Nov. 22, 2014; Only one week left in the office...

Dear family and loved ones! 

I am so glad to hear that you guys are having a good week. or that you had a good week. I love hearing about them and thank you for being so diligent on that! =) You are definitely a lot more diligent with that than I am on my journal... there are nights that we are so busy that we get home when it is bed time and I am so tired I don’t even have energy to write. I hope that Alex and Adam keep doing well. I love those guys. They are great young men and examples to me and many others. I hope their families are doing ok. 

Well I will start on my week. 

Q&A

1. Well our week was good. On Monday we went up to Buin because we had a few things to do there. On the way up there was a big semi-truck that was in the right lane and I was in the left. I was getting close to him to pass him and then all of a sudden he decided to change lanes. I had to slam the brakes and thankfully the car responded well. We got within a foot of the truck I bet. It was scary but I saw the hand of the Lord protecting us in that moment. I am thankful for His vigilance. Then on Tuesday I am not sure what we did.... stuff here in Rancagua, nothing too exciting. Wednesday we went down to Constitucion to finish up on a few things we had to do down there and take some study tables to the missionaries there. That night we slept in the car and it was a terrible night. I took a blanket but it was still cold and hard... not a very good night of sleep... but whatever. It was cool to hear the ocean all night. The next day we went and painted an old apartment of the sisters and got it ready to go. We also took out old carpet and cleaned up. It was fun but a lot of work. I don’t think I will ever paint again with a roller brush after the mission. Ha-ha I am so tired of painting!!! We got back to Rancagua late Thursday night. Yesterday we had many tasks to do here in Rancagua. We got a lot of stuff done. Later in the afternoon I went up to Santiago with Elder P to take a missionary to the airport that went home. While we were there we met a member of the church who is from Salt Lake. He said he works for mines and that is why he was here in Chile. He served in the Santiago north mission in 95- 97. He was a cool guy, Brother Hales. He still speaks Spanish very well. Then Elder P and I returned home. There were a bunch of smaller adventures included in there but I would write a novel if I told you all of them!!! Today we cleaned the house, dropped a car of for maintenance, ate hot dogs for lunch, and now here we are. Sorry if the weeks seem kind of boring... but I will just kind of do an agenda of what a typical day is for me. We wake up and have to walk out the door pretty much right after we get up because we have something that we need to do. Throughout the day missionaries call us with problems that they have with their houses, bikes, money, materials, etc. with a lot of that stuff we can’t do anything about. We usually are occupied with trying to figure out those problems until we sleep.... ha-ha it is fun but it wears me out. The biggest project I have started while here in the office is a bicycle inventory. We made a spreadsheet of all the bikes we have; model, brand, color, repairs needed, etc. We have been going to every sector to give the replacement bikes for a week or so while we take the bad beat up bikes that have been neglected for years to a trust-able workshop in Rancagua. (All of the repairs that the missionaries do are cheap and only last a day... so that is why we are going to all the sectors and fixing bikes) so that has been the big project. It has been a lot of work but it is still fun!

 2. I have no idea where I will be going.... I am nervous as all get out... we will know next Saturday, maybe a little before. NERVOUS! And I think I will be able to email next Saturday and maybe just a small email on Monday saying I am doing alright. We will see how it plays out but with the rate of speed that the weeks are going by it will be hardly but a moment! 

Me and Elder T

 3. When I leave the office I will miss the relationships I have with the other office elders, and the senior couples, Elder and Hermana Ditlevson, Elder and Hermana Johnson, and of course, President and Hermana Warne. I love all of them so much and it will be weird not seeing them often as I do.... makes me a little sad. I will also miss the car and air conditioning... :/ the heat might kill me! And also my queen size bed! ;) ha-ha

 4.  We have slept in the car 3 nights and counting! ;) Ha-ha I don’t mind it I am still young... but I am not certain if President knows... he probably does! ha-ha

