La Plata Este-Round 2! Happy Transfers!

Hey Everybody! 

Well as you all can see from the title (ok well those of you who remember where I was a year ago will notice) that I am back in La Plata East Zone where I was for my second area! I am serving as District Leader in the Area of Berrisso where my good friend Elder Holmes started his mission! My companion is Elder Araujo (Ar-uhh-oo-show) from Sao Paulo, Brasil! He just finished his training and seems to be an awesome guy so I am super excited to work with him! 

This week went by outrageously fast (whats new...) and it was hard to leave San Clemente the other part that was hard was the fact that I only got to say good bye to a few of the people because we left early Sunday morning and basically all day saturday we had general conference. We got to Banfield just in time to watch the Sunday morning session of conference which for us started at 1pm and then we stayed the night and this morning got up to go to transfers! I wish I had the energy to write some great message about the resurrection or something inspirng that I learned from conference but I will be honest today I am absolutely exhausted and haven't eaten or drinken anything since this morning so my weekly email is short this week! 

Although I am tired from transfers, I am filled with an excitement and desire to give this area my all! It is pretty likely that I will end my mission here and I made the decision, listening to one of my favorite companions Elder Torres who went home today bear his testimony, that I was going to dedicate myself even more to the work and to give all that I have to this area. I share my testimony along with the many others that I have shared and along with alll that we heard during the conference that this is Christ's church, that He died, He resurrected, and He lives today. I am so thankful for His atoning sacrifice and what He did so that I can become better! 

Love you all and hope you have a great week! :) 

Elder Hall 

 Argentine Sunrise over the ocean! Absolutely gorgeous I couldn't help but think about the second coming of the Savior and how it will be even more beautiful and majestic than this! 

 Mi Distrito! So we had some fun after the district meeting taking all these pictures! I am going to miss all of these missionaries! All of them are amazing! 

Manuel and Dominga! (and my goofy companion!) A great family! haha 

Another Great Week! :)

Buenas Tarders Amigos! 

Well it seems like I just wrote everyone (and I guess compared to some weeks it has been a lot shorter time since I wrote!) but there is alot to talk about! We had a busy weekend, on Friday night we had our first Noche de Hogar en la Capilla (Family Home Evening at the church) and it went great we had a good turn out and were able to enjoy a good lesson, a fun game of uno, and then some delicious argentine sweets after! I always love activities like that to get to spend time with the members! 

On Saturday we went to Pinamar for our zone conference! It was a great day full of learning and enjoying time with the other missionaries and getting to hear from President Thurgood. Everytime I have the opportunity to listen to him I admire him even more and am just always reminded of how lucky I am to have been blessed to be sent here at this time while he presides over our mission. We didn´t make it back home until about 8 o clock that night, and so we went to go clean up in the chapel and get it prepared for church the next Sunday! 

President Thurgood had informed us the week before that he, his wife, and a senior couple who work in the offices were going to be coming to San Clemente on Sunday to be with us in the church meetings so we wanted everything to be nice and prepared. We spent all week inviting a bunch of people to come and explaining the importance of them attending this meeting and I had a feeling that it was going to be a great meeting and that we were going to fill our little place! We got their early Sunday morning to triple check that everything was in order and then started the ¨dulce espera¨ (sweet await) for the members to show up. I wasn´t nervous more then anything excited because I knew that it was going to be full. Well as we started the sacrament meeting we had 31 people in our chapel! It was so full that one guy had to stand outside! I knew we were going to fill it up!! :) 

I was able to bear my testimony because next week is General Conference and we wont have meetings in San Clemente and President informed me that I am going to be getting transferred. It was such a great way to end my last Sunday in San Clemente. The sister who chose the music with out even knowing I was going to be leaving chose ¨Para siempre Dios esté con vos¨ or in english ¨God be with you till we meet again¨ I was in charge of running the CD player for the hymns and as I sat looking over all of the people and singing that song I just started bawling. I love the people here so much and we have all worked so hard to get our little chapel growing. I know without a doubt that the work will keep on progressing here, adn that very soon San Clemente will have it´s own chapel. What a marvelous blessing I have had to work here in San Clemente! 

