Why do Holidays go by so fast?

Hey Yall!

This week has gone by so dang fast. I dont have to much time to write, just know its been super wet and rainy lately! 

Mrs Irene and I with our fuzzy socks on haha Christmas Eve and Christmas we made cookies to pass out to everyone. We went around to pretty much everyone that we knew and gave them their cookies. They all loved it! Christmas day we had a big breakfast with the Martin Family. 90% of our branch was there haha. It was good though, we had biscuits, gravy, eggs, grits, sausage, and fried Quail... (Yes Mom sorry..... Dad arent ya proud of me!!;)) haha then we were able to go visit with some folks while we passed out the cookies. We were also able to see some other members of the branch. Then they had lunch.. ham, turkey, sweet potatas, mashed corn, and all kinds of deserts! There was so much foood!!! Haha then we went to the church and got to skype with family! That was weird..... but great!:) 

We made cookies and passed them out Christmas eve and Christmas day!  This week we were able to see some investigators, we actually had a Christmas miracle of our own. Christmas night we got 3 txts for referrals in our area!! Then the next day we got another one! We were able to visit 2 of them, and the other 2 we need more bibles to go give to them haha. The funny thing is that every media referral Ive contacted on my mission, think that their media is gonna come by mail, and next thing they know they have 2 Mormon missionaries at their door haha its cool to see the reaction. 

Mr Joe and I with my Christmas Pajamas my parents sent to me:) haha hope this don't scare no one!  Bro Stockman during the holidays passed out a ton of He is the Gift cards. We had gone to one ladies house, Mrs Dumas, and we gave her a 3 steps to a happier family. We asked how she came in contact with it, and she said, "A man gave me a card at Rite Aid down in Thomasville." "That was Me!" Bro Stockman said without hesitation haha it was awesome! Its cool to see how the Lord uses different tools to help people. 

We are gonna follow up with people this next week and hopefully have a good story for yall! O and also we got Bobby to come to church this week! And we also helped Bro Stockman write a talk to give in sacrament. haha

For now thats all. Just a good holiday week:) I love yall and wish you the happiest of holidays. Remember to be happy during them:) 

Love Elder Hall

The two on the left show us how we are supposed to pray, the one on the right shows how most missionaries pray:)

Christmas is Near!!

Hey Yall!

This week has been a good week. Like always its flown by and we have been busy playing in the rain. Haha Magnolia hasnt gotten to much rain this year and they need it, well on Thursday, Friday, and Today its done nothing but rain, and we have been walking, biking, and playing basketball in it!:) Ive learned that as a missionary, any time it rains your always gonna be in it, whether you like it or not... haha  Prez and Sister Hanks and I.

This week has been full of biking and tracting and following up with potential investigators. We were able to go back to the Ritics, they are a husband and wife, and teach them the Restoration lesson. They seemed to like it, and told us that they would come to church one of these Sundays, they are big in there church, but the wife said that they would like to come see something new for a change! Josiah texted us this week and said he had been reading the Book of Mormon, but that he wanted to stay in his church for now, but he may change his mind. We txted him back and told him he is still invited to church and activities and we still want to be his friend. Brittany is doing well, she just has a couple problems in her life right now that we as missionaries cant help with, we are getting a couple of sisters in our branch to visit and just let her get things out and relieve stress. And Authur I guess has been pretty busy cuz we havent been able to see him this week. So its been a lot of trying to find new investigators which is what we need!

We were able to have a Branch Christmas party. That was fun, it was a Grinch Stole Christmas theme and we had dinner with Roast Beast, and Who Hash and it all:) haha we were able to do a Nativity Scene and the 2 teenage boys in our branch didnt want to be the shepards so Bro Stockman and I filled in:) haha We were also able to have a mission Christmas party. They split it up into 3 different parties for the whole mission. So ours was on Saturday. It was so much fun though. They started off with a devotional, they talked about how we can serve Christ and remember Him. They found a few different songs that talked on the subjects they were speaking on. They would play the song and we had the words to look at. Each song, Prez Hanks would just keep crying. Well the very last song they played just so happened to be one of my favorite Christmas songs, "God Bless Your Way" by Hilary Weeks.  We had a talent show at the Christmas party and we did missionary Yoga.... This is how we dressed up. #theygo #2by2 #lookingdangattractive :)

I was sitting next to my son, Elder Hodge, and this might be the last time I see him until he gets home, but right as it starts playing I can feel my eyes start to water up, I feel this warm but aching feeling, and all at once it hits me, how short of a time I have left. I just started to bawl. It was no good. The other sad thing was that a sister reach over my shoulder and gave a me kleenex. But it was also a good moment for me to realize that I only have a short time left to help people, to show them how much Christ does love them. So I made another commitment right then that I would continue to work hard for this little time and leave with no regrets. The rest of the party was good, we had good food, a funny talent show, and we got to watch Frozen! haha

Well yesterday Elder Arnold and I were able to speak in sacrament. I wanted to share just a few thoughts on my talk. A lot of it were scriptures linking together. But I talked about why Christ was born and what his purpose was for coming to earth. He tells Pilate "To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice." Christ Himself tells us that, "I am the way, the truth, and the Life.." The truth therefore is Christ. In Matt 1:21, "And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins." And Luke 2:10-11, "And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." So Christ came to save us from our sins, and to be our Savior! How great is that! Not only that but Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ did something incredible. Its a question we need to ask ourselves, "And he said unto me: Knowest thou the condescension of God?" 

