Week 73 Choluteca

All up to date on posts again.  We are into September now and looking at the tail end of his mission.  What a wonderful experience for him and for us.  It doesn't get easier to have him gone and I know that it doesn't get easier for him either.  We are amazed at how much growth he has had and look forward to his return......but it is still 4 months out.  He is watching out for his little sister again and I can actually get him to talk about BYU football.  He is talking about going into the medical field when he returns.  I would love it if he actually did but I thought that is where I would end up.......but my path ended up different.

Hey Family,

How is my favorite family doing??? Its sunny in Washington really? I thought it was just rain and clouds all of the time. I figured that mom and dad would get youth callings haha. Especially dad as a priest quorum advisor!! Also dad you didnt answer my question about Carrollen, Texas if you served near that city or not?? I have always wondered how the states missions would be because we baptized so much in our mission or in central america for the most part. Its like the prophecy of the Lamanites coming back to the truth of the gospel. Chelsey you have to wait till I get home to get married. You should get married the weekend I get back so we all can go to the temple together!!! That would super awesome to see, except for Josey, sorry!! Also I am sure that I will take my trip to Washington and be there for a while. I would think you guys are really close to the sea because the name sounds like your really close. I also love the sounds of the mountains at night but isnt it really cold in Washington?? I am shocked that Utah lost to Utah State wow!! It will be interesting to see what happens for the rivalry game. I remember when we watched when we were in Utah, with John Beck and Jonny Hairline as the stars. We won in the last couple seconds of the game. Epic win!!! As for college I figure I need to start applying because they said deadlines or applying starts December 1st. I cant remember. Also the transcripts and stuff should be taken out. My only worry though for transferring my transcripts is it says at the UofU excepts transfer students who have 30 or more credits in order to be a transfer student. But I talked to a missionary about it and he said you can call the school and see if  there is an exception for the transfer?? I am not sure though. I really do want to go to Utah though. I figure that would be the best school for my interests. I feel good about studying medical stuff though and yes its going to take 10 to 12 years of hard work studying. I know I can do it though. 

Well as for this past week we worked pretty hard. We had the baptism of Chayo and it was very good and she is really happy!! I know she will be a super strong member forever. Then we found 4 new families to work with and see if they want to be married or baptized!! We have one family that wants to be baptized but they are more or less for the wedding. Their names are Belgica and Ruben. They have two little cute twin girls. So we are trying to help them love each other enough to trust each other and get married. We want them to be baptized and married by the end of the month. Then another family is Fredy and Gloria who we contacted when it was pouring rain everywhere. We were soaked but we taught a super good lesson with them. Fredy had some super good questions and said he would like to be baptized and married. We just need them to go to church and teach them more. Then another family is Pablo and Emma. They are an older couple and love to just talk and talk forever, but they always welcome us to teach them and their house is super tiny. When it rains the house fills with water but they are trying to fix it. We were teaching yesterday about marriage and Pablo wants to be married and baptized, but Emma is afraid to do it. We explained to her not to worry and towards the end she was more relaxed about the idea. Yes I know we have some possiblities to baptized these families and I hope all of them are willing to take that big step to make covenants and become a family. Its just a huge blessing to teach the gospel to each of them and tell them that this is true. Makes me excited to get married now!! but I dont think I am looking to get married fast. Anyways thats all I have for now and I appreciate the love and support. Tell chelsey I am sending her a letter for her birthday. Also I put a photo and bracelet in there. Thanks again!! Did you send that package??

Tu Hijo,

Elder Hall

Week 72 Choluteca

Still Choluteca.  Amazing that the work rolls forward at such a pace.  i couldn't imagine 80 baptism.  What a great thing that this is possible in one zone in one month.  We made a trip to Vancouver BC over the long weekend for Labor Day.  Fun for us and i am sure hard for him but he certainly doesn't show it.

