Mis Queridos Amigitos :)

Hope everyone has had another excelente week! Here in San Clemente we had a truly memorable week, mainly because we weren´t actually in San Clemente and we had the opportunity to meet and listen to Elder Russel M. Nelson of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles, and Elder Jorge Zeballos of the 70. What an amazing experience to get to listen to one of the 12 Apostles in person, and to be able to shake his hand. There were many teachings that we learned during the conference, too many to share but there is one experience I would like to share. 

Before the conference started as I sat there pondering I said a little prayer asking God to give me a confirmation of the testimony that I already had that Elder Nelson truly is one of His chosen servants here on the earth today. I thought I would receive it as I shook his hand, but it didn´t come at that moment, but as he began to talk and l listened to his words I truly felt the spirit testify that what he was saying was true, and as he finished his talk something truly remarkable happened. He paused for a second, and then said, ¨I would like to leave on Apostolic Blessing upon you all, invoking the keys of the holy apostleship that are invested in me I bless you...¨ and as he said those words the spirit was like fire in the room. It was so strong it was tangible in the air. We all truly received an apostolic blessing, and since that blessing was placed upon us there have been miracles that have happened in the lives of other missionaries, and truly a special spirit over the entire mission. 

I would like to add my own personal testimony that the head of La Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Úlitimos Días is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and that below Him he has a Prophet Thomas S. Monson who leads and guides the church, and that we also have 12 special witnesses of Christ who walk the earth today who hold the sacred keys of the Priesthood and of the Holy Apostleship just as those great apostles of old. Some might say that as a missionary I have to say that, but I can testify that I have felt the Holy Ghost witness the truthfulness of these things in my life, and I have seen the affect of these things in the lives of others. What a marvelous blessing to live in a time of Prophets and Apostles  and to not have to live in the dark days of apostasy, and that anyone who wants to can receive the light of  the restored gospel in their lives. 

It was a pretty great week, still trying to find investigators and help those that we have progress. The coast is proving to be a bit of a challenge, and it is killing us not having the meetings close by. We had one member who came to church from San Clemente, luckily we found a house to have the meetings now we just need the leaders of the District (Stake) to approve the location! I ask for your prayers that we can get a place here in San Clemente, and just a general prayer for those here in this area! Hope all is well! :) Enjoy november, it is my favorite month back home! :) 

Love,

Elder Hall  

 Navajo Tacos Argentine Style! (With Lentils!) Delicious! :) 

 Traveling to Buenos Aires to listen to Elder Nelson! 

A beautiful view traveling! :) 

La Carta Semanal-10 de Noviembre 2014

(November 10, 2014)

Hello Queridos, 

Hope all is well this week! :) We are doing well, and have had a week of beautiful weather! I remember this time last year, thinking that if Argentina was like this year around I could come to like it! Unfortunately with everyday that goes by we get closer and closer to the dreaded hot and humid sauna, that they call verano here! The one thing that I have noticed here on the coast is the wind! It is outrageous some days! And it blows from every direction! Like there is no ryhme nor reason to the direction it blows! Sometimes you feel like you are just in a tornado! haha

We had a pretty good week here in San Clemente, it was a bit slow teaching wise because we have had a hard time scheduling appointments with people, it seems like the whole world told us they were busy this week, and if you all know anything about missionary work, when there isn´t anybody that you know available, we turn to the favorite missionary past time, that´s right, knocking doors! (Well actually we clap houses here, you don´t knock! haha) One of the goals that I set with Pres. Thurgood in my last interview was to listen and follow the promptings of the spirit better, and so having that in mind my companion and I set out to look for new investigators. Truth to be told I had numerous experiences where I know I was guided by the hand of the Lord to find the people He had been preparing for us. 

