tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46355469594817125102024-02-06T22:10:01.266-08:00Deep in the Heart: Elder Richard HallAnd if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!
- D&C 18:15Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974233866182491774noreply@blogger.comBlogger96125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4635546959481712510.post-53913798075518683742017-06-26T19:22:00.002-07:002017-06-26T19:32:10.175-07:00Remember that place in Texas<div class="body undoreset" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1498529061552_55748" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; display: table; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-top: 12px; width: 567px;" tabindex="0">
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I wish I had more time to write, but due to a hefty nudge from some</div>
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missionaries in the district we went to the Alamo with the senior</div>
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couples in our district. I wasn't too interested until I found out</div>
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that my old companion was coming along, and that the long</div>
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restricted-for-missionaries area of the river walk in San Antonio has</div>
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officially been open by the new mission president. Knowing I don't</div>
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have much time left in Texas, Elder P and I pulled the trigger on</div>
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the trip. It was fun, especially to cajole with my old friend, but it</div>
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left little time for much else.</div>
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This week I was doing some thinking while looking out at a Texan</div>
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sunset. The evenings here are always so picturesque. It's almost like</div>
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you were painting a Western movie every night. I was sitting in the</div>
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car on the way back to the apartment and thought, "there's nowhere</div>
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else I'd rather be, and somehow I'm supposed to change my mind about</div>
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that in a few weeks." Being a missionary has to be best two years of</div>
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my life. There has been nothing like it. There are moments that are</div>
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seared into me that will stay for the rest of my life. I have been a</div>
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full time missionary for the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day</div>
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Saints for 23.5 months now, and you'd think that I'd have everything</div>
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figured out, or it would become dull, but every day I learn something</div>
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new, and every day I am amazed. Amazed at many things.</div>
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One of our wards has a slew of pest control salesman attending for the</div>
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summer. They invited us over for dinner last night. Every person who</div>
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works for the company is a return missionary. We were sitting in a</div>
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couch in an apartment in South Austin with 10 other young adults</div>
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having spiritual conversation. I thought, "there's no way this could</div>
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be happening without a mission. 12 20-25 year olds having a powerful</div>
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conversation about temples and discipleship comes only with a love of</div>
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the mission." It was true. These men and women- all of which are</div>
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return missionaries of 18 months or less- gave some council for when I</div>
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return home. I trust them. They are all good people.</div>
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I've been pondering much about countenance. The wife of our first</div>
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mission president always talked about countenances. I think I'm</div>
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beginning to understand what she was talking about,</div>
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Elder Richard Hall</div>
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1. The Riverwalk</div>
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Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974233866182491774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4635546959481712510.post-47631434438304231762017-06-26T19:16:00.003-07:002017-06-26T19:16:25.429-07:00Hard to Find the Right Words<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1498529061552_34222" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
I'm going to preface this with letting you know that there will most</div>
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likely be no email next week, as departing missionaries' last P-day is</div>
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cut short, and I am going to be spending much of it</div>
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packing-cleaning-cajoling with some mission buddies who are</div>
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serendipitously nearby. If there is an email, it will mainly consist</div>
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of photos of the baptism and some brief comments. This is, well, it.</div>
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Happy Fathers' Day. It's easy for me to say now, and still funny to</div>
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say it, but I love my Dad. As I ought to. He's taught me a lot, and</div>
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more good than bad. Currently two of my brothers are Dads, and by</div>
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looking at their children they seem to be doing good for themselves.</div>
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Here's to my family, which is a little too perfect to be real.</div>
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Luckily, they are a little too real to be perfect.</div>
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One of my BYU roommates (Cole, for Callie's sake, since she knew him),</div>
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once turned to me while we were studying, and said "I now realize what</div>
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my mission president meant when he told me that I'd want to be a</div>
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father after the mission." My mission president has not said that, but</div>
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if he did I'd believe him. I'll believe anything my mission president</div>
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says.</div>
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My brother once wrote to me saying that if you are obedient and pay</div>
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attention that your mission president can be a "second father" figure.</div>
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What a tender thought to allow someone to be a piece of your family.</div>
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As much as we joke around with others and call each other at church,</div>
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it is a sacred honor to be called "brother", "father", "mom",</div>
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"sister." I have found wisdom, love, and joy from my mission</div>
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presidents. I do not mind calling them a "second father".</div>
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<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
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Saturday will include the last baptismal service of my mission. It</div>
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will be for Trevor, a 16-year old that we found only 6 weeks ago.</div>
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Since we knocked on his door, which we knew nothing about other than</div>
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the name of his less-active mother, both he and his mother have come</div>
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to church every week, and he wants to baptize his 13-year old brother</div>
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in the coming weeks. It is a great start to a new life for Trevor, and</div>
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a lovely finale to a two year trek for me.</div>
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<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
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Friday we had a special zone conference with Elder Cornish of the 70</div>
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present. It was magnificent. The message he carried was blissful and</div>
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sweet. I was also able to see old mission friends including my trainee</div>
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from long ago. It touched my heart to see how many people reached out</div>
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to me, as this would be the last time I'd see them for a while.</div>
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As excited as I am about all the events and plans and hopes that come</div>
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with returning home (if I can call it home), it's a disheartening</div>
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thought. For one thing, what is home? The place that I've lived the</div>
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longest in the past 3 and a half years is Round Rock, Texas. I have</div>
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been offered by three different families in this area, one that I've</div>
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spent less than 3 months in, to live with them if I ever wanted to</div>
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return to Buda. For the past 4 years my main goal has been to prepare</div>
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to serve a mission. Now that it is over, the daunting thought of</div>
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"what's next?" Has appeared. I have a three month, 1-year, and 5-year</div>
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plan, but we can never be certain.</div>
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<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
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Of all the conference talks I've read and heard on my mission, my</div>
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favorite has been "Knowing That We Know", by Douglas L. Callister.</div>
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When I think of my own testimony, it has melded into his words. They</div>
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may be his, but they are mine as well.</div>
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"The moment of testimony realization--when you know that you know--is</div>
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sweet and sublime. That testimony, if nurtured, will rest upon you as</div>
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a mantle. When we see light, we are engulfed by it. Lights of</div>
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understanding turn on within...</div>
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If you want to know that you know that you know, a price must be paid.</div>
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And you alone must pay that price. There are proxies for ordinances,</div>
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but none for the acquisition of a testimony...</div>
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We should be on our knees every morning and night pleading with the</div>
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Lord that we never lose our faith, our testimony, or our virtue. There</div>
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only has to be one witness, but it must be yourself.</div>
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I have a testimony. It urges to be expressed. I bear witness that the</div>
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power of the living God is in this Church. I know what I know, and my</div>
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witness is true. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen"</div>
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<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1498529061552_34384" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
Elder Richard Hall</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1498529061552_34383" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
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1. A photo of me and other missionaries on our first day in Texas</div>
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2. Elder Herriot and I on exchanges</div>
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3. My trainee and I looking like punks</div>
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4. Remnants of one of the best districts ever</div>
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5. Somewhere in Heaven</div>
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<br /></div>
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Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974233866182491774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4635546959481712510.post-9621672899348814052017-06-06T10:52:00.002-07:002017-06-06T10:52:54.216-07:00My understanding slipped for a while<div aria-labelledby="yui_3_16_0_1_1496771491500_6861 " class="thread-body" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1496771491500_6861" role="presentation" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 4px 26px 0px 27px; word-wrap: break-word;" tabindex="0">
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<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1496771491500_6906" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
We were having the lesson on our investigator's porch. She has a date</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1496771491500_6909" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
to be baptized but needs to live a few commandments before she can,</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1496771491500_6910" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
halfway through inviting her to live one of them, a thought hit my</div>
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mind. "I'm asking this person to change their life. Here I am, talking</div>
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to her for the fifth time in my life, asking her to drop something</div>
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she's done for 40 years so she can be a part of the church. Her life</div>
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will never be the same. Why would she ever want this?"</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1496771491500_6962" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
Finally interrupting the pause, the member finished the invitation for</div>
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me. To which she said yes. I was a mildly surprised. I asked her why</div>
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she wants to. "Well, isn't this what God wants for me?"</div>
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<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
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Of course, but I wasn't expecting you to be so on board with this.</div>
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Something within me, after all of these months of being a missionary,</div>
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forgets that I help people literally redirect their lives towards</div>
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Christ. And I can't believe that they listen to me. And I think, "Have</div>
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I really been doing this for the past two years?" My attitude isn't as</div>
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much serene wonder and awe as it is scratching my head and wondering</div>
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how the heck I got here.</div>
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<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1496771491500_6964" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
A man once stopped Elder M and I on the street. He told us he</div>
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joined the church a year ago and is getting sealed in the temple soon.</div>
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At his work he was having a training on how to help change people's</div>
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lives, because he knew it was possible, thanks to missionaries.</div>
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<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
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I remember the day that I realized why it's important to know the Book</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