Magnolia Branch Nativity Skit:) Do we understand where Christ came from and why He was born? In a talk given by Richard C Edgley, he says a few things, he quotes Bruce R McConkie, "God the Father also condescended by sending His Only Begotten Son to suffer the sins of the world. The Savior is God’s gift to us." Thats a cool thought. Heavenly Father also gave us a Christmas Gift! He goes on, "Christ’s condescension was more personal and visible—for He was the sacrifice. His condescension was manifest by who He was and the way He lived." Then Bishop Edgley says, "So what does this mean for us? Our understanding of Christ’s condescension should take us beyond our feelings of awe and deepgratitude. As members of His Church, being called to represent Him and testify of Him, our great opportunity is to try to emulate Him..." "For us to follow the Savior’s example in our callings, we can be kind to all with whom we come in contact. We can build others, inspire them, lift them, and teach rather than criticize. We can show love, respect, and caring to all those we meet. We can “descend” to be the servant of even the humblest." This Christmas season we can do what we promise each and every week in the Sacrament when we promise to take upon us Christ name, we can serve even the humblest of people. Thats our gift to Christ and Heavenly Father after the amazing gifts They have given to us. Go forget yourself for a minute this season. Let your light be an example and let others see Christ in you.

I hope yall have a very Merry Christmas! I love yall and am grateful for each of you! You have truly inprired me to do great things! Remember on Christmas to be happy:)

Love Elder Hall!

Kinda Awkward.....

Hey Yall!

So this week has been good, just an awkward week like all weeks are around transfers. We were able to go say our goodbyes with those that Elder Roseman got to get close to. We packed him up and on Wednesday everyone swapped companions. Elder Arnold is a good kid, our personalities dont really quite match up, but we are trying to work on that. We still got a long time to work on it haha

This week has been kinda awkward with saying goodbyes and trying to get Elder Arnold to meet everyone and also continuing to work and teach and help people progress. Brittany hasnt had the best week, her and her boyfriend got in a fight and she almost left, but I told her to stay and work it out. Well now they almost lost the house so she is trying to get a job. We will see what happens, I really want to help her, but dont know what to do. But we saw Authur this week, he and his fiance loved church! They didnt come this past Sunday, but we are continuing to work with them and they are still preparing for their weeding in Jan. We have seen Dell a couple times this week. His mom isnt so keen on letting him get baptized here so we are gonna talk with her. What we really need to do is 1. Follow up with potential investigators that we have found and 2. Keep finding every day to get more new investigators. We need new investigators! Lathen Foote and I. He was a kid in the Northport ward that came down on Monday and said hello to me!:)

We were able to have branch conference yesterday which went well. Alot of stake leaders came down and participated. We have continued to work with active members to strengthen them and also with less actives. We saw Bobby a couple times this week. He is doing well, we went to pick him up on Sunday and him along with Bro Aitken were throwing up all night and had fevers. I really hope that what they tell us is true, one because they will get over the sickness, i just dont want to have Bobby quit coming to church, so that is one of my big projects this transfer is helping him to come to church every week, so when I leave he will still want to come out of his own love of God. But other than that we havent done to much this week. Satan makes it really hard for me to just think that I have a little bit of time left and I have worked hard my whole mission, so now i can just relax. But i will not do that. I am not going to be that missionary. 

This week I have thought a lot about the Atonement and the tremendous love the Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have for all of us! I listened to a song that said these words, "Christ's love never fails, it never gives up, it never runs out on us!" He is never going to forsake or abandon us! If you feel so inclined, i invite all of you to go to mormonmessages.org and search, "Sunday Will Come" Its a short video from a talk given by Elder Joseph B Wirthlin. He talks about the Friday when Christ was crucified and the Sunday He was resurrected. Just a couple quotes from the talk, "Each of us will have our own Fridays—those days when the universe itself seems shattered and the shards of our world lie littered about us in pieces. We all will experience those broken times when it seems we can never be put together again. We will all have our Fridays." "But I testify to you in the name of the One who conquered death—Sunday will come. In the darkness of our sorrow, Sunday will come... No matter our desperation, no matter our grief, Sunday will come." "May we understand and live in thanksgiving for the priceless gifts that come to us as sons and daughters of a loving Heavenly Father and for the promise of that bright day when we shall all rise triumphant from the grave.....That we may always know that no matter how dark our Friday, Sunday will come is my prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen." I want to add my testimony to his, I know that Sunday will come, my mission at times has been fun and easy and enjoyable, but being on earth we have opposites. My mission at times has seemed like I can not go on another day, that things are hopeless, that I am alone. I am so ever grateful to be on a mission because of this one fact. I have grown a personal, unbreakable bond and relationship with Jesus Christ that will last forever. I know He lives! I know that we are NEVER alone, that He is there with us always, and when we are going through our "Fridays" He is personally there to help us through. I know this because He has been here with me. I have felt Christ literally put his arms around me over, and over again as I thinks its all lost and hopeless. I have felt alone only to realize who is standing right beside me and his helping me without any asking on my part. Remember and never let go of the Love that the Savior has for each of you! Never let go of your love for the Savior. He lives, He is here with us now, let Him help you is my prayer in Jesus name, Amen. 

Hope yall have a wonderful week. Keep thinking about little Baby Jesus and the miracle of his birth! "Remember always to be happy"- Prez Holzapfel, then "Inform your face!"-Prez Hanks. Love yall so much!

Love Elder Hall:)

The loss of a good friend

Hey Yall! 

So Elder Roseman chose my title this week haha but that brings up some important, big news... we got transfer calls on Saturday, it does not feel like another transfer is ending... it goes by so dang fast!, and I will be staying in Magnolia and Elder Roseman is leaving. So I will be getting one last companion. This is my also my last transfer. Its a crazy feeling.Its sad that Elder Roseman is leaving, but im also excited to have one last comp. Compared to every other missionary in the mission, i have had so very few comps haha kinda weird. Now before yall ask if Im getting really trunky, ill give my honest answer. I have my moments, but i will quote Joseph Smith in the Restoration dvd when Emma asks him, "Joseph do you think God ever asks to much of us?" he replies "I do not let myself" Thats my motto. When people try and get me trunk I just say, I wont let myself. Plus we are to busy for me to think about it that much haha there is a lot of work to do in the next 6 weeks! We have 4 baptism dates and we could be getting more!  Joe and I with a tomb stone of Jesus! 

