4 people in one room from 4 different countries

Hola family from rinconada santiago chile!!! This has been a really good week. Don’t worry my foot has gotten a lot better. I have been taking medicine and soaking it 2 times a day in salt water so it has gotten a lot better. The doctor we go to is a mission doctor and he is really smart. So that is why we have to go like one hour and a half to get to him. But ya if we ever have to actually have something done, like surgery or anything more than just looking at the problem we go to the best doctor in chile. They send us to the richest part of chile so there are no problems. 

This week was so awesome. One of our investigators, anastacia, finally passed her interview and will be baptized this Saturday. Also we put 2 more baptismal dates this week. One with this awesome lady that said that she wanted to get baptized when she saw belen, the little red head that we baptized, get baptized. If all goes well she will be baptized in the last week of feb. also the young kid that I told you guys about like a month ago, manuel. He is 17 years old and has been going to church since he was 13. he finally put a baptismal date and will be baptized the 28th of feb. he is so awesome and we are going to pray and fast for him so that his parents give him permission to get baptized 1 week before his 18th bday. I hope he will be able to cause if not he will have to wait for a long time cause he is going to the south to go to school. So make sure to pray for him ok?

So we had a sweet experience this week. We got a reference from a less active member to go visit their sister. So we went and taught her for about 30 mins when her husband came home. He walked in and I knew right when I saw him that he wasn’t Chilean or from south America at all. We found out that he is from Germany. He lives near the swiss border I think is what he said. But his wife, who is Chilean, moved to Germany for 2 years. They got married and moved here. He isn’t a member and now we are teaching him. He is from the presbitirian church but is so awesome. He is learning Spanish so sometimes its hard but it is sweet. He spoke German for me and it was cool cause I could actually understand a little. It is really similar to English. Then I had to speak a little German to him. I said, heins, vie, dri…I don’t know how to spell it but its 1, 2, 3, in German. Also I said, Wo ist da essen… don’t know how to spell that either but it means where is the food. He said that he understood me and that my accent actually wasn’t that bad… haha awesome. But it was funny cause there was 4 people in one room from 4 different countries. USA, Germany, Chile and Peru. It was pretty cool. 

But ya that was my week. It is still pretty hott here but its all good cause the temp is starting to drop. Mom, tell gma hall that I got her letter and money. Tell her thanx and that I am happy that she is doing well. I love you all tons. Hope you are having fun. Keep praying for me and doing what you are doing. Have a sweet week. Love you all tons. 

Les amo

Elder hall

I have hit my year mark and I feel like my time is slipping away

Hey family. Como estan ustedes? Todo esta bien aquí. Man this week was a little weird. First off I had a lot of problems with my toe. This Sunday my ingrown toenail got really really bad so by Monday night I could barely walk. My big toe was about twice the size that it should be. Then Tuesday we called the doctor and he told us to come in to see what he can do. So we took 2 buses, the subway and walked like 10 blocks to get to the office. It takes like a hour to get there. And remember that I can barely walk. So we get there and he tells me to take off my shoe, looks at my toe and tells me, that I need to go buy some medicine, and soak my foot in water…so we go all the way back to my sector and go out to work. I could barely walk so we didn’t get much done. That night I did what he had told me to do and by the next morning my foot was killing. I couldn’t even put my shoe on. So for the first time in my whole mission I had to stay in the house all day… man did it suck. There was nothing to do and I was bored out of my mind. But as the week went on my foot got better and better and now it is a lot better. Tomorrow I have to go back to the office to see whats up. I still wasn’t able to get the nail out of my skin. I think they are going to have to cut my toe open and take it out. But we will see what happenes. I will keep ya informed. 

Well as you all know, and have all told me I have hit my year mark. Wow it is crazy how fast time flys by. It really feels like I have only been here for a couple months. I have had mixed feelings about my year mark. One, it is a huge accomplishment in my life. I have finished half of what the Lord has asked of me. But on the other side, I feels like my time is slipping away. I feel so rushed now. Its like I don’t have enough time to do all that I need to do. I still have a year left but it feels like less time than that. I am going to work my butt off this year and I am going to come home and pass out on my bed and sleep for a full year to make up haha. Make sure that you guys don’t get too trunky on my now. Haha 

Well mom I got my package and it was awesome. Tell gma lam thanx for the pj´s. they are sweet and will be put to good use in a couple months. The weather here is starting to get a little bit less hott which is so awesome. I have lived through the hardest time in chile. Everything now is just down hill.  