Hey Family,

I am waiting for that day to go with you guys to Canada. I have a friend from Canada he is serving here in the same mission. He is super cool and funny but he is from Quebec. No worries I hit 19 months on Sunday and so I have like five months left. I feel like my mission is flying really fast right now. I am happy that dad found a way to put the boat in the garage. I am sure we will be going on lots of boating trips when I get back. Also mom you already have a calling now to work in the ward and what about dad? I am glad to hear that the whole family is fine and safe. In my package I would like sour patch kids, kit kats, reeses, skittles, a soft lense clothe, and contact solution. Then any kind of Halloween treat that you can think of. Also definitely the pictures of the new house. I loved making those road trips to Utah or Las Vegas. They were the funnest. Or when we went up to Utah when all the roads were covered in snow. That was fun. Also are there any cute girls in the new ward??

This week we had one baptism with Glariseli and it went really well. There was her family and a bunch of people supporting her. She is such a funny girl. It was hard teaching her but she understood everything. But it was a special moment for her and her family to finally all be members of the church. The parents were very happy. Then we will possibly have Chayo this saturday. She is sooo ready to be baptized and become a member. I love that she is soo sensitive to the spirit and tells us that she feels good when we come over and talk with her. That makes me feel like we are doing our job as missionaries. The zone is doing well we had 7 confirmations and a family baptized. It makes me feel good that the zone is working hard and finding new investigators. We are working to baptize lots of people on the 22nd because we are having a huge baptism of three zones. Our goal as three zones is to have 80 baptisms all at once. So that will be huge and imagine having that picture with everyone in white. But we are finding and working hard. I dont even keep track of time anymore because everyday just flies by super fast. I am seriously going to miss my mission a ton and saying good bye to all of my mission buddies. I am sure I will hook up with them after the mission. Anyways not much else to say except I was looking at classes for college and what I really want to do and study. I feel really good about going to medical school and I know it will take a long time but I feel like I can do it. Anyways mom can you look up on the UofU site to see what I need to start doing for applying. Well thats all I can think of for now but thanks for everything. Also dad did you serve in a city in Texas called Carrollton??? Let me know if you know that city??

Elder Hall

Week 71 Choluteca

It is evident that as his friends come home to AZ that he misses them.  Amy received a surprise letter from someone who had served with Chase.  It was good to hear he is a good missionary in everyones eyes there.  Another tender mercy.

Dear Family,

I miss those two goonies sooo much! I would love to talk to them again but that day will come. I am glad that they are both doing well and moving on with their lives. I am hoping they get married pretty soon!! Also makes me happy that the Washington move is doing well and I am super happy that Zenger sent you a letter!! Was he trying to send a letter to me or to you guys???? So is Zenger working at a bank or something? I loved Zenger because we shared a ward together and he was always fun to be with. He is a very good kid and I would recommend Chelsey to him. He is such a chill guy and he knows the Christensen family!! I am happy that I have a room in Washington now haha. Well I want to report back to Arizona because thats where I left from and I want to return. Mostly for my friends to be there at my homecoming and do my Arizona visits before I go up to Utah and Washington. But we will see what happens.

Well my week was good and busy like always haha. I didnt have changes so this will be my 3rd change with Elder Flores and I will have 6 months in the area. But  I am excited to stay here and work in choluteca. I have grown to love Choluteca a lot. Plus I will have more than have of my mission in Choluteca. I like to serve in this area anyways. No matter what, my next area will be my last area to end my mission. Well President opened another area in our zone and we were busy with looking for a house for them and then we moved them into their new house. After that we found some new investigators we could baptize this month and a family possibly too. This family is an old couple and we are going to work with them this month. This weekend we will have two baptisms of a little girl from a member family named Glarisela. She has trouble with learning but her whole family are active members. But now she understands the teachings of the church. She is a little cute girl. Then Chayo will be baptizedthis Saturday also. She is the same woman who is pilas and believes that the church is true. So those will be really good baptisms. Then we received some references from a member with a young man named Angel. He seems like a possible baptism and then we found another family that we could baptize also. So we are looking pretty good on the finding haha. Its interesting when we are working hard and given opportunities to teach people this amazing gospel. We just have to be prepared for those opportunities otherwise God will not put them in our path. Well thats all that I have for now. Thanks for the letter and your good influences. Well until next week. 