This week has been very good. We have been working hard with some of the investigators that we have baptism dates with. We are trying to help them continue to progress to baptism, I dont want these to fall through because they are such good people! We need to get back to finding every day again though, we have kinda gotten away from that a little bit, we have met new people this week but we also need to follow up with potentials that we have found, just a lot of work ahead! This area has been so much fun to work in because of all the work that the Lord has for us to do! 

We have been able to see Bobby and Mitch this week. We are helping them prepare to get the priesthood to bless and pass the sacrament and also go to the temple! Bobby has changed so much since his baptism! On Saturday we went and talked with him, he was talking so much that we couldnt get a word in! It was crazy. We followed up on us asking him to pray about the BOM and church and get another witness it was true. He said, "I asked the Lord if the BOM and church were true, and after I just felt good." I asked how he felt at his baptism and when we come to teach, he said good. Then I asked what that feeling might be. He told us it was the spirit. Its so cool to watch Bobby who hasnt even graduated high school, and doesnt have a very good education learn and grow in the gospel so quickly and he is understanding it all! 

We also got to teach a man named Clyde the restoration, we invited him to be baptized, he replied, "Ive done been baptized" just like the rest of the south says. Then I asked if God wanted him to be baptized again would he deny him. "Well i guess ill talk to him tonight and ask if I should get baptized again." We are going back this week to see how his "Talk" went. We saw Josiah this week. He has had a terrible stomach virus so we gave him a blessing, he was so grateful for it and we told him that after his baptism he could have the priesthood and be able to bless his family with it. He was excited about that! We will go back this next week and follow up on past commitments. We also saw Authur and we invited him to church, he came with his fiance!! That so cool:) They loved it. We also got Dell to come to church! 

The biggest miracle this week was one with Brittany. Now she is the one with the husband that hates Christians because of his ex wife. He also didnt want to get married and Brittany told him that when he was ready come and tell her and they would get married. Well we went back to see her. Its been cool, because she calls us and every time she does, she asks if we can help her with the house, well we figured out that really mean, "can you come help with dishes, so I can talk to yall" So we take Bro Stockman down there and help her then teach her, well this week we followed up on how she is doing with coffee and tea. 

She told us that over Thanksgiving weekend they were with her boyfriends family, every kept asking if she wanted coffee or tea. She would tell them she was fine and had her Mtn Dew to drink instead! I thought that was so cool, and told her not to drink alot of it, but to drink Mtn Dew instead of the alternatives. We have conintued to teach her and she is very prepared and ready for baptism, her date is Dec 19th, and all she needs to do is come to church twice then get married which could be a while depending on her husband. Well she said "I need to tell yall something that my boyfriend told me this week." We asked what it was. "He told me he thought of a Christmas present, and it wasnt the horse that I really wanted. He said that for my Christmas present we are gonna get married!" WOW! I was so dang excited to hear about that! She said they just needed to save up the money and get something else and in the next couple of weeks they would get married in the court house. That was the biggest miracle because now she can get baptized in Dec! We set another date with her for Dec 27th so she can come to church and that date should be after their marriage! Once again the Lord is showing that He is here in Magnolia helping us. That we as missionaries are his hands, Im so excited for this month of Miracles! :)

Well thats the scoop for this week. Next week will have a lot of exciting things to tell. I love yall, hope you have a great week, and continue to feel the spirit of Christ this Christmas season! Remember to be happy, to show it, live it, and share it:) 

Love Elder Hall

God is Glorious, Bobby is Dunked, Life is Good!

Hey Yall!

This week again has been full of miracle after miracle. Its been so good! I hope that everyone was able to have a good Thanksgiving! Here its been the regular weather so really nothing to much has changed. A lot of people were gone, out of town for the holiday. But none the less the work of the Lord moves on. I do want to let everyone know that our mission as well as a lot of other missions around the world are involved in the "He is the Gift" initiative. We have cards that we are passing out, and if you havent seen the video, I highly recommend you go to christmas.mormon.org and watch it and encourage everyone to go there. The church is doing a lot for this and wants it to be a big hit! So tell everyone you know about it!  Elder Roseman and I, pretty sure we could be models or something;)

Us, with the ZL's and Joe.  Ill just get strait into it. On Monday we were able to go up to Montgomery to go bowling with our zone and the Montgomery North Zone! It was so much fun. On Tuesday, we went around to some of our investigators and taught them, trying to help them progress farther and get to church. We were able to see Brittany. We helped her with some things around the house. Then we taught her some more. She was out of town since it was the holidays and wasn't able to make it to church, but is planning on coming. Then we were able to see Authur Dumas. We taught him about the Plan of Salvation, and some of it was new to him, but he loved it, which is kind of unusual because most of the time I teach it, everyone gets defensive about the 3 kingdoms, but he accepted and loved the idea of it. We were able to meet his fiance for a split sec. Then on Friday we went back and I was on exchanges with Elder Holliday, we taught him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the 5 steps of happiness and what we should be doing here on earth. we asked him what it meant to him to repent. He said, "Well, you have to recognize that your doing wrong, then pray and ask forgiveness for it from the Lord, then stop doing it." That shocked us, with how much he actually knew. Elder Holliday then taught him about baptism and the Holy Ghost. I could feel the spirit so strongly, and I testified of what Elder Holliday had just shared, then told Authur that he was feeling the Spirit right then! He had a huge smile and knew that he was. We went on teaching him, and then talked more about his baptism date of Jan 11th and he was excited for it. We then told him that we would love to have his fiance to sit in with the lessons. If we could get her interested in it, then we could help them set a marriage date and get them both baptized, which would be another amazing miracle that God would perform! 

A couple other people we saw this week were Dell, we were able to play football with him a little this week and teach him, but nothing to special or new about it, just the regular lessons, we are going back this week to have some bomb lessons and see if he is really gonna wanna do this baptism thing. The other person I wanted to talk about that we saw yesterday is Josiah. Now ive only talked about him a little bit. He is the investigator that Bro Stockman took us to his home and told him to let us teach him. He has been crazy busy with work and other things, but we got to sit down with him. For the past 2 weeks we have been asking him to read a chapter in the BOM and think about a baptism date. Every time he promised to do it, but it wouldnt happen. So this time, we read some scriptures with him in the BOM and showed him how the BOM is scripture like the bible. Then I told him that I admired him for the faith he had to accept to be baptized. He was kind of shocked at that and then I asked him to pick a date right there. He agreed and I gave him a calendar. He looked at it and said, "Well how about the Sunday after Christmas." We then prayed for confirmation. The Spirit was so strong, and you could tell he wanted this to happen. So now we will see what will happen in the coming weeks. He did say that he will talk with his wife and daughter and see if they want to baptized with him on that date as well!:) It topped off a great day! 