of Mormon is the word of God. There's been a sort of ingrained belief</div>
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in the church for much of my life, but when I was around 12 or 13 I</div>
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really started understanding and believing in the church. It took me</div>
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up to age 16 that it hit me, "If the Book of Mormon is true, then this</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
really is the church of Jesus Christ. There really is no greater joy</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
than living the gospel."</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1496771491500_6965" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
From that point I not only lived the gospel, I was wanting others to</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1496771491500_6966" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
live the gospel. I invited less active friends to church and mutual. I</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1496771491500_6967" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
tried to attend the temple every week. I fulfilled my calling the best</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1496771491500_6968" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
I could. I went out with missionaries and began seriously preparing</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1496771491500_6969" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
for my own. The sacrament became so much more special. Why would I</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1496771491500_6991" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
want this? Because it's what God wants for me. He wants me to heel</div>
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happy. He wants me to serve others. It is all part of God's plan.</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1496771491500_6971" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
Knowledge is power only because knowledge leads to an increase of</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1496771491500_6972" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
faith. Faith is the principle of action and power.</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1496771491500_6973" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1496771491500_6974" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
I'm not a genius, or a philosophical wizard, or anything more than</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1496771491500_6975" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
someone with some knowledge and some faith, which is why I still don't</div>
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know exactly how I'm doing this, but this is all real. It's all</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1496771491500_6976" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
wonderfully real.</div>
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<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
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We should be on our knees every morning and night pleading with the</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1496771491500_6977" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
Lord that we never lose our faith, our testimony, or our virtue. If we</div>
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have not received it yet, we need to plead to find it. There only has</div>
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to be one witness, but it must be yourself.</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1496771491500_6980" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1496771491500_6985" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
Elder Richard Hall</div>
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Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974233866182491774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4635546959481712510.post-49200691914382064412017-05-29T15:16:00.001-07:002017-05-29T15:16:07.293-07:00Coming Soon to a Potato Field Near You<div class="body undoreset" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1496095687668_15725" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; display: table; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px; padding-left: 0px; padding-top: 12px; width: 567px;" tabindex="0">
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Sometimes I wonder if people really care about what happened to me</div>
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this week, or if they care more just to hear from me. Describing what</div>
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you did as a missionary is a constant rehashing of what I did for work</div>
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this week. If missionary work was a desk job, emails would be mundane</div>
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and predictable. I like to stray away from travel log- whether to keep</div>
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things sacred or save you from recycling stories-,but if I do that</div>
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often events slowly get forgotten.</div>
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I know that those who take time to read this both care for me and want</div>
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to hear from me, and for that I am grateful. Even if you scroll down</div>
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to look at the pictures first.</div>
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I loved this week. Sometimes, when you get to a point of balance on</div>
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your mission, it becomes an art form. At least, for me it is. Deep</div>
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down inside I picture myself as this passionate painter with the messy</div>
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smock and beret curling his mustache while falling in love with this</div>
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masterpiece I made in the long hours of the night. It's the meeting</div>
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point of the me right above it, this goofball who loves bad jokes, and</div>
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the one below it, a philosopher thinking on a rock in the desert</div>
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night.</div>
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At any rate, this week was a masterpiece. Everything went the way it</div>
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should. Friday and Saturday we had back to back Preach my Gospel</div>
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perfect lessons with two of our progressing investigators. Both of</div>
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them want to be baptized and even agreed to a date. Heading out of</div>
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both of the lessons I thought to myself, "That went too well. There's</div>
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something wrong." Then again, I've said that with just about every</div>
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person that I have seen enter into the waters of baptism. There's a</div>
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small amount who didn't make it. My heart feels for them, but good</div>
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things happen. They happen all the time.</div>
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Thursday we had an important lesson with an investigator. He's been</div>
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looking into the church for almost a year now and after keeping all</div>
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the commitments he's made he hasn't made up his mind. Last week we</div>
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asked him to write down all of his questions, to which he said, "If I</div>
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knew the Book of Mormon was true, I wouldn't have any." Dang right,</div>
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Jai. The bishop of the Ward bore one of the most powerful testimonies</div>
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I've heard. Memorable night.</div>
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This week I ponderized Moroni 7:48. That one verse standing alone</div>
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could sustain a discourse on resurrection and the nature of God.</div>
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Reading Moroni 7 altogether, it's the grand finale of a symphony, or</div>
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less artistic, it is the bacon at the end of the all-you-can-eat</div>
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breakfast bar, or more entertaining, it is the Steph Curry 40-foot 3</div>
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to close off a blowout. All of these metaphors are needed to describe</div>
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how great this scripture is.</div>
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I have been quite happy lately. Just, happy.</div>
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Elder Richard Hall</div>
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Sorry people who scroll down to the pictures first.</div>
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Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974233866182491774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4635546959481712510.post-44511161850370965832017-05-26T07:52:00.003-07:002017-05-26T07:52:52.135-07:00Pass the Oreos Over Here<div class="body undoreset" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1495809524511_8389" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: table; outline: none 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-top: 12px; width: 567px;" tabindex="0">
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Joseph Smith liked to call himself a "rough stone, rolling". He was always a tremendous example of humility and obedience. If he was a rough stone rolling, then I am a boulder crashing through the forest. I remember what my first mission president said he'd like to have on his tombstone. "James E. Slaughter, friend of Joseph Smith." Why would anyone who is living 150 years after Joseph Smith died want to be known as his friend? Perhaps it is because when you learn about someone as amazing as him, you'd want to spend as much time with him and learning of him as possible. That's what's true for me. President Slaughter also wanted "Praise to the Man" to be played at his funeral- not for him, but for Joseph. That's a heck of a thought. </span><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1495809524511_12183" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
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This week was excellent. It was one of those weeks that you dream of as a missionary. Faith-based and Spirit-led. A whole lot of work, and a whole lot of fun. We had beautiful lessons with our investigators, and had perfect execution working with members of the Ward. We had a good amount of people attend sacrament meeting, and all of them came out loving it, probably more than I did. I always wonder what is going on in the hearts of our investigators. What are they thinking? How are they feeling? What can I do for them? How can I make this the best hour of their life? This is some of the most important moments of their lives, and I am a key part of this. I am the conductor of this religious experience for them, and the notes have to be hit, the rhythm can't be too fast, the intonation just right. This week everything had a pretty ring to it. </div>
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With my time running short, I've been trying to throw all my wisdom onto my humble companion, Elder P<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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. There's a conflict within me though as I begin relaying information. "Let him find out on his own. It'll be better for him"/"You need to give him this knowledge now"/"What is he ready for?" different thoughts float around in my mind. If I do not give away this knowledge I have, it may be wasted. If I give it away improperly, it'll be lost anyways. How can I make this special to him? What is most important? The amount of advice I give narrows, but becomes more powerful.</div>
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I'm glad that I am surrounded by excellent examples, both of friends and family. When people ask about my family, I usually end up telling them more than they wanted. Hopefully it doesn't sound arrogant or flaunting, but I like to talk about them. They've known me for 20 years, and they don't just tolerate me, they're actually willing to help me! They're good people. </div>
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I've been trying very hard to do things the right way. I've been trying to fulfill the Lord's vision the best way I can for the past 23 months, but even more so these past few weeks. About a year ago I began striving to be transparent. Even longer ago I tried to find the balance. I learned transparency, but I'm still working on balance.</div>
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This was a very nebulous email. Hopefully it was also a good one.</div>
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Elder Richard Hall</div>
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1. The wedding we went to last week. The Bride's side was Filipino, if you couldn't tell</div>
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2. Black's Barbecue after district meeting. Solid</div>
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3. Tom Glavine-signed Jersey a member wanted me to buy from him. Tempting.</div>
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Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974233866182491774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4635546959481712510.post-19574032154288804982017-05-15T17:23:00.002-07:002017-05-15T17:23:34.894-07:00Rounded Edges<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This is the start of my last transfer in the mission field. In just a</div>
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while I won't be in Texas anymore. That's an awful thought. Mainly</div>
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because I won't be a missionary anymore, but also there's a chance</div>
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that Idaho will have a snowstorm in the middle of July. It hasn't been</div>
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under 70 degrees here since January!</div>
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The remainder of my mission will be spent with my camouflaged-hearted</div>
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companion in the pleasant towns of Buda and Kyle. He almost wept when</div>
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he found out he because this means he's still within walking distance</div>
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of a Cabelas. I've never met someone so static. Everything relates</div>
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back to guns and hunting. Everything.</div>
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<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
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Missionary work has been great around here. I've been looking back at</div>
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my mission and thinking about the character of a missionary. The Lord</div>
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is all about the one. If he has his 99, he will do what it takes to</div>
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bring back the one. It's nice to have help out with a lot of baptisms,</div>
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and it's nice to find people to teach, but we are to make such a</div>
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personal relationship with Christ that He will do whatever it takes to</div>
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help anyone overcome the opposition that he has. He waits until we are</div>
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ready to listen, but once that happens there's no turning back.</div>
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Whether you like it or not, he'll be a part of your life. As</div>
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missionaries, we do our best to use our time wisely so we can help</div>
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whoever is the most ready.</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1494893700193_18073" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
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Friday we were able to attend the wedding of one of our investigators.</div>
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Elder P and I were two of the ten people there, not including the</div>
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happy couple. It was on a beautiful piece of property and it was great</div>
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to see the two of them giddy. It's the second wedding I've been to on</div>
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my mission. Weddings are happy times. There is a sacred experience</div>
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that all attendants get to be a part of. That is why worthy members</div>
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are married in the temple, where you can feel the greatest amount of</div>
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peace and concentrate all of excitement and energy into a simply</div>
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covenant.</div>
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<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