One experience was saturday morning, we were riding down the street and we passed this lady, as soon as we said hi to her, and she replied I knew that we needed to talk with her, but I ignored the feeling doubting it a little. Well a few hundred feet down the road we turn the corner, and before we get half a block up the road I feel a very strong prompting that we needed to talk with the lady. So I told my companion we had to go back. So we went back, and started to talk with the lady. Turns out she was baptized a long time ago, but moved and had been inactive for a very long time. She asked me why we came back to talk to her, and normally I don´t like to tell people that it was because I had a feeling (they give you a look like who is this loco!) but I explained to her, and she told me she had the same feeling, she knew the instant we said hi, that we were going to come and talk to her! It was pretty crazy, and she said that she has been thinking alot about looking for the church here in San Clemente because she has wanted to come back for awhile.  

I am greatful that the spirit insisted and gave me that extra nugde, and that the Lord is patient with us as his children when we don´t listen the first time! It is an amazing feeling to see, and feel the Lord using my companion and I to help others, this was just one of the experiences we had and I truly can say that the Lord and His spirit has a very active role in our work as missionaries, and He truly leads and guides us. I am thankful for the opportunity that I have to be one of his servants, and it makes me want to put all that I have into these next 9 months! Love you all! 

Elder Hall 

Una Buena Semana Más en la Misión!

Well Amigos here we are again another Monday! In case you guys were wondering time still gets faster and faster every transfer in the mission! I did something this week, that I shouldn´t have done. I believe it was my companion who asked me about my release date as a missionary (August 10, 2015) and I counted how many months until August 10, and it is only 9 months away. Yikes........ It made a knot in my stomach, I always tell people that I have been here 14 months now, I never do a count down, and I know why now! haha 

 It got cold again this week, and we have tons of rain. In fact tuesday night after watching 17 Miracles (A movie about Mormon Pioneers and all of their hardships crossing America.) for a family home evening we got caught in probably the hardest rainstorm I have ever been in! As we rode home my companion and I just died laughing because of how outrageous the wind, and water were. Riding on our bikes, we had water above our ankles riding down some parts of the streets, so really our bikes turned into half boats that night! It made me laugh even more because I shared my testimony about my 5th Great Grandfather who was one of the mormon pioneers that crossed the plains, and just telling the family about how we don´t have anything to complain about these days! 

This week we had a little bit of a harder week as far as teaching goes! It has been super hard to catch the people in their houses! Little by little we are losing investigators who have chosen not to continue learning, but we are also finding new people who want to progress. So it is eveing out. We are really trying to work with the members thgis week,and especially the leaders of our little group so that we can get things progressing. It is hard having such a small group of members, but as one of my favorite prophets in the Book of Mormon says in Alma 37:6-7, 

6 Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.

 7 And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls.

Like my phrase, ¨poco a poco¨ things will begin to change, and I am sure that with the help of the Lord, we will be able to lift our little group up! :) 

We had interviews with President Thurgood saturday, and then afterwards he spoke in the District Conference and once again I was reminded of what an amazing man he is. Seriously I hope that one day I can be half the man that he is. He is probably one of the most humble men I have ever met, and just wants to do the very best he can to help us as missionaries, and the people here in Argentina!  

Well my time is just about up! I love and miss you all, and would love to hear from you guys! Have a great week! 

Elder Hall 

 Elder Rachhumí cooking up some fish! (And he made some awesome peruvian rice!) 

 Our Pension! One of the nicest I have had! It is great because it actually has couches and furniture! 

 Alright this was a strange flashback to my first area! My companion walks in to the bathroom, and finds a random frog that some how made his way in!

 So we changed some US dollars over for a really super great exchange rate, and bought pizza and empanadas to celebrate!

 Alright this week, we got flipping soaked.....It was the strongest storm I had ever been in here in argentina and we were on bikes! 

 So we are the seminary teachers here so I thought, ¨hey, why not make a cake to share!¨The first picture it looks normal, and then after that I am not sure what happened! So weird! 

After District Conference on Sunday! 

San Clemente says hi! :)

Hola Queridos! 

Well we had a good week this week! La Costa is a lot different, but I really like it! Before I get into that though I have to talk at least a little about my last weekend in Spegazzini! 

