Mmmmmmm!

Temple Trip, Training and Cinnabon 8/5/2013

Good Week Everyone,

                This week is for Bryson and it is dedicated to him. I will be talking about in my letter today, a Temple Trip that took place on Tuesday, July 30th, 2013. Me and Elder Boynton got up at 5 o' clock and we had to drive to St. Cloud which is actually in the opposite direction of the Temple, and the church building on the same property where we would also have a Leadership Conference included with our Missionary Leadership Temple Session. Next, I will slightly refer to a Zone Conference that happened on Friday, August 2nd, 2013. Lastly, I will talk about our slower than normal week and the P-day which took place today.  Included in my letter will be miscellaneous matters.

Leadership Conference was really good even though we were out of my area (My area is Princeton in case you haven't heard from me for 4 weeks.) We went to the St. Cloud (our Stake Center) and arrived at 6:20. Elder Boynton tracted all day with another Elder's companion and me and 2 District Leaders (Elder Grakowfski a red head who has never listened to music other than Disney or Church Hymns... in his life, and Elder Chappell who came out with me, (came out with me means that he came to Minnesota on September 26th, 2012). He is a good Elder, a little bit goofy.   Then we drove to Oakdale and the Temple. We arrived at about 8:30 and went into the Temple. Our whole leadership was there, even Elder Gum (Elder Gum is a buff dude from my MTC District who knew Nathan Nuzman from Suncrest) was there and he is serving out of the Country in Thunder Bay, Canada.  It was cool to all be there. We brought in folding chairs and the workers had to do the circle cause the six Coordinating Sisters who were in the Temple couldn't do it. It was my favorite Temple experience outside of the MTC. I think Temple MTC trips are so much better because the MTC stinks, so the Temple is just the best. Then we went to the Chapel in the Stake Center in Oakdale and had our Leadership Conference.   I was able to see pretty much everyone from my MTC District except Elder Lawton. They are all District Leaders now. It was good to see people there and everyone is starting to get really young. It is weird. We brainstormed how we can baptize families and help keep up baptisms with the rate we are getting missionaries, we need to maintain the quality in consistency with the quantity of Missionaries because our quality is going downhill. It was a good meeting. Then before we left we were giving bikes to the other Elders and I brought other stuff for people- and we couldn't find the bikes!   But they were just in a room we didn't check in the Church, someone brought all the bikes inside during the meeting. It was a quick scare. Then as me and the other 2 elders were getting ready to leave, one of the Missionaries I had talked to who served in Edin Prairie were talking to a lady.  She asked about me and they said, well he is right there. She was Rita Pico who is Raylene Anderson's sister and I met her and she is really nice. I will mail you my memory cards and you can find the picture. She probably wants it because she asked if I would give it to Mom. That was good and on the way out Elder Chappel wanted Panda Express and Oakdale is right next to North Saint Paul so I knew where a Panda Express was. Right at the Maplewood mall. Come on now. So we went there and I saw some Mong people and they asked if i knew Mong. I said some random stuff I knew and they were impressed, wow!   Then I said, "That's all I know".  I miss Asian people. But check out this miracle there was a Cinnabon at the mall, right.  I said to myself, I am getting a Cinnamon Roll before we leave. So we go over to Cinnabon on the way out and I take a sample and said out loud,  mmmm. The Cinnabon worker said these boxes are 10$ today, to which I replied "That is just ridiculous!" Then a I looked around at the variation of boxes of Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls. Cinnie Minnies, and also normal sized Cinnamon Rolls. The nice lady in front of me said, "Get a box and I'll buy it"!  So I did. She was an angel!  I am adding her on Facebook in a year. She said pray for her though, so I have been praying for her. But what are the odds!  I love Cinnabon Cinnamon rolls. It took us three hours to drive home at the end of a very good day. End of the Temple trip. 

On Wednesday, the 31st the Sisters went to Bloomington and grabbed my bike. So now I have my bike and am putting the miles on it!

