Cuidado

Well, I'm getting transferred to my final area tomorrow. I'm so sad to leave this area, it's been so awesome!  Yesterday was so crazy busy, but we had a baptism so I was on cloud 9er all day! I got up to say my goodbyes in sacrament meeting and when I sat down people were weeping. That's right, weeping. They said such nice things to me. They love me, they really do! We had a beautiful baptism right after church and even the screaming 3 yr old couldn't chase the spirit that filled that room. I got a million kisses from the sweet woman we baptized then I had to run and grab her three extra jumpsuits to dry off with because her towel disappeared. oopsy. It's always going to be something. Right after, we went to watch the special missionary broadcast. I really enjoyed all those videos, it made me feel like I was back in the MTC with the spirit punching me in the eye balls every 5 seconds. Right after the broadcast we had to head over to another chapel for the missionary outgoing fireside. I have been leading the music at the past 5 of them and nothing was different this time except that right after President announced the opening hymn and turned around to sit down, I stood up, only instead of my foot being on the ground it was actually stuck in a metal grate and then went ankles, my knees, hands and face. I jumped right back up with my hair all over the world and announced to everyone that "I'm OK!". The room burst into laughter. President's face in priceless shock - Are you ok?! Is there blood? Are there bones sticking out? Are you going to die? Nope, nope, all good. Then I had to stand up there and lead a spiritual song having that epic scene replay in my head over and over...to the beat, of course. After I sat down, I realized I indeed did have blood and 4 or 5 purple lines dug into my knees. When I hit, I'm gonna hit hard. No worries, thanks to Lizzy, I always have the most fashionable band aids on hand. So many people came up to me afterward to give me hugs of support, sympathy and perhaps just gratitude for a bit of hilarity. I was informed on multiple occasions that I handled it like a pro. Yes! So, there's that.

 

I got to do an English exchange this week. That was fun. We had a really great "companionship study" where they just asked me a bunch of life questions. haha. I'm so old to them! I haven't really taught the gospel in English and it was nice to give it a go. I don't think I get as many understanding eyes when I'm speaking in English - they expect me to make sense - dang it! I think I might have actually even helped a little. One of their investigators asked a really good, but tough question and the two Sisters went a little blank and then both stared right at me. Oh, right. I guess that means I'm answering it. Some how I managed to answer it pretty decently because it left him speechless. That's right spirit punch!

 

Last Thursday was my last day at the Pulga. I had to make it the best Pulga day ever and it was. We took some time and walked around the whole thing looking for any last treasures. I'm going to miss being at that bizarre place! It was so fun crying repentance to all the passersby. Thank heavens I'm so cute or I might have been shot.

 

We had a great dinner this week with a strong member of the ward and she was sharing some of her very spiritual experiences with us. She's a dreamer, as I've learned a lot of the people I work with are. So we were talking about this being one of the gifts of the spirit. She went on to talk about a whole bunch of beautiful gifts of the spirit. As she was talking I was thinking about some of the gifts I've received by the spirit. I know I've got the gift of tongues...it's not perfect, but it's for sure there. I know I have a gift for taking to people, loving them and for just knowing the truth of this gospel. We then spent some time talking about how we can ask for the gifts of the spirit. I asked her why she thought God gives us these gifts and I loved her answer. She said, because He freely gives us everything. It's so true. Our Heavenly Father wants to give us everything! How amazing is that?! All we have to do is ask for them. All we have to do is desire them. Of course that comes with trying to do those things he has asked of us, but when we have that righteous desire, He will bless us with whatever we desire of Him. That gave me so much joy just thinking about and I wanted to share it. Our Heavenly Father is just waiting to give us everything! Let's go get it!

 

xoxo,

Hermana Hall

Spider killer

I'm now the official Sister Spider Killer. Seriously, that seems to be my #1 duty when I go out to visit other sisters in the mission. I've heard a lot of different types of screams and I've learned a variety of techniques for squishing and not making messes or causing further distress to the victims of these spider attacks. The other day I was in Gilroy (garlic land) and the Sisters walked right by a black widow, I thought they were going to pass out. I decided to not try and squish that one with a tissue so we just kept walking. Anyway, I'm putting this on my resume now.

 

For some reason, we have a lot of really young investigators. I love it because it keeps me on my toes and reminds me to always teach the gospel in really, really simple terms. Plus, it's like primary every day. We were teaching this 13 yr old boy about the Plan of Happiness and that we all get our bodies back again only they will be perfect, we won't be sick or anything. He yelled back to his grandma (who was sick) "Grandma, go to the spirit world to get better!" Then he stopped, thought and said, 'never mind, not right now...but like later". haha. The best. As we were ending the lesson, I asked who wanted to pray and they both shot their arms up in the air, hopped out of their chair saying "me, me, me!" I giggled. Then they decided the most fair way would be to paper, rock, scissors for it. Who does that?! PRS to get the chance TO pray?! I almost cried. Then they decided that wasn't enough so they just took turns during that actual prayer saying a line at the time. Probably not technically orthodox, but super presh so I didn't mind. Kids. I love their sweetness.