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Recently I have been doing much study on the prophet Joseph Smith. It</div>
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is astounding. Say what you want about Joseph Smith, but if you were</div>
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to pour through the life and history of Joseph Smith, looking at all</div>
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the doctrines and discoveries, miracles and trials, etc. I would say</div>
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that his character alone is enough evidence that he is a prophet. And</div>
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don't even get me started on the Book of Mormon.</div>
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<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
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I got to talk with my family yesterday. My family is a naturally</div>
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unserious and unaffectionate bunch. Well no, they are affectionate,</div>
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they just have a strange way of showing it. Definitely not serious</div>
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though. I love them for that, because I'm strange as well. Terribly</div>
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serious at times, though. Families are special. I love them.</div>
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<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
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- Elder Richard Hall</div>
<br />Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974233866182491774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4635546959481712510.post-68083182494013358672017-05-08T17:14:00.001-07:002017-05-08T17:14:13.033-07:00Old Friends/Bookends<div class="body undoreset" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494288292068_4443" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; display: table; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-top: 12px; width: 567px;" tabindex="0">
<div class="email-wrapped" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494288292068_4442" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; display: table-cell; width: auto; word-break: break-word; word-wrap: break-word;">
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494288292068_6224" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
You know that it is a good week when you go on exchanges with your MTC</div>
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companion. For the first time since July 6th, 2015, I was companions</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494288292068_6222" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
with Elder Bl. WOW. 22 months can do things to you. For one</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494288292068_4441" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
thing, in the MTC he was 10 pounds heavier than I was. Now I am 25</div>
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pounds heavier. Did he lose weight or did I gain weight? The answer is</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494288292068_6220" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
yes.</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494288292068_6225" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
Reuniting with Elder Bl was interesting. You wouldn't expect</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494288292068_6219" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
the similarities we have. He is the only missionary I know other than</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494288292068_6218" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
myself who still ponderizes, who memorized his call letter, and still</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494288292068_6217" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
knows the track list to Vampire Weekend's first album. What can I say,</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494288292068_6229" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
we were meant for each other.</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494288292068_6228" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
Some things have changed. For one, we are much better missionaries</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494288292068_6227" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
than we used to be. We're more obedient. We're smarter. We're more</div>
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experienced. We're happier. We're more focused. We follow the</div>
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unwritten order. We are better people. That's what the mission does to</div>
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you.</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494288292068_7859" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494288292068_7857" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
I could write about Elder Blackhurst and I's reunion for a while, but</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494288292068_7858" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
there's other things I will mention. For one, there is an investigator</div>
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we have that was going to be baptized on this Saturday, but is</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494288292068_7864" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
starting to face some serious opposition from his family. The whole</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494288292068_7862" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
week the situation has been up in the air. It's hard to see someone so</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494288292068_7863" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
close to the truth and what he wants to happen be facing adversity.</div>
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But as missionaries, we only see part of the puzzle. It is when we</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494288292068_7869" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
fail to see the big picture that we begin to make mistakes. We must be</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494288292068_7868" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
patient, but persistent.</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494288292068_7867" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494288292068_4460" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
Patience has changed me. I am a much different missionary than I used</div>
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to be. I used to think that patient meant you were slow to react, or</div>
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indecisive, or time-inefficient. But patience isn't about the timing,</div>
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it's about the faith in the action. It is all about a decision we made</div>
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long before, and having the faith for it to come to pass. It is highly</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494288292068_6216" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
time effective, and quick to react. Patience is more about the mind</div>
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than it is about the matter.</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494288292068_7882" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494288292068_7881" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
Last week two of my investigators from paste areas were baptized. One</div>
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of them I worked with week in and week out for the first 5 or so</div>
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months of her investigation. She could just never find her answer. It</div>
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took 10 months from start tot finish for her to be baptized. The other</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494288292068_7887" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
one was set with a baptismal date the day we first met her, and was</div>
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baptized not far from that date. Was the truth different for either</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494288292068_7884" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
individual? No. time does not determine whether or not the truth is</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494288292068_7883" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
truth. The same way that love is not determined by time, or how much</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494288292068_7897" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
you know about someone. Love starts when you begin to see the same way</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494288292068_7898" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
Heavenly Father sees us.</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494288292068_7899" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494288292068_7900" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
Elder Christensen of the seventy says that your missionary life is a</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494288292068_7901" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
microcosm of actual life. You start out fresh and willing to do</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494288292068_7905" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
anything and not knowing what's going on, and then you go into</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494288292068_7904" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
adolescence, where you think you know everything. After that you slip</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494288292068_6215" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
into adulthood, and all of its stages, including mid-life crises.</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494288292068_4462" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
Then, towards the end of your mission, you become wise and a little</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494288292068_7903" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
slower, watching the whipper-snappers cut across your lawn. For a long</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494288292068_7902" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
time I thought I was in adulthood of missionary work, but I see now</div>
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that my stride is getting shorter, and it's hard to teach this old dog</div>
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some of the newer tricks of the mission. I am getting old, but I don't</div>
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want to believe it.</div>
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<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
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- Elder Richard Hall</div>
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<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494288292068_6158" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
1. Elder Bl and I looking like punks at the temple- July 5th,2015</div>
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2. Elder Bl and I looking less like punks at Buc-ee's May 3. 2017</div>
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<br /></div>
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Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974233866182491774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4635546959481712510.post-23930225631855127732017-05-01T18:37:00.002-07:002017-05-01T18:37:22.226-07:00How Great the Wisdom and the Love<div class="body undoreset" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1493688631568_18840" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; display: table; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-top: 12px; width: 567px;" tabindex="0">
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Hello Everybody!</div>
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Last Monday I spent almost the whole day washing down our apartment</div>
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from the fumigation and adding further preventatives. Bed bugs are not</div>
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fun.</div>
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<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
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Other than that, everything has been splendid. We had a week filled</div>
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with excellent lessons and lot of work with the members. It's a</div>
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wonderful moment when as a missionary you not only perform your own</div>
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missionary work, but you can coordinate the missionary work of the</div>
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members around you. Suddenly your purpose becomes heightened. It's a</div>
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lesson I learned from a wise man a few months into my mission, but</div>
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took me a little longer to realize.</div>
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This week was filled with wise men. Wednesday I was able to have an</div>
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interview with our mission president. President P is so full of</div>
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light and love. I knew it was going to be one of my last personal</div>
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conversations I'll have with him in a while, so I took my time. He is</div>
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a student of the scriptures. He is also a student of love. The amount</div>
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of understanding he has is immense.</div>
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<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
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That night a wise man in the Ward wanted to take us to some of his</div>
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friends he wants to share the gospel with. We spent three hours going</div>
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home to home of people that he loved enough to introduce us to them.</div>
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About half were less active members of the church, and the other half</div>
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good friends that he simply wanted us to teach. At the end of the</div>
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night, I was impressed with the spirit of charity, not missionary</div>
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work, within this man. But why would these feelings be any different?</div>
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<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
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Sunday was stake conference, and an area authority visited us. While</div>
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he was speaking, I was impressed by the amount of wonder he had for</div>
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everything happening around him. He turned around and watched the</div>
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choir sing, he looked through the audience to smile and wave at anyone</div>
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he met eyes with.</div>
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While Elder T was sharing a story about how he was guarding</div>
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Michael Jordan in the olympics, it hit me like a sack of bricks. "This</div>
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is my brother's mission president." I knew this man from the emails me</div>
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brother sent home from his mission, telling stories about how great</div>
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and wise President T was. I then realized that this man changed</div>
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my brother's life. My brother changed my life when he returned from</div>
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his mission</div>
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When I went to shake his hand, he gave me a hug. He met me, my</div>
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companion, and our investigator the day before, and in a day's time he</div>
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grew to love us. I told him who my brother was, and he exclaimed,</div>
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"That's my missionary!" He was overjoyed. I was too.</div>
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<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
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More powerful than wisdom is love. They often come together.</div>
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<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1493688631568_18859" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
- Elder Richard Hall</div>
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<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
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1. The struggles of weekly planning in a member home.</div>
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Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974233866182491774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4635546959481712510.post-13631205949340110502017-04-18T16:15:00.000-07:002017-04-18T16:15:20.387-07:00Stolen Nametags, Easter, and Bed Bugs<div class="body undoreset" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1492556972163_20714" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; display: table; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-top: 12px; width: 567px;" tabindex="0">
