I'm so pumped to write this letter--seriously there's so much juicy stuff to talk about, and some awesome and exciting news for you all. hahaha Seriously, I've never been this excited to write a dumb letter! haha
Well, let's start on Monday. Well, we go about our day (still not talking), and I just said I've got to hold out till tomorrow, then I can let it blow out and tell my zone leaders about my companion. So I did, and I told Elder Raya, and he was a little shocked and wasn't too happy about it. So he told the Assistant to the President that happened to be at the district meeting, and he wasn't too happy either, and told me to talk to President tomorrow in the interview with him. Oh Bessie--so I did. And I honestly told him everything.
He started out saying, 'Elder Hall, I read your email from this week, and I want you to express what ever you're feeling right now, good or bad'. So I did. I unloaded about my companion. And I just poured out everything and told him exactly what has been happening. I told him when we're at district meeting and on intercambios he just acts like a kid, and its like trying to be a missionary with a four year old. We never say companionship prayer, we never plan, we never set goals. I told him, 'You know, I set my own goals, and plan my own day, and I just follow him. I say my own prayers and sometimes, if he doesn't wanna pray, I'll just pray and he'll wait for me. What is he gonna do--leave without me?' And I told him its very hard to feel a purpose here, and its very hard to feel like I need to be here. And he chuckled a little (not in a rude way--like this is pathetic), and said, 'I'm seriously so sorry Elder Hall. We have a ton of missionaries here in the mission that act like children, but I know that you aren't one of those missionaries. I know you're a good missionary'. I said, 'Presidente, can I tell you one other thing that's been on my mind?' And I told him about the pride thing. And I told him, and he was like not happy at all, and he said, 'Well Elder Hall, I'm going to be making an emergency transfer tonight or tomorrow morning. I'll be calling you tonight or tomorrow to tell you where you will be going and who your companion is'. And right after he said that he said, 'Elder Hall may I say a prayer?' I said sure. And he prayed, and that was our interview! haha, Pretty stinking exciting--and I was excited.
So after the interview, we were walking home from getting off the camion (idk how to spell it), and I asked him how his interview went and he was like 'good', and he said usted? And I told him I told Presidente everything that has been happening, and told him we're going to be emergency transferred that day or tomorrow and he said, 'You know what Elder Hall? And I said, 'What?' And he said, 'Special transfers are for losers'. And I said, 'Excuse me?' And he repeated it. And I said, 'Alright. I guess Presidente Ruiz is a loser, cause I just told him what happened and he made the decision.' And Elder Olguin was silent. Dead silent.
So we went to lunch and he acted like a totally different person, and was like patting my back. And I was like 'Please don't touch me--I don't like being touched'. And the family asked me about what the missionaries had in Tualatin--like iPads and stuff. And I said, 'Yeah, they have cars and iPads'. And right as we left their house Elder Olguin literally just unloaded on me, and this is basically what he said--'Elder Hall, you're so prideful. You have so much pride You have no charity. And you have no love for anyone on this mission--all you care about is yourself and, you only think about yourself'.
Ooooooo--I was not happy. So I quoted a scripture (D&C 4--'booooommm dadddyyy')! I said, 'You know, we're going to be at the Judgment bar at the last day face to face with God, and He's gonna ask about Kukulcan and my mission, and I'm gonna be able to say I served Elder Olguin and the people of Kanasin with all my heart, might, mind, and strength. And I'll be able to stand blameless before God'. And I asked Elder Olguion what he was gonna say when God asks him. He said 'idk'. And I said, 'Well, this is what I think. I think your gonna say, 'Oh shoot! I was so rude and horrible and made Elder Hall feel so terrible about himself. I called him a loser'.
And then he pulled my shoulder and like turned me around with his hand. I took his hand and like hit it away and he got mad. 'Like Homeboy please don't touch me'
So we continue walking, and sure enough we get a call. And the AP says, 'Elder Hall is going to be going to Oxkutzcab tomorrow morning, so you guys need to go home and pack up'. So we did and it took quite a while. They told me my new companion would be Elder Garcia.
So that night was a quiet one. I went into the room where we sleep, and he was sleeping. My bags were packed and I asked him if we were gonna go out tonight and contact or see people and he said, 'idk'. So I just got ready and got my clothes on and said, 'We're gonna go visit the Tecs at 8 so please get ready'.
Well he got up and we started to head over to the Tecs. While we were walking I concluded that I had to say 'sorry' or else we were going to have a miserable last couple hours together, and I didn't wanna end it on that note. So I just took the blame for everything and just told him 'Sorry if I had ever done anything to offend him'. He looked at me and said, 'You know Elder Hall, I just wanna say I'm really sorry. Being a trainer isn't easy. And sometimes I just don't know what to do. But if you ever need a friend to talk to I'm here for you'. So I thought that was kinda nice of him.
We arrived at the Tec's and say 'buenassssssa', and we go in. They all sit down and my companion said, 'Well, we have some sad news.' And they said, 'What?' He said, 'Elder Hall will be transferred tomorrow to Oxkutzcab'.