The other great blessing was Sunday afternoon I get a call from the Elders in Spegazzini, they were having lunch with the Morales Family and they called to inform that Tatiana finally was baptized and that the family is still doing good and progressing with the goal to enter the temple. I wanted to cry I miss them so much and just love that family with all my heart it was so great to know that Tatiana finally got baptized! Overall it was a wonderful day and just a great blessing in general! 

We are out of time! Have a great week everyone! You can check out my blog elderbrennenhall.blogspot.com for pics of Neli´s baptism and some of the other adventures we have had! Love you all! 

 Well this was my last cooking adventure yes that is a cow heart! No you don´t want to make cow heart empanadas. Lets just say that adventure didn´t quite lead to the land of delicousness! 

 Our Chapel! :) 

Neli´s Baptism!

 More baptism pics! 

 The last of her baptismal pics! And then the start of the party at her house afterwards! Neli and her sister, and then all of us eating that night! 

 These are two investigators from Quilmes I got to know them here in San Clemente back in November and then they came back for this last month. I love them so much, no one will understand the depth of the discussions that we had and everything that we shared! They are such amazing people! I will always remember Adriana, Miguel, and Tito (the dog)! 

 Hermano and Hermana Garcia had their 25th wedding anniversary and because of the circumstances when they got married they didn´t even have a cake and so when we made the wedding cake for Alejandro and Sylvia I told her that I was going to make her a cake! They took the traditional feeding each other cake pic, so my companion said we needed to do the same! hahaha 

Movin on up!! :)

(email from March 25, 2015)

Buenas Tardes Queridos,

Well this week is a little different because it is Wednesday, after putting my mom through what I imagine was a small attack of the nerves from not hearing from me until today I am finally able to write! Monday and Tuesday were some kind of Argentine Holiday so we changed our PDay to Wednesday this week and I forgot to let everyone know! But thats ok, my mom showed her care by emailing the mission offices, so I definitely will be hearing about it when I see Presidente and Hermana Thurgood on Saturday! :) hahaha

This week we had a good week. I am pretty sure that because I am like 90% sure I am leaving San Clemente on April 6, it makes time go by even faster because I don´t want to leave! The weeks and days just fly by so fast it is just outrageous. In church we had 24 people a mixture of members and investigators and there was such a sweet spirit. I think every one can feel the love and although we are a small group the spirit was strong and we left church feeling so uplifted. Every Sunday I just get kinda choked up as I sit and look over the members and thank the Lord for the many blessing that He has given us here in San Clemente!

ANOTHER GREAT ANOUNCEMENT! La Hermana Nelida Gasibe was baptized this Friday! What an amazing opportunity to participate in her baptism. It was a simple service in the afternoon and the spirit was super strong. My companion performed the ordinance and the sweet little lady got pretty emotional afterwards. That night we went to her house along with 5 or 6 other members and we ate and just enjoyed the night. Neli shared a few words and it was a great end to the day.

On Sunday I had the privilege of confirming Neli a member of the Church and giving her the gift of the holy ghost. I prayed every single day and every single night that she would be able to feel the spirit and that when she was confirmed a member it would give her an even stronger confirmation of what she was doing. It was an amazing experience to be able to put my hands upon her head and using the authority of the holy Melchizedek priesthood  to confirm her and to give her a blessing. The spirit was present as we all place are hands upon her head and I felt the guidance of the Holy Ghost as I blessed this wonderful lady that forever has impacted my life. I gotta say sometimes just a handshake is not enough especially when you grow to love someone so much, I wanted to give her a big hug but with tears in her eyes she just grabbed my hand and told me, ¨Gracias, muchas gracias Elder Hall¨ The rest of the meetings were filled with a wonderful spirit. Neli is the first person to be baptized in San Clemente in about two years. I don´t claim any credit to anything that has happened since I have been here, honestly it could have been any missionary I just happened to have had the luck to get sent here right when God opened up the gates and let the blessings come flooding in to this area!