Elder Hall

Week 70 Choluteca

We met a brother in the ward in Washington that served in El Bosque 15 years ago.  That was a blessing as he shared much more about the mission with us.  He still remains in Choluteca and is wondering if a change is coming but we already know if will be another month there for him.

Dear Family,

I am happy that all of you guys made it safey to Washington. It sounds like you are going to have a good ward and awesome neighbors. Also seriously Brother Bird served in my mission!!! I have actually heard his name when I was in El Bosque. Some of the member mentioned his name. Also he served their 20 years ago!!?? Thats a long time. How old is he? What a small world seriously!!! I am glad that Chelsey is figuring things out now with her group of friends. Is the guys name Jake Greene? That name sounds familiar for some reason maybe through volleyball or something. thanks for the Jeep and why didnt you guys take it?? What is dad going to drive now since you left two cars down in Arizona?? Are you just going to drive the Ford and Jetta? Well thanks again and I love that jeep. Yeah Steven is DONE!!!! That freaks me out now and I cant wait to see them again. I am almost positive that he looks different too. Tell him he needs to email or something!!! Hey what does the new house look like??? I would love to see pictures. Thanks for the package and it was sooo awesome to see those photos. Also the photos of Taylor haha. I love all of the treats and the letters from the Family and the Docksdaters. My favorite letter is from Bishop Docksdater because he was blaming me for saying that he would be the next Bishop lol that gave me a good laugh.

 

Well this past week we were busy with divisiones and weddings for the zone. We had a solid 10 baptisms with 2 families this past week. I am soo happy for the zone and their success. As for Elder Flores and I baptized Maria and Karen. They are awesome converts because we didnt teach them for that long but we did challenge them and they accepted to be baptized. Maria was so ready because she knows that the Book of Mormon is true and wants to go to church. Karen is the daughter of Maria and she has trouble with learning but she had a desire to be baptized with her mom so she was baptized too. We still need to teach them more about the gospel even though they were baptized. They were just more prepared to make covenants with Heavenly Father. Changes are tomorrow and we will see if I leave or not. I am not really sure to be honest what will happen but I dont care where I am at because I know am serving the Lord where ever He needs me. I have two changes with Elder Flores but we will see what happens. I figure that my next area will be my last area of my whole mission. Which is weird to think of!! But I am staying focused and its hard at times but I keep at it. Well thats about it and I wrote today because I went to tegus with some missionaries to get our residencies in the process. So we were doing that all day!! But thanks for the letters and the love. Also the package. I love you guys!!

 

Tu Hijo,

Elder Hall

Week 69 Still in Choluteca

HIs letters are not getting any longer.....he still enjoys Choluteca and we have learned that it is really the hottest area in the mission.  Much more so than Tegu or El Bosque.  The hardest part of this writing is that we relocated the family to Washington.  Work necessitated the move as AZ meant no job but it has to be hard on Chase.  He has been very positive about the move but wants to return to AZ.