Now I want to talk about Bobby and what happened with him this week. So last week he wasnt able to come to church because of a seizure. I was wondering what we were gonna do when I thought we could do his baptism the next Sunday right after church. I went over it in my head again and again, cuz it would be really risky to tell everyone about his baptism right after church, then have him not come. Well I asked the Zone Leaders about it and they said they thought it would be good. So we decided to go ahead with it and plan on that. So we went and told him and the Aitken's, the family he lives with, that it would be this upcoming Sunday. Well we were able to go on Wednesday and do his interview which went well, we set up a program for the baptism. We asked about his smoking and how that was coming. He said he was doing better with it. I then asked him to see if he could give it up and not smoke anymore. He said he would give it a try. Then went back on Friday. We taught him about the Laws and Ordinances which includes the priesthood and temple work. Then went back on Saturday and help them with some service and talked more about what was gonna happen at his baptism, we asked about how his smoking was. He said that he had the desire to smoke every now and then but didnt!! Wow how cool!!

So then Sunday came. He got to church a little late, half way through sacrament meeting, with the Aitkens, but they were able to be there for the rest of it, he has also been to church several times before us. The coolest thing though, was how excited he was. Now Bobby isnt one to get excited or even talk haha he is super quite and to himself. Well all during the baptism and after he was smiling and his countenance changed. The baptism went great, it was Elder Roseman's first and was so nervous but I helped him through it all and he did great! I was so neat to watch Bobby go under the water, everything was in slow motion like in the video's of baptism and when he came back up you could see a physical change. We also were able to confirm him after the baptism with everyone in the branch already there. This was the first baptism that the missionaries have had here in about 4 or 5 years. They had one 2 years ago, but the family that the man lived with did everything then told the missionaries to baptism him haha. After the baptism I talked with him and asked how he felt. He said, "I feel really good. Thank you so much for all you have done and for making this happen." He has been waiting a long time for it. Then I said, "Your a member now." "Ya. Now I gotta start coming more." He replied! That was another miracle. For him to realize how important church was and to say that he needs to come more! So we are gonna get him the priesthood and have him bless the Sacrament every week. Also his dad passed away a couple years ago, so we are gonna work with him to get him to the temple for recent convert baptisms in Dec! The whole week was just a week of miracles that came from a small little thought of, "Have Bobby's baptism on Sunday." Its amazing how revelation works and how the Lord will make things happen in his timing. This transfer as I have been trying to work harder then ever, I have been really aware of the Lord's work here and everything that He has been doing, its been amazing to watch all the tender mercies that the Lord has provided us this transfer! 

I love this time of year. Its a time to reflect on the birth, life and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. People are kinda crazy around this time, but most people are thinking about others and how they can be helped. Let us remember what the Lord has done for us and then in return give back to him in the means of serving His children. I love yall so much! Remember this week that yall have beautiful smiles and that as you are happy, you can share that magical gift with others! Have a great week! Look for the Lord and His tender mercies this week, youll be blown away.

Love Elder Hall:)

Keep on Keeping on!

Hey Yall!

This week has been a good week! Probably the hardest time on your mission is every transfer about half way through. At the beginning of the transfer, you are really excited for new and change and things of that sort. At the end of the transfer you are realizing you dont have a lot of time left and try to do anything and everything you can to make it the best transfer, or help the new missionary that will be coming in, or trying to get that last baptism in. Now in the middle, you sometimes find yourself in a rut, or in the routine day to day things, that is Satan trying to stop the great work that you can be accomplishing. I cant say ive been perfect and overcoming the mid transfer blues, but I have realized them, and this transfer they will not happen. The weather has been cold, then its warmed up the last part of the week, yesterday we had a big storm hit here and kinda a cool story: We were driving back home from church, and we hit the dirt road back to our house, we only had a mile to go. Well Butch, the man we stay with, was right behind us, and so I for some reason didnt want him to catch up with us. Now the dirt was more of mud, but I usually just casually drive down this road in no hurry. Since Butch was behind us I was going a little faster. We made it back, but noticed that Butch took a little longer getting back, which is unusual for him, he usually flies down this road. Well when he had gotten back, he told us that he was watching our car, and about 3/4's the way down the road, we had passed a house and right after we passed it, a huge tree branch broke off and fell right where we were. He said that if we had been 5 secs slower, it wouldve fell right on top of our car. We didnt notice anything though. A cool reminder that Heavenly Father is watching out for us as his missionaries:) 

This week was kind of unusual, on Wed I got really sick. My head pounded and ached, my stomach was hurting real bad, and my nose would not stop running down my throat. I stayed in bed til about 12:30. Then I got up and got ready. We went out for the day, and we actually were able to see a few different investigators. I prayed that morning that Heavenly Father would help me through the day. And we were able to see and teach, Bobby, Dell, Robert, and Authur! Later that night we went back and I was still feeling really bad, I just had no strength in me, Bro Stockman asked if I wanted a blessing. Now I really wouldnt ever get one with my pride and saying its just a little cold or something, but i accepted. Well the next morning we got up to go to Montgomery for Zone Conference and I felt so much better! I still had a little cough and runny nose, but it was 10x's better then the day before. A couple of lessons, one is that I made it through the day, I knew i needed to get the Lords work done, I wasnt sure how i was gonna do it with no physical strength at all, but the Lord helped me, the power of prayer is real! Second, the power of the Priesthood is restored on the earth today! I and thousands of other worthy men hold it and can perform miracles! I know that I was healed through the priesthood blessing, so i could continue to work and do what the Lord needs of me! 

