Informe de Semana en Villa España (That´s a little formal!)

Hola Amigos! :) 

Well another week has flown by (like always) (I imagine you are all tired of hearing that by now! haha)! The weeks really do go by faster and faster, my zone leader who goes home in three weeks told me this week, that he remembers the first six months, and then after that it was just a blur! So we will see next Monday after I have hit my six months if time really will be blazing by! I imagine it will! 

This week has been a pretty good week! We have had pretty regular weather, (Except for a tornado that touched ground about 30 blocks from us, lifted up a car, and did some damage to a few houses, who knew there were tornadoes in Argentina! Everyone was shocked they said they only hear about these types of things in the US on TV!) (So I guess it wasn´t that regular!) But it has been cooler, and we haven´t had crazy rain. So I guess I just take it day for day! 

We have an investigator that Elder Garcia and I contacted months ago, and well last week, or the week before we passed by his house, and he let us come in. Well now two weeks later he is midway through 2 Nephi in the Book of Mormon! He is soaking up things like a sponge! He was so excited to tell us what he has learned that we couldn´t share lesson 1: The Restoration, to him until our third appointment. He was like a kid in a candy store telling us about 2 Nephi Chapter 2 where it talks about Adam and Eve, and the reason they had to sin, and he told us he never understood it from just the Bible. He is from Chile, and I will be honest is kind of crazy, but he is a genius! He knows a ton of stuff from the Bible, and loves to learn. We call him Tio, which means uncle. So yes I now have a Chilean uncle! haha It is amazing to watch the message of The Book of Mormon change peoples lives, and bring them more light and knowledge! 

I got to go on a Companion Exchange or Intercambio as we call them, with Elder Dominguez from Yuma, Arizona this week in Quilmes! It was a lot of fun, he is one of our zone leaders and will finish his mission in a few weeks at the end of this transfer! It is always fun to get to do Intercambios, and it was nice to speak in English! I am thankful for the example of some of the older missionaries, and for what they do to help some of us newer missionaries out. They all just say how fast it goes by, well at least the ones who work, and enjoy their time here! :) 

Overall things are going along good, here in Villa España! Everyday is a surprise, and truly is a gift from God! Life is much better, when we live happily, when we don´t stress over the small things, and we remember that God always has a plan for us! The key is to learn to trust less in ourselves, and more in Him. Love you all! 

Elder Hall 

 We also went to a wedding this week of some of the investigators of the Sisters, that I had 

known before the split.

 Then there is a picture of all of us in the pension. Elder Santos (El Salvador (The Country)), 

Elder Hathaway (Sandy, Utah), and then us

 Tio Emilio and his wife Sara! :) 

Hola!

Hola Amigos,

I am doing great this week! We had a very successful mini missionary training center activity with our branch all day Saturday! And It just went so good! It was great to get to work with the youth here and to help them to get excited to do missionary work! :) And I got to put a little bit of my four years of student counsel and event organizing skills into use, so it was something I thoroughly enjoyed. We had training and practices in the morning, and then in the afternoon we left the church and went out to knock and doors, and contact people in the streets in groups! I was working with a 17 year old kid who really isn´t to much in to church stuff, and it was amazing to watch him change and share the gospel with people.   This week I am thankful for the influence God gives his missionaries to help the members and youth. Our jobs are not only to help those who are not members of the church, but to strengthen the members in their testimonies of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! It is so much fun, and makes me so happy to get to work with the members and have my personal conversion grow alongside theirs!

Forgive me for how short this is, but I had a lot of other emails to reply to, and I loved it! Keep them coming! :) But before I close I have to share a funny story that happened last night. Here in Villa España we are in a city, but there are still horse drawn carts that people who collect trash and metal use. Well we were walking down the road last night,  and this guy had his horse tied up in front of his house. Well the windows were open so we could see the family was gathered around with friends just talking and enjoying one another's company, well as we are walking we see the man, untie his horse, and brings him right in to the front room of the house! My companino and I just started dieing laughing because it was crazy random, and we still don't know why! Just the craziness of this country I guess!