Well I don’t think I have born my testimony to you guys in a while. I don’t want ya to forget that I have a really strong one. It is very strong but very simple. You guys know that I have never been good with big words or pretty phrases but I want you to know that I know this church is true. Jesus is the Christ, the very Son of God. He came to earth so that each and every one of us would be able to live with Him and The Father again. Think about that!!! We can live in never ending happiness if we obey a couple little rules that we are given. Haha I think that’s a pretty good trade. I love my older brother so much. I have come to know Him so much better on my mission. To see His infinite love that he has for every one of His brothers and sisters. Even those who don’t want to follow Him. I have also felt the pain that I am sure our Heavenly Father feels when His children don’t do what He asks us to do. It is one of the saddest things to see someone who knows the church is true but is too lazy to do something about it. I love the Bible and the Book of Mormon. Oh man is that a powerful tool that we can use to destroy Satan. He doesn’t stand a chance when we are reading those books. 

Just read and pray every day and I promise all of you that satan will have no power over you. And don’t just read, study, feast, and love what you read. It is so incredible the things that we can learn from the scriptures. I have seen the love that our Savior has for us in every single page. Also, don’t just pray. Talk with your Heavenly Father. He really does hear you. Its not just a couple words that you have to say before you can eat dinner, or before you can go to bed. It is the only way we have here on the earth to talk to our Father. Pray with real intent, tell God what you need, what you long for, why you are sad, happy, depressed. Tell him everything that you did in the day, all the mistakes that you made, and how you are going to do better in the next day. Then ask for His help. If you do that, you will be so much more happy I promise you. JUST DO IT!!! 

I love you all so so much. Keep doing what you are doing and keep praying for me. I pray for you all every night. You guys are awesome. Have a sweet awesome week. Don’t do anything that I would do k? haha les amo. Chao!!!

Love

Elder hall

PS. hey dad i wanted to write ya really quick and tell ya thanx. you have always been such a awesome example to me. i hope some day i can be half the man you are. also i wanted to say thanx for always writting me. i have had more than one comp where their dad never wrote them and you have almost written me evey single week on my miss. it really means a lot to me and i hope you know that. haha it is crazy that i have hit the year mark. time just keeps speeding up. but i am going to keep working. thanx for everything dad. have a awsome day. love ya

elder hall

The man with the knife in his back...

Hey family thanx everyone for writting me and telling me happy b-day. It has been a good day. We woke up and went and played basketball and then we went to buy some pizzas at dominos and mountain dew and had a little party in the house. Oh man it is so weird the difference your birthday is in the mission. We are going to go back to the house and take a nap haha. Then we have some good appointments today that we are going to visit tonight. Ya i didnt get your package yet but i am sure i will get it on Thursday. But thanx everyone for all that you do. Thanx for thinking bout me and praying for me still. 

This has been another good week. One of the investigators we have, anastacia was suppost to be baptized like 3 weeks ago but the president had a interview with her dad and said that they need to come for another month to get more activated. So for the last 2 weeks the whole family has come. It is so cool, cause the mom isnt a member and she comes to support her little daughter. She wants to investigate the church more but she cant get baptized cause the dad is already married with someone in the united states and they have a lot of problems with getting separated so it will take a while but for right now everything is going well. If all goes well we will have another baptizm in 2 weeks. 

Right now we are focusing in finding more people. We are walking around a lot in the heat trying to find lots of people to teach. It is hard cause usually we get into a house 1 or 2 times then they dont want anything else so on the mission you have to always be finding people to teach. The more people you find, the more possibilies to help the little group of the chosen to progress. 

A couple days ago i was looking at a ensign in our house and i came across something really interesting. But it wont be as interesting if A Theador Tuttle isnt my great uncle, but unless i am lossing my memory, i think he is. Anyways i was reading and saw a pic of him and president hinkley and their wives. Here in chile they have a couple pages in the ensign that are just for chile. In one of the pages it talks about how president hinkley, when he was in the quorum of the 12 and A Theador Tuttle, (my great uncle?) came here to santiago and created the first stake here in chile. I thought it was pretty cool, cause now i am here trying to create more wards in chile. 

