The beginning of this week was like taking a bag of sand, tearing open
the top, tossing it into the air, and seeing how much of the sand
stayed in the bag. One can only hope there is still sand in that bag
after what it has gone through. Amazingly, a lot of sand stayed in the
bag. The centripetal momentum must have made an impressively
consistent vector strong enough to withstand the incongruent
trajectories of gravity and wind.
Monday Elder Wwent home and my other companion, Elder S,
went home as well. Leaving Elder T and I looking at each other
and wondering, "how long will we be companions?" The answer: not long
enough. The two of us grew close in the few days that we had spent
together. sometimes friends are made the strangest of times. I am
putting in a picture of the two of us after our final day together. We
spent five days as companions.
For now, I will talk about my new companion, Elder Y. I met him on
Wednesday at our mission president's last zone conference. He is from
Washington. Just a little shorter than I am, but a little
tanner than I. No worries. Just got out of training. He is a Spanish
speaker! And he is pretty good at it. Pobracito, Tuesday night he got
a call from the assistants to the president that he was being
emergency transferred to Round Rock. Wednesday morning he showed up,
coming from Del Rio, Texas. Del Rio is literally the furthest point
possible you can get from Round Rock within mission boundaries. It is
4 and some odd hours of freeway between the two, as well as two of the
biggest cities in the United States. President S could have
chosen any of the 140 Elders in the field closer to me than he was,
but that was not in the plans. As far as I can tell, my new companion
is here for good reason. And I am glad that he is here. He is a great
person and full of service. He knows what to do and is very
optimistic. I'm proud to be his companion.
Next Saturday we are having a baptism for one of the T boys. He
is super excited, and the best part, his dad is going to baptize him.
It is a wonder to see this man, who was less active only a few months
ago, have the ability to baptize his son in worthiness. What a
blessing to watch this repentance process.
There has been a massive amount of food sent to our apartment since
Elder W took a spill. Why? I guess when a missionary crashes on
his bike and goes home, it is the or perfect time to make food for his
companions, even after he's gone home. Hey, I'm not complaining. There
has been some amazing food brought to our door. In fact, we were
having a hard time saving it all. At one point, we just had too much
to throw in the fridge, so we cracked open the fridge and switched up
the usual breakfast items. I had chocolate cake and Sprite, and my
companion had Gatorade and roast beef sandwich with potato salad. It
wasn't so much because that's what we wanted for breakfast, it was
mainly so we could make room in the fridge. Some other things at
members have brought over and we're trying to eat: an extra large
Costco pizza, two 12 packs of Gatorade, chicken soup, banana pudding,
cookie dough, ice cream, milkshakes galore, lunchables, and Hoody's
subs (which is the best place to eat in Round Rock. If you go to Round
Rock for a Texan experience, get Rudy's, Torchy's and Salt Lick
somewhere else. Hoody's is the place to go. It is amazing. The best
sandwiches you'll get. Absolutely great). There's just a lot of food.
Good thing I'm trying to gain weight.
Yes, I understand I am absolutely spoiled.
In truth, all this food came not because we begged, or asked for any
of this, it is not because we pretending we were helpless
missionaries, it is because the members of the church in this area
love missionary work, and they want it to be successful. We are the
image of missionary work. They truly care for the work of salvation
and have a desire to serve, and so they serve us. It is wonderful. In
this area I have found a higher effectiveness of missionary work,
lasting bonds of preaching the gospel. It is amazing to see what an
impression one can make on another's heart.
I want to end this buckshot email with a thought I had during my
personal study this morning. I was reading from the Book of Mormon and
thought to myself, "I love this book. I am so thankful I can read it
every day. It reminded me of an invitation a stake president extended
to the congregation. "I challenge all of you to read the Book of
Mormon every day for the rest of your life." I was thinking about how
wonderful it was to do so when I realized in panic, "I didn't read
from the Book of Mormon yesterday!" I was saddened, almost depressed
that I missed a day where I didn't read that amazing book, when I
remembered that I shared the story in Helaman 5 with our dinner
appointment that night. Relief rushed over me as I realized that I
still was keeping the challenge extended for another day.
I have a testimony of The Book of Mormon. If you don't, get one. Why?
Because it's message is filled with more hope and peace than any other
message you can hear. It is written for us to know who God really is,
and how he deals with his people. Thank God for the Book of Mormon.
And Joseph Smith is a good guy too.
Elder Richard Hall
1. Elder T and I, in a photo where I look completely and fully
like a missionary.