Cool sculpture in Rancagua

 I will write you guys a letter! I hope that it gets there for Christmas! =) I have been keeping my eyes open for the packages! Thank you! I am going to give a bottle of Dew to Elder T. He loves it! =) You know what is bunk? I have never seen fresh jalapeños here in Chile... I gave Hermana Warne the recipe for jalapeño jelly. She said she would make some and give me some! =) Thank you for being so thoughtful! I love you guys so much. I really have life too good but I love it and accept it! =) I am anxious to see where I go too, but wherever it is I know that the Lord needs me to be there! I am pretty excited to go back out to the field! =) It will be great! I will miss the office though. These have been 6 months of a lot of learning and blessings. I hope you all have a good week! I miss you! Talk to you next Saturday! Thanks for the pics! The Ball kids are so cute! Miss those guys! They have grown a ton! Tell everyone hi for me. Talk to you later!! 

 Love, 

 Elder Teg Hall

Nov. 15, 2014; I LOVE this Gospel!

"Riding a Wave" on p-day

Dear family,

  We have two more weeks until the changes come and I am out of the office!..I am nervous and maybe a little bit anxious to leave... it will be a big change. Man, we have been leaving so early and getting back so late that I have lost count of how many days I have in the mission and I haven’t written my journal for almost two weeks! I really get home dead.... it has been tough and lots of work. I am glad you have some snow! Is Olivia going to snowboard this year? I miss the crazy weather! ;) It is a blazing 95 degrees here at least.

 I am glad that you guys had a good week. Thanks for the pics! That will be fun to see Olivia without braces when I get home! Did she have them before I left? I don’t even remember?!

 Q&A

 1. Our week was good. This Monday Elder Christensen of the Seventy came to Rancagua and the whole mission got together for that conference. It was awesome! I got to see a bunch of my buddies and also listen to an inspired servant of God. He did a great job and I learned a lot and quite a few of the things he said have stuck with me. He also did a question and answer thing for the mission. It was cool. On Tuesday we had to go up to Santiago and pick up a new cell phone for President Warne. We also went and replaced a couple of Garmin GPS for the mission. In the Garmin store they had this cool camera call the Garmin Virb. It is the same concept as a Go Pro. Check it out. We ate lunch at Denny’s. It was so good! Just spendy.... they charged me about $2 for a glass of water! Ha-ha but same quality!

Before repairs

After

That night we finished the house in Rengo we had to repair. On Wednesday we went down to Rengo to give the house back and then later we went out to Pichilemu to get the bicycles there. They are really beat up! So that will be good to fix them. That was a good trip. On Thursday we built a roof in our back porch area where we park the car. The roof is to protect the articles (fridges, ovens, washers, microwaves, etc.) that are there. That was an all-day project but it turned out well. I forgot to take a picture but I will send you a picture this next week! (If I remember...) that night we went down to Talca because the next morning we had to go to Constitucion to help the elders move houses. That was a long trip but we got there safe. We helped the elders move and we were so tired because we had slept in the car the night previous for only about five and a half hours.... we went and ate lunch at an open pavilion close-ish to the ocean.

My delicious salmon lunch

It was delicious. I ate salmon. That is the second time I have had it in Chile! Loved it! Later we got together with the two past house owners that we will be giving back in Constitucion. (driving there is like driving to Salt Lake... or maybe Ogden, pretty far) so that was good we were able to take advantage of that. Today we went to a skate park with a tarp and some bikes and skate boards. We used the tarp to make a "wave" it was awesome. We went "surfing". Lots of people participated. I got sun-burned though. I couldn’t find my sunscreen. Later we went back to the house to have a bbq for Elder Troncoso’s b-day today! =) It was a good time and we invited bro and sis Johnson (the senior couple who helps us) and the Ditlevsons (financer and wife) over. It was a great time! Now I am here. I am darn tired though. Hopefully I will be able to recuperate some of my strength before I head out to the field again!

 2. Yes we have a good amount of tools. We have a Skil saw, battery drill, electric drill, painting gun, and a bunch of hand tools. We are able to make do with what we have! But we have enough to make life a lot easier! 

 3. For a liter of gasoline it is about $2, for a liter of diesel it is about $1.25, a liter of milk costs a little more than a dollar, 12 eggs cost about 3 dollars. All of the measurements are in the metric system down here.

