April 21, 2014

Hey mom it is good to hear from you! =) just like always. I really like your analogy with the IRI testing. That is so true. The Lord wants us to put goals, goals that we think that we can reach. Then when we do all we can to accomplish them it doesn’t matter if we fall short!! We did our best and really we didn’t even fall short because we progressed right?! Thanks for that mom I appreciate it =) 

Thanks for the news on the mission calls. I will still be waiting to hear about someone who is called to Chile Rancagua! ;) 

I want to try and make this email a little shorter because I have other people I want to write too! Just so you know…

1. Ok so the week started of crazy! A sister from my district had to go home this week for health issues and so pretty much the only thing that we did on Monday was go and give a blessing to this sister. That was a bummer... now the other sister that is the companion is working with two other sisters that are in our ward. On Tuesday we had zone conference. It was great! We just learned about our Savior and everything that He has done for us. I would like it if you guys watched a video on lds.org that is called Because of Him. It is great! We didn’t have interviews with the president though. We did receive flu shots! ha-ha it didn’t hurt at all. It was funny to see the missionaries who got freaked out and those who were like whatever. Later that day, we found out from the bishop that one of our less actives guys that we have been working with got excommunicated on Sunday. This guy is really good he has just had some hard times in his life.... so that got me kind of down. Also on Tuesday I found out that another sister from my district is probably going to go home this week for her health... so I was kind of distraught on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Thursday we went to the street sale and found a lot of future investigators there. We just set up a little stand with a bunch of materials! It is a cool deal. On Friday I did a division with Elder E, my ZL, and that was great! I learned a lot. He is a cool guy and might go to USU. It was a good division. Their sector is really crazy. We saw two dudes dressed as women that day... ha-ha scary... on Saturday we had a killer lesson with a family, Nancy and Domingo and Laura. They have accepted the missionaries before but never as a family. We taught about the restoration and the lesson went great! They actually went to church on Sunday too! It was so special and great to FINALLY have investigators in church. We really saw the Lord's hand this week. 

2. Easter was about just a normal day, of course we remembered the Savior and His sacrifice for us but other than that is was normal. But a good day! We did have some chocolate eggs. The Chileans celebrate with candy and the Easter bunny too! Chile is really Americanized. 

3. I sure did find a different computer! I was happy I finally got some pics to you. Sorry it took so darn long! 

4. Ok so I am not sure about this. I have heard that mother’s day here in Chile is always on the tenth of May. So that is a Saturday right? But I am not sure. I will get you more info about that as it approaches.

Just a tid-bit of info, the other two elders, now have to move into our house so we will all be living together for a couple weeks at least. That should be pretty fun but now the house is going to be crowded.  

I would love an Ensign of conference please! =) I thought about that this week actually! Thanks mom! The conference talks are soo good! I love the one by Elder Bednar too! Sometimes we just need more weight to get that spiritual traction we need! I hope that you can keep on reading them and applying them in your lives! I miss and love you guys and I hope that you all have a great week this week and you can work hard on all of the goals that you make for yourselves for this week! =) have a good one! 

Love always, 

Elder Tegan Hall 

April 14, 2014; Pictures!

1. This week went really well. We made some goals of faith earlier in the week to do 70 contacts and have 5 new investigators. We worked really hard the whole week to accomplish it and..... WE DID!!!! I was so happy. Our new investigators are pretty good too. We only had a short amount of time with all of them for the first visit but we have appts with them all this week. =) Luis and Cristobel didn’t go to church again..... I am sad for them... we had a lesson with Luis on Saturday. He said he would go to church and was excited and ready but he didn’t go..... And now his son is not going to be able to get baptized on May third..... We are bummed about all of that... but overall the week was super good and we were happy with how it turned out!! =)

2. My throat is fine now! Whatever it was it has just about gone away! =) so that is good... I don’t think it was strep. 

3. My feet are fine when I walk and the shoe inserts help a ton! But every day when I get up and stand up out of bed, my feet hurt a lot for a few seconds.... but then it mostly passes. And no we haven’t had the bikes for this whole change. The mission needed them back.

