How Great the Wisdom and the Love

Hello Everybody!

Last Monday I spent almost the whole day washing down our apartment

from the fumigation and adding further preventatives. Bed bugs are not

fun.

Other than that, everything has been splendid. We had a week filled

with excellent lessons and lot of work with the members. It's a

wonderful moment when as a missionary you not only perform your own

missionary work, but you can coordinate the missionary work of the

members around you. Suddenly your purpose becomes heightened. It's a

lesson I learned from a wise man a few months into my mission, but

took me a little longer to realize.

This week was filled with wise men. Wednesday I was able to have an

interview with our mission president. President P is so full of

light and love. I knew it was going to be one of my last personal

conversations I'll have with him in a while, so I took my time. He is

a student of the scriptures. He is also a student of love. The amount

of understanding he has is immense.

That night a wise man in the Ward wanted to take us to some of his

friends he wants to share the gospel with. We spent three hours going

home to home of people that he loved enough to introduce us to them.

About half were less active members of the church, and the other half

good friends that he simply wanted us to teach. At the end of the

night, I was impressed with the spirit of charity, not missionary

work, within this man. But why would these feelings be any different?

Sunday was stake conference, and an area authority visited us. While

he was speaking, I was impressed by the amount of wonder he had for

everything happening around him. He turned around and watched the

choir sing, he looked through the audience to smile and wave at anyone

he met eyes with.

While Elder T was sharing a story about how he was guarding

Michael Jordan in the olympics, it hit me like a sack of bricks. "This

is my brother's mission president." I knew this man from the emails me

brother sent home from his mission, telling stories about how great

and wise President T was. I then realized that this man changed

my brother's life. My brother changed my life when he returned from

his mission

When I went to shake his hand, he gave me a hug. He met me, my

companion, and our investigator the day before, and in a day's time he

grew to love us. I told him who my brother was, and he exclaimed,

"That's my missionary!" He was overjoyed. I was too.

More powerful than wisdom is love. They often come together.

- Elder Richard Hall

1. The struggles of weekly planning in a member home.

Stolen Nametags, Easter, and Bed Bugs

I promise that we had several spiritual experiences this week. I

promise that we had many lessons and even found a new family and a

golden investigator. I promise that Easter was amazing and we saw many

miracles because we were able to testify of Christ.

Now that we have that understood, this is how the week went.

During the transfer period I left one of my name tags in my last

apartment. The missionaries there sent it on a letter to my new

apartment. When I got the letter Monday the side was slit open and the

name tag was gone, but the letter the missionaries wrote to me was

still there.

Wednesday we drove out to Lockhart for District Meeting. 10

missionaries gathered in a little town 25 minutes away from anywhere

in a chapel. The chapel is in a rented piece of a strip mall. On the

other side of it is a gas station and liquor store. Quaint.

Friday my companion noticed that I had bites all over me. We were

doing a lot of service outside this week, so we thought it was

mosquitoes, or something. That is when I found the bed bugs. The

apartment complex couldn't get an exterminator in until this Tuesday.

So Saturday was spent bagging all of our clothes and sheets and taking

them to a laundromat in South Austin. We spent hours there until a

member called us and let us know that you only need to to put clothes

in the dryer to get rid of bed bugs. We lost a lot of quarters that

day.

Because the closest set of Elders to us are about 25 miles away, we

are spending the nights in a member home. It turns out their son is a

world famous LEGO master builder, and the guest room is filled with

life-sized creations. I sleep next to Thor, Wonder Woman and her

invisible upper torso, Captain Kirk, and a Minion. There are heads and

arms laying around everywhere.

Sunday I forgot to tell our Easter Dinner appointment I was allergic

to coconut until after I was light-headed and swelling. It was the

first time I ever reacted to coconut oil. I took some Benadryl and was

fine, but tired.

Other than that, this week was fantastic. We were able to teach some

great people. I found out that two of my former investigators are

getting baptized this Saturday. I am definitely going to one of the

services. We had some great lessons with some honest hearts and I have

felt like a very successful missionary. During a sacrament hymn I

realized that Heavenly Father is much more compassionate than I ever

imagined. He recognizes success and effort just as much as he

recognizes failure. This is something I learned long ago, but like all

things, we need to be reminded of.

- Elder Richard Hall

1. A food place outside of the laundromat.

2. A view from my bed.

Novelty, Shadows, and the New Braunfels Unicorns

The Unicorn is the mascot for a high school that I served fairly close

to in my last area. It has has the best name among high schools that

I've served around on my mission, with second being the Hutto Hippos.

Hopefully I can snag a Unicorn T-shirt before I head out of Texas.

