mickey Mouse, a palm tree, butterfly, and a microphone! Hahahah it was a fun activity! 

2. The trip to Santiago was fun! It is a big city! All the papers and stuff I needed to do I got taken care of no problem and I also saw all of my MTC buddies there! =) It was fun! I was here with a 90-day visa and meanwhile, the mission office prepared my papers for a 2-year visa. That is why I had to go to Santiago. It was a good trip and we went to the temple grounds. I took a few pictures! =) I will try to send them!

3. I should have my own Skype. So if you could create me one that would be awesome! =) and just send me the info. You do way too much for me =) I can call you guys on Christmas day and the rule is for one hour... not sure how I feel about that.......... but I can Skype you at whatever time on Christmas. I think I will tell you what time as we approach Christmas ok? But I WILL MAKE SURE IT HAPPENS! I want to see you guys =)

4. I will shoot you some pictures if the computer complies =) 

Is there snow at home? How is the bishop’s finger? That is about all I have for this week but I will talk to you next week. I love you guys! This week I had a cool personal revelation. The Spirit whispered to me to always have trust in the Lord and He always will trust me. this also applies to the other people in the world to. I just need to trust the people. I was sitting in the zone meeting when I got that and it was so cool =) I also had a dream about being in Jamaica with Blake last night. I was not a missionary and he was. It was so good to see him. I miss him! He is my brother I never had! I love you guys, the Phippens, family and everyone!!!

Until next week =) 

Love,

Elder Tegan Hall