Mama Hall

This week was insane...as usual. Transfers were crazy - there were so many last minute changes and a lot of drama. There were plenty of confused, angry and some overjoyed missionaries. I can't believe it will be me up there at the front next transfer meeting, separated from my companion forever! We got two new roommates on Tuesday...from the Tongan program! So now we speak English, Spanish and Tongan in our apartment. It's pretty tight and cozy in there now, but we're making it work. It sure is nice to have other sisters in the zone. Actually, we got 6 more sisters in the zone! I think the President got tired of me complaining about the lack of estrogen in our zone meetings. But it was really draining.

 

I can't remember if I mentioned this before but for some reason missionaries have been calling me Mama Hall a lot lately. I'm sure it's meant in flattery, but it makes me feel so old! I guess I am pretty old to these kids. The other day they were saying whatever you think, Mama Hall knows best! I laughed as we walked out the door and then my sweet, young companion silently tugged on my sleeve and as I looked over to her she timidly whispered, "Can I go to the bathroom?" Oh...sure, sweetpea, come on let's go take you to the potty. Well, now I actually think I might be a mom. Seriously, where did the sleeve tugging come from though? That is not a one time occurrence. Oh heavens.

 

Some fun quotes from my presh companion this week include:

"I didn't know Samuel the Lamanite was a Lamanite!"

"You don't have to shampoo twice every day?"

In other random missionary news. I was doing an exchange in my last area the other day and we went to do service at a city park near the airport. It's basically the backyard to the airport...a city mandated park because too many planes crash land there. Oops. The missionaries that serve there have created a game, plane jumping. As the plane shadow comes roaring in across the park...they JUMP! Then there is a lot of laughter. I'm not sure I really got it, but they really loved it. So I tried it once. It was kind of a thrill! Oh the things we come up with to make the mission exciting when you don't have television. Speaking of television...I hope everyone is prepared to re-watch all the shows and movies you've seen in the past year and a half that will be like Christmas morning to me! Woohoo!

 

It was quite rainy Saturday and although I love the rain and I'm pretty sure California needed it, we were down lessons, contacts, investigators and pretty much all of our goals for the week. I was counting on Saturday being our big day...and then the rain killed it. I stared out the window for a few minutes feeling hopeless, defeated and so tired. We stayed inside to plan for our week until it calmed a bit. Before we left the house we said a pleading, well it was really just pure begging, prayer for help. We had so much to get done and only a day and a half in the week left to do it, we needed some serious help. We headed off, me still with a doubting heart, but it wasn't even 4 hours later that we had 4 new investigators, several lessons, a hundred contacts and full bellies. I couldn't believe it. Actually, I haven't believed a lot that has happened the past few weeks. I'm sad it took me until the last bit of my mission to figure out this little deal about sheer desperation and faith. I really am not capable of doing this work alone. The only way it gets done and the best way it gets done is with the Lord. It's not until we realize that we let ourselves be completely in His hands that things happen...the way they should. I thought back to the moment I growled at the rain through my window...when the outcome was bleak with no ray of hope. That's not what the Lord knew. He knew better and the moment we turned that over to Him, the moment we founds success. How grateful I am to my mission for these simple and life changing lessons that it has so brilliantly shined before my eyes. Now, the hard part, making sure I don't forget them. No wonder we have to hear the same stories over and over again. Idiots.

 

xoxo,

Hna Hall

Fiji

While contacting the other day we ran into a family that was unloading their car. We offered our help expecting them to say no thanks like everyone else...but they took us up on it! We were so shocked and excited that we ran over there and began unloading huge boxes of alcohol. My sweet innocent companion actually had to ask me what it was. Presh. But then they invited us to stay and visit for awhile! Woohoo! They are from Fiji so I told them that I really like Fiji water and the bottles are so cool, but I had to know if it really is from there. They told me that indeed the water does come from the Fijian mountains and is the best in the world. You are all welcome. I ask the hard questions. It was the funniest visit. They were so warm and kind, just like Latinos. I asked them about their Gods. They asked about ours and then we prayed together...to one God. They invited us to their alcohol party but also said we could come back and talk about God again. That we will for sure do.

 

Later we gathered all the neighborhood kids around to teach them about the Holy Ghost. I love teaching kids...they get things about God so quickly. It was an awesome lesson...so I told them to run home right now and tell their parents about the beautiful angels they met in the street that want them to live with God again. We'll see what that brings us...

 

We've had a ton of success recently just walking the streets. We have to get in there...stalk people right in front of their faces. I'm so glad we have a car, but to find the people we have to use our feet. On Saturday we walked a Latino neighborhood for a little over an hour and picked up 4 new investigators. It was a miracle! I love miracles. They are such a high. They always come at a really good time.

 

Saturday night our ward had a "Cultural Activity". I've learned in Spanish wards this is code for tons of food and dancing. It was so much fun. There are some Hawaiian Latinos in our ward so they did some hula. That was beautiful. Then some families danced some traditional Mexican dances. I want one of those dresses. I also ate so much that my companion had to wheel me out in the trash can. Oops.