Joe and I at the Alabama River. We had Zone Conference this week and it was great! We mainly talked about overcoming fear with knowledge. Now we do need faith, but as we learn about things and understand them, our fear begins to dissipate. So that was pretty cool:) But other than that, it was a week full of lessons, we are still finding every day. We tract and are gonna go back this week to follow up with people we have found. A little update on Bobby. He actually had a seizure early Sunday morning and wasnt able to come to church, we are pushing his date back to Sunday, so we can get him to church and going to baptize him afterwards :) He is doing really well, he is reading the BOM, praying and cutting back on smoking alot! We also saw Brittany this week and she is going to try to quit drinking coffee and tea. A couple days after we talked about that and we went back and she was drinking hot chocolate, so that was great! We also got to see Josiah again and he will give us a baptism date next time we see him, he has been crazy busy with work! haha but that is the update this transfer, sorry its short. 

This week is Thanksgiving, hope yall remember to be grateful IN your circumstances not just FOR your circumstances. The thing we should be most grateful and hopeful for is the atonement of Christ, "...ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection..." (Moroni 7:41) and remember our purpose in this life.. "...for we have a labor to perform whilst in this tabernacle of clay, that we may conquer the enemy of all righteousness..." Give thanks, be grateful, live gratitude and you will come off conquer this day, year, and life! :) I love yall very much, and hope and pray for your safety! Have a very happy Thanksgiving! Remember to be happy when your stuffing your faces;)

Love Elder Hall

#Godisgood #miraclesabound #YEEAHHH

Hey Yall!!

Woww what a weeks its been! Its cooled down to where it feels nice, then the next day its freezing cold! Its gotten as cold as 30 degrees not including wind chill and humidity haha. Everyone has been building fires and such and trying to keep warm. We have been trying not to freeze. Other than the weather, nothing else has changed in Magnolia. We were able to go to another Marengo football game. They destroyed once again and won 59-7 or something close like that, its just always fun to go see a good game of football:)  Me sporting a new coat! haha

We had another amazing week with miracles all over the place! We have been tracting our 3 doors or more each day and it has turned out to be so good! We knocked on a preachers door and gave him a BOM, he was gonna read it and go to mormon.org, he wasnt to interested in visiting, but we will check back up on him later and see if he has any questions. He have been able to find a ton of potential investigators! Some have turned into investigators and others we havent had enough time to go back. Thats what we are planning on doing this next week is following up with them! 

Just a quick update. Bobby, the kid we set the baptism date for the 22nd, is doing great! We found out that he smokes, not very much though, we gave him a priesthood blessing and he has been reading a little bit out of the BOM and praying every day! We have pushed his date back to Nov 29th though because he wasnt able to come to church. He has been twice in the past with other missionaries but we want him to come at least once with us so we know he is serious about this all.  This is one of my best friends, Joe, aka Papi... This coat is actually his, he let me borrow it cuz he didnt think mine was warm enough, but this is how we went to the football game on Friday night! He is a stud muffin:)

We have been able to teach the restoration, plan of salvation, and about the BOM with a lot of people. We have set 3 more baptism dates, one for a boy named Dellvonta, Dell for short, he is 15 and is black, reminds me alot of Isaiah! haha and no not just cuz he's black, but he set a date for Dec 6th! So we are gonna work with him, he has also been taught by other missionaries and we are reteaching him. We need him to come to church at least once as well and that is what we are working on then he can be dunked. The 3rd is a lady named Brittany. She is living with i guess her boyfriend, they "claim" common law marriage, and i dont know all about it, but they are really just boy friend and girl friend. They have a 5 month old baby and we havent been able to meet the husband, but Brittany is super nice, she hasnt been to church in a while and said she has been wanting to get baptized! Her date is for Dec 19th! We just have a few things to work with her on. Then the last one is a guy named Arthur. He is living with his fiance which we havent met yet, but they are planning on getting married in Jan sometime. We taught him and asked him to be baptized. He said, "Well i want to do what the Lord wants me to do, and this sounds like something He wants me to do, so yes." For right now we have his date set for Jan 11th but that could get moved up. We are planning on inviting a couple more investigators this next week. We should have 1 or 2 more dates set:) 

I guess this is where chickens hide when they get cold down here..... No one told them either that the south gets cold! 

Things here are blowing up! Its all because of the Lord. Im so grateful to be put here at this time where so many seeds have been planted and NOW is the time to harvest! As we harvest we can continue to find and plant seeds along the way for others in the future, but we cant lose sight of what we can get NOW, what we can feel NOW, and what we can do RIGHT NOW!

3 quick scriptures 

John 4:35, "Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest." 

Alma 26:11-17, "But (Elder Hall) said unto (them): I do not boast in my own strength,nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God.Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak;therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.Behold, how many thousands of our brethren has he loosed from the pains of hell; and they are brought to sing redeeming love, and this because of the power of his word which is in us,therefore have we not great reason to rejoice? Yea, we have reason to praise him forever, for he is the Most High God, and has loosed our brethren from the chains of hell.Yea, they were encircled about with everlasting darkness and destruction; but behold, he has brought them into his everlasting light, yea, into everlasting salvation; and they are encircled about with the matchless bounty of his love; yea, and we have been instruments in his hands of doing this great and marvelous work.Therefore, let us glory, yea, we will glory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel. Who could have supposed that our God would have been so merciful as to have snatched us from our awful, sinful, and polluted state?" 

Helaman 5:44, "....and they were filled with that joy which is unspeakable and full of glory." 

This is how missionary work makes you feel. We invite and then let the spirit and the Lord take over. As we do this, we are filled with.. "unspeakable joy which is full of glory!!" 

I hope that yall have a great week. That you feel the same joy that I am feeling right now in Magnolia Al. No unhallowed hand can stop THIS work from progressing! We will win. I love yall, remember to be happy, to find this joy! 

Love Elder Hall:) 

Flash and Gone!!

Hey Yall!

