July 19, 2014; Time doesn't wait

Dear family, 

How are you guys? I miss you all.

Hey thanks for sending the package. I am now in charge of picking up all the mail from the post office so I will get the package right away when it gets here =) thanks mom! So how is the ward doing? Have there been any big changes? I miss our ward. We are blessed with such great people in the ward. 

Q & A

1. This week we have been so busy still with cleaning up houses and giving them back to the owners. We helped 12 missionaries change houses and also gave a house back to its owner on Tuesday I think it was. That is another thing the days just turn into a blur and I can’t even remember what I did on which day... on Wednesday we stayed in the office and did some paper work and kind of got caught up and the things that we had to do. On Thursday we were able to go to a zone conference which was really good! =) I really enjoyed the messages that were shared. As a mission we want to focus more on the aspect of the family and sharing how the church helps unite families. So it was focused on that. I have still been driving (the car is a gran carnival Kia 2013 automatic). We bought a twelve pack of Pepsi to put in the back of the car in a cool Styrofoam box we found when we were cleaning out a house. Be grateful soda is so cheap in the states. It was $10 here for a twelve pack of cans.... what a joke!!! But it is nice to be able to pull out a cold Pepsi on a road trip =) Later on Thursday we dropped some paint off to Elder A so that he and his comp (he is training an elder from Peru) can paint their old house because they moved. It was so fun to see Elder A. I love that kid. I feel like he is a brother to me. Mom, I really want to go to Brazil sometime in the future. I did talk to Elder A and said that I probably won’t be going to carnival when I go to Brazil. He agreed. Ha-ha! Somewhere in the week we went and painted another house here close to Rancagua and got it ready to give back to the owner. Yesterday there was a conference for all of the trainers and the trainees. I saw a lot of elders and people that I know there. It was fun and today was just a relax p-day. We actually had to go clean a house for a little bit to get it ready but we just hung out, nothing too exciting. 

2. Living situation status: same. We are still sleeping on the floor but it sounds like the house that got crashed into will be good to go on Monday and we will have our other house back on Monday or Tuesday =) I am excited! Ha-ha but surprisingly it really isn’t a party. We are usually so tired that we get home and eat something small, drink some matte (the drink dad didn’t like) and then go to bed.  I love living with these guys. They are all such great people and I am thankful for their example. Thanks for always being concerned for me mom. I hope that you don’t worry too much about me. I am doing great!

3. The way we helped with zone conferences was we have to take food there or help clean up and take stuff back to the mission home. We were able to attend a zone conference this week. It was really good like I said before. 

4. I saw both Elder G and D this last week, also Elder A! He is training. I see so many people I know because I am just all over the place in terms of work and I have also gotten to know a lot of other missionaries! It is fun! I miss the MTC group. We had a good one. But it is cool to see how all of us have grown. 

So this is a thought I had today upon reflecting my week. Time doesn’t wait for us. It just keeps going. Sometimes we have to lose time in order to know how to take advantage of it. Every day we just have to try our best to do everything that we as God’s children need; spiritually and physically and mentally. He will bless us in our efforts we will succeed when in the right. I have learned this as I feel like time has been slipping away to study the scriptures, have more thoughtful and meaningful prayers and so on. I am thankful for the mercy of our Heavenly Father and that He is so quick to forgive as we submit ourselves to His will, which is repentance, a.k.a. change of heart. 

I love you guys so much and I hope that you all have a great week! Thanks for all that you do for me and I am so glad I am blessed with the best family ever!! =) Have a great week and tell everyone hi for me =) love you all!

Love, Elder Tegan Hall 

July 12, 2014; It's a Jungle Out Here

Pictures: we did a little hike today and there was a lizard that bit a stick and wouldn’t let go so we played with it for a while, a snake that I got a pic with. Ha-ha it was cool! We did this cool lion tour in a caged truck and the lions hopped on and ate some meat. One slobbered on me and the other lion licked my hand through the cage. Ha-ha it was really cool!

Hey it is so great to hear from you! I am glad to hear that everyone is doing well and thanks for the little bits of news! I am doing so great! =) miss you guys a ton. Just like you, I can’t believe that another week has gone by.... but man it sounds like grandfather has just been busy with patriarchal blessings. That really is such a great opportunity that he has. I am thankful for grandfather and his example to me.

That is great that Adam is going to Nashville! I just told Elder J (he is from Tennessee) that my cousin is going there and he wants me to tell Adam that it’s the best place there is! ;) That is great for Adam and I am so excited for him! I wish him my best!

Q and A

1. The farthest place that we traveled to this week was Talca! It is the farthest major city to the south in the mission. There were a bunch of zone conferences this week so we kind of helped a little bit with that and also we had a couple contracts get signed this week for new houses so we are still busy with closing down older houses and opening the new ones up. It has been a lot of fun. This week we went to a house that hasn’t had missionaries in it for a couple of months and there was still food in the fridge.... well it was food... then it turned into a mold culturing box.... We had to clean it out and I did the majority of that. It was really gross but that is ok because it was nice to see the fridge clean again. The weeks are just passing by so fast. If I am not careful, five days will pass and I still haven’t written in my journal... I think this is kind of a glimpse of real life for me. I have different tasks than normal and to find the time to pray, study, read, think, etc., is a lot harder to do but it makes the worth a lot bigger it seems. I really recognize the difference between days when I take some time to say a few meaningful prayers, read scriptures and other church material to nurture my spirit, rather than a day when I say prayers almost as a repetition and/or don’t even read anything to learn. That is something I have thought a lot about this week is learning. If we pass a day without learning something that will help us grow in some way then that was a waste of a day... I am sad to say that I have had wasteful days but looking back it makes me want to have productive and exciting days for the rest of my life. 

