Feb. 24, 2014; Ahhhhh! Mt. Dew

Hey mom, I am so happy to hear from you! =) Man, I have missed you guys so much this week! I just am so happy that we have the opportunity to email each other each week! =) that is such a blessing!

Well, that is ok that there were no mission calls but it sounds like here soon all the guys a grade younger than me will be getting their calls! That should be exciting and maybe one of them will come to the Rancagua Chile mission! 

Ha-ha right when I got your permission to open my birthday package early, I opened it all the way (because previously I just opened it to see what was on the surface) and I was so so SO pumped for the syrup. At first I thought it was an open bottle of diet Mt. Dew and I was still happy just not as happy as I would have been with normal Mt. Dew that was still closed. But then I realized the bubbles were different and I read the letter that was in the package and I was so excited to figure out it was syrup! Ha-ha that night I mixed some up and it was HEAVEN. I miss that flavor so much!  THANK YOU SO MUCH FAMILY! Ha-ha I have already had a couple night mares about the syrup running out but I still have plenty of syrup!! That was a great idea!! Ingenious I would say! Ha-ha but I loved everything that was in the package! My eagle shirt, pics, Guess How Much I Love You book (I teared up when I read it), licorice, pringles, almond joy, and everything that I asked for!!!!! I have a family that is way too good for me! I love you guys! =) I had Elder A take some pics when I opened the box. We will be making a cake this Sunday! =) 

It sounds like you all had a pretty good week! That is great for Olivia that she is growing up so much! I am so proud of her and her progress as a young woman! I hope that she likes volleyball and that she tears it up! I wish I could be there to see her grow up but I guess that I will be able to see the change when I get home in 17 months! I wish you guys the best with everything that you do and I pray for you guys every day!

1. Ok so the week was just dead. I called Sister Jett again on Tuesday and told her about my foot pains and she told me that I should stay in the house for a week. So I am going to start that tomorrow. My comp is going to go on divisions with the other two elders and I am going to hang out and do stuff with a member at his house. Tuesday we did a service and then we had to get showered and ready to leave but not a bunch happened that day. Wednesday we had divisions with the ZL. Elder Hill came over to our sector with me and Elder A went with Elder Egbert to their sector. That day we had a lesson with Sergio but he was a little crazy and just talked about random things. It doesn’t look like he is going to progress. We later contacted a reference that day. Turns out this guy Guillermo was baptized 20 years ago but now he is an atheist socialist. So he is crazy. Ha-ha he swore at about every other word and told us that he smokes marijuana and is was kind of crazy but I had the chance to bare my testimony to him and I felt the spirit pretty strongly. Thursday we were supposed to stay in the house but we have 0 investigators pretty much. So I told Elder A that we needed to leave and go find some investigators. We passed by a couple flaky investigators and they told us they wanted to be done. We just contacted the rest of the day and no one let us in their house. We contacted all freaking day!!!! I think the Lord might have been telling me that I should obey what the Sister Jett tells me to do. Friday we must not have had any cool experiences because I don’t remember it. Saturday we had a cool experience! We went and did a service for Emilio and then after the people that were supposed to give us lunch called us and said they were only going to pass by and give us money because they had to leave town. When we got the money, I told the other elders that we should go to a restaurant that I know because I went the a few times a while back. The owner is a less active member. It was just an idea. We went there and when we were getting ready to pack it up, he told us that the day previous he had prayed to have the elders come and eat lunch at his place and if they did he would go back to church. It was SO COOL! Just from a little idea that I had we were able to be the answer to a prayer! =) It was great! (That was the coolest part of the week and the Mt. Dew.) The rest of the day not a lot happened. Yesterday we had a pretty good day and I loved being in the church and feeling the cleansing power of the sacrament. That was the week. Last p-day we had we just searched around for luggage for Elder A; so nothing exciting. 

2. Worst part of my week is that I have to stay in the house for a week.... 

3. My feet just ache. Both of them have that big tendon that connects your big toe and heal together is inflamed and then the bones on top of my left foot just ache especially when I rotate my ankle in a wrong direction... but I do think the foot inserts are helping! I had Raul and Elder A give me a blessing yesterday too so that will help!  Don’t worry about it =) 

4. My shoes look to be in great shape! I need to buy a good pair of running/tennis shoes still. I will get on that in a week. The clothes and everything are doing great!

