I love being in Chile!

hey fam. 

how is everything? here it is great. i love it here, its weird and i am sure that my comp is getting sick of hearing it but every time we go out of the house i say that i love being in chile. ya, so today is my p-day. to answer dads questions, they give us a debit card and every pday we go to a machine and take out money that we need for the week. we get 17 mil every week for food, supplies and haircuts which is about 30 dollars and we get 6 mil, about 11 dollars for transportation and stuff like that. 

the way we get around is basically by foot. we walk everywhere!!!! but we have in our area a small town called palmire, which is kinda like a tourist town, which is about 6 miles away from our pension, or house. so we take a bus to get there. but basically we just walk. we actually did have a baptism!!! but it was one of the members sons so it doesnt really count but it was cool anyways. i got to be one of the witnesses. we are working with this family of four which we hope to set a baptismal date soon. also we found this lady, by a miracle, who is a dry mormon...just add water:] 

haha ya so we were walkin down the street and we passed this restaurant. this lady was outside and she was the owner of the store. so we passed by and say hola and kept on walking. but then my comp was like, we need to go back so we went and talked to her and she said that we were an answer to her prayers. she was wondering why there are so many churches and all these perfect questions so we have taught her outside her store a couple times. but we realized that she isnt in our sector...ya so basically we got her ready for baptism and other missionaries get to finish it. but it is all good, we are helping the people, it doesnt matter who gets to baptize her. 

haha ya also email is the best we get a hour to email family and 15 mins to email the president. so that is probably the best way to do it. but if you guys get the urge to send me a letter or package that would be cool too. 

ya so tell tyler congrats!!! that is so sweet, i am way excited for him, i am glad he finally gets to head out. and also let me know about justin. so jordan bishop went into the mtc the day after i left so that stinks but its cool haha. 

ya i kinda miss the snow. it gets pretty hot down here during the day when we are walking around. the humidity doesnt help much either.

so this morning when i was studying i came across the coolest scripture ever. so before i came on my mission after bishop cummings died, i just kept having doubts about why the lord would let him die when he was specifically promised to live by his father and the president. and i still had that little doubt till this morning. i came across the scripture in d and c 42:44-48. this is amazing cause it totally talks about this specific situation. read through it and you will see why. i loved it.

so the food here is incredible. i love it so much. every meal i try to eat a little piece of tomato so that i can get accustomed to them. but it isnt working. every time i start chocking and then the members look at me like i am a idiot. but ya, they have these amazing things that are like hot dogs. they get this meat, which is like steak, and cut it up and put it in a hot dog bun. then they put guacamole and mayonnaise and ketchup on it. they are amazing. today i am goin shopping for the week. i am getting a loaf of bread, 2 boxes of cereal and 2 things of milk. pringles, some fruit, ham and cheese. that is what i eat for the week. cause here they only really have lunch. they have a small breakfast, and a huge lunch around 2. then at like 10 they have a small dinner. so that is hard to get use to but i am trying. i am constantly hungry though, it stinks. 

this past week we got to go into the city, santiago, and go to a greenie meeting. so we got on this subway thing, which reminds me i miss subway, but ya anyways and the people were seriously packed into that thing like...i dont know like something packed into something really tight haha. so we got to the meeting and it was amazing. i love my president and his wife so much. they are amazing. then at the end we got to have all you can eat pizza from pizza hut. wow that was good haha. 

but ya, i hope you guys have a great spring vacation. while you are playing and doing all that i will be working my butt off...haha ya but i love it. 

so when i started reading the letters that you guys sent to me i started crying. it was so embarrasing. i am in the middle of this mall packed with people and i am bawling my eyes out, haha. it is incredible to see how much i really love you all. i really didnt realize before the mission how deep my love is for each one of you. yes, even you tori even though you havent written me for ever. but thats besides the point, you all have such a special place in my heart. and i know that a mission is kinda like when you die. you miss them so so so much, but you know that some day you will see them again. that knowledge is so amazing, and that is the message that i am sharing with the world. 

