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

National Geographic

What happens when you give the oldest missionary in the mission 3 new baby missionaries, a mini tramp and an inflatable mattress?! Chaos and hilarity ensue and someone for sure is going to poke their eye out while I just watch from the couch and moan about my old back hurting. That's what happens. This week was the craziest transfer I have ever experienced in my life. We received 25 new sister missionaries, not one over the age of 21 and most not more than 20. Their eyes are huge and they can't stop bouncing. I was getting exhausted just watching them from afar. I spent most of this week being mother duck, helping her ducklings waddle across the road. Yesterday, I turned around and I literally had a tail of 5 sister missionaries following exactly in my footsteps. It was so presh. We could be in National Geographic.

 

Yesterday I got to step, literally, into a huge family feud. There was food being thrown, people's honor being ripped apart and a dog yapping in the background. As politely firm as I could be, I let them know that they clearly need more Jesus up in the home. They stared at me for a good 30 seconds frozen, mid throw and then all agreed. And now we are teaching the whole family. Woohoo! Family feuds and home destruction: 0, Jesus: 1 million.

 

I didn't have to eat anything crazy this week, but I did get horrifically sick off American pizza. What the heck America? Maybe, it's part of my Latina transition. My blood is chilifying! 

As for lessons learned this week, there are tons. My precious sweet companion broke down the other day during companion inventory...mi malo. And no, I did not induce it, but the outcome was a really great discussion on our own weaknesses and how we grow from recognizing and overcoming them. I shared some personal experiences from my life about how I had to recognize that some parts of my personality just weren't doing me any good and that almost every talent/gift we have can be used for good or for evil. There is a promise in the scriptures that the Lord will take our weaknesses and he will make them strengths, but first we have to hand them over to him. Obviously, this is the hardest part. How do we hand it over to the Lord though? I seems that humility is clearly the first step. Ok, I admit it, I have this weakness and I want to overcome it and then I think we look to other people that we admire and watch how they behave. Christ is the perfect example, but there are many people in our lives every day whom we respect and can learn valuable things from. I think we should watch them, and with our own personality mimic the things we like that they do. There is no more perfect truth than we should be unto others as we would like them be unto us. And as I told my companion, be patient with yourself, we are not expected to get it all at once and be perfect otherwise there would be no point to this life. Take it one step at a time. Get up each morning with the objective to do one thing better. That's how we get there and you know what, we will make it because the Lord will help us.

 

Have a great week, friends!

 

xoxo,

Hermana Hall

Teenage Blood Bath

This week I inherited a mini tramp which has completely made over my morning exercise routine which usually just consists of me curled up in a ball lifting up 2 pounds weights for 30 seconds. Who exercises at 6:30 in the morning? It's the worst. It's lucky I actually get up by that time. Mission miracles.

 

Yesterday, we had a serious lack of teachers show up to church which means all the missionaries had to jump in. I got assigned to the teen Sunday school class which kept growing every 2 min because NONE of the Sunday School teachers showed up. I guess Mother's Day in California is also a church holiday, who knew. Anyway, I ended up teaching 20 TEENAGERS about the Book of Mormon. I made them all sing Book of Mormon Stories until they had the hand moves down perfectly, then I made them read scriptures and talk about it. They hated it and loved it all at the same time. I felt like I was in front of a firing squad for 45 min straight. I was sweating bullets, my blood was boiling, I was having panic attacks...it was pure torture. The moment I got 3 of them to participate, the 5 on the other side of the room started talking and laughing so then I'd go get them involved and then the other side of the room would start fighting. It was a blood bath. But I survived no doubt thanks to pure missionary power. I was so exhausted when I came out of that room I almost collapsed. But later a few of them came up to me and sang Book of Mormon Stories with the hand motions, so as much as they fought it...they were totally listening. Anyway...I don't want teenagers.

 

I went on exchanges with Hermanas at the very northern boundary of the mission this past week. That was super fun plus it was in wine country. Fancy pants. I got really confused in several appointments because of the gorgeous houses we were in and all the rich people drinking wine and holding their poodles while wearing stilettos and being fanned by the cabana boys. This is not my mission...where is the pachanga with Jose getting totes plastered in the corner and the flashing virgin de guadalupe surrounded by glistening candles and where are my tacos! That's my mission! I had forgotten the differences of San Jose and the surrounding parts of this flourishing California area. I mean, I had to use forks at dinner. I messed up at first, but I quickly corrected myself when I saw the looks of horror on their faces as I had chicken juice dripping down my chin after I shoved a piece in my mouth with my hands. Mi malo.