Love ya all! :)

Elder Hall

 All of us at the Mini-MTC! :) 

 Los Misioneros de Villa España y Presidente y Hermana Thurgood!

 Hermana Ockey, Milagros, and I with two jokers who decided to join in!

Wow. Seriously I can´t believe the change that I have seen in Milagros from the time I first met her, to her baptism, to now. She is a hundred percent different person. She went from rarely coming to church and not liking it, to getting up baring her testimony, active in the Young Womens program, and preparing for a mission! :) I am so glad to have played a little role in her life! 

Otra Semana en La Misión!

Hola Everybody, (How´s that for spanglish!) 

Well this has been another great week, here in Villa Espana! I found out on Saturday, that I will be here in Villa España for at least six more weeks, which I am really excited for! I really thought I was going to leave even though I had no desire to, but I was wrong! (This is one time I am ok, and happy with being wrong! haha) My companion was made District Leader, so it will be interesting to get to watch him learn, and to get to learn through him, more of how it is to be a leader in the mission! 

We have had a lot of rain this week, Argentine has some crazy storms that pass through, and just dump water faster then it can be distributed, so there was some flooding. We got a call from the sisters Saturday in the morning asking if we could come help them bail water out of a house of a member. So we spent a good 4 hours bailing water out, bucket by bucket, but we actually had a lot of fun. Lets just say four missionaries can´t work together deflooding a house, with out dumping a few buckets of water on one another! We got the job done, and then that night it rained again crazy hard and the house re-flooded, so I am not sure what this sister is going to do! But the family was in good spirits, and the houses here are built for this kind of stuff! 

This week for my little spiritual part, I just want to express a little bit of how thankful I am for my Savior, as my friends and family are at home going through the daily struggles, and some of life´s bigger trials, I hope that you all can remember that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ suffered for every weakness we have, for every sickness, and for every sorrow we have had, have, or will have. With this knowledge, although we will never fully comprehend the fullness of His sacrifice, we can confide in him. My friends and family, put you trust in the Lord, give him your worries and sorrows. I know from experience that we all can receive the comforting warmth, and love of our Savior. I love you all. 

Elder Hall 

 Our last district meeting of the transfer! Elders Killian, Tracey, Silencio, and De Loayza!

 Almost all of the zone!

 Hard to see, but there is water in all of the house! I have to get some of the better pictures from Hermana Ockey!

 YIKES! (When this one hit we were soaked to the bone in two blocks!) 

 Little bit of fun, before we got completly soaked! 

 So this picture, I had a nice cool guy face on and wham there was a super strong breeze, and this is Elder Hall´s ¨holy cow that is really cold rain face!¨

 My district leader went home today, it is a bittersweet thing for sure! Elder Austin Tracey from Utah, he was a great example to me, and a good friend! 

One of my favorite pictures I have! Me and my two peruvians today at the transfer meeting! After one transfer as a District Leader, Elder Garcia was moved up as a Zone Leader! 

Buenos Tardes :)

Hola Semejantes! (Kinda a weird introduction it means like fellow men, but it is different!) haha 

Espero que toda está bien! We had another great week here in Villa España! We had a nice little break from the hot weather and have had rain, and cloudy breezy weather for the majority of the week! 

And finally this week things have started to pick up, after over a month of working our hind ends off we finally have a nice little group of people to teach, and looks like Villa España will have three baptisms at the end of the month! :) So we are pretty happy about that!

This week I had a realization, Argentina right now is a lot like how it was in New York in the early 1800´s in the aspect of the amount of churches and religions that are here right now. Like you all wouldn´t believe the number of evangelical, catholic, Jehovah´s Witnesses, and every other type of belief you could possibly imagine that is here right now! And they all go out and proselyte, and so it really is something special when we have the opportunity to share the experience of Joseph Smith from the verse in the bible, James 1:5, about asking god if you lack wisdom, to when he saw God the Father and Jesus Christ and was called to restore Christ´s Church here on the earth, it is something amazing when these people realize they don´t have to live in the traditions of their fathers, that they can actually pray and know for themselves of the truthfulness of this gospel. That is one part about our message as missionaries, that when we go into the people´s house they know we are there to share, but they have to take the initiative and pray about it, and have to know and feel for themselves that these things are true. We are not on this mission to convince people to walk into a baptismal font, we are here to share the message of Christ and then if the people feel it is for them, they can follow in the footsteps of our Lord and Savior, and be baptized. 