Alright so I am not going to lie it was hard to leave (Surprise right?) I was pretty sure that I was going to be leaving so I had been preparing myself as it was, and explaining to the members and our investigators that I would probably would be leaving. Even with all  of the preparation in the world, it still hurts to say good bye to the people you love. I was able to bare my testimony on Sunday, and during the Sacrament I sat thinking about what message I wanted to share, and really just taking a second to thank my Heavenly Father for sending me to Spegazzini, as I sat there I just felt a peaceful fulling of love that came over me, knowing that the Lord was happy with what I had done there. When I gave my testimony, I didn´t cry but I was choked up. I wrote in my journal that I didn´t know my heart had so much room for so many people, and that it was possible to love others as if they were my family. I felt like the grinch, where they put the little xray machine to his heart and they say that it grew 3 sizes that day! haha It was hard to say goodbye, but what was interesting, and I can´t explain it but there is still a big space in my heart, and I still know that there are people waiting for me that I haven´t met. 

Which brings me to the beautiful town of San Clemente on the Coast! Few things about it, it is a HUGE tourist destination during December, January, and February because there are beaches and it is home to Mundo Marino (Argentine Sea World) as well as a few other things, most people only work during these 3 months of and make the money that they need to survive during the rest of the year. A few years back San Clemente had it´s own branch. but because of lack of members it had to be closed, and it merged with Santa Teresita which is about an hour from here in bus. Recently they started to have meetings here in San Clemente again in the house of one of the sisters. This Sunday we had 9 members, 2 investigators, and then us missionaries. We blessed the sacrament, gave the talks, and taught a small sunday school. There is such a small group that we finished with church in an hour and a half! (Alright to some of you that might sound nice, but it is weird trust me! haha) We are trying to get some more priesthood holders, and to get our attendance up, there aren´t too many members here so honestly we have tons of work to do. The thing is, it is slow and hard work lots of working with members trying to motivate them, lots of contacts in the streets, and a whole lot of prayer and fasting! San Clemente is going to be a challenge but I am looking forward to what the Lord has in store for me here! 

I hope all is well at home, I imagine you are all enjoying cooler weather, while here it gets hotter, and more humid every day! Love you all! :) 

Elder Hall 

Video of Elder Brennen Hall-Spegazzini Oct 2014

SALUDOS DE LA COSTA! :)

Alright well, I couldn´t write yesterday because I got transfered! After a 7 hour bus ride, I have made it to San Clemente, in La Costa! Just a little about my area, we live 3 blocks from the beach, there are 5-10 active members, and we don´t even qualify as a branch yet! (emphasis on the yet!) My new companion is Elder Jared Racchumi from Peru! (Woohoo, another peruvian! haha), he has the same time as Elder Mortensen, and seems really awesome! So I am excited! 

Love you all! :) 

Elder Hall 

 La Familia Vaccaroni!

 My District! Elder Lopez, E. Mortensen, E. Wilson, Hermana Tolman, Hermana Ortiz!

 Our Zone! 

 I love them so much! :) This is our Patriarc and his wife! Pedro y Ramona Barli, some of the best members I have met in my entire life, they have been like grandparents too me, and they fed us every week (Its hermana Ramona´s fault that I started to get fat again!) haha 

 Alright I am starting to get pretty good in the kitchen as well, garlic potatoes, with pork chops in the oven! haha 

 Hermano Ismael, y Hermana Carmen Duarte, members that were always so great to me! :)

 Flor Silva got baptized! WooHoo! :)

 All of the family, and Flor´s Cousin! This family is amazing, I worked with them for 6 months, and finally they are back active again, and they have started the process to enter the temple, and get sealed! So in one year, I hope I am heading to a sealing! (Will work on travel plans later! haha) 

 Argentines literally have some of the weirdest things in their butcher shops, Armadillo anyone?

 Two awesome young men who will one day be great missionaries! The one on the right is Ivan (whose mom passed away.) and then on the left is Rodrigo (Hna. Elizabeth´s son) 

 Obispo (Bishop) Manzanos, and his wife Mary! He has been the bishop for 8 years now, and was branch president for a long time back before Spegazzini was a ward! haha poor guy... Really great people though! :) 

 A going away lunch Sunday! :) I just love them so much. They all are like family! 

Alright, I caved, I broke the rules and picked this cute little girl up for a picture! I have known her since she was a tiny little thing, and now she is about to turn a year! Nylah is the granddaughter of Elizabeth! 

