My Last P-Day at the MTC??

Hola! :)

(I want to start this out with a disclaimer, my spelling has gotten bad, because I am mixing two languages up! Especially with the words that are really close! )

Well I don't know where time goes! It is already my last P-day here at the MTC (Hopefully, I will address that a little later on!) It seriously seems like just the other day my parents kicked me to the curb, and I was off on this whirl wind adventure that they call a mission! This Sunday was Fast Sunday, (for non-members of the Mormon Church, this is where after dinner Saturday night we stop eating and drinking, until dinner Sunday. It is just a way we sacrifice something so small each month, in similitude of what Jesus sacrificed for us.) My first Sunday here was Fast Sunday, and as I said in last weeks update, we got a new District in. I had the opportunity to go up, and share my testimony, with our entire zone and to this new district. and as I said in last weeks update, we got a new District in. I had the opportunity to go up, and share my testimony, with our entire zone and to this new district. I told them that exactly a month ago, I was in their shoes, and I was fighting through some pretty tough homesickness, and honestly didn't know if I was going to be able to do this. Now many of you, have heard me talk about this, but it hitting me as I was in front of about 30 people or so, talking about the beginning of my MTC experience that I realized, how much I really have loved it. I have a purpose now, and I am excited to get to go out into the real world, and find an even deeper purpose. 

One of the hardest, if not the hardest part of knowing I am leaving the MTC soon, is saying goodbye to my companion Elder Durham. Over the past 5+ weeks, we have become like brothers. And I know that he will be a friend I will have for the rest of my life. I know that the Lord, had his hand in placing us together as a companionship, because as much as I love all of the other Elders in my district, Elder Durham is the only one that I could be around so much! (It is a little strange talking about someone who is not family like this, but after being with each other 24/7 for the last 37 days, you either grow to hate each other, or become like brothers.) He has been such a blessing in my life, and I thank my Heavenly Father each day, for letting me to have such a great first companion!

VISA UPDATE: Well there isn't much to update. Literally everything is up in the air on this one. Our Visas still have not been approved, as of yesterday. We are supposed to leave on Monday. So reassignments are made on Thursdays, and Fridays, well all temporary reassignments have to be approved by a member of the Quorum of 12 Apostles (The twelve men who lead our church, who are directly under the President, and his two counselors of the church), well depending on how many reassignments need to be made they may not get them all approved. So if we do not get a reassignment today or tomorrow, then we will be in the MTC, at least until next week. BUT (I know these options are getting a little crazy!) if our Visas happen to come in at anytime before we actually leave for our reassignment we will head to Argentina. So pretty much anything could happen right now. Thank you for all of the prayers, and everything though. Please feel free to say another, that we will get sent where the Lord wants us to go! I would be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed our Visas weren't in, however I know that it is in the Lord's hands and what happens, happens for a reason! 

I also received some questions about how it is that we find people to teach here when there is so many missionaries. When ever I talk about our investigators, they are MTC teachers, all of the people that I have talked about are just MTC Teachers. Along the lines of MTC teachers, our main teacher Hermana Heinzen, had her baby last thursday, a month early so we didn't get to say goodbye, and were all pretty sad about it. Well yesterday, she suprised us, and walked up three flights of stairs to come and say good bye to us all! It was so nice, she has been such a great example to me, and has helped me a lot when I have struggled! 

This week, we learned about the importance of teaching the commandments, and learning how they really help us and affect us. I realized something, commandments are not burdens on us, they are blessings. When someone is breaking the law of chastity, it opens them up to a world of pain, and insecurity. As we talked about a scenario of a man who was breaking the law of chastity outside of his marriage, we realized how much it really affected him. His job suffered from it, he was not committed to his family or wife because he felt to guilty, and when he was home all he did was drink to escape the pain. If this poor man, would only have stayed loyal to his wife, and not broke that simple law, his marriage could have been saved, he would have a closer relationship with his children, and he wouldn't have to turn to substances to escape the pain. Commandments truly are blessings in our lives, from the Word of Wisdom (The no coffee, alcohol, and other things commandment for members of the church), to honoring our parents. The vast majority of all of life's problems could be solved if we would just follow the commandments. I think that all of us should do our best to not look at these as burdens, and why should I follow these, to why wouldn't I follow theses! 

I am hoping that with in the next day or two, I get to send out another update on where I am headed or the status of my visa, but until then you are all in my thoughts, and I pray that the Lord will continue to bless us all as we strive to be the best week can be! 

Con Amor,

Elder Hall