 

Today is the start of my last transfer. Six weeks left. I simply cannot believe it. This time is going to fly by. I hope you are all ready to hear me tell all my missionary stories over and over again until you pass out. It's gonna be great!

 

xoxo,

Hermana Hall

BYU beat UT?

So I heard that BYU beat UT the other day. It's still weird to me that I live in a world where I hear all news days and days later.  My favorite is when people start talking about a huge, current world event and we look like morons with our blank faces like the cold war just ended. Missionaries are so weird. I apologize in advance for all the things that I have no idea about when I return. Instead I have lots of crazy Spanish stories to tell everyone!

 

I have no recollection of the past week so I do not know what will appear in this email...

 

I do remember getting super fed up with my all the Elders in our zone and might have chastised them all a bit. Then I remembered they are just 20 yr old boys and I'm probably expecting a little too much. Mi malo. But they snapped right up into shape and we all worked out little missionary hineys last week and saw a lot of awesome miracles. We set some really high goals and on Sunday night when I had only met half of them I started to panic. I mean, I looked those Elders straight in the face and said this is an act of faith, do you have it or not? And then I can't do it?! How embarrassing! No. I would not let it happen. My companion and I were chanting in the car We Will, We Will Rock You...with the spirit! And then we hit the streets. In 1 hour we picked up 3 new investigators. There were miracles that dropped from the fruits of the heavenly tree. I couldn't believe we did it. But oh, we did. We met out goals so I don't have to go to zone meeting today with crow all over my face. Thank heavens.

 

The lesson that I continue to learn on the mission is how involved the Lord really is in this work. There is really very little I do every day to spread the gospel. My goal is to not mess it up. My goal is to open my mouth and spit out whatever the Holy Ghost needs to do. Sure, we study, we practice, we pray, we talk, we love...but we are literally nothing. I joke around that "I get dates". For some crazy reason, I do. I have gotten a lot of baptismal dates, it's true, but there is not a single date that the Lord hasn't just placed in my little hand to which I pray every moment I don't mess up. I can't believe how much the Lord trusts us, but really...He just needs our hearts. We can't mess it up. He can do anything with our tiny hearts and He does so much. What a testimony I have gained about the power of small and simple things for I am small and simple. I barely know Spanish, I still don't know how many Nefis there are I don't remember how to spell anything, and I don't even know what city I'm in half the time, but the Lord has directed me to His children. Lives are changing for the better every single day. Including mine.

 

We go over the same thing with members every day, they don't see how valuable they are in this work. Please don't forget how valuable each one of us is in the Lord's work. There are some awesome new videos on lds.org that show how easy it is to share the gospel, check them out. Open your hearts to those moments the Lord WILL give you. Smile. Open your mouth. Be a friend, the kind of friend our Savior is. I am kicking myself at all those moments I missed before the mission. I stayed in my happy bubble and went about my business, but you can bet that will change when I get home. There is nothing more rewarding than watching someone realize how valuable they are here in the this whole big plan the Lord has for us. They simply don't know. They don't know we have what they need. We must share it.

 

Well, there was that...an interesting email. Enjoy. Um...also. I fell in the tub and have huge bruises down my leg. I'm telling people that I got stuck while rock climbing because that sounds way cooler.

 

xoxo,

Hna Hall

8

I only have 8 weeks left on my mission. 8 weeks. That's nothing. And yet, I've got so much to do in that time. Ahhhh!

 

This was a rough week. I had to spend several days out of my area putting out fires which means I had to abandon my  poor baby companion here with some other sisters. When I got back there were new fires to put out! But that's how it goes. At the end of the week, there was a last minute baptism in my last area of a women we were referred to all the way from El Salvador. I was ecstatic it finally happened. It took at least a dozen miracles for her to make it to the font and another half a dozen for me to make it to the baptism in time. It was a typical, crazy, last minute baptism including screaming children and your standard bossy member telling the Ward Mission Leader from the back of the room that he wasn't doing things correctly. Ah, people, gotta love 'em. But afterward, that sweet woman with dripping wet hair gave me the biggest hug in the world and just said thank you. I could barely keep my eyes from flooding. That's what it was all about. She found the peace she was looking for. It was sure an uphill battle getting her to the font and she knows it's going to be an uphill battle from now on, but that hug said it all. It was worth it.

 

I'm so grateful for the opportunities I've had to be in these people's lives, to be a part of their struggles, their joys and their changes. It lifts me up. It strengthens me and it reminds me that there really is someone who cares for us. He watches us. He protects us. He loves us. He calls us. As a missionary I get to be sent all the time on behalf of the Lord. Most of the time I have no idea where or why he has placed me as He does. I love it when I get to look someone in the eyes who has just been punched in the gut by the Holy Ghost and tell them that our Father in Heaven sent us to you, because he's aware of you and because He loves you and He wants you back. I've never ever doubted the truthfulness of those words I speak almost every single day. It's truly remarkable and it's a privilege to bear it.

 

 

xoxo,

Hermana Hall