Wow, this week again has gone by so dang fast, but at the same time I look back at experiences in the past and they seem ancient! This week has been good though! We have been able to stay super busy! We have been blessed and seen miracles! We have had a couple things happen to us that are firsts for our missions. And everywhere in between! My comp, Elder Roseman is doing well, he continues to learn and improve every day. We are getting a long great and because of that, with the help of Jesus, we have been doing work out here in Magnolia. 

So not much has changed in the actual town i guess you can call it, Magnolia is really just a road.... haha But I want to share a few stories with yall this week instead of just recapping the week.  The Oldest church in the state of Alabama, and it belongs to those dang Mormons! 

The first story happened on Tues. Last week I told yall about Bobby. He is the friend that lives with a less active family. Well we went back to see him, we got to talking with him and got to know him a little better. He is 19 and a real nice kid! He dropped outta high school but is working on his GED. Well we taught him the restoration lesson, he remembered some things from the lesson, one of the more important ones was that he related the Joseph Smith story back to us. You could feel the spirit so strongly. At the end of the lesson, the spirit told me to invite him to be baptized! He said yes, then I had him choose a day that he would like to be baptized. He chose Nov 22nd! At the end of the lesson his countenance changed. He was smiling and happy and you could tell that he really wanted to do this. Its amazing what can happen as we open our mouths and use simple invitations, you never know what people will say. 

The inside. The Next day Wed went just as good as Tues. We started the day off early going to teach a former investigator, Jerry, we taught him the restoration and he seemed to understand it, and we invited him to be baptized, cuz I was still pumped about the day before! Well he told us no for now because he had already been baptized, but we are going back to teach him next week!. We tracted and knocked 3 doors, we talked to a couple folks but no one was interested. We met a former investigator that told us to come back and we could have bible studies with him. We are gonna go back and introduce him to the BOM. 

Then we went out with a member, Joe, that introduced us to his friend Josiah, that was in last weeks letter as well. Well we went over there and taught him the restoration lesson as well. This one was just as good. About half way through his daughter, Samantha, walked in and just listened. We ended up giving them both BOM's and we invited Josiah, the father, to baptism. He said "Sure!" Which really did shock me on this one, I was ready to hear him say, "O ive already been baptized." Just like everyone else has told us, and like earlier this morning! I was hesitant even in the first place to ask, but the spirit was so strong in telling me I needed to invite him. Then after the invitation I asked if he would pick a day to be baptized. He told us he would think on it and let us know on our next visit. We went back on Sunday evening, he was just about to go to bed. We followed up on the invite to read a chapter out of the BOM and the baptism date, well he told us he hadnt done it. He was very apologetic which is good that he realizes we are serious about this and promised that when we come back this Wed, he would give us a date, and also have read the Chap in the BOM and have questions for us. We saw out of the corner of our eye his daughter, she was also reading the BOM while we were there. We are gonna go back and follow up on him and get to know the daughter as well:) Elder Hall pulling on the bell rope inside the old church building. Its a pretty cool bell:)

It even has a cemetery right behind it! You wont find very few if any Mormon churches with a cemetery! We also have been doing some admin things. We washed our car, since it hasn't been washed in years. We also learned that it hadnt had an oil change in a year, the anti-freeze was low, the transmission fluid was low, the tires were balding. When we went up to Selma for district meeting we got that fixed. We have to go back to fix the shocks on them so they stop wearing down the tires so fast. We were also able to go to a football game to support 2 semi active young men in our branch! They are in the play offs and it was the first round. They killed the other team, 69-0! haha it was still fun to go and watch, we are gonna go to there last game we can go to and if they win this one they go to Troy for the Semi and Final games! 

Both of the Church buildings. So at the beginning of the email I said that there were firsts, well it was the first time that Elder Roseman has had a baptism date, its the first time in a long time this area has had a baptism date. I got to experience the first primary program with only 5 kids in it! It was so dang cute! All the kids did great, they mixed it up with each kid having individual parts, they all said scriptures together and sang. Our branch has so few people that they called the oldest kid in the primary, Riley, as the primary chorister, and she is only 11 haha:) it was great though. The last first experience was one that I had. Now its kinda weird saying that as I have been out so long and experienced almost all you can on a mission but it is referring to the main title of the email, just to give yall a guess. Well we had biked to Bobby's house on Friday to teach him again and prepare him for his baptism. Well I guess he went out hunting with his friend. We talked to the family he lives with then headed back to the car to go tract. Well as we biked on one of the busier hwy's, maybe 4 people would drive on each day, I hear this car come up behind us. I was biking in front of Elder Roseman. I hear the car come closer and slow down then I heard a scream, which i was used to cuz everyone screams at missionaires, I look over and was expecting maybe a member waving, or someone flipping us off, you know the usual things that missionaries get. Well instead this car is right beside me the girl in the passenger seat was screaming had her shirt pulled up and flashed me.... I could not believe it! They then hit the gas peddle and drove off. I was stunned and didnt know what to do or think! When we got back to the car, I asked Elder Roseman, "Did you see that??" He said, "No I just looked over and the girl had her mouth wide open about ready to scream, then I heard the scream.." "She Flashed me!" I said. He was shocked as well and could not stop laughing. Who would've thought, out of the 10 people in Magnolia, one of them decides to be funny with us haha it was a crazy experience. I take it as Satan trying to distract or temp me, because of all the good we have done and also because of this next experience.