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I promise that we had several spiritual experiences this week. I</div>
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promise that we had many lessons and even found a new family and a</div>
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golden investigator. I promise that Easter was amazing and we saw many</div>
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miracles because we were able to testify of Christ.</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1492556972163_20719" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
Now that we have that understood, this is how the week went.</div>
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<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
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During the transfer period I left one of my name tags in my last</div>
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apartment. The missionaries there sent it on a letter to my new</div>
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apartment. When I got the letter Monday the side was slit open and the</div>
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name tag was gone, but the letter the missionaries wrote to me was</div>
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still there.</div>
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Wednesday we drove out to Lockhart for District Meeting. 10</div>
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missionaries gathered in a little town 25 minutes away from anywhere</div>
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in a chapel. The chapel is in a rented piece of a strip mall. On the</div>
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other side of it is a gas station and liquor store. Quaint.</div>
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Friday my companion noticed that I had bites all over me. We were</div>
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doing a lot of service outside this week, so we thought it was</div>
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mosquitoes, or something. That is when I found the bed bugs. The</div>
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apartment complex couldn't get an exterminator in until this Tuesday.</div>
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So Saturday was spent bagging all of our clothes and sheets and taking</div>
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them to a laundromat in South Austin. We spent hours there until a</div>
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member called us and let us know that you only need to to put clothes</div>
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in the dryer to get rid of bed bugs. We lost a lot of quarters that</div>
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day.</div>
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Because the closest set of Elders to us are about 25 miles away, we</div>
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are spending the nights in a member home. It turns out their son is a</div>
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world famous LEGO master builder, and the guest room is filled with</div>
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life-sized creations. I sleep next to Thor, Wonder Woman and her</div>
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invisible upper torso, Captain Kirk, and a Minion. There are heads and</div>
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arms laying around everywhere.</div>
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Sunday I forgot to tell our Easter Dinner appointment I was allergic</div>
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to coconut until after I was light-headed and swelling. It was the</div>
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first time I ever reacted to coconut oil. I took some Benadryl and was</div>
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fine, but tired.</div>
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<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
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Other than that, this week was fantastic. We were able to teach some</div>
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great people. I found out that two of my former investigators are</div>
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getting baptized this Saturday. I am definitely going to one of the</div>
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services. We had some great lessons with some honest hearts and I have</div>
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felt like a very successful missionary. During a sacrament hymn I</div>
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realized that Heavenly Father is much more compassionate than I ever</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1492556972163_20741" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
imagined. He recognizes success and effort just as much as he</div>
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recognizes failure. This is something I learned long ago, but like all</div>
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things, we need to be reminded of.</div>
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<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1492556972163_20739" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
- Elder Richard Hall</div>
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<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1492556972163_20734" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
1. A food place outside of the laundromat.</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1492556972163_20733" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
2. A view from my bed.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGAZVJ5xtMFv-VjwyCZ2Hm7r1Xrt12RMf9GufctjtC6RmaoBrIFIWxDb7xTYqAFIhIcd4dFgZArTaGlO-bs_55kaktnwFd-_0qhjMD_Ox1tPHUbvaqYcozs89iOsy7orEzoUsqKiRXWHI/s1600/4-18+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGAZVJ5xtMFv-VjwyCZ2Hm7r1Xrt12RMf9GufctjtC6RmaoBrIFIWxDb7xTYqAFIhIcd4dFgZArTaGlO-bs_55kaktnwFd-_0qhjMD_Ox1tPHUbvaqYcozs89iOsy7orEzoUsqKiRXWHI/s400/4-18+2.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974233866182491774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4635546959481712510.post-84427450450630418252017-04-11T16:54:00.000-07:002017-04-11T16:54:01.780-07:00Novelty, Shadows, and the New Braunfels Unicorns<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFga-nd1jidzuxdspA3opGKIxZU9YTUfXMVpofAhksWNY__wFKPlTEqo8_sQ59-Ucap05g8MnPV5qHjOaqxgw8qErOLIDhFjDZPE0fDSkJ9VFcCARBuULfcdTvBFNLv9XUkPowx5_TkGg/s1600/4-10.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFga-nd1jidzuxdspA3opGKIxZU9YTUfXMVpofAhksWNY__wFKPlTEqo8_sQ59-Ucap05g8MnPV5qHjOaqxgw8qErOLIDhFjDZPE0fDSkJ9VFcCARBuULfcdTvBFNLv9XUkPowx5_TkGg/s400/4-10.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div class="body undoreset" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1491954534385_14134" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; display: table; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-top: 12px; width: 567px;" tabindex="0">
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<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1491954534385_14132" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
The Unicorn is the mascot for a high school that I served fairly close</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1491954534385_14135" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
to in my last area. It has has the best name among high schools that</div>
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I've served around on my mission, with second being the Hutto Hippos.</div>
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Hopefully I can snag a Unicorn T-shirt before I head out of Texas.</div>
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<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1491954534385_14138" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
This has been a week full of change. Full of it! Things are just not</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1491954534385_14139" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
like they were a week ago, or two weeks ago, or so on. I will be</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1491954534385_14140" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
spending the last few months of my mission in Buda and Kyle, two small</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1491954534385_14141" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
towns that are beginning to explode as commuter towns for Austin,</div>
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which is about 15 minutes north of us. This is a fun area, the largest</div>
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and most rural of my mission. The congregations are smaller, and the</div>
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members are close to missionaries. Things are further apart, there are</div>
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some older couples, and life is slower.</div>
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These two towns share with Austin a sort of crossroads of culture. You</div>
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can run into true cowboys on the same street that you run into</div>
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computer junkies. You see men with full beards and Oakley sunglasses</div>
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carrying a mac and wearing skinny jeans. There is a giant Cabelas that</div>
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looms over the town of Buda that doesn't have plastic bags. It's kind</div>
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of fun to see.</div>
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<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
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I suppose that my new companion, Elder P, and I are the perfect fit</div>
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for an area like this. Elder P is a, well, hick. It's hilarious.</div>
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All analogies and stories used in lessons are about guns and hunting.</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1491954534385_15937" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
His similes and metaphors all connect with animals. His pronunciations</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1491954534385_15936" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
are textbook. "That's a tough sitchie-ation right there." "I used to</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1491954534385_15935" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
cover Plum Crick." Or this excellent conversation.</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1491954534385_15934" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
"So, that lady's name was Janice (pronounced Jan-is), right?"</div>
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"Yep, that's Janice (pronounced Jay-nus)"</div>
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"Okay, so it's Jay-nus"</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
"Yep, Jay-nus"</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1491954534385_15967" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
"I thought she said Janis."</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
"That's right."</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1491954534385_14142" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
"So, is it Janis or Jay-nus?"</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1491954534385_14143" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
"Jay-nus"</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1491954534385_15968" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
"So not Janis"</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
"No, it is."</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1491954534385_15969" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
"Janis?"</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1491954534385_15933" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
"Jay-nus."</div>
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A few tries later I gave up and decided it was Janis. It's really fun,</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1491954534385_14144" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
because he isn't trying at all, it's simply who he is. I only hope</div>
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that when the novelty wears off, he'll still be funny. He really is a</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1491954534385_15930" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
good kid though. He'll talk to the cowboys about horse riding, I'll</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1491954534385_15931" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
talk to the Austinites about ACL. And surprisingly, both groups really</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1491954534385_15932" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
like baseball.</div>
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<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
I realized the other day that I spent 74 of the 104 weeks of my</div>
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mission in my last two areas. That's a long time, almost 18 months.</div>
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And being in this area for just 1 week now, I wish I could spend a</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1491954534385_15970" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
good chunk of time here as well. To me it shows that love doesn't stay</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
in one place. Memories travel with us. It isn't our surroundings that</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1491954534385_14146" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
determine what we feel and how we act, it is the character that we</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1491954534385_14145" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
have developed within us. What makes someone easy to love? It is not</div>
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always them, it is sometimes us.</div>
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But yes, sometimes it is them.</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1491954534385_15971" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1491954534385_15973" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
- Elder Richard Hall</div>
</div>
</div>
Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974233866182491774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4635546959481712510.post-69345344981504244322017-04-07T12:05:00.001-07:002017-04-07T12:05:15.449-07:00Buddha and Style<div class="body undoreset" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1491591756829_2459" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; display: table; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-top: 12px; width: 567px;" tabindex="0">
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<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1491591756829_2696" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
Due to some experimentation from the mission president, Preparation</div>
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Day was moved from Monday to Wednesday for transfer week. Today was</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1491591756829_2690" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
spent doing a lot of packing.</div>
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<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
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Packing? What? No... Elder Hall is getting transferred! It's really</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
sad. I was hoping to stick out the rest of my mission in this little</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
slice of heaven. But I'm going from the pleasant suburbs of San</div>
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Antonio to the heart of the I-35. Buda and Kyle. This is most likely</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
going to be my last hoo-rah of the mission, and it will be a lot of</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
fun. My new companion is Elder P. The last time I saw him, he was</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
in training and had a thick backwoods accent. That was in July. Who</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
knows what he's like now.</div>
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<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
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I am excited to be heading out, but I'm leaving behind a lot of great</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
memories. My companions, Elder M and Elder H, who</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
have become some of my closer friends in my life. This zone of</div>
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missionaries, who are some of the hardest workers I know. These Wards,</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
who haves members with excellent testimonies and anxious to serve the</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
Lord. These investigators, who have grown so much in the gospel. This</div>
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assignment, which has brought me joy and happiness to serve alongside</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1491591756829_2689" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
some of the greatest missionaries in the field. But the Lord knows</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1491591756829_2688" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
