WOW!!

WOW--what a fast week. Seriously, it flew by like nothing even happened, but in reality things did happen, like a lot of things. So where do I start?  OK here we go: 

General Conference--it was so good!

Just a few favorite quotes and thoughts I had during General Conference.

Bennie l Oscarson- 'Changing the world starts with your family'.

'Stop!  Look around-- who needs me today?'

And my favorite quote of General Conference was by Richard J. Maynes. He said, 'Once you take a bribe and sell your integrity you will never get it back.'

That night we had a devotional put on by the Second Counselor President Eves. He talked about following the rules by exactness and being fully converted and worthy in the Gospel.  To be honest I went home feeling pretty terrible about myself and wasn't feeling too hot about being here. I missed my family. I missed not being sick. I felt everything that could be going wrong was going wrong. To add to it I felt I sucked at Spanish. On the way home Elder Sibley was like, 'You ok?'  And so I told him and he was like, 'I'm in the same boat RN to be honest'. And I was like. 'Would you mind giving me a blessing when we get back?'  And he said, 'Yeah'.   So when we got home he gave me a blessing. It was his first blessing ever and he did an amazing job. After the blessing I read my scriptures, looked at pics of the family, and went straight to bed (and of course brushed my teeth).. I woke up the next day feeling the same way. I went through the whole day feeling this way and our lesson with our new investigator was horrible. I got home that night and got down on my knees and asked Heavenly Father what I should do. Ii got the impression that I need to fast that next day. So I woke up the next day and opened my fast asking Heavenly Father to bless me with the Spirit and to feel the Spirit, and to be able to understand Spanish. I sadly only fasted til lunch cause my urine started turning yellow and I decided I couldn't go any longer. Ever since then I haven't had one doubt about anything. Isn't that amazing? Power of God 'ri der'.

What next? Oh our new investigators--we have two now. Roberto and Eric. Roberto is a student at the University in Mexico City and he is a very smart guy. Very bold with us. (So when I talk about my companion I don't want you to get the wrong impression-- like him but he does things that bug me a ton. I'm working on being patient with him and serving him more.) Anyways, in our lessons he talks most of the time, and the other day in the lesson with Eric he shared a random scripture in 2 Nephi, and we were planning on sharing something in Moroni. So he shares it and he doesn't know what it means cause its the wrong scripture, and he turns to me and I'm like 'Bruh, I have no idea what you just said'.  Other than that we work pretty good together.  Like I said, he talks most of the time and then when he stops and looks at me I say something completely different. Its really funny because I have no idea what I'm saying, then after the lessons Eric or Hermano Rodrigues will say, 'That was awesome what you said Elder Hall'.   I'll just be like 'Thanks'?

We got a new teacher this week. Her name is Hermana Correa. (OK--when I say thins don't take this wrong. She's a cute girl and our other teacher who teaches with her is a good looking man--so were trying to set them up.

Oh my--you guys know how I said the beds were bad?  Let me tell you--they are getting better and better each night. I don't wake up when I hear gun shots or dogs barking anymore.. Yayyy!!  

Just like dad says to come home tired every single day--I think I've honestly gone home tired every single day.

When dad said work hard--I have been getting up Monday, Wednesday, and friday at 5:30 to do language study by myself. I work my hardest in class. I can now teach the 'Gospel of Jesus Christ' pamphlet in one minute. Its super hard but I can do it and it makes sense to what I know. I can do the Restoration in forty five seconds and rn I'm working on the Chastity pamphlet.

When dad says I need to follow the rules with exactness. I think I can say that I am doing that. The lights are off by 10:30 each night. My companion likes to sleep in and I nicely yell at him. The other day I was up early to study and I come in at 6:40 to shower and he's still sleeping. Missionaries are supposed to be up by 6:30 if you didn't know. So I said, 'I'm giving you 10 minutes and if you aren't up and getting ready I'm not gonna be happy'. And I come back 10 minutes later from getting out of the shower and he's not up and I had some words for him. He tried to tell me he couldn't sleep. Whatever--we're getting better at getting up on time.

Oh the food isn't tearing me up anymore. I've gone back to 'solids' and I've been feeling pretty good. But I ate tyhis habanero sauce yesterday and my mouth was straight fire for a good hour. I thought it was like mild salsa. not excited for that to come out. I'll be crying!!

Oh by the way--I got my packages. Thanks a ton. The sisters in my district seriously get packages every day-- sometimes multiple a day. We're keeping score. Its like 36-4 (Hermanas winning obviously). But its fine--don't feel the need to send me any more--its definitely enough. I got the shirts also. They're all long sleeves, which is nice cause its not too hot here.

Oh my--they have these 6 ft plungers here in Mexico--they're crazyyyyy. I want to clog the toilet so I can just use it once.

Today we went to the Federal Mexico Office and got our residence cards. Some bad news (and I'm seriously so mad about it)--Elder Sibley has to go back to the States to finish his MTC training. Really sucks. Gonna miss him a ton cause he's really the only one I feel super close with in our district. He's the one I can go to and talk about anything with him.

