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:)