This has been a week full of change. Full of it! Things are just not

like they were a week ago, or two weeks ago, or so on. I will be

spending the last few months of my mission in Buda and Kyle, two small

towns that are beginning to explode as commuter towns for Austin,

which is about 15 minutes north of us. This is a fun area, the largest

and most rural of my mission. The congregations are smaller, and the

members are close to missionaries. Things are further apart, there are

some older couples, and life is slower.

These two towns share with Austin a sort of crossroads of culture. You

can run into true cowboys on the same street that you run into

computer junkies. You see men with full beards and Oakley sunglasses

carrying a mac and wearing skinny jeans. There is a giant Cabelas that

looms over the town of Buda that doesn't have plastic bags. It's kind

of fun to see.

I suppose that my new companion, Elder P, and I are the perfect fit

for an area like this. Elder P is a, well, hick. It's hilarious.

All analogies and stories used in lessons are about guns and hunting.

His similes and metaphors all connect with animals. His pronunciations

are textbook. "That's a tough sitchie-ation right there." "I used to

cover Plum Crick." Or this excellent conversation.

"So, that lady's name was Janice (pronounced Jan-is), right?"

"Yep, that's Janice (pronounced Jay-nus)"

"Okay, so it's Jay-nus"

"Yep, Jay-nus"

"I thought she said Janis."

"That's right."

"So, is it Janis or Jay-nus?"

"Jay-nus"

"So not Janis"

"No, it is."

"Janis?"

"Jay-nus."

A few tries later I gave up and decided it was Janis. It's really fun,

because he isn't trying at all, it's simply who he is. I only hope

that when the novelty wears off, he'll still be funny. He really is a

good kid though. He'll talk to the cowboys about horse riding, I'll

talk to the Austinites about ACL. And surprisingly, both groups really

like baseball.

I realized the other day that I spent 74 of the 104 weeks of my

mission in my last two areas. That's a long time, almost 18 months.

And being in this area for just 1 week now, I wish I could spend a

good chunk of time here as well. To me it shows that love doesn't stay

in one place. Memories travel with us. It isn't our surroundings that

determine what we feel and how we act, it is the character that we

have developed within us. What makes someone easy to love? It is not

always them, it is sometimes us.

But yes, sometimes it is them.

- Elder Richard Hall

Buddha and Style

Due to some experimentation from the mission president, Preparation

Day was moved from Monday to Wednesday for transfer week. Today was

spent doing a lot of packing.

Packing? What? No... Elder Hall is getting transferred! It's really

sad. I was hoping to stick out the rest of my mission in this little

slice of heaven. But I'm going from the pleasant suburbs of San

Antonio to the heart of the I-35. Buda and Kyle. This is most likely

going to be my last hoo-rah of the mission, and it will be a lot of

fun. My new companion is Elder P. The last time I saw him, he was

in training and had a thick backwoods accent. That was in July. Who

knows what he's like now.

I am excited to be heading out, but I'm leaving behind a lot of great

memories. My companions, Elder M and Elder H, who

have become some of my closer friends in my life. This zone of

missionaries, who are some of the hardest workers I know. These Wards,

who haves members with excellent testimonies and anxious to serve the

Lord. These investigators, who have grown so much in the gospel. This

assignment, which has brought me joy and happiness to serve alongside

some of the greatest missionaries in the field. But the Lord knows

that the three months ahead of me are going to be some of the best in

my life, and I'm sure that it will be.

Life is good. There is always something good happening. There is

always light to cleave to.

General Conference happened over the weekend. That was fun. If I have

time I'll do my annual review of it next week.

- Elder Richard Hall

Notes

I'm Walking! I'm Walking! It doesn't even hurt to walk. Who would have

thought that this could actually happen. It's amazing how great it

feels to walk without pain. Well, I can last most of the day without

pain, and there's still some fluid in there, but I can walk! And that

is the best part.

Life has been wonderful. The weather has been fantastic and Elder

and I have been hitting the ground running. Sometimes you

can't explain how the Lord provides, but the Lord always provides.

We were having a lesson in the home of a man who has gone through a

lot, to put it simply. To hear his testimony of the atonement and to

see his faith in the ways of the Lord was amazing. His faith in the

savior was so huge, it was changing the people around him. Your

attitude effects the people around you more than often times we care

to admit.

A lady in the Schertz Ward- who has become more like a mother to me

and Elder M gave an excellent talk in sacrament. My favorite

line: "If you take the 'test' out of 'testimony', then all you have

left is an 'imony', and that's not a word. She then referenced a

scripture that she credited my companion and I with sharing with her

family. If you don't receive an answer to your prayer, it is not

because you did not have enough faith, it is because you need to go

through an experience to receive your witness. We can't dispute it

because we can't see it. Sister C is excellent. Who would have

thought I would meet someone from Gooding, ID here in Texas.