Oh Friday we had a Zone Conference. We had training by the Mission Presidency, very good training.  President Clements did a training on an acronym RPM restorations, pick 3 up to Church, and Maps. We need to focus on return appointments and getting people to come to church, we teach the restoration like it's hot. Then Sister Clements trained on singing to our investigators and gave us all lyrics to the children's hymns. We got food there and pretend taught (role played) a lot. It was OK. I bore my testimony for the first time in one of those and just told everyone to repent and to change. We got free lunch and went home in the evening and taught an anti, home church, self proclaimed Pastor who tried to prove Mormonism is wrong. It was the worst, I told him we just invite others to pray and invite others to read.   If you choose not to listen,  it doesn't matter. Elder Boynton was arguing with him.  We had a member there too, it was funny. But I have learned tons about the Bible I read the New Testament through and read good books in the Old Testament, a lot. I have learned a ton, it's sweet.

                  

Today we got up early and shopped. Got ready and studied. Then took our laundry to Sister Juncker's who does it every Monday for us. Then we went to St. Cloud. We had pizza with our Zone and watched REMEMBER THE TITANS. It was epic. Afterward we played a 4 on 4 b-ball tourney. I was a captain and picked all the Foreigners! Here is a synopsis of my Basketball team.  We had a super Japanese Elder Meguro who was my first exchange when we were both in the field 4 days. The Elder Leppanon in my District from Finland. Sister Topi from Albania. Elder Jacobson from the Country of Idaho. And Me.  I didn't realize how bad they were, it was so funny!  But we won the tournament.  I even sat out 1/3 of the time. The Score-15 points in 2 games to 11!  Call me a baller!  So that was fun. Then we played 3 step basically FFA dodge ball for 2 hours. 

I did get one package with garments, pants and books contained. I'll keep a lookout for more. No bag yet, I am down to shop for a suit when I go to the outlets in Elk River next Monday so the new Suit fits really well. Idk if my body is totally different or not. It might be hard to guess. I'll send some memory cards home. I like those pics. I'll send the Nepali photo card and my last 4 weeks of photos on the memory card!. 

We have dinner tonight with the Juncker's and have a few appointments, it should be a good night. Ya, we taught only 5 times last week which is really low and had one new investigator. We are gonna go hard this week. Love ya all. Way better experiences this week than twins game that the city Missionaries got to go to... Not!   Love ya!

 

Sincerely,

Elder Hall

               