that the three months ahead of me are going to be some of the best in</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
my life, and I'm sure that it will be.</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
Life is good. There is always something good happening. There is</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1491591756829_2677" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
always light to cleave to.</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1491591756829_2678" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1491591756829_2679" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
General Conference happened over the weekend. That was fun. If I have</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1491591756829_2680" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
time I'll do my annual review of it next week.</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1491591756829_2681" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1491591756829_2457" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
- Elder Richard Hall</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1491591756829_2457" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974233866182491774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4635546959481712510.post-61841962344456492052017-03-27T17:44:00.004-07:002017-03-27T17:44:31.451-07:00Notes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5gomgFL20GE7FEdSSZIFZmRf9SIxbeJ_WPDlFq74qOa-YqLi8UXGIq4BpJ5w0DJvr0QEpVMxzqcQPUxeyk6jc_lqrv4zpY8bFHxKsA0OpFEUGop3O1fHsbyE6AHK8O4yhUQMyw4qG700/s1600/3-27-17.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5gomgFL20GE7FEdSSZIFZmRf9SIxbeJ_WPDlFq74qOa-YqLi8UXGIq4BpJ5w0DJvr0QEpVMxzqcQPUxeyk6jc_lqrv4zpY8bFHxKsA0OpFEUGop3O1fHsbyE6AHK8O4yhUQMyw4qG700/s400/3-27-17.JPG" width="298" /></a></div>
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<div class="body undoreset" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1490661573767_4774" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; display: table; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-top: 12px; width: 567px;" tabindex="0">
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<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1490661573767_4797" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
I'm Walking! I'm Walking! It doesn't even hurt to walk. Who would have</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1490661573767_4796" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
thought that this could actually happen. It's amazing how great it</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1490661573767_4795" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
feels to walk without pain. Well, I can last most of the day without</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1490661573767_4794" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
pain, and there's still some fluid in there, but I can walk! And that</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1490661573767_4791" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
is the best part.</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1490661573767_4790" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1490661573767_4815" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
Life has been wonderful. The weather has been fantastic and Elder</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1490661573767_4772" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
and I have been hitting the ground running. Sometimes you</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1490661573767_4775" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
can't explain how the Lord provides, but the Lord always provides.</div>
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<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1490661573767_5304" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
We were having a lesson in the home of a man who has gone through a</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1490661573767_4789" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
lot, to put it simply. To hear his testimony of the atonement and to</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1490661573767_4788" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
see his faith in the ways of the Lord was amazing. His faith in the</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1490661573767_6951" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
savior was so huge, it was changing the people around him. Your</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1490661573767_6950" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
attitude effects the people around you more than often times we care</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1490661573767_4780" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
to admit.</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1490661573767_5303" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1490661573767_6955" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
A lady in the Schertz Ward- who has become more like a mother to me</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1490661573767_6954" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
and Elder M gave an excellent talk in sacrament. My favorite</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1490661573767_6953" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
line: "If you take the 'test' out of 'testimony', then all you have</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1490661573767_6952" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
left is an 'imony', and that's not a word. She then referenced a</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1490661573767_4781" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
scripture that she credited my companion and I with sharing with her</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1490661573767_5302" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
family. If you don't receive an answer to your prayer, it is not</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1490661573767_6956" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
because you did not have enough faith, it is because you need to go</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1490661573767_6957" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
through an experience to receive your witness. We can't dispute it</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1490661573767_6958" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
because we can't see it. Sister C is excellent. Who would have</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1490661573767_6960" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
thought I would meet someone from Gooding, ID here in Texas.</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1490661573767_5301" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1490661573767_6959" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
I was folding up socks this week when I realized that when I came out</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1490661573767_5298" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
on my mission, I had about 18 pairs of socks. I counted, and now I</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1490661573767_4787" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
have 45 pairs. Where did they all come from?</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1490661573767_5299" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1490661573767_6965" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
Life is good</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1490661573767_5300" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1490661573767_4816" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
- Elder Richard Hall</div>
</div>
</div>
<br />Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974233866182491774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4635546959481712510.post-71173545875980059512017-03-25T11:42:00.000-07:002017-03-25T11:42:10.668-07:00Light and Dark<div class="body undoreset" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490466652109_25128" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; display: table; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-top: 12px; width: 567px;" tabindex="0">
<div class="email-wrapped" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490466652109_25127" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; display: table-cell; width: auto; word-break: break-word; word-wrap: break-word;">
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490466652109_25126" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
Another week where just about everything ever happened. For the first</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490466652109_26933" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
two and a half days I the week I was glued to the couch, hopped up on</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490466652109_26934" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
codine, so I can't say that much happened during that time, but</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490466652109_26900" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
Wednesday night we had dinner with one of my favorite families that</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
I've met on my mission, followed by a few appointments.</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
Dinner with the Young family was enlightening. Brother and Sister</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490466652109_26932" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
Y met each other on their mission as missionaries about a year</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
into the field. Brother Y was a hard-working missionary and loved</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
every second of his two years of service, but when he saw Sister Y</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
he knew that she was the one. After consulting with the mission</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490466652109_26901" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
president he made a commitment to not cross paths with her. Avoid</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
speaking to her, not shake her hands, just stay away. And they both</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
had amazing missions, went home, took six months to get together, and</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
they've been together ever since. I thought it was amazing to see that</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
he was willing to sacrifice that much to make sure that he kept his</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
mission sacred and special. Two years isn't too long if you know it's</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490466652109_26902" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
the right thing to do. Our knowledge changes our countenance. To this</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
day he talks about his mission like it was the best thing that</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
happened to him. It was.</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
Thursday we received a mini-missionary, a youth from the stake who</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
spent two days with us to see what missionary work was like. It was a</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
great experience for him. It seems that the youth of the church just</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490466652109_26903" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
get better and better. He bore powerful testimony and wasn't too</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
shabby at teaching himself. I loved being able to guide Cameron and</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490466652109_26931" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
help him learn things that I wish I learned before I went on my</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
mission. As a missionary, you want the success of others almost more</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
than you want your own success. He's from an area that I served in</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
long ago, now a whole year ago. Great to see him and hear about my old</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
area.</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
Saturday we had a special zone conference with Elder Christensen from</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490466652109_26930" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
the presidency of the seventy come. It was amazing the amount that I</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
learned in those brief hours that I had with him. During it I learned</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
that there is such thing as "sacred scripture", and I was able to have</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
Elder Christensen answer one of my own personal questions. It was one</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
of the most precious moments of my mission.</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
Sunday I was able to lead a quartet in singing a barbershop version of</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490466652109_26929" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
"Consider the Lilies." It was powerful, and beautiful. There are some</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490466652109_26928" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
great singers in the Schertz Ward.</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490466652109_26927" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490466652109_26926" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
Hope that you all have an excellent week. By the end of the week I'll</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490466652109_26904" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
be off of crutches.</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490466652109_26905" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
Have a good one,</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490466652109_26906" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490466652109_26907" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
Elder Richard Hall</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490466652109_26911" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490466652109_26912" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
1. Monday</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490466652109_26913" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
2. Tuesday</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490466652109_26914" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
3. The mini missionary</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490466652109_26915" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
4. After zone conference. My other current companion, the Yuba City</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490466652109_26916" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
missionary, and her companion</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490466652109_26916" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
<br /></div>
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Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974233866182491774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4635546959481712510.post-69163685556118734522017-03-13T17:47:00.003-07:002017-03-13T17:47:53.616-07:00Heavy Medication<div class="body undoreset" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1489451724486_19373" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; display: table; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-top: 12px; width: 567px;" tabindex="0">
<div class="email-wrapped" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1489451724486_19372" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; display: table-cell; width: auto; word-break: break-word; word-wrap: break-word;">