2. I am driving a Kia van. I think that it is a 2003. It is an automatic, diesel burner and it gets on it pretty well if you have to get on it. But I drive smartly and safely. 

3. Wow... American restaurants... McDonald’s... that is all that I have seen here in Rancagua and I haven’t gone yet... sorry that was kind of a bummer answer to your question. 

4. I bear my testimony maybe once every two or three months. This last Sunday I didn’t but I don’t really have a schedule. Just when I feel like a should then I do it =) 

5. Since I have been in the office, I have not had the time or opportunity to contact or teach people (with exception on Sunday when we eat with members)... I want to get to the point where we are organized and efficient enough to be able and go out to the sector and work a little bit, work with the members to find some people. I set a goal (not on paper) to be part of a baptism process while I am here in the office. It will take a lot of work but I know we can do it and that the Lord will provide if we just work hard enough and try to make the time to do it. 

I have a couple questions:

In the next package could you send Advair. Sister Jett (the mission nurse) said it should come through. Just a thought, because I don’t feel like the asthma puff stuff down here really helps me much. 

I am sharing all of the food and candy that you guys sent me this last time! The other elders really like it. Oh that reminds me that this week the sisters from a nearby sector had to move into our apartment because a neighbor ran into the front of their house and broke the wall so now me and Elder O are living with the assistants and secretaries. It is fun but there isn’t a whole lot of space. We are sleeping on mattresses on the floor. This should go on for about two weeks while the house is being repaired. 

Another cool story... this last week on Sunday when we went to lunch I met a lady who was baptized by Brady Stewart my COUSIN! It was so cool to talk to her. I don’t remember her name but she was baptized in Coquimbo and her daughter’s name is Jennifer I think. But anyways tomorrow I will try and get a pic with her so that Brady can see it. What a small world huh?! I was so excited when I found that out!

I hope that you guys have a great week and that everything goes well! =) I miss you guys a ton and love you so much. Thanks for all you do for me and I am so thankful that Heavenly Father has blessed me with the greatest family ever!=) and I mean that! 

LOVE YOU GUYS! 

Love, 

Elder Tegan Hall 

July 5, 2014; I love the USA!

Hey mom,

It is so good to hear from you! =) I am doing just great and today has been a really good p-day. I have enjoyed it thus far =) I know the weeks go by way fast. I find myself lost in the week trying to figure out what day it is and stuff.... we just get so busy! 

It sounds like you had a great Independence Day! I can’t believe that a year has passed since I was there for the last Fourth of July, seems just like a few days ago with the family reunion and all. I think that it is kind of funny that I had to be outside of my country to really appreciate how well I have it there.... I love the USA and am so glad that I am a citizen of a country that is "one nation under God." He has blessed us with a great nation. I have thought about that I could be home in a year too... it sounds like I will be back for the next Fourth of July! I am really excited for that because it is one of my favorites! It sounds like the firework show just keeps getting better and better! That is cool. 

Q and A

1. Well this week we have been working a lot with closing some old houses up and opening new houses. The majority of the cases have been sister missionaries moving into new houses and it is just fun to see the joy on their faces when they see the new house and how much better it is than the last ones they had. I think that I am learning a lot as a commisary. I am learning the importance of serving in all areas. No matter the service, it is IMPORTANT because you helped someone out! That is what Heavenly Father wants and expects of us. I have been driving quite a bit this last week. I have felt really good behind the wheel but here in Chile you have to drive even more defensively than the US.  The majority of the laws are the same. A couple differences, you can’t turn on a right on a red light, you drive in km/hour, and some other little things. That has been about all we have done this week and signing papers and trying to organize our stuff a little bit. Elder O and his comp before didn’t really have things organized. It was kind of a “wing it” thing and I have discovered that I don’t like that much... ha-ha, so I have tried to help us be more organized. I try to make lists of things to do so we can see our progress and get more and more done. 

2. We email from the mission office. You know when you mail packages to Eduardo Melero, that is the street of the mission office and a church building too! It is nice that I don’t have to pay for internet time anymore! 

3. We usually try to cook something for breakfast, like eggs, or pancakes, or something else (cold cereal), and lunch we usually buy something, and dinner we will eat if we get back to home in a timely manner (that means that sometimes we are out running errands and stuff like that late so we don’t have time to eat or are just too tired.)

4. I try to do some push-ups and sit ups but cardio stuff, forget about it. Ha-ha, I think I might be getting a belly...I haven’t weighed myself for a long time. 