Missionary clothing requirements change 7/29/2013

      Hope your week is going well. I just got done playing some 2 on 2 football with the Junckers Grandson. She also talked to me a ton about Genealogy trips. She would search URLS for graveyards and find family names. Sounds hard but I never thought about it cause we have the internet. But in the millennium we will just book it around probably digging up the earth or something. Idk if I will ever do genealogy.  Sounds like too much work. I would rather help someone move something. I am doing good. Nah I don't need my bike shipped. I get it tomorrow. We have a Leadership Conference at the  Chapel adjacent to the temple in Oakdale tomorrow.  Then we get to do a temple session with the Leadership. It will be good. I am always drained after I go to the temple on my mission but I am lucky to go. Things are going OK. We need to be smarter about our missionary work in our area. I usually know what to do and I have grown a lot and have a lot more confidence in myself than prior in my mission. President Clements did interviews in St. Cloud this last week so I got to talk to him.  There are some cool people. Our ward Mission leader is Pete Miller. He does Iron Mans and has done a bunch of Lifetime events. some he likes and some he doesn't like. But his Son went to Nepal. Did Himalayan elevation level Marathon and had a forth place finish. He also slipped into Tibet to see a lot of Monasteries. He was off the radar. He stayed at Nepali people's homes even when he didn't understand them.  It sounds like a sweet experience.  I totally want to go to Nepal. When he was in Tibet (now China) the government wouldn't let him back into Nepal. Kick him off buses and stuff. But he hired a driver who drove him to the border in the middle of the night. He is a lawyer and is moving to Dubai soon . He will visit their home here in Minnesota soon it will be cool to talk to him. In interviews we just talked about random stuff. Like getting people to church and teaching the story of the Restoration then committing those people to church or a solid return appointment. But he talked about the new dress code. So new information church wide, when we are proselyting we have to use side shoulder bags.  Like the Xango maroon colored bag that we had. But we have to bike with those too so idk if loose bags would be really annoying to bike with. A nice side bag would be sweet. Not too big just medium sized not as big as Colby's laptop bag either.  https://missionary.lds.org/dress-grooming/elder/dress/shoes?lang=eng at the bottom are examples of bags. Also suits can be lighter. I could wear a light grey suit. Which I want.   https://missionary.lds.org/dress-grooming/elder/dress/suits/?lang=eng     And slacks you could have khaki colored slacks. https://missionary.lds.org/dress-grooming/elder/dress/slacks/?lang=eng as long as they are the same material.  Watches have to be a dark color. My Wallmart one watch broke. But I bought this pink watch. But that is no good now. We also can wear a light blue full sweater if we wanted or red full sweater. So that would be cool. The thing is I can't get this clothing in Princeton. There is nothing here. In St. Cloud we have Outlets. I am wondering if I could get a suit and slacks and maybe find a cheap watch somewhere and a sweater. Just a light grey suit. My grammy suit is way too small for my fat old self and my Mr. Mac suit is pretty used. So I was wondering if I could have some money to buy those things. Those aren't necessary though the bag is necessary.  Do you think Colby could shop for a bag that looks "cool" for my standards and have him get it online or wherever and send it? Those are the only things that I would need from the changes. Ya, idk why the side bag change. I guess it is more business and people might be scared of backpack bombs, this is sad we in America need to worry about this now. Missionaries are gonna look so metro, its not gonna be good in my opinion. A bag with a strap around the waist might be good with biking, as long as it looks good and not weird. Jordan would be tight:)  Apparently by the pictures the can have color in it. But I wouldn't mind black like that one backpack I used to have. I guess on our zone p-day next week we are going to play quid-itch. But we also get to watch a movie, Remember The Titans which will be cool. Although the Missionaries in the cities get to go to the Twins game. I just missed it..... but I have tried running more in order to train for quid-itch  I am freaking out of shape. Although I did run almost 2 1/2 miles in like 20 minutes but it was WAYYY harder than it used to be. I could do that in my sleep before my Mission. I need to be healthy. What diet is Sharwan on?  I have actually been eating healthy too! 

  We taught some teenage girls this week. I was on exchanges again we taught half of Elk Rivers lessons when I was there on exchanges. The Elders there are more on the quite side.  My companion is struggling. He just doesn't want to be a missionary. He doesn't have appreciation for obedience. He will get over it though. I have been super duper obedient the last 3 weeks. but he doesn't care I will probably start to get hard on him! sounds fun. Good thing Elder Waite was my trainer! I am learning a lot. Hopefully I will be outta here soon! Either 3 weeks or 9 weeks I am headed to Minneapolis. At least this is my theory. I am working hard though. Our area needs improvement so I still need to work hard! Always hard work! Best part of being a missionary. I have loved my mission so far. It goes super fast. I am almost on the downward spiral of it. Kind of crazy but (some lady sitting just next to me said, "just typing away there aren't ya?")  And I just said ya.... If only she knew. The old me would have rebuked her and said well this is the only time I get to communicate with my family and friends every week so I better be fast.  But I have learned to be nicer. 

Off subject though. Sky had a b-day recently!   I love her and hope she had a very happy birthday. Camping sounds fun.Sky is a rock star. Literally one of my favorite people in the whole world. Even though she is just 10. 

