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 

June 21, 2014; So busy!

Hey mom I have had a great week and it has gone by so fast!!! I can’t believe it feels like I was just sitting in front of the computer just a while ago!  We sure have been busy this week doing a lot of things. I have felt really blessed with all of the help I have had from the Lord and from everyone else that has been helping me out.

Hiking the river bed on p-day

1. Ok so this last week on Monday and Tuesday we had to take some elders up to Santiago who finished the mission and on Tuesday we went up to Santiago to pick up the new missionaries. We woke up at four that morning and I was up until about 12. It was a long day. The next day we had to go to the south part of the mission to take care of some things there. We took some stuff to sisters and we then came home. On the way home we saw that there was a traffic jam.... we were stopped there for about four hours. By the time we got home it was four in the morning. But i am ok with that. When we dropped the stuff off at the sisters houses we stayed for just a few minutes later to fix their stove. If we hadn’t have fixed it maybe we would have been part of the wreck. The wreck looked pretty darn bad when we passed. On Thursday and yesterday we helped a senior couple move out of their house in a little town called Chepica to Rancagua. They are going to be helping us with our duties. They are the Johnson’s, super nice people. We have been in the process of changing a lot of houses that we have now to better houses. I think that the president might have realized that the conditions were pretty bad. I don’t know if you remember how the house from my first sector looked but it was pretty bad.... so we have been shutting down some houses and finding some new ones too. It is really fun. We just travel a lot to fix the problems there are, to take new stuff to missionaries that need it and also we do some computer work, pretty much just keeping our records updated and making sure we are good to go. I really like it! It is different than what I am used to but I still have seen how the Lord has blessed me with opportunities to serve and spread the gospel still. It is great! We also have some perks, like right now I am sleeping on a queen size bed instead of a twin... ha-ha! A senior couple gave it to us so now Elder O and I both have queen size beds. We also have a sweet apartment. I will send you some pics soon. I just haven’t taken any pics yet... 

I found Narnia!

2. There are six office elders. We live in the same apartment building but the secretaries and the assistants live together and we have our own apartment. We live about five minutes driving away from the mission home... so pretty close!

3. Well I think everyone in my comp’s family are members. But really we have been so busy that I haven’t talked to him much about that yet. I still feel like we are getting to know each other. I wish that process could go a little faster because sometimes it can just feel weird, like I don’t know where my limitations are with him if that makes sense.... or how he will react if I do something. Still trying to figure that out but that is something that just comes with time. 

4. Yes I am the only new one in the office this change.

My sweet new boots!

5. Ha-h, yes! Sending Mt. Dew syrup is perfectly fine! Actually last week I made some dew for all of the office elders and they loved it especially the gringos. Elder H is our assistant. He went to Highland High school. He was happy to have some dew. I really like the group of elders that we have here in the office. They are all really fun and pliable to each other. We get work done too. I feel like that I have accomplished so many things this past week with my duties as comissary! I love that feeling. If there are any questions that you have that you would like to know just tell me! I feel like I haven’t filled you in on a lot of things. One thing though in the office is that we hardly have time to study. I have felt a bummer of a difference in my life as I haven’t been able to study the scriptures every day. There are two things: 1. I feel like I am kind of spiritually out of tune. 2. I feel like my Spanish is worse. (I study in Spanish) It is kind of an eye-opener to me on how much I really need to study the scriptures! So I have been making a bigger effort for that now the past couple days. 

Thanks for always being so faithful on the emails I really love them! It makes my day and that is for sure! I love you guys so much and I hope that you have a wonderful week too and I will be talking to you next Saturday! =) love you so much!!!

Love, 

Elder Tegan Hall 

June 14, 2014; In the mission office now!

So you might be wondering why I wrote you on Saturday in the evening. Well I will explain it to you but I will start with the week that I had this last week. 