After the girl flashing me, we drove up a little ways and parked. We had tracted 3/4 of a road and drove up to the other end to tract the last of it. Well we parked and hopped on our bikes off we went. We came up on 2 houses right next to a church, so being obedient we passed them and went to the 3rd house a little ways down. Well no one answered. By this time it was later in the evening, well about 5:30 or 6. It was getting darker and darker as we continue to ride our bikes. We knocked on the next house and again nothing. Then as we rode our bikes down the road further, we had covered a good 1.5-2 miles, we almost passed a long dirt road that lead to a house in the distance. I turned around and we stopped to look at it and get the address on the mail box. Well his 2 dogs saw us and started their way out barking at us and trying to scare us. I dont even care about dogs any more, so I lead the way as we rode up this dirt drive way in the dark, with dogs barking and nipping at our feet. As we get closer to the house, the man was standing out on the porch. I hopped off my bike and threw my helmet down and walked up as quick as I could to not make it awkward. I said, "Hello sir, we are representatives of Christ and want to share a message about Him with you. Can we do that?" The man, David, being very nice said sure and let us in. We got to know him while he offered us drinks. At the beginning he told us that he had just moved in about 3 months ago from Florida. He told us that he just had the feeling he needed to be somewhere up here in Alabama, so he did a "Faith Move" He is married and has 3 kids, and for a man to do this is nuts these days. He told us he was very involved in the church he goes to here, and he wants to help and figure out why God has sent him here. On the mail box it had a quote concerning Christ. When they saw that they knew this was the house. He also kept saying that we were way out in the middle of no where and he wondered why and how we had gotten out this far. We explained all that then we went straight into the Restoration lesson. He enjoyed it and we set up another apt to come teach him. He offered to feed us a meal, then he drove us back to our cars. During the ride he showed us pics of Florida where he lived and then said, "You know, its weird cuz at my work I am working the night shift. I was the only one home and was sleeping then all the sudden woke up and went downstairs to do the dishes. I wasnt sure why. Then I heard my dogs barking and I looked outside and saw yall. I had my gun ready cuz i wasnt sure what to expect. Its cool that I had woken up and got to meet yall and hear your message, maybe God sent yall here to teach me how I can better help the people here." What a miracle! God has been helping us, walking along side us and guiding us to know where to go and what to do to find those people that we can teach! We have been so blessed since I have been here! We are gonna go back to teach David this week and invite him to baptism as well. We told the Martins, the members we live with, about David they got excited and want to go with us and even invite him and his family over for dinner! The work is in reality hastening in this part of the Lords vineyard! As I said last time, we have made it a goal to tract at least 3 doors a day. We have accomplished that so far, and have found almost 1 new investigator every day. God is good! 

Well have a great week. Keep looking for all the little miracles in your lives, and when Satan tries to "Flash" You, dust it off and keep going, blessings and miracles are in store in the very near future!:) I love yall so much and remember to be happy, even in the midst of difficulties and tribulation! 

Love Elder Hall

Country, Sticks, Gonna be Good!

Hey Yall!

Wow have their been a lot of changes the past week! But before I go into any of that, I just want to say a BIG thank you to the Canyon Crest Relief Society! I got your package this Wednesday at Transfers haha sadly Im not in New Albany anymore so it took a little while to get it, but that made my week! Thank you for all the letters and food! Yall dont know how much I appreciate and needed that:) Yall are the best ward ever!!  Elder Roseman my new comp and I:)

So for this week a lot has happened, just to recap really quickly, then ill add a couple stories.  This is Carine and Roosevelt, and there family, they are the family that Elder Johnson and I did marriage counseling with. I love this family

• I am officially outta Madison. Im actually gonna miss it there haha funny how we always say that. But I got to say goodbye to a lot of members and investigators we had. 
• Wednesday was transfers, It was so sad to see all my good friends, elders and sisters, go home! But at the same time I was excited and proud of them for all the good and hard work they have done out here! 
• Thursday was my first real day in Magnolia. So the address I sent was an address for Thomaston. Thats about 10 to 15 miles from here. Magnolia is just a road. Thomaston is the biggest town with maybe 1,000 people in it... haha this area has the least amount of people in it than any other area. Its just as country as my past area Highland Home, but Highland Home has many more dirt roads in it. The weather here lately has been super cold, at night time it gets down into the mid 30's! Thats been a little surprising, since I thought coming down south would be warmer, but its almost like we are out camping in the woods! 
• My new comp, Elder Roseman. A little bit about him. He is 18, is from Morgan UT, he has been out for 6 weeks, so I am follow up training him! Its been fun so far, he is different just like all my comps have been, but we are having fun! I live with members in there cabin. We live upstairs and boy does it get cold in that thing haha but the members are the Martins, they are really cool! There an older couple but a good old country couple. The branch down here as maybe 50 records on the roster. Yesterday in Fast and Testimony meeting we had 15 people not including us 2. There was a 2 less actives that showed up, which shocked us, but we were so excited about that! Everyone but the 2 less actives bore there testimony and then we ended the meeting 25 minutes early haha:) 
• About the food.... So we dont have a Wal Mart or any stores for that case. We get fed by Mrs Brenda, Mrs Martin but we call her Brenda, She makes us breakfast and lunch. And its no little thing. She raised 7 kids and still cooks for 7! haha So im trying really hard not to get fat here before I come home! Also for dinner, we get fed either by left overs from breakfast and lunch, or members feed us or just random people that let us in! Its been crazy how much we eat here. Haha my comp has never bought groceries on his mission yet haha i told him to enjoy the food while he can! 

Thats all I can think of right now to tell yall haha just really country and southern, homey, and I love it. Things are gonna be good here! You have to take a different approach then most areas at the work but its fun to be creative.  This is Many and Tiffany. They are not a couple, just neighbors, Many is a less active cop that we found and I love him, Tiffany is the investigator we had:) 

So Just a story or two. On Saturday we weren’t quite sure what to do. We aren’t gonna just go hang out at members houses all day and then come home, Im expecting to get a baptism out of this place, so I told Elder Roseman that we were gonna work and work hard. Well he wanted me to meet a couple people. So we went to go see some Less actives. We got there, and one of their friends lives with them, Bobby. He had a baptism date a long time ago, but it ended up falling through. Well I guess he had been avoiding the missionaries ever since. I didn’t know that when we walked up and started talking to him. We asked him questions and got to know him for a little bit. Then I asked if we could read out of the BOM with him. He said yes. We shared the story of the Stripling Warriors with him. Then I asked if we could come back and teach him. He said he would love that! So we are going back on Tue to go and see him! Then we rode our bikes down and met Jerry another nice man, not a member. Then we saw a 15 year old boy named Dell. Him, his little brothers, and his friend, Jaharee, and us all played football for a little bit. Then we shared a short scripture with them and asked if we could teach them again. They also had been taught by missionaries but havent in a long time. 