Hey Family,

I cannot believe that Jeff is finally home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I miss that guy so much and tell him I love him so much. I wish I could see him right now but in 6 months I will be there. Also steven gets home and awwwww!! I am so shocked on how time just flies like a dream. thats cute that my sisters are wearing my clothes haha. I am glad you kept them all and I hope you arrived in Washington safely and are getting used to the new scenery. I am sad that you moved because Arizona is sooo awesome and I would never trade anything in the world for that experience I had. Yes I am sad also that we are seperating again and it was nice to have everyone in the same state but we all know what we have to do. All we can do is move and keep going. The Lord will be there always!! I feel so much happiness and joy for my really good friends right now because they did it!!! They finished their time and served the whole two years!! Now I am getting a little anxious to get home to see them once again. I am sure we will have a fun time getting back together again and tell about our stories and experiences. I am actually excited to see Jeff since Chelsey says he looks older and even more pumped to see Steven also!! I know my time will come I just have to be patient and finish strong. In the end it will all be worth it. Well it will come one day and I will miss the mission sooo much!! But I am going forward with the work. This week was a little bit better in a busy kind of way haha. First we had a missionary lose his mini missionary. A mini missionary is just a normal young kid that has 18 years of age that helps us out when we dont have enough missionaries to have companions. He stayed with us a couple of days then received a normal missionary. I was on divisiones 3 days in a row trying to get to know investigators and animate them to be baptized. Because our zone is a little disanimated to work because their investigators are having problems. So I tried to animate everyone and help them out. Then Friday we had ward activity and it was really good. A lot of people showed up and some investigators did too. We did a talent night show and everyone enjoyed. Then Saturday we worked in our area and put some fechas for this saturday. We are going to try and animate them to be baptized. They are that same lady Chayo, she is sooo pilas. Then some new ones. Maria and her daughter Karen. They have actually gone to church and read the book of Mormon. They just need to make the decision to be baptized for sure. That Saturday we challenged them and they accepted. So we will see what happens this week. Well we are still working at and gees I cant believe that Jeff is home!!! Next steven and now they are waiting for me now. Well love you guys soo much and send me some pictures of the new house!!! I would love to see them. Talk to you guys later!! 

Love,

Elder Hall

Week 68 Choluteca

We are getting closer to our move....after a short trip.  Enjoy.

Dear Family,

WOW I am super jealous and I would absolutely love!! To go on a cruise to anywhere! I am miss my aunts and uncles they were always really funny to talk too. I would love to see all of my relatives after the mission just because they are all awesome. When is the next family reunion?? Well I am down with Hawaii or a cruise. I would love to be with you guys anyways. Also what my stuff in my room and clothes are you giving those away?? Yeah thats hard to say bye to everyone and move from an awesome experience in my life. Really it impacted me sooo much. I never ever forget those memories. How are my old buddies from the ward?? Jeff and Steven are pretty much done now!! Well I am really happy that you are all fine. Also that part you quoted about my blessing from being set apart. Very good part of my blessing.Thanks for the nice comments and to be honest Mom and Dad always make me cry with the things you say to me. It just shows how much we love each other huh?!? I love you guys. 

Well this week was a little busy with our meeting with President Hernandez and getting weddings ready and going to far away pueblos for partidas. First the meeting with President was awesome and I love President and Hermana Hernandez. I wish I was in there presence more but we have to do our work everyday. They are so nice and really know how to help us out in our zone. It was a very good counsel with us and I loved it because he talked about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and how we can use it in our lives and in the mission. I really do like the scripture that I found in 2 Nephi 25:23. Its a very powerful scripture and I love how I can apply it to myself and others. Really its an amazing subject the Atonement. Everything is about the Atonement in our life and how we can use it. Well I love President and his wife. Weddings and partidas we had to go to a far away place to get a couple of marriage papers for some missionary of a different mission. We did that on Friday, we traveled 8 hours that day which sucked but what can you do. Then as for our work we didnt do much at all and I feel like crap for my dats and we really need to improve our work in the area. We did have a cool experience with a lady named Chayo and she is super pilas. We explained the Book of Mormon to her and she told us when we took it our she knew that the Book of Mormon is true without even reading it and she had a big desire to read it. She is sooo  awesome to teach. She is just a single lady that doesnt have much is really interested in learning about the Gospel. I love meeting people like that. Anyways really cool and different week. Also thanks for everything and love you all soo soo much. I hope to hear from you all soon!! 

God Speed,

Elder Hall