tell the grandma and grandpa hall i love them. tell gramdma l and tracy and sham i love them too. i love you all. you are all amazing. its funny cause the people here all remind me of my own family. it is so sweet. i am pretty sure i know someone here that is exactly like a family member back home. jansen, thanx for keeping me updated. it stinks that byu lost but they will take it next year. also landon thanx for the email. jenna, i love ya tons little sis. torky, love you too. you better write me soon. mom and dad, thanx for everything. you guys are awesome. i love you more than you will ever know and more than i can every express. tell shae and lyndsie and their fams and the kids i love them. i carry a pic around of our family and my nieces and nephew and i show you guys off to all the members. they think my family is so awesome, its cool.

well, thanx for the letters and everything. i love them. i love hearing from you guys. i am glad to hear everything is well. i know this church is true. i know that Jesus Christ is my personal savior and redeemer. the language is hard, but i know that i have the lord on my side so i will be able to learn it. I LOVE THE WORK. take care and keep on doin what your doing. the lord is behind everything, and will always be there for you, even if sometimes you arent there for him.

with tons and tons and tons of love

elder hall :)

Hey mom dad and fam

hey mom and dad how is it goin? 

i am doing fine i am here is chile just chillin...haha i love it here it is so cool. it is pretty much the same but still it is different. the culture is a lot different. how we knock doors because every single house pretty much has a dog and a gate. so we stand outside the gate and yell, ¨alo¨. then they come out and see who it is and a lot of the time they just say that they are too busy and they go back inside. but sometimes they will come and listen to you. they are so generous though. it blows me away. pretty much every time someone invites us in they will give us a drink. its crazy, think about two strangers you don´t even know coming by and you don´t have very much and you invite them in and let them have some pop or juice to drink even though you don´t have very much yourself. and the members are incredeble. they are so so generous. it was awesome, cause yesterday was ester i guess... and they had the primary make us these little easter egg baskets and they put some chocolate eggs and stuff in there. it was so cool. they are way nice. so, so far we have had a couple lunches at the members house. so lunch is the main meal here, which is hard cause i love dinner and they barely eat anything for dinner so that has been hard. the first day we had rice and this beef jerky kind of meet and broccoli and tomatoes and rice. as you may or may not know, i´m not a big fan of rice and i hate tomatoes. but i guess they eat a lot of rice and tomatoes. and they find it a big insult not to eat all the food cause they usually give you the best food they have cause they love the missionaries. so i am goin to have to learn to love tomatoes...:( haha its all good. anyways the next day we had this bow tie pasta with spegetti sauce and eggs on the side. the next day we had empenadas. these things are amazing!!!!! they are like hot pockets but a lot bigger and they have meet and eggs and cheeze and onions inside. mmm they are good. i am loving the food here. it is so so so good. also i love the people so much already. some of the members and pretty well off but others barely have anything but they are so happy its so amazing. there example to me is awesome. so my area is melipilla. it is right outside of chile. it is like the country kind of but not really. its awesome. my comp, elder hansen is so cool. he is such a hard worker and he is way nice. he is always helping me with whatever i need. he is from idaho. he has 3 older sisters and his parents. then we live with our distric leaders, elders despain and mecham. they are really cool as well. they are nice and everyone is helping me out so much. i love it here!!! but it is so hard. the first day i was here i was wondering how i could do it. i could not understand one word the people were saying. they talk so fast so even if i did knew a word i would not be able pick it out and understand it. but since then i have been able to start slowing the language down in my head so i can translate it. every day it gets easier. it is still very very very very very difficult but its getting better. i am being able to understand people a lot easier now. our appt is pretty small but it is really fun. so we got sent to melipilla, which the president just barely opened back up. so we are doing what is called a white wash. we come in, not knowing any members, converts, investagators, or the area. that makes it a lot harder but we are starting to get it down. i have given out 2 bom´s so far. i gave one out to a young man who was goin to school and seemed pretty interested. then, on my first day we found this guy named edguardo. and what do you know, he spoke english pretty good. so i gave him a english bom that i had. he was so excited cause he said