we were surrounded by very very dark clouds…

Hey fam how is everything going with you guys???? Man it sounds like you are all doing well. I loved the pics of the wedding that you guys sent me. I am so suprized on how different you all look and how old you are getting. Everything at home is changing and I am here just the same as ever haha. 

So I got transferred and now I am back in the country side. I am in a little town called padre hurtado. It is in the zone peña flor. It is just a tiny tiny town like a third of alpine or less. And like always there is over 700 members of the church here but almost all of them are inactive. This sector is going to be a sector to build up the ward.

Yesterday we woke up and it was raining like heck. So we got ready and left for church. We got to the first big road and we couldn’t cross cause of the water. It was a river. So I tied my comp to my back and jumped in the started swimming for my life. After fighting off a shark we arrived at church… (well maybe it wasn’t that bad but it was close.) So we go into the sacrament meeting and there are 12 people there… The bishop and his one councilor, 1 priest, 1 deacon, the stake president, the chorister, a family of 4 and me and my comp… Man was I shoked, expecially cause the bishop said that we could start now that the missionaries had arrived. So we started and had a normal sacrament meeting and by the end of the meeting 9 more people had arrived. So in total we had 21 people in the church… That is the worst I have ever seen in my life. But it is all good we are going to work our butts off and explode this place. 

After we left the chapel it was still raining but we left to work like always. We walked around in rain boots which by the way killed my feet. They are not for walking… But ya we walked like 2 ½ miles to a little group of houses and started knocking doors. After no one let us in we decided to take advantage of where we were and go get to know the ward mission leader. At this point the rain had stopped. So we started walking through this big field and all the sudden we were surrounded by very very dark clouds… I knew we were in trouble cause we were in the middle of no where so we started running in huge rain boots (which by the way is not easy). Then boom, the storm hit. Haha wow was it crazy. We were running through this forest type of thing in a huge down pore crossing rivers, ducking under trees and fighting off all kinds of animals…More or less that is what happened. Finally after 10 minutes in heck we got to the ward missionary leaders house. Needless to say, we stayed there until the storm passed haha. 

Now about my comp. His name is elder villares. He is from costa rica. For those of you who are gringos that is in central America. For those of you who still don’t know where I am talking about it is a little below mexico. If you still don’t know, go look it up on internet. Anyway this kid is really funny but he is a big nerd. We get along well but he does a lot of weird things haha. It is all good I have come to learn that everyone is different and expecially when you are from different cultures. So I am really happy to be with him. 

So what is my week. I hope that you guys have a awesome week. Keep on doing what you are doing. I am so happy for all of you. Your awesome. Don’t forget me in your prayers, I will need them. 

Love ya tons

Elder hall

am i a young man or a missionary???

Hey family how is everything goin??? Here all is well. I am still kinda sick but that is ok i will live. I am loving life right now, the mission is awesome like always. This week was a good one. We found this new family and they are awesome. The daughter came to church yesterday and is reading the book of mormon every day and is really excited to learn more. They are awesome and they have a couple friends in the church so it is awesome.  this is me and my beautiful side haha. also there is a pic of the family home evening with my 3 converts. 

So last night the asistentes called me and told me that i have changes. So i am leaving the coast after being here for a little more than 4 months. I have been is this sector longer than any other sector and i am going to miss it alot. I love this sector it is so awesome and the members here are incredible. I had a lot of success here and i will miss all of my converts here. But is is all good i am going to go to a new sector, new problems, new comp, new members and i am excited for a change. Next week i will write ya and let ya know where i am and who is my comp. Make sure to pray for me so that i dont get some pissy comp who doesnt want to work or i will have to beat him down haha. 

So i was so proud this week. 2 days ago we went to the house of joselyn and rafael and it was awesome. We had a family home evening and they were in charge of it. They talked about eternal marriage and eternal families and it was awesome. They only have a week as members but they are incredible. Maricela was also their and all 3 of them bore their testimonies and i could feel the holy ghost so strong it was one of the coolest moments in my mission. To be able to see 3 of my converts and see how strong they are and how in one year they are going to be sealed in the temple, sweet!!!! pic of my district.

This week we were able to listen to elder oaks and it was so awesome. He gave a awesome talk on a bunch of different things. One thing really stuck out to me that he said. He said that there are young men here in the mission that are teens and nothing more. That there are teens that have white shirts and ties and a plack with the saviors name on it but they are not missionaries. And it is true, there are people here who are just young men. It really made me think, am i a young man or a missionary??? Ill let you guys be the judges haha but i am sure that i am a missionary. 

Mom so that you know i got the package that you sent. Thanx it was awesome and it really helped. Congrats on your new job that is awesome i hope everything goes well. Dad i am so proud of you and i am glad that everything is going well with your new job. Lyndsie congrats on getting married. I thought about you guys all Friday and i wanted to be there but i am glad that everything went well. 

Cool well i love you all tons. Keep on keeping and doing all that you are doing. I miss you all and i love ya. In a little while we will be partying but in the meanwhile lets keep working our butts off. Have a awesome week, and talk to ya next week. 

Love

Elder hall

my zone leaders and us and what we do at night when we are bored haha

an apostle of the Lord, Elder Dallin H. Oaks

Hey family this has been a really good week. The mission is going really well. There are times when it hits me and I realize that I don’t have very much time left and that makes me want to work even more. This week we were able to see a miracle. Joselyn and Rafael got baptized and it was really good. As always it was really stressful but as always everything worked out at the end. It is so hard to put together a baptism. But its all good it was really awesome. I was able to baptize Rafael and my comp baptized Joselyn. They were pretty nervous but it was awesome. I love the mission!!!! 