It really is something that gives me hope for this world when we find people of other faiths who are truly practicing what they preach and you literally can see the glow of a good person and the light of Christ in their eyes. This world is full of losers, but it also has great people in it, and often times I learn so much from these amazing people! 

All is well here, hope and pray it is the same for all of you at home. 

Con Amor, 

Elder Hall 

 La Obra Misional here in Villa España Elder De Loayza, Me, Facundo, Mariano, Ludmila, Hermana Okey, Hermana Oliva, and Presidente Falcón!

 We found this place called Jumbo (Prounounced Shumbo here)  in Quilmes, it was like we were at home! :)

 Crazy rain! This pic doesn´t even do it justice!

 Had fun handwashing a million pairs of socks! haha 

 How grateful for the message of ¨La Restauración¨ that we have, and for the opportunity I have to share it!

Mariano and I, he was called to serve as a ¨Mini-Misionero¨ so it is like a one month mission! I was a little sad to see a good friend leave, but so proud to have gotten to know him, and just the little role I got to play in his life. I will never forget Mariano Balbuena and his family, they are like Argentine Family to me! 

5 Meses en la Misión!

(1/28/14)

Buenos Tardes Mis Amigos y Familia, 

Well another month has come and gone here in Buenos Aires! This month as they all have been since I started the mission has just flown by. And I seriously can not believe that in 4 short weeks I will be a quarter of the way done with my mission! I don´t understand time here in the mission, and I have come to the conclusion I probably never will!

This week we learned that Buenos Aires is the land of rolling black outs, and experienced even more of the crazy weather this place has to offer. Argentina has an electricity shortage, and so they have scheduled power cuts that started in our area this week. So this week we had three nights with out power (which means no fans, which means hot, sticky, humid, air all night) then we also had a few afternoons when we were home for language study, of course these scheduled cuts can´t be while we are out proselyting! The weather lightened up on us this week minus on Thursday. Thursday we had interviews with President and then afterward I had to back a thirty+ pound box of Book of Mormons for 30 something blocks, and the humidity was horrible, along with the heat, and so I about died by the time we got back to the pension, but I manned up and packed those Books of Mormon! haha (Shortly after returning to the pension, you guessed it, power was cut....) 

We were able to find a few new investigators this and talked with a lot of people, the work has slowed down, but honestly I am happy. I have the opportunity everyday to go out, and testify to these people that Jesus is the Christ, that through him, and the ordinances of the Restored Gospel we can live with our families forever!

Then this morning we had the opportunity to attend the temple here in Buenos Aires. It was a beautiful time, and it was so nice to be able to be in the house of the Lord. For my friends and family who are not familiar with the LDS Temples, I want to explain a little bit about them. As the Restored Church of Jesus Christ, we have the same doctrine and ordinances as Christ had including the use of Temples. In the temples we make sacred covenants (Promises) with the Lord, in which he promises to give us the power and strength we need to conquer the trials of this life. Along with making this covenants for ourselves, Husbands and Wives may be sealed together in matrimony for time and all eternity, which includes all of the children they have. I can testify that the temples here on this earth, truly are the House of the Lord, and that in them we can grow closer to our Father in Heaven, and make those covenants, and receive the strength we need to overcome the trials and adversity this life has to throw at us. 

I am truly grateful for the many opportunities  I have to serve everyday, I am thankful for the prayers of my friends and family. I can feel them, and they strengthen me more then you all can imagine! To finish I want to throw in a little shout out to my parents who today have been married for 19 years. How lucky I am to have these two great pillars in my life, and I know that with out them I would not be where I am today! Love you all! 

Elder Hall

 Elder De Loayza and I at the temple! 

 The beauty of the temples are just amazing! 

This is a better close up of us!