OK--on a more spiritual note--this week has been an amazing week. Both of our investigators are awesome and are progressing super well. I'm still struggling with Spanish and its super frustrating at times when you really feel prompted to say something but you have no idea how to say it. Like I wanted to tell Roberto that I loved him and I knew God loved him, and I told him something completely different. My companion laughs at me when I say something wrong. Like I told Eric that if he reads the Book of Mormon he can be happy, but I guess I said 'funny' instead of 'happy', and my companion just starts laughing, and Roberto just was like 'thank you for saying that'. I'm trying my hardest and I feel I'm putting in my best effort with this language but I feel I've hit a wall and I'm plateauing off. I've noticed I've been comparing myself to other missionaries and how good they are all Spanish and I realized that I can't do that or else I won't progress. 

OK-I wanna leave you guys with a challenge. And I'm saying it to my friends mostly that are on this email list:

God loves you. He knows you personally and he cares about what your desires are in life. So here's my challenge: Read the libro de mormon. Legit not even kidding. It will bless your life tremendously. Even if it may be one verse a day. I don't care. Just read it. Try it out for yourself. You will never find out if the Mormons are telling the truth about this all if you don't read it (if that makes sense). You may be asking yourself, 'What makes them so different? Why do I see something different in them?'  Its the Gospel of Jesus Cristo. Its the light of Christ you see in their eyes. Its their testimony of the our Redeemer and Savior Jesus Christ. Heavenly Father has a specific plan for each of us and its to return to live with Him again. And the only way to return to him is through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm just saying the truth. And I know it can bless each of your lives if you do follow Him. and you know who you are. 

OK--I love you guys a ton. Miss all of you. I'm still loving it here and I cant wait to get out of this awesome compound  (I honestly feel like its mini North Korea). But its still awesome here.

OK--well that's all I got for this week. Miss you guys. Love you  guys. I'm getting tan!

OK--for real bye

Well here I am in Mexico City!! 

Its been one eventful week and a half

and I'm loving every second of it. I already love the people and the
work I'm doing. I would say I miss my family--but I don't really cause I'm
doing the Lord's work and I'm loving it here.

So first: the plane ride most of you guys have heard about. We
started in SLC and the flight to Mexico City was completely full. We
were about 45 minutes from Mexico City and I see on the map that we
just did a whole circle.  We were all confused, then pilot
came on and said there was a massive earthquake in Mexico City and we
were going to be landing in Leon. We get to Leon and we sit there for
an hour and the pilot comes on and says we are going to be refueled
and heading back to SLC. There were Hermanas crying this whole time
and all of us elders were like,  'This is so sick! Our first day in the
mission and there's an earthquake while we're in the air'. So anyway, we wait
another two hours on the plane (still in our seats) and the pilot
comes on and says, 'We have some good news'. He said, 'WE'RE GOING TO MEXICO
CITY'. He said it was a 99 percent chance. So we wait another hour or
so to refuel and then he comes back on a little later and says, 'So we
have some more bad news. We have to get off the plane
because some people got off the plane and ran into the city of Leon
and won't get back on the plane.'  So we all had to get off the plane,
go through the whole airport with our bags, go outside and recheck
every bag. We had to go through customs as well. So we eventually all
get back on the plane and there was only like 50 of us. 27 of us were
missionaries. And they say, 'We're headed back to LA and we're going to be
staying in a hotel and then we will try to fly to Mexico tomorrow
morning at 11 am'. So we get to LA and the Hermanas are still crying
and all of us Elders were like, 'You are so annoying. We didn't die....'
so we get to the hotel and they said that Delta ordered us pizza.   So the pizza man came and they literally only got us 5 pizzas very
small pizzas, and chicken wings. What the....??   So we wake up and
eventually find our way to Mexico City.

So my companion's name is Elder Linnarz. He's from Idaho--ummm yeah.  He's
my comp. He's pretty good. We teach really well together...

The other elders in my district are pretty sick. We got Elder McConkie
and Elder Sibley, and then a few others I could type out but I don't
have much time. Me and Elder Sibley are basically brothers. I can go
to him with anything and ask him any question and he can do the
same. He has a girl friend on a mission right now also, and he whipped out a
picture of her and I was like, 'Yeah she's cute.....................'
(trying to be nice. Help a friend out, ya know?).

There are only like 532 missionaries here in the CCM, which is still
a lot, but they have construction going on in some of the casas so they
can't do that many. Its a bigger campus than I expected. I walk at least
4 miles a day.

Oh let me tell about the food. I apologize for the graphic words for
those of you that haven't heard me talk like this.  So if you don't wanna
read it I don't mind. But the food has been tearing me up. The first
couple days I was solid, then all of the sudden I got like period
cramps.  I imagine they're like period cramps, and literally five
minutes later I was in the bathroom. Elder Sibley makes fun of me for
it, but its all fun and games here in Mexico.