So many people are set in their ways out here. But I am just really persistent. I think the thing I have said most is why not?  What would hold you back from listening?  I am starting to see the pride of the world that Elder Mumford talked about. Well I love you guys. Work on the stuff I need asap that would be nice although i know you got the package all set up.  It is kind of sad, every time I go to the library the librarians are getting annoyed. No mail again? Nope haven't got any mail! So Please send some. Cause I need a library card. No I will just have sister Juncker write me and I will get a library card with that mail.  My life consists of the same thing but its nice to hear what normal life is like. See ya later!

I know God loves us! 7/22/2013

How is it going Family?

This week has been alright. I went on 2 different exchanges. one was with the Zone Leaders they came to our area and blitzed, 2 teams working in our area. That was fun! I went with Elder Saunders. He has been out 3 months longer than me. It was a good exchange we threw down and taught a bunch of people got some new investigators which we need. Debi is 60 and she wants to be baptized. She has a baptismal date in mind, she comes to church. Other than that, we are doing a lot of finding. Blah. That's OK, you gotta do what you gotta do. People are so stuck with the bible around here and not open to modern revelation and a God who cares enough about his children to keep communicating with them.. But I still get em! I am a little too sarcastic though. I think I can humble people though. I like rebuking if I get a good chance! You gotta be super bold when people are closed off. Then I also went to Buffalo Minnesota on exchanges with Elder Milburn who had only been out 5 days! His first exchange. That was fun. He said his Mission was not at all how he expected. And a lot of missionaries feel that way especially the young ones. I thought there would be more leniency just from what I saw missionaries do before! Our Mission is really consecrated. This is the most obedient I have been on my mission. I am trying to be an example for Elder Boynton he has a hardcore girlfriend. We will change that though. I went to buffalo and I thought all the places in our District would be as stixxy as our area. Nope. Buffalo has like 15,000 people that was like a big city to me. I liked it. It is a lot harder to work here. We taught a lot this week and got people to church but there is a next step we need to take. Elder Milburn was my companion for the day, I helped their area out and we found some small miracles, and even new people that we taught. Also we talked to a lot of people. Got some potentials. He asked me how I got used to everything? I just told him not to worry about it and try your best. Bishop comes back in town today. We have interviews with President and a little Zone training in St. Cloud on Wednesday. Our Zone is so spread out.  Some people call going to zones like this, getting banished. I don't think I will be here too long, 1 transfer would be sweet but we will see. Plus it is probably my last Northern area. Every missionary gets at least 2 assignments to the country:) All my friends are getting home: Tanner emailed me. Kash is home. Chris, Rourke, Craig and Josh are like the last one's left still serving Missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints. It is weird, I am way older than most missionaries now. Age wise. Our Zone leaders slept over and I was 2 years older than one of them and 1 year older than the other. Oh we got to bike this week. My bike is actually at the Mission Home so I am using the last Elders Bike. We biked maybe 24 miles on Saturday. It was all flat which was good, I am not very good at flats. We booked it pretty fast. That was a good work out. You get to bike in the stix so that is a fun part about it. We had 5 people to church yesterday which is decent. I wish I would have gotten like cycle cross tires at the beginning of my Mission but I probably won't bike much next year. We will see. Hopefully we can change the culture of this Ward and get referrals. Everyone is so far apart it is weird. I am never gonna live in a farm town I don't like it much. I love the cities even if they are ghetto.  Write me I need a library card!  If not, that's cool.  I am not much of a writer. I'll have to send you my last memory card with all the cool people if you promise to send it back. I really do love people a lot more. Man I can't believe how fast time goes by. Maybe its been forever cause you guys do a lot a lot of stuff I never did! Family camping... ha ha hah- pools and stuff. Plus when I get back I am gonna have to be an adult.  But Missionary work is the best so I will take that. I hope you are all doing well. I think about you all a lot less but I still love you!! I am almost done being sick!! some random eternigator at the library be talking to me... I am learning a lot here. Mostly the importance of being obedient!  I know there is a reason that I am here. I know that God loves us!  Life is hard but we have to get over it and do our best. Have a fun week.