This Sunday President Thurgood and his wife are coming to the meetings, and because of the amount of people that are already attending church there is already talk about looking for an even bigger place. No one expected we would have such a turn out. I have been telling everyone for almost 6 months now that the Lord was preparing San Clemente and that is was about ready to take off. Speaking honestly, there were alot of people who didn´t believe me, or who thought, ¨this is what every missionary says when he gets into an area that is really progressing..¨ I think the thought might have even crossed Pres. Thurgood´s mind, but I knew it was true! I have felt it since I got here I just never thought I was going to see it.

This last week we have also had some great lessons with some investigators that I got to know in November when they came for vacations, and then at the beginning of the month they came back to the coast! So we have had quite a few discussions with them. They were super evangelicals before but their pastor robbed them of a ton of money all of course ¨in the name of god¨ and so they stopped going. Well then the missionaries found them and they started listening, and now they are are the road to conversion. Adriana already has a testimony of the Book of Mormon, and excepts everything, her husband Miguel during this last month started to read the Book of Mormon, and he promised to go to church with us this Sunday! 

So we are really seeing the two ends of the spectrum the baptism of the catholic of Catholics and a huge leap in the process of conversion in the lives of two devout evangelicals and all because of the Book of Mormon. The power and spirit that this book contains changes lives. It allows each and every one of us to gain a testimony that God speaks to all of His children, and it helps us to understand the wonders of His eternal plan, but most of all the Book of Mormon helps us to grow closer to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I add my testimony along with the testimonies of millions of people around the world that the Book of Mormon truly is the word of God, as we study it and the Bible we receive the fullness of the Gospel and we can achieve a higher level of peace and happiness in our lives. I am grateful for my Savior and for what He did for me, words are never enough to describe how I truly feel, I am also grateful that He has allowed me to have a knowledge and testimony of these things in this moment of my life and this great opportunity to share this gospel with others. Read the Book it will change your life, I promise.

Hope everyone has a great week! Love you all!

Elder Hall 

What a Wonderful Week!

Muy Buenos Días :) 

As I always I hope this, the 75 edition of Elder Hall´s Weekly Update, finds you in good health and even better spirits! This week we had a fantastic week. I couldn´t have asked for much better. We spent a ton of time working on things in the church cleaning, painting, more cleaning, fixing things up, then some more painting.... There were a few moments when I thought we were never going to get done. It didn´t help that my random OCD kicked in and I wanted everything to be perfect (I think there might have been a few moments that my companion wanted to choke me hahaha) 

We were able to get everything done and the Pensioneros (the missionaries who are in charge of all the apartments and our building) told us the chairs and tables were going to get there on friday. Well friday comes and goes and nothing! So we called and they said Saturday at 7am truck was leaving from Buenos Aires with all the stuff. I was kinda worried for as last minute as it was especially because literally anything that could have happened to stop us from opening has happened during the last 5 months. Well sure enough like 7:05 we get a call, ¨Umm Elderes do you guys know anyone who has a truck that could go down to the other church building and get you guys chairs, the guys truck broke down just as they were about to leave. (I believe at this moment I had finished with my morning prayers and was still knelt down thinking when the phone rang. My companion was in our bedroom to and after I hung up with them and banging my head a few times against my bed I explained what happened.... (Thinking back it was kinda funny!)

Luckily there was some hermanos from Pinamar (one of the District Counselor´s brothers) who was able to come with his little brother and bring us up chairs Saturday night! (They weren´t able to bring tables though.) So its 9:30, 10pm and we are making phone calls trying to figure out what we are going to do for tables and it was kinda a mess. In the end we got it all solved! 