 
4. I need to send an email to Sandra and thank her for the package. I really like the shoes that she sent me and the socks too!!=) On the 19 of March I had to take money and to pay for the physical therapist but I can get a reimbursemnt.... wow sorry I spelled that really bad!! Ha-ha and I also bought some new shoes last week for about 70 dollars. They are really good shoes though and will last for a long time! =) sorry about the money. I try really hard to conserve it as best I can!

5. Could you send me a twisty tie hanger too? We bought 40 kilos of ties and I found some really cool ones! It was a cool deal too. Cheap! We split the cost between the four elders here, me and comp and Elder G and S. And maybe some neon orange shoe laces...Ha-ha but that isn’t necessary! I just want the shoes to look even cooler! ;) I am EXCITED FOR THE DEW! 

My sad loooking birthday cake!

I really liked the talk from Neil L. Anderson too! I am sure that the mission is making me a stronger person and I will be able to withstand the whirlwinds when they come! Just like Helaman 5:12! “And now, my sons, remember, remember that is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.” I love that scripture!

Happy birthday to me!

But we are going to go paintball right now for p-day but I will be back in a few hours... I will try and get some pics to you! I love you guys a whole lot and I am sure SURE thankful that Heavenly Father blessed me with such a great family!! =) I hope that you have a great week! Love you!!=) 

Love, Elder Teg Hall

April 7, 2014

Hey mom it is so good to hear from you! This last week went by a little slower for me I don’t know why... maybe it is because you guys were in Hawaii and I knew about it! ;) ha-ha

Wow the mission calls are great!!! That is so exciting for the both of them! =) It will be fun to listen to their homecoming talks when they are speaking those languages! If you have the chance somehow... I don’t know how, could you tell them I say congrats and wish them the best! =) 

Man it just sounds like you all had a killer time there in Hawaii and did a few new things this year! No sky diving?! Ha-ha that was such a good time! =) Are you guys all tan now!? I will be losing my tan here soon... that is ok though. I have been in moderately warm weather for almost a year now!! Weird huh?! I am glad that the flights went smooth too and that grandfather could visit his sister during your layover in SLC... that is the great thing about this gospel is that we know that the separation we have here on earth is only temporary and we will all see each other again!! =) I just want to tell you guys how much I love you and thank you for being sealed in the temple. The other day I was looking at a family pic of us after the civil war game and I just had this overwhelming feeling that I know that we can all live together forever!! I was just so happy and thankful for that testimony!! 

1. Man, our week was just kind of another slow one in terms of investigators.... Alejandra changed houses this week so we will be passing her to some different elders here in Rancagua but we did get a good lesson in with her before she left and we taught about the importance of going to church and of the Book of Mormon. We didn’t get a chance to teach Cristobel this week so that was a bummer. We had set up two visits with him and his dad but they both fell through.... we found a couple good future investigators this week and we have some visits set up for them in a couple days! Hopefully we will be able to see the fruits from that! I think that we just need to contact more to get more investigators. The members here hardly ever pass references..... We have to pry them out of them! So if you guys have a reference in mind I would give it to the missionaries right away!! (Read M. Russell Ballard’s talk) so that is what we are going to do this week is CONTACT!

2. We watched the conference in the stake center. I watched three sessions in English and two in Spanish. I understood each of them equally and that was really cool to say I can understand it all! Wow, talk about some killer messages this conference. To be honest Elder Holland kicked the ball off just fine with his talk Saturday morning. He gets really intense and I would suggest watching it instead of just reading. That is the talk that stands out to me, also the talk from President Uchtdorf on Sunday. They were just all so good! I felt such a strong spirit this conference and I know that all of those men and women are called of God! Watch it all please! =) 

3. No we haven’t had any big earthquakes like up north. Those were about 1100 miles away. One night I was praying and my bed starting shaking a little bit and I just thought it was my comp messing around with me but I realized it wasn’t and that it was an earthquake! Ha-ha it was kind of cool! But no damage happened from that one the best I know of. So we are all good here!