Basically, everything that ever could happen either just happened, is<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />happening, or is about to happen. In an effort to conserve precious<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />energy and to save all of us from a email that'd take 3 months to<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />read, I'll do my best to keep it short.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />This week I had and interview with my mission president. My first<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />mission president would use interviews as precious time to personally<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />teach principles and uplift missionaries. The current one likes to use<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />it as a time to hear every little thing that I have to say, and then<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />gives two sentences of profound council. Somehow, both styles help me<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />grow. I love my mission president.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />Went on exchanges with a great missionary Wednesday. We are going home<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />the same time, and it was fun to reminisce about the times that we had<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />together back in the day when we both had no idea what we were doing.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />Now we were discussing all of these different leadership<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />responsibilities and teaching skills that I never anticipated to be<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />proficient at. It was a wonderful day.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />Friday I had surgery on my right leg. They shaved off some bone on my<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />Femur. I don't think those bone shavings will rise with me on the day<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />of my resurrection. As much of a pain as it was to have that "bone<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />finger" jabbing into my muscle, the price to take it out is pretty<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />heavy. I have enjoyed the medication that they have given me, but it<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />has basically made everything a blur. I can hardly remember a drop of<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />what happened on Friday. All I remember is talking to the nurse about<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />which Tupac song was his favorite, and why the Beastie Boys were<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />better than Wu-Tang Clan. My companion claims I talked about a lot of<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />other things, but I couldn't tell you what's true and what isn't.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />Sunday came. That evening Elder Muhlestein and I were assigned to<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />teach the Stake missionary preparation class. We ended up having a<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />powerful lesson on the importance of recognizing the Holy Ghost, and<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />feeling inspired. I don't remember much of what was said, but I do<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />remember the power in the words of these youth as they practiced<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />teaching to each other with their testimonies. A testimony is an<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />amazing thing.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />This upcoming Saturday we are being visited by two major head-honchos<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />in the church, Elder Craig C. Christensen and Elder Dale G. Renlund.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />It'll be an exciting time for me, as this is the first time on my<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />mission that a member of the 12 will visit the area. I am eagerly<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />awaiting their inspired direction.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />Life is good. I'll have to learn how to be patient with this recovery.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />It's been a long time since I've felt normal. But it will all be worth<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />it in the end.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />- Elder Richard Hall<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />1. Exchanges with Elder Dailey<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />2. recovery<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />3. The scar<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974233866182491774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4635546959481712510.post-47169387165974451472017-02-28T19:57:00.002-08:002017-02-28T19:57:28.424-08:00Cuts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Well,</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I am having surgery Friday the 10th at 11:30. Thank goodness, they are</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">letting me stay in the mission for it, but surgery is not fun. The</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">surgery I had was an appendectomy, and it laid me out just in time to</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">miss the state Cross Country meet my Senior year. That wasn't a fun</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">memory, but at the time that my appendix was swelling inside of me.</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Surgery sounded wonderful. I'm at that point right now where I would</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">love surgery.</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Tuesday I had my birthday. I turned 20. The members that fed us that</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">night gave us pan cookies, a personal favorite that I miss quite a</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">bit. Nothing will never be quite like your mother's cooking- if she's</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">a good cook. If she isn't a good cook, then Marie Calendar will tastes</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">a lot like her cooking. For my birthday we got Philly Cheesesteaks</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">from an authentic hole in the wall Philly Cheesesteak restaurant.</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">There was a signed Brian Dawkins jersey there. That made my day.</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Also, the first person I ever taught was baptized on Saturday. It was</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">a tender moment. Andrew is not so much my baptism as it is mine, Elder</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Tovar, Acor, White, Sandstrom, Vaitai, Hamilton, Waters, and about 20</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">other missionaries. It was such a special moment. It made me wonder</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">what Zion looks like.</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The Lord provides. The Lord will always provide if we are doing our</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">best. Too often we worry about if we are enough, or if we will make</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">it. The enabling power of Christ is there to lift us up when we feel</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">like our best is not enough. The beautiful part about grace is that it</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">doesn't always come after we have done every little thing we can do.</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Grace is amazing, because often we don't understand grace. Many times</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">it is working within us, but we don't realize it. We will come to feel</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">greater joy in our lives as we recognize the atonement in our lives.</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">In this past month, I have come to recognize that the atonement is a</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">real part of our lives- if we let it.</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Elder Richard Hall</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">1. Birthday Dinner</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">2. Baptism day with A. Special thanks to my new friend, Sister K</span>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974233866182491774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4635546959481712510.post-70483916266773310252017-02-26T12:45:00.002-08:002017-02-26T12:46:54.614-08:00<div style="text-align: center;">
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Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974233866182491774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4635546959481712510.post-32314219068849260052017-02-20T15:24:00.002-08:002017-02-20T15:24:24.949-08:00Paperwork<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Have you ever watched a movie that never seemed to reach its climax?<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />That's how my knee feels. There's won't be a great resolution, only an<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />ending. And you know that since the movie never had a great start in<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />the beginning, there's going to be some sequel that'll try to match<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />the original.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />Wednesday I met with the orthopedic surgeon to look at my MRI scans.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />After three and a half weeks, my knee is stable, but sore. However, I<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />found out there is a strange something that has been deemed as a "<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />bone finger" is poking out of my femur and prodding into the muscle<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />above my knee, making it weaker and looser and all sorts of things you<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />don't want. From what it sounds like, surgery will help, and they'll<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />let me stay in the mission with the surgery. Great news! All that is<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />left is some clearances from the insurance and I'll be on the<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />operating table in no time. Apparently the pain will be much less<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />after the surgery, which will be great.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />I've been hung up with knee problems for almost a month now, but life<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />couldn't get any better. In this month, we've found some great<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />investigators and even has one with a baptismal date coming soon!<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />She's wonderful. She told one of her coworkers that she's always<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />wanted to be a member of our church, but wanted to make it official.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />Two days later we're at her house making preparations for her baptism<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />for March 18th! We also have some investigators who have been<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />attending sacrament lately, and it's amazing to see the difference in<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />their personality as they keep the commitments we extend.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />Saturday the first person I ever taught is getting baptized- over a<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />year and a half after the first lesson. It's amazing to see how the<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />Lord works patiently yet earnestly. He actually wanted me to baptize<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />him, but due to my knee condition, attending will be plenty. It's<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />amazing to see the love that people grow for the savior. A year and a<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />half ago, Andrew admitted that he didn't really knew if Jesus was the<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />Christ, but we all will come to a knowledge, and we will all have to<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />accept his divinity and his grace.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />During sacrament meeting I was pondering about the atonement. How<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />often do we realize the atonement? My companion and I had a thorough<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />discussing on the enabling power of the atonement. How often do we<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />realize its power and greatness? With the sacrifice of Jesus Christ,<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />we can receive the gift of eternal life. Without it, all we do is<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />completely and utterly worthless. What if we didn't believe in the<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />atonement? It would be like dancing with a shadow; you can't even tell<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />what's leading you. But it is through the savior's power that we can<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />dance through this life, whether it's on one leg or two.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />Elder Richard Hall</div>
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Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974233866182491774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4635546959481712510.post-41066816067621869112017-02-06T22:09:00.002-08:002017-02-06T22:09:49.437-08:00Take Some Time<div class="body undoreset" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1486447514305_22442" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; display: table; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-top: 12px; width: 567px;" tabindex="0">
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I remember the first time that I subflexed or disclocated my knee. I<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />was playing around with my Brother at his house in Eastern Utah. We<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />were wrestling, or something, and while flipping me over I felt the<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />most painful sensation I've ever had in my leg, which is saying<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />something, because I've broken quite a few bones. I was wearing jeans,<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />so you couldn't see the knee out of place, but I didn't want to ride<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />in an ambulance that night, so I laid there for the next 20 minutes or<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />so until it slipped back into place.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />Let me tell you, that was painful, but the recovery didn't seem as<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />long or as hard as this time around. Trying to rush a recovery is like<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />speeding in a school zone. Why the heck do you think it's a good idea?<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />My knee will not heal any faster or any healthier if I'm forcing it to<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />be healthy.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />This is the monologue I've been giving myself for the past week. As<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />much as I want to not be on crutches, I have to be on crutches for a<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />while. It is what it is.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />Even with a bum knee, the work must go on, and the Lord has been<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />gracious. We were referred this week to a lady who has been studying<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />about the church for 8 years now. Half of her family are LDS, the<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />other half is Catholic, and she's somewhere in the middle. But after a<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />brief conversation she decided that she was all in, and that she<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />wanted to be a full-fledged member of the church. It was a nice<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />blessing from heaven, a little nod form the Lord that he appreciates<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />what Elder M and I are doing. In the past three weeks we've<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />almost double our investigator pool, and the world is a bright and<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />happy place. Somehow, in the midst of trial, at the dregs of weight,<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />there is always a hope that shines brightly before us, and that light<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />grows brighter and brighter until the perfect day.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />Testimony is a wonderful thing. On the first Sunday of the month we<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />have the opportunity to hear the testimonies of many believers during<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />our sacrament meetings. Some people say they share their testimony,<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />others give one, but it is important to bear a testimony. The word<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />bear shows how we earn a testimony. When we are bearing something, it<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />is heavy. There is weight being put upon our shoulders. Being borne<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />takes a great amount of pressure, and it is not always easy to do.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />During the hardest times of our lives, when we have the most to be<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />borne, that is when a testimony is most crucial. Bearing the testimony<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />is not only what endures us through bearing a trial, but it is also<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />the result of the trial. Think after a crucible. In a small instrument<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />there is a great amount of force and pressure happening, creating a<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />specific, correct result. Just like in Arthur Miller's play, the<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />Crucible, after John Proctor's long line of persecution, trail,<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />betrayal, what is left in him is truth, and right. A testimony is<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />truth itself, accompanied by a witness of the spirit. It is the result<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />of the trial of our faith.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />Somebody needs our testimony. It is the nature of the gospel that once<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />we go through our own gethsemane, we are to become the angel that<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />strengthens in someone else's gethsemane. When Enos knew his sins were<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />forgiven, he began to work upon the welfare of his brothers, and even<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />his enemies. The greater feeling of testimony we have, the stronger<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />desire we will have to act upon it.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />Jesus Christ is the testimony. He is a burden. We are yoked upon him.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />However, his burden is easy, and his yoke is light. A yoke is not a<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />traditionally light thing, and a burden is not easy. But it is when we<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />covenant with Christ, because he has already gone through the olive<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />press, and has endured the crucible. He is the source of truth and<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />light. Looking towards the savior brings us a constant witness of<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />truth.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />Elder Richard Hall</div>