 I really appreciate all that you do for me. I love you all so much and I feel your love and support. I am so happy to be a missionary especially here in Chile! I love you guys a ton and not a day passes by when I don’t pray or think about you! I hope that everything continues to go well for you and that you have a great week. This week I have been able to learn a lot more that when I am trying my hardest and as I forgive others of their trespasses, then the Lord accepts my efforts and forgives me of my trespasses. I LOVE this gospel and the happiness that it offers. It offers us the opportunity to have a peace of mind through our Savior’s atonement; it offers us the chance to be with our loved ones for time and all eternity. It offers great friends, cherished moments, and a safe haven from the "shafts in the whirlwind" in this world. I love it so much and I am so thankful for all that you do for me to support me! I hope that you have a great week! =) I love you so much. I will talk to you next week! 

 Love always, 

 Elder Tegan Hall

Nov. 9, 2014; I Am Happy With Whatever Comes My Way‏

Me and Elder Tronky

Dear Family!!

How in the world are you guys doing?

 Q & A

1. Our week was great. On Monday Elder T and I went up to Santiago to try and fix a problem that both President and Sister Warne had with their cell phones. It is so nice having a Chilean comp because he knows how to deal with the people better than anybody! Also I get to observe and learn and sometimes even get my feet wet! ;) On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, we repaired a house that was pretty destroyed. I took some before pics and will soon have some after pics. We have had to paint the place, put in new outlets, some sheet rock, glass, and a whole variety of things. I have become pretty handy with the time I have as commissary. I have learned a lot of stuff. We worked like dogs in that place... it was a lot of work and we still aren’t done! Tonight we will go back and finish! Then next week we will probably be giving the house back to the owner. Lots of fun! 

Yesterday we went to Constitucion (a beach sector =) to help the four sister missionaries there move. They moved from the third level in one building to the fourth level in another. It was a LOT of work... ha-ha but I am getting some killer muscles. Then later the owner came and was going to repair a couple things on the apartment but he had no idea what he was doing. We tried helping him but he would just intervene so in the end we sat back and watched him struggle. By the time we were done it was too late to drive home (three hour drive) so we stayed the night there! We slept in the car. Ha-ha it was pretty fun. We drove back this morning and had a sweet p-day! We blew up about a 1000 balloons and put them in a small area. Then we played a game to find a single golden balloon and two silver ones. In the end it turned into a party of kicking balloons around and having a good time. Elder L filmed it so I will have him pass me the video. It was a killer week but went by sooo fast! I couldn’t believe it! 

2. Well I don’t know where and with whom I want to serve with after I leave the office.... I think it would be awesome to go to Pichilemu but we will see. I would love to train but we will see. And...I would like to be comps with Elder M but we will see how things go! I am happy with whatever comes my way. =)

Well this week I learned that even when we are tired and we might want to quit but we are engaged in a good cause, we just have to keep going. The Lord will always help us when we are doing our best to build the Kingdom of God over the earth. No matter how small or big, easy or hard, short or long the task is, He helps us! I have felt that in my life this week. I love you guys and I hope that you are able to have a great week! 

I am going to send some pics your way! =) Love you so much!

Love, Elder Hall 

The moon over the ocean last night

Nov. 1, 2014; Do A Good Deed Daily

Dear Family,

How are you?! Another week gone... what? I am glad that you were able to go to the new ward and enjoy it =) Last Sunday we had stake conference and the stake presidency got reorganized. The bishop from Recreo is now the second counselor! That was cool for him.

Q&A

1. Well this last week we delivered some materials and we have been focusing a lot on making the mission bikes better. All of the repairs that the missionaries do are bad so we pick the bikes up and bring them to a trustworthy repair shop in Rancagua. It has been working out really well for us. We also gave a house back to an owner. Elder T went to Santiago with Elder P and I did divisions with Elder P (new sec) and we took a phone and some visa stuff to some missionaries that day. It has been really good. I have been slacking at writing in my journal this week. It has been hard because I get home and all I want to do is rest.... I just need to kick myself in the rear end and get to it! Today we went and did paintball and it was awesome! We played in a forest and it was cool!