Sunday morning luckily there was no problems! We got up went early and organized all the chairs. We had 20 people come for the first day (just to compare in Santa Teresita where the actual chapel has been for like 10 years had 32) this was our first day in 8 years having the official church meetings. It was so awesome because Hermano and Hermana Romero attended church. They are the ones whose house we painted. They are basically the pioneers of San Clemente they were baptized in 1993, and the very first meetings were held in their house. Hermano Juan Romero was the branch president for years. About 15 years ago he had a serious stroke that left him halfway paralyzed. Over the years of being so sick his health has deteriorated and barely says a few words. It was a miracle to get him there yesterday, and his wife got up and shared a small testimony with everyone. The hermano was so happy and although he couldn´t express it we saw it in his face and I am pretty sure there was one moment when I put my arm around him that he almost cried. It was such an amazing experience. 

We left the church with such an amazing feeling of peace and happiness, a feeling I haven´t felt quite that strong in a long time. The looks of joy on all the members face were priceless and it made every single struggle and effort we have put into this 100 percent worth it. I can not express how much I love the people and just the entire area of San Clemente. The Lord has blessed me so much just to have the opportunity to be here during this time! I will be honest I never thought I would see so  much change so fast! 

Funny side story about sunday is that most of our members haven´t attended LDS meetings in over 8 years and so with the lack of our church in San Clemente went to Evangelical Churches for awhile. (Cultural note: In Argentina evangelicals are very animated while they worship they are know for shouting out halleluyas and praising the lords in a more expressive manner.) So we get to the closing prayer and on the back row we just have members saying, ¨Halleluya, gloria a Dios! Amen, Señor!¨ (Halleluya, glory to god, Amen Lord!) not super loud but definetly noticeable and I almost lost it laughing. Just because our meetings our know for being a bit more serious and well we just don´t do that. So it was super funny!  

The other announcment for this week is that on Friday Nelly is going to be getting baptized! Finally everything has worked out and she has made the decision to be baptized. She asked my companion to baptize her, and I will have the opportunity to confirm her a member of the church of Sunday. I am so happy to see the change that this little old lady has had, I wish you all could get to know her because she is a spunky hilarious old lady with a super knowledge of the Bible, and a firm testimony of the truth of the Book of Mormon! :) 

I am just so happy, it is a wonderful time to be in the service of the Lord. It is terrible how fast time is going by, especially knowing that I am probably out of here in 3 weeks. It makes me sad but I also know that the Lord has a plan, and I trust in Him! What a great time to be a member of the church and just to have the blessings that we have as the world tosses and tumbles around in confusion and doubt, we can have a firm and steady path that leads us to peace and happiness in this life and in the life to come. Queridos amigos don´t give up, keep fighting, and strive to follow the Savior. As we do what He has asked we will be blessed, and we are going to be alot happier. Have a great week! Love you all! 

Elder Hall  

Well We´re Going to Have a Capilla This Week! :)

March 9, 2015

Hey Everyody! 

Well because of a strange series of circumstances I don´t have a ton of time today for a good weekly update, but at least for something brief I do have time! We had some awesome intercambios with the Zone Leaders I got to check out Pinamar! (Pics next week!) it is beautiful! And because of a few problems with buses we had to extend it, so I didn´t get back here till friday! Well friday night i got crazy sick! And have been trying to get better since then! (I am alot better today though!) The great news is that this sunday we are going to be opening up in San Clemente it is official and we almost have everything ready to go! I can´t even express how happy we are! Anyways next week will be alot better update! Love you all!

Elder Hall

(What Elder Hall failed to mention is the reason for his sickness!)  This is Giardi he is one of the parasites that is now living in me, he made me horribly sick this last weekend, and for the next 5 days I will have to be well medicated to try and get rid of it! YUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Could I really have hit 18 months this last week?

March 2, 2015

Hola Todos,

Man well as you all can see in the title I hit 18 months on Saturday. I will be honest when I was first starting out my mission I thought I would never make it to this point. It was like an unreachable place that felt like it would take an eternity to get to. Now with every week I get more anxious knowing that my time here in San Clemente is pretty well limited. (I mean I am never 100 percent sure, but it is like 90 percent sure that I will leave the next transfer) and I just don´t know if the time I have left is enough to do everything I feel I need to do! 