This is Armondo and Amber the Texas Longhorn fans that we tracted into that fed us so well. They are some of the nicest people on planet earth! 

So we told them if we play football and basketball with them they have to come to church and they agreed. Then we went tracting. Now tracting down here is a little different. There could be a 5 mile long road with only 3-5 houses on it haha so we made it a goal this transfer to knock of 3 houses a day, everyday, and that way we will knock quite a few houses in the area. We also want to work where other elders havent. Well we went up the road of the church, and started knocking. The first door didnt answer. The next door we knocked on and it was an older man and his family. He told us to come on in and that they were having dinner so we were gonna eat with them! We ate, talked, got to share a little about what missionaries do, and we read out the the BOM with them. We are gonna go help the father do some service next week when he gets back into town! So that day was pretty awesome! Its amazing to me how the Lord blesses us according to our faith. We read it over and over, “You will be healed by your faith, you can work miracles by your faith, Woman thy faith hath made thee whole...” Over and over in the scriptures it mentions that things only happen according to OUR faith! We as a human race just need to realize that and get more faith, not be fearful, prideful or doubtful, and we will see miracles and become like the prophets and apostles and one day like our Savior!

This is Elder Bickley, he is home now, but I loved him. He taught me alot and we got to be really close! The other cool story is one that is very simple, but in my eyes was a huge miracle. We went out with a really nice, kind, awesome member named Joe. He was gonna take us to see a family that come to church off and on, as we were headed there, he hit the breaks and said under his breath, “I wanna go see them.” We turned around and went up to a trailer. Joe knocked on the door, and the man answered. It was a big black man without his shirt on. Haha usually southerner. The first thing out of Joes mouth was, “Hey Jr, these are the missionaries from my church, I wanted to bring them over and let them teach you.” Without any hesitation Josiah said, “For sure, I would love that!” We got down his info and we are going back sometime this week to teach him. Its a simple story with a powerful message. One, Joe recognized the spirit prompting him to see this family. Two, he ACTED! (Thats the hardest part), he turned around, then he opened his mouth and INVITED! Its as simple as that, but there is a Third part to this. When we got back into the car, Joe turned to us and said, “See I am opening my mouth!” He had the biggest smile and you could tell he was so happy! When we do missionary work, that automatically brings happiness! Just like when we obey we have to be blessed! It was so cool to see that down in an area with not very many people, the branch here wants so badly to do missionary work. And areas that have a ton, thousands upon thousands of people they see every day, they take this great opportunity and blessing for granted! Eye opening for me.

Im so dang excited for this transfer! A lot is gonna happen. Miracles have happened and will continue to happen. On my planner for this month I have 2 quotes. The first is “It is impossible to fail when you do your best when you are on the Lord's errand.” -Elder M. Russell Ballard. The 2nd is for this month of Thanksgiving, “Thou shalt thank the Lord thy God in all things.”- D&C 59:7. This transfer im gonna try to do something Ive never done before, that is to say “I cant, we cant, this area cant...” Im not gonna allow negative thoughts into my head. I am going to see blessings, I am going to be obedient, I am going to perform miracles, I am gonna change myself, my companion, this area, and the work!

I love yall so much! Remember how great and merciful the Jesus is. He loves you! He wants the best for you! He is here for you! Remember to be happy, and grateful this month. Remember that your not alone! Have a great week and make the best of each opportunity!

Love Elder Hall

What a blessed week it has been!

Hey Yall! 

The Decatur District.  This week has been crazy! None the less we have been able to have a lot of great experiences! We have been trying to help the Madison 3 Sisters find new investigators. We told them to pray about some street names and we would go tract those streets. One day right before we went to tract in their area, we did some tracting in our area. We knocked some doors and people were nice but nothing to good. Well we decided to knock one last door. The man opened up and we said, "We are missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.." "Well come on in!" He replied quickly. Wow. We sat and talked for 15 minutes and got a return apt with him. He loves the church and kept telling us how proud he was of us doing what we do. Then we tracted in Madison 3. Well we tracted the entire street and the last door, we knock on, its pretty dark out by now, and a lady answers, we told her we were representatives of Jesus Christ and wanted to pray with her. She told us she would love to and went on to explain that her family went to the Mormon church in Utah. We prayed with her and asked if the sisters could come back and teach her, she said she would love that! Wow. Simple stories but what miracles and great last door experiences! Its not until AFTER the trial of our faith do we receive a witness!:) So cool how the Lord blesses us as missionaries. 

We have also been able to travel to baptisms and weddings. In Decatur, Nate and Angela were married and baptized and all went great! It was neat to see how they truely did want to repent and would do anything to feel the power of the Atonement. It made me think about what I would do, or give up just to come closer to Christ. We have also been traveling around the mission helping with spur of the moment emergencies. Those are always fun to do and keep you on your feet. 

A really sweet LA, Manny, and I, in a cardigan!:) I do have some exciting news though, I will be transferring out of Madison. I have loved it here. Its been different then all my other areas as its so big, so many people and lots of places to go. Im sad to go, but Ive learned now you cant think about that part to much and you have to continue forth with your new area! I am also being released as a Zone Leader. Pres Hanks doesnt like old missionaries going home as a leader. He puts it as this, every one of you will be back to Buck Private. Which is good! Im sad that I wont be a Zone Leader anymore. I have loved being a Zone Leader. I have loved the missionaries that I have had the great opportunity to be their leader, I learned so much more from them, then they learned from me. I have loved being able to feel Heavenly Fathers love for them as well. But on the other hand, Im excited to go back to regular missionary work! I will figure out on Wednesday where ill be, so ill email yall then! Im excited for new adventures!

Sorry this is short, but as always im still super busy and gotta keep going! I love yall so much! Till next week, remember to be happy and "If you look good, smell good, and feel good, its all good" :)

Love Elder Hall