2. Yes Elder A has begged me to go running and I say NO! Ha-ha maybe once I will go but I am not certain... I just don’t like running. I haven’t really talked to him a whole lot about our time as companions but that is okay... I don’t care. I like him a lot now and am glad that I am able to get to know him a little more now that I know how to speak and understand Spanish better. =) 

3. Halloween was really normal... didn’t even feel like Halloween other than the people dressed up. We did some office work and then we had to take a mattress to a house later in the day. It was low key and not much going on. Our neighbor has a little boy who dressed up as batman so I talked to him for a minute and that was fun. One kid stopped by at our house and did trick or treat and I said we don’t have treats so it has to be a trick and he said "well I can throw an egg at your head" and I said you will regret it! Ha-ha it was funny but we did see a motorcycle gang cruising around in costumes. That was cool I want to do that when I am older! 

4. Singing at stake conference was awesome! It was a good stake conference but very few speakers and long talks. It was hard to stay focused but that is okay. I already told you a little about it. I saw a lot of people from Recreo there! =) It was cool! 

Sometimes with this assignment that I have it is a little harder to keep the big picture in mind and I feel like life is that way too. But I know that as we read the scriptures, pray often, and always try our best the Lord will bless us with the chance to get better and with an ability to always have the bigger picture firmly set in our heads so we can aim high and achieve our goals. It has been a lot of fun and interesting having this assignment because I have learned so many things that I couldn’t have learned being a normal missionary. I think this assignment has definitely helped me prepare for life after the mission. I hope that all of you have a great week and that you are able to do a good deed daily! =) I love you with all of my heart! 

Love always, 

Elder Teg Hall

Oct. 25, 2014; Tansfers Make for a BUSY week!

Dear Family,

How are you this week?! I am glad to hear from you. Ha-ha I swear I always say this but the week just flew by.... it is scary how time is flying. Sounds like you guys had a good week with lots of fun. Man, I want to see Meet the Mormons really bad!! It looks like a really good one. I am excited to see it when I get home...there are a lot of movies that I will want to see!

 Q&A

1. So on Monday we had to make a trip up to Santiago with 5 sisters and the secretaries to help the sisters get their visas ready to go home on Tuesday. It was a crazy day. We had gone to bed at 2 the previous day and woken up at 5. It was a long day but we got all of their legal documents done. Then that night we went to bed at around 12 and had to wake up at 3 to take missionaries to the airport and then go to the MTC. I was able to drive president’s car. It was fun and a lot of work. I got 6 hours of sleep in a 48 hour period... super tired. And I was only able to get a couple naps in the car but now I am recovered. =) It was fun to meet all of the new missionaries and see their excitement for the mission work. On Wednesday we went to the other end of the mission to take proselyting materials to them. It was also a long day and right when we got home a missionary called us telling us he left the keys inside his house and they couldn’t get in any other way.... so we had to make about an hour drive to open their house. Ha-ha Elder T wasn’t too happy. On Thursday and Friday we just helped fix things in the mission and it was a good time and a little more relaxed than the first three days of this week. Ha-ha it was a crazy week and a lot of work. It is also getting hot at

night so I have a harder time sleeping because I am hot! But that is alright we have a fan in our room. Also this week I got a package from the best family in the world! =) Thank you for that. I love all of the treats you put in there. The Chicken in a Biscuit crackers are really good=) and everything else too. Thanks for the dew and the jalapeño jelly. =) I love you guys so much!  Miss you tons.

2. No our investigators didn’t come to church and we weren’t able to visit them either... they had asked us to take them food the next time we went. They are poor people and really we shouldn’t give them food and help them out in material terms but I still wanted to go and invite them to church... but it’s ok. We will get there soon. Today we have stake conference and we will be singing in the choir. It will be fun !=) 

3. All the housemates are good! Really happy people and we are having a good time in the house. Elder A is really enjoyable now. We also have two other elders living with us temporarily because the owner of their house sold it and we couldn’t find a house for them on time. Thankfully they live close to us. All is well =) 

4. Well I don’t know why I think Elder T is a better commissary than me... just because when I was with Elder O I never took as much initiative to organize as Elder T did. I also have to remember that Elder T is on his home field (he is from Chile) and I am sure he has an advantage there. He is just a solid guy and I am thankful that he knows how to do a lot of stuff. He is an electrical engineer so he knows how to work with electricity quite well. I have learned a lot with him =) and we are just being more organized and prepared to fix things on the spot! That is the biggest change I think which is awesome. 