Not a lot happened, I had been nervous for this week since last Sunday because I knew that the changes were coming up, but I kept working with Elder V to get work done. I also received a wonderful package from THE FAMILY =) and I had a bunch of stuff in there that I just absolutely loved! Some dew, tie pins, journal, book, and a bunch of food! And thank you for the note too. I am just so happy that I was able to get that from you guys! I was thinking that if you haven’t sent that other package I am craving some almond joys! =)

So it rained quite a lot this week and that kind of makes the work hard. Nobody wants to talk to us because they say it is cold, but there were a few people who talked to us. I didn’t have time to go and buy boots on Monday but on Thursday I did. They ended up being about 92 dollars (told you I wouldn’t go over 100! ;) ha-ha but they are good quality boots and they will last for the rest of the mission and after it too. We were on the way back home after buying boots and we receive a phone call and the caller ID says President Warne. I was wondering why he was calling us. I answered it and he told me that I am going to be the next commisary in the mission. or commissioner..... comisario in Spanish... ha-ha. But he told me that I had to be ready to go on Friday night because the two comisarios that are in now would pick me up and start training me. On Thursday I said goodbye to all of the people that are in Recreo and I also did that yesterday too. At night time the comisarios came by and picked me up. My new companion is from Ecuador and he is named Elder O. He is a really cool guy and I am excited to work with him, just a little nervous about what we will be doing. I just don’t want to get stressed out too much! ha-ha but I am excited. It will be a really good time and a great learning experience. I am glad that the Lord has trusted me with this great privilege. Today I had p-day. We went to the mountains and climbed up a cool river bed. I took some pictures and will get you some next week; I just don’t have my cable. I am in the office with Elder H (Idaho), Elder R (Guatemala), Elder M (Missouri), Elder J (Tennessee), and Elder O. It is a really fun group and I am happy with them! Pretty much the whole winter here I will be traveling around in a car taking care of stuff with the mission instead of walking in the rain. It will be a fun experience. This morning we had breakfast with the President and Sister Warne. They are great people. 

I am excited to hear from you SATURDAY because my p-days will be on Saturday until I leave the office. I hope that you have a great week and that you enjoy summa vacation! =) I love you so much and I am so grateful that I have such a wonderful family! Take care

Love always, 

Elder Tegan Hall 

I (Tegan's mom) copied the following from Tegan's mission presidents blog:

Two others are called Commissaries.  They handle all the management of all of the apartments that we have (which now total almost 90) including finding, renting, dealing with landlords, repairs, remodeling (in Chile when you rent an apartment or house it is usually in an "as-is" condition meaning any repairs like putting in hot water fall to the renter), distribution of printed materials, management of our storeroom of supplies and other duties. Listing the duties of the Secretaries and the Commissaries doesn´t seem to do justice to all that they do to support the mission because they do so much.  The Secretaries can be either Latin or American but the Commissaries are always Latin due to the need for native speaking skills to deal with the rental contracts which are, of course, all in Spanish.

In addition to their administrative duties, each companionship has a sector or area where they do normal proselyting in the evenings and on the weekends.  They all serve from four to six months in these positions and then leave to return and do normal missionary work. 

June 9, 2014; Loving the Rain!?

I am so glad that you all had a good week and enjoyed everything that happened. Congrats to all the people who finished their year of school and especially to Olivia who is no longer a sevy!

Q and A

1. Ok so this was a pretty good week. I am just amazed at the things that I learn every day. I love how the Lord teaches me with experiences and other things that happen. So this week was pretty darn great. L and C didn’t end up going to church because it rained for like three day straight and that was miserable. I like the rain just not when I am a missionary and I need to be outside going to people’s houses! I will try and send you some pics! Ha-ha so anyways that is the reason why L and C didn’t go I am pretty sure, because of the rain.... I was kind of upset but not too bad because the Lord

totally blessed us this week! =) We are visiting V who is a less active and his son V is an investigator. We had a couple cool lessons with them this week and that was great. The dad works in Antofagasta (far away) so he wasn’t here but his son still went to church! We passed by N to go to church and she was also ready despite the rain and cold weather! I was so happy and I know that the Lord blessed us big time! We had good lessons with them this week. Also I did divisions with Elder E this week. But we had a cool lesson with a guy named J. He is a boyfriend of a girl who is a member. It was a powerful lesson and I felt the spirit a lot. J wants to keep going to church and listening to us. So it was a good week! C isn’t going to be able to get baptized this Saturday because his dad needs to go to the church 4 times in a row to be able to have a calling and he needs to have a calling before C can get baptized. But it is ok because I know that everything will work out for the best in the end!