 

-Elder Hall

The Curry Master 7/15/2013

So I am in Princeton. It is nutssss here. The towns are 18 miles apart.  The ward is really enthusiastic and good. We are back to the land of internigators. It reminds me a lot of Malad, Idaho. Corn fields everywhere. My companion is Elder Boynton. He just got done getting trained in the area. They confirmed 2 recent converts this last Sunday. Shane and Ina. Ina wants to know if we have family from Spain Hall's that were in the Air Force. If so then she knew them. But idk i don't know the Halls that well. It is so different here. 

I think last week was one of the hardest weeks of my life. I love Nepali people and I love that area. I said goodbye and took pictures with literally 200 people. We were running and taking pictures and saying that I leave tomorrow or in 2 days. It was sad. I learned how to love people in that area! I liked it a-lot. I am gonna try to extend and ask President at the end of my mission to go back and work with Elder Shreestha in Nepali work if that is possible. I can't tell you how much I love them.

 Things are good here. We have an investigator named Deb. But her and the Bishop met and decided on a date. But we don't know it. Elder Boynton is cool he is nervous about taking over the area and trying to figure out his purpose as a missionary. I am just trying to be an example. We have already had like 3 restorations with people and set up appointments since I have been here. They do like  finding here. It will be good. I am trying to use this area to lose weight. Oh, I am sick too! A cough and a cold and nasal stuff, it is annoying. I am never gonna be "not work cause I am sick" kid though. We have Sister Missionaries in the Ward just in Cambridge. 18 miles away:) We are handing off a lot of investigators to them and split the area. They are good. Super funny. One has a little personality and the other is brand new and is figuring out how to be a Missionary. It is a small town community but we cover a lot. Up by Milaca and down by Zimmerman.  Probably maybe 20,000 people in our area.  North St. Paul had like 150,000 even though there was like 2k Nepali.

I hope I don't forget the Nepali I learned. The last thing Menukas husband said to me. Jwala, don't forget the Nepali language. I am totally gonna make sure I get fluent at it some day. Menuka gave me a last goodbye dinner. It was super good. Tofu curry I thought it was chicken. She is awesome. I gave her the biggest hug ever. Chrissy the first person I baptized. IRL was there too. They gave Chrissy and her mom Tika's!  I hugged a lot of people, ha ha. Our area feels so much different.  I hope I am here for like 1 or 2 transfers. I have a feeling I will help Elder Boynton out here for 1 transfer and go somewhere else.  It is weird. I love you all so much. The rules are to send mail to the mission home. So just do that. In fact i don't have a library card and can't get one with out mail:) Feel free to write me a lot!  This family in the ward has pet pigs. Saw some lama's and pygmy goats, and people book it on tractors everywhere. It is nuts. I don't think I am cut out for around here. I'll figure it out though. Everyone sounds like they are everywhere. Sounds different than when I was home. I think I am gonna book it and move somewhere when I get home. I like other places. 

Me and the 2 new Sisters bore our testimonies at Church yesterday. I have improved a lot as a person. I have a ton way to go. I love my mission. I am just gonna haul butt this transfer and throw down some tisms. Good to hear from you guys, I am not going anywhere. Oh if you could send me anything. Maybe a short sleeve shirt. same size 15 1/2 or whatever. And 2 pairs of medium mesh garments. And 1 large / medium thermal depending on how fat you think I am. Ha, I learned how to make curry in Nepali work. Since I am missing my last area I bought a bunch of potatoes chicken, garlic, vegetables, turmeric  ginger, cumin, and curry powder. I am gonna be the curry master in the stixx. Love ya all. This is the best. Write me.. maybe!

Happy Day with Elder Hall's friends from Minnesota 7/16/2013

St Paul Minnesota Temple

St Paul, Minnesota Temple