2. My new companion and I
the top, tossing it into the air, and seeing how much of the sand
stayed in the bag. One can only hope there is still sand in that bag
after what it has gone through. Amazingly, a lot of sand stayed in the
bag. The centripetal momentum must have made an impressively
consistent vector strong enough to withstand the incongruent
trajectories of gravity and wind.
Monday Elder Wwent home and my other companion, Elder S,
went home as well. Leaving Elder T and I looking at each other
and wondering, "how long will we be companions?" The answer: not long
enough. The two of us grew close in the few days that we had spent
together. sometimes friends are made the strangest of times. I am
putting in a picture of the two of us after our final day together. We
spent five days as companions.
For now, I will talk about my new companion, Elder Y. I met him on
Wednesday at our mission president's last zone conference. He is from
Washington. Just a little shorter than I am, but a little
tanner than I. No worries. Just got out of training. He is a Spanish
speaker! And he is pretty good at it. Pobracito, Tuesday night he got
a call from the assistants to the president that he was being
emergency transferred to Round Rock. Wednesday morning he showed up,
coming from Del Rio, Texas. Del Rio is literally the furthest point
possible you can get from Round Rock within mission boundaries. It is
4 and some odd hours of freeway between the two, as well as two of the
biggest cities in the United States. President S could have
chosen any of the 140 Elders in the field closer to me than he was,
but that was not in the plans. As far as I can tell, my new companion
is here for good reason. And I am glad that he is here. He is a great
person and full of service. He knows what to do and is very
optimistic. I'm proud to be his companion.
Next Saturday we are having a baptism for one of the T boys. He
is super excited, and the best part, his dad is going to baptize him.
It is a wonder to see this man, who was less active only a few months
ago, have the ability to baptize his son in worthiness. What a
blessing to watch this repentance process.
There has been a massive amount of food sent to our apartment since
Elder W took a spill. Why? I guess when a missionary crashes on
his bike and goes home, it is the or perfect time to make food for his
companions, even after he's gone home. Hey, I'm not complaining. There
has been some amazing food brought to our door. In fact, we were
having a hard time saving it all. At one point, we just had too much
to throw in the fridge, so we cracked open the fridge and switched up
the usual breakfast items. I had chocolate cake and Sprite, and my
companion had Gatorade and roast beef sandwich with potato salad. It
wasn't so much because that's what we wanted for breakfast, it was
mainly so we could make room in the fridge. Some other things at
members have brought over and we're trying to eat: an extra large
Costco pizza, two 12 packs of Gatorade, chicken soup, banana pudding,
cookie dough, ice cream, milkshakes galore, lunchables, and Hoody's
subs (which is the best place to eat in Round Rock. If you go to Round
Rock for a Texan experience, get Rudy's, Torchy's and Salt Lick
somewhere else. Hoody's is the place to go. It is amazing. The best
sandwiches you'll get. Absolutely great). There's just a lot of food.
Good thing I'm trying to gain weight.
Yes, I understand I am absolutely spoiled.
In truth, all this food came not because we begged, or asked for any
of this, it is not because we pretending we were helpless
missionaries, it is because the members of the church in this area
love missionary work, and they want it to be successful. We are the
image of missionary work. They truly care for the work of salvation
and have a desire to serve, and so they serve us. It is wonderful. In
this area I have found a higher effectiveness of missionary work,
lasting bonds of preaching the gospel. It is amazing to see what an
impression one can make on another's heart.
I want to end this buckshot email with a thought I had during my
personal study this morning. I was reading from the Book of Mormon and
thought to myself, "I love this book. I am so thankful I can read it
every day. It reminded me of an invitation a stake president extended
to the congregation. "I challenge all of you to read the Book of
Mormon every day for the rest of your life." I was thinking about how
wonderful it was to do so when I realized in panic, "I didn't read
from the Book of Mormon yesterday!" I was saddened, almost depressed
that I missed a day where I didn't read that amazing book, when I
remembered that I shared the story in Helaman 5 with our dinner
appointment that night. Relief rushed over me as I realized that I
still was keeping the challenge extended for another day.
I have a testimony of The Book of Mormon. If you don't, get one. Why?
Because it's message is filled with more hope and peace than any other
message you can hear. It is written for us to know who God really is,
and how he deals with his people. Thank God for the Book of Mormon.
And Joseph Smith is a good guy too.
Elder Richard Hall
1. Elder T and I, in a photo where I look completely and fully
like a missionary.
2. My new companion and I
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