I was folding up socks this week when I realized that when I came out

on my mission, I had about 18 pairs of socks. I counted, and now I

have 45 pairs. Where did they all come from?

Life is good

- Elder Richard Hall

Light and Dark

Another week where just about everything ever happened. For the first

two and a half days I the week I was glued to the couch, hopped up on

codine, so I can't say that much happened during that time, but

Wednesday night we had dinner with one of my favorite families that

I've met on my mission, followed by a few appointments.

Dinner with the Young family was enlightening. Brother and Sister

Y met each other on their mission as missionaries about a year

into the field. Brother Y was a hard-working missionary and loved

every second of his two years of service, but when he saw Sister Y

he knew that she was the one. After consulting with the mission

president he made a commitment to not cross paths with her. Avoid

speaking to her, not shake her hands, just stay away. And they both

had amazing missions, went home, took six months to get together, and

they've been together ever since. I thought it was amazing to see that

he was willing to sacrifice that much to make sure that he kept his

mission sacred and special. Two years isn't too long if you know it's

the right thing to do. Our knowledge changes our countenance. To this

day he talks about his mission like it was the best thing that

happened to him. It was.

Thursday we received a mini-missionary, a youth from the stake who

spent two days with us to see what missionary work was like. It was a

great experience for him. It seems that the youth of the church just

get better and better. He bore powerful testimony and wasn't too

shabby at teaching himself. I loved being able to guide Cameron and

help him learn things that I wish I learned before I went on my

mission. As a missionary, you want the success of others almost more

than you want your own success. He's from an area that I served in

long ago, now a whole year ago. Great to see him and hear about my old

area.

Saturday we had a special zone conference with Elder Christensen from

the presidency of the seventy come. It was amazing the amount that I

learned in those brief hours that I had with him. During it I learned

that there is such thing as "sacred scripture", and I was able to have

Elder Christensen answer one of my own personal questions. It was one

of the most precious moments of my mission.

Sunday I was able to lead a quartet in singing a barbershop version of

"Consider the Lilies." It was powerful, and beautiful. There are some

great singers in the Schertz Ward.

Hope that you all have an excellent week. By the end of the week I'll

be off of crutches.

Have a good one,

Elder Richard Hall

1. Monday

2. Tuesday

3. The mini missionary

4. After zone conference. My other current companion, the Yuba City

missionary, and her companion

Heavy Medication

Basically, everything that ever could happen either just happened, is
happening, or is about to happen. In an effort to conserve precious
energy and to save all of us from a email that'd take 3 months to
read, I'll do my best to keep it short.

This week I had and interview with my mission president. My first
mission president would use interviews as precious time to personally
teach principles and uplift missionaries. The current one likes to use
it as a time to hear every little thing that I have to say, and then
gives two sentences of profound council. Somehow, both styles help me
grow. I love my mission president.

Went on exchanges with a great missionary Wednesday. We are going home
the same time, and it was fun to reminisce about the times that we had
together back in the day when we both had no idea what we were doing.
Now we were discussing all of these different leadership
responsibilities and teaching skills that I never anticipated to be
proficient at. It was a wonderful day.

Friday I had surgery on my right leg. They shaved off some bone on my
Femur. I don't think those bone shavings will rise with me on the day
of my resurrection. As much of a pain as it was to have that "bone
finger" jabbing into my muscle, the price to take it out is pretty
heavy. I have enjoyed the medication that they have given me, but it
has basically made everything a blur. I can hardly remember a drop of
what happened on Friday. All I remember is talking to the nurse about
which Tupac song was his favorite, and why the Beastie Boys were
better than Wu-Tang Clan. My companion claims I talked about a lot of
other things, but I couldn't tell you what's true and what isn't.

Sunday came. That evening Elder Muhlestein and I were assigned to
teach the Stake missionary preparation class. We ended up having a
powerful lesson on the importance of recognizing the Holy Ghost, and
feeling inspired. I don't remember much of what was said, but I do
remember the power in the words of these youth as they practiced
teaching to each other with their testimonies. A testimony is an
amazing thing.

This upcoming Saturday we are being visited by two major head-honchos
in the church, Elder Craig C. Christensen and Elder Dale G. Renlund.
It'll be an exciting time for me, as this is the first time on my
mission that a member of the 12 will visit the area. I am eagerly
awaiting their inspired direction.

Life is good. I'll have to learn how to be patient with this recovery.
It's been a long time since I've felt normal. But it will all be worth
it in the end.

- Elder Richard Hall

1. Exchanges with Elder Dailey
2. recovery
3. The scar