that he loves english so he loves reading and talking in english. so i can actually teach him. he also wants us to call him ted... he is awesome, he will for sure be baptized some day. also we totally had a miricle happen. the first full day we had we decided to pray for a family to teach. so all day we were looking for a family. and so we come upon a lady and her 8 or so year old daughter. one thing that we always do is we ask if we can come over to their house and bless it and bless their family with anything they need. so we start talkin with this lady and she said that she wants us to come bless her house...and we didn´t even ask her if she wanted that. so we are like...sure we can come over and bless your house. she said she was baptized when she was a baby into the catholic church, but she doesn´t feel like it was real cause she didn´t have the choice if she wanted to or not. and she said she didn´t like the jw´s or the protostants!!!! ya, then she said that her son has been looking for 2 young men in white shirts and ties to come baptize him cause he hasn´t been baptized...so ya this lady, vivianna, is incredible. and so we called her back and her husband is totally fine with us coming over and teaching. so i really think we are goin to be able to baptize the whole family!!!!! i am so excited. the mission is awesome. it is so so so much work but it is worth every minute of it. i love the work. it is really hard, but in the end i know it is goin to pay off. every day the language gets better so that is good. i try not to get discouraged cause it is really easy to do so. but i totally believe in el don de lenguas (gift of tongues) it is so true. without it i wouldn´t be able to do anything that i am doing. ya oh ya, one thing i forgot to say is that it is their culture to kiss. so they women kiss and they kiss the guys too...so we have been taught to avoid this. what we do is when we shake hands we are suppose to hold our arm stiff so that they can´t get close. i haven´t had any problems with that yet cause we haven´t taught a non member woman yet, but i am sure it will come up later in the mission. ya, so the people here in chile are so beautiful. there culture is very european based so they wear thoes kinds of cloths and they look more european, they are awesome. it is so funny cause the little girls all remind me of aaliyah and mehkii. they are so so so cute. it always makes me miss aaliyah and mehkii tons. also we met this kid. he wasn´t a member but we started talkin with him. he is about 12 and he was saying how he got a bom and doctrine and coventents. and he loves reading them!!! but he got so upset cause he said he had a triple, but i guess they don´t do the quads in spanish so he was all mad that they didn´t do that, it was awesome. and he totally reminded me of landon, just the way he looks and walks and everything. the women in the ward are so loving. they act just like mothers to us, its awesome, so don´t worry mom i am being taken care of. president and sister jones are awesome too. we had a great lunch at their house the first day and then we slept and had some training. then we went to the top of this huge hill in the middle of the city and got to look over our secion. santiago is so huge, its crazy. then we went and met our comps and the president sent us off. ya so anyways, monday is our p-day. we get a hour to write our families and 15 mins to write the prez. so you can still use this but i can only check it on mondays. you can use dearelder also, that works well. pouch also works but president said it wasn´t the best thing to use. you can just use regular mail and that will work. he said that the mail system is very safe but don´t send any money cause that is illegal. so if i need money i can just use my debt card. ya so they have so many american things its crazy. all the young kids are always watching the american cartoons. as i am sitting here in the mall, i am listening to american music, like songs i would listen to at home, its insane. people just walk around in american shirts that i don´t know if they know what it even says...for breakfast every morning i usually have trix, but i am going to buy coco puffs today. they sell milk in these plastic bag things and they don´t refrigerate them. so we go to a regular isle and pick up some milk and take it home and put it in the fridge. everything here is a little cheaper than in america but some things like penut butter are more expensive. like penut butter the size of my hand is like 6 dollars. but it is nice here, it isn´t too hot. it is probably like 70 or so but it gets kind of chilly in the morning and night. the water is all good to drink. everything here is pretty safe. so sorry that i in this email i was just jumping around. there is just so much to say and i keep remembering things to say. so everything is good. i am healthy and strong. my comp makes me do my hair every mornin so that stinks and i have to shave every morning. its hard having 4 guys and one bathroom and not much time cause we need to excersize and eat and get ready and study and get out of the house. so ya this is my scedule.