 

Anywho...the work is moving right along here. I had an awesome lesson yesterday with one of my favorite convert families. We talked about faith in Jesus Christ. I love talking about faith to new members. I often feel so jaded about my religious background, not to belittle my booming testimony, but I'm just so used to it. I always tell people that I just grew up knowing this stuff, I was super blessed, it was always there. But to hear someone talking about life without it and then the change they experience...wow - I love it. It's easy for me to forget the importance of such a commonly used word - faith. In reality it is the foundation upon which all joy begins. It is with our faith in our savior Jesus Christ that we know who we are, what we are doing and what our potential is. It is with this faith we can feel clean, worthy and happy. I love the comparison of faith in the scriptures to a seed, for this is truly how it begins. With our tiniest bit of faith, the Lord will really bless us with a blooming tree and delicious fruits to enjoy right now in this life and for our adventures afterward. I've seen it happen, I've felt it, I know it. Hooray!

 

xoxo,

Hermana Hall

Cinco de Mayo

Last Cinco de Mayo was spent in the safety of the MTC with the sweet package my BFF sent me full of all the "traditional" fiesta items like fake mustaches and pinatas. Turns out, real Cinco de Mayo, at least in San Jose, is absolutely bonkers. We had to be back in our apartments before dark and the only things we saw outside yesterday were Mexican flags and beer. All the major freeways were shut down and there was bumper to bumper traffic filled with trucks, cars, low riders, motorcycles draped in Mexican flags blasting Mariachi music from every possible speaker. It was insane! I so wish I had my camera, I've never seen anything like it. Now, no one has any clue what they are celebrating, but they sure now how to party. No drunken hugs for Hna Hall this holiday. Success.

 

This week was focused on bribery. We have several investigators that want to get baptized, but just can't seem to make it to church. President told me I had to do anything and everything possible to make sure they come to church. It came down to this...if you come to church I will buy you frozen yogurt and I will eat a grasshopper. Yikes. Done deal. It worked. She came. I have to eat a grasshopper tomorrow. I'm sure there are blessings waiting for me somewhere. The moral of the story is church is super important and if you need me to prove how important it is, apparently I'll eat insects. Who am I?

 

xoxo,

Hna Hall

Care Bear

Care bears. I was in love when them when I was a little girl...when they first existed which trips the babes out around here. I still remember my favorite, Rainbow, and I'm pretty sure I've kept him locked up in Mom's house. He was my joy, except for the Popables because they were just so cool. So the other day at the Pulga I found a care bear puppet and squealed as I paid the lady $1 for it. She was in a booth just down a bit from us and about an hour later she walked over and handed me two more care bears she had found in her stash and she just wanted to give them to me for free because she could tell how happy the first had made me. I almost burst into tears...out of nostalgia and out of this sweet, unexpected gesture at one of the most hard core shopping environments outside of Morocco I've experienced. One of the bears actually talks and tells me nice things, but that's another story. What I realized later is that the care bears I now own have a sun, moon and stars...my missionary brain went fluttering and I now have a new object lesson for the Plan of Salvation. The Glory Bears. People are going to be on a waiting list to be baptized.

 

On to the sweet gesture from a stranger. What a precious lesson I learned at the Pugla that day, I can barely put it into words. The mission has put my life focus on other people...something I'm not perfect at all the time, but it has certainly improved. We spend every day thinking about others and how we can help them see how special they are, how important they are and what they mean to a loving Heavenly Father. Most of the world is completely jaded, true love and hope just don't exist in their eyes. There is nothing greater than watching someone's eyes light up as they learn how important they are to the most important being in the universe. And then there are Pulga ladies...who just get it. I'm sure it wasn't a huge sacrifice for her, but to me it meant the world and it reminded me that we are here on this earth for others. We really can change someone's day and we can really help them understand who they are to change their life. These things really do lie in our hands and with the help of Jesus Christ we can make a difference not only in our earthly and eternal happiness but in everyone we encounter. The Care Bears are about just that, they care, they bring joy...oh how I want to be a care bear and wear happiness on my belly to bring that happiness to others. Have a care bear week and share your happiness with someone too...they probably need it more than you do.

 

xoxo,
Hna Hall