Every hard day that I have on the mission is always worth it when I can see people come unto Christ. They bore us their testimonies and it was incredible the power I felt from them. They have the goal to go to the temple in a year and so when that happens I am thinking about coming back to be able to watch them be sealed in the temple for time and all eternity!!!! Oh its awesome.  pics of the baptizm. that is joselyn and rafael and maricela my convert that gave us the reference!!! sweet!!!!!!!

So tomorrow we are going to be able to listen to a apostle of the Lord. Elder dallin H. Oaks is going to come to the mission and he is going to talk to us. I am so excided to hear from him. Also he said that he is going to shake every missionaries hand. I am excited to be able to be in the presence of a servant of the Lord. It is going to be a awesome experience for me. 

This morning we woke up early and climbed up the biggest hill here on the coast. We watched the sun rise… Kinda cause it was cloudy but its all good it was still fun. We made sandwiches and ate them up there. Maricela also came with us and she made pancakes with this sauce that they make here. It was really fun.

So yesterday I interviewed a man so that he could be baptized. It is so cool to see new people who want to follow the savior and know that they need to be baptized to be able to do it. They are so ready and have a testimony so strong. It is incredible cause even thought they don’t know very much they love the Lord and want to do what he wants of them. I love the gospel and the peace and joy that it brings to our lives and the lives of those around us. He passed his interview and so did his wife and they will be baptized this Saturday. They also are going to be married this Thursday and me and my comp are going to be witnesses for them. Sweet!!!

So this may be my last week here on the coast. This coming Sunday we will find out who has changes. It will either be me or my comp, one of us has to go so we will have to wait and see what happens. 

Haha mom of course I was thinking about ya and yes you have a letter in the mail. Sorry it was ready 2 weeks ago but last week was crazy so I wasn’t able to send it until the end of the week but it should get to you this week. I love ya and happy bday!!!

I love you all tons. Have a awesome week

Love 

Elder hall

I am so sick of being sick

Hey family. Man it sounds like you guys have had an incredible week. I cant believe all the stuff that is going on. Congrats to all for graduating, especially tori for graduating from high school!!! Mom congrats on the job that you got. You gotta tell me what you are going to be doing. Dad it sounds like you are doing well and that soon you are going to have a amazing job. Sounds awesome!!! Lyndz, you look so beautiful in the bridal pics that you sent to me. I am way excited for you to get married. I love ya tons sis. Shae, that is awesome that soon your house is going to be built and you guys will have your own home. Jansen, hope you make the basketball team, that would be awesome. Just work your butt off and you will make it. Landon and jenna good job on finishing school strong and winning the America award thing. I love you all tons. Keep working and having fun. You guys are seeing tons of miracles and I am so proud of you all. 

Here at the bottom of the world all is well as well. Man we had a good week. The most important thing that happened this week was Joselyn and Rafael passed their baptismal interviews and will be baptized this Saturday. I will make sure to send ya pics. They are so awesome and so ready. We taught them this week and I felt the spirit so strong when they bore their testimonies. I haven’t felt the spirit that strong in a while, and it was really cool. 

Nothing much else happened this week. I have had a bad cold for like a week and a half and it stinks so bad. Tomorrow I am going into the doctor to see what I am do. But I am so sick of being sick. I get home at night and just pass out on my bed and wake up in the morning and work my butt off. Being sick on the mission makes it so much more difficult. 

It is crazy to hear about the pig flue or whatever it is. Everyone here always talks about it. What is the news with it?? I cant believe it got into the mtc, that is crazy. I hope nothing happens to any missionaries. Did they take the missionaries out of mexico??? You guys gotta give me some updates on the world, I don’t know anything that is going on. 

Ya well that is about it. I love you all tons. Hope you have a awesome week. Good luck with everything that is going on. I always pray for all of you guys every day. Keep praying for me and for my investigators. 

Love 

Elder hall

Joselyn and Rafael get married!!!

Hola family from chile!!! How is everything goin? All here is good. Man have we had a awesome week. We are just working our butts off. I love the mission so much it is amazing. I have learned the secret is just to work and work and work and even if nothing much happens, the miracles will come. The lord knows our intensions and he wants us to be happy. When we do what he asks us to do he will bless us. 

So this week we were able to watch Joselyn and Rafael get married!!! Man it was so awesome. They are such a awesome couple and just want to be better and follow Christ. They are way excited and had a awesome wedding.  This is joselyn and rafael and their child, amaro. this is when they got married. they are so awesome!!!

But the night before they got married they had relatives over and someone stole their credit cards and their carnet (a identification card). So in the morning they were running all over the place trying to find it. Finally they realized that it was stolen so they went to the civil center and they had to do a bunch of stuff but finally they were able to get married. It was a really awesome experience. 

This week I have been pretty sick with a cough and a sore throat but it is all good. I was able to rest a little yesterday and today I am going to rest as well. I hate being sick on the mission it stinks but there is not much time to chill so I hope I will be able to get better soon. 

So I received a letter from this girl that I worked with in KFC and I got some sweet news. I don’t know if you guys remember my boss at KFC, his name is Scotty. Well the girl told me that he got baptized a little while back!!!! Oh man I knew that he was going to be baptized. He was such a awesome guy and had a good heart. I am sure that he is a awesome member and that he is doing really well. 

Other than that not much is going on here. Congrats on everything at home. All the graduations and awards and stuff like that. Keep on working and have a awesome summer for me. Take a break, relax and just chill because I will be working my butt off haha. As for the bug bites, they had basically gone away. Also my toe finally healed after like 4 months but its all good. Keep praying for me and for my investigators. I love you all so much. Have a awesome week. 

Love

Elder hall