And they were not happy. Hermano Tec didn't say anything, but Hermana Tec was like 'por que pro que por que'??
So I said, 'I just wanna leave you guys with my testimony'. So I shared my testimony, and it was emotional (as you can imagine, cause I cry over anything). When I said 'Amen', my companion started singing a song (I can't remember what song it was but, we sang a song). (And just a little side note--Bo Jackson gave me a tie before the mission, for someone that I baptize, and to write 'Remember your baptism'). So I wrote that and my name and Tualatin, Oregon and wrote Te Amo. And I know I didn't get to baptize Hermano Tec, but he was honestly my favorite person, and every time I had a conversation with him one on one, I could always feel the Spirit. So I was wearing the tie, and the song ended, and I looked at him and made eye contact with him and I said, 'Hermano' (and I took the tie off and I gave it to him and told it was for him). He choked up a little and everyone was crying and I gave him a hug.
Before the mission I said, 'You know, I'm gonna love the people'. But honestly I don't think I knew what love really meant. I never knew that I could love these people this much. Seriously--every single one of them. And Hermano Yec, I've loved literally since my first day in the Campo.
Well, lets talk a little about our new area. Its called Oxkutzcab. I couldn't pronounce it for the first three days, but I think I got it down now. You pronounce it 'oush-coosh-cab'. Its about an hour and a half from Merida. Its a decent size city. Not huge, but a decent size.
We cover three other little villages that about 15, 20 and 30 minutes away and cost money to get to. We have quite a bit of jungle here. Its a pueblo. Ummm-its the biggest area in the mission and covers the most ground. In the little villages, its all jungle and there's vipers and jaguars supposedly, and crocodiles. Actually, one of the less active members in our ward has a spider monkey and a crocodile. We visit them this week, so I'm pretty excited haha. Its 40 percent Maya 60 percent Spanish here, so I know a little bit of Maya. But I'm not trying to learn it. I need more Spanish! The houses are about half and half here. Half of them have dirt floors with the bamboo walls and the leaves on the roof, and the rest are just cement walls that are painted. We honestly probably have one of the nicer houses here. Its nicer than the house before. We have a hot tub for bathing, a good size chandelier, and 5 fridges. So we have enough room for lots of stuff.
My companion is Elder Garcia. He speaks little to no English, and so that's been a big blessing to have him. We work so well together. We plan, set goals--do all the things we're supposed to do, and I can see it. I hate numbers on the mission (seriously, everyone talks numbers and I can't stand it). The people aren't numbers--the're actual people, but I'm gonna use a number. We have 17 investigators with another 25 that are futuro, and not investigators yet. Holy smokes! I don't know most of them, but I'm gonna get to know them all.
Well, let's talk about some pretty scary and interesting things that have happened here in Oxk. haha So we were at a lesson with Zulma (who is a investigator), and she has a little two year old. The two year old was screaming like she wanted something to eat (milk from her mom), and so Zulma picks her up, and the girl like starts slapping her ...., and she's like 'Okkkaayyy', and Zuloma just whips it out. And I'm just like uhhhhh!!! What do we do??? And my comp is like trying to not look up, and is just staring into his scriptures, and I'm like well, I know the Church is true, and I start sharing my testimony. I honestly have never looked somebody in the eye that hard--in my whole entire life!!! So uncomfortable!! haha She did it like four times in that lesson.
Well we set a bunch of baptismal dates in the past two days.
Yesterday we had church, and literally there's 35 people in our branch. I gave a talk and talked for like ten minutes and I think it went pretty well. My Spanish is coming along pretty well, and this week I've been working on rolling my 'R's', and I still can't. But I'm sure it will come with time.
We literally fill our days with stuff to do. A lot of the people that we will contact will invite us in to teach them--which is super cool. The people here are awesome, and a lot more humble than in Kanasin. In our area and all the areas around us have these caves that have water in them. They're just holes in the ground. Some you can walk into and some people just jump into. I'm not sure how they get out. But in Takash (which is right next to us) people have them in the backyards and in the middle of the city. Just look it up on the internet--the're sweet. Some missionaries in the mission went to one and swam and got in some big trouble (but the're still here).
We also have a bunch of ruins supposedly, but we aren't allowed to go to them. We got little to no paved roads. We have some here in Centro, but once you get into the side roads the're all dirt. We went to one appt the other day and we legit had to walk straight up the side of this little mountain. Dogs were following us and I was honestly a little scared. We taught this old lady who we got a date for on Dec. 22 which is super exciting.
Well that's all I got for this week. Its been an eventful week here, and it will be an awesome week ahead of us.
Oh hey Mom--the area next to us has boa constrictors. A member had one around his leg and he took his machete and killed it. It was like 12 feet long, so that's cool. A missionary got a pic of it and it looks meannnnnn.. I'm going on exchanges next week there I think.
Well that's all I got. I'll send some pics.
Peace Out
Elder Hall
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