Well that is it for the Q and A. I am glad that grandfather and Olivia went riding. I hope that they get back safely! And about buying soccer jerseys, I think I will wait until September because there is a big feria (Spanish name for a fair) that is like 3 km long and has a ton of things to buy for a lot cheaper. This week I did buy a cool jacket like my North Face one at home for about 27 or 28 dollars. It was a good deal so that is why I did it =) and this week I received a package from a loving family of mine from IDAHO! =) happy hump day! =) I loved the package and I will say that it made me a little trunky.... but I really appreciate all of the thought and love that you put into it. I love all the candies, dew, pics, and everything! =) I really appreciate every little bit of that! =) I loved all the pics with everyone and the camel poster =) You guys look so good! I LOVE YOU!  I wish I could express that with more than just words! I hope that you all have a great week and I will for sure be emailing you next week! Have a good one! 

Love, 

Elder Tegan Hall

June 28, 2014; Joy in serving others!

Hey family,

It is so good to hear from you again! Man I can’t agree with you enough about the time flying especially with the job that we have... the week flies... it actually kind of scares me sometimes. Wow can you believe that I left a little less than a year ago?! Wow.... I can’t believe how fast the phases are moving in my life... but I am trying to make the most of it. 

I loved hearing about your week. It is good to hear that Olivia is staying active with all of her activities! Keep it up V! Man I miss Monday night dinner and FHE with you guys. Not doing it now makes me realize how much I treasure it. Thank you for being so consistent through all those years! 

I’m glad that you are up at the Phips having a good ol’ time. Have a good time if you go up to the mountain. That was such a good time last year! Thanks for always making an effort to make fun family memories. 

Q & A

1. So the whole week we have been jam packed with activities. Right now in the mission we are making a big push on getting missionaries out of some of the gross houses there are and getting into better houses. That means that we are going around and cleaning the old houses and giving them back to their owners and getting all the legal stuff set up for the new houses and taking utilities and things like that to the missionaries that are moving into the new houses. Best part is that we didn’t get stuck on the freeway this week until three in the morning. Worst part and also probably the funniest is that earlier this week we were cleaning out a house and we had to get some wooden closets out of the top floor. We tried taking it down the stairs but they were just too narrow. So there was only one option left... the window... ha-ha so we took the windows out and we had to lower this big old closet. We had a rope that we put through the closet as a support. I stayed upstairs while my companion went downstairs to lower it down. I wrapped the rope around my waste to have some leverage and let it down slowly. I let it into his hands and he told me to go down and help him. I ran down. I got down and put some support under the closet with him but then the thing started tipping over to the left. I knew that there was no saving it. I kind of gave it a push so it would get out of our reach. My comp was on the left side. Unfortunately the closet scuffed up his arms and put a tiny gash in his head... he survived. Ha-ha it was crazy. We didn’t take any pics of that one but for the second closet we called the ZLs from that sector to help us out. They did. Same tactic but a lot easier and I stayed up to keep the thing from falling with the rope. Ha-ha my comp took some pics of that one I will see if I can send you a pic! =) Last p-day and today we just cleaned around the house and hung out. Today we couldn’t do anything because the Chile and Brazil game was on so we had to stay inside. But this morning we did have time to walk around the centro and look at things to buy. I bought a Chilean flag =) cheap too. But we do have an advantage on p-days. Sounds like one of these we will be heading over to pichilemu (the beach)

2. Today I took my driving test with the president so I now can drive obediently! =) ha-ha! It was a weird sensation getting behind the wheel again but I liked it. But I think I will be driving more now.

3. My comp has about nine months in the mission. This is his third change in the office. I have more time than him in the mission. 

4. We only eat at members houses on Sundays. The rest of the week we just buy food wherever we are.  My eating schedule has become a little messed up and I think that it is messing with my stomach a little bit but that is ok. 

 

5. We go to church at a branch called Villa Teniente. About 100 people go every week. All the office elders go to different wards. For example, Elder M and Elder J go to Recreo, my last sector and the assistants go to a ward called Tupahue. The mission president goes to a different ward or branch every week. 

6. My Narnia picture...We helped a married couple (the Johnson’s) move out of their old house into the new apartment. They lived in a place called Chepica. It was a nice house. So anyways there was an old closet upstairs that belongs to the owner and we just thought of Narnia when we saw it so we put ourselves in it to take pics. It was fun! 

Thanks! I am still doing pretty darn good! It sometimes is a lot different but I really like it. We do a lot of work and we are always occupied doing something it seems like. I love the joy that I see on the faces of someone when we do what they need. They are so happy and it is just a rewarding feeling to me. =) I am glad that the Lord has given me this opportunity. One thing that is kind of a bummer is that we don’t always have time to study so if you want to study you have got to fight for your time. I try to study a little bit every day. I love the spiritual feed that it is. I hope that you guys in your crazy lives can find and fight for the time to spiritually feed yourselves so when the "shafts in the whirlwinds" come you will be able to overcome the temptation and do what God wants and asks of us. I hope that you all have a great week and that you enjoy the freedom that we have in the great U S of A! I love every blessing that God gives to us! =) Take some fun pics for me =) Love each and every one of you! Talk to you soon! 

Love, Elder Tegan Hall