I would love for you guys to celebrate my birthday! Go to Red Robin for me! ;) Ha-ha just go wherever you want and I hope that you guys have a great time! =) 

I love receiving the mail from my other friends but really the truth is that sometimes like I have said they just get me down because I don’t seem to have the success that they are getting. But I am not alone. I just need to press forward with faith and diligence. Thank you for the email that you sent back to me last week! I will go and read that scripture and the letter really just helped me out. I know that the Lord does things so that we can grow even if we don’t like them. It reminds me of a video from the LDS website that is called The Will of God. It is really good. I just need to remember that God is helping me grow. I have felt the Spirit really strong at times this past week and I know that I am meant to be out here even if it is hard. I will just press forward and try my hardest!!! That is all I can do right? But man, I love you guys so much. Thank you for always being there for me. I hope that you all have a great week and I will talk to you next week. Let me know if anything exciting happens please! I love you more than I can say! Thank you for loving me and being the best family anyone could ask for! Thank you for the Nut-brown rabbit book too... that book really gets to me. :') love you guys!!!! 

Love always, 

Elder Teg Hall 

Feb. 17, 2014; This is SO HARD!

Hey mom, how are you? It is good to hear from you. I have missed you a lot this last week as well as dad and Olivia and everyone else. Ok so I will just tell you right now that Elder A and I did a lot of things this p-day so I don’t know if I will have any time to reply to anyone else. So I apologize to everyone that I didn’t reply to and I will try harder to get back to them next week! I promise.

They are going to build a Cabela’s in Ammon!!!!!!!!!!???????!!!!!! wwwwooooHHHHHOOOOOOOO!!!! That is awesome! Ha-ha I think that Sportsmans might be looking downhill. But that is exciting news! Now we can just get free stuff all the time from there! ;) ha-ha 

1. Ok this week. I think I might just kind of go off and talk about stuff and if it doesn’t make sense I am sorry but I just kind of need to let out some steam and tension. So I will start with Monday. It was really fun and we climbed a hill and took some legit pics. I will get some sent to you. Tuesday there were changes but nothing happened with me, Elder A, and our apartment. It is still just us two but I prefer it that way, a lot easier to keep the house clean. I was walking that day and we stopped in front of a guy to contact him and I put my hand out to shake hands and he just looked at me like I was an animal or something. I talked to him and he didn’t say anything

and finally he just said he wanted to continue walking so we said goodbye and he was out! Ha-ha kind of funny. On Wednesday, in the morning our zone leaders called me and said that I had to be in a church building early to have a leadership meeting and that I also needed a class prepared to give to my district. So I stressed over that big time! I knelt down to pray and the story of Ammon came to me and so I just talked about that in the district class and I turned out pretty well. Also our leaders told us that as DLs we need to have the goal of finding 8 new investigators each week and let me tell you the most I have found in my mission in a week is 7. I was willing to try my hardest and give it all, but in the end of the week we only had one. I am not trying to attract attention but I even fasted on Wednesday to find new people but it just didn’t happen. Sometimes I just feel so run down and even depressed with how things are going. I see all the success that my friends in the mission are having and I just wonder why I can’t have that?! :/ It weighs me down... I try to get better and better but the harder that I try it seems like the work just gets harder and harder and more impossible... I don’t know.... it is just SO HARD! Thursday not much happened but what did happen is we had correlation with the ward mission leader. He got home from his mission about three or four years ago so he is "still a missionary". Last Sunday he told us he could go and work with us on Tuesday and so did our bishop. On Tuesday it was more convenient for us to call the bishop. So we did. In the end the plan fell through. On Friday that day we found three new less active people and so we just basically were with them the whole day. Then at night time we went to go and play soccer. It was fun and I played pretty well! ;) Saturday we tried to do English classes but only two people showed up. We were coordinating it with a sister from the ward but that didn't work out... Sunday we went to church and had a pretty good day there. I was able to take the numbers that the sisters from my district got this last week and that was kind of cool I guess. But overall the only person that we had any luck with as an investigator this last week was Sergio. He read the pamphlet we gave him but when we were talking about the first vision he was falling asleep. He said he was just putting himself in the moment. Ha-ha funny guy and the new investigator we got hardly shows interest in the church but we will see how that goes. We have a less active sister that is getting ready to get a calling this next week or two! It has been great to see her progress! 

2. The worst part is that we are just struggling, I am struggling; this is hard. Sometimes I don’t know if I have got it in me to plug out 17 more months. But I did hit the 7 mark today! And while it is on my mind they do celebrate the 14 but it isn’t that big here. The best part is that our house is clean and I got a package that you sent on the 31 of January! The Valentine’s Day one didn’t show up... yet... I don’t know if it will. When did you send it? I also got a couple letters today and one with a letter from Randy. That was fun to read them!

3. We are making brownies for Fiorella and there is a sister in the ward named Liliana that wants to make doughnuts with us. Thanks for sending those recipes to me! =) I appreciate it. 