I can’t believe that we are already in the last week of this change! Time flies and it is crazy to me, coming up on a year so fast. I made some really tasty Mt. Dew this week too. I have shared with other gringo dew lovers too. They loved it. One is from Idaho, Elder W from Twin Falls. He is funny. 

2. You know I have felt a couple small earthquakes I think but nobody else told me they felt it so I just didn’t say anything. Ha-ha but I am not sure to be honest. I will let you know if there is a big one when it happens or if it does. 

3. No package as of now. I still have to go to the mission office to check. But I will be looking for it! And for the next package, you know I am not sure... I think I am pretty good. I can’t think of anything unless you can send yourself... ha-ha last night I had a dream that for some reason I went home early from the mission and I sneaked home and I saw you and we hugged each other and cried... it made me miss you guys a lot. But I have this whole day to get those trunky feelings out of me and to be all focused on the week that is ahead of me! I love you guys so much and I do think of you every day and I thank Heavenly Father that He has blessed me with such an amazing family! I really am so blessed. 

I hope that you all have a great week and enjoy everything you do and summer vacation! We are a long ways away for sure but the knowledge we have about the gospel sure makes us be a lot closer! =) Love you guys and have a good one!

Love, 

Elder Tegan Hall 

 

June 2, 2014; Ether 12:6

Hey mom, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!  I hope that your day has been great so far and that you are loving it. =) it sounds like you all had a good week and everything is going fine.

 Wow that is crazy that boys a year younger are already heading out to the service of the Lord! I can’t believe a year has come and gone like that... nuts. 

 I know I need to get better with my patience but I feel the Lord bless me with understanding. There are a lot of trials I understand now that I wouldn’t have understood before. 

 1. The baptism of R in the end didnt happen. Turns out that her mom has to have a calling and she won’t be able to get one for a few months according to the bishop. But they all understood. I do too. At first I was a little upset but really this is going to fulfill the promise in ether 12:6. I know it! She will be getting baptized in the future though, probably when I am not here.

 2. Slow finding investigators. L and C went to church again. We have been making the lessons a little more fun with them now!  =) C is scared of going to primary because the little kids hit him one time at an activity of the ward. So that is the challenge now that he goes to primary. Ha-ha but they are great! And we visited N yesterday. She is good. Slower progress but true progress! =) ummm... V, a less active is progressing like a champ. Tomorrow we are going to have and FHE with him and his two non-member kids. We are excited for the potential there! =) and that is really about it. Kind of a slow week in the work but it sure flew by. I did divisions this week with Elder Hinostroza from my district. It was cool! =) An Elder from the Quorum of the 70 visited us this week, Elder Salas. We sustained him in the last conference of April. He was great. He talked about how we need to develop our faith as a mission. I loved his visit. 

 3. I am great, pretty content with how everything is going. It doesn’t turn out how I want it to always but it sure turns out better in the end if we really think about it. I really like being a district leader. It is a great blessing to be able to serve and help people out in their sectors too =) I like it! 

 4. We went bowling for p-day!! =) I will try and include pics. Ha-ha I fell over though.... the floor was slippery! And we ate some good empanadas! 

 5. I have about a liter and 4/7 left of Mt. Dew syrup. ;) Ha-ha no not really but I do have a liter and a little bit. So I am doing good! Love that stuff so much. Such a good flavor =)

Oh wow I am glad that the letter showed up for you birthday! =) ha-ha that makes me happy! Well I am glad that you liked it. Sorry I don’t do that more often.... I will try harder. Thank you for everything mom and I love you! I hope that you can enjoy your birthday dinner tonight for me =) The email is kind of short but I need to get back to some other people too... sorry about that but I will send you some pics!!! I hope that you all have a great week and enjoy it a lot!!! LOVE YOU! =) Enjoy the summa summa summa time! =) the weather is really nice down here still. It gets cold at night but still about 60 or 50 degrees during the day. Very pleasant. Not as good as Idaho summer though!!!