5. I am not sure why President Warne chose me to be a commissary. I have wanted to ask him the same thing. Maybe he saw in my missionary application that I moved pipe and saw I was a hard worker... well I like to think that I am. I cannot tell you exactly why... but I know that he is a very inspired man and that he receives very personal revelation concerning the missionaries and I don’t doubt that the decision was for a reason. I think it has been a personal growing experience more than anything for me. I have learned so much patience. 

I liked Jorg Klebingat’s conference talk as well. His talk was straight forward and good. I am glad that you are reading all of the talks. They were so good and just like you said can help us in so many facets of our lives in different ways according to our needs! I love you guys so much and am glad to hear that you are doing well. I hope that you all have a great week this week and that you enjoy Halloween. I miss you a ton but I know that the Lord answers my prayers and watches over you every day. I will talk to you next week and until then have a great week and be safe. I love you =) 

 Love, 

 Elder Tegan Hall 

Oct. 18, 2014; Commissary for 6 more Weeks!

Hey mom, 

It is good to hear from you! Can you believe that 6 weeks have gone by that fast?! It is crazy... and yes I should have one more transfer in the office. Elder J and R go so we have a new assistant and secretary. Elder P is the new sec (he is a cool guy) and Elder A (my trainer) is the new assistant. I am sad to see Elder J and R go. They are really good friends.

Q & A.

1. It was a good week. It was a little lower key than normal, which is good. We did some maintenance on houses this week and we went up to Santiago to go buy study chairs for the missionaries. A lot of the chairs that the mission has are just poor quality. So that was a fun trip! We also helped Sister Warne prepare food for the final dinner of the missionaries who go home on Monday and Tuesday. We are getting prepped for the big changes that will be going on this next week. They will be fun! Waking up early to drop off and pick up. Ha-ha I will give you the report next week. We also had a lesson with Teresa and Jose this week. They are really evangelicals. It is hard to teach them because they just start talking and talking. We will see if they go to church with us tomorrow. I hope so! 

2. Yes we do still have companion inventory. It isn’t the same but we talk about what we can do better to help each other and if there is anything that we need to change and stuff along those lines. It is fun. Elder T is a great guy and I am so happy that I am with him. He is a way better commissary than I am but that is ok. He is going to make big changes for the mission! 

3. There was one time in this past week when I was driving and I was tired and it was night time. I was fighting against sleep and keeping my eyes open. Then I just had this impression that you (my family) had asked for my safety in the mission and after that impression I was fine driving without any desire to sleep. I know answers to prayers come in different ways and sometimes maybe when we don’t get an answer it is because no matter what we do it will turn out how it should.

Well, I hope you have a good week you guys. I love you. Miss you a ton. Sometimes I just want to give all of you a hug, cry on your shoulder and tell you all how much I love you. I love you a bunch. Sorry no pics. I forgot my camera but the only new pic is of a burger I ate at BK in Santiago this week! Ha-ha not too exciting. Have a wonderful day!! Love you TONS!!

Love, 

Elder Teg Hall 

Oct. 11, 2014; Life is So Sweet!

Hello my beloved family,

 How are you? I am glad to hear from you and know that everything is going well. Wow, the weeks keep flying by. It is crazy... ha-ha after p-day I think wow we have the 6 day grind before next p-day but that goes by so fast. So before I know it is Saturday. Man, I am tired today though! I will tell you why soon!

 I am glad that you enjoyed conference. Do you have a preferred message? I really liked Elder Packer’s message and Elder Bednar’s message; regardless all of them were inspired!