The beds here aren't the best. I would honestly rather sleep on the
cold tile on the ground. Its like cement. I get super hot during the
night and the walls are cement, so I just put my body against the
cool cement wall at night.  And Jensen--you were right--the pink
blankets are destroying my clothes. I just through it in the closet.
There are so many dogs barking during the day, but especially at
night. And we hear gunshots every 30 minutes or so. Sometimes more.
We asked Hermano Beitez what it was, and he said ,'The Catholics shoot a
cannon every time they do something--idk'.  And then we heard it at
night and I was like,  'Yeah, that's not the Catholics!' Ha

So Juan is our investigator. He's our teacher Hermano Benitez. We
literally had to teach Juan our second day in the CCM in SPANISH. I
knew nothing, so we went in and taught him what we could. Then the
next lesson we went in and didn't really do so hot cause we can't speak
Spanish and we couldn't really feel the Spirit, and he declined
getting baptized. Then the third lesson (which was on idk--Saturday I
think),, we realized that we hadn't said a prayer before we went in to
the lesson. So we said a prayer to help us say what we should say
and to help Juan feel of God's love and our love for him. We go into
the lesson and teach and at the end I felt I needed to tell him that
we loved and him and were his hermanos, and that God loved him and
that He's mindful of him and wants the best for him. You all know me--I'm a very emotional human being, so I started crying and tried
speaking Spanish at the same time. Did not go well! But at the same
time, Juan said it meant a lot that I said that to him. I had no idea
what I was saying, and my comp after was like,  'Dude that was awesome..
that was incredible'.  Nobody on the face of this earth can tell me
that  that wasn't the gift of tongues. I know ZERO Spanish, and I bore
testimony and told him that. 

The Spirit here is so strong. There has
only been one day I haven't really felt the Spirit super strong. If
that sounds bad I don't mean it in a bad way. But anyway, I can say
without a doubt this Church is true; that God loves us and He wants
us to return to Him; that the work I'm doing here is not for my
personal benefit but its for the people of Mexico.

My Spanish is coming along slowly but surely. I can teach almost every
lesson in Spanglish. Its like half and half. One day Juan had denied
my invitation to  be baptized and I have never felt so sad. I was so
down on myself and was starting to think, 'Why am I here? What's my
purpose as a missionary if I cant even teach and connect with someone?
How do they expect me to teach someone about Jose Smith if I can't
even say Jose Smith correctly?  Seriously I can't.  

So then we had a
devotion that same night and Presidente Bennit and his wife spoke.
They talked about achieving your highest potential. They showed a
video from a football movie of a kid doing a beach crawl with another
kid on his back. The coach blindfolded him and told him to go 50
yards. The kid was crying saying it hurts it hurts. The coach
continued to scream, 'Don't you give up on me Steve'.  (I forgot the name of
the kid, so I'm going to use Steve). The kid continued to scream and say, 'I
can't do this anymore.  I can't do this coach'. His coach continued to
scream and pound on the ground.  'Don't you give up on me Steve.  Don't you
give up', hitting the ground.  'Don't you give up on me.' He gets to the
other side of the field and realized he had gone the whole length of
the field.

I relate this to my Spanish here in Mexico. I am struggling and
saying 'I cant do this.  This is too hard; I'm so stinking tired; or it
hurts coach..it hurts'.  But Heavenly Father is telling me every day, 'Don't
you give up on me.  Don't you give up on me'.  

That same day I was
struggling and I felt I hadn't felt the Spirit that day till that
video. I realized I was only in my third day here in the CCM and I was
getting mad at myself for not doing good enough. But Heavenly Father
screams at me and is pounding on the ground everyday saying 'Don't you
give up on me Elder Hall.  Don't you give up on me.'

That same day I had an interview with my branch president and his name
is Presidente Leyons. I told him I have been a little discouraged
lately and he told me if I need a blessing I can come to him whenever
and he'll give me a blessing. So I took him up on the offer. I went
to him the next day and I told him what was going on and he gladly
gave me a blessing. I can't specifically remember what he said, but he
told me in the blessing that I need to have patience with myself and
to be okay messing up and having hard days cause the mission ain't no
cake walk. And I know for a fact it isn't cause I'm only in my second
week and I have feel its been some of the hardest (in a good way)
days of my life. I have never prayed so much. I pray AT LEAST 10  times
a day, and every prayer helps me get through the day.

To be honest, the CCM feels like North Korea in a way. We literally
are in this compound for 6 weeks. How miserable--but how awesome at the
same  time. On the bus ride here from the airport there were dogs just
roaming all over the streets. It was crazy.

Every time I look at my picture book I look at ever single picture and
this thought crosses my mind, (sorry I don't know how to use quotation
marks on this keyboard) I think how grateful am I for
these people in my life. If it weren't for them I would not be here
today. 

Before I go to bed I pray for all my friends in the US and in
Mexico and hope that I can make their day a little bit brighter.

I'll send some pics--I'm still so white so I basically look the same.

Mom--I brush my teeth every day and night.

Oh Britta and Seth--idk if you guys did tasll, but let me tell you its
awesome. The best part is when you get to log out and sing
TAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL. so glorious.


Lastly, I love you all. I love what I'm doing here. I love God.