4. As a District Leader, I have to prepare a class for my district on Wednesdays, call them on Sundays to see how many people went to church and things like that, and also I just have to be a good example and a good leader. That is about it! But it adds a lot more stress.

Well that is about it this week. I am sorry that I don’t really have a spiritual thought either.... I think about Isaiah 55: 8-9 with the hard times I am going through but still, it is just soo hard. I hope that we can see some fruits of our labors soon. Oh and my foot just keeps bothering me so I will see if I can get a blessing and I am also going to talk to sister Jett and see if I can get an appointment. I will open that package you sent but I will snap some pics too!! I felt like there is a liquid in there and I hope it is named Mountain Dew! =) ha-ha but that is it. Thanks for always being here for me and helping me out. I am sorry I am kind of down but that is how things go sometimes. We will see how things are next week. I love you guys more than I can say. I hope that you know that and I always keep you in my prayers and I wish the best for you! Love you guys,

Love, Elder Teg Hall

Feb. 10, 2014; District Leader

Hey mom it is so good to hear from you! =) I am glad that everything sounds like it is going good at home! There are some very exotic mission calls that are happening! I love hearing about them! So the ward has how many missionaries out right now? Like 20? A lot anyways.... I am sure glad that you guys are still hanging out with the Phippens and enjoying time with them! Sounds great! Wow.. I love the spiritual thought that Nate did... I really am not the only person that has been through this and I can finish with the knowledge that I did it well too... I just have to put my shoulder to the wheel and get to work like our favorite Grandma Hall said =) 

1. I am staying here in Recreo with Elder A again and I am going to be a district leader! I am happy that I am staying and that Elder A will be my comp again! But I am nervous about being a DL. I know that the Lord trusts me with the responsibility and I don’t want to let Him down... I will do my best and always pray for His help!! But overall I am really happy about the changes! 

2. Man... this last week was kind of a drag... I don’t know what happened. We worked but I just don’t know if we didn’t plan very good or if no one was home or if it was just a mixture of both... but it was a tough week. Felipe, we didn’t even get to see and we actually talked to his mom. She said that Felipe feels like she obligates him and he says he doesn’t want to be part of a religion.... it made me really sad because at first he was really excited to be baptized... I am trying to see what the Lord wants me to learn from this experience... Maximiliano, we didn’t get around to his house. We tried but he was busy... he doesn’t really keep the commitments that we give to him so I don’t know if we will keep passing by him... we shall see! Renzo is back in Peru but we did visit Fiorella and her husband Claudio and their daughter Camila on Saturday! They are great! Claudio is atheist and doesn’t want to hear the messages but he likes talking to us. On Saturday we were in our house most of the day because Elder A was sick..... So we lost a whole day pretty much. It kind of stunk... but we weren’t able to teach anything to Fiorella because her husband was there but the next time we are going to teach and give her a baptismal date. But we sure did invite her to read the Book of Mormon and restoration pamphlet... we weren’t able to get around to Martin either. We did however find a new investigator. He is called Sergio. We first went into his house and I was looking around his living room and I caught a glimpse of a calendar with a pornographic picture..... I was like whoa.... and I turned my head as fast as I could. We didn’t teach him anything the first time because there is no way we could feel the Spirit with porn right there... but we did ask him to take it down for the next time we came. We went yesterday and the calendar wasn’t there!! I was really happy because he is honest to his word! So that means he could progress really well in the future. We will see. That is about it for investigators this week. It was kind of lousy but we are sure going to pick things up this week. 

3. The best part of the week was probably when we got one of our less active sisters to have an interview for a calling and she will be getting a calling here soon! =) I am excited for that! and the worst part... my feet have been killing me but I just push through the pain... oh and in our house we have four beds but only two are occupied so a couple nights this week elders that live here close came over to spend the night so that was kind of fun! =) 

4. I know that they have saint valentines on the 14 in the calendar but I don’t think they celebrate it... I am not sure though. I haven’t seen any decorations. 

That is so nice of everyone who is saying hi and if you get the chance would you please tell them hi for me too? Thank you! =) 

Alright so the thought that I am going to share this week is about Ether 12:27. The Lord shows us our weak spots so we can improve them. A lot of the times it hurts to admit we have the weak spot and that we need to fix it but when we get over our pride it really helps us in the end. Something that the mission has really helped me with is overcoming my pride. I will admit something that I need to make better as fast as I notice it. That is what has kind of happened this week. We had a bummer week but I know that the Lord did that so that we can improve and be better missionaries. I know that everything that happens has its purpose. Sometimes it is so foggy that we can’t see the purpose but the fog ALWAYS clears and we can see the purpose with time and as we follow the light in the fog which is Jesus Christ and His example. I love how the Lord helps us be better!!