4. Wow, how can I begin on this question? Ummm... I have had some really rough times on the mission... really rough times... like I wanted to go home because it was so bad... and thanks to a loving mother who reminded me to read my patriarchal blessing I did so... and it HELPED! Every time I read it I just learn something different! A different line stands out to me that helps me in that very moment. One that has helped me particularly in the mission is something like this:  You may be called to bare testimonies in areas that are difficult for you but when you keep the Lords commandments he will guide and protect you. That just goes to show, life WILL be difficult but when we stay strong to the Lord’s commandments he WILL help us conquer every trial! I just know that to be true because I am still here in the mission. I love my blessing! And it is even more special that grandfather gave it to me! I know that he is inspired of God to be a patriarch. 

5. On a scale I am about a 6.5. I have had a head ache for the past few days and my throat hurts. I think it might be strep but I haven’t had it for so long I don’t remember the symptoms. I am kind of upset we don’t have many investigators but we will just keep pressing forward with that. Sometimes it is hard to press forward and keep the faith and hope but it is a great learning experience! 

I love you guys so much!! I hope that you have a great week and I will talk to you next week! Love you all!! 

With all my love, Elder Tegan Hall 

March 31, 2014

Hey mom it is so good to hear from you guys and that you all arrived to Hawaii safely! =) Did you guys go to the same ward as last year? I am glad that you went to church and enjoyed it all =) 

Sounds like the week went well and that you all had a good time opening presents with dad and celebrating his bday! I hope that it was a good time! That is nuts that a year has already come and gone since we went to Hawaii as a family and with Blake! Do you realize that a year ago tomorrow I received and opened my mission call?!  Crazy right?! I really hope that you enjoy your time while you are there and the beach too. I am looking forward to the family vacations we will do after I finish the mission! ;)

1. So this week was kind of a bummer. It started off good and we put two baptismal dates and they all understood the importance of baptism. We had to set up a new date with Cristobel because he didn’t go last week. We also put a baptismal date with a lady named Alejandra. She is really cool but she is moving tomorrow and will no longer live in our sector! =( so we are kind of sad about that... we found one investigator this week and he is really good! He is named Rafael and we only had ten minutes to meet up with him but he should be making some progress. We will visit him tomorrow. We had two people ready to go to church but they didn’t go!! We did however get a less active to go to church that has been to church one time since I have been here in Recreo! So we were excited about that! =) but that is about it this week. It has been slow.... we contacted a whole street one day and not one person let us in.... it gets upsetting sometimes and I have a hard time not getting discouraged!!!.... But Elder A is pretty good. We do a pretty good job teaching together. I can’t remember anything too crazy that happened! I am still trying to write in my journal every day so you can read when I get home.

2. This last week in our District training, I shared about our objective as missionaries and how when we do what the Lord asks us to do He will bless us. I shared the story about Samuel the Lamanite and how he fulfilled the Lords commandment and he was blessed because the Nephites couldn’t kill him with their arrows. Then we talked about giving commitments to the investigators so they can change and repent of their sins. It was a pretty good class. At the end we did practices to help out all the missionaries in my district. I still have four sisters in my district and they are really nice to me so I don’t feel like anyone criticizes me at all! That is good! ha-ha 

3. We are still just living two missionaries in our house but there are 8 missionaries in total in our ward. Two sisters, two that work in the office and two that live in a different house, and us. So every companionship has a different house. The other two Elders are from Venezuela and Peru.

4. I still haven’t bought tennis shoes. I just feel like that I haven’t had any time to do it!!! But I am going to get around to it a promise! =) but btw the shoes Sandra sent are great! I used them for church yesterday! =) 

Well that is it for this week. I am going to try and send some pics your way and we will see if the computer cooperates! =) I love you guys a ton! Tell dad and V and grandpa that I say hi and I love them all! I hope that you all have a great week this week and enjoy the beach! I am pretty darn jealous!!! Ha-ha love you all and I hope that you have a great time!!! =) 

Love always, 

Elder Tegan Hall 

Holy cow I don’t know what is happened with the computers but it doesn’t let me send pics.....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am getting frustrated hahahha iPhones make it so easy!