 Q and A

1. Well this week we were busy as always. We had zone conferences this week. We went down to Talca to help there and that turned out to be a whole day trip. Some of the days I am not sure what we did but it was a busy week, lots of driving. We had to go up to Santiago and switch out for our car that was getting repaired. That was a good day. I feel fairly familiar with Santiago now! There was a conference for the new missionaries yesterday so we helped with that and we helped Sister Warne prepare a lot of food for hungry missionaries! It was a lot of fun. There was a pot of rice that weighed probably around 70-80 pounds... it was crazy! There are some hungry missionaries here. Today we had to go to Talca and fix some things. Since it was our p-day too we went to this place called Siete Tazas and it was beautiful!

Look it up on the internet if you want. It is a series of waterfalls. We rode bikes there for a little while but then my pedal fell off so we headed all the way to Talca, had lunch, did a couple things for missionaries there, then went to Curico to help out some missionaries there too. It was a productive day and a productive week. It slipped out from between my fingers. We have been continuing with the opening of new houses and closing down old ones. There have been some owners who try and take advantage of us and who have gotten mad but those are just details. Things couldn’t be better! The Lord blesses me more than I deserve but I am so thankful for it. We were able to go to our sector a couple times this last week and do some contacts and get to know a couple of the members better. A very productive week and lots of work but I love it =) 

2. Every house in the mission has an iron and yeah I iron my shirts =) 

3. The tap water here is fine. Ha-ha one of my concerns when I got to the mission was just that. Elder A, my trainer, when I got here got a glass of water from the tap and I was like, "Whoa, you can do that?!" but it is totally fine to drink and I haven’t had any problems. The paranoid missionaries use water bottle filters here. It isn’t a big deal. I haven’t heard of anyone get sick from it and besides that, the MTC should give him a water purification bottle. They did to everyone that I know here in the mission

 Well I hope that you guys have a killer week and that you continue to abide in good works and be happy! Life is so sweet isn’t it? There are just so many things to be grateful for and so many ways to express that gratitude. I love each and every one of you and pray for you and your well-being. I got my garments and O Livro de Mórmon this week. I have been reading a little bit in Portuguese! =).

Have a wonderful week. I love you tons! 

 Love,

Elder Teg Hall 

Oct. 4, 2014; Happy Conference Weekend!

Dear family, 

How are you guys?! Happy conference weekend! I have loved the two sessions that I have seen up until now. I can’t believe that I didn’t treasure the sessions before the mission. I took them for granted and I definitely feel bad for that but I have changed. I love being spiritually nurtured by the words from the servants of the Lord. I hope that you guys have been able to enjoy the sessions as much as I have. I am glad that you are able to be up at the cabin with Phips this weekend and enjoy the nature that God has given us. It sounds like it will be a good day. Send some pics of Yellowstone =)  

We had a family home evening with a family on Monday and I shared the jalapeño jelly with them and they loved it! We ate half of the jar. Could you send me the recipe? They want to try and make it. I am glad that life is going well and that you are all having a good time at home I miss you and all of the fun activities that you do! But soon I will be home to do them with you =) 

 Q & A 

1. This week we were pretty busy. We helped some missionaries move houses this week and we also closed a house. The lady who we had to close the house with was pretty upset because she said that the house was in poor condition and that when we started the rent it was perfect. All of the owners say the same thing but in the end it turned out fine. It has been interesting to see the reactions of many of the people with whom we have closed houses. Also on Thursday we had to go down to Constitucion. That was a long trip. We took down a bunk bed and killed some fleas that are in the missionaries’ house down there. We stopped at the beach for about 5 minutes to appreciate the ocean and the fresh air. I loved it. Later we went to Talca to take care of some things. That went fine and in total we drove about 10 hours that day. We were exhausted. Yesterday we went to a leadership meeting at president’s house and that was great. It is fun to be around all of the zone leaders and President and Sister Warne. They are all great people. We had to go up to Buin and take a fridge to some elders up there. We were able to give Elder A a ride (he is now a ZL) and that was fun. I talked to him which was fun. I really enjoyed the time that I had with him. Also in the next package whenever that comes could you send some axe hair gel please. It is the red kind. Also Mt. Dew is low-ish. I have been sharing. People love it down here and I think that a lot of Latins are hooked ;) ha-ha they do like it. And now we have watched conference today. It has been great and I have loved all of the sessions. The talk that has particularly stuck with me is Elder Packer’s talk. He testified of our Savior and I felt the spirit very strongly. 