Well that is it for this week. I tried sending letters to you today but we went to the wrong place and they told me it would be about 40 dollars for each letter. Ha-ha so I will try and get to the right place this next week! We had a good p-day! I will send some pics.

I love you guys so much and I am so thankful for the support that you all give me all the time. Thank you for ALL that you do for me and you always help me through the rough times! For that you guys are my INCREDIBLE family! =) love you!!!

Have a great week! 

Love, Elder Tegan Hall

Sorry but I do not have time to send any pics.

Feb. 3, 2014

Hey mom,

It is so good to hear from you! I am sure glad that you got reunited with dad and that everything there went smoothly! Sounds like a good week you guys had. I can’t believe that the super bowl already went by and that time just keeps rolling.

1. My comp is good. He reminds me a lot of Kreighton Wigen. hahaha. He loves to joke, he is always happy and he is witty too. He never lets anything get the best of him and sometimes he pushes his limits.... ha-ha but we are doing good. We have worked well together this last week like usual... um... investigators.... we discovered this week that Manuel lies to us about being able to do lessons because he just wants to watch a TV series and he doesn’t haven’t any desired to progress so we are going to quit visiting him. We have told him how it is straight up a few times but he just doesn’t get it through his thick old head! It frustrates me. Fiorella is at the beach so we didn’t get to visit her. We visited Maximiliano but it was only for a few minutes because he had to leave to a benefit thing he had with his motorcycle group. But he hasn’t read so we invited him to read again. We FINALLY visited Felipe yesterday with a member. Felipe told us he wants to believe and follow God but he just doesn’t want to be a part of religion. We explained to him about faith and how it leads to repentance and true repentance leads to the desire to be baptized. It was a good lesson but at the end he still said I don’t want to be a part of a religion.... so frustrating! We have an appointment with him on Thursday again. We searched a lot for new investigators and we found about five. Not many of them are looking like they have high potential according to their interest. We talked to a Jehovah’s Witness and he just tried teaching us about his religion so we listened to be nice and then we tried to teach and he didn’t give us the time of day! They are kind of crazy not going to lie. Ha-ha on Thursday we had some good stories. We did a contact and a chubby boy left his house. We said hey your dog is cool what is its name? He said Cholo. Then we asked for his name and if his parents were home. He said they weren’t home. Then his mom appeared in the door and he said I am alone with my mom! He was a liar! They then let their dog out afterwards, and this dog  Cholo ended up following us around for the rest of the day until we entered into our apartment! Ha-ha, it was funny! It was a nice dog! Then we were walking later and a lady asked if we could give her 100 pesos to call her boyfriend. We ended up walking to a pay phone with her and it was kind of far away. When we got close she asked me if I was going to give her the coin when we got there and I said I don’t know, just joking around and she flipped out and left hahaha it was kind of funny! I even told her I was joking... But whatever... that is a summary of the week

2. The interview with the mission president was really good. I get kind of nervous when I have interviews but it was good and I got some good advice. I have a lot of respect for our mission president. He is a really good guy. We just talked about obedience and what some of my goals are with the mission and all. I said I wanted to be obedient with exactness. It was a good interview. 

3. I have not even felt one earthquake while I have been here. I have talked to a lot of people who have felt one while I have been here too but I just haven’t felt one. Maybe I am just not as aware.... or maybe they make things up ;) 

4. We find out this Saturday what will happen with the changes. I am hoping that I will be able to stay here another change with Elder A. That is what I hope. That is also my prediction too. We will see! 

5. My feet still hurt but I have kind of been stretching them out and stuff like that. I just push through the pain and try not to think about it but I think those inserts will help!

I keep receiving letters from you every week with the letters of friends! Thanks for doing that for me! I love receiving them. I haven’t received a package yet. Man, yesterday was day number 200 in the mission.... can you believe that?! Time is going by really fast and it amazes me. But that is alright! It must mean that I am doing good at losing myself in the work. I read a talk by President Uchtdorf this week, The Point of Safe Return. In the mission, Satan has dragged me down to make me think that I am not good enough for this but I know that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ I can come out on top every time! In D & C 122:7-9 are really good scriptures and help me out when Satan is trying to make me feel like I am not good enough. That is kind of my spiritual thought for the week. It isn’t much but I just testify that through the Savior we can be made clean from our sins and we can continue with our heads up and our sins in the dust behind us. 

I love you guys so much and I thank you for all the support that you give me! I really love all of you so much more than I can say and I thank you all so much more than I can say!! I hope that you all have a great week and I keep you in my prayers always! =) until next week!

Love,

Elder Tegan Hall