hello family. wow it sounds like you had a crazy week. i hope all is well with all of you now. first, sorry for writting late last week. we had to change the p-day because we went to the zoo on tuesday. so that was pretty sweet. not as good as the zoo in utah or california but it was fun to get away and do something different. also i have noticed on letters and packages that you guys have sent you put "Santiago 2a" it is "Santiago 29". so if you could fix that, that would be good. mom, you said that you sent a package like 5 weeks ago and i havent gotten it yet but maybe its cause the mail office is still trying to figure it out, or it ended up in china...haha i dont know but ya.
so mom ya if you could send a tie for my comp and some candy and whatever else you can think of. i am sure his parents will send him something cause they live here in santiago but he might be changed this next week. we will see but ya thanx for everything mom your awesome. also i have a question. some members have said that there is a rumor that they are going to get rid of the dollar and change it to some other type of money...if you have any info on the subject it would be awesome to know. i havent gotten the wedding invite for amy´s wedding but tell her congrats from me.
so this week has been crazy here. well, saturday was crazy, the rest of the week was the normal but dang do i have a story for you guys.
so saturday we only got into one house the whole day, and it was for lunch. after lunch we left with a member to go to a visit but our investigator was packing up and leaving. so we lost this awesome family but hopefully the missionaries will be able to help him where he is moving. but anyways we decided since we had a member we were going to knock a couple doors and try to get into a house to teach. haha, i am not going to lie to you guys. never in my mission have i had this type of rejections...we knocked 5 houses and every house was worse than the first. people slammed the doors so fast i didnt have time to open my mouth. and when they didnt slam the door, they yelled at us. i felt so bad for the member but at least they know how the mission is now haha.
so after this hard day all i wanted to do was go home and just pass out and go to sleep. so we get to our door and my comp starts looking through his pockets and what does he find? nothing, he left the keys inside the house...haha so after 10 minutes of trying to break into the house through the front we realized that we couldnt. so i decided i was going to climb on the roof (cause there isnt space in between the houses to go to the back yard), go to the back and break a small window in the back to get into the house. simple enough right? wrong, i realized how bad the chilean roofs are when i finally got on top of it. they dont know how to make a roof and i almost died like 3 times. i ended up running the length of the roof so that i wouldnt die. then i jumped down off the roof. at this point it hit me how stupid this idea was... the neighboors who live behind our house were in the back part of their house. if i broke the window they would come out and see some guy trying to break into a house and call the cops...at this point i tried for like 15 minutes to get back up on the roof but i couldnt...haha finally i somehow got up, ran back across the roof and my comp said i was safe to come down...
that isnt the end of the story though...i was almost off the roof when my comp says, "stop, stop, las hermanas..." i look across the street and see the sister missionaries crossing the street. so i scramble back up, hid but my comp is in front of the house alone. he hids behind this tiny tree and somehow the hermanas didnt see him. i jump down and the next day we have to go to the office which takes like 2 hours. but finally sunday at 6 we got back into our house. haha but it was crazy.
but ya that was my week hope you guys enjoyed the adventure of elder hall. but i love ya all tons. i hope you have a awesome week. and i dont know when is thanksgiving but have a awesome thanxgiving. thanx for everything fam.
love ya
elder hall
PS. Ok mom this is for the ward newsletter. if you could go through it and spell check it for me that would be awesome. thanx mom love ya!!!
As i reflect on the last 10 months of my mission and what i have learned one this in particular sticks out. Its what i call my Personal Gethsemane.
We all know that the savior suffered more than we know during the last week of His life. He was mocked, scorned and spit upon. He suffered unimaginable pain in the Garden. He was scourged and beaten. And finally He was crucified on the Cross.
I am not comparing myself to the Lord, because i cant even start to imagine what He went through. But i have been in my own personal Gethsemane for a moment or two on my mission.
While on my mission i have been spit at, sworn at, yelled at, screamed at. I have been mocked, rejected and had countless doors slammed in my face. My Church has been attacked, my beliefs thrashed. I have walked around all day in the rain, the mud, the heat. I have felt so sad and depressed that i wanted to lay down and die...
But at the same time i have never been so happy in my life. There are days that make every hard day worth it. When you see a family come back to church after 20 years. To see people who have smoked since they were 15 stop and never look back. Every pain is nothing as you watch people totally change their lives and follow the Savior. Those days make every sorrow, pain and affliction worth it.
The Savior says in Luke "...let him take up his cross Daily and follow me." Christ gave everything and He expects all in return. I know that by doing what He asks we will be blessed. He lives, there is no doubt in my mind about that.
"If we are not willing to walk a step or two in our own Personal Gethsemane, we are not worthy to be members of His Church. I love you all so much. This church is true. Let us follow His example and overcome our Personal Gethsemane in His name, Jesus Christ, Amen.
Elder Hall
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