2. We are all getting along well in house. Some clean more than other but there aren’t any quarrels. It is a good time. We enjoy living with each other and we all help build each other up. I love all of the five other office missionaries. =) Thankful for the chance to live with them.

3.  We watched conference at one of the stake centers here in Rancagua. There are two of them here in Rancagua. It is the same stake center I went to for the last conference =) and in English. I was able to watch the one native Spanish speaker in Spanish. It was easier for me to understand instead of the hassle of the back noise Spanish with the English translation. It was a fun session today with the foreign languages. =) 

4. Today I start my new Advair disk of 60 puffs so I will be good for two months, until the beginning of December =) almost skype time! Ha-ha how time flies. 

5. I have been pondering on it a lot about school and I have been debating between USU and BYU. I am leaning towards USU. Still not quite certain but that is almost my final decision.

I love you guys. I hope that you keep having a good time in Yellowstone. I love all that you do for me. I have been blessed with the greatest family on earth and also friends. The Lord has blessed me bountifully. I am so thankful to be a member of His church. I am not even close to perfect but I do have a firm testimony of our Savior and His redeeming sacrifice. I love Him and I strengthen myself every day to follow Him as He invites us to do so. I invite you all to do the same too! =) Love you dearly! Talk to you next week. 

Love always, 

Elder Teg Hall

Sept. 27, 2014; Time is Flying...

Dear Mom and Family,

How are you?! It is great to hear from you again! =) The time in between emails now just seems like a day instead of a week.

Q & A 

1. Our week was good. On Monday we went up to Santiago to drop our car off to get some body work done because a couple commissaries back he crashed it so we got a replacement car for now. Santiago is crazy. I don’t like the big city a whole lot. On Tuesday we went down to Curico to talk to a house owner to decide how we wanted to close her house. We decided that we would paint and replace a few things. Later we had to go to a different missionary house and drop off a washer and do a number of different things. We almost had to make an emergency trip to a different zone because we got word that a house we were renting was getting foreclosed by the bank. That gave us quite the scare! Ha-ha but everything turned out in the end. We also kept on organizing our stuff this week. We have some awesome tools and they are all organized so when we have a specific task we have the right tools in an identified box! =) It is great. Yesterday we had to go and paint and replace the things we had talked about with the old house owner. Everything turned out fine we just have to give the keys back now. There were a few minor bumps and wrenches in all of our plans for the week but everything turned out great. We got back fairly late every day like 10:00 so we didn’t ever have the chance to go to our sector... =( but tonight I will be doing divisions with Elder J in Recreo! He wants me to be his tour guide there since I was there for 6+ months. =) ha-ha it will be fun! =)  Today we cut our grass, made hotdogs and French fries, cut Elder P’s hair, organized, cleaned the house, and now I am here. It has been a good day. I got a little bit of sun too. We cut our neighbors grass and he came over a little while later and was very grateful. That was a good uplifting experience. I also finished reading The Miracle of Forgiveness. That book has changed my life and my outlook on life. I am thankful for President Kimball and that he took the time to write it and be so inspired. =) 

2. Some things I wish I had brought with me are hair clippers but I bought those, maybe some more t-shirts and a couple pairs of jeans instead of one pair, mtn dew... ;) ha-ha but no for the most part I am content with what I brought. I would have brought a light jacket as well as a heavy coat, a jacket like the North Face one I have at home, some rain boots, but I bought some good ones here...that is it. What is the missionary’s name? I can give him a special welcome when he comes to the mission =)  

3. It was about 60 dollars or 27,000 Chilean pesos to send your package.

4. Fast food is a lot more expensive here. It hurts me on the inside to buy food at McDonald’s but it is good. I wish that they had Wendy’s! In Santiago they have KFC, Taco Bell, Subway, and other restaurants I think so that is cool! 

Well you know that I never gave you permission to read my journal! I just sent it home so it didn’t take up space ;) No, just kidding, that is fine that you read it. Oh I am glad that you guys liked that book The Gringo's Guide to Chile. I found it in a house that we cleaned out and it looked like a pretty good book.