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Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974233866182491774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4635546959481712510.post-20425656806859524042017-01-30T20:45:00.003-08:002017-01-30T20:45:54.311-08:00Heaven Can Wait<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Hello Everybody!</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">It's been a while since I've sent out a decent weekly email, yet alone</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">a decent one. I'd like to spend some time reporting on what happened</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">this past week, because a lot happened.</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Last Monday our zone decided to play ultimate frisbee. I love ultimate</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">frisbee. At college I played a lot of it and got pretty good at it.</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">This was an exciting moment in the life of Elder Hall to play frisbee</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">for the first time in 18 months. But after a few minutes my right knee</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">started to hurt. Finally, after hitting the ground from a deflection,</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">it sub-flexed twice.</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">For those of you that don't know what that means, because I didn't,</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">that is when your knee pops out and back into place in a matter of</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">seconds. Though it isn't a complete dislocated, it still hurts a lot.</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">After calling up the first counselor in the bishopric, who happens to</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">be an ER doctor, we got the diagnosis and headed over to an Urgent</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Care. I've been on crutches and pain medication ever since. I have a</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">meeting with an orthopedist on Wednesday, and we'll get a better</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">diagnosis of what happened and what is going to happen.</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Since then, every person ever has asked what happened, and I have to</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">tell them about my frisbee frivolities. Then they laugh at me, then</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">feel bad for me. They better! Do you know how hard it is to go uphill</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">on crutches?</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Thankfully, we have been seeing great thing after great thing happen</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">this week. Elder M</span><br />
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and I have been working hard and we've<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">been seeing much good happen out of it. We have been finding more</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">investigators than I've had since I arrived here. It seems that every</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">member family that we meet with is open to inviting investigators to</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">church for us, or letting us teach lessons in their homes, or coming</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">out to lessons with us. We have been building the faith of the</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">members, and we've seen the faith of our investigators grow in</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">response. It's been a great week.</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">On Wednesday there was a worldwide mission conference to announce that</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">our schedule has been changed. A missionary's schedule is very</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">specific. Every day we wake up at 6:30, study from 8-10, get out and</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">work, have two hours for meals, get out and work from 6-9, and come</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">home, plan that night for the next day. However, we've been given</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">tasks that we need to do during a specific time period, and we get to</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">fill them in whenever. This means I could study on my own at 8 in the</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">morning, then study with my companion at 8 at night. It is mind</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">boggling. After being set in a specific system for so long, I have</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">been given the freedom to choose what is the most efficient format me</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">and my companion should use on a daily basis.</span><br />
<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The next day I went to a council where all the leaders of the mission</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">come together. Usually at these councils, everyone is cool, calm, and</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">collected. But at this one our mission president fielded question upon</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">question about the new schedule. We then read two powerful scriptures,</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">2 Nephi 2:13-14, and DC 58:26-29. Some things just need to be tried</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">out to find out. That reminds me of John 7:17.</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Life is good. The work is much and the days are too short. If only I</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">could bottle every day and put it in the pantry. Then each morning I'd</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">take my pick from the pantry and open up a refined aroma of memory.</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Then maybe the days would stick to my bones, and be an ever greater</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">part of me.</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Elder Richard Hall</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">2. A picture of me hooked up to a machine a member loaned me. It is a</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">wonderful thing</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974233866182491774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4635546959481712510.post-63931844900014145272017-01-16T20:44:00.002-08:002017-01-16T20:44:24.130-08:00Someone Great<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Hello Everybody!</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">This week was fantastic. For the first time on my mission I have the</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">opportunity to be companions with somebody that I was already</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">companions with. I was companions with him this time last year. It was</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">pretty fun to look back at my journals from this time last year. We</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">are enjoying hitting the ground running so quickly. It is a shame that</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">my companion is no longer a ridiculously strong Tongan who would lift</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">washers on his own, but Elder M and I get along well.</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">We showed up to one of our lessons with an elderly lady. When she</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">opened up she apologized. "I'm sorry elders, I didn't want to cancel</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">on you, so we can study a bit before I call an ambulance." It was a</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">nice gesture, but we called 911 for her. Turns out, she was having a</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">heart attack. Thank goodness, she is doing okay. However, between this</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">and her asthma, it is getting harder and harder for her to get</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">baptized. She has such an amazing attitude about life, though. We were</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">sharing with her the families and temples pamphlet, and she was almost</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">in tears. "I never knew what Christ gave Peter the binding power. That</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">is what temples are for? I can be with my family forever?" It is</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">tender for people to realize that the sealing power is here on this</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">earth, and that it can link all of us back to our Father in Heaven.</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">It is so important to express our love and our appreciation. When we</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">teach people about prayer, we help them recognize that when we first</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">address our Fahter in Heaven, we begin by expressing our gratitude.</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">"Thank thee for..." "I am grateful for...". When we invite people to</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">pray to know if the Book of Mormon is the word of God, we read verse</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">three of the Book of Moroni, chapter 10, verse five.</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">"Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">things, and ponder it in your hearts."</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Before we even ask a question to our loving Father in Heaven, we open</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">up our hearts for personal revelation by acknowledging his works in</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">the past. It shouldn't be much different when looking at our loved</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">ones. When I write to my brothers and sister, or my parents, how often</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">do I let them know I love them? Last week I passed the bishop of our</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">congregation, who was deep in a conversation with a member of the</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">stake presidency. My companion was a little ahead, but the bishop</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">stopped his conversation pulled me aside, and simply said, "Hey, I</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">love you. You are doing great things. I appreciate what you are</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">doing." What did I do? I don't know, I've done a lot things. But you</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">should know that this week I worked as hard as I could, not just for</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">the Lord, not just for me, but for my investigators, for the bishop.</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Expressing love leaves yourself vulnerable. It is either going to be a</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">moment of embrace, or a moment of hurtfulness. That is why many people</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">avoid it in general. Often leaders cannot stop themselves from doing</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">it. Let me rephrase that: true leaders cannot stop themselves from</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">doing it. Leaders are lovers, and they are hard lovers. They do it</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">all, and they do it right. What is a leader? Who really is a leader?</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I hope you are all staying warm and dry. I was never a fan a snow, and</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">not a huge advocate of rain. When I go to the beach, I sit in the sand</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">and look at the water. When I go to the pool, it is usually not my</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">idea. Showers are wonderful</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Elder Richard Hall</span>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974233866182491774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4635546959481712510.post-38350358512793324602017-01-02T19:27:00.002-08:002017-01-02T19:27:13.866-08:00A Quick Note<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">This week has been so much fun, I don't even know what to say. Perhaps</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">what I should say is, the Lord knows us. He cares for all of us</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">individually and knows exactly what is best for us.</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">This week me and my companion were able to conduct baptismal</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">interviews for a family of four. I had the privilege of talking with</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">the father, who is a powerful disciple of Christ. After the interview,</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I asked him, "Brother M, what made it click for you? What made</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">you realize that this is for you?"</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">He replied sincerely, "I read the Bible every day. And for many years</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I told myself at the end of every day 'there must be more. God must be</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">wanting to give us more.' And I found it."</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">There is something more that God has in store for all of us. It</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">doesn't matter where we are in this life, their is something we can</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">improve. Is that a bad thing? Goodness no! It means we have a whole</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">lifetime to get better. Improvement is the closest thing that we have</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">to perfection.</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The beautiful part of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and all teachings of</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">restored gospel, is that it is either all true, or it all isn't.</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">There's no real middle ground. Exercising faith is always going to</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">lead to repentance. Repentance will always lead to forgiveness.</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">There's no sometimes, there's no exception. Every word and promise in</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">the Book of Mormon and the Bible are true. Revelation comes to every</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">single one of us.</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Have a good week.</span><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Elder Richard Hall</span>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974233866182491774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4635546959481712510.post-44799545264375552902016-12-27T12:03:00.001-08:002016-12-27T12:03:21.064-08:00Christmas Blues and Truths<div class="body undoreset" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482868509715_18083" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; display: table; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px; padding-left: 0px; padding-top: 12px; width: 567px;" tabindex="0">