Now for a little crazy story that happened this week. We were walking down the street and this drunk guy called us over to talk to him. So we went over and shook his hand. We thought he was just a drunk guy that wanted to talk about the Gospel. But when we shook his hand i saw that he had dried blood on his left arm. So i wispered to my comp to be carefull. But the weird thing was that i couldnt see any wound on his body. Then he stands up and puts his had in a fist and pretends to stab my comp in the back... i thought this was really weird, then he turns around and shows us a stab wound that he has in his back. His whole back was covered in blood... so i told me comp to step back and not touch him cause who knows what kinds of diseases he could have. Then he tells us that the night before he had gotten stabbed in the back by one of his friends. I guess the knife was bad cause a part of it broke off and was stuck in his back... but it hadnt gone to the hospital yet. So we told him that he had to go there or he would die. He said that he didnt need the hospital. He said that we were angles and that we could heal him. He turned his back and asked me to take out the metal that was stuck in his back. I told him that i couldnt, and i saw that he had little bugs coming out of the wound... oh man i just about threw up. Just like in the last time we had trouble with a guy who had a heart attack, i dont know if you guys remember, all the people were just walking by and laughing at this guy. I couldnt believe it. People are so cold, and we know that it is a sign of the second coming. Anyways i guess one of the neighboors already called the ambulence so we just left. He got kinda mad that the “angels” as he called us wouldnt heal him but its all good. I hope that he got help. 

But ya that was my week. It has been a good one. It has been hotter than normal but i think i am getting used to it. The members say that in like 2 weeks the temperature should drop and it should start getting a little cooler so i am looking forward to that. But ya i hope you guys know that i love ya. Have a awesome week and keep doing good. Mom and dad thanx for your letters, it really lifted my hopes. It sounds like everyone at home is doing really good. Tell g-ma hall that i love her and i am really happy that she is better. I love you all tons. La iglesia es tan verdadera. Jesucristo murió por mi y por ustedes. Tengan una buena semana. Que dios les bendigas. Chao!!!

Les quiero 

Elder hall

I got kissed 3 times

Hey family it has been a good week. Not much has happened but work work work. Sorry it is really hott and I am not in the mood to write very much so I will see what I can do. This week was kinda hard with the new years and everything. You guys already know that here everyone loves to hug and kiss. And for new years day it is even worse. So the whole day I was trying to dodge all the drunk people, cause everyone was plastered… but even trying my best I got kissed 3 times, and one time it wasn’t a woman that kissed me…lets just say that the drunk guys here are really friendly…

Haha I finally completed a goal that I have had for the last year. I was able to finish all the Standard Works in one year. I finished malacia on new years eve. It was really cool and I realized how much I have learned and how much my testimony has grown. I have grown so much on my mission, I know that you cant grow this much in any other place in the world. The mission in a once in a lifetime opportunity. I love it so much, even thought there are days that are really hard. 

Ya well this week we lost a awesome investigator that we had. Her name is Gloria and we have been teaching her for about 3 weeks. She is so awesome, she is 18 years old and really wants to follow the lord. She has been assisting the church for about a month and a half. So we have been working with her a lot and she was reading and praying. Finally this last week so got her answer and said that she wants to be baptized. We were so excited for her but she seemed sad. We asked her why and she told us that she is moving to the coast for 4 months… oh man it stunk so bad. She said that she doesn’t want to be baptized there cause she has a lot of friends here. But she said that she is going to keep on going to church there and have the missionaries come over to teach her. Then when she gets back after 4 months she is going to get baptized. 

Other than that everything here is normal. I am burning but I will live…I hope. You guys will have to tell gma hall hi from me and that I hope she will be ok. I love you guys tons and hope that you have a good week. 

Love

Elder hall

hey mom, these are my eccos. they have these cracks in the bottom. another elder told me that he sent photos to his mom and she showed the photos to the guys at mr mac and they gave her a free pair. so when you have time if you could see if you could do that, it would be great but if not dont worry about it. i just hope that my shoes will keep on lasting. thanx mom love ya!!!