 I will never forget this family, I can´t lie we all just started crying when I had to say good bye, and hermana Elizabeth was bawling, I could never share, or express all of the good, and hard things that my companions and I have passed through with this family, it was so hard to say goodbye. To make matters worse it was mother´s day here on sunday, and seriously Hermana Elizabeth has adopted me as her american son! But I left them knowing that their lives are going to be better, as long as they keep on the right track! 

 Kiki (KeeKee) (her real name is Victoria!) This sweet little girl is the best! Her mom told me that she spent a week writing me a letter, and just cried every night! She is 9, and will alwasy be another argentine sister for me! 

 Familia Gimenez, another less-active family who came back, and are making plans to get sealed!

 This is an active family who fed us every Wednesday while I was there! They are awesome! Familia Manzanos, he is the old bishop, and the bishop´s son! 

Hermano Claudio Blanco and his wife Carolina! He has been a member for a long time, and was menos activo, but he is back going strong, and his wife is starting to listen to the discussions! She is a gypsy! 

The Morales Family. Wow. Words can not describe the change that happened in this family. I think this family is a testament to me that these things are true I have never had people where we taught the commandments they started obeying them, and then wham! the blessings just came pouring out. Poor Bruno the minute we walked in sunday night, he ran up gave me a hug and said, ¨Hall, don´t go!¨and then just started bawling. Ugh.. but we talked and I explained that we would still keep in touch, and we ended the night happy, and I just had an amazing feeling of love, and peace knowing that I had done literally all I could to help this family! :) They all wrote me letters, and the parents are setting goals for the temple as well! :)))

Una Semana Mas! :)

Buenos Días mis muy Queridos Amigos,

Hope everyone has had a good week, we did! We spent a lot of time teaching this week, and preparing for a baptism that we are going to have this next weekend! Florencia Silva who is the daughter of a less-active family is going to get baptized! She had her interview on Sunday, and it went really well! I have been working with her family since I got to this area, and finally they are all attending church as a family. I have shared some pretty rough experiences with this family, from battling alcoholism, to just doing the simple things like reading scriptures, and saying prayers. In church on sunday Hermana Silva got up and shared her testimony and it was a special moment for me to hear her express her gratitude for coming back to the church, and the happiness that they have found since they came back. It just made everything worth it, to hear her testimony, and I was able to feel the spirit, and just be thankful that I have been able to help out this family!

Also on Sunday Bruno got up, and shared his testimony even though he is only 9 years old and has only been a member of the church for a little over a month you would think he has grown up going to primary since he was a little kid! It has been an amazing experience to watch him, and his family change as they have accepted the gospel into their lives again. Seriously this family has made a 180 degree change, and all they did was start going to church, start reading their scriptures, and say their prayers. 3 super simple things that literally have changed their world. It makes me think what simple things could we do to change our worlds? 

My companion and I have been talking a lot about how most of our investigators are kids of less-active members, and just kinda thinking about things and wondering what people are going to say when we are only baptizing little kids, and then the thought came to me. I came on my mission to help out families, because I wanted others to have what my family has, and so far teaching the kids has been working really well to reactivate the whole family, and it gets more people even closer to entering into the temple to be able to be sealed as a family for time and all eternity. I have really come to feel that one of my purposes here in the mission is to help out those less-active families in the church, it seems to be a blessing that the lord has given me! (Now if i could only get MY less active family to go to church! Hint..hint..) 

Alright so I did make a video yesterday morning but I am having heck getting it uploaded so we will see when it actually makes it! I hope you all know how much I love and think about ya! Have a great week! 

Elder Hall 

 My dessert from last weeks all you can eat restaurant Pear Crepes with a sugar glaze, and vanilla ice cream! Yum! 

 After lunch!

 Familia Manzanos! They are awesome! She is fluent in english, and works for designing church magazines!

 Happy Birthday lovebug! :) 

 Preparing for lunch yesterday! I have gotten pretty good at cooking these days, we made Pastel de Papas wich would be like a sheperds pie! It was super good! 

Chow Time!