Some good news and bad news on the building for the church! The good news is that they sent a team down from Buenos Aires to start painting and fixing things up! They are working hard, and are doing what they can. The bad news is that we figured out in the process of things the main water pipe is broke, and there are some electric problems to fix! YIKES! They did say that they are going to try to do everything possible to get it done before the end of this week so we will see what happens! We are praying that we inaugurate it this sunday! :) 

Nelly is back in San Clemente and we had a great family home evening with her and the family that invited her to learn about the church. It went so well and we were able to feel the spirit so strong. She has a baptismal date for the 28 of March, and I think she is ready to bust down the gates of heck inorder to get into that Baptismal Font. She´s already got her plans to go out and look for the less actives and to go visit investigators with us and she isn´t even a member of the church! 

I am enjoy the new experience of being District Leader as well, it has helped me focus in on things and learn alot more. I have enjoyed getting to plan  out our hour and a half to two hour district meetings each week, and have the chance to learn and share some of the things that I have learned in my mission. On Saturday I had the opportunity to have my first Baptismal Interview. It was a guy named Jose Tome, from españa. The crazy thing about Jose is that he is 94 almost 95 years old! The sisters in my district have been teaching him for a little over a month, and at such an old age he made the decision to get baptized. He is a great man with a very simple testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. It was a neat experience to talk with him, and really to try and feel if he was ready to make such a sacred covenant with the Lord. Sometimes it amazes me the things that the Lord trusts in 18, 19, and 20 year old kids! 

Have a great week! 

Elder Hall  

A New Transfer For Us Missionarys and a Rejuvenated Hope for San Clemente!

February 23, 2015

Buenas Tardes mis queridos familiares y amigos! 

Hemos tenido una semana de mucho exito y estamos muy felices! :) We had a great week this week, lots of success and great news, and I gotta say my companion and I are pretty darn happy! Well to start things off today is the beginning of a new transfer and they let us know that Elder Ridgley and I will be staying together! :) It is pretty crazy to think about how few transfers I have left in the mission, truth to be told it makes me kinda sick to think about it, so I try not to! Lots of friends are on their way home today including my second companion Elder De Loayza! In all 28 missionaries are heading home today a HUGE group so many that they actually had to close quite a few areas because there wasn´t enough missionaries to fill them all. Next transfer there will also be quite a few that head home and the same will happen! So it will be interesting to see what happens! 

Saturday was a great day our investigator Nelly got back from Buenos Aires and said that she was going to be staying for at least all of the month of March, she also told us that she would be getting baptized this month! :) I swear Angels are going to come down from heaven when this little lady gets baptized we have nicknamed her,¨La Esperanza de San Clemente¨ which in english would be the Hope of San Clemente. We all just know that when she gets baptized because of the energy and desires that she has to serve the Lord she will help to change everything!

Which brings me to the other big announcement on saturday I called the Elders who are in charge of all the apartments and who were working on the contract for the new place here in San Clemente to find out if they were able to sign the contract on Friday. The elder told me,¨ya you guys can go pick up the keys today its ready to go!¨ I was shocked I figured we still had like 2 more weeks until we would have the keys, but the Lord definetly helped the process out and it got done faster! So we went and picked up the keys and checked out our new church! :) We were SO happy! We are hoping that in about 3 weeks we will have the church reading to go, I have put a date of 22 de Marzo for our opening sunday but it could be a little bit later! :) 

We are also super happy because finally february is almost over! Which means that all of the tourists go home, and the members quit working, and they stop having an excuse to not go to church or be home! Which is why Elder Ridgley and I truly have a rejuvenated hope for san clemente, I finally feel like after more then 4 and a half months of struggling, and fighting to get things going the Lord has finally put everything into place so that this area can succeed, my only prayer is that this happens and the members realize the great blessing that the Lord truly has given them! :) 

Hope you all are doing great and have a great week! Love ya all! 

Elder Hall 

Our Big Asado a few weeks back! 

We got some serious sun burns out cutting a sisters grass the other day!! OWW!