 

Speaking of kids, I'm still in charge of teaching music in the primary. I'm still confused on how that happened, but I'm enjoying it. With yesterday being Father's Day, I led all the kids up front to sing their daddy song. It was so sweet as I'm sure most of you were able to experience yesterday as well. Such a special spirit fills the room when children are singing so sweetly even when they have no idea what the words are. I've been teaching them a verse a week of the Book of Mormon Stories. Did you know there are 8? I didn't, but there are. We are on verse 4. I can now teach anyone all of the words plus coordinating hand motions. I'm putting that on my resume too.

 

This past weekend our ward had a taco sale to raise funds for the young women to go to girl's camp. Taco sale Saturday in a Spanish ward is my favorite thing ever. We asked if we could make it a little bigger and include a church tour and maybe have other games and things going on to encourage more ahem...non members...to stop by. It totally worked! We had so many people coming in and out of the church - it was fantastic! We set up a cute tour course throughout the building and strategically placed photos, pamphlets and videos for people to take. We had some music playing in the chapel that just lit up the place and the tour finished in the baptismal room with the font doors open (we wanted to just have that font filled and ready to go, but others frowned upon that). We had the Bible video of Jesus getting baptized just playing on repeat and anytime you walked into that room you couldn't help but be hit in the face with the spirit. It was perfect! I was reminded how powerful it can be to just be in a place of worship. There really is a difference, you can feel it, you can almost touch it. People might have come to get full on tacos, but I know they left both full in body and full in spirit. Now that is true happiness. Not to mention we also had a bouncy house...gotta finish off with that.

 

xoxo,

Hermana Hall

Mmm Garlic

Last week I was officially a travelling missionary. I went on 3 exchanges in 3 days. It was intense! The first one put me back with my Spaniard. Oh how I missed her so. It was nice to be back with her and see how much better my Spanish is getting...or maybe that her English is getting better. I don't know, but I'm going to say it's me. ha. Day One was in a tiny farming town, Hollister. On the way you get the lovely aroma of one of the world's largest compost piles. Mmmm. Delish. It's amazing how quickly you can fall in love with a tiny town. It's just so cute, I want to pinch it's cheeks. I also love how excited the Sisters get when I come to visit. I'm not sure I totally get it, but I don't mind it, that's for sure. We had some really awesome visits and almost secured a baptism date. These two sisters are really new missionaries and I'm just so impressed with how fantastic they are! They really get the whole teaching by the spirit thing and how to listen to people's needs. It just felt so good to watch.

 

Day 2 was just down the way in another small town, Gilroy. Also known as the garlic capitol of the world. And I thought the compost pile smelled bad. How wrong was I! Yowza. Garlic smells good in restaurants, but really not when it's growing. All my stuff smells like garlic now. It was a great visit. Again, I was amazed by these Sister missionaries. I think I've been really worried about the age drop, and there are for sure some issues, but for the most part the missionaries are really doing their very best and since they are here doing the very best thing, the Lord makes it work and it's glorious!  They had a baptism in the evening, always a pleasure to attend however, the man performing the baptism forgot to pull out the plug to the font and well...we couldn't leave it like that. So, I did what I had to do. We locked the doors, I hiked up my skirt and I just climbed right into the font and ripped out the plug. I did, however, fail to correctly calculate the depth of the water and ended up completely soaked. That was fun explaining. Oh well. The mission life. A worthy cause.

 

Until next time,

xoxo,

Hna Hall

Milagros!

I realized after I sent my last email that I never talked about my incidents with chickens and bunnies. I bet everyone was just dying to know and I left everyone hanging on a cliff. Mi malo. I shall make amends. So, people I teach own chickens and bunnies. Turns out chickens like to be free more than dogs...so sometimes they get in the house and then you have a chicken race all through the house trying to catch them. They squeak. Also, they slip around on tile and that is supes hilarious. Bunnies. I learned how to properly hold a bunny for show, so now when I get home I can start joining bunny show cases and maybe make millions of dollars.