That is weird that I have to start thinking about college now... hahah I will pray about it this week but I am pretty sure that I want to go to USU, like 98 and 4/7% sure. ;) But mom, thank you so much for taking care of me and my future by doing those things. I love and appreciate you so much! =) Thinking about college now doesn’t stress me out. I have been able to develop a better stress management level here in the mission. 

I love you mom! Miss you a bunch too but every day that goes by means that there is one less until the time I am able to see you guys and give you a big hug and a kiss =) You can send me pictures of an thing that has changed around the house, also if you see any deer, This is about the deer time of the year, and just a random pic that you take during the week. =) I love you guys and I am so grateful for what you do for me =) Have a wonderful week and I will talk to you the next one. God speed the right!!! =) 

Love always, 

Elder Teg Hall 

Sept. 20, 2014; Chile's Independence Day!!!

Hey mom,

 It is great to hear from you! I am so glad that the package I sent showed up. I was worrying about it hoping that it would and also hoping that it would show up for the 18 of September so you could get a taste of the Chilean Independence Day! =) I am glad to hear that you liked everything. It looks like that sweater fits Olivia just about right. I was nervous it wouldn’t but anyways with the CD it isn’t "printed" but "pirated". So that is the deal... I realized that after buying it... ha-ha but whatever. I hope each one of you got something that you liked. And yes the jersey I bought for me but I can’t wear it in the mission because it has a beer mark on it. So that is an after the mission jersey. The flag is for you guys if you want to do something with it. Also I am glad that you are enjoying the journal... I put a lot of feeling and emotion into it. It will probably be a priceless treasure in a few years down the road. Did the engraved copper thing of the Easter Islands show up alright? I thought it was a cool thing. 

 We are kind short on time because we had a cool p-day and had to go to a sector a long ways away to get some things done so the answers might not be too long.

                                                                                    Q & A

1. Our week was great. We have been working hard and organizing a lot of the stuff that we have. I have enjoyed being with Elder T. For Thursday, on the 18th our branch didn’t have an activity so we were able to go to Recreo and participate in the activity there. It was so much fun seeing all of my old friends from Recreo. It was a great week. The people were buying their booze early in the week and then for the 17th until tomorrow it is pure partying. When there is one holiday down here for one day that means that it usually lasts for about a week. It is funny. We didn’t go to many places this week. We were mostly in Rancagua. But the cool thing is that this Monday Elder T and I were able to go out and find two new investigators. They are an older couple that are evangelicals, Jose and Teresa. We just talked to them about churches and what we believe and why it is so important. We had a good time teaching and I really like the feeling of being out there and testifying of our Savior and His life.  Today we went to a place called Constitucion. We had to do a couple things there and we took advantage of the situation and enjoyed a p-day there. It is a beach place. We flew kites and hung out next to the ocean. Lots of fun! =) 

 2. I like Elder T. He is a good good person and knows a little bit about everything. There are some things that he does that I am trying to get used to. He will explain something to me and at the end he always asks "entiende?" or do you understand? =) Also he gets in my space bubble once in a while but that isn’t that big of a deal. He is a really smart person and knows a lot. He is the best option that I know of for a commissary. I have enjoyed my time with him. I am looking forward to getting to know him better and spending more time with him. This next week we will be driving a lot so we will be able to talk!

 3. For Chile’s Independence Day we went to Recreo, ate some empenadas de pino, asado (BBQ), and enjoyed the culture. It is a lot of fun and I want to come to Chile with you guys some day! =) I think that you would like it. I love this country!  

 4. The Silva family from Recreo gave it to me for my birthday. The really like me and I love them. They are good people. That was the kind thoughtful gift they gave to me in March. 

 Did dad get anything from the package or grandpa and grandma?  I love you guys!

You look really good in those minion hats! I thought that you would like them! =) I hope the package was kind of a surprise. Sorry that you started crying mom... haha that makes me miss you more... I also packed a hug for all of you in that box and all of my love. You guys are the best. I hope that you continue to do well and I will talk to you next week! =) Love you tons!!!

Love always, 

Elder Tegan Hall