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Today we already took down the Christmas Stockings and little<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />nativities and packed up extra presents we had. We get to begin using<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />the short stack of gift cards. Telling people Merry Christmas is now<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />instantaneously outdated. It was 80 degrees at noon, I finished my<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />Skype call to my family. Now there's 364 days until Christmas.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />It's a little sad to think that it's all over now, but part of the joy<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />in life is moving on, knowing that what came will come again. Just as<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />powerful a experience itself, is memory. Memory is a key attribute of<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />knowledge. What good would knowledge do if we never kept it? The past<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />is in the past, and is not now, but many times the future is<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />determined upon what we did in the past, and the now is just a filter<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />of recognition.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />At any rate, I loved Christmas. We had a beautiful sacrament service,<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />and many investigators came. One of them we've been trying to help<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />progress for a long time now, and her and her less active husband<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />loved the beautiful music and spirit of the chapel.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />On Wednesday we had a powerful lesson with a Lady who has not had a<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />very merry Christmas. She's been working two jobs as a 75 year old<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />lady, and hasn't been able to attend sacrament, yet alone buy<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />groceries. But with youth she quoted Psalms 23 verbatim to the King<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />James Bible, and let us know she will make it out on top. It was<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />amazing to see her faith in the Lord. Sometimes, when you hear people<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />approach such a sticky situation with confidence, you think they are<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />foolish. Maybe it is a foolish thing to do, but faith is foolish to<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />worldly sight. It was a touching moment to spend some time with her in<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />the holidays.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />Saturday we went caroling with the Elder that live with us. One of<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />them played the guitar, I sang the melody, and the other two prayed<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />for the ability to sing. It worked beautifully. It was wonderful to<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />see family after family touched at our service to them. Truly<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />Christmastime is a special time of year. When else will people<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />appreciate you coming to their door to sing?<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />When I finished skyping my family on Sunday afternoon, I turned off<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />the monitor, and wondered if they knew just how much I loved my<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />mission. Did I miss my chance to let them know how much fun I was<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />having? Could they tell that I was happy? It brought me back to<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />something one of my brothers used to say when playing sports. "You<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />gotta capitalize!" Did I capitalize on the situation? Maybe I did,<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />Maybe I didn't. It was a little numbing to see all of them together,<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />but I hope they know how much I've changed- even if I still like to be<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />a little fashionable.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />It was the most wonderful time of the year. It was time for chesnuts<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />to roast on the fire. It was the time to watch Mr. Krueger's<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />Christmas, but it will always be time to remember the savior.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />Elder Richard Hall</div>
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Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974233866182491774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4635546959481712510.post-84496361768683315402016-12-23T15:42:00.001-08:002016-12-23T15:42:30.796-08:00I'll Be Home For Christmas<div class="body undoreset" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482536422472_3723" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; display: table; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-top: 12px; width: 567px;" tabindex="0">
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NOT REALLY. But, I feel like it is worth noting that Christmas Eve<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />will be my 18 month mark. What an extraordinary thought. In a mission<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />conference that we had last week, we had a powerful testimony from a<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />member of the seventy, saying that when you are on a mission, you<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />count your time. I don't want to, but it might be a good idea.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />I love Christmastime. I remember in my later high school years that<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />was thoroughly disenchanted with this time of year, but when we turn<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />our thoughts to the savior, there is no reason to not love the spirit<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />of Christmas. This week has been filled with many Christmas miracles<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />and joys. We have contacted more referrals this week than I have at<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />any point in my mission ever before. I tied my personal record for new<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />investigators found in a week, and the members of the congregation<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />here have been so charitable to us as we have been away from our<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />families.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />Everyone has a Christmas tradition. Even if it is as simple as singing<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />Christmas carols on Sunday, or reading Luke 2, we all have something<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />that our family does together for Christmas. Of the many holiday<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />videos my family watches perennially, one of my personal favorites is<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />Mr. Krueger's Christmas. Back home, I love watching an old but lively<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />Jimmy Stewart run around with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and finding<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />out that the little girl put all the animals around baby Jesus in the<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />nativity. As a missionary, there are three things that I want to point<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />out to add to the beauty of this great Christmas specials.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />For all of you that haven't watched this video, please do so. Not only<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />will it help with understanding the rest of this email, but it also is<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />a beautiful show.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />1. Service pays itself. When Mr. Krueger is unexpectedly given some<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />money in his hat- money which he could definitely use- he gives it<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />almost immediately to the salvation army band. Sacrifice is needed to<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />be obedient to the lord and to receive his blessings. If it wasn't<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />hard, it wouldn't be sacrifice. Even in our times of need, there is<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />something that we can sacrifice to the lord.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />2. Inclusion is more important than Perfection. The group of Carolers<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />that invited Mr. Krueger to sing with them didn't need him, instead,<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />they wanted him to feel the love and joy that comes with singing<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />carols. When we are invited to act, we should trust that they want us,<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />they we are qualified for what we are called. Perhaps we are not as<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />good as others, but it is still our place to answer the call to<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />action. Besides, the cat does sleep a long time.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />3. The crowning sign of love is always loyalty. As Mr. Krueger, the<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />most humble man you'll meet, bows down and wishes he had something to<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />give to the Savior at his birth, he is reassured that his love for him<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />is enough. And then, after all of the glimmers of happiness that he<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />had- almost buying a new suit, buying the smallest of Christmas trees,<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />having his only visitors leave after so short a time, reminiscing of<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />his wife with only a picture- he receives a fulness of joy from<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />worshipping Christ. And then, the tender mercies of the Lord fell upon<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />him.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />Love the gospel. Live the gospel. What great feelings. And I can tell<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />you, Mr. Krueger's Christmas really isn't that great of a production.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />Thank goodness that it is Christmastime. I hope that you enjoy it with<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />your families, and that you enjoy the spirit of Christ.</div>
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Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974233866182491774noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4635546959481712510.post-79923207641158836132016-12-12T17:28:00.001-08:002016-12-12T17:28:15.385-08:00A Christmas Card<div class="body undoreset" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1481592245970_2675" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; display: table; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-top: 12px; text-align: center; width: 567px;" tabindex="0">
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To all my friends and loved ones, and even family<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />MERRY CHRISTMAS!<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /><div style="text-align: center;">
In 13 days</div>
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Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974233866182491774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4635546959481712510.post-18801136841125071582016-12-06T20:01:00.001-08:002016-12-06T20:01:21.573-08:00Christmas time is here<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Everyone,<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />Saturday we had the first convert baptism in Schertz Ward since its<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />creation over 15 months ago. It was a great feeling. The bishop was<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />elated. He was signing the baptismal record and said, "you know<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />Elders, it's been too long since I've signed one of these. Good work."<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />Lots of members came to A's baptism and some surrounding<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />missionaries had investigators show up. It was an awesome experience.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />A, the little 9-year old that was baptized, is such a great kid.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />It was a pleasure to teach him.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />This week started with throwing my back out while working out in the<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />morning. After finishing the set I dropped the weights, and I couldn't<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />move. That was pretty fun. NOT. It turns out that to do just about<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />anything, you need your back. By the time Elder V and I came home<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />from a day of biking I wanted a back replacement. But what can you do<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />when you have appointments and meetings all week? Out of the many<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />lessons I've learned on my mission, responsibility is a huge one. If<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />you don't do your job, who else is going to do it for you? And why<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />would you want somebody to do your job for you? Responsibility,<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />stewardship, whatever you want to call it, is part of growing up.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />To try some different ways to use every honorable means to find<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />somebody to teach, we ware going to be part of a radio talk show. Us<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />and the Elders that we live with have been invited to be on a member's<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />radio show. He said that over 30,000 people will be able to listen to<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />us. That's a ton of people that we can talk to! What an extraordinary<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />thought that we could be sharing the gospel to thousands of people all<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />at the same time. Our mission president is all for having us on the<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />talk show. The person who owns the station wants us to do it weekly,<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />but I'll be honestly, I don't know what we'd talk about after the<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />first few podcasts, but what an incredible thought.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />Wednesday we were able to rake leaves for one of our investigators who<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />has been having some major medical issues. Her front yard was ankle<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />deep in leaves, and for that 70-year old lady, it would have been way<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />too much. She came out so surprised. "You do this for people who don't<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />go to your church? That's crazy!" She put on her favorite Christmas<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />sweater and tried to help us. She's a funny old lady. I'm just glad we<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />could spend a few hours helping her out.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />Thursday I had a feeling that I've wanted to have for a long time. It<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />was the feeling of being a new missionary again. New missionaries have<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />this fire to them that is addicting. Every moment is a spiritual high,<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />every experience is a treasured memory. Sometimes when you get further<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />into the field, it's not that you run out of experiences, you just get<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />used to them. But what a shame that is. Thursday night my companion,<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />the bishop, and I were meeting with a less active part member family<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />and the spirit was so strong, they were so grateful to have us there,<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />for the first time in a while, I was overwhelmed with the spirit<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />during a lesson. What a wonderful experience. I hope we all get<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />overwhelmed with the holy ghost.<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />Elder Richard Hall<br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /><br style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" />1. Some missionaries going through some sound checks at the radio station<br /><br /></div>
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Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974233866182491774noreply@blogger.com0