This was a rough week. All thanks to Satan. Jerkstore. But it ended with a flood of miracles! I am still in shock over the miracles that occurred this weekend, so I'm going to have to share them. We had a baptism for a 13 yr old girl scheduled for Saturday. This was not her first baptismal date so I was already being extra cautious and nervous for it to actually happen. By Wednesday, we had finalized the time and plans of the baptism and by Thursday she had been interviewed and all ready for dunking. Friday we went over to try on the jumpsuits and she comes to the door with sadness all over her. Her mom decided that morning that they had to go to a family reunion out of town and wouldn't be able to come to the baptism. Not only that but she was with a JW all day. Oh glory. I was at a loss of words. How on earth was I going to convince a 13 yr old girl to stand up to her mom and her JW friend and say no, she wouldn't be going because she wanted to get baptized. All I could do is say, we need a miracle, let's just pray. She asked me to do it and with all the faith I could find I said the most sincere, pleading prayer I've ever said in my life. We really needed a miracle. I could feel the walls shaking as I pleaded for the Lords help in softening her mother's heart. We left her house unsure whether or not there would be a baptism the following night. After we returned home for the evening I got a call from her and with tears in her voice, she told me her mother had told her no, she was no longer allowed to get baptized. Again, at a complete loss of words, helplessly listening to her heart break, I asked if if she wanted to get baptized tomorrow. She said with all her heart she did. Then I asked her if she thought God could give her a miracle and without even hesitating she said yes. I told her to go to her room and with all the faith she had to beg her Father in Heaven for a miracle, to ask that he soften her mother's heart so that she could follow Jesus Christ and be baptized tomorrow. "Do you think this will work, B?" "Yes, Hna Hall." "Me too. You're gonna get baptized tomorrow." After we hung up the phone I looked at my companion and we both dropped to our knees and offered yet another plea for help. As soon as we got up the phone rang. It was her, this time with excitement on the other end. "My mom said YES, she said I can get baptized tomorrow!" WHAT?! I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Literally within 5 min, a miracle was dumped in our laps. Heavenly Father heard our prayers, He softened hearts and He gave us a miracle. On the morn of the baptism, we took another investigator to the Oakland Temple Visitors Center and I spent all morning in awe of that beautiful place (filled with a dozen brides, btw) and with the blessings I received. Perhaps, still a little nervous that Satan would still try to rain on our parade later that day...but in the end, as it will be, he lost. She and her mother showed up to the baptism, early, both beaming from ear to ear. Her mother hugged me tightly and thanked me for helping her daughter become a Mormoncita. (she's totes next, called it) The baptism was beautiful, the spirit was bursting out of the room and a little girl got her wish to be baptized so she could show her love and desire to follow Jesus Christ. There could be nothing more lovely.

 

In other news I left a dinner appointment the other day with the other Sister's keys in my purse so they had to walk 3 miles while we finished up an appointment. Mi malo.

 

xoxo,

Hermana Hall

Bunnies and chickens

Let's quickly talk about the things I experienced this past week. We picked up 2 new investigators that want to get baptized like right now. That really does happen.

 

I took out the new kids for a little street contacting training. Their mouths were gaped open the whole time as they watched me walk up to huge groups of people drinking, smoking and swearing and offer them a cute little picture of Jesus Christ and salvation. They were even more shocked when these people took the cards from me. That's right sisters, have no fear, we are on the winning team.

 

A bomb went off down the street from a lesson we were teaching the other day. It was actually perfect timing because we were talking about the ways we feel the spirit...BOOM. I couldn't have planned a better spirit bomb.  

 

I stopped to talk to some pot smokers on the street the other day and we had a real heart to heart about the Word of Wisdom. I even got them to take a WoW pamphlet and I sat down on the ground to pray with them. One of them wanted to say it and you couldn't help but feel the spirit fill the...street...and tears were rolling down her eyes when she was done. Success. Just say no to pot and yes to Jesus.

 

I drove over and annihilated a blue frisbee the other day. Just as I was noticing all the millions of plastic pieces flying all over the road I looked to my right and saw a tiny little girl with the saddest face I've ever seen. Pretty sure that was her frisbee. Ooops. Mi malo.

 

My baby companion almost killed us and at least a dozen others when she missed an exit and decided to stop in the middle of the FREEWAY! Oh. My. Stars. Thank heavens the Lord has insured us and encased us with bubble wrap.

 

I went on exchanges up in Fremont last week. It was super fun. The sisters just replaced the Elders that used to work the area so they are in quite the worn in house. As I went in to use the bathroom, I heard the Sisters yelling something at me just as I sat down and was flung forward then backward on the toilet. I crawled out of the bathroom bracing myself against the walls, they were laughing their heads off, "we tried to warn you! The toilet rocks a bit." A BIT?! I almost died. Death by toilet. That's a headline. I have terrible luck with toilets.

 

I spoke in church on Sunday. In Spanish. For 10 minutes. Without looking at my notes. The people laughed. It was a Spanish miracle! I just started talking about Texas and cows and then football and then the UT Tower. After they were all good and giggly, I brought in the scriptures. I shared Mathew 5:16 about letting our light shine by our good works. Then I talked about the 9 attributes of Christ listed in Chapter 6 of Preach My Gospel and how working to obtain these helps increase the light we radiate which naturally draws people towards us. They can't help it! It's like one of those gross insect lights...they get lost in the trance! But, it really works. Our light is our best missionary tool. People want to know why we glow and when they ask we can tell them...it's because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Never underestimate the power in the smile, that's a good work that's supes easy to do. There is a lot of light that comes from one of those alone so send someone a smile this week!

 

xoxo,

Hna Hall