• 730 get up and excersize
• 800 eat and get ready
• 9 personal study
• 10 comp study
• 11 language study
• 1130 leave house and go prosoliting
• 1 go eat lunch at a members house (by the way these people can talk forever!!!! it is crazy how long people down here can talk, so it is really hard to get out of a persons house.)
• 2-3 we come back to the house and have greenie hour, which is for me to learn the language and study more
• 4ish we go out and start teaching, prosoliting and whatever else we have.
• 930-10 come home and have planning session.
• 1030 get ready for bed, eat, say prayers(which by the way we are always praying. ALWAYS haha its awesome)
• 1130 lights out and your passed out in the bed. 

so ya, that is my life right there. yesterday we went to church. i stood up and introduced myself. every one laughed at me, and i didn´t know why or what i said but its all good...then they have class for only 15 minutes and priesthood for like 30 so church is only 2 hours longs, its sweet. so that is what i am doing down here, the culture and everything. if you have any questions send them to me and i will make sure to try to answer them. you can use this, or if you send letters or packages it goes to the mission home which address is in my missionary packet that i got with my call, ya know that little booklet. another thing, for p-days we have to wear our church cloths, which stinks but i will live. the only time we get to be in regular cloths is in the house, doing service or playing soccer. anyways, i better get going. this email is huge so i hope you like it. i love you all so much. once i get this schedule down more i will make sure to maybe email the grandparents if i can and shae and lyndsie. 

well love you all, the church is true!!! 

Elder Hall

I am in Chile!

hey mom and dad. 

i am just at the presidents house. its been a long day. we got in around 5:30 this morning. the flight was well. i got about...10 mins of sleep but its all good. it is amazing here, i love it!!! it is so beautiful. the sight of the huge mountains this morning was amazing, it reminded me of home. well, i want you guys to know that all is well, i am still alive and doing the lords work. we are goin to learn some stuff for a couple hours, have lunch then head out and meet our new comps. i am nervous but very excited. well, i love you all tons and hope al is well!!! the church is true!!!

love 

elder Hall

i hope i can make you guys proud

hey mom 

thanx for writting me. its good to hear from ya. its good to hear you guys are all doin well. so about chris, tell him that he is stupid but tell him i am so happy that he is ok. he needs to give up motorcylcing it is so dangerous but tell him he has to send me pics. and about rachel i will make sure to write her. she has been a little bum, i have written her two times and sent her a b-day card and she hasn't written me back yet but i will still write her. i hope she can turn things around cause she can't blaim it all on her disease, she has her own free agency but i still love her. i don't wanna judge her either cause i don't know how hard crones in on a person. anyways sorry just if ya see her tell her i love her and she is beautiful. 

one thing, i did email u, like two times last week so i don't know why it didn't get to ya. i hope this one does. did dad get the email i sent him? i hope these work. thanx for the package. sorry i have to send back the bunny that jansen gave for me. we aren't suppost to have any toys or stuff like that so...also i have a couple more things i have to send back as well. i am goin to make sure my suitcase isn't too heavy so it doesn't go over. another little thing, i get to call ya guys at the airport so that is goin to be exciting. i will probably call you two times, maybe. maybe around 10-11ish i'm not sure then at around 12-3ish. so i need to know if i should call your cell or the home phone or what...anyways i can't wait to talk to ya. 

maybe if ya can have tori and dad there so i can talk to them as well...i can't wait to get out there. once i hit that airport i am goin to give away 2 bom's, and 10 pass along cards, i am so excited. i can't wait for your other package, i hope it gets here in time, the last one took a while to get here. one other thing, tell g-ma hall thanx for the package, i won't have time to write her a letter but tell her it totally made my day and it lasted me...a couple hours...jk it lasted me a while. thanx for everythin g-ma and g-pa!!! anyways let the whole fam and dad know i love them and everything is goin well and i can't wait to go to chile. i might finally feel like a missionary...but i know this church is true!!! i am doin what the lord want me to do. i hope i can make you guys proud of me. i don't know if you have my address in chile but if you don't i will email when i get there and let ya know. and if you could give it to my friends...the 2 i have haha anyways i love you guys!!!can't wait to talk to ya on the phone on tuesday!!!

Love

Elder Hall

My Testimony of My Savior

I know Jesus is the Christ, the only Begotten of the Father. He Lives! He suffered for all my pains, afflictions, sorrows and sins. He died so that someday I could live again. On the third day he rose from the grave! He is my Savior and my Redeemer! Through Him I can live with my family forever. He loves me personally! I love him with all my being. I will serve Him until the day I die! When he died, everyone on earth abandoned Him!! I will never abandon Him. He is my Lord, my Savior, my Best friend!! God be thanked for the matchless gift of His divine Son. Oh, sweet the joy this sentence gives, I know that my Redeemer Lives!!!

Elder Jordan Hall